##VIDEO ID:wTRVG0C87kc## e good evening everyone and welcome to eustus City Hall it is 6 pm on Thursday October the 3rd 2024 this is a meeting of the Eustace City commission I'm going to ask you if you'd like to join us in a moment of silence and for the pledge of allegiance to please stand as we do a moment of silence tonight please remember all those folks that have been uh devastated by the hurricane and those that have lost their lives also we have two firefighters that are up in that area helping uh with recovery up there please keep those young men in your prayers too thank you let's pray amen Gary please join me for the pledge I pledge ALG to the 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 all and to officially call our meeting to order is there a quum presentent proper notice been given yes mayor thank you so much uh first thing we have here any uh agenda updates Tom yes sir um due to uh noticing um we did not have an LPA this evening obviously and then ordinances ordinance numbers 2435 2436 and 2437 which are items 6.2 6.3 and 6.4 uh we're requesting that those be moved to October 17th okay um so that again proper notice can be given perfect thank you so much sure thank you coming down now to approval of the minutes we have approval of minutes from our September the 11th 2024 City commission special meeting so moved second have a first and a second any further discussion not hearing any roll call please commissioner Ashcraft I commissioner Cruz I vice mayor Lee I mayor Holland I next we have presentation Chief Capri mayor City commission city manager offic said offic a want to nice official cery I'm proud to say that we have zero opening police dep uh you look around the lot of we're just lucky to have a Great Commission backs us our cops a nice and we're truly blessed to work in a great community so you're getting a great product Citi out there so without further Ado can I have uh so officer Johnson officer Santos are two new officers so uh we're going to do matter of fact let's do we'll s you in we'll have to get your badges P okay so raise your right hand I State Jan citizen of the State of Florida and of the United States of America United States of America and being employed as a police officer off of the city of e city of who solemly swear or affirm that I will support protect def the constition and government of the United States and of the State of Florida and Florida against all enemies enemies domestic and foreign that I will bear true faith I bear true Faith loyal and Allegiance loal and the same the same that I am entitled to hold office I entitled to hold office under the Constitution under the Constitution that I will Faithfully perform all the duties all the duties of the office of a police officer of police offic of the City Florida I'm about to enter congratulations [Applause] badge okay good okay so your mom's going to come up big day so thank you for letting us have you're doing a great job for us and what you want to do is you want to make a fist and draw blood didn't draw blood you're doing good you go good [Applause] job ladies and gentlemen alsoa Johnson do that uhel Santos what wife come up please Sant right the good uniform ladies and gentlemen to have these great officers our we have police ver police force we don't go cheap on anything especially train so I promise you the US Police Department is going to go out there and protect and serve treat everybody with respect we're going to be transparent we're going to hold ourselves accountable and we're going to keep you safe in our city and these two new team members thank you chief chief also your Command Staff Elena no come on up we we know who runs to apartment Ela come on up [Laughter] here guys thank you all so much welcome thank you congrats thank you congratulations thank you congratulations we are definitely proud of our eustus Police Department we welcome you to our family and if there's anything we can ever do for you please let us know thank you C floor T thanks thanks next we have organization and event support grant for late cares so uh mayor if it's okay I'll ask representatives of Lake cares to come up say a few words and then we'll uh do the check presentation following that perfect Miss Linda are you are Lake cares over here come on over you're fine take your time good evening hey good how are you can you hear me is okay good evening everyone how are you doing good that was so uh exciting to see and what an honor excited to be a part of this community um so I'm here on behalf of Lake haes I'm Kelsey Gonzalez I'm the executive director there and uh with me I have Ruthie Hafner our director of development she's here as well if you have any questions for her but I just wanted to kind of give a small snapshot of kind of um where we were last year where we are this year and what the future looks like for Lake cares um so last year we served 66,1 157 uh Lake County residents and of those of that total 5,317 Eustace residents were served off the Clifford location another 5,888 Eustace residents came to our main location in Mount Dora and that's because because either they work closer to that location and that's more convenient for them or um they don't live in that particular Bates Avenue neighborhood and they prefer that location but overall we served um over 10,000 usus residents last year and very proud to do so this year we're looking um forward to continuing a lot of Partnerships that we currently have with a lot of Eustace uh different organizations one of them being the new forward pass uh tiny homes that project we were there on the grand opening and we continue to support them each month with food items that they may need and we're actually trying to develop a program where maybe they give back as well so it's not just here giving giving giving but they come back and they help at the Eustace Bates Avenue location so we're in the process of working through that um meaningful Milestones once was in Eustace I believe now they're in um matella but we're still continuing that relationship regardless so we're still being able to feed about 30 to 45 students there and back up to forward pass we're still serving the uh lebur group of teens as well um and young adults and we do about 40 total uh Ali Academy we're working with them and doing a pantry Pantry project at their school teaching them about how to run a small food pantry and helping them with items that they may need to bring home and we serve about 20 students there eustus Heights we're doing weekend backpack food and uh summer kids feeding and we have about 30 students we're helping there lifeo church we've established uh doing a pantry collaboration so we whenever we have an abundance of food or something extra we call them up and asked if they would like to have it for their food distribution and um just last week or two weeks ago um we had our public serves day and miss Emily Lee came and joined us that day and it was a lot it was a lot of fun we appreciate you coming out um we served uh 24,500 lbs of food in about two hours we saw over 300 Lake County residents that day and we did it right there at the lifeo church location in usus which brought all of those people all the way even from Orlando here because of that drive so it was uh a good opportunity to showcase your beautiful city and that was with the help of 182 Publix volunteers that day from all over the district another one that we continue to do and we love is our Habitat for Humanity partnership and we did six homes in eustus area this this year and new um kind of up and coming from the last time I was here and spoke we are now also helping assist uh the Agape House with Pantry needs if they run short as well as win-one Ministries as well so together we feel like we're stronger and if we have extra to share we're going to do so so um other than that just some kind of um like behind the scenes kind of things that are different at our usess location we've changed and we're converting to an iPad kind of distribution intake to make it go a little faster instead of paper so if it rains it's okay we can still keep going nothing's going to get wet things like that and it helps streamline so the moment it's entered I can pull it from my office and not have to wait for to all be entered in so we're trying to streamline everything to be more efficient serve more clients serve them faster and get them back to either work um or back to their homes or whatever their case may be um then of course everyone knows the exciting news about our new facility it's looking like we're on track we actually have someone in the audience back here who's working um um on it every single day our project Mr Brian so excited to see him here today and him and I walk the site today we walk it every week and it's just there's lights hanging down there's duck work going in and it's becoming real so we're excited so grateful for your support um and helping us assist those useless clients that are in need so just grateful appreciate it you any questions for me thank you for all the hard work that you and ruie put in Daily um and we're also proud that Willie Hawkins our commissioner is also on your board director we're really thrilled with that he's out having too much fun he needs to come home well I'd like to say I've never seen so much food um and it was so well organized and um the amount of food was incredible I've never seen anything like it and you guys did a wonderful job thank you and uh I had the honor of picking the tent that was best decorated so I enjoyed it so much just seeing the coordination and what you're providing for the needs of the people in the community thank you thank you appreciate you coming Tom you want to present the chck Marissa you got the camera Commissioners if yall want to come in Sasha Ruthie come on we'll get the picture to you [Laughter] okay thank you all thank you so much good see the thank you congats and next we have organizational and event support grant for love extensions Miss Linda you coming up to speak to us tonight you okay take your time it is a pleasure to be here love extension sincerely appreciates the support we have received from the city of Eustace Eustace goes above and beyond to support organizations and businesses and to help improve what they do you are willing to roll up your sleeves and and sweat in the Florida sun to make a difference in the community love extension is not usually on the radar for food drives as people do not always look at us as having a food pantry however thanks to police chief Capri fire chief Swanson commissioner Hawkins staff members employees and couponing talents of sheena's Shoemaker and public we were blessed with the largest food drive we've ever had we are also grateful that the city has allowed staff to come and participate in our food packings you have made a huge difference and the reason love extension joined the Eustace Chamber of Commerce because you all support the organizations serving people in the city of Eustace thank you let extension was founded 23 years ago we had 54 delivery routes in Lake County and the villages we served 231 people in the city of Eustace providing 2,160 food bags we Tred to specialize the needs of our seniors by having glutenfree low fat sugar salt sugarfree along with pop top cans mic wave and pouch type food for those with arthritic hands and those that should not be near a stove we have had the following groups help with items for our eustus clients Bay and lake pharmacy hosted our Santa love senior angel tree and we'll do it again this year and last year provided a total of 750 Christmas gifts Christmas bags provided by Paul's Therapy Group Therapy Group stockings by fbcu ladies group handmade blankets from the lower school at Mont BT Academy and quilts from local quilting groups cookies and sweets sweet treats from the littlest baked shop into berries and Plantation provided treats for for Christmas and Easter and hand made birthday cards the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eustace provided a valentine party Cinco Deo party and end of summer bash for our clients near their church love extension observed the commit observed on commissioner Hawkins Facebook page the benches being made from plastic grocery bags for trout lake center we are now saving bags our grocery bags at our office after our food packings to help with this exciting project we are excited about it and see a lot of possibilities for it we were requested to provide proof of spending $1,500 in the city of Eustace from October 1st 23 to September 24 we spent 20,5 $76 at the Hometown Market in Eustace this was due to a large covid grant that we received in 2023 the total spent on the 2023 at Hometown Market was $3,100 75 for fruit and vegetables I can assure you Jose was very pleased and work very hard to provide high quality products to us our clients were very happy and hated to see that Grant come to an end and we appreciate the city of Eustace you're awesome group thank you Linda thank you thank you all for all that you do our seniors and our community are better off because of your your organization absolutely thank you so much Tom you want to present the and we'll come in for a photo just finished a f p take your time Havey Gil checks again [Laughter] thank you all so much thank you we appreciate you all thank you thank you so much no thank you so much thank you for your hard work Oh thanks thank you so much thank you for all he's got a police escort home [Laughter] next we're coming down to audience to be heard Tom you have some folks there uh I have one card from Brian Broomfield all right Brian you get to three minutes here at the microphone my friend good evening Brian Broomfield I'm the city resident and uh because of the love of my city I love eust I'm a life long residents I do have a little complaint um the work that's going on in in you know on on Grove Street 19 north um is quite inconvenient for the residents and I I I just wondered why you know it it wasn't planned to do after hours you know at at night and that was my complaint but you know I'm glad to see progress being made uh one thing I'd like to add it's possibly you know if we could you you all could possibly consider fixing the manhole covers along long while they already have the traffic I don't know if that can be added to the scope at this at this hour but you know that's something that you you all may want to consider while the roads already you know and the traffic flow is already being disturbed um you know we play dodge Dem man holes when we go either North or South uh and right now they would I it just seems like it would be a good opportunity thank you very much ran I saw Rick taking notes back there and Rick is our cont with the state of Florida and that is a state of Florida project so okay thank you so much sir anybody else Tom uh no cards anyone else oh my good evening Commissioners mayor um eustus vacant land costs are some of the lowest costs per acre in uh in our area and I spent the last few months walking door Todo and speaking to citizens of the city and the one overwhelming concern uh of practically every C citizen um not to my surprise is what they've called Reckless outof control growth in their experience and I have to say that I'm beginning to feel that same way and have um it's not good for our city it's not practical growth it is overwhelming our schools roadways and infrastructure hustus is a beautiful place in my opinion the best City in Central Florida and there was a time when we were Desiring growth and had no growth and now we've become so attractive to growth with the Beltway and with our great land costs um and we are beginning to suffer consequences that we now have to readjust for in in my opinion I'd like to ask uh that you guys have discussions the commission have discussions on placing a short-term hold on any new development until the city can review and update its city building guidelines to modern times as we begin to evolve uh through through our City's life uh considering all aspects of development and making the necessary updates and changes I've heard you guys talking about for a while uh to guide our City's future growth in a positive beautiful and responsible matter like we all want to see the city should also consider and there the strong Town model model that's come out something new that I knew nothing about just a few years ago and of course the America and Bloom mindset so a strong town and an American In Bloom mindset is in my opinion the future of all communities and I think us to should be on the Leading Edge of that uh this issue needs to be probably on an agenda I would ask and to be voted on by the commission as soon as possible any additional Reckless growth could have a long lasting effect long beyond the time that each and every one of you um have been so gracious to serve our community uh so please help us reos ourselves as a shortterm uh tapping of the breaks and continuing our great city thank you thank you Tom when do we have the report coming back from Kimberly horn yeah so um we actually originally it was scheduled for this evening uh but there are still some outstanding issues related to the legality of what we can regulate and what we cannot regulate and and what I mean by that um I um the commission received a a packet of design guidelines at one point that they're proposing um and there were some concerns that the state statute actually prevents the city from regulating certain design aspects of single family homes um so uh we've been working with kimley Horn uh and we've been working with the city attorney and development services staff uh so again it was originally scheduled for this evening uh We've rescheduled that for November 7th uh that's the first meeting in November uh and what what we're working on is uh the city can regulate things like lot widths uh setback um Landscaping to some extent where Landscaping happens um you know planting of trees uh certain uh Street elements what the city cannot regulate is uh forcing developers to use certain materials in single family homes uh having certain um uh roofing materials uh porches garages and so what what we've what we're working with Kim horn on is let's regulate what we can regulate including direction from Commission on lot widths setbacks we want to avoid the cookie cutter look and kimley Horn is working on uh requirements that will help us do that and then alternatively um some optional uh design guidelines that we can adopt or recognize in our code but at the same time we know that we can't say you have to do this developer development community and so um we have again we have that scheduled for uh November 7th uh where there are a variety of things that we're working on that I I I won't go into detail uh but what I would say is uh we can get uh valuable feedback from Commission on November 7th as to are we heading in the right direction are these regulations that we like and we want to adopt um and I would say at that point maybe the discussion would be appropriate that uh yes we like what you've done here and write the ordinances and let's do this or maybe this isn't the exactly what we're looking for and maybe maybe a short-term hold would be more appropriate at that point so I guess what I would ask is let's have the November 7th discussion uh let allow us and kimley to present you what we've been working on if we're heading in the right direction uh I think uh we can get that enacted pretty quickly and if we're not heading in the right direction then maybe a pause might be appropriate um Tom I have a question I remember we talked about um moving from five dwelling units to three um is that in a discussion or are we going to ever have a discussion about that so I think what they're going to present to you is you can get really bad design at three units an acre and you can get really bad design at five units an acre what they're saying is what's more important is the lot widths the setbacks and to some extent the optional design guidelines and so what I think they're going to present is it's less about that density number and I understand people see that density number but our regulations so for example something we could do is require 100 foot wide Lots you can't get five units an acre at 100 foot wide lots and there are other regulations we have that prevent you from getting to that five and so I think what kimley horn is saying is don't get bogged down in that four versus five adopt these Design Elements adopt these regulations that are going to get you good design design uh and then it's less then the four versus the five is less important um and then there's a whole other I mean aside from wanting good design that dictates that density um there are um there could potentially be Bert Harris issues when we take a property and we say it's no longer five it's four now so um that's something that we need to consider um what's what again what's more important are the regulations that get you good design and to some extent limit L lot withd uh and in effect you can't get to five um but um you can you can do good design and we can get something we could be proud of so I've got a couple um so it was supposed to be tonight but then now it's November 7th corre uh why wouldn't it be in two weeks is it you just need the full month to be able to the the the legal stuff the Consultants availability actually the consultant one of the Consultants is out of the country and could not be here on October 17 okay because it is quite a concern if there's a lot of these going on um and as part of that discussion with them are are overlays part of any of that discussion at all or just strictly some of the zoning regulations we are going to talk to Sasha about overlays as a separate matter uh there is no we have not talked to kimley Horn about any overlays okay what what they're proposing will apply to all development in well I'm sorry they're concentrating on the SR the Suburban residential future land use category but what they're proposing will apply to all Sr in the city of Eustace okay thank you so we're not we're not regulating specific areas um we are regulating the land use category just one followup did did I hear correctly you said that we state says we can't regulate garages the state the state actually regulates whether the city can say where a garage is so let me back up what kimly horn is proposing is that the garage should not be the iny yourface element of a new home the garage should be recessed and it should be the entrance and the porch that's really your your entry feature and what the state has said is the city can't tell you if your garage should be the primary element or recessed um so it's it's not about strictly about regulating garages it's about cities can't say where the garage should be in relation to the front of the home that makes sense thank you Sasha is everything I've said pretty accurate so far it's pretty accurate so it has to do also with like orientation of the garage and location of doors windows and other aspects of it um I'm happy to forward the commission the statute it's pretty uh straightforward to read um but we are subject to the restrictions um because we don't have any exception that would apply to the city but for the historic preservation board because we already have that established and those are separate guidelines um so I would I'll forward um the statute to commission review and then we'll try to prepare prep is comprehensive a response um I guess on the 7th uh based on what the proposals are uh for commission to consider it's and I do want to be clear is it's brand new legislation and there's absolutely as of when we had our meeting earlier this week there's really no guidance um on or any litigation or anything like that has insued so it's um it's we're really interpreting this at face value as far as how you read the statute and I mean I I looked at what the when it went to the legislature what they considered reviewed the meetings and they modeled it after several States and just trying to see what what the intent was there and um whether there was any wiggle room for us and so we've we've uh really um had a lot of discussion on the matter and we'll continue to have a lot of discussion on the matter so um hopefully we can we we'll get there on November 7th thank you I know about 8th months ago I said it was time for us to hit our breaks um and I know we voted on some things to go through but uh those votes came because we know we're going to get sued if we stop just just stop growth alog together it's time for us to do something so as soon as Kimberly horn can get back we're also going to have to really work hard with the state legislature this year when it goes back into session hopefully having one of our own hopefully up there will be able to help us get some legislation passed um the live local act scares me to death um and until the State of Florida makes some changes with that uh we all stand and every city our size stands at a line where we could be in trouble so um George thanks for bringing that back up tonight so all right anyone else like to speak to the commission about something that's not on the agenda not see any we're going to move along to the consent agenda there are eight items on the consent agenda tonight is there anything anybody wants pulled for discussion mayor actually I do yes sir um 5.4 and I I read the report on this okay well let's go ahead and address it and then we can pass the whole thing if that's okay what's your question or concern Gary um that's okay well a couple actually with you know with with us being in in the in the 20 21st century with the email why why why aren't we doing payments by email the customer has to opt in to email billing what what about is that new customers or existing I I think all customers have to opt into uh email billing okay is that true thank you man is there is there a reason why we don't have more people on because I mean we all know postage is not going to ever ever go down and if there's a way for us to save money I think we should try to get more people somehow onto the email email with the uh with the invoices and I mean I think most people pay online I I mean the older customers may not have internet access or email access I mean there's a there is a variety of reasons why the mail would be the default billing method right unless someone opts in um because it is uh there are some people that just don't have the accessibility I mean are we are we providing any incentive for customers to get on email uh not currently um I mean is this something we just started with the email the email invoices I don't know how long we've been offering email as an option come on come on up if you want to it's fine I'm I'm just looking a way to save money absolutely yeah that's that's all this discussions about so um the option to have your bill emailed to you has been in effect for well over three years okay there is no in incentive but we do add it on the bill to bring it back to customers attention that it is an option um I will say it has increased dramatically um due to uh mail issues that have been experienced whenever we get calls I didn't get my bill that's the first thing we offer is can I set you up on email on ebilling well I mean wouldn't if we provided some kind of incentive for them to get on the email would that would that be a cost savings for us the postage versus the incentive I guess it would depend what the incentive is okay so I guess what I would offer is um I don't know if we have a good number on the total cost of mailing a bill because it's not just postage it's it's envelopes It's Paper um staff time so maybe if if we could try to put a number on the total cost of something mailed out uh then we could look at what might an incentive be um if if if some if a piece of mail if a bill mailed costs us just ballpark a dollar do we offer a 50 Cent credit uh for somebody to sign up for for email um but I think we have to determine what's our cost first before we can determine what a reasonable incentive might be so this amount here is just postage correct the 50 this just postage that's just postage correct so yeah that's kind of like where I'm getting at if we can find a way to save money I mean email is a lot easier to send out than paper plus it's more environmentally friendly yeah so I think it's something we should consider and can I ask a question of Finance is this just Water customer service postage or is this so I know every department has a postage budget and sends mail this is forer this is just for customer service for our bul mail for customers which is probably the largest mail as we do correct we we have cut back ex by extreme amounts by no longer um mailing out collection notices we now have the collection department so we're speaking to Residents instead of just arbitrarily sending a letter out um and we did consider with the rates of water it's built in the supplies the paper the postage it's kind of built in there so I guess what I would add ask is that we if commission is willing to go ahead and approve this tonight uh but we would commit to kind of putting together some numbers on the cost of a mailer and then coming back with maybe some incentive options and I'm okay with that but I've got one question for you as well is there any way to work it backwards where people can opt in to mail where everybody automatically gets it emailed but if you want it mailed to you then you have to opt in for mail instead of of having them opt out I've seen other places do that um my concern would be existing customers vering versus new customers and getting a hold of them um it is not um it's it's shocking to me how many people in our area are not embracing technology sure um and it would be properly noticed and work on it in a roll out program you know and and make sure that every single bill that goes in the mail they can opt in to continue receiving them and have a cut off time to where at some point you you stop sending out the mail and it goes through an email and I know there's problems with it but trying to work both ways of that so one of which being to to charge more for mailing or incentivize the other way of it I I have noticed personally that the cable bill and some electric companies have gone that route um that's something that the city manager wants to I can up numers on my second question is is if the postage you stated just a minute ago that the postage was within the rates that were currently charging customers yes why are we approving additional postage amounts it's not additional I believe it's because it's over 50,000 so it has to come to you and we use that within the calendar year and then again it's presented to commission for appr got it thank you so we are recouping some of those costs right good good are you okay with leaving it here you okay with leaving it on this oh no yeah we'll leave it I just okay Tom's right I I I'm you know you know me I'm a numbers guy absolutely and I don't mind pulling it if you want to vote on it separately but if we can no we can no we can leave it but I I mean I would like to see us work Works work towards yeah finding a way to save money on on the postage absolutely no all right so we've got a a first on the consent agenda second we have a first a second any further discussion not hearing any roll call please commissioner Ashcraft I commissioner Cruz hi vice mayor Lee hi mayor Holland hi madam attorney thank you Mr Mayor we have for second reading ordinance number 24-38 an ordinance of the city Commission of the City of eustus Lake County Florida approving a conditional use permit for an accessory drilling one unit to an existing single family residence in the Suburban residential Sr future land use designation District on appr o imately 2 Acres located at 514 East Washington Avenue we had presentation on this item on September 19th any additional presentation Mr wols are there any questions from the city commission for Mr wols on this item do we have any cards I do not anyone in the audience like to speak on ordinance number 24-38 okay seeing none I will close public input Mr Mayor commissioners before us we have ordinance number 24-38 what's the will of our commission move for approval thank you second thank you ma'am have a first and a second any further discussion not hearing any roll call please commissioner Ashcraft hi commissioner Cruz hi vice mayor Lee hi mayor Holland hi congratulations thank you madam attorney sure next we're coming down to Future agenda items and uh comments I'm going to start with you tonight I have I have a few I noticed so so this week I toured a a 20 acre facility it's out off of Thrill Hill it's technically County not city city address but they're called Florida Buddakan and it's an arts and culture center dedicated to Japanese arts and culture um they have a wonderful program for for kids and for teens and they also currently have somebody who's called a joy Ambassador The Joy Ambassador is is from Japan it's a program that is paid and sponsored by Japan and this woman stays in our city for two years and her entire purpose is to go around and teach Japanese arts and culture so she has programs for kids to come and learn how to to read write speak Japanese she's also willing to go to the library or parks and W or around town and teach and share about Japanese culture that is literally why Japan sent her here and I think that they were just wonderful and I would love to be able to invite them to come and speak to the city maybe in a couple weeks I know they're they went to Japan this week but maybe in in November if you can work with Christine and get it on the agenda to Y I mean they just just lovely people lovely people um and with all the my second is with all the construction that we have down town there's a lot of improvements and safety coming on to our intersections um and I've had quite a few conver ations with with Capri and with Swanson and there's a lot of of good safety initiatives that we have here and as part of that support I would like for us to consider working towards a zero incident rate for our bicyclist and our pedestrians and this is a project they're already doing it on the public safety side but it's something we as a commission if we can verbally make that kind of a commitment it helps to support them with a lot of the grants that they're going for when we're looking at trying to get additional intersections put in or additional biking Lanes it kind of gives them that support and lets these different Grant programs know that the city has adopted a policy that we're working towards a zero incident rate so uh the actual program is called Vision zero it's a national program they actually award you know a medal to each city that has good safety programs so I'd like us to have kind of a discussion about that and trying to pass something where we're working towards a zero incident rate maybe 2040 or something along that line okay so um third FWC had a conversation with them they would like to come and discuss some of their boater safety programs they have a lot of good new boater safety initiatives um they've got some very they've got some free classes they've got some on-site training because Boer safety is is one of the big pushes that FWC is trying to do and with as much water and boers that we have here in this County I'd like to listen to them and see what kind of programs they have avail ailable and what where we can work with FWC a little bit more you know on that state level uh on the finance side of it I know we had quite a few like pulling Postage and stuff so I'd like to look at some of the thresholds that we have for purchasing um if we can look at maybe establishing a procedure a standard operating procedure as well for large emergency purchases immediate need purchases like when our firetruck needed a new transmission you know was something that it was it was it's a very large purchase but it had to be done because we needed that fire Tru but I don't think that we have a a standard operating procedure for those types of purchases now so I'd like to start a discussion about what that looks like and what kind of support that gets talk to City staff about working on that for us and I think they're ready to bring something back to us am I correct with that yeah um I as part of one of our budget workshops I think it was related to uh the um um potentially or or putting in the budget something for a mobile stage and we were talking about how how do we strike while the Iron's hot if something were to become available and I think the discussion was we probably need to take a look at our thresholds uh right now uh up to 2,000 uh you can go out and purchase anything more than two you have to solicit quotes and then over 50 you have to do a solicitation with commission approval uh and so the discussion was we need to take a look at those thresholds because they've been the same for a while uh and we need to revisit that and so uh staff has been doing some research on that uh and we will put on an upcoming agenda uh a will bring uh maybe bring a discussion first and then an actual change to the ordinance once we have direction from commission if that's okay so we'll start with a discussion item and then and then as you give us Direction we'll firm it up and make a change to the ordinance yes so and that'll be a two-part discussion that'll be one for thresholds and then one to kind of formalize a pre-approval process right I'm almost done I promise this is a congratulations to 10-year-old Bella Carter from Eustace she took first place at the world wakeboard championships in Australia just a couple I think it was probably last last week but it was in the junior girls Division and her her parents own Carter's Carter's Ace Hardware right over there but 10-year-old won the World Wake War Championship she was the only American with a whole bunch of Australians underneath of her to win it and I just could not be more proud I mean it's just absolutely fantastic for her we'll have to get her in here and give her an award absolutely um her and her family so we'll work getting that done okay yeah thank you very much um and I'd like to ask for update Tom while you're doing those I'd like to get an update on the rails and trails projects as well at some point that we can maybe talk about sure yeah we can um uh the uh commission approved as part of the annual budget uh some money for a feasibility study or a uh a sighting study where uh we we need some uh consultant help to figure out where the trail will go there's also been some developments uh with um CSX maybe being more receptive related to back rail what my understanding is that leadership changed at CSX and new leadership might be willing to talk I I know County M and taries uh still has a bad taste in their mouth related to their yearslong negotiations uh for their Trail but um so what uh what I will um what I will do is I will uh we need to get Mike Stevens involved who we all know is a local Champion for Trails uh but we need to get with our uh Partners at the staff level uh tar uh you matilla uh and uh the county as far as the North Lake Trail so we'll try to pull together a meeting and uh we'll bring you uh an update on that thank you thank you well can I go next I got I only have one more I thought you was done only got one more thing it's an easy one we'll St Carney Willie no I'm I'll eyeball you for this I'm I'm gonna eyeball you for this one you ready so clean up eustus is on Saturday yes I know if anybody would like to join for clean up Eustace we start at 9:00 in faen park by the Bandshell all the supplies are included and we go out we pick up trash out of the lake so you're welcome to join us thank you ma'am thank you sir busy first week Gary yes uh I a couple well actually three now oh lord well since we're talking about railroads any update on the on the maintenance um of the of the railroads with the grass cutting weeds so I think what we're finding is the railroad has a lot of autonomy on the maintenance of so they can just let it grow to eight or 10 feet and it's okay yep my impression is they have an awful lot of ferally granted autonomy on what their stuff looks like and I and and I don't want to open up a can of worms I don't want to open up a can of worms for Rick but I think the railroad response has been if you guys want to maintain our right of way we'll Grant you access and you can maintain our right of way the I don't think we want to do that um and that's kind of where we are with do and with other agencies and uh it gets to the point where um we're we're doing a lot of stuff um that are other other organizations responsibility okay but I think that's what we're finding is um we can't force them to do anything and they have said if you want to do it uh we'll Grant you some access and easement okay fair enough um the next thing is uh is ebikes I was coming home earlier this week on Grove Street and there was an ebike on the sidewalk and I'm on the road and I'm going 35 miles an hour and I can't catch him and he's on the sidewalk is that is that allowed and my gosh if they hit someone going that fast with an ebike I didn't realize the E bikes could go this fast yeah what what's what's the law say should be I mean I mean I've seen some people that pedal almost that fast but these bikes these ebikes are getting they're they're almost as fast as scooters they really are and with people on the sidewalks going that fast I see down the road something something is bad is going to happen to to someone um okay and the last thing for me is uh it's uses as Homecoming this week um I encourage everyone to come out and support our our high school and our Athletics um I think this community does a good job but I think we need to do a better job of supporting our high school and our and our Athletics um there's such a major part of our community and and our and our students and we need to we need to come out and support them a little a little better than we have been so that's that's all for me there thank you sir y thank you vice mayor yeah I'm going to keep mine very short um and just speak to one thing I um had the privilege of taking a team to um um to Columbus Ohio for the American Bloom conference Rick Ellis Sally and Michelle it was an awesome conference we learned a lot we brought back a lot of ideas and um we are going to uh definitely get the community involved and um come up with a plan so that next year when we go back we were nominated for three different categories and we received an award in one but next year we're going to come back with a trunkful of things because we have the vision now and the team got the vision that was the important part of it on um November 7th the team will do a presentation to the commission and you'll get some idea of what it is that we are trying to accomplish and how everybody can pitch in and help all the cities that who won awards they the whole city was involved everybody was involved kids involved and uh it makes such a big difference it's not just about flowers and and planting flowers there's a lot that comes with it I'm not going to go into details because I know that they want to be the ones to present it but we do have a short video to kind of wet your appetite for it so you'll know what to look forward to on November 7th thank you you they're playing the [Music] video to [Music] a [Music] [Music] yes that is that is amazing it really is you know what I sorry I don't what I what I really think it comes down to is just is just having City Pride and want us to show it off I mean really that we we need to have more pride in our city and um and things like this will will get us there right and we have a lot of things going on that we really don't acknowledge or pull together you know and one of the things they talked about was like the cleanups and we don't acknowledge our volunteer hours um and that's something when we're talking about grants there was just so many things the pollinators and if you want to see a big example of it just drive by George's place and see the Planters and the butterflies that are just coming out of the everything it's just amazing so I'm going to stop because I'll get really really carried away with this but um you'll see more on November 7th and um and and everybody will have an opportunity to participate and you were talking about the developments and all of that the builders maybe when not maybe but what I would like is for us to incorporate American Bloom uh ideas into some of developments that we have and it make a big difference in a much more attractive city thank you thank you thank you for your leadership in American BL most appreciate can I can I touch on something that Emily said real quick so Emily you were talking about being able to track uner hours I know the county does with all of their volunteers they've got software that that volunteers we have a login we can go and we can put the different things that we have is that something that you think that would be useful here in the city yes we're behind but this is all something that we have to grow into and start incorporating because we haven't done it in the past but the future holds a lot and that's an area that we really need to concentrate on right and I can I can definitely get behind trying to do a lot more volunteer engagement a lot more support actions from the city towards the volunteers like what you see with love extension and Lake care Foods Pantry there's a lot of Engagement a lot of volunteers and a lot of volunteer hours that a lot of these programs are putting in throughout the city you know life Point as well and it would be wonderful if we were able to look into maybe the software that the county has to be able to register their volunteer hours so we can start you know engaging some of our volunteers more so we're able to actually recognize some of the work that people do more consistently that's exactly one time you Tom yes uh a couple of things some of which we've already discussed um I I believe I um sent an email we had tentatively scheduled uh our uh master plan community meeting uh and figured out that that date wasn't going to work for a variety of reasons and so I sent an email asking about availability and I'd like to confirm um uh master plan community meeting uh on November 14th that is an off non-commission Thursday uh I think I heard from most Commissioners that that was an okay uh date uh the plan would be uh 5:30 p.m. and so I just would like to confirm that um everybody is available now again the format of this is it's not a commission meeting it's an opportunity for the consultant to present to the public but uh I would like to invite commission to attend and listen uh you won't be able to engage because it's not a commission meeting uh but you can listen to what the consultant has to say and listen to what people have to say um and we are tentatively planning for the uh Women's Club uh because the community center is booked but I think the Women's Club is is a great venue and and would work for this did you say 5 o'clock 5:30 5:30 right okay if there are no objections we'll tentatively plan for that um I did mention uh the kimley horn Land Development regulation Workshop uh I'd like to start that um no later than 5:00 pm I don't know if the commission feels we need a 4:30 start for that um that is a commission evening so commission starts at 6 we don't have any LPA or pre meetings so my question to you is do you uh is 5:00 early enough or do we need to go 4:30 for that one sorry can you start at 4:30 well I was going to ask do we know how long the presentation is going to be I would expect the presentation is probably about a half hour but how much um how much time do we need for a commission to have a good discussion and what date was it again it is uh November 7th have a lot going on November 7 um I mean yeah I'm available that's not a problem I'm just thinking I don't think a half hour or so is going to be enough time that's why I'm saying 4:30 because there there's so much we need to get into I mean there's going to be a lot of discuss Sasha is going to have to help us swap through some of that because it's state regulations yeah there's going to be a lot of discussion that day so I think I agree with are you okay with Bo birdie okay so let's do 4:30 we'll tentatively plan for 4:30 on November 7th all right thank you thank you uh we already discussed purchasing policy I wanted to bring that up um I do want to mention um I am heading out of town the week of Thanksgiving uh that's been so far off uh but it's getting awfully close now uh and so I did want to let the commission know that I plan to be out of town and uh will likely be uh not reachable that week um I would like to ask the commission consensus that uh Miranda burrow uh be the ACT city manager that week uh she has a deer in the headlights look on her face a little bit that's what we I did ask uh I think the way I phrased it was do you have any plans for Thanksgiving and she was like are you inviting me over to your house so um but uh as long as uh so I hope we have com uh consensus from commission that that's that's acceptable um I'm okay with that as long as you shut your phone off uh that's not going to happen um but uh there may be times when I won't be reachable uh and then um finally I'd like to congratulate uh Miranda Mir on her uh promotion to Department director uh for the new Department of events and Communications uh and then also uh mention uh first Friday uh tomorrow fire trucktober uh so it'll be a great event it's always well attended lots of activ activities and uh a great evening so Chi causing trouble we have law enforcement evening and we also have uh fire truck Tober so a tribute to Public Safety there you go anything else Tom that's all I have Madame attorney um I have nothing additional than what we discussed today all right thank you so much um as Gary said uh please if you can come to eustus high school I know we've got our first if you can come up and be a part of homecoming tomorrow um it is very important our team has not won a game yet this year and the stadium is pathetic people are not coming and supporting our kids and it's so important even if you're losing to show up to that Stadium show support to our high school um it's heartbreaking to go up there and see a stadium that probably sits 2,000 people or more and it just maybe have 200 people in it um when I was in high school at usus if you weren't there 30 minutes before a football game you didn't sit down and it's heartbreaking to watch um what's happening today and I think a lot of it is we've lost parent and Community involvement in our education system we've got to change that because we're the ones teaching these kids um if they're going to be great leaders coming out of high school it it's it's with us so I know Gary and I have been to most of the the games um and and we try to show up and do what we can Willie is on the um booster board up there right now so if you can please come out and encourage our high school um they're fighting another battle right now and it's finances they the the High School Association for sports has allowed the creeping in of money uh to where payers can be players can be paid just like they did in college and that's creating a real problem in smaller high schools like eustus high school that we're having to really fight to keep Talent here so you know there's a lot that we can do as a city so just try to be engaged and try to help us in that area if you can um again uh First Friday's going to be great Miranda and her team do a great job for that um and truthfully the more I'm around our city staff the more excited I get about our future um I was able to hang out a little bit uh during the hurricane with some of our staff uh the day of the hurricane and to see the preparedness and the thoughtful thinking that goes into all the planning of that um and as I close tonight please keep our two firefighters in your thoughts and prayers as they're working up in the Panhandle helping those folks that have really a lot of those folks have lost everything so thank you for being a great Community thanks for staying stay here with us this evening we're adjourned