Gulfport City Council Meeting Summary - June 18, 2024
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Gulfport City Council Meeting Summary - June 18, 2024
The Gulfport City Council met on Tuesday, June 18, 2024 at 6:00 PM at Gulfport City Hall. The meeting included a presentation on the FY 2022-2023 audit, public comments on parking and other issues, approval of a resolution supporting a safety study for 49th Street, discussion and tabling of a resolution to remove parking on 53rd Street, and a discussion on permitting Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) which concluded with the council deciding not to proceed.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approval: The council unanimously approved the meeting minutes from the June 4, 2024 council meeting (Item 5.a).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Paula Duby (Baywood Point/Marina District) requested no parking on one side of Trade Winds and resident-only parking on the other, and proposed an ordinance to prevent mooring dinghies at the end of 49th Street. She also noted a conflict in information regarding trespassing enforcement.
- Barry Jacobson (45th Street) asked about the rationale behind a 6-foot setback requirement for sheds and inquired about variance options.
- Ms. Love thanked the public for maintaining clear sidewalks and praised code enforcement. She also expressed support for the upcoming sidewalk and crosswalk transition repairs and the 49th Street safety proposals.
- Albert Reisenberg (19th Avenue South) suggested creating a mirror image of the art walk on Clymer Park to improve pedestrian access and festival layout.
- Lenny Gukenheimer (Dillette Avenue South) supported Resolution 2024-31 but also raised concerns about parking regulations and the need for a comprehensive parking analysis.
- Matt Kidder (Havana Court) advocated for removing parking on one side of 53rd Street for emergency vehicle access, stating that during events, emergency vehicles could not pass.
- Levi Kidder (Dillette Avenue South) suggested consulting with firefighters before making street changes and proposed metered parking as a revenue source.
- Karen Schwartz (Dillette Avenue South) recommended remote parking lots and better signage for event parking, and noted that event planners should include parking plans.
- Ms. Love (again) cautioned against reducing parking without a safety study and suggested evaluating one-way streets or resident-only parking citywide.
- Multiple speakers during the ADU discussion (Pat Dunham, Karen Schwartz, Merrill McClellan, Laura Oldaney, Albert Reisenberg, Levi Kidder, Courtney Prokopis, Marlene Shaw, Laura Lee Winger) expressed support for ADUs, citing aging in place, affordable housing, and maintaining neighborhood character versus large new houses.
Discussion Items
- Resolution 2024-31 – 49th Street Safety Study: The council discussed and unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the mayor to endorse Alternative 1 of the Safe Streets for All study, which proposes lane reductions to improve traffic safety. Council members and public commenters supported the measure.
- Resolution 2024-32 – 53rd Street Parking Removal: The council debated a resolution to remove on-street parking from the east side of 53rd Street South between 29th and 31st Avenues. Council members expressed differing views on the scope and need for notification. Public comment was divided. Vice Mayor O'Hara proposed studying the broader downtown area (57th to 53rd streets, Shore Boulevard to 28th Avenue) with input from fire, police, and public works. The council unanimously voted to table the resolution and conduct a study, including evaluating event-day parking restrictions.
- Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs): City Manager O'Reilly provided a detailed presentation on zoning, density, coastal high-hazard areas, and infrastructure considerations. Council members discussed the intent, potential benefits for affordable housing and aging in place, but raised concerns about density, parking, green space, infrastructure capacity, and the risk of short-term rentals. Public comment was overwhelmingly in favor. After discussion, the council decided not to proceed with an ordinance at this time, with most members expressing opposition.
Key Outcomes
- Resolution 2024-31 passed unanimously.
- Resolution 2024-32 was tabled; staff to study parking and safety in a defined downtown area with emergency responders and public works.
- ADU ordinance will not be pursued further at this time; no formal vote taken but council direction was not to move forward.
- Consent agenda approved unanimously.
- City Council meeting of July 2, 2024 may be postponed due to the July 4th holiday; agenda items potentially moved to later meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome everyone to the June eighteenth, twenty twenty four regular city council meeting for Goldport Florida. Our invocation tonight is given by Vice Mayor Ino Herrett, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Please join us in Ryzen. Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Charles Bukowski. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. To the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right, roll call, please, city clerk. Vice Mayor O'Hara. Here. Councilmember Thanos? Here. Councilmember Brown. Here. Councilmember Ray? Here. Mayor Henderson. Here. City Attorney Salzman. Here. City Manager O'Reilly. Here. City Clerk Carico present. All right. We have one presentation this evening. We have Jeff Wolfe with us, partner at MSL CPAs and Advisors, and it's going to be a review of our 2022, 2023 financial audit. Welcome. Thank you. How are you doing tonight? Good. First of all, I just wanted to thank you, the commission for allowing us to serve you as your external auditors. You know, we clearly understand we work for you. And but with that, I'll get right into the presentation. All right. So government auditing standards requires us to communicate certain things of government governance. So this slide kind of covers that. And first is really our responsibility. And you know, our responsibility is to perform an audit in accordance with the applicable standards, and then also render opinion on whether those financial statements are materially correct. Management is responsible for the financial statements. That's kind of important thing to remember. It's it's it's the city's act for it, it's not the auditors, so they're responsible of for establishing internal controls and preparing the act for you know that provide reasonable assurance that those financial statements are correct. Um we do test internal controls and compliance, um, but it's really just to gain understanding and help plan our audit. Um so we do not render opinion on controls, but if we had any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in controls, we would communicate that to you. Um no difficulties encountered uh during the audit. You know, again, we this is our first year doing the audit, and also the finance team was you know pretty new as well. Um so you know, considering all those changes, I I would really say it was a very smooth transition. There was really no issues noted, so you know, a really you know, you know, good job to you know to the finance team of the city. Um no unusual accounting ventures conventions, meaning there's no transactions that weren't done in accordance with GAAP.
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