Operation are eleven to eleven seven days a week.

We like to be flexible.

We're here every day.

Um, come in and make your reservation today.

Thank you.

No, yeah.

Um certificate right under your hole.

Oh, no, sorry about that.

Congratulations.

All right.

If I can get everyone together, so I can take a fruit picture.

All right.

So we're gonna have it right over here.

Perfect.

Perfect perfect.

Three, two, four.

This time I'll call to order the work session of Clearwater City Council for June 15, 2026.

And we will move to items me to point one on the agenda, which is presentation of our June service awards.

First, I'd like to call forward Nathan Brigman from the Parks and Recreation Department.

He's celebrating his twentieth year with the City of Clearwater.

So we'd like to congratulate Nathan for being here today and uh invite you up here to receive an award for uh your long-term service to the city.

Citizens appreciate all the employees who dedicate their careers to the city as you have, and thank you for your service to the city of Clearwater.

Oh doesn't say on the script that we have a reading, but uh here's our reading.

I want to be able to say all the great things that you've done over the 20 years, so just bear with me for just a moment.

Nate began his career with the city in twenty twenty-six after graduating from Auburn University with a bachelor's degree in horticulture.

He joined the city as a supervisor of the contracts team under the mentorship of Mr.

Brian McMurphy.

In his role, he quickly developed expertise in managing the city's vacant properties, overseeing numerous medians and coordinating multiple contractors across a wide range of operations.

Shortly thereafter, he assumed leadership of the spray team, helping ensure that the grass throughout the parks remained healthy and insect-free.

Throughout his tenure, Nate has consistently demonstrated innovation and forward-thinking leadership by introducing new equipment and operational improvements that enhance enhance both functionality and precision in the field.

Today, Nate oversees both beach and mainland teams, managing a staff of 40 full-time employees.

An exciting milestone for their family.

That will move to the next one, which is presentation of the employee of the month award for June of 2026.

I'd like to call forward Michael DeCoter from Public Works.

And this time it does say to ask the city manager to uh read the script.

Following the 2024 storm season, it became evident that the Public Works Department needed to modernize its hurricane preparedness efforts.

Under the leadership of Dan and Jeremy Brown, Michael has played a key role in developing new electronic system for assessing damage to critical infrastructure following storm events.

From creating resources for employees, conducting damage inspections, and establishing standards for emergency operations center, GIS workflows to automating FEMA reimbursement documentation.

Michael has been instrumental in strengthening the city's storm response and recovery capabilities.

More recently, the Public Works Hurricane Preparedness Team partnered, partnered with Chief Hood to expand these efforts across multiple city departments, offering additional support and exploring opportunities to implement the systems Michael and Dan have developed on a broader scale.

Despite taking on these significant responsibilities, Michael has continued to excel in his regular duties, consistently delivering high quality work and demonstrating exceptional dedication to the organization.

Michael's commitment to innovation, preparedness, and collaboration has made the city of Clearwater safer, more resilient, and better equipped to respond to future emergencies.

His efforts exemplify the city's commitment to superior public service by ensuring residents receive effective and efficient support when it matters the most.

At the same time, his forward thinking approach to process improvement and cross-departmental collaboration reflects the principles of a high performing government, creating systems that enhance operational excellence and position the city for continued success.

Michael, thank you for all that you do as you truly help make Clearwater thrive.

Okay.

Congratulations, Michael, and thank you for coming today so we could recognize you.

That will move to the next one, which is to call uh fire chief Chad Pittman forward to introduce our new fire and rescue department employees.

Good afternoon, Mr.

Mayor Council.

Proud to be here with our eight newest employees.

Um all eight of these just finished a very rigorous uh recruit training class, and they were all successful.

So if you would permit me before the swearing end, I'd like to read a short bio on each of them.

Um first, Adam Alicia, at the very end.

Um he is a Clearwater native.

Um Adam graduated from Clearwater High School, and he previously worked for Sunstar Ambulance, and he's excited to serve the community that sees that he's always called home.

So welcome, Adam.

Next is Will Bateman.

Will was born and raised in Pasco County, and after high school, he enlisted in the U.S.

Air Force, where he began his career as a firefighter.

He previously worked for the Pinellas Park Fire Department, and he loves traveling, off-roading, and spending time with his new wife.

Ben Bossum.

Originally from Ohio, uh, Ben began his uh fire and EMS career in 2010.

He is a veteran of the U.S.

Air Force and a current member of the Florida Air National Guard.

He grabbed, he's a graduate of the Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing, and he previously worked for Manatee County EMS and Tampa General Hospital.

Taylor Bird.

Taylor was born in Winter Park and served in the U.S.

Navy for five years as an aviation structural mechanic.

He previously worked for Dunedin Fire Rescue and loves to fish, cook, and spend time with his family.

Joseph Davidson.

Joseph is from the Outer Banks of North Carolina and graduated from the University of Tampa, where we where he ran track and cross-country.

He spent seven summer summers with Kill Devil Hills Ocean Rescue.

Corne Diesel.

Corn was born in California but grew up in West Chase and Hillsborough County.

He spent the last two years as a firefighter for Plant City Fire Rescue and is excited to serve the residents of Clearwater.

Mike Chane.

Born and raised in Dunedin.

Mike grew up playing baseball and basketball and earned a scholarship at the Florida College.

He's excited to begin his first fire service job in his hometown area.

Richard Stevens.

Richard was born and raised in St.

Petersburg and is a product of Gibbs High School.

After graduation, he joined the U.S.

Coast Guard, where he served eight years as a boatsman to me.

I present you our eight newest firefighters.

The Constitution and Government.

Under the charter laws.

Thank you.

Congratulations in chief.

Not just the talent we've assembled here.

But I know from talking with one of their fathers that one of one of the eighth told me that since he was a little boy, he's dreamed of being not just a firefighter, but a clearwater firefighter.

And they all have stories that were told in that day, and their family members see them show up that are so important in supporting them.

This is a great, great class that you've got here.

So congratulations to all of you and welcome to our team.

Thank you, Mr.

Coming today.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Okay, with that next, we'll move to item 3.1 and uh city manager.

That's uh your uh item to present.

Leadership briefing on Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.

So just as a real brief update while we wait for a hunter to get up here, um, our Bloomberg Harvard experience is the official consortium is getting ready to come to a close.

However, um, certainly the lessons learned and the experiences that we're taught will live on way into our future, and as a result of it, we've got some really incredible projects that we're going to continue to work through and work towards as a result of this.

This team has been nothing short of absolutely outstanding, incredibly uh dedicated group of employees that have spent a lot of time to see this project through.

And so I certainly want to give them some credit, a lot of credit for all of their efforts.

Thank you guys.

Excellent.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

I'm Hunter Carlson with the Office of Management and Budget.

I'm excited to provide you all with a final leadership update on the city's participation in the Bloomberg-Harbard City Leadership Initiative.

So, to provide you all with some context of our identified challenge.

The project topic that our team chose to undertake surrounds the experience that our customers have with the city's permitting services.

The city has more than 20 individual types of permitted services, each with their own unique process and requirements.

We acknowledge that the permitting process isn't just a regulatory one, but one which also carries real life emotional impact that shapes how people experience our service.

So the challenge we as a city experience today is one of increased demand from those we serve.

As a team, we've heard from our customers and staff that some permitting processes can often feel full of unexpected hurdles, and that's why we're focusing on that experience to identify areas for improvement.

And at this time, I will happily welcome up Ali Chandler Bear to share more about our innovative approach of the project.

Good afternoon.

I'm Allie Chandler Bear, and I'm the interim director of public communications.

So as discussed in the previous presentation, our aim, which is our ambitious, impactful mission, is to ensure that by 2030, Florida demonstrates ongoing excellence in service delivery through measurable improvements that reduce costs, increase efficiency, and strengthen public confidence in local government.

So rather than jumping directly into the solutions and coming up with all of the ideas that we wanted to, we followed a very structured approach.

So it started with design, talking to stakeholders, and then we moved into prototyping, which basically was just testing the idea without making any official investments.

We heard from residents with a wide range of experiences interacting with the city from frequent users to people who know our processes very well, all the way to some people who only engage with us maybe once in a year or so.

A key part of this process was not just asking for feedback but bringing in a wide range of residents into the conversation early enough to actually influence the project.

One of the biggest outcomes of this work is seeing that it doesn't just apply to one project, it can apply across the city.

So we held several staff workshops where we invited staff to give us feedback on ideas and use techniques like Rose Thorn and Bud and Yes and which allow people to give constructive feedback.

And we've seen this spreading across the city in public utilities, I think we saw it in parks and recreation, where they're using those techniques on their own projects.

So it really has spread.

So with that, I will invite Rebecca now to speak about the impact we're beginning to see.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

I'm Rebecca Mulder.

I am the assistant director for planning and development and one of the members of the Harvard Bloomberg program.

And so I want to talk a little bit with you guys about what we learned throughout the very the long months that we worked on this program.

So as you heard from Hunter and Allie, our team was working to identify opportunities to enhance services for our users, and we decided to specifically focus on our permitting experiences.

So one of the biggest shifts that we had to work through was to change our mentality from a process focused approach to a more experience-driven approach.

And with that, we had to ask different questions.

So instead of saying, is a process working, we had to ask, how does the process feel while somebody's using it?

So through the interviews and engagements with residents and staff, we were able to identify seven key insights from those interviews and experiences that help us identify pain points, where our services are working, and how people are experiencing those processes as they move through them.

One of the key insights that we developed was that inconsistent paths can erode confidence.

And what we mean by that is that while a process may work, and we did find through the interview process that people were overall able to get through our process, it does work.

Some of those disconnects can erode confidence that users feel, and there's a disjointedness, and so those inconsistent paths can be something that we need to work on.

When we develop the seven insights, we not only the way we did that is by all of the user input from staff and residents, we identified key areas that there was a repeat theme, and then when we did that, we not only identified that area, but then we implemented what we call a how might we statement.

So in that how might we, how can we translate what we're hearing into an objective that then gears how we're going to move forward and implement meaningful change.

So if you take the inconsistent paths of road confidence, in that we would propose how do we make people feel like interacting with the city is so seamless that it feels like self-checkout at publics.

We want it to feel user-friendly, easy to navigate, and so those are kind of the way we've changed our process and thinking, and I think that's really impactful as we move through the process.

So we began not asking whether the process works, but whether it feels clear, consistent, and supportive for our users, our residents, and our staff alike.

So this helped us frame that problem.

Everyone here that's standing above you, they're result-driven workers.

They identify a problem and want to resolve it immediately, look for a solution, and we had to slow down.

We had to listen, throw out assumptions, and then work with the information we're given.

And I think that was a very meaningful exercise through this program.

This led to instead of assuming every solution requires brand new operations and complete change in process.

Instead, we looked at technology, communication options, and small operational adjustments that can create meaningful impacts for everyone.

And from there, the team used those seven insights to shape the next phase of the work, which was to identify some strong initiatives to then move forward.

And from those initiatives, we began working on prototyping and prototyping.

We started testing those, really engaging and I thought was quite a fun activity, hands-on activities for staff and for residents to kind of feel what we're we heard and are we translating that correctly based on what you provided.

Are we getting it right?

And so I think that was a really fun experiment for everyone.

Um, and we're looking forward to those next phases.

And with that, I'm gonna turn it over to Lieutenant Hasty, who she's gonna talk about the prototyping and where the group's gonna go moving forward.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Council, Mr.

Mayor.

I'm Lieutenant Meg Hasty, and I'm excited to tell you about the prototyping phase of our project.

You've already heard the team collected over 1,200 ideas from city staff and state stakeholders on how we could make improvements to the permitting process and the experience one has when interacting with the city.

After our interviews and resident sessions, the focus became less about the permitting process specifically and more about the experience of interacting with the city.

From the seven insights Rebecca spoke about, the team began to explore solutions and generated nine possibilities to bring to life during prototyping.

After seven months of research, compiling data, and brainstorming, things were starting to take shape, and we were eager to move forward.

However, the enormous undertaking of prototyping began to set in, and we felt like we needed some assistance for this last phase.

Five new city staff members were recruited to assist in bringing us across the finish line.

And the new ideas and amazing energy were just what the team needed at this point in the project.

As an aside, I just wanted to note that bringing on additional team members at this point in the project was something that the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative has never done before, and they are now looking to implement that in every project going forward.

Even with our new team members, we knew that we could not prototype all nine ideas at once.

So we brought it to a vote.

We sorted the ideas from practical ideas to bold ideas and tried to get one from each side of the spectrum to start.

The two ideas we believed we could bring to life would create and would create.

Oh, sorry, I forgot my PowerPoint.

Um I got so excited.

The two ideas the team believed we could bring to life and would create immediate impact with city staff and stakeholders were can I do that and access granted.

I think part of the fun was creating the names of these.

Can I do that?

And access granted were generated based off feedback received when attempting to seek answers from the city on permits, projects, or regulations.

We heard that folks received different answers to the same question when posed to different departments, making the process frustrating and the requirements unclear.

One city employee stated, quote, they get a lot of phone calls by contractors and people because other people just don't know the answer.

A resident told us, quote, I still think the city is like it's daunting to try to figure out.

If you don't live it and breathe it, you don't know what department you need to reach.

Statements like these resonated with the team and reinforced our commitment to make positive changes.

Attacking prototyping, the core team split into two and began to prototype these concepts so that we could test our ideas with staff and stakeholders once again.

Both teams decided a card sort prototype would be the most effective.

Throughout this program, goals were set for us to strive for, and the prototyping phase was no different.

The goal here, set by the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative was to prototype two ideas and hold a minimum of six individual prototyping sessions.

We took this goal of in six individual sessions with a smile and a nod, and we ended up holding 39 individual sessions.

We said, go big or go home, right?

We wanted feedback on our ideas from as many people as we could get in front of.

Those that participated in the prototyping were excited to contribute and have their voices be heard.

We heard over and over how grateful people were to be able to help create something meaningful and offered continued help throughout the process.

The feedback gathered throughout the prototyping session was used to continue the build of these ideas, increasing the fidelity of each prototype, retesting and refining with each round.

Our work does not stop just because the Bloomberg-Harbor city leadership initiative has concluded.

We will continue to work on our two prototyped initiative and look forward to moving forward with others.

By the end of July, we will have finalized our portfolio to include an implementation schedule.

We will begin meeting with city leaders across city departments to discuss forming implementation teams that will further supplement the core team and help facilitate the rollout of completed initiatives.

The team will continue to work towards our goal of executing all nine initiatives within the portfolio by 2030.

Finally, I'd like to extend our gratitude to everyone that's been involved in the project so far to you, Mr.

Mayor, Council, our city manager, assistant city managers, our senior leadership and staff, as well as our residents in the community.

Without the support from you all, the contributions and hard work of our core team members and the success of this project would not have been possible.

And I'm happy to answer any questions if you'd like.

Okay, any questions from the council?

Go ahead.

Not a question, just a couple comments.

Thank you.

And uh what a what a great team you put together.

Um you and you and our leadership team.

Uh not only is this an extremely bright group, uh, but we all had the opportunity to jump into several exciting uh to less lessons.

Um I think we quickly all realized that beyond just uh the talent in the room, there was an extremely high amount of shared love for our team at Clearwater and for our city uh and your passion for our city and how to how to improve it, how to push it forward and make it better.

So there was no no questions about that.

I think we had the easy job of just randomly showing up to a couple sessions.

Uh, but I think uh commend you on all the time uh that you and your group put into it.

I don't think you knew on the front end it was exciting to be appointed to such an initiative, uh, but you might not have known what you're actually getting into.

Um but great great job and look forward uh to 2030 and executing all nine of your bold initiatives.

So congratulations, thank you.

Thank you.

Council Mr.

Tishada.

Um I will never forget that day.

The first time I went, I was it was I think I was very tired, and I was like, oh, I just could hope I could just sit this one out, just be an observer.

And then I walk in, I saw those sticky notes, I'm like, nope, that's not gonna happen.

And then within 10 minutes, the vibe in the room, the energy had me all competitive.

I don't know if you remember, but I went uh I doubled down, and and at the end, I was like, what a magical experience to see all that energy and all the brain power and all the creativity in one room, and uh and I thought it was so innovative, especially in a government sense, you know what I mean?

And so I I I was so impressed with all of you in the way that you stepped out of your role and became um I don't know, uh I guess advocates of of you know being progressive and and creative, and and I've been so impressed ever since in all the steps that you've taken, and I think the results will show.

So I want to thank you so much for engaging and committing to all this extra time, and um, and I appreciate it, and I think the city will too.

Thank you.

Councilman Robert.

Yeah, I want to thank you too.

You know, when I first came into the first meeting, I'm like, what is this about?

Because it with the sticky notes and the I'm like the second meeting I went to, it all came clear that it was a way to pull things out of you know, out of your mind, and ideas, it seemed to gel better.

And thanks to you, I mean, you guys had great groups because we all kind of moved around to different thought patterns and uh uh ended up I had a whole different way of thinking about it at the end.

So thank you for sticking with it and working so hard with it.

And I look forward to seeing the results in the next few years.

Thank you.

And uh, I guess I'll wrap up uh from my end, uh council's end.

Um so for the public, how this works is we were invited to participate, and so uh I ended up taking two trips, one at the beginning and one at the end, all paid for by uh Bloomberg Harvard uh City Leadership Institute and the city manager and assistant city manager Slaughter took a trip too.

So, in addition to this initiative, we all had other networking with 45 cities from around the world, and uh and it was a great value, completely paid for by uh Bloomberg Harvard uh to do all this.

Uh but I can tell you that and uh former mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.

Uh, of course, uh he's he's very wealthy man, uh, but he doesn't have to spend it on this in cities, and so we thank him and and his institute for uh sponsoring all this, paying for all this program we've been through.

But to this group, I just want to say when you when you go as the three of us did to these meetings, and and they're on us when we're at these meetings about you know on the front end about what are you going to do with this, how are you gonna leverage, we're investing in your city.

How are you going to use these resources we're providing?

There was some pressure on this.

And uh, I want to say uh compliment uh city manager, city manager uh slaughter because uh the team they they put you all together.

Um and I told uh I had a wrap-up meeting there in Boston here uh a couple months ago.

Uh I could not have raved more about your group.

Um we found, and I compliment the city manager and her team for doing this.

We found an incredibly talented group uh to do this.

You all have just crushed it, knocked it out of the park, and the energy you brought to it.

Um I'm sure there were some people because it was competitive that didn't make it, and this isn't a slide to them.

There may have been others who would have contributed the team and done uh just as well as you all did, but the ones that were selected, you all made me so proud as a mayor to go to the wrap up, share share with them what you'd been doing, and uh thank you for doing all that.

Uh all of you through your hearts and I told them boy, they really are into this.

They really uh have seen the benefits of this and have enjoyed it, and it is really going to do great things for our city for years to come.

So thank you for doing that.

One of the slides you showed that probably is the most important is when um it was on the next steps, and you had three steps in the follow-up after this.

Yes, this one here.

Um I gotta ask a lot about that, you know, because they want to make sure that this amount of money they've invested is really going to make a long-term effect in the cities that they invest in.

And this is perfect.

This is exactly what they want to see.

And also want to, again, I think third or fourth time now, the city manager or team for putting this team together.

But the other thing that made, I think it will make this a successful long-term project, is you're all from different departments.

And so it really one of you just said this.

Um you can take what you have learned back and spread it throughout the city, some of these ideas innovation, and hopefully that's uh that that will happen.

You know, all of our departments across the city will follow your leadership on this issue and and try to make our city more innovative and and better serving the public than it's ever been.

So uh and and I'll last thing before I move on.

Um, thank you for um engaging the residents.

And uh, and I I've been struck, maybe others have too about you know um how you know uh sometimes wait even the five of us we you know uh we hear a lot from citizens, but um sometimes we don't hear from those citizens that aren't the loudest, and and you know, diving in and really talking to folks about what are some of the your experiences kind of understanding how they feel when they're trying to navigate permitting uh that's really important, and some of the things you shared about what you learn are important for our city as well.

So, with all that, thank you.

Fantastic job.

Appreciate all of you.

You've done a great job.

And behalf of our city, thank you for your commitment and serving and leading on this important endeavor.

Thank you thank you.

Mayor if I may.

Um, I also, and I know you all feel the same way I do about that.

We had amazing coaches and Micah and Alexis, and um what a perfect fit for us and how they motivated um and could lead a team like ours that is so talented and um problem solvers to through this process and and hanging in there with us.

And you guys should be really proud because you all impressed the Harvard Bloomberg team, and um that's a major compliment.

So, again, well done.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

That will move to item 4.1 on the agenda.

I've heard the sixth amendment to contract for sale of city-owned vacant land between the city of Clearwater and Lake Bellevue Development LLC for develop real property located at 1454 South Martin Luther King Jr.

Avenue.

Good afternoon, council, mayor.

Uh, my name is Dylan May, I'm the housing manager.

This item relates to the development of the city-owned property located at 1454 South Martin Luther King Jr.

Avenue.

In 2022, council selected Habitat for Humanity of Canales County and Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services through RFP 43-22 to develop the site as a 24-unit mixed income owner-occupied townhome community.

The project will provide 12 units to households earning up to 80% of area median income and 12 up to 120% of area median income.

The city's contribution includes the donation of the property valued at 525,000, and a direct subsidy of 357,585 for a total city investment of 882,585.

The city will also utilize $384 in ARPA-based funds to provide grant funds for solar and EV charging capabilities.

Since the contract approval, the project has experienced several delays due to unforeseen development challenges, uh hurricane related impacts, permitting and plotting requirements, and financing coordination.

Pinellas County has approved $1,015,025 in funding for the project.

They did that back in uh February 2025.

That helps to close the financing gap and uh kept the project moving forward.

Council did approve a fifth amendment, which extended the closing date to June 30th, 2026.

Uh it also assigned the contract to the to the developed the developer's special purpose LLC and provided additional protections for the city should the uh project fail to meet contractual obligations.

The developer is now requesting an extension of the closing date to October 30th, 2026.

Uh, this will this is to uh complete financing arrangements and finalize operate operating agreement negotiations.

No additional city funding is being requested as part of this amendment.

Uh staff recommends approval of the extension to allow the project to move forward and bring these 24 affordable and workforce homeownership opportunities to the community.

With that, I'm happy to address any funds.

Okay.

Any questions on this agenda?

Not a question, just a comment.

Um, we've talked about affordable housing for so long here in the city, and um I just wanted to make a comment that it really for a developer to attract a developer to do it, it takes a boatload of partners.

And um sometimes they're almost all the time they run into roadblocks and and things like this.

So I'm fine with extending it.

Um that gives us more uh of the units that we really need in Clearwater and I'm excited that it's gonna happen.

Okay.

Any other comments?

Do we have consent?

Yeah, we have consent on agenda item 4.1.

Thank you.

Declare a surplus a list of certain rail properties owned by the City of Clearwater.

Approve the transfer of said properties to the City of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency and an authorized report officials to execute same.

Good afternoon, uh Mayor, uh, City Council, City Manager, City Managers Battle and Slaughter, other respective members of the dais.

Um this item is a strategic transfer of redevelopment properties to the CRA to align our ownership with redevelopment and implementation uh responsibilities.

Uh those properties include Gold Street, Gould Street, give me from pronouncing that wrong, uh Park Street, uh which is 525 Park Street, 618 Drew Street, um, North Garden Avenue parcels, uh we have Gold Street Parcel, Washington Avenue, parcel, South Madison Avenue, uh, and then South Fort Harrison Avenue, the Pierce Street parcels, Chestnut Street, Parcel, Court Street, Parcel, all on the list.

Collectively, uh, these properties represent strategic redevelopment assets within the CRA boundaries.

Transferring them to the CRA will certainly align ownership and redevelopment responsibilities, improve coordination, uh, support adoptive remote adopted redevelopment goals, and positions these sites for future investment while maintaining full public oversight and transparency.

And if you have any questions, I stand ready to answer them.

Any questions on this agenda?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Agenda 5.1.

Annual comprehensive financial report for fiscal year 2025.

Good afternoon, Monica Mitchell, Assistant Finance Director.

This item is for the presentation of the city's audit report for the fiscal year ending September 30th, 2025.

I would like to thank all of the controllers and senior accountants throughout the city who prepare the financial statements for the respective funds, especially those who stepped in at the last minute to fill in for vacant controller positions, as well as the support staff who contributed to this effort.

And again, I'd like to present Lauren Strope, a partner with Cherry Brecker to give the audit presentation.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Lauren Strope, and I'm an audit partner with Cherry Beckert, and I'm pleased to give my report to you today.

So this is just a brief agenda of what we're going to cover, but really what I'm going to go into is the nature, the timing, and the extent of the audit results.

As I warned you, I'm a better auditor than I am a presenter, so if I start going too fast, just let me know.

This was your client service team.

I served as your engagement partner, and Brian Leffick served as your second reviewer, meaning he did a cold review after me and my team completed our audit.

He went in and ensured that everything was up to par.

All right, probably the most important slide of the audit.

So we did complete our audit of the city's ACVAR and we issued our opinions dated March 31st.

We issued unmodified opinions on your financial statements.

In order to do so, we covered generally accepted auditing.

We followed generally accepted auditing standards, which require us to plan and perform our audit and then communicate the results to you today.

We follow a variety of different standards when we complete this audit, including government auditing standards, and we'll go into that in a second.

We also completed this federal and single federal and state single audit.

Chapter 10.550 rules of the auditor general of the state of Florida, and then an unmodified opinion on your compliance with investment policies here in the state of Florida.

So a lot on this slide, but essentially you have all clean opinions.

The government auditing standards opinion, though, we do have one thing that we need to discuss.

There were no material weaknesses noted, but there was one significant deficiency.

A material weakness is a deficiency or series of deficiencies, such that a material misstatement might happen in your financial statements and not be caught in a timely manner.

A significant deficiency is a step below that in severity, but still warrants the attention of you, those charged with governance.

What this one had to do with was there were some amounts that were requested under FEMA, so both revenue and AR was recorded.

However, these amounts were covered under an insurance settlement, so that should not have been previously recorded.

As I mentioned, we did complete a single audit.

These are the federal and state programs that we tested.

There can be up to 14 different requirement compliance requirements, and we look at both compliance and internal controls over those compliance for all 14 of them.

We are pleased to report that you have a clean or unmodified opinion here, meaning that we did not have any issues with compliance or internal controls over that compliance.

There was one uncorrupted misstatement, and that has to do with the significant deficiency that we previously discussed.

Because these amounts related to a prior prior year, you could have restated your financial statements for that.

The uncorrupted misstatement was simply to do that as the amount was run through the current year and expensed.

I would like to state that your ending that position is exactly how it should be.

So just some of the qualitative aspects of the accounting practices.

If you're like me and you're super fun, you can look at note one to the financial statements because that discusses all the accounting policies that the city uses.

One did impact your financial statements, and that covered compensated absences, and that just really put in apples to apples with everyone who has compensated absences regarding how they were recorded.

We did not know any inappropriate accounting policies or practices when we completed your audit.

Really related to the hurricane and all the transactions that went along with that, including the FEMA reimbursement and then that large federal program and your single audit.

The financial statements are not all just hard numbers.

Inherently, there's a lot of management judgment and estimate that goes into creating them, and that's just a byproduct of producing gap financial statements, as you can imagine.

I spend a lot of time looking at those significant estimates and ensuring that they're fair in relation to the financials as a whole.

This lists out all the ones that we took a look at, but again, we did find those of all of the key factors and assumptions within them, and we found them reasonable in relation to the financial statements as a whole.

We do believe the financial statements disclosures are neutral, consistent, and clear for the reader and user.

As your independent auditor is highly important that we retain our independence, and we are independent of the city.

We do perform a non-itest function for you, non-attest and cleanings, non-audit, and that is filling out the appropriate sections of the data collection form.

That's kind of required by your federal single audit and assisting with the preparation of the EMS report.

In all cases, you have folks in management who take responsibility for those services.

Just some other required communications.

Um please report that we did not have any difficulties or disagreements with management.

They were wonderful to work with every time we had a question and they can attest.

We had quite a few.

They made sure we got an answer anytime we needed support, we got that as well.

I did not have to consult with anyone outside of my engagement team to complete this uh this audit.

We did receive a representation letter from management, which was dated the same day as the report.

Basically, just says that everything that they told to us or provided to us was true to the best of their knowledge and belief.

Uh to our knowledge management did not uh consult with accountants outside of us, um, and that would only be relevant if the entire reason why they were doing a particular accounting treatment was because ABC firm told them to.

We just want to make sure that we got the same information and hopefully get to the same conclusion.

We do not audit specifically for fraud or illegal acts, but as I'm sure you can imagine, we have a heightened sense of awareness of that as we complete our audit.

We refer to that as professional skepticism.

Uh but as of the date of this presentation, we are not aware of any fraud, illegal acts, or violations of laws that we need to make you aware of today.

We are not aware of any events or conditions that would indicate a substantial doubt about the uh city's ability to continue as going concern.

Because you issue that act for there are a lot of pieces of it that are not the basic financial statements, which are the financial statements themselves and the notes too.

This slide just kind of goes over what our responsibility is related to the different pieces.

I'm always talking about the past, but in the future, you're gonna implement uh GASB 103 and 105.

We'll work with management on that.

There will be a change to your management discussions and analysis, but there will not be a change in how things are recorded.

And with that, I will be quiet and answer any questions that you might have.

Okay.

Thank you for doing that.

Well, you're doing a wonderful job.

Uh actually, we um we like boring uh that's what everyone says, yeah.

Thank you for going through the detail with us to this.

Of course, any time and and we serve uh at your pleasure, not just now, not just when we're doing the audit, but year-round.

So this is my information.

If there's ever a question, I'm happy to help.

Thank you.

That move item 6.1.

Authorized purchase order trihedral engineering limits and doing business as trihedral Inc.

of Orlando, Florida for supervisory control and data acquisition.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

I am Jeff Elliott with CGS Energy Formally Clibble Water Gas, and I'm here to request a skate upgrade.

Uh, we're piggybacking off of 7-25 RFP.

Uh, this is a supervisor of data and control acquisition software.

This is an upgrade this is the total amount of 11,310, and with another 2,000 for nine years after the fact.

Any questions?

Not do we have consent.

Yes.

We have consent on 6.1.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Council.

And item 7.

And then chapter 30, the code of orders, traffic and motor vehicles to modernize parking operations, update enforcement procedures, and revise related fees, and pass ordinance 9909-26 on first reading.

Uh good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

This ordinance updates the city's parking code to reflect current parking operations at the technology.

The proposed changes allow for a mobile payment platforms, digital parking permits, electronic responses to parking certations and other administrative updates that align the code with how the parking system actually operates today.

The ordinance also updates parking fines and certain administrative fees.

Most parking finds have remained largely unchanged since 2005.

Staff rather than some circumstances it can be less expensive to receive a parking citation than to legally park for the day.

The proposed adjustments restore the intended relationship between parking rates and parking penalties and help encourage compliance with parking regulations.

I'm available for questions.

Oh, I'm sorry.

It's not it's not making up as well as name.

But uh, any questions on this agenda?

We're just coming forward with the current technology of today's society, right?

Right, some of our old some of our existing uh regulations talk about pay and display.

Right.

We appear to go rid of the technology years ago.

So it's talking about mobile payments and that kind of stuff.

Okay.

Okay, no questions, thank you.

Approve supplemental work order number two and increase to the purchase order with Driggers Engineering Services Inc.

for additional geotechnical inspection construction materials.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members, Marcus Williamson Public Works Director.

This is uh associated with the Aceola parking garage.

These are on-site geotech folks uh that are out there.

The um uh drilled shafts that are going in are taking a little bit longer, so this keeps our independent third uh party geotech folks out there inspecting what's going on to make sure the the shafts are uh going in uh how we want them and they also provide a bunch of um the documentation on how they're doing it.

Um also in there is uh a change order, uh it's rather large change order that was shown uh in there.

We're not ready to bring that one forward.

We think that one has some uh significant uh items that we uh need to address with them uh as we're definitely not on the the same magnitude uh of changes, but we just want to make you aware that was out there.

We're starting to negotiate with the contractor now.

Don't want to go into too many details, we prefer to have those negotiations with them, but just want to make you aware of that one.

Okay, so saying by if there's any questions.

Okay, any questions on this council member Robert?

So uh North Beach, north of Acacia and Mandalay.

Uh they've cut across the road, I don't know, every 50 feet or whatever.

They've temporarily put a patch back over it, but if you're driving, I mean you're going over these bumps.

Is that going to be repaved at any time soon, or are you gonna wait till this the bigger project with uh the drainage pipes going in happens?

So they were out and did some uh work again.

I thought they've already been back out there.

They cut a section of that out and they went back uh through uh up there.

Uh Mayor Dan Slaughter, city manager.

I believe that's a utilities project, so let us get with utilities and get back to you if it's okay.

It's not a public works project.

Yeah, and I was just gonna recommend uh if when they do pave that area of mandalay, um do something with the roundabout on acacia because it's all over the place.

I don't know.

I can't imagine the draining drainage even working properly there.

I think we've uh paved it twice since I've been assistant city manager.

Yeah, so we've we've had a little bit of difficulty in getting the subsurface to remain stable, but uh I'll give it utility see where they are now.

And I'll double check that they come back out after spring break, and that's why I thought they fixed it, but if we're having issues again, we we need to go back out and see if we got some compaction issues or something.

Okay.

Any other questions on this agenda item?

If not, do we have consent?

Yes, we have consent.

Okay.

So we will move to um agenda item 7.3.

Approve a professional service agreement and purchase order with Mark Taylor Inc.

to provide owner's representative services for the Phillies Vay Care Ball Field Improvements Project.

Definitely mayor, uh Council members Marcus Williamson.

Uh excited to bring this one uh forward.

So uh this our owner's rep for the the Philly.

Um we had uh 14 uh different respondents.

That's just a little bit of the experience uh that Mark Taylor has.

So a lot of uh big names that are out there, they're just coming off the Roger Dean uh work over there, had some challenges, much similar to what uh we're gonna be going through with trying to keep the uh stadium operational for the spring training uh time frames.

Uh they did a lot with permitting, which we're really uh excited about because that's one of the things we wanted to make sure we're doing everything we can to uh get uh the permits through the uh process.

So uh this item's the first kind of scoping.

We really need to roll up our sleeves with the files, make sure we fully understand what the the scope uh and schedule are gonna be so that we can uh wrap how we're going to uh help support the effort, make sure that uh the permitting side of things is is gonna work with it.

Also ensure we're doing some of that fiscal uh accountability.

So this gets us started.

This gets us through that uh first window.

We will ultimately have to come back, uh, but we need to get through this this first one so that we can get our arms around uh what the the full request is gonna be with them.

But again, excited, pretty experienced firm out there.

Okay.

Any questions on this one?

Councilman?

I got a question, thank you.

Um question about the experience, that's for sure.

That list says it all.

Uh nor do I question, and I do recognize the vital importance of an owner's rep representing this project, and it's an absolute must.

My um, and I'm support of this.

My my question is does us approving this does that lock us into any inflexibility that we're hoping to uh in terms of sharing this financial responsibility with the overall project with the Phillies and County.

I'll go ahead and take that.

Um, it doesn't.

Um we are still in negotiations with the Phillies as we work through the construction and the actual contract details, and so this is a conversation we're continuing to have with them.

Um, and we will keep certainly keep council posted.

This would be should those conversations not be effective, we would be on the hook for the cost.

So just to make sure that part is clear because we would be entering into this agreement.

But our goal is that it'll be a part of the project.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Okay, do we have consent?

Yes.

Thank you.

Item 7.4.

Approval purchase order increase to broad us at Associates Inc.

for professional services related to the public works department program.

Okay, and uh mayor, council members, Marcus Williamson, public works department.

Uh so this one uh really helps us uh with a lot of the estimating scheduling uh and uh some of the training support that we need.

Uh we've seen tremendous uh benefit as we've gone through uh some of these projects with the upfront scoping.

So if you take uh City Hall, we're over four million dollars in cost savings that we've driven through with some of these efforts.

Uh Oceola Garage when we awarded it, we got three million dollars uh off of uh what was that GMP uh initially as we went back out.

So we're seeing tangible benefits by spending this little the return on investment that's coming back is pretty significant.

They're helping us a lot with the schedule too, uh holding the uh contractors accountable on the schedules, asking them some of those tough questions of you know, how can we pull some of these schedules back, uh helping explain to them uh how they've got skin in the games that you know part of the issues that were caused were there.

So we view this as a very valuable uh tool.

We're also recognizing is we've started to fill out our staff a lot more.

We've got some training uh that we need to do with our staff to help educate them on here's ways you negotiate change orders, here's ways that you properly uh scope uh the project.

So there's some funds in there to help educate our staff also.

So standing by if there's any questions.

Okay.

Questions?

Not questions, just comments.

I just appreciate all that you're doing.

I mean, it's very obvious that there's a benefit to the city, and I wanted to formally um thank you for it.

Thanks.

Any other questions?

Do we have consent?

Yes, have consent on 7.4.

Thank you.

Agenda item 8.1.

Authorized to purchase order to Allen J.

Automotive Management Inc.

Alan J.

Fleet Sales of Seabring, Florida for one 2026 for F 450 super crew cap.

Mr.

Mayor, Council, good evening.

Uh Clearwater Fire Rescue is requesting approval to purchase a new vehicle to replace rescue uh Medic 45.

The total cost is 109,423.

This includes a 2026 Ford F 450 super crew cab chassis, um, competitively procured options and specialized emergency service equipment.

The vehicle and options will be purchased through an existing government contract used by the city of Tallahassee.

The total purchase costs includes custom equipment, including storage compartments, shelving, lighting, paint, and other components required for rescue operations.

Purchasing and installing this equipment during the vehicle build is the most efficient and cost-effective approach, helping avoid additional labor labor warranty issues and service delays.

Due to the extended manufacturing schedules, delivery is expected approximately 24 months after the order is accepted, and no payment is required until the vehicle is received.

The purchase is included in the city's capital improvement plan and will be funded through the anticipated Pinellas County EMS tax reimbursements.

I'm available for any questions.

If not, do we have consent?

Yes.

We have consent on 8.1.

Thank you, Chief.

Agenda item 9.1.

Authorize and increase the purchase order with a sell at for the addition of open counter customer service module, user licensing, e permitting hub and professional services support.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council David Pearson, IT manager.

This item is to request an increase to the purchase order with a sell it in the amount of $513,000 and $78 for revised not to exceed an amount of $2,805,826.

This increase is being requested to add a sell as open counter product.

Open counter is being added in support of our Bloomberg Harvard project, specifically the can I do that project idea.

Based on our extensive research and interviews during the Bloomberg Harvard program, we found a cellar users frequently struggled to find all necessary permit information as it relates to their their unique project and what will be required.

Open counter is intended to improve the customer permanent experience by offering homeowners and businesses a guided permit navigation tool along with cost estimation features and checklist style requirement summaries.

Users can select their project type, answer clarifying questions, and get a summary of what will be required.

In addition to open counter, then increases being requested to add 10 additional SL user licenses, e-permit hub enhanced reporting services, and 250,000 of professional services fees.

If not, do we have consent?

We have consent on 9.1.

Thank you.

Agent item 9.2.

Authorized a purchase order with Trimble Inc.

for computerized maintenance and management system software.

Mayor Council, Dan Mayer, IT Director.

This is a renewal of our annual licensing for Trimble, which was formerly referred to as CityWorks.

It's our asset and work management solution.

We completed phase one of the project for all of utilities, and we increased the license count there, and we'll be bringing forward an item in the next month or so for phase two, which is public works to do those sections of those operations.

So be happy to answer any questions with regard to this licensing.

Questions on this agenda item.

No.

Do we have consent?

Yes.

We have consent on 9.2.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you.

Agenda item 10.1.

Authorized a change order and increase to the purchase order with razor back LC for additional rehabilitation services.

Good afternoon, Mayor Council.

Uh Mike Llanning, Public Utilities Director.

Today I'm requesting authorization for a change order in the purchase order with Razorback LLC for the R01 due dual media filter rehabilitation in the amount of 271,800, which increases the total contract to 1,325 930 along with a 20 calendar day contract extension with that as well.

Essentially, there was some unforeseen challenges that were likely associated with a prior project that happened back in uh 2008.

Um this had nothing to do with the contractor.

Um, however, the media went into an area where it wasn't intended to go, so we have to remove that media and be able to replace that media and filters one and two.

Um so that's the challenge that we face, and that's the reason behind this.

Um it's it's tied to uh high performing government by systematically maintaining critical public infrastructure, ensure long-term efficiency and reliability of our water treatment operations.

I'm happy to respond to any questions that you may have.

Okay.

Any questions on this agenda?

If not, do we have consent?

Yes, consent on 10.1.

Thank you.

Agenda item 10.2.

Approval work order in a meet and hunt in for design and construction engineering services for the ROI, oh, for the R01 asset storage and feed system.

Uh good afternoon again.

Uh, Mayor Council Mike Flanner, Public Utilities Director.

Requesting approval uh work order for meet and hunt for design and construction engineering services for the R01 asset storage and feed project and the amount of 482,028 dollars in pursuit of the RFQ 34-23.

It's a 420-day project addressing operational uh scaling and fouling issues uh that were currently require replacement of 186 cartridge filters weekly at an estimated cost of 1,356 dollars.

Uh it's funded by revenues from the water and sewer uh utility enterprise fund.

Um action aligns with our strategic priority of high performing government by focusing on maintaining public infrastructure through systematic management efforts to optimize city assets and resources.

I'm happy to respond to any questions that you may have.

Any questions on this agenda item?

Not do we have consent?

Yes.

We have consent on 10.2.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Agenda item 11.1.

That's right.

All right.

So council 11.1, it's a city attorney item.

It's to approve the first amendment to a legal services agreement with Brian Miller Olive.

Um, in April of this year, um, I hired Brian Miller Olive to serve as a consultant involving the Save the Garden Petition.

Pursuant to the procurement code and the procurement manual.

I'm authorized to approve legal services agreements up to a hundred thousand dollars.

In May, uh a complaint was filed against the city involving the Save the Garden Petition.

So I am asking for approval of this item, which adds litigation services to the contract and also increases the amount up to 100,000 dollars.

Now, in terms of the amount up to 100,000, that I would say is more of a standard amount that the former city attorney uh frequently used dating back to last year.

Um the city code requires that any type of litigation matter is approved by council, which is why I'm seeking counsel approval.

Um the agreement is exempt from uh bidding pursuant to 2.5631g, and I hired Bryant Miller and Olive.

Um they have represented the city on and off for the last 20 years.

They have offices in Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Tallahassee, and they specialize in local government hall.

Okay, any questions on this agenda?

If none, do we have consent?

Yes.

We have consent on 11.1, 11.2.

11.2 is a second reading.

Um 11.3 and 11.4 are also second readings.

Yeah, I I do um I do have some questions that uh you raised.

Um you talked to us about the attorney general's letter or opinion.

Opinion.

Um just wanted to go further into that, if you would, just on uh the difference between that, his opinion, and um uh determination by a court.

Um and I'm asking these questions, no disrespect to the attorney general.

Um somehow that came through the prior question times I've asked questions like the attorney general.

He's he's a great attorney general.

Uh have had conversations with him here recently, uh does a great job, and certainly respect uh his opinion and the weight of his opinion.

Uh so uh questions I'm asking are just to get some clarification from you as our city attorney on the difference between the two.

So what what would be the difference between the weight is his opinion or as he even references in a footnote a court determination of this?

Right.

I think the best way to describe it would be let's say the level of authority.

So courts have held that attorney general's opinions are are not binding on the courts, but they're highly persuasive.

Um, certainly in my opinion, counsel can rely upon the opinion of the attorney general.

Um, if counsel does not rely upon that opinion, then I think that the other course of action would be potentially some type of litigation, and that's where court would decide.

Uh they would decide the ownership of the road either through an action initiated by the city or through uh the applicant, some type of quiet title action.

And um the you know the decision by the court would have more weight than the AG's opinion, but in my opinion, council can rely upon the this particular attorney general's opinion as it relates to the ownership of the land under garden at issue.

So in his opinion, um we'll go back to why we asked for letter, that's behind us.

But there were two questions asked.

First one was whether the city of Clearwater, the city, or the Church of Scientology, the church owns the land underlying a certain section of Garden Avenue in Clearwater, Florida.

And the second question is whether the church can't petition to vacate that same section without paying fair market value.

Really, the first question is kind of the threshold question is who owns who owns the street or the land underneath the street.

Correct?

Yeah, yes.

Okay.

And in that he says, um, in short, my answer to the first question is the church, quote, most likely, end of quote, owns the land under the section of garden avenue at issue.

So he did qualify it a bit, right?

I mean, there it's not complete certainty, he just said most likely.

Correct.

But if but if a court determined it, it would be conclusive, right?

That I would say that a court's opinion is certainly more binding than an attorney general's opinion.

And they would make a determination, the the court would.

But the court would make yes or no, yeah.

Determination as to the ownership, the the fee simple ownership of the land under garden, correct.

Okay.

So even though we could rely on this opinion, that argument for the public is still out there that your predecessor, Mr.

Marcolas, advanced on behalf of the citizens, that the citizens, the public owns the street, that argument is still it's a still reasonable argument based upon his research and your office's research and the memo that you put forward.

Even though the Attorney General's opinion is persuasive, there's still a ballot argument, which we had brief that the city and the citizens own the street.

Right.

I I I would agree that the former city attorney's opinion is still out there.

Now I wasn't actually a part of it.

Um but we do have the attorney general's opinion, which came out after Mr.

Mergolis's opinion.

And as I pointed out before, either us or the applicant to vacate, either one could ask a court to decide conclusively, consider the arguments made on behalf of the public that the public owns the street, public property.

Um either one could ask the court to determine that, correct?

Correct.

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

Don't mind, thank you for asking those questions.

I don't mean the city attorney puts you on the hot seat, but while you're on the hot seat and answering the question, just for I don't know, historical clarity, because I don't know the answer either.

Uh and you have been in the city attorney's office for a handful of years now.

Has Clearwater historically requested AG's opinions prior to this?

Yes.

We have and I I don't know necessarily how many times they have been requested, but a few years ago I know that there was an opinion requested involving an issue with the CRA, but came from the city.

Okay.

And then just uh for clarity, did we follow that AG opinion or did we take it further and go to the court?

No, I believe it was followed.

The opinion was followed.

Thank you.

Yes, canceling Tissue.

I think what you were referring to was whether the funding in the CRA downtown could be mixed with the CRA in the Greenwood.

That was the question.

Yeah.

So it was not a question on property, just on the I guess the funding, separating the two funding.

Yeah, whether or not there could be one account or two accounts.

Right.

Okay.

Yeah.

That was the one I remember too.

Anything further on this agenda.

Okay, thank you.

We will move to get back to my notes here.

11.3.

And 11.4 second meetings.

Yes.

Yeah.

Any questions on those?

Move to agenda item 11.5.

So 11.5, that is set for a third reading.

Um that is an ordinance which amends uh section 28.04 relating to trading and selling on streets.

Back in April, April the 23rd, 2026, uh council um approved the first reading, and then the second reading occurred on May the 7th of 2026.

However, due to um the second reading and the business impact statement not being properly noticed, we're coming back for a third reading.

Uh the program has not started.

The program's set to start in July, so we have to come back for a third reading.

Okay.

Um if not, then we'll move to agenda item 12, City Manager.

Yes, thank you.

Um I wanted to thank the council.

I know we had quite a bit of conversations regarding the proposed referendum as it relates to the property taxes.

And um, I know that you all are getting questions from the public and from employees, as are we, and so I just wanted to take this moment to provide a quick update as to the consensus I've received from council to move forward on an education campaign which will be following the guidelines that um the Florida League of Cities has put out.

We will start getting that on our website and um on our social media sites here shortly, and then we will continue to watch and see what other tools that the Florida League of Cities puts out and determine if we're gonna do anything in addition to that.

I know I've I've mentioned to all of you to you know that's what our guide is, and so if there's anything on there that you would not want us to do, or if there's something on there that you think um takes priority as we're working on our our plan to educate to just let us know.

And so I just wanted to go on record to let everybody know that we are looking into that, and uh we know it's on everybody's minds, and we'll do what we can um to educate uh not to sway.

We are prohibited from doing any kind of persuasive um campaign on it, but to just educate what the reform means and how that could impact Clearwater.

That's all I've got.

Thank you.

Um while we're on that, um I saw the same um Councilmanino and I was it Friday or Friday program.

So that handout came through and it says at the very top, and they reiterate it several times.

Um City Clerk um Rosemary Call, by the way, but I guess she was a hometown hero by the Florida Lagos Cities, and uh congratulations to that.

Um but at the top, and they reiterated through probably three times.

Um make sure whatever you do, you run by your city attorney because it is a very delicate issue, it's gonna be a very ticklish issue, and I know that you and I discussed that you've done that with our city attorney, but uh I just it they made it very clear that even though they're putting these things out, uh, make sure that it's appropriate and that your city attorney is comfortable with it.

So that's all I would ask, just to make sure, because we don't want to give the appearance that we're spending city taxpayer resources, you know, advocating against something.

We certainly want the public to have information to know what you know what um you know where their money goes, but um we don't want to give the appearance at all that we're using city resources to advocate for or against anything that's important.

We've been in communication with um the city attorney in regards to this and everything that um prior to us posting, we will work through his office as well.

Thank you.

Okay, that's been a new mayor.

I I thank you.

Um I thank you for those discussions.

I think they are they are important.

Uh I've had a handful of discussions with community members and municipal staff that are concerned about what it looks like.

Um, and I definitely think while we're all supportive of that democratic process of letting our citizens make those decisions of what they want their cities to look like.

And I think we would we're all supportive of that process.

I think um addressing their questions is important in the process.

So I look forward um to having those discussion going forward on uh what this education plan looks like and what it involves and agree a hundred percent it has to directly run through the city attorney's office and and clear uh given given the green light to it.

Um but but I think it is important, and I think um even community engagements and workshops at some point.

I know we are a little bit a ways uh down from when the the vote would be, um but time moves fast.

Um so I I do look forward to having those discussions.

I thank you uh for bringing this up.

Uh the mayor and I were um at the Florida uh Sun Coast League of Cities, and congratulations uh Ms.

Paul.

Um the mayor also forgot to identify that he got an award as well for a hometown hero.

So congratulations um to you too, uh but you two to have worked hard through the legis legislative sessions.

Uh but it's on the mind of every city municipality, and they went through 25 minutes of presentations and every single municipal representative that sat there uh, even though it enjoyed Cuban sandwiches and plantains, uh, on their mind in the forefront was are we gonna talk about property tax today?

And that's what they're all concerned about and and what it looks like allowing our citizens to decide what they want the future of their cities to look like, and that's what it comes down, and the citizens have those those decisions to make.

But I thank you for bringing that up and look forward to seeing what that education uh looks like going forward.

Yeah, thank you.

And um also just as a reminder, because the two very much go hand in hand.

Our first um budget work session is next month on July 16th, and so there will be more conversations about this and how we prepare next year's budget with the potential impacts of if the referendum is to pass or not.

So that'll be another opportunity, and we will have um an additional more of a formalized plan in terms of what we're gonna do from the education standpoint that we'll get to talk about at that meeting as well.

Um, thank you for all that.

Um it was also pointed out that guys of Friday not even officially on the ballot yet.

So I just want to make sure everybody's attending to that, and there will be believe me, there will be robust discussion that will be advertisements every, I mean, between now and November, if if it even gets to the ballot.

There's already been one lawsuit filed to try to keep it off the ballot, and uh the the lake city has pointed out it's not even met the qualifications yet to be on the ballot.

So uh certainly I think it's good that we're discussing, you know, what our response would be as a city, but uh I I think we you know for time being I hope we take a measured approach just to see see how it plays out.

I know this weekend I've had um several residents approach me, some with just simple questions and others with actually um misinformation, but they all have the same thing in common, which is they really don't know what that means.

And so the conversations have started whether it's whether it's already formalized or not, or whatever stage in the process it is, the questions are already there, so I would be um in support of at least providing the residents some educational tools, just sticking to the facts.

So we're we know we're called you know we're in the in the rails, but um there's a lot of talk already out there because it's already in the media, so um I would I would really be in support of education and and with um our council's um you know approval and being in the rails, but definitely thank you.

That's all I have.

All right, move to the next item, which is our city attorney purple reports.

Uh nothing to add, sir.

Okay.

Uh item 14, new business.

Any new business any customer wants to add to a coming agenda.

If not, move to item 15, council comments.

Anyone have anything they want to add?

If not, move to item 16 closing comments by mayor.

We've got certainly um some big events coming up for uh celebration of America's 250th birthday here in the next few weeks.

And I know uh the city staff's plan uh really a week-long um week of activities and appreciate their um participation in that.

And we're gonna have two, not just one, but two celebrations for the fourth of July uh on uh July 3rd with the drone uh show event and then our traditional fireworks on July 4th.

So uh as always, we remember at I believe it was last year we um we had to hurry to beat the storm that was coming, and we pushed up the fireworks show just a little bit, and sure enough, as soon as it concluded it just poured down radio by ranger cars and get out of there safely.

But um we look forward to uh joining in with the rest of the country and celebrating this great country we're all blessed to live in here soon.

So uh with that's the only thing I needed to or wanted to share this afternoon, and with that we will adjourn the work session, Clearwater City Council for June 15th, 2026.