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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   [00:00:16] I'd like to ask all of you to please stand, join me in the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for a moment of [00:00:22] silence in honor of our servicemen and women at home and abroad. I pledge [00:00:27] allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic [00:00:32] for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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3. 3

   Moment of Silence

   The Council observed a moment of silence in honor of servicemen and women at home and abroad, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

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   [00:00:22] silence in honor of our servicemen and women at home and abroad. I pledge [00:00:27] allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic [00:00:32] for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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4. 4

   Approval of May 25, 2021 Work Session and June 1, 2021 Regular Meeting Minutes

   approved

   Council approved the minutes from the May 25, 2021 work session and the June 1, 2021 regular meeting.

   • motion:Motion to approve the May 25, 2021 work session and June 1, 2021 regular meeting minutes. (passed)

   👤Julia Pauls

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   [00:00:43] Thank you. You may be seated. [00:00:49] Next item on the agenda is the approval of the May 25th work session and June 1st [00:00:54] regular meeting minutes. I move we approve. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in [00:01:01] favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, like sign. Motion passes. I'd like to [00:01:09] ask Julia Pauls to join me at the podium. The rest of you guys can come down, too.

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5. 5

   Proclamation - Juneteenth Day

   approved

   Mayor Rob Marlow read a proclamation declaring June 19, 2021 as Juneteenth Day in the City of New Port Richey, recognizing the end of slavery and inviting residents to the city's first-ever Juneteenth celebration at Sims Park. A representative of the End Recidivism Project accepted the proclamation and thanked the council.

   • motion:Proclaim June 19, 2021 as Juneteenth Day in the City of New Port Richey. (passed)

   📍Sims Park🏢End Recidivism Project👤Rob Marlow#Juneteenth Day proclamation

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   [00:01:24] Hello, Mr. Mayor. Hi, how are you doing? It is with great pleasure I read this proclamation of the city of [00:01:33] New Port Richey. Whereas Juneteenth commemorates the traditional [00:01:39] observance of the end of slavery in the United States and is observed annually [00:01:44] on June 19th, and whereas on January 1st, 1863, President Lincoln issued the [00:01:51] Emancipation Proclamation declaring that all persons held as slaves within [00:01:55] any state or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall be then in [00:02:02] rebellion against the United States shall be then henceforward and forever [00:02:07] free. Whereas more than two years would pass before the news reached African [00:02:14] Americans living in Texas, when on June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger [00:02:21] and his regiment arrived in Galveston and spread the word that slavery had [00:02:25] been abolished. Whereas the following year the first official Juneteenth [00:02:30] celebrations took place in Texas and have continued across the United States [00:02:34] throughout the years, and whereas Juneteenth is the oldest nationally [00:02:39] celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery, and whereas Juneteenth is an [00:02:44] important opportunity to honor the principles of the Declaration of [00:02:48] Independence and celebrate the achievements and contributions African [00:02:53] Americans have made and continue to make in Florida and across our nation, and [00:02:58] whereas the city of New Port Richey City Council invites all residents to join in [00:03:03] the celebration at the Juneteenth event in Sims Park on Saturday, June 19, from [00:03:09] 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., now therefore I, Rob Marlow, Mayor of the city of New Port Richey, do hereby proclaim June 19, 2021 as Juneteenth Day in the city of New Port Richey and urge all citizens of the city to observe this important day in [00:03:26] our nation's history. [00:03:28] I would like to thank the city of New Port Richey for this proclamation and for allowing us, the End [00:03:43] Recidivism Project, along with our co-sponsors, to have the event, hold the [00:03:49] event in Sims Park. I would also like to invite each and every one of you to come [00:03:55] to the event so that we can celebrate freedom in the United States, not only [00:04:01] in the United States, but in the city of New Port Richey, its first ever, ever [00:04:07] Juneteenth celebration. Thank you, guys, and I look forward to seeing you all [00:04:13] there. Thank you. [00:04:15] We will indeed see you on Saturday. Next is, this is a reading of proclamation, it's by title only,

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6. 6

   Proclamation - World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (By Title Only)

   Mayor read by title only a proclamation designating June 15, 2021 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in the City of New Port Richey.

   #World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

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   [00:04:31] designating World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in the city of New Port Richey. That [00:04:36] is today, June 15th, 2021.

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7. 7Vox Pop for Items Not Listed on the Agenda or Listed on Consent Agenda▶ 4:46
8. 8.a

   Purchases/Payments for City Council Approval

   approvedon consent

   Council approved the purchases/payments item by unanimous voice vote.

   • motion:Motion to approve purchases/payments for City Council approval. (passed)

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   [00:11:54] Move for approval. [00:11:55] Second. [00:11:57] All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [00:12:00] Aye. [00:12:01] Opposed, like sign. [00:12:03] Motion passes.

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9. 9.a

   Second Reading, Ordinance No. 2021-2232: Special Exception for 6016 Delaware Avenue

   approved

   Council held the second reading of Ordinance 2021-2232, a special exception to allow a small church (formerly the Finnish American Club property) within the R3 zoning district at 6016 Delaware Avenue. After public comment from a neighbor opposed and the church's pastor in support, the motion to approve passed.

   Ord. Ordinance No. 2021-2232

   • motion:Motion to approve Ordinance 2021-2232 granting a special exception for a church at 6016 Delaware Avenue. (passed)

   📍2809 Featherstone Drive, Holiday, Florida📍6016 Delaware Avenue📍6112 Delaware Avenue🏢Finnish American Club🏢Wade Trim👤Brad Cornelius👤Donna Harris👤John Fundacles👤Mr. Murphy👤Ms. Manns#Development Review Committee (DRC)#Grand Boulevard bridge rebuilding#Ordinance 2021-2232#R3 zoning district#Special exception permit

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   [00:12:04] Next is public reading of ordinances. [00:12:07] Second reading ordinance 2021-2232. [00:12:11] This is ordinance number 2021-2232, an ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, Florida, [00:12:16] providing for approval of a special exception for a church to be allowed within the R3 zoning district [00:12:21] and low-medium density future land use classification for a property located at 6016 Delaware Avenue, [00:12:27] as more particularly described herein, providing for conditions of approval, providing for conflicts, severability, and an effective date. [00:12:34] Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, as I'm sure you'll recall from the first reading of this ordinance, [00:12:41] the property was currently utilized by the Finnish American Club. [00:12:50] It is a .86-acre parcel property. [00:12:54] The American Finnish Club was an existing non-conforming use. [00:13:00] It lost its status as it remained vacant for over a one-year period of time, [00:13:07] which means now that the property must be used in conformance with its current zoning, which is R3. [00:13:16] The R3 zoning district does allow for the operation of a church with the approval of a special exception permit by the City Council, [00:13:27] and that is the application before you this evening. [00:13:31] Mr. Brad Cornelius is prepared to more further present this agenda item to you this evening. [00:13:37] Mr. Cornelius. [00:13:38] Thank you, Ms. Manns. [00:13:39] Again, my name is Brad Cornelius with Wade Trim, and I serve as the contracted city planner for the City of New Port Richey. [00:13:44] So again, I'll just give you a brief overview, and I know of some of the issues that came up in the first hearing [00:13:49] and some things that we've heard over the last two weeks as well for this. [00:13:53] As the city attorney and the city manager did say, this is a special exception request for property 6016 Delaware Avenue, [00:14:00] and the request is to allow a church within the R3 zoning district. [00:14:05] So in terms of the land use and zoning, the property has a future land use designation of low-density residential [00:14:12] and an R3 zoning district on the property. [00:14:15] Those are residential zonings and land uses. [00:14:18] However, within your residential land use, within your R3 district, it does allow a church, as a special exception, [00:14:25] approved by the city council as one of the uses that are there. [00:14:29] So a church is allowed in the R3 district as long as the city council approves that use within the district. [00:14:35] So it is compliant with your zoning ordinance in terms of it being at that location. [00:14:41] As Ms. Manns said, it formerly was the Finnish American Club. [00:14:46] It has been not in utilization for over a year. [00:14:50] I do address that very quickly. [00:14:52] In your section of your land development code about nonconforming uses, [00:14:56] there's three provisions about when a nonconforming use is allowed. [00:15:00] conforming use loses its vesting and it has to move forward to a permitted use or allowed use within that area. [00:15:06] And the first is that the use has stopped operating for more than a year, which is the case we have here. [00:15:12] So that's why it's no longer been be able to be used as a social club. [00:15:18] The second is if they don't have utilities for 12 months and the third is if they don't have an active business tax receipt or [00:15:24] a BTR. I did verify that. I know that was a question at last meeting. There is a BTR on the property. [00:15:30] But again, that's just one of the three. The reason why it loses it is because it has not operated for the last year [00:15:37] on that property. [00:15:41] We did check with utilities. It appears they maintain their account during that time as well. Yes, sir. [00:15:46] Yes, sir. [00:15:48] In terms of the property, it's a little bit less than an acre, 0.86 acres. [00:15:53] They are going to utilize the existing building that's on the property. That building is approximately [00:15:59] 5,149 square feet. [00:16:01] And so they will utilize that building. In terms of the parking in the site, [00:16:07] if you've been out there, you'll see the parking lot is not in good condition. It needs to be redone. [00:16:12] And based on the number of potential seats or seating area, [00:16:17] they'll look like they'll need about 40 parking spaces based on the plan today. [00:16:22] So that will require improvements and potential small expansion to that parking lot. They will have to go through the city's development review process. [00:16:30] There's a condition of the ordinance that says their parking has to meet all your current codes for parking, the number as well as [00:16:38] the way they're designed and implemented. [00:16:41] Related to that, [00:16:42] they will also be required to put landscaping on the property. As you see, there's very little landscaping out there around the property. [00:16:50] So they're also required to bring the landscaping up to current code, including a buffer there [00:16:56] between them and the residential property that sits directly to their east [00:16:59] to provide that appropriate landscaping on the property. So that's how the site issues are being addressed. [00:17:05] With the parking has to meet the city code as well as the landscaping has to meet the city code. [00:17:10] In terms of the building, the building before they can move in, it will have to be sure that it meets the Florida building code [00:17:17] and the fire code. So it'll also go through those renovations that are needed to make sure everything is up to current codes on [00:17:24] this piece of property. [00:17:26] As I discussed last week, and I'll give a summary today, what your special exception process requires is for the council to look at [00:17:34] compatibility with the surrounding area. And there's seven conditions. I won't go through all seven, but I'll give you the overview. [00:17:40] Basically, when staff looked at that, when your development review committee reviewed this, we looked at those seven conditions and [00:17:46] the DRC found that a church, especially a small church of this size, [00:17:51] it is a small church, is generally compatible with this area. [00:17:55] Especially by bringing the landscaping up to code, bringing the parking lot up to code, and bringing the building up to code. [00:18:01] So in our analysis, which is in your agenda packet, [00:18:05] we do have that finding from your development review committee. In terms of traffic, we spoke about this at the last meeting. [00:18:11] I'll hit on it again briefly tonight. [00:18:13] We don't see this as a major traffic generator. Again, they're looking at about 70 seats [00:18:19] total within this property. The estimate is somewhere between 30 and 40 cars on a Sunday [00:18:25] to come to this property, and about 10 cars during the week when they have weekday kind of operations. [00:18:31] So it's a very, in terms of traffic generation, it's a relatively low impact traffic generation. [00:18:38] When we look at it in comparison to the existing volumes on Madison, as you all know, there's a lot of traffic on Madison. [00:18:45] It's only, it's less than 100% of what the existing traffic is there. [00:18:50] Again, a church, and just the way they operate, [00:18:53] most of the time there isn't any traffic. [00:18:56] You know, the traffic's in the morning on Sundays, or when they have their services going and coming, and if they have an event during [00:19:01] the week. But by and large, the rest of the week, there's very minimal traffic to it. [00:19:05] So when we looked at it from the DRC perspective, we did not find a significant traffic impact to the area. [00:19:12] So that is my summary of the case that I have. [00:19:17] Again, your Development Review Committee did recommend approval, you know, with the conditions of the landscaping coming to code and the parking to come [00:19:24] to code. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. [00:19:27] I just have one question. How many parking spots are there in existence now? [00:19:32] Well, if you look real hard, there's just somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 to 30. [00:19:37] The stripes are pretty well all gone on that lot, but I would estimate there's somewhere between 20 and 30. [00:19:42] If they, I'm asking this in your, you know, expertise, if they expand that parking lot, would they ever want access to that parking lot off Madison? [00:19:54] I don't believe that they would. [00:19:56] I mean, we can still deal with that one down the road, but I'm just wanting to know. [00:19:59] Right, right. My thought would, because the way that parking is now, they could move it, expand to the south. [00:20:05] There's that swale there at the property line. [00:20:07] They can go out that way, because I don't think they need to add a whole lot more area for it. [00:20:12] So to bring a driveway all the way to the back. [00:20:14] Because I don't want to access it off of Madison, because of what you just talked about. [00:20:18] Right. And when they go through the Development Review Committee related to the parking lot, the way the access is now, it's just one big open driveway, you know, onto the road. [00:20:27] That'll get cleaned up and fixed. [00:20:30] It won't look like that. [00:20:32] Right. I know that the code allows for special exception for the churches in that zoning area. [00:20:39] What other type of occupancies or land uses would our code provide for special exceptions other than a church? [00:20:46] Sure. In terms of special exceptions, what would be allowed there would be a bed and breakfast. [00:20:51] I will say, as you recall, a few months ago, you did change in the R3 to allow townhomes. [00:20:57] However, this property wouldn't qualify for that, because it's not in the downtown land use, future land use. [00:21:03] Although it is across the street from your downtown future land use. [00:21:05] So the only other special exception would be the bed and breakfast. [00:21:10] The permitted uses that are there would be a single family home. [00:21:14] And that property is made up of four platted single family lots that are there now. [00:21:19] So a permitted use there would be a single family home. [00:21:21] They wouldn't have to go to city council for anything to do that. [00:21:25] So if I am I correct, did the club, the Finnish Marriott Club, transfer the property ownership back in 2019? [00:21:33] Is that about when that last title transfer took place? [00:21:37] That's I believe that is correct, sir. [00:21:40] At about the same time it ceased operations there. [00:21:42] That's correct. Right. And my frame of reference is when I started helping the city, which was about that same time. [00:21:48] And I know they have not been operating since I've been here helping the city. [00:21:51] So obviously whoever purchased that property at that time would be aware of what the use of the land would be, what it could be at that point. [00:22:00] Correct. And I will say at your offices here, we did meet with some folks, some different parties that were interested in the property. [00:22:09] And part of our discussion was to tell them what the potential uses would be. [00:22:13] And the church is one of those uses that we did say through the special exception. [00:22:18] What we saw in this part of the DRC when we reviewed it, one of the things that we think is beneficial is it's readapting an existing building that's already there. [00:22:29] You know, that building is set up for another type of public use like it used to be out there. [00:22:36] But it could be, we could like make it a boys club or girls club. [00:22:39] That wouldn't, something like that wouldn't apply, right? [00:22:41] Right. Right. I mean, what would happen to go down that path? [00:22:44] Basically, we would just have to bring that to city council and you all would have to make the appropriate changes to the land use and zoning for that to happen. [00:22:50] So I can't say it could not happen. [00:22:52] It would just have to go through its own process to make that occur. [00:22:55] The size of that property, if we incorporate it, if, you know, churches tend to either, you know, they do, sometimes they stay stagnant, but the most time they either grow or sometimes they shrink, right? [00:23:09] And in either one of those actions, sometimes it's, you know, requires them to relocate one way or the other, right? [00:23:17] So that property, and I know this is, maybe you haven't studied this yet, but, you know, how much additional space could we add to that building? [00:23:31] In other words, how, you know, I'm thinking if the church is growing, how much larger could it get on that spot and still qualify? [00:23:37] It would, you know, allow for the parking and all that. [00:23:39] I can't give you an exact number, but what my thought of that is there really, it is, when you look at the property, there is quite a bit of green space around the building, particularly on the south side of that building. [00:23:50] But your limiting factor is how much do they need for parking? [00:23:53] So I don't believe there's really enough room on that property to do any kind of significant expansion to that building and still be able to meet parking. [00:24:02] So I don't think there's a lot of opportunity on that property for that building to get any larger or significantly larger. [00:24:11] The building was originally built, what, 1950? [00:24:13] In the 1950s, yes, sir. [00:24:16] Okay, we're going to open this up for public comment. [00:24:21] Anyone? [00:24:29] You could give us your name and address for the record, please. [00:24:31] Donna Harris, 6112 Delaware Avenue, and I do have a concern about the church. [00:24:38] My concern is traffic, is one of them, road traffic. [00:24:44] People tend to speed down Delaware, and there's already four four-way stops on Delaware, and they still speed down the street. [00:24:53] I do have a disabled daughter. [00:24:55] She's not out a lot without me. [00:24:58] There are times she might be out in the front yard. [00:25:00] My concern is that. [00:25:01] I do also have a concern that if the church does tend to either grow or move or just not have enough funds to maintain the building or stay at the building, [00:25:15] what happens if another church moves in and then they decide to open up a soup kitchen or feed transient people? [00:25:26] My concern is the traffic of the transient people in my neighborhood. [00:25:31] I live five houses east of the property, and I do live in an alley. [00:25:38] I have concerns about people in the alley. [00:25:41] It's a dark alley, and I just have safety concerns for my daughter and I, and I'm just opposed to having more traffic in the area. [00:25:54] I would rather see it as residential homes. [00:25:58] I like the neighborhood. [00:26:00] I like living in New Port Richey. [00:26:01] I've been here since 2006 in the city, and I do think it should be turned into a residential community. [00:26:07] I think the tax value for the city is better, and I like having more single family, younger families coming in and helping with the downtown. [00:26:19] Thank you. [00:26:19] Thank you. [00:26:20] Anyone else? [00:26:30] I'm the pastor of the church, and we addressed some of these issues the last time we were here, [00:26:45] and I'd like to try to address them again and try to reassure the surrounding neighbors that we're not going to turn ourselves into a homeless shelter. [00:26:57] That's not really our goal there at all. [00:27:00] And as far as growth, yes, we're looking to grow some. [00:27:04] Every organization is, or you're dying. [00:27:08] But percentage-wise, if we start out with about the 60 people that we've got right now, even if we grew 20% a year, we're only adding 12 to 15 people a year. [00:27:22] And if I can add 20% a year, I'm happy. [00:27:25] So it won't be this massive influx of people there and bringing in much more traffic and issues that would cause the city and the neighbors heartache problems. [00:27:39] We do feel that the church will bring value to the neighborhood. [00:27:44] First, it will take a building that is just sitting there deteriorating and bring it up. [00:27:50] And we will be responsible to keep it up because we have a responsibility to be a good neighbor, also a responsibility to our God, to make sure his house looks good. [00:27:59] And we're going to do that. [00:28:02] As far as speeders, I'm mostly, we have elderly people. [00:28:07] They don't speed. [00:28:09] If anything, they're going too slow the other way. [00:28:12] So that's an issue. [00:28:13] But I really want the neighborhood to understand and the people around us, we want to become part of the neighborhood. [00:28:20] We don't want to become a problem in the neighborhood. [00:28:22] We want to become part of the neighborhood, which will add value to their lives and to the neighborhood and to the city. [00:28:29] That's what we want to do there. [00:28:31] Now, it's true you can make it into a boys club and a girls club, and those are positive things. [00:28:38] But along the same lines, we're going to do some of that ourselves with youth programs and so forth for the neighborhood. [00:28:44] As far as being on the tax rolls, yes, as I said last time, everybody needs money. [00:28:50] We need money. [00:28:51] It takes money to keep everything going. [00:28:54] But we bring intangible things. [00:28:57] We bring a better quality of life for that neighborhood. [00:29:00] We bring that neighbors can come together. [00:29:02] And hopefully you run less police calls and hopefully even less ambulances down there because of the fact that, you know, if we're taking care of one another, maybe we can get people to the hospital or to the doctor before they need an ambulance. [00:29:16] Our goal is to become part of the neighborhood, not to disrupt it, not to set it back in any way to make it less desirable there, but to help it become more desirable. [00:29:27] Thank you. [00:29:28] Can you give your name and address? [00:29:29] Oh, my name and address? [00:29:30] Yeah, for the clerk. [00:29:32] Oh, I'm sorry. [00:29:32] I live at 2809 Featherstone Drive, Holiday, Florida. [00:29:37] You need to zip, ma'am? [00:29:39] Okay. [00:29:40] Do you have any questions? [00:29:41] Anything I can answer for you? [00:29:43] Name? [00:29:44] Oh, John Fundacles, Pastor John. [00:29:46] Thank you, Pastor. [00:29:47] Okay. [00:29:48] Thank you. [00:29:49] Anyone else? [00:29:51] Seeing no one else come forward, I'm going to close comment and bring it back to council. [00:29:58] I'll make the motion. [00:29:59] We did it. [00:30:00] So I don't see anything that's changed from then. Motion to approve. [00:30:06] We have a motion to approve. Second. And a second to the maker. [00:30:09] Yes, I mean, I also was an advocate for seeing a community center at the property. [00:30:18] And, you know, I understand the legal issues that have been outlined from the business being closed for over a year. [00:30:28] However, with me, hope springs eternal. [00:30:32] So I'm still looking for another site for the for the purpose of what I had in mind. [00:30:37] And you found a site. You've got a contract on it. [00:30:41] The presentation to us was that it's acceptable to be there and that it's de minimis effect on Madison to the neighbors. [00:30:50] You know, we're having even more concerns are going to be coming as they close Grand Boulevard in the coming year [00:30:57] or whenever it is for the rebuilding of the bridge at Grand Boulevard, if you'd not heard of that. [00:31:03] So we're going to really have to focus on the issues with respect to Madison and perhaps the routing of traffic that wants to come through. [00:31:12] And east of the city is going to also affect Louisiana, I guess, if we figure out how we can deal with the with the speeding of the traffic. [00:31:21] But there's no doubt I've been posting up at the corner of Madison and Louisiana, and I have heard cars honking, tires screeching. [00:31:34] There apparently are a lot of angry people out in the world right now. [00:31:37] And some who don't even accept the election that we just had who continue to have supporters for someone who's no longer an official. [00:31:46] You know, we've got to learn to get along with each other. [00:31:49] Some of the neighbors wrote a petition saying that their their their philosophies of the neighborhood did not match with what I take it, [00:32:00] if they knew it was a Southern Baptist or whatever. [00:32:05] I think it's a good thing that you're trying to do good. [00:32:08] I wish you well. [00:32:10] I would only ask you that you could replace some of that property taxes by having you all come and have breakfast in town after your church service, [00:32:18] if you can, once in a while. [00:32:21] Mr. Murphy, you were the second. [00:32:23] Yeah, I mean, I hope we'll make a positive impact in the community, the local community there. [00:32:27] And just the substantial improvement of the property, the money you're going to invest to get it back into shape is a positive impact right there. [00:32:36] So good luck. [00:32:42] I used to live near there, and I think it was more of a seasonal snowbird type of facility that they came down from, [00:32:53] wherever the finish came from, Minnesota and Michigan. [00:32:57] You know, so, you know, to have a year round facility contribute to the community. [00:33:01] I think it's a good idea. [00:33:04] Yeah. [00:33:05] You know, I was out visiting the site this past week. [00:33:09] And as you know, I, I, I voted in approval this last last meeting. [00:33:15] And I had opportunity to talk with a couple of neighbors as I was out and about. [00:33:20] So, you know, I looked at this. [00:33:23] And in our packets, you know, fellow council members, we have little maps and shows land use. [00:33:29] And then if you expand that a little bit larger, it just gets larger and larger in this yellow area. [00:33:35] Right. [00:33:36] It's all this this R3 zoning. [00:33:38] And I know there's people spend a lot of time and efforts and experts and studies done before land use codes are put in place. [00:33:45] And, and, and, and there's there's sound reasons why that those are put in that in that way. [00:33:54] I, you know, first, first, I know there's a history with that building. [00:34:02] That building was built there long before a majority of the houses in that neighborhood was built. [00:34:09] And there's been some new houses since gone in, you know, over the past, you know, 20 years. [00:34:15] Not all those houses are are 50, 60 years old. [00:34:21] To me, it still is a residential area. [00:34:25] You know, as I look at it, the best and most optimal use for that land would be residential. [00:34:34] You know, there was a time that churches were put in neighborhoods. [00:34:37] People because people walk to church. [00:34:39] Right. [00:34:42] You know, I don't know. [00:34:43] I dare say there's anybody in here who walks to church today. [00:34:47] I drive quite a you know, I drive a few minutes to get to my church. [00:34:51] I have a church down the street from me, which I have a friend drives all the way from Madeira Beach to attend the church up on River Road. [00:34:58] And so the although we like to embrace and think that idea as a neighborhood church, that's probably not realistic of way churches work today. [00:35:12] You know, they network with people and those people come from all parts of the area and come in. [00:35:18] Chances are this church here has been housed and churched in in the holiday area for a number of years. [00:35:25] And, you know, while not all the members of the church and attendees are from holiday, probably the majority of them are. [00:35:36] And some they may lose, some they may not. [00:35:39] Of course, they may gain new people because of locations. [00:35:44] I made a comment once before. [00:35:46] I think for the most part, the churches make make good neighbors. [00:35:50] That being said, we've also received complaints by residents about activities of churches. [00:35:58] And if this church's actions and and presentations or anything near what the pastors is, it would be I think would be a wonderful neighbor and a wonderful church. [00:36:12] The issue is, is that we've seen this already in the city that churches change and move. [00:36:17] You know, we used to have a big church down in Orange Lake. [00:36:22] We think the city wound up with that property somehow, right? [00:36:27] I think we own another church property on South River Road that we're trying to find a use for and so forth. [00:36:34] That would conform with our planning and our uses. [00:36:39] That would be the betterment of the of the city. [00:36:42] So, you know, how do we fix? [00:36:46] We've we've talked before up here in these chambers and elsewhere about West Pasco County and New Port Richey specifically about how we grew and how we developed years back before we knew how proper planning and planning was put in place. [00:36:59] And things went willy nilly at times. [00:37:03] So how do we how do we improve that and try to get back on a plan? [00:37:09] It's hard to redevelopment and and remove it. [00:37:12] But you do it bit by bit by bit. [00:37:15] And for that purpose, you know, you know, I would love this this church to be part of our community. [00:37:23] I'm just not sure that is the right location. [00:37:26] And I would personally like to see additional single family dwellings on that particular property. [00:37:35] I believe that the current property owner. [00:37:38] That's why I asked Brad. [00:37:39] There have been discussions knew that, you know, that in operation and well knew that that was probably what was going to happen. [00:37:46] And I don't know how long the property's been for sale. [00:37:48] I didn't look into that. [00:37:50] And maybe that's not not been the thing. [00:37:52] But with the with the property values increasing and the demand for people wanting to live in and near New Port Richey, I would think the proper developer would have a great opportunity there to develop single family homes there. [00:38:04] As we've seen around in our residential neighborhoods, what few empty lots are there being picked up and new houses are being built. [00:38:12] So why I, you know, I did. [00:38:18] This is not about whether there's there should be a church. [00:38:22] Now, this is more about proper planning and land use. [00:38:25] And so I have a little bit of reservations about the special exception. [00:38:30] Very good. [00:38:33] I think if we're successful in making New Port Richey more walkable than walking to church may actually become a possibility for some folks. [00:38:44] Certainly not necessarily today unless you happen to be right in the downtown core where there are several churches and easy walking distance. [00:38:54] But that being said, I wish you the best of luck. [00:39:02] And getting the place cleaned up will will definitely help the neighborhood. [00:39:09] Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. [00:39:10] Just one comment that was reflected relative to the alley. [00:39:15] And it's the second time the alleys have already come up today in the meeting. [00:39:18] But I think that it's a valid point. [00:39:24] And I just want you to know we're coming into the budget season and there's been a lot of discussion about finding some kind of minimal standard for the alleys. [00:39:32] Paving aside dangerous alleys that are belonging to the city of New Port Richey need to be solved. [00:39:40] And so whether it's lighting or at least minimal, you know, cleaning up. [00:39:47] We do an awful lot of code enforcement and we checked everybody's houses. [00:39:52] We should be doing the same with our alley. [00:39:54] So thank you for your comments. [00:39:56] That's supportive of what we're trying to do. [00:39:59] And hopefully you'll see some changes with that. [00:40:01] Any further discussion. [00:40:03] Hearing none. [00:40:04] All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [00:40:07] Aye. [00:40:08] Opposed. [00:40:09] Aye. [00:40:11] Motion passes 4 1.

   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.

10. 9.b

    First Reading, Ordinance No. 2021-2231: Amendments to Golf Cart Ordinance

    approved

    Council held first reading of Ordinance 2021-2231 amending the city's golf cart ordinance to comply with state law, removing city permit requirements and updating definitions while maintaining staff-recommended prohibitions on Congress Street, Massachusetts Street, Madison Avenue, Marine Parkway, Grand Boulevard (Gulf Drive to Ridgewood), and Trouble Creek Road. After public comment urging that Marine Parkway and Grand Boulevard be opened to golf carts, council passed the ordinance as presented 4-1, with discussion about revisiting expanded routes once speeding enforcement reduces traffic speeds.

    Ord. Ordinance No. 2021-2231

    • motion:Move approval of Ordinance 2021-2231 as presented on first reading. (passed)4–1

    📍214 Beach Trail📍Alamanda Drive📍Azalea📍Cactus📍Congress Street📍Embassy Hills📍George Street📍Grand Boulevard from Gulf Drive to Ridgewood Drive📍Gulf Drive📍Madison Avenue📍Main Street📍Marine Parkway📍Massachusetts Street📍Ridgewood Drive📍River Road📍Trouble Creek Road📍US Highway 19👤Chief Bogart👤Chopper👤Councilman Altman👤Debbie Nance👤Don House👤Mr. Murphy👤Mr. Peters👤Tim#Article 9 of Chapter 23, Sections 23-200 through 23-212#Golf cart map#Ordinance 2021-2231#Original 2016 golf cart ordinance

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    [00:40:12] Next is first reading of Ordinance 2021 dash 20 to thirty one. [00:40:16] Ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, Florida. [00:40:19] Providing for amendment of Article 9 of Chapter 23 Sections 23 dash 200 through 23 dash 212 of the New Port Richey Code of Ordinances. [00:40:27] Pretending to operation of golf carts within the city. [00:40:30] Providing revised definition of the terms. [00:40:32] Providing for appeal of provisions established by state law. [00:40:34] Providing for equipment and approved operators as established by state law. [00:40:38] Providing for removal of city permit requirements. [00:40:40] Providing for golf cart crossing of prohibited streets. [00:40:43] Providing for allowance of golf carts west of US Highway 19. [00:40:46] Providing for enforcement. [00:40:47] Providing for conflicts, severability, and effective date. [00:40:50] Certainly, Mr. Mayor, members of council. [00:40:53] When the golf cart ordinance was originally adopted, pardon me, back in 2016. [00:41:01] It was your collective consensus and the staff supported you that we wanted to implement some safe standards for the operation of golf carts. [00:41:13] And your direction to the staff was to come up with a golf cart map that would support that. [00:41:22] And we painstakingly determined that we needed to leave some streets and some avenues and some boulevards of the city out of the course. [00:41:36] And at that time, we determined that Congress Street, Massachusetts Street, Madison Avenue, Marine Parkway, between US Highway 19 and Grand Boulevard, [00:41:47] and Grand Boulevard from Gulf Drive to Ridgewood Drive and Trouble Creek Road needed to be omitted from the roads in which we allowed golf cart traffic. [00:42:04] We are bringing back to you at this time a golf cart ordinance which was discussed on May 18th of this year. [00:42:14] And there has been some discussion about changing some of the roads that we allow golf cart traffic on. [00:42:25] And some have suggested that we allow traffic on some of the roads that have been previously prohibited. [00:42:32] From the staff's perspective, nothing has changed about the character of those roads. [00:42:40] Certainly nothing has changed about the driving behaviors of people that travel those roads. [00:42:46] And so we remain firm to you in our recommendation that those roads just aren't built for golf cart traffic and we don't think it's a safe practice to allow it. [00:42:58] And the Chief is prepared and I'm prepared to respond to any questions you have. [00:43:03] But it's our recommendation that Congress Street, Massachusetts, Madison, Marine Parkway, Grand Boulevard, and Trouble Creek Road be the prohibited roads in the city for golf cart traffic. [00:43:18] We'll open it up for public comment. [00:43:24] If you could give us your name and address for the record, Mr. House. [00:43:30] Don House, 214 Beach Trail, New York. [00:43:32] Staff is extremely short-sighted, extremely short-sighted. [00:43:37] I have the propensity to drive at the speed limit in residential areas. [00:43:44] It happened back when my kids were in elementary school and I was president of PTA a few years and all that. [00:43:49] So I've got a great respect for driving at the speed limit in residential areas. [00:43:54] Not everybody does that. [00:43:56] If I'm driving 25 miles an hour on Marine Parkway and the average speed is 31-something and the highest speed is 97, I guarantee you that car had flashing lights and was blue and white. [00:44:08] I'm just saying, okay. [00:44:09] But that's what this thing says. [00:44:11] I didn't get to read this just now until I sat here. [00:44:15] Marine Parkway is a very necessary corridor, as is Grand for Marine Parkway up north. [00:44:25] It's necessary for – did everybody get my emails? [00:44:31] Okay, so if we got Scotty going to beam us over from 19 to Cactus so that those that are west of 19 and we're building that – you're trying to build that overpass, the staff is extremely short-sighted. [00:44:47] I have heard talk about three-way stops or all-way stops because there's not really a cross – a couple of three or four-way stops on Marine Parkway. [00:44:56] I don't have a problem with that. [00:44:57] I've got four houses on Marine Parkway. [00:44:59] I'm on that road at all times. [00:45:00] least 10 or 12 times a day, at least. It is not penalizing responsible golf cart operators [00:45:10] for people that are, I'm doing 25 on that road and I get passed with a double yellow [00:45:16] line, so you're going to tell me I can't drive on 19 because I get passed by some idiot [00:45:23] on a double yellow line? That's like, okay, let's take away all the guns from everybody [00:45:28] even though you're responsible with your own gun. Responsible operators on golf carts [00:45:34] should not be penalized for people that don't, and if they can't, it sounds like an enforcement [00:45:42] problem to me, not a responsibility issue. Golf cart operators can be responsible. The [00:45:51] speed limit there on Marine Parkway is 25. It says right here the average speed is 32. [00:45:57] Obviously they're going too fast. So the golf carts are allowed to go 18. That's certainly [00:46:04] fast enough on Marine Parkway. It is a road that has its issues, but those are not the [00:46:11] problems of the people that operate golf carts. Chopper, last time, I think he asked how many [00:46:17] people were in that neighborhood that might be affected, and I was just driving around [00:46:21] the neighborhood counting in my head as he asked that, and I said 100 or so, but there's [00:46:25] hundreds and hundreds. There's all those continents. There's all the older places at [00:46:31] the end of Azalea, which they don't grease down the sewer, but that's a different story, [00:46:35] but all those that extends down to Trouble Creek of hundreds and hundreds of households [00:46:41] that can't get to where, y'all saw the maps, there's like driving around in a circle, you [00:46:46] know, and it is extremely short-sighted of staff to limit golf cart, or not limit, prohibit [00:46:54] golf cart operation on Marine Parkway and Grand north of Marine Parkway. It is, I think [00:47:02] if you continue on that, you are making an extreme error. You should open those up, and [00:47:09] if there's a problem, enforce the problem. Don't kill, don't restrict the proper operating [00:47:17] people for the illegal actions of others, and put a couple of always stops on there. [00:47:25] I don't care. I drive on that road, like I say, 10 or 12 times a day. If I have to stop [00:47:29] in there a couple of times, it doesn't bother me, and it would help slow down that road. [00:47:33] Thank you. [00:47:34] Thank you, Mr. House. Anyone else? [00:47:35] Mr. Mayor, it's very unfair and inappropriate for Mr. House to degrade the staff as part [00:47:42] of his comments to council. [00:47:44] What did I say wrong? [00:47:46] It is not that we are unqualified. [00:47:51] I didn't say we're unqualified. [00:47:53] You said quite a few things that were unfair. [00:47:55] Let's not get into a... [00:47:56] Go ahead. [00:47:57] No, no, let's... [00:47:58] I said staff was wrong. [00:48:00] Thank you. [00:48:01] Which was my opinion. [00:48:03] Thank you, Mr. House. [00:48:04] Did I say you were unqualified? [00:48:07] It's not a conversation. [00:48:09] This is not a back and forth, Mr. House. Thank you. You've had your say. [00:48:13] I didn't insult him or call him incompetent. [00:48:16] I offered an opinion, just a quick one. [00:48:20] Very short, sorry. [00:48:24] Anything else, Mrs. Nance? [00:48:26] Not at this time, Mr. Mayor. [00:48:27] Do you have any other public comment? [00:48:29] Seeing none, I'll bring it back to council. [00:48:32] I said last time, and I'll say it this time, it's our job to slow the traffic down on Marine Parkway. [00:48:42] It's no different than the traffic that goes down Golf Drive or traffic that goes down Grand. [00:48:47] And we went ahead and took away two lanes on Main Street. [00:48:53] We took two lanes away to try to slow people down on that. [00:48:56] And there's still people going down that fast. [00:48:58] So if we have the problem on Marine Parkway, we have the problem on Main Street. [00:49:02] So I think it's our responsibility to slow that down. [00:49:05] I would like to see Marine Parkway and also from Grand up to wherever the existing use of Grand is now. [00:49:15] Golf, up to Grove. [00:49:17] I'm going to move approval as presented. [00:49:21] Do we have a second? [00:49:24] Second. [00:49:25] To the maker? [00:49:26] Yeah, I mean, we can consider Chopper's request to amend it. [00:49:29] But I wanted to just move approval because the attorney has indicated that we need to approve this [00:49:34] in order to comply with the Florida statutes and the state law. [00:49:37] So number one, that's what we're doing here today is changing that as I understand it. [00:49:43] Number two, in order to perhaps pursue this question about the Marine Parkway [00:49:50] and the additional language in item B, which says you can cross it as long as the two streets are aligned with each other. [00:50:00] So you can't turn down a few feet or 20 feet or however long and then turn back again. [00:50:08] So if we could, we do have Mr. House's map here. [00:50:12] And I just want to point to Alamanda Drive because, you know, it's tough to go against the arguments of safety [00:50:27] and the concerns there and overpass or not, that's really been reflected as a bicycle lane [00:50:34] and not as a golf cart crossing at that point. [00:50:38] But I believe Alamanda is the only road between the south of the city and Gulf Drive and 19 over to George Street [00:50:58] where we have an opportunity to go north and south across Marine Parkway. [00:51:06] So whether you're on Cactus or back in the areas behind there where Embassy Hills [00:51:14] and some of our senior housing is back there, those all have a back way to get to Alamanda as I see it. [00:51:25] And the only problem is when they come out to Gulf Drive or Grand Boulevard, they're not allowed to cross that. [00:51:31] So I would really like to see us identify a safe golf cart crossing that could cross over to Ridgewood [00:51:38] or somehow get people over to George Street so that they could come through and into the city. [00:51:45] So I think we all, I would hope we all share the goal that we can expand the ability of the people who live in our city [00:51:53] to access golf carts and to get around. [00:51:56] And so I would think I'm just, it's been said before, we can always change things as we go. [00:52:04] It's hard right now in this meeting when I'm thinking that we're being asked and have delayed this already [00:52:09] in order to meet the statutes that this is going to be resolved particularly today. [00:52:15] But I would like to suggest that the legal argument that you can't get on the road and make a zigzag leads us to Alamanda. [00:52:27] And I don't know, I'd just encourage you all to maybe tell me what you think. [00:52:31] With your permission, we could make that type of a change between the first reading and a second reading. [00:52:40] I'm not asking for a change. [00:52:42] Okay. [00:52:43] I am. [00:52:44] I'm not. [00:52:45] To the second. [00:52:46] So, yeah, Councilman Altman makes a good point. [00:52:52] We need to get this ordinance passed for compliance. [00:52:56] There's people wanting to, you know, have to get their golf carts. [00:52:59] They bought a golf cart today and wanted to drive it. [00:53:01] They have to go down and get inspected and pay the ticket, or pay the, not the ticket, but pay the fee. [00:53:07] We have in the past expanded the roadways that we made available. [00:53:12] We can always do that again. [00:53:15] I know it's a pain to start, you know, mending and changing ordinances, right? [00:53:20] But, you know, we've got to maintain the safety within a city, and that's if you're in a golf cart and you're in a car. [00:53:32] But certainly, you know, the golf cart has added a lot of dimension to the city and the people who use those. [00:53:39] There's more and more people every day. [00:53:41] And we want to keep them safe because if they start getting injured, that's going to be a whole other problem. [00:53:46] So I'd like to see us go forward with this. [00:53:50] If there's a motion that we could make to try to make a change that would enable us to facilitate some of these, I'd be open to that. [00:54:01] Mr. Murphy. [00:54:02] Yeah, I'm going to go along with staff and Chief Bogart on the safety issues with certain roads. [00:54:07] I don't have any problem changing things as we go along. [00:54:10] Right now, I think we need to get it passed so we can be in compliance. [00:54:13] And then we can come back and, you know, even talk about a workshop, get it all nailed together, [00:54:19] and then come back and make the changes that we need to all at one time instead of doing it five or six times so Tim doesn't go crazy. [00:54:26] But I'm fine. [00:54:30] I have on more than one occasion described golf carts in terms of being mobile speed bumps. [00:54:38] They do slow traffic down immensely. [00:54:42] Well, except for Mr. Peters whipping around River Road. [00:54:47] But most of the cars or golf carts are traveling at relatively reasonable speeds. [00:54:57] We've got a bunch of them in our neighborhood, and I just slow down and ride behind them. [00:55:03] It helps the blood pressure and everything else. [00:55:06] I do have concerns about Marine Parkway. [00:55:11] And as Mr. House pointed out, that is an enforcement issue. [00:55:18] It is absolutely obscene that we've got somebody that was clocked doing 93 miles an hour on Marine Parkway. [00:55:27] I mean, that person shouldn't just get a ticket. [00:55:32] They should be arrested and probably thrown under the jail. [00:55:36] That is reckless endangerment for anybody to be traveling that fast. [00:55:41] And if people are blowing past people doing 25 miles an hour on that street and going around them with a double yellow line, they ought to be ticketed too. [00:55:53] And I'm pretty sure that's reckless driving and four points. [00:55:56] They will only do that so many times before they lose their license. [00:56:01] We have not, as a city, done a whole lot of traffic enforcement. [00:56:07] I think this is a case where we probably should be and should take a harder look at getting that sort of driving malfeasance under control. [00:56:21] There is no reason that the average speed on that street ought to be 30-something miles an hour. [00:56:30] Was it 35, 36 miles an hour or something? [00:56:34] It was way higher than the 25. [00:56:37] I mean, and that's the average. [00:56:40] And the 85th percentile was, I think, 36. [00:56:44] And that means 15% of the people on that street are going in excess of 11 miles an hour faster than the speed limit. [00:56:58] And, you know, if you're doing 11 or 15 miles an hour of the speed limit in a residential area, you probably deserve every ticket you get. [00:57:08] And, yeah, I know it's going to take staff and personnel to do, but we have got to get that under control. [00:57:18] At the point that we can get that under control, then I'm open to opening that whole area up. [00:57:26] I agree with Chopper. [00:57:27] It's an obvious route to get down to Southgate, but it's just not safe right now. [00:57:34] And so I'm going to go along with the motion, [00:57:37] but I would very much like us to make a priority to get that speeding problem in that particular stretch of road under control. [00:57:49] It's just – that's not acceptable. [00:57:51] Somebody's going to get killed. [00:57:52] And, you know, golf cart or no, because there are pedestrians and cyclists on that street, [00:57:59] and there are families with kids on that street, [00:58:02] and it makes no sense to have people going nearly four times the speed limit on the street. [00:58:09] Chopper? [00:58:10] Do you want to do any enforcement between the first reading and the second reading? [00:58:15] We have been doing enforcement and will continue to do so. [00:58:18] We're doing it at a number of hot spots. [00:58:20] No, I'm just saying on Marine Parkway. [00:58:22] I would imagine that we have. [00:58:23] I can't say for sure because we've got routine areas that we do that on. [00:58:27] Because I think there's some – I'm not going to vote for this because I want Marine Parkway in and I want Grand Boulevard. [00:58:34] I want us to find a way to slow those people down. [00:58:36] If it happens to be Mr. House's idea of a three-way stop or a four-way stop, then I want that too. [00:58:43] But, you know, I want to slow down, you know, no matter what. [00:58:46] And if we slow it down, then it should be opened up. [00:58:48] But if we have that – I don't think that we have any more of a problem on Marine Parkway than we do on Main Street between 19 and River Road. [00:58:59] Mr. Mayor? [00:59:00] The only reason the Chief is hesitating is because he hasn't been at work for a couple of weeks. [00:59:04] So he doesn't – he may not know completely all of what's been going on the last couple of weeks, but I'll update you. [00:59:10] Mr. Ullman? [00:59:11] Yes, and it's not up to us to pick the staff at a public meeting. [00:59:18] We serve our community through the city manager. [00:59:21] And so I'm not a big fan. [00:59:24] Excuse me. [00:59:25] Excuse me. [00:59:26] I didn't – I was talking to the staff, not an individual. [00:59:31] Any further discussion on this? [00:59:32] Yes, sir, I do. [00:59:33] I want to make a point here. [00:59:35] One of the people that lose on this vote are the folks who live on Marine Parkway, [00:59:43] who don't have an alley, who would like to use their golf cart to drive into town. [00:59:47] So when we look again at these ordinances, if a resident of our city lives on one of these streets, [00:59:57] it would be nice if they were allowed to scramble. [01:00:00] to a street safely. [01:00:02] I mean, they know their community. [01:00:03] They know their roads. [01:00:05] If anybody can be trusted to know [01:00:07] what to expect when they back out onto Main Street, [01:00:10] Grand Boulevard, they can do that now. [01:00:14] And people are moving. [01:00:16] And one final thing, the comment was made about the police. [01:00:19] And I have to say, I continue to hear [01:00:22] about the speed of our police under chases [01:00:27] when we have a problem. [01:00:31] So it's unsafe to drive through 35 and 25 mile an hour [01:00:38] communities of residents with vehicles [01:00:40] that are going at what appears to be [01:00:42] upward of 60 miles an hour. [01:00:44] So I'm just telling you, I've seen them flying. [01:00:46] I've seen six flying at the same time. [01:00:49] And so if we talk about safety, I just want to point it out. [01:00:53] We should make sure that we are also being safe. [01:00:57] And I know some folks earlier spoke about it. [01:01:00] But we should be careful about when [01:01:04] we have to save lives by going at a speed versus when [01:01:09] there's a call that we're not sure what it is. [01:01:12] Good points. [01:01:13] Thank you. [01:01:13] Anyone else? [01:01:14] Yeah, I don't think there's losers on this, Councilman [01:01:19] Altman. [01:01:20] I think there's all winners. [01:01:21] And that would include those people on Marine Parkway. [01:01:24] Because now there's going to be tension about the safety [01:01:27] factors there. [01:01:28] And there's going to be a change made. [01:01:30] And if that's successful, and if things can be controlled, [01:01:34] I think that this council can consider that again. [01:01:37] And I, for one, utilize the golf cart quite extensively. [01:01:43] And I hope that we can expand the use as well. [01:01:46] But we need to move forward this ordinance at this time. [01:01:49] I think that's the key. [01:01:50] We need to get this done. [01:01:52] And then we need to address the speed problem [01:01:54] and make it safe so that we can revisit this and get [01:01:57] that area open. [01:01:58] But it's just not safe. [01:02:01] So would it be safe to say we're going to talk about this again [01:02:03] in a workshop or something like that to make [01:02:06] some additional changes? [01:02:09] Even if it's, this is first reading. [01:02:13] We'll have second reading in a couple of weeks. [01:02:15] Even if it's a second reading. [01:02:17] No, it's first reading. [01:02:18] Oh, OK. [01:02:19] It was tabled. [01:02:20] That's right. [01:02:21] OK, my mistake. [01:02:24] We're not necessarily restricted to just waiting the two [01:02:30] weeks before second reading. [01:02:31] Please correct me if I'm wrong. [01:02:35] But if this time next month, we've [01:02:42] come to the conclusion that it is now [01:02:47] safer on Marine Parkway and that stretch of ground, [01:02:52] we can revisit that particular stretch of road. [01:02:57] I think we have to fix the second reading, [01:03:00] pass it so we have something on the books to compliance. [01:03:03] And then we can come back later and make changes. [01:03:06] Once it's safe, we can revisit it at our convenience. [01:03:09] That's what I was trying to say. [01:03:12] We don't have to rush to get it to slow down. [01:03:14] Right. [01:03:15] That's all. [01:03:16] So we can't make a change between the first [01:03:18] and second reading? [01:03:19] No. [01:03:21] If you're going to restrict a street, as I said before, [01:03:24] between first and second reading, [01:03:26] you'd have to make that part of the first reading. [01:03:28] Or you're going to have to have a third reading. [01:03:30] Because I have to advertise. [01:03:31] I have to change the title to reflect that. [01:03:33] And that will require the advertisement to change. [01:03:36] My recommendation is that we go ahead and do this, [01:03:39] get it through second reading. [01:03:40] And then when it is safe, revisit it [01:03:44] with a modification for just the streets we want to modify. [01:03:48] But only when we've got some assurance that it's safe. [01:03:52] Does that make sense? [01:03:53] Well, who would be the determinant of that? [01:03:55] Because we've already been told in pretty strong and bold terms [01:04:00] that there is a resistance from us changing this. [01:04:02] So I don't know what you're expecting to happen. [01:04:04] But I can't. [01:04:05] We get the speeds down. [01:04:07] Do another traffic study. [01:04:08] Yeah. [01:04:09] You got to slow the traffic down somehow. [01:04:11] Well, in the meantime, I like Alamanda. [01:04:13] And I would love to see the city aggressively [01:04:16] try to incorporate as many people in the city. [01:04:19] Because we're all, five of us of a mind, [01:04:21] that this is something that's probably positive. [01:04:23] It's microtransportation. [01:04:24] It's everything we're trying to do. [01:04:28] And I'll call the question, Mr. Mayor. [01:04:34] In that case, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [01:04:39] Aye. [01:04:40] Opposed, like sign. [01:04:41] Aye. [01:04:44] Motion passes, four to one.

    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.

11. 10.a

    Special Request by John Gilliss for KIAFest Beer and Wine Tent

    approved

    John Gilliss of Friendly Kia received approval for a special request to host a beer and wine tent in Sims Park as part of KIAFest/Main Street Blast on Saturday, June 26, an event he is sponsoring that will include fireworks and a Michael Jackson tribute performance. The tent area will have restricted admittance and alcohol cannot be removed from it.

    • motion:Approve John Gilliss's special request for a beer and wine tent at KIAFest in Sims Park on June 26. (passed)

    📍6658 River Road📍Sims Park🏢Friendly Kia🏢Hits 106👤Debbie Manns👤John Gilliss#Juneteenth celebration#KIAFest#Main Street Blast#Michael Jackson tribute

    ▶ Jump to 1:04:46 in the video

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    Auto-transcript · machine-generated, may contain errors

    [01:04:49] Next is a special request by John Gillis for a Kia Fest [01:04:54] beer and wine tent at an event that [01:04:58] hadn't come in front of us officially before tonight. [01:05:02] Well, Mr. Gillis is on the fast track with this, Mr. Mayor. [01:05:06] That was my understanding. [01:05:07] If you would. [01:05:08] And Mr. Gillis was kind enough to join us this evening. [01:05:11] And so he is in attendance. [01:05:15] And at this point, the great news [01:05:18] is that he has offered to sponsor a fireworks [01:05:23] celebration on Saturday, June 26, which [01:05:27] will include a good amount of entertainment [01:05:32] as part of the festivities. [01:05:35] And we will be hosting that in Sims Park [01:05:39] as part of his event. [01:05:43] He would like to reserve a tent area for some special guests, [01:05:49] largely his employees and some other work associates of his. [01:05:58] And he would like to be able to provide beer and wine [01:06:03] to them in the park. [01:06:05] It would be an area which would be restricted admittance. [01:06:14] And they would not be able to exit the area [01:06:17] with alcohol in the park. [01:06:20] Thank you. [01:06:21] Open it up for public comment. [01:06:24] Seeing no one come forward to bring it back to council. [01:06:27] Move for approval. [01:06:28] Second. [01:06:29] To the maker. [01:06:29] Nothing. [01:06:30] To the second. [01:06:32] Thank you. [01:06:32] Thank you for contributing and making this happen. [01:06:35] Thank you. [01:06:36] Mr. Altman? [01:06:38] John? [01:06:39] We want to reach out and responding. [01:06:42] The city opens up. [01:06:44] I'm excited about what's happening in the city [01:06:47] and the Juneteenth celebration. [01:06:49] I just went out there and called them. [01:06:51] I need to help them. [01:06:52] We are very fortunate in what's happening. [01:06:55] Could you come up to the mic, please? [01:06:58] We can hear you, but people at home can't. [01:07:00] I had to turn up the volume a little bit. [01:07:09] Do you want to mention the entertainment as well? [01:07:11] Yes. [01:07:12] John Gillis, city resident, 6658 River Road. [01:07:17] Proud to be on the river. [01:07:18] Proud to be on New Port Richey. [01:07:20] Proud that everything that's happening [01:07:22] and what you all are doing in the city [01:07:23] just gets better and better every day. [01:07:26] And we're going to, right down the street there, [01:07:29] we've got the new college and we've got the new this. [01:07:31] And Friendly Kia is getting bigger and better. [01:07:34] And we just really enjoy giving back. [01:07:37] This community, for 23 years, has [01:07:40] given a lot to Friendly Kia, good times, bad times, [01:07:45] the importance of local referrals and repeat business. [01:07:49] And we try to take care of everybody. [01:07:52] And I really want to do this for my people, [01:07:54] but I've had so many people come to me [01:07:57] and they say they're in the showroom because of what [01:07:59] we do for the community. [01:08:01] So I'm happy to do it. [01:08:03] I'm proud to do it. [01:08:04] I'm honored to do it. [01:08:05] I'm glad that Debbie and you all have agreed to let us do it. [01:08:09] And we just keep opening up little by little [01:08:12] with this car show and the Juneteenth and now this. [01:08:16] And what a wonderful world we're in. [01:08:19] That's a Louis Armstrong, so I'll do that later for you. [01:08:22] But thank you. [01:08:23] Thank you very much. [01:08:24] Mr. Gillis, thank you very much for stepping forward [01:08:28] and making this happen. [01:08:29] I'm sure there are a lot of people [01:08:31] that are going to be very excited when they learn [01:08:33] that we've got entertainment and fireworks in the park [01:08:37] for celebrating our independence. [01:08:39] Debbie asked you to tell us who the entertainment was. [01:08:43] Some of you may hear my morning commercials on Hits 106. [01:08:46] I am known as the KOP, the King of Price. [01:08:49] This is another KOP, the King of Pop. [01:08:52] We had him a couple of years ago. [01:08:54] He was Prince one night and Michael Jackson. [01:08:57] He'll be here one night as a Michael Jackson tribute. [01:08:59] And everybody loved him. [01:09:01] And I've grown to love Michael Jackson [01:09:04] after I've heard him in the park here. [01:09:05] He does a great job. [01:09:06] And we're not sure who the opening act is going to be, [01:09:09] but we're excited to be able to do it for our people, [01:09:12] for the city, and for just bringing people here [01:09:16] to what they enjoy, just nice. [01:09:19] It's going to be a little bit different, no vendors, [01:09:23] because the vendors will be in the park for Juneteenth, [01:09:26] but not for KIA Fest Main Street Blast. [01:09:29] And that's actually simpler because we're [01:09:31] able just to put this thing together last minute. [01:09:34] I'd hate to be trying between now and then [01:09:36] to get vendors and all that other stuff. [01:09:38] So it's kind of a down-home country picnic in the park. [01:09:43] Bring your red and white checkered flag, blanket, [01:09:48] whatever you do. [01:09:49] Yes. [01:09:49] Mr. Gillis agreed with you that it [01:09:51] would be a great time to support our local business [01:09:53] community as well. [01:09:56] Just to clarify that, I've got the little trolley will be, [01:10:00] there's not going to be anything to eat or drink there, [01:10:02] but the trolley will be starting there and going probably [01:10:04] Dunn and Keg up to Sullivan's, back through there. [01:10:08] And just somebody wants to get out and go around and take [01:10:11] a little bit of time. [01:10:12] I think we're not really sure because the entertainment [01:10:14] starts at 6, if anybody would be there much prior to that. [01:10:17] But we're going to have the trolley running all night [01:10:20] so people can go back and forth from downtown to the music [01:10:23] and to the restaurants and things that's going on there. [01:10:27] Thank you. [01:10:28] Thank you very much. [01:10:29] Thank you. [01:10:30] Thank you, John. [01:10:32] Any further discussion? [01:10:35] Hearing none. [01:10:36] God bless America. [01:10:41] There's no further discussion. [01:10:42] All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [01:10:45] Aye. [01:10:45] Aye. [01:10:46] Opposed, like sign. [01:10:47] Motion passes. [01:10:48] Next is discussion of the discontinuing [01:10:52] of the emergency closure railroad [01:10:54] square on the weekends. [01:10:55] Mrs. Manns. [01:10:56] Certainly. [01:10:59] We were due to discuss this agenda item at your meeting [01:11:05] on May 5, although, I'm sorry, no we weren't. [01:11:11] It was actually the first meeting in June [01:11:17] and Deputy Mayor Davis was due to be out [01:11:20] of town at that time. [01:11:22] And he asked that we defer the discussion until this time. [01:11:26] The discussion is in respect to whether or not [01:11:29] we should continue the COVID-19 shutdown of railroad square [01:11:35] to allow businesses that were suffering in some respect [01:11:42] as a result of the pandemic to use the outdoor space [01:11:46] to capitalize on some business opportunities. [01:11:50] And some of you felt that businesses were taking [01:11:55] an advantage of that space. [01:11:59] I had heard from some others that perhaps they [01:12:02] weren't taking full advantage of it [01:12:04] and we should perhaps open it up and make it [01:12:07] available as additional parking to support the businesses that [01:12:15] are located to the north in respect to the Nebraska parking [01:12:20] lot that's being torn up. [01:12:22] And I decided I didn't want to make that decision all [01:12:25] on my own, so I was bringing it back to you [01:12:28] to get some direction as to whether or not [01:12:31] we should close that down or open it up. [01:12:34] Open it up for public comment. [01:12:35] Thank you. [01:12:43] Frank Starkey, 5939 Grand Boulevard. [01:12:45] I apologize for my unprofessional appearance. [01:12:47] I'm just going for the John Cain look. [01:12:49] Oh. [01:12:49] Oh. [01:12:50] Oh. [01:12:50] Oh. [01:12:51] Oh. [01:12:51] Oh. [01:12:52] Oh. [01:12:52] Oh. [01:12:53] Oh. [01:12:53] Oh. [01:12:54] Oh. [01:12:54] Oh. [01:12:55] Oh. [01:12:55] Oh. [01:12:56] Oh. [01:12:56] Oh. [01:12:57] Oh. [01:12:57] Oh. [01:12:58] Oh. [01:12:58] Oh. [01:12:59] Oh. [01:12:59] Oh. [01:13:00] Oh. [01:13:00] Oh. [01:13:01] Oh. [01:13:01] Oh. [01:13:02] Oh. [01:13:02] Oh. [01:13:03] Oh. [01:13:03] Oh. [01:13:04] Oh. [01:13:04] Oh. [01:13:05] I'm going to speak in favor of continuing [01:13:06] the evening and weekend closures of Railroad Square. [01:13:11] I'll admit that my lens is primarily [01:13:13] the section between Adams and Grand. [01:13:15] I don't really have a dog in the fight on the Grand [01:13:18] to Bank section. [01:13:20] But I've spoken with some of the other, [01:13:23] some of the food and beverage business owners there.

    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.

12. 10.b

    ↳You arrived here from a search for “Fitzgerald” — transcript expanded below

    Discontinuing the Closure of Railroad Square on Weekends

    approved

    Council debated whether to discontinue weekend closures of Railroad Square. After discussion of alternatives including one-way traffic, golf cart parking, and concerns from business owners, Council passed a motion to keep Railroad Square closed to vehicle traffic (allowing golf carts and pedestrians) from 4 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Sunday.

    • motion:Close Railroad Square to vehicle traffic (allowing golf carts and pedestrians only) from 4 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Sunday. (passed)

    📍Bank Street📍Cavalier Square📍Grand Boulevard📍Main Street📍Missouri Avenue📍Nebraska Avenue📍Railroad Square🏢Boulevard Beef and Ale🏢Fitzgerald🏢Juana Taco🏢Kangaroo🏢Ordinance One🏢Peach's🏢Red Pig🏢Rights Nutrients🏢Rose's🏢The Bomb🏢The Social🏢Verizon👤Matt Peters👤Mike👤Ms. Mann👤Starkey👤Tom#COVID emergency order origin of closure#Charlie Parton bricks#Railroad Square redesign plans

    ▶ Jump to 1:13:26 in the video

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    [01:13:26] They seem to be in favor of it. [01:13:29] Newport Ridge doesn't have a town square. [01:13:32] And Railroad Square is kind of the closest thing to it [01:13:35] in terms of being. [01:13:36] We have a park that's a green space, but not a plaza. [01:13:41] So Railroad Square serves that function very well. [01:13:46] The amount of parking that's available there [01:13:48] is token at best. [01:13:49] So it's losing it or gaining it doesn't really [01:13:52] push the needle around in terms of parking supply. [01:13:57] But the benefit of having that as a pedestrian-oriented place [01:14:01] in the evenings and just keeping cars out of the mix, [01:14:03] you know I'm Mr. Cars and People need to generally mix [01:14:09] to create vitality. [01:14:10] But that's the place where you can stand to lose it. [01:14:13] During the day, it's necessary as a place for deliveries [01:14:17] and drop-offs and a little bit of low-speed vehicle traffic. [01:14:22] But in the evenings, it's really nice to have it. [01:14:25] I don't know what the taking advantage of it situation [01:14:27] is that Ms. Mann's referred to. [01:14:31] To me, if somebody's using it, that is taking advantage of it [01:14:34] and that's kind of the point. [01:14:36] Maybe they're doing something that they shouldn't be doing. [01:14:38] I don't know what that is. [01:14:39] But so if that's, you know, y'all can deal with that. [01:14:44] But I just generally am in favor of it. [01:14:47] So I just wanted to say that. [01:14:48] Thanks. [01:14:49] Anyone else? [01:14:52] I think now I'm going to bring it back to council. [01:15:00] Wandering around a little bit and chatting, talking to a couple of the restaurant owners [01:15:08] who the general sentiment seemed to be if it was actually doing any good, they'd go [01:15:14] along with it, but it doesn't seem to get used much and it is blocking some of the parking [01:15:21] in there. The one restaurant that seems to use it, probably more than everybody else [01:15:31] put together, is Juana Taco. And my wife pointed out we could put barricades up on the northwest [01:15:40] and northeast corners of the Verizon building, which would very conveniently block off the [01:15:46] whole section of the street right in front of Juana Taco if they wanted to spread out [01:15:50] into there without creating any issues for any of the parking. I certainly wouldn't object [01:15:57] to that. I know we've got plans hopefully coming at some point to completely redo that. [01:16:07] Do we have a time frame when we might see that? [01:16:11] We're still working on the plans, but the architect is in the preparation of construction [01:16:18] drawings, so in the coming month before they could finish it up, maybe five weeks. [01:16:28] So in a couple of months we'll probably be talking about what we want long term. And [01:16:34] I think if at least some of the conceptuals I saw would more or less close that street [01:16:42] down to pedestrian traffic pretty much completely. One of them I think had planters at the corner [01:16:49] of Grand and one of the drawings had planters at the corner of Grand and Railroad Square [01:16:58] that would block traffic pretty well permanently. Certainly we can revisit it. I've got no problem [01:17:04] with opening it back up. If Juana Taco or any of the others want to close off their [01:17:11] section, I don't have a problem with that either. [01:17:14] Mr. Mayor, I'll make a suggestion. Maybe we can do something in the middle, keep it closed [01:17:21] off but allow it for golf carts to park in there. At least that will bring the golf carts [01:17:25] out of the parking spaces around downtown. It still could be pedestrian friendly. [01:17:32] That's an interesting idea as well. [01:17:36] The only comments I've had, I think some of the businesses that are actually on Main [01:17:41] Street that open up to the parking there next to Cavalier Square, you know, that... [01:17:50] Grand Boulevard to Cavalier Square? [01:17:52] Yeah. [01:17:53] He said Main Street. [01:17:54] That is, they're on Main Street but they also have back entrances to Cavalier. [01:17:59] That would be Grand then. [01:18:01] I said Main, I'm sorry, Grand. I apologize. [01:18:04] Well, we're talking about, you know, Roses and Boulevard Beef and Ale and so forth. [01:18:10] And, you know, I looked at it too one day and I said, well, you know, most of the pedestrian [01:18:17] traffic along that seems to be on the north side between, you know, the backups to Juana [01:18:27] Taco and where Peach used to be and along that way. [01:18:31] I wonder if we could make that a one-way street, maybe off of Grand and run it that way. [01:18:43] So that way those people would have access to both those parking lots while pedestrians [01:18:47] would be on the other lane, for example. [01:18:51] It's just an idea. [01:18:53] And, you know, I think that the COVID thing and also I think with the closure of Peach's [01:19:00] had an effect. [01:19:01] Of course, we're getting ready to have another venue that opens up that's going to be back [01:19:05] there and might bring some people outside. [01:19:07] So, I don't know. [01:19:08] It's, you know, I like, you know, so that's just another idea to throw out, you know. [01:19:13] I could go with that too. [01:19:15] I mean, it sounds like it'd work. [01:19:17] We're right now closing it up on Friday at roughly 4 o'clock and opening it again Sunday [01:19:22] night at whatever. [01:19:23] Is that correct? [01:19:24] It's been closed all day Saturday. [01:19:27] Yeah. [01:19:28] I think it opens up, you know, at the end of Saturday is when it's open. [01:19:34] So Sunday it's open, I believe. [01:19:37] Okay. [01:19:38] Well, whatever. [01:19:39] This is where I'm going with this. [01:19:41] I talked to some businesses and Rose's was the only one that was really complaining. [01:19:46] And she said because the road was blocked off, she thought that the whole area was blocked off. [01:19:52] So I asked that if we could have just a detour sign hooked up to one of those, you know, [01:20:00] barricades, you know, that said detour. [01:20:02] So it doesn't really say it's closed. [01:20:04] So you could take an arrow south and went around and then you could park and you could [01:20:07] park right behind them, you know. [01:20:09] So I don't know if that's been done, but I asked if that was possible. [01:20:12] So but that was the only place everybody else said we would like it. [01:20:18] And I think with Kangaroo and I see people leaving Fitzgerald walking down to the bomb [01:20:23] or even down to the social and walking back at nighttime. [01:20:26] So if there was an open and close, my opinion would be like, you know, open it till noon [01:20:32] or one o'clock so the vendors can get in and get out and then close it up again. [01:20:36] But I really have a problem with this. [01:20:39] You know, we've trained. [01:20:40] I hate to say this, but we've got these people thinking that this thing's open now. [01:20:44] And so if, you know, the railroad square is a walkable area, I mean, open that in a sense. [01:20:50] But so if we start opening up for traffic, these people are going to yell in at the traffic. [01:20:54] Traffic's going to, you know, it's just going to be a zoo. [01:20:57] And then X amount of months down the road, we're going to close it up again. [01:21:00] So I just assume, you know, let's go with, you know, leave it closed. [01:21:05] Or if you want to open it up till noon so the vendors can get in [01:21:08] or so the suppliers can get in, you know, then that's fine. [01:21:12] But I think we've got the people right now just walking up and down [01:21:16] because they think it's a pedestrian area. [01:21:19] Well, Tom, I've got a question again. [01:21:22] I've only seen the railroad gates down once. [01:21:25] Because they don't know how to work them. [01:21:28] It seems to me you could remotely, if you could somehow remotely work those, [01:21:32] it would be easy to close them. [01:21:34] There's a key. [01:21:36] You open the box and flip a switch is my understanding. [01:21:39] I asked that a month ago. [01:21:42] Everybody doesn't know how to work it. [01:21:43] We had somebody drive through one of the arms. [01:21:45] They're pretty expensive. [01:21:47] So we tend to leave those off and put the barricades out. [01:21:53] Okay. [01:21:54] So there were a lot of interesting ideas here from inviting golf carts in, [01:22:02] which was one of the discussions we had about that little parking lot [01:22:05] against the Verizon building as the design came through. [01:22:08] We had a discussion last week at the work session where Mike was mentioning [01:22:14] and there was the issue with removing the Charlie Partons, [01:22:20] taking his bricks apart one at a time. [01:22:23] That will never happen. [01:22:25] But I'm not interested. [01:22:28] I really don't want to wait till the entire design is done. [01:22:31] Can we get like along the way some kind of interim sort of where they're going [01:22:35] because we had some discussion about how that whole transition would work, [01:22:39] the circulation between Nebraska and Missouri. [01:22:42] Because there was, Mike, you brought up the idea of having a nice podium [01:22:47] or a place where there could be a small, some music. [01:22:50] And we really want to have more live music in town. [01:22:53] It kind of gives you that vibe like Nashville or Nashville, [01:22:56] not that we are either of those. [01:22:58] But we have a lot of musicians. [01:23:00] And I think I would love to see the development of that before we get it to 100 percent complete [01:23:09] because we had some differences of opinion on that. [01:23:12] But I think we're all in the same point that way. [01:23:16] And we'll bring you up to date on that drawing. [01:23:19] Back to the question at hand, though, there is very little traffic out there. [01:23:24] And it's, you know, there has been this movement out on Main Street [01:23:30] to attract the business during the times it's closed behind with markets out on Main Street. [01:23:38] But if, when is the Red Pig, is that going to open up again as a restaurant or something? [01:23:45] It's gone. [01:23:46] But I mean, you said something else was coming. [01:23:49] I understand. [01:23:50] A gelato store and a bakery will take its place. [01:23:56] That would be nice, yeah. [01:23:58] We're so close to having us get ready to build that out. [01:24:04] And the idea of taking that all the way down to Bank Street was also something maybe we can revisit [01:24:11] and make sure that we follow the track of having that corridor there. [01:24:17] But I don't see any commerce, at least until you get to the Verizon building. [01:24:23] And I think that either not allowing traffic to come the other way, allowing it to go into Roses, [01:24:30] allow it to go into the parking lot, allowing it to get out. [01:24:33] They go into Ordinance One. [01:24:35] Ordinance One moves out there. [01:24:37] They're out there on a good Friday night or Saturday night. [01:24:40] They had a large event there this past week on the Big Ten. [01:24:42] But they have a big Plaza. [01:24:43] I mean, they have a big – [01:24:45] I mean, your idea, Mike, is to leave a corridor the size of half of the road. [01:24:49] It's a huge road, you know. [01:24:50] The Ordinance One, they're not out in the street. [01:24:52] I've never seen anyone – are they out there dancing in the street? [01:24:55] I mean, I haven't. [01:24:57] I've been out there. [01:24:58] I watched – last Friday night I was – [01:25:00] It was a blowover of that reunion you were, that Gulf High reunion. [01:25:04] Oh, a couple weeks ago. [01:25:05] Yeah, I blew out into that. [01:25:06] Yeah. [01:25:07] Yeah. [01:25:08] Yeah, I think letting Rosie and those parking lots be used [01:25:14] would satisfy one concern of one small business owner. [01:25:18] And so however it is, whether it's Matt's idea of let's fill it up with golf carts [01:25:23] that can park along there and have no vehicle traffic through there, they're used to – [01:25:27] A little pedestrians able to go through. [01:25:29] Or everyone had a good idea. [01:25:31] I mean, take your pick. [01:25:32] I don't care. [01:25:34] As I said, I could go with either way. [01:25:37] Right, but I think the question at hand is whether we continue blocking it off, [01:25:42] and that's kind of a yes. [01:25:43] I've talked to both Rose and Joe over at Boulevard Beef, [01:25:50] and they're just not seeing it worth the loss in parking [01:25:57] or the difficulty that it's creating by closing it off completely. [01:26:04] You know, either the carts are like what Councilman Peters suggested, [01:26:10] letting the one way, which at least get them in short term into that parking area [01:26:15] until we can fix the parking. [01:26:17] And I realize it might even be more barricades, [01:26:20] but just like an entrance in and then barricaded immediately [01:26:23] so that people, if they come in, they have to go into that parking lot, [01:26:26] and then they can work on around the place. [01:26:28] But you only close off one small section, one lane. [01:26:32] You could go one lane to the parking lot, to the Verizon building, [01:26:37] close it off there completely from there east. [01:26:40] Would they let the golf carts go through? [01:26:43] Yeah. [01:26:44] I just, I mean, I hate to say this, but let's just keep it simple. [01:26:48] You know, keep it blocked off, allow golf carts in there. [01:26:51] We could have signed up the detour sign or even golf cart parking only [01:26:55] and at least make some space out in the city part [01:26:58] so the golf carts aren't parking there and taking up spots. [01:27:02] I'll entertain a motion from somebody. [01:27:05] I'll go. [01:27:06] We'll use Matt's. [01:27:09] Can you say it again? [01:27:12] Keep it closed, allow golf carts. [01:27:15] Golf carts only. [01:27:16] Yeah, golf carts only. [01:27:18] And we have a second. [01:27:19] Any further? [01:27:20] Mr. Kess, does he have any golf carts? [01:27:22] And it will be. [01:27:23] They already are there. [01:27:25] They are already there. [01:27:26] Can I ask a question? [01:27:27] In the order that the city manager issued, [01:27:31] provided that it would be closed to traffic between 4 p.m. [01:27:35] and 11 p.m. [01:27:36] Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. [01:27:38] to 11 p.m. [01:27:39] on Saturday and Sunday, is that still what you want to happen? [01:27:42] No, no. [01:27:43] It's a Saturday and Sunday. [01:27:44] That's the only thing we've been doing for months. [01:27:46] You just want it to be Saturday and Sunday. [01:27:48] Well, Friday night. [01:27:49] Friday night. [01:27:50] Can you amend your motion to include those hours then? [01:27:53] All right. [01:27:54] I'll amend it and include the hours that. [01:27:56] Can you state what those hours are so that we know exactly what [01:27:59] you're talking about? [01:28:01] 4 p.m. [01:28:02] on Friday? [01:28:03] Is that what it was? [01:28:04] Yeah. [01:28:05] 4 p.m. [01:28:06] on Friday? [01:28:07] Yeah. [01:28:08] Okay. [01:28:09] And then Saturday from all day. [01:28:10] And it would be open and be closed from 4 p.m. [01:28:13] on Friday until sometime on Sunday, right? [01:28:16] Well, we don't. [01:28:17] We didn't talk about Sunday. [01:28:19] It would be Saturday night would be just fine. [01:28:23] Saturday night at what time? [01:28:25] 11 p.m.? [01:28:26] No, Sunday at 2 a.m. [01:28:27] Sunday at 2 a.m.? [01:28:28] Are you kidding me? [01:28:29] That's just starting to heat up at 11. [01:28:31] Sunday at 2 a.m.? [01:28:32] That's when they come out. [01:28:34] That's when the bars close. [01:28:36] All right. [01:28:37] So let me understand. [01:28:38] So it will only be closed from 4 p.m. [01:28:41] Friday to 2 a.m. [01:28:42] on Sunday and other than to golf carts would be allowed in there? [01:28:47] Pedestrians. [01:28:48] And pedestrians, obviously. [01:28:49] Yes. [01:28:50] Okay. [01:28:51] That's the motion? [01:28:52] Yes. [01:28:53] We have a motion. [01:28:54] We have a second. [01:28:55] We have a second. [01:28:56] Discussion? [01:28:57] Thank you. [01:28:58] Open it up for public comment on this. [01:29:00] Oh, it's a motion. [01:29:01] No public comment. [01:29:02] Discussion? [01:29:03] Yeah, but we had sort of. [01:29:04] Got a thumbs up? [01:29:05] We had discussion. [01:29:06] We had discussion. [01:29:07] We had discussion. [01:29:08] I'd comment if anybody wants to address the motion that's. [01:29:11] Oh, jeez. [01:29:12] I'm going to get my Robert's Rules book out on him. [01:29:15] That's totally different. [01:29:16] No, this is a. [01:29:17] Go ahead. [01:29:18] Special motion. [01:29:19] This is totally different. [01:29:20] No, this is a. [01:29:21] Go ahead. [01:29:22] Special case. [01:29:23] Mr. Starkey. [01:29:24] Oh. [01:29:25] Special. [01:29:26] I didn't catch where the hours landed. [01:29:31] I'm not sure I did either. [01:29:34] 4 p.m. [01:29:35] Friday until 2 a.m. [01:29:36] Sunday. [01:29:37] Okay. [01:29:38] I would advocate for 4 p.m. [01:29:39] on Sunday just because brunch. [01:29:43] But why is. [01:29:44] Why is. [01:29:45] I mean, this is not a street that carries any traffic that's meaningful to downtown. [01:29:51] It's just about access to the parking, which exists elsewhere. [01:29:54] People have been finding their way to the parking lots just fine. [01:29:57] So I don't think we should prime. [01:29:59] Give premise. [01:30:00] to automobile traffic in a place that's actually [01:30:03] a really wonderful place to walk, walk plats at night. [01:30:07] So it's, as I said before, [01:30:12] I think it's great to keep it closed. [01:30:14] Thank you. [01:30:20] I'd just like to add something if I can, [01:30:22] since this has been, I've been going in and out of there [01:30:28] because I shop in that, you know, [01:30:30] you didn't do that all night. [01:30:32] Honestly, all night you didn't do that. [01:30:35] All night, I'm leaving. [01:30:36] I won't be here for three months. [01:30:37] You do it now. [01:30:38] Whatever. [01:30:41] I've been going in and out of there consistently. [01:30:45] No problem, none. [01:30:47] I can access either parking lot from the other street [01:30:50] and I exit from the other street. [01:30:54] My vehicle has no reason to go where it's blocked off. [01:30:59] None. [01:31:00] I walk over to Rights Nutrients. [01:31:02] I can walk over to Grand Boulevard. [01:31:05] I can go to Rose. [01:31:06] I can go anywhere, go back to my vehicle [01:31:09] and never once encounter a pedestrian by doing it that way. [01:31:13] It's really not an issue. [01:31:15] I don't know why it got to be such a, [01:31:16] just keep the, I think it's fine closing it. [01:31:19] It's the only thing in town closed. [01:31:21] They close Main Streets and Safety Harbor, Dunedin, [01:31:24] everywhere else. [01:31:25] Why not keep it? [01:31:26] It's a nice thing. [01:31:28] People like it. [01:31:28] They can walk and it's really not a problem. [01:31:31] So, I mean, that's my two cents [01:31:33] and I'm giving you back a minute and 54 seconds. [01:31:37] We're going to sit in silence. [01:31:44] That'll never happen. [01:31:46] Just one comment, it hasn't been closed [01:31:53] during the week for months. [01:31:54] Yeah, it hasn't. [01:31:55] But it's just been the weekends. [01:31:57] And Sunday, there's not much going on. [01:31:59] A lot of the restaurants are closed and, you know. [01:32:02] And the issue is that we did this originally [01:32:05] based on an emergency order [01:32:07] and this is getting us back into regular, [01:32:11] the regular order of operating the thing. [01:32:16] Robert's rules notwithstanding, [01:32:18] just so everybody has a chance to. [01:32:21] No, that's fine. [01:32:22] Because this was pretty, I know, [01:32:24] this was pretty loose in the discussion. [01:32:29] It would be nice to clarify this though [01:32:30] because I know the motion said golf carts only. [01:32:33] So, are we golf carts only from past the parking lot [01:32:37] at the Verizon building? [01:32:38] Was that your motion? [01:32:39] Or are we golf carts only coming right on into Nebraska [01:32:42] from there on in? [01:32:43] Where it's blocked off, yeah. [01:32:44] Where it's blocked off. [01:32:46] So, we are not allowing vehicle traffic [01:32:49] under the current motion as it's been stated. [01:32:52] Just golf carts. [01:32:54] Okay. [01:32:55] Everybody understand what we're voting on? [01:33:00] There's no further discussion. [01:33:01] All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. [01:33:05] Aye. [01:33:06] Opposed, like sign.

    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.

13. 10.c

    Three Minute Report: Recreation & Aquatics

    Recreation & Aquatics department gave a three-minute report featuring a promotional video by marketing coordinator Aaron Tate and an overview of recent and upcoming programming, including summer camp at full capacity, a Labor Day event Sept 4, family movie nights, fall concert series, an EV event Oct 2 at Railroad Square, and the Open Arms Scholarship funded by a Quilters Guild donation.

    📍Railroad Square🏢Newport Richey Recreation and Aquatic Center🏢Quilters Guild👤Aaron Tate#Adult flag football leagues#Annual electric vehicle event#Fall concert series#Family movie nights#Labor Day weekend event (September 4)#Open Arms Scholarship#Summer camp#Teen room pilot program

    ▶ Jump to 1:33:08 in the video

    ▸Show transcriptHide transcript

    Auto-transcript · machine-generated, may contain errors

    [01:33:08] Certainly one of the more enjoyable discussions [01:33:11] we've had on the council. [01:33:15] Three minute report, rec and aquatics. [01:33:19] Excuse me. [01:33:20] Thank you for allowing me to follow up that discussion [01:33:22] with this here, so. [01:33:26] Over the last four months or so, [01:33:29] our marketing and community outreach coordinator [01:33:33] for our department, Aaron Tate, [01:33:34] has been shooting some video and posting on social media, [01:33:37] letting people know some things they can do at home [01:33:40] if they didn't want to come out during COVID [01:33:44] and also to let them know that we are open [01:33:46] and we are doing some things. [01:33:48] So, this is a video of compilation [01:33:50] of some of the footage he shot. [01:33:52] ♪♪ [01:33:57] Hello, welcome to the New Port Richey [01:33:58] Recreation and Aquatic Center. [01:34:02] We're here at the New Port Richey [01:34:03] Recreation and Aquatic Center Fitness Center [01:34:04] and we're gonna do some quick tips on push-ups. [01:34:07] I'm Aaron here at the New Port Richey [01:34:08] Recreation and Aquatic Center [01:34:09] and I have a quick tip on how to help you [01:34:11] get your first pull-up. [01:34:13] ♪♪ [01:34:18] ♪♪ [01:34:23] ♪♪ [01:34:28] ♪♪ [01:34:33] ♪♪ [01:34:38] ♪♪ [01:34:43] ♪♪ [01:34:48] ♪♪ [01:34:53] ♪♪ [01:34:58] ♪♪ [01:35:04] ♪♪ [01:35:09] ♪♪ [01:35:14] ♪♪ [01:35:19] ♪♪ [01:35:24] ♪♪ [01:35:29] ♪♪ [01:35:34] ♪♪ [01:35:39] ♪♪ [01:35:44] ♪♪ [01:35:49] ♪♪ [01:35:54] ♪♪ [01:35:59] ♪♪ [01:36:04] All right, so when we play sharks and minnows, [01:36:06] we're gonna have a group of our kids [01:36:07] line up along the back wall [01:36:08] and then we'll have two or three of our kids [01:36:10] in the middle of the court. [01:36:11] They're gonna be our sharks. [01:36:12] Our minnows will line up along the wall [01:36:13] and they're gonna have to try to run [01:36:15] and get past the sharks without getting tagged. [01:36:17] If our sharks tag one of the minnows, [01:36:19] then they sit down and become seaweed. [01:36:21] They can try to tag other players [01:36:22] but they can't move from where they're seated. [01:36:24] ♪♪ [01:36:29] ♪♪ [01:36:34] ♪♪ [01:36:39] ♪♪ [01:36:44] ♪♪ [01:36:49] ♪♪ [01:36:54] And so, some of our other things [01:36:58] that we were able to accomplish during COVID [01:37:01] and going forward, we ran adult flag football leagues, [01:37:06] had Mummy and Me painting, toddler time, [01:37:09] a family Easter painting event, spring break camp [01:37:14] with full capacity of 25 children [01:37:17] in the middle of March. [01:37:18] We were able to start up a pilot program [01:37:21] for a teen room at the recreation center. [01:37:25] It started in early April and ran [01:37:28] through the rest of the school year. [01:37:30] And we saw, starting out the first week or two, [01:37:33] we saw about two or three kids come in [01:37:35] and by the end of May, we were getting [01:37:37] 10 to 13 kids in there. [01:37:39] And we're looking to get that going again [01:37:42] and have it become even stronger [01:37:44] once school starts up. [01:37:46] Some things that are coming up for everybody to know. [01:37:49] Right now, summer camp just started this week. [01:37:52] It is at full capacity every week. [01:37:55] We are about 75% residents in that [01:37:59] and that filled up within a week after registration. [01:38:04] Our department will be organizing [01:38:07] Labor Day weekend event on Saturday, September 4th. [01:38:11] There will be entertainment, a concert, [01:38:13] and inflatables and a bunch of other activities. [01:38:16] Family movie nights will be starting up in July. [01:38:20] So we're going to run family movie nights [01:38:22] July, August, and September. [01:38:24] And our fall concert series will start up [01:38:27] in the middle of September. [01:38:29] And the department will be organizing [01:38:32] the annual electric vehicle event [01:38:34] in Railroad Square on October 2nd. [01:38:36] And finally, just so that everybody is aware, [01:38:40] we had a donation from the Quilters Guild [01:38:43] who uses our facility quite a bit. [01:38:46] And that has been able to fund our Open Arms Scholarship. [01:38:50] So if there are any kids that are 15-year-old and younger [01:38:54] that are residents and are in need [01:38:57] and would like to get a free year membership, [01:39:01] there are applications available at the community center. [01:39:04] Just need the families to come in and apply [01:39:07] and if they qualify, [01:39:09] then they would get a free membership for the year. [01:39:12] So 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. 11Communications▶ 1:39:13
15. 12Adjournment▶ 1:51:57