Regular Sarasota City Commission Meeting: February 17, 2026

The Sarasota City Commission held its Regular Meeting on February 17, 2026, convening at 9:00 AM and adjourning at 2:56 PM with a lunch recess. The agenda included presentations, citizen input, approvals of consent agendas, legislative and quasi-judicial public hearings, and discussions on financial reserves and stormwater management.

Consent Calendar

• Approved Consent Agenda No. 1 items (VI-1, VI-2, VI-4, VI-6): landscape bed maintenance, LED lighting services, right-of-way registration for Tillman FiberCo, and a sodium hypochlorite supply agreement.
• Approved Item VI-3 (removed): Fundraising Agreement with Big Waters Land Trust for the Nature Park at Bobby Jones Golf Club ($3.5 million target).
• Approved Item VI-5 (removed): Lift Station No. 2 Improvements contract with Sequoia Construction Group ($1,382,185.00).
• Approved Consent Agenda No. 2 items (VII-1, VII-2, VII-3): budget resolutions for WCIND grants and a facility vehicle replacement.
• Approved Item VII-4 (removed): Adopted Ordinance No. 26-5589 for the Boys & Girls Club rezoning and site plan.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Martin Hyde raised concerns about the HR Director's departure, the $600,000 cost of City Hall bathroom renovations, the interim City Manager turnover, and the City Manager executive search process.
• Stephen Martin Nucci (noted as an anonymous speaker in the official minutes) requested stricter noise ordinance revisions, including extended residential quiet hours (10pm to 7am) and reduced plainly audible distance standards.
• Henry Kahwaty detailed zoning barriers for home elevation projects, specifically addressing setbacks, daylight plane requirements, and building coverage restrictions on barrier islands.
• Trevor Falk requested active enforcement of the vehicle noise ordinance, focusing on intentional engine and exhaust noise, and proposed establishing residential noise zones.
• Camilla Cherry (noted as an anonymous speaker in the official minutes) addressed noise complaints in the Newtown community, disputing reports against a local establishment and defending weekend evening activities.
• David Lowe questioned the fairness and process of potentially expanding the Downtown Improvement District (DID) tax assessment to residential properties.

Discussion Items

• Charter Official Evaluations: Commissioners deliberated on the completed evaluations, praising the self-assessment format. A primary point of discussion was the unique and expanded role of the City Auditor and Clerk, which combines duties not typically seen in other municipalities. Commissioners debated how to fairly evaluate compensation for this combined role.
• Lightshare Lease (XII.1): The Third Addendum and Restated Lease was introduced to formally incorporate the newly approved building expansion. Commissioner Ahearn-Koch led a discussion on modernizing the document, specifically requesting the removal of gendered pronouns in the definition of the City Manager.
• Natural Disaster Collection Reserve (XII.2): Staff presented the $5 million reserve proposal. Commissioners questioned the rationale for the amount, the timeline for building the reserve, activation triggers, the impact on ratepayers versus the general fund, and the mechanics of FEMA reimbursement.
• Stormwater Management (XII.3): City and County staff delivered a joint presentation on the integrated stormwater system. Key points of discussion included the city-county interlocal agreement, basin-based watershed dynamics, the county's increased maintenance frequencies, dredging projects (Philippi Creek, Whitaker Bayou), the RainCheck rebate program, and the future of the interlocal agreement.

Key Outcomes

• Approved minutes from January 5 (Special), January 16 (Joint), and January 20, 2026 meetings. (Vote: 5-0)
• Accepted the General Employees' Defined Benefit Pension Plan (GEPP) Board of Trustees Annual Report. (Vote: 5-0)
• Adopted Resolution 26R-3369 (South Poinsettia Park street lighting assessment district) with an amendment to Section 3C. (Vote: 5-0)
• Adopted Resolution 26R-3374 (St. Armands and Lido Key utility undergrounding assessment district). (Vote: 5-0)
• Approved Lightshare's Site Plan (24-SP-17) and Major Conditional Use (24-CU-03) for a building addition adding 34 treatment beds. (Vote: 5-0)
• Authorized execution of the Third Addendum and Restated Lease Agreement with Lightshare. (Vote: 5-0)
• Adopted Resolution 26R-3372, establishing the $5 million Natural Disaster Collection (NDC) Reserve policy within the Solid Waste Fund. (Vote: 5-0)
• Accepted the Stormwater Management presentation and the Annual Sarasota County Stormwater Environmental Utility Update. (Vote: 5-0)
• Directed Human Resources to complete a compensation evaluation for the City Auditor and Clerk and report back with a recommendation.
• Approved using the same evaluation format for Charter Officials in FY 2025-2026.
• City Attorney Polzak formally requested Shade (Attorney-Client) meetings for three pending lawsuits to discuss litigation strategy and settlement.
• Noted the withdrawal of City Manager finalist Mr. Gleason from the ongoing search.