##VIDEO ID:pSPHjxDUWhs## We are gonna start the, uh, November the 18th, 19th 2024 meeting. We'll have the invocation by Mr. Hart, and then we'll have the Pledge of Allegiance by Brad Mnet. Please stand Most precious in Heavenly Father. We thank you for the abundant grace and mercy you've shown towards us by allowing us to come together as brothers and sisters to conduct the city's business. And Father, we pray that we help you. Help us come in with the spirit of, of brotherhood and sisterhood, even though we may disagree, let us not disengage or we disagree, but with one another. But work together in the spirit of unity. We say as special prayers always over our first responders. Keep them safe on every call, on every shift, and comfort their families and loved ones, knowing that as they watch over us, you will be watching over them. We're so carefully give you the praise, the honor, and the glory you do. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen. Ate to just the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice overall. Commissioner Kennedy Here. Commissioner Wilson. Present. Mayor Johnson. Here. Commissioner Furner. Here. Commissioner Oliver here. Okay, we have the night. We have a presentation by Veterans Outreach presentation by veterans program specialist. Harold Rero. Alara Alara. I'm get somewhere in there. Come on up to the podium, sir. Thank You. Jim, you need to be up here to guard him or are you okay? I'm okay. Okay. Thank You. Okay. Well good evening everyone. Uh, it is my honor to be here, uh, to present information about the Orlando VA to the city of Ocoee. Um, I was invited by Mr. Moyer, and, uh, it is again, my honor, I am the regional Veterans Outreach coordinator for the Orlando va. And, um, I cover pretty much a very large territory all the way from Palm Bay Daytona. And, um, I have a, a big job in my hands. So a little bit about the va. We were established in 2006, and the system is one of the leading healthcare systems serving nearly, it was 145,000, but recently it's 153,000 veterans that we serve in our catchment area. Um, and that includes the 11 facilities that we have from Daytona, Deltona, Kissemee, Claremont, Tavares, and Vira and so forth, and Palm Bay as well. And, and all of our facilities are amazing. One of the amazing things that the VA just recently accomplished is that we received a five star rating this year. That is a major, major accomplishment. Not many hospitals in Florida, in the state of Florida received a five star rating. And what that means is that the VA healthcare system in itself provided de quality healthcare to all veterans. This, and this was an independent study, not VA or government. It was independent. So we received that award this year, and we're very proud of that. I'm very proud of that, that we're serving all of our veterans as they deserve. Um, the VA healthcare system also, besides a five star rating, also received the 2024 Safety Program of Excellence with the only VA hospital in the country that received that recognition. Um, we also are unique. Our hospital, to give you an example, our prosthetics department, we do not outsource anything. We do everything in-house. So if you ever watched it, wheelchair games, we make all those wheelchairs customized for every veteran. And if we do it wrong, we'll do it again to customize it for them. So what do I do A lot? Believe me. Um, as, uh, the outreach program coordinator, I will report directly to Mr. Cook, the director and the assistant director, Mr. Ky. I assist all the veterans everywhere. I am not only the Veterans Outreach coordinator, but also an advocate for all veterans everywhere and their families as well. Because many of the veterans are entitled to their benefits and not aware. They're not. Everywhere I go, I hear veterans, I never knew I was entitled to healthcare. And that is one of the major entitlements that they deserve. And they're not aware of that. And most of the Vietnam veterans, and I hate to say this, were never told about that, and years later, they come to find out about it now because I'm sharing that information. But we are not just me. Um, who we are, again, as outreach co coordinators, I provide information everywhere. I work with all the cities and counties. I'm on numerous councils, um, on the Orlando Mayor's Council, on the Orange County Mayor's Council. And we work collaboratively together to work together to help our veterans obtain the services that they need. Um, we create and foster collaborations for all communities. And this is really important. I just came from Seminole County Long Drive in traffic, by the way. Um, and, um, we collaborate together with many different VFWs, many different private entities that work together to help our veterans everywhere. And it is working. It is working dramatically because we are reducing homelessness for veterans. That's number one. Um, it's gone down this year, um, which is amazing. And, uh, and this is not just the VA alone. This is without partners everywhere. Also, as I mentioned, we participate in many, many community events. So if we get invited, I'm there representing the va, providing information, providing support services, connecting the dots, connecting the dots. It's the most important thing that we're doing. And it includes a PACT deck, which is a promise that was made to Sergeant First Class Hamilton, because for many years he fought because of the toxins that he was exposed to. He died before the act was enacted, I should say. And it went into effect on March the 12th of this year. And with that, we had 1.5 million veterans nationwide registered in the healthcare system because of the Pac PAC Act locally. Um, myself, I've done three PAC deck events with UCF, um, and Lake Baldwin and in ra, over 1500 veterans. We enrolled in those three events with VA healthcare eligible veterans are covered on for regular checkups or primary care provider. They have appointments set up, and in the event they have an emergency and they cannot reach a VA facility, they can contact our co our community care number, and they can be authorized to attend any hospital or emergency care at the cost of the va. We cover that. And a lot of the veterans are not aware of that. There's so much information that veterans are not aware of that we need to get that information out to them. And I am here, sorry, I'm getting a little emotional. I'm a veteran myself. I served in the Navy and I have two boys who a lieutenant in the Space Force. And, um, my youngest one is at ROTC in the army going into the JAG Corps. So I'm bleeding their charge for them as well. Uh, so I'm apologize, but veterans are entitled to so much and they're not aware of it. And I am offering myself to come out to your city or to events anywhere to share that information. You have over 2,500 veterans living in the co and they're probably not aware of these veteran, uh, these benefits because I can look up in the system who goes to the va, by the way, from the cities. So I can see that information. Yes, we know everything. Sorry. So what do we offer? We have the number one women's healthcare facility in the whole country, in the VA facility, and a lot of our female veterans are not aware of that. We offer not only just the women's healthcare, pregnancy, um, childbirth, all of that for women, and no one attends that. We have a whole floor just for them, and we have very few attending. We need to reach out to the women veterans as well. They need to know that they're entitled to that free healthcare, quality healthcare. Um, not only do we offer much more, we're more than healthcare, much more than healthcare. We're advocates. We're out there helping the homeless, going out there, finding them, helping them connect the dot the dots with social workers, with, um, with different programs, I should say. Sorry, I'm getting emotional. I get so excited about talking about this. And veterans. Um, there's a lot more that we offer just recreation therapy. We have acupuncture, chiropractor, natural health, naturopathic health, I should say. Um, nutrition. We offer all these services. And veterans are not aware of this. We need to get the information out, and that's one of the things that I, um, honored to be doing here for the va. So some of the services that we have besides primary care, cardiology, ophthalmology, women's health, neurology, urgent care, those are the standards. And those veterans that served in submarines or on the battlefield in the army or in the theaters that were exposed to all that noise, they're entitled to free hearing aids and care. So how do we get that information out? It's all of you, all of you connecting the dots. We are here to help you and support you. The VA is here to help and support all of you. If you need us to come out to talk to veterans, if they need help, we are here to help them. So, as I mentioned, many of the veterans are unaware, they're eligible for the healthcare system. Not only that, they don't know that we have a lot of clinics everywhere, and we had provide free transportation as well if needed throughout BTS program or veterans transportation system. So please, please, please know that many veterans, wherever they served, were exposed to toxins in the military. Whether they were on a base, on a ship in a theater, in Iraq, Afghanistan, operation Freedom, they were all exposed. And Vietnam as well. They were all exposed to major toxins. As I mentioned about Sergeant First Class Robinson, the PACT that is named for the promise to address comprehensive toxins. They were exposed to those burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan and also in Vietnam. A lot of us don't realize that those drums that they stored, the agent orange in, they filled it up with garbage and other products that they can't mention here. But they burned that and they were exposed to that then counter cancers. And right now the, the PAC TAC covers over 38 ailments, including asthma, something as that, as simple as asthma, high blood pressure, and cancers. Ugh, I'm excited. Sorry. I apologize. So basically, regardless of the end goal, the successful veterans outreach is rarely easy. And it's rarely easy for me when I encounter veterans that are crying in front of me that they need the care. They don't know where to go or how to get it. And I'm honored to connect them with the services that they need. Each veteran that I encounter is very unique, whether it's a male or female, they're very unique and you have to listen to them because it, they're hurting inside, but they're looking for help. And only we can help them if we find that compassion and the time to listen and guide them to the resources that they need. So as outreach coordinators, I'm in the field every day, sometimes six and seven days a week. Let me just reiterate that. Sometimes six and seven days a week. So my wife hardly gets to see me. She goes, who are you? I know you. Um, but I'm out there to help the veterans. And very few are doing that these days. So please, please, please take the time. I am here to share this information with all of you. And if, um, as many other counties have, they have veterans councils, I attend these councils. And that brings in the veterans, that connects the dots. It brings in local services and so forth. And veterans wanna job. They want an opportunity, they want a chance to be somebody and get out there and, and make a better life for themselves. They come out of the military not knowing what to do, where to go, where to seek help from. Um, but we are here, let me just say this. I'm here for them and I hope that we all are. So with that in mind, I just wanna say why we establish a veterans council. Um, in Orlando, we're able to reach thousands of veterans and homeless veterans that we've gotten off the streets and put 'em into shelters. Um, with the orange, uh, orange County Mayor's Council as well. With Mayor Deming's Council, we've been able to get them off the street. And not only that, but also provide special services. Like for this Christmas, we're doing, uh, we're gonna be breaking it, sorry, chief. We're gonna be breaking into a house with, with, with permission from the police department and the home and putting up a Christmas tree and gifts to a family, a veteran family that is very poor and cannot afford that for themselves or their children. And we're gonna go in there and do that. We've gotten the funds to do that, and we're gonna go in and seal the house back up. So when they come home, the kids come home, they're gonna be excited. And this is because the grandparents want that for that family. Things like that we're doing in the councils. And it's something that you can do right here. Imagine that. Find a family that needs, um, just to be cared for and bring joy to that, especially at Christmas to kids who may not have a Christmas. Um, anyway, so I'm here to raise awareness and I want to thank you all for your time. And thank any veteran that's in the room for their sacrifice and of course serving this great nation that we all live freely in to say what we need to say. Thank you so kindly, everyone. Thank you. Mr. Moore. Is, was that your talking or are you, are you coming up too? I'm going to do my three minutes. All right. Time. Alright. You go now? Yeah. Okay. Thank you, sir. My name is Dr. Jim er, I live in Arden Park Heart. Uh, of course we are talking about veterans. Uh, so I want to make everyone aware, if you're not, that November is military family, uh, appreciation month. Also, uh, want to mention that this year on November 1st was the Orange County Mayor's, uh, veterans Day event. And of course, here in Oco e May, uh, November 7th was the Oco E Veterans Day event on November 9th was the Orlando, uh, veterans Day parade. I was at all these events, and I have to throw in on Sunday was the Marine Corps ball. I was at a the pop Va VFW if you've ever had a chance. Look at the museum in the small museum in the pop VFW. It's beautiful. They, they have outstanding items from the past and present. Um, Also, let's see. I think that's pretty much what I wanted to mention. Uh, I would encourage the city to, uh, come up with some way to bring us veterans together. No, no matter how it is, I, I really don't have a preference on how it is as long as we come together, as Harold said, a according to us census, we have over 2,500 veterans right here in Akai. And, um, we all care about this country and each other. So I'd really like to see us get together. Thank you for your time, and God bless you all. Thank you, Mr. Dr. Moyer. Shayan Jones. Good evening. My name is Sean Jones. I'm a 36 year veteran teacher here in Orange County Public Schools. And I'd like to, um, the gentleman said, vets are hurting inside. And I'd just like to reference something that made me hurt inside. Uh, the last meeting I attended, um, I was extremely disturbed by the, uh, tone, the abrasiveness of the tone as individuals communicated one with another. And every time I come in here and in many government buildings, we see a code of civility either posted or passed out. And so the only reason I stood tonight was, is to say that I would hope that the code of civility will be honored and it adhered to by all individuals present our honorably elected officials and our citizens of, um, ocoee. And that reciprocal respect always be given, even when we agree to disagree, uh, to the veterans. God bless you. Thank you for your service. And that's all I wanted to say. Thank you all. Thank you. All right, we have the, uh, Centennial Mural Concept Selection Redevelopment Program Manager of VI vaca and Creative Con Content Digital media Specialist. Dixon, come on up. Good evening Commissioners. Tonight we're bringing back to you the mural design concepts. Um, this was previously presented to you at the October 1st meeting where we discussed, um, kind of some direction that we were taking. We discussed a location. Um, so we're gonna go over that and then look at the designs that we've brought for you tonight. So just a brief overview again, of that October 1st meeting, um, we were tasked with finding artists that could create a mural with the intent of promoting, um, the City of Centennial celebration and inspiring civic pride, um, through a visual art installation, um, that would also enrich the environment, create a sense of place. And I think you'll find that in the designs tonight. Um, just as a reminder, the location for the murals is 1 0 4 McKee Street, just down the road. And we've identified the mural location for you there on the screen. Um, so with that, we'll take a look at the different designs that were submitted and then, um, have a discussion. Alright, Good evening, mayor, commissioner, city manager. Uh, so this is our first design, uh, by artist Shea Monaghan out of Orlando, Florida. Um, and this concept, uh, as you can see, it embodies a lot of rich history of ocoee. Um, there's a lot of vibrant color. Uh, it shows the, um, the importance of sports that sports has played in the city of Ocoee. Uh, the citrus in the packing house that has been here for many, many decades at the McGuire Airport. Um, the memorial that we, uh, built this year and Stark Lake and a lot of other features, um, that kind of represent a co e and a lot of the history. Uh, this piece to me is very thought provoking. Um, and I think that this would be, this could be a good option. Uh, our next artist, uh, see Stanley Creative. So this piece here is a little, uh, it's not as complex as the first one, however, it is a very good, uh, welcoming to the city. It also embodies a lot of the citrus. Um, there's a lot of features from the architecture, from the McGuire house in there. And then it also has, uh, some homage to the hollowed ground and it has the, uh, passion flower as well. All right. And these are just the two side by sides. You can see the difference of them on the wall. And So with presenting these two designs to you tonight, um, we are ultimately seeking a motion approving one of the two designs to go up on the, um, identified location. And with the approval of the design also comes, um, approving execution of the agreements between the city and the artist, and of course, the city and the property owner allowing us to actually paint the mural on his wall. Um, so I'll go back to the side by side comparison. So we can take a look at both designs. So just these two we're looking at, right? Mm-Hmm. Yes, correct. So, following the October 1st meeting where staff was tasked with contacting artists and seeing, um, if there was any interest in participating in this project, we received five applications that we narrowed down to three artists just based on their qualifications and prior experience with large format exterior murals. And those three artists then submitted, uh, their design concepts and we narrowed from those three down to two that were presenting to you tonight. Alright, so when we were discussing this at the meeting about going over these, what about the flour in the front? We were talking about making that smaller. It is, it, it is smaller. Um, and was tilted just slightly forward to expose a little bit more of the inside of the flower? A little bit more of the, uh, yellow, we could certainly make it even smaller. Um, but it is quite smaller than the, the first version that we saw. Okay. Um, it is kind of a prominent feature of the mural. Um, in his design submission, he submitted, um, kind of an explanation of his thought process and it sort of, uh, you know, the, the roots of ocoee, um, the, you know, the vines coming out of the flower. And then of course a sunset for like the future or the sunrise. I apologies for the future of ocoee. So that was kind of his, uh, inspiration or thought process there with the flower. Can you give us the price? Yes, certainly. So, artist number one, Shea Monahan. That mural is priced at 30,000. Um, and that includes the materials, the actual installation, the equipment rental lift rental, et cetera. And includes, uh, the ownership rights that we are asking for with being able to use the mural image on other centennial marketing, marketing, you know, promotional items and things like that. What's The other one? And artist number two? Christian Stanley. That one is priced at, uh, 29 5. 29,500. And again, including all materials, labor, uh, equipment rentals and ownership rights that we're asking from the artists. Alright. Commissioners. Anybody wanna discuss it? What, before we do that, I'd like to say maybe we could do both if we got another spot for the other one. I know one of our proprietors downtown are, don't let us put it on that wall. Yeah. So at this time we have only identified the one location and of course had discussions with that property owner, uh, drawn up an agreement with that property owner. Um, staff could certainly look into some alternate locations for the second design, if that is the direction that the commission would like to go. Alright, Commissioner. Yeah. Uh, you mentioned the agreements. I had asked some questions about the agreements. Uh, what is the, the life cycle or the guarantee of the lifecycle of the mural? Is that in the agree? We don't have a copy of it? Yeah. So we are asking the, uh, artist to kind of warranty their work for two years. Um, their materials list that they've submitted does include, you know, protected sealants, anti graffiti, sealants, things like that. Um, so they warranty the work for two years and then have, they would be eligible for contract for maintenance after those two years. Um, if the city determines that the mural needed maintenance or touch-ups or things like that. Um, Carolina, I believe the commissioner is getting at, um, we're gonna invest $30,000 into a mural. What agreement, um, do we have in place with the property owner that they're not gonna paint over it after a couple years? Yes, absolutely. So the, our easement agreement with the property owner, um, allows for the mural to stay up for three years and then allows for extension with agreement of both parties. Um, there are some, um, terms for termination from the property owner. Say if he's selling the property, um, of course the easement would carry over with sale of the property to the new property owner. But if for some reason the mural would prohibit the sale of the property or anything under those circumstances, um, at the city's discretion, we could reduce that length. But the, the agreement is for three years to put it up on the wall. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Anybody else? Um, I $30,000 kind of the sticks in my throat here. 'cause that's quite a bit of money. I realize that and I realize that we're doing our 100 year celebration. Um, I think out of both of 'em, I kind of like the akoi 'cause it, as you're driving by, um, personally when you have a lot to look at, it does probably, we don't wanna create an issue downtown driving. But this one does feature akoi and tells you where you are and the centennial and centennial, but it also tells us that you were in a coi. I think I, I it's a lot to grasp, but $30,000, I realize that, but It is, so Put the money aside. I know we did, but it's just the idea just, well, I I will add, um, I didn't mention it before, but we, in reaching out to these artists and sending out our, you know, letters of interest and such, um, we did look at other mural programs at other municipalities and the, the price per square footage is comparable to what they have submitted. Um, including the ownership rights and everything. It is kind of on par with what we've seen, um, in other municipalities, other mural programs. We want a professional looking mural. I understand that. Yes, it's gonna cost, I'm just saying the numbers, 30,000 does of course with you, but, um, out of all of 'em, I'm sorry, I don't think the commissioners, this is what I liked. I will say I had somebody look at, look at that back a few months ago about doing something like that on there and it was, uh, $50,000. So I don't think any of 'em is real cheap, but this is a centennial 100 years. So I think, like I said, I'd love to see us do both of 'em, but I don't know if we can, I would like to see that we got money put aside, uh, city manager. What, what's the money we got put aside? Well, we are still getting pricing from the centennial budget for the things that are, are planned currently, but you have adequate funds in the contingency fund balance if you wanted to add a second one. Alright. Commissioners. Anybody else? Mr. Furner? I Prefer the second one over the first. I find the first one just a little too busy and kind of disjointed things all over the place. I like the second one. It's clear. Very well done. And I'd prefer to see that one. Okay, Mr. Oliver? Um, well, the owner of the, uh, the building with the murals being painted on, will they receive any compensation according to the, to the contract? They are not receiving any compensation. They are allowing the city to put up this mural as part of, as part of the, um, centennial celebration. Uh, the only thing is, um, you know, when we are removing the mural, of course that will be at the expiration of the, the term of the agreement. Um, the city will paint over it at the city's expense and return his property to its original condition. But, um, no other compensation for displaying the mural. Okay. Um, you might have said this and I I might have missed it, but, um, will we own the copyrights to, to the mural? Yes. For both artists, that is included in the, uh, in the agreement and in the price that was presented Also, according to what we see on both murals. Uh, are there this, would this, this, this be considered a finished product or do we have, uh, the ability to give input as to any alterations or changes based on what we see here tonight? Yeah, So the artists are open to making, um, changes depending on the level and scale of the changes, but they do understand that the murals ultimately had to go to commission for approval. Um, and so they are of course open to making adjustments as the commission sees fit. Um, a complete redesign may be, may be different. They may require an additional stipend for that or something, but they are open to making adjustments to the design, yes. Pending the commission's approval. I'm just looking at both murals. Um, I, I I, I kinda like the, the second one, this one here, um, with, with one exception. That's, there's one exception. Well, I do have a question though, right over to the far right of that mural. What, what are those looks like? Mailboxes. What, what exactly is that? They are in fact mailboxes. Um, those mailboxes are existing, um, outside of the building right now. And so he has incorporated them into the, the photo to indicate that there's no elements behind it that would be hidden or otherwise disturbed by the mailboxes. But they are there, um, for the, the properties that are there. So those are existing. And the, and the only other exception that, that, uh, I have is, um, the big bug on the top, caterpillar? Yes. Looks a little creepy. Yes. So the, the, the caterpillar saw that and, and the butterfly, those are, uh, in reference to the zebra long wing butterfly. So the passion flower is actually the host plant for the zebra long wing butterfly. And they're both native to the region. So in his research of koi history and the origins of the passion flower for our logo, um, it was kind of a, a little touch to that, uh, natural element of koi. Yep. If, if, if, if he would consider maybe getting rid of the big bug, give us the finished product, give us the butterfly. But, um, that, that's, that's my, that's my only comments, uh, besides, uh, uh, the mayor's comment about, uh, possibly, uh, putting both, uh, these on, on the, the other one on on a different building. Yes. And the possibility, these Are priced by square foot, so depending on the location for the potential second mural, if that, again, is the direction the commission wanted to go, the pricing could change, could be reduced if the, if the building is smaller, because they are priced by, by square footage. So, And would he change the context of the photo as well, or the, the subject matter? If he had to work with a smaller space? I think we could, uh, either eliminate elements or, um, he is a, a graphic artist, so he could condense it to a smaller space. But if it looks too compact, we could work with removing or swapping out some of the elements that we have. Okay. The, alright, uh, I will say that this first one has got the train used to come through here for the, for the fruit. Then you got the packing house there, you got the McGuire house there, you got the lake with the fishermens on it. You got the local high school, the cardinals, the red, and you got a plane coming in from McGuire Airport, a little airport we used to have here in town. So that's that. And the two baseball players, it was huge back in the 19, uh, thirties and forties with the local guys here. Had a team that traveled around and played. So that's where this pitcher comes in. That's why I said I like, we're going to pick the other one. I'd rather see this one up as a, on another wall, but that's up to everybody's vote. So we need a motion. Uh, and we need to, if you can do two, it's, it's once in a hundred years, I'll be happy to make the motion to choose number two with an option to look at a, if another building comes available to look at number one, um, have a, I'd like to see it presented back to us how it would be abbreviated. Yeah. So that would be option two with the ability to come back with option two, abbreviated for another building. And, and it also has the, um, our new, uh, um, monument we put up in the park that's on number one. Does your motion include the bug? Huh? Does it include the bug? Well, it includes, I I brought that up and start with it didn't take it away. It Didn't, the bug kind of looks like a, um, I don't know what the bug looked. Some Caterpillar. The caterpillar, but it doesn't look like a caterpillar to me. But that's, yeah, that's, I could make the motion to exclude the caterpillar. Okay. All right. We got Adding it to My, we got a number one motion. Am I hear a second for her for, uh, Long-winded motion? I need a second. I'll second. Oh, go ahead. Alright, You go. I'll Second it. Seconded by Commissioner Oliver first. And, all right, uh, everybody Mayor, I just wanna, um, make sure the motion is for the artists and the execution of the agreement. Yes. Oh, I meant to say that. Which, that means 30,000. That means 29 5 29. 5 29. 5 29. 5 29 5. That's right. We'll Review the second one at a later time. All right. Any, any more comments? Let's vote. Motion carries you, unanim. Thank you young ladies. Thank you. Thank you so much. Work on getting that second one billed. Yes, We will work on it. Thank you. That's All right. Next up, Mr. Joseph McMullen, city Commissioner of Oakland, Florida, but he's also HaCo runs HaCo for the music we have every, where Do you want me to stand? Um, out There. Right here. Well, thank you very much for this time, um, this evening. Uh, my name is Joseph McMullen, as it mentioned. I'm the founder of HaCo Music Foundation. And every year, for the last 14 years, my, my nonprofit whose mission is building futures through music, art, and education, has been hosting, uh, a jazz clinic and jazz concert free to the public at Ocoee High School. Now, of course, uh, commissioner Wilson and, and mayor, uh, Johnson, I have history and they will always come to this concert every single year to support the kids. And it's a, it is a, uh, free clinic all day clinic where the students, we bring professionals in, we bring in, uh, professionals in to really work with these kids to help them, uh, with their jazz journey. And, uh, we bring schools all over. It's hosted right here in your city at Akoi High School. We bring students here all from all over the, uh, Tri-County area. And every year, um, we'll get a story about one of these students, uh, that have moved on. You know, they are professional students playing with Michael, bla, you know, playing with Bob James. They are entrepreneurs, they're educators. I have one of the main students I live right here in, um, right here in Koya, Andrew Kennedy is in New York City, working on his masters. And tho that program, those students came right straight from this community. And I want, and I I wanna say also, like I mentioned, commissioner Wilson and, um, rusty Johnson will be there every single year. Fast forward to the last three years, they asked, Hey, can you bring the concert to our town? Can you bring it to our city? Because of course, you know, they're looking for diversity. They're looking to make sure that, uh, it's very inclusive. And so, yeah, we say, yes. Got no, no mayor, you know, mayor Johnson is not, you know, someone that takes no for answer. And so he just kept asking. He kept asking. 'cause he re he, he really wanted the community to see this. And he really pushed because he would, he and his wife would come to the concert and he say, we wish there were more people here. Now, mind you, we are bringing in top quality musicians. We brought in Grammy Award winners this year in 72 days, right over here at Lake Shore Center, you're gonna have Jose Lento, uh, uh, who's a Grammy winner, um, um, jazz, uh, performer. We have, um, and he's also a professor at the University of Florida. We will have, along with him, Brandon Robeson, who was the, uh, director of Jazz Studies at Florida Gulf Coast. We're gonna have Zach Bar Mu, he's a professor Jazz at Florida Memorial Miami. And we're gonna have Darius, uh, Lewis Lee, who is also a professor at University of Florida. So when we bring these musicians to perform and these educators to perform, we also have them come teach the next generation of students to ensure this love and this jazz history continues. So I just wanna say thank you, uh, for allowing us as hco to be a part of your, your city offering, live, jazz, live music, but also there's a purpose behind it. We are building futures through music, art, and education with these programs. And our signature event has been supported and been asked to come alongside us to allow us to help these kids. We are given our scholarships. We are helping kids get access to college. And that's why we, you know, also, we are helping kids understand that this can be their career. So there are students that have come here and they are performing all over. And it, and it really warms my heart that we can have your commission to continue to support and come alongside us and allow us to present this to the city. And at the same time, you're pouring into students, because like I mentioned, every single year, I'm always hearing some student that started here that, that may be from this community, that came from, came to this community, came to this event right here in the city of Koi. And next thing you know, they are performing all over the world and bringing the love of music. And sometimes those students, I want y'all to know this, sometime those students come back and they are clinicians because they were here 10, 12, this is our 14 year years prior. And they pour back into this. So on 72, in 72 days, we're gonna have a, a nice jazz concert here, free to the public, uh, uh, co jazz, uh, festival on January 35th, 31st, 31st. It was a, uh, a Friday night. And then the very next day we're gonna had a free clinic at Akoi High School. Again, everything is being hosted in the city of oco. And I wanna say thank you to the commission for continue to support us and continue to ask us to be a partner and be a partner with you. And I'm thinking the, the citizens, because without your support, we would not be able to pour into these kids. And I really want you to come out, hear some great music. We're going to have another youth group that's going to perform, that's one of the students that we work with. His name is Aaron, uh, Anelli. And then we're have a coy high school, Bernard Hendricks, who's the band director, who's been a band director over at a coy high school since his inception. And so his band is gonna perform, and you going be able to see what we have been doing for the last 14 years, and we hope to continue this process. So I wanna say thank you for your collaboration, thank you for your support and this, thank you for allowing us to be a part of things that you're trying to do for this city. Thank you so Much. We should don't go anywhere yet, Joe. I would like to say that if you haven't been to that, you should go. And those young, young people are doing an excellent job. It is amazing that the talent, just like the jazz band part, they got a jazz band that's really sharp, I'm tell you, they're great. So it was a, a great turnout last year, but the best thing is about it, when you're taking that time at, at the school all day long, mm-Hmm. Bringing these people in, go through the classes and teach 'em. It's really a, a good thing, Joseph, and I appreciate it. I I'm going to ask the commission, we did Monday last year, and I'm going to ask the commission, we have $135,000 in the contingency. I'm gonna ask for $10,000 to donate to that project. Did we already put it in the Budget? I don't know if, if we did, but then we don't have to take it out, but I don't remember. I thought we did, but we don't have to take it out. If we did, I don't remember, but I'm, like I said, I don't know off the top of the head. You can check that. But $10,000, I'd like see if we can get the commission to vote on it, then Craig can find out if it's in the budget. If not, then we'll take it out of contingency. Do I hear a motion? I can't make the motion, so I'll make that motion. Motion made by Commissioner Kennedy. Do I hear Second? I'll second. Seconded by Commissioner Wilson. Let's vote there. Go Joseph. I wanna say thank you because you know, you, you, you're, everything that we do is free. And these kids, I, I, I really wish you come and, and, and see these kids because these kids are really, their lives are being changed and it can't be done without partnerships and people come alongside us. So thank you so much. Thank you for Coming. We appreciate your, appreciate you time and effort you put in that too, buddy. Thank You so much. I appreciate You. Yes, sir. Thank you. It's usually, it's blast. It was outside. So again, bring chairs. Yes. Enjoy it. It's a great event. It's right here at the Lake Shore Center, right here, right behind, right behind us. Right behind us. And we are putting together the marketing plan that the, the city is coming alongside us. So we are building it, you know, we're not charging the city for anything. We are building it and we sending all the material and joy and some other staff members to have any contact with our marketing team to ensure that we send you the right information to share to the public. Like nice music in the park concept. So yes, it's free. All free. Come. Enjoy it. Thank you, judge. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you commissioner. Alright. Staff reports and agenda review. None at this time, sir. Alright. Public comments. I already went through the two I had. Yep, I have two. Alright. Consent agenda. I'll make that motion to approve. Motion made by Commissioner Wilson. Go hear a second. A second. I second y'all just tie tying each other. Second, I'll give this commissioner, I'll give this commissioner Out here tonight. Seconded by commissioner first. I wanna try be Quiet to give somebody else the opportunity. Alright, no more comments. Let's vote. Motion carries you nicely. All right. First reading of ordinance. First reading of ordinance for Citywide Golf Cart. Police Chief Ogren, come on down. Chief first reading. It's first read. You don't, you can just stand there and look good. We go. You don't have to do anything the next time. Just Smile here. So is that first Reading The attorney? Read that Reading? Yeah, go ahead. Well, he's gonna read the orders while you're getting ready. Okay. Ordinance, An ordinance of the city of Ocoee Florida adopting a new article three of chapter 1 53 of the city code authorized in the use of golf carts and low speed vehicles within the city limits of ocoee, defining terms, providing for the regulation of golf carts and low speed vehicles, including the hours of operation, age regulations, and posting of signs to designate public roadways for golf cart use, establishing terms and procedures for violations and penalties. Providing for severability, providing for the ordinance to prevail over any, any inconsistency in the city code providing for codification, providing an effective date. Alright, what's the next date? Um, the next meeting. December 3rd. December 3rd. December 3rd. This will be the oath. Public hearing. December the third. All right, chief, just real quick, give us a, you can give us a talk if you want to, if you don't have to. I, I don't have anything to say I'm married other than, uh, be back on December the third. Back on December 3rd. All right. Second, read the orders. Says we don't have any public hearing. We have no none public. Regular. Agenda number 15, discussion regarding the Veterans Day program. Commissioner Kennedy. Thank you, mayor. Um, as was discussed on, uh, I think Thursday, November 7th, uh, the city of Ocoee held the Veterans Day celebration ceremony. Um, and several veterans over time have asked, uh, should we have it on November 11th on Veterans Day. Um, I did some research. I wanna read something short, a statement, why November 11th matters Veterans Day holds deep historical significance. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month marks the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. In 1918. Many countries observed Armes Day, or what they call Remembrance Day on the same date, commemorating not only the secession of one of the deadliest conflicts in history, but also the profound moment when nations collectively committed to peace after World War I and, uh, after, excuse me, world War II and the Korean War, there was a movement to recognize veterans of all wars. And the name was officially changed to honor all US veterans in 1954. Many Americans are unaware that in 1971 Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday in October by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. However, this change met widespread opposition as it severed the important historical significance of November 11th. The backlash was so strong that Congress reversed itself and reinstated November 11th as Veterans Day in 1978, preserving November 11th. As Veterans Day reinforces a global recognition that veteran sacrifices transcend time and geography, um, there's a really good reason, I believe, to celebrate veterans and their sacrifice on November 11th. And, uh, I would like to make a motion for consideration that next year's Veterans Day ceremony be held on Veterans Day on November 11th. Thank you. Alright, Anybody else have any comments? I see I per, is that a motion? Yes. I'll be happy to second that. I don't see a problem. Um, I think that we've done it so that folks can go to many different events over the weekend and speakers on Thursday, Friday, because it was parade. I think there's parade on Orlando not long on Saturday. Yeah. Am I correct? Okay. Thank you Laya. And, um, I have no problem. I mean, unless there's a problem within the city within Craig, you know, Craig can think of anything, but I don't have a problem with it myself. I just wanna make sure that folks have the opportunity to go to the events that may be memorable for them. Alright. I know we had a good turnout Yeah. On this, on the, on our 13 celebration. Yeah. Great turnout. Yeah, great. Good turnout. Yeah. The only concern I have is if, if there's any conflicts with any other cities doing culinary, their events where it, and what would happen is we, we may end up having a, um, uh, I guess the crowd would not be as, as, uh, as large as we had this time. So I think that would probably be a consideration to see what, before we make any decisions, to see what other cities are doing around us. If there, if there's any conflicts, um, within, it could be Apopka or one a Gardner or Orlando. Uh, I would like to, to try to get as many folks to this event as possible. I think the visibility, the more visibility we have with, with this event, I, I believe we can actually utilize that for, to expand it even more. We have a veteran, a representative here may be a great opportunity for someone from the VA to show up and, uh, and have as many veterans there to talk about the information that the, the, the great information that you share with us tonight. So that's my only concern. So I like the idea, uh, no problem with whatsoever, but I just wanted to make sure that we don't have any conflicts with other, uh, other cities around us. May I comment on that? Yeah. Um, I don't understand the conflict with surrounding cities. Um, I think our job is to celebrate and honor the veterans in Ocoee. And if Apopka celebrates and honors the veterans in Ocoee, that's their business. What I can tell you is, is for myself as a working professional, um, I can't come on Thursday, November 7th because that's not a holiday. The holiday is Monday. People are off, most people are off or can take off, especially federal and city employees. And, uh, so I think you would have to your point about attendance, and what I had heard from people previously was they didn't attend because it's on a Thursday the week before. And so I, I think, you know, on some point, is it six of one, half a dozen of the other for crowd? Maybe, but there's no argument, a historical significance to Thursday, November 7th. All right. I'll, um, make comment. The reason that started, I think was back, uh, com, uh, mayor Vander, Griff asked it to be done. And we, we, uh, I think, I don't know who all was here, then we voted for it and that's what it was. So as a veteran, I don't, whatever day it's gonna be, I'm gonna be there. I think the only thing we would, and you could have, um, different speakers at different times, gonna be somewhere else, but as a veteran, whatever day it is, like I said, I'm gonna be there so we can, uh, we can make it, we'll vote for it. And if it's on that day, then that's what we'll do. Alright. Let's vote. Well, it's Tuesday next year will be, veteran's Day will be on Tuesday the 11th. Yep. Of November. Yeah. Alright. They Do that intentionally, So it'll move around. Yeah. It's the only holiday you're going. Alright, let's vote. Motion carries unanimously. November the 11th, 2025. Alright, comments from commissioners. Commissioner Oliver? Uh, first thing I want, I would like to address the, um, the gentleman that spoke about the veterans. I, I do believe that at some point that we did have a VSO that would come out to oco. Um, it was been, it's been a while since this happened. I know we, uh, had an issue with, um, you, well, orange County had an issue with, uh, manpower and resources, so end up losing that resource. And what I'm, from what I'm hearing, I'm hearing that you're willing to offer, uh, your services to the city, to the veterans of oco, uh, if we, so, if we were so inclined to help put a, put together a program like that. So I guess my question would be, um, what would a program like that look like? Would it be, uh, you, you're coming out to provide information maybe once a month, once a quarter, twice a year? Um, so I, I I, I don't know what it looks like. I think that it would probably, um, uh, merit some conversation, uh, between, uh, yourself organization and maybe the, uh, our city, uh, uh, a city staff and maybe come back with maybe a plan to, uh, service our veterans. So hopefully that's something that, uh, you guys can make a connection with, uh, before you guys leave out and let's get together and formulate a plan to, uh, get this information out to veterans. Uh, I also do have a question, uh, for you. I get questions all the time from veterans say that don't know about their benefits, and they wanna know, well, what do I do? So I wish we would've had the opportunity to ask you some questions then, but I guess I'm gonna utilize my time to ask questions now. So the question is, a veteran that does not have, uh, that does not know what to do, uh, do they, do they make an appointment then go out to the VA clinic? Or do they just walk in and say, Hey, I'm a veteran. Can you help me? So, so what does that look like? How do, how do I, how do I communicate that to a veteran that has no idea about their benefits whatsoever? Is that something that we can allow him to, to just kind of address that question? To answer that question? Well, you've taken your time. Yeah. He's got what's left at your five minutes. I, I think it's important. I i it is important for my time, so it is important for That information. Tidbit of information. We had one of the VA guys there last week at the, at the thing, and he's gonna start coming out once a month out here. He's from the Orange County Veterans Association. Thank you, commissioner. Mayor. Um, may I ask who the, who that individual is? Carl. Carl. Perfect. Um, again, we can support you once a month, once a week, providing that information to veterans any day. If, if they need to, they can reach out to me directly. Um, I don't have a problem with that. Also, I'm working collaboratively with Anita, um, which is the supervisor of the VSOs for Orange County. And we are working together to reach out to all veterans and provide them all the information that they are seeking. So this is what I'm, I was alluding to earlier, that we're collaboratively working together to reach out to the veterans. So I'm here to offer that same, uh, to all also Maybe you city of you can collaborate with Carl and, and with Carl and, and figure out what days you guys can come out and, and maybe split some days, but at least absolutely. We're able to service the veterans, uh, in, in Ocoee. Absolutely. Can You Thank you so much. You very welcome. Can you fill out a, uh, form tonight before you leave Mr. Moyer and have him put his address and phone number? You might have stepped into some Extra. I've done that already many times, man. Alright, thank you. Okay. And uh, um, I see, I see the light, the actual turn signals on Clock Road. They're, they're there. Um, they're wrapped up. Uh, Craig, I think you gave us a, uh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to catch No, that's Okay. I think you gave us a, a, a date as to when they're gonna be operational that coming, uh, pretty soon. I'm sorry, which Was gonna be operation, the, uh, left turn signals. They're going north and south on Clark and clerical. Steve is here. Um, I believe it was supposed to be the end of November when it was gonna be operational. Okay. So, um, Steve, if you're back in the back, I'd like for you to come out and address that for the commission. It, it's either the end of November or December, but, um, well, You can just give us that, you can give the information. Uh, I'll pass that on to the commission via email. Okay. There You go. Oh, there's Steve. Alright, can you, did you hear that? I didn't hear the question. Okay. Well, the, uh, the, the traffic lights on, uh, Clara, coy and, uh, uh, Clark Road, the, the left turn signals north and south. They are installed and bagged at this time. We, you just approved a change order tonight to complete some of the added items on the road itself. We were hoping to be done by the end of this month. I think it'll be, it'll be before Christmas and everything will be activated there. Awesome. In the full final configuration. That answers my question. That's all I got. Uh, before you leave, what about the stop signs on White Road? Um, they, we met with the contractor today on or or White Road. There will be a couple of concrete meetings put in to make it a true four-way stop. They're scheduling them. We're hoping we should have those in before Christmas. We have all the signage and we're ready to do the striping and we'll have some message boards going up, alerting to people to what's coming. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Why you out there today? Huh? Commissioner? Uh, first, Um, tomorrow, Wednesday, November 20th is GIS day. That's the geographic information system. Our, uh, staff is going to put together a presentation out here in, uh, be of City Hall between nine and 11:00 AM and one and 3:00 PM So if you find yourself in City Hall or if you're interested in getting more information on GIS, which is an incredible function, I think we all depend on that now. Stop by and, uh, see what they have to offer and ask them some questions. Also, if you're interested in becoming a crossing guard in the city, there's positions available and it, it's pretty easy. It's not that demanding. It's two hours a day. Uh, it pays $16 and 25 cents an hour. So if you want to pick up some pocket change and do a service to the community, you can get both, uh, at the same time, contact all City Management services. That's the company that, uh, hires and runs the Crossing Guard, uh, program. And I don't have an address for them, but you can find them on Facebook. That's all I have. Is that two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, isn't it? Isn't that right Chief? I think it's just two hours a day, isn't it? It's Two hours in the morning. It's morning. A hours in the afternoon. That's correct. It is. It's Two hours. It's before school and after school. Yeah. It's two hours, two evening. All Commissioner Wilson. It's a very important job safeguarding our children. First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving as that's coming up soon. Happy safe Thanksgiving. And that leads me into, um, as we all, as many of us go shopping over the holidays, that we get good deals, there will be Operation Santa will be taking place again this year. If you don't know what Operation Santa is, it is an opportunity for you to donate toys or monetary donation to, um, our fire department, police department. Um, they both work together, I think, on this I'm getting, and, um, it's a program that benefits the children in our community that are in need of toy. You know, we're Christmas toys, so it does stay in our community. When you hear Santa coming through the neighborhoods making a lot of noise, um, remember that's, they're also, they're spreading joy, but they're also collecting donations of toys. I know that this Saturday there was a, um, stuffed the police car that I went down and visited and the Grinch was there and it was kind of a fun opportunity to bring a toy and stuff. The police car. So please, operation Santo will be starting real soon. And since Jelly Jamboree is one of my favorite items, I'm not gonna steal half of what the mayor's gonna say, but there's a lot of activities that will happen on December 14th, which would be our Jolly Jamboree starting with, um, I'm only gonna say half of them is Breakfast with Santa. You Finish up, you restarted. I, No, I'm not gonna, here, I'm only gonna say part Jolly Jamboree, but Breakfast with Santa starting at nine o'clock, there's a $12 charge to come. Enjoy. Oh, am I gonna get more of 'em? Go ahead and finish. Oh, I get to Finish. That's Jolly Jamboree. Jolly Jamboree. There's the car show. There is the Golf Cart parade. I won't say the rest of them. No, I won't do the golf cart. But again, it's a fun opportunity for you to come down, enjoy downtown to Coie and please just, it's a fun time. But mark your calendar and again, happy Thanksgiving and please support Operation Santa Commissioner Kennedy. No additional comment. Alright. Holiday Dog Parade, 2024, Saturday, December the 14th, 2024, downtown OCO at one 30. Judging will begin at one 30 before the start of parade Event details will be emailed to all participants. Also, the Oak Coy Police Department's holiday toys for Kids in Need program is now open for restoration through December the fourth for children ages six months to 13 years. Parents or guardians can rest their children Monday through Thursday, excluding November 27th and 28th from 10 to 12 at the Yokoi Police Department. Monetary contributions or donations of unwrapped toys may also be dropped off at the police department in the service of the Thanksgiving holiday. City Hall and All City administrative offices will be closed on Thursday, November the 28th, and Friday, November the 29th, there will be no trash collection on Thanksgiving Day. It will instead be collected on Saturday, November the 30th. We hope That's a little joke. Okay, Saturday, December the 14th at 5:00 PM you want to be in a golf cart parade. We line up at Vtti Park at five o'clock entry fee, none. Just bring a non-perishable, uh, food item, food items for charity. Uh, it, and we have, I have a couple of these up here. So it'll be starting at, um, um, IGN Netti Park at five o'clock, lining up and coming downtown for the, uh, jamboree. All right. The, I wanted to bring up something that I brought up a few weeks ago about city looking into the, uh, under underground, uh, underground, uh, wire and power. What, what I said at that meeting. And I got, uh, about how much money that they spend to fix all the poles and all the problems that happened during the, and the lines down. Well, the other day I was reading something on the news and it, they, they put out $1.1 billion. They got a, they spent during the storm. Duke, all of it's on overtime and fixing the poles and fixing the lines. Now, if they'd have been underground wouldn't have been that problem. But somebody said to me one time, would it be two costly to do? Well, it if you, if $1.1 billion, it didn't cost it. I don't know what is. So if we had it underground, it's a whole lot safer for everybody and we don't have to worry about our power being off as much. But that, I just thought that was kind of ironic. I, I said that about it and then I go reading it and they got, they going to the major part about what they wrote. They're going to charge it to us, to the citizens. So the citizens are the ones that are gonna get charged for this $1.1 billion at Duke spent. All right, I think that's it. We want to thank everybody for coming out tonight. Happy, happy Thanksgiving and we'll see you back here on December the third.