City Council - Regular Meeting

I call this meeting to order. Did you hear me out there? Can you hear me? Okay, I can't hear. Welcome to our council meeting for May 26, 2026. Virtual participation and council meeting are available on your computer or smartphone via Microsoft Teams or by telephone. You can learn how to participate virtually by visiting our website at www.climoutfl.gov and search for attend council meeting online. In the interest of time, efficiency, and ensuring everyone who wishes to address the council is given the opportunity to do so, the following will apply to all comments made by the public in person and virtually. Each speaker will be permitted three minutes to address the council. In an effort to be respectful during the meeting, please make sure your cell phones are set to silence. Thank you for participating in your city government. Tonight we will observe a moment of silence. Please rise and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Amen. Please be seated. Today we have Two presentations. The first presentation will be the 2026 Assistant Principal of the Year. Yes, sir.

I'm going to take this, Mr. Mayor.

Oh, you're going to take it, okay.

So I'd like to recognize Ms. Rashonda Scott of East Ridge High School for being named the State of Florida Department of Education's Assistant Principal of the Year. Ms. Scott is no stranger to excellence. She began her career in Lake County in 2013 as a language arts teacher at Windy Hill Middle School and was named Lake County's Assistant Principal of the Year in 2025. She's been serving at East Ridge High School since 2022. The city of Claremont is proud to have such an accomplished educator in our community. We are grateful for Ms. Scott's dedication to her outstanding commitment to bettering the lives of our students and the future of Claremont. So the city of Claremont would like to recognize Ms. Scott with an award, and we'd like to afford her a moment to speak after we take a photo. So Ms. Scott, would you please come up here?

I just want to thank you all for recognizing me as an educator. It's an honor. And I think the most amazing thing about winning this award are the students. I really love our students. And sometimes an education is not always easy, but when you really feel like you make a difference and you're recognized for that, especially at the state level, it's a really big honor. So I really do appreciate that. I've been in Claremont for a long time, but thank you all for the recognition. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next we have a presentation on Thrive Claremont. Ms. Sherry. Oh, there she is, okay.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, council members.

We're pleased to be here today.

This is part of sort of our annual update on our partnership with the city of Claremont. We do have a couple of slides and a video that we wanted to show.

And I don't know, can we do the video or no?

We can do the slides first. second slide maybe so we've had a few students that couldn't come because of their transportation issues I don't know if anybody thinks there's a transportation issue in Lake County but teens also have a transportation issue and so what we've done as part of our 10th anniversary, we're celebrating 10 years of serving teens in South Lake County. Our Teen Advisory Council, and you'll meet some of those members in a minute, serve every semester. They can sign up to serve our organization either on our video team, our event planning team, or our communications team. And so they work to plan, promote, and execute all of our events that we have in the community. So they work probably more hours than anyone else on our programs. One of their projects this semester was to create a 10th anniversary video that summarized what Thrive has done in the community. So they wrote the script, they recorded the video, they edited it, everything. So we'd like to share that with you now. I can hear it here Do you get to see all the slides? A lot of students. Do we remember the script, girls? Sorry, papas. We're going to see those and hear about those in just a minute. You're going to see businesses that aren't in downtown anymore from our early days. A lot of city venues that we've used as part of the program. That's the Keeler Building. That's Main Street Community Bank. A lot of businesses provide. One of our TAC members. It is on our YouTube channel, so I would encourage everyone to watch it later because it tells a little bit more about what we do with students, how we grow them in their leadership skills, as well as how they serve their peers in the community. So I'll just let you enjoy the video without any sound.

Oh, there's our mayor.

We held an event last December in the Claremont Historic Village, and they also host some of our summer pop-ups activities. I can hear what Roxanne's saying. And what she's saying is that one of the benefits of Thrive is that it not only benefits the students, but also the community, because they're going to later be leaders in this community, and they're learning how to do that through this program.

And how do young people in Claremont learn more about the program?

Thank you. We'll go back to the slides.

They can do so by going to our website at thriveclaremont.org. We're also active on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. So what I'm going to do now is turn it over to Morgan, one of our Teen Advisory Council members, who can introduce herself, what she's been doing this semester, and tell you about our upcoming two weeks from tonight here in downtown Claremont.

Hello, I'm Morgan Owens, and I'm part of the Teen Advisory Council, and I'm excited to talk about the summer pop-ups today. It's a two-night event, and there's going to be over 20 different activities. And two that I would specifically like to highlight is the Claremont Police Department are coming and showing us their SWAT team, which is going to be really exciting. That's what I'm doing that night. And then there's also a scavenger hunt where there's going to be interactive clues and prizes. Now, overall, this event really helps with social connection as well during the summer, which during the summer it's really hard to interact with people, so it really does push teens to interact with people and have social connection over the summer, which is essential because according to the U.S. Surgeon General, lacking social connection is actually as risky and dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. So this helps foster the social connection that is extremely important for our teenagers. Thank you.

Thank you.

And now Eve and I are going to talk a little bit about our Teens Got Talent, which is going to be hitting the streets. You guys are hearing it. Well, maybe Mr. Van Wagner signed the contract. But Drive Claremont has partnered with the City of Claremont and Landy Lou Talent Agency to put on an exciting program on October 22nd at the Performing Arts Center. It's called Teens Got Talent Showcase and it's gonna feature up to 12 acts of Lake County teens. Students can put in their call for talent starting June 1st through our website. We're looking for solo acts and group acts of two to five people. We'll pick 12 performances that night And they'll get to perform on the main stage for up to 700 people. In addition, we're going to have an art exhibit where local art teachers will be asked to curate a table of their artists in their class's greatest works. So it'll truly be a night dedicated to the arts. so we hope to um i think tickets go on sale june 1st the call for talent is june 1st and we're looking for sponsors volunteers and all of that can be connected through our website we'd also like to extend an invitation i know that you have a meeting two weeks from tonight but if you get out early if you have a short agenda please mosey down to the city center and check out our summer pop-ups thank you very much

Thriving a very important program here in in our community, especially because it keep our kids busy doing the summer when they out of school so. I know from fact when I was in the post office has been been. Used to be a terrible time of this year for me in the post during the summer because kids out of school and they wasn't busy. It was always getting their mystic show, so keeping them busy is a great great thing. Uh, we have a proclamation on ALS awareness month. Yes, ma'am.

Whereas am I a traffic lateral sclerosis ALS often known as Lou Gehrig's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord leading to loss of muscle control and eventually impacting a person's ability to speak, move, eat, and breathe. And whereas ALS affects thousands of individuals. and families each year bringing emotional, physical, and financial hardships to patients, caregivers, and loved ones. And whereas families in the Claremont community have experienced firsthand the devastating impact of ALS and continue to courageously share their stories to raise awareness and inspire hope for future treatments and a cure. And whereas Claremont resident Dave Keeble passed away from ALS in 2022 at just 50 years old after a courageous five-year battle with the disease during which his wife and three daughters witnessed the profound effects of ALS on their husband and father. And whereas throughout his illness, Dave Keeble remained a dedicated advocate for ALS patients and continued supporting awareness and advocacy efforts until he became too ill to do so. And whereas increased awareness, community support, and continued investment in ALS research are essential to improving care, advancing treatments, and one day finding a cure.

Now, therefore, I, Tim Murray, Mayor of the City of Clemmout in the State of Florida, do hereby proclaim the month of May, 2026, as ALS Awareness Month. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the great seal of the City of Clemmout to be affixed this 26th day of May in the year 2026. Would you want to join me down front, Councilman?

Not today.

To Mayor Murray and the City Council, I would like to thank you for this honour. Councilwoman Alison Strange, I appreciate you sponsoring this proclamation. My name is Sharon Keeble and my husband was Dave. He died in November 2022 after a tough and courageous five-year battle with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's, after the famous baseball player who passed from it. For those of you who don't know what ALS is, it is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to the loss of muscle control. There is no cure and no medicine to slow its progression. Most people die of the disease within three to five years. Dave was a very active man who coached basketball and soccer to local kids, so when his legs wouldn't move properly on occasion, he thought maybe he was doing too much. Fortunately, the cause was way more sinister, and at the age of just 44 years old, he was diagnosed with ALS. Our then three young daughters, Emily, Molly, and Faith, and I had to watch this strong, always on the go husband and father gradually lose the use of every muscle in his body, from his legs to his arms, his hands, his swallowing, his speech, and eventually his breathing. By the time he passed away, he could just about move his pinky finger on his right hand. It is, I believe, to be the cruelest of diseases. To watch the person you love fade away knowing that there is absolutely nothing that you can do about it is absolute torture. But through it all, Dave became an advocate to raise awareness. ALS is supposedly a rare disease, so it doesn't get funding like, say, cancer does. But that's not true. It is not as rare a disease as they say it is. When he was sick, we corresponded with several other ALS patients living in Claremont to offer our support and our encouragement. We raised money, we researched, we advocated for the patients and their families who came after him until he became too sick. Today, my daughters and I would like anyone who is battling ALS or any other terminal disease to know that they are noticed, supported, and loved. Being a caregiver is as lonely sometimes as being the patient with ALS, but we see you. And thank you again for this opportunity to bring awareness to this disease.

Thank you. Next we have the election proclamation. Yes, ma'am.

The general election of the city of Claremont shall be held on the 3rd day of November 2026 between the hours of 07.00AM and 07.00PM Eastern Standard Time at such precinct locations as determined and noticed by the Lake County supervisor of elections. The purpose of this election is to elect city council member seat one two-year term, city council member seat three two-year term, city council member seat five to your term. A primary election will be held on the 18th day of August 2026. If there are more than two candidates who qualify for any one of the above seats, election qualifying begins on June 8th, 2026 at 12 PM and ends on June 12th, 2026 at 12 PM.

In witness hereof, I have hereunto set my hands and cause the great seals of the city of Claremont to be affixed this 26th day of May, 2026. Thank you. Okay, next item is public comment. If If you wish to address the council in person, please come to the microphone and state your name and address. Once in-person comments have concluded, we will move on to virtual comments. If you are participating online on Microsoft Teams and wish to provide comments, please raise your hand, and you will be called on to unmute your microphone when it is your turn to speak. If you are participating by phone, you will press star five on your phone to raise your hand and then when called upon, you will press star six to unmute your microphone. For all virtual participants, if you wish to comment on other items on the agenda, please stay on the Microsoft Teams or on your cell phone and raise your hand when that item comes up on the agenda. This portion of the meeting is only for items that are not on the agenda. IN THE INTEREST OF TIME AND EFFICIENCY IN ENSURING EVERYONE WHO WISHES TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL IS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO. EACH SPEAKER WILL BE PERMITTED THREE MINUTES TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL. TO AVOID DISRUPTION OF THEIR MEETING, SPEAKERS SHOULD AVOID INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE, PERSONAL ATTACKS, AND DEROGATORY STATEMENTS AND DIRECT COMMENTS TO THE CITY COUNCIL. EVERYONE IS REQUESTED TO BE RESPECTFUL TO EACH OTHER EVEN WHEN WE DISAGREE. PUBLIC COMMENT IS NOW OPEN. YES. ANYONE? Please, sir.

I'm Sterling Frye. I live at 1647 First Street. It's a home that I bought in 1969, so I've been there 57 years, and it's the only house I've ever owned. When I came here, the population was about 2,500 people. Highway 50 was two-lane. There was one restaurant, Kidder's, one bank, Citizens, and the police force was about five. Well, that was pretty steady right up until the freezes occurred in the mid-'80s, and then you know the rest of the story from there. So I have two items to talk about today, and they're interrelated. The first is the paving of the streets. Now, Claremont has been paving a lot of streets, mostly inner. I'm talking about old Claremont now. Everything I'm talking about today is old Claremont. Now, Lakeshore Drive is kind of turning into the Burma Road. and East Avenue really needs to be addressed as well. Now those two streets carry more traffic within Old Claremont. They're second and third to Highway 50 is what I'm trying to say. And even now, back behind Carrabba's, I forget that name, Legend's Way maybe, it's being paved and East Avenue and Lakeshore Drive never come up in the rotation. I was talking to my neighbor about East Avenue, particularly there at Highway 50 on the north side where you have all of these ripples. And I said, you know, I bet you they've been there 15 years. He said, no way. I moved here 25 years ago, and they were there then. And so myself and millions of other people had been bouncing over that thing for all those years. And I don't know, it seems like it's become the norm rather than a problem. So you try to pick your way through there, and it really needs to be addressed. So that's that concern, paving. The second thing is speeding. And typically what happens here is people get excited about speeding in their neighborhood. They come in here and jump up and down and scream, and we want a stop sign. And the city generally is very agreeable because it stops the screaming, and they think it's fixed, but it isn't. The speeding remains. THERE AT THAT STOP SIGN AT EAST AVENUE AND LAKE SHORE, WHICH I'M GOING TO REFER TO AS ALTERNATE 50. IT'S A CUTOFF STREET, A LOT OF TRAFFIC, AND A LOT OF SPEEDING. now another example of the that technique is over on brogden road that's that little short street from lake shore over to 27. one one intersection in there a t intersection people there have apparently made enough noise that the stop sign was installed there arguably that should not be there and then they got rumble sticks to to to warn you of this stop sign it's crazy and the biggest problem there is parking on the street and and as of right now for at least two weeks there's a camper on that street up on jacks plus other cars parked there you've got to cross the median to pass to get through there So now you ask, well, what are you going to do different besides stop signs? There have been various studies and so forth on this very problem. It's not just Claremont. And so I have a copy here of one solution. It's eight traffic calming measures. They're very polite about it. They don't call it speeding. They call it calming. THE ONE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IN HERE IS THE ONE THAT I PREFER, AND I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU ALL COPIES OF THIS BEFORE I LEAVE.

I HATE TO HAVE TO CUT YOU OFF WITH IT. YOU EXCEEDED THE TIME LIMIT, BUT I WANT YOU TO TAKE THAT STUDY, IF YOU WOULD MAKE. AND MY CHIEF BACK THERE, YOUR CHIEF BACK THERE? YES. OKAY. CAN YOU HAVE HIM GET WITH CHIEF AND GO THROUGH ALL THAT? AND, OF COURSE, HE SAYS HE'S GOING TO GIVE US ALL A COPY OF IT AS WELL. And Mr. Frye, I don't want you to have to sit here all night and hear something, but Lakeshore Drive and East Avenue, they're on our schedule to be done this summer, okay? So paving.

I'm a little bit hearing challenged, and I'm having a hard time hearing what you're saying. This whole sound system is off for me. Yeah.

WELL, OKAY, EAST AVENUE AND LAKE SHORE DRIVE, BOTH OF THEM IS ON OUR SCHEDULE TO BE PAVED THIS SUMMER, OKAY? OKAY, PERFECT. WITH THE OTHER LITERACY YOU HAVE THERE, I WOULD LIKE FOR THE CITY MANAGER TO GET YOU WITH THE CHIEF OF HOLIES AND YOU ALL GO OVER THAT AND WE TAKE A LOOK AT THAT. BROGDEN DRIVE, I KNOW IT'S UNDER THE RADAR RIGHT NOW AS WELL.

CAN I MENTION SOMETHING YET ABOUT THE ONE I PREFER FOR SPEED AND CONTROL? DO I HAVE TIME?

I'll give you a minute.

Okay, thank you. The one I particularly like are the speed tables, not speed bumps. And going out around Lakeshore Drive, I think they're working tremendously well. The county put those in. There is one that's in the city limit before you get to THE COUNTY. I'M NOT SURE HOW THAT HAPPENED. THE ONLY OTHER ONES I KNOW ARE UP THERE BY THE NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER ON THAT STREET THERE. THEY'RE NOT VERY GOOD. THEY'RE TOO SHARP. THEY'RE MORE LIKE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU CALL THEM, BUMPS INSTEAD OF TABLES. SO THAT IS WHAT I RECOMMEND. BECAUSE THE MODERN CAR and motorcycles can speed so quickly. I'm only 150 feet away from East Avenue, and by the time they get to my boathouse, they're already speeding. So they speed to the next stop sign. Stop, speed to the next stop sign. It's not a solution. I just hope, and I hope that Claremont is gonna get away from that being the solution to speeding. I thank you.

I thank you, sir.

I think I'll keep the top one.

Mr. VanWaay, make sure he get with the chief. Thank you.

I think Mr. Norris probably has some information on that that could be helpful for him as well.

Yes, ma'am.

Good afternoon. My name is Sarah Jo Leyland. I am a Claremont resident. I live on East Avenue. I'm a homeowner. I'm a mother of three. I brought my little buddy with me. My other two buddies are in the back. I'm a nurse practitioner by trade, but I currently work as a nurse educator at Lake Center State College. I'm here today to address the cannabis dispensary that was allowed to open directly across the street from my children's school. I would like each of the council members to address later why this was allowed to happen. Current zoning laws say the dispensaries have to be 500 feet from the edge of school property. I literally went and measured it yesterday. It's 105 feet from the edge of the parking lot. I know that's probably confusing because people don't understand that there's two schools there. There's a preschool and an elementary school and that the parking lot and all of the grounds are used by children. But this is in direct violation of Florida zoning laws. We know that the risk of regular marijuana use are well established. In my experience as an ER nurse, I treated patients routinely who are extremely sick from the adverse effects of marijuana. We know that regular use of marijuana significantly increases your risk for mental disorders like depression, schizophrenia, And smoking marijuana causes the same damage to your hearts and lungs that smoking cigarettes does. And we are delusional as a people if we think that increasing access to a substance will not also increase use of that substance. And it's been repeatedly shown that when restrictions on illicit substances like marijuana are removed, increases in addiction, crime, homelessness, and death quickly follow. and essentially wipes out any tax gains that are received from the sale of that illicit substance. The government exists to protect its most vulnerable citizens, and I believe that children are our most vulnerable citizens, and advertising cannabis, it literally says on the sign, cannabis dispensary, my children can see it while they play, in the parking lot, when they drop off at school, while they're in car line, that is advertising to children and it's immoral. I understand that people have a right to purchase these products by state law. I'm fine, do whatever you want as an adult in the privacy of your own home. There's plenty of places in Claremont that these types of buildings can be that are not in view of a school where hundreds of children come and go every single day. and you do not have the right to push your addictive substances on small children and allowing this facility to open directly across the street 105 feet from the edge of the parking lot where I park and drop my children off every single day that is a problem it should not have been allowed if I sound a little bit angry I do apologize I get frustrated as a parent because I don't have the time to understand zoning laws right I understand health care that's my business And it is frustrating that I'm driving my kids to school and all of a sudden I notice, wow, why was this allowed to happen? Like, why do we have a city council if they're not thinking about the children's welfare, right? We have at least five dispensaries in Claremont. I know where they are. I treat the patients that get sick from the products that are sold there. And I know where they're at. We do not need another one. It does not bring any additional revenue once you account for all of the tax losses that will come from treating all of the harms that marijuana causes. And so I just hope that somebody will look into this. I'm assuming it probably is legal. I understand that my voice is essentially like I'm just one person, but I feel morally obligated to at least stand up for myself, stand up for my children, stand up for the people in our community that don't want this here. Put it somewhere else. It doesn't need to be where my kids have to look at it every day. So I appreciate your time and hope you guys have a wonderful day.

Ma'am, I need to ask, where is this one located at?

So my children attend Wesley Christian Academy. And so it is the, there's 7th and 8th Street are the bounds of the school and Highway 50. And if you look directly across, it used to be a hardware flooring store. There's a, I believe a Hispanic restaurant to the left of it.

Oh, you're talking about the one over there near 8th Hardware. Yes, directly across the street. I just noticed that yesterday myself.

yes so i parked there and i put on my fitbit and i walked across because i said i cannot believe that this is allowed via zoning laws and what's interesting is i have a friend who owns a building downtown and she said that they looked into selling it to a dispensary because they've been trying to sell it and the city did not allow them to do that and she said it's crazy that i couldn't sell my building downtown to a dispensary but we can have a dispensary literally next door to a school and so i just hope that somebody look into that um and i appreciate your time i hope you guys have a wonderful day thank you ma'am

Yes, sir.

That's a little hard to follow. and thank her for bringing that to the attention. Joe Famasi, 2693 Jumping Jack Way. I come before the council today, once again, major water disruption of over 2,000 residents in the Wellness Way area, Wellness Ridge, Parkside Trails. When I was looking up the city rules applying for digging in the dirt, it said that you exclude Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. which this happened on Memorial Day, as far as I know, when we were noticed. This has been the fourth break in three years. And I think that the third party contractors really need to have a hard point driven here. They knew they shouldn't have dug. They know they shouldn't have done that. So there needs to be accountability for that. I'm also asking that you add on to their bill the cost every time we have to buy water down there, cases of water. I know it's not normally added in there, but I think it's something that needs to be brought to attention and maybe add a little bit more financial spanking to these individuals because this is getting out of control. I've put in a request to 811. They haven't gotten back to me yet to check to see if they even had a permit to do that where they had the clearance. I think that the developers that are hiring these third-party contractors need to be held accountable that they should have had somebody out there to supervise these individuals. It's their responsibility. They're hiring them. Just like if I would hire a pool contractor who caused damage to another neighbor's yard, I'd be just as much liable as they would be. So maybe not only the third party contractor get a fine for this, but also the main developer that hired them to do this work should be put into this particular scenario. I'm hoping that you'll make the investigation that you do public so that we can read exactly what happened, why this is occurring, because it seems like they're attacking our main water line all the time. I find that hard to believe that you don't know the main water lines there when you're digging. And you know, you have maps, supposedly you've had all the clearances. So is this some fly-by-night company with no insurance coming down there? Or is this someone just counting this as doing business and expecting the insurance to pay? So I'm asking for major accountability and to be made public and they be held accountable. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Valerie Schuett, West Montrose Streets. Last week, we did another Biking Claremont video audit. And this time, we tested what the trip would be like to get from our home here in old downtown Claremont to one of the closest gyms, CF Fitness. So we chose that trip because it's exactly the kind of everyday destination that matters if bikeability is actually going to help with traffic. And the ride showed us a couple big opportunities. First one is Pitt Street. Pitt is a major opportunity because it already goes under highway 27 So that means two quadrants of our city divided by a federal highway already have a safe connection point we do not have to spend millions on a bridge or tunnel BUT I WILL SAY PIT IS NOT YET TRULY BIKE OR PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY. SO THE SIDEWALK IS QUITE NARROW THERE. THERE'S VERY LITTLE SHADE. WE SAW LITERALLY ZERO PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF CARS WHILE WE WERE BIKING. BUT IT DOES LOOK LIKE THERE MAY BE ROOM ALONG MUCH OF THAT CORRIDOR FOR A REAL MULTIUSE PATH AND THAT COULD REALLY MAXIMIZE THIS STREET INTO A GAME CHANGING EAST WEST CONNECTION POINT. And from there, we turned onto Grand Highway. Grand has no real shoulder. The sidewalk is too narrow to comfortably share. So as a cyclist, you're left choosing between riding in the road, where you do not feel safe on that road, or riding on the sidewalk, where you feel like an intrusion. And that's something I feel a lot, biking around Claremont. But I will say, on Grand, people were actually using those sidewalks, because a lot of them are actually shaded. The second big opportunity we saw on the way back, we did 50 to block some to Minnehaha Avenue. That avenue is wide, and many of the front yards are quite deep, and it looks like there could be room for a much better pathway there. But partway down that road, the sidewalk just ends. As we know, I think to be true in a lot of old Claremont, especially on the south side of 50. So those are the takeaways I'll share for now. I will say it's funny because we do these videos by choice. We try to make them fun and entertaining, but I was really struck the other day at why this is important. I was coming home from the beach on Highway 50 and I was by the Groveland Publix and I saw a man walking on the side of Highway 50 carrying two handfuls of bags. No sidewalk, no shade, he was walking. So I clocked that and I was like, man, that looks miserable. This is like 4 PM on a hot day. But I went around, went home, got freshened up, think I had a little nap, and then at some point realized I needed to go out and buy some groceries for dinner. So I hopped in my car, started heading towards Key Foods, and I saw that man walking. an hour and a half later on Highway 50, drenched in sweat, carrying these bags. And I just I felt it in that moment. It felt like this is not right. This is not the way that it's supposed to be. And I don't know this man's story, but I think it underscores why this matters. A strong trail and a strong greenway network is not just a recreation amenity. It's transportation, it's public health, it's economic development. and it's equitable access to daily needs. And yes, the data supports that these things do follow the investment into bikeability and walkability, even in hot Florida, even in our climate. And so I'm encouraged by recent conversations I've been hearing up here on the council and I've been having with citizens at increasing this in our city. I think it would be community transformative. So thank you for continuing to engage those conversations as policymakers. and continuing to imagine a claremont that is healthier safer and more connected thanks thank you anyone else

Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council. My name is Robert Mock. I live at 270 Division Street in Claremont. I'd like to say what a beautiful day it was yesterday for our memorial ceremony.

Yes.

I hope everybody went and really enjoyed it. We had so many comments. And I want to thank the council and the Parks and Recreation for supporting and sponsoring the Memorial Day. I had so many comments, and one of them is now that they want to permanently move the ceremony to the Arts Center. But following that, I had this photo, this poster board up there of the Veterans First Responders Memorial just to let people know, get a visual rendering of what the city of Claremont and the city council are looking to do. And I had a jar there, but I wasn't expecting anything. I came up with $1,000 just in that short period of time that people donated to it. But my main reason here is that I'd like to thank the council again. And I have several vets that we're going to take a poster like this, and we're going to attend Claremont's farmer's market on the street with an information table to talk about the future of coming Veterans and First Responders Memorial to ask questions or give answers to questions that people might have. And also a couple weekdays down along the 8th Street Pier area, I'll set up a table. with this postcard and information, people come by, and to advertise what's coming and to get to generate that excitement and people interested in what's happening and what the city of Claremont and the city council's doing for our veterans and first responders. I'd like again to thank you very much for that support and the veterans thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. When you do the display, Chief Mark, are you going to have that jar with you? Yes, of course. We're going to have to look at that. What do you think, Mr. Wall?

It's something we can do.

Okay. I just want to make sure we're legal now. Okay.

Good evening Council Michael Kramer 208 Nautica Mile. I want to also echo my sentiments on what an amazing day yesterday was the memorial service and I will for one advocate strongly to have it at the performing arts. I've attended for many years at the waterfront where it's hot and Well, it's just hot. And what a difference. We had a great crowd, and it was a solemn occasion, but it recognized so many of our local heroes to the point where, and I don't know a lot of people saw this today, but the Orlando Sentinel featured it on the front page today. It was a two-page article, and it really centered on the Tuskegee Airmen. So... That was amazing. What I wanted to talk about was the dark sky initiative which sometimes gets brought up here and just again continue to lobby for this. We've recently converted the Claremont Yacht Club to be fully dark sky compliant. It's the first neighborhood that I'm aware of. that's not a new built neighborhood being compelled to do this. The city of Groveland now mandates that all new growth is dark sky compliant. I always hate to be a little bit behind Groveland as a progressive city that Claremont is. I think this is something we should be on. In fact, I'm gonna lobby strongly. The northern district of downtown Claremont is the Yacht Club. It's the largest piece of property in that district and we have the largest piece of waterfront property in the city of Claremont. And that entire street there is well-overlit, in my opinion, as you head towards Mediola, excuse me. We've already taken two of the Duke, we've worked with Duke Energy and we've removed one light from the Yacht Club that was there to kind of protect boats, but since that got wiped out in the hurricane, we don't have anything to protect, really. But we worked with Duke Energy and had the two streetlights that are out there uh change to led and change the focus so the light isn't spreading all over but it only goes down and it's a dramatic difference so i'd really love to see if we could continue that work down in that area and then i'd also like to congratulate chief grasek on the new bike patrol and hope for reduced speeds near waterfront park i also strongly believe that we should have a speed limit of no more than 10 miles an hour on a bike near waterfront park It's extremely dangerous. And the only thing good about, we talked about speed tables earlier on the roads. The good thing about speed tables is they really give you elevation on those e-bikes when you pull those wheelies. You can hit them and you can get some air with them because I drive around the lake quite a bit and there are speed tables on the north part of lake mineola and i continuously see kids on on those e-bikes and they they really get some air off the speed tables but the cars do obey those speed limits in that area so thank you for your time thank you sir this is public comment anyone in the chamber wishes to speak to anything that i don't intend to make under my phone and state your name and address and have three minutes

Anyone in the chamber wishes to speak to anything not on the agenda may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes. Seeing no one in the chamber, close down public comment in the chamber. Have anyone online? No one at this time. So we'll close public comment altogether and move on to the next part of agenda. But before I do that, Mr. Van Wagner, are there any changes to the agenda?

No changes.

Okay, no changes. Okay, the next portion of the meeting is the consent agenda, which contain items that have been determined to be routine and non-controversial. If anyone in the audience wishes to address a particular item on the consent agenda, now is the opportunity for you to do so. Additionally, if staff or members of the city council wish to speak to a consent item, they have the same opportunity. The consent items tonight, this afternoon, are items one through eight.

Number six, number seven.

Six and seven. Any other? Any other? And no other. I entertain a motion on item one through six. One through six. One through five.

One through five and eight.

Six and seven. I'm sorry, six and seven.

I move to approve items number one through five and item eight.

One through five and eight. Second. OK. There's a motion for approval of large consent agenda item one through five and eight. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor let it be known by saying aye. Aye. All opposed? And chair vote aye as well. Motion passes four to one, four zero. All right, item number six.

Danny page Claremont real quick on 6 I I just I think it's an appropriate. My opinion to be doing business with a former. City attorney. Had some questionable. I don't like their term motives or things going on. I just don't think that we should be doing business with him. That's just my opinion. And if there was anybody else that we could be working with and regarding this topic.

That's item seven. Excuse me? That's item seven.

Oh, it was? Yeah. Oh, I apologize.

No, six is the AI assist. Oh, okay. Sorry. I apologize. I got them mixed up.

Okay.

Well, now you know what seven is.

All right, so on the item number six, again, apologies. According to this agenda item, the software will, quote, return officers to the field up to 40% faster by reducing manual reporting time. So in other words, the AI will transcribe body camera footage, generate searchable narratives and summaries, and assist in drafting reports. But I have some serious problems with this, concerns. First, accuracy and accountability. So who's going to verify that the AI generated transcripts and narratives are correct? Because if officers still have to go back, which they should, and carefully review the body cam footage to ensure that the AI didn't mishear statements or omit context or paraphrase inaccurately. And then we also hear about this hallucinate information regarding AI, which is a true thing. Then what exactly is the real-time savings here? Do you see what I'm saying? Because they still have to go back and make sure that AI got everything right. And if they're not thoroughly reviewing it, then that raises even bigger concerns if they're just not even bothering with it. They're just trusting AI for the reports and the transcription. So when we're talking about police reports, documents that influence arrests, probable cause determinations, charging decisions, prosecutions, credibility assessments, and in many cases people's liberty, If the AI gets something wrong, then who's accountable? Is it the officer or is it the department? And will the public even know when artificial intelligence was even used to generate or assist with an official report of theirs? Second, discoverability and retention in public records. Will the original AI generated drafts be retained? Will metadata be preserved? Will edits and revisions be tracked? Will defense attorneys and citizens or public records requesters be able to see what the AI originally generated versus what the officer ultimately submitted? Because those issues could have serious discovery, evidentiary, and due process implications if AI generated drafts at its or metadata are not properly retained and disclosed. Third, privacy and surveillance concerns. This proposal states that body camera footage will become, quote, searchable transcripts directly into the Axon evidence ecosystem. So that means every spoken word captured on body camera potentially becomes searchable text. stored inside an expanding evidence database. So how long is that data retained? Who can search it? Can it be queried department-wide? Can it be shared externally? And what safeguards are going to exist against misuse of this? And finally, the cost. I'd rather see personally that money be used for life-saving equipment for our fire department instead of giving law enforcement an easy way out of writing reports. Just saying, because over $151,000 for AI generated transcripts and report assistance is an extraordinary amount, I believe, for taxpayer money, especially when this agenda item simultaneously suggests that there will be no reduction in fund balance while also stating that the expense will be paid from general funds over five years. So that's kind of contradictory statements, in my opinion, so I'm trying to figure that out. Because if federal funding is supposedly offsetting the cost, then where is the documentation showing guaranteed reimbursement, if that's in fact what it is? Because taxpayers deserve transparency before a pretty long-term ai policing infrastructure infrastructure um and i believe also lastly clearly defined safeguards need to be put in place before implementation not after problems arise just saying so i think you guys should really carefully think about that i really don't think it should have been on the consent agenda but that's just me um and then you heard number seven thank you thank you thank you this is a public

This is a public forum. Anyone in the public, in the chamber wish to address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes. Anyone in the chamber want to address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes. Seeing no one in the chamber, I'll close public comment in the chamber.

My name is Deborah Cedars. I live on 354 Division Street, Claremont, Florida. I can't even sometimes reach my doctor because of AI. And what she said is so important. I have a phone hacker. I have a computer hacker. And I believe in computer programs. I believe that finding a way to find out cell phones, information to police and stuff is important, like we had in the old days with the landlines. But I am going to call my stockbroker today to ask him questions about the stocks I have in computer chips. Because I believe computer chips can be used for good things, but what's going on with AI is scary. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone else? This is a public forum. Anyone in the chamber may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes. Seeing no one else in the chamber, I'll close public comment in the chamber at 109. Online call or go ahead. Did they hear me? What's that? Okay. So we have no one online. So we're going to close online public comment and bring it back to council. What say council?

I thought the questions Ms. Page raised were extraordinarily valid and responsible, and I was curious if we already had a policy that we could simultaneously adopt that addresses the concerns that she's raised. I don't know if the software comes with a standard policy or if one exists, but I'm not aware of one.

I don't know the answer to that. I think they're good questions too. If the council wants to have further discussion about it, I'll get with Chief Gracek and the command staff and talk about it and be prepared for the next meeting.

Yeah, based on that, I move to table item number six until we have time to get more information. Second.

Okay, I have a motion and a second to table consent agenda item number six to next council meeting. Any further discussion? not hearing none all in favor let it be known by saying aye aye aye all opposed and chair vote aye as well motion carries for all so mr wall please thank you yes sir um item number seven i think she gave a little analysis i don't know miss page did you want to do any more on that if not item number seven

Yeah, I just kind of find it odd that we would be dealing with a prior city attorney. There were some questionable things throughout his tenure here, whatever, that people questioned, and hence why he was changed out. So I'm just, as a taxpayer, just physically, I'm comfortable with that. I'm sure there's got to be other options. Or did y'all even look at other options, other attorneys that could help out with the matter that you're looking for in regard to that?

That's all. I'm just asking if you kind of farmed it out a little bit further than just him.

Thank you. This is a public forum. Anyone in the chamber wish to address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes. Anyone in the chamber wish to address this item may come to the microphone and state your name and address and have three minutes. Seeing no one.

I'm in the same opinion with that. I think when we feel. Hold on, sir. I feel.

Online. No one in the chamber. Closed public comment in the chamber. Anyone online? Not this time. Okay, thank you. Well, I'll close public comment and bring it back to chair. Chamber, counsel, what does they counsel?

I mean, I'm in the same opinion with that. I mean, we did terminate that attorney group, and to bring them back in I think would be inappropriate, and I would not be able to vote yes to that. I would definitely be a no.

I'll take responsibility, give you a little bit of background if I can on this. The city has been contacted by several different law firms. In response to the public concern, yes, there are others who could, but the reason why I put this on the agenda with this group is actually in part because of the familiarity that the city had with the prior city attorney. In addition, they're representing the cities of Mineola and Groveland. And so I thought there was some possible value in the knowledge there. Now, the point of this is to basically file a claim in federal court so that if the city does have some contaminants in the water, the city will benefit and get some money. It's free money. In other words, it's already settled. There's a pot of money out there. The question is, how do we put our hand in the pot to go get it? It doesn't really matter whose hand it is, but that was the thinking behind why it's on your agenda.

Do you feel, Mr. Waugh, that there are other firms that are equally or more qualified than the firm that was on the agenda item number seven?

I don't think there's more qualified, but there are equally qualified, where there's at least four appointed class counsel meaning that the federal court has vetted the attorneys and gone, and so that's what Stag Luisa is. They're the ones who are appointed by the federal judge, and they are working with DSK as local counsel with Grover Mignola, and that's why I presented it to you.

Well, I'll support your request, Mr. Peterson. I don't think it matters in this case who the attorney is, and if our attorney feels like he can get someone else, I share your concerns. I understand them.

Question to the city attorney regarding, you said Stag Louisa is the one that's federally approved. Are there other local law firms that are working with that federally approved law firm?

None that I know of, but I don't think that one is necessarily needed either. I think that it was kind of an arrangement where they're kind of working together, finding suitable candidates. And they identified Claremont as a candidate the same way that Mignola and Groveland were identified, if that makes sense. But I don't think that local council is actually required.

Can we use just Stagg by itself, or do they have to go as a group?

That would be a question for them. I don't know what their position would be. I suspect that if they were willing to represent us before, they would still be willing to.

Is it preference on your part, Mr. Wadd, for us to table this so that you can get that clarification rather than vote it down and try to deal with it that way?

I don't want to be the lawyer and give you a roundabout answer, but let me tell you what I'm thinking before I answer that. What I'm thinking is we have a deadline of the end of June to put our hand into the pot. And so the issue is we have to get the testing done. Stag Luisa is prepared to go get the testing done now, once we approve it. In other words, they'll pay for it. They'll do whatever it takes to get it done and to get the claim filed. So I think... If the council does not, you know, has concerns about local council, at the very least, I would ask for a motion to move forward with Stag Louisa if they're willing to proceed so that we don't run afoul of any federal deadlines. It's free money.

Okay. So we can make a motion to approve just Stag today.

I mean, that suits me.

Okay. So I'd like to make a motion to approve this with just using Stag.

I'll second for discussion. I have a thought on that. And Mr. Waugh, please tell me if this makes sense. Because as I look at this, this looks like DSK came to us with STAG. There are four federal firms that can represent. So tell me how we could do this. My suggestion would be that we modify the motion to say we approve our city attorney moving forward with the process and to retain whichever attorneys other than DSK he deems appropriate.

I would agree to that.

Because it might be a different firm than Stagg.

You could give me that authority.

You want to make that motion?

Well, you'd have to amend yours.

You want me to amend my motion to what you just said? So I would make a motion to approve this with our city attorney to locate out of the other four. And he has the power to do that.

Mr. Are you second?

Is there a second on that?

I'll second for discussion.

Okay. Mr. Waugh, I understand you had contact with them all before, right? And so I'm still curious of why DSK after you done communicated with them all before.

Because I didn't know one of the other lawyers. Some of the other lawyers are just out of the state. They have no relationship with the city or even Florida, to be honest, that I knew of. There was one that was based out of Tampa, but I still didn't know them. And so I felt or thought that the city might be more comfortable. I might have miscalculated, but that was my thinking.

I'm comfortable with DSK, but, you know, I know they're one of the top law firms, government law firms around here. I know that and everything they have been. Even as we were firing them, you know, they were winning government of the year award for being the top government law firm in the central Florida area, even as we were firing them. So. And I would think with them being around here so long, they got a pretty good history of what's been going on and you can help us. And I was curious if that played any into your decision. with the history they had with this?

I have nothing personal with it. I mean, that's why I was willing to recommend it, but I understand that the council may have other preferences.

And it is a federal case, right? I mean, it's not a state case. So you would think that you'd want to have somebody that can be utilized in this capacity. We don't need a local attorney group that's dealing with a federal case, as you said. It's already been settled, and we just need somebody to put the city of Claremont's hand in the pocket.

I mean, frankly, I'm theoretically capable of doing it myself. The reason why I'm not is because of the testing component. These approved class council, I don't want to take a chance. If the city is eligible for millions of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars, I'm not going to risk that you rely on me. I want the people who know what they're doing. So it's got to be someone like that.

I'm opposed to the current motion only because we find ourselves in the same situation where we could be approving somebody that there's an objection to. We're just approving anyone at that point with no say.

We're approving people. There's four.

I understand that, but you don't know anything about those four, do you? We know that they've been approved. So is Stagg. BSK, and that's why I asked the question. And BSK is working with Stagg. So, I mean, I would rather have a say in who the agency is rather than just... open-ended, I think it doesn't eliminate the concern that's being raised about the other agency, if there is another agency that's going to work with STAG. They could be somebody that somebody finds a really glaring issue with, and we wouldn't know that unless it's brought forward as a resolution. I would support just moving forward with STAG as was originally proposed, or moving forward with STAG and DSK, but I'm not

willing to go forward or I won't support going forward open-ended and I I have a lot of trust in confidence in mr. mr. walk and I figured he's done his homework and everything and he feel comfortable with it I have no problem with it myself so

the way the way it is well and tell me if this is possible because the potential the horrible in this parade if as as it were could be that stag's agreement we don't know might be with dsk when it comes to florida because it sounds like they're a federal firm who's looking for local councils so to use probably poor choice of words. They don't have to deal with the local client. I agree with the sentiments about the quality of the firm. I think that DSK is a reputable firm. For anyone watching or listening, licensed attorney, and so that is my opinion. My concerns, and I don't want to disparage, I really don't, but I think that, you know, I've commented we live in a fishbowl up here, so we have to say what we have to say. The reason why I voted as I did in December of 2004 was because I felt that the actual, the individual attorney assigned to our was making deals rather than advocating. That was my opinion. And sometimes that works. I don't know in this case if that's good or bad, but what I'm suggesting is, is there a possibility that we work with a different attorney in the same firm? Is that something we could do? Because my fear is if we say no to DSK, which I appreciate your concern. We remember, this is a very large firm. It's statewide. So it's probably got hundreds of lawyers, is my guess. If not close to it, hundreds. It's got a lot of lawyers. And our concern, I think, was more with one person, not But I want to give you an opportunity to speak to that. I just feel like if we make a decision where it's not in some ways carte blanche to Mr. Waugh at this point, now that we've given him direction, I think he made a good recommendation. It's just not. maybe what we're all comfortable with, but I think now that he has the feedback, I trust, as you said, Mr. Murray, that he'll make a good choice. So I'm comfortable saying move forward with the process however you need to so long as it's not with DSK. I'm also comfortable saying move forward with the process as proposed so long as our former attorney is not the one handling the case. Both of those would make me comfortable.

I can support that latter.

Former attorney. Where are you at on that? I can support that.

And I'm assuming. So DSK, and we're going to put it up to Mr. Watt to pick the group. Because I'm a hard no on DSK. Because he costs the city millions of dollars. Possibly.

But that's one person, right? And so that's why I want to, if it's the person or if it's the firm, I want to help achieve your goal. Because I think we're all on the same page. And we can get it done if we can get the language right. So do you object to the firm or the individual? Does it matter to you?

No.

Either way, it's a no or either? Either way, it's a no.

They're still making money off of us.

It's his firm. Is that where you're? Okay. So are we comfortable if we say move forward with Stagg but with an alternative local firm that Stagg might say we're not going to do that? Are we comfortable with that potential outcome?

They may not even need local council. I don't know.

So then let's, if that's the case, are we comfortable saying move forward with STAG? And if local firm is necessary, bring that back to us on June 9th.

That I can do. In other words, if that was the arrangement, I could, how about this? If STAG, if you were to approve them as the firm, because of the timeliness of this, I need the testing done. So what I want to do is have them do the testing. If for some reason they need to withdraw because DSK isn't on board, we could agree to reimburse them for the testing maybe as part of the motion. It's not up to a certain limit or something like that. What's the cost of the testing? $10,000. I mean, if you give me up to that authority. I don't think it costs that much, to be honest, but let's just give me that limit, and then we can come back the first meeting of June if there's a hiccup.

Well, I'm assuming they're looking for a local firm, could be in there federal. They're looking for a local, because a local firm is more in tune with the local laws and everything than they is, and be less...

You know, these are federal cases out of Louisiana and South Carolina, and I don't – that's what I'm saying. I'm not sure they need local – I think part of the issue is that local firms can help identify good candidates. DSK knows the lay of the land, and I think that's how these – they're like, hey, this is a city that might qualify. This is – I don't think they need them to – But they have offered. I mean, they've offered to help us in any way that we need.

And I know DSK has, they represent several cities throughout the central Florida area. I mean, they're somewhere everywhere in all the different cities. So you're right, they can't identify a lot of the different cities, I'm assuming. So that's why I was curious what stood out and made you decide to go with DSK.

Okay.

But as I say, I trust Mr. Waugh. I can go with him. what he recommended and everything. I truly. Should we make the first motion?

So it sounds like the motion might be something like move to approve the hiring of Stagg and the moving forward the process with authority by the attorney to spend up to $10,000 for reimbursement if necessary.

Necessary for testing.

For testing. Correct. I'll make that motion.

I'll second that.

Okay. How are we doing?

Okay.

Call for a vote.

I have a motion.

I can't remember all the language. As long as the clerk has it.

She has it there, but it is presented. Is there any further discussion? If there's none, all in favor, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. All opposed? Chair vote aye as well. Motion carries 4-0.

Thanks, everyone, for working through that. That was fun.

All right, item number nine, ordinance number 2026-023.

An ordinance of the City Council of the City of Claremont, Florida, amending Chapter 1, Article 2, Division 3 of the Claremont City Code to create Section 1-0. one dash one zero one, providing for administrative fines, cost of repair, cost of enforcement, and liens, providing for conflict, severability, codification, the administrative correction of Scrivener's error, publication, and an effective date.

All right, this is an introduction. I entertain a motion unless council.

I'd like to make a motion to approve Admin, ordinance number 2026-023.

For the first reading, right?

For the first reading. I second.

Okay, I have a motion and a second for the introduction of ordinance number 2026-023. Any further discussion? If not, all in favor, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. All opposed? And chair vote as well. Motion passes for all. All righty. Moving right along. Reports. Mr. Van Wagner.

Just a few things. First of all, Citizens Academy is going to begin tomorrow night here at City Hall at 530, and that will run for five weeks. Also, two events that I've been told I want to share with you. Wednesday and Thursday, that's May 27th and 28th, there's an event called Prayer in the Park at the Highlander Pavilion from 7 to 11 a.m., And then Saturday, June 6th, is the Jerk Festival, and that's going to be at Waterfront Park from noon to 10, and the boat ramp is open. That's everything I have.

Okay.

Is that this weekend, May 31st, the Caribbean Jerk Festival?

No, next. June 6th, okay. June 6th, next Saturday. Mr. Waugh.

Thank you, Mayor. We are very busy working through a lot of things right now. I believe that as of noon today we've completed the agreement for the last dumpster location in downtown Claremont after negotiations regarding a temporary license. We have had some developments in the foul zone litigation and

Thank you, Mayor. We are very busy working through a lot of things right now.

I believe that... Man, if that's the voice you guys have to hear, I'm sorry. In any event, I can't reveal the details of it, but what I can say is the last settlement proposal we got was... 22 times larger than the last suggested offer from the plaintiff. And he's now changed counsel for I think a fifth time. I think there are some issues with plaintiff's case, but it's that time of year. I need to request a shade session with this counsel to discuss next steps in the litigation. It's another turning point. I want to tell you what's happening. I want to have outside counsel come and talk to you why things haven't substantially changed since a year ago at our last shade session. It's required under the law for me to ask you this, and then it's up to us to set a time and give appropriate notice.

Outside counsel. Is the FLC going to be involved with that?

Well, they are involved. I mean, currently they are still defending the case for us and providing the costs of the defense, working with Dean Ringers. They're on my floor in downtown Orlando, so we talk to them all the time. They agree that a shade session is a good idea, and they will come prepared, having spoken with the Florida League of Cities for that shade session.

So have the... You say you've changed the settlement agreement again. The offer's changed.

I mean, it's something that is so out of left field that I don't want to discuss too much in public at this point, but I need to talk to you about it.

Okay. How soon would you like this?

Well, let's see. By the end of June, if possible.

Mr. Van Wagner? Would you like it after council meetings, sir? Well, we normally do them after council meetings.

Because of only having four council members, the next council meeting is quite healthy. with the amount of things, so if.

No, we have to go into one in June. We can't do it today. I would say. June 23rd.

What I'm saying is I would do it beforehand, not after, because I think the next one could be a little longer because of everything we had to push off.

What we have.

People are wanting to do that.

On June 16th, we've got a workshop. I have it starting at 3. Could we do the shade session at 2 on June 16th before our workshop? You cannot, okay. Does everybody have three for that? I have three.

June 16th.

Yes.

I'm fine with before the council meeting on the 9th, if that's the request, or before or after on the 23rd.

Well, it would be useful if I could get three times so that I can coordinate with council. I'm sorry. We could go into July. This isn't super time sensitive, but it's something that needs to be on your radar.

Could we just say before the meeting on the 9th and then before or after the meeting on the 23rd as those three times?

That works for me. So the 9th, the 23rd.

Before and after.

Oh, before and after.

OK. Do we have a workshop on June 30th?

No, it's a fifth Tuesday.

And then so I can coordinate with them and then work with the clerk to notify or notice The hearing?

Would you need two weeks notice on that one?

At least.

OK. Yeah. Good.

OK. OK. And so that, I believe, concludes. Oh, we did file a lawsuit against the owner and tenant of 1919 Sunset Lane, and a motion for temporary injunction is pending. OK. That concludes my report.

All right, Mr. Wye, not to put you on the spot, but I know I've been talking to you about claims and everything. Do you want to inform the council on what's going on there? With what? With the emails we've been, the warranty claims and all that. Yes, sir.

Oh, there's nothing to report at this time, except that we have filed a lawsuit that will allow us to find information from Google. From Google? Yep. OK. I'm not trying to be coy. There's certain clues that we have and using a certain legal process, I will be able to get a few crumbs that may show us the identity of who was involved with impersonating someone from Lean Solutions Group. We know it's not someone who's impersonated an actual representative of the city. Someone impersonated Lean Solutions Group on behalf of the city. That much is for sure. And we do have some I know certain details that I don't want to reveal right now in public, but using those clues, I think we're on the track to discovering an identity.

Well, that wasn't in one hour, but thank you for that. Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know. I was more than happy to answer the one I've been emailing you about, the notice of formal warranty claims.

Oh, thank you, Mayor. Thank you. So there's a lot going on, like I said. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, so there have been... We are receiving public input and complaints regarding the maintenance of roads. The maintenance of roads, the sound effects of roads, the fact that when trucks go down roads that have been publicly built, whether in the city or just outside the city, houses are shaking and I had indicated that I would present a short report on these to the Planning and Zoning Commission, but I can tell you a little bit more. We're talking about Wellness Ridge, areas in Wellness Ridge where residents have claimed that, let's see, There might be issues with the workmanship of the homes in the area because when there are problems with the road outside or even just trucks going down, they're hearing it, things are vibrating and causing some security issues with the house. There are some stucco stress issues. So this is slowly getting on our radar in terms of public complaints. And what I want to do is take the complaints that we've got particularly as it relates to the traffic at this point and report it to Planning and Zoning, I'm happy to show you the council a copy of what the mayor got a direct complaint. And so I've been in contact with the owners about what those issues are.

yeah I mean yeah I've gotten a couple of them you know and of course I've just been in contact with Mr. Waugh I'm sorry I don't send that kind of thing to you because I'm afraid of sunshine law but Mr. Waugh has been somewhat handling these and all but I do think you all need to be aware these are some of the complaints coming in out of the wellness way and all and I'm trying to figure out I just find it amazing that they build a road, and as you're going down, people's houses are shaking and everything. Is it the road building or the construction of the homes is my curiosity. But anyway, if you'll continue to look into that, and any more I get, I will continue to send them to you. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it, and thank you for the update on the issue with the city manager. All right, Mr. Peterson.

A couple of things happened with public comment that was puzzling to me in that I didn't realize that cannabis stores can, I thought there was rulings on that, the proximity to schools that, you know, 125 feet seems, Pretty close. I don't know if that would have to go to code enforcement or planning and zoning, or I don't know how that came about in the first place. You know, it's an established business. It's hard to go back and say, okay, now move if we've approved it, because then that could put us up for a lawsuit then, correct? Well, I don't think it came to council, did it?

It did not, as far as I know, since I've been here. Well, look, the law has been pretty accurately stated to you that the Florida statutes regarding medical marijuana dispensaries say no closer than 500 feet, except if it comes to council and a finding is made that it's in the public health, it satisfies public health, it's in the public interest, and there's no real problem. But that has to be a certification made by you. I don't remember that while I've been here. Our city code, in reviewing it after listening to the public comment, doesn't really address it that much except to say that it has to follow state law. State law is 500 feet. It's 500 feet.

Is it 500 feet like she had said from the edge of the parking lot?

Public or private schools. I think it goes to the property line. Okay.

So if it's within that, and then they were at fault, so then they could be cited. That would be up to you to figure out what the remedy would be, but I think we should look into a remedy for that because I don't think that's appropriate to be close to a school.

Let me offer some help on this if council supports it because I have a feeling this is somewhat new. I think the law is somewhat new. This could be something where you've got a church And I haven't looked at the property to know if the school is separate parcel, for example. I think it's a valid point made that there is a Sunday school there. I mean, there are children, they're going to Bible school over the, there are children for sure. And I think that's the intent. And I would agree that the parking lot probably is the boundary or the property boundary, but it might be something where we want to get an attorney general's opinion. where we asked the state of Florida to issue us an opinion on where the property boundaries are. And I would be curious to know if there was any special application made at the staff level, or is this just something that it's done as a matter of right? Like, is this not a conditional use that had to come to us, for example? And I'm not saying it shouldn't be there, but I understand the concerns about the proximity to the children and them being able to see it. And it is across Highway 50. It's not physically that close, but it is visually that close.

Well, you're right. I noticed it for the first time yesterday. I went past yesterday. Wow, when did I have my – I'm used to the flooring store being there. And so when I drove past it yesterday and saw it, it was on my radar to call Kirk and figure out how that happened, okay, because I knew it didn't come to council. Okay, and I'm assuming it met all the – qualifications to be be there uh... else uh... staff would not approve it if it was even approved i'm quite sure it had to go through city staff and everything it is interesting in our code and i've never seen this

There's a couple of zonings where it says it's permitted. Right. Without qualifications. So I think that's interesting.

And I can tell you are correct. When we changed the rules several years ago, we said these dispensaries could go anywhere a pharmacy could go. I'm not addressing the 500 foot right now. We'll look into that and confirm what was like. But yes, they did have to come in for a permit to change the use of it. the facility and I also don't know for sure if it's look at as a school or a church right that could be the difference as well so that's things we'll look into okay okay but it did come through you and I'm assuming consider a dispensary or pharmacy but I mean I can understand how it could be classified if it was you know considered a drug then well I suspect it's not saying that

I suspect this is going to be an issue of uncertainty. And that's why I'm asking if we all can support. How do we feel about asking for an attorney general opinion?

Even make an ordinance then. Maybe in the future we can have an ordinance for the placement of dispensaries. In the city.

And we and Council what will I can do this the law that was passed a few years ago basically said that dispensaries have to be treated like a farm so where the pharmacy could go dispensary could go with some separation requirements. But we'll look into the building permit to see if that met the requirements are not okay.

I don't think I'm communicating effectively okay, I what I'm saying is I think the question of law. is not going to be clear in this case because we have a church that operates a school and whether it's 500 feet and how you measure that i think that's going to be a question and i think it's a matter of public importance that the attorney general would want to consider because we have school choice in florida and we have you know the efforts by the citizens to allow the dispensaries i'm not currently comfortable getting into whether we should have dispensaries in a particular place my question is about what is the law And how do the facts in this case apply? And I think it warrants. But but I think Christian needs direction from us before he applies for an attorney general opinion. Correct.

And so what would be the direction he's looking for? We want clarification that he has authority to ask the attorney general for opinion.

I have to get your approval before I do that.

So we would. So do we make a motion for that or.

Yeah, you would.

And does it cost us anything?

No, no. So I'd like to make a motion that our city attorney contact the attorney general. for clarification on what is the statutes, what's the limitation on dispensaries, not pharmacies, and what distances they have to be from churches or schools. Or churches operating as schools. Yes.

I'll second.

Well, I think actually the law already stated 500 feet. I think the question is how do you measure the 500 feet? Is it property line or the building or what? Okay. Is more of the question.

All right, so we have a motion to second. I'd like to call for a vote on that to get clarification.

Is there a second?

I seconded it. Okay, I'm sorry.

Okay, well, we have a motion and a second to give the city attorney the authority to go ahead and contact the attorney general for clarification on the rules of the location of the dispensaries. Any further discussion? If you're not all in favor, let it be known by saying aye. Aye. All opposed? Chair vote aye as well.

And the second thing that came to me was, I saw this notice, a boil water notice in Wellness Way. I mean, that's kind of troubling to me. To see that kind of a notice is very strange. I thought first of all, what happened in Kings Ridge? But it wasn't Kings Ridge, it was Wellness Way. And we really need to see why these things are happening. I mean, if it happens once, Obviously it could happen again, and is it the same thing where the trucks are making houses vibrate? Are the trucks making water mains crack? YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THAT. I DON'T KNOW WHO WE WOULD, WHO DO WE HAVE TO DIRECT THAT TO OR THE CITY MANAGER AND THEN HE IN TURN HAS TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON WHATEVER NEEDS TO BE DONE ON THAT.

MR. VAN WAGNER, WILL YOU GIVE THEM UPDATE ON EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED THERE, PLEASE, SIR?

SURE. ON SUNDAY WE HAD A COMPANY CALLED LIBERTY LIGHTING THAT WAS DOING WORK ON A SUNDAY. AND THEY WERE SUBBED OUT BY A COMPANY CALLED BRIAR. And Briar is subbed out by Lenar. And they did, as far as we know right now, no one gave authorization to work on Sunday that we can find. And so the first question is, why is somebody working on the weekend without approval? And then I was told by Jim from Public Works that they discovered they made a break in the line and attempted to repair the line and turn off the water without notifying the city of Claremont staff and did that on their own, trying to fix it. And we found out because the residents in the area started contacting us saying, I don't have water. We didn't know either until they let us know. So there are multiple concerns in this situation that we're following up with and addressing. So that's what happened, Mr. Peterson.

We are addressing these things.

Yeah, and I told Mr. Well, he spoke to me about it just before council meeting, and that was what I was referring to when I asked him to get Mr. Waugh involved and see if we can do something legally about this kind of recourse. As far as I know, they shouldn't be working on Sundays without authorization and everything. So our holidays, as stated before, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, I think they are not supposed to be doing any work out there. So if they're out there doing things on their own without proper permission, I think we need to get the legal minds involved with this. Okay. So I've already asked Mr. Van Wagner to get with Mr. Waugh. I asked him to do that and get with Mr. Waugh and see what we can do about it legally.

And that's it.

Thank you. All right. Council Member Strange.

Thank you. My only report is actually a question for follow-up on the Wellness Way water issue. Mr. Van Wagner, can you get us a report by the June 9th meeting?

Thank you.

That's all I have.

Council Member Bain.

Thank you, Mayor. I, too, have a follow-up on that. Question for the city attorney. What are the penalties associated with people doing work? Or are there any current penalties? And do we have the ability to levy penalties for those works that don't comply with our code?

The answer to your second question first, yes. I mean, to the extent that it doesn't comply with the code, we do have an ability. to levy penalties and to pursue various remedies, whether at law or equity, meaning that to the extent we've been damaged, we can certainly do that. I did that in a city recently where someone broke a pipe. And they usually have some kind of insurance, so usually it's not that difficult. Or there might be a bond at issue. I don't know all the facts of the specific incident, so I don't want to speculate yet about timing and when the work should have been done. There are circumstances when work can be done on a weekend. I just don't know exactly what happened yet. So I'd like to look into it and be able to tell you soon what the answer to your first question is.

Thank you. If that could be included in the report, that would be great. Thank you. Okay. The Memorial Day ceremony that we had at the Claremont Performing Arts Center, I want to echo the statements that were made by a couple of the residents who spoke about it. It was really refreshing to have it indoor and be in the facility there. But also, too, to have the Lake County Community Choir be a part of the ceremony this year was really a wonderful addition. I thought that not only the the people sitting in the audience like us enjoy, but also I think the people who were there as part of the veterans organizations and the speakers really enjoyed having that as a part of the ceremony. So kudos to everyone involved with that, both city staff, volunteers, veterans organizations, and so forth. Also, we're in that time of year where we're going through different graduation ceremonies and all of our high school and college graduates are venturing on to their new endeavors. School ends on Friday, believe it or not, for Lake County. So just a word of caution and a word of, you know, awareness that we're going to see kids out and about at times of the day that we're not used to seeing kids out and about during the week, which is a great thing. We're going to see more kids at our splash pads and our public pool and and in our parks and involved in our recreation and different activities. And that's a great thing. But it does come with just awareness to make sure that as you're driving through neighborhoods next week, those neighborhoods may look different once school is out. And so just to be aware of that and, and it really, uh, just a heartfelt congratulations to all of our, our high school graduates, all of our, uh, Claremont natives who have graduated their college programs, whether it's a technical or two year or four year degree program, um, congratulations on all that work that you've done. And I hope that you choose to stay invested and involved here in the Claremont community. And then speaking of how good Claremont is, maybe a reason why you might want to stay in Claremont, I just saw a report that the US News and World Report issued their 26, 27 best places to live, and there's 250 communities on that list. And there are only two in Central Florida that made the list, and Claremont is one of those two. And they highlighted our unique geography, Our wellness hub and our proximity to Orlando as being the three main factors as to why this is a best place to live. So we all know that, right? But the word is getting out even more nationally. But it also feels good to have that national recognition sometimes to know that what we are doing here and what we have here is really special and valued. If you're curious what the other community was, it was the villages. So it's kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of

of what they offer and why they might be an attractive place to live so congratulations to claremont for making that list and being a great place to live that's my report thank you thank you mr mathis i have nothing to add mayor thank you okay all right and then for my report i guess um basically we talked about the cannibal and i could see it was already on my radar because i was shocked to see it there yesterday and didn't notice flooring school store had closed you know so um Someone mentioned the sidewalks on Minnehaha. That's been a battle of mine for years. I think we finally got one side of it completed, but I think the public work is still working on trying to get the rest of Minnehaha sidewalks on the rest of Minnehaha because especially there if you're there on minnehaha whether it's third street i think it is third and fourth street you come around the curve there there were no sidewalks there and i used to travel that way quite a bit and used to be a young lady out exercising but she was pushing a baby stroller and was always in the street pushing, and I had to be very careful coming around that corner. But ma'am, trust me, we have it on the radar for many to try to finish up those sidewalks, because they're just dead in it right there. We got a portion of it last year, and I'm looking for most of it to go in again. Dark Sky, I think the only area we really have in the city right now that's supposed to be on the Dark Sky is the Wellness Way area. Okay. I would like to see if we can take some steps as well in the rest of the city of Claremont and certainly in the areas that go ahead and try to seal weekend dark sky.

Just so you know, Mayor, Council Member Peterson has presented me with a draft ordinance and we're currently reviewing it for that.

I know we went and We did all of the streetlights last year. A couple years ago, I guess, we went through and put all the LED lights in, which kind of helped out a little bit. But I would like to see more dark sky as well. We talked about the water main break. Lost guy carrying. Bike speeds on the waterfront. That is something I know. I've talked to Mr. Waugh about looking at it. I know right now it's, say, 15 miles an hour. And actually, it's illegal, because I've been informed that they can do up to 20 miles an hour out there, and I think it's too fast. So I've asked Mr. Ward to look into it with the police department and everything, and maybe bring it down to maybe 9 or 10 miles an hour, because I think it's a state law they just passed, and the sidewalk shouldn't be more than 9 miles an hour, I think it is. Also, I have... owner of an e-back shop that's been talking with me and I sent her to the Parks and Recreation Department and asked them to get with the police department as well about doing lessons, safety classes and all for e-back riders and all this in the neighborhood because they're getting to be very dangerous. I sit at my house right now over where I live Like, just before I came here, I was sitting there looking out the window, and a guy came through there on an e-bike. And I guarantee he had to be at least doing 30, 40 miles an hour down the sidewalk over there. And, of course, I got a couple of guys up and down the road all day long over there. It's just getting ridiculous. And when I get down on our trails, as I said before, it's getting to be very dangerous with these e-bikes and the way they're going. So I do have... the young lady that run on the back shop working with the, with the park and recreation. I asked you to go talk with park and recreation and the police department about trying to get the safety class up and running. Uh, so we can educate and then hopefully we can go ahead and get the speeds reduced down on the, on the waterfront as well. If it's, if it's legal for us, Mr. Watts looking at that for me. So that is a big concern of mine. So, um, And next Tuesday, I'll be doing my luncheon at the Italian restaurant up on 455 next to the public complex up there. Other than that, that's all I have. Anyone else have anything else? Hearing none, meeting adjourned.