for [Music] good evening everyone I'd like to call this meeting of the Tuesday May 7th 2024 Sebring city council the order if you all stand with me the mayor's going to lead us in a prayer and a pledge please B me if you wish Lord thank you once again for a wonderful day thank you uh for the city that we live in we appreciate all that's done we thank you to the staff that keeps it running like it is we thank you for our First Responders who protect us the day in and day out we um ask that you watch over council tonight and uh help them to make sound and right decisions we pray Lord for uh Israel and all of those over there and in our country as far as what's going on we ask that you please put Healing Hands on everybody and make everybody come to their senses and and live together in peace we ask that all we do in your name Jesus Christ amen amen pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay Miss Haley can you call the rooll please may here car here Hy here M here Stewart here Bishop here all right uh business from the audience if anyone has something they would like to speak on that is not on the agenda if you'll take one of these forms right here and fill it out and hand it on into clerk Haley she'll get it uh to me and we'll get to that at the proper time uh next up is the mayor's report had a lot going on in the last few weeks we had uh started with sipping on the circle thanks to the rotary in the highlands Art League had a really nice event the pro water cross event uh was last weekend had a good turnout for that a lot of people from out of town uh come to support that and then the fireman had to bike fast it was just slammed with uh kids and families and everything so it's uh thanks to Chief border and his leadership for the guys that uh put it all together um we have uh the aah mcgaan show she has several events coming up on June 1st is a family day it's a stop the violence in Highland County she's organ organize this because of all the gun violence that has been taking place um it'll be in Avon Park at the Boys and Girls Club field on the 1st June 1st from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. um there a get together to to get everybody working together and also will'll be handing out um uh clear backpacks for the students uh for the school so you can see what's in her backpack so she's she's really taking on this challenge then on June 15th she has the juneth celebration which will be downtown um uh I'm sorry cross on Bountiful blessings church again they'll have a um big event on June 15th so that's coming up and we'll have more information on that and then she also is uh highlighting a the Highland County Citizens with voices which is her nonprofit it's a fill a basket for a high school grad so what she's trying to do is get donations to for students that are going off to school um and Al other ones that need uh help in their first year of college she said if you could donate 200 300 or more or gift cards are also accepted but you can contact Ada and aa's number is 381 5485 that's 381 5485 um AA does a big job for the community we really appreciate what she does um last but not least tonight is the Sebring High School baseball it's the regional quarterfinals tonight um see the baseball team plays Delona at 700 p.m. so when we get out of here you can shoot right down to the ball field and go see the kids uh hopefully do another state run uh they went the good ways last year and should be going a good ways this year so they got a good bunch of kids that are young men I should say that are playing so uh congratulations to them and I've got a couple other things I'm going to come up here and ask uh Chief Hogan to come up next week is National Police week and I'm going to read a proclamation we do this on an annual basis thank you for everything you do other than that's all right good man thank you for picking it up I don't think I could have bent down that far I need to lift this all right the proclamation whereas the Congress and President of the United States have designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day in the week in which May 15th Falls as National Police Week and whereas the members of the city of sing Police Department play an essential role in safeguarding the rights and freedoms of sing Florida and whereas it is important that all citizens know and understand the duties responsibilities hazards and sacrifices of their law enforcement agency and that members of the sing Police Department recognize their duty to Serve the People by safeguarding life and property by protecting them against violence and disorder and by protecting the innocent against deception and weak against oppression and whereas the men and women of the city of seing police department unceasingly provide a vital public service now therefore I John Chu mayor of the city of Sebring Florida call upon all C citizens of Sebring and and upon all patriotic Civic and educational organization to observe the week of May 12th through the 18 2024's National Police Week With appropriate ceremonies and observances in which all people may join in commemorating law enforcement officers past and present who by their faithful and loyal Devotion to responsibilities have rendered a dedicated service to their community and in doing so have established themselves as an inv an enviable and enduring reputation for preserving the rights and securities of all concern I further call upon the citizens of seing Florida to observe Wednesday May 15 2024 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and honor those law enforcement officers who through their courageous Deeds have made the ultimate sacrifice and service to their Community or have become disabled in the performance of Duty and let us recognize and pay respect to the survivors of our fallen heroes so thank you very much Chief H mayor thank you ceremony today yes sir so this afternoon there was this morning there was a ceremony at the Highlands County Sheriff's Office commemorating Peace Officers Memorial Day and uh National Police Week and specifically the homide of Deputy Gentry which was today is the anniversary uh still awaiting Justice in that case obviously and we're looking for closure hopefully soon um like to thank Council staff the mayor and certainly our citizenry um the officers of our department served with honor serve with distinction and we could not do it with you collectively so thank you so much thank you Carl this one is not on the agenda but I have another proclamation to read and it's for a special person that we have and we're going to be saying goodbye to her in a couple years it's a 55th annual IMC professional Municipal clerks week May 5th through the 11th so if you'd like to stand Miss Hy okay would you like to say anything before I read this no thank you all right whereas the office of the professional municipal clerk a time honored and vital part of our local government exist through exists throughout the world and whereas the office of the professional municipal clerk is the oldest among public servants and whereas the office of the professional municipal clerk provides a professional link between the citizens the local governing bodies and agencies of government at all other levels whereas professional professional Municipal Clerks serve as the information center on functions of local government and community and whereas professional Municipal clerks continually strive to improve the administration of the Affairs of the office of the professional M municipal clerk through participation in education programs seminars workshops and annual meetings of their state provincial County and international professional organizations and whereas it is the most appropriate that we recognize the accompl accomplishments of the office of the professional municipal clerk and whereas the city has been honored to have the most honorable clerk for the past 28 years Kathy Haley thank you Kathy now therefore I John Chu mayor of the city of saing to recognize a week of May 5th through the 11th 2024 as 55th annual professional municipal clerk week and further extend appreciation to our professional municipal clerk Kathy Halen to all professional mun Municipal clerks for the vital Services they perform and their exemplary dedication to the communities they represent so thank you Kev all right thank you mayor sh very nice uh next up is Council Members report Mr carile well as usual the mayor steals your thunder I I was down in the bike dealing at like 9:30 in the morning it was busy oh I know yeah it was a good it's a good thing mhm that's all I got okay Miss mle um good evening uh recently I was able to go to the grand opening of U veretta Bolton's new uh Ministry called flash Stars achievement Academy an after school program and I really have witnessed veretta Bolton in action with children and I'm so excited for her new Venture also we have the national uh prayer time on our Courthouse yard Thursday we are so blessed to live in a city that was founded on judeo-christian values and and to be able to have prayer uh corporately there on our Courthouse properties and at times on our city Circle we should be so grateful and we need to strive to stick to those Godly uh judeo-christian values familyfriendly values here in Sebring thank you that's it thank you Harrison no report okay uh only thing I have to add is if y all remember we decided to do some uh work out at the golf course the new greens and he he's got it going on out there yes it is uh it it's a lot but uh I rode around with them for about an hour yesterday and uh all the greens are torn up for the lack of a better term and uh should be completed sometime around the end of the month I think so make middle part of next month so and when will they be ready for play uh on a good level by the Fall by yeah they by the time fall rolls around it we were going to have one of the nicest courses in the county so anyway that's all I have I've got one more thing I forgot it was hidden in the notes here but on on the 9th at 6:00 at the Civic Center we're having a comp plan what do you call it hearing uh Community Workshop Community Workshop I'm sorry with Central Florida Regional planning Council putting that on as part of our what we have to do to update our comp plan so if you're interested in the city of Sebring U from a comp plan standpoint um come on down and have your input it's open to all citizens all right than it all right next up is the consent agenda do I have any question on the consent agenda I make a motion we accept consent agenda all right Motion in a second Miss hay car yes H yes yes Stewart yes yes all right we have no old business on to new business first up we have uh two openings for the seing airport Authority Advisory Board um um I'm going to hand this off to clerk Haley to give us the procedure here okay there are two vacancies open for the cing airport Authority there have been four um resumes is submitted um we'll do this in alphabetical order Council will vote on one person for each opening so you only have one vote the person with the for each opening the person with the most votes will um C be appointing so a total of two yeses you'll have two votes one for each um correct appointing so for vacancy number one I will read the names in alphabetical order the first name is Jason dle I pronouncing that correct you did yeah um car yes Hy yes mle yes Stuart yes Bishop yes okay so with him getting all the votes he will Reserve Ser as vacancy number one so vacancy number two I'll start with Michael eing eing eing okay car pass havery pass mle pass Stewart pass Bishop pass Gary Germaine carile pass havery pass mle pass Stuart pass Bishop pass Stanley Wells carile yes Hy yes mle yes Stewart yes Bishop yes so Mr dun and Mr wells will serve for those two vacancies all right thank you for that next up is item 10B um most of you will remember uh we were had conversation individually with the mayor and administration about the memorial that was around the flag pole on the circle um it was ultimately decided that we were going to relocate that Memorial to Veterans Beach and the administrator has a design plan to present to us um good evening Council 10B uh proposed addition to Veterans Memorial Park uh the attached images will show the proposed addition I'd like to thank public works for drafting these attached images if you will uh what it contemplates is kind of bookending the current Veterans Memorial Park um Memorial there with two additional um taking the granite from the circle and the bricks from the circle placing them on each side creating uh concrete sidewalks to walk between each of all of these with a paper structure in front of each um and that that's what it looks like from above and then placing an eagle on each one of these new structures the top of each one of those structures all right the expense of doing so is about $177,000 I would also say that we also discussed while we were out at Veterans Beach uh possibly doing a mural on the side of the restroom uh actually two murals one on the side of the restroom facing the parking lot uh that would recognize all wars if you will and then uh a mural facing inward that would be the American flag okay all right thank you any comments or questions from Council so all the existing bricks um with the names would be going around the two new areas you're talking about that's what on that top view that's what's bordering The Monuments themselves is that right that's correct okay any other questions comments well I'll make a comment um I was privileged to go to the meeting at Veterans Beach uh Monday a week AG go and I'm oldtime Sebring and I have a brick there and I was present for that ceremony when it was originally installed I don't know 20 years ago 20 plus years ago so I I was very sad when I heard that they were moved and I didn't quite know what I thought about it but I did a little research with the veterans and tried to figure out what would be a good way to continue and expand and um I was pretty excited about the new idea out at the Veterans Beach and one of the things I thought about is the fact that there's a lot more room out there to really expand this plan is just beautiful and of course I love the downtown Sebring Circle and I I wish that you know maybe an accommodation could be made there I think all the decisions aren't quite reached yet but the Veterans Memorial Park as it is with the expansion it seems like the veterans are uh pretty much in um agreement that that would be a good idea and I personally went to the VFW over near the public Southgate and spoke with them and gave them my business cards and uh the man I spoke with one of the commanders said he would get those out I said if there's any input please let us know uh the Veterans Beach uh like I said there's a lot more room for the expanded and I I think a pretty nice plan plus the restrooms are there the the parking is there's a lot more parking um but what to me number one what the veterans feel about it was most important what the veterans and the families feel about it is very very important to I'm sure all of us so we're looking forward to hearing input and uh but I did want to say that um you know it seems like a very nice plan I was pretty excited about the pavers and the two monuments and the bricks going in there and I can assure you that uh Steven Kramer at Public Works has taken exceptional care of taking those bricks and those memorials out and we have them safely in storage and um so we'll see what the next step is here all right thank you anyone else I just say this is um there's been some issues about saying this is tied in with what's going on downtown and this has been going on for well over a year the discussion and trying to decide what the best way to do this so it's not a was not a knee-jerk reaction um we did reach out to all the veterans groups and um just to get their feeling for it and um it's it's been a it's been a long time in the plan so okay anyone else carison no okay uh I'll allow public comment I will say that um we have a time limit of three minutes and I will ask that if someone is saying the same thing that you want to say that we kind of you know keep everybody's time in in your mind um all right anybody from the public has something to say come up to the podium and state your name and say your peace I think I was actually on the agenda okay okay good evening my name is Pamela y Harris I'm a native of Sebring and the daughter of Henry Ys who was also from Sebring and served our country proudly in the US Navy World War II and Korea I'm here today on behalf of concerned veteran families and citizens of Sebring in regards to the removal of the Sebring Fallen Soldiers Monument on the circle of Sebring that was erected in honor of the circle of sebr that was erected in honor of the Sebring area men who died in our country service this also includes the brick favers that surrounded the monument that were purchased by families to honor their veteran family members 25 years ago my mom marleene yours a lot of you know where is mamal purchased a brick to fund a project started by Sebring native and historian spiz Pard to honor our Sebring Fallen Soldiers with a beautiful Monument this project was design designated to be placed in the heart of Sebring on the circle around our American flag Hank's children grandchildren and dear friends all gathered to surprise daddy with this brick you can only imagine the sincere gratitude that he felt to have a brick placed in his honor in the center of the town he loved so much lived in and worked in for many years in this building right here as a city of Sebring building department since then his children grandchildren and now great grandchildren love to go to the circle to visit Papa's brick and have their picture taken it's been an annual thing even last year my son Hank's grandson chose to be married in the heart of Sebring on the circle next to that Monument each of you have families so I'm sure you understand the gut-specific out what happened to the monument on March 6th my first call was to Mayor sh he stated one the reason is the homeless vandalize and defecate behind the monument the homeless situation is bad on our Circle in downtown number two the monument is being moved to Veterans Beach park because there is a better police presence there number three monuments and bricks are in storage and number four the decision made was by himself veterans groups and the Sebring firemen Incorporated on that same day I placed a call to the CRA the city of Sebring as well as the Sebring fireman Incorporated president whom informed who informed me that there he was not aware nor was a decision made at any of their meetings at this time I began my due diligence and began a formal public records request I was advised by the city of Sebring and the CRA that there was in fact no documentation or records findings of anything related to the removal of The Monuments nor had the mon Monument been discussed with the Sebring historic preservation Commission on March 21st it had been confirmed it was authorized by City administrator Scott nck at this time I was told that the bricks were currently being stored at our public STS facility the bricks will be relocated to Veterans Beach Park where an architect will be used to design a plan and at this time a project timeline budget or plan had not been set on April 1st in an email to Scott NTI he in and I'm sorry if I'm butchering your name doing very well um um he informed me that the only expenditure was in House labor and approximately $1,000 for a monument company to move the granite monument and Bricks to a secure location on April 17th a record's request was made for a copy of the Public's work work order for the removal of the monument and bricks from the circle flag pole and the City of sebring's official reason for the removal of the monument the response was there are no directives in writing so there will not be any paper trail for that this brought up my next question someone had to give the directive to have this accomplished by in-house and the monument company I find it very likely that our hardworking and very busy Public Works employees woke up one morning and decided to go to the circle and remove the monument but again a date a time and who initiated the removal could not be provided on April 17th and April 18th I reached out to each of my council members individually to express my concerns one immediately reached out to me and confirmed they had no knowledge of it of the removal and was as shocked as I was the other eventually did reach out due to their scheduling conflicts he reiterated the reason for the removal as they were told the homeless and the kids were the issue and he too agreed this was not handled very well to two the two of you that followed up thank you I appreciate you taking the time out of your very busy schedules to hear the concerns of your citizens it did not go unnoticed April 25th I did receive an email that an invoice had been located but it seems it was for $2,000 instead of the originally mentioned $1,000 I was told on March 21st April 30th I reached out to multiple veterans groups in Sebring most of which had no idea that the monument was gone one expressed extreme concern because they did have monuments that they placed there after speaking to Mr Marsh I was a made aware of a meeting to discuss the monument that was held at Veterans Beach according to Mr Marsh the decision to move the monument was made 2 years ago again no documentation and public records requests can support this it is concerning to me that in less than two weeks the city went from no plans no timeline no budget to more than a $16,000 budget comprehensive drawings and that's still going to need some engineer plans for construction which will add to this budget finally on May 3rd I was contacted by Aon Napier of H GTV Hometown takeover I will quote what she said hi we would never have remove we would never move a memorial we were told the city made that decision 2 years ago and removed it the first week of February before we even arrived in town or began filming I'm so sorry I tend to agree with you so here we are today what I can conclude is that the mayor and the city administrator has clearly expressed that the homeless are defacing the memorial and defecating behind them and that the children are playing on The Monuments can we please stop casting blame on the people that do not have a voice to speak up for themselves if this is the real reason then why are we removing a historic monument and F not fixing the real issue and please don't tell me and imply that Sebring Police Department and chief hogland are not doing their job your seing Police Department are awesome men and women and they do an excellent job for our citizens the historic Monument was created and monies were raised for a specific project to be placed on the circle of Sebring which the city council approved how does this get removed without more than a verbal notification these Fallen Soldiers deserve respect from the city they grew up in and loved to be honored in the heart of seing which is our beautiful downtown Circle I'm requesting on behalf of these fallen soldiers and the veterans who no longer are here but some that grew up right down downtown owned businesses right downtown and some of them they were fortunate to come home from war to raise their families right here in Sebring these soldiers that fought for our country to secure our right to walk freely to enjoy our beautiful downtown Express opinions and even question our government officials I'm also requesting on behalf of the families and the friends of these amazing men and women as well as the concerned citizens to do what's right and restore the monument back to its original location our beautiful circle with our American flag Hing flying high for all of us to see thank you you have a petition anybody else have uh something they' like to say yes ma'am hi my name is Mary mcgrael I've lived in the in the county since 2001 um I've sat and I listened to all of the announcements that were made regarding what's going on in the city not once did I hear you mention anything going on at the beach but you did mention things that were going on on in or around Circle Park there are at least 20 events a year that are held on around the circle people can walk through that Park they can sit down they can reflect on the beautiful Memorial that was there now it's at the beach I have not been to the beach but once in 25 years my husband who's 100% disabled vet I don't think he's ever been to the beach so I I don't understand you know and there is no place I don't see any place up here for a reflection where people can sit and consider what these men died for so that's my opinion on the whole [Applause] thing just come on up to the podium and yes sir I actually have uh two questions for uh Mr shup and uh the City attorney but I have to give the facts first I'm James Dean of Sebring not John Dean as the newspaper has said twice hopefully they will get it right this time I did not grow up in Sebring but like many others moved here because it seems similar to the small town I grew up in that town was 100 years older but unlike Sebring valued their history and did not destroy historic landmarks in the town park was a monument with the name of everyone one from that town or buried in that town who fought or died in every war as a young boy my father would take me to the park tell me of my third great-grandfather who was a hero in the War of 1812 and buried in the Town Cemetery he was wounded by two musket balls in the shoulder while invading Canada my father explained the importance of honoring our ancestors and let me run my little fingers in my ancestor name carved in stone he said that Monument would be preserved for forever and I'm sure it is still there today Sebring is a lot like that little town until the CRA using a simple demolition permit destroyed its first Historic Landmark George sebrings nese Hotel which was on the national register of historic places with that destruction CRA began a cultural revolution they were Guided by the goals of a previous cultural revolution as C began to destroy old ideas destroy old culture destroy old customs and Destroy old habits during the downtown takeover the Monument of veterans on the circle as well as individual Memorial bricks Memorial to Veterans family members Sebring citizens and even sebrings Town cat disappeared family members and descendants of veterans or Sebring citizens are upset as they should be by this thoughtless act the Human Rights Council of the United Nations States damaged the cultural heritage both tangible and intangible of any people constitutes damage to the cultural heritage of humanity as a whole regarding federal law it is the policy of the United States to prosecute to the fullest extent permitted under federal law and as appropriate any person or any entity that damages vandalizes or desecrates a monument Memorial or statue within the United States recent Court decisions have expanded definitions of cultural heritage Japanese flags signed by relatives of soldiers when they went to war are now considered non-biological human remains possession of them is considered no better than grave robbing and museums are returning them to descendants of dead soldiers city of Sebring and CRA would be wise not to test the legal determination of their needless destruction but should admit they made an ethical mistake should return the veterans Monument to the circle restore all memorials and make a public settlement I'll give questions thank you my questions are I would now like to ask mayor shup and the City attorney Swain why did the city council not discuss and authorize oh I guess I need to say the minutes of the CRA meeting Jan the minutes of the CRA meeting January 8th 2024 state that CRA authorized spending up to $1.35 million to a Canadian company for a TV show when I picked up the minutes at the CRA office the lady told me no more information was available and there was a non-disclosure agreement with the TV company the minutes of the January 16th 2024 city council meeting show there was no mention or discussion of cra's decision I attended the CRA meeting February 5th 2024 CRA met again for final approval to transfer $1.35 million of funds detailed in the attas broadcast agreement to Edison National Bank I asked David liell at that meeting why this had not been brought before the city council for approval he answered me that it did not require councel approval I suggested this should be reviewed by the office of Attorney General David liel suggested I contact the Office of the State Attorney General now I would now like to ask mayor shup and City attorney Swain first why the city council did not discuss and authorize cra's spending of 1.35 million to a company based in Canada with details hidden by a non-disclosure agreement my second question is how can CRA legally spend more money than they receive from the taxpayers each year without approval of city council third who is responsible for the removal of the monument the memorials and sebrings cultural heritage who paid the workers and who did the removal which see may have been answered who should be held responsible for the consequences is it the city the CRA or the foreign company protected by a non-disclosure agreement all right thank you Mr Dean is there anyone else that have anyone anything to say are you going to answer the I I asked the questions didn't pertain to the item on the agenda actually they did because I'm sorry we're not going to have Outburst coming up you said anyone else yeah well you weren't at the podium out yes okay Barbara Cochin Sebring Florida I've been here a long time and I know sebring's paths very well I am very familiar with sebring's present and I am in hopes that the future of Sebring is not going to be subjected to lawlessness this this situation with the homeless defecating on our war memorial and our youth tearing up our war memorial that's not the Sebring of our past and tonight I want to hear I am wrong and that's a very very hard thing to say I was wrong and that's a hard thing to admit and I don't want to hear I will continue to be wrong in the future because I have the power and the money and because we can that Monument up there was sacred it was the heart Southern Living said the circle is the focal point the focal point of seing are we going to honor the people that died to keep that flag there because that flag is weeping and yes CRA I don't want to hear about this Sunshine Law does not apply here Mr Swain I do not want to hear that and I do not want to hear that you folks for two years was meeting behind the Public's back I don't want to hear it and quite frankly I don't trust you and I don't believe you this is quite a presentation Scott why was there no documentation When Miss Pam contacted you regarding the war memorial when did you put this together this is cya thank you for your time and your interest yes ma'am hi I'm Carl rice been here a long time um my family were Pioneers in Sebring and I have been heartbroken uh by this removal but more heartbroken because I love this town and I honor and respect all of you who are working giving your time to help this city don't think it's a person person Al criticism but my concern is how this was handled as Government today you announced a meeting that's going to be for public input and I didn't hear what it was there's everyone's not speaking into the microphones but a meeting for public input on something that's coming up there was no meeting for public input on this nobody was notified um we are a government of the People by the people and for the people but the people weren't involved in this at all weren't considered no one in this room in this County in our country is a monarch no decision should be made by one this decision and all decisions should have been made in the sunshine put it should have been brought to people who are interested because all of these people love our city we're not just complaining we love our city we want to be involved we want to be helpful you know where are the parades that we have where are the festivals and I want to end by saying and this is not my I steal from others um who have said this that public officials must be made accountable to the people they serve so I hear a lot of anger tonight forget the anger look at what's behind it you can restart this you know hit the break restart it go through the process process in what we all feel is the correct way with all of our involvement thank you yes good evening my name is Michelle bakus I'm an native of seing and I just would like to put forth a question no answer required right now but I hear the reasoning for moving this has to do with the Homeless Problem okay there's a homeless problem in every town every city every county in the United States and probably in many countries of the world worse than we have it but what is being done about this problem I know one person personally who has a business in another town in our County who wanted to open a business here but she said she did she was reluctant to do so because of the homeless problem I know in Avon Park and in Sebring there are several uh organizations that do help out with the homeless I don't know what their funding is I don't know if you're involved in that but it seems to me that if there's such a problem here for the benefit of having HGTV come in here spend all the CRA money that they're spending um on and on and on that we want our city to be safe and people happy and part of the community that this is something that needs to be looked into addressed and dealt with thank you my name is Brook lawitz I've been a Sebring resident since I was six years old so I am 28 now over 20 years I just have one question why doesn't this list of expenses include all of the expenses related to this project this is a list of expenses I do not see the expenses for removal of the downtown Memorial I don't see the which is in a separate invoice in this pocket I don't see the any costs for installing the memorial into Veterans Beach I also don't see any costs for the cleaning or restoration fees since the reason for removing the morial is because it is being damaged and defecated on um so this list of expenses does not include all of the expenses related to this project it'd be interesting to know why that's all my name is Alan strel and um my brother Bruce's name is on that Memorial I'm sorry um and my mother and daddy's name is on the main park for donation and um I have bricks and my sister and brother-in-law have bricks and I was shocked when I saw on Facebook that the mor had been removed and and there was just vacant place around the flag pole um I think it belongs downtown that's my opinion these are young men that my brother was raised two blocks from that Circle he grew up there I grew up there and I'm sure that a lot of the men that died in World War II in Korea they didn't know about 27 I mean 27 was too lames so see in was very important to them as well and they fought and died for seing um I think that you could have enclosed it put another you know another uh panel up so that if if there are more names that they'll be able to be added then and across the top you could have enclosed it if there was a problem of people defecating behind it my brother would be thrilled that kids were playing on that Memorial he loved kids and I don't think there's anything wrong with kids climbing over and because they'll remember that that's where they played um I'd be willing to head up um to collect donations for the $2,000 to put it [Music] back yes sir football with Alice's brother uh Dave Travers I uh spiz came out to my office one day and he said I got an idea and uh he said I want to honor all the seing people that have died in the wars and he come across you know couple things and he wanted to know if I could get the fireman involved and backing it up and uh so we went to the fireman and of course we backed him up and this is a 1,000 % spiz powed I mean this is hey this guy is him and I well you might not be clapping in a minute him and I spiz and I became attached to hip for probably two years and for those of you that know spiz that was pretty dog on good job I mean he was headstrong and everything else but it was tough but uh the way the way way this town's growing we are no longer small it ain't it ain't happening anymore um and like Alice said when we grew up the circle was there and Michelle the same way and everything else and I'm not going to get into you know what's right or wrong but I know that spiz would want that Monument where it's going to get the most visibility and the most people see it and now the question is where you know and well that's uh there you again we ain't we ain't going to be small what's going to happen to us in the next 10 years it's it's going to be crazy so but anyway that's all I got to say see you see you at the ball Game yes sir good evening uh I'm Robert Sanders it's first time I've been to something like this um I was raised here my question to the council is who in the veterans Network do you refer to for decisions for the veterans H you want to address it because I did not know anything about this for um former commander of the MS post 21 I'm asking different commanders they're like never heard of that didn't know that maybe it's our retardedness diligent whatever we didn't pay attention um but for you guys what is who do you go to that makes a final call for the some to be right behind you I have something to say Harry Marsh for the record Commander military order of the Purple Heart and former president of the veterans Council last October uh I was informed as the completion of the monument at veteran speech was done that there was the possibility of additional expansion and although it had not been formerly approved at that time we were asked how we felt about it there are 17 veterans organizations which are members of the veterans Council of Highland County we brought it up it was not voted on but the information was put out to all the organizations including anets the only objection was one John Vincent and everybody else was yeah sounds like a good idea now I respect please I respect your right because this is your city and the way it's done but our job at the veterans council at the military order of the Purple Heart the Sea Service Museum and the Medal of Honor park being built is to educate young people on what the sacrifices are in War and why freedom is not free we like the idea I think the city's done an outstanding job of trying to promote this uh and make it for the people but again I respect everybody's opinion and uh let me just say that this was floating around for the last six months um not everybody attends veterans meeting whether it be anvit VFW American Legion whoever but um I think the city's done a great job and I think Veterans Beach is going to be a tribute to the city of Sebring that's my opinion thank you thank you thank you Mr Marsh thank you he has answered my question thank you thank you thank you I'm sorry but I wasn't notified I knew nothing about it and I none of the other people that donated money to those bricks or has their families that have their names up there I didn't know about it and that's wonderful that all the veterans stood up and say yes let's do it I think it would have been nice to have been included in that at least ask you know or let me know what was going on anyone else yes sir my name's Donald guest I'm a resident of the county I've been since 19 70 in that time period I was flying out of Homestead Air Force Base doing a special ops here at the the bombing Ranger i l the the county so much I moved here and it it dawned on me after raising four boys and looking at them and asking questions probative questions I get I don't know and I'm looking at all of you as my little boys no one wants to take responsibility for this you're grown men and women you got to lift yourself up by your backstraps and get it together and I say that respectfully and very angrily thank you very much anyone else have something to say yes sir my name's Tim your I live in the county but my mom lives in the city and uh I I think kind of the underlying thing that keeps going through this is communication feedback trying to get feedback from your citizens what I've heard is there's no documentation I was Deputy Chief of Highland County fire rescue for 34 years it took us months to design the 911 memorial on hammock Road can you imagine the amount of emails texts uh memos documents and as of two weeks ago nothing there is nothing it to me that's having been around the county and have danced with a guy named K many of times it's it's hard to believe what did concern me when Mr Bishop said the mayor talked to each one of us and we decided that sounds like polling that sounds like you're circumventing paperwork or documentation right the other thing is is I did you know I've been retired two years so I got nothing else to do but read agendas and read your code and we keep referring to this of course as a monument if you look in your in your uh city codes under your historic preservation cor uh commission a monument before you move it should have a think call A certificate of appropriateness I know when I talked to the U the commission they didn't know anything about it and it's amazing a 25y old Monument was not even taken before them so it sounds like to me you have the council mayor the city CRA HPC over here citizens over here we've got to do a better job in working the communication uh process especially with the uh this is a historic preservation commission month it's also a military appreciation month and Memorial Day coming up so whatever you decide we're all not going to be happy but at least you're giving us an opportunity to come up here and speak with you it's like pulling teth sometime dealing with government because I've been on the other side of of U decisions that maybe people didn't like and I was in front of the the Commissioners but on then I'll leave you with 1978 City firefighter and we were doing something and I never forget L gree smoke coming up to me and going he said uh let me tell y'all something he said whether you're on a fire ground or you're in a leadership role he said before you make a decision shut your eyes and read it as a headline in the paper and would you still make that same decision so I just ask for y'all to be be more communicative if that's a word uh whatever that word is but uh I would like to know about the HPC why they weren't involved and if you want to clarify what you what you meant by you know the phone calls and we deciding cuz that I know about a phone call that I had and I mean to call me and ask my opinion on something does not have to be in any kind of a public okay I think maybe it was just the way you postured the way you said it is we the mayor called all of us and we decided that sounds like a FY said we had conversations individually okay I appreciate it thank you anyone else anybody from Council have anything to say um since I'm kind of the focal point of all the conversation here um appreciate that Tim but I just want to let everybody know that this this was not a just a snap decision to do it started really a couple years ago when we looked at it we had our the uh we're improving the Purple Heart Memorial that was at vet beach and came up with the idea that said hey we could really honor have a nice Monument out there for all our veterans and part of the decision I mean not I shouldn't say part of the decision but part of the discussion was about the homeless issues that we have downtown in a circle about kids not respecting the the monument but it also was more revolved around is we've got this nice Purple Heart monument that we put out there with a fountain I don't know if you all have seen that the fountain's under repair right now but we we had discussed this and um with the administration and then with each council member separately just in a discussion to say how what if we did this what if we did that and then we took it upon to say okay we talked to talk we did talk at the Sebring fire meeting one time and everybody there was no objection to that the um we also um wanted to make sure that we didn't have objections and we figured the veterans organizations would be the best ones to go to to see what they would think and and uh like Mr Marsh said I think all but one had an objection for it so we you know maybe it was I'm not saying blind I'm I'm I'm sorry I'm speaking okay um if uh you know so we we tried to cover our bases but it's it's really an honor that we wanted to really make this a nice looking monument Park it's called Veterans Memorial Beach and we felt this would be a good place to put such a memorial to honor the our veterans both and and these are Fallen veterans too um these are the ones that gave their their life and their blood you for our country and and we appreciate app that and it and it wasn't taken lightly and we tried to cover all our bases it wasn't just for two reasons and there was more talk we had Pam than what you said and um discussion whe well there was more and you just kind of hit some of the points that you wanted to hit but it wasn't a sole decision by the mayor it wasn't a sole decision by the the city Administration to do this but it was really how do we how can we really honor that and that's and like I said we got veterans groups involved and and if they would have said no we wouldn't have done it you know so that's that's kind of the in a nutshell where we're coming from so thank you anything yeah oh go ahead I'm curious know how many veterans is out here how many okay thank you can I ask a question yes sir how many veterans up there that's what I figure yeah thank you that kind of says it all yeah I'm a veteran and I've been all right all right I'm a veteran and I've been here 75 years I was born downtown seing so I I love my city I love my county and I and as a veteran I didn't serve in the military for my name to be plastered somewhere I served my country that's what I went for for my country not for me but for everyone out there and I get I would do it again I would do it again because I love my country and I think I really think this is It's Veterans Memorial Beach it's for the veterans it's it's that's what we're trying to do is honor the veterans and um I'm you know I just don't understand why it's such a um a problem because uh a lot of people go to that beach a lot of people go and there's a lot of kids out there that can play on that on whatever so um I just think that uh wherever their name is we honor them you know uh my dad my dad was in two Wars his name's not on anything nothing my uncle served in two Wars and in the Navy his name's not on anything they served our country because they loved our country not to have their name plastered somewhere but I honor those men and women and I went to school with Bruce Simpson he was a year ahead of me and there's another young man on there Steve Byers he was a great friend of mine I graduated school with himed yes I went to school with Edwin Hill uh I knew them all and U I think they would just just be honored to have their name anywhere miss m thank you you have something to say Miss mle yes I do um this is breaking my heart really my name is Linda Tucker I'm Linda sorry we had time for a public comment Miss mle did you have anything else to add I I do I I just I want to say number one everybody up here really is trying to serve Sebring I don't know how I got left out of the loop with this I just heard about it that they were that The Monuments were already moved um I don't know a couple of months ago and I I just was very saddened about it and I expected to hear a lot of people calling me and uh really I I didn't because I believe maybe people didn't know I'm not sure but I do want to say John chup and Dave Travis and everybody up here we really do love Sebring I I do believe this was not handled maybe like it should have been I'm not sure and I'm just heartbroken to hear uh you know it's important to me what the people think and especially the people that have family members that are being uh memorialized at at the Circle and like I say I was down there for that Memorial 25 years ago or I was a long time ago and I've got a brick and I knew those people I knew Bruce Simpson and Alice and her mom and um I went to Bruce Simpson's funeral which was just so heartbreaking so what the people and the families uh how what's important to them is very important to me and I know it's important to everybody up here so we appreciate so you all coming this is not about having somebody's name up on something we do want to honor that's one way we can honor our people that gave their whole life uh and Bruce Simpson was a very young man and I'm sure all these others were too and we need to be careful about their monuments and the the families so you know I'm not quite sure what to think here um like I say I came late I don't know how it happened I didn't hear until after they were moved and I do hear the arguments for having it at the veterans uh Beach and I like the idea and it seemed like the veterans were on board but I'm certainly open to re looking at this and um you know I'm not sure how you go from here but I don't really think it was a matter of people of anybody up here trying to to go behind anybody's back I think it just really was wasn't thought through maybe or I'm not sure how this happened but um you know I think the other people should get a a real quick chance to speak would be my opinion but it's going to be a quick one but anyway I just want to say that we are listening to you and and we need to have a real good public interaction when I got on city council a lot of things go on here I didn't have any idea about and uh so I just want to say I know John shup especially I've been working with him the last couple of years and he is just really really put out he puts out a lot of effort in trying to help our city and and I was good to know the HGTV people had nothing to do with this and uh so anyway I'm just saying call me I I'm always glad to hear from you and uh if you don't get me right away I will get right back to you but thank you for coming so I think we should hear again a little my name is Linda Tucker I'm Linda's books I'm downtown business and the downtown resident yes we have a little bit of a home homeless problem that's not a problem are I think what you're trying to do is wonderful but is there any way that we could do both put the original Stones back and do a a wonderful thing down there there's no I mean they have Memorial walls that are duplicates running all around the states and the I mean just I mean it was when I first came I remember them doing it and it was like it's a wonderful thing for I personally had a few people they come down for the home garden and it wasn't there a memorial there I mean they they miss it and these are people that maybe come once a year I mean downtown is very very important that's why we're doing this home Garden makeover to make it nice and I think we could probably do both thank you thank you all right uh this time I'll entertain a motion well would Pam be able to say one more word since she's so believe haris had more time than anyone in the room already I was on the agenda can I just follow up with since before a motion's made I would be interested in hearing what she has say I will keep it brief very brief first of all Mr Mayor yes we did have a long conversation what I pointed out was the facts of what you're we did talk for sometime on the phone I just pointed out exactly the reasons why you told me and where it was at Mr carile lonard you've known me forever you've known Hank yours forever and you know just as well as anybody in this room that he would have never wanted his name up there to be flashy I would say that it was an honor to put it up there and it's an honor for these people that we spent our money you know we put money up on it it wasn't that the city of Sebring decided to put a brick there or put a monument there we purchased that I can tell you I went down there this weekend I loved walking around the circle I love what they're doing it has nothing to do with that but there was a a grandmother with her grandson eating some ice cream and they kind of overheard what I was talking about what better way to teach our children and our grandchildren they can sit there eat ice cream enjoy the trees enjoy what's going on downtown the beautiful changes that you're making and actually bring people downtown is that our idea are we trying to bring why are we moving stuff out of the circle if we really want the people into the circle and this yes your plans are pretty it has nothing to do that I have been there I tried to go this weekend unfortunately there's no way to get there when there's events going on and I can tell you Memorial Day veterans day 4th of July I'm pretty sure unless y'all live on the lake and you can get there by boat there is no way any of y'all are going to try to get there cuz I can tell you when I drove by from Mom's house the other night there was no way I could even remotely find a place to park to even walk and look at that Memorial and then I would have had to stood there do you think I want my 89-year-old mother to try to find a place she could probably do it better than the rest of us but it it's it's beautiful it has nothing to do with that but there are different memorials these are different monuments they they all have different meanings why can't we enjoy different ones at different places it's to honor these people it's not to put their name in lights and say oh you know lonard was in the military it's it's honoring them so that's all I have to say thank you can I yep I'll uh you know I have one more comment okay um I think I I would be open to somehow having both uh I appreciate I appreciate the families coming and speaking their hearts thank you so I'm not sure what the next step would be but I it seems like you know I would like to have more talks about what to do here and and see if we couldn't accommodate it's obviously close to the hearts of these wonderful people and their fam so I would be certainly opening to see how we could accommodate both both memorials yeah I want to say something so I'm a lifelong Sebring resident born and raised here um I'm not a veteran but guess what mik I come from a family that has a lot of veterans my grandfather was career Army served in World War II in Korea my firstborn son is named after him my other Grand grandfather served my uh my uncle was an Army Ranger to suggest that um we don't care about veterans or we're not interested in honoring them just because I'm not one is is absurd and and quite quite offensive honestly um you know guess what my family paid that price too you know it it's not and the whole point of this to me I think if this plan had been presented in 1999 along with the circle this plan would have been chosen cuz it's nicer it looks nicer it's at Veterans Beach um to it is a very well-traveled area there are people there all the time it's busy all the time um and we make decisions here that you know guess what I get berated a lot sitting in this seat I was elected to make to make choices to make decisions not everyone is going to agree with all of them and I can take that um and often times the people who agree with the decisions that you're making they don't show up at meetings to tell you that I've had some people tell me they love the idea of moving it to to veteran speech they're not here tonight um it's mostly unhappy people or people who opposed to your decisions that come to these meetings um but I think this is a good plan and and I'm sorry that we're not going to make everyone happy you know no matter what but I'm in favor of this plan yeah I do want to say something um like Josh I'm not a veteran um so usually with veteran issues it's hard for me to say something but you you all did elect me and I want to represent SE the best I can and the best I know how to um listening to everybody speak there there are some issues and some comments and concerns that they weren't related necessarily to the memorial it it's some issues about the homeless um I think one of the biggest issues that what what I've been hearing is lines of communication um how can we improve communication one of the things I'm learning how to do is learn how to ask the right questions to make the best decisions with the best information um prior to this I got the the only email that I received was from Mrs Pam um and clerk Haley uh addressed that in a different email I didn't get a single email single phone call a text um and I don't I can't speak on behalf of council but we got no input other than I mean just talking around in the community um I got a lot of support from veterans so to hear the everybody maybe not necessarily happy with this this is the first time so when we say that we need to improve communication and transparency come and talk to us maybe beforehand too um I if y all know about this for for quite some time we want to make the best decisions with the best information possible so this is I hear what you guys are saying and being a part of the fir too looking through the minutes back in 1999 and early 2000 and and seeing the the vision and the heart and the reasoning of why didn't to do something special for our veterans I want to do the same thing I want to honor our veterans the best way we can and and I think 20 years ago the downtown was the best spot but now I I would make the argument and I'm I'm for um approving this proposal as presented because I think this is now the highest and best use and the best way to honor our veterans um and I I'm all in favor of moving forward this way but and I like Josh said we're not going to make everybody happy and I'm sorry that we can't make everybody happy um but I'm all in favor of it okay does anyone have a motion like I I'll make a motion to approve the proposed additions to Veterans Memorial Park is presented a second all right Missy car yes P yes M no Stuart yes fish yes all right moving on this is item 10 C uh we are going to enter a public hearing regarding an applicant initiated request to vacate a portion of paleta Avenue between South Orange Street and South Eucalyptus Street the second and final reading Mr Swain ordinance number 1521 is entitled an ordinance vacating that portion of palow Avenue adjacent to block 67 and block 71 of the subdivision for the Georg e Sebring company all lying in section 29 Township 34 South Range 29 East Highlands County Florida and establishing an effective date all right the purpose of a public hearing is to receive public input on an applicant initiated vacation of a portion of pal Avenue between South Orange Street and South Eucalyptus Street does uh [Music] um does anybody from the public have anything to ask Hospital 84 years ago I'm sorry you'll have to come to the podium if you can't hear me well has to be on record I now it's on is it is it pertaining to the public hearing that we are now in it is because I just want to tell you L been here time the changes in Sebring Highland County I worked at the tag office in the 1960s I could tell you everybody's tag number in Holland County every registered voter in Holland County it was the that small what I see today I'm glad I'm 84 years old I just wish my daughter was 84 years old and she wasn't going to have to stay here any longer either so yall have it that's my story if there's no other public comment we'll adjourn the public hearing any questions or comments from Council I'll make a motion we approve ordinance 1521 on second final reading and I second it Miss haly car yes Hal yes Excuse me mle yes Stuart yes Bishop yes all right next up is item 10d we have another public hearing ordinance 1524 an applicant initiated request to vacate an Alleyway an Alleyway located at 228 North Ridgewood Drive the alleyway lying between Lots one through Lots six uh Mr Swain uh proposed ordinance number 1524 is entitled an ordinance vacating the alleyway lying between Lots 1 through 6 and lots 7 through 10 block 49 original town of Sebring lying in section 29 Township 34 South Range 29 East Highlands County Florida and establishing an effective date all right the purpose of a public hearing is to receive public input on an applicant initiated vacation of the alleyway located at 228 North Ridgewood does anyone have anything to say about this Scott ordinance can you put the map up this is Road this is in the uh wacovia Bank parking L I've always wondered why that one's there if you look at a broader scale those uh Alleyways come off the circle in in all directions this one just happens to be in the middle of a parking lot and so it doesn't look like an Alleyway okay it's actually parking on that so it was just never changed at the time that the parking lot was made yeah all right I do have a comment is this appropriate time on this yeah a question um yeah now um what was going to happen to the fire engines and all that was there going to be something some I don't think that would have any it won't affect okay that would have to do with the parking lot no ma'am okay all right I just happened to thinking that I'll adjourn the public hearing any other Council questions or comments I'll make a motion we approve number 1524 ordinance number 1524 on first reading and schedule second and final reading May 21st 2024 Miss Haley car yes hey yes mindle yes Stewart yes Bishop yes all right next up is item 10e yet another public hearing ordinance 1526 an applicant initiated Amendment to the F future land use map up now is Miss uh you to do your thing Bob let me read the uh title of ordinance number 1526 and it's an applicant initiated Amendment to the Future land use map specifically changing the future land use designation for four properties totaling approximately 3.27 acres and located at 4260 Lake View Drive 400 Lakeside Road 410 Lakeside road and 4270 Lake VI drive from medium density residential and conservation to public use and recreational use and Marissa barnby is with us this evening how about it thank you for the record Marissa barnby with the central Florida Regional planning Council the presentation I'm going to give you right now is for this item as well as the companion zoning ordinance which is your um followup uh public hearing just because they dub tail together so well next slide um next slide so this is the property in question um it is four Parcels because this one piece on the end is actually split by the road but it is four Parcels of land so you can see this is the area um adjacent to Veterans Beach it's approximately 3.67 acres in size next slide um it is a request for a future land use change from medium density residential and conservation to public use and Recreation as well as a zoning chain from Wetlands flood plane conservation overlay public and single family residential 1A to just being public next slide this picture I put in because the the blue are the parcels we're requesting the future Landon zoning change on the yellow are the parcels the city also owns that are adjacent to it there is no request for a change to those Parcels um but we just wanted to make sure it was clear that that that's the actual Veterans Beach Park when you look at the aerial you can see the the pieces that are having changes on it include the parking lot with the old women's club building on it um it has the Tower or sorry the water tower on it and the utilities and then some vacant land and the piece that is um adjacent to the parking lot uh right by the lake next slide um the surrounding properties include a mixture of r1a public and County um the uses on these surrounding properties are single family Parks as well as vacant land so this is an image from Google Maps to make sure everyone is aware of the pieces of property that we are discussing um next slide so those are this is the area that we are in thank you this is what your future land use map looks like today so you can see everything on the west side of the road of Lake View Drive has residential medium um even though the uses that you see on there are are public in nature and then the piece that is adjacent to the park on the lake side has conservation on it it's um point4 acres is that portion next slide medium density residential does allow single family development uh and multi family development up to 12 units an acre um as well as other types of residential structures conservation is supposed to be lands that have constraints reim limited to Wetlands and things along those lines next slide this is what the proposed future land use map would look like if this change is approved as you can see the property on the west side of the road would be get assigned a public use future land juuse to reflect the fact that those are city-owned properties um and those are types of uses that are there and consistent with the properties on Veterans Beach the piece that is on the east side adjacent to the lake would get Recreation assigned to it um and those are the type the uses that match or the the districts that match the uses that are existing on the site next slide so this is what the Z Zing looks like and you can see the existing zoning um is split between public and r1a and then the piece that's next to the lake has a zoning on the map that's called Wetland flood plane conservation overlay next slide public zoning is um described as all public owned lands then r1a is single family residential up to 3.48 unit an acre and the Wetland flood plane conservation overlay zoning District was actually repealed by the council in 2012 so that's part of the reason to change the zoning on that piece so this is what the site would look like or the area would look like with this zoning change so all of these sites that are now that are under ownership by the city would now have public zoning attached to them and again public zoning is recog all publicly owned lands um as part of our analysis we did look at what the impact of what this would be um there is at this point no proposed additional impacts related to water sanitary or solid waste but those facilities are available uh next Slide the property does have access to the surrounding Road Network that's in place um there's no impacts to schools or Recreation open space since there's no residential development that would be allowed through the public uh zoning District this is um the request is consistent with the future land use and the zoning and as they work together as a compatible item Planning and Zoning Board will hear this item next week at their hearing um the item was posted in the paper staring property owner own notices did go out and the property was posted with um signage I am happy to answer any questions you may have any questions if I can because of uh 10f is a sort of a companion case dealing with Zing of the same property we could have both public hearings at the same time if you would like love it okay uh item 10f is ordinance 1527 an applicant initiated Amendment to the official zoning map specifically changing the zoning designation for four Parcels totaling approximately 3.67 Acres Mr Swain ordinance 1527 is entitled an applicant initiated Amendment to the official zoning map of the city of seing specifically changing the zoning classification for four properties toing approximately 3.27 acres and located at 4260 Lake View Drive 400 Lakeside Road 410 Lakeside road and 4270 Lake View Drive from Wetlands flood plane conservation overlay public and single family residential to public all right thank you for me you have anything to add uh no just yeah any questions or comments from the public no this time I'll adjourn to public hearing any questions or comments from Council so can our ordinance be both of these at the same time if if you would find we can do them separately please sir okay all right at this time I'll entertain a motion for 1526 I move to approve ordinance number 1526 on first reading and schedule second and final reading for May 21st 2024 second Miss haly car yes yes M yes Stewart yes F yes all right now 1527 I move to approve ordinance number 1527 on first reading and schedule second and final reading for May 21st 2024 second Miss Haley con yes Hy yes n yes Stewart yes Bishop yes all right thank you me um we have no business from the audience Mr attorney do you have anything else no nothing further sir thank you Mr NL yes sir all right and Miss Hatley Council need approve of P bill please so move second P the board [Music] please yes a yes mle yes Stewart yes Fisher yes all right meeting allall games at seven