City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Will you stand, please? Chaplain Tony Clayton will do our invocation.

Good afternoon, city council, mister mayor, city and staff in public. Would you please join me in prayer? Almighty god, gracious heavenly father, lord, thank you again for another beautiful day here in Marion County. God, just ask that you would impart your wisdom and discernment to our city council and mayor, father god, that you would direct their decisions to continue to further, the excellence of this great community and that you would have your blessing upon our community and upon our meeting this evening. Father, may you be glorified and honored in all things, and we praise you in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

It is now 4PM on Tuesday, 04/21/2026, and this meeting of the O'Kelly City Council is called to order. Clerk, please call the roll.

Mister Marciano? Here. Mister Musley? Miss Dreyer? Here. Mister Hilty?

Here.

Mister Mansfield?

Here.

Mister Bethe?

Here. Item two, we have some new employees. When you hear your name call, will you please stand for us? Justin McMillan, community development services. Sarah Andre, growth management. Philip Curtis, growth management. Jasmine Daques, growth management.

Okay.

Did I mess that up, ma'am? Diego, yes, ma'am. Thank you.

He messed that up. Yes. Okay.

Stacy Duffy, growth management. Ruben Malquist, public works. Alright. How about let's give all of them a hand? Welcome to the city family. The clerk will provide the public notice for this evening meeting.

The 04/21/2026 city council meeting was publicly noticed on 03/03/2026 on the city of Ocala's website. As a reminder, public comments and presentations are limited to three minutes unless authorized to stand beyond that time by the council president or majority of council. All materials for the mayor of city council must be given to the attending staff for distribution. Prior to speaking at the podium, please state your name and address for the record. And to maintain order, speakers must be recognized by the council president. Please silence your cell phones and electronic devices for the duration of this meeting. Thank you.

Item four four a is a presentation of the mayor's citizen recognition award to Tyler Cochran.

Good

to see you tonight. Yes, sir. Yeah. Alright, every month we recognize a citizen for doing outstanding work in the community and it is an honor to recognize you Tyler for the work that you're doing. So I'm gonna read your nomination.

So Tyler is a deserve is deserving of the mayor's recognition for his unwavering dedication to serving and uplifting the Ocala community. Tyler faithfully invest count countless hours in mentoring middle school and high school aged boys throughout Marion County. Through his role at Young Life and of the Marion County and of his personal time, Tyler has led numerous small group meetings and has facilitated opportunities for students to attend transformational camps several times a year. Tyler frequently hosts young people in his home and in the community, encouraging them to engage civically and in activities that promote mental and social well-being. With social isolation and high rates of mental illness, this type of leadership and kindness is saving lives of a future generation.

He is inspiring young people to attend camps and activities that enrich their social connections. Tyler also owns One Body Fitness along with his wife Lizzie, who I saw here tonight. Raise your hand Lizzie, there she is. They focus on mind, body and spirit. Tyler and Lizzie are also known for their quiet acts of kindness throughout Ocala. They routinely carry water bottles and snacks in their vehicles to distribute to individuals experiencing homelessness or hardship, offering dignity, compassion, and hope through simple gestures. Their generosity inspires others to serve and reinforce the spirit of community care. So Tyler, it is our honor to recognize you, and I've had the opportunity to get to know you a little bit, and I can tell that your heart is to serve, and we are blessed to have you in our community. Would you like to say a few words?

Yeah. So I work for Young Life. I grew up in a church, didn't really know what it meant to follow Jesus, and Young Life actually is where I began my relationship with Jesus. It completely transformed my life. Someone, that wasn't a family member or a friend, really poured into me and showed me the love of Christ, and now I get to hopefully give kids the same experience that I got to have when I was in high school. So I love what I get to do, pouring into the next generation. But yeah, thank you guys.

Tyler, here's a certificate. You also have a gift card to take your wife out to dinner. And then a mayor's challenge coin. So I'm gonna put that down while we get a picture.

Four B, presentation of the Arbor Day proclamation to Amy Liberty, recreation and park special service division head, and Anthony Santig Santigelo. O'Kelly Electric Utility. I'm messing up the damn Hey. I'm doing the best I can.

Alright. A proclamation to recognize Arbor Day. Whereas in 1872, the Nebraska Board of Agriculture established a special day to be set aside for the planting of trees. Whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska and is now observed throughout the nation and the world. Whereas trees can be a solution to combating climate change by reducing erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, cutting heating and cooling costs, moderating the temperature, cleaning the air, producing life giving oxygen and providing a habitat for wildlife.

Whereas trees are a renewable resource, giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires and countless other wood products. Whereas the trees in our city increase property values, enhance economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community. Whereas trees, whenever they are planted, are a source source of joy and spiritual renewal. Now therefore, I, Ben Marciano, by the virtue of authority vested in me as the mayor of City of Ocala, Florida, do hereby declare 04/24/2026 to be Arbor Day. In Ocala, I urge all citizens to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands and to plant trees to gladden the heart and promote the well-being of this for future generations.

In witness whereof, I hereto set my hand and cause the seal of the City of Ocala, Florida to be affixed this April 2026. Awesome. Thanks for doing this. Would like to say

a few words?

Sure. So

we invite everybody. Each year when we do our Arbor Day proclamation, we host an event to celebrate. So this weekend, this Saturday, is our annual Earth Fest event. It's at Tuscola Park from 9AM to 1PM. We have a variety of outdoor activities, great for the kids and the families. Recreation and Parks and Cal Electric will be giving away free trees and pollinator plants. So you can also do your part to kind of help the environment and help our community and take home a native tree or plant that goes well as Florida Friendly.

And those trees go fast. Yes.

They go fast, get there early.

Did you jump

on your website?

Sure. First of all I want to thank y'all for having me. It is an honor to represent Ocala Electric Utilities and the City Of Ocala. As well we will be there at Tuscaloosa as well though Tower Hill Nurseries on NE 36th Avenue, we'll be giving away trees tomorrow. Limited supply between ten to three or till supplies last. So come on out, get you a tree and let's plant some. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Four c is a service award to captain Chris Hickman for twenty five years of service with Ocala five year old. You

might wanna take a whole lap around the building if you can

get

all

out

of the house.

She was. Congratulations. Thank you. Chris Hickman was born in Morristown, Tennessee, but considers himself a Florida native. I don't know exactly how that works, but okay.

And was hired by Ocala Fire Rescue in 2001. During his twenty five years of service, he has worked his way through the ranks of from firefighter paramedic to captain, demonstrating unwavering commitment to excellence, leadership, and service to the community. Captain Hickman is an innovative and mission driven fire service leader with over thirty years of progressive experience in emergency medical services, community paramedicine, and multi agency health integration. He is a board level collaborator and architect of one of Florida's most comprehensive mobile integrated health, or MIH, programs. He is widely recognized for pioneering community based care models that reduce nine eleven utilization, improve chronic disease outcomes, and strengthen partnerships between fire service, hospital systems, public health, and social service agencies.

Captain Hickman currently serves as a captain with Ocala Fire Rescue and is widely recognized as a leader in mobile integrated health and community paramedicine. He serves the program as a program coordinator for the Ocala Marian Mentorship Program, which has assisted hundreds in pursuing careers as first responders. He was also among the first International Association of Firefighters Peer Fitness Instructors promoting firefighter health, resilience, and wellness. Through his distinguished career, Captain Hickman has received numerous honors, including council president award in 2022 and in 2026, 2008 Firefighter Medal of Valor, 2016 Firefighter of the Year, 2024 Mobile Integrated Health Advocate Award. His leadership, innovation, and dedication has significantly shaped the evolution of community paramedicine in the region and strengthened the mission of Ocala Fire Rescue.

Please join me in thanking and congratulating Captain Hickman for his all of his twenty five years and all of his accomplishments. Thank you very much.

More so than anything, thank you for all that have brought me to this point because there's no one who gets twenty five years of service with any agency that didn't have support from the beginning. I've had a great, great group of leaders as examples, and I keep following in their footsteps to make our community better. Thank you, guys.

Before Chris sit down, because I'm pretty sure a few of these people may leave when, but just want you to know that we've been watching you many, many years. I know you. We have three other people coming up behind you, and the four of you exemplify service to your community. Community. All these other three people coming, I wanted to make sure I said this before you left. Okay, Chris? You're just simply outstanding. So he's a jolly good fellow. Right?

Alright, thank you. For

D is a service award to Robin Ford for thirty five years of service with Community Development Services. Congratulations

and thank you for all

that you do.

A committed resident of Ocala since 1990, Robin has spent over three decades serving our community through law enforcement and social advocacy. Her career began in October 1990 with the Ocala Police Department, where she rose through the ranks over thirty one years of dedicated service, retiring in February 2021 as a police major. Driven by a mission to make a tangible difference, Robin transitioned immediately into humanitarian to the humanitarian sector. After serving as the manager for the city of Ocala Office for Homeless Prevention, she was named deputy director of community housing services in 2025. In this role, she leverages her extensive experience to guide individuals through crises toward long term stability.

On a personal note, Robin enjoys spending time with her husband, Rich, on their small horse farm. She is the proud mother of Sarah, a family medicine physician in Gainesville, and son-in-law Brandon, and she cherishes time as a grandmother to Cove and Islay. When not working to improve community housing, she can be found embracing the quiet of farm life, working on her property, and riding horses. I'm a little jealous. For thirty five years of service, again, please join me in congratulating and thanking.

Come on.

Well, just wanted to thank my team. The team that I have now is just amazing and the things that we're able to do in the community. They're just a great group of people. The city has always been such a wonderful employer to me and given me incredible opportunities to work in this organization. Anytime I get a chance to tell anybody about the city and how great a place it is to work, I do. So thank you.

Thank you.

For thirty five years of service.

You. Donna

Gwen began her career with the Ocala Police Department in 1991. She became the first victim advocate coordinator in 1994 and is currently the supervisor. Over her thirty five years of service, Donna was instrumental in creating policies and procedures for the victim witness advocate program. She assisted with the establishment of the first children's advocacy center in Marion County, proactive domestic violence warrant policy, seniors versus crime, victim assistance program, cell phone program, memory impaired program, and the dating violence program for middle and high school students. Students.

Donna has also implemented free community workshops for domestic dating violence and elderly issues. In 2020 in 2010, she helped establish the first human trafficking task force in Marion County and currently serves as the co chair. Donna Gwyn has a distinguished career with numerous certifications and awards. She's a valued member of the victim advocate profession locally and around the state and a value and a valuable member of our community. Thank you very much, and join me in thanking her for her.

I would just like to thank the team of advocates, some that are here, some that are not, Ms. Ranji, because everybody that I've worked with, I've learned from, and they inspire me to keep going because it takes energy to keep going. They say if you get to do what you love, you're blessed, and I am blessed. And trying to be a blessing to other people is the best. It's the best feeling, and all of us can advocate for others.

So I just appreciate my family, friends, the leadership that I've had at our department. I've had many bosses, including Robin Ford that was just up here. All of you have meant the world to me and continue to mean the world to me, and I can't thank you enough. In honor of Victims' Rights Week, tomorrow we're having a special domestic violence workshop, and we would love to have you. We honor our victims and survivors, and we always want to let people know it's not just about making a report or going to shelter. It's about reaching out to an advocate, getting that help and knowing it's never too late.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Item four f is a service award to Howard Smallwood Junior for thirty five years of service with O'Kellah Electric Utilities.

Sir?

Howard Smallwood began his career on 04/01/1991 as a storm water maintenance worker in the Public Works Department and was quickly promoted to Equipment Operator one. In 1994, Howard joined the Electric Department as a groundman and advanced the line truck operator within seven months. He completed the Lineman Apprentice Program in 2001, becoming a journeyman lineman, and was later promoted to line crew foreman in 2012. Howard is passionate about serving our customers and our community. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time outdoors. He's been married to his wife, April, for thirty two years, and they have one daughter Lainie. Please join me in thanking and congratulating Howard Smallwood.

Just the last time I was up here, it was '25, but just tell everybody do your best, follow the rules, and it'll pay off one day.

Been five years.

Mister Hittman, miss Ford, miss Gwen, and mister Smallwood, thank you for those long years of service. And all of you still got your uniforms on, so you're still working. You're still part of the family. Really, thank you so much for all that you have done to make O'Kellah a great place to live, work, and prosper. Five a is an update on on Raleigh Arts Center and Marion Theatre by executive.

Okay.

Now you know what? Yeah. I will bolt bolt bolt bolt. Bolt

b. Yes, sir.

Oh, great. I can click. Perfect. The big

button? Alright. I know.

We want to make sure we're able to hear you. Alright. Item 5A is an update on Raleigh Art Center and Marion Theater by executive director Natalie McCone and Raleigh Art Center senior director of operation and programming, Adam Volpe.

Need name and address?

Yes. Name and address.

Okay. Yes. Natalie McComb, 3987 Southeast 43rd Circle, Ocala, Florida 34480.

Adam Volpe, 935 Southeast 3rd Street, 34471.

So good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to present our annual activity report. The Ocala Symphony Orchestra, a five zero one c three organization, manages a professional performing ensemble in two venues, the Riley Arts Center and the Marion Theatre and community music school. As the city's partner, our responsibility is to ensure these facilities are not only well utilized, but they serve as a vibrant, accessible cultural arts assets for the entire community. This year, we've hosted a 125 events so far serving nearly 39,000 patrons, and we're on track to exceed 50,000 by year end. The Riley Arts Center is an active venue, consistently programmed year round, and serving a wide cross section of the community.

It is also attracting visitors and tourists with more than 30% of our patrons residing outside of Marion County, bringing in additional income and economic impact to the city of Ocala. The Ocala Symphony Orchestra remains a key cultural anchor, having just celebrated its historic fiftieth season this year and the Reilly Arts Center celebrating ten years of serving the community. The Ocala Symphony performed 25 concerts with season subscriptions increasing by a record breaking 12%, particularly significant, as it reflects not just attendance but sustained community investment in the arts. We've long prioritized creating ways for audiences to connect through open rehearsals and educational conversations that make the experience more accessible and engaging. At the Marion Theatre, we've seen strong consistent use with over 300 film screenings and 100 special events already this year.

We are also expected to surpass 20,000 patron visits by the end of the fiscal year. This venue plays a critical role in creating accessibility as it offers frequent, affordable programming and brings regular foot traffic to the downtown area supporting local restaurants and retail establishments. At the Riley Arts Center, our mission is to meaningfully impact our community through the arts. And for us, that means not just presenting high quality performances, but ensuring that access to the arts is broad, inclusive, integrated into the community. This past season reflects both quality and diversity of programming from nationally recognized and Grammy award winning artists such as Alison Brown, Preservation Hall jazz band and Chris Bodhi to genre focused series featuring touring jazz and blues artists.

This variety allows us to serve different segments of the community while maintaining a consistent standard of excellence. It also positions Ocala as a destination for cultural experiences within the region. One highlight for next next season is the live to film presentation of Disney's Aladdin, which pairs the orchestra with a full length film. It is a great example of how we're creating accessible, family friendly entry points to the arts. With the expansion of the Riley Arts Center's facilities, we're able to expand our community impact by opening an on-site community music school, where each week we provide approximately 125 music lessons to students ranging from age five to 85.

We've awarded over $20,000 in need based scholarships this year. We also partner with Marion County Public Schools to bring music directly into the classrooms, and we offer free and reduced cost opportunities for veterans, and community groups to come and experience the power of live music performance. Our corporate sponsors and community partners are essential to the quality and breadth of programming we're also able to offer. With ticket revenue covering less than half of our operating expenses, their support allows us to bring in nationally touring artists, elevate the artistic quality of our performances, and ensure that the arts remain accessible to the broader community, not just those who can afford a ticket. The patron feedback we receive consistently highlights not only the quality of performances but the overall experience, from acoustics to customer service.

That consistency is critical as it builds trust within the community and encourages repeat engagement. And that repeat engagement is what turns a venue into a true community asset. So in summary, this year reflects our strong utilization of city facilities, continued growth engagement, and a meaningful investment in community access and education. It makes our organization unique is how all of this works together, bringing a professional symphony, historic venues, and community music programs under one umbrella to actively shape the cultural life of Ocala. We're proud to serve as a cultural partner to the city and grateful for your continued support as we work to expand the reach and impact of the arts in our community.

Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Any questions from the

I had a question. Yes. First of all, I just wanna say you're doing a great job. Thank you. But the the Marion Theatre, the numbers you gave, 13,000 people have attended year to date, do you know if that's up from last year? Are you seeing a trend up from last year?

We are.

Okay. That's great. Because when I walk by, it's great to see it open and people going in. That's really great. Great job. Keep

it up.

Any other questions? Thank you so much.

Item

six is our consent agenda. Are there any items which council would like removed from the consent agenda for individual discussion or consideration? Hearing none, I would accept a motion to approve the consent agenda.

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

Musley?

Aye.

Mister Mansfield? Aye. Mister Bethe?

Aye. Item eight a is an introduction and first reading of ordinance twenty twenty six dash 12. Is there a member of the city council who will introduce this item?

I will.

The clerk will read the ordinance by Tyler.

An ordinance amended the city of city of Ocala, Florida conference of plan comprehensive plan future land use map series as required in section one six three point three one six one through and including section one six three point three two four eight Florida statutes detailing future land use policy eight deleting, I'm sorry, future land use policy 18.13 of the comprehensive plan relating to development conditions previously adopted by ordinance number fifty seven eleven, l u c zero five dash zero zero three zero for a 50.42 acre portion of property located in the 3,004 to 4,300 blocks of Southwest 43rd Court, parcel number 2380 Dash 0 00 Dash 001, deleting future land use policy 18.24 of the comprehensive plan relating to development conditions previously adopted by ordinance number fifty seven sixty eight, l u c zero seven dash zero zero three four, for a 25.51 acre portion of property located in the 3,004 to 4,300 blocks of Southwest 43rd Court, parcel number 23812 Dash 001 Dash 00, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for severability of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, providing for an effective date.

Thank you. Item eight b, an introduction and first reading of ordinance twenty twenty six dash 13. Is there a member of the city council who will introduce this item? I'll introduce. The clerk will read the the ordinance by Tyler.

An ordinance amending the zoning map of the city of Ocala, Florida changing the zoning from p p u d zero six, plan unit development in OP Office Park PD Planned Development for certain property located in the 3004 Thousand 4300 blocks of SW 43rd Court, Parcel 23800 And Twelve-one-zero and 23881, -one, approximately 251.09 acres. Case number PD25-one providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for severability of ordinance provisions, modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier and providing for an effective date.

Item 8c, an introduction and first reading of ordinance twenty twenty six dash 14. Is there a member of the city council who will introduce this item?

I'll introduce.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The clerk will read the ordinance by Tyler.

An ordinance amending the zoning map of the city of Ocala, Florida, changing the zoning from p u d zero two plan unit development to p d plan development for certain property located West of Interstate 75 and North of SW 66th Street, the 4,000 block of SW 66th Street, Parcel 23008 And 70 Five-one-one And 35364 -zero-zero, approximately 283.55 acres. Case number PD25-seven: Providing directions to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for severability of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier and providing for an effective date. You. You.

Agenda item nine, holding hearings and second reading of ordinances. We have two public hearings tonight. Nine a is the adoption of ordinance twenty twenty six dash 10. Councilman Muslin, who introduced this item, is recognized for a motion.

Council president, I move that ordinance number twenty twenty six-ten be adopted as provided by the charter of the city of Ocala, Florida and presented to city council, except that adoption by sections on the second reading be waived.

Is there a second?

Second.

Plugged. Jacobs Okay. We'll read the ordinance.

An ordinance amending the city of Ocala, Florida comprehensive plan future land use map series as required in section one six three point three one six one through and including section one six three point three two four eight Florida stat utes. Detailing the future land use change, case number LUC25Dash0004. Amending the future land use map designation from medium intensity special district to employment center for property located in the 2300 Block Line West Of NW 27th Avenue, Parcels 21492 00000, 2 1477000002147400200, 21476000 dash 00, 21,474 dash zero zero dash zero zero, 21,474 dash zero zero one dash zero zero, twenty one thousand four hundred and ninety four dash zero four-zero-zero, and 21,470 eight-zero-zero, approximately 74.11 acres, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for modification providing for severability of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective date.

Growth management director Jeff Schrum is recognized for presentation.

Thank you. Council president and council members and mayor for the record Jeff Schrum, Growth management. Good afternoon. This is a final public hearing consider what used to be referred to as the large scale future land use map amendment. This was requested by Friends Recycling.

This amendment proposes a change of future land use from medium intensity special district to employment center for the property shown on the map, which includes a total of nine parcels of land, approximately 74.11 acres. These subject properties, as you can see, are located West Of Northwest 27th Avenue and North Of Northwest 21st Street. You may recall council approved the transmittal of this proposed amendment to the state back in October of twenty one of twenty twenty five. We did receive all the comments back from the state agencies and did not get any objections or comments raised through those that comments provide back to us. As a reminder, this amendment was initiated to remedy a conflict in the existing use of the property, which is a construction demolition landfill and the medium intensity special district future land use.

While the current into zoning of the property is consistent with the landfill use, the comprehensive plan indicates that only light industrial uses are permitted in that medium intensity special district future land use category. However, our land development code restricts or indicates that only light industrial uses are permitted and that this particular use for the construction and demolition landfill is a high impact industrial use, which is not consistent with the light industrial category. This amendment, if approved, would address that conflict because the employment center does allow for those high impact industrial uses. We received no additional public comments since the transmittal on this. Staff finds amendment is consistent with the conference of plan, land development regulations, and they'd recommend approval.

I'm here to answer any questions you may have.

Any comments from the public? Council? No comment? Call the roll.

Okay. Mister Musley?

Aye.

Miss Dreyer? Aye. Mister Hulty? Aye. Mister Mansfield?

Aye.

Mister Bethe?

No.

Said no.

You said no.

Okay. Nine b. The adoption of ordinance twenty twenty six dash 11. Councilman Manfield, who will introduce this item, is recognized for a motion.

Mister president, I move that this ordinance number two zero two six dash one one be adopted as provided by the charter of the city of Ocala, Florida, and based upon evidence presented to city council, except that the adoption bisections on the second reading be waived. Is there a second?

Second.

Clerk Jacobs will read the ordinance by Tyler.

An ordinance of the city of Ocala, Florida amending chapter 18 article two section 18 dash 31 code of ordinances city of Ocala Florida to reduce the required quorum for meetings of the airport advisory board from four of five members to three of five members, providing direction to staff, providing direction to the codifier, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for severability of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration of public hearing, and providing an effective date.

Well, this is not airport director matter.

Yeah. No. It is not.

Good evening.

Michael Baker, airport operations manager, city of Ocala. This agenda item meets city council strategic goals of operational excellence and quality of place. Basically, this amendment to a code to allow for a reduction of quorum from four zero five to three zero five. Staff recommends approval and I'm here to answer any questions.

Any comments from the public? Council.

Hi, council president. I guess a couple of questions. I had sent an email to Matt, but I guess he's probably on vacation or something.

He did reply, so I do have his responses.

Okay. I didn't have my city phone with me, so forgive me. No problem. This concerns me a little bit because of what I read, that you had to reduce it due to members not showing up. So my question was, there one, is there term limits? And two, is what's the policy for people that are not showing up on a committee? Usually, most committees have a policy of either two or three absences and then you must leave the committee. But when I read this, it seems like it's it's a big problem.

And from

of

then ism that we're aware of. Now, the way the airport next director Bates. Has dealt with that previously is to approach the board member and kind of revisit their volunteerism and, you know, see what they're able to support and try to encourage them to attend more frequently. So that was basically his response.

Mr. Chairman?

It just seems to me you're giving control of again, this is what I read and I'm reading it as if I'm just an average citizen as well. You're giving control of three people the board and not worrying about the two that don't show up. That's my interpretation of it.

It just I would say they have no control because they can't make policy. All they make is recommendation.

It's an advisory board,

yes sir. Mr. President, I handed out this packet to you. Actually it's in there. It's silent to what disqualifies them. That's something we'll discuss at that workshop discuss that because that's policy that council sets. It's a four year term and there are no term limits. So typically our quorums are 50% plus one. In this one, it's four for whatever reason. I don't know how it got that way from the beginning.

But again, we can revisit that now. Elect to make it three. We can revisit it when we have the discussion and we can discuss with Mr. Grow, be at that workshop and discuss their role in-depth and what the expectation is and reestablish policy from that point.

So do you want to table this until we have a discussion at

I don't really want to table it but you know don't have a

No I think we should vote. Motion and a second. If you're in favor vote yes, if not vote no.

So what

are we voting on whether you're going to reduce the quorum from

what is the quorum now 50 plus one?

No. You're going to reduce the quorum from four zero five to three zero five. So

anybody want to make a motion?

I have.

You have a motion.

Okay. Motion in a second. Alright.

Vote on. Mr. Mansfield.

Aye.

Mr. Musley.

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Hilty? No. Mr. Bethea?

The Planning director Aubrey Hale is recognized for presentation.

Good afternoon. Aubrey Hale, planning director. So this is for a property exchange agreement between the city of Ocala and Ocala Southeast eighth Street LLC. Up on your screens is an exhibit that indicates the location of the property and the properties that are proposed to be swapped. The City owns a current parcel that is approximately 2.7 acres and the exchange parcel is towards the north and it's approximately 2.18 acres.

The city point six would retain a two acre parcel of the greater two. Seven acres and that would be a joined with the two. 18 acres that property is exchanging for. The city's current property fronts along Southeast 3rd Avenue which has a much more attractive frontage. Going able get parcel which is more industrial in nature and has less access to that property.

Still provides all the access that is needed for the city's functions but it does not have that the amount of frontage as the other parcel does. With that, touching on the substation, the property, the substation is reaching its maximum life very rapidly and needs to be expanded as well as it needs to be upgraded and expanded in order to continue to service the needs of the downtown area plus all of the hospitals that are off of this system which is Advent and HCA. So, this exchange would allow for the expansion of that. It would also allow for some expanded outdoor or utility type uses that are associated with OEU's needs as well as retaining that point six two acre area that houses the fiber facility within there as well. So touching on the substation a little bit further, there is a need to also have a subsequent lease agreement because the portion of the property the current substation encroaches into the piece that would be swapped.

And unfortunately these you know it takes some time just with the amount of lead time for some of these transmission services and the and OEU can touch on the the those processes a little bit more. But there is a equipment that has to go into it and some of the engineering, there's all considered part of their decommissioning process of the substation which they estimate would take about three years for that decommissioning process. So this lease agreement allows for a four year timeframe at basically $1 per year. On the fifth year if the decommissioning has not occurred it would have an annual fee of $50,000 that would escalate every year 1.05% approximately until the decommissioning is complete. However, staff has run an estimate and feels very confident that between a three and a four year timeframe that this decommissioning occur.

With that, staff does recommend approval and is available for any questions. OEU is available to answer any questions with the specifics for the decommissioning process.

Is there any comments from the board. Not sure I'm 10 b is approval of an agreement with Central State Water Resources.

We would like to pull that, sir.

Would like to pull

it? Yes.

Alright. Let's do that. 10 c is an award of two year contract to Marion Rock LLC. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So move. Is there a second?

Second.

Mister Lanier is recognized for a presentation.

Good evening. Sean Lanier, city city engineer. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goals of operational excellence and quality of place. This is a two year contract with the availability of two one year renewal options for the construction, repair, and maintenance of city owned parking lots. On 12/11/2025, the city issued an invitation to bid with three bidders responding on 02/06/2026. Marion Rock LLC was the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. I'm here to answer any questions.

Comments from the public? Comments from the council?

One question. I know this is on the parking lots, but they're not doing anything on any of the intersections. Any place where there's thermoplastic, right? Are they doing anything when they come in? We're giving them is, are they doing any thermoplastic on any of the turns signals or the turn lanes or anything like that? Is that in this also?

No, it's not in the parking lot. We also have Marion Rock

We got turn out of the parking lot. Is there no turn lanes there to thermoplastic?

I'm not sure. I'd have to look at it to see if we've got that pay item.

I'll probably make it more difficult. Simple question, when they do the repairs, are they also on the thermoplastic, are they going through and actually grinding this stuff down and making it smooth again before they put the new plastic on top.

Oh, you're talking about removing the old thermo?

Yes,

sir. Has anybody ever looked at it? I mean, there's quite a few around town that

They're not doing it every time. I mean, I've observed markings where they haven't done it. And I'll get together with staff and discuss it. There's some where it is.

I think when Jay runs over me, he hits his head in his car.

They might make that car bottom out.

Let's put it this way. I know I drove my car the other day and I hit my head. No, I'm just asking You're

supposed to.

So, know, when we do this, can we at least make sure with our people that they're doing their job and the part of the job is when they go in any parking lot, any turn lane, they're supposed to grind it all the way down and then put in the new not just on top to where you got layers, and I got pictures. I mean, it's literally some of them are, you know, over, I mean, jar your teeth out if you're in a small car.

Yes, sir. If you'll send me the ones you're talking about, I will definitely take

All the way down North Magnolia and South Magnolia and tell you right now, you can drive with me. I'll pick you up tomorrow.

Yes, sir.

There you got a free ride, Sean.

We also have CW Robert and have Marian Wright.

I wasn't quite sure what this entailed. I'm just saying that's something I'd like to see. And I've had a few complaints about it too from other people. Sir.

I'll follow-up

with Thank you. Mr.

Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Hulte? Aye. Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mister Bethea.

Aye. Item 10 d is the approval of task work order number two under the city continuing professional engineering services I'm I'm Mister Linear, you're recognized. Sorry.

Sean Lanier, city engineer. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goals of operational excellence and quality of place. Water reclamation facility number three is permitted at 4,000,000 gallons a day and is currently operating at 3,200,000 gallons a day which is approximately 80% of its capacity. Due to the growth in the service area, water resources is evaluating the expansion of the plant to 8,000,000 gallons a day and looking at the best treatment process to use for expansion. Staff recommends approval and I'm here to answer any questions.

Comments from the public?

I do.

Yes, sir.

WR. You

have to step up here, sir. State your name and address, please.

Roger Johnson. I'm on the city parcel next to Plant Number 3. Is Plant Number 3 there on 74th that's what you're referring to is Plant Number 3?

Plant Number 3 is one out by the airport.

Yep, that's where I'm at. So you say that we're missing out on how many gallons of water?

No, what I'm saying is that it's currently operating at 3,200,000 gallons a day and it's permitted for 4,000,000 gallons a day and we want to expand it, which is within the current plant footprint, the expansion. So we're not going outside of where it's already at. Understood. We're just expanding the treatment trains to double the capacity.

Understood. I manage the land next to plant Number three. So I grow the palm trees and the grass there. I spoke last year about palm trees. Me and my son are here just observing, checking it out. He's learning a little bit. So am I. So I heard this. So I figured you ask about a public comment, so I make one.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Is there any comments from the council? Call the roll.

Mister Hulte?

Aye.

Mister Musley?

Aye.

Miss Dreyer? Aye. Mister Mansfield?

Aye.

Mister Bethea?

Aye. Item 10 e is the approval of the third amendment to the agreement with In-depth Inc. Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

So moved.

Second. Mister Lanier is recognized.

Yes, sir. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goal of operational excellence. During normal operations, over time, the city's ground storage tanks fill with sediment of calcium carbonate and other mineral deposits. These deposits must be periodically removed to maintain the system storage capacity. This is the third and final renewal of the contract with In-depth Inc. To perform those removal services through 03/18/2027. Staff recommends approval. I'm here to answer any questions.

Once again, any comments from the public? Council? Call the roll.

Miss Dreyer? Aye. Mister Mansfield?

Aye.

Mister Musley?

Aye.

Mister Hilty? Aye. Mister Bethea?

Aye. Thank you. Item 10 f is the approval of the utilization of Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Agreement with Power Technique North America. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second?

Second.

Fleet and facilities director John Kane. Presentation.

Good evening, city council mayor. Happy to see you all this evening. John King, fleeting facility director here to seek your approval in support of this agenda item that supports our strategic goal of operational excellence. We're requesting the approval to utilize a cooperative agreement to purchase a bypass pump from Hydro Service in the amount of $180,281 This supports our water resource department. They need this pump that is utilized to move millions of gallons of wastewater from their lift stations. And staff recommends this purchase purchase this pump that will supplement their operations. If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them for you.

Any questions from the public? Council? So do you have a pump now?

They do have this pump, but this is a mobile pump. So if that pump that's stationary goes out, the mobile pump they can drive over to it is trailer mounted, and it can really replace that pump while the stationary pump is serviced. So it will perform the operations of a normal pump while the other pump is being serviced or maintained.

Thank you. Call the roll.

Mr. Mansfield.

Aye.

Mr. Hulte. Aye. Mr. Musley. Aye. Miss Dreyer? Aye. Mister Bethe?

Aye. Item 10 g, the approval of the utilization of Social Well Cooperative Agreement with National Auto Fleet Group. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So move. Is there a second?

Second.

Mister King is recognized once again.

Yes, counsel. John King, facility director. This agenda item also ports supports our operational goal or strategic goal of operational excellence. And we'll be utilizing, again, a cooperative agreement from National Auto Fleet to purchase four Ocala Police Department vehicles that were involved in a collision. And the collision deemed them a total loss. This agenda item will supplement the replacement of that. Accompanying this agenda item will also be a budget resolution that will appropriate funding for purchase of these vehicle replacements. I'm here to answer any questions that you might have. Staff recommends the purchase and procurement of these vehicles.

Any questions from the public? Comments? Any comments from council? Call the roll.

Mister Mansfield?

Aye.

Miss Dreyer? Aye. Mister Musley?

Aye.

Mister Hilty? Aye. Mister Bethea?

Aye. Item 10 h is the approval of budget resolution twenty twenty six dash one three five. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second?

Second.

Mister King recognized for staff presentation.

This agenda item supports our goal of operational excellence, and we'll be purchasing and seeking your approval to purchase a John Deere tractor for the Ocala International Airport in the amount of $115,688 The current tractor is eleven years old and requires maintenance and has experienced some catastrophic transmission issues. It just doesn't make sense to put that money into this older tractor. So we're recommending the the purchase of a new tractor so that they can take care of the the operational needs of the airport landscape.

It's on the wrong item. It's giving the wrong item.

I I am. This is That

was 10 I.

That's I? Are we I? That's that's Well,

we own h.

We're on h. H. H.

The budget resolution.

Oh, I'm sorry. The budget resolution. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So the budget resolution is for ABCDEF. Let me go back here.

The Okay.

The budget resolution is four to four replacement vehicles for the Ocala Police Department in the amount of $992,044. We're seeking your approval to support this budget resolution for the purchase of the police department vehicles.

I got a question here because I don't know. So first, let me just ask any any questions from the public out there. Councilor, do y'all have any questions?

I think the only question I have is probably what you did is these numbers don't match up. But it's probably they have a carryover or something. I

think he may he may have just read it wrong. You want to read the the number coming from the insurance company again?

So the

G and H.

I don't think he said that. He said it was 150.

Can I just can I answer this question? So it says in the text that $2,444, which is what we're voting on now, comes for the general liability fund and then the remainder 134,051 comes from OPD's machinery and equipment account. OPD already has the money.

That makes It's just

filling in the gap.

Makes sense. Okay, it makes sense. Thank you.

Any other questions? Call the room.

Mr. Hilty? Aye. Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Miss Bethea?

Aye. Thank you for that clarification, ma'am.

Yes, sir.

10 I is the approval of the utilization of State of Florida corporate purchasing agreement with Deer and Company. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? Moved. Is there a second?

Second.

Mr. King, you're on a roll today. Yes. You're recognized for staff president. Okay.

This agenda item supports our strategic goal of operational excellence is to purchase a John Deere tractor for the airport. The purchase will be to replace an eleven year old tractor that needs immediate purchase due to its critical transmission failure. We'll be using a cooperative contract to purchase the tractor in the amount of $115,688 We seek your approval. Agenda item is accompanied by a budget resolution to appropriate funding for this purchase. Staff recommends purchase. I'm here to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions from the public? Matt not here today. Well, because he might can get us a grant for that. Yeah. Just having a little humor. Yeah. Any any questions from the council? Call the roll, please.

Mister Musley?

Aye.

Miss Dreyer? Aye. Mister Hulte? Aye. Mister Mansfield? Aye. Mister Bethea?

Aye. Item 10 j is the approval of budget resolution twenty twenty six dash one three six. Do I hear a motion?

So moved.

Second. Mister King?

Yes. The budget resolution is for the purchase of the John Deere tractor for Ocala Airport. The tractor will be budgeted with funding that's appropriated from the airport reserve for contingency account in the amount of excuse me, $115,688.

Any questions or comments from the public?

Mr. President, just one quick question. So does the old tractor, do we have any value?

Yes, it does. We currently sold the

But how do we do that? Do we, like, put that into

We advertised it on govdeals.com. And it went through a bidding process. And I don't have the figures in front of me for what it auctioned off for, but it was well

That's fine. I just want to make sure we are putting it back out and we're trying to recoup something. Because 11 year old tractor doesn't sound very old. We'll get you those numbers. Okay. Thank you. Hold the roll.

Mr. Musley.

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer. Aye. Mr. Hulte. Aye. Mister Mansfield?

Aye.

Mister Bethea?

Aye. Thank you. Item 10 k is the approval of a two year agreement with Salter Precision Cuts LLC for ground maintenance services. Do I hear a motion to approve? I move. There are second.

Second.

Public work director Darren Parks is recognized for staff presentation.

Good afternoon. Darren Park, public works director. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goals of operational excellence and quality of place. This is a two year contract for mowing of rights away in the Northeast quadrant of the city, 66 locations, mowed 22 times a year. Staff recommends approval. I'm here to answer any questions.

Any comments from the public? Council? Call the roll.

Mr. Hulte? Aye. Mr. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Bithet?

Aye. Item 10L is the approval of an agreement with So to Precision Cuts LLC. Didn't I just do that? Yeah. No. That's the second one. That's another one. That's the second one. Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Okay. Mister Parks, you're recognized once again.

Darren Park, Public Works Director. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goals of operational excellence and quality of place. This is a three year contract for the mowing of drainage retention areas in the Southeast quadrant of the city, 78 locations mowed 14 times a year. Staff recommends approval, and I'm here to answer any questions.

Comments from the public? Council?

This one, why a three year and the other one just a two year? Why don't we do three and three or two and two?

I don't have a good answer for you, sir. I have to go find out and get back with

you on that one.

Research that for us.

You got it.

Okay. No other comment? Call the

Miss Dreyer? Aye. Mister Hilty? Aye. Mister Musley? Aye. Mister Mansfield? Aye. Mister Bethea?

Aye. Thank you.

Item 10 m is the approval of the purchase of inventory item for OCALI Electric Utility. Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

Electric Utility Director Doug Peoples is recognized for staff presentation.

Thank you. Doug Peebles, director of Ocala Electric Utility. This item supports council's strategic goal of operational excellence. These inventory items are made up of overhead conductors and underground cables that will be used to install new electric service in neighborhoods throughout our system. I request your approval and I'm here to answer any questions.

Any comments from the public? Council? Call the roll.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Hilty? Aye. Mr. Musley.

Aye.

Mr. Mansfield.

Aye.

Mr. Bethe.

Aye. Thank you. Item 10 n is the approval of the selection of an applicant for appointment to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Madam clerk will have a selection. Yes,

sir. We're asking we have one vacancy on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Two applicants, mister Buck Martin and mister Thaddeus Neisman. If you remember, this is the one that was on the last council agenda, but, we brought back with due to the absence of mister, Hilty. It was a tie vote.

Yes. Oh.

Yeah. You're

the tie breaker.

You're the tie breaker, buddy. You weren't here last one. It's the tie.

Oh, I was wondering why I get to vote twice.

Oh, no. No. It's just an extra. Was just

You'll mess it up again.

I just vote twice.

What's happening?

There's an open ballot.

Gonna read it. Yeah, you're gonna

I don't know.

Yeah, I'm gonna read it. Okay. Council appoints to the Planning and Zoning Commission, mister Thaddeus Neisman. Council members Hilty, Mansfield, and Buffet voting for mister Neisman, and council member Musley and miss Dreyer voting for Buck Martin. Thank you.

Alright. City manager Pete Lee is recognized for his report.

Sir, you have an internal auditor's report for me prior to

me. Alright. Internal auditor's report.

Good evening, Randall Bridgeman, City Auditor. We're we're currently performing an overall audit of our payroll function within the city and this this report cars out some of our observations we did at the police department. There were two opportunities for improvement that we know during the process. One involved the on call compensation requirements. It was not in compliance with the city's employee handbook.

The second one is the overtime process being used was not being also not being in compliance with the city's play handbook. The primary opportunity one was they're not are signing on what the the the work on a one week rotational basis. One person just kept on doing all the work all the time. So we recommend to be in compliance. You have to create a list of people eligible for the work, and police department manage that process by using city employees from a different another department, also non sworn officers that fill that duty.

So they're gonna spread out over a number of employees to make it fair because technically they're on call twenty four seven. Also in compliance with the alcohol and drug requirements was probably not reasonable to be held to. Chief Balkan worked diligently with us to rotate that. We're going to follow-up for about three months to see it's actually working, make sure the rotation is actually still occurring. And we'll report back to you at a later date on that one.

OPD agreed with the opportunities and improvements, and we really thank them for working with us along to correct that. Also, one of the employees was getting family medical leave act pay. We're not a family medical leave act. You can't get it paid for any other activities. So, we're like $925 approximately has to be carved back through payroll and OPD and they're working on that right now. So, get that money over like three or four pay periods. They're going to recoup that. We'll check that too at the end to make sure all the money has come back and been corrected. The second item is overtime. The process they had was not working effectively.

So they immediately put in a new standing order for the overtime. There's gotta be approvals by the employee has to send an email to their supervisor or their shift commander or whatever. It has to document the date of occurrence, the time of occurrence, and the reason for the overtime. A lot of stuff was missing, so you couldn't really tell why the sworn officer was on duty. So now before the supervisor goes home, they have to approve it, get back to the payroll clerks to make sure it's documented why the person got it over time.

Failure to comply with that will the employee will not be compensated until the documentation is properly addressed and handed off. That process went in immediately. We're going to do the same thing about for next three months. We'll just check to make sure that's working as intended. And we want to thank the Chief Balkan and Deputy Chief, oh, he left, Bianchi for jumping in and getting this thing straightened out as fast as we could get this thing straightened out.

This is why we we called out this report for our overall payroll audit. We didn't wanna wait till we're done with that to get this this this something needed to be corrected right away. And I think the police department and the departments lent employees to the on call listing to get this corrected. If you have any questions, I'll hear

you answer them. Any questions from the public? Any from the council? Well, I just just thank you and and also Chief Balkan and his staff for you all working together to bring a a remedy to that and we get our processes together so that we can better do.

That's what we're trying to strive for that every single day.

Yes, sir.

Nice to work with Chief Falcon as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You ready now, sir? I'm ready.

Alright, let's roll. Thank you sir. As I stated earlier, we'd like to schedule a workshop in June. Thirty minutes total for boards and kit to discuss boards and commissions and then thirty minutes total for CRA plans policies and procedures. June's a five Tuesday month. You have TPO on June 23. We can do the ninth, the twenty third or the thirtieth of thirty lunch, twelve meeting. Go one hour, limit it to one hour.

Twenty third is perfect. I'll be on vacation that week. Well, that's what I

was going to say too because you know that's kind of vacation time. You have to watch these young people see they got a lot to do.

That's right.

Pack the bathing suit. Any preference June 9, June 30?

I would prefer not the fifth week because that is a week that we could all go away. Yep. I mean, if nobody cares, the ninth would be desirable.

That's good. I understand.

Or the morning of the twenty third if everyone's gonna be here for that.

Or or we can do a Wednesday or Thursday also. We don't we don't have to do Tuesday, but we do

usually. Ninth.

Do think? Ninth? Yeah.

I play golf on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Ninth. He moved.

Ninth. I mean, ninth

is fine. Ninth.

I mean can we do it the morning of the twenty third? We're already here for TPO anyway.

We can. We can do the twenty third or the ninth.

Okay.

That's fine.

Does the twenty third work for everyone else? Tuesday.

That's okay.

Oh, no. I'm sorry. Never mind. I didn't hear you. Ninth.

Ninth.

You're gonna be here. You're coming.

You didn't get chastised last time. You kinda did this time. It's the ninth, June 9. On April 30, we'll have the council strategic planning session. 8AM, I'm Mary Sue Rich.

Dan Blake with Velocity will be there leading us. More looking forward to a productive session there. This Thursday, some of our staff, me, council president Bethe and the mayor will meet mayor Marciano will meet with senator McClain senator McClain to discuss house bill three ninety nine and the fiber companies and the things that are going on and and the statute and how it relates to them. We will we have the we have another draft letter again to to the legislators, but I I think it's best to go to that meeting on Thursday and then send that to everyone. Following that meeting, I'll I'll send a blank copy to each of you.

I'll follow-up with calls to each of you to discuss, and then we'll we'll finalize that that correspondence and get it out.

And on May 5, just

as a reminder again, fifth council meeting. Prior to that at 03:30 we'll have the annual audit committee meeting. Peter Brill will introduce and Purvis Gray will make the presentation. Thank you.

Chief Balkan is recognized for his report.

Good afternoon. Mike Balkin, police chief. Everyone, it's great to be with you. Your police department's public safety report for this period reflects a total of 7,416 incidents, which is a decrease of about 2% when compared to last year. Our quadrant breakdown for both dispatched and proactive calls remains consistent across the board as it's been year to date.

Of the total incidents, officers investigated three zero three criminal cases, reflecting a 7% increase. However, they affected two thirty eight arrests, which is up 13% compared to last year. They also conducted nearly 1,000 traffic stops while responding to 158 vehicle crashes. I did want to take a moment tonight to highlight some of our unsung heroes in our evidence department. These folks are really responsible for processing a tremendous amount of these crime scenes that we talk about every two weeks.

They recover, analyze, test and story tremendous amount of evidentiary items. And they use state of the art processing techniques to help develop everything from latent fingerprints, hidden fingerprints all the way up to DNA samples. They help us really get those positive outcomes in the courtroom that we desperately need, and they're really responsible for putting a lot of bad guys away for a lot of time. Last year, they processed nearly 900 crime scenes, as you can see up there, recovered just about 3,500 items of evidence. They obtained over three twenty five fingerprint hits, which led to the identification of over 200 suspects.

On a more serious violent crime, they also obtained 18 DNA hits along with 25 ballistic matches when compared to the two seventy one illegally possessed firearms that they processed. As I reported before, we have been enjoying a significant decrease in violent crime over the last couple of years That has allowed staff to lower our inventory numbers in our evidence section. That number was we were bulging at the seams, bursting at the seams with over 107,000 items. It took about fourteen months to drop that number down to 87, really trying to get that number about 60 so we can be workable for about the next fifteen to twenty years. So doing a great job for you behind the scenes, and

that's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Ocala Fire Rescue Department, Chief Cliff Cliff Cliff Wellborn is not here tonight.

No, sir. No. He's not.

Good evening, city council. Mister mayor. Richie Lee, deputy fire chief. Just go over some department updates over the last few weeks. As you can see, our our unit responses, engine four and rescue four respectively, led all of our frontline response units over the last two weeks.

86 motor vehicle accidents, two structure fires, and 42 community paramedicine calls. Calls during this period equaled out to be eleven fourteen and total calls to date was 8,189. And just to highlight a couple of the calls we had this past Friday morning, we had a, vehicle fire in a third story at the, Advent employee parking garage. Crews worked very, very efficient and effective to control this fire. They were able to extinguish the fire and keep it keep it in check just to the cause the, cause of origin.

There's there was some, heat exposure to the adjacent vehicles left and right of the vehicle. But at that time of day, it being shift change, and it was very congested. Crews crews did exceptional job to control that fire as as is. We also just yesterday morning around lunchtime, we had a fire at Fuquay Sawmill. It started in a in a piece of heavy equipment that they had there.

And due to the fire conditions, and the low humidity, the wind, it had some spot fires. So our crews were there for quite a few hours trying to contain that fire. We contained it quick, but had to use some heavy equipment to pull off and delayer that pile so we can get to the sea of the fire and get complete extinguishment. Little kudos and shout out to OPD because we worked in conjunction on that call yesterday there to secure the scene, secure the roadway so we can get our our water our water shuttle plan in place very, very efficiently and effectively. We are one of 38 counties in the state that are currently underneath a red flag warning, which obviously that just means it's very, very dry out there.

Low humidity, high winds, dry equals very, very, significant fire conditions for us. So the entire Marion right now is underneath the burn ban. Any questions?

The vehicle fire, was that an electric car?

No, sir.

No, sir. It was not. Okay.

The smoke this morning, where was it coming from?

It potentially could have came from Alachua County, all the fires that's going on around our county. There's a lot of there's there's a lot of fires, wildfires going around throughout the state. That fire came in, the smoke came in, and it was pushed back out.

So Yeah. It was.

Yes, sir.

It it was it was very heavy.

Oh, it was. Yes, sir. Yeah. We had multiple calls for smoke investigations during that time frame this morning.

Thank you. Thank you for what you do. Good job. We have one public comment now. First, mister Saxon. Reports. I'm getting ahead of myself. Read my mind. Yeah. Alright. Public comment. Mr. Thomas Bernhardt.

Sir, I think that he wanted to speak on one of the first readings, So we'll make sure that we inform him that final reading will be at the next council meeting, that the public hearing will be at the next.

Thank you, sir. Please see the agenda for upcoming dates on your calendar. Item 18 is comments from the mayor.

Yep. Thank you, council president. The only thing I have is the Costa Domestic Violence Center is essentially, CASA took over our domestic violence center to help us in the time that we shut down our domestic violence shelter two years ago. And essentially, the reason why they did that is because we could not obtain licensing. So they had to fill that gap.

Well, it's come time now that from a local standpoint, from what I'm hearing from our local group, which I think makes sense, is that it will come back to us locally. We can obtain license, and the sexual assault center will merge with the new domestic violence center. Of the things that I was CASA did a great job, but they're also running they run out of Pinellas County. So they were really not putting a lot of resources into Ocala. One of the things chief might be able to speak to this but from my understanding, there's about 100 beds out there but only 20 beds are currently available for usage.

The 80 are left open. We are a community where domestic violence is one of our number one calls. It's a major issue in our community. So we have some community leaders stepping up to start this merger process. We're leaving Casa on good terms, But the reason why I'm sharing this with you is because it's going to be something that we obviously I'm going be working hard to support and make sure that we have this locally because it's needed. It is extremely important. There's a flyer in front of you. Main Street Bank on

to we're

a we're continues on and I am excited about the direction. So, just wanted to make you all aware of that.

Very good, sir. Thank you. Alright. Council comments. Councilman Mansfield.

I have a couple. I have one I talked to Pete about earlier. I just like to get some information. I just want to ask for it if I would please. Some of the information are on this is on our fiber optics is what's our total number of customers? Number two is how many customers have we added, say, in the last six months? Number three, how many customers have we had cancellations in the same amount of time, just so I can compare? And then number four, do we know of how many vendors are in the area and who they are? And then do we have a map of our service? The last on that one was what assets do we have?

I know this is but if we can at least put that together, I discuss some questions about that. And then I have a comment. This is actually on the mayor. So, I usually don't get these calls but I got a call from a concerned mom who her son was at the hospital ODN on what's Kratom. She was concerned she wouldn't know how to, so I called the chief.

He was nice enough to get involved a little bit, at least because I didn't really know what to do. I guess the deal, I know we talked about it months ago, but maybe we should revisit it because now it was just sort of a wake up call for me. It's like, I don't deal with this, but my mom's calling me, asking for help from City Council to cancel this stuff because her son was OD ing on it. So, just a comment. Yeah. And it was, you know, heart wrenching for me, you know, having two boys of, oh, wow. Yeah. So,

know. I know.

Go ahead.

Excuse me. I know that the American County Children's Alliance, they have a lot of data regarding Kratom and do know a lot about the law as it as it relates to people selling, people using, stuff like that. I'm I'm just saying that's a source that we could possibly utilize information if we need to.

In the immediate term, Ocala Fire Rescue, Jesse Blair and Chris Hickman, like Jesse Blair through the OD2A program, that's what he does. So I've been with him when the hospital calls him and says, hey, we have an overdose that just came in, he'll go to that and it doesn't matter if the person lives in the city or county. He doesn't know at that time. So he goes, talks with the patient to see, hey, what happened here? And then we'll find them treatment. So I would say that just for all of our sakes, if we get those calls, immediately you can call one of them and they'll go right away. They may have been called. I would be surprised if they weren't called if this person was at a hospital.

All I know is she called me, she got my number. Around, she got my number. Now like I said, I called chief and he answered, so I had an answer, but maybe that would be a good thing to put in my phone so that I would agree.

You could call the fire chief and say hey this is happening and then he'll send them over there to respond to it.

And I think even as we were talking about this months ago, and the media was picking it up, had principals and parents coming up to me, thank you for helping me understand the concern of it. A lot of them had no idea what it is. I think a lot of it right now needs to be an awareness campaign. And that's one thing that I want to do over the next couple months is talk about these synthetic drugs, build awareness around it. I think it needs to happen from a state level to get some teeth into it.

I know that we wrote, I think, letter in support of any kind of bill that might restrict it because I did speak to a city that did develop an ordinance against it, and they were having a really hard time enforcing it. But I think the more that we can build awareness around it and just educate people because again, the kids think it's next to the candy. They think it's something, oh, I can grab and now they're hooked on something and it does take them down a pretty bad path.

Was it. Thank you. Thank you. Mister Talzman Hilty.

Just a couple of things. I got a call today from somebody who seems like calls are in the area but Stella's evidently announced they're closing down. So, maybe at our retreat, we need our planning. We need to talk about what's happening downtown.

Absolutely.

Because there's been a lot of stores that are just vacating. There seems to be a challenge. And secondly, about twelve years ago, father Pat Cheady had an idea for a group called Saving Mercy. This Friday, we're having the ribbon cutting and all that dedication. And the city has been pretty instrumental in doing things for that project even though it developed as something far more than what he expected because of dollars needed.

So if you're available at 10:00 on Friday morning, that would be a place to see and be seen by people and know that we support them and all that. It's a great project that's really come out of the ground. Awesome. You know, 59 units in the apartment complex and 20 units in the for those that are permanently homeless. Just, I guess, a funny story.

Doug came to ask for a million dollars, but, you know, we're always getting those requests from Ocala Electric. But this week, I went to the Eastern Regional Planning Council meeting, and the same day, I had the FMPA meeting, both in Orlando. So at the Eastern Regional, there was a commissioner I won't mention what city she was from stood up and just kind of went a little bit haywire on the fact that we're not doing enough for renewable energy. Okay. I heard that.

I go to the next meeting, and and Jacob gave us a report about our challenges we had in in during this cold period and how nobody was selling any electricity. Of course, it was dark. There was no sun to get renewable energy and prices went through the roof. So we need to tell people we are doing things. Have solar farms around for FMPA, but that would not meet the demand that's happening here in Florida. So I just thought it was kind of funny from one meeting to the next, had this quite the opposite views. Gas was selling for up to $800 or whatever whatever they measured, you know, something like that. Know? Doug was there. You know?

He knows all the numbers, obviously, but it was just quite the contrast from two meetings. Yeah. So anytime Doug's asked for a million dollars, we have to approve it. Just kidding.

Councillor Drey.

Thank you, sir. So I have an office downtown. I think it's in the Executive Building. And it's over the intersection at SW 3rd and SW 1st, which is on the Northeast Side of the post office property, is very confusing. And I watch every single time I'm at my office, chaos.

And the other day there was a pretty bad accident because there's a lot of signage and the way that the crosswalks are striped, it looks like a four way stop and it's not. It's just a two way. So one, my request is can you pull the crash data and two, can you please go there I and see if think it needs to be made into a four way stop.

Yes.

Okay. And then do we have an update on the on what we're doing to Northeast Sanchez and Northeast 3rd Street?

Yes. Darren, can can you come up here? Darren and Ken have both looked at that. I know the immediate was to pull that stop bar forward, but we're going to continue to look at that to decide whether it needs a four way stop, I think. I know you've been working on it.

We went out and looked at it. We can pull the stop bar forward but we also wanted to look at whether it warranted becoming a four way stop. So before we did that with the stop bar we wanted to investigate that because if it becomes a four way stop we don't need to pull it forward.

Okay.

And you pulled the crash data because you sent it to me. Was one Yes. Side impact

Failure to yield right away. Engineering mentioned it would take them a couple of weeks to go through the do their analysis and put it together and then we'll come back with City Manager here in a couple of weeks with that information.

So that's another intersection that I have a friend that lives on that corner and I've personally seen near misses there as well. So these two places, there's a lot of confusion because that crosswalk, again, it's paved in a way that if you were not paying attention, you just think it's a stop sign. A lot of times we have stop signs and crosswalks that kind of match up.

I think there's another thing at play at that intersection from looking at it. Those lanes are really wide coming through that segment on the street on 3rd Street. And if someone gets the green light East of 8th, they build up a lot of speed coming through there. So if somebody's edging out because of where that stop bar is, it can be dangerous, I think. So there may be some other opportunities, too, for some traffic calming in that area, but the first thing would be to look at the traffic control devices, looking at four way stops and moving the bar up, which is neither of those.

Yes, do not cut that palm tree.

Was getting ready take it down. I'm just kidding.

Alright, thank you. Just as long as we're paying attention to it. Thank you. That's it.

Councilman Musley. No, I

can't follow-up any of these.

Yeah. But you know, we we we saw we saw four employees this afternoon that has and is still working here. So on dollar, they love what they do. Yeah. Major Ford, I mean, you know, I just remember her from when she was a young lady, young lady, and Chris remember him too.

And and and all four of them, Donna Gwen, you know. Man, do you do you know what it takes for a person to go out here and have to go after something done happened to a family and and go and communicate. You know, some of them just lost them. Some some have this problem. Some have that problem and what it does to you as a person. And and then she has her own life. And I mean, that that that we have to deal with. But I I just those four people just touch me. Yeah. Agree.

All four of them are committed.

No doubt.

They're doing their best in in their realms. They are.

And mayor, if you don't mind, you and chief balkan, I would like somebody to comprise a letter to those people that he was talking about, those investor.

Yeah. What

chief, you know what I'm saying what I'm talking about?

Yes. The evidence personnel.

Yes. The evidence personnel. Because those people probably nobody I'm not saying he don't. Yeah. But nobody ever

Yeah.

Say what type of job they are doing. Unsung heroes. And I think a letter coming from us, you all as their boss, the city manager even, if we could comprise a little short letter.

If you want that to come from city council, I'll work on

that. And

it's a great idea. It's something, one of the things that I try to do is visit the different departments within our police department. And last week was telecommunications week and I just walked in and thanked them but that is a department I haven't visited. So, I would love to just go do that but I think a letter would mean a lot to them. Yeah. From from city council also.

It's just something that they can keep.

Yeah. I think it's great.

You know, and say, hey. At least they thought

about it.

Yep. I think it's a great idea.

Yes,

sir. And we do. Is there there any other questions or comments? Having none, meeting adjourned. Good job. Thanks.

So, Jay, I, I went to the golf I

catch something. Get you.

Time the other day with my

boys. Okay.

I went

to the driving