City Council - workshop

So,

Thank you. Thank you. . . you Thank you. Thank you.

This time I'll call the order of the June 1, 2026 meeting of the City of Clearwater Downtown Development Board. Move to item 2.1 of the agenda. Approve the minutes for the May 18, 2026 Downtown Development Board meeting. Is there a motion?

So moved. Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Unanimous. Move to item 3. Is there anyone here today from the public that desires to be heard? on a Downtown Development Board issue that is not on today's agenda. Hearing seeing no, we'll move to item four point, excuse me, I think we wanted to go to 4.2 first. No objection, we'll go to 4.2 and come back to 4.1. Present the event report out for the second annual Taste of Clearwater hosted by Rotary Club and Clearwater Charities.

Good afternoon, Vicki Shire, CRA manager. The Rotary Club of Clearwater hosted the second annual Taste of Clearwater on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 600 block of Cleveland Street and Station Square Park. At this time, I'd like to invite the members of the Clearwater Rotary to come forward and provide the board with an event recap and highlights from this year's Taste of Clearwater. Thank you.

Good afternoon, I'm Melissa Stamos with the Rotary Club of Clearwater and Adam Blackwell, who's the president. On April 18th, we had the Taste of Clearwater event. This was our second year. We did switch the format this year. Last year was in Coachman Park. We had some delays due to the hurricanes. We moved it this year to Cleveland Street. We put an emphasis on having the downtown merchants and vendors, and we had a nice stage area with some great bands. We had about 2,000 attendees, which was a nice number. It was a nice flow. We had the vendors up and down the street, and then we had the stage inside that courtyard. We had nice decorations. We had a variety of vendors. We had Chiang Mai. We had Lazy Jerk, Coco Crush, Andy's Custard. So again, a lot of downtown merchants, Clearwater merchants. We did do a lot of social media marketing prior to the event. We had about 21,000 people who visited the site on Facebook and Instagram. We had almost 1,000 during the event. After the event, we had 1,555 impressions. That's people coming back to say they enjoyed the event. And our total reach was 23,051. Event content was also cross-posted across Pinellas County, Clearwater, and Tampa. So we didn't just post on the Rotary Club. We had a variety of sites. We featured on over 50 online event calendars throughout Tampa Bay leading up to the event. Our live music acts were the Brigade, which was a hardcover band. They really, really were great. A lot of people really liked them. And they maintained the crowd. So the people that were there stayed. We also had St. Pete's Sons, who was a great band. It was just a really nice day, great music. Good weather. Good weather too, that helped, absolutely. Cuz last year our event got rained out kind of, so we didn't have the attendance that we did this year. And we're hoping to continue to build on this event. I think this format really works for us. The people come in, walk up and down the street, visit the vendors, buy some food. And then when you go into the stage area, it's all laid out for you. We did engage Amplify Clearwater and we conducted outreach to downtown merchants to encourage participation. A key initiative of this event was to support the downtown Clearwater businesses. What we did was we offered them turnkey booth opportunities at no cost. So that was a good invitation for the downtown businesses to come and be a part of it. It also increased involvement and exposure for the local merchants. Uh, our event highlights again was live music performances, shaded seating and gathering areas that really helped because last year was very, very hot. So people didn't tend to linger. Um, we had high quality restroom trailer accommodations that were air conditioned and very easily accessible. Uh, the cleanliness and upkeep of the events space. We had volunteer dedicated volunteers that were going around, making sure there was no trash, keeping it clean. We also had family-friendly elements. We had the Clearwater Threshers mascot come. We had games and activity areas. We had a bunny interaction area so kids could pet the bunnies. It was great. We had a walk-through display highlighting the history of the Rotary Club of Clearwater. Many attendees remained at the event for several hours, so that was great because then they would visit the vendors more often. Some of our challenges are alcohol sales. Next year we need to consolidate. I think it was too spread out and therefore we didn't get enough revenue that we wanted from that. Also, we didn't sell water. And I think we missed a big opportunity there. So next year we will also sell water bottles. The event structure as a vendor focused format continues to evolve. We did get feedback from a lot of people that they were there for the music. So we're gonna continue to hone the event to make the best possible opportunity. Um, also the adjustment of time for the event, I think having it that early in the day kind of dissuaded some people from coming cause it's so hot. So if we maybe push the event a little bit later to lead right into a sound event, you know, we get more attendees and then people would be as dehydrated. Um, what else do we have here? Oh, the parking situation was great because we had the garden Avenue parking and, uh, the support of the city was great. We had some employees come the day before, and they were able to take care of any issues that last year we had to deal with on the day of the event. So it was a very smooth, clean event. It was great. We look forward to continuing to do so. I think Adam has some comments.

Thank you. I don't want to break the furniture. Thank you, Melissa. As you may know, the Rotary Club of Clearwater is now over 100 years old and events like this allow us to plow back into the community roughly $200,000 each year through scholarships, grants, support of the ROTC, support of the Legion and other community organizations in Clearwater. So without fundraising events like the Taste of Clearwater, that would be impossible. So we're very grateful for your support. It was good to see many of you at the event. Just to add that law enforcement that day was key, and they did a phenomenal job. So we're very grateful for that as well. So thank you.

Okay. Any questions from the board? Council Member Alderman.

Yeah, so just a couple things. I know you talked about the alcohol issue. could have been a little bit better. But in the challenges, it says alcohol sales logistics presented operational challenges. And I didn't know whether people were trying to take alcohol out of the area or something like that, or if it was just the way that you were selling it.

No, so I think it was signage for us. We didn't get the exposure. People were walking around trying to figure out, where do I get a drink? We also had two other vendors selling alcohol. So I think it kind of detracted from our sales. We're also thinking about next year maybe changing the format of how we raise the revenue. So instead of having each vendor take their own payment, we might do tickets and then pay the vendors at the end and keep part of the proceeds. So I think that would also increase our revenue.

Okay. And then under marketing and promotion, the Facebook campaigns, you gave me the impressions and the engagements, and maybe I just missed it. What do you think, feet on the street, what was your count there?

We estimated 2,000.

Okay. So that's pretty good. Six hours, you got 2,000 people.

Yeah, and it was before an event at the Sound, so people were coming in later, and the last band, Brigade, really drew people in. So, again, if we shifted the time, I think we'd probably get even more attendance.

Thank you.

You're welcome. I should also add, just in closing, that we did have a great group of sponsors. Everybody from ProVise, Duke Energy, of course, Clearwater Downtown Development Board, Coastal, Forbes, Abe's, Publix, Habitat for Humanity, National Aviation, and of course, the Thresher's. So we're very grateful to our sponsors.

Let's move to Menino.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for being here. I was part of that early group that got there when it was scorching hot. I did search for a bottle of water. I think we settled for snow crab or something. But we had a great time. I agree. Maybe shift in that time frame a little bit later might not deter some people from wanting to come out there because it is so hot and there isn't much of a breeze blowing through those buildings. as well as alcohol and signage. I had some people that were looking around. I think they found something at Coco's, but it was all kind of disjointed on that side. But the number one thing I did walk away knowing is how good that AC in the bathroom felt. Right?

I agree with that.

Is that where you work? That's where I ate my lobster Reuben, I think.

Wow.

Well, good thing they were very clean. They were clean, and it was very refreshing. I appreciate it. It was a good event. I look forward to seeing staff's PLACER AI data. Just, yeah, perfect. Thank you. Great job.

Anybody else? Council Member Teixeira.

Just a clarification, if you will, it says here that there was 641 attendees and described the peak hour as noon. So my question is, was that 641 attendees captured just at noon and does not include throughout the day. Okay. So that's just part of the picture, not the whole picture. Thank you. Just want to clarify.

Yeah. We had a clicker. We were trying to keep track, but you know, you can't get an exact number when people are coming in from both sides of the street. but we had a good crowd at the band shell, and that was really nice.

Anybody else? Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming today. Okay, we'll move to item 4.1 of the agenda, June 2026, Director's Report.

Good afternoon. Jesus Nino, CRA executive director. This is an update for you for the June, 2026 director's report. So first we'll talk about a little bit here, event recaps that are coming up in July. So the first one here is Sharkapalooza. This was a very fun family event that took place. This took place on March 16th. at Coachman Park, and they estimated 1,000 attendees, and our place area data showed that 1,300 individuals showed up, so they underestimated a little bit there. But I also have a few little pictures here for you. That seems spectacular, but I always want to show people. I can show them after the presentation since it's up. So this one was also another completed project. I'm not sure why it's behind that slide of upcoming events, but this is another event. This is part of the Hello Cleveland Street live music series. This is put together by Downtown Pizza. This takes place in the 400 block, and so far it's starting to become more and more popular, and we hope that they continue this particular series. So the last one was the Hello Cleveland Street Ginger Rose, and we had a fairly good turnout. This was also part of the DDB micro grant program, which is up to $5,000. Now this is for upcoming DDB sponsored events. This one is Symphony by the Sea, which takes place on June 6th. Location at the Bay Care Sound. This is DDB funding up to $50,000 for this particular event. This is to celebrate the America 250. It was waterfront evening of live orchestra music featuring patriotic favorites, Broadway hits, movie themes from Star Wars and Jaws and the iconic 1812 Overture. So it's kind of good that we have a lot of people here so we can kind of promote our events that we have out there. So we hope that you can attend. Again, this is June 6th at the Bay Care Sound. Mark and Marie, they're back at their usual location at Coachman Park. This will be June the 13th from 8 AM to 2 PM. And we're also hoping to see if we can bring them to do kind of an event recap when they were over at the 600 block. Now, if we can just put the overhead, please. You can do it. These are just a few pictures of Sharkapalooza, because I always want to show people out there having fun. It seemed like the kids had a lot of fun. In addition, I do want to say that Clearwater Marine Aquarium was also in partnership with this particular event. In addition, I also want to talk a little bit about Clearwater CRA 2026 Grad Chalk Walk that's celebrating the graduating seniors from Clearwater High School and Countryside High School. So this event already took place, but it was spectacular as far as from what I understand from staff and just from individuals that talked about it. You can see your social media on Facebook if you want to see the clear pictures. Very proud parents of graduates out there. These graduates might be the new leaders that sit up here one day. You never know.

A few more. Oh, I like that one. That's cool.

That's the chalk art there.

Beautiful.

We're proud of those artists. I also want to celebrate a new business in downtown. This is at the atrium. So this is Nourish and Nosh. It's a bakery bistro. So if anyone in the audience wants to go get a pastry, go there. This is one of our staff members, Marilyn Brown. She was there just kind of welcoming the new business owners.

I wonder. It's pretty good. It's an Easter. It's like a little breakfast.

And that's the interior. It's a very beautiful place. If you haven't gone, I encourage you to go and we're working closely with the business owner just to make sure that they're welcome here in Clearwater. So I do also want to give a little bit of update on the Cleveland street activation and mobile vendor initiative. Less than real intensive, but because the ordinance was amended already by the city council, I do want to let you know that we are working on the mobile vendor right-of-way program permit, working with Public Works to make sure that we can get those individuals that are mobile vendors on the street. We do have a call for mobile vendors that has been issued out. It's been published, and we're spreading it on our social medias. To date, I think we have 13 individuals that are interested in bringing their mobile vendors to Cleveland Street. And I have Vicki here just in case you have questions on that particular program. But the last item, I do want to get Mr. Battle here to talk a little bit about RBOA. That's the marketing company that was hired by the DDB to come and rebrand the downtown.

Sure, I'll speak from my seat here. My apologies. If you can't hear me, I'll try my best to speak up as well as I can. At our last meeting, at least the special meeting, a lot of great feedback. I think the consultant felt very good in that there was consensus, a majority like one of the concepts, the Horizon concept, the more artsy of the two, representing the bridge and the sound and palm tree and kind of that flowing image, if you will. However, there seemed to be a lot of interest in the other concept as well. So we're gonna take one more pass with you in terms of some one-on-ones to have some conversations about really how to use both. And one is a lead and one is a secondary, if you will, figure out how to weave both of those concepts. And they have some experience in doing that. So we asked them that question because there seemed to be a different recognition that both seemed to represent the city well. So we're going to do that exercise and hopefully come back with a platform and an approach that uses a bit of both. and that be the platform and that be the announced branding marketing approach going forward. So your feedback at the last meeting was phenomenal. Definitely appreciate it. And the words I had from some of you about it, I appreciate that feedback as well. So next time we come back, we'll definitely be more laser focused about one approach with some options included in that. So I just wanted to bring that to your attention. So thank you for a few minutes.

That concludes the report.

Any questions for the director? No, thank you. At that time, we'll move to item 4.3 on the agenda. Approve the April 2026 financial statement for filing.

Good afternoon. Ann Lopez, CRA Assistant Director. The item that I have before you is the April 2026 financial statement for filing. The expenditures and transfers year-to-date through the month of April were $800,000. $59,524. For the month of April, there were $25,057. Your future downtown initiatives line has a balance of $592,915. And the available balance as of April 30th was $1,213,172. I did want to let the board know that staff had reviewed All of the outstanding purchase orders and events that had been completed and any events that came in under the estimated approved budget, we've taken those funds and we've reallocated them to your unallocated special events grant line. So those funds are available between now and the end of the fiscal year. And I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Any questions from the board? Does anyone here from the public desire to speak to this agenda item? Seeing none, is there a motion?

Motion to approve agenda item 4.3. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Move to item 5, but you've already given the director's report, so thank you for that earlier. Move to item 6, board members to be heard. Any board member to be heard today?

All right.

And seeing none, we will adjourn the... June 1, 2026, meeting of the City of Clearwater Downtown Development Board. We'll recess till 1.30 when we will start our work session. It's time we'll call to order the June 1, 2026 work session of the Clearwater City Council. Before we get into the agenda, first two items under presentations, encourage folks to cheer, do what you want. We're honoring some folks today. But after that, when we get to our meeting, our work session portion of it, This is a work session. It's not a, we don't have public comment today, and so it's really, you know, to moan, groan, you may like something any one of the five of us says, or anybody up here today says or doesn't say, but we ask you to, to not disrupt our meeting by showing motion or whatever when something is set up here. It's a work session for us to discuss city items. You'll have the opportunity certainly to come Thursday night to talk about whatever agenda item you want. And I say that to everybody because I know there are a couple issues on the agenda today that all of us have heard from the community about. So just want to make sure that everybody understands today's not an opportunity for public comment. come out Thursday night if you want to have public comment on any agenda item that's on here today. So with that, we'll move to item 2.1. I'd like to call forward Rodney Maupass, Fire District Commander, for his taking the oath of office.

Good afternoon, Mayor, council members, city manager, and assistant manager. On behalf of Chief Pittman, I'd like to introduce our newest command staff member, Chief Rodney Malpass. Over 30 years of service in the fire service, so we're super excited to bring him to you today as one of our new district commanders.

Raise your right hand. I, St. Germain.

I, Rodney Malpass.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support, protect, and defend.

That I will support, protect, and defend.

The Constitution Government.

The Constitution Government.

Of the United States.

Of the United States.

And of the state of Florida.

And of the state of Florida.

And the charter and laws. And the charter and laws. Of the city of Clearwater.

Of the city of Clearwater.

That I am duly qualified.

That I am duly qualified.

To hold office.

To hold office.

Under the charter.

UNDER THE CHARTER AND LAWS OF THE CITY OF CLEARWATER AND I WILL WELL AND FAITHFULLY PERFORM THE DUTIES OF FIRE DISTRICT COMMANDER ON WHICH I AM ABOUT TO ENTER. THANK YOU.

So next we'll move to item 2.2, which is the Executive Leadership Academy graduation. This time I'd like to call forward Michelle Sheldon from our Human Resources Department.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council, City Administration. My name is Michelle Sheldon, and I represent the Training and Engagement Division of the Human Resources Department. The Executive Leadership Academy was created through the vision and commitment of Jennifer Poirier, who recognized the importance of investing in cities' future leaders. Her belief that great organizations are built by developing great people inspired the creation of this program and its continued growth. Would the executive leadership participants please come and join me? That's a good thing, y'all. So as part of the Cities of Clearwater's strategic plan for superior public service, which includes building a diverse, talented workforce through opportunity, wellness, and growth, we've specifically Objective 5.2, encouraging professional development through education, skill-based training, and leadership succession planning. We took another big step forward this year with our second cohort of this academy. We focused on developing the next generation of city leaders, and not just any leaders, they're Clearwater leaders. The kind who show up, they take initiative, and support others along the way. Building on the success of the inaugural cohort, the Clearwater Executive Leadership Academy continues to provide a year-long leadership development experience for high potential employees. The purpose of the academy was first to equip employees with practical leadership strategies, tools, and problem solving skills to navigate both everyday operations and then those occasional unexpected challenges. Last year's cohort, you know, the hurricane, so. Second, to retain and invest in our talented employees by creating opportunities for growth. We want to keep our stars shining here, right here in Clearwater. And third, to boost engagement across the board, because let's face it, an inspired team is a powerful team. And finally, to build our bench strength so when new leadership opportunities arise, we have strong, prepared candidates to step into those roles. We provided monthly half-day trainings on topics like embracing chaos, workforce dynamics, governmental communication and records policies, optimizing efficiency, and of course, real-world challenges. But that's not all. Participants had homework. Sorry, guys. They completed outside assignments. They did a community impact project. They took the Clifton Strengths Assessment and engaged in workshops where they spent time learning how to lead by leveraging their own unique strengths. Through it all, they stayed committed, they showed up, and they leaned in and they grew together. So now it's time to recognize the incredible individuals who completed the Clearwater Executive Leadership Academy. Please join us in congratulating the following. Allie Chandler-Bear. Cassie Cordova. Graham Donaldson. Brooke Harris. Fred Hemrick. Jared Hood. Jared Hood. David Cadow. Meredith Cambic. Jesus Nino. Heather Parsons.

Good job.

Kaylin Price.

Congratulations.

And Michael Vaca. And Alexis Wells.

Good job.

Let's give them all a big round of applause. They certainly earned it.

Graham, go to the outside.

Graham, go to the outside down here. It's just a height thing. One, two, three.

What a great group of graduates. Uh, we're so proud of our entire team, but particularly these, these leaders that are developing and committed to being part of the future of Clearwater going forward. So thank you for organizing this Michelle. That will move to item 3.1 on the agenda.

Approve or recommend the changes to Penny for Pinellas project funding.

Good afternoon, mayor and council Kayleen castle budget director by ordinance, we are required to hold a public hearing at any time when, which there is a change in penny for Pinellas project funding greater than $500,000. This item before you today and for Thursday night is, uh, seeking approval to eliminate the police equipment facility project, transferring $750,000 of penny for Pinellas funding to it. The new main PD parking expansion project. Capital project C-2206 PD equipment facility was funded with $750,000 in penny for Pinellas revenues in fiscal year 22. That project was originally created to provide a storage facility for the police department's oversized vehicles and equipment. It's being changed in scope. We're requesting approval to transfer that previously approved funding to a new project main PD parking expansion. This new project supports Clearwater Police Department's need for additional secure parking spaces, which support their operations, and it also supports the new City Hall construction, freeing up spaces in the garage for incoming City Hall staff. I'd be happy to answer additional questions that you have, and I also have some support help from PD and Public Works if you have questions for them.

Any questions on this agenda item? Okay, if not, thank you. Move to agenda item 3.2.

Amend the city's fiscal year 2025-26 operating capital improvement budgets.

Mayor and council, if I will, if I may, please just want to jump in. I know that we are all aware that currently the legislature is meeting in Tallahassee for a special session to discuss property taxes. As we've spoken on Friday, certainly we're encouraging everybody to just reach out and make sure that our legislature understands the impact that this will be to the city of Clearwater. You've all been provided those numbers and if there's any additional information that we can provide to help aid in that communication and education, please just let us know. Go ahead, Kayleen.

So this item is the major budget review for fiscal year, 2526 budget. This report reflects six months of activity from October through March, and also includes council action to date. There are no general fund amendments necessary at mid year. That doesn't happen very often. Um, general fund reserves are approximately 73.4 million or 32.8% of the fiscal year, 2526 general fund expenditure budget. this exceeds our minimum requirement by 54.4 million i want to point out to you if you compare to the first quarter report this is a little bit different in that we've although your action hasn't been formally approved we included the commitment for the commitment of reserves for your approval of the philly's term sheet in april so we reduced for that commitment that you made In the air park fund amendments reflect an allocation of $350,000 from fund reserves transferred to the capital fund for the apron relayment project. And this was previously approved by council. IN THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND, WE ARE RECOGNIZING A NET INCREASE OF $3,574,619 AT MID-YEAR, AND THIS IS PRIMARILY RELATED TO PREVIOUS ACTION APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL. AS JUST MENTIONED, THE TRANSFER OF $350,000 FROM AIRPARK RESERVES TO THE APRON RELAYMENT PROJECT. AND IN THE AVIATION OPERATIONS CENTER PROJECT, WE ARE RECOGNIZING AN INCREASE OF $400,000 IN GRANT REVENUE FROM FDOT AND AN INCREASE OF $2,099,000 $765 in reimbursement revenue, ultimately from fly USA. Other significant amendments to capital projects in this report include an increase of $42,500 in fine revenue and $3,491 in Duke energy refund revenue in the green print implementation project. an increase of $45,200 in insurance claim reimbursement in the motorized equipment replacement project, an increase of $66,429 in grant revenues from FDLE in the police equipment replacement project, An increase of $40,455 in property owner share revenues in the gas systems Pasco New Mains and Service Lines project. And an increase of $361,600 in FDOT reimbursements and $139,073 in special program fund revenues are recognized in the ATMS infrastructure upgrades project. ATMs, I can't exactly remember right now what that acronym is, but it's related to streets, street lighting. Um, and in the special program fund, an increase of $1,247,674 is reflected at mid year. Significant amendments in that fund include. an increase of $343,696 in contractual services revenue for police extra duty, $773,843 in reimbursements received from FEMA, $54,138 in fines and court proceeds for public safety programs and the tree replacement program, We recognize $22,935 in special event revenues from the Sea Blues Festival. And finally, a total of $38,481 is transferred between existing special programs. I'd be happy to answer any additional questions you have.

Okay. Any questions on this agenda item? All right.

See you Thursday.

Thank you. Agenda item 4.1.

Accept Ordinance 2026-2339, an interlocal agreement, gas franchise with the City of Newport-Ritchie.

Good afternoon. I'm Brian Languille, Executive Director of CGS Energy. This is a franchise with Newport-Ritchie. It will go for a 30-year time period. In return, we will be providing a 6% franchise rate to the city for all gas customers billing on their customer bills every month. So that would continue on. Currently, right now, it's at 6%, so it's not changing. The original 30-year expired at the end of December of last year. We've been going month to month, and so now we've been able to negotiate and get this new agreement in place, and I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Any questions on this? We have none, so thank you. Agenda item 4.2.

Ratify and confirm an increase per change order number one to utility work by highway contractor agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation.

Good afternoon, Council. I'm Alex Leon, Assistant Director for CGS Energy. This item is looking for a ratify and confirm from you for a total amount of $80,369.73 for a F2T project along the US 19. The original estimates were obviously too low. And as a result, once the project was bid up by FDOT, the budget, the total amount for the project came out too high or higher than originally estimated, which required these additional funds to be added to the project. I'll take any questions.

Okay. Any questions on this? Here, none. Do we have consent? Yeah. Consent on 4.2. Thank you. And item 5.1.

Approve the right-of-way vacation request from the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization for the right-of-way, more particularly described as the southern portion of Garden Avenue.

Good afternoon, Council. Kyle Vaughn, Public Works Department. This item is the request for vacation of a portion of the platted right-of-way of South Garden Avenue, lying between Franklin Street and Court Street. If approved, drainage and utility easements would be reserved over existing infrastructure and I can take your questions.

Just to remind the public, but also the council, we vote on this item twice, but not today. We've voted on it once on Thursday night and then again the next meeting on the following Thursday night meeting. So, as I said earlier, there'll be an opportunity for the public to come out twice, not just this Thursday, but at the following meeting to speak to this issue, but not today. So, with that, is there any questions or counsel discussion?

Is there an opportunity to discuss it, or do you want to wait?

If you have questions.

Not necessarily questions, but I did want to voice my opinion. You may, yeah.

You can discuss it. How will you choose? Okay. All right. Okay. All right. Thank you. Move to agenda item 6.1.

Authorize a purchase order to 10-8 Fire and Equipment Inc. of Bradenton, Florida for one Osage Warrior Type 1 rescue.

All the way. All the way.

Good to see you again. Scott Beaver, Deputy Chief. Clearwater Fire and Rescue is requesting the approval to purchase an Osage Warrior Type 1 rescue vehicle on a 2027 Ford F450 crew cab chassis to replace a rescue unit currently that we have with a G number 5234. We recognize that G number as Rescue 49 at a total cost of $387,920.45. The purchase includes a $319,748 base price on the vehicle, $88,263 in competitively procured options through the Florida Sheriff's Association contract. Also a $26,262 model year discount and a $6,171.45 in department specific options required for compatibility and operational needs. The upgrade configuration supports CFR's urban EMS operations with a heavier duty chassis, reinforced drive train, which is consistent with the current fleet, improving maintenance and training efficiency. Due to an estimated 24 month production timeline, early ordering is necessary. Just a reminder, funding is included in the city capital improvement plan and will be reimbursed through the Pinellas County EMS tax funding anticipated in fiscal year 2027, 2028. Once the new unit is placed into service, again, at Station 47, which is at 565 Sky Harbor Drive, then that rescue unit, the G5234, will transition into reserve status. Open for questions if you have any.

Any questions on this agenda item? Not a question.

Thank you, sir. Not a question. Thank you, Chief, for explaining that. I just want the public to hear exactly what you honed in on the last portion there of funding. You know, we're putting the money up, but then Pinellas County, through our EMS taxes, will be reimbursing us at that time. So it's a big dollar cost, but it's an important piece of equipment that we need to make sure works. So when you ever have to, hopefully never call 911, somebody shows up at your door.

Thank you. Any other discussion or questions? If not, then do we have consent? Yep. Consent on 6.1. Okay. 7.4.

Approve a revocable license agreement between All Around Amusements and the City of Clearwater.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Councilmembers. The item before you today is our approval of a license agreement with All Around Amusement LLC to continue providing beach amusements on an area that's west of Pier 60 Park. All Around Amusements was the only respondent to the RFP and they have been providing this entertainment concession on Clearwater Beach since 2014. Most notably, they use things like large inflatable rides or slides, you can't miss them, jump houses, trampolines, and a human guinea pig ball. I don't know if you've tried that lately, but... In any event, if approved, the agreement's for five years, which will allow the licensee the opportunity to purchase some new equipment to be able to put out on the beach during that time. I'm available to answer any questions you might have.

This does not include the Ferris wheel, right?

That is correct. This is just the equipment that's on the sand.

I see it's a five-year agreement, but how long have they been doing this?

This particular vendor has been doing it since 2014. We have done it prior to that, but it's been with different vendors that have come. Unfortunately, it's a... I think a thankless job in many ways because they are there every single day, 365 days, and required to be there, and it's on the sand. But it's an entertainment that families love. They may not look that attractive at times, but they are certainly something that we can gain revenue by and the families can still enjoy while they're here.

I see families using them a lot. Thank you. Any other questions? If not, do we have consent? We have consent on 7.1. 8.1.

Approve the annexation for 1399 Pineapple Lane.

Morning, Council. Adrian Young, Planning and Development. This is a voluntary annexation request for 3.4 acres located on the south side of Pineapple Lane, approximately 210 feet south of Naval Drive. The parcel is currently vacant. The applicants request annexation to receive city services and combine the parcel with Moccasin Lake Park. On plan development, staff concludes that the annexation petition is consistent with the comprehensive plan, community development code, and recommends approval. Are there any questions?

Any questions on this agenda? We have none. 8.2.

Approve a future land use map amendment from the residential low category to the recreation open space category for 1399 Pineapple Lane.

Excellent. Adrian, again, this voluntary future land use map amendment request is for 3.4 acres located south of Pineapple Lane, approximately 210 feet south of Naval Drive. The applicant is requesting future land use amendment from residential load to recreation open space. The plan development department concludes that the future land use petition is consistent with the comprehensive plan, community development code, and recommends approval. Are there any questions?

Yeah. Any questions on this agenda item? Nope. Uh, June 9, April 3.

Approve a zoning Atlas amendment from the residential agriculture, Pinellas County district to the open space, regulate recreation, OSR city of Clearwater.

Adrian young again. Um, this voluntary zoning Atlas request amendment is for 3.4 acres at the same location, South side of pineapple lane, 210 feet South of Naval drive. Um, the applicant's requesting the zoning amendment from residential agricultural to open space. Yes, open space recreation. Plan development again concludes that this amendment is consistent with the comprehensive plan development code and recommends approval. If you have any questions.

Chair Greg Musil. Any questions? For those that don't know, this is a great addition to Moccasin Lake Park. It's really going to be a great additional space to connect with the park. Thank you. Okay. Move to agenda 8.4.

Approve the annexation initial future land use map designation of residential low and initial zoning Atlas designation of low medium density residential for 1554 Owen drive.

Excellent. Thank you again, Adrian with plan development. This voluntary annexation request is for 0.43 acres located on the west side of Owen drive, approximately 597 feet south of state road 590. The applicants request annexation to receive sanitary sewer from the city. Again, the plan development concludes that the annexation petition is consistent with the Community Development Code, consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and recommends approval. Are there any questions?

Okay. Any questions on this agenda item? None? Agenda item 8.5.

A perfect development agreement between MHG Palm Pavilion Hotel, LP Six Flag Plants at LLC, and the City of Clearwater for property located at 10 Bay Esplanade and 18 Bay Esplanade.

All right. Good afternoon. Lauren Maskey planning and development. So this item has previously been presented to city council for first reading on May 14th. And, um, at that time there were no additional comments or changes recommended or asked for in the development agreement. So this was scheduled for the final approval consideration on Thursday night. Um, as a reminder, the, a couple of key points about the project and the development agreement. It's a 1.06 acre site, uh, located at 10 and 18 Bay Esplanade. It's located within the tourist zoning district and more specifically the old Florida district of beach by design. The request is for the allocation of 91 hotel units from the hotel density reserve combined with the permitted density already entitled to the site. The project will contain a maximum of 144 rooms. The building height is 75 feet and that's measured from the design flood elevation, which is our base flood elevation. Plus the required two feet of free board. Uh, the project provides 173 parking spaces, which meets the community development code requirements for off street parking. Um, access is provided from both Kendall street and Bay Esplanade. The project includes hotel rooms, a lobby backup house operations. The existing restaurant is attached and will be accessory to the hotel. And then there's a small, uh, pool amenities on the fifth floor. It's been found to be generally consistent to beach by design hotel density reserve criteria. and the development agreement is consistent with the comprehensive plan and Beach by Design redevelopment objectives as well as the criteria in the community development code. so um the pro proposals consistent with the applicable minimum lot requirements parking requirements etc and it's been reviewed against the hotel density reserve criteria it's generally consistent and complies with everything and i already said that sorry about that so we're seeking approval of the development agreement and adoption of resolution 2609 on thursday night okay we need discussion

Council Member Alberton.

I just, you know, I've been getting a lot of emails, I'm sure all of us have, about the, I guess the thing that concerns me is the traffic. Now, I have a, I go back and forth, buy that property all the time, because I have property at the end of the beach, and almost every day I'm back and forth. I don't notice the traffic. On that portion, as bad as it is on the South Beach, because I know we've got a real problem down there. But as far as the traffic study went that was submitted that you, I guess, looked at, it doesn't seem to me like there's going to be that much of a difference with 144 rooms, with people coming in and out. A lot of people in hotels, people don't know, they don't have a car. Most of them fly in and they... take the grouper over to the beach or whatever, but, uh, what was your opinion on that?

Um, I personally did not review the traffic study, our public works, um, traffic engineering group, as well as the planning staff reviewed it. And they found that they based, it was based on the methodology that was agreed upon with the public works department. And they found that there would not be any substantial impacts to the level of service in this area. So I think the project is the ultimate size or request for the number of rooms that everything is is limited. It's less than what officially could be requested. And that's based on the ability to provide the necessary parking on site for the hotel. So they did not ask for a request to reduce the number of parking spaces. I think to your point, we have good walkability in this area, and we also run additional services so people can traverse the beach without necessarily needing to drive their individual cars. But that would have all been factored into their traffic study, which was reviewed. And then I would also, um, remind that this is the first step. The next step, if, if city council, uh, does approve this resolution and this conceptual plan is that it would then move forward to a more detailed review by the development review committee, and then ultimately would need approval by the community development board.

Okay. Thank you. You're welcome.

Any other questions? Council Member Menino.

Thank you, Mayor. Just a quick question, Lauren, for clarity. I had a couple questions regarding, I know we've identified Kendall Street as well as Bay Esplanade is going to have parking garage entrances and exits. Are they on both roads, or is it one way in, one way out, or in and out on both sides?

Let me see. Sorry to stop you. No, that's okay. Okay. I think it'll be better if I just say I'll get back to you. I can get that information and clarity instead of thumbing through to find the site plan.

That's fair. That was just some residents' questions.

Sure. I'm trying to look real quick. It looks like it might... Oh, that's the pedestrian. I'd rather just get back to you. Apologies on that.

No, you're good. I appreciate it.

Any other questions? I have a couple. You said it's generally... Consistent with Beach Pie design, what would be some of the exceptions or flexibility that they need?

I mean, in this instance, because it's conceptual, that's the way that we phrase it. And like anything, by the time it comes through for a more robust review for the Development Review Committee, there could be a few tweaks here and there. So this is... This is reviewed at the conceptual level. That's the way the process was set up so that, um, city council could do this review in, in particular for the, um, The allocation of the room city council does both readings for hotel density reserve, as opposed to a more traditional development agreement where it goes to the community development board and this. And so as a result, like, um, B it was agreed upon years ago that, you know, at this level we would accept a more conceptual plan so that way the development community the developers did not go into the full very detailed design and then reach the stage and find out that city council did not want to allocate the rooms so it just gives us a little bit of you know what the to the detail that we have it's consistent so the other question i got from a community member was

concern over the number of rooms in a relatively small amount of space, how big the rooms were going to be, and, you know, do they have a relationship with the flag, hotel flag? What type of, you know, would it be on the lower end of the nightly rate scale? I know, you know, we tried to have a mix when we allotted these rooms, you know, the higher end and the middle and then lower end. Do you know anything about that? What type of property they propose.

No, we're not given a flag if it's not selected yet. That wasn't provided to us. But the Hotel Density Reserve was established to help out with kind of the mid-scale. um fewer amenities not the resorts or anything like that this is the type of project that that was intended or to be incentivized by this um you uh real quick in in 2006 is when the city did work with outside entities to help determine and establish this density reserve so it stemmed from at the time there were a lot of conversions to condominiums our hotels were being converted It's a great white paper, but I don't have it memorized. In general, it was found that there needed to be a minimum of 120 rooms per acre to really make projects work on our beach at that time. Then looking further at what it would take to accumulate the amount of parcels to make that number happen, it really wasn't feasible. So that's why beach by design enables a couple of different pathways. So on properties that are less than two and a half acres, That's where they can get up to 150 units per acre maximum, and only 100 units could come from the reserve. Larger properties, if they have more than two and a half acres in size, they're limited to a maximum density of 90 units per acre. But in terms of room size, what we focus on in the review is the amenities in the room so they can't have full kitchens. We always review for any lockout rooms just to make sure that they're meeting the maximum density or they're comporting with the code and the Beach By design.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Nothing else? Then thank you for that, and we'll see you Thursday night. Okay, that will move to agenda item 8.6.

Approve a First Amendment to a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions by Gulfview Boulevard Owner, LLC.

All right, and good afternoon again. Lauren Matske with Planning and Development. So this item relates to the Hyatt Regency Hotel property, which is at 301 South Gulfview Boulevard. This is unique for us. The developer had entered into a development agreement with the city in the early 2000s, and subsequently received hotel density reserve units for the project. As part of that development agreement, they had to record a declaration of covenants and restrictions, which was done in 2006. The existing declaration limits the occupancy of any hotel unit by an owner or other occupant to no more than 30 consecutive days per state, which is consistent with our overnight accommodations uses. It also requires that hotel units, when not not occupied by owners be made available to the public for overnight rental for no fewer than 305 days per calendar year. So it's pretty prescriptive in terms of that. The owner representative reached out to the city a few months ago because they are proposing a First Amendment to this covenant. It would delete and restate that use provision and clarify though that the hotel units may be owned and operated as interval ownership or timeshare units. It would still retain the 30-day consecutive stay limitation. So it's really a change in ownership model as opposed to a change of use because it remains consistent with our overnight accommodations use. So as y'all are aware, beach by design requires hotels that re um, receive these reserve units. They have to remain available to the public for overnight and transient lodging. Um, it should be noted that the development agreement that granted their original units expired because it's more than 10 years old. Um, this agenda item presents that context just for your consideration and the proposed amendment does not change the short-term occupancy limitation. Um, and it's otherwise consistent with the community development code. So the real request is to change this covenant, um, to, to contemplate or allow for a timeshare where it wasn't specifically spelled out before. but it comes back to City Council because the original covenant was a requirement of the hotel development agreement. So even though that development agreement has expired, any changes of those requirements because it's required must be approved by City Council.

Okay. Questions on this agenda? Okay. Do we have consent? We have consent on 8.6. Thank you. Thank you very much. Agenda item 8.7.

Appoint Nancy Mack, Special Magistrate, pursuant to Section 162.03 of Florida Statutes in Section 5-406 in Article 7 of the Clearwater Community Development Code.

Good afternoon, Council, City Management. I'm Sarah Green, Code Compliance Manager. The item before you is to appoint Nancy B. Mag as a Special Magistrate and approve a Legal Services Agreement. The intent of the Special Magistrate is to enhance the City's enforcement mechanisms. Currently, we have a Municipal Code Enforcement Board made up of volunteer citizens who hear cases regarding potential violations of the City's ordinances. This item is not a replacement of that. Florida Statute 162 and the City's Code of Ordinances reflect the authority of both the Special Magistrate and Code Boards to enforce the City's codes. The implementation of a Special Magistrate would provide a second enforcement option for staff. In doing so, we could reduce large time-consuming agendas for the Board and residents as well as segment technical and time-intensive cases. This is part of an ongoing effort to enhance the efficiency of the enforcement process for both staff and residents. Happy to answer any questions.

Okay. Any questions on this agenda? All right. We'll move to agenda. Thank you. Agenda item 9.1.

I approve a purchase order with SHI International Corp of New Jersey for Microsoft software and telephone services.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council, Jared Barton, IT Manager. This item before you is requesting approval for software licensing and maintenance for our existing office productivity suite and enhanced security programs. This item renews the city's Microsoft enterprise enrollment through SHI for a three year term from July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2029. The renewal supports core city technology operations, including Microsoft 365 government community cloud email teams, identity management, cybersecurity and compliance tools. This helps maintain continuity of essential productivity, security compliance, and cloud services. while preserving Microsoft enterprise agreement coverage. And with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Chair Greg Musil. Any questions on this agenda? Now do we have consent? We have consent on 9.1. Thank you. Thank you. Chair Greg Musil. Agenda item 10.1.

Approve the second phase of marina slip rate adjustments for recreational tenants consistent with the previously adopted market rate study.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council, Mike McDonald, Marine and Aviation Director. Before you today is the second phase of the marina slip rate adjustments identified in the marine market rate study completed by Walter Duke and partners. As council may recall, the study found that marina slip rental rates across the city's marina system were significantly below comparable market rates. The Marine Advisory Board reviewed the study and recommended a phased implementation approach to allow tenants time to adjust while moving rates toward market alignment. Council subsequently provided staff direction to proceed with that phased approach and returned with the second phase for consideration. In accordance with that direction, staff is recommending approval of the second phase of recreational slip rate adjustments for the Beach Marina, Harbor Marina, and Island Marine Estates, effective October 1st, 2026. Staff is not recommending any additional rate increase for the Beach Marina commercial tenants at this time due to the ongoing Beach Marina reconstruction project and its impact on commercial operation. Staff believes it is appropriate to defer any further commercial rate adjustments until construction is substantially complete and a new market rate study can be performed. As part of the council's prior direction, staff also completed a long-term financial pro forma for the Marina Enterprise Fund. The analyst demonstrates that the proposed rates provide positive operating cash flow and improve the long-term financial position of the marina system. However, the enterprise fund continues to face significant obligations associated with future capital replacement, infrastructure maintenance, inter-fund commitments, and depreciation associated with major marina redevelopment projects. The recommended rate adjustments help move the marina system toward long-term financial sustainability while ensuring that the enterprise fund remains responsible for funding its own operations, maintenance, repairs, and future capital needs without reliance on the general fund. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Okay. Questions? Council Member Albritton.

Okay. I remember we discussed this and we had a bunch of people here talking about a lot of long-time renters that were there from the beginning of time. I know we were way behind on raising our rates. My question is, how many of those long-time renters did we lose because of this?

We lost a few, but we still have a waiting list. So when I say a few, I'm going to say there are seven or eight tenants that left.

Okay. But we do have a waiting list?

Yes, sir. It's not as long as it used to be, but we still have a waiting list. Okay. All right. Thank you.

Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have consent? We have consent on 10.1. June item 11.9.

Authorized purchase order of Shannon Chemical Corporation for the supply of dry blended polyphosphate corrosion control chemicals.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council. Mike Flanagan, Public Utilities Director. Today I'm requesting your authorization to award ITB 22-26 for corrosion control chemicals to Shannon Chemical Corporation of Malvern, Pennsylvania. This contract establishes a term supply of dry blended poly slash ortho corrosion control chemicals to support our three water treatment plants. As the lowest responsive bidder, Shannon Chemical Corporation will provide their product at a unit cost of $3.43 per pound, bringing the estimated total annual cost of treatment to $141,094.77 for initial one-year term with two optional one-year renewals. This chemical treatment prevents the corrosion of distribution pipes and leaching into drinking water, which directly preserves our public health and infrastructure and aligns with our commitment to environmental stewardship. I'm happy to respond to any questions that you may have.

Any questions on this agenda item? If not, do we have consent? I have consent 11.1, 11.2. Thank you.

Authorized purchase orders, Ferguson U.S. Holdings, doing business as Ferguson Enterprises. and Consolidated Pipe Supply Company for the supply of potable and reclaimed water meters.

I apologize. Afternoon again. Mayor, Council, I am Michael Vaca, Public Utilities and Construction Manager. Before you today, I am requesting your approval to award the potable and reclaimed water meters to Badger Meters, Consolidated Pipe Supply, and Ferguson Enterprises, LLC. As the lowest responsive, and responsible bidders, these vendors will provide metering infrastructures for an estimated annual amount of $400,000 during the initial one year, which includes a two year options with one year renewals. Securing these standard meters ensures that accurate utility billing, resource management, which directly supports with our commitment to high performing governments by maintaining public infrastructure and optimizing city assets, their symptomatic management efforts. And I am happy to respond to any questions you may have. Yes, sir.

Any questions on this?

That's remember all Britain, these drive by meters, AMI, not yet, sir. We are in the process of re reviewing that. This is the standard water meters that are currently that we deploy on the field. these meters that we are purchasing will coincide with when we do move to that automatic reading. Good. Thank you.

Any other questions? Do we have consent? We have consent 11.2.

And just to follow up, we are working towards AMI. We're working on RFP right now as we speak, so we're hoping to have something to bring to you soon. Yes, thank you.

And to your point, I mean, there are other municipalities surrounding us here in Tampa Bay are moving to that, and I think it's good to hear that we're on the path to do that ourselves.

Yes, we are. Actually, ironically, there's a conference in Tampa for AMI this week that we're attending.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Move to agenda item 12.1.

Authorized to purchase order, no waste equip, manufacturing company for the purchase of roll-off containers, compactors, and compactor parts.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council, City Staff, Jacoby Washington, Solid Waste Assistant Director. This request provides the Solid Waste Department with the ability to purchase roll-off containers, compactors, and replacement parts as needed. These are critical assets that support daily collection operations, customer service needs, and ongoing equipment replacements. Approval of this item ensures continued reliable service, supports operational needs, and ensure the city can effectively manage its equipment needs through May of 2029. I'd be glad to answer any questions if you guys have any.

Questions on 12.1. Do we have consent on this agenda item? We have consent on 12.1. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Agenda item 13.1.

Reappoint John Connolly to the Pension Investment Committee with a term to expire June 4, 2028. Councilmembers, Mr. Connolly has been serving in this capacity and is eligible for reacquaintment and is willing.

Okay. Any discussion? If not, do we have consent? Yes. We have consent on 13.1. June item 13.2.

Appoint an individual to the City of Clearwater Defined Contributions Plan Fiduciary Investment Committee with a term expiring June 4, 2030. Council members, this is one board that we've been trying to fill for a long time. We only have one position and we finally have several applicants for your consideration. Attached to the agenda item, we have Nielson Lionheart who lives in the 33759 and has a teacher background. Carrie Nelson who lives off of 1216 South Missouri Avenue and is a retired HR consultant. William Johnson, who lives in 33764 and is an accounting manager, and Lori Watson, who lives in 33761 and is a retired institutional financial services client service consultant.

Okay. Any discussion or suggestions on who we might appoint? Got everybody jumping at once. Council Member Teixeira.

I believe both Mr. Carey and Mr. Rapp would simply be my partners with their professional background in financial services. I hate short. What were the two for me? I know it's one, but I'm trying to get some leeway here.

Mayor, I'll throw in that Lori Watson I wrote down as well because of her experience and background.

Anybody else? Lori Watson? Lori Watson. May I place my consent? Yes. Agenda item 13.3.

to appoint two individuals to the Community Development Board, one with a term expiring June 4, 2030, and one as the alternate member with a term expiring June 4, 2030. Mr. Mastrocero completed his unexpired term and is not wanting to be reappointed. And Mr. Heinrichs, who was serving as the alternate member, has completed his term and is unable to continue his term. his service on the board. So for your consideration, we have one individual with the preferred professional background, Mr. Luis Serna, who lives in 33761. And then for your consideration, we've received several applications as well. Mr. William Johnson, who also lives in 33761. Michael Mark, 33767, a retired physician. Richard Mazza, 33761, a retired doctor. Loretta Mitchell, a business owner in 33755. Todd St. John Fulton, 3755, sales property and management. And Eliseo Santana, three, three, seven, five, five, a retired technologist. And over the weekend I received an application from former council member Hoyt Hamilton. And, uh, it's not attached to the agenda item, but we'll be attached if the discussion is deferred to Thursday. But I did provide copies of your seats.

Okay. Uh, vice mayor.

Yes. Thank you, sir. Uh, first thank you to all the applicants that, uh, apply for this position. Um, greatly appreciate it. Uh, for me, I had two standouts. Um, I'll start with, uh, Mr. Serna, uh, seems overqualified in my opinion, which I think is, is going to be huge going into the upcoming development that we have, especially with County properties coming online and him being a planning director and working directly with municipalities. living in the city for six plus years, I think that he would probably be an asset to this board. My second one would be Hoyt Hamilton. I mean, he's been here for 14 plus years as a city councilman. Family is generationally known here for being out on the beach. I think that he would bring a very unique and knowledgeable skill set to this board just because of how well he knows how the area has grown over the years and where it can have the potential to go. So those would be my two nominees out of the list presented.

Okay. Absolutely agreed. Mr. Serna is qualified. No surprises there. And I agree. Mr. Hamilton, I'd actually enjoy, I would enjoy seeing him reengaged. He brings a lot to the table. So, yes, absolutely.

That's for Menino.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to support the same sentiments that were just said. Luis earned 30 years as a city planner. That experience and expertise is definitely needed in a place of development we are as a community. He'll definitely be an asset to that board, as well as Hoyt. I agree with what's said, but it also should be pointed out that he is currently serving on Pinellas' local planning agency, and I think that's vitally important for this role as well. So those two.

Okay. Anybody else? I think we have consent, unanimous consent.

Well, then my next question is, Adam, who do you want to serve in which role? So I need someone in the regular member role, and then I need an alternate member.

I would say Serna as the regular member and Hoyt as the alternate.

Agreed. May I place it on consent?

Thank you. Okay. We'll move to agenda item 14.1.

Mayor, it's a second reading. I don't have anything to add.

Okay. Any questions on it? Now we'll move to Agenda Item 15, City Manager Berkley Ports. I think you have something special for us to say.

Yes, sir. I just wanted to bring up yesterday's incident out on Clearwater Beach, specifically at Coronado Drive. I know that it was troubling and certainly caused a disruption for the residents and visitors and employees and businesses that are out there on the beach. Clearwater Beach is one of the most visited and recognizable places, not only in our city, but our beach wins national, nationwide, and worldwide awards annually. But it's also a neighborhood and it's a workplace and a destination for families from here to around the world. And what happened yesterday, we want to make sure just everybody understands that does not reflect who we are as a community or the experience that we expect people to have when they are here in Clearwater. I wanted to express our sincere appreciation to Clearwater Police Department, Clearwater Fire and Rescue, as well as the dispatchers and our partner agencies for their immediate response. I also want to thank the residents and businesses and businesses who cooperated with us during that difficult situation. We are continuing to coordinate across city departments, law enforcement agencies, and regional partners to protect the safety and quality of life and the family-friendly character that defines Clearwater Beach. And if I may, I would like to call up Deputy Chief Wallach to provide a little bit of an update and answer any questions you may have.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council, City Manager, Deputy Chief Mike Waltz, the Police Department. I'll provide you a quick update into reference yesterday. I can't go into a lot because there's a lot of investigative resources involved, but we have identified a suspect. So we are working towards that. I want to also be very clear that this involved parties from outside the local area, surrounding counties. This was not a Pinellas County local event. The police department was aware of it. We had allocated resources to it and they took the appropriate actions as they could and we got support from the surrounding agencies, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and the Largo Police Department. Since yesterday I've had numerous conversations with the Pinellas County Sheriff and we also have plans going forward to aggressively attack this so this does not happen again in this type of environment. Just a few things to touch upon too. We have used a copious amount of resources that we have, red light cameras, tag readers. There's a surplus of plus 20 of them. Our real-time crime center has been very influential to helping us identify the persons involved in this one-off situation. There's city cameras. As you know, every officer is outfitted with a camera that they display on their chest. Some officers have cameras inside of their car, and also the sheriff's office has cameras on their persons and in their cars as well. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for the chief?

Mainly a statement. Chief, thank you for the police department and the work that men and women of our police department did yesterday. Thank you to Largo and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, too, for coming to our assistance when we needed it. We're a vacation destination for the world. We have world-class beaches. Our residents enjoy it. And we want to be family friendly. And you all provide the safety and security that we already enjoy. And what we saw yesterday is behavior that is completely unacceptable. It's reprehensible and will not be tolerated within the city limits of Clearwater, as far as I'm concerned. I did send out an email to the police chief, city manager, and city attorney to look into ways to be more unique and give our police officers more teeth in holding people accountable, be it the parents, be it these organizers, because when you're sending out teenagers to disrupt family-friendly lives and environments as we're seeing from Tampa to now on our beach. It's, it's, as I said, unacceptable. I know you also said that it will not be tolerated. So if you're planning on coming to the beach, you might end up in handcuffs and in jail. I echo that sentiment thousand percent because it's not what we're going to tolerate here in Clearwater. So thank you again, uh, to the men and women of Clearwater police department, keeping us safe. all the first responder agencies, including Clearwater Fire and Rescue, Sunstar, who are out there too as well. So I look forward to seeing what we can come up with to help equip you all better to be able to keep our beach and city just as safe as it's already been. So thank you.

I can touch upon one thing real quick that might provide you with insight. Since December of 2025, December 31st, there's been 11 of these identified type situations that we have encountered of the 11, nine of them never took place and two were, I'm sorry, nine were never happened and two were totally dismantled at the time. But we also use a letter that we've been sending out to people that post these type of incidents and letting them know that we got this letter from working with Lucia County Sheriff's Office that This type of event is not going to be tolerated, and there's consequences that go along with it. And I have a copy of the letter if you'd like to see it. As you can see, this is one that has been sent out previously. The name has been redacted, but there's a letter that's formulated. It outlines unsanctioned events, and it's ultimately signed at the end by the chief.

You like Perla? Yeah. That's what I'm going to need now.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you to our entire team, men and women. I know when we all got that phone call, we were completely devastated, especially being it was the first day of summer as we rolled into. I don't think any of us on the leadership team have any questions in the ability of our team, so thank you. Your strength in the media was appreciated. I think your exact words were a trip to the beach may earn you a trip to jail. And that strength is needed at times like this. I think we also should take that time to look at the whole picture. And while our team is fully capable to manage these situations, it's a shared responsibility in our entire community to keep our community safe, and not just the men and women with the badge. Guardians, parents, neighbors, community leaders, We all share in that responsibility and being vigilant in our community. We need to make sure as we get into the summer as families and neighborhoods, we keep our kids busy, keep them structured, keep them accountable, find things for them to do that help them make positive choices with their lives and not just out of boredom. show up to some other town because we've seen time and time again we're not unfortunately immune to situations like this that we see on the news so i wish nothing but the best to to our first responders our entire team prayers to keep everybody safe and hopefully as a as a community we can stay vigilant and work alongside of with our men and women in the agencies to keep our community safe thank you

Anybody else? Number one, I've seen the flyer. It was an event promoter, I believe from Lakeland. Polk County. It was promoting the event. There was a pre-event, a gathering on Clearwater Beach, and then a paid event, an after party, taking place in Tampa that the gentleman was and a group of people were charging money to attend the after party. So the information you gave us on making sure the folks aren't trying to bring people out here and then somehow either here or off the beach somewhere else make money off of it, we're not going to tolerate. You have to have a permit if you want to hold an event, and we're not going to let people get away with doing what he did.

Yes, sir. As soon as we receive that information from the after party, I talk to my counterparts at Tampa Police Department and relay that information as well. That's the type of relationships we have across the bridge with the sheriff and surrounding agencies.

Second thing is I actually learned about it from my son, who, thank God, he was safe, like all the other folks around. But he was within about 100 to 200 feet from the incident when it happened outside of the Wyndham. He was working at the Wyndham that night. And so I've learned about it right away. I've learned to be very careful. And I've had people say, why haven't you said anything? Well, you know, we all don't want to interfere with whatever investigation is going on. So we all are very careful, so the public knows, all five of us are very careful making any comment publicly until you've had a chance to process things. And I knew from my son, who was working with you all, to kind of keep things across the street, the Wyndham, kind of under control. The URL were on top of it and you needed that space to gather information. The other thing that I tried to do is to let you speak as you did on television last night and to the media very eloquently. I want to thank you for what you shared publicly. You did a great job at the press conference in getting out the appropriate information. But I wanted to, and I want to thank you and the police for what you did. I have a different perspective on it for two things. One, I walked the beach yesterday, the shoreline. I was there at the pier between 3 and 3.30 yesterday, and I saw these groups of kids. Nothing was out of control at the time, but I did see groups of kids, but not differently from what I would see sometimes during high school spring break week, and I saw some, you know, some mainly young guys walking past me, whatever, and I don't know if, One of these was the one who had the gun or whoever, but I was out there two hours before this, and I didn't feel unsafe. I did feel like maybe, and we often have groups of kids gather around the pier that maybe doesn't look family friendly, but most of the families move down away from that pier when things are happening out there. But I didn't see any of the social media that we've gotten, that it was complete chaos. From my perspective, it was not that. And my son, who was across the street from it, until the incident happened, he didn't see groups of kids running up and down. So I just want everybody to know that some of the social media things you've seen, the videos, in my view, my personal view, and I talked to my son last night, It made it look like it was complete chaos for a long period of time out there, and it was not. Our police officers, as you said, knew it was coming, had the beach under control at all times. Were there some moments where there was, yes, obviously it got out of hand. And thank God that my son wasn't somehow inadvertently involved in it. And all those families that were around, there was traffic on the street. I thank God for their safety. because there were difficult moments, as you know. But I want to assure the public that, because I've seen some posts, don't go to Clearwater Beach, it's not safe. It is safe every day. It was safe last night. Our police last night were in complete control of the situation and the crowd, and there is no reason, and I say this as someone whose loved one was within harm's way of this gentleman, There is no reason to not visit Clearwater Beach for safety reasons. We have a safe beach. Our police do an incredible job, because I've made this point before, I'll make it again, we have on a busy day, we have as many people out there on the beach as they have at Bay Care Ballpark for the Phillies game, any sporting event in the area, but we don't have a hard perimeter. like we do with those other places. It is an incredibly hard job for our police to keep track of that, and you all do a phenomenal job every day.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to add two things real quick. just so everybody knows. There's a lot of posts out there on social media right now that are going on, be it TikTok or Instagram. A lot of those videos that you're seeing are not actually clear water. Some are the clear water, but there's a lot of them that occurred from other locations, from other events. Take caution with that. Also, I want to reiterate the priority to having the beach being safe is 100% our priority. Just to reiterate one last time, this is two groups of Kids that don't get along. These guys argue, and this is not just attacking random people. These are two groups going at it.

Yeah, and like I said, you all do a phenomenal job. Our beach is safe, if not safer than any other beach in the United States. You do a phenomenal job. We definitely want these promoters, these folks who want to come out there and cause a problem to know. you are on it and are in control and we're not gonna tolerate this stuff. We have a safe beach, it was a safe beach yesterday. We had some incidents we had to take care of and it will be a safe beach. We are gonna make sure that Clearwater Beach continues to be family-friendly destination and one of the safest beaches in the United States. So thank you for what you do. You know, we're always hesitant to react too much to what happens on social media because sometimes you can make it worse and make the, you know, it kind of unleashes more and more nonsense, like you said, videos that aren't even for Clearwater Beach. So we want to be careful on that. But I appreciate what was shared by others here today, and I just wanted to share that from my own personal perspective.

I appreciate it. The men and women of the police department appreciate the support they get, along with the sheriff's office and Larker, too. So thank you. I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. Anything else? With that, we'll move to agenda item 16, city attorney verbal reports.

Nothing, Mayor.

Okay. Agenda item 17, new business. Nothing. Agenda item 18, council comments. No. Agenda item 19, closing comments. I don't have anything else today. So we will adjourn the work session of Fairwater City Council for June 1, 2026.