##VIDEO ID:6jCbJeaSPQQ## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e call this meeting of the community redevelopment agency 25 November 2024 roll call please Madam Kirk here Rich here board member Clark here board member Collins here board member giobi here board member Reed here board member ceny here board member bville here please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge of aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all no okay to learn un Tom's putting up with he's put up with we got a motion for the approval yet moves second we have a motion by board member camp peny and a second by board member Clark all in favor I I motion passes comments do we have any comments from the public on non-agenda related items Madam clerk I do I have Robert Hamilton good afternoon Mr Hamilton good afternoon I have an update for everybody since December 1st 2023 the city of Stewart cdbg uh program management program manager Miss Gandhi sdis and guardian Community Resource Management hired by the city of Stewart were notified by the Florida Department of State Division of historical resources that the rehabilitation of our property should have no adverse effects on historical property the new work on the Windows should match the old materials design scale color finish and on the roof decorative and functional features are important on July 19th 2024 now five months later we notified the city of steart program management about the contractor Patriot Response Group inflicted damages on our property by the destructive installation of the negligently ordered oversized replacement windows and we also not notified the city's Administration the contractor committed fraud by not replacing the roof's functional features such as our existing roof ridge vent according to the city of Stewart cdbg housing Rehabilitation scope of work the contractor was approved by the city procurement policy resolution number 11-202 to comply with the purchasing requirements set forth under the second code of Federal Regulation 200 as well as Florida Statutes 255 and 287 by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity the program management and the city Administration deliberately ignored our complaint dated July 19 2024 and all of our following requests for reinspection and to record the violations by the cdbg contractor Patriot Response Group instead the program management and the city Administration tried to coorse us to release the federal funds for incomplete destructive fraudulent work done by Patriot Response Group though the contractor was legally aware of our building's historical nature we had no choice but to file a complaint with the Florida commerce Department that admin that administers this the Florida small cities Community Development block grant program and monitors the performance by the cities with the Federal grant as a result the program management and the city's administration's deliberate indiff coverups and dissemination of false information Patriot Response Group filed a fraudulent lean on our property and the city has been requested to pay the lean from non-federal funds as the as the work done by the cdbg contractors not in compliance with the federal standards and regulations this morning we inspected the documents sent To Us by Miss Gandhi we're even more concerned the dates and the documents are wrong do not correspond with the documents and events on our rehab and with the previous correspondents the city and guardian community Resource Management while our addresses is correct on the property legal description one of the documents warranty for rehabilit uh Rehabilitation a to development we never had them on the property we don't understand what contract ntp means dated January 22nd there were no inspections on 81524 Patriot Response Group was removed from the project on July 26 as we mentioned in the previous emails and now specifically wrote on July 26 to Guardian community Resource Management no one from their company or their proxies are allowed in the property and here we are today again now I understand from an email from Miss Gandhi today that Guardian apparently is g to I guess have a disagreement what the state said I sent you a copy of the state's letter today Oran I sent that to you the state made a ruling the property is to be put back the way it was in accordance with the guidelines we don't need to wait for guardian we don't need anybody else at this point we need a resolution by you guys to have Miss Gandhi get the project back going again thank you for your time Hamilton I have Olga Hamilton good afternoon good afternoon Olga Hamilton 311 Southwest s Street Stuart Florida the city of Stuart CBG housing rehabilitation program as my husband Robert already mention it about the document sent To Us by uh the project manager I would like to bring you attention on the wrong dates and they were attentionally changed on these documents as the document state that we sign it contract with Patriot Response Group on January 20 to 2024 my original documents hand signed document state with sign the documents on March 13 2024 including ntp notice to proceed so why these dates on the documents were changed and now I am concerned what other documents were changed also the disolution agreement was attached with the documents sign it on our behal by Mr pinol gandi have do we did not authorize this disolution voluntary dissolution stating that's 100% all the work complete 85% Windows complete why our names even on these documents while we we are not uh disagree for the city of steart paying from non-federal funds and you have all means to return this money from the Patriot Response Group as they sign it legally documents and and acknowledge these documents that they are responsible for destruction of historical property you can easily return this money but I'm very concerned when our homeowners name used on these documents signed by City officials without our knowledge who they will sent to but I will request probably official inspection of all the documents thank you very much I upset with this fact I'm upset with the fact how far the city officials can go and produce these documents with fraudulent dates on them I understand maybe Guardian community Resource Management sends these documents to uh Mrs H saas and she just signed them she has a lot of things to do I will play Devil's Advocate but when the city official sign documents they need to to to check are these documents through incorrect we have surveillance camera depicting that contractor Patriot Response Group removed their trailer on July 26 they will fire it on July 26 thank you thank you Mrs Hamilton Madam clerk any other I'm sorry I have no more okay mayor um comments by board member board member Collins yeah I just along that lines I don't know if P or Mike could answer if there's a discrepancy with these dates on their forms I don't know about the dates but as far as signing the document we were authorized by Florida commerce to make that payment because there was a lean put on the property and they wanted that lean to be removed so that was one of the date I think that's one of the document that they're talking about that the city signed off on just in the the short story of what happened was they applied for the cdbg grant money they applied for the cdbg grant funding everybody that applies for the grant funding can get a different amount in their case they were awarded $667,000 there were multiple contractors that had been approved by the state to perform these Services when they had the first contractor met met with them them the first contractor gave them the price and it wouldn't cover the roof they wanted the windows they wanted and air conditioning and insulation they chose the second contractor who said we can do the roofing and the windows and we'll try to squeeze the air conditioning and insulation into to the project itself as well they put a red tin roof on when they opened up the house to put the roof on because of course when you're doing this you don't know what the shape of it is the trusses as well as other portions of wood had termite damage it was old and so the contractor had issues and was suggesting they put new trusses in they didn't have the money to do that so they worked with it and you probably saw the pictures of the straps not being exactly in the same place contractor told me it was because they had to find wood that was Hardy enough to grab the straps in any event when it came time to the windows the contractor claims that they got there said look these aren't standard Windows you're going to have to pay extra because they're smaller than standard windows and according to the contractor The Hamiltons authorized them to cut them in whether that's true or not I don't care that's just simply what the contractor said happened as a result all of the windows in the entire house were cut in and put into their positions and sealed in ETC and the Hamiltons didn't were present for all of it they weren't it wasn't like they were out of town they were there and watched them do I think it was 18 windows at the end when the contractor said because of these changes we can't do your air conditioning and insulation that was when the Hamiltons started objecting to all of the problem problems and all of the defects well it doesn't matter Hamilton are correct the windows were incorrect as a result the cdbg people said we can go ahead and we'll make sure we'll take these windows out and we'll put new windows in and restore your building to the way it is but we need you to sign this document so we can pay the contractor that you had before and we can move on to do the new one the Hamilton said no they refused to pay the contractor under the grant Administration we couldn't pay the contractor without the Hamilton signature ultimately the contractor recorded a lean on the property you couldn't pay them what we had agreed to provide in the grant correct because it has to have the homeowner signature on the document once the lean was recorded we were contacted by the state and the state was directing us to pay and we said we can't because your policies tell us we can't pay without the Hamilton signature the state said in this circumstance because of the lean and because of the circumstances we're directing you to pay and they author us authorized us to pay it without their signature the day that happened before we paid it actually two days before we actually paid it I sent an email to the Hamiltons and told them that we were going to be taking care of the lean and getting it paid and getting it removed from their property which I which happened that was now completed the state is now taking the position that they will take the windows out and restore them to the same size windows that they were before but there's a program called shipo shpo which is the state historic preservation office that has because of all this stuff that got Sr up they had an asphalt shingle roof and shipo or the historic preservation office is saying the red tin roof that's on that they applied for to have put on their building does not meet the historic guidelines that they had signed off on to get the historic uh designation on their property and started an investigation on windows and the roof as of right now it has been determined that the windows do not meet the historic guidelines and that they are going to need to be replaced and the cdbg grant has said that they will ultimately let them hire a different contractor to replace them the answer from shipo on the roof has not been specific yet we don't know what their position is on it the LA last communication just mentioned the windows the city doesn't want to move forward on either until we absolutely know whether it meets the guidelines or not but as it goes we will be getting the funding for the new windows from whoever they have it from Florida Commerce and they'll be taking the old windows out and putting the new windows in the Hamiltons are just here saying that we shouldn't have been allowed to pay the contractor and that the city signed off on Andor paid the contractor which I announced to you guys at the last meeting and was done pursuant to Florida commerce direct instruction to stay in compliance with the cdbg grant program as we sit here today I don't know what relationship they have with their new contractor I don't know what they're going to do or not do for them or whether they're going to include the insulation and and air conditioning system that they want but it doesn't matter to me the Florida commerce has said they are willing to pay for what it costs to take the windows out and put new windows in the Hamiltons then take the position that well taking those windows out means that the other contractor shouldn't have been paid because if you take those windows out then the work they did doesn't really mean anything but the contractor says look we did it on Mr Hamilton's instruction we didn't know that he had a historic preservation restriction he told us to put these windows in to save money so that we could could do the AC and the insulation again none of it really matters in the end because the cdbg grant program has paid the original contractor and the Florida Commerce and cdbg grant program is going to pay the contractor of their choosing to put the correct size windows in at no cost to them so the city the city is not being asked to expend additional funds is that correct correct so we have to take no there's no action we're being asked to take I don't yeah I'm not sure what Mr Hamilton wants you to do okay so this is the problem with excuse Mar Mr Hamilton Mr Hamilton okay no no no no no listen I just Mr Hamilton could you let me finish speaking to Mr Morel this is a this is a complicated and long enduring issue here perhaps we should put it on for a more in-depth discussion I'll so I can kind maybe for the more experienc members this sort of ad hoc trying to address it is not working for clearly not for the Hamilton we don't have the final answer from shipo which is the historic preservation office we literally got a letter this weekend or today about the windows but it doesn't talk about the roof and ironically when we were on the the phone with them about to address this at length and respond to public comment I have a I have a really Bic question okay why is this in the CR why are we talking about it at this meeting we didn't expend any CRA funds did we well it's the program was done through the CRA the cdbg grant program was operated by the CRA you could only qualify for it if you were in the CRA and Citywide it wasn't Citywide but they managed it I'm sorry it's a Citywide program I don't care who manag that's up to you to tell to manage it it's not a c program I don't know why we we we're here talking about it C funds were used the administrative cost of came of public comment which is what we don't like to find ourselves doing what what I would propose is it's not fair to either the Hamiltons or the city once the shipo investigation is completed and we have a letter addressing the windows in the roof I'm happy to add it to an agenda and we can reconcile whole thing but the city is not going to get ourselves in a situation again where we authorize anybody to do anything while that investigation is pending I think I I I would agree with uh council member board member cen's remarks I think it belongs before the city commission not here well it would still end up if I said it for a hearing it would be in the CRA because the matching funds were paid by the CRA and that's who did the program okay okay okay okay but I I I'm going to re re iterate what I've said before yeah I know we should have nothing to do with a program like this because we don't have any we have very little power and we have all the blame all the blame I agree so we have we have two other programs which we're going to discuss one of them in a little while and then we have another program the paint the painter program for homes and I think those are the programs we should concentrate on nothing whatsoever like this be fair um here's the letter that was we all we all received it mron one second well he painted a very different story because the city was put on notice Mr Hamilton j23 Mr Hamilton that's why I asked him to set a full agenda item which you will be allowed to speak at length and in depth regarding the issues of concern to you this is there's not really a place for this on and that's fairest then we'll we we'll understand what's fair if the city had did their job and if she had did her job and he did his job they have fail safe programs sir mren it's in the program thank you Mr Hamilton they have fail safe in it thank you Mr Hamilton okay we have no other public comment so do we have comments by board members Mr breckbill board member Breo um I just had a I just had a couple things that I I wanted to mention uh and uh I'll try not to this isn't something I'm going to try to bring as a surprise but it's something we looked at a long time ago um in the CRA we've looked we've looked at opportunities that have come up in the CRA of course the money that we get their tax dollars have to be resent there one of the things that um we had looked at a number of years ago and I think it's just sitting on the table someplace is doing something with Flagler Park tying it into seal and in the connection there into Flagler Park putting the splash pad in Flagler Park and improving some of the equipment the playground equipment in Flagler Park it's one of our greatest resources it's a park right on the river and um and and there's not a lot of things there for young people to do and young families to do so anyway I I just wanted to mention that that we haven't looked at that for a while I know there were some plans drawn up and all and um you know I just think it's something that maybe the the crb or CR I should take a look at again and see if it's something that the city um may have funding for it's it's not a major major thing but it would be a a benefit to the younger families in our community anyway that's all well just to sort of emphasize that board member brickville I had a meeting with panal on another issue and she said one thing she would like is ID ideas and direction from the boards and I think I think you're right I think we should if we see opportunities we should bring them forward and yeah so what I can do in either January or February bring a c plan to the board and we can amend the plan and add the projects that are directed by this board that would help me with Direction on how to move forward projects in the CRA in the meantime you're free to meet with her and discuss what possible well yeah and I just like to look at that plan again because I remember there were some uh people that did that work for free and it was and it it improves the parking downtown and it um it also provides a nice play area for younger families and for grandparents believe it or not too to to be able to it's uh so I would I appreciate that thank you board member Reed I I just wanted to say I agree with you rich about having an agenda item specifically to this Hamilton project I actually have a whole folder with I don't know 100 50 pages printed out that I've been going over the last couple weeks so I'm in support of that it's not a back and forth exchange from the public comments and us up here that's all board member go um I agree and I understand the frustration from Mr and Mrs Hamilton but you would also agree that this is not settled this way so let's have it on a full agenda that we can discuss it and address it and um hopefully we can come to a resolve thank you board member Clark do you have any comments this okay yeah i' spoken to Mr Hamilton recently I think on Thursday I spoke to him and I was going to bring this up for us to try to figure out how we can address it so I'm glad that they came today and that we're going to try to find a way to address it um following up with Mr Breck Bill's comment I think we had done this Corridor study and the area study of the triangle area and there were some ideas about one pier and some other things so I'm going to meet with penal again on some other things and maybe like she said we can come up with some ideas and some project um for the future but I know that in the triangle area we've have a whole bunch of work that the regional planning Council had done and we kind of just focus on the US One coridor Landscaping thing but there are some other things in there so just going to go back and visit that with panal thank you board member Collins I have board member Camp Penney I have none thank you thank you moving on to the action items item number one C budget amendment Mr baget would you like to read that for us resolution number 15224 crra a resolution of the board of community redevelopment agency also known as the CRA of of the city of Stewart Florida authorizing budget amendment number two to the fiscal year uh 2025 CRA budget appropriating and authorizing the expenditure of funds for Memorial Park improvements phase 4 providing for conflicts providing for severability providing for an effective date and for other purposes do we have a presentation by staff would that be you Mr Mart that would be me today so um the reason I shows this picture is because this is actually what Memorial Park looked like in 2007 this is a cement ditch that went across this way and then it intersected with another cement ditch that went across and around through here this was actually the memorial area and then you can see the Band Shell there and the shuffleboard courts parking the racket ball courts and Tennis Courts um up until and then there was a little cement pad there where the stage is um but up until about 200 7 Memorial Park was literally unusable um it was so bad that when Kanis were originally awarded kuas Park the city manager of the city told them they could have any any park in the city that they wanted and they picked Kanas park over Memorial Park because it flooded so bad that literally more than six months a year was unusable in addition to that the original early days of the water treat treatment plant before it had dampers and other things to prevent you from enjoying the FR fragrance from the area U made it even worse so it was literally a swamp for um the first 95 years of City's existence um in 2007 after some discussion the city created a group called The friends of Memorial Park and one of the City commissioners Mary Hutchinson was uh kind of leading the way they had multiple public hearings and um put together kind of a long-term Redevelopment phase of the park one of the reasons why is because artsfest was regularly being held in the park but there were several times that it would get flooded out and that the water was so deep in Memorial Park they couldn't even do it so the Park's approximately 9ine acres in size and it's right next to the Martin County Courthouse in the Stewart water plant the friends of Memorial Park inent was to create a plan as the plan went on uh in as recently as 2009 as they were doing it you can see here it's better angles of the cement run things and they were literally like three feet deep and they would every time it rained they would fill with water problem is they still couldn't move enough water out so all of this area through here would be completely underwater and this would be wet to like sloshing sponge feel this also was underwater um the BR of Memorial Park put together a giant master plan that also included improvements to the streetcape outside of it and it was a multifaceted multi-million doll expense um this is what the park would look like after a rain and this is not after a hurricane this is what it looked like every sat every summer afternoon you can see like the the water lines from where the rain and waterers really lifted up to was a very common occurrence for the park it would be unusable okay this was what the friends Memorial Park were identified with as what they should redevelop they got together and they put together a Redevelopment plan and here it is the plan included a splash pad up here where the Band Shell is as well as the design and then the big Memorial which is right here and then ultimately an Amphitheater and Performing Arts area down at this end during the course of time as it moved forward after 2010 it was all conditioned on funding but what they did is they broke it into multiple phases and as you could see number one the main entrance vet Veterans Memorial uh and this is kind of paginated wrong but one was this main area and then the number two is the pot lot and playground and restroom area that was going to be adjacent the restroom ended up getting changed as well three says the children's play area as well four is the amphitheater outdoor seating five is a public restroom which is here six is the off street so you can see this is cut into the park and there were parking spaces diagonally cut in here in the original plan and then seven was just Landscaping down the center of the road several of the it were changed over time based upon public input one of them being the splash pad the splash but what was surprising is the number of people that really wanted to save the Band Shell the Bandshell became the holy grail and so it was do not touch the Band Shell as a result what ultimately happened was going back to Mr Breck Bill's comments the public meetings and hearings resulted in the splash pad or water feature being moved to the guy Davis Park and as part of that plan we've been working on with guy Davis in any event the good news is that in 2010 the friends of the Stewart had uh got their project together and started doing the design of the new project and uh in 2011 you could see it was well under construction and a giant water feature was designed so that it could manage the drainage all the way down here as well as in here and it started construction as you can see nobody touched the van shell um ultimately when it was completed it had this full water feature drainage system uh that not only uh worked to make the park dry but it actually filtered the water to make sure that it wasn't going through the cement drainage hall right into the roads drainage system and right out into the river but instead gave it chance to percolate into our surficial aquifer it also became the new home of the Veterans Memorial which you enter right off of East Ocean Boulevard um it is now used 12 months a year both day and night by residents uh the revitalization project uh took this underutilized park and really made it a beautiful area that offers something for everyone and there's been you numerous events since then this is the kind of finished version or aerial version um you can see in this picture there's no pedestrian improvements there's no crosswalk here the bathroom isn't there so it as these phases were done they I don't know what just happened I [Music] just till 12 you were right okay right there that's so in any event as each as each phase would come through we would try to get the funding and figure it out and obviously we got the funding for this phase and did it but we couldn't do the bathroom we couldn't do the the street Scapes and we couldn't do other matters and then we got funding for the commemorative plaques and if you look I you can see here it's one two three four five six all the way through the 13 and here are the different plaques identified uh that have all been added all the way around the memorial um it received the uh revitalization project received FAA fsa's outstanding Achievement Award in June of 2012 because of the transition and as well as the memorial um the Final Phase of Memorial Park which is why we're here tonight is and when I say Final Phase it was the final phase of the vision of the friends of um Memorial Park that were identified in in placed back in 2007 8 nine and 10 obviously these phases have been switched around a bit and the commission has the authority to do additional things but the vision that was adopted by the board in 2009 and pursued this would be the final phase of it I have it this is the actual blueprint model of it this is overlaid over the park to show where it is this is the bathroom that currently exists in the park and right here is where the memorial portion this is the courthouse right here and this is that cement stage that's currently there it would consist of a stage right here that's got a covering this would be kind of an elevation so that there's a little Hill here these are park benches underneath trellises and a wide 10 foot wide entry and then 10 foot wide path all the way around the park tying into the rest of the park so that we can do events there such as artsfest but also if the Green Market ever wanted to be there you could put the tents on either side of it and have a bigger place and obviously utilize well as far goes well this is what the stage and uh cover is going to look like so this is the back of the stage that's an ADA required ramp to get up there's stairs on each side the this is the side view that would be the uh bathroom the stage area and the building and then this is the awning it's an aluminum awning that withhold I believe 100 and 100 mile per hour winds but it's also collapsible so in the event of a hurricane it can be taken down kind of like we do with the sun shades over here it also uh uh works as a reflector for the projection of movies and or information on the screen you can see an example of one right here that's kind of what it would look like this is how it would look from above now the final drawings um and uh it's I mentioned here that it's 28 feet tall just because that looks like it's pretty high but the courthouse right next door to it is 45 feet tall and the water treatment plant is about 30 feet tall behind it anyway so it won't be at all out of out of place um this is the final uh phase or uh portion of the park and essentially what we're here for tonight is that and some background on it that happened over the course of the last couple of years in 2021 I believe it was when the arpa funds first came out the commission and uh the city manager approved and authorized funds for the park it went to design the design ultimately got approved and authorized it went out to bid um La while David Das was still city manager but then came in sometime after I was acting city manager and the uh person that was selected for the bid wanted an additional $150,000 because he didn't know there were arpa funds involved even though 16 pages of the 32-page document mentioned the arpa funds being involved anyway we spent a long time trying not to get sued because we didn't want to say okay we're going to go somewhere else and violate procurement took about a year to get that resolved and that puts us in a very tight squeeze because it went the same thing it went back out to bid the bids are in we've got the low bidder but it if we don't issue a PO in December of 2024 we have to send the arpa funds back so arpa is paying about a million five the CRA requests that we had before the CRA board tonight is of 1, 78,000 approximately um that's the balance of what is necessary and the reason for that is we had back in the early 2000s there was an impact fee called Municipal impact fees and it was intended for municipal infrastructure and in fact there's an agenda item from June of 2018 that says the municipal impact fee should be used for Memorial Parks Redevelopment well we stopped collecting the municipal impact fee during the downturn in the economy when we were trying to make it so that businesses could afford to move forward and it was just an additional expense so the commission voted not to continue collecting it as a result that fund was dormant but there was 146,000 and change in the account for it so in speaking with Jolie Finance director we've put that money to this so we can clear that out and don't have to audit it don't have to carry the account forward we're not collecting those impact vales anymore anyway in addition to that the last time we had a uh half cent uh sir tax or infrastructure sh tax as you know the city purchased the completion of Haney Creek about 52 acres to make it a preserve with the county and the county also bought a bunch of land out west and then also bought uh did their water park um we had $33,000 left in the account from that sir tax that needed to be spent either on a recreational facility or on preservation land not a lot of preservation land in Stewart working toward the recreational facility it was either going to be guy Davis or Memorial Park which everyone came first and in light of the fact that this uh new sir tax has just been adopted um by the referendum it seemed prudent to wash that out so that there's not to C tax accounts or so that they're not comingled so there's no question about it use that $33,000 to pay it off and get rid of it and then finally it leads us to the matching funds that are approximately a million dollars of the uh CRA uh Jolie is in the back room but um the CRA has the funding available to pay it it just wasn't budgeted because at the time we didn't know if it was going to go forward because of the dispute we were having with the bidding issue as it related to last year so we need a budget amendment and then at the city commission meeting in the event that the budget amendment happens this afternoon there's also a city commission meeting for the commission to award the bid to the lowest bidder to move forward on it but I wanted to do the presentation during this meeting because that's where the money is do any of the board members have any questions for Mr mortell um having not been really part of it but been at some of those Park meetings and I know Ula was there and I gu you were there and it's been a long drawn out Saga I'm surprised Mary isn't here just to you know have she working fulltime now I know apy but the fact of it is it's really um it's a it's a great opportunity for the city to finish a really good project and it's it's going to make the park perfectly complete I mean from the driving past it and seeing the finished product and when you have artsfest and you have other events in it it's really going to be nice and Mr chair we can finally have a place where we can have a concert we can have things and will be under and it won't be like it's halfhazard we usually borrow the county stage we jump up on that platform and and it's also it's when we when we talk to uh performers they're very concerned about their instruments and their equipment and it really didn't have any protection from the weather so we needed to build the structure behind it and it actually has a bathroom that's going to be built in as part of the stage with an air conditioned room behind the stage that obviously we can lock when it's not being used but then when it is being used you can turn the air conditioning on if someone's performing and someone else is waiting to perform they can be inside and right now if someone's performing and they have to go to the bathroom they literally have to walk through the crowd up to the bathroom that's at East Ocean Boulevard and use the facilities and then walk back to the bathroom but more importantly if it really starts to rain or anything their equipment is at je is at risk there's nothing to get it out of there to to help them so if you want to if somebody else wants to make the motion I just any other questions I just have a question so um it says here that the CRA fund balance is a m78 but I noticed that the actual total cost of is 2,557 that's what I said a million5 is arpa fund oh okay thank you $333,000 are the ctax and 146,000 is the municipal impact fees the U one of the can I make a comment or just board member brick um you know I've been following this on in a long time as well and um you know the city has done a really good job of providing uh the Arts and entertainment but what we've missed and frankly the reason Fort Pierce has more of it and others is we don't have a venue that's large enough to seat enough people to afford to bring in U major entertainment that's the reason L doesn't have any higher entertainment than they it all they can afford is about 20 25,000 with their seating capacity and this I think is still going to be what two or 3,000 it will see it I mean it's obviously not going to have fixed seating so it you it's whatever you could stand in 8 Acres I suppose but that the memorial portion of it's off to the side I would guess it's probably more like 1500 to 2,000 than two to three but like you know I haven't done the measurement to see what it is and I know that back in 2010 Leo and Associates literally did a distribution and showed like if there were seats what it would look like but I can't remember what the number was and and I think that's going to be I think that's going to be a great thing for the city from a cultural standpoint because we do have that Gap in between and um and most of our entertainment locally is a lot of is is all privately funded either through other people who sponsor events and and entertainment or through the lric which is a nonprofit agency so I mean it's I think it's a really good program for the city and the the last thing i' mention though is um is to make sure we take a look at just a couple minor things how we can enclose it and keep people out so it's the the design had been approved by the CRA and the City City commission before it was approved and sent to bid before I was city manager so I'm not we can't adjust the design or we violate the procurement so we're it is what it is well it just might be if you just might look at it see even with it how it is something that we may have to do later but I mean like as bringing in some entertainment you can always put temporary Fen yeah I've had to bring fencing in but I'm just that's all I'm saying just making sure that we've got it but anyway I appreciate that so Chris do you want to say no then I'll make a motion no I just like to make one comment I said anything Mr C I'm sorry board member Clark please uh you mentioned about the seeding I forgot the design has been so long but you and the county we always bore the county bleachers but that means that we're going to have permanent bleachers then no no still going to be some form of sea in there's going to be no so if you look what what Leone Associates did is literally added seats all the way through across as if it was set up as a full event I can find that document I'll email it to everybody after the meeting the only permanent seating that's here right now is this is a trellis that's above this area and there's one two three four benches there and one two three four benches on the other side so that's the only permanent seating as it relates to the view this is going to be a modified Hill so that it's going to be created so that if there's people here and people standing here will be you know two or three feet above them it's a floor so just an incline it's not anything major but it but it'll be enough to elevate them above the people in front of them so they can see it grassy n yeah grassy that's a perfect example it'd be a perfect place to assassinate a president days um and so and then the this Boardwalk is a 10- foot wide paved Boardwalk walk that's going to tie in and you can see right here like where the other Boardwalk already is you see like the line there and then the over the width of it that increases right there you can see where it kind of expands out and the purpose for that is we wanted it to be at least 10t wide so that it'll be able to support trucks and so there'll be a gate here up at East Ocean Boulevard that can be opened the gate can be open and a truck will be able to drive through drive around this see there's a back in here this is designed so it can pull in unload load everything onto the stage and then it can literally pull out and pull back out and get back out of the park we can also do that for artsfest and for green markets and or any other events that might take place in the park so that you can do a one-way thing when people are leaving and literally flow everybody in and out but there's been a lot of discussion and efficiencies and they met with the Arts Council they met with Martin County and they met with the courthouse and obviously they had the public meeting and they um you know went over a lot of these details over the course of the last 14 years because that's how long it's been in the making any other questions board member Clark no I'm willing to Second the Mr kempen his motion if he finish making it I don't think he started it I'll make a motion to I think board member Collins has a question I was going to say is thank you for bringing this forward yes Mike it's been a long time and you were a commissioner when it all it's been a long time I actually would have bet money it wasn't going to happen like Mary and the group that it sounds like a municipal project I'd only like to comment that that we did consult with Jim trollsky who is a professional musician yes did and that was a very strong complaint from musicians about being abandoned outside so this is terrific and the big thing is their equipment I mean they don't care so much about themselves but their guitar or their actual amp is like don't get don't mess with my well those couple thousand extra seats make a differ to them that helps too and with the Sun as well oh yeah the shade of the the pitch of the sh the stage and the courthouse puts that stage basically in the shade for most of the afternoon like past 1:30 or two it's in the shade which is great the chair will now entertain a motion on this item I'll make a motion to approve second we have a motion by board member campenni and a second by board member Clark um is there any public comment on this item see none two thumbs up um are there any comments by I think we're ready for a roll call see none I think we're ready for a roll call indeed board member Collins yes board member giobi yes board member Kim Penney yes board member Clark yes board member bville yes board member Reed yes chair Rich yes thank you Mr bagot will you wait item two for our consideration please resolution number 12224 c a resolution of the board of the community redevelopment agency of the city of Stewart Florida authorizing an amendment to the business Improvement reimbursement program also known as burp criteria evaluation Matrix and clarification to program guidelines providing for conflicts providing for an effective date and for other purposes we have a presentation from staff yes um yes thank you good afternoon SI board members Jordan pingston CRA program manager for the record um as you are aware the intent of the business Improvement grant program is to further the CRA plan objectives to eliminate blight and assisting property and business owners in the Redevelopment of existing buildings site improvements improve property values by creating an aesthetically attractive Frontage that is inviting improve visitor experience and stimulate private investment within the CRA um to give you brief history the property Improvement grant program was launched in 2009 to encourage visible exterior improvements to the commercial and residential properties in the CRA um the grant program provided a matching Grant of up to $4,000 per property and the grant was eligible for improvements such as Windows Doors signage Landscaping Roofing architectural streetcap parking lots and decorative shutters amongst other improvements um the program had a successful application rate including signs awnings new windows landscaping and architectural designs um the program was amended in 2016 and 2017 and renamed to the business Improvement reimbursement program or burp what we call it today the program provided a reimbursement Grant of up to $10,000 per property to match private funds the grant was available to commercial businesses for exterior improvements that enhanced the property with improvements including windows and door Replacements decorative shutters signage Landscaping and Street Scapes architecture and exterior facade improvements were considered on a case-by casee basis um the program was amended again in 2018 to replace eligible exterior improvements from exterior signage to replacement of non-conforming conforming poll signs to conforming freestanding or monument signs to encourage and provide financial support and bring exterior signage into compliance with the city's Land Development code um at the direction of the board the program was significantly significantly amended in 2021 to encourage commercial property owners to upgrade Landscaping on private property and bring the compliance to the city's Land Development code were feasible and many of the properties within the CRA were construction prior to the adoption of the code um also in 2021 the evaluation Matrix was amended further encouraging Property Owners to provide landscape improvements as part of the overall site improvements and restrict funding for improvements such as replacement of windows and doors replacement of existing awnings um exterior painting lighting and decorative shutters over the years the burp um has only has not only benefited from commercial businesses located within the CRA but in conjunction with other programs and projects our department offers and has help the CRA meet our mission which is to plan for a sustainable economic future while protecting and enhancing the unique character of the city this program has provided local businesses with the CRA with some Financial relief for improvements such as curb stops resurfacing restriping mural mural preservation entryway improvements pavers benches Monument signs awnings and the list goes on um that's just to name a few it is important to note that the majority of these improvements were not um contingent on meeting a landscape requirement prior to 2021 um the city has funded 43 businesses and invested um 300,000 Property Owners owners under this program with a 40% return on investment this calculation does not account for surrounding properties that ultimately would have appreciated property values as well due to neighboring improvements um overall the burp has generated over 120,000 in Tiff for the CRA and has contributed to over the 20 percentage average increase in Tiff Revenue over the past five years um this item was presented to the crb on June 4th 2024 and the community redevelopment Agency on June 24th 2024 the board discussed and deliberated regarding the burp guidelines and suggested removing the landscape requirements restrictions for awning Replacements and broadening the overall scope of eligible improvements the board also recommended creating a separate landscape program that would focus on bringing commercial properties into compliance with the Land Development code where feasible and would be offered yearround staff has developed a separate commercial property landscape Improvement program that will address landscaping and irrigation which will be discussed in the next agenda item um the program is designed to support revitalization efforts and reduce blight and improve the appearance of building facades that have an impact and value on the property and marketability of surrounding area staff has made amendments to the agreement that reflect the intent of the program's Mission which has been successful in the years past the CRA will continue to do Outreach efforts to promote the program including Distributing newsletters Distributing Flyers local businesses mailing postcards and social media Outlets such as Twitter Facebook and Instagram um the grant provides funding for a comprehensive enhancements to a building's facade a facade is defined as a principal faces of a building that is on a public Street eligible projects will include replacement repair or addition of at least two of the following building facade materials or elevation enhancements exterior architectural amenities um excluding any outdoor dining program establishments exterior lighting awnings and canopies decorative fences parking lots driveways and Street escapes exterior cleaning and painting replacement of impact or non-impact energy efficient windows and doors sidewalks on private property replacement of wall air conditioning units on a building to energy efficient central air conditioning systems replacement of non-conforming pole signs to conforming Monument signs dumpster enclosures architectural or engineering landscap ape services are designed um with a maximum of 500 um staff does recommend that for extensive streetcape improvements that the applicant also utilized the commercial landscape Improvement program and it is important to note that all enhancements must be located on private property and comply with zoning and building codes any eligible expense incurred prior to the execution of the burp agreement or work performed without the required permits will not be eligible for reimbursement um after an application is submitted staff will review it for completeness and score it with the evaluation criteria standards shown on the screen um Grant applica applications must score a minimum of 50 points to be considered for funding a score of 50 or more points does not guarantee funding however and all funding is contingent on the remaining fund availability on October 1st 2024 the crb was presented the proposed amendments to the burp and the board recommended approval to implement the revised program guidelines other items discussed at the meeting were to create a loan program for businesses to purchase or improve their property and phase out language that promotes asphalt parking lots to encourage perious surfaces on November 5th 2024 staff provided an update to the crb regarding the potential for the CRA funded business loan program staff let the board know that they had met with the city manager and City attorney and many factors were discussed such as loan qualifications Bank participation public records financial information interest rate property leans and funding allocation um but currently we just simply do not have the resources to manage a program of the stature um staff then suggested alternatives to the burp program as a way to further assist businesses who would like to improve their facades um it was previously mentioned by the crb that we could increase the match amount and overall budget to the burp program um there are other cities and counties in Florida that offer similar programs to burp which support facade improvements as part as their as part of Economic Development initiatives um some municipalities offer a large Financial maximum match amount While others provide a higher percentage match staff presented Martin County's property Improvement program to the crb as a possible example which uses a 8020 formula the CRA will provide 80% of the project cost as a reimbursement up to the max of 20,000 per property to supplement private funds and pay for the design and construction of the improvements so for example if a project cost 25,000 the CRA would pay maximum of 20,000 making the owner's responsibility only 5,000 on November 5th 2024 the crb motion to approve resolution number 12-22 24 CRA to amend the burp guidelines without any funding changes um at this time staff would like to open for discussion and request a motion be made to approve resolution number 12224 c to amend the burp guidelines do any of the board members have questions for Jordan commissioner Clark Jordan I know that sometimes we've had problems with people getting the money they've said it's not enough to do what they want or we've had we haven't had enough applicants or whatever but I hope that this one will we've talked to people in the community and you've had you think that we'll be able to get some use out of this doing it this way yes ma'am every year almost every year we max out and we have enough applications for the amount we fund for the program annually however um we I think that separating out the landscape will help okay yeah we had some irrigation thing board member no problem um I have a question because it's my understanding that the um asphalt appr surface is very successful and it's just a suggestion not a requirement for the Loan program yeah I don't know what the cost difference is between regular asphalt and the previous asphalt but I know that one seems to certainly take care of quite a bit of flooding in those areas sure and that was mentioned obviously by the crb I think the overall consensus was let's let's change this the guidelines now and see how it goes and then if we need to encourage pervia surfacing in the future we can address that as needed I mean staff always has their recommendations when these applications come in anyway so we can always strongly encourage it but it won't push anyone us away I thought it might be part of the point system Mr chair for board member go I'm sorry Comm go are you done yes I'm sorry yes board member we have changed this program almost yearly since it came into existence only so that we could work with the applicants so I am sure this will not be the the final iteration of this program no I'm sure changes needed with any of these types of programs I'm thank you any other questions if Mr chair if there are no other questions I'd like to move for resolution number 12- 2024 from the CRA we have a motion by board member Clark I'll second I'll second board member Camp is there any public comment on this item Madam clerk mayor rich I have some questionsly for Jordan is this an 8020 or 5050 they because you saw that the crb I believe you mentioned was 8020 that's what their recommendation was but so the reason the reason that staff brought that forward was as an alternative to a potential Loan program that was requested for staff to research um no this is going to maint be um maintain at a 50/50 like it currently has been okay so it'd be maintained how it has been in the past basically there's no Loan program that's a part of this or it's a grant 5050 matching and that's it yeah so applicants apply and they receive a 50% match of what is spent up to $10,000 so it's still a loan program um that we cap out at 10,000 now looking back historically where it's changed from 4 to 10,000 did did that change because maybe there wasn't enough applicants it was actually opposite it was opposite so they okay so now it's changed because there's less applicants so we can have more funds for each applicant iess and they're kind of requiring a more extensive to meetly and development code regulations um improvements so is to allow them to meet all of the check boxes to clarify it's not a loan no I mean no they don't have to pay us back we no they don't pay us back I think that was discussed originally though they okay so the C sorry for any confusion the crb had requested us look into a loan program and instead of going that route it was directed to staff by the city manager and City attorney that maybe we just suggest restructuring the current business Improvement grant program how many applicants did we get last year that applied last year total because we had two Grant Cycles we had nine we actually had to up funding and do a budget amendment because we had too many all right that's it thank you um okay see no other questions or comments from the board roll call please you got a public comment I asked for public comment and there was none board member Clark yes chair Rich yes board member giobi yes board member Collins yes board member breckbill yes board member Reed yes board member Camp peny yes Mr chagot will you read item three for our consideration pleas Mr CH could I just make one comment relative to that last item I I didn't want to make it prior to the vote but you've already voted on it I know that's just all all I wanted to say is I I still think as as a as a committee we need to look further into loan into the Loan program it's going to affect what's being built into town it's already affecting what's being built in town because your source of funds determines what you do and you know if you can't get residential funds and all you can get is commercial funds you're going to do commercial so the lending program I think is a significant thing and I think we and and I know it takes some Administration but there's people out there that'll administer that so anyway I just saying I think as a committee we shouldn't let that die necessarily I think you should work with staff and perhaps bring forward an item for one of the reasons we were concerned about the lending one of the reasons we were concerned about the lending program was Sunshine um if we're going to be vetting someone's application as soon as they submit their tax return to us and someone does a public records request for all their financial documents we're going to have to give them up and then the second thing was if a person borrowed $50,000 from the CRA but they had a $600,000 first mortgage and they defaulted on the 50 we'd have to pay off the $600,000 to secure the 50 so it would be a real financing thing and we would probably fall under some banking regulations that would be a lot more complicated than we could manage at the current time Mr I I'm like Mr Burke will I'm going to look into what people in West Farm or some other places do on that um Loan program for for sure just to bring see if there's any possibility money away I hear you I hear you we're ready for you Mr I would just like to say one thing for me personally I would like to see us moving away from this kind of thing and just focus on being a government and not be giving money away I voted yes reluctantly because this is what we do but I would like to see us not loaning people money not functioning like a bank uh just focus on uh essential Services would be my personal two cents now we're ready for thank you board member resolution number 13-22 CRA a resolution of the board of the community de Redevelopment agency of the city of Stewart Florida establishing a commercial property landscape Improvement matching grant program within the community redevelopment area providing an effective date and for other purposes do we have a presentation by staff Jordan to good afternoon afternoon C board members Jordan pingston C program manager for the record um today staff would like to discuss the proposed guidelines for the new commercial landscape Improvement reimbursement grant program the city of Stuart community redevelopment agency commercial landscape Improvement program is an incentive program designed to encourage irrigation and visible exterior landscape improvements to the commercial businesses in the city of Stewart uh CRA area to meet the steuarts lane development code requirements uh commercial businesses are ESS to the fabric of downtown Stewart and for the past 15 years the CRA has offered businesses Financial relief for improvements made through the burp program but over the years program initiative shifted and guidelines and evaluation Matrix matrixes were amended to encourage upgrades of landscaping and trees to remot shade walkability and bring businesses into compliance with the city's Land Development code um staff and business owners have found it increasingly difficult to fund facade and building improvements along with the additional landscape requests for the burp program the crb and CRA supported staff to implement a separate program focusing on Grant assistance for business owners to plan to do significant landscape improvements the commercial landscape Improvement grant program or clip can be used in conjunction with burp or could be applied for independently the CRA recognizes that many properties within the CRA were constructed before the adoption of the city's current land landcape code um this has left the CRA with many commercial properties that have little if any aesthetic appeal it is the intent of the CRA to rectify the situation by encouraging all eligible applicants to upgrade Landscaping along the perimeter of a commercial property that abuts to the public rideway and interior parking lot Landscaping to enhance the visible appearance of the property and provide shade along streets to improve walkability and promote economic Vitality if there are site limitations the applicant may consider planting shade trees within the city's rideway adjacent to the property and this may include but not limited to Asphalt removal plant materials native plants and shade trees um for this program irrigation is a requirement for reimbursement the CRA has allocated 25,000 of CRA Tiff funding for fiscal year 2025 to budget for this program the grant program provides a reimbursement of up to $5,000 of public funds per property to match private funds to pay for the design and complete of the landscape improvements the commercial landscape Improvement program shall provide a 50% match Grant reimbursement for any eligible landscape improvements up to $5,000 which are consistent with and further implement the city of Stewart um Redevelopment plan and Land Development code funds may be used for one or more of the following types of enhancements landscaping around buildings and lot perimeters for buffers parking lot Islands Green Space um Landscaping could include native plants and shade trees where feasible installation of irrigation systems Demolition and removal of asphalt concrete impervious surfaces to add landscape areas but the following is not eligible for funding on its own but may be funded as part of more comprehensive landscape Improvement decorative walls fencing Planters Hardscape plazas um similar to the burp the applicant shall assume responsibility for main maintenance of the improvements funded with grant for a minimum of 3 years failure to maintain can negatively impact the future funding of projects for the subject property um the program will not reimburse the grantee for work previously done or already underway prior to the board's approval of the grant it is the intent of the CRA to fund applicants on a first come first serve basis staff will review the proposed improvements and conduct a site visit applicants even those that meet eligible criteria may not be approved if the project conflicts with objectives and goals of the Land Development code if the applicant is applying for a burp simultaneously which is strongly encouraged um that the applicant must complete the application form for both programs and submit them together with all the requirements of the package acceptance of an application to one program does not guarantee an approval of both programs on October 1st 2024 the crb was presented with the proposed program guidelines the board recommended approval to initiate the new program with the provided guidelines and budget and on November 5th 2024 the crb motioned to approve resolution 13224 CRA to establish the clip program staff is excited to implement a new program that we believe will create more visual appealing commercial properties PR promote economic vitality and bring commercial properties back into compliance with the Land Development code in the CRA and with that staff would like to request a motion to approve resolution 13-22 24 cra are there any questions of Jordan by the board I do mayor Rich commissioner Reed board member Reed yeah I I I know it talks about maintaining and stuff and it how it can negatively impact funding can you explain further on that how it would affect funding does that mean from like a board perspective like if they're not maintaining it we notice that it's more so for future funding so if if they don't maintain what we granted them initially and they came into apply for this program again or the business Improvement grant program then we may not put them on the same rate scale setting code enforcement out if they don't maintain what they did through the progr well that would be general for anyone so okay and how many applicants were there for this last year this is brand new we haven't started it yet establish yeah commissioner uh board member Reed that we did this from the crb's perspective because of irrigation well yes in in order to break it apart and and so it's a it's a minor program when you think about it but it also is a trial so this was created then I think I remember last year through the last program that we just discussed you were limited because they needed irrigation and I think that's why a lot of applicants weren't doing it correct I'm wrong yes and they didn't want to spend their money for the facade program gotcha so this was for irrigation so this is a little different to allow that and again if it doesn't work out next year it may be gone okay that's all then thank you any other questions of Jordan by board members no it it says that it would be in compliance with the Land Development code and I know that we had some issues about rideway and some other things the other day so we'll work through it I'm sry board member Collins I think it seems reasonable but to to push back a little bit on your point once these things get established it seems like they never die you have a point there for sure so uh again I'm just going to say to separate it made some sense if we're going to keep the other program and apparently we are uh you know I'm more on your line when it comes to this kind of stuff so uh I don't know what else to say but the crb did recommend its bro board member breckell I would just remember that I just mentioned that I may have a conflict because my building is one of those that might be eligible for this so perhaps you should recuse yourself I I would be happy to but uh fill out that paper make that I along that line I will mention one thing you can't you just recused yourself that's right I'm not going to vote I just making a comment your cake and have it too Mr bre I'm making a com can have this piece of the pot you know we do a lot to try to preserve trees and Landscape in the city um I just throw out that I hope this program will dovetail with whatever our code issues are uh like just say for example the property I've got if I were build on that I have to build up on the street right which means I have to tear out all my trees because all my trees were put on the street so I'm just saying some of this stuff we just need to look at it because we may be doing something that then then we're going to re require somebody to tear it out again in in 3 years or something so that that's the only other comment I have considering we didn't have zip four yet uh I'll make a motion to approve we have a motion by board member cenny May mayor Rich may I I want to ask Mr Lee baget something then so is Mark recusing himself from voting because he has property that he could potentially apply for for or or you have an application in or something I don't I don't have one in so how would that work for like if I have property commercial property that I'm may or may not be a part of what I recuse myself then or how does that work Mike or going to apply he knows he's going to app I know Mike has anything to add but he seems to have an imminent thought that he might be applying got I see the front I don't foresee myself applying dead trees in front of his property okay okay which we actually do vote on the awards don't we okay so there second member second I thought I second thank you for cl okay we have a motion by board member cenni a second by board member Clark is there any public comment on this issue seeing none uh questions or comments by the board I have none I have none seeing none Madam clerk call the role please chair Rich yes board member Clark yes board member goob no board member Collins no board member Reed yes board member Kenny yes board member bre bille yes the vote is 5- two 5 to two 5 to two the motion passes says staff update does such a thing exist Mr mortell sometimes but all see no other items for our consideration this meeting is adjourned e for