##VIDEO ID:gpE-ZBIAjXQ## thank you just waiting for the thumbs up y good okay good morning everyone today is Monday November 18th 202024 it is 9:01 a.m um this is a regular scheduled Town council meeting for the town of Fort Meers Beach all members are present including the town manager the Town Clerk and the town attorney please rise for the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance as we begin this meeting let us be thankful for every seat that has been filled here today for each mind and heart that fills the presence of this room for many old and fast friends for acquaintances of a very brief time and Those whom we have yet to meet as we enter this holiday season let us share with one another a joyful heart and warm Smiles filled with kindness grant us guidance and wisdom help us to engage in meaningful productive discussions that nurture our community as we work together for the good of our citizens and visitors and let us leave here today with our hearts and heads filled with hope for a bright future amen I PL Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right next is the certification of the election results this is a resolution 24- 250 certification of the 2024 municipal election a resolution of the town of for a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida certifying the results of the 2024 Town election for seats three four and five determining council members determining council members seat assignments and providing an effective date uh yes be if you look up on your screen the the actual certified results are up there which I received yeah can we enlarge that a bit maybe which I received uh Friday afternoon after the agenda packet had already been published so this is the official results um I'll read the numbers Dan allers received a total of 2,44 votes there we go Jim aderhold received a total of 1,957 votes Scott Safford 1,258 votes and Greg scasny 1,137 votes that's the official certified record from the supervisor of elections office okay mayor you may want to just ask if there's any public comment okay is there any public comment on the election results all right see none we'll close public comment are there any questions from any council members okay is there a motion to accept the certified results announced by the town clerk so move got a motion by councelor King I will second any further discussion do you need a roll call vote for that okay councelor King I I'm an i vice mayor I uh counc Woodson hi councelor Safford hi motion carries unanimously next is the inauguration oath of office based on the approval of resolution 24250 the motion is to request administration of the oath of office to Daniel L allers seat number three Jim aderholt seat four Scott Safford seat number five and completion of the both of office attached to this agenda item a motion to uh administer the oath is there a vote on that what's that is there a motion to administer the oath of office so moved motion by councelor Safford second seconded by councelor Woodson any further discussion all those in favor you want to roll call vote on that as well okay councelor Safford hi councelor Woodson I Vice mayal I councelor King and I'm an i as well that motion carries unanimously so at this point um I believe the clerk will administer the oath and Mr ass Andy do it for him oh wait a minute are you doing it I thought this are the spouses not doing it I I'm not certain there's been a change um yes that's fine if if their spouses are doing it I Andy will substitute as my spouse if the that's so do you want them up front would you like them up front yeah just do they have to read this part or they okay you want to come up front to do it or you're GNA do it from right there I'll do so I do I got to read or just respond got it I as long as you approve as long as you take the oath I'm fine Zoom so this is a whole new until I do and phots help me God done this before and kind of get the microphone if you could you can take that mic out just stand CL we talk loud okay I have to read my okay repeat after her you going to repeat after me got okay I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support I can't memorize all that I do Solly swear or affirm that I will support protect and defend that I will support protect and defend the Constitution and the government of the United States the Constitution and the government of the United States and the State of Florida and the State of Florida and I am duly qualified to hold office and I am duly qualified to hold office under the constitution of State under the constitution of state and that I will well and Faithfully perform the duties of Fort Meers Beach Town Council and I will well well and F perform perform the duties of the town of Fort Meers Beach counil Council that's it on which I am now about to enter on which I'm am now about to enter so help me God so help me God that's it I do I do I do I do congratulations good you're not okay that that was seat number three now seat number four it's it's a new age good luck with that no pressure Andy ra your right I do swear or firm I do solemnly swear or firm that I will support protect and defend that I will support protect and defend the Constitution and government of the United States the Constitution and government of the United States and the State of Florida and the State of Florida that I duly qualified to hold office that I am duly qualified to hold office under the constitution of the State under under the constitution of the state and that I will well and Faithfully perform the duties of Fort Myers Beach Town Council and that I will well and Faithfully perform the duties of Fort Meers Beach Town Council on which I'm now about to enter perform the duties of Fort Meers Beach Town Council perform the duties of Fort Myers Beach Town Council of which I am now about to enter which I am now about to enter so help me God so help me God I do I do okay congratulations next all right next is the reorganization of Council of newly elected officials yes when uh I'm reading for open I will now open the floor for nominations for mayor per Town attorney no second is needed um are there any nominations Mr Mayor yes sir I would like to nominate Dan allers to be mayor of the of the town of Fort Meers Beach okay do you accept the nomination I do okay are there any other nominations for the role of Mayor okay hearing done we have one nomination so we will vote the highest number of votes will be selected as mayor we have ballots somewhere Madame Town attorney yes I I move that we unanimously accept Dan allers as our next mayor okay is there a second to that second motion and a second is we have do a roll call yes yes okay just I've just messed up ny's whole system that's fine no that's fine yeah I I vote I okay councelor King hi councelor Woodson hi councelor Safford hi and I'm an i as well the motion carries unanimously we are really striving towards transparency so each one of you verbalized what your vote was so it was announced um it's unanimous so uh the mayor congratulations mayor thank you and we also have sheet you want the paper still too uh I don't think it's necessary however if you want to provide those that's fine okay because your your vote has been announced okay for the vice mayor for the vice mayor we will now open the floor for nominations for the vice mayor per the town attorney no second is needed are there any nominations for the vice mayor Mr Mayor yes sir I would like to U talk about the person to my left Jim aderholt unlike wink wink calls him aderhold but uh Jim's passion for for Meers Beach is second to none Jim uh prefers to work behind the scenes utilizing his contacts in DC uh doing so he got the post office back open worked hard to get public CVS 7-Eleven back up and running and Jim has been there to help bring Santini Plaza back online for all those reasons and many many more I nominate Jim ater hold for vice mayor Fort Meers Beach okay got a nomination for vice mayor adalt are there any other nominations hearing none we have one nomination so we will now vote the highest number of votes will be selected as vice mayor town clerk will announce the vote and project it on the screen um I'm just following my script okay we need to collect them we need to collect them you gave me two well the one was for the other only vote once for the vice mayor well this was for the mayor I didn't know if you wanted to vote we'll get them okay the cler will read and post she'll make the announcement and we'll be posting it on the screen yep so this is for vice mayor uh Scott Safford voted Jim aderholt uh Dan allers voted Jim aderholt Karen Woodson voted Jim ouh Hal Jim aderholt voted Jim aderholt Brer and John King voted Jim aderholt okay is there a motion to certify the result and vote to select Jim aderholt as vice mayor so move a motion by councelor King second seconded by councelor Safford any further discussion councelor King I councelor Safford I councelor Woodson I I'm an i as well Vice may I motion carries unanimously okay with the description all right next is the approval of the final agenda is there a motion to approve the final agenda mayor yes um Item B under consent or item a under administrative agenda they're both the same item so one of them needs to be pulled uh what you say consent B and consent B and administrative agenda a so this is um a resolution to reassess your voting procedures for your committees and it's important that that occurs before you actually adopt it and implement it so you can take it off of your consent it's probably easier and then we just do it before you do your committee selection all right I have no problems with removing consent agenda item number B is there any all right are there any other changes to the agenda minut hearing none is there a motion to approve the amended agenda I'll move it second councelor king has a motion seconded by councelor Safford any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I oppos hearing none the motion carries unanimously next is public comment is there anyone in the public that would like to speak Madam cler I have one signed up for Jay Burch come on up Jay I don't know he signed up last week so I'm not sure if he's here or not this morning anyone here Jay doesn't look like it is there anyone else that would like to speak in public yeah come on up Jackie good morning Council down Fort Myers Beach residents and visitors guests and business owners uh Jackie lak Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce I'm here to proudly announce that we are actively as we speak loading tents in to the Diamond Head Beach Resort site for the 34th annual American sand sculpting Championship so uh we have um loaded in 18 dump trucks full of pristine sand from the Quarry that matches our beach we're super excited they've already been put into place for the castles that you will see the event starts Thursday it runs 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at both the Diamond Head Beach location where there is a $5 admission but discount tickets are available online at FMB sand sculpting.com and also at Old San Carlos location and the Bayside Veterans Park where we will have vendors and live music every day from noon to 7 vendors are 10: to 5: live music is from noon to 700 p.m. each of those days so you can visit both places the Bayside Park is free so please come down enjoy yourselves spend some time ride the free tram it will be running starting on Thursday running from boage point to the library and the trolley is also running on FMB Sands sculpting.com we have a parking map we have over 4,000 parking spots available up and down the island and many of our commercial lots are pairing with our nonprofit Partners to provide parking and all of the money raised at those lots will go back to those nonprofits a last minute shout out to the Fort Mars Beach Art Association who is quickly putting together a plen air Art Exhibit at the event so they will be painting throughout the event they'll bring their stuff out they'll set up somewhere in the event area and paint um so they'll be participating with this as well super exciting going to have a a a great four days down on the sand we'll be doing our award ceremony at 3:00 on Sunday at the Diamond Head Beach Resort there'll be all kinds of food there'll be entertainment there um you know plenty of of Beverages and delicious food and things to do and see so make sure you come once come twice come back and see them finished and uh it's it's pretty exciting do I have any questions from the council I know we also have Wednesday night a meet the sculptor event at the Pink Shell Beach Resort it is free open to the public you just need to register so we know how much food to make and you get to come in it's free or derves and you get a drink ticket and you get to get up close and meet the folks who create these Masterworks of art out of sand can you give the time for that 6 uh that is 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. again it's free please come to the Pink Shell Beach Resort come meet these folks who are coming to our Island to bring this special form of talent and an Artistry to us Jackie if you haven't already can you make sure that you share the parking in the trolley schedule the schedule with Nicole so we can get it on our I believe she has everything it's also up on FNB sand sculpting.com um but certainly I can share that again with her not a problem there's a map a Google Earth map with yellow push pins by no means are is that all of the parking that's just the the ones that I'm aware of at the time when I made the map so there is more parking than that actually uh so it is up and down the whole island so please come uh enjoy the day come early grab some breakfast come back and and you know see us throughout the day and you can tell Angie that she needs to wait for you to get back to her just kidding any other questions Jackie I have a couple questions Jackie so the meet the sand sculptors is actually before the competition actually Begins the Wednesday this coming Wednesday this Wednesday 6:30 at 8:30 at the pink shell open to the public open to the public they just need to reach out to the chamber to let them know that they're coming so you have a head count yep so you can have proper food and beverage yep if you Google uh meet the sand sculptor Fort Myers Beach it should pop up the thing where you can just register so we know you're coming and make sure we have enough food it says please RSVP to to 239 457 7500 oh 23944 7500 Y and or events at FMB chamber.com that will work too absolutely it's it's my understanding that there's also live music uh at Bayside Park starting on the 21st from 4 to 7 with limited edition it's actually noon to 7 noon to 7 noon to 3 we have one uh a Duo and then 4 to 7 with um the band and that's limited edition on the 21st and on the 22nd is the Joe yolman band correct four to seven and it sounds like there'll be one before that correct and then on the 23rd will be guilty pleasure and on the 24th will be uh chasing Denver from 1 to 3 and on the 24th from 4 to 7 rock candy yes and if you haven't seen rock candy that's that's a heck of a group you got to come out and check that out it's going to be great awesome yeah thank you and uh we look forward to having everybody there please come out and join us and enjoy the weekend with your families and friends all right thanks Jackie thank you any other public comment seeing none we'll close public comment next is the uh local achievements and recognitions CC seffer um I'd like to give a shout out to leadership Lee jie you can't leave yet I'm sorry Scott go ahead i' like to give a shout out to leadership Lee uh their fundraiser raised $22,000 last week we had over 100 people in attendance U the charity was uh the Homeless Coalition of Lee County and uh it was a fantastic event and I'm really proud to be actually a member of leadership Lee and it it's just a great cause to to try to prevent homelessness great thank you that's a big number ccor Woodson I'm good vice mayor yes I I I brought some props this morning this is for the sand castle competition uh this is this this is such an awesome event for Fort Myers Beach uh I first came to town and I I got uh Shang hied by Scott and Jackie to volunteer and I was Scott's assistant I was not the assistant parking lot monitor I was the assistant to the assistant parking lot monitor who was Scott he was a great mentor but it was a it's been such a great event and and so part of the competition is they have all kinds of classes so you can see how these things are made they're they're amazing works of art they've got great teachers there it's a great thing to bring your kids to your grandkids to and as Jackie said uh don't just come once it's only bucks to come come and watch the the sculptures evolve throughout the the the competition and you get to see all the action they'll be there'll be Pros semi-pros amateurs the whole works and sort of the concept though is and you can and you at least before they had this fell who was it's called can you dig it you can get you can you can Google this on on on your uh on your phone and they they sell these packages on Amazon they tools and buckets and all kinds of things but the concept is is that you uh you you take your bucket and you turn it upside down first of all you kind of build a big Mount of sand this is for the amateurs out there and you put water on you press it down and then you take one of these buckets and you can go to the hardware store and get the bigger ones and then cut out the bottom of one you need you need one without a bottom and then you put it on top of your mound that you've built and then you you fill it with uh maybe half or 3/4 or I'm sorry a quarter full of sand then pour a bunch of water on it to let it get soaked and pour more sand on pack pack pack then you kind of gently tap it on the side then you lift it off and you've got this great uh uh sort of preformed structure of sand and you use this bucket to pour the water and carry the sand and again you can get Buckets at the hardware store and while you're working on it you need a you need a Mis oops sorry Jill and so you keep your you want to keep your sand moist and then you've got then you have your own kind of tools from your own your own your own shed and so forth but then you've got these things that you can order online these are called um these are called sheepers and they're all different designs you could see a professional sculpture and you could literally make castles you can make windows and doors and then you've got these things called a scooper where you can really dig in and and again the Sand's completely wet and it's Compact and it's really awesome you got all these kind of old different kind of sculpture tools it all comes with it you get this video how to build the perfect sand castle and one of the great the most important tools and it's sort of bizarre when you think about it but when you're making your lines on your castles you can take a little pen or pencil and then once you make the scratch of the line you take straw and you just blow on it and all the excess sand goes away without destroying the structure and you'll see that professionals they actually have professional straws in sort of like a necklace holding their straw because they use it so much throughout the competition and it's so cool and you can get these little Shapers if you want to make like a circular structure if you're going to make a planet or a head or something like that and it's it's it's it's so awesome to watch how all this is me and the kids and the grandkids they love this stuff but it can come two or three times throughout the week one of the through the competition it's really one of the best things we do on Fort Meers Beach so kudos to the chamber for uh for bringing this back again we got got we're gonna get whed by oh thank you John cool me down with uh the uh the uh the chamber has brought this back it's a huge undertaking I wanted to thank all the sponsors uh who've made this possible I want to thank all the volunteers um just this weekend I saw the the beach uh Beach talk radio got some volunteers to clean up the ebic property thank you e I for allowing the Women's Club to use that as a fundraising opportunity that's right next to Diamond Head so the parking is very convenient and I just uh I just can't tell you how cool this is if I again a lot of the veterans on the islands are are familiar with this but for those who have not attended make a day of it you know or make a weekend a week of it get a hotel room have dinner down on the island have lunch and just make a make a make an event around it you've got all the music you've got the vendors it's really a festival atmosphere here and it's you know you people are always saying you know what what's there to do on Fort Meers Beach well these four days there's there's a lot to do and it's it's a great experience so I just wanted to commend all those involved and just encourage folks to come out and participate I guess that only question I have Professor ader halt is will you be signing autographs at the meet and greet well it's interesting Barbara Hill and I were who is a professional artist were going to sign up for the amateur competition but she's still not back on the island due to Hurricane Milton so we're going to try next year but I'll certainly be volunteering and working and and again having gone from an assistant to the assistant parking lot attendant I will be judging this year so the American dream is still is still is still there for you you just got to just got to stay involved I'm still stuck as assistant parking lot guy now that's really getting granular you're well done oh well you know what you didn't um you didn't choose the highest the overall pick on Amazon what got go ahead Karen please enlighten no there's there's like all kinds of extra pieces that you can get are you are you saying that you're so skilled that you don't need all these forms and shapes quite quite the cont I don't think I've quite reached that that level where I need the advanced tools yet but I'm working on it okay well there there's options there's all kind of options when you see the metal straw hanging from his neck you know what he's made yeah the metal straw is the true test all right if you could top that Council King go for it well I won't try but uh that's the passion I was talking about earlier and can you dig it I knew that you could I'm good all right uh I just want to take a second to uh thank commissioner sandelli today is his last day as uh a public servant for the county so he was uh debating on whether or not he was actually going to go into the office on his last day so I'm I'm curious if he did tomorrow we will be getting uh Mr Mala David Mala will be taking over for him to represent our area so we're looking forward to working with him but uh um Ray if you're listening enjoy your retirement if you decide to retire and with that we'll move on to advisory committee items and reports and appointments do we have anything or anyone here that would like to speak from one of the Committees seeing none is there a a motion to approve the minutes so move second we got a motion from councelor King seconded uh by uh councelor Safford and these are for the town council meeting from November 4th 20124 and the management planning session from November 7th 2024 any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I I opposed hearing none that motion carries unanimously next is our consent agenda there is only one item Item B was removed item a is resolution 24254 FMB endorsement of the Bonita Estero rail trail is there a motion to approve the consent agenda I'll move it motion by councelor King seconded by councelor Safford any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I I I opposed hearing none that motion carries unanimously next is our public hearings first item is a motion of reconsideration for the Estero Island Beach Club ordinance 24-28 this re-hearing of an ordinance of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida denying a request to reone property located at 1836 and 1840 EST stero Boulevard less the area within the environmentally critical zoning District generary identified as strap numbers 1946 d24 dw432 2000.00 CE and 19464 W4 D3200 z1010 Fort Meers Beach from downtown district to commercial plan development approval of five deviations from the fort Meers Beach code of ordinances a schedule of uses and a master concept plan providing for other clarifications as necessary providing for conflicts of law scrier errors severability and providing for an effective date so thank you uh mayor this is a public hearing however there will be no testimony taken today um this is simply a request from the uh developer property owner for clarification regarding your denial from a prior meeting and I believe their attorney is here and um I'll defer to her for the presentation okay come on up good morning council members for the record can you hear me yep okay great for the record Amy too with retzel you may remember me from this hearing um based on our understanding of the denial that we received the real concern here was height I don't think you guys really took issue with folks trying to build back the 75 units and the way that your town code is written is that a denial defaults to a denial with prejudice so for the next year um we would we would be barred from bringing back an application for this until mid October 2025 and we just want to rebuild no nobody came into this project thinking that they they wanted a 10 story structure it just sort of evolved there as we went through the review process and to jog your ma your memory a little bit um they originally tried to build back under the post disaster build back ordinance but could not because the um the number of new regulations that applied like the accessibility code and the EC zoning district and the cccl and all of that um really made it impossible for us to build back within that ordinance so then they came in with the rezoning and we've revised our site plan a few times we still really want to build back we're not going to come back to you with 10 stories so we're here to in front of you today to ask for a solution that would allow us to come back and um reapply prior to October 2025 but the nice thing about this is you guys also um either with a continuance or a denial without prejudice either of which would accomplish allowing us to come back and reapply like you know again before October 2025 um you can also give us instructions with either of those options so if there's something in particular that you feel we should be doing with our site plan plan as we go back to revise it you can also give us instructions here today and we can incorporate those so so I would just say for the record that your denial stands it's just clarifying today whether or not it's with prejudice or with not without prejudice will allow them to come back sooner and build back as as she's indicated and she's just looking for any um feedback that you can give her uh when her her client reapplies and Nancy is it does it matter to you legally if it's U denial without prejudice or continuous does it make any legal difference it does um my preference would be that we stay with the denial okay um just because again members of the public um are not here you're not taking um testimony on this matter a continuance then would somewhat revise that denial change that denial but it is a denial okay and we're not taking testimony does that mean we also are not taking public comment you don't have to take public comment however if there is someone in the public that's dying to make a comment that's discretionary on your part okay does any I guess we'll can we ask the applicant if they we don't object if the public would like to speak again we're not trying to change the merits of your decision we are just it's more of a procedural issue so if anybody would like to make a comment on that we can certainly accommodate them okay yeah can we do that first and then we'll come back to you okay with that is everyone okay with if anybody wants to speak a public comment sure I don't have any Karen you have any issues with no concer King I'm okay okay is there anyone here in public comment that would like to say anything regarding this this uh this is a it's not a re-hearing it's a motion motion motion okay seeing then we'll we'll close public comment come on back up you got some more you'd like to add um I will make a quick note that we we are perfectly pleased with the denial without prejudice for us um a continuance we think might be beneficial one we wouldn't have to pay the application fee again but two um it would keep all of the documents in the same folder now that being said if we have a procedural due process issue here today I certainly don't want to jeopardize anything we do we've done or that we will do going forward I just think that for the record so we can close the book on this application and then they basically are going back to the drawing board and starting a new and then your record is clear okay ccor Safford you have anything you'd like to like to say no I I want them to build back and I I if if doing this speeds up the process then I'm all for it okay counc Woodson I couldn't agree more so Vice may I agree with the comments that have been stated so far counc King nothing else to add I agree I would even go maybe one step further based on what you said as far as the you know you guys have been through a process let's just put it that way and I would be open to um can we can we do this but also not make them have to repay for something that they've gone through a couple times I mean if that's a concern of theirs I'm open to at the discussion but I don't know how much more time would go into having to review what they submit I'm open to the discussion I guess I would just put it out if we can legally do it um I don't know what your rule says right off right off the bat um as far as waving fees um generally you have discretion but I don't know if you have a specific provision in your code and a process to follow I just don't know but what is the fee Allin I believe we've already paid close to $11,000 to the town between the8 $99,000 application fee cost of advertising some additional engineering review fees that were due things like that so what we could do is we can look into it and then once the item comes to council for review at that point um a request could be made to reimburse or refund the fee and we'll have an answer for you then because we still have to do the notification the advertisement thing so it would strictly be our permitting fees no application fees our application fee we can bring it back to you as an action item and making that distinction it's it's a point well taken as far as the advertising costs associated with that and I'm I'm sure your code provides for advertising cost the way most codes do where we pay advertising regardless so okay is everybody okay with that direction yes all right then you just need a motion from us to uh is there a motion to uh deny without prejudice for the EBC uh CPD Master concept plan request mov I'll second got a motion by councelor Safford seconded by councelor Woodson any further discussion councelor Safford hi councelor Woodson hi Vice may adle I councelor King and I'm an i as well that motion carries unanimously thank you so much we really appreciate it look forward to seeing you guys again we're looking forward to it too thank you all right next is Item B it is do you want me to read this okay I figured we did this is the second reading of proposed ordinance 24-34 entitled an ordinance of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida approving a home rule development agreement for property located at 30001 Estero Boulevard 2943 Estero Boulevard 2932 Estero Boulevard 211 dinora Boulevard Fort Myers Beach Florida strap numbers 29- 46-24 w1145 .100 29-24 or 46-24 w1001 145.5 30- 46-24 w2- 1.000000 29- 46-24 w 1-120 a. Z10 and owned by Seagate Fort Meers Beach LLC as authorized by section 2-100 of the town's Land Development code and in compliance with the procedures for applications and approval of development agreements with the deviation set forth in resolution number 2473 for the purpose of Redevelopment of the property uh previously known as the Red Coconut RV park providing for terms and conditions including but not limited to the identification of the proposed use of the property a finding of consistency with the town of Fort Meers Beach Comprehensive plan commitments and development obligations deviations needed for the development providing for other clarifications as necessary providing for conflicts of laws scriveners errors severability and providing for an effective date so procedurally this item is before you today on a second reading and generally during Second readings of an ordinance you have the authorization to adopt or um deny the ordinance um however Friday was it in the recent past uh we did receive a request from the uh developer owner uh to continue this item to December the 16th um which would be your date certain um and that they also have indicated they would like to have an additional public hearing before you on December the 2nd um we have read the title uh to at this hearing um the concern was that perhaps there may be someone here from the public that wanted to put some comments on the record um however the request is to um not really deliberate I don't know if the property owner developer is present today um but it is a request to continue okay do you want to say anything Tim or no no public comment come on up okay and then Nancy is there anyone here from the public that may have traveled to make comments is there anyone in the audience that traveled yes sir yeah I'm concerned come got to come to than sir can we just swear him in and then his comments would be part of your record um and the applicant is here to hear it as well okay do you swear that the testimony you're about to give is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes good my concern is um you tell us your name sir just oh I'm Ed zingle um I reside on Lovers Lane which is backs up to coconut park my concern is the storm water runoff are they going to have proper drainage or because I don't want to see that draining on to the outer streets not even my street but the street on on on the south side of that that's my concern really that I don't get flooded out okay I mean I'll comment on that when or if Tim wants to comment but all right thanks is there anyone else that would like to speak during public comment yeah come on up you probably have to be sworn in too do you swear that the testimony you're about to give is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I do all right good morning everyone Mr Mayor congratulations council members congratulations I'm Terry Kane long-term resident on Fort Myers Beach you've seen me before um I want to talk about the future that you're going to have to be making decisions on and this is a big one and the one that just spoke the lawyer who just spoke to when you took the job to represent the town of Fort Meers Beach you had resources to help guide you those resources were created 25 years ago and it was an award-winning comprehensive plan you're going to hear me say this over and over and over again it's a great blueprint to go by and um it was hard 25 years ago when we created it because you had to think of what the future was going to be in 25 years 25 years ago you're thinking what's this place going to look like well 25 years is here and now we have to decide on what our island is going to look like we knew 25 years ago there were going to be changes we had old buildings we had a few open vacancy Lots not like we have today and this change came all Upon Us in one day 25 years ago we had decided as a community that we wanted to look more like our sister islands of Santa Bell and boa Grande we didn't want to be Fort Lauderdale we didn't want to be Miami so I know the decisions you have to make are hard because I've sat over there so get rid of all the noise that I've told you before um profit margins are not your business we're not supposed to know what anybody's going to make everybody makes Investments sometimes we make good ones sometimes we don't um public benefits come and go they are vague and they change in a few years do consider consider the impacts to the community traffic holding storm water are on site water use poble and Wastewater do consider the density and the heights you've got a great blue plint to yeah blueprint to go by good solid designs that fit this community are what should be coming to you to make decisions listen to the staff listen to the LPA I have to write this down or I'll ramble you'll have I'll be up here for a half an hour um when plans are being reviewed I hope they have the respect to our community to come in with something that will fit in our community what you decide what we will have to live with for the next 25 years so take a breath think about what this little Seven Mile Island stretch of sand is going to look like in 25 years is it going to be Fort Meers Beach is it going to be boa Grande lake or is it going to be Fort Lauderdale so thank you for your time and consideration I know your job is hard and I appreciate you all thank you very much thank you anyone else hoe does that mean you would like to speak no no no okay is there anyone else that would like to speak all right seeing them we close public comment Tim did you want to come up and address or would you like me to take a stab at his concern with the what you're going to have to go through whether this gets approved or not with Swift Mud and all those things or you like yeah come on up I'd rather he hear it from you than from me so long way of saying you have many more steps to go even if it was approved to be able to get the approval to get the Land Development on correct but specifically addressing his they you know the south Florida Water Management would not allow any of the drainage uh to be transferred off the property okay hopefully that answers your question Ed okay all right thanks thank you all right is there a motion to continue the second reading to December 16th at 9:00 a.m. is that correct yes Mr Mayor just a just a quick question it's really more of a parliamentary inquiry of sorts Nancy uh we're basically adding two additional hearings on December 2nd and December 16th is that is that a fair characterization we're having one additional hearing um on the 2nd on December the 2 and this hearing is being continued so there are in essence two more times that you'll review this item so that would be on the second and the 16th yes and just just for the record the first reading hearing that occurred in October that record is still established this these two additional hearings do not replace or supplant that that original first reading uh hearing that we had correct that is correct the additional hearing will supplement will be an additional more information so we're just doing more um more discussion deliberation um there will be an advertisement of the December 2nd as well as the December 16th public hearings very good thank you very much that's all I've got Mr okay any other questions for Nancy is there a motion to approve the continuance to December 16th at 9:00 am so moved a motion by councelor Woodson I'll second seconded by councelor King any further discussion councelor Woodson I councelor King I Vice may I councelor Safford right I'm an i as well that motion carries unanimously do we need a motion for the additional meeting no we don't need a motion okay next is item C this is the second reading and final public hearing on proposed ordinance entitled an ordinance of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida amending one division three unsafe building abatement code of article one uh one property maintenance codes and two division 2 Lee County's Boards of adjustment and appeals of Article 2 building codes of chapter 6 maintenance codes building codes and Coastal regulations of the Land Development code of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida to amend existing Provisions related to appeals of the building officials decisions divesting the Lee County Construction Board of adjustment and appeals of the responsibility for review of appeals of the Town building officials decisions including but not limited to the determination of an unsafe building authorizing the town of Fort Meers Beach special magistrates to hear appeals of the town's building officials decisions providing for codification severability scrier errors conflicts of Law and an effective date Nancy thank you um this is the second reading of this ordinance which has been before you several times um basically we are trying to establish your appeal process for Decisions by your building official the way that code was originally uh drafted was to vest the Lee County uh board of appeals uh Lee County Construction Board of adjustment and appeals with the authority to hear any appeal that is presented um however back in 2017 the interlocal agreement with the county had expired I think there was a gentleman's agreement that uh any appeals that came up would still be heard by Lee County um from 2017 to date well I shouldn't say to date because we do have a couple appeals that have come up now but um for a long period of time there was never any appeals um filed so it kind of laid dormant as something to be addressed um but never really got addressed so this ordinance would now establish the procedure vesting the your special magistrates which are um a local attorney as well as the hearing examiners with the Florida Department of administrative hearings um who serve as your special magistrates to hear any decisions regarding unsafe buildings that the building official makes as well as any other decisions that um the building official makes um this does not deny the opportunity for someone to um voice an appeal however there is a legal issue concerning standing that may not give them um they may you know pay the the appeal fee but then ultimately not have standing and not be able to pursue any type of um appeal questions for Nancy councilor King no Vice May no counc no I'm good counc saffre I'm good um the only question I have is the decision I was brought up at the first hearing to go away from the Lee counties and use either what I'm guessing is going to be probably DOA or or what would the reasoning and the decision making behind doing that just the fact that we don't have an appeal process in place um and that is part of of entitlements that people have to do process to have their appeal heard we don't have a mechanism to hear those appeals no my I guess my question is more specific to why why are we not using the Lee County Board of adjustment and appeals anymore we don't have an interlocal uh agreement established with them I know that the town manager has recently um more than once uh reached out to Lee County to try to establish that um relationship and and negotiate a interlocal agreement that just hasn't come to fruition it's not to say that um again I'm I'm a little um anxious to have this ordinance passed because I do want to offer an appeal mechanism to um Property Owners um it's not to say that in the future at some point should there be an interlocal agreement with Lee County you could come back and amend your ordinance okay Andy do you want when I discussed with the county mayor County Manager we talked about the cost that was associated with us and in my opinion it felt like it would be better U not to burden our residents with a fee that was exorb $ thousand dollar I realize sometimes that's not a lot of money but sometimes it is also we're going to bring it back uh discussing it with them now option of going with them as well so it could also if if the attorney um if if if we think this is favorable we could give them an option do they want to stay local or they want to go with somebody independent who's not local associated with our building official it's kind of birds of a feather flock together sometime they understand each other's work and it's like it was more of an independent reviewer instead of a local reviewer okay public comment Leah hi thank you good morning uh Leah Greg Fort Meers Beach resident and uh thank you for bringing that up and thank you for your comments Nancy so the new ordinance 2430 if it's passed as is it will replace the ordinance we had that allowed anyone whose property is adversely affected by the building official's decision to appeal his decision through the Lee County Board of adjustment and appeals a 13 member board ooting appointed by the Lee County Commission who investigates appeals so I had a meeting with the mayor and the town manager and a few others and informed them that my property is getting unnecessarily unnecessarily flooded due to improper drainage in a neighboring lot that was raised 3 feet the town received a two-page detailed assessment of the drainage issues from an engineer stating the conveyance and storage calculations on the originally approved plans are riddled with errors inconsistencies and ambig ambiguities resulting in deficient on-site water storage volume and does not demonstrate Code Compliance and the list continues so the building official claimed the drainage was done right and if I disagreed I could appeal his decision with Lee County board of appeals and the mayor was kind enough to allow me to record this meeting that we had and I just just for the record I just want to play a couple of those recordings on what was shared with meion given to you local ordinance uh building code you can go to the local board of appeals and appeal that decision and that's the right way to do this so and then this was he's telling us that this meets the Florida building code you're not and you're not happy with it then you have an Avenue to be able to appeal his decision and then just uh one more that's why the board of local appeals was designed okay so that um good citizens can go to them and appeal decisions and if and if you win your appeal then we have to live with that when you and I first met I I told you that I was faced with closing this permit and after I went through everything I found out how sloppy it is so I tried my best to be creative to find a way to close this permit so I I mean I don't think none of us want our building official to be creative and closing permits I think we want our building official and all of our lead our our County officials here to um just you know make sure that they adhere to all codes ordinances uh jur and anything else that we have to within our jurisdiction so to go back to Andy's Point real quick um he said that you know only the homeowner were the the uh the uh code violation or whatever it is they they didn't agree with the building official only that person could file uh an appeal and I I confirm with Lee County and their building official did say that anyone who feels they have been adversely affected by a decision made of an official regardless if they or were not were or were not the property owner has the right to appeal that decision so I just hope you take that into consideration thanks thank you Leah anyone else care to speak in public comment seeing none we'll close public comment is there any further discussion or a motion no further discussion is there a motion to approve the the second reading of ordin I don't have the ordinance in front of me sry 24-30 and safe building code appeals all move that got a motion by councelor King I'll second any further discussion councelor King hi I'm an i vice mayor hi Council Woodson hi counc Safford hi that motion carries unanimously next is our administrative agenda the first one is a resolution of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida amending section five of resolution 24-12 as amended by resolution 24178 to include clar certification of the vote by the Town Council before a vote to appoint members to the towns advisory boards committees agencies and commissions and providing for an effective date so mayor if you can just give me a moment I'd like to pull that up but basically this um resolution is before you today to give a little bit more clarification of our process for the appointment of um members of of the public to to your committees 23 thank you I think that's what you yes okay yes and um again the policy uh consideration for having this change into your um existing process is basically to provide more transparency and what this process does is that now um you would make your selection um on a ballot marking no more than the total number of seats that are available for that ballot and then um you would announce uh your vote um on that ballot um the we want to make sure that the public is aware of what your vote is as we go through that process um currently as it's written your resolution says that you would be making your announcement the other option is for the clerk to also make the announcement if you want to make that change one once the announcements are made of how you're voting then there'll be a tally and the number of votes for each person would be visible we hope to have it projected on your TV screen so there's no possibil hopefully no possibility of any just sheer mathematical errors um and then we would ask that you certify that that number is indeed correct and then at that point you would take a um a motion to to vote um to um to appoint those individuals who have received the highest number of votes so that's just a little bit more formality to your process um and again it really promotes the policy of transparency um there's no uh calculating behind any screens where nobody could possibly see uh there's no extra votes being added to the mix um it's very very transparent so we felt that a change to this process I think is in everyone's best interest okay so essentially all you're looking for is whether or not we want to have the town clerk essentially reread what we're already going to read or in addition to what we're already going to read from our voting yes you have ballots we'll be going through the process for all the Committees that you appointed just again for transparency Clarity of the record um um you can make your announcement of how you vote or the clerk can read from the ballot how you voted um and it would be projected on the screen as well and then through the certification process if there was a uh we couldn't hear because of the mic I mean we actually had that situation in the an LPA meeting where there was a a a vote was given and was it a yay or was it a nay it was really difficult to see or here and I think that the video was not working at the same time so the certification is really going to show that this is how you voted okay Vice may I just I I I think Mr Mayor I think it probably for both efficiency purposes and Optics purposes it probably be easiest to have have the clerk just call call the roll on those I have no objection to that coun King it's good okay okay we'll make that change and then uh we're going to go into the next part of your meeting and see how this works if if you uh approve it so is there a motion to approve resolution number 24246 with the noted change with the noted change by the vice mayor I'll second motion by councelor King seconded by councelor Woodson any further discussion you want a roll call vote okay councelor uh councelor King hi councelor Woodson hi councelor Safford hi vice mayor ad and I'm and I as well that motion carries unanimously next is the Public Safety Committee there is an appointment of a new member anage Anchorage yeah and mayor I'm supposed to tell you to flip the the script flip the script where we at okay I don't have that on mine I must have missed it so public I me I don't have the upmost updated the paper one I don't have the paper one I've got justl one can you hand me that at the bottom of page three I must have missed it okay sorry about that all right yes the first is Anchorage advisory committee there oh my script we will now vote on the appointments to the Anchorage advisory committee um Kirk the clerk has distributed the ballots votes and announcement you want me to read the Town Council part of it um not yet you all need to do make our votes got it yeah take your vote on the Anchorage advisory committee and then we will collect the ballots is the May yeah mine still sit on desk and and if I could Mr Mayor and town attorney for transparency purposes I do think it would be helpful for the public to know that when when there's five candidates for five spots I think it it' be helpful for you to announce that so so so people know that there's not a competitive Dynamic there yes we can we can do that okay so I have five ballots I'm giving them to the clerk and she's going to announce uh the council member and their votes and um hopefully it'll appear on the screen as she announces it and okay I can do that and just so the public also knows Jim hackett's application is in the agenda packet but back on October 14th he pulled his application from the running so he will not be voted on today by anybody ready okay so this is uh Karen Woodson's ballot she voted again Amy just just preface it by saying how many spots there are how many there are five um vacancies on the current committee for Anchorage advisory and there are five applicants perfect thankk you Karen voted for Theodore lell Sam lurry John Wesley Nash Jennifer Rusk and Rebecca Weber um Jennifer will need a waiver too possibly next one is Scott Safford he voted for Theodore lell Sam lurry John Wesley Nash Jennifer Rusk and Rebecca Weber Dan allers Theodore lawell Sam lurry John Wesley Nash Jennifer Rusk Rebecca Weber Jim aderholt Theodore lawell Sam lurry John Wesley Nash Jennifer Rusk and Rebecca Weber and John King Theodore lell Sam lurry John Wesley Nash Jennifer Rusk and Rebecca Weber so as you'll note on the screen the number of votes um has been tallied as the ex's appeared under each name um and so uh Amy do you want to announce the sure the individuals who um so the individual applicants that will now serve on the Anchorage how many votes each one got each okay so Theodore lawell received a total of five votes Sam lurry received a total of five votes John Wesley Nash received a total of five votes Jennifer Rusk received a total of five votes and Rebecca Weber received a total of five votes and there are five seats available so basically they're all going to be admitted or uh eligible for appointment um so if that is your desire to go ahead and appoint these five individuals to the five open seats um a motion certifying that these numbers are correct and that that is your desire to appoint um and then we'll have one item after the murf committee that's where the you want me to just keep track yeah we'll we'll keep we'll keep track of it then okay all right so we're ready for the next one okay next is the audit committee ready okay do you want me to help speed it up do you want me to read in that there's how many seats and how many people for it would that be easier okay for the audit committee there are four uh open seats and four people that have applied yeah so you're going to and read yeah I heard that ready okay for audit committee we uh like the mayor said we have four vacancies and we have four applicants Scott Safford is his ballot is for Debbie Dutton Jack Leon David Sandberg and Brian Thomas Karen Woodson Debbie Dutton Jack Leon David sanberg Brian Thomas uh Dan allers Debbie Dutton Jack Leon David Sandberg and Brian Thomas John King Debbie Dutton Jack Leon David Sandberg and Brian Thomas and Jim aderholt is Debbie Dutton Jack Leon David Sandberg and Brian Thomas so read the names and so Debbie Dutton received a total of five votes Jack Leon received a total of five votes David sanberg received a total of five votes and Brian Thomas received a total of five votes so the next step would be a motion to certify the accuracy of the results that that is in fact how you voted and to appoint these individuals to the committee I will make a motion to approve the accuracy of the vote for the audit committee and appoint those selected I'll second motion by mayor Aller seconded by councelor Safford any further discussion I am an i counc Safford hi councelor Woodson hi Vice May hi and councelor King hi motion carries you uh Dan allers is John du Larry Ed skover and Betty Simpson Jim aderholt John du Larry Ed skover and Betty Simpson and John King is John duer Ed skover and Betty Simpson so the top three VES so if I could see that um Betty Simpson received a total of five votes Ed skun over received a total of four votes Don Fleming received one vote John duer received four votes and Michelle Cherney received one vote okay so I believe your rules said say that in the event of a tie anyone who is receiving more than one vote uh would be eligible for um a revote so your tie is between John dusary and Ed scon over and the other individuals also received a vote so you would have a second vote on everyone except for Betty Simpson Nancy I thought it I thought it read that if there was a tie but not a majority in this case there's clearly a majority over a tie let's see but I could be mistaken otherwise I mean we this could go on all day this is exactly what I said if there is a tie for any number of seats still left open there will be a runoff consisting of the remainder of candidates who were not otherwise boy's already in boy's already in we writing a name yeah I think the best would be to write their name you to write the name yes please she's GNA announce and then it's have yeah I misunder I thought it was just those that weren't a majority would be revoted on I thought that's what we had agreed upon but yeah that's why I thought we because we had discussed this in our last meeting and I brought up the point that this is what could happen okay and I don't think any of us wanted this to happen well we're here now so let get through yeah so we we'll move forward and then we'll we'll make that we got a year to we can bring it back and put it on consent at your next meeting Madam CLA ready okay Karen Woodson um voted Michelle Cherney and Don Fleming John King voted John duer and Ed skover uh Dan allers John dece Larry and Ed skover Scott Safford John du ler and Ed skover and Jim aderholt is John duser and Ed skover so Michelle Cherney received one vote John duer received four votes uh don Fleming received one vote and Ed skover received four votes so we to be conundra we so we could be here all day unless someone changes their mind yeah and I don't have any more ballots for this one so well this is this is nothing so we'll do it a third time I mean this is what we approve turn it over mayor can a motion be made just to vote on the third place finishers I don't know I think if someone changes their vote that would work it went is that is the suggestion that is the suggestion that the town manager made if for some reason is we could delay election and wait well I just a parliamentary inquiry In fairness to one of our council members who has a different perspective on this I I don't know that she should have to change her vote if we can make a motion for the two uh highest vote Getters to be successful and we have a second and then we have a recorded vote affirming that is that not sufficient Nancy I think that you would I mean I sort of did that when the in the mayor thing even though it wasn't necessary just just just to expediate I think what you could do is um override your rules um you have procedural rules do you want to override them let's see what happens then we'll cross that we'll cross that bridge I'm missing two and the other option as I was mentioning was you could defer your vote on this particular ular committee selection and then bring it back at the next meeting okay what do you got ready third vote for Bay Oaks Recreational campus Advisory Board uh Jim aderholt John duer and Ed schoonover John King is John duer and Ed schoonover Scott Safford is John duer and Ed skover Dan allers is John D ler and Ed skover this is your third over here right okay and Karen is Michelle churny and Don Fleming okay so is there a motion how do you want me to word this I I'll make a motion so um you are going to wave your rules and uh make an appointment of okay well I'll preface my motion by saying in the in the future we are going to be amending what we just adopted it sounds like based on the direction of council to to meet up with what this motion will will say I make a motion to accept the two to go outside of the rules that we have just put in place and accept the two top vote Getters for for four open seats bet Barbara Hill and Betty Simpson have an asterisk meaning that they would need a a uh waiver to be able to fill fulfill the seats correct okay everyone is voted getting steps there it's Nancy Day part two yeah okay Scott Safford uh for the four vacancies on Cell cab on Cell cab voted for Carrie Henderson Barbara Hill Betty Simpson and Cheryl Smith uh Karen Woodson voted for Carrie Henderson Barbara Hill Betty Simpson Cheryl Smith Dan allers Carrie Henderson Barbara Hill Betty Simpson and Cheryl Smith Jim aderholt Carrie Henderson Barbara Hill Betty Simpson and Cheryl Smith and John King Carrie Henderson Barbara Hill Betty Simpson and Cheryl Smith so uh Carrie Henderson received total of five votes Barbara Hill five votes Betty Simpson five votes and Cheryl Smith five votes Mr Mayor I I make a motion to affirm the election of the four candidates for cellc cap I will second and a point and a point all right I will amend my second uh any further discussion vice mayor atal I I'm an i councelor Woodson hi councelor Safford hi councelor King hi motion carries unanimously next is the marine and environmental resources task force murf there are one two three four five six seven eight nine 10 applicants with two that removed Steve Johnson and Thomas terson removed their applications so there are 10 applicants and five available seats may ask a question mayor yes um just for clarification you do not need to be resident on these committees the only only two are the audit and the and LPA correct because it was discussed numerous times that it would be a very broad pool um that of individuals who could qualify to serve on a committee I thought we narrowed it down to voter property owner or 33931 zip code resident I think you also included someone who had an interest in the property in in the town um of what they were doing someone who worked perhaps on the island it was a property but I thought the preference was given to or is that that's the way it used to be anyway so is that not the way it is anymore I you all changed that to broaden it I think the example of the um Professor from fgu um someone who works on the island um was also eligible to serve sorry I'm not clear on that I'm okay let back do you have theil working on it so that was by ordinance should we um just move on to the next committee while we look that up sure we sure can well the next committee has some ready same thing same thing so perhaps a short break all right we will take a 10minute break come back at 10:35 to e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay good all right we will call the meeting back to order it is 10:37 Nancy okay so we are currently on um appointments to the murf um marine and environmental resources task force and the question was raised as to what the qualifications are for individuals to serve on uh this committee as well as other committees so you've been provided with a copy of your ordinance 24-17 which was adopted by you on October the 28th of this year and there were some changes made to the qualifications and the appointment of members and um it's a little bit long but I'll try to shorten it as much as I can so the qualifications which Miss may be uh specified by membership um in perhaps State statutes the charter ordinance whatever um shall give preference to a registered voter within the town's jurisdiction one a property owner within the town's jurisdiction two individuals with specialized experience or knowledge three individuals who have shown interest in the subject matter or individuals who have a Fort Meyers Beach postal code so if anyone Falls within those categories then you would give preference to them so technically we could have somebody from Tallahassee on a committee which I didn't think was what we were shooting for but that's just me technically yes I hate to say that but but the example I believe that was given they don't even have to reside in this state was the F fgu Professor who who might fall into someone with specialized uh experience or knowledge so it was there was an attempt or a discussion to broaden it I don't remember a discussion about an fgu or even an FGCU Professor but oh if I got it wrong sorry well I think it's pretty clear we should revisit this before this comes up again next year to take another swipe at it so we make sure that we're not making the process worse at least my opinion I would agree okay so so does that answer the question that was raised yep do you want me to restate what I read before the break yeah thank you okay so we are voting for The Marine environmental and resources task force there are now 10 applicants for five open seats uh Steve Johnson pulled his application on 1021 of 24 and Thomas terson pulled his application on 1118 of 2024 so with that vote for five of the 10 members applicants sorry ready ready when you want okay Scott Safford how many seats are open there are five seats open 10 applicants uh Scott safford's vote is for Sharon Hegstrom Ed rude Leo sand Robert Howell and Jennifer Rusk um Karen Woodson Sharon Hegstrom Edward Roode Leo sand Robert Howell and Jennifer Rusk Dan allers is for Sharon Hegstrom David Patton Edward Roode Leo sand and Jennifer Rusk Jim aderholt is Sharon Hegstrom David Patton Edward Roode Leo sand and Jennifer Rusk and John King is Sharon Hegstrom Edward Roode Leo sand Moren coo and James onoto anoda okay so Sharon Hegstrom received a total of five votes Robert Howell received two votes Moren C Cisco received one vote James anoda received one vote David Patton received two votes uh Edward Roode received five votes Jennifer Rusk received four votes and Leo sand received five votes so the top five so the top five look like they would be Edward Roode Leo sand Jennifer Rusk I can't see that far oh Sharon Hegstrom sorry and then there's a tie between James anod and Rob Bert Howell you catching that correctly okay so your rules then would allow you to perhaps take a motion David yeah Robert Howell and David Patton are the two ties sorry like I said well there's two ties technically Robert how and David Patton Y and then maren and James Okay so everyone that received votes in advance of the ti votes um if those if that is correct you could have a motion to certify the accuracy of that result and appoint those individuals and then we'll have a second vote on the remaining open seats silence so you want to certify the the three the three five votes is what you're saying yes okay I will make a motion to certify uh Sharon Hegstrom Leo sand and Ed Roode as Jennifer Rusk and and Jennifer Rusk as the four top vote Getters and we will vote to appoint as well and we will vote to appoint those four members okay is there a second second got a motion by mayor Aller seconded by councelor Woodson any further discussion I'm an i counc Woodson hi counc Safford hi Vice May adle hi and councelor King I motion carries unanimously now we'll revote on the one last seat the last seat of the ones that received a vote correct for the one last seat okay so we're just voting for one just voting for one voting for one out of Robert Howell Moren Caso Cisco uh James anod and and um David Patton sorry that's like out of my view  at least ready ready okay John King has voted for Robert Howell um Jim aderholt David Patton Karen Woodson Robert Howell Scott Safford Robert Howell and unsigned so I assume it's you Dan is David Patton so it looks like Robert how's received three votes and David Patton has received two okay I'll move to uh accept an appoint Robert how the Mur committee so verifying that the numbers are correct and that um that is the selection for the appointment yes okay motion by councelor councelor King second second by councelor Safford any further discussion councelor King hi councelor Safford hi councelor Woodson hi Vice May hi I an I as well that motion carries unanimously okay Public Safety Committee there are three open seats and two applicants with Cynthia Johnson pulling her application on 103 of 24 so vote for the two of the three sorry I signed it this time okay Public Safety has three uh vacancies and we had a total of two applicants that were still in the running first up is Scott Safford he voted for Todd capella and is it Karen Kieran Kieran frell Kier not K uh Karen Woodson is Todd capella and Kyan Ferrell Dan allers Todd capella and Kieran Farrell a moment we're having a little bit of difficulties up there that one those Dominion yeah probably ready okay Jim aderholt Todd capella and Kieran Farrell and John King uh Todd capella Kieran Kieran Farrell who am I missing you read it they just didn't yeah got it Dan voted for Todd and Kieran also okay so Todd capella got received a total of five votes and Kieran Ferrell received a total of five votes I will make a motion to approve the certifi results to appoint Todd capella and Kieran Ferell to the Public Safety Committee second had a motion in a second any further discussion uh I'm an i Council Woodson hi counc Safford hi Vice May adal hi councilor King hi motion carries unanimously so mayor allers it looks like Jennifer Rusk Betty Simpson Barbara Hill will'll all need waivers Ed skover as well oh and Ed skover okay do you need us to a motion okay I will I will make a motion to allow those listed by the clerk to approve the waiver to serve on more than one committee I'll second all right any further discussion all right I'm an i counc Safford I counc Woodson I VI mhal I councelor King I motion carries unanimously okay now we will go to item well what was Item B and that is Public Safety there is an appointment for a new member to the fiscal year 2024 2025 Public Safety Committee by the name of Don Thomas is there a motion to approve Don Thomas to the vacant seat for the Public Safety Committee so move second motion by vice mayor adalt seconded by councelor Safford any further discussion councelor or vice mayor adol hi councelor Safford hi councelor Woodson I councelor King hi and I'm an i as well that motion carries unanimously next is the proposed 2025 Town Council schedule this is item C the only issue I have with this is the um the conflicts on the M&P meetings for the TDC meetings looks like there are one two three four meetings that are in Conflict I would propos uh manager manager well found me for the scheduling she put the schedule does it meet with you your schedule I would like if it's possible to adjust those dates I think it's fine but so that we don't have an overlap being president of the TDC is pretty important yep and then prior uh vice mayor aderholt you had mentioned wanting to move a date also yes please I had I had probably a couple months ago sent a note to the clerk to see if we could move the January 6th meeting to either the 13th or maybe the 9th whatever anybody schedu I know it's far away but whatever would work best for everybody's schedule that would be that would I I will literally be out of town I know I could call in but I in a perfect world i' never missed a meeting i' like to be here if I can uh especially since we have time to adjust and that's the January 6th meeting which is a Monday hoping to move to again whatever you recommend clerk but I was going to suggest the the 13th or the ninth or I'm okay with either one well the ninth is management planning yeah oh sorry Y which is in conflict with the TDC so that's another one that will you want to move it to the seventh we have other meetings on Tuesday can't can't do the seventh because I won't be back but I will be back the 8th um might be Comm up to you there's some committee meetings that but you take precedence over them so we can move some committees the the eth is a murf meeting at 10: uh the 13th is an audit meeting at 9:00 am other than that we have magistrate probably on January 7th only reason why I'm mention saying that is because we get the back toback weak things with advertising and things like that we could run into a problem so we don't want to create a a situation where we have to reschedule because we advertis it wasn't right length wasn't enough notification I'm okay with the eth if that works for your schedule VI May eth would be great if that works for everybody else so good with the the sixth meeting will move to the eth you want the MMP after that on the eth as well I I'm flexible you can we do that just here that's fine yeah do them both another day I'm fine with that everybody else okay with that yep I'm okay with it uh I would just ask that we get a new schedule out so I can thank you will you and then the N be is going to be that's moved to the eth yep it'll be the day before so we'll have MMP and the council meeting on the 8th I'll be here in spirit and in zoom and then do you want to go through the dates on the other the ones that conflict with the MPS that conflict with the uh sure yes that would be the uh well you just move the January well the January 9th meeting compl be the April 10th meeting I I'm I'm fine with any date whatever everybody else's schedule Works can we move that to the night yeah just move it to the day before that makes sense I'm okay with doing that with with the April May in October as well just move it one day prior it works for me if it works for everyone else that makes sense then we don't get into advertising issues everyone okay with that okay so the new dates will be April 9th um these are for the MMP meetings April 9th October 8th and May 7th yes and you'll get us an updated schedule of that please because I didn't bother to write them down you'll bring it back to the next meeting to approve or just I think we can approve it you just email it to us that's perect is everybody okay with that I don't think we need to have it as another agenda item perfect it's on record okay you want a motion is there a motion to approve the amended uh 2025 Town Council schedule I will go ahead go second or where you need me councelor King will will make the motion I will second any further discussion councelor k i I'm an i VI ad I counc Woodson I counc Safford I all right motion carries unanimously next is item D this is a resolution of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida adopting the uniform method for the levy collection and re enforcement of non-ad valum Assessments pursuant to section 197 3632 Florida statute statutes for demolition of unsafe structures determined by the building official and remove of resulting debris any title search fees and any and all costs associated with app pellet review of the property owners's appeal of the town's building officials determination deeming a structure unsafe under chapter 34 of the town's land devel velopment code AS amended from the time to time for the fiscal year beginning October 1st 2024 and subsequent fiscal years within the territorial boundaries of the town and providing for an effective date so what this resolution does is it complies with Florida Statutes to allow you to collect any cost that the town incurs as a result of the Town having to go in and demolish any type of unsafe structure so this will only apply to hopefully a limited number of people um if the town does go in and demolish their building all those costs would be placed on the tax bill that they receive next year um there's a couple more there's um some very specific uh requirements that have to be satisfied under Florida law including the publication of a notice uh for four consecutive weeks in the newspaper uh prior to your adoption of this resolution and that that notification and publication has occurred The Next Step will be to um enter into an interlocal agreement with the property appraiser and tax collectors and that will need to be done before uh January the 10th so you'll see those two um documents coming back to you and then that will set up your framework uh in the event that the town has to go in and demolish any of these buildings uh for the recovery of the costs okay any questions for Nancy all right is there a motion to approve resolution 2474 2 251 251 I'm sorry that's the old one so moved all right second motion by councelor King seconded by councelor Safford any further discussion councelor King I councelor Safford hi Council Woodson hi vice mayor AR hi and I'm an i as well that motion carries unanimously next is a de resolution 24247 development agreements with deviations this is a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Meers Beach Florida amending resolution 2473 containing the procedures for development agreements with deviations to clarify that these development Agreements are home rule development agreements and to amend related notice requirements for consistency with notice requirements in section 2-98 and chapter 34 of the town of Fort Meers Beach Land Development code and require a recommendation from the town manager regarding the proposed development agreement and providing an effective date Nancy so as you've seen um sometimes when you adopt a new procedure things don't go as planned it can be a little choppy wait a minute what it can be a little choppy and um so if you recall uh your code authorized you to enter into not only statutory development agreements but also home rule development agreements and as we've worked through this process with one uh development proposal or application we found that there are a couple inconsistencies between your resolution and um the code that you have in place your resolution talks about a development agreement being the comparable to a uh plan development and the plan development approvals that you do have a certain um procedure that you follow for adoption and that includes the adoption of an ordinance which requires two readings of the title and one uh published notice of it the uh and that publish notice has to be 10 days before um your hearing where you can adopt it the statutory development agreement the notice Provisions there are a little bit different um those notice Provisions require two publications of an advertisement seven days before a um public hearing on the development agreement one of which could be your uh local planning agency meeting so your currently your code does not have notice requirements for for development agreements what your code home rule and I have to be specific home rule development agreements right now what your code has is notice requirements for statutory development agreements which basically is a uh mailing to uh individuals who are within 375 uh feet of the proposed project your current draft or your current resolution for home rule development agreements the uh mailing goes to 500 so it's even broader and um you have your LPA hearing and you have your two um Town Council meetings so already there are three required public hearings um in contrast to the statutory development agreement which requires only two um So currently we want to align your your resolution with notice Provisions for home rule agreements we want to align that with your existing code as far as plan developments so that is the proposal that is um presented to you earlier in today's meeting you did have um our one applicant come forward and request an additional meeting um which you could put that into your resolution as well uh but my recommendation would be um at the request of a property owner or developer to have additional meetings because the way your rules are set up right now is to allow for smaller developments to come through so those smaller projects they still are going to have to have the three public hearings the LPA and then the adoption of an ordinance um if you had a mandatory additional uh meeting that would be for public hearing which is a little bit onerous for a smaller project for a larger project it maybe is not so bad um for the current project that's moving before you they will have had um assuming that on the 16th it's it's approved or denied they will have had four public meetings so any questions on these roles Council King no Vice matter had a chance to talk to council yesterday and I clear and I'm good I am as well councelor Woodson I'm good councelor Safford I'm good all right is there a motion to approve resolution 24247 I will make the motion to approve resolution 24247 seconded by councelor King any further discussion right I an I councelor King hi Vice May hi counc Woodson hi counc Safford I all right that motion carries unanimously next is a resolution 24221 authorizing contract with Tyler Technologies this is a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Meers Beach authorizing the town manager to enter into a contract with Tyler Technologies to provide software as a service saas in annual support and implementation services to replace the town's financial and accounting software with Tyler Erp Pro representing an initial setup fee startup fee of 666 , 620 and an annual reoccurring fee of $60,900 that we replace our software um the software we currently have has been very difficult and challenging to work with especially in extracting data for reporting um and there's also um very limited in its functionality so this software for Tyler um it's very easy to use it's very easy to extract the data um it contains content management features which would enable us to actually um attach documentation to um the transactions that will be recording so that would um pretty much make things paperless for us and make it much easier to audit for the Auditors um it also has a feature where they have like a standby um accounts payable service where they could actually generate the accounts payable for us like in the event of a hurricane or something like that where they could do that for us and all we have to do is pay a minimal fee and the postage for mailing out the check so it's just a nice um feature I don't anticipate we would use it but it's to know that it's there um they also um have Grant Management and project management modules which would be um integrated into the software that would make it easier in in that respect as well and it has um wonderful reporting capabilities and everything can be extracted into spreadsheets so it would really make us um much more efficient so this um is also used by uh our neighboring community ities such as Bonita Springs and santel um it's also used by many other cities and towns in state of Florida um they presented a a short demo to the audit committee um at the last meeting last Thursday and they the audit committee then unanimously recommended that um the town do um accept this software and move forward with that implementation um the cost is already included in the fiscal year budget um and as explained um in the title of the resolution there's a implementation fee of 66,6 120 which includes the data conversion training all the setup um this would be done remotely so even though there's um part of their contract um they have very detailed explanation of how they would be reimbursed for travel expenses there would not be any travel expenses um also then there be the annual recurring fee of $6,998 for use of the software for the first 3 years um after that it would renew at the rate that was then in effect and in asking them what those increases typically have been and they had said about every five years they increase it anywhere from 3 to 5% so that is also very reasonable so if you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them councelor Safford any questions uh I don't have a question but uh I was I was at on the audit committee or at the a audit committee meeting and saw the demonstration and that software is really really slick and the The Price is Right too the data conversions uh the pricing is great um you can go in and just click if you have a question about one of the accounts you can click right on it it'll pull up the invoice it'll do everything nobody's rooting around in boxes boxes or anything else I mean it's it's going to make them much much more efficient excellent and the implementation is going to be uh six months correct that's correct I'm assuming that we can keep up with their schedule then we should be able to have it in six months and that's there's some big companies their their implementation takes two to three years and six months is fantastic so I I highly recommend this okay coun Woodson questions no questions but if this keeps our CFO from having to work every weekend to extract information I'm all for it very well said vice May counc King are we still paying for the current software we're using or we are and we will be until we we switch over do we have the cost of that um oh not at my fingertips I want to say it's somewhere it it's close to this but not not quite as much I'm thinking it might be around between 40 45,000 but we're getting a lot more for this yes this we have more modules that we would actually be using um features um it has a dashboard that um we could make public where people from the public can go in and drill down or do reports or see whatever they want to see um or could limit it to Town Council but there is that feature as well um it has a budgeting module so it has many more features okay what we be getting for the increase in cost thank you very good sounds like everybody that needs to be happy with it is happy with it I think so all right is there a motion to approve resolution 24- 221 for the contract with Tyler Technologies so moved motion by councelor Safford second second by councelor Woodson any further discussion councel Safford hi councel Woodson hi I'm an i as well Vice May hi and Council K all motion is carries unanimously next is item G resolution 24- 253 a budget amendment number eight for fiscal year 2024 year end adjustments this is a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Meers Beach Lee County Florida approving year-end budget adjustment number eight for fiscal year 2024 and providing an effective date Joe oh yes the um the F we have according to State Statute we have 60 days um after the end of the fiscal year to do the necessary reconciliations and then final budget adjustments and so we've made an attempt to do that to bring our our budget into alignment for decisions that have been made during the year that weren't necessarily reflected in the budget at the time and this would be an opportunity now to reflect on those decisions and I would say that technically it's not necessary to bring these to council but we wanted to do so just for the sake of transparency and since you were so involved in um the approval of the adopted budget so um the first um group of adjustments have to do um with the grant payroll coordinator position that was added to the finance department um earlier in the year um that was done with the understanding that there were savings from other vacancies in other areas and so that would be how it would be funded and so now that change will be reflected um in this budget adjustment also um there were additional expenditures that were not necessarily anticipated in the budget for 2024 and these were small expenditures for Newton Park Times Square and even for the mount house um but there is savings um overall in many other areas that were covering these expenditures there were also additional audit expenses incurred due to the volume of emergency expenditures that were required to be audited as a result of FEMA um reimbursements and there is also um oh and so because of all the savings and we did not really touch our contingency Fund in the general fund the the simplest thing to do would be to just use the the unused portion of the contingency fund to fund those budget adjustments for the general fund rather than pull budget out of individual departments that had the savings um likewise within um the fom hurricane recovery Loan Fund that was a brand new loan we had a $5 million loan from fom um to provide cash up front for some of the FEMA projects that we would be um incurring expenditures for um at the time we weren't sure how much of that we would need and so this is an opportunity now in retrospect to um make that budget adjustment I think there's a total of $335,000 that we actually used of that loan um and then finally um for Bayside Park the volunteer Florida Grant we received that previous fiscal year but some of the expenditures carried forward to this fiscal year and so we we just need to move um the UN unutilized expense from last year and recognize that we're utilizing that to pay for the expenses that were incurred this year so I think that covers um in general what this budget adjustment is all about okay councelor King questions for Joe I have none vice mayor councelor Woodson none counc Stafford uh I have one question uh about the shopkeep um expense and it seems I I I used shopkeep and I think you use shopkeep over at the I thought you guys did we were going to well yeah so I I I had a question why it was $6,000 because I previously used that software and seemed a little steep and and then I in doing a little bit of research what I realized had happened is the actual shopkeep expense was $3,600 but also charged to this specific account was Verizon Wireless Services which uh amounted to about 6,900 and so I suppose the more accurate description would have been shopkeep software and Verizon Wireless expenses I shortened it to shopkeep but now in retrospective probably wasn't the most clear description so I apologize for that well and here's another example of software you probably had to you could with the new software you just click and be right there exactly correct correct so thank you Joe that's all I have I do not have any questions either is there a motion to approve resolution 24- 253 for budget amendment number8 for the fiscal year 24 year end adjustment so moved got a motion by councelor Safford second seconded by councelor Woodson any further discussion councelor saffre hi counc Woodson hi I'm an i as well Vice May hi and councelor King hi I motion carries unanimously uh next is there Final Call is our final resolution 24252 it is for a budget amendment number seven allocation of the fiscal year 24 savings to emergency reserves this is a resolution of the Town Council of the town of Fort Meers Beach Lee County Florida approving budget amendment number seven to the town General fund and emergency fund providing Authority and effective date Joe so in in keeping with the last budget adjustment I I I made this one a separate adjustment because I think it it's a very significant adjustment um what this um pertains to would be the savings that were actually generated during fiscal year 2024 um these are preliminary numbers so there may be other expenses as well as other revenues that may be accured as we continue to close the year and then there may also be an audit adjustment possibly once it's audited so these are this is the UN audited preliminary version and as of this point um if you were to look at on page 461 of the agenda it has um a page that shows the um revenue and expenditures in in comparison to the budget for the general fund for 2024 and you you can see we had almost $300,000 of um additional Revenue than what we had budgeted most of that um or probably all of that has to do with um interest Revenue that came in um we also um just scanning at the top there we also received more parking Revenue more um Community Development Revenue more code enforcement Revenue um more short-term rental Revenue um then even bok's um Revenue than what we had anticipated um in the aftermath of hurricane Ian um but because all uh let me just back up one second because we had anticipated less Revenue we anticipated having to use more of the bridge loan the bridge loan would be as part of that finance department line at the bottom of that Revenue section and so since we have more of those other revenues coming in and we're using less of the re the bridg loan Revenue that bridge loan was budgeted in the finance department so that's what that negative um almost 900,000 is it's because we're using less of the bridge loan but so overall the net result is that we came out ahead Revenue wise almost $300,000 and we used less of the bridge loan um also as a result of that on the expens side um down at the bottom there in the general fund we have almost well more than $2.5 million of savings most of this has to do with vacancies some of it has to do with expenditures that were um incurred but could be charged to the emergency fund because they would be reimbursable and so of that 2 A5 million since it is a preliminary number I'm recommending that we move at least 2 million of it into the emergency fund we can always add more later once we know what the final figure is but within the 60-day window of a budget adjustment um being incorporated into our audited financial statements um I thought it would be good to at least show that we're intending on putting that $2 million in the emergency fund and one of the reasons why um I'm or I guess the primary reason I'm recommending that is that because of the bridge alone terms we're not allowed to use um monies like this for Capital whereas in the past I think that's what you had done and understandably so that would be the normal way to do things but because we're limited by the bridge loan um to using this for operating expenditures or for emergency expenditures um the the best um recommendation I could make to you would be to move it into the emergency fund and given the fact that we've already been hit by you know several storms this year um and there are um un unreimbursed expenditures associated with each one um it would be very wise to move that into the emergency fund counc Safford questions for Joe no counc Woodson no Vice Mar no counc King not a question just comment thank you for all your hard work um uh the fiscal responsibility that you're showing I think is just fantastic for uh you and the town management staff so thank you very much well thank you um I you know I just record the actions of of the team so so it's it is a reflection of their work there's more behind the scenes than just recording you get brow beat every day that's this is one of those times Joe it's okay to throw your elbow patting yourself on the back get get on it Joe you're good doing good man anything else concert no thank you I do not have anything additional here is there a motion to approve resolution 24-25 two for budget amendment number seven so moved second got a motion by councelor Safford seconded by councelor King any further discussion yeah can I have one thing recently we had a conversation with the town or city of Tarpon Springs their manager called he's new he called down can we need to talk to you we've been hit with this hurricane what do we do how do we handle this and as we discussed and talked you know I kept hearing in the back wow you know you you cut out jobs I think the only jobs we cut out were the lifeguards basically and you know the things that we were telling them and how we got through this it was like they were so impressed with how the town you as well had handled the post hurricane recovery to this point um and and after we explained how devastated and they're like oh you're a lot devastated than we were you know they were thinking the problems they had were really something but the problems that that occurred here are I mean this is this is really unprecedented in in my experience when you have such a Devastation to be put extra $2 million from your last budget year into to an emergency fund I mean you mostly I realize we're getting grants and things like that but that speaks a lot to the conservative way that that Joe manages that that budget the way you manag the town and through me and the things we're trying to do I really I'm patting him on the back and you on the back and the things that that we will continue to do as we go forward it's a big deal other other people recognize it too already so good job everybody good any other discussion C sa all councelor King hi Vice May hi councelor Woodson hi and I'm and I as well that motion carries unanimously that brings us to our final public comment is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak in public comment come on up so diligently waiting out there for this Terry Kane for the record oh I am tenacious if anything else um I just wanted to make a little history lesson um for history when Mar resources task force what it was called originally was created we did allow people this is in regard to the Committees that you just appointed um we did allow off Islanders and specifically because their expertise we did have the Aquatic preserve manager who worked for D was on Marine Resources task force we did have an FGCU Professor um wi Abraham you hear his name all the time if you listen to um that radio station and um we had an engineer from Johnson and John Johnson so they were original members of The Marine Resources task force I will make a little caveat there we were very fortunate that the engineer from Johnson and Johnson did live on Fort Meers Beach but it was wonderful to have that person on and in saying that and mentioning our aquatic preserve manager I just want you all to know that when we turn over to 2025 it'll be the 50th anniversary of the Aquatic preserve act now I don't know if you all know what that means but it started here on Fort Meers Beach for the State of Florida and I want you to know know that Estero Bay was the first aquatic Preserve in the State of Florida and it was because of the residents of Fort Meers Beach that put up such a fuss about what was happening to the Bay 66 years ago it took that long for the ACT to come into being was in 1975 so um we've got a lot of celebrating to do in 2025 and we're very proud that we started the Aquatic preserve act here in Fort Meers Beach question Mr Mayor asked for unanimous consent to proceed out of order for 30 seconds could you just I I I think I I know your background could you just explain how you became mayor of Fort Meers beach in a very brief period of time I was not mayor I was vice mayor um it's to a little emotional um John mahalan was the mayor I had no intentions of ever being a politician when I applied for one position I said I was an outof work politician um I and I was on Marine Resources task force I was on a couple other committees and uh John mahalan was our mayor um we John and I had been creating with the Charlotte Harbor National estuaries program a document for eight counties in the State of Florida and it would we would get 50 people around a table it was a wonderful experience we had a round table of 50 people we all got together we had goals and um things to reach our goals for all these different communities Henry County um Charlotte County Lee County um CER County it was an amazing experience um unfortunately we were about to sign the document that took us two years to wrote to write um we were about to sign it the next morning and John and I were going up to Charlotte Harbor we I was the representative for the town John was the mayor um John passed away very early in that morning and um you had to ask me didn't you um I got a call from our town manager um Mara seel George who said you have to go and do this and she it was 7 o'clock in the morning and um I said I can't you can't make me you can't fire me I'm a volunteer you can't make me do this and she saidou going to Charlotte Harbor on your own so I called our aquatic preserve manager here um that her office was under the bridge Heather Stafford and I said I can't do it she said I'll be with you so um this town was signed on to the Charlotte Harbor National histories program document that was written 25 years ago but you did serve as mayor then pass no I didn't oh you did not no I did not no but you were vice mayor though I well I became vice mayor after that term I wasn't I wasn't the vice mayor when John past I was nobody I was sitting in the audience oh I see and they told me they're elbowing me telling me they're going to appoint you I was the only politician that was never voted in I had two terms and I was never voted on um I was appointed and um and that was a little dramatic I had a seven and eight-year-old I had no intentions of being you know what I wound up doing and um so that's yeah when John P we came back from Charlotte Harbor and at the next town council meeting they asked me to show up and they told me they were appointing me and I said absolutely not I said you'd have to give me six figures for that job are you people crazy and um at that time we did not have any figures behind our name we were all volunteers when we were s on Council so um I was one of the reasons why you guys have a little stien now it's because I couldn't pay my babysitters thank you for that history I appreciate it thank you for your service thanks for your service thank you thank you very much anyone else CN then will close public comment Town manager items thank you mayor um just wanted to to Pat Nicole on the back a little bit um with our software and with our website we also have uh had access to an app we've now developed our app um we have an app for that so it's a fort Meers Beach app we'll be getting that information more and more out you can go in and you can find a lot of things the emergency alerts come across there jobs uh meetings it's just like the website but it's going to be on an app so we do have that available so great job Nicole leading that uh that surge as we go into the 21st century and before you yes the number one question is going to be will permit search be able to you know that's going to be the number one question will that be available on the app it should be everything that we have um correct she she's not your okay all right yes makes it very very useful tool that we now have and moved into the 21st century uh 7-Eleven closing will be coming up probably the week after thanksgiv giving so as soon as that happens we'll knock the building down we'll start with the parking lot we'll do there's a lot of things happening down there that that people don't see we've got we pulled the floor up downstairs we uh painted the third floor we're painted the second floor carpet should start coming in either next week or the next week so there's a lot of movement going on down there so hopefully soon we'll be able to to have some big announcements about that building and and the parking lot going forward Bay Oaks Recreation Center we've we've got um some an architect looking at some things we can do in there um to kind of be a little more smarter with how we put things back uh potential to raise the basketball court to do a few things but we will bring this before you and there's some insurance money involved and some some things we need to do to be to be better um um stewards of what we've been given you know if we keep having to replace the floor the floor and the floor and the floor it it it's it's like how how do we how do we stop the insanity so we're just looking at some options so we'll bring that and we'll have uh Jeff will take it to borab so that they can they can see what we're doing and and how how how we're trying to progress and and also with the park as we move into this next phase we've got the ad the RFP out now for the park behind us um the the multi-purpose field excuse me multi-purpose field storm water control uh parking pickle ball courts those things that were in that um approval with that meet the grant that we that we have we also need to be obligating a million dollarss of the arpa funds by the end of the year so all this is really um timely to get this accomplished now but we've gotten into a good position that we feel like financially and where we are with the park after looking at a few things and and really studying how this should be set up and we really believe that you know Jeff's going to bring all this to to the more cab as well to kind of talk to them and let them be part of you know where we are at this point but right now we just have the RFP out it's probably a couple more weeks or uh right at weeks I think the sixth is the opening the deadline I think the 10th 10th and then we'll have it back we'll have it to the next U council meeting um Chad's here will talk a little bit about pach nourishment we do need to get your blessing uh to close the matanzas bridge at 11:00 p.m. on December 31st and reopening at 1:00 a.m on January 1st for the fireworks so we kind of can just get a blessing of yes not that type of thing yes everyone okay with it y I think everybody's okay with that but just needs to be on record yes send I consent consent counc King yes counc Woodson yes C King looking that way yes um the other thing is i' um there's a MMP meeting on 124 there's also that those couple days there's legislative um Florida Le City's legislative days in T excuse me in Orlando that I planned to attend um and possibly the mayor as well but we have an MMP on the 4th I was interested to know if we could move it to the 9th or to the 11th on December December the mmp's on the 5th well the fifth yes there you go sorry but that's the fifth and sixth is this event you wanted to move it to the 9th or the 11th the n9th or the 11th yes both of those are open for me I'm okay with either one same either one 11 there you go if I matter you do okay the 11th everybody go with the 11th the 11 I've got it cut out well it shouldn't go past noon right you shouldn't we make sure okay we would have to reschedule a murf committee meeting that didn't happen this month correct that wouldn't it we could put them in the afternoon all right 11 it is yes and that's moving from the that was something else but I can't when I take that back I my meeting's on island so yeah I can go to one all right sounds good thank you so much uh today is the the day that it's been in the news lately about November 18th uh being the day that uh a lot of our trailer folks here in town have uh been received a notice of violation um and through that we've had many contacts with these owners of these not only Conex containers but businesses that are in these temporary trailers um we've made it well known what is needed for them to do by this date um through the help of our legal team here we've set up an independent councel uh DOA who will be helping facilitate some of these cases going forward we have a non-bias u magistrate to use when we take these court cases to court um originally we sent this to FEMA as part of our cap plan our community action plan uh showing that the the town really didn't have teeth without a police force and this was a way to enforce this um by going through the code enforcement process um FEMA did not like that originally um until we showed that we did have a viable means of not only issuing a violation but coming up with notice of hearing now it adds a little B more teeth into it and at least a magistrate can decide how these businesses go forward not the town um and as you all know it's been well documented we noov ourselves um it's just not only a show of leadership but also to show that hey we are in trailers as well and this is the right thing to do um so today is the day um where we start uh getting on board and getting our calendar out to start issuing the notices hearing which will be followed shortly um so uh it's kind of where we sit in that what's what's the timeline Frankie for if they if they've chosen not to leave the island by today what's the timeline between today and the notice of hearing well that is exactly the timeline until we can get a hearing in place with DOA that is their timeline to come and give their pitch everything we've worked out with do will be done here although all be done through Zoom um so we will have staff we'll have code staff here I will be here um not only representing the town but also helping anyone that needs help um uh in conveying their wishes to DOA um and helping get that facilitated so it all goes down but until we actually get a calendar date with DOA which that's what we're going to be starting today um and we'll be reaching out to each and everyone that we've handed you notice a violation to so do will be be will be the the party that schedules the date as to when each individual violation comes before them and each one uh each notice of violation was uh individual case so they're going to be treated on individual case basis so we'll be going through that list okay yes sir I I I have to ask the question so as do reviews this their their basis for their finding is it the town's policy or is it femus policy in other words if they come and present a plan to rebuild a brick and mortar and they've really got all their ducks in order based upon what the town is requested will DOA find with them or will they will they be more differential to FEMA's uh priorities well to answer that in a shorter way or a little bit longer as the mayor likes to put it sometimes um we're dealing with federal guidelines here so the federal guidelines from FEMA were adopted by the Florida building code so that's kind of what we're going with so what DOA would be able to do is either they find these current structures as they sit in compliance or non-compliance they're not making the determination for femo or for the town the town really doesn't have a a dog in this fight so to speak it is basically just dealing with the FEMA guidelines as they are written and adopted by the Florida building code moving forward um so as we proceed down that lane it is doa's role to either understand where the complaintant is going with or or not and that's why we chose an independent group to do this and leave our own magistrate out of the freay so to speak um that's still yet to be determine what will be said and what will not be said as far as the adherence to it um each of the five communities that were put into this mess with the the flood insurance um you had to show feasible way ways of executing the guidelines the FEMA guidelines um this actually meets that request it shows that even though we don't have our own police force we can't physically and forcibly make these people move the island not that we would want to because they're our citizens but it does allow us to at least have a way to through Code Compliance bring them here's our case here's our independent counsel and let the council decide I'm following I'm following you what happens after that proced I think FEA at this point just wants to see that we have an action in place I'm following you procedurally I'm just trying to from an evidentiary basis is do allowed to consider the fact that they have a plan for independent counsel and all they're doing is requesting are they are they going to be more considerate of whether you have a light if the trailer could be removed with a light pickup truck if it could be moved with light pickup truck they wouldn't be in violation okay so that that's the plain and simple answer there but to the other part of it I would defer to Madam Council so this is um first of all um they are impartial as our current special magistrate is as well our our other magistrate that we have just as local um so everybody's independent as far as a magistrate so this will typically be a regular code enforcement hearing at which point staff will identify the section of the code that is in violation the magistrate will make a decision is there an actual violation and at that point the corrective action might be the removal or if the magistrate in their discretion orders something else then we would know what that something else is the magistrate also has the authority to impose a fine uh per day that the violation cons continues to exist um that's something to take into consideration as well it's a it's a poetic lawyer answer and I appreciate it very much and I say that respectfully but I guess my question is is do allowed from an evidentiary standpoint to consider the fact that somebody may have a plan for a brick and mortar that's either so being implemented or no the magistrate has the authority in any code enforcement case to provide additional time for compliance to be achieved they they can do that um and in your example it would be that they would give them additional time to get the brick and mortar finalized however we do have FEMA that has very strongly said that these things need to be removed ASAP um so that would be a decision that the magistrate would would have to make I'm certain that the property owner would would make that argument um but whether or not the magistrate agreed with that I just didn't know if the if the Magistrate's allowed to consider that as evidence okay that's good that's helpful because that would happen in any code enforcement hearing um additional time to come into compliance got you and currently to that point Mr vice mayor we only have one business that falls into that category okay and Frankie in reply in response to the letter that we received back from FEMA that said the process in which we were going through to give them the violation they said it was it was not sub what did they they use was a non substantial or insufficient ins sufficient and with your conversations with FEMA since then and now they understand that the notice of hearings will be going out have they updated their stance as far as if that is substantial enough for them the the gentleman that we meet with on a regular basis um not the people that instructed through the letters but our our local contacts that we meet with um they said that is more than acceptable because it shows a path of of judication it shows a path moving forward and that's what they wanted they wanted some some means of enforcement I can give anybody I can give you a noov it doesn't mean anything unless I can actually back it up now by taking it to a magistrate it shows that we do have a teeth in our process and we can back it up and have the the properties that are in violation have they all been notified of their violation yes sir and has the 30 days expired yes sir on all of those violations that have been yes sir okay so now we are at the process of where the the hearing dates will be set that is correct Mr Mayor okay is that list of violated properties going to be made public or it is public uh we have it posted here in our main lobby um which anyone can see and uh if there's a request made to the clerk I guess we could provide that as well now the second part is um the national flood insurance program today was the date for that as well um when is FEMA going to get back to us on so the the the actual date for the trailers is is kind of uh mixed in or mired in with the the 18th stood for uh we were given two days we were given July 16th for day to come up with a way to address our issues and we're given a final date of November 18th no complaints about it um for coming up with our our act Community Action Plan showing that we have a plan and process on all levels and how we're going to continue and that's a living document that'll go on for years and years and years as long as we're still dealing with flooding here on the island and whatnot even if per chance there wasn't such a thing as the national flood insurance program we still have to comply with the Florida building code and that kind of all kind of mows along and that was the Harden true date of November 18th getting that uh the town successfully uh submitted their packet and it was accepted last Friday um and um they had told us Andy and I uh meeting with the deputy director Robert Zan that it would take roughly about 30 days give or take uh for them to review and make comment and get back uh it doesn't mean pass or fail it just means that it again is a living document they could make suggestions you can tweak as you go forward and and that's kind of what we got out of that conversation but that was the hard and fast date of November 18th originally uh and the trailer thing just kind of morphed along with it so within 30 days we still might not have an answer of what happens with our participation that is clear sir and and and the the rest of the communities involved here we we stay in communication on a weekly basis uh we're all in the same book so we in essence have a sort of democ hanging over our head yes sir okay thank you well I think the important part is to is to point out repeatedly which we've tried to do is that the town staff has has met every demand that has been requested is correct from FEMA and is now in their hands to determine if it's sufficient enough for them or make recommendations as Frankie has said to alter the plan a little bit but it sounds like you had had updated the plan of what was insufficient and now at least our local rep is saying it it should be sufficient or it is sufficient that that is correct sir so and and the acceptance of the of of FEMA the Atlanta office has been of just our plan our updated plan not necessarily their recommendation when we're that is correct sir yes just trying to be as clear as we can corre thank you Frank thank you all right anything else okay attorney items I have two okay first of all thank you for um your patience today with our new process for um appointing individuals to committees um I think it went fairly well as far as the tabulation and the announcement and the transparency but we did have two hiccups one was on what should we do when there's a tie vote and the other is um some discussion about the qualification so I would like to bring that back to you on at your M&P meeting so you guys can discuss it and we can make whatever changes and take care of that so when we go into 2025 it works um my other item is um as you know we have two currently we have currently we have two code enforcement foreclosure cases that are pending um one case regarding some property on Nature View is set to go to sale hopefully on the 25th first um coming up very soon um and we hope that that will resolve that case um and the town will be able to collect the money uh due on the the existing lean the other case is the white sand property and that case is a little bit more complicated as far as the litigation um there is we recently had a change of Judge and this judge is really um putting his foot on the accelerator pedal to to move this case forward to completion with that said we are being mandated to have a mediation on December the 9th and my request to you is that perhaps one of you be selected to um participate with us in that mediation process um this is actually our second mediation in this case the first mediation came to an impass um and uh settlement would be kind of advantageous for everyone in my opinion um rather than litigate it for more years um the judge was very upset um basically this is the oldest case on the docket right now so he really wants to move it forward so if there's um if you all could decide maybe if there's somebody that has that time and would be interested in participating my calendar's open I just looked I would participate second sounds like Karen I'm perfectly fine with you okay that's all I have thank you thank you Ken that's good okay anything that's all you have that's all I have okay uh next council member items and Report councelor Safford yes I I have a question about the the ongoing traffic nonsense going on at the base of the bridge um I know we had we spoken about getting either uh Lee County involved at the stoplight and then perhaps our own team members down at the other side of Margaritaville how's how's that progressing we we typically just have to put a contract in in place with the county for that um traffic light basic we did that last year and it it you know it was what it was but you know they did their job and you know was it what we all wanted before but we just need to get that finalized I I think given that sand sculpting's Thursday that we should have a plan in place because it I think it's two plans I think that that falls with sand sculpting permit as well but us we' talked to the county we talked they said they had not been contacted by the by the applicant so we we've been involved with the county trying to get that taken care of County does what the county does but we're we have talked to the commander about that we'll try to expedite that as quickly as we can as far as the fifth and Crescent we started uh we implemented last week where we have Rangers from two to roughly sixish out there directing traffic so that the people going northbound on Crescent and turning on the fifth um just go right through that intersection and they wait for traffic to come and uh from the other direction and let and let them go as well so that seemed to worked fairly well on Friday I think there's this little tweaking that needs to be done but we'll have it up and running in good shape for the S culting I noticed a significant difference on Friday versus the other days would would have taken an hour and a half took 28 minutes so whatever you were always at least moving there were still traffic but it was never stopped at least in my personal experience we were trying to get there are we still working on the signs not trying to hijack your but are we still working on those signs that say incoming traffic does not stop the signs that were requested for yes we are getting the PO all set in into order that should be with in a week or so and then there was also I don't remember we covered it on the med with there seems to be some confusion and we're seeing a lot more at least I've seen a lot more people that don't realize that you have to continue straight at Crescent and 5th to get to downtown they're turning left at 5ifth and then they're making the U-turn around at the base of the bridge and people aren't letting morning the signs should have been installed on Friday so I'll I'll go I see but some checks but yeah they they were putting those in actually when we were uh going to lunch Friday maybe I missed it but something to say continue straight if you're going to down it says yeah well it says to North Estero um I don't know if it says specifically to downtown but well it should it really should because that's what that's what people well that's what yeah even we got a write with a marker on it something get some up there that's all I have thank you thank you counc Woodson um just a couple things so I currently sit on the horizon Council and they always meet so the executive committee meets on a Friday and the general membership meeting is on a Friday and I now have issues with Fridays so I don't know if there's someone else that is interested in representing the town on the horizon Council or how we need to do this I don't want to just be a no-show all the time right I mean I I can do it I was on it before so I'm familiar with it if you as long as there's someone that can fill in should I not be able to make it on a Friday for some reason but I'd be happy to to help with that any anyone else has any other interest in it second yeah thanks Jim okay yeah that that's fine I could do it or at least I'll I'll do it as many times as I can if I can't make it on a certain Friday can you fill in should I not be able to make it are you okay with that yeah we work our schedules out to see if okay yeah that'll work all right anything else uh no I'm good okay Amy will you take care of letting them know and they they usually send out an email okay VI marle we got pamphlets we got pamphlets if we we hand those down great if we hand those that way John I wanted a sand bucket that's what I thought we were amazon.com stick up your game man so so uh we had a uh ad hoc committee uh committee meeting for the uh Fort Meers Beach Elementary School the evening of November 13th at the Lee County School Administration building and uh it was an interesting meeting we uh they're currently going through the interview process for a new prin principal uh the interim principal is uh is is in the interview process and uh one of our atout committee members who's apparent gave her great praise uh on behalf of the parents uh the storm surge for the beach school is about three feet and there's all kinds of issues with subflooring that they're doing the remediation on obviously the carpet drywall need to repair the Transformer lots of challenges in the crawl space they need to do air quality testing etc etc uh the uh the gentleman who's responsible for for those issues with Lee County was there he would not give us a firm uh timeline as to when the school would be reopen uh but John C who has a a construction background was guest a meeting you know three four or five months somewhere in that range hopefully on the sooner side um the uh the summer of 2025 the construction is still scheduled to begin on the Kitchen Cafe for the school which is a significant significant investment by the Lee County School District um one of the challenges I just want to bring my colleagues up to speed on is that the the the Lee County School administration uh has the cost per student for Fort Meers beach in comparison with Pine Island and Santa Bel still at a very uh troubling number and we we're very concerned that those numbers are not up to date uh I think is Tracy's still here I don't want to quote her but certainly uh significant budget cuts have been made in the last couple years uh for the Fort Meers Beach Elementary School that classes have d doubled up um and and so there's been tremendous economies that have been made almost to the point where I we think we're almost in uh we're roughly compatible uh cost per student with the other uh Pine Island and Santa Bell communities um and and obviously we're we're we're making progress on our enrollment as well so I guess the reason for me just to to share that with you all is that these numbers are being baned about uh the former District rep for our area who is no longer uh uh part of the the process because she's her term has is expired made a very disparaging remark about whether the beach school should exist at at a recent school board meeting and I think our new reps who in my experience have been very supportive of the beach School uh Bill who's our district rep and Vanessa who's our our new at large rep have been very supportive of the school and Denise our new school superintendent has been very supportive I guess I say that is is as you run into these folks uh at various Gatherings please let them know that we're making great progress on the enrollment side uh and the cost per student numbers that are being baned about we do not think are correct and we think they're they're demonstrably in error and so try to encourage those uh those folks when you see them at various community events again they're on record during their their campaigns as being very supportive of the beach school we just need to get that message out hopefully we'll have some better numbers I know some of the parents have made an open records request trying to get better numbers more updated numbers the school district has offered to try to update those numbers as well and give us a better sense I passed out a little brochure about Fort Myers Beach Elementary School which we're going to get uh many more copies of that we could disseminate around to our businesses just touting all the the beautiful benefits of the Lee County Elementary School particularly the fact that off Island residents are welcome the fact that it's still the number it's a number one it's the number one K through five Lee County uh school for testing it's an a at school etc etc they're working out all the transportation issues so we're hoping to have them back open soon but I just wanted to update my colleagues as to where that's headed we'll have another ad hoc committee uh meeting in just in a few months and hopefully have some better information for you um I was just this is on a somewhat lighter note I I was chatting with Andy before the meeting uh and we we talked about when the new town hall is open and I don't think it should be just really the second one I think when the new chamber is open on the first floor I suggested that we at least all have a ceremonial swearing in because I know uh Dan and I were sworn in at home originally during covid not by our choice uh and then uh John and Karen were sworn in in an army tent and Scott's been sworn in now in a temporary trailer and a gymnasium so I just think uh it would be nice ceremonially to have that in those new Chambers a way to kind of christen those new Chambers I just want to make sure everybody was good with that so Andy had some dire ction and just make that kind of a pleasant uh I'm fine with it counc Woods sure sa sure um about a pickleball court long as I don't have to get dressed up you do shorts are shorts are fine at least in my perspective okay so uh I had another two quick things um the uh one of a one of our condo board uh uh uh officers for a condo on the south end had a query and an exchange with uh the town and and I don't normally do this because I try to give people a heads up but I I didn't get a chance to get with Nancy on this I talked with Frankie about it he he needs to check as well um our our building official who I have tremendous respect for is telling our condo folks that the uh the Milestone studies for condo buildings uh The Benchmark and and and and that report has to be in uh based upon the 25 years of the age of the building a lot of people thought the statute was 30 years and and and and and it's third 25 with your so far like three miles or less within the the coast so that's that's the different differentiation John yeah if if if and so so you're comfortable based upon what you've heard that it is 25 years for for spee my understanding of it yeah if you could confirm that I confirm yes I don't know right off hand that would be helpful thank you uh and I think on that the governor has led that he's going to be calling a special meeting specifically about this this in December this issue and the reserve requirements well I think that's more the reserve requirements but I hadn't heard it was about the Milestone inspection and well it has been very specific but my understanding is it's going to be about the entire good entire thing but that could change um and again I I I meant to catch Jason on the way back Jason have you heard any news about the Strand View Property that's next I normally like to give people heads up because we we were going to try to talk to some various land trusts about acquiring The Strand View Property next to Newton Park I know you've all had a lot on your plate anything anything new or additional to add on that or come on down Jason Freeman a chance to again I normally don't put people on the spot it's all right uh Jason Freeman for the record uh so we did get a final asking price for that property I believe it was an upwards of over 11 million um but we've been in contact with the Florida communities trust as well as the folks that came and presented at your last meeting for the uh the nonprofit version as well so we're still working on it but it's a it's a good chunk of money and just just so people who are watching understand the goal would be for the town to purchase and then being reimbursed by the land trust correct correct yeah that's one way to do it um as well as there's a couple other grants out there that we're looking into um similar to that for property acquisition especially for Parks there's uh there's some money out there that we're we're trying to look for um as well as similar to it too the RT R2 P2 folks are finishing up their draft report for you all um and hopefully they'll come present that to you in the next couple Council meetings um but that has to do a lot with Newton Park as well and kind of how to strategize to use that property so you did out there you're being great called out on the spot thank you Jason appreciate that's all I've got thank you Mr all right councelor King I'll just U piggy back on what the vice mayor said the swearing in for the new uh school board and the new superintendent will be tomorrow at 3:00 and then the mayor and I I think are if anyone else musts attend going downtown to uh for the swearing in tomorrow morning of uh the board of County Commissioners uh I've had a question come up with the eibc um issue will that that goes back then to the LPA before it comes to us again yes thank you um I've had a couple conversations with the town manager knowing uh um his time uh on his contract is coming to to close uh I'd like us to start thinking about how we want to handle that I know um it was signed I think in April so it's like a a minimum of 120 days or maybe that he has to notify us and 90 for us to act but um I sure like to keep them around so I'd like us to U look at talking about that down the road we since we have our human resources person here John do you do you have a process because this has always been at least in the past very awkward and poorly handled prior to Andy prior to Andy well that's right up our alley then I think the mayor can attest to that U you have a do you have a strategy or plan to how how we should as a council address that issue sure so as a starting point I'll will review Andy's contract to let you know what the parameters are so you're aware of that um and then I can put together a protocol or process that would be very straightforward um for you all to request to extend or deny that very good that be great thank you anything else John that's all I have thank you um the only thing I have is in case people are nerds like me and want to watch or pay attention to tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. uh femura director or FEMA administrator Chris chrisal will be in front of the subcommittee on economic development public hearings and Emergency Management 10 o' uh at 10 o'clock facing some probably very heavy duty questions from those on Capitol Hill one of them being our representative in Congress Congressman Donald's will will be one of the people asking questions so if you want to pay attention to that to see if some of the answers come out we did submit questions on behalf of the town to his staff that they may or may not ask they only get a few minutes I think it's five minutes a piece to ask questions but they will be submitted into record is what I've been told to try to get some answers to some of the questions that we have had uh for the FEMA throughout the process so if you have nothing else to do or you want to follow that just a public service announcement with that I have nothing else there's I would uh like to uh harp on the and remember the immortal words of Hoy Axton is sung by Three Dog Knight and it's been cool so maybe I we do need a three dog night but uh Joy to the World all the boys and girls now Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea joy to you and me I was promis joy and I wanted some Joy thank you Happy Thanksgiving move to a journ got a motion by councelor King I'll second all those in favor