##VIDEO ID:SmNryTRqRx4## e good evening everyone and welcome to eustus City Hall this is a regular City commission meeting of the eustus city commission it is 6: p.m. Thursday January the 2nd 2025 if you would like to join us in a moment of silence and the pledge allegiance led by commissioner Hawkins please rise amen commissioner Hawkins uh please join me in the pledge I pledge allegiance to flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you officially call our meeting to order uh is there a for president proper notice been given yes mayor thank you so much Tom an agenda update uh yes sir a couple of items uh one uh the agenda you have before you we swapped the uh approval of minutes to after the oath of office originally it was before the oath of office but we'll do approval of the minutes after the election of Mayor and vice mayor and then just FYI uh item 6.1 resolution number 253 you have before you the act the final version of the agreement to be approved uh the uh the version that was in the posted packet originally was not the final version you now have the final version in front of you and the final version has been posted on the website as well beautiful and that's all I have thank you so much before we get to the oath of office I'd like to go ahead and welcome Senator Keith trunow welcome to eust City Haller representative Nan Cobb and our County Commissioner Kirby Smith thank you all for being being with us tonight next we're going to come down to oath of offices we have three to be sworn in this evening and we're going to start with commissioner Hawkins in seat number three [Laughter] I'm I don't have one up here with me George has [Laughter] one okay we're going to ad Minister the oath of office please raise your right hand I say your name I will offi you Solly swear you Solly swear that I will support that I will support protect and defend protect and defend the Constitution the Constitution and government of the United States and government of the United States and of the State of Florida and of the State of Florida that I am duly qualified that I am duly qualified to hold office to hold office under the Constitution under the Constitution and laws and laws of the State of Florida of the State of Florida and the charter and the Char of the city of eustus of the city of hust and that I will that I will faithfully and that I will Faithfully perform all duties perform all duties of the office of City Commissioner of the office of City Commissioner seat three seat three on which I'm about to enter which I'm about to so help me congratul [Applause] I remember when he was just a young da agent back in [Music] the9 look at him now top our next our next our next person to be sworn in is for seat for George as bodybody George bring everybody holy that right hand on right there you go that came real fast great like a great family the Min Minister the oath of office congratulations I state your name I George do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support that I will support protect and defend protect and defend the Constitution the Constitution and government and government of the United States of the United States and of the State of Florida and of the State of Florida that I am duly qualified that I am duly qualified to hold office to hold office under the Constitution under the Constitution and laws and laws of the State of Florida of the State of Florida and the charter and the charter of the city of Eustace the city of Eustace that I will Faithfully that I will faith of the charter of the city of that I will Faithfully that I will Faithfully perform all duties perform all duties of the office of the office of City Commissioner of City Commissioner se4 se4 on which I am on which I am now about to enter now about to enter so help me God so help me [Applause] God welcome come on up George and our next one to be sworn in is for seat five our vice mayor Emily Lee and if all Emily's Family will come down and stand with her that would be great thank you sir this is live on TV right now thank you got everybody okay we're going to do the administor the O please raise your right hand I state your name I Emily you solemnly swear do Sol swear that I will support that I will support protect and defend protect and defend the Constitution the Constitution and government and government of the United States of the United States and of the State of Florida and of the State of Florida that I am duly qualified and I am dly qualified to hold office to hold office under the Constitution under the Constitution and laws and laws of the State of Florida of the State of Florida and the charter and the charter of the city of of the city of H and that I will and that I will Faithfully perform Faithfully perform all the duties all the duties of the office of the office of City Commissioner of City Commissioner seat five seat five on which I am now about to enter of which I am now [Applause] thank you Chief congratulations everybody [Applause] [Music] welcome sir I'm used to sitting in Code Enforcement next we're coming down to the selection of Mayor and vice mayor for the upcoming year I'm now going to turn the meeting over to our city clerk uh temporarily great welcome everyone now we will proceed with the election of Mayor the following procedure will be utilized for the election of Mayor I will open the floor to nominations for mayor nominations do not require a second when it appears no further nominations are forthcoming I will call for a motion that nominations be closed this motion does require a second followed by a Voice vote if there is only one one nomination for mayor a roll call vote shall be taken in alphabetical order on the nomination if there is more than one nomination for mayor a roll call vote shall be taken on the nominees in the order in which the nominations were offered up to a nominee receiving three affirmative votes there will be no runoff or voting on subsequent nominees once someone has received three votes roll call shall be in alphabetical order as follows commissioner as body commissioner Ash draft commissioner Hawkins commissioner Holland and commissioner Lee for the election of Mayor the new mayor will take over the meeting and proceed with the election of the vice mayor using the same format as for the election of the mayor following the election of the vice mayor the new mayor vice mayor and Commissioners will assume their respective seats and the new mayor will proceed with the first item on the regular agenda any questions okay I will open the floor for nominations for mayor reminder there is no second required nominee for mayor I'd like to nominate Willie Hawkins for mayor any other nominations Nom any other nominations see seeing no for the nominations may may I have a motion to close the floor for nominations motion to close second second Voice vote to close nominations all in favor say I I any opposed none with only one nomination I will do a roll call vote of the Commissioners and alphabetical order considering the nomination for Willie Hawkins commissioner ASB body I commissioner Ashcraft I commissioner Hawkins hi hi commissioner Holland hi commissioner Lee hi nomination passes for commissioner Hawkins to be elected to serve as mayor for the city of eus 2025 [Music] I will now turn over the meeting to our new mayor mayor Willie Hawkins for the election of the vice [Applause] mayor uh be before I get started I'd like to say that uh uh I have big shoes to fill uh I've sat beside this man for the last four years and he does a phenomenal job and uh if I can be half the mayor fine that you are I'll be kicking butt so so thank you hey I uh like to open the floor for nominations for vice mayor I'd like to nominate Gary Ashcraft for vice mayor I would nominate Michael Holland vice mayor any any other nominations seeing no further nominations may I have a motion to close the floor for nomination so moved second okay uh Voice Voice vote to close nominations uh eyes I I I and N with only one nomination I'm sorry with with two nominations uh I will do a roll call vote of the Commissioners in alphabetical order in the order that the nominees were presented so first our nominee will be Gary Ashcraft okay for commissioner Ashcraft uh commissioner ASB I uh commissioner Ashcraft I uh commissioner Hawkins I commissioner Holland I and commissioner Lee I nomination passes for commissioner Ashcraft to be elected to serve as vice mayor for the city of E since we have no since we have more than one nomination we would do a roll call in the order the nominees were presented we did that already did already once you reach three okay all right nominations nomination passes for uh commissioner Ashcraft to be elected to serve as vice mayor for the city of eustus for 25 at this time with the election of Mayor and vice mayor completed I ask that the Commissioners assume your respective seats and we'll proceed with the first item on the regular agenda mayor VI I don't remember yep it's in order yeah so e e e e e e e e yep okay meeting uh meeting is called back to order okay um before we get started Mr as body yes uh if I could have a minute I wanted to just uh take a moment to um acknowledge um my thanks and my appreciation to some people uh first of all the elephant in the room I'd like to thank Michael Holland and Emily Le for their outstanding commitment to the city um I have seen nothing but uh a dedication to community that I hope to be able to fill um with that I I want to thank my family uh today I have here three generations uh of us here today and who are residents now of the city of Eustace I love them and I thank them for their support through this process and uh I hope that I could contribute something positive with my knowledge and leave this place a little better than it was when I came in though I think it's in good hands and I'm very excited about what's ahead of us uh and again thank you to to everybody that's it sir commissioner Lee yes anything you'd like to say before we get started no it has been a pleasure and I plan to continue serving the citizens of Eustace and working with the other Commissioners to write a new chapter in in the history of where we're going and what we're going to do so I'm just blessed to have the opportunity to do so okay thank you okay uh before us uh we have the approval of minutes from our December 12th 2024 commission meeting move for approval second okay second roll call commissioner sorry mayor let me sarch this pleas sorry about that search this up uh commissioner Lee hi commissioner ASB body I was not um seated at that time but I did review the minutes and I have no objections to them uh vice mayor Ashcraft I commissioner Holland hi mayor Hawkins I okay now uh we're coming up to audience to be heard uh if you'd like to address the uh uh the commission please understand you have three minutes uh don't go over that or you will be buzzed uh so I'm I'm not as polished as uh uh mayor Holland yet so uh he'll be he and I'll be working closely together uh but please if you have anything uh Tom do you have any cards yes uh Jacqueline realat good evening can you hear me I'm not we need to get close to that microphone my name is Jackie okay okay and I reside at 13509 Oak and drive in the suburb of the big city of hustus Grand Island uh I have been there 14 years I moved from taries to Grand Island to raise my children by choice I love Grand Island recently taries removed floride from their water system it was a remarkable stand toward the health of the community I would like to implore you to please consider doing the same to write a new chapter there are many health concerns regarding fluoride our state Surgeon General recently came out in opposition to floridated municipal water sources please consider not medicating the city of eust and Island residents without consent thank you for your time and consideration and happy New Year thank you uh Nicole King hello my name is Nicole King I reside at 25822 Piner Street in serto Florida um I am a practicing registered nurse in this County this will be the third council meeting that I've attended to address the current concerns on fluoride in our County's water as a nurse it is our duty to educate and Advocate and provide informed consent or applicable to the communities that we serve I am here today to ask this committee to please consider removing fluoride from the city's Public Water Systems there are others that have spoken out about this and fluing the fluoridation of water and have felt that there are less risks and more benefits they will tell you that the fluoride in the water is what's best for our most vulnerable communities and that it decreases tooth decay and Cavities but to address the root cause of these issues is not technically mentioned they'll dismiss the opposing side by saying we are misinformed and that we are using fear to educate respectfully in healthcare we use facts not feelings when informing our communities of risk versus benefit and choosing their medical care all individuals should have the right to choose what medical interventions are presented to them yes fluide has been deemed a medical inter Intervention which is prescribed by a physician typically a dentist newer data and evidencebased studies suggest that there may be more harm than good by keeping fluoride in the public water systems the other side will tell you that the current data proves that fluoride is safe and effective but never denies that fluoride has now been deemed a neurotoxin and when we know better we do better by definition a neurotoxin is a substance that is harmful to the nervous system this means repeated exposure regardless of said uh dosing over long periods of time could cause widespread central nervous system damage these can include learning disabilities memory loss fractures seizures and dementia just to name a few this is what we call informed consent these are documented and published potential adverse outcomes of fluoride toxicity are your eustus residents aware that fluoride has been deemed a public health hazard due to a recent Federal Court ruling uh in September I believe communities must be informed about what is being put in their food and water and be agreeable to such medical interventions where Chlor chlorine is treating the water fluoride is treating the people the rebuttal is that it is well regulated and where that may be true in its production you cannot regulate how much the public is ingesting through your Public Water Systems our next potential HHS candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr voiced his concerns on fluoride in the water as as well as our state Surgeon General Dr Joseph lpo who called on our state cities and municipalities to remove fluoride from our Public Water Systems as he too understands the severity of leaving an in uh which is a neurotoxin in our Public Water Systems so current to date cities that have successfully removed uh fluoride and rejected it are Perry Florida Coler County Brooksville Florida Winter Haven Stewart Florida Naples Florida taries most recently and Port Lucia and a minimum could we please consider pausing continuing to add fluoride to our Public Water Systems to see what our state and our federal government may be doing moving forward thank you thank you Dale Isaac Thomas good evening City commissioners city manager and City attorney Sasha I just want to say congratulations to each and every commissioner up here I have stood at this Podium and also worked with each of you except commissioner Ashcraft and commissioner ASB it was a pleasure and I'm looking forward to what the future of the city of eustus will be bringing forth with our new Administration including the ones that are also on board thank you all again for your service your dedication to the residents in the city of eustus thank you and happy New Year uh representative Nan C good evening commission congratulations thank you very much I'm looking forward to working with you uh I just wanted to introduce you to a couple folks I wanted to introduce you to my legislative Aid which is Tristan ramundo and Tristan will be working with me closely in Tallahassee uh during uh committee week and during session and then after that he come back he comes back home with the rest of us our legis my my uh District Aid which is my local Aid which is Mrs lgas and she will be the one that takes care of our our daily In-N-Out constituent work uh uh while we're in Tallahassee uh just to let you know just in case you don't that our new office is located in the mega workplace uh 343 North Bay Street uh room 204 and uh we are by appointment only but it doesn't mean we're not there we just probably you just we take appointments all right so uh you will see us at once a month one of us all three of us just depends on who it is um at a regular commission meetings throughout Lake County and to include the County Commission as well so uh we look forward to working with you if you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out great thank you thank you so much thank you thanks and welcome aboard sorry it's telling them welcome aboard any more time that's it for cards okay all right Commissioners we have the our consent agenda is there anything on here that anyone would like to pool move for approval Mr Mayor can I get a second second okay uh roll call commissioner Lee I commissioner as body I uh vice mayor Ashcraft I commissioner Holland I mayor Holland mayor Hawkins sorry it'll be apologize I'll answer for anything so yeah I thank you okay now is this the um our attorney my attorney yes okay thank you have resolution number 2501 a resolution by the city Commission of the City of usus Lake County Florida to appoint liaison directors or members and Alternate directors or members to various committees and Boards of directors to ensure that the city's interests are expressed through the city's commission and are represented on on these various committees and Boards do we Tom would it be you or is Christine going to how we do this last year Christine went them and distributed them and volunteer took volunteers yeah and everyone volunteered last year a list of them can we okay is that okay if we do it is that how we did it last year Tom Mike you remember yeah just we just take one by one and let people volunteer okay like start with America and blo and I'm sure Emily would like to stay on that yes I I'd honestly like to say on the ones that I'm on as well so you should have the list in front of you of all the Committees in order and we can just go through them one by one okay uh for American and Bloom commissioner Lee we have an alternate for that uh do we have an alternate I've we've not had one since um since yes okay so and I have a committee so we're good okay that's true okay for the audit committee Mr Mayor that normally falls to the mayor yes thank you okay Late Community Act Action Agency and I was the primary on that and haven't had a backup yeah so uh so I'm good being uh remaining the primary if someone wants to be an alternate I'll volunteer for that okay VI mayor ashra did you say as alternate or you volun alate thank you Lake County Arts and Cultural Alliance uh we had uh commissioner CB at the time with Pam Rivas as alternate anyone would like to volunteer for that don't everyone jump at once I like say i' like to keep the ones I'm already on okay who oh yes oh okay okay all right uh Pam would you like to stay as the alternate or would you like to be the primary okay I canrim chrisy okay if you could choose which position that would Beary Pam Ras will be the primary and Christine Cruz will be the alternate okay alternate okay okay so what do we do just do the vote or just I appoint okay uh I appoint okay um appointed to the Lake County Arts and Cultural alliances uh Pam revas as primary and Christine Cruz is alternate thank you both uh Lake County Educational concurrency Review Committee uh I've done that for uh the last couple of years so I'd like to remain on that uh if there's anyone that would like to be an alternate I I'll volunteer for okay as alterntive okay just in case I can okay Lake County League of cities representative is that always the um I don't think it has to be I'd like to stay since I am the second vice president of the league absolutely okay absolutely um would you like to be the primary and I'll be your alternate is that all right okay that great okay moving on uh Lake sua Metropolitan planning organization Mo governing board uh now we've had uh commissioner Ashcraft the last couple of years with uh Nan car's alternate yeah I if it's okay I'd like to I really would like to stay on that one that's actually one I I really enjoy and I've uh um worked well with the uh with the m board I would be interest without without objection okay would you like to be the primary yes okay and George is the alternate the and the Lake eustus Area Chamber of Commerce board uh is Tom Corino and it it's always you correct yeah I serve as a non-voting ex official board member on the chamber board and I serve on the uh executive board um is that uh is that an issue Sasha no okay and Open Door uh spend commissioner Ashcraft and Nan Cobb uh as alternate I'm okay staying with that one like I said it's Joy without any objection anyone like to volunteer to beat off to this okay going once T anyone would like to volunteer to be the alternate okay all right so we have Gary as and the the upper aaaha Basin working group they're no longer meeting and will advise when meetings resume uh we haven't had I guess they haven't had a meeting since 2023 so I haven't heard okay okay would anyone in the audience like to speak on resolution number 251 okay seeing none we will close public input for the resolution Mr Mayor thank you okay vote motion just say um before we have resolution number 251 what's the will of the commission uh before we have resolution number 25-01 uh what's the will of commission go ahead move for approval second it's been first and properly second all in favor roll call roll call commissioner Lee commissioner ASB body I vice mayor Ashcraft hi commissioner Holland hi mayor Hawkins hi okay now we're coming down to uh other business uh anything uh that anyone would like to Future agenda items uh anything that you would like to bring to the attention of the board of the commission Mr Mayor I i' I'd uh have a couple things I'd like to say okay uh first off I'd I'd like to ask that we schedule uh a workshop the week of February 10th or whenever it's convenient for everybody um as a United commission uh collaborating together and discussions in a venue open to public never individual Commissioners behind closed doors meeting with developers and staff apart from each other that creates division among Commissioners the goal is to set on on a path as a United commission sharing ideas and expectations in order to reach the successful framework for the entire Downtown Development second I would suggest that the commission explore a well-seasoned and experienced professional consultant or an in-house staff member to assist and lead us in this um downtown and development throughout our town through this process that person should have extensive experience and qualifications in the following areas of government experience in Land Development experienc an economic development of a downtown similar to Eustace and its population and Dynamics experience in implementing and carrying through a master plan real estate investment strategy land use knowledge city Land Development and planning knowledge experience in government entitlement assistance experience in growth management experience in development approvals and Central Business District's architectural design standard standards in my orientation over the past few weeks uh I asked staff what one thing do you need to help you do your job better and an answer that ringed out was an active involved land use attorney and I suggest that we have one present I suggest that we hire a knowledgeable expert land use attorney who specializes in development of towns similar to to our size with knowledge and experience of what we are facing in this coming year as we move uh to develop downtown and the areas around it um that attorney to be present and mentor and guide us uh during discussions and the city manners um involving both the development and with prospective developers in any land use issue one thing on that I want to be clear that I am happy with the law firm of bow and schroth and in no way am I suggesting replacing them at all simply equipping us the commission with additional resources who specialize in the areas we need help in I have had some experience but I can tell you sincerely I have no knowledge of what we need to do and I believe we need to equip ourselves with the experts surround ourselves with people who will point us and curve any potential for failure so in summary there are four things I'm asking uh schedule a workshop in February to surround all of our sharing of our concerns and to allow each of us to discuss among uh other Commissioners in open what our goals are and what our concerns and what are our musthaves and and and what uh do we uh need to have I do not suggest that individual Commissioners meet with developers one-on-one after each other this needs to be done in the public I number two engaging a consultant to help the commission and staff by sharing their knowledge and experience and empowering us as a commission to do the right thing and what is best for our community first third the individual Commissioners and staff do not have one-on-one close to the public meetings with the developers we have engaged or any developers once we have engaged them all discussions need to be open to the public and in the presence of all commissioners private meetings do not look good for our community and finally number four to engage and use an expert land use attorney those are the four things I spoke of thank you Mr Mayor Tom have we we plan to retreat we don't have a date uh yet that was one thing that I was going to bring up uh as part of my report um the um uh commissioner Emily Lee brought it up at the last meeting but again we haven't scheduled anything uh I don't know if we were thinking uh half a day on a Saturday or finding a day uh a Friday uh that maybe works for everyone um so yeah I mean it's been mentioned but nothing's been scheduled and I think not necessarily say a half day but whatever time it takes if it means a whole day but if we limit ourselves in a half day I want a day that's clear that we can take all the time that we need I I agree with Emily this is so important so commissioner um ASB you made some good points but how do you think this reflects in terms of uh what we're doing right now with uh C3 G2 I think this is an issue that really doesn't have anything directly to do with them right now in what I'm speaking this is about empowering educating surrounding ourselves with experts that will help us through this process none of us I act uh spoke with uh Mike Lane our development uh he has some experience in that and he's done some great things but I think we need to empower ourselves with the staff if we're talking about a 5075 million project we need to have some big guns on our side um I I I take nothing away from any developer they will try to make the best deal for themselves I respect that as a as a business person but we need to equip ourselves we have no experience um we don't don't understand the the uh repercussions of some things so are you I'm sorry sorry are so are you suggesting we hold off G3 C2 and what we've been doing for the last two years I think uh I think the uh approval of the agreement that came forward which I spoke against in the public um is early it's too early I think that before we can send we don't want to make the same mistakes we made with Atrium we sent them out there and we didn't tell them what we want I've sat I'm sorry no go ahead I've been here for many years I've listened to and what Emily Lee stuck in my mind was hey we got to decide what we want and where we want to be and who we want to be and I haven't we haven't reached that um so yes I I would not be imposed to set that aside I don't know it's a repercussion to that so put this off longer well no we're not we should have been doing this we should have been doing this over the past year I but we had we had master plan people to help help us guide us on what we wanted to do for downtown again and I agree with you it's an it's an important project um but we've already invested a lot of time and money into this we so hold it off some more I think that before we can Empower them we are sending them down the wrong road we're doing to them who are they any developer in this case them because we have not set our design standards for downtown we we have designed the standards for downtown we have not our design standards are out of date I remember commissioner Cobb also saying we need to update them we've been and we have never done that we're doing our Urban this is not about doing that I it is it's directly related to it so no I'm saying Empower of to work forward whether it be with them or not but we do have I do have in there what I plan to discuss which involves uh the uh which involves everything from land use to design standards to do everything we are progressing well if you take the fact that we got a uh master plan after two years where we were promised I think 300 days 300 days 300 days and it took us what is that 365 time 2 730 that that that wasn't good I don't know the Dynamics that you faced as a commission because I wasn't privy to everything but it exceeded their expectation and I and I I warn you that they used the term that it was conservative for that for those 300 days so we need to know what we want we need to know our identity who are we what do we want to be uh what do we want to see and then we take these Developers and we go Empower them to go bring us back we don't want to do what we did to Atrium once they finally put all the work in they came back and said I hear you okay I hear you right but didn't we do that already with a master plan a strategic plan um rfqs I would agree with you that we did that and if you would just indulge me for one second I want to read one part of the master plan if I could just one part which leads to some of this recommendations for the master plan number one is to hire a consultant to put in place to assist us I uh I think that we can how yeah how come he and I are the only on talking about this yeah I'm okay thank you I was I because no you neither one of you would take a breath well he he asked me but I I want I'm trying to wrap my mind around how we go from go from upright to Man Down how we go from speaking in terms of the the the four items that you wanted and then we skip over to the G3 and C2 whatever it seems to me because because it's such an important project I mean I think everything we would have in a retreat would directly impact what we're trying to do with G right but but I'm I'm hearing two things that we're we're the things that George suggested and then all of a sudden we get over to G3 and all of that and so to me we we're splitting into two things we need to finish on one thing but we jump to that already I just don't see it I'm not no actually I'm not splitting them I'm actually bringing them together because it's such an important project and we are headed a direction we've recently signed a contract with them for six months and so now we it sounds like okay so we'll start questioning ourselves on that I think we got to focus we got to get started on what we're going to do and stay the course and quit vacillating all but if we if we have this Retreat and hire Consultants they're going to want to have opinions on the development for downtown it will directly impact it is what I'm trying to say either in a good way or not a good way and it's going to delay us even further than we already have been that's all that's all I'm trying to make and you make some really good points we should have probably maybe done this before but Tom what's your opinion on all this well before before we get to time Mike we need to have a commission Retreat we all need to get back on the same page um this project once that land is developed we don't have another shot at this it's got to be right I hear you and I I think we've taken entirely too long entirely too too long let's get on the same page as a commission this Retreat needs to be sooner than later yeah and let's sit down and talk it through yeah and and I agree I I think that we can we can walk and chew gum at the same time we better learn yeah so I I think we can do that and and I don't think that at least from what what I'm hearing we're saying let's not use uh The Firm that we're using the developers I only responded to that because he asked me a question so I wanted to give some some some part to it we need to empower ourselves we are five dedicated Community leaders who want nothing but the best for this but we only know so much and we're dealing with people who have done this many many many times so are are you saying that C3 and G2 don't know what they're doing no what I'm saying is they're on the other side of the table right and we're on our side of the table they're going to present us but we're not in the development business we're not yeah but we are going to approve them and approve their actions but they're already approved that's just it no they have been approved for an exclusive six months I know months we have to determine what we want in a development agreement what our expectations are do we want X or Y for land for the land where what what are our what what needs to be done there we're not equipped with that there why we hire people yeah right and I see and I agree with you we need to hire people but not hire the people on the other side of the table I don't let we don't let the developers tell us what to do no I IE with that right I'm just agreeing this is going to be delayed even further as what's going to happen I mean it's all it is I mean and it's it's either's more important time I know I know it's an important project but but we we we really do we take so much in in forever I know the mayor has said it so many times I've said it we do we take for ever getting anything done and and I know it's an important project but that's cuz we let that happen why did we go 700 days on a master plan if we had an you know staff surrounding us who's experienced in that and to push that on day 300 that's conservative where are we but your proposal your proposal and what you were suggesting is one thing and I understand that but then we go that encompasses a lot of other things but immediately we go to G3 to that we cannot keep pushing it back and back and back we went from from 0 to 20 from from the four things that you discussed and then we turn around and talk about the the G3 we can't keep pushing it back we've got to get going on this and it sounds like you know we would in order to do this we have to delay that and I I guess I don't think we have to delay them we've given them a job uh you've guys had have have have put forth an agreement with them which I believe Miss Garcia have they signed that did they sign that agreement I believe well the agreement was to be signed by the city manager okay so did we did we implement the landmarks that you talked about in that agreement yes coming mon Tom did you implement them you want to aine on this at all they're coming to present on uh January 16th uh they're going to be presenting monthly at the second meeting of the month which is the third Thursday of the month um as to whether we have the signed copy back I'm not sure we'll have to look and see if we have to sign copies back but um I guess my opinion on this is we have an obligation to work in good faith for the next six months with G3 C2 that doesn't prevent us from having a workshop uh having discussions or even identifying Consultants that can help us through this process uh but we have to work on that conc currently because we do have an obligation to work with G3 C2 in good faith for the next six months I I think that um that we need to set up a retreat as soon as possible uh so that we can we can work we can figure out what we want to do and the sooner we have the knowledge that we need the better off I think we are to to kind of so the the vice mayor's initial I'm sorry Emily Lee's commissioner Emily Lee's initial request I think was um a retreat for the commission to work with the department heads to talk about goals and what um the Commissioners and the uh staff would like to accomplish um commissioner ASB brought up a workshop specific to G3 C2 so are we or I'm sorry specific to the downtown project I brought them up until commissioner mayor vice mayor Ashcraft asked asked me about that commissioner ASB asked for a retreat lated to the downtown project I want to empower us and so I guess my question is are we talking two separate Retreats one to talk about uh commission and staff goals for the next year and one to talk about the downtown project which certainly the downtown project is a major upcoming goal and could be part of uh say a half a day or three4 day or full day Retreat uh so are we talking about scheduling um a a retreat to talk about multiple issues can we do one in the morning and the other one in the afternoon if everyone's schedule allows I we we can do whatever the will of the commission and the and scheduling allows my concern is what what uh commissioner Lee said which is we need to allow allow ourselves to run over if necessary yeah so I I would I would be leaning toward again uh like Holland said this is the biggest thing ever in the history of this city as a development and we need to empower ourselves educate ourselves but keep moving forward we are moving forward educating ourselves understanding it opening on us to dialogue as to what we should be concerned about what our feasibility is what do we need them to bring what will work here what we don't want is 50,000 foot of buildings that remain vacant because I know but isn't that what the master plan I'm sorry I didn't mean but isn't that what the master plan did for us it gave us a it gave us a guide on on what would work down here sir or Rob pay them all that money to do it yes sir and it gave us recommendations and I'm asking that we follow those recommendations well it' have to be a Saturday yeah and and we'd have to if we want to do it sooner than later we have to work with everyone's schedule I think we need to do it before February do we want to look at calendars right now uh oh good yes let's look at calendars I'm not good but it's okay no uh so if we're looking at a Saturday we'll have to figure out if we could realistically pull it together by the 11th uh potentially the 18th nope 11th I'm out I'm I'm out of town that weekend okay um the 18th would be the first one that would would work for me I'm out of town the 18th and I'm not good the 18th uh the 25th is the Tri City food drive but we could work through that if we needed to do that on the if we needed to meet and I'm not good on Saturday the 25th nope I'm not good somebody's going to have to give up something accomplish this um Saturday February 1st nope February 3rd well wait a minute hold on February 1 if we I'm I'm out of the country that day okay I'm sorry well Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday would one of those days do all of those are okay with me that following week third fourth fifth 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th and none of those are good for me just um 11 12 13 14 15 all right let's make some concessions here so after the 11th um just just pick a day during the week that works for everybody and I'll make and I'll make it work February 11th after the 11th after January 11 January right January 11th yes yeah he said pick a date during that week uh 17 no I fly out on the 16th and don't return until the 21st so I'm good on I'm good on the Monday the 13th Monday uhhuh uh Tuesday we have noticing [Music] requirements yeah that gives us is that enough time it's a workshop I I guess it it depends on what the commission expectations are yeah 13th and the 14th are the best days for me that we January 13th or January 14th 13th is good for me 13th is Good Lucky 13 Mike okay you yes okay 13th time um is that time for you to prepare well again it depends on what the commission's expectations are um in talking to um commissioner Lee she was talking about wanting the Departments to develop uh some goals and metrics um the 13th uh is less than two weeks away here's what I would suggest I believe that um what commissioner as body is suggesting would be more of a priority but I don't want to be just about the downtown we got to talk about what we as Commissioners are doing even in dealing with the staff and people and the Departments and all of that prepare ourselves completely in every way possible if we're going to take a whole day of this then we can that gives us some more insight that when the staff our departments come and present to us we are even more um uh empowered to be able to understand what they're doing and why they're doing it and then do that at another date that would be my compromise okay so yes we can pull something together by Monday January 13th um as long as there's an understanding that this is kind of uh the initial conversation about some of these things and that we're not going to have everything finalized for you uh for for that date okay um I think uh I would like us to one of the goals in there is is to determine whether we want want to bring on an expert uh if if the city manager has somebody he wants to recommend and they want to come uh maybe talk to us for a few minutes during the workshop that would be great an expert in what area in all of those that I read okay in the categories are it's somebody who is going to help us and address some of our concerns and help us move forward is it just is your focus just on the downtown I see it as being something we can get empowered our information on total all over yeah I agree I agree with you when I talk about downtown I'm not talking about the three lots I'm talking about everything the Waterfront um all the other options some of the things that are in there and then if you wish to talk about uh stuff along the 44 Corridor and the property the city has there that would be great as well so it's empowering us educating us on what we can and what we can't do uh the BT Harris act where and what things can be done the benefits of owning the property versus selling it all of the things that that we have that you've brought up uh through through the past four years so uh yeah and nothing should be off the table in my op so we are we are giving staff the direction to put together what and how and besides us who will be there I would like to see us have some potential Consultants come talk and tell us what they would offer what they would suggest whether they think this is something we should do or not a land use attorney to uh introduce and uh Empower us as to what we should be doing next and if he says hey what vice mayor Ashcraft is saying we should do is is the right thing to do based on their experience with people who have done this before and hey you need to do this you know people forget about this all the time okay I'm going to reut once again isn't that what the master plan did didn't didn't they look at all that and say what what could be done the uh master plan was a guide from what I'm understanding I mean they they took data they took all all the data and and said what could be done for downtown they gave a very high Broad View they did not deal with the detail the devil's in the detail the problem is if we bring in other people then they're going to give another vision of what we should be doing and we'll always be in the state of flux and then we decide as a commission we're representing the people we decide am I am I right that that's how that would work we would decide the five of us so if we like what we hear from them which I don't think we can do anything but learn uh then we're better off than we were before if we completely disagree with everything they say and we want to vote against it each person has their vote absolutely you know I I I I I understand what George is saying but I also understand what Gary and and Emily are saying you know I think we need to better arm ourself with information absolutely but I do not want to slow down the process so again I think that if we can walk and chew gum at the same time uh I'm good with that I'm all for that the quicker the quicker the better but more important than speed is accuracy knowledge and doing it correctly and it's up to us to ask the right questions with the people that come before us at the meetings ultimately the attorney or the consultant will feed us that information and say hey you need to First deal with X Y and Z or you don't need to do that you need to First focus on on this you need to do your your U architectural guidelines for the downtown mhm we don't want a building with brick in it that was made out of plaster with a sponge uh put on there and then I find out that that's not what we were told was going to be there so instead we gave we made a verbal agreement with a developer and they didn't do what they were supposed to and we ended up with faux brick because we didn't have the uh the ordinances to set those guidelines and then we have what we have across the street I think it's a slippery slope we're going down when we've already been going One Direction we've got the master plan and then we bring somebody else in who tells us oh no this shouldn't be this way this is the way you got to do it then we got to make a decision as you said about changing or not changing and there's little little question marks in our heads I I I would rather have someone come in and work with us on what we already have going and then go forward I think we're I think that's part that's not I'm not against that but what I'm saying is educate us lead us and Empower us as to what happens when a small town like ours moves into developing and what we have to address first what's the first thing the most important thing that we need to do first I bet if we asked all five of us we might get five different answers um we have not done this before when I had a house built I want to take a house when I had a commercial building built I went and I found the best people to help me do it I didn't know what I was doing and thank God I did I would have lost a lot now one of the things that that I want to make sure that that we're clear on is with the people that that we're now under contract when they came to us 3 years ago they were the best people so I want to make sure that we don't keep moving the gold post that's the most important thing um you know we all say that it took too long three years to get to where we are from Atrium it took too long so whatever we do it has to be something that we can move forward and still educate ourselves I understand the educate educating ourselves I understand that but I want to make sure that if we ultimately end up with uh a g G3 C2 we don't slow them down the quicker we do this and the quicker we fix our house the quicker we can have a guest over and uh right now our house is a mess um and and we're and and we need to tighten it up before we sign an agreement with them we needed those land in my opinion those landmarks those those uh guidelines attached to it and part of it I thought that that was not something I would have voted for to do until it was done why couldn't we wait one more meeting and have it all and look at it all we need somebody to to review that who knows what they're doing uh from the Strategic side we have a great attorney to review it from the document side a matter of fact I refresh your memory that that wasn't the document that she prepared so we took a developer and we let them tell us what to do I don't want to do that I want us to work together with the developer but I want us to tell them what we want what our expectation is and not let them go chase their tail like we did to at okay Tom do we have a uh a land use attorney uh we have used uh gunster and they have um an attorney down in South Florida that has advised us on land use stuff but I don't I don't know if you're looking for an attorney on land use issues in this case you're probably looking for attorney that has experience negotiating uh Redevelopment deals uh which is a little bit different um so we'll have to do some research uh and identify what our real need is I do think uh we probably have a need big picture for a land use attorney but in this case I'd say it's less about land use and more about negotiation of Redevelopment agreement uh which is a little bit different um so I guess we we need to do some research on that great all right and that was one of my criterias for them was to have experience in negotiating them and uh strategies and understanding of the real estate and everything do you do you know who's out there that's might be familiar with our Market that you could look to and maybe have them come to our workshop and uh see if they're willing to talk a little bit and give us a little insight to what they might offer uh I there is one person that comes to mind uh that has some experience in um development Redevelopment um and so I'll I'll see if they're available um uh they might be able to help us a little bit they um have some experience in representing municipalities related to uh real estate deals and development and Redevelopment um so we'll I'll make some inquiries and see if we can have someone ready for the 13th who is that that you're thinking his name is Mike Gan um he has some experience up in Connecticut but he lives on Lake Shore splits time between here and uh Connecticut and uh has done a lot of uh real estate work um again both on the private side and uh represent pres ing municipalities uh I'm not suggesting that that is necessarily uh someone who we need to hire but he certainly has experience and he might be available to come talk on the 13th okay it could be more than one probably should be more than one to allow the commission to decide that per that so the land use attorney is going to help us uh draft um our ordinances support Mike uh in development services when he needs help and uh keep us out of trouble with with uh the statues that are constantly changing the uh consultant is going to help us negotiate going to share with us their experiences as to what needs to be done first what they've learned what they learned the hard way maybe somebody who was involved in Winter Garten I don't know somebody who has that experience that can help us with a good reach a good result let's see who uh see what this guy brings to the table um I I I think we should I think we should do that uh Tom can you see what what he does yes and I think if anybody else has somebody else that'd like to suggest especially from the commission uh I I would I would suggest that we bring if you know somebody or talk to somebody who knows somebody that you feel fits that please come forward with that Mr Mayor I I just want to apprise the commission that the uh CRA did approve that contract with G3 C2 and the only cave was that they would be coming on a monthly basis to update the commission as to the progress of of the status of the project um under that agreement as written were um restricted as far as having discussions meetings or negotiations on development rights and interests contemplated by that agreement so I'm not sure how much is going to be discussed the extent of that but it may be necessary um or I would recommend that you know they be notified of this workshop and possibly ask them to attend as well because of the fact that we do have this commitment with them and we don't want there to be a breach of what the CRA already committed to I guess in my opinion I'm a little bit bothered by this because I feel like we are now bringing in new new ideas new people um when we were going a certain course but it's not it doesn't sound like this is about enhancing what we're doing it sounds more like we want to question is this the right is this the right way or is there another way then let's do that and I I guess um even talking about identifying a person that Tom just talked about and then saying well we could throw in another person so we keep get all these people coming in with different ideas different thoughts processes but we've made a commitment and some somehow to me we need to focus on the commitment that we've made and we need to go forth and work on that and work with them to get the best that we can do that's my concern that we bring in all these other people or the one Tom mentioned bring in anybody else that the commission as George said May recommend we we're going to be in a state of flux all the time because we're not focused on that one thing that needs to be done and and as Gary said we've got the master plan let's look at all that and go try to all these things that we've already committed to rather than taking another road and going somewhere else and another road and then we're going to be stuck again that's how I see it we're building our team to work with whoever the developer is be it right now G3 that we're into an agreement we're building our knowledge and we're building um our strength and our team the person that I want to bring or if it's this Mike I don't want them to come here what they would do and then we decide okay this guy knows a lot more than we do and we need to join him in with our team keep the train rolling if you want we obviously have to so um this is just an enhancement to our to us iing SS like it could become a dismantling of everything that we've focused on in the past and if a professional who has done this many times tells you you're doing something wrong would you want to to listen to what he has to say or why would he come and tell us that what we're doing wrong why are we not getting someone who's coming to help us enhance what we're doing and say this is the right track and here are things that we can do rather than what we're doing wrong because we don't have the knowledge to do that we don't have the knowledge to develop a downtown uh development to deal with with the uh dynamics of it the real estate portion of it the supply and demand for vacant space uh the land itself uh the division of how the land how the land would transfer what deed restrictions might be involved in the land when we do it are we you had brought up uh way back about um owning the property and doing a land lease I love your idea that was phenomenal but if we're going to do that we need to tell our developers ahead of time what they're stepping into so that they could work otherwise we do what we did to Atri Atrium we send them down the road and then we say hey by the way um Emily Lee doesn't want and George agrees with her and whoever else that's what I'm trying to avoid I don't have a problem with them if they do what our people want to do that are on our side of the table that leads to a to a good development I remind you guys just for the record I think all of you know this I brought them here I brought them forward me and Pam went out and brought those developers here they did not come here we brought them here we met with them we introduced them to everybody we brought them forward this is not about them this is about us empowering ourselves okay so so so let's save this for a workshop please we've agreed to work we we we've agreed to the workshop so let's can we move along so Tom uh just set it up for the 13th yes yes okay and we want to start in the mornings um yes um no um how long are we expecting that it it will last we don't have any idea doing well I we can go from 9 or 10:00 a.m. until we're done and provide lunch or two that no it's all okay I I like what Emily Le said whatever time we need okay all right Tom let's set it up for can okay and mhm and where are we going to meet um Let me let me check on availability of space uh we'll determ location to be determined okay okay okay great okay all right thank you all for the input uh future comments uh Mr Mike I just want to thank you all for letting me serve as mayor for the time period that I have served um Willie congratulations Gary congratulations I will do all I can to support and help you we know you and um we'll go from there thank you I will not be at the meeting on the 16th I will be flying to Washington DC for the inauguration okay okay okay uh Emily I'm good you good okay Gary um just one update um I understand there were some problems with the live portion tonight can is there a way we can get that fixed we I mean we we spent a lot of money to redo this chamber and I can't believe we're still having problems yeah with audio we identified some issues prior to tonight meeting uh our contractor couldn't get out here before tonight um and so we are working on it okay that's all for me George I said enough thank you sir thank you um I wore on my welcome already day one you know I uh yeah I I'd like to say this um and and I I kind of alluded to it earlier um I sit beside uh Mike Holland for four years and uh uh the ultimate professional um you know I Look to Him and U I appreciate what uh you know how he ran U this commission um and how he led this ship and I really appreciate that uh and vice mayor um amazing number two um and you both did did as well and I for one appreciate it and I'm so glad that we have the type of system that um you know we get to decide every now and then uh but there's absolutely no way and I'm going to tell you this and I'm going to say it on live stream there's absolutely no way I can feel your shoes so uh but I appreciate you um thank you all for uh coming tonight Tom Tom report oh I can't forget Tom to the attorney okay all right I got a little Carri away Tom uh just a couple things um some of the Commissioners had uh expressed an interest in touring reworld we're g we're trying to figure out the best way to do that uh they said in the past they have they have advertised it as a public meeting uh and then had multiple Commissioners come but there's complications in taking minutes and uh so we're going to figure out the best way to do that but we will get back to you on that um folks know there's been some online chatter about uh fish in Lake Eustace we are coordinating with uh fish and wildlife um they have released a statement that we have now put up on our Facebook page that they're taking samples um and they're looking at it uh so more information to come on that uh and then I have a family obligation on uh Thursday January 16th and so I will um I don't believe I'll be able to be at the commission meeting on uh Thursday the 16th but I'll coordinate with the assistant city manager and the city will be well represented uh staff will be well represented uh and that's all I have thank you I Madam attorney thank you I just wanted to update the commission on the project The Grove by Pine Meadows that uh I received today the withdrawal and dismissal of the relief that they were seeking based on the commission's actions okay all right that's all okay thank you uh I I think tonight we had great discussion um which leads me to believe that we're all passionate about uh the direction of our city uh so I think we're going to continue uh the path that that we started uh years ago and we're on the way to bigger and better things so thank you all uh this meeting is adjourned