Gulfport City Council Meeting - August 19, 2025
Gulfport City Council Meeting – August 19, 2025
The Gulfport City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, at 6:00 PM at Gulfport City Hall. The meeting included public comment on flooding, encampments, and community events; approval of a green space definition ordinance and insurance renewal; and extensive discussions on the senior center and stormwater drainage priorities. The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:22 PM.
Consent Calendar
- Approved unanimously the meeting minutes from the July 22, 2025 Workshop and the August 5, 2025 City Council meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kelly Garcia announced a new Fall Fest fundraiser for the Gulfport Food Forest on October 4, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM at Clymer Park, and the seventh Gulfport Welcome event on October 10, 2025, at 6:30 PM at the library.
- Laura Oldaney requested a map or app showing flood-prone areas in Gulfport, citing personal concerns for low-clearance vehicles.
- Lisa (Tangerine Avenue) reported severe flooding from rain, including two feet of water in her garage, and asked for attention to the issue.
- Albert Reisenberg advocated for alternative beach sand retention methods, citing erosion after recent storms, and noted that Tomlison Pond overflowed four times in two years.
- Deb Sousa (Gulfport Grass Roots) reported a beach cleanup on August 9, 2025, with 22 volunteers collecting 152 pounds of trash. She also requested a shuffleboard court at the senior center.
- Karen Schwartz urged that the rebuilt casino be raised or moved off the waterfront, expressing concern for downtown businesses.
- Ingrid Bredenberg announced plans for a temporary labyrinth installation in Clymer Park for World Labyrinth Day 2026 and requested a letter of city support for an impact grant due August 31.
- Amy Costa suggested topic-based focus groups for residents to propose solutions to city problems.
- Lauren Stern (Gulfport Coastline Coalition) announced a community initiative for neighborhood signs to address flooding and asked for an update on remote public comment.
- Gail Gravelle (Senior Center Foundation) deferred comments on the senior center to the discussion item.
- Milky Waterfront raised concerns about unauthorized camping in public lots and persistent flooding, urging an ordinance to address encampments and budget priorities for drainage.
- Kiera asked the city to stop using Roundup, provided alternatives, and noted her contracted care of an easement on 49th Street.
- Nancy Rubin reported overnight campers and vehicles in Veterans Park and requested better lighting and no-overnight-parking signs.
- Ernie Hean (resident) described flooding on Tangerine and 59th, noted that neighbors have sold homes due to flooding, and urged the city to study drainage solutions, citing New Orleans as a model.
- Lisa (second comment) mentioned unsafe confrontations with campers and repeated flooding concerns.
Discussion Items
Senior Center – Plan B
Mayor Love led the discussion, stating the original $15+ million plan was unattainable and proposing a phased approach (3 phases over 10 years) focusing on more open space, wider hallways, better bathrooms, and more storage. She suggested: (1) expand into the southern parking lot; (2) build above the existing structure; (3) renovate existing space. Immediate actions: raise the non-resident fee to $100/year, reduce the age threshold from 50 to 65 (temporary), and open evenings/weekends. Councilmember Shaw supported incremental movement and fundraising ideas like selling square footage. Councilmember Early favored phasing and keeping age at 50. Vice Mayor Thanos opposed raising the age but supported higher non-resident fees, and proposed using satellite locations (library, churches) for activities during construction. Councilmember Jackson agreed with phasing but cautioned against switching buildings with the rec center. City Manager O'Reilly noted that the rec center is designed for children and swapping would be costly. Public comment included support for phasing, concerns about losing donors, and suggestions for planned giving and community-wide fundraising.
Budget Discussion with City Manager
City Manager O'Reilly presented the proposed budget for FY 2025/2026, maintaining the millage rate at 4.0258. Property taxes constitute only 31-32% of revenues. The general fund operating budget grew less than 1%. Public safety costs exceed $8 million. The city has recovered $6.7 million of $8 million in storm-related reimbursements. Future pressures include reduced revenues from the casino and marina, increased public safety costs, and potential state/Federal funding cuts. Council discussed: postponing the marina south basin restrooms and library solar panels (the latter requires a new roof and has a December 2025 rebate deadline). Councilmembers supported reallocating those funds to stormwater and senior center priorities. Councilmember Early noted the need for more detailed year-to-date figures. Mayor Love emphasized that drainage is the top priority and she is willing to dip into reserves marginally for drainage projects. Councilmember Jackson suggested starting drainage work from north to south. The City Manager advised waiting for the stormwater study results (expected December 2025) to prioritize projects.
Key Outcomes
- Consensus (informal, no vote): Proceed with the architect (Harvard Jolly) to develop a phased plan for the senior center. Increase the non-resident fee (amount to be determined) and open the senior center five evenings per week starting January 2026 (or sooner). No change to the age eligibility (stays at 50). The council did not vote on a specific funding commitment.
- Approved (7-0): Ordinance No. 2025-04 (second reading) – Amended the zoning code's definition of “green space” to require 100% permeability, removing the terms “incidental walkways and benches” per Vice Mayor Thanos’ motion.
- Approved (7-0): Resolution No. 2025-61 – Authorized the city manager to renew insurance coverage with Public Risk Management of Florida for FY 2025/2026 at a 10% increase.
- Consensus (informal): Reallocate funds from the library solar panel project ($350,000) and bollard project ($75,000) to senior center and stormwater needs, pending further discussion at the September 3 meeting.
- Council request: City staff to provide a brief storm/incident update to council for significant events.
- Approved (no objection): Support letter for Ingrid Bredenberg’s labyrinth grant application due August 31, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Well, it's six o'clock and we start on time. So welcome to the council meeting of August. Is it August 19th? I haven't even noticed it's summer yet. That's that's not a good thing. So um just another reminder. If you need to have a side conversation, I understand, but please take it outside. If you haven't checked your phone, not to point out anybody, but um, if you haven't checked your phone, please um make sure it's off or on vibrate, whatever. And um when we get to public common, of course, we're willing to listen to anything that you have to say. And I see a couple of new faces here tonight, so just a reminder you have three minutes to say anything that you want. And it's not a question and answer uh conversation, it's just you letting us know what you think or feel about something, okay? So that'll be good. So with that being said, I call the meeting to order, and we will go ahead and we'll start with the invocation by Councilmember Shaw, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. So I asked that everybody stand. Thank you. On World Humanitarian Day, we are reminded that every act of kindness strengthens the heartbeat of golf port. Each small act of compassion is like a thread weaving together the fabric of the community we all cherish. When we lift each other up, we create more than a town, we create a home where everyone belongs. Thank you. Um City Clerk, will you do roll call, please? Yes, Mayor. Councilmember Shaw. Present. Councilmember Jackson. Here. Councilmember Early. Present. Vice Mayor Thanos? Here. Mayor Love? Here. City Attorney Salzman? Here. City Manager O'Reilly. Here. City Clerk Carico is present. Super. So tonight we have no presentations, which is probably good because we're gonna have a lot of discussion tonight. So I'm kind of glad that we don't have presentations, but we will go ahead and pick up, pick kick off, excuse me, with public comments. So just to if you raise your hand, I'll just call you up here and we'll kick off with Kelly. Thank you. Kelly and mom. Yes. Hi everybody. Um my mom is here uh as my one of my biggest fans and helpers. I have two separate things I want to announce and talk about tonight, and she's uh up here to help me with our time if we need more time. Um so the first thing I want to say is hi, and it's nice to see you all sitting on the dais again. I my heart gets warm every time I walk in here, and this is such a beautiful powerhouse, and I love where we're going with things, so thank you. Um the first thing I want to talk about today is a brand new fall fest as a food forest benefit. So if you've spent any time in Climber Park, you probably hopefully know about our food forest, and it's not just trees and art and plants, it's a place where people gather along the path.
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