City Council - Regular Meeting

Call to order. I call to order the city council meeting of 05/04/2026. Roll call.

Mayor DePue? Present. Councilwoman Gillis? Thomas? Here. Councilwoman Dalbo? Here. Councilman Rainberg?

Here.

City manager Mahoney?

Here.

City attorney Sabatini? Here. Interim city clerk Tupin present.

Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. 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, liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for a moment of silence. Item two, approval changes modifications to the agenda. Item three, approval of the minutes, 3A, regular meeting, 02/02/2026 and 04/06/2026.

Comics questions deletions, staff report. Is there a motion to approve?

I make a motion to approve the regular meeting, 02/02/2026. Regular meeting, 04/06/2026.

Second, Rain Bird. Roll call.

Councilman Thomas?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dalbo? Yes. Councilman Rain Bird?

Yes.

Mayor DePue? Yes. Councilwoman Gillis? Yes.

Item four, presentation proclamation, plaque certificates, and donations. I'm very happy to start off with probably one of my favorite proclamations I've ever given, Buddy Davenport Day in the city of Edgewater. If you live in Southeast Volusia, it's kind of hard not to know Buddy Davenport. He does so much for all of Southeast Volusia and the state of Florida serving on Florida Inland Navigational District and just about any board that ask him to serve on. Whereas, Buddy Davenport has been an active and engaged member of the Florida Inland Navigation District Board of Commissions, currently serving as chair of the board.

By the way, the first chairman, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, of a hundred years being from Volusia County, providing leadership in setting agendas, guiding strategic direction, and whereas he has also served on a legislative panel, finance nomination, executive committees contribution significant to governance, fiscal oversight, and policy development. Whereas the city of Edgewater recognized the safe boating practices are essential to protecting the residents, visitors, and the natural resources of our coastal community. And whereas throughout his tenure, he has been a tireless advocate for community championing critical dredging and beach nourishment projects and working procedurally with Volusia County and the US Army Corps of Engineers to concern con to secure the proposed opponent of the scheduled 2023 dredging so natural resources could be beneficially reused on Volusia's critically damaged beaches following the twenty twenty two hurricanes, resulting in improved navigation and restoration of vital sand resources to Volusia County shoreline, whereas his leadership under Volusia County has benefited for 26 waterway assisted programs and disaster relief grants supporting the construction or improvement of public waterways access projects represented $6,900,000 in grant funding, with a construction value of $16,300,000 Whereas Mr. Davenport's commitment to advancing waterway access, coastal resilience, collaborative partnerships highlights his dedication to both Volusia County and the broader mission of the district.

Whereas the city of Edgewater recognizes and commends Buddy Davenport for his outstanding contributions, leadership, and unwavering dedications to the betterment of our community. And now therefore, I deems the pew, by the virtue of authority vested in me as mayor of the city Of Edgewater, do hereby proclaim Buddy Davenport's birthday, April 21, as Buddy Davenport day. And witness, I here and do set my hand in the cause of great seal, the city of Edgewater to be at this May. Congratulations, Buddy.

How do you fix this?

Oh, no. I've had enough pictures today.

So this time with council approval, I'd like to move our proclamations up. We have item four d, National Safe Boating Week. Item four F, Fair Housing Month, and also the Garden Club is here to give a presentation. So then after that, we'll have our City of Edgewater Volunteer Disaster Response Program, the Hogs, along with the Stormwater Master plan, if that's okay with everybody. Okay.

Recreational boating. Whereas recreational boating is a popular activity enjoyed by millions of Americans each year. In the waterways surrounding Edgewater, including the Indian River Lagoon, Mosquito Lagoon, and nearby Atlantic Ocean's waters provide exceptional opportunities for boating, fishing, sailing, and paddling. Whereas with more than 600 square miles of waterways in Volusia County and thousands of recreational boaters care and join the Indian River Lagoon system, coastal inlets, Atlantic waterways each year, safe boating education is essential to protecting lives and preserving our waterways. Whereas the city of Edgewater recognizes the safe boating practices are essential to protecting residents, visitors, and the natural resources of our coastal communities.

Whereas National Safe Boating Week is observed annually across The United States to encourage boaters to practice responsible boating habits and raise awareness about the importance of boating safety education. And whereas the National Safe Boating Week supports a national wear it campaign, encouraging boaters to wear life jackets whenever they are on the water. And whereas the US Coast Guard's auxiliary, the volunteers component of the United States Coast Guard works year on year with federal, state, and local partners to promote recreational boating safety throughout public education, vessel safety checks, and community outreach. And whereas the US Coast Guard reports their drowning is leadership cause of boating fatalities in approximately seventy five percent of boating deaths could be prevented by wearing a life jacket. And whereas those simple, safe boating practices such as wearing a life jacket, carrying proper equipment, taking boater safety courses, participating in free vessel safety checks, and avoiding alcohol while operating a vessel.

Boaters can help ensure the water waste for everyone. Now, therefore, our ideas appear by the virtue of vested in me as mayor of the city of Edgewater to hereby proclaim May 2026 as National Boating Week and encourage all residents to take part. Thank you. Is there anyone here for this proclamation? Okay.

You

guys want to front and center up here.

Part of the area of our responsibility is Edgewater. We take it very seriously. We work with several of the neighborhoods here to do vehicle inspections, and we also have education programs. If anybody needs voter education, please let us know because we'd love to do something with you.

Thank you. How could someone get a hold of you?

They'd like to do All they have all you have to do is Google Coast Guard Auxiliary, and our website will come up. And there'll be a link there for education.

Great. Well, thank you

so Thank you so much.

Thanks for all you do. Okay. Our next proclamation is Fair Housing Act. Whereas the Fair Housing Act enacted on 04/11/1968 ensured in the federal law the goal of eliminating racial segregation and ending housing discrimination in The United States. Whereas the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, and disability, and commits the recipients of federal funding to affirmly further fair housing in their communities.

And whereas the city of Edgewater is committed to the mission to provide fair and equal housing opportunities for all, and whereas our social fabric, the economy, health, and environment are straightened in diverse inclusion communities, and whereas more than fifty years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, discrimination persists and many communities remain segregated. And whereas acts of housing discrimination and barriers to equal housing opportunities are repugnant to a common sense of decency and fairness. And now, therefore, I decency the people by the virtue of authority vested in me as mayor of the city of Edgewater to hereby proclaim April 26 as fair housing month. Is there anyone here from, I believe, the Board of Realtors to accept? Oh, great.

Okay. Our next is from a community way far away is the butterfly gardening certificate committee with the New Smyrna Beach Garden Club so far away. We appreciate you coming so close to our city. Presentation of butterfly boxes to the city.

Good evening, mayor DePue and city council members and attendees for this evening's meeting. Thank you so much for giving us time on this evening's agenda for the New Smyrna Beach Garden Club to take time and show a little bit of appreciation and perhaps share a little bit of more information. The New Smyrna Beach Garden Club, we are 170 members strong with a waitlist. We are very active in New Smyrna Beach, Port Orange and Edgewater, of course. This evening with me, my name is Joanne Anderson, President of Garden Club.

With me, I have content experts, butterfly content experts, and Mary is our Butterfly Garden Certification Committee chairperson, co chair. So just let's see. I have just a little PowerPoint here just to share some information. In 2024, Edgewater joined a national initiative to protect and restore monarch butterfly populations by planting milkweed and nectar plants. You're going to learn a little bit more about that.

I know we only have five minutes, but we're going to give it to you. It's a broader effort across Central Florida to create a chain of safe havens along their very, very long thousands of miles migratory route. Did you know that there's 22 monarch cities in Florida? Okay. I'm going to hand the microphone over to another one of our experts here, and Dave is going to share a little bit more information.

Okay. Just to make a couple points of information that there are 22 monarch cities here in Florida. And of those, Edgewater is the most recent one. And it is an effort to try to, again, make a difference in the butterflies and particularly the monarchs. In 1997, there were over a billion monarch butterflies.

In 2017, there were 78,000,000. This is a drop of 80% decline in the population here in The United States. The decrease in milkweed availability due to herbicides, urban development, change of the weather, as well as a deforestation that happens in Central Mexico.

In 2023, we approached the city of Edgewater and encouraged, more conversation regarding butterfly gardening and the importance of butterfly and pollinator conservation in the city. We work closely with Jason O'Keith and his staff, and I wanna thank them for their commitment and the city's commitment. So since 2023, we have supported that commitment by participating annually in the EDGEFest Earth Day Festival community education and sharing information with the public. Also, we helped, in 2023 at the environmental services office. We did help put in a butterfly garden there, and, they're hoping when they move, they'll put a new one in.

Their other one got affected severely by the freeze. Also, we want to thank the city for putting in that beautiful butterfly garden over at Hawks Park. We they support that conservation effort by utilizing only 100% native milkweed in that garden and do try to focus on the planting of native plants as well. We did a ribbon cuttings ceremony in April 2024 of Hawks Park. And also in September, we certified the butterfly garden at Hawks Park.

So we wanna thank you for your ongoing commitment to butterfly conservation in the city of Edgewater. Thank you.

So with a little bit of that information there, we'd like to present you with a custom designed poplar wood special drainage system waterproof milkweed planter. So this was designed, created by our garden club members. And inside is a milkweed, in case anybody needs to know what milkweed looks like. And why is milkweed so important? Because that's what the butterflies actually feed on. So we're presenting that, Mayor DePuw, to you this evening.

Well, thank you so much. We appreciate all that you guys do. You're amazing. Amazing. Thank you so much for caring about our wildlife and all of our community.

Say butterfly. Butterfly. There we go. Didn't think that would work.

Thank you guys again. Thank you for all that each and every one of our proclamation receivers do for the community. Item four a, feral hogs presentation. Understanding the challenge.

It's actually Monique is pulling that up. My name is Shaz Geiger. I'm the chief of police here for the police department. And I have the presentation and pleasure for the next couple hours to talk to you guys about feral

hogs. That's good.

Light

the I sincerely apologize. I forgot to put

a PowerPoint in the folder.

As a pig myself, I think I can work my way through it without the visuals. So it's a police joke. We're good. So recently in the city of Edgewater, there have been some complaints that came forward about Feral Hog activity, specifically in the Florida Shores neighborhood. A little bit of backstory to for it without the presentation. It's nothing new. Feral hogs were introduced in the fifteen hundreds by the Spanish. They kind of ran rapid all through the Southeast United States. So it's nothing that's a problem specifically here to the city of Edgewater but it is something that we have a duty to help with. Here we go.

And we can just scroll down probably to the third slide. Perfect. After a lot of research, it's actually incredible. Feral hogs travel they traverse a lot. So it's not like they're just going to stay in a little bit of an area the entire time. The average saunter, which is what they call their family unit, travels between three hundred and eight hundred acres. And it can range all the way up to 4,000 acres as they're foraging for food. And that's really weather dependent. In an average night when they're looking to eat, they can travel between two and five miles. So a lot of times you'll hear that they're in the neighborhood.

It it might be that they're just there for a night or they could come back or it could be a completely different sounder that you're looking at. As I said before, it's nothing new for the Florida Shores community. This is a Facebook post from 2016, which is right about when the Facebook was established in the city about them in the swales there too. So at that point in time, the city solicited some trappers, and they were able to correct the issue.

It's okay.

Not really sure.

Is that the next one?

Yep. So how do we prevent them? There's a there's some things that the homeowners themselves, they can do and businesses in the city as well. And really what they're doing when they're traveling is they're looking for something to eat. So any of your foliage in your yard, it might be you just cut your grass, and there's bugs that come to the surface. You might have just experienced rain. If you have any oaks in your area, they're looking for acorns. They're looking for anything that they can eat. So if you can police your yard and get rid of some of that stuff, it can help. Also, your trash.

They're definitely scavengers. So if you have chicken bones, anything else, they're gonna be eating kinda like raccoons. If you keep your trash up near your house instead of the end of the street, that's something that could curtail a little bit of the issue as well. The biggest thing though when we're dealing with at least the response afterwards, I don't think this is gonna cooperate, so we'll just kinda go off cuff, is the city just needs to know about it. So if you're experiencing any feral hog activity in your neighborhood, if you wake up and you see this is the city's rule.

If you see damage or you see that they've been rooting around, the biggest thing you can do is notify us so that we can address it. It's not necessarily the correcting of the property or anything, but we're gonna solicit a private trafford to come out. And we'll respond immediately to it. And I'll I'll come back to that in a second. There's a lot of questions about hunting feral hogs in the shores.

I'm not an attorney by any means, and I don't wanna dive into that. It's something that, by all means, you're allowed to do in very specific scenarios. But I'm not sure if a group of volunteer hunters going through the shores to get rid of feral hogs is what's going to correct the issue. But anybody that's a resident is more than welcome to contact the police department when it comes to hunting in Florida shores, and we'll get through it. But it's not something that's just blatant to address the issue. The key takeaways here, Feral Hawks been in Florida shores for generations in the woods that surround it. Residents can take several measures of discouraging that come to their property. And the biggest thing is you see something on your property, let us know. And there's a lot of ways to do that. You can email me at ccGeiger@cityofEdgewater.org.

You can email the police department, ACO, which is dodill@cityofEdgewater.org. You can contact the non emergency number. You can come in, and we'll respond immediately to it. We actually had a resident reach out to us over the weekend about some concerns that they had in the airport corridor. We met with FWC's Trapper today, and they're gonna be out there on Thursday. And I skipped through it when we're trying to work through it there as well. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has the duty of managing the wildlife until it gets into a residential area and they're kinda hands off. That's when we'll come in as well. So very approachable. If you have any emails, any questions, call me. If you have any wild hogs in the area, let us know. We'll take care of it. And that's the plan for taking care of them in the neighborhoods.

Thank you, sir. So if someone has a problem or issue, they should email you at your city email, c geiger cityofedgewater dot org, or potentially call the non emergency number. And then we will potentially send a trapper to their home to take care of the issue.

Yeah. So the process, way it would be, and you can flag a police officer down. You can email. It doesn't necessarily have to be me. We want to be as successful as possible.

Sure.

What we're going to do is we're going to look at the situation. We're going to have our animal control out there and one of our police lieutenants be involved as well and see what the most common sense approach is to it. But most likely, the end result will be a trapper in the area. And that's something that can take anywhere from a day, if we're really lucky, to a month as well. But that's a city provided service that we contract. So it's kind of like with anything else. If an issue comes up, let us know. We'll figure it out.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Can I ask one more question? Absolutely. I know Joe knows I was going to ask this, and I'm going to get as old Florida as we can. So I know a lot of people who are asking me, if it comes on their property, they can legally shoot it?

Yeah. And so I don't want to give legal advice when it comes to it. But I would suggest that they reach out to their private attorney when it comes to it. But I can also say this as well. Florida is a very hunter friendly and pro Second Amendment state. So I would never discourage somebody from protecting their personal property.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. You appreciate it.

Chief. It's not as many more wild of a question than that.

Told them I was going to

ask if they could shoot it.

Shoot them. Chief?

Yeah.

Yes, sir.

I got to ask.

I'm sure you do.

What happens to the hogs that they trap?

Why do we have to go down that path? No, I'm just kidding. So the private trapper has a bunch of different alleys that they can go. A lot of it's feeding homeless shelters. A lot of it's donating back to churches and different things. They are ultimately dispatched humanely, not on-site. But all the meat goes to a good cause.

That's good, because sometimes you just let them go. They find their way back, just like cats.

Yeah. So it's actually a once a private trapper and or an individual has them, it is a misdemeanor to relocate them. So you're not allowed to do that. So the state doesn't give a lot of options. And it's because how fastly they reproduce and how big of an issue it can be. They do destroy property. So you're not allowed to move them. You have to dispatch them.

Thank you. You knew that was going to come up.

I did.

It's still downloading. Somebody ask one more question.

I can get through this one as well. We don't necessarily have to have it. So at the end of the last hurricane season, at the consensus of council, we found that a need to solicit and put in place volunteers for the city of Edgewater when it comes to natural disasters. The way that the police department looks at it is if we're gonna do it, we think it's a wonderful force multiplier, but we're gonna structure it. So at the city manager's request, the police department created a volunteer pro this might be on the agenda too.

The city manager, at his request, the police department created a volunteer program, and it's very organized and structured. And we'll talk about hurricanes. It's not only for that, but I think it's the easiest way to reference. So during Ian, and I believe it was Nicole, there was a lot of community support that came out when it came to sandbags, water bottle distribution, anything that you can need. And we really relied on it. But the council realized too that it wasn't organized. There was a lot of people doing the same thing. And then three hours into it, realize you're doing the other task all the time. So police and fire is very structured. So the police department created the emergency volunteer program.

And what that is is we will control it through basically solicitation process. So in the next week, we're gonna put on our Facebook that we have we have started the program, and there's not much criteria. It's over eighteen years old, having the ability to travel and the ability to serve. It's really simple when it comes to that. Once we put that out, the opening, for lack of better terms, will be available for about fifteen or so days. And anybody that wants to volunteer can apply through that. We'll then take them, and we'll have a meeting here in City Hall to kinda go over what to expect. We actually have uniforms that we'll issue to them, some safety vest. We'll go over best practices and what to do in event of a storm. When the city manager I'm sorry.

When the city council and the city manager call in a state of emergency, that's when they'll be activated. And we'll use them for places that are very important, but maybe we can put staff doing something else to repair in a better spot. So that would be the sandbag locations, maybe water distribution, even handling or answering phones, you know, the information that's there. We'll make sure that they have all the resources that they need and the training in order to help the citizens the best way as possible. Twenty four hours before the storm event is there, we'll cease volunteer operations so they can go be with their family as well. Through the storm event, once the police department leaves it safe, we'll reactivate that. And then they can open a bunch of different ways. It can be at shelters if they're presence. It can be with roadways, making sure that they're safe. It can be with getting food.

Basically, of those needs where a volunteer force would be needed is where the police department put them. So what I'll do is it's on the agenda, but through the city manager, I'll email all that information, and then we'll put it out on our Facebook page there as well. And I encourage anybody that wants to volunteer to reach out to the police department. You can do the generic email, which is police@cityof.org. We'll get all the information there, and we look forward to working with everyone.

Well, thank you, sir. I'm very happy to have this initiative put through. I think I brought it up on a council level because we had so many people volunteering during the last two storms, as you stated, that were all over the place. So I believe this will bring some structure. Jamie Porter necessarily won't have to kill me this storm season. I still have her phone number memorized.

I I don't know it. Don't know if the storm

was more

chaos or the volunteers trying to help.

So we'll

we'll get all that fixed.

Absolutely. This is a great initiative. Thank you for pushing through. It's what proactive leadership looks like, because we gave consensus on this nearly almost a year and a half ago. So thank you guys for all that you're doing.

Thank you all for your leadership. That's it.

Thank you, sir. Item four g, comprehensive stormwater master plan.

Good evening, mayor and council. Are we having technical problems where we can No. We have that one. Okay. I'd like to begin by showing a a brief video.

This is our chief engineer, Matt Creel, to give a quick overview of the stormwater master plan. He unfortunately could not be here. He is abroad attending a a family member's wedding. So it's a a really quick video with the summary by our engineer. So so mayor and council, I wanna emphasize that this is a very positive step forward for our community.

It actually represents the largest effort the city has ever undertaken to improve our stormwater infrastructure. And just as importantly, it positions us with these identified projects in a position where we can go out and seek funding from grants, state appropriations, federal appropriations. So that's a key part of our master plan. And I call it a plan. That's what it's titled.

But it's important to understand that it really is a long range engineering study. It looks ahead over the next thirty years to identify flooding risks and evaluate potential solutions. It does not mean that every project listed will occur nor does it mean they have all been approved. As part of this process, engineers evaluated a wide range of potential solutions including home acquisitions. However, I want to be very clear, there are no plans to pursue any projects involving involuntary home acquisition.

In addition, Phase one, which is expected to take approximately ten years, does not include any projects involving home acquisitions. Once phase one is completed, we expect it will significantly reduce flooding risk, particularly during the types of storms we commonly experience in the rainy season. Those that are short durations of intense rainfall. Moving forward, phase one represents a total investment of approximately a $152,000,000. As you see in the graphic, there are nine projects identified in this phase.

The city has already already has one project completed, one currently under construction and two in the design phase. We are currently pursuing funding from every viable source. This includes state and federal grants, legislative legislative appropriations, and strategic private investment opportunities. Our approach is very deliberate. We are focused on maximizing outside funding, minimizing the burden on our residents, and continuing to move forward with the infrastructure improvement our city needs.

As for the next step steps, staff will be preparing a resolution to formally adopt the stormwater master plan, and that could be only phase one if you choose. It's important to recognize that projects of this scale require significant time and engineering before construction can begin. At the same time, staff is actively working to ensure that the maintenance recommendations outlining the plan are implemented. In the future, we will be providing updates, as the projects move forward. As you see on the graphic, it outlines the nine projects.

Staff is working diligently to advance as many as we can to design. If you look at the fifth one down, which is the Volco Road improvement, We are working with a developer to pay for that improvement to Volkl Road. If you look down to the reused pond pump station, we have a federal appropriations request in to fund the design of that project. So staff is has been working diligently. We are making progress every day.

But this is the high level overview of particularly phase one of the storm water master plan. And it's just important that the public knows that there's there's never going to be a involuntary home acquisition. When you get more into the the stormwater plan into phase two, it does speak about, property acquisition. There are a couple projects that talk about home acquisitions, but we don't necessarily have to proceed with those projects. And then we have other projects that talk about land acquisition, which could be, easements or right of ways of driveways.

And there's there's a numerous amount of options, but really phase one is the next decade. So phase one is the next ten years. There's no acquisitions. There's gonna be a lot of progress. This will, once completed, will significantly reduce, the flooding in a twenty five year event and some in a hundred year event. But you see see a severe a significant reduction in roadway flooding and structure flooding during the intense rain. So this is a positive thing for Edgewater, and that really concludes my presentation unless you have any questions specific to phase one of the plan.

Well, thank you, sir. This is a huge deal for our community. We officially have a plan back, and you've already taken so much initiative that you spoke on tonight, nearly almost five things on the list already to be completed. So thank you for your proactive leadership, along with everybody in our staff that got that done. This is an amazing thing, like you said, for our residents. We have a plan. Now, we need to move forward with federal and state funding. It's huge because the very first question I get asked on a state and federal level is if we had this plan. So it's a huge missing piece of the puzzle, and it will help us tremendously in our community. Thank you for getting it done.

Yes, sir.

Okay. Mr. City Manager.

Yes, sir.

Is it correct that the 18th Street Canal, we do we got clearance. We got a permit to clear that little sandbar?

We did. It's actually coming up next to my manager's report, sir.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Item five, City Manager Report.

Alright. Mayor and council, the Charter Review Committee concluded and provided recommendations to proceed to the items to your review for the upcoming ballot for our city's charter. Those we brought before you at the June meeting. So you're gonna see, I believe it was 13 total, maybe 14 recommended amendments. So you'll have those at the next meeting and to make decisions of what you'd like to advance.

Under the consent agenda, on the agenda tonight, you'll see that we are requesting to piggyback off of the city of Tampa's maintenance contract price to to move forward with the dredging of the 18th Street Canal. Once that is approved, we should begin construction on that project within the next month or so. And additionally, with that project, the approximately 800 to $1,000,000 for the dredging project. And with the state appropriation that we received to do canal armoring at that same location, we're able to use that those funds as our match for the appropriation. Additionally, May 6 is the ribbon cutting at Veterans Park at 3PM.

I wanna acknowledge our parks director, Jason O'Keefe, and his staff. They did a great job in coordinating both the Menard Menard May and Veterans Park peer projects. They look great, and I I look forward to having the community attend the grand reopening. And then last but not least, I'd to recognize our team member of the month, Heather Larkin, with our development services department. If I could read, It is my distinct pleasure to recognize Heather Larkin, permit technician in the building department for the City of Edgewater's team member of the month award.

Since joining the development service team, Heather has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the residents of Edgewater as a permit technician. She serves as the primary point of contact for the public. Her primary role is to manage the complexities of building permit applications, which she performs with exceptional professionalism and a resident first attitude. Heather's contributions go far beyond her daily technical tasks. Heather is being nominated because she has the Edgewater mentality.

The Edgewater mentality is a call to be of service, which is exemplified by Heather for the following reasons. Exemplary customer service, Heather navigates the often stressful permitting process with patience and clarity, helping citizens understand requirements. Reliability and accuracy, her attention to detail ensures that construction documents comply with the Florida Building Code, significantly reducing delays for the local projects, which helps keep costs down. Team collaboration. Heather is a vital link between the building inspectors, planners and the public.

Her ability to coordinate across department ensures the inspectors are scheduled efficiently and certificates of occupancy are issued promptly. Problem solving initiative. She frequently takes the initiative to resolve issues before they escalate, demonstrating the high standards of integrity and service that the city of Edgewater values and its employees. Heather Larkin embodies the spirit of the one Edgewater team culture. Her dedication makes our city a better place to live and work, and she is truly deserving of this recognition. Is Ms. Larkin here this evening? You could come forward.

Right up there, front and center. Congratulations.

Thank you for all that you do. We appreciate you.

And that concludes my report.

Thank you, sir. Item six, citizen's comments. This is a time for the public to come forward with any kind of comments, questions, or concerns they may have. Citizen's comments related to any agenda matter may be made when the matter is before the council, please state your name and address, and please limit your comments to three minutes or less. Unfortunately, this is not a time to have a dialogue back and forth. Please call us personally or meet with us after the meeting if you have any personal questions. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and council members. Janet Shire, 148 William Street Edgewater, Florida. I'm here tonight to give you an update on the property at 4401 South Ridgewood Ave. This is the property that was the subject of a rezoning request that the council denied back in March. Right after this council denied the rezoning, I submitted an application to the Volusia Forever grant program nominating this property for purchase.

Tim Telfer with Volusia Forever immediately reacted to the application. He said he would try to fast track it to make the May meeting agenda. He explained that the owner needed to be willing to sell the property in order for the application to advance. I told him that there was a contract on the property with the developer so I knew the owner was intent on selling. He said he would contact the realtor for the seller and see if he could get the necessary paperwork signed to acknowledge that they were a willing seller.

I told him that I had already contacted Tracy Barlow, the realtor for the seller and asked if they were accepting backup offers. I didn't tell Tracy that the offer would be from Volusia forever. Tracy's response to me was to have the person submit their letter of intent to purchase so that they could quote get in line since there were other offers. But even though Tracy indicated to me that they were accepting backup offers, he told Tim Telfer with Volusia Forever that they were not inclined to get involved with the grant program now as they had a contract and a backup offer. It would have been nice if Mr.

Barlow could have at least talked to the owners reps into signing the paperwork for the grant. It wouldn't have locked them into anything other than saying that yes their property was for sale and if the grant program came up with the necessary funds and met the conditions of the seller then the seller was willing to sell it. That would have let the application move forward. Mr. Telfer said he would have then begun looking for other possible funding matches for the grant.

I was coming to this meeting tonight to see if the city would be able to contribute anything. But with no willing seller form, the application is basically dead in the water. Sad that a local realtor with strong ties to the Edgewater community didn't see the value in at least giving Volusia Forever a shot at helping us preserve this incredible piece of property. It wouldn't have hurt the property owner one bit to have another possible buyer in line. I have not given up on trying to come up with a solution to get some or all of this property into conservation, But this is all I have to report at this time.

Thanks again for denying the rezoning. Thank you. Lots of people felt real hope that night that the tides are turning.

Thank you, Ms. Schire. We appreciate your comments.

Good evening. Art Slack, 3031 Umbrella Tree Drive, Edgewater, Florida 32141. I received these camera for the canals, and I went five of them. And I went out and I checked these things out. And then I called Matt Cree, the engineer on this. It was a pretty, hectic call. There was a lot of noise in the background and everything else, and I told him I'll call him back after vacation. But Joe said he's not here right now. Okay. Fine.

I'll call him next week. But, anyway, I went and I looked at these, poles and these cameras that are going to monitor the water elevations, operating off of solar. You know how long solar really works. And I asked them, okay. Where we having the monitors usually, when you got cameras, there's monitors, whether it's in public works or wherever it is.

You know what I was told? Those cameras shoot up to the canal. They then it goes over to Germany. They monitor it and supposedly they let us know. Now I don't know why.

So basically, those polls are sitting there, And when the time comes, we don't know if it's gonna work. Chances are, it's not. We should have something there that as the water comes up, there's a light, and it gets brighter and brighter and brighter, and then a siren goes off. We have police. We have firemen all driving down Indian River Road. They would spot it. A neighbor would spot it, and we would jump right on it. Joe will take care of it right away. Right now, we got we're dependent on Germany. Doesn't make sense at all.

I looked at these five locations. They're good locations. Great. I live on Umbrella Tree. I have a canal right there. You can have another one on Umbrella to do the job for flooding on Umbrella. I know what it cost. It cost us $50. Germany made them. We installed them, and they're gonna monitor them. I didn't get to I have to find out how much we're gonna be paying Germany to monitor something that I don't think they can do. That's it. I think we made a mistake there.

Thank you, mister Slag, for your comments. We can get your specific questions to the cameras answered.

Good evening. My name is Doug Frederick, resident only of Edgewater, Florida. To be clear, I have never intended to harm any person in this process. My sole focus is presentation of the truth, collection of evidence with no intent to harm any unelected official or any resident in Edgewater. On 04/08/2025, an interaction that was witnessed with mister Soltys president and an assigned community rep clearly stating there was no stormwater risk to community currently in place.

I clearly stated that was an absolute false statement. No response from mister Soltys or a signed rep. On 08/03/2025, I presented a 59 page document that clearly showed damage to existing homes with storm water flowing downward from a budding vacant property to two city street receptacles that allowed storm water not to be safely distributed. No one involved in this process has addressed this document to safely protect to this date and time. On 04/13/2026 at ten hundred hours, the first and only on-site scheduled interaction with me occurred with Edgewater official, mister Miguel, related to documented risk presented for over a year.

This official refused to view all evidence locations documented within 59 page document. Same date at 11:32 hours, I submitted a document with statement of interaction that was witnessed. That official clearly stated that water receptacles that attach the city streets are not the responsibility of Edgewater to maintain and or repair. He clearly stated all responsibility belongs to HOA board. Evidence I have clearly shows Edgewater professionally fixing, repairing, cleaning receptacles, and collection system within Citi right away.

No response to this date and time to document with residents paying $14.58 monthly for Citi for stormwater. After documented requests have reasonably and legally requested all document submissions by me be kept on record with hard copy of same that was never responded to, on fourtwenty onetwenty six, a document was sent via certified mail to Edgewater city manager and sent to a floor attorney general, citizen service, county, and state government. I maintain that this certified document will equally protect all involved from harm and or risk. No reply to this date and time. Certified document number, 9589071052701682719706.

I hope and pray for peace via protection to all with numerous documentary requests for government funding to protect all equally. Can we please seek guidance from god? Protect everybody. I want no harm to anybody in this room. No harm. If anybody makes a mistake, please admit it. Let's get in front of it. God bless everybody.

Thank you, sir, for your comments. I appreciate it.

Under three minutes, sir.

Good job.

Good evening. For your for the record, my name is That Tracy Barlow, as per previously referenced, and That Realtor. As those who are old enough to remember, Paul Harvey, the rest of the story, here it is. Turn the page. So essentially, miss Janet was partially correct, is I did receive a call from a representative from Volusia County.

I spoke with a representative of Volusia County as well as received an email. Included in that email was a very convoluted, lengthy process for the Volusia Forever grant program. As any professional or ethical realtor would do is did share that with the representatives of the estate of the reference property and shared my conversation along with the facts provided to me from the representative. And it was the estate that had made that decision not to pursue the grant application. She is correct.

The property is under contract. The property has a backup contract in place. And the property will receive additional backup contracts. I shared that with Volusia forever as well. They said if they want to submit a letter of intent or a purchase offer, it would certainly be submitted. So all of that was shared with the estate. It's the estate and not myself that made the decision not to pursue the grant application. So any questions from me? Good day.

Thank you, Mr. Barlow, for your comments and clarification.

My name is Craig Stevenson. I live at 512 Sea Anchor Circle, Edgewater Landing. And this is a follow-up on what Doug was talking about. And when town employee, Mr. McGill, was looking at the stormwater setup in Edgewater Landing, he made the comment that the town of Edgewater is no longer responsible for the stormwater draining drainage system in Edgewater Landing.

Well, his statement saying no longer responsible indicates that the town used to be responsible for it. My question is, when did this town relinquish responsibility for the stormwater drainage in Edgewater Landing? And why did they cease responsibility for that if they did. And who is responsible for the storm water drainage now? Because we're still being billed $14.58 annually.

And if we're paying $75,000 fee as a community, what are we getting for that money, and will we be reimbursed? And if anybody can help me with these answers, I would greatly appreciate it. I don't know if this is the proper venue to get these questions answered, but I don't know how to do this. I'm not very experienced at this.

Thank you, sir, for commenting. If you could please send the city manager along with the public works director an email. And if you would also please like a comment or include a council member. I believe your representative is also posted on the city website. You could always include myself, and we'll get your questions answered. Thank you.

Okay. Thank You can have my business card. There's a little

bit of miscommunication with what's occurring

Edgewater Landing. I'll be happy to update you on that. But it's there is common areas that are maintained by the HOA. But the roadway is public, so it was still we're we're gonna maintain the infrastructure on the roadway. But let's have a side meeting and just so everybody's on the same page there. Okay. Because I would love to get Of course.

Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Hello. Noble Livingston, 2705 Queen Palm Drive. Couple of subjects. One, I'm not sure if anyone's aware that the rolling veterans Wall will be coming into Edgewater on Friday, May 8. And then on May 9, they'll have a celebration at the M Vets Post Number 2 all day long and, excuse me, into

the evening, celebrating

the well-being here. On another note, last meeting, I did I can give you this. I did mention something about the fire hydrants and possibly doing some artwork on those along the walkways. It was to paint them resembling dogs, sea creatures, various characters. Neighborhood and children and residents could submit ideas for the design of each hydrant, post submissions for the residents to vote on for their favorite.

The intended result would be to give a more pleasant experience on a walk and something happy to see along the way to include the community and children in the beautification of our neighborhood. The preparation for best results, each hydrant should be sanded or stripped to prevent peeling, flaking, and give better adhesion and longevity to the artwork. Prep options would be wire brushed by hand, wire brushed attachment on a drill, media blasting. I did reach out to a local blasting company that is environmentally friendly. They did give a quote of $125 per hydrant to strip them and $75 to prime.

Since that time, I did notice that some of the hydrants have already been stripped and painted. Somebody said they saw what they thought was a flame, but as I know, that's usually a laser. Is that anything that you're aware of and how they're doing that, stripping that with a laser tool? Very effective. It came out very nice. I was very impressed with that. But I didn't know since they were being refinished along the walkway if this was still something that was an option. But I did a little bit more homework and just thought I'd present what I came up with.

You, sir. I was gonna bring that up during my council report, but with consensus of the city council, perhaps maybe we could have that as an agenda item or have the city manager look into that more.

Awesome. Thank you.

Is there a consensus to give to the city manager on that? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir, for your comments.

Okay. Item Item seven, council reports. Councilman Thomas.

Yes. I would like to recognize a friend of mine. Birthday. She, miss Betty Hollis. She ain't gotta stand. Just raise her hand. She turned 91 this week. I think you ought to give her a big hand. And she's still coming to counsel me. So that's my report.

Awesome. She loves her. Councilwoman Davout.

I'll start off with the invets. Thank you for bringing that topic up. They're hosting the Vietnam Memorial and Global War on Terrorism, traveling to Edgewater to the Amvets here May '10. It'll begin Friday when the wall arrives. We'll have events Friday, events all day Saturday, and including on Sunday. So if 'd like more information on what's happening each part of the day, you can go to the AMVETS Post two Facebook page. And they have the flyer. They have everything listed on what's happening. So I would encourage everyone to attend. Public viewing for the wall is wonderful.

It will be lit 20 fourseven while it's at the post. So I'm looking forward to it, and I hope we have a lot of attendees for that. I wanted to discuss something that Joe, we had talked about, the noise ordinance. We have quite a few small businesses in our area, and I would like to see them be able to have some kind of outside entertainment. While many of the small businesses are located near or in a residential area, there's got to be a way that we can satisfy the concerns for the residents with the noise and still allow the businesses to create an outside venue with a fun atmosphere.

I think we could accomplish both. If I know other cities, you know, we go to New Smyrna, go to Port Orange, and, you know, we've, you know, I've experienced it myself, you know, sitting in a restaurant, outside patio. There's neighborhoods around it, but they're still able to to participate and and and make a fun atmosphere for the for the businesses. So I wanted to see, first off, if you were able to find out how other cities may approach it with ordinances and also, the ask counsel, their thoughts on discussing it further.

So staff is researching the topic. May one option may be to change the way we do our special activity permits where we can give a permit that lasts, let's say, six months or a year to allow certain outdoor music during certain periods of time. But our ordinance is not much different than New Smyrna or Port Orange's. Maybe those people just aren't complaining or they're not as close enough to the residential homes. But staff is looking at it. I'll have some information for you at the next meeting.

Fantastic. I mean, just even if there are special days or days or times or, you know, thank you for looking into it.

If it's a particular business, we can also help them with, you know, giving suggestions for noise mitigating materials. So it could be a fence, it could be a wall, etcetera. Right. That would help.

Thank you for that. And that's all I have.

Thank you. Councilman Rainberg.

It helps if it's music that you like. Tailgaters is pretty good. Good evening, Edgewater. I'm going to be brief. It was a pretty quick month. It's flying by. We had Earth Day, Hawke's Park. 1,100 trees were given out. It was a pretty good event. My granddaughter got to carry away a little tree, she treated it like it was a puppy.

She loved it. And I met with an attorney, Mr. Joey Posey, to discuss one of the agenda items today. And I just want to, for the record, we were sent an email regarding that piece of property that was just discussed. And I just wanted to read in the record the letter that I sent to Mr. Telfer. Good morning, Mr. Telfer. My name is Eric Rainberg. I'm a councilman for the 4th District Of City Of Edgewater.

I'm writing to express my support and approval to attempt to purchase a parcel of land here on our beautiful riverfront. The parcel is Number 71 At 4401 Ridgewood Avenue. One of our residents is submitting an application under the Volusia Forever program in an attempt to preserve this parcel, one of our last waterfront properties. This parcel is also in my district, and I have received multiple emails and calls on this parcel daily. I feel this will be a great parcel to preserve the beauty the Indian River has.

As you know, land is being grabbed up, cleared, developed at an alarming rate. I have two granddaughters that live here behind me. I would love to know that there will be some of this beautiful river left for them to enjoy. So many other states don't have anything quite like this. I know the clock is ticking. I'm starting to see more and more every day that things in government take time. But your reputation precedes you, and I'm told that if anybody can pull this off, you can. This is what you do. So in closing, I'm asking for your assistance in addressing this issue. I have copied our city manager, Mr.

Joe Mahoney, as a record of my support for this. He is well aware of the situation. Saving this as a green space will be a great victory for the people of Edgewater, the county, the turtles, the birds, the trees, etcetera. It would also restore the faith of Volusia residents to see that the county does care. Thank you for your attention to this matter. And I sent that on a Sunday. I received the message the next day, on Monday morning. He said, I will call the realtor today. So he got on it right away. So we can try, folks. That's my that's all I have for today. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Councilwoman Gillis.

All right. Here we go. So I'll start off with happy birthday again, Ms. Betty. I think nobody can say it enough.

91 is phenomenal, and you are amazing, and I adore you. I wanted to touch on this has got kind of thrown into Debbie's comment, because this was something that I did not put on my report, but I was thinking about if we're going go over some of our special activities permits things, I've had a couple people that have reached out to me about doing kids events, and they were having trouble getting permits because they didn't try to file them ninety days out. I just don't know if we can do anything with that timeline because I really just don't think it should take ninety days because somebody wants to put a small petting zoo out and throw up some bounce houses into a couple of craft tables. I don't think we need ninety days for that. So I just would like to see if that's something if we could consensus to move forward to kind of look at some of the timelines.

Because that was three different people about three different events that had reached out to me. So if those three knew they could call me because to reach out with an issue, then how many other people have been trying to do events that we haven't gotten because they didn't know who to reach out to? So I wanted to bring that up. And I guess, do we have consensus on could we talk about those later, Sure. All right.

I'm going to throw out there, I would support Volusia forever buying that property or any conservation program that's interested in buying that property. I also toured the subject property on Old County. I wanted to thank the community for coming together to help the STOMP team at Edgewater Public. Their little trip got funded, and then some. I attended several forums to hear prospective county and state reps speak. I attended our Earth Day Tree giveaway. Thank you to all the guys at Parks and Rec, Jason, Chris, Kevin, JJ, and all the others. You really kicked butt. And thank you for Danielle and Taina for being there all day as well. I attended several school events I was invited to.

I attended the city clerk interviews. I celebrated Buddy Tavenport Day on April 21, because I'm thankful for everything Buddy does for the city through Inland Navigation District. I attended our Volusia Flagler TPO meeting. I attended an Earth Day tree planting and home dedication for Habitat for Humanity. I attended Gary Snyder's surprise birthday celebration at Amvets.

He is one of our Veterans of the Year, and he does so much for the community. And I always like to thank Gary anytime I can. I attended Bike Show Mafia Coffee Company's opening that they had recently here in Edgewater. I attended the Flavors of the Heart Advent Health Fundraiser at the Magnolia, which was featuring some lovely Edgewater resident chef creations. I attended Edgewater Union Church's 100 birthday party.

They are the oldest church in Edgewater, and I'm also thankful for Brandon, their pastor, and all of their community outreach. Alright. I attended Oak Hill Sports Club's final awards ceremony, but they are rebranding as the Indian River Lagoon Athletics next season because they also service Edgewater, and they're going to have their first all star team coming up. Come so far, and I've seen so much joy that has been brought to the baseball fields again, which is amazing. I'm thankful for Don and Aaron Anderson.

Mean, Don's out there, and I didn't even know you were going to be here today, and I had this pre written this morning. We've got a lot of support out there for the sports team from local businesses, like Cub Cooling, Above and Beyond Tree Care, Alberto's Pizza, Barry's Hydraulics, and even the local Subway, and I'm really happy to see baseball getting going around here again. Last two things. All right. So if you're I'm just trying to spread some joy, the last two things I got.

My Angel's Attic is a nonprofit that's opened in Edgewater, and they are serving seniors. They recently helped me with a senior who reached out to me to get a wheelchair, and they've already helped so many others. There's going to be a thrift store there, and she's going to be looking to have events and outreach for our aging population. Ms. Debbie is located at 2146 South Riverside Drive in Suites 9 To 11. That's over by the developmental services over by Gattos and Wild Thorn, that lovely little plaza. So if anybody and they are always accepting donations of any kind, monetary or things that they can pass on. I know she reached out to me the other day. They have a bunch of, like, diabetic equipment that was donated that they were looking to pass on to somebody else. So all sorts of things.

There's going be a senior closet. There people can reach out to them for diapers. Anything that you might need, she's got something going. And then the last thing I've got, I want to publicly congratulate Brian Ginz on his well earned retirement of twenty eight years of service to the city of Edgewater. And I think he was a treasure to the community, and his daily presence is already missed. And that's all I've

got. Thank you.

I probably had more, but that was me keeping it brief.

Well, enjoyed supporting the Rotary Club golf tournament over there at Venetian Bay Golf Club. They meet every Thursday at 6PM right near our development service office. They're an amazing group and organization, they do so much. I enjoyed supporting the Upward Trend Foundation. They had a Shark Tank event where everybody had to come up in different classrooms, different business ideas.

It was really unique to see their different ideas and proposals. I met with a West Volusia council member, county council member. It was great to talk about issues all throughout the county. It was great to be at a DeSantis press conference last week to discuss a new interchange that will help alleviate a lot of traffic on 95. And I also do want to wish my grandma, like everybody said, a happy 91st birthday, and thank you for everyone that called us that called her, city attorney along with senator Rick Scott and our congressmen.

So a lot of great people reached out. So happy birthday, and I also wanna wish Gary Snyder a happy birthday. So thank you. All right. Item eight, Consent Agenda. All matters listed on the Consent Agenda are considered to be oh, I had one more thing. I'm so sorry. I apologize. I have a new business spotlight right across from Frosty King at that shopping center right before you get to the window store at 931 South Ridgewood Avenue Unit B 7. There's a new antique store along a gift shop that just opened, I believe, last week.

They're a great family. Stop in there and see them. They have a lot of great items and great things, furniture, antiques, everything you can imagine. 931 South Ridgewood Avenue, Unit B 7, right on the corner of US1 they have assigned. Can't miss them. Item eight, Consent Agenda. All matters listed under the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine by the City Council, be acted upon by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless discussion is desired by a member of the City Council in which the mayor will remove that item. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. Roll call.

Councilman Thomas?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dalbo? Yes. Councilman Rainbird?

Yes.

Mayor DePue? Yes. Councilwoman Gillis?

Yes. Item nine, public hearing, ordinances, and resolutions. Item nine a, second reading, ordinance number twenty twenty six dash zero dash o four. Partible reuse charter amendment limitation on reclaimed black use water. Staff report.

Mayor and council, it's a second reading. Staff has no additional information.

Thank you. Open a public hearing, citizen's comments. Council comments. Oh, there is one.

Thank you. And I can be brief. Jeff Brower from, De Leon Springs. Long ways away, but this is the most important issue that we face right now in in Volusia County. I was here to watch you make history the first time that you approved this on the first reading.

I'm here to watch a council that actually keeps their word and does something really important to protect the water and, therefore, the health for all of your residents here. Now, I was really glad when that happened to see that you created an ordinance to prevent it immediately. But you did the most important thing and by making a charter amendment. Because the bad news is this council won't be here all the time. The good news is this is the best council I have ever seen in Edgewood.

I've been paying attention for about fifteen years. And this is the best I don't say that as flattery. I say it because it's true. You've got a former mayor and a mayor that's working hard to do the heavy lifting to protect this city and a and a majority of the council who all work together. It's so good to see it. And so this is a pleasure for for me. This failed at the county council level four to three. It passed here unanimously. I think it will pass again unanimously. I'm asking you to do that.

And I'll end with this. One of the most important reasons that you can do this is that it sends a resounding message to the rest of the county. As each city does this on their own since the county failed to do it, we already and it failed in Volusia County because they said it's not happening anywhere. Well, it's happening in South Florida. They've already ruined their aquifer. It's happening in Tampa. It's happening in the Altamonte Springs. It's happening all over the state. It's going to happen right here in Volusia County, as Deltona already has a plan and funding to inject cleaned up sewage water into our aquifer. They say just below the drinking water aquifer.

The US Geological Survey said, doesn't matter. All the pressure is up and all that water ends up. We're all going to drink it. I live in De Leon Springs, have an organic farm on a well. It ruins all of our wells. It's too expensive to fix. So please send that message. Send it sternly with another unanimous vote that we don't want to inject cleaned up sewage water anywhere near our aquifer so that we can continue overdevelopment right past the clean water line. It's good to see a counselor. It's good to see this commission.

Thank you. Well, thank you, sir, for your comments. Please note public participation.

Good evening. Greg Gimbert, Daytona Beach. A lot has changed since last I was here and y'all voted yes for round one. It went from it's never gonna happen or no, we can't do nothing about it as as some other elected body chose to sidestep. We're at two different governor events this weekend. One Jay Collins and the other Bobby Williams are both talking about how none of this on their watch. So it went from nobody's talking about it. Now governor candidates are talking about it. It's because of the actions y'all took. I mean, people like us make it possible, but y'all make it permanent. And I just wanna thank you for your heroic actions then. It's already paying off before you've even made it real. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir, for your comments. I appreciate it. On the council comments.

I I just wanna say that I am so proud of what we have accomplished in Edgewater. Edgewater has 84 septic tanks in the city of Edgewater. That's amazing. Keltona has no sewer system. They're all on septic tanks and that's all leaking into our groundwater.

It's going into Blue Springs, it's going into Green Springs, it's gonna pollute everything. So, you know, we gotta we gotta fight against this. And we just broke ground last week on the water, the wetland water recharge area where we're gonna not pump 840,000 gallons of water, diffused water, into that lagoon every day. And I'm really, really proud. I'm proud of how Edgewater has stepped up to the plate and says, you know, yes, we're gonna do it.

I don't know if you know it or not, but Brevard County, the city of Titusville buys their water from Farmton and they pump thousands and thousands and thousands of gallons of water every day because their water is influenced by the salt water table. So I just want to say that how proud that I am of the city of Edgewater and the steps we've made to improve and continue to improve our water system.

Thank you, sir. I agree. Is there a motion to approve?

Mister mayor.

But I'm gonna go make a motion to approve the second reading of ordinance number twenty twenty six-zero-four, the potable reuse charter amendment, but to be clearly that it includes the underground well injection charter.

Before there's a second, I believe Councilman Rainberg did have comments.

Yeah, I just had a couple concerns, everybody. Yeah, it would be terrible to have stuff injected into our water. What I'm finding concerning right now is that I asked this I mean, our city attorney doesn't have a crystal ball. But I just asked if there's any way that the fact that we're not going to do it is just one part of the equation. How do we stop anybody else from doing this?

Chairman Brower lives over in De Leon Springs. I was there about a month and a half ago. There's coves of that spring that are now empty and you can walk across because we're having a little bit of a water issue right now. A A couple of my concerns about making this in a charter amendment, which if we had to do anything contrary, it would need a special election or the next election to reverse it. Not that we would have to, but I was just asking last meeting if we would get higher utility rates, a loss of priority funding that's what I'm afraid of Alternate supply costs, which we shouldn't need because Farmington is supplying plenty of water.

But what if Farmington does get polluted by what Tampa and other cities are apparently doing? I think Ormond has reverse osmosis. That's expensive. And do we have compliancy risks? Now, I am guilty of creating a problem in this town during my election. I had signs that said fight the flooding. Now there are signs that say stop the flooding. My mother-in-law, we took a year and three months to sell her house. And certain people here don't agree, but the realtor told me flat out, it's hard to sell in Volusia County because everybody knows it floods here. What's going to happen when there's stop the poopy water signs out here right as election comes?

I mean, what's going to happen to our property value and our reputation? I was thinking, how about a moratorium? It can be repealed. I'm just worried about the permanence of an ordinance, not trusting We the People. I work for you. You're our eyes and ears. But what if we decide that something's wrong with this whatever we pass? We can't fix it until the next election. An ordinance or a moratorium, we decide, wow, we've to fix this because the states or the state can just throw it out, I'm told, too. But those are just some of my concerns.

I am part of this board here, and we're the best board ever, right? Sorry. We're the best board ever so far. I have faith that we're going to do the right thing. But these are just some of my concerns, like the permanence of what we're about to do here. That's all. But we're to

have to fight it step by step is what we're going to do. We can't predict what we're gonna fight in the future. So step by step. Yeah. When they make a step, we gotta fight it. So Well, we're not fighting. We're going war with Or

we can't fight them apparently. We'll fight

it every one or the other. So

this is a

step to making sure and ensuring that it doesn't happen for future generations. But as as far as it goes, I do share your concerns. But I do believe that the people should be allowed to vote on on any major topic. But I did share those concerns and those points as well.

Same here. At last meeting, I also discussed a lot of the same issues or concerns that you're receiving again tonight. But it will be that the people decide. But before that happens, if it goes to vote for the charter, I'd to have a couple different speakers come, and we can address that later, who can give us the pros and cons of what's going to happen and what's going to take place. So that way, the voters go to the polls in November with all the information, not just from one side.

One side, has to be crystal clear. We have to be very transparent on how we vote. And I just want the residents to understand as well as counsel because I have lots of questions still. And I've been reaching out to different people in different positions. I'm getting some answers. It's not enough. So I would like to see the next few months us line up a few people. I have a couple of names that I'd like to talk about another time who are willing to come and just talk. So we, the residents, understand what we're voting on and just know the pros and cons of it before for election. That's all I have.

And there's a lot there's a lot to to be discussed. Mean, what about a desal plant, you know, off the coast? I mean, we got plenty of water out there, you know. So what's not holding us back from doing something like that with to create more jobs and everything. I'm not into all that but I'm just talk talking about anything can happen in the future. Mhmm.

Fair enough.

So there was a motion to approve. Is there a second?

Second, Rain Bird.

Roll call.

Councilman Thomas?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dalbo? Yes. Councilman Rainbird?

Yes.

Mayor DePue? Yes. Councilwoman Gillis? Yes.

Item nine b, second reading, orders number 2026Dash0DashO5, prohibition on direct potable reuse of reclaimed black water. Staff report.

No additional staff information, mayor and council.

Thank you. Open to public hearings, citizen's comments.

Craig Stevenson, 512 C Anchor Circle. I'm just curious what our black water is doing now. Where are we putting understand, you're talking about prohibiting it being injected into the ground again? So where is it going now?

Most is used for reclaimed water. Okay. Council comments. Is there a motion to approve? I make a motion

to approve the second reading of ordinance number twenty twenty six dash zero dash o five for prohibition on the direct audible reuse of reclaimed flat water worded to include the underground well injection.

Second, Rain Bird. Roll call.

Councilman Thomas?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dabo? Yes. Councilman Rain Bird?

Yes.

Mayor DePue? Yes. Councilwoman Gillis? Yes.

Item nine c, resolution twenty twenty six dash r dash 13, May amended budget for fiscal year 2025 to 2026. Staff report.

Good evening, mayor and council. Bridget Bassier, Finance Director for the City Of Edgewater. Resolution twenty twenty six R-thirteen before you this evening is to amend the budget for fiscal year twenty five-twenty six. The city manager and staff performed a midyear review of the revenue and expenditures for each of the funds compared to current amounts and the amount budgeted. In addition, a review of the department operating needs, various projects, as well as the acceptance and updates for various grants.

City Council of the City of Edgewater amends the fiscal year budget twenty five-twenty six by revising the budget in total pursuant to the itemized deductions contained in exhibit A of the resolution. An addition an additional detailed schedule was attached to the agenda to assist in providing further clarification on the budget amendment items. The total budget amendment is for $3,249,495 of which 1,092,373 is for transfers to capital projects and internal service funds for accounting controls for an increase in expenditures of $2,157,122. For this increase in expenditures, 1,600,000 is covered by grants, impact fees, and insurance proceeds. Funds identified to cover the additional cost include 563,324 in grant funding, use of impact fees in the amount of $1,077,567 insurance proceeds of $47,902 $468,330 in general fund reserves, and operational line item transfers and reallocation of projects covering the remaining amendment.

The budget amendment includes the following items. In the general fund, impact fees and general capital projects funds are increasing for the following. The fire station fifty five I believe it was 55 incurred fire lightning strike damage. The additional $47,902 in insurance proceeds was received so that they could complete the repairs. A grant was received for the purchase of a bucket truck for Parks and Recreation in the amount of $186,892 A grant has been applied for through Lowe's Community Impact Grant Program in the amount of $200,000 for Hawks Park Pickleball restroom facilities.

If awarded, the department could move forward quickly with that project without delay of needing a budget amendment. Dollars 150,000 is the maximum city match for the Insertec grant that was approved at the 01/05/2026 council meeting. Dollars $82,500,100 for federal lobbyist funding as approved at the 02/02/2026 council meeting, 35,830 was revised for an open purchase order at year end that was not included in the carryforward amendment, Boat ramp grant match of $200,000 in general fund reserves and $684,400 in recreation impact fees to move forward with one of a few grant applications that are currently in progress for the boat ramp down south. That is actually going to be amended as we get more information on these grant applications. The Veterans Park Pier Project was approved to be shifted to the current year, taking advantage of the mobilization costs that were involved in that project.

So the vendor was approved at the 03/02/2026 council meeting. The funding for Rotary Park and Hawks Park Soccer Complex restroom were reallocated to accommodate moving forward with the project in current year. The Park Town Road Improvement Development Agreement purchase order carry forward amount of $78,483 funded by road impact fees was revised in this amendment. The police department identified impact fees to be used for the purchase of radios in the amount of $64,857 that was approved at the February council meeting, trailer upgrade approved at the April council meeting in the amount of $49,001.31, a boat upgrade in the amount of 101,391 that will be $50.50 funded impact fees and fine grant. Almost wrapping up.

I know this is, like, the most exciting part of the council meetings. Water and sewer operating and capital funds are increasing. Correction, water and sewer operating and capital funds are decreasing $205,510 net reduction. Water and sewer projects that were identified in prior year completed was transferred to operating lines. This was in order to cover the additional cost of vac truck rental, F-five 50 truck for field ops, and water and sewer impact fee update.

The storm water operating capital projects fund are increasing for the following, 125,736 for a five to six yard dump truck that was funded from an FDEP grant, 135,000 for the design cost of EOPC for 27th Street Channel 2 E 9. That was offset by the vac truck rental no longer needed because we a vac truck now in house. It is staff's recommendation to approve resolution twenty twenty six, R-thirteen, herein referred to as the May amended budget for fiscal year twenty five-twenty six.

Thank you. Let's hear citizens' comments at this time.

Janet Shiro, 148 Williams Street, Edgewater. When I was looking for potential matching funds for the Volusia Forever grant, I looked at the budget that was adopted in September, I believe it was. And the funds, it seemed to skip over the Recreation Impact Fee Fund, which I think is 01/2018. It went just from $1.17 to $1.19. So my question is, what is the balance in that fund, and what is committed of that balance?

Thank you, miss Shire. Let's see if there's any more citizens' comments and if our finance director would like to answer that question. Okay. Back to to council comments. I did get that question from quite a bit of residents that were involved in that project. Would you happen to have that number on hand? If not, you could always just email, and I could get it to the point of people who asked.

That would be the preferred option. I do not know off the top of my head the amount of recreation impact fees.

Awesome. Thank you. Are there any further comments? Okay. Is there a motion to approve?

Make a motion to approve resolution number 2026R13, May amended budget for fiscal year twenty twenty five twenty twenty six.

Second, Rain Bird. Roll call.

Councilman Thomas?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dalbo? Yes. Councilman Rain Bird?

Yes.

Mayor DePue? Yes. Councilman Gillis?

Yes. Item nine d, resolution twenty twenty six dash r dash 15, fine application funding resolution staff report.

The city is seeking funding assistance for the construction of a new public boat ramp facility and associated recreational amenities. The project will include up to four boat ramps, eight lanes with floating docks and boat preparation and wash area, a kayak launch, a construction launch site, and facility. Infrastructure enhancements will provide up to 80 boat trailer parking spaces, roadway and deceleration lanes, cart access and upgraded utilities, including water, sewer and electrical connections. Seeking the approval of the res of resolution in twenty twenty six r fifteen to support find application funding for the new boat ramps and amenities project. Phase two is a $5,450,000 project in which a substantial majority of the cost will be grant funded.

Thank you, sir. Citizens comments. Council comments. Just wanna say thank you for all the hard work and dedication. Buddy Davenport, our chief of police, Jason, Ryan, city manager, thank you so much much for all you guys have done. And then it will be majority grant funded. Is there a motion to approve?

I make a motion to approve resolution number 2026DashRDash15, find application funding resolution. Second.

Roll call.

Councilman Thomas?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dalbo? Yes. Councilman Rainberg?

Yes.

Mayor DePue? Yes. Councilman Gillis? Yes.

Item nine e, resolution number 2026DashRDash16 FDOT Highway MOA maintenance contract numb Number 8415, financial project number 244621Slash1Slash78SlashO3. Staff report.

Since 2005, the city of Edgewater has had a contract with FDOT to perform attractive maintenance of the roadway, roadside areas, and median strips of US 1 and State Road 442. This memorandum of agreement term is three years. FDOT agrees to pay the city of Edgewater following a notice to proceed compensation for the cost of maintenance as described in the provision section of the agreement. The payment will be for the amount of $21,885.25 per quarter, according to eighty seven thousand five hundred and forty one dollars per year for the duration of the term of the agreement. This is an increase quarterly of approximately $11,000. Seeking a motion to approve resolution 2026R16FDotHighway MOA maintenance.

Thank you.

Authorize the city manager execute the memorandum of agreement.

Thank you, sir. Citizens' comments? Council comments? Is there a motion to approve?

I was gonna say I'm gonna say one thing. I'm happy that it has increased the way it has. Even with the increase, I'm sure it's not covering the cost for us to take care of it. But it's much better than it was. So thank you, whoever was able to get that number closer to where it should be. That's all I have.

What she said.

Is there a motion to approve?

Make a motion to approve resolution number two zero two six dash r dash sixteen.

Second, Rain Bird. Roll call.

Councilman Thomas? Yes. Councilwoman Dahlbo? Yes. Councilman Rain Bird? Yes. Mayor DePue?

Yes. Councilman Gillis?

Yes. On the nine f resolution 2026DashRDash16. FDOT's Suntrail phase 54 grant agreement. See proceeding resolution number 2021DashRDash11 staff report.

On 05/03/2021, the city council approved resolution number 2021DashRDash11 authorizing a state funded grant agreement with FDOT for the design of the Sun Trail segment connecting Roberts Road to Dale Street. Since that time, the project has been refined and expanded through coordination with FDOT and regional partners. The updated project scope reflects the revised alignment and design parameters for the Sun Trail Edgewater segment now extending from State Road 4042 North to the Florida Shores neighborhood and west along West Park Avenue to Dale Street. Additionally, the revised agreement increases the total FDOT funding participation from approximately 2,350,000 under the 2021 agreement to approximately $6,360,000 reflecting the expanded project scope and updated design requirements. Through these significant updates and new resolution is required to supersede the prior authorization and allow execution of the revised grant agreement.

Staff is seeking a motion to approve resolution number 2026DashRDash17 to authorize the city manager to execute the updated FDOT state funded grant agreement, which will supersede resolution number 2021DashRDash11.

Thank you, sir. Sentences, comments. Council comments.

Happy to see it moving forward. Paid for by grants, so it's a wonderful thing.

Is there a motion to approve?

I make a motion to approve Resolution No. Twenty twenty six R-seventeen for the FDOT. SunTrust passed Phase 54 grant agreement superseding resolution number twenty twenty one dash or dash 11.

Second, Rain Bird. Roll call.

Councilman Thomas?

Yes.

Councilwoman Dabo? Yes. Councilman Rain Bird?

Yes.

Mayor DePu? Yes. Councilman Gillis?

Yes. Item 10, board appointments at this time. Item 11, other business, 11 a, city clerk interview discussion and selection staff report.

Mayor, council, you had the opportunity to interview three candidates on 04/21/2026. I believe they're all qualified for the position of city clerk. We're looking for you to select an individual and a motion to negotiate an employment agreement with the selected candidate by myself for the said position.

Thank you, sir. I'll open a public hearing, citizens' comments.

Cassandra Kilgore, 819 South Cedar Avenue, Orange City, Florida, 32763. Good evening again, mayor and council. I wanted to thank you for your considered consideration in this your continued consideration during this process. And I just wanted to reiterate my desire to provide the stability that your clerk's office needs. And I'd be honored to serve the city of Edgewater. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any further citizens' comments? Any council comments?

I would like to say thank you to Monique and Julie for making it so I did not have to take a vacation day.

Who would like to go first?

I'd also like to thank Monique for all she continues to do because Monique is amazing.

Well, I'll go first. They were all wonderful applicants, very straightforward, very direct, spoke about, what they would like to see changed in the clerk's office, as far as what they could bring to the table. I really thank all of them for interviewing. It was very tough to make a selection, but, I really liked miss Sarah. I thought that she interviewed the best. I liked the way she presented herself, and that was just my opinion. The other two candidates were amazing as well. So either way, we can't go wrong.

Correct. I like the fact that we have one candidate that is local. We have other two great candidates that I think we would have to wait for them to move to Florida. It's a tough call.

And They're

all awesome. Great resumes, great experience, great talent pool. I wanna find somebody resilient. It's not an easy job, as you could see. I like to find somebody that will stay.

There's no further comments or guidance?

I think everybody's just trying to wait for somebody else to go first. I mean, everybody interviewed very strong. I mean, my two are Sarah and Cassandra. I liked them both. Or at my top two, respectively. I

will say mine as well. I did like Cassandra a lot. Same.

I'll go next. Three wonderful candidates. Everyone's qualified. So any one of the three can step into the position tomorrow. They can't, but they could, ready to go. And I appreciate all the time and Cassandra coming back again for a second interview. I thank you for that. And it's hard. We have to look ahead and see who's they're going to be the city clerk for many years to come. And experience is important.

And I know that through the interview process that Celine has been a city clerk a total of seven years, maybe longer. City clerk. And then plus a deputy city clerk, so she has that behind her. Cassandra is currently the deputy city clerk in her city, so she's been there for almost three years, plus her fifth District Court of Appeals in Daytona Beach. So she has experience dealing with the public.

And there's Sarah, who has lots of experience also as a city clerk and plus her past jobs that she brings a lot to the table as well. So I feel they're all strong candidates that we can't go wrong. My two top is Sarah and Celine. I just feel they have everyone interviewed great. And everyone brought different ideas of how they could work with counsel. That was my one concern. How would you be working with counsel? We're such different personalities, and we all bring something wonderful to the table. It could be trying at times, I'm sure, with that position. I try not to make it, though.

They're my two top choices. But again, I'm totally open. All three were great candidates. And I'd like to hear a little bit more about council members' thoughts of why they would choose who they

choose. Okay. Cassandra, being her line of work is similar to the other experiences of the other candidates. Because she's been in Florida the whole time, she has a hell of a Rolodex. Did I just say Rolodex? I mean address book. She has, I assume, a bunch of people in the same line of work in Florida, familiar with Florida law, county law, local law. I find that as a stick out as far as other people from other states. One girl was from Colorado. One girl was from Arizona.

I guess they have different ways of doing things, different laws. I wasn't supposed to ask this in an interview question how old she is, but I think she can be around for a while if you're willing. I appreciate the fact that you're here for all these meetings. And keep coming and reassuring us that you really want to do this.

I think also Celine was with Treasure Island of Florida, she has a little bit of And a hard experience as

I believe that Sarah has family locally here in Volusia County that's been tied to the area for several years.

Big to land.

She is not alone, you know, without experience of Volusia County and how we are. But maybe I don't believe she has experience in the city. I think she has a lot of experience in this industry and on a municipality level. But Cassandra was great as well, very nice. And she is in Volusia County.

Counsel Ndauble, you asked me to list out the things that I thought was positive about a candidate. I thought that Sarah was very articulate. I thought she was very nice and pleasant and very positive. And I think that's what we need in our community. Not saying that nobody else was, but I love the way that she asked me questions. She was very interactive. And I think that's what we need in the clerk's position. Not saying that is surely that way. But we haven't had that in the past in that office. I think it would be a fresh breath of air. We're all coming together in the community. I think someone positive in there. And I'm not saying that Cassandra or the other candidate is not. I just I really enjoyed the way that she interviewed, and she does have ties to the area, just for the record.

She did have a very positive lifting effect when you spoke to her. It was, you know

She made you feel comfortable talking with her, yes.

Very positive. Don't worry. It's gonna be okay. You kind of felt with her. I

like I like the lady from Arizona. What's her name? Sweet. Selene? Yes. What impressed me about her was she's from Florida. She lived in Pinellas County. She's been through hurricanes. She's dealt with FEMA. When I ask her what her worst experience was in the clerk's office, she says dealing after the hurricane, getting the money and dealing with FEMA and jumping through the hoops to get the money.

So I think that'd be a big benefit to the city manager with their experience with dealing with the state on that. And I I was just impressed with all her answers. Anywhere we go, we're not gonna lose. All three are very qualified and it doesn't make any difference to me. I was just impressed with her past experience and her, you know, being from Florida and dealing with the hurricanes and and feeling and stuff.

Would So. It be out of line to ask staff for input? You presented us the top three.

I think that would put down

We're going to go catch

some ocean crab. We're going make the decision.

We make the big decision.

Nice try, though.

It's hard.

Yep. Would you be willing to speak?

Oh, of course. Yeah. Of course. I interviewed each of the candidates as well. They all did very well. Like you said and stated, they all have potential. They all have the experience level to fill the position. I think it is your pick, though. But if if I had to rank them in order, it would be miss Jacobson. Sarah from Colorado seemed to exude some confidence.

And she did mention that she wore a couple other hats during her role, which is something positive where she could take on other responsibilities to really enhance the clerk's office. So but you can't go wrong with the

Now Sarah is from Colorado. Is that the one? Yes. Okay. What what scared me about her was I asked her about the salary, you know, what was she expecting. And, you know, I think we advertised what 85 to a 125. Is that what we advertised?

I believe the top of the range was around 100.

Because she said because she told me she wanted the the top of the salary line. You know, that's that's what Well, of course, she would.

I think each of the candidates

are going to want to top the in the 100,000

range. But just starting off, I

don't think so. Well, we can always present a contract and if she doesn't doesn't appreciate it, then we can Yeah. Come back and negotiate, I suppose.

We're not gonna lose anyway, so y'all make the big decision.

Well, it's clear we're not gonna lose, but what do we do here?

Well, somebody needs to nominate somebody, I guess.

I'll pass the gavel and make the motion to hire miss Sarah Jacobson did I pronounce her last name correct?

I believe so, Mr. Mayor, yes.

To our city clerk position. I believe it would she could I asked her a timeline about moving and things to that degree, and she said she would have to give a thirty day notice. So I think it would be the first of of middle of June, if I believe. So and we do we need to does the motion need to read a date to be certain as far as June goes or just a date to be certain.

Okay. Great.

So I

What are we gonna offer?

I think well, that's a great point as well. But I think

I mean, don't want to pay her top of the line.

No. So

the pay range, the top was 100,000. And for example, Sarah Geiger was making 93,000. So I mean, and we're doing a compensation study. I have a feeling that the results will show that we're probably underpaying in that category.

So I make the motion for $93,000 So I make the motion pass the gavel, make the motion to hire Ms. Sarah Jacobson for $93,000 a year, effective today to be certain, but hopefully the June. Is there a second?

Second. Roll call.

Councilman Thomas?

Yes.

Councilman Dabo? Yes. Councilman Rainbird?

Yes.

Mayor DePue? Yes. Councilman Gillis? Yes.

Item 11B, 27. Mr. Mayor, one quick point. Does she need to move to Edgewater? I don't believe that's a city charter requirement. It is?

She'll she'll need an exemption, but we can work through that with the contract and bring it for you the next meeting once we have the contract in place.

Never gonna sell Stan House.

You. Bye. Item 11 B, 27th Street Canal Channel to E 3 Canal, for any design. Professional engineering services staff report.

The city stormwater master plan identifies the need to improve drainage capacity by connecting the 27th Street Channel to the E 9 Canal and ultimately to the Silver Palm Canal west of Florida shores. This proposed connection will provide additional drainage conveyance for the E9 Canal towards Turnbull Hammock while maintaining its existing discharge at the 18th Street Canal. The preliminary design phase is anticipated to take approximately five months to complete and will establish the foundation for future final design, permitting, and construction phases. The total not to exceed cost for the preliminary design services is $135,001 Seeking a motion to approve the task order with Meade and Hunt for professional engineering services in the amount of $135,001 for the 27th Street Channel to E9 Canal preliminary design project and authorize the city manager to execute the agreement.

Thank you, sir. Citizens, comments? Council comments?

I'd like to say they're out doing the survey now. They've been by my house for quite a few days. They're moving west. I spoke with a gentleman who was doing the survey, and he's certain it won't take that long to get it finished, to move on to the next step. Been working with the city of Edgewater. It's always been a pleasure. So I feel very confident that the project's going move on, on time. So thank you.

Thank you.

This is a great thing and hopefully will help alleviate some flooding. Is there a motion to approve?

Make a motion to approve 27th Street Canal to E9 Canal Preliminary Design Professional Engineering Services on the amount of $135,000 Is that all I need to say?

$135,000 $1

$1. Okay. Thank you. Is there a second?

Second Rain Bird. Roll call.

Councilman Thomas? Yes. Councilman Dahlbo? Yes. Councilman Rain Bird? Yes. Mayor DePue? Yes. Councilman Gillis?

Yes.

I'm 11CAR2026Dash00118. Request to remove a historical specimen tree live oak with a DBH of 56 inches for the property at 200 West Park Avenue. Staff report.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The request before you tonight is a historic specimen tree. It's a live oak, the DBH of 56 inches. Land development code in Article five, Section 20 one-fifty five requires that an applicant come before the city council to request removal of a historic tree.

In this case, the applicant is requesting the removal of this historic tree to build a brand new warehouse for boat manufacturing on the subject properties. The land development code requires either that they replace on a like to like basis the number of trees, which would be 22 trees, or a payment. City staff will defer to the board's discretion, but city staff would prefer the money as we have a lot of projects coming down the pipeline that would help with landscaping those projects.

Thank you, Mr. Solsys. And before you leave, before we open to public comments, what would be the amount?

The amount according to the fee resolution, which you're allowed to also vary from, if you recall, we had raised that fee resolution to $25 a square inch. So the total amount is 61,575.6.

$61,000. Thank you, sir. Citizens comments. Any council comments? And full disclosure before we start, I also met with mister Posey.

Do we do we have a map showing where the tree is at? Or

You'll know the tree when you see it. You'll know the tree as soon as the picture comes up.

It's right on the corner of Old County Road and Park Avenue.

It's back in the property, though, behind the fence.

Mayor Joey Posey, 420 South Nova. I do have a small presentation just to give some context. Think did it make it to you? And I apologize. Important just to understand a little bit of the property owner, what the intent is. Because I think a lot of that background is important to when you make these decisions, obviously, who's the ask from? What are we getting in the city as a result?

It says merit vote presentation.

Is that right? That's correct. All right. Well, we'll just walk through this one. That's fine.

So first slide, to give everybody some context, and this is maybe helpful from a mapping perspective, it's about a a one and it's one and a fourth acre. But there's three buildable parcels. One of them has a historic tree on it, the most northern or easterly corner parcel that the canopy pretty much completely renders it unbuildable. It's a heavy industrial zone property, which as your code says, it's intended for heavy manufacturing uses. Boat building and repair uses are allowed by Wright, so anybody can come in and that would be a permitted use on this property.

And then the other permitted uses that are outlined in the code as just permitted by Wright, general manufacturing, mining, truck freight, wrecking, towing, truck services. So it's a very heavily a heavy industrial use of a property that's allowed there just by Wright, just coming in with a site plan, and you can build it. But the current owner doesn't necessarily wanna do that. He wants to come in for boat assembly. He recognizes, you know, a little bit of the uniqueness of Edgewater with the workforce in that area.

And it's a very, very quality boat builder. I'm excited to get to that a little bit. And there's the depicting. It's behind that fence there, one of the historic oaks. The other oak sits out in the front that's in the city right of way. We're not impacting that one. That one will remain. There's no plans to impact that oak. So it's really the interior one that makes it very difficult and almost impossible to make the site work because given your heightened storm water standards, know, your just your minimum LDC requirements. You gotta do storm water chambers for this property, and there's just not enough to make it work there and to do it the right way.

Next slide. So there's a location. As you can see, the drip line is that circle area. It renders that parcel in the top right completely unusable. It sits right between what would probably be the safest site circulation for the property. So trying to rework it in a way really doesn't get you anywhere because you'd have to somehow circle the property in the rear. And with boat manufacturing and trying to get boats safely in and out, that doesn't make for a safe situation. And we also we engage an arborist. And the arborist made the same recommendation that we thought we were coming to when we were trying to lay this property out. He said, essentially, that if whatever you do on this property, you're you're gonna wind up impacting this tree.

And it's going to be and it becomes an unsafe situation because the both from the impacting it from the root system with the storm water and also just the nature of the development itself to make this property feasible to develop. And here's the landowner. You know, who he is, it's Merritt Boats. It's a group out of Pompano. His grandfather founded the company in 1948, moving from up north.

It's a small group of family and friends. It's really, it's grown into the 70 employees. And it's it's still a family business. And the the grandfather or the grandson is, I guess, is the one who is now running the business. And they have about a they've produced over about 100 boats over the years. And those two in the right top right are they're actually their first two models. If you go on their website, you can see every haul over the course of seventy years that they've put together, which is pretty impressive. And that's the original site in Pompano. And they're already booked through 2033. Just a little fun fact, this is the same gentleman that built the last boat for Jimmy Buffett.

It's a very high end builder. And he does it. It's deliberately It's meant to do it the right way. And it's a little bit of a unique situation when it comes to doing these luxury builds. Next one. So when he was looking around at actually, the Edgewater location, he was in partnership with the folks in the South at the time. And then this property came on the market that was just north of that manufacturing center there. And he thought it would be an ideal location since all the synergy there, given the workforce experience. And it really just made it a straightforward decision in his mind. And the next one.

And just a little bit about what he has proposed. It's 15 employees. They're very high paid employees. It's he's looking to pay these folks about 40,000 to $50,000 a year. You know, that's on the upper end when it comes to boat builders. But he can do that because these builds are 16 to $17,000,000. These take time. And the difference too is that, you know, from this builder and other builders, many of Edgewater's builders are production builders. So it's not a lot of custom builds when it comes to the way he sees custom in terms of luxury. So it's just something that you don't see a lot of.

And it's really exciting that he believes Edgewater is a good spot for this type of business, especially given the folks that have this background. There's a lot of boat building in Edgewater, which in his mind makes us an ideal place to wanna open up a facility. Next one. These are examples. They're just conceptual renderings of what the building could look like, trying to show the landscaping.

And I'm not just trying to take away anything from the Old County Road at that corner, but this is something that could be wonderful to see when you come in from Park Avenue trying to create that corridor feel that a lot of your overlays and your plans have spoken to with a lot of the architecture, especially from Park Avenue there, would be the top right. So it's a beautiful building. Next one. In terms of just impact itself, right now, I just did some quick numbers, and it's about 567,000 was about what the assessed value is. And I I just took the city millage, so I'm trying to be fair.

And contribution to the directly to the city is about $3,600 a year. If you just take the raw number of the build out, which is about $3,000,000, the Ann Land acquisition, which is 750,000, you do the same millage calculation, that's an annual revenue of closer to 25,000 a year, straight to the city of Edgewater just by being there. And that's not including all of the other tangential taxes that he would owe. You know, obviously, since he's a business, he owns a tangible tax, you know, the equipment tax. So he pays the county an additional sum just to operate these very, very expensive pieces of equipment, impact fees to the city.

And when it comes to uses like this, this is a very low impact generator. It's not something that has high flows like other manufacturing. And in that way, it's not much impact on the city's infrastructure. But he still owes the same impact fees. Next one.

So really, just to summarize the reasons for support, it's a use that I think would work wonderfully right there at that corner. It makes what would be a very unusable piece of property usable and prevents you know, and it actually adds to that you can lay out the site in a way that gets you the storm water management, the site circulation, the impacts to the city. You know, according even with the arborist report, it's really the safest and feasible option. And that, you know, really the concerns are it's just can't, the tree's not gonna survive when you impact this property. And even in its current state, you know, competing with the canopy of the other tree, you know, again, it's you never know what the future brings in, you know, the next hurricane or it's you know, the opportunity is really what we're talking about and what we're trying to move forward with tonight.

So next one. Again,

like I

had mentioned, the infill redevelopment, it's huge. We're right there at that corner. Ad valorem revenue is amazing. It's above average job wages when it comes to this type of work. Impact fees without burdening city systems, that's a great plus.

Next one. And it's a legacy. So it's you know, you have a family builder of seventy years who has seen a really big massive success in Pompano that says Edgewater is where I want to be. And that's something special. And I think it speaks to your leadership up here too, that you have somebody who wants to invest with this type of investment in the city for and really go after the same tradespeople that live and work and call Redwater home.

So other than that, we're available for questions. The Kellett Group is the contractors. They're in the back there. So if there's any site specific questions, we have them. And we have our landscape architect here too to answer any specific questions. So with that, I'm available and happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, sir. Are there any further citizens' comments? Okay. On to council comments?

I think this is fabulous. Another boot manufacturer is great. Custom boots, even more fantastic. Employing fifteen, twenty people and the average salary, 40,050 thousand dollars That's fabulous for the residents. It's a great tax base. Think about it. Boston Whaler spends more on equipment tax than the real estate tax. And this is going to add to that plus real estate tax. This is a lot of wins for our city. So and I I feel that if if council decides, we'll we'll talk about that later, but I just I feel it's they bring a lot to the city and the fact that they're looking at Edgewater to make their their home, I'm, you I'm know, thankful for that.

Well, I was gonna lead in with that. I'm never for cutting down certainly a historical tree. But if it's built around it, the arborist report did say point blank that it's going to be impacted and probably die eventually. This is bringing jobs, economic opportunities. I was going to bring up the equipment tax as well.

But what I like as well, it's by a local contractor who also has a veteran interest in that area right on the other side of the property. So I'm not necessarily for cutting down a tree. But when you're investing $61,000 for different trees in our community that could go in different areas and be historical in one hundred years if new development comes in and in the proper area. The other point of this as well is they could come right in tomorrow, develop the whole entire thing, and not give a damn and say that it's affordable housing. So there's the SB 180 as well.

Good call. Absolutely. That's always working in the shadows.

And that tax base would come right to edge water.

And the equipment tax is going to be really Well,

I went and looked at the tree, and it's sad. I'm surprised it's doing as well as it is. There's some branches. Well, that Spanish moss doesn't kill the tree. It's just covered in Spanish moss, and it's got branches that are next I'm surprised that last wind did knock a couple of the branches down. I grew up

on that road, East and West, so I know right about the tree. I'm glad they're not cutting the one in the right of way down. That was the one I would be concerned about.

It's not to say that we can cut down a nice tree for $61,000 because if that tree looked like a nice piece of broccoli, it would be sad. But folks, if you just go look at that tree, you'll be like, wow, it's not doing too well.

No. And I'll touch base on some of the others. Because I was also going to make the comment I mean, did tour it. I did look at the tree. And I even was a little nervous to even go walk by under it, because some of them, I even said, was like, I'm surprised they didn't lose some of those branches. And they look like those widowmaker type ones that are just ready to go. And again, I was also happy it wasn't that one in the right of way. Because when they first said the tree on the property, I was like, I I hope it's not that one, and it is not that one specifically. Because that's one everybody drives by all the time. I do love that tree, which is a whole side note.

But the fact that they are using local contractors the arborist was local. Everything has been local. I also reached out to some surrounding homeowners and businesses. They are happy at the idea that it is going to improve the storm water, because that area needs some storm water improvements. So the water that they're going to be able to take on to that property is going to be helpful as well.

The local businesses that I spoke to nearby were all in support of it as well. And that's really all I got. I mean, I'm one who would tie myself to a tree till it wouldn't get cut down. So the fact that if I am Okay with this project being to get to better that area, then that says a lot. That's all I got.

It's funny. The city manager, he called me three times this week because he knows I'm a tree hugger, and he was worried about how I was gonna vote. But, you know, we're we're a boat building for a community. We have Boston Whaler, Everglades, and what's the other one?

Edgewater Boats.

Edgewater Boats. All famous over the state of Florida. And you know, we discussed the tree and I said, I don't like it but you know, I'm not going to stand in the way of progress. I mean, to have somebody come in here and build million dollar boats, you know, that's gonna be good for the whole community. So my opinion is I'm sorry, but I gotta let the tree go and go with the boat builder on this.

But but I just I don't think there's anybody in Edgewater that can afford one of them boats. But I'm sure they'll find somebody. So anyway.

I also spoke with a couple of the engineers, and they, I mean, they looked at it different ways, any ways they could to try to do it. And there just wasn't a way to do the storm water properly with it. So, I mean, they did fully look through the process to see. I said, is there any way anything we could do to save it? How many different things have we tried? And they, you know, they walked me through everything. So, I mean, I feel comfortable.

Is there a motion to approve?

I make a motion to approve AR 2026Dash0118 request to remove the historical species tree live oak with a DBH of 56 inches for the property at 200 West Park Avenue.

Does there need to be a decision whether it's the trees or the money in the motion?

Yeah.

So we have to discuss that still.

Yes. Correct.

Okay, yeah.

I go with the money. That's just my personal opinion.

In the amount of 61,000.

61,000 and some change.

Second Rain Bird. Roll call.

Councilman Thomas?

I wanna clear up by something. What what are we settling on? The money or the trees?

Money. Money. The money.

The money. Okay. That's fine with me. Yes.

Councilwoman Dahlbo? Yes. Councilman Rainbird? Yes. Mayor DePue? Yes. Councilman Gillis? Yes.

Item 11 d, discussion, backyard chicken staff report.

Mayor and council, I've I've spoken with a couple of you regarding the possibility of bringing forward a backyard chicken ordinance again. I know you had a workshop back in 2024, and that ordinance was not advanced. So I'm just seeking your input if you would like staff to look into creating and bringing forward an ordinance? And if so, do you have any specific restrictions or additions that you all discussed at the 2024 workshop if you were present for that workshop?

Coming life experience, because my neighbors were babysitting chickens, they had a rooster, no roosters. Because they say they crow at sunup. No, they crow at two in the morning, too.

Well, a problem with that is when the chickens hatch, don't know if it's a rooster or a hen until they start to grow. And at that point, what are the residents going do? Are they going to I'm not going say anything more right now. But yeah, you just don't know.

And humane, I mean, not like

Well, is this just to advance an ordinance discussion? So do we need consensus or a motion to advance?

That's correct. But if you had anything specific, if you were a party of the twenty twenty four workshop

Well, did want

specific you could say that you'd want that included or you

At

the twenty twenty four workshop, I believe that it was the county ordinance that was copied, if I remember correctly. And I would be just fine with advancing that to discussion at this time. Would Not saying we're forward or not. And then, we do advance that for discussion, if we have I mean, can't remember off the top of my head all the different things for 2024, but I can go back and watch the meeting. So can we make changes to it then?

Of course. Okay, great.

So do you need consensus or a motion?

I would like to well, I was just going say I would like to I know that Ryan did make some changes when he presented at the 2024. I would like to move forward with the county ordinance. I think the county ordinance, no offense, was a little bit more well suited to the area and well written.

Okay. I

just need consensus to move forward.

I get I what the sense of that. The discussion.

Perfect. Thank you. Alright. Sure.

On to twelve, officer reports. Twelve a, city clerk.

I just have one thing. The upcoming Volusia League of Cities dinner is on May 28. It's a Thursday. I just need your RSVPs whenever you can get them to me. So I've got a couple, but if you haven't gotten it to me yet, please do. And that's it.

Thank you. City attorney.

It's at Hacienda Del Rio. Right? It is. They got a disco ball.

Oh, they moved.

They do.

They got a disco ball. I

was very excited.

As you guys know, session ended, so there's a bunch of legislative bills, but there's way more local government affected directed bills this session than ever before. So we just finalized all of those in a PowerPoint that I'll give you guys. I was planning on doing the next council, but they postponed the budget, now we're the budget meeting, and they're saying they're going to pass policy at the budget potentially, so there could be more bills. So we're pausing. I'm working with staff to make sure everybody's caught up on all the new stuff that's already in effect from the March session, but we're going to do one presentation with all the new bills at one time.

So other than that, the only other update is I had a great call and Zoom meeting with Jamie Cole, the lead counsel on the SB180 suit. So I'm working with your expert land planner to create an affidavit to show the costs and the enormous financial costs that our city and many other cities have to pay just to comply with SB 180, which is a major element in winning the litigation. It made me feel much more confident once we I got a good look at the numbers of how much it's affected the city. So we're working on that. We just talked about that tonight. I'll keep you guys updated on that, and that's all I have.

Thank you, sir. Item 12. Item 13, citizen's comment.

Chuck Martin, two zero five, Cherrywood Lane Edgewater, proud patriot. We got less than a month before the start of hurricane season. I'm constantly riding around checking our roads, bridges, ditches, and canals, and been monitoring the progress down on Palmetto Avenue and Knapp Street. Checked out the new backflow system they got in there. Being an operating engineer, I've installed these before.

And the only thing I would say about that is, and I haven't seen it on this one, and I was out there Saturday, I guess they're meant to flow one way and depending on what type of flapper valve or check valve I can have. If debris gets in there, it'll clog it up. And when it clogs up, it's not going to work both ways. They elevated the road a couple feet, so if that clogs up, instead of someone having a foot of water in their house, they could have three or four feet. Now, on the upside of that is that water is flowing.

There needs to be a protective cage that would keep out debris, small animals, even children. If there's kids playing in there and you get a lot of tidal flow from the rain, somebody could be swept in there and they'll drown. So I would like to suggest that you guys direct the city manager as soon as possible to put some kind of a fence across there to keep debris or keep kids out of there. Because as debris blows around and stuff, it's gonna clog it up, and it's not gonna work. I I've seen it happen like that before.

And, you know, that was part of a grant that we got in 2021. It was applied for in 2019. And, I've been asking for 3 and a half. See, where's the money? And Rainbird said, we got it, and we do. And I wanna thank, mister Mahoney for, for getting it done, just like the pump at Duck Lake. And the only other thing I have is I want to propose another pump, even if we have to rent it, for the Lime Tree Lake down there by the clubhouse. And, I surveyed that area. It'd be a great a great place for a pump, in event of a hurricane. We drop a couple of steel plates in, put a pump up there, get that water lowered down like a duck lake.

It provides capacity. I personally sandbagged a couple homes by Mrs. Dabo's house, and they still went underwater. That's a flood prone area, and I think that's another area that we could look at. You know, we're just about three weeks away. And just thanks for all

you guys do. Thank you.

Thank you, sir, for your comments and suggestion. I'll certainly speak to the city manager about them.

Cindy Black umbrella tree. State just issued a salmonella alert for backyard chickens. Also, mill over 30,000,000 chickens died last year, including backyard chickens from avian flu. And we had a lot of ducks and swans that all recently died from avian flus. You need to think about the negatives, not just the positives, of having backyard chickens. And not only do roosters crow, but chickens crow too. My parents own 5,000 chickens. I know a lot about backyard chickens. So why, you know, everybody's thinking, oh, let's get some backyard chickens. Again, you need to think about the cons.

And the nitrogen produced by the feces of backyard chicken is hotter than fertilizer, and it's gonna pollute our canals and go into the Indian River, which we're trying to clean up. Let's get backyard chickens. Think about the cons. You know, I've been before this council before talking about backyard chickens. Again, think about cons.

I've got three pages here. I could go over the cons, but I don't wanna waste your time tonight since you're, you know, your city council manager and all is gonna go over to that. I can talk to them about it. But there's a lot of health risks that you don't really get into with backyard chickens that you need to think about. And you need to think about our environment. You need to think about you got a 100 people that want backyard chickens. You got 20,000 residents that don't want them. But, you know, they're all all coming to these meetings because they know you're not going to listen to them. You're going to go with the 100 people that come to you. Oh, we want this.

We want that. You don't listen to the other 20,000. So they don't come here and waste your time. I'm getting tired of coming here and wasting my time because you don't really listen to people. You only listen to those that are, you know, calling you by phone or, you know, that you've all buddy buddy with. Anyway, thank you.

Thank you for your comments, and I don't believe that's accurate. I think we listened to everyone.

Corey Sapp, twenty six thirty, Traveler's Palm. I went to the Earth Day celebration. That was awesome. They did a good job. It was the first time I had been to one. I did get my trees. But as a realtor, I drive through town all

the time.

Different roads, I drive a different road every day when I leave my house just so I could see what's happening. I drove one block, counted 36 political signs, four of the same ones, or five of the same ones. We're allowed one sign per property. Driving around to show property, I can't find the sign because it's wedged in between four of the same political signs. And the customer said, is it always this bad?

And I said, well, it's election time. They said election's not till November. We need to clean it up. It's getting real trashy looking. We're trying to sell houses in an area that everyone thinks floods.

And because the signs say, stop the flooding, guess what the buyers think? Just think about it when you're putting your signs and when you're putting them on the easement where you can't make a turn because the sign is right at eye level, the corner of 24th and or 442 and Travelers Pump, if I want to make a left turn, I cannot. I'm driving just a pickup truck. But there's a sign right here. And if I bend down like this to look, you can't see.

You're going to get hit. There's accidents waiting to happen. They need to be out of our view, down low where we can read them, but where they're not blocking our view. That's all I got.

Thank you for your comments.

Okay. So If you don't mind. Sure. We discussed the boat ramp tonight. We discussed the boat ramp tonight and there's a lot of people that's been asking me questions.

I wonder if we could get a presentation from Jason maybe next meeting on a design and how much money we spent so far, how much grant money we have got, how much grant money we've spent. Just a good presentation to give these people in the field a future because it's fixing to get boating season and this ramp right here is going to be crowded as hell. So if we could just get something to maybe dream on, a presentation to about the new boat ramp, I would really appreciate that.

Yeah, of course.

We got it. We are adjourned.