On the agenda

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

   Pledge of Allegiance

   The Council recited the Pledge of Allegiance and observed a moment of silence.

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   [00:00:21] Here. Please stand for the pledge in a moment of silence. To the flag of the United States [00:00:31] of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, [00:00:38] with liberty and justice for all.

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3. 3

   Moment of Silence

   Moment of silence and Pledge of Allegiance recited at the start of the meeting.

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   [00:00:42] And the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty [00:00:58] and justice for all.

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4. 4

   Approval of April 18, 2023 Regular Meeting Minutes

   approved

   Council approved the minutes of the April 18, 2023 Regular Meeting.

   • motion:Approve the April 18, 2023 Regular Meeting Minutes. (passed)5–0

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   [00:01:00] Move for approval. I move for approval. I second. Okay, I'm sorry. Anything else you'd like to add? Okay, vote please. All those in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Votes 5-0.

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5. 5

   Proclamation - Municipal Clerks Week (By Title Only)

   The Mayor announced that the proclamation for Municipal Clerks Week was being read by title only.

   #Municipal Clerks Week

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   [00:01:27] We have two proclamations. One is the Municipal Clerk's Week, which is title only, and Older Americans Month, which is title only. And we'll go on to the Vox Pop. Can we get a reading for the Vox Pop? What we can have for the rules for Vox Pop, please?

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6. 7Vox Pop for Items Not Listed on the Agenda or Listed on Consent Agenda▶ 1:51
7. 8.a

   Environmental Committee Minutes - November 2022 and February and March 2023

   approvedon consent

   Council approved the Environmental Committee Minutes for November 2022, February 2023, and March 2023 as part of the consent agenda.

   • motion:Motion for approval of the consent agenda item (Environmental Committee Minutes). (passed)

   #Environmental Committee Minutes - February 2023#Environmental Committee Minutes - March 2023#Environmental Committee Minutes - November 2022

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   [00:34:36] the truth. Thank you. Anybody else who would like to speak during Vox Pop? [00:34:42] Seeing none, we'll come back to the consent agenda. [00:34:46] Move for approval.

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8. 8.b

   Purchases/Payments for City Council Approval

   approvedon consent

   Council approved the consent agenda, which included Purchases/Payments for City Council Approval, with no public comment.

   • motion:Motion to approve the consent agenda. (passed)5–0

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   [00:34:36] the truth. Thank you. Anybody else who would like to speak during Vox Pop? [00:34:42] Seeing none, we'll come back to the consent agenda. [00:34:46] Move for approval. [00:34:51] Any comments? Any comments from the public? [00:35:00] We'll vote on it. All those in favor? Aye. [00:35:04] Those opposed? Carries five zip.

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9. 9.a

   Second Reading, Ordinance No. 2023-2267: Regulating Smoking in City Parks

   approved

   Council held the second reading of Ordinance 2023-2267, which prohibits smoking (tobacco cigarettes) in city parks while exempting cigars, vaping, and marijuana per state law, and originally included an exception allowing smoking during special events. After significant public comment criticizing the special-events exception and questioning enforcement and fines, council amended the ordinance to add an exception for city-designated smoking areas (to be designated by the City Manager) and moved toward adoption.

   Ord. Ordinance No. 2023-2267

   • motion:Motion to approve Ordinance 2023-2267 on second reading, as amended to add an exception for city-designated smoking areas to be designated by the City Manager. (passed)

   📍5100 Providence Circle📍5335 Bellevue Avenue, Newport Richey, FL 34652📍5805 Illinois📍6013 Adams📍6013 Adams Street📍6153 Massachusetts Avenue📍7336 Ashmore📍Sims Park👤Angela Dino Napolitano👤Bertell Butler👤Charles Wise👤Chuck Morgan👤Eric Jay👤Judith Allen👤Kimberly Cox👤Nathan Pollock👤Steve Blanchard#2022 Florida legislative session smoking law#Bike Week#Chapter 16, Article 1, Section 16-7#Chasco#Ordinance No. 2023-2267

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   [00:35:07] All right. Public ordinance. Reading of public ordinance. Second ordinance. Second [00:35:13] reading of ordinance 2023-2267. This is ordinance number 2023-2267, an [00:35:20] ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, Florida, providing for amendment of [00:35:23] Article 1 of Chapter 16 of the New Port Richey Code of Ordinances pertaining to [00:35:27] general regulation of city parks, providing for a new section 16-7, [00:35:32] providing for prohibition of smoking in city parks, providing exceptions for [00:35:36] special events, providing for definitions of terms, providing for [00:35:40] enforcement, providing for conflicts, severability, and an effective date. [00:35:44] Any public comment on this? [00:35:48] Bortell Butler, 5335 Bellevue Avenue, New Port Richey, Florida, 34652. I brought [00:36:00] this up last time this ordinance came forward and I wasn't offered any [00:36:03] clarification, but under section 1, subsection E, where it talks about that [00:36:10] exemption for special events, is that required by the state or is that [00:36:14] something the city is pursuing on its own? Is that typical of municipalities [00:36:18] and why are we allowing exclusions for special events? It just seemed like, I [00:36:22] think it was brought up on a public record by one of the city council [00:36:26] members, it's that's when people are most likely to be gathered closer [00:36:29] together and pose a health hazard and so it just seems kind of backwards to only [00:36:34] do what the state is requiring, but then still provide those exceptions for [00:36:39] smoking during special events. Thank you. [00:36:44] Come on up please. [00:36:49] Nathan Pollock, 6153 Massachusetts Avenue. Regarding this, my [00:36:54] understanding was that it wasn't just specifically smoking as a whole, but I [00:36:58] think cigarettes specifically because of the debris that's left behind. My [00:37:03] understanding is much like the beaches, the parks, you're allowed to smoke cigars [00:37:08] or pipes. So correct me if I'm wrong, would it ban those? You are correct. That you [00:37:14] would be allowed to smoke a cigar? Okay, understood. Okay, thank you. That's what [00:37:17] I was curious about. Anyone else? [00:37:29] Angela Dino Napolitano, 6013 Adams and 5805 Illinois. Sorry I wasn't here, I [00:37:35] haven't been here in a while, so I was a little surprised to see this. I'm a [00:37:38] smoker. So does this mean that what, you get a ticket, you get arrested? I'm not [00:37:44] quite sure and again I'm a little concerned that if it's allowed during [00:37:48] Chaska when all these people are visiting from all over God's creation, I [00:37:53] can't go walk down the river by myself and smoke a cigarette or I'm gonna get [00:37:57] in trouble when I'm a taxpayer and a homeowner. And do people not drop their [00:38:02] cigar butts on the floor? I've never put a cigarette butt anywhere publicly even [00:38:06] when I travel around the world because I just think it's disgusting. But is it a [00:38:10] fine? I'm actually asking because I don't know about this. Or are we not allowed to [00:38:17] ask questions? I can respond if you'd like that Mr. Mayor. And I'll start with [00:38:26] some of the points that Mr. Bertell Butler brought up. And during the 2022 [00:38:35] legislative session, the Florida legislator enacted a law which [00:38:42] regulated smoking in public places, certain types of smoking in public [00:38:47] places, and it allows municipalities to restrict or to ban completely certain [00:38:56] types of smoking in public parks. Parks are considered valued environments and [00:39:03] as such they promote individual and community wellness. When this was [00:39:09] presented to you at first reading, the thought was to make these environments [00:39:15] in a sense tobacco-free in alignment with what was considered to be a [00:39:22] community norm, and you were in agreement with that. There was some [00:39:26] feeling though that some of the larger-scale special events should have [00:39:36] a designated smoking area. And so the ordinance that was proposed before you [00:39:45] was amended between the first and the second reading so that a special area [00:39:54] could be designated as a smoking area during some of these special events [00:40:04] which occur most regularly in Sims Park. And it is completely at your discretion [00:40:12] whether you want that to occur or not, just as it is within your discretion to [00:40:17] determine whether or not you want the parks to be smoke-free or not. Many [00:40:24] municipalities within the state have started to regulate smoking in parks [00:40:30] just to protect people from health and safety related issues, but it's [00:40:42] completely up to you. And the specific penalty, I'm going to have to refer to [00:40:46] the city attorney because I don't recall what that is. It's an ordinance [00:40:52] violation, so it would be subject to the rules related to ordinance violations in [00:40:56] terms of what the fine is. Thank you. You have another minute and a half if [00:41:01] you'd like. Okay, so is this just within Sims Park or if I'm walking down Main [00:41:06] Street? All parks. All the city parks. And does that include vaping as well? So [00:41:13] people can vape, they just can't smoke a cigarette, but they can smoke a cigar. Can [00:41:17] I smoke medical marijuana? I mean, I'm just trying to get clarity here because [00:41:27] it seems like you're allowing everybody to smoke things except a cigarette. So [00:41:35] the state law, before the legislative change, the state law prohibited cities [00:41:40] from banning smoking in public parks and public beaches. The new law allowed [00:41:45] cities to ban smoking in those areas. It only applies to tobacco products. It [00:41:51] doesn't apply to any other product. It does not apply to vaping. And cigars are [00:41:55] specifically exempted from the change in the law such that the cities are still [00:42:00] prohibited from banning the cigar smoking in public parks and public [00:42:04] beaches. Thank you. Okay, so I guess that answers my questions. It's just strictly [00:42:09] tobacco. Okay, so I can walk down the river with a joint. Thank you. [00:42:20] Anybody else would like to speak? Charles Wise, 6013 Adams Street. To piggyback off [00:42:30] of some of the comments made about the smoking in the public settings, let's be [00:42:34] honest, this is about money. Because if it was about health, as Bertell mentioned, [00:42:39] I don't know why we're raising our eyebrows. As Bertell mentioned, if it was [00:42:43] about health, we would recognize the fact that city events, we have more people [00:42:47] and more crowding. We also have to take into account if this is about the [00:42:51] environment, more people will bring more cigarette butts. So making the [00:42:55] exception when more people are in the park makes no sense. This is about money. [00:42:59] We are afraid of turning away people that might not want to go to an event where [00:43:04] they cannot smoke. So the citizens, the residents of the city of New Port Richey [00:43:09] have less rights than the people who you want to invite and sell this beautiful [00:43:12] community image to, but then we don't have those rights here on a day-to-day [00:43:16] basis. Correct? We'll find out when it comes back to us. Well, yes, unless you [00:43:26] guys, you can choose to have the integrity to follow through. And if it is [00:43:29] about the health, then I challenge you. Go ahead and please remove the [00:43:34] exception. I'm an environmentalist. I don't smoke. I'm happy for you to do that. [00:43:38] I will give up that right as a citizen. If it is about the health, please do so. [00:43:43] If it is about the environment, please do so. Hold yourselves to that standard. [00:43:47] Hold yourselves to a higher standard than the state. That would be nice of [00:43:51] New Port Richey for once. Can we do that? Like you said, you'll get your opinion [00:43:57] when we get to speak. Thank you, sir. I've got to speak now because I might not have a chance the next meeting with the way y'all are going. So just to piggyback on what Ms. Napolitano was saying. So in her son, it seems to us and it seems to me that this is another money-making ploy for [00:44:27] you all. And I say you all because we all know you guys are sitting in the back room and having those meetings. Before you come out here and vote on this, you've already had a meeting on how you're going to vote. We know who you get your directions from. And what I would like to say is... [00:44:42] No, sir. We do not have meetings. There's a sunshine law. [00:44:45] Yeah. Okay. Well, I reclaim my time, sir. I got my time. You'll have your time in a minute. I promise. Free speech. [00:44:54] This is something I think if you actually cared, like the gentleman said about public health and all... [00:45:00] that, you would actually look more deeper into it. Tell us how much defined it's going [00:45:04] to be. Y'all just vote on stuff and there's really no transparency. So we're just going [00:45:09] to enact this because the supermajority Florida legislator who is taking people's rights away [00:45:14] every day, since they did something about it, you have to follow through too? I mean [00:45:20] what's going on? Like they said, so we live in the city. Can't smoke a joint in the city, [00:45:25] right? Y'all got a problem with that? But you can go get plastered and drunk and run [00:45:29] into buildings. That's okay. That's okay. We all want a safe community. We all want [00:45:36] to breathe fresh air. But come on, y'all are environmentalists. Y'all don't care. Let's [00:45:41] be honest. Some of you might. But from the looks on most of your faces, you're just here [00:45:48] to be here. You know why? Because I've never heard from one of you on a single thing that [00:45:53] I've ever asked you on issues with the city. Nothing. So how much is the ordinance? Do [00:46:01] we know how much the fine is? Who's going to be doing the fine? Is it code enforcement? [00:46:07] Is it Chuck Morgan? Is it Eric Jay? Who is it? Who's going to be fining people? Do we [00:46:12] know? She can answer them, but she can't answer me. The black guy can't get an answer? I'm [00:46:19] asking, who will be giving the fines out? I think right now we're just trying to pass [00:46:26] the ordinance. You don't know who's going to give the fines out? Excuse me, sir. You [00:46:30] ask for a question and let me answer, please. But she normally answers and you're answering. [00:46:34] But go ahead, sir. The floor is yours on my time. Excuse me, sir. I mean, I gave you the [00:46:41] opportunity to ask for a question and I'll answer it. We pass the ordinance. Once the [00:46:45] ordinance is passed, then we'll enact a way to implement it, fine it, decide who incorporates [00:46:53] it. And also there is a smoking area in the park when there's an event, so there is still [00:46:59] allowing smoking in there. But it's only in a select area. Only a select area? Yes. Just [00:47:05] like they do in a lot of public places, they have smoking areas. So right now we're just [00:47:12] trying to pass the ordinance. We're not trying to implement, not trying to write all the [00:47:15] rules about it. Totally understand that. We just want a little bit of clarity because [00:47:19] it's sometimes a little bit confusing. I heard it when you read it the first time. I just [00:47:23] want to know there's so many different things that y'all all could be doing and this is [00:47:26] what you choose to waste your time on. Hi, everybody. Steve Blanchard, 5100 Providence [00:47:43] Circle. I'm currently a smoker. I love to go to the park. I don't leave butts everywhere. [00:47:51] Are we going to give a smoking area so people can still go to the park and smoke? Disney [00:47:57] does it. Every place else does it. Are we just going to say, okay, that 30% of the population [00:48:03] that still smokes, they just can't go. They can't be there to do it. It's becoming an [00:48:13] issue where people are getting marginalized a lot. There has to be some area or some place [00:48:20] that the people can go and sit outside and go fishing, along the water, you know, whatever, [00:48:26] that they could have a cigarette when they're relaxed and they're just doing something. [00:48:31] That's like you consider that. Thank you. Kimberly Cox, 7336 Ashmore. I just think it's [00:48:47] a dangerous precedent to say that we're going to pass something and then decide what the [00:48:51] rules and regulations are on it or the punishment for it is because I know that I've said before, [00:49:03] especially if this is going to be a monetary thing, that let's just say that you do decide [00:49:07] in the future that this is, well, tonight that this is passed and then in the future [00:49:12] that code enforcement and any police officer who sees somebody smoking can write them a [00:49:18] citation for breaking the ordinance. But what are the rules and regulations? And just making [00:49:23] sure that going forward that you make them reasonable because while $75 fines or something [00:49:29] along those lines, whatever it is, $150, I don't know how much it's going to cost. While [00:49:33] that might not mean a whole lot to other people, that would literally break me. I literally [00:49:40] live paycheck to paycheck. I can only imagine that a lot of people do. If you added some [00:49:46] kind of citation for something as simple as smoking outside of a designated area, that [00:49:53] could take food off of my family's table. And I just think that if you are going to [00:49:58] pass it, please in your conversations that you want to have amongst each other, make [00:50:02] sure that you discuss reasonable expectations of what this looks like. Not just that it's [00:50:08] passed or not passed, but if it's passed, what will it look like? We just want some [00:50:13] transparency in that before you make your decision, what each of you thinks that it [00:50:18] should look like in the foreseeable future. And I don't think that that's too much to [00:50:21] ask when you're asking us to pay fines or whatever. And I think that it just goes to [00:50:28] show that giving us each three minutes on each topic is important because we all feel [00:50:33] very passionate about a lot of different things. [00:50:46] Judith Allen again. I don't smoke anything legal or illegal. However, I've watched [00:50:54] the City Council put in ordinances without thinking them through over and over again. [00:50:59] First of all, what are the fines going to be? Who's going to enforce it? And how do [00:51:04] you appeal it? All of those questions need to be asked before you vote tonight. My recommendation [00:51:11] is to table this until you think this ordinance through a little bit. That's all I have to [00:51:16] say. I have one more thing to say. Back in September of 22, I asked for a review of our [00:51:24] city charter, which included all the ordinances, since we hadn't done it for 27 years. And [00:51:31] many of those ordinances were outdated. As to date, no citizen's review committee has [00:51:37] been appointed. Once again, the citizens have been ignored. Now, I also understand from [00:51:43] Dale that our city manager has appointed her own committee to review everything. So once [00:51:51] again, the citizens are left out. My recommendation here tonight over this ordinance is, table [00:51:57] it until you've got all the information. [00:52:02] Does anybody else would like to speak on this? I'm going to bring it back to Council. [00:52:10] Mr. Mayor, if I could just jump in real quick, just to clarify a couple of things. Number [00:52:16] one, the enforcement is already provided for in the ordinance. It is enforced as other [00:52:22] codes of ordinances are enforced, which means it could be code enforcement, it could be [00:52:27] police, and there are a number of avenues by which it can be enforced. The fine is already [00:52:32] established by the fine ordinance. I don't know what that number is as I sit here right [00:52:36] now, but this is a typical ordinance that we would adopt. The fines are already established, [00:52:41] and it falls into a group of violations that would have the same amount of fine. This does [00:52:46] not have a special fine amount or anything like that. I don't know what level it is. [00:52:50] I can't tell you that right now. If that's important to you, we can certainly get that [00:52:54] information to you. But that's already established by the code, that this ordinance would change [00:52:59] nothing with regard to that, and you don't need to make any further decisions tonight [00:53:03] or in the future about how the ordinance will be enforced. It's already provided for. So [00:53:09] I hope that addresses those issues. [00:53:11] Thank you. I'm going to bring it back. Do we have any discussion? [00:53:17] I'm going to make a motion to approve it on second reading for the purposes of discussion, [00:53:22] if I can get a second. [00:53:24] Second. [00:53:25] So just to clarify, the original ordinance allowed smoking during special events. The [00:53:35] change was to not allow that smoking to be throughout the park. The public comments that [00:53:42] I've heard tonight caused me to understand and respect the comments to say maybe we should [00:53:48] be designating smoking areas. I mean, that's a pretty common thing. So if the concern is [00:53:54] that we're treating another group or outsider special, I have no doubt that that was never [00:54:01] in the intent. You know, I'm a former smoker. I remember airports. I remember smoky airports, [00:54:08] smoking rooms, when you couldn't smoke in the airport, but you could go into the smoking [00:54:13] lounge, and you didn't even have to light up a cigarette, really, you know, because [00:54:18] it was easier than picking one off of the ashtray at the elevators, you know. But the [00:54:24] bottom line is that's a good point, and I would entertain, if anyone else did, identifying [00:54:33] an area. If it's a fisherman, and God knows it can take hours to catch a fish sometimes, [00:54:39] that's longer than a smoker can last if they're out there to smoke. So it's legal. [00:54:48] All of these other opportunities are there. We're trying to avoid having the environmental [00:54:55] impact on people who don't like smoke, and there are a lot of them. So I would entertain, [00:55:01] if anyone else has that additional modification, if we could figure out how to do it. [00:55:07] Yeah, I would go along with that, having a designated smoking area. [00:55:14] So, just for clarification, does that amend the motion that we have? [00:55:19] Yeah, I want to find out if there's support for it, if I can. [00:55:23] Give me a second, right? So, just to clarify, what we can do is I can add an exception in [00:55:29] the ordinance, an additional exception that applies to any designated smoking area that [00:55:36] the city does, you know, any city designated smoking area, and then leave it to the Senate [00:55:41] manager to designate those areas, if that's the motion. [00:55:45] That would be my amending the motion to include that, if it's accepted by the second. [00:55:51] I accept the second. [00:55:53] Thank you. [00:55:55] That can make me warm up to it a little bit, because basically, you know, this thing's [00:56:01] got way too crazy here. What's the whole purpose of this is to, the same thing as what we have [00:56:09] in non-smoke, or we have no smoking areas in a lot of different public places. [00:56:15] You know, this deal got started with, particularly along the beaches and some of the tourist areas [00:56:21] in South Florida, they really, you know, ran this through the gamut, and then so that's [00:56:26] when the state got involved and put these deals down in place. [00:56:30] You know, I see it as like this. [00:56:32] Get the microphone. [00:56:34] I see it like this. [00:56:36] You know, is that the reason legislatures got involved in other cities before that and [00:56:43] so forth is, you know, really what they're trying to do is for the majority, hey, let's [00:56:48] face it, the majority of people don't smoke, right? [00:56:50] And they're annoyed by it. [00:56:52] That's the fact, right? [00:56:54] And so when we think about parks and public places, particularly like in this city, Sims [00:57:00] Parks and some other parks, you know, on a day-to-day basis, when you walk through [00:57:05] parks, you see people walking their dogs, they're doing their things, you have the kids [00:57:08] playing, they have the playgrounds and so forth. [00:57:11] And I think even those adults that are smokers would probably, you know, at least the ones [00:57:19] that I've talked to as smokers, they would discourage their kids, they would discourage [00:57:26] their children from smoking or even have exposure to it. [00:57:31] And I think that's what we're trying to do here. [00:57:33] We're just trying to say, hey, we're going to have parks, you know, we don't need smoking [00:57:37] here. [00:57:39] And I can't see us putting a designated smoking area in every nook and cranny park that we [00:57:45] have here in the city. [00:57:48] We've got some of the people that have spoken here tonight about it. [00:57:52] I don't think they're big violators of smoking. [00:57:55] They don't want to sit over there in a playground and blow smoke into kids' faces that are going [00:57:58] down the slides. [00:57:59] I don't think they'd do that. [00:58:01] And, you know, but just like some places, there's some bad apples out there. [00:58:06] There's some folks out there that don't care and they just, you know, come in there and [00:58:10] annoy people. [00:58:11] Well, they could go to another area and so forth. [00:58:16] Maybe a designated area in Sims Park might make sense. [00:58:20] The other parks, I don't think it really comes into making sense. [00:58:24] And we talk about the exception for the special events. [00:58:28] Listen, you know, we're talking about Bike Week, all right, which is, you know, not really [00:58:34] necessary to be, you know, they're not dragging kids and two and three-year-olds down there [00:58:40] to go to bike. [00:58:42] Let's face it, the attendees are mainly adults, right, and it is the party-type atmosphere. [00:58:49] And those people there probably attend there expecting and knowing that there's going to [00:58:53] be probably some smokers around. [00:58:55] So it makes sense to have some of those exceptions for those events like that. [00:59:00] And I think we're just making this too much of a thing. [00:59:05] All we're trying to do is, you know, it's not a money thing. [00:59:10] I don't know where the money is. [00:59:11] We're not going to make any money on fines. [00:59:13] All we're going to do is we get somebody that's abusing the situation, no parking rule, we [00:59:18] can have one of the park employees say, hey, you know there's no smoking in the park, would [00:59:23] you either remove yourself or put the cigarette out, whatever. [00:59:28] And if they're annoying and they just, you know, flip them off and start smoking, well [00:59:33] then maybe we need to call the police in order to escort them out because somebody's abusing [00:59:37] the situation. [00:59:39] And so I don't see this as a big, ornery thing. [00:59:47] It's just that, hey, why can't people enjoy the park without being disrupted by the smokers? [00:59:55] And particularly, and again, I think the designated smoking area, I think, [01:00:00] and go along with that amendment, that where it makes sense, and I really think it maybe [01:00:04] only makes sense, you know, in Sims Park because that's where the bulk of the people are. [01:00:10] So for that purpose, I would be in favor of the ordinance and I would like the amendment. [01:00:20] So I like it with the amendment. [01:00:23] The same way we had people tonight, some wanted smoking, some do not, and that's going to [01:00:28] be always the case. [01:00:29] Smokers want to smoke and non-smokers don't want to be around the smoke and that's always [01:00:33] going to be the case. [01:00:34] So I do think that we need to have a smoking area for those who want to smoke in order [01:00:38] to appease everyone and let everybody be able to enjoy the park. [01:00:43] I particularly don't want to be around smoking and it drives me crazy to see adults smoking [01:00:47] where kids are playing. [01:00:50] And I think for health reasons, my mom died from lung cancer, so I don't want to be around [01:00:54] smoke. [01:00:55] But I think that if we have a separate area for those who want to smoke that separates [01:00:59] it especially away from our playground and our kids, right, a separate area for that. [01:01:05] And I don't think that we should allow all smoking during special events. [01:01:09] I think it still needs to be smoking areas because, again, those that don't smoke don't [01:01:13] want to be around smoke. [01:01:14] I don't care what the event is. [01:01:15] I want to go listen to live music too. [01:01:17] I like Bike Fest, but I don't want to be around smokers. [01:01:20] So I think that, you know, a lot of us who want to smoke will have a smoking area. [01:01:24] Those who don't can have it without. [01:01:26] And I think that's the way to do it. [01:01:27] And that way it's for our health, it's for our environment, but we're also giving all [01:01:31] of our residents an option of enjoying it with or without smoke. [01:01:36] I just want to say, you know, I've never smoked, and my parents did, and it wasn't really good [01:01:44] in our house. [01:01:45] But I will say that to allow having a smoking area and have it year-round educates the smoker [01:01:53] on where he can smoke or she can smoke in the park. [01:01:57] So not just Chasco, put some signs up for Chasco, but those signs are up there year-round. [01:02:02] So I'm in favor of this too, with a designated area and the signs are there year-round. [01:02:09] So anybody, anything else? [01:02:10] Mr. Mayor, if I could just clarify for the record. [01:02:14] So I put together some language to address the amendment, and what I recommend is that [01:02:20] subsection E will be renumbered as subsection F and left the way it is, and a new subsection [01:02:26] E will be added, which will state this section shall not apply in any smoking area designated [01:02:32] and established by the city manager. [01:02:35] And that will just provide an additional overarching exception to the ordinance. [01:02:39] I just want to make sure that that's what I understand the motion to be. [01:02:42] I think we got a bunch of nods. [01:02:45] Okay. [01:02:46] Move for approval. [01:02:47] We got a second, right? [01:02:48] Yeah, we're ready. [01:02:49] Okay. [01:02:50] Ready to vote? [01:02:51] Yes, sir. [01:02:52] All those in favor? [01:02:53] Aye. [01:02:54] Those opposed? [01:02:55] Passes five zip. [01:02:56] Yep. [01:02:57] Okay. [01:02:58] I'm moving on to business items.

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10. 10.a

    Board Re-Appointment: Louis Parrillo, Land Development Review Board

    approved

    Council reappointed Louis Parrillo to the Land Development Review Board for another three-year term expiring May 6, 2026. Parrillo disclosed he is away four months each summer; staff noted the board allows excused absences and has alternates.

    • motion:Motion to approve the reappointment of Louis Parrillo to the Land Development Review Board for a three-year term ending May 6, 2026. (passed)5–0

    👤Louis Parrillo#Land Development Review Board

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    [01:03:00] Board reappointment for Louis Perrello, and I think I saw him in the audience. [01:03:04] Okay. [01:03:05] You want to bring it up, Jenny? [01:03:08] Yes. [01:03:09] Okay. [01:03:10] Mr. Perrello has been a very valued member of the Land Development Review Board. [01:03:17] His term is due to expire May 6th, and he has indicated an interest in continuing to [01:03:22] serve. [01:03:23] The terms of the Land Development Review Board are for three years, and if you accept our [01:03:34] recommendation and reappoint him for another term, his term will be up for renewal again [01:03:42] on May 6th of 2026. [01:03:45] All right. [01:03:46] Public comment? [01:03:47] I guess it's where you speak. [01:03:48] Okay. [01:03:49] I just wanted to add a respect for the city. [01:03:52] I put in a proviso in my application for reappointment that I'm away for four months every year in [01:04:01] the summer, and I wanted to make sure that you could question me or disallow the appointment, [01:04:08] whatever it might be, but on that basis is the only way I can serve. [01:04:13] And I thought, out of courtesy, I wanted to give you a shot at that, at least questioning [01:04:18] me. [01:04:19] Mr. Chairman, the ordinance does allow for absence for members of the Land Development [01:04:25] Review Board with excused absences on the part of the chairman. [01:04:31] And I was on the Land Development Review Board, and we have alternates. [01:04:35] We have two alternates. [01:04:36] So an alternate can replace you when you're gone. [01:04:38] Right. [01:04:39] Any other questions? [01:04:41] So, yeah, no. [01:04:44] And I don't know. [01:04:46] I appreciate you letting us know that. [01:04:48] And, you know, I'm maybe off topic. [01:04:51] Correct me, Mayor, if I'm on. [01:04:53] But, you know, I think that with the, you know, we ought to maybe have some rules available [01:04:59] for our standing committees to maybe zoom in on calls up to a certain number. [01:05:03] Let the committees, the committee chair, the committees establish that. [01:05:07] We'll give them some guidelines if they had a needed zoom call in and, you know, maybe [01:05:13] two meetings a year or something like that to the same. [01:05:17] But that's probably a different time, different subject. [01:05:20] But I've seen you in operation. [01:05:23] I've attended many of the review committees. [01:05:26] And you're a valued member. [01:05:28] And I appreciate your willingness to serve. [01:05:30] Thank you. [01:05:31] Anybody else? [01:05:32] Anything else? [01:05:33] Move for approval. [01:05:34] I move we approve. [01:05:35] I second. [01:05:36] Thank you. [01:05:37] All those in favor? [01:05:38] Aye. [01:05:39] Aye. [01:05:40] Aye. [01:05:41] Those opposed? [01:05:42] Five zero count. [01:05:43] Okay. [01:05:44] Refresh. [01:05:45] The next one is a request for extension of the state of order for the Patriot Stogies. [01:05:50] Yes, we have Mr. Nathan Pollack in attendance this evening. [01:05:54] He is the owner operator of Patriot Stogies, which is located at 6153 Massachusetts Avenue. [01:06:04] He was before you a year ago on an appeal of a city administrative decision, [01:06:11] finding the sign to be in violation of the Land Development Code. [01:06:18] At that time, you determined that he would be able to keep his sign for a one-year period of time. [01:06:31] The purpose of this agenda item this evening is to ask you to consider extending the stay [01:06:37] that you gave him on the order for an additional one-year period of time. [01:06:44] And that would mean that we would be giving him relief from the requirement to remove [01:06:50] the non-conforming sign until May 3rd of 2024. [01:07:04] Public comment? [01:07:05] We're recommending in favor of it. [01:07:07] Public comment? [01:07:08] You'd like to speak? [01:07:09] Yeah, the understanding of the code, I still believe that the sign is fine the way it is [01:07:18] according to the code, but understand it was determined that it was found non-conforming [01:07:22] and expected to come down. [01:07:24] The cost is not in line with, well, I can't afford it. [01:07:31] I had a contract on a building with a sign, and there were no issues existing with that sign [01:07:37] until I applied for zoning. [01:07:40] That's when the issue magically came to be, and it wasn't actually determined to be non-conforming [01:07:45] until after I owned the property. [01:07:48] I say the sign is also very much in line with the sign that sits in front of the hacienda, [01:07:53] which is in a strictly prohibited area for that type of sign that I have. [01:07:58] That's where, according to the code, I'm allowed to have the sign that sits in front of my building. [01:08:03] So if it's still a determination that my sign is non-conforming and expected to be brought down [01:08:11] or changed, it's not a cost that I can afford at this time. [01:08:15] It's a new business. [01:08:17] I didn't come from a family of wealth, and so what I have is what I've earned myself, [01:08:23] and I don't have the money for that sign at this time. [01:08:27] All right, anybody else like to speak? [01:08:30] Can you bring it back? [01:08:31] I move we approve. [01:08:32] I second. [01:08:34] Boy, they beat me to the punch. [01:08:36] I appreciate it. [01:08:38] I appreciate your time. [01:08:39] Thank you. [01:08:40] You first? [01:08:44] Yeah, I think the record, I think it stands as it is, and I would stay it for one more year. [01:08:55] Second? [01:08:58] I agree. [01:08:59] I agree also. [01:09:02] Well, it's such a positive here, [01:09:08] and both his neighbors have the same similar sign, even though they're in the county. [01:09:13] I don't know why we don't give him three years unless he sells the business, [01:09:17] and then the new business owner has an option to do it. [01:09:21] That's the same as your term as mayor. [01:09:26] Couldn't take it. [01:09:28] Does anybody want to entertain? [01:09:31] I think we're good. [01:09:33] Do you want to leave it at one? [01:09:34] Well, you know, do it one at a time. [01:09:36] It's a pleasure to have folks come in and speak to us from time to time, [01:09:39] so we'll see them again and see what happens between now and then. [01:09:44] Okay, those in favor? [01:09:46] Aye. [01:09:47] Those opposed? [01:09:50] The vote counts 5-0.

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11. 10.b

    Request for Extension of Stay on Order for Patriot Stogies

    Agenda item briefly mentioned but transcript content does not match the item title; speaker references the 2022-23 LMS report and RLF management plan for approval consideration.

    #2022-23 LMS report#Patriot Stogies#RLF management plan

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    [01:09:55] Okay, the 2022-23 LMS report and RLF management plan, consider for approval.

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12. 10.c

    ↳You arrived here from a search for “National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)” — transcript expanded below

    2022-23 LMS Report and RLF Management Plan - Consideration for Approval

    approved

    Council reviewed and approved the 2022-23 Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) report and Repetitive Loss Floodplain (RLF) Management Plan, part of the FEMA Community Rating System (CRS) program. The city currently holds a CRS class 7 rating, providing residents a 15% flood insurance premium reduction. Public comment focused heavily on stormwater drainage problems, particularly along Illinois Avenue and Main Street.

    • motion:Motion to approve the 2022-23 LMS Report and RLF Management Plan as requested. (passed)5–0

    📍5100 Providence📍6013 Adam Street📍Illinois Avenue from Congress to Rio📍Main Street near Seaforest📍River Road🏢Burger King🏢FEMA🏢Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort🏢Pasco County Department of Emergency Management🏢Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council👤Alex👤Angela Dino Napolitano👤Barrett Doe👤Dale Hall👤Judy Allen👤Mr. Peters👤Mr. Rivera👤Mr. Waltman👤Ms. Mann👤Ms. Moore👤Sean👤Stephen Blanchard#$800,000 attenuation pond funding#2019 Working Group resolution#CRS Class 7 rating#Community Rating System (CRS)#Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS)#National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)#Repetitive Loss Floodplain Management Plan#Risk Rating 2.0#Tampa Bay Regional Resiliency Action Plan#Vulnerability study

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    [01:10:04] This is a request to review [01:10:06] and to approve the community rating system recertification progress report, [01:10:12] and Mr. Hall has put together a PowerPoint presentation to present to you this evening in that respect. [01:10:19] Mr. Hall. [01:10:21] Thank you, Ms. Mann. [01:10:25] I know it's been a long night, so I'll make this riveting information enjoyable for everyone. [01:10:30] We're here tonight to look at the local mitigation strategy report [01:10:34] and repetitive loss floodplain management plan for the 2022-2023 season. [01:10:41] We saw this last year, very similar to this. [01:10:43] This is a yearly update to these programs, [01:10:46] and I'm going to go through very briefly what this actually is. [01:10:50] FEMA has a national flood insurance program, the NFIPA, [01:10:54] which is a federally backed flood insurance program, [01:10:57] which requires communities to have floodplain management ordinances [01:11:03] and requires them to enact and enforce certain items and elements for floodplain hazard areas [01:11:11] for minimized potential damage to the community. [01:11:15] We have, in the city of New Port Richey, more than 50% of the city limits are in the flood zone, [01:11:22] so the city council has joined a voluntary program for all the citizens [01:11:31] to have a potential reduction in insurance plans. [01:11:34] It's a community rating system, or CRS. [01:11:37] What this does is it rewards communities that do more than just the basic requirements of FEMA. [01:11:46] We reduce floodplain damage in certain areas [01:11:50] by strengthening what our expectations are for the community and development areas. [01:11:56] It benefits, again, all the community residents and all the community businesses [01:12:01] that are in the floodplain and that are outside the floodplain. [01:12:06] Currently, our CRS classification is a 7, which allows for a 15% reduction in the premiums. [01:12:16] Again, flood insurance premiums for all the residents that we have. [01:12:20] We get a 5% reduction per class, and there's 10 classifications. [01:12:25] Properties that are outside the special flood hazard areas [01:12:29] also receive a 5% decrease right now presently. [01:12:34] What you have before you this evening are two items, [01:12:38] the LMS, the local mitigation strategy, [01:12:41] and then also the repetitive loss floodplain management plan. [01:12:47] What this is, it was originally adopted in 2019 [01:12:52] that there's a hazard mitigation committee that is working with Pasco County Working Group. [01:12:59] We're part of what Pasco County does on this. [01:13:02] It was updated just recently. It's required to be updated this year. [01:13:07] It's a multi-hazard mitigation plan, which allocates resources and sets goals and objectives [01:13:13] and identifies hazards and gives mitigation standards to allow for [01:13:18] or to ensure that flood issues are addressed appropriately within the city. [01:13:25] Being part of the Pasco County group, [01:13:28] the full plan is run by Pasco County's Department of Emergency Management, [01:13:33] and they have the full plan on their website. [01:13:36] The city continues to be the part of the program. [01:13:39] Also in your packet at the very end was the resolution that said we would join [01:13:43] the 2019 Working Group, and we continue to work with them. [01:13:50] What also you have in the packet is the management plan, [01:13:56] which is the annual report that shows what we've done this year, [01:14:00] how we've addressed these mitigation strategies, [01:14:03] and gives actual details and information, [01:14:06] specifically how we've addressed certain goals and objectives in our plan. [01:14:13] Our recommendation this evening is the city should continue to maintain [01:14:17] our current staff mitigation responsibilities that are outlined within the plan, [01:14:22] pursue the goals and objectives of the current plan that we have, [01:14:26] and continue to work with Pasco County on the existing program [01:14:30] to ensure public awareness of this program [01:14:33] and to implement the strategies outlined within this. [01:14:37] So we ask for council's acceptance of the local mitigation strategy plan [01:14:42] for 2022 and 2023. [01:14:46] I was trying to be very quick and hit the highlights of this, [01:14:50] but I'd be more than available here to answer any detailed questions you have [01:14:54] about the overall program itself. [01:14:57] Do you have any questions here? [01:15:00] Yeah, I do. Okay. Dale, could you give us some examples of the items that would be required [01:15:12] for us to adopt or take in order to improve our classification? [01:15:21] The program itself, it's the CRS program, we do this yearly update that we're required [01:15:26] to submit, and there's an entire outline of items that can be done that will potentially [01:15:34] give us better ratings. One of them is to mitigate or minimize our repetitive loss areas. [01:15:42] Repetitive loss areas are areas within the city that get, they undergo flooding multiple [01:15:49] times within a certain year and they meet a certain monetarily reimbursement area from [01:15:57] insurance. So one of the things is we have to do some additional planning, stormwater [01:16:04] implementation, increased infrastructure to address the stormwater issues that we presently [01:16:13] have in the city is one way to do that. Other areas or other things to do that is to do [01:16:19] additional record keeping, additional outreach, have a full-time CRS individual. A lot of [01:16:31] the things that are required to get additional, to get a lower number on our CRS involves... [01:16:40] For each of these items, we've got to get points, right? And if we get enough points, [01:16:44] then we can get to a better classification, right? [01:16:46] Right, but where I'm getting at in a long about way is it would be a significant investment [01:16:53] financially for the city to address these points and make sure that we obtain these [01:16:58] points and maintain them over time. We will get a certification re-evaluation this year [01:17:04] and within, I think it's next year, we have to do a full re-evaluation of the entire program. [01:17:10] We'll get a recertified number again. [01:17:11] Yeah, 2024, right? [01:17:13] Is the stormwater, we're working on that, is that... [01:17:18] Part of that is stormwater. [01:17:19] And we're still working on it, we're constantly working on it. [01:17:22] Constantly working on it, and that's what this plan has in there, some update areas [01:17:25] of where we've actually installed additional utilities to address certain areas, but it's [01:17:31] an ongoing issue. When you're in a floodplain, to have the water go, water has to go somewhere, [01:17:39] and it's very difficult unless we put a lot of, again, financial items into this to make [01:17:48] sure that we address all of the issues. [01:17:51] Well, thank you for the explanation. I would encourage us, and I saw that in your earlier [01:17:56] slide that 2024 was to be reviewed and worked, and I think we need to take a look at that [01:18:03] when that occurs and fully explain that to our residents, because the cost on this is [01:18:12] not just necessarily the infrastructure and what we do for the city and so forth, but [01:18:16] it's also some of the residents' costs associated with it. Now they've got to build their house [01:18:20] another foot or two feet higher than is available now, for example, which increased building [01:18:27] costs and so forth, and of course the repetitive floods will require those homes to come down [01:18:37] and be rebuilt to whatever the levels they are. I'm pleased that we're at that level [01:18:44] we are, seven, and it takes a very, very amount of money to get that next level, but it is [01:18:52] important. If anybody's gotten their insurance bills lately on their flood insurance, they [01:18:57] understand how much more that 15% discount can apply, and unfortunately, with the new [01:19:03] flood rating rules, even the people who have current flood insurance, compared to what [01:19:08] a new policy costs, it's night and day. A new policy costs so much more, but even those [01:19:13] with existing policies are going to be gradually moved to this new policy, and it's going to [01:19:19] be a new number from the rating 2.0 that was implemented last year. So we need to at least [01:19:25] maintain this, and I think we need to take a look next year to see if we can and what [01:19:31] the cost would be to see if it could, because if we get another 5% or so forth, it would [01:19:38] mean a lot of savings for people purchasing flood insurance. So thank you. [01:19:44] Is there any other questions before I move the? [01:19:49] Yeah, I would just like to jump in and say that we've been, it has been offered that [01:19:57] Sean, who is the director of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, will come and speak [01:20:04] to our council about the regional action plan that they've worked for two years on. So this [01:20:10] next, tomorrow night is the beginning. Everyone is, folks would be invited if they're interested [01:20:16] to the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort for a reception, and it might be something if [01:20:24] you're available, Mr. Peters, you would like to go to, because Thursday and Friday is the [01:20:30] third annual resiliency summit, and speakers there include Alex, who is the head of the [01:20:36] state's resiliency offices, as well as an insurance discussion, as well as discussion about [01:20:46] innovative ways to deal with flooding. [01:20:51] So we are underway with a vulnerability study, and the millions of dollars that are being [01:20:58] handed out right now to address this problem have already provided us with funds, but that's [01:21:04] where $800,000 came for that attenuation pond on what would be our redevelopment project out here. [01:21:11] So I'll be happy to come back and report, but you'll be happy if someone else comes in and tells [01:21:17] you what they're doing. [01:21:22] And so I hope that we will welcome him in, because those kind of mitigation strategies include [01:21:28] regulations, and oftentimes the government is not the answer, but in terms of whether there are [01:21:35] incentives or there are rules that we can put in place for the private properties, but the mitigation [01:21:43] or the vulnerability study is going to examine our products, our sewer plant out on the gulf, [01:21:50] our public properties, and tell us where we stand. [01:21:55] It is huge. [01:22:00] When you say 50% is in the flood zone, the house that my wife and I just constructed is 13 feet above sea [01:22:06] level, and we're still required to have flood insurance, and it's $4,000 a year for flood insurance. [01:22:13] If the water gets up to 13 feet, we're all in trouble. [01:22:18] And so the insurance is a huge element that's affecting the economy. [01:22:23] When we talk about how much money it takes, if we can find out where it is, go out and get it, [01:22:29] and make improvements that will make our city resilient, I think it is a major topic, [01:22:35] and it's getting a lot of funding. [01:22:40] So I would hope that that working group, which participates with the Regional Planning Council, [01:22:45] who also is the council that takes the lead on the evacuation and the emergency management issues, [01:22:50] I would really encourage, as the staff gets fully back to funded for the staffing, [01:22:59] that the staff participate with the county in some of that, [01:23:04] because those who are paying attention are the ones that are going to get the money, [01:23:09] and they're going to be able to fix their communities. [01:23:15] I'm sorry, public comment. Go ahead. Come on down. [01:23:27] Angela Dino Napolitano again, 6013 Adam Street, and this is what I meant at the beginning of the meeting, [01:23:32] that there's been many times that I've come up and I've spoken multiple times on different agenda items, [01:23:38] and I wasn't aware of this, but when you mentioned stormwater, [01:23:43] looking at it throughout the year and so forth, I don't recall when, [01:23:48] but when I requested a stop sign with Barrett Doe and he came out and did a study and all that, [01:23:53] I had stood up here and I gave each one of you a map that I drew myself [01:23:59] along Illinois from Congress to Rio with the drainage points, [01:24:04] and there was 14 drainage points from Congress to east of Madison, [01:24:10] and there was only two from Madison all the way to Grand on Judy's Corner, [01:24:15] and then there was 11 drainage points from west Grand all the way down to Rio. [01:24:22] So Barrett told me, when it pops up again, Angela, I promise, we'll talk about it, [01:24:28] because he said I was absolutely right where those drainage points were, [01:24:33] because I had questioned, why are you going to pave over all these streets before you fix the drainage? [01:24:39] I know a lot of streets do, all up and down, and I'm on Illinois, Adams, [01:24:44] you've got Wyoming, Delaware and Montana are a thing of their own, [01:24:49] but further as you get towards Louisiana, I don't know what happened with the drainage. [01:24:54] So is that going to be addressed at some point with all this money that Mr. Waltman's talking about [01:24:59] that you have to do like retention ponds and all of that? [01:25:05] Judy Allen and I have been standing up here for I don't know how many years crying about the flooding, [01:25:11] that it's a river that flows down Illinois, and that's just on a regular summer storm, [01:25:17] like just a regular afternoon storm, forget about when we get a hurricane, [01:25:22] then my property's underwater, the whole corner's underwater, the whole street's underwater. [01:25:27] So with that storm water, when do we discuss that again? [01:25:32] You look at sewers and more drainage on our streets. [01:25:37] Any time of year, or you said you look at it all year long. [01:25:42] Excuse me, Ms. Mance, can you set an appointment up with this lady in the building department? [01:25:47] With Mr. Rivera, I'd be glad to. [01:25:52] Excuse me, ma'am, we're dealing with right here, we'll get to you. [01:25:57] I'm talking right to the money. [01:26:02] I believe, Judy, that he said that Ms. Mance was going to set up a meeting for myself and Mr. Rivera. [01:26:07] Correct? Since Barrett's no longer with the city, and good for him. Thank you. [01:26:15] Anybody else like to come down? [01:26:21] We're just speaking because we might not get this opportunity much longer in this totalitarian regime. [01:26:31] I just want to make sure, I definitely concur with what Ms. Napolitano said, [01:26:36] you guys got a lot of money, so I just want to make sure River Road is not going to be the only road [01:26:41] that you're going to be allocating your funds to. [01:26:46] There's low income renters, or I know you guys say it's all about the renters, [01:26:52] but some of you are renters, some of you don't own houses, [01:26:57] but let's make sure that we are providing that funding, however much it is, [01:27:02] I'm sure we won't get an actual number from you, but let's make sure when we're looking at those plans, [01:27:07] Mr. Dale and everybody, that we're incorporating the poor neighborhoods too that flood a lot. [01:27:12] And let me remind you, I've lived in this neighborhood more than all of you, [01:27:17] probably Peter has lived here longer than I have, and we've had this for quite some time, [01:27:22] I know you look puzzled Ms. Mann, but it is an issue, so let's make sure that when we are looking at it, [01:27:27] that we're addressing the areas, like Mr. Napolitano said, that are getting overlooked, [01:27:32] because we the public feel that you really only care about the areas where you all live. [01:27:38] Anybody else like to speak? [01:27:50] I'm Stephen Blanchard, 5100 Providence. [01:27:55] I live in the condos directly behind Burger King. [01:28:00] If you go down Main Street on that side of the road after any rain, you're driving through two feet of water. [01:28:05] Main Street's either got to be raised, or we have to have definite sewage changes done. [01:28:10] They've tried to fix it, they put in a bigger pipe, and it still doesn't cover half of it. [01:28:15] So we just got to make sure we get Main Street on that side, because you get stuck, you're done. [01:28:20] You can't go the other side either, it floods halfway down when you get down by Seaforest also. [01:28:25] So you're kind of stuck between the two, so you got to shoot up Oldsner, and your only way out is Green Key, [01:28:30] so you can't get out there. [01:28:35] So you're kind of stuck in that corner, and there's no way of getting out in the heavy rain. [01:28:40] Thank you. [01:28:45] Chopper, I've known you for a long time, but sometimes you tend to speak to them, [01:28:50] and you're not in the mic, and we can't hear you back here. [01:28:55] I think this fellow over here could possibly fix some of these mics so they're a little closer to you. [01:29:00] The thing I want to ask about is resiliency. [01:29:05] When we're talking about, and you should know the answer, when we're talking about resiliency with this flooding, [01:29:10] my house is 17 feet above. [01:29:15] I'm on that ridge that runs through New Port Richey, so I have a basement. [01:29:20] I have pictures, which I showed some of you, where on the corner there, [01:29:25] I have pictures where the flooding was up to my mid-calf on the sidewalk. [01:29:30] Not on the street, but on the sidewalk. [01:29:35] Now, that has been fixed, hopefully, and they've redesigned that corner [01:29:40] so it floods into the one drainage we have there, [01:29:46] which is the only one on Illinois until you get to the other side of Madison. [01:29:51] That's the problem. [01:30:00] Alley there, when they drained their pools, all the water rushed down the alley on Wyoming side, down Adams, on to Illinois. [01:30:11] So we've got water coming from not only down Illinois, but on the sides are flooding into Illinois and there are no drainage culverts [01:30:22] from Grand to, I think it's a block or two past Madison. That's a problem. Does resiliency handle that or is resiliency mostly dealing with hurricane? [01:30:34] Because we get this with a summer storm. [01:30:39] Could you answer that? [01:30:42] I'm not sure what your question is. The term resiliency could mean a lot of things. [01:30:46] This program and what we're dealing with specifically with the LMS and the RLF is not specifics as to certain areas being addressed. [01:30:58] It looks at the city in its totality and it's much more than stormwater and I'm sorry that we've gone down that trail. [01:31:05] It's much more building codes, it's a lot of things. [01:31:11] I would like you to get with that same meeting that we have just set up with Ms. Manns and you can attend that and it might help you with the drainage on your street. [01:31:19] Does that help you? [01:31:20] Well, we need more culverts there. [01:31:22] That will be addressed. [01:31:23] Is the problem. [01:31:23] That will be addressed. We're not going to. [01:31:27] I'm just wondering if the funds would be allocated in part for that. I'm above flood zone, but I still have a problem. [01:31:35] That will be worked out with the meeting that you two ladies will have with Ms. Manns. [01:31:40] Okay. Thank you. [01:31:43] Any other comments? [01:31:47] Bring it back, move for approval. [01:31:48] And I'm so moved as requested. [01:31:51] Second. [01:31:53] Any questions? [01:31:56] I'll open the can of worms, so I'm going to close the can and not say any more. [01:32:00] All those in favor? [01:32:01] Aye. [01:32:03] Opposed? [01:32:04] The five zip. [01:32:05] Thank you. [01:32:07] The annual summer membership sale, I guess that has to do with the rec center. [01:32:10] It is that time of year, Mr. Mayor. [01:32:13] It's the 74 days of summer and it's the time that the Recreation and Aquatic Center holds its sale of a discounted rate of 20% off for membership. [01:32:28] And they offer a resident and a non-resident rate. [01:32:32] They have good luck with the membership discount rates. [01:32:37] The rates are indicated in the communication from Ms. Moore dated May 2nd and included in your packet. [01:32:47] And with your approval, the membership drive will be held commencing tomorrow and run through June 1st. [01:33:01] And we are hopeful to have the membership drive this year. [01:33:07] We have had traditionally pretty good numbers of membership sold for this period over the last couple of years,

    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.d

    Annual Summer Membership Sale

    approved

    Council considered approval of the annual summer membership sale at the Recreation and Aquatic Center, offering discounted 73/74-day memberships (e.g., $123.58 household resident rate). After public comment raising concerns about staffing shortages and affordability for low-income residents, the motion to approve passed 4-1, with Mayor Rodney Smith dissenting in favor of pursuing free memberships for city residents and county cost-sharing.

    • motion:Motion to approve the annual summer membership sale at the Recreation and Aquatic Center. (passed)4–1

    📍5335 Bellevue Avenue, Newport Richey, Florida, 34652📍6013 Adams Street🏢Gulf Middle School🏢Holiday Recreation Center🏢Newport Richey Recreation and Aquatic Center👤Angela Napolitano👤Bertell Butler👤Matt👤Peter#American Rescue Act#Annual Summer Membership Sale#County service area / recreation funding#Scholarship program for rec center

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    [01:33:18] with the exception of 2020 when we did not conduct a sale as a result of COVID. [01:33:24] All right. [01:33:25] Public comment? [01:33:33] Bertell Butler, 5335 Bellevue Avenue, New Port Richey, Florida, 34652. [01:33:40] I just want to put into perspective the current situation at the Recreation and Aquatic Center to inform the decision on this sale. [01:33:48] The Aquatics Office is very understaffed. [01:33:50] Two lifeguards were recently terminated in the last few months. [01:33:54] Two other lifeguards recently quit. [01:33:57] The Aquatics Coordinator position has been open since you guys allowed it to be created back in October. [01:34:04] The Aquatics Manager is working consistent over time. [01:34:07] The Marketing position, which is responsible for facilitating this promotion, is currently vacant. [01:34:13] The Special Events Coordinator worked overtime his first week in office. [01:34:18] The Admin Administrative Assistant recently retired. [01:34:21] That position is vacant. [01:34:23] The Department Head position is also vacant. [01:34:26] They just recently resigned. [01:34:28] This is the third resignation or departure within the last two years. [01:34:33] Needless to say, the staff that remains is overworked. [01:34:39] And so, given these extensive personnel shortages, my question to the city is, [01:34:44] is there any mitigation in place to ensure that this sale can remain successful with the staff that is there [01:34:50] to ensure that it's still serving its purpose? [01:34:54] And if the city would consider a pay bonus incentive structure for the staff that is remaining [01:35:00] that will be processing this intentional increased demand of memberships. [01:35:07] Thank you. [01:35:10] That boy is going to be the future mayor one day. [01:35:14] I've been going to the Aquatic Center before it even became an Aquatic Center. [01:35:19] It was just a swimming pool. [01:35:20] Do you remember that, Peter? [01:35:23] Do we know when that rolls out what the actual fee will be? [01:35:28] Are you a resident or a non-resident? [01:35:30] I'm a resident. [01:35:32] Are you a senior? [01:35:35] No, ma'am. [01:35:37] Do you live alone? [01:35:39] I have children. [01:35:41] Then you would go for the household rate, and it would be $123.58 for the full 73 days, 74 days. [01:35:51] So it's only for a 73-day period? [01:35:53] 74 days. [01:35:54] 74 days. [01:35:55] And that would cover all of you. [01:35:57] All of you? [01:35:58] Okay, that's not bad. [01:35:59] All right. [01:36:00] Thank you very much for sharing that information. [01:36:02] Thank you very much for sharing that information. [01:36:04] I would move to ask maybe extending that for residents that live here. [01:36:12] Because I know when I talk to residents, they love the Aquatic Center. [01:36:16] I used to go there and play basketball. [01:36:18] There used to be a lot of nonprofits having basketball tournaments there. [01:36:22] But say if you want to go on a normal day just to work out or play basketball, you have to pay some money. [01:36:28] If you have a birthday party there, you have to pay some money. [01:36:31] And we're all okay with paying some money. [01:36:32] But let's be honest, with the economic situation that most of your residents are in, all of us, a lot of us don't have that money. [01:36:40] So we do appreciate you making some discounts and trying to make it more affordable for us that have children and that may be seniors. [01:36:48] But let's see if we can maybe do a little more. [01:36:51] I know with the last Aquatics or the Parks and Recreation Director, I don't remember. [01:36:56] It's been so many. [01:36:57] Forgive me. [01:36:59] But I know me and him had some discussions about maybe establishing or allocating some funds, maybe throughout the year, [01:37:06] for kids to come hang out there and do some programs to get them off the streets. [01:37:11] So I know you guys aren't going to entertain us today, but just something to think about. [01:37:17] Okay? [01:37:19] Thank you. [01:37:20] Anybody else? [01:37:28] Angela Napolitano, 6013 Adams Street. [01:37:32] I agree. [01:37:33] I think it's pretty pricey. [01:37:34] I've lived here. [01:37:35] I've been a homeowner. [01:37:36] I raised my two children. [01:37:38] We have never been a member of the rec center. [01:37:41] In fact, I would drive all the way down to Holiday Rec Center where it's $10 a year and my daughter can play volleyball. [01:37:47] Now, I know they don't have a pool, but I work at Gulf Middle School, [01:37:51] and 80 to 85 percent of our children are low income or free reduced lunch. [01:38:00] A lot of them, I can't even begin to say. [01:38:03] However, I know our kids cannot afford it. [01:38:06] And with the summer coming up, you know, again, getting them off the streets, keeping them out of trouble, [01:38:12] I just think that there should be some type of sliding scale for your residents. [01:38:17] I understand a discount is pretty good, but just for the summer months, [01:38:21] if there was some type of low income sliding scale like what they used to do for daycare, [01:38:27] I know I was a recipient of that being a single mother. [01:38:30] So you may want to look at the program a little bit different because you've got to look at your population of children. [01:38:36] Thank you. [01:38:38] Anybody else? [01:38:41] Bring it back. [01:38:42] Move for approval. [01:38:45] I move we approve. [01:38:46] I'll second. [01:38:48] Back to you. [01:38:49] Yeah, I think we go ahead and go with the sale. [01:38:51] Some good ideas were posted there. [01:38:52] I was afraid that one gentleman was going to recommend we put it off until we got additional staffing, [01:38:58] but I think we'll be able to handle it okay. [01:39:00] So I think we should go ahead and go forward with it, and then we can incorporate some of those ideas. [01:39:04] I think some of them have some merit. [01:39:07] I agree. [01:39:08] I think there were some good ideas, [01:39:09] and I think I talked about that before about discounted rates for residents or scholarship programs for those that can't afford it. [01:39:18] But definitely at least giving a discount for now for the summer and approving this is going to help, [01:39:22] but I do think we should look at some type of scholarship program maybe. [01:39:26] We do have a scholarship program. [01:39:31] I believe that we brought that up last time you discussed this, we brought that up. [01:39:35] Go ahead, Matt. [01:39:36] I'm good with it. [01:39:37] I think we'll bring some people in and hopefully they'll stay. [01:39:42] Yeah, I oppose it because I'd like to get to where our residents have a free membership [01:39:51] and perhaps they still have a dollar or a two-dollar charge when they come per time [01:39:58] because paying a hundred and some dollars is out of the pocketbook of folks. [01:40:04] And if it's just for the summer, then what are they going to do when the next time comes around? [01:40:08] So the reason, and I was involved in the rate, helping to work the rate studies out when I worked here, [01:40:17] and when you look at the cost to a non-resident and the cost to a resident, there is a discount for a resident, [01:40:27] but we have to understand what our business purpose is. [01:40:30] If you want to run government like a business, then the people that are paying the taxes, [01:40:34] the people that are paying the money, including perhaps the business owners, [01:40:38] are footing a huge bill to operate and run that. [01:40:42] And so when we look at maybe $50,000 or $100,000 or $80,000, [01:40:47] or when we have questions that are asking about the economic effect of the city [01:40:52] or whether we can afford something, I think that to the degree, and I'll say it again, [01:40:58] the money that we got from, for example, the American Rescue Act, when everyone was struggling, [01:41:04] and that money we used to give to folks that were in the line of duty, so to speak, [01:41:10] and we gave additional revenue to folks that were keeping our city running, [01:41:15] a lot of other cities were using that money to get their businesses and to pay people's bills. [01:41:21] I didn't support that, but I do support the idea that if you're a resident of the city, [01:41:26] you pay the county taxes, you can go to the holiday rec center because you pay the county taxes [01:41:36] and so you can be a member of that. [01:41:39] But the people that live in the county don't pay a dime towards the operation of our rec center [01:41:45] and we get no credit back. [01:41:47] So until I can either get my colleagues to accept the idea that we would approach the county, [01:41:52] and I think that I understand there may be a willingness on their part to talk to them about having a service area, [01:41:59] when you make a circle around who goes to our rec center [01:42:02] and then you look at our population of who attends the rec center [01:42:07] and when you start finding where 50% of the people that go to our library or more [01:42:11] or 50% of the people who come to our rec center or more are living around New Port Richey, [01:42:17] they have a New Port Richey address. [01:42:20] They told me they voted for me when I did their taxes and I knew they didn't because I knew where they lived. [01:42:25] Well, they couldn't have then at least. [01:42:29] But the bottom line is if we approach our rec center as a business [01:42:35] and we start talking about what we can afford and we can't afford, [01:42:38] we can't say we can't afford to give the residents who are paying the bills free access [01:42:43] and say just give us $2 when you come in. [01:42:46] So I've asked and I have not received, but what does the city of Largo do? [01:42:51] What do other cities do with respect to their population and the rec center? [01:42:57] If you want to have a membership for a non-city resident, charge them. [01:43:02] But you should charge $1 or $2 or whatever because I know people, it's like health spas. [01:43:11] You can join a health spa for practically nothing now and go work out. [01:43:15] But we want to have that social interaction. [01:43:18] We want to use the rec center. [01:43:20] So are we afraid that if we make it free, we'll be swamped and we can't handle the people? [01:43:25] Or are we worried that we have to have the money? [01:43:30] And if so, I favor the people who pay their taxes in the city [01:43:34] and finding a way to let the businesses who pay the commercial taxes that pay for these facilities [01:43:41] to also be able to have some extended privileges. [01:43:46] The gentleman that's selling cigars that's surrounded by county residents, [01:43:49] if he wanted to come to the rec center and he was a business owner and paid taxes, [01:43:54] I'd give him a free recreation pass. [01:43:57] And I'd make people not talk to us about wanting to de-annex out of the city [01:44:02] because of our regulations, which are stronger than the county's regulations. [01:44:06] We have to do something to separate ourselves. [01:44:09] Or we go to the county and we say, let's invoke this service area [01:44:13] and start sending us the money you're collecting for recreation services [01:44:17] from the people that come to our rec center and they don't go to any of the other rec centers. [01:44:22] And the Florida statutes call out to do it. [01:44:24] Three years ago, I think some of you guys were here when I made that pitch. [01:44:29] And the comment was, we don't want to aggravate the county. [01:44:33] Let's just see what we can do. [01:44:35] And I believe that our city manager has made some progress on that. [01:44:39] So I'm just going to take a stand because it's been too long since there's been a 4-1 vote for me. [01:44:44] And this is a good one for me. [01:44:46] So I'm going to ask for us to really think about this during the budget [01:44:50] and see what approach we can take. [01:44:53] We either need to get the money that's coming for the services that we're providing [01:44:58] from the people who don't live here. [01:45:00] in the city, from the county directly, or we need to just say, hey, go to your county [01:45:06] and let them know because we can't afford to underwrite the services we give to you. [01:45:16] And that's what we're doing. [01:45:17] Every time a resident pays a bill to join that rec center, and what it is, what does [01:45:23] the county pay, an extra $100, an extra $200 to have that right, but it doesn't add up [01:45:30] too much when we look at our budget for the rec center. [01:45:32] So I look forward to the budget, and I know it's going to pass, and I'm not planning to [01:45:39] run again, so I don't have to worry about being run out of town. [01:45:42] But I think that this is an important issue for us. [01:45:46] Stormwater, the main street, is county land back there, and we should have the county [01:45:51] service area giving us the money to do the drainage requirement. [01:45:57] So these two silos of county and city have got to stop, and we need to get them to support [01:46:03] us on the services we're providing to their residents, period. [01:46:09] Thank you. [01:46:10] I'll vote against it. [01:46:11] You speak. [01:46:12] Did I ask you? [01:46:13] I'm good. [01:46:14] Okay. [01:46:15] Let's vote then. [01:46:16] All those in favor? [01:46:17] Aye. [01:46:18] Aye. [01:46:19] Those opposed? [01:46:21] Okay. [01:46:22] It's going to be a four-to-one count. [01:46:25] Request for authorization to terminate school resource officer agreement with the district [01:46:29] school board of Pasco County. [01:46:31] Chief, lead the discussion. [01:46:34] Thank you, Ms. Manns. [01:46:35] Honorable Mayor, council members, we're requesting that you cancel the SRO agreement that we [01:46:40] have in effect with the district school board of Pasco County. [01:46:44] We've been working with all of our stakeholders, school board, sheriff's department, and our [01:46:48] agency, and sheriff's department has agreed that they would take over the responsibilities [01:46:53] out at the middle school and high school. [01:46:55] Of course, we will always work with them. [01:46:57] We will partner with them. [01:46:58] We will train with them, and this transition will be seamless. [01:47:02] We'll do this in August, and one of the biggest reasons for this, as I look at operations [01:47:07] in our police department, we really need to reallocate these resources in-house. [01:47:13] We talk a lot about a community response team, which, if this is done right, can be [01:47:18] extremely successful. [01:47:20] So a community response team basically deals with issues such as homeless outreach, mental [01:47:26] health, addiction. [01:47:27] I have a lot of experience over my 32 years in police work dealing with homeless outreach. [01:47:32] We were very successful in my previous city getting about 150 folks off the street into [01:47:38] programs that helped them out. [01:47:39] I think we can do that here. [01:47:42] We have personnel in the police department, Corporal Norris, Sergeant Patch, they have [01:47:47] extensive training in what they call CIT, Crisis Intervention Team Training, CISM, which [01:47:53] is Critical Incident Stress Management Training, and it's kind of interesting, as I looked [01:47:59] at our operations, 50% of our officers have CIT training, which is awesome, and CIT training [01:48:05] basically teaches officers how to deal with people in crisis, and the statistics show [01:48:09] that when they're trained on how to deal with people in crisis or that have mental health [01:48:13] issues, there's a big increase in those people getting help with services as opposed to being [01:48:18] arrested, and that's our goal. [01:48:20] Our goal is to get these people help, to get them the services they need. [01:48:23] CISM, Critical Incident Stress Management, is a focus also in-house. [01:48:27] 90% of all police officers that have been in this job long enough have been affected [01:48:33] by trauma. [01:48:34] There's no doubt about that. [01:48:35] we see in this profession will cause trauma, so we also want to help our own. [01:48:41] If this unit is done right, this unit can have a great impact on services for folks [01:48:46] that really need it. [01:48:48] We have to be real about this. [01:48:49] It's in our community. [01:48:51] We deal with it every day. [01:48:52] We can't hide from it. [01:48:53] I've always said with homeless outreach, you can never arrest your way out of a homeless [01:48:57] problem. [01:48:58] You've got to get proactive. [01:48:59] You've got to work with these folks. [01:49:00] You've got to get them the help they need. [01:49:01] So this team, although it's still in its infancy stages, we have the personnel. [01:49:06] We have the commitment. [01:49:07] It needs to be done right. [01:49:08] We also have funding. [01:49:09] I was working with the city manager on this for a social worker. [01:49:12] So this unit's going to be done right, and eventually, we're going to start training [01:49:18] all of the officers in basically crisis intervention team training, and I think this is going to [01:49:23] be very successful. [01:49:24] So these resources will be much more of a benefit to our city being brought in-house [01:49:29] to complement this team moving forward. [01:49:33] I know that if we do this right, and it's a real program, and we get the right people, [01:49:37] and we commit to this, it could be very successful for us. [01:49:39] So we are, again, asking you to terminate. [01:49:42] We'll give the 90-day notice to the school board that we want to terminate the contract. [01:49:47] There is a bit of a fiscal impact because you know they fund our SROs, but the police [01:49:50] department budget has- [01:49:51] Half. [01:49:52] Half. [01:49:53] Yeah, half. [01:49:54] They fund approximately half of the cost of our SROs, so we have that funding in our budget [01:49:58] to cover those costs. [01:50:00] So we are asking you to move forward with this and allow us to terminate that agreement, [01:50:05] and then we will move forward over the coming months to create this team and get this going. [01:50:11] Thank you. [01:50:12] Do you have any public comment on this? [01:50:17] So I had an entire speech written out, but I'm going to change it up and wing it.

    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. 10.e

    Request for Authorization to Terminate School Resource Officer Agreement with the District School Board of Pasco County

    discussed

    Council considered terminating the School Resource Officer (SRO) agreement with the District School Board of Pasco County, transferring SRO duties at Gulf Middle and Gulf High to Pasco County Sheriff's Office while NPRPD redirects officers to a community response team. Multiple citizens spoke in opposition, raising concerns about specific officers (Patch and Norris), response times, loss of community relationships, and Pasco Sheriff's prior intelligence-led policing. A motion to approve was made and seconded; discussion was ongoing at transcript end.

    • motion:Motion to approve termination of the SRO agreement with the District School Board of Pasco County, to allow further discussion. (none)

    📍5335 Bellevue Avenue, Newport Ridge, Florida, 34652📍5755 Indiana Avenue📍6013 Adams Street📍7336 Ashmore🏢Chasco Middle School🏢District School Board of Pasco County🏢Gulf High School🏢Gulf Middle School🏢Kauffman (school)🏢New Port Richey Police Department🏢Pasco County Sheriff's Office👤Angela Napolitano👤Botell Butler👤Charles Wise👤Corporal Karen Norris👤Kimberly Cox👤Marlo Jones👤Matthew Patch👤Ms. Manzi👤Officer Gabe Gerena👤Shanique Whiting👤Todd G#Community Response Team#Intelligence-led policing / pre-crime policing system#Police vehicle redesign#School Resource Officer (SRO) Agreement

    ▶ Jump to 1:50:20 in the video

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    Auto-transcript · machine-generated, may contain errors

    [01:50:24] I'm Kimberly Cox, 7336 Ashmore. [01:50:27] So am I allowed to address? [01:50:29] If we need an answer from him, we'll ask. [01:50:33] Perfect. [01:50:34] Okay, so first and foremost, I want to say that the two officers that you listed, you [01:50:41] said Matthew Patch, and he said Corporal Norris. [01:50:45] I think it's Corporal Norris. [01:50:48] So Norris was present and accounted for during the anti-Semitic comments that were made at [01:50:55] a Jewish woman's home, and Matthew Patch was responsible at his previous post. [01:51:04] He tasered a man, a black man, who was in handcuffs, who then rolled into an embankment [01:51:10] and drowned to death. [01:51:12] So I implore you, first of all, to dismiss them, but I implore you to not use problematic [01:51:21] officers like that in such vulnerable situations like our houseless community. [01:51:28] Because if you do encounter the houseless community, and there is, for lack of a better [01:51:36] word on when I'm taken off guard like this, like any kind of belligerency or anything, [01:51:42] and the police do not de-escalate the situation, instead they escalate it, I am very concerned. [01:51:49] Corporal Norris is one thing, the anti-Semitic thing is disgusting, but Matthew Patch being [01:51:54] directly related to an innocent man dying, it's beyond the scope of putting him in charge [01:52:02] of something like this. [01:52:03] I also want to just really encourage any parents that are out there that have students in the [01:52:12] Gulf High School or Gulf Middle School, while Pasco County has stopped at this point using [01:52:19] the pre-crime policing system, an algorithm that uses factors like their family income, [01:52:27] school attendance grade, home life, who your friends are, etc., to harass family members [01:52:34] and to harass the 400 kids that were on this list for over 20 years, this revolving list, [01:52:41] I know that they say that they've stopped using this software, but if you have 20 years [01:52:46] of it, then that means that they've been programmed to treat people this way for 20 years, and [01:52:52] now you're inviting that into our schools, and where we just heard that 80% of our population [01:53:01] falls under the idea of being able to get school lunch, so they're impoverished citizens, [01:53:06] and they are the ones that are most directly affected by Pasco County. [01:53:13] Keep it where it is, keep it how it is, because it's safer for our students to have New Port Richey Police Departments as problematic as they are over Pasco County. [01:53:22] Thank you. [01:53:23] Charles Wise, 6013 Adams Street. [01:53:34] I have a few concerns about this, the main point being that as a community, communities [01:53:40] are built off of bonds, and so when we're breaking, the word I heard was in-house, I [01:53:45] really like that. [01:53:47] By keeping the people that are already in the community as close to the community as [01:53:51] possible, having the agreement with them, I think we're strengthening the community [01:53:54] bonds and also the empathy that would be felt by the officers, as opposed to someone [01:53:58] who doesn't necessarily have the same investment in the community. [01:54:01] I'm also worried about the transparency and the accountability, the potential of the difference [01:54:06] there. [01:54:07] What is the process for parents or anyone involved in the community to be able to follow [01:54:10] the steps if there is an incident with this change from the county to between the city? [01:54:18] And also the citizen leverage. [01:54:20] Every time that we're moving things, it seems to be a constant reoccurring theme, not just [01:54:24] here but also in the Florida State Legislature, where we're moving more and more to centralizing [01:54:29] things either at the county level, either at the state level, and taking away citizen [01:54:33] leverage. [01:54:34] The last mayor election was what, 1,200 votes, maybe less than that? [01:54:39] I'd rather be one of 1,200 votes than one of 100,000, than one of however many million. [01:54:45] Every time we are moving this power away from the centralized or the localized part [01:54:49] of the community, we are taking away the leverage of the citizens to be able to speak up. [01:54:53] It would be much easier for citizens to address this issue as we are now in the city council [01:54:58] than having to go at the county level. [01:55:00] Thank you. [01:55:01] Good evening, Shanique Whiting, 5755 Indiana Avenue. [01:55:15] As Chief Coaching was saying with the officers that he mentioned, definitely not Patch, definitely [01:55:23] not. [01:55:24] Chief, you probably don't know his background, so on and so forth, and there's a lot of things [01:55:30] that you probably don't know due to the fact that you're new up here, but I definitely [01:55:34] wouldn't recommend him. [01:55:37] And as we're speaking of the funding, I'm just wondering why can't we use some of the [01:55:43] money that is going into these new vehicles that we really don't need? [01:55:50] These new SUVs, honestly every time I see our normal blue and white SUVs, I'm looking [01:55:58] at them and I'm like, oh my goodness, those are so nice. [01:56:00] There's really no need for us to have new vehicles. [01:56:03] It's just a waste of money that could have gone somewhere else in our community. [01:56:10] And just to give you a little feedback from the community, the police department has on [01:56:17] their website, this is an exciting time in the city of New Port Richey. [01:56:23] The New Port Richey Police Department is ready to unveil its new vehicle design. [01:56:28] This design was personally chosen, yes, it relates to it. [01:56:33] Is this right to the school resource officers? [01:56:36] Yeah, because you can put that money into that, to the school resource officers, instead [01:56:41] of on the vehicles. [01:56:44] So basically some of the feedback from the community, one citizen said they might want [01:56:49] to remove all the dings and dents from people's foreheads first. [01:56:55] Another comment says they have a new design but haven't fixed the craziness within the [01:57:00] department. [01:57:01] Another comment, I'd rather not look at them at all. [01:57:05] Another comment, we're supposed to be excited, laugh out loud, build some damn sidewalks [01:57:12] or something. [01:57:15] So community feedback, and I just had to put that in there because we're putting money [01:57:24] in the wrong areas. [01:57:25] It may not go with what you guys are saying, I'm sorry, I'm in a lot of pain right now, [01:57:31] but basically money that we're using on unnecessary things could go to more resources for our [01:57:40] school resource officers. [01:57:45] Anybody else like to speak? [01:57:53] Botell Butler, 5335 Bellevue Avenue, Newport Ridge, Florida, 34652. [01:57:59] I just want to briefly slip in there that regarding the scholarships, if they don't [01:58:04] have a scholarship fund, they have a GL donation line item, and that's a generalized donation [01:58:09] for the rec center, and although there might be a paperwork system for a scholarship fund, [01:58:14] it's not the same thing. [01:58:15] You don't get as many membership sales, and a lot of that money is lost and carried over [01:58:19] into next year. [01:58:20] So I think it was a misrepresentation to say there's a scholarship fund, and any of the [01:58:24] three last department heads of the Parks and Rec Department would tell you that. [01:58:28] Now, oddly enough, I had to slip that in. [01:58:31] I just want to also say that I was transitionally homeless in the seventh grade. [01:58:35] I was a Pacaset kid at Gulf Middle School, and so I have the utmost respect for Corporal [01:58:39] Norris and their work in the community, helping out, building relationships with the homeless [01:58:44] and with kids. [01:58:45] That being said, regarding business item E, the termination of the SRO agreement with [01:58:49] the district, I just had a few questions. [01:58:51] First, the budget fiscal impact clause of this item states that, quote, there is adequate [01:58:57] funding in the police department to cover the loss of revenues. [01:59:01] If there is no fiscal figure attached to this statement within that clause, can the [01:59:05] city disclose the numeric value of the revenue being lost? [01:59:08] Ms. Manzi, do you happen to have that with you, or can you get back to me? [01:59:14] Am I timed? [01:59:15] You stopped it for other people, if you don't mind. [01:59:18] If not, I can provide it in writing in email, if that's preferred. [01:59:23] I'm sorry, I still can't hear. [01:59:26] It varies, and that's why a specific dollar amount wasn't indicated in the agenda item, [01:59:34] because not the same officer serves at the same school at any one time. [01:59:42] They rotate in and out, and they are of different ranks, and so they earn different wage rates [01:59:50] and have different benefits. [01:59:51] All right, thank you. [01:59:52] I think we got the idea. [01:59:53] Thank you. [01:59:54] Okay. [01:59:55] I had the same relationship with the same SRO at Kauffman. [02:00:00] for at least the last two years until recently, but, okay. [02:00:04] And from what fund of the police budget [02:00:07] is the lost revenue being absorbed? [02:00:14] It's currently the overtime budget. [02:00:16] Thank you. [02:00:19] Another question I had regards the community response team. [02:00:21] Will this come before council for consideration [02:00:24] or will this be included in next year's budget? [02:00:27] The positions are already budgeted. [02:00:30] My last question, I'm a former student [02:00:32] of Gulf Middle School and Gulf High Schools [02:00:33] and a current employee of Gulf High School. [02:00:35] And I can say with confidence [02:00:37] that the New Port Richey resource officers [02:00:39] have done an outstanding and upstanding job [02:00:41] developing rapport with so many students at these schools. [02:00:44] This has had, they have set such a high bar [02:00:47] that respectfully, I just don't see [02:00:49] rotating county deputies being able to surpass it. [02:00:52] That being said, how will the city plan [02:00:54] around this change in partnership [02:00:56] to preserve and continue to build on their unique role [02:00:59] with the young people in our city limits? [02:01:02] And that's just an open-ended question. [02:01:03] Thank you. [02:01:06] Anybody else want to speak? [02:01:10] I think you might be the parks director next. [02:01:17] So I'm just gonna go ahead and speak. [02:01:19] Yeah, passage. [02:01:20] Please introduce yourself for the record. [02:01:21] Marlo Jones, I've introduced myself for the record [02:01:24] and I do advise you, Mr. Mayor, [02:01:25] I know you were out of the council for a year. [02:01:28] I know they still had your picture on the website [02:01:30] as if you still were on the council, [02:01:32] which they recently changed, I've seen. [02:01:34] But they said that once we stated it once during the meeting [02:01:37] we didn't have to state it every other time. [02:01:38] So I don't know if any of you guys [02:01:40] would like to brief your colleague on that. [02:01:43] Just as my colleague said to you earlier [02:01:46] when you kept asking her for her address. [02:01:49] What I'd like to say about this is, [02:01:50] Mr. Passage, yeah, I don't think Chief personally, [02:01:53] I mean, I know you're new from Tarpon and everything. [02:01:55] Yeah, he's not the guy to put on that task force. [02:01:58] He's the guy that was out there trying to pepper spray [02:02:00] people and tie them up with his zip ties. [02:02:02] So I don't think he would be the one [02:02:04] to be dealing with homeless people. [02:02:05] That's just my personal opinion [02:02:07] and the opinion of many people who went through hell. [02:02:12] Also, Karen Norris, I used to have [02:02:14] the utmost respect for Karen. [02:02:15] I think she's a great person. [02:02:17] Did I think she made us a very bad mistake [02:02:20] when she was laughing at Todd G's joke about Anne Frank? [02:02:25] We all know who Anne Frank is and that tragedy. [02:02:28] And from what we hear from your former police chief, [02:02:30] they went through sensitivity training, [02:02:32] but I think it's a cultural issue. [02:02:34] So I think we should probably stop trying [02:02:37] to make the police department enforce the homeless. [02:02:40] I think you guys should have a community relations board [02:02:43] or like we've been asking for to come up with those things [02:02:47] and let the people who live here [02:02:49] that are dealing with it, let us help you. [02:02:52] Stop trying to put everything in the police's hands. [02:02:54] This guy already has enough to do with, [02:02:57] he doesn't even have a lot of officers. [02:02:59] I also oppose putting the Pasco sheriffs in there. [02:03:02] I'm a black man and I remember [02:03:04] the intelligence led policing system [02:03:06] which the sheriffs has been sued over. [02:03:09] I don't know how many times. [02:03:11] Now I've had conversations with Chris [02:03:12] and his administration. [02:03:15] Some say they're not doing it anymore. [02:03:16] Some say they are, but that's a real concern. [02:03:19] And if you could give us some clarity on that, [02:03:20] maybe we can have a one-on-one. [02:03:22] That's a real concern and I'm gonna give you an example. [02:03:25] When I was an African-American student [02:03:26] at Chasco Middle School, Pasco County School System, [02:03:30] my teacher pulled me out of class [02:03:32] and five other black kids who just happened to be my cousin [02:03:35] and showed us a mug shot. [02:03:38] Have you ever seen this black person before? [02:03:41] Look real close. [02:03:43] Look real close. [02:03:44] This was Pasco County School System [02:03:45] when I was in middle school. [02:03:48] Come to find out that teacher's husband [02:03:50] was a Pasco sheriff's detective. [02:03:54] I wish I knew what I knew now about the law. [02:03:57] Wrong. [02:03:58] So now we're gonna go ahead and put out officers [02:04:01] who have been developing rapport with these students [02:04:04] and building relationships so we can start a task force [02:04:10] when you should be starting a community relations board [02:04:12] to help you with those issues. [02:04:14] So I hope that you oppose it, but we know you're not. [02:04:22] Anybody else? [02:04:30] Angela Napolitano, 6013 Adams Street. [02:04:32] First of all, I'd like to thank all the officers [02:04:35] for their service. [02:04:37] I do back the blue. [02:04:38] I'm not here to beat up anybody, but I am concerned [02:04:43] and it goes back to our children [02:04:45] and the relationships that they do have with our SROs. [02:04:49] I don't know if we're the only two schools in the county, [02:04:51] Gulf Middle and Gulf High [02:04:54] that have New Port Richey police officers, [02:04:56] but what my main concern is not only about our children [02:04:59] and the relationships that they have, [02:05:01] and I even know as the librarian [02:05:04] and I started as a substitute [02:05:06] and there's another employee here [02:05:08] that we can't go anywhere [02:05:09] without seeing one of our kids downtown. [02:05:11] So I can go anywhere and, oh, hey, Ms. Knapp, [02:05:13] hey, Ms. Knapp, and that's exactly what happens [02:05:16] with Officer Gabe Gerena and with even Goose. [02:05:19] And we only had Goose for a short time, [02:05:20] but he was great too. [02:05:22] Another concern about mine is that it wasn't that long ago [02:05:25] in October, I believe it was 2021. [02:05:28] Can't remember the date, but we had a riot, [02:05:31] a practical riot. [02:05:32] There was eight individual, eight to nine individual fights [02:05:36] that broke out in our tunnel [02:05:39] and the officers were there like that. [02:05:42] So my concern is what about the response time? [02:05:44] What if something happens? [02:05:46] Are we waiting on county guys to come [02:05:48] or can we get our guys in blue? [02:05:51] So, I mean, I'm really not gonna sit here [02:05:53] and beat anybody up, like I said, [02:05:54] but you really need to think about this. [02:05:57] And the rumors that spread around Gulf Middle this morning, [02:06:00] oh, you know, we're getting sheriff officers now, [02:06:04] we're not gonna have New Port Richey anymore [02:06:06] because they're short-staffed. [02:06:08] That's what we were told at our school. [02:06:12] So rumors are flying around. [02:06:13] I don't care what the rumors are. [02:06:15] I don't know what the truth is. [02:06:16] And again, I doubt we will know, [02:06:18] but it still stems back to, [02:06:20] when you think about the drugs, the poverty, [02:06:22] what these kids deal with and what they live with, [02:06:25] start them while they're young. [02:06:27] Start them with the SROs right in their community. [02:06:30] That when they walk down to Simspark, [02:06:32] they're gonna go, hey, officer Gabe, [02:06:34] because they're gonna know that man. [02:06:35] They're not gonna know some Pasco County Sheriff, [02:06:39] out on the street, down on Main Street. [02:06:41] And again, my second thing that I would really hope [02:06:44] that you would think about is the response time [02:06:49] in a time of crisis. [02:06:51] And I'll tell you right now, that day was hell. [02:06:53] I was scared. [02:06:54] I mean, we all were. [02:06:57] They were jumping the fences. [02:06:58] It was like cops coming left and right. [02:07:00] There must've been at least 15 cruisers [02:07:03] down Congress that day. [02:07:04] Because they arrested about 17 to 18 boys [02:07:07] on one day in the tunnel. [02:07:10] So, could Pasco County get them over [02:07:12] from the county that fast? [02:07:14] That's what concerns me. [02:07:16] Thank you. [02:07:21] Anybody else like to speak? [02:07:24] I'll bring it back for us and you. [02:07:28] Do we have any move for approval? [02:07:30] I'll move to approve, so we can have [02:07:32] some more discussion on this. [02:07:36] Do we have a second? [02:07:37] I'll second. [02:07:39] Okay, go ahead. [02:07:41] So, maybe, from my understanding, [02:07:47] that the relationship, if the Sheriff's SROs [02:07:52] start working the schools that we have, [02:07:56] working the schools that we have, [02:07:58] already put in plans to develop relationships [02:08:02] with our officers, and we would respond [02:08:06] as we would have if our officer had been there. [02:08:09] Absolutely. [02:08:10] Because it is, these are schools

    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.

15. 11Communications▶ 2:08:11
16. 12Adjournment▶ 2:26:15
17. 6

    Proclamation - Older Americans Month (By Title Only)

    Proclamation recognizing Older Americans Month, by title only.

    #Older Americans Month