Welcome to the City of St.

Petersburg City Council meeting.

Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch.

District One and Council Chair Hope Gerdis.

District 2, Brandy Gabbert.

District 3, Mike Harding.

District 4, and Council Vice Chair, Leseth Hanowitz.

District 5, Deborah Fake Sanders.

District 6, Gina Driscoll.

District 7, Corey Givens Jr.

And District 8, Richie Floyd.

Good afternoon.

Welcome to the December 4th, 2025 City Council meeting.

If we could do a roll call, please.

Hannawitz?

Here.

Six Anders?

Here.

Driscoll.

Givens?

Here.

Here.

Curtis.

Here.

Gabbard.

Here.

Hardy.

Okay.

Thank you.

This afternoon we will have our invocation given by Reverend Kenneth Irby, followed by a moment of silence, and then please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

As everybody would please join me in standing.

Good afternoon.

I am Reverend Dr.

Kenny Irby and I proudly stand before this August body as the faith and justice community justice liaison for the Sunshine City of St.

Petersburg, Florida, and I'm a proud member of the Greater Mount Zion AME church family.

What a privilege it is to carry everything to our God in prayer.

And in this season of light and love, we celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year's.

And so let me ask you in the spirit of sacredness to acknowledge Isaiah 9 and 2.

That reminds us that the people who walk in darkness will see a great light.

For those who live in the land of deep darkness, a light will shine.

So let our Lord help us to let the light within us shine for justice, inclusion, and impact.

And as we pray for our mayor, Kenneth T.

Welch, Cabinet members, city leaders, city council, especially today, and all of our community, we pray that this sacred place that we stand in be a place of courageous conversations, compassionate impact, and consistent intentionality.

And if you will please join me in letting your light so shine with a resounding Amen.

Please join me in a moment of silence.

Chief of Police James J.

Mitchell.

End of watch, December 25th, 1905.

Officer James J.

Goodson.

End of watch, December 25th, 1947.

Firefighter George W.

Ludwig.

Thank you.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation.

Under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you so much.

Please be seated.

Rev, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for that beautiful invocation.

Thank you for all you do for our city as well.

Okay, council members.

We have an agenda in front of us.

I'll entertain a motion for approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second for the agenda.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve the agenda passes unanimously.

Okay.

We have a consent agenda.

Clerk, do we have any comment uh cards on the consent?

Mr.

Chair, we do not.

Okay, thank you.

Council members, we have a consent agenda.

I'll entertain a motion for approval.

We have a motion and a second on the consent agenda.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve the consent agenda passes unanimously.

Okay, we're gonna move into open forum.

Clerk, could you please read the rules?

If you wish to address city council on subjects other than public hearing or quasi-judicial items listed on the agenda, please sign up with a clerk.

Only the individual wishing to speak may sign the open forum sheet.

Only city residents, owners of property, business owners in the city, or their employees may speak.

All issues discussed under open forum must be limited to issues related to the city of St.

Petersburg government.

If you are speaking to an item on the agenda, you may only speak once during the open forum when the item comes up on the agenda.

In order to provide an opportunity for all citizens to address council, each individual will be given three minutes to speak, and after which the microphone will be muted.

If you wish to address city council through the Zoom meeting, you must use a raise hand feature button on the Zoom app or enter star nine on your phone at the time the agenda item is addressed.

When it is your turn to speak, you will be unmuted, unmuted, and asked to state your name and address.

At the conclusion of your comments or when you have reached the three-minute time limit, you will be muted.

All raised hands will be lowered after each agenda item.

Regardless of the method of participation used, normal rules apply, including the three-minute time limit on comments.

The requirement that any presentation materials must be submitted in advance of the meeting and the rules of decorum.

If live public comment is disrupted by violation of the rules at decorum, the chair is authorized to accept public comments by alternate means, including by email only.

And Mr.

Chair, we do have a speaker.

Okay, let's call two at a time, please.

Mr.

Chair, we have one speaker.

Phil Graham.

Please go to the podium.

Either podium, state your name and address for the record.

You'll have three minutes to address council.

Good afternoon.

Afternoon.

I'm Phil Graham, founder of the Waterfront Parks Foundation.

And I'm delighted to be here today.

We're a 501 C3, uh not-for-profit corporation, and we worked with Mike Jefferson early on to form a partnership with the city.

I'm sorry, could you please state your address?

Yes, 6940, 13th Avenue North.

Thank you so much.

Um as a partner with the city too to uh partner with our parks department and bar Barbara Stalbridge Bird now.

We're we're working very closely with them in a many endeavors.

Um the foundation was established to preserve, protect, and promote the downtown parks.

You know that those are seven miles long, and they go from uh you know coffee pot park down to Lassing, about 240 acres of parkland.

And uh we're we're just so delighted to be helping in preserving those parks.

Um they are arguably the city's greatest asset, and um they are a major driver certainly in our downtown's economic growth.

We have partnered with the city uh from the beginning to protect and enhance these important assets, the flowers along Beach Drive and other areas, the design and installation of swings and and many other projects that we're doing within the parks.

We also have been a voice for the preservation of these city treasures and continue to advocate for their resistance to adverse development process projects in in the parks themselves.

I'm here today to bring your attention to the need to review impacts of certain special events on the parks.

In recent years, the popularity and the growth of these events has resulted in extensive damage to the parks and extended restrictions to park use by residents.

We understand the economic value of these events for the city, but the destruction to the parks, the duration of the setup time, noise levels, visual blight, and the length of the events have grown to nearly intolerable levels for many residents.

These factors have also outpaced the ability of the parks to reasonably recover from the damage caused by large-scale commercial uh events.

We would like to encourage council and members of staff to review our current regulations regarding events to provide a better balance for the type of event and the financial responsibilities of the event promoters.

We feel a committee of citizens, vendors, council, and staff members could be set up to review the standards and requirements for all park events.

We feel better solutions for the call management of these events.

I'm sorry, thank you.

Thank you.

Any other speakers?

No other speakers.

Okay.

We'll go ahead and close open forum and we'll move into I 1, our legal.

And I think we're joined by Joe Kelly.

Welcome.

Good afternoon.

Uh thank you.

I am here to present a proposed settlement for approval in the case of Anthony Sang v.

City of St.

Petersburg.

This is a lawsuit that stems from an accident that occurred on August 13th, 2023 at Tyrone Boulevard and 22nd Avenue.

According to independent witnesses, a St.

Petersburg police officer entered the inner intersection against a red light without slowing down.

The police vehicle was not running its sirens and struck the plaintiff's vehicle directly on the passenger door with heavy impact.

The Medicaid bills for plaintiff spinal injury were approximately 49,000 with 27,000 currently unpaid at this time.

There's also a wage loss claim for $30,000.

And with your approval, the city can resolve the suit for $60,000.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and second on I 1.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak, clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item I 1 passes unanimously.

Thank you.

Okay, we're gonna move into new ordinances.

E1.

Clerk, could you please read the title?

Proposed ordinance number 142-HL and ordinance of the city of St.

Petersburg, Florida, designating the Abbey Ubham House located at 5297 Huntington Street Northeast as a local historic landmark and adding the property to the St.

Petersburg Register of Historic Places pursuant to Section 16.30.070 City Code and providing for an effective date.

Public hearing for this item is December the 11th.

Council members all undertain a motion for approval.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on E1.

Uh clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item E1 passes unanimously.

Okay, we'll move on to E2.

Clerk, could you please read the title?

Proposed ordinance number uh 620-H, an ordinance modifying the capital improvements element of the comprehensive plan of the city of St.

Petersburg, Florida by updating the five-year capital improvement schedule and replacing all previously adopted capital improvement schedules.

Adopting fund summaries for the General Capital Improvement Fund 3001, Bicycle Slash Pedestrian Safety Improvements Fund 3004, City Citywide Infrastructure Fund 3027, Recreation and Cultural Capital Fund 3029, multimodal impact fees, capital improvement fund 3071, downtown parking improvement fund 3073, water resources capital projects fund 4003, stormwater drainage capital fund 4013, Airport Capital Projects Fund 4033, Marina Capital Improvement Fund 4043, and Port Capital Improvement Fund 4093 for the fiscal years 2026 through 2030, adopting the FDOT District 7's adopted five-year work program for the fiscal years 2025 slash 26 to 2029 slash 30, providing for several and providing for an effective date, and the public hearing for this item is December the 11th, and we do not have any cards.

Okay.

We've got uh Britton Wilson joining us for a presentation.

Hey Britain.

Hi, good afternoon.

Burton Wilson City Planner presenting the annual update to the capital improvements element for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

Uh this is a first reading of the ordinance, and staff does respectfully request scheduling the public hearing for next Thursday, December 11th.

You have your presentation though?

Sure.

We can get it out of the way.

So uh similar to last year, I prepared a quick presentation on the purpose and process of the update.

So every year in the fall, following council's adoption of the budget and the five-year capital improvements program or CIP, staff completes the annual update to the CIE, which is a long-range planning tool used to demonstrate that the city's facilities are operating within their adopted level of service standard or LOS.

And staff will use this data through the upcoming year to support proposed land use amendments that come before this board.

So the CIE is just a reporting on a subset of recently adopted capital improvements program, and that it only looks at project schedules for facilities that have an adopted LOS and a comprehensive plan.

And even though the strict application of concurrency no longer applies to transportation facilities, we do still monitor the operation status of roadways and mobility options, such as transit, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements.

And planners revert refer to these as concurrency related facilities as our LOS standards are required to be in place at the time of or concurrent with proposed development.

And this annual update is a citywider multi-department effort where the planning staff only collects this data from these respective departments and then calculates the level of service using functional population numbers.

As demonstrated in the staff report, the city's facilities are all operating well within their adopted level of service standard.

And the draft ordinance contained in your agenda packet lists a recently adopted capital improvement project schedules, demonstrating that the city has a plan in place and the fiscal ability to continue to maintain the adopted level of service moving forward through the next five-year planning period.

And with that, staff is requesting scheduling the public hearing for next Thursday, December 11th.

And that concludes my presentation, and staff is available to answer any questions you may have.

Okay, thanks, Brittany.

Vice Hanowitz.

Thank you.

So part of the reason that I always kind of ask for this is because one of the things that we hear a lot from our residents is how can the city handle the growth of the people coming in?

And when we talk about levels of service, this covers it.

So I think it's always important for citizens to understand what our level of service is and where we are in that.

So maybe for the second the hearing, you can have a page that shows what our capacity is for all our systems, our facilities, and where we are, so that way we can have that discussion because it's a constant question that I get.

Sure, absolutely.

And I can include the current um population estimate and our functional population.

That'll be great.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on E2, seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item E2 passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

We'll go to E3.

If you could please read the title.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on E3.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item E3 passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

All right, we're gonna move into F1, where we've got our uh annual point in time count.

And we've got uh Sheri Holzbacher, CEO of the Homeless Leadership Alliance, and Kathleen Beckham, Chair of the Pinellas County Continuum of Care, here to present.

Go ahead.

First of all, thank you, Chair.

Um, thank you, Kathleen and Sherry, for actually coming at my invitation, and the reason why it is so critical for not the science center.

The reason why um it is so critical to have you here is because being on the CLC, which has brought me immense pleasure and sadness at the same time because we deal with our homeless and our unhoused population, and often we have people come to speak about homelessness that absolutely does not know what that term means or what is involved in that.

And so it's important for us when we get information from other organizations from other sources that we have at least at minimum a general knowledge of what that entails because a day outside in the sun for us and our families is a play date.

A day outside for someone that's unhoused, knowing that that is where their home is is something takes on a completely different meaning and the level of a quality of life that not too many of us, I think would prefer.

So I want you to talk about the pointing time and some of the other struggles that we're dealing with when it comes to our unhoused population and what it is that hopefully we can kind of do to help assist in some of our endeavors because we are definitely a collaborative of social services that actually are going to address that.

And with that, I introduce Ms.

Sherry and Kathleen, who is Kathleen is the chair of COC, and Sherry is the executive director of HLA.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Fix Anders.

And I want to just echo this is a collaborative, and we are so very, very lucky to have you on our board on the COC as well as other leadership and staff who participate in our funders council and our providers council meetings.

Very uh very good partnership that we hope to continue.

Wish we had that kind of partnership with other municipalities.

So thank you very much for allowing us to come present on this point in time count.

Uh also, like uh Deborah Fix Councilmember Fix Sanders had mentioned, uh, there are other things that have come up very recently, especially major federal policy changes and priorities that are going to affect funding for homeless services that are provided through our continuum of care COC.

And so to give a an idea of who we are very quickly, I do not like to take that for granted or assume the Pinellas Continuum of Care or the COC is a countywide network of providers, funders, municipalities, community members, people with lived experience, the sheriff's office, anyone can be a member of the continuum of care.

You just have to have a desire to end or do homelessness.

And uh so we have many committees and councils that meet, they establish the local priorities and policies for the system so we can have a coordinated system.

And they are also uh so and like I said earlier, City of St.

Pete is a member of the COC and serves in many key capacities within our board and the councils, and uh and in other ways, our work groups as well.

The homeless leadership alliance uh is the lead agency for the continuum of care, and so we staff the continuum of care, and we have the HMIS, which is the homeless management information system.

We apply on behalf of Pinellas Continuum of Care for HUD funding that comes through this the COC program, and I'll be talking about that later.

And uh we also coordinate the PIT count, that's the point in time count that happens annually.

It's a federal requirement, and it really does make a difference about uh it's a census, but it makes a difference around funding and many many decisions we make, strategic decisions we make here and throughout the state and and the country.

Uh and we also assist providers through the federal funding process.

So getting into the point in time count, uh this is from 2025.

It is a an annual snapshot of homelessness, and like I said, it's more of a census.

So you think about a census, it's not going to be a hundred percent, it's one day in January.

Last year, I believe it was January 26th, uh 2025.

We're getting ready to have another one January 29th, 2026.

We are raising funds very successfully for uh stipends and and uh incentives for people to participate in that survey.

But we are definitely anyone who is willing, interested in volunteering, please check out our website.

If you go to PinellaCOC.org, you'll be able to find more information or check out our social media.

Uh the Pinellas Pitt report, what is required by HUD is covering the sheltered population that are surveyed as well as the unsheltered.

Unsheltered, that is like council member Fix Sanders was talking about.

People who are literally homeless on the street in a car or in a place that's not habitable by human, not meant to be habitable by humans.

Uh, and then sheltered homeless, which sounds like an oxymoron, is actually people who are they are homeless, but they are living in motels paid for by other agencies.

They are not self-sufficient in that sense, they are in an emergency shelter or they're in transitional housing.

So they're not in a permanent place to call home or a hub a house.

We all can identify what a home is on our own.

Um, and it like I said earlier, it informs planning, funding, and policy decisions.

Overall findings, and this is just a very quick snapshot uh for sheltered homelessness.

We had 12,000, I'm sorry, we had 1,325 people, and like I said, those are people who were in emergency shelter transitional housing.

Unsheltered homelessness, the literally homeless people who were surveyed that day, 538.

That is the lowest, both of those are the lowest counts we've had uh ever on record uh for counting homelessness.

And so the total is 1,863 people.

We are special in Pinellas County, and that we go an extra step further.

We provide a pit report that does not is not required and includes jail county date, Pinellas County jail data, which we there were 125 people that also followed the same uh guidance and that we were looking for here uh for the regular pit count, and then also Pinellas County schools, we partner with them too to get information.

And they're under a little bit of a different definition of homelessness.

That literal homelessness, it can be literal homelessness, and 113 young people, students were considered to be literally homeless and unsheltered since from between August 10th and January 27th.

And 4% of the entire student body, 3,623, were doubling up or in a place where they weren't sure night to night where they were going to live under McKinney Venta.

And that is a striking number.

And I will add that when we talk about census findings above, that's a point in time when we're talking about uh students in Pinellas County schools, you have relationships that are developed between teachers and counselors and the people who uh dish day to day, right?

So that is a very good accurate number to go by when we look at homeless counts.

Like I said earlier, this is the lowest count recorded in Pinellas.

There was a 12% overall decrease from 2024.

Uh the unsheltered count went down 25%, the sheltered count went down 5%, and uh there are some many, there are several factors involved with this.

Uh it has consistently trended down since 2016.

So we we are seeing that it's except for one year there was an anomaly where it ticked up a little bit.

Uh but there were uh fewer volunteers this last year compared to the prior year because of hurricanes, and also uh with the anti-camping legislation that came out.

We did have concerns about people who may not have felt comfortable answering uh surveys, or were not able, it wasn't as easy, they were not as available to find because of being pushed out further away.

And some other things that maybe uh that are that we can say are good things that are happening that we are seeing a decrease in our homeless population.

Uh it has been increases in funding, strong system coordination, uh, and some of the other things uh the hurricanes, there's some displacement since 2016, COVID was part of that as well, where people left the system that we track, and we we haven't seen the the people come back, and we don't know what happened.

Who is affected?

These are while overall the number, you know, everything looks like it's trending down.

There are some areas that are not doing so well.

There's an increase in older adults.

I say there's 23% rise in unsheltered 65 plus, but we are really focusing on that 62 to 65 year range right before Social Security hits if people are eligible for it.

And we're seeing that that is that that population, that subpopulation is the biggest, like it's just not comparable to the others, if you really put them apples to apples.

Uh 253 veterans were counted.

That was an increase of 8% sheltered and a 10% increase of unsheltered.

Uh 189 survivors of domestic violence were included in this count.

And also the disparities here with uh black and African American individuals making up 38% of the total count of Pinellas homeless population.

Well, they're only 11% of the Pinellas population.

76% of the sheltered families also are black or African American, and some of that may be due to targeting zip, you know, just where uh people congregate but all and get services and as well as the disparity that naturally exists here that we see.

Forty-one percent of homeless students reported by Pinellas County schools are also black or African American.

There were 494 people who experienced chronic homelessness, and that means that for 12 consecutive months they were literally homeless, or they have been uh experiencing at least four episodes of homelessness over the past three years, and they have a disability, and it's added up to at least 12 months.

And then finally, uh, as far as our unsheltered homeless population, 76 percent are male, and 62 percent of our sheltered population are male.

We're noticing that a lot with um single individuals, of course, too.

The primary causes, I think it we hear the rhetoric, we there's stigma, there are stereotypes, that the cause of homelessness has to do with a variety of things that I'm not gonna mention right now because what we know is what is reported, the primary causes of homelessness from people who are experiencing it.

Uh financial or job loss, 40 percent said that was the main reason.

Medical issues were 2020, family issues, 14 percent, and eviction and foreclosures, 10 percent of the respondents.

That was a the primary issue.

The fifth one, if it was up there would be natural disaster.

So for housing market pressure pressures, want to go through this really quickly.

The Alice report, the asset uh limited income constrained employed Alice report is put out by the United Way and United for Alice.

And I want to just point out 40 six percent of households in Pinellas County, according to that report, which is the United Way Some Coast has uh reported.

Their earnings do not cover a basic survival budget.

So these are these are families or households who are uh above the federal poverty line, so they're not experiencing poverty, but they and they are working.

They are nurses, teachers, people who are running the machine, right?

And uh and not able to make enough to meet a basic budget to live in Pinellas County, and even more so like City of St.

Pete.

So uh we're looking at uh being able to have a savings if you have a car repair that's needed, you're just making it.

A family of four for a basic survival budget, so a baby, a toddler and two parents, if if that's the case, has risen to 108,480 is the threshold to even make it to where you can start thinking about vacations or putting back savings or retirement, all the things that may come up that we all experience at different times.

So when we talk paycheck to paycheck, that's where that these are these are the folks we're talking about, and they are professionals even, and they're the people who work with us, and they are they are us.

Um, of course, we know rising rents place those working households at a higher risk of homelessness as long along with all the increases in cost of living that we're experiencing.

What is working?

Strong street outreach, lots of partnerships there.

Uh high performance and rapid rehousing.

That's where someone who is literally homeless then gets into a program where they are able to take on a lease and get supports and then finally take that lease over on their own.

Uh permanent supportive housing, the permanent and supportive housing is a little bit misleading because it's not necessarily forever, uh, but is for people with disabilities who do need extra supports uh in order to in order to continue living.

They do contribute to their rent based on their income, uh, they get support, all kinds of services, and uh are definitely contributors.

So those are for people with disabilities.

More case managers at Safe Harbor, that has increased through SAMSA and other funding.

Um we've noticed that that makes a big difference.

We know that Safe Harbor is our largest, it's it's a shelter that is very low barrier, uh, but only for certain populations, not a place for children to go for sure, strong system coordination with active partners, so that is also something that is working.

And so I wanted to get to the major federal changes that we are seeing, the new priorities coming down from HUD and how that is impacting us.

Uh there was this year, we were supposed to last year.

We went through a NOFO process, notice of funding opportunity.

And uh it was intended to be, it was told there would be for two years, so we could spend this year in planning and response and better system coordination.

Uh, right before the Thanksgiving holiday, HUD did drop a release a notice of funding opportunity that for the COC program, and um with a two-month turnaround, these typically are three months long, so it's very tight with the holidays and and all of that.

But some major changes and some things we were anticipating, others we were not.

There was no uh heads up or guidance given before that.

So we are trying to make sure that we're gonna be in alignment with what HUD has put forward so that we can at least have a very competitive application and get as much funds as we need to keep people housed within and served within Pinellas County and City of St.

Pete.

So the priority now is on short-term crisis response, not long-term housing support.

And there's a strict 30% cap on all permanent housing projects.

So those are non-transition housing, not emergency shelter.

These are these are more permanent um placements or longer-term placements.

And that 30% cap those programs are 74% of our entire COC portfolio.

Um there was another significant shift that we were not expecting, and that is that the what is traditionally non-competitive funding uh in the past was at 90% of our total renewal amount that what we were currently getting, and then we had to go fight for the rest and earn it.

Uh we earned the we have to earn all of it really.

Uh they the HUD decided to cut that from 90% to 30%.

So the rest of it is now completely up in the air and competitive and and requires uh being in complete alignment with HUD's new direction.

And again, when I say permanent housing projects, I'm talking about people with disabilities and survivors of domestic violence, and people have experienced chronic chronic homelessness.

So uh the local impact, uh the 30% cap, of course, is requiring a lot of strategic conversations.

We've been having them, lots of people from City of St.

Pete have been involved with that with let leadership and staff.

Uh HLA and the COC have gotten together.

We've talked with uh providers and funders, and we're trying to assess risk and coordinate strategies and build this competition in such a way that it will um that we can minimize any major disruption and um the earliest low local impacts could be as soon as January 2026 if replacement funding is not secured.

Uh I will also say that what we're talking about with uh permanent supportive housing, that is with a provider here.

Those units are in the city of St.

Pete that are being impacted, and so protecting local housing stability.

I just can for St.

Pete.

There's no big ask other than continue to support the strong uh relationship that we have.

Uh we're grateful for the leadership that City of St.

Pete has shown, um, the leadership on our board.

Uh we are coordinating, like I said earlier, uh, with affected providers in St.

Pete.

We are exploring flexible uh or bridge funding options to help stabilize units that are at risk.

Um continuing to advance, of course, affordable housing, uh, thinking about that Alice uh threshold, not to mention people who are even lower income.

And um HLA will keep you updated on any changes as they occur with this funding uh uh application and any implications that may happen because of it.

So uh there's my email address and uh chair Beckman's as well as uh if you I will leave cards later on if you want, or you can always reach out to me and I'll um make sure that we respond to any questions you have or needs.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Let's go to public comment, please.

Zander floor, Nori.

Please go to an open podium, state your name and address for the record.

You'll have three minutes to address city council.

And thank you, Miss, for your comments, because I've been fighting for this for the homeless for the longest, and it's like it's falling on deaf ears.

I'm disabled.

I'm a HUD, and I can't get a place.

It's out price for my income.

And then you see the people at the bus stops around the lakes and all that.

Something happened.

To be retroactive, you have to have a resolution.

Resolution, you have to be retroactive in how to solve this problem.

And the city is doing great, is doing great things, but you got people that really need the service in being on the streets in the rain and the coal and all.

Well, it has to be something done.

And Renee Flowers, I was Miss Welch, Mayor, would call her.

She won't return my call because Parliament's hope.

There's so many people dying up there with Mercer and all that, and nothing being done about it.

I witnessed that.

You know, and I just want stuff not to keep falling on deaf ears.

Hear us out.

I mean, it's happening.

You all might be great, but it's a lot of people are not great.

And I don't want much.

I don't want nothing.

I just want to help people in this community always been a great community.

Lake Magory, they want to clean the lakes.

He ran the Canadians out in with the water races.

I used to go to that when I was a kid.

It was great.

And like I told y'all last time, it's other things.

Low money makes big money.

People on cell phones raise the ticket prices.

Raise up other things.

Instead of kicking the homeless people to the curb.

It's other things we could get revenue off of.

You know, let the police do their job.

Don't defund it.

And that's why I like the Mayor Bloomberg when I was living in New York.

He was on everything every time, all day and all night.

Train surfing.

Whatever.

What's the cause?

You can't be fund the police.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other speakers?

No more speakers.

Okay.

Councilmember Givens.

Thank you so much.

And I just want to thank you so much, Sherry and Kathleen for your work.

Always great to see you, Kathleen.

Appreciate your hard work.

You know, this is something that I've had the opportunity to do in the past.

Thank you for encouraging me to volunteer.

You know, the point in time count, that's important.

As you said, that helps those policymakers make better informed decisions when it comes to funding for our most vulnerable population.

The folks that people like me and Mr.

Fanora are out there advocating for.

I've seen you out there at Pinellas Hope and keep fighting, keep advocating.

Your work is not in vain.

We need advocates.

There are folks out there who depend on us to make those decisions to fight for them to be in those rooms that they can't be in.

And so when you think about the impacts of this federal administration and how it is hurting those programs that rely heavily on HUD funding, you know, the cap, there's so many people who are competing for the same dollars, and there's more folks competing than there is dollars available.

And so we are stressed and strained every which way.

And so again, I I thank you for the work that you do.

And I encourage and employ everyone who's listening to sign up to volunteer.

It's one day, three hours, and they train you, and we can go out in teams.

So we'll have a good time doing it.

But we need people to volunteer, and better yet, we need people to respond.

And we cannot ignore the elephant in the room.

When you have groups like ICE out there on the streets, people are fearful to respond.

But we have to be honest with ourselves.

It's our job to educate and to get out there and to work with organizations like L HLA and those other groups that are doing the work, St.

Vincent DePaul, Salvation Army, so many others.

Again, we they cannot do it alone.

And so I'm grateful for our city social services department, Administrative Foster, Helen, and the team, they do a great job making sure that we are there to put in the sweat equity.

And so I'm thankful, I'm grateful.

You know, but again, I cannot stress the importance of us making sure that funds are secured in the future to help more people.

There are more people who depend on us and funds available, and we have to do our part.

So again, I just thank you all for doing your part uh and making sure that everyone counts.

Um, but I also want to recognize those folks who are co-living.

You know, we have people who live on the streets, those who are sheltered and unsheltered, but there are so many people who are displaced because of a hurricane, domestic violence, or whatever, and it's not by choice.

And so when we talk about making sure everyone counts, let's be encouraging those people.

Hey, don't be afraid to speak out.

If this is your situation, be vocal about it and understand that there are dollars there at the federal level that could trickle down to the local level.

Everyone says, Well, what is the city doing?

What is the county doing?

Well, we can't do it alone.

We need help.

And so the help comes when we put boots on the ground and we get out there and we make sure that every voice and everybody counts.

So thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, sir.

I'm sorry, sir.

You've had your three minutes.

I can't let you do that, okay?

And it's not me trying to be mean, it's just me trying to follow the rules.

Thank you.

Okay, Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you.

I just have a quick question.

Um, you know, for anyone that can address it about the funding changes from uh specifically where we saw the non-competitive stuff going from 90 to 30.

Uh, and just uh I just want to delve into it a little bit.

What's the implication?

How strongly do we feel that through a competitive process we can recoup a lot of that?

It's a great question, Councilmember Floyd, and I just have to thank my team because it's been all hands on deck since the day the government reopened.

We knew this was coming.

We didn't know that the day they reopened at 11 p.m.

that night, um, they would drop the NOFO, and they've been working around the clock with me, with HLA, with the county to try and um look for ways to backfill this funding.

Um, so some of the specifics, right?

The HLA brings down about seven million dollars in federal funding.

Um we were planning for a cut, right?

So I'd been working with the county already um to repurpose some other funds they already had approved in the budget because we believed there was going to be a 30% cut, not a 70% cut, right?

So um we had already been working on the issue.

Um, and and that's not certain either, right?

So um, you know, the the counties makeup, political makeup has changed.

It has been hard for them to get even stable funding passed for Pinellus Hope and some of the things that have been long standing in our community that have kind of been renewal funding year after year.

There's questions being asked about that.

The Pinellas County Blue Card, which funds health care for those who are uninsured and health care for the homeless is also on the table and could go away.

So we've been planning for that um as well.

So it's hard to say what the implications are.

What I can tell you is that nationwide it's 171,000 people that could be unhoused overnight, very similar to the Reagan administration.

Um locally, what that means is the 2,000 people she showed you that are sheltered right now could become unsheltered overnight.

So all the work we've been doing over the last 10 and 15 years to go from 3,000 unsheltered people where people working in City Hall were stepping over bodies to um get into work down to 267 unsheltered people on our streets.

Um that could go away.

So you know, we'll we'll know more.

Uh I I'm kind of trying to take this day by day.

I feel like we'll know more in early January when the NOFO is submitted to HUD, and then we probably won't know more again until June or July.

So we're looking at gap options right now.

Um HUD has really been thoughtful about this.

I'm gonna word it that way, which is more positive than my heart really feels about it.

Every strategy we've kind of come to cuts us off at the knees.

So things like if HUD could pay for the tenant-based rental assistance, could we out of our other CDBG dollars or other dollars provide the supportive services that keep those who are severe and persistently mentally ill stable, um, they're not allowing the breeding of the funds that way.

So the the most positive thing we have found is Dr.

Slicker has about a million dollars in home in hand right now, which by the way is also on the chopping block federally.

Um, so this could be a one-year solution, but it's likely not a long-term solution.

Home is allowed to be used for tenant-based rental assistance, and so we believe that some of those dollars um will need to do a substantial amendment, but we'll be able to backfill using some of those federal dollars in the short term while we come up with a longer term solution.

Um, but supportive services won't be um attached to that.

So people who have been stable in the past because of services, um, you know, may have a roof over their head and be a little um less stable.

We are looking at other options as well.

We you know you just um programmed your rush funding.

Um HLA has some rush funding as well that can be used for rapid rehousing.

So that is an option.

The county is still working through um their advocacy plan with their commissioners.

When we are ready to activate you for some advocacy, we will certainly do that.

We're trying to determine, you know, when that right time is, when it'll go to a vote, but it'll likely be kind of the January time frame.

Um, so you know, we'll keep you posted, but uh, you know, there's gonna be impacts.

What we're trying to do right now is minimize the impact so that you don't have 800 um severe people with mental illness on the street overnight.

Thank you for that.

Um would have hoped for a different answer, but I appreciate that all the work that you know clearly has gone into thinking this through.

Uh I mean I don't have anything else.

I'll leave it there, but I'll say to administration and everyone else, like, you know, yeah, bring us how we can you know reprioritize funds.

I know finding new funds is gonna we're in a difficult situation there as well, but uh I'm eager to try to stave off the worst impacts of this, and uh hopefully we can you know make some priority decisions that help with that.

So uh I don't necessarily look forward to that conversation, but I'm uh eager to have it when it's necessary.

Thanks, Councilman.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Councilmember Driscoll.

Thank you.

I just have a uh question for Sherry.

Um thank you for the presentation and um wanted to ask regarding the um the primary causes here.

Um thank you for the the presentation and um wanted to ask regarding the um the primary causes here the list includes financial and job loss medical issues family issues and eviction and foreclosure within that we know that um that many of the unhoused in our community um have um mental health issues and so I was wondering um if there is a specific category where that fits in is it medical issues because all of these causes can create mental health issues so I'm just sort of wondering where that fits in the medical issues was not covering mental health or or disability like that uh but as far as um where it fits in there's a chicken and egg deal here uh I also the way I look at it is that when I am I'm a renter when I rent I am not um I many people are housed who have mental illness or substance use disorders right so uh so those are just the primary but we can get I can get you some more information on what that looks like across our system I would like to have that I know that um between administrator foster's department as well as our police department there is a lot of effort that goes into outreach um person to person offering services um that are refused and often that is because there is um a mental health barrier to saying yes because that is um that seems to be what we see a lot in our city that is something that we need to we really need to zero in on the more information that we have the better prepared we are and the better equipped we are to really target solutions for that and I will say we do have uh a lot of behavioral health providers and services that are and treatment services that are part of the COC as well and so um and that's really all I have right if they right now it's more of a does to accept it yes.

Right and so that's the that's the tough part right Alan Rhyme Social Services Manager.

So um Councilmember Driscoll I just wanted to add to what Sherry was saying that um recently you all approved um our our dollars our rush dollars for Boley to do their mental health program so we'll have some street outreach um that is mental health based they will I can give away the whole plan but they will be out and about it'll be with dignity people will be able to come in have a safe conversation inside a vehicle um and so I think that that we will see a big difference as it relates to those who suffer with mental illness on the street our team could get to them we can offer services but we're not offering the right services right so it's like if I come to you and say hey do you want this car but you don't need a car you need a house um or you need a TV right and so I think with our team that Boley that is offering those mental health services we will see a huge impact in the way that people accept those services they're licensed their clinicians and so they'll be able to help it's not lost on us that some people don't have the mental capacity to make certain decisions for themselves and so bowly will be able to do that Baker Act if that's needed um and and so I'm hopeful that that we'll see a difference with that.

That's and they'll be throughout our city so it's not it won't just be in the downtown area but they'll be throughout the city um when is that supposed to start we so that was just approved was that two weeks ago I feel like two weeks ago at council so we're working on getting the agreement signed and soon as the agreement signed.

So I think by January that team will be out but we've been speaking with them having some conversation so we know that they're on the way they're they're on their way to getting what they need what they need to so that once we have the agreement signed fully executed they can get they can get the ball rolling.

Terrific thank you January I look forward to hearing how that's going once they get going.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you Chair.

Thank you.

And when you go back to that primary cause slide, and you know, you say financial job loss.

Well, all of this this is dominoes.

So it's like you have one and at least another, and at least to another.

And I'm concerned because you know, you talk about medical issues before your medical bills weren't um impacting your credit score, which impacts your housing, which impacts your ability to pay other outside bills.

So with some of the changes that we're experiencing federally, um, your medical issues may now be, you know, reported.

You have your eviction of foreclosure.

Well, a lot of our uh renters are forced to provide you know a decent credit score.

So this all dominoes together, it all works together.

And I'm gonna put a plug out for CLC.

We do this every month.

Um, we're looking for, you know, when we talked about our our safe and clean streets, whatever that definition it was, we went and said, hey, when is the last time you talked to an organization that dealt with our homeless?

And never had that conversation.

So I wanted to make sure that as a community we actually engage those that we're making decisions for.

And so since we are here today, and again, thank you, Sherry, Kathleen.

I know you you came and hadn't been properly introduced, but um, thank you for being here.

But I want us to consider um giving a little extra time, consideration, and dollars to our homeless because at one I we we say this all the time everybody is a paycheck or a medical bill away from homelessness, whatever that looks like.

And because it hasn't knocked on your door yet, that same door might not be there one day when we're looking at it.

So again, thank you, Kathleen.

I know we've kind of over our time, but do you want to at least say hello?

Because she is when I tell you stand up, she is a bulldog when it comes down to protecting um our homelessness, and I at least want to give you 30 seconds to just say hello if you don't mind.

Thank you.

I will say hello.

I wanna say um thank you for your service, uh, Councilmember Fake Sanders, especially.

But you know, speaking as someone who is an elected official at a municipal level, St.

Pete sets the standard for engagement and collaboration with the COC.

And I've always been um so impressed with your representatives and people on your staff who are highly qualified and really make a huge impact in the organization.

So it's not glamorous work, it's um an uphill battle all the time, but it is the most important work.

And I will say those numbers about the children, you know, as a former public school teacher, those are um profoundly troubling.

And uh when you have over 3,000 students consistently that have uh are experiencing homelessness in some way, there's a big problem.

And I you know, I I like to say on one hand, there's it's great that there's trust in our Pinellas County schools that they feel safe to reach out and let people know that they're struggling.

Um, but we need to have solutions for them, especially the Alice report and the working poor.

These are working poor people that are on the verge of homelessness or eviction, um, and we need to do all we can to keep them housed, uh and that's a better payoff for our dollars and for society as a whole.

So but thank you all.

You do set the standard, and I hope you continue to um support us and collaborate with the work we do.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Fake Sanders.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Just uh quickly uh just to echo Councilmember Fix Sanders, thanks for your leadership on this, and then um Sherry, Kathleen, Amy, the whole team, just thank you for the work that you're doing on a daily basis in our community and across the county.

Just so thankful for all of you and um I very much like council member Floyd.

Um not excited to have the conversation, but I think all of us are ready to and and try to step up where we need to.

So thank you.

Uh thank you for the report and thank you for all the work that you do.

Okay, we are gonna move on to F four.

And I think we are joined by Chris Goella and Dr.

W.

It's correct.

All right, thank you, Chair, good afternoon, everyone.

Uh before you today, you will see uh a resolution to approve a new five-year agreement with OHI West uh to continue operating the wellness center.

Uh the city couldn't be more pleased uh to have that uh in in operation again.

We've now just entered our 13th year of uh service with the wellness center, and uh I know we all have our positive experiences uh to to share, uh so I don't want to belabor it, but it it's been such a uh a trait for the city uh on the finances uh related to health insurance, uh the the engagement, uh the employee experiences really just we we couldn't be happier to have the team here.

So before we get to a vote, though, I do want to take the opportunity to invite Dr.

Wanowich and his team up, Chris and Andrea.

Say a few words, tell us a little bit about the future.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Doctor.

Andrea and Chris, our office manager.

Thank you, Councilman and Women.

And it's been an amazing 13, almost 14 years.

I couldn't have asked for a better staff, but more importantly, a better community and panel of you know patients to care for.

You all deal with some incredibly serious issues here as a counsel for the great city that we all live in.

I feel like my our job is certainly a difficult one caring for patients' health, but you know, the joy that I get of seeing our patient panel come in because of the benefits you all give them to come without having to pay a copay to come on the clock to care for their family members too, because it is a whole family affair.

Um we really get to see um you know the aims that we're aiming to achieve, which is a reduction in sort of chronic health from a very early age onwards, given that the majority of our population, you know, is somewhere in the 30, 40, 50, 60 range.

We are able to address these issues very early on and uh correct them, you know, long before they come become issues that you know will lead to more problems down the road.

And even for the elderly in our uh patient panel, those that are retired on Medicare, we still offer you know incredible hope, and we have very uh sort of uh committed patient uh panel that uh you know by coming in by seeing us often, they often change small things like to bigger changes, and we really see reductions in A1Cs, which are you know the the diabetes markers, the cholesterol values, and again, our hope down the road is that you all see this reflected in sort of the the cost for care on an annual basis and in future planning.

So it's been a privilege.

We look forward to continuing to offer even more services where we find uh you know room for growth and improvement.

We are always looking for that.

Um that's uh you know my uh my two cents.

I don't have anything to say.

Okay.

We'll go to council members.

Councilmember Driscoll.

Thank you.

Thank you for the presentation.

I'm um excited to support this today.

Chris, thank you for continuing to work with them to make sure um that both sides are happy.

I know our site is, and um this year I learned um, you know, I always held the wellness center in high regard, but this year uh more than any other time, um, it became clear to me that it is vital for our employees.

And um, so I had in January I uh woke up with a pain in my stomach that didn't feel right, and of course I gave it a couple days, didn't change, so I called Dr.

W, got me in right away to see me because it was unusual.

Um he got me right in to um the radiologist to have a CT scan done.

And this is something that you know any other doctor you might expect, no, maybe it'll happen next week, maybe you know, maybe not.

Um but I got in the same day, and it it um and he actually called them to make sure I didn't have to wait.

I mean, he was on it every step of the way.

I had to go and have an ultrasound done, and um, you know, eventually to an oncologist and scheduling surgery, and he was with me the whole time, checking on me, um, making sure nobody was delaying this.

And we didn't know what it was.

I had to have a surgery to find out what it was.

Um they had the CT scan revealed.

I have not never told the whole story before, but because you're standing here, and I feel like you saved my life.

Um, I I want everyone to know I had a cyst inside my uterus that was about the size of a softball.

And um, then with the ultrasound, they saw that there was a mass inside that about the size of a golf ball, and they didn't know what that was.

The only way to find out and get rid of it was to um have a surgery and and take it out and then see.

Well, um that was kind of scary, just waiting for all of that.

But again, Dr.

W made sure that no one delayed.

And um, so I got in as soon as possible.

And after the surgery, I found out it went well and that I had cancer.

And they thought that they got it all out.

Okay.

Um had to wait two, I think three weeks to have a pet scan then just to see if everything was clear, um, and it was.

Um I should have said that part first.

Just um, but again, the the phone calls and and text messages to see how I was doing that constant communication and that support um during a really scary time, and and Andrea, you um spent some time with me on the phone too, just to help me um understand better what was happening to me.

But the type that I had um is a very rare and very aggressive form of cancer.

And if you don't catch it quickly, it can spread fast.

And um, you know, for most people they say, you know, the prognosis is not good.

It's like five years.

And so during a time when I was trying to recover from surgery and found out what I had and waiting to see if I still had it, um, and wondering if I had five years or not.

Um I got you know, I had friends and family uh checking on me, but um Dr.

W making sure that I was hanging in there and and doing okay just meant the world to me.

And so um today I just had by the way, now uh I just have to have a CT scan every six months to make sure it stays away.

I just had one early um a month ago and that came back clear, so we're on the right path.

And um he gets all the all the stuff, all the medical uh reports and everything, so he always knows what's going on, and um he helped me also recognize that there are other parts of my um my health that I needed to start paying closer attention to and uh not put anything off anymore.

So um sorry to take up so much time, but I've been um just so grateful for you, and I'm really happy that I have an opportunity to um tell everyone in public um just how important you are um to me and to our city.

So thank you.

Thank you.

I mean it's quite a team effort, and I've had great mentors.

My father was a family physician, so you know I have learned from others, and I and we really tried to pass this on to our patients, and it's across the board for everyone we see.

They that 140 percent, 200% commitment from well, when they say when they say not all heroes wear capes, this is exactly what they're talking about.

So um thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing Councilmember Driscoll.

I wish I pushed my button before you though, uh, because my problems pale in comparison.

But uh I um I actually wanted to thank Chris and team and administration in general for first uh being able to put together something very uh financially favorable and uh that works out really well for us.

Uh I was really excited to get the presentation and see all the positives that we had and the uh I don't know, I guess uh logical consistencies that we put in there as well, if that makes sense.

Um and then just thank uh the team at the wellness center.

Um I literally never had a uh a doctor, like a general practitioner as an as an adult that I felt comfortable with until fortunately I was got elected and was able to uh check out the wellness center, which I really wasn't aware of when I uh wasn't affiliated with the city.

Um and being able to come uh make an appointment and uh not have to worry about how much it costs or uh how long I'm gonna have to wait because you're always very uh speedy uh has been a huge benefit to me and my family.

I mean my wife.

Um and we're healthier than we have been basically as adults since we got this.

And so I'm really grateful that you're able to do that for all of the city employees.

I think uh it's an incredible benefit.

Uh a little taste of uh what it was like.

Uh I briefly lived in England.

My wife is British, we have the National Health Service.

Uh it's a big reason I got involved in politics was advocacy around health care.

And so it's a little taste of that in the city of St.

Petersburg.

It's an excellent thing.

So I really appreciate y'all.

Councilmember Harding.

Thank you, Chair.

Um first that this is probably the the single uh coolest thing that I've seen come out of an HR department.

Um have one.

What a what a phenomenal uh accomplishment idea and accomplishment.

Um and Doc, more to the point.

Um sometimes as a parent, I had this conversation the other day, you just get lucky.

Um you get that you get the soccer coach that gets your kid really, you know, at six years old, engaged and and teaches them and and they they take on the sport and it changes their lives.

Sometimes you get a teacher like that.

And and um in this case, the uh I I hold your uh your team in your department in uh in that regard.

My wife and I have married 25 years.

We've our kids are in their teens and 20s.

And um, and we've had two family doctors in that time until 10 months ago when uh when we switched over to your office.

And um and and the service and the the benefit uh are phenomenal.

Um and as clinicians, you guys are as good as they come.

But the part that really struck uh me and my wife uh actually articulated it was um the the dedication you have to to service and hospitality.

Um I mean my kids talk about a doctor visit.

That that's okay um I have all girls, I don't want to hear about it.

Um but the the the way that you uh that your team, you and your team treat um your clients, your patients, um is uh it it really it's the cultural part of the business that that I that I put in in the lucky category for our family.

So I think you you've seen that you you have support up here and uh and it's nice to have a chance to say thank you.

So we appreciate it.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

I just echo everything that everybody has had to say.

Dr.

W thank you uh for not only uh your care over the last uh I'll I'll go back over the last 14 years for the GERDIS family.

Um and so uh since the since the beginning of this and then um just over the last four years for me, uh very thankful for you and and uh and and the entire team.

Uh when we talk about uh the everyone in that office is ridiculously nice all the time.

And dealing, I'll just say with me, is um I I don't know how you do that on 10,000 times a year.

And so uh I'm just very thankful for you and uh very excited to continue this relationship and um I'm sure I'll I'll see you soon.

Council members, I'll entertain a motion for approval.

Second.

We've got a motion and a second on F4.

Seeing as nobody else wants to sing Dr.

W's praises.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Nobody's voted yet.

Not do anything that wasn't anybody's vote.

I haven't pushed it.

I'd actually like to push the button on this one.

Council members, please any of your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item F4 passes unanimously.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Thanks, Chris.

Okay, council members.

We're gonna move to F two, where we're joined by Beth Herrendine.

Hey Beth.

Hello, good afternoon.

I too would like to thank Dr.

W.

He is an excellent doctor.

Dr.

W, I was wrong.

There was somebody that wanted to sing your praises.

He takes great care of me and my husband.

Um so good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, members of City Council, Beth Harandine, managing director, city development administration.

I'm here to talk to you about um just a regular Tropicana field item, not storm related.

So we're getting back to normal.

I'm I'm happy to happy to report.

Um so pursuant to the agreement for the use management and operation of Tropicana Field, a capital repair, renewal and replacement account was established to provide for the repair, renewal, replacement, and betterment of equipment and assets with an intended useful life of greater than one year.

Um this account is funded through um both ticket stub and naming rights revenue, and currently has a balance of approximately one point zero to five million dollars.

Um also pursuant to that section 5.01 of the agreement.

The Tampa Bay Rays may request disbursement uh from the Capitol account for qualifying capital projects at the stadium.

Um so again, this is a typical regular occurrence back to normal and not related to storm damage.

Um so in preparation for the upcoming season, the Rays have requested of de a disbursement, pardon me, of approximately 1.004 million dollars to cover a variety of capital repairs or replacements, including um parking lot uh improvements, repaving, restriping, and signage in the lots, and new parking lot gates.

Um a refurbish or an up uh re-up of the ballpark and rec outdoor patio, so that's an outdoor roof um area, hospitality area.

They are uh looking to replace aging HVAC units in the press dining area area, the medical clinic, the family waiting room, and the concession air offices, um miscellaneous sidewalk repairs of up to 100,000, that could be less.

Um, and then some concession and countertop repair and replacement um as well.

Oh, and then one final I was missing one.

Um, one final um as part of the Hurricane Milton repair project, we are replacing the backstop netting where it was on October 9th.

So uh I'd say base to base, it's a little bit further than that.

Um, the new major league baseball standard has it going from foul pole to foul pole.

So the the net extra, so I'd say like from the base to the foul pole, that uh part of the netting would be covered by this fund and not the uh not the Milton uh repair fund.

So um so I think that is it.

So again, these are consistent with items the rays have approved in the past.

Um so I would respectfully request your approval.

Um if the chair would permit after this, I do have a few updates on Tropicana repair if you'd like to hear those, but I'll stand by approval, second.

We have a motion and a second on F2.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak, clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item F2 passes unanimously.

Thank you.

All right, Beth, go ahead.

And then just a very quick um very quick update on Tropicana Field.

I'll just start by saying thankfully all is going well.

So just um for those folks watching, uh, we all know that the the last roof panel was put on.

All of the damaged vertical metal panels have been repaired or replaced.

So when you look around, those gaps are no longer there, so that's great.

Um, the catwalk electric and sports lighting are in the process of being installed, and actually, three of the rings.

If you look up three of the um rings, the catwalk electric, they've been energized, and we did have sports uh field lights on yesterday, so that was great to see.

Um the new stadium sound system will begin installation this month.

Um turf comes in January, so we're uh happy with Shaw coming in in January.

We've got the clubhouse lockers coming in in February, and again, we expect substantial completion of our portion of the work by the end of February or early March, little wiggle room there.

Um Blaze Mazzola did update me yesterday that we did receive another insurance payment.

So our total uh insurance payments received to date are now um ten point two eight seven million dollars.

I think it was a little over seven the last time we spoke, so we're now at 10.287.

And I actually got good news from FEMA today.

I can't tell you that I necessarily understand it, but um, but I learned this morning that we have moved into pending applicant project review status, which I pulled it up is item seven on a 10 on a 10 item process.

So I I took that as good news and actually that that news actually came directly from FEMA, and he said that that was a big a major milestone for us.

So I'm very happy to uh to report that.

So I just like to thank council administration and of course all of the contractors and my partners uh at engineering and capital improvement.

So I just wanted to share some good news.

So thank you.

Thank you so much, Beth.

Okay, council members.

We're gonna move into F3, which is uh the disposition of the science center.

These both of these resolutions have to be done separately.

The first resolution is the uh will not material affect the utility, and then the second resolution is actually the the sale of the property.

There is a presentation if we want one council members.

Move approval on F3A.

Second we have a motion and a second on F3A.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak, clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item F3A passes unanimously.

Move approval on F3B.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on F3B.

Councilmember Juskell.

Thank you.

I just want to um thank staff for working diligently on this to make it happen.

Um in anticipation of a of this passing, I want to congrat congratulate Joe Hamilton and his team.

Um and I um would also like to congratulate former council member Robert Blackman, even though he's not here.

Um he was the one who originally brought forward the idea to revitalize the science center a few years ago, and um worked very hard to get the right people in place to get some funding going.

And um I hope that if he's not watching right now that he will um uh certainly uh be on hand for a groundbreaking or ribbon cutting or something like that, so that I can congratulate him personally.

Um, but it takes a lot for um a council member to come up with an idea and do this, and um sometimes it outlasts your your um time on city council.

It gives me hope that some of the things I'm working on now will be uh finished even after I'm I'm gone.

Um, but I think he should be very proud, Joe.

Uh your persistence has paid off and your vision has been um just uh accepted and celebrated, and now we're gonna see it happen.

So thank you.

Thanks for all you've done.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember Gibbons.

Thank you so much.

And um just want to commend each and every one of you for your hard work on this.

Uh, you know, Councilmember Blackman he threw the ball, and I was fortunate enough to be able to be on the receiving end of this, you know, coming into this as a new council member.

And having grown up at the Science Center, I'm just so excited uh to see that we are about to revive an iconic St.

Petersburg institution.

Uh this is exciting.

Um I'm glad that we were able to come to a rational decision on this.

Uh so job well done, Joe, and thank you so much, Aaron and administration for all your hard work on this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

We have a motion and a second on F3B.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak, Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk please telling announced the vote.

Passes unanimously.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right, we're gonna move into F five.

And this was pulled by uh Councilmember Gabbard, which is a combination of CA 10 and C B7.

So council member Gabbard, I'll turn it over to you.

Thank you, Chair, and uh thank you for allowing this to be pulled to report so that we can talk about what I really consider to be a very good news item.

Um so for those of you who are familiar with the San Martin Bridge, this has been an ongoing issue for oh my goodness.

Well, it certainly predates me, and I've been here almost nine years.

So that tells you how long the San Martin Bridge has been a conversation in District 2.

So um happy to report that the county is finally moving forward with the San Martin Bridge replacement.

Um it will probably not launch until and Brajesh correct me.

I believe it's like 2027, early 2027.

However, as you are going to hear, there is a lot of work that we need to do to be prepared.

And so today you're gonna hear about that project, about our utility relocation project, which is really an important step forward to making sure that the city of St.

Petersburg is prepared when the county finally comes in and replaces this long-awaited bridge.

So very glad that we're here today.

Not only was it a very large financial investment, but I felt felt it was also very worthy of a report so that the residents of District 2 could hear the positive progress of how it's moving forward.

So with that, I'll go ahead and turn it over.

Thank you, Councilmember Council City Council.

Um appreciate always a pleasure to be here and to provide updates on these major infrastructure improvements that we do.

And so eloquently put that introduction because there's I will go through the presentation, but you've really summarized the entire thing very well.

Um and I'll start off by just a simple image that we look at right now of the bridge itself.

Um the bridge while the county and similar to your comment, I remember when I first became director.

This was one of the first public meetings I attended.

The discussion on this bridge.

Um, so what you see along the bridge is the existing utilities mounted on the side of the bridge.

Now, typically city bridges, state brid city and county bridges, there are utilities on it.

In this particular instance, this is a colony bridge with a city utility.

What why we are moving forward with this project proactively for replacing our utilities is that if we will once the colony starts plans or start construction of their bridge, we have to remove quickly to relocate all us.

So we want to be out of there and not be a factor in their construction.

Their opportunities sometimes to coordinate the projects when it's less um critical.

But because this is a major um pipeline for us, uh we wanted to get ahead of the game and get it out of the way and give the colony that freedom as well and flexibility with their project.

So the section of uh the project that we're looking at is along the um nine well, 83rd Avenue is actually San Martin Bridge as it continues on it'll continue north towards Gandhi Belofard.

So we're replacing the existing 24-inch sanitary force main with a 30-inch as well as the 12-inch recognition water main, portable water main with a 16-inch water main, providing us additional flexibility and capacity as well in the system.

The intention of both of these will be installed by horizontal directional drilling.

And that is a trenchless method, it will be subaqueus, so it'll be underneath the water the floor of the um C, if I may see, or Tampa B.

So it's going to be underneath, it's gonna mitigate impacts of risk for the city as well.

So the project benefits strengthen the water and wastewater infrastructure, improve long-term reliability, strengthen storm resilience, as well as protect the environment from unexpected breaks or leaks.

Now, this is a very simplified version of the more intricate layouts in the next few slides.

But wanted to give you all an example of where the drinking water, the portable water main will be as well as the wastewater line.

They'll be separated on either side.

Um right now.

And I'll flip continue on.

And the first phase, what we're planning to do the installation is the portable water main or the drinking water itself.

So I will continue on to the staging of it.

So what you would see on this image is where the existing bridge is.

And what's really important is where the highlight is closer to the north side of the bridge, which will be as you look at that image behind me, to the right side.

So that's where the equipment staging will be.

Once they complete drilling, you would see that red information box which shows in intersection closed.

Um, you'll see HDPE layout and fusing.

Why we have chosen this configuration of construction is because that is the longest section that we don't have any other roadway sections entering in the main travel way.

That allows us to lay out that entire pipeline section and then pull it back.

So again, we're going to drill from the north side as the drill bit gets to the other side, then we'll be able to grab that pipe and pull it back.

Now keep in mind, perspective is that this is larger pipelines.

So we're gonna start written at the beginning with probably a four-inch pipe.

And every time we drill one direction, we'll have to come back and back ream it so we open a whole bigger and bigger, bigger.

It's an interesting process.

The directional drill, we just recently successfully completed one for a top one crossing on our water main as well.

Now I will go ahead and flip to the sanitary sewer force main, which is the same configuration.

We'll be doing the same construction process, and you'll see the pipe laid out in that same location, but this time on the um if I may say the bottom side of this image.

Um, well, the east side of the road.

It's kind of skewed, so it's very difficult for me to give you the directions on this.

So with that, um the the next phase during this construction, what we can expect during the elements would be major construction.

We are focusing on 8 a.m.

to 5 p.m.

possible night and weekend.

Why?

Because at some point we're gonna have to tie in this water and the force main into the existing system, and we'll only be able to tie that in when there's the least demand on the system, and that way we can mitigate any impacts to our community.

There will be noise, there will be drilling, there'll be dust.

Some tree trimming will be involved as well, and all the work was planned for within the right-away.

We're also planning additional traffic control practices.

Um, the public information meeting that we did was very helpful, um, understanding the community's concerns.

So we'll be adding additional variable message boards at Ford Street as well as at Gandhi.

We did coordinate that with FDOT, and they were highly supportive of it as well.

That will prevent people drivers on trying to pass through that section to avoid traffic, making them aware of the construction itself.

Uh, and I do apologize because you did get a revised slide.

This thanks to Councilman McGabbin.

Um, originally it was March 2025.

We were trying to get this out quickly to give you all it enough time ahead of the um Thanksgiving break, but we had to correct it.

It was March 2026.

And I do apologize for that typographical error.

So we're planning to start construction March 2026 and completed as you see a very aggressive construction schedule.

With that, I asked for approval for these companion items.

Okay, council members, we uh F5A and B need to be done separately.

Move approval F5A.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on F5A.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak, clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item F5A passes unanimously.

Move approval F5B.

We have a motion and a second on F5B, seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item F5B passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Council.

Council.

Thanks, Brajesh.

All right, we're gonna move into F six.

This was pulled uh CB5 by Vice Chair Hanowitz.

I'll turn it over to Vice Chair Hanowitz.

Thank you, Chair.

I pulled this item.

Uh this uh has to do with replacing SOD in our waterfront parks.

Um residents have been asking about the project, it's a large area, and I want to talk a little bit about what are the parts of the park that are being the SOD is being replaced, uh, how long is the project and talk a little bit about the funding source and also the plans in the future to maintain the SOD.

Sure.

Thank you.

Thank you, Barbara, for being here.

Thank you.

Appreciate the invitation.

Barb Stalbert, Park Superintendent.

And uh this project is a result of Hurricane Idealia back in 2023.

Our waterfront parks uh experienced quite a bit of flooding during that storm, and all of the uh all of the four parks impacted were inundated with water, uh, creating not only um a die-off of the current SOD, but also some definite compaction issues.

So we saw a lot more pooling and water sitting for long periods of time.

The parks that were impacted are uh Vinoy Park, Albert Witted, um Elva Rouse, and Flora Wiley.

So those four parks um were impacted.

FEMA came out and inspected them.

They went through in detail in each park, measured each one, and then approved reimbursement for funding to replace SOD at each of those four parks.

Um so far we have completed three of the four parks.

Um we've completed Flora Wylie, Elva Rouse, and Venoi Park, and now um Albert Witte is the last to remain.

And so they agreed to replace with like species, which the dominant species uh was St.

Augustine.

So that is currently being laid.

Flora Wiley should be completed today, I believe.

They have their last pallet out there.

Um so FEMA funded project.

Uh it's been kind of a long process.

We got an extension granted from FEMA due to having major storms last year, so we couldn't move much on it.

But um happy to answer any other questions you have regarding the SOD in particular or by Share Handwitz.

Thank you, and thank you, Barbara, for all the explanation.

Um I just noticed this while I was on the dias and I asked legal.

It looks like the math doesn't math in the resolution.

So there's a total amount that we received of 553,611.21, and then parentheses it says 415 to 08.41 in federal funds and 69,000 to a 1.40 in state funds.

You add that up, it doesn't add up to 5536 eleven.

And that's the same information that is on the memo.

So and I just notice this.

So I just want to make sure if you have the right numbers or we can correct it.

Yeah, council.

And legal, I don't know.

Yeah, legal.

I mean, as you know, legal uses the numbers that are in the memo.

Um so it might be good.

We'll check back with budget.

And yeah, I would say we might want to try to figure out a table the item.

Maybe table the item because we would want to if the num obviously the parenthetical is wrong, so we should figure out what is correct so we can change the resolution accordingly.

It would be a tweak in just the first whereas of the resolution.

But I'd hate to change that and have that not be correct for some reason before uh we can confer with budget.

Okay.

So we could just table the item for now.

We'll go to new business.

If we need to, if if we can either do this at the very beginning of public hearing or we can do it at we can take a quick break and then come back.

But more maybe Tom has us right now.

Yeah, yes, and I'm sorry for the confusion.

Um that amount, the difference is the city participation amount.

So it's like um I don't remember the exact percentages, but 12 and a half percent from the state, 75% from feds, and then our participation amount is the difference.

If that makes sense.

So my question, yeah, do we need I'm sorry.

Sorry.

So do we need to change the memo if our participation because they only talk about it their participation?

Yeah, not the not the memo.

The memo, I'm looking at this uh city council accepted reimbursement award from FEMA in the amount of blank federal funds.

I mean, we probably should this doesn't appear to read correct based on what Tom said, unless we're missing some.

So we'll we'll table the item.

What we'll do is we'll do a bit new business, and then why don't we why we can take this item up right at the very beginning of public hearing when we come back?

That way we're not coming back 15 minutes later and then breaking again.

It'll it'll be very quick.

We'll just give you a red line of the first warehouse clause on the diet.

Perfect.

Okay, all right.

So we'll table the item for now.

We're gonna go into new business G1 brought by by Sheriff Hanowitz.

Thank you, Chair.

Respectfully requesting a referral to the committee of the whole or other relevant committee for a discussion regarding co-sponsorship agreements for special events, especially large scale events in public parks, including but not limited to the size and duration of the events, fee shards, access to public parks before and after events, maximum setup and dismantling periods, park impact security and noise mitigation, and to give some context.

We recently had an event.

I got a lot of complaints, and I've been getting complaints because of a lot a lot of the large-scale events, and we've been kind of working for a long time in this, and part you know, Mike Jeffries has been great.

Um, but the last time the park was closed for over nine days, I think it was a total, it ended up on Saturday, and it was still the not like the Monday after, and that's a one of our main public parks, and that really upset a lot of residents, and that was just one of the issues that we've been dealing with.

So I think it is probably a good time to kind of cover what our um standards are going to be for these events.

The other issue we have is the recovery of these parks after the event.

That area they had just fixed up with SOD, and it it is not looking good again, and so I think it's it's probably a good time to have that conversation.

So with that, I move approval.

Second, we have a motion and a second on G1.

Seeing there's no other council members wishing to speak, clerk.

Could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please send your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk please tell you and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item G1 passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

We're gonna go to G2.

Councilmember Givens.

Thank you very much, Chair.

Um, without going too far into the weeds, I think we had this conversation last week.

Um, after multiple requests from some main street uh districts um regarding their budget amount, whatever they get allocated every fiscal year, they need to see an increase.

There's been a cost of living increase.

Uh I think it was five years ago, they haven't had one since.

Um, so we're requesting that we have a more robust conversation regarding the funding of these main street districts, um, whether or not there are some dollars that we can find someplace else to help them.

Um, we're not saying what that amount is, we're just having a conversation about the future of funding these main street districts.

So, with that, I'm respectfully requesting referral to the economic and workforce development committee or other other relevant committees to discuss main street districts.

The discussion should include how the city currently supports main street districts and potential potential funding options, excuse me, for increased annual funding financial support.

With that, I move for approval.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second on G2.

Councilmember Gabbard.

Thank you, Chair, and uh Councilmember Givens.

I was curious um since we had a conversation at our budget cleanup about if there was going to be dollars that were going to be allocated to increase that funding coming from a different pool within the economic development city administration budget.

Um are you prepared to have a conversation with administration and bring council some sort of recommendation as to where extra dollars could be found because we very we very clearly had that conversation here in that budget cleanup, and I think that if we're going to move this to a committee, it should be a comprehensive conversation.

So are are you prepared to have that plan put together for this item?

Councilmember Givens, you can respond.

Yes, ma'am.

I am I'm prepared to work with administration to do that.

I think that's what we need at this point is a clear path forward.

Um, right now we've just kind of been looking for dollars and hoping and guessing we can find them.

We'd like to have the discussion as to where exactly those dollars can be allocated from.

So I'm willing to work with administration to find them and to bring it to that discussion.

I look forward to a very well thought out presentation.

Thank you.

Councilmember Harding.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh actually, Councilmember Gabbard had had my question.

This to me is an administrative function.

Um I want to make sure that that uh that that we're engaging.

We're always looking for dollars for everything.

And um and if if this is going to change, it has to start with administration.

So if you're if you're willing to go that route, Councilmember uh Gibbons and I gotcha.

Thank you for that.

Thank you.

Councilmember Gibbons.

Yes, certainly.

And and that's what I want to be clear about.

You know, I believe these main street districts, I see Nicole here with the edge district today.

They have had these conversations with administration.

They've had these conversations with council members, I'm sure, other than myself.

Uh now we're looking forward to actually saying, here's the pot of money.

This is where we can allocate these dollars from, and this is the good that it can do.

I think it's clear um that these main street districts really are the backbone of our local economy, and they're just asking for a little bit more help to do the work that they've been doing just at the next level.

Um, so again, I am not willing to have this conversation alone.

I'm I'm willing to engage administration because we can't do it by ourselves.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Okay, we have a motion and a second on G2.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak, Clerk, please open the machine for voting.

Council members, please end your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, Clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item G two passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

All right, uh, we are gonna go back to F six now.

I'm gonna turn it back over to legal for a second.

So uh thank you, Chair.

One option here after conferring with administration, since the only problem here is that the parenthetical itself is incorrect, would be just to delete the parenthetical rather than trying to rework the parenthetical if you'd like to dispense with it now.

So it could just be approving the resolution with the deletion of the parenthetical in the first warehouse clause.

That'd be great.

I'll I'll move approval of the resolution uh with uh removing the parenthetical in the first whereas paragraph.

Second.

Okay.

We have a motion and a second.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, please open the machine for voting.

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please battalion announced the vote.

Okay.

Council members, great job.

Uh we are at the point where we need to take a pause till 5 01 for public hearings, and then we've got another slate at 501.

And so at this point, council is in recess.

Thank you, everybody.

Okay.

I've been trying to breathe on the water.

Okay.

I'm always breaking something.

Uh good evening.

We're gonna uh call to order back to order council meeting, and we're gonna go into public hearings and we're gonna go into J1 and J two.

Move approval.

Thank you.

We have a motion and a second on J one and J two.

Seeing as no council members wishing to speak, clerk, can you please open the machine for voting?

Council members enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda items J one and J two passes unanimously with Councilmember Gabbard being absent.

Joe, always good to see you, buddy.

Okay, we're gonna move into J three.

Could you please read the title?

Proposed ordinance number six twenty-five-h and ordinance concerning municipal elections of for the city of St.

Petersburg, making findings regarding the qualifying period for and the scheduling of those elections.

Amending city co city code chapter 10 to provide for a new qualifying period, ratifying that the dates of the 2026 municipal primary and general elections are the same as the dates of the 2026 state primary and general elections, providing for severality and providing for an effective date, and we do not have any cards on this.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on J three.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak, clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your vote.

No.

I thought I saw a blank.

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted.

Clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item J three passes unanimously.

Okay, we're gonna move into J four.

If you could please read the title.

Move approval.

Second.

It went easy on you, Don.

You already did the hard work.

Right?

Yeah, you sure did.

Thank you.

Thank you for the presentation.

Thank you for the back of material.

Thank you for all the work you're doing on this.

It's it's very important.

I don't want to miss that.

So Don, thanks to everybody on the team, and it's important work and thank you for doing it.

Amen.

All right.

We've got a motion and a second on J four.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted.

Clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item J four passes unanimously.

Okay, we're gonna move into J five.

Uh could you please read the title?

Proposed ordinance number six twenty-six-h an ordinance of the city of St.

Petersburg, Florida, amending chapter 22, Article 4, Division 6 of the St.

Petersburg City Code relating to the 1984 supplemental police officers retirement system.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on J5.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak, clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted.

Clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item J 5 passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

We're gonna move into J 6.

Clerk, could you please read the title?

Proposed ordinance number 627-H, an ordinance of the city of St.

Petersburg, Florida, amending chapter 22, Article 4, Division 4 of the St.

Petersburg City Code relating to the supplemental firefighter firefighters retirement system, amending section 22-196 code to include certain overtime hours on or after September 22, 2025 in the definition of earnable compensation.

Amending subsection 22-200B to update reference to the Florida statutory definition of full-time firefighter.

Amend subsection 22-200D to create staggered elections of full-time firefighter trustees.

Amend subsection 22-206L to allow a drop and drop in to allow a member and drop to be elected as a full-time firefighter trustee and providing for an effective date.

We do not have any cards on this.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on J 6.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item J 6 passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

We're gonna move on to J7.

If you could please read the title.

Proposed ordinance number 628-H.

An ordinance concerning operation of the city's municipal governmental access channel.

Making findings regarding the operation of that channel, amending City Code Chapter 2, Article 9, and providing for an effective date.

And we do not have any cards on.

Move approval.

Thank you.

Uh just quickly, I just want to uh thank everybody at SPTV.

You guys do a great job.

Everybody down there, just very thankful for all of you.

Uh the closed captioning, having worked with you through Cappy over the last few years, just everything that you guys do down there.

I'm very thankful for all of you.

Thanks for uh thanks for making us look so good.

Okay, we've got a motion and a second on J 7.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak, clerk.

Could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item J7 passes unanimously.

Thank you.

I had to say something.

They're the they're the ones behind the television, not on it.

So all right, we're gonna move into J eight.

If you could please read the title.

Proposed ordinance number 1175-V, an ordinance approving the vacation of an unimproved isolated 25 by 60 foot dead end right-away on the southern side of block 1, lot one, and then Maximal Woods Unit 1 plat, generally located at 3010 58th Avenue South, setting forth conditions for the vacation to become effective and providing for an effective date.

And we do not have any cards.

We have a motion and a second on J 8.

Seeing as no council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the team for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item J eight passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

Now we're gonna move into J 9.

If you could please read the title.

And we do not have any cards on this.

We have a motion and a second on J 9.

Just quickly, I think this is the smallest easement I've ever seen.

Yeah, I'm just looking at it.

Yeah, I had to blow it up on my iPad when I read the backup and in the backup.

If you look at it, it's literally a cactus.

It's pretty incredible.

Okay.

All right, we've got a motion and a second on J 9.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing as all present council members have voted, clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item J 9.

Unanimously.

Okay.

Thank you, Cheryl.

All right, we're gonna move into open forum.

Do we have any speakers?

Mr.

Chair, we can okay, and then we're gonna move right into announcements.

Any announcements, council members?

Councilmember Gibbons.

Thank you, Chair.

I just want to take a moment to wish my friends, uh the men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.

Uh a happy Founders Day.

They were founded today in uh 1906 on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Uh they have been developing leaders and promoting brotherhood and scholarship and service and manly deeds for over a century.

So I just want to give a shout out to the Alphas.

Happy Founders Day, gentlemen.

Thank you.

Councilmember Fix Sanders.

Thank you.

Um first I want to um just let everybody know that I'm so excited.

I was uh elected chair yesterday.

Thank you.

And then we said our farewell, but we'll still see you to Councilmember Driscoll yesterday.

She she's turned out.

I'm sorry, turned out, but you got a really good farewell, and it was well attended, and you got a whole lot of love, ma'am.

So please know that your time and your service on PSTA was quite valuable.

And I want to thank you so much for kind of dragging me along with you on that one.

So yeah, no, actually, it has been a very nice experience.

I just want to let everybody know that we thanked you properly.

We probably should have given you a party, but you know, it was cake.

Yeah, there was cake.

There was cake.

There was cake.

Where there's and it was public.

Yeah, even better.

It was public.

It was public.

So I just wanted to make those announcements.

So you will be missed on PSTA, ma'am.

Oh, and another one.

I forgot.

As you all see that Tampa Bay Ferry passed unanimously.

So that is that is also news of the day.

So thank you so much.

Thank you to you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Driscoll.

Thank you.

And yes, it was um kind of a bittersweet moment yesterday as I said goodbye as a board member for PSTA.

I'll remain a champion even from here.

And um, having served on that board from since 2019, it was um it's really been quite an experience.

And um, there's a lot that I'll be able to look back on and um be proud that I helped to make happen.

Um, thinking about lots of uh trips to Tallahassee in DC with Brad uh to fight the good fight, and um uh you know it's just all been wonderful.

So I'm I'm going to miss it, but I am um excited to have the opportunity to pass the baton.

I know uh committee wish list forms have gone out, and um, you know, let me stop the spot for you.

I'm uh as you as you heard the uh uh testimonial from council member Fig Sanders.

Um getting dragged along to uh to get into PSTA is um is worth it.

So I hope everyone will give that consideration as you think about your appointments for next year.

But um congratulations, congratulations, councilmember Fig Sanders.

Uh PSDA usually does two years in a row for a chair, and so this will she'll be going into her second year.

She's done a phenomenal job, and um there was no question as to whether or not she should be chair for next year.

So um looking forward to um uh watching and hearing hearing the uh updates from it and seeing where I can still be helpful.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh well, thank you both both of you for your service on PSDA and and Councilmember Driscoll, thank you for all the effort.

I know that you've you've been a big part of that organization over the last few years, and so thank you.

And then um Councilmember Fig Sanders, thank you for for your leadership, continued leadership on PSTA, and um looking forward to seeing who who our next uh appointee to PSDA is.

And so I know I know there's some want there.

Uh I won't pick my head up because then I'll look at so uh we have a list of birthdays, council members.

Uh so Beth Herrendine's is tomorrow.

We've got Janie's the day after, James Corbett on the eighth.

And uh Janie would be upset with me if um I didn't mention that it is also Taylor Swift's birthday or so tomorrow um I I won't um I won't make us sing Taylor Swift.

But we're gonna sing happy birthday to everybody.

Hopefully, you remember all the names.

Uh so yeah, that's right.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to everyone.

Happy birthday to you.

So uh well, thank you, council members.

It was a great day today.

Uh, I'm sorry I couldn't be with you uh this morning.

Uh just to give my daughter just a quick shout out.

She won the temperance award at school, so I went to go see her receive that.

So if she's if my wife has the television on at home, Callie James, congratulations.

Otherwise, uh, I think we set a record this evening for nine items in 15 minutes.

And so, yeah, well done.

Uh so thank you, everybody.

Looking forward to next week, which is our last official city council meeting of the year.

Um, but looking forward to seeing everybody next week.

There's nothing else for the good of the order.

City council's adjourned.

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you.