Welcome to the City of St.

Petersburg City Council meeting.

Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch.

District One and Council Chair Copley Gertis.

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 11, 2025 City Council meeting.

If we could do a roll call, please clear.

Hannawitz, here.

Sanders.

Here.

Frisco?

Here.

Givens.

Here.

Floyd.

Gurtis.

Here.

Cabber.

Here.

Okay, thank you.

Today we will have our invocation given by former council member Charlie Gertis, my dad.

And please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

If you please join me in standing.

Almighty God, Creator of everything, seen and unseen, father of all people.

First, we rightly raise our voice in praise, honor, adoration for your unending mercy and unconditional love for us, your undeserving sons and daughters.

We are grateful beyond expression and words for the paradise that you have created and gifted to us to call our home.

And we are equally grateful for the legacy of stewards of this place we called home that have jealously protected its beauty and bounty for those of us who now are the heirs of your blessings, including these stewards who are now entrusted to preserve and protect the new destinies and dreams that are born and fulfilled here.

We pray unceasingly that these stewards will elevate and honor the value and dignity of each person individually and to advance their common desires for purpose and fulfillment of passions.

We ask you, Heavenly Guardian of Creation, to send your Holy Spirit and your archangel Michael to place our love and admiration upon the hearts and minds of all those who have sworn to save us and protect us, the police, the fire and rescue, first responders, doctors, and nurses, and to all their families for their sacrifices.

Please also speak our love and appreciation into the ears and minds of those that dedicate their labor, talents, and intellects in the service of our city and her people, each day and night for the good of all of us.

Lastly, Father of the Servant King, we pray for delivery of the Holy Spirit's gifts of wisdom, counsel, fortitude, devotion, wonder, and compassion to be refreshed and renewed in the nine elected servant leaders among us today and by those whom their service will be most meaningful and material in this season of expectant joy for the celebration of the birth of the Redeemer that opened the gates of paradise for us.

We pray that the peace of Emmanuel will fill and possess the hearts, homes, and families of each of these servants who carry the trust of our collective hopes and dreams in their earthly care.

We pray for all of this in the name of your beloved son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America for which it stands one.

One nation under God.

Please be seated.

Dad.

Thank you.

Love you.

Love you too.

Love all of you.

Love you.

I have to live up to that.

He's amazing.

Okay, council members.

We have an agenda in front of us with the deletion of E1.

I'll entertain a motion for approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on 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 uh pass the agenda uh approves unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

Now we've got consent agenda.

Clerk, I believe we have a card.

We do okay.

If we could call Representative Lindsay Cross, please go to the podium, state your name and address for the record.

We only have three minutes to address council.

Welcome, Representative Cross.

Good afternoon.

It's wonderful to be here with all of you.

Um Chair Gertis, Vice Chair Hanowitz, and members of the council.

Um I'm honored here to be here to support an item on your agenda for our state and local investment and our resiliency.

You know, a year ago, we were in a very different position going into the holidays, knowing that hundreds of our residents would not be spending the holidays in their homes because of the severe impacts of hurricanes.

Helene and Milton, also Debbie earlier that year.

Um, and it's it still is something that touches all of us very deeply, and I know we're committed to their their full recovery.

Um, we saw what residents of neighborhoods like Shore Acres and Riviera Bay experienced in Shore Acres, upwards of 82 percent of the homes flooded in that neighborhood.

And with that low-lying elevation, its position in the Tampa Bay, the chronic flooding in Shore Acres is a serious threat that demands action.

And so I'm here today to commend you on taking action because this project and the broader resiliency um plans that you're implementing and we'll hear about today represents a necessary investment in protecting our community.

Um, the grant that you'll be addressing is vital in implementing stronger flood protection measures, particularly as we see sea level rise, higher tides, and intense rain events.

The planning behind these projects prioritizes resiliency, reduce flooding, improved insurance rates.

We all want that, and stronger public access and safety.

And it also reaffirms our that our leadership is focused on the future and that these initiatives are essential to building a safer and more resilient shore acres in a stronger St.

Petersburg.

Our residents and businesses are counting on city leaders to provide safer conditions and to give them peace of mind.

And really keeping our community members safe is one of the core functions of government.

This truly is a commitment to them.

So I want to thank you for your investment in our neighborhoods for making progress on strategic stormwater and flooding initiatives.

I was really grateful and honored to be able to work last year in the legislature with Senator uh Nick DeSigley and securing a one million dollar appropriation and advocating for increased resiliency in our region.

And as always, you as city council members, our mayor, we're exceptional partners and helping to identify the most urgent needs for our community and ensuring that the voices of our residents guided the process from start to finish.

Um as a state legislator, so much of what I do depends on the people around me, and that's why I'm proud to have such committed partners at the local level.

Um, this project is a very important step forward.

I'm excited to continue strengthening our community and building a more resilient St.

Pete for our current and our future generations.

So thank you for the opportunity to address you, and I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season.

Thank you.

Okay.

Joe, we have somebody in Zoom.

Okay, thank you.

Uh Garrett Marple, I'm gonna bring you into the meeting space.

Uh please unmute yourself, state your name and address for the record, and you'll have three minutes to address city council.

Excellent.

Thank you so much.

Uh Garrett Marple, 4021 38th Avenue North.

Uh, I just wanted to say that I'm extremely happy to see the extension of the MLK North Protected Bike Lanes on the agenda today.

Uh, I work with an activism group for safe streets and transportation called Activate St.

Pete.

And I wanted to say on behalf of them, uh, just thank you to City Council and City staff for continuing to support bike and pet improvements around the city.

Uh, we are eternally grateful for this.

We've been pushing for this for over a year now, and I'm so happy to see it get this far.

And I wanted to just, you know, say like let's get this across the finish line and let's get more of these.

We need about you know 50 more of these all across the city.

Um, and this is a great, great first step.

So thank you to everyone involved, and let's keep going.

Let's do more.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right, council members.

We have a consent agenda.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Before we vote, Representative Cross, I just wanted to quickly thank you for being here.

Thank you for your continued partnership in the state legislature.

We I you know we love you.

And so uh just thank you for everything you're doing.

And council members, after we vote on consent agenda, um, we're gonna take a quick picture.

Councilmember Harding, uh, because this project is in his district, is gonna go down and take a picture with uh representative cross, and we're all gonna stand up here just real quickly.

Okay, we have a motion and second on the consent agenda.

Seeing there's 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, thank you.

Council members, if you'll join me in the center to take a quick picture.

Oh, would you just unhugs?

Yes, will you unhug so she can up there?

There we go.

Thank you, Mike.

We're on the clock.

I'll have a big check.

There we go.

Yeah, we're pretty good.

All good?

Yep.

All right, council members, one more.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Okay, we are gonna move in to 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 individuals wishing to speak.

I 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 form must be limited to issues related to the city as St.

Petersburg government.

If you're speaking to an item on the agenda, you may only speak once during the open form, or 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 the raise hand feature button in 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 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 use 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 the violations of the rules of the decorum, the chair is authorized to accept public comments by alternate means, including by email only.

Okay.

One Ron Diner and Mark Glover.

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

You'll have three minutes to address council.

Go ahead.

I'm Ron Diner and I live on Snell Isle.

Over the past week, we both received dozen.

Could you please give us your cross streets?

I'm sorry.

Could you please give us your cross streets?

Your address.

Your address.

I have to get my full address.

I'd like your at least your cross streets, please.

Um Brightwaters, and I can't tell you what the cross street is.

I just don't know what it is.

You don't know what the cross street is?

No.

Okay.

Okay.

Neighborhood.

All right.

Thank you.

Over the past week, we both received dozens of messages from residents about the gas plant.

I also pulled the subscribers to Home Runs Matter, and 70% said planning must come first.

People simply do not understand why the city is rushing into a proposal first process where developers design our future before the city and the community even create a plan, and it could cost us a billion dollars.

I want to read a letter we both received.

It reflects what many longtime residents are thinking.

These are the right writers' words, not mine.

I have lived in St.

Pete since 1959.

I love the city.

In that time, the city government has made some good decisions and some poor ones.

I've never complained until now.

I am very concerned about the that the mayor is leading the city into what may end up destroying the greatest opportunity the city will ever have to create a unique centerpiece.

For the record, I supported this mayor in his last campaign with my vote and a significant financial contribution.

So I have no personal animus toward him.

But I can't imagine any city that would not like to have 86 acres in its town center to improve life for its citizens.

Hopefully, we wouldn't even build a park without planning.

Yet instead of planning and presenting a plan to developers, we're asking developers to tell us what they think we need.

No business would ever operate this way, let alone a city.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

St.

Petersburg cannot afford to get it wrong.

Giving developers 30 or 90 days is not the right way to go.

What's hard to understand is the sudden change at this time.

We lost baseball in March, heard nothing about it until an unsolicited proposal arrived, and suddenly we opened this up for bids.

Baseball will be here for the next three years.

We have plenty of time to plan.

Let's hope that's not the reason.

The city needs to step back and take the time to get this right.

Council members, whether you agree with every sentiment in this letter or not, the public does not understand the rush, and when people don't understand the process, trust breaks down.

That's exactly why planning must come first.

I'm asking to do what you were elected to do.

Protect the long-term interests of the city.

This remote requires curveage.

There are two steps that will restore public trust and put St.

Pete on the right path.

First, make it clear publicly and now that you will not support any proposal that comes from proposals first process.

And two, insist publicly and now on a real planning process with national experts and community advisory council and make it clear there will be no developers until the plan and the framework are set.

You have the authority, the responsibility, and the public's trust.

Please use it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Mark Glover.

That podium will raise the little switch near your hip.

Yep.

I'm that short.

I didn't say it.

It wasn't me that time.

All right.

Good afternoon.

Happy holidays to everyone.

Thank you so much for uh having the opportunity to speak.

My name is Mark Glover, and uh I represent aligned strategies and partnerships.

We uh work with the city of Will you give us your address, please?

Address is uh 121 uh South Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801.

But we represent the housing authority for St.

Petersburg.

And we work with them currently.

Okay, thank you.

Yep.

Um I've come to uh to this council um, you know, about a year ago almost to date.

And uh at that time I shared with you all some um some options in terms of being able to make sure that this city received the appropriate uh review for the um private insurance recovery uh options that are still available, but that window is closing rapidly.

Um we did uh have a conversation with your risk manager uh Blaze uh Mazzo uh to offer assistance in evaluating the city's uh private insurance recovery.

I followed up again most recently uh about and and reviewed the current documents that were that were publicly available.

And I'm here today because what is publicly available appears that the city has received approximately $13.93 million dollars in insurance proceeds for all the damages that our city owned and property.

And uh, while I recognize that this city has also received uh received FEMA and a community development block grant uh disaster recovery funds, FEMA basically, uh, those programs come with strict restrictions, and uh they cannot replace or substitute the comprehensive recovery under the private insurance policies.

When we compare the publicly reported damages across the city uh facilities to the insurance proceeds received, there appears to be a large gap.

Um my professional experience, you know, the gaps of this size usually indicate supplemental claims may still be uh an opportunity for uh for out uh for outstanding uh additional documentation to be required uh that will be required uh to secure the full value of the losses.

Uh this brings me to the time sensitive concern under Florida statute uh six uh 627.7013, any supplemental insurance claims, meaning updated expert reports, comprehensive damage uh documentation, revised valuations, or additional evidence of loss must be submitted within an 18-month uh uh 18-month date of the loss, which would take us to about April 9th, 2026.

Uh, this deadline is critical after it expires, the ability to seek additional insurance proceeds narrows substantially.

Uh, my purpose today is to simply ask that um that that uh the city of St.

Pete does not leave money on the table.

Um, I see that you're basically looking at grant options in the and the uh the the state rep is here to support that and we support that as well.

Um but we would like an opportunity to partner with you to at least take a solid look at what is available for the city of uh St.

Petersburg uh as a result of the hurricane uh challenges that you all received last year.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Chad, no other speakers.

Okay, thank you.

We'll go ahead and close the open forum, and we're gonna move into awards and presentations.

We're gonna start with D1, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Zeta Oopsalon.

I said that right, didn't I?

Omega Charter Chapter Day proclamation given by Councilmember Fig Sanders.

It's hilarious.

I got it right, I meant sure.

Oopsilon.

I'd say it over and over again too.

So that was a wonderful attempt, yeah.

Oh, say with me, Alpha Kappa, Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Zeta Oopsilon Omega.

Hi, y'all doing you know I have to give you a hard time your last council meeting.

You you know I have to give you y'all, this is his last council meeting.

So with that being said, um, I have to give my chair a hard time because this is his last council meeting, and he's done a phenomenal job.

So I before I get started, y'all please.

So thank you for that.

It brings me great honor to stand here and read the proclamation for our mayor in regards to a service organization that I have been a member of for 36 years, and I want to salute the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Sheila Jackson Lee, Felicia Rashad, Maya Angelou, Tony Morrison, Kamala Harris, Coretta Scott King, May Jemison, Rosa Parks, are some of our notable members of the sorority.

Now they just messed up my whole entry.

Y'all didn't hear me call them, did you?

But what I want to do is I want to um Jenny, come quote, please.

Now, this is our president, this Janae Skipper.

So we have to keep camera ready polls.

Okay.

I can do that.

Yeah.

So I'm going to read um this proclamation in regards to the ladies of uh aka because it has been an honor for me to be a part of the sorority because we really do, and we are the oldest Greek sorority of African American college educated women, and we just cannot be more proud to accept this proclamation from the mayor.

So the proclamation reads, whereas in 1908, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated was founded for and by college-educated African American women at Howard University to serve others through the arts, education, health, family, and scholarship.

And whereas for night 117 years and with 390,000 members and 100 uh 1105 chapters, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated blazes neutral with the three theme soaring to greater heights of service and sisterhood, and maintains a progressive interest in serving all mankind through a nucleus of committed and service-minded women in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

And whereas our local chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Zeta Oopsilon Omega chapter was chartered on December 15th, 1955, and maintains an ongoing commitment to our city through youth development, mentoring, education through scholarships, service projects, and charitable donations to community organizations.

And whereas the members of the Zeto Upsilon Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated have embodied America's premier Greek letter organization for African American women for 70 years in our great city of St.

Petersburg, Florida.

And whereas the city of St.

Petersburg takes great pride in recognizing the Zeto Oopsilon Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Soroid Incorporated efforts to make a lasting impact in lives of women, children, and families in our community.

Now, therefore, I Councilmember Deborah Fix Sanders, on behalf of our mayor, Kenneth T.

Welch, do hereby proclaim Monday, December 15th, 2025, as Alpha Cap Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Zeta Upsilan Omega Chapter Day.

Yay.

So I'm going to ask our president.

How many of us to come and say a few words?

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Fig Sanders.

In the absence of our mayor, Mayor Kenneth T.

Welch and to the City Council members, the Zeta Upsilana Omega chapter here in St.

Petersburg would like to thank you for this special recognition.

As indicated, we were founded on the campus of Howard University.

And 70 years ago, on December 15th, 1955, the Zeta Upsala Mega Chapter began serving the citizens of St.

Petersburg by impacting our community through service and sisterhood.

And today we continue the legacy of our 15 charter members.

In 1998, we established our Youth Development Foundation of Pinellas County Incorporated.

And to date, we are happy to announce that we have graduated more than 1,000 high school seniors from our program and honored to say our donations have far exceeded a half a million dollars to this community through our charitable donations, service projects, and educational scholarships to date, much of which could not be done without the support of the city of St.

Petersburg.

And I'd like to add, we've been providing essential services before the term ever became popular.

We will culminate this year's charter events with the celebration reflecting 70 years of service and sisterhood on Sunday, December the 14th at the University's South of South Florida Activity Center, which we are very proud.

Again, to our great mayor and the city council members, it is an honor to accept this distinguished recognition.

Thank you for your support.

Okay.

What are our codes?

Oh.

Okay, very good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Don't go anywhere up.

Councilmember Givens.

Thank you so much.

I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize these pretty ladies in pink and green.

To my divine nine sisters, uh, you know, I thank you so much for your service uh to not just the St.

Petersburg community for 70 years, uh, but globally, 117 years since 1908.

Um, I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize the legacy of your trailblazing charter members, uh, great women like Ruby Weisinger, uh, Lena Brown, I see the senator here, his mother, Vivian Roussan.

You know, these were women who, you know, cared enough about their community to establish an organization that long after college, that's the beauty of the NPHC.

Long after college, our service to our community has continued.

And so I thank you all so much for blazing trails that future generations have followed, my sisters and aka, my aunts.

So again, I see it all around me.

I see you all doing the great work that you're doing, and I just want to say that we commend you and keep on keeping on.

You all are supreme in service.

So, congratulations.

Thank you for that.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Congratulations, Councilmember Fix Sanders, thank you for bringing that forward on behalf of the mayor.

Okay, we're gonna go to E, or excuse me, D2 for the hundredth anniversary of the St.

Pete Theater, and uh, we've got Vice Chair Hanowitz bringing us this proclamation.

Thank you, Chair, so much.

And for those that are here for the St.

Petersburg City Theater, can you come and join me over here, please?

Celeste.

So I'm honored to present this proclamation on behalf of the mayor, who unfortunately could not be here with us today to an institution who has been in the city for a hundred years and is an integral part of our community.

And I'm gonna be sharing a little bit of their history when I read the proclamation.

Thank you.

It turned out that one of one of their members is also my neighbor, I just found out today, which is great.

Um, whereas there has always been something special about the city of St.

Petersburg among many things, it's a place where art and culture come alive, giving birth to various expressions of performing arts and theater.

And whereas St.

Petersburg City Theater began in 1925 with the formation of the Sunshine Players, sponsored by the women's club as a play reading group, offering opportunities to perform and encouraging freedom of expression by staging works by local writers.

And whereas incorporated as a nonprofit in 1937, the city of St.

Petersburg gave the theater exclusive use of the name St.

Petersburg Leader Little Theater as a community joined the Little Theater Movement of the 1930s.

And whereas after decades performing downtown in the old Griss Mill and Mirror Lake Junior High, the theater raised enough funds through the sale of the venture bonds to members in the community to purchase 3.2 acres of land and build the current theater building at 4025 31st Street South, dedicated and open to the community on September 21st, 1958.

And whereas for a hundred years, this community theater, currently known as St.

Petersburg City Theater, has been a definite part of the civic and social life of our community that provides an opportunity for self-expression, growth, and goodwill through the arts of the theater, welcoming without barrier, all members and ages of the community.

Now, therefore, I, Vice Chair Lissette Hanowitz, on behalf of Kenneth T.

Welch, mayor of the city of St.

Petersburg, do hereby recognize the hundredth anniversary of the St.

Petersburg City Theater throughout this city and encourage St.

Petersburg residents to commend and celebrate the members, volunteers, and supporters of our community theater.

Thank you all.

Thank you, City Council members, for this incredible recognition.

There are certain milestones when one starts thinking about legacy, but the thing is the legacy can start with nothing more than a single spark.

A glimmer of inspiration and a mission fueled by the party, uh, the power of a group of passionate people working together towards a common vision.

In 1925, a group of only 20 St.

Pete citizens came together for a community theater club called the Sunshine Players.

And the Little Theater Movement grew in 1933 when we became the St.

Petersburg Little Theater, and again later for St.

Petersburg City Theater.

A legacy is built by adapting to the changing world around it.

Through the years, there have been ups and downs, trials and tribulations, war, financial crises, and just last year, a hurricane literally ripping the roof off over our heads.

But through it all, we've persevered.

A legacy is sustained by cherishing the human beings at the heart of what we do.

For us, a production is just the art.

It's a vessel and an incredibly compelling one, but just a vehicle.

It's the people inside, whether they are nine or ninety years old.

We are a theater wholly dedicated to the people inside, being a gathering place by the community and for the community.

A second home for some, a chosen family for others, a place to find meaning or purpose where all are welcome.

I found St.

Pete City Theater when I was 13 years old, stayed shy, uh, and it propelled me on a trajectory that led to the rest of my life's vocation.

We invest in the people at SPCT, and that's why we're here and why we'll continue to do uh what we do and fight for the odds to keep our doors open.

Because a legacy looks around to identify the small decisions it can make today that will impact our tomorrow's because our choices today affect the future we leave behind and pass on to the next generation.

Those 20 citizens in 1925 could barely imagine our little theater would still be here today to accept this proclamation.

But they and all of the countless members that served this community over the last 100 years left an inheritance for thousands of citizens of St.

Petersburg, including myself.

On behalf of all of us at St.

Petersburg City Theater, past, present, and future.

Thank you.

You can come up here.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Gibbons.

Thank you so much, Chair.

I just want to congratulate uh each and every one of you.

Um, you know, like you, I too was a benefactor of the St.

Pete Theater.

Uh, you know, Chair makes this joke about some people being theater kids.

I was one of those theater kids.

I was never athletically inclined.

Uh, but I was a lover of the arts.

And and I knew my my forte and I stayed there, okay.

Um, but I think about that legacy.

Those 20 citizens a hundred years ago, they did not know the legacy that they were imparting on future generations.

And so I thank God for being a part of that legacy.

And a lot of people don't know this, y'all.

Hollywood actress Angela Bassett got her start on that stage 50 years ago.

So I think we got some future Oscar winners that are coming up on that stage right now.

So keep doing what you're doing.

Congrats.

Well, uh, first of all, thank you for everything you do in the community.

Uh I I joke about it because I was one too.

Uh and fun fact, I've known this family right here since Stephanie was maybe born.

Uh and uh my eighth grade talent show, I was on stage with her brother singing Cats in the Cradle.

And so uh I thank you for everything you do.

Thank you for the thank you for the continued investment of time, talent, treasure into the St.

Pete Little Theater.

I've seen I don't know, dozens of shows there.

It's one of my favorite places.

And uh, like I said, downstairs, just I'm I'm so thankful for the investment in the whole spectrum of ages of of our community for a place to go and feel like home and be and become who you are and be who you are.

It's just an amazing, it's an amazing, amazing feeling.

Just being a part of it, right?

It doesn't even have to be.

There's lots of people that aren't on the stage that help that are just that they're they're doing their thing too.

And so um just so thankful and very, very happy to celebrate.

So congratulations.

Okay, council members, we're gonna move into new ordinances, and we are gonna move into E2.

Uh, could you please read the title?

In ordinance of the city at St.

Petersburg, Florida, amending City Code, Chapter 16, land development regulations to revise the city's planning procedures to conform with the requirements of Florida Statute Chapter 17 as amended by Florida State Bill, Senate Bill 784 2025, amending provisions related to variance authority, preliminary plat application, review and appeal procedures, and final plat application, review and appeals appeals procedures, amending the discussion the decisions and appeals table to reflect changes to review and approval authority in preliminary and final plat review, providing for several ability and providing for an effective date.

We do not have any cards, and the public hearing for this item is January the 8th.

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.

All right, we're gonna move into our report items.

We're gonna go to F1, a presentation on uh teen art, sports, and cultural opportunities, our TASCO update.

And this was requested by Vice Chair Hanowitz, so I'm gonna turn it over to her before we go to Mike Jeffries.

Thank you, Chair.

Um, I thought it would be a good time to give an update on what Tasco Teen uh programs do for our city and for our youth.

It's been a very long time, and I know I know a lot of the work that they do throughout the city.

I've been fortunate enough to have their offices.

They are at Crescent Lake uh Park uh in my district, and it is amazing the work that they do with what they have.

So I'm gonna turn it over to their fearless leader uh to share with us all the great and exciting things that are happening at Pasco Keen programs.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for that intro and um thank you for the time to go over TASCO.

I think it's one of those things that um has been around for so long that sometimes we forget that um you know everybody in the community may not be fully aware of what we have going on.

I will start off with a funny story.

Um there was a council member who sat on the dais who um during one of our committee meetings scolded me and said, I really think the parks and rec department should be more like TASCO.

And I had to tell that council member that's uh good news.

Uh TASCO is just a division in the parks and rec department.

So um they had done such a good job of branding themselves that uh this council member really thought that it was a nonprofit or an external organization.

So I still joke about that.

I think that was a that was sort of a funny moment in TASCO history.

Uh TASCO stands for teen art, sports, cultural opportunities.

We learned early on that um every child connects differently with the community that they live in.

Uh TASCO serves middle and high school youth citywide with a focus on leadership, economic growth, and technology enrichment, and safe recreation.

Our core principles uh really boil down to four.

We've got inspiring creativity, teamwork, and leadership, building essential life and workforce skills, strengthening community connections through service and civic engagement, and providing safe structured spaces during OST out of school time.

One of the things that we're most proud of with TASCO is that it really uh ensures equitable access for every child in our community because it's free.

Um the the child care, we we decided many years ago that the care that we provide through TASCO through our grants uh that we get through the juvenile welfare board, fantastic partners that we have, um, that we would not um charge any child, um, middle school child, high school child to participate in uh the TASCO child care.

And I think that's important as we all know that really is a a transitional time in a teen's life, and we did not want a family member to um not want to or not be able to invest in that that child care.

Rick's moving my slides to keep me moving after the YFS uh presentation, he wants to keep me going.

So really has two different channels.

Uh the first channel that we'll talk about is what we call citywide Tasco, um, and that really is the division that focuses on technology programming, special events, teen sports.

Um we really look to unite teens from across the city in all areas, including youth uh leadership, econom um academic motivation, and positive uh peer socialization, which I think is key.

We've got the Center for Teen Technology, that's the facility that Councilmember Hanowitz has right there in her uh park at Crescent Lake.

And uh it's funny because the community wasn't a hundred percent in favor of that facility being there.

Uh we met with them, we uh really had to um convince them that we would be good neighbors, and I think that uh we we've kept those promises, and now I think we would um have a real challenge if we tried to move uh the the Center for Teen Technology out of uh Crescent Lake.

So definitely a great partnership there as well.

The uh Center for Teen Technology uh we have programs that uh include a multiple uh different aspects.

We've got fall, spring digital media and engineering classes, we've got robotics, we've got coding, 3D printing, video production, we've got something called level up game nights to support social development.

We have a 10-week summer tech camp focused on STEAM and digital media.

Basically, the premise for the Teen Technology Center is to uh really focus on future-ready workforce skills and to expose teens to emerging technologies.

One of the things that we decided early on when we were working with uh this division of TASCO, we wanted the children that the teens that were in this program to be using state-of-the-art computers and technology and software.

We wanted somebody to be able to be hired directly out of our program and be using computers and and software that the industry was using.

So many times I think we're we're aware of um programs, municipal programs, nonprofit programs that get hand-me-down computers, old software, and that really doesn't equate to a workforce development.

And with council's support and the mayor's support, we were able to really invest in this program so that we have state of the art um technology.

All right, next we have our uh TASCO uh citywide.

Actually, I'm off, I'm on the wrong page.

Uh we've got our citywide events.

So, again, this is uh some of the most popular youth teen events that we have in the city.

I have a listing here, I won't go through all of them, I'll just touch on some of the bigger ones.

Obviously, we've got uh dances, we've got the field of screams, which are just fantastic.

We've got summer extreme events, mud wars, game extravaganzas, uh, we've got the Fort DeSoto Beach Bash, which I like to share with people is important because we've got some children, some teens in our our programs that if they were not in Tasco, they would never experience uh the beach.

They would never go out to Fort DeSoto.

And so we're able to take them in a safe manner, uh, let them enjoy that natural resource that we have and really experience something that they may not have an opportunity to experience.

We also do cultural programming, which include our annual Black History event and our Hispanic heritage celebrations that we have.

So uh lots going on in that area.

Uh next, we have our TASCO teen sports leagues, and again, we realize that you know there are some kids that will connect with us through sports, and we find that we have a lot of high schoolers that uh connect here.

If they're not playing on the teams at their high school, then we are able to offer them uh programs uh through the sports leagues.

During the fall, we have dodgeball, we've got flag football during the fall and winter.

During the winter and spring, we do volleyball, and then we have summer basketball as well.

These leagues really support physical wellness, teamwork, and all that fits into the methodology, maintaining consistent team programs, attendance and engagement.

And we'll talk more about the methodology when we get to the juvenile welfare board slide.

The next channel of TASCO that we have is center-based.

And again, this is really I can boil it down very simply.

This is a trusted adult at every one of our rec centers.

Every one of our rec centers has a teen center that teens can come up, they can they can hang out, they are there for out-of-school time.

We serve over 1,400 teens in FY25.

We have these programs at 11 of our rec centers.

These programs are designed around the needs of each community.

So the teen supervisor we have there typically comes from the community in which they're serving.

So they're able to connect.

Who worked with Pola, who is our teen supervisor at Childs Park, and to see that kind of go full cycle really is quite amazing.

But I think that's the important part that we have the right supervisor, the right trusted adult.

Because let's face it, middle schoolers and high schoolers go through some transitional scary things.

And if you if you feel like you can't talk to your parents because they're not cool and we've all been there, then we've got somebody at the rec center that you can confide in and talk to and give uh you know get good advice from.

All right, we've got um programs that are designed around the support systems for teens at our at-risk households, and um otherwise without these programs they would be unsupervised at home, and that's one of the things that we we try to avoid.

On this slide, we have our fiscal overview and growth.

Um I cannot say enough about the support that we get from the juvenile welfare board.

While they don't fund all of the TASCO program, they certainly uh provide the funding for this child care element.

Um they provide us uh just over 3.7 million dollars uh to run these programs for both the uh center based and the citywide programs that we just discussed.

Again, we talked about the methodology.

The methodology is important, and I know each of you will really connect with this.

We have to annually update our methodology with the juvenile welfare board.

We have to tell them about our deliverables.

We have to tell them what we are going to accomplish with the funding they provide.

At the youth and family services committee, I provided you all a report card for FY23 and FY24.

Um I think you can see from that report card that we're we're killing it as far as the deliverables.

Uh the juvenile welfare board has consistently reached out and told us that you know our audits, we have had 100% financial accuracy in all of our audits and our our file reviews.

And I can tell you that it's not a that that's a heavy lift.

We have staff that work very hard.

When you're talking about uh $3.7 million, there are a lot of T's to cross and a lot of I's to dot, and the staff does a fantastic job of that.

And the juvenile welfare board constantly praises us with our efficiencies.

We also have very minimal laps of funds, um, meaning that we're really able to kind of navigate the grant and make sure that we're giving the kids exactly what uh what they need.

All right, next we've got uh some examples of our OST out of school uh time.

We offer before school, after school, summer.

We also offer uh care during uh the school out days.

Some of the core components that we're really proud of would be our homework assistance, tutoring, academic goal tracking.

We also offer sports, recreation, and enrichment.

One of the things that uh we just started, and I mentioned at YYFS is the Friday night flex, which is super exciting.

That's part of this program as well.

We're opening several rec centers that are geographically spread out throughout the city.

This is a year-round program.

We're opening those uh centers on a Friday night and just kind of allowing free recreational pickup in the basketball on the basketball courts, volleyball, whatever the kids want to do, we've got something to keep uh to keep occupied and to avoid idle hands.

Um we also do a ton of community service uh projects.

Uh we offer technology access to try to divide try to conquer the digital divide.

Uh we work on digital skill development.

We another great partnership we have with the Pineals County School Systems.

Uh, they help us and provide us buses.

They charge us direct costs for those.

We also use city vans, which allow us to move the teens around so they can experience more of our city.

The TASCO program offer a safe, supportive, and structured environment.

As most of us know, that's absolutely critical in the world that we live today.

This is a very exciting program.

I think most of you know that we we subscribe to a philosophy called disguised learning.

So that again, we know that every child learns a little differently.

Some learn in a formal setting, some learn better in a rec center.

And so what we do is we hire education specialists and behavior specialists to help us navigate this.

If you're at, and I'll use Walter Fuller as an example.

If you're a teen who's going to Azalea, and then you go to the TASCO program at Walter Fuller, chances are highly likely that we've hired the teacher that assigned you that project, and they're going to be at the rec center tutoring you on that on that project that they assigned.

One of the things that we really hope and desire for our teens that they do have an unfair advantage.

We want to make sure that the teachers that are assigning the projects, the quizzes, the tests, they're right there after hours with the kids and kind of poking saying, hey, you may want to study this a little harder, or this one.

This might be something you want to know about.

So that has been really, really successful and really helpful.

I can't tell you the number of calls that we've had that have come in from parents that have said, we don't know what you're doing, but you've changed the trajectory of my child.

The grades are improved, and we're super excited.

We also have behavior specialists, and you probably know one of our behavior specialists, uh former councilmember Steve Cornell.

Uh he works with us and helps us when we have a situation where we have a child who is navigating scary waters or experiencing something they've not experienced before.

We have that behavior specialist that can come in and really kind of help guide.

So we've got two of those, and they're just absolutely fantastic.

Um in our uh overlay program for economic enrichment.

We focus on STEAM, job skill development, uh leadership teamwork, financial wellness.

We work with credit unions, we work with you name it.

We'll partner with anyone to kind of connect those dots.

Next, we have community safety and service.

Um, and this one is something that we're excited about.

So we work with the juvenile welfare board and we provide um uh swim lessons for uh some of the children in our program.

All in all, you guys have heard this number before.

We served um just over 4,500 swim lessons uh last fiscal year, which we're super proud of.

Um, and the juvenile welfare board has funded a handful of those to kind of keep that moving in the right direction.

Um last year we had over 130 community service um activities that the teens participated in.

We have partnerships with Healthy St.

Pete, More to Life, Credit Unions, St.

Petersburg College, our fantastic partners uh in PD and FIRE, and many, many local uh nonprofits.

Um again, I think when we talk about police, we talk about fire.

If we can have a relationship with our teens before an emergency happens, before an interaction happens, that badge is less scary, and there's a trust there, and we really find that that kind of helps bridge some of the gaps that uh may exist.

Next, I want to talk a little bit about teen councils in youth employment.

Um we have teen councils at each and every one of our rec centers.

Um each of the rec centers uh gets the kids who are really kind of interested in in civics, if you will.

Um, from that group, we find uh a handful, two or three from each center, and those individuals become part of the mayor's youth congress, um, which actively uh engages the teen council members and it gives them a chance to see how city government works.

Um they take on community leadership roles, provide the mayor with youth-driven input on issues affecting young people, they help us with budget input.

Um, they're really exciting.

It's it's pretty neat to talk to middle schoolers and high schoolers and ask them what direction they think the city should go.

We've um in the past we've asked them about the design for the peer, we've asked them about the raise, and it's really interesting to get some of their uh some of their input.

Um we also uh as far as youth employment, and again, this is through the juvenile welfare board as well.

We have 27 paid um rec attendants.

These are um helpers to some of our youth development workers.

These are from ages 15 to 19.

We want to make sure you're in high school if you're in this program.

What we find, and I'm reminded each year council uh does a management study uh several years back.

There was a management study on TASCO, and um the firm that came in and and went through all of our records and talked to all of our participants, family members.

Um, they they really they summarized it by saying TASCO has the secret sauce.

And I'll never forget that as long as I live because it made me laugh, but I really think it's true.

We have folks, we have teens that are in our program.

They start out and they go into our TASCO program, they get into this um uh rec attendant program, they then get hired full-time, they then become career employees, and we've got many of those folks that are working with us now.

Um again, TASCO has something for everyone.

Um, I would be remiss if I didn't thank this group for all of your support.

Each and every one of you has been tremendously uh supportive of TASCO, and um each and every one of you knows that it is a division of the Parks and Rec department, so I don't have to educate you on that.

Um, but again, when we come with to you with needs or even requests to have you participate in programs or events, you guys are all on board.

Um we have a hundred percent participation from this group and just cannot thank you all enough.

So happy to entertain any questions.

I would like to introduce a couple people to my right.

We have Rick Kraft, who's the assistant director um over the rec side of the house.

And then um standing next to me here, we've got Lynn Gordon, who is our uh manager over the um citywide Tasco Components, so leagues, field of screams, all those good stuff, and then also to my right, give her a round of applause.

And then also to my right, we have Rob Lovelace, who is the um manager overall rec centers, and so he oversees the uh center-based Tasco uh components.

So happy to entertain any questions you might have.

Thank you.

All right, we'll go to Vice Chair Hanowitz.

Thank you.

And Mike, of course, thank you for a fantastic presentation as always very thorough.

Uh clearly you and Rick and your team do have the secret sauce and have figured it out.

Um, and by the way, the last photo in that slide, if you can go back to to that real quickly.

Sorry about that.

Too quick.

That group right there, those people every day, day in and day out, they're fantastic.

I've seen them at work in the office, and I will tell you the welcoming environment that you feel in there, and like you said, teens can be a challenge.

Uh I've raised one.

I have one uh turning 11 and entering that era, and even for parents now, it's even more challenging because you have phones and you have all these other things that you have to deal with, and your group has found ways to get them off the phone and do other things, and that is what we need in society so we can have productive young youth in our uh community.

And so the last time I went, I will say that they have um they had they do the uh 3D printer, and it was just amazing the work that they were doing with the 3D printer and like the widgets and all these different things, and uh this is this is our city that is providing this, and I thought it was just fantastic.

So I wanted to make sure that we shared that with the community.

I also want to give a shout out to Juvenile Welfare Board uh for their support for all of you that don't know.

I mean, if you pay taxes in the city of St.

Petersburg or in Pinellas, your part of that goes to the juvenile welfare board.

It's a line item on your property tax bill, and we all pay for that, and it's almost about a mill, and some of that money is coming back to us through like the team programs, and without that, it would be very difficult not to be able to support a lot of these programs.

We would not be able to do this without the juvenile welfare board or the Pinealis County School System.

Our our partnership with those two groups, we partner with a lot of people, but those two are outstanding partners that really believe in what we stand for and really support us.

So you're 100% right.

25 years with JWB.

That's a that's amazing.

And you know, the other day I was talking, I I'm a mentor and to a young teen girl.

I've been her um mentor since she was in elementary school, and I followed her through the years.

And you know, it's like what is it that teens like what are the activities that they do nowadays, right?

What is it that keeps them busy?

And this is a type of stuff that they should be doing out there and getting out after phones and after tablets and doing that type of activity.

And I want to I love to see more of that, so I thank you for sharing that, and you always have my support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Floyd, thank you.

Uh, I really just put myself on here to say thank you for the presentation.

You we come across Tasco in a million different ways, like as council members, and to see it all laid out like this was I I feel very beneficial for myself and I'm sure others.

So I really appreciate it.

Uh and after I put myself on here, I got a note from uh my aide, Courtney, who uh wanted to say she was a TASCO kid and that it was a great experience, and she wants to me to praise the TASCO to City Hall Pipeline.

So I appreciate the work, Ella.

She actually she'll catch me off guard every once in a while.

I was at Shore Acres when Courtney was in elementary school, and she'll still call me Coach Mike every once in a while.

And it's like, whoa, that's a that's a blast for the past.

So yes.

That's great.

Yeah, no, I really enjoyed it.

Um, you know, I grew up in a different city in Florida, and I spent a lot of time at uh the rec centers and doing youth sports and whatnot.

It's great to be able to uh get here and support that as well.

So appreciate it.

Thank you.

Councilmember Harding.

Thank you, Chair.

Mike, thank you very much.

I think it's first important to recognize this is not a part of every parks and rec system.

This is uh this is not only something unique, but uh, but we have taken it to uh you and your team have taken it to a whole different level.

And uh and and it's it's important for everyone listening to know that you're not following a playbook uh of how we run counties and and cities.

Um we're we are truly committed to doing things that are way above and beyond, and that is a big deal.

To add to that big deal, I've worked with uh with JWB.

Um to work with them for one year is not hard.

To get them to work with you for a second year is incredibly hard.

Um that they they are very serious uh about their standards and about crossing T's and datting I's and uh and I I have seen plenty of organizations that haven't been able to carry the torch with them, but for us to to somehow uh garner their attention where 25 years is uh is is pretty incredible.

So I I uh I cannot say enough about you and your team.

Do you want to quickly uh brag on on the bigger department for your winnings last night?

Oh gosh, I I didn't know you were gonna put me on the spot.

Um we're we're happy to announce that uh St.

Pete Parks and Rec uh won a Good Burger Award last night.

Woo!

Yes.

Huge huge surprise, huge honor.

Um the category is sustaining St.

Petersburg.

So we're very appreciative.

And and again, like you said, it's the entire team.

Um every staff member we have, they um really enjoy giving back to this community.

We work so others can play.

And it starts in parks.

I would be remiss if I didn't know.

Right.

Thank you.

I got you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Councilmember Gibbons.

Chair, and congratulations again to you, Mike, and the entire team.

Uh, you started off with something that was very poignant.

You said every child connects with their community differently.

Um, and I love the fact that TASCO is all inclusive.

Um I too, Councilmember Floyd was a TASCO kid.

Um, I can remember Fearless Fridays at Roberts Rec Center.

So, yes, thank you so much for the great memories of my childhood.

Um, but one of the things that I'm thinking about, and I'm I'm a little jealous, Councilmember Hannah, is this um Center for Teen Technology?

Uh I would love to know how we can replicate that, Mike, at other centers throughout St.

Pete, whether it be West St.

Pete or South St.

Pete.

So good news.

Um part of uh Mayor Welch's uh design for Enoch is just that uh is to have a teen technology center uh baked into the Enoch Davis uh project uh just for exactly what you you said.

We want to uh we want to share the love and we want to make sure that we have those resources available across our city.

Exciting.

And I went on a tour recently of the it's currently under renovation, the Jordan Park Gym.

Um they are working on that.

It's a partnership with St.

Pete College.

Can you speak a little bit to any partnerships that we may have with some of those institutions of higher learning that we have here in St.

Pete because I know Dr.

Williams has piloted a number of certifications that are really industry leading, and I think the early exposure to our students here in Pinellas County schools would be beneficial to them.

So I'm just wondering, is there an opportunity for our after school care programs to really work with this new gym that they have?

Because to me, steam is their goal.

Yeah, absolutely.

So there's um definitely new opportunities, but I'll talk about what we've done in the past as well.

So we've partnered with USF with St.

Pete College.

Um we also and again, as Rick and I put this together and and Lynn Gordon and her team put this presentation together, it's very difficult to cover everything that we do in a short period of time.

Um but one of the things that we really do that the kids really love and has really made a big difference are our college visits.

And so we will take kids um throughout the year on field trips to FAMU, UF, you you name it, we'll take them to different colleges.

And sometimes it's the first time that uh these children or anybody in their family really has ever stepped foot on a college or university property.

And so we're able to kind of have them meet with counselors, meet with um you know peer uh teams at some of the universities and colleges, and it really creates a fire and it creates an interest that may not have been there.

Um we like I said, we will partner with anyone, um, especially during the summer.

We have overlay programs where we have speakers that come from St.

Pete College, from USF, to really kind of talk to our juniors, um, our seniors, some of the the kids who are graduating, and just say, hey, what are your desires?

Where are your pathways?

I do want to say publicly that I don't think college is the only option for our youth.

And so we also have you know, the Pinellas uh technical school will come out and share some opportunities.

And like I shared with you earlier, we have staff that have come up through our programs that are now working um full time and have a career with a pension, healthcare, and parks and rec.

Frequently they get stolen to other departments.

That's why we say it starts in parks, but exactly.

We have uh Councilmember Harding started with us, uh Tom, Rob, I mean the list goes on and on.

So it's it's it's one of those things where um we really do look for those opportunities to connect, and like you said, um, we will not turn down a good partnership.

We'll uh we'll work with anybody.

Thank you, Mike.

And and you kind of segued into something that I wanted to bring up next, which is employment opportunities.

I love the fact that Tasco is doing that, providing pathways to career opportunities.

You said it best, not everybody's gonna go to college, but everybody deserves a career that pulls them out of poverty.

And and I really would like to hone in specifically on employment opportunities for teens.

Um have we considered a possible peer-to-peer approach where we could pay these teens who are working for TASCO or participants in Tasco to get out there and to be peer coaches for their other peers who aren't already involved in these civic organizations or productive organizations like Tasco.

That's really what we have going on now with the rec attendance.

So during the out of school times, the days that that are um the school is not in session, we have them come in, we pay them, and then we we specifically work on um you know work pay workforce education, and so we have them work together.

We have them do um peer-to-peer um, you know, skits and that sort of thing.

I remember when Susie Ah uh did a presentation on how not to dress to a job interview, you know.

We we do things like that um on the out-of-school time scenarios.

Um at the YFS um presentation, uh, I gave you all a number.

I don't have that with me in front of me right now, but um uh the that a large number of the employees that we hire are in this age group.

Um so, like I said, for the rec attendants, we hire them at 15.

While we only have 27 of those uh positions, uh those fill up very quickly.

But when you are when you've graduated high school and you're over 18, you're able to work in our um our rec centers as youth development worker.

Uh and those, you know, we've got I think we two over 200 employees.

260.

Two we we employ 260 uh employees that are under the age of 24, so from 15 to 24.

Um that can be lifeguards, um WSI.

Uh the list is long.

So, yes, we are probably one of the larger employers of this age group.

We also work uh very closely with the bowlies program, and we hire a lot of those individuals as well.

Again, not only giving them a job, but giving them that workforce development, that training so they can then be on the right path and the right trajectory.

And the last thing I want to finish with is just a celebration.

Um, you had a really innovative uh forward-thinking approach through your partnership with Pinellas County Schools by hiring a classroom teacher, certified classroom teachers to come in to tutor and provide homework assistance to our kids in our after-school care program.

And that really has moved the needle forward in the right direction.

So I thank you so much again for being forward-thinking and doing all we can to really provide that foundational support for our students who need it best.

So thank you so much for all of your hard work, Mike, and thank you to the team.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Not none of this works without council support.

And again, even when we brought the joint use agreement together uh forward, you guys were all on board with that.

And and um it's it's very exciting to bring new ideas because I know we'll be we'll be supported.

Thank you.

Councilmember Fig Sanders.

Thank you.

Um, I just want to say thank you.

Trust me, mine is gonna be real short.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you.

And for all that you do, even before I was at elected, we can pick up the phone, and Tasco really has always been phenomenal.

But you I have to always remember it starts from the top because you surrounded yourself with awesome people.

You are open to innovative ideas, but more importantly, I salute you for what you do for our children.

Instead of chastising, you celebrate.

Instead of tormenting, you teach.

You have connected with the youth of our city.

A lot of areas, a lot of folk will not go, but you all have connected with our our teens, our children of all ages.

So for that, you know, I want to say thank you because it's you know, they say it starts in parks and rec.

But with that, I'm gonna say, but it also ends with success, and we thank you for that.

Thanks, Mike.

Thank you, Rick.

We have we have an amazing team.

I can't say enough about them.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Well, I was gonna bring up Fearless Fridays.

Uh Councilmember Givens stole my name drop.

Uh, but I just, you know, I say it all the time.

Listen, I grew up with parks and rec.

Like I am, I am not where I am today without it, and that includes the fearless Fridays, the gym opportunities, the rec sports, the just being able to be on a space.

I mean, just like what we were talking about with St.

Pete Theater early, like you you you find safety in your space that you feel comfortable in, right?

And so I I was lucky enough to find two, and I I wouldn't be here without either of them.

And the people are our employees are the best on the face of the planet.

I know we all agree on that.

I also just because I was thinking about it, and frankly, um Stephanie's dad who was here from St.

Pete Little St.

Pete City Theater, he was my 10-year-old baseball coach.

And so it's not just the employees, it's the volunteers that have to happen too, right?

It's the it's it's the parents and the family members and the friends that give you the ride and are sitting at practice and doing all those things.

It's it's such a community effort.

It's it is amazing to see what happens at our at our uh at our rec centers on our parks.

It's absolutely incredible.

And so when we get an update like this, you just go, and it this is just one small part of it, right?

It's just a piece of the pie.

And so I'm just always so amazed about just the breadth of what's going on.

And frankly, although it's disappointing that you have you hear a story about like Tasco needs to be more like Parks and Rec, it's also not that surprising because the the department does so damn much.

And so it's just incredible.

And so I I just again I I everybody has said thank you, but I I'm just so proud of what is happening throughout the city, east west, east, west, north, south, spread out at all of these different places, different opportunities to talk about art, to talk about steam, to talk to play a sport, to be in a gym, right?

Just to go to go be busy, to go be doing something else.

Just as a release, so you don't maybe maybe you just not need to be home, right?

And so I'm just so thankful, man, and more than anything, I'm proud.

And so thanks for the leadership of that to both of you guys, the whole team.

Just thank you so much.

And Vice Chair Hanowitz, thank you for the update.

I I always I I could hear about our parks and rec department all day long.

So thanks so much, guys.

Thank you guys again for your support.

Thank you.

Okay, we're gonna move into F2 and a presentation on our resilient St.

Pete action plan.

And before we jump into this with Maven, uh quickly, I just I I was on a Zoom a couple weeks ago for this, and I wanted to thank Councilmember Gabbard for her involvement in that in that.

And I know she participated.

I I was on the bench listening.

Councilmember Harding, I think, was doing the same with me.

So we we were keeping the bench warm there.

And uh just wanted to say thank you for participating in that.

And Maven, thanks for all the work that you're doing on this and excited to hear this update.

Great, thank you.

Yeah, yeah, Councilmember Gabbard.

Yeah, thank you.

Um, so you know, I I put the item on the agenda, and oh, I apologize.

I didn't have that.

That's my that's okay.

Wanted just to quickly give a quick announcement or a quick intro for it.

Um, so certainly it's my pleasure to bring uh this forward, this report item today, uh, to announce the completion of the resilient St.

Pete Action Plan.

Um, I wanted just to kind of give a few words of thanks first, uh, because this has been quite an undertaking to get to this point.

So I'm gonna start first by saying thanks to City Council.

Uh, not only did you approve the funding for this initiative, but I really wanted to say thanks to each and every one of you for your trust in me to champion this initiative.

Um, also want to say a thanks to the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council who are here with us today for their partnership and their leadership in the climate resilient space for the entire Tampa Bay region.

Our city team and their professionals at Jacobs, who are also here with us today.

I want to thank you all for your hard work and your dedication, especially uh in the wake of what we went through for the last 18 months.

But most importantly, I want to thank the resident-led task force.

I know many of them uh wanted to be here with us today and were not able to, but they really are who this work is rooted in.

Um, countless residents devoted immense time and energy over the last 18 months to develop the action plan that will be brought before you today.

They did so, remember, even under unimaginable stress and upheaval in their own lives during due to the impacts that each participating neighborhood experienced during Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

But instead, they use those events as a catalyst to create a movement of change in our community about how we invest in our infrastructure going forward.

Today you're going to hear about a final work product, and I want you to be very clear.

This is not just the creation of a plan that will sit stagnant, but this is the beginning of how true action will follow to ensure that the St.

Petersburg is a thriving coastal community long into the future.

While we will never hold back seven plus feet of storm surge, this plan will help us prioritize work on our stormwater system to ensure that it is as capable as scientifically possible to handle everyday stressors.

And while this is an exercise in resiliency, it is also an exercise in housing affordability and stability for our residents, and one that affects every corner of our city.

I'm proud of the work that has been done today, and I am very happy to see how this plan will continue to evolve and inform the work that we will do for generations to come as we strive to be the resilient city that I know we can be.

So with that, I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to Maven for a brief presentation, but I want to remember remind you all that Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and Jacobs are here to answer any questions if necessary.

Thank you so much, Maven.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Gabbard, and good afternoon.

And part of my thank you is you really took them away.

That's great.

But it's also to you and your leadership in this project.

So thank you for that.

We are excited to get in today to share the results of a study that began in the fall of 2025 and represents a significant step forward in our resilience planning efforts.

This project to Councilmember Gavard's point is a truly collaborative effort.

We have Jason Bird in the audience with Jacobs.

He is the resilience market solutions leader and has been excellent to work with alongside the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.

So thank you to both of those.

Finally, to reiterate what Council Member Gabbard said, I want to extend a sincere thank you to the residents and stakeholders who joined us in the walking tours.

Councilmember Harding joined us, and Representative Cross was also there, as well as Councilmember Gabbard, so thank you all for your participation.

So let's get into this.

And some of you council members today might recognize the slide that is presented here.

Claude Takersley presented us at a committee of a whole.

And I wanted to start here so the audience and the community can kind of get a broader spectrum.

So resilient St.

Pete Action Plan lives under the umbrella of resilient St.

Pete.

Resilient St.

Pete serves as a city's overarching framework.

As a large umbrella, we have under that umbrella things that bring all of it together, as you can see from up above, adding Sunrise St.

Pete soon to that list.

Resilience St.

Pete works to understand our hazards and works to establish our own risk tolerance, strengthen our infrastructure, empower neighborhoods, and plan for our future.

It is an ecosystem approach that includes data and assessment, infrastructure and adaptation, flood mitigation strategies, coastal flooding, community engagement, weather vulnerabilities, policy and planning, green infrastructure, level of a service analysis, and more.

So it is a very large initiative.

Considering it is large, the city of St.

Petersburg is working towards a proactive approach to resilience measures, which takes all of these and integrates it into a comprehensive strategy, which we have not started on quite yet.

But we are working on getting that all into one group.

So to talk a little bit about the project today, the resilient St.

Pete Action Plan, the end product is actually a story map.

So there is a QR code, so if you see that QR code right there, you can have your phone, or if you'd like to access it and follow along with the presentation.

This effort focused on nine different neighborhoods.

This included Childs Park, Kingston Street South, Shore Acres, Riviera Bay, Old Pasadena, Bartlett Park, Cochina Key, Bonita Bayou, or by you Bonita, depending on who you talk to, and Harbordale.

These nine neighborhoods were chosen for its unique relationship with the water.

Some were low in elevation, adjacent to coast, or contain major drainage ditchage and lakes.

These characters made them suitable to study as part of this pilot program.

The results of this program can be applied to other neighborhoods across the city with similar characters.

I also have on the slide an email, sustainability at St.

Pete.org.

So if anyone or any of our neighborhoods are out there watching today and didn't get a participate in the pilot study, I encourage them to reach out and we will get with them and come to their neighborhood to present some of these findings and have a conversation with them on flood solutions.

So as part of the pilot, really, where did this all begin?

So the city conducted a series of walking tours, which the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council really helped us coordinate.

So what they did is they organized community leaders and neighborhoods in those areas and neighbors in those areas.

These leaders went out to their neighbors and asked, what was your experience?

Would you like to be involved in this project?

Is there any type of flooding that you're seeing in your neighborhood that you typically don't see?

These are questions that we were asking and trying to find solutions for as we walk through these neighborhoods.

These tours created spaces for residents to share their lived experiences with our team.

So we had a crew of engineers, our stormwater team, our engineering team, we had local elected officials, all attending these walking tours to really understand what the flood risks of these neighborhoods are.

The neighborhoods pilot was intended to document resident experiences, study localized flooding patterns, and confirm and refine our technical data, as oftentimes these reports do not include resident stories.

These nine neighborhoods were selected as the first focus areas because they show some of the most consistent and well-documented flooding challenges in the city.

So when we look at the story map, when you go, it really breaks it down into six areas.

We have our introduction, community voices, our flood risks, pathways to resilience, looking forward, and a glossary.

I'm gonna go over some of these areas real briefly and then kind of dive into some of them a little bit more.

Again, the QR code is right there.

So if anyone needs to link to the website.

The introduction and background, this this area gives an overview of the plan structure, including community engagement.

It also talks about the history of our stormwater system.

So when did all this start and what were we planning for during those times?

The community voices section, this is where this centers the local input.

The lived experience that we documented in these walking towards are represented through this tab and discusses more about how those local voices are being heard and problems that are being identified and discussed.

Our flood risks, this section identifies and maps the real flood challenges faced by the city and neighborhoods, potential storm surge, sea level range, drainage, floodplain issues, neighborhood specific threats.

And the pathways to resilience is the solutions and well, some of the solutions to our flood risks.

So this really equips the residents with the tools that they might need to advocate for the solutions because a lot of residents that we talk to really are not for sure what the solutions are for tomorrow.

So it's part of our job to help educate them on those solutions.

Looking forward, this section is a longer term vision, and we'll kind of go over that here in a second.

Glossary is a little self-explanatory, but there is flooding is very complicated.

And so we have added a glossary in case anyone might have questions.

So now we're going to get into a couple of different sections on that story map so I can explain a little bit more.

So when you go to our community voices, it has the individual community profile.

So if you see I have Bartlett Park up here right now, it says how many acres there was there is in that neighborhood, how many homes, what's in the FEMA floodplain.

And when you go there, you can actually toggle on the map.

We have a FEMA floodplain layer where neighborhoods can see if they are in the 1% or 0.2% 2% chance annually of a flood hazard.

These identify the flooding issues in those walking tours, the drainage systems that are around those neighborhoods, and as well as roads and access to those neighborhoods.

It also utilizes the state of Florida adaptation framework, which focuses on four areas protection, accommodation, avoidance, and retreat, to discuss some possible solutions.

Some of the things that we heard during the profile during the community feedbacks is that flooding is worsening and driven by multiple factors such as rain, high tide, sunny days, and storm surge.

Going to our flood risks.

So this is useful as we look at the different types of flooding can be complicated.

We're not always, some of our residents are seeing coastal flooding, some of our residents are seeing rainfall flooding, some of our residents are not for sure of the difference between the two.

So what we did is we decided that the that this area should reflect the different types of flooding.

So from everyday high tides to extreme storms to heavy rainfall.

So you can capture the full spectrum of a flood threat.

Oftentimes residents may not even realize the types of flooding that may be impacting their area, so it might be really hard for them to communicate what their issues are if they do not know.

So this helps us understand that flooding isn't just one thing.

Sometimes it's a slow and creeping, such as sea level rise, or sometimes it's sudden and dramatic like storm surge or rainfall flooding.

This helps us enable targeted flood mitigation and associated planning by knowing what flood we're addressing.

Each type of flood hazard may need different strategies, such as a seawall or elevation or coastal tidal flooding, drainage upgrades for surface flooding, things of that nature.

The following flooding threats have been identified by the Jacobs team coastal flood, rainfall flood, ditch flooding, and compound flooding.

So you can learn more about that in our flood risks.

So we wanted to really take it a step farther because we didn't want to just identify the risks for the residents and leave them at that.

We really wanted to work alongside the residents during these walking tours, as well as our own research on how we can best address our flood risks.

So when you go to the citywide, the pathways to resilience, what we have done here is it explores the flood types that we identified previously, such as ditch, rainfall, coastal, and compound, and breaks them down into a list of strategies that can reduce those flood impacts.

This is a list that needs ongoing building and identification of projects.

By any means, is it not over?

This is a reiterative project.

So it will change as community feedback comes in.

Our looking forward section has quite a lot of different information, but um one thing that's important here is that neighborhoods can look at the neighborhoods included in the study, can look at their current CIP projects that are underway, the strategy type, the type of flood it seeks to mitigate, the intent and the project's status with description.

So we're very excited about that project.

And as we continue to look forward, resilience planning is a very complicated and complex subject, just as flooding.

So really the city is taking a phased approach.

And this phased approach in the first phase, we're really trying to understand.

Um every day we're getting closer to fully understanding our flood risk, whether that is through the vulnerability assessments of our water treatment plants, the stormwater master plan, the seawall capital plan, Sunrise St.

Pete, our sea level rise vulnerability assessment, the city's one water plan, or even our current work with the EPA to model future climate impacts.

We are continuously trying and striving to understand our flood risk.

The truth is this is a massive undertaking.

Each flood threat looks different depending on the neighborhood, the elevation, the infrastructure, and the use.

And all of these things must be taken into consideration when making when coming up with solutions.

So phase one is a learning phase, and even though it's ongoing, we are already trying to connect the dots.

Phase two and three is assessment and adaptation.

This is where we start turning what we've learned into action.

This is where assessments meet real world solutions.

For example, at the Northeast Water Reclamation Facility, we're currently elevating electrical panels and equipment which drive the plant operation.

So it's less vulnerable in a flood event.

But if we do not understand the event in phase one, we would have never led to phase two or phase three.

So we must understand our events.

Assessment and adaptation work is taking place right now and will continue to work as we assess and then adapt.

That's what adaptation looks like.

Understanding the issue, choosing the hazard we want to design for, and determining whether the return on investment makes sense for our level of risk tolerance.

It's how we can make sure our infrastructure stays strong even when the weather doesn't cooperate.

And our final phase is integration.

Just as true any sustainability and resilience work is it's integrated.

So the last phase, of course, would be that.

We're working right now to bring all of these resilience efforts into one place, as I stated earlier.

We are trying to create one space where residents can easily navigate without needing to look for multiple plans or websites.

Ongoing efforts through this process include the city's bar plan, which is ongoing, and really the implementation arm of the city's resilience initiative.

And yes, we have many really many resilience initiatives happening concurrently, but that's a good thing.

It means we're investing in the future of St.

Pete.

Integration helps us streamline that work, connect it, and make it easier for both staff and residents to see how all these efforts support the same goal, very much like why the resilient St.

Pete Action Plan exists to protect our city and strengthen our neighborhoods.

So in wrapping up, the resilient St.

Pete Neighborhoods Pilot Project develops a we developed a program to form to help inform our resilient St.

Pete overarching approach.

This program recognizes that resilience can look very different from one neighborhood to another based on geography, infrastructure, demographics, past impacts, and local concerns.

We have to avoid a one-size fit all solution.

Instead, we have to ensure interventions are appropriate and responsive to real varied um conditions across the city, which we learned through this study.

Again, we also want to continue this ongoing feedback so that way communities aren't just waiting for us to show up to a community meeting to provide feedback.

So here I have a QR link that goes to a job form survey.

It's a very short survey.

If anyone wants to look at the website and provide us feedback, or just even document any of their concerns, they can certainly do that through that method.

Um I would be remiss if I didn't mention why I had the platform that Sunrise St.

Pete is going to be a huge initiative for residents to pay attention to and applications open on December 15th.

It's just a reminder.

So anyone that is interested in that should go to Sunrise St.

Pete.org.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And just quickly before I go to Councilmember Givens, I just uh uh Councilmember Gabbard, I apologize about I that's totally my bad.

So uh Councilmember Gibbons.

Thank you so much, Chair, and thank you, Maven.

Thank you, Cloud and the entire team for all your hard work on this.

Uh thank you for better helping me understand um how we are going to be integrating this plan.

Um and thank you so much for bringing up something that I was going to mention, which is we have multiple plans.

Um they are multiple projects that are going on, but how can we centralize all this information so that residents have a better understanding of what we're doing?

Because trust me, I know you all go to the same meetings I go to.

Um constituents wonder what we're doing and where we are on these projects.

And so I'm happy to see um that this is really gonna kind of help guide that.

Um I did have one question for you, Maven.

How does the administration plan to use all of this information?

Um, how are we going to, I guess, adapt the resilient St.

Pete action plan to better inform future budgets?

When we talk about capital improvement projects, how are we using this plan to help us budget?

Great.

Thank you for the question.

Do you want okay?

Thank you, Councilmember Claude Tankersley, Public Works Administrator.

We're actually already using this, um, but we will continue to do so into the future.

So if you were to go on to the the story map, you'll see projects listed there, some of which have been in our CIP for several years, and it's just a reiteration of these are the works we're the work we're going to be doing.

But there's some projects listed on there that came directly out of the walking tours with the neighborhoods that got us thinking about how we could look at things a little bit differently.

And um, we will continue to add those projects to our CIP moving forward into the future.

Uh, as we talk to more communities and as we learn more about the um the success of some of the projects we already have planned, uh it'll allow us to shape our CIP into the future.

Some of the projects that we are proposing to do are you are unique and first-time projects for the city.

Uh they may actually be unique um in general.

And so we've got some learning to do.

We we have confidence that we are going to be successful with many of them.

We hope we'll be successful with all of them, but along the way, we'll learn what works, what doesn't work, and we'll adapt accordingly.

Thank you for that, Claude.

And again, my point is that you know I think this is really going to help us better inform and better communicate on what we're doing as a city to really tackle um the problems that we're dealing with when it comes to sustainability and resiliency, right?

Um to your point, this is an issue that that does not just impact our coastal neighborhoods.

It's found its way into Chalice Park.

Um, so representing that district, I would love to do a walking tour.

I haven't had an opportunity to do one with you, um, but I would recommend that we really bring in the neighborhood association to really help us get um so robust engagement.

So thank you so much, and I appreciate it, Chair.

Thank you.

Well, this is just pretty cool.

Uh the it's I I'm repeating, but just the centralized location of all the information, I think makes it super simple.

And you know, when you're when you're talking to a neighborhood and based, you know, when you're when you're thinking about resiliency up to this point, you'd have to go to probably six different pages, right?

And so to be able to have this and be able to point to it, and for selfishly, you don't have to know it all either because we you could literally just bring it up while you're there.

And so uh just from uh resident facing from a tool for us, I just think it it's real it's pretty incredible.

And like it's I I just think it's cool.

And so uh super excited again.

I want to uh thank my colleagues for being uh on the on the zoom.

That was super helpful, and um I'm really looking forward to to seeing this grow on on my time on council and and as we continue into this.

It's just this is really exciting.

So thank thank you for all the work.

This is this is really neat and exciting, exciting to roll out.

So thank you so much.

I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize Maven.

Um, you know, she she joined us a year ago.

She joined us a day or two before Milton hit, and uh then immediately after Milton hit us, she was out in the middle.

Job security.

She was out in the community and helping, you know, uh uh with with uh community uh recovery, and then she she dove into this program and um it's been um a really good learning experience, but you did a really good job, so thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, Maven, you certainly didn't hesitate to hit the ground running.

So thank you so much.

Amen.

All right, we're gonna move on to F four.

And this this one I have pulled by Councilmember Gabbard.

Yes, one for two.

I'll take that batting average.

Uh one uh council member gabbard, go ahead and introduce the diamond.

Well, you want to talk about lessons learned from the walking tours.

You want to talk about projects and how resiliency in action really shows up.

I think it's uh apropos that these items are following the presentation of the resilient St.

Pete Action Plan because I think that anyone who understands um you know impacts from the storms that we saw.

If you live on any of the canals, especially in Riviera Bay, immense impacts to the navigability and um those canals certainly saw a lot of impact from those storms.

And that became very evident not only immediately after the storms, but through the experiences that the residents shared with us on the walking tours from the resilient action plan.

So um this kind of is all coming together really beautifully as we move forward on the first steps of being able to dredge those canals.

And so um Brajesh, I'll go ahead and turn it over to you to kind of explain some of the minutia behind this, but I'm very excited that we've made these this progress and we're here today.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Uh good day, Council, Bridge Prun, Engineer and Caplan Improvements Department.

Again, eloquently said, and you know, I just want to start off by you know, going to Councilmember Givens your question.

This is the result of it.

So this is an example of how we uh implementing or making that step to implement pro programs and projects coming out of these walking tours and understanding.

So just to give a high-level concept um perspective, canals 11 and 12, um generally flew from Salt Grass Lakes area, um, under in the state 275 along 77th Avenue North, then continues east towards First Street, which is then splits with Canal 11 heading north-south towards Sunlet Cove, as well as cunt Canal 12 continuing east um towards generally um east, a little winding tens, and connecting ultimately to Tampa B.

Both of these um uh tidally connected systems.

Um, the limits of work generally for this project is within the vicinity of Fort Street towards the discharge points at Tampa B.

Now, what's critical is that this section spans multiple neighborhood associations.

You'll hear about Riviera Bay Civic Association, the River Viewer Bay Subdivision Homeown Association, the Renaissance Neighborhood Association, as well as Kaya Costa Association as well.

Um what this project is really aiming to do is we are looking to start that understanding of a programmatic look towards um how do we dredge our stormwater conveyance systems, what is the permitting processes, understanding the constraints and what are the challenges involved in deployment as well.

Um so this preliminary work goes up to 30 percent um design, but what it's going to involve, and if you take a look at the scope, it really is in depth in the bathroom metrics of it, which is actually understanding the topography underwater, but also the sediment analysis.

Because one of the key confusing points that exist right now is the relationship between the DEP permit and the Army Corps permit as it releases section four for under title conditions and the connection points.

So that's really what we're trying to get is to get that base understanding, understanding the plumage requirements because ultimately we're peninsula and penis with all of our um stormwater systems connect ultimately to that title condition.

So if we understand it, it helps us developed a repeatable process in the future.

And with that, I ask for approval.

Move approval.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

I just have a quick question why we're why we're here, and frankly, Councilmember Gabbard, it's for you.

Could you could you share some of what the feedback was on your walking tour and how this I think it would be just interesting to hear how this project how it got communicated from during your walking tour?

Yeah.

And then because it's cool to see like to get it here, right?

And so I I know that's why you pulled it because it's exciting.

Yeah.

And so I'd just be interested, like how they shared.

We have somebody on Zoom.

They just raised their hand.

Oh, yeah.

And actually, I think that might be the president of Riviera Bay Neighborhood Association if by any chance you wanted to take that before.

Let's do that.

We go back and forth.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Okay.

Um, Riviera Bay Civic Association.

I'm going to enter you into the meeting space.

Uh, please state your name.

Please unmute yourself, state your name and address for the record, and you'll have three minutes to address City Council.

Hi, can you all hear me?

Yep.

Okay, good.

All right.

Hi.

My name is Vanessa Paglisi.

I'm the president of the Riviera Bay Civic Association.

My personal address is 9399 Sun Isle Drive Northeast.

Um we are very, very excited that this item is on the agenda today.

Uh, we have been asking for the dredging of the canals um in Riviera Bay um for many years, um, due to issues of increased flooding well before Hurricane Helene hit.

Um, and I will say in in to address the results of the walking tours um for the resilient St.

Pete Action Plan.

It was actually our second walking tour that we did over Vieira Bay.

I want to thank Brandy for organizing one in 2024.

Was it four?

We did the first one in May.

Um, and we were able to have our Congress people from the federal level and the state level, as well as our representatives, as well as the mayor, many of the people from Tampa Bay Regional Planning Commission tour Riviera Bay.

Um, and we are able, we were able to span our neighborhood, which runs from 78th Avenue to 98th Avenue from Fourth Street all the way to the water, um, and explain some of the issues that have happened.

There have been changes to the way the county has put their roads in, but we went from a neighborhood that did not experience flooding to areas of our neighborhood experiencing five floods in a four-year period of time.

We watched sedimentation flow into the canal system from some of the construction in the area, the Gandhi flyover area, new condos in the area, and everything that's dumping, and we've watched the levels go to where you can walk across the canals in certain locations now.

And we were very happy to be able to take Jacobs, um, Claude and Bergesh and their team out and see it.

And then even after Helene now, like you can walk all the way into Rio Vista Park without getting wet, um, where you used to be able to draft a very significantly sized boat.

So we would love to see the flooding abate um in our neighborhood just through proactive measures like this, such as dredging.

We're very happy that we're starting with canals 11 and 12 as they are the worst in the neighborhood, and we would ask on behalf of all the residents in Riviera Bay, the HOA and the surrounding communities that do live in this area, and everyone on the other side of 4th Street that's now impacted by flooding that's backing up because the water can't get out that you support this item.

So that's all I have to say.

So thank you if you have any questions.

Well, Vanessa, thank you very much for uh popping up and raising your hand and sharing that.

That's exactly what I was looking for.

So thank you for sharing that perspective and thank you uh for your service inside of the neighborhood and and your continued uh involvement inside of our city.

So uh thank thank you.

Uh thanks for pointing that out, Councilmember Gabbard.

Okay, that's really all I had.

I think this is great.

Um, we've got a motion on a second on F4.

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 four passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

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

It's a clapping day.

It's a day, yeah.

It's a happy clap.

It's a happy clap.

Tell you what.

All right, so we are gonna we are gonna move into F3.

We've got Aaron Fish joining us, and we're gonna talk Tangerine Plaza.

Welcome, Aaron.

Morning, or good afternoon, Council Chair, Vice Chair, members of council, Aaron Fish, Director of Real Estate and Property Management.

Um, I will start off saying uh Mayor Welch intended to be here this morning to introduce this item and provide some comments.

Uh those comments were I believe shared with city council in a memo that was distributed earlier.

Uh the presentation that we have for you this afternoon.

I'll go through the the option agreement, the terms of that option, uh where we're at now, and also provide a recap of the terms of the lease and development agreement.

In July of uh 2024, the city did enter into uh this option agreement with the Sugar Hill Group, uh provided initial option uh term of 18 months, which uh expires in uh on January 2nd of 2026.

Uh pursuant to the terms of the agreement.

Uh Sugar Hill must secure the commitments for all funding necessary to construct the development.

Uh they must identify all contractors and professionals uh for the development, provide a commitment letter to the city from a grocer to operate a fresh food grocery store for a minimum of five years to execute the lease and development agreement.

They shall not be in breach of the option, and they shall provide the city with 90 days notice of their intent to exercise the option.

This will allow the city to terminate the Walmart lease and any other plaza.

On July 14th of 25, uh Sugar Hill did submit a site plan for review to the city.

Uh that included uh the site plan included 186 affordable housing units and 10,000 square feet of retail space.

Uh the city's initial comments were provided to Sugar Hill at the end of July and 25 with additional comments provided in August.

The site plan comments for water resources are in the process of being addressed.

The city did receive a letter in October uh from Sugar Hill, which provided the city uh notice of their intent to exercise the option to lease or purchase the property.

Uh it also provided an update to the status of the site plan comments, an update to their funding plan, and it provided a notification uh that they had identified the professional services team for the development.

The city notified Sugar Hill through subsequent conversations that it had not yet met the option conditions required for exercising the option to enter into the lease and development agreement.

Pursuant to the terms of the option, any extension of the option term is subject to city council approval.

Uh it does also require uh Sugar Hill to submit a written request to extend the option to later than 60 days prior to the expiration of the option term.

Uh the city did receive a letter from Sugar Hill dated October 30th, 2025, requesting an extension of the option term for a period of one year.

On October 5th of this year, the city uh city staff did meet with Sugar Hill to address uh the deliverables required pursuant to the option.

Uh this discussion included the status of the financing requirements, site plan comments, and the status of the requirement to secure a grocery store.

Also on November 5th, uh Sugar Hill provided the city with a proposed term sheet dated October 7th, 2025 from Boston Capital Finance.

And on October 11th, uh Sugar Hill also provided the city with a letter dated of the same date from National Equity Fund, outlining certain terms and conditions for providing equity capital capital to Sugar Hill for the development.

The LOIs are conditioned upon and subject to verification of the development budget, lease up schedule, pro forma, operating statements, ownership structure, uh, and sugarhill applying for and receiving low-income housing tax credit among other conditions.

Both LOIs assume a contribution of CRA dollars from the city in the amount of 11 excuse me, 11,160,000 and a contribution from Pinellas County of the same amount.

On November 20th of this year, Sugar Hill submitted an initial application for city funding through the neighborly app to support the development to include 56 affordable housing units restricted at 60 percent AMI or below, and 130 affordable units restricted at 80 percent AMI and below.

Since that time, the funding application has been revised to include all 186 housing units to be restricted to 60 percent and below.

The application submitted by Sugar Hill requires additional information for the application to be considered complete.

Any request for sitting funding will be considered after acceptable documentation of all other sources of funding are provided by Sugar Hill.

On November 20th, city staff had a follow-up meeting with Sugar Hill to inform them that the LOIs submitted do not satisfy the requirement to secure commitments for all funding necessary to construct the development.

The city informed Sugar Hill that the request for CRA funding from the city and the amount of 11,160,000 not currently possible due to the available funds do not support the the funding request at this time.

Sugarhill requested the funding in the amount of 11,160 from Pinellas County, which will likely not be supported based on uh the revision to all units being 60 percent AMI or below.

Uh this is due to the county requiring some units to be at or above 80 percent to qualify for penny construction dollars.

Sugarhill is in the process of addressing the remaining comments to the site plan.

Uh they uh intend to in this slide it's there is an update to this bullet point that the city did receive a commitment letter from a grocer, um, but we have yet to be able to review that letter and provide any updates uh related to that.

But a letter was received.

Um, and Sugar Hill does intend uh to submit a building permit package to the city and allow for um income housing tax credits for affordable housing portion of the development.

And this portion of it is a a recap of the lease and development terms, which does which requires a development of no less than 115 affordable rental units and 10,000 square feet of retail on the property.

Uh the initial term is 75 years with rent 100,000 per year, uh which is abated for the first 24 months until the final certificate of occupancy uh is met or until the 24 years is met.

The construction timeline includes three months for Sugar Hill to submit site plans for approval.

That has already occurred.

Uh Sugar Hill shall commence the demolition and of the existing proof of improvements no later than six months from the commencement date.

Uh Sugar Hill shall submit a comprehensive building permit package uh no later than six months, and within 18 months shall commence construction.

Uh 50% completion of the construction shall occur no later than 30 months from the commencement date, and upon 36 months from the commencement date, the uh project shall be completed.

The preliminary unit mix for the 115 affordable housing units in the LDA included 30 percent one bedroom, one-bath units, 50 percent two bedroom, two-bath, and 20 percent three bedroom two-bath units.

The housing unit shall be restricted to households with an average of annual of an annual income of 80 percent of AMI or below.

The development shall include 10,000 square feet of retail space with no less than 3,000 square feet to be operated by a fresh food grocer.

The city shall record a restrictive covenant on the property, ensuring that the housing units remain affordable for a period of 40 years, and the restrictive covenant shall also include a requirement that not less than three 3,000 square feet of the retail space be occupied by a grocery store.

Sugar Hill would have the option to purchase the property at 1.5 million upon the completion of the development, and just as a again a recap of how we arrived at the uh the purchase price is the this the property was appraised in 2024, uh which resulted in a price of 1.8 million, reduced by the demolition cost of 250,000, uh putting the estimated value at 1.6 million at that time.

And that concludes the presentation.

Uh we do have members of the Sugar Hill group here to answer questions related to next steps and related to their uh development, and we also have state city staff available as well.

Okay, thank you.

Let's go to public comment and call two at a time, please.

The first two speakers is Ron Diner and Derek Cooper.

Please go to either podium, state your name and address to the record.

You'll have three minutes to address council.

I don't think Mr.

Diner is here anymore.

Okay.

The next uh speaker is Sarah Harold.

There's a question.

Go ahead.

Oh, all right.

Uh good afternoon.

My name is Derek Cooper.

My address is 1525 23rd Avenue South in St.

Petersburg.

Uh just want to speak to you, uh Chair Gurdees and uh your honorable members here at the city council.

Uh I wrote something because I tend to be long-winded.

I stand before you not just as an advocate of the Sugar Hill group, but as a community advocate, deeply rooted in the long struggle for equitable development in midtown and historic uses.

I am a I am a citizen of South St.

Petersburg, born and raised.

Very proud, very proud of that.

Um over the two decades, residents have demanded more than promises.

They've demanded partnership, progress, and permanence.

Today, Sugar Hill has delivered on the community's vision, a full service grocery store secured development partners locked in, the majority of finance and already committed, and strong alignment with both city and county leadership on closing the remaining gaps.

This is not a request for another chance, it's a plea to uphold the momentum.

That is finally after years of disinvestment and delay, brought real tangible hope to Tangerine Plaza.

Uh, as a political action chair for the St.

Petersburg NAACP, I will be viewing this moment through a clear political and moral lens.

Decisions like this define whether our city's commitment to equity is real or rhetorical.

The NAACP has long championed community driven development and centers black uh that centers black and brown residents, not displaces them from voting rights to housing justice.

Our advocacy has always been about power, participation, and permanence for those historically excluded from St.

Pete's prosperity.

Approving this extension affirms that the council stands with the people who have stewarded the deuces through the decades of systematic neglect, denying it, risk deepening distrust, reinforcing patterns of broken promises, and singling signaling a community that uh that community voice only matters when it's convenient.

This extension isn't just a technical ask, it's a litmus test for whether St.

Petersburg will honor its commitments to equitable economic development, affordable housing, and generational wealth building in this very neighborhood that built this city.

Let's pass the test with conviction.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Could you uh tell us whether Mr.

Diner was for or against?

Mr.

Diner is against.

Thank you.

And uh Miss Harold is with Sugar Hill if you have any questions.

She called it a card.

Uh Esther Sonny and uh Chase Temple.

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

You have three minutes to address council.

Can we share a podium?

Is that okay?

Okay, fantastic.

Esther Sony Azure 1601 16th Street South, um, St.

Petersburg, Florida, here representing the NAACP as the president.

I want to say good afternoon, Chair Gerdis.

You have done a warrior's job as chair, you will be missed.

And also, honorable council members.

I stand before you today to respectfully urge your full and unanimous support for the Sugar Hill group's request of a 12-month extension to truly complete the redevelopment of Tangerine Plaza.

For more than two decades, the Midtown and Deuces communities have fought for the return of a full service grocery store.

Meaningful economic development, and the stabilization of a corridor long impacted by this investment.

As Commissioner Flowers wrote in her memo earlier to you today, this vision dates back to the Baker administration, supported by years of community advocacy, the demolition of blighted properties and relocation efforts intended to pave the way for revitalization, not abandonment.

But today, the conditions are true for real progress, and they finally exist.

How do they exist?

Sugar Hill has secured a grocery store.

That's been clear.

They've secured the development partners, they've secured the majority of the financing.

They're simply asking now for an extension to move forward with the additional piece of finalizing the remaining bud funding, both with the city and Pinellas County.

We all know because we've seen it across the city.

True transformational community serving development takes time.

It needs flexibility, it needs partnership.

Fairfield Avenue, Ed White Senior Housing, Orange Station, the Science Center.

You saw them just last week, Thursday.

Each of these projects required amendments, redesigns, revision finance structures, and extended timelines beyond reaching viability.

Sugar Hill's timeline is not an exception.

It is entirely consistent with the red with the realities of building affordable housing and mixed use projects in today's market.

The subsidy Sugar Hill is a request and is also fully consistent with other affordable developments across St.

Petersburg.

I want to simply say we recognize, and I know that this has been a topic of conversation, the service that positive impact has provided, but full distribution cannot alone compensate or comprehensively meet the needs of our community.

We need units and a grocery store.

Absolutely.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Chase Temple of 2555 Madrid Way South St.

Petersburg, Florida.

I am here as the NAACP Youth Council President, and I'm asking for a yes vote on the Sugar Hill Development Project extension.

There is an immediate need for affordable housing in St.

Pete, and there's a meet need for a stable food source in this neighborhood.

The Sugar Hill Group has been proactive in securing a grocer to fill this gap in the community that this community desperately needs to combat food insecurity, and doing so, it provides an opportunity for economic development within this neighborhood.

It is no secret that the cost of living in St.

Petersburg has caused people to move out.

And it is important that you have a commitment to affordable housing so young people like me can afford to live here as they find their footing in their community in this amazing city that we call home.

And I am asking you to support this community, this community's needs by securing uh their development and to support the youth needs to offer affordable housing for the sugar and the Sugar Hill group will provide that.

And I'm asking for your flexibility by vote voting yes for the uh for the extension.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next two speakers.

And next two speaker is Senator Darrell's son and also Aki Mohammed Akwil.

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

You'll have three minutes to address council.

Go ahead, Senator.

Good afternoon, Senator Darrell Roosan, 535 Central Avenue, St.

Petersburg.

I stand before you today as the state senator for this area of Tangerine Plaza to voice my support for Sugar Hill group's request for an extension on the Tangerine Plaza Redevelopment Agreement.

Let me be clear.

No one wants or relishes in delay, especially in revitalizing this important midtown anchor, not the city, not the residents, not even the redevelopment team.

But if an extension is what ensures that the promised affordable housing and wealth building opportunities are actually delivered, then it becomes not a setback, but a safeguard for the community we serve.

I also strongly stand in unison and support with Commissioner Dr.

Renee Flowers in her email to you earlier this morning.

At the end of the day, I urge everyone involved to keep the focus where it belongs on the people, not politics, not power plays, but the unmet needs of midtown families, must drive every decision we make.

The mayor refers to long-standing neighborhood advocates who want to see local partners succeed in shaping the future of their own corridor.

I have been such a long-standing advocate.

For the time I advocated when that Midtown should secede from the city of St.

Petersburg if they weren't going to return tax dollars to the community.

In fact, former councilman Ernest Williams said who died and elected Rusan, mayor of Midtown.

Then I sued some drug lords for maintaining crack houses on Queensborough Avenue, took the property and determined by listening to the people that there was an unmet need of a grocery store, and we built it.

For the reasons stated, I support this extension so long as it deepens accountability, strengthens community benefit, and ensures collaboration, moving us closer to justice and opportunity that this neighborhood deserves.

And in closing, I was standing in a packed courtroom when Judge Florence Foster looked at me and said, What are you gonna do for your client?

He's had seven violations of probation.

He's had seven chances.

I said, Well, Judge, I had eight.

If there's one more, give it to them.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Please, no, no, no applause, please.

It's not, it's not the same.

I sorry, thank you.

Go ahead.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for allowing us to come and speak to you.

Uh Pax Vobiskum, um Shalom Alekham, Asalaamu Alaikum.

Peace be on you, especially during this time of peace on earth, joy, goodwill toward all people, all human beings.

Sorry, I need your name and address.

That is important.

I was trying not to interrupt your greetings.

Thank you.

I at first intended to read into the record and read to you the letter that I sent to everyone, but you already have it.

So there's no need for me to read that.

If anyone here wants to hear that, get in touch with me, I'll be more than happy to share it with you.

I decided that instead I would first offer a prayer, and I've had the privilege of coming and opening up your your meetings with invocation.

So I feel very comfortable speaking in the tone and manner of which I am.

So I greet you with a prayer for peace and mercy and compassion and grace and justice and joy and prosperity and equity and empathy and good health forever to all of you, to all of the citizens of our city, of our county, a state and our country.

History is important.

For example, I am a native of St.

Petersburg, born here in this deep South City in a state that was the third to join the Confederacy, secede from the United States, and fight in a civil war.

Growing up here through my childhood and young adult years, I witnessed firsthand the inequality, injustices and of segregation, racial discrimination, oppression, second class citizenship, unjust laws, denial of opportunities based on differences in skin color, culture, and economic status.

Members of my family and myself and I helped break down those barriers here.

And that fight only ended recently, and in many instances is still ongoing.

I won't dwell on much of the details, but I want to just point out for an example, we're talking about an extension and time.

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court declared that separate but equal was unconstitutional.

In 1964, 10 years later, I graduated here from Gibbs High School from a totally segregated school.

In 1971, I testified in federal court in Hillsborough County before Judge Ben Crensman, who said in 1971 that the Hillsborough County segregated schools were unconstitutional, and it was time to do something about it.

So things do not always happen as quickly as we would like.

Thank you.

Next two speakers.

The last speaker is Dr.

Renee Flowers.

Good afternoon.

Afternoon.

Honorable Chairman, Vice Chairman, and honorable members of council, and to all of those that are here on today.

Commissioner Flowers, I need your address, please.

Oh, it's all over.

I don't do this often.

240 39th Street, South St.

Petersburg, Florida, 33711.

And if all of y'all show up at my house, I'll give you some dinner.

Thank you, Commissioner.

But I'm here today in support of the Sugar Hill uh proposal.

Um I've sat in your seats here in this very chamber.

As a matter of fact, an individual that stood behind this very same podium, I took to task when they asked for 2.5 million more dollars to be able to complete the project for gap funding.

So I've been in your position where you're looking at uh things that have been said prior and you've given deadlines, and you expect individuals to stick to those deadlines.

But I also know, and so do you, that sometimes things happen when you're moving through contracts and negotiations that you can't control, whether it's permitting, whether it's financing, whether it's changing members of the team to move the project forward, things happen.

And in this instance, some things have happened.

But the one thing that has stayed consistent are the players that have wanted to see this project succeed.

In 2000, it was Reverend Lewis Murphy and his wife.

It was Senator Rousan and his wife, Ernest Williams and his wife, Mindy Liggan and her husband that came together and said they wanted to do something on that corner.

On that corner were houses that had been abandoned and were being used as drug facilities.

And for the individuals who lived in the remaining houses that were there, they were living in squalor.

Those persons were provided financial remuneration to relocate.

The property was demolished, and the building that you see now, or the buildings that you see now, are as a result of that hard work.

Reverend Lewis Murphy has never given up the dream, and nor has that integral group that that facility needs to remain in the community, but it needs to also serve as an anchor for the entire 22nd Street corridor.

Applying for the main street uh application, I was a part of that as well.

That application was supposed to help drive that so that success moved down the 22nd Street corridor, just like it did down Central Avenue, which we call Main Street.

I truly believe with the additional extension, I truly believe that with the county looking at its Pinnafa Panellas funds, and I've had a number of conversations, including um the Reverend, and I believe his name is Terry from the Sugar Hill group.

And I brought in Tom Almonte to see just where we were because we understood that you guys were waiting to hear from us, and we're waiting to hear from you.

So I will tell you that there is no uh action from the commission.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Mr.

Chair, we have one more card.

Yeah, go ahead.

Jason Jensen, and he's uh representing Sugar Hill.

Okay.

If you have just one clarification, if you had an ask questions, we can Jason.

I need your I need your name and your address, please.

Jason Jensen, 3992 42nd Avenue South.

Thank you.

And just one clarification if we wanted to be part of the answer questions, but didn't want to miss out on speaking.

Thank you.

Um we are architects for the project, uh, WJ architects, uh, and uh have touched a few of the the projects we actually worked on the main street uh visioning for the deuces originally.

Uh we worked on Manhattan Casino, and the opportunity to finish uh the other end of the deuces uh was a great one for us to work on.

I I just wanted to mention how much work and effort has gone on during this project since this was given the go-ahead.

We immediately had a a pre-op meeting for this project.

We actually submitted in in 2024 originally.

Uh this uh was actually put on hold during the hurricanes for the uh review submission and the application.

Uh so it was not logged in at that time properly.

Uh so there was actually some delay in the process uh for this project, and then the team has continued to come back and answer the comments through this year.

So it's been a very active um process.

We're deep in the the drawings and construction documents.

The team has invested in the process throughout.

Uh we've also, since the inception of this project, gone from a a very large grocery uh with very small amount of housing to answering the city's request for more housing in this project.

So it's gone from a 72 to 186.

So each time we make those changes, we go through revisions, we increase and respond to those to those uh comments, make the plan better.

I believe truly believe what we have today is something that will impact the community.

I put our firm's reputation behind it.

We they have brought in the the best team of consultants in my selfish opinion to to work on this.

Uh, but we are all on one goal to get this across the finish line.

Uh worked on the original Tasco uh development.

That's uh one thing that wasn't mentioned is Babe Roof, Mickey Mann, all those guys originally sat in that building hitting home runs.

I truly believe we're in the home stretch here.

Let us take it across the finish line.

Home base.

Thank you.

Thank you.

No more speakers, Mr.

Chair.

Okay.

So we'll go to Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you.

Uh I actually just want to ask two things real quick, uh, and then hear from my colleagues.

Uh, but it was specifically about the presentation.

Uh there was one slide in there that I was just a bit confused about.

It was the one about the 11 million subsidy and CRA funding in the county.

I was just hoping to get clarification.

It seemed like in that uh there was a shortfall from the CRA, and then that the county required different uh had different requirements.

And uh I feel like uh Commissioner Flowers was about to mention it.

But if you could just speak to it a little bit so I can understand it is the what's the status of securing funding for a subsidy to actually get the affordable housing done, I guess.

So the the funding application that Sugar Hill uh presented to the city, uh certainly this is something that the city could consider, but we need to see all sources of funding and verify all sources of funding before the city's dollars are put in, the cities would be the last dollars put in.

The cities would be the last dollars put in.

Um and then for the county, they have their sources of funding are a little bit different, and Mark Van Lu is here, and he could probably offer a little bit more insight onto that.

Yeah, I'd love to hear from Mark.

Good afternoon, Council members, Council Chair, Mark Van Lu, uh assistant director of housing community development, City of St.

Petersburg.

Um so the funding request that has been submitted to us uh for 11 roughly 11.1 million dollars and is in consideration, however, at this point in time, we don't have sufficient funds to fulfill that request, and so we would need to work on a plan uh that that may take some time for us to assemble those kind of funds.

Um I had discussions today with uh the staff at the county uh to get an update on the funding requests submitted to the county.

And although all the documentation that we have shows a request to the county for 11.1 million as well.

Um what I was told today was that the application actually indicates 10.5 million um, but that that application was reopened and sent back to the Sugar Hill group team uh due to needs for additional information or revisions to the application, and uh that happened about a month ago and hasn't been resubmitted yet, so it is an incomplete application at this point to the city.

I'm sorry, to the county.

Um in the city's application, there are some missing documents and things that will need to be received before we could fully consider and and uh bring a request to council for approval.

Um as far as the uh county's ability to fulfill the eleven point one million or ten point five, whichever it winds up to be.

Um the county uh would have to use Penny for Pennell's funding to fulfill that request.

Um and the county has um rules around using penny for Pennell's funding for construction costs in a project.

Um and it basically says that there have to be some units at or above 80 percent AMI uh and it it you know to indicate some economic activity or economic uh development associated with those funds.

Um with the most recent updates to the uh funding or to the uh AMI mix for this project, they're showing all units at 100 and I'm sorry, at uh 60 percent AMI.

So as that if that is the case, um then the county would have difficulty approving the use of penny funds for that uh to fulfill that request, and they really don't have any other funding sources that could be used uh in the city to fulfill that that requirement.

So uh that could be remedied by adjusting the AMI mix of the funds to be include more 80 percent AMI uh units or above, and so that would then open the door for that funding to be possible.

Okay, all right.

And given all of that, I I think the main thrust of my question on this specific subject is uh, you know, the do you feel that it there's no barriers to you know amending an application of the county and finding money at the city to actually get the uh subsidy uh to a realistic point?

Because that's what my question is is like you know, if you're saying that we would have to put together a package, then uh I I just want to make sure I understand that, and I assume this is the case because administration is recommending approval that you feel confident that you can get the package put together uh when things uh get to that point.

You know, there will be funding coming in in the future that both at the Southside CRA uh level as well as you know from C D B GDR and other sources that could uh would give the city sufficient funds to fulfill this funding request.

Um because it's a CRA project, most of the time our goal is to fund CRA projects from CRA funding, but it would likely uh at least in the near future would not be possible.

Um it may be possible uh perhaps about a year down the line if certain things that are being worked on in the CRA come to pass.

Okay.

Uh it's interesting.

Um from what I'm hearing, it sounds like if the extension wasn't being asked for, then we would be in a trickier situation on our end to getting it accomplished.

But because of the extension, it sounds like you feel confident you'll be able to put something together.

Uh okay.

I just want to understand that aspect of it.

I want to hear from my colleagues and digest the conversation more, but that slide uh I just needed clarification on, so I'll I'll leave it there for now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Harding.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh Mark, can I ask you a couple more questions?

I realize that the this issue is much more complex than a piece of land and uh and normal affordable housing.

Um I am absolutely uh I would like to continue the direction, but I I need some questions answered.

Um and to be fair, I I have that much respect for Mr.

Binger and uh and I know uh Pastor Murphy personally and uh and find him to be nothing but a uh uh a gem for his community.

Um but at the end of the day, we're not here to talk about um them building something, we're here to talk about how do we get to a point where folks in that community can walk to a grocery store tomorrow.

That's the focus of this.

Um and so I would like to go uh in a little bit further depth on the on the funding end.

I don't know at and I'm not sure who might be qualified, but I'd like to start the LA H T C Credits.

Are you familiar?

Um the what is I don't know the the process.

I'm familiar with the concept, but what is the likelihood of um that the we've been working on this for 18 months and we haven't accomplished this yet, and I don't know, I don't know why or or what path we followed.

But is this uh is this a reasonable path that that we that the the uh the the sugarhill group can find this and get it done in this amount of time and and from what you've seen so far will they qualify?

So my understanding from uh what we've seen so far on the financing stack, uh the plan is to go for four percent tax credit bond financing.

That is a non-competitive uh source of funding through Florida Housing Finance Corporation, um, and it is open on an ongoing basis to apply.

Um I know that uh after encouragement from the city uh when we met uh a while back, uh the Sugar Hill group did reach out to and have discussions with uh Catherine Driver at the Pennells County Housing Finance Authority, who would most likely provide the bond funding for to match uh to get those tax credits.

Um I have also spoken to Miss Driver uh and she indicates that the HFA in 2026 will have sufficient bond funding resources to to fulfill their request for bond financing, and uh that would open the door for them to apply for the four percent tax credits.

So I think the chances are pretty good.

Uh, but you know, they will need to confirm all sources of financing and funding for the project in order to make that application and and get that through.

Okay, pretty so that there's enough money in that fund for the year, then you have a level of confidence that that this is a path for them.

Yes.

Okay.

Back to the uh back to the the county uh funding.

Um the the Sugar Hill group has the best advocate in the world sitting behind you.

Um but the rules are still the rules.

Uh and so we're the can you can you be more clear on the the in order for them to qualify they would need to change the mix of the of the project itself, um which can be done.

But if that is done, the the what's the how big is the fund and what's the likelihood that that these funds are available and that that this this project qualifies and does it need the support of the city as well.

I'm not sure how that process works.

Yeah, so typically uh just take the last part of your question first.

Um any project in the city of St.

Pete that is also seeking county funds, the county typically wants to see the city's commitment of funds uh first prior to taking their funding request to the BCC for approval.

That's not a hard, fast rule, it's just a general uh way that they operate.

Um there have been a couple of cases where they've gone to the BCC for approval of funding on a city project uh prior to us coming to city council for approval, but they also they they wanted to know that we felt confident uh that we were recommending approval and that it would likely be approved.

So um county is typically looking for the city to commit funds first.

Um the penny for Pennell's funds in the county does have the ability to provide funding for construction costs for a project, whereas the city penel penny for Pennell's funds cannot be used in that way.

Um the the county has determined and county legal has determined that be due to the statute and the rules around Penny for Pinellus, in order to use penny funds for uh construction costs, there must be an economic development element to a project.

And that's determined in the county's eyes by the AMI levels uh and or um targeted audience for development.

So that's why they say that there have to be at least some units at 80 percent AMI or higher, and or uh that it cannot be a senior housing project.

Side note, when I was with the county, I kind of argued against that mindset because I think that seniors and and those earning you know below 80 percent AMI represent a big part of the workforce and the economic uh viability of our community, but that's those are the rules, and they're based in statute, and that's how the county is interpreted.

So that's the rule that would have to be met in order for the county under its current rules, unless those rules change to be able to use penny for panels for construction costs.

There is sufficient funds uh in the penny for Pennells program and coming to the county for you know, use to be able to satisfy this funding request.

Okay.

Good afternoon, James Corbett, City Development Administrator.

I just wanted to add on to something Mark said, because the question is about the funding and availability.

I kind of just want to make the the nexus, and obviously Mark is the expert here, but uh the county requiring some of the units to be 80 percent uh actually helps with us because if some right now the the agreement says there's an average of 80 percent in the recent um submission, sugarhill has all the units at 60 percent or below.

If they were to increase some of their units to 80 percent, that would get that would have qualify them for the county funding, but it also reduce the subsidy needed from the city.

So it actually is a win-win if they were to adjust the mix to include some 80 percent units.

So it actually helps in both ways.

It reduces the subsidy needed from the city, and it also helps qualify for the funding from the county.

Thank you, Mr.

Corbin.

On to uh onto the city, which I think completes their their capital stack.

Um you said that uh that that 11.1 million um that they've they've included in their pro forma is not currently available.

Um and some things would have to happen, and it's possibly available in the CRA.

Um can you elaborate on that?

Uh and you know, is any of that money committed?

That that the that future CRA money that's coming in, had it been committed to anything, um and how long would it be before that money is available?

Would it meet their timeline?

I want to speak to I'm gonna let James Corbett speak to that.

Thank you, sir.

So as a part of and within that 12 months that they're looking to have the extension, we are looking to bring forward something to council where we would be doing doing a borrow uh for the CRA with the CR support it, and it would be a 25 million dollar borrow.

If we were to do that, obviously that would open up funds that could be potentially available to this project.

Obviously, we're not ready to do that yet, but that's what we would be looking at uh to help fund that gap um in the next fiscal year.

Okay, all right.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Mark.

Um so my thoughts have been around that concept that the the end of what we're really talking about is uh is how quickly do we get to the point where someone who lives in that community walks to a grocery store.

The rest uh the the rest is um is important but not as important as how quick do we get there?

And um, and I know that this has been a uh uh uh a controversial topic uh more so than most.

And we have received uh at least I have received it more feedback than than anything that uh that has come before us in the past three months.

And I've been and I thought about this all night and uh and I went back through the information a couple of times, and I would like to uh I would like to propose a thought and um and see what my my uh my counterparts think that the plan the most recent plan that I have seen from the Sugar Hill group um with a progression of events over the next uh year has um has their funding locked up in the next 90 days and the and the the project starting to really take shape on the ground.

Should we can we consider instead of extending this for one year, extending it for 90 days?

Um it puts pressure on uh on the group.

Um it puts pressure on the county, it puts pressure on the city to get this done.

But again, if the goal is how quickly do we get to a point where someone who lives in that neighborhood walks to their own grocery store, um is this uh is this a way to get there that um that that proves this out without this going to a year and the possibility that the project doesn't work out.

I have every faith and confidence that it will, but there's a chance that it won't work out, and now we're right back where we started, and we've been there for years.

Again the project has my support but my consideration is for the thought that I've I've espoused three times now.

So I would uh I would enjoy the opportunity to hear from from my colleagues and chair I'll leave it there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye Sheer Handowitz.

Thank you.

Let's talk a little bit about the letters of intent that we have and legal um letters of intent they're not commitments is that correct I believe I would defer to staff on their interpretation of um what they would consider a letter of commitment.

Council member I can address the question um these letters sometimes call letters of interest sometimes call letters of intent these are a starting point when applying for uh funding uh they are subject to many things being uh completed to to actually go through an underwriting process with the lender to get final commitments um so again this is this is more of a a starting point to get that conversation going with there being multiple deliverables as you I I'm sure you've read the letters and there are several things in there that have to be met.

And there's a reason I mentioned that because a lot of things are conditioned about other conditions about other conditions and so on and so forth whether it's the county the city whatever bottom line is the money is not guaranteed from anywhere I don't see everyone saying if they come through with it versus and they come through with it I mean there is nothing now right now in terms of money right now and the commitments we have are based on contributions that we don't have money for right now 11.16 million from the city and from the county and the credits and when I look at and there are questions asked about the CRA it says here specifically that the request of the money would require the full CRA multifamily funding allocation over the next two years or more years now we're talking about borrowing money to be able to do this and I there is nothing here that guarantees any of this is going to happen and I will say that every year that has passed it's become more and more expensive and these numbers are going to grow they're not going to get smaller.

They're just not so I have a problem with that because when you're talking about the money not being available in the CRA right now this money for the next two years or more would take to just fulfill this and then we're going to borrow money and you're using a lot of that to take care of this that's other projects that are not getting money plus the com we don't have commitments from lenders on this or anything else that guarantees that the other money's coming and that is that is concerning and I had a problem the last meeting we had in 2024 with the option the risk of going into an option delaying this for 18 months I voice those I'm not gonna I'm not gonna reiterate my issues with the option but when I look at this and I understand what people want look people don't like my position under raise I had problems with certain provisions of contracts I mentioned those and it's fine if if people want to go forward on something because they want it to happen but contractual language and commitments and and having funding actually coming really it's not just based on hopes and dreams and I do have concerns I had concerns with the agreement originally and there is nothing here that has been provided that has changed from then to now and that I would like this to however it turns out to succeed but we've spent we have an option for 18 months and it's been 18 months and nothing and I just do not see even from all the documents that are here letters of intent there is nothing here for me that shows that this is gonna happen within the timeframe of another year and then what it sounds like is we're gonna try to borrow money or do other things to actually make it happen.

And that it just it's not there it's not there for me.

So I'm interested to uh to to see what other council members say, but when you're talking about funding for these type of projects, and this is not just the only project, there are other projects in the South St.

Pete CRA and that are after that may be in a point where they're off the ground or not, and in the future, and we don't know.

That's the other thing.

We are talking about things in the future that we don't know are gonna happen.

We have a budget that's coming up that we've already discussed next year that's gonna be we're gonna be worse off, and it's gonna be a tough year next year, and there is no guarantee this money is gonna be there.

So that's all I have to say for now.

Thanks.

Thank you.

So, Chair, if we if we could just uh just a couple comments.

I mean, one, um, just to be clear, we're not here asking for funding today.

Right.

And we can go back and we can work on our strategy on how we might fund different things.

You know, this is for us not much different than when the fairfield development was approved, and then we came back at a later date and and we requested the funding.

Also, I would just say, just to be clear that I did brief council in January of this year on our intent to potentially borrow from the CRA.

So that shouldn't be new news.

And I think Mr.

Corbett and his team recently briefed counsel on that as well.

So we continue to work on that, but we thought that you city council was aware of that approach.

So if that's if that's news to you or a surprise, I apologize.

I didn't, and and to be clear, and if I may share sorry.

Uh, to be clear, it wasn't that it's a surprise to me, it's like we're talking about this project and an option that we have that's towards the end that has not had deliverables, and this idea of that has come up about borrowing money in the context in general, not for a specific project, in general, okay.

I'm having a problem applying that under these circumstances.

If and I'm sorry if I made it seem like I didn't know that you were coming up with that idea, but the reality is that you have that now is being used to push and say, okay, well, then we could use that.

So that's all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Gabbard.

Thank you, Chair.

And um, I have I think my question is specific to the mix of the 60 to 80 percent AMI, because that is certainly, I think, causing some concern over the ability to get county.

Um, so I don't know who on the team on the Sugar Hill team wants to address.

Um, Chair, is it okay if so I guess Mr.

Gross, if if you want to take it and you can always call in back up if you need.

Um, so my question, because we're having this conversation about you can't get county money if there are no 80 percent units that are involved.

But on 1120, there were still 80 percent units according to the backup, and then it was changed to be all 60 percent units.

Why the change, and is this as simple as just switching it back?

To to some degree, um Gross, would you mind just introducing yourself?

Um, forgive me by now, I should have not been fucking next to this.

Uh Oliver Groves, um 8500 Northwest 25th Avenue in Miami.

Um, and um, Mr.

Chair, thank you, and um the commission uh I thank you for the opportunity this afternoon, but to answer your question, uh councilwoman.

Um I think in terms of again when you're talking about affordable housing, and we're talking about in terms of the market that we we uh again target in industry terms, anything below 80 percent and below is still considered affordable housing, and then there's a distinction maybe between affordable and workforce housing.

And generally what happens when you're structuring these deals, you can have a deal that's all 60 percent units, or you can have a unit mix that are 80, 60, and sometimes even lower than that, sometimes even higher than that.

The what the the the caveat is is that they all need to average 60 percent AMI.

And so I think in terms of as we were working in terms of financial engineering the project, looking at those different unit mixes at the end of the day.

So uh again, I think that's the essence, the origin of that into the day.

Um, but you're you're serving again, I think the opportunity, um, and we saw that as not necessarily a bad thing relative to the county um wanting to have the higher AMI units because again, I think as community builders and when we look at revitalizing neighborhoods, I think we've all seen again the results of of just concentrated poverty.

So here's an opportunity for you to deconcentrate poverty with all 60 or below um per AMI units at the end of the day.

So I hope I sort of answered that question.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I mean, philosophically, I think everyone here would like to see units that are targeted towards lower AMIs.

We've had that conversation numerous times.

And so I applaud your efforts at trying to really bring down those rates and making sure that we can serve as many individuals as possible in those lower AMIs.

I applaud that, and actually, I mean I'm really happy to see that that was your intention.

Unfortunately, it's now creating challenges with funding because we need that layer in that stack, and the county has specific rules.

So I'm not even saying that it needs to go back to exactly what it was, but I think a commitment that there can be a different mix that could meet county requirements, recognizing that they are going to require 80 percent.

And I also heard Mark say that if there are more 80 percent units, then that drives down the city subsidy as well.

And so that makes better math, that helps that pencil better, and you know, our housing team's done a really good job at educating city council on how to pencil affordable housing deals.

And so while we we have what we want philosophically, if that doesn't work mathematically and we need to come up with a different mix, I would like to hear your commitment that you that is what you are willing to do.

Well, but that that is our commitment, councilwoman and and to to each of your colleagues.

This is what we do.

Um again, we uh we we see ourselves as community builders.

And so these are not just financial transactions for us at the end of the day.

That which motivates um our involvement in this deal in this particular project is that we see a tremendous transformative opportunity to be a catalyst for the revitalization and redevelopment of the deuces quarter.

Um and so again, those whatever it takes to be able to make that happen, that's what we're in for.

The reality of it is is that affordable housing is a challenge.

It is hard.

We have a saying in our company that hard things are hard, but it does not mean that they are impossible.

And so we have been intentional and deliberate about doing this, and we will continue to do that.

We've spent um um hundreds of thousands of dollars to date as we stand here.

So we have not been idle um for since the the approval that you you you granted us back at at that point.

Jason sort of alluded to some of the things that kind of hindered that process.

Nobody saw the hurricane season coming right after um, relatively right after um the approval.

Um and so we have been intentional about doing those things that that pushes us forward.

The commitments that the councilwoman refers to and that's been alluded to in the presentations, are the same commitments that everybody who does this business at this stage of development gets.

Um we are about to close another transaction about the same amount of money, um, and we don't have what one would call a hard commitment where all of the I's are dotted and T's across almost until the day that it's closing.

My folk are working on that as we speak right now.

That's just the nature of this business.

It's sort of like getting a commitment for a home loan.

At the end of the day, you got a commitment, and there's some things that you need to do as you work through that process.

That is how this works.

Um again, we are committed to it.

Um Councilman Harderwick, um, you know, your your your proposal about 90 days, um, I I appreciate again your desire to want to see this thing move, but again, we're moving in this process just like everybody else who who does this work across the country.

And 90 days just would not work.

Um, and we expect I think it was a uh handout that we had that we weren't able to get to the council that basically outlines in terms of where our next steps are.

We leave it for you to either be able to peruse now or to look at it at a later date, but it says in terms of we project to be able to come out of the ground um in September of this year.

Um the two major components of that.

So just so you you again be able to digest that, as Jason alluded to, the work that they're doing at this point um is being able to get to the finish line with our um drawings that um are then able to be submitted for permitting, because the other thing is that you're not going to close any loan, no matter how hard the commitment is, until you have a set of permitted drawings at the end of the day.

And so that is the other component that we're working on in this whole process that that requires another formidable expenditure of dollars that we are prepared to continue to do at the end of the day.

But this project is moving.

Um I think again it is something that we're gonna all be proud of at the end of the day.

One final question for you.

Um in the backup in the letter from the National Equity Fund where it talks about the project financing the first mortgage uh lender source to be determined.

Has that changed since that letter was written in November 11th?

And that is the commitment that you see from Boston Capital, uh, which would be the first mortgage with that would be the first mortgage.

And and that is part of that whole bond inducement process that uh Mr.

Gerdis um referred to um earlier.

Boston Capitol is a a major player in this market, so it's a national equity fund.

Um, and so those are not commitments that people give lightly um at the end of the day.

Um we've done over a half of uh billion dollars worth of development.

You've never not finished one.

We have at least 300 million dollars in the pipeline as we speak.

We're closing in the next 60 days uh approximately 160 million dollars in financing as we speak, and so um this isn't anything that we are you know just kind of wishing for.

This is what we do every day.

Um so again, just wanted you to have some sense of confidence in terms of not only these esteemed um gentlemen here who represent this community that we're working with, but you have a really good team.

I think these are folk whose reputation speaks for themselves in that which they do.

Well, thank you for the clarification and uh understanding to your point, uh Rob that we are not here to talk about funding today.

We are very clearly here to talk about an extension of an agreement.

And my the last comment that I'd want to make that would be up to the chair.

I I can't let you do that.

The answering questions is is I'm I'm all good with, but I I want to be fair.

And so thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, so I I mean for me, I've sat up here for a very long time and seen a lot of deals come our way, a lot of extensions come through, many times extensions come through, and they're actually asking to reduce the number of affordable housing units.

They're asking for a whole lot more consideration than what we have before us today.

And we have approved them, and these are with development groups that have a lot more bandwidth, a lot more capital, a lot more access, and we approve them.

Yet we're sitting here today potentially thinking that maybe we may not approve this whenever this is a community-led community-grown development group that wants to do right by our city in an area that has been depressed for too long, and so this is pretty cut and dry for me.

Um, when we talk about wanting to do this, see that something happens sooner rather than later.

To me, this is going to be sooner rather than later, because if we stop this and we don't move forward with an extension and we don't give another chance, then you're gonna go right back to the drawing board.

And I think we've seen how long it can take for bids to come forward for RFPs to be done.

I mean, that whole process in itself could be longer than the year that this development group is asking for.

So for me, this is pretty easy.

I wanted to understand more about the financing because I realize we if this gets a pass today, we will be here and we will have to have this conversation about money.

But today, when it comes right down to it, I see no reason why we should not move forward when we truly talk about equity.

Equity should be applied across the board to all developments, and consideration should be given in that equitable manner.

And so I'm happy to vote today for this extension and continue to want to see this prog the progress and this development move forward.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Fixanders.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you all for being here.

And I wanted to listen to what my colleagues had to say.

Um, because I have a lot to say, but I know Chair wants us to keep it tight.

Well, what I am going to say, and I will be remiss if I did not say how many of you all remember Tangerine Towers?

How many of you all remember Laurel Heights?

We gladly tore down affordable housing for the best interest of the community.

But we haven't replaced any of those.

When it comes down to the city of St.

Petersburg, I was on the CAC.

You know, those dollars that were meant to remove blight.

Well, in order to remove blight, seems to me you have to remove hurdles.

You have to remove the struggles.

And I agree to the fact that when I listened to the that that we're going to use St.

Pete CRA money, I saw what some of that money went on.

I saw what a lot of those projects, how they were funded.

It didn't benefit our community.

So it's hard to convince me that it's a struggle for us to find South St.

Pete's CRA funds for something that's going to benefit South St.

Pete.

So when I think about people, how they want to criticize the community for having their hands out.

So I'm looking at the fact that we've had Pinellas County pulled into the conversation.

That's big.

We've had those other commitments, and Sugar Hill has continued to be committed to this project.

You know, some people feel defeated when they don't think it's gonna matter.

But because the mission of this project is as strong as it is and will benefit so many other people in our committee in our community, they have not let go.

And I would have been disappointed had they, extremely disappointed, had they.

Not development, but I'm just talking about the site plan, and we've extended that.

So you're talking what three years, four years, and they haven't gotten as far as Sugar Hill.

Then we look at Edward White.

We've approved three million dollars for St.

Peter Housing Authority that has a whole lot more access to resources than Sugar Hill.

And thank you, um, Councilmember Gabbard for bringing that up.

And we're struggling with an extension, not money, but an extension.

Then I look at the Orange Station, Central Station.

That started back in 2021.

And back in 2020, that was just a plan.

And although it is very needed and very necessary, all we have is a garage.

And so this to me is housing.

I understand the importance of wanting to have growth, we have to have grocery.

I get that.

But to me, this project brings it brings product, it brings housing, it brings the opportunity to close the food desert.

When when I ask myself, community equity, what does that look like?

And it's a fair system where everyone gets what they need to succeed by tailoring resources to overcome historical banners.

We have uh uh referral list items that have been on that list for more than 12 months, things that we've proposed that we haven't even yet talked about.

So before we know it, to me, I I'm 12 months, I would have asked for more because I know what the struggle has been, and so do we.

We know what a struggle looks like when it comes down to these projects, and when you have so many out external um pieces of that puzzle, we know what that looks like, but sometimes we choose to pick and choose.

So I just want us to be mindful that this is an opportunity for that equity to remain an anchor on 22nd Street and 18th Avenue.

Now, if y'all don't get it done, you don't get it done, and then we move on, but it won't be at the request or it won't be for us not allowing equitable opportunity like we did with these other projects, and I'm just asking for us to be equitable because again, like I said, I this is my fifth year.

I've seen projects a whole lot cheaper and a whole lot simpler sit on a list a whole lot longer than 18 months.

So I'm hoping that with that piece of information, and and and thank you, Mayor, for the memo, thank you, uh administrator Girders for having that conversation, and I think Sugar Hill for one to take all 186 units down to 80 percent because one of the biggest conversations that we've had has always been I'm so tired of 120%.

We talked about that so many times, so I just don't want us to forget.

I know today is what Thursday, December 11th, maybe something different next week, but today I want us to mind the fact of the matter is this is an opportunity for us to ten toes down.

If we say that we're committed to equity, then let's do that.

Again, to me, removing blight is removing hurdles.

And again, thank you for making it very clear that this is not about money.

And it's really going to be on the Sugar Hill group to go ahead and make it work.

But I understand that everything that we set out to do, other people are not on the same world as we are, they're not on the same timeline.

And when you partner, you have to do just that.

You have to partner.

And as though we would love for those that we're working with to move like we do, it just doesn't work like that in the real world.

It's not a reality.

And I just don't want us to forget that you're just asking for an extension.

So I think it's easy to hear the fact that I'm gonna support it because I've looked at all the other projects that we have supported.

Um, and I would just think that it would be as we say, equitable to show the same to the project.

Thank you, Chief.

Chair.

Thank you.

Council member Driscoll.

Thank you.

And um thank you to everyone who has spoken today, and um, for those who have sent emails and and reached out in other ways to express um your opinions and your request regarding this decision that that we are um working to make today.

I do have uh I have a couple of questions just to clarify, and this uh Rob would be for you.

Um listening to Jason Jensen was talking earlier and stated that the administration had asked the group to change the development mix to include more housing and a smaller grocery store.

Is that something you can verify?

No, that has not been requested.

It's 10,000 square feet uh of retail space with 3,000 square feet for a grocery store.

Um, the minimum requirement for affordable housing is 115 units per the lease and development agreement.

Okay, it's difficult when you're trying to take everyone's comments into consideration.

Um getting that clarity is important.

Um did the administration receive a copy of the letter of commitment from a grocer that um uh that the mayor mentioned in his letter that a grocer had been secured.

Um that was also mentioned by someone else, and that there was um in the memo from November 26th from administrator corporate, it said that the Sugar Hill group intended to submit a letter of commitment from a grocer.

Do we have a copy of that?

Because it sounds like it's done.

We just we just received the letter.

Why doesn't City Count does did you send it to City Council?

Uh yesterday.

I'm sorry, the letter was received yesterday, and and staff will need to review and we'll provide that information.

So it hasn't been shared with city council.

No, it was just received.

Can you share with us the um contents of the letter?

Anything about it?

Do you have the name of the grocer?

I have not fully uh reviewed the letter.

Um, Taste of the Islands is the grocer that is named in the letter.

No other details.

Okay.

So I so I voted against this agreement the first time around, a year and a half ago, because information that was um provided to us at the time for the agreement, um, did not give me the confidence that um the goals would be accomplished and the requirements would be met.

Um at the time, you know, we were told then a year and a half ago that the agreement was needed in order for the group to get site control because then they'd be able to get the financing and they'd be able to secure a grocer.

And now we're sitting here 18 months later, and we don't see that, and you've got last minute stuff coming in that we haven't even received yet.

Um and I gotta say the way that we've been receiving the information about this and the very, very, very last minute nature of this, and the fact that there are documents that we still haven't received about something that we're being asked to vote on today, it's really not fair that you're even asking city council to take this up right now.

It means and it looks like everything has been thrown together by all sides to get this in front of us because this is the last meeting before the agreement expires.

It's not fair to anyone.

So when you have the financing not secured, when you have a letter that we haven't seen when you have still questions about the housing, when you're talking about borrowing money to help with this, the reasons that I voted against this agreement in June of 2024 are the same reasons that exist today, and it's why I cannot I cannot ex accept or support an extension today.

You guys haven't even gotten it together.

No one has.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to so many of you who've shown up today.

Uh thank you so much to Sugar Hill for taking a chance on Tangerine Plaza.

Uh I know that any time someone is willing to uh take on such an undertaking like this, it is not something that you do lightly um or you take on easily.

So again, thank you so much.

Um I do have some questions.

Um I don't know if this is going to be directed towards administration or to Sugar Hill, but I want to clarify why were there delays.

It's my understanding that there were some changes in project managers.

Um I understand there may have been a hiccup or two with permitting, but can we go on record um to just clarify why this is taken so long?

Well, council member, thanks for the question.

I I would respectfully defer to Sugar Hill to um to comment on any delays that have happened so far.

Yeah.

Yeah, but I'll I'll speak to a few of those items.

Um, the comment regarding the the grocery store size was referring to pre-option, uh, pre-option where there was asked to have uh a larger grocery uh with a lease in place that could not be accomplished until site control, which brought up the site control issue.

So that's a pre uh pre-this particular option standpoint.

The the process, the the affordable housing site plan approval is a pseudo-permitting process.

Uh it's it's robust in the nature uh that it goes through engineering, it goes through different departments and is getting more comments than uh a typical DRC uh submittal.

Uh so it in a way you're you're doing a lot of pre-work uh during that process, and you have to get that approved before you can really get into deep on the construction documents uh because you know, say there's a major change in the exactly where the building is on site, you can't move forward with construction documents.

So when we started directly after the option, we had a we scheduled a pre-submittal meeting directly after that.

We put together a package and was submitted for some reason it was not logged into the system uh for the development and was not issued to the different departments for for review uh from that standpoint.

So hurricanes hit in that same time period after obviously permitting was inundated with work at that point.

We realized we contacted, reached out, we have emails uh contacting, hey, where is this, and and then that came out.

So then we re-engaged the process this year to go through the process, and then it was logged in, and then that started a formal review process, but we lost a few months in that period.

And I appreciate you uh Mr.

Jensen, and that's been my frustration.

Um is you know, we we are expecting uh that developers will come to the table prepared and ready to execute and go vertical.

Um, but what we don't anticipate is that we on our end as a city will not be prepared to do our jobs.

Um and and again, when you have developments like this of such a large scale, it's important to recognize that you all are depending on us to follow through.

So if there was a failure on our part to upload documents to review permitting or plans, uh again, that is something that I think should be clearly spelled out.

Council member, I can respond to that uh if if you may, if I may.

Um so yes, there was a site plan approval submittal on I believe December 26th of 2024.

And then within days while we were out on v on holiday, uh I was informed by Ahmad Zachary, who was the original project manager and who submitted that that uh site plan approval that he had left newer uh new urban development and was moving on to a different role.

So I after the holidays, I reached out to the Sugar Hill Group team to say to say that hey, this had been submitted.

Um were they behind it?

Did they were, you know, is this still a good site plan to submit for approval.

I was told at that time in January that they were in fact making changes to the site plan, uh, significant changes which have actually occurred since that time.

There's been a reorganization of the buildings on the site and some other changes.

So I explained that I I couldn't move forward with the site plan approval until I had a valid site plan to support that.

Um they were in the process of looking for someone to replace uh Mr.

Zachary to lead the project, and I think that happened around, or at least I was informed of it in about March time frame.

Um, and we had some conversation about the fact that you know the previous submitted site plan apparently did not align with the the plan development that was confirmed and uh was told that they were working on that new design would get it to me as soon as possible.

That was provided on July, I think it was 17th of 2025.

It was resubmitted with a new site plan and uh all of the backup data that matched that site plan.

Um and then we processed accordingly, uh as Aaron Fish mentioned earlier.

It was submitted on July 17th.

We provided uh the initial response uh on July 31st and additional comments and responses in early August.

Since that time, uh we've provided you know quick and timely responses to uh submitted information.

Um in the past uh 30 to 60 days, they uh Sugar Hill Group has worked on responding to a number of comments from various departments in the city regarding the site plan, and at last uh check, there was still at least one outstanding uh comment or question from our water resources department that remained to be answered in order to be able to provide you know the site plan approval letter.

So there was a delay, but uh it was due to the fact that what was submitted in December, uh I was told on no uncertain terms was not going to be the final site plan, and it doesn't behoove anybody to circulate a site plan that is not valid with backup information that does not match what ultimately was submitted as the site plan for that project.

So I just want to clarify for the record how I appreciate that.

Thank you, Mr.

Can I follow up on just to follow up?

Sure.

Uh just to get a follow-up.

The the object is not not to say that anybody misstepped.

The object is to say that this is the process, the the permitting process.

If it if this wasn't a site plan approval, a regular permitting process, we have regular projects going through permit that are in permit 10, 12 months, depending on the complexity of the project.

You know, so it absolutely there's it's a normal part of the process.

What I'm saying is that the project has been dedicated to getting across the finish line on all those aspects.

There was a hiccup from the architect standpoint.

We thought it was in review and it would be a revision to that review, and the timeline would continue.

So that's where the disconnect uh comes into that on the level of change whether you start the review or not.

Uh but nobody that this is just to say it's a normal part of the process, and this part of the process takes a long time.

Thank you, and I appreciate that.

And I'm not doing commercial housing developments of this scale every day.

So this helps me sort of better understand how we got to where we are to this point, and that was the reason I was asking.

But I just want to stress the importance of you know, accessibility, accountability, punctuality, um, response rate, you know.

Obviously, if we were to move forward with this extension, there's some shoestrings we got to tighten, right?

Some things we got to get right.

And whether it's on our side as a city or on your side as a developer, I just want to make sure the communication is in place so that way we as council members don't have to ask or you don't have to ask, where is this?

Where are we?

Um, I can remember in July, sending an email asking for an update because it had been months since I had heard anything.

And I'm grateful that you all were willing to come to the table and speak to me in August and get me caught up to speed.

Um, but there were some things like I said that were brought to light that concerned me.

Um, one of those things was the grocer, and this has been brought up, and I'm glad that we've gone on record to talk about who they are.

I've been a patron of Taste of the Islands pretty much my whole life.

Um, but I do have concerns about whether or not that grocery will be able to perform at this site.

We know reasons why Sweet Bay and Walmart did not fail, right?

There's a reason the market just not did it didn't support those grocery retailers, and so we really have to get creative with the model that we're introducing here.

Um so I want to know uh a couple of questions.

One, what is um the current square footage of Taste of the Islands produce grocery store that they have?

Because I understand that they're operating right now for 34th Street and 22nd.

Can you kind of give me an idea of how long they've been operating and how what the size is of that uh square footage?

Pastor Murphy could probably tell you or or Mr.

Binger in terms of how long they've been operating, but I can say to you, uh, Councilman, that in terms of the size of their current store is probably somewhere close to about 3,000 square feet.

Um, again, as I said to you, and and and please, Mr.

Chair, um, again, in terms of how we approach and look at these projects again as as a community revitalization project, one that provides an opportunity for folk to be able to kind of augment and to self-actualize as a business.

And so we see again, in terms of why taste of the island, it's a community centric business.

The community is familiar with it.

It they've already demonstrated that there is market acceptance, and here is an opportunity for them to augment their business model.

Um, and so we thought that again, when you when when again when you look at that that holistic approach and community development, that they would be an ideal candidate uh for that space.

And again, as you said a little earlier, um, by now, um, and we'd had a host of conversations with other major grocers, um, regional grocers, and the market just wasn't jumping up and down about a grocery at the end of the day.

So those are the realities uh of it.

Um, generally, when we're doing mixed use projects, um, we're not asked to identify in a user at that particular point in the development process.

Notwithstanding that, that was okay.

Again, as I said, we believe in what we're doing at the end of the day.

So thank you.

Uh Roy Binger, 1120 North Shore Drive.

Well, first, um, Commissioner Harding, congrats for the good burger.

We were missed if I didn't say that yesterday.

Thank you, right.

Oh, somebody's stealing my thunder.

It was an announcement.

Uh I've been around probably over 10 years at least.

Um, they just opened up a second store in Port Charlotte called Coronation Market.

Uh, it's uh Jamaican Heritage.

Um, Leo Anderson and his family right now are supporting what happened, the hurricane in Jamaica and just a tremendous family.

But we, and I think Oliver mentioned it, we've been working power pursuit with other grocers trying to find the right mix.

And the attitude that uh we took, which I applaud from the team, was we had taste development is now and the capacity of where he is now.

It's a perfect example of how you can take an entrepreneur, minority-owned business, move them to a brand new complex, the leases for three years, five years or two five-year options, 99,000 first year, and support them.

We talked with the uh St.

Pete Free Clinic, and they have a capacity to help um provide some uh lower cost funds to help the flood alone fund can assist.

Foundation for health to St.

Pete is able to assist.

So we we will help Leo and his family along with the greenhouse to how to scale up your business, and here will be a success story.

Hope that answers your question directly.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

And and you know, I've I brought this up before in my conversations with you all.

Um, I've mentioned this before in the sunshine.

You know, uh I can't ignore the elephant in the room, positive impact.

Um, they have had a model that has been successful there at that site.

Now, granted, I've heard people say we don't need handouts, but I've said it before, I don't see what they're doing as a handout but a hand up.

So if there is a model similar to that, you mentioned it, the St.

Pete Free Clinic or feeding Tampa Bay or whatever.

I I just want us to be open to different concepts moving forward.

Should this agreement be extended?

I I do not think that a traditional grocery store model will work there, nor do I think that a grocery store that has not had a track record of operating and succeeding at that location, like other partners have.

I I just want to know if there's an opportunity for us to explore other options.

Good evening, honorable counsel.

Brother Lewis L.

Murphy, senior 2551 Tropical Shores Drive Southeast.

Oh Councilman Gibbons, thank you so very much for those questions.

Let me just say that Pastor Brubake and I go back years.

We've worked uh hand in hand on uh spiritual matters as for seven by seven.

Um we've had conversation this morning.

I'm very grateful and thankful for that.

We're going to be uh meeting after this.

Uh after whatever the council does, we will still be, we will meet and talk about how we can support each other in doing what we are doing.

She's doing a great work in the community.

It's needed.

Uh the vision of where we're trying to go.

This is a starting point, a bookend, a revitalization of the deuces of that corridor.

And we're excited about it.

We know that we can do it.

You've heard the facts.

Some of them you may not fully understand.

I hit other folks have their thoughts and whatever about it.

But we've been in the trenches for a long time.

We're committed to our community.

We a vested.

Our objective is to bring about an effective change within that community.

Not only through economic development, social, educational, spiritual.

And we've been there over 97 years.

I've been there for the past 26 years in that capacity, but in so many other capacities in this city.

Council, I came here in 1976.

And March, and your Festival of States Parade.

And I said, I ain't never coming back to St.

Pete.

Old people, now I'm old.

Green benches and pigeons.

But for whatever reason, the good Lord sent me back here in 1986 after serving our country and the United States Marines.

We know what we're doing.

We're committed to what we're doing.

We've seen the development downtown St.

Pete.

I work for the St.

Pete Housing Authority, St.

Petersburg Times, Florida Power Corporation in the procurement department.

I know how our dollars are spent and how they are not spent.

So please, I say to the council, help us get across this finish line.

Thank you.

Thank you, Pastor, and I appreciate you bringing up the work that you were doing at Mount Zion.

Uh, because that's the type of work that I want to see replicated there on the corner of the deuces in 18th Avenue.

Um, I would love to see personalized support and job training, uh, workforce housing, you know, what you all have done at your church, I definitely think that model could be replicated there.

Um, I I do think that we are maxing out the number of housing units.

Um I I would like to see that number decrease if possible, um, because I think you all may be taking on a little bit too much when it comes to that.

Um, I would love to know, um, and I think another council member brought this up earlier, but I didn't really get a definitive answer.

Um, if you're willing to make that adjustment um so that we can have a mix that includes that 80% AMI to greatly reduce that public subsidy because that is a concern for me is how much we are gonna have to cough up out of taxpayer funds.

Um so I just want to know is that something that we're willing to agree to now, or you know.

I'm sorry, Mr.

Girls, you're gonna have to come to the microphone.

Yeah, thank you.

Sorry.

No worries, no worries.

I didn't get my job again this morning.

Um, Councilman, I I don't think that that's something that we can agree to today.

Um, but I think we heard you, and this is again as I said, just part of the iteration of this business in terms of financial engineering at the end of the day.

And so we just need to know in terms of what the variables, what what what are the benchmarks that we're trying to shoot for, and then you you try to model your deal to be able to make those things work at the end of the day.

So um that's just been our again, I think our position from the outset.

Um, as I said to you earlier, um, it's not normal in in terms of doing deals where you have to identify a vendor for your commercial components at this stage of development.

Um, but again, having accepted that again, uh hearing what was important to the council, what was important to the community, uh, we're trying to get it done at the end of the day.

And and again, I think the most important thing, and I'll leave it at this, Mr.

Chair, is that the thing that has really pleased us despite the the ebbs and flows, is that there is, and we do sense that there is a commitment, a want to for the the council and this city to get this project done.

Thank you.

And while you're there at the mic, if you don't mind, um what's gonna happen differently this time if you are to be approved for the extension.

Well, well, it's not nothing that's happening differently.

We we're just continuing as uh again through this process.

I said to um you a little earlier, where we are in this process, other than the the the ebbs and flows and those things that are bottlenecked the processing from the time.

These projects take time at the end of the day, but where we are as it relates to financing is where anybody in this process would be.

Um and and you know, in terms of getting the LOIs, that's all that folk have when they're applying for tax credits, um bonds, um, councilman.

It it that's all you have.

It and and I and I can't stress that enough.

That is all you have until the point where you get to what they call credit underwriting and you're beginning to close a deal.

And that's normally the last 60 or 90 day days of that process.

You've got about 30 or 40 people on a call or in a room in a meeting trying to close the deal at the end of the day.

And by that point, we would have spent um well into seven figures at the end of the day.

And but we're where we are right now, we're just continuing to push the ball forward at the end of the day.

And so again, the the other elephant that was in the room in terms of where we are with the city and the county, um, that was based on some conversations that we had had based on what had been the prior experiences of the city relative to their commitment for project from a dollar standpoint.

And so when you take 186 units and multiply it by 50,000 a door, that's the number you come up with, and that's what we thought was the number that would be available.

If there's some issues that have we have to deal with relative to doing that, we're gonna deal with that at the end of the day.

We just need to know what we're dealing with.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

And what about my last question?

I think it's probably an administrative question.

Um, I remember being here in July of last year, and there was promise made, I guess that's the word to use to help positive impact find a temporary location or an alternative site.

Um can we speak to if that has been done and if we've identified some possible locations for them?

We have not yet uh found uh uh alternate location.

The con the conversation we had in July is as we get closer to uh this wrapping up and the the lease ending or their use of that property ending, we would be committed to finding a property at this point.

There is no need to relocate them, but we are still committed to that.

Thank you for that, Mr.

Corbett.

I appreciate it.

And lastly, you know, the last thing I want to do is see this train get derailed.

Um I want to see it through to fruition.

Um, but at the same time, I have expectations and I have concerns.

I think I've been very vocal about those, and we've had an opportunity to talk those out.

And um, I'm excited to see where we go from here.

So thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you.

Uh I just wanted to ask a question of administration, give my thoughts.

First, I'll say, sorry, I didn't mean to get us caught up on the subsidy part of the conversation.

I was just trying to get clarity.

Um, but uh, you know, this is a question that I ask of most projects like this.

So if this were to get denied today, uh what would administration's path forward be?

Would it be uh I mean I assume going back to the drawing board, deciding what needs to be done at the site, putting out RFPs, bid process, all of that.

Uh yeah, I see you're shaking your own.

Yeah, we would have to discuss it internally, and we'd want to discuss with city council members, but I think it would surely be a process going forward with something different.

Yeah.

And I ask to get that understanding because uh I think it's been brought up here before.

Uh, you know, this is uh a place where we want to see something done sooner rather than later.

The whole corridor really, that's been a huge part of the conversation.

And when we've had other um things brought to us, uh developments brought to us uh in this corridor and without uh that can often be part of the conversation.

And and look, I didn't support the last thing that we had going over here for financial reasons.

Um but the same arguments were made about like wanting to see something done, and there was a lot of uh the perception of a lot of missteps on the way to get there, but now it's happening, and even though I didn't support it, I'm glad to see it uh actually moving forward.

Uh this one I don't have financial qualms with because the numbers that you've given us are very reasonable uh in the scheme of things.

So um I'm looking at this through the lens of you know these other development projects.

It was mentioned in the memo, uh Councilmember Fig Sanders mentioned it.

This is actually not an abnormal process at all what we're going through right now.

Uh so I'm looking at it through that lens, but I wanted to make sure I understood like what how long it would take and what the uh difference would be.

I mean, we could be looking at a year from now, we're just getting to a contract with someone else who may ask us for if we weren't to move this forward, who knows how long it could be before we could even get to a contract with someone else.

So uh I just want to put that out there so that people know that um you know there's there's nothing super easy about any of this, and we can't snap our fingers and get it done.

Um that's all I have.

I just wanted to put that out there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Harding.

Thank you, Chair.

I appreciate the the uh input of my colleagues.

The uh as you listen, I think you can find that this this is uh this vote is split at some level, and uh and so I come back to the thought that and I appre appreciate and understand Mr.

Gross's thoughts on the the being longer than a year, but what we're here today today to decide is really just a list of uh of an extension for a list of five things.

And um, and it seems like some of the boxes are already checked.

And really what's left uh aside from identifying partners to work with, uh, which may or may not have been done already, but I'm sure is in the works, is the uh it is the commitment to funding.

That's really the piece that's left.

My assumption, I could be wrong, but my assumption is that's in the works and and in order for this project to really start that that we need to get to that level in the next 90 days.

So I I offer uh I offer a third option between yes and no for what we're looking at now.

And um, and although I'm short on procedure, we have smart people at the other end of this oval or this uh this day that I sit on, and I would uh I would I would uh I would like to make a motion that we amend this from a year to 90 days.

You you can do that, council member.

The it would essentially be amending the resolution um in the manner that you just stated.

We'll see if that's uh that's a happy middle ground.

Okay.

Uh does he need to restate the motion or is you okay there?

Are we I mean I'm I'm okay if everybody else is is clear.

Um Councilmember Harding, did you have anything else?

That's it.

Thank you, Chair.

Okay.

Councilmember Gabbard.

Legal, if that were to fail, could we go back to the original?

Yes.

Okay.

I just wanted to make sure.

Thank you.

Councilmember Givens.

Um I don't want to do too much back and forth, but legal, perhaps you can give me some direction on this.

I don't know if council member Harding would be open to a friendly amendment to his motion.

Um, but I'd like to go from 90 days to six months.

I'm just putting that out there.

Um, but again, that's just a suggestion.

Thank you, Chair.

I'd be willing to do that.

So did are you are you making that friendly amendment?

Or are you are you proposing that friendly amendment?

And then Councilmember Harding, are you accepting?

I accept.

Okay.

We don't have second.

Yeah, no, we don't have a second yet, but I I I just wanted to make sure procedurally we were in a good place.

You could I I mean it's fine.

What council member givens did?

Yep.

Okay.

So now the motion uh it essentially council member Harding just revised his motion per uh councilmember given's uh suggestion.

Okay.

Councilmember Floyd.

Um thank you, Chair.

Uh so I I uh see and agree to an extent with where this is coming from, but um I just now I feel like it's it requires a deeper conversation about like what uh metrics we're using if we're changing to such a short time frame, if we want to stick with just accomplishing all of the things that are listed, then that's fine.

That's what it sounds like for now.

Uh you're getting a stream of consciousness right now, I think, because it's just all changed so quickly.

Yeah, but uh I guess you know, um when it was three months, my thinking was we had heard from the development group that they couldn't do three months, so we might as well just vote no on the extension.

So I mean, I guess I'll give the them a chance to tell us what they think about six months, but it could be the very same position.

So I don't know if you all want to come up to the podium and just and uh while they're deliberating administration.

Let me ask, uh the option for a one-year extension was in the original contract.

Am I correct?

I see it was in the original agreement of a maximum of 12 months extension at council sole discretion.

A maximum of 12 months at council sole discretion.

Okay, all right.

Um so you know, to me, it sounds like they're uh attempting to execute what was contractually given to them, like we wrote in the contract that they could come ask us for a year, and uh, but it does say at council's discretion in terms of where we believe we will be in a year, um, we can't get there, councilman, in three months or six months at the end of the day.

Um and what we're trying to get to is not just being able to honor those things in the option that takes us and and help me, Mr.

Corbett.

If I'm Mr.

Grizzly, if I'm wrong, in terms of being able to get to that point where we're exercising a lease, is that we're trying to get to the point where we've got a shovel in the ground.

And uh the document that we were um again late in getting to you you get a chance to review it, you'll see the timelines in terms of the next steps.

But if what we're seeing, and I want to be clear about this, councilwoman, right?

And when we talk about the financing commitments, which is that that piece that's really missing at the end of the day in this whole process in terms of what we don't have or the commitments from the city and the county.

Okay, I I'll just say I'm I appreciate you uh providing some info.

I just wanted to hear you say, Oh, yeah, we think we could do it in six months or not, and I hear that you're saying no, you you will need more time, and actually it sounds like from administration that they would need more time to get their end of it uh done as well.

And so I feel like that puts it into context that it's like we give them a six-month extension, they say they can't do it.

We might as well just vote no on the extension period right now.

Uh so um I I'll just I'll leave it there.

Uh thank you.

Okay.

Um so here's where I'm at on your motion, Councilman Councilman Harding.

I appreciate what you're trying to accomplish.

I also one, we've heard that they don't think it's viable.

Two, the original contract that was approved had the 12-month extension in it, and so it makes me feel like we're trying to change the contract at which we approve originally approved and both parties agreed to.

I struggle with that.

Uh and so um that that's where I am there.

Here's the deal.

I'm I'm gonna try to be I'm gonna try to be efficient and quick.

First of all, uh Councilwoman Gabbard, I thought I literally I wanted to echo everything that you said, and so uh I thought you put it very well.

Here here's here's just kind of my two take.

You've heard me multiple times uh talk about starting over.

I don't like delays, but I hate starting over worse.

And so that that's what we would be doing here.

And if and to be honest with you, in the in the grand scheme of projects in the city, if we're willing to do six months, it should be the same for 12.

Because when you look at pro we just put a shovel in the ground at Pelican Place, that was five years in the making.

And so I I just don't I don't see it.

We we approved a contract that had a the possibility of a 12-month extension.

It just seems like that's where we should be.

Here's the deal, right?

Progress takes patience and persistence in the city.

It's like driving the Titanic, you gotta do it at one degree at a time.

It doesn't turn on a dime.

And so it's to turn that ship around is way more than to keep it going forward.

Uh I would also very much agree with um Councilwoman Fix Sander's comments about um that equity in projects.

And so, you know, this group uh for for a long time has been trying to get this done.

And I think again, in the grand scheme, as you look at other projects, and I know it's been said already that frankly, this is still not a lot of time when you're talking about an organization and a move like this.

And so council member Harding, I I totally appreciate what you're trying to accomplish, but I think at the end of the day, if the spirit is we want this group to get it done, then we should be getting it done in the timeline that they've set in front of us, which they think is 12 months.

And I and I and that's I'm I I think that's where it's at.

So at this point, I haven't heard a second.

So that motion dies for fail of a second.

Move approval of the resolution.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on F three.

Seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please any of your votes.

Seeing it's all present, council members have voted.

Clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item F3 passes.

Please, please, please, please, please, please.

Council members Driscoll and Hanowitz voting no, and Council members Vic Sanders, Floyd, Gabbard, Gurtis, Givens, and Harding voting yes.

Okay, thank you.

All right, we're gonna move, we're gonna move into H1, uh excuse me, G1 new business.

Councilmember Harding.

Hold on just one second, Councilmember.

We're gonna give everybody a minute to we're gonna give everybody a minute to um leave chambers.

Sorry about that.

Who worries?

Thank you.

No, not right.

You're gonna have street view of my facial.

Oh, don't think you gotta go act in.

Could you please close the doors?

I know, but they're not picking up.

Do not make that.

It ain't just fell apart right after you talk.

Knock on water.

All right, council member G1, new business.

Thank you, Chair.

Respectfully requesting referral to the budget finance and taxation committee for a discussion on a budget stress test based on potential state legislation eliminating property taxes for homestead assets.

This discussion should identify the impact of property taxes on the city of St.

Petersburg's budget.

The discussion should also include core competencies that must remain fiscally intact as well as programs that would be uh that would need to be reduced or eliminated in the event of state legislation passing.

And uh and uh to be clear, I am this is not about uh the state and what the state may or may not do.

I'm not interested in in regards to this new business item.

I really am interested in just what do we do in the event, and this is a good opportunity to stress test uh to stress test the budget.

If not the state imposing changes, then the next disaster or whatever it is.

Um but I think it's a good exercise for us to go through if uh in if the state passes this and we lose 60 plus million dollars in uh in uh budget revenue, then we're gonna have to make some choices, and I think it's uh prudent at this point for us to at least talk about it.

Um thank you, Chair.

So moved.

Okay, Councilmember Gabbard.

I just want to thank you, Councilmember Harding for putting this on.

Um it's funny after this agenda came out and your item was on the ads and deletes.

Um, somebody had actually asked me has the city looked at what they're gonna do.

And I said, Well, funny enough, we have a new business item.

So thank you so much um for putting this forward.

I think it's uh very forward-leaning, and I appreciate that.

So look forward to supporting it.

Thank you, Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you.

Uh I'll just say real quick, similar to Councilmember Gabbard.

Well, actually, first when I saw this, I was like, I I got frustrated because the conversation around property taxes frustrated me in general.

And um for all that we know, they might just say a bunch of things and do nothing.

Uh I will say one thing it says uh in the event of state legislation passings.

I was under the impression that something like this was gonna be a ballot question uh as well.

So yeah.

Okay, I was not aware at the time.

Yeah, okay.

I don't think it's a big deal.

I just figured I'd mention it.

Um but having said that, you know, it's gonna be a ballot question and it's gonna be something that the state representatives and senators vote on.

Uh I think this is a useful uh exercise not just for us.

I know you didn't, you're looking at it as a useful exercise for us, but uh I think it's you know useful exercise for people to actually have the information, be armed with the information, the broader public to know what it would look like if something like this were to go on.

And so uh after my initial revulsion because I just don't like the the what the conversation's been at the state level.

Um I realize I I thought about it, and yeah, this is a really good new business item, so I appreciate you for it.

Thank you, Chair, and like uh Councilmember Gavard and Councilmember Floyd, I was thinking the same thing, and I've already actually had started having those conversations with people in in my district.

I I wrote a newsletter, I started explaining what the potential impacts were if we lost funding, and I think it's critical for us as not just the city to have this conversation at BFNT, but for all of us to start engaging everyone in our respective areas because somebody received my newsletter and they were like, Why isn't this on the news?

Um the majority of people do not understand the huge impact it would have on them personally and their level of service that they would receive from the city.

So I think having those conversations earlier rather than later is probably is crucial.

So thank you.

Thank you.

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

There's 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 G1 passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

We're gonna move into council committee reports.

Councilman Floyd, thank you.

Uh I have the honor of presenting you today with uh uh an attached resolution.

Uh and I'm respectfully requesting city council approval of a resolution to support the de-annexation of the Lincoln Cemetery from the city of Gulfport.

I'll move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Councilmember Givens.

Thank you, Chair.

I just want to thank you so much, Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you, Councilmember Driscoll uh for bringing this forward.

I really think this moves this council in the right direction on a unified accord.

Um we're trying to do the right thing and to make right the pass wrong.

So thank you so much.

I appreciate it, Chair.

Thank you.

Okay, we have a motion and a second on H1A.

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 tell you announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item H1A passes unanimously.

Okay, thank you.

All right, we're gonna move right into public hearings.

We have J1.

Clerk, could you please read the title?

An ordinance modifying the capital improvement 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.

Adopt and fund summaries for the general capital improvement fund 3001, bicycle slash pedestrian safety improvements fund 3004, citywide infrastructure fund 3027, recreation and cultural capital fund 3029, multimodal impact fees, capital improvement fund 3071, downtown park and 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 for the fiscal years 2026 through 2030, adopting the FDOT district seven's adopted five-year work program for the fiscal years 2025 slash 26 and 2029 slash 30, providing for several ability and providing for an effective date, and we do not have any cards on this.

Okay, council members, we got uh welcome, Britain.

We got this uh during first reading, but there was a change to slide six.

Uh unless unless somebody wants the full presentation, I thought we'd just go to slide six where there was a change made on a request from Vice Chair Hanowitz, and then um we can go from there.

How's that, Britain?

Yeah, sure.

Excellent.

Um good evening, um, Council members Britton Wilson City Planner, and I do want to apologize for the very long ordinance title.

Can't control that.

So let's see, it went too far.

Yep.

So for um the 2024 facility capacities, um the city's potable water facilities are operating with 40% available capacity.

The sanitary sewer uh typically has a base system-wide available capacity of 50%.

But with the three storms last fall of Debbie, Helene, and Milton, which contributed to stormwater infiltration, the system did very well and still operated with 30% available capacity.

Solid waste has 18 percent collection capacity, and stormwater is an outlier as it's not population dependent, and development must be compliant with city and water management district regulations, and rec and open space has almost twice the amount of available area than the adopted LOS of nine acres per 1,000 people.

And uh we do have subject matter experts here from these departments tonight that can speak to the available capacity in more detailed if requested, but in general, uh capacity of these facilities can be extended or expanded upon as a population slowly grows, which is why we monitor this annually in order to plan for new development and population growth.

And with that, staff recommends a finding of consistency with a comprehensive plan and recommends approval of the annual capital improvement settlement update.

Thank you.

Thanks so much, Brittany.

Vice Chair Hanowitz.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh, thank you, Brittany, for adding that uh slide.

And thank you for pointing out there are some subject matter experts here because I knew I was gonna ask some questions about it.

I know Claude has attended some of my neighborhood meetings where we've covered this.

Um, and the things that I I really want to touch upon is um and and Claude, you've done this so many times.

Um, but first of all, just talk about where you see our available capacities and how you feel about where they are.

Um, and then also touch a little bit about the stormwater and why there isn't a level, you know, the level of service, and I I know here it says not population dependent, but there are there's also some other things with the stormwater.

Sure.

So thank you, Claude Tankersley Public Works Administrator, thank you for the question, the opportunity to talk about this again.

So we are very fortunate in St.

Pete in that our utilities, our water and sewer utilities were developed at a time when there was high water usage, and they assumed that we would always have high water usage, but we're such a conserving community that we have cut back on our water usage significantly in the decades, which means that we've been able to add population without necessarily adding additional um flows to the system.

Um when you look at the population in 2007 versus now, the population increased, but our our actual water and sewer usage stayed roughly the same.

Um we are uh if if you if you look at only the population induced uh usage of our water and sewer system, we we have a significant amount of availability in our sewer system.

It's about we our our average daily uh capacity is 56 million gallons per day during the dry season when we don't have any inflow and infiltration, which means it's it's only you know population uh usage.

We're we're seeing 28, 29 million gallons a day, 30 million gallons a day during this during this past month, past two months, uh October and November of this year, we were seeing 28 million gallons a day because it was so dry.

Um and then on the water side, our capacity at the plant is is roughly 62 million gallons per day, and we are again using about 30, 30 million gallons a day on average.

Um we have plenty of capacity in the system to build in for population growth.

Now, the question might be well, why do we need to continue to spend money on our systems?

It's because the systems are old and we do need to update them.

And then the other thing with the stormwater, and it says it's not population dependent, and I know we've covered this before.

Um, in um the level of service that is adopted is existing conditions, and it's due to the backlog of our stormwater drainage system improvements.

And if you can just talk about that because obviously the investments were extremely low, and we've ramped up those investments uh in the last few years, and I think that's what's happening.

You're trying to get to the investment necessary in that system.

Correct, that is correct.

And and the system is not population-based, it's based off of um the impervious area, and we can sometimes increase the population without necessarily increasing the impervious area.

So the simplest way I like to describe this is if you take a two-story apartment complex that might have 50 units, and you replace it with a 10-story uh uh complex with with uh 500 units.

Um, as long as the footprint is the same, you're not gonna generate any additional stormwater.

And and the the point to the existing conditions is our level of service that the intention is that we don't we don't increase the amount of stormwater that we are generating through our impervious service areas.

That's why we have the tiered rates uh the tiered rates for the stormwater.

That's why for large developments, they have to provide uh on-site or remediation of the extra storm water that they may generate.

That's that that's under the city code as well as the code from Swift MUD.

Um, and so the the what's changed really that that is caused perhaps our stormwater systems to behave differently now than they used to is the environment.

And the environment has changed, and so the the point where the stormwater may discharge where in the past they may be it may be discharging into a uh high tide of maybe one foot, now it's discharging to a high tide of two feet, which means it's slower to get out there.

And so the the work we are looking to do over the the next decades or so on our stormwater system is to accommodate and adjust for the changed environment.

I appreciate that.

Um I know we've had those conversations and meetings, and that everyone is always very appreciative of understanding.

I I can't count the number of emails I've received, and people are like if you stop building in downtown, I wouldn't be flooding here on where it, you know, it could be on the west side or the north side, and it has literally nothing to do with the flooding in their area, but somehow those dots have been connected, and in their mind, it's like and they're the reason why I'm flooding, and it's other issues, and that's why I just I think it's always good to have this conversation at City Council.

So for whoever is listening.

Thank you, Claude.

Councilmember Goward.

Thank you, Chair, and uh I'm not sure who can answer this, or maybe this is a follow-up for another time.

Um, but thank you first, uh, Council Vice Chair Hanowitz for putting having this slide put in.

Um, because I appreciate the call out specifically on the solid waste.

Um, obviously, I mean that you know has a lot to do with Pinellas County and um their waste energy facility.

But recycling is taken into account in the backup.

But I wanted to know if this 18% on solid waste takes into account the ability for collection at the recycling center, or how is that all taken into consideration?

I do calculate and that does um account for the recycling as well.

And so on the city side, the city's only responsible for collection.

The county does also have their own level of service standard, which is the same as the cities, is 1.25, but the city doesn't measure there.

So they have they exceeded their LOS this year, partly because of the storms and the excessive um debris that was collected.

Whereas our collection rate went down a little bit because a lot of what was taken away was done by contractors, so the city didn't account for that.

Okay.

Yeah, I mean, maybe that's a conversation for a deep dive at a later date, um, just because I mean, there was an article whenever they changed their um contractor recently about kind of the useful life of that facility and all of the different, you know, level of service as you mentioned, and so I'm sure there will be impacts to us at some point in time as they look at increasing their level of service.

So maybe that's a conversation for further downright.

Um, but really I was more interested in specifically the recycling, um, just because that does live within our purview um right there.

And I think it was probably the one of the first things that I ever annoyed Rob about whenever I was first selected was the blight of the recycling.

And you know, I every time I drive by the wall, I thank thank Rob Gurdis for putting that wall up there so that we could hide that.

But I mean, there are times when it gets pretty robust, and so just kind of understanding what the future of that might look like.

Um, I think might be a conversation we might want to revisit at some point.

And council member, that's not our recycling processor any longer.

Oh, okay.

Um I was aware of that.

Yeah, so you approved a different contract in the last year or so.

Um and our recycling processor is we do a lot of stuff, right?

Outside of the county.

Okay, so what is happening there at that facility now?

At the facility that we did have a contract, it's still a recycling processor, they're just not our recycling processor.

Okay, okay.

They didn't win the contract bid.

So there is someone like other entities are utilizing that still.

I would assume so since it's still in business.

Okay, okay.

So we could have a separate conversation if there's codes related issues.

Yeah, yeah, I'd like to understand what's happening.

I think that makes me even more concerned now.

So okay, very good.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh do we have yep, thank you.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and second on J one.

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, please clerk, please tell and announce the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item J1.

Passes unanimously.

Okay, we're gonna go to J2.

Could you please read the title?

And ordinance of the city of St.

Petersburg, Florida, amending chapter 17.5, Article 6 of the City Code related to affordable housing site plan approval, amending section 17.5-11 related to applicability criteria, providing for several and providing for an effect date, and we do not have a cards on this.

Okay, thank you.

Sure, welcome.

All right, thank you.

Good evening, Derek Kilborn, Director of Planning.

Uh this particular presentation is one that does very, very similar to the one I gave back uh over the summer, you'll recall at the Housing Land Use and Transportation Committee.

Um from that discussion, there were some questions that led to some cleanup of the language and clarification.

But essentially, what you have is uh what we commonly refer to as Senate Bill 1730 that was memorialized as chapter 2025-172 in Florida law, and so this particular application is intended to take those state preemptions and allowances and incorporated into our city code chapter 17.5.

So specifically on this table here, you can see just a timeline and history of some of these state actions and how the city has responded in kind on the timeline.

Um, starting back with House Bill 1339 in 2020.

And I think this particular bill is an important one to point out because at that time that bill did allow for housing on institutional properties, which included churches and schools, which are typically classified institutional.

Um, as we move through the Live Local Act and Live Local Act update, the opportunity to do or consider projects on institutional categories was taken away.

So with the last legislative session in 2025, there was a lot of new discussion about considering how affordable workforce housing could be considered on uh church owned properties, and that was uh a big part of the discussion this past year, and it's a big part of what is being recommended here today as part of this uh proposal.

Uh with regards to the religious owned properties, uh oftentimes people use the acronym YIGB, uh, which stands for yes in God's backyard.

So you may have heard that term.

That seems to be the one point that is generating the most uh comments, and and from what we have seen so far, supportive comments.

So just quickly, um, what this uh includes are several bullet points reflecting the state uh changes.

Um first, this particular set of changes talks about where projects may be allowed, and it came up with uh some new descriptions of what our mixed use categories based on that.

We needed to amend our language to include references to our corridor commercial traditional corridor commercial suburban, but also our corridor residential traditional and corridor residential suburban.

And so that's what this ordinance does.

The second thing is uh as I just described to you, including language that um allows these religious institutions and church-owned properties to consider affordable workforce housing.

Um, my understanding is that if this particular ordinance is adopted tonight, that St.

Petersburg would be the first uh municipality in the state of Florida to incorporate this into its city codes.

The third bullet point uh talks about changes to how impervious surface needs to be considered and also relating to building heights.

And as uh after these particular slides, we also have the strike through underline queued up here too.

If um you'd like to see those okay, under the fourth uh change, there are requirements for mixed-use projects, um, identifying that at least 65 percent of these mixed-use projects are required to be residential, and it allows up to 90 percent.

The fifth bullet point talks about height restrictions on parcels in historic districts, and in this particular case, the state law is referring to national registered districts only.

Um local historic districts are still subject to the normal certificate of appropriateness review under the sixth bullet point.

Under the sixth bullet point, it does require demolition permits to be uh reviewed and uh administratively and approved at the administrative level, and then finally, beginning in November of 2026, uh, we are required to start filing annual reports uh summarizing any litigation or list of projects that were proposed and approved uh within that last year.

So for strike to underline, you'll see as you move through the language.

This first one is adding in references to CRT and CRS.

It is also referencing the religious institutions and uh properties that are owned and have a house of public worship as defined by state statutes.

You also have references here to um lock coverage and pervious surface ratio changes, um, an explanation of height restrictions in our local ordinance.

We have tried to break this out into smaller bullet points, which we thought read a little easier rather than how the state uh language was set up, but this does mirror state language, and then finally the uh calibration of mixed use projects residential to commercial.

This is your uh underlying addition language for heights in national registered districts, and then uh finally the demolition language that relates to our downtown center zoning districts.

So that completes our initial presentation.

Um I can answer any questions, and we also have different representatives from the housing team here as well.

Thank you.

Move approval second.

We have a motion and a second on J2.

I think we were the first at 1339, too.

Oh, yeah.

If I remember correctly, so the finish line we go again.

All right, we've got a motion and a second on J2.

Great job, Derek.

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 tally and announce the vote.

So the motion to approve agenda item J2.

Passly.

Okay, we are gonna move into J 3.

Clerk, could you please read the ordinance?

Ordinance number 142-HL and ordinance of the city at St.

Petersburg, Florida, designating the Abbey Up House Upham 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.

And we do have a card on this one.

Okay.

And then clerk, could you please swear in all parties and speakers?

Do you swear affirm that the evidence you were about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

I do.

Okay, thank you.

We're gonna move into presentation.

Staff, welcome.

All right, good evening.

Uh Kelly Perkins, historic preservationist of the city of St.

Pete, and we are here for an owner-initiated local historic landmark designation of the Abbey Upham House.

And we did not receive any public comments on this project.

Uh, the subject property is located in the Edgewater section of the Shore Acres neighborhood.

And the house was built in 1926 according to the building permits.

Um, staff finds that it was designed to be built in the French eclectic style, but there are some changes from the design to how it was built, so it seems to incorporate some other architectural styles that were commonly found in St.

Petersburg in the 1920s, but the French eclectic style is very unusual for this area.

There is a one-story garage on the property as well that appears to be of the same era.

Um, it was not included on the property card.

And here's another photograph showing uh the front elevation of the property.

So the house was built by Nathaniel Janeway Upham, who was a prominent realtor and developer from Duluth, Minnesota.

He moved to St.

Pete in 1919, and he really um became known for trying to develop shore acres into pretty much another sort of Snell Isle where it was a lot of grandiose houses, um, very much sort of the city beautiful type design.

Um, he also was involved in trying to develop St.

Pete Beach as well, and then back in Minnesota, he was involved in trying to initiate a Great Lakes waterway uh movement to connect sort of Minnesota into the Great Lakes system.

So while Shoreacre's never fully developed the way that he had envisioned, mainly due to the 1926 Lamb bust and then the Great Depression.

Um, his sons continued on with the development project in Shore Acres and in St.

Pete Beach and the post-World War II building boom.

And then on the bottom right is an aerial, and it's actually the intersection of Alabama and Cheyenne.

And actually three of those four houses are still there.

And I'm pretty certain that the house in the bottom right of the newspaper clipping is the house on the bottom right in that aerial.

So you can go see it looks pretty much exactly the same.

So he built a lot of houses in the Shore Acres neighborhood for his family members and himself.

And so this subject property was actually built for his sister Abby upham.

And so in the top you can see the blueprints that were designed for the property.

So you can see it originally was designed with this really uh steeply pitched roof that and the dormers, which are much more um of a hallmark of the French eclectic style.

Um not sure if it was uh change in climate.

This type of roof is often more what you'd have for like snow, and maybe they decided that didn't really need that here.

Um but he is also from Duluth, Minnesota, and he upham brought him down to kind of develop some of the houses for his um developments.

He was self-taught, and um on the bottom there are three photographs that are other houses he designed in Duluth, Minnesota that are still standing.

So he designed in a in a multitude of architectural styles so when reviewing the application, uh staff found that it met four criteria for eligibility A, C, E, and F.

And that it is significant in the areas of community planning and development architecture and its association with the developer.

And then when reviewing the factors of integrity, staff found out it met all seven factors of integrity.

And then here's a list of character defining features.

I don't want to read them all out here for you.

They're included in the staff report.

I would say probably one of the biggest ones is that prominent big brick chimney on the front facade.

It's kind of one of the more unusual features of this house is that the front entrance was not designed on the front facade, it's on the side, and that chimney is really like that really defining feature.

And so um I'm recommend staff is recommending approval to uh the request to designate this house as a local historic landmark.

And I am here if you have any questions, and the owner is here as well.

Thank you.

The applicant have a presentation.

Nope.

Okay.

And we have no opponent.

Okay.

Uh we'll go to public comment, please.

Emily Allen, please go to the podium, state your name and address for the record.

We'll have three minutes to address council.

Sure.

I'm Emily Elwyn, 836, 16th Avenue Northeast.

And I'll be quick.

I'm here representing Preserve the Berg.

I'm a volunteer board member of Preserve the Burg, and I'm a historicist.

And I just wanted to say we are really proud to support the third application this year for historic landmark designation.

You may recall the other two, the preserve the burg supported, uh, which was 197 or 1947 Beach Drive Southeast and the Trinity Church.

PETB provides technical assistance to applicants who want to um who want to um landmark their properties.

We also pay all fees, city fees associated with landmark applications through our landmark designation fund.

Um I also want to know the city's comprehensive plan does encourage the city to recommend three properties a year for landmark designation.

And the council is also able to encourage um land and recommend landmark designation as well.

But Preserve the Burg is happy to continue to do this work and to continue to support property owners that are committed to their properties like these property owners.

Um we want to encourage you to support this application and to course vote yes.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Okay, no more, no more public comment.

All right, uh staff.

City waves.

Okay, and then uh the applicant would uh you have the option to cross-examine at this point.

Um would you like to wave?

Okay.

And then any closing remarks?

None, thank you.

Any closing remarks.

Okay.

So we'll close the we'll close that and go into executive session.

Council members.

Move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second on J 3.

Seeing as it's a beautiful home, by the way.

Yes.

Uh I didn't want to skip that part.

Uh motion and a second on J 3, seeing as no other council members wishing to speak.

Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting?

Council members, please any of your votes.

Seeing is all present council members to voted.

Clerk, please tell me announced the vote.

Mr.

Chair, the motion to approve agenda item J 3 passes unanimously.

Okay.

We're gonna go into open forum.

Do we have any speakers?

Mark.

No, he crossed.

No speakers.

Okay, we'll close open forum.

Council members' announcements.

Any announcement?

Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you.

Um not as positive, but I wanted people to be aware of.

Uh one thing I've been working on a bunch is helping uh tenants uh first the elements and the Morgan to connect your resources, and it looks like the Morgan went into foreclosure recently.

Uh I wanted uh uh yeah, I have no opportunity to have a discussion with you all about it until next year, next council meeting.

But uh I mentioned in some of the previous conversations we've had, uh, my uh desire to explore the city taking over control of the property because there's a lot of affordable housing there, people who are suffering, uh, and I don't want to see them all get put out on the street through this process.

So I wanted to uplift that message and say that I'll be bringing something at the beginning of the year, but it's something that's happened at a sort of an inopportune time for us, so I figured I'd mention it during announcements.

Thanks.

Thank you, Councilmember Givens.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh, just want to remind council members this weekend on Saturday, uh, from 10 to 3, there'll be an annual Kidpreneur Summit.

Um, this is an opportunity for youth between the ages of nine to 17 to get connected to some business owners.

Let's see a couple on this diet right now.

Um, a great opportunity for hopefully them to be paired with a mentor.

Uh so kudos to DuV Weaver and his group closer to our dreams for doing this.

I think it's an awesome opportunity uh for us to really kind of raise up and mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Thank you, Chair.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Councilmember Fix Sanders.

Thank you.

Um, and thank you, um, Councilmember Floyd for bringing the Morgan up since that's in D5.

And that was a conversation I had last week with administration as to where we're going.

So we're having the same conversation about the same thing, but mine was only about the Morgan.

So I needed to get an additional update from administration because some of that I got, some of that I didn't.

Um, but I want to make sure that we're on the same page since they're calling me about the Morgan.

So I'll set um another conversation like we had last week um about that.

So I just want to let you know both of us are talking about the Morgan.

Okay, and then before I um move on.

Of course, I'm gonna give our chair a really, really, really, really hard time.

I decided to sing a song.

Uh oh.

No, I'm joking.

No, I'm joking.

But actually, I said this is his last meeting, but it really isn't.

You have to open up in January.

Yeah, that's all about the news.

Yeah, so it's not your last meeting, really.

But um, again, uh Copley Gerdas.

You have been phenomenal as a chair, you have been awesome as a council member, but more importantly, you have just been a really nice and cool dude to everybody on this on on this dais.

And uh please know that your word I'm looking for.

It there's a word, but it has not gone unnoticed.

You know, your diplomacy has not gone unnoticed because there have been some moments that you have been tested, and I must admit you passed the test, you did good.

Um, but this is your your I've been there, so I know what this moment means.

And for you, I have to let you know that you did a fantastic job, sir.

And um, you're gonna be missed, but you're not going anywhere because you got what two, three more three, four more years, so you have three more years, but I I have to commend you because being the chair, uh council member Gina.

You you all know um it is it is not easy.

It really isn't easy, especially when life be life in and you still have to show up with a smile.

No one knows what you're going through.

That is truly a task.

Um, that will tell the strength of the leader, and you you did a great job, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Driscoll.

Thank you.

Um, first I want to thank everyone for a great day.

What a great last day of the year for us.

Um in our committees and in this council meeting tonight.

It's um it's been a pleasure to serve with you all this year.

Um, I hope you have a great break, great holiday season.

I'm really looking forward to next year.

Um, last year for me, making it count.

And um, but for now, I I also wanted to bring your attention to and give a big congratulations to um a couple of people who are from my district who are now um elected to lead Kona.