City Council - Jul 18, 2024

Welcome to the City of St. Petersburg City Council Meeting. Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch, District 1 and Council Vice Chair, Copley Gerdes, District 2, Brandy Gabbard, District 3, Ed Montenari, District 4, Lissette Kanowitz, District 5 and Council Chair, Deborah Fig Sanders, District 6, Gina Driscoll, District 7, John Muhammad, and District 8, Richie Floyd. That you have led us to live in this wonderful community known as St. Petersburg. Lord, you bless us with beautiful weather. You bless us with a great number of diverse people from a variety of backgrounds, a variety of beliefs, a variety of practices, and you knit us together as one. Lord, today, as we have important business to discuss, I pray that you would be with everyone. You would give them the opportunity to peaceably speak their mind, to carefully make the points that they have to make, that you would fill our council with your spirit, that as they deliberate and decide, there would be forward-moving direction for our fair city. Thank you, Reverend Lockerin, for that prayer. We really appreciate your words. Thank you. Council members, we have an agenda before us today. No changes. I entertain a motion for approval. Move approval. Second. We have a motion that's been properly seconded. Can you please open the machine for voting? Council members, please place your vote. Now that all present council members have voted, can you please tally and announce the votes? Madam Chair, the motion to approve the agenda passes unanimously. Thank you. Council members, we have a consent agenda before us today with the addition of CB6. CB6, do we have any public comment on consent? We do not. We do not? Move approval. Second. Now that we have a motion that's been properly seconded, can you please open the machine for voting? Council members, please place your votes. Seeing that all present council members have voted, can you please tally and announce the votes? Madam Chair, the motion to approve the consent agenda passes unanimously. Thank you. So now we will move to open forum, and Mr. Clerk, can you please read the rules? If you wish to address city council on subjects other than public hearing or quasi-judicial items listed on the agenda, please sign up with the clerk. Only the individual wishing to speak may sign the open forum sheet. Only city residents, owners of property, business owners in the city, or their employees may speak. All issues discussed on their open forum must be limited to issues related to the City of St. Petersburg government. If you are speaking to an item on the agenda, you may only speak once, during the open forum or when the item comes up on the agenda. In order to provide an opportunity for all citizens to address council, each individual will be given three minutes to speak, and after which the microphone will be muted. If you wish to address city council through the Zoom meeting, you must use the raised hand feature button in the Zoom app, or enter star 9 on your phone at the time the agenda item is addressed. When it is your turn to speak, you will be unmuted and ask to state your name and address. At the conclusion of your comments, or when you reach the three-minute time limit, you will be muted. All raised hands will be lowered after each agenda item. Regardless of the method of participation used, normal rules apply, including the three-minute time limit on comments, the requirement that any presentation materials must be submitted in advance of the meeting and the rules of decorum. If live public comment is disrupted by violations of the rules of decorum, the chair is authorized to accept public comment by alternate means, including by email only. And we do have a number of speakers. We have Zoom as well? No, no Zoom. No, no Zoom. Okay. Thank you. Can you please call the first two cards? Okay. I'm going to call two speakers at a time. Please, when I call your name, please go to an open podium, state your name and address for the record, and you'll have three minutes to address City Council. Peter Kent and Robin Davidoff. I'm Peter Kent, a retired professional engineer and commissioner of public works, living at 8 Academy Way, St. Peter. Ladies and gentlemen of the City Council, if the raised resolution passed today, I plan to write a book exposing the terrible deal this is for all your constituents. The book's cover will show Pinellas County being suffocated by a giant vampire squid wearing a raised baseball cap. This deal tricks St. Petersburg into shouldering most of the costs and liabilities of the historic gas plant development while handing all the profits to Rays, who are risking very little. This squid will be draining $1.6 billion from the city and another $600 million from Pinellas, passing it on to the raised billionaires in a reverse socialist deal. This $1.6 billion represents 26% of the city's property taxes over the 30 years. I believe this deal may become an NBA case study illustrating one of the most grievous public-private partnerships ever created. But you have the power to change that narrative today. By voting no on this package of resolutions, you can help the city retake control from the squid. Here's how. One, meet your fiduciary duty by obtaining a new land appraisal indicating the land is likely worth over $14 million an acre today. Two, sell 65 buildable acres to builders, bringing in $945 million, nine times the maximum $105 million from the proposed deal. Three, the city, not Rays, will have the review control over the builders' proposals for commercial and housing density, height, affordable housing requirements, exterior appearance, energy efficiency, and et cetera. Four, if the Rays choose to build elsewhere, their 17-acre site could generate $658 million more in property taxes over the next 30 years. Five, reallocate these funds for community needs. The city will have 26% more to spend on essential city services, such as, one, helping 10 times as many families achieve affordable housing. Two, expand the city's water and sewer system to accommodate these new residents. Three, improve stormwater flooding in flood-plown areas. Four, provide property tax relief to the needy. Five, create job-producing technical and trade courses at local colleges. Four, please consider your legacy you want to leave to our city. Vote no on this package of resolutions, then choose a revised path that truly benefits St. Pete and its residents. Thank you. Hi, good morning. My name is Robin David of 4830 Osprey Drive South in St. Petersburg. I'm here today to represent the 400 members of the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg area. I distributed to you Tuesday our position paper, but I'm going to just make a brief comment today. My message today is simple. Everyday hard-working St. Petersburg residents go to work in difficult jobs. Some juggle one or two jobs to pay the mortgage and rent. Fixed-income seniors worry about their savings. And all of them send some of their valuable treasure to you. They are the taxpayers. We at the League encourage taxpayers to also be voters because by voting they will make sure that their city council members will protect their treasure and vote to use it wisely to improve their lives. Taxpayers and voters expect you to listen to them and also to experts. The Florida Tax Watch is an independent expert. Their report is stunningly clear, and I'll read to you from page 12. New ballparks' impact on attendance, revenue, and on-field success is uncertain. Public benefits may not justify large subsidies. And specifically, this deal should include taxpayer protections, including clawback provisions, and revenue sharing. Florida Tax Watch warns us that public costs may exceed the projected fiscal revenues. And this loss must be offset, either by raising local taxes or reducing public services. Your city's public works director told a community group that the city has only $17 million for storm sewer budget and a billion-dollar need. Where will the money come from? We found the answer on the city's website, quote, we will all have to chip in. That is a euphemism for paying more in taxes. The Tampa Bay Times consultant found that the most reliable poll of voters is the Mason-Dixon poll, and here is the result. I'm quoting Florida News poll, quote, St. Pete voters flip on gas plant deal when they get the numbers. 83% of voters said the race should share their revenues streams with the city to offset the subsidies provided by St. Pete taxpayers. The taxpayers and voters are speaking to you. We are asking you to vote no and send this back to the administration, because that is what the people who trust you with their treasure are asking you to do. So, thank you. Thank you. Next speakers, please. Next two speakers are Ash Alonzo and Mary Katok. Please go to an open podium. State your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address city council. Ash Alonzo, I reside at 2434, 10th Avenue North, and I've lived in Tampa Bay for a quarter of a century. Parts of St. Pete I've never seen flood before are undriveable now when it rains. The Supreme Court just made it illegal to be homeless, so it's really disgusting that we're sitting here talking about giving $417 million of taxpayer money to two private companies. For context, $417 million could provide free lunch for every public school student in Pinellas County for 1,588 years. Kids who grew up here are leaving because they can't afford it. That's how you destroy communities and increase crime. If regional growth is displacing long-term families and small businesses, we are not being developed. We are being exploited. I am the former marketing coordinator for the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Pete. My salary was only $45,000, and the people working at the front desk only make $15 an hour. So can we stop pretending like having luxury businesses popping up at Tampa Bay over the past five years has made it easier for people to afford housing? Let's stop pretending like having Michelin-star restaurants here is somehow going to lead to food security for the working class, when the reality is that the wealth gap and exploitation in St. Pete is directly proportional to how many yachts are docked in the bay. I've never been appointed to any fancy political committees. My parents are immigrants from a rural town in the Philippines who didn't even used to vote. St. Pete used to be a place where any hardworking American could build a life for themselves and their family. I am proof of that. Families like mine, our tax dollars got the city to this point, and now people like me don't deserve to live here anymore because city council and the mayor are failing to do their job and ensure that our city is developing in an equitable and sustainable way. Elections are coming up. It's very simple. Do your jobs, or we will replace you with people who will. Thank you. Good morning. Mary Kay Tonk, 5910 Biogrand Boulevard. I'm here as a minister of the Church of the Creator. Thank you for having me. It's all about walking the higher road because that is where you find truth, and it is said, truth will set you free. And when we walk in truth, his will be done, not ours. In your heart, say with me now, our Father, you are in heaven. Holy is your name. Your kingdom has come, and your will is being done on this earth as it is in your heaven. In the process of moving towards your decisions, how many times have you asked God, God, what are your thoughts, your will on these matters? What is your heart telling you? You have the legal expertise, free legal expertise, as a matter of fact, amongst you through Councilwoman Lissette Hanowitz. Ms. Hanowitz has stated legal observations on these agreements. For those of you who have had some understanding of legalese and for those who have understanding of the elements of real estate contracts, we'll recognize her observations to be truthful and valid. There have been observations also made of the expense to the cities of this city, expense in the financial sense, as well as the expense of the legal rights, remedies, and protections that the citizens of the city are having to give up. I keep saying citizens instead of city because I want us all to be reminded of the oaths you have taken to protect and serve the citizens at large. Through the Constitution of the State and its statutes, you all are being charged with the following elements of law to protect those you serve. In statute 112.311, subparagraph 1, it is essential to the proper conduct and operation of government that officials, public officials, are impartial and that the office is not to be used for private gain or personal interest and that the public interest requires that the law protect them against any conflict of interest. In that same statute, subparagraph 6, it is declared to be the policy of the state that the public officers and employees are agents of the people and hold their positions for the benefit of the public. They are bound to uphold the Constitution of the United States and of the state of Florida to perform efficiently and faithfully their duties, and they are bound to observe in their official acts the highest standards of ethics consistent with this code and of any advisory opinions that are rendered with respect here, too, regardless of personal considerations, recognizing that promoting the public interest and maintaining the respect of the people in the government must be foremost of their concern. I acknowledge each of your passions in this deal and their importance. However, let us go to the mountaintop, please. Let us go to God and allow his will to be done. In God we trust, trust him and his nudges, for he will lead you to what you do desire. But let's do it in his way. Thank you. Thank you. Next, speakers, please. Next two speakers are Bradley McCoy and David Harbeitner. Please go to an open podium, state your name and address for the record, and you'll have three minutes to address City Council. Good morning, Councilmembers. My name is Brad McCoy, 1856, Elmeria Way South. I'm a concerned resident of District 5. I stand before you today to address a matter of great importance regarding the integrity and effectiveness of our Council's leadership. Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. We expect integrity to remain one of the highest priorities for our elected officials. Unfortunately, recent actions and inactions by the current Council Chair, Deborah Fix Sanders, indicate a clear lack of integrity and commitment to the people of District 5 and the city as a whole. Over the past year, the residents of District 5 have repeatedly been ignored by the Council Chair. My early communications requesting a meeting to discuss vital issues went unanswered for a month, forcing me to chase a response. Recently, a scheduled meeting with 10 of her district residents was canceled and requests to reschedule were ignored. Despite a meeting on the same topic with a resident from a different district just 24 hours prior to the canceled meeting. Analyzing the hours reported in her irregular newsletters, it is clear that the Council Chair, Fix Sanders, spends an inefficient amount of time meeting with constituents. July and August 2023 combined, 3 hours less than 1% of the total working hours. December 2023, 7 hours, 4.2% of the total working hours. January and February 2024 combined, 5.25 hours, 3.1% of total working hours. June 2024, 11.75 hours, 7% of the total working hours. Council Chair, Fix Sanders, has accepted campaign donations and subsequently voted in favor of those donors without filing conflicts of interest or recusing herself appropriately. In the past four years, only one conflict of interest form has been filed, which is inadequate given the circumstances. Disturbingly, Council Chair, Fix Sanders, has admitted that her constituents are not her primary concern, instead prioritizing a museum, her grandchildren, and the current mayor. This admission violates her duty to the people she was elected to serve. Furthermore, there have been instances where public record requests have not been fully honored, undermining the public's trust in her Council's transparency. She encourages text messages over email to seemingly skirt the database backup of correspondence. Council Chair, Deborah Fix Sanders, took an oath to serve her constituents with integrity, honor, and dedication. Her actions demonstrate a betrayal of this oath and the principles of our democratic process. We need a leader who prioritizes their constituents and upholds the values of integrity, honesty, transparency, and dedication. We are experiencing taxation without representation in District 5. In summary, delinquencies have been noted for the following, integrity, communications and meetings, ethical governance, representation, and transparency. For the good of our District and the integrity of this Council, I demand her immediate resignation. I urge the other Council members to support this motion and hold our elected officials accountable. To the residents of St. Pete, please join me in standing up for what is right and ensuring our representatives uphold their responsibilities. Thank you. Your next two speakers, please. We have one more. Oh, one more. Oh, go ahead. Thank you. Good morning. My name is David Harweitner, 225 9th Avenue North, St. Petersburg, Florida. I'm speaking on behalf of the Sierra Club today. And I apologize for making the comments in open forum, but I don't know when this exact topic will be going on today. I'm not sure I can be here. So I'm making the public comment in support of communications sent regarding the series of agreements related to the stadium and the historic gas plant redevelopment. At yesterday's Committee of the Whole meeting, we were pleased to see the sustainability and resiliency elements of these agreements be an active part of the discussion. However, we were disappointed that there were no specific actions requested to edit any of these documents to reflect the verbalized plans of the development team in these areas. We do believe that at least one small but meaningful edit can and should be made prior to any motion to approve the agreements. In the historic gas plant redevelopment agreement, we are requesting that two actions be taken. Article 6, Section 1, Subsection 6 could be strengthened by inserting and implement. So the new wording would be design and implement market appropriate sustainability continued. Additionally, Article 6, Section 1, Subsection 6B could be similarly strengthened as such, design and implement to market appropriate sustainability. The addition of these two words into these two places in the historic gas plant redevelopment agreement will align it with the stronger language present in the Article 7, Section 3 related to sustainability and resiliency in the stadium funding and development agreement. At the same time, it simply documents the verbal commitments made by Reyes-Hines at the Committee of the Whole meeting on July 16th. Thank you for ensuring the final agreements reflect the expressed desires of Council and the professed commitments of the Reyes-Hines development team for more sustainable development. Thank you. Thank you. Next two speakers, please. Next two speakers are Tom Tito and Chris Steinaucher. Please go to an open podium, state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address City Council. Hello, Council Members. I'm Tom Tito, 622 12th Avenue South. Thank you for the opportunity to speak here. I'm going to ask you to vote no, which I sent you an email with a lot of good reasons in there. I don't know if you've had a time to read it. I think you've got too much information coming too fast, and it's hard for you to deliberate. But there are many reasons for voting yes. I could think of four, and if they were true, I would be comfortable with the yes vote. There's an important point made that the Reyes are paying for most of the stadium. And that continues. The Times had a full front page story Sunday talking about how great it was. This is not unprecedented. The team is paying the most. We are not counting $900 million that Peter Kent talked about in value from selling that land. You're not counting the utilities. You're not going to build a stadium without running water or road access. So $140 million includes a lot of money going directly to the stadium building itself. So it's just not true. You know, you could say it's worth it for the city to pay most of the cost of the stadium. But please be honest. Another main theme of this is that the city honors the past residents of Gas Plant. And one way to honor them would be to preserve their gravesite, make that open space. That could be an amenity. It could be a memorial garden. The other way to honor them is to help them where they live. The people have moved to neighborhoods like Child's Park, Bartlett Park, and Lakewood. Some of these neighborhoods have some problems. F-rated schools, crime, affordable housing. So a third reason to vote yes would be the benefits. And as you've heard from some of the other speakers, the benefits are not clearly required in the contract. Some of the benefits may actually not be so good. The idea to convert market-rate housing to affordable housing does not solve the housing shortage. I think that needs more thought. There's a crisis in housing. Even middle-income people are having a hard time finding available units. And the food desert has been on the south side for decades. The city built the Sweet Bay. Before that, they subsidized the Winn-Dixie on 3rd Avenue and MLK. That closed when Sweet Bay opened. We moved the food desert. And then Sweet Bay was not sustainable. Telling folks to wait 20 years for a supermarket or grocery store is just horrible. People are walking, taking the bus to get their groceries. And please vote no. Good morning. I'm Chris Steinecker, President and CEO of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce. Thank you for allowing me to speak, Madam Chair, City Councilmembers, and City Administrator Gerties. I do ask for your affirmative vote on the Rays-Hines. What's your address, Chris? 100 2nd Avenue North. Thank you. I do ask for an affirmative vote. We appreciate the support that we have had from you all throughout these conversations. We believe the documents are indicative of the opportunity we all see. I hear a lot of folks concerned about the opportunities ahead. As our chamber has looked at this and had the discussions, we don't know any other way to solve the issues that I hear in the room today without some type of economic development opportunity like this one. This is something that allows us to generate the kind of momentum that allows people to go back to work at higher wages, that allow them to get the kind of value and services that they want in our community and the kind of homes they want. You do that by building an economy. And you do that. You can't do that as a city council on your own. You don't have enough of our tax money. You need good partners to do that. I do believe you found the right partners. Yesterday, we had a little meeting with all those who support this deal, and I hope you saw a little bit of that. But what you may not have seen is who was in the room that wasn't on the podium or who wasn't in that. What I believe we have in this community right now is a team of a community that will support everything we're trying to get done. You have the right people in place to ensure that everything you all are saying and what we are saying and what everyone I hear saying is we all love St. Pete, and we're not going to abandon it. I don't believe those owners and the kinds will abandon it. We heard that again yesterday. We are believing in that. We do have faith in that, and we do see this as that opportunity for us. Finally, I do want to thank City Administrator Gerties for your leadership, for Mayor Ken Welch's leadership. I don't believe there was any other time. I have come to city council probably on 22 other dates, on 22 other occasions about this Heinz deal in the last 14 years, or this whole Ray's deal. And I believe this is that moment. There was no other time where we thought we were going to build a neighborhood. There was no other time we thought we were going to build housing. There was no other time we thought we were going to build a museum. There was no other time we thought we were going to redevelop our community. We always had ideas of a project, of a stadium, of a piece of it, of a parking lot. But today we bring for you a community. We rebuild a beautiful neighborhood, and we rebuild our economy. We become the place in Florida where people come for their jobs. We become a place where people come for their homes and come for those opportunities. Today is a good day. I thank you for your support, and we look forward to being part of the team because we are all in, and we are here to stay. Thank you. The next two speakers are Paul Carter and Trania L. Cox. Please go to an open podium. State your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address city council. Okay. Good morning. My name is Paul Carter. I live at 341 Fifth Street South in St. Pete. You may recall I have appeared before you several times in support of the Rays-Hinds proposal. I still unabashedly support that proposal, and in fact I've actually even read the documents to support it. I don't know about anybody else, but I waded through them all. But today I want to take a somewhat different tack. I want to compliment and say thanks to the council, to Mayor Welch and the city administration, and the Rays and the Hines folks. Thanks for the hard work everyone has put in to reach where we are today. But perhaps even more importantly, I want to recognize the process. I've sat through all the committees of the whole, listened to the council members, make thoughtful and useful suggestions. I listened to the mayor and his staff and the Rays and Hines folks respond not defensively, but in a cooperative, constructive, and respectful manner. The final documents before you are, I believe, much better for that process. So I want to thank you all for your civility, your commitment to the future of St. Pete, and perhaps in a small way, we have seen that politics does not have to be brutal, can be civil, when people work together with a common goal. Thank you for that. Thank you. Good morning. I'm Trini L. Cox, currently serving as the second vice president of the St. Petersburg National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. I'm also a long-term resident of Lakewood Estates of 28 years. I come to you to ask you to give careful consideration to your vote today. I know this should be a regular activity of yours to do such, but I think it's important that you understand three things. One, this is a time to exercise a moral compass. A promise was made in the 80s under urban renewal, under progress, saying that this black community of 500 residents and businesses and churches will enjoy greater economic prosperity. That has not occurred. There is a great wealth divide in this city. Now, that moral conscious time to deliver on that promise, and this is the time in which you can do that. Because if you look at the complexity and the scope of what the Heinz Reyes Redevelopment Project will do, it will provide the opportunity for that promise to be delivered. And I think it's time that that occurs. Secondly, we're about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Yes, we are. Equitable economic opportunity is what we're seeking here. Your utilization studies, looking at disparity, less than 1%. If you look at what the median income, we're talking about almost 50%. If you look at poverty rates, 20% versus 11.9%. If you look at homelessness, 65% of them are black folks with a point-of-time study. There's a great divide in this city. It's great, but it's not great for all. And this project provides an opportunity. It provides the catalyst, the stimulus for that to occur. When you can create, develop, expand, and be demanded by contractual obligation to use black businesses, that's how you grow wealth. It's time out for just a program. It doesn't provide the tipping point for the kind of change that we need to see. Thirdly, this proposal, say yes, because this offers a beacon of hope for those that are still struggling, that want to enjoy what happens on Central. Please provide them with an opportunity. With this stimulus package, I don't know of any other that will do it. Thank you so much for your time. Final two speakers, Madam Chair, are Aretha Pope and Esther Matthews. Please go to an open podium. State your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address City Council. Good morning, Council members and those who are present. I am Aretha Pope, the Economic Development Chair, St. Petersburg Grant, NAACP, long-term lifetime resident, Lake McGorry Shores. Proud to be here. You've heard me many times. I am here on principle on one very important matter that is the concern of all of us, the economic impact of this city, how we move progressively forward in making our city a worldwide destination. That people enjoy, bring wealth, bring opportunity, develop neighborhoods, the program, the policy, the enactment of the members of your staff. I know most of you. I've worked with most of you. I'm here to say in the best reasonable measure, this is the one opportunity, absent anything else, that in 40 years we did not address the issue under a different administration and under different owners when there was a problem that was not solved and can now be solved. Different owners, different team, different measures. I say to you today in the aspect of what is achievable in economic development, if it doesn't make money, it doesn't make sense. You have an asphalt of 50 acres that is non-taxable, non-usable to now. People rode past it, drove past it, didn't have an issue, didn't do anything in over 40 years to the corridors of your urban core. 16th Street South, 18th Avenue South, Dome Industrial District, 22nd, the Deuces. I'm here representing all of those constituencies, all of those components, and saying, this is the time. There's no greater time. We have a corporately responsible partner who's given over $11 million in grants. They have a foundation. They have also $2 million in scholarships. I know the math, I know the reason, I know the purpose, I know you. Let's be responsible. And to my brothers and sisters in the Sierra Club, I'm with you. I believe in you. I believe in climate and resiliency, sustainability, and you have no better team than the populist group. And we hold every and anyone to the fire. We are the NAACP. When we fight, we win. And let's ignore the nonsense and those who are not credible in terms of making accusations on our council and others. Thank you. Thank you. No more speakers. Thank you. No more speakers. Thank you so much. So now we will close open forum, and we will move to our report items. But before we begin our first item, I just wanted to remind council members of our rules regarding time limits as described in our council policies and procedures. And the rules state that each council member may speak up to three times with respect to any matter brought before city council. And allotted time shall not include the time spent by staff or public providing answers to council member questions. The first time a council member speaks to the matter, he or she shall speak for no more than three minutes. The second time a council member speaks to the matter, he or she shall speak for no more than three minutes. The third time a council member speaks to the matter, he or she may speak for no more than one minute. For summation purposes, we will strictly be adhering to our procedure rules during this meeting. Now, on to our report items, beginning with item F1. And joining us today is our budget director, Ms. Liz Paycoff. Good morning, chair and members of city council. Today, we take the first official step in the process to adopt the FY25 budget for the city of St. Petersburg. After this brief presentation, council will be asked to take action on two resolutions. The first will set a proposed millage rate, and the second will set the dates and times of the two public hearings. The first of which is scheduled on September 12th, and the second on September 26th, both at 6 p.m. Per Florida Statutes 200.065, the city's hearing dates cannot conflict with the school board or board of county commissioner hearing dates. The school board is scheduled for September 10th, and Pinellas County on September 5th and 19th. So, by Tuesday, July 30th, the city's required to provide the trim information to the county's property appraiser's office, and this provides them with the time needed to mail the trim notices on August 19th. The proposed millage rate is the rate that will appear on the trim notices. If the millage rate increases between today and our first public hearing, the city is required to notify each property owner of the change at the city's cost, and we can reduce the millage rate but cannot increase it without incurring these additional costs. The proposed millage rate for FY25 is 6.4525 mils, which is a reduction of .0150 mils from last year's millage rate. The rate will bring in $218.4 million in ad valorem revenue, which is an increase of about 10.43 percent or $20.633 million over the adopted FY24 budget. And the general fund operating budget increased by $28.8 million, or 7.92 percent. This slide shows the proposed millage rate calculation. Property values received from the property appraiser's office as of July 1st, 2024, are $35.262 billion. We used 96 percent of the total property values, which equals $33.851 billion to account for uncollectibles and discounts, and is also per city fiscal policies. We then look at the FY25 general fund operating budget requirements, and the total recommended general fund requirement for FY25 is $393.338 million. When we subtract out of the revenues besides ad valorem taxes, which total $174.9 million, we get the total amount of ad valorem taxes needed to fund FY25, which is $218.424 million. And when we divide that ad valorem need, the $218.424 million, which is B on the slide above, by the 96 percent of gross taxable value, which is $33.851 billion, or A on the slide, we get the total levy of 6.4525 mils. This slide contains a chart with a history of the operating millage rate for the city. During the last 12 years, the millage rate peaked at 6.7700 mils in FY14 through 16, and the proposed rate for FY25 is again 6.4525 mils and is a decrease of 0.15 mils from FY24. The trim, or truth in millage legislation, requires the calculation announcement of rollback rates at public hearings and in newspaper publications. The rollback rate is the millage rate that would bring in the same tax dollars as the prior year with an allowance for new taxable value added to the city's tax base. The FY25 rollback rate is calculated as 6.0800 million, or sorry, mils, and would generate $205.825 million. And this is $12.6 million below the currently budgeted in the FY25 recommended budget. The proposed millage rate of 6.4525 results in an increase of 6.13% over the rollback rate. Property values overall increased 10.78% in FY25, and included in this increase are the TIF funds, and the FY25 contribution to our three TIF districts is estimated to increase by $4.393 million over the FY24 adopted budget. State statutes were amended in FY08 to provide for a maximum millage rate that may be adopted by a simple majority. The majority vote maximum rate for FY25 is 8.8893 mils, and 9.7782 mils is the maximum millage rate and would need two-thirds votes to pass. The mayor's FY25 recommended budget is located on the city's website, and this concludes the presentation. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have any co-host on this? No. Okay. Council Member Henowitz. Thank you, Chair, and I had pressed my button before the presentation because I wanted to address the comments in terms of the time limits in our rules. I understand those are the time limits, but I would ask Council to think about what we're voting here today, which is the largest deal in the city's history. The total time limit that we have on an item is seven minutes. We can waive those rules and allow Council Members to, like it was said in a prayer, peacefully speak our minds on this deal that we've worked on. I don't plan to speak more than 10 minutes, frankly, but I think it's fair for us to be able to say all our thoughts at one point without having to worry about weight breaking every three minutes. I think that way gives each of us an opportunity to speak our mind, represent our constituents, and say what's on our mind. That's it. I don't think our Council Members here are going to take much longer than necessary to do that. We've had many meetings on that, but this gives us an opportunity to actually say what we need to say. Thank you. Council Member Floyd. Thank you. I do want to talk about the millage stuff, although I will mention something about that in a second. Excuse me. I recognize that, based off state law, we only have a few ways to lower the cost of living in broad strokes across the city, and that lowering the millage rate is one of those ways, but it is not the only way, is what I want to say. I think you've heard this from me before. Lowering the millage rate while raising utility rates disproportionately puts the impact of funding city services on our residents and working people. And I'll give you an example. This millage rate deduction for a typical single-family home valued at $350,000 is going to give back $5 a year, to a homeowner that owns a $350,000 home. But, you know, I just looked up a recently finished apartment building, the Evo, owned by a Miami developer. It's going to give them an $1,100 a year tax break. So it's regressive. This is regressive. And I recognize, and I'm not opposed to cutting the millage rate in all circumstances, but when we have utility rates escalating the way they are, paid for by residents, I would prefer to see us provide utility rate relief. And once we get that under control, we can talk about the millage rate. And so I just wanted to throw that out there again. There are two main ways that people pay for city services, their property taxes and their utility rates. And we're raising one that's paid for by residents, by individuals, by renters, and we're lowering the other one that's paid for by property owners who don't necessarily live here. And so I will recognize this is very small, not super impactful, but I don't support regressive fee and tax policy, and so I'm not going to support this today. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Monteneary. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for the presentation, Liz. Let me start with legal. Can we take both these resolutions up at once? You can. Okay. Thank you. I'll talk about the millage rate issue first, and then I want to get to Council Member Hanowitz's remarks. I, every year I propose a millage rate reduction myself, and the millage rate reduction, usually the millage rate reduction that I move forward is always a lot larger than the ones that we adopt. And I go through kind of my own analysis of our budget, and I calculate how much it's going to impact our budget when I move it forward. I strongly believe that we always need to be trying to work our millage rate down every year, especially as we continue to grow as a city. Liz, in your presentation, you talked about the increase in the millage rate from the rollback rate of 6.13%. So to your point, Council Member Floyd, nobody is really getting a tax decrease. We're decreasing the millage rate, but people's taxes are actually going to go up. This is just a way to help lessen the tax burden on people. And I agree with you. Besides the millage rate reduction, the other area that we control is the utility rates. And I think we need to work on both of those. The cost of living here in the city of St. Petersburg continues to go up. But I think as a goal, we always need to be trying to work our way to lower the millage rate and make sure that if we need to do an increase to our utility rates, we try to keep those increases to a minimum. So I'm fully supportive of what the administration is proposing here. I do have another question. We do have a low-income senior exemption, and it's something that I want to revisit. If we take the action today on the millage rate, I know we have a committee the whole meeting to talk about the budget. Can we still talk about the low-income senior exemption at the committee of the whole meeting and take action on it? I don't know if that's a legal question or an administration question. I think we've already adopted the one that you're talking about, so there wouldn't be any additional action we could take on it. Well, I'd like to increase the exemption. That's what I'm talking about. I think we're at the maximum that we could do by state statute. I believe it'd be a state change that would have to be done. Are we? Okay. Or that particular one. Okay. Why don't I meet, because I've been talking to our property appraiser about this issue, and he gave me some information that might conflict with what you just told me. So why don't I schedule a one-on-one meeting and talk to you about that? Sure. So I'll go ahead and move approval of 1A and B. Second. Thank you. We have a motion. Let's go ahead and vote first, and then you can make your comment. Well, no, we got it. Oh, okay. I don't know if they were going to talk about the other issue, but okay. I'll come back to the other issue, since this motion's on the floor. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Council Member Muhammad. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I'm talking about the millage rate also. And just quickly, I was hopeful that we would prioritize a balanced approach that supports our financial stability, ensures adequate funding of our essential services, while also avoiding placing unnecessary burdens on our residents in the manner that was highlighted by Council Member Floyd. And so I do think that our focus on sustainable revenue practices should ensure that we have the continued delivery of quality services for everyone, and also considering the impact of the rate increases in that context. And I do think that it's contradictory and sends a mixed message for us to continue to do it the way that we have been. And so I was hopeful that after our last conversation last year about this as a strategy, that we would see that in a more material and substantive way, other than, you know, we saw it, we looked at it, and this is what we're doing, which basically is no action at all. And so I won't be supporting this as well. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Vice Chair Gerdes. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I just want to – I don't disagree. Certainly we need to focus on the utility. I think the conversation upcoming in BF&T at our second BF&T about utility rate structure, I think, is a portion of that. I think if we really want to get into that conversation about the utility, then I think we should do that and do it in BF&T. And I'm happy to have that conversation, I would say that I – kind of what Council Member Montaneri said is that it's both. And so I just wanted to publicly say I'm happy and open for that conversation, but I don't think one negates the other. And so you brought it up, and so I just wanted to comment. So thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Council Member Floyd, is this on the military? No, that's – I'll save my comments for later. Okay. Council Member Driscoll. Thank you. I'm glad that we're in a position that we're able to reduce the millage rate again. And just to clarify, hopefully that's okay, what Council Member Montaneri said earlier, it's not that the taxes are going up, the taxes are actually going down. The payment still goes up because property values have increased. So I just want to make that clear, that this is actually a reduction in the millage rate. It's a reduction in the tax rate, if you will. But in the end, what it adds up to is an increase just because the property values are going up. And that's actually the sign of a healthy city. We, in turn, use that to increase services and increase our quality of life here in our city. So that part I'm totally in favor of. There is a good point to be made about the utility rates. We do need to continue to be strong with those because we have a lot of work to do within that. We have to make sure that that type of infrastructure is solid and continues to improve. Where I see an opportunity is for us to take a look at the utility assistance programs that are currently in existence and how can we expand that for those who are most impacted and are more in need of assistance. We have some good things in place right now, but there are many ideas that we haven't even explored yet. So I would be very supportive of having a discussion on utility assistance programs in general so that we can address that challenge with those who are needing it the most. Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no further request to speak, we have a motion and a second on F1A and B. Clerk, can you please open the machine for voting? Council members, please tell your votes. Now that all present council members have voted, can you please tally and announce the votes? Can you please? Madam Chair, the motion to approve agenda items F1A and B passes 62 with council members Floyd and Muhammad voting no. Council members Driscoll, Vic Sanders, Gabbard, Gerdes, Hanowitz, and Montanari voting yes. Thank you. I'm going to, yes, I'm going to, is this F1A and B that you all are speaking at? I'm asking a question. Okay, so right now it's showing that we're speaking on F1A and B. We're actually speaking on Council Member Hanowitz's request. So I don't know if we, I don't want to confuse anyone. And before I call Council Member Montanari, I just want to give a background as to what this conversation is about. We actually had a Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday specifically to speak about the gas plant and to get unresolved questions answered and council members were given unlimited time to do so. It was requested a number of times to do so. When we had the full team in regards to have these conversations and to be able to ask these questions because we knew today was going to be a full day. Although the difference between a Committee of the Whole and council meetings are there are less cameras at a Committee of the Whole and our constituents can't speak. So the offer was made for unlimited time and it was also suggested and said during that Tuesday Committee of the Whole that everyone not having any additional questions would be okay with time limits on Thursday. At that time, there were no objections. Now, if this is the will of the body to go without the time limit, I'm definitely going to ask for that to be a voted item. But now I just wanted to provide a background as to where this came from because we were slotted to have unlimited conversation on Tuesday and it was chosen not to do so at that time. And please let us not discount the conversations that we're having in the sunshine because those conversations were also being had in the sunshine. And let us not discount the time limits as saying that it is less important, that the more you speak about it, the more you're being heard. That is not the purpose of time limits. And I'm sure that previous Council Chairs can understand why time limits have been in place on certain items. But I am looking forward to hearing the feedback of the will of the body and other Council Members. So thank you, Council Member Monteneary. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for walking us through that. I agree with Council Member Hanowitz. This is a historic day for our city and a very big issue. I am not planning on speaking more than 10 minutes myself, but just because of the nature of this Ray's-Hinds deal and all that's gone on and leading up to this, I don't have, I agree with Council Member Hanowitz that I think the time limit on this subject should be dropped. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Council Member Floyd. Thank you. Yes, since we got on this discussion, I figured I'd add my comments as well. The only thing that I was going to say is that my comments are short, but the three minutes, then three minutes and one minute is the tricky part. So, yeah, if they were combined, that would be good. I wasn't sure that that was clear from the way you described it. But the combination would be plenty. So, but at the same time, I also want to recognize, like, you're the chair. I totally respect your ability to run the meeting as you see fit. I just thought that I'd say, like, if, you know, you can combine, it would make life a little easier. Thank you. And I can entertain that. Council Member Driscoll. All of a sudden. Thank you. I agree with the others that this particular day has some important things, to say the least. And I don't think it's a day for us to say the least. I think that we need to be given ample time. You do not, we do not know what is going to come up that may cause the need for further discussion. And I don't want the rules to get muddy because of that. We do have a lot of public comment. And I'm sure that we'll be hearing today. And this is a day to continue listening, as we all have been throughout the process. But I am very concerned about limiting our ability to speak as we do represent the people. And we may have a need to make a response when it's time to do that. Or be able to present a suggestion for a change. I mean, there are a number of things that could happen. We want to get this right. And I don't, I think you're right. We should not discount the time spent speaking in the sunshine. Because this is our opportunity to really get it all out there before we go to vote today. So, I would appreciate having that flexibility. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Muhammad. Thank you, Madam Chair. I would also support having the flexibility with the time. And to Council Member Floyd's point about the three, because I was thinking, too, like, okay, three minutes and then stop. Like, a lot of times we're just warming up. So, but saying that as the only person who's had a question called because I abused the time. So, I'm definitely mindful of that. And I think that if yesterday's any indication of how we're considering the time, I think we'll be okay without strict adherence. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Gabber. Thank you, Chair. So, you know, kind of leading up and working into today and being prepared for today, I really came here today more to listen to our voters, to the people who elected us to sit here. Because we've spoken a lot. I mean, you've all been listening to us for months and months and months, be it in a cow, be it in the press, be it in our own personal communications with residents, in meetings. You've been listening to us, right? It's our time to listen to the public. And I do respect my colleagues and their ability to debate, ask additional questions that maybe have come up last minute, things like that. But I was quite surprised on Thursday, or Tuesday, I'm sorry, when the cow ended fairly abruptly because we all just decided we were done with asking our questions. And I just don't want there to be today an opportunity for us to throw all of our rules out the door and go on to an unlimited, you know, diatribe that may or may not actually result in any sort of positive movement forward. So I would like to just kind of maybe offer a solution. I'm hearing 10 minutes, 10 minutes, 10 minutes. I think I've heard that three times. We have seven minutes currently because it is total. What if we added an additional three minutes in, you know, three minutes, three minutes, three minutes, one. That gives 10 minutes. I think that's what I was hearing the body wanting. And so, Madam Chair, I respect your ability to lead this council. I would have never voted for you for chair had I not believed in that. Being an immediate past chair, I know how difficult your job is today. I'm very respectful and considerate of that. And so I would offer that up for a friendly solution to our issue. But what I don't want us to see is an unlimited, you know, continuance of conversation back and back and forth that is not, at the end of the day, possibly going to be fruitful. I want to hear from residents while coming up with something that makes sense for all of it. I have a question for legal. So I'm hearing the 10-minute time. I've heard everyone say 10 minutes. So we have come into concurrence with that. And I definitely understand the break in the questions in this regards. So if we implemented the 10 minutes per council member, how do we move forward with that? Because I will entertain that since that has been the consensus of everyone. Because I don't want to just throw rules out of the door because we can. So I would like to explore that 10-minute that we've heard from everyone. Yep. So two options, Madam Chair. You can grant that. You have the prerogative to grant that flexibility. That's specifically provided in the manual. Alternatively, it can be done by a motion of city council and a majority vote. That's not necessary if you choose to do it yourself. I think all of council members are familiar with the three-minute, three-minute, one-minute. You normally hear the beep, but don't need to specifically stop each time and say you're rolling your time. So it's up to you if you just want to have the clerk set the clock for 10 minutes and you'll hear the stops along the way. That's all that would need to happen. I think I'm going to do that because my intent was to hear the public, to hear our comments. And so I didn't want to rush that because, as Councilmember Gabbard said, we've had the opportunity to speak and ask those questions. And I would love for us to hear the comments for that. So that's where I'm going to go. Councilmember Hanowitz. Well, thank you, Chair, and I just want to say thank you for listening to my concerns and for the other council members and their thoughts on this. My intent wasn't to go into a questioning mode today because that was what the cow was for. My point was, if you want to make commentary on it, that you don't have to worry about how much time you're taking and just make the commentary. There are four different items here that deal with the raise. Frankly, there are much more than 10 minutes involved in all those items if you add up all that time together. And if I'm going to talk on one for 10 minutes, chances are I won't talk on the other ones. So we're actually saving time. So I just think it makes it much easier. And I'm just happy everybody kind of is on the same page. So thank you very much. Thank you. So that's what I will definitely acquiesce to that request. And we are still going to allow our constituents more time to speak and for us to listen. Coming to that resolve, thank you. There's no vote required. I'm going to go ahead and grant that. Now we're going to move on to item F2. And we are going to have our city development administrator, Mr. James Corbett. And there's no public comment on this. So, Chair, we would, at the pleasure of the Chair, we would respectfully request that the administration be allowed to do this report after the break. It leads into our other items. And so I think it would make sense to just do it after the break if the Chair would approve that. Okay. So this is on the agenda that you all approved. So I'm just following the agenda. Yes, I understand. Okay. All right. So what we could do. Madam Chair. No, I understand exactly what he's saying. So what we could do, we can go ahead and break for this. Now we're only going to do 30 minutes. Is that enough time for you? Yes, ma'am. We'll be ready. Okay. So again, for the record, you agreed to this portion during this time. All right. So we'll go ahead and we'll recess for 30 minutes. And we'll see everyone back at 1240. Thank you, Chair. You're welcome. I didn't gather when I went out, did I? We're going to call July 18th council meeting back to order. And we are now going to move on to item F2, the overview of the historic gas plant redevelopment and stadium project. And joining us is our city development administration, Mr. James Corbett. Welcome, Mr. Corbett. Thank you. Good afternoon. So good afternoon, Madam Chair, Vice Chair, members of city council. I'm James Corbett, city development administrator for the city of St. Petersburg. Today is a culmination of years of work by elected officials, city staff, county staff, community members, and the Tampa Bay Rays. It is my privilege to bring to you a package of the agreements necessary to move forward the pivotal redevelopment of the historic gas plant district. So before I review the process, I'd like to invite a few key individuals to the podium to make opening remarks. We will begin with our mayor, Kenneth T. Welch, followed by Stu Sternberg, the owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, and then Ms. Gwendolyn Reese, president of the African American Heritage Association. Thank you, Mr. Corbett. And good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of city council. Madam Chair, thank you for your leadership through this process. Thank you to our St. Pete team, our Heinz Race partners, the descendants of the historic gas plant who are with us, and all the members of the public who are here in person or watching virtually. This is a day that has been more than 40 years in the making. We've talked often lately, and as you all know, I'm on a history bent lately, because history matters. And before these 86 acres were dubbed Tropicana Field, it was a community, and that community had a name. Many who are newer to the community and some who are longtime residents were not aware of the history of this community. So as you know, upon issuing a new RFP after my election in 2021 and taking office in 2022, I changed the name of this initiative to reflect the history of the historic gas plant community. Promises matter as well. And so we have focused intentionally on the promises made to the gas plant community. The promises of economic opportunity, inclusion, and jobs. Like historian Gwen Reese, who's with us today, and many of the historic gas plant descendants who are here today in support of this proposal, we have lived that history. We walked the streets. We worked and worshipped in the gas plant community. And out of respect for that history and legacy, our team and our partners have been focused on keeping those promises at the forefront of these negotiations. We believe that the legacy of the historic gas plant should be honored and preserved by those with a genuine connection to its history and a demonstrated commitment to those promises and our future. Partnership matters. The proposals before you today would not be possible without the partnership of Pinellas County, the Heinz Tampa Bay Rays Group, our city team, and our city council. As council, your due diligence and vision has been invaluable. I've actually enjoyed those meetings. The give and take, the focus on our shared progress is very important. And I'm proud of the agreements that you have helped to shape, agreements that will be transformative and transform these vacant but sacred acres into productive land that will once again produce jobs and green space, housing for residents of all income levels, and secure the economic engine of Major League Baseball in our city for decades to come. I want to thank you for your partnership. Leadership matters as well. When I ran for mayor, I promised to focus on the facts, to listen to all voices, including those with whom I disagree, and to work for inclusive progress and community impact. We've done that, but at the end of the day, there can only be one plan submitted to you for your approval, and I have high confidence in the plan before you today. In terms of community support, the list of supporters for this proposal is broad. I think you've all received the latest update on that. From the St. Petersburg NAACP to USF Tampa and USF St. Pete, Orlando Health and St. Anthony's Bay Care, the Edge Business District Association, and St. Pete Pride, to the St. Petersburg Chamber, the St. Pete EDC, the Tampa Bay Partnership, and many local businesses, community, and faith-based organizations and individuals, the list of supporters looks like St. Pete. It's extensive and diverse and includes elected representatives, including Congresswoman Kathy Castor and State Senator Darrell Roussan. And notably, many who have lived in the historic gas plant, some who are here today, stand in support of this partnership. And finally, facts matter. The agreements before you will bring great economic impact to our city in a responsible and an equitable way. By consensus as a council, you have helped shape these plans. You've heard from our team and consultants on the impact of these plans. And we could not go forward without the significant financial partnership from the county and the Rays. And the plan is well within our ability to fund without impacting our other priorities. As to the stadium agreement, far from being an unreasonable subsidy or giveaway, it is a major win for our city. We are paying $287.5 million, or about 21 percent, of the stadium cost. The county, utilizing bed tax funds that can only be used for tourism or sports-related projects, is contributing $312.5 million, or about 23 percent. And the Rays are paying more than 50 percent of the construction cost, assuming the cost of insurance, future capital expenditures, and any potential cost overruns. The cost-sharing plan for the new stadium was reviewed by Florida Tax Watch and deemed, quote, fair and reasonable, compared to other professional sports stadium agreements around the nation, many of which had a much higher public subsidy, both in real dollars and in percentage of total costs, and that is in Table 5 of the Florida Tax Watch report. Now, we excel at public service delivery in the city of St. Petersburg, and we did long before I was elected mayor. We do a number of things extremely well and have received accolades for our management and delivery of services, most recently classified as the best-run city in Florida by WalletHub. Our pillars for progress include, as you know, housing, environment, infrastructure, and resilience, neighborhood health and safety, equitable economic development, the arts and business opportunities, and education and youth opportunities. We will remain focused and committed and invested in all of those pillars. This is not a false choice between this project and those pillars. The $1.1 billion recommended budget that you just discussed briefly is evidence of our continued investment in every one of those pillars, and we continue to prioritize and innovate to enhance our work in each pillar. Importantly, the property taxes, sales and bed taxes, the wages and the jobs generated by this project will strengthen our economy, not weaken it. From the outset, our goal was to develop a balanced proposal that addressed our community priorities, balancing our investment with the returns on that investment in terms of jobs, housing, office space, open space, community benefits, and so much more. But like any formula, and I'm going to limit the math here, the variables can only be adjusted in a thousand different ways. We could adjust sharing of revenues or insurance and CapEx costs or the value of the land or the requirements for office space and housing. We can adjust all of those variables, but at the end of the day, there's only one proposal set that I can bring to you. And I believe that this portfolio of investments and returns is the best path forward for our city. And as your mayor, with my administrative and legal team and our partners, I'm honored and excited to present this package of agreements to you and ask for your approval as we honor our past and finally move with courage and resolve to a brighter future. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Hi there. Why did you guys all sign up for this? Jeez. It's a lot. I recognize it, and I apologize in some respects for bringing this all upon you. The city, all of our workers at the Rays, our employees, Major League Baseball, it literally has taken a village and a city to get to this point right now without getting into all the details. And we've been at this, and I've been at this personally now for 20 years plus. The two fellows sitting here have been with me that time, and we've been through a lot of ups and downs and trials and tribulations. But our goal from the very beginning and remains not to create any problems really was to have a Major League Baseball team here, have it be fun, have it bring a lot of community together, do a lot of good things. I do think it's indisputable. It's one of the few indisputable things that those are goals that we had, and we did hit all those marks. The team has been great, well beyond my grandest expectations and everybody in Major League Baseball. What we've been able to do and the joy we've been able to create is far surpassed anything I could have imagined. The good we were able to do in the community. It's always been my intention and our intention to have the team remain in Tampa Bay and specifically in St. Petersburg. We have tried some cockamamie schemes. We've tried whether it was sail roofs and splitting seasons, looking around the area, but it was always my direct intention to keep the team in Tampa Bay and in what's now my home and has been for five years St. Petersburg and multiple employees of ours who live here in St. Petersburg and own homes and pay taxes and have kids go to public schools and private schools and are members of religious organizations and charity groups and everything else that we bring to bear. We would want it no other way. We need, when and if this gets done, and I recognize the importance of the day today clearly, we need this city to continue on the trajectory that it's been on. From my vantage point personally, things were moving along okay, took off a number of years ago, and really put the confidence in me on the future of this city to plant roots here for what will be another 35 years or so. 30 years plus the time we're here right now we had never considered taking the team elsewhere out of the region we did look in Tampa at a period of time we're here now this is our opportunity to get this done. I recognize that it's an incredibly important decision for you all it does feel to me that outside of the details and and it's always in the details it is something that we all do want to happen right you know people don't think we're doing XYZ with the land we're not doing enough with this we haven't provided enough of that we should contribute more or less whatever it happens to be I'm not I'm not minimizing any of that please understand. understand. However, I do feel that each and every one of you and and even the people here in this room people who've spoken to you against this proposal want to see it happen. It's just they don't necessarily like the details of it and I can't sit here and say that I'm you know extraordinarily thrilled with the details or not but this is the negotiation that has happened with an incredibly strong mayor and and and an amazing person right here who I would tell you without him in particular writing on this whole thing none of us are standing here today and obviously many others but I don't know how he's even got his eyes open. Yeah. And and and his incredible staff so my vantage point on things so again it's not to minimize it all I recognize and this is again just the first step we you know we have the county involvement as the mayor said you know there's a huge commitment there as well from tourist tax dollars we believe and we know what we bring in here as far as bed heads in beds and people coming to restaurants and all the other thing whether it was WWE or enchant that was here and concerts and and home shows that are going on now we try to keep things active and we try to do everything we do everything we can for the community because it's in it for no other reason it's selfish we need this community and this city to thrive we are a business here and we are we're a part of this area and we're going to commit to being here through at least 2058 I'm doing math correct and obviously we'll extend well beyond that I can't go past it very unlikely I'll be alive at that point. Love to see it happen though. I don't mean to joke about it or play play it down at all but it is an important day I really appreciate all the time and effort that each and every one of you put in whether you're this way or that way. Genuinely it's I know it's I know it's well thought out the amount of work you've all put in and thought and I know you've been taking punches from people you know when you're out at your health club or you know at your religious organization or at a bar or restaurant whatever it is just walking around people poke at you and you know you should do this you should do this you should do it I don't know how you do it but thank you all for representing representing me and representing our organization and all of my employees and our residents here for what you do on a daily basis and it's not a pandering thing I really it's it's almost thankless in respect and just the amount of time you're putting in here today and the books and everything we put together for you so I just you know I guess in summation you know we expect to be here we believe we're going to be here and I know that we will put together a product and something that will make each and every one of you proud for decades to come and people will point to you and say gee mom dad and you know I grandma grandpa I'm I'm so happy you did what you did because look at this look what we have going on here right now and everything around it so thank you for the consideration today and and we can take this big step together and when it gets done we can all join together and sit on the same side of the table and and do productive stuff and really try to grow this thing thank you namaste um madam chair and members of council wow we're finally here thank you for this day spirit thank you for this day I'm waiting to exhale the exhale will come after the vote then I can completely exhale but I want to as Dr. Basha Jordan and Wanda Stewart come and join me up here I want to say thank you thank you to each and every one of you and every one of you for all that you've been doing um over these months you have carried out your job the way you were elected to do it the process has been not always that pleasing for us but it was absolutely a necessary process and I appreciate that I respect that and I want to thank you because I know it has not been easy as those who preceded me said I also want to thank the Heinz the Raid's development team for the Raid's development team for understanding the importance of the history of that area and for valuing the input of and we're not all descendants some of us are former residents we actually live there as in our parents and our grandparents but understanding how important it was and is and will continue to be to include us in every aspect of the redevelopment and I want to thank the gas plant Laura Park and we will not forget Laura Park and we will not forget Laura Park because Madam Chair your connection is to Laura Park and Laura Park and the gas plant area and we refer to ourselves as the gas plant Laura Park group because they lost their homes too and I want to thank those not every single resident it stands with us but many of them do and for those who do and have given of their time have met with architects have met with the owners have met with council people I want to say thank you you are here with me many are here with me today they've been with us every step of the way and we cannot the team cannot express our appreciation for their input the energy and time that they have given to us once again thank you thank you mayor for your leadership in this thank you Heinz Riggs for valuing our input and knowing that we have something to say and what we have to say is important and so very briefly Madam Chair very briefly we have two people who would like to express their sentiments thank you thank you for giving us the opportunity my name is Wanda Stewart I reside here in St. Petersburg Florida I'm a descendant of Bonnie Carruthers who resided at 330 18th Street South the first move was dealing with the interstate the second move we dealt with the movement from 1304 where I was a actual neighbor of Gwen right across the street and next door to us was Mordecai Walker Mordecai Annapal Walker I want to say thank you for your support for your listening ear for giving us the opportunity to even have a place at the table when my grandmother worked diligently to have a home she didn't know she was going to be giving up her home to move on to another location but one thing I noticed is I reviewed many statements in the history while she worked at Gibbs high school for 20 some odd years and paid on her first home she and my grandfather she realized that change was coming change is constant we can't stop we have to keep moving on and at this point that's why I stand here in support of what has taken place with the Rays and with the city we lived in a community that actually helped me to develop to become who I am and what I do in the community I work as a community drug prevention educator and have worked for a number of years with operation par which gives me the opportunity to take care of my family I've been tugged at so it means it's time to go so thank you to everyone because I can continue to speak but thank you very much first of all giving honor to God who is due all of the honor and the glory I'm Dr. Basha P. Jordan Jr. pastor and founder of Hope Alive Outreach and I'm also the grandson of Elder Jordan Sr. for whom Jordan Park is named after my grandfather was a former slave but by the time he died in 1936 he had added a lot of value to this city my daddy used to say what you do sounds so loud I can't hear what you say I'll repeat that what you do sounds so loud I can't hear what you say I asked myself why do I support this project I support this project because I trust this man right here I trust our mayor it's a terrible thing when you elect someone such as all of you all who are here have been elected it's a terrible thing when persons who elect you don't trust you somebody ought to say amen so I trust this man I may not agree with everything in the contract but I trust him final thing I want to say is I've been married for 43 years I'm finding out new things about my wife every day and some of the things that I find out about her I don't like and don't understand but I don't leave her standing because I made a commitment to her to love honor and cherish till death us do part if you can support this project I believe God is with us the same way I believe that God is with this man who is our elected mayor thank you thank you madam chair and thank you chair I want to point out that there's someone with us and please gas plant lower park people please stand where you are but there's a young lady with us who told me at lunch that she brought her mother here to vote for on the first stadium vote and now she and her brother linda mag please stand she and her brother are now very involved all these years later carrying on their mother's work once again from the gas plant lower park and the value of the history of african-american presence in st petersburg thank you thank you very much mayor welch mr sternberg and miss reese and gas plant descendants I guess I should have thought this through a little better the rule is you never follow of miss reese but we'll try to continue so what I'd like to do now is give a brief overview of the specific process that led us to the city council action today the city released an rfp in august of 2022 for a developer or development team to redevelop the historic gas plant site and based on community input the rfp included 23 guiding principles that focused on attainable housing equitable business opportunities the creation of new commercial space office space and retail in addition it focused on meeting space open space and the overall equitable and impactful economic development that benefits the entire community we received four proposals and the city team of administrators directors managers along with the city's consultant hrna evaluated each proposal and provided their feedback to mayor welch in january of 2023 mayor welch selected the heinz ray's team to redevelop the historic gas plant district this process has involved the community since day one in fact it's involved the community even before day one there were four community conversations held that were held to help shape the rfp before it was ever issued each of the four firms prevented presented their proposals to the community and the initial terms of the deal were presented back in september of 2023 there was a community input session on the terms and that took place in december of 2023 a community benefits advisory committee was formed in early 2024 to provide input on the community benefits portion of the agreement and in may of 2024 the community planning preservation commission unanimously approved both the proposed development agreement and the zoning amendment administration has worked with city council to keep you all informed throughout the process i'm sure as all of you are well aware and have lived this even as recently as a few days ago we've had four committee of the whole meetings we've had numerous individual council meetings uh to keep you update updated along the way throughout the negotiations if this is approved this will be a transformational project converting acres of uh stadium and asphalt into a thriving community some of the descendants talked about the community that was there before this would allow us to to revive or recreate a thriving community with eight million square feet of mixed-use development a new state-of-the-art ballpark affordable and workforce housing both on-site and off-site a minimum of much needed office and commercial space new hotels and conference space a new entertainment venue and the revitalization of booker creek with at least 12 acres of open space it's estimated that over six billion dollars with a b in total construction will be invested on this site heinz ray's team will pay 105 million dollars for the land and they must pay a minimum price of 50.4 million for for the land payments by 2036 the city will invest 130 million in infrastructure necessary to support the site and 287 million for the new stadium as been has been mentioned previously the city's investment is capped the city will not be responsible for any cost increases or overruns additionally water resources will invest in a new lift station on the site in order to ensure timely and ongoing development there are three interim milestones that are required and they are at 2030 2035 and 2045 the historic gas plant redevelopment is a term of 30 years and the stadium operator agreement is for a term of 30 years with two five-year options within the development agreement it includes a 50 million dollars towards intentional equity to be paid by the developer to support education job training local business development and to support the new woods and african-american museum of florida in the historic gas plant district additionally the developer has voluntarily and contractually agreed to utilize apprentices disadvantaged workers and certified businesses for the stadium the infrastructure and the vertical development based on the target development plan the development is estimated to generate 475 million dollars in new property tax and tiff revenues for the city of st petersburg over the first 30 years this development will also create 30 000 construction related jobs and 11 000 permanent jobs once the project is complete following my overview here today city council will be asked to vote on multiple items to move this project forward while there will be multiple votes we ask city council to view this package of agreements each one as a crucial part of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform this land back into a thriving neighborhood and a destination where visitors from around the region in the world will be proud to come due to procedural and legal requirements we will not follow the order that's specifically listed on the agenda where all items on the agenda will be discussed with chairs approval city council will first convene as the cra to consider two resolutions the first resolution will be recommending that city council approve amending the interlocal agreement with pinellas county for the in-town redevelopment area and then the second resolution will be recommending that city council approve changes to the in-town redevelopment plan following that city council will reconvene to hear three items the first will be item f3 a resolution approving the 12 agreements related to the historic gas plant redevelopment this is the uh these items include the historic gas plant redevelopment agreement the stadium development agreement and funding agreement the stadium operating agreement and the team non-relocation agreement depending on where we are at that time we would begin the public hearings for the agenda items j1 and j2 item j1 is the second reading and public hearing for ordinance number 585h amending the in-town redevelopment plan to incorporate the new stadium project and the historic gas plant redevelopment infrastructure as eligible tiff expenses item j2 is the second reading and second public hearing on ordinance 584h a development agreement serving as the regulatory document identifying the geographic area for the district addressing the impact of the project on public facilities and services and finding consistency with the city's comprehensive plan after that city council would reconvene as the cra once again to consider a resolution confirming the project's consistency with the in-town redevelopment plan and the in-town west plan finally city council will reconvene reconvene as city council for the final three items and those three items are a resolution authorizing the issuance of non-avalorum revenue bonds to finance the project related to the new stadium and the appointment of bryant miller olive pa and frager drinker biddle and reef as special legal counsel the second would be a resolution authorizing the issuance of non-avalorum revenue bonds to finance the infrastructure related to the historic gas plant district redevelopment and to confirm the appointment of bryant miller olive pa as special legal counsel and finally a resolution acknowledging the selection of skanska usa building inc as the city's owner representative for the historic gas plant district we fully recognize the significance of today's proceedings and we have many project team members here to answer questions as needed i would like to personally thank uh city council for their time for their due diligence for the questions for for the i believe this process has worked well uh i have i have a tremendous amount of respect for city council i have even more respect for city council throughout this process because i believe you all have pushed us to make this deal even better so i thank you for your time and consideration all right thank you and you'll be glad to know mr corbett we have the same agenda you have so now we will recess as city council and we will convene as cra and we will now take up items cra 2 a and b and joining us is assistant city administrator tom green and our debt financing director miss anne fritz well thank you madam chair and good afternoon council tom green assistant assistant city administrator uh very happy to be here and to talk about these two uh resolutions uh the first resolution of the cra recommending that the city of st petersburg city council approve the second amended and restated interlocal agreement between the city of st petersburg and pinellas county the second resolution is a cra recommendation that city city of st petersburg city council adopt the proposed amendments to the in-town community redevelopment plan and i'll review the first resolution and this slide may be familiar to city council you've seen this at pretty much all of the committee of whole meetings there are generally four things we're seeking to do in the in-town plan or in the second amended and restated interlocal agreement uh extend for city only contributions through 2042 so an additional 10 years we also will be adding the new stadium project and the historic gas plant redevelopment infrastructure project the stadium project we're adding 212.5 million for the historic gas plant infrastructure we're adding 130 million to the eligible project list identified in the new amended table 2. the third change we're seeking is to reallocate the county's surplus tiff contributions as of either 2032 or when this the county's cumulative contributions have reached their cap of 108.1 million whichever comes first and those resources would be reallocated to the new stadium project and then finally the the last change we're seeking in this interlocal agreement would allow our annual contribution to the trust fund to vary on an annual basis either up or down currently we're contributing 50 percent of uh the the incremental growth in the tax base in that district to the tiff in no year would it exceed 60 percent nor would it go below 50 percent before 2032 so those in summary are the four changes we're seeking in the interlocal agreement administration has proposed these certain changes to the second amendment restated interlocal agreement for consideration the cra staff recommends the community community community redevelopment agency approved the resolution and now i would like to turn it over to ann fritz very quickly to run through the next resolution um which is with respect to changes to the in-town plan now to get to the fun details good afternoon chair and city council members on this slide um the second resolution can for consideration this this afternoon is a resolution of the cra recommending that the saint petersburg city council adopt the proposed amendments to the in-town community redevelopment plan um we the agenda backup materials included the entirety of the in-town redevelopment with the proposed edits we will discuss on this and on starting here and on the following slides first we add a description of the new stadium project to the stadium plan on page seven of the irp the text of the slide is underlined because it's being added to the plan secondly we added the historic gas plant redevelopment infrastructure to the tropicative field site on page eight of the irp again the text of the slide that is underlined has been added additionally on page eight of the irp language is included that number one we extend the tiff for city contributions only to 2042 it also adds this new stadium project um in the amount of 212 5.5 million and adds the historic gas plant infrastructure project in the amount of 130 million which takes the total redevelopment budget to 574.854 million and it also allows the city to annually modify the city contributions up or down based on the requirements but never to exceed 60 percent next then we have on page 21 of the irp the irp text was added to update the trust fund programming related to the new stadium project in the historic gas plant infrastructure project the slide shows some of the planned investments of the 212.5 million new stadium projects such as the stadium parking garages and public art to name a few again underlined on the slide the slide also then continues with the on page 21 to include the infrastructure for the historic gas plant including uh roadways sidewalk improvements and new construction public utilities such as drainage sanitary sewer potable water and improvements to booker creek to name a few you can see the list up on the screen in addition then um on page 22 of the irp we add language relating to um the any any as previously referenced once pinellas county either reaches its 108.1 million cap or in in 2032 any surplus resources in the trust fund attributable to county contributions will be paid to raise stadium llc after the completion of the new rich stadium project these surplus resources will be used to pay debt service on the new stadium project finally then we have an amendment to table two and that is also incorporated into the irp which adds the new stadium project and the historical historic grant gas plant infrastructure project our recommendation is the proposed certain modifications in the in-town community development plan as presented in ordinance 585 h which will be heard at public hearing this evening um for consideration by city council and we recommend the city CRA recommend to city council the approval of the resolution no cards no speakers council member floyd thank you um we've had this discussion before i just wanted to reiterate one time i i don't uh one of the things that i like the least about all of this is the extension of the tiff uh the tiff is an imaginary line drawn around downtown uh and that then uh means that all of the taxes here we're talking 40 to 60 percent of the taxes uh generated there go back into downtown i would just prefer we could do this without doing that um it would be much more beneficial uh to the rest of the city if the tax is collected downtown where there's the most wealth in the city we're able to be spread out amongst the city um and so i would have appreciated us moving in that direction i understand that we didn't but i just wanted to say um i don't care for uh the downtown tiff and um i think that uh there was more equitable ways to move forward but i'll leave it there thanks thank you council member muhammad thank you madam chair uh just a quick question i think this is for legal it's in regards to an email that we received this morning um from dick pearson i'd just like to have it addressed the concern that was pointed out was that the proposed and the local agreement includes spending tiff funds for the in town cra on projects that are located in the in town west cra the email questions the legality and the appropriateness of this allocation and i'd like to maybe have you address that if you could specifically it highlights table two of the amended interlocal agreement and how it proposes 130 million in infrastructure projects with 40 million potentially being allocated and used in the um in town west well i haven't seen this uh email council member muhammad but you can't spend tiff outside of a cra boundary so right that's the that's the long and the short of it right and it the again the specifics are highlighting that that's actually being proposed maybe i don't know if the administration can is that actually what's being proposed do we have 40 million dollars that will be spent in in town west that will be coming from the in town cra the and brian as you come up thank you it also mentions specific parcels um so like parcel a and w and phase a and then parcels l m um and q1 through q3 phase are located in in town west thank you council member uh and good afternoon brian caper director of economic and workforce development so uh as attorney demas stated that is correct the the funds from in town must be spent within the in town cra however we understand our contribution um to this is capped at 130 million dollars um we understand that the infrastructure will cost more than 130 million dollars so due to the fungibility of money uh it is very possible for heinz to spend the 130 million dollars within the in-town property in town cra area and then use their resources to be spent in the in-town west cra okay so layman's terms the short answer is the funds from the in-town cra will be spent in the in-town cra and then the additional funds that extra 40 million will be spent by heinz rays that that is correct council members so the money from the in-town cra will be spent within the in-town cra any additional funding that is needed in in town west would come directly from heinz thank you thank you brian thank you mr dima thank you madam chair thank you councilmember driscoll thank you just to continue on that same topic right now um it's something that i had wanted some more clarification on as well and just so everyone knows the western um boundary of the in-town cra is 16th street we're talking about any infrastructure work that would be taking place west of 16th street um one of you will know um because i don't um the northern boundary of the in-town cra in that part of the cra is first avenue south that is correct is it both sides of first avenue south is it either side or does it end where first avenue south begins i believe it is the center line of the street so it would only apply to the southern portion of first avenue south okay could there be some sin could there be some scenario where we will be asked to consider using funds from the in-town west cra to help with any kind of improvements regarding this project that is happening inside those boundaries we do not anticipate that and we would not for for legal purposes we would not be able to spend in-town west cra funds in the in-town area so effectively anything south of first avenue south or east of 16th street can only be spent using in-town cra funds not in town west right and in the future um as as the work moves west and into the in-town west cra there will be no in-town west cra funds utilized that is correct all right thank you thank you you councilmember hanowitz thank you and like councilmember floyd i made comments on this item the first time it came up and i just want to reiterate uh some of those comments and concerns that i have on the cra which are similar legally the requirements for blight may be met but given the development patterns in downtown this is not the downtown when the cra was established back in 1982 1982 is when it was established extension of the tiff for another 10 years will allow this tiff for the maximum under the statute now just because you can get the maximum their statute doesn't mean it's necessary it does not include the county portion of the monies that would that now come in because they've decided that they're not going to continue being part of the tiff so those 10 years all the money that's going to be captured is going to be from the city and that would keep approximately 239.5 million dollars from going into our general fund which again serves our whole city it also allows the city to modify the city contribution percentage from 50 and increase it to 60 and again any increase from the current contribution is an amount in any amount decreases monies that will go into the general fund and for those reasons i can approve this thank you councilmember montaneering thank you and just have a question for legal can we take both of these up together you may i move approval of cra to a and b okay we have a motion and a second on cra a and b can you please open the machine for voting okay council movements will you please cast your votes now that all present council members have voted can you please tell and announce your votes madam chair of the motion to approve agenda item c r a 2 and b passes 5 to 3 with council members driscoll fix sanders gabbard girdus and montaneri voting yes and council members floyd henowitz and muhammad voting thank you so much thank you for the uh presentations we will now adjourn as cra and reconvene as city council and we will now move on to our continued report item f3 which is the resolution approving the 12 related historic gas plant development projects and joining us again is our economic development director mr brian kafer welcome back thank you very much good afternoon madam chair and members of city council it is truly a privilege to be with you on such a historic day for our city as administrator corbett discussed in his overview presentation this item is a resolution approving 12 agreements related to the historic gas plant district these 12 agreements are crucial for transforming the existing tropicana field site into the his the proposed historic gas plant district while each agreement serves a distinct purpose they are interconnected and all 12 are essential for the project to progress therefore we are presenting them as a unified package and requesting your approval through a single resolution encompassing all agreements before delving into the details of each agreement i want to address administrator corbett's email yesterday regarding updates to the exhibits legal depictions and descriptions since the historic gas plant district materials were submitted on july 5th we've revised several exhibits that pertain to multiple agreements notably all exhibits containing legal descriptions have been updated to ensure accuracy and consistency throughout a professional land surveyor has signed and sealed these documents verifying the precise depiction of all project parcels these legal descriptions are utilized in 10 of the 12 agreements and will remain consistent across them i will address the remaining two revisions under their respective items finally echoing administrator corbett's earlier remarks i want to emphasize the comprehensive review process these agreements have undergone we have presented these agreements to city council in three committee of the whole meetings on may 9th june 12th and july 16th as well as in individual meetings with council members given this extensive review i will proceed through the agreements expeditiously highlighting key aspects of each after the presentation members of city staff tampa bay rays representatives and heinz representatives will be available to answer any questions you may have the first agreement is the second amended and restated in town interlocal agreement which was just presented by administrator green and miss fritz and recommended for approval by the community redevelopment agency by a vote of five to three this agreement extends the in-town community redevelopment area through 2042 for city contributions only additionally the agreement amends table two to include 212.5 million for the new stadium project and 130 million for the historic gas plant redevelopment infrastructure next is the first amendment to agreement for sale with county which severs the new stadium parking garage and marquee parcels from the remaining property and releases the developer parcels from the original agreement to allow for the proposed redevelopment of that land third is the first amendment to the tropicana field leaseback and management agreement with county similar to the amendment to agreement for sale this agreement severs the new stadium parking garage and marquee parcels from the remaining property and releases the developer parcels from the original agreement to allow for the proposed redevelopment of that land it also spells out leaseback and management provisions between the city and the county fourth is the new stadium parcel agreement for sale this agreement transfers the new stadium parcels to pinellas county and provides conditions for which those parcels would be conveyed back to the city if any of the following are met a the new stadium parcels become taxable b the new stadium operating agreement expires or is terminated c if a change in law would exempt the city from ad valorem taxes on the new stadium parcels or d if this agreement or if the new stadium lease agreement is terminated fifth is the new stadium parcel leaseback and management agreement this agreement allows the city to lease the property back from pinellas county and manage it for the nominal rent of one dollar per year additionally it makes it clear that the county does not have the power authority or obligation to make any improvements or repairs to the property next is the historic gas plant redevelopment agreement one of the most significant agreements in the overall project the agreement addresses the redevelopment of the historic gas plant district around the new stadium parking garage and marquee parcels it includes target development standards as well as minimum development requirements and three interim minimum development milestones as a reminder the minimum development requirements include 3800 market rate residential units 1250 affordable and workforce housing units 1 million gross square feet of commercial office and retail uses including at least 500 000 square feet of class a office and medical office 50 000 square feet for civic and museum space 400 hotel keys 50 000 square feet of conference ballroom and meeting space at least one child care facility of 2500 square feet one fresh food and produce retailer of 10 000 square feet and 12 acres of open space note that these are required minimums however as market conditions permit we expect that the overall development will align more closely with the target development standards the redevelopment agreement has a 30-year term and includes details for parcel purchases conditions precedent for financing the infrastructure work and a list of eligible infrastructure costs one of the most critical and impactful elements of the redevelopment agreement are the project's community benefits first is the requirement of 1250 affordable and workforce housing units of which at least 600 must be located on the site additionally there is 50 million dollars committed for intentional equity that will advance the city's hopper housing opportunities for all efforts facilitate inclusive communication and outreach support local entrepreneurs and capacity building promote business development for small businesses minority-owned businesses and women-owned businesses support job training and mentorships that lead to job placement apprentices educational programming and other community initiatives his intentional equity commitment also includes 10 million dollars toward the construction of a new woodson african-american museum of florida as shared at tuesday's committee of the whole meeting heinz rays and the woodson african-american museum of florida have entered into a letter of intent on may 30th outlining the terms and conditions for delivery of the property and funding for the museum as part of the first phase of development to ensure accountability with these community benefit obligations heinz rays will provide an annual report to both city council and the city's community benefits advisory council standing committee demonstrating compliance with these obligations and any potential substitute obligations which would require city council approval finally the signature page of the historic gas plant redevelopment agreement has been updated since it was originally submitted to city council this update includes the names of the component entities of the joint venture between heinz and the rays the seventh agreement is the assignment and assumption agreement which assigns the current agreement for the use management and operation of the dome stadium entered into on april 28 1995 to teamco teamco will then assume all obligations promises covenants responsibilities and duties within the use agreement currently assigned to tampa bay rays baseball limited next is the 11th agreement to the agreement for the use management sorry the 11th amendment to the agreement for the use management and operation of the dome stadium in st petersburg the amendment extends the term of the agreement through the end of the 2027 mlb season or substantial completion of the new stadium and revises the current use agreement to align with the site's future redevelopment the ninth agreement is the development and funding agreement another critical agreement in the site's future the development and funding agreement establishes requirements for the development and construction of the stadium and establishes the responsibilities for each party the agreement provides the framework and requirements for the financing and funding of the stadium by each party and governs the development of the project improvements until the issuance of a certificate of occupancy the agreement covers four parcels the stadium parcel two parking garage parcels and the marquee the development and funding agreement also establishes preliminary baseline plans and definitive elements key aspects of the definitive elements include a fixed roof with air conditioning minimum of 25 000 fixed spectator seats at least 10 000 square feet of flexible meeting space for conferences two parking garages and all mlb requirements to host games to ensure the new stadium is ready for opening day 2028 the tampa bay rays in conjunction with key city staff have already selected populace as the stadium architect of record finn frock is the parking garage design build firm and mortensen construction as the stadium construction manager at risk next is the stadium operating agreement which establishes responsibilities for the parties to operate and maintain the stadium facility during its life cycle the agreement establishes the rights and responsibilities regarding stadium revenues and expenses including maintenance and operational costs it also establishes operating standards and sets forth defaults remedies and terminations the term of the agreement is 30 years from the first team home game with two automatic five-year extension periods at the team's discretion the agreement specifies that stadco will use manage operate maintain repair and replace the stadium at stadco's sole cost and expense stadco will conduct team home games and other mlb and baseball related events and activities in addition to other sporting events concerts fairs etc statco has exclusive rights to name the stadium facility and retain naming right revenues provided the name does not violate certain provisions in exchange for these and other revenue considerations stadco is responsible for the stadium's operating expenses like property insurance capital improvements and maintenance in a manner consistent with standards for a premier first-class stadium facility the agreement also includes 12 city use days for city or community events 5 000 home game tickets per season to be distributed to low-income families and a city promotional plan which calls for an annual st petersburg city uniform day plus efforts to wear the st petersburg uniform for at least one road game per season an in-stadium display honoring st petersburg's rich baseball history advertising public relations and signage as well as an opportunity to have city branded merchandise in the team store the final revision to the agreement exhibits previously submitted to council is to the city's promotional plan to reflect that stadco will donate one ticket to each city employee for an annual city celebration home game for both the remainder of the current use agreement and the new stadium operating agreement the 11th agreement is the team non-relocation agreement which requires team co to maintain its existence maintain membership in mlb and maintain its headquarters at the stadium or in pinellas county the agreement requires team co to cause the rays to remain in st petersburg and play all home games at the stadium with a few exceptions first as required by mlb for mlb special events which are capped at six per calendar year such as this year's mlb at rookwood field or mlb world tour second if mlb cancels home games due to a labor dispute third if mlb requires all teams to play in a specific location such as the covet bubble or finally if there is an alternate site condition that makes the stadium unusable or inaccessible the agreement requires the team must not relocate outside of st petersburg apply to or seek mlb approval to relocate or solicit or enter into any agreements to participate in negotiations with third parties that could result in relocation of the team finally is the team guarantee which team co guarantees stadco's full payment and performance obligations under each of the project documents including the development and funding agreement and the stadium operating agreement i would like to just take one moment to thank jackie kovalarich mccall dyer michael diema the city entire city legal team and outside council for their tireless work on all of these agreements i appreciate your time this afternoon now our city team members of the rays and heinz are prepared to answer any questions that you may have thank you thank you we'll now move to public comment and we have quite a few cards um i'm going to call two speakers at a time uh when you hear your name please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council first two speakers are terry lipsy scott and robin davidoff good afternoon i am terry lipsy scott executive director of the woodson african american museum of florida on a hot day in july 1986 2240 9th avenue south on a hot day in july 1986 the members of st petersburg city council took a leap of faith and voted to build a baseball stadium although the vote was not unanimous the majority of the council members shared a vision of bringing major league baseball to st petersburg this decision though it appeared to be risky on the future proved to be the right one and indeed it paid off 38 years later on this hot day in july this council faces a major decision that will impact our present our future and generations to come before you our esteemed leaders is a proposal for a public-private partnership that promises lasting economic and cultural benefits for the entire region this plan includes a rejuvenated booker creek a concert venue office and medical space attainable housing grocery stores equitable business opportunity meeting space and of course a new woodson african american museum of florida mayor members of council staff your comprehensive research exhaustive review and meticulous attention to detail have shaped a blueprint for intentional equity and inclusion i stand before you today humbled and grateful for your attention to the many details that you have had to address as it relates to what will be an outstanding opportunity for our entire city in 1986 i was among thousands turning dirt at the current trop site with a small shovel that read i dig the stadium i want you to know today here in the city of st petersburg 38 years later i still dig the stadium and with that i beg you to consider the future of our city and approving this extraordinary opportunity that it represents for us today tomorrow and generations to come thank you thank you miss dividal it has been brought to my attention that you spoke to both of these during open forum i'm going to go ahead and let legal explain that direction sure thank you madam chair so anyone that has already spoken on a particular item during open forum can't speak on the same item again so for example if someone addressed both of these deals including references to these agreements during open forum your rules prohibit speaking on the same matter again someone can speak on other agenda items as long as it's different from what they spoke about at open forum if anyone speaks now who spoke during open forum it has to be something different than what they addressed previously but it has to be related to the resolution that was just presented by administration you understand that yes ma'am thank you so much we appreciate you thank you um i'd like to address the tiff if that's okay thank you my name is robin david of uh 4830 osprey drive south that's not can she do that because only with only with respect that it is referenced in these agreements so there are some references to that in these agreements but not related to a public hearing item or something that you've already covered as when when you convened a cra okay so therefore she's had her opportunity to speak she could she could speak to cra as it relates to what is contained in the agreements referenced in this resolution but not beyond that am i sure if you have that information to speak on it i understand thank you well thank you so much for attending may i speak about the tiff it depends on what the context is yeah that that's just it well just tiff in general no okay okay thank you thank you i know it gets confusing after a while and we have a lot so thank you that's why we have such a dynamic legal team can you call the next two cards please next two speakers are jason mathis and pete boland please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council good afternoon my name is jason mathis and i am the ceo of the st petersburg downtown partnership a non-profit organization with a mission oh i'm coming to it i've got it written in my script you're right wait wait a mission to champion community prosperity through purposeful transformative projects our address is at 244 second ab south got it i wanted to just echo some of the things that people said thank you all for your service on city council it really is meaningful and i know you all approach it with dignity integrity and a real love of the city and that's apparent in everything that you do and regardless of how you vote today i know you're doing it because you think your vote is the right thing to do and it really matters i just want to say thank you because it means a deal a great deal i just wanted to say the historic gas plant district deserves a master planned mixed income complete neighborhood that can be a global example of smart urban design this proposal promises that after significant negotiations we believe that this project is the best way for saint pete to continue to grow in thoughtful and strategic ways and we encourage you to vote yes today in addition to retaining baseball in our city for future generations the rays are paying the bulk of the cost for a publicly owned facility that will also be used as a community meeting space conference center and concert venue we recognize the economic impact that will come from out-of-town fans who will travel to saint pete but to be truly successful the intimate ballpark must be actively programmed throughout the year we are encouraged by the design elements that will make it one of the most cross-purpose use stadiums in the country the heinz team with architectural expertise from gensler and guided by the sensibilities of local developers architects and planners is uniquely suited to produce something extraordinary far more than just a cluster of restaurants surrounding a ballpark the new historic gas plant district has the capacity to be one of the country country's great neighborhoods there has been significant discussion about the affordable housing components of this proposal and for good reason housing access and costs remain a critical issue for saint pete and 1250 units of affordable and workforce housing is a meaningful community benefit along with hundreds of millions of dollars in spending with minority contractors through the project but this project offers much more than just housing for many years our organization has advocated for new office space the current cost of construction inflated land values and high interest rates make it difficult to build new office buildings despite significant demand from potential employers who would like to expand or relocate to our city heinz with its experience resources and financial capability is better positioned than any other developer in the world to bring new office space and help attract thousands of new jobs to our local economy the green space performance hall woodson african-american museum walkability water elements entertainment aspects community gathering space connectivity to surrounding neighborhoods and intentionality about honoring the history of the site are all incorporated into this proposal many of these benefits are difficult to quantify financially but they will add to the quality of life for residents from across the city and region the impact of this development will be felt for many years beyond the site itself and your vote today to support this proposal is the right step to a future historic gas plant district thank you good afternoon everybody pete boland 4670 chancellor street northeast and wonderful beautiful shore acres i'll be very short and sweet i've spoken to so many of you i've spoken to so many people in this room we've been talking about this thing for a very long time for for at least 17 years since the allying stadium site was first discussed uh i think we're we're at this point in time because of so much work so much thoughtfulness so much effort so much care you know saint pete is a very special place people care about this place like like nothing else uh this is a very important part of of what's been going on in our city and i think now after everything's all been said and done now is a time to act and i think that we have a a project a transformational project in front of us that we need to move forward with uh as someone uh uh very close uh to me recently said this is about a bet on saint pete and my money's on saint pete i think this is this is our time this is going to be a big deal for us uh and uh i'm just thankful for all the things that have led us to this day and i'm excited about the prospects of us going forward thank you thank you next two speakers please next two speakers are michael mcgrath and esther matthews please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council good afternoon my name is uh michael mcgrath uh 1560 central avenue uh today i'll be representing cedar club florida in my comments uh council members um thank you again for the opportunity to speak um we are unfortunately just made by the final outcome of today's uh statement developments and also agreements um prior analysis we felt that the agreements did not go far enough while there was some gradual improvements for it it was incremental and was not really things the things we were looking for with as far as our stimuli priorities related to energy um climate resiliency and also the natural environment so overall we feel like this is a missed opportunity to hold um developers accountable for higher standards that are aligned with our city's sustainability goals um we felt like the city could have been a leader as it relates to um securing contractual commitments to make sure that these things are not just verbal commitments but rather are contractual contractual obligations and you know really without um having these commitments set in stone um it really makes makes it makes it come upon us make sure that we can actually um the developer from acting good faith as opposed to having these things be legally required and we all know that talk is cheap um so we have no we now have no other alternative but to ensure that um the rays and also the heinz honor their verbal commitments to us today and we want to be very clear that and we've met previously with with raise i'm very grateful for brian ald and also i'm stew sternberg who are here in the audience as well for giving us that audience and for each of you as well for giving us the audience to be able to speak with you and raise our concerns as well but we need to make sure that these things that we've been advocating for come to fruition post vote as well so the question is how do we do that what are the administrative mechanisms to ensure that um what's already been um asked for and can continue to be brought forward through stakeholders participation not only for the sierra club but other organizations have been involved in this process as well um what new systems will you create to help facilitate um stakeholder engagement for organizations like ours and many others who've been involved in this public process um you know we are very dismayed to see that the council bypass many of its already established sustainability commitments and we're not trying to advocate for this to be stronger language in the stadium but we're going to make sure that you know we can actually get this addressed as well in the future as well um so with that being said we don't want these to have empty promises on this site um we can't afford that to happen again we'll be working with um with you all with administration with raise hines make sure that we can actually get a better project in the future and uh with that said um we are still opposed to this as it currently stands but we'd like to engage on this project moving forward thank you all righty good afternoon city council chair and members first i was told that i needed to make sure that i bring greetings from our national and state leadership we just had our conference and my president madam adora adewisi let me know that they are watching so i am to acknowledge esther matthews 1601 16th street south president of the saint petersburg branch naacp i'm here today to reaffirm the naacp's unwavering support to this historic gas plant development this project holds immense promise for our community and for clarity and contrary to what has been said our 15-member executive committee along with our full membership voted unanimously to fully endorse this project when tropicana field was built in the 1980s it caused significant hardship for our community the development displaced the historically black neighborhood disrupting the fabric of our community and leaving many without homes businesses and the sense of unity that they had cultivated over the the years the promise economic benefits never truly materialized to our residents and our community felt overlooked and marginalized today we have a chance to make things right the historic gas plant development is not is not just another project it symbolizes hope equity and genuine community benefit this development will bring much needed jobs it's going to boost local businesses throughout the city it will provide essential economic economic opportunities for our residents and it also includes plans for educational initiatives green spaces health care access all crucial for the well-being of our community today's vote is not about popularity it's not about political pressure it is about progress nothing more nothing less but progress it's about generational stability and recognizing that saint petersburg is one saint pete is where all regions on every corridor deserves to thrive the historic glass pan development is a significant step forward in addressing the long-standing issues our community has faced the naacp urges the city council to support this development wholeheartedly this is the time where we must seize the opportunity to create meaningful change and ensure that our community needs are finally met and for clarity our stance this year in las vegas is that it's not us versus us it's not me versus them it's not them versus me it's we are all in and we are all in with this development thank you thank you next two speakers please next two speakers are william van orman and theresa jones please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council good afternoon council my name is will van orman address 115 112th avenue northeast in the gateway neighborhood of saint pete first of all i'm a resident of saint pete but more importantly i'm a baseball fan and i'm a strong way supporter i wasn't always a race supporter i used to support another team that you'll find out about in a minute um there you've heard reasons all day long about being for or against the stadium you may have even heard comparisons in the past to comparing this deal to the atlanta battery project that's not really a neighborhood that was built before there was nothing there um i have first-hand experience of what it is like to live in a neighborhood that went through a stadium renovation and a neighborhood revitalization before moving to saint pete i lived in the wrigleyville neighborhood of chicago for 20 years um they had a project after a change of ownership that was ended up being called the 1060 project and although it was very controversial first the alderman of the wrigleyville did not support it many neighborhood residents did not support the deal but eventually the deal got done it was approved about 10 years ago and it had two components renovation of wrigley field neighborhood revitalization many of the things we're talking about here today you know when you look at wrigley field what you don't realize is that although the outside of the building is 100 years old the interior of that building except for the bricks on the outside have all been renovated completely rebuilt over the last 10 years if you'd ever been in the ballpark you know you could potentially find concrete chunks landing on your head the bathrooms were a mess it is much much much better than it was today but more importantly is as a neighborhood resident i like going to wrigley field but i lived in the neighborhood and so for me what was the neighborhood like 15 years ago no green space around the ballpark there are many old businesses some of which were in really bad shape a neighborhood just north of wrigleyville called uptown was by far the most economically disadvantaged neighborhood on the entire north side of chicago so you move the clock ahead what is life like today so now there's green space right next to wrigley field and in the winter time people can go ice skating at a park right next to wrigley field there's mixed use housing across the street from wrigley field across from madison that is mixed use housing not nearly the number of units that you hear talking about today but it is a start there are new businesses what people don't realize is 10 years ago the nearest hotel to wrigley field was a days in a mile and a half from the ballpark you look today there is a hotel directly across clark street called the hotel zachary these are improvements that came about as part of this whole project the 1060 project um thank you thank you mr jones good afternoon madam chair and city council members i'm theresa jones my address is 40 55 third avenue south i stand before you today with a unique perspective as many of you know i retired from the city of st petersburg after 38 years of service here i currently am a retired semi-retired and i work part-time for the tampa bay rays with the box office staff as former council member charlie gertz always said always say the most important thing first so at this point the most important thing to me is that i urge you all to vote yes on these agreements i said it first because i want to ramble a bit you heard me mention having served 38 years as a city of st pete employee i started my first position here as a relocation officer and that was in 1977 and i was intimately involved in the first gas plant redevelopment plan supervising the staff who relocated the residents from the gas plant district i know of the promise of housing of employment particularly economic development for that site and i know also that those promises were not kept when the idea of utilizing that vacant space to lure a baseball team came to place when former council member bob stewart was a member of the city council at the time we were trying we built initially a multi-purpose stadium as i heard mayor mentioned during his remarks at the at the cow the other day we didn't know if we would get a baseball team because it initially wasn't even really thought of then we tried to get the the white socks i believe it was that we tried to lure here i also served in my past uh capacity with the city as the minority business coordinator when the stadium was built and there was requirements for minority and women-owned businesses to be a part of the construction of that facility as terry lipsy scott mentioned earlier i was also there with the shovel i still have that i dig the shell i dig the stadium shovel the long and short of it we've never in the history of this city had an actual agreement that codified 50 million dollars of intentional equity ever in the history of this city i think it's an opportunity we cannot pass up and i urge you to have the political will and courage to vote yes on this deal thank you thank you next two speakers are dylan dames and mike's sweezy uh please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council hi council my name is dylan dames i live at 4546 fifth avenue north on behalf of the faith in florida pinellas chapter made up of hundreds of rent burden residents and progressive people of faith i object to the agreements before you today to redevelop the historic gas plant district we object to the sale of the land especially for less than fair value the reason for this decision as stated in the city administrator's memo to city council on july 18th is as quoted pursuant to city code because the reduced land value in the city's financial commitment to the infrastructure work raise hines has agreed to several community benefit obligations in the six weeks faith in florida spent participating in the cba process our understanding was that the cbac convened to consider whether community benefits justified a public subsidy there was no discussion of whether that included a discounted land sale we're not experts in this field but we definitely are disappointed at the constantly shifting messages coming from the city and the lack of transparency around the value of the city's contribution to this project on top of the confusion surrounding this faith in florida's vision for a beloved community unfortunately departs from the city's residents need bold non-market housing solutions that use creative rent restriction to provide mixed income housing without seeking profit your responsibility is to consider our consistent pushback to the shape of this deal as well as your own collected data of resident concerns the city's website publishes our mayor's conversations with community where residents urge for residents to be prioritized over tourism for the land to remain city owned and for affordable housing and jobs because of the rejection of two of these concerns and dishonesty about the third one i asked city council to vote no on this agreement to maintain leverage and urge for something better please consider whether the processes here violate your neighbor's civil rights and compete and complete an equity analysis that can guarantee residents that any redevelopment of this land will not again displace more black and low-income people uh now that that's out of the way i allow me to address the elephant in the room with the remainder of my time here i have immense respect for my elders and what black leadership has done for this city and i know although it's not being said i know it might be a little unsettling to see the black community so divided on this issue but i invite you to consider the opposition and support of this deal through a different lens than race for a second who currently holds positions of power the support for the project or the opposition who will be alive in 40 years to inhabit the culmination of this project the support or the opposition who has passionately spoken on this issue from this dais not from meeting rooms for two years straight the support or the opposition we have more to think about here than packaging and optics there's too much at stake my council members thank you for your service thanks for your time madam chairperson and members of council mayor welch mr girdus thank you for having me today my name is mike swasey i reside at 235 third avenue north in st petersburg i'm also the president and ceo of the st petersburg area economic development corporation and i will say the most important thing first as mentioned by another speaker that i am urging for a support vote a yes vote on um on this issue i have over 30 years of experience in economic development working with many companies many uh world known known companies throughout um the country i've worked with apple amazon facebook nationwide principle wells fargo the list goes on and on this is the most exciting project that i have ever seen uh today though i'm going to focus my comments on three things uh operate the opportunity the jobs and the raise but before my comments i would like to say how proud i am of the council i've sat through the cows the questions are awesome the pushback has been great i'm so proud of mayor welch mr girdus and their team i'm also proud of to be here i'm actually humbled to be here and proud of pinellas county the rays and hinds this is truly inspirational to watch this historic public private partnership move forward the opportunity is a six billion dollar civic development project this is not a stadium project it's the largest single investment in our region's history and it's also a largest one of the largest projects in the country we just happen to have an mob team that wants to be the anchor tenant that's exciting um there are 30 current currently 30 mob teams in the country and we're in the smallest market we are lucky to have the rays as it relates to jobs this project will create thousands and thousands of jobs many many estimates have it at 10 000 jobs over 10 000 jobs this is the largest job retention project in our history over 1300 jobs uh that the rays have and many of them are citizens and residents of st petersburg who are probably sitting at home with their fingers crossed hoping that they uh this project moves forward this is also the largest job creation project in our history as i mentioned estimates are up to 10 000 jobs and then quickly uh to the rays lastly but not least the rays do a lot of things well they win a lot of baseball games um brian ald often often reminds us that since the new ownership took place we are the winningest third winningest team in the mlb and they give a lot back to the community i was recently at the foundation to raise money for st petersburg and i was blown away by the amount of money uh that they give back millions and millions of dollars i see my time is ticking so i'm going to get to another important point but more importantly than the money the rays are committed to intentional equity they have been a leader in the lb in the mlb regarding lgbtq equality and their commitment to the african-american community in this project moving from past disappointments to future opportunities thank you next two speakers are matthew holdgate and jordan lindsay please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council matthew holdgate and jordan lindsay okay uh both their cards indicated they're four next two speakers are chandler dempsey and dev devon amara uh please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council okay both those cards indicated that they're four next two speakers are grace dowling and christy bruner please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council good afternoon my name is christy bruner uh 5201 denver street northeast i am here representing both the business community i'm the vice president of advocacy at the st petersburg chamber and also as a mom of three girls two of which teenagers are currently working at our neighborhood pool serving our community and really that's one of the main focuses of this project i'm briefly here to support the support the project for the future of our city but really that's what the project encapsulates is those opportunities for our city our inclusion of youth and the feeling of belonging i want my kids to be able to feel like they belong they're part of something i want our youth to feel like they're working towards something and they have something that they can embrace as their own as as this project grows and they grow in our community um i want to know and communicate that this project is not perfect of course no project ever is but moving forward um as so many elements morph and change only by working together um in true st pete collaboration style will we all succeed and i just want to thank you all for your time and uh efforts and these and this uh willingness to serve our community during this pivotal time so thank you so much before reading the next two cars what was downings uh she her car indicated she was four okay next two speakers please um next two speakers are clayton brody and matt letler please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council good afternoon my address is 2801 58th circle south clayton brody good afternoon my name is clayton brody and i have been a resident of st petersburg my entire life being born and raised here i've been able to see the progression of the city over the years progression that if you are a transplant or a new citizen of the city you may not be able to comprehend i remember when central avenue consisted of just fergs a sunoco gas station and empty lots and now look at the central area i also remember when the sundial was called bay walk and beach drive there's a few sparse shops now look at the fear the flourishing area or when the pier was an aquarium in the columbia restaurant and now look at what it's transitioned to now why do i say this st petersburg is a quickly progressing city and has been for the past decade everything about trump i mean everything around tropicanna field has drastically changed over these recent years the one thing that has remained consistent is the support from the rays in tropicanna field which not only brings a community of spirit fan fan excitement and benefits to the city but more importantly it provides jobs and careers for local residents the city of st petersburg has been growing exponentially at an exponential rate with private investors building luxury apartments and affordable living and more wherever it is open space or low-income tenants that can and have been taken advantage of in the past this development could be an answer to some of those hardships face facing st p natives associated with the growing pains of an expanding city through the multitude of jobs and the job development that this project will generate through the multitude of jobs and development this development will generate the commitment of equity and education and affordable housing the rays have committed to making sure the history of st petersburg is not forgotten or erased in the state of florida black history has been essentially banned in schools making people ignorant of how we got here today part of the redevelopment is the woodson museum this museum will be a huge would be huge in keeping the legacy of those alive that came before us lastly i am born and raised citizen of st petersburg many people i grew up with on the south side of the city have been forced to move out of the city due to shortages of jobs and careers available to individuals without a bachelor's degree the jobs and the job core training programs that will be generated as a result of this development will be paramount to the future of st petersburg and generate careers for kids in schools right now in the city thank you thank you good afternoon matt lettler 3321 21st street north first of all thank you mayor welch thank you council thank you city administration for bringing us this deal today i cannot tell you how happy i am that we are finally here and i can guarantee that that is not even wincentilla of how happy the rest of you all are here happy that you're here today much like the previous speaker i'm going to go a little history one of my earliest memories in my life is going to church and picking up my great grandmother in her wheelchair in our van my dad said we're going to go on a little adventure and we came downtown and those of you who knew my father he was someone who asked forgiveness not permission and we drove right on to what is now center field of drop can of field right through just under the lot and then we got in trouble and told to turn around and leave and my grandmother tipped over in her wheelchair in the back of the car as we were leaving the place but i remember this and i remember going to that going into that stadium i also remember the florida white socks i remember having the t-shirt being so excited that we were getting a baseball team and for the illinois legislature to stop the clock before midnight so they could get a vote in at 1203 and break the law but the white socks stayed and they funded the new stadium there i also remember a few years later we had a team we were done we got it it says we built it and they came only to get stopped by major league baseball from getting a team in wayne huizenga down in miami so today i'm asking you to keep the team not get a team keep the team don't let us have that disappointment for my daughter who loves going to raise baseball games i want this stadium i want all the promises i can talk about all that but i want my daughter to grow up having a baseball team and coming back in when she's 40 and advocating for a new stadium on the same site or rebuilding renewing and keeping baseball here for generations to come so thank you for all your hard work thank you for your yes votes i'm looking forward to celebrating together on opening day in 2028 thank you next two speakers two speakers are sarah jane baitlock and robin looks like miney uh please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council good afternoon my name is sarah jane vatilow my address is 2420 5th street south i come here before you today as a concerned residence of saint petersburg i am a local architect and have written extensively on the topic of this development i work with developers day in day out and i understand the importance and the promise of this development but let me be clear that the information that we are being presented with does not align with the reality of the deal the devil truly is in the details this proposal for a public-private partnership is largely lopsided towards the private with a significant public investment up front and little assurance of delivery so the deal is imbalanced the risk this city is taking and accepting the terms of this deal as they are today is just too great there is no requirement on performance from the developer the excusable development delay language is too broad we need to hold them accountable for delivering what they have promised we can hold them to a higher standard for the benefit of our communities this has never been an all or nothing deal we don't have to choose yes they stay no they go we can say yes let's talk about it some more let's make it better for all of us this project is the largest urban infill development in the southeast united states this project could stand as a beacon of community-driven inclusive development and i feel like we're not there yet i urge you today to consider a no vote so we can go back and negotiate a deal that better represents the need of needs of your constituents the residents of saint petersburg and not to prioritize the wants of a large corporation i'd like to share with you a quote by david harvey the right to the city 2003 the question of what kind of city we want cannot be divorced from the question of what kind of people we want to be what kinds of social relations we seek what relations we what relations to nature we cherish what style of daily life we desire what kinds of technologies we deem appropriate what aesthetic values we hold the right to the city is therefore far more than a right of individual access to the resources that the city embodies it is a right to change ourselves by changing the city more after our heart's desire it is moreover a collective rather than an individual right since changing the city inevitably depends upon the exercise of a collective power over the processes of urbanization the freedom to make and remake ourselves is and our cities is i want to argue one of the most precious yet most neglected of our human rights we are in a position of power to ask for a better deal and i request that you do so thank you good afternoon robin miller president and ceo for the tampa bay beaches chamber of commerce their address is 6990 gulf boulevard my personal address is 185 22nd avenue north here today in support to this project you're probably wondering why a person that represents the beaches is here to speak to you today that is because our organization covers terra verde to clearwater beach which represents the largest amount of hotel rooms in pinellas county and that equates to bed tax yes you're not here today to vote on bed tax however it's a significant statement to attest to you that our organization has issued support and communication to use the bed tax for the portion of this project 18 years ago i took this position and i spoke about my efforts to bridge the gap between the bay and the beaches and thanks to my great colleague in downtown saint pete and the hard work that this organization is doing with this project 18 years later we can finally say on the beaches we look forward to bridging the gap between the bay and the beaches this project adds to the beautiful destination that we have that our tourists come to it gives us more diversity in addition to the beautiful beaches the great arts and culture that we have but now this magnificent field community effort and all of the wonderful assets that it brings lastly i did do an op-ed for the times recently and i just want to bring it back to attention that it is wildly important that yes we discuss the business model that the raise has and the financing and all of the deal making that they're doing but if you lose this team you lose a community partner the funding the hours the in-kind donations that they contribute to this community is uncomparable to anything and that is a that is a big asset to our non-profits our foundations and all of all the work that we do together in this community so we are better together and we do ask that you vote yesterday and thank you for your efforts next two speakers please next two speakers are melissa rutland and jabbar edmund please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council good afternoon my name is melissa rutland 200 central avenue i'm here today to show my support for this project i was a part of the drc when we made the vote for the future land use change to make way for this project and we've been working really hard as a city to get to this point for this vote today and i wanted you to know how important this is to me and the rest of our community that you vote yes on this today you all have negotiated all the deal points to the nth degree we've gone back to the table for years and now's the time to say yes to this thank you so much how you doing i'm jabbar edmund i'm south saint petersburg florida um i'm gonna need you to give your address um my address is redacted i'm gonna need you to give your address jabbar my my address is redacted speak to the law a neighborhood oh i'm from child's park um south saint petersburg um can i get my three minutes please yes i'm okay um i'm really here to speak about this deal i really want to speak to the five council members and administration who are for the deal um this deal is lacking in so many ways um i really don't know where to start in three minutes um there is a fiduciary responsibility that city council has that this deal almost ultimately doesn't allow you to make um in the first part of this deal um they talk about how the deal is so unique and it's also it is ultimately resolving them of any future lawsuits that potentially may come and the city still has to perform right um there is no there is no accountability measures that go towards the raise um this is actually a deal with team co and the historic gas plant partnerships whose financials you have not seen um this is not a deal with the raise this is a subsidiary deal that is between team co and the historic gas plant partners who nobody in this room knows and the reality is it has been charaded as a contract deal with the raise but the reality these two teams or these two companies have just um incorporated in sunbiz um in the last 90 days if i was to apply for the cra grant program um i could not qualify with the companies that they have it would not go for a cra grant and those grants were supposed to be put up to help the community right but these companies who are only 90 days june 29th may 26th after y'all last meetings so what i'm saying is in three minutes i can't describe how bad this deal is i i grew up in the in the gas plant right i watched that neighborhood get demolished i watched the building be built right my name is jabbar edmund right my family you some of you know who my family is some don't i watched that building be built so those pretty pictures everybody have i have a work i don't have a pretty picture i don't have a happy story to tell about this development as city council y'all owe it to all the people who voted for you your what you swore oath to we have to have ways out of this deal the minimum requirements we have to have ways that we can hold them accountable if we don't then guess what we are not holding up to our fiduciary responsibilities thank you i'm next two speakers are miranda floyd and frank peterman jr please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council miranda floyd hi my name is miranda floyd i live at 3452 10th avenue north i'm here today to speak in opposition to this deal and encourage you to vote no giving away hundreds of millions of dollars to a billion dollar corporation is not how tax dollars should be spent i am a public school teacher here in saint pete i have colleagues who have to have multiple jobs just to afford rent in our city i have countless students unhoused living in cars or staying in cramped quarters with friends and family or in a motel room for months at a time i have students missing weeks out of the school year because of their unstable living situation or switching schools multiple times over a single school year because they have to move around so much it is simply unaffordable for working class people to live and play in our saint pete by voting yes on this agreement today you are giving a clear message to the working class of saint pete you care more about propping up a billionaire's corporation than their basic necessities i am incredibly disappointed in those of you who will inevitably vote vote yes today any crumbs that this development is providing in the form of the affordable housing and the african-american history museum could be done without the stadium and it could be done so much more effectively please vote no today for the working people of saint pete thank you thank you go ahead frank peterman jr 2435 granada circle east saint petersburg florida i want to pay homage in honor to the mayor kim welch friend attorney brother uh also to chair the homage to her and the city council um been there before of course served on the city council years ago served uh in the florida legislature for a number of years and uh had a chance to serve it operating the state department in the state of florida i want just to say that uh i believe this project uh is vitally important to the city of saint petersburg i am originally from saint petersburg like some others are here i remember going into the gas plan area with my mother peggy peterman years ago to help a aspiring young african-american journalist at the time who's going on to become uh the president of the national uh black journalism association and i remember her mentoring her there in the gas plant area and the times we spent there and how vibrant that place was the whole the whole area uh it's vitally important having served in this capacity and i want to take my hat off to the city council members i know this is like i remember the long meetings and uh the long debates and we got a lot of good work done i saw bay bay uh walk come to life i was here still have my shovel and hardhat i saw the addition usf the dorm she still have my shovel and hardhat uh i want for this project hopefully to bleed into more the south saint petersburg area uh i'm praying and hoping as a pastor and a civic uh uh person and leader uh that that happens and pass um public official all the wonderful things that are happening in downtown we just want to make sure they bleed into south saint peter midtown i want to thank the mayor that he's pushing in that direction and seeing some of the housing and some other things that are that are happening uh but this is vitally important it's vitally important i had a church that was moved when i grew up in that close to that area and other churches and other items so to come back and make sure that we that we plant something for the people in this city in that area for the whole city and especially for the folks in that community is of utmost importance so i want to i want to urge the city council uh to vote this this wonderful proposal up it wasn't always there but now i am i'm here now and i understand the importance of it and so i certainly hope that happens today by the power of god thank you so very much thank you final two speakers madam chair are jeremy tolberg and andrew walker please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council you said your name first good evening my name is jeremy tolberg i live at 417 lito way uh in st pierce burden i know many of you are here today fully intending to vote for a project that will drag our city down for the next 30 years some of you are being fully dishonest or corrupt in voting for this blatant theft of financial security of current and future generations of this city without even having the integrity to allow people to vote on it to those supporters who are lying and let's not mince words painting this deal as a win for the public is an absolute and embarrassing lie those of you need to stop and consider the path you're setting this city on your constituents are driving down ruined flooded streets dealing with higher and higher bills and a darkening economy families are struggling every day on the brink of financial devastation and for you to betray the common good of hundreds of thousands of them just to subsidize the wealth of a wall street billionaire and his two billion dollar company is a level of arrogance that would make marie antoinette blush the words out of the city council are get some sandbags for your flooded homes while we celebrate in the private seats and free parking that we made sure to include in this agreement this proposal is completely and undeniably flawed it's an insulting desecration to the families of the gas plant district who were rooted out and cheated with the exact same lies we're being expected to believe again today this proposal is an affront to all of your oaths of office and your responsibility to represent all of the people who voted you into office not just the ones who can afford to throw lavish parties and donate to your campaign budgets and no hazy promises of daycares or museums will make this any less of a lie this agreement still as of today has no profit sharing from the team revenue or an unrestricted sale of the team it has no rent or property taxes being paid to the city it has no fair compensation for the public land being sold and it has no binding restrictions for the team to stay in the area for the duration of the project there's a number of you on the council who have had the integrity the ethics and the honesty to reject this deal you've asked hard questions and demanded solid assurances that this project will share any financial returns with the citizens being forced to pay for it an overwhelming majority of those constituents are against this plan as it currently stands they might be too busy caring for their families and working more than one job to pay their bills to be here but when they learn the specifics of this deal they are adamant that it fails to benefit any of us the citizens of this great city are pleading with the rest of you for just one of you to join the opposing council members in taking a brave and principled stand and sending this project back to the drawing board thank you thank you mr walker yeah andrew walk andrew mordecai walker 231 driftwood road southeast the last time i was here i suggested it's important to listen to the facts of the matter we have various opinions although the the idea that opinions should be based on facts so um but it's important uh to be i think to respect um to not make accusations without facts and not uh and to respect your your all's integrity um i appreciate the due diligence that you're being uh that's being done whether you are for or against uh that's what's important uh we expect that from um your leadership positions uh i grew up um on fifth avenue in the gas plant area so uh it wasn't me just um observing from a distance i played in the creek um i worked for businesses on the street um i enjoyed uh that community uh but was disappointed when my parents were eminent domained um we were they were disrupted displaced uh but my father you know was able to fight uh on behalf of his family and for um um you know being able to to move to a different location uh and benefit from that move everybody didn't have those same benefits uh but he also tried to help other people in the community uh get the best they could when that displacement happened one thing i do remember growing up uh central avenue when i graduated from northeast high school in 1977 nothing was going on well i can shouldn't say nothing not enough was going on certainly not what's going on now and so it was quite a while uh that i had to wait i was away in college and then heard about the developments that took place and when i came back i could see that things had changed a lot because of the influence of baseball so i think the rays have made a significant contribution to the community along with the arts and that sort of thing on central avenue also dei as a dei and also a health and wellness director for the national senior games i understand and appreciate the dei work that the rays have done but more importantly um because of the displacement that i experienced with my my parents i urge you to support this deal because it's really the last or really the best chance uh to honor the folks that were displaced i don't see another opportunity for that to happen so um that's my primary um um concern uh and i hope you really keep that in mind as you move forward um in this process thank you we have the remaining two cards uh the first person i have did not want to wish to speak uh mr parisius robinson his card indicated he's four and the last public speaker i have is frank looks like carrillo please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council hello my name is uh frank cerillo my address is 1400 yandy boulevard north unit 406 33702. if this is a good deal why did we not let it go to a referendum does this body not think people can vote in their own best interest why do all the polls show that when the residents find out about the fiscal details of this deal that the favorability of the deal goes down my roommate asked me what's the difference between this deal and the jacksonville one that passed with bipartisan support well besides the sport there is affordable housing that's abundant in that community the average home price is lower square footage is larger and the cost of living is lower we have nowhere to build but up in this city outside of this deal in albert wooded airport i'd like to speak about our fiscal future if we have anything close to what 2008 was in the city we are going to be brought to our knees in terms of tax dollars and our ability to move prudently to make sure we have cash available where it's needed lastly i'm saddened that the city staff and elected officials did not stand firm to ask more of grays and hinds i'd like to echo the calls of people before me and urge you to vote no on this deal to prioritize people over profits and invest directly in this community instead of giving a handout to private industry please vote no thank you thank you no no zoom this is we're now closed public forum and council member gather thank you madam chair um so i actually have one question um and i've already discussed this offline with administration so i wanted to bring it here today um so last evening we received a letter from the sierra club and they're here today and they have actually mentioned this already uh we did a lot of movement on the sustainability features around the stadium itself um and the resiliency specifically but one thing that we um talked about a little bit on tuesday and it was mentioned by a couple of my colleagues was the addition in the historic gas plant development agreement section 6.1.65 to add the words and implement to that section so then it would read design and implement to market appropriate sustainability standards and so i wanted to ask if someone from hines wanted to come up and address the inclusion potentially of those two words in the development agreement harrison with hines thanks again for having us here today and for all that you've done over the last 18 months we'll accept that change okay legal if we were to make that change as part of this vote um keeping them all 12 together would the motion what would that look like yeah it's probably clean as council member for you to make a motion just on that particular language change okay vote on that motion for that language and if that motion uh passes then that would automatically be incorporated into the agreement before your vote on all of the agreements in the resolution before you okay madam chair i'd like to make a motion that the words and implement be added to clause 6.1.65 of the historic gas plant development agreement so we have a motion who made the second i have a comment on and he did so i made the suggestion originally okay so council member gabbard made the motion and who made the second i think council member hanowitz or muhammad it depends on who you're closer to who you hear from sound travels i heard her saying something yeah on this item make a comment to the motion yes vice chair girders thank you madam chair just quickly uh i thought there were two sections are there two sections or one um so i i would just i would just ask that we get clarity that they're okay with both sections and that we name both sections in the motion where i'm getting a thumbs up so so if if you if you wouldn't mind amending your motion to add both to both sections okay council member gabbard i accept that amendment are we good there we don't need to name the sections right i mean no it's it's clear that it's it's the preamble of 6.16 right plus sub five sub five okay just thank thank you council member gabbard absolutely thank you so we have a motion in a second to the language change for f3 seeing no other requests to speak in regards to that motion can you please open the machine for voting council members can you please cast your votes seeing that our present council members have voted can you please tally and announce the votes madam chair the motion to approve the language language change in the agenda item f3 passes unanimously thank you is that all i'll hold for now okay thank you thank you council member hanowitz thank you i have no comments uh actually no i do i have no questions you're thinking oh my god she's going to ask questions i'm not going to ask questions i have comments thank you everyone for being here today and being a part of our democratic process uh providing your input and for those that actually emailed us that could not be here and provided their input that way i understand wanting the race to stay the community building that comes with the sports franchise the excitement of rooting for the home team and that not every city has a sports team to call their own i understand the lord promises of jobs economic benefits and turning asphalt into a community and i understand the need to fulfill broken promises i also understand the unfulfilled needs in our community from affordable housing to infrastructure we face constant budget challenges yearly because there isn't sufficient funds to pay for all our needs for example if our 30-year projected infrastructure needs are forecast to cost at least 6.8 billion dollars and just because there may be a plan does not mean it is or will be fully funded on a decision involving hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money my preferred choice of input from our residents would have been put the question to the voters this would allow all voters to have their say on the largest deal in the city's history with the largest public subsidy and not just a small fraction of the population that may be engaged on the issue it wouldn't be the first time the question of funding a sports stadium would be asked the voters and it wouldn't be the last clearly that ship has sailed as there was not enough support on this city council to put the question on the ballot so before us without the benefit of the results of a referendum we have the deal that has been negotiated by administration and presented to us for a vote this is a stadium deal with 65 acres of land in downtown the city is borrowing 287.5 million for the stadium plus another 130 million for infrastructure costs and with borrowing costs that total cost is forecast to be at 684 million dollars the city is also providing a 12 million lift station and approximately 10 to 50 million in interest earnings are being contributed to the deal we're also providing up approximately 16 acres of land for the stadium and parking lots rent and tax free for the term of the agreement another investment by the city worth millions in property tax breaks the surrounding 65 acres are being sold at the discounted price of 105 million and they are receiving a zero percent interest loan and are only obligated to pay at least 50 million of the purchase price in the first 12 years how much has the land been discounted well it would help if we had a current appraisal for the 65 acres the last appraisal is from january 2023 appraising 60.9 acres not 65 at approximately 279 million without any improvements or demolition costs considered what are some of the discounts given on the land to arrive at that 105 million purchase price well one discount given by the city is for the 50 million dollars in community benefits we discounted that price from the land price so they are not really paying 50 million in community benefits we are yet they are providing those benefits with conditions throughout a 30-year term with a lot of ambiguity still within those contractual provisions my position is still the same 50 million should be paid up front because what is the buying power of that sum in the future given average inflation and if you say you're giving 50 million in community benefits don't take a discount on the land just pay the community benefits up front another discount given on the land was the cost of their expected infrastructure contribution which is estimated at 53 million we are putting 142 million in infrastructure that's 130 million borrowed plus 12 million for the lift station which is more money than we are receiving for the land sale and they were supposed to pay the remainder of the infrastructure costs but in reality we are giving 195 million in value for the site infrastructure between our contribution and the discount on the land they are receiving for their infrastructure contribution in addition the agreement contemplates a potential for a special assessment to allow the developer to impose their share of infrastructure costs to property owners even while receiving a 53 million discount if the goal is to receive the cost of housing why would you not account for that 53 million dollar discount related to infrastructure in the agreement to ensure it gets deducted from any potential special assessment 64 million dollars was discounted from the land price for 14 acres of open space yet the contract only requires 12 acres of open space if they get a discount for 14 acres then the minimum acreage of open space the public should expect from the sale of this public land is 14 acres of open space we agreed to give up all revenue streams to the raise and in exchange we received capped capital expenses related to the stadium except for a portion of the police costs i will reiterate i still do not understand why we're paying any any of the police costs given that property taxes pay for our police and they are not paying property taxes on the stadium these terms are being agreed to without access to their financials or knowing their full economic benefit from the redevelopment as they have refused to give us financials even given the amount of public monies involved in this deal how does the public know how much public investment was necessary to yield the claim public benefits versus how much of this public money is going for private gain we are taking hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money that we as fiduciaries have the duty to perform the appropriate due diligence that is faithful to the public trust that has been given to us i've discussed the deal with many residents and throughout my district a question that i was asked at a few neighborhood meetings was what would you do if it was just your money that is a fundamental question how much are we willing to pay as a fiduciary of other people's money the public to keep baseball in st petersburg i am not concerned whether the land will be developed without this deal because it will with or without baseball the only reason it's not developed now is because the current agreement the money coming back to the city from the purchase price and the forecast 30-year commutative gross property tax revenue from the redevelopment does not cover the cost of this deal in a 30-year time frame the public will pay 684 million on the bonds and in exchange the public is projected to receive 209 to 344 million less than what it paid without counting for inflation during that time remember there isn't sufficient funding to pay for all our needs the best way to protect your interests is through a written agreement the business and legal aspects of the deal that the parties agreed to is in writing the deal is not what people hope intend or believe will happen it is not what is said at a meeting or what someone tells you but what is in writing all the promises of affordable housing community benefits sustainability etc boil down to what does the contract say i'm not going through the laundry list of provisions because i have already discussed at public meetings but the transfer provisions alone should be cause for concern we have we're sold on hines and it's experience as a developer yet it's written the rights under the redevelopment agreement can be completely transferred to another entity that is not hines without the equivalent strength experience and reputation our standard assignment provisions are not part of this deal there is no city council approval or vetting or on permitted transfers and assignments this is a 30-year deal and the parties you see here today are not guaranteed to be the parties we're going to deal with in the future i want to thank everyone involved in this process the time energy expertise given by everyone to our mayor rob and all of administration legal staff outside attorneys consultants my colleagues and the citizens that said citizens out there who have been engaged and have been so generous with their time whether trying to ensure that the average person understood the details of the deal and engaging our citizens to provide substance subject matter expertise there are many out there that have also spent the countless hours in engaging in this democratic process the exchange of ideas and the belief that this force and different points of view are important and matter i've been impressed with a lot of the public input that has shown that so many of you have actually read the terms of these agreements and that is not easy reading i requested florida tax watch to undertake independent research based on the level of public monies going into this project and i want to publicly thank them for their work i agree with their recommendations and based on the language of the current agreements two of their three recommendations are not included in these agreements clawback provisions and revenue sharing we have all worked hard to improve the agreements through through this process no matter my vote today i want success for our city the team the redevelopment project we may have some disagreements on how things are accomplished but i know we all love our city i understand we do not get everything we want in a deal no deal is perfect however under the current terms in my opinion we're giving far too much public money with too few concrete obligations and city council oversight i want the race to stay but i cannot vote for this deal based on the deal terms and my reading of all the contracts thank you so much here thank you councilmember montaniere thank you madam chair i uh i have one one question god bless you i have one question uh and then i've got a uh a short statement so and um legal and uh i i uh brought this up with legal the other day but i just want to get the this uh this question out in public so we've got these 12 agreements uh before us uh if we need to change any of these agreements can you talk a little bit about the process of how that how that works sure council members so as you saw the resolution which is typical of any agreements that bring that we bring before you uh our office has the ability to make non-substantive changes typos things like that that we would notice without coming back to council and that's par for the course that said anything that is substantive in any manner and we would be very conservative in that interpretation would require us to come back to council so say for example there was a change to a particular agreement the only thing that is binding today is the agreements before council that you're approving so that if there was a substantive change we would bring that back to city council for your further consideration typically that would look like another type of resolution specifically outlining what that change would be your approval would be required to make that change prior to execution of the document okay and uh just to follow up questions so the uh the county is going to take this up later this month if the county makes any changes to the agreements does that bring them back to city council yes it would any any substantive change would require the agreements to come back to city council for your approval uh prior to execution of the documents and then the last point is obviously as is also typical if the if there was any change to these agreements moving forward after they're executed those amendments would also come back to city council for approval okay all right council member if you don't mind can i just add something i just think it's important to note uh that we did receive approval from major league baseball on these documents and so when this goes to the county commission if there was any potential modification major league baseball would also then have to approve that modification so just want to clarify that okay all right very good well thank you well um today is a very historic day for uh the city of st petersburg pinellas county the tampa in the tampa bay region uh and this is a very big decision no matter if you're for for this agreement or against this agreement this has far reaching uh implications beyond the confines of a baseball field a combination of a six billion dollar redevelopment of the gas plant district and a new stadium will change our region our city and the county for the better for years to come the road to get us to this day has been been a long one um i wanted to share um kind of the recent history of of how we got to this day back in 2007 17 years ago the rays uh came up with a plan to build a new stadium at the al lang site and to uh partner with hines uh to redevelop the gas plant district uh the the rays uh had a uh announcement at al lang field uh i was invited to to that announcement and uh i still have the the press release and the backup uh agreements of that announcement and some of the people that were involved 17 years ago are still involved today uh including mr sternberg mr silverman uh and a uh in the press release here it talks about senior vice president michael harrison uh he was he was there also so uh after that announcement the chamber of commerce put together a 30-member task force uh to study that that agreement and it was uh chaired by the the ceo the president ceo of tech data uh steve raymond and uh peter rudy rudy wallace who had had just turned out on the state legislature he was the speaker of the house and it was uh the the vice chair was uh dr david welch uh the mayor's uh father and uh so we studied that agreement for for about a year and uh and the rays uh decided that that agreement that that just wasn't going to work for the city so they pulled their agreement back and then a few years later uh an mou came to city council to allow the rays to go uh look over in tampa and hillsborough county and uh the the rays did their due diligence over there trying to put a deal together and it didn't get done so the rays came back to st petersburg and uh the um the the rays did come up with a split season plan which you know we a lot of us kind of questioned that plan uh major league baseball didn't didn't agree with it uh but along the way mayor kreisman at the time came uh decided to issue an rfp to redevelop the tropicana field site and he didn't include the race and this members of our some members of our current city council stood up and said the race have been our partner for over 20 years we want to figure out the future of baseball in saint petersburg before we move forward with that so city council passed a resolution it passed unanimously to make sure that we understood the future of baseball uh in saint petersburg uh before we move move forward so uh mayor welch gets gets elected and uh he issues a new rfp the administration uh studies the respondents the mayor selects mayor welch selects uh raise hines and then we go into negotiations and that's kind of how we got to where we are today uh my what what i've been impressed with throughout this whole process is the quality of all of the organizations involved let me start with the city the mayor mayor uh your administration your staff your city administrator our legal department our city development department our uh our planning uh our engineering department all aspects of our city has just been a class act when it comes to studying studying this agreement our city council i want to i want to thank our city council for doing the hard work for asking the hard questions for going through a process we're very process driven driven here in the city and we had four committee the whole meetings city council asked some hard questions and made these agreements better and um i'm i'm glad and i know some people were going like that that's a lot of meetings but that's what we do we represent the voters the residents of the city of saint petersburg and we're going to ask those questions and we're going to make agreements better the rays have been a very good community partner for the city of saint petersburg their foundation supports so many charitable charities within not just saint petersburg pinellas county but the whole tampa bay region and they've been they've been just a first-class operation through this whole uh uh issue that we've been dealing with and then the heinz corporation i've been very impressed very impressed at all the committee the whole meetings with the the answers that you you have to our questions and just your your your you can just tell you're a quality company and so i'm i'm very proud to uh with with where we are for this uh with this agreement and i firmly believe this is a lot of money this is not an easy vote but this is this is the right thing for the city of saint petersburg for pinellas county for our region and i move approval of f3 second madam chair could i just make one quick clarification council member montaneri that's with the amended agreement correct thank you you're dead council member muhammad thank you madam chair and i had two questions council member gabbert asked one of them the second one for legal on june 11th we received a letter from the southern poverty law center regarding civil rights obligations of the city of st pete for the historic gas plant redevelopment in their letter they allege violation of federal civil rights laws by the city of saint petersburg in connection with the redevelopment of the historic gas plant their letter contends that the city's actions may result in further racial discrimination and segregation thus violating several key statutes and constitutional provisions we discussed it in a one-on-one but i don't recall having a public conversation or hearing us respond to it publicly and so i'd like to know if you would be willing to share your opinion on the southern poverty law center their letter and whether or not advancing this deal today puts the city at risk why why not thanks for the question council member be happy to answer that from a legal perspective you know we spent a lot of time digging into what was uh what was the contents of that letter and by and large it was a letter expressing policy opinions and statements um occasionally um foreshadowing or or tangentially mentioning legal issues but in our opinion and from several members of our office who have had a chance to look at this we see no legally cognizable uh issue that they brought up that should prevent this from going forward okay and then if it does go forward and some of those things that they highlighted happen what type of risk are we in because it's like with all of these all of these conversations are possible in their scenario plans and what if if it's then that what risk are we at if some of those specific provisions are sure and of course it would matter as to if if anything did materialize what the content of that was but again you know we looked at that with a with an eye towards that risk and again uh express confidence that there is no legally cognizable issue at this point in time from that letter thank you all right that was it for my questions and i just have a comment i'm looking at the clock now um so i'll just say the important things first i'm not supportive of this deal that's written i don't think anyone who opposes this deal wants to see um an 86 acre housing project built on the site as much as we need affordable housing we do support development we're not opposed to the development of the site in a way that's responsible and prioritizes the best interest of the city and not just the team um there are several small and minority owned businesses that desire to partner with the city and would also like to see some of the generosity and favorable terms and considerations in their bids and proposals and deals going forward the promises being made are good the renderings are amazing and it is my sincere desire that they will be delivered however we know that documentation beats conversation and the minimum requirements along with other key details in the documents do not reflect several of the pledges that have been made verbally like the ones that have been pointed out by members of the community and members and my colleagues i am grateful to my colleagues for their input and the way that that input has been used to make this deal better but i still see this deal as being heavily weighted to the benefit of the private side of this public-private partnership i'm also grateful for those in the community who have lifted their voices offered their subject matter expertise given their time and talent to review the details of the agreement they've hosted community-led conversations barbershop talks and you know grocery stores pulling my coat not so much on that piece but i appreciate the the engagement around the community because i think those feedback has some of that feedback has been included and helped to make the deal better even though it's still lacking lots of conversations have been had i think there are many more that need to be had and need to be ongoing they have been contentious and uncomfortable but i've learned over time that it's the uncomfortable conversations that prevent that present the greatest opportunity for growth so i pray that the relationships in the community that have been tested stretched strained in some cases broken through this discourse can be healed for the good of the whole regardless of how this vote goes today i would like to encourage our community to stay engaged because it's going to be absolutely essential and needed in order to make and make them actually deliver on these promises as much as i would have preferred to have a referendum on this and allow the voters and taxpayers to directly participate in this decision that was not supported by the majority of this council and that's the way democracy works so for all of those who support baseball who want to see the area we redevelop those who need the jobs those who want the contracts those who want to have the promises honored and commitments kept yet do not support this deal and believe we can do better my vote today is your voice thank you thank you madam chair thank you thank you um first i want to thank council member gabbard for the the motion and for suggesting that we make that small but meaningful change um it really it really does mean a lot and kind of um builds on what i had had talked about a couple of days ago in our committee of the whole and i feel so much better now so i'm grateful for that council member montaneri took some time to tell the story i appeared in this story a little bit later but as a as a long time fan um you know suddenly in 2018 i found myself as a public servant and getting a phone call saying that the administration wants to allow the rays to look at tampa and i thought wow we it is real now and reading the history of our own stadium journey learning what people went through people who sat here people who sat there went through so many ups and downs as mr lettler described so well earlier it made me so proud and it made me really determined to make sure that we could make st petersburg the home of the tampa bay rays for good and so this this process moved forward um i did i studied the materials i know every page of this stuff i've got like five of the we all have like five of these binders from the process and you you can't you can't skip a single line because that could be the one that does you in and today i'm proud of the work that i've done the work that my colleagues have done to make sure that we understand what we're voting on today make no mistake i've spent hours and hours and hours reading this material making calls making calls to the administration and to our legal team to make sure that i understood it to ask why is it like this could it be like that and then in our meetings asking asking questions sometimes asking tough questions and insisting on things insisting on getting clarification getting answers tightening things up and adding things in to to make this deal stronger and my colleagues here have done the same i am so proud to have gotten to this point with this team with this administration all working together and with the race heinz team as well it's like we just connected on this and kept moving forward and no matter where you stand on this no matter how you vote today no matter how you feel today about whether or not this should happen i appreciate you because i knew this was never going to be something that everyone could agree on when we first got the agreement i wasn't sure myself where i was going to land on it i had to make sure we can afford to take care of other things in our city it was asked and answered by this administration yes and they showed us they showed us if you don't think they did you weren't paying attention asked so many questions that they answered again and again and again even two days ago i was asking for a little bit more for this deal even stuff that's off the books that's not even in here and still got that cooperation still got that collaborative spirit and a real let's get this done together attitude and that's why we're here right now hopefully ready to celebrate the next generation of the historic gas plant district as we move forward whether you oppose this or you support it i too hope that you'll stay engaged because the work isn't finished after today if this passes today we're just on to the next step and that's where we really have to roll up our sleeves start meeting with each other and continuing these conversations to continue to make the project better we have come a long way but this does feel like it's just the beginning at the same time i'm glad i'm here for it i'm glad you are too stay here for it we need all of us to make this a success thank you madam chair thank you vice chair girders thank you madam chair uh i was going to start a different place but i'll start quickly where council member driscoll ended i would agree that it's just beginning and i would tell you that although this has been difficult i believe the hardest part is in front of us because now it's our responsibility to make sure that these documents uh that we hold raise heinz feet to the fire and so i would agree with that the the pushing pushing the button is going to end up being the easy part um but uh let me go back to where i was going to start um i was thinking the other day about uh 1986 and uh we we sorry we make fun of your age council member floyd but i'll age myself quickly i was three years old in 1986 uh my dad tells me that i was only playing with the baseball and bat and not all the other toys i had but um i i think about that council sitting here and the decision they had to make and what confidence they had in saint petersburg and then we heard from the elder family earlier and you think about the confidence that that elder jordan or the jordan family excuse me elder jordan had in in saint petersburg and past councils that have uh dealt with difficult issues and it through all the reading and and all the everything else it it just occurred to me what what a blessing it is to be a part of uh a group that again gets to make a very definitive decision for saint petersburg and so uh i i then then i think about the gas plant descendants and laurel park and the the time i was able to spend with them and and hearing some of the stories and and hearing concern yet excitement about this and then you look at the cross-section of support that uh this this agreement has gotten and and certainly the the opposition too i certainly don't want to take away from that it's it's it's just incredible to me it's it's been one of the the most humbling and exciting things i've maybe ever been a part of then i went down to to my district and i went back and i looked and i think uh and i i don't normally like to to talk about this but but i think in total since the term sheet come out came out i've been to somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 to 35 neighborhood meetings in district one and every single one of them this was one of the subjects we talked about dozens of one-on-ones with administration hundreds of phone calls i'm sure i'm not sure i want to count how many hours i spent reading my wife probably kept count uh on sundays when i was in our hot office before noon before the air condition turned on but again i i go back to just how how humbling and exciting it is to be a part of that and and i've been i've been very vocal about the what i believe is the economic benefit of this of these agreements the the jobs the not just the the revenue 30 years from now but what that revenue looks 60 years from now when i'm not here when my kids are having kids that's that's how i think about this i don't think about this as next tuesday or 2030 or 2040 frankly i'm thinking 2060 2070 because i think that's what that's what elder jordan was doing that's what 1986 council was doing they were thinking long way ahead when they when they were gone and uh and i want to honor that and i want to honor that and so again i know i've been pretty vocal on on the economic issues and the and the job creation which is uh my my dad told me a quote you know reminded me a quote give a man a fish you feed him for a day teach him how to fish you feed him for a lifetime i really believe that's part of this uh the when when you're talking about the economic development the job creation it's absolutely incredible it's it's it's it's beyond our understanding of impact i truly believe that um and i and i want to finish on this and when i when i started my business 14 years ago one of the mentors that i had talking about building that business was always always telling me you want the right people in the right seats you want the right people in the right seats let me tell you the right people are in the right seats this mayor this administration this council our partners and raise hines it was the right people the right seats it took council member montaneri it took 17 years to have the right people in the right seats but but damn if we don't have them now and so um i'm i'm i'm very excited again i'm humbled and uh very very very confident in the future of st petersburg thank you madam chair thank you council member gabbert thank you madam chair and uh i want to just start out by saying thank you i want to say thank you to every single person through this entire process every person who is here today both in support and in opposition because collectively your voices are what makes saint pete your feedback your love for this city it is so valued and i know that a lot of times we have to agree to disagree but just know personally i respect every opinion that has got us to this place the saga of will they stay won't they stay that has spanned for decades which we have talked about and i know that every person in this room has a unique story to tell about their personal experience that has led to today it's often said that your experiences shape your beliefs and so i myself have an experience that has led me here that shapes the belief that i hold and it is my belief that we are an incredibly unique moment in our city's history that is unlikely to be replicated in any other way that will be meaningful to our community if this does not pass today not only do we have a successful and community driven private development team led by a party who just so happens to be the owner of one of the most exciting baseball teams in mlb but we have the right staff of dedicated professional servants led by a city administrator and a city attorney who have literally left it all on the field to be here today and if you want to talk about fiduciary the fiduciary these two people have to this city is incredible and so i personally want to thank both of them without their leadership we would not be here and then i have to agree councilmember girdus whether you agree with each one of us or not this is the right eight elected representatives to make this vote today we come here with diverse perspectives diverse points of view and we have had some thoughtful conversation and i appreciate each and every one of you and what you have brought to this process mayor welch i want to thank you personally i supported you for mayor and i still support you for mayor and i knew when we set together at craft cafe and we talked about your grandfather and his woodshop and your vision for the gas plant i knew there was no one better to lead this city into where we are today and i just want to take a moment to honor the legacy that your family has instilled in you the experience your knowledge your wisdom and your just your drive to do what is right and to honor those promises from all those decades ago thank you so not only does this site represent legacy history opportunity and the future of saint pete but it represents what i have always driven for which is an opportunity to create a balance in our city between economic development housing and quality of life that is not an easy balance to strike i've been sitting here for many many years working on that and sometimes that work can feel like we're never going to get there this is an opportunity to get there and it makes me sad to know that we have residents people who i personally know and love who do not agree that this proposal will bring the promise that we believe that it will and i just want to let you know that i deeply do believe when i cast my vote today that that promise collectively we will see through to the finish line we will not take our foot off the gas we will continue to strive to create progress in every corner of this city while in keeping it the incredibly special place that it is when i woke up this morning after many many many hours of getting here i said a prayer before i got out of bed and i thanked god for the opportunity to be one of eight who get to make this decision today out of 270 000 people we're one of eight and it does not come to me easy this is a very very heavy responsibility but i believe that the impact for generations to come and i believe wholly that the agreements before us are better because we worked collectively on them to create what i believe will be the greatest community benefit possible personally i'm very proud of the revised um negotiations that i was able to be a part of including interim milestones shoring up the utilization of apprenticeships and disadvantaged workers the inclusion of a daycare and a grocery store and of course the hardened sustainability and resiliency measures that now will be part of what will be the most impressive ballpark to exist in our country and even up until today we now have it in our development as well and so for me that is an asset worth investing in we know that the hard times will come but we will have an asset that we will be able to utilize to help us recover in a way that we would not have had otherwise so i'm very very excited for all of those things that we have brought here today and i am mostly excited and thank you for the opportunity to push my button yes today thank you madam chair thank you council member floyd well it's the last time uh we get to say what we think so i'm gonna tell you all what i think uh so i'll start by meandering um unlike other people today uh i love baseball i started playing when i was four years old and i've only taken a handful of years off since uh my dad's worked two jobs my entire life and one of them the one he likes better is as a professional umpire he travels around the country doing high school college doing high school college and travel ball tournaments uh as of right now he's in kansas city uh umpiring a tournament this week um and i even met my wife playing softball uh it's embarrassing but i used to flirt with her by hitting the ball tour repeatedly during batting practice so uh no one needs to tell me uh what this sport can mean to a person or a community i deeply know it um and i desperately hope that if this is passed today it goes as well as planned and i will do everything i can to help the city through the next 30 years of this development and i will work to make sure it's as successful as possible now having said that i have to lay out where my hang-ups are i've pointed out the shortfalls of this agreement over and over again particularly on the lack of affordable housing enforcement and there's much more than just that but i've harped on it enough so i'll leave it there we cannot rely on just promises that's what happened last time and they were empty we need contractual obligations for things there's no guarantee that the people making these promises will be here even five years from now in fact it's much more likely that the team has a different owner in the near future and that they may not be interested in keeping the promises that the last owner did and from a higher level i just have to comment on one thing from a higher level we've been told that we have no responsibility for cost overruns and while that may be written in the contract this will never be true if the developer falls short of funding for whatever reason and asks and asks us for more of course we're legally entitled to say no but the reality is that we will have sunken cost and they will have all of the leverage to get funding from us this is typical in privatization schemes and applies here because we are essentially going to be desperate to not have unsightly half-finished infrastructure or a stadium in our downtown but when it comes down to it what we're really doing today is we're pretending that we can't get a high quality development without a massive stadium subsidy and i completely reject that logic to say that we can't do this without the stadium subsidy is to sell our city short and to ignore the fact that many developers offered to develop this property without a stadium hundreds of millions of dollars for a stadium is not in the public's interest and every community benefit in this agreement is a literal crumb compared to the money that we are spending on the stadium we could afford everything we are doing and so much more if we weren't spending a massive amount of taxpayer money on a stadium this is not tourism money from the city this is flexible money that could go to almost any of the many issues that our city faces and there are many this may not make everyone happy but i've said it before and i've said it again and i'll say it again there's no academic evidence that stadium subsidies are a good investment for communities and i have said academic for a reason you can find plenty of people who are paid by teams in cities to tell you otherwise with that is not academic that is not peer-reviewed the most recent academic studies on stadiums that i've seen suggested that economists no longer bother studying the issue because it is settled science this is corporate welfare period we are pumping money into the profits of a business worth over a billion dollars when we have so many real needs in our city this is a transfer of wealth from the public sector to the private sector as long as there are hungry children in our city as long as there is a single person without a roof over their head in our city and as long as there are needs for essential services going unmet in our city i cannot support spending 500 million dollars over 30 years to subsidize a corporation i find it unjust irresponsible and flat out immoral i am proudly voting no thank you everyone seeing no further requests this week and just for you um wanting to know why is she going last the chair has to go last so we have to sit here and listen to everyone and you know this is a really good position to be in to hear everyone's thoughts to hear everyone's perspective and please know that this has been a learning growing collaborative experience and i wholeheartedly concur with the thoughts of the eight different perspectives the correct eight people to be in these positions for this time and for this moment let me thank braylon kamari miles and baby shelby shelby that's due in august those are my grand babies since they were brought into this i'm going to celebrate this moment with them mayor welch administrator girdus mr corbett the rays sierra club faith in florida naacp everyone that came and spoke in regards to what we are about to accomplish here today i thank you as you know this has not been easy and as the chair i think my bat was harder my hits were harder but you know what i'm so glad to be here at this time in this moment because we're about to make an historical historical vote that i am gladly voting yes for you know i sat and i went and i looked at my mortgage how many times how many times you sign your name on your mortgage how many of you really agreed with everything that was in your mortgage you worked hard for every single day and you missed a payment or two and all of that is gone and belongs to someone else we make difficult decisions each and every day and this one and i love when my sister says we're here standing on principle i hear a lot of people talk about legacy i talk about legacy it's an issue i hear people talk about how can the black woman stand for this well i thank you to my other black women in here where you black women at it also stand for this because it's not about race but it's about what's old and there is no denying that the first iteration of this there's a whole lot that was missed there were a whole lot of promises that were not kept and brian all would tell you i love baseball but you know golden state they got rid of clay so you know i'm kind of i'm kind of worried about you know my golden state warriors but my rays are still my number one fans and i just say that not to make light of this moment but to just let you all know that we all have so many different perspectives we have so many different reasons for wanting to be here we have so many reasons and i agree with councilmember muhammad this has been a devastating issue in the community and at the end of the day we're going to have to move on at the end well not even the end of the day at the beginning of the day none of this we're not done we are not done there are so many things in there that i still have issues with but i'm also going to look to the city to hold a lot of these things in our wheelhouse for this team for this particular deal to be accountable i want to say this one of the things and we haven't talked about this we talk about the community benefits but one of the things that was the strongest push for me was for the apprenticeships and our disadvantaged workers that was one of my number one striving goals is to make sure we can hire locally that our apprenticeships our union workers our laborers can work here we already know we're having a hard time living here i got a 23 year old at home so i know what that's like i have a son that served the military served his country could not live cannot live could not afford to live in the city of st petersburg so we are talking to preaching to the choir we have eight different perspectives eight different experiences but that apprenticeship and disadvantaged worker piece for me eight years in the making i want to say eight seconds to sign it away that we can't even help some of our most deserving to be able to benefit not only citywide but from this project so there's a lot that goes into this there's a lot of time there's a lot of energy there are a whole lot of relationships that hopefully are just strained hopefully are just strained but know the decisions that we've made in this everyone is thinking and feeling to heart that they made the best decision with with the experiences that they've had and with the knowledge that they have and what they want to do best to serve their constituents so whether you agree or disagree when we wake up tomorrow and we're prayerful that we will all wake up tomorrow we will live to fight another day because you have council members here that will not let this go will not let this go and i say it each and every time yes hold us accountable we're here for a reason i you know i i have to to again thank council member gabbard council member martinieri council member hanowitz vice chair girders council member driscoll council member muhammad council member floyd because they didn't hold back they spoke their truth and we're here and with that being said i am so glad i'm here to ensure that this day will be remembered as the day that as a city we came together either in agreeance or disagreeance we came together and please know tomorrow is a better day it will be a better day but we're not going to stop fighting to move forward to ensure that everyone benefits from this and i'm still going to hold us accountable on the city level to ensure that this is going to be one of the greatest deals that the city of saint petersburg has ever seen come to fruition and with that being said clerk can you please open the machine for voting council members please cast your votes seeing that all council members have cast your votes can you please tally and announce the votes madam chair the motion to approve agenda item f3 as amended passes five to three with council members driscoll fig sanders gabbert hanowitz i'm excuse me girdus and montenari voting yes floyd hanowitz and muhammad voting no thank you we have been here since 12 40 and i want to before we move on mayor welch before we move on i am going to have a quick recess i didn't i wanted to give you a minute or two if you would like to address i don't want to be anti-climactic i kind of lose my voice here but y'all have said it all we all have a purpose from god and i think there is no mistake that we are all in these positions at this time even the council members who voted against it you brought items to the conversation that we will follow up to as we move forward as our council member from the west side said this is just going to the next phase i'll again quote our former council member ernest phil yao you probably remember him representative peterman who said it's the process that matters and this process worked it's something we can be proud of and i just want to close by echoing i think it was councilmember gabrie you almost made me cry by the way go and talk about my family but i cannot overstate the job that our city administrator rob gerties has done james corbett tom green brian caper the entire team i could name them all y'all know that and jackie kovala i haven't forgotten let me i'm moving this way can you can you let me can you just let me i'm moving this way and uh jackie kovala and mccall mr dima the whole legal team our outside legal counsel our county administration strong partners um even don the county attorney who's very specific helped us get to where we needed to be just everyone who was involved in this and certainly the members of the public we are all trying to get to the same place and many of us have been working on housing and homelessness and other issues for a couple of decades now we're intentional about what we're doing and you've got my commitment as administration that this is just moving to the next phase and the promises mean nothing if we don't get at the end of the day those community benefits and all of those other promises moved from concept into implementation and that will be our focus going forward so thank you to the entire council for your partnership this is an exciting day for our community thank you madam chair we call a recess until 4 p.m 18th council meeting and we're now going to begin taking up our public hearing starting with item j1 and joining us is assistant city attorney tom green and debt financing director and fritz yes i was about to ask can you please read the title for me uh proposed ordinance 585 h an ordinance adopting amendments to the in-town rate redevelopment plan irp of the city of st petersburg city increasing the redevelopment program budget in amended table 2 from 232.354 million to 574.854 million to fund new stadium projects and historic gas plant redevelopment infrastructure and the irp west of a street providing for an extension of the city's tiff contributions through 2042 and allowing modifications to tiff contributions to the irp redevelopment trust fund excuse me to the by the city in pinellas county providing for severability and providing effective date and we do have a few speakers okay thank you you have no speakers no cars no speakers yeah three okay go ahead ms fritz you go to the next page thank you this morning we reviewed all of the changes um to the irp and before you now is the is the ordinance that would approve the changes to the irp to add the new stadium project and the historical gas plant project um to the plan as well as making certain language modifications and changing the total amount for the extending the tiff and changing the total amount of the plan i'll be glad to review anything um that we reviewed uh this morning move approval second okay seeing no request to speak we have a motion it's been probably seconded for j1 and you know what you told me i forgot about those cars just that quick i guess because i'm ready to go i'm good now all right can you go ahead and call the first two speakers please okay i'm going to call two at a time when you hear your name please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address city council uh first speaker is dylan dames and the second speaker is william kilgore hi everybody um i believe dylan uh uh left here um uh william kilgore i'm at 25 50 28th avenue north and uh i'm the organizer with saint p tenants union um i am speaking uh against i'm a little late late here there's a bunch going on uh so i i against the the extending the tiff i mean i'd be speaking on this no matter what the agenda item i know how folks are going to vote um you know this has been a catalyst for displacement uh in this area i can think right down the street the cara building which had a mass eviction event back in 2018 uh it was sitting vacant for several years now they uh just demolished it uh buildings like the stanton etc you know all this tiff does is it just benefits uh real estate and development um you know and it's just funneling all these new things that are being built uh you know these some of the largest taxpayers on the tax rolls in the city the hermitage beacon 430 uh you know are within that that tiff and all that money is just going to continue to be funneled into this little district creating a little bubble a playground for the rich we call it a playground for the rich uh because that's exactly what it is uh and that doesn't benefit working people that doesn't benefit folks in in our neighborhoods that tiff should end it should have ended uh unfortunately it's going to be extended and so we're just going to see downtown turn into more of a bubble uh and and the rest of our uh communities are still going to be having trouble getting funding for things that we need uh that's very frustrating so i just wanted to share that with you thank you all so much and uh dylan dames his card indicated he was against uh the final speaker is katherine harris please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you have three minutes to address council okay her card indicated she was against no more speakers no more speakers no so we have a motion and we also had it properly seconded for item j1 and please open the machine for voting there you go council members cast your votes seeing that all pressing council members have voted can you please tally and announce the vote and share the motion to approve the item j1 passes five to three with council members floyd hanowitz and muhammad voting no council members driscoll vick sanders gabbert and montaneri and girdus voting yes thank you now we will move to item j2 which is the second reading and the second public hearing and joining us is our planning and development services director liz abernathy can you please read the title j2 proposed ordinance 545 84-h an ordinance of the city of st petersburg florida approving a development agreement for property generally bounded by first avenue south to the north dr martin luther king jr and 10th street south to the east interstate 175 to the south and 17th and 18th street south to the west recognizing that the subject's agreement is by and between heinz historic gas plant district partnership a florida joint venture developer and the city of st petersburg florida a florida municipal corporation authorizing the mayor or his designee to execute the agreement and providing an effective date and we do have a few cards thank you thank you paul it's my honor to be here today on this momentous day elizabeth abernethi your director of planning and development services i first want to thank derek kilborn for being here and providing you with the presentation on june 13th when you conducted the first reading of the ordinance i just have a short presentation for you today to go over the changes since that date so on june 13th you did vote five to three to schedule the second reading and second public hearing for july 11th and that was subsequently rescheduled to july 18th there were multiple members of the public that spoke generally about the redevelopment project and just quickly how this is a little different than the 12 agreements you just approved i like to describe this as the city sitting with our regulatory hat so this development agreement is the city as the regulator as opposed to the city as the property owner so that's what this development agreement does is effectuate much of what's in your redevelopment agreement through a statutory and a local ordinance for providing guidance on the development moving forward so the development agreement has been revised to update references to pinellas county and revise exhibit c the minimum development requirements as follows we added language stating that any change to the affordable workforce housing units would be subject to city council approval the open space has been increased from 10 to 12 acres we specified that daycare child care preschool or the similar facility must be at least 2500 gross square feet and we added the requirement for one fresh food and produce retailer of at least 10 000 square feet and again this replicates what you've seen in the redevelopment agreement that you heard earlier today exhibit a was updated to simply delineate city versus county owned property and we are recommending approval of the development agreement based on its consistency with the comprehensive plan and the land development regulations i'm here to answer any questions you might have and we have the presentation ready from the first public hearing if there's any specific questions thank you do you have cars or anyone on zone oh yes yes uh first speaker is dylan dames dylan's gone uh his card indicated he was against william kilgore please go to an open podium state your name and address for the record you'll have three minutes to address counsel hi everybody thank you chair uh william kilgore uh with the saint p tenants union 25 50 28th avenue north um so uh yes a historic day certainly it's very historic uh historic in the sense that it's gonna go down in infamy um you know i think that this is a terrible deal you all know my opinion i know how it's gonna go uh the tenants union opposes the deal uh i just want you to think about it you know who who is who supports and opposes this deal we see on the supporting side we see developers we see corporations we see business leagues uh registered uh lobbyists with the um uh saint pete chamber uh in here speaking who opposes you're seeing working people you're seeing people like me i took the afternoon off work because i wanted to come speak about this and it's important this is a hard time for people to come out uh and speak uh you know and it's clear that you know we don't we don't support this kind of thing um you know working people we've had everything against us this entire time we've got a bunch of money and pr uh you know blasting these lies on on tv and everywhere else uh you know and we're we're but you know the thing is i'm feeling very optimistic as well about this i'm not here to be uh super negative uh you know because i'm confident this deal is so bad uh and we are going to keep fighting we're going to keep holding folks accountable for for how this moves forward um you know and we're going to be reminding people everybody we talk to is getting evicted everybody who's struggling to pay rent we're going to remind folks the city is willing to give a bunch of money over to some rich investors at a sports franchise and a bunch of developers and that they don't care about your needs and that that's just it and i you know it's going to have to come down to that because that's what this represents this is corporate welfare uh it's it's you know when we talk about welfare for workers it's always like oh well you know we have to have all these requirements and make sure they're doing everything getting micro-policed in our uh you know with whenever we're getting benefits but then you know when a corporation comes around it's like oh hundreds of millions of dollars for a new stadium you know economic impact economic impact for whom you know these these uh projections it's like astrology uh you know pretty much these economic projections and and and for whom you know uh who is that going to is that going into our pockets or is that going into the pockets of some rich investors and developers at the end of the day uh you know so no that that's not the economic impact it's like saying oh the stock market's up that doesn't mean anything to me that doesn't translate anything to me uh you know if you're still struggling to pay your rent and all these other things um you know so uh you know we we had a protest the other day we had a chant it was not another nickel not another dime corporate welfare is a crime and you're going to be hearing a lot more of it and we're going to keep organizing we're going to keep fighting so i'm very disappointed in y'all but i wanted to share that to you thank you final speaker is katherine harris her card indicated she was against move for approval second thank you councilmember gabbert thank you madam chair i'll be brief um i just wanted to ask a quick question um we did make the change to the development agreement to add words about sustainability and building design um but that is not addressed anywhere in this vesting agreement correct that's correct okay so real briefly can you just speak to um how sustainability will be reviewed in the permitting process any sort of design standards that um how that review process works so what we'll do is coordinate with the design team as it comes through permitting and look to the commitments that were made um and we will compare that to what the industry standards are to um provide uh oversight on that item and as you know in both the development agreement and the redevelopment agreement there's requirements for reporting um so that will be provided in those annual reports back to council but we will be my team who is responsible as you know for plan review and permitting will be cognizant of that and looking for uh that assessment and that narrative from the design team as we move forward with with the stadium and the other projects okay yeah just when there's a last minute change like that made on one agreement i just want to make sure we're not missing something in another whenever it comes forward so legal you agree we're all good great okay very good thank you i couldn't remember do we have a motion in second yes okay we have a motion and a second on j2 seeing no further request to speak can you please open the machine for voting council members please cast your votes seeing that all present council members have voted can you please tally and announce a vote madam chair the motion to approve agenda item j2 passes five to three with council members floyd hanowitz and mohammed voting no council members driscoll fix sanders gabbard girdus and montenari voting yes thank you we'll now recess the city council and convene as cra with our cra3 a resolution of the saint saint petersburg cra finding the proposed plan for the redevelopment of the historic gas plant district consistent with the in town and in town and in town west redevelopment plans and again joining us is liz abernathy hi good afternoon again elizabeth abernathy um so today you are reviewing the proposed plan for the multiple building multiple phase mixed use redevelopment of the historic gas plant district with 5400 dwelling units 800 affordable workforce housing dwelling units 750 hotel rooms 90 000 gross square feet of conference and meeting space 1.4 million gross square feet of office which is both general and medical 850 000 square feet of commercial which will be your retail restaurant entertainment space 50 000 square feet of civic museum and up to 35 000 seat sports stadium with a total project-wide maximum far floor area ratio of 3.0 generally located at 216th street south for consistency with the in town and in town west redevelopment plans the boundaries of the project are shown here and all of the parcels are part of the master plan for the redevelopment the project construction cost is valued at 6 billion the majority of the project is with the in town with excuse me within the in-town redevelopment area as shown on this exhibit while the parking lots that are west of 16th street south are located within the in-town west redevelopment area the in-town redevelopment plan was adopted in march of 1982 and the in-town west redevelopment plan in june of 1990. both plans provide mechanisms and programs for coordinating and facilitating public and private improvements to encourage redevelopment this proposed mixed-use redevelopment will consist of multiple buildings over multiple phases extending up to 30 years in accordance with the associated development agreement the redevelopment will not exceed the project-wide floor area ratio of 2 3.0 and a building height of 300 feet which are both permitted by wright on december 14th of 2023 council adopted modifications to the submittal and procedural requirements for phased projects that exceed five acres with more than one proposed structure allowing staff to accept a conceptual site plan generally depicting phasing open space layout and building envelopes and conceptual building elevations generally depicting building types and delineating proposed architectural styles to be used for each phase with an architectural narrative the objectives of the irp include encouraging and reinforcing development the development of integrated transportation systems and to ensure redevelopment reinforces and maintains historic cultural and aesthetic integrity objectives of the in-town west iwrp calls for establishing cohesive develop cohesive development pattern and visual identity through land uses that reinforce downtown and stadium development through creation of highly visible and intensive intensive activity nodes and reinforcement of retail along central and the first avenue corridors objective two of the iwrp calls for ensuring new development and redevelopment projects are appropriate in scale and design by establishing design guidelines for buildings ground level spaces parking garages and streetscape improvements with respect to compliance with our land development code the subject property is located in the dc and dc2 zoning districts and on august 1st city council will hear the second public hearing on the city initiated rezoning of those areas that are currently zoned dc2 to dc1 to provide a unified zoning designation throughout the redevelopment boundary in both zoning districts a mixed use development with a maximum floor area ratio of 7.0 is permitted and this proposed development will be at a 3.0 far staff determined that proposed development is generally in compliance with the zoning district standards and a special condition has been included for final review of each phase and building during the permitting process and therefore we find the redevelopment consistent with the in-town and in-town west redevelopment plans the proposed redevelopment will fit in with both older and newer developments the buildings will be urban in scale with pedestrian oriented features including ground level commercial space lobby entrances screening of parking garages ample fenestration and glazing and a significant amount of open space the associated development agreement specifies the minimum of 12 acres of public open space along with several civic buildings including a museum performing arts venue and the sports stadium the mix of uses including retail restaurant general office serving newly established neighborhood in addition to the surrounding neighborhoods pedestrian improvements will contribute to a pleasurable walking experience providing wide shaded sidewalks plazas and open space the applicant provided an architectural narrative as required which is attached to your report renderings and typical building styles generally depict contemporary urban designs these are examples of what office and hotel buildings might look like and the narrative notes that the low-rise residential will also include traditional design elements fostering a sense of community and warmth approval of the cra application along with the associated development agreement specifying minimum development criteria and the mix of uses will replace surface parking lots with a new complete neighborhood interconnected to surrounding neighborhoods and business districts supporting the goals and policies of the two redevelopment plans the city's comprehensive plan and the city's land development regulations staff is recommending approval of this proposed plan to construct multiple building multiple phase mixed-use redevelopment of the historic gas plant district as consistent with the in-town and in-town west redevelopment plans as reflected in your report and based on plans submitted for review with two conditions that the final building plans be reviewed and approved by our cra staff and that the applicant complies with all design and development regulations of the downtown center zoning districts and any conditions of approval required by our development review services staff includes my presentation i'm available for questions and i know our development team is also here if you have any specifics move approval second okay thank you i was just going to make sure that there were no cars again and seeing no further requests to speak it's been motioned and properly second can you please open the machine for voting for cr3 council members please cast your votes seeing that all present council members have voted can you please tally and announce the votes i'm sure excuse me the motion to approve agenda item cra3 passes five to three with council members floyd hanowitz and muhammad voting no council members driscoll fix sanders gabbard girdus and montenari voting yes thank you we will now adjourn as cra and reconvene as city council and we're going to continue on with our report items sf4 which is a resolution authorizing the issuance of non-advalorem revenue bonds to finance the project costs to the new stadium project and joining us again is our debt financing director anne fritz and the assistant city administrator tom green welcome back thank you give me a second here we go go to the next page you have it oh i'm sorry well i have the i'm sorry okay the first resolution is our master bond resolution for the 2024 a and b which are the stadium related bonds okay this authorizes the authorizes not to exceed 77 million in aggregate principle for series 2024 a and not to exceed 214.5 million for series 20 24b the bonds will be issued with a covenant to budget appropriate appropriate appropriate to budget and appropriate legally non-advalorem revenues um the bond validation would be completed the resolution also it authorizes a special council appointment of bryant miller olive for validation proceedings for 2024 a b and c and also the special council appointment of fager drinker biddle and wreath for services for the construction fund trust agreement and other matters um now this is the master bond resolution before bond issuance supplemental resolution will be reviewed by vfnt and recommended to city council at a future date approval okay i was wondering what was going on two separate resolutions right all right yeah f4 is separate yes okay then you're done with that one okay so we've had a motion and a second for f4 girl can you go ahead and open the machine for voting council members please cast your votes seeing that all present council members have voted can you please tally and announce the votes and trade a motion to approve agenda item f4 passes five to three with council members floyd hanowitz and muhammad no and council members riscoe fix sanders gabbard girdus and montaner thank you and now we'll go ahead and move to f5 thank you there's no cards on this one either right okay same presentation f5 it's just the next page of the same presentation she was on yes it's two different resolutions same presentation go back to the 2024 a uh c page yep in this master bond resolution is not to exceed 140 million in aggregate principal the first phase the series 2024 c's is to be issued in an approximate amount of 40 million the bonds will be issued with a covenant to budget appropriate and deposit legally available non-advalorem revenues this also allows the project definition to be amended by city council if bond council opines no effect on the tax status further before bond issuance uh this would also have have a supplemental resolution that would be reviewed by bfnt and recommended to city council before we are able to issue the bonds move approval second okay seeing no further requests to speak can you go ahead and please open the machine for f5 council members please call it task your votes seeing that our present council members have voted can you please tally and announce the votes i'm sure the motion to approve agenda item f5 passes 53 with council members driscoll fick sanders gabbard girdus and montenari voting yes council members floyd hanowitz and muhammad voting no thank you we're now going to move to f6 which is the resolution acknowledging the selection of skanska usa building inc as the city's owner representative for the historic gas plant project and joining us is engineering director bajesh prayman and city architect manager raul cantana good afternoon council raul quintana city engineering i don't have a presentation so there's no um you have to leave the lights on well maybe there is so anyway this is um just real verbally anyway the uh this is the award of the agreement with skanska who was selected to be our city's owner's rep for the gas plant basically an extension of city staff to assist us in overseeing the agreement um according in accordance with uh section 7.14 of the development and funding agreement establishes the city construction representative and that is skanska um this initial agreement well the agreement is for the entire services for the statco portion of the of the work uh but this initial authorization is a limited it's only for 250 000 to get us through the initial deliverable of uh drawings 100 percent design development of schematic design drawings and into design development drawings which we anticipate happening very quickly so we wanted to bring this to you now get skanska on board and they're going to be our eyes on those drawings making sure that they comply with the requirements of the agreement and those requirements of the agreement stipulate that skanska well the cities to review in accordance with the design standards those design standards include the definitive uh elements the mlb rules compliance with ada consistency with the in-town redevelopment plan provisions for the sustainability and resilience uh and then complying with the facility standards in addition to that skanska is going to be providing uh services beyond just reviewing the agreements for us we there as a extension of our staff they're going to assist us with project schedule monitoring uh basically assisting us with q seeing the the invoices as they come in validating those invoices helping us process them overseeing helping us oversee the owner direct purchasing process construction observations attending the regular meetings there's a whole litany of requirements in the agreement that allow us to validate the work to participate in the work scans is going to assist us in the in that role so we really uh at this point anticipate having them get on board quickly uh they've got a full team of consultants that they've went out they've gone out and brought on board as well to assist them in the in the review process um and and ultimately this is going to be a much larger much longer term um uh fee than what we're currently including it's going to we're going to still negotiate those services for those additional uh duties and um you know through construction and all the way through the end of the project so this is an important moment to get skanska on board there's going to be a separate agreement for the the the infrastructure side this is only for the stadium and with that uh projects and i are here to answer any questions chair if i if i could just add there's been some discussion about uh contract management and you know we may want to discuss this more in a committee but i just wanted to give council some information so we have subgroups of team members working now on on different parts of this project whether that's finance or planning engineering and those subgroups are all funneling up and meeting with myself right so we're coordinating that already beth harrandeen is going to be our lead coordinator on contract management bringing skanska on board is a big part of that so we're formulating our structural organization to monitor these contracts and we're happy to meet with council further and discuss it more but i just want to council to have some information that we're already working on this thank you councilmember gabbert thank you and uh rob just to your comments um i just wanted to call us back to council budget priorities and the requests that i had made in my budget priorities around our staffing and the fact that knowing there is going to be an extra workload on all of our staff in order to make these agreements actually be fulfilled i just want to put a pin in that and just say as a council member in charge of the budget i fully support wherever you need opportunities for staff enhancement that we look for ways to build that into our budget i know there's some employees that are already incorporated into the budget for next year but i don't think they directly relate to this work so i just wanted to mention that for for future conversation thank you council member thank you move approval second council member driscoll thank you and just to add on to that since we have our committee the whole meeting coming up on the budget on august 1st that might be a good time to give us an overview of what is in and what now might be added that is specific to this project so that we can take a look at it and see all of it together and then look at you know extra things and and really navigate that together thank you at that at that meeting so if y'all could i hope you heard that tom yeah thanks tom thank you madam chair thank you seeing no further request to speak we have a motion and it's been properly seconded can you please open the machine for voting item f6 council members cast your votes seeing that all present council members have voted can you please tally and announce the votes madam chair the motion to approve agenda item f6 passes five to three to council members driscoll fix sanders gabbard girdus and montaneri voting yes and council members floyd hanowitz and muhammad voting no thank you we will now move to open form do we have any speakers cars anyone on zoom no we do not we do not okay we'll move on now to announcements are there any announcements well if y'all don't have any i have one do we have one okay vice chair girders thank you madam chair no birthday no birthdays uh i just at the end of all this i want to thank my colleagues again again it's uh one of these days where i'm probably sick of hearing me say it but just very proud to be up here um with all of you it it um frankly days like this it makes me feel bad because i'm trying to keep up with all of you uh and so i'm just very thankful for all of that and um thanks for all the work you do on a daily basis it's um it makes me it makes my heart happy for my children who are going to grow up in a great city because of people like you um second uh i i thought not about bringing this up but um 10 years ago the only reason i'm bringing it up is because it was 10 years ago 10 years ago my wife's niece was diagnosed with all a form of leukemia and uh in the in the wind of that we created a 501c3 charitable organization to raise money for pediatric cancer and our great timing i know our uh dinner and auction and golf tournament is tomorrow and saturday during the day and this year we will hit 1.5 million dollars raised for pediatric cancer and just uh thank you um but really i wanted to say a big thank you to casey moore karen moore tim brundage patty brundage and my wife for the hard work they are they've been spending all day setting up for that for tomorrow and uh and so just a big thank you for me i'm very proud and uh happy 10 years to love mckinley so thank you madam chair thank you so much council member gabbert thank you madam chair uh earlier in my statement i issued a whole lot of thanks but the people who i forgot to thank um are our legislative aides so our legislative aides let me just tell you anybody who's been having private meetings with us has dealt with them as well right for every piece of paper every note every single thing we have done our legislative aides have been right there next to us and our uh council administrator has been out and janie olman and my aid kim amos have picked up that additional workload as well and so i just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you for all of the hard work our legislative aides have done for us throughout this process thank you madam chair thank you that's why it takes eight of us so that we can cover each other and thanking um and making sure we don't um overlook anyone and again um we're going to close but i again was extremely sincere um when i wanted to thank everyone for your perspective and for contributing to what our constituents will appreciate the fact that we brought so much to the table with this particular project and again i'm still going to say it once i'm going to say it a hundred times as a city we're still going to have to hold all of this accountable in regards to meeting the needs um that we have all worked so hard for so many of us have been in this fight for a very long time and i appreciate the fact that it wasn't easy because as my grandmother would say anything easy and worth having so we just want to make sure that um you all know that you all are still very appreciated and until next time we're standing adjourned