City Council - Oct 12, 2023

Welcome to the City of St. Petersburg City Council Meeting. Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch, District 1, Copley Gerdes, District 2, and Council Chair Brandy Gabbard, District 3, Ed Montenari, District 4, Lisette Hanowitz, District 5, and Council Vice Chair Deborah Figg Sanders, District 6, Gina Driscoll, District 7, John Muhammad, and District 8, Ritchie Floyd. Good afternoon, everyone. We will call to order the October 12, 2023 City Council Meeting, beginning with a roll call, please. Gabbard. Here. Montenari. Here. Hanowitz. Here. Nick Sanders. Here. Driscoll. Here. Muhammad. Floyd. Here. Gerdes. Here. We will begin our meeting today with an invocation. Today's invocation will be given by Ms. Sepeda Escudara of the Baha'i Faith St. Petersburg Center. And then after that, we will do the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. O thou forgiving God, these servants are turning to thy kingdom and seeking thy grace and bounty. O God, make their hearts good and pure in order that they may become worthy of thy love. Purify, excuse me, and sanctify the spirits that the light of the sun of reality may shine upon them. Purify and sanctify the eyes that they may perceive thy light. Purify and sanctify the ears in order that they may hear the call of thy kingdom. O Lord, verily we are weak, but thou art mighty. Verily we are poor, but thou art rich. We are the seekers, and thou art the one sought. Lord, have compassion upon us and forgive us. Bestow upon us such capacity and receptiveness that we may be worthy of thy favors and become attracted to thy kingdom. That we may drink deep of the water of life, may be enkindled by the fire of thy love, and be resuscitated through the breaths of the Holy Spirit in this radiant century. O God, my God, cast upon this gathering the glances of thy loving kindness. Keep safe each and all in thy custody and under thy protection. Send down upon these souls thy heavenly blessings. Immerse them in the ocean of thy mercy, and quicken them through the breaths of the Holy Spirit. O Lord, bestow thy gracious aid and confirmation upon this just government. This country lieth beneath the sheltering shadow of thy protection, and this people is in thy service. O Lord, confer upon them thy heavenly bounty, and render the outpourings of thy grace and favor copious and abundant. Suffer this esteemed nation to be held in honor, and enable it to be admitted into thy kingdom. Thou art the powerful, the omnipotent, the merciful, and thou art the generous, the beneficent, the Lord of grace abounding. Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the public for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you so much, Ms. Escanary, for your beautiful invocation. We appreciate you, as always. All right, council members, we have an agenda before us today. We have one request to add an item, item F4. So with that change, I'll entertain a motion for approval. Move approval. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Seeing no request to speak, clerk, please open the machine for voting. Council members, enter your votes. Seeing all present, council members have voted. Clerk, please tally and announce the vote. Madam Chair, the motion to approve the agenda passes unanimously, with council member Muhammad being absent. All right, we're going to get right into our awards and presentations, which I believe most of you are here for. Before we get started, I do just want to send the regrets of our mayor, Ken Welch. He was unable to be here today due to another engagement, but he does want to make sure that you all know how much he appreciates you and all of your respective roles, and thanks you for being here with us today to celebrate our great city. So thank you all so much. I'm going to go ahead and turn it over now to council member Ed Montaneri for our fire prevention week proclamation. Thank you, Madam Chair. And today I'm joined by our fire marshal, Ian Womack, Captain Garth Swindle, Lieutenant Terry Barber, Community Risk Resolution Coordinator, Lena Stefanik, and Community Risk Specialist, Alexis Lawrence. And we have Chief Large here, and Chief Bassett here also, and some other members of St. Pete Fire and Rescue. And the resolution reads, whereas the city of St. Petersburg is committed to ensuring safety and security of all those living and visiting, and whereas fire is a serious public safety concern, both locally and nationally, and homes are the locations of people are at the greatest risk from fire, and whereas cooking is the leading cause of home fires in the United States, and two of every five home fires start in the kitchen with 31% of those fires resulting in unattended cooking. And whereas half of the reported non-fatal home cooking fire injuries occurred when the victims tried to fight the fire themselves, and whereas children under five face a higher risk of non-fire burns associated with cooking than being burnt in a home cooking fire. And whereas residents should turn pot handles towards the back of the stove, always keeping a lid nearby when cooking, and keep a three-foot kid-free zone around the stove, oven, and other things that could get hot, watch what they heat, and set a timer to remind them what they were cooking. And whereas residents who have planned and practiced a home fire escape plan are more prepared and will therefore be more likely to survive a fire, and whereas St. Petersburg Fire Rescue is dedicated to reducing the occurrence of home fires and home fire injuries through the prevention and education, and whereas the 2023 Fire Prevention Week theme, Cooking Safety Starts With You, pay attention to fire prevention, effectively serves to remind us to stay alert and to use caution when cooking to reduce the risk of kitchen fires. Therefore, I, Ed Montaneri, on behalf of Mayor Kenneth T. Welch, Mayor of the City of St. Petersburg, to hereby proclaim October 8th through the 14th, 2023, as Fire Prevention Week. And throughout the city, I urge residents to check their kitchens for fire hazards, use safe cooking practices, and support the many safety activities and efforts of St. Pete Fire and Rescue. Thank you. You want to talk a little bit about Fire Prevention Week? Yes, thank you. Yes, thank you. You're welcome. Council Member Montaneri, thank you very much for the proclamation. Chair of Council, thanks for having us today to recognize this important event. Fire Prevention Week is the longest running public health and safety holiday in the country. Established in 1925 with a singular mission of decreasing casualties caused by fire. So it's nice to have one focus. We celebrate in October, in memoriam, I have to mention this, in honor of Chief Damani of the Great Chicago Fire. 250 people were killed in that fire. More than 100,000 people left homeless, and more than 17,000 structures were destroyed. It seems like a long time ago, but certainly in recent news with Lahaina, unfortunately, those events can still happen today. So fire safety is as important now as it was when this holiday was established in 1925. The theme this year is mentioned in the proclamation is cooking safety. Cooking safety starts with you. Pay attention to fire prevention. And just to reiterate, cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home fire fatalities. So it's something everybody does every single day. So literally, everybody in this room and everybody in the community is at risk for a cooking fire. So we encourage you to seek out resources. Visit our website, fire.stpete.org, fire safety tips. You'll see videos on cooking safety, having an escape plan in your house to keep you safe. We also ask you to follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where you can continually find constant messaging on fire safety and other safety programs. We celebrate Fire Prevention Month in October, but we're committed to prevention year-round. I just want to share some of those efforts with you. Specific to fire prevention in FY23, we performed 209 public education programs and installed more than 250 smoke alarms in residences across the city. That's in partnership with the American Red Cross that supplies those devices to us. And then our fire service personnel go out and do home inspections as part of a home safe inspection program. And then install those devices in homes where people don't have them. Smoke detectors absolutely save lives. I want to mention the rest of the engine that drives fire prevention in the community. Public education is a big piece. That's why we're here today. I'd like to recognize our fire service inspectors that go around and make sure buildings that are operating in the public space stay safe and their suppression systems, detection systems, stay operable. We have fire plans examiners that review every permit that gets issued in the city for life safety and fire code enforcement. And then we also have fire investigators that unfortunately work to determine the cause of fires when they occur so that we can prevent them in the future. We kicked off our activities for this month, last Saturday, with our open house. We appreciate those of you that were able to join us. We had more than 300 people visit our fire stations to view the trucks and see kind of behind the scenes of how the fire department operates. It's a great public education opportunity for us as well. A little side note, that's our first one since 2019. So COVID killed the open house. And then unfortunately, my namesake, Hurricane Ian, killed the subsequent open house after that. So we were happy to get back to regular business this year. I want to conclude with advertising our Super Bowl event for this year, and that's our 32nd annual fire prevention block party. It's this Saturday at Lake Vista Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and it is for all ages. So young and old and everywhere in between, come out and see our showcase of apparatus. And it's not just a simple fire truck. We represent every type of apparatus that we have. You might be shocked to see some of the equipment that the fire department has for all manner of rescue on the water, under structures. We even have some drones as well. We also will do a live living room burn demonstration, and that burn demonstration is meant to demonstrate how effective and important fire sprinklers are. We'll have a canine demonstration from PD. We'll have a helicopter landing from Lifeline, bike safety radio, bounce houses, face painting. You name it, you can't not have a good time if you come. And all the while with free food and drinks. So please join us, I'll just repeat it one more time, October 14th at Lake Vista from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thank you for having us today. Don't go away, Chief. Councilmember Gerdes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Chief Womack, Chief Large, the rest of Fire and Rescue that are here, thank you. Not only for what you do every day, but certainly for what you do to prevent fires and really making that awareness, highlighting that awareness this week. I wasn't able to go to the open house this weekend, but coincidentally enough, we were in Chicago this past weekend, and we visited the standing firehouse that made it through that fire. And then also, FD was at my kid's school this week. So it was a lot of fire prevention in the Gerdes household. So thank you for highlighting the three-foot rule in the kitchen. I know my wife appreciates that because two little ones running around is crazy all the time. But I just wanted to communicate my just big thanks for everything you do, keeping our city safe, keeping our families and our residents safe, and highlighting that this week. And I can't wait to see everything on Saturday because I know you guys put on a show for sure. So thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Chief Womack. All right, next we will move on to item D2, which is our Domestic Violence Awareness Month proclamation. And this will be given by Vice Chair Fig Sanders. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. First declared National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in 1989. Since then, October has been a time to acknowledge domestic violence survivors and be a voice for its victims. Domestic violence impacts every community and affects all people regardless of age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, or nationality. The statistics and long-lasting impacts are astounding. So I stand here in honor to present this proclamation. And I ask these champions of domestic violence awareness, CASA's CEO, Ms. Loriana Forsyth, if she is here. Ms. Sherry Cluster, CASA's COO. CEO, Senator Nick DeSigli, from the Hope of Village of America. And Melissa Perry, also the COO from Hope of Villages of America. And the proclamation reads, whereas violence and abuse against women and children continues to be a prevalent social problem. And whereas domestic violence violates an individual's privacy, dignity, security, and humanity due to the systematic use of physical, emotional, psychological, and economic control and or abuse. And whereas the impact of domestic violence is wide-ranging, directly affecting women, children, men, and the society as a whole. And whereas many survivors of domestic violence suffer in silence due to the stigma and the shame associated with domestic violence. Whereas once free from their abusers, survivors face the challenge of navigating the criminal justice system, medical services, forensic exams, housing assistance, crisis counseling, and child services. And whereas the city of St. Petersburg supports organizations that provide resources safely in advocacy to domestic violence survivors and their children. Now, therefore, on behalf of Mayor Kenneth T Welch, I, Vice Chair Deborah Fick Sanders, on behalf of our Mayor of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, do hereby proclaim October 2023 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Senator, you don't mind if ladies go first, right? Absolutely not. Ms. Loriana, thank you so much. Thank you very much, Vice Chair, Chair, Councilmembers. My name is Loriana Forsyth, I'm the CEO. This is Sherry Cluster, our COO. Casa Pinellas operates one of the largest domestic violence shelters in the state of Florida. You might be surprised to learn that last year we served folks with 23,044 bed nights, right? It's a staggering number. But even more staggering than that is 70% of costless services are actually provided outside of our shelter. Many of you have toured, and I appreciate all of your support last year as we opened the Florida's only Family Justice Center. I can tell you since the opening on October 19th of last year, we have more than doubled the amount of people that we have been able to serve through that center. The numbers are staggering. So far, over 2,500 people have been served through the Family Justice Center. So thank you for all of that support. Casa is also, and you may not know this, one of the largest housing providers in the county. This year, this coming year, will provide $1.7 million of housing relief for survivors of domestic violence. You may not know that domestic violence is the number one cause of homelessness for women and children. So this is incredibly important in our community. So thank you for the proclamation. Thank you for all that you do to support Casa and our work for survivors here in St. Petersburg and throughout Pinellas County. Thank you. Madam Chair, Council, we really appreciate on behalf of Hope Villages of America to allow us to present this proclamation because domestic violence is an important issue in our county, in our state, in our country. Hope Villages of America, since 1967, has been providing this incredibly important service for women and children. We also have thousands of nights that we provide a safe shelter for these women and children. So whether it's Casa, whether it's Hope Villages of America, the important thing to know here is that we have great organizations that are doing great work on behalf of the members of our community. I want to introduce our COO, Melinda Perry, who's been just an incredible asset and ally for these women and children for many, many years. So thank you so much for having us today. Thank you. Madam Chair. Council Member Montaneri. Thank you. Thank you. I know Senator DeSiglie has to go to another event, but I did want to, first of all, thank everybody for being here to talk about domestic violence awareness and bring that message to our community. I also worked with Senator DeSiglie on a different topic to light up the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to show, our support for the State of Israel. And since you are here in our City Council meeting, I just wanted to publicly acknowledge and thank you for your work on that. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Council Member. Thank you, Senator, for being here. And thank you also to Loriana and everyone from Casa and Hope Villages. The work that you do in our community is so critically important and so many women and children would be without if it were not for you standing up for them and being their advocates. So thank you all for what you do every day. Okay, next we're going to go to item D3, which are Breast Cancer Awareness Month proclamation, and this will be given by Council Member Copley-Gerdis. Thank you, Madam Chair, colleagues. I'd ask representatives from the Pinellas County Health Department, Lisa Field, Sharon Higgins, Mariah Garrett, Valerie Lee, and Jennifer Gray to please join me. And then I also have my wife, Cecily Gerdis, and Carly Lewis here as well. A couple of months ago, I was before you introducing a proclamation for my dad, and at the beginning of that, I told you my mom is the hero of my mom's story. Excuse me, my mom is the hero of my dad's story. My wife is the hero of mine. Three years ago on October 8th, just a couple of days ago, our life changed drastically with one phone call. Unfortunately, it's the most likely phone call you can get with a diagnosis like this. And so I have, with Cecily and Carly, two moms with careers who continue to fight against a disease I wish we could rid the world of. And so with the Florida, or excuse me, Pinellas County Health Department, they are doing that work every day. And so I am very thankful for them and everything you do. I just want to express my appreciation to both Carly and Cecily for their determination, their love, and their willingness to stand up and be a part of this awareness. And Carly, thank you so much. And Cecily, I love you very much. The proclamation reads, Whereas one in eight women in America and one in 833 American men will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives, or one person every two minutes. And whereas considerable progress has been made in the fight against breast cancer, yet it remains the most frequently diagnosed type of non-skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women. And whereas, thanks to earlier detection and better treatments, mortality rates for breast cancer have decreased in the last decade. And whereas, having affordable access to screenings and early detection for all women is an essential component in the fight against breast cancer. And whereas, the breast and cervical cancer program provides uninsured, low-income women ages 50 to 64 with access to life-saving cancer screenings, such as mammography and cervical cancer screenings. And whereas, the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County's BCCP completed 982 life-saving screenings in 2022, and was recognized as one of the state's top programs. And whereas, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, we stand with our mothers, our daughters, our grandmothers, and friends in supporting their struggles after a breast cancer diagnosis. As well as recognizing the doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals whose care and hard work gives hope to those living with breast cancer. And whereas, the theme of this year's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is no one should face breast cancer alone. Now, therefore, I, Council Member Copley Gerdes, on behalf of Kenneth Welch, the Mayor of the City of St. Petersburg, do hereby proclaim October 2023 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month throughout this city. And I urge all residents to educate themselves on prevention and treatment options for this devastating disease. Thank you. Good afternoon. Thank you, Councilman, and especially as thank you to the City of St. Pete and this great council. The staff here works very hard, and I just want to acknowledge them and all of the hard work that they do. But I also plead to the community for early detection is the key. If there is any woman who is 50 to 64 who are uninsured and is in need of a screening, please do not hesitate to give the Pinellas County Health Department Breast and Cervical Cancer Program a call. We will be more than happy to serve them, as early detection is the key. We cannot do this alone. We need you all. Thank you so much. Madam Chair, I'm going to invite Carly Lewis up to say a few words. Yes, please. I just want to say thank you all for having us today. Please excuse my voice. It is actually a side effect of having radiation, so please apologies for that. I just really want to thank you all for your time and attention on this. Breast cancer affects people of a very wide demographic. It was an unexpected situation for me, but it's an unexpected situation for a lot of people. And so the availability of resources is key. And attention to the cause in situations like this is vital. So I just want to say thank you for having us today. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Council Vice Chair Fick Sanders. Thank you so much. And thank you, Council Member Gerdes, for being our true champion on this and providing that proclamation. And because this is something that impacts so many of us, a year ago this month, our family was also impacted by breast cancer. And it was early awareness that I still have my mom. So I say, Ms. Virginia Lee, I don't know if she left already, but when I called her a couple of weeks ago and I said, Hey, I need information so that I can start distributing this information about the importance of breast cancer. And we went out to the Saturday shops and we're just passing out information, talking about free mammograms and how important it is for breast and cervical cancer. That we pay attention to our bodies because we have a whole lot of men and women that we love and we want to keep around for a very long time. I mean, if all it takes is education and early detection, then let's do it. So thank you so much for this proclamation and to your wife, a beautiful survivor, Ms. Carly, another beautiful survivor. Regardless of how hoist your voice is now, we're just so glad to hear it. We'll take it just as it is. So thank you so much for the proclamation. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. You know, I am going to say real quick, you have done this proclamation now every year that you've been on council. And every year, you get even better at it and you get less tears. So I don't know how you make it through because I know what your family has been through and it is remarkable. And while she is the hero of your story, I am sure you are the hero of hers as well. So I think it's important that we recognize the people in our lives who help us get through things. And husbands, spouses, mates, those are the people that we lean on in those times. So thank you for bringing the proclamation forward as you always do and for your strength. At this time, I'm going to turn the meeting over to Vice Chair Fig Sanders so I can come down and present another proclamation. So I have the honor today of presenting Clergy Appreciation Month. And I think that it is so fitting in a world of so much turmoil and a time when there is so much hurting in this world that we stand here today with members of our faith community of all denominations, all beliefs, and all cultures to recognize the importance of faith in the world that we live in. So I am joined today by Reverend J.C. Pritchett from the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, the IMA. And because I don't want to forget anyone else, if all members of clergy could please come and then I will turn it over to J.C. after the proclamation and he can introduce everyone. We've tried to have enough copies for everyone, but if we don't, we can get more. So do not worry about that. I'm going to go ahead and give these to you, sir. And at this time I'll read the proclamation and it states, Whereas, the city of St. Petersburg includes a thriving community of faith leaders whose contributions and sacrifices have helped ensure a better life for future generations. And whereas, one's faith is a guiding light in times of uncertainty, grief, development, celebration, praise, and worship. And whereas, our clergy teach, guide, minister, and help us to grow in compassionate, caring communities that we might all respect and love another despite our differences and beliefs. And whereas, our clergy dedicate their lives studying and preparing for services and sacrifice time with their families to help ensure that their congregations can lead peace-filled lives and are comforted in times of pain, sickness, and grief. And whereas, the month of October has been recognized worldwide as clergy appreciation month. And our city is proud to celebrate our diverse faith community and those leaders who are important in our lives and our communities across the city. Now, therefore, I, Council Chair Brandy Gabbard, on behalf of Kenneth T. Welch, the mayor of the city of St. Petersburg, do hereby proclaim October 23rd, October 2023 as clergy appreciation month in St. Petersburg and urge all citizens to observe this month with appropriate activities, celebrations, and acknowledgments that honor the compassion, dedication, and energy of the faith leaders of our city. Thank you, Chair, and City Council. It is kind of strange that we are at this moment where our country and the world is being challenged to recognize clergy. And so, in a city like St. Petersburg, our clergy is diverse. They are inclusive. They work together. They work together doing mass shootings, doing global pandemics, doing hurricanes, not only just funerals and weddings and other ceremonies, but there are many occasions where the clergy of the community are working together. There are a few of them here today. Rabbi Phil Weintraub from B'nai Israel, Pastor Bobby from Maximo Presbyterian Church, Pastor John Evans of Friendship, Missionary Baptist Church, Amon Eskel, Muhammad and Quill, Pastor Basha Jordan, Pastor Candace from City of the Hill, City on the Hill, Pastor Kenny Irby from Bethel AME Church. And I don't know the brother's name. I remember. Okay, thank you. So it is the honor for the men and women from this community of faith leaders to serve this community, and we want to reassure whatever the challenges we face that there are clergy men and women who are ready to serve this community. Thank you again. Thank you. If anyone else would like to say anything, you are more than welcome. No? Why not? You give me a microphone, you've got to wait, no. No, as always, I'm very happy to be in the city of St. Petersburg, and I am grateful to work with some wonderful men and women here, and not to advance anything else on the agenda, but I'm grateful for all of the work that you do to support all the men and women of the city of St. Petersburg and around the world. So thank you very much. Thank you. Yes, I'm Dr. Boshy P. Jordan, Jr., Pastor and Founder of Hope Alive Outreach, and I want to just congratulate this august body, the city council, of what you're doing here today. Just sitting here today and listening to the various organizations that have been represented lets me know not only that you all are concerned about what's happening in the community, but that our communities also, but that our leaders are concerned about the community. Thank you so much for your support. Thank you. So hold on, gentlemen. We've got council members that want to speak, so. Is there anybody else other than me? I'm going to let you go, Council Member Gerdes. Thank you, Vice Chair. I just wanted to quickly say thank you. Not a lot of people know this. I bring it up every once in a while, but I was a religion major in college and was about 30 seconds away from going to seminary and felt God was calling me a different path. But I just want to thank each of you for your commitment and service to our broad community. And I know each of you cares deeply about not only your congregations, but the community as a whole. And I'm just so thankful for that, that you represent St. Petersburg and your congregations that way. Because, you know, I understand somewhat of the sacrifice of giving that, you know, when you become an elected official, you give up some of everything else you're able to do in the name of trying to serve, in our case, the city of St. Petersburg. But for you, it's both the city of St. Petersburg and a congregation. So I'm just very thankful and just know that every day I think about each of you and thank you for all of the service, both to your congregation and to this city. Thank you, Vice Chair. Vice Chair, Vic Sanders. Thank you so much. I can't have such a dignity standing in front of me without acknowledging the fact of the impact that you make. I have to echo Councilmember Gerdes. So many times I hear pastors say, you fought the calling. You fought the calling because you knew what came along with that. But yet and still, you knew what God had in store for you and you knew what your purpose was. But I have to thank you because you're right. You have to deal with everybody else's issues, everyone else's concerns. You have to be in place when you don't feel like it. You have to serve. And you've chosen yet to do that. And many of you have done this for years. You've been around through so many different situations, through so many ups, so many downs. And yet and still, you still stand tall. And I do appreciate everything that you all have done. I was at your church, Pastor Evans, and you showed out the other day. So, you know, I appreciate how you can still stand before those souls that need healing, even when yours may be hurting. How you can continue to come together to heal some pain, even though you may be standing there suffering yourself. You still do it. And I just have to thank you for that dignity. I'm going to give you your flowers while you can see them, smell them, hold them. I don't have them with me, but you feel where I'm coming from. I appreciate you. The men of the clergy, men and women of the clergy, you hold a special place in so many of our hearts because of what you have to give. See, public officials, we'll be over in a minute, right? We're term limited. But you all carry that for years. And so many of you all still continue to do it. And I just want to thank you. I had to take this moment to thank you so much. And thank you for whoever brought the proclamation because it was so appropriate. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you for being here with us today. Okay, at this time, we are going to go ahead and go to our open forum. So, clerk, can you please read the rules for open forum? 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 individuals wishing to speak may sign the open forum sheet. Only city residents, owners of property, business owners of the city, or their employees may speak. All issues discussed under 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 raise hand feature button in the Zoom app or enter star nine on your phone at the time the agenda item is addressed. When it is yours turn to speak, you will be unmuted and asked to state your name and address. At the conclusion of your comments, or when you have reached 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 and the meeting of the rules of decorum. If live public comment is disrupted by a violation of the rules of decorum, the chair is authorized to accept public comments by alternate means, including by email only. And, Madam Chair, we do have some speakers. Okay, and do we have anyone in Zoom? We do not. Okay. We'll call the speakers two at a time. When the clerk calls your name, go to either podium, and please go ahead and start. Mr. Chair, Eric Ludin, and Craig Scheer, please step to the podium, state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address counsel. Either podium. No, either one. Go ahead, Mr. Scheer. My name is Craig Scheer, chairman of Backstreet's Capital, retired executive chairman of the Assembler Company. First off, I want to thank each and every one of you for your service to our city. I've appeared here, I don't know, dozens of times, feels like hundreds of times over the last 40 years to advance the cause of a building, a zoning, a nonprofit, a civic event. This one's different. This is intensely personal. I'm here as a representative of my family, of the Jewish community, of the citizens of the St. Petersburg area, citizen of the state of Florida, citizen of the United States, and really a citizen of the world. We appreciate your efforts to support the state of Israel. This has been an intensely difficult week. You know, some 70 years ago, we witnessed the execution of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, and we all said this should never happen again. We work every day to try to prevent that from happening, and it appears, at least in some small degree, it's happening again. It's a very difficult time, and all I'm here to say is thank you very much for whatever effort you can do to pass a resolution or to do whatever to support the state of Israel, the citizens of Israel, and Jews around the world. Thank you very much. Thank you. So before we go to the next speaker, unfortunately, we don't allow applause in the chambers, so I would just ask that you hold, please. Sorry. I won't take it personally. I know. I always feel so bad. I apologize. I'd like to introduce myself for those of you who I've not yet met. My name's Eric Lewden. I'm an attorney here in St. Petersburg, and my wife, Judy, is right there, sitting next to her sister, Debbie Sokolov. Judy's retired as an executive at Menorah Life, a Jewish senior living facility here in St. Petersburg, and Judy and I have been living in, well, we live in Gina's district, and we've been both working here in St. Petersburg for over 40 years. Judy's parents were Holocaust survivors from Austria, and they also lived here. And both of my children graduated from St. Petersburg High School and went on to study at the University of Florida. During college, my older son, Josh, spent a summer on a kibbutz in southern Israel, not far from the kibbutzim that were attacked by Hamas terrorists. It was a dairy kibbutz, and he was assigned, as a city boy, he was assigned to care for the goats on the kibbutz, and he learned about the manufacture, distribution, and sale of dairy products. And today, he and his wife live in St. Petersburg, and they have a website development and e-commerce business. And my younger son, Jacob, volunteered one summer in college for the Israel Emergency Services, where he was assigned to work alongside paramedics in Tel Aviv. He came home. He attended the University of Florida Medical School. He's an anesthesiologist, and he's intending soon to return to St. Pete to make it his home. And the reason I'm telling you about my family is that I want you to know that Israel has a special meaning to us. And a lot of people in this room have the same feeling about Israel that we do. It's almost a second home. And when I look at the images I've seen on television and social media about what's happened in Israel, Israel, I imagine my children, who may have attended that music festival where so many young people were murdered and raped and kidnapped. And the level of brutality is haunting. The images have kept me up at night, and our hearts are broken. And this resolution that's coming before you this afternoon, you can't imagine the comfort that it provides to us who are suffering so much right now. It's wonderful to know that our home, our beloved city of St. Petersburg, understands the difficult times that we're going through and has our back. And thank you. Thank you, Ed Montaneri. Thank you for your efforts to get the Skyway Bridge lit in blue and white. Thank you, sir. And thank you for this resolution, all of you. Madam Chair, the next two speakers is Dan Harvey and Karen Lieberman. Go to either podium, state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address counsel. Good afternoon, counsel, chair, city staff. I'm Dan Harvey. I live, Dan Harvey, Jr. I live at 1425 Central. This is quite an act to follow, all these great things that were just introduced here. It's crazy times. I'm here to speak on behalf of the historic gas plant, the Rays deal, and the Heinz deal. It was never appropriate to talk about baseball, like relocation or something like that, during the playoffs. And now that the playoffs are over, we did a great job getting there. The Rays are a phenomenal organization, a terrific team. They mean so much to our city. And we should do whatever it takes to keep them. And it's up to counsel, who has the city purse strings, to determine that the deal that was cut makes financial sense for us. The Heinz group is a fantastic partner that was chosen. Go back a little bit. And to get us to this point where we didn't approve the prior master developer without having them connected with the Rays, that was a good move. And the time is now to do all that. So it's up to council members who have the purse strings to determine that we're getting the right amount for keeping the team here. It's impossible to say how much a team is worth. The community outreach is unreal, being able to have that throughout the summer. But we have to just determine, you know, they got half the development rights when the MOLI put that deal together with the prior administration. And those development rights are really key. And now that Heinz is the elephant in the room to develop that property, you could get a better team. It's just going to have to come down to, you know, when we were started off with half, and now they got it all for $103 million. And that could be a fair price, but someone's got to scrutinize this deal, whether it's MAI appraiser or finance or someone in our third person maybe to look at if that's enough money. I mean, if we could get some more money, it could be peppered throughout the black community where we could do some good things. The Rays and the Heinz group are doing quite a bit by taking care of affordable and workforce housing. And they're also doing other things with minorities. That adds up to a lot of money. So when you take a look at that and what they're paying for the $100 million, is it worth losing the 86 acres for $100 million? That's the question that the city council will be voting on. And I don't know how many people realize that, but good luck with everything. Thank you. Hello, council. Thank you for considering this resolution. My name is Karen Lieberman. I live on Sunlit Cove Drive in St. Pete. A Facebook friend recently posted the following. Israel has no right to exist. Was created in a backroom deal to end World War II. Stolen land. Sound familiar? Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! Exclamation point. I waited 12 hours before I replied, and I said, quote, World War II ended in 1945. The State of Israel was established in 1948. Previously, Palestine was a British mandate. Previous to that, Palestine was ruled by the Ottoman Turks since the 1500s. During World War I, the British government had issued the Balfour Declaration favoring the establishment of a national homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine because of continual pogroms, massacres, against Jews throughout Europe, Russia, and beyond, and because it is the original homeland of the Jewish people. The British captured Palestine from the Ottomans shortly after World War I. The League of Nations gave Britain mandatory power over Palestine in 1922. There was no backroom deal to end World War II. This statement is a disservice to the men and women who fought that war. If there were any backroom deals to be had, read up on the Evian Conference of 1938, end quote. And just for your information, the Evian Conference I referenced occurred in July 1938. Delegates from 32 countries, including the U.S., met in Evian, France, to discuss the Jewish refugee crisis. There was much hand-wringing for the Jews trying to flee the Nazis. Most countries refused to admit more Jews. The U.S. had been closed to Jews since 1924. Kristallnacht occurred three months later. On November 9th, 10th, the SS and the paramilitary, as well as German civilians, Hitler Youth rampaged against Jews, massacred Jews throughout Germany, burning down synagogues, homes, hospitals, schools, businesses, and murdering anyone in their way. Hitler made his vision clear, a Juden-free world, free of Jews. Now to the present day. The Hamas charter currently states, Palestine is a land that was seized by a racist, anti-human, and colonial Zionist project that was founded on a false promise. It blames Jews for both world wars, as well as the French and Russian revolutions. It claims Jews control the global media and explicitly demands their deaths. Also from the charter, quote, resisting the occupation with all means and methods is a legitimate- Ma'am, I'm sorry, your time is up. Oh, I didn't hear it. Okay, thank you. Last speaker is Michael Eagle. Please state your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address counsel. Sir, Michael Eagle, Cordova Boulevard, Northeast and St. Pete. I'm here, I'm frankly, emotionally and physically really, really tired, but I am not remotely out of fuel. And judging by the crowd here, neither are many of my fellow St. Pete residents and members of the Jewish community. As you know, I'm the board chair of the Florida Holocaust Museum, and I was up here a few weeks ago, thank you again. And talking to you in support of a resolution adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. And which you technically unanimously approved. I never thought I would be up here a few weeks later talking to you about needing to use it and use two or three of the specific items listed in that definition. That's why you adopted it in the first place, and now you're here to use it, and I thank you for that. As you know, my grandparents are Holocaust survivors. I have family in Israel, probably like a lot of people here as well. My family's in Israel because of the Holocaust. Because my great aunt put her two children, nine and seven, on a train and said to the older one, don't let go of your sister's hand. And they were on what's called a kinder transport, and they ended up going through Tehran and into what is now Israel. That's why I have family there. So imagine how it feels to see and experience the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. And thankfully, my family's okay for now. The Holocaust gave us a blueprint for what happens when the world is silent. But most importantly, it gave us a blueprint for what happens when the world isn't silent. And when people stand up for what's right, no matter who they are. This is not a Jewish issue. This is an issue of morality. This is not a political issue. This is an issue of humanity. There's no debate over the barbarity as to what happened. We're either human beings or we're not, and this is that important. You can see the emotion of all the people in this room. This hits home. There are many residents in St. Pete who have been deeply impacted and continue to be deeply impacted. We're very worried. These are things that people like me and many of us grew up hearing these stories of the horrors of genocide. No one would believe that we'd be seeing these kinds of things actually happen in our lifetime. So on behalf of the victims and the survivors of the Holocaust, and the Jewish people who are residents of St. Pete, and really all of civilized society, I urge you to unanimously, it sends a message. We talked about upstanders last time. This is a time for everyone to ask themselves, who am I, and what do I stand for? That's the question everybody needs to be asking themselves today, and then the debate. There is no debate. The answer is very, very simple. Thank you very much. Final speaker? Final speaker. Okay, we will close open forum. And before I go on to our report items, I did see that we are joined today by former mayor, Rick Kreisman. So thank you for being here with us today. Just wanted to take a moment to recognize you and thank you. Two weeks in a row I think you've been with us. So you missed us, didn't you? All right, we will move on now to our report items and take up item F2, which is our Youth Baseball All-Stars. And we are joined by Event Recruitment and Management Coordinator, Sean Dronen. Council Member Gerdes, did you want to go ahead and start on this item? Sure, thank you, Chair. A few months ago, we had a couple of stellar youth be able to go to Seattle for a baseball-inspired STEM program. And Sean was there with Cameron and Diego. And so I just wanted Sean to share their story. And we get to meet Cameron and Diego as well. They're here in chambers. And I just wanted to celebrate two amazing, as my cousin, Vinny Utes, yeah, I showed my age there again. Three times today. Yeah, right? And so I just wanted to celebrate them and thank you, Sean, for sharing their story. And one of them was able to bring home the championship, too. So I'll let Sean take it from here, but thank you, Madam Chair. Absolutely, thank you. And thank you for being here with us. Sean is Cameron and Diego there. We need them to come on up so we can make sure that, as Council Vice Chair Faye Sanders would say, they get their flowers. They won't know what that means, but we do. We get their baseballs, how's that? Exactly, Madam Chair and Council, thanks for having us today. Hopefully, we'll bring a little sunshine to our day today. Yes, thank you. Oh, clicker, got it. If we could drop the lights, clerk. Yeah. So back in July, I was fortunate enough to be attending the MLB All-Star Weekend in Seattle. And a good friend of mine, Logan Peel, was there with Diego as a chaperone. So he told me about this program called Learn Fresh. So it's a STEM-based, basically, baseball board game that they brought to our City of St. Pete Rec Centers. So they got to compete locally, and then there was an opportunity they could submit an application and a video and potentially go to Seattle and compete nationwide in this program at MLB All-Star Weekend. And so these two gentlemen got selected from St. Pete, and then so this is kind of part of their journey, and we'll tell you through some pictures. So we got to go to a place that was called the Players' House. So they had former players, current players come in, and it was this exclusive. It was like a warehouse that they turned into this really cool venue. They had a DJ, all the food the kids could eat. Again, John Smoltz was walking around and all these Hall of Famers and just kind of hanging out with the guys. So this was kind of right when they got there. They were all kind of a little nervous. Again, none of them knew each other. Even our two guys from St. Pete hadn't really met each other. And then so you got to see Diego. That's Diego practicing the game over in the airport. My man is focused on the right, just eyeing the prize. Obviously, he's got his Rays hat on. We got my man Cameron right here, always smiling, but he's in the zone too. Again, you can see him kind of competing. So they competed over two days. They got to have some really cool special guests. MOBPA President Tony Clark was there. They had a NASA astronaut come in and speak. Again, there's another Hall of Famer, Dave Winfield, came in and talked to all the youth. So it was just a really awesome opportunity. It was really based on mathematics and statistics. So clearly they would have done much better than I would have. And our champion, my man Cameron Richardson right there, was Seattle St. Pete. So they got paired up randomly. They had no idea who they were teaming up with. And so they named their team Seattle St. Pete. And they get to draft all the players. It's like a fantasy draft. They got to draft all the players. And the cards, again, had different values. I don't even understand explaining it, let alone playing it. But they went and dominated and represented for St. Pete. So Cameron got some really cool swag, got a bat and some autographed stuff and cards. And part of it, he got to go on the field for the Home Run Derby. So that's he and Julio Rodriguez, which was the star of Seattle. He was photobombed by Mr. Met over there. Obviously, Raymond is better. We all know that. Diego got to hang with some stars, too. Obviously, we got CeCe over there. Nolan Arenado, Jordan Alvarez. He got to meet his favorite Rays players. So that was an experience. They got to explore Seattle. I see Mr. Silverman in the back over there. So obviously, he's representing Rays, even in front of the Ken Griffey Jr. statue. He's rocking his Rays gear. So if you need a couple of guys to throw out a first pitch sometime next season, Mr. Silverman. There you go. Got two superstars right here, my man. I'm plugging for you guys. I got you. So again, it was just an incredible experience. And right here, St. Pete, these guys went and represented and took it home. So again, we want to thank our friends over at Learn Fresh, Denzel Smith, the Players Trust, the MLB Players Stem League, and again, Learn Fresh. So this is what our youth are doing. They grow up here and they do amazing things. So often, we don't hear about the incredible things that they're doing. They went across the globe, represented St. Pete, and then came home with a championship. So I just want to take a moment to show you some amazing youth and tell you their story. Okay, now we will applaud. Well, thank you so much, Sean, for bringing these wonderful gentlemen in to meet us today. So very, very proud of you. I'm a baseball mom, so my heart just beams to see what you've accomplished. And it's just huge. And we're very, very proud of you. So thank you for coming and spending some time with us and letting us say thank you. Council Member Gerdes, did you want to say anything else? Please, if you don't mind, Chair Thay. Not at all. I just wanted to say congratulations again, guys. Sean, thank you so much for being an amazing steward of our city, as always. But I just want to tell you, I would have given my left arm. I wouldn't have given my right one because I throw with that one. But I would have given my left arm to meet some of those guys. So I'm so glad you guys got to have that experience. Both of you, congratulations. I just, it blows me away what you guys accomplished and were able to do. And keep shining because you are making St. Pete very, very, very, very proud. All right, guys? Thank you, Madam Chair. Council Vice Chair Fig Sanders. Thank you. I just want to say congratulations. I was a t-ball mom. They didn't get that far. Congratulations. And you represented St. Pete. And you ought to be proud because we are proud of you. Congratulations, gentlemen. All right. Thank you so much. We will now move on to item F3, which also, Council Member Gerdes, this is St. Pete Matters, the National Swimming Championships. St. Pete Masters. Masters, sorry. I've got bad eyes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I feel like I'm at my word count for the day, so I apologize. You are fine. But I wanted to take the opportunity to invite St. Pete Masters. We've got Dr. Peter Betzer, Gary Basti, and Bob Beach, I think, are each going to say a few words. We've got some pictures of the team. But really, it's a celebration of some amazing accomplishments in 2023 from our Masters Swim team. I'll let them tell you kind of the story of Masters and where it comes from. But first, real quick before we do that, I'm going to invite Bob Beach up, who is a world record holder in Masters Swimming. Okay. And just has a couple of words before we jump in, and Gary comes up, the Masters coach. Thank you very much to the mayor's representative and city council. It's a real pleasure to be here. Masters Swimming started in 1971 with 114 swimmers nationally for the purpose of getting in shape through swimming. So competition was a carrot, and we started with 114 swimmers. We now have probably 70,000 swimmers in the United States in Masters Swimming. We have a world meet every two years where anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 swimmers show up, all over 21. Our first swim meet started in 1971 also with our team. Our team consisted of one person. That was me. And that team, that swim meet has been going ever since. It's the longest-serving swim meet in Masters Swimming in the world. And we get people from all over the world to participate in our meet. And the thing that has been very important to all of us in this group is the participation of the North Shore Pool staff. They've been terrific for us, and they take care of us, they look after us, and they're good friends of ours. And that also goes for the Recreation Department. This program has been extremely important in our lives, and we really appreciate it. So in appreciation of the city council inviting us, I have a—where's our lady that's got the medals? I got a medal for each of you. She has already handed them out. Oh, all right. She's on. I promised you she would be, so, yeah. Okay, well, thank you very much for your service and inviting us, and we really appreciate it. You've got a great program. We invite you down to the pool, especially when the sun comes up. You will not see a prettier sunrise in a prettier pool than we've got. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next speaker is Carl, our coach, and Theodore. Yep. Great job. Yeah. Bob obviously is incredible because he has world records, and at the Pan Am Games in 2018, he didn't just set a world record. He smashed it by several minutes for the 1,500-meter freestyles. It's an awesome performance. Indeed, that record probably won't be broken for decades. Now, Gary Basty, who was our wonderful coach, who spent five simulating days in Sarasota at 90-degree temperatures with our team at the Nationals, I actually met him in 1975 in Fort Lauderdale at a national swimming championship. He was a member of a relay team that set a national record, but unfortunately, a team from New York got there a couple hundredths of a second earlier, so he got second place, even though they had a new national record. About the meet in Sarasota, we had a first ever. We've had national champions, but we've never been in a national championship where our swimmers got first and second against everybody in the country, and one of the people who did that, Saraswak, is here. 200-meter backstroke. It was absolutely incredible. It was a great thrill. Well, and to finish up, I'd like to say, I think that there is a master swimmer from St. Petersburg who has done something that's never happened here before. I don't know how many of you have seen Sports Illustrated, but there's a thing called Faces in the Crowd. William Speck of Raymond James made the Sports Illustrated, and for a national meet, he did six swims, and every one of them was a world record. 50, 100, and 200 backstroke, and the 50, 100, and 200 butterfly. I don't think anybody's ever done that in the history of master swimming. He's a St. Petersburg person, which is really great. So anyway, here's our wonderful coach, Gary. Thanks, Peter, and thanks, Judge Beach. Judge Beach, interesting story. I found a wallet about 30 years ago and picked it up, and I brought it over to North Shore Pool. That was the closest facility. A man came out. It was Judge Beach. He thanked me for the wallet, and we've been friends ever since. But I wanted to thank the people in this room. You keep us a first-class city. And what I see is we have people coming in from all over the country, and they've heard of our facility. They come in to train with us. We have ex-Olympians. We've had the national board of the Masters, the International Swimming Organization, come over to train with us. And we have people that move here just because of the facility, and they really enjoy what we have here. I had the first opportunity to swim here in 1975, and I knew that someday I'd move here. And there are many people that are the same. We host national swim meets here for the International Swimming Coaches Association. That's twice a year. We have, for example, we've had YMCA nationals here, Boys and Girls Clubs nationals. So we're really the ambassadors in one sense on the swimming part, but everybody in here is who makes it go and makes it happen. So I really wanted to thank everybody for the opportunity we've had to train at the facility and for the wonderful staff that helps us so much. And Fred Lewis, the head coach, he's coaching right now. That's where I got to go next. So I'm going to run afternoon practice. So thanks again. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you all for being here today. And actually, no, I'm sorry. Turn the lights back up. I think we're good on the PowerPoint. So I wanted you to, yeah, send the PowerPoint back. So council members, I don't know if anybody else has pushed their button. Doesn't look like it. Bob, I just want to say thank you for my medal because I'm not a great swimmer, admittedly. Not one of my strong points. So I probably would never have gotten one otherwise. So thank you for bringing those for us today. And we'll make sure that the mayor gets his as well. But thank you all for being here. And thank you, Council Member Gerdes, for bringing this forward. A very wonderful thing to celebrate. Great things people are doing in our community. So thank you all for being here today. All right. We now will go to item F1, which is the state of the Tampa Bay Water and the agency's long-term water plan. And I would like to turn it over to Council Member Hanowitz. Thank you, Chair. And we're going to be switching gears a little bit here now, talking about water. So I'll let everyone walk out. Yeah. Give it just a second. We have a presentation for this one? Yes. Yeah, we'll go ahead and turn that up. So thank you, everyone. Tampa Bay Water General Manager Chuck Cardin is here to provide us with an update on the state of Tampa Bay Water and the agency's long-term master plan. He's a veteran with the agency. Mr. Cardin previously served as the chief operating officer before the board selected him as the agency's general manager in 21, following a nationwide search. And I'm going to give just a quick, brief background. Tampa Bay Water is the sole and exclusive drinking water provider for the counties of Hillsboro, Pasco, and Pinellas, and the cities of St. Petersburg, Newport, Ritchie, and Tampa. There's an interlocal agreement that governs Tampa Bay Water. And elected representatives from six member governments comprise the board of the directors. I'm one of those. While each board member represents their respective city or county, the board's policy decisions and directives ensure that the whole region has reliable and sustainable drinking water. It has a diversified water supply system consisted of treated groundwater, surface water, and seawater. It has allowed the environment to recover from the damage that groundwater overpumping caused the region before Tampa Bay Water's creation. This year marks 25 years since Tampa Bay Water's inception, and it remains a model for regional cooperation and continues to benefit our region's residents, environment, and economy. As Mr. Cardin is going to share now, the agency is preparing to present the board with a 2023 long-term master water plan. This is updated every five years, and it's required by the interlocal agreement. The plan prepares the agency to provide adequate drinking water supplies over a 20-year planning horizon by identifying, studying, and recommending water supply projects. And with that, I turn it over to Mr. Cardin. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, and I want to thank you for inviting me today to give you a brief update. You did such a wonderful job. I'm not sure I need to say much more, so I'll do my best. As you said, I'm the general manager of Tampa Bay Water, which is your regional water supply wholesaler. Before I get started, I wanted to recognize Council Member Hanowitz. She sits on our board representing the great city of St. Petersburg, and she does a great job. Again, we were created 25 years ago with your city and five other members to build innovative, alternative water supply sources to meet this growing region's needs. One of the key factors in putting together Tampa Bay Water is we have the unequivocal obligation to supply all of the water that the members need. So the six members, the three counties, and the three cities all have to get their water from us. There is an exception with the city of Tampa's membership. They were allowed to self-supply up to 82 million gallons a day of their surface water system, which they had has existed since the 1920s, I believe. So they do self-supply up to 82 million gallons a day from themselves. This picture I love to put up, this is why we were created like 25 years ago, to reduce groundwater pumping and to help the environment recover. And so I can tell you we've done that. This is just a picture of a before and after. This is, you know, same exact spot, not quite 25 years later, but, you know, at least 20 years later. So our reduction has worked, and we've had the lakes and wetlands have been restored. This is how we currently meet the members' needs. We have a very diverse and flexible system, and we use three sources, as council members said, groundwater, desalination, and surface water. The key was, back in 1998, we were 100% groundwater, and today we're about 60% groundwater and 40% of the alternative sources, the surface water and the groundwater. We have a budget that just started October 1st to supply 198 million gallons a day to the six members. And that does not include the 82 to the city of Tampa, as I said earlier. And we charged a wholesale rate to everybody, the same rate. This year, it's $2.60 per thousand gallons. And I know you're very aware of this. Our members' needs continue to grow. Hillsborough and Pascoe are our fastest-growing areas, and St. Petersburg is 14% of the total of the membership's needs for water. We are working right now closely with Hillsborough County to develop additional pumping and transmission capacity to increase their supply to the southern Hillsborough County area. And the facilities that we're developing right now are a new booster station to put five more million gallons a day into that area. We're also building a very 66-inch pipeline from our regional system down to southern Hillsborough County. And then we're also looking at a project to put in a well. It was a test well. We're turning it into a production well to get about 2.3 million gallons a day. So that area is growing fastest, and Pascoe's following that, and we're working hard to keep up. It is also very important that we save water to offset the need to build new water supplies. We have an incentive-based rebate program, and we call it Tampa Bay Water Wise. The rebate program is designed to save up to 4 million gallons a day by 2030 by using rebates. The rebates can range anywhere from residential toilets and irrigation technology, such as soil moisture sensors, and also commercial fixtures, such as spray valves, urinals, toilets, and cooling towers. But the demand management isn't enough by itself. We also need to add new water supplies to meet the needs of the region. This chart shows our current planning horizon. The gray line is the member government demands, and the red line represents the trigger, in which we need to expand the system. Right now, we're expanding our existing surface water treatment plant to meet the demands in the 2028 time frame, and that's that first step up you see in the red line. The next water supply is anticipated to be needed in the year 2033, and we estimate that we will need an additional between 10 and 20 million gallons a day of new water supply. Our planning process starts with what we call the long-term master water plan, and it looks at demands and growths and a variety of supply options. We update the plan every five years, and we look out 20 years as our planning horizon. We take options, and we analyze and screen them down to a recommended short list that goes into what we call the feasibility phase. Once the feasibility studies are completed, the board then votes on projects to move into the design and construction phase to meet the future demands. Right now, we're currently in the first step of the process for our 2033 supply options, and we are down to a short list of projects that we will be recommending to the board to approve for future feasibility studies. And speaking of those projects, here they are on this chart. There are seven project concepts that are proposed in a short list to be recommended for the study. We will be bringing that to the board in November for approval. These projects represent quite a diversity in location and source of supply, and they have differing yields and cost. You'll see that the options range from additional surface water to expanding the desal facility and also exploring the use of additional groundwater through new wellfields and through the existing consolidated permit. Option G on the chart here is a project that uses the benefits of credits from the injection of reclaimed water. Hillsborough County has a project called SHARP, and where they take treated, reclaimed water, and they put it in deep well injection on the coast, right there by where the lettering D is, and basically it stops the saltwater intrusion from coming in any further. But there's an indirect benefit from that. It also creates a pressure buildup inland where the G dot is. That's a proposed wellfield. The district, Swift Mud, is our regulator. We've been working with them that we could possibly take some water, some fresh groundwater out because of what Hillsborough County is doing with the reclaimed water. In addition to the feasibility studies, we are also evaluating potential potable reuse projects for future considerations, and we call them development alternatives. And these are projects that will require longer feasibility studies, additional investigation, or just simply the need for the regulations to be implemented. Right now, the city of Tampa, Hillsborough County, and Pinellas County have excess reclaimed water that could be used for either direct or indirect use projects into the future. The water we provide our members continues to meet all federal, state, and local standards. We recently completed a water quality study that looks at removing total organic carbon, which will help provide each of the utilities a greater operational control. The study also revealed that the treatment for the total organic carbon removal can also be used, the exact same treatment for other contaminants of emerging concerns. And I'm talking about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS for short. And I know that has been in the news nationally, so I do want to spend a few more minutes on that subject. PFAS compounds do not originate in water supplies. They are from man-made substances that enter into the environment, which includes the drinking water sources, once products are discarded. Tampa Bay Water and our members began testing for PFAS as part of the National Environmental Protection Agency study. It's called the UCMR5 testing, and it was done about every five or six years. So the last time it was done was 2015. But they are asking for a year's worth of sampling every quarter from all the member governments in Tampa Bay Water, and it's also being done nationally, so it's not just locally. All utilities in the United States are testing to see what is out there in the water. The first sampling event we did, we did it in conjunction with the members, and it occurred in July. And so as we tested the regional system, there were two locations that were reported with one compound slightly above the proposed limit that EPA is recommending, which is four parts per trillion. And they were 4.1 parts is what we found in two locations. All of the other sample locations, including the Cosme area, were non-detect or below the threshold of four parts per trillion. So once the EPA comes out with our final regulations, which we expect by early next year, January or February, the data we collect from our study will help us to determine if there's any other treatment recommendations for our board of directors, if need be. And with that, I'd like to thank you for allowing me the opportunity. But before I finish, I did want to finish on a note from something we did in the news last week. We got a lot of coverage. Tampa Bay Water declared a Stage 1 water shortage declaration. And what that is is it's a plan that the board has approved, and it takes four phases of different environmental triggers to trigger it. So we went to a Phase 1, which is because of the rainfall deficit, we have a negative 8.3 deficit for the last 12 months. And so when it goes below five inches, we declare a Phase 1. And what we're doing is just, at this phase, is trying to get some proactive measures of awareness. And asking folks to think about conserving water, know your watering days, and it's very precious. We've had a very abnormal rainy season, and I say that on a day where we're getting pounded by rain, and I love it. So I hope it keeps raining, but we're coming off the wet season. It wasn't as wet as what we usually get, and we're entering the dry season. So just having folks be aware of that and help conservation know your watering days, and I'd be happy to take questions. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation and for being with us today. Councilmember Hanowitz. Well, thank you. And first of all, I just want to thank you, Chuck. You're so wonderful to work with. I want to mention to everyone, you mentioned the cost of water, $2.60, right? It's wholesale. And what was it when Tampa Bay started? It was around a dollar, I think, with all the groundwater. Tampa Bay water was, when the Tampa Bay water, I thought when the interlocal agreements, like 230 something. Wasn't that low? Wasn't that low? Maybe I'm going back. I go back to 1993, and maybe I'm thinking of 1993. Yes. Higher in 98. Yes, yes. But anyhow, I just want to say they do such a good job of making sure that they provide quality, safe water for our citizens here. It's the most important thing, honestly, it's the most important thing, honestly, to have water. And no one really thinks about that. But what we do, we do if we don't have water. And so I just want everyone to appreciate everything that's done by Tampa Bay water and the region to make sure that we have the resources to provide for our citizens, that we make sure that we're providing safe water. And I also want to thank Claude Tankersley, Public Works Administrator, John Palinshar, Water Resources Director, Scott Lewis, Senior Water Resources Manager, Jane Wallace, the Attorney, and Janie, my Legislative Aid, who all are the team here that work directly with Tampa Way Water to make sure that our needs are met. So thank you. Thank you, Councilmember, and thank you for your service as well. Councilmember Hanowitz is our representative for City Council on Tampa Bay Water, so I just want to thank you for that service. I know it's a heavy lift. Councilmember Floyd. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. And you actually touched on exactly what I wanted to bring up is just how things are going in the wake of what was really a historic light amount of rain over the past year. I know we've struggled at my house keeping our garden watered. And so I'm glad to hear that it's not too bad and putting too much pressure on you. I appreciate that. Like I said, getting ahead, that was the whole idea of the plan, not to alarm anybody, but to get ahead of it before it becomes a problem. That's where we walk through those phases. And so phase one is just nothing more than, hey, we need to look at this because there could be issues if this continues. And it would go on to a phase two, three, and four, which has different levels of activity to remedy it. So hopefully we don't go to phase two. Hopefully we're fine. The rain started, and they say it's an El Nino year, so hopefully that will mean a lot more rain through the winter months. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Well, thank you again for the presentation. I see that you have your cup there. Thank you. I do, and there's some people on staff that may want one too, just saying. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, and we will now go to our final report item, item F4, which is our resolution supporting the State of Israel. Council Member Montaneri. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I'm glad that we have a lot of people from the Jewish community here and other friends of the State of Israel in our chambers. Just a few blocks from here is the Florida Holocaust Museum. And in that museum, you can begin to grasp the enormity of the Holocaust. And I urge all people visiting St. Petersburg to go and see the scale of the crime against humanity that happened during the Holocaust. One of the reasons that the Holocaust happened is that because people didn't stand up. People looked the other way. People didn't want to rock the boat. We're going to rock the boat today. We're going to stand up today. We're going to stand for freedom and democracy and for the peace-loving people that call Israel their home. We said after the Holocaust, never again. What we've seen since Saturday is that evil is real. Evil's in our world. And we need to stand against evil. Open doors. Always optimistic. But at this time, when the murderous thugs that call themselves Hamas are creating horrific crimes against innocent people, we need to stand up. So, Madam Chair and City Councilmembers, I want to read this resolution. And it's a resolution supporting the state of Israel and condemning Hamas and Iran and providing an effective date. Whereas on Saturday, October 7, 2023, a holy day in the Jewish calendar, the people of Israel came under attack. And whereas the Gaza-based militant group Hamas launched a massive, unprovoked attack on the nation of Israel by air, land, and sea, including the firing of thousands of rockets. And whereas the heinous assault took place on the Jewish holiday of Shipchat Torah, and exactly one day after the 50th anniversary of the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Israel. And whereas Hamas terrorists crossed the land border into Israel and began slaughtering Israelis and abducting hostages, including infants, children, and the elderly. And whereas more Jewish people were murdered on October 7, 2023, than on any other single day since the Holocaust. And whereas Hamas is a United States-designated foreign terrorist organization, and Iran has long provided support to Hamas and other terrorist groups. And whereas the attack by the Hamas terrorist organization has killed 1,300 Israelis, which includes babies, children, and the elderly. And 25 United States citizens, and injured more than 3,000 other Israelis in their brutal attacks. And whereas the people of Israel are now engaged in an armed conflict to defend their lives, independence, and democratic way of life. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida, that the City Council supports and stands with the State of Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war, condemns Hamas and Iran, and calls Hamas to immediately end the violent attacks, and release all the hostages. This resolution will become effective upon its adoption, and I'll move approval. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second, and we actually have cards on this item. So, clerk, if you could please call the speakers. Madam Chair, we have two cards. David Dalrahim and William Kilgore. Please go to either podium. State your name and address for the record. You'll have three minutes to address counsel. Thank you. My name is David Dalrahim. I was the president of Shore Acres for four years. I serve as the board chair for Menorah Life, and been a long-time citizen resident of St. Petersburg. I usually don't write down my remarks. A lot of people know me that I'm an extemporaneous speaker by heart, but there are some things I had to write down because this has just been very traumatic. I want to start with, because not everyone has heard this, the Hamas 1988 charter, quoting from it, the day of judgment will come, sorry, the day of judgment will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, killing the Jews. When the Jew will hide behind the stones and trees, the stones and trees will say, O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him. I have a wife, a nine-year-old, and a five-year-old. Until this week, I didn't realize how many people wanted to kill me, my kids, my family. As a Jew, as a parent, I'm scared for my family, and I feel solace in the fact that there's a place where I, or the 2% of the world population, the Jews, can go to to feel safe if our country, or anywhere else, turns against us and rises with Hamas, like we've seen throughout the country. Today, I swore off the social media because of the heinous acts, the mass of swastikas, the parades rooting on the efforts of Hamas. It's kept me up at night. It's caused my friends and family to cry and fear and disdain. And this resolution, this resolution is a light, and otherwise a very, very dark time. I urge the unanimous consent and thank Ed Montaneri, Council Member Montaneri, for bringing this, and all those who vote in favor. Thank you. Mr. Kilgore. Hey, everybody. Thank you, Chair. William Kilgore. I'm a resident of the Ponce de Leon neighborhood. I just wanted to speak on this item. I know this was kind of a last-minute resolution. You know, spiritually, myself, I mean, I mourn all of the dead. The victims in Israel who were killed and murdered is horrible and a terrible thing. You know, I grew up, I was old enough to remember, like, the lead-up to the Iraq war in post-9-11, and, you know, the fears of any kind of, like, dissent, or just acknowledging other types of issues that might not be considered. And in this resolution, you know, thinking about the horrible killings of, you're talking about women and children, look at Gaza and what's happening there right now, being flattened right now as we speak. Innocent, these are civilians being killed right now. There's been more Palestinians killed since the start of this most recent conflict. Right now, the death toll, it's just as higher, just a little bit higher, you know, here than on the Israeli side, and it is noted that the Israeli government has cut off water, electricity, food to Gaza, and they're starving people out, and they're bombing folks. You've got this population, 80 percent in poverty, 60 percent food insecurity. It's a population of a little over 2 million, and half of the folks there are children. And I learned, when I learned, I learned about the Holocaust in school. I mean, that inspired me to do, like, the work I'm doing as an organizer and to speak up about things. And I, and it's important that we acknowledge, you know, that that kind of thing is happening and what's happening in Israel. And I love all of my Jewish friends and neighbors, Muslim friends and neighbors, everybody. I speak up here, and I have to dissent, because when I was a kid, I remember you say, anything to the contrary of U.S. intervention, U.S. intervention, we need to go into Iraq. We need to go into Afghanistan. Right now, we're ramping up for a major conflict. The U.S. is putting ships in the region. This is a very scary time, and people need to be speaking out against that. We need peace. We need peace. And we can't be ramping up that conflict. And I think connecting Iran to this whole thing, it's a little bit of some misinformation, too, because even the U.S. intelligence community right now is saying that the Iranian officials, there's no clear link between Iran and this most recent attack. And so this is putting out false information and ramping up those war drums, just like what happened in Iraq, to justify that illegal invasion of that country. And I'm sorry, but thank you very much. Any more speakers? Madam Chair, no more speakers. Okay, we'll close the public comment, and we'll go to Council Member Hanowitz. Thank you, and thank you, Council Member Montaneri, for bringing the resolution. I'm going to start with the definition of a terrorist. It's a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. Terrorists bred terror. We watched with horror the death and destruction terrorists caused here in our country in 9-11. 9-11 attacks killed 2,996 people. There are approximately 9 million people in Israel. The population of the U.S. is approximately 333 million. And we remember the impact it had on our country when 9-11 happened. Each one of us. We didn't have to be in New York to feel that impact. And I cannot imagine how Israel feels right now. The indiscriminate killing of human beings, children, mothers, fathers, grandparents, whole families, what we have seen on TV, taking hostages, still have them. Hamas is no better than Al-Qaeda or any other terrorist organization in the world. I appreciate the speakers that mentioned the Hamas Charter, which sets out the movement's ideology, because I think some people don't understand that. They don't understand the ideology behind Hamas. In the original charter, in the preamble, it says Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will invalidate it, just as it invalidated others before it. And here we are. It should be of no surprise. Here we are, because this is what it's about. When terrorist attacks happen anywhere in the world, it should be called out for what it is. This was terror. It was mass murder, period. As Mike Eagle mentioned, it is an issue of humanity and morality. So to our Jewish brothers and sisters out there, we stand beside you. You're not alone, and I am happy to support this, and I stand with the people of Israel. Thank you. House Member Floyd. Thank you. The attacks in Israel over the weekend were undeniably horrific and atrocious, and I lament the loss of innocent life at all times. I'm truly sorry. My deepest hope is that we as a body could make a unifying statement that comforts our community. But I have to say I don't agree that this resolution is that. Instead of advocating for an end to violence, we've included condemning Iran in the resolution. A country that, like one of the speakers said, does not, we do not have a link to them in this, and they've denied participating in it. And so I do think this feels eerily similar to 2003 when, quite frankly, a tragedy occurred, and it was used as an excuse to invade a separate country. And, in fact, some of the same liars that got us into Iraq in 2003 are beating the war drums for us to attack Iran over this as well. And so, and I don't want to see things escalate. I don't want to see millions of people displaced and killed in the Middle East again because of our foolish war machine. And so I understand why this is written like this, but, you know, there are other, there are plenty of other organizations and countries that have supported Hamas, unrightfully so, places like Turkey, who's our NATO ally. Even the prime minister of Israel was quoted in Haretz and the Israeli Times saying that their goal was to prop up Hamas. And so, but they're not being condemned in this resolution. Iran is, and the only reason I can imagine Iran being in this resolution is because it's a favorite target of imperialists seeking to embroil us in another foolish Middle Eastern conflict. And I can just say my little bit of personal experience with this is that I worked, and I'm embarrassed that I worked as a defense contractor before, and I saw the gluttony and greed of them. And they leech profits off of working class people's tax dollars in order to inflict suffering across the globe to poor people. And it's always to the detriment of American service member and our collective psyche. And I left that job because I didn't want to take part in it then, and I won't take part in it now. So, I stand for peace and liberation at all times and in every possible situation, and that 100% means peace for innocent Israelis, and it means peace for innocent Palestinians as well. And it also means an end to the Gaza siege and the humanitarian blockade. And I'll support a resolution that's written with peace and an end to violence in mind, but this resolution is not that. Councilmember Driscoll. Thank you. One of the privileges of living in a democracy is that we have healthy debate, and we have the First Amendment, which allows people to have their own opinions. And when it is done respectfully, I do respect that. But this, to me, is not up for debate. I cannot imagine what folks are going through right now as they scan through news articles and reports and social media trying to find where their loved ones are and see if they're okay. And what you're having, what you have to see while you're going through all of that is absolutely horrific. I had to stop reading some of the articles because it's just too much for me to bear, and I don't even know anyone there. Hamas took a woman's phone and used her phone to take video of them killing her, and then they posted it to her Facebook page, and that is how her loved ones found out. And so, yes, I support and stand with the State of Israel as it defends itself against this barbaric war. I condemn Hamas, and I join the call for them to immediately end this violence. Councilmember Montaneri, thank you for bringing forward this resolution, and I can tell that there was a lot of work that went into this. And thank you, and Senator DeSegli, for working on the Skyway Bridge lights. I started to see posts about that instead of the horror, and it started to give me a little bit of hope. The Bishop Desmond Tutu once said that hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. And we're going through this time of darkness right now, but we're in this together, and the light that we see is the light in ourselves that we share with each other. And let's continue to do that because there are more tough days ahead, but we've still got each other, and I'm here for you, and I know that we're all here for each other. Thank you. We have a motion and a second on the floor to approve the resolution. Clerk, please open the machine for voting. Council Members, enter your votes. Seeing all Council Members have voted, Clerk, please tally announce the vote. Madam Chair, the motion to approve agenda item F4 passes 6-1 with Council Members Driscoll, Fig Sanders, Gabbard, Gerdes, Hanowitz, Montaneri voting yes, Council Member Floyd voting no, and Council Member Muhammad being absent. Thank you, and thank you all for being here with us today. God bless you all. All right, we will go to the final open forum of today's meeting. Madam Chair, we do not have any speakers. Okay, Council Members, any announcements today? No? No? Council Member Driscoll. Thank you. Just quickly, I spent two days this week in Orlando with PSTA for the American Public Transportation Association convention, where PSTA received multiple awards, including Transit Agency of the Year for Mid-Size Agencies, and then that was followed by the Transit Agency of the Year in the State of Florida Award from the Florida Public Transportation Association. I have invited CEO of PSTA, Brad Miller, to join us at a future meeting to give an update on PSTA. We're hitting the one-year mark for the Sunrunner, and I invite him to bring the awards and do a Stanley Cup tour with them so that we can share in that celebration. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you for the announcement. All right, Council Members, that concludes our business for today. Meeting adjourned. Meeting adjourned.