Anyway.

Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the City Commission conference meeting this uh March 3rd, 2026.

Um I see we have a full audience here today.

Uh anyway, um so we made a few changes uh since the last time we met, and um we're going to be um right after this the uh communications to the city commission, we'll jump to the city commission reports.

Our first communication, I believe, is from the uh historic preservation board, correct?

And yep.

So there was a communication on sent to us to recommend uh that we need to review and strengthen enforcement of city ordinances regarding the use of metal detection on the beach park.

Uh hi.

What do you have to tell us today?

Hi, good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners, Trisha Logan, uh Principal Urban Planner.

This is related to um an archaeological site designation for the beach park area, and the board um had a discussion with the applicant about uh people that are digging and metal detecting on the beach, and the board wanted to convey to the commission that it would be um good to make sure that we're enforcing any regulations that are existing.

And what is that regulation now?

Um I believe that we already have a regulation that says you cannot dig or metal detect on the beach.

Is that true?

So is it just enforcement then?

Well, wait a minute, let's see.

I want to hear what the law is.

That's the law.

Good afternoon, Chris Cooper, deputy city manager.

So we do have a prohibition on digging in the bee on the beach, so particularly digging deeply.

I mean, people can put in umbrellas, build sand castles and things like that, but we do not allow for you know really robust digging on the beach and in the sand.

So somebody could metal detect, which often leads to digging on the beach.

So if we wanted to go a little bit further and prohibit an activity, we could, but right now it really we really just regulate the actual digging.

So how deep is deep.

There's no there's no there's no precise measurement.

I mean, uh you know, things that are typical beach activities, like I said, putting an umbrella in the sand, making a sand castle, digging around a little bit, you know, we just don't want to see really extreme digging because sometimes it can also become a dangerous situation when people dig in the beach sand too deeply.

So all those spring breakers who bury themselves in the sand, that's gonna be forbidden.

I mean, this is getting ridiculous.

Yeah.

Only if they hit a musket ball when they're gonna be able to do that.

Yeah, I mean it's it's look.

The reality is that yeah, there may be old things, you know, that find their way, you know, in the sand or anywhere in the city.

And you know, these the the beach is a recreation area, okay.

So uh it's either we either make it a recreation area or we we we rope off the entire place saying it's either for turtles or for historic preservation.

This tiptoeing around this issue is not making any sense to me.

So if if if people want to make uh sand castles, you're gonna be digging into the sand far deeper than an inch or two.

Uh if you're going to put an umbrella in the sand, it's gonna be very deep.

Uh what happens if you hit something?

What is if you hit you go down two feet and you hit something, uh they they violate the law?

I mean, it's this is getting absurd.

Yes.

So from staff's perspective, you know, we're comfortable with our current rules regarding the beach and what can be done there related to these types of activities.

So, you know, I think if and I and I believe we've actually added some signage that kind of outlays some of those beach rules, so we're communicating it to the public, but from our perspective, a change probably isn't necessary.

So let's hear from the commission.

What are some thoughts on the commission?

Let's see, district two is um part of the beach and district one is part of the beach.

So what are your thoughts?

Vice Mayor.

So just one quick thought.

Um and it's not necessarily with respect to to the historic preservation aspect.

But I know we did have an instance up in Lauderdale by the sea that was quite tragic with people digging in the sand and then getting buried.

How does that relate to just digging in the sand in general?

That's Carl Williams from Parks and Right to come and talk about how those rules are enforced by the department.

And we we've had people die uh because they've dug themselves a little too deep and it just collapses in on top of them.

So I was just wondering what our you know, what our lifeguards do.

How do we approach that?

Just curious.

Good afternoon, Vice Mayor.

So we do have a rule that does prohibit like digging in the sand.

Now, when you talk about like enforcement or kind of the appearance of kind of reframing from that, that gets a little bit tricky from our end as far as like an enforcement perspective.

But there is that caveat in the parks rule that does say there's no digging.

Right.

Because obviously, if you're going down like five, six feet, you know, that's that's when the sand starts to collapse in on itself, and that's when people can get trapped.

And and again, like I said, we had that very tragic case up in Lauderdale by the sea.

What was that six months ago?

Not too long ago, right?

Yeah, that was that was very recent.

Um you hit water before you get that deep?

No, you don't.

Because I've dug down deep and after a foot or two, you hit water.

Depends on where.

Depends on where.

Okay.

So what is what is digging?

What's the definition of digging?

Right.

So you know, typically, like if a family was to come to the beach, you know, you have a couple of kids, they may come out with a bucket and a kid, a baby will have like a little sand, but the older they get, they'll start digging deeper.

And then it's a good thing.

But the cause relatives what about when you try to anchor an umbrella, you know, you're gonna go a foot or two to do the sand.

So is that prohibited?

So the contractor that we have, the Arbuchet brothers, they do are allowed to kind of wedge in the sand, but we're talking maybe a half a foot in there to secure it, a foot?

No, no.

If you're gonna go half a foot, it's gonna fall on your head.

Well, in another word, it's not it's not deep.

It's not they're not wedging it really deep because these are individuals that are kind of doing this on their own, and they're kind of wedging it in and then turning it.

Because they don't actually dig their own holes to do it, they kind of poach it.

This this creates a difficult um responsibility for um the the our parks and recreation enforcement as well as our police enforcement for them to make a judgment call as to what is digging and what is and you know what is digging for that's that's innocuous, or what is digging that's considered you know uh merits of citation.

So you're not giving us you're not helping us.

So we need to have some dis decision here as to what that means.

I mean, I've lived here for over four decades.

This has never been an issue, and all of a sudden it's an issue digging on the beach.

I mean, do we have nothing better to talk about?

Well, may I?

Yes, go ahead.

Thank you.

So I and I'll tell you why, and you ask a good question.

Do we have anything else to talk about?

So I watched this whole meeting on February 2nd, 2026.

And I'm gonna save a lot of my comments and remarks for when we deal with this issue when it comes to us, I think on April 7th, the designation.

Yes, so I'll have a lot of comments for that because I watched that whole meeting.

Um it was a tough meeting to sit through.

Um, but this just came up as as part of that discussion, as part of everything else that's going on on the beach, as part of basketball pickleball.

I mean, there's a lot of agendas going on here.

So all of that will be fleshed out, I think, when we have this discussion on um April 7th.

But that's how this happened.

It's not like staff came forward or whatever, but I understand it was just a moment in time when it just was brought up about about the digging and about artifacts and about the archaeological report that was submitted to their board and what was found, actually, what was not found, uh and then what was found 15 years ago, um, and what might be found, but then again, we've had so many storms and so many things have happened and beach renourishment.

So this was just a very small part of that overall couple of hours of conversation about the designation application.

That's what this was.

Right, but it but it somehow made its way into a communication directly to the directed to the commission.

So now it's not just uh uh it's not just uh you know, a uh what do they call that, a sidebar?

Right.

You know, this is this is a direct communication, and the this commission, I I think now needs to respond to it, you know.

Well, I I'm confused by what the what the imperative is here.

I I think what happened was you know, uh as often as the case, um it was a very you know interesting meeting, very it was uh the the designation application was denied, it was turned down, it was not approved at HPB.

But as I think part of uh of uh uh of an effort to maybe um on the part of those that did not want to accept the designation, this was like a carrot.

This was like, okay, but we will ask for increased enforcement of metal detectors on the beach.

See what I'm saying?

The people I think that were in the majority in terms of not wanting the designation, uh, said, okay, but but we'll do this.

This will be, you know, does this help you that we're gonna do this now and ask for enforcement of the metal detectors?

It was sort of that's what that was.

Is is exactly what was.

Okay.

All right, Commissioner Sorensen.

Yeah, thanks, Mayor.

So right now, are metal detectors allowed on the beach?

Yes.

Commissioner, I didn't have to read the ordinance, but I believe they are.

Okay.

So it's they're saying they the communication says to strengthen enforcement of city ordinances regarding the use of metal detectors on the beach park.

So it sounds like if they are allowed, there's a limitation in terms of how deep they can dig or what activities people who are metal detecting can do.

Do we do we know?

I what I what I would suggest is that we can put together some information and send it to the commission so that you would have the details on the ordinance itself and any of the standards that we use for enforcement.

Yeah.

So I think that would be helpful so we can understand what their what the current ordinance is.

Who enforces co the current ordinance around metal detecting on the beach?

Is that parks and park rangers?

Is that lifeguards?

Park rangers.

Park rangers.

And then the digging, which I think is an important piece too from a public safety standpoint.

I'm assuming park rangers and lifeguards can both enforce the digging.

I don't think lifeguards have I don't think they have enforcement powers, do that.

So enforcement is at the the bounds of our park rangers and police.

But from uh uh enforcement standpoint, you're talking park rangers.

Talking park rangers.

Okay.

All right.

So we'll go to the case.

However, yes, go ahead.

Go ahead.

If our lifeguards do observe that activity and and any strange activity on the beach, they do notify park rangers or police.

And take that next step in communicating that.

Just tell them to blow their whistle at them very loudly and they'll stop.

Right.

Well, yeah, and uh city manager, I mean I would hope that our lifeguards when the digging, if there's deeper digging, I mean that they should hopefully our lifeguards are empowered to say you cannot do that stop.

Uh is that are they able to do that?

They they are able to say that, but they do not have enforcement powers.

That's fine.

But I I think the verbal warning matters because of just the danger this could present.

Okay.

City attorney.

Uh I just wanted to add for for clarity that there isn't an ordinance on point here, but rather these are park rules.

Established park rules.

So there is no ordinance that we could point to that says this or doesn't say that.

It is not a matter of ordinance.

Okay.

And what are the park rules say?

Um there is a park rule 7.4.

The following beach regulations are intended to reduce safety hazards which may cause ingre injury to beach patrons.

Um, including digging holes or erecting tents and fencing is prohibited.

Canopies of any type may be prohibited as well as during special events at the discretion of the police or ocean rescue.

Especially says digging holes, but then those other items as well.

Okay.

So there's nothing referencing metal detecting.

No.

So it's allowed.

It's not prohibited.

It's not prohibited.

Okay.

So Mayor, I don't know if we want to address that further, but that's where we are right now.

Well, you're right.

You're correct.

And uh so I'm trying to see what as Commissioner Glassman said, this was a topic that came up seeming as a consolation prize for those who walked out of the meeting thinking that they lost their effort to designate a certain area of the beach as a historically significant area.

Um I don't think that's a good way to make uh policy.

Um, I've never known metal those with metal detectors to have been uh threatening to anybody on the beach.

Uh if anything, they help us clean up the beach.

Um I know that in the past they've gotten I mean some very valuable things from diamond rings and you know uh I I I just I don't know if we even need to respond to it now based on what you just uncovered, uh Commissioner Sorensen, that there is no prohibition for metal detectors.

Um the idea is that people are not supposed to set up tents and you know and cabanas and things like that.

Um those rules are posted.

I was just at the beach this morning, and I see those rules are posted um up and down A1A.

So um by the way, spring break is spring break is in full swing from 10 o'clock in the morning, the bars were open.

Uh but uh but anyway, uh I I don't see how we we have to respond at this point.

Um and uh uh so far, you know it it uh we're looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Right.

So all right, thank you.

I'm sorry, just one question though.

Any correlation, it's really that the benchmark is no deeper than 15 inches, right?

Or is that is that where is that policy?

It's not a policy, it's what was written within the uh designation report.

Oh, just in the designation report.

Correct.

So where did that come from?

The 15-inch.

Um I think that they took it from the 2011 archaeological testing report that kind of led to that conclusion that that would be an appropriate depth for um any archaeological monitoring or testing to occur.

But there's nothing that codifies that anywhere.

No.

Okay, great.

I'm good.

Thank you.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Um Commission reports.

Vice Mayor.

None.

You have none.

Oh, and by the way, uh just wanted to announce that Commissioner Pamela Beasley Pittman could not attend this afternoon, but I understand she will be here this evening.

Um Commissioner Glassman.

Yes.

Just because she's not here doesn't mean you have more time.

No, that's okay.

This won't be that long.

So thank you.

Um just wanted to uh congratulate everyone involved with the it's hard to believe, but the 116th annual meeting of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce um that was held over at the Seminole Hard Rock.

Uh always way well attended, I don't know, maybe a thousand people, but um really always stressing how important business is to our community and always nice words, kind words said about Fort Lauderdale um and our business climate and how welcoming we are.

Uh so it's always nice to uh hear that and attend those meetings.

That evening also I had the pleasure of speaking um to the Central Beach Alliance uh monthly meeting.

Uh again, always a huge crowd.

I I think they probably get um always between 75 and 100 residents at uh at a neighborhood civic association meeting, which is uh quite an astounding number to meet every single month.

This is at Victoria Park.

Uh no, this was Central Beach Alliance.

Oh, Central Beach, okay.

Yes, um, and this was over at the Las Solas Speech Club, actually.

We had the meeting there.

Um February 20th, um, had the pleasure of joining the mayor and Commissioner Beasley Pittman at the spring break press conference along uh with our two chiefs and city manager and others.

So I just wanted to say thank you for everyone for putting that together.

I think it was really educational, great program.

Uh it certainly received a lot of um media attention, uh all very positive uh for the city.

Um that evening had the pleasure of joining you, Mayor, over um at Catch and Cut to celebrate the 190th birthday of Mary Brickle, and she looks good, let me tell you.

Uh 190, right?

Is that what she was?

Yeah.

She had uh I think we had some folks that had written books about her and uh always very uh uh well attended, so congratulations to um that association.

That actually they had three associations downtown Civic, uh Coley Hammock, and also Beverly Heights.

Beverly Heights, yes, those are the little it's a little sad that you know uh when I was first a commissioner in the early 2000s, we had designated Northwest First Avenue, the um between Broward and Sistrunk, I believe, uh as Mary Brickle Road.

And uh the commission voted on it, the neighborhood had wanted it.

I remember Alan Hooper, who was one of the uh early developers in that area, had uh uh embraced it, and uh nothing was ever done.

Really?

The whole none of the signs weren't changed, uh we never really um capitalized on the name and now honestly, Miami has you know Mary Brickle was popular there too.

She bought up a lot of land there as well, and I think they kind of took over her name and and I don't think we really I don't know whether we still have any interest in doing that, but uh uh but that the that street was changed, Northwest First Avenue.

Why why did it not move forward?

I have no idea.

Staff was supposed at that time, none of you people staff was supposed to uh have changed the signs on the on the street polls, and it just never happened.

Okay.

Well, anyway, I I don't think it's too late.

I think we should still perhaps celebrate what was accomplished uh in Fort Lauderdale as well.

Uh you know, we know what happened in Miami, but that's a conversation.

Yes, we will we can look into that and if there was commission direction at some point.

It was like 2003.

It's a long long time ago.

Okay.

So that is a long time ago.

Yeah.

Maybe you do it in conjunction with the next year's celebration of her birthday if if they're gonna still do that every year.

I don't know, but they seem to have a pattern now of celebrating her birthday.

We can take a look at that.

That's fine.

Um coming up tomorrow is the 18th annual state of the county um breakfast.

I guess that's with Broward Workshop, and um I'm sure that'll be well attended as well.

I will be saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

Oh wow.

Yes.

But not singing the Star Spangled Bowen.

Thank God.

Okay.

Um and so that'll be I'm sure a very well attended uh gathering as well.

And then at 4 o'clock, I'm very excited about this.

We're gonna have the ribbon-cutting grand opening now that the area is so populated with businesses, but we're going to celebrate Thrive, the Thrive Art District at 4 o'clock um tomorrow in Progresso Village.

Uh and looking forward to that as well.

Um those brothers uh have done Jonathan and Abraham have done an amazing job in transforming um those warehouses and that section of Progressive Village into a real cultural happening, and it's very exciting that we're going to be celebrating uh what they have accomplished there.

Um March 5th, I'll be speaking at the Marine Advisory Board meeting and thanking them for their work.

Uh March 7th, the um human rights campaign dinner is at the Marriott Harbor Beach.

Uh March 11th, I'll be with and speaking at the Sailboat Bend Civic Association.

Um and then we know next week, of course, we have a lot of events.

Uh March 13th, the street striping, March 14th, our St.

Patrick's Day Parade, March 15th, the Emerald Society um breakfast.

So Carl Springs.

Yes, it is.

Um, and pretty much uh that's it.

Mayor, I would request that tonight when we have our moment of silence that we remember uh former county commissioner Sue Gunsberger if possible.

Um I know that she was a county commissioner and represented the Hollywood area, but much of her work over the years uh really did impact our city as well.

And I believe she passed away on Sunday.

Um and then I did want to publicly uh thank our district two outreach coordinator, uh Ashley Casasito for her four and a half years of service, uh not just to our district, but to our city.

Uh welcome uh all of her accomplishments and to say thank you.

Uh and we wish her all of the best.

She's gonna be staying much closer to home up in um Boynton Beach, taking a position there, uh, which will be a lot easier on her, I'm sure, as terms of her commute.

But wanted to thank her for her four and a half years that she dedicated to the city of Fort Lauderdale.

Um that's about it.

Thanks, Mayor.

Commissioner Sorensen.

Thanks, Mayor.

Uh had a great time marching in the Sistrunk Parade with my family.

That was great.

That's uh pitchers of yet and but you I know you're there, Mayor.

So that was great.

Great um you know, city manager, great job with Parks and Rack and PD and FIRE and just everyone did a great great great weather, great celebration.

So thank you for putting that all together.

Mangrove planting continues in our city at uh fever pitch.

So this weekend uh planted 65, 70 mangroves at New River Middle School.

So thank you to Marco, our chief waterway officer, continues to just set the standard there and um very, very exciting progress there with New River and how they can expand their marine science program.

So that's great.

Uh spoke at Breakwater Surf Club Annual Association meeting, which was fantastic.

The March 1st is the first day of sea turtle nesting season, so it runs, I think, until October 31st.

So we're you know, such an amazing locai for uh seven species of sea turtles that are here and and protected, and so just encourage everyone to be aware and um you know, when when the nests are are uh identified to steer clear of those, and even before they're identified, if you see nesting activity, please uh allow the turtle space.

Um we also had a the uh Tri-County MPO the annual safe summit uh meeting this uh at the convention center, which went well.

And uh that's it, Mayor.

Okay, great.

Uh just a few things.

Um February 19th, uh I participated in uh at Bass Park.

We had the groundbreaking for the new uh community center that we're gonna be building there, plus improvements to the park.

Um very well attended and uh um it's uh and I believe uh Pam Beasley Pittman grew up at that park as she uh told us her story when she was uh at the event.

Uh uh that same day, the Chamber of Commerce had their annual meeting.

It was at the Hard Rock uh Casino.

Uh very, very well attended, and uh several several awards were given out.

So congratulations to the awardees and uh and also congratulations to Dan Lindblade.

It was his last uh uh breakfast uh uh uh excuse me, luncheon that he uh he would be he would be attending as the uh CEO and president of that organization.

Um we did have the spring break press conference uh the 20th, but uh uh but word has already gotten out the beach was uh really crowded.

Wasn't just kids though this morning, a lot of uh I met a lot of folks um who went to spring break in the 80s, and uh I said this is a reunion party, and there were people from New Jersey, from Kansas, from everywhere.

Um I was having a meeting out there this morning, and as I was waiting, I sort of uh introduced myself to a number of people, and so it was a good mix of people, people from all over the country, all ages, um, all waiting for the bars to open.

Um the 26th, I attended the MPO Safe Streets Summit, gave opening remarks there.

Uh that was I believe a two-day summit, which a lot of very good ideas were exchanged about how to continue our effort in Vision Zero and to ensure that our streets continue to be safe for pedestrians as well as for vehicles.

And then, yes, on the 28th this past Saturday was the Cis Trump Parade and Festival.

I was very honored to be one of the um uh one of the grand marshals, uh very well attended.

Um, and uh I think that uh having that tradition in our city is really a wonderful thing, and I hope we can continue to uh to support that despite the legislation that's now uh making its way through the state legislature that might deny us uh our opportunity to support uh events such as this.

But I know that our um our uh state representative Chip Lamarca voted against the bill, so I'm very proud and thankful for him his having done that.

And uh and Daphne, where are you?

Is Daphne here?

There you are.

Thank you for reporting that to us.

We appreciate that.

Woman on the scene.

Uh so let's see, as the Commissioner Glassman indicated, um tomorrow is the Broward Workshop State of the County breakfast.

We'll be hearing from the the mayor of the county as well as um the chair of the bro of the workshop, giving us basically a point in time as to the successes and challenges that we have as a community working together to uh promote the uh the business community as well as uh uh efforts to diversify our economy and to ensure full employment here in our community.

That's at the convention center, and I believe that starts at uh eight uh 7 45 tomorrow morning.

Uh let's see.

But let me just jump to the cut to the chase here.

So next weekend, uh excuse me, not next weekend, the 13th, uh we are doing the St.

Patrick's Street uh striping that's at the tunnel top plaza that that will be at 4 30.

So uh very now that the shades are up, we can probably go there and not be inundated by that oppressive sun.

And uh uh and also the St.

Patrick's Day Parade the following day.

The festival begins at 11 and the blessing at 11 30, the parade starts at noon.

Do we know where the kickoff is?

Who's who's uh who can answer that?

Uh Carl?

Carl.

The parade route keeps changing.

So where's where does it where is it beginning?

So I so I show up on time.

Good afternoon again.

Carl Williams Parks and Recreation Director.

The parade begins just in front of the uh I believe the uh Heizinga Park.

Right, and then we go east.

Go east.

So it goes down, it goes down Las Obas?

Yes.

How far?

Do you know?

Uh I don't know the streets off the top of my head, but it does go um just past uh maybe a half block or so from um Lord Ward Plaza.

So it's just straight down just a two-block parade.

Well, it's going down maybe a little further.

But like the cutoff uh towards uh the back end there.

But I can give you the the actual letters know.

I I think that's an awfully short parade.

We so we and and this is included in the in the package that we do provide, and we'll we'll share that.

Well, for the community to know also, you know, they'd like to know where it begins and when it ends.

I think it goes from Hazinga Plaza to Southeast Ninth Ave.

South is Ninth Ave.

Ninth Ave, yep.

Okay.

And the festival is at Tunnel Top Plaza.

Yep.

Okay.

So it's awfully small plaza, awfully small.

Yeah, it's typically been that short.

Um from at least for the last few times where we've had it at that location.

Because you know, there has been a couple of years where we did it along the beach as well, but for this particular location that we have kind of relatively past we've had it go through what was then uh Los Oulas River Front, R Las Olas Riverfront, which was a more extended uh parade route.

And when that went under construction, uh we diverted the route.

Right.

Correct.

But now now the construction is over, it's gone.

Um so we should talk to the committee and see how we can uh enhance the route of that parade.

And you to have it longer.

Yeah.

Got it.

I think so.

Okay.

Um couple things.

Um City Manager, so tell us uh it was brought to my attention that with regard to uh City Hall project, there's uh access agreement that's still pending out there.

What's uh I understand it's already been signed off by legal.

Where is it now in your office?

So I had a discussion with the city attorney just this morning uh to discuss the authorization that the city manager would have to enter into a lease agreement pursuant to our charter.

So I am able to sign a lease agreement, which I had not uh discussed prior to the city hall project we had been discussing and actually utilizing a license agreement to allow folks to do due diligence on a city site prior to an agreement.

Uh so upon that discussion, I have uh become comfortable with signing a lease uh pursuant to the authority that I have based on the charter.

And so the commission will be getting a letter to the commission explaining that we're gonna give the proposed developer of the city hall site the opportunity to do some survey and due diligence work, whether it's geotechnical or whatever is necessary to determine uh what the site would require.

And so were we not anticipating that?

I was anticipating a license agreement.

Not a lease.

So, Sherry, tell us um tell us why a lease agreement is more appropriate than a license agreement.

Yes, Mayor, happy to.

Um the the vehicle used uh lease agreement was done so because as the manager says, the charter gives the manager the express authority to enter into a lease agreement um for less than uh a year um without having to take it to the commission, um, and it also has a 30-day out.

And the reason that was done was because we were looking to expedite this, and that would give her the ability, the lawful ability to enter into this agreement and get them started on that.

Right.

Okay, so we're we're good there now.

We're we're good there, and I will be executing the lease and sharing a letter to the commission.

Uh my initial feedback was that in prior occasions we utilized uh license agreement, and the city attorney's office had previously opined that a license agreement was appropriate for that purpose.

We're now utilizing a lease as the mechanism to allow for that due diligence.

So does the charter not permit a license?

It doesn't expressly say so, Mayor, and so uh to be specific and certain and accurate, the vehicle was chosen to be a lease.

Um otherwise we could have done uh a license.

We uh could have opined that that was satisfactory, although the charter wouldn't have said so expressly.

Okay, but it would have potentially taken longer.

Yeah, we want to follow the charter.

So all right, so if we can promulgate a lease sooner than later, then that would be great.

Okay, thank you.

Um I have nothing further.

So um Mayor, if I could just piggyback on what you're talking about with City Hall, because I'm also hearing some things that are concerning to me.

Um correct me if I'm wrong, because this is not my expertise, but in a P3 project, wouldn't you normally uh send out bids for the guaranteed maximum price at around 30 percent of the um drawings design?

Because I'm hearing now that Jacobs, who we've hired and we're spending good money with, uh wants to push that back to 90 percent of drawings, which that to me could push this project another six months.

So what's happening with that I'd like to know because I I'm not really interested in seeing this push back.

I don't know why, if it's typical that 30 percent would be the standard, why we would have to wait until 90 percent before we can lock in that guarantee maximum price.

Well, I'm not sure uh what you've been hearing and from whom.

I know that there's a design build working group that has been meeting both internally and in collaboration with the proposed developer.

So I'm gonna ask Ben Rogers to share any information he may have on that front.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Hello, Ben.

Uh good afternoon, Mayor Commission Ben Rogers Assistant uh City Manager.

Um so to answer your question, uh Commissioner Glossman, we've uh brought on Jacobs uh right now, we're working on some task orders for them to help us through the interim uh agreement phase.

During the initial conversation, they identified that um the more contingency that a project has in it, or the left's definition a project has in it, um the likelihood is that there might be challenges in the future.

And so they've suggested uh or provided initial feedback to the city that 90 percent would provide a much more secured uh dollar figure or GMP for the project.

Um staff took that in consideration.

We haven't moved forward with it or anything of that nature at this point.

Uh we're evaluating it, and then as the manager said, we'll continue to work with the developer as part of the design build uh group uh to deliver that.

We understand the timelines that the commission has put forth.

Uh and so again, right now we're an evaluating state uh working through the interim agreement scope.

And then and then a guarantee maximum price would be a lot more than if we locked it in at 30%.

That's a great point.

And that's the things that we're considering right now.

We're reviewing.

So the information was provided by Jacobs, but we're working through that both internally with the city and with the developer as part of the project team to memorialize that as part of the interim agreement and the timeline.

And understanding that or again continuing conversations to make sure that we can bring the best uh project forward.

No, and I think that's something we all want.

Again, I would just think about that in terms of what that delay of three to six months might mean in terms of our costs.

And again, if it is standard that you do this uh and lock in that uh GMP at 30 percent, then why would we not do that?

That's all.

Yeah, and I think that standard is is probably um maybe not the best descriptor for this because each project is unique and different.

Um, and we understand that some projects lock in early with more contingency and unknown for future uh determination.

Some wait until later in the process, uh understanding that we're balancing the the needs of the project, the time of the project, uh, and the risk and rewards of the project, uh, we'll bring that forward as part of the interim agreement.

Okay, that makes sense.

And I think what you just mentioned also in terms of contingencies, that all I would assume could be worked out between the development team and the city uh in that time frame between the 30 percent and the 90 percent.

Yeah, understood.

And like I said, I think it's premature for us to give you a definitive position, but we'll bring it forth as we work through the interim agreement.

Okay.

I I guess I'm just saying that I'm hoping that this isn't gonna cost us another six months of time.

That's all.

Understood.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, City Manager.

Anybody else?

Okay, city manager, your report.

Thank you.

Uh a couple of weekends ago I had the opportunity to attend the Systrunk Community Talks launch.

So there will be a series of engagement activities with the community in order to promote economic development.

So just want to thank our economic development division.

Uh Commissioner Beasley Pittman was also in attendance.

Uh later on that same day, I attended the gun violence interruption basketball clinic at the YMCA.

So I just want to shout out Captain Will August.

He did a very good job of pulling that program together.

Lots of youth were in attendance and appeared to have a very good time.

The Stonewall Gala uh also occurred on that same day, so it was a very packed Saturday, and I was able to attend that and uh had an opportunity to represent Fort Lauderdale in that setting.

Uh the Sys Trunk Parade, I want to thank our parks and recreation team for their outstanding work as well as our fire and police departments and ensuring that everyone uh was safe.

We also had the economic development division represented and sharing information about opportunities in our city.

I'd like to acknowledge our procurement services department.

They are award-winning.

Uh the Florida Association of Public Procurement officials has recognized the department uh with two awards.

One excellence in public procurement, and the other best practice awards for cost savings.

So huge shout out to Glenn Marcos and the entire procurement services team.

Uh they will get their moment to shine soon.

I think they're picking up the hardware as we speak at uh conference.

Mayor, you're right, spring break is well underway.

We do have our public safety professionals hard at work.

Uh we know that we're not in the peak moments of spring break just yet, but we are anticipating.

Busy.

It's busy.

It's busy, it's gonna get busier and busier.

So we are prepared.

Uh we are having uh weekly um operational meetings to just recap and determine if we need to pivot or make any changes to our approach as we continue to observe the spring break activity.

Uh just earlier today, you would have received a letter to the commission uh number 26-053.

It's related to budget hearing dates for fiscal year 2027.

Uh, I want you to take a moment to look at those.

I know.

Yes.

So the school board and the county, they have already uh tentatively confirmed their dates.

So at this point, it's time for us to select our dates.

Uh Commissioner Beasley Pittman isn't here at this time, so I don't expect us to necessarily have the date selected, but I just want to draw your attention to that letter to the commission.

I'm going to seek some feedback from your offices for the first public hearing to be held on Thursday, September 3rd, and for the second public hearing to be held on Monday, September 14th, each of those at 501 p.m.

So I'll follow up with your offices to determine if those dates are appropriate.

Also, today letter to Commission 26-054 was shared with you related to our federal appropriations requests under the community project funding program.

Each year we look at opportunities to leverage city resources with federal dollars.

We have since identified the Los Oulas Mobility Project with an $8 million request, the Riverside Park Traffic Calming Mobility Project with a 2.2.4 million dollar request, a $7 million request for the Northeast First Street Bridge, a $500,000 request for emergency management high water vehicles.

We will send out an update to the letter to the commission.

These are the requests that we are proposing for this cycle.

And if there's any feedback on those, we would ask that you share it with our team.

The deadline to submit these requests is Friday, March 6th.

We did also get an external request from the YMCA for the holiday park facility for $3 million in order to leverage some of the funding that they've already been able to secure for the $53 million project.

At this time, we're doing our due diligence with the offices of the various members at the federal level to identify whether or not the YMCA would be able to submit a request independent of the city, or if the city would need to be the lead applicant on such a request.

So let's stop right there.

What the manager is trying to explain to us is that because we have appropriation requests with the federal government, we're concerned that this ask by the YMCA might compromise the success of the other requests that we have by asking for an additional three million dollars.

So she's probably looking for some feedback from us as to how we would need to respond to the YMCA.

But are you saying that you first want to find out more information about the uh the application that they've made?

Yes, we do need to get that confirmation.

Um we've been told that the rules have changed this year, uh, but we want to officially get that from our members and understand whether or not we can um suggest that the YMCA submit a request on its own and perhaps provide a letter of support, or whether the city would want to be the lead applicant.

It should be noted that last year we received 2.2 million in uh federal appropriations, 1 million for the public safety training facility, and 1.2 million for the Los Solos Mobility Project.

So right now the funding requests that we have proposed far exceed you know last year's um amount that we were able to to be awarded.

So it is possible that because we do have that uh Northeast First Street Bridge project, which is in uh the same district as the YMCA project, it could be seen as potentially looking at uh a lot of funding requests for uh a small area.

So we are very supportive.

Where's the bridge on North you say Northeast First Street?

What bridge is that?

North the Northeast First Street Bridge.

Where is Chair Ben?

Northeast First Street and what's the cross street or Avenue.

Mayor, it's the Northeast First Street over Stranahan Lake, so it goes from Victoria Park uh over to one of the uh the keys.

So if you come over to the Victoria, yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

So once we have that clarification, we can inform the commission, uh, but it is uh very likely that we will have to you know streamline our requests and anticipate that we may not be uh very successful considering past trends.

City managers it all gonna hinge on whether or not we're actually able to do that kind of application or whether they just have to do that application, meaning the why as a non-for-profit.

So my understanding is that the why has been able to secure $53 million in funding, and so I believe that the project is fully funded and that the three million would be used to leverage uh the funding that they've been able to secure.

Uh I believe that if we are required to serve as the lead applicant, uh I think that the why is seeking support from the commission in order to do so.

Okay.

I thought that I thought that the lease agreement with Broward Health pretty much secured the funding necessary in order to build the and also I believe the vice mayor and who are the two commission districts that donated part of their park spond money also to that one and two.

One and two, right?

Correct.

And the city is contributing two million dollars toward the pool.

Right, that's what I'm talking about.

So um so but again, I thought that the the arrangement with the tenants, the Broward Health was sufficient to secure all the funding necessary, and you say it's to leverage what's what are we leveraging against?

Is this money they're borrowing?

Is this another grant they're seeking?

So my understanding and and the way that the city utilizes grant funding as well is that uh potentially projects are fully funded, but if we are able to secure external grant funding, uh then that offsets the cost that the city would have for projects, and I believe that is the same model that the YMCA is is looking to utilize.

Okay.

Um, if you can find that out for us, that would be helpful.

All right.

And that concludes okay.

City attorney, do you have a report?

No report, Mayor, but just a reminder that we have a closed door session at the end of this year.

Yes, yes, ma'am.

Okay.

Um business, new business, business one.

Public engagement in the pub in the budget process, Office of Management and Budget.

Who will be giving that report?

We have Laura Reese, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Laura, who's all bejeweled and beguiled.

Look at you.

She will later be joined by Kevin Polito, Director of Strategic Communications.

Okay.

All right.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commission, the bejeweled comment got me.

Uh Laura Reese, Director of Office of Management and Budget.

And each year at this time of year, before we kick off the budget process, we come to share opportunities with you and the community of ways they can become in this 2027 budget process.

Um, so as the manager mess uh mentioned, I'm here today with my colleague Kevin Polito, the director of Strategic Communications, and we're going to share with you some of the opportunities.

I'm going to review the presentation and at the end, he's going to share a short video and some of the efforts that strategic communication plans to engage in this year.

Very good.

Um the City of Fort Lauderdale is committed to the public engagement, and we do this in a variety of ways.

Um we do that in a way that we can engage with the community and meet them where they are.

So you're gonna see some high-tech, some high touch options as we go through the presentation.

The budget is the city's most important policy document.

It reflects our values and our priorities.

Residents fund the budget through taxes and fees, and they deserve meaningful opportunities to shape it.

Transparent inclusive engagement builds trust in local government, it improves decision making, it improves um it reduces miscommunication and increases community buy-in for some of the difficult trade-offs that we'll have to engage in this year.

Engagement isn't just outreach, it's shared decision making.

We carefully design a budget process that includes opportunities for engagement from internal and external stakeholders, um, which I'll review as I progress through the presentation.

In order to have an inclusive and thorough budget process, it takes time.

Um nine months to be particular.

Um we start our process each year in January with you at goal setting.

And this is in order to have a proposed budget to the city commission as required by this charter in the month of July, and two public hearings in the month of September as the manager discussed recently.

So here's a few dates that will be key to you in the budget process.

So again, January 13th, we had the prioritization and goal setting meeting with the commission, which was fabulous.

And then you adopted your priorities.

So now we know where all the departments are aiming the requests for as part of the budget development process.

So we haven't dug in yet, but those have now been submitted.

We'll be working with the revenue estimating conference committee on meetings in March and April.

That's the first work workshop.

The budget advisory board has individual meetings with departments.

Those are scheduled for May 6th, 13th, and 20th.

Your second joint committee or your second joint meeting with the budget advisory board is scheduled for June 16th.

That's where they'll provide perspective on those rates before you set them the maximum millage rate, the fire assessment fee, stormwater fee, and that's in preparation for your July 2nd meeting.

At the July 2nd meeting, the city manager as per charter will share her proposed budget with you.

And you will set those maximum rates and the non-advilorum assessment rates that we'll have to share with the property appraiser.

And after that, you'll get to take a little bit of a vacation while the city auditor digs into the budget with us.

So the city auditor during the month of August will review the proposed budget, and we'll be reviewing the proposed budget with the budget advisory board as well.

And after you come back from break on August 18th, you'll have your final joint meeting with the budget advisory board.

Um, and at that meeting, they'll weigh in on the proposed budget and the items in the proposed budget before you have the two public hearings in September where you adopt the budget.

So just to stop you for just a second.

So did the commission correct, I'm not sure if my memory serves me well.

Did the commission already agree to make the last meeting before break July 2nd?

Yes.

We did do that.

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

All right.

I am not advancing.

Oh, there we go.

Okay.

So as you know, we have a board exclusively dedicated to ensuring there's transparency and that taxpayers' position is represented in the budget process, the budget advisory board.

Um, the Office of Management and Budget is liaison to that board, but all of our departments serve a very important role in interfacing with them.

Um they meet with you three times per year as we just discussed, and they the reason for those meetings are to make sure that they're aligned with your vision and to make sure that they're on track and communicating back to you throughout the process.

Um, the budget advisory board consists of 10 members, um, each of you appoint two, and a few of the recent accomplishments are champion a strategically champion strategically enhancing public safety.

So they've really been advocating for public safety enhancements over the last years.

They've helped us to maintain a low millage rate with some of their recommendations, and they've garnered support for the public safety headquarters and park improvement projects when those bonds were up for referendum, and they've also spearheaded an analysis of revenue growth opportunities in the most recent budget advisory board meeting, or one of the most recent ones we reported back some of our accomplishments in progress in that area.

Um the revenue estimating conference committee is a lesser known committee, but also important.

It consists of a member of the budget advisory board, a member of the audit advisory board, a member of staff from the budget team and from the finance team, and they meet in publicly noticed meetings to estimate the general fund revenues.

One reason this is really important is during the recession, um, there was tendencies of governments to overestimate revenues because we had to have balanced budgets.

So this was one of those transparent um processes that we put in place to make sure that there's no question that our revenues are being estimated based on data.

Um we also for those folks who don't want to come to meetings and they want to kind of explore on their own.

We have a lot of information on our public websites, items such as our preliminary budgets by departments, they break down expenses to the line item details.

We have those in hard copy packets or the PDFs, but we also have interactive data, or we call it a transparency portal where folks can look at live information in terms of the finances and the actuals each month.

Um we have adopted budget books for many years on the website.

We also have a tool called the balancing act, and we share this with the commission and with the community during the budget process, and then closer to the public hearings, we really promote it.

Um, but it's a tool that allows the um allows for transparency in terms of what's in the budget, but it also allows um users to go into the tool and share their priorities so they can reduce expenditures in one area, um, increase or decrease revenues or expenses.

But it's a tool that allows the um allows for transparency in terms of what's in the budget, but it also allows um users to go into the tool and share their priorities so they can reduce expenditures in one area, um, increase or decrease revenues or expenses.

We ask that they have a balanced budget when they submit, um, but they can submit with or without balance.

These these uh colored images are not labeled.

Um sorry.

Just next time.

Okay.

Well, sorry about that.

Good point.

So uh but but the point is transparency on the website, it is labeled and it does provide good information.

So we'll make sure when we update the slide that we share at that.

Transparency, Vice Mayor Transparency.

I would tell you red is public safety.

So right, exactly.

So um we do have a separate citizen engagement portal on the website where we try to centralize a lot of the information.

Um if you go to www.fortlauderdale.gov backslash budget, you can get to all of this.

A lot of good information.

We spend a lot of time making sure the community is informed.

Um that's key meeting dates and overview of the process, where we are in the process.

We'll link to the video that Kevin shares.

Um we have links to the goal setting video that you all were able to see and other such information.

Your priorities will all be on there.

Um with that, as a recap, the members of the public can attend the annual commission prioritization workshop.

Well, they can't anymore this year, but next year they can attend.

Um they can attend any of the 16 budget advisory board or revenue estimating conference committee meetings, those are in-person meetings.

They can engage with OMB um via the website in the data portals.

They can communicate directly with you.

You have amazing staff members that are communicating with OMB and asking questions and sharing back with your communities.

Um attending the September budget hearings are of another good way, and they can request a presentation at their association if they would like one of those as well.

Um so with that, I'll turn it over to Kevin to share a little more.

Hello, Kevin.

Thank you so much, Laura.

So as the video comes up, uh, my name's Kevin Polito, director of strategic communication.

Um so where you're gonna see in just a second, um, this is a a quick video uh interactive way for our residents to stay involved in the budget process.

Uh you'll start to see this roll out on our social media channels as well as um on next door uh and on the budget page that Laura just mentioned.

So I'm gonna pause for the video.

We're kicking off planning for the upcoming year's city budget, and your input is vital to the process.

Get involved and tell us what you think is most important.

Here's how you can connect with your commissioner and share your feedback.

Attend a budget advisory board meeting.

There are 12 opportunities each year.

Create your own budget using the city's balancing act portal.

There you can share feedback with the commission and city management.

We're listening and we take all your comments seriously.

Together, we're building a bright future for Fort Lauderdale.

Together, we are FTL.

Great.

So that um that's just a fun interactive way.

If you haven't used the balancing act portal, um, it's a really great tool where residents can uh go on and they could build their own um budget uh in respect to the different colors, they can make the colors whatever they want it to be and whatever they prioritize.

Uh this is the single most important document um our city is gonna put out.

Uh so we want everyone to uh take place in this process.

So we're gonna be promoting this heavily.

It's very important, as we all know how important your property taxes are, especially this year.

Uh so that's something that we're going to reinforce in our messaging.

Um there's also a we are also going to be reinforcing when the different departments are going to the advisory boards.

So if somebody has a public works item or transportation item, they could go to the represent the their respective excuse me, uh, meetings and they could go ahead and participate in that process.

So with that, any questions?

All right.

Any questions of Kevin?

I do.

And Kevin, thank you for that.

Um you just mentioned the words property taxes.

So I want to know what we're doing in terms of planning and how far you want to go with the messaging and the education in terms of exactly what property taxes pay for in our city and percentage of revenue uh in terms of our budget.

Is that gonna be part of the educational piece of this as we roll this out over the next few months?

Uh so you are going to see um as a set a separate campaign, if you will, uh, in respect to property taxes and how important they are and kind of what is what your property taxes fund uh in respect to the budget as well.

There's going to be different highlights that uh to just highlight property taxes in the budget.

Uh but you're gonna have uh you're gonna have kind of a separate campaign related to that, and you'll start to see that a lot more on our messaging.

So residents really understand what their property taxes are going to.

And I just want to share, Commissioner, that we will be focused on education and not advocacy.

So everything is just about making sure that our neighbors understand the facts.

Yes.

No, and that makes sense.

I I believe we did that um with the parks bond and uh police.

We're not allowed to advocate, we can only educate.

Right.

Yeah.

It was effective and but it but very necessary, I think, and and really important.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kevin.

Thank you.

And City Manager, along those lines, as we think about Tallahassee and the property tax reduction possibility.

I mean, this is real, I think.

It's there's uh gonna be possibly a special session.

So what dollar amount impact are we projecting?

Um there's various proposals, but what dollar amount impact are we possibly uh anticipating for the city's budget um and and kind of how are you thinking through what would be some major financial reductions we'd have to take?

So we have been tracking uh the various proposals we've received information through the property appraiser's office, our budget team has been uh running various scenarios, so it could really range.

I'm gonna ask Yvette to share what that range is.

While she's coming up, I do want to share that our our mindset is definitely geared toward you know that anything could happen.

You know, we can't predict uh what the legislature will do, and we don't know when something might happen, whether it's this year or the next cycle.

And so what I've shared with our management team at the budget kickoff is that our focus is going to be on fiscal prudence, uh resourcefulness and innovation.

So those are the three themes that should carry through our budget development process.

Uh, we're also being very mindful as we are currently at the table with our two biggest uh unions, uh, fire and police.

And so we are keeping all of this at the forefront because we just don't know what the true impact could be.

Yvette, can you just go through what some of the impacts might be for you do that?

Just you said there's three main areas you're focused on fiscal prudence, fiscal prudence, resourcefulness, and innovation.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Umette Matthews, assistant city manager.

So almost 30% of our advalorum revenue comes from homesteaded properties.

And what that equates to is about 72.8 million dollars.

Of the eight proposals that were entered into the House, the range, the fiscal impact to the city would range from that 72.8 million dollars down to 200,000.

Most of the proposals were in the 20 million dollar range, which were the more moderate proposals.

Um so we are very closely watching them.

We've seen some movement on a couple of the bills.

Um, unfortunately, one went from a 20 million dollar impact to a 72 million dollar impact, but we are monitoring them.

Daphne has been working very closely with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that we stay on top of those changes that are occurring.

Thanks.

And so our anticipation is what we're thinking.

We so something could happen during the regular session, but it sounds like it's more likely gonna be a special session.

Is that our analysis?

I think if it's a special session, it still has to be voted on by the by the uh by the electorate, which means it would be November.

So it couldn't be this fiscal year.

At the very least, it would be 2728, but even more than likely be 2829.

But again, we don't know.

Right.

Uh and and I think that there's a whole range of proposals.

We don't know how many are going to be put on the ballot, whether it be a single one, whether it would be several, uh, and they'll remember they have to get 60 percent or more to be um to be validated.

So that's why they can't give us a straight answer.

Right, right.

Yeah, but I think we need to be doing everything we can because I think it I think it's likely something's gonna be something well, you never know.

Hey, uh not so fast.

Yes, sir.

Uh so what is this corollary I've heard that uh we're not allowed to allow we're not allowed to um any reduction in tax revenues cannot affect police and fire protection.

How does that work?

Does that mean that they that homestead people still have to pay for police and fire protection?

No, sir.

Um so they get a free ride.

Yeah, so what it would mean is that the city would not be able to reduce the budgets that we have in place, and there are a couple of different versions of this, but most of them indicate the budget either in fiscal year 2027.

Um we would be locked in at the rate that we were paying either for police and fire, or one of them had just police as the group that would be locked in.

And so that would mean public safety is the majority of our general fund budget.

So that would mean as we looked for reductions, we would not be able to target public safety as an area for reducing our budget in order to accommodate the reduction in revenue, or we would have to increase revenue either through increasing our property taxes to accommodate the additional revenue that would be needed from the non-homestead exempted properties in order to continue the same level of funding for public safety.

Or or other or other um services that we provide.

Exactly.

But uh so at the same time, it's also my understanding since we're not able to change the level of funding, that means going forward, uh police and fire can no longer expect raises in their compensation packages.

It would be frozen.

So it does not specifically indicate that we cannot provide additional funding to these um groups.

What it would mean is that the city would have limited resources and we probably would not be fiscally able to provide additional increases to these groups.

Right.

Okay.

Thank you.

Sorry, I didn't mean to drop.

Thanks.

What um that when we look at let's look at FY28, FY29 as a possibility.

I know Stantech has done an analysis.

Just right now, our projection, I think we have a projected deficit for FY28 and 29.

What are those numbers right now?

Which I I think that analysis does not include any property tax reductions, if I'm saying that right.

Um so we're in the 20 million dollar range for FY 2028, and it's about 30 million dollars for FY 2029.

There are some pretty significant um impacts that we anticipate having in 2028.

The first of which is the SAFER grant.

We anticipate that that will be the year that the safer grant will end, and we will have to assume the full responsibility for the 28 firefighters that we added under that programming.

Um there are a couple of other pretty significant financial impacts that we anticipate seeing in 28, which again will um impact us in 29, which is why that number continues to grow.

Okay, so to add that up, just worst case scenario is FY28, we could be at a 28 million dollar deficit plus 72 million on top of that.

So that's possibly a hundred million dollar deficit if the worst case property tax proposal passes and it the voters vote on it.

Is that my math okay?

Okay.

So city manager, I mean, this this is a huge number.

This is a hundred million dollars possibly FY28 deficit.

So share with me how we start thinking about this and how we start preparing for the a worst-case scenario.

Well, we are already engaging in some exercises at the department level to identify where we could see some cost savings.

Uh but to get to a hundred million dollar, you know, nightmare scenario, uh, we're gonna have to make some very uh strategic decisions.

And I I believe that we will have to potentially sacrifice some of the services that we offer or find opportunities to generate revenue that we have not yet um pull the trigger on or leveraged.

And so I think that scenario will lead us to making some dramatic changes in the way that we operate and staff as a city.

So I unless we decide to raise taxes.

Yep.

Which, yeah, uh I'm not interested in doing what the so I think as we sit here today.

My view is we need to be doing everything now to prepare for a worst-case scenario, and it's not the sky is falling, but we've got to be reasonable that this is there is a strong likelihood that we're gonna face significant deficits in our in our budget.

Is that and and that is our our mindset as we go through the budget development process, uh, even if it doesn't happen or doesn't impact us this year, it's always great to be prepared.

So that is what we're currently embarking on.

Okay.

Thanks.

Okay.

Uh is Trent Simpson here.

Come on up, Trent.

Mayor, before we get to that, I I have a question for the city attorney.

So one thing I and I don't need an answer right now, but at some point I'd like you to research the ramifications of voted debt service.

Okay.

So we've got general obligation bonds.

So typically when something like this would pass, any voted debt service would not be touched by this.

So I believe constitutionally we can't impair those contracts.

That would make sense, but let me go ahead and verify.

Right.

And one of the reasons I bring this up is that as we're looking at how we're going to fund a new future city hall, we may want to think very seriously about doing a geo bond that's voted debt service.

If we put that on a November ballot, and that becomes voted debt service, it can't be impaired by any future property tax reform.

If we fund this out of general fund revenues, and we lose our ad valorum tax revenue, we're gonna have a serious challenge funding our debt service on future city hall.

So something that I think we need to think about.

The only way that we can protect the revenue to secure the debt service on City Hall may be through a geo bond with voted debt service that will be grandfathered then.

Okay, we'll have to explore that.

Sure.

And is that just so is that voted on by the voters?

Is that we we do a referendum, it's voted debt service, it goes on the property tax bill, and Florida Constitution prohibits any impairment of contracts.

So that's essentially a contract.

So any changes to the um property tax reform won't impair that existing structure.

Okay.

Thank you.

Trent.

Okay, thank you.

I have a prepared statement that I'd like to share with the commission.

Okay.

Thank you, distinguished commission members and honorable mayor.

Um, while the matter I'm raising is not directly on today's agenda, it is closely related to BSU one and the discussion surrounding public engagement and the budget process, which I fully support.

Um, I invite you to consider how the issue of the new city hall has unfolded.

It is my concern that the public has not been fully informed of the options available regarding the city's future home.

It is my understanding that this body is divided on whether to acquire an existing building or construct a new facility on the former city hall site.

It is also my understanding that some members are unwilling to engage with the owners of two buildings who have expressed a willingness to sell to the city.

This is where I have concern.

If there is a reluctance to conduct fact finding on the acquisition option, then the public cannot be fully informed.

And they and their will cannot be adequately considered.

Even if after thorough analysis and new development proves to be the correct path, it is a responsibility of this commission to evaluate all viable alternatives before making a long-term financial commitment.

While the idea of a brand new state-of-the-art building may be appealing, physical stewardship requires disciplined evaluation of cost, benefits, and long-term impacts.

Just as families must weigh once against responsibilities, so too must this body carefully steward taxpayer dollars.

I'm not here to advocate exclusively for acquisition over development.

I'm here to advocate for due diligence.

If an acquisition opportunity exists, it is the duty of this commission to obtain necessary information so that any decision made is informed, transparent, and in the best interest of the community.

Public engagement requires informed leadership.

I'd like to read that again.

Public engagement requires informed leadership.

Decisions that will shape our community for generations should not be made with without full evaluation of the available options.

I respectfully urge this commission to engage with the potential sellers, gather the relevant information, ensure that whatever path is chosen is a result of a thoughtful and comprehensive review.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Is there anyone is it is there anyone else who wishes to speak on this item?

Okay, there being none.

We'll continue on to business two presentation on the Uptown Urban Village Planning Initiative Development Services Department.

Thank you.

We have Anthony Fajardo, Director of Development Services, as well as Jim Hutzel.

Yes, good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor Commission, Anthony Fajardo, Development Services Director.

Um we're gonna provide a presentation on some of the history and background that led to the changes we're seeing in Uptown.

We think it's a pretty good story that area is seen a lot of redevelopment occur recently that was outside of the norms of what was typically there.

And so I'm gonna turn it over to Jim, and he's gonna run the presentation and we're happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Jim Hetzel, Urban Design Planning Manager at DSD.

When I started my employment with the city in 2014, one of the first assignments I was given was to represent DSD at a meeting being held by Envision Uptown Group.

Envisioned Uptown was made up of business owners and corporate representatives of in that area that wanted to see the area transition from a Monday through Friday office environment into a vibrant urban village.

Myself, along with a representative from TAM and the district commissioner at the time attended those meetings and heard the dialogue from there.

Fast forward to 2016, uh 2026.

I stand here today to give you an update on the project.

Uptown is one of several planning initiatives in the city, including downtown Central Beach and uh South Andrews, just to name a few, and to look at the comparison of this area.

Uptown is about 361 acres in size compared to downtown, which is 710 acres, Central Beach is 262, and South Andrews is 270, just to name a few of the size and comparison of that area.

The history of the timeline on the screen, you see where we started in 2014 within Vision Uptown Group.

From there, the city and envision engaged the Urban Land Institute to do a technical assistant panel report that focused on a list of recommendations that the commission adopted and accepted in 2015.

That led to the uh 2016 making it a commission priority for the area, commission priority, and giving funding for it in 2016 to work on.

I'm not quite sure why the slides are moving by themselves.

Come on, faster Jim.

I mean, I'm trying to keep up with the slides.

I'm having a hard time.

I'm not quite sure why.

Um keep us moving.

AI, okay.

Yeah, I guess in the background wants to keep doing it.

So the timeline leading up to 2016 when the city got funding to work on the project with a consultant and developed the code amendment and the uh master plan vision.

In 2020, we approved the first project, which you see on the top right hand of the screen that used the form-based regulations, which I believe it is called Trio at this time.

And in 2025, we did our land use amendment to the area where the commission adopted a single use uh designation for it.

I think they might be helping me fix my issue.

Might be on a setting, maybe.

And pretty recently we received an award from the Smart Growth Partnership for the Uptown Area for a sustainable growth planning initiative.

So I think it's going back and forth.

So the vision for Uptown is an urban, a vibrant urban village with a mix of uses and a sustainable growth pattern for the future.

It includes uh mix of uses, as I mentioned, also a transit-oriented focus walkable block development pattern, along with affordable housing as one of those options as well.

And also the area has a higher elevation than most of the city.

This slide is where we should pick up on.

Okay.

So of the development projects that have occurred in the area, there's been seven projects occurring have been through the process.

One has been built, which is the trio project I just previously mentioned.

Three have been approved, and two are under review, and one is under construction right now.

As of now, too, we have about three more potential projects coming in an area that have not submitted applications at this time.

In the next slide.

So on the screen, you see an image of the first project that was completed.

We knew it as Fairfield as it went through the approval process, but now they call it Trio.

This project is an eight-story mixed-use development as ground floor retail and also 256.

I'm sorry, 295 units, eight of them being affordable housing in the project, and it's about eight stories tall.

The next slide has some of those that are approved and under construction with the project on the top left, the Mela Mylla, however you want to announce it, pronounce it, um, has 312 units in a seven-story building uh and is uh ground floor uh existing office, sorry, existing office building.

To the right is Avery, and Avery is a seven-story mixed-use project with 200 units and 24 of those being affordable.

The bottom left is a spire, which is 200, I'm sorry, 345 units and a five-story product with ground floor retail.

That particular project is located on the F dot park and ride lot, if you know where that is, in the core southeast corner of Andrews and Cypress Creek Road.

And then on the bottom right is the Cypress multifamily, which recently got approved by the commission, is 973 units with 145 of those being affordable.

Next slide.

What's in review right now on the left is Target, about 90,000 square feet target going into the existing Cypress Creek Station shopping center.

They are going to demolish the Regal Cinema and Office Depot location and build the target there in its place.

And on the right, recently approved by the Commission is Pinnacle, which is a senior affordable housing, about 196 units in that project as well.

Next slide.

So people are still shopping retail.

A little bit of retail.

So as we move forward, some of the implementation steps that are identified in the uptown master plan.

It talks about multimodal improvements.

And since there's multiple jurisdictions on the roadway system up in the uptown area, including state and county, this implementation process and this step looks at the city's roads.

Where can we do improvements in multimodal sidewalk enhancements, bicycle paths, and so forth?

So that would be part of a capital improvement project or projects coming forward.

The reason why we identify this is because during our land use amendment approval for uptown, we committed to FDOT to do this plan as part of the approval for that land use change.

So we need to identify it and move forward with certain projects.

Next slide.

Another aspect in the implementation section of the master plan is branding the area.

How do you identify a brand for the area so it succeeds beyond just getting development projects coming in?

But once these things are built, how do people identify and have a sense of place for an uptown?

That could be done through consultant work and different ideas and markers.

What you see on the screen is just an idea of what a marker identification marker could be for the area.

And with that, I think that's it.

So that was a quick update on the projects that are coming in and the uptown initiative.

So I'll take any questions at this time.

Okay, thank you, Jim.

Anyone have any questions of Jim?

So not a question, but just a comment.

So thank you, Jim.

I appreciate this.

You know, this goes back to Bruce Roberts and carried through by Heather after that, and uh, you know, now is landed with me.

And you know, I'm fortunate to be here as we're seeing all these projects come to fruition.

So they always say that you know a lot of stuff is standing on the people, you know, the shoulders of the folks that came before you.

So we're really standing on the on the shoulders and the work that was done prior to my getting here, and I'm just very excited about all these.

You can see all the affordable housing that we're creating up in the district, um, a lot of new housing.

We're really getting a lot of traction up there.

This is going to be a great live work environment.

We haven't really developed the play aspect of it, but we're really looking forward to making this a uh you know, another kind of economic generator for the city of Fort Lauderdale, besides just downtown.

You know, we've got a lot of great businesses up there.

We've got the tri-rail station, we've got access to the turnpike, we've got access to 95.

Of course, we've got the airport up there.

So it's a it's a very dynamic location.

We bring people down from Pompano and areas north, even as far up as uh you know the Boca area come down to to that environment.

We're attracting a lot of tech to that area because of hot wire and citrics and things like that.

So it's a very dynamic area.

But creating places where people can afford to live, where young professionals can afford to live close to where they work, is I think the kind of thing that makes it so exciting to be a part of what's going on up there.

These zoning changes are going to continue to facilitate that.

We've got related group is doing one of those projects that we looked at.

We've got the reconfiguration of the old pan American mobile home park up there, which has always been a challenge for us.

It's been uh it's been an area of of high concern for our police department.

So I think you're gonna see a lot of great things continue to happen in the North Andrews corridor along Cyprus.

And I can tell you just we're all very excited about what's going on.

So thank you to everybody that's worked on this uh on the looper for so long now.

Um we really appreciate it.

Welcome.

Thanks.

All right, great.

Um I think the most really the one of the best aspects of this is this proximity to the to the uh tri-rail station.

Um we keep all these cities along along up and down the coast keep talking about transit-oriented development.

This is a classic example of how it works.

And so the more we see being built in and around that area, the more we're contributing to that uh to that uh narrative.

So thank you, Jim, for all your work.

We appreciate it.

Thank you.

You know, what's interesting about that mayor is is this is you know one of the parts of town where the tri-rail station is located right in the middle of where all this activity is actually taking place for for much of the tri rail route, it lies west of our you know, downtown areas, which is why the commuter rail has been so important in our ongoing conversations for the last 20 years.

But for the uptown Cypress Creek area, it's right smack in the middle of it.

So it's it's an important component of how we make things work up there.

So Daphne, please make sure that we get uh funded.

Where are you, Daphne?

Did she leave?

Keep tri-rail running.

Okay, thanks so much, Sue.

Welcome.

Uh there's no further business on the agenda.

Um City Manager, is any anything additional that you'd like to add to the conference meeting?

Nothing additional.

We'd just like to share that hospitality.

We'll be at five.

Okay.

So are we allowed to do the closed door session before it's scheduled?

Yes, we may.

Okay.

All right.

So now uh at this time the city commission shall meet privately to conduct discussions between the city manager, the city attorney, and the city commission relative to pending litigation pursuant to section 20, excuse me, 286.011, parentheses eight of the Florida statutes in connection with the following three cases.

City of Fort Lauderdale versus Florida Florida Department of Transportation, Fourth uh uh District Court of Appeal, City of Fort Lauderdale versus Florida Department of Transportation.

Uh this is the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings, and the City of Fort Lauderdale versus Florida Department of Transportation.

This is again the uh the fourth District Court of Appeal.

Present at the Attorney Client Session will be myself, Vice Mayor uh Commissioner John C.

Herbst, Commissioner Stephen Glassman, Commissioner Pam uh, I don't know if Pam will be there, so she's invited.

Uh Commissioner Ben Sorensen, City Manager Raquel Williams, City Attorney Sherry McCartney, uh Deputy City Attorney Spence be there?

Okay.

Uh Assistant City Attorney Sean uh Amarnani, um, outside counsel uh Howard uh DeBosar and Outside Council Jeremy Rosner and certified court reporter from Bailey Enton Court Reporting.

The estimated length of the session um will be about 15 minutes for each case for a cumulative length of 45 minutes.

This meeting is now concluded.

We shall return at six o'clock for the evening meeting.

Where we where are we going?

Are we doing it here or are we doing it downstairs?

No, across the way.

Across the way.

Okay, thank you.