Town Council - Regular Meeting

Good morning everyone. We're going to call this meeting to order. Today is Monday, March 2nd. It is 9:00 a.m. All council members are present, including town manager, deputy, town manager, town attorney, and town clerk. If you please rise for the invocation, followed by the pledge of allegiance.

We thank you for being with us here today. As we begin this meeting, let us take a moment to express our gratitude for the opportunity to serve this community. We are thankful for the people of Fort Myers Beach, its residents, its visitors, and all who contribute to making our island special. May we approach today's discussions with respect, understanding, and a shared commitment to making decisions that benefit everyone. Let us be grateful for the chance to work together for a better future for our town. Amen. Amen. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Next is our approval of the final agenda. Um, item B under public hearings has been rescheduled to the MP meeting on the 5th at 9:00 a.m. Is there any other changes to the final agenda? Move to approve as amended. A motion by councelor King. I'll second by councelor Mlan. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Hearing none, that motion carries unanimously. Next is public comment. Chris, come on up. Good morning. Um, I'm here.

Hold on a second. Is that mic? Hold on a second, Chris. Is that mic on? Okay, go ahead.

Well, then I'll do it again. Is that I kind of messed that up. Okay. Good morning, town council and town staff. Um, my name is Chris King. I am vice president of the Fort Myers Beach Library District Board and I just want to give a shout out to the friends of the Fort Myers Beach Library for hosting uh a fabulous book sale over the weekend. I don't know if you were able to attend, but especially president of that organization, Jan Fleming, did a fabulous job. This was the first book sale that we have had since Ian and it was a record-breaker. $4,700 was raised that will go back to the library. And we'll be doing another one at the end of March. So, if you didn't get to this one, there's still a lot of books. So, make sure you get out there and support the library. Thank you.

Thank you, Chris. Right. Seeing no one else out there, we'll close public comment. Local achievements and recognitions. Councelor Mlan, we'll start with you. Uh, I'm still thinking about getting my laptop up and running. So, okay. Well, we'll we'll start on the other side then. We'll go councelor King with you.

I'd like to recognize Anchorage Advisory Committee Chair, library board vice president, love of my life, and all-around swell person, Chris RLE King. This is her birthday month, and this is public acknowledgement, and it's cheaper than a card. But, uh, that's not the real reason uh, for the recognition. Chris has been nominated for the Keep Lee County Beautiful Volunteer of the Year for her continued and continual cleanup of Fort Myers Beach. Uh the winner will be recognized at a breakfast Thursday morning. So, congratulations. Congratulations,

Scott. I'd like to go a little bit outside of our area, but they have a great impact. Um, we celebrated Captains for Clean Waters 10th anniversary last week, last weekend at Edison Ford Estates. And if you ever say to yourself, I I can't make a change, you're wrong. Because these two guys, Captain Dan and um, Captain Mike, they they created this organization that is is creating change and it's creating change for our environment and they're now a political force. It's just incredible to see how they've grown in the last 10 years. And I know Dan, one of one of your questions last week um was what's more important, environment, mental, your health, or business? And I I got to tell you, if it wasn't for clean water, you wouldn't have mental health. You wouldn't have business. So I kudos to those guys. And I hope the next 10 years is even going to be bigger and brighter. And we should challenge these new developments to what are they going to do to help with with our environment and protect our clean water. So kudos to those guys. Thank you.

Thank you, Rebecca. Yes. Um I would like to take a minute and just thank uh Tuniskin and recognize them for their leadership with the beach cleanup as well as helping with our shirts for our upcoming anniversary.

All right. Um, I'd just like Yeah, my computer's now running. Uh, I'd just like to uh also congratulate Chris on all of her achievements. Um, they've been numerous over the last uh year or more than since since the hurricane and I've gotten to know you. So, thank you very much. Uh, and I was very happy to bring a couple of bags of books home from the library myself and I got some good stuff in there. So, thank you.

Very good. Congratulations, Chris. And I want to take a second because I don't know we'll have a time on Thursday to be able to do it with the 30th anniversary coming up uh celebration on Friday. Want to take a minute to recognize and thank all of those that came before us, both staff, uh committee members, council members, mayors, vice mayors, uh over the last 30 years that have paved the way to where we are now. And hopefully we'll be able to continue that tradition. and in uh 30 years from now, they'll come back and hopefully thank us for doing what we've had to do after a devast devastating hurricane. So again, thank you to all that came before us. Hopefully, we'll get to see all of you out there on Friday. Um if for some reason you have not received an invitation, consider this an invitation for me personally to be out there because we would like to see as many of you as possible. Um with that, we'll move on. Uh Chris, come back up. Someone's got to be the highlight,

I guess. Is the mic on now? Not yet. Need the mic on again, guys? Okay, there we go.

Uh Chris King again, and this time I am wearing the hat of the head or the uh what am I? A chair. There you go. I'm the chair of the Anchorage Advisory Committee. Just want to let you know all of the things that we've got going on. Um we are looking forward to welcoming our new committee member, Tom Hedrickk. So, thank you very much for appointing him. He was not able to attend our February meeting, but we should be seeing him in March. We appreciate the very complete and detailed monthly reports that our harbor master Curtis Lewick has been presenting us on activity in the Moringfield and in our Anchorage areas. We celebrate the information he presented last week, showing that the Moringfield revenues are trending up both as a result of and in spite of 2026 increases that may have led a few borders to anchor rather than more. And additionally, in spite of several spells of unseasonably cold and challenging weather that may have kept people away, committee member Ted Law, who is sort of our longest serving member and remembers everything, he's been analyzing our Moringfield activities and revenues over the past 10 plus years, and he will be sharing that information with our committee in March. So that will give us a really great benchmark to understand where we've been in the past and where we need to go in the future. We look forward to learning more about the technical application that I know that the town is putting in place for sharing agendas and meeting information. Lette attended our meeting. She gave us a sneak preview of Civic Plus last week and she'll provide additional information about how to use the tool as it enters phase two. Uh I just had a conversation with Nancy. She's been working on reviewing the roles and responsibilities that we put forth for consideration. We're going to be meeting on Wednesday to try and finalize that and figure out where they need to be documented if anywhere and just make sure that we have the right uh level set on our roles and responsibilities moving forward for 2026. Plans for our upcoming cruisers appreciation day event on Sunday, April

12th from 12 to 3 at Bayside Park continue. We thank and appreciate our generous 2026 monetary sponsors. We have Fly Heli Tours, the Florida Marine Contractors, Sam Lurie, and John and Kathy Nash. With these contributions and the more than $2,000 we have left from last year's event and the 2025 2026 budget, we now have more than $6,000 for this year's event and future events. We also thank Beach Talk Radio for offering to provide on-site AV assistance and promotion. And for our many, many inind sponsors, we are still finalizing those. will promote all sponsors through the communication plan being developed by Abby and Nora, which we greatly appreciate, and we'll mention them at our next report to council just so that they get the appropriate recognition. Uh, I'm looking forward to the AAC partnering with MURF as the town continues to explore opportunities for businesses to provide water taxi and or water ferry services on or to and from the island in an environmentally friendly and navigationally safe way that also provides a special experience for those using it and helps mitigate or counter traffic issues. At the direction of the town manager, our two committees will have a joint meeting in May to discuss and ultimately recommend to council a framework for guard rails that might be put into place to govern this activity. We appreciate the opportunity to do so and participate. Thank you all. And finally, on behalf of the AAC committee, I bring forward this recommendation that the council and town staff continue exploring every avenue for funding a muchneeded plan of action to address canal and channel dredging. I applaud committee vice chair John Nash for the very thorough report he provided to our committee last week documenting sholing in the Buccaneer Lagoon entrance. That issue and the state of our island canals and channels in general is not new, but was exacerbated by Hurricane Ian. And because we did not have any type of benchmark, report or

plan in place substantiating the depth and health of our canals, we were not able to access any FEMA funds. Not addressing this issue while we have time puts us at further risk should we be hit by another storm. I understand that talks have already begun with state and federal connections and listing their help in finding funding for this effort that's critical for public safety, environmental health, and storm water resiliency to name just three reasons. So, I thank those who have initiate initiated and who are facilitating these discussions. Per information the town manager provided to our committee last week, a full analysis or environmental study will cost in the neighborhood of $200,000. The AAC believes that this is money very well spent, urges the council and town staff to lean into all connections and all avenues to find funding that will allow us not only to conduct the study, but also to move forward with a plan to remediate the issues our neighbors our neighborhoods and voters are experiencing related to canal and channel depth. This is something we've been talking about for years, even before the storm, and we think it's time to act. Any questions,

Mr. Mlan? Any questions for Chris? Uh, no, not at this time. I do. Chris, thank you for all your work, your organization. It sinks to my heart. The question I have, and this has to do with your partnership with MURF, and it may be better addressed to them, but I'll ask you. I saw a survey about water taxi, and it seemed to be directed towards people who come to our island. Um, am I missing something? because I'm wondering does that not include people who are on our island who want to go back and forth?

Yeah, I think there's a few things going on and I Abby I don't know if you want to speak to this but this is sort of what brought these two committees together. Um I noticed that study and it's something we have been talking about jointly for a long time. You know where does the responsibility the oversight input for canals and channels come from? And we really think that it is an overlap of our two committees. And so I had some uh discussions with Abby and Will and here's where we are today moving forward to have a joint discussion. But go ahead Abby. Thanks Chris. So Mer approached me and said that we need to get public comment on the water taxi as a feasible option. Abigail, hold on. Your mic isn't on. No. They're controlling it. They're they're controlling it.

Okay,

there you go. So, um, Murf approached me and said that they wanted to get public sentiment and just general public comment on the feasibility of a water taxi. And so, you know, it was the comm's department's idea to come up with the idea of a survey. Um, we were then approached that, you know, Anchorage was also doing this. So, in order to not duplicate efforts, we decided to move forward and potentially have a joint meeting. The idea of the survey wasn't to garner interest from residents or non-residents. It was just to garner general interest to see if this would be something that people were generally interested in. Um we will move forward with more minute data points looking at potential routes and then looking at feasibility of north to south or off island to on island. But generally it was just to get data over general sentiment. And really if you look at the data it doesn't matter if they're a resident or non-resident. It just matters if they're using it. Right? If I come to work every day and I use the water taxi and I'm not a resident, am I any different than someone that is a resident and uses the water taxi? we'll still both be using the water taxis. So, it was just to understand quantity of people really over who those people were. Um, but if that's something that you want us to narrow down with the data point further and Chris did bring that up, we can definitely do that.

Yeah. And I think it's multiple things. So, there's the water taxi, which is pretty much a point in time. I want to go from here to there. I want to go from my mor boat to shore. I want to go across to a restaurant. And then there are the ferry concepts which are more navigation from the south end to the north end and back or on and off island for large groups of people. So there are multiple different things but I think what we're being tasked for is to say okay hang on before we even talk to these people about possibly offering a service. Let's make sure that we have the guard rails, the ordinances, the concept of what we really want to allow before we move forward. Did I get that right, Will? Absolutely, Chris. Yeah, I as I initially started looking into this and talking with Murf and AAC members and staff is uh this is not a new idea. You know, we want to go but uh I think like I've discussed with uh with you, Mr. Mayor, and others about other things uh services similar on this island. I want to make sure that the right regulations and ordinances and and kind of gu like Chris said, guard rails or or whatever controlling mechanisms are in place to make sure before we start something like this, we we're doing it in a way that uh meets the interests of everyone, but also is in a safe and uh and protective way for our island. So, there's there's a lot of information, studies that have already been done. Um, but we'd like to update it with new data as Abby uh alluded to and then, you know, we'll work as a staff, we'll work with our legal adviserss and so forth to put together the right uh, you know, um, policies uh, for to come to council for approval.

You know, I think it's important to have that data point. I understand your point, Abby, but I think it's important to know if they're resident, non-resident, or seasonal residents because I think with knowing that you'll see a difference in their answers. So if they're a non-resident, they may be more interested in an off island ferry that brings them versus a canal ferry or a ferry from the south end to the north end. So for me, I think it's a very important question to ask to help draw down, okay, we've got this many people that are not residents, but really seem interested in this. We know the residents are going to be interested in using the on island ferry, but to me it would be nice to know, would residents use a ferry to help take them to the mainland and then not have to get in traffic. So to me, I think it's an important question to ask along with all the other data. It's a it's a well put together survey, but that's a question I would like to see put in there.

Yeah. I just wonder if we're a little ahead of the gate here and, you know, in getting these data points before we put some of the guard rails in place and then we can say, all right, using that lens, what questions would we ask that fit in that framework rather than it's an all skate and everything is possible because some things may not be possible. But I I get what you're saying. I guess maybe my brain works a little different. Wouldn't you think that would help narrow down what the work you have to do? I mean, if all if to me it's to me I would think having that question answered would help narrow down your focus as to what you should really be using your time and energy on versus the universe is out there right now. I mean, if there's no interest in

I don't think that's the case, but just using it as an example. If there was no interest in having an a canal ferry, why would you want to spend a lot of energy looking at what an ordinance would look like, putting in place to have that there if there's no interest in it. That's a fair point, but I think we should have a concerted conversation about what we all want to learn before we, you know, throw out multiple surveys. So maybe just taking a step back and getting all of the right data points included and and making sure that we're distributing it in a way that we can get information from, you know, the holistic ecosystem.

And then on a very positive note, um we've done a couple of surveys for the town. we have never had responses in this level of volume. Um so we've had almost 400 responses for the water taxi. So I think obviously some of that may not be resident. Um but I think in terms of feasibility we are looking at really positive data trends.

I could see this grouped into different buckets. Um I used to take the water taxi in Boston every week from the airport into the city. It took 10 minutes was like $6 at the time and it saved me hours because they were doing the big dig which would take you hours to get in there. That was huge. And I wonder if that's even a possibility. You know, there's maybe a parking area where people who come here and uh they get taxied over. They don't have to deal with any of the traffic. They rent a um help me out here. Golf cart. A golf cart, a bike, whatever. Hey, thanks.

And now they're back to their, you know, they're back to their residence or where they're staying for the week and they don't even deal with traffic kind all kinds of different things um that are options. Yep. So, it's all great. If you look at the largest city in the world that doesn't have any traffic at all, if you look at the largest city in the world that doesn't have traffic, it's Venice. And they have four different modes. They have airport right to to a point. Then they have water taxis if you're impatient, you want to go from point A to point B. And then they've got, you know, from the south end to the north end, just straight, no stops. And then they've got the ones that like are a bus that just stops. So it's it has really four overlays.

But you need the demand. I mean, for it to be feasible, you've got to got to have demand. But we also have to make sure that the health of our canals pretty much channel or the back bay. Can we actually sustain that sort of traffic? Is that environmentally sound navigationally? Is it safe? Correct. I mean, there's a lot of Right. There's complexity, but but I I don't think we're getting too far ahead because if we if we plan and prepare now, then of of course stuff will come up, but there's other cities. I mean, there's Miami, there's Miami Beach, the Tampa. I mean, there's there's

there I believe Sarasota has some some type. So, I mean, there's there's other cities and municipalities we can Yep. we can get best best practices from. Yep. I already put together a document that I've shared with Abby and others that outlines what some other municipalities are doing and the type of ordinances that they have in place. So, it will give us a a discussion point to start from. That's great. Well, thanks for all your hard work. You're welcome. John, anything else to add? You look nice. Oh, thanks for noticing, John. Thank you. Thank you. Everybody can take what they need from you. Thanks so much and happy birthday today.

All right. Next is the approval of the minutes from the management planning session from February 5th and the town council meeting from February 17th. Is there a motion? I've got three corrections on the town council on the 17th. Yes, sir. Uh page seven, paragraph D, Jim Bowen's last name is misspelled as BN. Uh, page 8, paragraph X, should read Marine and Environmental Resources Task Force Resources got left off. And page 10, last sentence, should read Studio A D instead of studio A. And with that, I'll move as corrected. Is there any other corrections to the agendas? All right. Got a motion by Councelor King.

I'll second. Second by Vice Mayor Safford. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed hearing. None. Motion carries unanimously. Next is our consent agenda. There are three items all related to the extension of local state of emergency. Resolution 26-041 through 26- excuse me 26-045 uh 26-046 through 26-050 and 26-051 through 26-055. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved. Second.

Vote. Motion by councelor Mlan. Seconded by councelor King. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. opposed. Hearing none, that motion carries unanimously. No items were removed from the consent agenda. Next brings us to the public hearings. We have one public hearing. Um, this is an ordinance. This is ordinance. Give me a second if I can get my voice to work. This is a legislative agenda item and is the first reading of public hearing on proposed ordinance 26-06. if approved at first reading and a second reading and final adoption hearing will be scheduled for March 16th, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. or at another time identified by town council. This is an ordinance of the town of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, amending division one, purchasing of goods and services policies and procedures of article 5, finance of the town of Fort Myers Beach Code of ordinances to one, clarify and streamline existing regulations and procedures. Two, incorporate by reference statutory mandatory terms and conditions and state and federal grant requirements. And three, implement recommendations provided to the town based on the disaster readiness assessment prepared by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, providing for conflict of law, scriveners, errors, and severability, and providing for an effective date. Will,

thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh I believe and the staff believes the current procurement policies were last updated in 2024 through ordinance 2411, but uh you know we've undergone many changes uh since then as we continue the recovery efforts from Hurricane Ian and uh building back town and and and town staff. I believe it's in the best interest to update these policies. Uh since that revision, the town has received feedback from the Florida Department of Emergency Management as well as, you know, I've received feedback from internal staff and working with the the town attorney. Um we want to make sure that we continue to develop the uh best practices for procurement. Um the updated policy helps address these recommendations to increase our preparedness for you know and potential to receive more funding uh through uh debris for deb debris removal and other emergency protective measures. But also the draft ordinance aims aims to address clarif and clarify existing procedures to further define procedures for services uh incorporate grant and federal funding requirements for applicable purchases and to implement revisions based on recommendations from the town's disaster readiness assessment. And uh just in general, I felt it was time in speaking with Joe and with Nancy and with Amy that we uh you know update and uh strengthen our procurement and contracting processes and uh get those new best practices into an ordinance, an updated ordinance so we move forward in a in a better and and stronger way. Uh so we're we've got I know it was in there the draft was in there for your review. Um, I've got uh the team here to answer any questions that council may have.

Councelor Mlan, any questions for staff?

Uh, I I do actually. I have um I guess my first question is most of them are centered around the ex um exceptions and there's uh if we look at let me get to it. Excuse me. Um if we look at page five under negotiation there's uh negotiation D it says if the town manager is unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with the selected biders the town manager I think we need a word in there that should be either shall or will recommend an alternative bidder based on their competence and qualification. So, I think that's just a scrier's error, but it's a missing word that we have in there.

Yeah, we've got that noted. Thank you.

Okay. And then, um, like I said, my questions are really around, um, section 18, which is exemptions. So, you've got, uh, policy and procedure in order to to follow, and then there's a list of many exemptions, and it was a little bit confusing to me. uh the addition of a the requirement for competitive seal bidding requirement it's not worded properly may be waved as otherwise authorized by this code and then it seemed like B through I or H I can't remember how far it down it goes uh lists all of the except exemptions to following the procedure and I just I think it could be edited for clarity um just bullet a seems to incorporate all of the ones that follow it. Um which I'm okay with. It just it it's not clear. Um my second actual question is in the first one applicability for small purchases. It talks about change orders. So, it it it basically says $75,000 or less can be done at town manager's discretion, which obviously I'm supportive of. You need to be able to move for things that are important and not have uh too many constraints on that. But it does mention that change orders to existing contracts may be made um in accordance with the small purchase procedure authorized in the section up to 75,000. So my question is it 75,000 plus additional change orders of 75 thou up to 75,000 or is it a total of 75,000 um and and that's not clear to me

or 150 well or 150 or um yeah I thought that too that's the way I was reading it and I'm not sure if that's the intent is Yes, Joe or Amy, what would be your thoughts on that? But and then I'll weigh in, you know, after that. But, uh, because we did have some discussion. This is one of the kind of the things that spurred spurred us toward down this path. Oh, okay. Go ahead, Joe.

Okay. Okay. Joe Wanzac, finance director. I think the intent is anytime the total um amount were to exceed the threshold of 75,000 that's when it would need to be brought to town council for approval. So it's so I I think the intent and I I appreciate that it's not clarif clearly stated the intent is in the event the total so the total of the contract and the change order itself if it exceeds $75,000 then it would need to be brought to town council for approval. And Joe, isn't that kind of what we I think on Monday we had one of those, didn't we? where we had an initial approval by the town manager under 75, but the next change order

would have put it over the $75,000 threshold. Therefore, it came back to us. I think that's the way I've always intended it, but I think you're right. Exactly. And it's we have one like that on this agenda that we'll be discussing. Nancy, I know you Yeah. So, um we try to put that in the title uh of the resolution saying that this is for this amount with a total project amount of that. So, it's very clear. I appreciate that and I that was my understanding of the way that it was intended to be uh applied, but I think the wording in here very much opens it up to subsequent change orders could be additive.

I appreciate the uh that Councilman Clean and we'll uh we'll make those adjustments for readability. Great. Thank you. Um the only other question I had was and I don't have an issue with it. I just was wondering uh under sole sourcing whether or not there could be publication of or or is there publication of the criteria and the evaluation that are used in determining whether or not a sole source contract is actually or how it was determined that it should be a soul source contract. Um, and I just thought some tightening up of the language in there might be helpful. And those are my questions and comments.

Rebecca, I think the exact same ones as John. Yeah, exactly.

Scott, I have a question for Joe. Joe, what what between this this between 2411 and and this one, what do you see as the biggest difference? Uh well, I think clarification of the language, although I guess we haven't totally accomplished that yet, but we are still working on it and will be between now and next hearing, but clarification of anything that was maybe unclear or there might be um just places in in the language that might be repetitive and might be possibly contradictory in the way it's presenting things. So, we just want to tighten all that up. But the the the biggest thing that I see is just the incorporation of the requirements for um like for federal grant funding for FEMA requirements before we would just reference um in in general terms the um requirements of FEMA or or federal grants. Now they want to spec they're asking us that we specifically itemize everything. So, we're actually taking section of the federal code, the register, federal register, and incorporating that into the purchasing ordinance in order to meet um the requirements of FEMA and the state of Florida Department of Emergency Management. So, that's I think all those additions you see at the end of the ordinance regarding grants, that's the biggest.

So, that's where it came from. Yes. Okay. All right. Great. That that clarifies a lot for me. Thank you,

John. Uh just a couple small things under 3.8 exemptions uh with uh B number four the town's annual membership in the Florida League of Cities that needs to be corrected and also it should be uh should probably also include the Southwest Florida League of Cities since that's an offshoot and we're a member of that as well. And that's it for me. My question is more around maybe Jason can answer this one. Is the F-Rock this what is our standing currently with FROC and how could this potentially get us more points in the in the program and what does that mean?

There we go. Maybe uh Jason Freeman for the record. Uh yeah, great question mayor. Um so we're currently in the middle of finalizing our submittal for the FRC program. So, um, with the town team, with the help of, uh, Will and Tracy and all of the town directors, uh, we submitted our initial disaster readiness assessment back in, uh, September, October, uh, which is just that first initial review for anybody unfamiliar with the airrock process. It's it's fairly new. This is the third or fourth year that, um, the town's participated in it, but also that the state um, has promoted this program. So, it's a fairly new program. Um but what we do is we submit what they call the disaster readiness assessment which is called the DRA and um the T or the division of emergency management puts together a whole checklist essentially of all um emergency protective measure and debris removal activities. Um and they request all of your documentation. So your emergency procurement policies um your standard operating procedures, your maintenance records, how you conduct your normal day-to-day operations. Um, and we submit those to FDM for review. Um, and then that's when we get back the what they call the initial scoring. Um, which we did receive uh just within the past month. Um, and we were back in uh the scores are out of 60 and we're in the four I believe we're in the 40s again. Um, just with this initial uh submitt um but then what FDM does is they provide recommendations on any area that you lost points on. um which I think is one of the very last attachments in your council packet will be that feedback that we received um from FDM themselves of areas that we can improve or recommendations that we can get those points back in. So um last year we were pretty close. we were in the high 50s out of 60 um for the final scoring and that score translates to more money upfront uh upon obligation uh for certain projects in different categories which um Joe and Titlebas may be able to explain a little bit more of that process but uh it does provide for the opportunity for the higher score could

be translate directly to a higher percentage of funds received upon obligation. Um so it could be as literal as like a 58 um score could be 58% of funds coming directly to you um in in sort of an advancement um because the state has already vetted a lot of your policies and procedures and they're comfortable that you're you know operating under the correct provisions and and statutes and everything. So uh we are in the middle of the process. So one of the main reasons why I think this is getting brought forward right now too is we have to have all of our submitts anything that we want to revise back to FDM by the end of this month the end of March. So part of this is updating this procurement policy to include uh a lot of the feedback that we got from FRC side and I think along from the state as well is as Joe mentioned we incorporated a whole new section at the very end for grants as well as state and federal funding. So, in the event that the town is going to utilize a contract that potentially could use partial or or full funding from the state or from a FEMA grant or something from the federal uh government, we already have those provisions tied into our purchasing policy on top of our contracts. So, you'll notice a lot of these uh towards the end there's a whole brand new section of a lot of federal clauses, a lot of federal statutes. Uh, and that was a recommendation that we got not only from FEMA, I think, but also from the state with FROCK saying it's great if you follow these uh policies within your contracts, but we they also recommend you put it directly into your purchasing ordinance, uh, which is what we're doing here. And then there's a couple other sections in here uh, such as uh, using federal funds, we can't have a local preference. So, you'll notice in here we put in there uh, where we do have a section for tie bids. Typically, we would uh award tie bids depending on if they're located within the town and then Lee County and then the state of Florida. Uh but we did add a section in there that says that that's not applicable to state or federal funding. Uh so little recommendations like that we we took directly from FDM and then we've incorporated everything we need to in the policies and then

we're working on a couple other small ones to include on that. So um the initial score that we got which was in the 40s is just a provisional score. It's nothing set in stone. Once we submit everything back, we update all of our policies. I know Tisa has been working on some um emergency uh labor policies and and Will and Tracy and we're all working on updating as much as we can uh to provide that towards the end of the month and then typically I'd say May or June we'll get that final locked in score again. So, um nothing unusual. Every year they kind of add a couple extra things that uh we didn't have from last year. Uh but it's a good way to get uh vetting from the state essentially. It's it's not necessarily an audit, but it's more of a proactive approach of uh let's take a look at all of your emergency policies, procedures, and give you some recommendations and give you time to uh to update those. So, uh yeah, a lot of that towards the very end, there's a whole brand new section of just a lot of uh federal, state, and grant funding um which we've taken from a lot of our partners and and took those recommendations to uh to fill all that out. So, um we're in the middle of the frack process. We're in the middle of uh completing all of that and then we'll get that back to the state and then we'll have our locked in score. Uh hopefully we'll let you know back in uh I'd say May or June. Um hopefully we have some good news on that high score again. So

perfect. I know it's a lot but I I know some people may not be familiar with the FR process. So it's uh it's definitely important and it like we said it translates directly to uh more money that we could potentially receive upfront from the state. Um we hope we never have to go through that process but if we do it just means that the state's a little bit more comfortable with um our current policies. So yeah, thanks J. Absolutely. And again, congratulations. I don't know if Will wants to say anything or not. I was going to talk about it in my Okay, perfect. Jason, can you stay May I take you back off that? Absolutely.

So this is awesome work. This is really going to help with funding. It definitely does because it says we're vetted. It it Yeah. Um my question is when you talk about changing the purchasing policy does that also translate to the RFPs

it can um yeah and I can defer to everyone else as well but so this the policy itself is just establishing the overall uh procedure for how we issue those um depending on what the goods or services are. This more just defines what policy and what process we're going to go through depending on what we're going to purchase. Um, with our previous revision back in 2024, uh, that was when we noticed that a lot our $25,000 limit was really, uh, tough for a lot of the purchasing of goods and services. So, that's when that got increased to 75,000. And, uh, I think every year or two when we going through a lot of these processes and we're we're kind of talking with the team and we're saying, okay, maybe that could be streamlined a little bit better. Maybe that could be a little clearer. Um I believe that this is more of like the foundation of what determines which policy or you know which process we're going to go through. Um such as like with an IT invitation to bid an ITB uh that's more for a concrete. We know the scope. We know exactly what we need. We just need to get some pricing on it and then that'll spell out within this policy. Uh that the lowest responsive and responsible bidder will be awarded that contract um going through that procurement process. Uh but if we're seeking more of a proposal of services where we're not entirely sure of what exactly we want and we're open to uh having biders come in and present something to us and have a selection advisory committee and and have that input and potential interviews and discussions that can go through the RFP process. So this kind of lays down the foundation for which way we go. Um and then every project I think is a little more specific on uh you know exactly what we need. And then you also have uh like requests for qualifications which we typically use for engineers and surveyors and architects. Uh that's more required by the state through the uh CCNA which is the competitive consultant negotiation act. Uh that's a Florida statute that you that Florida requires for hiring certain uh engineers and uh professional services essentially. So we set the foundation in here and then that

way um it just allows for a little bit more flexibility for exactly what you need. But yeah, it'll tell you what process you need. So, but it'll say, you know, a selection advisor committee must be used for an RFQ and an RFP, but an invitation to bid, that's more up to, you know, the goods and services if we want to include that. Um, so things like that. Thank you. Absolutely. That helps. Thank you. Thanks again, Jason. Anybody else have a question for Jason? Thanks. Public comment. Elizabeth, you want to say something? You sure? Okay. All right. All right, I'll close public comment, bring it back to the council. Is there any further discussion or a motion for ordinance,

excuse me, if I could get my voice to work again 26-06? So moved. Got a motion by Council King, seconded by Councelor Link. Any further discussion? Councelor King, I. Councelor Link, I. Councelor Mlan, I. Vice Mayor Safford, I.

And I I'm an I as well. That motion carries unanimously. That brings us to our administrative agenda. We're looking for an approval. Oh, okay. Approval to prohibit parking. Wait a minute. Am I in the wrong one? No. This is a special special event for the 30th anniversary celebration. This is an approval to prohibit parking along Old San Carlos Boulevard from 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 6th, 2026. Closure of San Old San Carlos Boulevard from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm Friday, March 6, 2026. And the town's special event permit to celebrate the town's 30th anniversary. Will.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, really a simple one here as far as the only really uh special request of the of a event permit we needed is for the the parking prohibition. But uh I've also, you know, if you have any other questions about uh the the events um coming up for this Friday, Tracy, who's leading our efforts for the anniversary, and other members of staff can answer those now. Councelor King, questions? Nothing. Scott? No, I'm good. Rebecca, I'm good as well. John, looking forward to it.

Um, if you could, there's been people asking about I hate the words runup show, but how how is it going to lay out? Nobody really seems to know exactly what's going to happen or who's going to speak.

Um, first of all, I do want to thank the um the vendors at Times Square because they've been Linda Miller and her group. She's been working with us very closely to ensure that the vendors and the tents are down and we're ready to set up in Times Square, which is the ending of our 30th anniversary celebration. But to your point, Mayor, we're going to start at 2:00 at Bayside Veterans. Um, we'll have some electeds uh giving some opening comments. Uh the town manager will also give some opening comments and then direct everyone down the historical walk down old San Carlos with pictures from the Eststerero Historical Society, Ellie Bunting, um Fort Myers Beach Art Association showing some of our beach pictures that they've painted um along with uh Joanne Shamp who is uh showing some of the works that she has worked on here in the town. So having that kind of historical nostalgic walk, um our opening remarks should conclude around 2:20. So from about 2:20 till 3:00, people can enjoy the walk. Um purchase t-shirts ending then at Times Square, we'll kind of have everyone coralled. Is that the right word? Gathered.

I know we're not cattle. Um gathered Wisconsin coming out of I know. Don't you know? um gather towards uh Times Square where we'll have another closing comment from a variety of folks concerning the vision of that whole corridor from Bayside to Time Square. Um have a step and repeat with some opportunities for pictures. Then of course the the cupcake distribution. So we're really looking forward to it. T-shirts will continue to be on sale during that whole time. $30, $40, $45, uh short sleeve, long sleeve plus tax. I must want to um say that this is a cashless uh purchase. So, please be sure to have some sort of card with you. So, that makes it real easy for purchasing.

Okay, that's it. All right. Thank you. Yep. There any if there's no other questions, is there a motion for the special event 30th anniversary celebration? So moved. Motion by councelor King. I'll second. Second by councelor Mlan. Any further discussion? Councelor King. Hi. Councelor Mlan. Hi. Councelor Link. Hi. Vice Mayor Sanford. Hi. I'm as well. That motion carries unanimously.

Next is resolution 26-059 2027 federal appropriation request support. This is a resolution of the town council of the town of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, encouraging and providing community support for the town of Fort Myers Beach community project funding requests for fiscal year 2027 and authorize the town manager to determine final appropriation requests and submit in coordination with and through the town's federal lobbyists and providing for an effective date. Will

Yes. Uh once again we move forward with our request through the federal level for uh support for appropriations for projects and uh and needs here in the town. And Jason has uh done a great job leading the effort with our uh supporters up in the up in DC. Jason, you want to step up and and kind of give a short brief on the appropriations we're asking for this year?

Yeah, absolutely. Jason Freeman again for the record. Um, so as as Will mentioned, it's that time of the year again. Uh, for the federal appropriations that have opened up, we have a a small window to submit to Congressman Donald's office. Uh, we were notified just last week from our federal lobbyist team that that window was open uh to submit for potential community, they call them community projects uh through that process. Uh so we have until this Friday uh to work with our lobbying team, Greg Robinson at the federal level along with uh town staff and and town management uh to submit those. Uh so as part of that process, it does require uh documentation for community support in which we put together a potential resolution for you all to pass which would show that direct community support for this project. um as well as soliciting support from other um local agencies and air or um nonprofits, that sort of thing. Um as well as documentation for projects. So, uh from discussions with our our town team, uh one of the projects would be a uh requesting funding for a backup generator for town hall for this for this area here. Now that we've moved in, um, from hearing everybody's feedback and working with the town team, uh, we believe that having a permanent generator here at town hall for emergency operations and also can serve as our local EOC, um, just help continuity of government operations and that sort of thing. We think that would be really beneficial. Uh, so we're still working with uh with some of the directors and and our management to uh determine what the final cost for that amount would be. Uh, but we're just seeking approval to uh to submit that along with your support. uh as well as again this year just ongoing storm water and utility um impair or or repairs and improvements uh to our existing system. I believe that storm water and utilities are always an area that um just hearing from the team and and I think from residents in the community uh that there's always an area that we could request some funding for to uh to make some improvements. So that wouldn't be

specific at at this point to one area. Um, but I think as our needs continue and and we can address some specific areas and if that funding does come through, uh, we can work on finalizing the the location for that. So, uh, from everything that we've heard, uh, we put together potentially two of those projects that we're we're hoping to submit this year. One would be for that town hall backup generator and then some funding for just ongoing storm water and utility uh, repairs and improvements. So that way, you know, we can repair anything that might already be, uh, potentially damaged, but also make some improvements to help mitigate and and continue operations. So, uh, through this resolution, we're hoping to get that support from the town council and then, uh, also the approval to continue that process to get everything in by, uh, the end of this week. So, if you have any questions, let me know.

John, any questions for Jason? No, it's great work. I understand that there's some identified u generator and other uses which are sorely needed to ensure resiliency and building a uh a command center for any emergency response. Rebecca. Yes, Josh. Um Jason, so Jason, sorry about that, Jason. So the storm water um project does not have a match, correct? Required. Correct. Um, yeah, we're still Yep. Correct. The emergency generator would have a 25% match. Correct. Yeah. And that's that's an area funds.

I'll defer to Joe here, but I believe so. Um, and that and just with the um, you know, the caveat that this funding wouldn't be available till at least next year. Um, so that match potentially depending on what that final ask would be, I believe we could still have time to budget for for the next fiscal year. Joe Wzac, finance director. Um there there are funds available in the capital budget that we've been kind of holding for emergency type uses, but this certainly would be a legitimate use. You know, should we be granted the grant for the emergency generator, but it's a little early and we can budget for it as well. It will definitely be included in our budget planning for next.

Perfect. And then one other question is um have we ever looked into requesting um satellite like Starlink so that we also had internet connectivity in the event of an emergency? We do have it. We do have it. Perfect. Well, we're set. Thank you. Yeah, that came in almost immediately after the storm. Yeah, we were working on Starling for a long time. Perfect. Scott, thanks. Coun Councilwoman Link stole my thunder. Oh. John, nothing. Thanks again, Jason.

Yeah, absolutely. Um, and like that which was mentioned, we've this we're fairly newer, I think, to the federal appropriation game. So, luckily we have a um, you know, working with Will and Tracy and then our our federal lobbyists. Um, this is exciting. So, hopefully we can get some get some secured funding. So, appreciate it. Yeah, we got a really good team. You want to talk about the team up there just briefly who we have? So, those that don't know who we're using, I think it's important because they've been really really good over the last couple years for us.

Yeah, absolutely. So, um, yeah, we we're newer to the federal um federal level, I believe, just with requesting those appropriation requests. Um, but we have a great team from Great Robinson who the town has contract with. Uh, we have John and Blair who are two main point of contacts and, uh, we coordinate and talk with them, I'd say, weekly, if not bi-weekly. Um, especially, they give us all the updates. Uh we still technically have an appropriation request from last year for storm watering utilities that we're hoping gets finalized here pretty soon. So um as well as just it's already time to submit those uh those new requests too. So very responsive, very great to work with between everybody. Um yeah, it's great to have somebody kind of there boots on the ground in in DC for uh whatever the town may need. So,

I will add exactly take from where Jason left off there, whatever the town may need is exactly also to the point uh John and Blair and their team are terrific at also taking issues that the town has to the to our federal representatives up there. um whether it be the school um road other other projects for the town emer other other emergency needs um they're more than willing and capable to take those issues and advance them for us uh directly to the staff of those elected officials. So it's just tremendous asset. Nice. Very good. Thank you.

All right. Is there a motion for resolution 26-059 for the 2027 federal appropriation request support? So moved. A motion by councelor Mlan. Second. Seconded by councelor link. Any further discussion? Councelor Mlan. I. Councelor Link. I. Vice Mayor Safford. I. Councelor King. Hi. And I'm an I as well. That motion carries unanimously. Next is item C. ATNA. Liquidated damages waiver request. provide direction to the staff to grant or deny relief from liquidated and actual damages to Atna Marine and Construction Company for the town's beach renourishment and hurricane recovery project. Will or Chad?

Uh well, Chad, as Chad's coming up, I can get started. The original contract uh with Atna Marine Construction Company was for 180 days. Um the act starting July 8, 2024, the actual substantial completion date was August 22nd, 2025. uh as these days as the D's which Chad will talk about were outside the you know contract time and were not related to hurricanes and tropical storms. Bottom line up front is my recommendation based on staff discussions is to deny uh the request for liquidated and actual damages. But Chad is here to talk about the why and uh and any other questions you might have. Morning Chad.

Good morning everybody. Chad shoots for the record. So Chad shoots for the record. Good morning everyone. Um so yeah uh town manager sum summed it up pretty well. Uh we can go into further detail or if any of y'all have any questions that you want to tackle immediately. Councelor Kane questions? Nothing currently. Scott I'm going to hold off for a sec. Okay. I just wanted to make sure you said deny, but you mean deny the waiver of them. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Just being clear. Yes. Thank you, Councelor L.

John. Uh, I guess the questions I have are around the time frame. Will, you just mentioned 180 days. There's a substantial completion time frame of 180 days contractually and then a final of 195, I believe. And I was just trying to do the math on the total length of the project and how many days um they were requesting because depending the way you look at it, it could actually be

the additional 192 days or it could actually be $53,000 in further liability that they have uh that isn't actually called out here. So, I'm just trying to get the the handle around that. Uh and then the the next and related question is it appears that contractually we do give relief for change orders that we have agreed to and I believe that there are two change orders, well three, but one of them was was two change orders in a row, if you will. um that actually would give them potentially an additional 24 plus 14 so 38 days of relief that potentially that could factor into it as well.

Sure. So uh we were very generous in the weather days during the contracted time that 180 days and then we added those additional days. Um you know we had Helen Milton were very understanding with that

as well as some other uh minor storms. Um so we gave them pretty much everything that they asked for. Uh and uh you know once that contract time period was done uh my understanding is that we no longer would give them weather days per the contract. Um so they did ask for an additional 12 days after that contracted period with the additional change order days. Um but we did not award those. So those are the only ones that we uh denied after the contract was done. Um but yeah, 192 days after the contracted time plus the uh change order time. So 192 times that 3570 $3,570 per day gives you the $685,440

plus the construction management that Coastal Engineering had to do to supervise and make sure everything is uh going according to plan um for actual damages that's also mentioned in the contract. Thank thank you for that because I I I appreciate that answer because I I think the town has worked very collaboratively and I think we understand storms like nobody else does. Uh and I don't see any provisions in this contract anywhere for force majour. In fact, it even lays out directly that weather delays are are not uh something that's forgiven and yet we've worked with them in order to do so. So, thank you for that. You're welcome.

Thanks, Chad. He asked my question already. No worries. Talk about stealing thunder. All right. Thanks, Chad. Anybody else for Chad? Any questions for Chad? I don't know if this is for Chad or um but one is a statement. I'm I'm a little disappointed that they're not here to uh to try and um justify or defend themselves, especially with them saying they have a net loss exceeding $4 million. But um we're asking for this, they want this. Have we ever tried to negotiate anything in the middle or this is just the two camps?

We're taking direction from you. We can proceed however you like us to proceed. Um uh you know, staff's position is that if we are going to forgive them of this, you know, we did everything we could to um alleviate the the uh cost that they incurred due to the storms. And um they did write a letter asking and and detail that. I believe that's in your packet. Yeah, I've seen it. Um you know, it's a hard position to be in. You don't want to uh you know, it's a great group and they we we worked well together and there's no hard feelings on that regard. But um at the end of the day, they you know, the mechanical business,

right? Yeah. And and also implications with our grants. You know, if we say, "Hey, we're willing to give you all the money back, we may be caught holding the the bag, so to speak, with having to pay that with any without any help from grant money. That's a good point. Thank you. Very good point. Have they provided any financials to substantiate their claim that they lost 4 million to the town for review?

Um, I have not, you know, spreadsheets and stuff. No, I have not received that. Just that letter that's in your packets would have received. That's that's what's concerning to me is anybody can write a letter and make claims, but they haven't provided any proof and they've shown not they've decided not to show up here and plead their case. To me, it's just words on paper and I'm more concerned with the grant part of it that you just alluded to at the end. A contract's a contract and and to your point, I think we were very fair with them. Appreciate the work that they did working through all the things that we all had to work through. It wasn't just them. I know you were out there many many times with with water mane breaks was constantly going off but or hose briefs but so uh to me without having any proof that they actually show a loss it's hard just to take them on their word.

Yeah. So that's it's just more of a comment not a question. Sure. Sorry Chad. All right. Thank you Chad. You're welcome. Any other discussion? I'd just like to make a comment mayor.

Yes. Um, I remember when we were looking at these bids, I wasn't on console, but I was watching and I can remember some of the other two um, presenters were questioning whether they thought this could be done. I mean, this is just the price of doing business. You need to be competitive, but you also need to hold your end of the contract. So, I don't think it's personal. I'm sure they're wonderful to work with and you appreciate them, but I don't have any problem uh, denying their request. Any other comments or a motion? I'll make a motion to move this forward. Motion to deny. Okay. Relief.

All right. Got a motion for both liquid and actual costs. Okay. Got a motion from councelor link. I'll second. Any further discussion? Councelor Link. I. I'm an I. Vice Mayor Safford. I. Councelor King. I. And councelor Mlan.

I. That motion carries unanimously. Next is resolution 26-037 for Newton Beach Park Ranking and authorization to negotiate. This is a resolution at the town council of the town of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, accepting, rejecting, or modifying the ranking and determining J.R. Evans Engineering PA as the most responsive and qualified firm as recommended by the town manager and the selection advisory committee based on the responses received to RFQ-25-17- A for the Fort Myers Beach Engineering and Architectural Services Newton Park Beach facility reconstruction project authorizing the town manager or designate to negotiate with the qualified firm and providing for an effective date. Will

thank you Mr. Mayor.

Yep. um the selection advisory committee to meet on 13th of November uh 2025 and uh they created an ordered list of JR Evans Engineering, Kimley Horn and Associates and Chen Moore and Associates. Uh and it's the recommendation of the selection advisory committee that uh we go with JR Evans Engineering Town Council. We requested that you review these rankings and the qualifications of the firms and are looking for a vote to accept, reject, or modify the rankings for the town manager. give me direction to enter into negotiations with the selected uh um engineering firm. Uh Jeff can talk more details about the uh the different proposals that were uh that were presented. I mean he was one member of the selection advisory committee but uh as the community services director be moving forward with Newton we're excited about Newton Park project moving forward. Go ahead.

Any questions? Yeah. Any questions, counc? Any questions for Jeff or Will? Nothing currently. Scott, at this time,

yeah, I had some questions on the um on the ranking. I can't find the page here right now, but um some of it was there was some questions about experience doing CDBG pro projects and I think it was five points given or maybe it was 10, I'm not sure. But anyway, would you say that you were looking for if they had worked on projects were funded or they were familiar with doing the paperwork to support it? Because it was a little loosey goosey. Just because you do a project that was funded doesn't mean you actually know how to make sure you're doing your POS correctly and your invoices and all that all those requirements.

Sure. Uh Jeff Hog, community services director for the record. Um yeah, most of the POS and all that will still come through us. Uh they'll they'll facilitate it, but um yeah, a couple things and I can only I can only speak for my my rankings. Um I can't speak for for the other ones. They can speak for themselves if they'd like. Um what I mean the top two were very close. They both had CDBGR. They were familiar with it. They've done many projects with it. Um they had grant management with that as well. So both of them were very close in that. They have plenty of experience with that. Uh for me it was, you know, they they took the concept of what the R2P2 had had had shown the the community uh involvement that we had a couple years ago. Um and they really took that into heart in their presentation. Um they incorporated a lot of the things that that we wanted to see and the residents wanted to see. Um that's kind of what tipped it over for me. Uh we we did have quite the uh I think the long pause as far as who we wanted to go with. Um but uh you know we we we certainly liked what we saw or I did uh as far as you know doing the research ahead of time and putting the you know there was a couple that just had a elevated bathroom there elevated you know thing that we didn't even want in our our proposal and we had given them access to the R2P2 uh conceptual drawing which is just is just that I mean it was a conceptual drawing obviously when we start to engineer uh the the project um you know how things go with design, you know, it has with water retention. It might not look exactly like the conceptual drawings because it doesn't work that way, but they really took into account um you know what the residents had had spoke to and wanted as well.

All right. I saw the proposals. They looked good and they would all adhere to FEMA rules and regulations and all that. We do have a representative of J.R. Evans here, Elizabeth, if you want to step forward if you don't mind, Elizabeth. I don't know if you were directly involved in this project, but we do have a representative from J.R. Evans here ask questions or comments. Thanks, Elizabeth. Good morning, uh, Elizabeth Fountain for the record with J.R. Evans Engineering. Um, want to thank you for the opportunity to serve the town for this project. We're very excited about it. I'm here to answer any questions you might have specific to our team's uh, qualifications.

Perfect. Yeah. Thank you. My yeah my question was just making sure we followed all the standards and we weren't spending federal money yes in any way that would uh put us in a clawback situation. We are very well well aware of all the requirements and we will adhere to those of course. Okay. Okay. I don't have any questions for you Elizabeth. My question is more for staff than than for you but thank you for coming John. Do you have any questions for I don't Elizabeth. Thank you Scott. Thank you. No, thanks for being here. John, nothing. Thanks for being here. Thank you. Who did I leave off on? I don't John, do you have any more questions for staff?

Um, I just wanted a clarification or a confirmation. There's in the packet includes some rankings and uh the question that I had had been answered was the that pre or post presentation uh because it actually um showed Kimley Horn having a slight advantage in the numerical ranking. Uh yet of course my understanding is that was done pre-presentation and then of course that's additional information that's brought to the decision-m process. Yeah. And what we we had was so you have the initial with with all these Lee County and the HUD regulations, we have to do a number of meetings. So what we did is we selected the top three to go on for interviews um for the for the um the group to do a a discussion on uh in the public and then pick the best one based on their presentation. So the the first round was basically just paper, you know, we could just review it, rank it. um when they came in and did the actual presentations, we we learned a lot more about the companies um what their their vision was for it as far as the design goes.

Perfect. Thank you, Rebecca. Yes, I do, Jeff. So, here's the other question. So, M-WBE, I'm thinking that's minority and womenowned businesses. Okay. And then veteranowned businesses. That was the one. 10 points as well. How does someone get seven points? would you either be you are a minority or womenowned or you are a veteran so you either get five or you don't get five.

Um so for myself I was one of those committee members who um changed their ranking from pre to post. Um for me when I was evaluating those instances it is whether someone has more or less um the degree or number perhaps of individuals that are recognized in this area. um the presentation, the qualifications. Sometimes subcontractors are not always identified in a way that allows you to understand that. That is usually an area that I ask each one um of the companies typically on the committees that I sit in on. Um this time I did not because I felt as though they were pretty clear. Um but yes, that makes sense. Yes, it's important. It's not a yes or no. It's not a degree. Thank you. Very good. Great. Thanks, Jeff.

If there's no further discussion, is there a motion for resolution 26-037 for Newton Beach Park ranking and authorizing to negotiate? So moved. Motion by councelor King. Second. Second by councelor Link. Any further discussion? Councelor King. I. Councelor Link. I. Councelor Mcclan. I. Vice Mayor Safford. Hi.

And I'm an I as well. That motion carries unanimously. Next is item E. It's resolution 26-05625 of sterile parking lot. This is a resolution of the town council of the town of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, ratifying and approving the town manager's emergency contract with IC Materials, Inc. retroactive to December 1st, 2025 to complete construction of a parking area with a perimeter retaining wall at 2525 EO Boulevard in the amount of $138,53.13 providing for conflict severability and providing an effective date. Will

thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, and I have a lot of notes on this one because I I think there are there might be several questions. So following the town's ongoing recovery efforts, uh a substantial amount of material was generated through various reconstruction and infrastructure projects. To reduce expenses and improve operational efficiency, the town elected to keep the material on the island rather than to haul it off site. This choice resulted in meaningful cost savings and supported a streamlined workflow for crews working throughout the community. However, as the work progressed, the volume of dirt delivered to the temporary staging area at 2525 Eststero Boulevard exceeded in initial projections. The growing stockpile created several operational and safety concerns. Excess runoff from the mounds pose a risk to clogging nearby storm water drains which could lead to localized flooding and require costly cleaning and restoration of the storm water system. In addition, the height and accessibility of the dirt piles created liability issues as members of the public could easily access the material, increasing the potential for injuries and related claims. Town staff evaluated multiple options for addressing these concerns. Initially, the proposed solution to repurpose the material and construct a parking lot was well within my purchasing authority and staff obtained three competitive quotes in accordance with our procurement requirements. This approach provided a cost-effective way to eliminate the risks posed by the dirt piles while creating needed parking for the residents, visitors, and the local workforce. However, again, as the design evolved, it became clear that a retaining wall would be required to stabilize the site, enhance safety, and properly manage storm water runoff. The addition of this structural component increased the overall project scope and cost beyond my purchasing authority. Accordingly, town council approval is now required to move forward with construction of the parking lot and the associated retaining wall due to the unanticipated conditions allowing for waving of the competitive bid requirements in the talents procurement code. So, I do have uh Jeff to talk about how we, you know, if you want to

get into the the why, which I hope you do a little bit further as uh as we've worked through this and as he and I have been talking and working with uh our procurement team and Nancy to make sure that we go forward in the with the most rigor and the best uh best practice possible. Jack.

Yeah. So, this kind of evolved as we go and I know you know will thank you uh for giving the explanation. Um, yeah. And this is I mean, as we've been talking for, I don't know how long, mayor, you might know how long what we want to do with that property, right? So, we just decided that this is going to be a temporary uh parking lot. It's not going to be asphalt. It's just going to be the dirt. Um, it's going to probably look simil similar to what's out here um at the old 7-Eleven, our our new parking. Um, and then that get gives us time to figure out what we want to do with that property or what would you guys want to do with that property, whatever it might be. So, um, they actually sectioned it off. So, if we wanted if we need to take material for road work, um, that that was kind of the intent was to keep it on island, it I think it was going to be an extra almost four or $500,000 to haul it off. Um, our options once we were we were directed to find a solution was to either it's ours, so we haul it off, pay for it to haul it off, and then haul it back in. Uh, we didn't think that was a very coste effective uh, solution to that. So, we decided to do a parking lot there, a temporary parking lot. And then we added in um the retention wall, retaining wall just for safety. Um we knew that there's storm drains there that that they pitched. Uh we pitched the the storm water to run off too. Um kind of on the um chapel by the seaside, there's two drains. Uh and then the retention wall will help with additional runoff that might get into storm drains or run into the road or or those kind of things. So, um that's why we decided to go that route. And I know just for the benefit of a couple of our new counselors and stuff, this this since I've been here last fall, I think we had a couple of discussions during council meetings about what to do about this. And I think it was in November, Amy. No, sometime in November that I received approval from council.

December 1st. December 1st to move forward with the parking lot option. Council getting questions for how many spots are we talking? Uh roughly 70 to 80 spots. That seems to be less than what you thought last week. Well, yep. I I I was wrong. Okay. So, it was going to be more. However, the retaining wall took a lot of we had to kind of shrink it down a little bit to build that. So, it reduced it just a little bit.

Okay. And um I was there uh when Will announced this to the public uh on Beach Talk Radio. Um there was talk about um designating slots for employees. Uh I can talk that. Yeah, it's not really a designating certain spots, but allowing um a establishing a program. Tom Yazo and community uh or the emergency services uh department has come up with a a program we'll be rolling out uh for council approval here very soon to allow for uh town service employees I i.e. those who work uh in in many of our great businesses here on the island um yet who sometimes struggle to find parking or to afford parking um in in many of the other locations to allow them a reduced fee for a permit to park in that parking lot and then uh take advantage of the public transportation uh to get to their work locations. Uh I've floated the idea with many business owners who are very supportive of it um as a way to you know enhance the work experience for their employees as well as reduce a little bit of the traffic here for us. So

thank you. Um no further questions but I do have a couple comments. Um having been there when this was announced uh somebody that lives in the neighborhood came up and was very pleased about this. Uh and he thought that his neighbors would be very pleased as well. So I think that's a win there. um also um across the street with the possible food truck. They were excited about that as well. I think that'll help that side of the uh street as well with their concerns about parking in the area as well. So, I looked that as a win and uh and it's nice to have some revenue generated off that parcel for a change as well. So, a triple win. So, thank you, Scott.

Yeah, two questions. One on the cost side and one on the revenue side. Uh Joe money what do we have this budgeted where's it coming from the funding for it will come from the road impact fee fund so there there is sufficient funds there for that okay and then on the revenue side typically I I guess last year we calculated that we generate about four grand a parking spot is that correct

honestly I don't recall specifically so I I can't confirm that but it sounds reasonable Okay. Projections if um will if we're going to do a couple special things with local businesses, which which I'm fine with. What do we have any projections of what those 70 spots will generate per

I know that uh Tom, we'll see if we can get him down here to answer these specific questions. upstairs. But yeah, we've talked about there will be a a nominal reduction in in the revenue uh by offering this program. But uh we feel with the other other spots that uh it won't be that many that we'll designate for that. We'll kind of base it on. Well, we're not going to designate specific spots. We're going to however many just blend it in sell will blend in with the overall parking. We'll still receive full revenue parking from the rest of the spots and from those spots if they're not being utilized by those in the special program. And uh Tom will be down here in a few minutes I'm sure to talk.

So I was thinking to justify if we're if we're doing 4,000 spot we're gonna we're gonna buy buy it buy the wall back in a half a year. Could create you know at 4,70 280,000 that's even if we discount those we'll probably pay it back in a year and it'll be revenue generated from there going forward. We I I couldn't agree more um that we're going to recoup a lot of this even you know even next year obviously during during peak season but even in the offseason times with the you know the food truck park across the street coming on with the Bay Oaks Park right close to that as well as uh

yeah sir um yeah the other thing is that you know we talked about just in case anybody has questions road impact fees now a lot of people think we can use that to to fix our roads it's actually the way it's written It's for new construction for things that kind of offshoot transportation. So, parking lots, those kind of things. So, you know, people might say, you know, why aren't you using that for roads? Well, we can't. Um, we have appropriations for that. We have FEMA funding coming for that. Um, so I know that's a big thing. I I weekly I get emails about that. That's a big bid package that's going to be going out soon. Um, we have some money for it right now, but it's a bigger project, so the road impact fees cannot be used, which sounds funny. um cannot be used to actually repair the roads. It's for new construction and new um new transportation infrastructure. So, uh I know that was a maybe a question that you all might have is why aren't we fixing the roads? Well, that that's unfortunately not the road impact fees um are used for.

Anything else, Scott? Tom, great timing. If you could just step up to the mic here, Tom, real quick, and talk about uh um maybe a little bit of an overall of how we're doing for parking revenues and how uh with the new parking lot at the old town hall site, uh how integration of your the great program by your staff for the um service employee parking, how that might affect that revenue.

Good morning, Thomas Yazo, emergency services director for Myers Beach. So the the concept of with that with that a parking lot was to provide a space for businesses to have their employees park with a reasonable rate because when they park in one of our paid spots down under the bridge or down in OSC it can get really expensive for these employees who are not not killing it on a regular basis. So we decided to come up with a permit process for that and it allows them to park down there. It's right next to a shuttle spot. they can also easily walk up into downtown or wherever else their business is.

I guess the question is do do you think that uh the the special rate that we offer for those permits is going to have a a negative impact on the overall revenue in comparison to others or do you see it as I

I don't see it being negative. I think it's only a positive on all sides. I think that we're going to have a permitting a permitting number. We're gonna do 80 different permits uh throughout the time frame. It's a three-monthlong permit, so it'll be renewed every 3 months. Uh, we're going to keep it to 80 spots. There's about a 100 spots in that lot as a whole, and we know that all 80 not all 80 people are going to be there at any one time. So, there will be rotating time frame. Do I think that's going to be a good spot for revenue? I do. It's average about $4,000 a year per spot as as we go through the parking. And with that being said, we'll probably have somewhere between 40 to 50 spots that are open for beach parking. uh at any one time on top of the other stuff.

Okay. So, I I guess my question is we're we're still we're still rolling at that 4,000 spot right now. That's about where we are. Yes. Okay. Yeah. So, I just sent the town manager report today. We did about $24,000 in revenue uh in February. Wow, that's awesome. Probably more this month. We will probably do better. It was a cold it was a cold February. So, that kind of does affect that a little bit. Uh, but we still did have a we had a lot of visitors and it was all positive for the most part. We had very few negative law enforcement interactions or uh interactions with parking issues. So, you can get I mean it's March 2nd. You you've already got February numbers already. Yes.

That's fantastic.

I'm gonna piggyback if if you're done, Scott. I piggyback on your question. I go back, I try to tie this in a little bit to historical data, right? Not just I understand trying to take the average of a parking spot, but historical data tells us that when we made that decision, I remember it was 2020, 2021 to allow the old town hall parking on times when we weren't using town hall business weekends in specific. I think Amy can can can help me where no one used it. It was it sat empty. We made no revenue at all from that parking lot or very very very very minimal. It was nowhere near the average. So, I'd caution using that $4,000 calculation per spot on this. I would I would encourage staff to heavily work with businesses to use to fill those spots. Until we have

the potential across the street being built, I could see it just being used as people overflowing to get breakfast or whatever in the location that's where it's at. I I I don't see us getting $4,000 a spot per year return on this just based on what how it was used before the storm. I hope I'm wrong, but I I would encourage the the path of working with businesses to get contracted spots for a fee versus just relying on the public showing up to use it because I think we'd be I think we're going to shoot ourselves in the foot if we do that. But I hope I'm I hope I'm wrong. I'm hoping it's $4,000 a spot. But just based on what happened before the storm, it was a good idea. The intent was there to help provide parking, but it just wasn't used. It was just too far away from everything.

To be fair, um not contesting that, but just to be fair, the church was right next door to that lot, and that lot was full all the time with people parking in the church for free. Yeah. So, yeah, I think or staying at the church. Yeah. Or or staying at the church. But I think that that that facility is gone. So, and we are seeing people move down the island a little bit more now with the parking. We're finding that, you know, they're parking all over down there. Uh, our summons have gone up down in that space, too. I think they're trying to get away from the Lani Kai area in some respect. So, again, not I I don't have a crystal ball, but I do believe it'll be more successful than it was in the past. That's my thought process. I certainly hope business parking.

We remember what the last few years have looked like. People will park wherever they see dirt. Yes. Right. So, yes, they still do. What? Yeah, I know you guys got your hands full, but Rebecca, any questions for Yes. So, um, will you mention temporary parking? Do you What would happen to turn this into a permanent facility or is it always to remain temporary at this point?

I I'll start. I think our we're just using that as a as a guiding principle right now. um based on the fact that council we want to leave the opportunity there for if if the town staff has another uh opportunity for that property or town council uh wants to direct us uh utilization of that for for any future development for the town uh or other use of that of that property. We just think for right now that's the best temporary use for it. Jeff?

Yeah. Yeah, and that was kind of the intent was, you know, we had some safety concerns and the neighbors had some concerns with runoff, so that was kind of our easiest thing to do is just knock it down. It's it is a good couple feet off the ground from what it was, which is nice for any kind of potential flooding for for that. But um yeah, I I think you know through the years and you know those of you that have been on council, we've talked about anything from a parking garage to you know even selling it or putting up some other kind of business or partnering with public uh private partnership. So the the possibilities are kind of endless to where we're going to go with that. And we didn't want to put asphalt in because if if something changed that's just another layer that we have to take off. Um, so we just kind of did this uh I mean maybe it might turn in permanent if we're seeing the revenue and the need for it, but I think we just leave the the the door open and then we can also use some of that material if if we need to for the roadways and save some money on that. Um, and the the plan is to to section it off if if we need that. So my question would be if it's temporary at least categorized as temporary now does that eliminate the need for some of the other requirements that we would go through if it was permanent like surveys and engineering studies and all those types of things or are they waved because of a permanent situation?

I don't know if Frankie you might be able to answer that. I think yeah we'll get our community develop community development director. Um we already have a site survey on the property and we did uh some substantial storm water eval based on the elevation. Uh we're taking the adequate steps with the the wall manually uh to eliminate the use of our filling up of our storm system. So we should be in good shape as far as everything that we needed to do to to get us to that point. We have enough documentation on that site to use it as a temporary site. Okay. And that'll be all put on the permit portal as well. Is all part of the permit? Yes, ma'am. In fact, it should be in there today.

We'll update the I know we had the initial application signed yesterday last week. So, yes. Great. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Councelor Mlan. No, I just had a thought of somebody who lived down there for the last three years that if there was a storm coming and we only expected a couple of feet of surge, that would be a great use for our residents to park their vehicles. Absolutely. I believe that has been a practice in the past, Tom, to allow residents to move their vehicles to town property.

Yeah. And since and anytime there's an emergency, uh, and you've decided there's going to be an emergency situation that we suspend all park all parking violations and everything else, we just want people to be in a safe area. And I think with the level of where that parking lot is now, that'll put it above even our Milton and Lean spaces as far as the surge. Yeah. No, it's I think it's great use of it from not a final use perhaps, but it leaves the door open and it allows it to function and help in many ways. So, it's great.

All right. I've got a few concerns that I want to bring up. Um, one is we talk about liability and safety. We still don't have a fence around the property. We've got a wide open wooden structure that anyone could easily fall into. Um, we're not securing our own property and that that that's an issue for me. Agreed. Um, I would like to see that done. Um, what's going to happen with once the retaining wall is built? Is there anything going to go on top of it to keep people from driving off it, walking on it, falling off it?

Is I mean, to me, it just seems like we've rushed this and there hasn't been a lot of thought put in. At least I haven't been informed of the thought process on how we got here. I would have liked to see this whole thing go through the MMP process to to discuss it. I still think one of the best uses for that property would be using it as staging for those building homes, construction, commercial projects. You know, we have we get calls all the time about people parking their construction vehicles on the rightway. I know you do, Tom, as well. Yes, sir.

You know, every other municipality that I've ever been to working in construction, they have a designated area where workers have to park and then they have to bust to these locations so they're not filling up right away and they pay a good amount of money to use that space. I would hope we would look at that at least a portion of it besides just the parking. If if it fills up with general parking, great. But if not, I would hope we would keep that, you know, we could put fencing up where they could have a secure location to put their products to be able to build their commercial. I mean, Salty Crab is working with the county to use the part at the base of the bridge to be able to do their staging for their concrete work. So, I really hope we we look at that, but my biggest concern is the liability for people being able to walk on that property right now. and we have nothing secured. I I hope we address that fairly quickly.

That'll be done this week. I'll go. Um yeah, I'll get it this week. We can do a temporary fence through Sunb Belt and um we may I I hope we can put it on the this or we have to come back to you guys for I don't know not sure how that's going to work because it's going to add additional cost to the but we do need to do it. I I agree with you for sure. Yeah, we need to do it. And then as far as the I'm not trying to add additional cost to it, but this train has already started down the track, so correct. We need to we need to protect the town. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um and then as far as what was your other question was? Um

so there'll be Yeah, there'll be pilings and rope along the whole thing. Um I got to check to see what else. So, how this all worked was the council had asked us staff to to provide a solution to it and then we came to council and said, "Hey, we want to do a parking lot." Council said, "Yeah." So, then that got the the ball rolling. Um and then yeah, the mitigation obviously we'll make it safe so people don't drive off it. Um we may do some extra pilings um or even ballards maybe on the the wall. Um but yeah, those things we'll take into account for safety safety reason. by no means do we want it's going to be just left empty um with nothing on it to deteriorate people for or to um have people drive off it. So we're going to take the right steps to do that.

I think the goal was to emulate what we did at Wast and Away. And if you look at Wasting away, we went down and put a bunch of work into making that a safer space. Uh all the undermined areas have now been repaired. We have ballards and ropes up at a bunch of our different spots now for safety reasons. I think that was the the ultimate thought process for that piece of property. I just think it hasn't gotten that far down the road yet.

Yeah. And we have actually offered um offered uh that same company that I'm sorry, I'm drawing a blank on the business that's using the county lot, the restaurant. We offered our spot up just a long time ago and they said it was too far down the island. So, we did offer that to them. Um I think maybe another one we offered, but it was proximity-wise it would take too long for the material. So, we did look at that initially um and actually suggested that they use ours so then they wouldn't have to use the one down by Margaritavville.

And we will continue to do that. I know Frankie and Jeff work closely together and Tom work closely together on that. You know, even even some of the lighting projects, road constructions, they've they've uh you know, leased some of our space to store some of their, you know, stuff. So, that's it is something that we that they do on a regular basis. Well, this will be another location. I agree. And this will be a good I mean we don't really with with Bay Park and once that's solded um this will be a good location if we need to you know do sandbags or we need to do we have overwash and have sand put somewhere this is going to be a location that that might that might be instead of always using Newton Beach uh park or you know Bay Oaks. So just another opportunity for the town you know to utilize that because we're running out of space to to do sandbags and those kind of things.

Can I ask a question? I'm sorry. Um, so these have these were purchase orders that have now gone into a contract and the contract does have a specific scope of services. So I heard the word we a lot. Uh, does that mean that the town is going to do those things outside of what the contractor is going to do or do we need to amend the contract to roll that in? And if we do, then the price is probably going to be different. I don't know how you're anticipating that.

Yeah, the staff will will do it just like we do at the the beach accesses. We do the pilings and rope down there. So, that'll be us. We'll put in the the sign posts. We already ordered signs. Um parking curbs we've already ordered. So, that's just part of, you know, what we did as far as our procurement.

Okay. And I think I heard Frankie say that you guys would be uploading the permit information. Um, but I thought that in the contract that that is something that the contractor I'm just looking for a division of labor. Um, because if we are going to have a contract with a contractor, they are committing to doing certain things and if the town is going to do things, we just need to know that whatever the town does, there could be potential liability associated with that.

Frank Garpach, community development director. Again, add some clarity to your question. Uh, Mr. Dupage is uh the when I say the we uploaded the permit or in the process of doing so that's what the permitting staff is doing through the contractor. So we were just tying up some loose ends of asking for information back and forth and we wanted to make sure that the public realized that we were doing something and we're doing everything that we asked them to do as well. So we just wanted to have something in the system la late last Friday. So that's an ongoing process that should be wrapped up and in today. As far as what Jeff is alluding to, these are services that we would have been doing anyway uh to a a piece of property. So, they're they're separate from what we're asking the contractor to do.

Right. And I just wanted to clarify that because um the scope that is in the contract is the only thing that the contractor is responsible for doing for that amount of money. And clearly staff can uh substitute and do additional work um on behalf of the town. I just wanted to make sure that if there's any liability associated, I want to know what the town's doing and what the contractor's doing. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. I guess that makes me want to further my question a little bit. The amount that's being requested, this is for the contract amount with ICS, correct? Yes, that would be for

But it doesn't sound like some of the stuff we talked about, the protection, the ballards, the fencing is not within this contract. This is something that is correct. So that would does that then I guess Nancy or Joe does that then extend out even further above the $75,000 threshold? I guess what I'm getting at is do we need to adjust this number that's in here being requested so that we don't have to come back and do this again to cover the things that we discussed today. The contracted cost that is before you today should be set where you're at here according to what we added with the concrete work. the work that we're doing with staff that will be underneath the threshold and that would not be part of this contract at all. It be just separate work that the town is doing.

So then this goes back to I think what we talked about earlier with councelor Mlan because it's the same project is it it's and but it's not under the contract the staff is going to do it. Does it still fall within that $75,000 realm of spending ability? I'm just trying to cover it so we don't have to come back and ratify something again later if we're going to add a fence or you know protective things that we need to do. lighting, whatever we may or may not need to do. Do we need to amend this amount to not exceed a specific amount so that we don't have to come back and redo this again?

Mayor, so the amendment would be for the total project cost, not necessarily an amendment to add money to the contract because the contract is for hypothetically uh doing A, B, and C. the town is now saying we want to do D um which then the town would pay for separately but the total cost of the project would be ABC and D. So I think you're making my point. Are we are we going to have to come back and do this again based on what the costs are going to be from what we discussed today or can we do it with this resolution and amend it to not exceed an amount? I think you could do it in this resolution, but the additional monies that you would be approving for the fencing is not part of the contract. It is part of the project cost.

Yeah. And I totally understand that part. I just want to make sure that we're giving Will the opportunity that he needs and staff to be able to do what we discussed today without having to wait for another agenda item to come back to make another adjustment. That would be that that that is perfectly uh stated and that would be great for us to work with. The the problem that we would have as staff is that we have not even generated those quotes yet for fencing uh on that property. We can get rental fencing in construction fence that would take it uh through this phase of putting up the cement wall and getting that lot ready for use. But additional fencing or additional uh securing whatever you would securements uh moving forward that would be something that we'd have to put out for bid yet. So there were kind of like handcuffed on what we could add for the total number.

So basically what you're saying is it's going to come back no matter what. Mhm. Yes sir. Okay. I I' I'd prefer that, Mr. Mayor. Okay. So So we get it right. Uh two more weeks. Um we'll continue, you know, two more weeks. will give us enough time. Jeff, you think so? Well, I don't want to hold the progress on this. I'm just saying if there with the additions that we talked about, if the staff is going to do it and it's going to come back and that's fine. I just don't I don't want to hold progress. I was just trying to see if this would help streamline. Yes. Just streamline the process is what I was trying to do. Not not muddy the waters. No, we're on the same page. Okay.

Thanks, R. Mayor, I think the motion then is um if it's council's will to approve the resolution and then provide direction to staff to bring back um additional information regarding u payment for the fencing. Something along those lines, but it's direction. Okay, I agree. Anyone have any other comments or questions? I I do. Um, is the retaining wall sit above the level of the um, parking lot itself? It'll probably be just a little bit higher, like almost like a curb. So, it'll

because your question about can people drive off. I mean, I just see a nightmare. It I don't know why I see Yeah, it'll be it'll be higher than what the dirt is, but high enough to stop a car from like a curb. Like a curb. That That concerns me. That's just one thing to consider. And then the other thing, exhibit E, I see that the contractor dated it tomorrow. I don't know if that's a problem or not. March 3rd. Today is a March 2nd. Um, that's on page 988 in the contract. I don't know if that's an issue. Needs to be corrected. Scrier's error, but yeah, my concern is safety and this town's liability.

Yep. And we'll make sure that Thanks. I I appreciate your concerns and we'll either well whether we put up extra ballards or have them put the well that's I mean we'll have to come back but we can put up I can ask him to make the wall a little higher. Um so we can I'll talk to him about it. I think my concern is that the scope creep. I would like to kind of know what we're heading into before we start down that path and feels a little backwards to me but um those are my concerns. lighting safety. That's a big concern for me. And I agree, Nancy, how you feel about that if that's a I agree. It was a little rushed. Um we our intent when it got when it the piles went there was to use it on roadway projects, right?

So, it was going to be more of a staging area, but then we heard from the council and residents that we need to move it. So, this it happened pretty quick and I understand that. Um but yeah, we I mean everything else we have we already have the parking curbs, we have everything already expensed. So, um, which we already have. We have pilings and rope that we have stockpiled. Um, we have signposts that we have stockpiled. So, okay. Thanks, Jeff.

Thanks. Thanks, Jeff. Well, I'll make a motion to approve resolution 26-056 for 2525 EO Boulevard parking lot with the caveat to uh provide direction to the staff to bring back um whatever is necessary to provide proper safety protocols both preconstruction or during construction and post construction. Second. Mayor, may I ask um councilwoman um brought up the issue of lighting. Is that something that council is also wanting more information about because there was discussion about fencing?

Well, that's why I tried to word it as safety protocol. Whatever safety protocols staff feels that we're required to do if that encompasses lighting, which I would think it probably does. Okay. You bring back here are the options here. Here are here's how we're going to pay for it, whether it's through road impact fees, um, and here's a cost. And then the council can make the policy decision on where to go from there if everybody's okay with that. All right, we got a motion. Councelor King, you seconded. Yes. Okay, got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? I'm an I. Councelor King. I, Vice Mayor Safford, I. Uh, Council Link, I. Councelor Mlan, I.

Motion carries unanimously. Thank you guys. Um, next is resolution 26-019, purchase of storm water video system van. This is a resolution of the town council of the town of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, approving the purchase of an an Voyager stormwater video system van from Aries Industries, Inc. in the amount of $288,137 procured through Sourcewell, contract number 12721 for the use in the town storm water system maintenance program authorizing the town manager to sign the purchase order with the attached addendum and providing for an effective date. Will,

thank you, Mr. Mayor. The uh Aries Voyager stormwater video system van will allow us to capture video evidence of the structural integrity of the entire storm water system. It will show where tidal or groundwater infiltration may be occurring, collapsed piping, junction degradation, blockages, and provide for integration of our system into our GIS program. Uh being able to do this in-house will save us significant financial expenses during emergencies. We would not have to rely on contracting others to do this for us. Uh here for questions, Jeff and uh and myself. Any questions? Council has. Council Mlan, any questions?

Um yes, I do. I see that uh this was um determined that it was going to be soul sourced. Um and I'd like to just understand a little bit more about the integration between the video component and the vacuum truck which I believe is associated and uh and is there they seem like two separate pieces of equipment. What level of integration is it? Software, hardware, what if you could explain that please.

Yeah, and I'm sorry I don't have the technical. I'd have to bring Mark in for that. But they are compatible with each other. this the the video truck does work with with our vac truck. Um so I know that was one factor into getting this this truck is because they were compatible. Um one thing this is going to do is after Ian and after Helen and Milton we lost out um well we didn't lose out. We had the opportunity to get more money through FEMA um because if we would have known what our storm water drains look like we would have known if there was damage. Um this is actually a requirement now to do this uh to all your storm water drains. So if we have a collapse or if we have you know structure damage to it um we can use this. This is an underwater camera. So obviously we know that we're a barrier island so a lot of the storm drains do have water in them. Um but this would allow us to then go back and say hey look we had a storm our our storm water system is is is messed up for a better use of a term. Um and then we can video it again at any point and uh then get reimbursed uh for those damages.

That hasn't really answered my question which is the level of integration between Yeah, I that I can't I can't answer that right now. I'd have to Mark was doing the the technical utility manager um the technical stuff. So I can get back to you on it but uh I mean it's a significant purchase, right? And it it would appear that potentially there are competitors. I don't know anything about the industry. I certainly don't know anything about the technology, but a inspection video inspection system seems like it's a you know a unique use than a vacuum truck would be and I'm trying to imagine what the level of integration could be and it's difficult for me to see what that is. So yeah, if you could get more details on that, I'd appreciate it.

Yeah, I can certainly do that. I did. Sorry, Jeff. Mark Ashton did send myself Trace and Tracy a note on this.

So, not to get in front of you, Jeff, but also the uh he said Mark said that it works in conjunction with our Vatcon truck that we own. I know you stated that although two different equipment manufacturers, Vatcon and the video van, they are designed to work seamlessly together to clean, record, and document our storm water systems. It's designed to work underwater and can clean the camera during cleaning and jetting of the piping. Uh, working in conjunction with the vac, our current VCON truck. Being a barrier island, our storm water system is always filled with water. All other models must uh have the system completely dry and clean before any recording can be done, which this one does not require that. Uh, our previous contractor uh would have to dry the lines before any work could be completed. So, I hope that helps.

That is to the question. Thank you. Now that you say that, that's what they had to do down at um the downtown area, old St. Carlos area. They had to dry them out when we used u the company to contract and then Yeah, they that's that does Yeah, makes sense. That's a unique capability. That makes sense. So, I'm going to piggyback off of what John said. That's a great point. So, and I understand sounds like they're saying it's compatible. Could we add something to our contract? This would have a contract, correct? The soul source contract has one. Yes. So, we can add

components to it. I would suggest that they um are verifying that that happens and that any additional expense required to make it properly work. Sometimes it's you bring a technician in, they're $500 an hour. You know, any additional work to make that happen would fall on um the provider of the truck if that's even a possibility.

Yeah, I know they'll come in and they'll do a training with us obviously. Um any repairs are usually kind of on us. Um, like for instance, our sweeper that we bought. Um, we have to haul that to to the manufacturer. Um, or have them come out, which is a lot more spendy when you have the the mechanics come out on that. But yeah, we'd be I I believe we'd be responsible for all maintenance and and what I'm saying though, Jeff, is that I've seen many many salespeople say these things are compatible only to find out that very expensive equipment struggles and you do need some outside. I'm not I'm not saying that's the case. Sure.

Um but I've seen that and I'm wondering if um if there's any way to protect us upfront. So there are some fine details in some of the documentation. Um I'm looking on page 1035. Okay. Uh where it talks about service force. Um but this is probably just for the software. Um it does talk about if repair is needed. So there may be something in the fine print already that um addresses your specific concern. Yeah, I'm thinking software, not not maintenance. But yeah, if repair is needed that there make sure the two pieces of equipment.

No, I'm not talking about repair. I'm talking about the initial configuration like who is going to do the install and configuration? Someone must do that. I'm saying if they are a part of this contract and they are also the ones saying, "Oh, it's compatible that if there are subsequent charges, that's not something we see." But they they do all the workarounds or the fixes to make that happen. Sure. Yeah. I think Mark started to do this research maybe a year ago and has been researching this. So, um I wish he was here to answer those questions, technical ones. And who's Mark, Jeff? What's that? Who is Mark? Mark Ashton, utility manager. Okay. So, he's he's more of the on-site technical guru. Okay.

Um but yeah, he he's very aware of these kind of machines. He's worked uh in the utilities department here in Cape Coral and other places for well probably 30 years or 40 years. So So then he's comfortable. He's the one he's the one whose feet you see every time there's a problem on the ground. Yeah. I mean I we don't just buy $200 $200,000 worth of equipment and not do our research. So um yeah, I didn't mean to suggest that. Yeah, Scott. Great. You know, my question, where's the money come from, Joe? You're kind of stealing John's question. Yeah.

Oh, the it'll be funded out of the storm water fund. There's been an an accumulation of funds in there for the There were two years where the town was not required to pay um the state revolving fund loan payments. So, we had like two years worth of savings from there. And so that accumulated in the storm water fund and so that is what would be used to help purchase this equipment.

And then if we are in a state of emergency uh and have say another hurricane or tropical storm, we actually get reimbursed for the use of these vehicles, the stor the backcon and the monitoring system or even our kabotas or anything. We have a kind of a a price that we have um for those for the FEMA reimbursement. So, these will actually instead of paying to have someone come video it, we're going to get reimbursed some money for for using it. That's a double win. Thank you. That's great. Thank you. That's all that's all I had. John,

no real questions as much as a couple of comments. Um Will talked about how it will save us money. Um it also save us time, which we all know is money as well. Um just a couple of thoughts. I don't know if it would work for this resolution or not, but uh the Florida League of Cities does offer a equipment financing program. So that's something to keep in mind. Maybe for this, I don't know, or down the road for other equipment purchases. So nice. Thank you.

Yeah, I I you know, being heavily involved like all of us were right after the storm, having this piece of equipment would have been crucial. Same with that that vacuum. Uh you know, going to some of the storm water, storm sewers around and finding out they're not connected to anything. Being able to know that in advance would be, you know, we got a lot of calls as everybody knows, hey, this drain is backed up. We can be proactive and get ahead of that. Yes, it's a very expensive purchase, but I think it's one that is necessary along with the the vacuum. Question I have is, have we calculated what the operating costs of this are going to be? Is that calculated into this at all or have we've figured out how we're going to budget for that? I'm assuming it's going to be an employee that has to run it. Will it be the same employee that runs the vac truck? Will it be a different employee? Uh what's the insurance? What liability? All that kind of stuff. I'm hoping we've got that cost per year to maintain it and operate it calculated in somewhere

that I don't know if we the insurance. I'm not sure how much we pay on those. Not sure. Um but the the staff will run it. Um we already have uh Kareem who who runs a vacon truck. He ran it in Lee County for well, he actually semi-retired and then wanted to come back uh for this opportunity to run ours. So very very um very knowledgeable in it and we've been using it quite a bit for breaks and and stuff. But um the additional cost we'll have to get to you on as far as that. But our staff are already in place to use it. They'll be trained in it just like they we're actually having uh one or two more trained for the vaccon truck. So if he has the day off or something, we have somebody to run it um and getting those those lensures. But, uh, yeah, they'll be trained in it for sure. And we'll have probably anywhere from two to three people that are are trained in it.

Yeah, I think another important point of this is being able to be proactive as you go in rainy season and stormy season. Being able to monitor each storm grain and have it clean before we start seeing rain or sand come on, I think will help a lot of the people who are in lowlying areas that are prone to flooding on the island we hear about every single year. So, hopefully this will help alleviate some of that. knowing what's in there is is always better than finding out after the fact, but yeah. Or having to wait, you know, a week or two to have a truck come down from a different company. So, it's it's definitely something we've been wanting and needing. Um, you know, it's a piece of equipment that, yeah, it does cost a lot, but it's going to be well worth it. All right. Thanks, Jeff.

Any other questions or comments for staff? All right. Is there a motion for resolution 26-019 for the purchase of a storm water video system van? So moved. Motion by councelor King. I'll second. Second by Vice Mayor Safford. Any further dis discussion? Councelor King. I c Vice Mayor Safford. I. Councelor Link I. Councelor Mlan. I. And I'm an I as well. That motion carries unanimously.

Next is item G. This is resolution 26-058 for CEC RFQ-24-066 STA number three 2026 beach monitoring task. This is a resolution of the town council of the town of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, approving and authorizing the town manager to execute supplemental task agreement number three of contract RFQ-24-06- A between the town and Coastal Engineering Consultants, Inc. for physical monitoring of beach profiles, permit required, winter shorebird monitoring, funding administration and stakeholder tasks and poststorm surveys and assessment for a cost of $122,800 and providing for an effective date.

Will, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Chad, floor is yours.

Hey, good morning everyone again. Chad shoots for the record. Um so just like our storm water or canals or our beaches are the same where we need to assess what the condition is annually before storm season. Um the annual monitoring is something we've done for a while and the county before us. It's just best man best management practices for beach maintenance. So we see how much sand is out there and if we do get wiped by a storm, we can uh file a claim with FEMA and our state partners to recoup those losses now that we have an engineered beach on most of our beach. That's uh invaluable for us. Um the the second task is a permit uh requirement for shorebird monitoring, winter monitoring from the Army Corps's uh US Fish and Wildlife Biological Opinion to satisfy our permit requirements. Um we have the LGFR, local government funding request um that uh Coastal's been helping us out with for years, Michael Poff and his team uh getting us monies for our beach uh maintenance um projects. Uh and then the last task for is a if we do have a storm to have that contracted and ready and not have to go through the procurement process and be able to do a uh posttorm uh assessment of uh damages and get that to uh our state and federal partners timely.

Councelor King, questions for chat. funding comes from. Uh so the uh costs are eligible for reimbursement from grant funding provided by the TDC uh in the uh interlocal agreement as well as FD grant agreement 23LE1. Um the town would be responsible for approximately 23,000 uh uh or about 15% of task one. Uh

uh task two about $16,200. Um 100% of task three would be the town's responsibility. That's approximately 11,000. And should a posttorm uh survey be required, that may qualify for FEMA or FDM reimbursement, uh and just depending on the severity of the storm and legislation, sometimes that's uh FEMA will pick up 75% of that cost and sometimes they may pick up uh 100% between FEMA and FDM, but um the posttorm assessment should be required by or should be reimburseable by FEMA should that happen. Thank you, Finn, man. Sorry. Said, "Thank you, Finn, man." Yes, sir. You're welcome,

Scott. So, I guess here we go, Joe. So, you you had said task one, we'd be required 20 20,000, which isn't 15%, it's 30,00. Sorry. Yeah, I misread that. So, um task one I have 63,700. Task two 16,200 would be the 15% of the cost. Okay.

Hopefully I'm getting that right and I didn't mistype my notes. I believe within the financial impact section of the blue sheet um I did add some clarification as far as the cost and it would we already include costs for coastal engineering for for our share within the budget. So it's already been budgeted. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I just want to make sure it's budgeted. And then you had mentioned TDC. Have we applied for it? Have we gotten it? Where are we with

So, we have our interlocal agreement. Um I would need to talk to uh Mr. Battell to see if that um if our annual either the annual may be part of our project. um if it's part of our project that we've already done, the interlocal agreement that we have, that's the uh the big $4.9 million grant that we already have. Um that may cover it. If not, it would be a part of the 23LE1 where we pay approximately 15% and then again TDC and the state pay for you know 40 some odd percent each for the Okay. All right. So, so can you find out for sure?

Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you, Rebecca. I'm good. Thank you, John. I have nothing further. Thank you. Thanks, Chad. Welcome. If there's no more questions, do you are you comfortable waiting to get the answer or do you want to No, it's I mean, it's if it's 15%. It's It's not a deal breaker. I just want to make sure that we're that he's on top of it and aware that we got on record that we just need to find out for sure that I want to make sure it's it's it's budgeted, which is the main thing, but if we can get TDC to pay reimburse us, that'd be great.

All right. Is there a motion for resolution 26-058? I'll make a motion for resolution 26-058 CEC RFQ 24-06 SDA number three for 2026 speech monitoring tasks motion in a second. Any further discussion? Councelor Mlan. Hi. Councelor King. Hi. Vice Mayor Safford. Hi. Councelor Link. I. And I'm an I as well. That motion carries unanimously. Final public comment. Anyone? Sir? No. All right. We'll close final public comment. Town manager items.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. A few items this morning. Uh first of all, an update on Fort Myers Beach Elementary and our progression and negotiations with the school district. Uh to help with those negotiations, as I briefed the council before, we requested a uh assistance from um engineers and architects to uh do an assessment of the uh current building so we would have that data to use in the negotiations. and and we received that report from GMA architects last week. Uh myself and the uh Frankie and Tracy and others have been reviewing that uh and I will provide it to the council um uh after this meeting and it'll be available for the public. I'm sure there will be requests for it. Uh overall I'll just uh in summary what the report says is uh uh both reports architectural engineering and structural reports conclude that while portions of the building roof walls and HVAC retain value the foundation floor system and electrical infrastructure present major safety and resiliency concerns. Restoring the school for continued educational use would require significant financial investment, extensive design and construction efforts and elevation to meet FEMA standards. Although the building could potentially be repurposed for a lower risk use. Uh but even this with the low elevation of the current structure and compromised foundation would require would continue to pose long-term vulnerability to flood events and would be significantly costly. I think the bottom line there is that as as we suspected uh from other walkthroughs in this walkth through and just general knowledge people in this island have when it comes to rebuilding and uh um or building new structures on the island. Uh there will be significant challenges both financially and uh and engineering wise to uh turn that historical building into one that we could use for a school again. Um the report doesn't say that's impossible. It just says that uh it would need to be elevated. Uh some some

aspects of the current building might be able to sustain that ele that that elevation process, but uh there's no guarantees that it would and there's other aspects that would just have to be totally redone whether you elevated it or not. So I still think that this is useful having this data as we go into negotiations with the school district. I think it continues or just even strengthens our position uh in in asking for um support uh and uh and um some of that disaster relief funding to uh to um build a school. Um if uh the negotiations go well with the district, we get the property, we get the the structures on the property, we could move forward with that with some financial uh um compensation as well. Uh so we do have a meeting tomorrow. Uh myself and Tracy have another staff meeting um with the deputy superintendent tomorrow. Uh I will discuss this report with him and uh continue to hold the line in our uh last request to the school district for the property and financial compensation. Uh and if that uh if after that meeting uh I'm not satisfied that we've come closer to an agreement uh I think that it would be proper and appropriate for us then to ask for another round of mediation uh with the mediator as soon as we could both align our schedules. Any questions on that matter before I move on to the next?

Nope.

Okay. Thank you. Uh next uh ETPs the uh emergency temporary placement permit process. I was authorized last year uh to move forward with by the council in order for us to gain FEMA compliance with temporary uh structures on the island. Uh the initial permits that I granted are are reaching about their fourmonth mark now uh in a six-month time timeline. So, we sent out a letter to all those who received uh those permits that uh they're come they're going to be coming within the next couple of months due for reapplication. And uh in this if they want if they intend to apply for another permit, I am going to need to see continued progression towards development on that property whether it's business or uh residential. Um and uh we'll hold firm on that as the council has directed me to to hold firm on that that the people are moving forward with the developments and understanding of their their you know different challenges they may have. Uh we want them to move forward with either re rebuilding their home or rebuilding their business uh so that we can move away from the temporary structures uh you know as soon as reasonable for our town. uh and included in that in the normal process if if I deny a request based on one of those things, everybody in the public has the opportunity to appeal that decision to council. So, we're moving forward with that. And finally, yes, it was mentioned uh by council and I'll say again, we'd like to say congratulations to Jason Freeman. um made the decision recently in in coordination with uh the deputy town manager and with the town clerk and thanks to the support from uh our HR director realized that Jason Freeman among the uh in recent times and actually over the years has uh continued to accumulate many responsibilities that are of key importance to this town. Has has a role wears many different hats. Uh few of them he stood up and talked about

today. uh but also as deputy town clerk as our legislative liaison uh he's he runs our uh our emergency response plan all the frackck and uh I also knew and identified saw that he had a significant capability both his education but also his just his uh his capabilities to support with our strategic planning and our integration of some new initiatives that we have with town. So I felt it appropriate to kind of you know give him a title appropriate with his responsibilities of executive administrative officer for the town. Uh no financial impact you know with that decision. I want to make that clear. Want to make that clear. But uh but definitely something a role that more fits what Jason does for the town and what he means to this town. Um so just wanted to make sure everybody was aware of that decision.

He's the Marco Rubio of Fort Myers Beach. And that's all I have. Congratulations, Jason. Yes. Congratulations, Jason. Welld deserved. All right. Thank you. Town attorney items. Oh, no items. Oh, look at that. All right. Then next is the council member items and reports. Do you want to do the town advisory board first, Amy, or do you want to do them after? It's up to you. Let's do them first.

Okay. So um with the resignation of Jim Adhalt, he was council liaison to both Anchorage Advisory um committee and to South Gab. So we just need amongst yourselves somebody to be the

council ML. So, as the junior member, junior sitting member of council, I'd like to offer uh either to take both of those positions or given it's an opportunity if there's somebody that would like to take one of those and give up something in return, I'm happy to be as flexible as the rest of council desires. Congratulations, council member. We'll support. Congratulations. Thank you. So, you'll be taking on both. I'll take both. Thank you. Thank you, John. Do you need us to do a formal vote or consensus enough?

I think consensus is enough. This is u administrative matter among yourselves. All right. Well, then we'll stay with you, John. You have any other reports or items you'd like to discuss? Uh, actually, not at this time. Thank you, though. Okay. Councelor Link.

Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I spoke with Will briefly about this the other day, but we all received, I'm assuming we all received an email from Lowe's. Um, and they give out $und00 million a year for community projects and I think we could fit nicely into them. It's not a it's not so much a grant with a big application, but it's a nomination. And so I wanted to talk to Jeff. I was thinking about a few things that maybe Bay Oaks could use um and wrote up a couple drafts, but if it's okay with everyone as well as town council, I would nominate our town as a private citizen to receive uh some money for Bay Oaks. One of the things I was thinking, I don't know if it's still in need, but uh a new roof perhaps. So, if we could talk about that later, if that's acceptable to everyone,

I appreciate that. uh council link I did forward that that uh Lowe's process nomination process to my directors. Uh there was opportunities within that amongst I think that crossed over several of our departments uh from community services, community development, even our emergency services operations. Um so I I would ask I asked already asked all of them to look into it and see where we could uh maybe apply for some of those grants. I appreciate any support uh from

I'm happy to submit them for you. Um, it's not like I'm not doing anything else, but I'm I'm pretty good at writing these things and I can do them quickly. They have a very short deadline. I mean, it's coming up in a week or so. So, if anybody has ideas, bring them to me or send me an email. I'll write something up. I'll send it back to you for approval. And if you're okay with it, I'll submit it again on my behalf as a private citizen nominating. Does it have to be Is that acceptable, Nancy? Well, it kind of complicates it a little bit. Yeah. Um, generally it would be the mayor whose signature would be um on any type of application or request. Okay.

Um, so what council could do is to authorize the town manager to finalize a application and um authorize the mayor to go ahead and sign it and just maybe funnel it through will. Perfect. Um, with the mayor's signature on it. Perfect. Does I haven't read through it, but does it does is it is project specific or is it just a nominee of

It's project specific. There's several different categories of projects. I mean, the ones that I saw right off the top of my head that could fly is for a park um for um you know, uh public safety uh needs. Um some uh some other, you know, it wasn't really in the disaster disaster relief related thing, but it was a lot of community uh impact projects. Is there a deadline on

there is there is and it it's coming up middle of March. I'll get that to everyone but um mayor I can give this to you. One of the things when you are requesting these funds you want to make sure it's something that you know they will approve. If it's not it's just a waste of everyone's time. So that's why I was looking at things like roof because there are certain things they look at when they're evaluating and if we couldn't fit into that bucket we're wasting our time. So, these were some of the things I thought

Amy advises that the deadline is March the 20th. So, we could bring it back um on the 16th and the town manager then could give a little bit more description of what we're actually going to be asking for um and then you guys can approve doing that. I'm okay with giving consent to have councelor link work with will and staff to draft what needs to come back if everyone else is okay with it. And then you can submit if you find it appropriate. Okay. Thank you. That'll give you enough time then from the 16th to submit it by the 20th. Yes.

Look at they can just um identify some of the projects at at the meeting on the 16th just as a followup and then mayor you could Okay. Finally sign it. Sounds good. You want to give this to Amy now that you've handed it to me. So if anybody requests it. Sure. You've got it. Thank you. That's it for me.

Is it counc uh the last two Thursdays, town staff and I have had meetings with Aaron Dver and other members of uh Senator Rick Scott staff. Um purpose of which was seeking funding assistance for canal dredging. Um Aaron uh texted me on Friday that she was putting together some uh revenue sources and just minutes ago she emailed those to us. Haven't had a chance to go through that yet, but looking forward to doing that. Um, also I will be late for the MMP meeting on Thursday because of the aforementioned uh Keepley County beautiful event. Uh, I will be suited up so get your best pants jokes ready.

You own I know you have a suit. You have extra pants, too. Save it for Thursday, Scott. Well, I can't wait. Oh, yeah. All right. Is that it, John? That's it. All right, Scott. No, I'm good.

Uh, the only thing I I had is in the conversations that we've added all these equipment, if it's if I could get another council member to agree to add to M&P a discussion about over the next fiscal year looking to try to find a way to provide shelter for a lot of our equipment. You know, we've everything we own sits outside. It's, you know, in the elements, which adds more maintenance. if we could add it to the MMP to have a discussion to try to find grant funding if it's or funding opportunities to be able to build the structure to provide cover for a lot of this expensive equipment that we're we're now purchasing uh to help with longevity. I'd like to see that happen. You have my consent.

I appreciate that, Mr. Mayor. I've had some discussions with the team on that and I appreciate that direction. Perfect. That's all I had. If there's nothing else, John. Well, with apologies to Rolls-Royce, uh, as we all know, some of the work gets kind of hard. This ain't no place to be if you plan on being a star. Let me tell you, it's always cool. And the mayor doesn't mind sometimes if I act a fool. So, with that, I'll move to a journ. Second. All right. Got a motion and a second. Anyone opposed? No. We adjourned at 11:16. Going to be a fun step by