[Music] w [Music] e [Music] w [Music] e [Music] e [Music] [Music] w [Music] w [Music] w [Music] [Music] e spe where good afternoon everyone do uh meeting date Wednesday special Commission meeting meeting date Wednesday Wednesday July 24th 2024 at 6 p.m. commission Chambers 500 Southwest 109 Avenue roll call Madam clerk thank you madam clerk going number two and Pledge of Allegiance and let's stand and remain standing for invocation I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for turn it on make the best decisions the right decisions for the city in Jesus name I pray amen amen thank you commission V seal who don't do you have any public comments Madam clerk opening up no so no one's coming to the podium order to Mr President yes go ahead sir I ask notice an error on six Mr Marco vian's name needs to be added to this okay so we want to do that now or moving it over after Mr attorney it was supposed to be added on it's probably a little error just ordinance to read uh first reading mayor Diaz and commissioner V this was his original ordinance came and spoke to me about it and it's only fitting and respectful that his name is added on there okay yes sir thank you okay all right moving to five a resolution of the city of Sweetwater determining the proposed millage rate for fiscal year 2024 to 2025 the roll back rate and date time and place for public hearing as required by law directing the city clerk to file said resolution with the Miami day County Property Appraiser's office pursuant to the requirements of Florida State statutes and rules and the rules and regulations of the Department of Revenue of the State of Florida providing for a transmittal providing for an effective date trim requirement right we got anyone has uh any questions about the milit rate if I can I would like him to read the rate okay and read the situation we are flat again this year we're moving forward we have the the funding that is needed we're going to proceed to do the things that we basically m IC last year we're putting on some new things when it gets to the moment when we get to the budget to tell you about it and let you know they're all positive and they're all good but with that we need to get the title and if you may sir good evening uh commissioner Scott melburg Finance Director City of Sweetwater uh the proposed millage is to remain flat 3.5 634 they will generate additional $1,897 56,000 in property tax revenue uh the average tax value in Homestead is $71,700 68 we will continue our $100 uh Homestead Property taxpayer rebate program uh there are approximately 1,711 Homestead Properties so that means about $171,000 anybody who has the Homestead at the time we do it will get that um we have additional resources for parks department in the budget to develop their programs in youth sports leagues baseball soccer karate Aftercare and recreational uh activities we're continuing the senior center programming and the additional meals Sweetwater Police Department in this budget will have in the proposed budget has three additional officers going from 75 to 7 72 to 75 four will be in the next budget uh making a total of 76 it funds the collective bargain agreement which had a 3% cost of living adjustment for the police reduces the officer pension contribution by 1% from 10% to 9% and has Capital funding for equipment surveillance cameras and police veh vehicles uh the international Union of painters and Allied trades our other Union and other city employees will get a 3 and half% cola on October 1st uh we have our first ever capital budget and Five-Year Plan in here it's kind of a starting point to figure out where the city wants to go over the next few years for some major things that it needs to do um new Grant revenue from the city of Sweetwater in the capital budget includes $1 million and three different grants from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for drainage and Street improvements uh Miami D count Road impact fees hopefully we're going to get $1 million from them for 112th Avenue uh the Florida Department of Law Enforcement half a million dollar for a uh police uh Command Center and the State of Florida Department of Economic Opportunity another million and a half uh for drainage and Street improvements we're continuing the infrastructure improvements on Fifth Street and Fifth Terrace I drove by them today this before I came here and they're they look a little better than they did a few weeks ago um we have additional money for sidewalk repair and replacement an additional $50 ,000 for tree planting in the city we have funding for the city's new website which will have enhanced online services for the city residents in business and finally we've done away with the um elected officers pension plan and substituted a 401 with funding in that for the Commissioners starting October 1 and all of you have now filled out the paperwork um so those accounts will be set up and you'll be able to see them soon and I wanted Scott to go through this and basically give you the overview real fast I know there's there's another meeting coming in so bottom line we're going to go on to this when we sit with the budget we sit with each one of you like we did last year we go through this whole thing we Edge out but pretty much everything's consistent to what you guys asked for I ask you to move forward with the rate so we continue on and then we could start doing the real work once we start with the budget heads on and you will notice one thing the the budget actually goes down um it's not that our revenues are down but this is the general fund thank you we took the building department out as state law says we need to keep the building department in a separate fund so that we keep track of their revenues and expenses and don't have too much left over at the end of the year so we've moved the building department into its own separate fund made sure that there's no problem uh defending those fees and having someone come in a year from now and say I don't want to pay you guys have all the money you need so as promised to you we have looked at every Department we're continuing to look at every single situation that could be present that was one that was picked up and we changed it immediately is reflected into this budget so there is no confusion that's the difference that you saw it went down a little more but it actually went up but since we have now a separate Department we put the money in a separate account it reflects it properly by way the way the law should reflect so go ahead yes um the building department and the code department is the same department or okay code enforcement stays in the general fund okay building and Zoning okay are in the separate fund right zoning is allowed to be a function of the building department The Code Compliance not okay that's they the same building well they're in the same building but they're not going to be paid for from the same building that's building pay for the building department general fund will pay for Code Compliance all right thank you Scott so we're looking at uh the proposed uh milit rate is 3.56 34 correct I want to move Mo move we have Mo move by commissioner Yan second second by commissioner Diaz Ru call Madam clerk commissioner Yan yes commissioner yes ma commissioner Diaz yes yes commissioner V yes president Ray yes he passes all right you didn't need to add anything yes Mr President yeah before we move over we're gonna I'm going to read over correct uh section three from this same resolution and that will include that the date time and place of the first public budget hearing be will be and is hereby set by mayor and our City commissioners at 6m on the 9th day of September 2024 in City Hall Commission Chambers 500 Southwest 109 Avenue Sweetwater Florida 33174 so just to make it clear everyone knows September 9th 6 p.m. you need to add anything else no no no that's we're good that was it all we moving to six on here byot thank you Scott on ordinance of the city of Sweetwater Florida reaing ordinance number 4806 and ordinance number 5057 codified a statute 2-20 city code of ordinance providing grounds providing for cability providing for codification providing for an effective date this is first reading and it's from mayor Diaz and commissioner vua this is uh as you know commissioner vua had done an ordinance pack when it it had to deal with Co and officers and the people here it has changed drastically since then we we've modified and looked at the situations we looked at other governments the way they do things and this is why we're taking this away because this creates other conflict having an automatic five days to somebody to be out and then say well I still might have a testing positive so when really the the most most governments have a three-day out period or something some don't have any anymore some simply work it with the person and deal with it accordingly so this is the reason uh commissioner ran is not here obviously he's out but he came to speak to me about it I explained to him and he said oh okay now I understand perfect I'm with this 100% so out of respect I asked him to please you know make sure that we do it together I I so just wanted to make sure you know just I know commissioner Veno is not here he is part of this ordinance but I do agree that you know if he I know he's not here but it's in his good faith and that that he's also agreeing with this along with you I will go ahead and accept it and I think you know we could go ahead and move on with this absolutely move my has been moved I'll second the item or commissioner I'll second the item roll call Madam clerk commissioner ree commissioner Diaz yes commissioner V yes commissioner Yano yes president Ray yes he passes on first reading thank you so we uh motion forour to the share can I say something before we finish pleas of course you can okay I'm happy to announce which I'm very excited about it um I can tell you that our Squadron future Sweet Water C Squadron is going to be the best in the whole the county we already have installed the first simulator which had pass by you know you told me I can open you can see it it's outstanding we're going to go to the second one a mayor I appreciate because the cadesa we're going to bring they're going to have the best training any squad can have I really appreciate it and thank you very much for only for him and all the support guys we're going to have an amazing an amazing Squad pushing so hard you know you commissioner ER we went through very hard times in this city and you were the the captain at the time of the Civil Air Patrol and those Sil Patrol cadetes stood outside and waste deep water doing traffic and in the discipline level and some of those um kids at the time Cadet kids went out to be officers of high ranking officers in the United States military especially in the Air Force and it was through your leadership that that happened so we should appreciate you and what you're doing and what You' done and I know that basically you have recruited half the people in this place right now to help out so our goal is to give you the tools that you need and I'm sure other people are going to be part of this in the future I definitely sir you have to see you know what we are planning and it's really really outstanding Mario is working very hard for us and so is uh an CH and the city clerk and the deputy City Clerk and the Nancy downstairs everybody's starting recing Rec besides that she's been very effective and uh Mario is uh worked very hard in fact we're doing a double situation remember I explained to you in the Horas we're going to try to modernize it as much as possible we have an issue with the echos and the things that we've had an issue since we built the building back then when I was a mayor and we're bringing screens on both sides that are going to be automatically they come down on either side depending on the need whether it's a movie night that we can't do it outside because it's going to be rained out we can now do it inside we're going to have projectors we're going to have a sound system uh that's going to be uh incredible we're doing everything we can to improve and this could go with the grants that we have have that were brought here so we're good I I want you to understand something everything that we're bringing all the millions of dollars of grants that we're working hard to bring it's it's not easy very difficult in today's world very competitive but we're making it happen but this what you're doing is something that brings me a lot of satisfaction Because by the way I'm going to get on one of those uh simulators and try my best if I could fit in it but I'll do the best that I can believe you have to see totally well thank you for what you do 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