e e e e e e e e e please rise for invocation by Pastor Mike swingle of First Baptist Church of Harbor Oaks followed by the Pledge of Allegiance good evening let us pray heavenly father as we begin this time uh of City business father I just want to ask that you would go before us tonight and father that every single item of business Lord that is presented father that you would just guide and direct father I pray a blessing upon this city I pray a blessing upon each one of the leaders that that oversee the business of the city including the ones that are not present here tonight father God I pray that you would help us Lord help us to remember Lord that the the city of Port Orange is blessed and father I just ask that you would continue to guide and direct Lord all those that are involved Lord once again Lord we know all blessings come from you and we're asking you Lord that you would continue to keep your hand upon Port Orange we ask all this in Jesus precious name amen amen I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and justice for all will the clerk call the role councilman Foley here councilman grubs here councilman Bastion here vice mayor sner here mayor Bernett here we have a full attendance we have a quorum we can conduct business that's exactly what we're going to do so we're going to start out with item four I've got representatives from the Dayton Beach area Association of Realtors if you all would kindly come up here item four is a fair housing month Proclamation I'm going to read this first and I'm going to bring it down and present it to you okay whereas the fair housing act and acted on April 11th of 1968 enshrined in the federal law the goal of eliminating racial segregation and unending housing discrimination in the United States and whereas the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination and housing based on race color religion sex familial St status national origin and disability and commits recipients of Federal funding to affirmatively further fair housing in their communities and whereas Port Orange is committed to the mission and the intent of Congress to provide fair and equal housing opportunities for all and whereas our social fabric the economy health and environment are strengthen and diverse inclusive communities and whereas more than 50 years after the passage of the fair housing act discrimination persists and many communities remain segregated and whereas acts of housing discrimination and barriers to Equal Housing Opportunity are repugnant to a common sense of decency and fairness fairness so therefore I Donald mayor of the City of Fort Orange Proclaim April 24 uh April of 2024 as fair housing month in the city of Fort Orange as an inclusive community committed to fair housing and to proot promoting appropriate activities by private and public entities to provide Advocate uh a provide and advocate for Equal Housing opportunities for all residents and prospective residents of Port Orange and with the Seal of the city and my signature is proclaimed in this day and in this place you're on clap [Applause] now people mdle one more absolutely for put in the magazine next mon right app item five public comments on consent agenda items checking with you Robert just in case item six agenda approval you have a motion for approval of the agenda for the evening so moved a second we have a motion and a proper second uh all in favor signify by saying I I the agenda for the evening is approved I need a motion to approve the consent agenda items 7 through 13 move to approve item 7 through 13 on the consent agenda second we have a motion at proper second to call the role councilman FY yes councilman grubs yes councilman Bastion yes vice mayor sner yes mayor Bernette yes consent agenda is approved 0 brings us to public participation and let's start with Emma Clark hi thank you all for having me today um my name is Emma Clark I'm with the um Board of the Chamber of Commerce so I'm just here today to thank all of you for your continued support with the chamber and to give every um everyone updates on some upcoming events all of our events are listed on the chamber website as well um we are doing a youth Civic leadership program and applications are due uh this Friday April 5th um the program is for high school students and it runs for uh one week in June um April 5th is also our morning morning mix and mingle at 8:00 a.m. and it will be at the Habitat Humanity ReStore and then on April 11th from 11:00 a.m. um to 1:30 p.m. we're doing a power Network luncheon um focusing on the opioid crisis in uh the workplace and we're also um doing a reverse raffle ticket um where the sponsorships go to fund scholarships for high school students and then our last event in April is going to be the tasteful affair on April 25th from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and that's it for us we'll see you Friday morning yes I'll see you Friday thank you all thanks and Michelle L good evening how are you tonight good I am spreading awareness I am fer pause the timer just tell me who you are for the record and where you live so that she has that I'm sorry my name is Michelle uter I live in Port Orange Florida here I am fizer vaccine injured and I'm spreading awareness because I worked at a local hospital and they have terminated me they've taken away my insurance my IVIG which is intervenous immunoglobins is what sustains me and helps me stay alive because I have chronic inflammation dilation poly neuropathy I have cardiac issues I have vascular issues I have microc clotting and mcast if you can just imagine how many doctor's appointments I go to and how disappointed I am in my County there's seven generations in valua County I raised my kids there's three three of my sons serving in the US Navy I have been an outstanding citizen but when I go out and start and spreading awareness I am called misinformation I've been on Governor Dan santis round table and I've also been with Surgeon General lpo which he has used four of us in the State of Florida as a political prop for his gains because he has made promises to us and has not delivered into anything we are struggling losing everything we have my and alone are $115,000 a month that's not including the rest of my doctors or anything there is no cure for me I have no idea how long I'm going to live I have no idea if I'd ever see my grandkids or great grandkids but I am seeking help from each City each County I've talked on the legislation delegation I will continue to have rallies protests I had an event in The Villages and I will continue to speak out in regards to vaccine injuries I was terminated they've taken my insurance away $15,000 a month is a lot to pay for something that helps you keep alive I have reached out to every County and City and each person all they do is tell me I'm sorry I'll pray for you I'll tell you when you can pray for me I want help and I want awareness because future Generations have got to be protected against the covid vaccine whether the mandates are going on or not you can look at any of my medical records if you want to and you can see that my life is being taken away from me and I'm tired of being called misinformation because no news station no radio station nothing will will put me out there and say the truth about the covid vaccines because our government our city our county has let us down nobody has reached out to me and nobody has done a damn thing for me I'm upset because my life is shortened I expect more thank you Tracy do have any others no okay Council comments why don't we start with councilman Foley um nothing tonight mayor is that because you've got a new baby and you're up late at night lucky I made it on time all right Tracy what you got for us so I want to reach out and thank an individual staff member that uh him and his staff while I was away uh the last two weeks this all got notified but I just want to make sure it really got put out there that Mr Juno and his staff awarded out $15 million to uh the city and that is for the water facility upgrades and that's money that we don't have to go find he found it so you and your staff I mean can't can't express the acknowledgement enough but I wanted to make sure I said that in the record for you guys absolutely uh environmental Advisory Board busy busy busy uh Chris and her team of advisers uh have coming up uh not this Friday but next Friday April 12th at 10:00 a.m. the uh water goat is being installed so if you guys are aaable a in the area on April 12th at 10:00 a.m. the water goats going in but uh not to just stop there uh the last major event that we had with the city they donated over 180 trees to the community so they they've been doing a great job so thank you for your team and everybody that's involved in it uh and then art housee if you guys are out and looking for something to do art house on April 5th which which is this Friday coming up at 6:00 p.m. uh they will be debuting all new art from the high school IB programs uh if you haven't been inspired these kids will inspire you greatly so if you're out and about Friday 6:00 to 7:30 is when that event going at the new art housee facility at the new art housee facility at the rec center okay okay that's what I got all righty Mr vice mayor uh Tracy that's April 12th 10 a.m. on the water goat yes um just a couple quick things I just wanted to to to Loop the rest of the council in on um I reached out to the city manager and asked him for him and staff to take a look at the area that's currently under development that encompasses the south portion of Port Orange the Pioneer Trail Corridor and Venetian Bay and to the east of Venetian Bay um a lot of development in that area and there's a lot of different governmental U Partners Regional partners for lack of a better word and I just want to make sure that however they're tying in drainage and storm water and all that that every every portion of all the different agencies are communicating together uh to to make sure they come up with the best product in that area there's you may have seen some some news uh in new samna about an area of concern where they've temporarily halted some permitting um which is south of there but it's close enough regionally that that I think it makes sense to make sure that we are proactively looking to make sure we feel that our side of that line if you if you will is uh being well managed and taken care of and that there's a plan in place and that everybody understands and drawings and networking and all that stuff so um I've asked the city manager to kind of do that and then at some point he can kind of come back and loop us all in and let us know what he's seeing and what the staff is is feeling about the plans from the county and from the city of dusar and how that may impact our area or not it's a very interesting geographical or or topical maybe is the better word flows of the topography out there and how something leaves one city kind of goes around portion of our city into unincorporated County and then ties back into Spruce Creek river in a way you just wouldn't you wouldn't imagine and it just doesn't to the eye is you're like okay it's not going to go that direction that's uphill but it's not really uphill and so um there's some complexities there that I think we would all be better to understand a little bit and just kind of keep a good eye on um the other thing is is I I got reached out to by one of the YMCA board members um they are interested in looking at renewal of a long-term lease their current lease is set to expire in 27 they're looking at some investment opport opportunities that would involve some applications for funding and grants and things like that so in order for them to be successful in that they kind of got to know um that they have a long-term lease commitment and stuff like that so I'd like to ask uh Council to give their consent to the city manager and his staff to kind of start that negotiation not negotiation but just discussion I've already asked the city manager to uh to do that so we're that's it's going to happen yeah so they can they can start doing that that's that's going to take some time for sure and then when they think they've got something that they can bring back worth Council kind of taking a look at we can do that at some point without a doubt the YMCA is one of the gems of our city it's uh definitely worth us making sure that we have an agreement in place that makes sense for both parties no doubt that's all I got all right Drew what you got tonight I don't have anything tonight mayor so you can you excited to uh move on into the financial yes the AUD presentation absolutely well you're GNA have to wait because I've got a couple of things uh last week uh Scott and I were able to attend a the 100th birthday celebration of Mary Whitmire uh she is a volunteer in police services 100 years old has been volunteering as a VIPs since 198 84 and every time it comes up I remind her yeah I was a junior in high school when she started doing it she still volunteers two days a week does career work for the city 100 years old she is so committed I visited with her family a little bit it was amazing to see the room many time you see these celebrations people come they show up there's a lot of love in that room that was totally genuine it wasn't just people showing up because it was an event it was totally genuine and they were telling me that uh her family says she visited up in Buffalo couple years ago and uh They Came Upon an accident scene and up there you know in an unincorporate area the first thing she does is grab a vest and gets out and starts directing traffic that's just how she's wired for service and it was just absolutely an amazing event and it was great to see the outpouring of Love last week uh for her it was very very deserving and uh I just wanted to share that with the rest of you um if you see her uh congratulate her and thank her because uh what she does is one thing but what she inspires others to do uh we can't measure that we absolutely can't measure that it was just absolutely a terrific event and I think she made like four or five news networks yeah oh yeah well every time I turn the TV on they were doing talking about it doing stories well Trooper Steve from Channel 6 came to MC the event so it's like that he was all excited about doing it so it it absolutely amazing uh and I certainly of course uh thanks to our Police Department for doing her right uh and making sure that that was the event it should have been for somebody like that that was um well done I appreciate that uh the other thing I wanted to mention Council next month we typically review the um manager and the City attorney in May I have had a conversation with both of them to uh prepare for that now Tracy this will be the first time for you doing that usually what I do is I ask to prepare you know some kind of formal recap uh so that they have you have something in writing from them what the last year has been like but the other reason why I wanted to mention it tonight is although we review them publicly as a group we want to make sure that we schedule meetings in advance with them to be able to do that so uh Wayne will be working to get that on an agenda in May and I just wanted to plant that seed in everybody's head ahead of time so we've got that piece of business coming up uh with that I think we get into the uh most exciting part of the evening the audit discussion with James morning company item 15 Mr Zack shafor all right good evening Zach shafor partner James more and Company um we have the PowerPoint on here I appreciate you following my PowerPoint guidelines uh and keeping it short okay you're inspiring a lot of confidence in us right now I mean I know it's 1980s technology and all that but you coming to rescue girl my general rule of thumb is when we're having technology issues ask somebody [Music] younger thank you got I've already got it in front of me so indeed all right who are you sir uh Zach shafor partner James Moore and Company all right uh so we are here to review the annual audit for the September 30th 2023 fiscal year end I think since we were I was under the slide count for every slide under we get a couple extra minutes to get into the Weeds on the audit was that the the full deal kill his microphone right now please all right as long as the three minute clock doesn't start we're good don't push your luck sir all right um as always appreciate the opportunity to work with the city uh big thanks as well to your Finance team John and Linda and the rest of their team there's a lot of work that goes into this uh at the end of the day the documents well over a 100 Pages uh there's four reports that we issue that summarize the results of the audit so did have a chance to meet with everybody uh individually to do the Deep dive so I will keep this as close three minutes as I can to really hit the highlights uh as always the city does prepare what's called a comprehensive annual financial report uh there's certain items in there beyond the minimum requirements set forth by the state of Florida that document is submitted by staff every year to the gfoa the government Finance Officers Association last year's um AER was awarded uh the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting we expect to see the same for the fiscal year 2023 uh document which um to quickly note on that uh that document is just about final uh expected to be released probably on Friday and this presentation basically summarizes all of the work that has been done uh with that currently draft document uh the audit reports that we will have the first audit report on the financial statements themselves we uh do intend to issue an unmodified opinion that the financial statements are fairly presented in all material respects uh this is what you want to see in this report uh the second report will be the report on internal control and compliance and this is where while we do not audit the city's internal controls that would be a separate engagement if we come across any deficiencies in internal controls related to financial reporting or financial processes tested uh in our audit we would report those here we had no such comments to report this year and then the last two reports are specific to the State of Florida auditor general requirements the first is kind of a catchall uh that looks at if there were any Financial condition concerns we'd have to identify those on no such items noted there is also a section for any other comments recommendations this year we did have one comment related just to the to the budget process uh but again these are really just other Communications not anything rising to that level of a deficiency in internal controls as would be reported in the prior report and then the last report uh basically looked at the city's compliance with State statutes over investment um activity and investment policies where we did note the city to be in compliance uh with that statute uh as we added last year I did want to do a quick just kind of you know rundown of recent years what those audit comments have looked like uh you have two comments last year both of those were corrected this year and then most notably is those top two lines each of the last two years uh no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies were reported in the audit after we had a couple in the 2020 and 2021 uh fiscal year audits looking at your general fund balance uh in total this is your fund balance basically your assets minus liabilities uh your total fund balance in the general fund of about $36 million I was up a little bit from the prior year and as always what I really like to do is look at the assigned and unassigned numbers which really represent your unrestricted reserves in the general fund about 24 uh million in change uh relative to what you spent to say okay $24 million is one thing but let's put that into perspective relative to the size of the city budget and we come to about a 41% 40.8% there uh Reserve looking at that as a percentage uh so not quite five months in reserves uh to kind of Benchmark that the gfoa recommends a bare minimum of two months before saying hey you probably should be higher when considering you know susceptibility to natural disasters such as hurricanes so U Back in 2015 I believe the council did put into place a policy of a minimum Target level based on those factors of 30 to 35% uh so in the current year 40% just a little bit over that Council Set uh minimum and that percentage actually has decreased from prior years going from 59% to 46 to about 41 despite the fund balance increasing as that's gone up a couple percent but of course the cost of everything has been way more than 3% a year the last couple of years so that's why despite the dollar is increasing we've seen that percentage come down but overall you know really just kind of a well-managed approach that I think is you know much in part due to having a policy in place because that gives your team clear Direction on hey where do we want to be when planning you know what's the future year going to look like and going through that budget process uh look at your business type funds your proprietary funds primarily water and sewer storm water solid waste and the golf course here we kind of look at if there's any major Trends in terms of a continued decrease in your unrestricted net position or any negative balances I'll note here you know all funds except for water and sewer moved in a positive direction uh water and sewer is one where that can fluctuate normally just due to the timing of capital activity so no red flags coming to our attention there and then on the pension fund front I always like to touch on this every year because the city does report about a $38 million uh this year what's called net pension liability um that really is geared towards just the transparency of disclosing what are those long-term liabilities of the pension plans uh but really the key here is these are real time numbers not the Actuarial numbers used for funding purposes and as you can kind of see the percentages increased a little bit over the prior year based primarily on the market doing a little bit better than the assumed rates of return uh and again I always like to touch on this just from the standpoint that as we can see in 2021 then to 22 uh you know you're never as good as you look you're never as bad as you look when it comes to pensions I always just like to emphasize that it's about saying hey when there is a decision point or something that you are considering to look at what is the the long-term impact of that you know a decade and Beyond which has has been done by the council and as part of how those plans have continued overall to move uh in a positive direction and so when you say real time these are not the exponentially smooth numbers that we would see from the the plans but rather actual numbers specific to the year correct yeah so for financial reporting the requirement eight or nine years ago was to explicitly say at September 30th you that point in time where was this at so you could be at a you know high peak or a low valley and that's not going to impact the fact that over time it's a much more gradual process okay so that covers what I've got didn't have to turn on the clock so think we did good no you you saved yourself in that regard at least uh let's see Drew do you have any questions no I discuss everything with them in our I know we've all met with them individually Scott do you have anything no Tracy re I have like 20 I'm then you can call them tomorrow right uh Zach I appreciate uh just as a comment uh how would you just term our our our position uh financially as a city so there is a financial condition assessment process that we perform in terms of you know something objective because we are somewhat limited to the uh you know what the audit Reports say um I believe in that the city did rate as favorable this year um which you can basically there's 20 some odd different indicators that are each rated favorable in inclusive or unfavorable um then those are aggregated to come up with a uh Collective rating that's one where if you were unfavorable we would have to you know notify the state effectively guess where I'm going with it is in the last three years we talked about this this morning we've made a lot of progress in in our finance department we're in pretty good shape absolutely yeah I I think the trends speak for themselves well the numbers are the numbers but how we manage the numbers is kind of where I'm at it where I'm at and I want to make sure that we're managing those numbers as a efficiently and effectively as possible and appreciate uh your chiming in and giving us the report definitely and this is the earliest the audit has been presented um earlier than each of the prior two years I know um if we went back you know it's probably the earliest uh in a while and timeliness is kind of a key indicator of financial um you know Department functioning I feel like in terms of there's a lot of work that goes into it but we've got some audits for September 30th 2022 uh fiscal years that we still haven't even started those a it so timeliness again is key and you guys are on the you know the more aggressive timeline and and definitely the team hit that this year which I think that again to me is one of the huge totally objective indicators of you know your Finance team and working through that process Lon and John got them moving all right appreciate you Zach all right thanks y'all would anyone here care to comment on the finance report there being none that item is concluded uh that br brings us to item 16 environmental Advisory Board appointment we have an opening due to Sean gords resignation to run for city council uh we have one application for that uh appointment uh for a term that will expire on May 7th of 2027 Mr Mark hrth is that applicant um would anyone care to put his name into nomination so moved second we have a motion in a proper second I'm giving credit to uh councilman grubs on the second myself but uh certainly like to hear from the applicant and tell us why you'd like to serve because it can't be because of our benefit package well I was thinking about benefits but um my name is Mark hrth I live here in Port Orange been here for 22 plus years now so I was actually asked to volunteer for this uh this board um with my work history on what I what I can bring to The Advisory Board okay Council you want to we will seek people out and find them oh yes we will uh Tracy is one of the uh references for Mr hriff why don't you start with any questions you might have for the applicant so his uh background speaks to me for what he does for a living and Mark would you tell everybody who you work for and what do you do uh I run a dewatering company Atlas dewatering here in Port Orange we've been in business here in Port Orange since 96 um basically it it's for underground utilities construction obviously you guys know if you dig a hole in the ground here State of Florida two feet you're going to hit water that's when you call me and I take care of the water for you so um yeah we work all over the state of Florida Florida Georgia South Carolina North Carolina so we're pretty familiar with some of the soils materials in the ground and how to move groundwater me and Mark didn't meet so the council know through his business actually met through uh his family his uh son actually one of our divers and uh and my wife and wife I'm staying on top of the ground I'm going to play golf so as far as a a Family Man and uh everything that he's he's done and portrayed over the years I figured it was a good match for the city to make a phone call and reach out to him um my my standing is is we been dealing with a lot of water issues yep and uh environmentally we want to protect the water at the same time and understand how to put the water in the right spot but keep it clean and he's helped me with a couple projects dealing with diving so that's why made the phone call to all right Reed you got any questions no sir appreciate your uh willingness to step up and serve uh we always need good good people willing to do it thank you drew questions no it seems like a good fit and if Tracy asked you you clearly are qualified um I I I appreciate you want to do this Tracy twist an arm appreciate you volunteering to do this yeah sounds like was volen told that's a good what's wrong with that nothing Scott you got anything no thank you for for stepping up to do this appreciate welcome forward appreciate you thank you with that we have a nomination do we have any other nominations and I'll will ask one more time it'll be three times are there any other nominations there are none nominations are now closed uh Council final comments before we vote may have uh we have a motion and and nomination on the floor for Mr Mark hrth call the role councilman Poley yes councilman grubs yes councilman Bastion yes vice mayor sner yes mayor brette yes 5 o You're hired appreciate you thank you very much item 17 is a tabled item selection of alternate member to serve on the river to Sea Transportation Planning organization may have a motion to remove the item from the table for discussion so moved second we have a motion a second to remove the T item item from the table and open it for discussion again all in favor signify by saying I I the item is now open on the floor for discussion we uh tabled this last time to make sure that we had a uh a full Quorum here so that we could discuss it uh uh well in advance uh we tabled that uh March 19th everybody is here tonight uh Reed you currently serve on that and uh do me a favor just for the benefit of everybody uh outline why we want to do this for everybody yes so so uh again short recap um it's come to the my attention that Port Orange has not had an alternate uh body to go in and serve on the TP um so I want to say it was our I'm actually I have it in front of me it was our February meeting where we did not have a physical Quorum for the TPL and so that kind of put some Shackles on the ability to operate now they got creative they found a way to allow the uh executive committee to proceed and then basically go back and approve it this month um I was able to attend virtually which I I'm always able to do pretty much um the problem is that there's times where they can't get a physical Quorum and if they can't they can't conduct business based on Florida Statutes so um what they've asked everyone who's elected or everyone who's on that TPO board they've asked them to come up with uh an alternate which um apparent apparently 75% of the Cities already have in place they already have someone um but before we nominate anybody you want to make sure everyone understood you know they meet Wednesdays uh they meet on the last or fourth Wednesday typically um it's a 9:00 am. morning meeting and I I've been making I'm going to say I make three quarters of them in person and the other quarter I have to Ado virtually due to my work travel schedule uh so I would be happy to give as much notice as possible as well um to anyone who's willing to step up and do that but I don't want to throw somebody we don't want to throw someone into that position Tracy shelter coming yeah we but I but don't want to burden you with it wor you're not gonna be the new guy forever that's right but no but it is a Ser it's a big board with millions of dollars being discussed and being voted on constantly um it's 9:00 a.m. 9:00 a.m. fourth Wednesday days so um but we're looking for someone who could volunteer uh to just be the alternate in the event I can't make it in case I cannot make it physically Mark you felt they don't have a earlier right where Scott said you are Vol huh yeah it has to be a councilman it has to be it has to be an elected official so are you up for it where's it meet at right now they're meeting at uh off of LPGA where the there's a tennis court there I can't think of the name of the Plaza but there we are hopefully which you'll find out here shortly hopefully nearing in on securing our lease to move it up to LPGA at the intersection 95 um where Foundation risk Partners was okay I have the time appreciate uh Reed why don't you go ahead and make that nomination then I would like to nominate Tracy grubs I'll second we have a nomination a second there any other nominations any other nominations nominations are now closed would anyone hear from the public care to comment on Tracy Grub's nomination for this fine board there being none back to council final comments there being none call the rooll councilman fley yes councilman grbs yes councilman Bastion yes vice mayor sner yes mayor Bernette yes 5 once again you'll love the pay and benefits with that the public hearing portion of our meeting is now open item 18 is the first reading of ordinance number 20244 the adoption of the city of Port Orange comp plan for the years's 2022 to 2045 ordinance number 20244 is an ordinance of the city of for Orange valuchi County Florida amending the city of Port Orange comprehensive plan in its entirety pursuant to chapter 163 of the Florida Statutes providing for adoption of the City Port of Port Orange comprehensive plan 20 to 22 2022 to 2045 including amendments to the Future land use element the transportation element the housing element the public facilities on element the public school facilities element the recreation and open space element coastal zone management element the conservation element the inter-government coordination element the Capital Improvements element and the property rights element inclusive all Associated tables exhibits and Maps providing for repeal of ordinances inconsistent with this ordinance providing for conflicting Provisions providing for salability providing for transmitt to reviewing agencies and providing for an effective date move to approve ordinance number 20244 I'll second it we have a motion proper second item is now open on the floor and for discussion Wayne who do we have Penelope crw planning thank you mayor we always like to give you those long title blocks to read so that's our job you do it well you've got the track record that's for sure so today as you said we're here to review the update to the comprehensive plan um these plans are required to be updated every 7 to 10 years um we're always in a weird spot on the State's schedule uh we are originally scheduled to update this on in 2017 which is a really bad timing it's like seven years after the 2010 census right before the 2020 so we were uh the new laws changed where we were able to send a letter saying we don't really want to update it right now we want to wait till after the 2020 census we've kept up with all the legislative updates our plan's good they agreed and allowed us to update it after the new data came out so we had a better plan so that's why we're here before you today so the comprehensive plan has 11 required elements um per Florida statute with this update we're also adding an introduction chapter that kind of goes through how the plan is set up addresses interpretations and includes definitions and acronyms and things like that um as we were going through this assessment um you recall we came before Council and we've had a couple public workshops um you know we went through that assessment um we had the workshop in November of 2022 with you guys and then um continued through that assessment and found that there really wasn't a lot of significant change that we needed to make to the plan that it was effective um and so you'll see as we go through this presentation that there weren't a lot of significant changes it was a lot of just updating consolidating and making it um more user friendly for everybody involved um removing outdated um information and updating all the data analysis and map series as we went through that analysis to update the plan kind of your starting place is updating all your data analysis um starting with your population projections um over the out through the new planning Horizon you can see for over the past 20 years we've pretty much kind of stayed steady at about a 10 to 11% of the County population and so that was a pretty comfortable place to to percentage to use in projecting out into the future very interesting on that slide to see our actual growth numbers decline yes over the decades I know it feels like more but it's really that's a lot I think that probably has a lot more to do with regional growth that impacts into our City versus our city actually at a high growth Pace we were talking about William Williamson Boulevard and earlier when you're thinking your comments I was thinking about the amount of traffic we get from that growth coming down Williamson Boulevard that has nothing to do with the city of Port Orange and we keep adding into it and you wonder why we want an interchange there yeah so also as part of that assessment um we're looking at a level our level of service standards all the facility specific elements use level of service as a tool a measurement tool to to make sure that you're going to have enough of those facilities to provide um adequate Services into your three-year planning Horizon always something important to keep a note um that there are some level of service standards in our plan um that we have no control over such as state and County Roads and public schools so starting off with the first element the future land use element so we start off the analysis looking at where we're at is with existing land uses on the ground still still pretty heavy residential Community but a little bit more balanced in past years then we take a look at the future land use map and we see you know what's out there right now as far as future land use densities that are allowed We compare that with the vacant land that's out there in Sea um as part of our analysis we do a buildout analysis and see if the vacant land at the future land use density that it's allocated is going to provide enough uh density for the projected population through the planning Horizon and we are good we do have enough to support the projected population so um the future land use element didn't really have a lot of significant changes we are adding a new category just to provide the options for anybody who might want to Annex into the city um might be in a Valia County local plan area where they're allowed to Annex but their density is Frozen it's capped at what they have at the county and so this this this new land use category allows them to come into the City and apply a land use that matches the density at the county added some policies to help with grants and a lot of just consolidation reorganization and formatting our transportation element addresses all modes of transportation there were no uh proposed changes to the level of service standards um and really this element the changes primarily focused on terminology changes and being consistent with regulatory agencies there are some policies to support um future applications for grants for pedestrian safety improvements um also some policies added to support the state initiative of vision zero to reduce um vehicular related uh deaths across Florida some statutorily required uh policies added regarding compatibility to airport zones and then some policies to support multimodal Transportation housing element again um not a lot of significant changes um basically just Pro uh doing a lot of the required data and um analysis updates on all the different types of housing data and the data and impact analysis goes into all that the main change with the housing element was adding a framework for accessory uh dwelling units as an option for generational living and affordable housing in our community as we get towards buildout putting this in the comp plan does not implement it it just sets up the framework in the comp plan so if the council directs staff at some point in the future that you want to implement something like this the comp plan won't stand in the way so we're just taking away that barrier in the plan and then whenever you're ready and you want to direct us to do anything with this we're able to do so so again that those were the main changes um in the housing El El Recreation and open space element um probably one of the bigger changes here is um addressing a future Recreation master plan that also was drafted as part of this update um that will come before you at L at sometime in the future as a standalone document um the state law changed several years ago to where they don't require any more facility specific um level service standards ards it used to be that in the State of Florida everybody had to have cookie cutter level of service facility standards for recreation open space but every Community is not the same you might have communities that older communities that might want to have want to do pickle ball or other things pickle ball wasn't even a thing back before the last time we did our update now it is a big thing so they got rid of the requirement where you had to have cookie cutter facility standards and so we're taking advantage of that to remove those facilities standards out of our comp plan keep a park land standard so we still have a level service standard in there we can still charge impact fees and develop Parks how we feel but as far as what facilities we want in those Parks we want to we want to remove that out of a state controlled plan and keep it in a local plan where we can amend it as Community needs change as recreational Trends change makes a lot of sense too because you've got a lot of regional stuff where one areir you know because all the municipalities and the county all kind of share a little bit of the Parks and Recreation Vision so to speak and allow residents from neighboring cities and anybody within the county to participate and attend them and all that kind of stuff so yeah it it just gives us the ability to have that control here locally and we can update it and change it how we need to fit our community Trends and wants and needs so that that's really the biggest thing with the recreation open space element the rest of the elements nothing really significant public facilities conservation coastal zone management public school facilities Capital Improvement ments really was just updating to meet Florida statute and Regulatory changes um a lot of consolidation reorganizing putting policies in better places getting rid of a lot of duplicate things that weren't necessary and just made the plan bigger and unusable um and then adding policies that can help support future grants so today is what we call the transmitt hearing the first reading um after today's hearing it'll go to the state and the regional review agencies after they do their review it'll come back hopefully in June for a final adoption hearing we'll have to send it back up to the state for a final blessing and then we will be functioning under our new comp plan for the new planning Horizon so I'm here to answer any questions you have Scott go ahead can you just if I hate to put you on spot like that but dive into the coastal zone stuff what are we what are we seeing there that impacts us directly that that provides a lot of concern as far as I mean does it include is it strictly TI tied in somewhat to storm surges and storms and things like that or is it also tied into a lot of these things we're seeing with our coastal areas with these deric vessels and how those are impacting our not so much that so so back in the early early days of of comprehensive planning that was actually how the comp plan started with this coastal zone element in Florida that was the main element it had almost all all of what you see now spread amongst other elements was in this Coastal element um now not not so much has to have all that so you now we we're able to move some of those into appropriate places for us because even though we don't have beachfront we are still considered a Coastal Community um so a lot of what we have is dealing with storm surge um in in making sure there's policies regarding sustainable development and um and looking at potential impacts for sea level rise and things like that so there's there's guiding guiding policies um if we want to go any further with any of this we would need to update Our Land Development code to to make changes if we want to implement anything more stringent than what's on the books right now but there are encouraging and guiding goals objectives and policies for how to address these things in the future for sustainability okay I thought it interesting in looking at that question even though we don't have we don't go all the way to the coast but uh what was presented there the critically eroded Beach uh was basically the entire swath of Belia County with the exception of Pon Inlet where it's an inlet not a beach uh and that is of great concern to all of us yeah and then you know it also gets into the evacuation zones and things because pretty much the whole the whole um Barrier island is on our end is coming over dun Lon Bridge through our city and so there's regulations in that element with regards to making sure you don't exceed evacuation times and things like that all those things make us entirely entirely more vulnerable even on on the river MH it's nothing these storms are not what they used to be they're more and more and more and we become more and more vulnerable as the barriers uh that we have in our Beach uh that that's a big issue it is and I I don't know having lived here all my life like you have you've seen that beach disappear here over decades bit by bit and I've never seen it as small as it is now well and if you look to the north of us you've seen where it's actually broke through several times in the last couple of decades and they're having to go in there and replace parts of A1A and in some cases it broke completely through some of the other barriers so and I see what bravard county did about 15 20 years ago uh in renourishing their Beach and and for the most part it's still there so there are ways of doing this there way of doing this no doubt about it um and that big picture stuff even though that is beyond our scope it still affects us we need to prepare for it you got anything else no Drew what you got nothing really I mean it's a pretty much standard thing that we do every so often and and needs to be done and so um yeah it's just time to get it done I I think it was smart to delay it for a couple years to get through the youis so coincides better with the census and everything okay Tracy the only question I have is since we are limited to almost buildout inside the city inside the coating is there an area for the density being built on as far as going up the L scw M yeah I mean some of the vacant land that's there you know allows for a little bit higher density already it's the the existing land density that's on the books not everybody takes advantage of it that way so but yeah okay that's it that's where our height restrictions are going to come into play right correct and certainly in our Ridgewood Avenue Corridor is that's redeveloped and like Reed no well I know this is a lot of work it's like extremely labor intensive so I appreciate everything that goes into this uh um it's been interesting I've skimmed it a few times now and every time I found something else that was of interest to me um I'm like Tracy you know I I had a meeting where I was talking about my my opinion of where I think Port Orange need to go development wise um and Scott just said the key word you know height restrictions um I don't care so much about how vertical we go as I do how horizontal because I in my mind I I want more surfaces that are not impervious I want more nature uh to stay intact uh you know as much Greenery as possible um I I don't if you take a fivestory building and you stack it on top of each other and I get way more green space I'm going to be a lot happier you know if you shove parking lots under buildings those those are things that I think are good for the environment and and good for Port Orange long term that's just my opinion that's just where I'd like to see things go um but I but I think this you know you guys are it's great job I don't really have any questions um appreciate everything that went into this some of the data I found interesting was housing affordability it's a concern of mine uh you take a look at the average home in PT Orange in 2 2017 it was a $211,000 home just five years later that $211,000 home is a $350,000 $353,000 home well what's staggering is how much of we still have of mobile homes that that number is really staggering to me and stood out on the slide and that that has been an affordable housing option for so long and and now it's now you see the price of mobile homes even accelerating much the same way and I know it's a macroeconomic supply and demand you know there there's more demand for housing than we have Supply but at the same time if we explode Supply we're going to have a lot of other infrastructure uh issues so um and I know that I'm commenting on something that is beyond our scope and control but that doesn't mean that uh housing affordability shouldn't be a concern of ours so I appreciate you including that data in there as well on the the slide that's on your screen um these are pretty much I've kind of try to Circle in green these are the areas over the next 10 years or so where we're going to see growth um these are the larger vacant areas um some of them we've already know what the plans are they already have zoning in place and things like that but this is where we're going to see growth and we pretty much bound to the West um this whole area where our C current boundary is um this area up here where my cursor is is the tamoka Farms local plan down here is the Samsula local plan so we're pretty much bound it doesn't mean that those areas can't Annex in but they're capped at the current zoning density so it doesn't really make much sense um so we've really got this corner down here as far as future expansion um this corner down here at Airport Road and pirer Trail and the area up here um that's already part of a a local agreement that we've had in place um for for many many years now um and we already have land use land City future land use on it it's just a matter of it annexing in and applying the zoning on it so we really don't have a lot of places to that we can expand out just by existing plans that are on the books so we got what we got but the buildout analysis showed that the density that's currently on the books for this vacant land can support the projected population very good any other questions of Staff would anyone here care to comment on the item come on Robert I was wondering when we'd see you tonight mayor council members Robert rehagen 1425 deex to Drive North Port Orange uh with regard to the uh conservation item uh policy 2.1 uh 2.2 objective 2.2 incompatible uses you know my first reaction was they're all incompatible with conservation um but um in particular it says consistent with state and federal regulations the city shall protect Wetlands by directing incompatible uses away from Wetland areas and establishing standards for mitigation based on policy of no net loss of wetlands function as a last resort uh the idea of as a last resort is what really bothers me because I don't think um it that's anything but a negotiating position it's a it's a starting position where the city starts from and parts of what I mean by that is um the city is is constrained by the existing zoning that's already been approved and so uh to try to uh force them into something else uh you're going to have to get a negotiating uh agreement going some sort of a negotiation uh and we saw that with the hammock preserve where um they were un unwilling even to concede the residential units that would have been uh attributable to the um the added aage that went for uh commercial but anyway um I started thinking in terms of compatible uses uh with regards to Wetlands and um I thought house boats why not have house boats I mean if we had house boats uh it might uh be good for affordable housing units it uh would not block the flow of water you wouldn't have to uh change uh water the natural water flow and um and it would incre you could increase storage and I think that's a um an idea that you deserves Merit and you should think about that creating a a houseboat uh ordinance of some sort okay thank you thank you Robert anyone else on this there being none back to council comments questions there being none on adoption of first reading of ordinance number 20 24-4 call the role councilman PA yes councilman grubs yes councilman Bastion yes vice mayor sner yes mayor Bernette yes 5 that brings item 19 which is first reading of ordinance number 20 24-6 ordinance number 202 24-6 is an ordinance of the city for Orange valuchi County Florida amending the code of ordinances Chapter 70 traffic to add an article regulating use of golf C s within the city of Fort Orange providing for General enforcement providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances providing for codification providing for severability and providing for an effective date move to approve ordinance number 20246 second I was starting to wonder there for a second the item is we have a motion proper second the item is open on the floor for discussion Wayne who who's speaking to this it's a combination of Chief Marino Community Development Department and the City attorney so uh if you want to have a briefing from the the chief and then we can go to questions from that or some sort of recap all I know that we had this item is on the agenda at request so this is not the first time we've discussed it correct but I do want to make sure that we give some kind of recap to the public before a discussion I can do that mayor if you'd like that's fine by me so this this is um something that's that's been uh worked on by uh City staff as well as the city attorney's office uh that came to light um after there was a a matter out in the Cypress Head Golf Course community that the uh this is one of those things where you always just thought it was that way because and it was intended to be this way but not all of the te's got crossed in the eyes got dotted so that's really what this is about is is we have a we have a beautiful Golf Course Community where from day one and its Inception the intention was always to allow the use of golf carts within the community from a legal perspective and that there is State Statute that provides for how this is accomplished and this is just really tightening up what has always been the way of life and what has always been expected and allowable to make sure that we've got everything uh the way it needs to be for not only the interest of the community out there but also for the for the city buying large so okay Council any comments or questions on the item before us there being none would anyone here care to speak to the item there being none back to us Council final comments or questions so one of the questions I have is and and the right up is stating golf carts as long as it's an a 8 foot section of sidewalk my question is is keep them off the sidewalks put them back on the street where the cars are just as big dealing with pedestrians walking people and uh scooters and kids and things of that nature because you know it's going to end up happening is somebody on a sidewalk is going to take a corner and hit a kid so why allow him on the sidewalk at all you want to speak to that man that's a policy decision but it's isn't that a consistent with this the state only will allow it the reason there's an OT requirement as a minimum is because the state will only allow along state rights rights of way on an 8ot sidewalk the thought process there is it's sufficiently wide to to allow the mixture of of both pedestrian and and golf cart traffic so um but it truly is a policy decision for for the city of Fort Orange do we uh need the chief to speak to this also Chief come on want to make sure we get complete information while the chief's coming up I would just I would offer that in the community you have sidewalks that are 8 ft and some are narrower and and I think that's the idea and this is not a new practice right and this is something that's been going on it's what they all do there's eight I don't know 800 homes out in or how many are out there Lance how many 575 homes thank you sir in in cyber community so again this is something that's been going on for nearly yeah three decades now and and I think the eight foot wide sidewalks which are really wide is I I'm not aware of us having the issues in the past in those particular areas that's correct Chief Marino Police Department um you are correct and that was one of those requ requirements also as Matt Jones just mentioned with the Department of Transportation is the 8 foot uh 8 foot wide sidewalks in addition to that is additional signage uh that will be required to put in there uh just to actually let even let the residents know that golf carts are allowed to be operating on the sidewalks I would think there'd be a period of some type of education since this is going to be new to everyone uh in addition to the signage so I think it's going to be a combination of a lot of different things but again it's it's not a requirement the infrastructure is there as you mentioned uh that's what they do like to see if we are going to allow this by per state statute so that was the reason we put that in I would think the HOA can help us with the communication piece as well yeah and and the and also too because it is a golf course Community a lot of what is designated a sidewalk versus a cart path all kind of flows together through the flow of the community because we have roads sidewalks subdivisions within the subdivisions um if you can call them that uh all within that community community that that differentiate different portions of the golf course Community where as the course flows throughout so correct and then lastly Chief question dealing with licensed drivers miners where's where's the regulation I I read it here and uh it says we'll require golf cart drivers to have a valid driver's license or learner's driver's license so they still need a driver's licensed person with them just like a car or not so the the way the way it technically reads is that we we're looking at 16 and 16 and over um the way our ordinance reads um so there's no clear delineation as far as the requirement age for as there is a learner permit on the roadway um where you do run into and my biggest concern uh is going to be underage kids obviously um and that again will be part of the enforcement and education let's reverse that education and then subsequently potentially enforcement but I don't see that you know at in the beginning I do know there was a question so there is some caveats to where whether you can or cannot issue citations to juveniles you can uh and it could potentially affect you know their driving history but then again that comes to the parents right uh if they're going to allow their their underage driver who's not licensed to take this vehicle out you know and know that they're operating them on the roadway um yeah there could be potential consequences for that you know especially if God forbid you know they're involved some type of accident as we you mentioned that either causes property damage uh or you know even worse an injury yeah I know it's U to me I have no problems with this ordinance I'm I'm good with the ordinance the issue is is education and we have one community that is a golf Community completely understand and I'm behind that one no issues at all but that education has to be broughten throughout the city because Just Around Here by itself we got golf carts going every way as it is so you're going to have one pointing to another and it's the education part that's not then proposed out there and we have in the past uh as you've mentioned we've received complaints in other areas of the city not so much to deal with this you know a project such as this uh and then that's where we go out we we push out you know uh PSAs obviously to let them know what's allowed not allowed the differences between golf carts and uh low speed Vehicles which that doesn't that doesn't apply here because we are allowing golf carts on the roadway um this particular area is unique in in the usage and the way it was designed so it kind of lends itself to it uh but you are correct if if this does come up in other areas of the city we potentially could either have to add restrictions or uh be more careful depending on what roadways they're adjacent to uh what are the speeds of those roadways you know again there dot involved because it it touches some of you know some of their jurisdiction so there's other there's other things to consider if this is to go forward but uh for right now now with Cypress Head I I I think the way it was laid out as I mentioned uh we'll just need to do a lot of Education up front and you already said that there's new signage going out there for this so there's going to be a sign at the entrance saying don't go out would your golf cart and correct and that was one of the things is we were uh when this Council brought this forward uh that legal and Community develop men and I talked about is uh as you just mentioned right as as new uh projects are built along Pioneer Trail that the res residents know that once they get to the edge of that subdivision uh that now they're back into whatever our ordinance reads or whatever state statutes are applicable so you know that I we we've spoken about that so that was definitely something we've already thought about uh and they'll just have to know that you know or even if it's signage right there at the edges you know no golf carts Beyond this point however we do it so one of the things to to keep in mind chief jump in and correct me if I'm wrong here is Cy Cypress Head is also unique in so much as some of the roads are private and some of them are public and on the in the sections of the of the community where they're private streets this doesn't apply a 12-year-old can drive a golf cart down the street in the private area same thing with covendale over in water's edge so as we educate we need to be very cautious that we don't make any kind of a a blanket thing if somebody is uncertain we want to definitely refer them back to the police department so there's a I think um and and we have traffic enforcement agreements with various subdivisions so they they might be one subdivision um so I don't want to say that without looking but they may one of the subdivisions that contracts through a traffic enforcement agreement to allow uh actually puts the through the with the HOA right with the HOA it puts our enforcement in it's as if it's a public Street for enforcement purposes correct um so that might actually be one of those subdivision that that does have so the rule would be always said send them back to the police department if we're not sure let them ask the question there the uh sorry I have a question go for it the 8 foot sidewalk part of this is that the the sidewalk that runs along cypr Springs Parkway it's the main road that's the the cuz I've got a lot of Paws about the sidewalk portion of this I'm I'm 100% behind the road but um I don't know you can't drive a motorized vehicle on any sidewalk in the entire city right correct any motorized vehicle it it gives me pause to include the sidewalk in the ordinance um keep this in mind that if you make any changes you're changing the practice that's already going on this this is not something we're adding an amenity to that community no I I I getying what's going already going on there but we're also allowing our ability to to regulate it and make sure it's done in a safe manner well I I think they should be able to ride their golf carts anywhere they want to on the roads that's not an issue me on a sidewalk that gives me some concern I don't I I go golfing all the time um I'm terrible at it um and that's nothing to do with this but thank you uh but nevertheless I it just imagine driving a golf cart down a sidewalk at all and just seems I it doesn't sit very well with me but the rest of it doesn't bother me so go ahead any other comments or questions Council there being done on the ordinance call the role councilman Foley no councilman grubs no councilman Bastion yes vice mayor steltner yes mayor Bernette yes 32 the public hearing portion of the meeting is now closed additional items item 20 City attorney report nothing excellent report thank you item 21 city manager report no no another excellent report item 22 Council committee report Ser to ctpo councilman re fully nothing to report excellent Report with that any other business come before us this evening there being done have a good night everybody thank you very much