##VIDEO ID:V3sh71nCF14## I it was nice good afternoon everyone this is the regular meeting agenda for the community redevelopment Agency for Monday August 28th 2024 um yes Mr Ron Willington Mr D Mosley Mr David MCG first item on our agenda this afternoon is the approval of the meeting minutes from July 22 2024 um are there any comments or changes to those meeting minutes if there are none uh I'll entertain a motion for the approval of those meeting minutes I'll make a motion to approve minutes from Community Development Agency for Monday July 22nd 2024 second I'll second all those in favor please say I all oppos thank you uh next it on our agenda is courtesy to the is there a um I think I'm about to receive speaker card so you'll give me one second Mr chairman I will bring that to you Mr has uh joined the meeting as of this to continue with our agenda the um courtesy to the floor for visitors U Kathy PA you would like to address the C you have 3 minutes to address the that's what I'm looking for I don't know if that's going to be covered under staff report but I will um just ask staff if they have any kind on the elect so typically during her floor we don't answer questions but I know this is the second time we could come here and ask so uh it's a little bit complex that's actually being handled mainly through Administration they're the ones that have the doctronics contract is through admin uh our Communications manager spoke with the representatives I believe last Thursday or Friday was out of town for a work event so I'm not 100% sure um and they were out there I know last week working on the sign and they have I believe ordered parts for the repairs thank you yeah thank you moving on to U the next item on our agenda which is Staff report on your glasses sorry um we briefly discussed the idea of implementing some type of safety and policing grants for the downtown um the agency voted yes they'd like us to discuss internally uh the very next day we set up those internal meetings we have the internal meetings and the reason we have these meetings is to get the perspective from the folks who actually see this on the dayto day it's one thing for us to make recommendation and think we know what we're talking about that they actually deal with this and so uh we invited Smith to come kind of talk to you guys about his thoughts and maybe what direction we can take and maybe look at this in a new light so good afternoon board on jeene Paul Smith chief of police it's a pleasure to be here we met uh it was Finance um city manager um Taylor and Heather and we began discussing this topic um I initially from the beginning had some very serious concerns just about the the premise of um the the initial way it was pitched I I had a problem and so did the rest of staff with providing public dollars for private entity for normal operating expenses that was my problem with it it it doesn't pass a smell test to me and that was my concern with u because it is a usual is it's a routine expense for a nightclub or bar to have security now also um if you go take this another step further they are actually um requiring security because the sell of alcohol and because of the density of the people they're allowing in um some of I'm not saying they're causing their own problems but what I'm saying is it's a it's an expense that they have to um um security whether it be um private security or police security or dishwashers or waiters or anything else in the normal course of business for a bar and and I had a real problem proving public tax dollars for that and I think the public would in these days and times in this environment I'm part of my job is to protect um the city and of course you all and it would just look bad and I checked around there's nobody else that I know with the CRA or any other police departments where the businesses are giving supplements to their normal operating expenses further on Just for instance what happens with sunny be wants to hire someone for the hotel which he does um or for a condominium in the CRA for 4th of July to guard the parking lot which they did last time they keep people out of their pool in their parking lots then how do you go about um um picking and choosing or is just everybody is it the festival um promoters they get it too because we've been short on security for them um will they be allowed to get it and then once you get into the payroll piece it gets a lot more complicated um the businesses would have to uh send us in some kind of receipt that they spent the money or a check and then we would have to cut them a check it's just it's just messy um and just it it's got a bad appearance to it so what we decided but we want to provide something for the businesses downtown what we wanted to do was our suggestion this is just one to provide cameras on public property outside their doors for instance um high resolution cameras to help them um uh run surveillance and record on the entrances and exits they have access to it also and um um you can show them checking IDs and making all the doing all the right things at their front door um it could be security upgrades to the the Windows Doors businesses locks so that way we're providing an incentive but we're not providing for normal operating expenses it's more like a um how we envision giving them a stien or supplement to come in here and open their business we would help them with a certain aspect of their business whether it be physical plant or whatever that's what we're looking for um also um I don't think the Sheriff's Office they're short-handed to um and I don't think they're going to get that big of a big of a response as they think they do and let's face it when when um they're down there uh they're make a decent amount of money and it's part of the cost of doing business in my point of view also um in the past um yall are aware of of our budget we went from uh pretty short to now we're filling up quickly to where we may have to put the braks on we're only six down right now and we got a a bunch people processing and the phon bringing off the hook now with that said I still have to get them out of training I have to get them out there but we are looking um it's funny the difference a month can make um I didn't sleep a month ago and I'm sleeping like a baby so uh um so hopefully we'll be able to provide that service for him we have a lot of new young people that want to get out there and work some extra Duty including some in training out so hopefully it won't be is a problem as it was before but uh just for instance real quick One Last Story um when JSO when they have a football game or when they have anything at the arena um that is mandatory over time and it used to be they they pay a check just like a vendor or give you cash um they don't do that anymore because they could get enough officers to work so what they do is they funnel the money to the Sheriff's Office the sheriff delivers them to work overtime which he can do contractually and they work overtime at the football games it's no longer a extra duty job it's part of their signed in overtime just because there's not enough officers working down there they're mandated work on overtime so all these big events they have downtown most of them at the arena and at the at the stadium are mandated OT so they're in the same boat as we are and and in the end what problem are we trying to solve with the with the with the program as described earlier to provide a subsidy for reimbursement for extra cost of JSO what what problem are we trying to solve and I don't think that's the problem we were trying to solve with the initial plan so questions any questions thank you that's great thank you I'm so there with you this is much better than the last meeting I was at the library they call that the um bees watch no that's perfect anybody else any questions um hi thank you obviously thank you for coming in here today too um so I am curious um do you see the value ad in us moving forward with the cameras whatnot that would go um at entry points because you guys would have access as well for your own inv obviously would be something that would be or do you not see a value add to the police department for this I absolutely see a value add for the police department see what's coming in and going out absolutely um um I do and the camera system is working well it's up and running and we us numerous times and U it's U it's U it's been helpful in a couple Major Crimes so far but yes I see that you mean at the entrances to the bars and restaurants right yeah absolutely so if it's a business owner um would like to utilize something like that that obviously would give you access we don't have to worry I'm not an attorney so I I don't have our attorney here but I'm assuming that anything we would do would have to be through there sure we're not dealing with privacy issues that's my fault I TR City attorney I didn't think there was anything on the agenda for him so that's my so like I'm just making sure that like CU obviously because it's it's outdoors it's not private property at that point right sure there's no expectation priv in the public place but I understand they feeling uncomfortable about it maybe it'll be camera cameras that they can monitor because they by um their extended alcohol permit have to give us the video when we're requested so I'm cool with that I understand they don't want us watching their video feed I'm totally fine with that but but certainly we can put cameras anywhere we want public property watch that anyway and that was just one example I mean like I said it could be um it could be step head upgrades where we um we um the back doors all these places at 3:00 in the morning need to be um metal back doors with stronger dead bolts subsidy to buy any of that stuff I think that's that's the value ad you know where we can justify to the taxpayer to where we're making it safer and we're not just giving money away I I think it's not now are the borers going to like that no they want the money for the security well I want a lot of things too and that's not the way this works tax money I think all I agree with that if it's something that does for Public Public Safety versus Private Business gen General Public Safety we can do it all day long I agree okay I was just curious if it would be something we need to explore cityy as far as privacy because you're be putting it on a building that's not owned by us and then there will be a lot of there'll be a lot of things that need to go into this I think our biggest thing and the first thing we wanted to do after discussing internally okay there's a way to do this it's not the way we thought were to have the conversation with you guys kind make sure everybody was on board and comfortable with this new Direction so you guys kind of weren't blindsided if three months from now we bring you something you're like whoa this is not what we agreed on um so now we will then again resume our meetings internally and we'll work with Finance we'll work with police department administration legal and whatever we do moving forward we'll make sure we've got all the teams involved so I'm on board 100% especially since we were talking about for know decade it feels like way to help with policing downtown that's outside I think this is a good solution to that and the programs definitely still Al we're working on we like I said we just want to let you know there's been a change because I think we're going to get some blowback but you know that's like I said that's not the way that's Works um I had a question regarding the the obligation for the repair do we know if or for the repair I'm sorry I was before I came here um for the security um is this typically the owner's obligation or is it the tenant business obligation to provide the security it is the tenant okay so when we know in each of these leases that it's actually the tenant's obligation to provide the security um if you look at some of the nightclubs are owned by the the the the the person running the establishment others are renting um so it's up to the business you can put a clothing store in there and you wouldn't need security the owner wouldn't have to Pride Security um part of the part of the wording of the alcohol permit basically says they have to provide some kind of security they serving alcohol that doesn't mean you have to have a police officer out there the whole time they want that there they can provy you use ter bouncers or door you know bouncers probably goes back to our time but they call them dor now they they they have to provide when you look at the totality circumstances in a lawsuit or anything else is this reasonable is it reasonable to have 400 people drinking alcohol with no bouncers and no police out there on Saturday night probably not reasonable when you look at 10 person security staff with the police officer out front that is reasonable and it depends on the particulars of each circumstance but nobody is re ired to do it per se and if they if they prefer right CU I'm sure they prefer do they have the ability to do that to have an off duty police officer at their own expense because I can see them wanting to have the physical presence of wanting to have an option yes that is always an option and the problem is we've been short-handed and um the bars are challenging to work and even for the uh even even for the um the pay that they're paying um it is up to them but like right now there's no there a lot of places are open down there and there's no security there's no officer there they might have St answer or if you're walking Surfer let's say they might be checking IDs at the bar you know whatever's reasonable and that's certainly reasonable in there now not to have two police officers in a full door staff okay and then when it comes to with the cameras in your experience do they tend to be is this going to be preventative in nature or tend to be like you said they have AED and and that's a good question tend not to be as preventative as um more after the fact um unfortunately if you look at St Patrick's Day there was by the end of the night the last shooting there must have been 80 police officers now and there and have the last shooting have right in front of somebody so as far as a deterrent with alcohol and and and people going to the CL it's usually not if they want to act out they'll fight us or fight the door staff right in front of us and camera is not to return but certainly helps with the follow through and and the prosecution and everything yeah I agree with dealing with Public public funds for private entities my only question would maybe I can't imagine it is but is the security because we're trying right to get other restaurants and bars and businesses to come in here is the cost of theity of them coming in here is this going to be higher than if they were to open their business somewhere else right and if it is you know is it incumbent on do we want to say you know maybe we want to subsidize maybe some of it to make sure that we have people coming here while also saying I don't want to go there out of concern for the crime that's there right I would think that's a good that's a good question when you say security mean at the establish yes yes sir um well generally um and I'll get to the Crux When J Works a bar at that two and that's two at the about the same rate we're Mak we only mandate one so when when um down town doesn't have any doesn't have us and they want an officer they have to hire two and so there one of us and there's a lot of reasons for that I'm okay with one of us um we used to have all the bars covered by one person and we can and M all the other jobs plus we have now I will say it's going to get more expensive now because of our new contract and Jacksonville's new contract with labor with a base pay rate sure so you know no one's going to work for Les no going to go out work for a bar for less than um um but it's you know I I we to be very honest with you we've had establishment owners offer us um 7 Chief will pay $100 an hour to get one of your guys we love your guys we want to work with Jack Beach we don't want to work with anybody else and and we said no first of all it's bad you know something I was just telling Heather is what we've seen you it's not always one size fits all but depending on the type of business that you have it's a standard practice when you're having a major event holiday weekend and it is a bar establishment where your primary source of income and your patrons are primarily there to consume alcohol I mean even like my hometown my small town when it's Fourth of July weekend there are officers at those do so it is um I don't feel like in most cases if you're coming in you know you're opening them I don't think it'll hinder people from loting down here I have a little unique experience with alcohol establishments I'm not going to sure with now my youth and I know what it's about and the proper DP I'll at that you know when you cycle the eight or two million to 8 million people you know every if I could figure out how to get 8 million people through a city a year in a bar district with no crime I'd be on the lecture circuit for $100,000 a day people to do it probably wouldn't be sitting here so you know it's a reduction it's not I mean looking to improve yeah not I and when the people when you see downtown the bar owners and restaurant owners do a really good job that mean before they do do a good job with security especially are worth a lot of money we're going to be looking at this issue a little bit further somewhere on our agenda in the next couple months and chief hopefully he'll be able to come back and join us during [Music] that I have no response to that Mr Pay it's a special treat when he joins us it's my H anytime you me thank you um on to I got a couple of quick updates for the rest of this report and I've got got two things to pass out for you guys um first on the tap update the former V coral reef they have resubmitted plans and those are not going to be going ex inches can say the first one again my brain just CAU up to you that's okay both Coral re they had to resit plans they have done that now and they are under review by the planning department so they are under plan review okay yep um Southern Grounds was originally going to go next door to lynches they are now going where the C Maria is um down in the white twostory building they are now located there surprise fun fact um the original southern ground site however is still being developed and it is being developed for a new unnamed tenant when we have the name and our APR shair we will absolutely do so we genely don't have the name of the tenant um a new Florida statute came out it's fla St 7575 um nothing really pressing that will impact us very much but it just regards private parking lots and uh charging for parking it doesn't necessarily like I said directly impact us but it's just good information to know it puts some restrictions and requirements on what private parking lot operators can do in the way of charging for parking and how they have to go about that um the Florida special district handbook was updated and those changes are beginning October 1st they require new goals and objectives and performance measures and standards you got to have your goals and objectives as part of your annual reporting and your performance measures and standards regarding those goals and objectives um that is also all being featured in our downtown Plan update um to make sure we're falling in line with what those new requirements are our Communications newsletter is going out this week if you're not signed up for that um and you want to be you should be it's got a lot of great information a lot of really good content about things not just in CRA but Citywide um so if that's something you want to be signed up for feel free to go to the website or just email me and tell me hey sign me up and I'll take care of it for you our Peer parking lot contractor I spoke to them today right before this meeting actually this is a very last minute update uh they are planning to have the final numbers to us this week and based off of their schedule they can tentatively start work on the entryway uh the first or second week of October which Falls nicely in line with the started oury fiscal year the pass of Park we have an internal meeting tomorrow with engineering team to go over the needs that we have there for infrastructure and uh lighting for safety so I'll update you guys next time on where that go I have a lot more than an update hopefully I'll have documents for that meeting um in a couple of upcoming meetings we have got the city council meeting September 3rd that'll be their budget adoption uh we've got a council briefing on September 9th at that we will be talking about uh First Street and the parking issues similar to what we're going to be talking about today with you guys and then also the opo dining program that was a pilot program if you all remember and it actually expires in January so we're going to talk with Council um we've actually gotten some feedback from the businesses and the building owner on the success of the program and we have their support and they will also be attending that briefing I spoken today so they'll be at the briefing as well to talk about how great it's been for their businesses um if you have not been able to attend an LDC Workshop yet and you would like to still attend there is one more uh the 28th this week at 6 pm. it is for Council but it will be the same content and same information so feel free to come see what else we got we've got a briefing on October 14th with city council to talk about the peer entry art and the rips parking lot and kind of what council wants to see done with that rips parking lot and kind of next steps with that October the 28th we have our meeting um at that meeting we will have year end fund balance for the downtown South End to adopt and then uh we'll talk about some different public art stuff at that meeting our meeting in November we have a resolution for support for sidewalk dining already on that agenda just again Council will vote at the first of the year whether to extend the program or not and to Implement in other areas so we'll bring you guys a resolution of support or not if you choose to not support and at our December meeting uh we're going to do something a little different at that meeting uh recently I have been enrolled actually the last few months in the Florida Redevelopment Association Redevelopment administrator program um I am now four for four on my exams I have one more exam in October and I will be a certified Redevelopment administrator and I want to in December bring some materials that I'm working with for Development Association on back to this board we have a lot of new members a lot of things have changed at the state level we're all the time getting into legislation so we just kind of want to do a really quick refresher course on why we exist what we do what the statute requires of us how things should go and just kind of in the year on something fun right you guys could listen to me talk for two hours so you're welcome um and then I got with me today a summary of our downtown Plan update this is not the full plan this is really just like high level stuff what we're going to have in that plan we will bring you the draft the final draft version next month and then we also have um for Lake Plaza we don't have the final numbers yet we've seen the numbers but they were not certified by engineering team with half so we're not going to give the numbers out but we do have what'll be included in their next phase of their scope and so I have that for you guys to look at as well [Music] what what we would like to do if everyone is comfortable um rather than kind of dwell on these for the next two hours uh the half an Associates one specifically in your spare time since you know we know all of you have so much of it uh please take a look at this when you can we know everyone's busy so when you can take a look at this half document between now and next month um I'll email you guys more specific deadline and kind of like Get me your comments questions concerns to me but if you can email those to me and then I can kind of reload those back and forth and we can talk with our consultants and then next month we can bring you the final scope and then we'll have the fee Associated and then just really quick um your downtown plan document where it say intro heart of Jack Beach that's going to be kind of a front page document that paragraph at the bottom of that page is what that currently reads we'll have an image of the downtown and how it's you know a central Hub and then we've got a summary of the plan what our Redevelopment powers are Redevelopment requirements um Rd zoning Redevelopment objectives and then a whole section on the cape program um one big thing we added to this is a snapshot of all the previous updates and all the resolution when they were adopted and what they did um and so that way you know 10 years from now some is trying to figure out when or why we did something it's very easy for them to quickly reference this in the plan we're also listing out all the Redevelopment powers that are granted by the state of Florida and more specifically the relationship that our agency in particular has with our city council and how things operate um and then we also have a whole section on the new statutory requirements that are in effect October first regarding our reporting um you go to the last section all these strategic priorities uh keep in mind these are the objectives these aren't intended to be specific projects those will come in a different section but this is Broad and it allows us some flexibility and it kind of just keeps everyone on track with what the city mission and vision are what their strategic plan objectives are and it aligns ours with theirs so again we will have the final version of this I think right now we're at about 28 is Pages for our plan I fully intend there'll be several more added um we'll bring that to you next month if you go over this also in your spare time um questions anything that doesn't make sense or you you know just want to know more about it same thing reach out to me I'm happy to answer an email talk on phone or if you want to come in and talk about either of the documents I gave you we can do that too whatever everyone's comfortable with thank you for the input um let me just ask one quick question in reference to the he proposal just thatal yes sir just to make sure that's a great question I not clarify that sorry about that y okay so that was like a massive don't worry I'm getting email this all to you um so inside the staff report there's a lot of other things we generally had ask questions on maybe they'll fall old business instead of are The Knockout list for the multiple things in the down area want fixed and cleaned up signs and the one it years ago um i' like to know are we going to get some kind of update on the knockoff list like the bers that are fixed the brick around the one thing that's broke like are we going to get some kind of ETA on any of that I'll be honest if things get fixed we I mean we know they're fixed we can look at them and also see that they've been fixed uh We've not compiled an email or felt necessary to email um if that's something that we need to change well I thought one of the things that I didn't hear on your list that we were going to have a discussion with the council about was getting our our ambassador or whatever you want to call it the person who's going to be our honeydew who's going to go around and do all these things and harass the Departments that need it so that that list doesn't get lost I mean maybe we misunderstood we we hadn't touched on that high level of council and at that time it was just kind of there wasn't a temperature report and then we ended up implementing the um construction position that was funded through public works but at this time the consensus was no okay I was not underne that impression I keep I keep pushing for more help because I I heard it be well that's what they hired we hired you for and we're all like no that's not what we hired her for I remember you specifically say that's not my my role and I remember for an ambassador for the area and still it's not on the list so we're going have these discussions about rits which we've had multiple discussions about as well I think our knockoff list which is the keep it nice and clean is being ignored because nobody wants to do it no say I have to give some credit where credits do you know Parks and Recreation is stepped up in a big way where they didn't have to and if there is any one person I would say it's Trevor Hughes who if there is something wrong if I don't it is out and about every day or his team is out and they are all I mean Trevor all the time will send me a picture hey this baller's broken it's going to be so way that he he has been phenomenal with that he'll send me it and then or if he has a PO coming in that's for something that needs to be repaired he'll say hey we noticed this we went ahead and got a quote we're submitting it now can you get it approved um so I feel like when it comes to that aspect someone taking other whether it's Trevor's job or not someone's taking ownership area I PL you thank you but that doesn't mean that certain things aren being fixed like Signs and stuff like and that's a much larger conversation unfortunately right well as long as that's not being removed because the other docor was also supposed to be one of those people that we could help us help people understand what's going on with the area and the development and stuff in front of their place because we had talked about how even though you have some person on the job site is job they AR communicating people so I'm just curious about that and then's go to that second comment you made which was Southern ground isn't moving in well they are to a different location to the place that was supposed to be custom agreed upon for the kind of establishment that was going to go in that location because we're not doing anything with the liquor license in that location I think I'm missing I'm missing something so so next to L which they ow the property behind as well a whole like big that was an approved plan to not have any more liquor so we know for sure that this new tenant is going to from coffee to something else I mean there's regulations and and they can only do so much is allowed by the state anyway um now if the state is whatever is allowed there by the state we can't he we can't restrict them if it's an allowed use yeah right now they they couldn't sorry um now a drinking establishment a standalone bar couldn't go in that location because of our distance requirements so it could be a restaurant that serves alcohol to some level depending on what you know um what license are eligible for but we don't know who that tenant is but they'll have to meet all of our local requirements and the state licensing requirements as well he just don't know who it's going to be all right thank you I just like to add to the comments that Francis made not be wored further conversation in one of our upcoming meetings to discuss the downtown um just the quality of downtown you know we've talked around on several different issues as Francis mentioned finding somebody who would be an ambassador or a firm that could handle improving the the downtown taking care of small problems down there um we had a schedule I thought redoing the landscaping and the islands and so forth throughout the downtown but nothing has been done again unfortunately things take a lot of time in local government you have to go out and B you have to get contractors you have to get procurement what it is then is a just upate or an outline we are with those things we have understanding yes I understand it takes time but when I keep going down there and I keep really in poor shap down there you know it's frustrating What specifically well number one we' talked about the papers and the uh the papers around some of the storm inless are continuing to fall in there's more and more of them each day we've got a sand that's developing over on the island uh first stre and Beach yes that's been notified uh that was from stormy weekend you know the Plaza La looks terrible it needs some help there were cars parked on it a couple weekends ago that really you know damaged that W yeah I mean those are where we're going to have to a lot there's a lot of things down there that could be improved and at one point in time we talk about having some individual or firm that could really focus on those and then at that same meeting we talked about how Parks already has all the contracts and we all agreed that parks and their contractors were going to do that which they are they have been the all the medians and planer beds on First Street down towards the P Parking Lot have been done swimmingly so well in fact springfi actually reached out to see if we'll do the ones in front of their building because they like the other on so much you know and then with lean Plaza you know it's going to be one of those things where the lawn is it's damaged right now because we had a car show because we were hearing for so long we want events we want program other things so when other things and more things are going to go there it's going to get damaged and unfortunately this time of year it's really hard to keep grash nourish this what we still look like and what that downtown feels and I was thrilled to hear you say that first of October we're going to have somebody in there doing something on parking lot that looks terrible down there the sign was supposedly just put up code on it find out what's going on number one you can't even get to information number two it's sitting in the dirt on the ground what are we trying to do down what do we want to be and I think would of futuree you got answers to that's sure I I think a lot of that is also answered when we do our budget every year I mean you know we've got a pretty clear outline of where our money is going in fy2 and again I think a lot of that is covered we can continue to every time something gets repaired or fixed inform everyone but you know a couple months back it was kind of agreed upon if there was no update in that staff report because it was getting so large to stop updating so you let us know what you want we'll upate we have updates but sometimes things just take quite a while unfortunately um and there may not be an update for a few months that's why you know our Public Works director the meeting I think a week or two ago said I'm going to come back and update everyone when I have updates but unfortunately right now I have to just stand in front and say hey I don't have anything right now and that's just the TR you know when we have it we'll update you um moving on just question dep assuming St report number of properties that street street own um y are going to kill me for this when we have an update we'll share okay um not at this time no anybody else have anything yes times an article giving the restaurant tour's opinion of what he's been told and what he going to have to do he' been told that the hotel is going to be put he the end sep anything else in reference to staff um not at this time I'm sure where things will pop into my head over the next week and I plan to sort of take the summary of what we talked about and draft that up because I know I threw a lot of dates a lot of topics and a lot of meeting at you so I will send that to you so you have a hard copy of that so we don't miss anything next it I return all moving on to new business um first item under new business is to adopt or deny resolution number 20252 which amends the U fiscal year 2025 budget to provide pling for the amendment to the collective baring agreement for the fop for downtown officers we do just to discuss it but before we uh get into that I do notice that on the new business the line item and the resolution number do not match up so when we motion to adopt or deny it should say FY 2024 budget um and the resolution number or maybe it should say 25 budget but the resolution number is 2024 um 02 not 252 so there was a typo on RN so I apologize um we have our CFO Miss ashle gossip here with us and she can kind of explain what this is um just from our perspective though they this is the financial impact um of an amendment and our portion will be about just over 7 ,000 one of the areas that after talking with finance and administration internally it made the most sense to pull the funds out of incentive because those are programming funds they're not Capital funds so they're not directly tagged to a specific project um so that was our recommendation and Miss gos I will turn over you thank you good afternoon Ashley gos CFO I think Taylor actually covered everything so yes I was going to bring the attention that we have scer error it's actually resolution 20242 um and as you guys all are aware just last month you adopted the fiscal 2025 budget um and it's not even October 1st yet um and I'm back asking for an amendment to a budget that we've not even beg um since last month the Fraternal police in the city have opened up the last year of the collecting bar the collective bargaining agreement um to address wages to remain competitive in the market um and to kind of our neighbors where they are and so the agreement increases the starting wage for police officers by 23% um up to $65,100 and hopefully that will be staffed fully at the beginning of the year throughout the year and so the estimated budgetary impact of this change is $1,116 um at this time we do not have unassigned fund balance to draw from for this um so we recommended as Taylor said to take it from the incentive program because it would not be disruptive to day-to-day operations or service levels or to the projects that we already have ongoing and so this budget amendment simply moves money from one program to another um and it does not increase the overall expense budget and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have I just want to confirm we don't have any more applications for incentives for this year it ends in October right have none right now no and I'll be honest none have expressed an interest right now I have had some that have said six months eight months may have an interest but right now that I am aware of we do not have so in the very short term two months we probably going to have to be reigned somewhere anyway and I mean at this point I don't even know that someone application and what have you okay and what is the current balance do we know what current balance is in that account it's off my head don't quote me I think we're sitting around the high 200s if I'm remember correctly I could be mixing this up with another account so if that's the case please forgive me that's fine that's what I needed there question uh Commander Crumley would you want to address this issue just a little bit little give a little more clarity as to the overall impact that hopefully this will have for the uh for the police department hey uh good afternoon Tommy Crumley detective Vision Commander um as far as it's been discussed with numerous people uh obviously the uh contract being ratified by the fop and and the city makes us very competitive and uh top in the game in our region in the northeast Florida region um it is I would like to say our uh recruiting efforts have been uh successful even though we've kind of faced a certain drage um that's such a word um it's been tough it it's it's been a national problem um let's not kid ourselves we can talk plainly it's it's not been a very popular time to get into police work so the ability of us as an agency to be where we're at now where the city and the council is uh put us it it totally completely opens numerous doors for us for recruiting and and you know the ability to bring new people in from experienced officers all the way down to brand new starting officer so it's it's opened a lot of doors for us thank you any questions for the Comm with that um I assume we need to um do a motion on resolution number 20242 yes okay I'll make a motion to adop our the resolution number 20242 amending theal year 2024 budg five budget um to provide funding for the amendment to the colletive bargaining agreement with fop and downtown cap officers is there a second second thank you call please yes and uh I believe Ron since you were here you're going to be our fifth voting member of the day so congrats you're up first Mr Ron witon yes okay Mr th Mosley yes Mr Gary K yes M Francis poosi yes is Megan Edwards yes thank you all thank you thanks Ashley wonderful opportunity to take to a different level so thank you next item on our agenda is item for discussion and I think staff will probably yes sir yes sir all right and we also have our par Recreation director here as well I asked him to come uh just because he sat in on all of our public meetings and one-on-one meetings over this topic so if there are any questions that I cannot answer I know Jason will be able to no pressure Jason uh so really where we're at is we've had a lot of internal discussions obviously the uh plan parking is not moving forward um down on Pon that's that is no more um we want to reassure everyone it's not going to happen the way it was proposed and we kind of came back and said okay we're hearing from residents that the problem has changed significantly over the last few months um you know as I said before unfortunately sometimes it takes us a long time to do things we have a lot of rules we have to follow so a problem that was there maybe six months ago by the time we got through to a process where we could have the funds and procurement and actually be able to draft up some plans for the idea well now the problem is not as it was uh so we're trying to be proactive here and one of the options that we have looked at is leaving Pon St Leon alone leaving it as it is um and adding some additional bike rack toin the park we did hear from several several several residents down there that they go up there on a Saturday nowhere to par their bike they have to change to a fence post or a tree um and we also know we love some fun uh unique bike racks we see them downtown so that would be a really cool opportunity to do some really Whimsical cool bike racks that go with the playground um and again that is attra locals you know you're not going to ride a bike from 20 M away well there will be someone that does most people will not ride a bike from 20 or 30 way to go to a park um same thing we also looked at and we did talk with the fire marshall about taking some of the spaces internal to the park and actually converting them into low speed vle parking so it would be for your mop Peds or Scooters or golf carts so again attracting that local crowd um another thing is implementing no parking signs along F ston I'll be very honest I think this option would get very mixed feedback I think you would see half and just my opinion from conversations half would be supportive and I don't think half would like it because they are very limited over there on their parking as is and if the parking is not a huge issue anymore you know I know a lot of residents said you know we don't want to see no parking signs because then when we have family over or friends or kids birthday party we got knowwhere to go um and then for us our end of it okay if it's a Saturday and someone's having a child's birthday party where are they going to tell their friends to park now if we have no parking Fs in park so then we're going to kind of start to create a different issue um so that's something I think to discuss and really decide what direction needs to be taken there and then something else that came up was adding a sidewalk along that entire section so essentially it still creates a parking problem where people really can't park on a sidewalk um but a lot of residents did say they would like to see a sidewalk and additional entry point to those fence breaks um so really oh I'm sorry one more we would like to temporarily not the police cameras nothing as Hightech as what they have but you know um if you have like wise cameras or doorbell cameras at your house just your very basic cameras we obviously have to work to make sure it's appropriate and we're not going to get ourselves into trouble with our Wi-Fi and mess anything up for the city but something that Jason and Trevor brought up that I think it's a great idea is to maybe for six months have temporary Wi-Fi enabled cameras just kind of at various points around the parking lot that when we're not here on the weekends they're constantly recording so we can really look at that footage and see okay on Saturday in March it's beautiful out from 8:00 a.m. to 2 the parking lot was slam full or maybe we see that it's not or you know whatever um so that gives us actual data to now be able to say okay we monitored this for so many months here's what we saw these are the really peak days here's how we can mitigate that and rather than just kind of throwing darts you know in the dark here we've got a data driven reason for doing something and yeah we really got kind of open that up to you guys for discussion and what would you like to see happen and where you want to see this go and um we'll also provide an update to Council in the future as well on whatever comes to our conversations with you guys today board MERS um I think that sounds fine but some things to think about for the future um particularly as the um utilization of the park potentially increases to the point where it's not as useful for Jack Beach residents as we would like for it to be and these are all things that have been done in Jacksonville Beach and I'll just give you a list to think about not for now the situation evolves I believe it will continue to change but and two of these three of these would require some legal input before you thought about them y one would be pedestrian access passes for Jackson Beach resident full stop and single point of access and some not we want to do that now something to think about as a control measure and when I see a place totally full at Tuesday morning 10:00 not that from down the line thinking about control measures um the other thing and this has been done this was done just south of downtown the mayor prior to our mayor was one of his campaign points make street parking for residents only and that would have combining effect with perhaps making paid parking in the park it would keep people out and parking where residents only could park um these are just things to keep in mind are control measures to control the number of people the number of cars in any area um something else been done Drive some years ago Street I think the Street North water meters right by the curb in the streets not to par know side is mar no but again it's been done before and something just remember tool in the Box control volume and access the other thing is automobile passes for is a legal question we pay for that part and it was designed not Des to Ser particular St joh County those guys own somewhere I suggest a couple places where they cut off where they cut off South Beach Boulevard instead letting it go through and giving us an Al all the way south and these are just things that we need to be aware of have been done can be done potentially in the future to control access and volume utilization of this asset the other one of course is for us to pay for a little extra Staffing if might be required particularly points keep things make about Hing people reservations for some of these facilities you know we have got the money to do that and we certainly have spent money for ex for extra personnel um so again just things to think about in the future these are all tools that are available to us to use and we're in a position to recommend of course nothing happens the city council wants to make it happen one of our tasks I think is to think about possibil to recommend potentially useful approaches to make sure this part stays enjoyable for us people in beach so thank you any other comments I would just like to com um you know I don't think this is going to be just one item that's going to provide us a solution series of things and I think the step that you're taking by putting up the cameras and really getting a good read on what's Happening down there I think is going to be very beneficial I think that Parks has already had some conversation has eliminated certain programs down there which create traic abely you know that's part of I think the ultimate solution is what programs are going allow kind of trffic theying in and so so taking the initial step a little fur investigation and then taking that information and coming back and all of us sitting down and really deciding what makes the most sense for area down there is the right way for us to proceed is everyone okay though in the interim at least looking into getting some bicycle RS that's pretty 100% so is everyone okay with while we're getting the cameras and working with I it and making sure we're you know have our legal rights and all those dos in a row I think bys are relatively low hanging fruit and that's something that can also accommodate yeah as long as we find a good location we going to use them and I'll tell you why because I'm hit down by the park and many times kids will use their bikes on the um on that skate um portion of the you know they're riding their bikes up and down the slopes and builds skate park many of leave their ELC bikes just slay all over the place as they come zooming in off of a and so forth it's going to be a challenge you know where we where do we put the B where they'll physically end up you want be like the PO parking lot where you have to walk away from the building the like it next to where going use it that's what you're saying we'll have to definitely do strategic make sure we're putting them where the family or the mom with two toddlers or whever are riding their bikes one are the locations that they going to visit the most obviously will for with the E with the E travel to or just the bikes or we to say both each is going to take more work and more planning and whatnot probably I think and then Mr chairman if I something that I did not mention in my initial kind of rambling about this um that I just remembered is we've also worked with Communications since also came up with some great idea from the public input are some maps that we're going to look at getting created that we can have installed in various points around that Park you know you can walk around the park there's all kind of things to do some having maps that have QR codes on them that say you know have you seen this bargain you scan the QR code it takes you to a page it shows you all the amenities so if you get there and the playground is slammed you don't know where to go you're stressed out you scan it it shows you okay Gonzalez park has a brand new beautiful playground very similar you can go there um so that's something that we're also working with our Communications team to draft up so we can not tell everyone go away we don't want anyone here but we can say hey it's full let's spread the wealth a little bit let's go other places we do have other amenities and we have other really beautiful pars Parks that's another part of that trust have be able to absolutely I this point everyone nodded their heads and gave a thumbs up that bike racks are um everyone's comfortable with bicycle racks that is um a low enough expense and it's something that's allow for under some of our accounts already so I don't think we need anything right now as this same thing with the cameras you know we're not installing $300,000 cameras these are going to be super super basic just for a very simple need so they fall under that threshold where we can just kind of administratively handle those um and at this time I don't think we need a formal vote when we do rest assured we will bring it to you at promise I have to make sure they're C you know what I do know we have some CRA BS but again they're from the downtown district and I can't use them in the South if they're from downtown unless we buy them from ourselves yes which I have to ask leg in finance like I said you guys know it is complicated try to okay my question was just to do we need aign yeah I'm and start random things up and I'll surprise you I'm just kidding um no we will a little bit kind of like not as quite intense of downtown where we had multiple meetings where we voted and decided on these animals um I think we won't go C crazy as the giant sharks that we have in front of francis's building um but you know we will the playground's brightly colored especially in the right sorry from the bike wraps around the playground um I think we would like to see at least bright colors um but I also know from experience now having these we need to work closely with again Trevor who helps to maintain the colors on those because there are certain types that well there certain types of har so I'll get with Trevor this week and set up a meeting he and I to talk about what materials what words coloring that kind of thing and um we do still have our piggy contract with Clay County who we originally did all the Bucks through so it should be relatively easy but once we have a game plan on hey this style this shape this color um we will send it out to you guys thank you m I take it that's all that you have in reference to the sou par yes sir and the U next item under discussion is the First Street safety and yes so I'm trying to get my screen to come on for us really quick um a little background on this we talked last meeting there we go um obviously there is a much larger problem with First Street no everybody in this room knows it we all know it we've seen it to your point Gary we have paper issues not just aesthetically safety style uh which going to go we have curban Trails projects planned down there we have a ton of things happening in First Street but what we talked about our last meeting was okay yes we know that down Road this is going to be a much larger conversation this is going to be a massive Capital project no doubt um how can we mitigate some of these problems right now also while being fiscally responsible so what we've looked at are options that are aesthetically pleasing now are useful now that people can actually utilize we did talk in fire Lear talk to Fire Marshall before we have ideas um these are all okay by Fire Marshall and the big thing with these is these are all something that if any when whether it's a year from now or 10 years from now uh First Street has changed Direction has changed Street skaing has changed these can all be relocated so these aren't something that are going to be there and then go W which was a big thing for us um so first of all these are some examples um I actually just saw a really pretty example of one of these in downtown Orlando this past week are these larger raised planner beds um relatively simple as we're doing all these replanting um as we're getting all of these quotes in to redo the downtown you know we can have these large round ones rectangle ones but where those would essentially go are all those Street sections where you've got a really big gap between two ground level planner beds and people are literally parking on the sidewalk I think it's par parking if you're not from here you don't know any better and you see two cars already doing it you know you're going to do the same um so this was something we were looking at and again we've already got pigy back contracts in place these are typically an in stock item um Parks and Recreation could help us and again highlighting it that this is a solution that once we have that permanent solution we can then relocate these to be use some more alter Park um benches this is something we have to be really careful with I do not feel the triangle benches that we already have would have worked to eliminate the problems we're having and then you run into a lot of other issues that come up having this benches after talking you know safety concerns being as these things are going to be right up against a roadway and even though people are supposed to go slow we all know that's not always the case and if you've had a bench that had an open back like our triangle one someone sits down they tip over backwards they in the road we now have a huge problem um so I think VES while at first seemed like a really great idea there are ways to be done um but this may not be the best use of you know again they would have to have backs for safety they have to have bars you know in the seat so you can't necessarily lay out across it um it would provide places for pedestrians to sit but we kind of already did that in other places so do we need them um really is the safety concern worth the temporary solution or can we utilize some other ones and then the other one not this many not this ugly I promise this is just best dound are these were Ballers you know back probably two years ago when we picked Ballers for downtown we round ones and we pick those kind of futuristic looking ones um we have not been able to utilize round Ballers yet these could be something where in some of the spaces you kind of maybe alternate you have a planner bed and then you have kind of maybe two round Ballers and they don't have to be so repetitive that they're right on top of each other they just need to be large enough to prevent people from driving up on the sidewalk and parking their car um and again these are already in the plan they were already previously chosen um we still have our pyb contract and if anyone ever wanted to solid concrete you could make them really artistic I'm just saying um so in regards to um the pl do we have the infrastructure or how har infastructure place to have I'll be honest um we have not gone that far because it's mid as I'm not a big fan unless we have water as a solution um the Ballard I like the idea of them however you're have the same issue you're going to have kids however bobing up and down and running around them into the street so I don't know what the right solution is I definitely don't like the Benes for that Reon the Ballers just kind of invite playing and jumping from one to the other if we're not careful our kids running out of them so I just want to make sure whatever we do we're keeping that in mind um and like I said I'm all good with the Planters as long as ra plan ra UNT and Asos and can fill up on one Satur night seen many places they requ Conant to keep clear whatever that simple main it's pretty hard get top suggest they might be the safest and best possible to thees have their negative issues not people people run into them fall over them you name think the round the right size or [Music] maybe out something that people can't mess up yeah okay because these imagination yes sir I understand do we still have any of the tall nasty B we were replacing with the more futuristic ones in stock that we could just throw up and not have to pay I am happy to check in the store room at procurement and or actually over M NLC um I doubt it the only fear I have is I know all of those balls those tall weird ones are not all identical we have some that are futuristic we have some that are we have some and L them and don't want to get ourselves in a position where we're now just redoing our our current problem I know because technically we don't need them to have lights like we had so they were taken down because the light wasn't working then it's not like we're needing it for that but if we I don't I I mean I agree I mean planter as nice as they are they're going to be complete nightmare if we don't have some kind of Maintenance yeah I but I will tell you and just is it was kind of a joke my should say it ver but have drunk people maybe the officers will agree with they will see those and they will still think that they can do it they're 5 years old they're going to jump jump jump jump and visit our nice after to and that's pretty much what they're is going to happen but they need to be positioned properly I think it's what it would the I mean I can look attorney I don't know over the um to point Francis to your point Spectrum there's nothing there now so kids that are going to be running they just run into the street right now you know at least having something you know again the goal is not to office permanently we know that that's not going to happen in the next six months that is a larger conversation that goes to council that has to do with Urban Trails a ton of things happening downtown right now they're just out of our control um but we do want to do what we can to try to fix some of this now and I do think that the Ballers could be a really good op to deter people at least from parking there because that's the biggest complaint at least we hear is the parking problems I I drove it usually every week a couple times a week just to look and the other day I went every single section and I have witnesses that people with me I said y'all come on let's go look at something every single part where there was a break big enough in between the planner beds there were cars completely up on the sidewalk sticking the back ends out on the road and it's it's just not safe um we want to walk people downtown and you on sidewalk it's really hard to walk are they not they not designed to havek and it was unfortunately designed to have parking in some of them but not all of them and it was never designated and so can we desate them we can I don't think we'll see a lot of people know I mean people have been told hey you can't park here they don't care there some very do the do the businesses I don't I mean I don't want to speak to that I can't I'm not sure I do know I have some people pull up get out their car for their business and go straight in so you know it's convenience I mean Devil's Advocate I get it it's right in front of your business and people are already parking everywhere else and there's a spot in front of your business whether you know it's to be used or not if everyone else is doing it you're going to do it kind of mentality problem we're facing and towing could be an option but the problem is is when it's happening us so these are this is city property right when it's happening the most is going to be Friday night Saturday Sunday our police officers obviously already have enough I worry about we have enough to do in downtown is that going to even be a good use of their time now to have to go call a tow truck or who's going to call a TR truck on Saturday I mean you know I mean it's I think it's an option I just don't know run it yeah and it's how far down first are we talking from pretty much Le Plaza until right at the P at the P Parking Lot that stretch so it's not even a huge stretch it's just a big problem I'm Wonder obviously it's not to be something fixed today in the next six months but is it something to consider what if you just make that whole area not drivable at some [Music] Shar at the last meeting pictures outdoor seating and all that I me of gets closed for the festival so it's almost shft it down a BL that is being talked about September 9th Council briefing Ed is talking about that to council I'm taking this conversation to council and letting them know hey look you want us to come up with a solution that can work for now while we plan for the long term here's what the agency discuss and then Heather has other things she's going to talk to council about just so we can start kind of getting those Wheels spinning on a permanent solution because it is becoming more and more problematic the more popular we get the more nice restaurants the more dining the more things we have to do down here the worst it's going to get and because what you showed last was it in Texas or Ohio or somewhere it was really cool and I felt like this our city is kind of yeah and kind of add to what Taylor said our the street was designed to be a festival Street which means kind of expands out into it so parking in my opinion and perspective was almost an afterthought so there was no signage and then people started parking everywhere and then someone said well it makes sense here to let them Park but not over here so the signage is is is all over the place so like in front of surfer you can't park during these hours but in front of lynches you can't park ever or something like that there so it's it's inconsistent with where you can park and how and what times and when and so our goal is to make it consistent so there's just two places you can have you know ride share drop off and pick up and Max 15 minutes everywhere else no parking um or maybe we're able to have some room to add some Ada spaces so coup adaes we have room yeah so it's just we we're trying to fix that inconsistency and make it safer for everyone that's down there just um my comments in reference to what you presented I you know personally um the ball and the uh the VES would be the way to go I think architect we could make that work very nicely and create some interesting spes along there as well as a perspective with the bers question I just have is how many do we think we need to you know take care of I knew some we've preliminary and now when I pr this is not me with a tape measure figuring out exactly how much distance but we did look at because something that has come up internally several times is if you're in that core area of downtown and you do have accessibility issues there are not a lot of really close spaces for Ada you know people who need those spaces and then if we don't provide at least maybe four let's say throughout that section are we deterring people from trying to come to our downtown because we're not being you know accommodating um so we look to try to see like where we can maybe three or four very clearly marked very clear these are 8 parallel spaces only so to your point if someone is in an ada8 spot without a tag yes absolutely they can very easily be towed um and we don't have to be the only ones to call that in if someone can see a car that's parked in an accessible spot is called Tok um I would think somewhere in the I would from 25 to 40 depending on how far apart we space them the size you know if we're talking small are we talking Target size are we you know what are we looking at um that is very like that's very preliminary that's just me walking glancing and looking it's just something you know to address the just a little spot you know if we needed another one we could make one ofbody else no I feel likeone collectively is like okay ballards could work I feel like we've kind of all also collectively been like let's not do race planner bed so I'm good with that benches are still kind of iffy um and I don't know that for safety reasons those would be the best choice but we'll still look at some options for those but I think our primary focus will be sure and we can take a look this is true the sh thats toes and and when you go to city council we're trying to talk them into this if we put tables outside right and there tables that these restaurants canuti a four toop table can be like an extra $150,000 a year to a restaurant or a bar that they can then urity but again to that point we are bringing outdoor dining pilot program to council to ask if they make it perent and extend it to other areas so that's a great Point yeah that's the last item on our formal agenda any other comments from that we will this meeting thank you everybody thank you for being here