City Commission - Special Meeting

Mayor Miller?

Here. Commissioner Card?

Here.

Commissioner Thomas?

Here.

Commissioner Davidson? Here. And Mayor Miller, we have the Vice Mayor online with a request. Yes, Vice Mayor, we understand you're online. Will you please state your request?

I'm currently out of duty due to an important family situation, so I respectfully request the commission to allow me to participate and vote via telephone.

Okay, one moment, please. Commissioner Vensky?

Yes.

Commissioner Card? Yes. Commissioner Economos? Yes. Yes, and I vote yes. So thank you for joining us. Thank you. Okay, and next we have Reverend Bob from our Driving Christian Church. Reverend Bob, have we had a meeting since we've had the fantastic, or if we have had a meeting, I haven't asked you. I'd like an update after the prayer how the movie went this year. Sure. Okay, thank you.

I invite everyone to, as you are able to stand and join me in this invocation. Gracious God, As we gather today, we ask for your wisdom and guidance as our city commission considers decisions that will shape the future of our community. Grant discernment as they weigh matters of stewardship, balancing today's needs with tomorrow's responsibilities. As summer begins to draw to a close, we pray for families enjoying these final days together. for those traveling and for the students, teachers, and school staff preparing for a new academic year. Keep them safe, renew their spirits, and bless the work that lies ahead. May all that is said and decided in this meeting today be guided by a spirit of integrity, cooperation, and a sincere desire to serve the common good. For it is in your holy name that we pray. Amen.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

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

Thank you. Next up on the agenda, we had a presentation from Senator Tom Wright. I don't see him there yet. Okay. If you don't mind, I'm gonna go on to the approval of the minutes and then we'll head back to the senator. So today we're gonna ask for a city commission on the audit presentation of July 7th, 2026. Do I hear a motion to accept that presentation minutes?

I'll so move.

Thank you, second?

I'll second.

Thank you. Any discussion on that? Okay, Carrie, because a vice mayor is on the phone, we are gonna take a vote by voice today instead of that, so if you would take that, do you remember how to do that? Mr. Bavinsky?

Yes.

Commissioner Carter?

Yes.

Commissioner Collins? Yes. Vice Mayor Plattis? Vice Mayor, on approval. Yeah. Okay, and yes, thank you. Okay, next we're gonna go on for approval of the minutes from July 7th, 2026. Do I hear a motion to accept those minutes?

I'll so move.

You second?

I'll second.

Any discussion on the minutes from July 7th, 2026? If not, Sherry, can you take another verbal vote, please?

Vice Mayor Flores?

Vice Mayor? I think you're asking for me, yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you.

Yes. Okay. And next we're going to go on to the workshop minutes that we just of July 17th, 2026. Do I hear a motion to accept those minutes?

Thank you. Second.

Thank you. All right. And vice mayor, we're going to take a vote now on the minutes from July 17th. Yes. Yes, thank you. And thank you for your patience in switching that around. So now we have the honor of having Senator Tom Wright with us, if you want to come forward. And then we have a little something for you two I'd like to present. So let me give you a little bit of a background on this. Probably three years ago, the city of Daytona Beach Shores never asked for an appropriation. So I think it has been three years. And at that time, we did ask for an appropriation. To add on to behind where our public works is, we have a lot of our vehicles outside. And for those of you that live here, you know what salt air does to machines. So right now, we got a grant. Thank you, Senator Wright, and Representative Tremont was instrumental in that, too. He could not be here today, but Senator Wright is always here for us. So thank you for that appropriation. I think the following year, we did get approved, and that was for a sewer project or stormwater. Unfortunately, at that time, the governor was not signing. So we came right back again, well, since we learned how to do this, and asked for an appropriation for a, is it called a Vactron? It is, ma'am. It's called a Vactron, and that's gonna help with our sewers too. These are our sewers related, not maybe the most beautiful thing, but after a storm helps us. So, Senator Wright, thank you again for that appropriation, and we're ready for you. Thank you.

All right, well, thank you. Can you hear me okay? Yes, we can. We'd really like to recognize you, Mayor Miller. members of the city council, city managers, city staff, and everyone who helped move the project forward. Stormwater infrastructure, for those listening here, may not always be the most visible government service, but it's one of the most important. When flooding occurs, it can damage homes, businesses, interrupt traffic, and place additional demands on public safety and personnel. Mobile infrastructure provides a city with greater flexibility. during a severe weather and other emergencies. So projects like this are protecting property, supporting emergency preparedness, and helping a city recover more quickly following a major storm. The Ahuna Beach Shores has consistently demonstrated responsible leadership and strong financial management. That record of responsibility made it possible for this project to be funded, and it was worth fighting for in the state budget process. It has been an honor to represent the Ahuna Beach Shores in the Florida Senate. and to help return state dollars right here to the city of Daytona Beach Shores. So today I'm proud to bring you a check up here in the amount of $375,000 for funding stormwater infrastructure. Thank you so much.

Maddie, would you like us all come down to accept the check? Yes, please. If you could join me down there. I'm sorry, Vice Mayor, we're going down. Hold on one second, we'll be right back.

I'm there in spirit.

All right, thank you.

Is it big enough? More zeros.

One more and probably a lot more smiles.

The reason we use these big checks is you can't get them through the drive-thru window. You have to go inside. Coming over here today, I have to comment that It wasn't that long ago I was sitting in Chief Fowler's car and we were looking at a lot of destruction.

I know we were. Yeah, Senator Wright came. I want everyone to know I called on a lot of our legislators to come and witness what happened to us on the beach during Ian and Nicole. And I believe Senator Wright was the first one down there to witness the devastation. And if I can say one other thing, he was instrumental in getting me to speak in front of the House and the Senate. on the stormwater committees, and that did so much publicity that we actually had Governor DeSantis come down. And we know what happened from there.

Thank you so much.

And if you want to stay down here, I guess everyone else can. I have something for you, and I'll do it from down here. Oh, who wants the check?

I want the check. Let's go right to our finance director.

Right here. In fact, Lori, take a picture. This is our finance director, Lori Irwin, director. All right. Spend it wisely. Thank you. Okay, so today, I know you weren't prepared for this. Unfortunately, I want everyone to know that after eight years of serving us, Senator Wright has turned down. So we felt like this was the perfect time that we wanted to have this proclamation for you. So whereas Senator Tom Wright has demonstrated outstanding leadership and an unwavering commitment to the residents of Daytona Beach Shores, through his dedication, service to the Florida legislature, and whereas in the aftermath of the devastating hurricanes that impacted Daytona Beach Shores, Senator Bright personally visited the community, met with city officials to assess the damage firsthand, and worked diligently to help secure state resources that supported the city's recovery and rebuilding efforts. Whereas during the 2025 Florida legislative session, Senator Wright sponsored and secured a $900,000 legislative appropriation for the expansion of our public works, strengthening the city's ability to deliver essential services for years to come. Whereas Senator Wright also sponsored a $375,000 legislative appropriation for the purchase of a new background truck. That's gonna provide us with critical equipment to enhance storm water maintenance, utility operations, and infrastructure resiliency. And whereas these investments represent Senator Wright's steadfast advocacy for Daytona Beach Shores his commitment to supporting the city's long-term success and quality of life. You've been a wonderful friend to me and to the city for the past eight years. We appreciate it. So now for, let it be proclaimed by the city commission of the city of Daytona Beach, Georgia, that we do hereby express our sincere appreciation to Senator Wright for his exceptional leadership, his dedicated public service, and continued support of the city of Daytona Beach, Georgia, So I'm signing this today and causing the seal of the city of Daytona-New Jersey, this 28th day of July, 2026. Thank you, Senator Wright. So this is a key to the city of Daytona-New Jersey.

Yeah, you can't use it.

Thank you for being here today. Hi Chris, how are you? have to let you know chris emailed me that same night that said mayor remember i got that too yes but anyway we thank you again you wait and wait and wait until the is he going to sign it is going to sign it did he veto it and get oh it got through anyway the last thing thank you

Right now.

Vice Mayor, we are back.

Thank you.

Next, we're going to have an ordinance 2026-09. I'm sorry. We do have one item on the consent agenda, only one this evening. So do I hear a motion to accept that one item on the consent agenda, or do we need to pull it for discussion?

I'll so move.

Thank you.

I'll second.

Thank you. There's no other discussion. We'll take a verbal vote first. Vice Mayor, you'll go first. Thank you.

Commissioner Collins? Yes. Commissioner Card? Yes.

Commissioner Higgins? Yes. Mayor Mullin? Yes. Thank you. Okay, next we're gonna go on to the Ordinance 202609, proposing an amendment to the City of Daytona Beach Shores Charter to change the name of the city to The Shores. And I believe Maddie McAlister has a, R-C-I-O, has something for us? Thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry, if you read the ordinance, yes, thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. It's Ordinance 2026-09, an ordinance of the City of Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, proposing an amendment to the City of Daytona Beach Shores, City of Carter, to change the name of the city to the Shores. calling a citywide referendum election on the proposed federal amendment, providing the ballot bill and ballot summary for the referendum, providing the notice and conduct of the referendum election, providing for legislative and administrative findings, providing for implementing administrative actions, providing for savings, providing for qualification and correction of scrivener's errors, providing for conflicts, severability, and an effective date.

Thank you, Attorney Simons. Good afternoon, Maddie McAllister, I'm your community information coordinator. This afternoon we are on second reading of this ordinance and typically what happens in the first reading would be a pretty extensive overview and in the second reading it gets condensed and we do more of the report back of any questions that came up. This time we've done the opposite. This is going to be an expanded presentation of what we did present last time. because we have got some additional details that we really feel that we want to put out there for this. So first off, the title of the presentation, Consideration of Charter Amendment for the Residents to Vote on a City Name Change. I feel it's important to note that this ordinance does not change the name of the city. This ordinance is for the ballot to represent a question if the residents want to vote on the name change themselves. So the commission approved the ordinance at first reading. They did not change the name. They are talking about putting it on the ballot. So we would be, we currently are Daytona Beach Shores. We would move to the shores is the proposal in the ordinance or the charter amendment. And this is a timeline of what we've done and where we currently are. We started as a community initiative. We put out a community survey to gauge actual interest in this. We did a staff cost analysis in the first reading on July 7th, and now we are at the second reading on July 28th. If you notice after this, again, the name doesn't change. It goes to the ballot. That's if it's approved today. So I've condensed this slide a bit from last time. This is the public outreach efforts along with the survey results. So what we ended up doing is we opened a survey after hearing from our residents. I think there were several staff members who came together and said, oh, I've heard four times from four different residents. When are we changing the name of the city to The Shores? And then someone else said, Oh, I've heard this too. I've heard this too. So we put in a survey out to see if the residents are actually hearing from the same people or is this actually something that they're interested in? We put it up on Facebook, on Instagram. We put a copy of the survey and every single utility bill, all of our residential properties, all of our commercial properties and our condominiums. We did a condo flyer distribution, which means that we took flyers and we actually walked from the south end to the north end and we hit all those condos and passed out a copy of the flyer. I have a condo association management email distribution group. I included the email for the survey and those emails as well. And I know that we had copies at Coffee with the Mayor. Mayor had announced it as well. And then they were also available in all of our public-facing lobbies. So City Hall, the Public Safety Building, and the Community Center. So we had this survey available in a lot of different places and a lot of different forums for approximately 30 days. At the time the survey closed, we had 545 total responses. This was open to anyone that wanted to submit. The only thing is that on the second screen, when you're taking the survey, it asks you to submit your address. This was a requirement of the survey. Once we received the 545 results, I took those results and we cross-referenced them with the property appraiser's website, and we did confirm Out of those 545, 515 submissions were municipal residents. They are the taxpayers of the city. They are residents that can vote on this. 515 was the total number. Of that, we had about 66% who did vote yes to the name change. So I don't need any more questions as well. So this is a new slide that you didn't see last time. taken our staff cost analysis, and we've actually provided you the spreadsheet attached to your agenda item, and we've put them into three categories. Category one is going to be your green box. It's things that are already budgeted, something that is appropriated in the budget, each budget cycle that you guys vote on and choose to keep it. The category Q is things that would be phased in naturally over time or have natural replacement cycles. So think things, the banners. The banners get replaced on a, you know, one year we do 50%, the next year we do an additional 50%. So we're consistently replacing these banners because of the coastal air and the salt water. It's just on a replacement schedule. Box three is gonna be a new cost that would be specifically associated with the changing of the name. Also, if you notice, category one is this, category two, category three, because the amount of things that we're doing will also taper down like that as well. This is very small, but I do think it's important that we go through every single item so you guys can get the big picture, you guys can see exactly what we're talking about. For category one, things that are already budgeted, Public safety is going, if we move forward with the name change in November, if the residents vote on it, public safety would need to update their uniforms, their jackets, their badges, their collarbrasses, shoulder patches, name plates, all of this that's on the list. It totals $72,085. These things are already in the budget.

And we would have to do that no matter what.

Correct. When we run out of t-shirts that are worn under the uniforms, we're going to be purchasing more to uniform our public safety officers. whether that says Daytona Beach Shores on it or whether it says The Shores on it. We're still going to be purchasing it. So staff is not saying that this is a cost that is specifically associated with the changing of the name. This cost will come up whether we change the name or not. It just depends on what the residents want to see on those uniforms. Same with the community service department. Public works uniforms, business cards, department stamps, envelopes, those are things that we naturally run out of and have to buy more of. That's not to say in November if this goes to ballot and it does pass that we're going to take our box of business cards and put them in the trash. Names and phone numbers, email addresses, still the same. Once those run out, we would then purchase a new set of business cars. We would just put the Shores on it, opposed to Daytona Beach Shores. Again, this is a cost that we already budget for. Second category here is the phased-in box, things that we do on a replacement schedule. So, vehicle decals and lettering. Eventually, the vehicle decals and lettering are phased. When we order a new vehicle, we pay for the decaling that's included in the price. firetruck, emergency response trailer, all of those decals. Eventually they get sunworn and we do some sort of replacement to them. Same with the community services. The facility signage, we have a budget every year for the signage in the parks. If they get run into, if they get faded, we do have money to go and replace them to keep our city looking beautiful and to be an attractive city. So whether we order that sign, when it needs to be replaced, and it says The Shores or Daytona Beach Shores is up to our residents. So this is not necessarily a cost that is associated with the name change itself either. In your bottom box, you have public safety, station podium, and wall signage. This is stuff that we plan on keeping. If we were to change the name, that's what we think it would cost based off the quotes or not official quotes that we've received. But again, public safety is still public safety, whether the wall says Daytona Beach Shores or the shores. So that's a cost that we can work in over time. We may not do that year one. We may do that year two or three. Same with the community service, the Gateway Monument signs. The Gateway Monument signs are arguably the most expensive of the items that we're looking at. We're talking about the three signs. You have one on the north end as you're coming into the city headed south, one coming over the Dunlaan Bridge. They're those really big, beautiful brick signs. The price, you can see it's 60 to 75. I think it depends on what we end up doing. If it's recommended that we replace the full sign, the full structure, I think that we would be closer to the 75. If we're looking at replacing those letters only, you're taking everything off, you're putting on the shores, I think you're gonna be on the lower end. But this is based off of the community services director and the building official monument signs and things that they have approved over the last year or so. This is kind of where those are falling. And Maddie, that price right there, is that for all three or is that per? That's correct, all three. All three.

Okay.

So, and I know last time I gave you an overview, that's $244,000 to $277,000. I hope this kind of gives you a breakdown of where we got those figures from. In box one, we're looking at approximately $138,000 of things that are already in the budget that we are going to be sending when we need to discard the envelopes. And that box two, that's a range between $25,000 and $44,000. And again, those are things that we implement over time. That's not tomorrow. Those are things that eventually you'll find in the budget if we need to update a vehicle or something like that. The new cars that we just talked about, the budget workshop, the six new vehicles, those will either be decaled, Daytona Beach Shores or the Shores. There is a cost associated with that. Doesn't change whether it says one or the other. And that bottom box there, the red box of things that we do not have currently in the budget, $78,000 to $93,000. So on the low end, all three of those boxes, $242,166. That's where we got that figure from. And again, $138,000 of that is already in the budget, and approximately $50,000 of that is something we're going to phase in.

Just to reiterate, those first two boxes are already in the budget, but they are in the budget whether this ordinance passes and there's a vote or not. These are not additional costs.

That's correct. Are there any questions?

I have a couple questions. Excuse me. So I would assume that if I was still working wearing uniform and I had good uniforms, I would just keep the old patches until I got a new uniform shirt or whatever. So there'll be some guys with a badge that says they don't want to beat shores, some that says they're shores for a while.

If this passes.

If the voters vote for this, or if the ordinance passes. I have one other question. You said there were 540 responses that were actual residents of the city. Now I know when I got the survey, I was the only one to fill it out in my family. uh so there was i would assume most of most a lot of those 500 people only filled out one survey in other words because we have about 5 500 people in the city permanent residents so there's probably a lot more people that would have filled it out if they had realized to fill out two because my wife didn't she just ignored it because i did it

Yes, so first about the uniforms, absolutely. They will still, the shirts our public people wear will still be good. It's just a matter of when we do the next order, what are we going to put on them? Another thing I want to bring up because you brought up the public safety uniforms, we're not really replacing pants. Pants are pants. They have no decals, no logos, no nothing. The only thing we would be replacing would be the patches, and again, that would be updated over time when we are moving into the process of producing more. As far as the survey goes, it was 545 results completely through the whole survey for the 30 days it was open. 515 of those were confirmed residents of the Shores.

But they might have been three people in that condo. Absolutely.

There might have been three registered voters, and we only did hear from one. I did get a few residents where I, you know, saw the same unit number or something like that. There were a few that did multiple per household. But, again, we really wanted to get this out to our voters who we want them to have a say. So is there any other questions? Any other questions?

Any answers?

Okay, no?

No. Okay. Um, one of the things that, um, before we vote on this and vice mayor brought this up and since he's on the phone, I'm going to bring it up again. So, you know, I've been hearing some things out there. Oh, the commission wanted this. Who wanted this? This started as a grassroots from our residents. And this has been going on for years and years that have people come forward. We now have a city manner there as much as possible is trying to get to yes. So when he hears concerns from our residents, he brings it to his staff and says, what can we do? So as I understand it, he said, we will do this survey with all of the different locations that Maddie put it out, walking, whatever. We wanted as much input as we can get, not only from our residents, but our businesses too. So with all the different vehicles and avenues, we got the 545. And not that we don't care about what the other, what would that be, 30 people think, but we want to know what our residents thinks. Okay, so after that happened, I think the commitment that our city manager made to this group was if it is over 50%, we will bring it to the commission, and that's the ones that would have to prove going on the ballot. So what we did on the last meeting was give the people the right to vote. That's the only thing we did. We didn't say, no, I don't think that's a good idea, or yes, we want to. We have no say in there except that we're all four residents or five residents of Daytona Beach Shores. So it's very, very important for people to understand we're giving the residents the ability to vote on this in November. If we approve it again tonight, we haven't done anything yet. But if we do do that, that's merely what we're doing. Based on that, do you have anything else?

I just want to drive home one more time. This was not driven by the commission. The commission is not the ones deciding whether or not we change the name. This was driven by citizens, and all of our staff members heard it over and over and over again. So as many times as we say it, I think that point still gets missed, so that's why I just want to reiterate it one more time.

And this is a second reading. Well, first of all, let me have a motion for Ordinance 2026-09. Do I have a motion?

I'll still move.

Okay, second.

I'll second it.

Okay, and before we have a vote on it, Um, I see some residents here today. I'm thinking maybe that's what you want to speak about. Um, I don't. So normally what we do in the back of the room, there's a form. Okay. I do see them. I am so sorry. All right. So Francis, you are first. And Francis, please state, are you a resident of Daytona Beach Shores? Yes. Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Francis McCourty. I live in Daytona Beach Shores, or DBS, for over 15 years. I've gone for over 15. I've visited for over 40. Daytona Beach Shores, DBS, versus S, or TS. Which shores? Is it a generic name? It's too generic. It's not specific enough. Volusia County Shores? Flagler Shores? We're going to all the shores when we come here. We're going to get off at 95 and maybe those signs are going to be changed to their shores. So you're going to get a ton of people coming off of 256, going to Dunlaughton and coming into our entrance, like you said, the gateway area. That's traffic congestion possibly. But is it Daytona Shores? We don't know. I speak for a little bit from experience about the Jersey Shore per se. They call it the Jersey Shore, I'm going to the Jersey Shore, but what town? The towns never change their names. Their names are not generic. Their names are examples, Asbury Park, Seaside Heights, Point Pleasant. These are all the shores. So if you see the sign, the shores, okay, like right on. If you see the sign shores here, it's gonna be this one five mile area. I'm like, really? This is it? Or is it all up and down? Where is it? There's no specifics for the shore, where we specifically are. We were incorporated in 1960 to distinguish ourselves and to help the resident, commerce, and the tourists. We have to think of the residents, like you mentioned there. Daytona Beach Shores is specific and sounds distinct. The cost, we discussed a little bit of the cost, can be up towards $8,000, if not more. Some may already be incorporated with finances. But the residents, I believe, have to change licenses as well. Is that correct? So that's going to be a concern, I think, as far as making the residents do something extra. The shores sound touristy. I'm going to the shore. Where? The shore. The Doner Beach Shores, I think, is classy, specific, word is on the map, and not just touristy. Maybe people like Port Orange should just change it to the port, or Merritt Island, change it to the island. Again, I lived in New York. You say, okay, we're going to the island. Okay, which one, Staten Island or Lone Island? Well, they never just called themselves the island. That's all I have to say, and I hope whoever votes come the election, if that is going to be brought to ballot, thinks of these things. I think it's very dear to me. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

And next, I have Nancy Pierce. And Nancy, state your address, and are you in the city?

I'm Nancy Pierce, 31 Roosevelt Drive. I'm not in the city. I echo the first speaker about the name being very generic. I think it takes your city off the map. Florida being a peninsula that's got shoreline on the Gulf and shoreline on the Atlantic, I think it takes the city off of that. The second thing is projected costs. I hear those figures and all this detail, upwards of $1.4 million.

No one talks about what is the benefit.

What is the benefit you're getting from this?

Are you just making a few people a fuse because you changed the name? Where's the main point?

Thank you so much.

We appreciate it.

And next I have Alan Witt. Thank you, Mr. Witt. And if you could please tell us, are you a resident of Daytona Beach Shores?

Sure. I'm a proud resident of the Ashley Condominiums, the beautiful Ashley Condominiums. And I'd like to speak the other side of what the previous speaker spoke. I think this is a marvelous idea. I have neighbors, and I won't tell you who they are, who tell people they're from Ponce Inland. They're sitting right next to me in the Ashley Condominiums, 3757 South Atlantic. Why? Because when they tell their friends that they are from Daytona Beach Shores, they hear Daytona Beach. And they think motorcycles, gangs, remember the riots we had at Spring Break this year? That's what we associate with the name Daytona Beach. The shore sounds like what we are. We're a residential community. Yes, we have some tourists, but we're not Daytona Beach and we're not Ormond Beach. We are a place where people come to live, people come to raise families, people come to retire. And I think the shore says that perfectly. No one's going to confuse us with the Jersey Shore. I'm sorry. You've got to drive about 24 hours. So I really think it's a classy name. My wife is here. We did not get the petition. It was on our bulletin board, and we walked right past it. But we would have voted in favor. So thank you so much.

Thank you so much for coming. And next, Peggy Rice. I want to state one time that Peggy, before we were called the commission and we were on city council, Peggy served so well. For how many years, Peggy, were you on? Eight years, and I'm PNC for several years. All right. So she's an integral part of our community, and thank you so much for your input today. Thank you.

I just want to speak to the idea that we would be confused. The zip code is still going to be 321183. so I don't think there's really going to be a problem with confusion about where we are as far as not knowing when you get to Daytona Beach Shores all you have to do is cross the bridge and see the lights from the undergrounding and you know that Daytona Beach Shores is different this has been talked about since 1990, about changing the name just because of our association with some of the things that go on in Daytona Beach. And so I'm hoping that the commission will consider doing that, sending it out for the people, because I think it's really a good thing for the shores. Thank you very much, Peggy.

Again, this had nothing to do with trying to separate from the city of Daytona from the feedback I've gotten. It's just that we wanted to be the unique community from what the residents had said. So I'm going to say it one more time, what the city manager said. The five of us right now, all we're doing today is giving the residents of Daytona Beach Shores the ability to vote for their city, what they want their name to be. So again, So with that being said, I always do this. Even if you haven't signed up to be a speaker, I want to hear from you. So is there anybody else that something that someone said triggered something that you'd like to come up? You know, now's the time. Lynn? Lynn, tell us how many years you've been a resident of Daytona Beach Shores when you come up.

31. 31 years, okay.

I'm not . I'm all in favor of . But my hesitation about it because if you tell anybody that it's 32118, . So I don't know what can ever happen.

Thank you so much for coming up. Anyone else that has any, you know, anyone else want anything to say about it? I'll give you another minute if you'd like to come up. Pro or con? And this is our newest city commissioner, effective in November. If you could introduce yourself when you come up.

Hi, I'm Vince Donvito. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'm in 3047 South Atlantic, same as Bryce here. So I just want to speak to Lynn's point about zip codes. So I just two years as a resident in this wonderful city and grew up in New York City but lived in Los Angeles. And I owned a home, technically, in Van Nuys, California. You could equate Van Nuys to Daytona Beach. Now, Commissioner Card, you can speak to this. Realtors start renaming cities to raise value on their city. I bought in a pocket neighborhood which they called Valley Glen, which is lovely, idyllic. If I put my zip code in, it would sometimes come in as Van Nuys. But after time, I would get Mal at Valley Glen or even Sherman Oaks, which was even better. It helped my real estate values. And this will certainly help our real estate value. I don't think there's anything wrong with separating ourselves for whatever the reason. I think it's great to have a new identity.

um i'm all in favor of this proposed name change thank you so much before we take our vote is there anyone else that wishes to speak okay seeing no one um else do i hear a um and this again vice mayor you'll go first on this so this is a second reading ordinance 2026-09 do i hear a motion to accept that We have. Okay, that one. I'm getting real. Okay.

Commissioner Kahneman's motion.

And so now we're just doing the vote. Okay.

Vice Mayor.

Vice Mayor. Yeah. Commissioner.

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Next, we're going to go on to new business. And this is Resolution 2026-09. our proposed millage rate for fiscal year 26-27. Director Irwin, can you come up and speak to us?

That was most of it. Resolution 2026, the end and end resolution of the City of Daytona Beach, Georgia, Florida, setting the proposed millage rates for the city for fiscal year 2026-2027, providing an effective rate.

Thank you so much, attorney. I'm just cutting you right off.

Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Lori Irwin, Finance Director, we just actually had a budget workshop prior to this meeting at noon discussing the proposed millage rate for the 26-27 fiscal year and the proposed budget for the fiscal year, 26-27 budget year. The proposed citywide total budget is $116 million, which includes the general fund at $24.6 million, economic development at $350,000, general fund capital improvement at $5.2 million, the sewer fund, $52 million. sewer impact of $16,000 and sewer capital improvement of $33.4 million. That is the gist of the budget. The $116 million is those sewer projects and any transfers between your general fund and your capital improvement fund, your sewer fund and your sewer capital improvement fund. So the proposed millage rate for the fiscal year 26-27 is 4.998 mils per thousand. That is a 9.7% increase over rollback rate of 4.5561 mils. And it's a 9% increase over the current rate of 5.880 mils. Any questions?

Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to speak on this that, okay.

Um, Mr. Dreier. 2937 South Atlantic Avenue. I guess it was about a week ago. My wife and I felt like pancakes. So we remember, gee, we used to go to Denny's and we used to get the grand slam for 2 99. Now we knew it wouldn't be 2 99. But we went there and the waitress said, would you like maybe a little bit of extra this or that and so on. The bill when we were finished was $38, not $299, that was a long time ago. But I guess the point is, I heard the presentation in the last hour. and what the impact would be upon me and upon other typical condominium owners. And it would be about three breakfasts for my wife and myself. There is, as you know and as most people know, there is a proposal in November for possibly a drastic lowering of the revenue that the city would be able to realize. I don't think that If in fact that went into effect, we would like the cuts in services that would come about because of that. It has been explained that this increase is an insurance policy and that if this were not to get 60% in November, then this increase could be rolled back in its entirety, almost in its entirety. To me, three breakfasts uh... is a good trade off quality of life that uh... i've certainly got used to in the city so you have a magnificent city staff terrific city commission i am good with whatever you decide and i probably should have asked for a motion on this first so uh...

Do I hear a motion for this proposed budget as the city finance director was at the 4.9999? 9998. 9998. Do I hear a motion? I'll make that motion. Do I hear a second?

I'll second.

Any discussion?

I have just one thing I want to say about the motion. Excuse me. The city only gives service. When I heard from the city manager that they were talking about a tax increase, I was like, why? Why are we doing this? And of course, you guys explained it very, very well. But I do know that I've been here almost 30 years and worked for the city for many years. The one thing that the city residents have always asked for is service. We don't make anything, we don't produce anything, but we give good service and we must keep our employees wanting to give that great service that we get. Quite frankly, my My tax bill and my condo, I find, is a very good value for the services I get. I doubt very much if anybody in another city gets the same type of service that we get here. And whatever it's going to take to keep that service level high and the recreation the way it is, I want to vote for that. That's just my opinion.

Madam Mayor, do we have any other speakers? That's okay.

You don't want to? Thank you. Okay. All right. Is there anyone else that wishes to speak on this? The only thing that, and I think that you did a wonderful, wonderful job explaining this again, and that all the time, and again, all the attention that you gave to each one of us explaining this line by line by line. I don't know how long some took. I know there was a lot of questions. So thank you again. Thank you, city manager, for your time. So we're ready for a vote.

Mr. Collins?

Yes.

Mr. Hart?

Yes.

Mr. Davidson? Yes. Vice Mayor? It's time to vote? Yeah. Okay. And unfortunately, I'm going to have to vote no on this. You know, I know you explained it correctly. At this present time, I know we can, with the budget that we have, I don't see that this is the right time that we're going to be raising any taxes at all. So I would prefer to either stay at flat or roll back. I didn't understand the difference was so close, only 0.69%. So either one of them I feel like with what I want to go forward with. So thank you very much. So this passed 4-0. Thank you very much for your participation. Okay, so next we're going to go on to public hearing 2026, 10 fiscal year 2026-27. And Attorney Simons, is there something for you to read for us?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Resolution number 2026-10. Resolution of the city of Dayton to resource for relating to sewer utility rates, charges, and fees, revising wastewater rates, revising monthly retail and sewer waste charges, repealing and superseding prior and conflicted resolutions, providing sustainability, and providing an effective date.

Thank you. Attorney? I'm sorry. Attorney. Director Irwin.

Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners Lerner and Blaine, Planning Director, This is a public hearing for sewer rate increase. The city does not own its own wastewater processing plant. We actually have to send our wastewater over to Port Orange who processes 100% of that. And we have been in an agreement since 1984 with the city of Port Orange to process city wastewater. Now we have had amendments. Over the years, 2006 provided for the rate to be reviewed and adjusted on October 1st annually. Poor Orange conducted a wastewater study dated July 19th, 2023, and their finance director actually came and spoke to the commission and residents regarding that study. And the Sixth Amendment entered into on November 14th, 2023 for sewage processing increases stated that for Orange Resolution 264, sets the City of Daytona Beach Shores wholesale sewer rates, which you will see that in a moment. And based on Florida Statute 181.36, hearing notification was printed on all utility bills dated June 27th, 2026. You must give 30 days notice. You can see here that the poor orange rates from that Sewell study actually went into effect October 1st of 2024 at $4.28 per thousand. And another increase at $4.53. That ended up being a 5.75% increase annually for three years. So October 1st, 2026, that increases $4.79 for just the processing of that sewer. So that's what the city pays for. Here you can see that the current city sewer rates are $42.81. That includes the first 3,000 gallons of sewage that is processed. Now we also have a resolution that this city sewer rates increase by CPI or the lower of CPI or represent, I believe. And what the city has done is taken that sewer processing increase and there's no increase like CPI is not on it. We've just actually paid. We're just actually sending that cost straight right to the residents. So it ends up being $0.26 per 1,000 gallons. So you would have your $42.28 is your current rate. $0.53 is your admin fee. $1.40 is the CPI increase. And then you see the $0.78 for the 33,000 gallons of sewer being processed for a total of $44.99 per month. That's $2.18 over last year, of which $0.78 is strictly processing. It ends up being a 5.09% increase.

OK, Lauren, like we said, there's no surprise that somebody has come to give us ample time to talk about this. It's not really like we have much of a choice with this because we don't have our own. I do have a question, though, and I know you said just sewer. So explain to me one more time, or maybe Stuart would have to, so that we divide the city up. Is it on Thames? Okay. So the people that are north of Thames, will they see the same increase? Yes. Okay, because it's a sewer.

Thames is the cutoff for water consumption. So north of Thames actually gets their water from the city of Daytona Beach. And south of Thames gets their water from the city of Port Orange. And it's their consumption that is used for your billing for yours. And the whole city is all the same? The whole city goes to Port Orange.

I just want to make sure everyone understood that. OK. Thank you.

So you can see here per 1,000, so anything over that 3,000 minimum currently inside city residents would be charged $14.83, and outside city it would be $21.98.

What does outside city mean?

So here you have your outside city rates. Those are people that are using our sewer system that are not city residents. So they're in the county, they're for the city of Port Orange, city of Daytona Beach.

Laura, I have a question. If those outside city rates, if those people started annexing to the city, because they're using our sewer system, they would revert to, what, $40-odd per month. That's a savings for them to annex. Is that the highest rate that we can charge outside city rates? Who sets that rate? Yes, state statute. And that's it. Thank you.

Any other questions? Thank you, Lori. You can go on. Is that it? Okay. All right. Do I? Yes, I'm sorry. Do you have a question? No, I do not. I'm just glad we have a question. Okay. Do I hear a motion to accept Resolution 2026-10?

I'll still move.

Thank you. Second? I'll second. All right. And this is a public hearing. Is there anyone in our audience that would like to speak on Resolution 2026-10? Okay, seeing none, sure, can you take a vote, please? Commissioner Dempinski?

Yes.

Commissioner Pryor?

Yes.

Commissioner Palmos? Yes. Vice Mayor Planas? Vice Mayor? Yeah. Okay, thank you. Yes. Mayor? Thank you, okay, and that passed 5-0. Thank you. Okay, next, we're going to go on to the consideration of our city, our audit services. So last month we had a presentation from three different firms, and Director, you're busy today.

Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Lori Irwin, Finance Director, Yes, today is a busy day. On July 7th, we had three audit firms come in and present presentations to the commission, which is also the audit committee. This was after we put out four bid audit services because our audit current contract ended as of last year at 9.30. And we actually had three Companies submit proposal. James Moore and Company, Malden and Jenkins, and Carr Riggs and Ingram, and all three did come and make presentations before council, pardon me, commission. Now all of the city's requirements based on the bid to have extensive governmental auditing experience, municipal financial reporting experience, single audit and ACFER experience and qualified professional staff, compliance with government auditing standards and Florida requirements. The key differences that we as staff found were James Warren, they are the current auditor. They have extensive institutional knowledge, transactional risk, and strong local experience. They're here in our community. And their five-year contract, you can see, is $294,200. Near Malden and Jenkins, they're the largest governmental audit practice, strongest technical resources, and the lowest cost, you can see, at $286,700. Carr-Riggs and Ingram, they have strong regional governmental expertise and project management. Again, their five-year cost is $354,400. Now the evaluation considerations, those were part of the bid. They're actually spelled out in the bid. And they're the technical qualifications, municipal audit experience, assigned staff, understanding of city operations, audit mythology, transition impacts, and then overall cost. Staff recommendation is to award the RFP 2026-06-05 to James Moore and Company. Why? Not just are they our current auditor, they have extensive knowledge of the city and the financial reporting. They're the lowest implementation and transition risk, minimizes staff time and administrative burden for our small department. I mean, we have but five of us. They have a proven record meeting the act for a single audit and GFOA reporting requirements. The cost consideration, James Moore is not the lowest bid. They are actually the second, as you can see there. But you're looking at the difference is approximately $7,500 over a five-year period. So it's about $1,500 annually. And our staff looked at that, and because we're so small, we do a lot of work. We have a lot of hats. So to have that firm that can work with us and work our timelines, that is what, as staff, that we're looking for. So the conclusion was the modest additional cost is continuity of service, operational efficiencies, reduced implementation risk, faster, more efficient audit process, and we just feel it's the best overall value for the city. And again, the funding isn't included THIS CURRENT YEAR'S BUDGET AND BUDGETS GOING FORWARD AS WE MEAN. AND THE FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT AMOUNT IS $294,200. STAFF IS RECOMMENDING BELOW THE AWARD THE R.P. 2026-06-05 TO JAMES MOORE AND COMPANY, BUT YOU AS THE AUDIT COMMITTEE, YOU ACTUALLY HAVE THAT DECISION.

Director, is there, I think on our legal, there's a 30-day if you want to, and the contractor if they want to. Do we have that built in here? Okay. Anybody have any questions for our director?

I have a comment. Okay. You know, I really enjoyed each of the presentations, and I enjoyed meeting each of the staff members that were in the presentations. But, you know, this is one of those things where, Director Irwin, you and your staff work with these folks more than anybody else. So I would lean heavily on you, on your opinion. And I know we've had James Moore and company, and they seem to do an excellent job. So, you know, I trust you, and I trust your staff. So I'm happy to go with that recommendation.

Good comment. Any other comments? I'm sure we'll all take the same thing. Okay. Is there anyone in the audience that has any comments? Who we're selecting? If not, then I would like a motion to award the contract to James Moore and Company. Someone can make that motion.

I'll so move. I'll second.

Thank you. Any discussion whatsoever? If not, Sherry, can you take a vote on this, please?

Mr. McCullough? Yes. Mr. Thomas?

Yes.

Ms. Mayer, please?

Yes.

Mr. Dominski?

Yes.

Yes, thank you. Thank you for being here today and looking forward to many more years of your services with us. Okay, next we are going to, that was the end of the new business. So, Attorney Simons, what do you have for us? Thank you. City Manager?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'd like to start off by letting everyone know that Commissioner Dembinski was presented with the prestigious Wall of Honor Award during the Florida Police Chiefs Association Conference on July 9th of this year. The Wall of Honor Award recognizes individuals who've demonstrated exceptional dedication, service, leadership, and commitment to the law enforcement profession throughout their careers. This distinguished recognition honors Commissioner Dembinski's remarkable 42 years of professional service and the lasting impact he has made on the profession. The Florida Police Chiefs Association now proudly displays the plaque on its wall of honor and has also provided the city with a replica of the plaque, which is now displayed at the Public Safety Building. So congratulations. Congratulations.

Yeah, it was a great honor. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mike. That's very nice.

I would like to provide you with an update on the Bank of America. Before I came over, I was late getting over here today. I signed the paperwork for the closing of the Bank of America. Director Irwin, in addition to getting ready for her presentations today, has wired our payment, and we think we have closed. So I will say that Attorney Vose worked very diligently on this. There were some, uh, things in the paperwork that came in the closing documents that she caught and, uh, has definitely, um, worked hard on the city's behalf to get those corrected. And Senator Ashley Moody's staff will be here Friday morning conducting office hours for constituents. That'll be here in this room. And that starts at 9 a.m. This is the first time that they've done that and we are looking forward to hosting them. And then finally, I know I said this at the end of the budget hearing, but I would really like to thank staff and the Commission for their work on putting this budget together. Staff really took a look and made cuts everywhere they could. I had department heads that canceled a lot of their training that they do annually, which is essential for their professional development and networking, but looked at the situation that we may be facing and made cuts there, so I appreciate that to them, and I appreciate the way that the commission worked with staff on this, coming in, sitting down with us, going line by line in some cases and hitting us with a lot of very valuable questions that helped us in our presentation today. So thank you all for that.

Is that it?

That's it.

Okay. All right. So next we'll go into commission comments. Vice Mayor, do you have anything for us today?

No. Thank you for allowing me to appear via telephone.

You're very welcome.

I just want to thank the staff and the city manager. Great job today. I know it's stressful getting those budgets together, and the citizens are always ready to stand behind you all. Thank you.

Commissioner Card?

Yeah, on a little somber note, I want to let everybody know that former Mayor Jennings' wife passed away recently, and I'm sure the city commission and Directors all feel the same way. We send our consultances to him and his family.

Absolutely. City Manager Wood, I know they've published the calling hours or the funeral. I believe it's August 6th, but can you go over that again, the location and time, please?

Yes. August 6th at 11 a.m. are the services at St. Mary's Episcopal, which is 216 Orange Avenue. Thank you. There will be a reception after.

And we do pass on our condolences. It was always nice to see Mrs. Jennings. The only thing that I have is a reminder that we are not going to have a commission meeting in August. The reason why was because we're having that. It would just be next week. This has been an extensive one. So our next one, correct me somebody if I'm wrong, September 9th, Wednesday at 6 p.m. Is that correct? Thank you. And then the next thing is also we don't do coffee with the mayor in the summer because of all of the snowbirds. So the next coffee with the mayor will be Wednesday, September 2nd. So we won't have a commission meeting to remind you. So I'm sure, Maddie, you'll have it out in the and then maybe on the display too. Thank you. And that is all that I have. So I don't have or There's one, I'm sure it's the same one that I cut off. Mrs. Johanson, Kristen, come up. You can take double because of, no.

Why would we fall into the castle? Good afternoon, thank you very much for having us. I am Kristen Johanson, representing the Port Orange South Daytona Chamber of Commerce today. And as usual, I want to thank you guys for your relationship with the chamber. It is a very healthy and wonderful relationship, so we appreciate your support. We have a couple things coming up along with our monthly mix and mingles and business after hours. The next one being tomorrow morning we have a Coffee and Connections at Copperline Coffee in Port Orange at 8 a.m. That's our next social networking event. But we have two signature events coming up. Our annual golf tournament is Saturday, August 8th at Venetian Bay. There are still registration spots available. You can register individually or as a team. There are still sponsorship opportunities available, so come on out and support your Chamber of Commerce at our golf tournament on August 8th. I'll be there selling packages of something, I'm sure. And also, we are taking leadership applications for our fall leadership class, which begins, well, applications are due August 10th, and the class begins on September 9th. So along with somebody from the staff, if possible, obviously, We encourage citizens and constituents to sign up for that.

Any questions for me? Kristen, I just want to say thank you for the opportunity again to speak to your youth leadership class. Oh, we always love it. But it always amazes me, you know, it reaffirms my faith in the youth. And they're giving up their summer vacation to be there. The questions that they ask, their attention was wonderful. It was wonderful, so thank you very much.

We appreciate the fact that you've represented your city now for, I don't know, four years maybe, three years doing it. And it's always good to have a female role model up there. We get a lot of girls go through this program, so thank you for that. And that was my tenth and final year running the program. So I have vowed out and have left it in wonderful hands with Emma Clark. So it will continue to go on, just not with me.

Well, thank you. And thank you for being so involved in that. Thanks.

Thank you.

And any other audience comments that anyone else, even if you didn't sign, if you want to speak? Come on up, sir. Just state your name.

My name is Luke Earls.

I've been in the Shores for 10 years, homeowner. And I live at 3052 Esperanza Avenue. On July 27th, my wife, Christy Earls, and myself, Luke Earls, filed a petition to have the extremely bright light that was just installed be removed from outside our bedroom window. It was 9,000 lumens. Very bright. Nearly all the homes up and down Esperanza Avenue, Revan Avenue to the park, are figuratively up in our spot. Everyone's been meeting at night and saying this has just totally changed the feel. It's very nice in the Shores to walk around the community, and this completely changes the vibe. It's affecting all of our nightly sleep patterns, and none of us were contacted relative to the proposed installation, and our input was not solicited before the installation. The street light adversely affects the quality of life of residents and has caused interference with sleep, headaches, light pollution, negation of landscape lighting, in addition to other adverse effects such as articulated by the American Medical Association with regard to street lighting. Further, although Esperanza Avenue is a very quiet residential street, it appears the street lighting that was installed is the exact same lighting that we have up and down US 1, where the speed limits easily double what we got going on there. It's right in the middle of the street. Cars turn that corner. There's no need to have a big bright light there if the street lights are going on there. And it's ironic that the city found it appropriate to install a bright, intrusive street light on S. Bronza when the light fixture located at the end of the street in the park has been out for months. Karen's been here for 30 years. She's right across from it. She sits on her prostitute for hours every night, and she's complaining of headaches. saying that she feels like she has to wear sunglasses at night. Dan is right next to me, on the same side as the street, and he says the same thing, it's obnoxious. No one's happy about it, I just feel like it's unnecessary, and I'm coming here today, I know it's not on the agenda, There's nothing happening all of August, so we have to wait until September to deal with this issue. We're respectfully asking if you guys can turn this light off until we can have a vote on this. I wish that in the future, when something's directly going to affect our citizens, this is actually on my property, right outside my bedroom, as I stated, that we could be talked to about something like that for that.

Well, we appreciate you coming in today. And this audience comment at the end is exactly for this. You're a resident of Daytona Beach Shores, and this is for you to come in and have the opportunity to speak to us. We don't normally go back and forth on comments, but I am going to ask you one question. Have you had a chance to talk to our Director Cruz? Have you talked to anybody from the city on this? I have not.

They just installed this light five days ago. Madam Mayor, Director Cruz will meet with them. The reason this was not on the agenda is when he put the petition in, it was after the deadline for this meeting. the agenda had already gone out but uh as commission may remember this light was requested by a resident of esperanza director cruz will meet with you he's already talked to me about uh some of the things that could be done to mitigate the the light coming onto private property and disturbing sleep so

he will meet with you after this and we'll see if we can work it's not going to go away you have a ton of petitions coming in emails everyone's pretty upset about it so thank you thank you so much for coming here today now madam mayor we did have discussions about this at least two

during commission meetings. So this is not a new thing. This is actually, we've discussed this and approved this at commission meetings. And I am very sorry because I totally understand that, but hopefully... Every night. No, and I do. But don't think we just, this was willy-nilly. I mean, this was actually planned. It was requested. We had a couple meetings about it. But hopefully where we is now is just like any citizen who comes to our meetings, you know, it's... I can't tell you, but hopefully Director Cruz will be able to help you. So I totally understand, and I hope it works out for you. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Okay, so do we have items that we want to add? Oh, I'm sorry. Was there any other comments from anyone? seeing none anything recommended for the next agenda remember this will be September 9th a Wednesday instead of our normal Tuesday and that's because of the school board meeting we have to do that once a year no other items I do the anticipation that we're going to lose revenue in the city with the tax is there any way that we can put a citizens committee together maybe

in annexation of properties into the city. I spoke with the city manager about this the other day. And that's something that we can talk about.

And we can always. So I guess we're asking the staff to look at and bring us back a recommendation on a city, I mean a citizens committee on that.

We've already begun talks as staff. Director Cruz will be heading up the investigation into this. The one thing that I've asked is, that in addition to having residents on it, we also have county residents on it as well. It's pulling from both directions.

Okay, thank you. And on September 9th, you'll have something for us on it?

Yes, we will.

Great, thank you. Anything else? Nothing else. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye, everyone. See you, Michael. Bye. Good luck.