On the agenda

1. 5.a

   T. Scott Baker, Police Pension Board

   approved

   Proclamation recognizing T. Scott Baker for his distinguished law enforcement career and approximately 28 years of service administering the New Port Richey Police Pension Plan as Secretary/Treasurer and Plan Administrator. Mayor Chopper Davis was running late, so the proclamation was presented by another council member in his absence.

   🏢City of San Diego Police🏢New Port Richey Police Department🏢New Port Richey Police Pension Board of Trustees👤Chopper Davis👤T. Scott Baker#Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP)#Police Pension Plan

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   Next, I'd like to call up scott baker for his police pension proclamation. It's a proclamation of the office of the mayor of the city of new port richey. Whereas t scott baker began his law enforcement career with the city of san diego, california in 1980, serving there through 1986 before joining the New Port Richey Police Department as a patrol officer in november of 1986. And whereas, during his distinguished career with the New Port Richey Police Department, Mr. Baker advanced through the ranks of detective corporal, sergeant, lieutenant and ultimately captain. Entering the deferred retirement option program in 2006 and retiring in October 2009. And whereas, effective January 1st, 1998, Mr. Baker was elected to the New Port Richey Police Pension Board of Trustees and immediately assumed the role of secretary treasurer, handling the administrative paperwork of the pension plan as a trustee until his retirement in October 2009. And whereas, upon his retirement, the board of trustees hired Mr. Baker as plan administrator, a position in which he has continued to serve ever since, bringing his combined service as secretary, treasurer and plan administrator to approximately 28 years. And whereas, through his extensive institutional knowledge, thoughtful judgment, professionalism and integrity, Mr. Baker has contributed greatly to the responsible oversight, sound administration and long term stability of the police pension fund, helping safeguard the retirement benefits earned by the city's police officers and retirees. And whereas, the city council wishes to formally recognize t scott baker for a lifetime of dedicated public service and to express its sincere gratitude for his lasting contributions to the New Port Richey Police Department, the police pension board, its members and retirees, and the community he has faithfully served. Now, therefore, I, Chopper Davis, mayor of the city of new port richey, do hereby recognize and honor t scott baker for his distinguished law enforcement career and his approximately 28 years of dedicated service in the administration of the city of New Port Richey Police Pension plan and extend our deepest appreciation for his commitment, leadership, integrity and enduring service to our community. I'd just like to thank the council and the mayor. Apparently, he's not here right now. And miss man's, I appreciate everything that you do. And for this this proclamation, I really appreciate it. And I enjoyed my time with the pension board and had a great time so far. So. So just real quick, I know everybody looks for chopper up here, but unfortunately he's running a little late, so you get me instead. So I apologize for that. But congratulations on your years of service with the city and we really appreciate it. So thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. All

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2. 5.b

   E-Waste Recycling Day (By Title Only)

   The E-Waste Recycling Day item was announced by title only; no substantive discussion or action is captured in the transcript before the meeting moved to approval of minutes.

   #E-Waste Recycling Day

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   Right. Next on the agenda is the e-waste recycling day by title only. Yes. Oh, there he is. Approval of the minutes September 10th, 2026 special meeting and September 15th

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3. 6Approval of Minutes▶ 5:16
4. 7Vox Pop for Items Not Listed on the Agenda or Listed on Consent Agenda▶ 5:16
5. 8

   City Council Response to Vox Pop Speakers

   discussed

   Council responded to public comments, directing staff to investigate sidewalk restoration issues on Montana (part of the Rio Drive grant project) raised by Mrs. Clark, and asking the City Attorney to review ADA/micromobility access in parks relative to the recently passed ordinance. Council also noted the need to preserve downtown murals given the significant investment made in them.

   • direction:Staff directed to investigate the specific sidewalk restoration complaint and report back; City Attorney directed to provide interpretation on ADA/micromobility in parks relative to the recently passed ordinance. (none)

   📍Montana📍Rio Drive🏢Garcia👤Mrs. Clark👤Patel#ADA access in parks#Downtown murals preservation#Micromobility ordinance#Sidewalk restoration project

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   Comments for the a portion because the majority of the. Well, there was two things real quick. I do want to understand what happened with the sidewalks. I think an address was shared with the letter. So just just if the staff can provide some sort of summary of what took place there and I it might have been the Rio Drive sidewalks. That's the only one I remember recently. The other comment was on the. The issue with ada and our parks, if that's related to the ordinance that was just passed, I've made my comments clear on the whole, [01:15:05] Being able to use micro mobility in our parks, but specifically the city attorney, if they could provide some sort of interpretation and get back to us on where where we fall with that and the, as it relates to that specific ordinance that was just passed, and we can look at both matters and report to you on our findings. And then the CRA comments I'll keep for CRA. Yeah, me as well. We've got a lot to discuss. I think councilman patel answered or got a. We'll get a decision on the ada for the park because I didn't I didn't realize that was something that was being looked at or, or a problem. The. I do think that the murals downtown that was brought up about preserving them. We need to make sure that we're looking at that and spend a lot of money on them. We need to make sure that we're we're preserving those and and doing that. Microphone, microphone. Is it on? Yeah. I was just saying that the murals downtown, they do need to be looked at and make sure that we are preserving them. We spend a lot of money on them. So we need to take a look at that. And then the other comment was about the ada. But council member tell spoke about that already. So I'll save my comments till CRA. I just want to say one thing. I just think we need. It's not the first time I've heard about the sidewalk, so I think we just need to track it a little bit better so it doesn't make it to here. I mean, I'm just saying I'm cognizant of Mrs. Clark's comments. And garcia, who was the contractor on the sidewalk project, has not completed all of the restoration on the project. But we'll look into her specific instance tomorrow, and I'll be able to communicate with her. That is the is it the Rio Drive one, am I no, that's not it is Rio Drive. It is that project area. Yes. Montana. Same grant but different street. Okay. Yes. Because a lot of people spoke about concerns of it encroaching on their gardens before we approved it. So that's why I just want to make sure that was our right of way. Yes. Moving on to the consent

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6. 9Consent Agenda▶ 1:15:05
7. 10.a

   Second Reading, Ordinance No. 2026-2378: Amendment of Chapter 3, Code of Ordinances RE: Prohibitions on Alcoholic Beverage Possession or Consumption in Open Containers

   approved

   Council held the second reading of Ordinance No. 2026-2378, amending Chapter 3 of the Code of Ordinances to prohibit possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages in Railroad Square between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. daily. No public comment was received, and the ordinance was approved on a voice vote.

   • motion:Move approval of Ordinance No. 2026-2378 on second reading, prohibiting possession/consumption of alcoholic beverages in Railroad Square between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. (passed)

   📍Railroad Square👤Patel#Chapter 3, Code of Ordinances#Ordinance No. 2026-2378#Section 3-5(C)

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   Five nothing. Okay. Reading of ordinances. Second reading of ordinance number 2026 2378. Amendment to the charter. Chapter three code of ordinances and the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. Possession or consumption on open containers. I'm not hearing you out here at all. I didn't really hear that either. Okay. This is ordinance number 2026 2378, an ordinance of the city of new port richey, Florida, providing for amendment of subsection c of section three, dash five of chapter three of the new port richey code of ordinances pertaining to exemptions from prohibitions on consumption of alcoholic beverages in certain places, providing for the prohibition of the consumption and possession of alcoholic beverages in Railroad Square between 2 a.m. And 8 a.m. Any day, providing for enforcement, providing for conflict, severability and an effective date. Any public comment? Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion and vote. Move approval of the presented item. I'll second maker. No, sir. I think what we're doing is saying when 2:00 when the bars are closed, so are the sidewalks for drinking. And they should be correct. Second no I'm good, thank you. No, I think this is needed so we can enforce that and make sure that stuff's not happening. Patel it's the second reading. My comments are the same. All right. All those in favor signify by I, I, I. That's fine.

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8. 11.a

   New Port Richey Main Street Inc.’s Alcoholic Beverage Special Event Permit Application and "Wet Zone" Request for the Sip-or-Treat Fall Wine Walk

   approved

   Council approved New Port Richey Main Street Inc.'s special event permit and wet zone request for the Sip-or-Treat Fall Wine Walk, to be held Thursday, October 29, 2026 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the downtown Main Street area. The event has been held previously without incident and received unanimous council support.

   • motion:Motion to approve New Port Richey Main Street Inc.'s alcoholic beverage special event permit application and wet zone request for the Sip-or-Treat Fall Wine Walk on October 29, 2026. (passed)5–0

   📍Main Street between the east boundary of Adams Street and the west boundary between River Road and US Highway 19🏢New Port Richey Main Street Inc.👤Mr. Jones#Sip-or-Treat Fall Wine Walk#Special Event Team review#Wet Zone request

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   Nothing. Business items make a New Port Richey Main Street alcohol beverage special event permit application for the wet zone. Regarding the sip and treat fall wine walk. Okay, Mr. Mayor, members of council, this application is for the sip and treat wine walk, which is due to be conducted on Thursday, October 29th, 2026 by the city's Main Street Organization from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the downtown area, principally along main street between the east boundary of adams street and the west boundary of basically between river road and us highway 19. The Main Street Organization has held these type of events in the past, and has done so without any incident. The special event team has met and reviewed their [01:20:11] Application and is recommending. If it meets with your approval, that we approve their application to conduct the event as set forth in the application for October 29th, 2026, and I'm prepared to respond to any questions that you may have related to the proposed event. You have any public comment? Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion and vote. I'll move to approve. Second to maker. No, I've I've participated in the event a bunch of times. It's it's greatly attended. And it speaks to retail. So it gets people out and moving around the city. So thank you, main street second. Yeah. I agree, it's a great event and it's always been incident free. And it's, you know, definitely get a lot of support for it. So. Yeah, I think main street has a difficult task of trying to meet the needs of all of our businesses downtown and promoting all those differences. And this is a, another example of them coming up with an event and partnering with the city to make sure that our businesses are represented. So thank you. And to provide an opportunity for residents to come out and experience the downtown. So thank you to the Main Street Organization for putting it together. All those in favor signify by I, I, I, I, that's [11.b) 2026 Cotee River Bike Fest Alcoholic Beverage Special Event Application] Five nothing. So the 2026 cody river bike fest alcoholic beverage special event application. The applicant for this special event application is miss tina farrell, who I believe is in attendance, but I have not picked her out because we have a thick crowd tonight. Oh, there she is. And she represents the cody river bike fest at which they are proposing to sell beer, wine and seltzers. And the specific proposal is to conduct the event on Friday, October 9th from 4 to 11. On Saturday, October 10th from noon to 11, and on Sunday, October 11th from 1:00 pm to 5:00 p m. As I recall, this is the 20th anniversary of the event and the alcohol and the special event team did convene a meeting on July 28th to consider the application and found it to be in order and recommend then in favor of supporting the application and the special event as presented in the documents supporting the staff recommendation to you by miss piggott. And so we're hoping that you will approve her event application this evening. Public comment. I don't see tina jumping up either. Bring it back for discussion and vote to approve. A second. I'll second. No, it's a great event. Another one that brings a lot of people into the city. The only thing I would maybe mention to tina, since it's been brought to our attention, to maybe do some nonalcoholic options for your beverages, we've had multiple people come here and ask for that at different city events. Well, second. Yeah. Thanks, Mr. Jones, for passing along some of the feedback we received to some of our special events and to the library department. Thank you. I will say, since I know we've gotten a few applications, but since the change in where the set team meetings or whoever's facilitating those took place, I feel like we're getting a a more concise picture of these events and the documents that are being presented. So thank you to the the staff that are working on putting together these packets with the event organizer and then to the event itself, a 20th year anniversary. I this event has invested in this city when it was, you know what some people characterize tonight as an empty town, not not a lively town. And so they've, they've stayed loyal to the city. They have a rich history here. And it's a, it's a charitable event. And so it definitely should we should continue to find ways to partner with them. And I know later tonight we will consider an item that directly supports the event. But in terms of the application, everything's put together properly. And thank [01:25:02] You for being transparent with everything you shared with us. Well, I'm ready to vote, sir. Right. Or matt, rather, I'll just say that it's obviously an ongoing event and I've participated in many years, volunteered for it many years. It's just a great event. I just want to say that probably one of the reasons that we haven't had very many problems with this event is they come in on two wheels, and they're bringing in a 20 to $100,000 toy. And so they're protecting their toy and thank thank them for spending their time and, and their money in our town. All those in favor signify by I, I, I that's five nothing city

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9. 11.c

   City Event Request - Mayor's Kickball Tournament

   approved

   Council considered a request to formally support the Mayor's Kickball Tournament, a coed double-elimination adult tournament scheduled for November 14 at Swetman and Gulf High fields. Proceeds would benefit the Recreation and Aquatic Centers scholarship program, Richey Suncoast Theater, and Gulf High sports program. Council approved supporting the event 5-0.

   • motion:Motion to support the Mayor's Kickball Tournament event and commit city resources. (passed)5–0

   📍Gulf High field📍Swetman (field)📍Vermont Avenue🏢Gulf High School🏢Recreation and Aquatic Centers Scholarship Program🏢Richey Suncoast Theater👤Angela Napolitano👤Kate Connolly👤Peter#Gulf High sports program#Mayor's Kickball Tournament#November 14 event date#Recreation and Aquatic Centers Scholarship Program

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   Event request for a mayor's kickball tournament. The purpose of the request is to receive some formal support for the kickball tournament that was proposed by the mayor at a formal former council meeting. What specifically was requested was to host a kickball tournament, which would be held at two different locations in the city. It would be a coed tournament with performed on a double elimination basis. There would be some cost to the city to host the event. There would be a registration fee per team. The proceeds from the tournament are proposed to benefit the Recreation and Aquatic Centers Scholarship Program, the Richey Suncoast Theater and the Gulf high sports program, and some of our costs. Since it could be or is proposed to be. Hosted at the former Gulf High School property and the current Gulf High field could include some porta portable toilet facilities and washing stations, some police and fire department support, some field repair and preparation, game equipment and supplies, marketing and insurance premium costs on the current Gulf high property, the. An absent a formal motion which wasn't made at the meeting where the event was originally proposed. I don't feel that I have enough support to obligate the city's resources and funding to support the program, so I'm asking you to make a motion in support of it. If it's your desire to do so, so that I can start to line up the necessary resources to support the event, we have any public comment. Angela Napolitano I'm not sure if it's a comment or a question. And by the way, kickball was my favorite when I was a kid. But so we're paying for it. And who is it benefiting the three people? The three groups are? Oh, okay. Okay, sorry I missed that. Thank you. Oh, it goes to the kids at Gulf High School. Yeah. The ones that can't afford to play the sports they're going to. Excellent, excellent. Thank you. Richey Suncoast Theater. And then the people that need funding to help get them into summer programs at at the rec center. Great. Count me in. I'm a good kickball kickball player. Yeah. Anybody else? Kate Connolly, Vermont Avenue. I am in 100% support of any kickball tournament as one of my favorite sports, other than soccer or football in europe. I would love to challenge the mayor himself if he is willing to play, but I'd be glad to see him referee and I'm so eager to see such support for our community organizations. I'm not supportive of it because it supports the theater. I like everything else about it, but great idea and thank you for doing it. Anybody else would like to speak, so we'll bring it back for discussion and vote to make a motion to support the event. I'll second that maker. No, I think it's a great event and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully we get a lot a lot of participation. I'm just disappointed. Kate challenged chopper before me. Peter, it's not a one on one support. Maybe not the kind of kickball I'm thinking about, but. Could I hear the date again? November 14th. November 14th starting at [01:30:10] 8 a.m. So. And oh, I'm glad to see the field used. And that means that we're starting to occupy our territory. Thank you. Just to say that, just to say that the the person who motioned and seconded, I hope to see you guys out there and have teams. They've already committed to a team. Are you committing to a team? I will join a team. Oh, I hope there's at least two blue shirt teams. Just to start with. It is an adult league and and it's coed minimum minimum of ten on a team and four have to be women. So you can have more. If you have more than ten all all will kick or bat if you want to say that. But the two of the fields will be at swetman and then the other two will be at Gulf high. And we. Of course, we already have approval of golf I. So that's one of the reasons we're sponsoring. We're sponsoring our, you know, helping out Gulf high kids that, you know, can't afford to play play their sports. So all those in favor signify by I, I and that's. Five and then also you can register at the rec center. They have the application there. And if you see me around town you might just get an application from me. Anyhow, register at rec center. Okay.

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10. 11.d

    FY 2026-2027 In-Kind Support for Special Events

    approved

    Council reviewed staff's recommended FY 2026-2027 in-kind support allocations for seven annual special events totaling $119,000 budgeted. Staff recommended amounts below several organizations' requests (e.g., Chasco Fiesta $45K vs. $65K requested; Cotee River Bike Fest $25K vs. $30K; Pack the Park $2K vs. $5K). After public comment from event organizers and extensive council discussion about creating a tiered funding policy, Deputy Mayor Peter Altman's motion to approve the staff recommendation as presented passed.

    • motion:Motion to approve the staff recommended in-kind support allocations for FY 2026-2027 special events as presented. (passed)
    • direction:Council direction to staff to develop a tiered percentage-based funding structure (e.g., 100%/80%/50%) with criteria including 501(c)(3) status and Florida Sports Coast partnership for future special event in-kind support decisions.

    📍5636 Grand Boulevard, Newport Richey📍Railroad Square🏢Chasco Fiesta🏢Cotee River Bike Fest🏢Florida Sports Coast🏢Gulf Middle School🏢Main Street Organization🏢Pack the Park🏢Pack-A-Sack🏢SAC👤Angela Napolitano👤Cami Austin👤Chuck Gray👤Dan Tipton👤Debbie👤John Gillis👤Jonas👤Kevin👤Matt👤Michelle Hemphill👤Peter Altman👤Scott Miller#4th of July celebration#Chasco Fiesta#Chasco Fiesta Street Parade#Cotee River Bike Fest#Downtown New Year's Eve Event#Downtown Trick or Treat#FY 2026-2027 Budget#February 17 Work Session on special events#Holiday Street Parade#In-Kind Support for Special Events#Pack the Park#Winter Wonderland

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    The 2026 627 in-kind support of special events. Before you this evening is to review the recommended allocation of in-kind support for our annualized special events occurring during the fiscal year 2627. As I'm sure you'll all recall each year, this in your in your budget, we appropriate funding to support our annualized in special events. On an in-kind basis for the organizations that do, the nonprofits that do provide events during the year that provide a community benefit. And they are as follows. Cody river bike fest. Pack the Park the downtown. Trick or treat, the holiday street parade, the downtown new year's eve event, Chasco Fiesta street parade and Chasco Fiesta. This year, we budgeted an amount of $119,000 to support those expenditures, and as is the case every year, their request exceeds the amount of funding that's available, and we prevent it. And what we've done is we've we've recommended an amount based on what their event costs were in previous years. And Kevin and I worked on a recommendation to advance to you this evening. And our recommended amount is as follows. Cody river bike fast recommend asked for $30,000, and we are recommending an amount of $25,000 pack. The park asked for $5,000. Their event cost last year were only 2000. Well, they were under 2000. Were recommending 2000 downtown. Trick or treat. They asked for 3000. We're recommending 3000, which is consistent with their expenses. Last year, the holiday street parade asked for 15,000. We are recommending 13,000. They did show higher event costs. For some reason. Their event costs were much higher for the holiday street parade than for the chasco street parade, the downtown new year's eve event requested $45,000, which included a lot of costs that weren't city costs. They were costs associated with some of the private costs for entertainment, rental of equipment, and the ball drop. [01:35:09] We're recommending 18,000. The Chasco Fiesta street parade request was 15,000. We're recommending 13,000. The Chasco Fiesta requested 65,000, and we're requesting 45,000. And it may be appropriate to note that last year. We waived the entire fee for Chasco Fiesta and the cody river bike fest, and they did not have to pay their event fees at all. And the amounts that were waived last year for the cody river bike fest was 31,000 285,000, and the amount waived for Chasco Fiesta was 40 just over $48,000. And with that, we're prepared to respond to questions that you may have of us. We have any public comment. You know, I don't show up for like a year and then you can't sit I can't I can't shut up. But I'm a little upset about the pack, the park. Angela Napolitano I'm really upset about the pack, the park that you would try to lower what they're asking because that's the biggest fundraiser for pack a sack. And I'm the pakistani liaison at Gulf Middle School. And we don't have enough funds to even feed all the hungry children. I have a wait list for kids. So to even like, I think they just oh, they only asked for five grand, but you're waving cody river bike fest and chasco. I mean, I know that they go to I'm sure they, I, I'm hoping that they go to other charities and stuff. But again, we're talking about feeding our children here in our backyard. So I would hope that you would reconsider. I don't need the eye rolls. I'm just hoping that you would reconsider and, and give one community now the 5000 that they need, like as a liaison. I'm, I'm going around myself trying to raise money and, and do the donation of the raffle basket and all of that, because we don't have enough money to feed these poor kids. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. Did you want me to respond? Anybody else like to speak? Seeing no one else, come get one. Okay. Yes. Good evening. I'm Chuck Gray, 5636 grand boulevard, newport. Richie, I own the oldest business in newport. Richie. And been here a long time and enjoyed the way I've seen the growth occur. I think there's a lot of good intentions here tonight with the with both the brainstorm group and I'm sure the other group as well. I don't haven't heard their proposal, but I think they're both worthy and I think they both need time for consideration. But I'm not here to talk about those. I'm here to talk about the Chasco Fiesta budget. I'm vice president, have been doing chasco for over 30 years now and. I looked over the proposal for support that we're getting from the city. We spend, we have to raise. We have a board that we only have one person that's that's an employed person that we pay. Everybody else is a volunteer. And we all spend hundreds of hours. We spend our own money. We raise money by going out and finding sponsorships and so forth. We we have to raise over $300,000 to put on Chasco Fiesta for nine days. I was also one of the initial people that started bike fest with Dan Tipton, that was mayor at that time. And Scott Miller, who was city manager at that time. It's a great event. And but I decided that I would peel that off of what I was doing because Chasco Fiesta takes so much time and effort. We literally work all year round to put the [01:40:05] Put the event together. And I noticed that the bike fest was getting. I was suggesting $25,000 support. I have no problem with that. But what I do think is that I think it should be some kind of a per diem comparable support for Chasco Fiesta. We're a nine day event. If the per diem for bike fest, for example, I'm using them only as an example, is, let's say $8,000. And they're getting 25,000. So based on that, our nine day event should be 72,000. But we only asked for 65,000. And I think that's a reasonable amount because the amount of the amount of money and time and effort, talent and treasure that it takes to put on Chasco Fiesta for the benefit of the city, and none of us get one dime. This is nothing. We we don't we don't profit from Chasco Fiesta at all. None of us do. And I just think that it's a great event. It's over a hundred years old. We've we've developed it into a regional event and we get a lot of people there. My time is up. Okay. So anyway, I'd like you to reconsider that amount, that additional 15,000. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Hello, council, I'm Michelle Hemphill, I'm the director of sac, which is the park to park for park event. I just respectfully request that all the non-profits I understand budget wise, you have to cut. But we really do need the $5,000 to cover the expenses. And I'd ask you to reconsider because, as angela said so, well, we are trying to feed kids here, not just in Pasco county, but a lot of kids here in newport. Richie. Thank you. Anybody else like to speak? Go ahead. Debbie. I'll cover both matters. In-kind means we cover our staff expenses. We can't use the public funds to help provide the food services. Our estimates for Pack the Park are that it's going to cost less than $2,000 for staff expenses. That is why I limited the contribution to $2,000 that will cover all of our expenses. So you will have no charges for the event. That's what that means. And in relationship to the perceived disparity between what is being recommended for cody river bike fest and what's being recommended for chasco, it's related to the fact that cody river bike fest doesn't charge anything for people to enter the park, and chasco does. They charge an entry fee, so they're making that revenue for people entering the park. So and that's the only event we have in the city where they make an entry fee off of everybody that enters. And not everybody likes that. We know that for sure, but that's revenue that they may off of using our park facility. So that kind of makes up for the little bit of loss in the amount of in-kind that they receive. And that's how we viewed it. If you view it differently, you're the bosses, we carry out your orders. Tell me what the number is. Remind me those two numbers again, or remind the public also of what their what their revenue, what they ask for is what they asked for and what we decided. Well, they asked for 65,000 and we gave them 45,000. And what did they have? They say their, their costs were less. I have to look it up. It's in the report. 6586 okay. Bring it back for discussion. Vote. For discussion. Let me let me put my $0.02 in tesco fiesta over 100 years old. All the years up until the economy tanked in 2003 to 2007. Sometime in that period of time, the city's [01:45:04] Officials were very strapped for money. And so they set up this process to charge. At that time, up until that time, the city's ordinance, their original ordinance, said that no one who's a civic organization or a nonprofit should be charged for crowd control. So to me, this is a crowd control issue, crowd control for the bike fest goes well beyond the perimeters of the park. The park is not the limitation of that event for Chasco Fiesta. Hopefully we can sort out this whole issue about the reason to charge, but the reason to charge is because we. That committee was not allowed to have the carnival anymore. Because we've done so much to improve the city. It's become denser and we can't put the carnival in town anymore. So not a dime is made. So when we talk about charging money, what we're talking about is nonprofit organizations like chuck and Cami Austin, who's been the president for many years, work all year for which you may or may not like or enjoy. And I'm sorry, but if you won't pay the $5, why did you pay $10 to park to go there? Because the money is going for porta potties and and control and police and security that's hired in order to check everybody's pockets to make sure they're safe to go in. So the city has changed a lot since then. We've had discussions for over two years about having a discussion about this issue in kind. Money in the budget is not real money. The real money is in the police department, the fire department, the parks department, and that real money is paid by taxpayers money, just like the recreation center. All of the free concerts, if I may, are now including Main Street Organization to sell alcohol to make money for their nonprofit, which does a city service. The Chasco Fiesta committee provides a city service. It's it's nonprofit is itself. It's providing entertainment to the community that this group has been talking about all day. So when you say in-kind, I just want to make sure that for the pack, the park, asking for money for your project, for what you do, or for the Chasco Fiesta for the entertainment that's cost a good bit of money, including the native americans, the city relies on that nonprofit entity to carry on this, this what has always been a city project. Our new 4th of july, our new new year's eve celebration, our 4th of july celebration, had been sponsored privately by John Gillis, who's here. And shout out to john for putting on the fireworks for all these years. Thank you john. Have a whole committee of a whole building here full of people who are either privately profiting and wanting to help move the city forward, and good for that group. I feel like I'm in church and it's the bride and the groom over there, and I'm sorry for that. But the bottom line is everybody has an interest in this city. When we come to nonprofits and we talk about charging $5, we could release the $5. We could let every member of the city's recreation department get in for free because they're a member of our city. Tourists come in, tourists feed our economy, our private economy, but they also are helping to feed the revenues for us to continue to put all these projects on. So I would simply say that because we are this far along and the recommendation has been made that I will vote, I will make a motion to approve the recommendation so I can be the first one to talk once it becomes official, if someone will second it. Motion to approve. Is there a second as presented? I'll second it because we can amend the motion. Yes. Mr. Mayor, if I could speak first. Sure, I already did. But now I get to speak first again. But modifications do you want to make? Well, I don't want to make modifications, but I want to say that what I heard about Pack the Park sounds like a great opportunity for some of the other non-profits to get involved in your softball and your tournament. In our winter wonderland, and in anything else we can do to support each other's charity charitable causes for the good of our city and our residents. So getting the difference between the 2000 and the 5000 you're asked for is going to come from this room. [01:50:05] I'm going to bet, and I hope that you'll let the word out that it's needed, and I'd be happy to help sponsor a kickball team with your Pack the Park group, and see if we couldn't get the mayor to maybe include that in some kind of charitable share. Or if not, at least. Bottom line is we all have to work together. And there's been an awful lot of, you know, sort of brewing bad blood, which which we don't deserve. We all agree. It's a great place. I make the motion. If we don't like it, it's because the city has decided what the bill is. So my final word is when we talk about how much money we're giving, we're talking about how much of our city's resources are we putting to these events. And when you look at the overtime of or extra services of police, and you look at the Chasco Fiesta, when in the old days the town was dead, we mowed the sidewalks and everybody went to Chasco Fiesta. And you went in there and you bought your food and you bought your drink and you had your. Now the chasco is pretty okay, but then when it's over, they go for three hours to Railroad Square to party. And what do I see? Police, fire services, all provided. So we're one city. It's about time we kind of stopped this madness that I think is occurring. Recognize the expenses? Let us know as a council. But I'm not going to pretend that we're giving money to anybody. We're giving services and they're deserved services, and they're just as deserved as the services of us maintaining peace in our streets until 2:00 in the morning, in our commercial zones and areas. So the whole thing we've been waiting for a work session. I'm calling for it still, but the motion is on the floor. Let's just go through this one more year, but please, let's have that meeting. We've talked about it up here for a long time. Thank you. Second. You know, I'm I'm in agreeance. With what? You know what peter's got to say up here? You know, we've got a ton of events. You know, all these events are for a reason. They're to generate revenue in our city, help our businesses create traffic support, not for profit. You know, and there's a reason why you all are here, you know, and that's part of the reason. And I think for the most part, most of us work together cohesively to try to put these events together. You know, for myself, I'm on the Chasco Fiesta committee, you know, so I can speak to that wholeheartedly of the time it takes and what effort there is there to do it. And, you know, not everybody understands the cost involved, the time. And as we all know here, everything's getting more expensive. Nothing's getting any cheaper, you know. So I do agree, you know, let's, let's kind of roll with these numbers that we have for this year. But moving forward, I know we're trying to create more of a beforehand number so we can kind of get these numbers involved and get them in our budget. So this way we don't have this issue. But also on the other hand, we want to make sure we're helping these events out because the bottom line is if we're not here to help, and I'm not saying just the city, I'm saying community as well, some of these events are not going to be here. So we need to be conscientious of that. So I'm kind of putting it out there to you guys. We're going to do our part today, but I want to see you guys do your part going forward. Matt. Yeah, I agree with both of them on that. We need to have a workshop to really look at it from my, my perspective is I think that any city deemed event that we're doing, especially big ones that we've had for long periods of years, like chasco and, and cody river. And those things need to be, you know, I'd like to see our services provided. And there's, there's not a, not a cost associated. We just provided services to put on those events because it's our city. And, but, you know, we have to keep in mind that expenses on our side to keep going up. You know, the event from chasco from 20 years ago is a lot different from the event of chasco now. But technology and having to plan for, you know, just all kinds of contingencies with crowds and that kind of thing. It's a lot different. It's a lot more expensive. And we need to do that because we want to keep everybody safe. So we just got to keep that in mind. But you know, I'm I'm a believer in, you know, we're having a city event. You know, we should probably provide those services and it should be part of the package. But we have to be mindful of the spending too. Yeah, I think part of the disconnect and just to, you know, I know we've talked about this in the last year about how [01:55:01] We want to start tackling the event process and how we can, you know, to the to the credit of the the deputy mayor, jonas, he's kind of taken the lead on that to, you know, poke the city council to try to get them to start having that conversation. And we have been I mean, February 17th, there was a work session where we kind of laid out some of that information. I. Jonas was one of the ones who talked about the china give some sort of criteria to those events connected to the Florida Sports Coast. And I see here that, you know, they should be a registered 501 c three. So we did give input to to staff. And I think where. And since then, now, you know, I get it's budget season. I know there's a lot that comes with that. But since then, I think one of the things I had mentioned or it might have been councilman altman, I can't remember, is more of a a tiered structure where I mean, the one committee now is a perfect example. They're coming here requesting five. We're having them essentially guess of what they may need, even though at the end of the day, the calculations are done by staff. And then staff is saying, well, we think you're going to be closer to two. So then when it comes back before council, council's intent is to do 100% in-kind support, but it looks like we're only doing 60% because there is a disconnect between what the community thinks they're going to be charged and what we're going to be charged. And to the city manager's point and to councilman altman's point, it's not cash. It's not a check. It's the calculated cost of running the event. And that cost primarily is usually associated with the police department because public safety has to come first. And so if this council decides that for Chasco Fiesta, they provide their own security, their own fencing. And so although there is a police presence, we believe that should be 100% in kind, then I think that direction should be given versus, hey, chasco guess that you're going to spend $65,000 worth of in-kind support from police and fire and public works, and then have city council come back and only give you 45. In my mind, the easiest way to correct this going forward is we did give staff a criteria. Now we need to put numbers to it. If you have Florida sports, if you can prove there's an economic benefit with Florida Sports Coast attached to it, and you're a 501 c 3 or 501 c four, then at that point, excuse me only at 5O1C3. At that point you get 100% funding contingent on approval by council, 100% funding, not $2,000 or $6000 or $18,000. Because to Mr. Gray's point, it's just not proportional across the events. And so going forward, I don't think it needs another workshop. I think we workshopped it to death. I think city council needs to come back with us and say, going forward, next year's events, you we've laid out a structured tier system, 100%, 80%, 50%. We can set the calculation up here. That way, when staff comes and runs their numbers, they just kick it back to us for final approval and we're done. We gave them a percentage direction versus this. Well, chasco got six grand or 45 grand and a bike fest got 25. And so that being said, I don't think it is in good conscience to again, say, you know, we told them this last year, we said, look, we're going to get the house in order around events. And to the city manager's credit, there was a work session. It's been documented. There's a there's been an evolution on the city staff side of how the city event process takes place. So there's been improvements. I don't want to discredit that. But the core issue of the city council setting the criteria and policy has not been met. So I think it's time for city staff to present that tiered list of percentages for next year and for this year, since we didn't get the job done. That's not the fault of bike fest. That's not the fault of one community. Now we should give the the same tiers as we did before, which correct me if I'm wrong, we ended up just honoring their request, which would be 100%. So if the second and the motion would modify to say we will give the requested amount for these events at 100% understanding that we already know in one case, it's not going to be five grand, it's going to be two grand. So we know we're not actually spending the requested amounts potentially by doing that. Everyone here who has been everyone that was here last year who was led to believe we were changing the process is still being held to that belief. We're being fair. And then we need to set a date. I don't know if it needs to be beginning of the year, february. We need an actual item that changes the process for how we do those events, and it needs to come before special events sneaks up on us again. But if they would be open to changing that, and I know I'll be the biggest advocate, I think one of the best ideas that came out of that work session was the [02:00:02] Florida Sports Coast, finding ways to partner with them. So I'd like to see that in our tiered recommendations. But for, for for these events, I think we should amend the motion to do full funding, knowing it's not even going to be that amount. It's going to be less, hopefully. I just think that. I just think we're addressing the problem at the at the starting gate. And last year we went ahead and, and forgo the cost, the total cost on two events. So this is just a starting gate. This isn't where we need to have an exact number because the people we don't really know, the whole event is going to go on the chasco the modifications are going to make this year. They're putting it together right now. So this is just a starting gate. And so I'm in support of the starting gate numbers. So all those in favor say aye. Was there any entertainment from the second or motion to amend. No, no. If the second wants to ask me to I'll consider it. But I think the bottom line is it's up to the you said it. Whatever bill is generated by the committees is the amount that the entities are being charged, and then they're being discounted. So we get the ability to charge money to the nonprofits to give us back money to help us pay for services. And so I appreciate the spirit of your motion, especially appreciate the idea that, you know, it's become more difficult because we just can't identify what part of town is being affected by the amount of security that's required. So basically, we're in charge of security. I mean, the old the old deal was crowd control and crowd control and safety and security to me is what was meant by the original ordinance of our city. And so I would just ask that the crowd control figures match up with the amounts that we've approved, and that the city manager comes back to let us know how much overtime and expenses are required, because it's no longer, again, it's no longer the downtown or the city's park. And frankly, I say take out the fences, stop charging the five bucks, but stop making them raise the money with a $5 charge that that offends somebody so that we can pay you the difference in the police that we can't afford because we've got porta potties, events, activities, native americans overnight stay, hotel stays, insurance. It's a big deal and it's a big cost. And it's thankful to folks like chuck, cammy austin to, to you as a new member of the committee and to those that came before, it was it was the chamber of commerce when we had a new port richey chamber, and it was the city. And it was, if I'm not mistaken, the library was the benefactor. Way back in the early days of some of this, the city's library. So it's always been a city event. Please relook at your numbers and see if we can't make it happen to to support your comment. I do agree with it, but I don't think we need to change the motion so we can just keep rolling and, and the $5 is going to the entertainment that they have to hire. It's not going to, you know, help support, you know, the police or anything of that sort. So, so this motion is just for the recommended amounts by city staff. So for example, Chasco Fiesta would get would get in-kind support up to 45,000. If they go over that, then they have to pay that, make that decision. Let us know so we can see what the cost. Last year went over. We didn't charge them last year. Let's use this as a way to collect data for the solution. I have the data. There's seven pages of data right here. There's police's 18,000, 15,000, 9000 fire at one point was 200 and it went up to six grand with no explanation. So excuse me, I have the data. We have that data too. So that's that's the I don't understand you're you're in this respect in the actual report 65,000. Right. But in your report in the report for chasco, it shows the breakdown. And in every single case, it's the police that that have the highest cost except for one community. Now, because there is no crowd control cost for that. And so the question becomes they they get to administer, the city manager gets to administer and decide who to put where. But it's city council's job to decide percentages and decide if we want to give in-kind support in this way, you know, police could turn around and Pack the Park could turn out to be a $6,000 event, and now you're down to 90%. You are intent up here is not being met with the current with the current structure. Like I said in the beginning, this is a starting gate. This isn't locked in numbers. All those in favor say [02:05:02] Yes. I just think we need to come up with a lot, not less complicated. I don't think we need percentages. I don't think we need any of that. I think it's simple. Whatever the city services are, we provide them. I mean, and if there's other costs that the events need, because they're doing different things and they pay for it out of their sponsorships. But as far as the city is concerned, we pay for our services, what it costs to do it and keep it real simple. I just, I just don't think we need to make it complicated for all events. You're saying for for all events. Well, it's motion services for the city provides right? Not, not cost for porta potties and all that kind of different event. That's all we're talking about right now. We don't charge them for porta potties. We don't. This is the only I don't understand what. But we do need to have some detail because there are costs of renting the facility and the peace hall and some of those. And those are standard costs. They should we should decide from a tiered basis if we want to let that go for everybody, or pick our 4 or 5 big events that we've always had a city deemed events. Yeah. Not every event. Right. Yeah. So there's more. I think I'm going to call the question if I can. All those in favor signify by I, I that's four against. Okay, 4 to 1. Moving on to ratifying

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11. 11.e

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    Ratification and Approval of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA)

    approved

    Council ratified the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA) for FY 2026-2027, including a 2% wage increase (new entry-level officer salary of $60,000), revised holiday pay language in Article 15, and amendments to the police pension plan (Article 25) to unify the final compensation calculation and unfreeze the portion frozen in November 2017. The financial impact was already included in the FY 2026-2027 budget.

    • motion:Motion to approve the ratification of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the West Central Florida PBA. (passed)5–0

    🏢New Port Richey Police Pension🏢West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association👤Matt👤Mr. Wetzel👤Ms. Manns👤Pete👤Rachel#Appendix A#Article 14 - Pay Provisions#Article 15 - Holidays#Article 25 - Pension Plan#FY 2026-2027 budget#Police pension amendment ordinance (forthcoming)

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    Broadcast caption · reformatted for readability

    Approval of the collective bargaining agreement with the West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association. This item is before you. As a result of the fact that the west Pasco on West Central Florida Police Benevolent Association was due for a wage increase covering the fiscal year 2627 and amending two articles within their collective bargaining agreement. And Mr. Wetzel's prepared to present the agenda item to you this evening. Thank you, miss manns. Good evening mayor. Good evening, city council. After a respectful and positive negotiating meeting with members of the pba's negotiating team, staff is pleased to present to you a proposed final agreement that has been reached between the city and the pba regarding wages and article amendments for fiscal year 2026 2027. The following is a brief summary of the terms and conditions that have been agreed upon by the union and the city's negotiating teams. Article 14 the pay provisions with respect to wages for fiscal year 2020 627. The steps reflected in appendix a of the current collective bargaining agreement shall be replaced and increased by 2% from fiscal year 25, 2025 2026. The increase would be effective as of October 1st, 2026. The new starting salary for an entry level police officer will be $60,000 per year. Article 15 the holidays section five the language was revised and updated within this section to clarify the payroll payment practices for city holidays, as it pertains to an employee required to cover a non-regular, regularly scheduled shift or event on the actual holiday not observed when it is their day off. And finally, article 25. With regard to the pension plan, it was agreed to amend the pension plan document for the New Port Richey Police Pension. This is very similar to the action taken to amend the firefighters pension. This. This. This current year. Again, with regard to the definition of average, final compensation will be revised and updated to provide uniformity regarding the final calculation of the retirement benefits, rather than having two calculations and amounts that there will only be one calculation and amount, the portion of the pension plan that was frozen in november of 2017 will be unfrozen. To complete this final calculation, an ordinance will be presented for review and approval by city council at two upcoming meetings to to request to amend the police pension. Overall, the budget and fiscal impact for this year, the fiscal. The financial impact associated with this agenda item was anticipated and accounted for in the fiscal year 2026 2027 budget. There are no additional funds or amendments necessary to the fiscal year 2026 2027 budget to fund this item. And finally, it's the recommendation is for city council to vote in favor of the terms and conditions as identified in the proposed collective bargaining agreement with the pba. I'll be glad to answer any questions regard to that process or the issue. Thank you. We have any public comment. Seeing no one come forward, bring it back for discussion and vote. I'd make a motion to approve the recommendation. Second, you can have it. No. I'm happy to see [02:10:01] That we're settling union negotiations, and I thank you for your work. Matt. I'm good. Rachel. Yeah. Just to say thank you to the city manager and to our human resources department and the union for negotiating in good faith. I I'm very proud that our city continues to have a good working relationship with the union. Pete. I'm good. Thank you. All those in favor signify by I, I I that's five nothing. Does anybody have any communications now. No, sir. No. Okay. I'm going to take a five minute recess. We'll be back. At what time is it. 812. * This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.

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12. 1Call to Order – Roll Call