Town Commission - Regular Meeting

Oh, I'm sorry. Was I supposed to wait? Oh, okay. Let me start over. Hey, welcome everybody. It's great to see everybody here tonight. Applause. Applause and all that stuff. Um, so just to recap our um Oakland Town Commission seat for uh race, we had uh two candidates, Annne Fulton with a with 227 votes and uh Joseph McMullen with 308 votes. Um, if you math that up, that doesn't add 542s because there are seven under votes and the undervotes mean that seven people did not select a uh a box on our Oakland uh charter questions. We had one, two, three, four, five, six, I believe. So, all six have got approved. So, good for us. Kind of cleans that charter up a little bit for us and and uh we're all good. So with that, now we're going to move on to the fun part, which is we're going to swear in three commissioners here on our board. So I'm going to start first with uh Chris Keller. All right, Chris right here. So, can they hear you?

Can you hear me? All right. So, we're going to we're just read off of this. Okay. And I try to make it as So, you want to raise your right hand with me? I I Chris Keller solemnly swear or affirm solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and will obey the laws of the state of Florida and will obey the laws of the state of Florida that I will in all respects that I will in all respects observe the provisions of the charter observe the provisions of the charter and code of ordinances of the town of Oakland, Florida and code of ordinances the town of Oakland, Florida. And I will faithfully perform the duties of town commissioner.

And I will faithfully perform the duties of town commissioner. Nice job. You nothing. Hey. Whoops. Would you like to

um I do want to say that I am incredibly proud and humbled to continue to serve the residents of the town of Oakland. Um, for those of you who are visiting, I was appointed last year as a commissioner um when a former commissioner Rick Pollard um stepped down after many years of service to the town and it's just been my great honor to serve the residents and I look forward to continuing to do so with thoughtful and fiscally responsible decisionmaking and I'm I love this town and and I a lot of us that are here love this town. I also want to say take this opportunity to say that we have open um ARB and planning and zoning seats and in two short years we will be again having the opportunity for um commission seats and I think as like I did serving on the planning and zoning committee learning about how the town thing you know things work with the town it's a great opportunity and we really need some some good strong folks because I think we're going to have a lot of stuff. We've said it the last couple years of development and things coming up in the town and that's where it starts with that architectural review and planning and zoning committee. So, um whether you're here with us live or watching from home, I implore you to think about stepping up and joining one of those committees and join the rest of us in serving the town. Thank you very much.

Both of you. All right, next up is Yamiko Mley. Same routine. You ready? I I el Mley solemnly swear or affirm solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and will obey the laws of the state of Florida and will obey the laws of the state of Florida that I will in all respects that I will in all respects observe the provisions of the charter observe the provisions of the charter and the code of ordinances of the town of Oakland Florida

and the code of ordinances of the town of Oakland And I will faithfully perform the duties of town commissioner. And I will faithfully perform the duties of town commission. Congratulations.

Oh my goodness. Um overwhelmed with joy and gratitude this evening. I want to say thank you to God first for allowing me to um accept this endeavor in his charge to me. Um, my friends and family, my village is here. They showed up. Um, many times we residents of Oakland, people want to know where's Oakland. Well, guess what? You're here. And there's so much to know and enjoy about what we have in this town and what we have going on. So, I look forward to working dutyfully, faithfully, and with integrity for the work of the residents of the town of Oakland. Thank you. All right. Awesome. Next up, uh, Joseph McMullen.

You've done this a couple times. This is All right. You ready? I I, Joseph P. McMullen, solemnly swear or affirm swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States. Constitution of the United States. That I will obey the laws of the state of Florida. State of Florida. That I will in all respects all that I will all in all respects observe the provisions of the charter observe provisions of the charter and code of ordinances of the town of Oakland, Florida. Code of the town of Oakland. And I will faithfully perform the duties of town commissioner. Awesome. Congratulations. yours.

I'm I'm gonna keep this brief. I just want to say um you know, thank you for those that believed in me and that continue to come alongside me and you know, pray for me and my friends and family. But also, I want to say those by me being the only one that had the election, those who did not vote for me, let's talk. Let's have a conversation. My cell phone is everywhere. My email is everywhere. I'm here everywhere. So, let's talk. And I'm just going to continue to u put my head down, work hard for this town. I love this town. I've been here, you know, plus 20 plus years. And I'm I'm so pleased to to be here and to um to continue to serve. And I'm really pleased to serve with those uh that's new on the board, Yum, I've known him for a long time, Miss Keller. So, I just want to say thank you to my village as well that came alongside me and supported me and just, you know, just guided me and just gave me that strength. But I really want to say thank you to those that did not vote for me. Let's talk. Thank you very much. All right. Just got a couple of um just say a couple things here. I'm going to read this right off here because I wrote wrote this earlier today with the help of uh Kathy. So, um after the oaths, uh we want to congratulate uh each of you taking the oath of office. This moment reflects the trust our community has placed in your leadership and your commitment to serve with integrity, transparency, and dedication. Public service is both an honor and a responsibility. The decisions we make will shape the future of our town, and I'm confident we will approach this role with thoughtfulness, collaboration, and respect for the residents we serve. I look forward to working together as we continue strengthening a vibrant town that serves all our residents. It takes a certain individual to run for elected office. I think we all can attest to

that. Um, elect or serve a community. Regardless of the outcome of election, there is one common denominator with those participating, and that is to make our town a great place to live, work, and play. Those that have made an effort to participate in this process should be applauded. With that being said, resident involvement is a necessity in helping guide a town to success. I'll echo what Commissioner Keller said since she stole this from me. We we currently have openings on two of our boards, the ARB and P andZ boards, and we welcome anyone interested in serving to apply and get involved. Again, your participation helps strengthen our community and ensures a variety of voices are heard. Thank you for stepping up to serve and again, congratulations to you guys. Thank you. We're going to grab a brief picture so nobody go anywhere. Where do you want to go? All right, we have one more recognition and honor that we want to uh give tonight. So, I'd like to invite uh our friend Sal Ramos to the front, please. Thank you, S.

S. I'm going to read this that we had and then um you know, I think we all um appreciate what you've done for us in the town. Commissioner S. Ramos has faithfully served the town of Oakland as a town commissioner for 10 years, beginning with his 2015 appointment to fill Commissioner Willie Welch's term after earlier service on the charter review committee, demonstrating a strong commitment to public service. And throughout his tenure, Commissioner Ramos has worked diligently to enhance the quality of life for residents, support responsible growth, and promote the well-being of the community. And Commissioner Ramos represents the town on Metro Plans Orlando municipal advisory board, ensuring the town's interests were heard in regional transportation and infrastructures discussions. His support for education, including the Avenue Oakland Avenue Charter School, was exemplified through both policy and personal contributions. And the town of Oakland is grateful for Commissioner Ramos's years of dedicated service and commitment to making the community a better place to live, work, and thrive. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that the mayor and commission of the town of Oakland hereby recognizes and honors Commissioner S. Ramos for 10 years of service and extends its sincere appreciation and best wishes for continued success and happiness in all future endeavors. S on behalf of the town commission, we appreciate you and everything you've done to this town. Thank you. for you and for you. You show all yours.

Oh, you got to open it up. Sis is telling you to open that up. Okay. Oh, open this. Yes. Open that. Okay. Yes. It's very very It's one of a kind. Not a bottle. It's the first one. It's not a problem. Oh, wow. Let me take this out.

You know, this is one of the ideas I had brought, right? One of many ideas of, hey, we should give an acorn to someone one day. I didn't know I was going to be the one getting it. You know, it's been a while, but I got a few things to say. First and foremost, thank God for the opportunity I had to serve the town. I'm very grateful and and humbled and honored to have served the citizens in um in our town. I want to thank u my family, my wife. She has been a valuable soundboarding with me all the time. Thank you, Marbo. Thank you to Dennis Folultz who uh talked me into being a commissioner. Vlet told me, he said it was going to be simple, easy, couple of times a week and a couple of times a month. It's not. It's a lot of leg work, a lot of homework, a lot of preparation for each meeting. And um I want to thank Pops, Mike Satderfield, Kathy Stark, Joseph McMullen, Rick Pollen. We had a stellar team. You guys are now part of another team. Thank you. Congratulations, Chris. Congratulations, Yikica. Congratulations, Joseph. It's been a true pleasure working with you guys. It's an honor. The wisdom and u leadership you guys have shared with me has just I'm going to carry it for a long time. It helped me a lot here. Um, Joseph said it during his campaign, it's the success of Oakland is no accident. It happens with a lot of planning, a lot of work with a team right here behind us. And uh, we have a lot of work yet to do. You guys are now completing the vision we had years back. And um,

congratulations and continue on. I'm going to miss this uh setting that I have to be sitting on that side now and watching what you guys say and coming over here and asking a lot of questions, but I'm sure you guys will answer well. Thank you so much, guys. I really appreciate. Thank God. Thank all of you once again. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, S. We're going to uh got 15 minutes before the 7 o'clock meeting. Um, so you're more than welcome to uh uh uh hang out and meet, but if you want to hang around for the 7 o'clock and watch these people work, uh you're more than welcome to do that. So again, again everybody, thank you very much for coming and celebrating this with us. Thank you. Good deal. All right. Uh, hey, thanks. Couple of you guys stayed around. I appreciate that. That's great. Um, we're going to, uh, call to order the, uh, Oakland Town Commission meeting for March 24th, 2026. If everybody could please stand for the pledge. Yes, ma'am. Please.

Hey, I'm glad to give up each and level.

Thank you, Mrs. Mac. You sure you've never done this before, Mayor? All right. Good evening, Kathy. Good evening, Commissioner Keller. Here, Vice Mayor Satderfield, Mayor Taylor here. Commissioner Mley, Commissioner McMullen.

Okay. Again, congratulations to everyone. Looking forward to serving with you guys. Uh we've got a couple of proclamations uh tonight that we'll um read over and we'll start first. Um water conservation month. Whereas water is a basic and essential need of every living creature and the state of Florida Water Management District and the town of Oakland are working together to increase awareness about the importance of water conservation. And the town of Oakland and the state of Florida have designated April typically a dry month when water demands are most acute. Florida's Water Conservation Month to educate citizens about how they can help save Florida's precious water resources. And the town of Oakland has always encouraged and supported water conservation through various educational programs and special events. And every business, industry, school, and resident can help by saving water and thus promote a healthy economy and community. And outdoor irrigation compromises a large portion of water use. The town of Oakland will encourage residents and business to focus on improving outdoor irrigation efficiencies. Now therefore, I Shane Taylor on behalf of the town of Oakland Commission recognized April 2026 as water conservation month. The town of Oakland calls upon all residents and businesses to help protect our precious water resources by practicing water saving measures and increasing awareness of the importance of conservation. Check your irrigation. So now's your time to do it, right, Mike? Go. All right. Moving on. Is the uh uh child abuse prevention month wear blue day. Lord's future depends on the well-being of his children. And child abuse and neglect have serious consequences for families and society. And all children deserve a safe, healthy, and supportive environment. And strong support systems help parents and caregivers provide nurturing homes. and the entire community plays a role in fostering

children's development and child abuse prevention month and wear blue day raise awareness and encourage action to strengthen families. Now therefore, I Shane Taylor on behalf of the town of Oakland Commission do proclaim April 2026 as child abuse prevention month and Friday, April 10th, 2026 as wear blue day to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect. Go. All right. Moving on to our consent agenda. Um, and the items on the agenda uh are uh approval of February 24th, 2026 town commission regular meeting minutes. Approval to negoti negotiate a one-year agreement with Discover after school or before and after school provider contract. That's RFP 20261. and approval of the Disney litigation mediation. Approval of agreement with Garcia Civil Contractors for improvements of the intersection of Winter's Landing Drive and Mackie Avenue. That's bid number 2026-02. And lastly, approval of a road surfacing project of Milh Holland Way, Vandermir Avenue, Star and Demon Street. Um, are there any questions, concerns, or or any anybody? Um, I'm going to ask that we remove item E, approval of the road surfacing project of Mil Holland Way, Vandermir Avenue, Star, and Demon Street. There's some issues on there, items I'd like to have a public works director um answer for us before we proceed with that. So, that will come back to us. We'll table them right now. Any comments or questions?

I just wanted to know as it relates to item C, the approval of the Disney litigation mediation. Was the town of Oakland a party to that litigation? You want to? Yes, Pam is here. We could actually call her up. Yeah.

Good evening. I'm Pam Dwire, principal at the school. So the answer is technically the town of Oakland is the owner and operator of the school. So ultimately yes, but the financial um responsibility lie upon the school Oakland Avenue Charter School in regards to um any debt that is owed back uh due to the um tax um assessment issues that were related to uh Disney's uh tax assessment for the last several years. Okay. Yeah. Anything else? Okay. Uh with that, we'll entertain a motion. Make the motion to accept the consent agenda tableing item.

Okay. Second. I'll second the motion. All in favor? I. I. Okay. All right. So, uh the other issue we have on here tonight is the election of vice mayor. And um as you know the election of vice mayor occurs with an election plus periodically uh once a year if there is no elections. Currently uh vice mayor Satderfield is the vice mayor. So with that um would we like to nominate anyone else or are we satisfied? Satisfied. Fine with that.

Okay. So, we're all in agreement. My name Mike Satderfield. Okay. So, uh recommendation to continue having Mike Satderfield as our vice mayor. Well, I guess I keep the shirt. Yeah, you keep the shirt. Congratulations. Okay. All right. Good job. Another year. Only reason I wore it. I thought I was going to have to change it from my whole life.

Yeah. All right. Uh next on the item is the uh liaison board. Um Kathy, do you want to speak to the liaison board and what we have there? Yes. Good evening. Um there are let's see here one. We have five boards here. Um one was previously held by S Ramos and we need to fill that vacancy with the Metrop Plan Orlando Municipal Advisory Committee or otherwise known as the MAC. Uh that board meets the first Thursday of the month at 9:30 a.m. Um and the other boards have representatives. So it just depends if the other representatives want to stay on their board or do they want to try a different board for the next year. So that's a discussion among you all. Thank you.

Thank you. So uh just to re reiterate what Kathy said. So there are one, two, three, four, five boards. metro plan which was previously held by Commissioner Ramos. Um myself, I sit on the West Orange Chamber Commerce Board which I'm um happy to continue doing. Um our town manager Elise Louie sits on the Oakland Nature Preserve Board as a member of the town and uh Vice Mayor Sirefield is a principal advisory council and then Commissioner McMullen is the Florida League of Cities. Are you guys okay with your continuing memberships. I'm fine.

Okay. Uh so we need to fill the uh metro plan board um with that takers. Um I would be happy to take on that responsibility. I've expressed to Elise that now that I am uh reupt for four more years that I want to continue to support the town and be as engaged and involved as I can. So with that opening, I'm happy to take on that responsibility for the town. So, we appreciate that. Is uh anybody good with that? Okay. Do we need to make a motion or anything or we just gonna throw her at it? Please make a motion. Okay. I'll entertain a motion. Make the motion for Chris to be our representative for the metro planer landed municipal advisor.

A second. Second. All in favor? I. Okay. Congratulations, Commissioner Keller. Okay. So, now we've come to the part where it's public forum. Um, if there's anyone in the audience that would like to speak on any topic that is not on the current agenda, uh, if you would like to raise your hand or come up to the podium and speak. No takers. Okay, sounds good. Then we'll close the public forum and we'll go to the uh, town manager.

Good evening. So, I want to first by um just start by thanking our canvasing board, Mayor Taylor, Vice Mayor Satderfield, Kathy um and myself. We spent a couple days Kathy spent more than the rest of us um at the Supervisor of Elections office as part of the process. If any of you are ever inclined to find out how the election process works at the Supervisor of Elections, there's public viewings for everything. you can go down there and see how all the equipment works. I think Mayor Taylor found it um very interesting. He asked a ton of questions as you could expect. Um but but it was it's it's a very important part of the process to actually go down there and watch all the election results coming in and certify the election. So um it was I I appreciate everybody being willing to be part of that. Um celebration among the oaks is coming up Saturday 10 to 1. So, bring the kiddos out, have a good time. If you don't have kiddos, come out anyway. There'll be a lot of good vendors and food trucks. Um, we're looking forward to that. Um, the Art and Heritage Center annual report was in the agenda packet. If you didn't have a chance to to see that, Lynn did a fantastic job kind of recapping everything that the Art and Heritage Center did this last year um in 2025. So, take a look at that. We have a new exhibit opening um April 18th through the July 24th at the Arts and Heritage Center. It'll have to do with colors and should be very vi vibrant. So um the artists opening is April 16th. So that should be a fun night. And then Firefly Nights at Oakland Nation Preserve are March through April and you can find those dates on OP's website. You don't have to pay. You just can go down there, walk through the boardwalk and hopefully

see some fireflies. Um, I did want to talk a little bit about legislative session. So, legislative session wrapped up. There was no budget um approved. So, they're going to go into special session. And it sounds like that they may be calling a special session if not in conjunction with the budget session, but separate for um property taxes to continue that talk. Um, so we need to keep up our discussions about what that means to the town of Oakland. There is a new page on the Oakland website. It's called property tax info. Um, it's on the finance page. So, we we're starting to relay some of that information to the general public about what that looks like. In addition, there were a whole bunch of bills that were passed that are headed to the governor's desk that are not friendly to municipalities. Um, so we're keeping an eye on those. There's extra things we'll have to be doing with without any extra funding. Um, so we will be keeping a close eye on those and we should have more information as they get signed by the governor. That's all I have.

Okay. And and you're still going to try to do the workshops with the uh budget once. will and we'll be required next year to probably do some additional um budget work sessions or activities as part of one of the the bills that's coming through as well. Thank you, Kathy. Thank you. Um a big shout out and thank you to all of our residents who voted. We had a solid voted voter turnout at 15% which is very good for a local election. And as you all have heard earlier, we have openings on the appearance review board and the planning and zoning board. So, please see me if you're interested. That's it.

Awesome. Thank you very much. Uh Andrew, anything? No, sir. Ashley. Hi there. Ashley Waspy, manager of human resources and payroll here at the town. I would like to acknowledge three employees that are celebrating anniversaries this month. I'm going to start with the gentleman in back that is here representing Oakland Police Department, Mr. Justin Gao. He is celebrating three years of service. Come on out. Come on out. You're late.

He thought he can hide. Um I'd also like to acknowledge Riley Carroll. He works on our maintenance team in public works celebrating two years with us. And then S Carrie Sykes, a fifth grade teacher at Oakland Avenue Charter Schools, celebrating five years of service. So, thank you to our employees. Thank you. Chief, Deputy Chief, anything? Uh, I would be remiss if I didn't congratulate Sergeant Gal. Yes. Not only has he been here three years, but he managed to grow facial hair.

Yeah. Um, no, but seriously, on a serious note, not only congratulations, but thank you to the commissioners who are willing to be a part of this team. I look forward to working with each one of you over the next four years or until you fire me. Um, and for those of you that don't want to have to be heard, uh, have to have Lieutenant Castro harass you, the 5K is already open for registration. Not until November.

November 21st is the 5K. but he was he started pressuring us already. Uh but it is open for registration. We look forward to having the largest crowd that we've had to date. Last year was just around 150 I believe. So uh we're going to shoot for 200 this year and see what we can do. It's been a really good success and we're able to put the money right back into the community. So look forward to that. Thank you. Great. Hey, would you like to talk a little bit about the uh police cruisers that are coming in, the new ones? And uh um or do you want want to give everybody a heads up about uh the new color scheme? So, no.

Yeah. No, no, no. Like that there's being things I learned in police school and it's never say no to the mayor is one of them. Um so, we're actually supposed to take delivery of one of the new ones this week, hopefully at the latest Saturday. Uh you will notice a new complete new color scheme paint scheme on the on the police cars that are coming in. We're transitioning. U it's it's a they're going to be white based instead of black and white mixed with a very colorful design that was designed by one of our own. Kelly Sims designed it and it's it's going to I'm really excited to see it. I saw it on paper today. Uh it looks really good and uh eventually what we're not going to restripe the cars we already have through attrition. We will put the new new paint scheme. It financially it doesn't make sense to to change the color of the ones we already have. So but you will see a new color scheme rolling around town. It is an Oakland police car, believe it or not. And it's up with the latest technology and u safety equipment which really good. We'll we'll give some demonstrations to the commission and let you see what we're doing. The safety equipment we were able to get donated to us for free, so we're not paying for that, but it is cutting edge. It's to to give you just a brief synopsis. There's we have it put on two cars and if two cars are running in emergency mode towards each other, like on perpendicular roads, it will alert the the officers driving the cars that you're approaching another emergency vehicle that's also could be driving at a high speed. It'll also alert you of a paramedics, fire trucks, anything like that. So, as you approach the intersection, you can approach it a lot safer and it's going to reduce crashes, things like that for emergency responses. And there's a bunch of other features on it. Really, really good. But, uh, Lieutenant Castro, if we take delivery of the car before Saturday, he'll have it at Celebration Among the

Oaks. Uh unfortunately I will not be here but uh you will go ahead and show it off to everybody and as well as the side by side which already seen but we'll have that out here as well. When we see the new cars we'll explain more about it. I'm excited to see the new paint. Absolutely. Thank you. Yeah. You're welcome. It's what I It's my job. And Renee, we expect if you bring that car dressed as the Easter Bunny probably Give me your gun.

Yeah, pretty cool uh paint scheme that's coming up on those. So, uh let's see, John, public works director. Yes, thank you. Um so, with public works, I'm just it's not really much to report um tonight. just let everybody know I'm reaching out to the surrounding cities to introduce myself to the other directors and um public works and utilities. I'm also looking forward to KO and um just preparing for this budget season. Thank you, sir. Mr. Parker.

Uh, the only thing I have is, uh, last Thursday evening, I had a an opportunity or actually a privilege to meet with the Oakland Point Homeowners Association and give them kind of an overview of our sewer project that's uh, in design right now and how it will affect their neighborhood or not affect their neighborhood in the in the near future. Um, I see a couple of residents here that were there Thursday night. Um, and I also had u had an another um easement that we were negotiating that night. So, uh, it was it was a good turnout. I think we had about uh a dozen or 14 people. So, that's it.

Thank you, Mike. Did we hear everybody?

All right, we'll start with Commissioner Keller. So, um, again, you know, thank you to the town and and everybody for letting me, uh, be able to serve for four more years. I'm super excited to continue and and also now being part of Metro Plan, just continuing my service to the town. Um, I did want to say that I really enjoyed Principal Dwire's report in the reports. You know, if you if you ever look through the packet because we get the same packet that that y'all get, but or y'all have access to the packet that we get before each meeting and it was really fun reading through the school um report from Principal Dwire and seeing what all the kids at every grade are doing and all the activities that they have coming up. It was if you if you have kiddos that might be going to Oakland Charter someday or um it's just it was just really fun to see all the different activities that kids were doing. So, thank you for such a fun report. It was great to see.

You think fifth grade gets to go to Universal. I know. Wow.

I know. but just all their different little projects and the things that they're implementing to learn different things and you know you get to a point where you feel like you know I love to learn and I think it's important to always be learning and expanding like obviously being on the commission I've learned a lot of new things but um just seeing all the activities that are planned around the different things and how they apply to how they learn things was really fun to see. Um, I also wanted to say, you know, just kind of an extension of what Commissioner McMullen said, um, after swearing in, and I've said this before, but we are all accessible to you, whether it's through the town website, through our emails, call the town. Some of us have our cell phones available, but if not, even then, you can just call the town. I think, you know, um I'm always frustrated and and I'll be honest, I'm never going to comment on so social media, but you know, don't tag the town on those on the individual pages. If you we are so lucky to live in a town that you can literally call uh pick up the phone and call or email us. If there's something that's a concern, please reach out. I mean, we live in a two square mile town. If you can't reach out to any one of us or all of us, you can literally go on the website, click commission and it'll send an email that we all get including the town staff that can be addressed. Um, I think that it's really important and please share with your friends that if you want to know what's going on in the town and again I've said this before, follow the town page, follow the heritage center page, follow the PD page. You'll get firsthand the information. You'll also get great information. Kelly does a great job on um there was a road, you know, some road work being done or whether it's town events. And if there's something that concerns you, again, we're so fortunate to live in a town that you can literally call and talk to Elise or reach out to us and and we're here to answer those

questions for you. Um and I think it's important to share that because I think sometimes we live in this world where it's so easy to go to social media and post something. Um, but you're you don't get a response there. And again, it's something a lot of times I see stuff that I want to comment on, but obviously our lawyer can tell you that like once we comment as a commissioner, for one, I like to keep my Facebook page just my friends and family, my Facebook page becomes public record. It, you know, it's a big thing because that information if we interact has to be public record. So, um, don't leave it up to, you know, somebody thinks or somebody whatever when you can literally call us. And so, I know that all of us, um, serve the town are willing to to answer your questions and and try to address anything. And again, you can always come here to the meetings. So, it was just something I wanted to share. And then I'll see you Saturday at Celebration Among the Oaks, another one of our great town events. So, thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Mley.

Drum roll. Oh boy. Don't have very much to say. I just want to um thank each and every one of the commissioners as well as the town staff for being accessible and welcoming me to this seat. Um I'm eager to work. I look forward to um purposeful work and optimism. and um my only agenda is to serve the residents and the town of Oakland. So with that, thank you. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

I I want to thank Commissioner Mley because we are starting a brand new commissioner orientation process and she has agreed to be our first guinea pig. So, it'll be a very formal process that we're going to try moving forward. Um, so that if we get somebody that hasn't maybe served on one of the boards, she served on charter review committee but doesn't have the background of of somebody that served for 16 years on planning and zoning board or something, then we can step them through the process. They can meet all the department heads. Um, Commissioner Keller kind of did her own, you know, setting up her her meetings and things like that, but we're going to have a very formal process and test it out and see what she thinks. So,

and bringing up charter review, I again want to thank all of the members of the charter review committee that were appointed along with me because we did do some arduous work and we were able to present six amendments on the ballot that were all passed by vote. So, thank you all. Thank you very much for your work on that. Commissioner McMullen,

just be real brief. Um, again, just want to echo the thank yous and um, also echo echo my availability um, as I mentioned forever. Um, but on last Thursday, I'm surprised no one mentioned, but on last Thursday, Ashley, Gabby, Elise, and Commissioner Carol and myself attended the Tri County League lunch and we heard from the FLC president and I think about seven state legislators about the things, seven state legislators around the area about some of the things that they did and some of their frustrations as well. But um it was a good lunching, very um educational. It it went a little long um but it was just good to see what's going on in different areas along with you know sit down and talk with different um elected around the tri county area. That was last Thursday at the FLC building. That's what I have.

You congratulations. Congratulations. I hate this thing. This is giving me the evil eye. Congratulations to the three of y'all. Um, here's to uh another fun lineup for a few years. Um, I'm sure it's going to be very successful for all of us. So, it's just going to be uh fun going forward. So, um, and I only other thing I want to say is I still want to reiterate, I think Chris said it, I think Shane has said it, getting on these boards is so so important. It really shows you and gives you a snapshot of what it's like to be on this side of the table. It really uh gives you an edge on experience on what to expect, how to expect, why to expect. Um so please listen to everyone. If you have the time and you can take the time, please help us out because we we need you on this board. As much as I'm pushing the experience that you get from it as they are, uh we flat out need you. Um, in all the years that I've that I've been doing this, if it wasn't uh for the boards, we could have never gotten anywhere we needed to be. Um, the residents make it all. So, help us out. Thank you. You um I just want to uh just for everybody on the on the board here, um and the new ones and and the residents as well, just to kind of highlight some projects that um our staff, town staff's been working on. Um I've been involved in in a few of them. Um and if you recall, we talked a while back about a um cell tower and the telecom ordinance because you know cell tower reception here is absolutely horrible. Uh so we have uh been working with our uh town attorney and drafting a telecom ordinance uh that will uh allow the construction and sighting of cell

towers on designated town owned property. Um those specifics are being drafted. we're trying to go through those. So, that will be coming before us here uh soon. Uh once that ordinance and uh I think there's a special exception that has to go along with that. So, once all that is completed um and simultaneously town manager will go out to an RFP to solicit bids for a uh operator carrier. Um there's several large companies that handle and ma build cell towers, but allowing us to place it on uh town owned property. We lease that property out to those uh carriers or the uh town uh tower owner operators. Uh and then on top of that, the town then receives revenues off not only the lease land but also uh off of the carriers themselves. So the more carriers you get, the more land you get. So, um, in some instances, it could be a very big win for the town, uh, for revenue stream that's coming in, and that's utilizing some assets that the town has, which is vacant land. That would work. Right now, the, uh, area that we're looking at putting that would be behind uh, the police department on some uh, vacant uh, land that we have there. So, that's where that uh, tower would go, and that should be able to hit everybody here. So, you'll start to we'll start to see uh, that coming in. Um the other thing we've been working on um and this is something we approved or is a is a Tub Street overlay uh ordinance that will be coming through. Um this is taking uh Tub Street. This will provide an economic opportunity for the town and kind of help us establish kind of a main street as you come off of 50. And um uh it will tie in from the 50 all the way up to kind of the town center right here. Um yeah, it would

also establish commercial opportunities, a corridor that will reflect our charm of our town center. Uh it also allow a mix of uses that would include retail, restaurant, uh residential office and also in part of that uh streetscape would be a defined uh streetscape uh plan that we would look at um developers appetite to come in and I think it's a very uh healthy appetite to come and do a private partnership with us to help us fund uh some of these initiatives on on on Tub So, um that ordinance is being uh reviewed by Kim Horn, which is our town engineer, and uh then that will go through probably Garrett, the town attorney, and all of us to come through take a look at it. The other good thing about having this town ordinance is there's a if you've ever read Land Development Code, there's a lot of gaps and some contradictions that happened in there. So, this will clean up some of those uh contradictions and gaps in our in our land development code. Um I know that the town staff and the contracted town planner has been very busy with um developers that have been coming in town. Um I think as of right now there's 19 potential developments that would be coming into 50 which is very very good uh and they're in various stages. Some are just conceptual some uh you know we we've approved four street that's uh that one's completed uh but there's a few that's coming by tractor supply. So, if you think about 50 and every vacant lot that's on 50, um there are I think everyone but just a couple that are that are being touched right now and there's a couple of them uh that are in town

will uh come in. When I say in town off of 50, but a majority of them are on 50 and it and it's holding true. They the town planner and the lease have been doing a great job scrutinizing who is coming in to town. So, we're not allowing, you know, the the car dealerships and the car washes and the gas stations and the simple stuff that's easy to build and get out. We're being very meticulous about what we are allowing in town and it's got to be something that caters to the residents. So, um uh keep uh we'll be we'll be seeing things starting to come in a little bit to ARB and PNZ over over. But, um kudos to town staff for all that. Um there is um so you know by allowing some of these items to come in and allowing this commercial to hit in I know we've been talking about this and with what's on the plate of Tallahassee and what could come in with the um homestead or the property tax issue and that's not finalized yet by us focusing our attention to the commercial economic development that will help us tip the scales a little bit in our favor because right now the town relies on 74 to 75% of residential tax that comes in. So by us focusing on on what we're trying to do here in pushes and and if you recall when I ran two years ago that was my focus. My focus was to bring in this commercial development in a thoughtful and a very uh con constructive manner, not to ruin the charm of this town. And that's not something we want to do. I live here just like you live here. We do not want to do that. But we ha we have the opportunity to be selected. But by allowing this to come in, it kind of helps tip the scales a little bit uh on

that favor and lessens the burden on the resident to help pay for some of the services that happen here. So that's um that's probably the most important part of of of trying to uh to do this as well. Um so that's what's coming up on on projects that I know the town staff has been working on. And and again any commissioner just with Elise and she can kind of give you a whole rundown of what's happening. And if you'd like uh in Mike Parker's office, he's got a whiteboard colorcoded and you can see all the big projects that Mike is is working on as well. Um there's a lot of them out there. There's a lot of things that are happening in this little small town. It's amazing how much happens uh here as well with uh this wonderful staff we have. And then Janelle, John El, if you want to go to his office, just bust in the door there and uh you know, and you see what he's got going on. Um the other topic I kind of wanted to bring up and and I think it's a very important one and I want us to consider it um and it's the um it's it's about ordinance. Um, we're having um, and I'm, and again, I will say right now, I am not opposed to food trucks. I think food trucks are awesome. I think they're cool to have. I think it creates this vibe in the community. Uh, but what I don't what I would not want to see is just food trucks just popping up everywhere. I think there has to be some sort of control feature to where they're allowed to operate and how they're to operate stuff. So, um I've asked um u the town manager to take a look at that um as well and try to do this before it gets out of hand. If you notice um the the the coffee uh food truck or coffee trailer up there, awesome. It looks great. Um it I have not yet had a chance to stop by, but um the what they're doing there and the landscaping and all that um it's a great model. But then you go down the street a little bit, then

there's two food trucks and and there's one on the ride of way. So, it's just things like that that we have to kind of um look at. And then if you go tractor supply, uh you know, there's some food trucks that are happening there. We just need to designate those areas where we're going to allow something like that and what the parameter parameters are on something like that. Um, what you don't want to do is have so much of the food trucks in town that it takes away from the brick and mortar that could potentially come into town because if you were a brick-and-mortar restaurant or an owner, you don't want to compete with somebody who's not having to pay the taxes, who's not having to to run a real business. So, it's just we have to be methodical about what we're what we're doing there. So, that's that's it for me on that. So, thank you for hearing my Anything else?

Anybody want to get with Mike Parker? Because I think we had a full ordinance before. I do a food truck night. Sorry. Apologize. I know.

Yeah. No, no, no, no. I can address that. So, we started looking at um a food truck ordinance when the state said that we could not disallow food trucks. So we started looking at it and part of what we came into is we just had a couple food trucks in town. And so then when we started looking into it, it was who's going to oversee this, right? Who's going to oversee the process and make sure that they're licensed and this and that and we were we ended up coming to the resolution. This was when um town manager Steve Coun was still with us and that we were creating more of a administrative problem than we had a problem. Right. And so what we had said at the time was that if it be started to become more of an issue, we would revisit at that time, but we had started setting the baseline um rec recommendations at that time. So we have something to work off of and then we just need to figure out who's going to enforce it.

Yeah. Yeah. And again, I don't I mean, like I said, I'm not against the food trucks. I think if you had a uh area set aside where it's it's several food trucks uh in the evening, that would be pretty cool. I've seen it done in other towns where they've had uh an area set aside where it's just a gathering spot. But um again, you want to be able to control that uh use so that it's not, you know, number one, public safety is going to become an issue, you know, trash. Um and at least said the state has it there they they will not allow you to really enforce a lot of the stuff like for example you can't ask for certain things. You have to uh you have to have a a food service license and stuff like that. So there's certain things that you you we as the town can do but there's certain things you cannot enforce that the state has issued and that being what you said earlier is is one of those is one of those issues. So, um, I look forward to it. I think it will be I think it's a great asset if it's in certain areas of a town. And that's just something we need to think about is what sections of town do you want to allow those? And and the other thing is they have to be in certain areas like commercial uh industrial areas. You can't just have it in your front yard or an HOA or anything like that. Uh, so they have to be there and then there's other things where you have to get permission from the owner that, hey, I'm allowing this to be on the property and stuff like that. So, uh, just something to think about. So, that's to come down the pike here with all the other, uh, stuff that's going to be cranking out. So, um, join the commission at a very fun time. So, yeah. So, is there anything else that anybody has to the order?

No, Joseph. All right. of our hearts and minds are satisfied. But before we adjourn, I want to um emphasize what Miss Mack has told many people in this room and outside the room. That's lead with love. Leave with love. Let's journey. Thank you.