Meeting colors

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Gulfport City Council Meeting - October 18, 2022

City Council — Tuesday, October 18, 2022

BodyGulfport, Mississippi

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, October 18, 2022

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 41:26

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

5:24

I'll call this meeting to order for October 7th, 18th, 2022.

5:30

Um invocation tonight will be given by Council Member Michael for Dovick.

5:34

Please check join us in rising.

5:36

Everybody in the audience, please stand.

5:40

All right, today's uh quote of the day.

5:42

Uh the small winds and little things in life matter look closely and you will see that there is much to celebrate on a daily basis.

5:50

And that oh the other one was when uh what I meant to read was you're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.

5:57

AA milne.

5:59

Thank you.

6:02

Yeah, go ahead.

6:02

Sorry.

6:07

And two public one nation under God.

6:14

Thank you.

6:18

Thank you.

6:19

Uh we'll have the roll call, please.

6:20

Councilmember Fedovich?

6:22

Here.

6:22

Councilmember Thanos here.

6:23

Councilmember Ray.

6:25

Vice Mayor Brown.

6:25

Here.

6:26

City Manager O'Reilly.

6:27

Crene Salisbury.

6:28

City Clerk Meath President and Mayor Henderson has asked to be excused.

6:33

Okay, thank you for being here.

6:35

Um we are here to welcome your public comments, if there are any, and that's on stuff that's not already on the agenda.

6:43

That's what I'm here for.

6:45

All right.

6:45

Thank you all for your service.

6:47

Really appreciate it.

6:49

You have to wait your turn on the okay.

6:51

Uh really appreciate your service, and of course, you know, I've lived here 10 years and I I just love this space.

6:55

I just it's incredible.

6:57

Um the reason I came tonight was be I went to the planning meeting for the disputed land beach, whatever it's called, beach road drive.

7:05

Um, and I gotta tell you, it's sitting uneasy for me.

7:08

It really is.

7:09

And there's a couple of reasons.

7:11

Uh first of all, you know, I have a house here right across the street from Tomlson Park, uh, and I've got an alley behind my my backyard, and there's people going back and forth from front and back constantly, night and day with the park.

7:25

I gotta be honest with you.

7:27

And when I moved here, I knew that was gonna happen.

7:29

I I knew that I was living in a city, and that's the way it was.

7:32

And when I went to the planning meeting, the people that were affected, and believe me, I feel for these people, they knew that those lands behind there were public lands.

7:41

They knew it when they bought those homes.

7:44

And so I started thinking about it, even after the meeting, and I started thinking, you know, the first ten feet of my property from the road is Gulfport's land.

7:54

Now, if we give these people this land, does that set the precedent that maybe I should say, wait a minute, that ten feet?

8:02

I have all this beautiful stuff planted there, and Gulfport can just come in if you know, rightly so, and say, you we're gonna take it all back.

8:12

And so I'm thinking, wait a minute now, how can we I mean, what is the point to this?

8:17

Where does the the city of Gulfport benefit by giving these people the land?

8:24

And the other thing that worried me is because during the planning meeting, they talked about it had to be a road, it had to be a road.

8:32

Well, I see variances going on all the time for private properties.

8:38

Now, I can't believe that a public variance is not allowed to happen.

8:43

Is that is that not allowed to happen?

8:45

I'm I mean I'm asking that question because the the way that the lawyer, one of the there was several so many lawyers, and one of them for the city was so adamant about pushing this thing through.

8:58

And I would that it just worried me because I just don't see how the 12,000 residents of Gulfport are gonna benefit at all from giving this away and that it could easily I mean I went down there, although it's all gated off.

9:12

I didn't know it was there.

9:14

As a matter of fact, I wish I had known it was there.

9:17

I would have absolutely used it.

9:19

And are there other public land?

9:22

Is there a map showing all the public land that's not developed that as a citizen of this city that we can use?

9:29

Is there such a thing?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural██████████████████████████████30%

Public Comment███████████████15%

Code Enforcement███████████11%

Public Transportation██████████10%

Pensions███████7%

Council Comments███████7%

Personnel Matters█████5%

Economic Development█████5%

Insurance Coverage████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Gulfport City Council Meeting - October 18, 2022

This meeting of the Gulfport City Council was held on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 6:00 PM at Gulfport City Hall. Vice Mayor Brown presided in the absence of Mayor Henderson. The council approved consent items, three pension-related ordinances, a lease agreement with the Gulfport Historical Society (with an amended term), and appointed a trustee to the Police Pension Board. Public comments addressed a controversial land vacation issue and meeting decorum.

Consent Calendar

Approved the council meeting minutes of August 16, 2022, September 6, 2022, and September 20, 2022.
Approved Resolution No. 2022-73, establishing the date of the 2023 Municipal General Election as Tuesday, March 14, 2023, and authorizing the City Manager to contract with the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections to conduct the election for Ward 2 and Ward 4 council positions. (Passed unanimously, voice vote.)

Public Comments & Testimony

First speaker (Albert, resident near Tomlinson Park) expressed strong opposition to vacating public land (the disputed "Beach Drive" area) to private homeowners, stating that residents knew the land was public when they purchased their homes. He raised concerns about setting a precedent for other public lands and questioned the benefit to the city's 12,000 residents. He also requested a map of all undeveloped public land.
Walter Barker (Trade Winds Drive) commented on a recent Planning & Zoning Board meeting about the same land vacation. He noted a lack of security at a packed, heated meeting, and criticized the board's handling of decorum, recommending training for board members. He also urged the council to move the next meeting to the larger Hickman venue due to anticipated high attendance.

Discussion Items

Ordinance No. 2022-09 (Firefighters' Pension Fund): Amended Chapter 15, Article IV regarding definitions, finances, and pre-retirement death provisions to allow more flexible asset allocation and IRS compliance. City Manager noted a minimal financial impact of 0.1%. Passed unanimously (roll call: 4-0).
Ordinance No. 2022-10 (Police Officers' Trust Fund): Similar amendments to the police pension plan; no actuarial impact. Passed unanimously.
Ordinance No. 2022-11 (General Employees' Pension Plan): Amendments providing investment flexibility and housekeeping; no actuarial impact. Passed unanimously.
Ordinance No. 2022-12 (Lease with Gulfport Historical Society): Authorized the City Manager to execute a lease for the museum (operated since 1981) and Briar Hall art center. Councilmember Ray proposed an amendment to strike the additional five-year renewal option, making the lease term a straight five years for consistency. The motion was amended accordingly and then passed unanimously.
Resolution No. 2022-74 (Appointment to Police Pension Board): Two applicants were considered: Vicki Grant (experienced in investment management) and Dan Lecky. A motion for Ms. Grant failed for lack of a second. A subsequent motion for Dan Lecky was seconded. Council discussion favored Mr. Lecky on the basis that he was a known resident and that Ms. Grant had not contacted council members. Mr. Lecky was appointed by a 3-1 vote (Fedovich, Ray, Brown in favor; Thanos opposed).

Council Comments/Informational Reports

Councilmember Fedovich announced his appointment to the Executive Budget Committee of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
Councilmember Thanos reported on recent Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council meetings, covering Hurricane Ian lessons (buried utilities, mobile home alternatives, building codes), the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) demographic, missing middle housing, EV charging infrastructure (Florida lags behind in stations despite high adoption), and a planned presentation on a "Freebie" trolley service. She also noted that the SunRunner (PSTA rapid transit) would launch on Friday, October 21.
Vice Mayor Brown reported on his town hall meeting (lightly attended), where short-term rentals and code enforcement were the main topics. He clarified that code enforcement is proactive, not complaint-driven, with only about 3% of cases initiated by complaints. He also announced upcoming events: October 20 workshop on short-term rentals and the rental crisis; October 22 Oktoberfest at Veterans Park; homecoming week at Bogue; and replacement of beach playground (shades removed during construction) and the Gecko light bulb (damaged by Hurricane Ian).

Key Outcomes

All consent items approved.
All four ordinances passed (Ordinances 2022-09 through 2022-12), with Ordinance 2022-12 amended to remove the five-year renewal option.
Dan Lecky appointed as trustee to the Municipal Police Officers' Pension Board for a term set by resolution.
The council received updates on regional planning, code enforcement statistics, and upcoming city events.

Meeting Transcript

I'll call this meeting to order for October 7th, 18th, 2022. Um invocation tonight will be given by Council Member Michael for Dovick. Please check join us in rising. Everybody in the audience, please stand. All right, today's uh quote of the day. Uh the small winds and little things in life matter look closely and you will see that there is much to celebrate on a daily basis. And that oh the other one was when uh what I meant to read was you're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. AA milne. Thank you. Yeah, go ahead. Sorry. And two public one nation under God. Thank you. Thank you. Uh we'll have the roll call, please. Councilmember Fedovich? Here. Councilmember Thanos here. Councilmember Ray. Vice Mayor Brown. Here. City Manager O'Reilly. Crene Salisbury. City Clerk Meath President and Mayor Henderson has asked to be excused. Okay, thank you for being here. Um we are here to welcome your public comments, if there are any, and that's on stuff that's not already on the agenda. That's what I'm here for. All right. Thank you all for your service. Really appreciate it. You have to wait your turn on the okay. Uh really appreciate your service, and of course, you know, I've lived here 10 years and I I just love this space. I just it's incredible. Um the reason I came tonight was be I went to the planning meeting for the disputed land beach, whatever it's called, beach road drive. Um, and I gotta tell you, it's sitting uneasy for me. It really is. And there's a couple of reasons. Uh first of all, you know, I have a house here right across the street from Tomlson Park, uh, and I've got an alley behind my my backyard, and there's people going back and forth from front and back constantly, night and day with the park. I gotta be honest with you. And when I moved here, I knew that was gonna happen. I I knew that I was living in a city, and that's the way it was. And when I went to the planning meeting, the people that were affected, and believe me, I feel for these people, they knew that those lands behind there were public lands. They knew it when they bought those homes. And so I started thinking about it, even after the meeting, and I started thinking, you know, the first ten feet of my property from the road is Gulfport's land. Now, if we give these people this land, does that set the precedent that maybe I should say, wait a minute, that ten feet? I have all this beautiful stuff planted there, and Gulfport can just come in if you know, rightly so, and say, you we're gonna take it all back. And so I'm thinking, wait a minute now, how can we I mean, what is the point to this? Where does the the city of Gulfport benefit by giving these people the land? And the other thing that worried me is because during the planning meeting, they talked about it had to be a road, it had to be a road. Well, I see variances going on all the time for private properties.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI

TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com