City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order the Apopka City Commission meeting for July 15th, 2026 at 6 p.m. Before we head into the invocation, I just want to acknowledge that today is the four-year anniversary of losing one of our own, Mr. Austin Duran. His impact on our community is very long-lasting, and we will be feeling it well after today and beyond. So I just want to acknowledge that we've come a long way, but a long way still to go. So I just want to acknowledge that, and I will turn it over to Commissioner Ruth for her invocation.

This is Pastor Caleb Hill with Apopka Presbyterian Church here in Apopka. It would be my honor if you would bring in the invocation. He does have an emergency he has to go to, so right after the invocation, he's going to be leaving. So I appreciate you setting us up for greatness.

Please, everyone, stand.

Heavenly Father, we come before you this day with both gratitude and humility, acknowledging that every good and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. We thank you for your hand that is on this place and on this people. Thank you for this city, for those who have taken up the torch and accepted the responsibility of serving this great community. And we pray tonight that you would grant each of our leaders wisdom and clarity, integrity, and a genuine desire to seek the welfare of all whom they seek to serve. Bless our city, O God. Protect our first responders. Strengthen our families. Prosper our places of business. And let your divine favor rest on all those who call this place home. Let your will be done in Apopka as it is in heaven. We pray it all in your mighty and in your matchless name. That is Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, son. Thank you for that. Commissioner Ruth, if you can lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you so much, Pastor. Appreciate it. Have a great evening. Bye-bye. Please have a seat. I'm going to give you back this chair. It keeps going up and down, up and down.

Thank you for that.

Thank you, Commissioner Ruth. No, that was great. Thank you. We will now move on to the public comment section of our agenda. Commissioner, or excuse me, Mrs. Boone, do you have any public comments for us?

So, Dr. Moyer.

Good evening. My name is My name's Dr. Jim Moyer. I'm the elected Orange Hill and Woodard Conservation District 2 supervisor, and this presentation is mine and mine alone. Mayor Nesta and the City of Apaka were nice enough to allow me to, whoops, allow me to have office hours here in City Hall starting tomorrow, June, I mean, July 16th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Edbass City Administration Conference Room here in City Hall. As a reminder, The Orange Soil and Water Conservation District and all Florida soil and water conservation districts are some of Florida's nearly 2,100 special districts. A special district, according to law, means a unit of local government created for a special purpose as opposed to a general purpose, like the Popka Commission here. which has jurisdiction to operate within a limited geographic boundary, which in our case is Orange County, and it's created by general law specific act, local ordinance, or by the rule of governor and cabinet. In our case, it was created by general law. The purpose of the soil and water conservation districts is to provide assistance, guidance, education, landowners, land occupiers, the agriculture community, industry and general public and implement land and water resource protection practices. The legislature intends for solid water conservations to work in conjunction with federal, state, and local agencies in all matters that implement the provision of this chapter. That's why I'm here and have been for some time to work with local agencies. This is a more specific definition that includes all the exact words from the law. The UN report that I previously mentioned, chronic groundwater depletion, water over allocation, land and soil degradation, and water pollution, they're with all, in my view, with all within the scope of Orangeville and Water Conservation District. Thank you for your time and God bless you all.

Thank you, Dr. Moore.

Good evening. Good evening. We've had a little rain, and that's helped a lot. We've had some beautiful days, too. I have something I brought up years ago and then repeated a couple years ago. And I've worked with many, many, many nonprofits, both locally and internationally. We have rules we need to abide by. And one is that you need to be registered. You need to have a 501c something or register with the state as just a general nonprofit. You need to have a business license to do that. But you also have to have, in the state of Florida, to receive one penny, to solicit one penny of donation or to apply for a grant, you have to register with FDACS, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. as a nonprofit soliciting donations. Some do not solicit donations, nonprofits. But if you want to solicit a penny or apply for a grant in the state of Florida, you have to register with the state. And then you need to file annually. The proper way to file annually to make the report proper on FDAC's Check of Charity is to submit your annuals electronically, and then it puts the right numbers in there. A lot of people are not even doing their report at all. And I filled out those reports. They're very simple. It represents, it's a way for the citizen and governments to go in and look at how much you spent on services, which should be 80%, 90%, 95%, how much you spent on administration, and how much you spent on advertising. And when we see very little in one category and a lot in administration, rent, those kind of things, then the business is not doing any good for the services that they're supposed to be providing. Running events, when you run an event, it should make, a fundraiser, it should make money. It's supposed to make money to do your services. And if it's not making money having an event, you're just out there playing ball or kicking a golf club around or whatever, eating food. You're not making money for your people you're supposed to be serving and the product you're supposed to be producing for them. So it's imperative. And people were coming before this board that had neither a state license nor registered with FDACs and were getting money. They were going on to parks, our public parks, and soliciting funds at events.

Thank you, Dr. Olmstead.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Albert McKamey, 3603 Golden Shem Road. Appears a consensus opinion in the city is that transparency is improving. However, the jury on accountability is out. Social media is often criticized for giving false information. Please feel free to hold me accountable if you think I do so. Bullying and harassment is being reported all over social media. and we see incidents of it happening regularly however it's also been reported that it's happening within city hall within staff and more so there was a report of an incident this week allegedly which included a commissioner which I find abhorrent. No commissioner should be coming in here and put pressure on a member of staff to change a decision. Whether or not that's true, I don't know at this particular moment in time, but I will be making some public record requests to try and identify what happened and why it happened, if it did happen. Accountability. If I don't get accountability, there's only one thing I can do, and that's start to write ethics complaints. It's not something I want to do. But yesterday I downloaded paperwork for ethics complaints and I have a problem with the city. I have a problem with commissioners whose tenure overlapped things that happened in the city and I can't get answers to. Primarily, we're going to speak about what was dumped into the hole at Golden Gem Road. I put up videos, so commissioners, during your tenure, you are aware of what went into that hole. At some point or other, we have to decide whether to be legally accountable or what we can do in terms of recovering any money. If you're not going to do that, I'm going to be making ethics complaints. If you're not going to answer questions, I'm going to be making ethics complaints. I don't want to do it, but I've asked you nicely, I've sent you emails, I don't even get the courtesy of responses half the time. Not good enough, commissioners. So, we need to know why... The rights of way on Kelly Park Road has been lying since November or December. We were told that you would proceed with eminent domain. That happened. I've asked why. I've asked for information regarding the amount of money that's lying in escrow. not been told. I've asked about impact fees, not been told. You expect us to come here and oversee your budget calculations. How can I possibly do that when you won't give them information? It's not good enough, commissioners. If you don't want me to start sending ethics complaints, you're going to need to do something because it's not a threat. It's a promise. I'm going to hold you accountable. You took an oath of office. You promised me transparency and accountability. I've seen the transparency. Now I want to see accountability.

Thank you, Mr. McKinney.

Sylvester Hall, Rock Springs Ridge. I had the honor Saturday of participating in the 2650 Foundation. And it was a great event. And the weather was beautiful. And I didn't know I was that out of shape till I started trying to run. But it's one thing to support our firefighters. You guys are going to have that contract coming to you soon. We can take photos. We can go over there and bring food and all this. But that contract is going to tell me what you feel and how you feel about my firefighters, our firefighters who risk their life on a daily basis. So I'm just... Standing by, there's nothing more important than the fire department, the police department, and I'm going to throw our teachers and our educators of our communities for our communities to thrive the way they should thrive. So please take that into consideration when you see that contract. I was there. Everything that they're asking for, I think is legit, and it should be approved. So we'll wait and see what your thoughts are. And I'm going to keep saying this in the city of Apopka, the state of Florida, in our country, too many good people standing by watching bad things happen and not doing anything about it, being completely silent, sometimes being complacent. So I say to you, we have to stand united against racism. We have to stand united against corruption. We have to stand united against greed. We have to stand united against hate and we have to stand united against white privilege. And I know a lot of people frown on me when I say those words, but just understand what's going on in our country today. And you should understand why I say those words. When we normalize the abnormal, we desensitize the truth to the point the truth doesn't even matter anymore. And then we try to have an intellect conversation on the abnormality that's going on in the country. So please take that in consideration. And just as a reminder, if you are elected official, appointed official, you are there to serve the people. And you must understand, and this is why I keep repeating this, you must understand that the truth matters. Laws matter, morals matter, ethics matter, leadership matters, Lord knows we need more of that, character matters, integrity matters, principles matter, rules matter, facts matter, procedures matter, Honesty matters. Accountability matters. Responsibility matters. Justice matters. Content matters. Wisdom matters. And all God's people matter. When we start governing by those values, we will have a country that we all sit up here and say, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We will truly have that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Holm.

Thank you, sir. Nikki McGuire.

Nikki McGuire, Naomi Kids. Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, and everyone in the rightful place. First of all, I want to thank you to City of Apopka and everyone who has helped Naomi Kids over the past, well, 14 years now. We appreciate you. And I just want to, everyone, just take a minute to just breathe. Lately, we're all in a rush. Everything's just happening. And we not remember to just do the one thing that we have control over, to just take a deep breath. So... With that being said, I am here before you to ask for help regarding our back to school drive for Naomi Kids. We appreciate everyone who has given so far. And in the spirit of transparency, later on in this agenda, you will hear that there is a grant being given to Naomi Kids. We appreciate that if it's approved. However, that money is already accounted and spent already. So right now, we are in need. We're doing, because everybody do, back to school, just the basic backpack and supplies. So this year is our second annual back to school clothes shopping at Ross. Vice Mayor, I hope you will be joining us again. We are still in need of a total to raise $1,278.03. The breakdown is we still need nine Ross gift cards, so that would be at $100 per child. That's $900. We need 16 backpacks, which will come to $320. We need 14 packs of markers, which will come, and this is Walmart priceless. $13.58, 10 bottles of glue, which will be $5, 10 pencil cases, which is $9.70, and 85 spiral notebooks, which is $29.75. You can reach me directly at 407-883- 5585 to let us know how you can help. We will prefer the actual items so it can go directly to the families, but we understand time. So if you aren't able to do the shopping, yes, we will accept the cash to go do the shopping. If during business hours, you can drop off at 743 South Central, the back building where we located. After hours, Domino's Pizza on Main Street and Central. There will be a box to collect supplies there, but we do ask to avoid too much of one and nothing of the other is that you check with us before buying the items to put it. Thank you, everyone. Have a great evening.

Thank you, Ms. McGuire.

Leroy Bell, Maude Helen. I didn't have anything to talk about until the millage. And I commend Commissioner Anderson for standing on her beliefs. We just went through this about a chief of staff. When she went through the budget, I think the amount was 300 and some thousand dollars for this position. This more money than the man made. Then we turned around, we had a commissioner saying that this chief of staff would do different type of work and do all this lobbying and stuff. But then we already have a lobby from the old administration. His name is Greg Robinson. Yes. This is my time right now. Thank you. And when Commissioner Anderson came up with what she disliked about this, it don't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Commissioner Barron kind of got on to it. If he had mentioned about taking this out, maybe we could have gotten where we needed to be. to move it on. And I understand that we need to raise the millage. We really do. It's things that need to be paid for. But then, Commissioner Ruth, I think they tell me that you catch more flies with honey than you do manure. When Commissioner Anderson had her disagreement about what she disagreed with it. You know, I don't think you should shut her down like that. I think you should show her respect and listen to her. And she needs to do the same to you. I think we can get there. We're going to get there. But how do we get there? We don't know what's going to happen in Tallahassee with the vote. We don't know how the property taxing thing gonna roll. But then at the same time, while you're trying to lift a burden, you put more burdens on the resident back by putting in these big time positions with these big time salary. If you look at Apopka's salary right now, we are salary heavy. Look at the money that we are paying. It got to be some cuts somewhere. And if we residents, if we got to tighten our belts up, guess what? Y'all need to lace up your boots.

Thank you, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, sir.

Scott Ballew, founder and CEO of Matthew Soap Ministries. First off, I want to thank you, City of Apopka, for working with us and hearing us. We have had the pleasure so far of meeting with three of the five commissioners, with the mayor, vice mayor, And Ms. Barron, Ms. Anderson, and Mr. Ruth, we are coming. We just haven't gotten there yet. I want to kind of update you real quick. We've been talking about this for a long time. Let you know that the sleeper bus is coming to Apopka probably somewhere in September. It is expected to be showcased on September 18th, so it has to be finished by then. an event that we're going to. But I want to let you know that we're working on it and working hard. And Apopka is probably going to benefit the most out of this thing because the truth is, now that we've had them running in Brevard and we've learned the ins and outs of it, And we have built three other buses that are on the move. What I was told by our bus manufacturer the other day, the person who's doing the renovation for us, is that this will be the showcase bus. So I'm not sure what that fully means, other than the fact that we've learned with each bus where we wanted to do things a little bit better the next time around. Not that you'd ever noticed on any of them, because Matthew's Hope doesn't do anything without excellence, or we just don't bother to do it at all. Also, the reason, as some of you know, that we met with you, our intention is to make our place here in Apopka. We are looking for a way to put a substation, for lack of a better term, over in this area, just because, quite honestly, the largest population we serve is coming out of Apopka. You know, and we're serving right now all of West Orange County, slightly into Lake County and Claremont. But over the years, this is where we've invested the most amount of money. This is where we spend the bulk of our time is right here in Apopka. So we started to look at the way things are going economically and realized that it would be smarter if we could get closer somehow and then bust the folks off like we do a couple times a week back to our location when it came to mental health, medical assistance and things like that. But there's a lot of things that we think with cooperation with the city, putting our heads together. I've said for a long time, we just finished our podcast today, so I dressed up for you. We said it today. We've got to bring the public and private sector together. Without doing that, you can make dents. but you can't create a storm and we're looking to create a storm and find ways to get these folks off the streets, get them the medications they need. You have a, I'm going to put it plainly as a pastor could put it. You got one hell of a mental health issue over here. No, let me rephrase that. Mental illness. There's a big difference between the two. And we have been very blessed to be able to have the right folks on staff and that work with us to be able to address those issues. So come, let us talk to you. Let us put our heads together and watch what we can do. We waited 12 years to get to this point. Let's make it happen. Thank you all.

So when are you bringing the bus here?

We're looking at mid-September. I'm pushing them faster because quite honestly, with this heat right now, it's miserable. It's miserable. Thank you all.

Is there anybody else that maybe didn't submit a card that would like to speak right now? All right, we will close public comment period. Move on to the approval of minutes. Does everyone want to review those? Any questions? Any comments? If not, I will look for a motion to approve the meeting minutes for July 1st, 2026. So moved. Moved by Commissioner... Me.

Barron. Barron, yes.

Thank you. Seconded by Commissioner Ruth. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

General review. Mr. Williams, welcome back. Thank you. Thank you. Back and at it in office. No changes tonight. Okay.

Awesome. Thank you, sir. We'll move on to consent agenda. Is there any questions on the consent agenda? Any items going to be pulled for discussion? Sorry.

I'm at three.

Metro plan. All right. Perfect. Other than that one, I'm looking for approval for consent agenda items one, two, and four. Moved by Vice Mayor. Second. Second by Commissioner Ruth. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Metro plan. Who's going over that agreement? Mr. Williams, do you want to?

Good afternoon, Mayor, Commissioners, Radley Williams, Interim City Administrator. The Metro Plan funding agreement is our annual amount to be part of the Metro Plan program. This year, we do have funds budgeted in the amount of, I believe it's a little shy, $32,000. It did come in a little higher this year from Metro Plan. We are able to absorb that in the current budget. But this is our annual membership required from the city to participate in Metro Plan.

And that's for the total residents who live in the city, right?

Metro plan covers the whole city, yes.

Okay. One of the things that I wanted to, you know, their primary source of advocacy is for the transportation?

Yeah, transportation and planning, yeah.

Okay. And I've been doing a lot of back and forth. learning on that. And that's one of the things that I think that we need to really have a strong leadership on that team to where we get some of those federal monies back to this way. So I'm for this, I'm for supporting it. I just wanna make sure that we put the best people at the best job. So we really need to make sure that we're getting some of those federal dollars back. Because with all the warehouses that we have, one of the problems we have is we got all these warehouses we got the heavy equipment but we can't get them in and out so they they lie empty uh until we can get and we can advocate for some of those funds to do the road improvements to where we can get in and out of them i just want to make sure that that uh moving forward that this is not just another thirty three thousand two hundred ninety dollars going without having advocacy behind it so understood

Okay. Any additional questions from Commission? Anyone from the public wish to make a comment on this? If not, I will look for a motion to approve the annual funding agreement between the City of Apopka and Metro Plan Orlando. Moved by Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Ruth. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Business item number one, award contract for the Golden Gem Reclaimed Water Pump Station. Mr. Sherwin?

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. The item before you is to award the ITB 2026A308 for the Golden Gem Reclaimed Water Pump Station to Carr and Collier, Inc. in the amount of $11,545,700 with contingency of 10%. It comes to $12,770,000. Any questions?

Any questions for Ms. Sherman? And well, I'm surprised. That's great. Just for the public, this is the Golden Gem reuse pond pump that has been delayed for some time. This will finally be able, we're able to pump water into the reuse pond. We've never been able to pump it out. So this will help to initiate and start that project going. I believe right now too, we're working on the West Pond or we did the design for the West Pond, which is approximately 50 million gallons.

Correct. The preliminary design is completed and our consultant is finalizing design for of targeting end of August, and then we'll put that out for a bid for construction.

For a small plant. Perfect.

And so that'll give us 50 million gallons of capacity, not only to be able to pump in, but with this being completed, be able to pump out as well. Is there a timeline associated with when this project will be done?

It's a little over a year.

A little over two years.

Isn't it a little over a year of the plant?

We have 18 months.

18 months.

18 months from beginning of September.

Okay. To get this online. Okay. Any additional questions from commissioners at all?

Remember, that's behind the rainy season. Yes. It's well overdue. It's one of those things that we're backfilling because it got kicked down the road.

I've been pushing this one as quick as possible, and it's been needed for a very, very long time. I'm happy to see it. Yes.

Probably becoming a 3603 Golden Gem Road. Just one little bit of concern. The pump station itself won't have any head of water above it. Originally, the city was given a grant of $1.5 million to put a tank in there. I think it was a 3 million gallon tank. tank of water was in there obviously it's a little bit late to change the specifications for a pump house now but the fact of the matter is if you've got a head of water the pump doesn't need to run all the time you've got a head that can actually displace the water without the pump why was that station that tank changed. Where did the $1.5 million go? You may say there were tanks put in another facility, but that tank, the money that was handed over, and the newspaper I had specifically said the grant of $1.5 million was for Golden Gem Road.

Thank you, Mr McKinney. Any other public who wish to speak at this time? I will close the public comment period. Do we have answers to that? I don't remember specifically that.

We no longer have that $1.5 million in grant. It was taken back.

Okay, so we don't have that. It was awarded.

It was never received at one point, yes.

And was taken back? Yes. Is there a reason why?

I can provide that information to you from what was shared. You have some information?

Yes, I do.

I believe the $1.5 million, there's some confusion with that. That was for the Northwest water treatment plant, for the ground storage tank that we just completed. And that was through, there was a federal grant that was given about four years ago through Congresswoman Demings. Yes.

So that was one. Is there another one at all? There was.

Yes, there was another one, and that was about $2.25 million to my recollection. And that was a combination of funding between St. John's and DEP. And I think St. John's was 33.3% and DEP was 16.7%.

I can get you the information.

And that's the one that was taken back then?

Yes, sir.

And that was for that tank, this $3 million tank?

For Golden Gem. It was something related to Golden Gem.

Yeah, that was related to the Golden Gem overall project for the recline water facility. It was going to be used either for the ground storage tank or some piping or the pump station that we're getting into right now. Okay.

And then did we remove that tank from the plan?

The tank, the ground storage tank has been removed from the original plan. Okay. Is there a reason for that? I don't know. I wasn't here at the time. Yes. Understood.

I think it was a letter. I'll see if I can find when the grant was taken back. Okay.

Gotcha. We did close public comment, please. Nope. That's okay.

when I get up here and I, Sylvester Hall, when I get up here and I speak, and I speak in general, because I speak in general, hoping that you all will understand and you all will take responsibility and give answers. This is the reason why we need an audit. This is one of the main reason we need an audit. We're getting ready to go into, we got a fresh crew here. And we had a lot of turmoil with the last administration. Now we're getting ready to go into it. It's like you got a checkbook. You wrote a lot of checks. You don't know how much money you got here or there. Nothing is balanced. And you're going to move on in that state of mind. That's nothing but disaster. And so I don't want to be pointing everything out. And that's why I say it in general. But you all are on a time clock. Just know that because when the lights are turned on on everything that's done in the dark, there will be no room to hide. And then it'll be too late when you're facing your family because sometimes this put your family and other loved ones in harm's way. So I'm asking you to do the right thing by the people. Do the right thing, please. Moving forward, you have a chance to make a popcorn. what it's supposed to be. And that's a great safe haven for everyone who live here. You guys are directly responsible for that. Please take that seriously because I am. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Holm.

Thank you.

Please. Moving forward, when we ask for public comment, please come up during public comment, please.

Well, when you get new information...

I understand, but there's a process to this too. Thank you.

A lot of citizens north of Ponkin are very upset. And I know that I've had discussions with the director. And there's nothing they can do. As long as, you know, Lust Road ponds are empty, Golden Gym isn't pumpable or working, and the ones at the Northwest don't have pumps out of them. We're looking at a situation where they can't even have irrigation companies will not even go into Rock Springs Ridge. to run their, to test or fix their irrigation because during the day, there has been no water pressure because the tanks are being filled. There is a project being worked on now to try and resolve that. But the rest of the night, and the time in which irrigation can happen outside of business hours, they're not getting any pressure either a lot. So they get out there and their irrigation systems aren't working, even when daylight, the non... hot time of the day is allowed. So it's imperative that we get this fixed and get it soon. When you bring water up from the south, from Cleveland, and it runs out after a period of time and it doesn't get to Ponkin, it doesn't get to Rock Springs Ridge, and it doesn't get to the people up by Northwest. So it's imperative that it get fixed because people's equipment's being ruined. They're missing work. Irrigation companies won't come work except during business hours, and that's when the tanks are down. So I'm glad that he's going to be working, Glenn is going to be working on a resolution for that with his men.

Thank you, Dr. Olmstead. Anybody else? All right. I will look for a motion to approve the awarding of a contract for ITB 2026-80-308, Golden Gym Reclaim Water Pump Station to Carton Collier.

So moved.

Moved by Commissioner Ruth, seconded by Commissioner Barron. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Next up, the Nonprofit Grant Program Selection Committee Recommended Awards for Fiscal Year 2026 Grant Application Window. Mrs. Lewis.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners.

Good evening.

Precious Lewis, Grant Administrator. The next item on the agenda is the Nonprofit Grant Program Selection Committee Recommended Awards for Fiscal Year 26 grant application window that ran from April 1st through April 30th of 2026. So the City of Apopka's Nonprofit Grant Program was developed to provide assistance to school organizations, booster clubs, and nonprofit organizations committed to supporting youth, at-risk individuals, and senior-focused initiatives here in Apopka for the Apopka community. The program's second grant window for fiscal year 26 opened on April 1st and closed on April 30th at 4 p.m. A total of 19 applications were received from the organizations and the groups that are shown on the screen and also included in the staff report. Of the 19 applicants, a total of five organization applications which are now being shown on the screen and also included in the staff report were ineligible or withdrew due to incomplete applications or the inability to meet programmatic requirements. So the nonprofit grant selection committee met at the Apopka City Hall on Wednesday, June 10th, 2026 at 1 p.m. for a public meeting to score all received applications. The selection committee members were Lorena Potter, she's the chair, Dr. Loretta Forlow, Martha McRae, Maribel Brinkle, and Sylvester Hall. The results of the scoring are on the screen and also provided in the staff report. And the selection committee has recommended awards for all of the eligible applicants. The recommended awards total $70,000 with remaining funding for the nonprofit grant program approved in the fiscal year 26 approved budget at $73,000. If all the grants are awarded, the remaining funding for fiscal year 26 will be $3,000. So in addition to providing the award recommendations, the selection committee did provide some feedback and recommendations. And so we wanted to give an update on those. One of the previous requests from the October cycle was to have a city staff member do a compliance review of all of the documentation that was sent in. So this year, when all of the applications came in, we reviewed everything to make sure all of the required documents were included in the package. If they were not included in the package, we reached out to those organizations to allow them, explain what was missing, allow them the opportunity to submit in. The feedback given to us was that it was very helpful for the committee before they even got the packages. They were all complete full and there was also an inclusion of the email with the items that were missing and the process that we went through to get that. So one of the new requests that we had were some of the selection committee members wanted to have the printed packages prior to the selection committee meeting. So this year, everything was sent electronically via SharePoint. So they did have all of that about three and a half weeks prior to the meeting so that they could review all the documentation. But moving forward next cycle, we will have the printed documents ready at the same time the electronic ones are for pickup for those who would prefer the hard copy. There is one item on the slide that was not in the staff report that was added afterwards. There was a previous request during last cycle to do a workshop for the potential applicants, and that did occur in April of this year prior to the cycle closing. We did do a workshop where applicants or potential applicants were able to come in. We provided examples of the documentation that we were looking for. So unfortunately, our committee chair, Ms. Lorena Potter, was unable to be here today. So in her spot, we do have a couple of selection committee members, Mayor Bill Brinkle and Sylvester Hall, that if they have any feedback or are available to answer any questions in regards to.

Excellent. Thank you, Ms. Lewis. Team?

Good evening, everyone, Mayor, Commissioners. This has been a wonderful program because it showcased how our community and the nonprofits are doing a terrific job here. I'm very pleased with the process. Precious has done a tremendous job streamlining the process. The nonprofits come in, they give a little overview of what they're doing. It's wonderful to see how our community and these nonprofits are doing terrific work here, which is the main point of it. Yes, sometimes they're missing a paper. but we have workshops and they have provided those papers i also want to say i had an emergency so i couldn't be to the end of that meeting but our vice mayor commissioner diane she was here and she's been here great supporter and i want to thank her for her support diane if you want to say a few words about the program and how you

Well, you know, I went to both. Yes. The first grant that you did was kind of a lot of the applicants did not show up for the first one. Yes. But that wasn't a requirement. The second one, the requirement was that they had to come and make a presentation. And so I sat through the whole thing. Right. I was there probably till six o'clock questions. Yeah. Because then after everyone made their presentation, everyone left, and then it was the committee that kind of talked among each other, and they talked about how they awarded, and they agreed on the award. So it was interesting, and I thanked Precious because I sat with her and told her that I was very impressed with how they had streamlined the whole program, especially One requirement was if you're asking for a grant, you should be making a presentation to the committee. So that was a big thing and everyone did show up. And you had a list of all the documents that they did have to have. And before that, Precious did do all the research. And each of you had a book.

Yeah, it was wonderful. And actually, I want to say these nonprofits are working with very little, but they're doing a lot in our community. And I wanted to bring that point up because sometimes we feel that when we give money to certain nonprofits, something is wrong, but they are proving, we have a system where they are proving where the money is going and what they're doing in the community.

And the only thing I went after, we did this. Are we following up with that organization? I wasn't sure about that.

Precious. As far as after the grants.

After we award them.

Yes, ma'am. They have to do quarterly reporting. They have to do? Quarterly reporting. Okay. That's good.

Yeah, so I want to commend Precious and I want to commend you and all the council for supporting this program. Anybody have a question for me?

So let me just say this. This is what's actually, I'm really excited about this program. This is a program that I championed for and I advocated for when I first got on council. I'm glad to see that the council came around because I know some council members was not sure about this program. So I'm really glad that it's very successful. I get a lot of feedback for a lot of the participants that have actually received funding. So I'm excited. And my goal is to, like I said before, to actually grow this funding to more than $100,000 eventually with some private matches. And I have been speaking with other local companies that are interested in matching this. And hopefully by next year, they'll match it at another $100,000, maybe up to $200,000. So I'm really excited about this. This definitely was one of my babies and something that I advocated for. And I'm glad to see it's actually successful and happening. So thank you guys for participating. And my goal is to get you guys some more funding.

Yeah, and the funds are actually, when the nonprofits come in, one of my biggest concerns was the percentage to the community and to the administrative field of the nonprofit. There is no such scale, but through the 70, 20, 80, is what is a custom. And they are showing that. So I want to make that clear. And about the agricultural designation and letters the agricultural department sent, if you want to solicit a penny, they send those letters to the nonprofits. And we know that the nonprofits have gotten these letters. Maybe Precious can follow up with that. But that is, if you have a 501c3 or any 501, the Agricultural Department send this letter and they get to fill it up and send it.

Well, you pretty much covered everything. I want to say, excuse me, I want to say thank you to all the nonprofits. Just imagine the last three or four weeks, the heat and the humidity that we have had. And you are homeless. I don't say unhoused, I just say it like it is homeless because we try to sugarcoat the word so it don't emotionally disturb us. But you got homeless people out there on the streets and the streets are actually on fire. So thank you for what you do. And all the other ones, I was happy to see each had their own little spices that they was doing in the city. And that helps the city as a whole. It's not a one size fit all. Everybody got their specials, and that's what makes this city great. So thank you again for what you guys do. We had to sit through 15, and the way she had everything laid out, all the requirements, every requirement was there. They had the documents to show it was there. Same thing we should do when these developers come in. Just lay it out just like that. It just made it so easy to go through and do the grading criteria. And some of us still got it wrong. But thank you so much. Thank you so much for your hard work. And again, to all you nonprofits out there, thank you for what you do. Because some people need to get and go walk in your shoes for a day or two. And they'll just realize that that $5,000 is BS when it comes to what you're doing out there. So thank you again.

Thank you, Mr. Holm. Thank you, Ms. Sprinkle.

Thank you.

And Ms. Lewis for that as well. Thank you for bringing this all together in a great way. What I really appreciate is that the, thank you to all the committee members that they provided feedback each year to really kind of see how we can refine this and make it better, not only for the city and the commission to understand what we're going through, but also for those that are applying that that process was more streamlined and more efficient. So obviously as we navigate budgets and things like that, we've got to see how this shakes out. So we just got to be mindful of that. But for now, it's exciting to be able to help this community in the way that we are. Any other comments or questions from the commission level?

Well, today we did get an email, you know, where there was some questions regarding and you did get the email because I did forward it to you from, you know, from a constituent that was saying that there was some criteria that each one had to meet. But we did not have it as a as a as a requirement on our website. package for the 501c3. So if you could just talk a little bit about that.

So it was the registration to check of charity, and because that's fallen under Florida statute, I'd like to defer to our legal counsel to interpret the statute there.

The answer to the question is yes. Under 496.404 and 405, there is no requirement not be registered with the state of Florida under the program mentioned by Dr. O in order to apply for a grant. And the reason is because grants are specifically exempted under 404 and it's actually sectioned, it's defined as... Attorney Shepard, can you make sure your mic is on? Oh, sorry about that. It's in the definition section of what constitutes a contribution. And so specifically grants are not contributions and therefore She's right about everything she said, except that there's this exception for grants based on the definition of what is a contribution.

Understood.

And what was that on the 4? 496.404.5, subsection 5. The term contribution does not include funds obtained by charitable organization or sponsor pursuant to government grants or contracts.

Thank you for that clarity. Any additional questions? All right.

I will open up to the... Just a statement. It's nice to meet you. You as well. I haven't officially met you, so nice to meet you. You as well.

I'll open up to the public. Any public wish to speak?

I'll be making me 3603 Golden Gem Road in order to work out how successful this program has been. Is there any indication of how many people have been applying for the grants every time it's been opened up? And it's great to know that we don't necessarily need to be registered with the agricultural department because with small nonprofits, every time you've got to do paperwork, it's a nightmare. So just that one question, how many people are actually applying for these grants and how many are being accepted? And are we looking more favorably on local charities rather than ones that are spread wide?

Thank you, Mr. McKinney. Any other public comments? And then, Ms. Lewis, if we can get that answer ready for what he just asked as well. Thank you.

I believe that we should make sure that the charities, and I appreciate this program. I think it's very worthwhile. I'm in and been with many, many charities. But the concern is for a state license and registering with FDACs because they solicit funds. And according to my call to Wilton Simpson's office today, they said that a grant needed to be registered. Now, whether it's in the statute or not, or whether it was in a case law or something, is not what was informed to me today from Wilton Simpson's office. Because I went back and said, okay, have I forgotten something or have they changed the law to allow them not to have a nonprofit period not register? And we need to look at that. We also need to look at the finances a little more that the screeners, the readers are excellent. They did a great job. They did a lot of work. But they may not know how to read a 990. And not all of them may be making a profit and that profit being used on services. So those are my concerns. And I saw holes. And in order not to give funds out to organizations that are not state licensed, not registered with FDACs, as they are required to do, whether it's for a grant or not, they're required to be registered. or give money to an organization that is losing money and not using their money on fundraisers and not using their money towards services, I feel this needs to be tabled until... it can be reviewed, that everyone is checked for state license, everyone is checked for FDACS registration, and that their finances are reviewed to under, again, with a clarity of what that document meant. Yes, they produced it, but that document doesn't necessarily mean they used any money towards services.

Thank you, Dr. Olmstead.

Okay.

When we started this program, it was to help these nonprofits. As we go with this program, we have changed many things as the advice of the commissioners, the community, the nonprofits. Nonprofits don't have big budgets unless they're nationwide nonprofits. We're talking local nonprofits with tiny little budgets doing great things in our community, and we're focusing on the nonprofits that are here. Yes, sometimes there is these questions. But as we are awarding this grant to the nonprofits, they're already waiting. We're having the school backpack program coming up. So they need these funds. This isn't like we're going to table it and the kids are just going to wait. It doesn't work that way. There's kids waiting for these funds to be applied. And these nonprofits, they need the money. Yes, there's questions. Attorney Shepard can't look into the legal ramifications of this, but I don't think it's fair that we're gonna table when they have complied with everything that we have tell them to comply so far.

Thank you, Ms. Pringle. Mr. Hall echoes the same sentiment. Any other public comment? All right, we will close public comments. Any final comments from the commission? Or I did want the, if we can answer the question to the amount of applicants versus those that are.

This is the third round. On the first round, there were six applicants. On the second, there were seven. And this time there was 19.

Excellent. Okay, good. We're growing in that capacity. And I think it comes with marketing. And obviously it's something we can do better as a city overall, just market what we do have available. So awesome. Thank you for that. Any final questions? Or comments? All right. Well, I will look for a motion to approve the Nonprofit Grant Program Selection Committee Recommended Awards for the fiscal year 2026 grant application. Move. Move by Commissioner Anderson.

Second.

Second by Commissioner Barron. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you.

Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.

Appreciate you.

All right. Next up. And I'll read it from up here. But actually, Dr. Patton, I'm coming down there and read some stuff as well.

So did you want to introduce and then I can skip my part?

Yes. But moving on to ratification of Mr. Stephen Montiero for the public information director. So I will come down, read a little stats about him and welcome him up as well. Well, good evening, Madam Vice Mayor, commissioners and public, both in person and watching online. I just want to thank everyone for being here tonight. I want to go back a little bit and explain kind of how we got here, why we got here. One of my major promises to the residents in Apopka during my campaign was that we were going to make City Hall more transparent, more accessible and more responsive to those that we serve. Since taking office as mayor of Apopka, had countless meetings, both with staff, department heads, business owners, and many residents throughout our community. A common theme that emerged was twofold. One, our employees are doing absolutely incredible jobs daily, but we as leaders are not doing great at making sure that their jobs are communicated effectively out to the public. And two, our residents, which connects to the first one, are not seeing where their tax dollars are going, and hence why sometimes a budget process can be a little frustrating. This is why one of my first priorities as mayor was to create a public information and communications department. This department is about service to the residents through accurate information being conveyed during emergencies about major city projects. Obviously, one of the biggest ones, obviously, Golden Gem we're talking about and many other infrastructure projects we're going through right now. And it's to celebrate the accomplishments that our employees have done through their very hard work. This department also serves to build confidence that City Hall is open, accessible, and accountable. I think we've done a really great job at that so far, especially since I've taken the seat as mayor to make sure that residents feel comfortable coming in and that they feel that City Hall truly is their building. Over the last month or so, a competitive recruitment process has occurred through our HR department. from reviewing applications to in-person interviews. From those interviews, one candidate truly fit above others for what the city of Apopka truly needs moving forward and kind of the mandate that was set out through this most recent election that we've experienced. This evening is my privilege to present Mr. Steven Montiero, known to many throughout Central Florida as Trooper Steve, for your consideration and respectfully ask for your confirmation as the city of Apopka's Director of Public Information and Communications. Mr. Monteiro has served as a morning anchor and traffic safety expert at a local news station, as a public affairs officer with the Florida Highway Patrol, and proudly served our nation in the United States Air Force. One of the things I will say this that I was most impressed with with Mr. Monteiro is his hair. I'm sorry, his heart for public service. That's what I meant. I'm sorry. He understands that communication is one of the most important services a government can provide. And I'm excited about the future of POPCA and confident that Mr. Monteiro's experience, leadership, collaborative spirit, and dedication to public service will help us build a more connected, informed, productive business environment and transparent city government. So with that, I would like to introduce Mr. Monteiro and invite him to the podium to say a few words, answer some questions that either our commission may have or the public.

So you're up. Thank you. Absolutely. You guys are a little bit more intense than the morning news, I can tell you that right now. So if you do not know who I am, I'm going to take just a few minutes to kind of glide over that just a little bit. First, good evening, Mayor Nesta, members of the city council, city administrator, city staff, and to everyone who took the time to be here today, I want to personally thank you guys for being here. My name is Steven Monteiro, but although many people throughout Central Florida have come to know me as Trooper Steve, and it's truly an honor to get the opportunity to stand in front of you guys tonight. Before I say anything, I'd like to recognize a few people who have helped me throughout my career and my public life. First and foremost, My incredible wife, Camila, thank you for your constant love, patience, and encouragement. And to my mom, thank you for everything sacrifice that you have made and teaching me the value of hard work, humility, and being there for others. And to my dad, who is no longer here with us, I thank him for being the best man I've ever known. I'd also like to thank a few other people that have allowed my career to absolutely thrive. First and foremost, Captain Kim Montes that is here, my former news director, Alison McGinley, and my family, my friends, and former colleagues, and present colleagues that are present in this room, and everyone who is online who have chosen to be here with us tonight, I thank you. I was born in this great state, raised here in Central Florida, and when I look back on my career, I realize something. I've gotten the opportunity to wear three different uniforms. one for my country, one for the state of Florida, and one for television. I tell you, the television one is probably the most comfortable out of all of the other ones, but all shared one exact mission, and that was serving people. That mission began in the United States Air Force, where I had the honor of representing our nation, both here at home and overseas, including a combat deployment in Iraq. The military taught me a few things, discipline, accountability, and teamwork, And that true leadership is never about yourself. It's about the people who count on you. When my military career service ended, I came home and continued that mission with what I find to be one of the best law enforcement agencies around, to include APOPCA, but the Florida Highway Patrol. For years, I had the privilege of serving the people of Florida, responding to crashes, helping families through tragedy, educating motorists, and working beside some of the finest public servants I've ever known, including some of the ones in this room tonight. Those years taught me that public trust is earned one interaction at a time. Nearly 10 years ago, I was given another opportunity to serve, this time through communication as a news anchor. From a patrol PIO to a news anchor. Talk about a blessing. As Trooper Steve, I had the privilege of building relationships with people through every community in Central Florida. Every morning, I had one simple responsibility. One, provide information that was accurate, transparent, understandable, and most importantly, relatable. It didn't matter where someone lived, what mattered, or did it matter what they believed, or what background they came from, my job was never to divide people. It was to help them. Over time, I learned that people may not always like the information that they are given, but they will almost always appreciate honesty, consistency, and transparency. That philosophy exactly what brings me here in front of you guys tonight. I believe communication is one of the most important services a government can provide. It shouldn't begin when there's an emergency or after misinformation has already spread. It should happen every single day. It should be proactive instead of reactive, accessible instead of complicated, and focused on building trust long before the trust is ever tested. Apopka is a city with incredible momentum. It's growing, it's evolving, and filled with dedicated employees who quietly work every single day to make this community better. Now, my responsibility isn't to become the story. It never has been. My responsibility is to help tell their story, to shine a light on the people serving this city. to celebrate what's actually working, to explain difficult decisions with honesty, and to make sure residents feel connected to the government that represents them. I also believe innovation matters. Communication has changed dramatically over the past decade, and government must evolve with it. An old-school mentality just doesn't cut it anymore. My goal is to meet people where they are, embrace new technology responsibly, strengthen relationships with our community, and continue finding better ways to keep residents informed, engaged, and connected. Most importantly, I don't expect trust to be given because of where I've been or what I've accomplished. I expect to earn it from you guys through the work I'll do here, through my actions, through my accessibility, and through my commitment to serving every resident in this city with professionalism, integrity, and respect. If you place your confidence in me this evening, I'll approach this opportunity with the same way I've approached every chapter of my life, humility, transparency, innovation, and a servant's heart. I work every day to earn your trust, most importantly, serving the people of Apopka, supporting the mayor, and supporting our city employees. Listen, I thank you for your time here tonight, your consideration, and for allowing me the opportunity to continue to serve. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Monteiro. I feel like we discussed 90 seconds, though. Just kidding. Truly appreciate it. I have a tendency to run.

Any comments, questions to Mr. Monteiro? I do. I wanted to have one question. And is this a part-time job or a full-time job? Full-time.

Okay.

I'd be leaving the news. Okay. To be honest, I've already resigned.

Well, you know, I've already had my discussion with you over the weekend, and I appreciate you taking the time to, you know, and I was really tough. I was really hard-hitting because, you know, one of the things that I've always, as many problems as the city had, you know, I didn't need to be sold on your job because I think in the past your job has been, the the hardest thing to digest in the city because a small select group of people had the narrative and it was always spun in such a vicious uh vindictive way and it you know years later we come to find out that everything that was said was untrue um And I shared some of those events with you. And one of the toughest questions I asked me, who do you serve? And he told me the city. So I want it to be transparent. I want it to be full time.

Absolutely. And I think the goal, too, with this, too, and thank you for those comments, too, and obviously feel free to jump in at any point, is that we're moving this city forward, obviously, with this election that just happened. It really was a mandate that we're ready to be done with the past and move forward to the future, really bring positive light to our city, and not in a distracting or untrue way, but just an accurate way, and show what we're doing really well, show what we're spending time and money on, and show that what truly makes Apopka incredible and why there's so many people still moving here. It's not because of... anything other than we have something so unique that other municipalities don't. And crafting that properly and getting that message out there is truly key. So thank you for that.

So I have a question. Yes, ma'am. So in addition to your duties for our city, will you be supporting our chief of police along with our fire department?

I happen to know the chief personally. We've known each other since her days at the Orlando Police Department, along with I served full time at the Florida Highway Patrol. We've had the opportunity to have a few discussions. My job is to really elevate both the fire department and the police department. And we've had the opportunity to discuss some of that. And this is me fully jumping into the water here. I'm not just tipping my toe.

No, and I appreciate that. And the reason why I ask that is because I want to make sure that when we have a very high level investigation that happens in our city, it doesn't go mute. Absolutely. Police department supported that our fire department supported and that our city is aware of what's happening in our city. It's that's important. Our residents deserve to know that as well. So I want to make sure that I have your word that when we have a high level investigation within our city that I'm going to see you up in front in front of those cameras.

Absolutely. I think crisis communication is vital to anything. And one of my mentors are in this room and I was taught very early on, fall on your sword. Whether you're right or you're wrong, you need to get the information out in front of the people. And I think the community appreciates that a little bit more than hush.

Yeah, we've done that too long and we can't do that anymore.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Thanks, Commissioner Merriman.

So we had our meeting this past week and we talked about social media. And one of my concerns was, and I discussed it, throughout my time in office, I have depended on social media. There was no one in the city really kind of defining our issues, our challenges. I constantly was not depending on social media, but realizing the messaging that was going on in social media. And it was very difficult because I always felt like we were behind the eight ball for every challenge that we had going on in the city. It was already out there, all the negativity, everything that was wrong. And how did we come back from that? Because it felt like all the time you had excuses. And so that was one of the challenges that, you know, I felt we had. And we used to. There was a time that we did have a PIO. And at that time, I felt that we were moving in a good direction because that PIO was fantastic. always ahead of whatever the problem may have been that we were facing or any crime statistic, whatever. He was always out there to say, okay, we know about it. This is what we're doing. And it sort of... gave some ease to our public that we were aware of what's going on in our city. The last few years, social media has been really determining that for our city. And so we're now in a position where this last election, the public spoke. They wanted to go in a new direction. They wanted a new leadership. And that's where I want to go. I don't want to keep going back. I actually haven't been to church in a while, but I actually went to church on Sunday and I felt like that sermon spoke to me and reminded me because you can be very stressful when you're kind of reading all the social media. And it is stressful for me because I'm saying, wow, the messaging for our city is so negative. It's like we're in chaos and we don't know what we're doing. And then when I went to this and I heard the sermon, it was about We can't change the past. I can't change what has been going on. I can take it and just say, let's just move forward and let's just plan for the future. And let's start doing things that people can see the change rather than kind of staying stuck. And that was the word, just staying stuck in something that wasn't working. And we're trying to figure out, well, how do we get out of there? We do have... the resources to get out of there. And if we don't have the resource, then we have to figure out how to get out of there. So having someone being able to tell our story that way, I'm really appreciative. And I told you then that I supported that. I have been following you and we were able to talk about our own public service beside what we do now. And of course, you know, your service to the community to our country and maybe i didn't serve in in military but you know what i served as a wife and as a mom amen and it's the same way when you serve your family serves may i respond it is um there there is a lot of things that i've learned in 10 years on the news and first i didn't the news found me

Like as a law enforcement officer, when the news comes in and goes, hey, we want you to join our team. I was like, uh, but it ended up working. And what I learned through that is if you do not write your own information, the news is going to do it for you. And we, as a community, whether you live here in Apopka or anywhere else, you should not go to your page of Facebook, social media, any platform that the people are actually watching and not see anything, but see something on a Rants and Raves page. And then people are getting that information out. If you're seeing something else on social media, you should be able to divert directly to your government's page and actually have information coming out. You should not wait hours, if not days, for the city to respond to something. And seeing that, I've learned which cities work, which cities currently do not within our community, and I'd like Apopka to work. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

So I just want to say that I think you, I mean, your, your resume speaks for itself. I think you would definitely be a great asset to the city of a pop in the residence. So my question is not actually geared towards you. I think you would definitely be a great asset. I just want to kind of understand kind of like the process with this, I guess the, the, the position, the budget kind of understanding that, that part of it. So I guess maybe Joe or someone could kind of explain that to me.

So the process was that the position was created from the mayor's office. From that point on, it went through the budget process to find the funds for this position. Uh, at that point, um, we advertised it, I think it was May 20th for two weeks. Uh, it was advertised. We had about, we had exactly 54 applicants from all over the United States that applied some of those applicants, uh, which we, which we discussed a few days ago. Some of those applicants were not, you know, qualified for the position. Um, Through that, the process, those screenings were between myself and the city administrator, Bradley Williams. We went through all 54 applications, vetting all those individuals. At that point, I believe we had, we came down to 12, we had to go back. And then out of that 12, we selected five to interview. Out of those five, Mr. Montiero was included in that, obviously. Out of those five, we had two applicants that went forward to another set of interviews with Mr. Williams and the mayor. And out of that, they selected Mr. Montiero as the candidate for this position.

Okay. So, in particular, I was discussing in regards to the budget, this position. So, this position was a reclassification from the transition, transaction, what was it? The transition coordinator? The transportation coordinator. Was that, was the reclassification?

I don't believe it was a transportation coordinator.

I think it was a reclassification.

It was, I'm sorry. Lots of positions.

So, that position is no longer needed. Is that accurate? That's why we reclassified it? Yes.

That's why it was reclassified, right?

Okay. So in the new budget, there was a problem. That's probably a question for Blanche. I'm sorry.

That's probably a question for Vlad.

This was a reclassification of the transportation coordinator. And in the new budget, I think we're in the new positions that are still being evaluated. There's a request for a transportation planner.

So is there, I guess what I'm trying to understand the difference between the transportation coordinator position and transposition, the difference between the two. I'll let Vlad come up.

I think the planner is on the body.

Good evening. The transportation planner is within the community development and it usually addresses the long range transportation planning. And the transportation coordinator was an existing position that at some point was with community development. Then it was moved to public works. So we had a person that was filling in that position until sometime, I believe the end of the year of 2025. And we tried to change that. We reclassified another position into a transportation and traffic senior engineer they will cover to basically have an engineering position instead of a transportation coordinator. Because our belief was that we need an engineering position to address some of the technical issues and not really a planner coordinator position. So we reclassified it as a... That position was not reclassified. We reclassified another position, which made kind of this position being... in a transition, right? They can be used for different classification into another position. So we still have the transportation and traffic engineering position open as of today.

So we just combined the position into one position, so we no longer need that position anymore? We combined it into one position? Yes.

Okay. Yes.

Okay.

Any other questions?

No.

All right.

Thank you, staff. Anybody from the public would just speak?

Albert McKamey, 3603 Golden Gem Road. When I first learned that Trooper State was going to be available for this, I thought perhaps it was a bit of an overkill. And then I thought, no, it's not. It's not a cost. It's an opportunity. Because when you look at the face of a popka, you never look at the face of a popka as anyone sitting on the dais. You know, we love to hate you guys. So with Trooper Steve, we have a new face for Apopka. If I go on social media, as much as, you know, he's going to be my nemesis on social media. If I look at what I see, if I look at what I see, I see Grady Judd and I see there's a man, there's a man who's fighting for a city. Now, when we see Trooper Steve, whether it's on news, on the podcast, we're going to understand that's the face of Apopka. It's not just the information he's going to give us. It's who he's going to influence to come to Apopka. And the fact of the matter is, somebody who has credibility will bring people to Apopka. And that's what we need more than anything just now. It's credibility. And I thank you guys for bringing him here. I see a great opportunity. And I hope he puts me out of a job. I doubt it because I dig and I ferret. And I dig up information before you guys get it. So, you know, hopefully that's not going to happen in the future.

Thank you, Mr. McKinney.

I'd just like to say... You just mentioned that if you don't write your story, the news will write it for you. And, you know, I really truly believe that. You know, the Florida Supreme Court just pushed back on this legislation that Ron DeSantis had as woke Florida is where woke come to die. They pushed back on that. And just to push back on just a little what one of the commissioners said that let's forget about the past and let's move forward. No, we can't do that. It's a lot of ugly stuff in the past that if you don't address it, it'll pop right back up at you. I believe you qualify for this and I hope that the diocese all agree to bring you aboard. Because this city is built up, especially in here. There's a lot of people that serve. I know Hitler. There's a bunch of veterans in here.

I'm a retired Navy. We got retired Navy.

And it's just, I understand that. You was in Alfort. We ain't going to hold that against you. I just hope that we just don't forget the past and make sure that when we're moving forward, that no matter how ugly things are, it's just the way that you shape it. And I hope that you'll be.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Any other public comment?

Thank you, sir.

I don't doubt your qualifications, and we appreciate your service. My interest has to do with the budget, too, in that I hope that this consolidates the public information officers into one, and we get a consistent message then. And that it's done in a professional way as opposed to having multiple messages from multiple PIOs across the city departments. And we get the same consistent put out there. And you said something that I have spoken to people about. And it's ironic that you said it. Social media. is getting when something comes out there and people are going crazy over it, it needs to be addressed then. You don't wait five days or the commission meeting to address it. You go on right then and come up with a response. And we don't need to be paying for a whole bunch of Facebook ads when all you have to do is share it You know, you go on, you put a post, and then you share it into groups. And you can get 3 million views just by doing that and never paying a penny to Facebook or any of those other programs for advertising. And I know I get 3 million views on a couple of my pages and a million on several of the others. And that's just by sharing. So I hope we're welcoming you. And I appreciate the work you do and you've done. And I think that you will represent Apopka well.

Thank you, Dr. Olmstead.

I'm not going to hold that against you.

Sylvester Hall, you know, people see when I come up here, they kind of see one side of me. And they don't see the other. But I'm reminded here with my military brother here. I like his character. I like his charm. I like his appeal. I like the package. It brings something in me. And I like the position. I like everything about it. But here's what I'm looking at. And this is how I look at things as a whole. And I wear so many hats. And that's why I tell you guys, you know, when we talk about forgetting about the past, no, we learn from the past. We forget about it and we don't let it hold us hostage, but we learn from the past. That's how we bring about change. Now, when you're talking about bringing public information, I remember here, and that's what I love about coming to these meetings, because everything is documented. It's on film. And all you got to do is go back and roll the tape. I remember, Commissioner Velazquez, where you made the motion to let the mayor manipulate the minutes to put what he want to put on it. And it was second and it was passed. So when people come in and say, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, and they give you this lovely speech, I'm going to hold you accountable for it. And I give you the chance to earn my respect. And I give you respect until you take it away from me. So I love everything about you. And this is not about you. I will be honored to have you represent the popular girls. I'm going to make sure you represent it. Well, do what you're supposed to do. But I like everything about you. Now, other thing I look at. We went ahead, the job posted, we did interviews and did all that good stuff. The city administration seat has been open for over a year, if not more, if I'm not mistaken. We haven't had time to post that job, do any interviews of anything. But coming on board our first part and city manager, city administrator is supposed to be our bread and butter to run our city. We haven't had time to do that, but we got time to go in and do the public information. You see what I'm saying? So when y'all looking at people in the audience, you don't know their background. You don't know where they come. And they looking at y'all like, what's going on here? What is going on here? So that's why I ask you to do what you're supposed to do. And everything that I've heard here about this gentleman, I'm happy with. And I'm okay moving forward. I just don't like the way y'all prioritizing things. And then what I just said about the minutes, I got a letter from Susan Bone, Ms. Bone, and it said that letter that you had, that you gave to the mayor and the commissioners, we need a copy of that for public records.

Now... Just finish your thought.

Yeah, yeah. Now, I didn't respond to that email yet. I want to address it here. And I have that information for you. But when I go and pull up the minutes, what it read, Sylvester Hall, he talked about leadership and spoke about anonymous letter that he received. That's not correct information. That's not giving the public what I said. It's just putting out what you wanted the public to hear. Now, if Steve is going to do that, he's going to have a long day with me. And this is what you guys have the opportunity to go back and change that. The public records, whatever, anybody from the community, if you value their opinion, that should be in its total wording, whatever they said. We have the technology to do that. And they only appear three minutes. And here's another thing from the past. It was four minutes. Nobody has made the motion to bring it back to four minutes. We need to have that motion to let these public comments be as, as they're spoken and do that. But for this, for this, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm happy with what I see, but everybody talk about transparency. Let's say I missed it in the agenda. I never saw a complete job description that I, for us to see. I never thought nothing about salary. Commissioner Anderson brought up budget. We don't know his salary and his complete job description. And so all those things need to be transparent when we're talking about moving forward. So just keep that in mind. And if my brother do this, welcome him forward.

Thank you, Mr. Hall. Any other public comments? All right. I will close public comments. Any final words from the commission? Good luck.

I'll reserve that comment. This is going to be a blessing.

Well, then I'll wrap it up. I really do think I'm excited about Mr. Monteiro. We've had a few conversations and super excited about just his passion. He's got a really unique, special passion for people and public service, obviously, just being around people and talking to people. So that was something that was really cool. I know I made the hair comment, but he really does care about people. And that's something that really drew me to him. And I see just as a value add to our city. And to look at it more pragmatically as well, his department should be adding value in a very tangible way to our city. He's going to be working very closely with our economic development department to make sure that they have the marketing materials they need. Every department will be able to tap into Mr. Monteiro and those that will be underneath him to make sure that they have marketing materials that are consistent, echoing a consistent message, that there's nothing going out that doesn't match what another department is doing. It's going to have a very consistent theme and consistency. Commissioners are gonna know information before the public does. That's his job. And he also works for you guys as well. That's the point. It's not just me, it's not just the employees. He works for you guys as well. If you guys are out in the event or hosting the event, he is there for that, or his team is there for that to help and assist. It's not just about one thing or another. This is truly a marketing package for the city that's gonna add so much more value. I wrote down a note of kind of a multiplier department. that it may cost X, but what he should be producing, and we're going to see it, should be X times something. And I'm excited for what he will be bringing on. I told him he has no time to... Day one, you better be doing stuff. No, I'm kidding. But no, we're excited. So I guess from there, I will look for a motion to ratify Mr. Steven Montiero for the Public Information Director. So moved by Vice Mayor.

Second.

Second by Commissioner Ruth. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

Feel free. True for Steve. There's a saying in Spanish. There's a saying in Spanish. Preparate.

Although I may look like I'm from Oklahoma, my mother is Puerto Rican and my father is Italian. I think it's going to be a good time. Thank you.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you. Looking forward to it.

Thank you.

Awesome. Well, then we will move on to ordinance number 3158. It is my understanding that the... Actually, I'll let them... their team filter out real quick, sorry.

I'll still go ahead and read the ordinance.

Feel free, yes. Ordinance number 3158. An ordinance of the city of Apopka, Florida, amending the future land use settlement of the Apopka Comprehensive Plan of the city of Apopka, changing the future land use designation from residential, very low suburban, to office. for properties located at 4410 Chandler Road and 4420 Chandler Road, owned by Richard Chandler, comprising of 5.12 acres, more or less, providing perseverability conflicts and an effective date. Dr. Son.

Good evening. This is Jun Son Planner, the Community Development Department. The applicant has requested a continuous of the item. The recommended motion is continue the item to the August 5th City Commission meeting.

Thank you. All right. So we're trying to continue to August 5th, so not much discussion there. Does anybody from public want to discuss?

Leroy Bell. On this first reading and the next one, and I'll be through for the night. It's the first reading that come into you guys. I'm just hoping that that this come out the DRC over this way, that everything have been satisfied with all, with environmentally, everything, all I started T cross is nothing. Well, I get back with you with this. I'll get back with you with that. Everything needs to be upfront. If it come to you guys in the first reading, the second reading or whatever, If everything is not kosher out of the DRC, all the sick things that you're asking for, it needs to not be a second reading. It needs to go back to the DRC. And even if they find something wrong, it don't mean that you guys can't allow the develop to go on. What they need to do is go back and fix the problem. If they need to go back and mitigate something, go back and do it. Once they do it, come back and give it back to the DRC. And once they pass the DRC, then the first reading comes to you guys. Stop putting the cart ahead of the horse.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Any other public comment on this one? All right, I'll look for a motion to continue this one until August 5th.

So moved.

Moved by Commissioner Ruth.

Second.

Second by Commissioner Anderson. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed?

Aye. No, I don't oppose. I was saying aye to the approve. Okay.

To continue. Are you sure? Yes.

If I'm going too fast, let me know. I hit the button before I could.

Okay, nope. No problem.

I'm in agreement.

Yes, ma'am. All right. Then that one is approved unanimously. Moving on to ordinance number 3159. Okay.

Ordinance number 3159. An ordinance of the city of Apopka, Florida, changing the zoning from RSF 1A residential single family estate 20 office for certain real properties generally located at 4410 Chandler Road and 4420 Chandler Road. Owned by Richard Chandler, comprising of 5.12 acres more or less, providing for severability, conflicts, and ineffective.

The applicant has requested a continuance.

Perfect. Thank you. Any public comment on this one? No public comment. We'll close it. I'm looking for a motion to continue. Ordinance number 3159. So moved. Moved by Commissioner Barron.

Second.

Second by Commissioner Anderson. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Ordinance number 3167. Okay.

Ordinance number 3167. An ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Apopka, Florida, creating Community Redevelopment Agency Board appointments of the City's Code of Ordinances, establishing a policy and procedure for the appointment of members to the City of Apopka Community Redevelopment Agency Board. setting forth eligibility requirements, establishing a vacancy and appointment process, providing for terms of appointment, oath of office, ethics training, and financial disclosure requirements, providing for conflicts, severability, scrivener's errors, complication, and an effective date.

Good evening, Antoinette Forbes, Economic Development Director. The ordinance before you is to address a process in order to appoint a vacancy in the CRA board. So as background, the current ordinance needs to, as I specified, establish how we go about appointing board members to ensure that the process is transparent, consistent, and compliant, not only with Florida statutes, the city charter, and the municipal code, but also assisting the recruitment of qualified candidates when vacancies become available. In terms of qualifications, this was discussed and recommended by the CRA board as well as staff that they need to reside within the city, provide a resume, and preference will be given to applicants that contain the listed experience, including real estate development, urban planning, architectural engineering, construction, project management, environmental sciences, business ownership or management within the city, or community or nonprofit leadership. In terms of the recruitment and selection process, it will be publicly noticed when there is a vacancy, as it already has been. There will be the acceptance of applications and supporting documents. There will be review for eligibility, which includes residency, as well as the documentation, such as the application and resume. In addition, we will have further review by staff in order to provide a screening of their professional and technical qualifications. At that point, if interviews are necessary, they will be done so through the city administrator. This position will be appointed by city commission staff will provide a recommendation in terms of ranking of number one and number two, which in no way requires the city commission to go by that recommendation is simply to provide another opportunity for review. As I mentioned, the appointment will be by the city commission. It will be a four-year term or to fill a vacancy. Performance and attendance would be a consideration for reappointment as well as a maximum of two consecutive full terms. So following the appointment, the requirements that are in the ordinance include the oath of office as well as annual ethics training, the Form 1 financial disclosure, as well as maintaining compliance with Florida ethics laws. So our recommended motion is to approve the first reading of ordinance number 3167, establishing the procedures for the appointment of members to the city of Apopka CRA board and schedule the ordinance for a second reading and public hearing.

Thank you, Ms. Forbes.

Commissioners, any questions on this?

How many vacancies do we have right now on the board?

There's currently one vacancy. So through our interlocal agreement with the county, the city has one appointment and the county has one appointment. Okay.

Thank you.

How many total members of the CRA?

Seven. There's seven. So five of them are the city commission. And then there are two volunteer appointed positions, one being appointed by the county and one being appointed by the city commission.

And when will this application process begin?

The application process has completed. It was done in February. It was posted. We received applications, and they have been on hold until we have a process in place in order to select a member.

Thank you.

Any other questions? All right. Thank you, Ms. Forbes. Anybody from the public wish to speak on this?

Albert McKinney, 3603 Golden Gem Road. No questions, just an observation. It would appear to become a CRA board member, you've got to jump through more hoops than you have to to become a city commissioner. Are we going to make some changes in that as well?

Thank you, Mr. McKinney. Any other public comment? All right, we'll close public comment. Commissioner, any final comments at all on your end? If not, I'll look for a motion to approve ordinance number 3167 at first reading and hold her for a second reading.

So moved.

Moved by Commissioner Anderson.

Second.

Second by Commissioner Barron. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Ms. Holmes. Thank you. Next up, ordinance number 3169, first reading for the General Employees Pension Trust Opt-Out Clause.

Okay.

Dr. Patton.

Ordinance number 3169, an ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Apopka, Florida, amending Chapter 54, Retirement Systems, Article 2, General Employees Retirement System, by amending Section 54-19, Definitions, by amending Section 54-20, Membership, and amending Section 54-21, Board of Trustees, providing for codification, providing for severability, providing for conflicts, and setting an effective date.

Good evening, everybody. This is a request to approve an opt-out first reading and a little bit of background. I have Frank Mega on the line as well. He is from HYN Consulting. He helps us with our pension boards. But a little bit of information. This was designed to help those individuals that may have Restrictions as far as term limits, such as the mayor's position, individuals in higher positions that are volatile, such as directors. Once a new mayor comes in, no telling what may happen. Historically, those positions haven't changed, but that doesn't mean they won't. So this was designed to help those individuals that feel that their term limits are limited and to help them choose another option for retirement. So they would opt out of our retirement, which requires retirement. you know, 10 years of vesting, depending on which plan you are, and other aspects. So, Frank, if you have any questions, Frank is here to answer those and myself.

Excellent. Thank you for that. Commissioners, any questions? Thank you for that. Any other comments, questions?

So I just have a few questions. So in regards to some looking at the general employee city to permit the mayor, the senior executive assistant. So what about the other assistant? Is it just the mayor's executive assistants or does it actually qualify to all the executive assistants across the board?

So as of right now, it's just the mayor's executive assistant. As we spoke before, that is determined to be the most volatile at this point. Usually historically, when you look at the city itself and the transition of mayor compared to fire chief or police chief, that position does not usually change. except for the mayor's position, that position under the mayor. The mayor may have an option to bring in someone, you know, that they feel close with and that comfortable, trustworthy, not to say that the other person isn't, but that is the mayor's preview. Okay.

And how many other cities actually have the same type of opt out for these, for the executive senior executive assistants?

I can't answer that. I'm not sure of how many.

Pension that you're forced into, like this one.

I'm just asking for historical context.

I'm not sure how many. I really can't answer how many cities have that. There are a few.

So there was a study. I'm pretty sure that he probably can tell us because he did the study, correct? The person that's currently on. I'm sorry, who is this that's currently on? Frank Meagher. Frank Meagher. So he's the one. Yeah. Okay.

So what's the question?

The question is how many other cities has the same opt-out clause for executive assistance for the mayor's executive assistant?

So this is Frank. I don't have a number. I didn't do any study specifically on this. It's not uncommon to have this happen in general pension plans across the state. We do have some. We manage several plans across the state and it's not uncommon to have executive leadership managerial roles have the ability to opt out based upon what Mr. Patton said. You know, if there's term limits or things like that, those members like the mayor for specifically will never vest in this plan, therefore given another option for a different retirement. So I hope that helps clarify from my standpoint.

So based off of the study, what data did you use to derive to this conclusion? You said you didn't have any particular cities or anything. So how do we derive? I mean, I'm just trying to understand it because someone asked. That's why I'm asking. Yeah. And I said I'll answer. Yeah.

Yeah, so this was brought up in front of the last pension board as a request. The plan attorney consulted on this, and the plan attorney has no issues with this at all. This is just amending the plan. There's no state requirement for the general employees for your city. That requires, based upon my understanding from the plan attorney, to participate in the pension plan. So this is common. No study needed to be done as this is a common practice across the state.

for executive, so can you point to any city that executive assistant, that there's an opt-out clause in the city that a city has?

I cannot.

We cannot? No. I just want, because someone brought it to me.

It's strictly at the city's determination. Okay. Yeah.

Okay.

It

Any other questions?

No. So it's just uncommon. So it is uncommon. Okay. Thank you. That's all. No questions. No other questions.

We'll open up public comment.

I guess I told a lie to everybody the last time. Help me understand. This is about the mayor's assistant. What is that?

Correct. So what this is and why I had this is that because term limits are now in place, my assistant that works directly for me to help do the business as a CEO is now also limited and will never be able to vest in this retirement system, but it's required to put money into it. So it's a disincentive almost to have to do that and not ever be able to vest.

OK, so my next question is, who is the assistant to you? Why do you ask? I pay taxes. I know, I'm kidding.

It's Ms. Jessica Loomis is her name. Mrs. Jessica Loomis.

Oh, no problem. Because my... But you met her. I know. But when you get six to six years old, you get kind of cloudy. Listen. Here's the thing. With the mayor's assistant going back to, and I don't want to get in the weeds, but going back to Commissioner Anderson point about the chief of staff. If you got an assistant of the chief of staff, that's about the same thing.

I highly disagree with you, but that's okay. Thank you for your comment, Mr. Bell. Any other public comment? All right, I will close public comment. Any other final comments from the commission? Then I will look for a motion to approve ordinance number 3169 at first reading and hold over for a second. Moved by Commissioner Ruth. Second. Second by Vice Mayor. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Dr. Patton. Next up, resolution number 2026-28, amending the budget for the fiscal year starting October 1, 2025 and ending September 3, 2026.

Good evening, Vice Mayor and Commissioners. The item before you is resolution number 2026, amending the budget for... In the amount of 730, let me go to that, $30,000. This amendment is pertaining to implementing a credit process for the residents that we have back-billed due to some malfunctions with their meter, their FlexNet, and other items associated with that. Our code allows us to do the back-billing, and that's indicated here before you. It also allows us to true that up once we get that actual consumption. However, in order to minimize that impact on some of the city residents and customers who are under special agreement due to the back billing, this policy establishes funding from the general fund to issue credits for the back billed amount. So this will work as a transfer from the general fund to cover that credit amount.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Any questions from the commissioners?

I'd like to, at least I'd like to put it to record. I asked, well, the questions I asked the other day, I've still yet to get an answer. But if you don't mind, I'd like to at least.

I'll do what I can to answer them now.

Throw out those questions. I wanted, you know. In order to be fair to the citizens that got the charges and the recovery plan, but it's also to be fair to the people that are being asked to fund that until the forgiveness is brought up to standards. I was curious, why wasn't the fund recovered from the utility fund?

Again, as I shared with you during our brief discussion, the utility fund has some bond covenants that it's subjected to. And therefore, as I discussed this with the auditor, to make sure that we stay in compliance with those bond covenants, so they have to recognize that revenue. That's why we're requesting the general fund to cover that credit.

The other thing is... The $365,000 liability, was that due to defective meters or was that something that we did as the city? I'm trying to navigate how we got here.

Well, typically when we don't get the readings, it's either defective meter or either the flex net is not working. But in any regard, we're not getting the readings for the billing purposes. And so two of those items are fixed and we start getting those readings again. That's why...

So a large part of this was equipment failure. Was that a sign of a lack of maintenance or the type of meter we were using?

I think it was supply as well. At one point, we did not have the FlexNet supplies at some point in time. But it's meter being defective. I'm just trying to...

draw it's a combination yeah i would say the biggest issue i think was that you know meters have a certain useful life yeah i think we let a substantial amount of those go well beyond that and attract them properly and so that is what happened to where once we finally caught up and then we also had uh covid put a a wrench in being able to get those meters in time now once the city actually decided to start to replace the bad ones, that created this big, massive issue.

This goes back to the PIO, the reason we need this. This has been going on for a long time, and people don't know. So what I'm trying to say is, outside of my general knowledge, I mean, I get this on the agenda, to be a good steward of the seat that I'm sitting in, I don't know how we got here. But then again, I do every... opportunity I get when I get the agenda, I like to ask the questions. I'm just trying to be a good steward and let everybody know that when I come here and I act like I don't know, I truly don't because I ask this information and They're kind of general, but it's information that everybody else, you know, asked me. But the information is coming slowly. I appreciate all the stuff you're doing. You know, I am getting information now. It's starting to pick up and the speed is getting a lot faster. I appreciate what you're doing.

Thank you, sir.

Any other questions from the commission?

Just a general where we're at with the water beaters as of today.

Yeah, as of our last report, which I apologize I would have given at the last commission meeting. Oh, did you have a baby or something? Something like that. We have hit our 5% goal for the end of June number, start of July. That means we're down to 1,521 estimated billings out of our 29,941 reads. And we came from... And we came from back in October 2024, just to remember or just to refresh that picture, we're up at 8,420 estimated billings, which was 31% of our billing structure. So over that time, we have made a significant progress. And again, appreciation to Blanche's team, Glenn's team over in utilities, and all the people out in the field that have really chipped away at this at a very high rate to get us to where we are now.

Correct.

How many do we have total billing? Twenty nine.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Twenty nine nine forty one.

Yes. And the amount being transferred is only the three sixty five. Let me clarify. But because it is a transfer between funds, I have to recognize that transfer in this amendment.

Any other questions?

Just just a comment. I guess it is a question. So this is the these are these are credits are going back to back to those that are being that have been that are on a special agreement for back building for this purposes.

Well, it's a process that we have to go through.

We have the money's coming back to our residents.

Yes, that's what we're going to do.

Okay, very good. I just wanted to make sure. It won't be automatic. That's the process, but it's happening. For sure, but money's coming. All right, sounds good. I'm glad that somebody's going to get a surprise check, and I pray that it's needed.

Yes. We're not getting a check, though.

They're just getting a credit.

It's a credit.

It's a credit that I pray that's needed. Yeah, money they do not have to pay once we implement this.

Any other comments from the commission?

So just one, I just want to ask one question, because I know I've been giving you some of the residents that have contacted me, especially one that had a huge bill. So if this passes today, will that person with that big bill from that village

Only if it's only this is customers who have been back billed because of the meters or the flex that malfunction. Right. In his particular case, I'm still looking at that.

In his particular case. Okay.

Yeah. And they need to be on a special agreement. But let me look at that. And I think he is. But let me look. I'm still looking into that.

I think the point, too, just to kind of reiterate that as well, is that we're not just doing if you're late on your bill or something like that or it's past due. It's specifically to compensate for what we should have been ahead of in the first place of these water meters.

And it's residential. Correct.

Exclusively residential. So it's sending tax dollars back to the residents. It's their money back to them.

Now, are we building safeguards in there to where this is not going to be a reoccurring problem next year?

Yes, our utilities operations team, because as Mayor mentioned, these all have a lifespan. The census meters have batteries and battery lifespan. So our team has built out that runway of what we have ahead of us over the next several years to ensure that we're tracking that properly, but also how we budget the needs for those supplies as we move forward. We have had to spend a lot more money over the last two years to get caught up because we are so far behind in the hole. But the team has put together that information and is going to execute that as we move forward.

Thank you for the comments or questions from commission. All right, I'll open it up to public comment. Anybody from the public wish to speak?

Bob McKinney, 3603 Golden Gem Road. One thing that we can't address today, but when we had to estimate bills for people who did get in arrears, can we be sure that we estimated them correctly and that there was nobody overcharged? What I'm asking is, at some point or other, can we discuss how those charges were attributed? Because if it was specifically there was no data, but we... took how many weeks the meter wasn't working for and we made an estimate that that's what they might have used in that particular period it could be seasonally adjusted it could be adjusted because there was another resident came in and residency changed so we have to make sure that the people who are charged for water actually are get are getting charged for what they got

Absolutely. And that's well received. In this new policy, we do dictate kind of how far you go back so that it's not like my family where my girls love to use lots of that water. It goes back to the most recent of you using it for certain cases.

If it exists, yes, you're correct.

So it's not, to your point, there are checks and balances and some oversight to make sure that we are doing it right on that front. Any other public comments? All right, I'll close public comment. I'll look for a motion to approve resolution number 2026-28. So moved. Moved by Vice Mayor.

Second.

Seconded by Commissioner Ruth. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Sherman. All right, we'll move on to Commissioner Reports. Commissioner Ruth, you're first.

It was a fantastic event we did this weekend. Mr. Hall and I were really leading the charge. I mean, our age was definitely present, but we thankfully made it from start to finish.

No, no, no. Wearing vests.

We had a blast. It was a great event. I'm glad that we got to participate.

Absolutely. Anything else? No. All right. Vice Mayor.

I cheered for all of you. No, nothing much to report. Thank you very much.

Commissioner Anderson.

Yeah, so a few things. So the first thing is, is and we have currently seeing if we are able to establish a policy, a procedure or some type of ordinance. Anytime that we change an authorization to a position that it has to come back before the council. And I say that because I know, especially now look at this budget season is that. I know when I look at a budget and I go line item and I approve a certain position, a lot goes into that, approving that. So if we are approving positions and then the position is reclassified, I think it should come back before the board to make sure that the board agrees on that position. So I'm asking that. I know a lot of other cities have is that there is an ordinance that is prepared that it goes back to the council for approval anytime that there's a reclassification of the position.

Yeah. And that's something that it's how aggressively it was being done in the past. And that's for years that has been happening to where we would approve something that just changed without us approving it. So I've already implemented October one. That's not going to happen. What approves is approved in a department is what they have, whether or not they can fill it is up to them. So, yes, that'll be that'll be changed to make sure that what is approved in the budget is what each department gets without any movements.

OK, perfect. Thank you for that. And the next thing is, I know that there's $150,000 for the homeless shelter that is currently the Duke. Can we make sure? Because I want to make sure that that money is, we're going to actually spend that money. Because it's been rotating for a long time in the budget. And I think it's something that we really need to look at making sure that we implement. And I know that the CRA is working on something that they're going to be presenting to the board. And I want to make sure that we have that $150,000 budgeted so that we can help bridge that other gap.

It's not budgeted. It's earmarked.

Earmarked. Okay. So how do you put it in it?

If you want to budget it, you just have to- Because it's sitting there, right? Yes. Yes. It's sitting in reserves as a committed or restricted amount because of the Duke funds. If you look in your ACFA, you'll see I labeled it at one point and said Duke funds. So yeah, it is there.

Because if we don't budget for it, then we can't use it.

You budget when you get ready to use it. Yeah, you have to budget for it to use it.

And I know that we are, I know that the CRA, in the next meeting, we're going to be looking at purchasing a property. Some land, yes.

Some land.

And that is CRA funding, not this 150, correct?

Correct.

So what I'm asking the council to consider is that in addition to, we're going to need some more funding. The $150,000 is just to purchase the property. Looking at planning for the future with that property, I think that $150,000 that's currently earmarked need to be put into the budget so we can utilize it.

Yeah, we definitely discussed it. I think let's get CRA discussion and make sure that there's some cohesion there. And then from there, we can make that decision.

Anything else? Nope, that is all. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Barron.

It was a great weekend, especially doing the 2650 challenge on Saturday and the 5k on Sunday. I wore a weighted vest and yes, I passed Commissioner Ruth, Mr. Hall with my vest. I just had to say it. And so what I did want to bring up was, Mayor, if we could bring the public comment to four minutes. I know that's something that was discussed, and I would like to put that on the table to bring public comment up to four minutes.

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's based on an ordinance somewhere, so we can definitely bring that back up to change. And while we're doing that, it probably would make sense to maybe change other parts of that policy as well. Okay.

Yeah, I'd like to do that. And then moving forward when we have positions such as with the public information director or any positions moving forward, that the commission be sent their salary package along with their resumes, you know, just that there's an advertisement for the position. Because I just kind of heard through the grapevine that there was an advertisement. For the position, I think it's something that the commission should be at least emailed saying, hey, we've got this position out there. We've got these applicants that are applying. We don't need to go through the application process. That's obviously something that's internal that's done. However, if we can get privy to. This is who we are selecting or considering. This is the salary package. Just to be having that transparency that we're not getting the date of the ratification.

Sure. Let me figure out like a new process for that. Because I know that we do have emails go out, at least I receive them, and I'll make sure that you guys do too, moving forward of any new positions that are posted. So make sure that you're getting those emails as well, just so you can see, hey, whatever it may be in any capacity, any new position that comes up, regardless of if it's a director level or not, you'll get those emails that it's been posted. And there's some policy of it's been posted internally for a few days and then externally. So I'll make sure that that's out there and then make sure that it's complete package moving forward with the ratifications as they start to come in.

Appreciate that. Thank you.

Awesome. That's all I have. Thank you, ma'am. City Administrator's report.

Nothing to report. Thank you all for the well wishes. The new baby, the wife, and the two-year-old are all doing well. Just short a little sleep. Yes. City Attorney.

I have nothing to report except the The grandpa and grandma are doing okay, and that's me and my wife.

Mayor, sorry, I do have one thing Blanche would like to communicate that is a holdover from a village meeting.

Yes, just wanted to share, as you know, a part of the process, I have to send out notices. to our customers through our utility billing of the planned rate increases. Of course, the stormwater one will go out on the trim, but the water, wastewater, and reclaimed water has to go out in a special notice through utility billing as well as sanitation. So I just wanted to let you know I'm working on getting those out.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you for that. Mine is super short. If you've looked at the agenda, I changed one small thing right now. It's on the information items at the end. It's specifically to the City of Apopka's disbursement report. That used to be under consent agenda. There's no requirement to approve that, but I do want it to be informational for you guys. And one of the things I saw, it never made sense that we approved it because the money was already spent. So if we deny it as a board... I don't know how to get that money back. So it didn't quite make sense, but I do want it to be informational and be included in the packets every meeting. It's just, you'll see that change moving forward that it'll still be there. It's just not there for approval because it's based on the budget. It's just showing what's been spent the previous month. So with that, we'll close.

Thank you, everyone.