Gulfport City Council Meeting – December 3, 2024 at 6:00 PM
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Gulfport City Council Meeting – December 3, 2024 at 6:00 PM
The Gulfport City Council met on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, at 6:00 PM at Gulfport City Hall. The meeting included the presentation of Spirit of Gulfport Awards, an update on the Watershed Management Plan and Vulnerability Assessment, public comments, the city manager’s recovery report, the appointment of a new council member, consent agenda approvals, resolutions, and new business.
Presentations
- Spirit of Gulfport Awards: Mayor Henderson presented three awards: to Mark Sieg (Gulfport Counseling Center) for offering post‑hurricane therapy sessions; to the City of Gulfport, Mississippi, for sending relief supplies after Hurricane Helene; and to Scott Linde, recognizing his contributions that had been delayed from the COVID period.
- Watershed Management Plan & Vulnerability Assessment Update: Justin Keller, Cody Stewart, and Raf Kadai from Advanced Engineering & Design presented findings from the city’s vulnerability assessment (VA) and watershed management plan (WMP). They reviewed asset mapping, flood projections for 2040, 2070, and 2100, and discussed challenges such as tidal and rainfall flooding, level‑of‑service standards, and potential solutions including pipe upgrades, pumps, and check valves. Council members asked about timelines, data resolution, and grant opportunities.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Amy Costa (Midtown Business Collective): Announced the success of Small Business Saturday with 40 vendors and a scavenger hunt; requested support for beautification and lighting along Gulfport Boulevard.
- Mr. Freedom: Read a list of December holidays from multiple faiths and argued that any council member who does not uphold constitutional principles should resign or not seek re‑election.
- Tom Bixler (59th Street South): Proposed giving city employees holiday gift certificates redeemable at local businesses as a show of appreciation for their hurricane‑recovery work.
- Oren (marina user): Disputed a billing from the marina for 2021‑2022, claiming he had returned his keys; asked for the return of his $40 deposit and an apology.
- Fred Rowe (boater): Requested permission to use the seawall next to the Coast Guard auxiliary as a dry‑access point for dinghies, citing risk for vulnerable boaters after the dinghy dock was destroyed.
- Lenny Guggenheimer (5213 Dillette Ave S): Criticized the city’s oversight of former Councilman O’Hara’s credit card misuse, questioned why finance did not intervene, and called for greater accountability and trust.
- Ms. Love: Thanked the council for holiday lights and for securing O’Hara’s resignation; asked for updates on hurricane recovery, cemetery maintenance, outreach letters to residents, and a presentation from the senior foundation on its building fund.
- Courtney Pro Copus (Gulfportlandia): Reported on a community debriefing event with 40 attendees from all four wards; invited council to review findings and urged clearer protocols for council‑citizen engagement.
- Bob Carnegie: Disagreed with the engineers’ focus on larger pipes; advocated for check valves and pumps as a simpler, more cost‑effective solution to tidal flooding.
City Manager Report
- Permit Fees: The waiver of permit fees was extended through December, to be evaluated monthly.
- Substantial Damage Letters: Approximately 87‑100 letters have been issued, but the process is paused to correct inaccuracies from contractors; corrected letters will follow.
- Rec Center: Still under repair; cost estimates are being finalized.
- Debris Management: Contractors will soon finish; city staff will continue cleanups.
- Employee Recognition: City employees will receive Christmas Eve off.
- Shore Boulevard: Remains closed between 54th and Beach Boulevard for seawall repairs; engineering contracts expected at the next meeting.
- Historic Casino: Requires coordination between the Florida Division of Historic Preservation and FEMA.
- Sunken Vessels: Vessels on shore are being cleaned; those in Boga Siega Bay are under FWC jurisdiction.
- State Flood Mitigation Program: A new FEMA program will allow individual property owners to apply, but implementation is not anticipated until March 2025.
- Building Permits: A checklist will be introduced to ensure applications are complete; 637 homes have been identified with damage, and the FEMA portal remains a bottleneck.
Appointment to Fill Ward 2 Vacancy
- Following the resignation of Ian O’Hara, Councilmember Ray moved to appoint Michael Dobits for the remainder of the term (ending March 2025). Councilmember Brown seconded. Councilmember Thanos opposed, citing the advantage of incumbency for any appointee who might run. The motion passed 3‑1 (Brown, Ray, Henderson in favor; Thanos opposed). The vice mayor rotation remained unchanged.
Consent Calendar
- Item 5.a: Approved the minutes of the November 19, 2024 council meeting.
- Item 5.b – Resolution 2024‑97: Authorized the purchase of a new 2025 rear‑loading sanitation truck from Rush Truck Centers and the sale of truck No. 1135 at auction. Both items approved unanimously.
Resolutions
- Resolution 2024‑98: Authorized the city manager to apply for a FEMA Community Disaster Loan (CDL) of up to $5 million to support hurricane recovery. Approved unanimously.
- Resolution 2024‑99: Approved a special event application from the Gulfport Merchants Chamber of Commerce for a daytime holiday market on December 10, using the Tuesday market footprint with no street closures, and allowing the addition of a trailered boat parade. Approved unanimously.
New Business
- Strengthening Council Rules: Councilmember Brown proposed updating the council’s rules of procedure to ensure transparency, equal distribution of information, and prevention of politicization of staff. A rough draft will be prepared for the March 2025 meeting.
- Resilient Tree Planting: Councilmember Thanos suggested surveying which tree species survived the hurricanes and using that data to guide replanting for a more storm‑resilient urban canopy.
Discussion on Former Councilman O’Hara
- Council members expressed concern that O’Hara might qualify for the Ward 2 seat again. Councilmember Thanos urged formalizing a repayment plan for misused city funds. City Attorney Salzman noted that they cannot bar him from running but could refer the matter to the state attorney. The city attorney will report at the next meeting whether a signed repayment agreement exists.
Council Reports
- Councilmember Brown: Highlighted the successful tree‑lighting ceremony; promoted the March 2 historic home tour; suggested displaying the city’s original LaFrance fire truck at the event.
- Councilmember Ray: Thanked city staff for debris clearance; noted progress on alley repair.
- Councilmember Thanos: Reported from the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council: tax credits for resilient building materials; 30% solar credit now available to municipalities; FEMA funding concerns; USF research resources; importance of homeowner insurance awareness; and an update on homelessness (47 families, 258 individuals unsheltered countywide) with potential state preemption in January.
Key Outcomes
- Michael Dobits appointed to the Ward 2 council seat (3‑1 vote).
- Consent agenda and all three resolutions (2024‑97, 2024‑98, 2024‑99) approved unanimously.
- The city manager will continue monthly evaluations of the permit‑fee waiver and implement a building‑permit checklist.
- The city attorney will follow up on a repayment plan for former councilmember O’Hara.
- The senior foundation presentation is rescheduled for the next council meeting.
- Council will develop updated rules of procedure for consideration in March 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. Uh this is a Christmas blessing. Author is unknown. May your Christmas time be magical. May your heart be filled with light. May the soothing voice of angels be a spiritual delight. May you feast with fun and laughter and toast with festive cheer. Open gifts of love and friendship and rest with loved ones near. And when the old year closes and the new year does arrive, may you be filled with inspiration with passion, fire, and drive. All right, thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag states of America. To the Republic for which it stands. Councilmember Brown, here. Councilmember Ray? Here. Council Member Thanos? Here. Mayor Henderson. Here. City Attorney Salzman. Here. City Manager O'Reilly. Here. City Clerk Carico is present. All right. We have a couple of presentations this evening. I think one of our recipients is not in the state. Another of our recipients was not able to be here till later. So we've got a couple of spirited golf port awards. And I do want to say some folks reached out uh during the last couple of weeks and said, hey, what about these folks? They also did a great job. Um I think we would be giving out about 20 a meeting if uh truly for how uh how well people handle taking care of their friends and neighbors after this. So uh we appreciate everybody uh who showed that spirit. The people who were receiving these awards aren't alone, they were just the ones that they got on the radar. Uh but we have one for Mark Sieg from the Gulf War Counseling Center, uh, who opened up um group uh post-hurricane therapy sessions. Um just out of the goodness of his heart still working this regular job while his house is destroyed, and was doing that over at Briar Hall uh for a few weeks. So really grateful to him for doing that. Um also have one for the city of Gulfport, Mississippi for sending in hurricane relief supplies right after uh right after uh Holeen. And also one that is uh long and coming for Mr. Scott Lindy, who apparently got lost in the COVID shuffle, so at least we got you here, sir. So we'll present you with this. The Spirit of Gulfport Award with the representative symbols of Star, your value to Gulfport, the sailboat, Gulf Warch ties to the sea, the rising sun, ever looking toward the future, and winging birds, the soaring concept of spirit is hereby presented to Scott Lindy, who has demonstrated the true spirit of golf board. We got Justin Keller with us, uh president of advanced engineering and design with our water man watershed management plan and vulnerability assessment update. Good to see you again, sir. Good to see you too. Uh certainly appreciate being here. So uh this is I think the second or third presentation that we've given on this. Uh we've had some high-level discussions about what exactly is it that we're doing. Um and based upon where we're at in the process and especially considering what we recently experienced in the area, uh, we wanted to take this opportunity to kind of share some of the more meat and potatoes, uh, more of the technical items that we're looking at. And now that we're in the thick of this, uh, we do want to start to talk about solutions.
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