On the agenda

1. 4.a

   Public Safety Telecommunicators Week

   approved

   Mayor Chopper Davis proclaimed the week of April 12-18, 2026 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in the City of New Port Richey, recognizing the vital work of the Police Department's emergency communications staff. Communications Center Supervisor Reese Waymire accepted the proclamation alongside the Police Chief and Lieutenant.

   • direction:Mayor proclaimed April 12-18, 2026 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in New Port Richey. (passed)

   🏢New Port Richey Police Department🏢Pasco County👤Chopper Davis👤Lieutenant Malik👤Reese Waymire#Emergency Communications Center#National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week#Secondary PSAP

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   Public safety telecommunications week. Can I meet the person down front? Thank you. This is a proclamation of the office of the mayor of the city of New Port Richey. Whereas emergencies can occur at any time that require police, fire or emergency medical services. And whereas when an emergency occurs, the prompt response of police officers and firefighters is critical to the protection of life and preservation of property. And whereas the safety of our police officers and firefighters is dependent upon the quality and accuracy of information obtained from citizens who telephone the city of New Port Richey Police Department, emergency communications center. And whereas, public safety telecommunicators are the first and most critical contact our citizens have with emergency service. And whereas public safety telecommunicators are the single vital link for our police officers and firefighters, by monitoring the activities by radio, providing them information and ensuring their safety and whereas public safety telecommunicators of the city of New Port Richey Police Department have contributed. Contributed substantially to the apprehension of criminals, suppression of fires and treatment of patients. And now, therefore, I, Chopper Davis, mayor of the city of New Port Richey, do hereby proclaim the week of April 12th, 2026 through April 18th, 2026, as national public safety telecommunicators week in the city of New Port Richey and extend appreciation to our public safety telecommunicators and to all the public public safety telecommunicators for the vital services they perform and their exemplary dedication to the communities they represent. Thank you. Your. Thank you mayor. Council members. So as proclamation reads, our telecommuters are just essential to our police officers and essential. Everything we do. As most of you know, we have a primary app which is the county and a secondary piece app, which is us. Tonight I have with me Reese Waymire, who's our communications center supervisor. He does an awesome job. And lieutenant malikr, so we recognize this week to pay tribute to the heroes. And you are reese, you, you are the unsung heroes behind the scene that people really don't see. But what you do is awesome. They work to ensure the safety and well-being of our of our officers and the communities they serve. Telecommunicators. Especially those in the New Port Richey Police Department, are the unsung heroes who answer the calls for help, provide critical information and dispatch necessary assistance during times of crisis. They remain calm under pressure, offer reassurance and distress, and make split second decisions. That can mean the difference between life and death. Much like a police officer in the street, their commitment to public safety is unwavering. Their dedication on match, day in and day out. They work long hours, often in high stress environments, to ensure that help is just a phone call away. So reese, thank you for everything you do. We run an awesome secondary peace app. Our our technology and equipment is second to none along with Pasco County. So very proud of you and all the work you do and you want to say anything. Definitely. Thank you chief and city council for recognizing this week. It's not often that telecommunicators actually get recognized. We sit behind screens all day in an office, but as chief said, we are sometimes first responders. We're the ones taking the 911 calls, those emergency calls from people. I have a great team behind me. We're going to definitely continue doing the work each year. Thank you guys. Thank you. Yeah. Let's go. For the day. Proclamation. This is a proclamation of the mayor of

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2. 4.b

   Florida Loquat Day

   approved

   Mayor Chopper Davis read a proclamation declaring April 11, 2026 as Florida Loquat Day in New Port Richey, recognizing the 13th annual Florida Loquat Festival hosted by New Port Richey Farm Net at Sims Park. The organizer thanked the City Council, sponsors, and volunteers, and announced related events including a loquat beer release at Cody River Brewery and an art show with the West Pasco Art Guild.

   • motion:Proclaim April 11, 2026 as Florida Loquat Day in New Port Richey. (passed)

   📍Sims Park🏢Cody River Brewery🏢New Port Richey Farm Net🏢Rotary Club of New Port Richey🏢ServPro🏢Suncoast Credit Union🏢West Pasco Art Guild👤Amanda👤Carter👤Catherine👤Chopper Davis👤Gladys👤Jorge👤Lily👤Misty👤Reggie👤Ryan👤Sasha👤Stacey👤Warren#13th annual Florida Loquat Festival#Florida Loquat Day#Florida Loquat Festival#Loko Beer release

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   [00:05:28] The city of New Port Richey. Whereas the loquat tree is an attractive tree that produces luscious fruit that is nutritious and delicious. And whereas the loquat tree is a member of the rose family, kin to plums and pears and not related to the kumquat, a member of the citrus family with which it should not be confused. And whereas the loquat tree makes a valuable contribution to a locally sustainable food system needing no fertilizer and little water to thrive, and being tolerant of the extremes of Florida's winter cold and summer heat. And whereas a single loquat tree can produce 100 pounds or more of fruit in a given season. And whereas New Port Richey Farm Net will host its annual Florida loquat festival in New Port Richey, an educational event featuring freshly harvested, locally grown loquats cottage industry preserves, jams and jellies, pastries and loquat saplings. 2026 marks the 13 year anniversary of the Florida loquat festival. And whereas due to the overwhelming popularity of previous loquat festivals, with this festival being the only loquat festival in the united states, and due to the commitment of New Port Richey, firm.net and the city of New Port Richey, the 2026 Florida loquat festival will occur on April 11th at Sims Park, with related events occurring during the preceding week. Now therefore, I Chopper Davis, mayor of the city of New Port Richey, do hereby proclaim April 11th, 2026, as Florida loquat day in New Port Richey and earned the urge the residents of our community to participate in the annual Florida loquat festival and discover the great value of one of our tiniest fruits. I just want to say I have probably a 25 foot loquat tree in my yard, and there's nothing left available that's in 6 to 8ft high that somebody hasn't come by and helped me harvest it. But if you got a ladder, you can go up and get the rest of it. That's great. Well, thank you, mayor Chopper Davis, thank you so much for the support and for actually having the loquat tree that others can benefit from. I also want to thank the city council, each and every one of you for the support, not just for this year, our 13th year, but for all the years in the past. We would not be able to do this without the support of the city of New Port Richey. So many folks ask, how are you able to do this? You guys put a lot of work into it. We do have a wonderful team here. I want to acknowledge everyone that's here with us today, but we wouldn't be able to do it without the backing of the city. So many events that we do are only possible because the city supports in both tangible and intangible ways. So we're putting a big public shout out and thank you to the city council. Now, besides the city council, we're not able to do it without the support of the residents of the city of New Port Richey. So we thank everyone that's here, and I'm sure everyone will be at the festival, right. You'll be there on Saturday. How many going to be there? And the rest of you, what are you going to want us to bring it to your house? No, no, we'll be there. We'll be there. I also want to acknowledge some of our mayoral candidates that are here tonight. Thank you for coming, and you're welcome to come to the festival as well. One of you may well be the mayor next time. Who knows? You just never know. One of you may well be the mayor. And you can read the proclamation for the local festival for 2027. I want to acknowledge our some of our harvesters that are here, some of our makers that are here, we have gladys, we have reggie. You can put your hands up because gladys, reggie, we have amanda, we have lily, who's holding the sign, our youngest loquat maker. We have misty, we have warren, we have sasha, and we have carter and oh, and we have catherine. So we have everybody here. I remembered all the names. How about that too, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I may you know, I may look older, but I still can remember some of the names. I think I did get it got everybody's name. Wouldn't be possible without the support of the city council. Wouldn't be possible without the support of the residents. And it wouldn't be possible without the support of the many, many volunteers that are here. And also a big shout out to our primary sponsor, which is the Rotary Club of New Port Richey. I think we have some members of the rotary club that are here, so we appreciate the rotary club and also serve pro team jorge and also the Suncoast Credit Union and many other supporters that make this event possible. Now, before I conclude, I do also want to reveal the shirt for this year's festival. And carter, I think you have the shirt. So we're going to let liliana take it out of the bag. Lili you're going to take it out of the bag. So this is this year's shirt. [00:10:03] We have last year's shirt on. Most of us are wearing the shirts from last year. So here's the new shirts for 2027. I don't know if it's going to show up on the camera or not. We can show that that's the 20. That's the 2026 shirt and turn the yeah, the shirt right. There you go. We're going to turn the shirt around. So if you can see that on tv, you can come to the festival. And for a modest donation, you can get your 2026 festival shirt. It will be at Sims Park around the peace hall starting at 10:00 and going till 2:00 or so. I do want to note one other event that's coming up, and that's Thursday night at 5:00 at the Cody River Brewery. We're going to have the release of the loko beer. This year's loquat beer will be there, and we'll also have some artwork. This year we're going to feature an art show of Florida produce that is done in cooperation with the West Pasco Art Guild, and they're doing loco art and other produce. So it's going to be a large festival, a lot of different things going on. But most of all, we're going to have wonderful fruit. We're going to have wonderful preserves. Amanda, do you have anything that you want to share on this? Lily? Do you have anything to share? Is it loquat tasty? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Well, lily says that the loquat. Stacey, come and join us. We look forward to seeing all of you there. Thank you so much for the support. Ryan, come on down. It's a proclamation for

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3. 4.c

   Day of Remembrance

   approved

   Mayor Chopper Davis read a proclamation designating April 14, 2026 as a Day of Remembrance in honor of victims of the Holocaust, survivors, rescuers, and liberators, coinciding with Yom HaShoah. A community member accepted the proclamation and shared his father's story as an Auschwitz survivor who lived in a displaced persons camp in Bari, Italy and later resettled in Vineland, New Jersey.

   👤Chopper Davis#Day of Remembrance#Holocaust Remembrance#Yom HaShoah

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   The day of remembrance. What can I get up here? Right here, behind me. Yeah, okay. I've got the whole day. Come on. Come on up here a little bit. Come on up. Come on. Who's going to accept this? Okay, then you have to get in the front here. That's why I said get up here so you'll see. Come on. Okay. Thank you. Great. Okay, okay. Ready? This is a proclamation of the office of the mayor of the city of New Port Richey. Whereas the holocaust was the state sponsored systematic persecution and annihilation of 6 million european jews, alongside 5 million other innocent victims by nazi germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. And whereas it is important that we honor the memories of the righteous among the nations, over 28,000 non-jews who, acting out of moral commitment and a sense of humanity, risked their lives to save others through selfless acts such as hiding people in their homes, providing false papers, or smuggling, often in the face of death. And whereas the history of the holocaust offers an opportunity to reflect on the moral responsibilities of individuals, society and governments to respect and protect all people, as evidenced with our efforts here in New Port Richey in Pasco County, to bring together people of all races, faiths, beliefs, genders and nationalities with love and respect to celebrate all that we have in common. And whereas, pursuant to an act of congress in 1980, the united states holocaust memorial council designates the day of remembrance of the victims of the holocaust to be yom hashoah. This year being April 14th, 2026. And whereas the day of remembrance has been set aside to remember the victims of the holocaust and the innocent victims of all war, violence and hatred here and abroad, as we reflect on the need of respect for all peoples. Now therefore, I, Chopper Davis, mayor of the city of New Port Richey, do hereby proclaim April 14th, 2026, as day of remembrance in memory of the victims of the holocaust and in honor and or memory of the survivors, as well as the rescuers and liberators, and urge all residents to help to promote human dignity and confront hate whenever and wherever it occurs. I am. Trying to protect it. Yeah, I say we're here to. Thank you so much, mayor and council, city manager and city clerk, and for all you've done to help us out during this time. So on behalf of our community, we thank you. Since the last time I spoke to you during last year's proclamation, I traveled to southern italy, to the town of bari in the boot, the very bottom of the heel of italy where my father was in a displaced persons camp right after the war. He was an auschwitz survivor. He lost his [00:15:06] Wife, his child, his mother, countless cousins, relatives, really the only survivor. And from there, after the war, he was able to enter one of these displaced persons camps and turned everything around, was treated wonderfully. And the people there just showed that there is humanity in this world, and that we do have a lot more in common than we than we have differences. And then after that, he landed up in south jersey on a poultry farm, yiddish speaking, jewish agricultural society, poultry farm, and again, the community of vineland, new jersey, took him in and took all the refugees. And there were thousands of them. And there were hundreds of these dp camps throughout europe that helped people out. And so today, despite all the conflict and everything that's going on, I'm so proud to be here in New Port Richey in Pasco County, where through interfaith work and just plain humanity, we have learned to get along and respect each other and set an example. If you look at what's going on in the world today and even here in the united states, so much hatred, so much inhumanity, and so much bigotry. And yet here we can set an example. We can't change a lot of it throughout the world, but we can show the world what we can do. And we've done that here. I'm so proud of it and proud of you and very happily accept this again this year. Thank you, thank you. Come on down. Sarah. I think I knew

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4. 4.d

   Sarah Simon, Jacksonville University Sports Hall of Fame

   approved

   Mayor Chopper Davis read a proclamation recognizing Sara Simon, a New Port Richey native, on her induction into the Jacksonville University Sports Hall of Fame on January 31, 2026, honoring her collegiate softball career and athletic achievements. Sara Simon accepted the recognition and thanked the council and community.

   🏢Jacksonville University👤Chopper Davis👤Sara Simon#Atlantic Sun All-Decade Team 2011-2020#Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year 2013#Jacksonville University Sports Hall of Fame induction (January 31, 2026)

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   This girl when she was 12. No, better. Come on. You can come rest your family and come down here to. She probably was a little older, this one. Maybe close to that age. I met her. Come on. Parents. Sheesh. All right. This is a proclamation of the office of the mayor of city of New Port Richey. Whereas Sara Simon is a proud native of New Port Richey, whose dedication, perseverance and athletic excellence have brought distinction to herself, her family in her hometown. And whereas sara earned a division one athletics scholarship to play softball for Jacksonville University, competing at the highest level of collegiate athletics with the Jacksonville University dolphins. And whereas, during her remarkable collegiate career, sara established herself as one of the greatest players in Jacksonville University history, becoming the all time leader in home runs, runs, batted in walks, slugging percentage on base percentage, total bases and fielding percentage. And whereas her outstanding performance earned her the honor of Atlantic sun conference player of the year in 2013, as well as selection to the Atlantic sun all-decade team for the years 2011 through 2020. And whereas, in recognition of her extraordinary achievements and lasting impact on the sport, Sara Simon was inducted into the Jacksonville University sports hall of fame on January 31st, 2026. And whereas Sara Simon's accomplishments serve as an inspiration to young athletes throughout New Port Richey and demonstrate the power of hard work, discipline and commitment to excellence. Now therefore, I, Chopper Davis, mayor of the city of New Port Richey, do hereby recognize and congratulate Sara Simon on her induction into the Jacksonville University sports hall of fame and commend her for her exceptional athletic career and her proud representation of our community. You do not get to talk. Good evening and thank you so much to the city council for this recognition, and thank you. It's truly an honor to be acknowledged in this way, and I'm incredibly grateful to be a part of a community that values dedication, teamwork, and perseverance. Being inducted into the hall of fame is something I'm very proud of, but it's not something I accomplish alone. I've been fortunate to be surrounded by amazing teammates, coaches, mentors, and family who supported me every step of the way. This recognition belongs to them as much as it does to me. I was always especially proud to travel to major universities like Florida state university and university of [00:20:06] Florida, and see New Port Richey displayed on the scoreboard beneath my name. It was a constant reminder of where I came from and who I represent. I am proud to represent this city, and I hope to continue giving back and setting an example for others to chase their goals and passion and integrity. Thank you again for this incredible honor. Carlos here, mondale. I didn't know who you were looking at. I don't know who I

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5. 4.e

   Donate Life Month

   approved

   Mayor Chopper Davis read a proclamation declaring April 2026 as Donate Life Month in the City of New Port Richey, recognizing organ and tissue donation efforts and Lifelink of Florida. The accepting representative shared a personal story about his brother becoming an organ donor and encouraged residents to register.

   🏢Lifelink of Florida👤Chopper Davis#April 2026 Proclamation#Donate Life Month

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   Am half the time. Nice to meet you, sir. This is a proclamation of the mayor, of the office of the city, the office of the mayor of the city of New Port Richey. Whereas one of the most meaningful gifts that a human being can bestow upon another is the gift of life. And whereas over 105,000 men, women and children are currently on the national waiting list for organ transplantation, of which nearly 6000 reside in Florida, and whereas a record number of 49,065 transplants occurred in the calendar year 2025 in the united states, thanks to the generosity of 23,787 deceased and living donors, of which Lifelink of Florida honored more donors than ever before, serving 360 organ donors who provide 995 life saving transplants to patients in need. And whereas, more than 2.5 million people throughout the country and in Florida benefit annually from tissue transplantation thanks to thousands of tissue donors. And whereas the need for organ and tissue donation remains critical as a new patient is added to the national waiting list for an organ transplant every eight minutes in each day, roughly 13 people die due to the lack of available organs. And whereas more than 10 million floridians have already registered their decision to give the gift of life through organ and tissue donation at w w w DOT Florida DOT or on their driver's license. And whereas Lifelink of Florida, the nonprofit organization dedicated to the recovery of organs and tissue transplantation therapy in Florida, with the mission to honor donors and save lives through organ and tissue donation. Now therefore, I, Chopper Davis, mayor of the city of New Port Richey, do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as donate life month in the city of New Port Richey, and I encourage all citizens of this city to consider leaving an infinite legacy through organ donation and to sign up at ww. My story continues.com or when renewing their driver's license or state identification card. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you. The city of New Port Richey, this is just a phenomenal honor. I have to tell you folks that I don't stand here as a direct representative of lifelink. My brother was actually a donor, and I got to experience over ten years ago now, the amazing decision that my brother took that ended up saving four people's lives and impacting dozens more. I had no idea about organ, tissue and eye donation before my youngest brother humbled me with his story. I've since had the opportunity to meet some of the folks that are still with us today. Because of my brother's decision, I'd love to hear their story. I'd love to to know that they're meeting grandchildren that they would have never met had it not been for my brother's decision to become a donor. Since then, I've also become a donor because I firmly believe it. There's 6000 people in Florida right now on that registry that are desperately in need. There's over 105,000 in our nation, so I urge everybody to go ahead and visit. My story continues.com. If you can register, please let folks know if you are going to register and you're going to become a register. The more people know, the better. Thank you all so much for this honor to be here today and accept this. It's a pleasure and an honor. Thank you so much. Approval of the

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6. 5Approval of Minutes▶ 20:06
7. 6Vox Pop for Items Not Listed on the Agenda or Listed on Consent Agenda▶ 20:06
8. 7Consent Agenda▶ 45:01
9. 8.a

   First Reading, Ordinance No. 2026-2344: Vacation of Right-of-way for the East Side of Grand Boulevard and a Section of High Street

   approved

   Council held first reading of Ordinance 2026-2344 to vacate portions of right-of-way on Grand Boulevard and High Street to support the Villa Del Sol development project. The vacation includes a reversion clause requiring the developer to obtain a certificate of occupancy within five years, and the developer will convey title to fire station access property to the city. Motion to approve passed.

   Ord. Ordinance No. 2026-2344

   • motion:Motion to approve Ordinance 2026-2344 vacating portions of right-of-way on Grand Boulevard and High Street. (passed)

   📍5922 Wyoming Avenue📍East side of Grand Boulevard📍High Street between Aspen Street and Grand Boulevard👤Dale Hall👤Donna Jensen👤Ms. Manson👤Peter#Fire Station Number Two#Marine Parkway access#Ordinance 2024-2311#Ordinance 2026-2344#Ordinance 2026-2353#Rush Brothers Palm Haven Addition (Plat Book 2, Page 11)#Sea Craft Subdivision Number Five (Plat Book 2, Page 62)#Villa Del Sol project

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   First reading of ordinance number 2026 2344. Vacation right of way of the East side of Grand Boulevard in the section of high street. This is ordinance number 2026 2344, an ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, Florida, providing for the vacation of a portion of the right of way, known as high street, running between aspen street and grand boulevard, providing for vacation of a portion of the right of way, known as grand boulevard along the southeast boundary line of said right of way, providing. That said, rights of way are as shown on the plat of rush brothers palm haven. Addition to New Port Richey, recorded in plat book two, page 11 of the public records of Pasco County, Florida and sea craft subdivision. Number five recorded in plat book two, page 62 of the public records of Pasco County, Florida, providing for conditions of approval, providing for severability and effective date. Mr. Hall, could you please present the agenda item more fully? Thank you. Miss manson. The presentation I have before you this evening on powerpoint actually is for both ordinance 2026 2344 and ordinance 2026 2353, because they encompass the same area. And I believe that this is the best way to show what the applicant is actually looking for. Excuse me just one second. On the second slide, you said 23, 53, 23, 54 and 2344 basically. Okay, okay, I'm just correcting. I think you said 53, I apologize, it's items eight a and eight b will be the powerpoint presentation. What the applicant is requesting is a vacation of the public right of way for high street located between grand boulevard and aspen, and the East side of Grand Boulevard. Additionally, a conveyance of surplus property which is located within the right of way [00:50:02] Of grand boulevard. I have some drawings and diagrams that will clearly show this area. The applicant stated purpose is that these parcels are necessary for a co-host. Cohesive site design to begin the replat process and site construction permit drawings for the villa del sol project that was approved by the city council some time ago. The villa del sol project. This is the approved site plan or concept plan for that project. The area shown in red is the location of the vacation and property area, and then the area shown in yellow is property, city proposition or city acquisition property that I'll get into in just a moment. So I'm going to zoom in on the area that's circled in red, specifically, the areas that are requested are three specific areas. Area one is a portion of grand boulevard that's asked to be vacated. This is a right of way. And then area two is a portion of high street that's to be vacated. And area three is the small green area that is actually a surplus parcel of land. That's a remnant that is included in this, which is also requested for the applicant. That is the next item that's going that's the next ordinance. So the red or pink area is this ordinance. And the green area is the second ordinance. You might recall that high street was brought to the council in december of 2025. There was a first reading of that. However, a second reading was never accomplished because there was additional properties that were going to be added to that, which is what we see this evening. In addition, the ordinance talks about the acquisition of property that the city will get from this, which is just south of the new fire station. Number two, it is an access area where we have our driveway, and that will be an item in the ordinance that will be conveyed. That parcel will be conveyed to us. The ordinances that were delivered to, I believe they're ordinances that were given to you this evening. And I'll summarize those ordinances. Right now. The title conditions in the vacation property says that to to move forward with this, the applicant will obtain all the properties as per the approved concept. Right now they're still in ownership of the hospital and he's in the process of acquiring them. And he conveys the fire station property to the city. In addition, development conditions are that they have an approval of the utility plan of the construction area. Basically, any utilities in there need to have easements placed on them or to be moved outside, which will be determined in the site plan review process. Site construction permits for the approved concept, which was done in ordinance 20 2024 2311, will be resolved. A certificate of occupancy shall be issued for the area that I'll show specifically in the ordinance, that include three buildings in approximately 132 living units. And last but not least, the remaining development gets a ceo and I'll explain why there's a break out between the two in just a moment. There's also a reversion clause in there that specifically the developer has five years in which to obtain a certificate of occupancy for the area, which is shown in red, which is the area that we would be vacating. So they'll need the developer will need to complete that and get a certificate of occupancy on the vacated area within five years, or the property goes back to the city. That's a brief summary of, again, both of the ordinance items, and I'd be more than happy to expand on those. If you have any questions, have any public comment, seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion. Oh. Excuse me. Donna Jensen 5922 Wyoming Avenue. I have no problem with progress in our community. What I don't like is when we start changing things like closing roads, we don't need road closures, we need more road access for our residents. And when you close high street off, you're closing it off to all the people on the east side, all the way down past the high school, they're not going to have as much access to the [00:55:05] Boulevard in times of flooding or emergencies. It's going to make it more difficult. I am opposed to this close. Anybody else like to speak? Seeing no one else? Bring it back for discussion and vote. The ordinance is the 44 we're looking at first, yes. I make a motion to approve ordinance 2026 2344. I'll second. Yeah, I think as it's been explained, we've already got a preexisting construction of a fire station. We have a previous approval from the city for a development of this nature. And this has been a contemplated part of it. So as much as there has been a considerable amount of commentary about the the benefits of this, the the this is already moving. And I think this is appropriate action to take consistent. If our city begins to back pedal on projects that have taken two and three years to move forward, kind of works against the argument that we aren't moving fast enough to get things done. And so I'm all in favor of this second. Yeah, I agree with what peter's got to say. I mean, I understand donna's sentiments on on the high street situation, you know, but unfortunately, we've already got this in motion. These are just a few little cleanup things from what dale has explained, to just get the project moving. And I know there's been some delays already. So to me, like, you know, like peter mentioned, let's get the ball rolling. Gete developing this so we can get more residents council meetings. Yeah, I agree, we need to move forward with this. I know the high street. I mean I understand what she's saying, but I mean, I know it's been looked at to make sure that we got proper, proper flow and people were able to move around like they need to. I can't say, but it may may end up improving how people get around. So I'm good. Yeah. Mr. Mayor, first to Mr. Hall and the city attorney and city manager for ensuring that we are working with the developer to make sure the project that this council voted for is seen through without some level of failure. That's important. And I think these legal instruments do that. In regards to the comments made for flooding and evacuation routes, I know I have been very adamant with this project that the north west corner, the north or excuse me, the south west corner and the southeast corner all have parts of a plan to address and mitigate stormwater, but I do remain concerned. Over the northeast corner. And what is for that? What is for that area in terms of preventing some level of flooding? That being said, this is a vacation of the between aspen and grant or excuse me, of the right of way on grand boulevard. And so I'm not going to have prejudice towards this instrument just because I have some reservations over the northeast corner. I think this particular item should not hold up or excuse me, my reservations with the northeast or northeast corner should not hold up. This this specific item. Just got a question. Should we vote on one and then the other? Yes. You have a motion on this one, but I just wanted to make one comment for the record if I could. Mr. Mayor, one of the important aspects of this particular ordinance and this particular negotiation that was conducted with this developer was to get that access to our fire station. When we first were talking about constructing that, I was concerned that we had no access to marine parkway, and the best we could get from the hospital was an easement. They wouldn't give us title. We tried to work an arrangement to get title. And then this developer comes along and has agreed now to give title. So I just want to emphasize that's an important aspect of this, so that our fire station is not subjected to an easement as it's a main access. So that's an important part of this. I just want to make sure you understand that. I just think it's a fair trade. All those in favor signify by I,

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10. 8.b

    ↳You arrived here from a search for “Intersection of Grand Boulevard and High Street” — transcript expanded below

    First Reading, Ordinance No. 2026-2354: Deed of City Property Adjacent to Grand Boulevard and High Street

    approved

    First reading of Ordinance No. 2026-2354 authorizing the sale of a small (less than a quarter acre) surplus city parcel at Grand Boulevard and High Street, fully encapsulated by the previously approved Grand River vacation, to be conveyed to the developer. Motion to approve passed 5-0.

    Ord. Ordinance No. 2026-2354

    • motion:Motion to approve first reading of Ordinance No. 2026-2354 providing for the sale of surplus city property at Grand Boulevard and High Street. (passed)5–0

    📍Intersection of Grand Boulevard and High Street👤Hall#Grand River vacation#Ordinance No. 2026-2354

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    I. That's five nothing. First reading of ordinance number 2026 2354. This ordinance [01:00:01] Number 2026 2354. An ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, Florida, providing for the sale of surplus city property. Providing for the sale of the property generally located at the Intersection of Grand Boulevard and High Street as legally described in exhibit a attached hereto providing for conditions. Providing authorization to the city manager to execute all documents in accordance herewith and providing for an effective date. Mr. Hall, if you want to introduce this. Sure. The powerpoint that went forward and saw showed that little green parcel. It's it's a very small parcel of land, less than a quarter of an acre. And it was it is all encapsulated by the. It, the grand river vacation that you just approved goes all the way around that. So it's a parcel surplus parcel of land that should be at this point considered for being conveyed over to the developer for any public comment. Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion and vote. I'll move to approve. Second, no, I think we said it all already. Second, I'm good. Yes sir. Comments are the same. All those in favor signify by I, I. That's five

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11. 9.a

    Investigation Station - Potential Donation of Interactive Park

    approved

    Investigation Station, represented by director Lisa Campos, presented a proposed donation of an interactive geology educational exhibit consisting of 12 stations along the public right-of-way at Cody River Park (between Indiana Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue), depicting Florida's geological history. Staff raised concerns about signage/sponsorship terms, flood hazard area placement, and had previously suggested the James Gray Preserve as an alternative. Council endorsed the concept and directed staff to work out further details and explore best locations downtown.

    • motion:Endorse the concept of the Investigation Station interactive geology exhibit and direct staff to work out further details on the product and return with agreed upon best locations downtown. (passed)5–0

    📍Cody River Park📍Indiana Avenue📍James Gray Preserve📍Massachusetts Avenue📍Orange Lake📍Veterans Memorial Park, Hudson🏢Florida Geologic Survey🏢Investigation Station🏢MAPS Museum👤Charles Adler👤Chopper Davis👤Dale Hall👤Dr. Phillips👤Kim👤Lisa Campos👤Mr. Murphy👤Vance#1922 Schoolhouse#Chasco festival#Cultural Affairs Board/Committee#DRC (Development Review Committee)#Pliocene geology exhibit example#Special Flood Hazard Area

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    Nothing business items. Investigation Station. Potential donation. This proposed project is being brought to you by the Investigation Station, who has implemented a couple of projects in Pasco County parks. What they have specifically in mind is an educational exhibit for Cody River Park, and it's a geology exhibit. What they have specifically proposed is to install 12 stations along the public right of way, beginning at Indiana Avenue and ending at Massachusetts Avenue. And each station is proposed to represent a different time period. Representing the geological development of the earth and Florida. And I'm going to let dale talk about it a little bit, but elisa campo is due to be here this evening. I don't see her. There they are. Hi, Lisa. I'm Lisa is in attendance and she has handled most of the work on this project. There are some things that we don't know about the project that we need, that we need to learn because we've got some concerns about it. And that relates to some of the donations that they have solicited for the project, because they're asking to erect signage to acknowledge the donations. And we need to know some things about the terms and the conditions of the signage and how they would be established on our property. And that's something that we would want to get ourselves wrapped around. If you are interested in pursuing the project, and that's what we're really asking you about this evening, they would and they have garnered some support for the establishment of this interactive educational exhibit to be put in place. It would then be the city's responsibility to owen to accept liability and to maintain these exhibits once they're put in place. And they may very well attract attention along the Cody River Park, which you need to be mindful of. At one point we did suggest that they might be well suited to the gray preserve, and the committee did take a look at that and really had a preference for Cody River Park. And so that's the one that they have asked us to suggest to you for placement of this exhibit, which the stations are interactive, as you can tell from the backup material that we provided to you with this agenda item. And. The only questions that we really wanted to hone in on is the interactive signage. And dale, I know you probably have things that you want to say about this. So, Mr. Hall, should I just turn that over to you? Thank [01:05:07] You, Mr. Vance. You did a very detailed explanation of that, but I do wish to add a couple items. This item was originally submitted in july of 2023 for consideration, and it was reviewed by the development, the drc. And we at that time had denied the concept because there was limited detail provided and the potential impacts outweighed what we saw. The potential benefits of the project was in september of 2025, the concept was resubmitted to the city and understanding the merits of the request, staff had proposed alternative site for that at the gray preserve. Now, we're here tonight before you to show the the concept, and I believe miss campos might do some of that and this and determine whether what location is the best for this and how to proceed in reviewing this project if it's deem appropriate. So you're looking for us to looking for you to move forward with this. Give us permission to establish this exhibit at Cody River Park, as is the request by the Investigation Station folks. And and miss campo would like to address you this evening. Come on down then, miss manners, if I may add to that. Even. Whether the council decides to move forward with this or not, they would still be required to submit the information that's required to get construction of this. This this would not be just an outright approval of this. They would still have to go through construction review and all of that. This is the site that's presented or deemed to be presented is in the special flood hazard area. And there are some concerns that the city has or the drc has expressed that is outlined in the presentation material in your report, and I can go into detail if if required. Hi, I'm Lisa Campos, I'm the director of Investigation Station. We create interactive exhibits for kids and their caregivers to experience for free on their own time and Pasco County and back in like 2018 or 19, Chopper Davis had come to me and said, we want an exhibit for Cody River Park. And at the time, I was in the middle of creating a splash pad exhibit, which Mr. Murphy helped with the electricity on at the veterans memorial park in hudson. So we've been working on this since we opened that one back in 2023. We have been working with local artists and businesses to come up with a plan to create this exhibit so that it would be in the sidewalk. We would pull up the existing sidewalk, put down new sidewalk with the artwork in it, so that as little disruption as possible would happen to the park. Then we thought that it would be great for the children to have some interactive portions with manipulatives, and due to the potential flooding down there, we've worked out with our engineer to make those interactive tables removable so that when a flood is imminent, the a a staff member can come with the type of tool necessary for the. Sorry, the. Yeah, the removable bolts that are required for anti. Theft and vandalism. Hardware to remove it, put the those four tables into storage until the flood waters clear. And then you know, it's safe to put them back and then reassemble everything. And that would be our, our solution for that. And, and sidewalks, the sidewalk artwork would be there just the way a sidewalk is. I mean, you don't have to replace sidewalks every time that there's a flood. So it would just be the same as the sidewalk. Just it would be, you know, with artwork similar to something like this, you know, [01:10:06] Depending on which station you're, you're standing at. Are there any questions? Could we see the other boards? Oh, sure. If you can believe that we had a paleolithic artist from from the New Port Richey helping us with this, but he has since moved a little farther away, so he could not be here tonight to explain. But like, this is an example of the pliocene, and it would show the different levels of the of the geological makeup of Florida. And that was the request from the cultural affairs board that we really try and focus on how Florida came to be, where and how it is, and have a little flag. As you can see, we're going to have here in the corner of each sidewalk exhibit where Florida existed on the globe. At that point in time. Geologic time is really, really long and billions and millions of years. And so it's really hard not only as for adults, but for children to understand that Florida came off of africa, moved across the globe, and then was underwater for millions and millions of years until the the strait between Florida and georgia was filled in due to the erosion of the appalachian mountains. Then once that was filled in. Then continued erosion slowly brought Florida above sea level. And so these are the kinds of concepts that we're trying to convey and help children understand. And it's a great bonding activity. Like the the one speaker came up and said she wished that we had more things for young people. This would definitely satisfy that. Does anybody want to make a proposal? Do we have any public comment? Yeah, come on down. If you're going to speak, work your way down to the front, please. Color coordinated. Yeah, I always have something to say when it comes to culture, support, culture search. She does. That's right. Support culture. Right. Thank you charles. My name is Charles Adler. I'm the executive director of the MAPS Museum. And we're here to support Lisa and her group with anything, geological or any kind of input that we can give to make it a successful project. Thank you. Charles. Doctor Phillips, as a doctor in education, 60% of learning happens outside of the classrooms. That's why I've been engaged so much with the 1922 schoolhouse. And we all know our area is so congested. We have limited free open space for these interactions to happen. I would highly encourage these types of things. Thank you. If you have any questions up here. Yeah, just just first off, thank you, miss campos, for taking the time and for your what appears to be patience and resiliency throughout the years to get this in front of us. So appreciate that. It's definitely been thoroughly analyzed by yourself and our development department. And I appreciate the cultural affairs committee and I'm assuming representing the MAPS Museum, or maybe just an individual capacity coming out to support the project. There is no doubt that the that the work being done here that doctor Phillips actually highlighted is of a net benefit to our kids and to our senior population and anyone who wants to enjoy it. My only question, and please don't take this question as opposition, but I think I'm hearing it looks like there might be some disagreement over the placement, which is pretty evident in the staff's recommendation. Is there a is there a rationale behind the cody riverwalk versus the James Gray Preserve? And I'm going to load my question with a quick context. Being that the James Gray Preserve is situated closer to two of our high need population schools, which are both in d status at the state level, who have kids who could benefit from the science that is revealed here, versus the cody riverwalk, which is predominantly without characterizing it as predominantly not our student based population? I'm just curious. I'm curious what the rationale is. We were requested by mayor Chopper Davis to have create an exhibit for that park, specifically when it was proposed to us to place it at gray preserve. We went and looked at it, and it is that is a beautiful location, of course, [01:15:08] But there was already an exhibit there from the library. And so to have two exhibits occupying the same space, the same physical space, to us it seemed a little overwhelming to visitors. It would also take away from sponsorships potential we had when when presenting the idea to potential sponsors, you know, I would say the city, the mayor of the city has requested this for this park and we're looking for a corporate sponsors. And so they were told that, you know, pending approval that that's where it was going to be. And so that's why they, you know, granted us funding for that. Appreciate it. I appreciate the honesty. And that does provide some context. I do see a world where during chasco, when, you know, some, some areas of our downtown are not as easily accessed for our, our, our, our youth population, this being a potential net benefit. And, and just in general, a lot of people don't associate that park as being a park. So adding some level of elements of this nature might be able to help realize that it's, it's a diverse area for both, you know, kids to kids to enjoy the riverfront as well as our adult population. So I'm curious to hear if staff has anything they want to add. But that's the only question I had. Thank you. I have a couple questions. The size of the structures, the tables size and weight of the tables. Are they substantial construction? Heavy? We don't have enough information to provide that. We have some size, but we don't have anything on construction or, you know, things of that. No shop drawings. Thank you. I've looked at your some of your website or facebook and I've seen the things you do. And thank you for your charitable efforts to try to help the youth and help further education. I believe it's oldsmar. I don't think it's safety harbor, but one of the Tampa bay parks has got, I think all of the planets, if you walk around the park in these standing displays and questions and things that inspire curiosity, and I think what you have is good, I would say if the purpose of this is to get a highly visible location, and that's what your sponsors want to the question of how the amount of or the the comment that was made about sponsors becoming the park, becoming promotional. I've heard that from other council members in the past. I'm not as concerned about that. If it's a if it is an appropriate, you know, recognition of something. But if it's being promoted in order to be an advertisement, then it takes us to something that, you know, in retrospect, I, I am disappointed that the city back in the day allowed a firm to bring a bunch of park benches in which the big giant posters and advertisements. So I think advertisement has to be, you know, for someone who actually goes up and looks at it and can say, oh, I can acknowledge this person was the sponsor, and I suspect that's their intent. And not for us to turn this into an advertising. Debacle or calling of college before they're allowed to drink the stadium or whatever else you might think of, or sports betting or any of the other things that are not particularly healthy, that are happening with sponsorships. I would say we have a good bit of riverfront and we have more riverfront that is occurring. I don't know the time frames of this, but I would like to move that we approve with the concept. But just because the mayor said that's the right place for it, across from houses and residential neighborhoods, there might be a place that we can come up with again to find their final locations. That is a good track where the kids are. I'm thinking about Orange Lake. I'm thinking about around the splash pad. I'm thinking about other places has been commented where we're children are really are. So for the purpose you have, I would just ask if we could approve this concept and ask you to further refine the locations. I'm not against the [01:20:04] Cody River Park, but I think that, you know, there's there's an important part of bringing in hands on education and experiences into the park itself. I don't know how many people come to the park that really go down Cody River Park. As much as it is a neighborhood walk and a lot of walkers. So I would just ask if we could examine that. I do understand that the, the the breadth and size of the great preserve is pretty expansive. I think if you're going to have something in a very busy environment that you're that I'm supportive of it so others can talk and then I'll make a motion if there's more comments. No, I mean, I agree. Thank you. I mean, you know, we do need to have more things for kids to be interactive. Now, what I would maybe consider is maybe we started in the park because obviously with chasco, you see tons of youth there and they're just rolling around. So if we were maybe to create a starting point there and create them to go further down and venture out, I think that might be an idea for a concept. My only really big concerns are just maintenance going forward, because obviously you're going to put it in, then we're going to take care of it. So obviously, I just want to make sure that once we get it in there, the stability and make sure it's functioning and it's usable because I don't want to put something in there that in two years is broken and not using, you know, it's not usable, then it's just, you know, a place for somebody to sit or, you know, deface. And then the only other concern would be, I want to be conscientious of those residents on the river. So we don't want to make it something that's very intrusive because they're looking out their home at the river. I don't want to make it to where they're like, this doesn't look good. And then obviously to the point of the advertisement, you know, as long as it's something a menial plaque, just recognizing that person, that's great. Just not really a big advertisement. And then, you know, and I encourage this all the time, and I know kim will agree with me is, you know, we need to create as many qr codes as we can because that's the most important thing, because these kids are on their phones, like you own that park and you want to go look for pokemon, you're going to find them. They're everywhere. So we need to make it as, as user friendly on our phones as possible, because that's going to draw them to that. So those are just my few comments, but I like it. I agree with it, but I like to see a little more detail on what it's exactly going to look like going forward. Okay. The qr codes that we're including will connect the users to the Florida Geologic Survey so that the most up to date information is available for anybody who wants more explanation on each piece of artwork, the sponsorship recognition will not be anything brash. It will just be, you know, that this station is sponsored by so and so with their little logo. And that's it. Yeah. You're welcome. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I agree with what everybody else is saying up here. I think anything we can do to engage our youth constructively is a positive. And I'm looking forward to, you know, talking about it and seeing what the final project is. So it looks interesting. When I talked to Lisa, I just wanted to let you further for everybody to know when she talked to me and she told me all about this, I realized how little I knew. And so I thought that I would learn as much as, you know, you know, the kids would learn. And I, in anybody between the kid's age and my age would learn. And I think probably some parents and grandparents that walked down that and saw that would come back and bring their, their parents, bring their kids, you know, it would be an educational family educational situation, not just kids. So I really thought that it was a family situation in my myself. After my discussions with Lisa. Absolutely. Do I have a proposal that we take this, continue taking this forward. I will make a motion that we endorse the concept and would approve and direct the staff to work out more of the details related to the product itself, and come back to us with some hopeful, agreed upon best locations for it in the in the downtown. I second was in favor. That's five nothing. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. For the appointment of paul

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12. 9.b

    Board Appointment: Paula Athans, Cultural Affairs Committee

    approved

    Council appointed Paula Athans to the Cultural Affairs Committee. A letter from Athans, who could not attend, was read into the record describing her background as a retired art teacher with a BFA and master's in art education. The motion passed unanimously 5-0.

    • motion:Motion to approve the appointment of Paula Athans to the Cultural Affairs Committee. (passed)5–0

    👤Judy👤Paula Athans#Cultural Affairs Committee

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    [01:25:03] Athens, the culture affairs committee. And before we go any further, I think Judy has a letter from paula that she wants to read. Yes. Miss athens could not be here tonight. She did submit some comments that she wanted read. So on behalf of miss athens, she says, I am a retired art teacher with over 25 years of experience holding a bfa in design and a master's degree in art education. I am Florida certified to teach art k through 12 and have dedicated my career to fostering creativity and artistic expression in students of all ages. I'm very interested in serving on the cultural affairs committee for the city of New Port Richey, because I am deeply passionate about the arts and the positive impact they have on individuals and communities. As a resident, I truly love our beautiful city and would welcome the opportunity to become more involved in the local arts community. Thank you for considering my application. Do you have any public comment? Seeing no one come forward or bring it back for discussion and vote? I'll move to approve. Second, just thank her for volunteering and I appreciate her knowledge of the facts. Thank you. Thank you for serving. All those in favor signify by I I. That's five.

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13. 9.c

    Authorizing the Execution of FY25 Audit Engagement Letters

    approved

    Council authorized engaging Mauldin & Jenkins LLC for FY2025 audit services using the State of Florida DMS Master Services Agreement, at a total cost of $52,600 plus $5,700 per single audit major program. Councilmember Altman urged the city to obtain additional outside consulting help for the finance department to avoid the lateness experienced with the FY2024 audit.

    • motion:Motion to approve authorizing the execution of the FY25 audit engagement letters with Mauldin & Jenkins under the State DMS Master Services Agreement. (passed)5–0

    🏢Mauldin & Jenkins LLC🏢State of Florida Department of Management Services👤Ms. Dunn👤Peter Altman#DMS Master Services Agreement 84111600-20-1#FY25 Audit Engagement Letters#RFP 2022-01 Independent Audit Services#Resolution 2022-3 (auditor selection committee)#Resolution 2026-12

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    Nothing. Authorization of exit. Execution of the. Fy 25 audit engagement letters. Well, that's means the purpose of the agenda item is to request your permission to enter into a procurement for audit services with maldon and jenkins for the fiscal year 25 audit. By utilizing the State of Florida Department of Management Services master services agreement and. Miss dunn will further present the agenda item. City council meeting. Please pull your. Is this better? Okay. So the procurement process and selecting the city's auditor began in december of 2021. The city council approved resolution 2020 2-3, which established an auditor selection committee and the resolution designated the committee, which is all five council members, with the mayor acting as the chair to provide assistance to the city council and selection of the auditor to conduct the city's annual financial audit. In February 15th of 2022, the city council awarded rfp number 2020 2-01 for independent audit services to with maldon and jenkins for three years. Fiscal year 2021 through 2023 and each year, engagement letters for those audit services were executed individually. Maldon and jenkins is an approved vendor under the State of Florida Department of Management Services master services agreement for performance of financial audits. The agreement is effective March 1st, 2021 through February 28th, 2027. The city did utilize the state's master services agreement for fiscal year 2024, which was performed by maldon and jenkins, so the recommendation from staff this evening is to approve the use again of the State of Florida Department of Management Services master services agreement number 84111600-20-1. To engage maldon and jenkins LLC for fiscal year 2025 audit services and authorize the execution of the associated engagement letters. The total cost for those audit services for fiscal year 25 is $52,600, with single audit fees of $5,700 for each major program. And the funding for these services has been budgeted in the fiscal year 26 budget. That's all I have prepared for you for those engagement letters, but I can I'm prepared to answer any questions. Do you have any public comment? Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion. Vote. I'll move to approve. I'll second the motion. The maker. Good. Thank you. Okay. Yes. Just. I have to say that the lateness of the audit for the 2024 audit causes me to encourage the finance department and the city manager to. Make sure that we have the the assistance to you in the finance department to make sure some of the things happen every year. There are new government accounting standard issues, whether they're leases or subscriptions [01:30:06] And all of the software, all the testing that has to be done. It's very complex and specialized. And what I believe this cost reflects is an expectation of the of the preparation of the financial statements to come from the city primarily, which didn't used to be the facts. Way back in the day, an auditor would come in and help a city that didn't have all those expertise in creating the financials. So because of the lateness of it and because of the potential financial downside, and because one of the sufficient timely financial information causes me to suggest that I would like to see you come back to hire a firm such as we've had to do in dade city, because they've been behind. Very helpful to get current to make sure that pooled cash reconciliations are absolutely current, that the end of the year adjustments are done. So there this is an important time frame we're in where everybody wants to know about budgets and financials. And I appreciate the relatively good value you're going to get for that audit, which is not high by standards. Let's spend some money internally if we have to, to give the help that's needed. And you're not going to just hire somebody that has those skills, you're going to have to use a service that does this. We need a consulting agreement. If whatever we have, we need more. I've committed on my work across the county, and this is a fiscal year from october to next september to complete three audits in one year, because that's how far behind they got from a software debacle that they had that that I inherited. Once you're behind, it's it's not only stressful, but we don't have the information we need. So if we're going to take seriously the audit findings and the responses that were given to it, that we were going to catch ourselves up. Starting that audit now. I think is a critical a critical thing to make sure that you're current. So my approval is for the audit. My appeal is let's make sure we get them everything they need and get our finance department what it needs professionally. Thank you. Anybody else? Yeah. Just as an indication to the city manager of where I stand on Mr. Altman's comments, I think the you know, our our New Port Richey in this council is of an advantage that we do have a very strong finance director, a strong city manager. And on our board matrix, we have a seasoned, you know, 30 year plus professional in the finance world. And so I think it's important that, you know, I know this is about approving the engagement letters, but that we heed the advice and take it seriously and, and follow up publicly to the rest of this board. The at some point, what the status of what he just advised is and what that will look like going forward, because I do support it. I just want to chime in. And I do agree with what peter has to say. You know, he's he's been around the block a time or two. So I do understand what he's saying. And if we do need the help then we should get it. Now if that's the case then let's do it. So yeah, mine just let's stay on top of the ball ahead of the ball that time. All those in favor signify by I, I. That's five nothing. Resolution number 20 2612.

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14. 9.d

    Resolution No. 2026-12: Re-establishing the Rules for Railroad Square on Weekends

    approved

    Council adopted Resolution No. 2026-12 reestablishing weekend closure of Railroad Square (Nebraska Avenue between Adams Street and Grand Boulevard, including Cavalier Square) to vehicles from Fridays 4 PM through Sundays 2 PM (extended to Mondays 2 PM on legal holidays), and authorizing a weekend wet zone allowing alcohol consumption in plastic cups. The closure coincides with completion of the construction project and the grand opening celebration April 11-12.

    Ord. Resolution No. 2026-12

    • motion:Motion to approve Resolution No. 2026-12 reestablishing weekend rules for Railroad Square, including vehicle closure and weekend wet zone. (passed)5–0

    📍Cavalier Square📍Nebraska Avenue between Adams Street and Grand Boulevard📍Sims Park🏢Shadowfax🏢Steamworks👤Andy👤Figard👤Jonas👤Manz👤Patel👤Sweigart#Cavalier Square#Code of Ordinances Chapter 3, Section 3-5#Exhibit A#Exhibit B#Grand Opening April 11-12#Railroad Square#Resolution No. 2026-12

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    Reestablish rules for Railroad Square on weekends. This is resolution number 26 1220 2612. A resolution of the city council, the city of New Port Richey, Florida, authorizing the closure to vehicle traffic of the area, commonly known as Railroad Square, nebraska avenue, between adams street and grand boulevard on weekends, providing for the authorization of consumption and possession of open containers of alcoholic beverages in said areas and other public properties on weekends, and providing for an effective date. This resolution is relating to Railroad Square and covers Cavalier Square as well, and its timing relates specifically to the fact that we will be able to reestablish Railroad Square as as public [01:35:04] Space, largely commensurate with the completion of our construction project there. And our celebration will be on March 11th and 12th to, I'm sorry, april. April April 11th and 12th. And I'm going to let Andy tell you a little bit about the agenda item. Thank you, miss sweigart. Thank you, city manager manz. And good evening, mayor, deputy mayor and city council. Before you. Tonight is a resolution to support the continued activation of the newly renovated Railroad Square, which is now incorporating Cavalier Square as part of the Railroad Square visitor area as seen in exhibit a, with construction now complete, staff proposes reinstating a closure to motorized vehicles, whether standing or sitting, that would prohibit golf carts, scooters, micro mobility devices and bicycles. With the exception of police, fire and other emergency vehicles or mobility devices used by individuals with disabilities. This area is shown in exhibit b, the proposed closure would occur from fridays at 4 p.m. Through sundays at 2 p.m. With an extension to 2 p.m. On mondays, when a legal holiday applies. Additionally, a redesignated weekend wet zone, as is shown in exhibit a, could allow Railroad Square to be moved more fully utilized by downtown visitors by allowing the possession and consumption of alcohol within the designated area during the closure period, provided it is contained in plastic cups. As a limited exception to the city's ordinance code of ordinance in chapter three, section 3 to 5. If approved, the city manager would be authorized to take necessary actions to implement the resolution, including necessary signage, barricades and any operational decisions not specifically outlined in the resolution to ensure the program can be administered effectively and responsibly. The chief of police, the city attorney city administration reviewed the plan as outlined in the resolution and approved to it as form. It's the opinion of city staff that this proposal will enhance the safety, accessibility and vibrancy of our downtown area by creating a safe and engaging environment that promotes community activity and economic vitality. For these reasons, I respectfully present this to city council for your consideration and approval. Thank you. Public comment. Seeing no one come forward or bring it back for discussion and vote, I'll move to approve. Second. Second maker. No, I think this this project has been a long time coming. I mean, this has been talked about for ten years that I can remember. So I just think it's a great spot. I mean I was down there Saturday and there was a group of about 60 people for an 80S style 40th birthday party, you know. So to me, this screams economic vitality because these businesses are just going to get people that are going to want to come congregate, you know, and I'm super excited about Saturday for our grand opening. I like our little instagram post that I got to see today, so I'm excited to see how that rolls out. But you know, I just think it's great. And I think the, the design came out very well. You slip on the banana. No, I did not. Oh, okay. Just a second. I think our city has been very intentional when it comes to red square and its roll out, really emphasizing what miss figard said tonight about community and economic vitality with the, you know, a reminder of golf cart parking, the conversations with our business owners, the business meeting, business meetings that I've had. And really what this is about is walkability. When you walk out of a business, our city is encouraging you to stay on foot, to explore other businesses, to explore what our downtown has to offer the theater, the culture, and to do that in a safe manner. Knowing that you're able to walk to and from. And so this achieves that. It definitely brings us together. And I think miss figard said it [01:40:01] Best when she used the word community. Yeah, I had the pleasure of, for the first time having Easter just out on the street. Well, and not having the big Easter. It's always wonderful. And I'm thankful for all the family Easter's that I've had. But I have to say, this one was a little different because it was just dixie and I, and we sat there outside of steamworks and the music, the local talent, the vibe. I think it's going to be a great, you know, a great benefit to the city to have that open space. Second to the first step was the expansion of Sims Park and the encirclement of the lake. Folks tell me all the time and over the past, during the period, heard many times people saying that they were moving back in just like. Our councilman jonas has said that moved away. Wondered if he would ever bother to come back. And now folks are coming back and saying one of the members of shadowfax told me he's going to sell his house on the coast of south carolina and move back. And part of it is because of the friendship and the camaraderie. So when you go out on a weekend and you run into folks, you know, and you're part of a big family, I think that's the thing that's missing in so many other places that we need to hold close to us. And so I think it's going to be a great thing. I haven't quite figured out the one area what it's going to be. I guess, with the two over parts. So I'm way I'm anxious to get the instructions once we get to the grand opening of how all of that's going to function, but that's exciting. I look forward to being there. Yeah, this is an amazing space. I think like no other and for, for everybody to be able to congregate, move around freely and have all the access to, to all that space for concerts and events. I mean, it's just, it's just such an asset to the city. And I've heard nothing but good things so far. So that's all I have. You, patel, did you speak already? Yeah. Okay. Okay. I just want to say this whole last ten years and the growth downtown has just changed this town. And, you know, I used to go downtown ten years ago and people say, I'm going to dunedin. I'm going to safety harbor. I'm going to, you know, tarpon springs, I'm going to ybor. But you don't hear that anymore. And I think this is this program right here. Railroad Square is going to even take it to a whole nother level and not just for the adults, but I think there's going to be families there, and there's going to be kid events and birthday parties. And you know, the little part that you're not sure what it is will be a birthday party area, without a doubt, especially when the parents can sit over at a table and get a bite to eat. So all those in favor signify by I, I. That's five nothing. Public art fund

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15. 9.e

    Public Art Fund: Request to Purchase Freenotes Harmony Park Outdoor Musical Instruments

    approved

    Council approved a Cultural Affairs Committee recommendation to purchase Freenotes Harmony Park outdoor musical instruments for installation at Grand Boulevard Park, using $44,796.64 from the Public Art Fund. The interactive music walk will include two themed areas (pollinator/monarch butterfly and aquatic/riverside) and will be installed by Public Works staff.

    • motion:Motion to approve the purchase of Freenotes Harmony Park outdoor musical instruments for $44,796.64 from the Public Art Fund for installation at Grand Boulevard Park. (passed)

    📍Cotee River Park📍Fire Station Number Two📍Francis Ave📍Grand Boulevard Park📍Sims Park🏢Freenotes Harmony Park👤Altman👤Bertel👤Figard👤Kevin👤Mannes👤Matt👤Richard Cook#Cultural Affairs Committee#Eco Coastal coverage package#Monarch Butterfly designation#Pentatonic tuning#Public Art Fund#Sonic Architecture

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    Request for purchase. Free notes. Harmony park outdoor musical instruments. This. Agenda item. Is being advanced by miss figard, who made a recommendation to the cultural affairs committee to purchase some outdoor park musical instruments to be installed at Grand Boulevard Park by use of our public art fund. So, miss, do you want to tell us a little bit about that? I'd be honored too. Thank you. City manager mannes, the request before you tonight is consider the proposal of adding free notes. Harmony park outdoor musical instruments to the Grand Boulevard Park and authorize an expenditure of $44,796.64 from the public art fund for the purpose of adding an interactive music walk that will appeal to musicians of all abilities and ages. So at their October 14th, 2025 meeting, this idea was originally presented and discussed by members of the cultural affairs committee, and since that time, the committee has worked with staff to identify, visit, evaluate potential locations, review catalogs websites, listen to the musical recordings of some of these instruments, and participate in a virtual meeting with the free harmony notes. Representative committee members ask detailed questions as one would expect [01:45:02] Them to do about instrument types, design sizes, tuning system, construction method, cost estimates, ensembles, decibel levels, manufacturer warranty coverage, materials that it's made out of, even the depth that the instrument should be included. After several months of revisions, renderings, staff assisted pricing negotiations, final proposal that included a site plan and information about the instruments and the invoice was presented to the committee at their most recent meeting on March 18th. At this time, they unanimously voted to recommend that city council approve the purchase of these outdoor musical instruments instruments to be installed on the grant at Grand Boulevard Park. They agreed that the project represents an appropriate and meaningful use of the public art funds, noting that the instruments function as both visually engaging sculptures called sonic architecture, designed by an actual sculptor, and the installation was also considered interactive art. The. It's intended to promote education, exploration, and appreciation of music, while also introduce a unique and playful element to the park, the committee emphasized. That would help enhance the community character and provide a free, inclusive activity for people of all ages and abilities, including seniors and individuals with special needs. So a few items that I want to highlight to you specifically. About the instruments that the designs utilize, proprietary instrument design, tuning systems, and construction methods that have been developed over decades. The concert quality musical experience is not commonly available through traditional playground equipment, so that makes these instruments and this manufacturer different than others that you might find there are no wrong notes. So they are designed to to harmonically follow pentatonic tuning, which ensures that all the instruments will sound good together no matter your musical abilities. They're originally designed by a grammy award winning musician, Richard Cook, and he designed them in 1995. They use cable based instruction. They're ada compliant. They include a five year limited warranty, and some parts include life warranty. They have an expanded musical range of 36 notes, while other instruments usually offer only 12 to maybe 20 notes. So there's a major difference there. And they're coated with an anti-graffiti coating, also, an eco coastal coverage package, which is an additional feature that the committee recommended that would protect the the anodized steel frames even more so than than a regular powder coating. They can be easily cleaned with soap and water. And I think those are some major highlights for this particular manufacturer that differs them from other companies that sell large playground and interactive equipment. So if approved, the instruments would be sourced directly from free notes harmony park. They are weather resistant, ergonomically designed. They harmonize automatically, and the installation would be completed by public works staff. The proposed layout, which you'll see as one of the attachments, includes two grassy areas between the pavilion and playground, and it was selected to minimize impacts from flooding from nearby residences and also from traffic. The [01:50:06] Committee also recommended consideration of turf installation in these areas. If public works decided that that was a good recommendation worth considering, one installation area would feature a pollinator theme to highlight the city's monarch butterfly designation, while the second would incorporate an aquatic theme. Elements reflecting the city's riverside identity. If approved, this project would cost would impose direct costs of $44,796.64. Should council decide, this would be a meaningful and cultural fine arts addition to the city's other offerings, members of the cultural affairs committee are present tonight, and I am available as well as they are. If you should have any questions during public comment. Seeing no one come forward will bring it back for discussion and vote move for approval. Second, yeah, a couple things. Just looking at this, the esthetics of it, it makes it look very unique. So I love that. And then it being, you know, basically like instruments where you can get some, some sound, there'll be one neighbor that doesn't complain because I'm going to vote for it. It's right next to my house. So and then there's actually an instrument maybe that I can play and it sounds okay. So I'll be over there trying them out. But no, I think it's really neat and I look forward to it as long as everybody else goes along with it. Second, yeah, I think it's great. And I was going to suggest that you could point the speakers towards his house if you, you know, because he it is right next door. But I would ask in city's presentations of these that, you know, we should if we can try to use the visuals for the audience. I know when someone came up with the boards, I looked and saw that the camera was picking up what they were showing us. So these are exciting opportunities and they're described and we can imagine what it would look like. But if you've got the opportunity to have the meeting book available and kind of put things up, so let's, we'll encourage more attendance if we can get a little more information out. And for myself, who left my meeting book and don't have it, but never mind, it sounds great and I'm excited and I just love that we're thematically tying in everything, whether it's our paleontology, our geology, our river areas, our butterflies. It's all starting to sew together into a nice, you know, a nice picture. Thank you, thank you. Yeah. I think picking off where altman left the the design that sticks out to me is the one that ties into our city's monarch butterfly destination. And I think that our designation. And I think that really the pollinator theme that shows our, you know, our willingness to in the, in the world of culture, to collaborate with the environmental committee's interests, the recreation and aquatic center's interests. I also like that the. The other theme incorporates an aquatic element featuring the city's riverside identity. You could. You could tell we really. You know, when you guys. The cultural affairs committee and the. The city staff with the library went through this. They they looked for elements that really captured our city. It's very intentional. I will say the source of funding, the public art fund. You may recall, this is the fund that a certain percentage of capital projects goes into it. And then the private development projects can elect to, in terms of their permit fee, at some point in the permitting process, elect to put a certain percentage. I know we've had some prior conversations of whether we are actively advertising the public art fund to the private side. And if we aren't, if we can. And, and on that topic, I don't want to take away from this. So it's more of a footnote that we can discuss later. But the public art fund I would like to see, I'm glad to see it's being activated and being used. And this is a big project to really kick things off, but to also see where that fund will be at going into next year. If this is exhausting, it looks like it's rolling over from the prior year. So I'm assuming [01:55:02] This is eating up the majority of the fund, which. So so as we look. No it's not. Okay, good. Okay. And and so then just getting a status update on where we are with the public art fund and, and what other projects are in the works in terms of murals and with the addition of the funds that will be deposited in relationship to the Fire Station Number Two project, we would have $157,000 in the fund. And if this agenda item is approved, obviously it'll be $45,000 less. Thank you. So, you know, I agree with everybody's got to say up here, you know, I just think, you know, when you're going down grand boulevard, you know, it's vibrant. It catches your attention. So it's going to create people to use more of our parks. You know, we, we so focus on Sims Park, but we forget the other parks. So I just like the fact that we're, we're venturing out, we're doing some more for the other parks, you know, and I don't want to leave Francis Ave out of there. So I'd like to see something over there. So I don't know if you have anything in the works, but I'd like to hear something from there. So as as bertel says all the time, that's where the middle school kids are passing by and I see them all the time. So I like what we're doing. So thank you, Kevin. I'll come up with something. You know, we talked about Cody River Park and now we're talking about grand park. I think it is starting to grow out. And plus I get to go by and play lullabies for matt when he goes to bed. All those in favor signify by I, I, I.

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16. 9.f

    Resolution No. 2026-11: Disposition of Surplus City Property RE: K-9 Havoc

    approved

    Council approved Resolution 2026-11 declaring K-9 Havoc surplus property and transferring ownership of the seven-year-old retired police dog to former handler Brian Finch, along with a waiver, release, and indemnification agreement. Police Chief Coachman explained the best practice is to let aging K-9s retire with their handlers due to the strong bond.

    Ord. Resolution No. 2026-11

    • motion:Motion to approve Resolution 2026-11 transferring ownership of K-9 Havoc to Brian Finch with attached waiver and indemnification agreement. (passed)

    👤Brian Finch👤Chief Coachman👤Matt👤Patel#K-9 Havoc#K-9 Waiver Release and Indemnification Agreement#Resolution No. 2026-11

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    Resolution number 20 2611. Disposition of city property K9 have that this resolution number 20 2611. A resolution of the city of New Port Richey, Florida declaring certain personal property surplus, providing for the disposition of such property. Providing for terms and conditions of the disposition and providing for an effective date. This agenda item relates to police officer that was recently separated from the department and more specifically, to the fact that he was a k-9 handler with a seven year old dog, and how that police k-9 will be handled. And Chief Coachman, do you want to handle this agenda item? And thank you, Mr. Mayor, honorable mayor, council members. So the request before you is to approve the resolution, which does two things. It transfers the ownership of the police. K-9 named havoc to Brian Finch, and it also has a waiver release and an indemnification agreement attached to that too, as exhibit a. So k-9 havoc is seven years old. He served the city for a long time, so he's an older police k-9, and when a when a k-9 officer separates the dog that age, what do you do with it? And the best practice is to let the dog retire with the handler. And there's several. There's a myriad of reasons for that. Some of them are. Is that the bond that is built between a dog and the handler is intense and at seven years old, to try and repurpose that dog with another handle will not work to try and adopt that dog out to a family. Being a police k-9 will not work. The dog has earned it. The best place for him to be is with the handler. So we are recommending that you approve this resolution, which transfers the ownership of k-9 havoc to Brian Finch. And we're asking you to approve the k-9 waiver. I'm here for any questions that you may have. Do you have any public comment? Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion. Vote. Move. Approval of the request. I'll second to make. No, sir. Second. No, it was explained well thank you matt. I'm good. Patel okay. All those in favor signify by I I. That's

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17. 9.g

    City Manager Wage Adjustment

    approved

    City Manager Debbie Mann requested a salary increase of approximately 3% above her contractual CPI adjustment, to equalize her cumulative raises (5.9% over 2024-25) with the 9% general employees received over those years. After public comment opposing the raise and council discussion, the council voted 4-1 to honor the contractual CPI increase but postpone consideration of any additional performance-based increase until the first meeting in September.

    • motion:Hold the line on the additional salary increase request, allow the contractual CPI increase to take effect, and revisit the additional increase at the first council meeting in September. (passed)4–1

    📍5441 Drinker Drive, New Port Richey, Florida📍5647 Kentucky Avenue📍5922 Wyoming Avenue📍9330 Creedmoor Lane, New Port Richey, Florida🏢City of Madeira Beach🏢City of Port Richey🏢Claude Pepper Center👤Dale Webb👤Debbie Mann👤Donna Jensen👤Driscoll👤Emerson Martin👤Jackie Phillips👤Marlow Jones👤Matt👤Michael Helfrich👤Patel👤Peter👤Peters👤Tim#CPI February 2026: 2.42%#CPI-based annual salary adjustment#City Manager employment contract (5-year term, April 2023)#Current City Manager salary: $163,002.94#FY budget / September budget process

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    Five nothing. City manager wage adjustment. As part of my employment agreement with you. My annual performance agreement occurs in march, and I have talked to most of you about that already. And in 2024, a conversion was made in my contract in the form of an amendment which converted my salary increases to an annual cost of or, I'm sorry, the annual salary salary increase was based on the cpi percentage. And in 24 and in 25 the cpi was [02:00:09] Was a little low. The two years resulted in a 5.9% increase in salary and the. The general employees of the city over those two years received a 9% increase as a correction to a statement that was made earlier this year or earlier in the meeting today, I want to tell you that my annual salary is $163,002.94, and what I'd like to request is that my increase for 2026. Actually. Equalize the salary adjustments between me and the general employees. I don't want to receive anything more than that. I don't want a market adjustment. I just want to be paid the same increase that they received in 24 and in 25, which is a total of 9%, rather than the 5.9% that I did receive. So I'm asking for just over 3%. Any public comment? You're interested in speaking? Come on down to the front. Donna Jensen 5922 Wyoming Avenue. Excuse me, I'm not here to make any negative comments on our city manager and the job that she has done, but it's come to my attention that she recently applied for city manager job of madeira beach and was chosen as an alternate. The chosen person was, I'm proud to say, was a man that grew up in New Port Richey, born and raised here, and I'm so proud of him. Michael Helfrich, local kid. No offense to you, ma'am, but I've known him all his life, you know, and but at this time last two years ago, you got a new contract and a raise. And I just think with the state of the economy right now, that all raises should kind of be tabled for now. We have so many things going on in this country. Senior citizens aren't getting a raise. People aren't getting a raise. People are losing their jobs. And I really feel that at this time a raise is not appropriate. No offense to your work, I appreciate that, but I just think it's not appropriate at the time. Thank you. Next. Not only do I approve disapprove of a raise, we. Jackie Phillips, 5441 Drinker Drive, New Port Richey, Florida. I severely disapprove of a raise for the city manager because I think she's a very in transparency person. She's not honest. She doesn't pass on all the information that you guys should have because she did it to me whenever our area flooded so bad from all the sewer in the homes. I talked to her in july and I came to you guys in august and said about it when I brought my petition because she told me I didn't need to bring a petition to you guys. And she just doesn't. She's not transparent enough. She puts in the job. I'm not saying, you know, but she's also spending an awful lot of money to beautify the city. And you can have a beautiful city without spending thousands and thousands and thousands of taxpayers dollars to make it the most beautiful city in the area. So everybody will want to come here. They want more than just beautification. They want some personality of people. They want people to be cordial from our city and be nice and friendly. And that's what makes a friendly city. Not all this beautification and spending our [02:05:06] Taxpayers dollars. And when the people actually need some help with stuff, they're not getting it. Thank you. Dale Webb 5647 Kentucky Avenue. I don't think. Pay increase. For all the small businesses I know are hurting right now. I know my business is I know doctors that are taking pay cuts because people, especially the ones that take cash, pay because people don't have the money. And that's a, that's a lot of money. That's a pretty doggone good salary. I mean, I don't know how many people that are sitting in this building have ever made that kind of money per year. I just I don't think it's appropriate right now. It's nothing personal. I mean, it's just. Real world. Small business is struggling and I'm just totally against it. Thank you. Anybody else like to speak? Marlow Jones, New Port Richey, Florida. I am going to ask that the council table this what I what I think should happen. And I believe that we should be able to see the city manager's performance evaluation, the same one that you guys see when you grade her on whether she deserves a raise or not. Now, I understand the city manager's position is a very important position, and she has an important job and we understand that. But right now with the state of the economy, like miss donna said, the state of our country right now, you all should, especially most of you, from my understanding, are very conservative. So I would hope that you understand why we as residents are a little concerned. I think the salary she has right now, like Mr. Dale said, is pretty good. And I know that there was some missions of other cities with different salaries, but they have bigger revenues, they have larger cities. So I hope you all are taking that into account. And also just, you know, so we're all being fully transparent. Like the wonderful lady said behind me, are we doing this right now for a particular reason? Because I do find it strange that this was brought up right before an election, and it seems like right before a mayoral election, this is always right before us, and it's the last thing on the agenda. Why is it the last thing on the agenda? Why couldn't we talk about that when it was a room full of people? It always feels like there's something you don't want us to know. We've been here for hours, so I would hope that the council reconsiders giving any raises, because we need to think about last year when we were here, listening to you all talk about the budget and how many of the employees that sit to our left and right are no longer here. Did we eliminate like 11 or 12 positions within this city government? Right. Because of being conservative and trying to protect the budget. So how are we going to justify letting ten, 12 people go moving their positions? And now we're going to give the city manager a raise. We have residents that don't even have hot water in their homes. We have seniors that could be facing more issues if they're Claude Pepper Center is not going to be a sufficient place for them to be. So I think we should focus our resources on things that the residents want. And I think you should table this until after the election. Thank you. Anybody else like to speak? If anybody else would like to speak, please come down front. Emerson Martin, 9330 Creedmoor Lane, New Port Richey, Florida. I just want to make an apology about giving misinformation earlier. It's never my intent to do that. Thank you for correcting me on what your salary is. I do want to say that my position still stands despite that. So just think about what I said earlier. I think that this is a big decision that you need to consider. And I want to second what one of the ladies said before me about. While beautification is very important, we still need to remember the residents that do live here and we do want to beautify. We do want to bring people in because it brings a lot of money into our into our area. But I think we should try to remember our day ones. Thank [02:10:04] You so much. Anybody else like to speak? Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion and vote. So did we discuss the amount or how do we, we we we need a proposal. Can we have a discussion first? Tim. You can, you can discuss it or you can entertain a motion, whichever you prefer. Start with discussion. Excuse me, excuse me, city Attorney Driscoll. And to be clear, you cannot table something without a motion. Well, you would. You can. You can entertain a motion to postpone this decision. Tabling would actually involve a motion that's already on the floor. So if there's no motion on the floor, there's nothing to table. But if you want to have this discussion another time, you can certainly vote to do that. I don't think we should. I mean, we're we're the four here working with her working with her. So yeah, I think we should be the ones making this decision, not somebody who's going to be elected. So if I if I can make my case for postponement, I am not suggesting postponement until the end of the election season because you make a valid point. I don't think someone who's brand new, potentially brand new Mr. Mayor should be coming in dictating what our city manager should make. However, I do think postponement, if you look at the totality of the context here, the city manager started by saying a convergence was made and that is a very that's one way to characterize it. What happened was our city manager came before this council, and it was Mr. Peters who sat in the seat before me who made the recommendation that we should give her what ended up being a 9% raise, contingent on the fact that we would use the consumer price index going forward for a five year term. So that five year term is not up. We're only two years, you know, 2023, April 2023. So we're we're on the cusp of three years into that. And so I think it is appropriate that if the city manager believes that there needs to be a market adjustment, that that conversation occurs at the end of her five year contract. And when we reopen the conversation of her salary, we can talk about a market adjustment to get her to where she believes is fair and where. I will concede to the fact that other city managers do make, you know, I wouldn't say significant more, but for a city our size, she is lagging behind. But that is the consequence of longevity with the city to begin with. If you if you look at the studies she provided the cities with a city manager who has a longer term of service there tend to lag behind. Given some other circumstance, changing council, changing annexation, whatever the case may be. If I could just add one more one more piece to this. The suggestion was made that our city manager would like to just balance out with what our employees make, or what our employees saw an increase this year. I would be mindful to remind this council that in the year that this contract was made, our city employees and I'm free. I'm ready to be corrected on this because I I'm confident this is true. Received a 3% in some cases, a 2%, a 3% raise. And I'm not including labor in 2023, the year that this contract was made, a 3% raise with the possibility for up to 2% based on performance. So while the city manager was given a 9% raise, our employees that year historically were given a 3% raise with the possibility for up to 2%. So if you really if you really think about it, the cpi this year just balanced that back out. We gave her a 9%. Then she wants to get back to 9% now. So you're just bringing her back to where everything's fair again. So I would caution anyone who's saying who's using the argument of, we're just doing what's fair to balance out the employees, to realize by by postponing this and waiting for an actual reopening of the contract, you are actually keeping things fair to what was unfair for our employees back in 2023. And that's those are the points I wanted to make in terms of postponement. What is the cpi? What what is the cpi right now? 2.1%, 2.2%, something like that. That information on me and hani knows. Actually in miss mann's contract, it's based on the cpi as of march. So actually the cpi for march will come out April 10th for. That would be tied to that contract in for the month of february it was at 2.4%. Okay. So again, depending on what's going on with the [02:15:04] Economy now, you know you know, again, we don't know what what that number is going to be. But like I said, on April 10th, the, the new number will come out for the month of march, which would be tied to miss mann's contract, which then really takes effect her, her, you know, adjustment and stuff along those lines actually occurs in the month of june. So, so again, from that standpoint, but the but the raise is based on the cpi as of march. And the language, if you'll excuse me, in the contract clearly says the council may approve an additional increase each year in conjunction with the cpi and in 23, the employees got the same thing. I did a market increase. They had a salary study performed that year, and they received the result of the salary study based on the same cities that were evaluated for my salary study. So some cities. Had comments. I'd be happy to jump in and make a suggestion. And I'm just going to revisit last year's discussion a little bit, which is, first of all, we all know that inflation is hitting a little hard in the last month or two, and we don't know what that number would be, but it could be as high as 2.5, 2.6. Who knows what that that inflation factor is going to be when it's determined. The request I heard was for 3%. If that request was for an additional 3% over the cpi, then that's a whole nother story. So I want to be clear about what's been asked. I'm I'm willing to suggest that we adhere to the contract as had been suggested, but I would like for us to consider and talk to the city manager. She had. She wasn't strongly in objection to it that rather than having the decision right after two new members a year from now, get on the city council potentially meaning that there's not that there's not an experience to your argument to be able to judge that. I've asked that we could do it at the end of the the busiest, most important time for us, which is the advice and consultation as we go through the budget and and devise things, there are certain improvements that have been suggested to us that I think are coming. I'm excited. We have an assistant city manager that we have our full staff in place and that we are moving. I, I think from a standpoint of us giving a beneficial consideration, that the time to do that is after we're finished having our work really hammered into. And so I would suggest that for now, I would ask that we just stay with the contract, but I'm willing to relook at the contract in, in october. And I don't think it's unusual. For example, salaries often are in the budget that reflect that percentage that goes into effect in october. And so if october is the year things go into effect, then six months later, there's another time to look and it gives us a couple of pictures and time. So cpi, if there's adjustments to the contract, I'd be happy to have it discussed. But for now, I think that the tenor we're in, the situation we're in and with all the positive things that are coming around the corner, I think it's going to be a much. Well, from my personal standpoint, I'm looking forward to seeing that before I would consider what I think is an important. For the residents and the public to understand that there are cities that are getting $200,000 there. There was somebody working at a university making millions of dollars. I can't even comprehend someone working in education, making that kind of money. But this is a different world and we just can't continue to compare it as respects to the employees. The employees have not historically in this city, been paid a lot of money. It's been hard to keep them. And so the real question is, can we keep the city manager and can we get her to agree to just follow the contract she agreed to, to patel's point and throw in the point of, let's look at the evaluation for that part of the contract says an additional consideration, and let's move the additional consideration, which would be my motion would be to stay with the contract, allow, you know, that contractual increase to occur and and revisit this in october. I'm just going to hold off. I'll take your proposal. I'm not making the motion. Oh, okay. I thought that was I just want to say that with with the contract take the cpi in march. [02:20:08] It's cpi in april. My cpu march. The way the contract is written, it's as of the cpi in march. So the cpi number in march is what is utilized for miss mann's increase, which actually would go into effect in june. We have a proposal. Here. I didn't hear from matt, did you? Still get to speak again? Well, I just want to you know, obviously this is a hard thing for miss mann's to do. I mean, you know, her salary is on display. But to my point, I'm the new guy here, so I wasn't here when this contract was made. But we all know nobody follows the contract. It's in sports. It's in everywhere. People leave. It's in college. So to me, to your point, peter, we need to make sure we keep debbie, if that's what we agree. Because to me, to the point that was brought up, she did apply for another job somewhere else. Now, I don't know for what reason, maybe more money, whatever. So to me, historically, I think her position for our city and our expansiveness and what we're doing, she is a little underpaid now. Do I think it should be to what she's asking? No. But I think we should do something, you know, because to me, if we don't honor her contract and she says, hey, I'm leaving, that kind of leaves us in a bad spot. Not to say that was going to happen, but we need to be realistic, you know, and, and to me, you know, from what I've seen, obviously everybody has their opinion. From what I've seen, she's done a very good job. Now does everybody agree with her. No. Do we all agree with her? No. You know, but that's part of the job. But to me, her main goal is working to make our city a better place. You know? And from what I've seen with New Port Richey, not to bring them into the fold. They've got a brand new city manager. They're paying $150,000 a year with minimal experience. You know, debbie's got a lot of experience, whether everybody agrees they like it or not. But, you know, but we're a lot bigger than New Port Richey. So what I'm saying is even going forward, you know, heaven forbid she leaves and we need to find someone else. Well, we're not going to find a good city manager at the pay scale. We're paying her. And you know, peter, I'd like to hear you chime in on that because, you know, obviously you've been doing this a lot longer than I have. So, you know, I'd be curious to hear your your response to that. Well, I think the, the I voted for the contract with the 9% interest because I knew that the city needed to set a salary at a level that we could acquire a city manager. The issue that I'm asking for now is to say, if we're in a negotiation and like it or not, it's public. I'd like to hear from the city manager to ask if she would entertain, allowing us to give that additional consideration at a time certain at the end of september or october, and to see that if she's going to change and it's not a change of contract to her point, it's in there that allows us to do it. So I appreciate that. So if she's not asking to change her contract, she's asking us to look at a provision that's in there that's based on on performance. And if we do our job properly, and I've tried to make sure that I don't find myself on the wrong side of somebody that's got those kind of. Control management control. And I've talked honestly with her. She's asking for it. I'm suggesting let's look at that request after the budget because we have a late audit. We have had difficulties. We've we've lost grants. We've had some communication issues that have been brought up by the public. You know, that's been part of the campaign. And to do this right before the election is is a bad look to us, I think. And so that's why for me, I've told her I'm wouldn't agree to it now, but I am willing to look, you all make a decision. It takes three votes if that's what you want and then then go for it. But if she's willing to accept it and if she's willing to stay here and work for us until then, that's a question that we could ask her. So are you saying now, later? Is that what you're saying? Okay. Want to be clear? I don't know if she would consider it, but looking the other way, I guess I would ask I would ask you if you would consider us revisiting that additional request as we move through the budget process. I work at your pleasure. It's my plan to [02:25:04] Continue to work here and to work hard every day. And whatever you decide, I'm going to continue to work. I just I just see, you know, we're talking about 3.1 and 2.4, 2.5. It was it was 2.42 as of as of last month. So again, that's the number we'd be using. So we're talking about 2.2.43.1. I know she asked for 3.1 right. I said I'm not sure that that you're going to get 3.1 with the cpi coming out again. No. But I'm just saying right now we're working with 2.4. So again that's as of february. Again the march number is going to come out on April 10th. So basically we're in that within a half a percent. So they're not asking for much. The chances are we could give her more if we get a positive budget season. And then if things come along as they were intended. So to those of you who want to lock her in for a half, a percent or 4%, you know, that might be the wise thing to do. But she's not asking for as much as folks are believing when they see those 220,000. So to that point, it's important to say publicly, you're not asking for 220,000. You're asking for is it a cumulative it's an add on to the cpi. And so it wouldn't be 2.5 versus three. It's this plus three. And I'm just saying that plus three is a decision I would prefer to put after our performance when we could really evaluate on that and have a council that's going to be here for at their pleasure, but not right at the beginning of their term when they could have some other proposal. Let me make it and see if it passes. I'm going to propose to hold the line on the additional request that's before us. Appreciate the agreement of the city manager to continue to work under the contract and ask if we could, in the first meeting in september, take up the conversation of an increase. Second, any other comments? So sorry. Okay, so so just to be clear, you're saying the cpi and what she's requesting is an additional. Point 6%. On top of that, she's asking for 3%, 3% on top of that. Okay. All the your motion your motion was postponed till september with cpi. No, the cpi goes into effect. Right. The request is that she get a raise based on her performance. We're honoring her contract because we have to. Right. And then just her additional asking to wait until september. All those in favor signify by a a, a nay 4 to 1

    Original caption was ALL CAPS; this page lowercases and capitalizes sentence starts. Names from the meeting’s entity index are restored. For exact wording, consult the video or the city clerk.

18. 10Communications▶ 2:25:04
19. 1Call to Order – Roll Call
20. 2

    Pledge of Allegiance

    Pledge of Allegiance.
21. 3

    Moment of Silence

    Moment of silence.
22. 5.a

    March 17, 2026 Special Meeting and Regular Meeting Minutes

    Approval of minutes from the March 17, 2026 Special Meeting and Regular Meeting.
23. 7.a

    Purchases/Payments for City Council Approval

    on consent

    Approval of purchases/payments requiring City Council approval.
24. 7.b

    Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes - January 2026

    on consent

    Acceptance of Parks and Recreation Advisory Board minutes from January 2026.

    #Parks and Recreation Advisory Board
25. 7.c

    Cultural Affairs Committee Minutes - February 2026

    on consent

    Acceptance of Cultural Affairs Committee minutes from February 2026.

    #Cultural Affairs Committee
26. 7.d

    Library Advisory Board Minutes - February 2026

    on consent

    Acceptance of Library Advisory Board minutes from February 2026.

    #Library Advisory Board
27. 7.e

    Consideration of Amendment to the FY26 Adopted Budget RE: Basketball Court Fence

    on consent

    Amendment to the FY26 adopted budget regarding a basketball court fence.

    #Basketball Court Fence#FY26 Budget
28. 7.f

    Consideration of Amendment to the FY26 Adopted Budget RE: ELROY Shelves, EV Charging Station and Rec Center Shed

    on consent

    Amendment to the FY26 adopted budget regarding ELROY shelves, an EV charging station, and a Rec Center shed.

    #ELROY#EV Charging Station#FY26 Budget#Rec Center Shed
29. 11Adjournment