City Commission Regular Meeting - Regular Meeting

The pulse chemistry. And before this little machine was created, this was more of a manual model?

Yeah, a lot of people will use tailored tests, so it involves like little different chemicals. You would fill up a container and drop them in like a certain amount, and basically it'll calculate from there what your pH and chlorine is.

This is the daily tasks? Yeah, this is what we do at the start of every day. Inside the control room, he fired up the valves that get the entire water park up and running.

When we have everything going, the water level will be back up. But since we're not running everything in the moment, it'll drop it down a couple inches.

Next, he showed me the daily checklist for the part.

Then we have our chemical data sheets. So basically just making sure like at our comp pool, lazy river, kids pool are all where they need to be, anywhere between two parts per million or 10 parts. And then pH is somewhere between 7.2 and 7.8.

for a healthy pool there you go then came the back washing and wasting process flushing the filters to keep the water flowing freely or removing excess water from the system to keep the water levels balanced and then it'll start coming out in this pit so this this whole pit will fill in about three minutes really over there yep next we changed out one of the strainer baskets which helped catch large debris before it can reach the pumps

I'll trace you that one. Thank you. The new one goes in just like that. And we usually let those dry out. I'll clean them later this week.

Before joining the team in Northport, Matt worked as a lifeguard in Charlotte County under Trish Sturgis, our assistant director of Parks and Recreation.

So I've known Tris a very long time, so that definitely was one of the influences.

Good afternoon. Today is Thursday, June 4th, 2026. It's 4 p.m. We're in the city chambers, and I call the city commission regular meeting to order. Commissioners present are Commissioner Duvall, Commissioner Stokes, Mayor Emmerich, Vice Mayor Langdon, and Commissioner Petro. There is a quorum present for this meeting. Also present are City Manager Fletcher, City Attorney Fuino, Deputy City Clerk Powell, Board Specialist Slender, and we got Police Chief Garrison in the back, and Deputy Chief Herlihy. I'm requesting that all commissioners, public participants, and staff maintain order and decorum throughout this meeting. City Commission Policy 2021-03 states that attendees shall refrain from engaging in personal attacks, and boisterous, immaterial, inflammatory, obscene, profane, or disorderly conduct. Additionally, meeting attendees must refrain from obscene, profane, or disorderly conduct, including hand clapping, yelling, and similar demonstrations, all of which deserves the peace and good order of the meeting. Thank you. I'm going to call on Ms. Light. Would you lead us in the pledge, please?

with the liberty and justice of our all.

Thank you, ma'am. City Clerk? Oh, wait a minute. I need a motion to approve the agenda.

Second.

I have a motion on the floor made by Commissioner Stokes to approve the agenda seconded by Vice Mayor. If there's nothing to that, please vote. And that passes five to zero. Okay, City Clerk, we got any public comment? Yes, we do.

E-comment, Steven Harrison. Hello, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, City Manager, and staff. My name is Steven Harrison. I am a member of the Charter Review Advisory Board. However, I am speaking only as an individual resident, not on behalf of the Board. I respectfully ask the Commission to direct staff to contact Venice and Charlotte County regarding charter language on communication between elected officials and staff. Both jurisdictions allow elected officials to communicate directly with staff to obtain information, make inquiries, and in some cases conduct investigations while maintaining the commissioner-manager form of government. Venice allows communication for inquiries and investigations and Charlotte County permits communication for inquiry and information while still prohibiting commissioners from directing, supervising, or interfering with staff. I have raised this topic before the Commission multiple times and emailed all commissioners with the relevant charter language included. I received replies from two commissioners, an automatic reply from one and no reply from the other two. I forwarded the email again to ensure all commissioners received it. The City should contact Venice and Charlotte County to learn how these provisions work. I'm not approaching this in a biased manner, nor am I suggesting communication has been distorted or anyone acted improperly. I fully support our city commission, city manager, and all hired and appointed city staff. I simply believe there is room to improve communication and transparency. Allowing commissioners to communicate with staff for inquiries, information, and investigations could improve access to information and reduce bottlenecks while still preventing commissioners from directing or interfering with staff. I respectfully ask the commission to consider whether Northport's charter should include similar language and direct staff to research this further. Thank you and God bless Stephen Harrison. And we have one in person from Jill Luke.

Jill Luke, City of Northport. I'm here to congratulate the tree lady. Greenest citizen. I did discover that this is the second time that she's been named this, but to me, she's this every single year, year after year. She's out there doing all sorts of stuff for the trees, for the schools, planting plantings. She even has classes to tell the residents how to go about natural foliage and stuff like that. So she's involved in anything that you can come up with as far as turning our city green. And so I would like to know, Ms. Treelady, I got two skanky trees at my house. Can I trade it for one pretty one? All right.

That is all, Mr. Mayor. All righty. Thank you.

Now we're all going to move downstairs for the proclamations.

Do we have a Philip DeVille in the room? He could not be present today. Are you representing him? We are. I'll start reading your proclamation. Whereas Children First was founded in 1961 in Sarasota County and has spent 65 years STRENGTHENING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES BY IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF THEIR LIVES THROUGH A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND WELL-BEING. AND WHEREAS CHILDREN FIRST SERVES AS THE EXCLUSIVE HEAD START AND EARLY HEAD START PROVIDER FOR SARASOTA COUNTY, DELIVERING HIGH QUALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, NUTRITION, AND FAMILY, STRENGTHENING STRENGTHENING SERVICES TO CHILDREN FROM BIRTH TO FIVE AND THEIR FAMILIES, AND IS RANKED IN THE TOP 100% OF MORE THAN 1,600 HEAD START PROGRAMS NATIONWIDE. AND WHEREAS CHILDREN FIRST CONTINUES TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE AND IMPACT, INCLUDING THE MAINE FIVE-TIME NATIONAL HEAD START ASSOCIATION PROGRAM OF EXCELLENCE, AND A 2026 TOP WORKPLACE I hate it when that happens. I'm not going back. Workplace USA by USA Today reflecting its enduring commitment to both the community it serves and the dedicated professionals who carry out this mission. Now, therefore, we, the City Commission of the City of North Port, Florida, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as Children First 26th Anniversary Month and encourages all residents to recognize and celebrate the organization's lasting impact on children, families, and the future of our community. We take a bow.

I'm not much of a public speaker, but thank you so much for this proclamation. We are celebrating our 60th anniversary. 65th.

Just like the city of North.

I'm really going to be nervous. We're celebrating 65th anniversary this year, and thank you very, very much for this honor. Yes. And it doesn't end there.

And I'm also honored to present a certificate of recommendation to Philip and the whole organization in recognition of 30 years of exceptional leadership as Chief Executive Officer of Children First. So I'm going to give that to you to give to him. Thank you. Awesome. All ladies, thank you very much. You have to do the proclamation in one hand.

Yes, perfect.

Three, two, one. And we'll do one more. Three, two, one. Thank you.

Thank you. It's folks like you that make me love magic.

All right.

Sorry, Phil.

Mr. Piper, Peeper, whichever way you pronounce it.

All right. All right.

Thanks for having me here today. This is in recognition of our 2026 Greenest Citizen Award recipient. Some of you might know her well. She finds herself very comfortable in this setting. You are somewhat familiar with the digs here. But everyone knows Alice. She's a Northport Chief Tree Advocate. She has been the guiding force behind People for Trees since 1997. Through this organization, hundreds of trees have been planted at schools, public libraries, public gardens, and along streets for the purpose of creating tree canopies. Alice has instructed hundreds of children to plant butterfly gardens, and more importantly, to get outside and learn, observe, appreciate, and protect our natural environment. Thank you and congratulations for being the City of North Port's greenest citizen again. Thank you so much, Alice. We might want to say a couple words here.

Well, yes. Whoa, I didn't realize so many people were here. But yes, thank you so much. I want to thank everybody. I congratulate all of the nominees, not just this year, but in years past, because that means that people were doing something worthy to be recognized, which is caring for our natural environment. And of course, I want to thank all those who actually voted for me. But it validates the work that I've done through People for Trees and getting the word out there about our natural environment. I tell people that today it's easier to be green, but it wasn't so easy when I first started People for Trees. I'll just leave it at that, okay? But we can all do something for the environment. We can all plant our own tree in our own front yard, backyard. They don't have to always be in a public space. setting and I always tell people that when we do plant trees such as along the tree walk and if you don't know what I'm talking about it's that area that runs between Northport Boulevard and by Alvarez restaurant along the access road we started that in 2003 that was a long time ago and I figured yesterday it was 25 years ago that we did that but we're still going up there watering trees during the drought that we had I had to bring up five gallon containers of water. Thankfully, not for them, but for me, when people need to do community service hours, I put them to work and tell them that, yes, they can help me lug those 40-pound containers of water to help those trees along that we planted. But it's things like that that bring trees to an area. Now they call that rewilding, reforesting, but we started that 25 years ago. So next time you go down 41 by San Pedro Church, look at what is there, because that is the result of the efforts of people that wanted to do something, and now today we can enjoy it. So thank you for doing this, too. All right? Okay.

Anybody from Court Enforcement Officers Department? Whereas code enforcement officers provide for the safety, health and welfare of the citizens in this community through the enforcement of buildings, zoning, housing, animal control, fire safety, environmental and other codes and ordinances. And whereas code enforcement officers are responsible for improving neighborhood and the quality of lives of the residents and community and Whereas every day assisted by support and program staff, they attempt to provide quality customer service to the public for the betterment of the community. And whereas too many times their efforts go unnoticed, even after code compliance has been accomplished due to their efforts and expertise. And whereas code enforcement officers are dedicated, well-trained, and highly responsible individuals who take their jobs seriously and are proud of their department and the local government within which they serve. And whereas the Florida Association of Code Enforcement has declared the first week of June be set aside by local government to honor and recognize their code enforcement officers. Now, therefore, we, the City Commission of the City of Northport, Florida, do hereby proclaim June 1st through June 5th, 2026 as Code Enforcement Officers Appreciation Week and encourage citizens of Northport to join the City Commission in expressing appreciation for the dedication and outstanding service provided by the individuals who serve as our Code Enforcement Officers. and witness where we have hereto unto set our hands and seal of the city of North Port, Florida to be affixed this fourth day of June, 2026.

Thank you. Who gets this?

Is there a check? I forgot that part.

So thank you very much. I'd like to thank all the commissioners, the city manager's office, obviously Elena and Laurie, who we work directly for, all the other directors as well, the entire city. You probably mostly know me probably because I've been here for over 10 years and I'm obviously pretty loud. I don't really mean this much. But everybody here, there's a different variety of people here in different backgrounds, which I think is going to play well. Going forward, we have our newest member, who's floating through eight, Gavin. He's also a veteran. He was here before he came back. He didn't get enough punishment the first time. Our longest tenured inspector has two years. Everyone else has less than that. And our other new guy, Kevin. Since there's two Kevins, we call him Kate, too. I'll just introduce her really quick because you're going to get to see him because it's grass season, so get ready. It's Kevin, Trista, Anthony, Michelle, Woody, GW, George, JP, and Gavin. So we'll see you out there. We're going to, Delaina and I are meeting with Lori. We've got some things on the horizon. Things are going to change a little bit. We're going to ramp it up a little bit in the coming weeks, so get ready for some phone calls.

One, two, one more, three, two, one.

Thank you. It's in the mail, right? Yeah, I think it's over. Yeah, it's done. It's done. It's over.

I thought it was cutting them off at the party. They don't have to read it. I would say great. Always something great.

Okay, hello, hello, hello. Okay, before it dies again. But I can also be loud, so it's okay. So I'm really excited to be able to take this time to talk about Cody and a recent award our division won. We are highlighting our Hermes Creative Awards. We won in the gold category. So the Hermes Awards, not Hermes, Hermes. He's the messenger god in Greek with a meh. Mythology. I kept saying methodology. In Greek mythology, which is pretty fitting for our division, that's what we do, is spread the city's message. So we won in the government video category with other countries like Saudi Arabia, Canada, and then even in-state California. And alongside other large companies like PepsiCo, Fidelity Investments, Yamaha Sports, all these guys won awards in there and we're right there in the mix. So I just want to shout out, first, before I get into it and before I forget, can Sara Alicea give a wave? Give a wave. She was the narrator of this video and she needs to get shouted out for it. She needs that recognition. Yeah, she did a great job. As well as our communications intern, Laura Gwaska, who was here for last summer. She was the star. So, great performance here. So really, really quick, I'm going to brag on Cody for a second, his favorite thing. And then he has a few things to say. So many of you have seen Cody around, right, taking photo and video. So he's many things. He's, first, an excellent photographer and videographer. He's a mentor to many of the other people on our team. And he's dedicated to getting our message out in creative and noteworthy and also oftentimes heartfelt ways that people will pay attention to. His vision, what stands out to me for him, is his vision and creativity, and he stands by it. When he has an idea, he runs with it, and this is one of those things. We put this out in honor of Florida City Week at the end of last year. That's put on by Florida League of Cities. And this was not a required thing. This was not a thing he was directed to do. This was an idea that Cody had to be able to highlight the employees in the city that work around the clock for us that you may not see out front. There's a lot of people behind the scenes doing really important work and that was a goal of Cody's to be able to get that out in front. So I know that I can say and a lot of our team, all of our team, and a lot of employees that Cody's worked with are in awe of his. drive to share the message and the impact he's made with his videos and photos so far. We're really lucky to have him here. So we're really excited and proud of him for getting this honor. It's a big deal. International Award winner Cody Donarski is going to say a couple

This video was built around a simple idea in that every moment a resident enjoys in this city, whether it's your morning coffee or tea if you're Katya, a walk in the park or a working traffic light, There is someone who made that possible before anyone arrived. Someone who showed up early, they did the work, and they moved on to the next thing without ever being seen. That's who this video is for, and that's what this moment is for. The truth is, so much of what this city does happens before anyone else is awake, or after everyone has gone home. The grass in the park is always cut, the water always comes out of the faucet, The solid waste is picked up on time. And that happens because everyone's reliable and most people never have to think about the work that goes into it. And that's the point. That consistency, that reliability, it's not an accident. It's a result of the people who show up every single day and take pride in doing the job right. We're living in a time when public servants are under enormous scrutiny. The discourse around government at every level can be loud, and it can be discouraging, and I know there are employees that feel that, and I can see that. And I want to say directly to the men and women who work for this city, we see you. We know what it takes to keep North Port running. We know the hours, the heat, the calls, and the thankless days. We want you to know, even when it feels like the work goes unnoticed, it does not go unnoticed here. This award belongs to every one of you.

Thank you.

I realized that I never said the name of the video or how you can find the video. I was so excited to talk about Cody. I'm really sorry. So the video is called The Work That Moves Us. You can find it on our YouTube channel. Just scroll down just a little bit. That's where you can find it if you haven't seen it yet.

Okay. Wrap it up.

Don't walk near this Madison, you'll break it. This thing's about ready to fall over. All right, Ms. Madison's gonna stay here, but it does say Ms. Brittany Kammerer and Jason. and the City of Northport Communications Division and Police Department.

Would you all come on up here?

Well, just the Chief is okay.

No, I'm just kidding.

Yeah, come on down, Chief. It includes the Police Department as well. Apparently, you all communicate well. No rush, sir.

We're not waiting on anything.

I wasn't directing you, actually. I was making a mad suggestion. All right. We proudly recognize the outstanding achievements of the City's Communications Division and the Northport Police Department, both of which earned the Certificate of Excellence from the Florida Municipal Communicators Association for the fourth straight year. The certificate recognizes local governments that maintain the highest professional standards and follow best practices in the field. three city employees, public information manager Madison Ingalls, police PIO Brittany Kammerer, is that correct? Am I close? Okay. And communications manager PIO Jason Bartolone. Also earned the certificate, the certified local government communicator designation, the first ever statewide professional accreditation for municipal communicators. And please join me in congratulating these exceptional communicators for their commitment to professional development in the city's strategic communications efforts. Thank you all very much and congratulations.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Commissioners, for recognizing us. This is a tremendous honor for the three individuals who earned the CLGC designation. This is the first accreditation of its kind. We get to have some fancy letters at the end of our name if we want. But it really means that we're achieving the highest standards in communications. And it was a very extensive process that these ladies went through to earn this certificate and had to do a project, a capstone project. So it was really a time-intensive process. project that they took on. So it's a great honor. I also wanna invite the rest of the communications team to come up because this certificate of excellence recognizes all of us. Everybody on the team contributes to this recognition. The city and the police department earned the certificate of excellence and they are two of only 19 cities and counties in the entire state that earned this certificate of excellence. So it means we're operating at the highest standards and performing excellence in all of our communications. So congratulations to everybody on the team for contributing to this recognition. Thank you.

Okay, Jesse. I'll do another handshake. I told you, I would take the opportunity if I could get it. Thank you.

Good job, guys. I'm ready.

They're a great team.

Come on, city manager. You're up now.

Let's go.

No, they're not supplied to you, sir. You better talk to your staff about that. I'm sorry. No, your staff does, sir. It is. Communications department in preparedness.

Yeah, okay, y'all gotta come over on this side. You have to come on this side. Come on, this side, other side. There you go, thank you. Yes, other side, other side. There you go. Yes. No. All right, good afternoon, everyone. I will be presenting the 2026 Platinum Award for Workplace Mental Health to the City of Northport Human Resource Department. Thank you, sir. What I will say is that we are all very glad that they are exceeding expectations and winning this award for human mental health from the Human Resources Department. It's important that mental health is recognized in our city. I think it's something that we don't recognize it until it's too late when something goes wrong. We don't remember and think about all the countless hours that goes into it when it goes well. They are exceeding the standard by making sure that our workplace culture recognizes mental health by keeping a strong work-life balance, making sure that they have competitive benefits and resources, and making sure that they are there when our staff needs them. We have a staff of nearly a thousand people in this city. That means that's a thousand different personalities with a thousand different challenges. So we are grateful that they have a commitment to our workplace mental health by providing a culture and an environment for us all to survive and thrive in. So we want to thank them with everything for this award. And I will turn it over now for our team to speak and say a few words.

Well, thank you everyone. On behalf of our entire team, I'm proud to accept the 2026 Platinum Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health. This recognition reflects our shared commitment to creating a workplace where people feel supported, respected, empowered. to bring their whole selves to work every day. We are especially honored to be one out of 410 Bell recipients nationwide and one out of 13 platinum recipients in the state of Florida. to receive this award. Being recognized among this elective group makes this achievement even more meaningful and reinforces the importance and prioritizes that of prioritizing mental health in the workplace. Mental health is not just a program or initiative. It is part of our culture. We believe that when people are cared for, they can do their best work, support one another, and thrive both personally and professionally. I want to thank our leadership, our managers, Aetna, our employees, for making this achievement possible. Your openness, compassion, dedication have helped build workplace where well-being truly matters. We are honored to be recognized. Thank you.

Good job, sir.

We'll make sure we incorporate more next time. Do we have any waste and recycling workers in the audience? Oh, solid waste.

All right. And they're coming in now. Whereas the nation celebrates the week of June 17th as National Garbage Man Day, and whereas, according to the Center for Disease Control, the eradication of many diseases in the Western world is due in large part to higher public sanitation standards resulting from effective garbage disposal, And whereas the men and women employed by the city and private refuse collection and hauling industry in the community makes significant contributions to the safety, health and welfare of citizens. And whereas the proper collection and disposal of waste and recyclables is vital to preventing disease, litter, and dump heaps, and whereas refuse haulers contribute to a tidy and clean community, and whereas the City of Northport values and celebrates hundreds of trash collectors, dumpster haulers, sewage workers, street cleaners, and all others employed in the sanitation industry to serve residents and local businesses, And whereas the city of Northport will have programs to formally and publicly thank these employees that serve the community. Now, therefore, we, the City Commission of the City of Northport, Florida, do hereby proclaim June 15th through June 19th, 2026 as National Waste and Recycling Workers Week.

is a little taller than me. So, first of all, commissioners, thank you, thank you, thank you for this proclamation, of course. Solid waste has a saying. There is no tomorrow. There's no tomorrow for us. Everything has to be done that day and done correctly. So let's talk about the waste men and women that are out there collecting, okay? They pick up between 800 and 1,200 homes each day. They face challenges. Mailboxes, basketball hoops, totes, cars, adults, children. Right? Think about it. And the adults, they really love the arm. They come running over. You'd think the children would, but the adults are more than amazed about it. But after they're all done with that, they get on 75. Deal with aggressive driving, traffic, get to the landfill. You've got to deal with the landfill traffic, and then you're driving on garbage. They come all the way back home. The next day they wake up, and guess what? They're still smiling and still waving each and every day. So our customer service reps, 32,000 customer requests a year. 615 on-call, they do online or else calling. Those people there, they are so friendly. 615 a day, friendliest can be. Smiling all the time. Just gotta love them. So, but I have to share this with you and then I'll let you go. I think we're last. I received this a couple of weeks ago in an email, and it pretty much states about, you know, it speaks volumes of what this team does here, so I have to share it. So, we have lived here for a good while now, and for the first day of service, I've seen how hard your staff works. To me, that shows a high level of pride for their job and professionalism while working. I just wanted to say that we appreciate what they do. And that's them. Every day, appreciate what these people do here in this city. But it was a man named Derek. And Derek, if you're listening, thank you for the kind words. We love it. So if you happen to see him or speak to him that week or any time during the year, say hello. Thank you.

congratulations thank you

City clerk, any public comment? No public comment, sir.