City Council - Regular Meeting

ordinary council session and we will start with the oath of loyalty and an invocation by the vice mayor young we finish the head in prayer very holy and eternal we bow before you in this moment or god

We thank you for being here together, oh God, to take care of the affairs of the city. We ask you to free our thoughts, to free our minds, oh God, so that they are clear. Oh God, to manage the affairs of Lake City and make the right decisions in the best interest of our city. We pray for all our first responders.

We pray for all our families. Continue to keep us, oh God, under your protection.

Bless us, oh God, as you can. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Thank you, Vice-Minister Young. Ms. Sikes wants to proceed.

Mr. Jernigan.

Present.

Mr. Harris. Present. Mr. Young. Present. Mr. Carter. Present. Mr. Warren. Present. Mr. Rosenthal.

Present.

Mr. Marconi. Present.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Municipal Council of Lake City has opened the public seat and since 1968 the citizen code forbids anyone to make personal, impertinent or slanderous observations or to assume a slanderous behavior or to assume behavior of the Municipal Council. Screaming or making audible comments from the public constitutes a turbulent behavior. Such behavior will not be tolerated, there is only one approved way to turn to the Municipal Council, namely to be recognized and speak from the podium. The inobservation of the rules of decorum will lead to the distance from the meeting. Now let's move on to the approval of the agenda. Mayor, before we proceed, Mr. Martin, you had a note about...

Yes, Mr. Mayor, we would like to move point 9, resolution 201792, regarding the allocation contract of the Valle Quattro Cis. We are still negotiating with them. We do not foresee interruption in the allocation of services, but it is not yet ready to be voted by the council. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, I propose to approve the order of the day by resigning the Miandol.9 to a subsequent meeting. Second.

I am opposed to a second. Please enter. Who is in favor of the manifesto by saying yes? Opposite. They are analogous.

The order of the day is approved.

And now let's move on to the participation of the public. Tonight we do not have proclamations or awards. So we will start the participation of the public tonight with Mr. Tony Bazzella.

I am a member of this community since most of you were born, so I am here to promote the idea of ​​a technical professional school before my term in the school council over 30 years ago. With juvenile crime at its highest, the government's social assistance programs are out of control. We clearly need this type of program to inspire, encourage and involve our young people. In the end, Mr. McBehavioral Consultants Inc., which is a public welfare agency, 501 and C3, and an educational foundation together with me, and the East. Let's try to establish a professional school here in the Columbia County that discourages the government's dependence on a lifestyle that is not positive and encourages self-realization a renewed sense of American pride. The main objective of Lake City Columbia County, however, our temporary name is American Pride Trade School, will be a program for the development of labor force and preparation for work aimed at students who are not direct to the university. The need for such a program cannot be overestimated. Inculcating a sense of personal responsibility combined with preparation for work is a proven key intervention strategy to build a reliable and reliable workforce. It helps students to establish better behavioral choices, hoping that they will translate into a future productive member of our community. Tonight I presented you a very detailed prospect of the professional school. I don't expect any action tonight. The purpose is to inform you about the specifics that I have in mind to set up this professional school. The who, what, where, when. we already have it registered now the how that is the next step so I wanted to introduce it to you I ask you to take it home to examine it and take notes so that when we do our formal presentation next month then you can have questions that we can face at that moment and you will understand what I am asking and how we can proceed this package is correct correct package The correct package is there to make you consider it. I thank you for your time in my name. And from Leicester. We have a plan. Most people don't fail. They miss planning. They don't plan to fail. They fail to be effective. Thank you, sir. And we have a plan. Thank you.

The next, Mr. President.

Hello and good evening, mayor and councilor, and thank you, Mr. Jernigan, for the invitation. I was born and raised here in Lake City. I own a company called 360 Recreation and I grew up playing Young Spark. So this community is very dear to me and my company deals with playgrounds, tents, umbrellas, pavilions, parking services throughout the state of Florida. So I wanted to reconnect with the community and introduce myself. I'm not asking for anything, but this community is very close to me. So I'm just here to introduce myself and reconnect the contacts. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Giudice. Well, yes, Mr. Jernigan also precedes. I said thanks for the invitation. I met this young man here and he is originally from Lake City. He is from. I met him at the Florida League of Cities. During the days we were there, he was explaining to me what he does, how much he works professionally and I also gave him Mr. Rosenthal's phone number so that I could contact him. So, just be aware of this, what I did. Thank you, Mr. President.

What is 360 Recreation?

We are a service provider for parks. We provide playgrounds, umbrellas, sports fields and park structures throughout the state of Florida.

Thank you very much. The next is Mr. Jekyll.

Good evening, I passed just to tell everyone at the council that I appreciate the support received for my event last Saturday. It was a great event, there was a great influence, in fact we distributed over 400 bags

and I would like to personally thank Mrs. Sykes and her team.

Mrs. Terry is not here tonight.

The head, both the head of the Fire Vigil and the head of the police for their participation. Mr. Rosenthal, they really passed and we had a great, great influence and I would like to say thank you for your support.

Thank you, Mr. Hilli.

Can I ask you a question? Yes, certainly.

Mr. Hill, you have distributed 300-400 bags.

How many young people do you think were present at the event approximately?

There were at least 400.

At least, at least. In fact, we had about 10 or 12 advanced bags. So, I repeat, at least 400. They also had a kind of football league that day. The boys came from that game, the parents came to press to eat and all the rest.

So there were a lot of people there.

I attended that event and I found it fantastic and I went to eat a big bite and the fish was finished so the next time you do an event I want to make sure you have enough fish fish is one of my favorite dishes so if I have to donate, how do you buy it? in cash or cash or something else?

in cash I will make sure to have it for you thank you very much and I will not put you under pressure for this

Thank you, ma'am. Now we have Mr. Roy Armstrong.

Good evening, mayor, members of the council. My name is Roy Armstrong. I am here only to follow the discussion on animal control, recovery and animal welfare. On May 18 you held a seminar and received many important contributions from organizations and citizens on animal control. One of the results of that discussion, as far as I understand, was the proposal for the city to issue an offer request for control, recovery and animal welfare services. Then, on August 4, in the seminar on the budget, two organizations asked for funds for services related to animals, one asked for 20,000 for the sterilization of wild cats, the other asked for about 300,000 to continue the current level of animal control services, excluding wild cats In the same seminar, the offer request was re-discussed and it seemed to me that it had already been edited and waiting for revision. My first question is very simple. What is the current state of that offer request? I have kept an eye on the website for bribes. I have not yet seen it published. Has it been revised, approved, when it will actually be issued and, what is important, what is the plan of the city since the current contract expires in about six weeks? I also want to ask if the city has seriously evaluated a collaboration with the county for the services of control or application of laws on animals. The county already has a refuge for animals, a new recovery structure already ready and already has a considerable number of subjects under animal control. Before the city commits another sum of money to continue the current agreements, we should not confront the alternatives. Specifically, a citizen study examined the real numbers of how many animals are recovered from the city every year, how many have requested a recovery, how many days of recovery have actually been used, what are the current costs per animal of the city and what would be such costs in case of collaboration with the county or other supplier. I do not suggest that the city must automatically choose the county. I suggest that, before spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, we should know what we are buying, how many services we really use and what alternatives are available. The Council has already discussed these discussion workshops the current contract is approaching the deadline the balance requests are now on the table therefore I respectfully ask the council and the municipal staff to provide the public with a clear timeline for the request of offer the scope of services taken into consideration and a comparison of the options available including the county thank you very much thank you mr armstrong provisional do you want me to call the prison office?

prison office

Thank you, Mrs. Rosenthal.

Thank you, Mrs. Nagano.

You're welcome. The offer request has been revised. It will be published on Wednesday. It will concern the authorization, the application of the rules and the well-being of animals, in addition to the services of licensing management.

Perfect. Thank you, Mrs. Nagano. We will also take into account the collaboration with the Commission. Mr. Carter, do you have anything to say?

My only question was if the Countess would have been a candidate for the offer request like anyone else or if it was something to be managed between administrations.

Well, once the offer request has been put in place, the government has to participate in the race.

They must express their interest and we are working together with them.

Thank you. If there is nothing else, I declare the participation of the public closed. Thank you to all those who participated. Let us now move on to the approval of the order of the day.

Sir, I propose to approve the order of the day. Second.

We have a motion and a second. I hope to enter. We have other discussions about it. We do not have any public participation on any of these points. So Mrs. Sykes can proceed with the opinion. Mr. Carter. I favor.

Mr. Young. Mr. Jeremy. Mrs. Inel. Mr. Ward.

We now move on to the presentations. We have the presentation from ACUA Community Developers. Mr. Daniela Osta. Mr. Rosenthal, would you like to introduce this point for us?

who had to come to the city in search of assistance for the housing development they had in mind. So they are here to make a presentation. Our situation has changed a bit because we did a back-front. We were suggesting, the staff suggested to help them financially, but with the back-front we are no longer able to do it. So the staff would suggest some type of tax relief to help them with a monetary equivalent.

Thank you very much.

My name is Robert Williams.

I work for the legal studio Lewis, Lehmann & Walker in Tallassi and for the verbal is 106 East College Avenue. I'm here tonight with a group of developers who take care of housing for workers throughout the state. They have a lot of different projects and one of these is at Lake City.

Can I ask you to orient the microphone better?

It can be a bit complicated. I'll do a little better. No, no, thank you. I'm sure Mr. Marti would like to have these verbal comments, so he can fool me later. Anyway, tonight with me I have Doc, Mr. Daniel Aosta. He is president and director of development. He has over 33 years of experience in the real estate sector and has supervised over 1.6 billion dollars in transactions that amount to more than 20,000 units among multiple families, mixed accommodation, conventional building and workers' accommodation. We also have, and we won't steal much time from you, but I want to let you know who is here. They will make the presentation. I'll be quiet. The next person is Julian Shi. He has developed more than 2,000 units between Florida and Texas. And he is the Vice President of Finance. So if you have doubts about the numbers, Julian is the right person to address. The third person with me is Greg Gabriel, who leads the development and the operating arm of the development. He is responsible for the development of ACUA. L'Aqua is interested in providing, collaborating with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, loans and state programs to offer affordable accommodation, actually accommodation for workers, in this case and honestly. Daniel can explain it much better than me.

Good evening, thank you. Let me adjust the microphone. Good evening, thank you all. Mr. Mayor, distinguished members of the council and city officials, thank you for giving us the time to present this project. We will respect the times and we will try to be as quick as possible. Harbors Point is the project that was assigned to us through Florida Housing Finance Corporation here in Lake City. There will be 24 units with three bedrooms and two bathrooms for workers. Before talking about the project itself, a little context on who we are. I repeat, we are developers of equi accommodation and for workers based in North Broward, but we operate throughout the state of Florida and in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Our financial partner is Walker & Dunlop, a financial institution listed in the stock market. He is our guarantor for all these projects that we build throughout Florida and in Puerto Rico. Harbors Point again. 24 units with three bedrooms and two bathrooms available for workers. So we are essentially based on AMI levels. We will let Julian explain it in more detail in a moment, but teachers, police officers, firemen, sales manager in detail, nurses, etc. These are the professions that we attract in these communities. The levels of rent end up being about 600-800 dollars below the market rate, thanks to the funding sources provided by the state of Florida. We will talk about the economic impact that this project brings to your city. I will let Julian take the floor and explain those numbers, then we will open the questions.

Good evening everyone. I wanted to cover the economic impact of this project. Can you hear me?

Project your voice a little, maybe Mr. Phil can turn on the microphone at the maximum volume.

So I will try to speak in a loud voice. It is a 24 unit project with a development cost of about 10 million dollars. We conducted an analysis of the economic impact and, together with the direct and indirect costs, we believe that this project will have an impact of about 16 million dollars on the count. It would create about 128 jobs during the construction period and we expect an impact on the regional GDP of 9 million dollars. This slide illustrates the uses of the development and the capital structure provided. We have already obtained $ 8.75 million in commitments from Florida Housing for this project. Currently we have a financing deficit of about $ 1.3 million and we are looking for a contribution of about $ 500,000 both from the city and from the county. We have subdivided this request to the city in several tranches. We take into account the exemption from water, sewage and urbanization fees for $ 51,000, then $ 125,000 of urbanization fees and a Gable loan of $ 324,000. We are also open to discuss any other financing structure or option to take off this project. So, to recap, it is a housing project for workers from 24 units in Lake City. We have obtained 8.75 million dollars of funding from the State. The State will also monitor the conformity of this development and we expect 16 million dollars of economic impact for the county. We are planning to start construction in November of this year. Now I open the discussion for any comments or questions. Thank you very much. And thank you very much, we are available for any question. One of the positive aspects is that we realize that we have arrived here saying this is what we have and what we need. We had excellent open conversations with the staff and we appreciate it very much, really a lot. It is the only way in which this kind of thing can really work. to make this investment and work together to get a result because there is no doubt that every big or small city in the country and certainly throughout the state of Florida is struggling with the same problem how to get excellent accommodation how to make them accessible this is just one of those components so having said that we want to thank once again the staff for helping us to analyze these aspects and we are open to any discussion to get where I think we all want to be

Perfect. We will start with the Central Commission and then we will move on to the questions and comments of the Council.

So if you are interested, go ahead.

Mayor, I would just like to point out that when we had the initial conversation with them, we were prone to a type of monetary contribution, but with the redimensioning we had, we are not talking about it anymore. So what we were thinking is maybe a sort of tax easing to help them from an economic point of view. That would be the only option the city has at this point with the entry into force of those cuts.

Thank you, Mr. Rosenthal. We'll start with the comments. Mr. Carter, I saw him first, then...

I have three short questions. The rent is based on income... ...plus one?

It's... ...limited every year. So there is a calculation that is done by the UD and it is limited every year and every year from then on they release a new limit and it is linked to the income of qualified tenants. So in short, yes.

Second question. The Akua organization is a non-profit organization.

No, we are a developer for Luca's sake.

And third question. And you have to excuse my ignorance about the development aspect, so it could be a stupid question. You have been assigned 8... How much? About 8.5 million. And you have a plan here for a building that will cost you about 10. Why not build a building worth 8 million?

This is a good question. So the answer is that the sources of funding are limited. So we are committed to building a certain number of units, we cannot reduce the number of units we are committed to.

Apart from the state requisites.

Is it guided by state requisites? Correct. We can't simply reduce the size of the building? Yes. Mr. Yang, I'll see you right away.

So, one of my questions is the one that was asked by the advisor. So you would say that it is for income from low to medium?

I would say that it is from average income to labor income. So nothing low, low income?

No low income. No, and my next question is, since we are not in a position to help you monetarily, it will be advantageous.

Well, with the tax instrument it will be advantageous if we do not finance you. Because it seems that you really don't need it.

We really need funds.

So explain why I think many have raised their eyebrows when they obtained that considerable sum from the state. So help me understand, are you asking for money even if we can't? I'm just curious.

How do you help her? Why does she need it?

Yes, we have, I want to say, a project of just over 10 million dollars. We have 8 0.75 million dollars of insurance funding for the project. So at the moment we have a lack of funds for development and we are trying to cover that gap. And to answer his question about taxes, it would certainly help development.

Mr. Jernigan.

First of all, What does that acronym mean? Your approval? It means, it seems that we come from a... We are people of the countryside, from these parts, like me, I didn't understand it well. So what does it mean?

What does that acronym mean? I'll be brief. It's the first two letters of three surnames. That's all. The first two letters of three. Three surnames. So, my surname is Aosta. The first two letters, AC, belong to my surname. And I had two other partners with the surnames Ruiz and Valero. These are the other four letters. R, A and V do not represent anything. It's just that phonetically it sounded good. We used it.

Probably from his point of view it sounded good. But for me, I mean, I was just trying to understand it. Why did you choose Lake City and the Columbia County? Columbia County and Lake City. Why did you choose right here?

The state of Florida public, RFA, financing requests, right? And in essence they guide the developers who will compete for those funds on where they really want to be. And so we look for land that is hoped to be accessible to be inserted in the total budget and make the development feasible. But is it really guided by the state of Florida?

and therefore you have these subsidies of 8 million or whatever it is, and you are directing these units towards people with a minimum or high income, such as a police officer who earns just over 50 thousand dollars. But if we take the classic average citizen who tries to move forward, he could not afford to live in your structure. Is that correct? I think there are a couple of different levels of rent that we have to stick to. I think the interval is... I should check the slide again. Yes, I saw that slide. Yes, it is between 36,000 and 47,000 dollars to qualify. And it is a good return for this area, but there are people here who are looking for accommodation at affordable prices and this concerns Only Lake City and Columbia County, but the whole state of Florida. So I expect you to focus on this because it is really very expensive. Let me say that this is a great question, a great point. The way the Florida Housing Finance Corporation works is to identify where needs are and they are different needs. So it's not what some might define as section 8. It's not this. No, but what we have encountered throughout the state and I worked with Mr. Martin A. Stark on other issues is that we have dealt with different things in smaller communities. Not Miami-Dade, not Orlando, not Tampa, but smaller communities. They have identified that there are no accommodation at affordable prices in some of these places, frankly, where a fireman can live with his family or a nurse, a teacher, and so on. There are specific programs identified by the state and associated funds to respond to this need. We are trying to fill this gap, without wanting to be everything for everyone, of course, but this is exactly what drives our business. And these people, when the funding requests come out, identify. I worked on some projects at Perry, at Stark, at Lai and in a couple of other places, just on how to make things work in those areas. And so there is a need that the identified state we are trying to help to meet this need. So, but there is a difference, I understand. Ok, I have no other questions. I have a question, a couple of questions. Where is Lake City? Do you have a position for this project?

Ok, very good. So it's north-west of the highway. Second question would concern the tax structure, Mr. Rosenthal. You were saying tax deferment. So the tax deferment would mean that taxes would remain at the same current level until there will be no more development for a few years.

More or less like our insurance. But to define the details I have to compare myself with the lawyer, our financial department and the financial advisor.

But what I mean, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that we citizens and the city of Lake City will not lose money on that property. We will only earn once it becomes operational. It will remain at the same level as it is now, not developed. Correct. And that's how it works.

And this is the kind of commitment, commitment. It works like this. It would work for your financing structure. That's it. That's what I heard.

Any other source of financing, in this case, such as tax relief or a payment structure in exchange for taxes, would help development. Absolutely.

Mr. Martin, you have... If you don't mind, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Williams, just to deepen this problem a bit. Although approved, this development as a specific development would be a non-profit entity. Is that correct? I think it is correct and therefore it would actually be exempt from taxes. Your business plan, however, takes into account the payments in exchange for taxes. And so, to return to the discussion we are having, they would not have any legal obligation to pay taxes because they would be an entity without profit purpose exempt from taxes. They have integrated into their model what is called a payment agreement in exchange for taxes in which they would still accept to pay taxes. So the mechanism Mr. Rosenthal is talking about would be a kind of modification to that payment agreement in substitution of taxes, where maybe there is a gradual payment or a deferred date so that they should not pay taxes for a certain number of years, with a date postponed for the pilot agreement in which the taxes would come into force later. Honestly, we have a lot more flexibility on what the city could do if it decided to act, because we start from zero. So we can structure it if the city agrees, based on what the city and the developer agree on. All we need is a city direction to start working on it and bring you something to approve or reject.

My last question is related to duplex, triplex and family paintings, right in the north. Would it be a continuation of something like that? Would it be a building with more floors?

No, actually the next slide. With more floors.

Thank you. I imagine. Exactly. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Mrs. Young, you had a question.

So, you mentioned Stark. So you've already done it at Stark in the past, or...

Con un cliente diverso.

Ripetere.

Con un cliente diverso. Avevo un altro cliente con cui abbiamo lavorato a Stark su alcune cose con un programma simile a questo. Hanno costruito case unifamiliari. Quindi non con Aqua. Appa non ha lavorato a quel progetto. Mi scuso se lo tratte in inganno.

No, non mi ha tratte in inganno. Ho solo pensato di porre la domanda perché mi ha fatto tornare in mente la presentazione. Leslie. And I see that the lawyer is working very hard on this. So I'm trying to figure out where the relationship is, where the connection is, and I'm not.

If I may, I know it wasn't really a question. Actually, the real connection is that I and Mr. Martin have known each other for years and years. When Mr. Osta contacted us, he called me saying, hey, we have this Lake City project, we would like to talk to the people of the place and we feel the need for someone to help us. So I'm helping in that part. And just to be clear, when I accept a client who deals with a popular building or for workers for this type of project, my rate goes to the government one, because we all have to participate in this, and therefore they pay a rate different from what they would normally pay. In other words, just for clarity, because the right thing to do, Mr. Carter and then Mr. Henry,

Are you waiting? How many projects like this have approved?

We are relatively new, we have been here for seven years. Eight projects have been assigned in these seven years. Two are under construction, one in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with 168 units, one in Daytona Beach with 56 units reserved for old people aged 62 and above. The others are currently in the evaluation phase. Harbour's Point is one of these. We hope to close in October or November. Two of these harbors are included. Two in Miami, one in Fort Lauderdale, which will close in the first and second quarter of 2027. And we continue to respond to these competitive requests from the state of Florida to obtain other apartments and build where they want us to build. Our financial partner has created over 100,000 units over the course of 24 years. That's why they support us.

You talked about financial partners, so they don't all come from the state, those 8,000,000,000?

They come from the state. I intend to say that it is up to them to guarantee the loans for the construction and Ciccia... Mrs. Eri.

So he said that the lawyer contacted him... No, no, ma'am.

Mr. Osta contacted me. Mr. Osta contacted me.

Then... Mr. Osta. And who contacted him? I'm just trying to understand, because not long ago we had a developer with a proposal and now it seems to me that this is almost an accelerated procedure.

It wasn't. And if it's a concern, it is. Mr. Osta, the boss, worked on this project with the staff to obtain the necessary approvals. They can build what they want to build. Is it the right place to start these things? When they found out that we had a little problem and that we had to talk to someone in Lake City, Mrs. Osta contacted me, saying, Do you know anyone in Lake City? Yes, I know him. And this applies to many small cities in every place, because I went around a bit and so that was the only connection. And all of a sudden I called Mr. Martin asking if the city would be willing to talk to us. And then the staff practically took the situation into their own hands and it was a very, very, very positive discussion. What we had is what happened. Mr. Young.

You were asking for a 500,000 monetary and it was 500,000 each for the city and the county.

Yes, ma'am. Divided, however, into 340,000 dollars in effective accounts and the others were costs of allotment and funds of land urbanization that we would have absorbed from our guarantee fund. Mr. Mayor is correct. And with the change of circumstances we will only have to understand what will work. What can work? We are open to this and it is integrated into the proforma. So we know we have a downturn and therefore wherever that tax expense should go and similar things to make the project work financially so that it can take off. Why? They will maintain and manage this project for years and years.

So yes, I was thinking it was a bit like my previous question. Since we are not in a condition to make 500,000, tax easing would be much more than I initially thought. You have to work on a completely different plan, you have to reverse it. You have to work on a completely different plan.

I understand this.

I imagine that my question, to add something to this, was a bit like what I was asking before, whether tax easing satisfies a subscriber for a project like this?

It doesn't in itself, but it helps. And so, in the end, if we can't successfully fill that gap, that financing gap, then we leave the development commission in development as a source and we hope to recover it over the years. At the end of the day we want to respect the Florida Housing. This application was very competitive, presented almost 18 months ago and we subscribe in a conservative way. We make careful projections, but things change and you find yourself close to closure with numbers already different. Costs, buildings, insurances, whoever has them. So we didn't structure it because it had a deficit and we ended up like this. Believe me, we didn't leave anything to chance to bring this economic development to an impact on cities without having to ask for collaborations.

But a lot has changed in that period of time.

So if the answer to their request for tax evasion is no, and of course also the monetary financing is no, you will still carry on the project.

We will explore other opportunities and reevaluate a strategy to have a feasible development. So it is difficult to answer this question at this precise moment.

Other questions from the Council.

Not necessarily a question for me, I imagine it would be for the staff and for these people. Here's a suggestion for a condoned loan. I'm not sure Mr. Martin might know what I mean. A condoned loan will have all sorts of potential rules, with the idea that all part of it may not have to be refunded if certain conditions are met. Is there any possibility of a loan? a certain interest rate that is not necessarily condemnable and would be minimally useful. I'm not trying to do Shark Tank with your project, but academically, yes, it would be. I think that probably under the financing structure and the restrictions of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, it might not be. I think they indicated in the document somewhere that this is similar to something else we did the project in which we did something similar was sweetwater where a loan was granted that was finally granted in the sweetwater project And if I remember well from my conversations with the legal advisor on that project, while we were examining the details, I remember having learned in that project and that could not necessarily have been a Florida Housing Finance, so I can't be sure. but the reimbursement of that loan would have interfered with their financial agreements, which are linked to their tax exemption status at the end of the federal tax on income, I think.

And as for the timetables, obviously we do not have voices in the order of the day of this evening and we have not discussed this project before, so I guess it will not be within a month. What is your timetable that you are asking the countess and all the rest? Only for informational purposes.

November. Yes, we have the site under control and we have a purchase-sell agreement that is valid until November.

And so we would like to conclude and obviously pay the seller and then start the construction afterwards.

It seems that we have exhausted the questions. I certainly agree that Personale presents a recommendation for some kind of easing or something like that.

Thank you guys. Then we will discuss further with the staff.

If I can add a final statement, I would just like to encourage the illustrious members of the Council to look at the economic impact in exchange for the contribution. It's not money that we necessarily put in the pocket, but it helps to balance the budget effectively to build it. But the exchange we bring through the occupation, both during the construction and after the construction and the overall impact, is really where I would encourage you to focus. But these would be my final statements.

Repeat what you said about the pocket. Could you repeat it? What did you say about the fact that it is not? I heard pocket.

If I could only redo your statement.

Excuse me. I can encourage members of the Council to look at the economic impact, not at the pocket. So I have a little accent.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you, gentlemen. It concludes our presentation.

From ACUA.

We have some questions. We will talk in the office when we have other discussions about it. We will move on to point number 5 in our opening.

Personally, I need to give direction on the fact that we will have to look at something and bring it.

Okay, very good. So let's not go to point number 5 yet. Would you like, Mr. Carter?

Well, I mean that I expressed my opinion on the direction, so I guess I just have to get everyone else's opinion. The direction was that of... Mr. Carter asked that... I said that it is good for me that the staff presents a recommendation on a package of engravings that could be useful. I don't understand having said that.

Mr. Young says yes. I say yes. Mr. Jernigan says yes.

I have a question. What has this project done? different, since about 18 months ago Mrs. Leslie and her group came here and wanted to do something similar.

I also have a question for Mrs. Harris.

So I just want to I can't answer you if I don't say that we simply followed the procedure. I can't say because it went faster or slower, I don't know.

The developer was pushed. It was a temporary war. Basically, the developer was pushed. They asked us for assistance and we brought him to the council, just like we did with Mrs. Leslie. Sir, just to clarify the reason why I shook my head. I shook my head to say no, because they weren't very similar. First of all, those people, for some reason, we had never heard of before this order of the day, but they have already done some things, first of all. Secondly, the other project concerned the planning and construction of an entire neighborhood and the appointment of a consultant to help us make a fundamental change in the way we manage the popular building.

Apart from the fact that they had not yet done anything, they had not done anything.

Of course, all those who worked in that organization had worked in others, but that group was not a developer. They were trying to become a developer.

Thank you for having me.

You're welcome. Can I do it alone?

Let's let him finish or talk about him later.

I would like to find a way to solve this situation, Mr. Mayor, President of the meeting here. Why?

I have the permission to move my head and I have the permission to speak when I have the word, so thank you.

It's not the movement of the head. It's that when someone speaks, you make those heavy breaths and those animated attitudes as if you were getting nervous, because a counselor has the same right as you to ask anyone behind that podium. This is my problem. Continuous sighs, noisy breathing, moving and all the rest, this is what I can't stand.

Certainly, dear sir.

Yes, it is clear at this point.

Yes, it is clear to me too. I was irritated and I expressed it.

You always do it. We always do it.

All right.

How arrogant.

We'll move on to a more formal request to talk. So we won't go overboard talking. So for the rest of the meeting, if you want to intervene, raise the pen in the air and I'll give you the word in the order in which I'll see you raise them. All right? That's how I'll give the word to the people.

All right. Other questions? I believe you have received instructions, Mr. Rosenstein. Yes, sir.

Thank you. We move on to point number 5. Mr. Martin, I leave the floor to you. The public hearing is open.

Thank you, Mr. Martin.

Thank you, Mr. Senator. Members of the Council, you have in front of you, in second reading, Order No. 2026-260, an Order of the City of Lake City, Florida, that modifies the text of the Regulatory Plan of the City of Lake City as amended in accordance with a request to CPA 2602-T of the Department of Management of the Development of the City of Lake City, Florida, according to the procedures of modification established in the sections 163.1.33.1.661.3.1.63.1.33.1.48 of the Florida Statutes as amended. which provides for the modification of the Intergovernmental Coordination Element of the Regulatory Plan, adding Objective 7.9, entitled Agreement on the Joint Planification Area on the Borders of Interlocal Services and the Intergovernmental Coordination Element, establishing the facts in support of this, providing for the separation clause, abrogating all orders in conflict and establishing a date of entry into force.

Thank you, Mr. Martini.

We have no one registered to speak on this point, so we will pass directly to the comments, to the comments, to the questions of the Council, or I will accept a motion to adopt the ordinance of the Municipal Council, number 2026-2026, with the final reading. He has a question.

This will make it official. He's right.

Someone else has some questions. Having said this, I would like to...

He said to make it official.

Just to make it official.

There are some corrections.

No, then the planning council was late in sending these documents when we approved them in final reading.

So currently it is not official, but it will become once the second final reading is obtained. So yes, in a sense you are right, Mr. Jernigan.

Thank you very much.

Having said that, mayor, I would like to approve the ordinance of the municipal council number 2026. I propose the second and final reading.

We have a motion and a second. Do we have any final discussion? Mr. Jermigan, yes.

Mr. Carter, yes. Mrs. Young. Mrs. Harris. Mr. Ward.

Well, we are in a similar situation for point number 6. Mr. Martin, I'm sorry to read it by title.

Thank you, Mr. President. Members of the Council, according to the last reading of Order No. 2026-2031, an Order of the City of Lake City, Florida, which modifies the text of the Regulatory Plan of the City of Lake City as amended following the C.P.A. 26-3-T from the Department of Growth Management of the City of Lake City, Florida, according to the amendments established in the sections 163-163-148 of the Florida Statutes, as amended, which provides for the modification of Policy 1.1.2 of the element on the future use of soil in the field of mixed use, Modifying the minimum percentage of non-residential uses from 50 to 15%. Maximum residential uses from 45%. Adding requisites to open spaces and modifying the limits of residential density from 10 to 40 housing units based on the large size of the entire residential portion of the classification of soil use to proposed mixed use. Defining the results and the support for it, foreseeing the separability. Submitting all orders in conflict and foreseeing a date of entry.

Thank you, Mr. Martin.

I do not have any public comment recorded on this, so we will pass directly to the questions and comments of the council, or I will accept a motion to adopt the ordinance of the municipal council number 2026-2026-2061 according to the last reading.

Mr. Mayor, I propose to adopt the ordinance 20, I have just skipped the number 2026-2061. I accept a motion in the second.

Thank you both. Any other question or comment? Mr. Sexi, please do it.

Mr. Cater, Mr. Gerni, Mrs. Ina, Mrs. Inaeris, Mr. Ward.

Passing to point number 7, ordinance of the municipal council number 2026. Mr. Martin, I'm sorry to read this for you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the council, you have in front of you in the first reading the ordinance number 2026, 23, an ordinance, a second, sorry, a second and last reading. an order from the city of Lake City, Florida, in accordance with petition no. AMX-2006-05, presented by E.J. U. Matre and Jalum Matre, Shirpa U. Matre, Anita Matre-Mahalik, and the Mahat Arabical Family Trust, dated December 27, 1990, regarding the voluntary annexation, annexing certain immovable goods located in the Columbia County, Florida, which are reasonably compact, within the borders of the city of Lake City, Florida, formulating some facts of support, foreseeing the separability, approving all orders in conflict, foreseeing a date of entry into force.

Thank you, Mr. Marti. No one has written for this point, so I will now open the discussion to questions and comments from the Council.

Mayor, I propose to approve order number 2026.

Are there any further questions or comments? Let's go. Miss Sykes, would you please make the call?

Mrs. Harris, Mr. Yang, Mr. Jernigan, Mr. Carter, Mr. Ward.

And now we move on to the new affairs under the resolutions. We are at the resolution of the municipal council number two thousand twenty six zero ninety one. Mr. Martin, I ask you to read this as well, since it is a nomination.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the Council, you have in front of you Resolution No. 2026-91, a resolution of the city of Lake City, Florida, which nominates Tanya Johnson to serve until the end of the current mandate in Section 1b of the Council of Planning and Zoning, of the Council of Adjustment and of the Council of the Agency for Historical Preservation, formulating some statements of support. Thank you, Mr. Martin.

We have no one registered for the public comment on this point, so I will now open the discussion of questions and comments by the council.

Mr. Carter, just out of curiosity, I understood that Mrs. Johnson is already part of the council. Correct. Is the seat changing for some reason? No.

Okay.

He said it would serve until the end of the current mandate. I know that sometimes people take on a different position, but that language made it seem like it was ending. A different mandate. It would be about... So it's not the current term, but the one we are currently in.

It's here. The Johnson is here.

Mr. Mayor, I propose to approve Resolution 2026-0-1.

We have a motion and a second.

Before proceeding, let's open the discussion. Mr. Gerni. Yes, sir. I was just trying to see if the young lady, if she was here or not.

Mrs. Johnson and U. I just had a question to make sure if, okay, are you willing to go up, Mrs. Johnson?

Welcome to the podium.

Good evening.

Good evening. Naturally, this appointment is very, very important and I just wanted to know. Thank you for your service and for wanting to be part of the urban planning and zoning or any seat to which it has been nominated. What aspiration gave you that push? Hey, I want to be part of this committee and be part of the planning and zoning. Can you explain?

The involvement of the community. I am a young teacher, I have been teaching for about 23 years now and I wanted to be more involved in my community.

It's very good. So you don't have any experience in that area, but you have acquired experience and knowledge, right?

I have been sitting at IDA for four years now, so I have experience of what I have learned since I was in the committee. Yes, sir.

Thank you very much. I just wanted to know if it was possible.

Miss. So, Miss Johnson. Yes, ma'am. I appreciate your service. I said four years, it's been about four years. So this application NC1B. Can you explain to me if you're already in charge?

I... I'm not sure. If I'm already...

I think this is just a confirmation, Mr. Martin.

Uh, yes, Mr. Mayor. So, uh, you have completed the mandate without the loss of someone else, so it has not been four years, but I think we are close to the end of that mandate, it is approaching, uh, I think at the end of October, if I remember well from the resolution. I have already turned the page, but uh, this would be your confirmation now for a mandate full of four years in the same seat.

So when you entered, did someone resign from this position or, okay, I understand that you have

Thank you, Mr. Rinojosa.

Welcome, Mr. Walker. I just wanted to let you know that we assign numbers and places to keep track of them more easily. It simply helps us to better monitor the situation.

I couldn't understand, I thought you had already been there before.

Other questions or comments? Mr. Carter. Mrs. Henry. Mrs. Youngs. Mr. Gerni.

Mr. Walker.

we remove point 9 from this order of the day so let's move on to point number 10 resolution of the municipal council number 2026 0 u I leave the floor to you Mr. Martin then I will ask you Mr. Rosenthal to give us the details about it thank you Mr. Mayor members of the council you have in front of the resolution number 2026 093 a resolution of the city of lake city florida that accepts that certain act of cession by the commission of the county of columbia florida by transferring the city to some lands generally located

to the 854 of South East Monroe Street, Lake City, Florida, as described in more detail in the act of the alleged county, establishing some certifications in fact in support of the city, accepting the said act, abrogating all the previous resolutions in conflict and establishing a date of entry into force.

Thank you, Mr. Martin. Mr. Rosenthal? Yes, sir.

We obtain this house thanks to the efforts of our responsibility, of the police and our code control agents. the county didn't know he owned this house and they were fining us the property instead of continuing to fine the county the county said well why don't we give it to you and that's it so we are accepting this house we will bring this house back in front of this council to have indications on how to dispose of it we intend to fix it and maybe do something so that the citizens can use it so at this moment we will accept the house and then we will discuss what to do in the future at the council meeting perfect yes sir

So we can't, this is in the vicinity of where I live, and I believe that now there are abusive occupants. So we can't, we wouldn't be able to do anything with the house until, apparently, the other two will pass.

No, we would be able to go and work with abusive occupants and do things like that. In fact, I think we've already contacted them. Do you want to come here and talk to us a little bit about the occupant who is there? Yes, sir.

One of the agents of the code. It's me. We went to get in touch with the occupant. She is an aeronautics veteran. So we were in touch with the VA to try to find assistance. The last time we went she was hospitalized. so we are working again with the VA to find assistance to look for a real accommodation because at the moment there is no electricity or water the conditions are really very bad yes sir I wanted to ask are we accepting a great responsibility with these conditions? I was not able to do a complete inspection of the house only that mine From what I've seen, it seems that the house can probably be saved. There's a lot of garbage and debris inside.

We'll have to clean it up and fix the courtyard so we can examine it a little better. The VA is helping this veteran.

I don't know if there's just one person in there. We have received complaints from the citizens of the neighborhood who say that there are a lot of them.

There are people who live outside and they are ... There are cans, they are doing demolitions, disassembling engines, bicycles, I think they are collecting metal slabs. We have only seen one person inside and we have been there several times.

And she said to live alone.

We talked to many neighbors, they said that the lady lives there and they didn't mention anyone else but the people who occupy the courtyard.

She said she was removed from that place.

We are trying to work with the VA to find her a accommodation.

But at the moment still.

The last time we were there she was in the hospital. Dear sir.

Yes, just a quick question. The house... The house is the property of the Countess because they have ignored it. I don't know why they are the owners. It was obtained by them through the missing payment of taxes.

It happens quite often.

I think what I want to say is that if the Countess owns a handful of houses, I want to say that the Countess owns a group of houses like this one.

And if that's the case, why are they giving them away?

I think Mr. Rosenthal has clarified why they are giving them away.

Well, the reason why they give them away is that we were about to increase the violations and the fines for the violations.

We didn't know that the account was closed, so those fines will accumulate. So, rather than doing it, I said, well, why don't you just take the house? So we did it. Well, I imagine that my question is whether the Contea has seen, on the same line of responsibility that the mayor asked, if the Contea literally wants to give away a house. And a house is a land. While it is not in excellent condition, but they are giving it away. Are we accepting something that will end up being a real headache for us? Or are we better prepared than the Contea to manage the house?

Well, we know it's in the city, we know it's a problem, so someone has to take care of it.

So we don't think we'll have problems doing this, but we'll know more when we'll have it cleaned. It seems that there is only a lot of dirt in there, where people eat and leave things, but we could be more precise, as Scott said, once cleaned and seen what is really there and the real conditions. Then we will return to you with some suggestions.

Signorina Young, do you have anything else to add? Okay, come in.

Mr. Martin. Yes, Mr. Mayor. Just to remind the council, I think it was in December, that the council adopted a resolution that authorizes the city manager to issue private property violations warnings to people on the property of the city. So, once the city has accepted this act, assuming that the resolution passes tonight, Mr. Rosenthal could immediately begin to enforce the rights of the city as a owner, issue violations warnings and make the police act on those and things like that. So, Mr. Mayor. which at the moment we do not have at our disposal. I propose to approve Resolution 2026. Second.

Second. Anything else to add?

I was about to say that we ... Yes, they must be removed, just like the veteran who needs special attention. Let's make sure that it is not something that we can do for others who are outside.

Thank you, Mrs. Young. And thank you, Mr. Thomason, for the explanation, as well as you, Mr. Rosenthal. We had an emotion and a second. We had a conversation. Seeing nothing else, Mrs. Sykes could make the call.

Mr. Cardo. Mr. Gerni. Mr. Young. Mrs. Ellis.

Mayor Wolk. This concludes all points in the order of the day. So now we will move on to the departments and the administration. Or we will start with the comments of our statutory officials. Starting with you, Mr. Rosenthal.

I have nothing more to add, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Rosenthal. Mr. Marti.

Nothing from the Office of Municipal Affairs, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Marti. Mrs. Saic.

Nothing from the Office of the Secretary.

Mrs. Saic. And now we will move on to the members of the Council. Vice-Mayor Ianni.

I have nothing to add. I am still resting from a long trip.

Thank you Vice Mayor Young. Mr. Jernigan. As always, our police department and the Lake City Fire Department have had a very, very challenging weekend. So I just want to let them know how much they count for the city and for the city of Lake City and the County of Columbia. Also, the Florida League of Cities conference, where we went, was very interesting to participate in such an event. But I got a lot of knowledge. Um, I also just spoke with my electrician and she asked me a question and the question was Um, do we have something for autistic children in the city of Lake City and in the county of Columbia? And of course I couldn't answer that question at that time. Uh, but, uh, I want to see what everyone thinks about the fact that autistic children have a place to play, a place to go, and feel, uh, feel desired there. So, I wanted to underline the issue. Uh, maybe someone can help me understand better. Moreover, hey, let's go out, let's go to vote. You, local and state officials, go vote. It is really very important that you exercise your right to go vote. It doesn't matter who you vote for, the important thing is to go to the seats and vote. We are seeing many people and the last day to vote is tomorrow. So let's go outside and show the seat that we can do it. So go vote. It's important.

Thank you, Mr. Jernigan. Very nice. The next is the advisor, Carter.

Yes, certainly. Very briefly, I would just like to reiterate what Mr. Jernigan said. You know, go vote. It is a unique opportunity. I always tell people that I don't like to talk about politics with those who say not to vote. You know, go out, participate, etc. Moreover, I just want to say that I am always very grateful to serve my community in this role and event of the Florida League of Cities, to which we participated all last week, it was excellent. We all participated in various seminars on ethics, I have followed lessons on artificial intelligence, on data centers, on balances and on how to be more transparent. I found it particularly interesting. There are some things that I would like to encourage staff to prepare for the next year's balances on how to be a little more transparent for those who do not have the possibility to examine a folder in depth to better understand certain issues. In addition, on how to use social media better, I did a lot of networking with other cities and other advisors and it was really very useful. A few weeks ago we held a seminar to try to address some of the problem of packaging that we had here and we are evaluating to replicate some orders already in force in the city like Pompano Beach. I had the opportunity to talk to an advisor from Pompano Beach. It seems that they have worked well, they have passed some legal checks, so we hope to be able to learn something from them. I believe that our legal office must talk to Dora. As far as their administration is concerned, a break is taking place in August or something like that. So I hope that next month they will have the opportunity to exchange some experiences. It was positive. And again, I really appreciate that the community allows me to be here for this and for letting us go to these events to learn for you. So I appreciate everyone. Go vote.

Thank you, Mr. Katta. Next is Mrs. Ares.

Yes, I would like to announce to everyone that on August 24th at 10 we will do the re-nominations of our... ...street, Foreman... ...Terrace... ...and Betty Lane Terrace. And this will be on August 24th at 10. So, if you can, come.

Perfect. I had a... Briefly, I list here the Coalition for the Undead, led by the United Way of the Sweeney Valley. Di and I talked about it before. I intend to go tomorrow. It's an event at the Parkview Baptist Church. They will talk about various things. So they have a good schedule. I wanted Mr. Hill to talk about his event. It was a great event, Mr. Jernigan. She asked how many people there were. They estimated 400 people, but while Thor and I were there running and sweating, there was a lot of sugar, painted faces and happy children. So it was a well quantified and qualified event. There were many happy families.

And to Tora.

She really liked it. The League of Cities' story is fantastic. Thank you for this summary, Mr. Carter. Moreover, it was very precious to do networking with some of the other cities and it is always gratifying to see that, although Lake City has some problems, ours do not seem to be as catastrophic as those that happen in some communities or in other places. I'm sorry for those people, but I love to live in Lake City just for this. The police and fire guards had to face some serious tragedies this weekend, so a round of applause to you for keeping our community safe. Let's hope mental health is cured. And then Mrs. Harris wanted to follow up and congratulate you for something you did, even last weekend.

Last week we had the Sheriff's Department against the Fire Guards of Lake City. They massacred us in basketball. Next year I will ask Vice-Minister Yang and I to be included in that game next time. You could have some help.

Well, I think part of the uniform of the fire guards are the big muffins, so we don't know. I don't know if it will work, but we'll see. That said, this is all we have for tonight. I hope you all have a good night. Thanks to all of you present tonight. It was a very good citizenship. Good night.