City Council - Regular Meeting

Please rise for silent indication followed by pledge of allegiance.

Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Call the role. Councilman Holey here. Councilman Gford here. Councilman Green here. Vice Mayor Krebs here. Mayor Stner here. All right. Happy new year and welcome to for city council meeting 2026. Uh, item four, any public comments on consent agenda items only? Robert, come on up.

I bet I can pick the item, but go ahead.

Mayor, council members, Robert Reinhagen, 1425, Dexter Drive North, Port Orange. Um item number 12, partial vacation of a tree conservation conservation easement. And I I truly believe that it's inappropriate for to have the vacation vacating of a conservation easement on the consent agenda. I just think it's too important. It's it's too hard to get easy these conservation easements even done and then to give up on them. um it should be a significant thing rather than on the consent agenda and I also believe that any request for the vac vacating of an easement should include consideration for the city. In this case, the requesty wants to build into the conservation area easement and are offering up as an alter an alternative parcel that is already protected by a boundary buffer which means that the requestees are giving up nothing because that's already protected. So they're not giving up anything. uh the requesty is getting the benefit of a RV storage facility and the city should share in that benefit with monies that could be used to purchase new conservation areas. Value given for value received is a respectable business practice and I ask that you establish and enforce such a practice for conservation easements. And in my minute left, I get a utility statement and it says, "S City Council will be considering an increase in utility rates on Tuesday, January 13th." And

when I look at the agenda, that's item 11 on the consent agenda. Now, how are you going to have a discussion when you're hiding it on the consent agenda? So, you have to look at this consent agenda and how it's being used. Thank you. Thank you, Robert. Thank you, Robert. Any other comments on consent agenda items only, items 5 through 12? I'm gonna

So, I'm Eric Mohler. I'm the the guy that's actually requesting the vacation and replacement of the easement. Um, I don't know what he's talking about that it's in the replacement would be in a buffered area. I'm not sure about that, but it's part of the property and we're not removing any trees. We're purposely doing that so we don't remove like we have some large Canary Island dates. We're not messing with any of those. I could I could go ahead and take both those out and remove them and they're large. They're probably, you know, 30 foot tall or 25 at least. I could remove those and build this with this not being an issue. But we're not planning on removing any trees whatsoever. And that's why we're doing this. It's a 40ft uh conservation easement. 40 ft deep. 30 foot is actually the true setback and we're not removing any trees. Plus, in the area that we would be replacing it by, there's already trees there. So, that's just my two cents.

Appreciate you weigh in. Thank you. Thank you. Any other public comments on consent agenda items only? Seeing none, back to council. Can I get a motion for consent agenda approval items 5 through 12? Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to pull item 12 off consent. Okay, we have a we have a we have a motion to remove item 12 from consent. Do we have a second? I'll second it for discussion. Okay. A motion and a second to approve to remove item 12 off consent. All in favor signify by saying I. I.

I. Opposed like sign. We'll remove item 12. Can I get a motion to approve the balance of the consent agenda items 5 through 11? Move to approve items 5 through 11. Second. Have a motion and a second for items 5 through 11. Clerk call the role. Councilman Foley. Yes. Councilman Gford. Yes. Councilman Green. Yes. Vice Mayor Krebs. Yes. Mayor Stner. Yes. 5 to item number 12. Go ahead, Council Green.

Well, again, I'm I'm I'm in agreement with Robert. Not that I'm know what Robert's talking about, but I think that anytime that we have a vacation of a tree conservation or some kind of conservation that it should not be on consent. Um this is something that's been put in place um by our previous councils and obviously for a reason. So um I went by and I looked at the property and it's a beautiful property, don't get beautiful home you have there. Um my only question I had a question to staff was about lot coverage um and and my concern about lot coverage on that particular lot. And again, um, as far as the vacation andor substitution or replacement there, there's really not you're not replacing this easement. It's in a side setback. So, you're really not replacing anything. So, there is no real replacement of this conservation easement other than we're asking to vacate this portion. So, uh, Tam, can you come up? So again, just give me uh give me where we are on the lot coverage. Uh this lot's what 65%.

This a lot is actually requires a minimum 70% open space and they are right at the um minimum or basically the requirement there with the proposed garage. So basically if they build a garage that's it for any more coverage on this lot. That includes the driveway. That includes the basically the PA driveway would be included in that too. Okay. And then uh and then what about curb cut? The driveway will tie into the existing driveway on Hills Boulevard. So, there will be no additional curb cuts onto that road.

Okay. Um, that's all I really had. Again, I just I just want to lay this down though uh to this council that what you do for one, you got to do for all. And when you open the door for start vacating conservation easements, just remember what door this opens to the future of our conservation easements in Port Orange. That's all I have on that. Anybody else have anything else to to add?

No, I just I just want to say something that first of all, it's a beautiful piece of property. I I drove it by today, too, so at least I know what I'm talking about. And uh we're not taking any trees out to put that garage in. Correct. And you're leaving the two beautiful trees that I saw against the house. And then between you and your neighbor, there's a line of oak trees there that you're not taking out either. You might have to trim them back a little. That's perfectly fine. But the way those lots were designed were uh for uh additional garages. A lot of the homes have additional garages added to them, and that's why you buy a house on an acre, so you can have that opportunity to do that. So, I completely understand what you're trying to do, and I'm all in for it. What I do want to be clear of is the comments that were made about this particular item. We're not putting an RV center there. Uh I don't know the exact words you use, but uh we're adding a garage to a residential property. We're not we're not uh um doing anything different than that. So, I just want to be clear that the public understands that this single family home, they're adding a garage. It's going to fit within the perimeters of the lot and we're not putting a RV center in there or storage or anything. It's your for your personal use and we clearly understand that. I just want to make sure the public understands that as well.

That's all I have. All right. Can I get a motion to approve item 12, resolution number 26-5? Move to approve item 12 on the consent. Well, not on item 12. That's okay. I have a second, please. We'll second it. All right. We have a motion and a second. Clerk call the role. Councilman Foley, yes. Councilman Gford, yes. Councilman Green, no. Vice Mayor Grebs, yes. Mayor Stler, yes. 41.

All right. Moving on to recognition proclamations. Item 13, human trafficking awareness. And I have a proclamation here to read. Whereas human trafficking is a heinous crime that exploits the most vulnerable among us and weakens the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. And whereas human trafficking occurs when a person is recruited, harbored, transported, or obtained for the purpose of commercial sex or labor services through force, fraud, or coercion. And whereas human traffickers prey on their victims by promising a life of hope and greater opportunity while delivering only enslavement. Instead of delivering people to better lives, traffickers unjustifiably profit from their labor, labor and toil of their victims who they force through violence and intimidation to work in brothel and factories on farms and fishing vessels and private homes and in countless industries. And whereas Port Orange, Florida is a vibrant city, home to over 63,000 residents who have the right to hope, freedom, economic security, safety, and the pursuit of happiness. And whereas January 1st, January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we commit ourselves to eradicating the evil of enslavement. Human trafficking is a modern form of the oldest and most barbaric type of exploitation, and we proclaim it. Has no place in our world, great nation, or our city. Whereas this month, we do not simply reflect on the appalling reality. We also pledge to do all in our power to end the horrific practice of human trafficking that plagues innocent victims not only around the world but in our own neighborhoods. Now therefore, I, Scott Stillner, mayor of the city of Port Orange, do hereby proclaim January 11th, 2026 as human trafficking awareness day in the city of Port Orange in the city of Port Orange and urge all residents and agencies to champion and support the efforts to take action to end human trafficking.

And item 14 is a proclamation for Florida Arbor Day. Whereas in 1872, the Nebraska Board of Agriculture established a special day be set aside for the planting planting of trees. And whereas this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska. And whereas trees can reduce the erosion of our precious top soil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate temp moderate temperatures, clean the air, produce lifegiving oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife. And whereas trees are a renewable resource, giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel, and fires, and countless other wood products. And whereas trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of the business areas, and beautify our community. Now, therefore, I, Scott Stilner, mayor of the city of Port Orange, do hereby proclaim January 16th, 2026 as Florida Arbor Day in the city of Port Orange. And I urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day and support efforts to promote our trees and woodlands. And I urge all citizens to plant trees to promote the well-being of this for future generations. Item 15, council. Uh, I'm sorry. Public participation. I think I've got Is it just these three here?

All right, we have one more. Ran. All right. Janet Kersh, 412 Palm Castle. Did I get the last name right, Janet? Okay, take your time. Come on up.

I'm not sure. So, please defend my That's okay. Um I'm here about the thinking of the water bill being um turned up or whatever, you know, making it higher. I've tried for three years now. This is the third time I've been I'll be handing this in to Adam. I'm paying for two, but I'm only using one unit. I have records where I physically get down, read the meter, take a picture on the 13th of every month, and I can't get them to fix this. So, um I have Can I hand this to you? Uh you can hand everything to the clerk.

All right. This is I'm gonna hand a copy to Adam. Um tomorrow I'm going to come back here and um Mr. Foley helped me with the garbage department. Um if you remember me, I do.

They wouldn't I mean I live in park with trailer park. They pick to the right, but mine on the left. There's no trees, no nothing. It's right across from the guy they just picked up from. It's very small. uh park on that end and I had to keep calling finally Mr. Fod to get some help for them to pick up the garbage because I was having to even pick that up. But anyway, my overchargement on this paperwork will show you where I've taken. Um my meter reads 607. Right now it's 622 on the uh one the bill I got in. So that's 15 over and I'm asking for the credit and everything back on that and the can't seem to get it straight. So the what are they going to do with the increase and why do they want the increase? Because the water bill is high enough because now I'm paying for water I'm not using. So that's you know my my main thing about it. And then today I went up to the um uh upstairs where you get permits and the neighbor next to me had gotten this huge I mean huge AC unit put in which was nice because I would like to have that too but I don't and um my electric started messing up in my trailer. So FPN now had to put a new line. I was without powers meters since July. When I went up there and I asked a permit was pulled because I knew my neighbor was good at that. The company though didn't turn it in for the city to do the final inspection on the electric because there's 60 and 90 days past due and I was told I have to call to get it done to the company to make the company call. Well, if they didn't do it in the 60 or 90 days because she didn't know which one it was. Why do I have to call? The city should know that this person defaulted on doing that. They need to find the person and go out and inspect electric cuz I've lost a lot of electric in my house because of this and my lost my washer, my dryer and major appliances too from this and I'm still working on

it. So, I uh they should if somebody doesn't pull in where the they should go out to do the final inspection with the electric, especially electric, then the city needs to pick up on that one and do it and not wait for them to call this reason why they're not calling. Thank you. Appreciate you. Belinda Bradley 101 Hickory Lane. come on up. Welcome. Thank you.

Hi. Um, my first time here and I just had a question because a lot of people think that when we do the recycling that it just gets put in the landfill and I wondered is that true or is it really being processed? And why doesn't the company pick up glass? because that's something that should be recycled rather than being dumped in the landfill. And that's all I wanted to know. Stick stick around. We'll I'll make a couple comments on that in a few minutes. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Sandra Snobgrass, 980 Canal Boulevard. Hi Sandra. How are you? I'm good.

Welcome.

Thanks for the opportunity. I'm here to talk about water. Not the flooding because we all know about that. I'm here to talk about the rate increase on the water, the quality of the water. Um, not too long ago, this place was filled with citizens concerned about fluoride being in the water. At that point, we were pretty much told we had two options. We could go and get a cut permit from the St. John's water management or we could get a whole house water treatment system. So, we pretty much as citizens recognized that it wasn't high on y'all's priority list in regards to our quality of life with the water. Two weeks ago, you all were approached in regards to the let Valuchia vote citizens petition for a charter amendment due to the fact that treated sewage, chemically treated sewage is going to be injected into our aquifer. Now, chemicals just like fluoride is something that we don't want. Second of all, if you con if you look up the research in regards to Flint, Michigan, a lot of their problems were related to the chemicals in the water. So, I'm really urging you to not hike the water rate because we as citizens are stressed already financially for the cost. Wondering if we're going to have to pay additionally later on because of the increased treatment of the water with the sewage in it. So, I'm just asking that you gentlemen consider the fact that you took an oath for the greater good of the

community and not so much for the advancement of your political career. But don't hike the water up because it's not worth it. It's getting worse. And all of this is due to infrastructure, overdevelopment, and the lack of preventive maintenance on our waterways. So, please don't hike the white water up and please consider as a citizen to sign the let Valuchia vote petition for the charter amendment to prevent the injection of treated sewage into our aquifer. Thank you guys.

Thank you, Sam. I'm not even going to just come up with Darlene. Come on up. Good to see you. Mayor Stilner, you know me. I know I but if I try to if I try to pronounce the last name, you know I'm gonna want to give it a shot. Try it. Kchendorfer. You got it. Come on. Yes, you did. Very good. That you know. Welcome. Good to see you. It's good to see you, too. It's been a very long time since I've been here, which means things were running pretty well. If you don't see me, that's good sign.

No news is good news. And I see a lot of new faces and and everybody. Uh my name's Darlene Kotchendorfer. I live at 5571 Lancewood Drive. I run Port Orange Cats. Um I've been rescuing, trapping, um fostering for the last 10 years in the city of Port Orange. And the last five years I've worked directly with your animal control department. Normally animal control and people like me don't get along. We have a wonderful relationship. We everything was as smooth as silk. We had a welloiled machine practicing TNR every week. We would only get about five appointments from the Readinger Clinic, which really isn't a lot, but when you do it consistently every week, you can get a lot done. Um, I know things have changed with Halifax Humane Society. You no longer contract with them as a shelter. They do own the Reinger Clinic. So, uh, and right now the animals are going to Southeast Baluchia Humane Society. I I foster for them as well. Uh, wonderful place, but they don't have a spayneuter clinic. And what my understanding is is that these animals are being brought down there. They do not have a vet on premises. They do not have their spay and neuter clinic running up and running yet. I'm hoping in the next four to six months they have that. So, uh, my recommendation is because I work with this so closely. Um, I I really believe that the city needs to sign a TNRon contract with the Readinger Clinic in order to continue that five appointments a week. I may try to make things I'm I'm a coordinator. I teach people how to trap. I loan the traps. They're doing it properly. they're doing it safely and animal control would come to me and pick

them all up. It saved her a lot of both of them a lot of leg work and when officer Maxar was alone, it really helped her out. And we really have a good dynamic relationship and it was working fine and everything stopped in September. And I'd like to get back on the ball because we haven't done it in four months. Gestation is two months. So, we got a lot more cats running around right now. And it's just one of those things that you can't halt it. It has to be consistent. Um, return to field is okay, too, but you can't rely on it. You have to practice return to field and trap neuter return. They are different. And if anybody has any questions about that, they're welcome. I just would like to sit down with somebody so that I can get some answers. And I was going to hand this foyer to your clerk and I will follow it with an email.

Please do. Thank you. Good to see you. See you. Take care.

All right, that brings us to uh city council comments. I I'll just quickly comment on a couple of the the things that were noted. So the the water rate is part of a incremental increase because in 2022 we had a comprehensive independent study to look at that and found that we were actually behind in terms of the rate that it's going to take to maintain and be able to have a safe and effective water distribution network. And so the council in 2023 when they acted enacted the resolution instead of the cost that was recommended from the study all coming all at one big time in a larger increase it was decided to break that up incrementally into smaller increases over a period of three years or four years

four years. So that that's that's what that stems from. It actually goes back to that study which if anybody is wants to read that study they can reach out to our clerk and we can get that provided to you. So that that's actually what this is part of. Uh the other thing was the recycling. Um great question. I actually get asked that periodically. It's been probably four or five years. We actually had a representative from WastePro, I believe it was, that came in and spoke to the council and and globally, uh, there have been some extreme challenges with recycling. Um, and ultimately for for recycling to be effective, there has to be a market. Somebody's got to want to buy the recycled materials. And what happened was is so much recycling was occurring that it was inundating the market to where there was no value and it was costing more money to produce goods out of recycled goods than it was out of newer raw materials. And so what what tends to happen with that is when people it does not just this isn't just a Port Orange thing. This is all over the United States. When your recycled goods go to the distribution place, if there's nobody to sell it to or to market it to, then yes, as far as I understand, it gets transferred into the landfill because there's more recycling coming behind it and you got to have space. Um, and and the market changes and so there's a market for paper goods and plastic goods and glass goods and things like that. And so we haven't had a that, you know, presentation in a while. So, I'll ask the city manager, reach out to uh WastePro and we'll get somebody in to just kind of bring us up to date on where the global market is. Um, but ultimately most of the countries that were buying the products, if I if I remember this and Wayne, you're welcome to jump in if I'm wrong on this, but

basically China was buying the majority of it and their recycling interest got flooded and they didn't want anymore. True.

And there wasn't enough in the United States to to to create a viable market to where because they were almost even willing just to give it away. But then what was happening is is I think if you you you get a negative thing where you were almost paying somebody to take your recycled goods. All that to say keep recycling. Um so we want to continue to do that because I think that market ever changes and and the habit of of what folks are doing. We want to keep that going. So I do appreciate your question. We'll we'll try to get some updates on that. And and since I'm going to go ahead and talk, uh s uh uh city staff and council members will be heading to Tallahassee uh this coming week. Um today kicked off or yesterday kicked off the start of the Florida legislative session. There is a lot of stuff going on in Tallahassee. It seems like every time you turn on the news, you see a new highlight or a new discussion topic. So, uh, we'll be going up there to to meet with our state representatives and other state representatives, not only to try to catch up on what's going on with some of the bills that impact us as a community the most, but also to advocate for state funding in our interest to continue um, improving the resiliency for flood mitigation in our community as well as other aspects of our infrastructure. So, we'll be doing that hopefully uh once, you know, we've had some really good success in Tallahassee over the years. You never know. It's an election year. A lot of state representatives, the governor's races is is on the ballot this year. So, you just never really know a lot of times with the political winds and the budgeting, but uh all the cities in the state all go up there and fight for funding. And we're going to go up there and do our part as well. Uh and we'll be able to report back to our residents and and see how we deal with that this year. And that's what I've got. We'll start with Councilman Foley.

Hey. All right. Well, good job on all that, Scott. Um, happy new year to everybody. Um, got to say thank you to staff over the break. Uh, had quite a few residential concerns and despite being the holidays, they were really helpful in getting answers fast. And I just think that's it's a testimony to how great everybody is. Robin and everybody, all the group, there wasn't anything that came in that we didn't get answers within about 24, 48 hours. So, great job during all of that. Um, and to talk about working fast, it looks like you guys already talked to Janette outside. So, I don't think, but Janette, if you need me, you have my email and my contact, and I'm happy to try to help you out there. I think they already probably gave you some answers that I was going to give you, so that'll take care of that. Scott already handled uh recycling, talked about water. Um, so the only thing left on there is I'm just going to speak on consent usage. Um I I gotta say I understand u Councilman Green's point to that is that um you know I think we give a lot of leadway to let you put a lot on consent and staff in general and I think you guys have done a great job of not abusing it. You have to remember we have meetings with our city manager and city staff all week long. Constant communication, phone calls, emails, text messages back and forth. Uh even though we're not here in this building, we still have a lot of communication with them. So there's a lot of things that go on consent because we feel like we are well educated on it before presentation comes in here. Now with that being said, obviously when we have a bunch of residents who want to speak to something and they bring it to our attention, that's what we have at the top of the agenda for is comments on consent agenda items. So that way they if there are concerns, we can pull the item, get some more information, and that way everyone feels like they understand what we're actually voting on. kind of similar to the storm water or to the um the water increase that we just uh voted on here on consent. Um but with that being said, I do think um we do have to be mindful some things um we

might want to consider like that for not being on consent next time uh because there was a lot of people who come up to speak to that after it had already been voted on. And so just something maybe to be aware of for the future, but otherwise really happy with everything and um looking forward to next one in February. And just a quick comment before I go to the vice mayor here. I think it's important to understand that just because it's on the consent agenda portion, it doesn't prohibit a resident from coming and speaking about an item on the agenda. Correct. It also doesn't prohibit a council member from speaking about it. And it doesn't prohibit a council member from asking, like you saw tonight, to have an item removed from the consent and brought to a regular discussion. So, it's not like it isn't there. Um the the the purpose of a consent portion is to try to move a meeting along effectively. If you look around the country, even in Valuchia County, there are some municipal and maybe even higher level, their meetings last so long that folks that are there have to leave. They can't be in meetings for four and five and sometimes eight hours at a time because their item happens to be more towards the bottom. So the interest is strictly to have an efficient and effective meeting. Folks can still come and talk about any item that's on the consent agenda. We saw you guys saw a perfect demonstration of that. Council members could talk about it and and if they feel the need, they can see if they have the support on the dis to remove it off the consent portion just like it happened tonight. So it worked exactly the way it's supposed to be. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Vice Mayor Tracy Grubs. Happy New Year, sir.

Happy New Year. Happy New Year to everybody. and talking about consent agendas number nine and 10. Um just not to say that we went through this uh fast, but it's it's understanding consent agenda 9 and 10 brought us $70,000 to the Port Orange Police Department. This is found money in in retrospect, ways of grants that come around that our law enforcement go out and they ask for funding and these are specialized fundings coming into our department for motorcycle safety. We got bike week coming up. So, it definitely can be used during that time frame and uh speeding enforcements. So, that's $70,000 to the bottom line to the city that's not coming out of taxpayers money. So that was a that was a great thing the from the department uh to come up with that. So thank you guys. Um other was a community development sections of uh the reading um riverw walk morning market. Uh just a reminder that on the second and last Saturday of each month uh we have lots of vendors showing up at 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. And I think Scott you were talking about that earlier. I know it was great. Great. I mean, I I think it's going to, you know, it'll take a few times to kind of catch on, but man, you magnificent view and great atmosphere and the vendors were fabulous. So, it was it was very nice thing. I think it's going to be something people are going to enjoy.

Yeah. Come down to the water and uh enjoy the day as we go. And then uh something the police department uh came up with as far as u scams and scam alerts that have been going on as far as callers calling people and claiming they have a warrant or a misjury or fines to be imposed onto them. And this isn't a new scam, but it's re-evolving in different ways and coming back out to people on their cell phones and whatnot. You need to remember law enforcement will never make a phone call to you saying they're going to arrest you over the phone. It doesn't work that way. Okay? But we're we're we we have that out there and and then demanding uh to avoid arrest for payment. And unfortunately, we we've had some citizens um been taken advantage of and the tune of up to $30,000. So, we we definitely need to make sure people that are out there listening to this and and as we get older in the elderly population, they they get fearful of, you know, their loved ones and something like this happens and we need to make sure that the scam is real, but the law enforcement's not going to do that. So, just be aware, get with your neighbors, make sure things are okay, and that we're helping each other out with these scams that are out there. Um, they're never going to do that. And then lastly, I I talk about ebikes all the time. Um, ebike classifications just came out. There's a great pamphlet uh that's coming out that we're going to have um dealing with Florida ebike rules. Um state legislature and uh Senate bill and house regulations is actually proposing over the next couple of months uh rules and regulations for

this. And the reason I bring this up all the time is we have a lot of ebikes that youth got for Christmas. And the problem is is and it's a tickable ticketable there you go offense if they're writing it wrong. So we need to make sure that everybody's following the rules and regulations. Nobody wants to have a ticket before they're 16. That's not great. It it it affects them directly and the parents directly as they come up being an insurable age for a vehicle. So insurance is high enough as it is. we don't need to make it worse because of somebody riding an ebike improperly. And then lastly, I had uh some individuals uh reach out and they showed up tonight. So, I want to say thank you for young adults showing up into our audience tonight uh taking uh pose of city council. They uh asked a question of what time city council was and I looked at her dad and I was like, "What?" she was interested. So, it's it's great to see the youth getting involved in our city as young adults. This is that one day they'll be up here taking our places. So,

we got some we got some uh boards with vacancies if y'all are interested. Yeah. So, uh please uh come and join more meetings and uh get involved. Thank you for showing up. And next time if you sit where Darlene is, you probably end up on TV at some point. That's why she's there. She wants to make sure she gets But welcome. Good to see Good to see you guys, Sean. How about it?

Yeah. I just want to express my deep appreciation for our first responders. Uh unfortunately uh for my family, we've had to call 911 three times since uh Thanksgiving. And uh you know, amazing that we know that within 6 minutes we're going to have someone at our house uh and the the firefighters that arrive ahead of evac or in the timely manner are amazing. You got a great staff. I appreciate that and hope that I never have to call them again. But if I do, I know I'm confident in that. And and that just, you know, one of the biggest things is funding those those firefighters and those first responders and and healthcare in general. Uh we've had unfortunately um way too much exposure in our in our health care system over the last 40 days with my family and uh you see a healthcare worker, thank them because it's amazing the pressure they're on, especially with this flu season. The hospitals are full. Um but um going into our state legislature,

there's going to be a lot of pressure put on these cities to pay for these first responders if things get too out of hand. We got to pay attention to bills that are getting uh presented to our legislators and our leaders. Um and things that could end up on our ballots in November, we can't sit silent. We got to pay attention to what's going on and and be able to have the information. can't tell you how to vote, but we certainly can share the information as it starts moving through legislation over the next couple weeks. We're going to go to Tallahassee and work hard this coming week for funding for additional uh storm water projects. I'm looking forward to that again. We had some great success last year and hopefully we'll have the same success this year. We have a great team going up there with Juno and our city manager. They do a fantastic job looking after us and I'm excited to be with them. I think there'll be four of us up there

from this council. So, we'll work hard uh on behalf of the citizens that have elected us. And that's all I have. Thank you.

I just got a couple things tonight. First thing I want to just make a mention again, uh the city manager puts out a weekly update report. I don't know if it's weekly or monthly, but um I do just want to bring it to light that there are several uh open positions within the city of Port Orange. Um from accounting managers to utilities to the police department. So, check out our human resource page and uh take a look at the job opportunities that are available there. Uh and the second thing I just want to say is I I just want to go on record stating that I still feel that there is a need for a non-emergency line in the city of Port Orange and I would like to see what we can do to get it. That's all I got.

That's all you got. All right, city attorney. How about you? What do you got? Uh nothing. Nothing. Huh? Nothing. You want you don't want to tell them about our our our uh monthly meeting? No. All set. Okay. Mr. City Manager,

I have two short things and then Susan's going to talk for a second. Number one, we got a notice today from FPNL and they are good to notify us in advance when they come out to do tree clearing. It's a fairly large scale this one that we got. It's going to be in the newsletter. Mike will get it on social media. But in the next couple of weeks, they appear to be doing major clearing around Pioneer Trail on the south end of Cypress Head and W's Edge and then a major area mainly around town park. But that whole area between your neighborhood and all the way up past Meline, all the neighborhoods basically between Williamson and Clydemore. So there's a substantial area of the city impacted by this tree clearing. And those big orange aspun trucks show up and start cutting trees. You're going to get calls. people are going to be upset about it. So, we're going to put it out there and let them know this is FPL clearing prior to the storm season to protect their lines, but they they have notified us and there's a large part of Port Orange will be impacted by tree clearing. So, we'll make sure more people know, but I want to make sure you guys heard that. Uh the other thing, the the Riverwalk project we talked about, all the advertising marketing is there. Now that we're in the new year, as of tomorrow, it will be back formally marketed out there with the lot cleared and the pictures of that. So, it is out there. What we expect to happen is September is the last time we'll go about a month and a half and see what we've got and we'll come back and bring you what we've got about that time. So, so you're thinking probably sometime in March we'll be back with who who shows interest in that. And as you guys talked about the activities that are down there, we expect to help. What we've heard is that the the realtors are saying that having activity down there showing success, people showing up. Uh that that'll help us a whole lot as we move forward with this project. And then Susan's going to give you a briefing on the this is the last council meeting before the the causeway boat ramp project starts. So just it's it's a very important thing to a lot of people and we just wanted one more time to to have the public hear what we're doing with this boat ramp project so that people aren't surprised.

Welcome. Good evening, mayor and council. I always feel good when you're up here talking to us.

So it's finally here, right? We've been talking about this boat ramp for a long time and and it's finally here. So on Tuesday, a week from today, um this project's going to kick off. And so what I want to do just kind of give you guys an update on what the first steps will be. Um I also have Shayless here from DMC who's our engineer of record on this project in case you start asking me too many technical questions, but I'll do my best on that. So January 20th, um the south ramps and 25% of the parking will close to the public. Um, and that will remain closed until probably sometime in July. Um, they're going to start with the mobilization and um, and just so the public knows, the fishing peers and the boat ramps on the north side of the causeway will remain open. The boat ramps on the north side are sufficient for vessels 20 ft or less. So, those will still stay open. If you've been down to the causeway recently, you'll see um, some information about other boat ramps in addition. So, our our contractor is going to come in. They're going to be begin by removing the existing boat ramp and dock structure and then a crane barge is going to arrive and they'll begin installing the coffer dam. So that's the sheet metal that will go out in the water and then they'll dewater that. Um construction of the new ramp will begin once the coffer dam is dry and existing ramp is completely removed. Um this should occur right before the 1st of March. So again, I know a lot of people think just a boat ramp, put it in, be done in 30 days and we'll be out of there. It's not that easy. I wish it was. I really do. Um but it's not. So that's kind of how that schedule goes. Um construction of the the um is expected to be completed in July of 2026. Now um the proposed I guess I should advance my

my things here, right? I can't two things at one time. I'm struggling here. Okay. So the proposed layown and staging area is on this map. So, what you see to the right is the existing ramps that we will take down and and remove. And what you see in the red is the parking area that will be their layown area and that will be secured with fence um to in order to keep the public out of that that area. Okay. This sign right here, it's on our website. It's down at the Causeway Park. This will list the nearby boat ramps in adjacent um in within the miles of of the existing Dunlton boat ramp. Um so again trying to get information out people ahead of time so people are not scrambling when they're trying to put their boats in the water and go I don't know how to get there. I don't know where this is. This sign has been up for about 30 days. Um it's also again on our website and I would encourage people to go to our um portyorge.org/parks and go to our project page. We will keep that information updated as we progress through this project um of any additional closures that may have to happen um you know during when we go to do the paving and things like that. But we'll have that updated regularly. They can always call our department. We'll be happy to answer any questions as it relates to the project. Some people have asked where have we put this information out. So, uh, the signs sign boards have been on Dunlton at the causeway entrances both, uh, east and westbound, uh, since December 15th. Signage, um, and website we just talked about. Um, public information has been out, um, on social media, both the city hall and parks and w pages. Um, it's also been in our newsletter, it's been in the newspaper, it's been on the radio, and as of this morning, it was on West 2 News. So, we're definitely getting the coverage we need to get to let people know that these boat ramps are closing. In addition to that, our police department for the first three weekends will have uh staff down there just to

kind of keep an eye on things and help assist if we need it. And then um the chief and I will be in close contact to discuss if we have any issues. Um and then they're also going to staff some of the bigger um holiday weekends uh just to help again with the traffic flow and making sure people know where they're going. So, with that said, any questions? Can you can you go back to your overlay slide for just a second there? Uh oh. I was looking for a number when you right there. Perfect. Okay.

So, just for uh for for all members of council, staff, and folks watching. Um this this question came up recently on social media that somebody sent me a copy of a page, and it did I I did kind of have a little bit of a It gave me a little bit of a laugh because one of the persons used to be a city employee who I would have thought would have known this but uh there was a lot of interest in in in conversation about why are the staging docks not being expanded to the west and I know we don't have a way to illustrate that but if you look at that what we'll call the L dock which is primarily a staging dock on that area the area that's to the west that we be between there and Seabird Island that is private property believe it or that property underwater is private and we have actually had I believe it's a two firefighters out of like Orange County own it or something like that. Anyway, we're that's irrelevant but but two folks that do own that property which is completely submerged uh have had interest in wanting to develop that and build a marina facility there and some some different things. And I think the property has been bought and sold a few times over the years. But in any regard, all that just to say, it's not our property. Um, and and there are also very much limitations to what can be done along the shoreline where we have living mangroves. So, that being said, it is the largest, most used uh launch facility in East Valuchia County. Um, we have taken a made a lot of strides and effort to maximize the property um I'm sorry, the parking as much as can possible. um including removing no parking areas and and and and just throwing in the flag on the battle of writing parking tickets to say which by the way that was a lot of staff work to say let's just open this up. So we have done that and we have maximized all that. There will

never be enough parking. Um and and strictly that's just because it's such a nice facility. It's in a nice facility. It's in a great location. It is not exclusive use to Port Orange residents. It cannot be that. You get a lot of folks from Orlando, Orange County, Seminal County, Lake County, Ocola County. This is where they want to come and launch their boats for the weekend as well. Um, so that being said, that's what just wanted to make a comment on that. the north side ramps. There is a constant problem over there that I need staff to be attentive to and that is the transient boers and homeless folks that continue to reside on some of the adjacent spoil islands who use anything that will float from a kayak to a piece of foam to an old surfboard or whatever to come to the shore and tie that up to the outside area of those docks that are then that are now going to be used more than ever to be able to put us staging spot so that somebody can tie their boat up outside of the ramp, go get their truck and trailer, back it in, so forth. That's got to be kept an eye on. You know, our parks are rex folks do a great job down there. I see them all the time. They're wonderful people taking care of trash and looking at things like that. We need to have them keeping an eye on that. And then whatever that mechanism is, when they see that, it's got to get pulled out of the way. It's got to get drugged to somewhere else. Um because it is going to be a huge problem. we have to maximize what we have during this project because like you said this project is going to to take a little while to get this done. So that would be my thoughts on that. Anybody else?

Yeah. So the last time we talked um we were kind of stepping back waiting on the production of the floating docks I guess. So all of that is is well underway and and we're good with shouldn't there be any material holdups? We are not aware of any material holdups. The docks are in production with Bellingham. Um the uh submitts have been coming in. I've been seeing them come in over the last couple months. Um we do have a meeting tomorrow with the contractor just to make sure we have no hiccups. But as of ye um Monday, what's today? Tuesday. So as of yesterday, um we had another conversation and I met with Shayless last week and there is nothing on the radar for either one of us.

Yeah. So everything seems to be going well and the the contractor is is on it. So if mother nature is nice to us, we should be okay in that time frame. Yeah, we're not going to say that word, but mother nature. Thank you. And on your other slide there, I just wanted to mention I think the north causeway ramps are under construction as well in New Sarna, right? Or about to launch. Correct. I'm trying to put you on the spot. If you if we're not aware of that, let's just double check that. So that we're not saying I I'll double check it, but I'm almost positive that I saw a news release of some sort that those are on this slide as well. I don't know about the rest of the ramps around Valuchia County, but I know a lot got damaged in the last few years with storms.

Yeah, we'll double check on that. The main thing here is also to let people know that the fishing dock is still completely open. It's it's not being closed off. So that that parking area just to the north is still available for everybody to go down there to use the fishing peers. It's just that first major row going down to the dockage is where the issue is. That's correct. And that's part of our meeting tomorrow, too. There will be certain walkways that'll be snow fenced off for the pedestrians to get down there to the to the fishing peers. Um there will be a time when we have to close them when they come in and do the paving and the striping, but we will make sure that the public is aware of that and it won't be long. It'll be for a few days at a time and and kind of do it that way.

Okay. Part part of the challenge over the years is this thing is used so much that it's near impossible to get in there without having to shut it down to do what really needs to be done. And it's but but it is what it is. It's fine. I think when people see what's really going to be going on down there, a lot of folks just think it's replacing dock boards and it's not that at all. It's a very significant renovation. Re

I was just going to point out something slightly adjacent to this topic, but I've let staff know that there's a business that's using that location uh on Google Maps, Apple Maps, everything else as their primary business address and it's been reported but you know hasn't been taken down yet. So just going to bring that up again is that that is that is public land. It is not a place to have a private business. We have dealt with that here on this dis and we've said so and um hopefully staff can get with code or whatever it may be and get to the bottom of it. But else just because we're on the on the subject of the property. Anything else for us? No sir.

Thank you. All right. Thank you guys. Keep us posted. Item 18, golf advisory board. Uh Rich Lee, 6393 Long Lake Drive, speaking on behalf of the golf advisory board. Um thanks for having us. Sorry I missed the last meeting. I had a little medical issue that I had to deal with. So uh but I'm back. Um everything is good. We leave it at that. the uh I I did a I haven't been able to play in a couple of months now, but I did I talked to several people who have been playing. I went through the course myself uh day four yesterday just to see how things looked and went the pro shop and talked to several people. Um I couldn't get a bad comment out of anybody. Uh all they they keep praising the greens, the turf, the sand, new sand traps, which are a little more difficult to get out of if you're not used to them because the sand is quite soft versus the stony stuff we had before. So, it is a little bit different, but everybody's suggesting and we'll all we'll all live through it. Um,

the people that Jeff and Darren have assembled are really a great crew. Um, they're courteous, they're friendly, they're knowledgeable. Um, they keep everything moving. The the flow of golfers has improved dramatically. Um, in in years before, five or six hours might take to play in the men's golf association or the women's golf association, it's down to a good four, three and a half every once in a while. So, it's it's really they've picked up the pace and everything. Um, there's nothing else we need to really hit on. Uh, they continue to offer lessons on Saturdays if anybody's interested. Uh, it's $10, 10:00. They offer them occasionally. Um, that it's not a continuous thing every week, but they go through the full gamut of clubs. So, they start with a driver, work you through iron, long iron, short irons, chipping, putting so that everybody gets an opportunity to improve their game. I've done it. It's really neat. Uh they have Jeff and and a couple of the assistant pros uh walking you through that. They pay a lot of attention. You'll hit balls until you're sore. They say it's only 30 minutes, but I'm telling you, it's say I mean, things are really rolling along very nicely. It's it's great to have a course that's uh that spectacular. Uh the marketing has has been good. They've been having a lot of tournaments uh going through um and and particularly on weekends. Saturday gets gets to be pretty busy, but uh it it's it's been a joy to see this thing flourish to the extent that it has.

Excellent. Anybody got anything for Rich? We could have put him on the consent. What a getting very easy. Yeah, I was I played on Friday and you're right. It the course was just in excellent condition uh before I got there. Not so much after I left. That was the sand traps. I was over there pulling stuff up. So somewhere on like number eight. I think I I got stuck in there three or four times or whatever. Wasn't wasn't pretty. But um I was going to ask just has has camper mentioned to the board or anything else about looking into the Top Golf thing because we talked about it here a while ago as a huge revenue generator for uh Turbo Bay or down there in New Samura because they put that in. Have they made any mention at all about adding that to the driving range?

Jeff has exploring it. I know Keer has looked at it uh intentionally. They've they've uh I'm not sure what their decision is. I don't think they're very warm to the idea of of going with that kind of uh commitment. Uh it cost a lot to get into it, I guess. Yeah. And and it also it takes away from people actually playing the game because they get so much thrill out of just doing that that they don't go out and play the course anymore. So there is some there's a you know the good and the bad I guess what goes along with it. Gotcha. Okay. Put it that way. Sounds good. Anything else? Thanks for serving. Good to see you. You're welcome. Appreciate it. Thanks. Yep.

This brings us to the public hearing portion of the meeting. Item 19 is the second reading of ordinance number 2025-30. It's an ordinance of the city of Orange, Valuchia County, Florida relating to comprehensive planning, amending the future land use map of the comprehensive plan, amending the future land use designation for approximately 9.37 acres from Valuchia County urban low intensity to city of Port Orange's rural transition for property generally located on the south side of Firm Park Drive east of Taylor Road. Authorized transmitt to required agencies providing for conflicting ordinances, severability, and effective date. Move to approve ordinance number 2025-30. Second.

We have a motion to approve in a second for second reading of ordinance number 2025-30. Any comments from council. Any further comments from the public. Back to councel. Last shot. Clerk call the role. Councilman Foley. Yes. Council Gford. Yes. Councilman Green. Yes. Vice Mayor Grubs. Yes. Mayor Sto. Yes. 50. Item number 20. Second reading of ordinance number 2025-31.

That's an ordinance of city of Port Orange, Blush County, Florida, reszoning approximately 9.37 acres from Valucha County Rural Agricultural to City of Port Orange Agriculture generally located on the south side of Fern Park Drive, East Taylor Road, authorized authorizing revisions of the official zoning atlas and providing an effective date. Move to approve number 2025-31. Second it. We have a motion and a second to approve second reading of orders number 2025-31. Any further comments by councel? Seeing none. Any other comments from the public? Back to council. Last eight. Cler call the role. Councilman Foley. Yep. Councilman Gford.

Yes. Councilman Green. Yes. Vice Mayor Gross. Yes. Mayor Stelman. Yes. 50. Item number 21, second reading of ordinance number 2025-32.

It's an ordinance of the city of Orange County, Florida, amending chapter 16 of the land development code to establish a new section in chapter 16 miscellaneous regulations for the purpose of establishing procedures for review and approve review and approval of a certified recovery residence. Providing for definitions, providing for requests for reasonable accommodations, ensuring consistency and compliance with recently adopted state legislation, amending chapter 397 for statutes, providing for the designation of an administrative authority for the review and approval process, setting forth a time frame requirements related to review and approval process for certified recovery residence application and reasonable accommodation requests, providing for repeal of conflicting ordinances, severability, and effective date. Move to approve ordinance number 2025-32.

Second. We have a motion and a second to approve on second reading ordinance number 2025-32. Any comments by council. Anybody in the public want to speak to it? Back to council. Anything clerk? Call the role. Councilman Fing? Yes. Councilman Gford? Yes. Councilman Green? Yes. Vice Mayor Grabs? Yes. Mayor Stner? Yes. 5 Anything else to come before us tonight, gentlemen, any attorney, city manager? Seeing none, again, we wish everybody a a very happy new year and we thank you guys for coming tonight, participating in the process. Have a good night.