On the agenda

1. 1Call to Order – Roll Call▶ 0:00
2. 2

   Pledge of Allegiance

   Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence in honor of servicemen and women.

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   [00:00:26] Thank you. You can all stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a moment of silence in honor of our servicemen and women at home and abroad. [00:00:36] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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3. 3

   Moment of Silence

   Brief moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance, with a light remark about Councilwoman DeBella Thomas being heard over the microphone during the Pledge.

   👤DeBella Thomas

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   [00:00:54] Thank you. You may be seated. I'm not used to hearing Councilman DeBella Thomas come across the mic during the Pledge. [00:01:04] Can you hear that? Yes, we could. I hope you were standing. I was. Okay.

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4. 4Approval of Minutes▶ 1:12
5. 5

   Presentation: Donation to Parks and Recreation by the West Pasco Quilters Association

   The West Pasco Quilters Guild presented a $3,000 donation to the City's Recreation Center, raised through their biennial quilt show auction, to support children's programs.

   🏢West Pasco Quilters Guild#$3,000 donation to Parks and Recreation / Rec Center children's programs

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   [00:01:50] Good evening. On behalf of the West Pasco Quilters Guild, we put together a quilt show once every two years. [00:01:58] A lot of members on this council came to our show. [00:02:01] During the show, over almost 100 quilts are donated and then auctioned off, [00:02:07] and 100% of that money is now being donated to the Rec Center to help with children's programs. [00:02:13] And for all the wonderful, wonderful help we get from them, their staff goes above and beyond 100% of the time with us. [00:02:21] So we'd like to present them with a check for $3,000 that was raised. [00:02:26] Applause. [00:02:56] I'd just like to say thank you so much to these ladies. [00:03:21] We just love having the Quilters Guild at our facility. [00:03:24] How many members do you have now? 200? 275. [00:03:28] And they're incredible. They're organized. They're detailed. They teach classes. [00:03:33] Anytime we need any help with anything, they come forward to help us. [00:03:37] They don't just show up and have meetings and then do a quilt show twice a year. [00:03:40] They're really very involved with us and our facility, and we really appreciate having them there. [00:03:44] Thank you so much for this donation. [00:03:46] Thank you. [00:03:47] Applause. [00:03:51] I was one that went there and probably spent two or three hours there, [00:03:54] and I want to say that you call them quilts, I call them art. [00:03:58] They're just beautiful, just beautiful. [00:04:01] They were indeed. My wife and I went down and saw the show as well.

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6. 6

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   Proclamation - National Safe Boating Week

   approved

   Mayor Rob Marlowe read a proclamation declaring May 21–27, 2016 as National Safe Boating Week in the City of New Port Richey, recognizing members of a local boating safety organization in attendance.

   • direction:Mayor proclaimed May 21–27, 2016 as National Safe Boating Week in New Port Richey. (passed)

   👤Rob Marlowe#National Safe Boating Week

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   [00:04:06] Next item is a proclamation on National Safe Voting Week, and I see some folks in uniform. [00:04:12] If you could meet me at the podium, please. [00:04:27] Elaine, they want a picture. [00:04:30] Sure. [00:04:32] Whereas boating is one of the largest recreational activities for the residents of this community, [00:04:37] and whereas the protection of life, limb, boats, and marine property are the legal and moral responsibility of every boater, [00:04:44] and whereas it is both desirable and necessary to remind all boaters of their responsibilities [00:04:49] and the constant need for safe boating practices and procedures, [00:04:53] whereas the City of New Port Richey sincerely encourages all boaters and boating organizations [00:04:58] to consider this an occasion to renew their determination to use courtesy and common sense afloat at all times, [00:05:05] and whereas to this end all boaters are asked to continue the spirit of National Safe Voting Week throughout the entire year, [00:05:12] now I, Rob Marlowe, Mayor of the City of New Port Richey, [00:05:16] do hereby proclaim May 21st through May 27th, 2016, as National Safe Voting Week in the City of New Port Richey, [00:05:24] and I urge all citizens of the city to recognize the importance of safe boating [00:05:28] and I encourage courtesy and common sense at all times. [00:05:32] Thank you. [00:06:02] Thank you. [00:06:33] What's your time? [00:06:41] Getting a proclamation like this, and we also got one from Pasco County, [00:06:46] helps us to get the word out to the folks about safe boating and the fact that we teach safe boating classes [00:06:53] as well as other activities to try and make it safer out there for all of us. [00:06:58] So we are appreciative of your efforts and your recognition. Thank you. [00:07:03] Thank you.

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7. 7

   Employee Recognition: Chasco Fiesta Parade City Float

   Council recognized city employees who designed and built the City's float for the Chasco Fiesta Parade, which won first place for the eighth year in a row. Council members thanked the team for their creativity and effort.

   👤John Fussell👤Joy Phillips👤Mike Norman👤Ryan👤Tim#Chasco Fiesta Parade#City Float

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   [00:07:09] Next we have employee recognition for the Chasco Fiesta Parade City Float. [00:07:15] Mr. Mayor, I'd like to ask Joy Phillips to join us up front as well as John Fussell, Mike Norman, Tim. [00:07:28] And I'm sorry, Ryan, is it? All right. Thank you. [00:07:46] The council asked to have you before them this evening to thank you for your energy, your enthusiasm, [00:08:00] and your talent in putting together their float for the parade. So thank you very much. [00:08:07] Thank you. It was an amazing float again this year. [00:08:10] You guys don't get the credit. We get the credit because we're on the ones that ride it. [00:08:14] We just wanted to pass that on to you, how much the community enjoyed it from our point. Thank you. [00:08:20] Is that, I think it's five or six years in a row? [00:08:24] I'm sure Joy will know if we ask her. [00:08:26] How many years in a row, Joy? [00:08:28] How many years in a row? [00:08:30] Eight. [00:08:31] Eight years in a row that they've competed for that prestigious title. [00:08:37] I like it when they win, if they come in second, it's a bad year because we spend all year long. [00:08:46] But you guys do a great job. [00:08:49] We really appreciate it because us being up there, we look a whole lot better up there than trying to put that together. [00:08:56] And each year you do something a little different. [00:09:00] We're very appreciative of all your hard work. [00:09:03] Thank you. [00:09:05] If I may add, I don't know if you all can hear me. [00:09:09] If I may add to that, I think it was important that we have them at a council meeting so that folks who are listening in [00:09:19] or viewing can see the people that are responsible for that because you're correct in suggesting that the last eight years [00:09:26] they have won, but the talent that they show in comparison to some of the other floats that have been in that parade, [00:09:35] it is truly not only a creativity and experience, but that they do that in their spare time, [00:09:48] those of them who are employed still maintaining their own work ethic and doing their own work [00:09:54] and then coming together to make such exquisite floats. [00:10:00] So kudos to all of you, and thank you. [00:10:03] I am always amazed, you know, with the next one coming up, how you're going to outdo yourself, [00:10:10] and you have not disappointed me in the last eight, nine, however many years it's been. [00:10:16] So thank you. [00:10:18] And thank you. [00:10:24] The next item on the agenda is Fox Pop.

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8. 8Vox Pop▶ 10:26
9. 9.a

   Approval of Committee/Board Minutes

   approvedon consent

   Council approved committee/board minutes as part of the consent agenda, with two date corrections noted by staff (Environmental Committee March 28 meeting included; Police Pension Board date corrected to March 23). Deputy Mayor requested the Police Pension Board or its consultant appear before budget season due to concerns about a shortfall and fund performance, and recognized Betty Black for 18 years of service on the Recreation Board.

   • motion:Motion to approve the consent agenda, including committee/board minutes with noted date corrections. (passed)
   • direction:Council direction to have the Police Pension Board or its consultant appear before the budget process to address fund performance and shortfall concerns. (none)

   👤Betty Black#Environmental Committee minutes (February 15 and March 28)#Police Pension Board (March 23)#Recreation Board

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   [00:14:18] Seeing no one else come forward, I'll close Vox Pop. [00:14:20] Next item is the consent agenda. [00:14:22] Move for approval with comments. [00:14:24] Mr. Mayor? [00:14:25] Yes. [00:14:26] If you'd allow me, I need to make two corrections. [00:14:28] Okay. [00:14:29] And it relates to the minutes for the Environmental Committee. [00:14:35] The communication that you received from the City Clerk indicates only February 15. [00:14:40] You actually have a March 28 meeting noted as well in the attachments. [00:14:45] And the correct date for the Police Pension Board is not March 28, it's March 23. [00:14:51] Very good. [00:14:53] Deputy Mayor, you had some comments? [00:14:57] Yeah. [00:15:00] It seems like the last three or four times we've had these minutes, updates, especially [00:15:05] from the Police Pension Board. I really would like to have them or their consultant come [00:15:11] visit us before budget starts because, I don't know, reading through these, especially the [00:15:19] last one and this one, it appears there was some kind of a shortfall this year or there [00:15:24] was some payments that were delayed. I want to make sure that those are corrected, but [00:15:31] also if the fund isn't performing correctly and we're going to have a shortfall, then [00:15:36] we need to get ahead of that within our budgeting process because of poor performance by it. [00:15:47] As I mentioned at the last meeting, their advisors have now merged into one entity and [00:15:59] it was just arbitrarily chosen that they would do that. We're the ones, at the end of the [00:16:03] day, that stroke the chats to make this fund whole. I just want to make sure that we're [00:16:09] all in good order there. The second one is on the Recreation Board. It appears that [00:16:18] Betty Black has retired from that board after, I don't know, how many years of service. She [00:16:25] announced it and left the meeting. I just want an opportunity to say thank you. She's [00:16:33] been on the board for a long, long time. Those are my comments with regards to a couple of [00:16:39] these minutes and especially just highlighting those points. [00:16:43] We may have Betty come to a meeting so we can thank her publicly. [00:16:47] We recognized her at the volunteer breakfast. [00:16:49] Some of us weren't able to. [00:16:55] I'm just saying we did. [00:16:56] Obviously, if there's a letter or something. I just wanted to make a public record that [00:17:02] she was in our service on that board for 18 years. [00:17:11] We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. All those in favor, please [00:17:18] signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign.

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10. 9.b

    Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes - March 2016

    approvedon consent

    During consent agenda discussion, the Deputy Mayor noted that Betty Black has retired from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board after 18 years of service and asked that she be publicly thanked. The board minutes were approved as part of the consent agenda.

    • motion:Motion to approve the consent agenda, including the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board minutes. (passed)

    👤Betty Black#Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes - March 2016

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    [00:14:18] Seeing no one else come forward, I'll close Vox Pop. [00:14:20] Next item is the consent agenda. [00:14:22] Move for approval with comments. [00:14:24] Mr. Mayor? [00:14:25] Yes. [00:14:26] If you'd allow me, I need to make two corrections. [00:14:28] Okay. [00:14:29] And it relates to the minutes for the Environmental Committee. [00:14:35] The communication that you received from the City Clerk indicates only February 15. [00:14:40] You actually have a March 28 meeting noted as well in the attachments. [00:14:45] And the correct date for the Police Pension Board is not March 28, it's March 23. [00:14:51] Very good. [00:14:53] Deputy Mayor, you had some comments? [00:14:57] Yeah. [00:15:00] It seems like the last three or four times we've had these minutes, updates, especially [00:15:05] from the Police Pension Board. I really would like to have them or their consultant come [00:15:11] visit us before budget starts because, I don't know, reading through these, especially the [00:15:19] last one and this one, it appears there was some kind of a shortfall this year or there [00:15:24] was some payments that were delayed. I want to make sure that those are corrected, but [00:15:31] also if the fund isn't performing correctly and we're going to have a shortfall, then [00:15:36] we need to get ahead of that within our budgeting process because of poor performance by it. [00:15:47] As I mentioned at the last meeting, their advisors have now merged into one entity and [00:15:59] it was just arbitrarily chosen that they would do that. We're the ones, at the end of the [00:16:03] day, that stroke the chats to make this fund whole. I just want to make sure that we're [00:16:09] all in good order there. The second one is on the Recreation Board. It appears that [00:16:18] Betty Black has retired from that board after, I don't know, how many years of service. She [00:16:25] announced it and left the meeting. I just want an opportunity to say thank you. She's [00:16:33] been on the board for a long, long time. Those are my comments with regards to a couple of [00:16:39] these minutes and especially just highlighting those points. [00:16:43] We may have Betty come to a meeting so we can thank her publicly. [00:16:47] We recognized her at the volunteer breakfast. [00:16:49] Some of us weren't able to. [00:16:55] I'm just saying we did. [00:16:56] Obviously, if there's a letter or something. I just wanted to make a public record that [00:17:02] she was in our service on that board for 18 years. [00:17:11] We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. All those in favor, please [00:17:18] signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign.

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11. 9.c

    Purchases/Payments for City Council Approval

    approvedon consent

    Council approved the consent agenda after corrections to meeting minutes dates (Environmental Committee adding March 28, and Police Pension Board correcting to March 23). Deputy Mayor requested the Police Pension Board or its consultant appear before budget season due to apparent shortfalls and merged advisors, and recognized Betty Black's retirement from the Recreation Board after 18 years of service.

    • motion:Approve the consent agenda with corrections to the Environmental Committee minutes (adding March 28) and Police Pension Board date (March 23). (passed)
    • direction:Invite the Police Pension Board or their consultant to appear before the budget process to address fund performance and shortfalls. (none)

    👤Betty Black👤Deputy Mayor#Environmental Committee minutes#Police Pension Board#Recreation Board#volunteer breakfast

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    [00:14:18] Seeing no one else come forward, I'll close Vox Pop. [00:14:20] Next item is the consent agenda. [00:14:22] Move for approval with comments. [00:14:24] Mr. Mayor? [00:14:25] Yes. [00:14:26] If you'd allow me, I need to make two corrections. [00:14:28] Okay. [00:14:29] And it relates to the minutes for the Environmental Committee. [00:14:35] The communication that you received from the City Clerk indicates only February 15. [00:14:40] You actually have a March 28 meeting noted as well in the attachments. [00:14:45] And the correct date for the Police Pension Board is not March 28, it's March 23. [00:14:51] Very good. [00:14:53] Deputy Mayor, you had some comments? [00:14:57] Yeah. [00:15:00] It seems like the last three or four times we've had these minutes, updates, especially [00:15:05] from the Police Pension Board. I really would like to have them or their consultant come [00:15:11] visit us before budget starts because, I don't know, reading through these, especially the [00:15:19] last one and this one, it appears there was some kind of a shortfall this year or there [00:15:24] was some payments that were delayed. I want to make sure that those are corrected, but [00:15:31] also if the fund isn't performing correctly and we're going to have a shortfall, then [00:15:36] we need to get ahead of that within our budgeting process because of poor performance by it. [00:15:47] As I mentioned at the last meeting, their advisors have now merged into one entity and [00:15:59] it was just arbitrarily chosen that they would do that. We're the ones, at the end of the [00:16:03] day, that stroke the chats to make this fund whole. I just want to make sure that we're [00:16:09] all in good order there. The second one is on the Recreation Board. It appears that [00:16:18] Betty Black has retired from that board after, I don't know, how many years of service. She [00:16:25] announced it and left the meeting. I just want an opportunity to say thank you. She's [00:16:33] been on the board for a long, long time. Those are my comments with regards to a couple of [00:16:39] these minutes and especially just highlighting those points. [00:16:43] We may have Betty come to a meeting so we can thank her publicly. [00:16:47] We recognized her at the volunteer breakfast. [00:16:49] Some of us weren't able to. [00:16:55] I'm just saying we did. [00:16:56] Obviously, if there's a letter or something. I just wanted to make a public record that [00:17:02] she was in our service on that board for 18 years. [00:17:11] We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. All those in favor, please [00:17:18] signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign.

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12. 10.a

    Second Reading, Ordinance 2016-2083: Code Amendment - Mobile Home Park District

    approved

    Council held the second reading and public hearing on Ordinance 2016-2083, a Land Development Code amendment revising definitions of mobile home and recreational vehicle and prohibiting RVs as permanent legal residences in mobile home parks. No public comments were made and the ordinance passed unanimously with no council discussion.

    Ord. Ordinance 2016-2083

    • motion:Motion to approve Ordinance 2016-2083 amending the Land Development Code regarding mobile home park definitions and prohibiting RVs as permanent legal residences. (passed)

    👤Davis👤Deval Thomas#Land Development Code Section 7.17.02#Ordinance 2016-2083#Section 7.17.05 Mobile Home Park Plan#Section 7.17.09

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    [00:17:22] Next is public reading of ordinances. Second reading ordinance 2016-2083, code amendment. [00:17:27] An ordinance of the City of New Port Richey, Florida amending the Land Development Code [00:17:31] amending section 7.17.02 definitions to amend the definition of mobile home and to add definitions [00:17:37] for permanent legal residence in recreational vehicle amending section 7.17.05 mobile home [00:17:43] park plan to prohibit recreational vehicles as permanent legal residences in mobile home [00:17:48] parks and provide additional mobile home standards amending 7.17.09 other uses to prohibit recreational [00:17:55] vehicles as permanent legal residences and mobile home parks providing for severability [00:18:00] providing for codification and providing for an effective date this is a public hearing [00:18:05] open it up for public comment saying no one come forward bring it back to council [00:18:10] move for approval for the maker no comments uh deputy mayor i believe you were the second [00:18:17] yeah no no comments man councilman deval thomas uh no no comments good [00:18:25] and councilman davis has none in either view why there's no further discussion all those in favor [00:18:31] please signify by saying aye aye opposed like sign motion passes next is first reading ordinance

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13. 10.b

    First Reading, Ordinance 2016-2078: Sign Regulations, Phase I

    approved

    Council heard a first reading of Ordinance 2016-2078, Phase I of sign regulation updates designed to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert by removing content-based distinctions (e.g., separate political sign category) and replacing them with generic 'free expression sign' regulations. Key changes include dropping the prior permit/bond requirement for political signs and reducing total free expression signage per property from 32 to 16 square feet (4 sq ft per sign). The ordinance passed first reading; Phase II addressing broader policy issues is expected later in the year.

    Ord. Ordinance 2016-2078

    • motion:Motion to approve Ordinance 2016-2078 on first reading regarding sign regulations Phase I. (passed)

    🏢Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman👤Bell-Thomas👤Davis👤Susan Trevarthen#Comprehensive Plan#Downtown Area Plan#Land Development Review Board#Ordinance 2016-2078#Phase I sign regulations#Reed v. Town of Gilbert#Section 13.05 subsection 3#Section 13.17 free expression signs

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    [00:18:38] 2016-2078 sign regulations phase one mr mayor members of the council the purpose of this agenda [00:18:46] item before you this evening is a proposed ordinance relating to temporary sign regulations [00:18:54] and a few of the permanent sign regulations all of which are designed to enhance the [00:19:00] defensibility of the regulations and respond to a recent united states supreme court case [00:19:06] reed versus the town of gilbert we've got susan travarth and with us this evening who has put [00:19:13] together a powerpoint um on the proposed changes she serves as the city's um [00:19:21] legal representative of from weiss or tomahawks and cole and beerman [00:19:26] and has been working with us on this agenda item [00:19:32] good evening mr mayor council members uh thank you for having me this evening i spoke with your [00:19:38] land development board on this ordinance and i'm presenting it here for you tonight [00:19:44] so we're going to give you a quick uh background in the law just so you understand why you're being [00:19:50] asked to do this this evening uh importantly i want to stress that this is the first part of a [00:19:56] two-phase process that your city staff has designed so that first you can deal with the [00:20:02] legal mandates and second you can come back and get into the more juicy um policy choices that [00:20:08] you face going forward with your sign regulations so um a key aspect of sign regulation is to [00:20:15] regulate to to recognize that signs are protected by the first amendment and so that has a number [00:20:22] of implications for how we can go about regulating them and this is not just like your everyday [00:20:27] setback regulation or height regulation there are a lot more implications to writing a regulation [00:20:33] when you're dealing with a use that's protected by the first amendment and what that means in summary [00:20:39] is that our regulations cannot vary based on the content of what's being said on the sign [00:20:44] and they cannot favor or punish points of view so that's the basic policy concerns behind the [00:20:51] first amendment and what the kinds of rights that are being protected as they look at our [00:20:56] regulations and determine whether we struck the right balance a content-based regulation is [00:21:02] presumed to be unconstitutional and must be justified by a compelling governmental interest so [00:21:08] going back to that typical setback or height regulation you're more familiar with if you have [00:21:13] any reasonable basis for your action in making a legislative decision it's likely going to be [00:21:19] upheld this is a very different world where the judges look much more strictly at what you're doing [00:21:27] sign regulations are required to be narrowly tailored to achieve the governmental purpose [00:21:32] for the regulation and all of those purposes you'll see quite an elaborate statement of the [00:21:37] legislative intent and the purposes of this ordinance but they all boil down to two worlds [00:21:43] one world is all the traffic safety related implications of sign regulation and the other is [00:21:48] the aesthetic implications of sign regulation the the goldilocks part of the first amendment [00:21:55] is that we have to walk this narrow line we cannot be so overbroad so overreaching in our [00:22:01] regulation that we are exceeding the purpose the governmental interests that we're trying to [00:22:06] accomplish but if we're substantially under inclusive if we're so hesitant or tentative [00:22:14] in regulating that we essentially fail to advance the governmental interest at all you can also be [00:22:21] stricken so you're steering between these two extremes another key principle is that our [00:22:27] regulation of commercial signs cannot be any looser than it is of non-commercial signs the first [00:22:34] amendment values non-commercial speech such as political speech religious speech more highly [00:22:41] than it does commercial speech and the the great challenge that we all have is that the courts have [00:22:46] not been terribly clear on what it means to be content-based so we have a new case and that's [00:22:52] the reason why your staff and your attorney have brought this item before you this evening and [00:22:57] brought in the consultant team to assist you this is a picture of a very garden variety sign you know [00:23:04] if you were driving down the road you wouldn't think twice if you saw this by the side of the [00:23:08] road it's kind of the size of an open house sign or a campaign sign it's hard to believe that eight [00:23:14] years of litigation three million dollars of attorneys fees and a trip to the U.S. Supreme [00:23:20] Court flowed from such a simple sign but that's exactly what Reed versus Gilbert was so this was [00:23:27] a case where the town's sign regulations allowed small event directional signs the one I just showed [00:23:33] you on the prior page and those were intended to guide drivers to non-profit events and they were [00:23:40] allowed to be placed in the right of way for a brief time so if you can think of going to an [00:23:45] unfamiliar event not sure where you're supposed to turn you're going to look at these little signs by [00:23:49] the side of the road that say turn here turn there to get to where you're going the church who was [00:23:54] using these signs because they did not have a permanent home they weren't you know a big sanctuary [00:24:00] with 800 people they were an itinerant church with 20 members and they would meet in an elementary [00:24:06] school or a nursing home they would move around and they would use these signs to identify the [00:24:11] location of their services they were cited by the city because their signs were too large and they [00:24:17] were posted for too long a duration and they did not act as directional signs they were just [00:24:22] advertising the church not guiding the driver to the destination so pastor Reed and his church sued [00:24:29] the town of Gilbert arguing that the code treated these signs differently from other non-commercial [00:24:34] signs such as campaign signs such as ideological signs that's like a political statement or a [00:24:41] religious statement that's not tied to a particular election and and argued that these distinctions [00:24:48] violated the first amendment the town of Gilbert prevailed twice on on in the trial court and twice [00:24:56] in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals but they ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court where all nine [00:25:01] justices said that they had gotten it wrong they said that they got it wrong for different reasons [00:25:07] though it's rare that you'll find a U.S. Supreme Court case where they all agree on the reasoning [00:25:12] and the holding of this case is that the government's regulation of speech was content-based [00:25:18] because the law applied to the particular speech because of the topic discussed or the idea at [00:25:23] issue and ultimately the conclusion of the court was that the regulation had to be stricken because [00:25:29] it was under inclusive and it was not narrowly tailored enough on the one hand these little [00:25:34] directional signs they had strict size limits they had strict durational limits but the political [00:25:39] campaign signs and the ideological signs were allowed to be larger they were allowed to be [00:25:44] treated differently this was something that the U.S. Supreme Court did not find acceptable [00:25:50] the majority and the other opinions were the judges on the Supreme Court they can write [00:25:56] different opinions explaining what they're saying in different ways they disagreed on whether the [00:26:02] concept of an event directional sign was content-based so even in this case there's still [00:26:07] that tension about what does it mean to be content-based but the concurring opinions which [00:26:12] I believe based on the applicable case law should be read as the law of the case here assure that [00:26:18] local governments can still regulate signs by the familiar kinds of categories you have so you can [00:26:25] draw distinctions between commercial and non-commercial you can have different treatment for [00:26:29] temporary and permanent you can have different treatment based on if you're in residential zoning [00:26:34] or commercial zoning and uh so these and and different treatment also is permitted if the sign [00:26:42] has off-premise content versus on-premise content this is what we think of as characteristically a [00:26:47] billboard if it's a sign by the side of the road that says drink coke and there's no restaurant and [00:26:52] there's no vending machine that's an off-premise sign but if it's a sign that says drink coke on [00:26:58] a restaurant that's an on-premise message you can purchase it at that that location [00:27:04] after reed we remain with the law the same only stronger that governmental signs on governmental [00:27:10] property including traffic control devices are completely exempt from this analysis when you're [00:27:16] talking about the city's property or another government's property and the the signs that [00:27:21] you're posting no one's first amendment rights are at issue the government doesn't have a first [00:27:26] amendment right so all of this is inapplicable to government speech on government property [00:27:31] private signs are not required to be allowed on governmental property and the the difficulty of [00:27:37] introducing them there is that once you open the door to one you essentially open the door to all [00:27:42] your code doesn't allow signs on right-of-way and we're continuing to do that that's a that's a good [00:27:47] practice so what are we talking about tonight we're talking about changing the temporary and [00:27:53] permanent sign regulations to improve the defensibility and respond to the case [00:27:59] we've removed regulations that are based on specific content of the sign such as the [00:28:06] description of a political sign or a grand opening sign or a garage sale sign the very notion of [00:28:11] describing it that way inherently tells you the speech that's supposed to be on that sign [00:28:17] we are replacing these with more generic approaches to the sign regulation so instead of [00:28:23] drawing these distinctions between maybe a campaign sign and another sign that might have a stop the [00:28:29] war or a religious message it would now just be one free expression sign or non-commercial sign [00:28:34] that would apply to that we're also reducing the number of sign types that are exempted from [00:28:39] regulation and the number of prohibited sign types this is another area where you often see [00:28:45] challenges brought and we're revising or removing a number of definitions for consistent consistency [00:28:51] and clarity we found in your sign code as we often do that over time the definitions start to kind of [00:28:57] encrust on each other and so you might have the same concept with two or three different [00:29:02] definitions or you might have a definition that's not used so we clean some of that up as well [00:29:07] we revise the purpose intent and scope quite extensively you'll see in order to give you a [00:29:13] better chance in the event that you are challenged in the future to make a very strong case about [00:29:18] the important substantial and even compelling interests that guide you in requiring these sign [00:29:25] regulations we reference the governing case law we also reference a number of other bases you may [00:29:32] not realize this but florida statutes actually require you to regulate your sign so you're [00:29:37] carrying out a statutory duty by doing this there's also a florida constitution provision [00:29:43] that requires the protection and advancement of scenic beauty in florida you're implementing that [00:29:48] constitutional requirement with your sign regulations and we also reference specifically [00:29:53] the many goals objectives of policies of your comprehensive plan as well as your downtown area [00:29:59] plan [00:30:00] and or that are relevant to these topics. [00:30:03] There were a couple of key policy-driven changes [00:30:07] that were included at the request of staff, [00:30:09] but everything else, and they were minor, [00:30:12] everything else is gonna be part of [00:30:13] phase two of this project. [00:30:15] So in addition to taking you through this slideshow, [00:30:18] I just wanna add one more thing. [00:30:21] I want to explain, because I know this is a question [00:30:24] I've gotten from your boards and your staff, [00:30:27] what has happened to political science? [00:30:29] So if you look at the ordinance, [00:30:32] there used to be a provision that provided [00:30:34] for political science directly. [00:30:36] Now, what you'll be doing is you'll be looking [00:30:39] at the provision for free expression signs, [00:30:42] and that's gonna be applicable to campaign signs, [00:30:45] that's gonna be applicable to stop the war, [00:30:48] that's gonna be applicable to I believe in whoever, [00:30:51] you know, some kind of religious message, [00:30:53] any kind of non-commercial speech, [00:30:56] that's your opportunity to have the sign. [00:31:00] So previously, that was an allotment of signage [00:31:02] that was 32 square feet per property, [00:31:04] one per issuer candidate. [00:31:06] Because this is no longer a election-oriented sign category, [00:31:13] we can't do that kind of number measurement. [00:31:15] And what's proposed in the ordinance before you [00:31:18] is to have 16 square feet in total [00:31:20] with four square feet per sign. [00:31:23] And that's in 13.17 of the code, [00:31:26] if you're interested in taking a look at that. [00:31:30] So that's really the highlights of it. [00:31:35] I also wanna stress that we got some good questions [00:31:38] from your Land Development Review Board [00:31:40] about how the free expression signs worked, [00:31:42] and we did make a change to that [00:31:44] that responded to the input we received. [00:31:47] So on page 28 of 36, at the end of 13.17, [00:31:52] subsection 14, that last sentence was added [00:31:55] in response to the input of your board. [00:31:57] So with that, I'll conclude my remarks, [00:31:59] and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. [00:32:02] Thank you. [00:32:03] Thank you. [00:32:04] Before we ask for questions from Council, [00:32:06] any comments from the public? [00:32:10] Seeing no one come forward, [00:32:11] bring it back to Council. [00:32:12] Questions? [00:32:17] Anyone? [00:32:20] Assuming this gets passed, when would we expect [00:32:22] to see the second phase of this with the details? [00:32:26] I know that your staff has already started reaching out. [00:32:29] There were some things that we identified [00:32:31] as we were going through the process [00:32:32] of analyzing phase one, where we put it to the side [00:32:35] and said, this really belongs in phase two. [00:32:38] So I think there are some other consultants [00:32:40] involved in phase two who bring special expertise [00:32:43] in planning and the visual aspects of signage, [00:32:47] and they're gonna be part of answering [00:32:49] those questions moving forward. [00:32:51] I don't know if you wanna- [00:32:52] In response to the question, Mr. Mayor, [00:32:53] we're gonna be much closer to the end of the year [00:32:55] before we're prepared to bring the second phase [00:32:58] of the project before you. [00:33:00] And Mr. Mayor, I'm sorry, I had my phone on mute, [00:33:03] so I wasn't distracting, but I do have a question. [00:33:08] Go right, go ahead. [00:33:09] Hello? [00:33:09] Yes, so I was under the understanding [00:33:15] that for political signs to go, to be placed in the city, [00:33:21] as well as special event signs, [00:33:23] there's a permit process involved with that [00:33:25] where you're political, you pull a bond [00:33:29] so you can put your signs up when you're doing an event, [00:33:31] you follow, you move through the application process, [00:33:35] and when it's approved at that point, [00:33:37] you're able to put up your signs, banners, et cetera, [00:33:39] and then have them removed. [00:33:43] Am I understanding correctly that I don't, [00:33:46] for lack of a better word, it will be a free-for-all [00:33:49] as far as anyone wanting to put up signs, [00:33:51] or other than the required signage sizes, [00:33:58] we still have restrictions, no? [00:34:02] Through the Mayor, the Councilwoman is referring [00:34:05] to page 20 of 36, section 13.05, subsection three, [00:34:10] and she's correct that your prior [00:34:12] political sign regulations did have a requirement [00:34:15] for a permit and for a bond. [00:34:18] What the ordinance proposes to do is to remove that [00:34:22] because that's an example of singling out political speech [00:34:27] for greater regulation than other kinds of speech, [00:34:30] and that's not allowed by the constitutional framework. [00:34:34] So if you wanted to reintroduce the bond, which you could, [00:34:37] you would have to do it for all temporary signs equally, [00:34:40] no matter what their content. [00:34:42] So in working with your staff, [00:34:44] the decision was made to drop the bond requirement. [00:34:47] If you want to bring it back for second reading, [00:34:50] all temporary signs, without exception, [00:34:53] would have to go through the same process [00:34:56] of permitting and bonding. [00:34:58] This is a common issue I see in cities, [00:35:00] and I would say 90% of them stick with the no permit [00:35:04] and the no bond because of the implications [00:35:06] for those other kinds of signs, [00:35:07] but that's for you to tell me as a council [00:35:11] what you would like to do. [00:35:13] Well, with that said, though, my concern is, [00:35:16] or my question would be, [00:35:19] you know, that process allows there to be a very orderly, [00:35:25] you know, the signs go up, the signs come down, [00:35:29] without any kind of, you know, anything like that in place, [00:35:36] would it be a free-for-all in terms of signage that goes up? [00:35:40] I mean, quite frankly, I think there's a glut [00:35:43] or a plethora of, you know, those kinds of signs right now. [00:35:47] There seems to have been a little bit of a curbing of them [00:35:49] for whatever reason, but, you know, [00:35:53] other than the signs meeting those size requirements, [00:36:00] can anyone put up signs anywhere, anyhow? [00:36:05] I guess that's my concern, or perhaps my confusion. [00:36:08] And through the mayor, if I may respond, [00:36:11] the answer is yes, but I will add two additional factors [00:36:15] that may affect how you feel about that. [00:36:18] Your current sign code does not allow these signs [00:36:21] to be placed on public property or in the right-of-way. [00:36:24] We continue that prohibition, [00:36:25] so that's a very significant limitation on signage. [00:36:29] And the second thing I'll point out to you [00:36:31] is that under the current code, [00:36:33] each property could have up to 32 square feet in sign area. [00:36:38] The proposed ordinance in front of you [00:36:40] has half as much signage. [00:36:42] It has 16 square feet in the area. [00:36:46] So that's cutting in half the number of potential signs. [00:36:49] You're correct that it won't go through the permit process, [00:36:52] but it will be limited by those size restrictions. [00:36:57] I think what Mr. Bellos-Thomas' concern has been answered. [00:37:01] You know, we don't want, we buy houses cheap [00:37:03] in the middle and medians, [00:37:04] and it still would prohibit that [00:37:06] because it's public right-of-way and whatnot. [00:37:07] That is still prohibited, that's correct. [00:37:08] Just our code enforcement has a pretty good time [00:37:11] going and picking up signs on a daily basis. [00:37:13] So that will continue, correct? [00:37:17] Right now. [00:37:18] Very good. [00:37:20] As well as those signs that appear on telephone poles [00:37:23] or posts or whatever. [00:37:25] Oh, yes. [00:37:26] Snipe signs continue to be prohibited. [00:37:28] That was the case before, and that remains the case now. [00:37:31] Yes. [00:37:32] Councilman Davis. [00:37:33] Thank you. [00:37:34] Right now we have, we allow one sandwich sign [00:37:38] for business in downtown. [00:37:40] Is that going to change that? [00:37:44] The whole treatment of signage in the downtown area, [00:37:46] I know is something that your staff wants to look at [00:37:49] more in depth in phase two. [00:37:51] We currently preserve the ability to have [00:37:54] a sandwich sign in the phase one. [00:37:57] Well, we have that, but we're only allowing one for business. [00:38:03] Some of them want to put two or three out there, [00:38:04] and we've curbed it back to one. [00:38:06] Yeah, we haven't changed the amount that I recall. [00:38:10] And that would be something to debate during phase two, [00:38:13] whether you want to allow one. [00:38:15] So, I mean, because I look at a sandwich sign, [00:38:17] it might be six square feet. [00:38:19] So, you know, you're looking at, [00:38:20] they could probably put three back then [00:38:22] if we're going on that 16 square feet. [00:38:24] So not necessarily so, we're still limited to one business. [00:38:28] I'm sorry, through the mayor, I'm just talking. [00:38:30] Is that okay? [00:38:33] The 16 square feet was the numerical limitation [00:38:36] on free expression signs. [00:38:39] A sandwich sign in front of a restaurant [00:38:41] is usually used to identify the restaurant, [00:38:44] maybe to talk about the specials or the menu. [00:38:46] It is not a free expression sign [00:38:48] talking about religion or politics. [00:38:50] So you would go to the existing parts of the code. [00:38:53] We haven't messed with the sizes of those. [00:38:55] We haven't messed with the numbers. [00:38:57] But during the, you're going to have [00:38:59] a public involvement process. [00:39:01] You're going to think about all this in phase two, [00:39:03] and you'll have that moment to say, [00:39:04] have we struck the right balance? [00:39:06] Should it be more? [00:39:07] Should it be less? [00:39:09] That answer your question? [00:39:10] Yeah. [00:39:13] There's no other questions. [00:39:14] Entertain a motion. [00:39:15] I believe, mayor, if I need to read the title [00:39:17] into the record. [00:39:19] Ordinance number 2016-2078, [00:39:22] an ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, Florida, [00:39:24] amending appendix A of the code of ordinances, [00:39:26] land development code, chapter one, general provisions [00:39:28] to amend the general findings [00:39:31] and to amend chapter 13, signs and advertising [00:39:33] to amend the legislative findings, regulations, [00:39:35] procedures, and prohibitions applicable to signage [00:39:38] providing for codification, severability, [00:39:40] conflicts, and an effective date. [00:39:41] Thank you. [00:39:42] Thank you. [00:39:43] We have already asked for public comment. [00:39:44] I'd entertain a motion. [00:39:46] Move for approval. [00:39:48] Second. [00:39:48] Second. [00:39:49] The maker. [00:39:51] Mr. Bell-Thomas. [00:39:52] Who gets this one? [00:39:53] No comments, thank you. [00:39:55] Mr. Bell-Thomas, we're calling you the second. [00:39:58] Oh, thank you. [00:39:59] No, no further comment. [00:40:01] Thank you for an excellent presentation, [00:40:06] even from afar. [00:40:07] I had the PowerPoint to follow along with, [00:40:09] so thank you for that. [00:40:11] Welcome. [00:40:12] Any other comments? [00:40:14] Seeing none, all those in favor, [00:40:15] please signify by saying aye. [00:40:17] Aye. [00:40:18] Opposed, none. [00:40:20] Motion passes. [00:40:22] Next item is. [00:40:23] Thank you very much. [00:40:23] Thank you. [00:40:24] Thank you.

    This text was generated automatically from the meeting video. It is not a verbatim or official record. For exact wording, consult the video or the city clerk.

14. 11.a

    Deductive Change Order, Final Pay Request - City Hall, Library, and Fire Station Exterior Painting Project

    approved

    Council approved a deductive change order of $5,950 and a final pay request of $26,725 for the City Hall, Library, and Fire Station exterior painting project with BNP Painting Incorporated. The deduction came from unused owner's contingency funds, as the 10 roof sections were found in good condition after pressure washing and did not require metal rehabilitation.

    • motion:Approve deductive change order of $5,950 and final pay request of $26,725 for the City Hall, Library, and Fire Station exterior painting project. (passed)

    🏢BNP Painting Incorporated👤Starkey#City Hall, Library, and Fire Station Exterior Painting Project

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    [00:40:25] Deductive change order, final pay request, [00:40:27] city hall library and fire station, [00:40:29] exterior painting project. [00:40:31] Yes. [00:40:32] Yeah, sure. [00:40:33] Mr. Mayor, members of the city council. [00:40:35] This agenda item classes out the painting project [00:40:41] as indicated by the mayor for the city hall library [00:40:44] and fire station project with BNP painting incorporated. [00:40:49] The amount of the deductive change order is $5,950. [00:40:54] The amount of the final pay request is $26,725. [00:41:00] And the staff is recommending approval of this item. [00:41:05] Thank you. [00:41:06] Open it up for public comment. [00:41:08] Seeing no one come forward, bring it back to council. [00:41:12] Second. [00:41:12] The maker. [00:41:14] Second. [00:41:15] Nope. [00:41:16] Mr. Starkey. [00:41:18] Councilwoman. [00:41:20] No, I'm just curious to know what is it [00:41:24] I mean, I'm very pleased that it's a $5,900 reduction [00:41:29] off of the basic, but what was it that they did [00:41:31] or didn't do that created that credit? [00:41:36] We had a $10,000 owner's contingency just in case [00:41:39] we got up and started finding some deficiencies [00:41:43] in the 10 roof sections. [00:41:45] Once we got up there and pressure washed them [00:41:47] and found out that they were in good condition, [00:41:50] we didn't have to spend our contingency money [00:41:52] to go ahead and rehabilitate the metal. [00:41:57] Thank you, well done. [00:42:06] We have a motion and a second. [00:42:08] Any further discussion? [00:42:10] Hearing none, all those in favor, [00:42:12] please signify by saying aye. [00:42:13] Aye. [00:42:14] Opposed, aye.

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15. 11.b

    Four-Way Stop Sign Installation at Old Main Street and Polk Street

    approved

    Council approved installation of a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Old Main Street and Polk Street after a traffic study showed excessive cut-through traffic (2,332 vehicles/day) on the residential section between Congress and Main Streets. Pasco County is also reviewing improvements to the signalized Main/Congress intersection.

    • motion:Move for approval of the four-way stop sign installation at Old Main Street and Polk Street. (passed)

    📍5738 Montana📍6417 Old Main Street📍Intersection of Main Street and Congress Street📍Intersection of Old Main Street and Polk Street📍Old Main Street between Congress Street and Main Street🏢Pasco County👤Councilman Davis👤Mr. Rivera👤Rob Bowman#Seven-day traffic study#Traffic engineer report

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    [00:42:16] Next is consideration request [00:42:18] for a four-way stop sign installation [00:42:19] in the intersection of Old Main and Folch. [00:42:23] Mr. Mayor, members of the council, [00:42:24] several residents adjacent to Old Main Street [00:42:27] between Congress Street and Main Street [00:42:30] reported to you some time ago that they were having [00:42:33] some difficulty backing out of their driveways. [00:42:35] In response, Mr. Rivera has done some work [00:42:38] and he'll present this agenda item to you. [00:42:41] Thank you, as the city manager had mentioned, [00:42:45] the complaints originated, there was two of them. [00:42:47] They were saying that they couldn't back out [00:42:50] of their driveways in a safe manner [00:42:51] because of the speeds and the volume of traffic [00:42:55] going down Old Main Street. [00:42:57] And a couple of them also said that the ability [00:43:00] to cross the street to visit neighbors was very dangerous. [00:43:04] So staff made site visits, we did a seven-day traffic study, [00:43:09] we had the traffic engineer go out [00:43:11] and identify different problems. [00:43:13] What we found out, it wasn't so much the speed volumes [00:43:17] that were exceeding a large amount, [00:43:21] it was the amount of traffic that was going down [00:43:24] that section of road. [00:43:25] It's a section of Old Main between Congress Street [00:43:28] and Main Street, it's a residential road, [00:43:31] normally those streets only have less than 500 [00:43:35] vehicles a day on them, and this area here, [00:43:38] we had an excess of 2,332 vehicles, [00:43:42] so you could see how we had a safety issue there. [00:43:46] The engineer has recommended that we install [00:43:48] a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Polk [00:43:51] and Old Main, as well as intersection improvements [00:43:55] over at the existing intersection that has [00:43:58] a traffic signal, which is Main Street [00:44:00] and Congress Street. [00:44:05] The engineer called out in his report [00:44:07] that he believes that there's some deficiencies there [00:44:09] that are causing the vehicles to try to use [00:44:11] that section as a cut-through, and that's the reason [00:44:14] why we have such high volumes. [00:44:16] We've made contact with Pasco County, [00:44:19] they are reviewing the signalized intersection [00:44:22] as we speak now, so some of those improvements [00:44:24] might come down a little bit later, [00:44:26] and staff would recommend that the four-way stop sign [00:44:29] installation be approved by Council. [00:44:32] Thank you, open it up for public comment. [00:44:36] Come on down, please give us your name [00:44:38] and address for the record. [00:44:40] Okay, 6417 Old Main Street, so I'm right there [00:44:49] where everything is talking about happening. [00:44:55] My neighbors and I would be so grateful [00:44:58] if y'all would approve it. [00:45:00] We need our street back. We don't have a street anymore, because I slow down to turn into [00:45:06] my driveway, I have my blinker on, and cars are beeping at me to get out of their way. [00:45:11] I try to back out onto Old Main Street. The other day I had a lady come back out to go [00:45:17] east and she cut between me, ran up on the edge of the street, off the edge of the street [00:45:24] to get around me on the passenger side of my car. Scared the daylights out of me. [00:45:31] And one of my neighbors told me that last week a guy turns off of Congress onto Old [00:45:36] Main Street and he turned off so fast that he started fishtailing and ended up in his [00:45:41] driveway. So it's dangerous. And plus the school kids going to school and back in the [00:45:48] morning and in the afternoon. I'm just, I don't want to look because I'm afraid I'm [00:45:53] just going to get hit by a car. You know, it's bad. And I would be so grateful, so would [00:45:59] my neighbors, if y'all would approve this. [00:46:02] Thank you. Any other comments? [00:46:06] Rob Bowman, 5738 Montana. I think the stop signs would be a great idea. It's pretty much [00:46:21] common knowledge. Everybody in the area cuts through down that road. I'm actually surprised [00:46:26] the number didn't come in more than 3,500 cars in a day. It's insane. So I think those [00:46:33] stop signs will get out pretty quick and people will definitely stop cutting down that [00:46:37] road and make it a lot safer for those people. [00:46:39] Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing no one else come forward, I'll bring it back to council. [00:46:44] Move for approval. [00:46:45] Second. [00:46:46] To the maker. [00:46:47] No comments. Any time we can slow traffic up in downtown, I think we should do it. It's [00:46:52] a little hairy. [00:46:53] Second. [00:46:54] Yeah, I agree. Obviously I was thinking, you know, part of those were people who have been [00:46:59] in New Portage a long time, used to know that as Main Street, but I don't think that carryover [00:47:04] for 2,300 or 16,000 a week would be any part of that. But we've done this throughout the [00:47:11] city just to make different places safe and that and the kids crossing and going back [00:47:16] and forth because over the rec center and through that whole area. So it's a good move [00:47:21] on our part and we appreciate the residents bringing that condition to our attention. [00:47:26] Thank you. [00:47:27] Councilman Davis. [00:47:28] I just want to add that we might get more stops when Main Street and Main Street come [00:47:33] together, Old Main and Main Street, because there's a lot of gliding through that intersection. [00:47:39] So if they stop back up at Polk, they might make a full stop down on Main and Main. [00:47:45] Thank you. [00:47:46] Councilwoman? [00:47:47] I have family on that street, so I can attest to the fact that it is nearly impossible to [00:47:52] pull out of the driveway. It is, you know, as it's proposed, it is actually a more direct [00:47:58] route from Congress to Main Street. You know, it speeds in quicker. So I think that at best [00:48:06] will slow traffic down to the stop signs. I'm curious to see if it does cut back on [00:48:11] the traffic flow. [00:48:14] And I would incur this. I have a tendency to make that same right-hand turn if I'm south [00:48:24] on Congress and heading back to the downtown. It is extraordinarily convenient, but I think [00:48:30] the convenience is outweighed by the safety of the residents in that area. We've got to [00:48:36] make sure that that's a safe street. [00:48:38] Do they count your car as half a car or a full car? [00:48:41] We're actually going to get into that discussion a little later during communications reports. [00:48:46] So I'll defer saying anything for the moment. If there's no further discussion, all those

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16. 11.c

    90 Days of Summer Sale on Three Month Memberships

    approved

    Council approved a '90 Days of Summer' sale offering a 20% reduction on three-month memberships at the Recreation and Aquatic Center, running from May 4 through June 30, 2016. Memberships must be paid in full under current software, though staff hopes new software will allow prorated monthly payments. A citizen also raised a question about a potential new skate park location during public comment.

    • motion:Approve the 90 Days of Summer sale offering 20% off three-month memberships at the Recreation and Aquatic Center, running May 4 through June 30, 2016. (passed)

    📍Sims Park📍intersection of Rowe and Trouble Creek👤Councilman Davis👤Councilman Duval Thomas👤John McMahon👤Mr. Starkey👤Ms. Smith#90 Days of Summer sale#Recreation and Aquatic Center#new skate park / master plan

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    [00:48:55] in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion passes. [00:49:02] Next item, 90-day summer sale on three-month memberships. I'm presuming that is on the [00:49:07] rec center. [00:49:08] Ms. Smith? [00:49:09] Yes, thank you very much. We're recommending a sale for 90 days of summer, as we call our [00:49:16] campaign, on three-month memberships for the Recreation and Aquatic Center. Should this [00:49:20] be approved tonight, the sale would start tomorrow and go through the 30th of June at [00:49:25] a 20% reduction on those three-month memberships. There is an attachment to show you what the [00:49:30] current cost is and then what the 20% reduction with that cost would be, and we're recommended [00:49:36] for approval. [00:49:38] Open this up for public comment. If you'd like to address us, John, come on up to the [00:49:47] mic. We've got people watching us on TV, so they need to be able to hear you. If you [00:49:53] could give us your name and address for the record again, please. [00:49:57] John McMahon. [00:49:59] Okay. [00:50:00] It's not exactly about the camps, but I hear from word of mouth that they're making a new [00:50:06] skate park. Do you have the location yet? [00:50:12] After he spoke, I handed him a business card and asked him to contact me because one of [00:50:17] the things we'll be looking at with our master plan is a possible new skate park, and I wanted [00:50:20] to get him involved with the design. So, no, we don't have a location yet, but please call [00:50:26] me and I'd love to get your input and help with that process. [00:50:30] If I, I always talk about, like, how everybody wants this. There's a new skate park and everybody [00:50:41] always talks about it. I don't know how they know, but it could be a look. There would [00:50:50] be a good location, maybe at Sims Park or on the intersection of Rowe and Trouble Creek. [00:51:00] Rowan? Rowan, Trouble Creek, that field of grass. Very good location. [00:51:09] Okay. Thank you very much, John. Anyone else? Seeing no one else come forward, bring it [00:51:16] back to council. [00:51:17] Ms. Smith, do these have to be paid in full? We were talking about maybe looking at some [00:51:22] amendments to pay plans during the work session. [00:51:25] Yes. With our current software, these would have to be paid in full at the time of purchase. [00:51:30] With the new software that we're hoping to acquire, we would be able to do a prorated [00:51:36] out over each month and do an automatic debit. [00:51:38] Your only option this time is to pay in full? [00:51:40] That's correct. [00:51:41] Okay. Thank you. [00:51:43] Can you clarify the dates again? I thought you said May 1 through the end of June? [00:51:48] Should this be approved tonight, we would start the sale tomorrow and it would go through [00:51:51] the end of June, June 30th. [00:51:54] What is the 90 days? [00:51:56] That's 60 days. [00:51:57] No, that's 60 days for the sale period. Once you purchase the membership, it's good for [00:52:01] three months from the date you purchase it. [00:52:03] So it's a 90 day membership. [00:52:07] Correct. [00:52:08] Not 90 days of the summer sale. [00:52:10] Correct. Because people are already inquiring about it now, if we're going to have a sale. [00:52:15] And then a lot of the schools aren't out until June. [00:52:19] Most people will purchase them then and use June, July, and August for their 90 days. [00:52:24] Councilman Davis? [00:52:26] Councilman Duval Thomas? [00:52:28] No, thank you. That was my question about the timing of it. [00:52:33] And I'm with Mr. Starkey. I would very much like to see us get some push on that software [00:52:39] so we can do this on a monthly. [00:52:41] I entertain a motion. [00:52:43] Move for approval. Excuse me. [00:52:46] Move a motion. [00:52:47] Second. [00:52:48] Second. To the maker. [00:52:49] No further comments. Thank you. [00:52:50] Second. [00:52:51] I'm good. [00:52:52] Any other comments? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [00:52:58] Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. [00:53:00] Like sign. Motion passes.

    This text was generated automatically from the meeting video. It is not a verbatim or official record. For exact wording, consult the video or the city clerk.

17. 11.d

    City Manager Performance Evaluation

    approved

    Council conducted the annual performance evaluation of City Manager Debbie Manns, with all members offering positive reviews praising her professionalism, leadership, and community engagement. Council unanimously voted to extend her contract for two additional years (restoring her to a five-year term). Discussion of salary/compensation was deferred to the June 7 meeting when Councilmember DiBella-Thomas could attend in person.

    • motion:Motion to extend City Manager Debbie Manns' contract for two additional years. (passed)
    • consensus:Defer discussion of City Manager's compensation/salary increase to the June 7 meeting when all councilmembers can be present. (passed)

    📍Sims Park🏢Greater Downtown New Port Richey🏢Rotary👤Bill Phillips👤Chopper Davis👤Crystal👤Debbie Manns👤Jeff Starkey👤Jerry Sieber👤Judy DiBella-Thomas👤Mr. Dillinger👤Rob Marlowe#2% general employee increase prior year#City Manager merit increase range (0-3% recommended for department heads)#LED screen project#Sims Park project

    ▶ Jump to 53:03 in the video

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    [00:53:03] Next is the City Manager Performance Evaluation. [00:53:06] Ms. Manns, did everybody get a copy of what... [00:53:12] No, Mr. Mayor. [00:53:13] Councilman Duval Thomas? [00:53:14] No, I just printed it off. [00:53:17] Councilman, with your permission, I'll read your comment. [00:53:22] Yes, thank you. I appreciate that. [00:53:24] This is from Councilman Judy Duval Thomas. [00:53:27] I am only able to evaluate the City Manager's interactions with [00:53:30] and behavior towards Councilmembers [00:53:32] and recognize that represents a relatively small portion of the Manager's responsibilities. [00:53:38] Our success as a Council in achieving our individual and collective goals [00:53:41] is tied to the performance of our City Manager. [00:53:44] I believe that our effectiveness as a cohesive, collegial governing body [00:53:49] is positively affected by our relationship with the City Manager [00:53:52] and her responsiveness to us. [00:53:55] The availability and timeliness of information requested or needed by Council [00:54:00] has always been forthcoming and prompt from Mrs. Manns. [00:54:04] Mrs. Manns' preparedness for Council meetings, [00:54:06] her accuracy and thoroughness of reports, [00:54:09] and keeping Councilmembers apprised of day-to-day events [00:54:12] and information necessary for us to carry out our functions [00:54:15] has always been timely, accurate, impartial, and professional. [00:54:19] I appreciate Ms. Manns' efforts to develop and support teamwork among the City staff [00:54:24] and applaud her for the socials and lunches she hosts for them. [00:54:28] It is also appreciated we have had the opportunity to meet the members of the Police and Fire Departments [00:54:33] by acknowledging their accomplishments during Council meetings. [00:54:37] I would like to see a broader reach to all departments [00:54:39] to both develop a camaraderie among staff [00:54:42] and an opportunity for Council to know who is at work for us. [00:54:45] Overall, although the evaluation process strives for a perfect score [00:54:49] and Ms. Manns has earned high grades, [00:54:52] I would prefer to defer discussion of the City Manager's salary [00:54:56] at the time we are discussing the budget across the Board. [00:54:59] I would agree to support an extension of her contract for an additional two years [00:55:03] submitted by Councilman Judy DeBello-Thomas. [00:55:07] That pretty much says it. [00:55:10] I keep staring at the ceiling. [00:55:12] Any other comments? [00:55:23] No, it would be interesting if I am able to comment as you all have your discussions. [00:55:30] Certainly if I was there, it is easier to assess when it is appropriate to speak. [00:55:36] So I will just defer at this point and put myself back on mute [00:55:39] so any noise I am making does not distract from the meeting. [00:55:42] Very good. [00:55:43] Councilman? [00:55:44] Everyone knows how I feel about Debbie. [00:55:46] I think she has done a phenomenal job for us. [00:55:48] The accomplishments she has been able to achieve behind the scenes, [00:55:53] I can't put it into words. [00:55:56] I am 100% in support of extending her contract at this point, [00:56:01] another two years. [00:56:02] I am with Judy on that. [00:56:04] Whatever other discussions you all would like to have, I am fine. [00:56:07] That is all I have at this point. [00:56:08] Okay. [00:56:10] In my tenure as a City Councilmember and now as Mayor, [00:56:14] I have had the pleasure of having four different City Managers. [00:56:23] Without a doubt, Ms. Manz is the pick of the litter. [00:56:29] That is a compliment. [00:56:32] It is. [00:56:34] That is that down-home New Port Richey colloquialism that we were working on. [00:56:38] We got the duck whisper over there. [00:56:41] I found that litter. [00:56:44] I am sorry. [00:56:45] I do occasionally drop into Southern. [00:56:52] We had actually five City Managers, [00:56:59] interim City Manager Dillinger. [00:57:04] I can honestly say that it has been an absolute pleasure to have Ms. [00:57:09] Manz on board with us. [00:57:11] I can't believe it has already been two years. [00:57:16] The City is working smoother and more cohesively than I can recall during my [00:57:22] time on Council. [00:57:26] I am real pleased. [00:57:28] Deputy Mayor? [00:57:30] To follow Ms. Manz's format, we had to grade out. [00:57:36] You will get to see this when it goes public in the next minutes, [00:57:40] all those things, our comments, everything collectively. [00:57:43] Overall, of a possible score of 60, Ms. Manz received a 50 from me. [00:57:51] You can do the math when you see it. [00:57:54] Some of the key comments that were added were continues to elevate [00:58:00] performance of herself and Department Directors has continued to identify [00:58:06] key issues and address them in a timely fashion. [00:58:14] Works extremely well with the New Port Richey community, [00:58:17] which has always been a challenge because everybody brings a certain [00:58:23] perspective to their discussions with the manager. [00:58:28] He has done a great job at filtering a lot of those and really breaking those [00:58:34] down so it isn't adversarial or confrontational. [00:58:41] The weekly manager reports have improved over this last year, [00:58:46] and I would hope that they would continue to improve. [00:58:50] Those do a lot for us because we are, in some ways, [00:58:54] considered part-time public servants, [00:58:57] but we also need the information because we get asked questions on a [00:59:01] continual basis. [00:59:03] And the city newsletter is another good communication tool, [00:59:06] which everybody has had contributions to. [00:59:10] At the appropriate time, I have no problem discussing the extension of her [00:59:16] contract. [00:59:18] I've discussed a few things with the city attorney just to make sure that it [00:59:22] flows correctly. [00:59:24] And then, again, as we're talking about evaluations of staff and [00:59:30] compensation, I'll be ready to speak to those at this time. [00:59:35] I've had the unique, because I've been around twice and I was able to see [00:59:44] somewhat the male equivalent of Ms. Mann's, Mr. Jerry Sieber, [00:59:50] meaning that they bring that amount of professionalism to the job. [00:59:54] So I set my expectations level for what Jerry Sieber brought to us. [01:00:00] at least during my time on council, I know as he got towards the end of his career, [01:00:04] we all get to that certain point after 10, 12 years, but in the evaluation of Ms. Mann's [01:00:12] and in interviewing that whole process, I was looking for a person that brought those [01:00:18] talents back and I believe we have that. Thank you. Councilman Davis. [01:00:23] Um, uh, this is the second year in, um, and my overall was good. You know, they always say you [01:00:32] don't give a superior to anybody, including myself and from myself. So, um, I'd say it's [01:00:38] overall good. Um, I think the first year was, was, um, uh, was a honeymoon period. And the [01:00:46] second year we saw her really go to work. Um, and I was really happy with it. She saw some problems [01:00:51] in the city and stepped up in it at a, uh, a, um, rotary meeting, as well as a greater downtown [01:00:58] New Bridgewood lunch meeting. Um, she admitted to problems that we have in the cities and was [01:01:04] addressing them. Um, I think that's, um, a big step that you can admit that you have problems [01:01:09] and you're addressing them. Um, I sometimes have problems myself in it and it's, it's kind of like, [01:01:17] um, the problems, here's council and there's an hourglass down to the staff. And sometimes that [01:01:24] hourglass is a little bit too tight. Um, I find that we, you know, sometimes we need to communicate [01:01:29] with staff and sometimes that, um, that center of that hourglass is a little bit too tight. [01:01:34] Um, I'd like to see that expansion and that expansion is that it's not only, um, this man's [01:01:40] trusting us, but this man's trusting, um, her own staff. Um, uh, um, the only other, um, [01:01:48] leadership, excellent. You know, I mean, I, I'm real happy with her leadership. I think, [01:01:52] I think her, her staff is real happy with, with the way they get treated. Um, public relations, [01:01:57] I think is, is, is very good. Um, interpersonal skills, professionalism. I think she's [01:02:02] demonstrated all the communication. She doesn't have any problem there. Um, the, um, the other [01:02:08] thing that I, um, I've seen this second year that I, that I have a little problem with is that, [01:02:13] um, we're, we are, um, um, a couple of different situations. Um, you're bringing us the, you're [01:02:20] bringing us the, um, project before you've done the marketing, the analysis of the data, [01:02:26] you know, collecting information. And my, my exam, my two examples is the LED screen [01:02:32] and Sims Park. Both of them, you came with a project and we went back and now we're doing our, [01:02:37] did our homework. Um, so I think more if we try to keep the, um, the horse ahead of the cart that [01:02:44] it'd be, um, better understand, but overall I'm happy. And then I would like to address the, [01:02:48] um, compensation along with the budget. [01:02:54] Um, I've heard a couple of people say something about, um, the contract. So let, if we could, [01:03:00] let's take that in the compensations, two separate items, uh, entertain a motion on, [01:03:07] on this man's contract. I would move to extend Debbie Mann's contract for two more years at [01:03:11] this time. I second that. The maker? Um, no, she did a phenomenal job. And, um, [01:03:19] just to, uh, as, as far, it's, it's difficult for us sometimes because just to comment a couple [01:03:26] more comments, we're the decision makers up here, but we're not here on a day-to-day basis. So I [01:03:33] understand Mr. Davis is talking about with staff, but when it comes to my opinion, I have to trust [01:03:38] Debbie to manage her own staff because I'm an insurance agent and I'm there nine to five. [01:03:43] I do a lot behind the scenes as we all do up here. So I think she's doing a phenomenal job doing that. [01:03:48] And that's what her job is. And we have to let her do her job. And I think she's doing a wonderful [01:03:52] job at it. The second? Uh, well, I would like to add as well, you know, my, my benchmark for, [01:04:01] for city managers, I've lived here 40 years and, and the experience as just a resident, [01:04:07] as a spouse of a city council person, and now as a council person, um, how the city, you know, [01:04:14] effectively moved forward under, uh, Jerry's leadership. Um, he set the bar for professionalism [01:04:20] for sure. And so, um, I, I, um, applaud Ms. Manns for her, uh, talents as I noted already in that [01:04:29] cover note. But another thing that I am very pleased with is her ability to roll up her [01:04:35] sleeves and just jump in. She's seen at events and activities throughout the community. Um, she has [01:04:42] really, uh, you know, become a, uh, really a partner with us and not just, um, just a manager. [01:04:48] So I'm really pleased with that. Um, I just wanted to clarify, I believe Ms. Manns [01:04:53] started with a five-year contract. And so this two years extension would, would make her whole [01:04:59] again for a five-year, a five-year period, which I just wanted to clarify that is, that was my [01:05:03] intention. That is my understanding. Uh, I'm, I'm good with extending the contract. Deputy Mayor? [01:05:12] Yeah, I, I, I'm okay with that. My, my only questions and I, um, happened to, since, [01:05:19] since the, since the charter says the only two people that we really direct are the city manager [01:05:27] and the attorney, that's what the, that's what the charter says. Our ability to disseminate our [01:05:34] ideas to other staff and all that, we can have opinions about a lot of things, but we only, [01:05:40] we only affect really two people in this organization, the city manager and the city [01:05:47] attorney. I asked when, um, about, uh, when the, when, when the conversation or something was asked [01:05:55] about the two years, I, all I did was ask the attorney to make sure that we look at that [01:06:01] contract to make sure that there weren't any clauses in there that escalated those, um, costs [01:06:09] if there was an adverse termination, because we went through that and we, we had to sign papers, [01:06:16] say we would talk nice about the gentleman who left us. We paid him his money because he said [01:06:21] he couldn't work with us and I found it very offensive because I felt like we're pretty good, [01:06:25] pretty easy to work with. And then, then he had the audacity to, to file for unemployment because [01:06:31] I can talk about it now, not once but twice and we had to pay that. So at the end of the day, [01:06:37] I'm just wanting to make sure, and I'm okay with the two year extension. I want to be perfectly [01:06:41] clear. I just want to make sure that there isn't anything in our contract that extenuates or, or, [01:06:47] or adds to the, to the outgoing compensation because that's the deal we negotiated. [01:06:53] That's when we signed up. I don't have a problem giving, you know, two years and comfort level and [01:06:59] all that because I think after two years we'll do this again, but I want to make sure because [01:07:04] when those costs come up, those aren't budgeted. That wasn't budgeted and we had to take that [01:07:11] along with a downturn at a time. We're in a better spot. So I, I'm okay with the extension. [01:07:15] I just want to make sure that there wasn't anything in the contract that, that, that pushes [01:07:21] out that. I'm, I'm fair and equitable. I just want to make sure that the city knows that we're, [01:07:25] we're checking all those, dotting all the I's and crossing all the Q's. [01:07:31] Councilman Davis. Okay. There's no further discussion. All those in favor, [01:07:36] please signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Okay, that motion passes. [01:07:43] The second piece of this would be question of compensation. We have built in the current budget [01:07:51] of some, some ideas on what ranges should be approved for merit increases among, I believe, [01:08:02] all of our staff with the possible exception of the city manager. So I'd like to open that up for [01:08:11] some discussion. Ms. Mance, could you, before we start that, could you tell us what the general [01:08:17] range is for the other city staff members? The department heads perform on a performance-based [01:08:24] evaluation system. My recommendation to you for the upcoming fiscal year is that their range be [01:08:32] between zero and 3%. The general employees of the city, help me out, Crystal, received 2% last year. [01:08:47] Discussion? [01:08:52] To be perfectly honest, I'm really not in a position, I'd rather have Ms. DiBella-Thomas [01:08:56] here at the 1st of June, give us a little time to look at it, because any percentage of increase [01:09:03] on this man's level of compensation is pretty substantial. And last year, I believe, we did [01:09:10] 2% or 3%. And that was after, and for us, that painstakingly went through three interview cycles [01:09:21] and where we started with the pay range and where we got it to so that we could acquire the skills [01:09:26] that Ms. Mance has brought to us and has, you know, earned that. I just, as I said, would like [01:09:34] to give it a little more thought, because if you do that over the next two, three years, you're [01:09:39] basically going to take it to a level of our city level on what's fair, and then you'll get a whole [01:09:45] lot of comments, you know, X, Y, and Z. It becomes a conversation, but I'm really not ready to talk [01:09:52] compensation tonight. Yeah, and I had mentioned that in that note. I would be more comfortable [01:09:59] discussing that once we enter the budget sessions and start looking at what we're doing with our [01:10:06] other employees. I just think it would be putting the cart before the horse to discuss Ms. Mance's [01:10:16] salary increase or status quo or whatever until we're in those discussions. Yeah, I look at this [01:10:21] as being actually part of the current fiscal year as opposed to the next one, so I'm not [01:10:26] sure that we need to wait all the way to October to do something. But if you guys want to wait until [01:10:36] we have Mr. Bala Thomas with us again in person, I've got no problem with that. Mr. Starkey? I'm [01:10:43] okay with that. That's fine. Another month is fine. Mr. Davis? Okay. We'll expect you on June 7th. [01:10:53] I will be there. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Mance. We'll execute an extended contract, and then [01:11:02] in the next, at the June 7th meeting when we're all here, we'll talk about the compensation. [01:11:06] Thank you. I appreciate your confidence and your kind words and encouragement. [01:11:10] Where do we submit these to? To the city. City clerk would be fine. I didn't bring mine with me.

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18. 11.e

    Three Minute Report: Police

    Police Chief reported on a rash of burglaries since February/March in the River Ridge Road, Essex Way, and Colonial Drive area near Louisiana Avenue. Two suspects with prior burglary records were arrested thanks to an alert citizen and an 85-year-old witness who provided a positive photo pack ID. Charges include armed burglary, attempted armed burglary, possession of burglary tools, and three counts of dealing in stolen property; suspects also match MO for five county burglaries.

    📍Colonial Drive📍Essex Way📍Louisiana Avenue📍River Ridge Road👤Councilman Phillips#Armed burglary arrests#Burglary investigation

    ▶ Jump to 1:11:20 in the video

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    [01:11:21] Okay. Thank you very much. Next item is a three-minute report from the police department. [01:11:32] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to update Council and the citizens about [01:11:40] a rash of burglaries we were experiencing as a city since February and March of this year, and [01:11:46] there were a significant number of them in the area of River Ridge Road, Essex Way, Colonial Drive, [01:11:52] generally north and south of Louisiana Avenue. And to address that, we as a police department, [01:11:59] we processed the crime scenes, canvassed the neighborhoods, knocking on doors, [01:12:04] seeing if there were witnesses there. We increased our patrols. We stopped and field interrogated [01:12:09] any suspicious individuals in those neighborhoods, and we really were not having a lot of luck. [01:12:15] And thanks to an alert citizen who realized that the individual that came up and knocked on his [01:12:23] door and gave him a story about looking for his dog. This was a young adult looking for his dog [01:12:30] in the neighborhood. Somehow the story just didn't seem to ring true. So this neighbor continued to [01:12:37] watch this individual go across the street along with a buddy. Buddy went around the back. This guy [01:12:42] goes to the front door, knocks on the door, and this went on for a couple of houses, and this [01:12:47] individual actually stayed back but followed these individuals while he called the police department. [01:12:54] We were able to get into the vicinity, located both suspects, and as a result of that [01:13:02] individual's diligence, we found these two individuals who were ultimately well-known [01:13:10] to us because they both had prior criminal records that involved burglaries. Both were arrested and [01:13:18] the charges included armed burglary, attempted armed burglary, possession of burglary tools, [01:13:23] accessory before the fact for burglary, three counts of dealing in stolen property, [01:13:28] and additional charges and additional cases. We're still working those on these same individuals. [01:13:35] Also the same subjects fit the method of operation modus operandi for at least five cases in the [01:13:44] surrounding county jurisdiction, five burglaries that they have in their area that the Sheriff's [01:13:50] Office is working. So I really want to give thanks to that individual for stepping out, calling [01:13:57] us, being alert in the neighborhood, and I just want to mention one more thing that goes along [01:14:02] with this that I think is pretty amazing. There's an 85-year-old woman that is a neighbor of yours, [01:14:10] Councilman Phillips, that we developed suspects along the way because we had a number of burglars [01:14:16] who lived in that area, and we took photo packs to this lady. That's packages of at least six [01:14:23] photographs that include our suspect, and then we took three different times we took photo packs to [01:14:28] this lady, and she said, nope, nope, nope, very, very clearly. And a month and a half went by, [01:14:36] and then when we went back with another photo pack which included the photo of one of these [01:14:41] suspects, she immediately recognized him and gave us a positive ID at 85 years old, and that's [01:14:49] certainly going to help our case going forward. But it just goes to show you that two individuals [01:14:55] paying attention in their neighborhoods and taking the initiative to call us. [01:15:00] help to clear not only these cases, the other ones that we will clear that these [01:15:04] suspects [01:15:05] have already committed, but there's an untold number [01:15:08] of burglaries that they would have continued to commit. So with that [01:15:12] I just want to report that to you and thank those citizens for their [01:15:15] involvement. Thank you. Any questions for the Chief? [01:15:18] Hearing none, [01:15:23] we have a three-minute report from HR. Good evening Mr. Mayor [01:15:28] and members of City Council. Currently the City has 274 employees including [01:15:33] full-time and part-time. [01:15:34] There are eight open positions. Those positions are [01:15:38] Administrative Assistant, part-time, Fire Administration. [01:15:42] Interviews are scheduled for May 17th. Assistant Public Works Director. [01:15:47] Interviews are scheduled for May 9th. [01:15:50] Facilities Electrician Section Leader. [01:15:54] GIS Database Administration. [01:15:58] A Library Information Assistant 1, part-time. [01:16:02] Interviews are being conducted this week. The City at this time [01:16:07] are accepting applications [01:16:12] for a police officer position even though there are no [01:16:15] openings at this time. We're accepting applications for that [01:16:20] position. [01:16:20] Traffic Infraction Enforcement Technician, [01:16:25] part-time, and a Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator, full-time. [01:16:29] Since the last three-minute report in February, [01:16:32] the HR Department has processed 231 [01:16:35] applications and conducted 16 new hire orientations. [01:16:39] On February 24th, Valet Financial Advisors [01:16:43] presented a Florida Retirement System Seminar for the employees. [01:16:47] Staff is working with Valet personnel to have these seminars [01:16:51] repeating on a schedule for every three months. On March 23rd and March 24th, [01:16:58] Public Risk Management was on-site conducting customer service training for [01:17:02] the employees. [01:17:03] Future trainings from Public Risk Management will include [01:17:08] Drug-Free Workplace. On April 1st, the third edition [01:17:12] of the employee newsletter, Small Town News, was distributed [01:17:16] out to the employees, and we have also launched two new committees. [01:17:20] The first committee being the Safety Committee, and the second is the Wellness

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19. 11.f

    Three-Minute Report: Human Resources

    discussed

    Council communications and reports: Mr. Bell-Thomas reported remotely about attending an International Association of Skateboarding seminar in Anaheim related to skateboarding's inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Councilman Starkey raised concerns about dead palm trees around Orange Lake (under warranty, to be replaced) and ongoing shopping cart abandonment throughout the city, prompting discussion with the Police Chief about enforcement challenges since stores are often unwilling to prosecute.

    📍Central Avenue intersection📍Congress just south of Main Street📍Lafayette📍Orange Lake📍Sims Park🏢Beefo Brady's🏢Dollar General🏢International Association of Skateboarding🏢Winn-Dixie👤Bell-Thomas👤Dardeen Hammond👤Herbie👤Robert👤Starkey#2020 Tokyo Olympics skateboarding#palm tree warranty replacement#shopping cart enforcement operation

    ▶ Jump to 1:17:24 in the video

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    [01:17:24] Committee. [01:17:25] Members include employees from various departments, [01:17:28] and these committees meet once a month. Staff is working together and is [01:17:33] committed [01:17:33] to form a safer workplace and a healthier workforce. [01:17:37] That concludes my report, and I'll answer any questions. [01:17:41] Any questions? Great job, Herbie. [01:17:44] Thank you. And Chief. [01:17:48] Now comes to the point that I think most of us [01:17:52] enjoy, communications and reports. Mr. Bell-Thomas, how is it out in the [01:17:57] Far West? Well, it's absolutely beautiful out here, and just coincidentally, [01:18:03] in Anaheim next week, [01:18:06] the International Association of Skateboarding [01:18:09] are hosting a seminar. I'm going to wander over there to [01:18:14] see. It's kind of exciting to know that skateboarding looks like it's going to be [01:18:18] part of the 2020 [01:18:19] Tokyo Olympics, and they're reporting that there's an uptick in women [01:18:24] in skateboarding, so I'm hoping that I can at least glean some information. I have a [01:18:29] phone call in to Dardeen Hammond, the woman who's [01:18:33] coordinating the event, and see if I can just casually participate without being [01:18:38] officially participant, and we'll bring back some, [01:18:42] hopefully, some good information. Other than that, [01:18:45] thank you for the opportunity to be part of this remote [01:18:49] meeting, and I look forward to seeing you all back when I get back in town, and Chief, [01:18:53] keep your eyeballs out on my, you know, [01:18:57] where I live. Thanks. [01:19:01] Thank you. Councilman Starkey. Just three quick items, I won't be too long. [01:19:06] I was very, very sick, and I was not able to attend the [01:19:10] wine and beer tasting in the park, but I've heard phenomenal things. Everyone I spoke to said it was [01:19:15] just a great event. That's the type of event where I've been pushing for. I think we've all [01:19:19] been pushing for in Sims Park, and I hope to see more events like that. Speaking of [01:19:24] Sims Park, there's, I found at least three dead palm trees around Orange Lake. [01:19:28] There's one at the end of Central that was, I don't know if it's dead because it [01:19:31] was planted under an oak tree, but that was one. I'm sure you're looking at [01:19:35] me like you know about it already. I do know about it, but I appreciate the [01:19:38] report. There are actually four dead palm trees, and they're all under [01:19:43] warranty, and they'll be replaced with the exception of the one that you're [01:19:49] referring to that was planted underneath another tree at the Central Avenue [01:19:52] intersection. A new location has been identified for that tree. Perfect. I'm glad [01:19:56] they're under warranty. And then the last item I have is I am absolutely fed up [01:20:01] with shopping carts. They're all over the city. Your staff did a great job. [01:20:06] Those two guys picked up 17, I think, one day. I've had to call Robert before [01:20:10] because I've seen them submerged at the dock at Sims Park. They're everywhere. The [01:20:15] last two days, there was a gentleman walking down Congress just south of Main [01:20:21] Street with all his groceries, all the way from Winn-Dixie, just strolling home [01:20:25] with a shopping cart. There was a guy at Lafayette with a bright yellow shopping [01:20:29] cart about as bright as this from the Dollar General Store at the Dollar [01:20:33] General Plaza, turning right on Lafayette. I think it's, is that Lafayette right [01:20:37] there in front of Beefo Brady's? He's taking his groceries home. Chief, I would [01:20:41] like to do two things. Well, I first have a question. What is your, what do your [01:20:46] officers do when they see a gentleman or a lady walking down our city streets [01:20:50] pushing a shopping cart off-premises from the location where they are stored [01:20:55] and used? Okay, there's two things I would like to do. The first is I want to say [01:20:59] that we had an operation today to collect shopping carts all around the [01:21:03] city. Perfect, thank you. Good timing. Yeah, it was perfect timing. But here's, here's [01:21:08] part of our challenge. A lot of these stores are not willing to prosecute. [01:21:12] It's a felony to steal a shopping cart. And that if we go to the trouble of [01:21:19] citing somebody, we have no one, you know, we're not going to have a prosecution on [01:21:23] it because most of the businesses will not follow through. Today, I had one of my [01:21:31] lieutenants and the special operations sergeant start visiting and they, they [01:21:36] actually made contact today with at least one that I know of, of the larger [01:21:40] stores and got them to commit that they would be willing to send somebody to be

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20. 12Communications▶ 1:21:45
21. 13Adjournment▶ 1:33:58