City Commission - Regular Meeting

Madam Mayor, it is 9.05 and we are live.

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the pre-agenda workshop of May 22nd, 2026. Can we have the roll call, please?

Mayor Betty Rash?

Here.

Vice Mayor Mimi May? Present. Commissioner Sarah Maliga? Present. Commissioner Christopher McVoy?

Here.

Commissioner Anthony Segrich?

Present.

Okay, pre-agenda workshop. We have a light agenda coming up for Tuesday. Anybody want to talk about any particular thing, bond projects, resolutions? Can we have staff go first? Sure. Does staff have anything they'd like to bring to us?

I did want to briefly go over the upcoming meetings that we have because we have several. On the 26th, we are going to be doing the PNZB, BAB and the PZB interviews only. The appointments will be done on the 28th before the financial update. So because we have interviews into 630. So we will run.

What day is that again? I'm looking at my calendar.

The 26th, the day of our regular commission meeting, we are going to have a special meeting preceding that at 5. We have a number of interviews to conduct for the two boards that you all are appointing for. Those timed out to be till 630, so we won't have time to appoint that night, but we will do the appointments before the financial updates on the 28th. There's a special meeting on the 28th. And then we also have a regular meeting on the 29th. the regular meeting on June 2nd and the special meeting regarding the garage entitlement first reading on the 8th. And then the first budget workshop is scheduled for June 11th from 9.30 to 5. That's all I have.

Okay. Anybody else? Does the staff have anything to... Oh, Ms. McKay. Good morning.

Good morning, everyone. A couple of things about our leisure services agenda items. One thing I wanted to note about the street painting festival contract is that the event management company representatives will be on site to answer any specific questions that you may have. We also noticed that in our staff report, the sponsorship and revenue was not correct. We actually had $55,887 in revenue, which is correct in the wrap-up, just our staff report had a different number. So the wrap-up is correct with the amount of revenue that we did receive. We will update that and send that over to the clerk. And regarding our Tropical Ridge Park Improvement, our team is also going to, in addition to the map that you and the drawings you received from our company that we are looking to award the contract to, which is the specs of what they will be adding to the park, our team is also going to create a map that will represent where our benches are going to go and our walkways and things like that, so that you can also see that map. We had a request for that.

that's it from leisure for now okay so we the uh you're asking for 288 291.83 i'm just looking at the website you're speaking about the street painting festival i am talking about street yes yes so that is the uh edition of the cpi which i received the numbers from our finance team okay and then so we got I'm looking at them. I thought I'd see them. How much revenue did we take in?

It was 50,000.

Pardon? Sorry, 50,000. 55,887. 877, sorry.

So it costs us about 200 and something thousand dollars to do it.

Yes, I can get the exact numbers for you.

I just want to make sure I understood that. Does anybody have any comments about that? How did it, how did people like the event last year?

Um, one of the things that, if I may, yeah, please. One of the things that, um, somebody said in this, I'm just throwing it out here because it was a suggestion that I had heard was that the, well, somebody said we should charge for it. And it was like, no, that's not what we do, but we could have a, um, like a VIP tent or something where you would charge for it, where you would have something like that, where you would have like upgraded bathrooms and a place to get away from the crowds and maybe have like, like your own separate bar, food area, something like that, where it would be something that you would charge for. I mean, I don't know, it's another way to get some revenue and give people that feeling of they have a little special place to go. I don't know if you guys wanna do that, but that was the suggestion that was made.

Until just two years ago, I think there, if you, if you sponsored, you know, you know, if you actually, we've got to get the sponsoring thing together about advertising that it has, that's been, I think the ones that soft spot there used to be a 10, it was over by the cultural Plaza. And if you were, you know, if you sponsored a square for a few hundred dollars, you have that, that was part of it. It was not done. I don't know if it costs too much. I don't know why it stopped, but it did stop. And, you know, I've, I've, been sponsoring a square for all these years and i didn't really miss it that much but that it was done i mean something you think about but but you had to sponsor a square together just how that worked which i think makes sense if yours is it was like the sponsor's tent yeah the sponsor's tent makes sense and i think maybe that better um

I agree with you, Mayor, that we could probably get more sponsorships and get some more money back off of it than we are at this point. But I think that as the team continues to put this on every year, like their sponsorship list gets longer, their connections get greater. I think that the two years that the current leisure services team that's been doing it as each year has increased tenfold. So I see it improving and I see it where if they could have the whole thing sponsored, I'm sure they would do it. So I'm sure that that is a goal.

Well, what do you think? Deanna, what's your response?

Sponsorships are absolutely a goal across all leisure services divisions. We are regularly focused on that. And you are correct, with the current event management company, there has definitely been an increase in the festival from year to year. You can really see that they really understood the festival this year from the response, and I think that it would continue to grow year after year.

Well, what about at GDIT for sponsors?

that i can definitely bring up to them i i mean if that's a generator of revenue for the city and something that we would the commission would like to see i can absolutely bring that forward to the event management company and i think if you wanted to just pay to be in the vip tent you could do that too if we don't need any more um sponsors for the spaces on the street sure

That could definitely work. Thank you.

That's the one thing that I've wondered about is the sponsorship thing, because it seems a little chaotic and not really. There was a citizen committee that would send out, you know, because I don't think we got anything that said, hey, you know, be a sponsor. And the prices have gone up, which I understand. But I think we need to promote the sponsorship. And I don't know if that company is the person to do that or are we the people to do that, you know, to get the sponsors. I'm thinking of us to do that.

It's a combination of both. So both the city and the event management company do seek sponsorships. We do have a sponsorship package that we circulate with different benefits for people. And we do work with our local businesses as well as our event management company has other contacts from their experience and years of producing. As this continues to grow, I do believe that we will be able to increase our sponsorships and there are more opportunities out there. And the earlier we start with them on contract, the sooner that we can get more sponsorship.

I forget what it was last year to sponsor a square, but it's gone up. And so it was the sponsorship for all. I mean, I've been working. So I was there when they started this thing. A lot of the thing was. regular people could sponsor. It wasn't so expensive that regular people couldn't. And there were different sizes of squares and stuff. And I think that people took pride in the fact that they gave $100 or $150 and got something, you know, more ownership towards it. If we could look at that, you know, with consensus to see if I'm getting a little, it's not just the businesses, it's the small, you know, people would just do it. The rotary would do it, you know, things like that. I'd like to see that increase. And where the plaques go and stuff, it was a little chaotic. I mean, two years ago, I was in the truck digging out things to see who was doing it. So if we could improve that, that's my only concern.

Thank you.

Sheila? Yeah, I just wanted to let you all know that Commissioner Maliga unfortunately will not be able to attend. She's still having technical difficulties. She said she'll watch the meeting.

Use the other phone.

She tried. She downloaded the app and it still kicked her out. So she said she'll get IT to look at it, but she wanted to let you all know that she was not attending today.

Okay, that's too bad. So anybody else have any thoughts about SunFest? I had my hand up. Oh, it's blending into your roof. Yes.

Thank you, Mayor. I agree that sponsorship needs to be a bigger focus. I did notice just the number of squares that didn't have a sponsor. It's huge. And I do agree with the mayor in thinking that maybe less will get us more, right? So if somebody can sponsor a small square for $100, I think we'd get a lot more community participation in that. um you know and make it a goal that we get every square sponsored right and if we're able to do that then then we can increase the prices right um but if we're not able to do that um i think that that needs to be a goal um since we've hired the event management company you know i think sponsorships there's and it might be my understanding of it but There really is no incentive for the management company to get sponsorships unless they are able to share in that, right? Just by way of example, if they went out and got a $50,000 sponsor or a $100,000 sponsor, what's in it for them? Right now, per the contract, there's really nothing in there that I read where they benefit from that. So maybe there's a way where if they're bringing in larger corporate sponsors or larger community sponsors, they get a certain percentage of that sponsorship. But as I see it right now, they have no incentive. Because all their costs are covered. So I think we do need to think about that and come up with a creative solution so that they are incentivized to do so. I do like Commissioner May's idea of the VIP tent or a sponsor tent or that area. The event is so popular, it gets overwhelming. And I think that people would appreciate that.

No, I liked having it. It was right off the cultural plaza. You could go in, you get a drink, a little snack, and just sit for a minute.

Especially on a hot day, an area to rest, too, would be good. And other events, like evening on Antique Row, it works out really well. I did want to bring up our local restaurants. Overwhelmingly, the feedback that I get from our local restaurants is that street painting actually hurts them. They like it because of the community, but for some of them, they might as well shut their doors. It costs them more to run the restaurant than it does to be there. and i i really would love for us to think about how do we get them involved because you know our event company is bringing in food vendors right and they got either normal fruit but it's not like It's not like great street food. It's not like a local food. It's just the normal stuff, right? I personally would rather see, and I think our restaurants would step up because the great taste of Lake Worth is phenomenal. I would like to see them have the opportunity to be setting up either catering tables outside of their restaurants. I know there's challenges with sidewalks and things like that. But if we put some thought into it and actually have a structure for that, I would think that we'd get some great support from our restaurants and it would really help them. Our small shops, they tend to do really well. You've got your trinket shops, your souvenir shops, your art and your eclectic boutiques and things. They do very well from all those people that are coming through, but our restaurants get hurt. So I really would love for the team to think about that and come up with some creative solutions, maybe even work with some of the restaurant owners to get those ideas. And I'm sure they'd be willing to meet with staff.

Maybe set aside like a street, you know, block off a side street for them. I don't know, something. I think it's a good idea.

Yeah, I mean, we have that whole food vendor row, you know, and also, you know, I understand that. Our management company makes money off of the food vending and the alcohol sales. But I think we've got to take care of our local businesses with that.

So Tiana, they get the $2.88 from us. They also get a portion of the alcohol and food sales on top of that?

Yes, so they receive the payment for the coordination of the festival and then they receive, so the city receives 30% of the bar sales and they would receive the other portion. Then we receive the $22,000 from the food vendors and regarding sponsorships, any sponsorships they acquire the city would get 60% of that and they receive the remainder amount of that. Regarding the restaurants, we can absolutely discuss early and start early with them. We can meet with them and find out how we could get creative to ensure that they were able to showcase more of their food offerings. We can absolutely work with the event management company on that.

So we get 30% of the food?

30% of the alcohol and 60% of the sponsorship's revenue. But a flat $22,000? Oh, sorry.

I'm sorry.

The city gets 100% of what we find, what we acquire. So any of the businesses, the plaques, those things, we get 100% of that.

But what's the $22,000? That's food?

That's the food vendors. So that's the food concession that Commissioner Segrich is speaking about. That has been an agreement that's been in place for multiple years. And so they supplement the food at the festival. But we can, like I mentioned, we can absolutely work with our local businesses and the coordinators.

Okay, so we get $22,000 just flat rate, no matter how much food gets sold. Correct. Have we raised that?

this was what was proposed to us in the when we did the rfp this was what was given to us that amount and this is the same amount it's consistent throughout the years but i mean their charges are going up i can discuss that with with the sunfest the 22 000 is for all that food that's i mean i'm i'm all with anthony and and thinking of something creative for that but

$22,000, that's a lot of food gets sold. And I think, do we find out how much they get? So we don't find out how much they made. We do with the alcohol because of the percentage.

Yes.

But we don't wrap food.

That is correct.

I don't know why we don't get some kind of share with food as well.

If we do want to make changes to the contract, such as that, I would need to speak with our finance team. We may need to go out again for that, but I would need to check on that with our finance procurement team.

You couldn't talk to them and just say, hey, could we work on this a little bit?

I would need to consult with finance on that, on how that would work.

Madam Mayor, I had a quick follow-up. Yes, sure. Um, so would it, to the mayor's point, would it be possible to find out how much they're actually making? And then, um, if they're getting a 64, a 40 60 split on sponsorships, um, how, how much in sponsorships did they bring in?

I will get a breakdown of what our internal city sponsorships were and what the sponsorships that the And that management company came in and provide that to Commission.

Along those lines, the $55,000 that we got, that included the $22,000 and our share of the sponsorships?

Yes, it did.

That's not a lot.

Yeah. I was going to say, I mean, if they're getting a 40% rip on a sponsorship and it just doesn't seem like they're doing anything in terms of sponsorships, which...

Well, Tiana's going to find out how that laid out. Could you get that to us by any chance by the meeting, by Monday or Tuesday morning?

Yes, we can absolutely get that breakdown. Yes, we have it. I'll get the breakdown for you. We also have some in-kind sponsorships, so I'll list all the sponsorships that we have.

Okay, great. Yeah. But I mean, they're doing good. It's a great, no criticism of the process, but just we need to sort of make sure that we're getting our fair share. They're making a lot of money.

It's a great event with lots of attendees. We can work on our sponsorships and I'll absolutely provide that for you.

Yeah. Yeah. The citizen sponsorships, I think is important. I see no hands raised. It's a quiet morning. Are we all tired? Mr. Segrist, your hand's still up. I don't know.

No, I had on another topic just on tropical Ridge. Do we have, do we know if we currently have a police camera in that park? And if not, when we get that new equipment in there, can we definitely make sure that we have one there? It's a very high drug activity park. So I'd love for us to make sure that we can protect that equipment, you know, new stuff going in there.

Well, how is it when you say best? Is it like somebody watching all the time? I don't disagree with you. What's the purpose?

They have the flock cameras, and they periodically check them. So, you know, just like they did for us on 13th Avenue South on the easement, they put a camera there and they were able, they get alerts essentially when there's motion at night and so on. They do. Yeah, they do. You know, it's not like someone's sitting there 24-7 physically watching the camera, but they're able to utilize that for greater coordination. Also evidence gathering, because a lot of times when citizens call, by the time they get there... they're either done doing their activity or they can see the police coming and stuff gets thrown away and they can utilize that for that purpose. Having it there is a deterrent in and of itself.

No, I don't disagree. I mean, even fake cameras. Because for a misdemeanor, the police have to actually observe it themselves. They can't go on. But in terms of helping, no, not a bad idea. Ms. May has her hand up.

Thank you also, when you look at the budget for the. The amount that we got for the grant versus the amount that is budgeted right now for the. Equipment there is a 70,000 dollar discrepancy. Now, I know that there's probably a contingency in there already, but in part of the 70,000, you never know because we feel like these projects sometimes you have a little bit more or a little bit less than budgeted. However, to Anthony's point with the camera, if it needs to be funded, there is more money left in that grant. So it could be part of that. I don't know how much those cameras cost, but I think that two things. One, I think it would be great to protect the equipment. But number two, there's a playground in there and there's families in there with children. And I think that for no other reason than that, there should be a camera in there. So, cause I know that there are families that really do go to that park and really that's, that's what they do after school with those kids. And we need to make sure that they're safe and that they're not sending us pictures of very inappropriate activities in there.

Sure.

So I don't know. Does anybody on the call know the cost to put in a camera?

I think we're going to find out.

Okay. Well, Tiana, could you, could you find that out and see if you can add that to that proposal?

I can absolutely look into that and I can let you know that once the contract is fully awarded and complete any remaining funds the city will be able to utilize so we will ensure that we are enhancing the park as much as possible and if that means we can afford a camera I will speak with the city manager as well as pvso and find out what that could look like I do see the city manager has his hand up so perhaps he's aware okay we're going to hear from Mr Perry and then Mr Mcboy Mr Perry good morning

Mr. Perry? You're on mute. You're mute. Turn up your volume or something.

How's that? There's another button that was pushed. Yes. I'll get Captain Karn and find out because we have two sets of cameras going on in the city. They have the one that the sheriff's office uses in certain spots, which is not part of that flock system. And then you do have the flock system. So I'll find out from him and we'll meet with the leisure services and see what best fits that particular situation. So I'll definitely get some information and provide it back to the commission.

Could you repeat that word? You're using flock camera. What are you saying?

There's a camera called a flock. It's a system that they use. Actually, they're trading over to a new system right now, but we're still on that particular system. We put them out throughout the city, like a lot of traffic, around the traffic areas, that type of thing. But then he has another camera that they deploy in high volume areas where they're trying to identify suspicious behavior. They're mobile cameras. They can move around. Wow. Like I said, I'll get with him and find out how we can address that situation, probably as of now until we can determine how we want to move forward. So I'll get with him today and get you some information.

I think they're talking about a permanently affixed camera, not one of those parts that comes in.

Correct. Well, yes. But like I said, I'm going to give you both. I'm going to give you both. But like I said, hopefully he can do something now to get something out there to determine what we want to do moving forward.

Thank you. You're on mute. We can't hear you. I don't know what that means. We can't hear you. Unmute yourself. Sorry. Cameras. One other thing about Wal-Mart cameras. Those cameras or even Palm Springs has them. I think we have one permanently attached that as you're speeding, you should be going 35 and you're going 40. Those are really effective. I mean, I see one of those and I slow down and I think a lot of people do. And we have so many complaints about people driving really fast in our city. You know, we don't have control over federal and Dixie, but even on the side on our, on our letter streets going in and out of town, I mean, it's, it's dangerous. It's pretty crazy. And I wonder if we couldn't look at the budget to see how much they cost, you know, they're in their little solar thing so that it's, you know, always done. I don't know about you guys, but I get a lot of complaints about speeding in the city.

Can you hear me now?

Yeah, we're on a new topic now. Yes, Christopher.

I don't know what's going on with the phone, but I can't turn it on and off. But I've found something.

Laptops are so much better. The phones just don't work.

Yeah, I've had trouble with the laptop, too. But anyhow. May I speak, Madam Mayor, about the tropical ridge and cameras? Of course. Okay. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I certainly appreciate the concern about drug activity, about safety for the families and kids that use the park. I do have two concerns about cameras. One is It just feels a little creepy to me that our residents would go to a park and have to wonder whether there's a camera watching them when they're in a public park. I just don't have a real warm and fuzzy about that. How one balances, this is a longstanding question worldwide, how do you balance security with privacy? And I don't know that there's a right answer or a single answer, but I raised that concern. A more specific one is I want to be very clear that if we put a camera there and PBSO is involved with it in one fashion or another, that we are absolutely clear that it be in no way used for immigration enforcement, because that's been an issue in a number of communities where they have license plate readers or cameras and then the local law enforcement winds up using it to support immigration stuff. And I would be vehemently opposed to that. So I think we need a rock solid guarantee that that doesn't happen. Many of you have seen the recent report of PBSO, which repeatedly asserts they're not really doing immigration. And yet somebody called PBSO for a welfare check and wound up getting messed with with immigration. And in fact, they were in legal process and they still got detained. So there are shortcomings in the system. We talk often about how we don't want to do anything illegal. Well, there are things that are very much on the edge of legal that are happening and certainly morally that are a real problem.

I don't think there's really an assumption of privacy. If you're in the public, you have no expectation of privacy. If you go to a park, you can expect to be, you know, hopefully, and one of the things about a camera is deterring people from doing things that they wouldn't do if they weren't thinking they would be watched. So, you know, while I understand your concerns about that, that's I think in the balance, I think the cameras, in London, I mean, England, if you go outside, I mean, they can track you from street to street. We're not trying, I mean, and actually it helps to save, solve crimes a lot.

And China does the same thing and they automate it and they do facial recognition.

I don't think that's something. I really don't think the city of Lake Worth is going to go into that kind of thing. So I understand your concern, but I really don't think that's what we're talking about. Mr. Segwitch, you hand this up.

Yeah, I was just going to say, again, we have absolutely zero control over what immigration law enforcement does.

We're prevented by law. We have control over what PBSO does. They are our contractors. So we could specify what the cameras are used for or not used for.

I'm not sure that that's true.

Yeah. So in any event, I would not be comfortable specifically putting something right in there. I think it flies in the face of some of the state laws that have been passed. I also agree there is no expectation of privacy. We could put a small sign on the entrance fence letting people know that the area is monitored 24-7.

Which might be as effective as having the camera, right?

Yeah, a great deterrent. And then if any individuals are concerned about that, then they are duly notified and they can make their own decision.

Yeah, exactly.

And it's also, we're not putting these on every park. You know, this park in particular, you know, I've received photographs of people doing lewd acts, doing drugs. It's still tucked in.

You can't see it. That's the thing about Chapel Hill Ridge. I really question the placement of that park.

because you know how you know mother part you can kind of look in that's it's very very controlled so um i think we're going to pursue that if we can um i do i do know the neighboring business is there um right next to it would be willing to have that camera posted on their property facing in whatever the city needed um in terms of angles and so on because there's a giant banyan tree that hides a lot

um of things but um you know the local community there would be cooperative with that and they'd very much appreciate encompasses across the street um speaking of cameras while we're on the camera service i've gotten a request from i think the post you know we talked about having what what if any what's the status of a webcam at the beach do we have one does not yet does anybody if we could find out because we really do need a webcam at the beach

We've been asking for that for years.

Yes, that's why I'm asking about it, Christopher. So if we could give it to staff to kind of come back with us of what, you know, there used to be one, and I don't know who sponsored it, but Ms. McKay, almost like Ms. May.

Yes, we currently do have our contract with Surfline. So we do have a Surfline camera and we are currently working with our finance team to create an RFP to put a camera out on the beach complex. So I will be able to provide more information on that and report back to commission on that. But we are currently working on that.

But is there one now? It sounds like you said there was one.

Yes, there's a company called Surfline where you have to have a membership to look at it. You can look at it. It's on there. You can see that. And it's on there right now, but we are looking at getting another one.

So that anybody could look.

It's behind a paint paywall.

Right, right, right. So let's get, if we can look into that, because I, you know, we're trying to promote our city and market our city and what's the best thing, not the best thing, but what's one of the great things about our city is our amazing beach.

Thank you. Yes, and our PIO has been actively working on that with our finance team. So I will have a report back to commission.

That would be great. Thank you. What's up? Anything else? Anything from anybody? Any concerns? Doesn't have to be the agenda.

I'd like an update from Public Works. Not right now. I'm just asking because I know that they put the cameras on to do the pavement index. So just wondering when the report will be back and when we're going to get the list of the rankings of the pavement.

I see. Mr. Perry?

I'll get with the public works director and provide you guys with a written update on what's happening with that.

Thank you. Mr. McVoy, I see your hand is literally up.

Thank you. That's only because I can't make the technology work. I'm certainly apologize. Thank you. I have asked for consensus at several pre-agendas to have a discussion of the downtown master plan. And as I mentioned in my commissioner comments the other day, apparently I thought we had agreement to put that on the June 2nd agenda. And then I was told that after I left the meeting to attend a different meeting, that, that, disappeared again. So I am asking for consensus that we simply put a discussion. I believe we've all and make sure it's in the backup as well. A copy of the downtown master plan. I believe it's been sent to all of us and that we not delay that for reports from staff or whatnot. The point of the discussion is to think about the information that was captured in that study from the public and that was widely recognized as doing a pretty good job of capturing that. I'd like us to discuss it and relate it to our, you know, what all the things we're doing. Can I get consensus from my fellow commissioners to put that on a date certain? I'd like it on the June 2nd, but, you know,

Date certain. Mr. Perry did correct. We get so many emails. Was the copy that sent out, we'd ask that be sent out. We got it?

Yes, Madam Mayor. We sent it out last Friday.

That's fine. Thank you. Okay. I see two hands at Mr. Segrich and Ms. May.

Can I just ask a quick question before Anthony? Sure. My question is for staff. First of all, what year did this downtown master plan come out?

22. 22. Okay.

And I'm hearing that it wasn't approved or what does that mean? What was wrong with it? Can somebody be clear about that before? I don't want to discuss something that has a flaw in it and it wasn't approved.

Madam Vice Mayor, Mr. Waters, the person who was probably involved, has the most knowledge and that's not available today. He's out. He's off. but I don't know if anybody, anyone else staff can, can answer that question back in, but we can research and try to listen to the tapes and whatever the case might be and see what some of the concerns for.

Okay. Then I'll wait until he gets back before I give my consent.

Okay. Madam mayor, might I add a piece of information?

Yeah, you can put your hand down.

Okay. Sorry. Yeah. That probably didn't look very friendly. Apologize. Um, We had a unanimous vote after that master plan was presented to us. We had a unanimous vote to act on that plan and follow the recommendation that was one of its major conclusions, which was for the downtown area, L&M streets in particular, send the plan out for an RFP, to have an RFP by a well-respected professional organization to go to the next step of what we do with that. And we unanimously voted to do that. So that is about as much approval. There was not a flaw with the thing. I think the idea of a flaw is kind of odd. The purpose of a charrette is to capture the sentiment of your community. And when you organize the Charette on a week-long basis, from 10 a.m. to 10 at night, and then you have an additional Saturday public meeting, there was a very robust effort to gather public input. Is it flawed because it didn't get every single person in the city? Yes, of course. It's not possible to do that. But it was well recognized as having captured a wide range of diverse views And that's why I think it's important for us to discuss it. It was unanimous vote to send it out to form the RFP.

I hear you. The other thing that, you know, people have criticized us for not going out on the RFP. And my feeling about that is, okay, you know, I don't know what would have been different. You know, it was either going to be a condo or an apartment building or some retail. No one anticipated in the wildest imagination that a museum would come. And I think that's what we stopped working on because a museum was so much more in the vote than another apartment building or another condo. So, I mean, that's, I think, why that never got acted on. Mr. Sandwich?

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I got my copy of it.

We did give consent to put it on the list to have as a discussion. I would ask my colleague to have a little bit of patience with the process. We literally have 60, 80 items that we have on our priorities list. We have items that I've been waiting for for over a year. So I do not consent to putting it on a date certain. I think we just need to work it through the process as staff go through it and handle our other priorities. So, you know, as I said previously, no problem discussing it. But I would personally like to see the older priorities, stuff we've already voted on, that ordinance are in the works to come forward before it. So I do not consent to putting it on a date certain.

Well, Chris, my question to you is, and I'm not, it's not a critical question. It's really, it's a question. Why at this point do that? I mean, what's the rush?

To me or to Chris? To Chris.

Thank you for that question, Madam Mayor. The study was done and the charrettes in 2022. That was a while ago. It was done in reaction to one set of efforts to develop our downtown. that met with widespread disapproval. And so there was a sensible backing off from both the CRA and the city that said, all right, maybe we need to take a pause here and look for a different way to figure out what the community would like to do with itself. It was not citywide, but it was focused on the downtown. And you gave somewhat of an account, Mayor, how things went a different course, my recollection, which I believe to be factually accurate, is the RFP process that was suggested by the Charette and the report was started and in fact was a fair ways underway with a well-respected firm, something like Victor Dover or Dover Coal or Dover something down in Miami, I believe, well-respected from urban design. And then the uh museum proposal folks showed up and asked for a six-month suspension of the rfp that they could work with staff and bring another idea instead but if we didn't like it for some reason then we'd go back to the rfp okay that was kind of an odd approach but i think there is a lot of interest in the community perhaps arguably expressed partly in the recent March 10 vote, in what we are like as a city. And we have information, documentation on that. I think it is appropriate for us to, as the ruling body here, to look at it, discuss it, and I think sooner rather than later. Yes.

Hold on. Okay, Mr. Segrich, go ahead.

I was just going to say, you know, I hear Chris loud and clear that, you know, work went into it. It's got some good content, but I did not hear from you. Why is it important to do it so quickly? Are you trying to stop something from occurring? Why is it an emergency? Why is it more important time-wise than any of the other stuff that we've put on that's in the queue?

I have not used the word emergency to my recollection.

I am because you're trying to put it at the very front of the queue. And this is now like the third meeting you've brought it up. So in my mind, this is something that's a very... Hot topic, expedient, emergency topic for you.

What is the sense of urgency in this? A fair question. The sense of urgency did not come out of the topic itself, although the bigger context is we in South Florida are always under intense development pressure. which is fine, that can bring good things of various sorts, but it also is something that then you need to, as a community, as the elected body, figure out what does the community want to do and how can the elected body help facilitate whatever that is. That pressure is there, is constant, it's probably increasing rather than decreasing. what you're perceiving as a sense of urgency or emergency is because I raised this, there was consensus to do it, and then the consensus seems to have evaporated or we didn't act on it multiple times. That's the only reason I'm bringing it back, because I thought we had agreement, and it was a little distressing to find that we had agreement and even a date, and then I get off the meeting and it evaporates.

Well, you left the meeting in the conversation. you know, kept going. And unfortunately, you left.

Well, I had to attend the Treasure Coast Regional Plan. That's part of my elected obligation.

I'm not criticizing, Chris.

I'm just saying. So, you know, based on that, Chris, you know, I'll I'm going to stay of the same opinion. I don't consent to put it on a date certain before the other priorities. We've all suggested things. We've all gotten consensus for things. We've even taken votes to create ordinances that have been sitting there for almost a year on some of them. And so I understand it's important to you. I've got a lot of things that are very important to me. But I just can't every meeting keep bringing them up saying, hey, can we do it now? Hey, can we do it now? Troy can probably laugh about it. I do that to Troy. You know, Mr. Sandwich, but that's crying, you know, but there's a lot of priorities we have. And so, you know, I don't consent to it being a time certain. I would just ask my other colleagues whether they do. And we can end the discussion on the topic.

Well, I would just like to know from Chris, you know, I don't disagree. We have a downtown, you know, we talked about it. I was there, you know, I was on the commission. But at this point in time, what exactly do you want to talk about? And I think Mr. Segrich has a sort of cogent question, you know, is this to stop what's going on downtown? And it feels like that. That's just what my reaction to that is. You know, there's, I don't, I've not heard, maybe other people know about this increasing pressure, but, you know, one of our problems is that we're not feeling, you know, certain pressures. And there's other ways to look at downtown. But, you know, what right now would you say, what would be accomplished by bringing it forward at a meeting? I guess is my question to you, Chris.

I guess I would counter that with what would be accomplished by not discussing it and figuring out how do we want to act on this information that has been collected in a well-regarded fashion and is a way of assessing community desires. I assume that we as a commission have feel a degree of responsibility to be responsive to community desires and we we undertook quite a bit of effort quite a bit of expense to ask the community about some things that would you know, 99-year leases. And we received a very clear statement back.

But hear that one more time. We asked a question. We got the answer, Chris. That's all that was.

At considerable expense. And I think it's unfortunate and, you know, questionable process. I think it's unfortunate if we do not show some degree of responding to what we heard from the community.

How do we do that? Here's the master plan. Here's our piece of paper that we says, this is, you know, I mean, with the exception of Humota, is there a developer that you know is coming into town that's threatening our city? I mean, I don't know what you've, except to criticize what's going on, I don't know what your rush is. Ms. Mayne.

I did not consent to putting this on date certain.

I remember that.

So you don't have my consent. That's all I want to say.

Yeah, I don't know what the purpose is at this point. We don't have somebody standing there going, I want to do this, and how does it fit into our plan? I tend to agree that we do have some things. You're not telling us why you want to do it. And paying attention to it is not really enough to take the staff time and the city time to, you know, what specifically would be accomplished if it came brought to the thing. And just saying, yes, we understand it and we are cognizant of it. Yes, we are well aware, Mr. McVoy, that there are people that don't like Bermuda, that there are people that would love to stop it, that they've made that very clear. But in terms of the downtown, there is... If you can bring me what specifically would improve the city at this point in time with other things pending, what would it accomplish? Except saying we won 80 to 20 and you guys are wrong. So that's what I'm getting. Mr. Segrich?

You're muted.

Sorry. I was going to move on to a new topic because the consent failed. Okay. I was finally able to meet with staff and get some of the financial numbers about the moving of the historic structure with the garage. And the numbers that I saw, there was a wide range. And it largely had to do with what is the end purpose of that building? And so the numbers that I saw range from anywhere from 600,000 to 2.2 million. 2.2 million being we renovate it for some sort of public use, whether that's like the historic museum or more adequate staff offices. Because as I understand it, some of the desks are sitting in closets right now, and it's not really an ideal layout. So there needs to be some sort of renovation to this building to make it a useful structure after the move happens and that cost varies wildly based on what what that suggested use is and I know that you know the plans are moving forward and and we're doing this but I don't think we should get further down the road without a good discussion on what will that building be used for and what's a real cost associated with that? Because at 2 point something million dollars, I'm very concerned about that being the cost on it, especially since we have the annex building and We've got the public works building coming up. We have the work being done at 1900. $2.2 million could go a really long way in other areas of the city. But I just, I'm uncomfortable kind of moving forward with it being nebulous. I'm worried about, okay, we move this building and it just sits there and nothing happens with it. Or after we move it, we get hit with a $1.5 million price tag to make it something useful. So I was just wondering if you guys thought it would be a good idea to discuss that sooner rather than later.

Well, there was talk of it being a welcome center. Mr. Perry, your hand is up.

Yes, Madam Mayor. I understand that we did have that conversation with Commissioner Segrist last week, but I do want to put on the record, and I'll be sending it out to you. Staff met with WGI last week, and they narrowed down scope They can recommend we can use that building, not doing all those major renovations. So I'm going to send that out to the commission. You can take a look at it. It brings down that $2.2 million basically to just say if we move the building and just do the minimum recommendation or modifications, this will be the cost. So I just want to provide you guys with that commission with that document so you can at least take a look at it and have something else to consider. So it will be coming to you probably sometime today.

OK, thank you and I mean I think there is a valid point to make it a welcome center. We don't have one. We used to have one and we don't anymore and that would be a. Good use for it so. So we'll wait for the numbers from Mr Perry. I know you don't want it to happen. I know you made that clear. So I think you don't want from my perspective. And maybe from a voice perspective, those that, you know, we've been here since that all started. And I understand it's a difference of money, you know, if, you know, if the money, which is less than. It was the last of the pieces of property of the downtown and maybe it's sentimental, but there was a this was a big, big deal before you got involved, which sandwich and it was the one thing that we could say we tried to get, you know, give them away. We tried to move them, but it is. philosophically, the one last vestige of what was downtown. So, and I, you know, I know that we, and I understand, you know, should we spend the money for what? But, you know, especially if we use it for a welcome center, it doesn't need a complete renovation, moving it. And also from my perspective is living in the neighborhood, I'd rather see a house there than the end of a, you know, it is a residential neighborhood that we're putting this in. And I would much rather see the softening of the end of it be a house rather than the neighbors as we go by looking at the end of the parking lot. I think aesthetically, I think it makes sense as well. Ms. Linehan, I see your hand is up.

Madam Mayor, my hand's been up for quite a while.

I don't see it.

I don't see it. Look at the picture. Can you see the picture?

Well, you're sort of on the bottom. All right. All right. Well, I always go to staff first.

Good morning. I just wanted to make sure that we're clear on this topic because the project itself for the parking garage is coming before you all as a quasi-judicial item, so you need to be cautious of discussing that project. But as to the relocation of the structure, whether you're going to accept that, the city has made an application for this development that includes the house and garage being moved, those structures from 17 South M. So if you all are contemplating not relocating those structures and receiving them on this site, then that would amend your application that is moving forward in the process for that development. So just to be thoughtful of that, that is a decision that you all can make that is separate from the application moving forward, because it would amend the application.

Thank you, Mr. McVoy. And we're at 10. We've got to shut down in a minute.

Okay, just very quickly. Philosophically, renovation of the building for X use or Y use is a totally separate thing from relocating the building. If you leave it at its site and you want to use it for something different than what we're doing now or improve its usefulness for what we are currently doing or for something different, those are decisions that relate and are totally independent of where the building is located. So I am philosophically not in agreement that the cost of renovations for whatever use be put on the bill for relocating. They are not. It's very different. Whatever the cost of relocating is and re-hooking up the water and electric or whatever needs hooking up, that's fine. That's part of the cost. But renovation of it is separate and should be thought of separate. Very final thing.

I am hearing such- No new topics. It's ten of three. No new topics.

Well, I'm very concerned what I'm hearing from businesses about code enforcement. and difficulty of getting permits and all the things that we've talked about. It's kind of astounding how business unfriendly we seem to be.

Yeah, and we have all met and we're all dealing with it. It's 10.03. I see your hands up, Mr. Segrich. 30 seconds and then we're gone.

I was just going to say, based on your comments, Mayor, I just think it's important for us to decide the use of it sooner rather than later. I vehemently disagree with Mr. McVoy that you can separate the cost of renovation. This is taxpayer dollars. So if we decide to do a welcome center and that costs $600,000, great, let's vote to do that. If it's going to be something else and it costs $2.2 million, great, let's vote to do that. But to have, just to move it without an end game, to me, is silly. You know, what happens if we move it and then we decide to do nothing with it? Then we have yet another building downtown.

You know, you don't live in the neighborhood, Mr. Segrich. This is going to be a huge upheaval. And I think the most that we can do to improve the aesthetics of this thing is important. I'm not arguing for... We disagree, a couple of us.

I'm not saying that we, I'm arguing for not doing it all. I'm saying if we are going to do this, because it seems that we are going to do this, we should at least have a use in mind. If we're going to justify to the taxpayers we're spending this money, having a building with no use to me is silly.

And we're talking about the Welcome Center, which would not take a lot of money. Right. Okay. All right. We've got to stop.

We don't go. We really keep this.

Okay. So have a great weekend, everybody. Talk to staff if you've got more issues. And take care.