City Commission - Regular Meeting

Mhm.

Test. There we go. All right. Very good. Um we won't have Joshua Jackson today. So, Jeremy, would you mind doing the pledge for us? Please stand and face the flag. 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. All right. We're going to have invocation by Greg Leger, pastor of the First United Methodist Church. Let us pray. Gracious God, we thank you for your super blessings you've given to us in this country, freedom, justice, peace, a quiet home, good family, and great prosperity. We thank you for our state especially, so beautiful, and for this city in particular. We thank you for the wonderful people who live here. We thank you for these who have devoted themselves to service and leadership, as well as everybody who's here to help contribute to the good of this community. We pray that your wisdom would be in all of tonight. Give everybody a spirit of unity in in the good for this this place. We also pray that the the love that uh you have for us would be in our hearts today so that not only this meeting would be would be blessed, but also everybody who comes to this city and this coast would be blessed not only with the beauties of this place for refreshment, but also the beauties of the refreshment of their hearts in the love of the people. So, uh bless this meeting tonight with your presence and with your great leadership for the good of this place. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. So thankful that we can still freely pray to open up our our commission meeting. So, that is to me is such a blessing. Uh roll call. Commissioner Jackson. Commissioner

Hutchinson. Commissioner Tmalc. Vice Mayor Williams. Here. Mayor Capizzi. Here. All right. Um so, I want to make approval for the agenda. A motion. Move to approve the agenda as published. Second. Motion and second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Motion passes 4-0. Um we've got a special presentation with the Save Our Indian River Lagoon Soral presentation. Um we've got representative Terry Breeden. Breeden, yes.

Breeden. All right. Uh good evening. Uh my name's Terry Breeden. I'm with the Brevard County Save Our Indian River Lagoon program. I'll refer to it as Soral cuz it can be a mouthful. Um I'm going to Okay, so this is the half cent sales tax that we currently have and how this came about is we started to experience some extreme algae blooms between 2010 and 2016 and this led to uh extensive fish kills and unusual mortality events with our dolphins and manatees. So everyone was pretty upset about these events and started to demand actions. So the Save Our Indian River Lagoon half cent sales tax was added to the ballot in 2016 and this referendum was approved by voters in every precinct to invest in a cleaner, clearer, and safer lagoon. The tax is collecting approximately $580 million over a 10-year period and we've developed a mission of restoring the Indian River Lagoon through collaborative science-based projects which reduce and remove pollution to benefit our economy, um community, and our natural resources. So to date, uh we have completed 133 projects. Um this is throughout uh all of our municipalities as well as homeowner projects. We're over 2,500 now. This These numbers change every day. Um so this includes all kinds of uh project types that I'm going to go over in a minute. But something else I want to touch on is that the lagoon is something that we all care about. It's one of the main reasons why we all live and work in this area and in 2025 the National Estuary Program conducted an economic valuation of the lagoon. And this report estimates that the whole lagoon, um that's you know, Volusia down to St. Martin, uh generates over 28 billion in spending in our area. Um that leads to a $14 billion in local GDP. Um so each of these projects that we have in the Save Our Lagoon plan

requires design, engineering, permitting, and construction and many of those um are hiring our people in our community to perform these tasks. So these values also take into account the space industry. And so, while this study is lagoon-wide, Brevard County does receive a large portion of this valuation. Um Next. Okay, I had these handouts are up at the front and I put some up to at your desk, too. So, the uh Save Our Lagoon Plan is over 350 pages long and this handout summarizes it in a quick uh two-pager um and it we have 14 project types in there and it goes over 400 over 400 projects, 2500 or a lot of homeowner projects as well. I forget the count off the top of my head. But, um this shows the funding allocated towards those projects, how many are complete and how many are underway. So, a lot of information in a one document. So, we want to also see how our projects are doing um once they are completed. So, we do a lot of uh pre- and post-monitoring for the different variety of project types. So, this slide shows some pre- and post-data um for three different project types. The first on the left shows the Titusville Osprey Wastewater Treatment Facility for reclaimed water. This plant was upgraded um before it had about 5 mg per liter of total nitrogen in the groundwater that was measured and post-project implementation we were around two. So, that showed significant uh nutrient reduction. The middle uh graphs show uh Indian River Isles septic to sewer. This is a um septic to sewer project in the Suntree area that was recently completed. That groundwater went from over 8 mg per liter to uh just over two. So, also great uh reductions. And then on the right we have our Eau Gallie muck dredging

river muck Eau Gallie River muck dredging project and this is looking at the bloom severity index. This happens when the the sediments turn up, it clouds the water and enhances algae blooms. So, we can see that that index dropped dramatically once that dredging was completed. So, in Cocoa Beach, the city has completed 10 projects including the wastewater treatment facility upgrade, two muck dredging projects, and a variety of stormwater and habitat restoration projects. You also currently have the ramp road stormwater project currently under construction right now. The next big project coming is the Cocoa Beach muck capping project. This is going to place a 12-in cap of healthy sand over the muck pits surrounding the golf course. The city of Cocoa Beach took the initiative and got the design and permitting completed for this, and the county's going to be taking that over. We're going to be starting construction soon, and that is anticipated to be complete in about 18 months. So, with all of the projects completed to date, we have about a million pounds of nitrogen reduced so far cumulatively. As you can see, we ramped up a lot in the last 5 years. A lot of these projects take a while to design and engineer. For example, the muck capping project we started in 2020, and that is just now getting to construction. So, I also wanted to touch base on the um algae bloom response since the tax has been implemented. So, the tax started collecting in January of 2017, and you can see that we've had a variety of different algae blooms throughout the lagoon peaking in 2020. Since then, we

have it's been relatively stable with some more isolated smaller incidences of algae blooms and that could have led to small fish kills. So, with our seagrass, um this is data from the St. Johns River Water Management District and they fly aerial surveys every couple of years to see how our seagrass is doing. Um and you can I'm going to go to the next one cuz it kind of highlights. This is a We saw our peak was in 2007-2008 time frame and then we decreased dramatically through 2020. That's when we saw our highest algae bloom. So, since then we have seen a slight uptick in our seagrass and the decrease in the algae bloom. So, it's correlation that the projects seem to be working. So, um I want to end with Soril is working. The projects take time. [clears throat] Restoration takes time, but hope is on the horizon. And we have tons of information in our packet here on our website. If there's any questions, you're welcome to reach out to me. And some of our next steps are um the renewal for the half-cent sales tax will be on the ballot in November. And we will be working with the city to renew our interlocal agreement for uh the to manage the trust fund and keep the BMAP credits and everything going as we I believe your attorney already provided comments to us on that. So, that will be going to our Board of County Commissioners on May 19th. So, I think you could expect to see that agreement in um June. Thank you.

Any questions? Um I'll say So, when it's on the water multiple times a week, I live on the water also. Um I was totally against the half-cent sales tax. I voted no. Um I figured you know, our government just waste money. We don't know how to We don't know how to spend it properly and it was just going to be another waste. Um that being said, um since the muck dredging, uh, I have not seen the water that clear since I was a kid. Um, within a couple years following, it's it's it's dwindling a little bit now, but, um, I think as we do some more projects and get get going again, I think it'll clear up again. Um, but I haven't seen it that clear since I was since I was a kid, and I I am I'm thoroughly a believer in this, uh, this half cent sales tax at this point. Like I said, I voted no. I was totally against it. I'm I'm 110% for it if we're going to continue the muck dredging and all that. Um, it the the sea grass in the river, uh, is is it looks like it's almost double compared to what it was, um, you know, 4 years ago. Um, the water clarity is, you know, time and time again better than it was. So, uh, thank you for this. Uh, I'm I'm a believer after after living it. So, thank you. Okay, thank you so much. All right. Um, okay. Up next is public comment. Uh, I just want to say just so there's no confusion, um, public comment is limited to 3 minutes. It's just that it's a public comment, not a back and forth. Uh, if for some reason you have a question and I can answer it for you or I can get staff to answer it for you, I don't mind trying to get that answer for you. Um, I think a lot of you probably came about the either there was some information online about ground zero or or rotary, um, about that possibly being a vote

tonight. That that is not the case. We will not be voting on a ground zero or rotary, um, decision on on a whoever's going to be, uh, awarded that. Uh, tonight is going to be about a and I'm telling you this now because you guys may want to comment for, uh, public comment rather than that. So, if you if you're wanting to to comment on ground zero or rotary, um, public comment would be the time for that. Uh, because the vote will not be for that. The vote will be for allowing the city manager to make a decision on getting those life rings out there or life-saving devices as quickly as possible. If we if we had the commission vote on it, we we come together every 2 weeks. So, that would delay, uh, a vote for another 2 weeks, um, after a decision and then there's another 2 weeks after that for the second reading. So, it could delay, uh, up to a month, uh, getting getting these life-saving devices back out there. So, we are going to be voting on giving the city manager the, uh, the, um, ability to to make, uh, a decision on getting that stuff done quicker. So, that's the reason what that's for. So, that being said, if you want to if you want to, uh, comment, um, for just general public comment on something that's not on the, uh, agenda, you're more than welcome to do that at this time. Um, if you put a comment in for for, uh, drown zero or rotary for that other discussion, that's that's irrelevant. It needs to be on, uh, general comment. All right. So, any any public comments we've got, Kate, uh, first?

[clears throat]

My name is Kate Loos and I reside at 444 Dempsey Drive and I've lived in Cocoa Beach for around 11 years. And I'd like to thank the commissioners and our city staff for all they do to keep our city so beautiful. I'm here because like everyone in the city, I am saddened by the recent loss of three lives from drowning just off our beach. We can do better. I know this has sparked a lot of discussion among city and county management. Do we need more lifeguards? How should they be trained? Where would we place them? How would we pay for them? And I also know that everyone will be fired up for a short while and then we will just get complacent and we'll just go along the way the way it's been until the next person drowns. This past Monday, when I was coming back from an errand in Melbourne, I stopped at Robert Mercy Park to check on the ocean. It was rough. I thought for sure there would be a red flag at the crossover since it is a city park. There wasn't a flag. There [clears throat] was a car load of visitors unloading their gear to go to the beach. They were unaware of the recent drownings and they thanked me for the information and the warning. I immediately went to City Hall to ask why don't we have red flags at the crossovers when the conditions are bad. While I was waiting, I watched the TV screen out there in this waiting area. On the bottom was a ticker tape and it advised me to check with a lifeguard to get information on the ocean conditions before swimming. I had to laugh. From the city park, a person would have to walk 2 miles to find a lifeguard. Until we resolve the lifeguard situation, I have a suggestion that we

place five flags at every city crossover where the where the ocean at every city crossover when the ocean or rip tide conditions are rough. We have parking enforcement checking on just about every block where there was a public crossover. Add to their job description to place flags at the crossover when the conditions warranted. It is a small and economical step in prevention and could save someone's life. I also suggest that the city should ask the county and perhaps work with the county to place billboards on eastbound 520 and eastbound 528 alerting the public to current conditions. The National Park puts out Smokey the Bear signs alerting the public to fire hazards. Why can't we find a way to alert the public to dangerous swimming conditions? Thank you for your time, and I hope that you take action. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Rick come on up. Rick Anderson, 1800 Minutemen Causeway. And this may seem uh light. It has nothing to do with drownings or drown zero any of that. Um I just want to get actually give a shout-out to the staff at the Cocoa Beach Country Club. Um we were in the 19th hole a few days ago, and we descended on the place with 17 people out of nowhere. Now, I've been in the 19th hole many times in the past, and was quite frankly disappointed. But 17 people went in there, and we were we were served, and we were served very good food. And I just want to give a shout-out to the to the city staff. I think we're making great improvements in that way, and I I I think that the I hope that the country club and the 19th hole

can become the assets that I think they can be for the city. Thank you, Rick. Thank you, Rick. That's great to hear. All right. Uh who's next? Lance, come on up. Good evening, Mayor, city council members, first responders in the back of the room. I think we got some of the fantastic people doing that kind of work, and we all know that 90 some odd percent of the problems that come to this city don't live here. I think a little bit of a study on that would have prepared us to see what kind of people are ending up in our hospitals. If we understood that they were intoxicated or minors and don't understand how to swim, that might be our focus. That's not why I'm here tonight. Rolling Thunder is a missing in action prisoner of war advocacy group. For 32 years we rode the streets of Washington D.C. in protest of the 80,000 missing troops that were not being recovered. The efforts of Rolling Thunder, a national POW/MIA advocacy group, has caused the DOD to restructure. One each branch is now all under one roof at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. When remains are found they go there for proper identification, preparation, and brought home for proper burial. About 1 month ago we buried an individual that was lost his life on his 20th birthday in Korea, missing 74 years. That's our mission. And we would ride Washington D.C. as I said for 32 years. In 2019 we understand from the FBI that 1.7 million motorcycles showed up and we were told please don't do this again. Make it state run. I've done such a terrible job with it two of the five years they've now locked it on me here in Brevard for the next 5 years. So it's going to land here and grow.

This year I hear Texas might be bringing Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and Georgia are coming as well. We bring with our organization other patriotic groups like American Legion, VFW, Riders, and so forth. I want to let you know that Friday night is a Gold Star Family event in Washington in front of the Vietnam Wall, 30,000 people, not one speaking. A Gold Star Flame of Freedom was carried. We're doing that at the Veterans Memorial Center. But we're upping the class of that evening. The Viera Texas Roadhouse is offering a complimentary dinner to Gold Star family members. If you know of one, please go to our website, our acronym rtfl1.org, and register for that dinner. Saturday is our concert. We have Vintage the band, which I hired for the 80th anniversary of the city of Cocoa Beach, and also Sheep Dogs and another group playing. And Sunday is our ride. That's why I'm here. We're going to do like the ride with the law ride. We are escorted also, by I understand, by Sheriff Ivey, down State Road 3, across Pineda, and then up through Cocoa Beach and A1A. Like you did in 2023, please consider giving us one officer as an escort up through the city. Thank you very much. Thank you. THANK YOU, DOCTOR.

[applause] SO, CITY MANAGER, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE can we can do for them? I'll talk to Chief Keel, but yeah, we can handle that. okay with that? Yeah, it just it make it makes sense. I mean, it's going to help the city as much as it's going to help them and our residents to keep everything flowing and, you know, be able to clear the lights and all that. So, yeah, we'll take care of it. Keep things moving.

Thank you very much, city manager. Okay. Well, we'll get you hooked up here. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Um Missy. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I didn't recognize you in a suit. I'm used to seeing you in the back with the the guys in uniform. You look quite handsome. Um my name IS MISSY BARLEY. HUH? IS HE BLUSHING? I HAVEN'T PETTED him or anything. That's usually what I do. Um Anyway, my name is Missy Barley.

[laughter]

Hush, you guys all might get petted. My name is Missy Barley and I reside at 421 South Brevard Avenue in Cocoa Beach. I've been a resident here full-time now for going on 14 years, but I have deep My family has deep roots in the Brevard County community and I would just like to talk about the the life rings and I'm going to talk from the heart. Love the name plates. Those are really cool. I'm a surfer. I consider myself to be a pretty good swimmer, but I will say that a few years ago I was out at my street, South 4th Street, and I don't wear a leash unless it's really big surf and even that I probably shouldn't be out there in really big surf, but anyway, not wearing a leash, beautiful summer sliders, you know, 2-ft glassy, just a beautiful evening and I lost my board and I got caught in a rip current and it was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me because I know what to do. I know to swim parallel. You know, I know not to panic. I did the opposite of what you're supposed to do and thank goodness I always surf with somebody else and he got my board and threw it back out to me, but it was really, really scary and I think enough about the the life ring program that as a member of the Cocoa Beach Women's Club I asked Wyatt to come and talk to us and we decided to give some money. I think we adopted two of the post and we'll do it indefinitely if they come back, of course. Um, but yeah, it's it's I don't think it's my job as a citizen to be telling everybody about the safety out there. You know, I go to paddle out and you see these families, they're so excited. Many of them never been to the beach before and I have to say, "Hey, we just recently lost three people out here. Do y'all know how the currents work?" "Oh, yeah, yeah, we're good swimmers." I'm like, "It has nothing to do with being a good swimmer. Do you I, suggest you don't go past your knees. If you're not an excellent swimmer, you don't know how to handle rip currents. So, I I hope to see it back. I love when I'm in the water and I see Wyatt out there. You know,

I've got several injuries. I'm made mostly of metal now, so my surfing's not like it used to be, but I always feel safe knowing that Wyatt's out there, he's on the beach. And if he's he can't be there all the time, but just if those life rings were back. I don't care who puts them back, but I really wish we'd have the life rings back so that we all feel safe out there. Thank you. Appreciate it. Scott, come on up. Hello everyone. My name is Scott Wiederman, and as of exactly today, I've been a resident of Cocoa Beach for 55 years. Go figure that. [applause]

You all know me as a resident of Cocoa Beach maybe last and unfortunately the other job first, but on behalf of Drowning Zero, I'm also a member of Drowning Zero International. On behalf of Drowning Zero International, we are ready, willing, and able to put stations back on the beach. All we need is permission. Whatever those parameters are, Drowning Zero International would like Cocoa Beach to be Drowning Zero safe. This is not something we do as a program. This is the life mission of Wyatt Werneth and what we do as the job. I also think you look great in that suit, but I can't So, [clears throat] it's important that that y'all recognize there isn't currently an agreement out there for anybody, and we would like to fill that need because we have very specific, very serial numbered, distinct, different units than are in a dispute right now, and we would be happy to do it at a moment's notice. Call me, call Wyatt. We're happy to get together at any time to make sure what we get back what we've now lost. Appreciate your time. Thank you very much, Scott. Thank you. And as you probably know, I I also um I also uh donated for for uh a life ring as well. Uh any other public comments? That was it? Oh, yeah, sure. I think we were a little misinformed on how we fill out the comment card. Oh, that's okay. You you guys can come uh just state your name and address and and

a question. Uh I put my uh on my card I put to speak on those ordinances that address the lifeguard thing. It's was it 17 and It Um if if you wanted to speak about drone zero and not about the actual ordinance, then this is the time to do it. So, um yeah, you I can speak later

You can do that too if you want. It's just got to be about the the ordinance. Um yeah, go ahead, sir. My name My name's Coleman McCaskie. I've lived here since the late '60s in South Cocoa Beach, 16th Street. Um the only comments I wanted to make were regarding what I've seen change in this town as far as the water and the beach. We have this concept that Cocoa Beach is kind of like the Gulf Coast shores and it's not now because it's not due to the amount of surf or anything like that. Our sand bars have changed dramatically. This has to do with several things that brought the lengthening of the jetty and all that stuff. But, the main thing that I see now going out in the water almost every day is that the rip current signs don't do justice to what's going on out there. I've been out in the water. There's currents coming from every direction now, particularly at high tide. A child can be within 10 ft of the shore in knee-deep water at high tide and be swept into a 8-ft trench. And that is consistent, even today where there's no surf running. It's 1 to 2 ft. It's dangerous out there. And I find myself in the position on the beach of warning people constantly. And we We need signage out there, and I'm not sure how to put it cuz the rip current sign doesn't do it justice. It's all along the beach in sections. Particularly bad where the rip currents are, but there you have this phenomenon at high tide where you have steep beaches now and the water surges up and it comes back and it pushes people off the shallow thing into deep a deep trench, which is ideal for fishing, but terrible for drownings. And I see this and I don't really hear people talking about it, but my only comment really is of course, we need life preservers on the beach. It needs to be back there as soon as possible. If ideally we should have lifeguards all over the beach. I know that's not budget possible, but we need some signage that gives people an idea of how dangerous it really is. It's nothing like when I grew up here and it's it's pretty much unsafe for

tourists to go more like where I live, I'd say more than 20 ft out into the water and they're in trouble. So, anything you can do to make the beach safer is great. I believe in Wyatt. I know that he is a he's got the expertise, the experience, and it's his mission in life to do it. So, anything we can do to get life saving stuff out there and information would be great. So, [clears throat and snorts]

I appreciate it. Thank you. I agree. Thank you very much. And and another one of the things that we we started doing I think it was this past week is uh asking the Airbnbs to to put out a we've print out a flyer or pamphlet that warns them about the the rip currents as well. So, we're we're trying and and we're thinking of new ways to to get the the word out there even more. And I I do agree with you. It's nothing like it was, you know, 30 years ago. It's it's a totally different beach. So, we need to do what we can and try to keep people safe. And it's all honestly, I think it's all of our um it's all of our responsibility to to to warn the tourists because we know and they don't. Even though it's not our job, it it's it's a human job that we should be doing. Any other public comment? Yeah, come on up and just name and address and 3 minutes. Hello, my name is Nathan Musselman and I currently live at 1072 Coronado Drive in Rockledge, Florida. My family's been a part of Cocoa Beach for 60 years, okay? I was ocean rescue up in New Jersey for 8 years and the recent drownings have really touched me in a spot where not a lot of people know what it's like to come across somebody in that state of panic and being able to calm them down. The life rings give us locals the ability to be those ambassadors you were just talking about for our tourists. It is not a good look on Cocoa Beach to have a political debate over safety. It just doesn't make sense. If this was happening in Melbourne, if this was happening in any other city, I don't know if I would have such a dog in the fight, but because my roots are from this area and having been ocean rescue and USLA certified, it's it's a no-brainer to work with Wyatt. Just the way he presents himself, his life dedication to the craft of saving lives, it's paramount. I mean, he's been

working with drown zero for 10 years, that's a decade. It's a decade of experience. [clears throat]

Who on on whatever team is going to get this life ring bid is going to have the experience that he has? Who has that? I I don't think anybody. I don't think anybody has the dedication. Who's going to run out at 6:00 in the morning to make sure that the rings are safe, that some misguided transient didn't say, "You know what? I'm going to wreak havoc and cut everything apart." How do we know that's not happening? Who's going to You can't just look down from a condo and go, "Well, I see it, it's safe." That doesn't make any sense. And that's where I just I I want a a common sense solution to provide safety to our tourists. We get 2.5 million visitors a year. How many are going to keep coming if they know they can drown at any moment? And ocean rescue is that's a whole 'nother bag of worms. I don't want to sit here and beat anybody up because I understand the challenges of staffing and younger people not necessarily focusing on the craft but other things and maybe some things need to change in that but the point of this discussion is to get those rings back on the beach the safest way possible. Not the most political way, not the way that's going to make somebody look good over somebody else. We need to have it to be safe for our tourists. That's what built this town. It That's what built this town. Yeah, the rockets are important and everything but they don't come to see rockets. They come to hang out on the beach. Our hotels aren't full for weeks at a time between rocket launches because they're for rockets. They're here for the beach. And if they're unsafe, that just doesn't as as former ocean rescue it just blows my mind that this is a point of contention. I just don't understand it. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Yeah, appreciate that and I will I will attest that Wyatt you are probably the most passionate person I've ever met about when it comes to to beach safety.

So so thank you for that and thank you for your dedi- dedication as well. Any other public comment? [clears throat]

I was on the list. Uh uh just state your name and address. You're you're good. Um so my name is Gabe Hensley, a resident here 714 Catalina um just down the road. Um my basic reason for being here um is that we're looking at uh creating a business for low speed vehicles. Um I've contacted the city. I've done some research. I talked to Corey Hall yesterday on the phone. I understand that the city has discussed this issue and that it may come up on a future agenda or ordinance. I'm just coming up here to state verbally put it on the record that there's interest in this. My main purpose in being here tonight is simply to be part of the discussion if there's a discussion about how that might be procured. The model I'm exploring would be to just have these LSVs They're not golf carts. It's two separate statute like according to statutes what they are. Basically street legal golf cart looking things but they could be like a Jeep or Not to exceed 35 miles an hour. Yeah. So in light of that you know I've looked at the charter, I've looked at the comprehensive plan, the various studies that have been done on the city and some of the ordinances. I know that last year April I think 2025 we came up with the strict I don't want to say strict but the [clears throat] the rules the Airbnbs. Taking all that stuff into consideration I think that it might behoove you know a group of people to to think about how this type of service might benefit and be in line with the city objectives and where they want to take the city. That's really all I want to say and just put my name out there, put the idea out there, make sure it was on the record. Real quick, are you talking about having like a basically like a like an Uber type service with them or or just renting them out as individuals to use?

So the business model that we're exploring is basically to link them up so with an Airbnb so have them co-located with an Airbnb. They'd actually just be an amenity for the Airbnb. That's our primary like thought process and then also if we had other you know residents or anybody else needed to use them there would be a a fleet that would be basically dispersed throughout the the neighborhoods that can be used but that's that's essentially it. There wouldn't be any unlike a rental like so the ordinance right now or the law says the the city code says basically no rental agencies can be here. And so since this is technically a a vehicle that you're renting, is it a rental agency? So we could go to Cape Canaveral and then bring them here. Drop them off.

But I'd rather this just be in Cocoa Beach rather than Cape Canaveral.

trying to do it legit without going around I want to I want to be I basically want to partner with the city and make sure that there's a really big opportunity and we're talking about like I'm going to go over this time, but the life the life rings, right? So those are a statement. And when we have touch points that we can talk to the to the community, those are really important to maximize because we have few few opportunities to touch the to touch the actual people that come here. And so I'd like to get with the city and use our we call them buggies as a a touch point to communicate things with the tourists. Or That's good enough. Thank you. Appreciate that. Thank you for that info. Uh [clears throat] Next, name, address, 3 minutes. Nadine Hill, 820 North Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach. Um I'm concerned about these this seems to me like a 12-hour appearing the new ordinances that would perhaps block uh uh Drone Zero from performing what they've already been doing for quite a while. Um as a water rescue professional, I think uh Drone Zero is uh already been functioning. So I'm confused as why there's suddenly these new ordinances, especially the one that applies to the vehicle. When uh I live on the beach and I see all the Jeep tracks. It looks like Daytona in Saudi Arabia with all those Jeeps racing back and forth and the the drown zero has that little cute side-by-side thing that has a very small footprint. So to me that seems better than the giant Jeep tires. Uh so having a new ordinance dictating that if

it rules out that is a vehicle or drown zero's vehicle that uh to me that is holding up the process. Um you mentioned uh mayor that uh if this wasn't voted on tonight then it wouldn't be I I'm not understanding why it just can't go back to what it was. Why why do why can't we the new ordinances just be shelved and just proceed as it has been for years with them uh you know professional water rescue person running all this stuff. Uh so that I'm concerned about those hurdles. Someone also told me signage on the on the what do you call it's the rescue things. Well you know drowning is the elephant in the room. So if you're having a I raised a family uh I'm I'm a grandmother of six or something and uh it's hard to keep track with these crazy kids. But anyway um when you're going to the beach you don't uh want to discuss drowning really. So I think that's awesome to have you that drown zero on there because that stimulates it. When we ran our business we spent like in 2000 uh $15,000 on getting a branding and so this is free education because it's already done which is actually valued at 30 grand at 17? If you had a a professional consulting company come in Excuse me. So, um that's mainly my concerns of having a uh rescue water rescue professional continue on with no downtime. And you know, this is a small town, 12,000. I was hoping that maybe that this could be expedited. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you for your comment. Thank you. Any other public comment about items that are not on the agenda? Sure, sir. Come on up. Name and address, 3 minutes. My name is Steven Baker. Many of you might be familiar with me, some of you not. [clears throat]

I don't make it out to these meetings very often. I grew up in Cocoa Beach. Raised seven boys out here. I'm not going to eat up too much time with that. Uh respectfully, Council, some of the reasons why Wyatt Werneth stepped away from this position as chief was rooted in personal political differences. Things that had nothing to do why he did with why he dedicated so many years of his life to protecting people in our ocean. Wyatt is not a politician. Wyatt is a waterman, an ocean safety expert. A man who built his life around rescue preparedness, discipline, and protecting human life on our beaches. Many within this community believe that the city and country and county truly care that if the city and county truly care about the safety on our beaches, they should be doing everything within their power to bring him back. Frankly, public opinion is that the city and county should be willing to crawl down to ground zero on their hands and knees and beg Wyatt Werneth to return as the ocean rescue chief. No matter the financial cost, we are tourist-driven base community. The money, resources, funding exists to bringing him back means a significant increase in salary, restoration pension, or other financial agreement, many of us would fully support it. Cuz the strong cost of strong leadership is nothing compared to the cost of lives lost under weak leadership. There's no man more qualified within the community to oversee ocean rescue operations. Now, whether Wyatt would even accept returning after everything that's taken place, none of us know that. But, what we are asking is simple, that city leaders and county leaders make every possible effort to put him back in a position of leadership over our beaches because he is an invaluable asset to the community and many citizens no longer feel confident in the direction ocean safety has gone since his departure. I want to address something that many people in this community are now realizing after looking deeper into actually and what is actually going on here tonight. The public has been given the impression that these discussions and ordinances are simply about getting the life rings back on the beach quickly for public safety. Most people hearing that naturally assume that the city is working together with Wyatt and Drown Zero to make that

happen. But, when you actually examine what's being discussed, many citizens are seeing something very different. What appears to be happening is not cooperation with Wyatt and Drown Zero, but the gradual removal of them from the operation they helped build in the first place. [clears throat]

Now, technically, maybe that statement I'm sorry. Um the statement that that this meeting wasn't in regards to directly a contract between Ground or Drown Zero and Wyatt. Um now, technically, that statement may be argued in a certain way, but that's not actually the case. A lot of things that are taking place within the meeting tonight will be discussing ordinances placed into effect that will directly affect his operations on the beach and possibly removing him from that position. And I don't know more dedicated life saver in Cocoa Beach that's capable, and we ask that you bring him back, Drown Zero back. Thank you. Thank you, Steve. All right, any other public comment? All right, let's let's move it along. Public [clears throat] comment is now closed. Um staff reports. Good evening, Mayor and Commission. Uh just as an aside, we are as a city in the process of redoing our beach and street signage as well. Um we're going to clean up some of that stuff and also focus on the rip tide angle of that. Um after many delays, Ramp Road Park uh is scheduled to be open by July 4th. Um also um he's got the 19th hole going for a Mother's Day brunch on Sunday at the country club, and they have two sittings, one at 11:00 a.m. and one at 1:00 p.m. They have a lot of reservations, so uh it's best deal in town. And we have a vulnerability assessment final public meeting May 12th at 6:00 p.m. in the commission room. We'll get uh results from the assessment, present maps and tables of assets that are at risk. That's all I have. Thank you. Uh city attorney. Nothing [clears throat] tonight, thank you. All right. City Commission.

Um y'all I'd say something. I know we're going to talk uh later about uh ground zero and all all that stuff. So, I'd like to focus right now on uh the 19th hole, the golf course, everything that's going on out there. Heard a lot of really good things. The golf course is in great shape. Um as Rick mentioned, the 19th hole is under new management, and uh um service and food and everything out there is fantastic. Um we just had a golf tournament last night. Uh I think we had maybe 50 or 60 folks in the tournament. Uh it's a very well-run, professional uh group. Brent, uh Ed, and Roy out there doing a great job. Um we've got Nick on our uh the golf course uh superintendent is uh is bringing the course into shape as well. So, everything out there is happening. And I know we've got at least one more commissioner that's been on the golf course. Like to see that. Like to see everybody out there. And I'll skip. You ever played golf? I Last round I shot was an 82.

[laughter]

That was on the front nine though. That's the problem. Yeah, that was at Suntree. On the front nine. But it was in 1982. Oh, okay. All right. Bear with me. Bear with me. All right. Very good. All right, that's all I got. Thank you. All right. Anybody else? Yeah, I got I I just want to say uh you know, um on the issue with, you know, Wyatt, ground zero, all that. Um I have known Wyatt for ever, you know, he's right there in my neighborhood and served with him plenty of times, talked with him plenty of times. Um he's the only one that uh he actually It was just a text back and forth with him on the subject. And I didn't get any emails or any phone calls from anybody else in the community. And I told Wyatt that because this is currently a legal matter, it's it's not political. It's turned into a legal matter, okay? And I've learned over my 19 years as commissioner if it's a legal matter, leave the questions, the answers, the recorded evidence to the lawyers and judges and professionals. And don't try to delve on to hearsay and conjecture and all that. And just basically stay out of it. So, this ordinance that we have coming into play is going to alleviate this commission from that lawsuit side of it and let our city manager make the best decisions for the future of the city with the respect to beach safety as he can with the guidance of our city attorney to keep us out of the legal fray of what's

going on between the two parties involved. So, you know, I appreciate all the comments, but uh I just, you know, I I can't take sides at this point because it's it's a legal matter. It's not a political matter. Thank you, Skip. You're welcome. Yeah, now Wilson, Skip. All right, there's something I've been wanting to bring up. I keep forgetting to bring it up, but since, you know, we have like Skip's going to be terming out soon and um I know that Tim likes to play golf and stuff like that. So, uh one of the things I wanted to kind of bring up and and uh have the commission kind of [clears throat]

go over or maybe maybe bring it up for a vote is is to allow um our commission and past commission to be able to have basically the same um uh what do you call it? Um all right, rights or um s- s- same liberties that they have now as far as allow like if like so for example, when he Privileges. Privileges, exactly. Thank you. Um so, he can play golf, you know, we get to play golf for free. I obviously we don't much of us don't do it, but uh I think if he wanted to play golf for some reason when he was retired, I think he should be allowed to keep continue to do it. Um we get to use the gym and stuff like that. So, it's something I wanted We only get paid 6,000 a year. It's just one of the perks of being being up here. Uh so, when we term out, I think we should be allowed to to do that. So, that's something I wanted to bring up to allow the the guys terming out to continue to do. So, I think that's a great idea. I I know you do. I thought you would like that. But I I mean I think it's only fair, you know, you know.

Wow. So. I think there should be a grandfather clause after 19 years that you should be able to do that. There you go. Well, you got to run it 8 years and then then wait a couple years. think anybody can do that anymore. Run it 8 years the term limits are way too long. And then do another 4 years, that'll be 20. Okay, well, we got to get we'll have to get rid of the term limits then. 8 8 and 4. Do the board members count, too? I mean other boards? Okay.

All right. So, anyways, I just wanted to bring that up and see what you guys thought. Threw the pot there. Um but I thought it would be good just something nice for the guys going out. All right. Uh all right. That was it for me. Um Here we go. Consent agenda. Okay, this is the consent agenda. Item one, approve the April 16th, 2026 commission meeting minutes, staff representative, city clerk department. Number two, board appointment, planning board appoint Charles Mason to serve a term ending November 2028, seat one, Mayor Capezzi, recommendation appoint. Item three, review and adopt city commission policies and procedures, including revisions establishing a 6:00 p.m. meeting start time in accordance with ordinance number 1712 and limiting meeting duration to no more than 3 hours from the scheduled start time. Recommendation adopt. Item four, approve the budget workshop meeting dates, June 16th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. and August 18th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. Staff representative, Hannah Juman, finance director, Devon Tally, deputy finance director, Sierra, recommendation approve. Item five, approve the fourth amendment to the stormwater education and outreach interlocal agreement with Brevard County, the city of Cape Canaveral, city of Cocoa, city of Cocoa Beach, town of Grant, Valkaria, city of Indian Harbour Beach, Town of Malabar, City of Satellite Beach, and City of West Melbourne. This amendment is for the City of Satellite Beach to rejoin the interlocal agreement. Staff representative Morgan Zulkie, Stormwater Utility Manager, recommendation approve. Move to approve the consent agenda as read. Second. Motion and a second. I wanted to pull three, obviously, but I knew it would be futile. Too late. But uh okay, all all in favor. Aye. Motion passes 4-0. Uh

aye. Okay.

So and I, um J. This is um item J, unfinished business, item one. Ordinance 1714, adopt ordinance 1714 on second reading. An ordinance of the City of Cocoa Beach, Florida, amending section 4-43, special exceptions, and section 4-46, amendments to the zoning map of article one, variance, waiver, and special exception, and article five, amendments, of chapter four, land development procedures, respectively, of the code of ordinances, providing for conflicts, codi- codification of verbality, and effective date. Staff representative David [clears throat] Dickey, Development Service Director, recommendation adopt on second reading. And this was amended in accordance with the request at the first reading, and the amendment is to section 4-43, special exception, item B, and it now reads, "The Board of Adjustment shall hear and vote on only such special exceptions as they are specifically authorized to consider by the terms of these LDC regulations." And we added, "Under no circumstances shall a special exception be granted that would increase the allowed density, height, scale, and or intensity in the property zoning district." Thank you. Move J1 as read. Second. Got a and a second. Any public comment? Come on, Rick. Rick Anderson made a motion to approve. I I I just wanted I was not able to attend the first reading of the meeting and first meeting where this was discussed. So, I'm wondering where do I find a full text of all this so that so that I can read what the changes are. Sure.

I'm obviously in favor of changes. Um but I'd like to just find out where I can find a full text of it. Okay. You can You can check with the with the city clerk and then also You can have my copy. There you go. If if you Dave Dickey if city manager, it's okay. Yeah, please. Um Dave, if you wouldn't mind just just a brief a brief summary for the for the general public. Good evening. Good evening. Nice to be here. Um yeah, this ordinance is pretty straightforward. It really is going to be giving the board and the city commission um criteria to bounce uh proposals and applications off. Right now, the codes are pretty thin when it comes to review criteria. And so, what we're doing here via this ordinance is to add criteria for special exceptions and re-zonings. And the purpose of this is those are quasi-judicial hearings and so, they have a little bit of um let's just call it heightened scrutiny potentially. And it is a we don't want to get into a lawsuit with somebody who's not excited about the decision and not be able to tell a judge that hey, we considered all of these issues when we made these changes. And essentially, the criteria are to ensure compatibility with any proposed special exceptions and re-zonings, compatibility with surrounding properties. So again, quasi-judicial hearings, additional criteria for the boards and the commissions, and it really is just a attempt to backfill and and support our

decisions that are made. Okay, thank you. All right, any other public comment? All right, comments closed. All in favor? It's a roll call. Oh, roll call. [clears throat] It's right there. It says it says it right there in yellow.

It does. Yeah. Commissioner Jackson? Commissioner Hatterson? Yes, I. Commissioner Smalldone? I. Vice Mayor Williams? Yes. Mayor Capizzi? Yes. All right, motion passes 4-0. Number two. Okay, this is um item two of unfinished business, adopt ordinance 1715 on second reading, an ordinance of the city commission of the city of Cocoa Beach, Florida, amending the code of ordinances chapter 15 by adding a new section 15-39A entitled unauthorized commercial equipment, providing for a legislative findings, providing definitions, providing for the impoundment of unauthorized commercial equipment used in connection with unlicensed commercial activity in the Ocean Beach Park, providing for notice, administrative fees, and reclaim procedures, providing for joint and several responsibilities of owners, operators, principals, employees, agents, and persons acting on behalf of an unlicensed beach business, providing for appeal, providing for codification, severability, conflicts, and effective date. Staff representative David Dickey, development services director, recommendation adopt on second reading. Moved to approve it as read. Second. Motion a Again, Dave, just for the general public, um if city manager, if you wouldn't mind, um just a little clarification, not to go too far into it, just just so people understand. Hypotheticals are fine. Pardon? Hypotheticals are fine, you know.

Hypotheticals are fine. Yeah, if you Um I'm not I'm Okay, I'll try not to use hypotheticals, but if if it's What whatever you want. makes sense, I will. [laughter]

Um this ordinance is a um you know, as as everybody knows, we have vendors um that are operating down on the beach. Um some of them two of them are mobile vendors, what we consider mobile vendors, they're the ice cream vendors, and we have 15 that are primarily engaged with renting umbrellas and chairs. I'm sure we've all seen them. Um however, we have agreements that last uh these agreements last 5 to 7 years, depending on the the individual vendor. And these agreements, obviously, will expire sometime. Uh we have a uh we we potentially will have vendors that are operating down on the beach without a current valid agreement. And when staff attempts to address that with them, um it becomes a uh difficult situation sometimes. Um and so what we've done is this this ordinance is giving our enforcement folks, police, code enforcement, beach rangers, giving them another tool to address these um these wayward vendors. So, we are um um proposing this. Um there is a a few things I'd like to briefly talk about. Uh one is confiscation. Um these vendors obviously have equipment that they use on the beach. Um so one of the things that we're looking at doing is possibly um doing a undergoing some confiscation of equipment on the beach that's illegally being used. And uh there is a the ordinance provides for a process for the vendor to get that confiscated equipment back. Um and it's a um it's it's a basically it's an ordinance that spells out processes and procedures to deal with wayward vendors.

Thank you. Okay. Appreciate that. All right. Um all in favor? No public comment. Oh, uh we already asked.

I didn't ask. Roll call. Yeah, you're right. Any other public comment on that? Okay. Roll call. Commissioner Hutchison? Aye. Commissioner Smalldone? Aye. Vice Mayor Williams? Yes. Mayor Pease? Yes. Motion passes 4-0. K. New business. Okay, this is um uh item one on under K new business, authorize staff to negotiate and award a contract with Club Car LLC for the golf cart car replacement CB26-009, to include a four-year lease purchase agreement with DLL Finance LLC. The agreement would include applying the balance of the current golf carts trade-in value not to exceed $592,574.40. In the event an agreement cannot be reached with Club Car LLC, staff is authorized to proceed with negotiations with remaining ranked firms, including the option to re-solicit proposals through a new RFP if necessary until a contract is executed. Staff representative Andy Segarra, Leisure Services Director, recommendation approved. Do you approve K1 as read? Second. Second. Any public comment? All right. Um How How many carts do we have? Are Are we trying to get more Are we get trying to get more than we had before or the same? Same amount, 110 carts. 110 carts? Okay. Um And then what we're we're trading in our carts or do we own our carts or we're leasing those as well?

leasing them as well. Okay. So there's a there is a value to the remaining part of the lease or something? Yes, with the trade-in. Yes.

Okay. So Club Car LLC offers a better trade-in as well as EZ-GO. Mhm. Yes. So what what is our our current um the remaining of our lease worth? Uh we our lease ends October 15th of this year and then the new fleet would arrive December. So the lease isn't really worth anything. This is the You said something about a trade-in or something like that. Correct. Yes, we would trade in. Yes. So the We're just getting new ones but these There There's no value to the current lease is what we're saying. Yeah. We're just We're just relinquishing the lease for a new one.

Correct. Yes. Okay. So for 4 years uh Okay. All right. So about about $5,900 a cart for 4 years. Does the $592 include the $297,000? Yes, that's the trade-in value. Yes. The other The other bid that we received was the $923. And that includes full maintenance for the for the next 4 years though?

Yes. And uh EZ-GO or the Club Car offers the 4-year electrical component whereas EZ-GO was a 3-year electrical component to that warranty. Um if a car does go down, they'll service it within 72 hours. Okay. So $600,000 for 110 carts, $5,000 a piece.

I mean a year $1,000 something a year per cart. That's not too bad. Yes. With with maintenance. I'm fair. Okay. Uh all in favor? I. I. I. Motion passes 4-0. Uh number two. Okay, this is new business item two, adopt emergency ordinance 1717. An emergency ordinance of the city of Cocoa Beach, Florida, amending article four in general of chapter five, beaches, fills, and public waterways of the code of ordinances of the city of Cocoa Beach. Making a finding of emergency, amending section 5-50, definitions, to revise the definition of motor vehicles, amending section 5-52, retitling and revising said section to address authorized beach signage and rescue devices, providing for codification, conflict, severability, providing an effective date. Staff representative, David Dickey, development services director, recommendation, adopt. Move to adopt K2 as read. Second. Motion and a second. Any public comment? All right. Um this is roll call. Commissioner Hutcherson. I. Commissioner Tsmaltie. I. Vice Mayor Williams. Yes. Mayor Capizzi. Yes. All right, number three. Okay, this is item three, adopt ordinance 1718 on first reading. An ordinance of the city of Cocoa Beach, Florida, amending article four in general of chapter five, beaches, fills, and public waterways of the code of ordinances of the city of Cocoa Beach, amending section 5-50, definitions, to revise the definition of motor vehicles, amending section 5-52, retitling and revising said section to address authorized beach signage and rescue devices, providing for codification, conflict, severability, and providing an effective date. Staff representative, David Dickey, development services director,

recommendation, adopt on first reading this essentially um uh will be the permanent ordinance to replace the emergency ordinance that you just adopted. Move to adopt K3 as read. Second. Question second. Any public comment? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. All right. Motion passes 4-0. We are adjourned. I'm out.