City Commission - Regular Meeting

Sherry, can you do a roll call, please? Here.

Here.

Here.

Here. Here.

Thank you. Reverend Bob? This is our Reverend Bob from our drive-in Christian church. Thank you for being here this morning.

Thank you. May I do a public service announcement before about movies coming up? Uh, we have the, uh, the, uh, movie mania, uh, that we co-sponsor with the city coming up next, uh, beginning Sunday, uh, and Tuesday and Thursday night. And for once we aren't conflicting with a city commission meeting on Tuesday night. So that's a good thing. Uh, but we invite everyone to come over and, and, uh, enjoy movies with us. Those three nights, if it rains, we'll be there the next night. And we've got a great lineup.

Great. And then we normally one night have free hot dogs, popcorn. Can you tell us what we'll have so we can see?

Realty Pros is our sponsor for Sunday night. They have a lot of fun things planned. And then Ocean's Luxury is the sponsor for Tuesday night. I think Realty Pros has the free hot dogs. Okay. And... Ocean's Luxury is doing ice cream and those types of things.

Okay, good. Thank you so much, but yeah, come out and have a great time.

All right, let us pray. Gracious and loving God, we give you thanks for the blessings of this beautiful coastal community and for the arrival of the summer season. As families travel, children enjoy their break from school, and visitors come to enjoy our beach. hospitality we pray for safe journeys joyful memories and protection for all who live in and visit our city we ask your blessing upon this Commission tonight our city staff as well in our public safety personnel grant them wisdom in their decisions integrity in their service for a continued commitment to the well-being of this community and today we are especially mindful of the tragic loss of life that occurred yesterday at the Dunlaughton Beach Access. We lift before you the family, friends, and coworkers of the pole booth attendant whose life was taken so suddenly. Surround those who mourn with your comfort and peace. Strengthen all who have been impacted by this tragedy and remind us of the preciousness of every life, and the importance of caring for one another in times of sorrow. As we gather this evening, help us to work together with respect, compassion, and a shared commitment to the common good. May our efforts contribute to a community that is safe, welcoming, and filled with hope. It is in your holy name that we pray. Amen.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

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

Thank you. We have a full house tonight, so welcome to everyone who is here this evening, and welcome to those that are listening online. We will start out. I don't believe that we have any presentations this evening. We will go on to the approval of the minutes. So this is the approval of the City Commission meetings from May 5th, 2026. Do I hear a motion to approve the minutes from that evening?

I so move.

Thank you. Second?

I'll second.

If there is no additions and corrections, Gary, can you take the roll, please, on that? And that passes 4-0, thank you. Next, we're gonna go on to our consent agenda. This evening, we have four items on our consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve those four items without pulling anything for a vote or a discussion?

I'll so move.

Thank you, second?

I'll second.

Thank you. Any discussion on any of those items? Okay, seeing none, Sherry, can you take a roll on that, please? Thank you. And that passed for zero. Next, we're going to go on to we're going to go on to old business. And that is an ordinance 2026. Oh, for vacation of public walkway easement. All right, Simons, can you read that please? Yes.

Oh, I apologize. Ordinance 2026-04. Thank you. Director Cruz.

and commissioners to approve this new service record. This is the second reading of the ordinance 2026-04, which vacates the easement located at 2901 South Atlantic Avenue, where the Tuscany Shores Stadium is. As I mentioned, this is the second reading. If this is approved tonight, then the approval New Justice Walkway will be vacated. This is consistent with the supplement agreement that was recently approved and executed by the city commission and the Bethesda and Shores Community Association. If there's any questions, I'll be happy to take those.

Okay, and do we have any questions for our director? And at this time, do we have any comments from the audience? I do not see anyone here, but if anyone had any questions.

I do have, oh, sorry.

Thank you, Mayor Miller. My name's Rick Brown, South Atlantic, Daytona Beach Shores. I spoke on this at the last meeting. Some of you didn't bother looking up from your desks to listen to the numerous people that were here. Some of you did, thank you. What I found out was very disturbing. When I started really digging into this because I saw the environmental violations done by the work crew at Tuscany Shores where they were washing debris, concrete debris and bits of block into the beach and I contacted your building code official and I had noticed that the permits, which the city no longer requires to be posted, I had to do my research, were actually approved back in November, which tells me the decision was really pretty much made in November, and the last meeting tonight seems to be nothing more than a formality. And that's a shame, because the citizens don't understand this. Now, two statements were made that I am gonna bring up. When is enough enough? 1.2 miles of the beach, the longest piece of our beach here, Daytona Beach Shores no longer has access for families with carts and children, senior citizens who can't make the difficult climb up some of the stairways that exist. This was the only access from all the way up by the Hilton to all the way down by Vann, and Vann's not very safe if you've ever been down there, and I've tried to help fellow veterans down there. It's very dangerous. You're walking on the road. whatever it amounts to. This was, and the decision you make is forever. My children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, they're not gonna be able to use this access anymore. 1.2 miles of the beach has been closed to the most populous part of Daytona Beach Shores. You basically, and the other statement that was made, I believe property owners deserve rights too. Guess what? All those people that live in that 1.2 miles also have rights. I pay my taxes for my building, and so do the other people. But you have all of the people that live in the golf villas, everything in Oceans West, that whole area now doesn't have access. They have to go all the way up to Van, down to Van, or all the way up to Hilton, to that park there. It's just... Not right. You know, it's sad enough that we lost the dog park and the senior center to an ill-conceived project. And those are other people that also don't have that access. But it's not only just senior citizens. It's families with kids, strollers, and beach basket. So I wish you'd take that into consideration.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Brown. Is there anyone else that wishes to speak? I don't see anyone else. That's the only one that we have. Okay, do I hear a motion to approve ordinance 2026-04? I'm sorry. Yeah, 2026-04. I so move. Thank you. Second?

I'll second.

Thank you. Can you take a vote on that, please, Sherry? That passes 4-0. Thank you. Next, we're going to move on to a quasi-judicial hearing. This is for site plan RSP8250008. Sherry, will it be yourself or our attorney that will be swearing them in?

I'll do that, ma'am.

Thank you.

Anyone who's going to speak tonight on this item, please stand up and raise your right hand. Mr. Hoffman? Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, during tonight's hearing?

And may I ask if there's anyone on our dais that had any... No. No, what's her name? Ex parte communication. It slipped to my mind. Anyone?

Madam Mayor.

Yes, sir.

So, to be very clear, I had a discussion with our city attorney, Becky Rose, today. A representative of the Valor Group, I and the people that own the corner of A1A and Ogden, I acted as a intermediary. Receive no compensation, nothing from either side. There will be a document authored by both parties to help them facilitate a area where they may install a model center or selection center for the condo project. So I asked Becky, what do I do? She goes, there's no conflict, Michael. but go ahead and put it on the record. And because we have Commissioner Cardnot here, I'll elect to vote, and that way everything's on the up and up. But that's the only conversation I had with the representative of Valor and only as to that acquisition of that piece of property that will assist them in creating whatever they need in order to facilitate the condo project.

You feel that you can still be fair and partial? Yeah. All right, thank you.

Madam Mayor, I see Mr. Peck was sworn in. I did introduce myself to him a few minutes ago, but other than that, I didn't talk.

But you did not have a conversation. All right. Commissioner Dubinsky?

No contact. I mean everybody knows that back. So, okay.

Thank you Stuart will this be you On this Oh Gwen, I'm sorry Gwen.

Thank you Thank you madam mayor vice mayor city commissioners when her scene and city planner this agenda item allows Consideration of regular site plan A25-0008 for an 86 unit multifamily residential condominium at 3411 South Atlantic Avenue, which is a 1.05 acre property zoned for this use. The site is located 1.5 miles south of our current location and it takes about four minutes to drive there from here. Here's an aerial view of the site, which is oceanfront on South Atlantic Avenue, immediately south of the Daytona Inn Tropical Seas and north of Towers 10. Here is a rendering of the drive and lower portion of the building from A1A on the left, and a beach view from southeast of the proposed building. This plan page illustrates the site with the ground level in orange and an overlay of the residential tower in blue. An analysis conducted demonstrates that the site plan is consistent with the city's comprehensive plan, the applicable development agreement, and all relevant Daytona Beach Shore's dimensional requirements. The applicant has requested that the city commission waives the project's requirement to provide a dedicated public walkway and the surrounding landscape. The project meets the requirements for such a way to request in that and such a waiver in that public beach accesses exist within 1000 feet, both at Marbella to the north and the Dunlop and access ramp to the south. Three outstanding requirements remain unmet for this site plan approval but are being actively sought by the applicant. These pertain to specific approvals from both the City of Port Orange and from FEMA. We would request that you offer approval conditioned upon these requirements having been met. Reviews have been conducted by city staff and for consistency with all prevailing requirements and all exhibits and staff analyses, have been submitted for the record. We're asking for two approvals at this time, one for the walkway waiver request and the second for approval of this site plan conditionally as presented. I'm happy to answer questions, but I am certain that members of the VALOR team who are here tonight would be delighted to as well.

Thank you so much for that presentation. We appreciate that. So is there any questions before we take a motion of our planning?

I do. So this is all kind of, with the exception of

number one with the abandonment of the public walkway everything's kind of preliminary you're still going to be tweaking back and forth with regards to the site plan and things of that nature or is it etched in stone these outstanding items will still need to be provided before before construction can be and before the site plan is actually approved and then the waiver if it's approved by this body tonight would be a step in that direction As far as fluidity, from the standpoint of the planning division, there is no more fluidity. We have received everything that is required except these three items. So there's not a lot of back and forth. There still may be some decisions made by the applicant and the property owner regarding exactly what happens on the inside of the building.

Of course. Okay, thank you.

When do we anticipate that we might get closure on these three items or get the answers we're waiting for?

They're actively being sought, as I said, and the applicant is not concerned that they won't be met. So I'm not sure of the exact date, but again, they would have to be met before construction could begin.

Do I hear a motion to accept the site plan RSPA250008? I'll make the motion. Thank you. Second?

I'll second.

Thank you. I'm going to open this up to the audience. Does anyone have any comments, any questions they'd like to ask? I don't see that we have anyone that signed up to speak. Is there anyone from Valor or Mr. Hopkins, anything that you wanted to ask?

for Jessica cow good evening to the record Jessica galacocca law firm one Daytona Boulevard and Daytona Beach Florida I think we were all here in March of 2024 when we brought the final development agreement forward on this site I can say from experience that I think that this team has paid a lot of time on to now to really become members of this community that kept the outreach going and worked very closely with City staff on bringing the site plan forward We're in full agreement with the conditions. As noted, we're working through those. I can never promise a timeframe when a federal agency is involved. But I know that Joe has it in hand, and he is working diligently on it. So we are here for questions. We appreciate the time and consideration from staff, from the team, and the engineering work that has gone into this. Thank you.

Does anyone have any questions for Attorney Count? Okay. If not, thank you, Jessica. And I don't want to put you on the spot, anyone from Towers 10. One of the things that impressed me the most about this, so I care so much about the citizens and the residents of Daytona Beach Shores, and when anything new comes in, I want to make sure that whoever is coming in partners and ensures that the product that they're building meets with their neighbors, and I don't know if anyone from Tower 10 wants to say anything. I was particularly impressed, I believe it might have been three or four meetings that they had with Towers 10, and in fact changed the way that the building would be situated to make sure that it did not become an intrusion on their view. So again, I just wanted to point out they've done that, and I've received feedback from Towers 10 The city manager and I were fortunate enough that we went to one of their meetings at the condo, and I heard that a lot, how appreciative they were. So thank you for whoever set up those meetings to make sure that you're partnering with our existing partners. So if there's no other questions, if there's no other comments from the audience, Sherry, can you take a vote on this, please? I'm sorry?

That's exciting.

Okay, and it passes 4-0. Thank you so much. We do have, for those folks that don't know, we have representatives here from Valor who will be partnering with Aston Martin on the project. So after the meeting's over, if you want to. Raise your hand areas and whoever's here from Valor. Um, I'm sure there'll be very, very happy to talk to you. They've been quite accommodating, wanting to, as Jessica said, wanting to partner with the city and have come to a lot of the functions of the city. So we appreciate that partnership. Okay. Next we're going to go on to, um, new business coordinates, 2026 dash Oh five attorney. Can you read that for please?

Yes, ordinance number 2026-05, ordinance of the city of Victoria Beach, Georgia, relating to additional signage allowed for businesses, amending the municipal code of ordinance, index G, land development code by amending section 2-5, entitled signs and advertising definitions, by creating a definition for A-frame signs, amending section 6-8, entitled permitted signs, amending section 6-9, entitled district regulations, providing for legislative findings of intent, providing for informed time penalties, providing for a savings provision, providing for non-complication, providing for conflicting ordinances, providing for severability, providing for an effective date, and providing for a termination date.

Thank you, attorney. Hurstie? Thank you, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Commissioners. Three, Gwen Hurstie and City Clerk. Three decades ago, the city was actively working to minimize the impacts that special events had in our city. One way that they approached this was to minimize temporary signage. Current goals of the city, however, rely in part on attracting businesses and eliminating barriers to their success. This ordinance addresses one often requested sign allowance in a manner which maintains life safety and an attractive aesthetic. We will be undertaking a broad sign code overhaul in the next three to four months. This particular relief, though, was requested by multiple businesses to occur sooner. And some of the business reps that reached out are here tonight if they wanted to come up at some point. Here are examples of A-frame signs which will be allowed under this ordinance. The parameters in Ordinance 202605 describe physical and aesthetic requirements to be signs, they ensure that the public safety is top of mind for businesses, and they minimize the permitting requirements involved in displaying the signs. They're daily use signs, which only have to be permitted once until replaced. A 12-month sunset provision A 12-month sunset provision was included in this ordinance not to take away something that's being granted, but to allow freedom when we do update the sign code holistically. There are a lot of pathways that we can go with that sign code, and we want to have freedom to approach it as a brand new entity as opposed to already having something that's locked in. Obviously, we have to meet Florida statutes, but we want the freedom. And so we don't anticipate removing these, this provision and this allowance, but we do hope to have that freedom. So we are requesting the sunset provision. Consistency with the land development code, comprehensive plan, and our strategic plan was maintained, and the community services, public safety, and our legal team have approved this ordinance. Staff analysis and exhibits have been submitted for the record, and public noticing requirements have been met. The planning and zoning board recommended approval of this ordinance 2026-05 and city staff is also recommending i had a few questions so i've seen some of these before will the um will be chalk that will be on these filling them in with chalk it could be chalk they also make chalk markers that look like chalk but are more durable if they're touched And so that's also an option. They could also be printed upon, professionally painted.

There are varieties that they can... And this will all be allowed under this, all three that we just said. The only concern I have, I've seen some that haven't been, that have been, the chalk that haven't been maintained and, you know, half of it's rubbed off and... If we have any control over that, I mean, I want to make sure aesthetically, you know, that this looks good. We're going to do that.

We're controlling more of the outline of the sign as opposed to any content in it. I would say that someone who has allowed their sign to get to that point is maybe not going to get the business that they might have.

Okay, that's what I was thinking, too. What other questions do we have for our city planner? Okay, again, as always, if there's anyone in the audience that would like to speak, I do not see a speaker. Mr. Brown, I think. Mr. Brown, okay. Yes, if you'd like to come forward. And if you just want to, does he have to sign another form, Sharon? Yes. Okay, and when you're done. Thank you.

I was trying to get the complete ordinance. I had a question. Mainly just a couple of questions. This ordinance, I'm not opposed to the A-frame signs. I think it's helpful for the businesses. I do agree with you, Madam Mayor, about making the signs safe. By the way, there is spray coatings you can put over the chalk to prevent that from happening. But my biggest concern is the safety. We don't have a definition of what inclement weather is. We don't have a definition of what mile per hour rating the sign has as far as the weighting goes. And that's critical. I worked for a company for many, many years that used these signs. And we have a specific rule. The wind exceeds so many miles per hour, the sign has to be able to accept so many miles per hour. I highly suggest you put that in there, because when you have a nebulous rule like this, anybody can do whatever they want. Obviously, the problem is if we get out one of those microbursts, those signs can be very dangerous. And typically, they're on the sidewalk. So people get injured, then we end up with personal injury more business than you need.

Thank you, very valid point, thank you. I hope our city planner will maybe take that into consideration. Okay, is there anyone else that wishes to, oh, did you have something, Gwen, I'm sorry.

It definitely was taken into consideration. These aren't engineered in the way that they're attached to the ground, so coming up with specific wind or mile per hour is challenging. Anchoring is required. And there are also provisions that mean that the permit can be revoked if they are not properly attended to and left overnight, for example. So definitely, Mr. Brown's comments were taken into consideration. Thank you so much.

We appreciate that. If I don't have any other comments from the audience, do I hear a motion to accept Ordinance 2026-05?

I so move.

Thank you, second.

I'll second.

Okay, any other discussion from up on the dais? Hi, Sherry, can you pull up the wall please? That passed 4-0. I want to congratulate our staff. You know, that's the purpose of some of the meetings that we have. This was from direct feedback that we received I think it was a month or two months ago on this. So thank you to staff for acting so quickly. Thank you, City Planner, for taking that. And again, thank you for the residents that come in and give us the feedback. It's not always going to be accepted. It isn't going to be a yes like that Ms. Hurstein was able to do. But we appreciate your comments. We want to hear from you. And thank you again for doing that and following through. Okay, next we're going to go on to Resolution 2026-06. So this is approval of the City Hall wind retrofit under a grant. Is this our Director Irwin?

Yes, Madam Mayor.

A resolution of the City of Daytona Beach Shores, Volusia County, Florida, accepting a $103,500 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, hazard mitigation, approving the standard grant agreement with the State of Florida Division of Emergency Management, grant agreement number H1294, the purpose of purchasing and installing permanent roll-down shutters on all exterior openings of City Hall, approving the 52.53% match of $114,142, authorizing the city manager to execute all necessary documents for said grant and providing an effective date.

Thank you. I'd love to hear the word grant, so tell us more.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Lori Irwin, Finance Director. Yeah, we always like . We have a grant here. It's a HMPG hazard mitigation grant. This actually came through because of hurricanes Ian and Nicole. So this is a good thing that comes out of that. And the city was awarded storm shutters for the city hall. And you can see here on the screen what they'll look like. They are a manual push-pull. It's quite a bit more to have a mechanical test. Last time we had it quoted, it was about $625 per window to have the automatic. But we are asking for your approval for this. As you can see, the total project is $218,000, with federal share of $103,500, and city share of $114,000. Now, this is actually one of three grants that we have received from Hurricanes Community Call. The other two, one was for a generator for a community center here. and the other with the three generators for our sewer system.

Maura, when did we first apply for this, right after Ian and Nicole did, back in 22 or 23? October 2023.

Now the pricing on this, because pricing does change from 2023 to 2026, the quotes that we had received were from November of 2024, so there is that possibility that, yes, the price could change.

Thank you. Any questions for our director?

Yes, Madam Mayor.

Yes.

Director Irwin, if the price change, will the grant adjust to reflect their percentage of the contribution towards the overall cost? We can request an increase. Okay. Thank you.

And would we have to wait, again, three, two and a half years, or you're not sure about that?

Yeah, I am not sure. We would make the request. We can go through... Thank you.

Any other questions?

I don't have any questions, but as always, the staff does a terrific job. Thanks, Laurie.

Thank you. Any comments from the audience? Okay, Director Orland, before we go on, I just want to thank you for your participation last week. We had a stormwater mitigation, and we go around the table and find out from every city what is going on as far as our stormwater. Thank you for representing Daytona Beach Shore so well. Appreciate it. So right now, if there is no other questions or concern, do I hear an approval of Resolution 2026-06? make that motion thank you second i'll second okay no further discussion cherry can you take the vote and it passed 4-0 thank you okay so next we're going to go on and this is something that we started probably about 85 years ago, Sherry, on the performance evaluation, five to six years ago that we started on here. And it's usually a yearly thing. So our city manager could have elected to forego this. As you remember, he took the interim role in October and has only been permanently on the job. So what is this, five months starting your sixth month? But is that correct?

One or four, I think. February it became permanent.

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was January. Okay, three to four months. But because he wanted the feedback and he wanted to gauge how he was doing, he elected to go on to that. So can I just get, so Sherry, we did get evaluations from each city commissioner? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Did each of you have a chance to review this with our city manager? Your results?

Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, great.

Okay. Yes, thank you so much. So these evaluations are very, very important. I have to thank Commissioner Conamos. So we've gone through a couple of different variations of this. It's a little bit hard to get something that accurately evaluates the performance. So I think Commissioner Conamos, was it two years ago? I think so. Two years ago. He took it upon himself to reevaluate it. So very streamlined, but what I always like about a performance evaluation, more so than the actual numbers, are the backup documentation. You know, if you got this high number, why did you do it? I'm a big proponent of stop, start, and continue. So, you know, what do you want me to stop doing that makes no sense, that does the city no good? What do you want to continue? What am I doing well? And what are the new things you want me to start doing? So those are some of the things that we've worked on this evaluation. So if everybody had a chance to talk to him about it. Sherry, can you give us what the overall score is? Okay, wow, so it was a very, very high evaluation. City Manager, I think they probably all know Coming from 30 plus years with the city, you understand what Daytona Beach Shores is about, how life is better, the expectations here. So I hope it was an easy transition for you. I know there's some hiccups in the road on some of the things that get thrown at you, but do you have any comments on your evaluation?

I would just say the very high number, I appreciate that. I appreciate the feedback also. There were a couple of suggestions on things that we can start, but all of that is a reflection of the staff. You have a staff that wants to serve this community, and really all I'm doing is empowering them and removing impediments. They're doing a fantastic job. Thank you.

One of the things that I'm so happy with you, and I know you passed this on, we're going to always operate inside of the state statute, inside of the law, doing always the right thing. But we're going to, if you hear the saying, getting to yes. And I am so impressed with our city manager that that's what he agrees on. just as long as it's in the statute, if we're operating inside of the law, we're all legal, what can we do to change things? And I think this A-frame was a perfect, perfect example of that. What do we need to tweak? What do we need to do to be able to serve our residents better? So we congratulate you on that. I'm very impressed with that. Is there anything else that we want to go over as far as the evaluation? Do any of the other commissioners have any comments they want to make?

I'm just glad he's serving as our city manager, and I knew he would do a great job, and I know he will continue to do a great job in the future. Thank you.

Okay, if no other comments on this, I think we will move on now to our city attorney comments. All right, thank you. And city manager, I think you have a couple of things for us. Is that correct?

I certainly do. Thank you. I'm happy to announce that after years of discussions and a few failed negotiations, the city's entered into a contract contingent upon the approval of commission that purchased the Bank of America property located at 3046 South Atlantic Avenue for $1.8 million.

I allow clapping. Go ahead, anyone. Thank you.

So we, by the way, we're going to get to the taxes, and Will Roberts, our tax collector here, we allow booing, too, and that's pretty scary. So I'll just say that in advance. We are currently in a 30-day due diligence period, which expires May 23rd. Upon completion of the inspections and the other due diligence, we'll actually need another meeting of the commission to either approve or reject this sale. So I will be reaching out to you all individually to schedule that once we have some answers and we'll be able to bring more information to you at that time. Staff with the assistance of the Volusia County Economic Development Team, has made two applications to the governor's office to be designated as opportunity zones. One in the north end, one in the south end with the break at Florida Shores. Being designated as an opportunity zone can make the city more attractive to private investors by offering federal tax incentives for investments in qualified development and business projects within the designated area. The designation can help spur redevelopment, attract new capital, and serve as a valuable tool for advancing the city's long-term economic revitalization goals. Just to let you know, the governor has 90 days to designate up to 300 zones within the state. Although we are cautiously optimistic, as of a month ago there were already 500 applicants for those 300 spots.

Before you go on on that, I just want to thank Director Maddox. So this was, we had thought it was closed and we were at a Team Volusia meeting and understood it was back open again. And when I say she scrambled, she scrambled too. What you want to do with something like that? And we've always in the city maintained excellent relationships with our legislators and some of our business partners. So our director scrambled to get those letters together because it always looks good if if you have people advocating on your behalf. So if you wouldn't mind me congratulating you.

Absolutely. She not only scrambled, but she leveraged her pre-existing relationships statewide and countywide to get that done. We really pulled in a lot of tools. So I appreciate Director Maddox for that very much. Next, as you're aware, staff had received numerous suggestions regarding changing the name of the city to provide distinction and its own identity. We conducted a citizen survey. on the potential name change and received 545 submissions, of which 515 of those were actual residents. We pulled out all the non-residents. So that was a really big online feedback. It was found to be in favor of changing the city's name to The Shores at a rate of 65.7%. Should the consensus exist with the commission for further examination of this issue, at the first July meeting, staff will provide a complete presentation to include potential costs and other considerations as far as changing the name. We would also bring forward at that point an ordinance to put this issue on the ballot because this would need to be a charter amendment. It would, if commission passes the ordinance, it would go on the November ballot. It would have to pass by a majority vote. It does not need a super majority. So as I said, it currently, 65.7 percent are in favor of changing the name of the city to the shores city manager when would that need to actually be submitted so it gets on the ballot so we have two meetings in july if the ordinance had its first reading at the first meeting and then passed at the second meeting it would be on the november ballot with no problem and no additional cost to the city if we were to postpone this and move it to a different election then we'd be responsible for those costs

and that's something we'd want to we you know again i was going to ask so when you give us what the cost is so something as simple as letterhead signage so you are going to have an overall what the cost would be of changing all of that correct and obviously we could phase some of that in but changing the signs at the entrance of the city re-striping all the police cars changing over the patches on the uniforms those are the types of things changing out letterhead

And staff is already working on those numbers. We just need to know from you if you want us to bring that forward at the July meeting or not.

And attorney, does he just need a consensus right now?

In terms of bringing it to the next meeting?

Yes. Okay, great. Mr. Dubinsky? Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor?

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

Very good. Staff will continue to work on that. Thank you for the direction. And finally, I'm sure everybody has seen the news today regarding property taxes That item was me speaking on that And I'm not going to go too far into this. I'm just going to mention that the joint resolution passed both houses today Which will put it on? on the ballot in November to eliminate homestead property taxes. Year one would increase the exemption to 150,000. By the way, that's not the only exemption. The existing exemptions, the other exemptions, it stacks. So if you already have other exemptions that are on there, that 150 would be added on top of those. The second year it would be $250,000. for homesteaded properties. That would take out of the city's budget approximately $1 million the first year and then $1.5 million the second year. The legislature has indicated that they would like to eliminate those taxes altogether. in the future beyond that. The other thing that this amendment would do is limit what we could do with the remaining funds. So approximately 88% of the remaining ad valorem taxes would go to public safety right off the bat. So the remaining 12%, the legislature is going to tell us what we can and can't do with that 12%. The other thing that it does is limits the valuation increase of non-homesteaded properties and businesses. Currently, the valuation can go up 10% per year. It's going to limit it to 5% per year. Tomorrow night, we're going to be at the evening with the mayor. We are going to be asking our residents to please prioritize which services you want to see us reduce because that is going to be one of the effects if this passes. For us to be able to continue to exist, we're probably going to have to reduce our services that we provide to our citizens.

Do you want our tax collector to speak now? What time were you planning? Okay. Is that all right with everyone on the dice? Do you have anything else to be managed?

That's all I have for tonight. Thank you, Madam.

So, yes, if you would come up, Mr. Roberts. So I was at the county meeting today where our CFO, Ryan, and please give me his last name.

Oskowski.

Oskowski talked. And the major thing, I wrote myself a note. There will be major changes in service delivery. Correct. All right. So talk to us a little bit about.

And thank you for having me up here, commission staff. Just let me know, just to let you know I appreciate you and all the things you do for the city. It's hard being an elected servant and a servant. any type of capacity in the government, so I appreciate one and all of you. So just understand that and understand whatever's going on in the uncertainty that we've seen today and happens in November, just understand that I am always an advocate for you, always a servant for you, always an advocate for the citizens, residents, and taxpayers of your city and the state of Florida. Just understand that. Also, I would like the citizens, residents, and taxpayers that are here today, which is all of you, I send you all a tax bill if you own a parcel in Volusia County. I will still be sending you a tax bill no matter what. Non-Avalorums, nobody's exempt from that. And school property tax is still going to be on the bill. They changed that last minute. So that will still be on your tax bill. What do you pay the most of? School tax. They are not changing how much they get exempt. So I will still be sending out a tax bill. And so my office in November of 2027 is going to be getting a lot of phone calls saying, I thought we passed this. If it passes, that we weren't supposed to get a tax bill. Because the term tax-free and eliminating is very misleading. I guess .

Can I ask you this, you know, again, as being president of Volusia County, of Volusia Lake of Cities, there was one or maybe two cities in Volusia County that is actually very concerned about remaining a city. Is that false?

So George and I talked yesterday. We were talking budget stuff yesterday, and we met. And, you know, one of the things that... We perceive that could happen if this passes, that there very well could be a point where Volusia County adopts the same type structure as Jacksonville, Duval, where Jacksonville and Duval are the same, one and the same. So we become one county, one city, just to combine services so that We don't have 16 different municipalities and the county duplicating any service because we're not going to be able to afford it.

So we have the expert up here on tax collecting. Any questions up on the dais? I'm sure we have plenty, but just finding this out today. We appreciate everything that you do. Almost every meeting, I know you're there speaking on behalf of everyone in the county. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you all for being available. City Manager, anything else for us? That's all, Madam Mayor. Vice Mayor, what comments do you have this evening?

I want to get an opportunity to compliment the city manager. You know, the selection process was very difficult, but in the end, I think we all made the right decision. You know, it's all about leadership, personality, communication, and the relationships that not only you made, Mayor Miller, but that Mike has made over the years in his various capacities within the city. I mean, we're blessed that we have, look, Mr. Roberts came to us And it just happened yesterday or today, so thank you for coming. But it echoes the respect we get and the relationships we have with the county and with the state. You know, I go to these functions and I meet federal officials, I meet state officials, and I meet county officials. and we have nothing but good things to say about us. We're organized, we're respectful, and we're just appreciated, admired, and so when we need something, they help us, and I just, I want to thank you for taking on the leadership for the staff, because these guys are all aces. They're aces, and we appreciate all you do for us. You know, a lot of times people come here, and then we're all, we're not asking a lot of questions, and we pass these ordinances, but you don't know in the background, we review the materials before we come, we call and ask staff a few questions to get answered, so we're already informed And that's why you don't see us asking a lot of questions. And I just don't want you to think we kind of rubber stamp everything. No. We're very lucky. We got people in the right spots to make our jobs easier. And in the end, we all benefit. Sorry. That's my two cents. Thank you.

Commissioner Economist? No comments. Thank you. Commissioner Dubinsky?

No comments. Thank you.

Well, I am the events of the city. So tomorrow night, I want to make sure everyone knows. So for you, those that are kind of new here, I host coffee with the mayor. We've been doing that for seven and a half, going on eight years. But residents have come up to me and said, I work. Is there any way you can have an evening meeting? So this is the one meeting that we have a year. And that will be tomorrow night, June 3. It'll be at 5 o'clock PM. I'm going to change the format a little bit. But my first, when I started this probably seven years ago, again, saying what a wonderful staff we have, but I want to make sure that you know what a wonderful staff we have. So in different variations, They've introduced themselves, they've introduced their department, what they're responsible for. I want you to know that if you have an issue in the city, these are the people that you go to, and it's so important, the face that you put with the name with the department. So they'll be doing a very short overview of that. There will be, city manager, can you tell us what else will be at that event?

I know you're- Certainly, as you're aware, our commission has authorized the Urban Land Institute to come in and do a TAP, which will help us with our economic development. We are going to be doing a stakeholder session with our citizens that come there. We're going to try to get their input on the future of the city. The city is going to evolve over the next 25-30 years. We can either choose to plan how it evolves or we can let it happen organically. Staff would prefer that we plan that so that it turns out the way that we would like. We need you all to come and let us know. We will also make staff available at the end of the session so that if anyone has any questions or just wants to get to know our staff any more than are here tonight, they'll have an opportunity to do that.

Thank you. And so, Director Maddox, so the community workshop that is here on June 10th from 10 to noon will be a follow-up or a second? Correct.

That will be a second. Sorry, go ahead.

Yes, ma'am, it will be a second opportunity for those who cannot attend tomorrow evening or those who want to come during the day instead of the evening. Okay, great. Yes.

Okay, but I hope to see you all at the evening exchange. And will there be light refreshments? Yes, there will. Okay, thank you. I hope to see you again. So 10 o'clock in the morning tomorrow, 5 o'clock. Reverend Bob already announced this, but I want to say it again. So every year what we do is we partner with the Drive-In Christian Church, and we always get this a little mixed up, but I think this is the 11th year that we've done this. And there is three Disney movies that we would show. We pay for the movies, they give us the location. But what's so wonderful about it is I try to go to all three of them, and there's some mothers that come in with two or three little kids, and everything to get in is free. And then they offer refreshments for a dollar each if you choose to buy them. But what I was trying to get out of him, one night they do hot dogs. Thank you, RealtyPro. Floats. Just so many things. So you can bring your kids there to see a Disney movie. And before the movie starts, there's games and hula hoops. Reverend Bob and I usually have a contest. I used to be good at it. I'm not anymore. But, you know, it's just a fun, fun atmosphere. And the great news is it's free. So, again, it's June 7th. June 9th and June 11th, so that would be a Sunday, a Tuesday, and a Thursday. The rain night is always the next night, and the movie starts when it gets dark. Next is Museum in Motion with the Brown. So Nancy Maddox has offered our community center for some of the events, as you know, the Brown, the old... Yes, the Museum of Arts will be renovating, will be closed probably for a couple years. So we've had different venues there. So this one will be the Florida History through Historical Landscapes. That will be Tuesday, June 16th from 2 to 3 at the Community Center. Next, our next concert in the park will be May 26th featuring Half Step Down from 630 to 830 at the Shores Pavilion in McElroy Park. And, you know, if I can just piggyback on what the city manager said, these are some of the things that makes life better in the shores, that we can offer these concerts, even the coffee with the mayor. A lot of things that we do is because of people wanting life to be better in the shores, and they're willing to pay for that. Unfortunately, these are some of the first things that are going to be cut if we find it necessary. So just remember that. The last thing is Americans 250. 50th anniversary celebration. Thank you for not having the big word there that I have too. Thank you just for saying 250. Wednesday, July 1st at 10 a.m. at the Shores Community Center. So it's going to be a performance here. It's going to be put on by the Daytona Playhouse as we celebrate our 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That's all that I have right now. Again, I went to the county council meeting. So there's concern all over the county of what's going to happen. We don't know if it will be approved in November. I'm sure there's some people that will realize I'm willing to pay for these services. Others, as Mr. Roberts said, are just going to hear the word free. Word's not really going to be free. So again, do your due diligence and please check into that. So that's all that I have for commission comments. Do we have anyone? Probably Mr. Morris. We have Mr. Morris. I'm sorry, I missed Kristen at the last one, so I want to make sure I don't miss you.

All right, thank you, Mayor Miller, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, and City Manager. All the staff. I'm here just representing the... Fort Lawrence, South Daytona, Daytona Beach Shores, and Potts Inlet Chamber. And I wanted to bring a couple things to your attention. First of all, we just recently were able to give out about 12 scholarships to graduating seniors. We had about 30-some kids apply. And those 11 or 12 that won were completely amazing. They've done more in their life before they go to college than I've done in my whole life in front of them. They were truly amazing. I got involved in the chamber. ONE OF THE REASONS I GOT INVOLVED IN THE YCLE, BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ANY KIDS THAT I KNOW OF. SO I WANTED TO GIVE BACK A LITTLE BIT. I'VE BEEN A MEMBER OF THE CHAMBER FOR 18 YEARS, AND I WANTED TO ALSO THANK NANCY, WHO'S GOING TO BE A PART OF OUR YOUTH CIVIC LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE, WHERE THEY GET TO SEE THINGS LIKE THIS. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT NANCY DOES THERE IS SHE IS THE MAYOR REPRESENTING. SHE'S WATCHING HOW THEY'RE DOING THIS MOCK CITY COUNCIL MEETING. SO WE'RE TEACHING THEM HOW GOVERNMENT WORKS, how they can get involved, and maybe someday they'll sit here, and they'll be inspired to do that. And I think Mayor Miller does a great job of that, and I want to thank you very much.

You're very welcome.

A couple events we've got coming up here. One is on the 29th or 26th of June, it's a Friday, we have what's called a casino night. It's one of our biggest events. It's kind of a girls' night out, guys' night out, or a date night. Or if you're single, just come and have some fun. But it's one of the most fun events we do. It's always packed. There's so much to eat and drink and have fun, play a little bit of blackjack or poker or whatever you like to play. But we want to invite you to that. And then I think lastly is just to say thank you for your partnership in the chamber. It means a great deal to us and thank you.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it. No other audits, comments, Sherry? Is there anyone else that wants to make a comment? I'm sorry.

Back up again.

For a good reason. So the last couple of years you guys have been a sponsor, a build sponsor for our kids' stack art. We just want to say thank you very much for being a part of that. And we wanted to personally thank you for doing that for us. It's because of the community partners like you that this year's program generated enough proceeds that we were able to give all our 10 participating schools $2,200. Oh, wonderful. And so what that means is we've given away more than $46,000 since we started this in 2023-24 school year. And we're excited that R.J. Longstreet is in this failure. It is going to also be participating in this upcoming school year, so we're very happy for that. And your support, you know, it gives the opportunity to these students to show their creativity and help strengthen their education in our schools. So we truly value our partnership with you and look forward to continuing it for years to come. If we can afford it after November, we'll find that out. But in recognition of your gold sponsorship, we present this framed student-designated license plate. Thank you.

I think this is the one I had. I want to tell you, too, for those of you that don't come to Coffee with the Mayor, and you should, so we purchased, Nancy, was it 20 of them? 20 of these, and again, to support you, but we have a raffle at the end of the Coffee with the Mayor, so we give out Turfas, Turfas? mugs we give out t-shirts a lot of different things and this is the grand prize so everyone waits for this prize so you know again you know we're helping the community our residents are happy so thank you for everything you do thank you thank you thank you thank you very much i'm sorry you want to get a photo yes you want to do it now or after or we can do it now You want us to come down or just stand up?

If you just want to stand, I'll put them in the center. Hold on one sec. let me get commissioner davinsky in here you guys just as long guys or not okay or not okay well no you go over here come on okay okay i can see everybody just like that vice mayor will you switch in just a little bit please thank you all right everybody one two three

All right. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Appreciate it. Thank you all again. Thank you.

Okay, any other audience comments? Any? I'm sorry. Yes, come on up. Just state your name and... Hello, everyone.

Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioner, staff, Angie. I own a small business in town. And I just wanted to stay up here before I left to say thank you to Stuart and Glenn and all of you. I don't know the ordinance number, but the one that passed tonight. It would be fair not to come up here and thank them for communicating with us small businesses who got together, for acting fast, for turning it around and listening to us. Because as small as a chalkboard seems to everyone here, it means so much more to us. And it makes a big impact on how we communicate with and I just wanted to thank you.

Well, thank you for coming up. We appreciate it. Come on up. Introduce yourself.

Hi, good evening, Mayor, City Commission and staff. My name is David Bagley and I am one of your Volusia County Soil and Water Conservation District members. And I'm here tonight on representation of the board. I wanted to invite you to our meeting next Wednesday. We're working to have representation from every city and the county. We have a lot of people who have already decided to come and we hope to have you guys come as well if you can make it. Whoever that designated person is or the appropriate person is, invite everybody here as well as city residents to come out. And so we meet at IFAS there at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in the auditorium. It'll be from 5 to 7. and that's next Wednesday, June 10th. And the purpose of the meeting is trying to bring people together to talk about our initiative, which is a urban reforestation initiative. It's something that we've really been kind of working on and working toward the last couple years and want to start pulling together partners across the county to make that happen and then to hear about what you guys are working on. What are some of your concerns, your strengths, your weaknesses, your opportunities? Um, there's a lot of great efforts that are happening all across the county. Um, you know, I just learned the city of Barry is doing a land bank and they're putting that up to vote in November, which I think is phenomenal. Uh, like Helen is working on some similar things. And so we'd love to hear from you guys, what you guys are working on, what are your concerns and how we can best work together to, to get this resolved for the city of the shores here.

So thanks for introducing yourself and coming up tonight. Okay. Anyone else? If not, what items do we have recommended for the next agenda? We don't have anything right now. We always have a lot before the next one. So again, thank you so much for being here, your interest in our city.