Dunedin City Commission Work Session - April 1, 2025
Dunedin City Commission Work Session - April 1, 2025
The Dunedin City Commission held a work session on April 1, 2025, at 9:00 AM in City Hall. The meeting began with a presentation honoring former Mayor Tom Anderson, who received a Key to the City for his decades of service, including his pivotal role in disbanding the city's police department and contracting with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, saving taxpayers approximately $2 million per year (or $60 million to date). Following that, Commissioner Dugard read the Earth Month Proclamation designating April 2025 as Earth Month in Dunedin. The commission then proceeded through the consent agenda, action items, and informational updates, concluding by 10:41 AM.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approval: The commission approved minutes from the February 18, 2025 Work Session (with a scrivener's correction regarding an appointment), February 20, 2025 Regular Meeting, and February 25, 2025 Special Meeting. (Motion carried unanimously)
- Board and Committee Appointments: The commission reappointed Timothy Knowles to the Architectural Review Committee for a three-year term ending 12/31/2027, waiving term limits because no qualified replacement could be found. Seema Balwani was appointed to the Committee on Environmental Quality & Sustainability (partial term ending 12/1/2026) and Deanna Mitchell to the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee (partial alternate term ending 2/1/2028). (All motions carried unanimously)
- Microsoft 365 Upgrade: Approved purchase of a Microsoft support contract and software upgrade from Office 365 G1 to Microsoft 365 G5, F3 & F5 versions from GovDirect, Inc. in the amount of $180,270.70. (Motion carried unanimously)
- Wastewater Treatment Plant Window Replacement: Awarded Bid #25-2508 to Best Home Protection Windows and Doors, Inc. for $219,635.81. Discussions raised concerns about insurance certificates (no auto liability, no umbrella, some expired), but staff confirmed the contractor had been fully vetted and was responsive. (Motion carried unanimously)
- Hold Harmless Agreement: Approved the Hold Harmless Agreement for use of Clearwater's Fire Training Facility by Dunedin Fire Rescue. (Motion carried unanimously)
Public Comments & Testimony
- Denise Muench (2202 Gulf View Blvd) spoke as a Friend of Stirling Park. She expressed two concerns: (1) the nets between the Dunedin Golf Club and Stirling Park were damaged by hurricanes and remain unrepaired, posing a safety risk with an active driving range; (2) the Golf Club is awaiting city funding to expand the driving range, which she argued would involve cutting trees, disrupting drainage, possibly harming mangroves, and encroaching on Stirling Park. She stated that the Golf Club's existing practice facilities are adequate and that the city has already spent heavily on the golf course, which benefits less than 10% of residents, whereas Stirling Park is enjoyed by 100% of residents. She urged the commission to protect Stirling Park's natural environment.
Discussion Items
- City of Dunedin Grant-Seeking Policy: Staff presented a proposed policy update to allow the City Manager to approve grant applications without commission approval when: no matching funds are required, matching funds are within the City Manager's delegated purchasing authority, or matching funds have been pre-approved in the budget. The policy also authorizes the City Manager to approve grant agreements within delegated authority. Commissioners discussed the need to account for in-kind services and future operations/maintenance costs. A motion to enact the policy with added language addressing in-kind services passed unanimously. (Motion by Commissioner Walker, second by Commissioner Dugard)
- Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Firefighters Union – 48/96 Shift Schedule: Staff reported that a one-year pilot of the 48-hour on/96-hour off schedule resulted in a 21% decrease in sick leave. The union voted 92% in favor of continuing the schedule. Fire Chief Parks noted no negative impact on service and improved crew morale. Union representative Lt. Phil Gandolfo explained that the schedule reduced long-term burnout and helped with staffing during a crisis. The MOU extends the schedule through the current contract period ending September 30, 2027. The motion to ratify and authorize the Mayor to execute the MOU passed unanimously. (Motion by Commissioner Walker, second by Vice Mayor Gow)
- Proposed Agenda for April 15, 2025 Commission Meeting: The commission approved the agenda with three additions requested by the City Clerk: Arts and Cultural Advisory Committee continuance, Committee on Aging continuance, and Award of Phase 2 Architectural & Engineering Design Services for the Gladys E. Douglas Preserve. (Motion carried unanimously)
Key Outcomes
- All votes were unanimous (5-0) for consent agenda items (with pulls), action items, and agenda approval.
- Grant-Seeking Policy enacted with added language on in-kind services.
- MOU with Firefighters approved to continue the 48/96 shift schedule through September 2027.
- April 15 meeting agenda adopted with three additions.
- No workshop items or additional action items were considered.
- Informational items included: City Manager's update on the 2025 Business Survey (no changes proposed), and commission comments regarding upcoming events (Highland Games, Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day, decommissioning of the Dunedin Boat Club Clubhouse, substantial damage letters from hurricanes, and the Regional Resiliency Summit on May 15-16, 2025).
Meeting Transcript
2025 City Commission work session, and as I'm saying that I'm thinking, why didn't I make an April Fool's joke, right? Um, I'd like to call the meeting to order, and we're gonna start with Pledge of Allegiance. And Jen, could you leave us in the pledge? I pledge allegiance. I legally of the United States of America and Republican for the one nation under God with liberty and justice for all. Okay, so the first thing on our agenda is uh a presentation to a very special person. And uh we want to recognize Tom Anderson for his service, but first I'm gonna read a little bit about him. And Tom is right here in the front row. So uh as all of you know, he was a former mayor and former uh state representative. So Tom and his wife Alice moved to Dunedin in 1982. Tom's a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He served as commissioner of City of Dunedin between 1990 and 1994. Uh as mayor of the city of Denon for almost nine years between 1994 and 2002, and as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2002 to 2010. Tom's a champion of many important causes, including senior care, safe aging, public safety. During Tom's term as mayor, various staff who worked with him, including myself, very proud to say that, knew him as a smart, caring, efficient, and level headed leader. One of Tom's many great achievements as mayor was being the swing vote in 1995 to disband the city's 100 year police department in contract with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. This issue was extremely controversial at the time. That's an understatement, isn't it, Tom? Yes. This courageous decision saved the need taxpayers approximately two million dollars per year, or 60 million dollars to date. It resulted in a 25% reduction in the city's tax rate while retaining quality law enforcement services. Tom Anderson represents the best of public service and has been an inspiration to many others. And we want to present him with a key to the city, but I do want to say personally, Tom, as I sit up here and as I ran for for office for mayor, I looked to you and how you led the city back in the days that I was a staffer, and I always admired how you handled things. You kept an even hand and even keel, you were respectful with people, you always did your homework, and you had courage. So I always want to try to model that, but you're an amazing person. You've done amazing things both as our mayor and as a state representative, and we want to honor you today. I'm gonna come down. Yes. Very nice. I'm gonna read this, and then you want to come up and say anything? The Honorable Tom Anderson, an appreciation of your many years of dedicated service, devotion, and commitment to the city of Dunedin, February 27, 2025, because of course this was originally um presented without you here, and we wanted you to come back at our state of the city. So if you could come forward, Tom. The mic is yours. Very good. Thank you. Thank you so much for this honor that you're presenting to me. But there were quite a few other people involved in this uh performance of me as the mayor. Uh for example, uh John Lawrence, who was the city manager at the time, used to give me very good advice and uh counsel on a number of issues. In addition to that, uh John Hubbard, who was the city attorney, uh, also provided some very good advice for me over the years. In addition to that, the current mayor Mo Freeney was very instrumental in the decision to go from the city police department to the Sheriff's Office. It was a uh, as she indicated, it was a very controversial decision. The actual vote on it was 2-2, and I had to cast the deciding vote. But it was a uh big win for the city. We saved 25 million dollars, and we're able to reduce the taxes substantially over a period of time. And uh an interesting uh side issue is the uh current sheriff Bob Gultery was a former city of Dunedin police department uh employee. So it provided a lot of opportunity for advancement uh for the people also, and about 80 percent of the uh police went with the sheriff, 20 percent just uh had difficulty uh uh handling that. So that's uh that's uh it was good to have uh good staff, good uh advisors, and that that does it. Okay, we're gonna get some guys one of the down pictures. You gotta get some pictures with you.
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