##VIDEO ID:dGC3WFxStjw## the day I got back good evening the time is now 700 p.m. and I'll call to order the town council meeting of Tuesday October 1st uh we begin with an invocation followed by a moment of silence and then the pledge allegiance if all those that are able to join me please stand dear God allow your wisdom knowledge and understanding guide us with each decision tonight to benefit our beautiful Community amen amen let's have a moment of silence please join me in the pledge may we have a roll call please mayor kety here vice mayor sunstrom here councelor Delaney here councelor for here councelor may Town manager Kito Town attorney B here okay we begin tonight we have a couple of uh proclamations uh followed by uh presentation um so first Proclamation uh is for arv day and I will be presenting it to Bruce Barrett Cruz National re resources supervisor and Ashley Reeves natural resources coordinator if uh they will come up to the podium so when I get done reading it I'll present it proclamation of the town of Jupiter declaring October 17th 2024 is Arbor Day whereas in 1872 Mr J Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees and whereas this day called Arbor Day first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska is now observed throughout the nation and the world and whereas trees are a renewable resource which can reduce the erosion of our precious top soil by wind and water reduce flooding provide wind protection reduced energy costs moderate the temperature clean the air produce oxygen and provide habitat for wildlife and whereas trees in our town increase property values enhance the economic Vitality of business areas and beautify our community and whereas trees wherever they are planted promote the well-being of the present and future generations and whereas the town has been a nationally recognized has been a nationally recognized as a designated Tree City for 27 years now therefore I Jim kety mayor of the town of Jupiter to hereby Proclaim October 17th 2024's Arbor Day the town of Jupiter urges all citizens to participate in the observance by planting trees and getting outside to jooy enjoy the nature thank you very much mayor members of the town Council we just want to thank you for your support in these efforts uh because of you and your support and our partnership with people like the students of the Jupiter High School we are able to put on these events uh plant more trees and make our our awesome town uh even more beautiful and uh and more awesome so we're grateful to you for for your support in that I'd also like to introduce you to our new natural resources coordinator Ashley Reeves thank you all very much thank you next I'll be uh pres uh presenting the Latino leadership to the Latino leadership alliance with the Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation is there somebody here if you'll join at the when I I'll read it into the record and then come down there and you can introduce yourself into the record okay or could you do that sure I'm a b colon with the Lino leadership Alliance thank you okay this is a proclamation of the town of Jupiter Florida declaring September 15 through October 15th as Hispanic Heritage Month whereas Hispanics of every race class and multiple nationalities have made historic contributions to the growth and strength to the town of Jupiter in countless recorded and unrecorded ways and whereas the Hispanic Community plays a vital and in integral role in shaping the present and future of the town of Jupiter in business education law science technology and numerous other fields and whereas the Hispanic population in the town of Jupiter is more than 16% of the 61,000 people who call the town home and whereas in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month we honor the contributions Hispanics have made in the town of Jupiter and we highlight an important part of the rich diversity that keeps our community strong now therefore I Jim kety mayor of the town of Jupiter to hereby Proclaim September 15th through October 15th as Hispanic Heritage Month [Applause] thank you mayor and council members as I mentioned my name is Melone with the Latino leadership Alliance um my 9 to5 is at the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin counties and we're just elated to be able to celebrate um this Proclamation with you all especially with El so being in your front yard or backyard however you see it right now um we appreciate the support that you've had over the years with the Hispanic Community here locally um and we're just really honored to have this Proclamation here today thank you thank you next we have a presentation uh by uh I Believe by our chief denado good evening mayor council I am Daryl Donado your fire chief uh this evening we're providing you with an update on the accomplishments of the Jupiter fire rescue Department a lot of work study time and thoughtful consideration went into creating the Jupiter fire rescue department for tonight's update I'm going to begin here just over a year ago August 15th of 2023 the Town Council voted to create the Jupiter fire rescue department and that places us tonight on October 1 uh just 24 months away from providing complete fire em service in the town of Jupiter so I've divided divided tonight's uh update into five topic areas and uh we'll begin with Personnel in the past N9 months the town has hired a fire chief thank you a deputy chief of operation op ations an executive assistant a fire service admin manager and an EMS medical director we're in the process right now of hiring a deputy chief of administration a division chief of logistics and support services and a division chief of EMS and those three positions will all start on October 21st just three weeks from now uh these new additions are going to be incredible for both the town and Jupiter fire rescue Department so there's been great interest in the Jupiter fire rescue Department of the seven positions that the town is advertised for the town's received 373 applications for those seven positions and we have 148 people that are currently sitting on an interest list for jobs we haven't even advertised for yet uh clearly based on our current hires and um based on our uh interest list we're attracting top talent to the town of Jupiter and with this growing interest list uh we're we're confident that um Jupiter is going to have some incredible incredible firefighters serving its community so uh our H all of our hiring and our onboarding is on schedule um a lot of the work that we're doing right now at the fire rescue department has been focused on facilities so as you may have heard we're building two new fire stations and uh we have the P Place fire station and the fire station that is adjacent to squez park for both of those stations today they began doing some site work um their groundbreaking is scheduled for those stations in January of 2025 with completion of the stations in April of 2026 the Abacoa fire station will revert to the town when the agreement for service with Palm Beach County terminates and we'll be meeting with palich County uh soon to develop a transition plan for that station the Jupiter fire rescue is creating some temporary office space for our Fire Rescue Training Division and our EMS division uh the town is making some interior modifications to the ground floor of what's known as the utility field office or the UFO as they tell me uh which is out at the Public Works facility uh listen we cannot think Amanda Barnes enough Our Town director of utilities uh she was extremely gracious and finding us some spacing and allowing us some use of that space at that facility on a temporary basis the town will also be putting a three Bay metal storage building on the public work site and this is going to be designed to store and protect our Reserve fire apparatus and in mid 2025 the town's going to be making some interior modifications to a part of an existing Public Works metal storage building and this is going to be to house the equipment and supplies that we're going to have to buy to put into our fire TR trucks in our fire stations and much thanks again to uh Thomas Hernandez Our Town engineer and director of Public Works for helping us with this needed space uh with respect to facilities everything is proceeding as planned and is on schedule in November of 2023 the town purchased four Brawn ambulances uh so these the chassis for these ambulances will be delivered uh in December so just in a few months uh and then these passes are going to be sent to Brun where they'll be built into fully functional ambulances with delivery of those ambulances to the town in July of 2026 and then in the past October the town purchased three fire engines one Squad fire engine and one 105 ft ladder truck uh the town took delivery of one fire engine in December of 23 and the remaining fire apparatus will all be delivered to the town in July of 2026 and uh I did a recent check-in with our vendor and they have confirmed that all of our apparatus is on schedule for delivery uh when contracted so there's a whole bunch of agreements and policies and things that have to be in place for a fire rescue Department our medical director is finalizing our EMS medical treatment protocols the night before you you have a mutual Aid agreement with the city of Palm Beach Gardens uh we anticipate similar agreements with taquesta and palmach county in the future also before you tonight is an interlocal agreement with palach County fire rescue for fire rescue dispatch services and we intend on bringing within the next 60 days an interlocal agreement for training and an interlocal or an agreement for uh vehicle maintenance services uh deputy chief Shaw has been hard at work putting together our internal policies and procedures and we're happy to say that that project is now complete and we continue to refine our website where we see a lot of early interest as it relates to recruiting again everything is going according to our plans and is on schedule and finally a financial update so in fiscal year 2024 the Town Council approved $20 million in funding for two new fire stations which is 23 million less than the original estimates from the study uh the funding strategy selected for these uh fire stations will also result in a savings of over $700,000 in financing cost compared to original estimates and in fiscal year 2025 the Town Council has provided 2.9 Million in operating and interest payments uh for the projected cost of debt service with the primary funding source coming from interest earnings from revenue of the general fund and our finance department will be leading a non-ad Balor assessment study and revenue study to begin in the third quarter of 2025 uh on the financial side we're happy to report that we are currently under budget as compared to the original estimates for this project so in closing Jupiter fire rescue Will begin providing full fire and EMS services to the town on October 1 of 2026 and mayor council and those listening tonight you can rest assured that the creation of the Jupiter fire rescue department will be on schedule and within budget that's it thank you guys thank you um just a couple comments I'd like to make number one uh it's incredible uh and awesome if progress that's been made I know there's been a lot of hard work uh and great team effort of everybody in the town staff teaming up um so I thank everybody for getting us to this point um keep up the great work now although somewhat tongue and- cheek I'm going to say this I think it's time to transition I'm going to ask the town manager to rename facilities and sites um because number one uh the utility was as you referred to it that they were kind to give you space space has been reallocated through the town manager's office and that was originally the town emergency Operation Center and so arguably it was being used for other purposes but it w it was actually built for that purpose um of course now we have you know much better facility here for that so that that building being repurposed I think it should be renamed so in all future presentations you don't have to say it the way you said it and then further you referred to you know getting a fire Logistics uh facility on the Public's work site rename that one it was the Public's work site now it has got a broader use with space that was always there that had not been earmarked so I mean this kind of sincerely so you know we want to make sure the you're feeling as you as I know you already are that you're a solid part of the Town a needed Department we're thrilled and I just don't want you to have to still be referring to this as you know we're squeezing you in a location no we're fit we're using space that was available we didn't know what we're going to use it for so with that I ask if my colleagues want to add anything please feel free thank you excellent on time and under budget not on budget under budget it's excellent especially in the times we have right now and it's not just a little under budget it's substantially more than 50% under budget excellent great job thank you we we've chosen well it looks like you have thank you yeah um I repeat the thank you on that and one thing I had a conversation with the town manager a few weeks ago and you know you came in and you you know super experienced enthusiastic then deputy chief Shaw came in and he just exudes energy and enthusiasm and I was uh in our conversation I was saying imagine when the when you start to build a hierarchy going down the enthusiasm wave of all these new people coming in want to build a great fire department uh it's just it's it's G to just going to take off and it's it's really exciting to watch it and and as uh Council for stated and we all appreciate the under budget and on time and all that but I know it's a heavy lift but you guys are doing just a fantastic job and it's it's just exciting to kind of watch this happen you guys are doing all the work so thank you appreciate it and I'll just pitch in quickly and say I noticed on the website a countdown clock so you do have that sense of urgency and you are tracking things very closely so um it's just it is exciting to see the energy you know in the town manager's office executive office um you bring you bring some really great positive attributes um to this town and to all of us so thank you for all the hard work that all of you are putting into it I'm looking at got behind you as well and and Thomas and so I you know it is a team effort and thank you well you know I will say you're exactly right um we didn't get to where we are today without a team effort I am absolutely amazed at the incredible sense of teamwork in this community you know I'm relatively new here I've been here for nine months now but but the teamwork here is amazing there has not been a single Department in the town that hasn't pitched in and played a role in this and um and they're all so incredibly friendly and great to work with um so we we're glad to be where we are um and it's and it's with the entire town that we've gotten there thank you thank you with that we move the citizen comments do we have any citizen comments yes we have one Ken parent good evening my name is Ken parin I live at 207 North penck Lane um I'm addressing this for um emails that I've sent to your office and all of you council members about a code compliance that took 21 years to resolve as well as other compliances that were resolved until recently uh one was 10 years one was 7 years one was four and just recently for five months took um two compliances to be settled and missed out another compliance that I brought to attention um all your council members received my emails most e email received to me was from you mayor um and you told me according to your email please take an accountability the total response provided by the Town Council compliance Department the towns always stri for voluntary compliance that approach last takes time but our Code Compliance Department persistently pursues compliance until issues are resolved how long do you think an issue needs to resolved before it's resolved 21 years 10 years 7 years 4 years 5 months co- compliance staff continue to generously work to resolve these valid non-compliance matters in our town respectively of how challenging they can be I'm just asking why did it take 21 years 10 years 7 years 4 years and most recently five months to resolve these not even resolved I had brought up one about a fence installed and I spoke with the building department there were no surveys permits or a form filled out called a reciprocal and maintenance assess easement I'm sorry easement that was not with my signature I'm wondering why this particular resident has been avoided for for compliance or even complying to the compliance over the last 20 years can someone answer some of my questions this is just a time for public comment and we okay so so typically when that happens we we're all listening to you and we did receive your emails what will happen is we'll make comments at the end of the meeting and Council comments but also we'll respond to you via email we may follow up with staff so this is typically just a time to listen to each resident share for 3 minutes any items of concern we're taking notes and we will follow up well mayor you did respond to my emails but you didn't address me and you didn't have a solation at the end of your email just wondered why you didn't address me in a professional manner well I thought I thought I was attempting to first of all time's up but to answer um you know what we received and I think my colleagues were on it but there's Sunshine rules I can't include them on a response okay but what I had seen just so that you know was we really heard about it at the tail end and it appeared that our Code Compliance group had answered and we were at the point that most of the issues seem to be resolved so I didn't I'm I'm just telling you when I look at you might have had a whole bunch of email conversations and I had a small uh exchange of them um and uh so I was looking at that um because I saw basically you had written in then or Code Compliance off you know uh The Code Compliance group had responded back on status and explained where we were um and I just wanted to weigh in as the mayor um and I think my colleagues would agree but that's up to them is that I wanted to just explain that we have a code compliance department so we are many times as for ated uh as you know we public we hear from but we seek compliance and uh it just takes a while to get through the process so from what I had seen I wanted to basically emphasize that that please understand it there because you know the town I'm somewhat responsible for that process right now certainly I don't know anything about 10 or 20 years that's not what I saw in that uh but I was more looking at it in my response back to you um just are we near the Finish Line I think because I'm always a person what's left to do let's get it done and I thought we were close to being there yes I get it there wasn't an answer to what happened 21 years ago right I don't even know if this this I don't think the same people were even around so I don't I don't you know I can't speak to that but that was the intent in which I replied right and then I replied as I normally do is I just when I'm approaching the at the bottom of the email I think I wrote Jim um you at the bottom of the email you put I appreciate being copied on the your correspondence and enables me to understand the concerns and all the challenges that the town staff enter in resolving them and so now we were copied all of us will work with our the town manager which is the way our former government makes and make sure that we take away learnings from that so my I was being genuine on behalf of the council that's the benefit of when we get copied otherwise we may not have known about that right so anyway that's the point we don't normally get into conversation here but okay to the degree that you feel like you weren't getting response I tried to kind of weigh in that we are making efforts again I can't speak to the 10 or 21 years that's here say from what information I had right right well I sent that information via emails invol understand but I think most important is are we getting down resolving the issue and it sure appeared like we are and they even had pointed out there's another issue they're following up on MH okay thank you very much for your time thank you thank you okay um so that would sit in public comments that was it thank you um uh Council we have before us the minutes to the September 18th 2024 meeting um I don't see any corrections on the Das if there are none I'll take a motion in a second to approve the minutes as submitted so moved second Motion in second all in favor signify by saying I I I motion carries unanimously moving on to the consent agenda this is items 5 through 13 um is there anybody in the public that wanted to pull a consent agenda item no mayor seeing none is there anybody on the Das wanted to pull a consent agenda item seeing none I'll take a motion in a second to uh approve the consent agenda items so moved second Motion in a second I'd ask we have one ordinance ordinance 2624 on first reading I'll ask the town attorney to read it on short title ordinance 2624 an ordinance of the Town Council of the town of Jupiter Florida amending article 3 of chapter 2 of the Jupiter code of ordinances providing for codification providing for the repeal of law in Conflict providing for separability providing for an effective date we have a motion in a second all in favor signify by saying I I I motion carries unanimously uh and lastly um we had one item on the regular agenda but it was indicated as continued to to be determined date by the applicant so there are no regular agenda items uh so with that moving on to reports uh Town attorney thank you mayor my report is still [Music] waiting Town manager thank you mayor uh just a few things first of all um I wanted to concur with something you said earlier and thank the fire chief and the deputy Fire Chief and the entire team here that's out in the audience um from the town staff that have been working so diligently on this fire department it's been a heavy lift and um and to understand that we still are keeping up with all that of our normal duties and projects as we move along and so um kudos to these folks and and thank you for all the hard work and it is great to see the energy flying around that that office up there it's just remarkable so um I wanted to thank them the other thing um the roundabout the at A1A in Beach Road has reached significant completion and is now open to the public you will see some aerial photos and some things on our coming up on our website to announce that um that project nearing completion and so kudos to the Thomas and Hernandez and the engineering department and Roger H um the art committee is kicking off its next Art Gallery with a showcase this Friday at 6 pm at the community center and uh the theme of this Gallery is wicked cool with a nod towards Halloween and so uh if it if the artwork that's out in this lobby as any indication I'm sure it's going to be quite quite remarkable um and as you know the FEMA had to cancel its flood map open house that was scheduled for last Thursday duing the hurricane hurricane Helen the town is working with Richard bradcliff and Palm Beach League of cities to reschedule this open house for either later this month or nove um or November and so we'll we'll get that information to you on a separate note I also want to thank uh Our IT department and the team that has built out our Emergency Operations Center up on the second floor here um we have uh we are light years ahead of where we've ever been and I know from sitting in the seat um for Hurricane preparedness and being able to respond to hurricanes and situational awareness and um and so we'll be putting something out on our uh social media site to introduce Our Town residents um to to that as well and so um uh I think uh oh and one other thing I will be meeting tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon with the deputy chief regarding the code compliance issues that uh were brought forward during citizen comments so that's my report mayor thank you Council four um yes I just wanted to reiterate a few things um it's easy for us to sit here and applaud the fire chief's excellent job but to hear the the talk about the cooperation between departments is fantastic I love hearing that from an organizational standpoint I've worked at large organizations before that can make the difference between make or break Co operation between departments is essential for things to move smoothly and to get ahead as we're doing that Scott excellent Thomas excellent um is Amanda here excellent if she's not awesome for your departments as well not just the leaders of the department but obviously being the leaders of the department you set the tone for the rest of your department inner Department communication is essential for this to work properly and we're all making it happen so thank you for the teamwork thank you make us all proud thank you councelor Delaney um just um I hadn't driven by Town Hall in about a week or so or didn't notice but coming in tonight the Old Town Hall was just just about gone so that kind of got me excited about the maybe looking at the you know down the road looking at the Town green and what we're going to do with that but it's quite a it's a bigger area than you'd think of with without the building sitting there so that's pretty pretty cool to see so yeah it's much bigger and just to point out too we were talking about today is uh nobody has seen that view in over 40 years I know and so we're we're getting the firsthand look at it yeah and we're um we're optimistic that we're going to be perhaps ahead of schedule on that project as well yeah too soon to say for sure yeah but we're pushing getting there so that's it vice mayor very quick I just want to wish everyone a Happy fiscal new year so I know the finance department is celebrating I'm sure everyone else is it's been an especially heavy lift this budget season um we just want you to know we see you we appreciate you thank you for all that you've done for this town for us so congratulations I hope you get some rest for a little bit at least one more a sad is good to get past budget season isn't [Laughter] it well well I love that thought about that I also know the finance department still has incredible amount of work to wrap up the prior budget GE so really isn't celebration like it's a new year but uh that's a good way to put it thank you uh just a few things number one uh I commenting on the demo um I had the U would say Misfortune of having a demo of a parking garage outside my office a few years back what a racket it was so every time I come by here I've been thrilled about how um good of a job they did to kind of minimize noise disruption um when they get down to the last wall there's going to be some but hopefully um it's tolerable but I've been really pleased of the way that progress had worked I wanted to provide a few uh informational updates um to the council staff and the public one is a bright line update that I got today um and I'm in contact with brightline almost monthly for years now on outstanding commitments that I believe we got from them so number one um they expect to execute the Federal grant for safety upgrades in mid October as a reminder they were done the Federal grant became available for safety upgrades they included a whole bunch of scope specific items and it was approved by the federal government that included items within the town of Jupiter so the they're not every uh segment along the way but they they were targeted areas so good news is that the grants going to be executed in October the update I got is and what they're going to be installing with these Grand funds is the lineat at two roadway Crossings I'm not sure which ones but I know staff would know and then The Pedestrian safety fencing that we've been long awaiting um so it's now more certain funding if you will and um they indicate they'll begin meeting with staff later this month is what the what I understood uh to begin the RightWay permits and whatever else collaboration has to happen you know with staff along the way and as they're meeting with the town they'll be meeting with the other jurisdictions you know along the bright line Corridor and um while I'm not pleased I'm just reporting status so construction is expected to happen in the second half of 2025 so in the scheme of things that they have they first have to line up all the permits and what ever and then they'll uh when they got that lined up and it may be the case that the order that to get the approvals may move to the head of the line so I have no doubt staffle and if I'd ask the town manager if any unexpected ask come up know please involve me on that um but anyway that's exciting to hear none of this affects the quiet Zone because these are incremental upgrades that were not required by the I want to just kind of emphasize that so people don't interpret like oh it's not till second half of 2025 that's a separate effort that's ongoing and we've gotten regular reports from staff on that secondly I wanted to share a TPA a couple TPA updates um at our September 19th meeting the five general legislative Appropriations for fot funding were incorporated into the fisc year 25 to 29 plan that fot then you know submits to the TPA and then we we amend the we agree with the amending of the plan so that I want to just make sure it's certainly known that this included the so on September 19th that included the 2.57 five million in fiscal year funding the governor had ear marked it's shown and it was received and that's for both engineering and construction so there's no they have the money we're going to have to fund part of it but they have enough money to get going on the engineering and whatever so again I just and we call that scope I'm calling that scope the Indian Town Road Western Carter Phase 2 improvements because it's a continuation of you know extending the turn Lanes to a turn through Lane uh just another small item was working with the county to confirm the county has a 5year plan on the road plan um they um they're going down through the process of updating it so it's always then subject to uh you know political or whatever uh changes if you will but uh they've always been good at working with our staff and with me uh and I'm particularly focused with them because I want to make sure that what's in the long-term plan gets into the tpa's long-term plan inclusive of what the town was doing so we have a complete comprehensive plan of Road improvements because we do get asked that or what are we doing and they may take time but they're in the queue um so um anyway um that's the um I thought I B it here but I can't find it here quickly um I know this uh Center Street is on track with the budget was in 26 uh excuse me in 27 for construction so we're still you know a couple years off from Center Street starting then there was some funding for some in 25 for some rightaway acquisition on C Central Boulevard North of Indian Town um and um not completely sure I understand what the full scope will end up being but they talk about adding another Lane basically uh from Indian Town Road to uh uh all the way up to Church Street so that's kind of a bottleneck area uh um then um I wanted to just kind of comment um and I know we've all heard this but some real lessons learned from Hurricane tropical storm Helen the flood damage and fatalities it really is incredible you know I have family that live up that you know into the Carolinas and um you know our mental images number one at least mine is I'm guilty of this is that okay hurricane hit it was downgraded and uh you know that's the end of it but the amount of flooding uh one one County that I have a family member that lives in I think they had reported 40 fatalities they had just incredibly uh just just some incredible flooding um so you know while we and then on the west coast of Florida you know and you all may know this too so I'm just but I'm just reflecting upon it you know the West Coast of Florida being having a much bigger title surge um you know U there was some uh on the west coast of Florida there's some residents that have now undergone you know complete destruction like for the second or third year in a row this really is tragic so you know as I was reflecting upon this um you you know because we're asked what are we doing about climate change and um we haven't had those hardships because we don't quite have the situations that these other areas have we have our own and hurt risk that we need to uh to make sure we're dealing with but I just thought it's it's a good time to just stop and reflect upon that that this crystallize in my mind every area is unique what you have to do right so we don't have and it's because of the offshore conditions Atlantic Ocean versus the gulf we don't have the big title surges so they're in um we have less of that doesn't mean we're not going to have flood damage but it's not as uh in anyway I you know my heart and prayers go out to those that are suffering you know from from that both in Florida and um and then in the states to the north but I I just thought we should just kind to reflect upon that so you know with that um time is now 7:42 and we'll adjourn the meeting e