City Council - Regular Meeting

With you all today, and the property owners did confirm their presence today, so they are here over at 535 East Blue Springs Avenue, Francisca and Ricardo Perez. So this block ranch home is a classic example of those commonly built in the 1980s. The simple construction of the home features clean lines complemented by vibrant burnt orange with striking black window trim and white garage. a variety of mature trees including palm trees and a large magnolia are joined by a variety of other plants around their base and flowering crepe myrtles planted along one of the side of the driveways a Collection of potted plants topiaries and a classic stone bench near the entryway had a sense of fun To the property and so we have noted the investments that they're making to their property So today do we just want to thank you Francisca and Ricardo for keeping orange City beautiful. I And so if they could come up to the front for a photo with the city council, that'd be great, and to receive your award.

okay next on the agenda we have mr john peters from engineering on industrial drive area stormwater presentation good evening john peters engineering services director

There we go. I'm going to do a short presentation on industrial drive and stormwater in general. I'm going to try to be quick about it. There's a lot of material in here. You can read it on your own and if you've got questions, get back with me. And that's a draft stormwater for many years. The industrial drive area has been numerous flooding events, especially during Hurricane Ian and Milton, which result in significant flooding for a period of time, not just a couple of hours, but for several days. While intense thunderstorms like the ones we've been into earlier this year resulted in flooding. Would a flooding related to ongoing construction project or a symptom of a more systemic issue? That's kind of the question that was asked. So I'm going to try to give you a quick overview. Stormwater Engineering 101, there's two different things that we evaluate. One is the quantity, how much water falls, and then the volume. Volume is how much water that results in the flooding. It's the accumulation of the quantity. All right. When we do stormwater, basically it's a very simple formula. Q is equal to CIA. C is the ground coverage. For instance, if it's impervious pavement, it's 0.9. For a grass area, it can be 0.2 to 0.4, depending on the underlying soil type. and then 0.6 for gravel. The I is for rainfall intensity. It's a statistical process that FDOT and NOAA produce. What you do is you look at a rainfall recurrence, like 10-year, 50-year, 100-year, and then based on that information and the length of the rainfall, we come up with the rainfall intensity. And then the last one is the area of the drainage basin in Acres. Volume, we basically take the same general information, but we use computer modeling such as ICPR. What's key here is that modeling is what we use to develop the Mill Lake industrial system. transform 386 projects for funding. We got $18.3 million for that project. But it was that modeling that was able to show that there would be a positive benefit Earlier this summer, we spent a couple significant rain events that resulted in rainfalls close to 2.5 inches in 20 minutes. Using the FDOT IDF chart for Central and Eastern Florida, that rainfall intensity equals to about 7.5 inches per hour, which actually was over a 100-year storm event, right at a 100-year storm event, even though it was just an afternoon thundershower. It should be noted 20 minutes is also the critical storm duration for the faith in that. That is how long take for all the water to get to a certain point. So as I jokingly refer here, it became a critical storm duration because it was the intensity masked the drainage basin. And I think it's important to note in evaluating after Milton, we had 1792 blow away. Monastery blew out. Threadgill blew out and part of Holly Strickland blew out. And when you look at those individual drainage basins, that rainfall intensity then matched up with the critical storm event for that particular basin. That particular time, we were looking at three to three and a half inches in 15 minutes. And when I show you the chart in a minute, that far exceeded a 100-year storm event. That's why the roads blew out. Here's that idea of curve I was talking about on the left hand side, the more vertical on. That is one of the storms we had this spring. You'll see that lines up with 20 minutes on the bottom and it lines up with 7 and a half inches up on the top and we intercepted 2 lines if right at a 100 year that top curve at the 100 years. By comparison, Milton. The full storm, we had 16.1 inches in approximately 16 hours, which equates to an inch an hour intensity So inch an hour comes across horizontally to 16 hours, and you see it's not even close to 100-year. It was very close to what we refer to in engineering as a probable maximum precipitation. That in a 24-hour period is usually about 32 inches of rain. And this particular storm, while it wasn't 32 inches, It was that far off the chart that it was just unheard of. But I think that's a very important thing to note is it wasn't even 100. It was way beyond. And just this spring, not once, but twice at least, we've had this 2 1⁄2 inches in 20 minutes that was a 100-year event. And I also want to note that when industrial flooding from that rainfall, we had the same thing happen at police department, just a very minor amount, but because it was so intense and it's such a small basin, we had some minor flooding. So it had to do with the type of rainfall. So the best question, why do engineers typically design for a 10-year storm event? for piping and that type of thing. The simple reason is you can't afford to build a pipe system for something larger. So what we do is we use a concept of overland relief. That if the storm drains and the district can't handle the water, we provide overland route for the water to go without flooding people. Unfortunately, the engineering profession doesn't usually do a very good job with this because dollars become an issue. But invariably, for instance, in industrial, it was an overland relief problem, and I'm going to show you here in just a second. This is the property that Mr. Bowles owns on the corner of Industrial and Holly. You'll notice the dark green color. This is what we call a digital elevation model. The dark green color is higher in elevation than the really light color. The orangey, umber color is higher than the green. But the key is you'll see some... topo lines around the building and they basically make closed circles so the water stays on his property he has an exfiltration system underneath the pavement but there's no outfalls in those exfiltration systems so consequently when the exfiltration gets full there's nowhere for it to go but keep going up and then it's up in his building After the last meeting, when he was here, I told him that he really needs to get an engineer involved and get an outlaw for his exfiltration system that would go out into the ditch on industrial, and that would help relieve a lot of his problems. So hopefully he will follow through with that. So very quickly here, it's important to note 40-some years of experience, I've never worked in an organization like this where we have a city that has 67 closed basins. Definition closed basin is a drainage area that has no outfall So when it rains it goes to the lowest point in that basin I've never worked in anywhere that there wasn't some kind of outfall in the city. So that creates 67 potential flooding areas so quite frankly The amount of flooding that we do have we're very fortunate and given the type of topography that we have here in the city. On industrial, we put in a small pump system years ago in the low point to help get the water out, but not to prevent flooding. It was just strictly to reduce the duration of the flooding. And we have several initiatives that will help deal with this. The first one is the Industrial Drive SRF project and the St. John's project. We upsized the pump some. That project was mainly for utility purposes, not stormwater. But then on Transform 386, we included a force main from the Mill Lake Pump Station over to industrial, so we have the capability in the future to increase the amount of water we take out of industrial to prevent flooding. Here's a very simple map on the industrial area. The two blue areas on the right, the one on the left most is the public works pond, and then the one on the right is a triple pond, mainly for the purposes of aquifer recharge, but it does help with pumping out the stormwater. The red line coming from the top right through the center It's a new force main that will be installed as part of Transform 386, and we will have the capability at some point to pump to that line and get the water out sooner and send it to the borrow pit. This is Transform 386. The yellow line through the center is the existing 10 inch force main that the DOT technically owns. We use it. It does go to the river, but it also goes into the bar pit. It has a capacity of about 1.5 CFS, so remember that number. On the Transform 386, the red line will go directly to the bar pit. It will have a capacity of between 25 and 50 CFS. 25, 50 CFS compared to 1.5 CFS. During Milton it took 21 days to get the water down in Mill Lake. When you have the capacity of a 25 or 50 CFS, the time that it floods would be much reduced with 50 quite likely we will not flood. So that's important in terms of the volume will be able to move. In addition, the force main that will go to industrial will have a capacity of 15 to 25 CFS. So we'll be able to move a lot of water going forward. So with that, I open it up for any questions you may have.

Yes, I wanted to ask you, if I understood you correct, you said that with the industrial park, the flooding water that was in there could be pumped to Mills Lake with what you have designed now. So what would stop Mills Lake from overflowing?

The fourth main will not go into Mill Lake. The fourth main will go directly into the new pump station. And that pump station has slots for four different pumps. The initial design, I believe I'm correct, has a wall after two of them. And the initial project will have three pumps. So one pump will be reserved for industrial, and two pumps will be reserved for Mill Lake. But they also have the ability to lift the gate and have all three pump out Mill Lake. So industrial will have absolutely no impact on the elevation of Mill Lake. This was something that Dale Arrington insisted on. We included it in the project. It added about another 1,000 feet of pipe from industrial over, but it is a good solution that will keep the water from going into Middle Lake and, as you said, cause it to flood.

Anybody else?

No?

Thank you, John. All right, thank you. Okay, next on the agenda is...

citizen comments and we have mr. Scott Hutz question with regards to the University Drive here how is it determined that the road closed to through traffic who decides how that gets put up and why any ideas Christine

Sir, can you please contact staff outside? This is public comment, not question and answer. Okay. So it's best to contact staff directly. Okay. No problem. Thank you. Thank you. And who should he contact?

I'll call him. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Sorry. Okay. That's it on citizens' comment. Consent agenda. I need a motion. chair i'd like to make a motion to accept the consent agenda okay we have a motion a second we have a second any public comment on that okay now seeing none i'll take it back erin can you uh do the call on it council member richardson yes

Councilmember D'Armes.

Yes.

Councilmember Knight. Yes. Councilmember Stafford. Yes. And Vice Mayor Grimm.

Yes. Consent agenda passes. Number five, ordinances first readings. We have none. Six, public hearing ordinances. Second and final, we have none. Seven, resolution A. Paul.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. This is resolution number 443-26. This is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange City, Florida, adopting a proposed millage rate for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, establishing the date, time, and place for a public hearing on the proposed millage rate and the tentative budget, directing communication, expressing legislative intent, repealing all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith. providing for severability and providing for an effective date. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Thank you.

Good evening, Devlin Moore. I do have to apologize in advance to Mr. Waters. He's going to be doing a lot of reading tonight. I see that. So pursuant to Florida statute, council is required to set the proposed maximum millage rate by no later than August 1st. resolution number 443-26 will fulfill that requirement the rate adopted tonight will establish the maximum rate that will be used during the remainder of the budget process and it will be included on the trim notices that go out in August Just a quick recap of the budget calendar going forward. On Monday, August 17th, the city council will hold their budget workshop. The first public hearing will be held on Wednesday, September 9th, and then the second will be held on Wednesday, September 23rd, and those two meetings on Wednesday will also serve as your regular council meeting. This slide compares principal millage rates under consideration. The current millage rate for tax year 2025 is 7.2387. The proposed budget that was delivered to you this evening is balanced using a rate of 7.0387, which is two-tenths of a mil less than the current adopted rate and slightly below the rollback rate. The rollback rate for tax year 26 is 7.0523. This is the rate that would generate the same amount of property tax revenue as the prior year, excluding new construction. The rollback rate would generate an additional $18,000 above and beyond what is currently proposed in your budget and then staff is recommending that tonight you set the proposed maximum rate at seven point two three eight seven that is the current rate this so would be the same rate as the current year it would afford for an additional two hundred and sixty five thousand dollars in revenue and then the whole idea is that the proposed maximum rate would give council some flexibility going forward through the budget process should anything come up During your workshop session and your public hearings This slide provides some historical historical contents context, excuse me in the each of the last five years City Council had adopted a proposed maximum millage rate greater than what was ultimately approved at the final public hearing. And that approach allows council to preserve that flexibility during the workshop and the public hearings. So staff is recommending for tax year 26 that the same approach be taken where you set the maximum millage rate at 7.2387 while continuing to work towards the proposed rate that's in your budget of 7.0387. So again, that will give you about $260,000 of additional revenue to play with. But in the end staffs recommendation would still be it would still be to go with the lower rate of seven point zero three eight seven This slide shows the final millage rates that were adopted over the last 10 years and the rollback rate, which is represented with the dotted line. The millage rates have generally declined over the last decade. It's obvious, though, that individual years do demonstrate Some changes in taxable values service demands and budgetary considerations Hence why you see a bump in fiscal year 25 26 to seven point two three eight seven the Proposed rate the rate that your budget is balanced with seven point eight three eight seven would be again a reduction Compared to the current rate about two tenths of a mil And it would represent more than a one mil reduction since tax year 2017 This table is intended to give council a sense of what the financial impact of any direction that you give to staff tonight or any of your future meetings. It compares different millage rates with the rates used to balance the proposed budget. So again, the budgeted rate is 7.0387. You can see in the chart as you go up, there's an increase in revenue. If you go down, there's a decrease in revenue. Each 1 tenth of a mill produces a revenue change of about $132,500. So every .1 you go up or go down, it's a change of $132,500. And we can revisit this slide when it comes time to deciding what your final proposed maximum millage rate will be. This slide shows the voting requirements as established by TRIM and Florida statute. Staff's recommended rate of 7.2387 would require five votes, two thirds vote. For tonight, because we have two absences, a millage rate of 7.0524 or greater would actually require unanimous vote. So it's based on the member count and not on who's actually present. So tonight you have a couple options. You can go with staff's recommendation of a proposed maximum millage rate of 7.2387, which would represent a 2.64% increase over the rollback rate. Or you could provide staff direction on a different proposed millage rate. I have a laptop here I'm willing and able crunch numbers on the fly if needed and in in the end uh you'll choose one of those options and then i will also need you to confirm the first public hearing for the millage and budget on wednesday september 9th 2026 at 6 30 p.m and that concludes my presentation i'd be happy to answer any questions any questions for delvin seeing none do we have a motion

Chair, I would like to make a motion that we adopt resolution 443-26 and set the proposed millage rate at 7.2387 mills, which is a 2.6% increase on the rollback rate of 7.0523. I second.

Motion, we have a second. Any comments from the public?

We also have to set the budget meeting.

There's a second part too.

Oh, and also confirm the first public hearing for the millage and budget on Wednesday, September 9th, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. Thank you.

Now is there anybody from the public? Seeing none, I'll bring it back. Deputy Clerk? Oh, Chair, have a second.

Because it was amended.

Oh, Fran, do you want to re-second what you said?

I'll second. Okay.

We got a motion. We got a second. We have no comment from the public. Deputy Clerk.

I'm ready. All right. Council Member D'Armes.

Yes.

Council Member Knight. Yes. Council Member Stafford. Yes. Council Member Richardson.

Yes.

Council Member Thompson is absent. Mayor Marks is absent. And Vice Mayor Grimm.

Yes. Motion passes. Second one, resolution 444-26, Mr. Waters.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. This is resolution number 444-26, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange City, Florida, relating to the provision of stormwater management services in the incorporated area of Orange City, Florida, encompassing the stormwater service area, providing authority, purpose and definitions, and certain legislative findings, providing for the provision and funding of stormwater management services, establishing the estimated stormwater service cost and annual stormwater service assessments for the final for the fiscal year commencing October 1st, 2026, providing for determination of net EBUs, authorizing mitigation credits, directing preparation of an updated stormwater service assessment role, authorizing a public hearing, and directing the provision of notice thereof, providing for... Excuse me, Council. Providing for collection, providing for application of assessment proceeds, revealing all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith, providing for severability, and providing for an effective date. Thank you.

Devlin Moore, Finance Director. He did the hard part. Tonight kicks off the annual process pursuant to Florida statute and city ordinance in which council establishes the method of collection and the preliminary rates for the city's special assessments. The next four resolutions set the preliminary rates for four of the five non-Advalorum assessments that the city has. The preliminary rate resolution for the South Kentucky Avenue Special Assessment District is not necessary, hence why that's not included tonight. The rates approved tonight will be listed on the August trim notice, and similar to the proposed millage, the rates that you set this evening are the maximum rates that can be adopted on September 9th. so with that said resolution four four four dash two six will serve as your preliminary rate resolution for the stormwater assessment and On June 24th, 2025, the city council adopted both the 10-year stormwater master plan and the five-year stormwater rate study. The rate study calls for an assessment this year for tax year 2026 of $27 per EBU or equivalent benefit unit. That represents an increase of about sixteen dollars a year for the typical single-family residential unit because most homes in Orange City qualify for four EBU s based on their impervious area and Again, the trim notice will serve as the required first class notice in August. And with that, staff recommends Council approve resolution number 444-26, adopting the preliminary rate resolution for the tax year 2026 stormwater service assessment.

You good? Yes, sir. Okay, do we have a motion on the floor?

I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution number 444-26, adopting the preliminary rate resolution fiscal year 2627, tax year 2026, stormwater service assessment. Second.

We have a motion. We have a second. Is there any public comment on this? Seeing none, I'll bring it back.

All right.

Deputy Clerk.

Council Member Knight.

Yes.

Councilmember Stafford? Yes. Councilmember Richardson? Yes. Councilmember Darmes?

Yes.

Councilman, or Vice Mayor Grimm? Yes. Thank you. Motion passes.

Okay, moving right along. Resolution number 445-26. Mr. Waters, you're up again. Okay.

Thank you. This is resolution number 445-26, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange City, Florida, relating to the collection and disposal of solid waste and recovery materials in the incorporated area of Orange City, Florida, providing authority, purpose, and definitions and certain legislative findings, providing for the provision and funding of solid waste and recovery materials. collections and disposal provided to residential property, establishing the estimated solid waste cost and annual solid waste service assessments for the fiscal year commencing October 1st, 2026, directing the preparation of an updated solid waste assessment rule. authorizing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice thereof, providing for collection, providing for application of assessment proceeds, repealing all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith, providing for separability, and providing for an effective date. Thank you.

Deb LaMoure, Finance Director. Resolution 445-26 will serve as your preliminary rate resolution for the solid waste assessment. On July 28, 2025, the City Council entered into a new franchise agreement with WastePro. As part of the WastePro contract, their rate for fiscal year 26-27 is slated to increase to $231.96 per parcel per year. That represents an increase of 12.52%. The proposed annual rate to support the program is $241.82 per parcel or $20.15 per month. That represents an 8% increase over the current rate of $223.91 per parcel. Staff is proposing the use of some available fund balance to help absorb the rate increase as possible. contracted in the waste pro contract, hence why we didn't have to go with a rate increase of 12%. We're going with one for 8% and spending down a little bit of that fund balance. As with the others, the trim notice will serve as the required first class notice in August, and with that, staff recommends council approve resolution number 445-26, adopting a preliminary rate resolution for the tax year 2026 solid waste service assessment. Thank you.

Thank you.

Devlin, can you go back one? You said that you were looking to do at 8% versus the 12? Correct. So if the 231.96, is that at the 12.52% increase? So the 2025 adopted annual assessment is the current assessment rate of $223.91 a parcel. And what we're proposing is to go to 241.82 per parcel. But that's not 8%.

I have a typo on my slide.

The 223.91 into the 24182 is 8%.

However, I think the question is, if you look at the Waste Pro Rate for fiscal year 26-27, it says $231.96 at 12.52%, and then you go down to 2026 proposed annual assessment, it's $241.82 in parcel. I was going by that.

So I'll clarify. So the Waste Pro rate is what the city pays Waste Pro, the $231.96. So the rate that we pay Waste Pro is increasing to that rate, which represents a 12.52% increase. What we charge the residents currently is the $223.91, and we're proposing an 8% increase to $241.82. Sorry about that.

Thank you.

Thank you. I was stressing earlier. I'm like, wait a minute.

This ain't making sense.

Okay, do we have a motion on resolution 44526?

Put on my glasses. Chair, I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution number 445-26, adopting an preliminary resolution for the fiscal year 2026-27, tax year 2026, solid waste service assessment. Okay, we have a motion, do we have a second?

Second. Okay, we have a motion, we have a second. Anybody from the public wanna speak on this? Seeing none, I'll bring it back, Erin.

Council Member Stafford? Yes. Council Member Richardson? Yes. Council Member Darmes? Yes. Council Member Knight? Yes. Council Member Johnson is absent, Mayor Marks is absent, and Vice Mayor Grimm.

Yes. Motion 44526 passes. Moving right along. Resolution 444, why does that say the same number? 44426. Oh, that is the next one. 44426. Mr. Waters, would you please?

Yes, sir. This is item number D. This is resolution number 446-26, correct?

Yes. Okay.

This is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange City, Florida, relating to the provision of street lighting services, facilities, and programs throughout the Shadow Ridge street lighting program. assessment area providing authority purpose and definitions and certain legislative findings establishing the estimated street lighting service costs and providing for the imposition of assessments for the fiscal year commencing october 1st 2026 directing the city manager to prepare or direct the preparation of an updated street lighting assessment role Authorizing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice and connection thereof, providing for collection, providing for application of assessment proceeds, repealing all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith, providing for severability, and providing for an effective date. Thank you.

Thank you. Devlin Moore, Finance Director. 446-26 will serve as your preliminary rate resolution for the Shadow Ridge Street Lighting District. The proposed annual assessment for the Shadow Ridge Street Lighting District is $150 a lot per year. This represents a $5 decrease to the 2025 adopted annual assessment. This is attributed to a reduction in the power bills, as well as the use of some fund balance. The trim notice will serve as the required first class notice in August, and with that, staff recommends council approve resolution number 446-26, adopting a preliminary rate resolution for the tax year 2026, Shadow Ridge Street lighting assessment. Thank you.

Thanks, Devon. Do we have a motion on this?

I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution number 446-26, adopting the preliminary rate resolution for the fiscal year 26-27, tax year 2026, for Shadow Ridge Street Lighting Assessment.

We have a motion. We have a second. We have a motion. We have a second. Anybody from the public want to speak on this? Seeing none, I'll bring it back, Erin.

Council Member Richardson? Yes. Council Member Darms? Yes. Council Member Knight? Yes. Councilmember Stafford. Yes Councilmember Thompson is absent. Mayor Marx is absent and vice mayor Grimm.

Yes motion four four six two six passes moving on resolution four four seven two six mr. Waters you're up

Thank you, sir. This is resolution number 447-26, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange City, Florida, relating to the provision of street lighting services, facilities, and programs throughout the Briarwood South Street Lighting Assessment Area, providing authority, purpose, and definitions, and certain legislative findings, establishing the estimated street lighting service cost, and providing for the imposition of assessments for the fiscal year commencing october 1st 2026 directing the city manager to prepare or direct the preparation of an updated street lighting assessment role authorizing a public hearing and directing the provision of notice in connection thereof providing for collection providing for application of assessment proceeds repealing all resolutions partial resolutions and conflict herewith providing for severability and providing for an effective date thank you

Delmore finance director last but not least resolution number four four seven dash two six will serve as your preliminary rate resolution for Briarwood South Street lighting district the proposed annual assessment for the Briarwood South subdivision is eighty five dollars a year per lot that is a five dollar increase over the current adopted annual assessment of eighty dollars a lot The increase is required to cover various costs of the assessment program. And I just do want to note that there's some important distinctions between the Briwood South subdivision and the Shadow Ridge subdivision. You have a different number of lighting. You have different types of fixtures. You have different number of homes paying into these assessments, hence why there's that difference between the two. We will be using the trim to serve as a first class notice in August and with that staff recommends Council approved resolution number four four seven dash two six adopting the preliminary rate resolution for the tax year 2026 Briarwood South Street lighting assessment.

Thank you Okay, is there a motion?

i'll make a motion um make a motion to approve resolution number 447-26 adopting the preliminary rate resolution for the physical year 2026-27 tax year 2026 briarwood street briarwood south street lighting assessment

We have a motion. Lisa, we have a second. Anybody from the public want to speak on this? Seeing none. Erin?

Council Member Darmes?

Yes.

Council Member Knight?

Yes.

Council Member Stafford? Yes. Council Member Richardson? Yes. Council Member Thompson is absent. Mayor Marks is absent. And Vice Mayor Grimm?

Yes.

Motion passes.

Resolution 447-26 is approved. Resolution 450-26, Ronnie Long, Interim Public Works Director. Ish. Ish.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'll read the short title.

Thank you.

This is Resolution Number 450-26, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange City, Florida, amending the annual operating budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 by adjusting revenue and expenses, repealing all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith, providing for severability and providing for an effective date.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ronnie Long, you all know, you heard. I promise I won't be up here as long as Devlin. This is gonna be short and sweet. So this is for the amendment for the funding to repair or replace the police department and council chamber roof. And you'll see why here in just a second. So as you know, we've had the afternoon thunderstorms, which have been very severe in this area for the last few weeks that has produced a lot of rain. So one afternoon while I was checking the drainage situation out here, It was noted that something didn't look right on the corner of the roof by the kitchen. I'll show you that picture here in just a second. So the next day when it was dry, I did a walk around the roof of the police and council chambers and noted that there are some significant issues with the roof. So in 2018, the city did a facility study for the roof, and it was after the hurricane season came through, and it was evaluated by part of the facility condition assessment that the assessment of the roof was in good standing and that the 20-year roof would last us until approximately 2020. 33 well as you can see that's not the case so during our research we found out that the roof was actually much older than that there was some ideas that the roof was replaced in 2013 which if we had the 20-year lifespan we would still be in good standing but that's not the case So while researching, we found out that the actual replacement permit that was last done on the building was in 2003. So that's a 10-year difference. That's a long time for a roof. So we estimated the roof to be about 23 years old. And so what I did is I contacted a licensed roofer to come out and give... a synopsis of what is actually going on with the roof and it's bad. So we noted significant sheeting plywood damage. So there's where the plywood sits on the roof. There's actually some pitting. There's some really big divots and soft spots in the roof. So we know that plywood is going to have to get replaced. The shingles are bad. The corners are peeling up. There's actually some shingles on the backside of the roof. that are missing, the fascia boards, which is the board around the bottom of the roof where your gutter ties in, there's a lot of those that are rotted and in some areas not even there anymore. So there's possible truss damage to the backside of the roof over here where the light fixture is. That is kind of getting held on by the light fixture itself, not so much the roof. And weathered and damaged shingles that we talked about before. So if I can get this little ledger thing. So this is the kitchen area, and you can see that this whole corner right here is dropped down. this fascia board is completely rotted away and this plywood and possibly a truss issue going on in this corner. This is that light I was talking about before. This whole backside, this fascia board is gone and this truss area has significant damage to it and we'll have to get... Repaired and then this picture is really hard to see but you can see the rotted fascia here And it's raising up the plywood and then right in this area right here is one of the big bevels where the roof is really bad and during this research was also was informed that the Roof area over the Evidence room actually has a leak in it. So So we need to get that fixed So for obvious reasons, staff is recommending adopting the budget. And any questions?

I don't see any from the council. Oh, wait.

Yeah, I wanna ask on the roofing. During Hurricane Eden, that wasn't noticed?

I don't know. I can tell you that we haven't had a leak until recently in the evidence room. Remember, I'm kinda transitioning in some positions right here. The city manager might have some idea.

So I cannot speak to Ian, but I can speak to Milton. And the roof was evaluated after Milton and was found to be an okay condition. It did not have any missing shingles from Milton, but we did experience many afternoon storms after that that could've added to. But given the age of the roof, We're now facing if we had known the age it might have actually been replaced but according to that facility Condition analysis. This was not something that was it wasn't until we did a little more research to It's actually the rubber hit the road get you know Look to go out to bid bring it back to you all that we found that there may have been either a typo error where it should have been 2003 instead of 2013, or some bad information that was accessed. So no, but after Milton there was, all buildings, there were pictures of the buildings before, and there were pictures of the building after, so that when we had any FEMA or insurance claims, we used those, and there was nothing noted at that time.

Could some of this damage be from gutter issues? Is that going to be addressed also?

It will be addressed. The fascia board issue is probably from a gutter issue. We did note that the gutters were installed incorrectly.

Thank you. So do we have a motion on this?

I'd like to make a motion to adopt budget amendment resolution 450-26. Second.

We have a motion, we have a second. Anybody from the public who would like to speak on this? Come right up.

Sharon Stafford, I have one question. How much? How much budget amendment are we talking about? Is it $2? $100? Is it any way that we as public could know how much is this budget amendment will be

So in your budget package, you'll see that the finance director, who's much smarter than I am, came up with a couple different solutions to pull money from. But the overall cost estimate that we're putting in the budget, because this will need to go out to bid, and we're hoping that the bids will come in a little bit cheaper. But the overall budget that we're putting in is $65,000. So the contractor that came out With the truss damage, the fascia board damage, it's more than what a general roof would need to get done other than tearing the shingles off and putting new stuff up. There's actually some repairs that have to get done. So with that, he estimated anywhere from 58 to $63,000. So we said we'll do it at 65 to make sure that we don't have to come back and get more money.

Thanks, Rodney. Did that answer your question? Okay. So we've got a motion, we've got a second. Okay, Erin?

Council Member Stafford?

Yes.

Council Member Richardson? Yes. Council Member Darm?

Yes.

Council Member Knight?

Yes.

And Councilmember Thompson's absent, Councilmember Stafford, and Vice Mayor Grimm, sorry.

Yes, thank you. And motion 450-26 passes. Okay, we have Resolution 451-26, John Peters Engineering. Mr. Waters, please.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. This is resolution number 451-26, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange City, Florida, amending the annual operating budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 by adjusting revenue and expenses, repealing all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith, providing for severability, providing for an effective date. Thank you.

You're up, John. You're in the hot seat now.

this was just team effort i forgot with me um in anticipation of all the renovation we're doing at city hall you know the first thing we did was uh pretty much waterproofed the building by putting on the new roof and doing exterior work to improve the uh the building standing up against rainfall events. We are in the process of getting proposals to, well, no, we've actually done it. We have a consultant, JL2, who is doing the final design for the interior renovations of City Hall. At the same time, we decided we wanted to take a look at the exterior in terms of landscaping. One of the predominant problems we have out there is we have the pavers that are not ADA compliant because you can only have so much elevation change. And we also have one section of sidewalk to go from the front of city hall over the Holly. That's extremely steep and uneven to does not meet ADA requirement. So what we wanted to do was to make the exterior ADA compliant, but we also wanted to deal with the landscaping. So we hired MV5, a small engineering firm in Orlando. They have landscape capabilities on their staff, and they put together a set of plans for us to proceed with the final design, which is complete. The budget amount is in the council report. Unfortunately, I don't have my copy in front of me. But we need a, because it was not a budgeted item, we need to do a budget amendment to fund it. so that we can proceed with bidding the project and getting the work done. The timing is advantageous because the fall is the best time of the year to do that type of landscape work and sidewalk work. So we're recommending that we proceed with the budget amendments so that we can proceed with this project. Yes. Thank you.

Thank you. So I'm just going to point out that in the adopted budget that we're currently operating in, this council appropriated $14,000 for this landscape plan. And that was what was needed in order to get a cost estimate to come back to you to then appropriate. And we're also doing this timely enough so that when we look to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the town hall in 2028, the landscaping will be mature and established and we will have that ADA compliance. The total engineer cost listed in the agenda item is $54,350, and again, and that includes a contingency, and this item would go out to bid, and based on that, that bid is where we would end up for what it will actually cost, but we're, based on their cost estimate, we're hoping to have enough money with this amendment.

It also should be noted, because Kelly asked me this, it does include landscaping in front of the clerk's office, so we're taking care of both properties. It's not just City Hall, but we're unifying the landscaping, and it includes a full irrigation system also.

Okay.

Any questions for John? Seeing none, is there a motion?

I do want to say one thing. I did talk with Christine because I went through this line by line with her to determine the cost to see if we could get the cost down. And there wasn't a whole lot of option other than the grass because there was St. Augustine and Bahia. And if you were to switch it to where you just do albahaya, it would only be like a $2,000 difference. So it's really not worth it. But just the irrigation system, the trees are gonna be 30 gallon trees, so they're not small trees. So I wanted to confirm that cost as well. So I did go over that line by line with her to understand the cost for each.

Would you like to make a motion then?

Sure. As soon as I can get back to it. Thanks, John.

There it is.

I'd like to make a motion to adopt budget amendment resolution 451-26. We have a motion.

We have a second.

We have a second.

A second.

speak on this matter? Seeing none, bring it back, Erin.

All right. Council Member Knight?

Yes.

Council Member Stafford? Yes. Council Member Richardson? Yes. Council Member Darm? Yes. Council Member Thompson and Mayor Marks are absent. And Vice Mayor Grimm?

Yes. And Resolution 4.1-26 passes. Okay. Now we're on 8A, discussions and action. Good citizenship selection, 2026 for the third quarter. Justin Vallejo, public information officer, presiding.

Good evening, City Council, Justin Vallegio, Public Information Officer. Tonight we have our nominations for this quarter's Good Citizenship Award. So without further ado. So the purpose of Good Citizenship Award, which I'm sure everyone's aware of now, it's to recognize individuals and groups and organizations that go above and beyond to continue making Orange City a great place to live, work, and play. The nominations are accepted throughout the year and are reviewed by city council on a quarterly basis. While there's no limit to the number of nominations that someone can submit, recipients can only receive the award once per calendar year. And council may also select as many recipients as they feel. It's not just tied to one person. So for general guidelines, eligible recipients do not have to live within the city limits. The nominees may be recognized for exceptional volunteer service, making a positive difference in lives of others, or organizing efforts that improve community and demonstrating honesty, integrity, and service. So for the third quarter of 2026, the city received one nomination. That nominee is Derek Brant. Mr. Brant was nominated for his volunteer efforts at Mill Lake Park. During his daily morning walks, he routinely picks up litter throughout the park to help keep it clean, safe, and welcoming for everyone who visits. His efforts also provide valuable volunteer support to our Parks and Recreation Department and help protect the native bird's wildlife by removing debris before it can become a hazard. Clearly, as we all know, Mill Lake Park is home to several wildlife species. um so that's one of his things that he does on a daily basis most importantly he performs his services consistently without seeking recognition demonstrating a genuine commitment to improving orange city and making it a better place to live work and play So next, at this time, staff is requesting that the City Council discuss to nominate and determine whether to select Derek Brandt as a recipient for the third quarter 2026 Good Citizenship Award. If you guys choose to select Mr. Brandt, he will be invited to receive his award during the presentation of the August, I believe it's the August 25th City Council meeting. And that's it.

I volunteered I've gone and helped pick up trash and believe me there's a lot you wouldn't believe how much trash gets dropped around the lake and stuff so that's a lot.

Fran you making a motion?

I can. I'd like to make a motion to accept the Derek Brandt for the Good Citizenship Award for our third quarter, and which will be in August. I don't have the date in front of me.

August 25th.

August 25th. I second.

We have a motion. We have a second. Any comments from the public? Seeing none, I'll bring it back. Deputy Clerk.

Council Member Richardson. Yes. Council Member Darnes.

Yes.

Council Member Knight. Yes. Council Member Stafford. Yes. Vice Mayor Grimm.

Yes. And A is approved. Question, Christine. On B, there's two resolutions that we want to Yeah. Go ahead.

So Vice Mayor Bee, there are two resolutions, so what I recommend is I'll go ahead and read the short title for both to get that out of the way, and then I think we'll have a presentation, and then we'll have two separate votes. Gotcha.

Okay. Very good. Thank you. Okay. That'll work.

All right, so the first is resolution number 442-26. This is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange City, Florida, amending the pay plan for the City of Orange City, repealing all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith, and providing for an effective date. And the second short title is resolution number 449-26. This is a resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange City, Florida, amending the annual operating budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 by adjusting revenue and expenses, repealing all resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith, providing for severability and providing for an effective date. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Thank you.

So at this time we want to have John Mueller from the caring group Good evening council members John Muller with Gary Brown and Brown I head up our public sector division for strategy and growth We provide HR benefits and consulting services for public entities throughout the state of Florida. We contracted with the city of Orange City to conduct a classification and compensation study and this is our report and findings and So I just want to briefly run through the agenda here. I want to talk a little bit about really the purpose of what we were doing, because we do this quite a bit with different municipalities throughout Florida. Talk about our methodology and approach, the market comparisons that we used in this particular study, a brief review of our findings, and then ultimately talking about the compression analysis. And I will give you a little bit more information on exactly what that is when we get to that part. So why do we do this type of work, or what is the purpose of this project? Ultimately, you as a city, you're competing for talent, whether it's with other neighboring entities, businesses that are in the area, and you want to have an equitable and competitive pay plan so that you can continue to retain and attract the best possible talent for your city. So to be able to do that, you typically want to look at market data. And when you look at market data, the best way to do that that I've seen in my career, and I've been in HR and public sector, you normally want to work with a third party. So that way you can have an independent, unbiased recommendation here. And that's what our firm specializes in. So when we do this study, I want everyone to kind of hold this in the back of their head. We're not looking at individuals. I'm going to talk about how this study sort of impacts individuals that work for the city. But when we're evaluating everything, we're really looking at the position. What are the duties of that role? And based on that, we're able to compare to other entities and see what the market says based on that role, what you really should be paying. So as a part of this study, we identify different pay and compression issues which happen. You all are not immune to those, and this happens to every organization that I've worked with. It's a common theme. But also ultimately this is gonna help him promote internal equity within your city So when people start comparing they're gonna compare with other cities But they compare with each other no matter what you do people talk about their pay with one another So you want to make sure you have internal equity? And most importantly, and I really like that you all as a organization, as a city were worried about this, it was looking at pay to provide like a career path, a career ladder, a structure that's going to incentivize people to stay with the city longer and ascend throughout their career in the pay plan. So our approach, uh, and we do this, like I said, quite a bit, our team is made up of former public sector, HR practitioners and leaders. So we've done this internally, and we've done this externally as consultants. So first, we hold the discovery meeting with the city. And we kicked that off back in February. We met with finance, HR, as well as the city manager's office and kept very close contact throughout this. But when we have this discovery meeting, we want to understand, really, what is the city trying to achieve with this? And that's how we learned what was really important to Orange City was that career pathing, promoting growth within the city, getting people to stay here because it's very hard in this economic climate to attract talent. So after we hold this meeting, we collect all of your pay information. different pay plans, policies, any bargaining units, job descriptions, all the data that you have related to pay. And we review that. Our team goes through all this. We ask questions. Most of us have seen this a time or two, so it's not foreign to us. But every entity is a little bit unique. So we do a very thorough review and ask the questions. then hopefully, and this is what we did in the case of Orange City, is really look at the job descriptions in the organizational structure. So we collect all the org charts, all the job descriptions, review all that, and we conducted a job analysis. So we actually solicit feedback from the employees of the city to make sure that we really understand the jobs. And this leads to part of this project, which is also rewriting redoing all the job descriptions for the city as well so that we can take that data incorrectly benchmark it against the market comparisons that's part of the job analysis then we get into the compensation benchmarking this is really where the rubber meets the road so I'll talk about the comparative comparators that we used but we collect all of the pay data from these other cities. And we don't ask them to fill out a survey. We actually collect all that data and our team reviews it. So we essentially look at every job that Orange City has, then we look at every job in the city of Daytona, the city of Daytona Beach Shores, any of the comparators we look at all their job descriptions and try to find the best matches because when we do that we're looking at these matches and comparing the pay ranges for each of the matching jobs from minimum to maximum so ultimately what are we delivering to you all as a city and we have delivered the bulk of this and shared it with with staff we're review we reviewed the benchmark data and the job analysis results with the city We reviewed our observations of the current pay plan and what are the recommendations that we see compared to other public sector entities. What are the standards that we see? And discuss those best practices. So then we did develop a new plan, which I believe you all have seen or you have copies of. We have turned that over to the city. So we develop new pay ranges for each job classification. We ensure that there's a consistent spread, and I'll talk a little bit more about what that is across each job And then there's consistency when you're going from each pay range so that it's not out of whack. And then, like I said, where we can, we create career ladders within these job classifications. So, for example, you know, one of the easier ones to usually do is like water treatment, right? You typically have water plant operators A, B, and C. But we look for any job classifications where we can create that career pathing. Because, again, that's how you keep people. Everybody, it's not so much that they just want to be able to make more money. They want to see that they're growing, that they're taking on more responsibility, or there's an additional certification that they can obtain. And then the final part that we work on, once we've created that new pay plan, this is where we do look at your employees today. But we're looking at them based on the job that they're in and how long they've been in that job. We're not sitting here doing a performance assessment that's outside of the scope of what we normally do for these engagements. So we get a roster of all the employees that includes their current pay rate, the position that they're in, and how long they've been in that position with the city. and we conduct what's called a compression analysis. So the first thing that does, it takes each person based on the new pay plan and says you're in pay range 11, you need to be at least at this minimum pay rate. If you're not, you're going to get moved up to that. Then based on how long they've been in that job classification, do they need to move further in the pay range? The example is typically at 10 years, you want to have people near the midpoint or the middle of that pay range. so once we do all this then we discuss the financial impacts or potential financial impacts with the city which you all had budgeted to some degree i understand for so we're able to have that dialogue and we can get creative with how we roll it out and implement it if need be and build that implementation plan so once approved how are we going to roll that out to the city so again we're kind of with you every step of the way with this even once we turn over this i know there's some things that we still have to do with the city and we're happy to do that Here are the comparisons that we used and I want to emphasize that the scope of this project wasn't just limited to these comparators. We did look at some of the other entities that we work with on a regular basis. We try to pull some state level reporting in as well as some federal information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and we do that just to make sure something's not You know, out of line, you know, this accountant job that we found and the pay range says is from 60,000 to 85,000. That seems weird. So let's pull in some statistical data from the Fed and see if that matches up. We don't rely on that data, though, because it's usually about 12 months behind. So we are basing this largely on these comparisons. So you can see it's city of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, the land, Deltona, Edgewater, Holly Hill, Smyrna Beach. Ormond Beach, Port Orange, South Daytona, Seminole County, Sanford, and Lake Mary. So we try to stay really in the geography that you're competing for talent, right? So people always say to me, John, well, we don't have the budget obviously of Seminole County. Absolutely, 100% agree. But you probably have people that every once in a while leave and go to Seminole County for employment, or when you are out hiring for a new employee, there's a good chance that person's looking at jobs in Seminole County as well. So even though you maybe can't compete on a dollar-for-dollar basis in terms of budget, it's still a comparison that you need to have in there. And I'll talk about how we do some of the benchmarking because we're not saying you have to be on par with a larger entity like that. So before I get into the findings, I will talk a little bit more about the benchmarking. Ultimately, what we do when we pull all this data together is we're coming up with what is an average salary range for minimum to maximum salary or pay rate for each of your positions, and then we're looking at percentiles. So the average is that average, but we look at the 50th, which is the dead middle, the 65th, and usually the 75th. based on discussions with the city, your size, and the different comparisons that we looked at, we targeted to try to have you at least dead in the middle at the 50th percentile of the market, or a little bit above if we could. So that's where we're trying to be with you all, not necessarily at the top at the 99th percentile or the 95th percentile, but above midpoint really gives you a competitive and healthy pay plan. So as we were going through this project one of the first things we noticed and this happens from time to time Orange City's current pay ranges have a spread of 38 and a half percent So what that means is from the minimum to the maximum of each pay range. It's 38% Best practice in public sector that we typically see is usually want to be closer to 50% So somewhere between 40 and 60 percent is good We see groups that are in the 30s. We see groups that get a little bit carried away, and they have like a 90% spread where somebody who's at the minimum could be double that pay when they're at the maximum. Usually when we see that, it's because that particular entity has a lot of jobs in that particular pay range. So we try to recommend being between 40% and 60%. What we did with orange cities the new pay plan you're right at the 50 right at 50 percent in terms of that spread So what that does and what that usually leads me to believe is when we're looking at everything your minimums are Usually going to be in line with the market your minimum pay, but your maximum pay You're usually cutting yourselves a little bit short compared to the rest of the market when you have that narrower pay range That's usually what we see So as a result, when we adjusted the pay ranges, on average, this is not, I don't wanna say across the board, but on average, the pay range minimums increased by about 6%. So really trying to target those lower pay ranges, get it to a higher starting pay, so people coming to work for the city in some of those positions, particularly if they're entry level, at least they're able to pay their bills, right? On average, though, because we increased the spread, the pay range maximums went up 15%. So across the board, people working for the city of Orange City have the opportunity to potentially earn 15% more within the current job that they're in based on the pay range being expanded. And again, we really look to address below market pay. So typically what we do a lot lately is when we come in, some of your lower paying jobs, and I'm just throwing this number out there, they might be around $15 an hour, but we know Wawa comes into town and they start pay at $18 an hour. We're gonna make the recommendation, I see some of you nodding your head, We're going to make the recommendation, do you want to try to be at least starting pay at $18 an hour? Because the average person, if they go, hey, I'm going to go out in the hot sun and work and do hard labor and make $17 an hour, or I can make $18 an hour sitting inside the gas station with AC, what are you going to pick? So we try to address that from a holistic standpoint. So we built the new pay plan, turned that over. And once we build that new pay plan, this is where we do that compression analysis. So again, that's where we take the roster of your current employees and put them basically in the new pay plan. So you start to find who's below the minimum pay for their job or who needs to receive what we call compression pay to get them where they ought to be within that pay range. So we broke it into the two funds, the general and the enterprise fund, and our compression analysis on the general fund showed that there were 10 employees below the minimum of their new pay range based on our proposal. That's a total cost to the city on an annual basis, and again, this is give or take because People are getting promoted. People are coming to work or potentially leaving while we're doing this. So there will be some fine tuning up until we implement. But the total cost of that is $27,600 to get those 10 people up to the new minimum salary. You have no employees in the general fund that are going to be above maximum pay, so we don't have to worry about that. But you have 22 employees, and it could be some of those 10 going to the minimum. that need to receive some sort of compression pay. And that's a cost of $98,772 to get people to where they need to be within those new pay ranges. Ultimately, 28 employees in the general fund are impacted by the study. And if you're asking, yes, 10 and 22 does not equal 28, that's because some of those folks that are being brought to the new minimum might also be the ones receiving compression pay. So again, 28 employees in the general fund are impacted by the study. We did look at and we always ask, what is the city going to propose for a cost of living adjustment? So based on the information we got back, 3%. So what we do is we add that 3% COLA in first because we know you're planning to budget for that and give that to the employees anyway. So everybody is essentially getting 3%. Then those that still need to be brought to new minimums or compression pay, they're receiving that pay on top of the 3%. So what that does is it lessens the burden of the impact of the study because it's money you had already committed to pay increases. So the total impact to the general fund, the COLA as well as the results of our compression analysis is $251,723 on an annual basis to implement for the general fund. On the enterprise fund side, you have one employee that needs to be brought to the new minimum for a total of $1,458. Again, no employees are maxed out on the new pay ranges. You have seven employees receiving some compression pay for a total of $34,937. And in this instance, you have eight employees impacted by that study in the enterprise fund. And again, same methodology. putting the 3% COLA on first before we do the compression analysis. So the total financial impact COLA and compression analysis for the enterprise fund is 92,145. So you're looking total, and my math is not always great off the top of my head, but give or take 340, 345,000 total impact to the city in terms of new salary, essentially.

You said the new pay plan has a 50% range spread. Is that from minimum to maximum?

Correct, yes. Which again, trying to be within what we see typically with other public sector entities.

So technically it'd be like a 25% spread between minimum to mid and mid to max.

And when I was reviewing some of the information that we had, John, what I didn't quite understand was what are the reserved spots on the pay plan? What are they for?

so when we create a new pay plan if there are pay grades that need to be built essentially that maybe you didn't have before it typically is what comes of this is you know you let's just say we start minimum pay and i'm throwing a number out here because i'm not looking at the numbers in front of me 35 000 but you don't have any positions that fall in that we still build those pay grades out for you in case you add positions later also what happens sometimes as well You might have pay grades that have positions in them now, but once we go through the study, maybe there's positions that don't fall within those pay ranges based on the benchmarking data. So rather than throw them away, we leave them on your pay plan in case you add a new position later that really, based on market data, needs to fit there. It's like a placeholder essentially. Again, we try to be as thorough as possible because we're here for you, but we also don't want to have to come back and reinvent the wheel every time.

So we're looking at an impact of $340,000. Give or take.

I always say because today you could hire three people tomorrow and that throws everything off a little bit. But we will continue to work with staff up until implementation date to make sure that you have the exact final number as we're moving forward. It usually doesn't fluctuate that much. I just like to throw that caveat out there so somebody doesn't come back to me later and go, John, you were off by $5,000.

And that's the first year cost of implementing the study's recommendations, which excludes all of the benefits. What's needed to implement it, where was I looking? For the compensation to finish out 2025?

So that would be a prorated portion? you have already funded 150,000 to implement and your prorated portion is just what's left between the implementation date of paycheck August 21st through the end of September. Then the proposed budget that was issued today includes that annualized funding to carry this on for the future. And the other thing I'll note is ordinarily we include a annual adjustment in the adopted budget for October but that would be given a little earlier and the benefit would then begin now and you will not see another annual adjustment in there for next year because it's just being implemented now with the plan and that was a best practice recommendation when we had that conversation with the Gearing Group and their team.

So what you're saying, Christine, is instead of looking for an increase on October 1st when they usually get it, it'll start now in August. Correct. And it'll carry on over to the next fiscal year. Okay.

So this will take care of all the pay raises that were going to go on when we implemented into this new system.

Yes, this would fund not only this year, but the proposed budget includes for the continuation, and it's for your general non-union employees.

At the same proposed millage rate?

Yes. Well, not the millage you said. No, no, no. It's a little lower. Right. But at the rollback, or just below the rollback rate. Yeah. well there's a list of four recommended motions it's a it's a it's a lot of different moving parts do we do one motion at a time yes yes ma'am

Okay, I'd like to make a motion to accept the findings and recommendations of the Gehrig Group Classification and Compensation Study.

Second.

Anything from the public? Seeing no, I'll bring it back down.

Okay. Council Member Knight?

Yes.

Council Member Stafford? Yes. Council Member Richardson? Yes. Council Member D'Armes? Yes. Vice Mayor Grimm? Yes.

And resolution 442-26 passes.

That was to accept the actual findings and recommendation, number one.

Sorry. Okay, so that motion was to accept the findings and recommendations of the Jared Group Classification and Compensation Study. And now that we go on to 449-26 is the next one. 442-26. 449-26? 442, number two.

Number two.

Chair, I'd like to make a motion to adopt resolution number 442-26, amending the classification and compensation plan for non-bargaining union members, including updated job classification, job titles, pay bands, salary ranges, and related personnel policies.

We have a motion, do we have a second?

Second.

Okay, we have a second. Nothing from the public, I don't see anybody. Erin, bringing it back to you.

Council Member Darmes.

Yes.

Council Member Knight.

Yes.

Council Member Stafford.

Yes.

Council Member Richardson. Yes. And Vice Mayor Grimm.

Yes. Okay, so that is 442-26, resolution passes. So where are we on, part three? The resolution of the city council two.

Or 44926.

44926.

Yeah. Reallocating appropriated funding among multiple departments for implementation of the classification and compensation study effective with the paycheck issued on August 21st, 2026. Do we have a motion on that? Is that right? We need a motion on that?

Somebody could say so moved. So moved. Second.

Okay.

And I don't see nobody raising their hand. So, Erin, it's up to you.

All righty. So, Council Member Knight? Yes. Okay. Council Member Stafford?

Yes.

Councilmember Richardson? Yes. Councilmember Darm? Yes. Vice Mayor Grimm?

Yes. So with that, that authorizes the city manager or designate to implement the approved changes in accordance with the implementation plan and available budget appropriations. So moved. Second. Okay, we got a motion, we got a second. Back to you, Erin.

All right. Council Member Stafford. Yes. Council Member Richardson. Yes. Council Member D'Armes. Yes. Council Member Knight. Yes. And Vice Mayor Grimm. Yes. All right.

Vice Mayor Solution. Yes. Public comment. He did that earlier. No, he didn't. We did public comment, didn't we? He did earlier. Did I miss that? Okay. My fault. Were you sleeping?

No. He woke up and he didn't talk to me at the end.

I moved quick, man. We're good. My apologies. No worries. Okay. Now we're on to number nine, report. City manager.

All right. So I'll take one down, pass it. There'll be extra. Fran, set them down next year. We'll come get them later. Okay. So... With regard to the strategic planning workshop, we are still pending a number of responses to be able to set that. I will send out a reminder tomorrow with the link, and if you haven't done so, please click the link and give me some responses. The dates that were originally offered were the 31st and the 1st, so that one is gonna be not an option. We're too close, won't be able to do it. So the dates we'll be working on are August 7th, which is a Friday, and August 8th, which is a Saturday. Then the next offered date is August 21st, Friday, with a workshop on August 22nd. Then, I attended the Volusia League of Cities city managers meeting last Wednesday. We talked a lot about property tax and the property tax reform and its impacts. We shared where we are with our budget, where do we think we're going to end up with our millage, and possibly our payroll adjustments. A lot of uncertainty at that meeting. A number of us attended the Volusia League of Cities dinner meeting in Pearson. It was lovely, a little warm with a good barbecue, but the sun was setting and really doing a good job on letting us know it was there. So upcoming, we have our budget one-on-ones that will begin next week on Monday. I did a little head count, and I'm missing two. So the two individuals that I don't show as selecting a date, I'll send you an email tomorrow, and we'll get that resolved. We have a Deland Chamber Orange City Rise and Shine. It's August 6th. It is gonna be at Encanto's, just a heads up. The Florida League of Cities Conference, a number of us will be attending the August 12th through August 16th. Karen Allen did send out the breakfast, the regional breakfast, this is the breakfast that's bright and early on saturday morning 7 30 in the morning and it's a the i-4 corridor super regional breakfast don't look for me if you show up there's no cost but if you register and you don't show up there's a cost to the city so at this point you can either do the reservation yourself or reach out to staff and we'll get you registered the last item is we have a budget workshop on august 17th that's the monday after we get back from that so we'll be at it at this point i will mention that august 11th we have don't have any agenda items and per the charter if it stays that way i will be able to cancel that meeting You're still going to be here August 17th and August 25th. But if something does need to, I'll reserve that if something comes up and we need to bring you guys in, we will. But if not, you'll have your two meetings and it will be that budget along with the regular meeting. And that's okay for the charter. Last, I'm going to close with, we just got an email from Florida League of Cities. If you're attending the Florida League of Cities conference on August 5th, they're going to have a no... before you go webinar that you can register for. I'm going to attend it. I'll give you guys any feedback for anybody who can attend it. And if you do, we can share some information. So that completes my report. Does anybody have any items for me? Thank you all. Thank you.

Next, we have the city clerk. Welcome, deputy city clerk.

Nothing for me at this time, thank you. Nothing for you.

How about the city attorney? Nothing for the group.

Vice mayor is a busy day in Orange City, but nothing for the group.

Okay, council, anybody have any new business? Yes, Dana.

I've had six constituents contact me regarding, I know, beating a dead horse, the fire assessment fee. They are concerned because the presentation was never presented to the public and they have a problem with that. So I wanted to bring that up. I cannot make a motion or anything to bring that back to have that presentation presented to the public. Only Vice Mayor Grimm, Councilwoman Richardson, or Councilwoman D'Arms can make that motion. So I promised them that I would bring it up. I brought it up. So it's gonna be up to y'all whether or not you wanna open it up for that.

If I'm not mistaken, we're talking. If I'm not mistaken, Christine, it's coming back up in November, correct?

December.

December. so it was already brought up twice and knocked down so I mean what's the limitations on something like that well there is no limitation if

One of the members who voted to continue it past or to December are still inclined to hear the presentation again for the members of the public that have contacted Councilmember. You can make a motion, and if you get a second, then we'll see it a third time. But the motion does have to come from one, like Ms. Knight said, one of the members who voted to continue it under Robert's Rules of Order.

Okay. So I think you continued it, right? I continued it?

Yeah, we did. We all did. Let me ask you a question. Because I was the one that made the initial motion too. So could I once again make a motion? That's why she said I was eliminated from that.

I think it was a, was it a unanimous last time?

I thought it was a 4-2 to bring it back to December. So you would have been one of the two. that voted not to bring it back in December. That's my recollection.

Yeah, that's what I thought, that you voted to not continue it. You wanted to...

So we had three votes that night. Two were deadlocked, three, three. The fourth vote that said, okay, let's bring it back in December passed because it managed to get four votes. So only the four people who voted to bring it back in December are. And I believe the four votes that voted to bring it back in December would have been Mayor Marks, Vice Mayor when you were sitting in that seat, Council Member Darmes and Council Member Thompson. I think Richardson and Stafford voted no.

So it would have to come from you.

Then it would be either Councilmember D'Armes or Vice Mayor who would say yes, they want to bring it back and hear the presentation that could then have the conversation. Otherwise, you two are the only ones who could accommodate what Councilmember Knight has proposed or brought to your attention.

okay so we have people in orange city that want to at least hear the presentation okay yeah okay so i'll make the motion to hear the presentation for the fire assessment

Okay. Now, just some clarification, there'll be more than just the presentation, because if there's a presentation, then there'll likely be public comment and discussion, and there could very well be action by the council. So really, you're voting to do it a third time.

Bring back the fire assessment data.

Right, well, this way, because, you know, whether you go online and whatever social media, The general public is not getting the full picture of this. Like I said the last time, I attended the one-hour presentation by the Volusia League of Cities, who mapped it all out. I'll just leave it there, but this way the citizens can actually understand the whole realm of what's going on with this. Now, that being said, I mean, we may, I mean, depending on what happens in November, you know, if this tax thing passes or doesn't pass, you know, with 60% of the vote, I mean, that'll determine a lot of different things also. Are you making a motion? Well, I made the motion to bring it back so that we could at least...

Right now on the table is a motion to bring the fire assessment back. to a future council meeting, like under discussion and action, where you hear the presentation.

Right, so that the general public could hear the presentation.

Which is basically the presentation you heard at the workshop that did not happen at the meeting. So I understand the assignment.

Okay.

But you have a motion, and now who can second it? Anybody? Anybody can second it. That was the next question I heard. Second. Oh, I can't.

Yeah, you can. I second. Okay.

There you go. There's a motion and a second. Is there anybody in the audience that would like to speak on this, on that fire assessment thing? Come on up.

I think to do due diligence to the citizens of Iron City, we are paid over $70,000 to have this workshop, research, and all this stuff. I think you need to give the citizens an opportunity to see where you put their money. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else like to speak on this? Seeing none, I'll bring it back, Erin.

All right. Council Member Darms? Yes. Okay. Council Member Knight.

Yes. Council Member Stafford.

Yes. Council Member Richardson. Yes. And Vice Mayor Grimm.

Yes. Okay.

Thank you.

Now, how will this affect what's gonna happen in December?

Well, it depends on what action is taken. At this point, I expect there'll be a different outcome for December. I think December is wiped away by this action. And so at this point, we will bring it back and then we will get direction from the council on where we're going, whether it's now or to come back in December. We will come back most likely on August 25th. We'll reach out to a consultant, make sure she's available, and we'll present not only that, but what staff have presented for the night of the public meeting.

And after she gives a presentation, we'll have to do some type of motion of voting? Is that my understanding?

Well, the natural next step is either to approve it, to come back for an initial assessment resolution, or to table it to a different meeting, a date certain, or to just not address it at all. So the slate's clean. and it's just gonna be hearing from the consultant, hearing from the constituents and this council giving staff direction on where we're gonna go. Now there's no way it's going on this year's tax bill, but there's no reason not to consider it and implement it for the next year's tax rule because that's what you were discussing come December. You basically accelerated it and we're gonna revisit it in August, but the slate is clean on where we go.

So this way, the people that designed it will give their presentation. The general public, whether they're here or on YouTube, will know exactly what it's all about, and then we'll get people's opinion. Okay.

So, Vice Mayor, just clarification. The motion on the table is just for the presentation. Yeah. So if you want to take action, I think you need to amend your motion to hear the presentation and take further council action.

Well, this is going to be for the following year anyway. It's too late to do anything right now.

It's too late for this year.

Correct.

But I think if you give staff direction, I think the way the motion is framed, you can only hear the presentation, and then she sits down, and then we move on to the next agenda item.

Well, I think that's the way we want it to be.

Well, I was bringing it back like it was presented from, so it was bringing it back as a discussion in action.

So that's my point. Right now, the motion is discussion. So do you want discussion and action?

Once they give their presentation, you want the people up here to say yes, bring it back, or no, squash it.

Well, that's up to you folks, however you want.

We can say bring it back in December, or we could have a discussion.

So we would want public comment after the presentation. well it's more than just public comment it's also if the council gives any direction to staff or any future input so it would be for discussion and action so right now it's just for discussion okay so so you would have to amend your motion for discussion and action so that it's the presentation and then uh customer comments and then to give staff direction on how to move forward So to follow Robert's rules of order and just to be proper, you got to make a motion to reopen the motion.

I make a motion to reopen the motion. Second. Okay. All right. We got to call a roll. All right, by and by. Sorry, you got to play by the rules. Yeah, no, I want to be 100% legit. Council Member Knight? Yes. Council Member Stafford?

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. So now I'm going to make another motion.

For presentation and action.

Okay. So I'd like to make a motion for presentation and action according to Robert's rules. And a second. For the fire assessment. And we have a second. Thank you. Do we still need a vote of everybody?

We need a roll call, yes, sir.

Erin. You running out of room over there? Yes.

Council Member .

Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

approval of the minutes we've already done that anything from the council or the vice mayor's comments any reports anything Not bad. Okay. All I need a motion for is an adjournment. Make a motion to adjourn. All right. All in favor? Aye. I've also had neighbors ask me, how come you didn't hear the presentation? That's what I just want to do, hear the presentation.