City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We're going to call this city council meeting to order. The first order of business today is we're going to have the invocation provided by Pastor David Daniel, and then we'll remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance led by myself. Thank you.

Please rise. I'd like to read from Proverbs 3, verse 5 and 6. simply says this, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not into your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, we just want to thank you for this day. Thank you for your love and your mercy, and thank you for this privilege and honor that we have together freely, Lord, to take care of the business of the city. We ask that you would touch the mayor, that you would touch the councilmen, that you would touch all the business that is done, and that is pleasing to you. We just pray that you would give us wisdom, Give us understanding. Give us direction. And just we ask that you would receive all glory in your holy name. 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.

All right. Madam Clerk, roll call, please.

Mayor Jones.

Here.

Vice Mayor McPartland.

Here.

Council Member Nunn. Here. Council Member Matthews. Present. Council Member Dodd.

Here. All right. Do we have any agenda modifications? Anything from council? From staff? Nothing? All right, we're gonna move on to item six, proclamations and awards. I'll be reading a proclamation for Mangrove Day. And for that, we'll have Ms. Mara Gatton come forward from the Marine Resources Council, and I will read and then come down and present to you. You can come up this way, yes ma'am. All right, mangrove day, July 26, 2026, where mangroves are a keystone species and an iconic feature of Florida's coastal ecosystems. And whereas mangroves provide critical habitat for native Florida wildlife, including at least 220 species of fish, 181 species of birds, 24 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 18 mammal species. And whereas throughout Florida, 75% of sport and commercial fish species rely on the mangroves, both recreational and commercial fishing industries represent a massive economic benefit to the state's economy and the Indian River Lagoon. And whereas mangroves provide more than $50 billion in coastal protection services by acting as a natural barriers, during extreme weather events, safeguarding private and public lands, root systems, can trap sediments and pollutants, absorb excess nutrients, and filter heavy metals and wastewater before they make their way into the Indian River Lagoon. And whereas Florida's mangrove population has declined to a fraction of its historic levels because of deforestation, development pressures, and severe weather impacts. Whereas communicating the importance of mangroves and their valuable contribution to Florida's way of life can encourage public awareness of an iconic species. and whereas Floridians have an opportunity to help contribute to the restoration of mangrove ecosystems by donating proper tools to mangrove nurseries, undertaking safe and legal mangrove trimming practices, and even installing mangroves along their shorelines, and thus further compounding the ecosystem services and economic benefits to the state of Florida. Now, therefore, I, Fred Jones, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the city of Sebastian and on behalf of the entire city council, I hereby proclaim Sunday, July 26th, 2026 as mangrove day.

Thank you. Maybe.

Yeah, it's on.

It's on? Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Very nice. Thank you. We're very proud to be a part of the Sebastian community. We have a very large mangrove nursery here in the city of Sebastian. We have over 10,000 trees specifically to come and get for restoration here in the Indian River Lagoon. So come help us out if you have a chance. And thank you, Mr. Mayor Jones, excuse me, for this proclamation. We're very appreciative.

Absolutely. Thank you so much. Thank you for what you all do.

Thank you.

All right. Uh, at this time, we're going to go ahead and recess the city council meeting and convene the community redevelopment agency. And the first item up is item seven, a consider approval of March 20, 25th community to redevelopment agency minutes. Obviously we can take them all three. If you guys want to, I'm not sure.

Mr. Mayor, I move approval of the March 25th minutes. Second. All right.

Madam clerk.

Chairman Jones?

Yes.

Vice Chair McPartland?

Yes.

Mr. Nunn?

Yes.

Ms. Matthews? Yes. Mr. Dodd?

Yes.

All right. Motion carries.

Thank you so much. Item 7B, consider approval of the minutes for June 24th draft Community Redevelopment Agency minutes.

Make a motion to approve.

Second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? Madam Clerk?

Vice Chairman McPartland?

Yes.

Mr. Nunn?

Yes.

Ms. Matthews? Yes. Mr. Dodd?

Yes.

Chairman Jones?

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right. Ms. Bernard, you're up on item C. Good evening.

So what you have before you this evening is a consideration of a facade sign and landscape grant request from Mikey's Real Italian Ice on 717 US Highway 1. They have put in for the facade improvement grant The request is for 2354 is what would come out of the CRA. They've provided two quotes, and for that, staff recommends approval. I do not believe they're here this evening. So I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

All right. Does anyone have any questions for staff? The applicant is not here. I have none, but I would move approval myself.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Is there anyone from the public who would like to speak on this item? Anyone on Zoom?

No one has raised their hand.

All right. Thank you so much. Public input is closed. Anything else, Madam Clerk?

Mr. Nunn?

Yes.

Ms. Matthews? Yes. Mr. Dodd?

Yes.

Chairman Jones?

Yes.

Vice Chairman McPartland?

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right. At this time, we're going to recess the Community Redevelopment Agency and reconvene the City Council meeting. And under that is the first item is item number eight, which is public input. And this is a portion of our agenda where you can speak on anything that's not on the current agenda. Anyone on Zoom?

No one has raised their hand.

All right. Thank you. Public input is closed. Next agenda item is item nine consent agenda. How would like to proceed on that?

Go ahead.

I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda as listed.

Second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Um, is there anyone from the audience who would like to speak on? No, no, sorry. Madam clerk roll call.

Mayor Jones.

Yes.

Vice mayor McPartland. Yes. Council member none.

Yes.

Council member Matthews? Yes. Council member Dodd?

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right. Next item is item 10, committee reports. Do we have any committee reports from anyone? Hearing none, we have no public hearings, nothing on the unfinished business side. Item 13, item 13A, new business, consideration of new lease for Aladdin helicopters. Who do we have for this?

Okay. Sorry.

Mr. Miller.

Good evening council. So we have an applicant looking to lease hanger G one. It is the last of the square hangers that were constructed last year in 2025. This one has been vacant since 2025 due to the size of the door, but it fits the Aladdin helicopters needs. They would mostly be dealing with storage repair and maintenance of at this point in time, strictly I heart media's news gathering helicopters.

The applicant is here if you have any questions about their business It would be a two-year lease with an option to extend There's a two-year lease All right, anyone have any questions for staff for now If not, is there anyone from the public who would like to speak on this item? Anyone on zoom for this

No one has raised their hand.

All right. Thank you so much for that. Public input is closed. Council, how would we like to proceed on 13A?

I move approval of item 13A. Second.

So we have a motion and a second for approval. Any other discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk.

Vice Mayor McPartland?

Yes.

Council Member Nunn?

Yes.

Council Member Matthews? Yes. Council Member Dodd?

Yes.

Mayor Jones?

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right. Thank you so much for that. Item 13B, consideration of resolution R-26-27. Ms. Miller?

So you've previously accepted FAA grants and FDOT grants for the design of the terminal apron expansion. This is the, and we've already accepted an FDOT grant for construction, but these are the final two FAA grants. This would be, they've considered it a phase two and a phase three because they're using two different pots of funding. one for the airport improvement program which is this specific resolution 26-27 we're calling it phase two of the apron expansion and it's for 500 square yards of construction for this entire apron expansion project it will double the size of the double the area for transient planes that can stay at the FBO at the terminal building so it'll take our spaces from six transient spaces to 12.

All right. Is that it for you? I think so. All right. Is there anyone from the audience who would like to speak on this item? Seeing none in the audience, anyone online?

No one has raised their hand.

All right, thank you. Public input is closed. Any questions? I have a comment, if I could, Mr. Mayor.

I just want to point out, obviously, you heard that this is going to double our parking space, essentially, out there for airplanes at the airport. Total budget on this is $549,000. FAA grant is paying $522,000. An FDOT grant is spending $13,747. The city's match from the airport fund is $13,000 for over a half a million dollars worth of work, which is costing us $13,000 from the airport fund. So it's not something that taxpayers are paying for, but they will definitely benefit of it as our airport keeps growing and gets more tenants and brings in revenue for the city. So thank you. Great job on the grants, really.

All right, thank you so much for that. Is there any other council have anything? All right, so we'll go ahead and entertain a motion.

I move approval of resolution R-26-27. Second.

All right, we have a motion and a second. Any other discussion? Hearing none, Madam Clerk.

Council Member Nunn?

Yes.

Council Member Matthews? Yes. Council Member Dodd?

Yes.

Mayor Jones?

Yes.

Vice Mayor McPartland?

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right, we're on to item 13C. Ms. Miller.

So you just approved the phase two FAA grant. This would be the phase three FAA grant for the apron terminal expansion. This would be the additional 527 square yards area. Again, it is 95% funded by FAA, 2.5% funded by FDOT, and 2.5% funded by the city. So the city would only... One second. We lost microphone. So again, with this grant, it is 95% funded by FAA, 2.5% funded by FDOT, and 2.5% funded by the city. So the total grant value is $551,175, and the city would only need to spend $13,779 to complete this project. Upon accepting this grant, we'll then move forward with accepting a contractor to do the work.

All right. Thank you so much for that. Is there anyone from public who would like to speak on this item? Seeing no one in the room, do we have anyone on Zoom?

No one has raised their hand.

All right. Thank you so much. Public input is closed. Council, any questions or discussion? I'll make a motion to approve. All right. So we have a motion by Council Member Nunn. Do we have a second? I'll second. And second by Council Member Matthews. Any other discussion? Madam Clerk?

Councilmember Matthews? Yes. Councilmember Dodd?

Yes.

Mayor Jones?

Yes.

Vice Mayor McPartland? Yes. Councilmember Nunn?

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right. Thank you so much for that. Our next item is item 13, E as in Echo, consideration of a purchase order for Palm Bay Concrete. Mr. Plewitt.

Good evening, Council. Before you, you have consideration for palm bay concrete to in line with our roadways rehabilitation plan this is funding from this year that's going towards next year's roadways this year we saved a significant amount of money on swale work so that swale work is going to continue this year to get this work done prior to next year's road reviving so there's approximately 33 driveways that have been identified on midville that need to be completed and restored because they're drainage is not flowing accurately and their elevations are off.

We skipped an item. Yeah, yeah, we need to go back to A. Thomas, which is 13D. Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. We skipped.

You want to start with that one? A. Thomas, yeah, I marked it out before we got there. 13D.

Before you, A. Thomas Construction. It's for the installation of footings for the shelters at Public Works, which was previously approved. This $58,500 is coming out of the $450,000 that was already previously approved for the building. This is for all the footings for the cleared fans shelter. We solicited all three of our concrete contractors. One declined, one was non-responsive, and A. Thomas was the only one that put a bid.

All right, thank you so much for that, Mr. Ploer. Is there anyone from the audience who would like to speak on this item? All right, anyone on Zoom?

No one has raised their hand.

All right, thank you so much. Public input is closed. Counsel?

I've got a question, if I can.

You have a question, Mr. Dodd?

Yes, sir.

All right.

Okay, the contractor that's actually installing the building, it's not really a building, Was this not included in that contract, this concrete pilings?

We kept the concrete separate, and the city is going to. The city solicited for concrete. We were saving money this way because the vendors for the shelters only provide the shelters, so they would have subbed out the concrete and we would have paid an additional fee for that. So we subbed out the concrete separately for us. As a cost-saving measure.

Are there any other items related to the construction of the shelter that are not included in that contract?

The exception is gutters and electrical outlets inside and lights.

So electrical is not included and gutters are not included? Correct. And the lighting, any lighting that might be underneath there is not included? Correct. All electrical stuff?

Electrical and the gutters are kept separately. We'll take care of that.

Okay. Individually. Have you done any research on what the cost of those two items may be?

Yes. The cost of the electrical is roughly $23,000. How much? $23,000.

$23,000? Okay. I'm just asking this because when we approved the contract to do the shelter, I was kind of under the impression that that was the total cost. So everything will come within the $450,000? About $70,000, $75,000 to that cost on that shelter.

Everything should fall within line with $450,000. Okay. We won't exceed that.

Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Is there any other questions? So I just want to clarify for my own sanity. So the original amount budgeted for this project is still going to cover everything, including this concrete, the electric, and the gutters? Yes, sir. Okay. And do we know what the gutters are going to cost? I know I heard the list.

We still have quotes pending.

Okay. Okay. Any rough idea? Are we talking $15,000, $20,000? Hopefully under $15,000. Okay. So we'll still definitely have available balance according to this for it. So the project will still stay under budget at this point. Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you.

All right. Any other questions? Entertain a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve this purchase order for A. Thomas Construction.

We have a motion. Council Member Nunn, do we have a second? Second. And we have a second by Vice Mayor. Any other questions? Madam Clerk?

Council Member Dodd?

Yes.

Mayor Jones?

Yes.

Vice Mayor McPartland?

Yes.

Council Member Nunn?

Yes.

Council Member Matthews? Yes. Motion carries.

All right. Thank you so much. Our next item is item 13E as an echo. Bombay Concrete. This time for real.

Good evening, Council. This is before you is a $79,132.82 for 33 identified driveways on Midville. This is in line with our roadway repaving project, and this is going to go forward for next year's roadway. We had additional swale work funding this year that we can utilize to get ahead of schedule. With our new contractor this year, we saved a significant amount of money on swale work, so this is before you to get kind of ahead of the game. We identified these areas. We'll restore these areas to the proper elevation to prevent flooding in this area.

Right. And can you just say what that area is? I'm in an area where we're doing quite a bit so the folks out there can hear what's going on.

This is identified just for Midvale.

Midvale Terrace, right?

Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, if I can? Yes. So I just... For sanity's sake and myself. So this is to take care of culverts and, of course, fixing the driveways for the roads that we're going to be doing paving on. So we don't do driveways and culverts in the city. Those are citizen responsibility. But as part of our road project and helping to right the storm drain system, we've included this in to help fix the elevations on the roads as we pave them.

So the only driveway pipes that we're doing are the ones that are? At the wrong elevation.

At the wrong elevation. Okay. It has nothing to do with condition of pipe. Okay. It's the wrong elevation. So just to fix the elevation. So this is literally to fix any storm drain issues in this neighborhood as we are fixing the roads, which if the storm drain's not fixed, then it'll actually deteriorate the road. So this is to help the road last longer as well.

That is correct. And the city staff are removing and replacing the pipes. This is just for concrete services.

Cool. Well, that's good. That saves a lot of money if we do that. Yes, it does. Thank you.

All right. Thank you so much. Is there... Any other questions?

Mr. Mayor, I move approval.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Did you get it, Madam Clerk, who it is? I did, thank you. All right, thank you. Roll call.

Mayor Jones? Yes. Vice Mayor McPartland? Yes. Council Member Nunn? Yes. Council Member Matthews? Yes. Council Member Dodd?

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right, here we come. Item number 13F, consideration of the evaluation and appraisal report process for the comprehensive plan.

Good evening, council. The item you have before you is a letter that we received from the state in regards to the evaluation and appraisal report process. they ask the local governments if this is something they're interested in doing once every seven years. And so looking for direction from council on if they'd like to update the comprehensive plan moving forward, we have to have a letter back to them by August 1st. So the last time it was updated and adopted was 2021. And so we're right on cycle for the next seven years.

Good. All right. Counsel, do we have any questions?

You're going to go out to bid as a result of this, assuming we approve it, you're going to go out to bid on it.

Right.

It's going to be October time frame before you get something back on it.

Right. So the next step would to seek consultant.

Because if it's every seven years, we theoretically could push this off to the next budget cycle if we have to.

We could.

Okay, we're good. Any other questions? Mr. Benton.

Yes, I just want to add one of the things we probably will look to do if you give us direction now is speed up the process of getting a consultant because we do have consultant dollars allocated this year as opposed to as we discussed in our budget workshop, we have a lot coming into planning and zoning that we're more than likely going to have to use consultant money for next year. So if we can get it in this year and have a PO and get all that process going, then we have additional funds this year to start expanding some of those to start the process. So I just want to clarify based on, uh, council member Dodd's question.

Hmm. Um, what, what would you need from us right now to, to make that happen tonight?

I'm looking for a recommendation.

Yeah, we just need you all. If you want us to go forward, we have to notify the, um, department of commerce for the commerce. Uh, so we have to give them notice that we are going to do it or we're not going to do it. And it has to be made by the governing body. So staff couldn't make that decision. We were looking just for some direction from council so we can then process a letter and notify them that yes, we are going to go forward with this.

Aren't we required by state statutes to do this?

We are, but if you all were to say, hey, look, we're happy with where we currently are and we don't feel a need to have to reevaluate it, then the governing body can make that determination and we would then notify Florida Commerce of that decision. So we're required to assess it and evaluate it. We're not required, you know, if there's things in the comp plan that we want to look at with this, then I say we go forward with it. We just have to provide them notice and justification why we are not going to do it. So I just think, you know, we're looking for direction from governing body on this.

Cause we're required to was the last time it was touched seven years ago, or has it been touched since then revised or anything done with it?

So, um, the overall, um, assessment was done, um, seven plus years ago. It actually took place during COVID and the adoption was done in 2021. Um, There are comprehensive plan updates, like things that will come in from, uh, an applicant. tweaks here and there, but to look at the overall, that has not been done.

We have stuff happening that's probably going to involve you going back to the state after August the 1st with changes to our comp plan. I don't see it would be healthy for us to not go forward with telling them we're going to do that here. And I also Even with what the city manager just said about the dollars, I personally think that we should not put ourselves in a position to commit to do that until after we see what the expenses are going to look like next year. And we can push this off. That money that's in budget this year, quite frankly, with all due respect to everybody in the world, you don't have to spend money. I think we're obligated to do it. I move that we direct the staff to notify the state that we're going to do the appraisal report.

Second.

All right. So we have a motion and a second? I have a question.

Yes. Mr. Bernard, so obviously I'm not a land use guy. I don't think any of us up here have ever. built plans and did all the things that are required for land use. Do we need adjustments to our comprehensive plan?

So there are several, um, statutes that have passed since 2021 that it would be prudent to make sure are in our comprehensive plan, um, just to make sure we're in alignment. And then, um, we also know there's a lot of stuff that's happening as far as potential future development coming in, um, working with the state and making sure a comprehensive plan is up to date. will allow us to also work with those people coming in.

Okay, thank you. That's what I needed to hear. Appreciate it.

All right, absolutely.

Is this item here?

Is there anyone from the public who would like to speak on this? Anyone on Zoom?

No one has raised their hand.

All right, thank you, ma'am. Public input is closed. We have a motion already? We have a motion and a second. And a second. Madam Clerk?

Vice Mayor McPartland.

Yes.

Council Member Nunn.

Yes.

Council Member Matthews. Yes. Council Member Dodd.

Yes.

Mayor Jones.

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right. Our next item is item 13G, as in golf, consideration of a motion to set the proposed millage at 3.4455. Mr. Stewart. Good evening, Council.

Tonight I'm going to present the highlights of the draft budget for 2027 and staff's recommendation for the proposed millage rate. We have a presentation. Yes, there it is. So we're looking at our first public hearing on the budget on Monday, September 14th. The second public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, September 23rd. Coming up. Ah, there it is. Thank you. Just an overview of what we're going to talk about, the general information, some current factors affecting the budget, the summary of the general fund budget, the summary of enterprise and special revenue and other funds and capital improvement program and our property values and millage. On our general information, just for your information, because one tax year determines the following year's budget, the adoption of the millage will be applied to the 2026 tax roll and would be collected in FY2027. Amendments, of course, will be done during the year. And our budget advisory committee met on Monday night and recommended going with the rollback rate of 3.3339. Current factors which could affect the budget are consumer price index, inflation up 4.2% for the year. Interest remains higher. A Fed rate targets 3.5 to 3.75%. This causes housing values to continue to decline. but it does help with the interest earned on our reserves. The Florida unemployment is trending higher at 4.8%, which is up 1.1% year over year. The Florida housing prices are down 2% over year. However, that's 0.2% in Sebastian. Sebastian taxable assessed value is up 5.2% for 2026 tax year. Factors affecting the personnel, health insurance premiums are projected to be up by 6%. The police union negotiated pay increases will take effect in this budget year. The non-union employee pay increases as well as one new part-time position to be added. Looking at our general fund, the summary of it, just looking at the increases and decreases, You're looking at an increase in personnel cost, $365,740, primarily due to the raises we just talked about. You're looking at a decrease of $198,525 of operating expenditures and a decrease to our capital and project items of $185,792. for a total decrease in our general fund of 18,577. This is as compared to prior year's amended budget. Taking a look at our enterprise funds, the golf course, our draft budget is showing a revenue excess of 11,283. Revenues are projected conservatively. 100,000 is shown as the repayment to a general fund. And 32,240 for a restaurant lease. And airport rent is going from 107.43 to 107.662. And we have a 37,397 principal and interest payment on the 700,000 building fund loan. Looking at our airport fund, the draft is showing a revenue excess of $81,972. Within our airport fund, we have loans from the discretionary sales tax fund for hangar A, a $20,000 payment will leave $202,000 by 9-30-27. And the loan for hangar B, a $20,500 payment, will leave $201,444 owed by 9-30-27. Grant matching $35,000 for the rehab of runway 1028, $150,000 for the construction of the taxiway golf apron. And over the next five years, you're looking at $150,000 for the construction of taxiway golf apron phase two, $15,000 for the design of the taxiway alpha rehab, $50,000 for the design of golf apron phase two, and $15,000 for the design of taxiway Bravo runway 1028. Looking at our building fund, our permit and fee revenues are expected to remain level. We're expecting $37,397 principal and interest payment on golf course loans. The $700,000 loan will be down to $389,608 by 9-30-27. And when that is paid off, the $559,684 loan will begin payments. On our ARPA fund, these are the funds that must be spent by December 31, 2026. They're currently allocated to Gardenia Ditch and Schumann Drive box culvert design. The road work was completed in FY25, and the Gardenia Ditch work is undergoing the project closeout. And the Schumann Drive box culvert will be completed by the end of FY26. So we're on target to spend all the ARPA funds and close that set of funds out in this fiscal year. On our local option gas tax fund, we're projecting collections at 1% increase. These funds are being used for all road preservation and associated swell work as scheduled in the current paving management program. It also funds sidewalk repairs and the railroad crossing maintenance annually. Our discretionary sales tax fund projecting collections at 1% increase. It is being used for road reconstruction and associated swell work as scheduled in the pavement management program. And we're also funding MIS infrastructure, police vehicles and equipment, AC replacements, Schumann Park upgrades, major construction vehicles and equipment, and matching funds for the FAA and FDOT grants.

Real quick, Brian, I just want to jump in here. So so many information we got today while discretionary sales tax is up there. Brian was working on a third quarter financial report. And I just want to share that we're projecting collections to increase at 1% in our upcoming budget for DST. We are currently, is that number 4% or 5%, Brian? Was DST 4 or 5?

On the DST was 4%.

So DST is currently trending at a negative 4% in collections compared over the previous year. So, you know, if that continues, we'll see about a $200,000 reduction in revenues in DST, which is fine because we budgeted less than we're anticipating in revenue. But DST, and then he'll obviously share another number here shortly or at the end, affects general fund. But just want to be open about that. The new numbers coming in are starting to show a little decline in DST revenue. So just want to pop that in.

Yes, that's actually something I was working on today for your quarterly report that I noticed. And also the half-cent sales tax is trending downwards as well. It's 5%. below prior year at June 30th. So there's two sales tax that's trending downwards, and that's

And the half-cent sales tax is projected in the general fund, correct?

Yes, the half-cents in general fund.

And it's showing down about 5% as we're going?

Yeah, which if it stays at that current rate, you're looking at about a $79,000 decrease to revenues that will be amended in the budget. Okay, looking at the riverfront, the CRA fund. On operating expenditures, it's used for audit fees, administration, working waterfront improvements, facility maintenance, submerged land leases, consulting fees, travel and education, legal ads, state fees, association dues, and landfill fees on fisherman's landing. And our landscaping is handled in-house. And the fisherman's landing and working waterfront projects are through FY28. And the Central Avenue Catalyst site is scheduled to be in FY31. On a rec impact fee fund, we have 20,000 budgeted for unspecified improvements at 5K per zone. The $40,000 in park improvements, $100,000 towards a $400,000 court and lighting upgrades. And projected 2027 ending fund balance is $117,245.

And real quick, just before you change on that one, sorry to jump in because things have changed since this was all advertised and shown. At the budget workshop, we moved the $20,000 park restroom door project from general fund into rec impact fund. So that will be a new project in the next fiscal year. So that projected ending balance of 2027 will be reduced by $20,000 to take it down to around $97,000. So I just want to make sure that's normal.

Okay. Okay. And we'll move on to stormwater utility fund. In this fund, the revenues exceed expenditures by $47,055. Our capital includes purchase of F-250 truck, a park roadway drainage, the pond fountain, sorry, slip lining or pipe replacement as well. My law enforcement forfeiture fund, these are used only for unbudgeted items and any items would need council approval and our projected beginning balance is $36,528. The parking in lieu of fund is used for providing additional parking and the projected beginning balance is $131,902. Our cemetery permanent fund, half of the sales are spent on operation and maintenance. It is reimbursing $150,000 to the general fund, and half of the sales are on expansion or cost incidental to adding future sites, and the ongoing admin building replacement project totals $735,410. Looking at our capital improvement program, It shows over the next six years spending $61.9 million, $11.1 million in the next fiscal year of which 40% or $4.4 million will be funded by grants. The largest items in the next fiscal year are sidewalk work at $2.1 million, Street reconstruction at $1.8 million. Taxiway golf construction at $1.35 million. City Hall AC chiller at $1.25 million for a total of $5.645 million for those largest items. Okay, moving on to the taxable values. The certified taxable property values have increased by $130 million or 5.2% above the prior year. The additions in the tax roll account for $47 million, or an increase of 1.9%. The reassessments made up $83 million, or an increase of 3.3%. And the rollback rate is, like I said, 3.3339. And our proposed millage is 3.4455, which is the same rate as prior year. To use the rollback rate would require using 282,000 reserves. Looking at our taxable value, just to look at the additions that we've seen, this chart shows the last 10 years of how our additions trend, and you'll notice from 2025 to 2026, which is what we're basing this budget off of, we're showing a 20% decline in those additions. So here's a chart that shows some different millage rate options that we had looked at. You'll see the rollback rate at the top and the taxes it would collect at $8.7 million. And our current budget, it would require, dipping into reserves, $282,732. Our draft budget proposed rate is 3.4455, which would generate $9,026,000. And you see other rates that shows different increases from there. Next slide, we're going to look at this impact of our proposed rate on various home values with and without homestead exemption. You'll see in the different columns we're showing taxable values on the homes, which is, of course, less than the actual values normally. And so we're showing $150,000, $200,000, and a $250,000 taxable value. with the homestead showing a 3% max increase. And in our proposed rate on a $200,000 home, you're showing $15.50 increase. And if there is no homestead exemption, there's a 10% max. And so for that same $200,000 house, you would be looking at a $68.91 increase. This graph shows our millage setting history for the last 20 years. The city has gone with at or below rollback rate for 10 years, which is 50% of the time. Some other things to consider, property and liability insurance have not yet, those costs have not yet come in, so we're estimating those We're expecting those to come in within the next month. And also setting the proposed millage for the trim notices at 3.4455 would be advertised as a 3.35% tax increase. And due to the new requirements would require a four-fifths majority vote of the council. And exceeding the proposed millage on the trim is expensive and delays budget adoption. So in conclusion, staff requests that council approve the tentative millage for FY27 at 3.4455. Mr. Mayor, if I could just add one thing. All right, thank you so much.

Mr. Benton. So, Brian, can you go back to the slide where you showed the property values? Because I do just want to be transparent about a change that was made here and what we presented to the budget committee. So in kind of our evaluation, We had, with the budget committee, we had shown home values of 350,000, 400,000, and 450,000. Well, in our assessment of Homestead and Amendment 3, you know, the majority of homesteaded properties within the city are valued at less than 250,000. So I felt that we should adjust those numbers to show 150,000, 200,000 and 250,000, because that captures 90% of our homes in the city. However, for transparency sake, I wanna share the numbers that were presented to the budget committee, which were home values at 350,000 with homestead, The proposed rate would show an increase of $31.01 to taxes. $400,000 home would show an increase of $36.18. And $450,000 would show an increase of $41.35. So just wanna make sure that we had those numbers on the record as well, based on what was presented to the budget committee as well. Thank you.

All right, thank you. Anything else, Mr. Stewart? that's all I have. Any questions of Mr. Stewart? Anyone here? Is there anyone from the public who would like to speak on this? Anyone out there?

No one has raised their hand.

All right. Thank you so much. Public input is closed. I suppose we can deliberate now or make a motion.

I think we went into great detail last week over the budget, up, down, backward, and forwards. And, again, this is just setting the trim notice that goes out there. This is not the final rate, which always seems to get confused no matter how long I've been up here. So, I mean, I make a recommendation to set the trim notice. at 3.4455 for the FY 2027 trim notice.

All right. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

I'll second that.

All right. We have a second. All right. Any discussion?

Yeah.

Mr. Nunn.

You know, if we can put, can we put the chart back up for the village setting for the 20-year history? Thank you. While I've been up here, and that's been since, what, 2021 we've been up here, Fred? Mayor? You can see that we've worked really hard to keep our millage down. Compared to the period before that, you can see the millage is much lower on that last six or seven years. You never want to raise taxes. You really want to You want to keep them as low as possible. And everybody thinks Allsby wants money, but all of us are taxpayers too. So we're paying these taxes too. So any effect to you is effect to us. And we've run really, really lean. I know paying attention to this budget meeting that we had, the city manager and his team cut a lot of money from this budget this year to try to prepare for what's coming down the road possibly. And just to have an overall lean budget, because that's our responsibility. to run as lean as possible. And I know the budget advisory committee recommended rollback, and it looks like a small amount until you see $284,000. And I know when we added the two police officers, getting that $150,000 to add the two police officers, what they had to do to pull that money out to be able to do that. I just don't know how we cut another $284,000 unless we make some serious extreme cuts. And, you know, we already discussed that in community development we're short on people. We know that we're short on people in some of the maintenance departments. You know, we know that we're already two police officers down in our numbers. We're 1.1 per thousand people compared to the state average of 1.4 and the national average of 2.4 officers per thousand. We're sitting at 1.1, so we're very lean in our police department. I guess we can always cut things, but cut things starts to affect services and starts to affect what we do as a city. We're not here for our glory. We're here for to run a city, to do building permits, to do planning, to do things that's required to run this whole show. And it's run this way as per state design is how they want a government to run, a local government. So I don't know how we go rollback. And at this point, I agree with what we've discussed in the budget meeting at the 3.4455 because I just don't know how we cut another $284,000 right now. Now, if this... amendment three passes uh we're going to have to cut at this point what like 2.8 million dollars from our budget next year and that's going to be interesting uh that's 10 times what we're talking about by going to rollback and and that's going to be very interesting uh but at this time i i think we're being good stewards of the of the money of this city i think we're being good stewards of the taxpayers if you look at the the chart in front of you we we've worked really hard uh Most of these people sitting up here, I know Ms. Matthews has only been here for a year, under the year, but I think she would be happy to see that those numbers compared to past councils, too, that we've worked really hard to keep them down. So at this point, I just say that I personally recommend, I know we've had a vote in a second, that we stay at this millage rate for now, unless somebody can really convince me how we do it. Mr. Mayor?

Yes, sir.

I guess I was kind of confused when you were looking at the chart. Since 2021, every year except for 22 in which we met rollback, we've exceeded rollback in a couple of those years by a relatively good percentage. We met rollback in 19 and 20. We exceeded it pretty heavily in 21, met it in 22, and then from 23 forward, we've rolled past that. I'm I personally am in favor of the rollback, but I understand something that we haven't even addressed, and the fact is that the only way to meet rollback is to pull many other reserves. We can't cut this budget by $200,000. I mean, city manager and our CFO may play some fancy tricks and come up with $30,000, $40,000, but they're not going to come up with a whole lot of money. We've seen that when we went through our two-day workshop. They magically came up with enough money for us to finally budget, financially budget for the full police operating budget account. We've had bodies in the budget for four years that we have not budgeted for that they needed, and so this year they finally came up with the money to do that. The only way to do it is to take it out of reserves. So if we were to go to rollback, we would have to take it out of reserves. Uh, I'm, I'm torn personally between whether we should do that or not do that. And I'll have to make my decision when my name is called as to how I vote on this motion. But, um, you know, I, I think, I think the citizens of the city, quite frankly, the citizens of the state are relatively upset with the way their government spend their money. I don't think it's justified. I'm not one who says the government spend money unwisely, but our state chief financial officer says we do. Our state attorney general says we do. Our state governor says we do. Our state legislature says we do. That's why they put that amendment on the ballot in November. They're all wrong, but they say we do. But people listen to that, and they're upset with that. So I think quite frankly, it would be a very good signal that we're trying to be stewards if we do go to rollback. So that's just my opinion.

Yeah, I know. And you had spoke about that before during the budget meeting. But you know, we also have other things that are going to come out of the reserves are going to have to come out. And if we start pulling from the reserves, then what's going to happen?

I don't think that we would suffer dramatically by pulling $200,000 out of the reserves.

Does that compound?

There's almost $11 million sitting in the reserve account. We could theoretically pull $200,000 out of there. I mean, I'm not advocating that we do that. I'm saying we can do that if that's the way we need to go to roll back with that. And that's exactly what the budget committee said at their meeting the other night. I think the conversation was point blank. I don't think any of them said cut the budget. What they said is go to rollback and fund it through reserves pretty much.

Can we have a reserve financial discussion then, please? What's the balance, where we're at, what is coming out of it? I think we need to hear those numbers.

So the latest update that I've gotten that was provided to me today from the finance department, our 25 CAFR restricted ending balance was 10.9. Unrestricted balance was 9.5. Where we currently stand, we have pulled out of reserves for things like re-encumber project transfers, re-encumber funds from FY25 POs, some outside legal services that we've got that are active right now. The additional contribution to the retirement plan, remember last year we had budgeted a certain amount and you all gave us direction to pull the remainder amount out of reserves so that has come out and this is all on the budget on the quarterly reports that are shown as transfers fully transparent about 421,000 has come out of reserves so far for that we also annually budget R&R available funds out of reserves of 275,000 We currently to date have expended 46,000. We show employee payouts for leave, 250,000. We've expended 238,000. So the end result of all of that is our beginning balance was 10.9. We've expended $706,392. We have $929,905 that are considered restricted fund balance, which are due to being in an assigned fund. which is inventory, prepaid expenses, or similar to the golf course building department, that loan from the general fund to the golf course is shown as a fund balance in our fund balance. So that's about $929,905 that are technically restricted in fund balance. So funds remaining right now today in fund balance is $9,327,867. Now, like I said, we're expecting to continue. We'll roll back over to ending fund balance, but due to the assigned funds, that drops it down to where we currently are today with $9.3 million in funds remaining. Right.

All right, but we can still set the trim, and then we have until September, right?

Yeah, I mean, I'll just reference last year. We set the trim notice at three point... five four five five if I remember correctly and then once we got the insurance rates we were able to drop it a tenth of a mil so by the time we got to September we were at three point four four five five which was a reduction after the trim notice I'm not gonna say that's gonna happen again this year I don't know what the results gonna be from insurance but whatever you set the trim notice that now we can always come down we just we really can't exceed that number because it's just very costly And it's very timely. Um, if we start to go that process and it runs the chance of us not completing our obligation to have a budget approved by the end of October, by the end of September in preparation for October 1st. So you can set it at whatever the council decides tonight. I would just recommend that we strongly do not go over it. Um, in the future, we can always come down.

Right. Okay. All right. So we, we have a motion, right? And we have a second, any other discussion? All right. Um, madam clerk. Oh, is there anyone from the public who would like to speak on this? We did that already. They say none. Anyone on zoom?

No one has raised their hand.

All right. Thank you. Public input is closed.

Madam clerk council member. None.

No.

Council Member Matthews? No. Council Member Dodd?

I don't want it to sound like I'm saying the staff hasn't done a good job, because they have, but I'm gonna vote no.

Mayor Jones?

Yes.

Vice Mayor McPartland?

Yes.

Motion fails.

I think we have to have a super majority, right? We don't have that.

I'm going to go back to the drawing board.

Is it that four-fifths to set the trim notice, or is it four-fifths to actually pass the millage?

That's a new law. You need a motion to set the trim notice, right?

Right.

Yes. Yes, okay. I move we set the trim notice at 3.3339. and direct the city manager to pull from the reserve account, uh, monies that are needed to balance the budget to that level.

I'll second it. All right. Um, we have a motion and a second. Any other discussion?

I'm a clerk council member Matthews. Yes. Council member Dodd.

Yes.

Mayor Jones.

No.

Vice mayor McPartland.

Yes.

Council member none.

Yes.

Motion carries, 4-1.

All right. All right. Next on our agenda is the city attorney matters, Mr. Stokes.

Nothing from me tonight, sir.

All right, Mr. Benton. A couple updates, Mr. Mayor. First item I have is that Main Street boat ramp and Indian River Drive and the intersection of Main Street and Indian River Drive here on the east side of US 1 will be closed August 3rd, 4th, and 5th. That's when they're going to repaint the intersection. So that closure will be August 3rd, 4th, and 5th. No traffic can enter Main Street to the east. North and southbound Indian River Drive will be funneled through the Main Street boat ramp parking lot. So we'll have our MOT set up. We'll funnel traffic through the parking lot. That means the boat ramp and boat ramp parking will be closed as well for those three days. So August 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and it will reopen on the morning of the 6th. Second item I have that needs council consensus, if possible, the police department is having their back to school event July, 31st at at Riverview Park and so they're requesting to do a small-scale Harrison Street closure which is our typical closure from the entrance to the overflow lot down to Indian River Drive so it's just that area right there in front of the splash pad so they're requesting that closure and I just need a consensus of council because road closures are required to have council approval so to have a consensus head nod yes no yes perfect Um, spoken to each of you in regards to the city manager contract i'm not going to pursue renegotiation so i just wanted to let you all know that um and last update i have is septic the sewer and the cra i'll give you all a quick update on where we currently are with that public infrastructure which is work done by indian river county six areas within the right-of-way require public infrastructure three of these areas have been completed they're north central louisiana and high street The three other areas are currently under design and working on that. Five areas require easements for public infrastructure. The county and the city have met with all property owners involved. There's currently a legal sketch and agreement has been created for one of those five sites, but waiting on the owners to sign that. So that works kind of pending and working through its process with the county. Private side, which is the city's work in the connection from the infrastructure to the homes or the businesses, 89 potential sites for connection. City's contractor has begun coordination with 31 of the sites. One site is actively underway construction to be completed by the end of next week, the end of July. And then that was a couple of these business projects take some design work and then obviously going through permitting and things like that are taking a little bit of time for that. But just wanted to let you all know that we've kind of gotten that started. Contractor steps for each site. The contractor confirms with IRC utilities the ERUs required for the connection. This determines the impact fees for the property, which must be paid by the property owner. A site visit occurs with the property owner to coordinate utility locations. Then an agreement is signed with the property owner between the contractor. That's the update on CRA. Update on the progress for the feasibility study for connection of the entire city of Sebastian to the Indian River County utility sewer system. That study is to be submitted for review by the county's vendor by July 31st. Staff at the city and the county will review prior to bringing to the county commission and the city of Sebastian city council for approval. So I just want to give you all an update on those two items in regards to septic sewer. Thank you.

All right. Thank you so much. City clerk.

The only thing I have is that our August schedule for council meetings has been changed due to early voting. So early voting will take place from the 8th. to the 15th. So our meetings in August will be the 5th and the 19th. That is all I have.

All right. Thank you so much for that. Council Member Matthews.

I just have one thing. I have a shout out to Alden Dixon, our son of our former City Council Member Kelly Dixon, who won the ASGO, 2026 ASGO golf tournament. It's ages 13 to 19, and he took first place in that, and congratulations to him. It's a great honor. He's 13, so he pulled that off. That's pretty good.

All right. Thank you so much. Vice Mayor McPartland.

Well, the only thing I have is today is my oldest daughter Morgan's birthday, 27 years old. Remember it like it was yesterday. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, sir. And I have nothing. Mr. Nunn.

Yeah.

So we voted for a tax decrease tonight, and it sounds great. Just laying it out for next year. Taking $284,000 from reserves means when you take money from reserves to put it towards your budget, you start $284,000 in the negative next year. So if Amendment 3 passes, we already know that we're going to get cut $2.8 million for next year's budget. So we just added that and put it up to $3.1 million that we have to cut from our budget next year if this passes. We're trying to do the right thing. We're trying to cut taxes. We're trying to make things as affordable as possible. Show you we're serious. We care about our people. We care about the money that they have and the money they get to keep. But it's going to get interesting. So I would hope, as you vote or don't vote for it down the road, I would hope that you pay attention to what's going on. I would love you to start coming to budget meetings. Hear the discussions. Hear what's going on. Ask questions. If you have concerns, ask them. Please.

Appreciate it. Have a good night. All right. Thank you so much for that, sir. Mr. Dodd, you're up.

Thanks, sir. Councilmember, staff, whatever residents have hung in this long, it's been my honor and my great pleasure to serve this city for 20-plus years on the Code Enforcement Board and on the Plain Zoning Commission in the last 10 years on the City Council. And it's kind of with a heavy heart, but I am not going to run for re-election this year. So all of you people out there on Facebook that are talking about how bad things are, it's your opportunity. Come by next Friday and see our clerk. See if maybe you can sit up here and do a better decision than we are. So thank you.

All right. Thank you so much, sir.

If there's nothing else, we are adjourned.