City Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to the Citi Commission Conference Meeting this 03/03/2026. I see we have a full audience here today. Anyway, so we made a few changes since the last time we met, and we're going to be, right after the communications to the City Commission, we'll jump to the City Commission reports. Our first communication, I believe, is from the Historic Preservation Board, to recommend, that we need to review and strengthen enforcement of city ordinances regarding the use of metal detection on the beach Park. Hi.

What do you have to tell us today?

Hi. Good afternoon, mayor and commissioners. Tricia Logan, principal urban planner. This is related to, an archaeological site designation for the Beach Park area, and the board, had a discussion with the applicant about, people that are digging and metal detecting on the beach, and the board wanted to convey to the commission that it would be, good to make sure that we're enforcing any regulations that are existing.

And what is that regulation now?

I believe that we already have a regulation that says you cannot dig or metal detect on the beach.

Is that true?

So is it just enforcement then?

Wait. I want

to hear what the law is.

Chris Cooper, Deputy City Manager. So we do have a prohibition on digging on the beach, so particularly digging deeply. I mean people can put in umbrellas, build sandcastles and things like that, but we do not allow for really robust digging on the beach and in the sand. So somebody could metal detect, which often leads to digging on the beach. So if we wanted to go a little bit further and prohibit an activity, we could, but right now, really we really just regulate the actual digging.

So how deep is deep? There's no

precise measurement. I mean things that are typical beach activities, like I said, putting an umbrella in the sand, making a sand castle, digging around a little bit, we just don't want to see really extreme digging because sometimes it can also become a dangerous situation when people dig in the beach sand too deeply.

So all those spring breakers who bury themselves in sand, that's going I be mean, this is getting ridiculous.

Only if they hit a musket ball when they

hit Yes. Mean, it's look, the reality is that, yes, there may be old things that find their way in the sand or anywhere in the city. And these the beach is a recreation area, okay? So it's either we either make it a recreation area or we rope off the entire place saying it's either for turtles or for historic preservation. This tiptoeing around this issue is not making any sense to me.

So if people want to make sandcastles, you're going be digging into the sand far deeper than an inch or two. If you're going to put an umbrella in the sand, it's going to be very deep. What happens if you hit something? What happens if you hit you go down two feet and you hit something, they violate the law? I mean, this is getting absurd.

So Yes.

Staff's perspective, we're comfortable with our current rules regarding the beach and what can be done there, related to these types of activities. So I think if and I believe we've actually added some signage that kind of outlink some of those beach rules, so we're communicating it to the public. But from our perspective, change probably isn't necessary.

So let's hear from the commission. What are some thoughts on the commission? Let's see. District 2 is, part of the beach and District 1 is part of the beach. So what are your thoughts?

So just one quick thought. And it's not necessarily with respect to the historic preservation aspect. But I know we did have an instance up in Lauderdale By The Sea that was quite tragic with people digging in the sand and then getting buried. How does that relate to just digging in the sand in general?

I'll ask Carl Williams from Parks and Rec to come and talk about how those rules are enforced by the department.

I mean we've had people die, because they've dug themselves a little too deep and it just collapses in on top of them. So I was just wondering you know, what our lifeguards do. How how do we approach that? Just curious.

Good afternoon, vice mayor. So we do have a rule that does prohibit, like, digging in the sand. Now when you talk about, like, enforcement or kind of the appearance of kind of reframing from that, that gets a little bit tricky from our end as far as like an enforcement perspective. But there is that caveat in the park's rules that does say there's no digging.

Right. I I because obviously, if you're going down like five, six feet, that's when the sand starts to collapse in on itself, and that's when people can get trapped. And again, like I said, we had that very tragic case up in Lauderdale by the sea. What was that, six months ago?

Not so long ago, right.

That was very recent.

Water before you get that deep?

No. You don't.

Because I've dug down deep and after a foot or two, you hit water.

Depends on where. Depends

on where.

Okay. So what is what is digging? What's the definition of digging?

Right. So, you know, typically, like if a family was to come to the beach, you know, you have a couple of kids, they may come out with a bucket and a a kid, a baby will have, like, a little sand. But the older they get, they'll start digging deeper, and then it causes divots.

What about when you try to anchor an umbrella? You know, you're gonna go a foot or two

into the

sand. Is that prohibited?

So the contractor that we have, our Boucher brothers, they do are allowed to kinda wedge in the sand, but we're talking maybe a half a foot in there to secure it, a foot?

No. No. If you're gonna go half a foot, it's

gonna fall on your head. Well, in other words, it's not deep. It's not they're not wedging it really deep because these are individuals that are kind of doing this on their own, and they're kind of wedging it in and then turning it because they don't actually dig their own holes to do it. Kind of poach it.

This creates a difficult responsibility for our Parks and Recreation enforcement as well as our police enforcement for them to make a judgment call as to what is digging and what is digging that's innocuous or what is digging that's considered merits a citation. So you're not giving us you're not helping us. So we need to have some decision here as to what that means. I mean I've lived here for over four decades. This has never been an issue. And all of a sudden, it's an issue, digging on the beach. I mean do we have nothing better to talk about? Well, may I? Yes, go ahead.

So a great that's that's question. Do think then And to that's going on on the beach, as part of basketball, pickleball. I mean, there's a lot of agendas going on here. So all of that will be fleshed out, I think, when we have this discussion on, April 7, but that's how this happened. It's not like staff came forward or whatever, but I understand.

It was just a moment in time when it just was brought up about about the digging and about artifacts and about the archaeological report that was submitted to their board and what was found, actually what was not found, than what was found fifteen years ago, and what might be found. But then again, we've had so many storms and so many things have happened and beet tree nourishment. So this was just a very small part of that overall couple of hours of conversation about the designation application. That's what this was.

Right. But it somehow made its way into a communication directly to the directed to the commission. So now it's not just a what do they call that, a sidebar. This is a direct communication. And this commission, I think now Nate needs to respond to it. I'm confused by what the imperative is here.

I think what happened was, as often as the case, it was a very interesting meeting, very it was a the designation application was denied. It was turned down. It was not approved at HPB. But as I think part of a of a of an effort to maybe, on the part of those that did not want to accept the designation, this was like a carrot. This was like, okay, but we will ask for increased enforcement of metal detectors on the beach.

See what I'm saying? The people I think that were in the majority in terms of not wanting the designation, said, okay, but but we'll do this. This will be you know, does this help you that we're gonna do this now and ask for to that. And

that.

And

from the the communication says to strengthen enforcement of city ordinances regarding the use of metal detectors on the beach park. So it sounds like if they are allowed, there's a limitation in terms of how deep they can dig or what activities people who are metal detecting can do. Do we know?

What I would suggest is that we can put together some information and send it to the commission so that you would have the details on the ordinance itself and any of the standards that we use for enforcement.

Yes. So I think that would be helpful so we can understand what their what the current ordinance is. Who enforces the current ordinance around metal detecting on the beach? Is that

Parks and

Park rangers? Is that lifeguards? We have it

parks and rec, but I would

team. Then have the to with team. A

powers, do

they? So enforcement is at the the the bounds of our park rangers and police. I'm not aware of, fire being able to do that kind of enforcement. I know they're kind of more the water safety portion, but from a, enforcement standpoint, you're talking park rangers.

Talking park rangers. Okay. Alright.

So we'll

just However however

yes. Go ahead. Go ahead.

If our lifeguards do observe that activity and and any strange activity on the beach, they do notify park rangers or police and take that next step in communicating that. Just tell them to

blow their whistle at them very loudly and they'll stop.

Right. Well, yes. And, City Manager, I mean, I would hope that our lifeguards, when

the digging if there's deeper digging, I mean,

that they should hopefully, our lifeguards are empowered to say, you cannot do that, stop. Is that are they able to do that?

Are able to say that, but they do not have enforcement powers.

That's fine. But I think the verbal warning matters because of just the danger this could present. Agreed. City attorney?

I just wanted to add for clarity that there isn't an ordinance on point here, but rather these are park rules, established park rules. So there is no ordinance that we could point to that says this or doesn't say that. It's not a matter of ordinance.

Okay. And what do the park rules say?

There is a park rule, 7.4. The following beach regulations are intended to reduce safety hazards, which may cause injury to beach patrons, including digging holes or erecting tents and fencing is prohibited. Canopies of any type may be prohibited as well as during special events at the discretion of the police or ocean rescue, expressly says digging holes, but then those other items as well.

Okay. So there's nothing referencing metal detecting? No. So it's allowed? It's not prohibited. It's not prohibited. Okay. So Mayor, I don't know if we want to address that further, but that's where we are right now.

Well, you're correct. And, so I'm trying to see what as Commissioner Glassman said, this was a topic that came up seeming as a consolation prize for those who walked out of the meeting thinking that they lost their effort to designate a certain area of the beach as a historically significant area. I don't think that's a good way to make a policy. I've never known metal those with metal detectors to have been threatening to anybody on the beach. If anything, they help us clean up the beach.

I know that in the past, they've gotten, I mean, some very valuable things from diamond rings. And I just I don't know if we even need respond to it now based on what you just uncovered, Commissioner Sorenson, that there is no prohibition for metal detectors. The idea is that people are not supposed to set up tents and cabanas and things like that. Those rules are posted. I was just at the beach this morning, and I see those rules are posted up and down A1A.

So by the way, spring break is in full swing from 10:00 in the morning, the bars were open. But anyway, I don't see how we have to respond at this point. And so far, we're looking for solution to a problem that doesn't exist. All right, thank

you. I'm sorry, just one question, though. Any correlation it's really that the benchmark is no deeper than 15 inches, right? Or is that a It's not

11 archaeological archaeological testing report that kind of led to that conclusion, that

that

would be an appropriate depth for any archaeological monitoring or testing to occur.

But there's nothing that codifies that anywhere?

No. Okay. Great.

I'm good.

You, everybody. Commission reports, Vice Mayor. None. You have none. Oh, and by the way, I just wanted to announce that Commissioner Pamela Beasley Pittman could not attend this afternoon, but I understand she will be here this evening. And, Commissioner Glassman? Just because she's not here doesn't mean you have more time.

That's okay. This won't be that long. So thank you. Just wanted to congratulate everyone involved with the it's hard to believe, but the one hundred and sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, that was held over at the Seminole Hard Rock, always well attended, I don't know, maybe 1,000 people, but, it really always stressing how important business is to our community and always nice words, kind words said about Fort Lauderdale, and our business climate and how welcoming we are. So it's always nice to hear that and attend those meetings.

That evening also, I had the pleasure of speaking, to the Central Beach Alliance, monthly meeting. Again, always a huge crowd. I think they probably get, always between seventy five and one hundred residents at a neighborhood civic association meeting, which is, quite an astounding number to meet every single month.

You said Victoria Park?

No, this was Central Beach Alliance.

Oh, Central Beach, okay.

Yes. And this was over at the La Sola Speech Club, actually. We had the meeting there. February 20, had the pleasure of joining the Mayor and Commissioner Beazley Pittman at the spring break press conference along, with our two chiefs and city manager and others. So I just wanted to say thank you for everyone for putting that together. I think it was really educational, a great program. It certainly received a lot of, media attention, all very positive, for the city. That evening, I had the pleasure of joining you, Mayor, over at Catch and Cut to celebrate the 100 birthday of Mary Brickell, and she looks good, let me tell you. 01/1990, right? Is that what she was?

Yes. She had, I think we had some folks that had written books about her and, always very well attended. So congratulations to that association. Actually, had three associations, Downtown Civic, Coley Hammock and also Heights. Beverly Heights. Yes, those

are It's sad a that when I was first a commissioner in the early 2000s, we had designated Northwest 1st Avenue between Broward and Cistrunk, I believe, as Mary Brickell Road. And the commission voted on it. The neighborhood had wanted it. I remember Alan Hooper, who was one of the early developers in that area, had embraced it. And nothing was ever done.

The whole the signs weren't changed. We never really capitalized on the name. And now, honestly, Miami has Mary Brickell was popular there too. She bought up a lot of land there as well. And I think they kind of took over her name and I don't think we really I don't know whether we still have an interest in doing that, but that street was changed, Northwest 1st Avenue.

Why did it not move

to with And And

And I think we should still do perhaps celebrate what with was accomplished in Fort Lauderdale as well. We know what happened in Miami, but that's the conversation

I'll leave it up to the district commissioner, yes. We

can look into that. And if there was commission direction at some point

It was like 2003. It was a long time ago.

Okay.

So Well, that is a

long time ago. Maybe you do it in conjunction with the next year's celebration of her birthday if if they're gonna still do that every year. I don't know. But they seem to have a pattern now of celebrating her birthday.

We can take a look at that. Just a thought.

Coming up tomorrow is the eighteenth annual State of the County Breakfast. I guess that's with Broward Workshop, and I'm sure that will be well attended as well.

I will be saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

Oh,

wow. Yes. But not singing The Star Spangled Ban?

Thank God.

Okay. And so that will be, I'm sure, a very well attended gathering as well. And then at 04:00, I'm very excited about this. We're going to have the ribbon cutting grand opening now that the area is so populated with businesses, but we're going to celebrate Thrive, the Thrive Art District at 04:00, tomorrow in Progresso Village, and looking forward to that as well. Those brothers, have done Jonathan and Abraham have done an amazing job transforming those warehouses and that section of Progressive Village into a real cultural happening, and it's very exciting that we're going to be celebrating what they have accomplished there.

March 5, I'll seven, the Human Rights Campaign Dinner is at the Marriott Harbor Beach. March 11, I'll be with and speaking at the Sail to of see results

It's in Coral The Springs.

Yes. It is. And pretty much, that's it. Mayor, I would request that tonight when we have our moment of silence that we remember, former County Commissioner Sue Gunsberger, if possible. I know that she was a County Commissioner, represented the Hollywood area, but much of her work over the years really did impact our city as well.

I believe she passed away on Sunday. And then I just want to publicly thank our district two outreach coordinator, Ashley Castacito, for her four point five years of service, not just to our district but to our city. Welcome all of her accomplishments and say thank you, and we wish her all of the best. She's going to be staying much closer to home up in, Boynton Beach, taking a position there, which will be a lot easier on her, I'm sure, in terms of her commute. But I wanted to thank her for her four point five years that she dedicated to the city of Fort Lauderdale. That's about it. Thanks, Mayor.

Thank you, Commissioner Sorenson. Thanks, Mayor. Had a great time marching in the Cistrunk Parade with my That was great. That's pictures you got in, but I know you're there, Mayor. That was great, great city manager, a great job with Parks and Rec and PD and Fire and just everyone did a great weather, a great celebration.

So thank you for putting that all together. Mangrove planting continues in our city at fever pitch. So this weekend, planted 65, 70 mangroves at New River Middle School. So thank you to Marco, our Chief Waterway Officer, continues to just set the standard there and very, very exciting progress there with New River and how they can expand their marine science program. So that's great.

Spoke at Breakwater Surf Club Annual Association meeting, which of to And sense for seven species of sea turtles that are here and protected. And so just encourage everyone to be aware. And when the nests are identified to steer clear of those. And even before they're identified, if you see nesting activity, allow the turtle space. We also had the Tri County MPO with the annual SAFE Summit meeting this at the convention center, which went well.

And that's it. Mayor?

Okay, great. Just a few things. On February 19, I participated in at Bass Park. We had the groundbreaking for the new community center that we're going to be building there, plus improvements to the park. It was very well attended and it's and I believe Pam Beasley Pittman grew up at that park as she told us her story when she was at the event.

That same day, the Chamber of Commerce had their annual meeting. It was at the Hard Rock Casino, very, very well attended and several awards were given congratulations to the awardees. And also congratulations to Dan Lindblade. It was his last luncheon that he would be attending as the CEO and President of that organization. We did have the spring break press conference on the twentieth, but word has already gotten out.

The beach was really crowded. It wasn't just kids, though, morning. This A lot of I met a lot of folks who went to spring break in the '80s. And I said, this is a reunion party. And there were people from New Jersey, from Kansas, from everywhere.

I was having a meeting out there this morning. And as I was waiting, I sort of introduced myself to a number of people. And so it was a good mix of people, people from all over the country, all ages, all waiting for the bars to open. And on '26, I attended the MPO Safe Streets Summit, gave opening remarks there. That was, I believe, a two day summit, which a lot of very good ideas were exchanged about how to continue our effort in Vision Zero and to ensure that our streets continue to be safe for pedestrians as well as for vehicles.

And then, yes, on the twenty eighth, this past Saturday, was the Sistrum Parade and Festival. I was very honored to be one of the grand marshals, very well attended. And I think that having that tradition in our city is really a wonderful thing, and I hope we can continue to support that despite legislation that's now, making its way through the state legislature that might deny us, our opportunity to support, events such as this. But I know that our, state representative, Chip Lemarco, voted against the bill. So I'm very proud and thankful for him his having done that.

And Daphne, where are you? Is Daphne here? There you are. Thank you for reporting that to us. We appreciate that. Woman on the scene. So let's see. As Commissioner Glassman indicated, tomorrow is the Broward Workshop State of the County Breakfast. We'll be hearing from the mayor of the county as well as the chair of workshop, giving us basically a point in time as to the successes and challenges that we have as a community working together efforts to diversify our economy and to ensure full employment here in our community. That's at the Convention Center.

And I believe that starts at 07:45 tomorrow morning. Let's see. There's a few other things, but let me just jump to the cut to the chase here. So next weekend, excuse me, not next weekend, the thirteenth, we are doing the St. Patrick's Street striping that's at the Tunnel Top Plaza that will be at 04:30. So very now that the shades are up, we can probably go there and not be inundated by that oppressive sun. And also the St. Patrick's Day Parade the following day. The festival begins at eleven and the blessing at 11:30. The parade starts at noon.

Do we know where the kickoff is? Who's who can answer that? Karl? Karl.

Carl Williams, Parks and Recreation Director. The parade begins just in front of the, I believe, the, Hazinga Park where and then we go east.

Go So it goes down it goes down Las Olas? Yes. How far?

Do you know? I don't know the streets off the top of my head, but it does go, just past, maybe a half block or so from, Lower Ward Plaza. So it's just straight down.

Oh, it's

just a two block parade?

Well, it's going down maybe a little further.

And then

But, like, they cut off towards the the back end there. But I can give you the the

Yes. The actual streets. I think that's an awfully short parade.

So we and this is included in package that we do provide and we'll share that.

Well, for the community to know also, they'd like to know where it begins and where it ends.

I think it goes from Hazinga Plaza to Southeast 9th Ave there. South East 9th Ave. 9th Ave, yes. And the festival is at Tunnel Top Plaza.

Yes. Okay. So it's awfully small plaza awfully small.

Yes. It's typically been that short from at least for the last few times where we've had it at that location because there has been a couple of years where we did it along the beach as well. But for this particular location, we have kind of relatively Well,

in the past, we've had it go through what was then, Los Oles Riverfront, which was a more extended parade route. And when that went under construction, we diverted the Changed it. Right. But now the construction is over. It's gone. So we should talk to the committee and see how we can enhance the route of that parade.

And to have it longer?

Yes. Got it. I think so. Okay. A couple of things, City Manager, so tell us it was brought to my attention that with regard to City Hall project, there's an access agreement that's still pending signed off by legal. Where is it now in your office?

So I had a discussion with the city attorney just this morning to discuss the authorization that the city manager would have to enter into a lease agreement pursuant to our charter. So I am able to sign a lease agreement, which I had not discussed prior to the City Hall project. We had been discussing and actually utilizing a license agreement to allow folks to do due diligence on a city site prior to an agreement. So upon that discussion, I have become comfortable with signing a lease pursuant to the authority that I have based on the charter. And so the commission will be getting a letter to the commission explaining that we're gonna give the proposed developer of the City Hall site the opportunity to do some surveying and due diligence work, whether it's geotechnical or whatever is necessary to determine what the site would require.

So Were we not anticipating that?

I was anticipating a license agreement,

not a lease.

So Sherry, tell us why a lease agreement is more appropriate than a license agreement.

To. The vehicle used lease agreement was done so because, as the manager says, the charter gives the manager the express authority to enter into a lease agreement for less than a year without having to take it to the commission, and it also has a thirty day out. And the reason that was done was because we were looking to expedite this and that would give her the lawful ability to enter into this agreement and get them started on that.

Right. Okay. So we're good there now?

We're good there. And I will be executing the lease and sharing a letter to the commission. My initial feedback was that in prior occasions, we utilized a license agreement, and the city attorney's office had previously opined that a license agreement was appropriate for that purpose. We're now utilizing a lease as the mechanism to allow for that due diligence.

So does the charter not permit a license?

It doesn't expressly say so, Mayor. And so to be specific and certain and accurate, the vehicle was chosen to be a lease. Otherwise, we could have done a license. We could have opined that, that was satisfactory, although the charter wouldn't have said so expressly, Yes. But it would have potentially taken

We want to follow the charter. So all right. So if we can promulgate a lease sooner than later, then that would be great. Okay. Thank I have nothing further.

Yes. May I, if I could just piggyback on

what you're

talking about with City Hall? Because I'm also hearing some things that are concerning to me. Correct me if I'm wrong because this is not my expertise, but in a p three project, wouldn't you normally send out bids for the guaranteed maximum price at around 30% of the drawings design? Because I'm hearing now that Jacobs, who we've hired and we're spending good money with, wants to push that back to 90% of drawings, which that to me could push this project another six months. So what's happening with that?

I'd like to know because I I'm not really interested in seeing this pushback. I don't know why, if it's typical, 30% would be the standard, why we would have to wait until 90% before we can lock in that guaranteed maximum price.

Good

question.

So

that's information he may have on that front.

Okay. Great. Thank you.

Hello, Ben. Good afternoon, Mayor and Commission. Ben Rogers, Assistant City Manager. So to answer your question, Commissioner Glassman, we've, brought on Jacobs right now. We're working on some task orders for them to help us through the interim agreement phase.

During the initial conversation, they identified that, the more contingency that a project has in it or the less definition a project has in it, the likelihood is that there might be challenges in the future. And so they've suggested or provided initial feedback to the city that 90% would provide a much more secured dollar figure or GMP for the project. Staff took that consideration. We haven't moved forward with it or anything of that nature at this point. We're evaluating it.

And then as the manager said, we'll continue to work with the developer as part of the design build group, to deliver that. We understand the time lines that the commission has put forth. And so again, right now, we're in evaluating state, working through the interim agreement scope.

But help me here. If you actually push it from 30% to 90% in that duration of time, won't cost just simply escalate and then a guaranteed maximum price would be a lot more than if we locked it in at 30%?

That's a great point. And that's one the things that we're considering right now we're reviewing. So the information was provided by Jacobs, but working through that, both internally with the city and with the developer as part of the project team to memorialize that as part of the interim agreement and the time line. We did bring the time line that the developer provided at the last update, which identified the key time lines and when we would get the GMP, when we get the financial close and when construction will be completed. And understanding that, we're, again, continuing conversations in the coming progress

years. Lot

the

again, if it is standard that you do this and lock in that GMP at 30%, then why would we not do that? That's all.

Yes. And I think that standard is probably maybe not the best descriptor for this because each project is unique and different. And we understand that some projects lock in early with more contingency and unknown for future, determination. Some wait until later in the process, understanding that we're balancing the needs of the project, the time line of the project and the risk and rewards of the project, we'll bring that forward as part of the interim agreement.

Okay. That makes sense. And I think what you just mentioned also in terms of contingencies, that all I would assume could be worked out between the development team and the city, in that time frame between the 30% and the 90%.

Yes, understood. And like I said, I think it's premature for us to give you a definitive position, but we'll bring it forth as we work through the interim agreement.

Okay. I guess I'm just saying that I'm hoping that this isn't going to cost us another six months in time. That's all.

Understood.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, City Manager.

Okay. Anybody else? Okay. City Manager, your report.

Thank you. Couple of weekends ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Cisstrunk Community Talks launch. So there will be a series of engagement activities with the community in order to promote economic development. So I just want to thank our economic development division. Commissioner Beasley Pittman was also in attendance.

Later on that same day, I attended the gun violence interruption basketball clinic at the YMCA. So I just wanna shout out captain Will August. He did a very good job of pulling that program together. Lots of youth were in attendance and appeared to have a very good time. The Stonewall Gala also occurred on that same day, so it was a very packed Saturday, and I was able to attend that and had an opportunity to represent Fort Lauderdale in that setting.

The Sistrunk Parade, I want to thank our Parks and Recreation team for their outstanding work as well as our Fire and Police departments and ensuring that everyone was safe. We also had Economic Development Division represented and sharing information about opportunities in our city. I'd like to acknowledge our procurement services department. They are award winning. The Florida Association of Public Procurement Officials has recognized the department with two awards: one, Excellence in Public Procurement and the other, Best Practice Award for cost savings.

So huge shout out to Glen Marcos and the entire Procurement Services team. They will get their moment to shine soon. I think they're picking up the hardware as we speak at a conference. Mary, you're right. Spring break is well underway. We do have our public safety professionals hard at work. We know that we're not in the peak moments of spring just yet, but we are anticipating

It's busy.

It's busy. It's gonna get busier and busier. So we are prepared. We are having weekly operational meetings to just recap and determine if we need to pivot or make any changes to our approach as we continue to observe the spring break activity. Just earlier today, you would have received a letter to the commission, number 26Dash053.

It's related to budget hearing dates for fiscal year twenty twenty seven. I want you to take a moment to look at those. I know September? Yes. So the school board and the county, they have already tentatively confirmed their dates.

So at this point, it's time for us to select our dates. Commissioner Beezy Pittman isn't here at this time, so I don't expect us to necessarily have the date selected. But I just want to draw your attention to that letter to the commission. I'm gonna seek some feedback from your office for the first public hearing to be held on Thursday, September 3, and for the second public hearing to be held on Monday, September 14, each of those at 05:01PM. So I'll follow-up with your offices to determine if those dates are appropriate.

Also, today, letter to the commission 26Dash054 was shared with you related to our, federal appropriations request under the community project funding program. Each year, we look at opportunities to leverage city resources with federal dollars. Daphne, our intergovernmental affairs manager, has been working with the various departments to identify funding request opportunities. We have since identified the Los Olas Mobility Project with an $8,000,000 request, the Riverside Park traffic calming mobility project with a $2.2400000.0 dollar request, a $7,000,000 request for the Northeast 1st Street Bridge, a $500,000 request for emergency management high water vehicles. We also have a request that was not incorporated in the letter to the commission.

It just came in from our police department seeking 1,770,000.00 for the gun violence interruption program. We will send out an update to the letter to the commission. These are, the requests that we are proposing, for this cycle. And if there's any feedback on those, we would ask that you share it with our team. The deadline to submit these requests is Friday, March 6.

We did also get an external request from the YMCA for the Holiday Park facility for $3,000,000 in order to leverage some of the funding that they've already been able to secure for the $53,000,000 project. At this time, we're doing our due diligence with the offices of the various members at the federal level to identify whether or not the YMCA would be able to submit a request independent of the city or if the city would need to be the lead applicant on such a request.

So let's stop right there. What the manager is trying to explain to us is that because we have appropriation requests with the federal government, we're concerned that this ask by the YMCA might compromise the success of the other requests that we have by asking for an additional $3,000,000 So she's probably looking for some feedback from us as to how we would need to respond to the YMCA. But are you saying that you first want to find out more information about the application that they've made?

Yes. We do need to get that confirmation. We've been told that the rules have changed this year, but we want to officially get that from our members and understand whether or not we can suggest that the YMCA submit a request on its own and perhaps provide a letter of support or whether the city would want to be the lead applicant. It should be noted that last year we received $2,200,000 in federal appropriations, 1,000,000 for the public safety training facility and $1,200,000 for the Los Solas Mobility Project. So right now, the funding request that we have proposed far exceed last year's amount that we were able to to be awarded.

So it is possible that because we do have that Northeast 1st Street Bridge project, is in the same district as the YMCA project. It could be seen as potentially looking at a lot of funding requests for a small area. So we are very supportive.

Where's the bridge on north what you say Northeast 1st Street. What bridge is that?

North the Northeast 1st Street Bridge. Can you Where is that? Sheraben.

Northeast 1st Street. And what's the cross street or avenue?

Mayor, it's the Northeast 1st Street over Stranahan Lake. So it goes from Victoria Park, over to one of the quays. If you come up to Victoria Park?

Okay. Thank you.

So once we have that clarification, we can inform the commission, but it is very likely that we will have to streamline our requests and anticipate that we may not be very successful considering past trends.

City manager, is it all going to hinge on whether or not we're actually able to do that kind of application or whether they just have to do that application, meaning the why as a not for profit?

So my understanding is that the Y has been able to secure $53,000,000 in funding. And so I believe that the project is fully funded and that the $3,000,000 would be used to leverage the funding that they've been able to secure. I believe that if we are required to serve as the lead applicant, I think that the Y is seeking support from the commission in order to do so.

I thought that the lease agreement with Broward Health pretty much secured the funding necessary in order to build and also, I believe, the Vice Mayor and who are the two commission districts that donated part of their Parks Bond money also to that?

One and two.

One and two, Correct.

And the city is contributing $2,000,000 toward the pool.

That's what I'm talking about. So but again, I thought that the arrangement with the tenants of Broward Health was sufficient to secure all the funding necessary. And you say it's to leverage. What are we leveraging against? Is this money they're borrowing? Is this another grant they're seeking?

So my understanding and the way that the city utilizes grant funding as well is that potentially projects are fully funded. But if we are able to secure external grant funding, then that offsets the cost that the city would have for projects. And I believe that is the same model that the YMCA is looking to utilize.

Okay. Well, if you can find that out for us, that would be helpful. All right. And that concludes our report. Okay. City Attorney, do you have a report?

No report, Mayor, but just a reminder that we have a closed door session at the end of this call.

Yes, yes, ma'am. Okay. Old business, new business, Business One. Public engagement in budget process, Office of Management and Budget. Will be giving that report?

We have Laura Rees, Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Laura is

all bejeweled and beguiled looking to

She will later be joined by Kevin Paleto, Director of Strategic Communications. Okay.

All right. Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commission, the bejeweled comment you got me. Laura Reese, Director of Office of Management and Budget. And each year at this time of year, before we kick off the budget process, we come to share opportunities with you and the community of ways they can become engaged in this 2027 budget process. So as the manager mentioned, I'm here today with my colleague, Kevin Pulido, the Director of Strategic Communications, and we're going to share with you some of the opportunities. I'm going to review the presentation, and at the end, he's going to share a short video and some of the efforts, the strategic communication plans to engage in this year.

Very good.

So the city of Fort Lauderdale is committed to the public engagement and we do this in a variety of ways. We do that in in a way that we can engage with the community and meet them where they are. So you're gonna see some high-tech, some high touch options as we go through the presentation. The budget is the city's most important policy document. It reflects our values and our priorities.

Residents fund the budget through taxes and fees, and they deserve meaningful opportunities to shape it. Transparent, inclusive engagement builds trust in local government. It improves decision making. It improves, it reduces miscommunication and increases community buy in for some of the difficult trade offs that we'll have to engage in this year. Engagement isn't just outreach, it's shared decision making.

We carefully design a budget process that includes opportunities for engagement from internal and external stakeholders, which I'll review as I progress through the presentation. In order to have an inclusive and thorough budget process, it takes time, and nine months to be particular. We start our process each year in January with you at goal setting, and this is in order to have a proposed budget to the city commission as required by this charter in the month of July and two public hearings in the month of September as the manager discussed recently. So here's a few dates that will be key to you in the budget process. So again, January 13, we had the prioritization and goal setting meeting with the commission, which was fabulous.

Adopted your priorities. So now we know where all the departments are aiming their requests for, as part of the budget development process. All budget requests were due to OMB last night at midnight. So, we haven't dug in yet, but those have now been submitted. We'll be working with the revenue estimating conference committee on meetings in March and April. The joint the first joint meeting that you'll have with the Budget Advisory Board is scheduled for April 21. That's the first workshop. The budget advisory board has individual meetings with departments. Those are scheduled for May. Your second joint committee or your second joint meeting with the budget advisory board is scheduled for June 16.

That's where they'll provide perspective on those rates before you set them, the maximum millage rate, the fire assessment fee, storm water fee, and that's in preparation for your July 2 meeting. At the July 2 meeting, the city manager ASPR's charter, will share her proposed budget with you, and you will set those maximum rates in the non ad valorem assessment rates that we'll have to share with the property appraiser. And after that, you'll get to take a little bit of a vacation while the city auditor digs into the budget with us. So the city auditor during the month of August will review the proposed budget and we'll be reviewing the proposed budget with the budget advisory board as well. And after you come back from break on August 18, you'll have your final joint meeting with the Budget Advisory Board.

And at that meeting, they'll weigh in on the proposed budget and the items in the proposed budget, before you have the two public hearings in September where you adopt the budget.

So just to stop you for just So a did the commission correct I'm not sure if my memory serves me well. Did the commission already agree to make the last meeting before break July 2? We did

do that.

Yes.

Okay. All right. Thank you.

All right. I'm not advancing. There we go. Okay. As you know, we have a board exclusively dedicated to ensuring there's transparency and that taxpayers position is represented in the budget process, the Budget Advisory Board. The Office of Management and Budget is liaison to that board, but all of our departments serve a very important role in interfacing with them. They meet with you three times per year as we just discussed, and they the reason for those meetings are to make sure that they're aligned with your vision and to make sure that they're on track and communicating back to

you

throughout The Budget Advisory Board consists of 10 members, each of you appoint two. And a few of the recent accomplishments are champion strategically enhancing public safety, so they've really been advocating for public safety enhancements over the last years. They've helped us to maintain a low millage rate with some of their recommendations, and they've garnered support for the public safety headquarters and park improvement projects when those bonds were up for referendum, and they've also spearheaded an analysis of revenue growth opportunities, in the most recent budget advisory board meeting or one of the most recent ones we reported back, some of our accomplishments and progress in that area. The Revenue Estimating Conference Committee is a lesser known committee but also important. It consists of a member of the Budget Advisory Board, a member of the Audit Advisory Board, a member of staff from the budget team, and from the finance team, and they meet in publicly noticed meetings to estimate the general fund revenues.

One reason this is really important is during the recession, there were tendencies of governments to overestimate revenues because we had to have balanced budgets. So this was one of those transparent processes that we put in place to make sure that there's no question that our revenues are being estimated based on data. We also, for those folks who don't want to come to meetings and they want to kind of explore on their own, we have a lot of information on our public websites. Items such as our preliminary budgets by departments, they break down expenses to the line item details. We have those in hard copy packets or the PDFs, but we also have interactive data or we call it a transparency portal where folks can look at live information in terms of the finances and the actuals each month.

We have adopted budget books for many years on the website. We also have a tool called the Balancing Act, and we share this with the commission and with the community during the budget process. And then closer to the public hearings we really promote it. But it's a tool that allows the, allows for transparency in terms of what's in the budget, but it also allows, users to go into the tool and share their priorities so they can reduce expenditures in one area, increase or decrease revenues or expenses. We ask that they have a balanced budget when they submit, but they can submit with or without balance.

These, colored images are not labeled?

Sorry.

Just next time.

Okay. Well, sorry about that. Good point. So but but the point is transparency. On the website, it is labeled and it does provide good information, so we'll make sure when we update the slide that we share that.

Transparency, vice mayor, transparency.

I would tell you red is public safety. So Right. Exactly. So, we do have a separate citizen engagement portal on the website where we try to centralize a lot of the information. If you go to www.fortlauderdale.govbackslashbudget, you can get to all of this.

A lot of good information. We spend a lot of time making sure the community is informed. That's key meeting dates and overview of the process, where we are in the process. We'll link links to the goal setting video that you all were able to see, and other such information, your priorities will all be on there. And with that, as a recap, the members of the public can attend the annual Commission Prioritization Workshop.

Well, they can't anymore this year, but next year they can attend. They can attend any of the sixteen Budget Advisory Board or Revenue Estimating Conference Committee meetings. Those are in person meetings. They can engage with OMB via the website in the data portals. They can communicate directly with you. You have amazing staff members that are communicating with OMB and asking questions and sharing back with your communities. Attending the September budget hearings are another good way, and they can request a presentation at their association if they would like one of those as well. So with that, I'll turn it over to Kevin to share a little more.

Hello, Kevin.

Thank you so much, Laura. So as the video comes up, my name is Kevin Palito, Director of Strategic Communication. So what you're going to see in just a second, this is a quick video interactive way for our residents to stay involved in the budget process. You'll start to see this roll out on our social media channels as well as, on Nextdoor, and on the budget page that Laura just mentioned. So I'm gonna pause for the video.

We're kicking off planning for the upcoming year's city budget, and your input is vital to the process. Get involved and tell us what you think is most important. Here's how. You can connect with your commissioner and share your feedback. Attend a budget advisory board meeting. There are 12 opportunities each year. Create your own budget using the city's balancing act portal. There, you can share feedback with the commission and city management. We're listening, and we take all your comments seriously. Together, we're building a bright future for Fort Lauderdale. Together, we are FTL.

Great. So that, that's just a fun interactive way. If you haven't used the balancing act portal, it's a really great tool where residents can, go on and they can build their own, budget, in respect to the different colors. They can make the colors whatever they want it to be and whatever they prioritize. This is the single most important document, our city is gonna put out. So we want everyone to to take place in this process. So we're gonna be promoting this heavily. It's very important as we all know, how important your property taxes are especially this year. So that's something that we're going to reinforce in our messaging. There's also a we are also going to be reinforcing when the different departments are going to the advisory boards.

So if somebody has a public works item or transportation item, they could go to the their respective, excuse me, meetings and they could go ahead and participate in that process. So with that, any questions?

Any questions of Kevin?

I do. And Kevin, thank you for that. You just mentioned the words property taxes. So I want to know what we're doing in terms of planning and how far you want to go with the messaging and the education in terms of exactly what property taxes pay for in our city, and percentage of revenue, in terms of our budget. Is that gonna be part of the educational piece of this as we roll this out over the next few months?

So you are going to see, as a set a separate campaign, if you will, in respect to property taxes and how important they are and kind of what is what your property taxes fund. In respect to the budget as well, there's going to be different highlights that, to just highlight property taxes in the budget. But you're gonna have, you're gonna have kind of a separate campaign related to that, and you'll start to see that a lot more on our messaging so residents really understand what their property taxes are going to.

And I just wanna share, commissioner, that we will be focused on education and not advocacy. So everything is just about making sure that our neighbors understand the facts.

Yes. No. That makes sense. I I believe we did that, with the Parks bond and

the police We're not allowed to advocate.

We can

Right. Only It was effective and but very necessary, I think, and really important. Thank you. Thank you, Kevin.

Thank you. City Manager, along those lines, as we think about Tallahassee and the property tax reduction possibility, I mean, this is real, I think. It's there's going to be possibly a special session. So what dollar amount impact are we projecting? There's various proposals, but what dollar amount impact are we possibly anticipating for the city's budget? And kind of how are you thinking through what would be some major financial reductions we'd have to take?

So we have been tracking the various proposals. We've received information through the property appraiser's office. Our budget team has been running various scenarios. So it could really range. I'm going to ask Yvette to share what that range is.

While she's coming up, I do want to share that our mindset is definitely geared toward that anything could happen. We can't predict what the legislature will do and we don't know when something might happen, whether it's this year or the next cycle. And so what I've shared with our management team at the budget kickoff is that our focus is going to be on fiscal prudence, resourcefulness and innovation. So those are the three themes that should carry through our budget development process. We're also being very mindful as we are currently at the table with our two biggest unions, fire and police.

And so we are keeping all of this at the forefront because we just don't know what the true impact could be. Yvette, can you just go through what some of the Absolutely. Impacts might be

And on before you do that, Yvette, just you said there's three main areas you're focused on: fiscal prudence? Fiscal prudence, resourcefulness and innovation.

You.

Yvette Mathews, Assistant City Manager. So almost 30% of our Avalorum revenue comes from homesteaded properties. And what that equates to is about $72,800,000. Of the eight proposals that were entered into the house, the range the fiscal impact to the city would range from that $72,800,000 down to $200,000. Most of the proposals were in the $20,000,000 range, which were the more moderate proposals.

So we are very closely watching them. We've seen some movement on a couple of the bills. Unfortunately, one went from a $20,000,000 impact to a $72,000,000 impact, but we are monitoring them. Daphne has been working very closely with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that we stay on top of those changes that are occurring.

Thanks. And so our anticipation is what we're thinking. We so something could happen during the regular session, but it sounds like it's more likely going to be a special session. Is that our analysis?

Even if it's a special session, it's supposed to be voted on the electorate, which means it would be November. So it couldn't be this fiscal year. At the very least, it would be 2728, but even more than likely be 2829. But again, we don't know. And I think that there's a whole range of proposals. We don't know how many are going to be put on the ballot, whether it be a single one, whether it be several. And remember, they have to get 60% or more to be validated. So that's why they can't give us a straight answer.

Right. Yeah. But I think we need to be doing everything we can because I think it's likely something's going to

Something Well, you never know. Hey, Yvette, not so fast. Yes, Yvette, so what is this corollary I've heard that we're not allowed to any reduction in tax revenues revenues cannot affect police and fire protection. How does that work? Does that mean that they that homestead people still have to pay for police and fire protection?

No, sir.

So they get a free ride?

Yes. So what it would mean is that the city would not be able to reduce the budgets that we have in place. And there are a couple of different versions of this, but most of them indicate the budget either in fiscal year twenty twenty seven. We would be locked in at the rate that we were paying either for police and fire or one of them had just police as the group that would be locked in. And so that would mean public safety is the majority of our general fund budget.

So that would mean as we looked for reductions, we would not be able to target public safety as an area for reducing our budget in order to accommodate the reduction in revenue, or we would have to increase revenue either through increasing our property taxes to accommodate the additional revenue that would be needed from the non homestead exempted properties in order to continue the same level of funding for public safety.

Or other

services that we provide.

Exactly.

But so at the same time, it's also my understanding since we're not able to change the level of funding, that means going forward, police and fire can no longer expect raises in their compensation packages. It would be frozen.

So it does not specifically indicate that we cannot provide additional funding to these, groups. What it would mean is that the city would have limited resources, and we probably would not be fiscally able to provide additional increases to these groups. Right.

Okay. Thank you. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.

Yes, no, no.

Thanks. When we look at let's look at FY 2028, FY 2029 as a possibility. I know Stantec has done an analysis. Just right now, our projection I think we have a projected deficit for FY 2028 and 2029. What are those numbers right now, which I think that analysis does not include any property tax reductions if I'm saying So that

we're in the $20,000,000 range for FY 2028, and it's about $30,000,000 for FY 2029. There are some pretty significant, impacts that we anticipate having in 2028, the first of which is the SAFR grant. We anticipate that that will be the year that the SAFR grant will end, and we will have to assume the full responsibility for the 28 firefighters that we added under that programming. There are a couple of other pretty significant financial impacts that we anticipate seeing in twenty 'twenty eight, which again will impact us in 'twenty nine, which is why that number continues to grow.

Okay. So to add that up, just worst case scenario is FY 'twenty eight, we could be at a $28,000,000 deficit plus $72,000,000 on top of that. So that's possibly $100,000,000 deficit if the worst case property tax proposal passes and the voters vote on it. Is that my math That's correct. Okay. So City Manager, I mean this is a huge number. This is $100,000,000 possibly FY 2028 deficit. So share with me how we start thinking about this and how we start preparing for the a worst case scenario.

We are already engaging in some exercises at the department level to identify where we could see some cost savings. But to get to $100,000,000 nightmare scenario, we're going to have to make some very strategic decisions. And I believe that we will have to potentially sacrifice some of the services that we offer or find opportunities to generate revenue that we have not yet pulled the trigger on or leveraged. And so I think that scenario will lead us to making some dramatic changes in the way that operate and staff Okay. As a

And so Unless we decide to raise taxes. Yes. Which, yes, I'm not interested in doing. The so I think as we sit here today, my view is we need to be doing everything now to prepare for a worst case scenario, and it's not the sky is falling, but we've got to be reasonable that this is there is a strong likelihood that we're going

to face

significant deficits in our budget. Is that

And that is our mindset as we go through the budget development process. Even if it doesn't happen or impact us this year, it's always great to be prepared. So that is what we're currently embarking

on. Okay. Is Trent Simpson here? Come on up, Trent.

Mayor, before we get to that, I have a question for the city attorney. So one thing I and I don't need an answer right now, but at some point, I'd like you to research the ramifications of voted debt service, okay? We've So got general obligation typically, when something like this would pass, any voted debt service would not be touched by this. So I believe constitutionally we can't impair those contracts.

That would make sense, but let me go ahead and verify.

Right. And one of the reasons I bring this up is that as we're looking at how we're going to fund a new future City Hall, we may want to think very seriously about doing a GO bond, that's voted debt service. If we put that on a November ballot and that becomes voted debt service, it can't be impaired by any future property tax reform. If we fund this out of general fund revenues and we lose our ad valorem tax revenue, we're going to have a serious challenge funding our debt service on future city hall. So something that I think we need to think about.

The only way that we can protect the revenue to secure the debt service on City Hall may be through a GO bond with voted debt service that will be grandfathered in.

Okay. We'll have to explore that. Sure.

And is that just so is that voted on by the voters? Is that okay?

Yes. We do a referendum. It's voted debt service. It goes on the property tax bill. And Florida constitution prohibits any impairment of contracts. So that's essentially a contract. So any changes to the, property tax reform won't impair that existing structure.

Okay. Thank you.

Trent? Okay. Thank you. I have a prepared statement that I'd like to share with the commission.

Sure. Have it.

Okay. Thank you, distinguished commission members and honorable mayor. While the matter I'm raising is not directly on today's agenda, it is closely related to BSU One and the discussions surrounding public engagement and the budget process, which I fully support. I invite you to consider how the issue of the new city hall has unfolded. It is my concern that the public has not been fully informed of the options available regarding the city's future home.

It is my understanding that this body is divided on whether to acquire an existing building or construct a new facility on the former city hall site. It is also my understanding that some members are unwilling to engage with the owners of two buildings who have expressed a willingness to sell to the city. This is where I have concern. If there is a reluctance to conduct fact finding on the acquisition option, then the public cannot be fully informed, and their will cannot be adequately And company's has deliver term financial position.

We the

company's stewardship requires disciplined evaluation of cost, benefits and long term impacts. Just as families must weigh once against responsibilities, so too must this body carefully steward taxpayer dollars. I'm not here to advocate exclusively for acquisition over development. I'm here to advocate for due diligence. If an acquisition opportunity exists, it is the duty of this commission to obtain necessary information so that any decision made is informed, transparent and in the best interest of the community.

Public engagement requires informed leadership. I'd like to read that again. Public engagement requires informed leadership. Decisions that will shape our community for generations should not be made without full evaluation of the available options. I respectfully urge this commission to engage with the potential sellers, gather the relevant information, ensure that whatever path is chosen is a result of a thoughtful and comprehensive review. Thank you.

Great. Thank you so much. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak on this item? Okay. There being none, we'll continue on to Business two, Presentation on the Uptown Urban Village Planning Initiative Development Services Department.

Thank you. We have Anthony Fajardo, Director of Development Services as well as Jim Hetzel.

Yes. Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor Commission. Anthony Fajardo, Development Services Director. We are going to provide a presentation on some of the history and background that led to the changes we're seeing in Uptown. We think it's a pretty good story. That area has seen a lot of redevelopment occur recently that was outside of the norms of what was typically there. And so I'm going to turn it over to Jim, and he's going to run the presentation, and we're happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners. Jim Metzl, urban design planning manager at DSD. When I started my employment with the city in 2014, one of the first assignments I was given was to represent DSD at a meeting being held by Envision Uptown Group. Envision Uptown was made up of business owners and corporate representatives of in that area that wanted to see the area transition from a Monday through Friday office environment into a vibrant urban village. Myself, along with a representative from TAM and The U. And the

and S.

And initiatives in the city, including Downtown, Central Beach and the South Andrews, just to name a few. And to look at the comparison of this area, Uptown is about three sixty one acres in size compared to Downtown, which is seven ten acres, Central Beach is two sixty two and South Andrews is two seventy, just to name a few of the size in comparison of that area. The history of the timeline on the screen you see where we started in 2014 with Envision Uptown Group. From there, the city and Envision engaged their Urban Land Institute to do a technical assistant panel report that focused on a list of recommendations that the commission adopted and accepted in 2015 that led to the 2016 making it a commission priority for the area, commission priority and giving funding for it in 2016 to work on. I'm not quite sure why the slides are moving by themselves.

On faster, Jim.

Come on.

I mean, I've trying to keep up with the slides. I'm having a hard time. I'm not quite sure why. Yes, keeps moving.

It's AI. Okay.

Yes. I'm just in the background. Let's just keep doing it. So the timeline leading up to 2016 when the city got funding to work on the project with a consultant, develop the code amendment and the master plan vision. In 2020, we approved the first project, which you see on the top right hand of the screen that used the foreign based regulations, which I believe is called TRIO at this time.

And in 2025, we did our land use amendment to the area where the commission adopted a single use designation for it. I think they might be helping me fix my issue. Might be on the setting maybe. And pretty recently, we received award from the Smart Growth Partnership for the Uptown area for our sustainable growth, planning initiative. So think it's going back and forth.

So the vision for Uptown is a vibrant urban village with a mix of uses and a sustainable growth pattern for the future. It includes a mix of uses, as I mentioned, also a transit oriented focus walkable block development pattern along with affordable housing as one of those options as well. And also the area has a higher elevation than most of the city. I think this slide is where we should pick up on, okay. So of the development projects that have occurred in the area, there's been seven projects occur have been through the process.

One has been built, which is the Trio project I've just previously mentioned. Three have been approved and two are under review and one is under construction right now. As of now too, we have about three more potential projects coming in an area that have not submitted applications at this time. The next slide. So on this screen, you see an image of the first project that was completed.

We knew it as Fairfield as it went through the approval process, but now they call it Trio. This project is an eight storey mixed use development that has ground floor retail, and also two fifty six I'm sorry, two ninety five units, eight of them being affordable housing in the project and it's about eight storeys tall. The next slide has some of those that are approved and under construction with the project on the top left at Mila, Mila, however you want to pronounce it, has three twelve units in a seven story building in his existing office building. To the right is Avery, and Avery is a seven story mixed use project with 200 units and 24 of those being affordable. Bottom left is Aspire, which is 200 I'm sorry, three forty five units in a five story product with ground floor retail.

That particular project is located on the F. Park And Ride lot, if you know where that is in the Southeast Corner Of Andrews And Cypress Creek Road. And then on the bottom right is the Cypress multifamily, which recently got approved by the commission is nine seventy three units with 145 of those being affordable. Next slide. What's in review right now on the left is Target, 90,000 square feet Target going into the existing Cypress Creek Station shopping center.

They are going to demolish the Regal Cinema and Office Depot location and build the Target there in its place. And on the right, recently approved by the commission is Pinnacle, which is in a senior affordable housing, about 196 units in that project as well. Next slide.

So people are still shopping retail?

A little bit of retail. So as we move forward, some of the implementation steps are identified in the Uptown Master Plan, it talks about multimodal improvements. And since there's multiple jurisdictions on the roadway system up in the Uptown area, including state and county, this implementation process and this step looks at the city's roads, where can we do improvements in multimodal, sidewalk enhancements, bicycle paths and so forth. So that would be part of the capital improvement project or projects coming forward. The reason why we identify this is because during our land use amendment approval for Uptown, we committed to FDOT to do this plan as part of the approval for that land use change.

So we need to identify it and move forward with certain projects. Next slide. Another aspect in the implementation section of the master plan is branding the area and how do you identify a brand for the area so it succeeds beyond just getting development projects coming in. But once these things are built, how do people identify and have a sense of place for Uptown? That could be done through consultant work and different ideas and markers. What you see on the screen is just an idea of what a marker identification marker could be for the area. And with that, I think that's it Update. So that was a quick update on the projects that are coming in and the Uptown initiatives. So I'll take any questions at this time.

Okay. Thank you, Jim. Anyone have any questions of Jim?

So not a question, but just a comment. So thank you, Jim. I appreciate this. This goes back to Bruce Roberts and carried through by Heather after that and now has landed with me. And I'm fortunate to be here as we're seeing all these projects come to fruition. So they always say that a lot of stuff is standing on the people, the shoulders of the folks that came before you. So we're really standing on the shoulders and the work that was done prior to my getting here. And I'm just very excited about all these. You can see all the affordable housing that we're creating up in

the

district, a lot of new housing. We're really getting a lot of traction up there. This is going to be a great live work environment. We haven't really developed the play aspect of it, but we're really looking forward to making this another kind of economic generator for the city of Fort Lauderdale besides just downtown. We've got a lot of great businesses up there. We've got the Tri Rail Station. We got access to the Turnpike. We've got access to 95. Of course, we've got the airport up there. So it's a very dynamic location.

We bring people down from Pompano and areas north, even as far up as the Boca area come down to that environment. We're attracting a lot of tech to that area because of hot wire and Citrix and things like that. So it's a very dynamic area, but creating places where people can afford to live, where young professionals can afford to live close to where they work is I think the kind of thing that makes it so exciting to be a part of what's going on up there. These zoning changes are going to continue to facilitate that. We've got related group is doing one of those projects that we looked at.

We've got the reconfiguration of the old Pan American mobile home park up there, which has always been a challenge for us. It's been an area of high concern for our police department. So I think you're going to see a lot of great things continue to happen in the North Andrews Corridor along Cypress. And I can tell you just we're all very excited about what's going on. So thank you to everybody that's worked on this on the Looper for so long now. We really appreciate it.

Welcome. Thanks.

All right, great. I think the most really one of the best aspects of this is its proximity to the Tri Rail Station. We keep all these cities along up and down the coast keep talking about transit oriented development. This is a classic example of how it works. And so the more we see being built in and around that area, the more we're contributing to that narrative. So thank you, Jim, for all your work. We appreciate it.

You. What's interesting about that, Mayor, is this is one of the parts of town where the Tri Rail Station is located right in the middle of where all this activity is actually For taking much of the Tri Rail route, it lies west of our downtown areas, which is why the commuter rail has been so important in our ongoing conversations for the last twenty years. But for the Uptown Cypress Creek area, it's right smack in the middle of it. So it's an important component of how we make things work up there.

So Daphne, please make sure that we get funded. Where are you Daphne? Did she leave?

Keep running. Okay.

Thanks so much, gentlemen. There's no further business on the agenda. City Manager, is there anything additional that you'd like to add to the conference meeting?

Nothing additional. I would just like to share that hospitality will be at five.

Okay. So are we allowed to do the closed door session before it's scheduled?

Yes, we may.

We will Okay. Do right All right. So now at this time, the City Commission shall meet privately to conduct discussions between the city manager, the city attorney and the city commission relative to pending litigation pursuant to Section 20 excuse me, 286.01 one (eight) of the Florida Statutes in connection with the following three cases: City of Fort Lauderdale v. Florida Department of Transportation, fourth District Court of Appeal City of Fort Lauderdale v. Florida Department of Transportation, this is the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings and the City of Fort Lauderdale v.

Florida Department of Transportation. This is again the fourth District Court of Appeal. Present at the attorney client session will be myself, Vice Mayor, Commissioner John C. Herps, Commissioner Stephen Glassman, Commissioner Pam I don't know if Pam will be there, so she's invited Commissioner Ben Sorensen City Manager, Raquel Williams City Attorney Sharon McCartney Deputy City Attorney will Duane Spence be there? Okay.

Assistant City Attorney Sean Amarnani, Outside Counsel Howard Dubosar and Outside Counsel Jeremy Rosner and Certified court reporter for Bailey Antin Court Reporting. The estimated length of the session will be about fifteen minutes for each case for a cumulative length of forty five minutes. This meeting is now concluded. We shall return at 06:00 for the evening meeting. Where are we going? Are we doing it here? Are we doing it downstairs?

No, across the way.

Across the way. Okay. Thank you.