Gulfport City Council Meeting - August 5, 2025
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Gulfport City Council Meeting - August 5, 2025
The Gulfport City Council met on August 5, 2025, at 6:00 PM at City Hall. The meeting focused on first readings of four ordinances to increase water, sewer, garbage, and stormwater rates, approval of a law enforcement support services agreement, and discussion of homelessness, parking, and community concerns. All items were approved unanimously.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (Item 6.a): Unanimously approved the meeting minutes from July 15, 2025.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Resident Comment on Parking and Indecent Exposure: A resident described ongoing issues with individuals using public restrooms and planters for bathing, and a specific incident of indecent exposure. The speaker suggested a paid parking system with four hours free and a license plate‑based enforcement to deter long‑term parking by non‑residents. The resident expressed opposition to citywide pay parking but supported time‑limited parking on Shore Boulevard from 58th Street to Beach Boulevard.
- City Attorney Response: The City Attorney stated the city is working on an ordinance to strengthen rules against sleeping in vehicles or using them as homes, by defining actions that constitute “living” in a vehicle. The attorney noted that parking time limits are a potential tool but have pros and cons.
Discussion Items
- Homelessness and Parking Enforcement (Council Reports): Councilmember Marlene Shaw thanked staff for addressing homelessness concerns, noting that police have been responsive. Councilmember Laura Early reported that a police officer had told her that a registered vehicle can stay in a parking space indefinitely if not on time‑restricted streets, but Florida law may allow removal after five days if the person is obstructing access. The City Attorney confirmed the law requires obstruction, not just presence, and that people can move to avoid the five‑day rule. Council discussed the need for tighter ordinances.
- Rate Increases – First Reading of Ordinances 2025‑05 through 2025‑08:
- Water Service (Ordinance 2025‑05): An 8% increase to water rates, reflecting St. Petersburg’s pass‑through cost increase, operational costs, and capital improvements. Councilmember Shaw noted the increase is necessary to maintain infrastructure (mains, valves, meters, hydrants, etc.).
- Sewer Service (Ordinance 2025‑06): An 8% increase for sanitary sewer, covering a state revolving loan, planning costs, and major sewer rehab at lift station #2. Councilmember Shaw encouraged residents to read the agenda documents to understand the reasons.
- Garbage Service (Ordinance 2025‑07): An 8% increase for sanitation, including a 5% increase in disposal fees from Pinellas County and operational costs. Councilmember Early asked about outsourcing; the City Manager said no recent analysis had been done.
- Stormwater Utility (Ordinance 2025‑08): A $1.00 per year increase (approximately 8% for typical residential customers). Councilmember Shaw listed the extensive maintenance responsibilities (946 catch basins, 8 outfalls, 10 retention ponds, beach water quality testing). Councilmember Thanos expressed interest in future rate changes based on lot permeability rather than flat fees.
- Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Support Services (Resolution 2025‑60): The annual agreement with Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office for dispatch, forensics, and fingerprinting. The City Manager noted a 3% increase and that bringing services in‑house would cost about $500,000 more. Councilmember Shaw praised the police department; the resolution passed unanimously.
- New Business – Veterans Park Dinghy Issue: Councilmember Thanos reported that boaters are tying up at Veterans Park, climbing the seawall, and ignoring the temporary floating ramp at Clam Bayou. The City Manager said the city owns the submerged land and can prohibit anchoring, but action was deferred pending reopening of the casino dock (expected within a year). The City Manager will bring an ordinance to prohibit anchoring once the dock is open.
- Senior Center Discussion: Councilmember Thanos announced that a discussion item about the senior center will be on the next meeting agenda (August 19), inviting creative ideas for fundraising or changes.
Key Outcomes
- Ordinances Approved on First Reading (Unanimous):
- Ordinance 2025‑05 (Water rate increase) – Yes: Shaw, Early, Thanos.
- Ordinance 2025‑06 (Sewer rate increase) – Yes: Shaw, Early, Thanos.
- Ordinance 2025‑07 (Garbage rate increase) – Yes: Shaw, Early, Thanos.
- Ordinance 2025‑08 (Stormwater fee increase) – Yes: Shaw, Early, Thanos.
- Resolution 2025‑60 Approved (Unanimous): Authorized the City Manager to sign the Sheriff’s services agreement for FY 2025‑2026.
- Next Steps: Second readings of the four ordinances will be held at a future meeting. The city attorney will bring back a new ordinance addressing vehicle habitation. The budget discussion, including potential impacts from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) inquiries, will be on the August 19 agenda. The casino dock permit is expected to be completed within a year, after which an anchoring prohibition at Veterans Park will be considered.
Meeting Transcript
And we were busy talking to uh call it to order. Well, thanks everybody for coming. You should have brought all your neighbors, but that's okay. Vice Mayor, if you want to Oh, sorry, yes, okay. Yeah, thank you. Um tonight the invocation is given by Councilmember Shaw, and then we'll have the Pledge of Allegiance. So it is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how strong the man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds? Who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself on a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. That's an excerpt from the Citizen and a Republic given by Theodore Roosevelt in France on April 23, 1910. And to reflect on that, let us stand together in unity, not on the sidelines, but side by side, lifting each other up and daring greatly to keep us a strong, vibrant, connected community. Very nice. Councilmember Shaw. Vice Mayor Thanos. Present. City Attorney Salzman. Present. City Manager O'Reilly. City Clerk Carico is present. Um so we'll have public comment. Anybody wants to tell us something, please. They do go take a shower with their clothes, they use our restrooms, they throw their you know, food into the shop into the uh planters, etc. And it's really bothersome to us that they're not our friends. We don't want to become friends. We just want it taken care of by the city. And the way I feel that could be taken care of would be to have maybe I don't want pay parking in Gulfport. I just I really love it the way it is, and the way economy is, it would double the cost of going into town to have you know to pay. So I'm thinking like four hours of free parking if we had just you know some kind of a pay station for four hours of free parking and then they had to put their license in, and if it goes over that, then we start charging. Um that's the only solution I have. I'd just like to end with just a really funny thing that happened to me yesterday, which really made me understand why I really needed to come today, and that is that this one blue car, it's a storage unit. He does not drive this car. It lives right in between my house and Lisa's house next door. And he comes every morning about 9, 9 30, and he takes things from his beautiful black car. This guy is stunning. He's tall, he's in great shape. He's a beautiful looking man. I'm just staring at him yesterday morning. At nine o'clock, he pulls up in his beautiful black car, starts taking things out and rearranging them in the blue car, and then he goes back over, he's just very nonchalant about it. And then he's just about to leave when he pulls his pants down, bends over to get another pair of shorts with his bare butt. And I thought, I screamed, I go, what are you doing? I'm screaming at him. And I thought it's a good sight. However, it's inappropriate. So, you know, it's indecent. So he could have walked 500 feet or 500 uh steps to the bathroom and done that. He chose to do it right there because he thought nobody was looking. So he saw he goes, Oh, and he jumps back in the car and he drives away. So this morning, the car's not there. I go, Great, I scared him.
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