City Council - Regular Meeting

I'm going to leave it.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My paper. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, I know that. Thank you. Thank you.

Hopefully the rest of them come.

Well, I'm glad everybody came tonight to see me. Hey. We lost the party. We lost everybody else. I'm not sure what happened to them, but they're coming. Trust me.

So wait for the second. 59.

We should do like the Norwegian soccer team.

See, they showed up. I told you.

Good afternoon. Mr. Payton, will you come and do the invocation, please?

Good afternoon, City Council, Mr. Mayor, city staff, and public. Would you please join me in praying? Almighty God, everlasting Father, thank you again for today. God, we just thank you for the blessing of this great community called the City of Ocala here in Marion County, Florida. Lord, we just ask your blessing upon our meeting tonight, God, that you would be honored and glorified. We just pray that you would give discernment and wisdom to our council and mayor and staff, Lord, as they make the decisions to continue to prosper and grow our great community. Father, but let all of these things be done by your will and for your glory and honor. We praise you and thank you in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

I will pledge allegiance to the flag It is now 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4th, 2026, and this meeting of the Ocala City Council is called to order. Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Marciano? Here. Mr. Musley?

Here.

Ms. Dreyer? Here. Mr. Hilty? Here. Mr. Mansfield? Here. Mr. Bethea?

Here. Item 2A, new employees. First of all, I want to say good afternoon to everybody. And welcome to this afternoon's city council meeting. Item 2A, new employees. When I call your name, please stand. Stephen Hawley, public works. Ashley Brock, fleet management. Scott Gleason, fleet management. Gonzalez, fleet management.

Yeah.

Yeah. Albin Moses, Fleet Management, and Michael Pett, excuse me, Pagan, Fleet Management. All right, welcome. Welcome to the city family. The clerk will provide the public notice for this evening's meeting.

The August 4th, 2026 city council meeting was publicly noticed on June 16th, 2026 on the city of Ocala's website. As a reminder, public comments and presentations are limited three minutes unless authorized to extend beyond that time by the council president or majority of council. All materials for the mayor and city council must be given to the attendant staff of 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 all electronic devices for the duration of this meeting. Thank you.

Agenda item four, proclamations and awards. As many of you are likely aware of, O'Kellar lost a very important figure this past week with the passing of Whitfield Jenkins. Although our agenda for tonight's meeting has already been published, This council would like to honor Mr. Jenkins with the adoption of a resolution recognizing his contributions to our community. Is there a motion to approve this resolution honoring Mr. Jenkins? So moved. Is there a second? The clerk will call the roll.

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Hilty? Aye. Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Mansfield? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. I would like to read this resolution and present it to the Jenkins family. Is the Jenkins family here tonight? Sure. Yes, sir. just so that you know that we all knew of Mr. Jenkins and knew Mr. Jenkins, and we have a lot of reverence for him and for this family. Also, Ms. Jenkins, we are thankful for the time that he was here and for the many things that he tried to accomplish. So we have this resolution, and it reads as follows. Whereas on July 28, 2026, The city of Ocala have lost a legendary civil rights leader, an extraordinary man, educator, and community activist with the death of Mr. Whitfield Jenkins. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and the unfaltering spirited voice of the community. Mr. Jenkins worked tirelessly on social justice, equality, and human rights. He demonstrated integrity, vision, and a steadfast, lifelong commitment to equal rights and voters' empowerment for all. And whereas Mr. Jenkins earned his bachelor's degree from Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University and a master's degree from Rowlands College in Winter Park, Florida from 1967 to 1972, Mr. Jenkins taught for Marin County Public Schools. After his tenure with the school system, he served as an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Central Florida Community College, now known as the College of Central Florida. Before his retirement in 2000, Mr. Jenkins worked for nearly three decades with the Florida Department of Corrections as a training officer. Mr. Jenkins also served on the board of directors for both the United Way and the Boys and Girls Club of Marion County, as the president of the Marion County branch of the NAACP and on the Ocala Housing Authority Board. Whereas those that knew Mr. Jenkins would say he was a pivotal figure in our community and saw in him the embodiment of honesty, compassion, integrity, confidence, and profound knowledge, Mr. Jenkins exemplified courage, perseverance, inspired trust, and had a resolute, strong vision and relentless insistence that we are created equal in the image of God, deserving dignity and respect. And whereas Mr. Jenkins has left an indelible mark on our community, his unwavering dedication, veracity, and his service to others resonate deeply in the heart of the community, instilling a sense of gratitude and respect for his dedication and contributions to his profound influence on us all. Now, therefore, the Ocala City Council and Mayor do hereby honor and celebrate the life, service, life, service, and enduring legacy of Mr. Whitfield Jenkins and extend our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Jenkins' family and loved ones. And we want to present this to you from us here at the City of Ocala. Mr. Jenkins, do you have anything you want to say or any family members?

There's a lot that I can say, but you know, I lived it. So I don't have to say it and you know about it. So, you know, everything that I think, everything that I feel. It's all about that man who 56 years of my life has been married to him. Those things that he exhibited, I tried to help him when he would let me. But Whitfield was that kind of guy that stood. He stood tall. He might have taken a half step back But still, he stood for everything that he knew was right for not only just the people of Ocala, but throughout the state of Florida and throughout these United States. I've been bombarded with calls from all over of people expressing to me how they felt about him. And I'm going to make mine short now, but I just need for my kids, these three kids that he left behind here, just to say something about their dad.

And why does the baby girl have to go first? So... I was a daddy's girl, always was under my dad. Even being a nurse, taking care of my dad these last few months was difficult, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I know what he did for the community, NAACP, schools, everything, because I was right beside him. And we're going to miss him, but we teach our kids about our history. and what their grandfather did, and we'll just continue passing on to our future.

I'm going to just be brief and short. He was a good father, and... You know, I've been talking with friends and family about this experience, and out of my own naivete, this is something that I thought I had a little more time that I would avoid being a part of. But, you know, life is a circle, and, you know, he will always be cherished and missed. So he was a good man. I just want you all to know that.

Our father was born in a shack in the woods in Bethlehem, but he lived his life as a king. He was a king and a warrior. As my mother said, he stood up when most stood down. And I would say he was a champion. He loved each and every one of you. He loved his community. He loved his humanity. And he loved deeply our striving for justice and equality. This was his heart and soul. And we are blessed to have been his children. Thank you.

Item 4B, presentation of the Mayor's Citizen Recognition Award to Victoria Clifton. How are you?

Congratulations. All right, Pete, make sure I give everything to her after I'm done reading this. Well, every month we recognize someone who's doing outstanding work with the mayor citizens award. And again, we get to acknowledge someone who's doing an amazing work in our community. I want to read your nomination and then hopefully give you the chance to share a few words if you'd like. So your nomination, Victoria Clifton, for the past 20 years has been an integral member of the Child Protection Team. She has conducted and supervised thousands of interviews helping safeguard children that has ensured perpetrators of heinous crimes are held accountable. And you've done this for Kimberly's Child Protection Center. Victoria's leadership as a state recognized forensic interviewer is reflected in her mentorship and training of a skilled team. She guides interviewers in trauma-informed practices and ethical standards, ensuring high-quality, defensible interviews that protect children and strengthen investigations. Victoria is a dedicated member of the leadership team at Kimberly Center, helping guide staff and strengthen services for children and families. She is a devoted wife to Kyle and a proud mother of three, Harrison, Sawyer, and Blair. And I guess they're here tonight, right? Her compassion extends beyond her work as she is a tireless advocate for every child in our community, ensuring they are heard, protected, and supported. Thank you for all that you do to protect the kids in our community. It is truly an honor to recognize you tonight. Let's give her a round of applause.

It's truly been a blessing and an honor to be in my role for as long as I have. I'm just filled with gratitude. I want to thank some of my fellow Kimberly Center staff, some board members, and my family, of course, for supporting me. I am just very grateful, and this is absolutely what God has called me to do. So thank you all for your support and recognition. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Item 4C is the presentation of the Florida Line Workers Appreciation Proclamation to O'Kelley Electric Utility staff.

All right, it's our honor to recognize Florida Line Workers Appreciation Day. Whereas in 2012, the Florida House of Representatives designated August 26 as the annual Line Worker Appreciation Day to honor the thousand of men and women who work in high-risk environments to provide electricity to their communities, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has consistently listed utility line worker as one of the most dangerous jobs in our country. Whereas the line worker profession demands passion, Dedication, continuous training, and unwavering commitment to public service, with line workers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to keep electricity flowing safely and reliable. Whereas, the 134 dedicated employees of Ocala Electric Utilities proudly serve approximately 59,000 customers throughout the utility service territory. You're ready to leave your families and homes to provide mutual aid and assist neighboring communities, states, and even countries working long hours under extreme weather conditions to restore power and support those in need. Whereas the city of Ocala joins communities throughout the state of Florida in recognizing and honoring the dedicated men and women who work to ensure the safe, reliable, and uninterrupted delivery of electricity. Whereas it is fitting and proper that the city of Ocala designates this special day to recognize and honor the dedication, professionalism, and invaluable contributions of the line workers and employees from Ocala Electric for their outstanding service to our community. Now, therefore, I, Ben Marciano, by the virtue of authority vested in me as the mayor of the city of Ocala, Florida, do hereby proclaim August 26, 2026 as Florida Line Worker Appreciation Day. In the city of Ocala, I call upon all people in Ocala to support and show their appreciation for the work done day in and out by these dedicated workers by recognizing line workers throughout Ocala. And witness whereof I hereon too set my hand and caused the seal of the city of Ocala to be affixed this fourth day, August 2026. I want to just say I've witnessed firsthand the work that you guys do, especially coming into storm season. You know, when everybody else is inside taking shelter, you guys are out there and you guys do an amazing job. And we're extremely grateful for the work that you do. So thank you. Let's give them a round of applause.

been with the city almost 20 years and it's been a true blessing opportunity to develop my skills and give an opportunity to pass on what has been taught to me and right now it's a great place to work with the leadership that we have so just like to say thank you all for the opportunity thank you so much awesome anybody else

Item 4D is the recognition of Ocala Electric Utility for receiving the Florida Municipal Electric Association's inaugural utility award of excellence.

Am I good? Yep, I've got it. Yep, yep, awesome. Mr. Mayor, Mr. President, Council Members, thank you so much for allowing me to be here today. I'm going to speak while these guys are walking up. I'm Amy Zubali. I'm Executive Director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association, which is the statewide trade association that represents Florida's 33 public power utilities, like Ocala. In addition to advocacy and mutual aid, which are two of our core functions, FMA also has the opportunity of awarding our member utilities for their exemplary service in a variety of areas. And I've stood before you all several times over the last several years, and I recognize your electric utility for excellence in customer service, in safety, in mutual aid, and in the Florida lineman competition. But today I'm here for a little bit of a different reason, and this year FMEA implemented a few new awards that we thought would be some great ways that we could also honor and recognize our member utilities. And I am really pleased to say that we have awarded Ocala Electric Utility with our very, very first Utility Award of Excellence. And I'd like to just read the short script that we did when we announced the award at our annual conference just a few weeks ago. This award recognizes a member utility that has distinguished itself through exemplary system improvements, innovative initiatives, and a strong commitment to advancing public power in Florida. This utility exemplifies excellence through an unwavering commitment to reliability, safety, and community engagement. The utility has achieved national and state recognition for system performance, earning APPA's diamond level designation for reliability and recognition through FMPA's reliability awards program. Its dedication to safety is equally impressive, consistently earning both APPA and FMEA safety awards, and this year earning a perfect record in safety from FMEA. Beyond operations, this utility is a leader in engagement and collaboration, actively participating in state and national public power trade associations, hosting industry events such as a recent Florida lineman competition, and fostering a culture of shared learning as host of FMEA roundtables and workshops. The utility is a frequent recipient of FMEA's Restoring Community Awards, reflecting its commitment not only to its own customers, but also to supporting neighboring communities through mutual aid during severe weather events. Additionally, this utility continues to invest in its community, recently launching the City Path Training Academy, a hands-on summer and workforce program designed to introduce students and young adults to high-demand careers in the energy and utility trades. For its leadership, innovation, and service to both its community and the public power industry, it is my pleasure to present Ocala Electric Utility with the 2026 Utility Award of Excellence. Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Amy and FMEA. And I want to also recognize the staff. Just take a moment for me to say this, these folks that are up here right now are representing, as you heard earlier, 134 employees of a Cadillac utility who love our community, who live here, who are here to serve you as quickly and as affordably as we can. Um, thank you everybody. And, uh, Take this back to your folks and let them know how much we appreciate their dedicated service around the clock. Thank you, City Council, Pete, the Mayor, for your support. Without y'all's support, we could not do this. We could not provide these level of services to our community and our customers. Thank you to our Utility Advisory Board members. We have two of them, at least three of them here today, I'm sure. Thank y'all very much for your support as well. Thank you.

There you go.

You got it.

Item 4E is the presentation of the National Purple Heart Day Proclamation to Combat Engineer William James, Sergeant First Class Lonzo Douglas, and Military Police Officer John Bowles.

Well, it is truly an honor to recognize National Purple Heart Day, whereas on August 7th, 1782 in Newburgh, New York, General George Washington established the Honorary Badge of Distinction Badge of Military Merit to be awarded to regular soldiers and non-commissioned officers who demonstrated extraordinary courage and fidelity. In 1783, the Badge of Military Merit was initially awarded to three Revolutionary War soldiers, Whereas General George Washington declared the award to be a permanent one. But once the Revolution War ended, the badge of military merit was all but forgotten until the 20th century. Whereas in 1932, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General Douglas MacArthur, renamed the old badge of military merit to the Purple Heart. General Douglas MacArthur also oversaw its redesign to the modern Purple Heart known today. Whereas on December 3, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9277, extending the applicability to all U.S. military services and designating the award for those who were wounded, killed, or died as a result of these wounds received in action, rather than for a merit of service. Whereas since 1932, an estimated 1.9 million Purple Hearts have been awarded to service members in the name of the President of the United States, whereas it is most appropriate that those veterans who have received the Purple Heart be honored and recognized for their outstanding and heroic contributions to our nation. Now, therefore, I, Ben Marciano, by the virtue of authority vested in me as the Mayor of the City of Ocala, Florida, do hereby proclaim August 7, 2026, as National Purple Heart Day. In the City of Ocala, I urge all citizens in joining me in honoring the Purple Heart recipients who have served and those who still serve our nation and witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Ocala, Florida, to be affixed this seventh day, August 2026. It is our honor to recognize you. Thank you so much for your service and courage to this country. Let's give them a round of applause. Thank you.

I would just like to recognize the 27th of April, 1970. That was a young man from Washington, D.C., 18 years old. He transitioned, but the good Lord above saw fit for me to come back home, and I thank him for that. And I want to recognize a young lady that has also transitioned. And I know where she's at. She's in a good place, which was my wife. I spent 20-plus years in the United States Army, and I thank her for the support, the guidance, and all the help that she gave me and our family to be able to stand here today. I recognize her, Carolyn Douglas. Thank you very much.

Three, two, one. One more. Three, two, one.

Okay, we're gonna take and bounce around a little bit. We have something we need to get accomplished before 5 p.m. We will consider items 10A and 10B so that our final action on these items will be complete before 5 p.m. today as it is required by Florida law. So item 10A is the adoption of the fiscal year 2026-27 tentative millage rates. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? I move. Is there a second?

Second.

Budget Director Tammy Haslam is recognized for a presentation.

Good afternoon, Council Mayor. I appreciate your flexibility this afternoon. This agenda item supports the Council's strategic goal of fiscally sustainable. As required by the truth and millage or trim process, the City of Ocala must provide its tentative millage rates, rollback rates, and the date, time, and place of its public hearings to the State of Florida and the Marion County Property Appraiser no later than 5 p.m. today, August 4th. The tentative millage rates established become the ceiling for the rates. Therefore, the council may elect to hold the rate constant or reduce the rate, but the rate may not be increased. Staff recommends the tentative rates remain the same as the fiscal year 2025-26 rates. and be tentatively set as follows general fund 6.6, 1 7, 7 district a 1.7, 1 8, 5 district B 1.6, 3, 3, 2. And finally district C 1.4, 6, 9, 9 as publicly noticed as. Additionally, a publicly noticed budget workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, August 11th, 2026. And public hearings to adopt the fiscal year 2026, 27 budget have been scheduled for Wednesday, September 9th, 2026 and Tuesday, September 15th, 2026. Both of those hearings must take place after 5 PM. Staff recommends adopt adoption of the tentative millage rates. And I am available to answer any questions.

Are there any questions from the public? Any questions or concerns from the council? Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Hilty. Aye. Mr. Musley.

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer. Aye. Mr. Mansfield. Aye. Mr. Bethea.

Aye. Item 10B is the adoption of Resolution 2026-46. Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

Ms. Hansen is recognized for presentation.

Thank you. Once again, Tammy Haslam, Budget Director. This agenda item supports the Council's strategic goal of fiscally sustainable. The City adopted Ordinance 2021-13 on December 1, 2020 that provided specific authority and a process for the initial and future annual adoption of fire assessments. The proposed fire assessment rates in the resolution presented this evening are based on the same amount, rate structure, and methodology adopted and imposed for the current fiscal year with a revenue target of $18.3 million. This resolution sets the maximum rate amount that can be imposed in fiscal year 2026-27. Final action on this item will take place at a public hearing that will be publicly noticed in the newspaper, as well as the truth and millage notices mailed by the property appraiser, and that hearing is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, September 9th. The exhibits are incorporated in the resolution. Staff recommends adoption of the resolution, and I'm available to answer any questions.

Are there any comments from the public? Council? Call the roll.

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

Aye. Thank you. So, now we will come back to item 5A. And it is the O'Kelley Metro Chamber and Economic Partnership Annual Presentation by Matt McCormick, President and CEO.

Good afternoon. I believe we're supposed to have a... Again, my name is Matt McCormick. I'm President and CEO of the Ocala Chamber of Economic Partnership. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to talk today. I think this is my first time since I've been here to talk to everyone as a group. I do want to do a big thank you to the team that's here that we get to work with every day, Pete, Aubrey, Roberto, Charlita, Edwin, and Sarah. We could not do it without them and all that we do with economic development. Also, a big, Pete, I like your jacket. I'm glad I got the memo. You're looking good. So with that, let's jump in this quickly. Wanted to go over and give you just a quick update of where we're at and what's going on and what's happening with economic development. As you know, let me make sure. Hey, as you know, this partnership was set up approximately 13 years ago with an idea of how we can do economic development more effectively and more efficiently to create jobs and to create a strong, diverse tax base and business base here in Ocala. built on these three ideas of economic prosperity, talent development, and entrepreneurship, which I want to hit on all those briefly as I walk through this. But a couple numbers I do want to hit on this to make sure that we notice. We're not going to go through everything on the slides, but that $1.6 billion and $4,800,000. So we took a look at the five-year snapshot of what's been going on since 2021. So the first four years of those five years from 21 through 25, if I have my numbers right, 21 through 25, is $1.6 billion in IN PRIVATE CAPITAL INVESTMENT. THIS IS INVESTMENT THAT COMPANIES ARE PUTTING MONEY INTO THESE PROJECTS OF THEIR OWN DOLLARS. THEY'RE NOT LOCAL DOLLARS, THEY'RE NOT PUBLIC DOLLARS, IT'S DOLLARS OF THEIR OWN. IT'S CREATED AROUND 4800 JOBS OVER THOSE FOUR YEARS. THE FIFTH YEAR BEING 2026, WHERE WE SET RIGHT NOW IS ABOUT $417 MILLION IN ACTIVE CAPITAL INVESTMENT. creating almost 1,700 more jobs in 2026 as everything hopefully comes into fruition as we work through our goal is to navigate the pathway so projects can move forward the businesses can move quickly to create jobs prosperity and start supporting our city and we couldn't do that without our partnership with you We've had a lot of successes over the last 13 years together. One that hit on three of them that have been going on, maybe three of our more recent ones that you've seen. Three of them being the E1 expansion that's currently being built right now, Artemis Plastic, and then also one of our newest ones that we just celebrated their opening at Averitt Express. E1 is a great example of retention and expansion. As you know, this was a project that started here, was born here. This is a company that was born right here in Ocala 52 years ago. They were able to move anywhere in the nation. As they were looking at this expansion, they decided to stay here and they decided to grow here. and expand right here in their hometown. Artemis Plastic, this is a great example of not only a recruitment, but then also retention and expansion. We recruited them here. As they got here, they were able to grow. They were able to add more jobs. They needed to do an expansion. We were able to help them do that right here together. And then Averitt Express, this is a fun one that just opened up, one of our newest facilities that just opened up This was a recruitment project of capital investment of about $30 million, 60 new jobs in it. This is also their first since 2017. I believe there's eight other locations throughout the state of Florida. They have not put any of these transportation centers anywhere else in the state of Florida since 2017. They put it here. which is a great testament to what we have going on here. We have many, many stories of companies that have located here, stayed here, expanded here, created jobs, and continue to create jobs at higher paying wages right here in Ocala. Of course, economic development is a team sport without a doubt. So team sport, part of our job is to make sure that we help be a connector between all these areas on the local level that you see there on the left side of the screen, but then is also to build our team and to build our relationships, leverage our resources to leverage these relationships on the state, on the national, and then also on the regional side. And what does that mean to us? What's that mean to Ocala? These are the organizations that help us get these type of projects that we just talked about these are the organizations that we build these partnerships with that are advocating for Ocala not only here but nationwide as people are looking at projects and site selectors are looking at projects so these are definitely important that we have Now, we can't do economic development without talent development. We can have all the businesses we want, but if we don't have the workforce, we're in trouble, right? So talent development is the other part of economic development that we like to focus on. We do it a little differently. As you see there in the bottom left corner, you see all of our partnerships that we have throughout our community on education and providing that next generation of workforce. We do it a little differently because we start with our industries. What do they need?

Not us telling them what they need. We're asking them. They're telling us what they need.

Then we work with our education partners you see there. We started a new program called Classrooms to Careers this year. Fantastic program. That starts with our teachers. That's a support structure for our next generation of workforce. Then we move into what we're going to be launching in fall of 2027, which is World to Work, which is a student-focused experience, immersion into what careers exist right here in Ocala, exist right here at home. So this is something I could talk to you for hours about because I love these programs, but we're short on time. So if you ever have any questions, I'm happy to talk about those. Not only are we growing jobs here, but we're also growing local businesses here. One of the things with our partnership with the city that we're so blessed to have is our power plant business incubator that's right across the street. Our business incubator has a number of success stories. Two of them up there, if you ever have the chance, Funky Unicorn and Dimension Works. I'll just tell you, these are two companies that started with an idea. We helped them grow into a business. They now have their own place, their own brick and mortar. They're hiring people, and they're nationwide. Funky Unicorn just went international because they're in Canada now. They're shipping into Canada now. They're sales. Great, great companies. But what I really want to look at is those three numbers at the top right corner, the 84%, 75%, and the 42%. And what does that mean? That means 84%, as you know, we have two incubators, the power plant business incubator, and then our impact incubator out east of town. So our power plant incubator is sitting at about 84% capacity. We have two locations left open and we have people looking at those right now so we have potential and the goal of being 100% full here shortly. Our impact incubator is sitting at 75% capacity and within the next 30 days should be at 100% capacity. We have one space left there. There are a couple spaces left there, and both of those are supposed to be taken up. The fund number is at 42. What does 42 mean? 42 means we've had 42 graduates come out of this program in the last 12, 13 years. That averages about three graduates a year. Actually, it should be 44, because we just graduated two last month. From the time that we put this together to today, we've graduated two more companies. out of the incubator. And what does that mean to Ocala? That means these are companies that had ideas for a business, and we helped them grow that business because of our partnership. And now they have graduated from our programs, and now they have their own place. They're moving forward with their business, they're hiring people, and they're continuing to grow their business. So it's a lot of fun. The great thing about this, because of the partnership, we offer this at no cost to businesses that want to be a part of it. The only stipulation that you have to have as a business is that you're in Ocala, Marion County. and you have access. You don't have to be a member. You don't have to be a partner of the CEP. This is open to you, and this is free to you, which is a lot of fun to see these dreams come to reality. This is a lot right here, because this is six slides on one slide. This is something we're gonna be getting a final copy to you here shortly. We're finalizing, this is one of our newest projects with the city team. This is a new slide deck, a business attraction deck about Ocala, and it specifically talks about the benefits that downtown brings and the benefits that downtown has to expand into downtown, and then also out at our great airport, and what all is available there. So this is something, as we're finalizing this, the last part of it, the last stamp of approval we're waiting on, but this has been a great collaboration with the team that we talked about earlier, and something that's brand new to all of us to be able to use. So with that, in closing, as we talked about earlier, one partnership, three strategies, and one goal surround around economic prosperity, talent development, and entrepreneurship. And for us, this is what smart, strategic, and sustainable growth looks like. We appreciate the partnership. It's been a great 13 years and look forward to many, many more years of this partnership as we continue to move forward. So happy to answer any questions that you might have. If you do.

Any questions?

I know I went through that quickly. Seems like it's clear. I'm sorry?

I said no questions. Okay.

Thank you all. Appreciate the time. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. We go to our consent agenda 6A. Are there any items which council would like to remove from the consent agenda for individual discussion or consideration? Hearing none, I will accept a motion to approve the consent agenda.

So moved. Second.

Are there any comments from the public? Having none, the clerk will call the roll.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Hilty? Aye. Mr. Mansfield? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Agenda item eight, introduction and first reading of ordinances. Item 8A is an introduction and first reading of ordinance 20

26 dash 27. is there a minute a member of the city council who will introduce this item i'll introduce mr hildy the clerk will read the ordinance my towel an ordinance of the city of ocala florida amending chapter 106 article 4 affordable housing code of ordinances amending section 106-105 by revising criteria pertaining to affordable housing loan programs including lit the terms applicability administrative process, and interest rates, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for solubility of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective team.

Thank you. We will go to public hearings, agenda item nine, and second readings of ordinances. 9A through 9D concern the same property and the same project. So we will open the public hearing for all four items. Then hear only one staff presentation and present presentation by the applicant. Take public comment on all four items and then vote on each one separately.

Did you understand? All right, go go.

Item 9A is the adoption of ordinance 2026-17. Councilman Muslim, who introduced this item, is recognized for a motion.

Yeah, Council President, I move that ordinance number 2026-17 be adopted as provided by the Charter of the City of Ocala, Florida, and based upon evidence presented to City Council, accept that adoption by sections on the second reading be waived.

Is there a second? I move.

There's a second.

Yes. Clerk Jacob, will you read the ordinance by the towel?

An ordinance annexed into the city of Ocala, Florida, certain property located at 5575 Southwest 52nd Street. Parcel 23835-000-00, approximately 82.40 acres. Annex 26-0001, Marion County, Florida, pursuant to Chapter 171, Florida Statutes, providing for terms and conditions of said annexation, describing the area to be annexed, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions. Providing for self-ability of ordinance provisions. Providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing. Providing direction to the codifier and providing for an effective date.

Item 9B is the adoption of ordinance 2026-18. Councilman Manfield, who introduced this item, is recognized for a motion.

Mr. President, I move that ordinance number 2026-18 be approved. 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 by sections on the second reading be waived.

Is there a second?

Second.

Clerk Jacobs will read the ordinance by title.

An ordinance amending the future land use map series at the City of Ocala, Florida, comprehensive plan as required in section 163.3161 through and including section 163.3248 for the statutes. Detailed in the future land use change case number LUC26-0001 involved into amending future land use map series from high residential county to low intensity city for property located at 5575 Southwest 52nd Street, Parcel Number 23835-000-00, approximately 82.40 acres, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for accessibility of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective date.

Item 9C is the adoption of Ordinance 2026-22, Councilman Muzzin, who introduced this item is recognized for the motion.

Council President, I move that ordinance number 2026-22 be adopted as provided by the Charter of the City of Ocala, Florida, and based upon evidence presented to City Council, accept the adoption by sections on the second reading be waived.

Is there a second?

Second.

Clerk Jacobs will read the ordinance by title.

An ordinance amending the zoning map of the City of Ocala, Florida, changing the zoning from A1 General Agriculture District to PD Plan Development District. For a certain property located at 5575 Southwest 52nd Street, parcel 23835-000-00, approximately 82.40 acres, case number PD26-0001. Providing direction to staff repealing inconsistent 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.

Item 9D is the public hearing to consider a resolution for a PD plan and standards book. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you. Now, Planning Director Aubrey Hale is recognized for the staff presentation.

Good afternoon. Aubrey Hale, Planning Director. So today I'm going to present the Ocala 52 Partners LLC case. That includes the ANX 26-001, LUC 26-001, and a PD 26-001. The petitioner is and the property owner is Ocala 52 partners LLC with the agent of Tillman and associates and the annexation Of an approximate eighty two point four acres of property from Marion County at 5574 Southwest 52nd Street. This also has the associated future land use change to bring it into the city to go from the county's high residential land use to the city's low intensity land use category with an associated rezoning from A1 agricultural to PD plan development, which also has an associated plan and standards book that goes along with it. SO A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND ON THIS. SO IT WAS ORIGINALLY A QUARRY THAT OPERATED BACK IN THE MID, EARLY TO MID-1960S, BUT IT HAS GONE THROUGH A RELEASE OF RECLAMATION OBLIGATION THAT WAS ISSUED BY FDEP IN 2022. THE PETITIONER OR THE OWNER HAS ACQUIRED THAT PROPERTY BACK IN 2024 AND HAS THE CONCURRENT APPLICATIONS THAT WE'RE REVIEWING TODAY. Just a little bit about the area where this is located. So this is in the southwest quadrant of the city. Four Ranch is that yellow area in the north, and it abuts the properties along its northern boundary. And Southwest 52nd Street is to the south. Here's an aerial of some of the more recent, a more recent aerial that shows some of the surrounding uses of the property. So I'm going to kind of break the presentation into two sections and we'll focus on the annexation first and then if you have any questions feel free to ask me and then we can move on to the land use and the PD but it will all take one vote for each item. So the annexation, the request really centers around the connection to city utilities and services for future development. Because they are contiguous with the city, they would be required to annex if they're going to connect to our city services. They are contiguous based on that northern boundary that is next to Four Ranch, and it does not create an enclave as there is no additional properties on the south side of 52nd Street. The petitioner also did submit a fiscal impact analysis that went along with the annexation that focused heavily on the development of private roadways and yielded a positive annual return to the city. And the annexation does allow for future city development, which we're going to discuss further after the latter parts of the presentation. There is no sanitary service available along Southwest 52nd Street, but there is a lift station that is located, a public lift station that is located within the Four Ranch subdivision that would allow for the connection for sanitary sewer services. Also, just to clear some things up, there was a last-minute change to the legal description that provides some more completeness to that legal description. The initial one that was included in the ordinance was a short version. The long version is a little bit more descriptive. So it really just cleans it up. But the ordinance that you have, you should have been provided a new copy that has the new legal address or legal description in that ordinance. So with that the annexation had some approval conditions that were Recommended at the Planning and Zoning Commission those include that any of the existing Agricultural uses shall cease within one year after the zoning approval or prior to any future development also existing structures and septic system systems must be removed from the property prior to any future development and AND THEN THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO CONNECT TO THE CITY SERVICES AS WELL. SO WITH THAT, I CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE, BUT IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS, IF NOT, THEN I WILL MOVE ON TO THE PRESENTATION. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. SO NOW WE'RE GOING TO GO TO MORE OF THE FOCUS ON THE LAND USE AND THE PLAN DEVELOPMENT. SO WITH THAT, BACK UP. Low intensity is the desired land use that the applicant is moving forward with. That provides a density of three, between three and 18 dwelling units per acre. When you compare that to the high residential in the county that has eight dwelling units per acre, it does not have any FAR or floor area ratio that's in the county's current land use, but the city's low intensity would allow for a .75 FAR, which is more of your commercial developments that go by the floor area ratios. Due to the size of this property, it had to be submitted to the state for a review. So you'll probably remember that there was a previous public hearing that had to transmit that to the state. Due to this property being over 50 acres, that was subject to its large-scale amendment process. Through that review cycle, we did receive some additional technical assistance comments. One was from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. which would like to see additional data and analysis demonstrating availability of adequate potable water capacity, as well as from the Florida Department of Commerce that wanted to provide additional data, transportation data and analysis for the maximum potential development of the land use. So what we did as a staff is kind of looked at a – DID AN ANALYSIS BASED ON THE MAXIMUM OF 18 SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING UNITS PER ACRE IN ORDER TO GET TO THAT. AS WE WENT THROUGH THAT PROCESS, THE STAFF DID NOT IDENTIFY ANY LOS OR CAPACITY ISSUES. BASED ON THAT TRANSPORTATION ANALYSIS, THERE WAS A NET DAILY TRIP INCREASE OF APPROXIMATELY 7,742 FROM WHAT WOULD BE ALLOWED WITHIN THE COUNTY'S LAND USE. SO YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBERS THERE. SOUTHWEST 52ND STREET, THE ADOPTED LOS CAPACITY IS 14,000 DAILY TRIPS. but there is no current traffic data available on that road, so it's kind of hard to, there's not really anything for us to create that basis on. However, a formal traffic study will be required for this development, and those would provide those trip counts at that point, so we would know a little bit more in regards to that. Southwest 60th Avenue, as we conducted our analysis, basically broke it down into all the trips are going to Southwest 52nd Street, and then they're being diverted ONE OF TWO WAYS BECAUSE THAT'S THE PRIMARY ROAD. WE SHOWED 40% GOING TO SOUTHWEST 60TH AND 60% GOING TO STATE ROAD 200. AS PART OF THAT, YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE AVERAGING IN THOSE 2025 ADT COUNTS PLUS THE NEW PROJECT TRIPS, YOU'RE STILL UNDER THE THRESHOLDS FOR THOSE CAPACITIES FOR BOTH OF THOSE TWO ROADWAYS. The last bullet there talks to the increase of the dwelling units as it pertains to the Southwest Florida Water Management District's comment and our ability to provide the water capacity. Currently, the city is permitted at a capacity of 18 million gallons per day. At its maximum of 18 dwelling units, that would provide 17.44. So we're still kind of within, there's a difference of about .2463 between what the county and the city's allowable rate is right now. So it's still underneath that, and we have our capacity to provide that as well. So that kind of wraps up the land use section of it, but now we're going to get into the PD plan development, which goes in, further refines, and layers over top of that land use some of the actual development requirements of the property. So the PD is generally broken into three separate areas, approximately four and a half acres of commercial, which is in that red highlighted area at the bottom, which is along Southwest 52nd Street. You also have some examples of the architecture and the design that are incorporated into the PD plan and standards book. There's also the middle section which has, you know, truly more of a mixed use approach to it. It allows for a mix of multifamily, single family attached, single family. And these are some of the examples of the architecture within it and can offer up to about 360 units, dwelling units per acre or not. 360 DWELLING UNITS. THE LAST AREA IS IN THE REAR SO KIND OF TRANSITIONS FROM MORE COMMERCIAL IN THE FRONT ALONG 52ND STREET TO SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL TO THE BACK WHICH IS ALSO ABUTTING SOME OF THE SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL AREAS BACK THERE AND ALLOWS FOR 230 UNITS WITHIN THAT HIGHLIGHTED AREA. AGAIN, SOME SAMPLES OF THE ARCHITECTURE THAT THEY'RE PROPOSING. There's also two access points to the property that they're proposing. Basically, one is on either side of the east and west boundaries of the property, and that's largely due to there's a large lake that's on the property due to the mining facility. There's another pond in the very rear corner of that, and a drainage area is proposed in the center that is not existing. That's just going to be something that will be proposed to the PD. So based on that, some of the other things that staff looked at while we did our analysis is that the, and some variations from the zoning code, this does provide for smaller lots. So a 40 foot wide single family lot, our smallest lot size in the city currently by right is through our R1 AA which allows 60 foot. Then we also have townhome style lots which would allow for common walls to be shared and that goes down to a 20 foot wide townhome lot. private roadways again typically through a lot of subdivisions we'll see public but these are private going to be considered private roads with 40 foot right of ways and our typical right of way that we see is 50 feet so that's a variation and then the interior sidewalks are alluded on one side of the street and that they would like to defer sidewalks on Southwest 52nd Street until a later date So some of the findings, we kind of touched down this a little bit already, but annexation will not create an enclave, it has a northern boundary contiguous to the city limits, allows the city decision making authority over future development of the property, the fiscal impact analysis yielded a positive result, The LLS capacity or there were no LLS or capacity issues that were identified and the future land use is consistent with the surrounding areas and the neighborhoods and that the city has adequate facilities to service this property. The proposed rezoning is also consistent with the comprehensive plan, the code of ordinances and the existing land uses. The PD is consistent with the future land use. and that utilities again are consistent or available. So based on that, as we get to our approvals, wrapping in the P&Z recommendations for approval for the annexation to include that the existing agricultural use shall cease within one year, Of the zoning approval or future development, existing structures or septic systems must be removed and that would be required for connection to public facilities. That's for the approval for the annexation section. Land use, we recommend approval. And then lastly, for the PD, staff recommends approval of the rezoning from A1 general agricultural to PD plan development. ALONG WITH THE PDE PLAN AND STANDARDS BOOK SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS. THE FIRST THREE YOU'LL SEE ARE THE SAME THAT ARE IN THE ANNEXATION BUT THAT'S ON PURPOSE BECAUSE IF THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT EVER CHANGES WE WANTED THAT TO HAVE THE SAME CONDITIONS ATTACHED TO THE ANNEXATION. So therefore, the last four comments in there are all permitted uses by right within the B2 community business district shall be permitted within the PDE. They wanted to clarify that, that it's only the permitted uses, not things that also include special exceptions. All roadways within the development shall be privately owned and maintained as is contemplated through the PDE. And then a sidewalk along Southwest 52nd Street shall be provided with the appropriate phases of development that occur along the roadway. So if there's a future phase that develops in the rear, then that sidewalk wouldn't be responsible to be in place on Southwest 52nd until that time of the phase of development. So with that, staff recommends approval and is available for any questions. The applicant is also here and can make their presentation as well. Thank you.

So the applicant representative is recognized for their presentation if they want to say something.

Good afternoon, David Tillman, Tillman Associates Engineering, 1720 Southeast 16th Avenue, Building 100, Ocala, Florida. Just to be brief, unless you've got any specific questions regarding what's been presented to you, I think Aubrey did a pretty exhaustive presentation that covers just about everything. But I'm sure there may be some comments from the public there were in the past, and I'll try to get up and address any of those if that's okay with counsel.

Yeah. Okay. So if there are any comments... from the public in regards to these four. Yes, ma'am, come on up. State your name and address, please.

Marsh Armstrong, 5765 Southwest 52nd Street, Ocala. Hopefully you had a chance to read my email that gave a little history of the subject property with photos. The back half of this land was a sand mine and the front half was a lime rock mine. DEP inspections recorded unregulated fill in 1990 and 1996. DEP's warning letter to the owner listed items including C&D debris, junk cars, household waste, and tires. In response to DEP's warning, the landowner said dumping was done without his knowledge and it was being cleaned up. The inspection from 2000 listed asphalt, trees and tree limbs, concrete, and tires. The inspector noted that it appeared the site was being filled and that this appeared to be a non-mandatory reclamation area. The owner stated he would haul off the tires. The permit mining plan for the 82 acres showed that in the year 2000, 40 acres were inactive mining and 20 acres were disturbed for mining and not yet extracted. The reclamation plan confirmed by 2018 record shows that 40 acres of the 82 acres are non-mandatory for reclamation. Approximately half of the sand mine is non-mandatory. So what and how much is buried there? Improperly compacted soil, decomposing buried trees, and organic matter can cause settling, which can lead to structural damage and cracked foundations. The Lime Rock Mine was also blasted with explosives periodically from at least 99 Through 2007, blasting can destabilize or enlarge existing cavities. The permit for the Lime Rock Mine was extended until October 22nd of 2021. My email stated 2022, the correct date is 21. The mining plan was to turn the existing mining area into a 74.4 acre lake. Obviously that never happened since the existing lake is only about seven acres. The mining company dissolved. The permit was never transferred to anyone else. And the mining was never completed, so there's lots of lime rock still there. Per DEP, reclamation for a lime rock mine can include sheer limestone walls 10 feet or more in height, which could explain why the land still looks like a mining site. Although DEP granted a release of reclamation obligation in October of 22, this land is only reclaimed as a closed mine. This property would make a great park and botanical garden, although I don't foresee that happening. If this development is allowed to move forward, it will need extensive testing and oversight to ensure environmental safety and structural stability. Although this project will be under the water management district, the city of Ocala should also be involved. And a short question. Did Mr. Hale say that the third lake is no longer there?

So I don't believe there was ever a third lake. What's being shown on the PD itself was a future drainage pond. So I don't, unless, I mean, from what our documentation was, there was only ever the lake in the front and the pond in the back. So the other one was going to be something that will be proposed through the PD.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions from the public? Comments? All right. We're ready to vote.

Now, can we have Mr. Tillman just respond to that? Yes.

There weren't a whole lot of questions made there, just statements. So as far as development of the property, typically whenever you go through and you do mining, you do have to do a reclamation plan. FDEP has released this as being reclaimed, and so there's no additional criteria from FDEP for us. Um, this does have to go through both the water management district and the city's review. And the city does an extensive review. They cover everything that the water management district does and then some. So the city is going to have their hand in the development of this. Um, I don't, you know, I've, you know, I've told my client, I said, the biggest issue that we have with this site is going to be soil management. Um, we are going to have to probably bring in some clean fill, um, to cap some of the heavier clays that exist on the site. Um, but the good news, if we were going to start talking about sinkholes and things of that nature, heavy clays are what you typically do sinkhole repair with. So when you put those in place, um, you're kind of capping your lime rock foundation, um, which will prevent sinkholes from occurring long, long-term. Um, so, you know, in essence, this site does have the potential to have less sinkholes on it than you would typically see on any standard site in Marion County or city of Ocala. I mean, we live on a lime rock Ridge. Um, and so sinkholes are somewhat inevitable. but I think this site is going to be more controlled when it comes to that issue than any other site that I've developed in the past just because of its history.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Any other questions, comments? All right, let's call the roll. Thank you. First, for item 9A, the clerk will call the roll.

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Holti? Aye. Aye. Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Next, for Item 9B, the clerk will call the roll.

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer?

Aye.

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Hilty?

Aye.

Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Next, for Item C, the clerk will call the roll.

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Hilty? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Finally, 9D. Please call the roll.

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

Aye. Item 9E and 9F also concerns a single property and the same project. So we will open the public hearing for both items, then hear only one staff presentation, and then a presentation by the applicant. Take public comment on both items and then vote. 9E is the adoption of ordinance 2026-23. Councilman Hilty, who introduced this item, is recognized for a motion.

Council President, I move that ordinance number 2026-23 be adopted as provided by the Charter of the City of Ocala, Florida, and based upon evidence presented to City Council, accept that adoption by sections on the second reading be waived.

Is there a second?

Second. Second.

Look, Jacob, we'll read the ordinance by towel.

An ordinance amending the City of Ocala, Florida, comprehensive plan, future land use map series as required in section 163.3161 through and including section 163.3248 Florida statutes. Detailing the future land use change case number LUC26-0003. Amending the future land use map designation from neighborhood to public. for property located in the 2800 block of Southwest 20th Street, parcel 2347600100, approximately 4.06 acres, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for self-ability of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing an effective date.

Item 9L. adoption of ordinance 2026-24. Councilwoman Drow, who introduced this item, is recognized for a motion.

Council President, I move that ordinance number 2026-24 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 by sections on second reading be waived.

Is there a second? Second. Clerk Jacob, will you read the ordinance by title?

An ordinance amending the zoning map of the city of Ocala, Florida, changing the zoning from R1, single-family residential, and B1A, limited neighborhood business, to GU, governmental use, for certain property located in the 2800 block of Southwest 20th Street, parcel 2347600100, approximately 4.06 acres. Case number ZON26-0008, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for salvability of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective date.

Now, Chief Planning Official, Dr. Indira Man... I'm messing up your name again.

It's all right. Good afternoon.

Andra Varon is recognized for a presentation.

Good afternoon. Indira Madra Varon with the Growth Management Department. The petitioner and the property owner for the subject property is the city of Ocala. This is a city staff-initiated future land use designation change as well as a rezoning just to clean up this property that has historically been used as a city drainage retention area. The property consists of approximately 4.06 acres and was acquired by the city in 1975. The property was subsequently designated as a city of Ocala DRA for the regional stormwater system that was developed to support roadway improvements related to the widening of State Road 200, increasing the need for additional stormwater capacity in the surrounding area. Staff finds that the requested public land use category is consistent with the existing governmental use. The existing, um, zoning district is not consistent with the proposed public future land use designation pursuant to section one 22 dash two 44 of the code of ordinances. A zoning map amendment is appropriate to establish a consistency between the future land use and the zoning. Both the public future land use category and the GU zoning district are consistent with the existing and intended use of the property. The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval, and staff also recommends approval for both of these items. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Is the applicant representative here?

The city is the applicant.

Oh, okay. So you have did your presentation, right? All right. So is there any questions or concerns from the public? Having none? Council? All right. So we're ready to vote. First for item 9E, the clerk will call the roll.

Mr. Hilty?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Mansfield? Aye. Mr. Bethea? Aye.

Aye. 9F. Call the roll.

Ms. Dreyer. Aye. Mr. Mansfield.

Aye.

Mr. Musley.

Aye.

Mr. Hilty. Aye. Mr. Bethea.

Aye. Item 9G is the adoption of Ordinance 2026-25. Councilman Mansfield, who introduced this item, is recognized for a motion.

Mr. President, I move that Ordinance No. 2026-25 be adopted. as provided by the Charter of the City of Ocala, Florida, and based upon evidence presented to the City Council, except that the adoption by sections on the second reading be waived.

Is there a second?

Second.

Clerk Jacob, will you read the ordinance by Tyler?

An ordinance amending the City of Ocala-Florida Conference of Planned Future Land Use Map Series as required in section 163.3161 through and including section 163.3248 for all the statutes detailing the future land use change case number LUC26-0004 amending the future land use map designation from neighborhood to low intensity for property located in the 2800 block of Southwest 20th Street parcel 2347200300 23472-002-00 and a portion of 23472-001-00 approximately 4.88 acres 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 and providing for an effective date Ms. Madden is recognized for presentation

For the record, Indira Madriveran again. This is a joint application that includes two property owners, Z&T Partners, LLC, and CLD Properties, LTD. The B2 community business zoning is not a permitted zoning category, zoning district within the neighborhood future land use designation pursuant to section 122-244 of our code of ordinances. The applicant is requesting to change the future land use designation from neighborhood to low intensity to establish a future land use category that permits the existing B2 community business zoning district to establish consistency between the future land use designation and the zoning. All three properties were annexed into the city limits in 1975. Two of the subject properties are developed, the westernmost with the two-year health spa and the contiguous parcel with a commercial plaza. The easternmost parcel remains undeveloped. The proposed low intensity future land use has a minimum density and intensity of three dwelling units per acre with a maximum of 18 dwelling units per acre or a 0.75 floor area ratio. The existing neighborhood future land use in comparison allows a maximum density of five dwelling units per acre for single family development with up to twelve dwelling units per acre from multi-family with a maximum F.A.R. of zero point two five staff finds that the requested low intensity future land use designation is consistent with the existing commercial development pattern along southwest twentieth street the subject properties uh... Existing neighborhood future land use designation is inconsistent with the current b2 zoning category The proposed amendment will provide consistency between the comprehensive plan and the city's land development regulations the request supports Maintaining the established commercial corridor and surrounding low intensity development patterns The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval, and staff recommends approval. And both the agent and the applicant are here in the audience. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Okay. So let's see, do the agent or the applicant have anything to say?

Tim Haynes, Greg Ackerman, and Haynes, 211 Northwest 3rd Street. You had considered the City of Ocala's ordinance request, the prior two. Those are properties that are directly behind the three properties that are involved in this request. and then are also involved in the next request, which is a rezoning. And what this does is between the City of Ocala's changes and these changes really brings your comprehensive plan and your zoning categories into compliance with what's actually facts on the ground out there. Two of these three parcels have been B2 parcels. The comprehensive plan was changed to neighborhood, which does not allow B2 parcels, but they continued as B2 parcels and continue to be operated as B2 parcels. They are now have been purchased or are under contract. the two western most parcels which are commercially developed and ultimately will be developed as a capstone academy, a private school. They will continue some commercial use while they transition to full use of the property as a school. Unfortunately, schools aren't allowed in a B2 category so the choice is either to rezone, have a comprehensive plan change, make a text amendment in the zoning code, Those other two alternatives for various reasons are not at all satisfactory, and they create a lot more complexity. What this does at the end of the day is allow commercial use of property. Two of the three parcels are already commercial. It's behind the Gateway Plaza, so it's already in a commercial area. To the western end of the three parcels, excuse me, eastern end, is an existing convenience store. The county's change of its property and the use of that property as a drainage area, even if this were an increase in intensity, the use of that property as a drainage area creates a buffer between these potentially more intense uses and less intense uses. And then we get to the next request, the back half of the property in question that my client owns which is part of this is being down zoned from R3 to institutional so it can be used as a school which again creates a natural transition from the commercial to the more residential uses in the back. Um, and we have discussed this with the La Jolla neighborhood, which is the principal residential neighborhood back in the back. And in fact, we have a recorded agreement with them that they know this rear air will probably be used for a sports complex, open fields, and they've agreed to that and they're fine with that. So this really cleans up an area and creates a nice transition. Um, if you have any questions I'm available, um, Because the next application is part and parcel of this, unless you have questions on that one, I probably will not reappear. I would state that we do have some people who have been kind enough to show up who either operate businesses there or have adjacent property. And they've seen what the current owner of the retail center has been doing as they transition to an educational use. So I think we have an advantage. They have a comfort of what's going to happen there. And they're here, if you should care to hear from them, to speak in favor of this. So thank you.

Thank you. So I have two people that have asked to speak. Mr. Todd Deronaco.

Todd Deregnacourt, 2801 Southwest 20th Street, Ocala, Florida, 34474. Mr. Mayor, Mr. President, and Council Members, thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'm not only one of the managing partners for Z&T Partners, but also have the privilege of serving as the principal and head of school for the Capstone Academy, which occupies Unit 103 in one of these parcels. As Mr. Haynes said, We occupied that parcel about a year and a half ago. The parcel had fallen into serious disrepair. One of the business owners who operates there is also here with us tonight. I think she's the second person who requested to speak. She's seen the renovations that we've done to this initial parcel. And also, as Mr. Haynes said, we have the third parcel here. under contract where the two-year health club buildings are now, which have also fallen into serious disrepair. We've invested almost a half a million dollars into the initial parcel. Our budget to renovate the two-year health spas is approximately a million dollars as well. It will be creating probably 30 high paying professional jobs for teachers and administrators. And as Mr. Haynes also said, we will be developing the back parcel as a sports complex with open field, soccer field, track and field, and the like, which will create a natural buffer for the adjacent communities. So we thank you for the opportunity to speak, and I'll yield the podium to anybody else who wants to comment or take questions if you have any.

No questions. No questions. Ms. Doris Ortiz-Garcia.

My name is Doris Ortiz Garcia. I live at 1918 Southwest 29th Terrace there in Ocala. I'm here really just to talk about your average homeowner. And in a few minutes, just very quickly, my husband and I, Well, I graduated from Lake Worth High School. I taught at Lake Worth High School. I'm a Marion County. My parents have been here since 200 was cows. We moved out away from Ocala, and recently we decided to make the city of Ocala our new home. My parents lived in La Jolla 200 from very much its inception 30 years ago. We have seen all the changes that have happened all around our little community. Some have been great, some not so great. I'm here to talk about something that I think is going to be great. for our community. It's been a bit of a hodgepodge all around La Jolla. My house is literally, I can see the two-year health spa. I just really think that based on what we have seen as homeowners, new homeowners, in the plaza that was recently purchased, it's night and day. the improvement that is there. What's happening around us, just adhering to the zoning, shows that there's a lot of inconsistency. We really believe, my husband and I, that bringing capstone or just bringing all of this under a more consistent zoning that allows for that and for growth and this kind of growth, we really think as homeowners, It's going to be a really good thing. We're not the only ones, but today we're just here representing myself, my husband, and the recent fact that we could have moved anywhere, but we came back to the city of Ocala. And we could have moved anywhere, really, but we stayed in La Jolla. It was the home of my mom and dad. It is now our home, and we're very, very actually excited that these changes, should you guys approve it, so that we can have this consistency, so that this clan can move ahead. We just would like to say we would really appreciate it if this got a green flag all the way through and my time is up. Thank you. Thank you.

Ms. Caroline Miller.

my name is caroline miller my home address 21 26 southeast 25th loop business is 2801 southwest 20th street my husband and i purchased ocala bicycle center 21 years ago we've been in the same spot for 21 years it's flown by we've been very fortunate to be successful here in ocala it's growing things are doing well and We're very appreciative of that Honestly, I've paid zero attention to zoning in those 21 years had no idea It was a residential and we were grandfathered in but I appreciate that. So thank you Two of those years almost two of those years two years ago Z&T partners purchased our building I can say there's been more done for us in two years than the previous 19 we had leaks in our roof with spots and Mold growing. There were no lights in the parking lot, so another business owner in here can attest. You have customers in the winter, they're going out in the dark. Employees are going home in the dark. The previous landlord just didn't want to pay the bill. So Todd and his wife have done so much cosmetically. There's a new roof, there's new paint. So much is done to the landscaping, trees removed. It really was an eyesore before, but now it's much improved and we appreciate all that they have done. There's fencing going up. Small things. We never had AC maintenance done. He has a crew there every month, so he's put in security cameras, kind of has helped with a lot of the... We had two break-ins in our 21 years, and I think the security cameras are definitely going to help with that. so they're going to continue to improve things. They're super easy to work with. Anytime we have something going on, we just go talk to them. They're going to take care of it. Right now, there's four businesses in that area. Everyone does their very different type of businesses with a daycare. Austin's got his comic and gaming store. There's a karate, but he would be offended if I call it that, and then there's our bike store. We've been kind of the anchor there for a long time, and I haven't known much of what happens with the Capstone School because they're just now bringing the high school over. But judging by the number of people they have in attendance here today, I look forward to being partners with them. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anybody else?

Hi, I'm Austin Berger. I've been a resident of Ocala for 35 years. I live on the southwest side of town. I've been in charge of my current business in the same plaza as Vibranium Comics for nine years now. As she has said, it has been night and day. Since they take over two years ago, we've had so much improvements around the place. There is bright lights at night. Every time he does something, he always tells us, informs us, and keeps us well informed about the whole thing. which is very different from the last landlord. And you can tell there's a big difference. It's cleaner. It looks more presentable from just driving by and the like. And there's easy communication between us. I suspect that's probably what he's doing his entire running his business with ZNT and everything else. would greatly, if you guys increased or approved this, sorry, I'm not used to speaking. I'm usually used to selling stuff. I just got off of work so I'm a little late here. But everything has been improved by him. We have had better light systems. He does check our AC every couple months. If there's any issue, there's easy communication, like I said before. There was a bad car accident. We easily, I communicated with him, warmed him, and he got everything fixed up within days of that. So that was very impressive on both our ends. They've gone over and everything else says. I would like the more young adults. I do run a comic book industry, so it helps get my business improved. Again, it's been nine years, so I do already have a group there, but always improving would be good for me and also probably for the bicycle community as well. I just hope you guys have the great approval for that. Thank you, guys. Have a good one.

Thank you. Any other comments? Having none. ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS FROM THE COUNCIL?

I WOULD JUST SAY IT WAS PROBABLY ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO I VISITED THE CAPSTONE ACADEMY AND THEY'RE EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE WHAT THEY DO. THE KIDS WERE, WHAT THEY WERE LEARNING AND THE WORK AND YOU COULD TELL JUST THE LEVEL OF DETAIL AND PROFESSIONALISM, I THINK THEY'LL DO A GREAT JOB AND ADD EXTREME BENEFIT TO THE COMMUNITY. SO IT WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE.

Any other comment from the council? Call the roll.

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

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

Aye. Item 9H is the adoption of ordinance 2026-26. Councilman Hilty, who introduced the item, is recognized for a motion.

Council President, I move that ordinance number 2026-26 be adopted as provided by the Charter of the City of Ocala, Florida, and based upon evidence presented to City Council, accept that adoption by second sections on the second reading be waived. Is there a second?

Second. Clerk Jacob, will you read the ordinance, please?

An ordinance amending the zoning map of the city of Ocala, Florida, changing the zoning. REZONE FROM R3 MULTIFAMILY RESIDENTIAL TO INST INSTITUTIONAL FOR CERTAIN PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2781 SOUTHWEST 20TH STREET AND NORTHERN PORTION OF 2801 SOUTHWEST 20TH STREET PARCEL 23472-004-00 AND A PORTION OF 23472-001-00, APPROXIMATELY 2.99 ACRES. case number ZON26-0009, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for self-ability of ordinance provisions, providing for modification arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective date.

Ms. Madden-DeVereen, do you have anything else that you want to speak on this matter? Go ahead, ma'am.

Good afternoon, Indira Madravaran. This is a related rezoning to what we have heard this afternoon. This is the commercial plaza, the northern portion, 1.19 acres of that property and the property contiguous to the north. They are requesting to go from R3 multifamily residential to institutional district. The property to the north is a landlocked property. Future development must meet all applicable land development regulations. Staff finds that the proposed rezoning is consistent with the neighborhood future land use designation and is consistent with section 122.244. City utilities exist for the property and adequate level of service for any future development. The planning and zoning voted 5-0 to recommend approval and staff recommends approval. Again, the agent and applicant are in the audience.

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

Mr. Hilty.

Aye.

Mr. Musley.

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer. Aye. Mr. Mansfield. Aye. Mr. Bethea.

Aye. All right. We're on 10. Agenda item 10.

Sorry.

Thank you.

Item 10C is the adoption of the contract with Salt Cross, Inc. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second?

Second.

City Engineer Sean Lanier is recognized for his presentation.

Good evening, Sean Lanier, City Engineer. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goals of operational excellence and quality of place. On March 9th this year, the city issued an invitation to bid and received two bids on May 14th. Sawcross Inc. was the lowest bidder. Staff recommends approval. I'm here to answer any questions.

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

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Hilty?

Aye.

Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Thank you. 10D is the adoption of one-year renewal of the contract with Central Square. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Second. Assistant IT Director Kelly Vann is recognized for a presentation.

Good evening, Council. Kelly Vann, Assistant Director of Information Technology. This agenda item aligns with the city's strategic goal of operational excellence. This is a one-year renewal for the Central Square Lucity Enterprise Asset Management System. The system is utilized by the Public Works and Water Resources Department for their daily operations, including work order management, inventory management, asset tracking, and preventative maintenance. Staff recommends approval, and I'm here to answer any questions.

Are there any comments from the public? Any comments from the council? Call the roll.

Mr. Hilty? Aye. Mr. Mansfield? Aye. Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Bethea? Aye.

Item 10E is the adoption of a two-year agreement for roof restoration contractor services on an as-needed basis. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Facilities Division Head Gary Cruz is recognized for staff presentation.

Good evening, City Council, Mayor. I'm Gary Cruz, the Facilities Division Head for the City of Ocala. This evening, I'm requesting your approval of this agenda item relevant to Ocala's strategic goal for quality of place. The approval of the two-year agreement provides maintenance and extended life protection for various horizontal roof structures. Staff recommends approval, and I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

Any comments from the public? Council, call the roll.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Ms. Diolte? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Item 10F, is the adoption of a one-year contract with BOMAC Construction Services, Inc. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Public Works Director Darren Park is recognized for staff presentation.

Good afternoon, City Council. Darren Park, Public Works Director. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goals of operational excellence and quality of place. This is a one-year agreement with two one-year optional renewals for street sweeping of 200 centerline miles of curved roads and city-owned parking lots at a frequency of 20 times a year. Street sweeping is an integral part of keeping the debris out of our stormwater conveyance system. Staff recommends approval, and I'm here to answer any questions.

Any comments from the public? Council, call the roll.

Mr. Hilty? Aye. Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Thank you. Item 10G is the adoption of a two-year renewal of the agreement with Tisdale, Tidale, Enterprise, Inc. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? I move. Is there a second? Second. Utility Director Doug Peebles is recognized for staff presentation.

Thank you. Doug Peebles, Director of Ocala Electric Utility. This item supports Council's strategic goal of operational excellence. On October 12, 2023, City of Ocala entered a three-year contract with Tyndall Enterprises to provide managed uniform program. The specialized flame-resistant uniforms serve as personal protective equipment for Ocala Electric Utility and Ocala Fiber Network operation staff to ensure employee safety while working within proximity to energized electrical systems and roadways. Tyndall has consistently provided quality products and services. Staff recommends approval. I'm here to answer any questions.

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

Mr. Holti?

Aye.

Mr. Mansfield.

Aye.

Mr. Musley.

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer. Aye. Mr. Bethea.

Aye. Thank you. Item 10H is the adoption of the utilization of the Florida Shelf Association Agreement with Mattity Motor Truck Company. Do I hear a motion to approve?

So moved. Second.

Second. Mr. Manfield, second. Thank you.

Mr. John King, recognized for staff presentation. Good evening, City Council. Good evening, Mayor. John King, Fleet and Facilities Director here to seek your approval for this agenda item that's relevant to Ocala's strategic goal of operational excellence. We'd like to purchase two rescue fire units for Ocala Fire Rescue to replace some aging units. Approximately 12 years old they are. And they have an equivalent of 550,000 miles because of their high idle capacity. from running here in the city. Replacing these units will ensure reliable emergency rescue services for our fire department. It is essential that they have this equipment. The equipment will be purchased through the Florida Sheriff's Association bid award contract. I seek your approval. Any questions that you have, I'm happy to answer.

Any comments from the public? Council, call the roll.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Hilty?

Aye.

Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Thank you. Item 10I is the adoption of task work order 26-05 with infrastructure consulting and engineering PLLC. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second?

Second.

Our port director, Matthew Groh, is recognized for staff presentation.

Good afternoon. Matthew Gero, airport director. This agenda item meets council's goals of quality of place and operational excellence. So years ago, the city provided an easement to FDOT to allow them to construct a stormwater pond on the north end of the airport. This was related to their expansion to State Road 40. That pond is currently blocking phase two of the north development access road on the airport. Phase one was just recently completed last year. The road parallels State Road 40 and provides development opportunities for aviation or access opportunities for aviation and non-aviation developments on the north end of the airport. THIS AGENDA ITEM DIRECTS THE AIRPORT ENGINEER CONSULTANT INFRASTRUCTURE CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING TO BEGIN THE DESIGN TO RELOCATE THAT POND FOR PHASE TWO. THERE'S ENOUGH FUNDING REMAINING IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PHASE ONE PROJECT FOR THE DESIGN AND ULTIMATE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW POND. STAFF RECOMMENDS APPROVAL. I'M HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

ANY COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC?

COUNCIL?

CALL THE ROLL.

MS. AOLTE? AYE. Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Thank you. Item 10J is the adoption of the renewal of stop-loss insurance coverage with HM Insurance Company. Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. H.R. and Risk Management Director Tom Swanson is recognized for the staff presentation.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. Todd Swanson, Director of Human Resources and Risk Management. This item supports the city's goal of fiscally sustainable. The city maintains a self-funded insurance plan and stop loss insurance protects the health insurance fund from catastrophic medical and prescription drug claims. Brown and Brown marketed this renewal to 11 carriers. After evaluating pricing and coverage, they recommended renewing with H&M Insurance Company as the best overall value. The renewal maintains the city's current $250,000 specific deductible, continues both specific and aggregate coverage, and preserves the key provisions of our existing policy. Brown and Brown also negotiated H&M's initial 29.4% renewal increase down to 10.9%, saving the city approximately $380,000 from the original proposal. The annual premium is $2,315,271. an increase of approximately $228,500 over the current plan year. Funding is budgeted in the health insurance fund, and no budget amendment is required. Staff recommends approval. Any questions?

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

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Hilty?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Agenda item 12, city manager's report. Mr. Pete Lee.

Yes, sir. Thank you. First, I would like to introduce the city's new water resource director, Mr. Brian Heller in the back row. Today is Brian's first day with us. He joins us from Boynton Beach. He has over 14 years' experience in water and wastewater management, and he's also a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, and we are extremely glad to have him with us.

Thank you, sir.

A REMINDER THAT WE HAVE INTERNAL AUDITOR INTERVIEWS ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 11TH AND SELECTION RIGHT AROUND NOON OR A LITTLE AFTER. And last thing, the inaugural City Path graduation is at 3.30 on Thursday at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center. That's the program for selected high school and recent graduates that educates and exposes them to electric utility careers. So if you can join us at 3.30 p.m. on Thursday, we'd be happy to see you. And that is all I have, sir.

Thank you. Police Chief Mike Balkan, recognize the report.

Good evening, everyone. Mike Balkan, Police Chief. For the period the police department worked, a total of 7,700 incidents, a 1% decrease when compared to last year. Dispatch calls were up by 7%, accounting for 2,622 cases, while self-initiated cases dropped by 4%, or just over 5,000 calls. Overall of those numbers, 296 crimes were reported, which yielded 197 arrests. Officers conducted 1,173 traffic stops, which is up by 1%, and investigated 133 traffic crashes, which is down by 1%. We saw an uptick in all three crime categories, violent crime rising by 16 cases, property crime by 22, and societal crimes by 25. Our Baker Act cases rose slightly, seeing a total of 24 incidents, while Marchman Act cases remained the same at nine. Just for some case highlights, we did have a significant family dispute. This adjudicated delinquent. He's now 18, fled from a residence on Southwest 7th Street with that firearm depicted here. Our initial search couldn't detect that firearm, but our K-9 was called to the scene and had some luck. I'll show you that real quick.

Thoughts? Thoughts? Yes! That's right, sir. You got it.

So a good find avoiding what could have been a really dangerous situation. Our ICAC team continues to stay busy protecting our most vulnerable citizens. This guy here was arrested after trying to solicit what he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex. And then we just wrapped up a couple of pending cases. Madison Bryan here was arrested in January for grand theft. She pled guilty. and was just sentenced to four years in DOC. Mr. Dasher there was arrested for felony petty theft along with a sex offender violation, condition violation. He pled guilty, received seven years in prison. And lastly, Mr. Washington here became the target of our drug unit. Back in 2024, it was an ongoing long-term investigation. He was arrested after a search warrant of his house yielded distributions amounts of cocaine, fentanyl, and meth. We took that case federal. He was just sentenced to 20 years in prison. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Any questions? All right. Ocala Fire Rescue Department, Chief Cliff Wellborn.

Good evening, Clint Waldron, Fire Chief. For OFR's two-week department update, you see the call load there. Rescue 4, again, 177 in lead. Rescue 1, right behind them at 173. On the engine side, you have engine 4 at 104 and engine 1 at 100. 76 motor vehicle accidents responded to by OFR. There was 115 throughout the city. Seven fires and 47 community paramedicine core calls. Total calls for this period was 1,090, bringing the total call for the year 16,339. Just a few highlights this week. We did have a grease fire at Popeyes. It was contained to the cooking area, but that is one of four commercial kitchen fires we did respond to in the last two weeks. We also had two vehicle fires. One was the result of a collision, and the other was a malfunction. No injuries reported in those. That's all I have.

Any questions for Chief?

Nope.

All right, so we do have one public comment. Mr. Clay Albright.

Members of the board, Clay Albright, PO Box 3718, Ocala, Florida. I am here at the mercy of the board. I have nowhere else to turn, and I'm hoping for some relief from this board. I represent ROC Holdings. We were involved in a code apparent violation that has proven to be an issue that was out of a mistake, but it was, you know, We re-landscaped a building, a brand new building, and spent $40,000 on an existing building, excuse me, on the corner of 11th and 17th Street and got tagged for trying to improve the property and betterment of the community. That being said, code enforcement showed up and cited my client. And through various meetings, we have come to some sort of an agreement that needed to be reached on the replacement of some trees that were dead, dying. They were, excuse me, they were a threat not to the public, but they were a threat from my client on his, from an insurance standpoint. They were moving in a new building. One doctor, another doctor, while I was down, we re-landscaped it, so on and so forth. Pete called me today in an effort to try to find a resolution to this. The problem is I have got an email thread that I want to pass around to you all for a minute. And we have one that we're going to enter into the public record as well. That kind of gives a little bit of a back story, but I will tell you as we go along. We had numerous meetings with your code enforcement board, the department. And the code enforcement board at the end of all this, we had been drug into a code enforcement hearing twice. Once we got to the last hearing, I had both my engineer and the landscape engineer And we came away with an understanding that the building, we were expanding a parking lot with connectivity over to 11th Avenue. And the trees that we had taken out apparently that were dying that should have had a permit, we negotiated with the staff. They said we could put them in. They said we can incorporate that into the new site plan that had already been submitted. And we all walked away from the... hearing understandingly completely that those things will be taken care of at the time of the new site plan once we implemented it that being said my client also has a piece of property that they are in the middle of selling under the same name entity and your code enforcement board has cited my client $250 a day for the past month and When I questioned your code enforcement department, they said, well, I asked, I said, where did you send the notification? Because we didn't get it. They said, we sent it to the address on file, statutorily, which is all we had to do. And I said, well, that address has been invalid for two years. Basically, there was no sympathy. There was nothing, no compassion whatsoever. That was it. So now my client has got an issue where they've been cited. They have an impending sale this week that has to go through. And now they've got $250 a day fines that have been racking up as a result of something that never should have happened to begin with. I have a verification of my engineer at that meeting along with a date stamped plan that shows those trees that were being replaced We still got cited and on top of it, we never got notified because it went to the wrong address. This is date stamped from back in April. We had a firm understanding that this was gonna be handled and we still got cited because apparently either they didn't pick up on this, they didn't remember it, or we didn't act fast enough. But all the email threads that I've highlighted will tell you in there that they acknowledge that nothing was gonna happen I highlighted those emails. They're a little bit mixed up, but I took a red pen, and you can see the email threads through them. But I don't know where to go. Pete says statutorily there's nothing he can do. We've got a closing. We need some financial relief or some sort of relief. to get this matter resolved, because now at $250 a day, you can do the math for over 30 days, something that shouldn't have happened, but we have no choice. We've got to get some relief.

When you say Pete, are you talking about Mr. Leo? We had a phone conversation before council, about an hour before council. And when I said that, I mean that I can't undo what the Code Enforcement Board or the magistrate has done. I would defer to Mr. Sexton to, and he may need time to research this, I don't know whether cross-attachment is something that has to be done or We can figure out a way so that the property that Mr. Albright's talking about at the corner of 22nd and 464 isn't impacted by the action on the property he's talking about where the doctor's office is. And I also have been in contact with the engineer. He has not submitted the plan for any restoration plan or a site plan on the doctor's office site. The time crunch is the issue here. This is the biggest issue that I understand for Mr. Albright. I can't resolve, if it's cross-attached, I don't know who can resolve it other than the code enforcement.

Mr. Lee, the The document I just sent to you was in April, and you can see it has been submitted.

Actually, if I could on L&P, just for the record, Jeff Schremmen, Growth Management Director. I just got a text from our Code Enforcement Manager. There's already been an agreement on a cross-attaching, getting that released as soon as the prosecution cost is paid. So that's already been discussed as far as releasing the cross-attaching lien, so hopefully that would resolve that issue.

Okay. Okay. When did this all happen?

I'm just getting that today. I mean, I just heard that just now.

Do we have any idea what those figures are?

I can get it to you before we leave.

Thank you, Jeff. Hopefully that will work itself out through this scenario so we can move forward. I do want to say something publicly as being on the receiving end of your code enforcement violations on numerous occasions. You have a group of people that have got very arrogant, and I'll repeat, arrogant personalities. The general public needs some relief from your code enforcement body. We have nowhere to turn. We have nowhere to question. We have nowhere that if you question anything with these code enforcement officers, they will slap a file on you so fast and there's nobody you can plead your case to. I would urge the commission, the city council, to at some future point in time, please establish some sort of a board that oversees your code enforcement commission because there's nobody that they're answering to is the bottom line and something needs to be done this has been going on for years the general public is tired of it i can tell you firsthand there are things that i think are warranted out there from a code enforcement violation there are other things out there that are totally just nonsense. And you can't reason with these people. You can't have an intelligent conversation. I have always lived by the rule that reasonable people can find reasonable solutions to reasonable problems. You cannot have a reasonable conversation with anybody on the Code Enforcement Department.

Thank you for coming, Mr. Albright. We hope that There's something that can be done. I'm not 100%. I don't know the extent of what you are saying. I don't know the extent of that. But hopefully you'll get some kind of relief from that. The other matters we will be talking about. Thank you.

This is for a pre-application. It's not the actual submittal of the plan. I've been in contact with him. He has not submitted the plan.

But those things are going on. I mean, the file is open. They can see what's happening. I mean, try to get something done in this town. You know, it takes you two months to get a survey. I mean, you know, things don't move. But when a code enforcement violation hits you and you can't act on it quick enough, what are you supposed to do?

Can I ask a question, Council President of Jeff? So when you say that the fees are going to be waived, are you waiving a $250 a day fine minus all of the hard costs?

No, the cross-attaching lien aspect is all I was speaking to. Okay. That issue, the payment of the prosecution cost, which I don't have the exact number, but it's less than $300, that paid will release the lien. Release the cross-attaching lien? Okay.

So you can have the closing as scheduled and then deal with the other situations separately?

Yeah, the resolution on getting the compliance and stuff, we can work on that and – talking through the process to coming back to get the lien reductions. So that's typical process.

Yeah. And there was, there's, there have been, there's a pre-application, there's been a pre-application conference. I believe that Mr. Albright and maybe the engineer and the landscape architect, some staff met on the site. There's been no submittal of the plan as, as Mr. Albright alluded to the problem. according to the engineer, is that he hasn't gotten the survey yet. He's waiting on the survey to submit the plan.

And how did the – I'm just sorry. What started this, taking down trees?

So there's a – this is a – We re-landscaped the building. It's a doctor's office at the corner of Southeast 17th Street and Southeast 11th Avenue. It used to be Dr. Cannon's office.

Okay.

I'm sorry. I can't remember whose it is now.

Okay. Dr. Sieber is another big orthopedic group that stepped in.

The trees were planted when that building was built, which was probably 25 years ago. Yeah, and the trees had been declining. You can look on Google Earth and see them, and then they disappear. So they were removed. You need a tree removal permit. You have to be consistent with your site plan. It happens. We work through it. You know, I don't know what the holdups are. I know that these, you know, there are some very specific things here There are some curb lines that are tight. There's some infrastructure in there. It's going to take a little bit of, you know, kid gloves to handle that site. But his engineer knows how to handle these. And so there's another lot just to the east of that on the corner. It's a vacant site. grass lot they're going to create an additional parking lot so we can pick all of that up you know we can fix this code enforcement violation at the same time that they do the plan for that lot and then we'll come back and I don't know how we got out of order on code enforcement I know that there was an April hearing at the magistrate and then there was a June hearing that's called a Massey hearing that they actually find you know either in compliance or out of compliance, and then they can fine you. I talked to Mr. Albright, and he said, well, we didn't get this. You know, we didn't get notification of that. It was sent to the wrong place. It's the address that we had. They weren't there. They fined him $100 a day. We'll go back to the Code Enforcement Board, and we'll say, look, They've submitted a site plan. They've submitted a tree restoration plan that shows both parking lots, the one that they're creating new, the one that's existing, and they'll come into compliance that way and we'll ask for elimination of those $100 a day fines.

Well, you and I have spoken about code enforcement. I think we've all spoken together as a board about this, how really it should be less of a punitive experience, right? I mean, there are some times when it needs to be. I will tell you, you can drive around our city and see a bunch of semi trucks parked in people's yards. Go after stuff like that. Not when people are trying to beautify their properties. It's insane. Meanwhile, you can drive around and see numerous commercial properties who've let their landscaping go into decline. So his customer and numerous other commercial customers have to abide by a plant height when they build. I had a customer who had to take out all of the landscaping and replant the brand new landscaping because it was two inches too short. Meanwhile, people are letting their landscaping to go into decline, and we don't address that. So it makes zero sense to go after people when they're beautifying their properties, and then it escalates to all of this. This is the third time I've heard a complaint about code enforcement this week, the third time.

I understand. Look, in this case – Procedurally, this did not happen the way that I would like it to happen.

And that's the complaint for the other two also.

Beautification is a subjective word. You can look at the site. There were no trees on it. There were trees on it, and now there are none. And so, you know, the code requires that you're compliant with the site plan that got approved. And you're right. We don't go proactively and... Most of this is complaint-driven. I don't know how this one was. I don't know how we got this case. I don't know what it was. It's pretty visible and pretty evident. I don't know what started it. But, yeah, we can go to sites all week and do this. This one, all the trees are gone from the site. Every tree is gone from the site.

In between where the building is and the next building to the north of it?

To the east. There's no building to the east. So the trees were in the parking lot at the front. All the trees are gone. So it would have been kind of an easy catch.

Is there a train track on the other side of the trees?

Yeah, it's over on the other side.

I mean, you know, to highlight what you're talking about, We had one client that was selling, another client that was buying. Before we could get it re-landscaped to dress it up, somebody came into the picture. All of a sudden, the new buyer, we let them be involved in what was going to be happening. My client spent $40,000 updating this landscaping. According to code, I would have to have a landscape architect. I would have had to have a plan submittal, this, that. At the end of the day, it would probably cost $12,000 to $15,000 to submit all this. That's just regulation inflation. And none of that is going to go in the ground for the purpose. It's just going to go in a file. I mean, they've already done it once when the building was built. I mean, we've got numerous properties around, and we take a lot of pride. I mean, you know, when something dies, we yank it out and put something else in. I mean, but if you think I'm going to go get a permit to take a handful of plants out, I'm sorry. These were dead, dying trees that had been nurtured along. They got mistletoe in them. We took pictures of them. They were a threat to, you know, cars and patients and so on and so forth. We had arborists look at them. You know, it was like, okay, we're redoing everything. You got one tenant's gone, another tenant's moving out, and now's the time to do it.

Would the permit have been granted had they gone through the proper... Yeah. Of course.

Give them a tree removal permit to remove... Like, I've looked at... Just from looking at Google Earth, Google Maps, yeah, we would have given it to them. But, you know, there's... That's the process that's required. I didn't write the code.

Well, then, you know, if you take a tree out this big... and you want to put a new one in, then they start dictating the DBH on the tree. Well, the difference between going and getting one for $400 or $500 and having a landscape crew dig a hole that's 30 or 40 gallons is one thing. It's another thing when the staff says, no, no, no, no, it's got to be this big, now you've got to get a tree spade. And then you've got the risk of the thing dying, and you've got water and all these other things that, you know, give the tree a chance. Let it...

It just needs to be overreached. It's overkill. We'll continue to work on that. We'll work on that.

Yeah. We need another conversation about cooking.

I would like to add something, if you don't mind. I was in another incident this week, too, about code enforcement. And the whole idea is you hit it right on the head. It should not be punitive. These guys are here to make sure that everything's in line. That's fine. Make a phone call. Reach out. If somebody's not getting back to you and intentionally not paying you any mind, then you go after them. But some of this stuff is we have to. All these agencies are here to help the citizens. It's not the other way around. Citizens aren't here to help these agencies. And that's one thing that's always burned me up a little bit is, you know, we're here for the citizens, not the other way around. So we really have to do something. I don't like – I've been on the receiving end, too, back in the day. And sometimes – and you're right. It's just they automatically – all of a sudden you get a letter of a nasty gram, I call it. It's like I didn't even know I had this issue. So – there are different eyes you know take a phone call and again most you know i think clay's been around here one or two years you know most people know who he is you know most people know is same thing with some of these other companies we've been dealing with on some other issues they've been around for a long time and all of a sudden they're getting you know issues with code enforcement we've got to we need to make sure that we have some kind of oversight i'm i truly believe in that And we can argue all day long about the code, and I know before Pete says anything, but at some point in time, we've got to have some mercy. I mean, I'm sure there's laws out there we all break every day when you're driving, but I don't think the police chief's over there looking to arrest everybody. So it's like we've got to have some point of mercy, and we're here for the people.

According to the code, there's not one piece of property in this city that you couldn't find some kind of violation if you looked. I disagree with that. Mr. Albright, you all are going to communicate. Thank you so much for your time.

We will be talking in council in a workshop or whatever in regards to code. I can't promise you nothing in regards to that, but we will have a conversation, if nothing else, with the city manager, and he will go to his staff. and address issues.

Well, we appreciate your time. I mean, you know, I didn't want this to bubble up, but I had nowhere else to turn.

Well, that's what we're here for, sir.

Thank you so much for your time. No problem. Thank you all for your service. Yes. Mr. Sean Fullwood?

Fullwood?

If you would. My name is Sean Fullwood, 1332 Southeast Sanchez Avenue, 34471. I started an account with Ocala Electric Utility approximately a year ago, give or take a month or so, and had been in good standing the entire time, never missed a bill, had never had power disconnected. It was approximately three weeks ago. I woke up in the morning. I was going to make a new payment. And I saw that there was a $1,375 charge. So naturally, I went to the office downtown here. And they told me it was a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old fee, respectively. I had no recollection of ever being without power in those days. I don't know how it accrued. how that would have accumulated. And they were unable to provide me with any type of proof of service, a signed application, just some legitimate way to uphold the debt. And I'm asking that the debt, or I had no choice but to begin making payments, approximately 20% of every payment I make because they shut the power off. So I'm just asking City Council to have the Ocala Electric Utility withhold the collection of that until they can provide me with some proof of my obligation.

I'm going to ask Peter Brill to come up and help us out.

Did you say it was from 17 years ago or 2017?

No, 17, 16, 17.

Years ago?

Yeah, between 16 and 18 years ago.

Okay.

Good afternoon, counsel. Peter Brill, director of finance. I'll be happy to work with Mr. Fullwood and look into his account more. I know we recently completed an audit of current and active accounts against previous accounts, so it might be a part of that program, but we can look into this some more. So can I ask a question?

Were you living at this address 16, 17 years ago?

Yes, I do remember living at those addresses. However, I was never in arrears. I never missed a payment.

I'm going to cut you off there.

Yeah.

You say you do remember living at that address. Okay. I just wanted to know. Were you living there that many years ago?

I think it was different addresses. It wasn't where he's living now. It was different addresses. No, it's not where I'm living now.

Over 17 years. Oh, okay. No, I'm almost – I'll be 40. That was when I was about 18 or 19. I'm kind of looking at you and I'm saying – So truthfully, it's not that I'm not avoiding a debt that I feel that I owe. I'm just seeking – If you can remember your bills from then, or I would remember having my power shut off. I never had my power shut off. If I don't make a payment now, my power is shut off the next day.

So I just would like – But you might have left that address when your power got shut off.

Yeah, but what's this – like how long – when you've just done your audit – How far back are you charging people for these bills? This seems insane.

Well, I looked at the statute.

Okay, let him answer first.

The only parameters of the audit is if they are a current customer that left a past due balance. So that's all the current parameter of that audit.

I mean, at some point, isn't this like on us that we haven't gotten it paid? I mean, to go back 17 years sounds crazy.

It doesn't excuse the fact that they didn't pay.

Okay, but if we can't prove it.

No, I'm not saying that.

Well, I think Peter, he's either going to have to prove it or not collect it, one or the other.

Statute of limitations is four years, if I'm correct.

Statute of limitations on Florida Statute 9511, Mr. Sexton can confirm, is if we are taking someone to a suit, to a legal battle. We're not doing that. We just see that in some way, shape, or form, bills, utilities, services were not RENDERED AND PAID FOR, SO AS A RESULT, WE WERE ABLE TO START NEW SERVICES, BUT NOW THAT WE'VE DONE THIS AUDIT AND YOU SEE, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE CURRENTLY AT.

I JUST FEEL THAT WHEN WE STARTED THE ACCOUNT, WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN TOLD THOSE THINGS AT THAT TIME.

BUT YOU'RE GOING TO DO THAT 17 YEARS LATER?

I mean, it seems to be more of a strong-arming situation rather than a legitimate process.

Yes, sir, there was no statute of limitations on that. I know you got policies and whatever. I'm not trying to interfere, but it's just something to think about. Again, like Mr. Muslin said, if you didn't pay your bill, you didn't pay your bill. So you have to pay your bill. But I'm looking at 17 years of... Paying a bill wherever you're at now, I mean, and this come back to haunt you 17 years later, I mean.

I don't disagree that if you didn't pay, you owe. However, to turn off the power in the present day for something that we could have been collecting over 17 years is wrong. That is wrong. I agree.

Did we turn off the power?

Yes, they gave me a week extension. I typed a formal dispute explaining the lack of documentation and just due process in that sense, and the power was shut off a week after that. So naturally, I came back downtown and spoke to the employees and said well I'm being coerced to pay this now so I'm I have no choice and so I'm just asking the City Council to reverse remand that whatever money has been paid towards that that should be given back unless I can be provided with a signed application or proof of service from that time

Can you please provide us with the policy on what happens when people don't pay their electric bills? Yes. And if it needs to be changed to say after X amount of years, do you then just sue them for the money? You don't turn off the power today. No.

That is like morally wrong. We didn't turn off the power. He got a week's notice. He got a week's notice and he did nothing in that week, I don't think.

Nothing. I wrote the Florida Consumer Protection Service. It was not doing nothing, sir.

But you're not doing anything to actually pay the bill. You could have come in and paid $10, okay, and said, I'm disputing this. I'm going to pay $10. Not the way the statute is written.

The statute is written that if I disagree with an older debt that you can't provide me through a due process showing a legitimacy in that obligation, then the statute also says that if anything, a penny is paid towards it, then it resets the clock. So you're coercing someone to fall into that trap at that point. That is far from legitimacy.

I can't speak to the statute. But what I can say is that when he comes to customer service and they cannot provide him with proof that he owes it, then they should not have turned off the power until they prove it. So great. So he came before city council. He took time out of his day to be here to talk in front of Peter Brill and all of us today. How many other people does this apply to that haven't done that?

Many people had commented on Facebook already. I made a post asking.

Facebook is by far the least reliable source of information.

Of course.

Not only in Ocala, in the world.

I agree in many regards, but in one regard, as far as getting other people's opinions and finding out how often has this occurred.

You can get some people's opinions. All you've got to do is ask them. But like, you know what, everybody has one.

We'll bring you an in-depth report to the next council meeting. Thank you. We appreciate it. And thank you for coming, sir.

Hey, thank you for your time.

All right. All right. Mr. Wheel.

No, sir, no reports.

Mayor. Yeah, I'll keep it short. I know last meeting I brought up the issue about Kratom, and it was asked, you know, why am I so passionate about this? And over the last couple weeks, these are some of the emails that I've received from loved ones, people that have lost loved ones to Kratom. I've been in touch with the Attorney General's office, and I think we have a way to move forward that might help the community, and ultimately the goal is to save lives and help the community. looking at all aspects of what this would look like. But right now, the next steps forward, work possibly with the Attorney General to look at his ban, focus on the synthetic kratom that is harming the people in the community, and really make sure that we could obviously prevent some of the issues that are happening, the deaths in our community. So I'll say that I'll keep you informed over the next couple weeks as I move forward. Hopefully have a meeting with them scheduled by next week. of what steps we can take to look at the synthetic kratom that's really harming the people in the community. So I'll keep you guys abreast of that. And the only other thing I wanted to bring up was the passing of Terry Crawford. He was just a great man in the community. Anytime you saw Terry, he was just such a positive light. You know, you see a lot of negativity in the community. I think Terry just, he really was someone who just looked to build up, serve. He was a man of God and set a great example for the community. He'll be missed. His funeral will be at the end of the month, and I can get that date out to everyone who would like to attend.

Thank you. So I believe that we all got a lot of – I know that I got a lot of e-mails in regards to the Kratom, and most people was asking that we did not try to ban – The one that was less. The natural leaf. The natural leaf.

They wanted the HO, whatever that is. 70H, sure. I would say the synthetic kratom is the stuff that's being sold in the gas stations and the smoke shops. That's the really harmful stuff. That's the stuff that's killing people. And that would be a focus of what I would say we would go after. And, again, that will be something that I'll be able to get more information as we move forward over the next couple weeks. Thank you. Thank you.

As we have a bunch of calendar events, make sure you look over those things. Make sure that you know where you need to be. Mr. President.

Yes. I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm told there is someone who would like to make a public comment but didn't turn in a card.

Yes, sir, for two minutes.

All right, so good evening. My name is Alessandro Alleman. I'm a resident of Ocala. I'm here at 13250 Southwest 64th Street Road. This is my first time addressing you guys in person, obviously, but not my first time raising this issue. So I've corresponded with Mayor Marciano as well as Chief Balkan here. What they confirmed in writing is in regards to ALPR technology, which is the automatic license plate reading technology. So I did a little bit of deep research, and through their information that they provided for me, you guys, we use in the city of Ocala here is digital. This was approved once in 2018 and has been renewed every year since without a council vote. And I've sat down privately with Chief Balkan, who was very straight with me and very transparent. So I very much appreciate that and credit to Mayor Marciano as well for sharing information. But nobody has to speculate anymore about how these systems actually get used, which is why I'm speaking about it. Because researchers compiled real police search logs through public record requests. Over 230 million searches from 6,000 agencies published at a site called Have I Been Flocked? And I know you guys have probably heard of flock cameras. It's the same technology, AI technology. where any of you can run your own plate tonight. 84% of those searches had no case number attached. The most common reason officers typed for running a plate was nothing, a blank box. Only about 9% were tagged in an actual crime. And independent studies, including randomized trials, find no measurable reduction in crime from these cameras. So when the only safeguard is human judgment, which is what I think it is at this moment, This is what happens. A police chief in Kansas used these cameras more than 200 times to stalk his ex-girlfriend. A sheriff's office in Texas ran a nationwide search to track a woman over a health care decision. Not hackers, officers. Let me make this real. I just learned a Florida man, Robert, who was on the job outside of Jacksonville, when officers pulled him over with guns drawn and accused him of driving a stolen car, his own car. He cooperated, tensions eased, thankfully, and only then did the officers discover the camera system had flagged his vehicle by mistake, but the guns were already drawn. A database error nearly turned a workday into a tragedy, and nobody checked before the guns came out. So here's what I ask this council to sit with. Intentions can be good, and I believe that with Chief Balkan here, we are in great hands. I truly believe that. But look how quickly this can get weaponized at the smallest scale by individual officers right now. That's not elected officials, not technocratic elites, not Democrats or Republicans. All it takes is one person. with a login. And there are by some accounts more than 4,000 of these cameras across Florida that we know. So the honest question isn't whether these cameras ever help solve a crime. Of course they do sometimes. The question is whether a system that misaccuses the innocent gets used for stalking and tracks every one of us all the time, is it a net benefit? And no one in Ocala has ever been asked to weigh that. So tonight, I'm not going to hand you a list of demands. I'm going to leave you with questions instead. The cameras are already here. They've been here since whenever it was approved in 2018. I'm willing, and the question comes down to this, so each of you need to ask yourself, am I willing to give up a little bit of my privacy slash freedom in exchange for the promise of a little bit of security? Benjamin Franklin was very clear on that. Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, he said, deserve neither liberty nor safety. He answered this question 270 years ago. More than 80 American communities have looked at their own records and answered it again. Now it's Ocala's turn, so... What about you? Thank you. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Okay. So, Mr. Berry? I'm good. Mr. Hilty?

You know, there was some interesting comment here tonight about different things that seem to be happening Citizens and of course we all heard this week that the city was fleeced out of Almost five hundred thousand dollars I would have thought tonight would have been the night that you would be transparent to the public Rather than us having to ask that I realized the investigation is still going on But I think that the public needs to know that we had a fraud case Dating back to May which obviously was covered up but for whatever reasons but again I think it's time for that to come public so they know it wasn't I

wasn't covered up. I told you that the investigation was ongoing and I told you on I think yesterday that I wasn't going to bring it up today, and you said okay when we had a discussion.

We had that conversation about not bringing it up. I think, again, I think it's our duty to keep the public informed. Our duty is to keep us informed. But at this point, nothing has been said to the public about the almost $500,000 that was taken away from us. And the fact that it happened, again, back in May. There was plenty of time.

It happened in April, actually. So it started in April. I've explained it to each one of you. I told you that the investigation is ongoing. I told you that on behalf of council, I actually asked the internal auditor to investigate it. I told you that.

Yeah, I realize that.

I told you that we continue with our – IT department to go through some records and that we haven't come, we haven't gotten to the end of the investigation. I found out in late July, as I told you, and from that time forward, we have, I think, done all of the right things from that point forward. We have, but, you know, I actually told, I know I told Mr. Musley this afternoon I wasn't going to bring it up. And why I wasn't going to bring it up, because it's an ongoing investigation and that was the reason. I realize that. And I believe that I told you that yesterday. But, you know, we continue. IT contingent investigation, our internal auditor is in the process of, for counsel, my instruction, my request, it wasn't an instruction because the internal auditor, actually in this case, I don't feel works for me. I feel they work for counsel. And my ask of the internal auditor was conduct an investigation. Don't come back to me with any of the details. If you have any problems, getting staff to cooperate. You tell me and I'll make sure that they cooperate. You conduct this investigation for counsel. You give counsel the results as you would with any. And we continue to do an investigation internally with finance, the CFO, chief of staff, the IT department. Who am I leaving out? Oh, procurement. They're all in the process of doing that. We have one employee who was on the front end of this who no longer works for us. Other than that, as I said, the investigation is ongoing. We got partial payment back. We have insurance claims that have been filed by our risk management department. And I'm certainly not trying to not be transparent. I've been transparent with every one of you. And so, you know.

Again, there was things that were brought up tonight. There seems to be a culture that's developing. And it gets away from, one, information to the public and information to council at different times. And, two, it gets away from let me find a way to help the citizens rather than just go in and read them the Riot Act.

Well, and look, I. 95% of the interactions that our staff has with the public are positive. I can't pull a permit for a person. I can't pull a permit for a plumber. I can't pull a permit for a tree removal. And I can't go plant the trees for them. And if they don't, eventually code enforcement is going to show up. If they repeatedly don't pull their plumbing permits or their electric permits or their building permits, eventually code enforcement is going to show up. How we resolve that is important to me, and I have, I think, made pretty much of a career out of being able to resolve those issues without, with as little damage as possible. And I know that our staff knows that, and they, you know, our service to our community and to each other, I think, I don't question that, that typically that's the way they work. We don't control necessarily what the Code Enforcement Board does once something goes to what's called a Massey hearing, once it's at the fining stage. I can't stop them. I don't know how long – you will know next week how long this case that we heard from Mr. Albright on tonight was – It had been quite some time because I had spoken to Mr. Albright. He had spoken to Mr. Schrum. He had gone to the first code enforcement meeting. They went to, they got a pre-application conference with staff, but they never submitted any plans. So they never, regardless of what anyone says, no plan has been submitted. Nothing can be reviewed if nothing's submitted, and nobody showed up to represent them at the Code Enforcement Board meeting. So I can't undo that at that point. What we can do is, like I said, take the plan because they're going to do the parking area on the east side, take that back to the Code Enforcement Board, say that here's what they've done. Can we stay these fines? We can ask. We can't dictate it. Some of these other things that have been alluded to, this is the first I've heard of the electric. I have no idea about that. I'll provide you a full report next council meeting.

But again, my point was that there was fraud committed against the city. You should have taken the opportunity to make it public and say it's under investigation. You're hiding behind that until the report comes back. And I don't think that's fair to our citizens.

That's all. You say definitively that I'm hiding. I assure you that I'm not hiding behind anything about that. I'm not hiding behind anything. I acknowledge to my five bosses what happened. I think that it was premature to make it public. Now it's public. It's fine. We'll deal with it as it is. But we're close, and I think that we would have, I don't think, I know that we would make it public as soon as we have resolution from our internal auditor and from IT. It's not my intent to not bring it forward to anyone. I wouldn't tell you if it was my intent to hide it. I'd hide it.

Well, you shouldn't.

Did I hide it?

No, I'm not saying you hid it from us. I'm just saying it should have been brought forward to the public to know about it. Okay.

I would be in the audience of, originally I was for full transparency. But after talking to Pete and initiating the internal auditor review, I think it would have been prudent to wait until the internal auditor review's report had come out and then have a plan as to any corrective action that would be taken at that time. At this point, I don't think the public has served either way. By us bringing it up tonight without having a full and comprehensive report from our internal auditor and also a full report on exactly what happened, timeline and everything, I think this discussion It wasn't going to take anything away from the public by keeping this discussion off for another two weeks. I'm all for full transparency. This should never have happened, but mistakes were made on certain employees, both on our end and on the other end. And I also want to know, you know, the resolution with the insurance carriers. Will this claim be paid? What's the final loss? At that time, a full report should be made and available to us in an open meeting, i.e., so the citizens will know.

That happened yesterday or the day before, but since it goes all the way back to April or May, I think it's time to bring it up.

Well, I mean, I don't think Pete knew it until two or three weeks ago.

I'm not saying he didn't know. I'm just saying that it goes back so long so people look at it as a cover-up. And obviously it was a cover-up by the employee.

Well, then, you know, if it truly was a cover-up, then, yeah, I think said employees are going to have action taken.

We'll deal with that as it reveals itself. A couple of things since we're talking about it. The threat actor was not in our system, just so we're all clear on that since it's public. It was in the vendor who we were dealing with. The threat actor was actually in their system. Now, we didn't do, you're right, we didn't do everything correctly. From the first interaction that we had the threat actors spoofed address that he sent. Things were not done correctly. But we're in the process of putting it all together and The insurance part of it, yeah, I want to know too, but that's not the most important part. The most important part for me is to have a full accounting as accurately as I can have it from the day that it started until the end when we actually wrapped up.

Going back to my original report, this guy was a senior manager or something like that in his department.

I'd rather, I mean, I'm not going to mention names. I'm not mentioning a name.

I'm mentioning a position because it relates to what I say with what we've been hearing here. There seems to be a culture going on on different things of hiding certain things or departments taking control like, you know, code enforcement. you know, not enforcing things that they should go after, but then going and harassing people, making people cry. I mean, that's kind of crazy.

I don't know who we made. I'm not sure who we made cry. And, look, they do their task with enforcing the code. They're instructed, you know, to resolve these things before you go to code if you can. You cannot always do that. And... Some of them are simple. Some of them aren't. The ones that we referenced here today, I can tell you that they weren't simple. I can tell you from the interactions that I've had on them that they weren't simple. There were people who really just said, you can't make me do this. Well, the code says you have to do it. I'm not saying you have to do it, and the code enforcement department is not saying you have to do it. Code enforcement department doesn't fine anyone. take them to the code enforcement board they take him to a hearing the first hearing there's no fine there was no they went to the first hearing there was no fine they said you know turn in a restoration plan I don't know what the answer was I'm guessing the answer was yes we're going to turn in one TURNED ONE IN. THEY GAVE THEM UNTIL JUNE. JUNE THEY HAD A MASSEY HEARING. COMING BACK, NOBODY SHOWED FOR THE MASSEY HEARING. THEIR CLAIM WAS THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE RIGHT ADDRESS. THE CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD LEVIED THE FUN. I DON'T KNOW IF STAFF MADE A RECOMMENDATION.

How did they have the right address on the first time but not the right address on the second time?

I don't know.

I have to go put this all back together. I bet you it went to the same address both times.

I have to go put it back together. I have to put it all together.

I agree with you 100%. If our code of ordinances calls for a tree restoration plan, then you've got to have a tree restoration plan. If you all don't want us to have one, well, let's vote it out. No tree restoration plan required. But these are code of ordinances that are required, okay? And to hear Mr. Albright say tonight, well, I'm never going to pull a permit. I take a little bit of a side to that.

And look, even if you don't pull a permit, again, and there may be, look, I'm not saying you're completely wrong in how we deal with things over time. Some things change. change. Sometimes it takes multiple divisions or departments to work with people to make sure that you get there the easiest way that you can get there without necessarily A PUNITIVE ACTION. BUT TO THINK THAT YOU DON'T FACE RESISTANCE IF YOU'RE A STAFF MEMBER IN THESE CASES WOULD BE NAIVE. YOU FACE RESISTANCE. YOU FACE I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT. YOU FACE I'M NOT GOING TO PULL A PERMIT. AND YOU GOT TO TAKE A BREATH AND DEAL WITH THAT AND RECENTER AND DEAL WITH IT THE WAY THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH IT AND AGAIN CONTINUE TO TRY TO HELP GUIDE SOMEBODY THROUGH THAT PROCESS. This case, I think, would have been simple. Like I said, I have actually corresponded with his engineer. He hasn't turned in the plan. He said, I will turn in the plan soon. Can we resolve the code enforcement issues at the same time?

Yes, the answer to that question is yes, of course.

But somebody has to turn in the plan and, you know, We'll work on the cross-attachment on the lien to see if that's something we can't remove. I don't want them to suffer on the other piece of property. It's the client, not Mr. Albright, who would actually, in this case, suffer. On other permit issues, look, if you don't pull permits and you don't close permits out, and we've had cases like this before where people didn't close out permits and ended up They ain't a lot of money at the end of it. Some of them were people we know. And I can't close your permit out for you. I can't pull your permits. When you don't pull them and you tell me that, well, why didn't you pull it? Well, because I might not have gotten a job if I had pulled a permit. I don't know how to answer that.

Okay, you're going down another rabbit hole, which was not my original point. My point was that it was interesting that we had some similar complaints, and I still have this feeling that if we got the money back, this would have never been transparent to the public.

It may not have been transparent to me. You may be right.

And I think that's wrong. That's why I think it's incumbent of you to bring it up and say that we have an investigation going on. This is what happened. Let the public know.

I don't necessarily agree, but I agree with you that if we'd have gotten the money back, even I might not have known.

And you're right. It's wrong.

Absolutely wrong. Wouldn't disagree.

So, Mr. Lee, you're going to, when it is appropriate, you're going to get back with us with full knowledge, right?

Well, I think our internal auditor is going to directly report back to us. He is. Counsel. He should be, which is what should happen.

That was the instruction. The instruction was not to bring anything back to staff or me. It was to take it to council. I did it on behalf of council. I talked to Mr. Bethea. He said, yes, that's what I would do. And I asked for that. Okay.

Thank you. I'm good. May I?

All right, really quick. I see Sarah Lambert, the new executive director of Ocala Main Street here. We know that recently we've had several downtown businesses leave from the downtown, all for various reasons. Some are related reasons, some are not. But it feels a little out of balance right now. So my request for this board, for you, Council President, is that Ocala Main Street, in our next month's meeting, give them some time to prepare a presentation for us But they come and they bring us a presentation of what the true snapshot of downtown and midtown look like. Can we put that on the agenda?

Great idea.

That sounds good.

Can you all do that for us? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. That's it. Thank you.

Okay. So we've been here quite a while, but I want to congratulate Doug Peoples and O'Kelly Electric on the fine job that they have been doing and A FEW OF US WENT DOWN TO THE AWARD CEREMONY, I'M GOING TO CALL IT THAT, SINCE IT WAS AWARDED. AND MR. MUSLIM, THEY LOOK VERY HIGHLY ON OEU. AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THAT WAS HERE, BUT I'M TALKING ABOUT THE OTHER MUNICIPALITIES. WE'VE BEEN BEING VERY INNOVATIVE. for one, very reliable. And I know they brought these things up. The real thing that I really love about one of the projects that they are doing now, and I think Ms. Ramona Williams worked with Doug and all to get these young people. Everybody's not for college. Everybody don't want to go to college. So they came up with a way of training providing some skilled training to some young people, teenagers and young adults. These kids are climbing poles, people. I've seen it. They're climbing light poles, you know, with the right equipment on, with safety harnesses and everything on. And they're learning that skill. I'M HOPING THAT WE HAVE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT COULD POSSIBLY GET SOME OF THESE YOUNG PEOPLE THAT WILL NOT BE GOING TO COLLEGE AND TRAIN THEM, HAVE SOME TYPE OF PROGRAM THAT THEY CAN BECOME A PART OF AND END UP BEING PRODUCTIVE AND WE CAN GET EMPLOYEES FROM RIGHT HERE IN O'KELLER. I'll tell you all this, and I know I'm kind of going out there, but 25 years ago, most of our young people that went to college did not come back to Ocala-Marin County to work and live. We wasn't paying no money. And in the last 10, 12 years, that has changed quite a bit because we kind of, you know, went to paying fair wages. And I know that the city of Ocala, because I've been involved here now almost seven years, is definitely increasing wages, going to the standards and things like that. And you get good people if you pay good people. And so I just wanted to make sure I said something about Doug and his crew. They did a very good job. All right. Listen, we've had a long council meeting. And if there's nothing else, meeting adjourned.