City Council - Regular Meeting

followed by pledge of allegiance.

Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much. Let's call on the role. Councilman Foley. Councilman Gford here. Councilman Green here. Vice Mayor Grubs here. Mayor Spender here. We have four folks here, so we're going to keep the meeting going. [clears throat] Any public comments on consent agenda items only? Consent agenda items 5 through 8. Any public comments? See not here today. Call the role. Oh, I'm sorry. We get a motion. Get a motions for consent agendas 5 through eight. Second.

A motion and a second. Approve with consent agenda items 5 through eight. Clerk, call the role. Councilman Keepford? Yes. Councilman Green? Yes. Vice Mayor Grubs? Yes. Mayor Stner? Yes. 40. That moves us quickly to item number nine. Atlantic High School basketball team stateups. How about everybody from Atlantic? Come on [applause] up. [applause] Don't be shy, guys. Kind of fan out right there behind the podium. And do we have a do we by chance have a designated spokesperson for for the group? Coach,

come on up there. Right up there to the mic. Coach, tell us a little bit about these fine young men and what their accomplishments were this year. Um, I mean, this is an amazing group of of young men and uh um it's been a joke we've had probably the last part of our year where um people have said like they win with the power of like friendship, which I know sounds crazy. Um, but these guys are with each other 24/7. And uh last year made a pretty good run to the Elite 8 and uh their goal the whole time was to get back to uh the goal was the final four and uh we felt like we had a good enough group to get there. Um, and it took a lot of hard work. There was a lot of rough days. Um, but man, they stayed connected the whole time and and just been a great great group to coach. Uh, six seniors. Uh, everybody else is a junior. So, um, a lot of upper classmen, but man, they were they were a lot of fun and and, uh, you know, it's something that that they'll never forget, I hope, as they get a little older.

That is awesome. That is awesome. [applause] if I [applause] may. Um, so Atlantic High School has received its very first A school grade in its 30-year history.

Well done, guys. Yeah. [applause] And so our boys are a big part of that uh win and they really personify all of our students. Our students are amazing at our school. We have an excellent, excellent community and an awesome culture. Hopefully, it's a reflection of Port Orange as a whole, but we we are so so proud and I couldn't couldn't contain it any more to look at all of their eyeballs and say they're Atlantic Sharks and we're so so proud of them. And these are our boys. These aren't transfers from other schools. These are Atlantic High School students and we're winning, y'all. So,

OUT [applause] GENTLEMEN, don't run off. We're going to we're going to come down and take a picture with you guys here in just a moment. But are do any of you guys have any aspirations of maybe trying to play college ball at any level? Anybody? Everybody. All of you. All of it. Okay. One that's going to do track. All right. That's fine. So, so here's the thing. Now, they've got this whole name, image, and likeness thing, right? So, you guys all know what an NIL is, right? Yeah, I know you do. I know you do. So, you know, you got to be able to speak in public. So, guess what's fixing to happen? Fixing to speak. you're getting to speak. [laughter]

So, so what I want you guys to do one at a time, get right there at the mic, tell us tell us your name, tell us what position you play, what grade you're in, and what you're looking forward to do after after high school basketball. Okay? So, just one at a time. Doesn't matter who goes through it first. Now, now I will tell you I will tell you somebody up here might have a question, too. You know, that that's going to happen in press conferences, right? So, Go ahead. Tell us tell us who you are, what position you play, and what what what grade you're in currently. Hello. [laughter] This is not That's good. We can hear you from right here. Yep.

All right. My name is Tyler Smith. Um I play point guard, shooting guard, small forward, anything across the board. Um one thing I'm looking forward to is spending time with my family and friends. Now, what what grade are you in this year? Oh, I'm in 12th grade. You're a senior? Okay. Got any plans already lined up for after after graduation this year? What is that going to be? Um, probably going to go to medical school. All right. Right on. Very good. [applause]

Hi, my friend. Tell us who you are. Hello, everyone. My name is Mai Yan. I'm a 12th grade at Atlanta High School. And after high school, I plan on doing track and field at college, probably bthoon cookman. And while I'm doing it there, I I hope to study sports medicine. Nice. Awesome. Now, what position you play? I play forward. Play forward. Yes, sir. Okay. What was your most memorable part of the season this year? [clears throat] Um there was there's probably some things like I can't really you know say [laughter] but but most of all you know I'm some of it has to stay in the locker room.

Oh yeah yeah for sure. I just like um I like spending time with all these guys. You know what I'm saying? Like we had some great times on and off the courts. Mo mostly my favorite memories are like off the courts like taking rides to different places like Georgia and whatnot. So yeah, we just had a lot of fun together. Excellent. Yes, sir. All right. So [applause] here's what you got to do. You pick the next person to speak. All right, bet. I'm gonna go with uh John Sanders. All right. [laughter and clears throat]

Tell us a little bit about you. Who are you? Uh I'm John Sanders. Uh senior play for Atlantic High School. Uh what was the name? What position you play? Oh, point guard. Point guard, shooting guard, all that. And after high school, uh I plan to go on to be a real estate agent. Okay. Yes, sir. Now, good for you. I got a question for you. Yeah. Serious. You're the coach for just a moment in your mind. I'm waiting for this. Thank you. We got We got two and a half seconds. Two and a half seconds. You're down by one. Okay. Which one of your teammates is taking the last shot if it's not you? You know, a lot of people would go with, you know, Menne. Not me, though. Not me. No, [laughter] you're not taking it. You're passing it up. You're drawn to play up.

Okay. Or in Del Simmons. [applause] All right. Who's next? Tell us who's next. All right, come on up. Uh, my name is David Loy. I'm a senior. I play shooting guard and Yeah, that's it, huh? What else? What are you What are we doing after graduation? Uh, probably going to the trade school. Okay. Anything in particular? Probably HVAC. Hback. We like it. Florida needs a lot of Hback. Nobody likes to be hot and sweaty in Florida. So, that's a good thing. It's you haven't enjoyed everything on the season this year. Yes, of course. Great season. Amazing. I'll let you go ahead and pick the next speaker. Manny, come on. [applause]

Uh, my name is Emmanuel Martin. I'm a junior here at Atlantic. Um, I'm not really sure what I want to do yet after high school. Oh, uh, I play whatever the coach needs me to play. Yeah. One through to five and Yeah. Right on. So, you'll be back next year? Oh, yes, sir. You looking forward to that? Um, yes, sir. Yeah. You already You're already in the gym getting ready for all season and training every day. Every day. Yes, sir. Treating the body right. Yes, sir. Okay. Very good. Bringing it to the wreck. Yeah. All right. I'll let you pick the next one. Uh, Jar. All right. [applause]

My name is Jar Le. I go to Atlantic High School. I'm a junior. I play any position other than Manny's position which is the five sir five [laughter] and yeah all I'm looking forward to when I come back is just know what I'm saying already building uh chemistry with everybody else that's [clears throat] already here like Manny uh Caleb everybody else of course that's that's the guy but yeah other than that it's it's uh with this team it's been really fun though like overall so good deal now now so you're losing Six seniors. Is that right? Yeah. Losing six seniors. So you guys got to reload, right?

Tyler, John, Mai, David, Chris, and Jamar. What What What position is going to be the hardest to fill? Point guard. Point guard. Okay. Hey, Gyrie, do you remember me? Your flag football. [laughter] First play of the game. Touchdown. Pass to him. Yeah. [applause] My name is Steven Donathan. I'm a junior. I play point guard and shooting guard. And after high school, I'm looking forward to go to trade school.

Very good. Very good. Now, same question to you, but the difference is it's a free throw shot. There hardly no time left. It's tied up. Somebody's got to sink a free throw. Who are you putting at the lines? Who [laughter] are you? Who are you hoping is at the line? OKAY. [applause] All right. Did we get everybody? Oh, yeah. No, he's not a player. Yeah. I'm I'm not a player, so I do apologize.

Are you Are you one of THOSE FIFTH YEAR SENIORS? [laughter] WHAT? THANK YOU. I'm going say as a compliment cuz that makes me makes me feel young. So, well, my name is Coach Greer. I'm their um PE coach. Um I've been watching these guys since they were freshman. I've been with them since Watson, Mr. Watson gave me the job a couple years ago. And I've seen these guys since they were very, very small. Um even when their first year at the Atlantic, I've basically seen all of them when they were young. Um it was very, very tough. And to watch these guys grow and mature over the years under a great great head coach and learn basketball the right way, learn life skills is extremely a very very young unique thing that they are part of. So I'm proud of these guys. Every single one of them. That's awesome. [applause]

You guys come down. You guys can hang out. We're going to come down take a picture with y'all if that's okay. Slide in your here.

One, two, three. All right. Thank you. [applause] man. Absolutely. Welcome. [applause]

The room is tilting this way. Can we move some people this way so it levels out? kind of like the boat. I know we had some brief uh standing room only, but there's some there's some available seats if folks would like to partake in them. Moving on to item number 10, Port Orange Day with the Daytona Tortugas. How about it? [applause] Hi. How are you guys? Good.

Good. Um my name is Keegan Phillips. Um I'm the assistant food and beverage manager uh with the Daytona Tortugas and I'll be heading up our city days um especially Port Orange night um at the ballpark. It'll be May 9th at 6:35. Um all Port Orange residents can um get a discounted $9 ticket with um promo code PO um online at our website when they check out. And we're just looking forward to having Port Orange residents out to the ballpark, get everyone together for a night. um really just bring the community together at the ballpark.

You guys do a great great job when you have the different communities out there and I can't wait to get I haven't had a chance to come out there, see the new facilities and and the changes and the upgrades, but I've heard nothing but great positive praise about So, um May 9th will be a great night. We look forward to being out there for sure. Yeah, we look forward to having you and I and we look forward to showing off all those new things to the residents of Port Orange as well. Awesome. Sounds good. Thank you guys for coming out. Appreciate it. Thank you, [applause] Kelly. [applause] All right, I've got two for public participation. Adam, come on up. You're Listen, best I can do is get you out early. I know you've had a long day.

So, I thought council, my name's Adam Dovy. Thank you for uh giving me three minutes. We're good to go. Um I thought I have to watch my time. All the kids are gone. So, fantastic. Um I'm running double duty today. So, I was just at the county council meeting, then I came over here. So, I'm new at all this stuff. I am starting to kind of see the difference. But in my mind, county council, city council, one and the same. Everybody is viable. Everybody has big decisions to make. Everybody can steer the ship of this great town, this great city, this great county. I have to say it. Um, we were here probably about two months ago, uh, with all the red shirts, if you remember, about reszoning the property off of Airport Road. Uh I spent um uh earlier this afternoon talking about Creek Crossing through the county council over between Creek Flying and um Quiet Place. All I ask, and I'm confused here because the property in question, the Pis development that got reszoned started at 160 houses on 60 acres, then it went down to 150 houses, and they were doing us a favor down to 120 houses, and now they're down to 50 houses. 50 houses is too much. Please stop flooding my properties. Please, we're we're not trying to push eminent domain. We're not taking these houses. Stop pandering to one homeowner or one property owner to allow them to destroy Port Orange. I mean, over the past 20 years, it's gotten a little crazy. I can tell you about houses out off across from the pavilion. Yellow Fin Lane is a good one that comes to mind because I have a buddy who bought a house there. They are undersized properties with shortened driveways that trucks don't fit in them. It doesn't look like a used car lot when you drive down there. What it looks like is a salvage lot for a wrecking company because cars are parked everywhere because nobody took the time to say no to any of these developers. They just said yes yes yes to nonsense development. The fact they went from now from what I hear it's a 50 55 houses or

50 houses for the property for 60 acres is still irresponsible. I and I'm in construction. It is insane that we're pushing so much craziness as far as flooding. The same engineers that are going to tell you it's not going to flood are the same ones that did the traffic studies that said Dunlton would not be a problem. Dunl is fine. Everybody think Dunlton's fine. Six lane highway that turns into a parking lot for probably five or six hours a day. 3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon. New Samas is paying the price right now. This is not rocket science. I love this town. I love this city. I work here. my employee. We're up to 35 employees. I'm putting a lot of money back in here. My life is here. Please stop flooding my house. Please stop flooding my business. Please stop overdeveloping for no reason other than to pander to a couple guys. I got 20 seconds left. I'll say it just so it's on the record. You put a 100 Port Orange citizens in a room. You ask them who wants this nonsense urban sprawl. 95 are going to say no. The five they're going to say yes, the banker, the developer, the builder, and a couple residents that are so eager to please. Nobody wants this. So again, thank you for your time, guys.

Thank you, Amber Allen. [applause]

Welcome. Thank you.

Thank you. Hi everyone. My name is Amber Allen. Um I thought I was going to be the only one [clears throat] speaking on this acreage, the 56 and 1/2 acres. Um and I'm really glad that I wasn't. So, thank you for for listening to that. And um I had like a whole other speech plan to be honest because there are a lot of residents that I feel like I need to represent. I had started this petition online to see who was interested in this not happening. Um I thought maybe like 50 people or 100 people. Um there are almost 300 signatures in under a week on that petition. There is $165 donations on that petition that are opposed to this development. And it isn't just because we hate progressiveness. I love progression. I'm all for growth. That's a wonderful thing. We need that as humanity. We need that as a city. What we don't need is people losing their lives. And what we don't need is people losing their homes. The people that are on this property directly behind those 56 and a half acres are right along Spruce Creek. Every single year they get a certain amount of annual rainfall, which I've included in the packets also. Um, which is why FEMA identifies that as a special flood hazard. And if you build property on that and it doesn't flood, what's going to happen is that the property behind it is going to be so underwater that they aren't going to be able to fix their homes. They're going to have to move their families. They're going to have to move their jobs. And you're going to lose Port Orange residents, but more importantly, you're going to lose families. And I saw the way that you guys engaged with the families that were up here today. And I see the way that you guys are engaged in your community with some of the other um

I know Sean Gford has reached out to me and some other, you know, people have reached out that are very involved with the city. And I know that you guys care about Port Orange or else you wouldn't be here. and you wouldn't have the positions that you have. The issue is that the taxpayers and the residents, they aren't feeling like their voices are heard about this. The property has been reszoned and a lot of those residents have signs in their yard that say, "We are against reszoning." And if anything, I think those voices should be the ones that are elevated because they're going to be the ones that have to deal with this. And right now, they feel like even if they speak up, they're not going to be able to be heard whatsoever. Um, and I also wanted to bring to your attention too that a lot of those residents have documented threatened species, uh, species of owls and bats, but also those of gopher tortoises, which are protected. Um, I have tried contacting the county about this and they said it's they can't really give any data on it because they're not um, in possession of it anymore. So, you know, my my main concern is just the residents. So, thank you for having me.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] Michael Don Johnson. Malcolm, come on up. Welcome. Thank you.

Thanks. Okay. My name is Michael Don Johnson. And for the record, I am running for United States Congress in Republican primary, but I'm not campaigning tonight. What I like to address this board about and to the citizens of this city is that we have a crisis in political ethics in our area. And we have a person who's representing our city here, this city here in our district that has for forged a general sanger to get a bronze star while he's in Congress. He's told two stories of Ballard that are completely lies. The soldiers have submitted affidavit that he mentioned to the FBI, to the C and Army, and to the House Ethics Committee. Solen Balor is a crime in Florida in the federal government, and it investigations are ongoing regarding this. In addition, this person has beat up his mistress. She was on the news in Washington DC and has come back to to the forefront again thanks to Roger Stone and other investigative reporters in Washington Post. You know, he abused his girlfriend. He convinced her to recant her testimony. He's also got a 14-page restraining order up in Columbia County, Lake City area against a girlfriend. He found out that he messed up with his mistress. He's still married. He also has been sued by a check company for fraud and owes them in a consent agreement $8 million and he refuses to pay even the consent agreement. So the federal judge with just a couple weeks ago froze all the assets regarding the company. And by the way that company that he borrowed money with is foreclosure on him for $66 million and $34 million of that money is interest owed. He hasn't paid a dime back. He also was cited by the SBA for illegally obtaining Kovac funds. He defaulted on his Kovac Act loans. So he appealed it. He lost to the in his appeals court and the Supreme Court. He's also had numerous IRS tax leans in the tens of thousands of dollars. And

then while he's compounding here in this district here, he had two more tax leans filed by the IRS in the hundreds of millions of dollars for not paying his employees workers comp and all the other federal taxes required by employers. Right now that company he is bankrupt and is basically out of business. They closed down. They sent the employees home without their last two weeks of paycheck. That is a politicians representing us in Congress right now. So we have an ethics crisis and based on the two people that got up here earlier. You know we we have to listen to the honesty about your your jobs here in this city here cuz I support what the two previous speakers, you know, mentioned today. But we have to make sure to be better people that run for office here and do the right thing because the world is looking at us and and and we'll this county do the right thing and be ethical and have true value, true morals and true do what we call the doing the right thing. God bless you all. Thank you. It's a great city, a beautiful city and God bless you all. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Comments and items. Council members, Lance, we'll start with you tonight.

Uh, I just got a couple comments. I just want to mention so uh in consent agenda, I just want to make note that um we approved to we're going to have a drone show uh that's going to go along with the fireworks show. And I just think that's uh that's a pretty big deal. It's uh been paid for by some donations and some savings and so on, but I think that's a big deal to to celebrate the 250 years. And um and then also just that uh in in that consent agenda, you see that um our recreation funds and our recreation bonds are going to work and uh that we approve these projects to to move forward. So other than that, I'm good.

Sean, um looking forward to uh tonight's discussion in reference to uh our hunting lease, which we'll get to. But um when I hear when I have uh uh constituents come up and talk about decisions we make and and comments, I I want to make sure that they clearly understand that uh me as a councilman and elected official, I'm as concerned about uh conserving land as anyone else. Um one of the reasons why I ran for office, I believe in smart growth. I believe in uh infill projects on property that nobody else wants to do anything with. So we have people that farm and then they move on. Either they die or they just don't farm anymore and they want to sell their property for their highest and best use. And who are we to say that you're not allowed to do that? And and that's how we end up with cities. Um, Wat's Edge was a sod farm and now it's a great thriving community where thousands of people live and kids get to go to school and they get to have a life and they get to play basketball and they get to live. And that's what a city, a healthy growth is. That that community was designed really well. So when we got 22 in rain, not too many houses flooded. There were a few that flooded, but rarely do we get 22 in of rain and flood homes. So statements were made that we're flooding homes. We're not flooding home. Mother Nature dumped in the last two years in excess of 20 ines of rain in a short period of time. And there's not a there's nothing that can handle that. Not not raw land, no farm. It's it's mother nature doing something that we can't control. But what we can do and what we are doing as a council is we're raising money to fix

things that were done many years ago incorrectly. The building standards back in the 50s,60s and 70s, they didn't allow for they didn't ask for retention. They didn't ask for any of that. So when we get the any kind of rain, there's issues. That's a fact. But when you go out west into newer developments, it's rare unless we have a major event. That's a fact. So we have studies that have been done talking about the topography of East Valuchia County coming from 48 ft of height down to 2 and 1/2 ft at the creek. All the water runs towards the creek. And as it's running to the creek, as we speak right now, and any rainstorm, it's picking up pollution, not from us, but from animals. And if you read the report, it talks about what pollutes Spruce Creek and and it's mostly about what's out there now. So if we can help prevent that kind of water going into the creek with new development and modern development that engineers by law have to develop property with, we are going to actually help the creek. It's a it's a it's a protected waterway. So we're going to see a new study that's coming and it's going to probably say a lot of the similar things because not a lot has changed out west. Now, we have 11,000 acres that this city preserved for our wealth fields, for our um our reclaimed water. And so, we're doing a very good job, we have in the past, of protecting the land. The county is made up of,00 square miles and 38% of that is set aside for conservation with a goal to have over

50%. was just in the Beacon news this past week. So, you're right. Our county council and councils throughout the city are making attempts to preserve things. But when someone's done farming, if you've got a family of three kids and their dad farmed for 40 years and they don't want to farm and they live in another city, they're going to sell that property. It's probably going to end up something different because no farmer wants it. the one five acre parcels. So don't do that.

So and we have developed we have developed throughout this city 1acre parcels and the county has 5 acre parcels. So there's a good mix of use and I think we made a great decision and we got a great product coming to us on 58 acres that by the way has about 58 trees on it. Now when this development's done it's going to have 480 trees. So, we're not taking trees away. We're actually adding trees. We're actually adding retention. So, those are facts. And that's when we make those decisions to approve subdivisions, I think we all look at that and we look at the the the law and what's required and we make the decision based on that. So, I just wanted to share that and uh that's all I got. Tracy,

say I want to echo uh Councilman Green dealing with the uh 250th anniversary dealing with the drone and everything. I think it's going to be a spectacular event that parks and recreation is building. Um last uh meeting I I take and left the country for my work and I come back in on Sunday afternoon and I want to give a shout out to public works. You guys did a phenomenal job on the Horizon Elementary, Hidden Lake Road, Willow Run Road, and Cross Creek subdivision area. They went in and something that we had citizens brought up to us six months ago dealing with striping of crosswalks and everything's onto the roads and that got done while I was away. So, it's first thing I saw when I drove into the town. It just absolutely great to see. Signage is up. Hang on. Hang on a second. Chief. Chief,

hang on one second. Okay. What are we looking for? Phone. Check to make sure it's not lighting up here. Do you know the phone number? Phone satellite. Come up here. Come up here a second. You guys were up here. Just make sure it's You got it. All right. Perfect. [applause] That's an assist. [laughter] All right. Sorry. Go ahead.

No, no, it's all good. Uh, but I want to just reach out to public works thanking them for what they did out there. Um, sometimes we we talk about different departments and they get missed, you know, and um, this shows that citizens coming in front of us talking about things that we don't see all the time because there's a lot goes on inside this city. And this was a citizen's concern. It came forward uh, less than 6 months. public works uh got spearheaded by staff and got fixed. I mean, it's a beautiful job. Signage and everything's there to protect the kids going to school. So, thank you. That's it. That's it.

All right. I just want to make a note, just a reminder that tomorrow uh at the Port Orange WCK facility from 400 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. is the uh the youth job fair that's being hosted by uh the Port Orange South Chamber of Commerce and the city of Port Orange. So, again, that's tomorrow. So, if you have high school age, young college age folks, this is a great opportunity for them to go out and talk with some employers that are actually looking to hire and put some some some youth to work uh right away. So, all right, Mr. City Attorney, what do you got for us tonight? Nothing for you tonight. All right, Mr. City Manager, you're up.

Got the regular update on Riverwalk to start with. We have a potential buyer for the site that's out of Tampa that's coming by later this week. But at this [clears throat] point they're just coming to do the site visit. So we haven't set up anything bigger than that. But what we have seen from them in the question sounds like they've got a good handle on about what would fit there. Similar to the smaller version of what Bristol had with multif family mixeduse commercial entertainment activity type areas. The site's in pretty good shape and clean. So we're looking forward to seeing what they think when they get here. And hopefully what that will mean is either shortly they'll be back again where you guys can come meet them or at some point in time they make an offer and we can move forward on that. Another thing, Tiki Doss has really done extremely well with their event on the weekends, and it's grown to the point now where they're starting to need space to fit more things in. So, in an upcoming agenda, either the next one or the one after, they're going to come forward with a license agreement, which is our technical term for allowing them to put their stuff on our property. So, it gives us some protection in the event something happens, but that will allow them to move their tents and be part of on that big sidewalk area. And we built that trail that large. It was built knowing that that would be what this is for. So that's going really well. And I think we the the coffee shop guy has finally started the the events there have started getting stronger. So there was one this past weekend. So we're starting to see a little more activity in that area. And then with a potential buyer coming in, that's a big positive moving forward.

They they have definitely done a really nice job with that event on Sunday mornings. I've been impressed with the the quality of the vendors, the the the layout, the amount of our residents that are going down there, families, I mean, you name it. It's a it's a great mix. Um it is If people haven't had a chance to check it out, I highly encourage that. It's just a great thing on a Sunday morning, grab a cup of coffee, go down there, walk around, check out some of the vendors and stuff like that. And and you can tell the popularity is growing very quickly.

It seems to be very well run. Uh they're using I think the person the coffee shop started with is now working with them, but the restaurant owners also own the Ford's garages in there and they're they seem to be really good at what they do. So hopefully this will end up helping out. I think every time we've talked to somebody about Riverwalk, they've said the more of that you see down there, the more likely a buyer will come in and and do the right thing for us in the long run. The second one is the storm water projects, and we talked about it briefly last time. Jackson Oak is now complete. Uh the Cambridge project, which is going to be the first of the big storm water projects to get done. Its bids are due May 15th. uh as part of the process when we were meeting with them, one of the key components to that is the electrical aspects of how this is going to work because there's a large pump station down there. So, a lot of the people who were here for the pre-bids wanted to bring their their subs in, their electrical subs to come in and see and visit the electrical components that are out there and walk the site. So, we're actually doing a second site visit with everybody that's interested to give them a chance so that we have the best chance of ending up with with functional bids when they come in for this project is critical to get this right. And we hope to award in June to to so you can be able to start this project and that'll be the the first of the major storm water projects to come forward.

Is the full design team going down there with them?

Yes. So, Resilient Florida is one of the other funding sources that we've been trying to look for funds. We didn't get a grant last year. They do something called office hours. So, the staff that's responsible for those grants, you can get on a phone call and talk directly to them and hear their conversation. So, Robin's been spending some time paying attention to that. They are just like us, everybody's waiting on the the legislature to approve a budget. You know, if they get a budget, then then they will be able to put those back out. Their time fra frame is the grants open, applications open in July, close in September. There are some criteria modification this year. We're going to spend a lot of time paying attention to the criteria to help score better this year. One of the things that we had discovered is they put a lot of focus on impacts to public property. So, it's not really a grant designed to fund going into neighborhoods and helping individual houses, but if your fire stations or city halls or utility plants or lift stations are flooding, that's what they want. But in a lot of these neighborhoods like Sleepy Hollow, we have infrastructure that's in there. We do have ponds, pumps, and a lot of public streets. So, we're we're hoping through this process and the time Robin spend and listening to the people who are going to grade our application requests that we figure out a good way to get more points so that we can get funding going forward. The parks bond project. So, the the two that are moving along the fastest, the Willow Run Parks, we flipped land with the school. They got the land by Horizon Elementary. We got the land over here, but there's still that front part of it on the south side of the elementary school is a park over there. That park, we're going to go ahead and do it in this cycle. We're going to do an echo grant. So, we're going to look to get $2 million to enhance the bond money. And so, in this cycle, we'll we'll get that money and start that project. It'll put bids out over the summer so that it coincides with the echo grant award in the fall and then we can release it for construction in the fall. the one behind us over here, the the fields and the and

by the middle school are ready to go. So, their uh bids were out what is this? This one is uh April 17th when those went out and we close on them May 15th. So, we expect a June award for for that. So, that should start the summer as well. So, you start seeing that moving forward. And then as far as the Karasi Park expansion, so one of the things we had at one point it looked like the Karasis were going to own all the land we needed, but there were there was some flopping with the school board on land. The school no longer is going to switch land. So there's in the area where we're looking for the expansion, there's about a 25 acre parcel that belongs to the school district and then the other part of the land would have to come from the Karasi. So we're now having to to work with two different groups of people to acquire the land. We have a meeting coming up next week, I think, with the school district to start the process. So, we did really well with them. We've partnered with them several times here recently, but did really well on the land swap. So, I think there's a really solid relationship there to get that piece of property. Um, the benefit is is that's the core property right across from where the park is right now and that 25 acres is big enough to do the core active recreation part of that park. So, if it takes a little longer on the other areas that mainly that was going to be some parking and some ponds, but also a 5K trail and and some of that other stuff, but the the core 25 is a big help to be able to move. Hopefully, it'll all fall together, but if not, at least the schools is something for us to start with.

Do do you know what I hate to put you on the on the spot, but I guess I am. We got some activity going on at Bushman Park right now. Is that the disc golf? The disc golf. The disc golf. What's Do we know? next meeting. Give us an update on that. What that timeline looks like to have that completed. Pretty close to done, right? What all that? Yeah, it's in the It's in the monthly report. Yeah. Yeah, it was in the report. All right, sounds good. Anything else? That's it for the standard report. All right, very good. Brings us to item 14, Citizen Advisory Committee for the TPO. Is Bobby Ball still here?

Bobby, I know I know you don't have a report tonight. Did you have any you wanted to Good. All right, we'll hear from Bobby on the next one then. Bringing us to item 15, approval of request for special exception for retail nursery and garden supplies facility at 1737 Fern Park Drive. [clears throat] Make a motion to approve. A motion on the Is this the first Is this the first reading? What is this or this? It's just special. It's just a This is a Yeah, we need a motion to open it. Yep. Put a motion on the floor. We have a second. Second. Have a motion and a second. Welcome. Hi. Good. Good evening. Canelby curious planning. Sorry, my

my PowerPoint got moved off the desktop, so I need to try to find it. One second. Uh, I apologize. Probably one of those sharp basketball players figured out how to put all the Atlantic High School games on.

Oh my gosh, that's so weird. Maybe it's this one. I don't know. I think so. Okay. Sorry. Had to find it from Had to find it from planning commission. All right. The subject property is on the south side of Fern Park Drive east of Taylor Road behind the allboard storage um facility. If you recall back in December, um the subject property was reszoned to agriculture. Um, and it was indicated in that staff report that the property owners will be back in the near future for a special exception to operate a retail, nursery, and garden supply facility, which is what is before you tonight. Um, the proposed retail and wholesale nursery would be on the west half of the property. Um, and the property owners also plan to demolish the existing single family home that's there. It's pretty dilapidated. Um, and rebuild a new single family home on the east side of the property, which would be their um, residence. This is a concept plan just kind um they would be moving forward with a site plan if this is approved [clears throat] tonight. Just kind of initially concept plan um of the proposed layout of the retail and um wholesale business there. Right now the property owners currently operate prices dirt and mulch across the street at 1710 Fern Park. And so they're looking to uh relocate that to this property that they've purchased um and expand it to include the retail nursery. Um and you'll see there it has kind of like a fenced area, outdoor area for the planting area and then the storage of the the plant and mulch materials. Um as well as a small 400 foot office building. And then access to um the business would be through the planned shared access drive through all aboard storage development to the west that goes out to the signalized intersection at Taylor Road. Um so based on the findings of the staff report, staff is recommending approval as the proposal meets all the criteria for special exception. I'm here to answer any

questions and the property owners are also here too. Sure. Council, any questions for Nothing on this one. Sean, anything? I have a question. the the property just west of that. Um what that made up of? I I for some reason is that Port Orange as well. Um this property right here. Can you see on the screen? Uh so where where it says subject property? Yes. Uh so just uh go down on the screen right in that area. Is that all county? That's Gamble Place. Is that Gamble?

That's Gamble. That's in the city of Port Orange. Yeah. And then this this parcel is in the city. This is not. So kind of where you see everything within the orange boundary is city. It goes a little in and out in that area. Okay. Right. No further questions. Thanks. The applicant want to come up and pop. You said the applicant's here. Yeah, they're here. Welcome. Thank you. How are we doing tonight? Good. Good. Good. I'm Dan Bortis. My wife Sandy Bordis.

Anything you wanted to add to Penelope's? Well, she's done a wonderful job and um we just look forward to kind of moving forward and being able to make our business better from Port Orange and be able to [clears throat] um give the residents of Port Orange a better facility to come in, pick up stuff, get plants, and Okay. for the business. Excellent. Guys, any questions for the applicant? No. No. Okay. Thank you. All right. Thanks. Pretty harmless. All right. Thank you. Anybody from the public wish to speak to this back to council last

I think we knew this was coming when we when we went through this this land use. So that's it's a good use good use of the property for cler call the roll. Council Gford. Yes. Councilman Green. Yes. Vice Mayor Grubs. Yes. Mayor Yes. 40.

Best of luck. Item 16, intent to reject all bids for ITV number 25-23, city of Port Orange honey lease. Mr. City Manager, walk us through this. All right. So, the item, as you know, is a is essentially a contract to manage a large portion of city county property. I think it somewhat similar to how we do the golf course. It's a it's a publicly owned piece of land that we are looking for somebody from the outside to to manage for us. in this case through an exclusive hunt lease. It's a substantial piece of land. I think when when we started having questions come up on this, not everybody was aware that this this property is the essentially the size of 2/3 of the city of Port Orange. It's a very large piece of land. Uh we used a bid process for this uh was what we did the last time we did it. We went through a bid process. When we do bids though, we most commonly use bids for construction. uh you usually use a bid when you're looking for something that's price focused and with a very simple straightforward scope. So going back over the last three or so years and looking at all the bids we've done, almost all of them are sewer lift station repairs, building a bathroom in a park, building some sidewalks, doing some road repairs, doing utility repairs. So that they're structured for give us the lowest price to come build something for us. So it's a kind of a technical thing. We used this process just because I think we had done it one we had done it before and so I don't think there was a thought as to what is the right process maybe to use at the same time when we were doing this there were staff changes so when when this initiated and we started putting it together we didn't have a finance director so we were in transition as [clears throat] the process came to a close and the bids went out and they came in we didn't have a purchasing manager so we we were in the transition with staff and as a result of that we didn't really have the full standard internal checks and balances that we would normally have in a process like this. So, it it happened relatively quickly with with new staff and

transitioning staff and as a result there were some technical issues with the process. Now, despite all that, we still had 10 bids come in. But of the 10 that came in, two were found non-responsive and three protested it. Um, we put out about 20 RFP ITB using all these alphabets, but basically different ways to ask for people to provide services and and and products for us. of those 20, this is kind of a oneoff. It's not really the typical thing that we do and we it's not one that is typical where you're going to established vendors or established construction companies that we do work with all the time. So, it's a little bit unique uh in doing that. Um and and because it was a bid process, it really is focused on best price and and so we didn't you there's some stuff in there that says there's other criteria to be considered, but for the most part, you're looking at the the who who gave you the most amount of money. Uh and as a result of the the fact that there was the transition, the technical issues, maybe not the best process to use. My recommendation to you is to reject all the bids from this process. Now, following that up, because that's what's on the agenda tonight is the the request to reject the bids. We do need direction from you. So, if you go down the path of rejecting the bids, we need counsel to tell us, so what do we do? Uh I know there's been conversation the potential of doing a short-term lease with the existing tenant to give them some time due to the short-term nature of how this concluded. So, it it, you know, I'm sure that the thought was this came about fairly quick to them. uh if you want to do a one-year or something to to allow that to continue during a process, do you want us to redo the process? Maybe use an RFP where you do criteria beyond just price. Uh if you have any interest in us considering anything else besides an exclusive hunt lease on the site, we're not prepared to go into that tonight. We don't have the depth of that, but if that's something you want us to do, let us know that. But we we do need direction. If you reject the bids,

we need to know where to go from here. Do we let them continue for a year under a Matt would have to do a new lease, the existing lease has expired, but we could do a a new one term a shorter term lease off of that if you'd like us to do that and and then if not, do you want us to put it back out or or consider something else? Okay.

Before I go to council, Matt, is there anything you want to weigh in on or need to need to bring us up to speed with or anything like that? Yeah, I would just say that I concur with the, you know, based on the review that with with the recommendation to reject at this point and start over and, you know, go back and consider some changes to the the process and maybe even the mechanism as he explained that, you know, maybe a different type of solicitation might be better fit for this uh project. But then what you know if there is the consider the consideration of a lease, I will direct some discussion on some of the input we would need for that in the short term.

All right. Uh, so council, we've got to we've got to give staff some direction here. Um, my [clears throat] my thing with all bids is I want the bids I think we all do, right? Some of this I think goes without saying, but we're going to say it anyway. We want the bids to be done correctly and be done fairly. And and in this particular case, we we we we didn't get it done as a city and and we own that. That being said, you know, moving forward, we will get that taken care of and cleaned up and and like the city manager said, get those checks and balances in place. That being said, for this particular situation, what do you what do you do right now? So, um, my my my initial thought here is, uh, to to reject the bids, but offer a one-year extension to the the the current folks that have an agreement out there in place, although I know that agreement has expired, but a one-year extension, which during that period of time, council needs to pick this back up and figure out, are we are we doing a full-blown uh just a a new uh lease hunting just kind of as it is now status quo type of thing or is there interest in in other options with the property? Um it is a large large piece of property. Um like the city manager said it's almost 60 65% of the entire size of what we know as the city limits of Port Orange. Yep. So, um, these leases are typically done for very long, long periods of time. Um, I've had folks [clears throat] ask me, well, could there be other uses for the property that larger amounts of residents of Port Orange would benefit from, and that would be a discussion to be had, but it's not something to be had

tonight. So, um, if if we choose to offer that one-year extension, um, to the club that has had the lease, um, I think we need to to do that tonight and try to get that in their hands because the way the hunting season works and cycling and scouting and preparing and all that kind of stuff, I I would want to do that with them. And I would actually be okay doing that at what the previous annual rate was. Um, so and and that's just that's just my thoughts on that, but I'm I'm definitely open to this. So Jaci, why don't you share your thoughts?

Well, it's kind of a rock in a hard place. We're we're sitting here with um a lease that has expired. We know that and we know that uh the potential of putting a one-year in there then for us to come back to the table to have future conversations on what this land use would be in the future I think is the probably the proper way of going about this. Um got tons and tons of emails and I will tell you thank you. Um that's how we know you know uh we we talk about citizens all the time uh come up and they'll say something to us and we don't know you know you get blindsided sometimes and having the emails pour into us is actually a good thing. So thank you. Uh it [laughter] it does help that we we hear from you. Um some of my concerns though with the property is is like u the mayor has said uh 65% of the overall size of the city is this one piece of property. Um so that's that's a discussion we need to have later. Uh not right now. We need to figure out the lease arrangements now as far as how we move forward.

Sean plants me. My turn.

Sure. Um, I'm going to I'm I'm again, first thing I'm going to say is, and again, just about future use of this property, I don't believe this is a piece of property that we should ever open to the public as far as recreation or any of this other this other stuff that's come up about future use of the property. I want to continue to keep the property as an income property and not a liability and cost more money to the city. maybe have to have we we go and open this property up to bikes and whoever else. Now you got to have more police, more this, more that. And it's to me that's just a no. This is a conservation area. This is actually a mitigation area for our city as well. So let's remember that. This is land that we said we're going to keep and and undisturbed because we've done this, that, and the other in other places around our city. So, with that being said, and recognizing that we screwed the pooch on this bid, um it was it's very fast to everyone involved, especially the investors who's already invested a lot into that hunting camp. I I know people out here and I've spoke to people who been at that hunting camp for 35 years, you know, since inception. This is also our wellfields and I look at it like this hunting camps and and and again it doesn't matter who who who it's going to be in the future but I still believe they're good stewards of our land. They are protectors of that land. Uh they know exactly who's there when what and how. So with that um I think moving forward we need to go ahead and it is uninsured right now and is it is the property is uninsured if you will right now because the lease has expired. So the person who had the lease now no longer has any insurance related to that lease. So we're in a pickle here, if you will. We need to immediately let's get this one-year lease done. And again, Scott, like whatever you said about it's

only about the money. It's about making sure that we're protected, etc. And then in the meantime, let's put together some RFPs to then take over the next phase of that hunting camp or however it goes. it's five years contract, seven years contract or whatever it is. But I think it should go out in an RFP and not as a hard bid like this was because there's more than one consideration when we're going to consider the next vendor or the next person of that property. You know what I mean? And so, uh, there's going to be a lot goes into who's chosen next time again. Um, but I think we need to do it in a form of an RFP where it's not solely on price. Okay? It's there's other factors that are going to play into uh the next lease. But like I said, I think we we we recognize our problem and we need to immediately address getting that extension done so that the property is active again and then let's get to work on on on the next step.

Anything else?

No. Yeah, this has been uh probably the most um responses I've ever received in the year and a half I've been up here in reference to what we do. Not fluoride, not flooding, not development. This right here had more passion behind it than I've ever seen on anything that we've had to had to vote on. Not even our taxes. We're setting our military. We had no comments on that. Uh I I am in agreement uh with our my fellow council members that we need to uh I would highly recommend that we ex we give a new lease to the current um uh the current management team that are managing our hunting uh out there. Uh give that to them for uh through April uh because I think that's when turkey season ends. If I'm not correct, I might be incorrect but somewhere in there.

Late April May. Okay. So uh so [laughter] you know

careful chat lane chat gtp is not always accurate but uh [laughter] it did it did it did give me some information that turkey season ends sometime in spring right and uh so so to to basically um because you all have an investment out there uh the the the comments that have been given to me and I've witnessed it myself. I I didn't do this blinded. I went out and visited the property and it's not just a a camper park there. there's a lot more to it that you've invested into the area and we appreciate that. I had no idea until I went out there. So, I got a great education on it. I uh I I have empathy for what it would be required of you to remove it by May 30th or whatever the timeline we gave you. Like you might have started lining up some dumpsters out there because there's a lot of stuff that's probably gonna have to be trashed, which would be awful if we opened it back up and you got the bid again, have to go rebuild it. So, to me, that is something that um I'm all for. Um I'm all for us uh uh rejecting all the bids tonight. Um and uh I know we'll have to have a motion to do that. Correct.

Yes.

Okay. Um so, we'll get there, but I want to finish that. We as a council need to workshop this property. We need to sit down and talk about the potential that's out there for all the citizens from everywhere because I know a lot of the people that go out there now that get to hunt there are not from this area and I know that there's a lot of Flidians that hunt in South Carolina and Georgia and they pay a lot of money to go up there and do it. So, I understand that people come from other areas to use our our property, but we have a a responsibility to the citizens of our our county and and we have a partnership with the county, so it's not just Port Orange. We have a we we're going to have to sit down with uh the county and say, "Hey, we want to open this up maybe a little more. It's 11,000 acres. I'm sure we can have safe places for people to be and allow hunting because the hunting is required. It's needed. We have to have you out there taking care of the animals. We have to have that. I get that. But I also get that my family wants to go out there who don't hunt, who want to ride their bikes out there or walk out there, not worried about getting shot. So, we got to figure that out. It's 11,000 acres. And I think that we as a council should uh during this year that we've we've given a lease, a one-year lease, we need to have a couple workshops to figure out what's its best use for everybody involved. Okay. Including hunting. So uh with that being said, I'll make a motion that we uh uh we

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You still got to talk. Yeah. So, I'm gonna let you do that, but I'm gonna also ask the city attorney to help us frame the motion here because this is kind of unique and and I think Matt's getting a grasp of what we're doing. So, I I I I agree with you guys. Uh my my inclination would be to reject all the bids and offer a one-year lease to the previous lease holder um at the the annual rate that they were paying previously. Um and that that lease would would expire April 30th, 2027, which would go all the way through the end of April. Um and then we can talk about workshopping,

but qualify that Scott because again just and that's if in fact we have an agreement for the next for the next move forward on the property

within that time frame. Part of that would be it whoever makes this motion and I'm guessing Councilman Gford's going to take the lead on this Matt is that my my suggestion to the council would be that once we make this motion if it we approve it that we give that authority to the city manager to to sign that lease and get the ball rolling for these folks right away. I don't want to get caught up in red tape. We got to bring it back to multiple council meetings and all that kind of stuff. I'd like to be able to take definitive action on that tonight and get that ball rolling. all that other stuff, how we reshape, you know, do we do an RFP or a different style bid or whatever, we we need to we need to give staff time to come back and tell us what's the best way to do that because I think, you know, in some in some respects when you start doing RFPs, you're going to get back things that aren't going to have any consistency to them. They're going to be all over the map. So, we got to be cautious about that. I'm not saying that's a bad idea or a good idea. I'm just saying that's a great topic for just a a general discussion and a workshop for us to hear all that out and then get all that information and then make that make that decision moving forward. So, that would be my thoughts on this. Matt, did you want to weigh in and help us frame this so we can get a a um motion on the table and take public comment?

Yeah, I would I would recommend um separating this. So, I I think a just a motion to uh accept the staff's recommendation to reject all bids for ITB25-23 would be let's let's clear that and and and call that a motion. And then I'll I'll ask you a couple more questions on that lease. If it seems like that's a consensus, we're going to move forward with a lease. I just want to ask just a couple questions on that before we make a a motion on that, but I think we need to go to public comment for sure. So, I'll certainly come back with a second motion. All right. Go ahead.

So, my motion Go ahead. one more coming. But again, Mr. Mayor, just again, I'm just looking at time frames, okay? Because in reality is this, okay? We're already one month past or whenever this lease expired. And in reality, you got at the 9month mark is when it's got to go out for bid. Oh, agreed. I just want to make sure I just want to make sure that this lease agreement that we make is is it allows for whatever buffer that might be. So, a contract is signed and in time. and if there is a change of camp that everybody's got ample notice. That's% that's all I'm saying. Yeah. And we're going to we're going to come back to that part of discussion in just a second. So

the city man the city attorney's recommendation is let's get a motion on the floor first. Simple motion to take staff's recommendation to reject all bids. I may move that we uh accept the u the recommendation from staff to reject all bids for ITB number 25-23 city of Port Orange hunting lease summary for Port uh hunting lease second it have a motion and a second on the floor strictly on the discussion to reject all bids for ITB number 25-23 city of Port Orange County honey lease. Any other comment from council? Anybody from the public want to speak to that particular motion on just rejecting all the bids? We're going to come back with some further discussion here in just a second. So, I have a question.

You have to You'll have to come up. I'm sorry. Come all the way up. Come all the way up and introduce yourself. Welcome. Hi, my name is Linda Winchester. We um reside in Velicia County in Edgewater. And I, anybody here that knows me, you'd think I'd be the last person up here to ever promote the family orientation of this hunting lease, but I recently was proposed to by Robbie Thomas, who's and I'm sorry, I just need to calm down because I never thought I'd be up here speaking to you.

That's okay. But I have to say that 14 years later and watching the passion that the Thomas family put into this lease and I don't know how many could somebody fill in the blanks of how many years your family you'll have to kind of you have to talk to ran this he can come up but you got you got to direct your comments

about 45 years that his family Robbiey's parents Pat and Bob Thomas had at a Smoky Hunt club. He offered when we came in and we met with the city c well whoever we met with with the attorney [clears throat] and for the dispute. um not so much of I want to choose my words here because what I've seen transpire in the last what is it six years is that it went up for bid someone else came in and received the bid as you said with apparently not a lot of background checks done and personally I just like to see it maintained as a family club again. You do have people here that I think are even going to speak tonight that have been out there since they were toddlers and hunted. And I'm just wondering, did you not have any bids that came forth that actually did um enter the information as they were supposed to give you everything that they were asked to give you? And I think one actually even has insurance already on the property and already knows this pro property like the back of their hands. And this is then the grandson Kevin Thomas. And I just have to say that I can remember being out there and that the way that things were run is that security was thought about. um having an area that you could even have your I've got a four-year-old and 14year-old granddaughter out there that if someone used foul language, which can happen from time to time, they were corrected. Come on, this is a family family um run organization here. And it seems to me and watching this whole process now that because of what this one individual has

done that's leading the club right now has done, it's put an awful lot of wrenches. And I just feel like you need to come up with another consideration instead of giving it back to someone who I don't believe has run the the club the way that it was intended to be run. And I'm sorry, but I need five more seconds for breath. Okay. Yep. Quick. That um that you should consider Kevin Thomas's bid because he can already answer all the questions for you if you have anybody that comes in after that, you know. But I am I'm asking that you consider something else. I got to ask you to stop. We speakers get three minutes. We try to be consistent. So respectful of that process. Thank you. Thank you.

Was it anybody else that wants to speak to the item that's on the the table now with the motion? Okay, back to council. Council, any other comments? Cler, call the role. Council Gerard, yes. Councilman Green, yes. Vice Mayor Krebs, yes. Mayor, yes. 40. All right. Back to council for discussion on what we would like to do now. And I think the city manager or the city attorney is going to ask some questions here.

So, I think I [clears throat] had a general consensus um on the price point just remaining the last lease payment that was received. I think I believe it's an annual payment that's uh paid each year. So staying at the same price for this uh new lease. Um the term I see is is through the end of April. Is there their consensus on that? Um authority for the city manager to sign that lease so that we can move that as quickly as possible once the lease is accepted by the current tenant. The the only other thing that I would say is that there as part of the bid, the lease was modified. There was a significant amount of time and effort that went in through the input that we' received uh to change some of the terms of the lease that was ultimately part of the bid. What I would recommend is you use that as your base lease terms. Other than these revisions that we're talking about, I would recommend that you use the terms from the reworked bid that was actually made part of that solicitation. And I I don't know if you've had a chance to to look at that, but I that would be the recommendation of, you know, I could I could probably speak for staff and and at least my office that that puts us in the best possible position for some of the things, you know, discussed about, you know, safety, security, insurance, all that good stuff. It updates all the terms. Uh, you know, we put a lot of effort into to doing that.

Okay. Okay. So, what about the time frame then? What? What if? I'm just what ifing. What if we don't have somebody in place, a contract in place by the time the lease expires? The lease is expired. No, this next time. Oh, the next time. Well, then it's we're back here. We're back to you same doing the same thing.

We're back to you guys to to make a decision. I mean, you're going to it, you know, from what's been forecasted. I mean, you're going to have some conversations about what to do to this property. And if it does take additional time, there's nothing that would prohibit you guys from coming right back here and saying, "Hey, we know that this is going to take another year to to to do some, you know, different thing or or or you know, to bid it a certain way. There's nothing that would prohibit you guys from coming right back here and giving us directions to go ahead and extend for an additional six month, a year, whatever that is." Because personally, I just think this was kind of ridiculous the time frame. I mean, it's literally the lease is expired. There's people got stuff on the property and we're sitting here with our hands tied right now. It's just, you know, well, we're trying to untie it. I know. And

I know. I just want to make sure we give give oursel enough time to to get it correct at the at the the next setting. And I think we all share that. This is not going to be a can that gets kicked till January. No, I understand. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm with you. Uh the the only thing I would add to the the the city attorney's framing of of this for a motion would be that if that the previous lease holder decides they don't want to exercise the one year then we would just start that bid process a new completely. Exactly. Which would put us into a a workshop right away to figure out how we want to figure out

good it's a good point and two things to really note. Uh two parts that we just don't control here. you know what what you're framing is a is an offer and and ultimately before we even present the offer we will have to get county's approval of that offer to go out. So So there's a couple parties that still are very important to whether a deal is done. Council, you got that framed out? Yeah,

I do. But I got I just again I'm sorry to keep asking you question. So, what happens right now to the the property out there right now? There's people's property on the property and there's no insurance on the property anymore as of right now. And now we're talking about an approval time of a lease in the county and all that. What happens to the property as of tomorrow? Nothing. I mean, nobody can access the property. The property gets locked. As we sit here today, the city gave an additional time frame due to the timing of how the solicitation ended to May 30 to be on the property to remove items now that we we've gotten this input and we're going to proceed with a an extension. I think that kind of is nullified and we'll be just moving forward with a lease. However, if a lease isn't accepted, the May 30 deadline is still in place. That's the last lawful action that has been taken and all that would be removed by May 30 unless a a new deal is reached.

But when the lease expired, did the insurance expire? I doubt that. I doubt that they were exactly with the term. They usually don't. Yes. All right. All right. I'm good. You want to frame up that?

Yeah. I make a motion uh for uh I make a motion that we offer a lease uh through April 30th of 2027 to G&G who's managing the property now at the same price that they paid at last month's rent. And that those terms would be uh the same as the rework bid process and the language in the bid uh for the request and authorizing the city manager to execute and authorizing the city manager to execute that lease.

Only thing I just wanted to say to help for the record justify the letting them have it at the price they currently do. the higher price that they had offered in the bids were for a six-year deal or four-year extension. So, you're going to get more money out of that because it was more valuable. So, I think for the general public to understand the fairness in offering the current rate is because it's for one year. It's not fair to ask for the higher number for such a short duration. So, I think that was appropriate. Yeah. All right. We have a motion on the floor. Second. I'll second it. Have a motion and a second. Council, any other comments? Questions?

Good framework, Sean. I I think that, you know, I'm glad that we have the opportunity to discuss this out in the public. We're doing this hopefully in good nature to we I I was never even aware of [clears throat] this kind of situation. [laughter] And I got to go out there. I'm like, man, this is crazy. We got a lot of investment out here. and then take a tour of that property and and it's it's an amazing place and I'm so happy that we have it, but I'm also happy with people that protect it that have passion and the the emails that I received were amazing. So So we need to I I think that we as a council need to really look at the asset we have out there and make sure it's a win-win for everybody

and and workshop it. And I I would direct staff to help us with that so we don't have this problem in the future and that we know that we can use this land for well and I'm way gone. Okay. This is one of those very unique I have hang on. We're going to come to public just a second. Thank you.

We it has to happen after the motion's on the floor. Um, so this is one of those very unique situations where these leases can be so long in in nature that elected members may serve on the council and never even have this come before them as a as a point of discussion or or to to make a decision on. So, okay. Uh, we're going to go to the public. We have a motion and a second on the floor. Anyone want to speak to this? Come on up and be first, my friend. I'm Robert Thomas Jr. and I'm one of the former principles of the Smokeoky Hunt Club that held the lease prior to G&G for some 40 years. And my only input to your motion is that's fine and good. I'm all for all these members not having to vacate the property, tear up their camps, because once they scatter, they may never come back. And as a potential bidder, if you don't have the members to pay the the lease fee, then you can't pay the city. Um, my concern is your previous bidder and the violations to the lease that are blatant and overwhelming. How are those going to be addressed for a one-year extension? That's [clears throat] all I have to say.

Thank you. Anybody else wish to speak to this? Come on up. Welcome. Hey, thank you. Uh, I actually wrote this a little bit before the meeting, so it has changed a little bit since you guys got it. So, state your name first.

Oh, Herb Miller. I've been on this land for um over 20 years, and I know you guys got a ton of letters and emails and stuff about it. So, appreciate you guys listening to us. Um, the vast majority of the hunting club tonight is represented here. And if you guys want to stand for support of the club overall, we can. Um, I just want to talk a little bit about hunting in um, and the impact of Valuchia County, Port Orange, and how much this does make a big impact in your county. Um, according to fish and wildlife and other conservations, hunters and annuals uh generate more funding and wildlife conservation for habitat management than any other group. That's true nationwide and it's really true in this county. Our members actively support the animals population year round. We provide supplemental feed, maintain food plots, structure feed programs, and we're committed to the wildlife even during difficult uh times, especially with uh like the droughts, feed stores. I know personally I spend over a thousand or more. I know some of these guys spend more than that. So, we do impact your economy. So, I just want to really appreciate you guys helping us out and making sure this works. So, it does help the public and your county. So, um, and personally, yeah, I've been on this property, driven every road. You know, I have memories of my kids playing in the dirt, running around camp, um, finding a mud hole, running around with my father in the past, down different roads like shunts and other places. Just, you know, that's the kind of area that you guys have and it's very special to a lot of people. So, for many of us, hunting is more than just a hobby. It's a way of life. It provides food for a family. Harvest Game offers a responsible alternative to the livestock and I know where everything's in my freezer, where it came from, and I know the connection to the land, conservation, and the responsibility of

stewardship. And I think that's a lot to do with this land is how we treat it and have some stewardship to it. So, appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? [applause]

Welcome. Good evening. My name is Amanda Acriman Landville and I'm a proud third generation hunter on this land. As Herb said, these were kind of written before this conversation tonight. So, I'm going to gear more towards this next year, plus all the years after that. For 25 years, my family has driven through the gates of Shuntz Road almost every single weekend. And I want to be clear, this is not just about hunting. [sighs] And reducing into that misses the bigger picture. For over two decades, this land has been a place where families like mine have learned responsibility, respect for the outdoors, and the importance of conservation. These aren't abstract ideas. They are values we've practiced, passed down, and lived almost every single every single time we've stepped onto that property. You're not just removing access to the land. You would be removing a way of life. I grew up here. This is where I've learned patience, discipline, and respect, not just for nature, but for other people. It's where I've built relationships with people who've become like family. It's a place filled with memories that I'll carry with me for the rest of my life. From celebrating birthdays nearly every year to capturing my high school graduation photos to taking my engagement photos and a safe retreat for my family when my mom passed away four years ago. And now with one decision that was once agreed upon to return the lease has been thrown into uncertainty with a strong possibility of it being taken away altogether. Not just from my family and others that stand here today, but from future generations who may never have the chance to experience it. So I have to ask, what replaces that? What replaces a place where kids learn responsibility instead of sitting behind screens? What replaces traditions that families bring together year after year? What replaces hands-on experiences that teach the respect to the environment in a real lasting way? Because once it's

gone, it's not coming back. Decisions like this shouldn't just be made as if it was another piece of land on a map. It has history. It has meaning. It has a positive impact on the people who have used it responsibly for decades. But taking it away entirely is not a solution. It's a huge loss. a loss of tradition, a loss of community, and a loss of something that cannot simply just be replaced. I urge you when you make these decisions over the next year to take every single person standing in here, sitting in here today, and what truly this land means to all of us because it's not just land to us. It's a legacy. It's our past. It's our present, and it's our future. Thank you.

Thanks, ma'am. Thank you. [applause]

ANYBODY ELSE WANT TO TRY TO FOLLOW THAT UP? I'll keep it I'll keep it short. It's not going to be as good. No, I [laughter] just I just wanted to point out that we're not here to I'm Jamie Caulkins, by the way. Um, we're not here to represent one or many bidters. We're here as a group. Um, and we've all grown a lot closer, closer than we already were. I have not hunted here for 25 years. uh just a few years, but I've hunted in South Carolina and Georgia and Missouri, and I'll tell you, this lease is more expensive than any of those were.

So, just keep that in mind. Good to know. Good job. Florida uh property is more valuable and more competitive because we are all we're losing hunting lands constantly to development especially. Um, so I thank you all for your time tonight and I would just say that we we really appreciate not having to move everything out, disassemble everything just to hopefully move back in a year later. Um, that makes a lot of sense. So I appreciate that. But I'd also like to point out that I if something is not decided by April 30th, perhaps you add in some language that there would be another extension rather than going through this whole process again. So that's what I have to say. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate it. [applause] Anybody else? Anybody wants try to talk us out of it? He had one minute left. So take that.

Yeah. So my my name is Brooks McGee. I'm a Port Orange resident of Lucia County. Uh pay property taxes to Valuchia County each year on my home. Um couple of concerns I have as we think forward. So, first of all, I appreciate the the additional year if we can, you know, make that come to fruition. But as we think forward, I agree it's a great piece of property. My concern is if we just allow folks back there, that's where my drinking water comes from. That's where, you know, a lot of things back there that are are very secure needs to remain secure. You can only get back there with an access card so we know who's coming in and out. There's roughly 80 members. So we, you know, my concern as a Port Orange resident is if we allow more folks into that area, my drink and water and then also my property taxes. If someone gets back there and gets hurt because we have, you know, just who knows what back there, will my property taxes go up if multiple people get back there and get hurt? Uh, and then and then you know on the cost deal, I think, you know, I was on a uh I had a spot up in South Carolina that I hunt that I gave up and that was a lot cheaper than this to Jaime's point. But I think that the radius that we're pulling from right now is is a great radius. It might be slightly beyond Valuchia County, but that's okay. As a resident, I want to make sure that we get as much as we can for that piece of property to make Valuchia County better, to make Port Orange better. So, I went a little over the one minute, but I just want to share my thoughts.

Thank you. Thank you. [applause] Anybody else? All right, back back to council plans. Any any last minute comments here? No. Sean, I I wouldn't be opposed to modifying the motion to allow there to be an additional time if needed or we could just make that decision at that time. I I'm just not opposed to it. I'm not I'm not opposed to it, but I'm telling you this ain't happening again. Very good. [laughter] You all can put that in there. It's just extra in on a piece of paper, but [applause] it's going to get done. Get done and be done. So, but but that's fine. quote that I have nothing else to say.

Who made the original motion? You amen your second. Say if he wants to put that in. No, we just [laughter] leave it the way it is. All right. Leave it the way it is. You got the You guys can take it out on me if it don't happen. Anything else? All good. crazy.

Uh, you know, before we vote, I I just want to say I can being a born and raised multigenerational Flidian myself, I can completely appreciate the passion and the connections to family. I never get in my boat ever, ever, ever. And don't think about my dad, my grandfather, and and those times and those things. So, I get it. We totally get it. um you know and and and to all those that were involved in this, we'll do better. We we we we didn't put our best product forward getting this done the way it should have been and we want to do that for everybody. Um and we want to have fair bids and we want to have uh you know what's best for the residents of Port Orange. I get that in these in these hunting clubs there's I don't know how many club members you have [clears throat] 70 80 club members but there's 67,000 people who live in the city of Port Orange theoretically own that land and we want to get it right for them too you know so um I just want to say thank you received a ton of emails not one person wrote what I call a sideways email where it they were just attacking you know and And I get everybody strong opinions, emotions, all of that much appreciated. Everybody was very respectful in the process and uh and so thank you for that. Um because we don't we don't always see that and and and that's that's the way the form of government and municipal governments should work and and people should be able to reach out to those and and I tried to at least acknowledge as many of those emails as I could. I'm sure I missed a couple of them and and if I did, I apologize. Um but but we do appreciate all that. So, and thank you guys for coming out tonight. Will the clerk call the role?

Councilman Ger, yes. Councilman Green, yes. Vice Mayor Grubs, yes. Mayor St. Yes. 40. CHIEF, [applause] I noticed you were seeing the same thing here. And at the risk of all these folks probably getting up and leaving here, is that floor dry? Yeah, more of a dry m. Okay. All right, guys. Just be careful going going out. If you want to stay for the rest of the meeting, you are certainly welcome. We're happy to see you guys. So, we're moving on to uh Thank you. No worries. Thank you very much. We should have made you guys all come up to see who had the best turkey call. [laughter]

Maybe we'll put that in future. We would like I know you would. I know you would. He'd come. I got to take off. He turkey my house. you come around back. I'm going to make [laughter] on that extension. We'll relate it back to April 1. I'm concerned. Hey, I was like, I'm like [laughter] trying to be like I know, right? Sure.

Okay. Back to council. Item [clears throat] 17, council committee reports. First step shelter. Back there.

We have um we we met we've met now twice since the last time we've met. Uh we were given a uh notice that our executive director will be resigning and she gave us 30 uh days per her contract. And uh we had an emergency meeting yesterday and Dr. Falbert's willing to uh stay along a little longer through the search process. So there in uh we will be uh replacing her with the new executive director at Firstep Shelter. She's done a fantastic job. Uh we had our audit uh for year end September 30th 2025 and uh their net position is uh 2,163,000 an increase of $235,000 and um their unrestricted is $2 million. Revenues $2 million is an increase of 364,500. Uh there gala uh this year had income of 231,000 opposed to 165 the prior year. uh other contribution in grants of 551,000. Uh the prior year was 329,000. Uh they had $134,000 increase in in kind contributions. Um so uh they uh their expenses are up a little like everyone else's due to personnel cost, utilities and in kind expenses. So that theme's consistent I think with everybody. Um so the shelter is in fantastic shape. Uh the board is working diligently. Uh we have selected someone to do a search for us and it's the same person that worked well with bringing in Dr. Fberg and uh she's excited to work with that person. So uh she actually volunteered her services. We're going to pay for expenses. So we're looking forward to uh moving forward u and I'll probably within the

next couple months we'll have a new executive director uh probably coming to introduce herself. So everything's going really good for SEP shelter outside of you know that change is going to be made. She uh wanted to make sure that you know she I want to protect my current staff and I said well you're not protecting them if you're giving us only 30 days. Yeah. Can you help us? And we negotiated that and uh we're hoping that she'll give us some more time and but she will be gone.

U Chamber Chamber of Commerce has uh one of their largest events uh next Thursday. It's a tasteful fair where local restaurants get to showcase their their goodies and looking forward to that. We had a ribbon cutting uh for a Daytona business into our Daytona to our South Daytona chamber today uh at Salty Dog Reynolds. They have a great uh facility up on uh A1A in Daytona. So, there's a lot of good things happening. Uh we have our business after hours this Thursday at Daytona Toyota. Looking forward to that. And uh our uh we have a uh it's called Coffee Connections. It's the last Thursday of every month and anyone can attend that. It's at uh Port Oranges Copper Line Coffee. Uh that's from 8 to 9 and it's open to anybody that owns a business and wants to share what they do and of course it's an opportunity where we can share what the chamber can do for them. So [clears throat]

when is the uh the Dayton Toyota? Uh that is this Thursday night. This Thursday night. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And then next Thursday will be uh let me just make sure I get that correct. Yeah. Is the Tasteful Affair, which is the 30th. Yes. I've got roped into being a judge. So, that's right. You are going to be a judge. Listen, I'm taking that serious. I'll be training on that. I'm sorry. You need me to judge food? Uh, yeah, you're right. Uh, the coffee connections is from 9:00 to 10:00. If you want to show up at 8, you can meet with the leads group. It's going to be there from 8 to 9. Yeah. Thank you. Very good. Anything else?

Uh, no, just things are going really good. Uh, our new director uh is fantastic. We all know him well. He's doing a great job. He's got some great people paying and showing up and got a lot of new members. So, it's exciting. Chambers in So, help me with a segue if you can. The the the the former chamber uh president that owns the pet business. So, what's the name of the pet business? Former chairman Pet Evolution. Pet Evolution. So, segue. Yeah. Right into Wow. So, we're going over to Art House, but Art House did a mural on the side of that business. If you haven't seen it,

amazing. It looks absolutely amazing. The detail and the work in that. Yeah. Came Cameron staff. I love it. Two two young kids, young kids, young adults. Um, ages 15 and 17 with her actually completed that in six days.

Amazing. Um, so for Art House, what they've been doing is as we go forward with mural projects for the city being part of it and the down under projects, they're now going to take the same thing with pet evolution and we're proposing mural cards so we can actually actively go out for inside outside of businesses, restaurants, doctor's office. um anybody that likes to stare at a blank wall in a doctor's office, you know, we we have a way to to make that exciting for them where they can actually do a theme inside. Um so that's that's where the mural projects are coming together. The proceeds off of that actually help benefits the city. So they're going to come in with mural projects, uh profits off of that, and that's how they're paying for all the down under mural to be done. So it's a it's a working uh theme as they go. uh summer camp programs are threequarters way full uh already. So there's only a handful of spots in the weeks as coming up. So if you're looking for something that's fun and exciting for the kids as far as arts are concerned, um it's amazing what they do. So that's uh got a few availability spots left as we're getting close. I mean, it's April. Before you know it, June will be here. So that's what we got.

They they knocked it out of the park with that. They really did. I saw that. I just was like, where did that come from? I mean, it was pretty amazing. It's very well done. Six days. That's pretty pretty impressive. Anything else to come before us tonight? Thank you guys. Have a good night. Good job.