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New Port Richey Online
City CouncilTue, Apr 21, 2026

Chopper Davis was sworn in as mayor and Jonas named deputy mayor; council advanced a 30-year Clearwater Gas franchise renewal (Ord. 2026-2339) on first reading.

26 items on the agenda · 13 decisions recorded

On the agenda

  1. 4

    Oath of Office - Mayor

    Chopper Davis was sworn in as Mayor of the City of New Port Richey, taking the oath of office.

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    Your right hand and repeat after me. I and then state your name. I, Chopper Davis, a citizen of the state of Florida and of the united states of america, the united states of america, and a full time resident of the city of New Port Richey and full time resident of the city of New Port Richey, and being an officer of the city of New Port Richey and be an officer of the city of New Port Richey and a recipient of public funds. As such, officer and recipient of public funds. As such officer, do hereby solemnly swear or affirm, do hereby solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the constitution and laws of the united states, and I will support the constitution and the laws of the united states and the constitution and laws of the state of Florida, and the constitution and laws of the state of Florida. I further swear or affirm. I further swear or affirm that I will in all respects that I will in all respects observe the provisions of the charter and ordinances of the city of New Port Richey. Observe the problem. What is the word? Provisions, provisions, sorry, and. And the charter of the ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, and will faithfully discharge the duties, and will faithfully, faithfully discharge the duties of the office of mayor of said city. The office of the mayor of said city to the best of my ability, to the best of my ability. Congratulations. Thank you. I think it's deputy mayor, deputy mayor, deputy mayor. Yeah. We have to choose a deputy mayor

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  2. 5

    Appointment of Deputy Mayor

    approved

    Council nominated Mr. Jonas as Deputy Mayor. The motion was made, seconded, and approved by voice vote.

    • motion:Motion to nominate Mr. Jonas as Deputy Mayor. (passed)
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    To have a nomination. Yeah. Mr. Mayor, I'll move to nominate Mr. Jonas. We have a second. I'll second all those in favor. Signify by I, I. Those opposed? Nay. Okay. We've got a new

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  3. 6.a

    Proclamation: Comfort Inn New Port Richey

    approved

    Mayor Chopper Davis presented a proclamation recognizing Comfort Inn New Port Richey Downtown District for achieving a national ranking of 31st out of 551 Comfort Inn locations in 2025, and the highest score on the west coast of Florida. Eric Simone, VP of Simone Development, accepted the proclamation and thanked the community, his father, and general manager Stephen.

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    Assistant city manager. Okay. Now, proclamations. Was that an a or were you? It was an a. [00:05:03] Thank you for that one. Okay. Four two. One. Did you vote? He can vote on that. That's an honorary title. Come on down. This is a proclamation for the comforting of New Port Richey. My dad is. Yes. And Eric Simone. How are you? Ready? This is a proclamation of the office of the mayor of the city of New Port Richey. Whereas, the hospitality industry plays a vital role in supporting the local economy, enhancing tourism and providing exceptional, exceptional service to visitors and residents alike. And whereas the comfort in New Port Richey downtown district has demonstrated a strong commitment to excellence, customer satisfaction and high quality accommodations within the community. And whereas in 2025 out of 551 comfort in locations across the united states, the comfort in New Port Richey downtown district achieved an outstanding national ranking of 31st, placing it among the top performing hotels in the country. And whereas only for comfort in properties in the state of Florida, received recognition with an award for 2025, highlighting the distinguished level of performance among a highly competitive group. And whereas among those recognized properties, the comfort in New Port Richey downtown district earned the highest score on the west coast of Florida, further exemplifying its leadership in hospitality excellence. And whereas this achievement reflects the dedication, professionalism, hard work of the hotel's management and staff whose efforts contribute positively to the reputation and vitality of the city of New Port Richey. Now therefore, I, mayor Chopper Davis of the city council of the city of New Port Richey, Florida, do hereby recognize and commend the comfort in New Port Richey for its exceptional accomplishments and outstanding service, and extend sincere appreciation for its continued contributions to the community. Thank you all. Thank you. Hello, my name is Eric Simone, vice president of Simone Development and. Honestly very speechless of this award. First and foremost, thank you to you guys. And I've said this once before, this isn't a single effort. This is a community effort here. I can't thank each and every one of you guys that we've all come together to really help New Port Richey grow and thrive and distinctively. The comfort inn in downtown New Port Richey is ranked 31 amongst 551 comfort in the united states. That is an incredible achievement. That is. I hope you know and I wish my father was. My dad's in traffic, but my dad has always told me that we're here and we mean business, and we put our heart into every single project we do. As you guys know, aqua harbor is we're swinging slabs. We're battling every day, but we're excited for that project to be done. And to my general manager, stephen, I want to congratulate you because this is quite the achievement to be only have four ranked in the state of Florida you led our team to for this award. So congratulations to you. This is quite the honor. So. And to my father that is not here. If this is recorded, I want to say thank you to you because through your very italian ways of teaching your italian son, you have taught me to. You gotta want it and you gotta want it, and you gotta want it. And you don't stop until you get it. So when we watch this recording, dad, thank you very much for everything you've done for me and everything you continue to do. I love you. Let's get aqua harbor done and move on to the next. Thank you guys.

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  4. 6.b

    Proclamation: Monarch City

    approved

    Mayor Chopper Davis read a proclamation designating May 2, 2026 as Monarch City Day in New Port Richey, recognizing the city's designation as a Monarch City by Monarch City USA and promoting the annual Monarch Day festival at the public library.

    • proclamation:Proclaim May 2, 2026 as Monarch City Day in the City of New Port Richey. (passed)
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    This is monarch butterfly day. Okay, this is a proclamation of the office of the mayor of the city of New Port Richey. Whereas the monarch butterfly is an iconic north american species whose multigenerational migration and metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly has captured the imagination of millions of americans, young and old. And [00:10:02] Whereas over the past 20 years, there has been a massive decline in insect populations worldwide and a catastrophic decline in monarch populations, leading to monarchs now being on the list of endangered species. And whereas the monarch is extremely beneficial, pollinating many cultivated flowers and crops and serves as an indicator species for the ecological health of large geographic areas. And whereas cities, towns and counties have a critical role to play to help save the monarch, butterfly and the city of New Port Richey has committed to the principles and ideals necessary to be designated as a monarch city by Monarch City USA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the monarch butterfly recover city by city. And whereas every resident of New Port Richey can make a difference for the monarch by planting native milkweed and nectar plants to provide habitat for the monarch and pollinators in locations where people live, work, learn, play and worship. And whereas, to celebrate the city's designation as a monarch city and its sustained commitment to ecological regeneration, the New Port Richey farm net, the environmental committee, the public library, ServPro Team George and various local groups, businesses and individuals will present the city's annual monarch day on Saturday, May 2nd at 10 a.m. At the library. Now therefore, I, Chopper Davis, mayor of the city of New Port Richey, do hereby proclaim May 2nd, 2026 as monarch city day in the city of New Port Richey and encourage all residents to plant and protect native milkweed and nectar sources so that monarch butterflies have the resources necessary to produce successive generations. Thank you very much. Very well done too. On the reading, I was talking to the mayor and by the way, congratulations, mayor Chopper Davis, on your reelection. I was talking to the mayor and I said, you know, we've done so many of these. You should know them by heart by now. So but I do want to thank the city council for your commitment to this project. I also want to thank the city manager and the entire administration for supporting the work. I also want to thank Judy for kind of shepherding this through. It was kind of a short notice to get this proclamation done and get it onto the agenda. So I appreciate your work on that. City clerk and also city manager again on that. And as is true of so many of the other environmental projects that we do in the city, these are really the result of team efforts. Just as our friend from the comfort inn said, these are team efforts. A lot of people have to come together to make it work. I do want to give a special thanks to the New Port Richey Public Library for their assistance on this. We will be holding the monarch festival in the courtyard of the public library, and we will have a number of events that are going on there, including this, probably this festival, more than any of the others that we do really has a focus on young people, kids, children, young folks. We're going to have some face painting. We're going to have some special crafts that are being hosted by the parks and rec department of the city of New Port Richey. So again, more team effort from the entire city. Of course, the not for profit organization, New Port Richey, firm.net is a leader in this regard. So is the Sierra Club that will be there. So we do want to invite everyone to come out to it. We especially want to invite families that have children to get them exposed to the idea of the monarchs as an important part of our ecosystem and a part of the ecosystem that, unfortunately and sadly so, is rapidly disappearing. As you may know, the monarchs are imperiled. They are challenged around the country, and this is one small way of trying to bring them back by planting milkweed. And we will have milkweed available at the event. We'll have seeds, and we'll also have a special raffle for milkweed seedlings that will be given out to the winners of the raffle. So come on. May 2nd, New Port Richey Public Library, starting at 10:00 and going till 1:00. We'll look forward to seeing everybody there. Thank you so much. We have two

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  5. 6.d

    Proclamation: Junior Service League Weekend (By Title Only)

    A proclamation recognizing Junior Service League Weekend was read at the organization's event the prior weekend and is being acknowledged by title only at this meeting.

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    Other proclamations. Junior Service League had their proclamation read at their event this past weekend. So it's only by a name only, which was their their week week week

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  6. 6.c

    Proclamation: Volunteer Recognition Day (By Title Only)

    approved

    Mayor read a proclamation by title only recognizing Volunteer Recognition Day, April 19–25, honoring city volunteers who will be recognized at a dinner later in the week.

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    Event that was here from all over the state of Florida. And then this is volunteer recognition day of April 19th to April 25th. So just recognizing the volunteers and we'll be recognized in the volunteers of the city at a dinner later this week.

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  7. 7Approval of Minutes10:02
  8. 8Vox Pop for Items Not Listed on the Agenda or Listed on Consent Agenda15:02
  9. 9Consent Agenda25:02
  10. 10.a

    First Reading, Ordinance No. 2026-2339: Clearwater Gas Franchise Agreement Renewal

    approved

    Council held the first reading of Ordinance No. 2026-2339, renewing the gas franchise agreement with Clearwater Gas (CGS Energy) for a 30-year term. The new agreement consolidates the prior 1996 agreement and ordinance into a single document, refines legal protections, and rolls to month-to-month if not renewed after 30 years. The motion to approve was made and seconded with no public comment.

    Ord. Ordinance No. 2026-2339

    • motion:Motion to approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 2026-2339, the Clearwater Gas Franchise Agreement Renewal. (passed)
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    Ordinance 2026 2339 Clearwater Gas franchise agreement renewal this ordinance number 2026 2339. An ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, Florida, granting to the City of Clearwater, Florida, its legal representative successors and assigns a gas franchise and imposing certain conditions relating thereto. Providing for repeal of all ordinances, ordinances and conflict, herewith providing for an effective date. Mr. Mayor, members of council, we have been working for some time the city attorney, Robert Rivera, Colin Mueller and I with Joseph Dobra. I'm sorry for that. Excuse me, who is in attendance this evening and serves as the marketing, marketing and business development manager on behalf of Clearwater Gas. A renewal of a franchise agreement with Clearwater Gas. See who. See who refers to themselves now as cgs energy for time period 2026 through 2000. I'm sorry. No. The time period is for help me out. Yeah, it's a 30 year agreement. 2026 and a start date. And colin will represent the agenda item with the proposed changes to the 1996 existing franchise agreement. Thank you. Thank you, miss manson. Good evening, council. Mr. Mayor, before you tonight is the request for city council to approve the first [00:30:02] Reading of ordinance number 2026 2339. This is the 2026 Clearwater Gas franchise agreement renewal. The franchise the existing franchise agreement expired. That was from 1996. You have the memorandum there before you. That kind of details some of the the highlights and the changes there between the two agreements. But to just briefly run through it, the agreement itself really just updates the framework. The existing 1996 agreement worked within two different documents, both the agreement and then our ordinance. This one combined all of the the new agreement, the 2026 agreement combines all of that into one full holistic agreement and provides for a structure in there. So that should the agreement itself expire after the 30 years, we roll to a month to month basis on that agreement. The key takeaways is that the new agreement doesn't fundamentally alter the relationship between the city of New Port Richey and Clearwater Gas and that, but instead refines and strengthens and clarifies the existing structure. And it results in kind of a better legal protection for us as a city. It's more adaptable in service expansion policies and clear financial definitions, and reduces the ambiguity in the event of any of the disputes. And like I said, you have some of the outline there before you. If you have any questions, I'm here to answer them at this time. Have any public comment. Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion, a vote move, approval of the agreement. I'll second the maker. I can't believe 30 years ago I was the mayor. Boy scouts weren't even born back in those days. But here we are 30 years later. So I get to vote on this 30 year agreement twice. I think it's the last time I'll get to vote on it, though. Second, no, I'm just glad that we come up with this agreement and I'm all for it. Thank you. I'm good. Thank you. Yeah I don't I don't think there's a better testimonial, but from one of the I guess you're saying, mayor, one of the leaders that helped with this agreement the first time around. So I'll let that stand for itself. All those in favor

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  11. 10.b

    Second Reading, Ordinance 2026-2349: Amendment to the Conditional Use for Electric Scooter and One-Wheel Vehicle Sales and Rental at 5707 Main Street

    approved

    Council held the second reading and approved Ordinance 2026-2349, amending the conditional use at 5707 Main Street for retail sales, rental, and limited repair of electric scooters, one-wheel vehicles, e-bikes, and electric dirt bikes. The amendment retains safety-related conditions (no test drives, no minor rentals, no right-of-way training, insurance, 10am–10pm rental hours, on-site repair limited to warranty/rental items) but removed the previously proposed requirement that the business post or hand out state statutes.

    Ord. Ordinance 2026-2349

    • vote:Approve second reading of Ordinance 2026-2349 amending the conditional use at 5707 Main Street for electric scooter/one-wheel vehicle sales and rental, with the statute-posting condition removed. (passed)50
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    Signify by. That's five. Nothing. Second reading of ordinance number 2026 2349. Amendment to the conditional use of electric scooters and one way vehicles. Sales and rentals on 5707 Main Street. This is ordinance number 2026 2349. An ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, Florida, providing for approval of an amendment to the conditional use for a scooter and one wheeled vehicle sales, retail and rental store in the downtown zoning district for the property located at 5707 Main Street, as shown on the map attached hereto as exhibit a and is legally described herein. Providing for conflict, severability and effective date as indicated by the city attorney. The purpose of this agenda item is to serve as an amended. As an amendment to a granted conditional use related to the sale of electric bicycles and electric dirt bikes in the downtown area. We do have a powerpoint for you this evening if you'd like for us to review it from the first reading, and Mr. Hall is prepared to do so this evening. And we can do that, Mr. Hall. Would everyone like to see take another gander at it. Okay. There will certainly have a nice voice. This is for conditional use. This is for conditional use. C u 2511 003 5707 Main Street. As was earlier earlier stated, the statement of the facts. The zoning is downtown and the future use and the downtown core. This was the location or the request is specifically for conditional use for retail sales of electric bikes and electric dirt bikes and electric scooter repairs. Now the downtown, we all know where that is located right off of main street. The zoning is downtown and downtown core. The district regulations in the ldc state that something that's not specifically listed or permitted must get a conditional use. That's why it's before you this evening. Now, when you have a conditional use or criteria that need to be considered, and there are seven that specifically need to be considered for a conditional use, I will not go through all these. There are outlined specifically and answered in your staff report. This was heard on January 22nd by the drc with recommended with [00:35:01] Approval, with several revised conditions, the ldb added additional conditions and had some discussion on repair and maintenance. And then the city council actually heard this last month and they voted it the first reading to recommend approval of this. With the removal of the conditions. That was the requirement to post the statutes at the store or have them as handouts. So that's the ordinance you have before you this evening. The conditions that specifically, there are three main conditions with some sub conditions. The first condition says that retail electric scooters, single wheeled transportation devices, electric bikes and electric dirt bikes, subject to the requirement that no test drives shall occur in the city, so they could sell those. The second one is rental of electric scooters and single wheeled personal transportation devices, with some amended conditions from their original conditional use. That was in, I think that was approved in 2020. Let me 2021. No vehicles shall be rented by minors. No vehicles shall be operated without an accompanied adult. No vehicle training shall be conducted in the right of way of main street, including sidewalks and street. There's insurance requirements by the property owner. Liability insurance shall be maintained on all the vehicles. The rental of the vehicles shall be between 10 a.m. And 10 p.m. That is a clarification from the original conditional use, and then the rented vehicle shall be returned between 10 a.m. And 10 p.m. Which is operation of the facility. And the last one is no maintenance and repair vehicles shall be conducted on site except that maintenance and repair of. To honor warranties for those devices that have been sold on site and for rental vehicles are allowed. The public notices have been met both in the paper and posted on site, and I'm available to answer questions as needed. Have any anybody in the public would like to speak? Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussions and vote. To approve the maker? Yeah, conversation. Just reminding and reiterating what was said a little bit over a month ago at the first reading. I think it's important that while we do put some sort of level of conditional use where there's, you know, aspects of safety to take into account, which I think this ordinance or excuse me, this conditional use does. At the same time, I don't think it's our the government's responsibility at any level to be telling a business what they they should or should not, basically to promote the laws. I think that's the business needs to be the one to do that. And we shouldn't be streamlining them to it. That being said, if the business wants to in good faith promote certain statutes, they can do that. But at the end of the day, I think the conditional that distracts from the intent of this conditional use that now has returned to the original focus. One question, the 10 a.m. To 10 p.m. Is that tied to the store hours, or is that set? Should the store change their hours? It's still 10 a.m. To 10 p.m. The conditional use, as stated, is 10 a.m. To 10 p.m. If they were to change their hours and want to go longer than that, they'd have to bring it back to the to the the council for consideration. If they want to go less than that, that's up to how they operate. Okay, thanks. I'm good with the ordinance. Right. No, I mean, I think it's it's good. I you know, I understand you know, what Councilman Butler is saying, but, you know, we do have to be a little aware, even though we give the information out, there's no guarantee they're going to read it or look at it. But I just think it's just in our best interest that make sure they at least give something, whether it be pamphlet, a qr code, whatever it is, to look at it. So this way at least. And I would think for from their perspective, it's going to cover them liability wise to give that out. But aside from that, I'm in agreeance with all of it. Yeah. Just for clarification though, this is not requiring them to do anything. Is that correct? That is correct. We removed that condition. So then just as a statement of support of the deputy mayor. For the benefit of our residents, it would be nice to see the. You consider giving them an option to see the rules and regulations. If you're in a scuba diving class or if you're in any kind of [00:40:02] Life saving or any other thing where safety is an issue, it's usually paramount that it's part of the training. If you're selling somebody something to someone, you don't have to train them. They want to come in and buy it and take it out. The door to Councilman Butler's point, that's up to them. But for those folks who work and live in the city and or operate in the city, I think we would all appreciate the fact that you would advise them of the you know, the police use it wisely. There was a lot of contemplation about this thing happening even to begin with, and the city council stood in favor of of allowing it. So just from my personal standpoint, it's not in this, but I'm speaking to that, and I hope that you will do everything you can to make the kids safe as they're in our city. Another thing I was really concerned about, and it's stated in there, I just didn't want a store on main street to be a maintenance shop. So that was my concern and we're taking care of that. So all those in favor signify by I, I, I. That's five nothing.

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  12. 10.c

    Second Reading, Ordinance 2026-2352: Certified Recovery Residences

    approved

    Council conducted the second reading of Ordinance 2026-2352, amending the Land Development Code to add definitions and a new section regulating Certified Recovery Residences in compliance with Florida Senate Bill 954 and Section 397.4873(15)(a), F.S. No public comment was received and the ordinance was moved and seconded for approval.

    Ord. Ordinance 2026-2352

    • motion:Motion to approve Ordinance 2026-2352 regarding Certified Recovery Residences on second reading. (passed)
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    Moving on to second reading ordinance number 20 26 2352 certified recovery resident. This is ordinance number 2026 2352 an ordinance of the city of New Port Richey, Florida, providing for amendment of section 2.01.00 of chapter two of the land development code pertaining to definitions. Providing for new definitions. Providing for the creation of a new section. 7.28.00 of chapter seven of the land development code pertaining to certified recovery residences, providing for submittal requirements and provisions for reasonable accommodations. Providing for severability. Providing for codification. Providing for an effective date. At your last meeting, we conducted a first reading on this matter, and it is as indicated by the city attorney related to certified recovery residences. And the reason that this matter is being brought before you is in response to a law that was effectuated in the state of Florida, and it specifically relates to senate bill 954, which was written into law related to. Certified recovery residences. And the the the section of the now codified chapter of senate bill 954, which it relates to calls for a review of and approval of certified recovery residences. And it also calls for reasonable accommodations from any local law, land use regulations, regulation that may prohibit the establishment of certified recovery residents. And so, therefore, we've amended our land development code to provide for those procedures to comply with section 390 7.4 8715 a of Florida statutes, and that's memorialized in the attached ordinance to Mr. Hall's communication ordinance number 2026 dash 2352. And Mr. Hall is prepared to respond to your question. You explain that very eloquently. Yeah, I think you covered all the bases, but I'd be more than happy to expand on anything. If you have questions further, have any public comment, seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion. Vote. You have a. Move for approval. I'll second the motion maker a second. Thank you. Know, we all have to do our part. And I think this is a city of New Port Richey doing our part to help to support our team of folks that we come across and hopefully find people, you know, make a better life for themselves. I'm good. All those in favor

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  13. 11.a

    Consideration of Appointments to Intergovernmental Committees

    approved

    Council discussed appointments to intergovernmental committees, with members opting to remain in their current assignments. The Tampa Bay Water representative requested an alternate to cover early morning meetings until June due to scheduling conflicts with their school's status. A motion to keep existing committee appointments passed.

    • motion:Motion to reappoint councilmembers to their existing intergovernmental committee assignments, with an alternate to assist the Tampa Bay Water representative through June. (passed)
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    Signify by I, I, I, it's five nothing consideration of appointments to enter governmental committees. I can just say start that off with I'd like to stay on the Tampa bay water. The Vice Mayor, I'd like to stay where I'm at tdc. I'm comfortable where I'm at. I would recommend, given some concern from the mayor, rightfully stated concern from the mayor prior that if I could have an alternate to assist me, I am. We are dealing with a quadruple d school and so getting to those 10 a.m. Meetings and taking time away [00:45:03] From my instructional time with my students is a is a major challenge come may when we are no longer a quadruple d school and we are out of state status, I'll have more time off to be able to make those 10 a.m. Meetings, but if I could get an alternate for the first for the next couple meetings, that would be much appreciated. Where are the meetings? Where are they? They rotate, but usually in Pinellas county. So it's a 45 minutes away and it's usually an early morning meeting. Take turns. Yeah, we could we could offer assistance. Thanks. Just give us enough notice. I'll let you know. And it would just be until, like I said, until we get out of these status in june. So that leaves it to you. Are you happy? I couldn't be any happier. Okay. Then. Okay. Now entertain a motion just to make that official. Okay? We entertain a motion to with the nominated committee. So appointments to the same committees. I'll second all those in favor signify by. Okay. Now a

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  14. 11.b

    Discussion of Police ALPR Professional Standards Policy 239

    approved

    Council discussed Police General Order 239, the ALPR (Automated License Plate Recognition) Professional Standards Policy, which aligns with FDLE/CJIS best practices and Florida Statutes 316.077 and 316.0778. The Chief presented the policy, which includes 30-day data deletion, annual audits, and accountability safeguards, in connection with upcoming ALPR rollout via Axon and RedSpeed vendors. Council approved the policy 4-1, granting the Chief authority to update it as standards change provided changes are promulgated, with Councilman Butler dissenting over concerns about private vendor data custody.

    • motion:Approve Police General Order 239 (ALPR Professional Standards Policy) with the Chief having discretion to change it as long as he promulgates those changes. (passed)41
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    Discussion of the police alpr professional standards policy. 238 239 excuse me. This is a discussion. There will not be a vote. Well, I want to clarify then. I just want to clarify. Well, you made it. Excuse me, excuse me. Can I ask you a question, Mr. Mayor? Yeah, when he gets when I when we got the thing on, on the table right now, we don't have it on the table. Well, you just made a comment about the item, and I want to clarify before I hear your discussion. I just read it and that's why I want to clarify because I know our motion at the original meeting was that this policy does have to come for a vote. So that being said, that's what we voted on. So is this a discussion? And then at a later time we're voting on the policy. I'm not sure that we'll ever have a discussion or vote on it until we talk to the attorney, not through me. Okay. So if you'd like me to comment on that now, I could, Mr. Mayor. So you did vote at your prior meeting to have the policy presented to you for approval. And if you recall, at that time, I recommended that that not be something that you do on for these types of policies that are come from the police department, there's a number of general orders have to be issued. It's really not appropriate for the city council to be voting on all of those. But you did. The motion did include that. So what I'm recommending to you tonight is because you did make that motion, is that you approve it, but you give the chief the authority to change it as necessary to meet whatever the requirements are, as they change. All of his policies are put through great levels of scrutiny through the fdle. In this case, the cc, j I s, I believe, is the acronym for the organization that comes up with the recommendation recommended standard. This policy does follow that. There also could be case law, which happens in all of the work that they do, that he has to pivot and act upon. With my guidance, sometimes with the guidance of the state attorney's office and also with fdle and other police chiefs and sheriffs throughout the state. So I would recommend that you do vote to approve it if you'd like, or you can entertain a motion that you don't need to approve it and leave it to the chief to carry out the policy. But I do recommend, if you vote to approve it, that you give him the authority to change it, because otherwise we won't be able to react in time when there are changes in the requirements for how this system is used. So that's my recommendation to you, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about that. All right. Then you want to go ahead with the discussion, david. Well, we want to public we want to present the our policy to you. We want to respond to your questions about it. And I'd like to ask the chief to do that. This is a discussion about automatic automated license recognition technology and our use of it in the department. And this is a component of a safety program that will be implementing in conjunction with a red light and school zone speed and fraction program. And chief, I'll turn it over to you to talk about the specifics of our program. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Council members. So we're talking about police general order 239 tonight, which establishes I'm going to use this word best practices for alpr technology in alignment with the Florida criminal and juvenile justice information systems alpr best practice guidelines. The cjis is a component of fdo, and one of their major responsibilities is they oversee what's called the Florida crime information center, or fcic, and that [00:50:04] Interfaces with the national crime information center, which is the ncic. So obviously, this agency to establish best practices is the right agency to do this because of the amount of work that is required for them to put guardrails on those two systems, which operate throughout the nation over the coming months. Like the city manager said, we will be rolling out alpr technology with red speed and with axon. We already have contracts with with those vendors. This technology is part of broader efforts by our department to enhance public safety. And this is what this is about, enhancing public safety through cutting edge technology. During the implementation phase of these projects, the department developed an alpr professional standards best practice policy, and it is aligned with cjis standards. Obviously, we are an accredited agency. We would have done this policy anyway. Again, we have two big projects through both axon and read speed. This is definitely going to be a part of the implementation phase. It's just that council got involved with it pretty quick. So we, we, you know, basically implemented this policy. But not only does it this policy align with cjs standards, it also aligns with 316 .077 and 316 .0778. Those are for our statutes. And some of the key highlights of this general order include the following. First, and most importantly, it aligns with cjs standards 100% aligns with those standards. Second, general order ensures aop technology used solely for law enforcement purposes. Third, it mandates annual audits of the systems, provide sanctions for misuse, and ensures all system searches are logged and auditable. This is called accountability. This is called guardrails. We would have done this anyway. And finally, the policy outlines alpr best practices to ensure technology is used responsibly to enhance public safety within our community. And I can tell you this technology, I can go over one case after another. These cameras, this technology has solved major crimes in a rapid fashion, and that's called public safety. I want to point out that. Section 239 .07 a of this general order mandates that all data in the system will be deleted within 30 days. If it's not for law enforcement purpose, if it is for law enforcement purposes, we have to follow the retention schedules by Florida statutes. That's 316 0778 and I've had the city attorney look at this policy. We've gone over this policy. Again, we have these guidelines that are a best practice that put guardrails on us to ensure that this policy is protecting civil liberties while promoting public safety. That's that's, that's it in a nutshell right there. So again, recommendations that we discuss this policy. I'm here to answer any questions that you may have. It is a best practice policy. And again this cutting edge technology will enhance public safety in our city. And I'm here to answer any questions that you may have have any public comment. Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion and vote. I'll move to approve. But I would like, you know, to kind of utter some of Councilman Butler's get a second, first, second, second conversation. I just want to add in there that I think that we need to make sure if there are changes to it, that it's put out there, you know, because, you know, I just would hate for us to follow what's here. But then there's a change made that us, you know, our residents don't know about. So, you know, I'm definitely all in favor of the chief being in charge. I think it makes sense. So that's the only little thing that I'd like to add in there. So your motion is to approve it with the chief having discretion to change it. As long as he promulgates those changes. Correct. I'll second the second. Do you have any more conversation? No. Yeah, a few a few things. The. The chief makes an excellent point on the log and auditability of the system that he has put into place. It was never a question of that, and it has never been a question of whether our police department here will do what they believe is the best practices. My concern has always been, and continues to be, that we can use the word best practices, the words best practices. But the reality is that best presumes that we are comparing it to something that is less and there is not enough data, there is not enough time. Industry standard that has gone around with alpr technology. We're still researching the capabilities of ocr and ai to be able to say that these are the best practices. It's to me, a he I, I doubt he's being chief. I doubt you are being intentional or malicious in [00:55:08] Saying this, but to me, it's misleading to suggest we are doing what's best when this is still being researched, and there's still better standards to be put out there. That being said, the inclusion of the cjis those practices. Sure. That's great. The the time limit for 30 days. That's honorable a concern. And perhaps our chief and our police department is taking a little bit of a hit for this because we, we kind of and we, we added this into the, the speed enforcement camera policy. But my concern is more on the licensing side, which is less of chief's domain and something we have to prove up here anyways, and how we, we're, we're slipping by allowing axon and red speed to enter these agreements without any sort of limitations on their end. Okay. So we, we can hold it for 30 days without a hot list hit, but what is the, what is the, what does our licensing policy say with axon and red speed and how they handle the data? Are they allowed to access the data? Are they allowed to store the data? I can answer that. So they have engineers, obviously it engineers that may have access, but this is our data period. We control it. We tell them what to do based on our policy. So within 30 days, whatever information they have, they wipe clean and it's undetectable. It's gone. So obviously on their end, they have to have it. Folks that manage the system just like we do. But they are, they are basically compelled by our policy to follow our standards. It's our data. It's our information. Period. I'm comfortable with 30 days as a as a, as a standard. What I'm not comfortable is, is a, is a private entity. 30 days within the police department, within the needs of law enforcement. I understand the balance there. Where I get concerned is a private company being able to accrue 30 day aggregate patterns of innocent people who have committed no crimes to me is concerning. It's it's that's the concern is the private entity. And that's less to do with this policy is great and it's internal. And I said, you you planned on developing a policy before I even brought this up the first time. I know that. And so the, the, the issue I'm having is that nothing in here addresses the commercial partnership with this entity as it shouldn't, because it's an internal law enforcement policy. But we as a council, I would recommend then separate from this is to is to really consider our relationship with axon red speed, whether it be Flock Safety Technologies, motorola, whoever the vendor, commercial vendors are to, to make sure we have a component that talks about. We are the. As the chief suggested, we own the technology. We are the custodians of that. And at no point in time should these private companies. They need to work out a way. Other cities have done it, so I know it's possible. They need to work out a way where they release the data to us. We manage it and they're not responsible for it. I, I am concerned when I hear, well, their engineers will have access to the data and they will have access to the data for up to 30 days. God forbid. I don't want to mischaracterize the agreement, but god forbid they pull data aside for diagnostic or testing purposes and then they have it for longer than 30 days. We don't have it, but they do. There are. There is still too much left unanswered about the commercial side of this and what the private companies, what the limits are on their end. That to me, you know, I'm satisfied with the numbers here for our law enforcement. But and if you think these are, in your expert opinion, sufficient to be able to still enforce the law and protect people, then I'm fine with that. It's the it has always been, what is our partnership look like with private entities controlling data of people who have done nothing wrong, and I don't that's not answered in this policy, and I don't think it should be answered in this policy. I think it's something we as a council, without our chief getting caught in the crosshairs in between. It needs to seriously consider what agreements we're entering with private companies. It's no different if we contracted with a water company and or, excuse me, with a water vendor, and we were asking them how long they have that data for, what are they using it for? Can they, can they send it to other companies? Questions like that need to be answered. And nothing about the red light camera program, nothing about the speed traffic program. Nothing in this policy makes known what the custodian of of that data looks like. I'd like to provide the chief with an opportunity to respond to that [01:00:05] Line of questioning. So thank you. So the state, the federal government, they all contract with private vendors, flock and acts on. These are big vendors. This is our data. Everything is logged. Everything is auditable. Like I said, once we say that 30 day period, everything is gone. We can audit their system, our. It can interface with their. It. But private vendors, private vendors are in use all the time. Ncic, fcic fdo. So, you know, I don't know how to answer that question other than we don't have the ability in-house to have this data stored. We just don't have the ability. We don't have the technology that these companies have. So I don't know how else you would do this without these vendors. And this policy outlines everything they have to comply with it. Both axon and read speed enforced. Well, I'm not this is not the first city and I appreciate the council. Give me a moment to respond one more time. I'll leave this as my. Out of respect for time, I'll leave this as my final response. I would implore the city attorney and the city manager and our law enforcement department, in partnership with it, to look at other cities that are coming across the same issue, because I think we're relatively early. However, there are cities asking the same questions, and the question then becomes, you know, is this substantial enough of a policy where you do need to figure out a implementable way to do it in-house? I don't you know, I'm not saying I'm not a strong proponent of the idea of government doing stuff in-house. No offense, but there, you know, we're not really we don't really have a track record for running the best softwares. But at the end of the day, if it is enough of a concern, and when you're looking at other cities that have similar concerns and look at their solutions, I could see a world where we become the sole custodians of the data. They, they give us the technology, but we're the sole custodians of the data and we handle it in-house to protect. Again, it's about protecting people who have done nothing wrong, who are somehow being. Are their data is being given away to a private company that. That is the. That is what is trying to be protected from. What are the safeguards around that. I get other cities partner with vendors. You made that point clear. But at the end of the day, this is different. You're you're storing you're storing markers of vehicles, political bumper stickers, the license plates. You made it clear that there would be no facial things. And I believe you on that. But the, the technologies I read up on can track a lot about the cars markers of indications. And for a private company to have that data for any amount of time, I just don't think it's reasonable. Comment that I think I made before, and one that I think is important for everybody to think about is the attention has been on this red light camera and this technology, this technology being used in that respect, your comments to us, that it was being used both in red speed and axon, if I'm not mistaken, axon relates to our officers and their body cams and their in-car cameras. The in-car cameras. Yeah. So if we pull someone over, we run the tag anyway. But this information, this data is an officer safety issue because when they pull someone over, this is running everything instantaneously. They're going to run it anyway. The counties we have access to all of this data through the ncic, through the ncic, we can run anything we want for law enforcement purpose. But this system in the car, in car cameras, is a major officer safety issue for our officers. But I think that's what you're referring to. I didn't ask you a question, but thank you for expounding on that. The real comment that I want to make is that we have already this technology in use, and its technology is not a red light camera issue. It is a new technology and information and information sharing issue. And organizations like Placer Data, which identifies and collects all of our data. If we've ever said yes, that I'm going to accept something so I can get into a website, that there is an accumulation of all of our activity. And as much as we can say, oh, this is the boogeyman that's going to be following us and knowing who we are and what we're ■doing, we're already all been profiled, and we're profiled not only into what our habits are or what our insurance expenses ought to be, but also whether or not we go out to bars and restaurants or whether we go. And that is data that's publicly available. So as much as I appreciate the idea of not spying on people, our habits are already we're [01:05:06] Shot. We're already done. And not to say you consented to that. Excuse me, excuse me. Never interrupt you. So my point is that it's the the horse is out of the barn. And to the degree that we're going to get into it. I greatly appreciate the research you've done. And I think it's an important conversation about our privacy. I mean, a man's home is his castle. Until the televisions work two ways and watch us on whatever's going on. God only knows. I don't know, but I do know that, you know, we've lost the rights of privacy that we thought were dear to us. When I was growing up and young. And it's it's not a defense. And I'm not saying I don't agree with you, but I think when it comes to the details and the, you know, the motion that's going to pass, undoubtedly, I would like to believe that when changes happen that we will hear about them and that will be if we don't have to publicly authorize them, that our police department serves the city manager and through her us, and that you have your ears and eyes open to what you think is fair and right. And if you identify something going on that you let us know, because we are the policy makers. And I'm defend your comments to that regard. And I don't want an organization that may be, in whatever reason, digging into our citizenry improperly or any individuals within your department using that information improperly. And I, we have to trust you and trust the manager to make sure that she trusts you so we can trust her. So that's the way it is. So I think that's the way it's going. Matt. Yeah. I mean, I understand what you know, what everyone's saying. I agree with, you know, councilman altman, it's it's out there already. You know, like you said, it's out of the barn. Everything you do, everywhere you go, it's there. So, you know, you're just not going to get away from it. Maybe it's an opportunity for a bigger conversation for the for the nation or the world, but about privacy and security. But this, the whole the whole, you know, speed zone and technology that we're talking about. I mean, it's, it's for safety purposes and for that purpose, I mean, it's, it's good period. The other stuff, like I said, it's already out there. It's got a private company. Everyone uses private companies for that because they're just not capable of taking on everything. There's so many individual things out there that we have to, to farm out to companies and, you know, they're secure. I mean, we farm out, you know, nuclear power plants to companies and they're secure. I don't see, you know, things more dangerous than that. That's why they have private companies with m-16's running around and, and other companies own it because it's just, you know, things are dangerous, but private companies are just part of it, part of our security and our safety in the country. And like chief said, it's going to be, you know, wiped out after 30 days. I don't I don't see been any safer if we're handling it. No offense to anybody here, but it's just the way of it. And I think that for the purposes we're using it for, it's it's a good thing. You want to say one thing more, just to clarify for the person who made the motion, that I think it's a honorable, honorable motion. And under other circumstances, I would agree with the motion as it was as it was said. Mr. Mayor. If I could just make one comment that might help this discussion a little bit. The city has access to more information than the private vendor does, so the private vendor can only tell that a specific vehicle with specific identification passed through a certain area on a specific time. We have the ability to then match that information to the actual owner of the vehicle. They don't have any ownership information, any personal identifying information or anything of that kind. So they have a very limited data set compared to what we have. And I'll also point out to you that the data set that we have is exactly the same as as an officer driving down the road and observing a vehicle, whether parked or operating and being able to access that same data set. So that's the difference. I just want to make sure that that's understood. When you're thinking about the privacy issues that's so important, all those in favor signify by I, I, nay, nay, nay is a 4 to 1. Okay, moving on to itv 26 020wwpa.

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  15. 11.c

    ITB26-020 WWTP Clarifier No. 3 Rake and Plow Refurbishment Bid Award

    approved

    Council approved bid ITB26-020 to Premiere Coating Solutions, LLC in an amount not to exceed $155,088.90 for refurbishment of Clarifier No. 3 rake and plow structure at the Water Reclamation Facility. Six bids were received ranging from $155,088.90 to $405,000, with funding from the Water Pollution Control budget and a portion contributed by Pasco County under an interlocal agreement.

    • motion:Motion to approve award of ITB26-020 to Premiere Coating Solutions, LLC for an amount not to exceed $155,088.90. (passed)
    ▶ Jump to 1:05:06 in the video
    Show transcript

    Broadcast caption · reformatted for readability

    [01:10:07] Number three ranked ranking powell refurbishing bid award with the request before you is to approve a bid amount for an amount not to exceed 150. Five. Sorry, my contacts are. 155 088.9. Thank you. $155,088.90. Thank you. And for clarifier number three rake and plow refurbishment up to Premiere Coating Solutions, LLC. This is for work to be done at the water reclamation facility. And Mr. Mueller will present the agenda item. Thank you, miss manners. The request before you this evening is for council to review and approve the award of itb 20 6-020 for the refurbishment of clarifier number three rake and plow structure at the water reclamation facility. The rake and plow structure is a critical component of the wastewater treatment process, and to describe it at best would be to say that it's responsible for removing the settled solids and directing the surface materials to ensure operation and regulatory compliance. And there's a series of sweepers both on the bottom at the top that you know, as in the name, clarify both the scum at the surface and the settled solids at the bottom to remove those items from our wastewater. The refurbishment of the structure will extend its service life and service life and reduce the risk of mechanical failure and support uninterrupted treatment process. On March 24th 2026, six bids were received ranging from $155,088.90 to $405,000, with Premiere Coating Solutions, LLC identified as the lowest responsible bidder. We have worked with this company before and have had some satisfactory results. We reviewed all of their references and each reference came back with a strong recommendation. Funding for this project is available within the water pollution control budget, with a portion of the cost being contributed by Pasco County. In accordance with the interlocal agreement and approval of the itb 20 6-020 is recommended at this time and I'm here for any questions, any public comment. Seeing no one can come forward, bring it back for discussion and vote. I move to approve. I'll second. I don't know how long Mr. Murphy's going to be just to just to state reiterate what was already said about us having worked with the person before. So and the competitive bid process that was undertaken and the references that were received. Thank you for that. And that it is a, a, a solid agreement to handle our solid waste. The second no, I just want to thank colin's efforts on this. And, you know, when I did go out there last year and did my little walk through, I did get to see that working. So I understand the maintenance that's required there. So thank you for this. I'm good. Thank you. All those in favor signify by I, I, I ask for nothing. Moving on to itb 26 021ww tv

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  16. 11.d

    ITB26-021 WWTP Sludge Thickener Rake and Plow Structure Refurbishment Bid Award

    approved

    Council awarded ITB26-021 to Premier Coating Solutions LLC in an amount not to exceed $100,031.84 for refurbishment of the sludge thickener and rake and plow structure at the Water Reclamation Facility. Five bids were received ranging from $100,031.84 to $239,850, with Premier Coating Solutions as the low bidder. A portion of costs will be contributed by Pasco County under an interlocal agreement.

    • motion:Motion to approve award of ITB26-021 to Premier Coating Solutions LLC in an amount not to exceed $100,031.84 for sludge thickener and rake and plow structure refurbishment. (passed)
    ▶ Jump to 1:10:07 in the video
    Show transcript

    Broadcast caption · reformatted for readability

    Sludge thickener, rake and plow structure. Refurbished. This agenda item relates to work to be done at the wastewater treatment plant, and it too is a bid award for. The recommendation is to enter into a contract with Premier Coating Solutions LLC for an amount not to exceed 100,000, $31.84, and Mr. Muller will present the agenda item further. Thank you again, miss manson. The request before you is to review and approve the award of itb 20 6-021, and this is for the refurbishment of the sludge thickener and rake and plow structure at the water reclamation facility in the amount not to exceed $100,031.84 to Premiere Coating Solutions, LLC. Once again, this equipment is critical to the functionality of the wastewater treatment process, and similar to the clarifier, it too has kind of a plow structure that moves some of the settled solids further down the line and ensures that we push that further into the clamp press, which is where we [01:15:01] Take our biosolids, and then it gets kind of pushed down and drained out from any fluid. It has a smaller footprint than the clarifier, and that's why the amount there would be a little bit more reduced. On March 24th, 2026, five bids were received ranging from $100,031.84 to $239,850, with once again Premier Coating Solutions LLC coming in as the low bidder. As stated previously, we've worked with these folks before in the past and have had excellent results, and all of the references have stated that they will work with them. Again. Funding for the project is available in the water pollution control budget, and once again, a portion of the cost will be contributed by Pasco County in accordance with the interlocal agreement, and approval of the itb is recommended at this time and I'm here for any questions, any public comment, seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion and vote. I'll move to approve. Second, no, just thank you. Colin. Second gen clarified. Sludge out. I'm good sir. All those in favor signify by I, I. That's for nothing

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  17. 12Communications1:15:01
  18. 1Call to Order – Roll Call
  19. 2

    Pledge of Allegiance

    Pledge of Allegiance.

  20. 3

    Moment of Silence

    Moment of silence.

  21. 7.a

    You arrived here from a search for “Meeting Minutes

    April 7, 2026 Regular Meeting Minutes

    Approval of the minutes from the April 7, 2026 Regular Meeting.

  22. 9.a

    Purchases/Payments for City Council Approval

    on consent

    Consent agenda item for purchases and payments requiring City Council approval.

  23. 9.b

    Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes – March 2026

    on consent

    Receipt of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Minutes for March 2026.

  24. 9.c

    Environmental Committee Minutes - February 2026

    on consent

    Receipt of the Environmental Committee Minutes for February 2026.

  25. 9.d

    Consideration of Amendment to the FY26 Adopted Budget

    on consent

    Consideration of an amendment to the FY26 Adopted Budget.

  26. 13Adjournment