##VIDEO ID:BWQxi_8v4DY## if I could have your attention please I'd like to welcome you to our October 14th city council meeting in the interest of time and efficiency and ensuring that everyone who wishes to address the council is given the opportunity to do so the following will apply to all comments made by the public if you desire to be recognized by the chair please fill out a request form and present it to the city clerk present here in council chambers each speaker shall be allowed three minutes to address the council unless such time is extended by the mayor or by questions from councel groups shall designate a spokesperson to avoid repetition of comments every effort will be made to avoid interrupting speakers thank you for participating in your city government and please silence all electronic devices at this time with that I call this meeting to order could we all please uh stand for the invocation it's a pleasure to have Pastor Delbert Rogers from uh Champion Baptist Church are with us today to come and lead us our vacation please remain standing when he concludes for our Pledge of Allegiance let's pray together Heavenly Father we do thank you for this day we thank you for another day to live and to serve you and father we thank you for the city council I I pray Lord that we'll all appreciate our city and those that do their best to try to make it a better place now bless the meeting tonight bless each speaker bless the folks that come with business things on their heart and father we pray you'd be in charge of everything we ask in jesus' name and for his sake amen thank you please join me in the pledge I 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 thank you may seated Madam cler you please call the RO mayor Blackwell here Deputy Mayor maeni here council member Urban here council member Gilbert here council member Fletcher here city manager Miller do you have any agenda updates yes thank you I'd like to pull consent agenda item L off of the agenda and I would ask that the final presentation this evening be a presentation by Chief Miller uh for an update for Hurricane Milton all right that's all thank you thank you the presentation by Congressman stto will not be here he could not make it tonight he had a conflict at this time we have a presentation and recognition of Mayor Blackwell and Deputy Mayor maeni and uh that will be done by our Council so why don't we all just step down to the front so uh uh tonight will be mayor Blackwell and Deputy Mayor Math's last regular council meeting with us and uh they will surely be missed we we've really enjoyed our time with them here uh mayor Blackwell and Deputy Mayor maeni served in our city council from 2016 to 2024 during their tenure they accomplished many initiatives as our city resident uh for our city residents and a few of the highlights are caner Park land purchase construction of the city's first all-inclusive children's playground and building remodel new Skate Park opening purchase of the ranch Master plans for Hopkins Park Lakefront Park Chisum Park and the ranch 17th street ball field plans and contracts which begin Construction in November 2024 storm water master plan transportation and Mobility master plan rumel Road Trail plan Florida Avenue Trail construction fire station 34 and new fire ladder truck Fire Department training Tower and training classroom building purchase of new fire Administration headquarters Police Department training offices and Police Department training simulator police Acton body cameras funding plan for Public Safety complex Phase 1 two fire stations 17th Street Ballfield expansions and Hopkins Park Phase 1 transfer of utility management to Toho Water Authority incorporating the cemetery from east from the East St Cloud nusi Civic Club into our Mount peace Cemetery Envision St Cloud 2024 to 2029 strategic plan downtown revitalization project covid-19 Economic Development relief efforts City Hall Annex sale of all remaining Stevens Plantation dependent special district properties and many Land Development code updates including commercial architectural standards landscape code exterior lighting standards food trucks accessory dwelling units accessory structure standards and the Entertainment District and with that I'll invite councilman Gilbert up to say a few words as as well well thank you that's a heck of part-time job you know and they told me it's a part-time job this this not but but but your your your giving to the community is full-time so I I I get to talk a little bit about the mayor but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you about our uh Deputy city mayor go wisdom kindness expertise and compassion ready so thank you uh with the mayor uh I'm not going to get uh tired of him kicking me underneath the dis when I talk too long my shin is a little bit larger on the right side than it was on the left and then he always say are you done councilman well not quite but but but but the things that he did just a few of them uh Christmas with the kids uh the league of uh elected Boards of uh the league of mayors and was a president um OU joint contract Administration committee huge huge huge for the city uh try Tri uh County League of cities and the board of directors and he is the past president tourism Dev Development Council of oo County which he passed on to me which is huge it's huge for the city of St Cloud it's huge for the grants that we do and it's is huge the CRA which uh is is another big part of what he's done uh these are things that that happen that no one sees you know they they they they they they they have to look at the bird's eye view as we talk as old men or Dron Jones ey view as Andrew says but these are things that he looked at in eight years and and provided for us so so thank you mayor uh Stevens s Plantation dependent District um there would be a lot more things but he's going to kick my left shin if I go too far but but but all the love and gratitude to both these folks for making me a better person for who I am uh today and I appreciate you um I just want to say it's been an absolute um honor to to serve with with both of you um and you definitely um will be missed um I'd like to thank um Deputy Mayor maeni um and the mayor um for their service um a few of the boards that that Deputy Mayor um methi represented the city on um was the Florida League of cities transportation and inter governmental Relations Committee um the Florida League of cities legislative policy committee the ocula chamber board of directors the the water Co-op of Central Florida Community Vision um the c um the Stevens Plantation um dependent special district the the transition house um and this is this is my favorite one here and uh while not a City Board she also won the ocula Arts lipsync battle four times so if we could just give them a round of applause for their service uh we have one more thing to give him a gift uh we we can't bribe him anymore because we still have to vote tonight but we we want to give them a paron gift from our love and admiration for him for you the mayor thank you I wrapped it myself sorry Kelly she's h a thank you thank you gift appreciation we love you guys and and we wish you the best and thank you very much for your Serv and from the city we got more well thank you so much I'm gonna be able to hold all that this to you I I have a few things picture well that was so sweet honestly um I did write a few things down so I'm going to read it because I don't want to forget anything um as I'm concluding my eight years of service as an elected official I want to take a moment to reflect on this incredible journey and express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you serving the residence of St Cloud has truly been an honor together we faced challenges celebrated achievements and worked tirelessly to make our community a better place I'm deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and I've learned so much from each of you along the way I want to extend my sincere thanks to my fellow elected officials my friends and the city staff your dedication and passion and teamwork have inspired ired me every day together we have implemented initiatives that improved our city infrastructure promoted Community engagement and supported our local businesses as I step away from this role I carry with me countless memories and invaluable lessons I'm excited to see how St Cloud continues to grow and Thrive and I will always remain an advocate for our community thank you once again for allowing me the privilege to serve you I look forward to seeing all the wonderful things that lie ahead for St Cloud I too would like to thank all of the residents as well as the staff for the opportunity that you gave me to uh serve the city of St Cloud uh it has certainly been an educational experience I walk away with a deep appreciation much deeper appreciation for those who have the courage to roll up their sleeves and to run for public office it's not an easy task uh you have to do what you feel like is right you have to do what the law says and so that can be a challenge at times but I really love the way that we've had a team work here team that we've been able to work together we've been able to disagree as well as agree and we've been able to accomplish a lot of good things that I think will make a huge difference in the future of this city once again thank you for your support you will be in my prayers and I'll be lifting up the city I'm looking forward to great things even greater things happening in the near future with this Council and the new members that will soon be coming on once again thank you for the opportunity to serve you as your mayor at this time we have a presentation and recognition of Ivy's designation as Master municipal clerk by Gwen Pierce come ahead thank you mayor Blackwell I don't know how I'm going to possibly follow that show but um here I am so I was I don't even I don't even work here and I'm I'm like tearing up but uh good evening mayor Blackwell members of the city council staff and attendees um it's truly my honor to be here this evening to congratulate you on the recent accomplishment of Ivy Laurel in obtaining her master municipal clerk designation my name is Gwen Pierce I am the Florida Association of city clerks Central East District director I also serve on the mentoring committee and I am the city clerk for the city of Satellite Beach just about an hour east of here so The International Institute of Municipal clerks the I IMC and its partner the Florida Association City Clerks the fac are professional associations that promote continue education and certification through University and college-based institutes IM imc's primary goal is to actively promote the continuing education and professional development in Municipal clerks through extensive uh education programs certification Publications development of um uh networking across the globe annual conferences and research FC's primary goal is to actively promote the contined education professional designation of Clerks within the State of Florida by partnering with the Florida League of cities and the Florida Institute of government to meet the everchanging educational needs of city clerks and to improve their knowledge in areas such as public administration law management elections and many other disciplines currently only around 10% of the 14,000 over 14,000 members worldwide of The International Institute of Municipal clerks have attained the master municipal clerk designation and of the 650 Plus members of the Florida Association of city clerks only approximately 20% have reached the master municipal clerk IM MMC designation to achieve the MMC the first step is becoming a certified municipal clerk through the completion of the municipal Clerk's Institute program conducted by the John Scott daily Florida Institute of government through Florida State University this program provides 12 hours of in-depth coursework and managerial and Leadership skills and Technical Training needed to deal with changes taking place in government today completion of a recognized Academy or a bachelor's degree in public administration responsible experience in local government and participation in and conferences meetings and educational seminars are required to earn the CMC designation however true professionals never want to rest on their success but instead keep reaching higher the MMC U master ipal clerk Academy was established to further professional education of city clerks and to meet the challenges of the office Academy members must demonstrate they have actively engaged in educational and professional participation that keeps them current with the changing events in the local government scene Academy members seeking to earn the MMC are required to attain 168 hours in advanced education with 80% cours workk in public administration and 20% in electives and attain 20 points in professional and social contributions to include attendance at professional conferences and meetings and honors and awards achieve received for specific individual achievements this is quite a task considering the de daily demands of the clerk's office your clerk Ivy is now part of an elite group of Professionals in local government a group she could not have become part of without your commitment to support her efforts in light of the speed and drastic nature of change these days lifelong learning is not only desirable it is necessary to keep Cas with growing demands and changing needs of the citizens we serve your city can take immense pride in Ivy's educational accomplishments and Achieve achievements in this Milestone so on behalf of the Florida Association of city clerks president Pat Burke the board of directors and the members and the Florida Association of city clerk's professional education committee and their and the central East District which is our whole area here we are all so very proud of you Ivy please join me in congratulating ivy on her impressive accomplishment of becoming one of our newest Master Municipal clerks well done my friend have here we have her certificate and her pen wear it with pride my friends congratulations I'm not big for words I just want to thank the city for this opportunity I just want to say also Ivy is an incredible asset to our city she she's not just a hard worker she's a leader has made a tremendous difference since she has uh been serving here and especially as she stepped up uh into the uh leadership role as the clerk of our city uh she is in good hands has been a great source of counsel to all of our staff and uh you're blessed to have her Proclamation the next item on our agenda is a proclamation recognition of National Domestic Violence awareness month this Proclamation was recommended by council member Fletcher and would you like to make a motion for the adoption of this motion to approve we have a motion do I have a second second all in I can't remember whether I vote on this or not got call roll call it's been eight years mayor some things I can can't get fired all right Madam cler you please call the role council member Gilbert hi council member Fletcher hi Deputy Mayor me council member Urban hi mayor Blackwell I motion carries 5 Z it is approved he will share the proclamation with us at this point as the mayor um just said um it is domestic violence awareness month so I would like to to welcome up um everybody from from help now of Oola um to receive the proclamation yes come on come on abolutely abely all right we'll go ahead and read the proclamation whereas domestic violence is a serious crime that affects people of all Races ages gender identities and socioeconomic backgrounds and has physical emotional financial and social impacts that extend beyond the immediate victims to affect entire communities and whereas each year millions of individuals including children experience physical emotional or psychological abuse by intimate Partners or family members often resulting in long-term trauma and health consequences and whereas survivors of domestic violence exhibit immense courage and resilience and facing the challenges of overcoming abuse and their strength and rebuilding their lives deserves our recognition respect and continued support from our entire Ocilla community and whereas preventing domestic violence requires a collaborative effort involving law enforcement medical professionals Educators Advocates Community organizations and local governments this month provides an opportunity to honor the efforts of those who work tirelessly to support and advocate for survivors such as help now Oola and the OA County domestic violence task force and whereas by observing domestic violence awareness month we affirm our commitment to Breaking the silence surrounding domestic violence offering support to survivors in the city of St Cloud and dedicating ourselves to creating a safer more just and compassionate Community for all now therefore I Sean Fletcher council member along with the city council of the city of St Cloud Florida do hereby proclaim the month of October 2024 to be known as National Domestic Violence awareness month and call upon the citizens of our commun to join us in working towards the elimination of personal and institutional violence against all persons you go would you like to say a few words thank you everybody I'm Tammy Douglas I have the honor of being the executive director of help now of Oola for the last 18 years and it has been um a great Mission and a great opportunity to really um see some social change in our communities and we're continue to work on moving that needle I'm super always excited to bring up other members of our community we have board members and um staff members here with us and we all want to join in in saying what an amazing job we think the city of St Cloud is doing to recognize domestic violence the police department has recently been able to bring on a victim Advocate and the support that we as an agency have received from uh the city council over the years is just tremendous and helps us all come together and continue to recognize this issue so um we invite you to um go to our website and see some of the activities we have lots of trainings and events throughout the month to honor uh victims and to celebrate the advocacy and also to mourn the losses of domestic violence this month thank you in the picture like this thank you very much Council um thank you mayor um would it be possible to direct staff to turn the fountains purple on the lakefront in support of domestic violence awareness mon we'll be happy to do that great thank you at this time we have a presentation by Chief Miller who will give us an update on the hurricane that uh you guys had to serve and address good afternoon evening mayor councel uh here we are uh we survived it you know it was nice seeing all of our city residents and our city staff come together and be successful in this event um prior to the storm our city staff really executed a lot of work ahead of time as far as preparing facilities getting emergency pumping permits for the various areas in the city that may be flood pled from the past um we transferred a d debris sight permit over to oila County to allow them to establish a site here off of Cano Creek Road and overall at the Joint sandbag facility over 300,000 sandbags were given out to the residents of oila county in St Cloud that's a Monumental task I can tell you that there's no way at this point to track who got what sandbags but the idea of having a standalone sandbag site helps free up our resources so that we can take care of other things here in the city so it was a great thing post storm um quite literally there was only two minor areas of flooding we had the Commerce Center um down on the west side of town along with fist Street and both of those were dried up by the next afternoon um due to that pumping that was going on ahead of time the city's going to handle our own debris management and cleanup um at this point there's not enough really to bring in the outside resource we can do it faster ourselves and that way we'll get less citizen complaints because the stuff won't be there for a month or two um so we're trying to do that it'll also cut down potentially on pesky mosquitoes if we can get it out of there quicker and get it mulched uh the building permit as along with the city council has waved the roof and fence replacement permits and overall City facilities fared quite well we had a few buildings that had some small roof leaks a couple of fences down and of course the new Fire headquarters now needs a new roof so glad we got that under Insurance ahead of time um overall mayor counsel especially you two that are leaving thank you for your support not just during this event but all the past hurricanes um without your support your faith and belief in the city staff which I'd be remiss if I didn't thank all the city staff from Public Works to finance HR the fire department police department um parks and wreck you you named the department um everybody came together and really handled this well for the city so on behalf of the incident management team I'd like to thank all the city staff and also thank you you have any questions I'm available U manager Miller yes thank you um I'd also like to add regarding the waving of the permit fees that's something that I was able to do as a city manager for a brief period of time but I would like to ask for the council's support to continue that um Beyond today my my authority ends um today so I I would like to ask if we could wave it um I think State Statute allows us to wave those hurricane Dam DED permits for 90 days can we do that just by consensus we have yeah consensus is fine do we have any objections to that thank you thank you very much and I would like to say thank you for all that our staff and uh Emergency Management Services done to service um one of the things that was an educational experience for me as mayor was coming to realize how much work goes on for days and days after a storm um when most of us are at home getting ready for the storm getting our houses ready we have dozens and dozens of City staff and workers that are leaving their homes getting ready to serve you and to getting prepared for this storm uh and every storm that we've ever had and I just want to say thank you I know many times uh you guys work behind the scenes and people don't have an idea of how much work you guys do and how long you're away from your families and I just want to say thank you thank you you guys are amazing all of you that serve US during these times thank you we were very blessed we really were this this storm had severe implications at beginning and it just luckily kind of lessened as it came aboard but you know we need to be diligent be prepared for the next one yeah I agree thank you he he failed to mention the only city property that received damage did you say that oh was our brand new purchase of the fire administration building good the next item on our agenda is the citizens Forum any person who desires to comment on any item not on the agenda is provided this opportunity to address the city council each person is requested to complete a signing form to be provided to the presiding officer prior to or as soon as is practical there after the personal address of the council we ask if you please step forward state your name and address for the record and you will be asked to limit your comments to three minutes would anyone like to speak during the citizens Forum if not we will move on to the next item on our agenda which is the consent agenda the next portion of this meeting is the consent agenda which contains items that have been determined to be routine and non-controversial if anyone in the audience wishes to address a particular item on the consent agenda now is the opportunity for you to do so additionally if staff for members of the city council wish to speak on a consent item they have the same opportunity first of all I'll ask the staff do you have any of the items that you are wanting to address if not I'll recognize John Jones who would like to speak to consent agenda item G is that correct yes uh Jon Jones 900 Minnesota Avenue I just wanted to talk about the item G which is our new collective bargaining agreement um it took almost a year uh from start to finish I do want to thank um the HR department I don't know where he went yeah um HR uh was very professional um and worked with us um u a lot better than it's it's been so um I do appreciate um Human Resources Finance as well as long as well as the fire chief and city manager um and the council uh we're hoping you'll approve this contract uh this was the um as far as voter turnout from our perspective we had over 95% of our members vote and out of those uh almost 80 members we only received one Noe vote so this is is the highest uh approval rating we've ever had for a contract so uh we do want to say uh thank you to everyone that was involved as well as the deputy chief chief Irving um he was there for all the negotiations as well um while I'm up here I do want to say thank you to the mayor and Deputy Mayor um I know we endorsed you both eight years ago and four years ago and I do want to say uh we do thank you for living up to your commitment that you made to us uh to push Public Safety forward uh we've come a long way in the last eight years um and with this contract this will move us uh even further so thank you and I forgive you for not endorsing me eight years ago would anyone else like to speak to any item on the consent agenda good if not we'll have discussion or motion by councel motion to approve we have a motion from council member maeni do I have second we have a second from the mayor Madam clerk you please call the rooll council member Fletcher hi Deputy mayori hi council member Urban I council member Gilbert I mayor Blackwell I motion carries 5 Z and it passes and just for the record remind everyone the itum L was pulled the next item on our agenda are public hearings Madam clerk will you please read item number one final public hearing for ordinance number 20 24- 57 an ordinance of the city of St Cloud Florida further amending the city of St Cloud police officers and firefighters retirement system adopted by ordinance number 2006-12 as subsequently amended amending section 28 deferred retire retirement option plan providing for codification providing for cability of Provisions repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with and providing an effective date good evening Justin clner Human Resources Director this ordinance uh tonight is referred from the police and fire pension board to extend the Deferred retirement option plan commonly referred to as a drop program from 5 years to 8 years for members on the Fire Pension Plan drop is a program that allows employees who are eligible to retire to continue working while Accu while accumulating a lump sum of retirement benefits instead of increasing their pension based on additional years of service the city deposits an amount each year into an interest bearing account when the employee eventually retires they receive the full value of this account along with their regular pension if enacted current drop and roles can extend their participation by up to 3 years there is no impact impa uh cost impact for this ordinance on the pension plan and City administration supports this request our pension actuary Mr Doug losen is present and available for any questions on these ordinances tonight is he wanting to speak to this will he will if you have questions okay if we are got you would anyone in the audience like to speak to the first item under public hearings yes sir I'm sorry I saw your name here and I didn't no it's okay um thank you John I just wanted to address uh why this came up with the pension board I'm sorry Jon Jones 900 Minnesota um so we were looking at the FRS system a lot of what we do um revolves around what F FRS is doing um we were also looking at other local departments around our area and our attorney at the time Scott uh brought up that a lot of these pensions were moov into 8-year drops um basically this was a no cost option to improve our pension uh there's no cost to the city no cost to the employee um and it does help to attract uh people when they're looking for a really good pension so um on behalf of I also serve on the pension board I'm the secretary so I'm here representing not only them but the Union as well um all of our members that voted voted voted in favor of this so we're hopefully you'll pass this ordinance thank you thank you John would anyone else in the audience like to speak to this item if not we'll have discussion and our motion by Council Council mthi thank you I agree with John about this is a great way to attract people but also a great way to keep people around for another three years um so I I I fully support this any other comment can we keep you in the TRU room I would if I could any other comment from Council could I have a motion regarding the adoption of item number one so moved we have a motion from Council Marini for the approval of item number 2024 d57 do I have a second mayor makes the second Madam clerk please call the role Deputy Mayor maeni hi council member Urban I council member Gilbert I council member Fletcher I mayor Blackwell I motion carries 5 Z item number two please final public hearing for ordinance number 202 24- 59 an ordinance of the city of St Cloud Florida further amending the city of St Cloud General's Employee Retirement System amending section 10 optional forms of benefits amending section 28 deferred retirement option plan providing for codification providing for subab ility of Provisions repealing all ordinances in conflict herewith and providing an effective date good evening again Justin clner this ordinance is referred from the general employees pension board to extend the draw program from 5 years to 8 years as well for all General pension participants just like the previous ordinance if enacted current drop and roll lease can extend their participation by up to three years and there's no cost impact for this ordinance on the pension plan City administration supports this request thank you would anyone in the audience like to speak to this item if not we'll have discussion a motion by Council mayor makes a motion for the adoption of item number 224-5222 from councilman Coy Urban Madam clerk please call the RO council member Urban I council member Gilbert I council member Fletcher I Deputy Mayor Marini I mayor Blackwell I motion carries 5 Z and Mary just to clarify that was ordinance 2024 59 I think you may have said 52 did I say 52 yes well I got to do something wrong my last meeting make that clarification item number 202 24- 59 correct thank you item number three final public hearing for ordinance number 202 24-58 an ordinance of the city of St Cloud Florida further amending the city of St Cloud police officers and firefighters Retirement System adop Ed by ordinance 20 2006-1 125 as subsequently amended amending section 6 benefit amounts and eligibility providing for codification providing for cability of Provisions repealing all ordinances and conflict here with and providing an effective date good evening again this ordinance is referred from the police and fire pension board to provide a monthly supplement of $20 times years of credited service for future normal retirees payable for the retirees lifetime while the pension board recommends this item City staff does not support the approval of this item this ordinance is estimated to add an additional $297,000 per year in pension contributions and increase her required pension contribution rate from 33.686635 this annual amount will continue to grow over time as police and fire payrolls increase and the city pension contribution rate continues to increase for context the city's contributions to the police and fire Pension Plan have been increasing significantly over the past two years from 27.5% in fiscal year 23 to 33.68441 increase in what the city pays in dollars that's equated to a little over 1.1 million in addition the police and fire pension board approved the change in August to the their Actuarial value calculations which will also add up to an additional 4.94% to the city's contribution rate these rates do not include the newly increased salaries for the police and fire uh contracts that you approved earlier tonight which when considering both these factors could push the city's police and fire pension contribution rate closer to 40% given this substantial rise in the city's costs it is the city's position to oppose any additional pension improvements as we have determined that they are not financially sustainable and again the pension actuary is available for questions should you have any thank you we receive public comment at this time John Jones John Jones 900 Minnesota um so this ordinance was um proposed at the same time as the drop ordinance which was um late last year and I believe it was sent to the city sometime in February so it was prior to any contracts everything he mentioned as far as all the other increases uh This was done you know close to a year ago um this was one of those things that the attorney brought up as well uh F FRS does a $7 a year stien uh for every year served um we had a uh study done by the actuary that showed um different options and this was just the option that the board chose uh this wasn't a vote that was voted on this was simply proposed uh amongst the board members uh when we were also looking at the 8-year drop just to match F FRS so thank you thank you would anyone else like to speak to this item if not we'll have discussion and or motion by councel I don't have anyone's light would anyone like to make a motion make a comment so so what I'm getting is that this will not be accredited amount I didn't hear I didn't understand the question this will not be credited if you vote down the ordinance it will not be so if we vote down the ordinance right okay and well if I could and if I may ask Mr Jones if I could ask him a question maybe can clarify a little bit I understood his analysis which was this came up a long time ago and they've been working it through the process as is is it your position the board is still pursuing this change in this ordinance ultimately yes we would love the ordinance um okay I just want to make sure it's a huge benefit for the members um like I said this this came up at the same time as the uh F FRS comparisons um prior to US changing the actal assumptions prior to negotiating contracts okay so thank you thank you so the these things are presented through staff when they come through the as a request from the board so this is a request from the Retirement Board then move forward to and it's entirely wayin the discretion of the city council about whether you would approve this one or not well I'd like to say first of all I I certainly believe that we need to do everything that we can to take the best care possible um for all of those who serve our city as police officers and firefighters uh and I think we have done that I think our staff and this Council has gone not just one mile but two miles in being generous um and this has been a record year I in our generosity and while I would if we had the money to do this you know that would be another issue but when you're looking at uh it not being a sustainable motion it and and having been looked at financially uh and having the staff uh recommending that we deny it I think it would not be wise of us to to pass this so I'd like to make a motion for denial of ordinance number 20 24-58 do I have a second I'll second that have a second from council member Gilbert Madam cler please call the rooll council member Fletcher I Deputy Mayor maeni hi council member Urban I council member Gilbert I mayor Blackwell I motion carries 5- Z and the dial passes item number four please final public hearing for ordinance number 202 24-6 in ordinance of the city of St Cloud Florida further amending the city of St Cloud General employees retirement system amending section five contributions providing for codification providing for subil of Provisions repealing all ordinances and conflict here with and providing an effective date hello again Justin cler HR Director uh this ordinance amends the general employee pension to increase the employee contribution from 1% to 3% for all future eligible pension participants hired on or after October 1st of 2024 the city's contributions to the general Pension Plan have been increasing significantly over the past few years reflecting both Rising salaries from salary surveys and the compounding impact of the automatic 1% cost of living adjustment for retirees specifically the city's required contributions have grown from 14.73% in 2021 to 2426 in 20124 in the last fiscal year the city's contribution reached $4.25 million of the overall budget which is an 85.2 six increase since 2021 nearly half of the city's increase from the last year is directly attributed to the automatic 1% Cola with the remainder driven primarily by salary growth given this substantial rise in contributions we must explore options to ensure that both the pension plan and the city remains financially sustainable in the long term these proposed changes aim to balance the Pension funds obligations in a sustainable way for the city helping to manage future costs while still providing rewarding benefits to employees and retirees so this first recommendation proposed by City admin Administration is to increase the member contribution from 1% to 3% current employees would be grandfathered in at the 1% contribution rate for comparison the city of cmi's General Pension Plan has their employees paying 3.8% to their pension with a similar employer match or employer contribution this proposal would slightly lower the amount the city has to contribute each year down to 11.88% after 30 years over time the city would this would save the city money and help keep the retirement fund healthy this proposal is part of a two-prong solution of which the next item proposes to resin the automatic 1% Cola to create a more financial sustainab to create more financial sustainability for the city and to prioritize the Investments needed for a growing city thank you would anyone in the audience like to speak to this item if not we'll have discussion and motion my Council council member Gilbert yeah uh we've been genous at this Council I think through the year because the Prosper but we have to be cognits of the future and and if we continue a a growth pattern that's automatic then what happens in the future besides disaster so what we need to do is be able to revisit this each year versus uh putting this on each year as an automatic and the reason why when everyone's fruitful we multiply but sometimes we have to tighten our seat belt and right now I think we we've done such a good job as a council and I know it's not a popular item but I don't think this should be something that's automatic I I think this should be Revisited by this Council next Council and the council's future for the city's survival of their financial stability that's my comment I yield back to you mayor couni um so I know this is you know a tough thing to go from 1% to 3% but I like the fact that it's not affecting the current employees you know I think when when you get hired on you get the you know I don't think it'll impact someone not wanting to work at the city because frankly I think 3% is pretty across the board like 1% is really like low in the marketplace but I think it's more you know really important for us to have a viable retirement system that's good in the future as well so I I like the fact that it's only for people hired um after October 2024 I like the fact that we're not changing something on people that are already here um so I I know it's not not a popular item but I think it's it's something we we're going to have to do do you like it enough to make a motion I'll make a motion we have a motion for council member do we have a second sure second that yes do I got a second review yes sir I'm sorry we have a second from council member Gilbert Madam clerk please call the role council member Fletcher hi Deputy Mayor maeni hi council member Urban hi council member Gilbert hi mayor Blackwell hi motion carries 5 item number five final public hearing for ordinance number 202 24- 67 an ordinance of the city of St Cloud Florida amending the city of St Cloud General employees retirement system amending section six benefit amounts and eligibility providing for codification providing for cability of Provisions repealing all ordinances in Conflict here with and providing an effective date well I hope you're not sick of me but this is the last time uh all right well this ordinance tonight amends the general employee pension to resin the automatic 1% cost of living adjustment for current and future retirees that was approved last fall this is part of City administration's two-prong solution to create more financial sustainability for the city in terms of pension costs by eliminating the automatic 1% Cola the amount the city must pay into the fund would drop more significantly in the short term in comparison to our Baseline forecast saving the city more money in the long run remember that if we eliminate this Cola we can still pursue ad hoc adjustments which is what had been done in the many years prior we researched other municipalities with similar pension programs and of our comparable agencies only the city of timot Springs has an automatic Cola while the city of CMI does not employers participating in F FRS do have an 3% automatic Cola but their employer contributions and benefit formula are far below what the city provides we believe that these measures uh will create that Financial sustainability for the city while still allowing for you to make future ad hoc adjustments when our budgets allow and we're available for questions as needed thank you would anyone in the audience like to speak to this item if not we'll have discussion motion by Council Council mthi thank you I think you know I've been up here eight years now right and so we're always trying to streamline things and some things come repetitively and then we go hey we should make this automatic and so I think this is one of those ones that we tried to kind of be thinking forward and trying to streamline the process but I I do agree that I think in this particular case that we should evaluate it annually and it gives more flexibility to us as the budget changes like like um Justin mentioned I mean there's nothing that would prevent us from doing it or prevent you three from doing it in the future but yeah I mean I I don't think this is a negative thing I think it just gives you more flexibility and every year um so I'll make a motion for this one too we have a motion from Council for the adoption of this ordinance and I'll give it a second Madam cler please call the RO Deputy Mayor mathini hi council member Urban hi council member Gilbert hi council member Fletcher hi mayor Blackwell I motion carries 5- Z brings us to item number six final public hearing for ordinance number 2023 -43 in ordinance of the city council of the city of St Cloud Florida adopting the pable water element of the comprehensive plan providing for filing of the Planning Commission recommendation and proof of publication applicability and effect cability copies conflict copies on files and effective date good evening mayor city council um I'm going to me you mintini and mayor Baga it's been a pleasure this item in front of you is the pable Water Element this item if you feel like you have seen this before it's because you have this item was in front of you back in February um we uh you approve the um transmitter to the state in December um we did received no objections from the states in uh January and we brought this item in front of you in February for the transmitter of the adoption during that time we had our cyber emergency um where our files were not available therefore we couldn't transmit the item at on time we have 180 days to transmit so we were over those those days uh the state has requ request for us to bring this back for your approval um just to comply with the timeline and that's why we're here again so we are nothing has changed it's in accordance to the fr the statue and the and the City of SoundCloud water plan and the gos of objections are for the future water um element of the city as I mentioned before this is transmitted in this um and we have no objection and we adopted it and it was delay and we are requesting again approval of ordinance 2022 d43 and transmitted to the frea Commerce for adoption I'll be happy to answer any questions thank you D Maria would anyone in the audience like to speak to this item this is a record night we'll have discussion a motion by council at this point what's your pleasure Council so moved we have a motion from councila second from the mayor Madam cler please call the rooll council member Urban hi council member Gilbert hi council member Fletcher hi Deputy Mayor maeni hi mayor Blackwell I motion carries 5 Z good evening oh okay D Mar I need to can we please read the next item in the record please final P public hearing for ordinance number 2023 54 in ordinance of the city council of the city of St Cloud Florida assigning a future land use designation mixed use to approximately 65586 Acres identified as Bell generally located south of CMI Park Road East of Lake too and west of Florida's Turnpike providing for amending the official future land use map of the comprehensive plan filing of the Planning Commission recommendation and proof of publication applicability and effect sub ability copies on files and effective date good evening again D Mar Sara um this item again was brought to you back in February it this is a large scale uh comprehensive plan Amendment which was transmitted to the state in December we received no objections in February and we brought this forward to you and you adopted this ordinance back in February at the time of transmitter we were over the 180 days and this is why we're back to comply with the statutes of um of the required statutes for transmit of for adoption it is the staff recommendation of approval ordinance 2023 54 and transmitt to fora Commerce for adoption and I'll be happy to answer any questions would anyone here like to speak to that item if not we'll have discussion or motion by councel motion to approve a motion from Council membera second from the mayor getting that last motion there Madam C please call the RO council member Gilbert hi council member Fletcher hi MTH council member Urban mayor Blackwell I motion carries 5 Z there are no council action items on tonight's agenda there's one yes there is oh there is one yes where did that come from um that's a new one yeah the new agenda um I didn't get the new agenda then I'm I'm looking at an old agenda I wondered if you were looking at the one from the 10th when you mentioned Congressman SoDo yeah I didn't have that either was like that's cool right all right I'm sorry I had a now I got the update agenda thank you there is a council action item number one please read that in the record discussion and possible action regarding the approval of the minor administrative Amendment of the final master plan for St Cloud Marketplace PUD adopted by ordinance number 2012 24-28 on June 13 2024 generally located south of East ear L Bronson Memorial Highway East of Live Oak Boulevard and west of Tay West Drive good evening Melissa dunan director of Community Development and I would like to Echo what dag marray said we're going to miss you mayor and Miss maeni it's been a pleasure okay this case before you tonight is for a minor administrative Amendment to the Pud final master plan for the planned unit development for the project known as St Cloud Marketplace the Pud was approved on June 13th 2024 the development is approximately 10.33 acres and it is a development that includes eight commercial Lots along with active recreational area and flexible design standards the applicant is requesting to remove The Hardscape element requirement of the decorative masonry knee wall the applicant's justification is that the knee wall cannot be built as required per the Pud as it would encroach into an existing 15t utility um easement underground utility easement so the applicant and the city have worked together to create a uh a a development there that uh brings a a higher level of quality to the city and the applicant initially agreed to to build the knall but when they went to submit the the plans it was shown that the knall was encroaching into that easement and um we want it to obviously be a good partner with tww and the developer and so we are um working with the applicant to have the knee wall um amended so that they can do a an aluminum style fence okay here is a graphic representation of the overall site plan so the current PUD requires the stonemasonry knee wall along 192 and portions of live o Boulevard and portions of uh Tay West the minor changes to the Pud which do not affect the intent or character of the development may be approved administratively staff is recommending approval and likewise we are requesting that city council also approve the planned unit development final master plan minor administrative Amendment and staff and both the applicant are available if you have any questions would the applicant like to speak to this item if not would anyone in the public audience like to speak to this item if not we'll have discussion or motion by Council Council mthi thank you um it's a no for me I I think this is the frontage along 192 I I mean I think a masonry knee wall has a lot better look than I don't even know what an aluminum fence looks like I me what is an aluminum fence I don't know do you have a photo of it we do not have a photo of it but right now in front of the freestanding emergency room it's more of like a um rot iron type style fence and I believe it's approximately 3 ft tall yeah I mean it's a for me I I think it it'll look a lot nicer along the frontage of 192 to have a masonry feature I mean they could move it back onto their site I don't have the particulars of it but I mean it I'm I'm sure it can be worked out do we have any other discussion from Council would the applicant like to speak good evening Council Carlos periro kimley horn 200 South Orange Avenue I did want to respond to the knee wall concern uh as uh miss m dunan explained the one of the lots already has the aluminum fence so continuing the aluminum fence throughout the rest of the project would retain that same character the issue with the knee wall is that it would have to have a much larger structural footprint and the only place to put the wall right now due to the parking is already constructed and so the only place to put it would be within that 15 foot utility easement where there is a major Force main and reclaim water main uh that Tojo owns where they cannot you know we we worked with too to see if there was any way to accommodate um and there was not really a way to accommodate the structural elements the Footers of the Mason Rey wall within that easement in order to allow enough separation between the utility mains froming yeah I mean I understand how the they have a footer but I guess sitting up here for eight years um we always seem to have to like take less than you know it's I mean it's kind of I mean you're all the way done and now now that you've figured this out I mean I feel like it should have been figured out earlier I don't think that an a applicable switch you know for like or better is an aluminum railing which I guess is just like I mean you're calling aluminum kind of like a rod iron style I mean for me personally it's going to be a no I'll make a motion to deny we have a motion for denial do we have a second the motion for denial fails do we have a motion for approval motion approve we have a motion from counc Member Gilbert have a second from the mayor mam clerk please call the rooll council member Fletcher hi Deputy Mayor maeni no council member Urban hi council member Gilbert hi mayor Blackwell I motion carries five three 41 sorry and it passes now we come to the city attorney thank you mayor just just quickly I obviously want to take this opportunity to thank Deputy Mayor methen and mayor Blackwell for for working with you all these years I think I've sat up here with the two of you probably longer than anybody yeah so for the eight years we've been here um I'm not a resident of St Cloud but I've been the City attorney here for 27 years so I consider myself part of the community I think you both should walk away with your heads held high for the good job you've done for the citizens of this community and the folks I can tell you that I do travel around the state a lot and I always hear good things about St Cloud especially over the last eight years and I think that's attributable to both of your efforts councilwoman meeni I appreciate the challenges you've always been challenging I appreciate the the fact that you've pushed us to and not simply accepted what we said because we've said it and Mary Black I can tell you in 30 years of being involved in this I've never seen anybody who runs a better public meeting than you do you do an absolutely great job making sure everybody has an opportunity to speak and they feel like they have an opportunity to participate in their local government and that is rare these days so congrat congratulations to both of you for the job you did I'm certainly going to miss you it's been my own personal and professional pleasure to work with you thank you thank you I'm teared up here uh council member Urban you want to skip the city man oh I'm sorry skip got me All Shook Up Here city manager M I'll be honest I'm sitting here looking at it I I was actually happy I got skipped cuz how do I go out after that that was really good he could have just said we were his favorite in 27 years I mean I was kind of hoping that was going to come out um I I don't have any update other than also thanking you both um although I wasn't sitting up here at the beginning of your of your time I was sitting in the audience and I and I was working as staff and the culture that we have been able to change on the staff side was was because of the two of you um because of the support that you guys gave um to the city managers throughout the years and your ideas and you know you've you've really made an impact not just for the citizens but also for the employees also and I will miss you guys um but I I am happy that now I can like text you but thank you thank you now council member Urban well thank you um so mayor Blackwell touched on it earlier with the hurricane update but it truly is amazing um residents don't get to see this very often but um from the minute a storm is projected to to go through Florida until after the cleanup uh so many City staff members are dedicated to this city and helping us prepare and recover so I just wanted to send my sincere thank you to all the city staff and uh finally it has been an absolute honor to serve with Deputy Mayor maeni and mayor Blackwell uh I have learned so much uh in my time with you too and I look forward to our continued friendship after you're off of a council and we can actually uh talk outside of sunshine that point so look forward to that I look forward to having some conversation council member Fletcher um I'm going to Echo the same comments um regarding um the hurricane uh preparations um I ran into multiple um City staff um uh before and after um um the storm and and they truly go above and beyond to make sure that the citizens are prepared for um whatever may come our way regarding hurricane so a sincere thank you um to everybody who's who's involved in that um and then again thank you so much for your leadership um mayor you always you always remind us uh of how important the decisions are um that we we make up here and um Deputy Mayor maeni you know always looking out for the details and and it's the small things that I will carry with me um that you have have instilled in us to to continue moving forward and making the right decision for the city so thank you so much um for your service um over the last8 years and just like uh the others have said I look forward to actually being able to to go to dinner and have a phone call without for fear of getting in trouble and then I have one last thing um to Deputy Mayor um me um I'm not sure how the lip sync battle um works if you represent the city but I would recommend that the police chief and the fire chief be the ones to take your place just a joke but that's all I have I thought we wanted to keep winning oh oh that's all I hope c m Gilbert well you know uh it's hard to put in words I'm a better person because knowing you guys but when you go up on 100 foot ladder and I don't want to go on it and I have to go on it because you want on it it shows a leadership you are uh that you have with all your qualities uh I didn't want to go on that ladder you did and Kobe and I look you going out no I'm not the mayor gets up there he's waving everybody and I'm holding on that thing 100 I'm going what's going on around here but but but uh uh that just shows you the leadership and Lynette we we we know this what you've taught me over the years uh we we all five of us from so many different backgrounds but to mend a team to what we did last two years it's a tribute to both you and they said well you guys you work together I said isn't that what you're supposed to do cuz I never been on a council and they said they argue and fight well go behind those doors we probably do the same thing but we come here as professionalism and you guys taught me about professionalism and you guys taught me about etiquette and worth and you know giving God all the grace and Glory but but uh like Sean said the little tidbits are in my heart the knowledge is in my brain uh so so thank you very much uh don't need to go in much detail uh but you know what you meant to me I'm a better person because knowing you guys and God bless you thank you well I'd like to say also uh to everyone thank you for the opportunity once again to have been your mayor thank you for keeping me straight Mr menzer you have been an incredible asset we would have been in a mess a lot of times if you had hadn't been there to help keep us on the straight and there thank you so much uh you've been such a joy to work with and what I love about you is how you've handled um unjust criticisms I I felt many times and you just kept your cool and you were such an example I think to all of us of uh of how to handle difficult uh situations and even personal attacks but your professionalism and your knowledge are just amazing thank you sir uh manager Miller you have been a delightful blessing leading our city you you had to jump right into the fire right after you stepped into the position just one crisis after another and I never saw you lose your cool even when you were had personal challenges I mean you didn't bring it to to work so we could see it you handled that and you handled all the pressures of being here on staff you have been an excellent leader and thank you so much and uh you will continue all of you will certainly be in my prayers thank you to all our city staff wow you guys are amazing I don't think our residents realize how blessed they are to have the professionals that they have serving them here at this city they don't have a a clue the amount of work that gets constantly thrown in your lap and uh you handle it with with amazing professionalism and I it's just such a joy Jo to have worked with you and to say thatth you know you're the leaders of our city thank you all and those of you that aren't here I hope that it'll be passed on to you you will be in my prayers and uh I encourage all of you and certainly our staff you know God says he loves to give us wisdom and the Bible says if you don't have it pray for it and ask and God loves to answer that prayer and so there have been many times I've prayed prayed for wisdom and I feel like God's blessed me with that and one of the best things he's blessed me with is a counsel that we work together as a team you know it's it's a real blessing to be able to disagree with someone and then walk out of here and not be mad still be friends realizing that that's how you get balanced sometimes that's how you make wise decisions and so I I just count a joy to have worked with you guys and you will be in my prayers and especially miss mathen your professionalism and your knowledge has been a great irritation as well as as an incredible blessing to this to this Council and to our city you have been you have been a blessing you've been an asset here on this Council thank you so much and with that I didn't get to go huh I didn't get to go oh you didn't see there I'm All Shook Up tonight and I got your name right here next Council MTH you're the last well thank you I mean I love you guys I mean this has been the best Council I've been on and I thought I was on the best Council beforehand but you know I think we all work together and everybody comes from different backgrounds which I think is beautiful because you don't want five of me we had two of me and you know Nathan had to live through that there me and Keith at the same time but um yeah I mean I I've really enjoyed this experience and you know I'm sad that it's over but I think you know onward you're going to get some good people in here and it's going to the city's going to continue to Pro prosper and I wanted to say to the City attorney I've told him before I was going to make bracelets like wwdd what would Dan do and I try to and I try to think about him and I'll watch other meetings and and the attorney is not you know counseling the people and I'm like what are you doing I'm like you know that's not right that's not how this works you know I'm like that Facebook commercial or whatever that's not how any of this works but um I appreciate your Council for all these years and and um yeah I agree with the mayor many many times in our early days you were attacked in icious ways that I thought I don't know why he doesn't leave honestly like if I were Dan I would just be like all right I'm out like I'm not going to I'm glad you stuck it out um and it's kind of like you know I think councils change and and things but you're you remain steadfast and I know that you bring so much knowledge and and just like why things happen where things are why this I mean that's so incredibly important I've become that person at my job because I've been there 15 years now so they're like why did this happen I'm like oh well here's here's what it is and and city manager Miller I'm so glad that you made it up here thank you and uh well deserved and you're doing a great job and I only ever hear great things about you honestly and that you you are capable and you can do this job and and you got it you know and to the staff I think you've got wonderful directors a fire chief police chief you've got great people in place I mean St Cloud is the place to be and you know if I talk to anybody they all want to work here they all say that the um just the culture is such a lovely place to work and and everybody is so um you know willing to do the extra mile and work so hard so it's just been really great being up here and it definitely has changed in eight years I mean when when it got here it was very sad here it was very sad like the employees like their state was you know beat down and and so I think it's definitely like turned a corner so so I appreciate being here and all of you guys and Colby you know you're going to be here another eight years oh gosh see so it it's going to be wonderful and I'm going to miss all you guys so if you want to get dinner or drink or something just give me a call now that we now that we won't get in trouble I mean I talked to one council member one time after a meeting outside about something and we got turned in a Dan we were outside talking I was like oh my goodness so anyways but that I'm I'm done thank you counc Rini um can I am I skipped anybody I didn't say mayor I skipped you mayor mayor you're wonderful and thank you for controlling the meeting and not letting people yell at us I really appreciate that this brings us to our information section and Report section Tuesday November the 5th there will be a general election polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. till 7 p.m. and this is a very important election and I hope that all of our citizens vote Monday November the 11th all city offices will be closed observance of Veterans Day and just a word of thanks to all our veterans who serve us uh Thursday November the 14th there will be a city council swearing in ceremony that will take place at 12: p.m. right here in City Hall council chambers Thursday November the 14th there will be a city council meeting as they jump right into the seats and start doing their job at 6:30 here in council chambers also we have available for your review reports warrant list number 13 and the tree advisory committee minutes from July 20124 have been approved and are available for your review with that this will be my last gel thank you so much we are adjourned I don't start end