The City of Sarasota Board and the Sarasota County Commission convened jointly on March 28, 2025, at 1660 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota, Florida. Four of five city commissioners and all five county commissioners were present (Commissioner Batti arrived later). The meeting featured presentations on transit, parks, stormwater, and affordable housing, with public comments touching on drainage, recycling, and water transit.
8th 2025. This is the joint meeting between the City of Sarasota Board and the Sarasota County Commission Board. This morning we are located at 1660 Ringling Boulevard on the third floor in our think tank in Sarasota, Florida. We have all five of our Sarasota County Commissioners present. And I believe we have all five of our city, or maybe four. Four, we have four. And that would be we are just missing for the record, is it Mr. Bettie? Is that correct? Mayor, thank you. Okay, for the record clerk, uh, we're missing one. Uh at this time, I would like to uh have Commissioner Mast please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands over God, individual with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much, and and welcome to our colleagues from the city of Sarasota. Uh thank you for coming down here this morning. I think it's uh it's been about eight years, I think, since we've done something like this together, is what I was told. So it's it's nice to come together in commonality in fellowship to uh have healthy discussions. And um, you know, county attorney, I just have a quick question for you on our agenda we have open to the public uh as number two. I'm curious if we should be able to go ahead and hear open to the public as is a matter of the first item, or uh is there a rhyme or reason to that, please? It's up to you. Um, if there is no objection from anybody on the board here I think we yes, Mayor. No objections. No objections. No objections. Okay, so what I'm gonna go ahead and do is move open to the public to agenda item number one, and then we will do the joint discussion items as agenda item number two. Uh and I have three open to the public speaker cards this morning. First will be Charles Hines, followed by Francis Bermudez, followed by Celine O'Connor in that order. Uh Commissioner Hines, you are recognized, sir, and you will have three minutes. Morning, everyone. Thanks for the opportunity to speak to you all. And is it really been eight years? That shocked me. Um I apologize that we didn't do more. We didn't do more of those when I was on the commission. Uh that's but I'm glad you're doing it now. So, for the record, Charles Hines, program director for the Florida Gulf Coast Trail, Trust for Public Land. And I just want to come here today and say thanks for the both of your all staffs, because what's going to make Bobby Jones and 17th Street Park really unique and special is the Florida Gulf Coast Trail going through those two parks and connecting UTC to downtown Sarasota and Venice. Now we have something really, really special. So my only ask of you is when we're looking at these designs, keep the trail in your mind and keep empowering staffs, the cities and the counties to work together. They're doing it now, and and we're in these meetings, and the stakeholders are there, Friends of the Legacy Trail, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, and it's going well. So let's get that, get the trail built, connect all this up and think about I gotta say hundreds of thousands of people. Because that's what the statistics are showing that are using the legacy trail now to connect to the meadows and then the overpass to Lakewood Ranch. Now we have something nationally unique. So thanks for everything you're doing, and anything I can do to help with it, I'm here for you. Thanks. Thank you, sir. And uh for the record, it looks like we have uh Commissioner Batti in the room. Thank you, sir. Good to see you this morning.