City Council - workshop

There's no other business to come before the CRA. We will adjourn the July 13th, 2026 meeting. This time we'll call to order the council work session of the Clearwater City Council for July 13th, 2026. Move to item 2.1 on the agenda, our July service awards. And there are several awards today, four service awards to be presented. So this time I'd like to call forward Cole Van Dusen from our police department for his five-year employee appreciation letter and pen.

Thank you.

Thank you for your service.

And also now I'll call forward Graham Donaldson from Marine and Aviation Department for his 10-year employee letter of appreciation and clock. Thank you for your service as well. And now I'll call forward Teresa Phillips from our Utility Customer Service Department and ask the city manager to read the letter of appreciation.

Teresa began her career with the city on July 7th of 1991, joining the Clearwater Police Department as a communications operator, serving our citizens during their most critical moments, all while making sure to do so with professionalism, compassion, and care. During her time with dispatch, she was promoted to trainer, where she used her skills to help coach and develop new employees. She received numerous commendation letters, citizen compliments, and letters of recognition during her time with the Clearwater Police Department Then, after almost 17 years, Teresa decided it was time to serve the city in a different capacity. On May 27th of 2008, Teresa brought her passion for service to the Utility Customer Service Department and began assisting the city's citizens in a different capacity. She maintains that caring for the customer, and that's always her focus. She began in the call center, then added responsibility of cashiering, and eventually moved to the billing department. Teresa then took an opportunity to increase responsibilities and was promoted from a billing representative to a customer service specialist. This moved her back into the call center where she continued to rack up applause cards from fellow employees and numerous citizens. In March of 22, Teresa came back to the building department and after a short time was promoted to a building specialist too in February of 24. Throughout her 35 years of service, Teresa has exemplified the city of Clearwater's commitment to superior customer service by consistently placing the needs of citizens first and treating every customer interaction with professionalism, respect, and compassion. Her willingness to share knowledge, train new employees, improve procedures, and embrace new responsibilities has contributed to a high performing government that delivers efficient, reliable, and responsive service to the community. Teresa's dedication has left a lasting impact on both citizens she serves and the colleagues she supports every day. Teresa, congratulations on your dedication to serving the community for 35 years. You truly are what helps make Clearwater thrive. Thank you. Right.

Thank you, Teresa, for 35 years. My script said 25, so I'm glad. I noticed the plaque next to me said 35, but it's just 10 years. I mean, what's 10 years when you've served for 35? But thank you, Teresa, 35 years. Let's give her another round of applause. Thank you. We're now ready for our bi-monthly team award for July, August, 2026. I'd like to call forward the emergency gas leak team. That's Greg Kuntz, John Turley, Corey Huberti, Colby Wade, and Dylan Whitaker. We'll wait right there, the city manager's going to read a description of your fine work.

The emergency gas leak team is being recognized for their exceptional response to a recent critical underground natural gas emergency involving four inch gas main that was the sole source of heat and hot water for a local RV resort. Faced with a high risk situation, the team did not hesitate and responded with outstanding professionalism, technical expertise, and unwavering commitment to safety. Their quick action safely mitigated the hazard, prevented further escalation, minimized the risk of property damage, and ensured service to the affected community was maintained during a critical time. Their actions exemplify the city's commitment to high performing government by working collaboratively, responding effectively under pressure, and delivering reliable, high quality service. They also embody superior public service through their dedication to protecting our residents, safeguarding critical infrastructure, and putting the needs of the community first. Thank you for your dedication, your teamwork, and professionalism. Your actions reflect the very best of our organization and help make Clearwater thrive by making a positive difference in the lives of those we serve. Because of your efforts, our community is stronger, more connected, and one of the very best. Good job, guys. Thank you very much.

That will move to item 2.2 on the agenda.

The sound quarterly update.

Hi, Brianna Roberts, Vice President of Event Operations at Ruth Eckert Hall. Before I get into our little presentation here, I just want to highlight again, I think we have already notified or shouted from the rooftops on our social media that we were recently awarded number two amphitheater nationwide. That is a jump up from last year. So we're really excited about that and wanted to put that up here again. So far, I know you guys ask each time how many shows we've had so far. From the beginning of 2026 until now, we have had 16 shows, and then we have 25 more planned for the end of this calendar year. So we're really just getting started. It's hot right now, but we've got a packed fall. Moving into my sustainability portion of our report. As always, our mission at Ruth Eckert Hall, we are dedicated to conserving valuable resources and reducing the ecological footprint of concert venues and live events. We do use a sustainability plan that is touching on the eight strategy categories adapted from the Green Print 2.0 from the city, and that would be education and awareness, green energy and buildings, transportation, livability and conservation, water conservation, waste reduction, local food, and green economy. So here's just some of our statistics here. We are estimating that we've saved over 140,000 single-use plastic drinkware from our landfills. And that figure is made up of the following. We've got aluminum cups, aluminum canned water. We do canned wine and aluminum soda cans. We also sell reusable cups that's made out of recycled material, excuse me. And we are estimating that we have a total recycled amount of 360 cubic yards. So we're really proud of that. We hold to that. We make all of our vendors abide by those rules. We try our best with the artists backstage, but we're certainly seeing a lot of this in our food and beverage department. Some cool updates and completed goals. First, we are now utilizing True Tickets, that is a digital delivery method that's become the default method of delivery for all of our shows. So what this means is we're transitioning from a hard paper ticket to digital only, it's delivered right to your phone. Not only is that easier for our guests, it cuts down on fraud, it's easier for us, we love it. But we're also cutting down on our paper use. In addition to that, we've instituted a $1 print fee for patrons wanting hard tickets to incentivize that digital option. And since then, we've seen a decrease of 80% in our mailed physical tickets. So reducing mail, reducing our printing costs, and costs associated with mailing hard tickets. And then, very recently, we installed a sunshade behind the stage to reduce direct sun into the seating areas and protect the stage and equipment from rain. So if you've been to one of the last two or three events, you might have seen at least one of our panels up for that. So we're really excited about that and looking forward to that as we get a little bit hotter. We can also hopefully stay on schedule when we get that little bit of light rain and not have to call anything just for a little bit of rain drops on our equipment. What we're in the middle of currently is a power distribution project to reduce the need for generators on show days to power essential services. So we have needed to rely on generators to power our food and beverage operations for portable AC or fans or lights to support our vendors and operations in general. Thankfully, with this new project going on, we're actually going to utilize the power available to us from the building itself and just redistribute it so that we're not tripping things all over the venue. We're really excited about that and that should be complete within the next couple of weeks. We have also upgraded the current Listen Everywhere assisted listening system, and we have invested in receivers, net loops, and in-ear listening devices to comply with current ADA standards for the deaf and hard of hearing. So we did have this assisted listening system already in the venue, and what we did is we just invested in more equipment to offer folks so that they didn't have to rely on their own technology. So you can visit guest services and rent one of our pieces of equipment and if you need any sort of assistance in hearing our great shows. And last but not least, in our constant endeavor to look for new and locally owned food vendors, we are welcoming Domino's Tacos. They are award-winning gluten-free taco vendors. So they're one of our new regulars, so want to give a shout out to them. Current practices, if you're not aware of what we already do, backstage and at the Florida Central Credit Union View, we use upcycled agricultural byproduct, plates and bowls, and aluminum and cornstarch-based cups, and sugarcane-based eco-friendly software, flatware. Say that 10 times fast. We prohibit distribution of items and practices that are harmful to wildlife and the ecosystem, such as balloons and confetti. While those look really awesome and we get requests for them all the time, we're really about trying to protect our waterways and the beautiful land that we have right on the water there. And as always, we use digital programming and we encourage digital messaging whenever possible. That includes when renters come into our building and want to hand out flyers or really looking, hey, get a QR code or use our really awesome giant video boards to display your messaging instead. And additionally, we also encourage water and energy conservation and awareness throughout the venue. We do have signage in all of our restrooms and anywhere that there may be water use so that guests can follow along with us. Are there, before I get into my video, are there any questions about the sustainability? All right. Okay. I can just click in here on this one, right? Short and sweet. We're really excited about beating Red Rocks out this year. I just want to say that. They're like the standard of outdoor venues. Any questions for us, or the sound, sustainability, or anything from this quarter?

Questions? Vice Mayor?

I have no questions. Congratulations on number two. That's awesome. Can't wait for us to be at number one because that will be another great day. We're excited. Congratulations, guys.

Thank you.

Okay. Anything else? I do have one. I get questions about the sunscreen, which is great that we've got that in now, because depending on the time of year, it can be really tough on those folks when events start to see the stage, so that's great. The only question I get is, and Bobby's not here, but Susan's here, but I do get questions about booking pace. I mean, it We've been up here long enough, and we know how it works, and it's not like this. It's up and down, and it depends on what the music industry is doing at the moment, and there's a lot that goes into it. But I do get a lot of questions, particularly from downtown merchants, about... Hey, well, you know, we've had, you know, two months where we haven't had very many shows or whatever. Can you just tell us what, you know, are we on pace booking-wise? Does it look like we're going to be, you know, seeing more? I've already seen the schedule. There's been a lot added on here in the last month for the fall. But, I mean, it appears that the booking pace is similar to what it's been in prior years.

I would say it's pretty much on track for that. You hit it on the head. It kind of varies. We do have, like this year in particular, we have a really packed October. I think there's something like 12 shows in October, and that's just kind of how things go. It depends on who's touring at what times and what venues they prefer. We do try to add stuff into like the Capitol Theater, for example, they may have, we might have a summer movie series when it's a little bit lighter. So we try to kind of balance it out in that way. But it definitely varies. I know Bobby could speak to it a little bit more, but we are open to talking to the merchants and we have had meetings with them about, you know, How can we drum up more activity when it may necessarily be a sound show, but something in between or something we can be a part of. So we're definitely open to that conversation, but it does vary, like you said, season to season. But overall, we are increasing each year.

And not to throw shade on our friends from Tampa, but I did drive past on I-4, the Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheater, Thursday night during a torrential downpour. And they don't have covered seating yet. In fact, I just wonder how much they can even protect their stage. And I pointed out to a friend of mine that I was at a Willie Nelson concert recently at the Big Air Sound, and willing at his age performed right through uh... wasn't racial downpour but he just kept on going so you know hopefully that's an attractive thing for musicians and artists to know that at least have some guarantee of covered seating for their events if they book here absolutely and you've seen it we have some artists that want to strictly come back to the vade care sound whether it just be for us or just that's the type of venue they want to play at and they don't want to go to tampa so

I just had a quick thought that popped into my mind. Do you remember back in the day when we were talking about the BayCare sauna as if it was this like pie in the sky idea? Remember that? We never once thought it was actually going to become a reality, but we still encouraged it. Did you ever think it was going to be like number two in the name? You know what I mean? I had that vague memory. I remember talking about that with you back in the day.

Awesome. It does. It makes me want to cry. I'm really proud of our team and obviously the partnership we have here.

I want to go to my tombstone, literally. Because for 10 years, it was like, it's never going to happen, it's never going to happen. And then it happens, and it's such a successful thing.

We did it.

Yes. And thank you for being part of that wave of encouragement, Brianna. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Okay. Anything else? Council Member Albrighton.

So I know that one of the concerns was the Live Nation Ticketmaster thing maybe was taking some of the bigger artists or the artists away. Is that still something where you have to deal with over there?

um i know that bobby could probably speak to that a little bit better but um i still think we're attracting i mean the new i don't i don't have it with me here but i know we've got new and younger artists coming to the sound it's really just that it's a different demographic of artists for us so i don't feel like we're being majorly affected by that. We're still growing and putting on awesome shows.

Well, I can tell you this. I'm really happy with the mix of different styles of music and entertainment that you're putting on here for everybody. And, you know, I don't know some of them, and I go to them and I really like them. So I've been enjoying it. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Thank you for coming. Thank you. It's good news for us. Appreciate you. That moved item 3.1 on the agenda.

So, Council, Item 3.1 is to approve a 30-year franchise agreement with Duke Energy Florida LLC for the purpose of providing electric and power services in the City of Clearwater and pass Ordinance 9929-26 on the first reading. In December of 1995, the City granted a 30-year franchise agreement to Florida Power. In the years that followed, Florida Power was acquired by Duke Energy. and Duke has provided local electric service since then. As the 30-year franchise agreement started to reach its end, the city began to evaluate the financial operation feasibility of the city distributing electricity directly to customers, similar to how Clearwater operates its water and sewer utility and then the Clearwater gas system. in 2024 the city hired nugent to prepare to prepare a feasibility study and in september 2025 nugent presented an electric feasibility study to city council Based on that presentation, Council voted to go forward with an appraisal. In June of this year, the City did receive an appraisal from NUGEN. Now, since the agreement has expired, the City and Duke have been operating on a month-to-month basis. The City and Duke have also been engaged in negotiations for a new franchise agreement. So under the proposed franchise agreement, Duke will continue to construct, operate, and maintain its electric utility facilities to the city and its residents. The new franchise agreement will be for 30 years, which is the same period of time as the expired franchise agreement. And the city will continue to receive a 6% franchise fee, which is the same as the previous franchise agreement. in addition duke and the city will enter into a memorandum of agreement now the memorandum of agreement is not set for approval this week it's just set for a discussion what set would to be approved would be the first reading of the ordinance Now, the duration of the memorandum of agreement will coincide with the 30-year franchise agreement term. And it will provide as follows. And everything I'm going to list out is in the memorandum of agreement. And it's benefits that are provided to the City of Clearwater and its residents, as well as investments made by Duke over this period of time. So there will be a vision community action plan that will provide and also provide ongoing economic developments in support in recommendation of this plan in the amounts of $20,000 annually for the first five years of the memorandum. There's going to be a downtown retail development strategy, also funding for the strategy of five installments of $30,000, followed by a site readiness review of the strategy, and this will be paid by Duke. Assist the city's increased infrastructure resiliency goals to further support economic development, annual donations of $100,000 for six consecutive years. site readiness evaluations of city-designated downtown areas, and the Hercules Industrial Park, providing five annual payments of $20,000 in economic development funding for the North Greenwood CRA, complete a construction of a loop electrical feed for the city's police department at 645 Pier Street, donate $10,000 annually for the first 20 years of this memorandum for the city's beautification efforts, Duke and the City will draft and execute a 20-year naming rights sponsorship agreement for Coachman Park's improvements to include shade producing structures with Duke contributing $30,000 annually during that, for each year during that term. They will provide annual updates identifying third-party users attached to do polls to the city, will provide annual GIS updates of Duke's distribution network, allow the city continued use of property adjacent to the Clearwater Beach Restoration Center and the library at 2191 Soul Road at no cost, also allow parking within Duke's right-of-way at the Carpenter Complex and the Bay Care Ballpark. They will maintain attic stock of electrical equipment for city manager designated critical time sensitive projects, provide some assurances of process related to the ADA, have a vegetation management plan, and will appear annually to provide information on resiliency plans within the city. So I believe Duke also wants to make a presentation at this time.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council Members, Katie Cole with law firm of Hilward Henderson representing Duke Energy Florida. We are really happy to be here this afternoon with Melissa Satius, the President of Duke Energy Florida. We do have a quick PowerPoint we'd like to share with you. It's up here, so Melissa's going to come up and share with you. We just wanted to be available if you had any specific questions. We can't say thank you enough to the staff and your team and each of you for working with Duke and its representatives over the course of the past several months to bring you this contract and this franchise agreement, which we think is beneficial to both the city and Duke and meets the needs that you all have expressed through this time period. So with that, I'll hand it over to Melissa.

Well, good afternoon, everyone. I can't tell you how pleased I am to be standing here with you this afternoon. So much thanks to you, mayor and council members, for the service that you provide the city of Clearwater every day. Neighborhoods, businesses, tourists who come to visit and enjoy Ruth Eckert Hall and the sound and so many other beautiful aspects of here in Clearwater. We recognize that you all put thoughtful consideration into every decision that you make every day. It's evident in every city council meeting that you come to, even today with the thoughtful questions that are presented. And we know that you all gave careful, careful consideration to the franchise agreement and to the memorandum of agreement. And I especially am grateful for the willingness of the council members, and certainly for the city staff, the city attorney, the assistant city attorney, and of course our city manager and assistant city manager and the city attorney, economic development as well, to sit down and give us more insight into what is important around the priorities for the city of Clearwater. That allowed us, I think, in many ways to figure out what is the best way to move forward together. And in those times of having the one-on-ones with each one of you, it really has given us this insight. And so the memorandum that the attorney just went over really is the product of a lot of input from all of you. So we're very, very appreciative of that. And truly, this is not just a utility agreement. The core, the foundation for us moving together to serve the city and the citizens of Clearwater really is the foundational aspect of the relationship. And so again, we are incredibly grateful and appreciate the opportunity to go over just two quick slides that just kind of summarize what the city attorney just covered. So the first one highlights, and hopefully it will pop up there. Just hit the keyboard. You got hit. Okay. This is where my vulnerability, just anything? There you go. Look at me. Okay, there you go. I'm good at a lot of things. Technology is not one of them. So just a few things that I want to highlight. As I said, the city attorney kind of went through this. And what we did is, what I'm going to highlight are the things that are kind of, you can think of them as kind of incremental value. And then also the core fundamental things and services and programs that we have provided to the city of Clearwater and citizens for decades and will continue to do so. resiliency we know resiliency has it's a wide net right there's a big definition there and we understand that there are priorities around resiliency for the city that go well beyond energy and we want to be able to provide support for those efforts And then all of that, of course, creates the foundation for our ability to respond to storms and to do this together. So we have a very strong history of working together in preparation for storms and working together throughout storms. But we have kind of reinforced and clarified how we will do that in this memorandum of agreement. A core theme that you'll hear kind of throughout or you'll see in the memorandum and then also in the franchise agreement, really is around economic development and economic vitality for the city of Clearwater. It's such an extraordinary place, and all of you have the aspirational vision to make it even greater than it is. So that is why you will see the common theme of economic development investments throughout the memorandum of agreement. And of course on city beautification, this is a great example of how sitting down together with all of you have allowed us to kind of hone in on what was important for all of you. Tree canopy, of course, and then of course, providing some shade opportunity in important gathering places here in the city of Clearwater. So we're thrilled about these opportunities. They're all an investment in our customers. And our customers are your citizens. And as I always say, we have much more in common than whatever separates us, which is why, again, we are so thrilled to be here. On the next slide, these are just the ongoing benefits that the city of Clearwater will enjoy, along with our customers. And if you'll go to the next slide. Am I responsible for going to the next slide? Oh, there we go. OK. Same keyboard as everybody else has. All right. System resiliency investments. This is core to what Duke Energy does for our customers. And it is something we've really talked a lot about with all of the council members. so duke energy over the next 10 years we had already had this plan but i wanted to reinforce it we have in our work plan now about 632 million dollars that are planned for storm rate storm hardening and grid reinforcement self-healing technology in our annual update that we come back to you every year we'll provide you a status on that And of course, our teams work together every single day. So your administration will certainly know and be aware of where we are status-wise on various projects. Of course, as was mentioned, we continue to get the franchise fee. and pass that along to the city. So it's kind of that risk-free revenue along with the municipal utility tax. And of course what Duke energy play pays as far as property tax. So those revenue streams of course will, uh, remain for the city, which are critically important for all the other services that you all provide. And for our customer programs, it's really astounding 75% of customers in Clearwater. use some type of program or service from Duke Energy that allows them to save costs on their electricity. And in 2025 alone, customers saved about $6.5 million on their energy usage by participating in these programs and services. And I'm really thrilled to share that just this past year, while we have been negotiating, but we have a long program called the Neighborhood Energy Saver Program We launched one here in Clearwater, and I'm thrilled to say that about 600 customers who participated just from the beginning of the year through May have saved about $3.1 million in energy usage. And a lot of that has to do with making small tweaks, changes in homes. So it is our job to ensure that we're communicating that to customers, educating customers, and that we do that in partnership with all of you. And I know all of you have had various interactions with our employees. We have a lot of employees who live here in the city of Clearwater. This is their home, a lot of them born and raised. We have a lot of retirees here as well. So those employees are standing by, as always, committed to continue serving the city of Clearwater, whether blue sky, whether storms, night or day. And of course, we've heard from some of the amazing work that's being done on the community side here in Clearwater. This is such a tradition that you all have and set the example for so many other communities. And these community partners, these nonprofit organizations, they're the same ones that Duke Energy has had the privilege of serving for many, many years. And we will continue to do that. And in fact, I think there's many new opportunities for us to look at as we move forward and have people who live here call Clearwater home, enjoy those amenities and those services. And of course, the millions of customers or millions of tourists who come and visit Clearwater on an annual basis. So I went through that quickly, but just wanted to hit those highlights. Happy to answer any questions.

Okay. Any questions on this agenda item from the council?

Okay.

Not to put you on the spot, but a question for you. Tell me, why is it in the city of Clearwater or the taxpayer's best interest to do a longer term, like 30 years versus 15 or 20? Because I've heard a handful of different answers.

Sure. I think a lot of it has to do with continuity. As you heard in the city attorney's review of the memorandum of agreement, You can see that there are investments that we were making through the length of the agreement. And I think it allows us to invest more in many ways, having that longer term investment.

I agree. Stability.

Stability.

Thank you. I didn't want to put you on the spot.

No problem.

I think we're probably going to be a little hesitant to have dual conversations today and turn around and have the same conversations on Thursday. But I appreciate the presentation.

Pleasure to be here. Thank you so much.

So, Council Member Bonino, we had outside counsel review the franchise agreement, a memorandum of agreement, and he recommended a 30-year term as well. Thank you.

I was just going to echo what Council Member Menino ended on. I'm just going to save my thoughts until Thursday.

Is that what we agreed to do? We're going to save our thoughts for Thursday?

It's our work session, so any one of the five of us is free to share whatever.

I think I'd like to wait until Thursday because we're going to have public comment as well, and we could save everything for Thursday night.

Okay. Well, thank you so much for the time to be with you today. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Yeah, I think one thing before we get to Thursday night, just one thing I would say is I personally think we made the right decision in doing this study. We had gained so much information.

Oh, absolutely. I agree.

I know unanimously we all agreed to do it. Regardless of where we land on it Thursday, we've gathered some incredible information, educated ourselves on electric utility service here in Clearwater in our city. We've gained considerable information. With that, I'll reserve my comments for Thursday night as well, but I did want to say that. This process of looking at it has been incredibly valuable to our city, regardless of what path we choose going forward. With that, we'll move to item 3.2 on the agenda.

The 3.2 is adopt Ordinance 9909-26 on the second reading, which amends Chapter 30, Traffic and Motor Vehicles to Modernize Parking Operations, Update Enforcement Procedures, and Revise Related Fees. The second reading, I don't have any new information to share. Third reading.

Okay. Any questions about this? That will move to Agenda Item 3.3.

Council Item 3.3, it's Adopt Ordinance 9888-26 on the third reading, Vacating City-Brideaway Alley Drainage and Utility Easements, Subdivision Black Book 9, Page 43, The Abutting Bayview Terrace Subdivision. This is set for a third reading. By way of review, Council approved this ordinance on the first reading on on april the 23rd and the second reading on may the 7th but due to the second reading not being properly noticed it's necessary to have a third reading for this item i believe that there is somebody from public works to to talk about a change as to the areas that are going to be vacated

again good afternoon there robert casmer public works engineering real estate the item before you today is actually for the proposed third reading for a presentation made on excuse me april 23rd by the ottomans puge to vacate city right away on an unapproved alley and a drainage easement as well following that presentation the application excuse me, the applicant paused its efforts to revise and respond to questions. On July six, the applicant requested Tennessee Avenue be removed from the proposed vacation. Uh, we, that was presented to legal. It was approved. Therefore, uh, we're moving forward again. Uh, Okay, again, today is going to be the third reading for this vacation effect. There was an error found this morning in an aerial drawing that has been corrected and is being corrected by the applicant that will be updated into Legistar. And then again, we will be moving forward again this Thursday. Public Works supports this vacation, supports this continued effort, And any questions you may have, please.

Any questions on this agenda?

If I can just clarify that. So there were several right-of-ways that were set to be vacated. There is one on Tennessee Avenue that if you look at an overhead, it runs east and west over the north part of the property. The applicant is withdrawing the request to vacate all of Tennessee Avenue, including a portion that's over Bayview. And there will be an updated exhibit for the council packet on Thursday.

Okay. Very good.

So this whole portion here that they're talking about, Tennessee Avenue, has been removed. And the one amendment that the attorney's talking about will involve this little area right here. This is your previous exhibit from your previous review where you can see what Tennessee was including.

So that gives you just a visual.

Looks like the new one's posted already. I'm looking at it now, so yeah.

That was just a little area in question there.

The error was found in this portion. Got it. As Tennessee crossed over Bay, that could not be validated since it was no longer part of the application. So Bay Street will actually, on the southern border of Tennessee, that will be the stopping point. whereas before it was continued over. But again, none of this was being removed, so therefore the land couldn't be transferred over to them.

Okay. Very good. Okay. Any questions? Thank you. Chair Greg Musil.

So Council 3.4 to 3.6, they are ordinances relating to annexations. It's the same situation as the previous item. There was a first reading on April the 23rd, a second reading on May the 7th, and the second reading was not properly noticed, so we're coming back for a third reading for items 3.4 to 3.6.

Okay. Your question is on 3.45 and 6. No? Move to agenda item 4.1.

Approve a tentative millage rate of 5.850 mils for fiscal year 2026-27 and set public hearing dates on the budget for September 15, 2026 and September 21, 2026 at 6 p.m.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. I want to introduce our budget director, Kaylin Castello. Before she gets started, I just wanted to remind you all the budget conversations that we've had starting back at the beginning of the year when we had our strategic planning session. That is what gave us the guidance to move forward with what we are presenting today. And as discussed several times in our one-on-ones, we will be doing a public engagement meeting um, meeting surrounding the budget on August 1st. And then we have our first special budget work session on August 11th. In addition to the formal hearings that will, that, um, remain Rosemary call just stated in September. So with that, I will turn it over to Kayleen.

Good afternoon, mayor and council Kayleen castle budget director. So we're pleased to present you as, uh, as Jennifer just said, the fiscal year 27 proposed operating and capital improvement budget. We posted the digital budget as well as a full PDF version of that document on our website on June 30th. At Thursday night's council meeting, I'll share a full presentation to walk you through key highlights of the budget proposal for the benefit of residents present and watching. The action requested of you this week is to set the tentative millage rate proposed at 5.885 mills, which is the same as the current year. And also to formally set public hearing dates in September. And these are already scheduled on the council calendar, um, as special budget meetings in September. So this is just a formalize that because all of this information will need to be provided to the Pinellas County property appraiser's office to be included in trim notices mailed to our residents in August. Um, we have a special budget work session scheduled for you on August 11th, and that will be the time for you to fully discuss this proposed budget. and all departments will be represented at that time. If there are certain topics you'd like covered at that special meeting, please let the city manager know as soon as possible so we have time to prepare that agenda appropriately. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have on this.

Okay. Any questions regarding this agenda? Vice Mayor.

This is no shock to the city manager during our one-on-ones. Kayleen, thank you so much for the work that you've done with this, too. And I don't think it's a shock to anybody, especially with the strategic budget meetings that we did have. But I'm still of the mindset of hitting a rollback rate. So I just want everybody to, you're not in my one-on-ones every week, but understand that going into Thursday, there very well may be a 401 on that. So happy to discuss.

I think the challenge with considering a rollback, and I'd love to, and really I think you and I were on the same page last year after we approved our millage to try to get us to the possibility of that, at least look at what we could do. But I think, you know, number one, we had our property tax valuations came in. at about 2.5% where we had been budgeting or estimating for. So we're already adjusting for that. And then this homestead exemption that's on the ballot could be as significant. And we won't have the opportunity under the current law to consider any change in our millage rate to adjust it back to what it is now if we did roll it back now. So I think that that... Although I'd love to do it, I think that the tax relief that folks are looking for for full-time residents, that's on the ballot, really. Now it's out of our hands for the voters to decide in November. Personally, for me... I would like to see us, although I would love to have roll the millage back. I just think it's challenging for us to do that until we know what the voters will decide to do to give themselves potentially some tax relief in November. That's my thought. Does anybody else have anything else they want to share on that?

So I don't disagree with those, but I think that we're finding ourselves in the situation that we are in November because not necessarily Clearwater, so please, nobody in the audience take offense to any of this, but because of other municipalities maybe living high on the hog, the state is now taking the reins, if you will, to let voters make the decisions because we haven't in the past. So listen, I completely understand, and I even noted it in our strategic budget meeting that this could be looming. And listen, I mean, I've already had those tough conversations and trying to look at different budgets to prepare for what may happen. But I'm still going to stand on the principle of I've wanted to hit a rollback, and that's where I'm going to be going with this forward.

Council Member Teixeira.

This kind of reminds me of that library conversation, right? As much as it kills me, I know it's the right decision. This is what I feel is the same thing. As much as I would love to have a rollback as well, the risk and the environment that we're facing right now does not allow me to make that decision in comfort. And so just like I had to accept the new reality for the library, that's the same thing here. We're facing a lot of risk. a lot of questions, and to do a rollback, to me, will put us at risk. And so I would not be in support of a rollback.

And I'm, you know, some of what I'm concerned about, too, is, I mean, it's not just things that folks might see as luxury activities or programs. We'll have to take a hard look at a lot. And certainly, you know, we did a strategic planning session where none of us wanted to impact essential services, fire, police, streets and roads, those things that people expect from local government. But... I'm not exactly sure how, you know, the homestead exemption bill referendum, if it passes, you know, what impact we might see citywide on some other things that folks care about. So for me, you know, that will be an adjustment enough. And then not knowing what, you know, this year, came in flat, but 2.5%. And I heard on the news last night where that increases in real property values across the United States are not expected to outpace inflation over the next year or two, at least the next year. So, you know, unfortunately for us, the cost of paying our great staff and keeping folks in work That's sensitive to the inflation rate. So if our property values are not rising to keep pace with the inflation rate, then we have some challenges. I certainly don't want to see anything we do expect proactively before we see what the voters decide. I don't want to see us be making decisions here on the millage rate that impact the quality of life that I think most of our citizens enjoy. We like having a nice city. We like having clean places. We like having nice parks and clean places. I personally think, and we'll have a chance to say more on Thursday night, but personally I think that we need to be careful at least temporarily on the millage rate because of those reasons. Although I do support keeping the taxes as low as we possibly can for our taxpayers. Okay. All right. If nothing else, then we'll move to the next item, which is assignment 4.2. I'm on the wrong page. That's why you don't see it. 5.1. Excuse me. 5.1.

Appoint 10 members to the 2026 Affordable Housing Advisory Committee.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. My name is Dylan May. I'm the housing manager. Florida Statute 420.9076 requires local governments that receive state housing initiative partnership or SHIP funding to annually establish an affordable housing advisory committee. We call that AHAC. The committee is responsible for reviewing the city's housing policies, land development regulations, ordinances, and comprehensive plan, and it also recommends strategies that encourage the development and preservation of affordable housing. The proposed committee before you consists of ten members representing the statutory categories, and that includes banking, home building, affordable housing, employers, planning, essential services, a Clearwater resident, and a locally elected official. Once appointed, the AHAC will begin preparing the city's local housing incentive strategy, another acronym LHIS, which is required to be submitted to council by December 31st, 2026. The LHIS will establish the city's vision, strategic priorities, and recommended policy and regulatory changes to help facilitate affordable housing opportunities throughout Clearwater. Staff recommends approval of the proposed appointments to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee so the committee can begin its work and ensure the city remains in compliance with SHIP program requirements. With that, I'm happy to address any questions.

Any questions regarding this agenda item? Nope. Okay. We'll move to item, thank you, we'll move to item 5.2 then.

Declare a surplus certain real property located at 103 Northeast Avenue. Approve the transfer of said property to the city of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency.

Good afternoon. Mayor, city council, city managers, assistant city managers, other respective members of the dais. Chris Edwards, economic development and housing director. Today's action. is an administrative step that declares current city-owned property located at 103 Northeast Avenue as surplus and transfers that property to the Clearwater CRA. This transfer allows CRA to strategically manage and market the property for future redevelopment that supports downtown revitalization, expands the tax and economic base, as well as advances the goals of the downtown community redevelopment area. And then on your screen you have a Just a quick aerial of the property that we're looking to transfer, and I stand ready to answer any questions that you may have.

Okay. Any questions on this agenda item? Okay. If not, then thank you. Move to item 6.1. Thank you.

Authorized purchase orders to J.B. Edwards, Soul Scene LLC, doing business as Big T Printing, and Young Guns Embroidery, Inc., for citywide custom apparel services. Mm-hmm.

Good afternoon, Mayor. Council members are catered parks and Recreation director. The item for you today is the purchase of custom apparel and related customized services that are used citywide. It sounds pretty fancy, but most of these are T-shirts. But anyways, they're customized T-shirts. The services will include uniforms, screen printing of T-shirts, embroidery patches, high visibility apparel, and other branded clothing items throughout the city. The Parks and Rec Department uses these primarily, I just said, for T-shirts, for the volunteer program, for athletic tournaments, special events, and for camps that we have. Staff is recommending multiple vendors for this contract to meet the various needs of all the departments citywide. By doing so, we will have product availability, we'll be able to have competitive pricing, and the vendors will be responsible. If one doesn't have that shirt, you can go to another vendor. It saves us a lot of time when we cannot get those products. Pricing is based on the percentage discount from the manufacturer's suggested retail price and or their vendor catalog pricing. Contract is for one year with four one-year renewable options available. The annual expenditure is estimated to be $385,000. With that, I'll answer any questions you may have.

Okay. Any questions on this agenda? If not, do we have consent?

Yes.

We have consent on it. 6.1. Thank you, Mr. Cater. Agenda item 7.1.

Approval work order Advanced Engineering and Design, Inc. of Pinellas Park to provide building design and permitting services for the seawall repairs project.

Good afternoon, Mayor and members of council. I'm Nate Josephic with Public Works Engineering. efficiently implement repairs the city is establishing an annual seawall repair and replacement contract based on a city seawall city-wide seawall inspection program that will allow repairs to be completed based on priority available funding and asset condition advanced engineering design was selected to prepare the annual contract package including construction details technical specifications bid quantities and bidding support services public works anticipates bring a construction contract award recommendation to city council in early 2027 and establishing this annual contract will provide the city with a proactive and efficient mechanism to address seawall repairs, improve resilience and maximize the value of public infrastructure investments. Happy to answer any questions.

Chair Greg Musil. Any questions on this agenda item? If not, do we have consent? We have consent on 7.1. Thank you. Agenda item 7.2.

award a construction contract to Keystone Excavators of Oldsmar, Florida for the 2026 Under Drain Improvement Project.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council, members, and esteemed staff. At wellness with the Stormwater Division of Public Works, as you heard just read, we are hoping to Get your consent to award a construction contract to Keystone Excavators for the replacement of undergrains citywide. Be happy to answer any questions.

Okay. Any questions on this agenda? If not, do we have consent? We have consent on 7.2. Thank you. Thank you. Agenda item 7.3.

Approve a purchase order to Temple Inc. for rectangular rapid flashing beacon systems.

Good afternoon, Marion Council. I'm Anna Holland, Transportation Division Manager for Public Works. This item authorizes the purchase of RFP systems and has pedestrian lighting and related equipment to improve pedestrian crossings on Clearwater Beach and Sankey. The improvements will be installed at nine crossing locations along Gulffield Boulevard, Coronado Drive, and Gulf Boulevard to increase pedestrian visibility, improve illumination, and improve driver awareness. The project is eligible for reimbursement through Gulf Boulevard Buildification, Penny's Fort, and a local agreement with up to $147,000 remaining available for reimbursement. With that, I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Okay. Any questions on this agenda?

Any other questions? Yep. Is this for a specific area for these crosswalks?

There are nine crossing locations. There's an exhibit, but I can go through and read which one they are. It's okay.

I must have missed it. I'll go through it. Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

Do we have consent? We have consent on 7.3. Do you have item 7.4?

Approve temporary right of entry agreement with CSX Transportation requiring indemnification support of the New City Hall project.

Thank you, Ms. Call. Good afternoon, Mayor Tara Kivett, Engineering Public Works. This agreement is required by CSX. It will allow the city's contractor to construct a new curb right along the eastern edge of the CSX easement on East Avenue, and that is abutting the west side of the proposed new city hall project. This agreement requires council approval due to the identification clause. We expect that the site work for City Hall will be complete by end of August, followed by move-in of city staff through September. Any questions?

Okay. Any questions on this one? Nope. Do we have consent? We have consent on agenda item 7.4. Thank you. Agenda item 8.1.

Authorized purchase orders from multiple vendors for vehicle and equipment repair, maintenance, and collision services.

Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council, City Leadership. Brandy Calandrea, Director of General Services. I have here with me our fleet division manager, AJ Davis. Together, General Services is requesting authorization to award invitation to bid 26-27 to multiple vendors for vehicle and equipment repair, maintenance, and collision services. The city operates a diverse fleet that supports public safety, public works, public utilities, and other essential city services. Having multiple qualified vendors gives us the flexibility to assign work based on the type of repairs needed, vendor expertise, and availability, all in the hopes of reducing vehicle downtime and keep city operations moving. The total authorized request is a not-to-exceed amount of $5 million over a potential five-year term with funding subject to annual budget processes. We are available should you have any questions or concerns.

Okay. Any questions on June 9th and May 1st? Okay. Now do we have consent? We have consent on 8.1. Thank you. Do you want to add 9.1?

Approve an indemnification and hold harmless agreement between the City of Pinellas Park and capacity as agent of the owner of the premises known as Pinellas Park Fire Training Facility.

Mr. Mayor, Council, good evening. Good afternoon. Chad Pittman, Fire Chief. The City of Pinellas Park and Clearwater Fire and Rescue propose a cooperative agreement allowing Clearwater Fire and Rescue firefighters to use the Pinellas Park Fire Training Ground through December 31st of 2027. The facility provides live fire and structural firefighting training opportunities. in a different training environment for our members. Under the agreement, Clearwater Fire and Rescue will repair or replace any damage caused by its personnel and will indemnify and hold harmless the city of Pinellas Park for liabilities arising from its use of the facility. The agreement preserves sovereign immunity protection under the Florida statutes and has no associated cost. Approval also authorizes the city manager to execute this agreement and future training agreements of similar nature. I'm available for questions.

Questions on this agenda item? If not, do we have consent? Yes. We have consent on 9.1. Thank you. Gen item 10.1.

Provide direction on the proposed development agreement between MHG Palm Pavilion Hotel, Six Flag Planted LLC, and the City of Clearwater for property located at 10 Bay Esplanade and 18 Bay Esplanade.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Mayor, Council. If this looks familiar, we've been looked at this in May and June. For re-notification purposes, we're back at the starting point. So just for clarification before I go over the quick summary that nothing has changed from what we saw last time. So the site summary, if you recall, it's 1.06 acres, west side of the property to remain, which is the existing restaurant, east side with demolition and new improvements. It's in the tourist district, resort, facilities high, feature land use. Old Florida District of Beach by Design, permitted density is 50 units per acre or 53 units. Additional 91 units which are requested today from the hotel density reserve, total of 144 units at 136 units per acre. 75 feet in height, parking on the first four levels and from the fifth to ninth levels will be part of the hotel. Amenities include existing 93-89 square foot restaurant that I discussed. There will be a small swimming pool on the fifth floor and the site will be accessed from the north and the south from the adjacent streets through a parking garage. The project or proposal in the conceptual is consistent with the community development code, consistent with beach by design and standards for development agreements. It's in compliance with the standards of development agreements, is consistent with the comprehensive plan and furthers the vision of beach redevelopment set forth in beach by design. And again, this is a direction for the, which would occur in August. Thank you.

Okay. Any questions on this agenda? Okay. Vice Mayor?

I don't have any questions. Thank you. Just more of a discussion with this. And Mr. Mayor, Mr. Albert, and you guys can attest to this more than I can. But seeing what the temperature is for – I like the project. I have no problems with the project moving forward after the review. But maybe taking a pause and pausing the distribution of the remaining hotel room density pool reserve – until we complete the traffic study, kind of solve our traffic solution or at least make it better before we continue to maybe ponder future allocations of those hotel rooms.

So when is the traffic study going to be completed?

I don't have the information in front of me but I believe it's ongoing. They're debating right behind me.

I hate to share my anecdotal experience, which may or may not be consistent and sure council member albert might share the same but but i agree with you that probably um having the study in before because that is that you know i'm sure we've all received similar feedback that has been probably the predominant concern of the residents is traffic impact so

Good afternoon again, Mayor, Council Members, Marcus Williamson, Public Works, and Lauren's up here also. So we've got the two different studies that are kind of going on right now. So we're looking at the Marina Parking Garage. So we paused the overall just briefly to evaluate a couple of concepts with the Marina Parking Garage, and then that's coming forward in the larger also. So November-ish? will be the... It's my turn.

Hi. Good afternoon, Lauren Matzke, Planning and Development. And I have not had the opportunity to speak with Assistant City Manager Battle on this. It was a conversation actually today because the proposed schedule would be to try to be wrapping this up around November. Planning and Development's concern would be trying to do any related outreach around the holidays Typically we try to avoid public outreach between November and December since people's schedules are pretty full anyway. But also understanding that timing with the appropriate delay that we took to work on the garage piece kind of complicates things and pushed it out into the winter months. So with the different outreach projects that we have going on, that was something that we had wanted to discuss.

So the reason for a little bit of that delay was there were some pretty innovative ideas coming out of what we might be able to do with that parking garage. So the consultant basically was saying, I'd like to take a turn. or two on that and then get back. So we're letting them take that turn or two on ideas.

The parking, right? We mean the parking at the hotel. That's part of the hotel development.

So it's the Marina parking garage out there.

I'm not sure how that impacts a hotel on North Beach.

Because of the traffic flow.

Yes, correct.

Correct. Which is essentially what I was alluding to, to make that clear as well.

Oh, okay. I thought you meant national subject property.

No, sir. I meant the entire, to wait for this study to come all the way through. which if you don't if you don't mind thank you for that i was anticipating being more middle of next year so that's great news that it may be around november i understand there can be tentatively delays thank you councilman robert okay so so this is just for the allocation of density units

This is not for the project itself, right?

Correct. This is to start the ball rolling, to get the dedication of the units. Otherwise, it's just 53. Right. This would be a lot.

So, I mean, we've got to go through this whole process of planning as to review the project, and then it's got to come back As to us as a, does that come back to us? It does not.

It goes through the, the community development board is the CDB.

Okay. It goes to CDB, but it won't be going to CDB till when do you think they haven't submitted for the, the FLD. So we got a while. And they're going to require a traffic study for that. So let's say the traffic study comes back and says, too much traffic for this development. Then it would not move forward, and then they'd have to release the density. Is that correct?

Well, the units right now, we have approximately 110 in the reserve. 91 of these would go down to, I guess the math is 19 remaining. So right now, we have 110 in the reserve.

Well, I'm just saying that. Somebody just doesn't hold density units unless they're thinking about it. If they can't do the project for that many units, if somebody else comes up with a project, they'll probably, because they float around. I mean, they're all over the place.

It's a living, breathing, with all the pending projects, any one of them could potentially rescind themself or change their mind. And we have currently one that went through DRC. a couple weeks ago that they've asked for some hotel units as well. So as what we're discussing here would also impact them. But it's, again, what you said has to go through Community Development Board for this project.

Right, for the whole project approval. And that's when all the studies come out, if it's a project that can move forward. So I'm just saying the allocation of density units in this really doesn't move the needle until the project is.

So I'm tying in. Move this project forward. The project is good in my eyes, and depending on what the rest of the board here decides. But in my eyes, I like the Palm Pavilion project. is what I'm saying in addition to that, then putting a pause on any other allocation to the 19 remaining units in the pool until we get the overarching traffic study completed to see how to move people. That's maybe the clarification that I didn't relay the first time.

I think that's certainly our priority.

at the time of the proposal. Thank you. Thank you for that clarification because I was a little bit confused there because there has been a current traffic and impact study done on this exact project that we're discussing. And that's already been completed. Acceptable levels of services both with or without anticipated project traffic. But I do recognize what you say is beyond this project and beyond Thursday's approval or not of this project, If there are 19 unallocated units in the density pool, should we have a deeper discussion thrown on an agenda to talk about what big picture looks like moving forward of allocating any more out of that outside of this project? And I would be open to having those discussions.

For sure. Well, I mean, I am going to look to it. probably add that into a motion, if I'm being honest with you guys, right? That's why we're having the discussion now, and that is just to put that pause. I mean, until November, December, maybe even January, or after the holidays, whenever the traffic study does come to completion. And we've got more knowledge on how to move people from the mainland to the beach and then disperse them from north to south beach and wherever they're trying to go efficiently and effectively. I think that'll also help future developers in knowing what they can do with the allocated hotel rooms and the resort from there with the new traffic proposals.

So there are only 19 unallocated? Correct. Okay. Well, you know, we're a beach resident. Been a beach resident for a long time, so I appreciate it. I appreciate as much as anybody the sensitivity to beach traffic. The biggest challenge we have, and we're doing a study on it with Fort Pinellas, is traffic patterns between the roundabout and Sankey Bridge. That's the biggest bottleneck. I can tell you from having more of a personal experience with Northside, it pales in comparison to the challenges between the roundabout and sankey bridge it's just we've added so many rooms but they are already there they're they're built and or allocated so i i don't know that you know another 19 units is really going to move the needle much on how many people are coming across the causeway to get out to the beach i think the traffic pattern you know it's maybe too late but we can hopefully improve that pattern between roundabout and sankey bridge but that's the biggest area where i think we need to to look at it i'm not opposed to that but i'm not sure how many 19 units how much difference it's going to make if we allocate those or not

i agree with you and maybe you can speak to this as well but for those projects that are still on the beach say for whatever reason those fell through those rooms would then come back into the hotel density reserve or if they were given up so that's why i'm saying just overall put a pause on until we figure out what our solution is for traffic movement and then make an educated decision and then even it could help developers and seeing us how it could be you know within the next the first quarter of 2027 again i just think that it might be a wise decision and it wasn't just towards the 19 because what is 19 units in the grand scheme of things it was in case anything else does fall through that hey before we get another awesome project that could potentially put more people on south beach or something like that that we have a better understanding of what we're going to do with our people and the mobility of the beach

Is that correct for you?

Council members, because in order for you to place a moratorium, putting a pause, it would require it to come back to council at a future date in the form of a resolution. Right now until then, anything that's in the mix, and Ms. Matske can correct me, the city would be obligated to uphold. So if that is a direction that you want a future discussion or to direct the city attorney to draft a resolution for future consideration, please provide that direction.

Okay, so two things. First, as we talk, I really do believe that we need further clarification. On Thursday, we will be voting whether to allocate those rooms to this project or not. That is a question before us, right? So even if we do a moratorium, it will not affect this project because it's already in progress. And that is just the first of many steps that they have to go through. Okay, now, this agenda item, like so many others when it comes to the beach, started a bunch of conversations where I have with several people and there's a lot of confusion, misconceptions about beach by design. And so I was thinking that we should start off before having that discussion, having a presentation where in layman's terms, just on the record, explain it. perceptions out there are all over the gamut. And I don't think there's an understanding of what Beach by Design is in terms of infrastructure, when it was designed, and what it considers, and why there's an allocation. Honestly, the people that are concerned do not have a full understanding of it. So I'm thinking before we have that discussion, let's start off with ground zero and have a presentation, I hope, if everybody agrees, where you can explain the beach by design, at least on record. So if I get those calls, which are many, I'll just go to that July meeting, it's all there. You know what I mean? Versus me trying to explain all the time the same thing over and over again. Would that be something that my colleagues would be interested in directing staff to do?

I think it might be helpful for the public to kind of understand that a little better, to have a little refresher for the public on it. I don't think, generally, talking to citizens concerned over not just things on the beach, but in general, that the average citizen doesn't understand the comprehensive planning process, why that's important, why we have a comprehensive plan. It's to not only have some community agreement on how we want to develop our city, but it's also to give developers. some reliance and some certainty as to what they can and can't do and where they can and can't do it. Every time in every community I've been in over the years, when that comprehensive plan comes up for review, there's all this public engagement and you try to get the public involved and get their thoughts at the time before you adopt it. It's only usually after the fact when a project comes up that they don't like that they, that now, oh, wow, we've approved what, you know, that's within the zone or not that zone. So that's the challenge. I think it may be helpful for the public to just kind of understand what we adopted as a plan, what we did, beach bugs and all these other things that I wouldn't say our hands are completely tied on, but that we maybe have committed to to offer developers the opportunity to give some certainty in what they can invest in and build. So I wouldn't be opposed to it. I wouldn't put a lot of staff time into it. I wouldn't be opposed to it.

Just layman's terms in a concise way because some of the questions I'm being asked are so, like, You have 91 rooms, well, did you consider how much sewage that's going to take? And why did you come up with that number? And so there's a lot of even basic understanding is missing. So I'm not asking for an intensive presentation, just something concise and in layman's terms that we can just start from ground zero. Because some of the questions I ask shows very clearly that there's misunderstandings out there.

including the fact that 1385 of these hotel units in the reserve were part of the density, which was assessed at the time, including and up into the 2013 update on page 54 of the document. So just happened to have it here.

You know, if you talk to folks who were on the city council back then, when they decided to be decided and all that. Some would in hindsight look back and say, well, maybe we did allocate too many at the time. But the reality is we allocated them. So to go back in hindsight and redo, get a do-over, unfortunately you don't get a do-over. on some things, and so this may be one where we don't. But to your point, I think how do we manage it now that we have what we have? That's a challenge for us. And so I'm not opposed to that kind of presentation. Just a reminder to us and to the community of what we can and can't do based upon what we've already agreed to do. Council Member Menino.

Mayor, thank you. I'd be up to here in the presentation. I kind of feel like that ship is almost sailed. I mean, this plan was 2001 redone in 2013 and now we're 2026 and we're saying there's 19 units left. The questions I'm getting from the community digging a little deeper is, looking for assurances of whether it's 19 units left or 400 plus that are allocated already, can the roads hold it? Do we have the water infrastructure to support it? Does our sewer systems and underground systems, is this incorporated into our new consolidated water plan and master plan? Those are the deeper discussions of assurances that people are asking about this, not so much about what is beach by design. We can refer them to a document and to a website, but I think it's the overall questions of looking for those assurances of tell me, can our roadways handle it can the do we have the water the infrastructure can you flush all those toilets if we put 400 more units what does this do to the storm water project that we're approving down there i think those are the the greater questions and that's um that's a much larger discussion i think that's needed than a layman's terms of beach by design just my thoughts

OK. So what's our direction here?

Yeah. So that's what two things. I don't necessarily think that you need to go back over everything. It would probably be a waste of time, if I'm being honest. I just don't know what the exact process would be. Do I need to bring it up under new business? Is that what we're kind of relaying?

You don't need to bring it up under new business. But if you want, as a body, to discuss the possibility of implementing a moratorium, I can schedule it for the next meeting. I just need that direction.

Yeah, I mean, again, moratorium pause is just until we get the traffic study of how we move people around, get that solution going, and then understand that with the rest of the projects that are out there and the 19 that are already allocated, that we would be able to facilitate those people wherever the project could be in the future. I think that if we wanted to get Public Works involved with giving an update on their infrastructure for the 30-year progress, From here forward, I guess you could do that. I know that we used to get the North Beach updates all the time. And we were constantly getting good feedback, right? So we're trending in the right direction. I don't necessarily know that I need that. We know that we need a lot of work out on the beach, and it'll get there when it does. My concern, again, is just mobility for primarily our residents. then our visitors and maybe pausing future projects until we can figure out our traffic solution, which seems like it's coming up relatively soon. However I go about doing it.

It'll be on the next work session agenda as a council discussion item under your name.

Perfect.

Thank you. And it's a pause on the allocation of units.

Correct. If everybody's going to want to discuss it in depth.

Not on projects. Correct.

It's just the allocation of the current hotel density reserve.

Okay. I'm okay with that. Anybody else?

Just don't use that moratorium word. Just say pause.

Well, that's what I want to, yeah. I don't mean to get into the weeds with resolutions and then having to claw back things, but you guys know better than I do.

I will let legal decide on what the final, if something were to be determined, what the final terminology will be used.

Perfect. Thank you all for appeasing me. I appreciate it. And you're appeased.

Okay. i think we're good thank you i think we provided more direction than what was asked for sure but it's all good it's all good uh move to agenda item 11.1 award a construction contract to jds pipe inc for the fdm hmgp lift station platforms project

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council. Item 10.1 was a great segue into this discussion here. I'm Mike Flanagan, Public Utilities Director. Today I'm requesting your award for a construction contract with JDS Pipe in the amount of $6,336,305.80 for a lift station platform project and approval time extension for FEMA Grant 4337-484R. This contract allows JDS, the lowest responsive bidder, to elevate critical systems of seven coastal lift stations above the flood hazard elevations, mitigating the risk of power loss and sanitary sewer overflows during storms. Please note, while the current contract reflects the completion date, December 31st, 2026, the grant deadline has been extended to March 31st, 2027, and staff intends to amend the agreement to reflect the updated date of completion. Establishing this contract aligns with our strategic priorities high-performing government by maintaining public infrastructure and environmental stewardship by implementing proactive solutions for a resilient community. I'm happy to respond to any questions that you may have.

Okay. Any questions on this agenda? Okay. If not, do we have consent? Yes. We have consent on 11.1. 11.2.

authorized purchase orders to Carolina filters, Inc core and main LP and Harrington industrial plastics, LLC for reverse osmosis plants, cartridge filters.

Uh, good afternoon mayor council, Mike planning getting into them requesting your authorization, um, to issue purchase orders, uh, with the three or four named, uh, mentioned organizations for a reverse osmosis, uh, plant cartridge filters and the annual not to exceed amount of $160,000. This action establishes primary and secondary vendor contracts for the period of July 17, 2026 through July 16, 2027. And it encompasses the necessary $29,994.12 preliminary purchase from Harrington Industrial Plastic to ensure uninterrupted production at our R02 facility. Securing these filters is essential to remove particulate matter from our source well to protect the sensitive plant membranes and guarantee reliable pretreatment operations. Establishing this contract directly meets our strategic objective of high-performing government by providing critical water treatment components required to keep our systems running continuously and produce high-quality drinking water. I'm happy to respond to any questions that you may have.

Chair Greg Musil. Any questions on this agenda? Now do we have consent? Chair Greg Musil. We have consent on 11.2. Thank you. Thank you. And we are going to take a very short recess. This time we call the work session back to order and move to item 12.1.

Reappoint Robin Fiel to the Neighborhood and Affordable Housing Advisory Board as a citizen who is actively engaged in the banking, mortgage, industry, and connection with affordable housing. With a term expiring January 31, 2030, council members, Ms. Fiel completed her first term, and she is the only applicant on file with this specific qualification, and she's willing to continue on the board.

Okay.

May I place on consent? Or keep it on consent? Yes.

Do we have consent? We have consent on 12.1. Okay. Move that on 12.2.

Appoint Todd St. John Fulton to the Neighborhood and Affordable Housing Advisory Board as a citizen who is actively engaged as a real estate professional in connection with affordable housing with a term expiring. July 16, 2030. Council members, Mr. Fox is no longer able to serve on the board due to work conflicts. And so the only applicant that we have with this specific category is Mr. St. John Fulton.

Okay.

No? Okay.

All right. And we have consent? Yes. We have consent on 12.2, 12.3.

Reappoint Kennard Robinson to the North Greenwood Community Redevelopment Area Citizens Advisory Committee as a resident representative for a term expiring September 30, 2028. Council members, Mr. Robinson was filling an unexpired term, and so he is willing to serve, and he's able to serve another term.

Okay. We have consent. We have consent on 12.3. 12.4.

to the Sister Cities Advisory Board as a youth member with an unexpired term through October 31, 2028. This is for the youth member on the board and I am glad to report yet sad to say that Mr. Yangara, she is going off to college and can no longer serve so that's the reason why we have Ms. Yangara. for your consideration. Okay. Sounds good.

Do we have consent? We have consent on 12-4 and 12-5.

Appoint Stephanie Chill to the Sister Cities Advisory Board as a resident with an arts education professional background with an unexpired term through October 31, 2027. Council members, Ms. Melinda Beacon, she had resigned and so Ms. Stephanie Chill was in a different category but she's able to fill this this position. Okay.

Do we have consent? Yeah. We have consent on Stephanie Chill. Agenda item 12.6.

Hold on a second here. Appoint Natasha Carrick to the Sister Cities Advisory Board as the Pinellas County Schools employee with an unexpired term through February 1, 2028. Council members, due to the recent budget cuts at the county level, the position, the World Language Specialist position is no longer available. They've eliminated the position, but we just happen to have Ms. Carrick, who has that background, and she lives within city limits and is also a Pinellas County employee who's able to serve in that position.

Okay. Do we have consent on this one? We have consent on 12.6. Thank you. 12.7.

appoint an individual to the Sister Cities Advisory Board as a business community representative with an unexpired term through March 31, 2028. Council members, Mr. Kelly was serving on this board as that community business representative. Unfortunately, he's no longer able to serve, but I do have two applicants who are willing to serve, and that is Cheryl Acton, She is a bookkeeper for Acton Arts, LLC, and William Johnson, who is an accounting manager for the Sand Pearl Resort.

Okay.

Well, I think they're both qualified, but for me it just came down to what I believe Mr. Johnson's, William Johnson's unique perspective coming from the beach. He represents a different community, has a lot of contacts, a lot of relationships, so I think he would be a great addition to the board.

Vice Mayor.

Yes, sir. Adversely, I saw that Cheryl had the extension of travel with Delta Airlines and thought that with her unique travel experience that she would probably be pretty good. I mean, as we know, we just did the Sister Cities tour and having people that are eloquent or well-versed in travel definitely helps. So I don't think it's anything against Mr. Johnson. He does have a very good resume. I just thought that that stood out and could be very helpful for our sister cities program.

Council Member Menino.

Thank you. I also wrote down Chair Lackton's name for very similar reasons. Our travel experience with Delta She represents several community organizations and boards. She's also a graduate of our Citizens Academy and went through that. So that's kind of what caught my eye about Cheryl. But I think both are qualified and would do a great job.

Yeah, both qualified. Both look good. I kind of agree with the background of Cheryl.

Can I add something? Reviewing the board, we already have representation of well-traveled multilingual representatives. What we're missing is actually somebody from the beach with a business and tourism experience. That's why he got the edge. I'm looking at the team as it is right now and what would be a missing gap. And that's why I went for, as well, Mr. William Johnson.

I would share that viewpoint some. I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman from Visit St. Pete Clearwater a week or two ago. He surveys throughout the entire county, not just Clearwater Beach. I talked with him at the marina. So he's telling me about how much he enjoys his job in engaging folks. And I said, what's the most surprising thing you learn? He says, well, the most surprising thing I learned about Clearwater is how many international people I speak with when I'm surveying people out here on Clearwater Beach. I said, what's surprising about that? He says, it's significantly more than anywhere else in the county, including all the other beaches, including St. Petersburg. So I do think there's... If there's that, that we may be missing is just the Japanese population that visits here naturally. We are maybe missing that tourism input from our beach community. If it's kind of an even thing, I would wade more towards that. And San Peril's a property that certainly is one of the leaders out there in attracting that kind of international visitor. Those folks, you've probably seen the statistics, those folks, particularly Asian tourists, at one time, an Asian tourist, the data would spend eight times the amount. on a visit to the county than an American tourist would spend here. And it's not just Japan. It's folks from all over the world. And those of us out there see that a lot too. It's not just this gentleman doing the surveys, but you see a lot of international tourists and a lot of Asian tourists too. You know, it sounds like they're both about even, and so I would agree with Council Member Teixeira that it would be nice to have somebody from the tourism community on this commission.

Is there currently nobody on the sister city board that represents tourism? I don't see a team roster or what their backgrounds are or anything like that.

No, this is a specific rather qualification for the board in terms of the business community, local business community rep. And it was held by Mr. Kelly, but for obvious reasons, he had to resign.

So I would lean toward Mr. Judson, I think.

I can bring it back on Thursday if council wishes.

I could go either way. I mean, I like your reasoning. I didn't think about that before. That might be a better point.

Do we want to put it on for Thursday to talk about further? I guess we can invite both of them like we do other times to come.

I can ask them to come if you wish.

Pretend if they wanted to. Okay. How does everybody else feel? Let's put it on for Thursday.

But bring it back on Thursday?

I guess it will be off consent then.

Okay. Do we want the applicants present or no?

I think we normally invite them, right?

I can invite them. Yeah.

Even if it's on consent for one candidate, we invite anybody who's applied to come.

Last item, designate a council member to serve as the city's official voting delegate at the Florida League of Cities annual conference August 13th through the 15th. Council members, the city each year designates an individual to serve as the voting delegate for their actual business meeting that will be held this year on Saturday, August 15th at 9 a.m. The conference will be held at the Diplomat Beach Resort down in Hollywood, Florida. from the 13th through the 15th, and so I just need to have consensus in terms of who you wish to appoint so I can inform the organization who will be the voting delegate.

So I shared with you earlier when it came up on the agenda that I would like to attend this one. I'll be there one way or the other for the Florida League of Mayors meeting, which is like the Wednesday right before Mayor Woody Brown of Largo is going to be president of the Florida League of Mayors next year, so I want to be there to support Mayor Brown. He'll be the first mayor from Pinellas County. to be the president of the Florida League of Mayors. So to support Mayor Brown, I'd like to be there. I will be there for that already. And then so for me to attend the rest of it on behalf of the city. Plus, you know, there's, it's been referenced earlier, there's an important issue on the November ballot that I'm sure will be discussed and just to be there present for that and talk with other community leaders and other mayors throughout the state who are contemplating that and I would like to attend myself. Now that doesn't mean, you know, we've sent one in the past and if Council Member Menino, I know that you have an interest in attending, I don't know that it would I don't think it would be a budget breaker if two of us went.

No, and that would really be up to in terms of what the budget, the council's budget is, but more than one council member has attended in the past. It's been a while, but yes.

So, you know, I've about run different other mayor's things I go to. I've been... I'm about through my budget, so my budget is, I mean, it'd have to come out of whatever we have allocated for this, the registration fee, so on and so forth. But, you know, some cities, I mean, they, you know, sometimes it's smaller cities, but some cities, their entire council attends these meetings. So I don't know we need to do that, but I think maybe we should consider more than just one, if there's interest.

I'm open to more than Mary. I'm the elected representative for this body for the last two years, Suncoast League of Cities. Last year I was out of the country, could not be at the conference. Council Member Cotton stepped up and went as our voting member. This is already taken out of my budget. My hotel is already booked. My registration is already done. Events are already scheduled on my calendar. I'll be there regardless. I'll also be appointed as the third vice president of the Suncoast League of Cities for our entire region. I will be not only nominated but probably appointed that very same weekend. So I will be there whether I'm the voting nomination or not, that doesn't bother me. So Mayor, if you want to be there and you feel the need, you're welcome to have that role, but I'm already scheduled to be there, so I will be there.

So when... So when we designate, whoever we designate, it comes, it's a separate expense? No, it's just to attend. Still comes out of our council budget.

It's just to attend the annual meeting that Saturday morning and to approve the slate of officers. So that's all this is.

There's no budget or any allocation attached to this. Yeah, that is all to it. Our meeting in the morning.

And not even an hour. It's very efficient.

I'll be there Thursday morning through Sunday, so I will be there.

Well, I'm fine with Council Member Menino if there's no budget.

If you want to join, join.

So who should we put as the Council Member Menino?

If the mayor wants to be there, he's going to be there. He can be the voting member. I'm going to be there regardless.

How about this? I'll bring this back on Thursday because I need a motion anyway, so...

I'm fine with the council member. I thought there was some budget attached to it. I thought the reason we were designating somebody to be a voting member was there was an allocation set forth for a budget.

No, again, it's just to attend and to vote at that one meeting.

That's fine. I don't want to put council in that position of having to pick or flip a coin.

If you want to be the voting member, that's fine.

I'm good either way. I'll be there. Whether I'm voting or not, I'll be there.

Give me some flexibility on how long I stay. That's fair. That'd be fine.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. With that, we go to item 13, city manager verbal reports.

Do we bypass section 11?

This is a work session, so yeah, thank you. I'd be glad to talk with you after the meeting about the purpose of this meeting.

11.2.

We did it.

Thank you. Yeah, so I just wanted to take a moment. I know that our team is not here, but especially with Parks and Rec, they did a phenomenal job as it relates to the programming and putting together a really exceptional 250th anniversary celebration for our community and the way that they engaged our community and partnered with so many community members for them to have a part of it and make what the 4th of July was in that 250th anniversary. I just really wanted to thank them and then of course all the other departments that helped pull that off because it certainly is a It's a team event, so wanted to thank them for that. And then also just do another plug for our community engagement event that is on August 1st. At Morningside, we do have it advertised on our website and are pushing it out. We just did a media release as well so that we can get lots of attendance and engagement in that meeting. Thank you.

Okay. Item 14, city attorney. Nothing. Okay. Item 15, new business that we haven't already discussed. Nothing. You have something?

No. Cotton already added one. The hotel thing.

Okay. All right. We'll move on to 16, then council comments. Anybody have any comments to add?

Yeah, I'll just do a shout out to the big audience as well. I think that our staff, Rudy, for you, thank you for still being here. I think that all staff for the July 3rd or 4th, unfortunately I wasn't able to be there for the 4th, but At least the third. You guys did a stellar job. Thank you very much for being able to allow us to celebrate our 250th anniversary of this nation. It was fantastic, and kudos off to you guys and the whole team. So thank you.

Okay. Any other comments? We've got item 17. Just to add on to that, it was fantastic. I thought particular and, you know, great was they had a – I called it the world's largest America 250 table tennis tournament because we may have been the only ones in the world hosting a table tennis tournament that day. I guess he regularly practices and plays out at the Long Center, but gentlemen, I'm not sure if he lives in Clearwater or not, but he lives here locally. But he's ranked in the top 50 in the world in table tennis. And so the director out there, I said, before I even, I was calling it table tennis. He said, don't call it ping pong. I said, why? He said, well, they're very sensitive to that. It's table tennis. And then he says, which I'm not exactly sure why they're that sensitive. He says, because you ask them what kind of ball they play with, and they say, well, ping pong ball. But it was a great event. But we had a volleyball tournament. They had a pickleball tournament at another rec center. And then we had the hot dog giveaway. It was just a great way that our Parks and Rec team in particular approached gathering the community. So, again, thank you for that and the two big celebrations we had here. The laser show looks a lot better if you're underneath the lasers, so I had to come down into the park to see that. But that was a great idea, and 4th of July was a big success, as it always is. So kudos again to our entire team for what they did on the 4th of July. With that, we will adjourn the work session of July 13, 2026.

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