City Council - Regular Meeting

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Residents voiced concerns about property flooding and school-related traffic congestion. The City Council approved amendments to the personnel manual, authorized electrical improvements at Ernie Mills Park, and accepted a proposal for repainting City Hall. A presentation was also given on updates to the city's parking program.

About this meeting

Government Body
City Council
Meeting Type
City Council
Location
Dunnellon, FL
Meeting Date
August 12, 2026

Transcript

300 sections

0:00Speaker 13

Welcome to the regularly scheduled Dunell and City Council meeting. It is 5.04 p.m. If you would join me with the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:12 – 0:25Speaker 11

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.

0:27Speaker 13

Is there anyone in the audience who would like to offer an opening prayer?

0:51 – 1:14Speaker 1

Now our heads. Merciful God, as we engage in this meeting, grant us patience and understanding. Help us to approach each discussion with grace, allowing others the time and space to express their views. May we be slow to anger and quick to listen, striving to understand each other fully. Let your patience fill our hearts as we work together. Amen.

1:14Speaker 8

Amen. Amen.

1:20Speaker 13

Madam Clerk.

1:23Speaker 8

Mayor Green.

1:25Speaker 8

Councilman Inskeep. Here. Vice Mayor Hanchart. Here. Councilman Lehman.

1:30Speaker 8

Shawna McLean, Finance Officer. Here. Chad Ward, Public Works Manager.

1:34Speaker 8

Michelle Leonard, Assistant Clerk. Here. Lieutenant Morris absent this evening. And City Attorney Andrew Hand is attending via Teams.

1:46 – 2:17Speaker 13

the agenda for this meeting was posted on the city's website and city hall bulletin board on wednesday august 5th 2026. thank you mandy uh any comments uh from the council before we get started yes sir yeah okay all right we'll move on now to public comments on non-agenda items we have anyone signed up i have mr kenley signed up okay welcome sir speaking as well?

2:18Speaker 12

Non-agenda items.

2:23 – 2:35Speaker 8

Non-agenda items. And then we do have one person that did register in advance of the meeting. Can I take over first? That's fine. Thank you.

2:36Speaker 13

We recognize whoever wants to speak first.

2:39Speaker 8

This is Erica Grohlman. Yes.

2:44Speaker 13

Ms. Groleman, welcome.

2:51Speaker 12

OK. Hey, Ms. Erica.

2:53 – 6:56Speaker 9

So my name's Erica Groleman. I've been here about 10 years. I live at 20880 West McKinney Ave. And I'm here because I have two concerns. I did email a whole bunch of videos and photos. I think, Mandy, you're going to help me. Yeah. So basically one is flooding on my property. It's the stormwater runoff. It's been happening for a while, but it's to the point where it's seriously flooding my backyard. It looks like it comes down the service road from the south and then it is on my west. It doesn't make it to a ditch line because the elevation is too high. So it back floods into my yard. The other way my yard floods is all the way down McKinney. The water just flows down, it hits a stop where the sidewalk ended, and then it just backloaded my yard. I do have some pictures on that. And then my second concern is the amount of traffic from both schools on a tiny little road. Like I said, I've been here 10 years, so I've seen it five days a week, twice a day. It's fine. Last year, it got a little hectic. Buses were kind of doing plain chicken with each other. Half the streets taken up by the parents from the Christian Academy. Sometimes they move off the road. Sometimes they don't. Buses go back and forth. It's very difficult for me to get out of my driveway. They don't want to stop. Some of them have actually told my lawn people that they are not allowed to park on the street. It's their line. They need to get off the road. It's been an issue. Tuesday morning, I counted 120 cars in about 25 minutes. I feel like the school, the Christian Academy, should at least have some kind of plan of where are they putting all these cars on the roads. It seems like quite a bit for a little residential road. And I do admit I'm a second house on the road there. But I do live there. It is difficult for me to get out. They're not the politest people. And it is tearing apart the road. So those are my concerns. If you want to upload any photos so I can speak on them, kind of give a visual, um yeah oh here i've got several i'm not sure some of them are labeled so if you just click on the ones so this is my backyard on the other side of that fence is the service road once that service road gets full it will go under my fence and just flood this is a school bus just parked on one of those water mains that has broken i think i've seen it three times they just park there because the school won't open the gates so they just line up on the street sometimes they back up into the school line because the parents will be right there in front of the basketball court until they turn right onto Orlando. Again, the buses just lined up down the street. My backyard, you can see the grass clippings. That's how far up it flooded one night. And it went straight through my fire pit. It was just a lot of flooding for one night. You can skip that just to save time. Two buses trying to pass each other. One's pulled off. That guy's actually out of his seat, and he's got his flashers on, and the other bus is trying to get to school. Another bus just parked there, and there is a video of another bus trying to pass them. This is my driveway or my apron. It's been eroded from the stormwater runoff and buses crushing it. I have a pretty big dip there now. Do I stop? No. OK. I have a pretty big dip there in my driveway it did pull off the undercarriage or plastic thing they put on new cars now so I've had damage because of that and I don't feel it's all me using my own driveway this is the other side of the street where they have like a I guess like a curb or something to collect water not so much on my side So I don't know if that can be used on my side. I just took a photo of that one. These are the cars parked. You can see in front of the silver car they knocked over, I don't know, a power thing. It's been like that for a year or more. The guy on the golf cart goes up and down the street just kind of yelling at him. That's my backyard again and again.

6:56Speaker 12

What day was that?

6:59 – 9:03Speaker 9

This one, these have gone back. Gosh, that might be 2020. I don't. Yeah, but they're the one where you saw the grass clippings. That was the end of last month. This one. I wasn't out there at night to get it. This is just a lady eating chips and texting parked her bus right outside my house. I just don't understand. This is a bus trying to pass the car lane. This was yesterday. Has to drive onto the grass to get around the cars that won't get off the road. And this is for two different schools. This is the middle school and also the Christian Academy. The Christian Academy also goes the opposite way. So that, well, he's going the right way. Well, no, he's going the wrong way on the road because of the cars. It's just, it's an issue. Those cars, that's the service road. That's how it floods. Once it gets high enough, it goes into my backyard. That is the flow of the water. It just comes down and my sidewalk becomes the ditch. It washes away the driveway. And then if you keep this video going, you'll see how deep my feet are in that. The water can't make it over that service road apron. The other water that comes down that road can't make it to the ditch on the other side that you see is already full. And it backflows into my yard. And then this water just sits there and goes up the sidewalk. And then that ditch is full. The one beyond it is empty. I've seen that intersection actually flooded. I couldn't find that video. OK. This is the road on McKinney, the opposite side of my road. This is where the parents park their cars and drive on and off. It's eroding. I don't think that this road can handle the amount of traffic. And it's increasing every school year, I think. Again, like 120 cars in 25 minutes. And then in the evening, they start lining up the street at 2.30. They don't get out until 3.30. So there's a huge line. It just sits there. They don't move. Those are my issues. No.

9:05Speaker 3

That was the first road paved a while ago, but it is a new paved. That would have been Troy and those guys' first road. No, that was on the other side. Can I...

9:30 – 9:51Speaker 9

You guys would have to check this, but this is what I've been told. Like I said, I've only been here 10 years. I was told McKinney was the first road that got repaved, and because of that, they never replaced the pipes underneath, and they won't because they're not going to dig up the road, and that's why they all are so fragile and busting. That's what I've heard, but I don't know if that's true. I know there are pipes I don't think were replaced.

9:52Speaker 12

Because we usually don't replace pipes when we're doing roads. Okay.

9:58 – 10:09Speaker 9

Again, I don't know. Oh, they're the Orangeburg pipes. I've got video of it because I've had to replace it on my own dime. The Orangeburg, like the old tar.

10:10 – 10:54Speaker 5

Yeah. That's what she has in her place. I think it runs down the road there also. I had a discussion with U.S. Water and FUA on this stuff. We've been out there today. We've cut that sidewalk back. We've cut a swale. What they're doing is that service road, it's not a road, but the parents are going up and turning around in Orlando, and they're driving through that service road to get over to the park, or they're coming from the park the other way. So they've got that whole thing of road now that's packed down so all the water's not doing what it's supposed to because it's all packed. So it's not parking? Excuse me? So it's not parking? No, it's just they've just been in traffic going back and forth.

10:54Speaker 9

Yeah, it's not maintained.

10:57Speaker 9

There's no stop sign. There's no ditch line. There's...

11:00 – 11:13Speaker 12

It's always just been a... I mean, Walter, I'm sure you've seen that road over there. I mean, it's just always been like a little access road that the school would use to move things around or a teacher would park over there.

11:13Speaker 9

Outside my bathroom window.

11:15Speaker 12

Yeah, well, sorry, Mrs. Woods. It's a little... Photography. Sorry, I'm sure my daughter walked behind her. But, yeah, so...

11:24 – 11:38Speaker 13

when you you know in your video you show the water backing up right there at the end of the sidewalk right so the water flows down yeah the sidewalk and then that creates a backflow into your property

11:40Speaker 9

That backflows up the sidewalk to my mailbox. That's a different way that the water gets to my property. The one that's flooding my backyard, it comes off of Park, and then it goes down the service road and then backflows.

11:50 – 12:15Speaker 13

I'm just trying to think if we can modernize somehow the drainage on the frontage of your home. And we can alleviate that water gathering in that sidewalk. That would alleviate, or hopefully alleviate, some of this flooding you're having in the front. In the front only? Because the sidewalk actually acts as a barrier. The dirt and tire in the sidewalk. So you create a pond, which will go right in your front. I was thinking maybe there's something the city can do.

12:16Speaker 9

Well, that water does not end up in my backyard. That water just stays on the sidewalk. So my backyard.

12:20Speaker 13

So it's not flooding the front of your property at all?

12:23Speaker 9

The sidewalk the sidewalk sinking from it over the years the sidewalks definitely gone down I mean I could care less about the sidewalk. My backyard is a huge problem.

12:33 – 13:08Speaker 5

We actually went out there today and we've cut, the sidewalk actually ran all the way to that service road and passed it. But from everything being there, it was just plugged up and about six to seven inches higher than the sidewalk. We dug that whole thing out. We cut a trench across the road for a swale and we dug out the whole ditch all the way down through. So that should move all the water away from the front of our house now. But the side that's coming into our house, from people using that has got so low, so rooted up, that all the water has just come to the middle and set in, which comes to hurt us.

13:08Speaker 13

So what you did, Chad, with what you opened up there, that water will flow better in the front of the house. So there won't be a gathering of the water up into that driveway now?

13:18Speaker 4

No, we should take everything off the front of the house now.

13:20Speaker 9

It'll still flow down the driveway and take everything with it.

13:23 – 13:37Speaker 13

The water is going to go, it's always going to go where it wants to go. But I just don't, if we can eliminate, like Chad talked about, the barriers that are holding the water back. So if we can get that accomplished, which he's already worked on, that's a plus.

13:37Speaker 12

Maybe a French drain. Tim, it's 20880 West McKinney. 20880 West McKinney.

13:55 – 14:06Speaker 5

We have no drain there. Also consider this road used to slope towards the middle school and the water would run that way to the big ditches. But now that the cars have been using that, they've got the whole center cave.

14:06Speaker 12

So now it can we put up some of those barricades?

14:10Speaker 5

Well, that wasn't going to be that's in my thing. My department report for tonight.

14:14Speaker 9

Also, the other side of that service road on Park has a huge pothole. I mean, it's terrible. I wouldn't drive my car through it.

14:20Speaker 5

The whole road on Park is busted off now. It's big.

14:25Speaker 13

So, in order to alleviate her flooding in her backyard, what's your recommendation there?

14:32 – 14:43Speaker 5

We're probably going to have to look at grading. It's something we just have to look at. Yesterday was the first day I went and met with her, and we kind of walked it down, so we're still in that. Is it a city access project? A driveway?

14:43Speaker 13

Or is it a school board access driveway? Or is it just a driveway that's been there all these years since I was a kid?

14:50Speaker 5

It was just a right-of-way, and they turned it into a driveway.

14:53Speaker 9

No, it's not Hill Street. It doesn't have a name.

14:56Speaker 5

It has no name, no map.

14:57Speaker 9

It's just a... All right, I'm just trying to define it.

14:59Speaker 13

I know what it looked like when I grew up. I understand that. But I was trying to figure out how we could manage to get your backyard cleaned up. A ditch line?

15:10Speaker 9

A ditch line, the whole way of the service road, if it's going to...

15:13 – 15:42Speaker 13

be graded to my yard i mean somewhere for the water to collect instead of going into my yard well yeah we've got to be able for the water to percolate or either go to a place of percolation to avoid flooding your yard that's where we want to go yeah that's why i mentioned the front yard i said maybe we can alleviate that and chad's already worked on that but how do we approach this backyard if we need to maybe we need to put some drainage in or we need to do something but you don't you shouldn't have your yard flooded from appreciate that

15:43Speaker 9

yeah that's not I know I'm getting new cracks in my house it's getting concerning now

16:06Speaker 13

I've never actually come here, but I had talked to Troy before, and I think his name was Lewis when it first started.

16:21Speaker 9

So I've been saying a lot of stuff. Lonnie? Okay. I've been talking to people, but I never came here, so apparently I should have just came here first.

16:28Speaker 13

Well, you're always welcome to bring your concerns to City Hall. We're always going to be listening, and we're going to try to do what we can to alleviate this for you. I appreciate it.

16:37 – 16:54Speaker 12

floating by runoff from another another yeah and may i ask a question if during the rainstorm and if you see would you mind if these two gentlemen poke their head oh go for it oh yeah okay yeah i just would like to get that on tape that we can yes look over the fence

16:54Speaker 3

We always knock on the door.

16:57Speaker 12

Just in case she's not home or something.

16:59 – 17:17Speaker 5

And the last two days I've been working with her and trying to see what we could do and today we found out just the first thing we could do was cut that sidewalk back and open up that road to get the ditches cleaned out at least to get the water out of the front. The back that right away they turned in the road is going to be a little more of a challenge because it's

17:18 – 17:35Speaker 12

so compact and in regards to the second issue yeah that buses and the cars that would be us maybe talking having our mayor reach out to um our representative mr cummings we could but we probably need to address it with the principal to start with

17:36Speaker 13

so that she's fully aware of what's going on.

17:39 – 18:12Speaker 9

The Christian Academy or the? Both. Both. I do know that I talked to Tony Beaver at the end of last year because these buses were getting kind of out of hand. They also speed if anybody would like to clock them. They lock the gates. So he was telling me they're having issues with the school. because they keep the gates locked the bell goes off at 4 11 and they don't unlock that gate until 4 10 and then they let the buses in so if they would unlock the gate they have a huge amount of concrete these buses can be on and not on the street park is also locked and we don't know why

18:12 – 18:48Speaker 13

Well, it's a security issue and the same thing goes on at the high school where I work. We're very conscious of those gates being locked at certain times and the same procedures go countywide. there could be some some availability to get those buses on in there this is the kind of thing that we we need to address with the principal and let her try to answer it she's in she's an authority here in town she grew up here she knows the situation and she'll be glad to try to help us she'll work with us on it okay

18:50 – 19:14Speaker 13

Yeah, the Christian Academy? I don't want to hope we're going to get a flood, but we could get some more rains if we get back into our normal pattern. And then, you know, as you've heard, Chad and Councilman Innkeep are going to be paying attention to it and try to see what they can find for you. But we've got your sidewalk clear. That'll help some in the front. And I promise you that we'll follow up with this driveway issue that's flooding your backyard.

19:14Speaker 9

What about the parent-teacher line that sits there for an hour?

19:19Speaker 9

The parent pickup line that sits there for about an hour.

19:22 – 19:37Speaker 13

I don't know how you can address people that stop on the road. It's a public road, it's not a private road. I don't know. That would be an issue I could discuss also with the principal. I know that it's a major issue.

19:37Speaker 9

There's a lot more cars.

19:38 – 20:20Speaker 13

In the past, and I hate to go into the past because it might bore you to death, but very few people had cars. We just didn't have them. There was only like three or four kids in our school that had a car. So we never was involved with traffic, and people expected their kid to come home on the bus or walk home. We didn't have many parents picking up kids. But now we have a lot, 120. Well, we do, and what I'm getting at is, This issue is important. It's not going to get swept under the road. And I know that that's a problem about those cars all backing up. But we now have 700 some kids. That was the last count I saw at middle school here.

20:21Speaker 9

No, the Christian Academy.

20:23Speaker 13

So the Christian Academy is where your problem is?

20:25Speaker 9

I thought you were talking about school buses. Oh, wow. Both schools use my road at the same time.

20:32Speaker 13

I understand. Oh, okay. But do you have an issue with... See, the school buses more likely are belonging to the county.

20:38Speaker 9

Right. They're public school buses to Marion Middle. Okay.

20:41Speaker 13

Well, now, that's a different entity than the Christian school. Of course, you know that. The Christian school has no connections to the school buses. I know that.

20:49 – 21:44Speaker 12

Her problem is that she has 125 cars... sitting in her front yard for 25 in that 25 minutes period from the christian school so that's in the morning but in the afternoon they sit for an hour yeah because they're not in a hurry to leave right so the problem is that they're a on our right of way they're ruining our right of way they're deteriorating our they're deteriorating the water pipes and they're deteriorating our roads and they're blocking her in so it's and school buses are going both directions on one side of the street and they can't fit yeah so it sounds like we need to have a a meeting of the minds with a the principal of the middle school and b the principal of the christian academy and whoever their board of directors are so and i don't know and i know you know mr Randall, so maybe we could get a phone call with him.

21:44 – 22:08Speaker 13

This can be, like I said, I thought we were talking about the principal of the county school, Marion County School. Now, we can also incorporate talking to the principal at the Christian Academy. Please do. I don't have an immersion in talking to them either, but I'm trying to sort out exactly... Where your problem is, the main thing is the flood. We've got several issues here.

22:09 – 22:29Speaker 13

Channon has alleviated the driveway in the front. The front of your property has taken out that barrier. Okay. Now we talk about the property in your backyard that is being flooded by someone else's property. Let's put it that way. It's not from your property that you're getting flooded. You're being flooded by the property that joins yours.

22:30Speaker 4

That is a legitimate concern.

22:32 – 23:16Speaker 13

Now, the third thing, the way I'm seeing this, it is the issue with the pickup and the let out of the kids to attend the school. And you're talking about the middle school and the private school. All right. Well, now we're into that issue. So what can be done is I will contact the principal at the middle school, and I will contact the principal of the Dunhellen Christian Academy, and I'll address them both with this issue and ask them to take a look at it and come up with some suggestions of how they can help us solve it. Okay. These schools exist for our benefit and our kids. That school property has been there since 1890.

23:16Speaker 9

Okay, but my road also exists for me to get to my house.

23:19Speaker 13

I understand that, and I appreciate that.

23:22Speaker 9

Would you like to come out at 3 o'clock on a weekday and see it?

23:25Speaker 13

I don't get out of school until 3 o'clock myself. It would be possible. I couldn't get there. You want to set up a camera?

23:31 – 23:49Speaker 12

No way. But I drive by your house. I drive by your road every day, and we tried even with our police department last year, and he was trying to alleviate them from even backing up on Cedar Street and parking on the road.

23:49Speaker 9

Well, they'll even pop out thinking I'm trying to skip them and block me from my driveway.

23:53Speaker 12

Yeah, so we'll get this all done.

23:57 – 24:12Speaker 13

No, I want your rights to enjoy your property sustained. Absolutely. And they don't have a right to deny you access to your property under any circumstances. But we're going to have to work together because...

24:12Speaker 9

So what's the follow-up? What do I do from this? Do I just wait until someone contacts me or...

24:18 – 24:44Speaker 13

Well, the issue will have to be discussed. In other words, we're looking for a rainstorm to take a look at what's to be done in the backyard. Chad has already addressed your driveway in the front. I'm going to try to meet with the principals at the middle school and the principal at Dunhallen Christian Academy. Until I have that opportunity to do that, if we really don't have a time frame, we will have another council meeting next month. And hopefully between now and then, We'll have something done about it.

24:44Speaker 12

I think we have a workshop on the 29th of August. 31st. 31st. I don't know. I cannot keep that day in my head.

24:54Speaker 3

But anyway, that's our next meeting. All right. Chad and I will be in direct contact with you.

24:59 – 25:18Speaker 3

We'll go out there and we'll stay in contact with you. Okay. Does Chad have your phone number? I'm not sure. Okay. Okay. Yes, I do. Okay. Okay. Gotcha. So you won't have to wait for a month or anything like that. We will go out there. Oh, she didn't provide her phone number.

25:18Speaker 9

Yeah, definitely.

25:19Speaker 3

And then we'll see what we can figure out, and we will come find you if you're not happy.

25:26Speaker 9

Okay, awesome. Appreciate it.

25:27 – 25:45Speaker 13

Before and after. On the interest of, as far as dealing with the principals, as soon as I can arrange a meeting with them and sit down with them and go over this issue and have something concrete to offer you, I will be in touch also. Okay. No problem. It's not like we're just going to put you off. I didn't.

25:45Speaker 9

We're going to pay attention to what your concerns are. Okay.

25:49 – 26:04Speaker 5

I have a question with the council's director. To minimize the damage to the stuff that's going on now, What is the opinion of closing the access road and then posting no parking on grass signs down West McKinney and Cedar?

26:05 – 26:25Speaker 12

I would say yes, that's a great idea. However, the access road, yeah, go ahead and block that off the school board. But as far as what you're thinking about trying to block the roads off, I think until we get a solution, that's just going to back up her road even further because

26:26Speaker 8

I would rather the cars be on the road than in the swell.

26:30 – 27:08Speaker 12

Well, but this is what happens because I have called the chief so many times because when I was driving back and forth to the house, people will literally be trying to turn left because they're now on the road. And then... Valerie is trying to get back over to Bot Springs and they just zip on out and then there's traffic coming. I mean, it is just a, it's a death trap no matter what we do. Maybe have our sheriff's department out there until we can, because it's, it's a death trap. And then people start honking the horns at each other. And that was just the middle school.

27:08Speaker 9

Yeah. Backing out. I don't want to get hit by a school bus. My daughter's almost been, I mean, it's,

27:13 – 27:41Speaker 12

yeah i mean that because if the if the parent cars are sitting there for an hour on mckinney and then the bus is trying to turn in to get past that there there's no they're going to be on her front doorstep and i've had to reverse and go into my neighbor's yard to let a bus by on the wrong side lane we have the lady uh i know reverend mcdowell the lady lives on the corner of mckinney and orlando okay

27:41Speaker 5

I don't know what her first name is.

27:45 – 27:57Speaker 5

Lynn McDowell. She was complaining that she got home late because she said she's tired of trying to set her schedule. I've got video. She knows that I have to be home by 2. If I can't get home by 2, I can't get to my house by till 5.

27:58Speaker 9

I got video of her having to sit there behind buses that are blocking Orlando so she can't even turn, just from my front window. And she had to do a U-turn and go all the way around the block back up to get to our house.

28:09 – 28:32Speaker 5

she was complaining about she can't get to her house and it's not right that she has to wait yeah when she said that if she makes doctor's appointments or have to do anything yeah it's anxiety to leave she has to tell them all i have to be out of here before i gotta be home by two or they start lining up an hour early and then she can't get to her house until after five i concur all right

28:33Speaker 13

Well, do you have any other concerns that we need to study for you?

28:37Speaker 9

Give me 10 more years, and I'll be back.

28:40 – 28:53Speaker 13

Well, we take it very seriously, your concerns. And let me assure you I will do everything I can to see if we can't come to some kind of solution to work this out so that your property rights are protected.

28:53Speaker 9

Yep, I appreciate it.

28:58 – 29:12Speaker 12

And I guess, not for you, but I guess to staff also, we need to let our lieutenant know that we're going to need some, I mean, I think the sheriff needs to be out there. Our officers need to be out there making sure they're not.

29:12Speaker 5

The thing is, we can't enforce nothing if we don't have nothing posted with a statute.

29:16Speaker 12

But if they're on the road, and they're just sitting in the middle of the road blocking traffic, I don't know. It's got to be a better option.

29:28Speaker 13

Well, are we ready to move on?

29:30Speaker 12

I think you have one more person.

29:33Speaker 13

Oh yeah, I know that.

29:34 – 29:48Speaker 3

Oh, I'm sorry. Chair, I'm sure I'm looking at the map right now. And when I click on it, it says access roads. Even the thing that shows on the school property, they call it bus loop. It looks like they follow the bus loop.

29:55 – 30:23Speaker 5

is public school property it's on the other side of the it's inside their fences the access road the road that we're talking about isn't nothing it's not labeled it's not nothing it's just a right-of-way the access is on the other side of the school buildings and run through and come out towards park but they make that loop and come back out of the canyon if you have time tomorrow i'll catch up yes we'll run out there yeah be easier to see and the access road too you can get a good visual on it dry and then we can really see when it's wet okay

30:25 – 30:41Speaker 13

and you're right tim it is it's just it's it's just an access that's been there for years and it is on the school board property it's on that property of the school let's put it that way gotcha i know that okay all right um joe you ready to speak yes sir welcome

30:51 – 32:22Speaker 1

Joseph Kinley, 20989 West McKinney Avenue. I live just down the road from her. McKinney Road is about the width of River Street, and it really doesn't take. If two cars are coming in opposite directions, one of them has to get off of the road to pass. So that's part of our problem on McKinney. OK, start the clock. received a ticket because I attended the last meeting here on Monday and I was really mad and I did everything I could to find out why and then I found a page on the website that says I can mention this to the city and they will make it so that I can come to the meetings without having to deal with this So I'm not sure who gets this tonight or whether I should bring it back tomorrow. But that's my non-agenda item number one. Number two, Paula DePaula is dropping out of the race. She will not be running in November. I will be getting the package. I wanted to know, Mayor, if I had to wait until the window from, what, the 17th to the 21st before I could start getting my petition signatures, or whether I could start at any time, as long as I got them in by the 21st.

32:26Speaker 13

I'm offering a reply as you move forward. Go ahead. Okay. Mandy?

32:35 – 32:48Speaker 8

If you check the website where on our elections page there is a candidate introduction that explains the entire procedure for qualifying. Step by step.

32:48 – 33:37Speaker 1

That point wasn't made clear. Okay. I'll try to reread it. I would like to promote Mandy to city manager and move everyone off the food chain. She's got way too much on her plate. I vehemently oppose the future parking fees for Blue Cove and City Beach. I think you need, especially with SB 180 looming over us, I think we need to be looking at different ways of income. And I think discouraging people from coming to the city to use our facilities, spend their money at the gas station and the 7-Elevens, et cetera, is not a way to promote our city as a place to come visit. Can I give this to anyone here?

33:37Speaker 8

Give it to Chad, please.

33:40Speaker 1

This? Chad? Yes, sir. OK. Thank you.

33:46 – 33:57Speaker 13

Is there anyone else signed up, Mandy, to speak? No, sir. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to address the council? Welcome, Danny.

34:07 – 37:24Speaker 4

um danny hart 18274 southwest 99th lane um the usual just asking the city to partner with the people that are putting on the events but this is about the parade like every other city does their parade williston crystal river it's not the chamber it's not people that are volunteering to put it together i would just like to see the city just partner with us you know we met a few days ago, not too long ago, with Manny and Chad, and had a great meeting. But they're bound by what you guys say. If they can't really help us, we need more help. And we need you guys to bring it up and then vote on particularly what to help with. It's embarrassing, and it's not you guys. This is long history that Dunellin doesn't help to put on these parades. This is for the city. This is for the people. It's crazy that we don't get to support. We have to fight to get what we get. And the city is drawing back. The city is drawing back under... under direction from city council, insurance company, the lawyer. But you guys decide. Hey, help out the chamber. Help out whoever's doing the parades, because it's exhausting. Everything fell on me last year to do it. And it was very successful. It was awesome. People at Dunellon loved it. But we just need more support, and let them Let them help us. I'd imagine they want to. They want to make it streamlined and just easier. It shouldn't be harder. But we're moving towards making it harder. instead of making it easier. And the special event thing that's trying to be pushed through is going to make it harder. We can go line by line like we have before. We need to have another sit down. And then we've had people come out of the city fired and not here. I don't know how much of that roundtable we had actually got carried through and is actually with us now. Like, did some of it disappear? Because we're not dealing with the same people. And I called for this a while back to have another roundtable to finish this stuff out and get to a understanding. And we didn't have another one. It wasn't discussed. So let's definitely have another one because it's needed, absolutely needed, to move forward, especially with the special ordinance. That's going to make it harder on anybody that's doing events And we need people, you know, coming in. Like, let's not make it harder for people to come to Dunellin. Let's make it easier. We're a tourist town. We can't get away from that. Let's support it. So, yeah, just want your support. Appreciate it, guys. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

37:25 – 37:40Speaker 13

Thank you. Does anyone else wish to address the council? No comment on non-agenda items? Okay. Okay. Entertain a motion for the consent agenda.

37:41Speaker 11

So moved. Second.

37:42 – 37:59Speaker 13

There's a motion on the floor to approve discussion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. We'll move down to the regular agenda. Number one, presentation from Safe Park. Welcome, gentlemen.

38:00Speaker 8

Mayor, we have from Safe Park tonight, we have Ethan Swanson and Tyler Dinette.

38:06Speaker 13

Okay, welcome, sir. Come forward. It's your podium at this point.

38:14 – 38:46Speaker 6

Good afternoon, everybody. We hope you are all well. My name is Tyler Dannett. I'm the operations manager with Safe Park. This is my brother. His name is Ethan Swanson, and he's the operations supervisor with Safe Park. We're here to just go over the parking program. We've got a few slides breaking down how it works, how we apply notices, how the zones and where they delineate work. and how the QR code signage works, as well as an FAQ slide for any questions that we've received, and then if there are any questions from you guys or anyone else.

38:47Speaker 7

Ethan, will you pull up the slide so that I could see it right here, just in case? Give us one moment, guys. I apologize.

38:55 – 40:37Speaker 6

Perfect. My eyes don't work so well, so I've got to look down here for it. All right, so I'm going to start with each particular zone, what those zones are for, and how to pay at those zones. Denelin 01, that's boat launch only. And it's right there in there, boat launch only. That is purely for launching those boats. And then we've got Denelin 02, which is vehicle with trailer parking. So those are vehicles that have trailers attached to them that will be parking. And then City Hall, so single vehicle parking only. overflow vehicles with trailer parking, and then on-street. And that's Ned Love Avenue for on-street parking. So the payment and how that works, it's extremely simple. We have tried our best to make it the most simple process that we can. And it's purely via QR code. So you utilize your phone, you use that camera, and you scan the QR code. You then enter your plate, how long you will be parking with us, and then you pay. now you will get a text message as soon as you do that to your phone or your cell phone number that you use to create that payment and that text message will also allow you to mobily extend your payment if if you need to so that means you don't have to go all the way back to the sign scan it and go through that process once more once you've done it initially you can go to that text message that you've received click on that and then extend your duration of parking from there

40:37 – 41:22Speaker 12

Mr. Ray, may I ask a question? Just a question. I'm in the middle of the river. I'm not paying attention to my phone. I get back. I say, oh my goodness, I should have renewed my thing two hours ago. Or the rainstorms. I mean, rainstorms come. I get stuck on my river. I definitely wasn't looking at my phone at that point. Are they going to get charged extra for not renewing it when they're there? I mean, is there a grace period? Because in my opinion, if I'm out on the river and I'm, especially with the boat launch or the, I guess, is the time thing boat launch and vehicle with trailer?

41:24 – 41:46Speaker 12

Okay. So in my opinion, I mean, if you're out there in the middle of the river, Again, storms. Just forgot what time it was. You're out having fun. Your phone's on the bottom of the ditty bag or whatever we call it. That's right. It seems to me like there should be a grace. Like the next day you're still there and that's one thing.

41:47Speaker 8

It's 24 hours.

41:49Speaker 12

He just said that you had to put in how long you're going to be there.

41:55 – 42:24Speaker 7

the duration for parking yes so Ethan will you move into that yeah and that is that grace period that you're referring to if you were to park in the vehicle parking like it would have 24 hours but if we'd have a grace period that you're referring to that's a 30-minute grace period while they're out there so if it's past their stay every it opens a new session So say that they pay for parking for that 24-hour period. After that ends, they then have that grace period.

42:24 – 42:46Speaker 12

Oh, 24. Because you put in here, choose how long. I mean, you tell me that. Like when I go to Ocala, I put in two hours because I'm going to the... You're saying like hourly parking and whether we were... Yeah, the way you said it, I thought if I'm out on the boat and I only put in four hours, but now it's going to be... you know, six hours and I'm out, I'm going to get charged extra.

42:47Speaker 6

Well, that's my fault. I apologize for wearing it that way.

42:50 – 43:02Speaker 12

Yes, ma'am. That's what I thought.

43:02Speaker 6

And I probably could have been clearer on the duration and how long that was.

43:06Speaker 12

All right. Thank you.

43:08Speaker 7

All right. Of course.

43:09Speaker 6

Any other questions on that particular slide?

43:12 – 43:38Speaker 10

I just want to ask, we had some people in a few weeks ago who were complaining about they didn't know that they had to pay the parking and the boat launch. Could there be a sign down there that says, This is it. It's if you're paying for boat launch only use this one. If you're going to pay in part down there at the same area, this is a code you use so that they'll know that both codes are there because there's been a fix of many.

43:39Speaker 6

There has been a fix for that and I'm sure that they'll go over that.

43:42Speaker 7

Yes. OK, yes.

43:43Speaker 6

Ethan, you want to touch on that now?

43:45Speaker 7

We have a slide later on that we can touch on.

43:47 – 45:31Speaker 6

OK, perfect. Will you open that for me one more time? I apologize. All righty. So moving on from that initial slide, we are here with grace periods, cameras and notices. So one camera photograph vehicles entering and exiting and nothing in between is tracked. So entry and exit timestamps create a verifiable record you can review any time. A lot of the team has access to the portal. What we are tracking is when that vehicle enters, we scan the license plate, we create the session, and then when that vehicle exits, that closes out that session. That grace period is involved with that session. So if someone comes through, I believe it's at 30 minutes or... Yep. So we're at a 30-minute grace period. So if somebody drives through the lot, enters and creates that session, but exits prior to that grace period ending, they will not be charged. A notice will not be applied to that vehicle. Every visit starts with a full 30 minute grace period. Like I just said, the double 15 minutes the city ordinance requires. No payment is needed until then in every zone. Stay past the grace period with no session or annual pass. The event is flagged and the queued For a person to review. Now, that opens us up to something else, which is people review every single violation that we create. I'm sure that will be mentioned in another slide. But I know there's been some concerns around AI usage and how we're reviewing these notices before they're being applied. We have a full support team that is made up of real humans with real eyes that are looking at every single one of these violations before they're being sent out. All right.

45:31Speaker 10

Can I ask you a question on that? When you said every session begins with a 30-minute grace period, does that mean if you get in and unload your boat in less than 30 minutes, you don't have to pay?

45:41Speaker 6

Ethan, will you speak to that?

45:44Speaker 7

Yeah, it would be the 30-minute grace period for vehicle parking over there. Oh, for vehicle parking only? Yes, sir.

45:52 – 46:09Speaker 12

Well, but if you're launching your boat, you're going to pay. But if you take your boat and vehicle and you leave the parking lot within 30 minutes when you go back to your house and park you're not going to get a ticket for parking and for parking with the trip

46:18 – 47:01Speaker 6

All right, we can move on to the next slide. Every violation is reviewed by a real person. Like I said, no notice is ever issued by a computer alone. A trained team member reviews the photographic evidence, confirms the license plate, and verifies the timestamps. Only then is a notice generated. Nothing is decided by artificial intelligence. We do utilize AI. within our systems. We use it for logistics. We use it for getting tasks done at a faster rate. It's going to be involved in mostly everything. But one thing that we do not ever want it involved in is both customer service and confirming that these things are done right. We are always reviewing our violations. And if there are ever any issues, our support team prides themselves on having in-person communication or over-the-phone communication with a real person, rather.

47:03Speaker 7

Ethan, will you open that up for me one more time?

47:17 – 47:52Speaker 6

Thank you, sir. Moving on to the next slide. Real people, real help. No smartphone. So one issue that we have encountered in this particular community, we've seen it in other communities as well. But in this particular community, some people don't have smartphones, which is something that we don't encounter a lot. But we wanted to make sure that we had a system in place to where they could make a payment without having to follow through with that QR code process. And to do that, all they have to do is call the number printed on every sign.

47:52Speaker 7

They press one button and then they are talking to a live agent.

47:56 – 48:52Speaker 6

The greeting that routes your call is the only automated part of the entire program. So we all know a lot of the times we call businesses and we're on the phone with a robot for 45 minutes until we can get through to a real person. And that's something that we did not want to have involved in our system. So like it says there, as soon as you press that button, you're talking to a real support agent. You pay securely over the phone, so you're not saying your card number out loud so that no one hears you standing nearby or anything like that. You're actually just entering it via that keypad on the cell phone. Disputes welcome. Request a formal review of any notice in 30 days to pay or dispute. Self-service, update plates online, two vehicles plus two trailers per annual pass. U.S. oversight. Live agents by phone with U.S.-based executive leadership.

48:53Speaker 7

City hall help. City staff can assist in person during business hours.

48:57 – 49:54Speaker 6

And of course, they always have us available. Anytime that they need to reach out to us, we are always available if they're ever unable to answer any particular questions. Moving on to the next slide. All right, these are improvements from community feedback. This is everything that we've been able to listen to, collect, and then produce something because of it. Grace period extended to full 30 minutes across all zones. Payment over the phone added for residents without a smartphone. and then reaching a live agent simplified to single button press. Self-service portal has also been launched. Update your plates and vehicles yourself. That's something that's huge because a lot of the times you don't want to talk to somebody when you're having to go through that process. You can just go to that portal and do it yourself. All righty. I am ready to move to the next slide. And then, Ethan, I'm going to have you cover this one. All right.

49:55 – 51:05Speaker 7

And we just had a few questions from being on the ground that we've been asked a lot. So we just wanted to cover those. We'll open the floor afterwards to any additional questions. But the first one that we get a lot is, do we pay separately whenever we launch a boat and when we park? And the answer is yes. the change that he was talking about earlier. We added on the payment page, there's a little announcement in the top that just informs the customer that once they launch their boat, they will have to pay to park. So we didn't do it on signage. We did do it right when you go to pay. So it's in your face. It's actually before you see the payment information to where you need to input it. So you'll see it at the top of your screen. It'll be the first thing you read. There should be no room for confusion there. And then the second question we receive is, they have an annual pass but do they need anything when they park and the annual pass does cover that if you just keep your plates up to date like tyler was saying with that self-service portal it should be a little bit easier now but if you just stay up to date then you should have no worries with your pass and then who counts as a city resident for the resident annual pass that's anybody living within denellan's incorporated city limits so city hall can help confirm your address if you ever need to reach out i'm sure you can reach out to our support team as well and we can coordinate with the city on figuring that out

51:06Speaker 3

Can I add to that?

51:08 – 51:23Speaker 3

Because he used the term to live, okay? I'll pick on David Paul. David Paul doesn't live here per se, but he has property. He pays property taxes. So anybody that is in that same boat gets to do the done element rate.

51:24Speaker 12

I thought that was a no-brainer. So you're saying David Paul does get...

51:31Speaker 3

In anybody in that situation, right?

51:33Speaker 12

Yeah, like I have cousins up in Atlanta that have a house right there by the city beach.

51:37Speaker 3

Right, so they pay taxes here. If you're a taxpayer here, you get the time on the range. Yes, I concur.

51:45 – 52:19Speaker 8

And what we did to resolve the issue of proof of residency is proof of residency was just a driver's license at first, but in the situation where you have someone like David Paul who lives out of town and his driver's license reflects his address of his primary residence, they are able to upload a copy of their property tax bill. to show that they are a taxpayer in the city of Denali.

52:19 – 53:42Speaker 7

And then another question that we have a lot is, do you pay while conducting city business? And the answer is no. If you look at the entrance right there, we have a validation code. And what a validation is, is it acts as if you pay it. So it scans and it doesn't charge you any amounts or anything, but it tells our cameras out there and it tells our system that you paid for parking. So it validates your session. You don't have to worry about receiving any notices or anything. That validation is two hours. So if it is extended upon then, I'm sure you can talk to whoever you're dealing with at the city to have that extended. And then another one we get is, what if I need more time after I've paid? And Tyler covered that one in the earlier slides. You're able to just refer back to that text message that you got and extend your session. Like we talked about, it's a 24-hour session. You shouldn't need to extend it, but if that is the case, then you can always refer back to that phone number. And then is parking enforced during city meetings, just like this one? And the answer is no. The city gets us their schedule ahead of time, and we're able to put a pause on enforcement for anybody who's coming to the meeting or wants to attend. We make sure to avoid any chance of getting a notice in that area. And then how long do I have to pay before I respond to a notice? And you have a full 30 days to pay or dispute. Every dispute is reviewed by a real person rather. Like Tyler said earlier, all we do for AI is catching entrance and exit, and we have real people look at those events and then review them after that.

53:43 – 53:55Speaker 10

So that hopefully will clear up the issue we had a few weeks ago of a lot of people complaining that they got a notice Like eight days after and then they only had like three days to do something.

53:55 – 54:10Speaker 7

Yes, sir. That's why that change was implemented. The reason because of that was just the initial batch that went out, there was a delay in the mailing. And we've since reached out to every single of those individuals and had that voided on their end. And after that, that's when we implemented that change. Okay.

54:11 – 54:24Speaker 6

We actually spoke directly with the owner of Park DNA, who is the technology that we utilize to disperse these notices. And he was clear that that would never happen again. And any violation that incurred in that period, like Ethan said, was voided completely.

54:27 – 54:48Speaker 13

Let me ask you a question. On your, when we have the, do I pay to park while conducting city business at City Hall? And it says it's covering up to two hours. That's something we need to adjust because we can't have meetings in here that will extend a lot longer than two hours. And we have citizens that will sit here for the entire meeting.

54:49 – 55:02Speaker 8

Mayor, that's different. That's different than the council meetings. That's just like what he's talking about while conducting city business is if we have contractors come in or somebody come in to get a business tax.

55:02 – 55:37Speaker 13

So we have our council meetings. There's no time limit on them attending the council meetings. Correct. that it's it's free until we get through with the meeting and then they go on yes sir so they do turn off enforcement so we pause the enforcement for the entirety of the city council meeting so right now enforcement because we do have sometimes extended meetings and we have citizens i don't want to hear them that they said i want to hear that that they've sat through a three-hour meeting and they're going to get charged for it they're already charged for it having to be here so we don't want that but that's clarified i'm happy with that okay

55:40 – 55:52Speaker 12

We'll have the gentleman holding up the paper speak with y'all outside after your presentation. There was an issue with it, so we'll just have you handle it.

55:58Speaker 8

We'll address it. We don't need to hold up the meeting to address this. We'll address this offline. Okay. You're on again.

56:05 – 56:40Speaker 6

To close we would just say are there any other frequently asked questions that you needed to cover? All right to close. We'll just say we are here to serve you guys We're here to serve the community and the city whatever you guys need That's why we've made the support system so proactive and easy to reach a real person We also don't mind getting calls at any time of the day to answer any questions we promise that we are always here to help and we are not a company that comes in installs and leaves and We really care about this community. Myself and my brother are local to this area. We've been here long before we started a parking program. So we appreciate all of you, and we appreciate your time.

56:41 – 57:00Speaker 3

Any other questions, concerns, Tim? The only thing I want to do is thank you guys. You guys so far have done everything you said you were going to do. When people come in here with issues, I know you've been working directly with Mandy and... I agree 100% I mean everything that we It will

57:23Speaker 6

We appreciate you, sir. You guys have been amazing. We've never worked with a team that is as productive as you guys. It's a pleasure as always. Thank you so much.

57:30 – 57:41Speaker 12

And a great presentation. It was very easy to follow and very thorough. Y'all are great. Come back and visit us, and you don't even have to pay for the boat. Yes, ma'am. Will do.

57:42Speaker 3

I apologize. You've got to work with me. How do I get an annual file?

57:50Speaker 7

So if you scan the boat launch QR code out there, it's the blue sign that you'll see, D-U-N-N-0-1. If you scan that QR code, the payment page. Yes, ma'am. So the signage will be done.

58:14Speaker 13

Was there anything else?

58:16Speaker 6

Nothing from our presentation, but if there are any questions, we're happy to answer.

58:19Speaker 12

Anything? I appreciate y'all being here. Safe travels home.

58:22Speaker 6

Thank you so much.

58:23Speaker 3

We appreciate you guys.

58:26Speaker 12

I think this gentleman will meet y'all outside.

58:32 – 58:44Speaker 13

We'll move on now to item number two, resolutions. Resolution number RES-2026-13, personal manual amendments. Mandy?

58:47 – 59:03Speaker 8

Yes, sir. This, as I explained during the workshop, is a resolution to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in accordance with the minimum wage law. That becomes effective October 1st.

59:04 – 59:30Speaker 13

Questions for Mandy? Council, anybody? Any concerns? All right. Public comment on this particular item? Anyone in the public wish to speak on this? Call for a motion to be read by title only. So moved. There's a motion on the floor to be read by title only. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

59:30 – 59:44Speaker 8

Resolution number RES-202613, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Dunellan adopting personnel manual amendments and changes to Article 10, Section 6.1, Pay and Classification Plan and providing for an effective date.

59:46 – 1:00:08Speaker 13

I'll call for a motion to approve. there's a motion on the floor in a second to approve discussion all those in favor say aye all right motion carries move on to item number three regular agenda item Ernie Mills Park in improvements who wants to start with that

1:00:11Speaker 5

Yes, that'll be me.

1:00:14Speaker 12

You're the improvement guy.

1:00:16 – 1:00:29Speaker 5

This is a proposed motion to authorize the staff to move forward to electrical improvement at Ernie Mills Park. And we discussed it back in October. And then we adopted a resolution, an amendment CRA.

1:00:32 – 1:01:28Speaker 8

Let me back up just a second, because at the workshop, when I presented that resolution to amend the CRA plan, I realized that there were some taxing authority notices that had to go out a certain amount of days before that could be considered. We were not able to put that resolution on this agenda for approval. I'm going to have it on the special meeting on August 19th for approval. And that's why we worded the proposed motion that this that the improvements be approved based on the adoption of that resolution, which will come on the 19th. Okay. Okay. Further discussion.

1:01:29Speaker 5

Any questions on that?

1:01:32Speaker 4

Public comment?

1:01:33Speaker 13

Anyone like to comment on this particular item?

1:01:39 – 1:01:59Speaker 12

All right. I'll call for a motion. I authorize staff to move forward with electrical improvements at Ernie Mills Park as presented during the August 3rd City Council Workshop upon adoption of Resolution 2026-12 CRA Plan Amendment at the August 19th meeting.

1:02:00Speaker 13

Okay, there's a motion on the floor, second discussion. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Move on to item 3B.

1:02:10Speaker 3

Yeah, go ahead, Tim.

1:02:17 – 1:02:28Speaker 12

We said we're going to say yes to it, but we're going to say yes to it once we get the official notice on the 19th. It's a yes, yes, yes on the 19th.

1:02:28 – 1:02:56Speaker 8

The intent was we were going to adopt the resolution first so that you could authorize staff to move forward with the Ernie Mills Park improvements, with the electrical contractor and with Duke. Right. but because there were notices that were required to be mailed to the taxing authorities. That had not been done yet. So we did that following the workshop and then moved the resolution to your special meeting on the 19th.

1:02:56Speaker 3

So this is going to come up on the 19th. We're going to vote on it again.

1:03:05Speaker 8

The resolution.

1:03:06Speaker 3

The resolution. So did this vote really mean anything?

1:03:11 – 1:03:34Speaker 8

It did because it authorized us to move forward with the quotes that we got from the electrical contractors and with Duke because that wasn't in the budget. So we had to get council's approval to spend that money for them to upgrade the electrical out there, which will be paid through CRA once that resolution is adopted.

1:03:34Speaker 3

You're welcome.

1:03:39 – 1:03:59Speaker 13

all right well then we'll move along anything else on that mandy we ready to move on now yes okay uh we'll move on to item 3b city hall maintenance this was the bids i brought all in to have city hall painted i think we come up with four different bids

1:04:01 – 1:04:20Speaker 5

Before you propose a motion or anything, I just want to make sure everybody's looked through all the bids, any questions on the bids, recommendations for the bids. I mean, we had four there. I can pick a proposal who I would go with, but I don't know if the council has anything.

1:04:20 – 1:04:39Speaker 13

Well, Chad, use your discretion to address the council and tell us what you think would be best for the project and then they can come back and request questions about why you thought it was the best. That would be a good way to approach it. Give us some background. You've studied this and you're aware of the building. Give us what you can.

1:04:40 – 1:05:26Speaker 5

Went through everything. All the paint's about the same. No one's using anything really different. You can do upgrades throughout the ones that you pick, but My proposal would be to use Masters Touch Painting and Sons. He's local here in Dunellan. He's working out of Dunellan. He's buying all his paint in Dunellan. He's keeping the money in Dunellan versus all the other companies that are outside of the sea limits. And he's also the cheapest bid. His paint's going to be the exact same as what the other guys are using. It's not the highest, but it's the step above the highest. And from what I've seen talking to Sherwood and Williams and everybody else, we're not going to see a difference. the amount of time. My proposal would be using MasterTouch paint and suns at their price of $8,990.

1:05:26 – 1:05:42Speaker 12

I talked to a gentleman who owns a paint store over in Crystal River and I kind of, and he's like, Val, paints, you know, and he said, yeah, he goes, that's kind of a no-brainer.

1:05:42Speaker 5

The only difference, one was citrus paints, one was Sherwood Williams and down there. But

1:05:47Speaker 3

pressure washing whole building cleaning the building removing the shutters and everything

1:06:09 – 1:06:28Speaker 5

off the building. They grab a stucco, they go back and seal and fix any damaged stucco, then come back with a sealer that locks the stucco down so it's not flaking, and then paint the building, paint the shutters, paint the doors, these spouts, everything like that too. This is Gordon, right?

1:06:31Speaker 13

That sounds good, Chad. I agree. Entertain a motion.

1:06:37Speaker 12

accept the proposal.

1:06:38Speaker 13

Wait a minute. One step ahead here. Public comment. Anyone wish to comment on this project for City Hall exterior renovation?

1:06:50Speaker 13

Now we'll move on to the motion.

1:06:52 – 1:07:16Speaker 12

accept the proposal submitted by not clear painting sorry and the amount of eight thousand nine hundred ninety ninety dollars for repainting of city hall second motion on the floor in a second further discussion all those in favor say aye aye motion carries

1:07:20Speaker 13

All right, we'll go into item number four, department reports, and Micah's not here today.

1:07:27 – 1:08:07Speaker 8

I do have his report if you want to just take a quick look at it. He did send that. I sure will. If everyone's done with that, I'll go to the next slide.

1:08:28Speaker 8

Everybody good with that?

1:08:29 – 1:08:41Speaker 13

There's a lot of public contacts at 555. Right. That's the end of it. Yeah. That's what we want. It's just a river.

1:08:41Speaker 5

That's not even a whole river. Absolutely.

1:08:47Speaker 13

Any concerns about that? Questions? Yes, sir. Okay, we'll go to the city clerk's position.

1:08:54 – 1:10:52Speaker 8

Yes, sir. I'll cover city clerk and community development. I did talk about some of that during the budget meeting what we're doing to try and alleviate some of the workload and stress on the current staff to hire a part-time permit technician that's going to be working 8 to noon and and we have a full-time temporary community development manager on a 90-day interim starting on Monday. Right now, as you know, we have two meetings next week. The Planning Commission will meet on the 18th to hold their public hearing to retransmit the updated comprehensive plan based on the state review comments. And then the council will hold their public hearing on the 19th. on Wednesday of next week at a special meeting to have a first reading of the ordinance adopting the updated comprehensive plan amendments. That will be transmitted to the state as soon thereafter as possible. Again, they get another 60 days to respond. We're hoping that they will expedite their response this time so that we can get this passed before the end of the calendar year. So we'll keep you updated there. Last night's Planning Commission meeting, we had two quasi-judicial hearings, one on the variance and one on the Waffle House site plan. And that will be coming to you in September for consideration on your regular September 9th agenda. Was there anything else for planning? No. Pretty sure that's it.

1:10:54Speaker 13

Thank you, Mandy. Community development, we've already heard that. That was in a combination with city clerk. Move on to finance.

1:11:02 – 1:11:38Speaker 11

Any further? I actually sent something in on you tonight. Or, well, it was Thursday. I updated the actuals for this year. I did mention it briefly in the email. But when you look at the 26, 27 actuals in what I printed for you for the budget meeting, that's actually through 739. That's good.

1:11:38Speaker 13

You wrap that up then.

1:11:39 – 1:13:39Speaker 11

Yeah, like I said, I snuck something in on you. Okay. But also, as far as general fund, right now we've received $3,479,447.85. The expenditures so far this year were at $2,168,277.21. I do want to point something out. There were some large expenses that I put in today as far as for the share of that will be hitting in August. So the expenditure is going to go up quite a bit with some of the expenditures that were included through the House payable today. Is that due to delay billing? Actually, it's... Just to catch up on the bill. Catch up on the bill, correct. Correct. As far as the CRA, we received $524,000. And the total expenditures so far are $129,112.76. So we will have more going to our road projects that we have scheduled. So we can be doing repairs and everything like we've been working on. I know you are, and I know your whole staff is tied in together.

1:13:39Speaker 13

Do I still have Andrew?

1:14:00Speaker 12

Thank you for everything. Thank you for all your hard work. We're keeping the candy in your office.

1:14:10Speaker 13

All right. We'll move on now to public works. Anything else, Chad, in public works?

1:14:16Speaker 5

No, I don't have anything. Pretty much everything we covered was with Ms. Erica's stuff and the parking issues.

1:14:21 – 1:15:12Speaker 12

okay we're going to item five council liaison reports and comments um y'all had asked me to reach out to our commissioner kathy bryant she did get back with me and said she would be available for our september 9th city council meeting You're looking at me weird. There's a meeting on the night. Okay, just checking. I kept double-checking all my days, so you made me scared. And I did tell her that we would like to present her with something and recognize her and that we would put her on the agenda first, please, ma'am. And she said she would appreciate that and that she was honored.

1:15:13 – 1:16:42Speaker 8

That reminds me. Okay. At the workshop, the council directed me to reach out to Moneer to try and schedule some sort of discussion about the Blue Run Park documents. And I did speak with him last week. And what he would like to see from us before we schedule a meeting is some sort of outline detailing what exactly we have identified that we find that may be an inconsistency or a conflict between the documents sort of an basically an outline of everything that we want sort of an agenda to go through with them and they would like that in advance of us meeting with them so if any of you have any feedback for me on that. What I would like to do is Just combine everyone's ideas, thoughts, comments, concerns into one document and bring it back to you at the workshop in September for you to discuss and to finalize so that when we do go over to meet with the Marion County officials, we have something concrete that we can discuss with them.

1:16:45Speaker 12

When would you like that by? Give me a deadline. Tomorrow? Sure.

1:16:53 – 1:17:27Speaker 8

I know. Why? Everybody wants everything from me yesterday. So I'm thinking, let's see, our workshop is the 31st. At least the week before, so I can try and put something together. If I could get something early, let's say no later than the 24th. If I could get something no later than the 24th, so I can put something together for you for the 31st. Okay.

1:17:30Speaker 12

And how about doing your evaluation by then as well?

1:17:36 – 1:17:56Speaker 8

Oh, I have to get everything out to you so that that time that clock doesn't start ticking until I get the the documents to you that you need in order to prepare the evaluation. So and and you know, usually I'm you know, I don't know. We'll figure that out later.

1:17:56 – 1:18:09Speaker 12

I tried. Hey, Marion County makes them their employees do self evaluations. I had to help Donald the other night. I think it was.

1:18:10Speaker 8

Glad to hear that.

1:18:12Speaker 5

Do it for you.

1:18:14 – 1:18:39Speaker 8

You want to do my evaluation? No, that's scary. She gives me too much work. And the only other thing I will mention quickly, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I did also email Jamie Banta last week and invited him to come to a future meeting. But I haven't heard back yet. But I did give him all of our dates through October.

1:18:41Speaker 13

Thank you. Okay, anything else? Rex, you have anything?

1:18:48 – 1:19:54Speaker 3

No. Okay. excuse me we received emails you know when i say we it's uh council members staff etc we received emails and comments at the podium joe kendley alluding that he is a representative of jim jesse this is becoming concerning So a conversation was had with Mr. Gissie. Mr. Gissie basically said he has had only one contact with Joe, and Joe in no way, shape, or form purposes him or any of his businesses. I was not the one that had the conversation. The staff did. So he said, I'm making up anything. Again, it's concerning when we have people coming up here saying that they represent somebody, especially somebody of a prominent like Mr. Gissie, and that's just not truthful. Thank you. I just wanted that on the record.

1:19:55 – 1:20:20Speaker 13

Okay. As everybody knows, we heard earlier about school was back in session. We just heard the conversation about the middle school problems, and I assure the council that I will follow up with this and we'll try to come to some kind of resolution for it. There is, let's see. Whatever it is, it's not important. I'm not going to worry about it at this point in time.

1:20:21Speaker 13

Does anybody have anything else before we go? I know that we want to hear from Andrew. Andrew, it's your turn.

1:20:31Speaker 2

Thank you, Mayor.

1:20:33Speaker 2

Do not... No report this evening. Looking forward to seeing you all again in the near future.

1:20:39Speaker 13

Okay, Andrew. Won't have to worry about your drive tonight.

1:20:45Speaker 13

All right. Have a good evening.

1:20:47Speaker 2

Thank you. You all as well. All right.

1:20:49Speaker 13

I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Motion on the floor and a second. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Thank you, everybody.

1:20:59Speaker 12

God bless you. God bless you.

This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.