City Council - Regular Meeting

We'll go ahead and call this meeting to order. This is City of St. Cloud Council meeting, Thursday, September 10th, 2026. And welcome to our council meeting. In the interest of time efficiency and ensuring that everyone who wishes to address the council is given the opportunity to do so, the following will apply to all comments made by the public. If you desire to be recognized by the chair, please fill out a request form and present it to the city clerk present in the council chambers. Each speaker shall be allotted three minutes to address the council unless such time is extended by the mayor or requests or questions from council. Group shall designate a spokesperson to avoid repetition of comments. Every effort will be made to avoid interrupting speakers. Thank you all for participating in our city government. Please silence all electronic devices. And can we all please stand for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance? And I believe we have the invocation from Pastor Jay McKay from the Crossroad Baptist Church. And he's got to be impressed that I pronounced his name correctly.

Please join me in prayer. Father God, we thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to come before you in prayer, Father. Father, we pray for our council members. We pray, Father, that you'll give them wisdom. discernment, unity as they make decisions, Father. Father, we also pray for our community, that you keep our community strong and healthy, focused upon the betterment of each other and not just the betterment of ourselves. Father, help us to live a life that edifies others. Father, we just pray that everything that's done here tonight will be done rightly and in order and bring honor and glory to you. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thank you, Pastor McKay. All right, and will the clerk please call the roll?

Mayor Robertson?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Gilbert?

Here.

Council Member Paul? Here. Council Member Urban? Here. Council Member Fletcher?

Here. All right, thank you. Also, let's take a moment to remember those lives lost 25 years ago, September 11, 2001. Obviously, those were families. Those were men, women, fathers. I mean, those were Americans that lives were lost, firefighters, police, horrific, horrific day. And it taught us so much as a country on how to unite and come back together. And I think those are lessons that we should always continue to go back and learn from and how we can always be one and find ways to find peace and get along and find unity. So I did want to go ahead and recognize that. Agenda update, city manager.

Thank you. I have several. First, I'm going to need to remove the employee of the month presentation and reschedule it to a later date. He had a conflict. I need to ask that we remove consent item number 10, which is resolution number 2026-142R. We'll put it on the September 17th agenda. And I remove public hearing number six, resolution number 2026-071R. We will re-advertise it for a future date. I'd like to ask to continue public hearing number three, ordinance 2026-33, which was the Walker property, to October 8th. i will um need to ask for the council to take action on the continuance if you want to do that now you want to do your update first on the uh sure i have one other item that has a continuation also um council action request to continue council action resolution 2026-104r which was the krabby bill's lease also to the october 8th city council meeting

And Mayor, we'll need the clerk to read both of those items in and take separate motions to continue each one.

OK, which is the first one? That one. Which resolution number? Public hearing three, ordinance 23.

Is that three fingers you got up there?

Yeah, I'm sorry. Yes, will the clerk please read resolution number three?

Final public hearing for ordinance number 2026-33, an ordinance of the City Council of the City of St. Cloud, Florida, amending a local and multipurpose trail connection to Chisholm Park, adopted by ordinance number 2024-12, for approximately plus minus 25.59 acres identified as Walker property. Project PUD 26-00004, located north of Old Oak Trail, west of South Narcoossee Road, south of Chisholm Park Trail, providing for approval of the amended PUD preliminary master plan, and proof of publication, servability, and effective date.

All right, and you can read them both in the record. We can do one at a time. And can I get a motion on that?

Mayor may have a motion for Ordinance 2633 to continue, please. Second.

We have a motion from the Deputy Mayor, second from Council Member Urban. Until October 8th.

October 8th, I'm sorry.

Thank you. All right, yep, as stated, and second from Council Member Urban. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Paul?

Aye.

Council Member Urban?

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Gilbert? Aye. Council Member Fletcher?

Aye.

Mayor Robertson? Aye.

Aye.

Motion carries 5-0.

If you could read Resolution 2026-104R. Yes, please.

Resolution number 2026-104R, a resolution of the City Council of the City of St. Cloud, Florida, approving a new lease agreement with Krabby Bills of St. Cloud, LLC, for the Marina Building premises on 1104 Lakeshore Boulevard, St. Cloud, providing for a new lease for an initial term of 10 years, an initial rent of $10,000 per month, effective September 1st, 2026, authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to execute the new agreement and providing an effective date.

And can I get a motion? Motion to approve. Motion approved. Council Member Paul. Second. Second. Council Member Fletcher. So that's a motion to continue to October 8th? Yes. Motion to continue. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Urban.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Gilbert. Aye. Council Member Fletcher.

Aye.

Council Member Paul.

Aye.

Mayor Robertson.

Aye.

Motion carries 5-0.

All right. Moving on to, did you want to bring up the cloud carriers at the end?

I was going to do it at the end. Okay.

All right, so you're good on that. Back to my turn. All right, we have presentations here. We have a proclamation recognition of Constitution Week. I'm a little sweaty on the way out here. I dropped my whole cup of coffee trying to grab on my laptop and also was a little frantic getting out here. So that's why I was a few minutes late. So here we have a proclamation. Whereas September 17th, 2026 marks the 230. We have somebody from the Daughters of the American Revolution. Come on up here. This is Liz Daly from the DAR. Thanks for joining us. So whereas September 17, 2026 marks the 239th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention, and whereas it is fitting and proper to accord official recognition to this magnificent document and its memorable anniversary and to the patriotic celebrations which will commemorate the occasion, Whereas public law 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each year by the President of the United States of America, designated September 17th through 23rd is Constitution Week. Now, therefore, I, Christian B. Robertson, Mayor, along with the City Council of the City of St. Cloud, Florida, do hereby proclaim September 17th through 23rd, 2026 to be Constitution Week. Would you like to get a picture?

Would you like to say a few words? I thank you for this. The Joshua Stevens chapter of NSDAR has asked for this proclamation. We celebrate Constitution every week. The DAR is an organization that works for the preservation of history, for patriotism, and educating others about our history, and that's what we do during Constitution Week. Thank you.

And I'll tell you something else. The Daughters of the American Revolution, if y'all were here, I believe it was the last council meeting, and through the St. Cloud Veterans Council and this city council, we've authorized the Daughters of the American Revolution. They voluntarily purchased a plaque to be placed, and they're building a monument out there at Veterans Park here. And if y'all have noticed, we brought that park back to life over the past year with honoring our veterans and having those soldier city markets out there. If you've seen the new paint job out there, it's looking great and the lights at night. So thank you for being great partners with City of St. Cloud and honoring our veterans as well.

So thank you.

And we had a presentation for Employee of the Month, but we have rescheduled that to a later date. All right, next up is the consent agenda. Next portion of tonight's meeting is the consent agenda, which contains items that have been determined to be routine and non-controversial. If anyone in the audience wishes to address a particular item on the consent agenda, now is the opportunity for you to do so. Additionally, if staff or members of the city council wish to speak on a consent item, they have the same opportunity.

All right.

All right, anyone in the audience like to speak on the consent agenda?

Yeah, come on up.

Sorry.

Okay. Hello. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Jennifer Harmon, and I am the current president of St. Cloud Youth Football. I think we're item number two, resolution thing. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. We are asking the council to reconsider one tiny portion of the agreement regarding the ability to charge a small gate fee at our home football games. We completely understand why our agreement was modeled after Little League, and we appreciate the city's effort to create consistency among youth sports organizations. However, our program and our financial circumstances are very different from Little League. We only charge a gate fee during our fall season, which is our tackle season, and that is typically just for regular home games. We charge $3 for adults and $1 for teenagers, which is about half the cost of attending an actual high school game right now. We do not charge gate fees to our own families, just the visiting teams, rostered coaches, athletes, and children under five are all free. This isn't revenue that goes towards profit or unnecessary expenses. The gate money helps us pay our game day officials, which costs the organization now with as many teams as we have approximately $1,500 to $1,600 on a game day. We do everything we can to keep those costs from being passed on to our families, but our concession stand is a great source of support, but we don't have the same volume of people coming through our facility that Little League does. Little League has about approximately three times as many athletes as we have. They have a lot more fields and all their games are in their facility where we travel. Essentially, every home game for them until All-Star season is a way to get revenue. We simply just don't have the opportunity to generate the same revenue. That's important because we don't want to raise registration fees. Tackle football and competitive cheer are already expensive activities. When we calculate what is actually costing our organization to put an athlete on the field, including insurance, equipment, equipment certification, uniforms, competition fees, etc., etc., we roughly spend more than $100 per athlete than we get in registration fees, so we're already operating at a negative. So when we ask to keep the $3 gate fee, we're not asking the city to help us make money. We're asking permission to help ourselves keep our program affordable. Our organization has been part of St. Cloud since 1987. Generations of local families have come through this program, and our goal is to continue providing children in this community with a safe, structured, competitive, and positive place to play. We have genuinely appreciated the conversations we've had with the city throughout this transition and the opportunity to work together In our first agreement, we feel very positive about our partnership. We're not asking for a lot or a long list of exceptions. We're just asking for one concession that we believe is reasonable, limited, and directly tied to the cost of operating actual games. We ask that you please reconsider allowing St. Cloud Youth Football to continue charging our modiscape fee at our home games. It may seem like a small amount for the $3 to $1 ratio, but when you're trying to keep registration affordable for hundreds of families while absorbing thousands of dollars in game day facility expenses, It adds up. Additionally, previously with the county, they took care of most of the expenses at the field. And so now with the transition, we are going to be accruing a lot of expenses that we didn't have before. So this first, I guess, inaugural season with the city would be adding a lot of finances to us with no way outside of pounding the concrete to get sponsorships to help us deflect some of that from our families. Thank you.

Okay. Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much. Yeah, and that was the question. We talked about this probably today. I spoke with staff, and I guess this kind of came up after this was advertised and you guys have already sat down with staff. Yes, sir. Thank you for clarifying where the money goes towards. So it's towards referees.

Yes, sir. Our game days, depending on how many flag games we have before tackle, are between fifteen and sixteen hundred dollars the majority of that is got is received through the gate fee and like i said it's only during the fall season our flag season is in-house we don't charge our own families they all have gate passes in the fall um it's literally just to pay that um and now we're pop warner so we travel all over sorry all over central florida all the time all over central florida so we're not just going to just our fields all the time um and like i said we're really excited for you know stephanie has been great um talking with her and her team we're really excited about the partnership we're just really nervous that um we're going to be bankrupt after the first year well we don't want to do that obviously we want a smooth transition we know that obviously these types of agreements are the hardest especially for us up here because we grew up here and

And I played at the little league fields. My dad was a football coach there. My little brother played, so I totally understand. And Council Member, sorry, Deputy Mayor Gilbert.

Thank you for all you do, firstly. I had the opportunity to coach for 26 years in both varsity football and Pop Warner football with Kissimmee and the St. Cloud Bulldogs. Two questions I have, and I don't know what the legal portion is, but you traveled eight games, four games are traveled. The other four places you go, is there a gate fee for those? And what is that average gate fee for? Because it might be Ocoee. I don't know exactly what your schedule looks like, but I know. You do travel to different cities?

Yes, sir. So it depends on the season. This year we travel as far as the villages, but Pop Warner, especially in mid-Florida, all of us charge the exact same gate fees. It's $3 and $1, anybody rostered. We personally don't charge our families. I don't know how anybody else does, but we don't want to make our kids' parents pay to watch them play after they've already paid. We don't charge them. They have the pass, but we go to the villages. We go to Lake Howell. Like you said, Ocoee, we were just at Winter Springs. We're all over Central Florida.

I get that because I did it for quite some time with that because we had Mighty Mites, Junior Pee Wees, Pee Wees, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I think it was five different programs through the weekend and I apologize, I didn't pay, but I always coach, so I didn't know how the gate fees worked. But is there an opportunity, and again, I don't know, for a season pass for these families to help support it? We've done that in other venues where you can buy the full four games as a volunteer or as a sponsorship to go in and you just show that pass, and that would use that same money for those games. Because referees, I don't know what they were then, but they're probably $7,500 an hour now. And there's three to five, depending on the venue. These are just questions I'm asking. I don't know the legality of it, but I do know the city has to charge for... We can't do one without doing the other, so... Those are just questions I have for the council and ask for y'all, but thank you very much for what you do. Youth sports are very important for the social growth of our children. I yield back to you, Mayor.

Council Member Irvin. So is the, I was just thinking about, because I grew up out there, played football out there as well, is the gate fee just to get into the football game? Can other, my concern is just somebody from the general public wants to go

to the park or something will they have to pay that fee to go do that to be honest we've never really just had somebody randomly show up to be on the park um usually when it's busy like that we don't have random people showing up um so i don't really know how to answer that question but i mean i guess they would have to pay to get in um i don't know yeah did you play out there

harmony is a harmony trigger what do you charge the harmony kids uh ten dollars sir we actually just played harmony it was very it was very peaceful it was fun the one thing that came to mind when deputy mayor brought that idea up was A pass, these are the guests. The guests only. So to do a pass, that would have to be a league-wide pass.

It would have to be a mid-Florida league-wide. I think there's like 28 associations in mid-Florida right now, and I honestly don't know how that would work at all.

You might have one to cover the four home games at. Again, I'm out of turn, and I apologize for interrupting, but we used to do, when I was coaching at high school football, we would have passes through the boosters club that would, you know, a certain amount would give you four passes, a certain amount would give you three. I'm just trying to look for alternatives to make it work for everybody, and I don't have the answer.

Well, what she's saying is these are different people each Saturday. Yeah.

We don't charge our own. They're not charging us.

Our home teams don't get guests. Yeah, only guests.

You're like, if I go to France, I have to pay to go to the bathroom. Exactly, but here you're good. Okay, now I get it.

You just show your pass to get in.

I'm sorry. Now I get it.

Yeah, that's why I was like, well, they only go once.

Well, I thought it was for all attendees. Because high school football is for all attendees. Yeah, that's true.

We all got to pay for high school. Even Harmony.

Council Member Paul.

The other locations that you guys play at, are they also on city property or at schools?

Most of them are at schools. I think there's a couple that are at city properties. I actually looked that up because I wanted to be a little bit more knowledgeable on that. And it basically just says it depends on their contract with their city. So it doesn't tell me who's allowed to play. Everybody that we've played since I've been a president has charged us to get in, including Orlando when we play. Was that South Central? South Central. And they play sometimes at Jones and sometimes at the facility right there by Camping World. So it would just depend on who we're playing and, I guess, who runs their governing fields.

Okay. Thank you.

Council Member Fletcher. I did not play out there, but I can make noise with the saxophone. There you go. Come on out. We have a home game. We'll take it. Council Member Paul asked my question, so thank you.

Okay.

So you say, and even those fees don't cover the cost of the refs. Like you, you have to pay generate other revenue to, to cover those.

So the gate fee is what has, um, paid for the rest of the majority of the portion. Sometimes if a team doesn't travel as well, like if they're coming from really far away or they're, I guess I no other way to say it, they just don't travel well. Um, we've had to supplement a little bit with concessions, but for the majority of the amount, it comes from our gate fees.

Okay. All right. I mean, I'm okay with allowing that to continue if it covers. It's not going into anybody's pocket, obviously. This is not. This isn't a money-making program.

Zero money goes to my pockets.

Zero. Dan, we spoke about this. So when the city took the park over. Mm-hmm. You all still have the concession stand. You have the equipment. You've got the means to still have this Saturday. Yes, sir.

So we have the ability to do everything that we have so far. We just now are fiscally responsible for some of that stuff that we haven't been in the past. So, for example, we just had to buy a new fridge and freezer because it – broke right when we're transitioning, and so they wouldn't replace it, and so we just had to spend a lot of money on that. But there are certain things, like little things you wouldn't even think about, like the gas bill. We've never had to pay a gas bill before, and so now we're like, oh, there's a gas bill. And like the HUD system, stuff like that, when it goes down, that's our responsibility now to take care of. And we've just never had to do that before. So we're nervous because we don't know what that's going to cost in the future. And although we have a little bit of reserve so we don't ever go under, it still costs a lot of money to run a tackle program.

And I trust you're not going to hit these folks up with too much of an entry fee to see their kids play? No, sir.

That's all governed by Mid-Florida Pop Warner.

Oh, is it? So it's the same rate?

Yeah, the same rate across the board. We don't make that up. They do.

I'm okay with that, guys. What do you all think? I mean, we're not. They're already covering some costs that you weren't before, right? Yes, sir. Deputy Mayor.

May I ask the attorney legally what is our- You have a-

Generally, there's a general prohibition on charging for admission to public parks, and this is basically now a public park. Now it's going to be taken over. However, you are entering into a specific user agreement with this particular organization, so you could authorize as part of this agreement to allow them for the limited purposes that have been explained to you to charge those fees.

And tell them that the little kids use the playground if they come to use it? Yes, of course. They'll come look for you if they get charged?

They've got to go in and go around the whole backside, right? That playground's still in the same spot.

Well, right now it's not. The new improved one provided by the city comes soon.

Oh, that's right. We're going to get a new playground. I haven't been out there since.

Right now it's like a little bulldozer. So if you want to play on that.

We used to call them talk-a-toys and army men. That's what we played for before the internet. We actually played with those kind of toys.

Exactly. So how many home games? Eight days?

Four home games. So there's always four home games. Half the season is your home game. Sometimes there's a jamboree. And then in the off-chance, we do really well. We have a playoff game opportunity. We're not guaranteed a playoff game home.

So we're talking about seven, eight Saturdays throughout the year? In the fall only. In the fall only. Yep. There's another league?

We have flag football in this ring, but it's all in-house, and we don't charge anybody to get in. Okay.

I mean, Dan, if we're allowed to do that just for those days.

Well, yeah, you just need to add it to this agreement because, again, you have a specific agreement you're working on right now. Okay.

So we'd have to... You just adopt it with that change.

Okay. Council Member Urban. I motion to approve item number two with that amendment added, however the wording needs to be.

It's $3 for adults and $1 for teens.

Anybody over five, that's not playing.

Because the ones under five are just going to the playground.

Dan, we have to read that into the record first, right? Since we're pulling that for a separate vote.

It's not an advertised item, so you don't have to read it into the record. But we're talking about, we're just referring to Resolution 2026-123R for purposes of the record. Okay. So I think Mr. Urban made the motion.

We have a motion from Council Member Urban. Second. Second from Council Member Fletcher. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Deputy Mayor Gilbert? Aye. Council Member Fletcher? Aye. Council Member Paul? Aye. Council Member Urban?

Aye.

Mayor Robertson?

Aye.

Motion carries 5-0.

If you went to St. Cloud High School, you can get in for free.

Some Longhorns are city residents. And Nova Lakes now, too.

We won't hold that against them. Yeah, we have another high school in our city now. Which I went out there for lunch a couple days ago. Beautiful facility. Beautiful, yes. All right, so that was just number... That was item number two on the consent agenda. That was item number two, so we've already done that one, so... All right, council. We're going to get a motion on the consent agenda. Or any discussion?

And I'll ask again anyone else in the audience to speak on the consent agenda.

All right, council. Motion to approve the consent agenda. Motion approved. Council Member Urban. Second. Second. Council Member Paul. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Fletcher.

Aye.

Council Member Paul.

Aye.

Council Member Urban.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Gilbert. Aye. Mayor Robertson.

Aye.

Motion carries 5-0.

All right, next up, we have a citizen's forum. Any person who desires to comment on any item not on this agenda is provided this opportunity to address the city council. Each person is requested to complete a sign-in form to be provided to the presiding officer prior to or as soon as practical thereafter the person addresses the council. And first up on the consent agenda, I'm sorry, that's the consent agenda, on the citizen's forum, we have Teresa Mailhot. You're first up. You don't want to be first? It really doesn't matter. Okay. Okay.

It's free. Smell hot two, nine, two, four cool breeze circle. St. Cloud, Florida. Um, there's a local group called the dirty fingernail club. Um, and basically, were plant people, all kind of plants, like plumerias, staghorn ferns. And every year, twice a year, we would go to Chisholm Park and have a plant swap. People would propagate their plants, people would plant seedlings, and then we would just go. And usually it would be on a Saturday morning from 8 to noon, be out of there by noon, and We've never had a complaint. Last year's was on October the 11th, the fall one. This spring one was on April 26th. We never made a reservation before. We just went out there and pulled out all our plants and pots if people wanted to take some, pots to grow their plants in. I want to say that I got my first Plumerias from there because they also have door prizes. You don't have to bring anything to get a plant. Anyway, what I was going to ask is, due to the new, and I think they talked to somebody at Parks and Rec, and it was going to be, I think, The lady told me between six or a thousand dollars for us to use it on a Saturday morning, which we do not, we're not like a club where we pay dues. We're just local people that like plants that go out there. you know, and like to share our plants, like to learn new things about plants, get new plants, trade plants, whatever. And so what I would like, what I'm asking is if the council could see fit to waive the fees for the large pavilion at Chisholm Park, because that's where we always had. And I even had a video from one in 2000, well, years ago. So you could see people are roaming around because you get the As your number's called, then you can go pick a plant. You get a number when you go, and then they do that several rounds, so everybody gets plants, everybody that comes out there, whether you bring anything or not. And if you could waive the fees for us to do that still, I would appreciate it. They were looking at October the 11th. Last year's was on October the 10th, but... which this year it's not Saturday morning. I don't know if it's available. I would appreciate if the council, we are clean people. We will sweep up the place. The only thing that might be there would be a few stray leaves or plants and maybe a little bit of potting soil or dirt. But I would even bring a broom out there and sweep the floor. We've never had a complaint. Nobody drinks. Nobody does anything. You just come out there and you You try to scoop up and get some free plants. That's all we do, you know.

We have a new buzzer.

I hear that. Am I the first person it got used on? I feel privileged. We put that in for you. Oh, just for me. Okay. See? No, you're good.

Keep talking.

So anyway, I would. You know, I think even some people that might be in this room might even be in that group, maybe.

I don't want to. She means me because we talked earlier.

She's in there. I was going to look up all the council members to see if their wives or their significant others were in there. Maybe I'll even like look up his to see. So I can say, oh, if the council didn't do this, I'll say, well, we can't have it because your husband or your...

Your wife said no, you know? It's a great group. I've learned so much being a member of the group on what's wrong with plants, and you learn identification, and it is a really good cause. Ms. Melhot did ask me if I could waive it, and I said I don't have the authority.

I contacted her first instead of coming here.

I've known you for many years. I've never heard about this.

You've never heard of it? We're out there twice a year, every year.

Who doesn't like plants? You know, that's... You could use some plants to decorate your...

The guard building out there. Yeah.

Well, you know, is this a Saturday or Sunday? Saturday. All right. Cause the 11th is a Sunday, right?

Not this year. October.

Yes, it is.

It is. Yeah. I was just looking at the calendar.

Oh, oh, I have my phone.

I just want to make sure we got OK. OK.

There are several of the 10th. I have it written down October 10th. This is Saturday. So I mean, I know October 3rd, the 10th, the 17th, the 24th. Any if any of those days are available, we will. Be so happy.

Please share the video on social media. Obviously, we've got a lot of stuff here tonight, but I'd love to see the video. Oh, okay.

And I know they're watching the meeting tonight because they knew I was going to come.

That's cool. She asked them earlier today. Yes, I did. Oh, you saw the thing.

If they wanted me to come tonight still because they hadn't found a place that could hold air. Because somebody said, well, could we go out there and use the smaller ones and just say we had like 20 people here and 20 people there? And we don't want to do that. There's a great amount of interest in this, and a lot of people go. So if you're free Saturday morning... I mean, it's it is more than St.

Cloud. It's of Central Florida.

But now they changed the names. It was it was Dirty Fingernail Club of St. Cloud. Now they changed it to Central Florida because people are driving here from Polk County in the coast Melbourne area to come to our plant swap.

So everybody brings different plants, and then they say, hey, I want one of these.

Or whatever they have, or if they don't have any this time, because I know the Arctic freeze we had, the brutal Arctic freeze, people lost a lot of plants, me included. I lost my Christmas tree palms, you know, and I'm sure you all lost, you know, plants too. Yeah. In fact, they're the ones that told me to go ahead and cut down my Christmas tree palms because they weren't going to survive, and they did not. But anyway, we're just plant people. And you do get people come here and see our beautiful Chisholm Park, and they may want to pay for it, unlike us who have no money but plans to swap.

It sounds like a great community event. Deputy Mayor Gilbert.

I don't have a green thumb. If I try something, it's just I have to hire somebody because it just doesn't work. But this is not a for-revenue venue, I believe. And the first certificate I gave out when I became a councilperson almost four years ago was for our tree planting folks. We planted... Tree Advisory Committee. Tree Advisory Committee. And we plant trees all the time. And you don't know... what you know until you find out. And that was such a great advisory, planting 50,000 trees. And these were, again, volunteers, and we gave certificates out from the city. That was the first thing I did when I became a councilman. I don't have a problem, and Council can tell me different, as long as it's not a revenue source. No money. But I do think that if we look at the green and what we're doing in the population, I think this is a great way to plant and replant. Again, I can't do it, but there are people like you. My fingernails are... Are dirty anyway? Yes, I know, I know. But I do get manicures, but I won't tell anybody that. Men get manicures.

It lives forever on the Internet.

Yes. But I do think this council is something that we give back to the community, not only to the environment, also in planting. There's not many people that do that. So I'm going to yield back to you, Councilman Mayer. But this is the first I heard it, and this is really, really a great thing and I don't know how we can get it to become larger as we grow, but I'll leave that up to you, Teresa, because I know you do a lot for the community. So thank you for all you do. Mayor, I yield back at this time.

Yes. Councilmember, sorry, city clerk, who is that one? City clerk. Oh, Scott, what are you doing up here? Because I was like, Jeff Perry's not here.

Yes. No, I think it sounds like a wonderful conversation. I just want to point out, because obviously I see where this is going, that this will qualify as a special event, so that would need to be part of whatever motion is made, that it's also waiving the special event application of fees, if that's the... And time frame. Right. Do we have a time frame?

Which I have the ability to waive that, but... Right. It's cleaner if you also waive the special event time frame, too.

Yes, and I think that this is something also that... The Hopkins Heroes Group has the community garden, especially when Hopkins Park is redone. This may be a great opportunity to combine with that group to do an even larger event, get more people, do something, and combine all those resources there in the future as well.

I mean, the whole time we've been doing this twice a year, I don't think there's ever been one complaint. No fights. Nobody fights over the plume area. Well, I'm not going to say exactly. But we never had the police call. We never leave it dirty. Nothing. We probably leave it cleaner than when we found it, you know. So, and... If October the 10th is available, I think that's the morning we would choose, just so we're kind of staying in the same rotation. And I only had to come speak because nobody else was brave enough to do it. So I was kind of volunteering.

You know, if it's not available, you could come out and join the veterans, the Soldier City. market out there and do it. But I know you need a pavilion.

We need tables because a lot of them are seedlings, you know, and things and we set them on the table, spread it out. So when your number is called, when you get a number like say your number five, you can go through in the first round. They usually let you pick one plant. The second round, they usually like to pick two. So we get them all done really quick. So by noon, we would be out of there. You know, we've always been out there. So eight people can start coming and bringing their stuff, you know.

Well, like I said, if it's not available, we'll be out there at Soldier City Market, and we do have a bunch of tables and chairs. Okay. A whole trailer full of them.

Well, I'm sure some people are watching because they put the link for this meeting.

Well, I saw you made a post on social media. I'm like, okay, what is this, dirty what? Fingernail club. Teresa, what are you bringing to us?

It's a great group. I've learned so much. And you know what? It helps beautify our city, too. You have people like me that didn't have any plants in my yard the first time I went, and I got two plume areas. I got a bunch of other, you know, like houseplants and other things. Some people bring vegetables, but it's a good thing. Beautify your house, you know, inside and out. You know, it doesn't cost people anything. So I think it's a worthwhile thing.

I support that. Folks, do we need a motion on that? Consensus. They can work with city manager on the time and everything.

I'll work with you. She'll probably be there.

I figured she would see that post of mine. Thank you all so much. This was probably the easiest thing I had to come speak on ever.

Very cool.

And I like that I got to be the first one to get the buzzer.

That's an amazing community event. What were you going to press it again? No, no, you're good. I don't have that. I have no control over that.

All right. So we're done.

Yes, you're good. Thank you. Thank you. So thank you, Teresa.

All right.

Next up, we have Chastity Shaw.

Hello, Chastity Shaw, 212 California Avenue. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Chastity Shaw, and I serve as one of the local volunteer location coordinators for Wreaths Across America at Mount Peace Cemetery. Wreaths Across America carries a mission that is simple and sacred, remember, honor, and teach. Here in St. Cloud, that mission was started in 2011 by the VFW Auxiliary, the American Legion Auxiliary, and the City of St. Cloud, and has since grown into one of our community's most heartfelt traditions. Before anything else, I want to recognize the people who make this ceremony possible. Our parks and recreation staff, our cemetery staff, and the city employees who support this event. Their work is not small and never invisible. We are also grateful for the Second Florida Light Artillery Battery B, the Daughters and Sons of Union Veterans, and the Osceola County Veterans Council. These groups remind us that service continues through every generation, that remembrance is something we live, not just say. More than 1,500 veterans rest at Mount Peace Cemetery. Each wreath costs $17. That means more than $25,000 must be raised every single year. We are grateful for the support from Orlando Health, Toho Water Authority, and the City of St. Cloud. But even with that help, there are years we cannot cover every grave. Families notice, and they call us and ask, why didn't my loved one receive a wreath? Did you forget him? Did she not matter? These are not complaints. They are grief. They come from people who simply want to know that their hero is still remembered. We received a community empowerment grant, and every dollar went directly to Reese sponsorships. We do not know that some of the grants should have been allocated to the event fees, and that is why I'm here tonight. With Council's possible help by making this a partner event, we can remove barriers that take funding away from Reese and ensure this ceremony remains a true community effort. We would also welcome aligning this ceremony with the St. Cloud Veterans Council to strengthen coordination. I'm respectfully asking that the event fees for Wreaths Across America at Mount Peace Cemetery be reviewed and possibly eliminated. Together, we can ensure no veteran is left without a wreath and no family is ever left to wonder whether their loved one mattered. Thank you for your time.

Yes, thank you very much, ma'am. Deputy Mayor Gilbert just passed out some information for us, so we appreciate you. If he can just stay right there, we're going to read through this real quick. And I think Deputy Mayor, well, first, Council Member Fletcher has something to say on this.

Thank you for your speech and thank you, Mayor. Partially what had happened was I had a conversation with the organization regarding the number of wreaths after attending the event last year. And I think some of us were actually out there. At the end of the event, you notice that there wasn't enough wreaths. So my thought was, let's let me allocate some funds to be able to make up that difference. Well, what had happened was, is that has to go off to purchase the wreaths, and then the wreaths then come down, and then they're placed by volunteers at this event. Right after that, there basically was these costs came up. And, you know, we've been going through and trying to identify, you know, what are the costs being spent on different events. Had, you know, I kind of knew in advance, you know, hold back some money, let's go ahead and pay that and then we'll allocate the rates to it. So it's partly important. my fault here, so I was wondering, since it's not necessarily trying to find money to be able to do this, it's more of our awesome staff doing what they've done for several years to get this across the finish line. So I believe that's what Chastity is asking the council this evening.

Did this come from you? I'm sorry. Or did it come from you?

No, staff prepared it. We knew. I saw Ken hanging it out. I thought you were going to speak on this. So you know, we just passed out the costs for the application. I have that all here, too.

All right. Yeah, Deputy Mayor Gilbert.

Well, we all are allotted, as council, a certain amount of dollars for special functions to go. And I have not allocated any of the dollars that I have. I have gone to the event. I think all of us were out there, or at least I've asked. And it's amazing. I mean, it's heartwarming. It's cool. And we're Soldier City. These are things that should be in our bodies and our souls as veterans that serve our country. So I don't know if I can donate part of my thing, because I don't know if two council people can... Before you do that, let's... Okay. But it's quite an event. So I'll yield back, but I don't know the legal ramifications of two council people supporting one event. So let's go through our motions and then we'll go over there.

So I spoke earlier today with Deputy Mayor and explained to him that the current policy only allows one council member to provide the community empowerment grant. However, council is the judge of council, so council could this evening. I'm sorry?

It's their policy.

Yeah, it's your policy. So council could this evening say that you agree to modify in this situation and allow an additional grant to the event.

Yeah, and I think that, first of all, thank you all for what you do with that. Thank you. And everything at the VFW as well. And I know Councilmember Fletcher, at the VFW, you spend a lot of time with those folks. And, of course, you know I'm with the Museum of Military History. I'm with the veterans all the time as well. And we've got the great Soldier City. We've got the Veterans Council. We've got, you know, everything we've been doing. And I think that was an amazing experience. Choice to for a council member Fletcher to allocate that $1,500 towards an amazing event The other fees though, I think I don't think it should just come out of another council members allotment I think that we as a council can go ahead and do that Correct and waive those the the permit the application fee and the permit fee That's got you said the event trailer with the tables and chairs the tent now the one thing It includes staff. What's the staff cost on that, Scott?

I believe Stephanie may still be here who could give the actual cost for the staff.

And I see full day of AV, so is that Jay? Yes, sir.

Okay.

Stephanie Holkamp, Parks and Recreation. Hi, Chastity. And there's actually, the staff cost is included in when we drop the trailer off in the tent. We do have two cemetery employees that work on Saturday at the cemetery, so they're already there. Okay.

All right. I'm fine. On my side, just waiving those, the $1,070 for this event. I think it's... You know, they're not out there throwing a big party or they're not doing, there's no money exchanging hands. They're going in and honoring these veterans and that's what we're all about here in our community, so.

City Manager.

So I think it was clear that there was consensus. I just want to clarify further, you specifically used the dollar value that we estimated. So I just wanted clarification. Are we waiving the fees or only the specific amount?

So you haven't had the DRC meeting yet? Correct.

Correct.

Is this a pretty good...

It's safe. It's a safe number. If it ends up being...

Anything up to $1,500 of our permit fees, event fees.

One of the things I did speak to Chaski about and the organization is obviously we've been going through these different fees. And that's really going to change here, you know, with next year's budget. So, you know, I don't want to get in the situation where we're like keep waiving fees, waiving fees, right? So they're going to make adjustments to their stuff so that they have the fundraising efforts. And then I also mentioned to her to work with the St. Cloud Veterans Council to push, you know, the event for next year. And then they'll have the resources of everybody coming together so that it's a lot smoother.

um next year for them because it is a lot of work for chastity we have a meeting one o'clock tomorrow if you'd like to come and talk about priests across america i think i could make it i'll take my lunch break i work remotely awesome thank you yeah we have it actually it's once a month and it's the day after council meeting we have is it here second floor building department conference room okay one o'clock

Yep, absolutely.

They would all love to hear about it. And you've got the president of the hospital, Brian Wetzel, is on that. We've got someone from Representative Stark's office, Senator Arrington's office. So it's a great group of folks in that room.

No, that's awesome because I don't think a lot of people in our community know. They come out to the cemetery for, and I apologize for speaking out of turn or anything, but we don't get a lot of sponsorships, and a lot of people come to the event, but I don't think people actually understand that we need sponsorships in order to get these wreaths. They're not given to us for free.

Yeah. Last year we've, we had it on our calendar of the year before we didn't even know. And that's where, and that's my fault. And we saw it, we got, you know, of course, you know, people said things, I'm like, well, I didn't even know what was happening.

No, that that's my fault. I've been trying to like, kind of get, get it out there more and everything. So I've had a lot of people helping me and just give me advice and things like that. I've, I've only been the location coordinator for five years. You know, it started in 2011, so I've only been doing it for five years. So I'm starting to get it going a lot more.

Yeah, and I know Daryl and Charlotte Bass, they're involved in that as well with the American Legion. Yeah, not as much anymore. Oh, really? They're not? Okay. I saw them the other day at lunch over at the Legion. Council Member Paul.

I just asked if we can have Council Member Fletcher fill out the form like we did with the other ones just so it's documented. Thank you.

Just for his, right?

Well, for the fees.

Oh, even for the waiver of the fee? I think city manager can... Is this not coming out of ours?

Okay.

It's a council collective thing. Okay. Right? Is that... There's not another form that...

Ms. Paul requested I create a form when council wanted to waive fees for special events. So far, only Ms. Paul has been using the form, so I think she was trying to encourage other council members to complete the form. I didn't know the form was there, so I'm sorry. But can I get- We're still learning this. Can I get head nods on the 1,500 amount? I don't think it's going to be that much.

That's the max, but that puts it. Okay, thank you. I got consensus on that. There's plenty of breathing room there to make the event happen. Thank you very much. Absolutely, yeah. Anything we can do, obviously, we'd love to see you tomorrow with the Veterans Council.

No, I will try my best to go. I don't think I have any meetings, so I think I'll be good to go for lunch.

In everything you've been seeing in Veterans Park, Obviously, the city, they put up the money. They just painted the band shell, if y'all saw that. There was an Eagle Scout that came out and refurbished the cannons. Needs new tires still. We're out there every other week. If the VFW would love to set up out there, we'd love to have y'all.

Can we just go and just bring a table and set up?

Absolutely, yeah. Okay. It's free for veteran organizations. Okay. That's the whole idea is to get veteran resources out there and have a community day. Okay. I had no idea. Thank you. Food items. Council Member Urban.

One of the things just that the tent set up kind of reminded me is, you know, we have this is an amazing event. And we also have, I think, one of the best Memorial Day events in the entire state of Florida. Every year they got to set up that tent and everything. One thing I think this council should consider in the future, and I know with legislation coming up, we might not have the financial ability to do this, but to do a permanent shade structure there at the cemetery. for these amazing events I think would be helpful and would help encourage more people to come to these events and have shade and everything. So something to consider.

I agree. The tent out there sometimes is too short or too small for everybody to gather under during Memorial Day. It's a hot day, Memorial Day. Thank you all very much for bringing this forward. Thank you. I appreciate it. What is the date of Wreaths Across America? December 19th, Saturday. Thank you very much.

And if anybody wants to volunteer, we're flagging the weekend before.

Absolutely. Yep. And please ask for volunteers tomorrow from the Veterans Council.

I will. Thank you.

Awesome. Thank you. All right. Anyone else in the audience like to address the council during Citizens Forum? Okay. We are moving on to public hearings. Will the clerk please read public hearing number one?

First, the two public hearings for resolution number 2026-061 are a resolution of the City Council of City of St. Cloud, Florida, establishing a final ad valorem tax millage for the City of St. Cloud for the fiscal year 2026-2027, the same being adopted prior to the adoption of the final budget for said period.

Good evening, Jeff Cooper, Finance Director. This is the first of two public hearings for the final ad valorem tax millage, as well as the budget. As per Florida Statute 200.065, two public hearings are required in order to adopt a final ad valorem tax millage of 5.1128. which is 3.45% above the rollback rate of 4.9423. And as a reminder, the rollback rate is the rate that would generate the same tax dollars assessed as the previous tax year, not including new construction So some key takeaways, one mill equals $1 in tax per $1,000 of assessed taxable value. And property taxes are calculated by multiplying the assessed taxable property value by the millage rate and dividing by 1,000. So as an example, so first let me point out this is the 14th consecutive year that we've kept our millage rate the same, 5.1128. So as an example of about the average taxable value in the City of St. Cloud, 250,000. Their City of St. Cloud ad valorem taxes would be $1,278.20. And of course that's not your, entire tax bill as the county charges a millage rate of six point seven zero zero zero and then you've got the school board and your non ad valorem taxes on top of that so here's the general fund budget highlights of which ad valorem property taxes fund 48 new firefighter positions through a safer grant that's Staffing for adequate fire and emergency response for $5.15 million, 65% of that is funded through a federal grant. The public safety union contracts, that's police and fire. Pay and benefit increases basically to keep us competitive with the county and the city of Kissimmee. for all other staff outside of the public safety unions it's a 1% market adjustment and a 2% pay adjustment eight hundred ten thousand and there's seven new positions five of those being public safety and two legal and that's seven hundred thirty five thousand Here are the general fund new positions, and that is for communications operators. So as we open new fire stations, we need new communications operators to support those fire stations and the associated responses. Fire captain of training, we have 48. New staff are soon to be 48, still in the process of hiring those, so they need to be trained. And city attorney as well as a legal assistant. Staff recommendation is approval of resolution 2026-061R, and we're requesting city council approval of 2026-061R.

All right. Thank you, Coop. Anyone in the audience like to speak on this item? And City Council? Motion to approve. Motion to approve. Council Member Urban? Second. Second. Council Member Fletcher? Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Paul? Aye. Council Member Urban?

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Gilbert? Aye. Council Member Fletcher? Aye. Mayor Robertson? Aye. Motion carries 5-0.

That brings us to the final fiscal year, 2026, 2027 budget resolution. Uh, as per Florida statute one 66.2 for one, the city is required to adopt a budget each fiscal year by ordinance or resolution. The amount available from taxation.

Let me have Ivy read this into the record for discussion. That's all right. I'm on a roll.

I'm in budget mind.

Sorry. You're already going to number two. Please read out number two.

First, the two public hearings for resolution number 2026-062 are a resolution of the City Council of the City of St. Cloud, Florida, establishing a final budget for the City of St. Cloud for fiscal year 2026-2027. The same be adopted following the adoption of the final millage rate for said period.

Okay.

Do we have anything to say on that?

No. So the amount available from taxation and other sources, including balances brought forward from prior fiscal years, which for the general fund will be zero. We'll get to that momentarily. Must equal the total appropriation for expenditures and reserves. In other words, the adopted budget must balance. So the total citywide budget increase of 7.7%, that is all funds, compared to the current fiscal year, original budget, the majority of which pertains to the aforementioned 48 new firefighters, and to two significant road projects that are funded with mobility impact fees, and that being the LaSalle Avenue Extension and Massachusetts Avenue Extension. And except for fire, legal, and finance, boo, all general fund operating budgets decreased from the current fiscal year original budget for a total decrease, operational budgets now, of 9.6%. And here's a breakdown of those. So you see all the red, those are the good ones. And the few black are the ones that increased slightly. I want to point out fire did increase, but not very much considering they added 48 new staff positions. Legal, of course, is getting new positions, so they require training and so forth, so that makes sense. And the finance excuse is we're going to have a new auditor contract, could be the same auditor, but a new contract, so our costs are likely to go up, and it wasn't very much. But we were unable to do a decrease because we were already lean and mean.

I think Coop added dinners.

In my opinion. So how did we do this? So we designated seven non-public safety positions to be held vacant for salary savings, so we don't normally do that. One of those positions was finance, so we're doing our part. Only approved five new public safety positions and two new legal department positions, so other positions were requested, but in order to get us off of using prior year fund balance, which we'll get to momentarily, we didn't fund any other positions. We reduced advertising and promotional items. We reduced travel and training. We reduced our tuition reimbursement and sponsorship programs. We reduced chamber and other memberships. We reduced community grants. We eliminated food for council meetings. So next year, eat before you come, I guess. Workshops and other city events. And we utilized this year's budget to purchase some needed capital items so we didn't have to fund it for the upcoming year. So here's the cool one. So for the last 31 years, the city of St. Cloud has relied on prior year fund balance to balance its budget. Prior year fund balance for the citizens, I would equate it to your savings account. So the city has been using its savings account to balance its budget, so actual revenues and actual expenditures have never been equal for 31 years. This year they are. This was a stated city manager goal from when she took over the job. We intended to pare it down over the next couple, two or three years. Last year was 4.8 million, so initially we were gonna go to 3.8 million and pare it down from there. However, with the possibility of property tax reform looming, she made the decision, along with you, to not utilize prior year fund balance to balance this year's budget.

Rip off the Band-Aid.

So what you're saying, Coop, is for the first time in 31 years, we're operating within our means.

That is correct.

Now I understand.

And that's going to be particularly important if property tax reform passes because we're going to potentially lose significant amounts of money. Okay, here's a recap of the fiscal year budget, $231.3 million. Lord, I'm gonna have to see my notes. My eyes are fading, sorry. So the general fund is 41% of that, or 94.5 million. The special revenue funds are a significant portion, also 59.7 million. That's like the gas tax fund, utility tax fund, the 1% surcharge fund, community development block fund, mobility impact fees and so forth. And then the capital projects fund is self-explanatory, the debt service fund is self-explanatory. Enterprise funds for us, that's sanitation, storm water, and the building fund are our enterprise funds. Internal service funds, the light blue slice, that is our, we're self-insured for medical as well as workman's comp. And the other internal service fund is the motor pool. And if there's any questions as we go through this, feel free to stop me. General fund revenue breakdown, and this is noteworthy, ad valorem is 36.4%. That is 39% of the entire general fund revenue, by far our largest funding source. After that, we have intergovernmental revenues. Those are like grants and sales tax. And then we also have the other financing sources. Those are transfers from the other funds, such as the OUC Interlocal Fund. That's our second largest funding source. Toho Water Interlocal, utility tax, as well as 5% of impact fees are also transferred to the general fund. And then there's some miscellaneous ones. The charges for services, the orange slice, those are like the parks and rec fees, the ambulance transport charges. General fund expenditures, this is also noteworthy. As you can see, put the police in blue and the fire in red, they account for $53.2 million of our $94.5 million, or 58%. They are an ever-growing portion of our budget. Due to the fact that we're growing, 48 new firefighters, we're adding four communications operators. So in future years, this will be well above 60%.

Coop, I have a question. So with police and fire, you said it's 54 million?

53.2 million and 58%.

And what do we generate in ad valorem tax now?

For this year, it's $36.4 million. So that's a good note. So we are barely covering our police and not even coming close to covering our fire at this time.

Okay.

So our public revenue at this moment is $36.4 million.

And obviously, I've known those numbers. But I think it's important for you to say that out loud. I think everybody needs to know that.

That is important. Now, all communities are different. So we may not be the same as someone else. So when they say, like, oh, you're only going to be able to spend ad valorem on public safety, okay, we're not even covering our costs.

And I believe in this budget we're already trimming down five new police officers that we were wanting to hire. So we're already kind of behind where we want to be without Amendment 3.

Correct. We've been catching up on public safety. I'm going to jump in. Since I became city manager, we have been catching up on the number of public safety positions. When I took over, we were using more prior year fund balance and we didn't have enough public safety. We had a fire squad truck on its way, but we didn't have the funds to even pay for the employees for their salaries to be on that truck. We have been putting everything towards public safety for the past few years, trying to catch up to be at the numbers where we should be for our population. We still had work to do to get there.

And Coop, can I pause you for a second? We have Council Member Fletcher and Deputy Mayor Gilbert that have some words here.

I just wanted to say, Coop, thank you, and thank you to every department director, the leadership of the city manager, and the the council's direction to basically put forward um the leanest budget i think that the at least since my time on council forward possible you know not using the prior year fund balance is an extreme effort i think it will affect every single employee in the organization every single department will be doing their part to save the taxpayers' and citizens' money. And I think everybody in the community, in the city, this council, directors, staff, should be proud of the budget that has been put forward, considering the things that are coming down the pipe from the state. So thank you to each and every one of you.

Yes, sir. Deputy Mayor Gilbert.

Just a few questions. Self-insured, when you talk about workman's comp, is there a cap on that, or is that because I don't want to go into it, but we're self-insured at one of my companies, but it's up to a certain cap, and then insurance companies take over after that. Is that where we're at, or are we 100% fully self-insured?

There's a stop-loss policy, but a human resource is just in here. If he might want to come up, I'm not a workman's comp expert. Okay. if you want more information. We do have a policy.

Usually there's a cap on those kind of insurance policies, self-insured until X, Y, Z, for hazards and emergencies and things such as that. So I just want to be clear. We still do have to pay insurance, but it's such a lower event because it's kind of like a deductible, you know, a million or $2 million deductible before we go into that insurance policy, which lowers that insurance policy by quite some bit. I just want any clarification on that, if I will. And thank you very much. What percentage of prior fund balance do we need to keep versus the Florida law? I know there's a law we have to have so much money for emergencies, catastrophes, or things such as that in the fund balance. Is that correct or not?

Well, our own city code requires that you keep 12.5% of the prior year expenditures as a minimum fund balance. That equates to somewhere around $10 million right now. Of course, that increases every year as expenditures grow. And the Government Finance Officers Association recommends 16.67%, which is two months worth of operating expenditures. And that's just short of $13 million now. Okay. And at present, we're projecting our unassigned general fund fund balance to be approximately $17 million. So it sounds like a lot, but it's really not, because we have those minimum fund balances to continue.

Yeah, you still have to run a city through catastrophes or things like that. the folks here have been through that. You talked about 9-11. There's some folks that weren't even born 25 years ago, but this is something that we all know through COVID and things like that, that we have to keep a balance to keep the city operating for that. So thank you for those clarifications. I understand the police and fire are 53 to 50. I don't know how many times I tell everybody, you know, for our population, we're the safest city in the state of Florida. And for me, that's a great place to live. If you feel safe, work, play, and have fun, that's awesome. We'll talk about it later, but there's some... This is a whole separate area, but sometimes the tail's wagging the dog with flocks and safety cameras and stuff like that, but we'll talk about that later, which is also putting a burden on our safety when these cameras are taken away because of... one or two lawyers that say that we shouldn't have them out there. I know it saves a lot of people. People with Alzheimer's, we can find them. There's people that we can find them through these cameras. So safety, I think, is the number one thing that I'm sitting here on council for. I support 100%. And we're taking some of the tools away from our safety Areas with with police and fire, but that's that's another story. I'm gonna yield back to you mayor Those are just questions. I had how you keep costs down and how you do keep costs down or technology in some a Few that the tail wagging a dog are trying to take some of our safety issues down But I'll yield back to you that's a whole nother story about budget, but thanks So we're at 17% and it's twelve point six percent through Florida law for our fund balance

We're projecting to be at 17 million, which will put us somewhere in the neighborhood of 20, 21%. So we're, in addition to reducing the use of fund balance, we've endeavored to increase Our unassigned fund balance as well, you know to get To more 20 to 25 percent, which is where we're at right now, and I'm gonna echo Councilman Fletcher's yeah Comments you guys do a great job.

I'm gonna yield back to you mayor. Those are just questions you have Running a city that those are things we need to know what costs are and how much it cost to run a city So, thank you very much Cooper. I'm gonna yield back to you mayor. Thank you.

All right city manager

I just wanted to further answer your question about the stop loss. It was actually on our consent agenda this evening. So the deductible for every claim is $225,000. So we pay $225,000 before the stop loss insurance takes over.

All right. Coop, you can continue. I'm sure we'll have more questions and comments.

That's fine. I actually enjoy this.

I don't know.

So far, so good. This is my seventh go-around, so I'm used to it by now. This is your FY26-27 capital projects, which includes the LaSalle Avenue extension previously mentioned, $7.75 million. That is funded with mobility impact fees. The Massachusetts Avenue extension, $4,020,000, also mobility impact fees. the downtown development project, $1.3 million of community redevelopment agency fund. And I'm proud to say, thanks to you all and city manager and a lot of forethought, we're going to be accomplishing that project without the use of debt. Cooper hates debt. In most cases. We have our master plan paving project. That's the annual project that we do our paving projects out of. That's a million dollars of the gas tax fund. And then we have new enterprise resource planning system. That's the new finance HR procurement tool that we're putting another one million dollars towards that. That's the 1% surcharge fund. And then we have our paving project, which is funded with franchise fees collected in the previous year, and that is $471,343. So then we have our strategic key focus areas. So we have four of those, and the projects that fall under diverse and magnetic economic development is the Downtown Development Project and Centennial Park Improvements. Under effective community safety, and you can clearly see that that is a focus of the city, the five new positions, four communications operators and one fire captain training. Construction of the public safety complex, which was funded in last fiscal year, 24-25. Construction of Fire Station 35, also funded in 24-25, as well as Fire Station 22. They keep changing the numbers on me, so hopefully I got those right. Purchase of a replacement fire engine, purchase of a replacement ambulance, and replacement of 16 public safety vehicles. key focus area of high-performing government-funded projects, incorporation of the new police department union contract, the citywide 1% market adjustment and 2% pay adjustment, the enterprise resource management planning project, and a citywide watershed master plan, which is actually on this agenda. I believe it was funded in this fiscal year. And finally, effective transportation network funded projects, Creekwood Drive Extension, that was funded in 24-25. So these are just, this is additional funding like this year. 17th Street Extension, the initial design funded in 23-24. Rummel Road Roundabout funded this fiscal year. Master Plan Paving and additional paving franchise fee funding. And before I get to our neat little QR code, thank you, Mary Emma, I want to pass along my thanks to the directors, you as city council, the city manager, the deputy city manager. So for the citizens, we had our budget basically done the first part of June. And then the prospect of property tax reform came and, again, about gave me a heart attack and we have to start over. So we've gone through several iterations of this. We've literally gone through this with a fine-tooth comb. All the directors, their staff, I get to be up here and be the spokesperson, but truly all the work is the ones that are still here. So I want to thank them and you all. You were in several workshops to discuss this issue, so this was the most challenging budget in the seven years that I've been here. However, I also feel like it was the most rewarding because where we stand right now is the most efficient budget, like, in my seven years. So anyway, so the staff recommendation is approval of Resolution 2026-062R. City Council requested action is also approval of 2026-062R. And the QR code was... We'll take you to the draft budget, so if you want additional details, like also I'm going to go back to my office and get some cards that I'll leave out. So if you want to take a card and you have questions, I'm always open to talk to citizens. I'm always talking to them about their property tax bills anyway, but anything about our budget, just I'm there to answer any questions.

He even talked to a reporter one time.

Yeah, she never did come back.

I've been waiting. Yeah, city manager.

Thank you. I just want to thank Coop and the city council because this was a team effort from everyone. We could have waited until November to see what happens, but you all were willing to work with me to do what we could this year. So I appreciate that. It was painful. And our employees... Coop showed a lot of places where we cut. They cut so much more than that. Those were just the easy things to categorize. But there was lots of individual cuts within each department, division. And so I just want to thank everybody for such a hard work. And this next year is going to be pretty hard on staff. They're going to be doing the same work, if not more, due to our growing population. without a lot of the resources that they currently have helping them. So, you know, everybody, please be nice to our staff next year. Well, every day. Thank you.

Mr. Member?

Yeah, Coop said he enjoys this stuff. When I'm having trouble sleeping at night, I'll just turn on our budget hearings and replay them on YouTube just to fall asleep.

Oh, believe me, November 3rd is going to be sleepless for me.

Well, I just, I truly wanted to say I really appreciate what our city manager, finance director, and every single department has done to make this. This is my fifth time going through this budget process, and what the general public doesn't understand is all of the work that goes into every single department and every staff member at this city to put this together, and this has definitely been the most challenging budget year that I have had to deal with, and I'm sure there's a lot of challenges ahead, but I encourage all the residents to go through our budget, look at this QR code, take a look at how our city runs, because I think we're a very efficient city, and we run very conservatively financially, so I just really appreciate everything that our finance staff and city manager has done to make that happen. Thank you.

Deputy Mayor.

Thank you, Councilman Urban. Going through budgets is my life, and it's not pretty, it's not fun, it's difficult. I don't want to be lying to this, but I do know that there are services that we will not be able to provide after November 3rd if this amendment goes through. I don't want to press the panic button. I don't want to do that. But we have to realize as human beings that some of the services we have provided is because we've been able to provide them. And cuts are just that. And we were just talking about the police budget and cutting those officers, well, that's real stuff. And fire, that's real stuff. That's stuff that, you know, you can look at a spreadsheet, but when you need them, that's real stuff. That takes care of parks and rec, cutting the grass. I mean, that's real stuff coming up. I mean, but you guys did a great job. And a lot of businesses are cyclical. That may have a good year and a down year. but we're planning, and people say, well, if you make so much money, why aren't you doing this or that? You could do it. You're cutting the budget. Why haven't it been that way always? Well, we're cutting services, too, and we're cutting employees also. It's a reality check. It just is, and it's okay. I'm willing to stand up here and take it on my shoulders, and I think the council is also, but these are reality checks that we're going to see November 3rd if Amendment 3 goes through. It's just, it is, and I'm not here to be lightest. It's not going to rain every day, but Florida probably does. But we have to look at that as a community, as a city of St. Cloud. There will be services that we provide that the public is used to that are no longer be that in a timely fashion or some things that we'll just, we take for granted as citizens that we can't provide any longer. Tough thing. I agree with council member urban. Uh, we're, we're going at it. And, and, and one thing I will tell you, I'm not a news guy. I'm not a Facebook guy. I'm not all that, but we were, we were so proactive in our budgets. I'm looking at the news on, on channel seven or whatever, nine, whatever it is. And they said, well, council's media can't take credit for it. And maybe some of the other council that you guys, you guys started when you heard this coming up, you that you guys, Oh yeah. City manager, city attorney, you, police chief, all your directors, but if you look at the, oh, council had this uncut. You look at Winter Park or any other, and I'm not specifying Winter Park, but we looked at this in June. So your proactiveness has really helped the City of St. Cloud adjust to these budget cuts. But I don't want to be a down guy, but there will be services that we're used to as citizens that will maybe take a little longer or not quite be there at time, even mowing the lawns at every park. I mean, those kind of things. So I appreciate what you do. I've ate Beanie Weenies, and I've ate steaks. So we're at Beanie Weenies right now. That's fine. We'll get through it. Thank you and your staff and all the directors and everybody for doing this. It's not easy. I yield back to you, Mayor, and budgets are not fun, but they're necessary, and I think the staff has done a great job. I yield back to you on this, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Coop.

Yes, sir. Scott. Thank you, Mayor. Sorry, Deputy City Manager. Thank you.

No, I just wanted to point out and make sure. everyone really understands the tremendous lift really that it was to eliminate the use of fund balance for 31 years and for the city manager's direction and the council support and the work of our staff to be able to get that done really is a tremendous effort and a tremendous accomplishment for the city council to be able to approve a budget and move forward with that. And it really shows the city's intent and the direction of the city to be very forward-thinking, to prepare the city to be in the best possible financial situation that we can be both now and in the future. I think that's really an important thing to point out. Another point I want to, you know, Coop and Maryam did a fabulous job with the QR code that's up there. You know, one of the other things that has been very important here in the city is transparency. and for everyone to see this. And sometimes, you know, the budgets and people talk about what's in there, what's not in there. You know, everything is out there and available for people to see. They can go on there. They can see the line items. This City Council has done a phenomenal job of, I think we've had five meetings now, Coop, where we've gone over. every single line item in the budget. That doesn't happen everywhere, and I think that that really shows the city's commitment to transparency and openness. I think that's something that's very, very important. And this was done, you know, Coop mentioned it, the city manager really pointed out that, you know, our city staff is what makes this a wonderful place to be, and they have a lot of pride in what they do and the level of service that we're able to provide. And even with this, and it's going to be difficult to keep that level of service, our employees really have that pride in the city, and that's really important, and you don't see that everywhere.

They need some plantings from the Dirty Fingernail Club to help keep up.

No, you all hit the nail on the head. It's the staff that deserves all the credit, city manager, department heads, even Doug, the police chief. He stands through every one of our meetings and puts up with us over here. It's strange to say, but we've got the easiest job in the building. I mean, we get called all the names in the book on social media, but it's the staff that does all the work. And they're the ones that are going to have to work twice as hard this year because we've made those steep cuts. And the city manager is going to ensure that we can still get through this next year, regardless of what happens in Amendment 3. We're prepared. We've got the most amazing police force, the most amazing fire department. We've got our staff top notch. What are we swearing? 13 new firefighters just last night. Um, and our chief has been preparing for this for four years now, ever since the day he got here. So he, right. You knew this day would come. Now, we really do have an amazing team here, every department, everyone else. So thank you very much, Coop. Thanks for putting up with us, because I know sometimes we question every single line item, and it drives you nuts. But folks, that's our job. Not at all. We work for every one of y'all, and we do our jobs. So when people say, oh, they're lining pockets, who the hell is lining a pocket around here? it's some of the oddest comments that come out there because we just sit up here and we just, all our job is to hold our government accountable for you. That's our job. We don't touch the books. We don't touch the money. We don't get to do that. Everything, every decision happens here. In broad view, everybody gets to see it. It's the staff that works behind the scenes and does all of the hard lifting, and they've done an amazing job this year, and that's why we have the confidence that they can pull through this next year, no matter what happens with Amendment 3. Thank you, Coop. Amazing job, you and your team, everybody.

And this will be advertised in the Orlando Sentinel. Our budget summary ad is required by Florida statute, so it'll be in Sunday's paper. So if you're interested, pick up Sunday's paper, and you will see our budget summary ad. Just saying.

And I was here when the CFO came to town, and he did say our cities are not a problem. We are actually doing a better job than others.

Yes, sir.

All right. Do we have to vote on this? I think we do. Anyone from the audience like to comment on everything that Coop had to say? Or on this agenda item number two? Motion to approve. We have a motion to approve. Council Member Fletcher. Second. Second. Deputy Mayor Gilbert. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Urban.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Gilbert. Aye. Council Member Fletcher.

Aye.

Council Member Paul. Aye. Mayor Robertson.

Aye.

Motion carries 5-0. All right.

We're going to take a five-minute break.

Thank you and see you next Thursday.

See you next Thursday again?

Being back to order. All right, now, and will the clerk please read item number four, public hearing.

Final public hearing for ordinance number 2026-27. An ordinance of the City Council of the City of St. Cloud, Florida, amending Chapter 3 performance and citing standards. Article 14, use regulation section 3.14.5, alcoholic beverage establishments, providing for conflicts of ability, administrative corrections, codification, publication, effective date.

Good evening, Council. Geoffrey Ball, Community Development Director. Tonight before you is the Alcohol Beverage Establishment Amendment for DRC case CDA 26-0004, resolution number 2026-27. On April 16, 2026, City Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance amending section 3.14.5, alcohol beverage establishments. On August 20, 2026, City Council directed staff to meet with business owners to discuss the proposed changes. On September 2nd, staff met with several restaurant and bar owners within the entertainment district. They are in support of the proposed changes as amended. The proposed amendment supports operational flexibility for local businesses, promotes economic activity and investment within the city and their entertainment district, and enhance the overall experience for the residents and visitors. So the proposed changes, and this would be citywide, this is section 3.145E, removes restrictions on restaurants having entertainment activities, and it removes pool tables, video games, a stage, live entertainment, illuminated or non-illuminated signs, advertising, alcoholic beverages, permits dancing, or which has live music or plays music at a level of above 70 decibels, measured six inches from the source. and shall not be considered a full service restaurant. Continuing on the proposed change, the dining area shall contain tables and chairs or booths of standard table height, counters and tables of cocktail height shall not be permitted. All tables shall meet or exceed minimal acceptable standards of 256 square inches of table space per patron. So this is being removed from the current ordinance. So the proposed changes as dictated here, section 3.145L adds the following language. Establishments in the entertainment district, the provisions of 3.145A through 3.145C and 3.145E Above shall not apply to establishments located within the entertainment district as established pursuant to section 3.13.3 provided. So these are the additional changes. So the establishment is in full compliance with the conditions and requirements of the alcohol license to sell alcoholic beverages issued by the state of Florida for the establishment. The establishment does not charge a cover charge at any time. The establishment does not contain illuminated or non-illuminated signs advertising alcoholic beverages visible outside of the establishment. And if the establishment is licensed as a full service restaurant by the state of Florida, it shall have direct access to a permanent kitchen facility to service food items other than prepared items. Establishments food service shall remain open and available to customers at all times. The establishment is open and there is some wordsmithing that's gone on. This is the latest draft being proposed. So staff recommendation is approval of ordinance 2026-27. Planning commission recommendation was approval and the requested action by city council is approval of ordinance 2026-27. So I do want to bring up during the meeting that city staff had with the local business owners, I wanted to talk about the mobile food dispensing vehicles that was brought up. This is not part of this ordinance change, but they wanted to bring this up to put this the direct staff to amend this section of the code. But during staff's meeting with the business owners, the owners requested the mobile food dispensing vehicles, food trucks, and an entertainment district with the following conditions. Must be fully enclosed area and contained within the property, must not be visible from a named street, and must be in conjunction with the existing businesses and entertainment district. And for businesses in the entertainment district not meeting the previous conditions, the city manager has authority to grant a temporary use of MFDV for a maximum of three months if an existing restaurant or bar is undergoing reservations and or active constructions. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Jeffrey, City Attorney.

I just wanted to point out there was a slight typo in the slide that Jeff showed when he was talking about the change proposed forward to Section 4. The slide left out the word internal when it says with regard to the thing. If you look at it real quick, go back, see where it reads. shall have direct access, it's actually direct internal access, which is an important distinction. So that's in the ordinance form, it was just incorrect on the slide.

Thank you. City Manager? Thank you.

I just also wanted to clarify that the recommendations about the food truck, that's not what you'll be voting on this evening when you make a motion. I will need direction from you on how you want me to proceed about that. Okay.

Anyone in the audience like to speak on this side? Okay, Council Member Fletcher.

The only thing that I wanted to say is, well, one, I appreciate staff working with the business owners. I know that we've spent a lot of time talking about this. I see folks here in the audience, well, at least one of them from our downtown establishments. At the last meeting, I was like, oh, man, we're continuing this again. I'm like, oh, my gosh, can we just, you know, get this across the finish line? But obviously the extension one more time did generate a bunch of discussion that I think has, we finally got it. I think we finally got it there. Unless anybody in the audience or council member has any other concerns that would like to be pointed out, I'm happy where we're at with this. Those are my comments.

Yeah. Deputy Mayor Gilbert.

Thank you, Mayor. I was at lunch the other day, and there was prominent business owners gathering together and talking about these ordinances that actually met. And to me, that's great, because these are our citizens, these are our business owners, these are our business operators that actually were meeting on this specific ordinance. I think some of the stuff was antiquated that was in here before, and I think we cleaned it up well. I just, it's so good when you see a community come together of business owners that have the same interest in working together for the best for the community. So I'd like to thank you and thank the other business owners for actually meeting and talking about this and coming back to us with something that they all could agree upon that makes it, because we, I don't know if you go there, but we box with my grandchildren every Friday at Pennsylvania Avenue 11, and then we go to downtown area. I saw you at the pizza establishment a few weeks ago, and I was out. And St. Cloud's booming. It's going well.

Council Member Fletcher, you.

Yeah, I've seen him. It's a really good place to go.

City Manager of Kissimmee. Kissimmee's there.

He comes there, and Brian from Orlando Health St. Cloud. But it's not just for adults. It's a whole establishment. I bring my grandchildren and children. It's a great environment to be in. But it really comes from the business owners and the citizens. So I just have to thank them again for getting together, helping us figure it out, and make St. Cloud you know, the best place to be, which I truly believe it is. I'm biased because I'm a citizen, but we're down in St. Cloud at least three out of four weeks, weekends, enjoying dinner with my grandchildren at average age from 3 to 16. So it's a great thing. I think we made the right moves, and I don't know what else to say about it, but I'm just so glad it did continue as Council Member Fletcher did because I think it's in the right place at the right time. I yield back to you, Mayor. Thank you.

Council Member Urban.

Yeah, I'll say exactly what the Deputy Mayor and Council Member Fletcher said. I'm glad that everybody worked together to make this happen. I look at government as our role as getting out of the way so businesses can succeed, and I think this helps do that. I just wanted to say that I would be in favor of those food truck provisions, but it's my understanding we got to bring that back at another meeting. But I would be in favor in looking at that, and I know that the downtown businesses are in favor of that as well.

Yeah, I think that's a bigger topic, obviously, for food trucks around our entire city as well. I just want to point out, I think this accomplishes everything that, that needs to be done to differentiate between a liquor license and a 51%, you know, the five, what is that?

I'm sorry.

The, uh, four COP SFR.

Is that what it's called?

Um, cause that's what the intent when a business owner comes to us and that's where sometimes we get put in the middle of a fight and we're the bad guy because we're trying to fix a problem that comes to us that, that has not been resolved for a number of years. And I'll, I'll be honest with you. It came right to me and I'm sure it went to others and And I stood up for somebody, and then they backed away. And then, you know, all of a sudden it's a fight, and everybody's pointing the fingers at us, and we're just here trying to fix a problem and make it fair for everybody. So I do want to thank the... the businesses downtown for getting together as a deputy mayor alluded to, and the city manager, I know she walked in on that and saw y'all out there, Jim, thank you for, uh, w we had a conversation at another pizza place, uh, a couple of weeks ago. And that's what I said. Look, I said, look, I'm not stuck on this 1159, but there has to be a solution. And if everybody would come together and come up with a solution, we can make this work. And I think this did it. So congratulations on that one, Jim, I do want to say though, if we can go back to that slide about the mobile, um, and I, and I think there's in the case of a restaurant wanting to do a renovation, I think we can go ahead and allow that now if they just need to temporarily use something, because we don't want them to wait on us, say it's months down the road, before we can come up with something, right?

Not necessarily, because if they bring in a food truck that they can use as a cooking facility, even if it's a mobile unit at all, the fire department's going to have to get involved and they're going to have to look at certain issues. You know, kitchens have grease traps, so there has to be all that accommodation.

I think what the mayor is asking is if I can grant the waiver that's being mentioned in the next slide.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. We can go ahead and throw that in. That's just a temporary, if somebody's under construction.

So yeah, I think you're right. Staff can move forward and grab a temporary permit as part of the as part of whatever permit they're doing.

Because that's an existing restaurant. They're just saying, is that something that's come up before where restaurants want to do...

It did come up specifically. Mr. Shrek, I'm not sure what your last name is. Jim? He had approached me a little while ago wanting to do a renovation of his kitchen, and no, it's not currently allowed. So if the council is supporting it, as long as it's clear in the minutes that you're okay with me granting that waiver, but I would like to... document that in the code in the future.

Yeah. And that's why I just want to bring that up because that's not a permanent thing.

This is just something that will be something that we have to, we have to re renovate the kitchen. The floor is, we're having trouble with the floor again. Um, so I was just asking like if I'm, instead of being closed down for a week, can I have the food truck out there out back to, you know, cook for us and for breeze of course.

Okay. Yeah. I mean, we include that in this code or how do we do this?

That would be direction. I need it to be in the next code. Not part of this. Not part of this. Okay. It would need to be direction to come back with that as a change.

Are you looking to renovate soon? It's probably after the first of the year.

Okay. Well, that way, if we don't have everything else worked out with the food truck stuff, then this is already scored away for a temporary. Yeah, then we can get an exception. Okay.

If we could, since there's a little bit of time on it, we can do a little bit of research, figure out if there's a way existing within the current codes related to the city for the city manager to administratively do that. It sounds like the council is in support of it. So, and if we have to, if we can't do that, then we'll figure out a way to codify it so it can be done quickly.

Ken wants to still eat there at fire within those three months. So, you know, if I do too.

So now that we're staying open late, I'm doing a late night menu, and I'm putting an item on there in honor of you because of the conversations we had about pizza. It's going to be called the Mayor's Flatbread Pizza. The Mayor's Flatbread Pizza.

Love it. Thank you, Jim. That's awesome, man. Congratulations to everybody working together.

I bet you're glad to get done with this as I am too.

And something I didn't know, actually, that restaurant that they stay open sometimes past 1 o'clock, the Crust and Crumb over there. Yes. That's an amazing pizza place. Yeah, they got good pizza. And a new pizza place too. Good pizza, good people. Great restaurants downtown. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

If you ever want to sponsor a council, I'm joking.

Attorney, I'm not. That's a joke. All right. Any other comments on this item? All right. Council? Motion to approve. Second. Motion approved. Council Member Fletcher. Second. Council Member Urban. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Deputy Mayor Gilbert?

Aye.

Council Member Fletcher? Aye. Council Member Paul? Aye. Council Member Urban? Aye. Mayor Robertson? Aye. Motion carries 5-0.

That was easy.

Mayor, can I ask for direction on the other part of the recommendation from the group that we met with, which was regarding food trucks in the entertainment district, the language that Mr. Ball

I would like to talk to businesses around the restaurants and get a better understanding. So, yeah, maybe give some time to... I don't want to just do piecemeal things, maybe make it part of a bigger... Because we may want to say there's... Write it in that code for special events with food trucks.

So if Council wants to give us direction, we can write that code and bring it back to you, and that's when you would have the opportunity to have the businesses.

Well, we don't know what it looks like yet. I mean, I can't give you input on that yet. I think we need to talk to the citizens or the business owners, the restaurants, and find that out.

So staff's on hold until you come back and tell us to do it?

I mean, I don't think that's a major thing right now, is it?

It was a pretty big deal.

Yeah, Jim, come on up.

It was a pretty big deal in the meeting. Yeah.

It was kind of a big deal in the meeting about the food truck. And it wasn't so we can have food trucks all up and down the streets. We were looking at being able to have a food truck that's within the business. You know exactly where I'm talking about to have a food truck there.

Is it just for one person? Is that where it's coming from?

Yeah, but it was kind of an agreement that... we would look into this to being able to let garage bar have a food truck in the back like it, like it always used to. There's really no logical reason it can't. It's enclosed.

That was to make him happy. Okay.

I understand it. It is. And also like there's another business that wanted to have a food truck. They have an enclosed back area. Um, none of us saw a problem with that as business owners.

Um, does that include, so any alleyway, What is enclosed? I mean, we're going to find a lot of the trucks backed into these. I mean, there's going to be a bunch of them, I think.

Well, so that's why we said that we could support it not being visible from a main road. So the first person request, can we say the business?

Is there an issue saying the business?

You already said it. okay garage bar garage bar he's already he's his back area is walled in so that's why we said enclosed um but then we also said not visible from a named street so that way he may have to screen it with some type of tall landscaping so that you can't see it from like new york because the point was for it to be ancillary to the primary use of an existing business his existing primary business is a is a bar and the ancillary use was going to be the food truck to support the people that were already, and yes, he might have a few people come in to choose the food truck, but the, I think the intent was that the people that were already at his establishment would be able to use the food truck. And the other, the other location that's interested, um, as I understand it is, um, the black squirrel. Um, and they would also have to find a way to screen it and enclose it.

Um, okay. Uh, deputy mayor.

Yeah, I, uh, thank you mayor. Uh, and thank you, uh, city manager. hard to describe this, but I've been to areas that food trucks have taken over and a hurt brick and mortar and just threw out picnic tables and games on and parties on and people would bring in alcohol by themselves and things like that. So I think this really needs a better look at it. An enclosed area, we mentioned the garage part, that makes sense. It's a walled-in cemented area. It's part of their infrastructure that they can do. It's not advertised outside that. I want to protect their brick and mortar. so they're not setting up food trucks. But there are some ideas, and this is, again, a gray area, Mayor and City Council, that there could be some temporary food trucks that want to move into brick and mortar that want their start. So, you know, we want to encourage businesses to come down here to do restaurants, but they could be temporary food trucks to... establish full-time brick-and-mortar restaurants. So I think it needs more than just one look at it, but I do agree with the garage bar being that there's a wall there and they could do that, but I really would like the council to consider. We don't want to become a food truck city. Not mentioning, but there's places on OBT that they just go in unpermitted and they get there at 10 or 11, and they're until 4 o'clock in the morning with hundreds of people playing music and eating, and it's not controllable for the police department in those areas. So I understand it, but I would like us to consider as council just what establishments and what needs to be done in a food truck or a temporary food truck. Renovations, of course. If you need to renovate, we don't want to stop your business. We don't want to have you lose any money as you're upgrading your business to provide to the citizens of St. Cloud a great experience, and even better if that kitchen would do that in expansion. But I just don't want to look at temporary folks come in here to take business away of our brick-and-mortar established businesses.

MR. We don't want that either.

CHAIRMAN BRYANT L. Okay. And I just wanted to put that on record, sir, and I don't know, but I just wanted to put that on record. A lot of things we have to put on record, so as we move forward, but I'd like to do this under a separate record. umbrella, if we could, city manager and attorney. So we have specific requirements for food trucks in the city of St. Cloud. I yield back to you, but those are things I've seen from the outside looking in at different establishments. Thank you, Mayor.

And that was my concern, and it's not that I'm opposed to that one particular one. Obviously, it's fully enclosed. It's been there before. I've eaten at that food truck when you had it there. It's not that I'm opposed to that. It's when we're talking about putting it into the code and leaving it so loose that we just need to look at it. Cause I can see with these alleys, let's just say somebody owns a whole block. You can stack about 12 of them in there and just, all you gotta do is shield the sides. And all of a sudden you got a whole row of them city manager.

So that's why it says it had to be in conjunction with an existing business, so that wasn't happening. And really, if you give staff direction...

If there's a business in there, then they can do it. I mean, what does that mean?

You're not just going to... I guess I see what you're saying.

How do you say one business can do it and one can't?

I can say within 24 hours, sell a real estate in one building and have a food truck. To be clear, what we're asking for is direction to come back with a proposed ordinance. We have food trucks already in our code. We have a conditional use process. We have amenities that we already require. when you're putting in a food truck. This was just the additional points that we were seeing within the entertainment district. But again, it would require two public hearings. It would be going to the Planning Commission meeting, DRC meeting. We're not just... approving anything tonight. I'm just looking for direction. Does council want to consider this? Staff can start working on something and bring it back. If you don't want to consider it, that's great. Just let us know.

Well, no, that's where we're talking out loud. That's where we're talking out loud.

I mean, if you want, so from my direction, I just need direction that is staff's on hold until you as council bring it up.

Let us keep talking about this, and we'll give you direction one way or the other. Council Member Fletcher, we still have lights lit on here.

Thank you, Mayor. I think we actually might be headed in a good direction with this based on the conversations that you guys had. I wasn't there. You know, I've heard some things and whatnot. So the CRA, I mean, this is obviously we can't talk about, I mean, the purview. This isn't under the purview of the CRA, but the alleyway improvement project that we put on hold through the CRA program because we basically funded the parking garage and whatnot. I would recommend that we would let staff go and create something, like give us a basis. And then how we normally do, we just rip it apart as soon as they give it to us. I apologize. But you're going to have setback requirements. You're going to have facade requirements. You're going to have fence requirements. You're going to have access requirements, fire department requirements. So there could be a potential to improve some of those alleyway areas through private investment on a limited basis. So like, I mean, I wouldn't see I mean, you do have to keep it from, like, all right, do you want every real estate office to have a food truck? I would say no. I mean, if you're already serving some type of food, have a liquor license, there's all kinds of different stuff. But I do think it would help with some of that, enhancing some of that alleyway to make it look better. So I would be in favor of staff taking a look at it and then bringing it back. I wouldn't say, oh, just wait for a sec. That's my thoughts. So you got it.

I think I saw two, oh, I saw three nods. Yeah, they are. Okay, so we are, we're going to bring you back a food truck ordinance. It will not look just like this, and we'll have opportunity for more discussion at that time. Thank you.

Thank you, Jim. Appreciate you guys. All right, we have not voted on this yet, right?

That's correct.

All right. Anyone else in the audience like to speak on this item?

Yeah, they did. I waited until after the vote. Oh, to talk about that? Yeah, I waited until after the vote.

Oh, let's talk about food made me hungry.

Yeah, but I'm here. All right, moving on. All right, will the clerk please read item number, are we at number five? Five. We left that one on, right?

Final public hearing for ordinance number 2026-35. An ordinance of the City Council of the City of St. Cloud, Florida, providing a zoning amendment, a zoning map, with a land development code of the City of St. Cloud, Florida, specifically changing the zoning designation of approximately plus minus 5.01 acres, identified as MG3 Old Canoe, LLC Project ZMA 26-00005 from R3 Multifamily to NB Neighborhood Business, generally located north of Nolte Road, east of Old Canoe Creek Road, south of King Oak Circle, west of Pine Chase Circle, providing for entering the designation of the official zoning map, funding the Planning Commission's recommendations, proof of publication, durability, and effect.

Good evening, Council. This project is MG3 Old Canuck LLC. This is DRC case ZMA 26-0005, Ordinance 2026-35. This is a zoning map amendment. The current future land use is commercial. The existing zoning is R3, which is a multifamily dwelling zoning district. The proposed zoning is neighborhood business. And B, development would be compatible with the surrounding area. There's no adverse impacts on city facilities. The approximate acreage of the property is 5.01 acres. Just a sample of the permitted uses allowed in neighborhood business, public, private schools, which if you're familiar with the area, there is one to the north of the property, artists and photographic studios, restaurants, barber and beauty shops, professional and government offices, convenience stores without gas pumps, and various general retail stores. Conditional uses that would require public hearing, would be adult daycare, childcare facilities, convenience stores with gasoline pumps, dance studios, gymnastics, residential uses, and utility buildings with facilities. So this is the future land use map of the property. It is designated as commercial. The current zoning is R3, which you can tell by the brown color. Staff recommendation is approval of ordinance 2026-35. Planning Commission recommendation was approval of ordinance 2026-35. Staff is requesting City Council approval of ordinance 2026-35. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Thank you, Jeff. Anyone in the audience like to speak on this item? The applicant?

Good evening, counsel. I'm Chris McNeil on behalf of the applicant, and I'm here to answer any questions.

I thought Steph did a great job explaining the case, and I'm just here to answer any questions you have. Appreciate it. Yes, sir. Anyone in the audience like to speak on this item? All right. I'd like to be the first to say that any time residential wants to change their use to commercial, I'm 100% in favor of that. So thank you for doing that. Obviously, that increased our tax base.

If I may, Mayor, can we have approval on 2026-35, a motion to approve it?

We have a motion to approve. Deputy Mayor Gilbert, second. Council Member Urban, will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Fletcher?

Aye.

Council Member Paul? Aye. Council Member Urban?

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Gilbert? Aye. Mayor Robertson?

Aye.

Motion carries 5-0.

Sir, thank you for staying here and watching our council meeting. I know that's exciting. You might have missed reach or something like that, but this is much more than that TV program.

Thank you, sir All right, well the court please read item number seven

Public hearing for resolution number 2026-097R, a resolution of the City Council of City of St. Cloud, Florida, granting conditional use for clairvoyant use in the highway business HB zoning districts on plus minus 1.69 acres, known as divine guidance. Project CNU 26-00002, located at 213th Street, Suite 8, allowing the applicant to provide palm and card reading services, as described in the body of this resolution.

Good evening, once again, Geoffrey Ball, Community Development Director. The application is conditional use for divine guidance, DRC case CNU 26-0002, resolution 2026-097R. This is a request of approval of a conditional use for a clairvoyant fortune teller. Staff is recommending approval with conditions. The applicant is requesting a conditional use approval for clairvoyant fortune teller services in the highway business zoning district. There are no structural changes to the site at this time. The applicant is to operate in an existing suite with an existing structure with limited client visitation on site. So this is the current land use designation as commercial. the current zoning district of Highway Business, just on the north side of 8th Street. So staff recommendation is approval with conditions. First condition of approval is the approval of the request of conditional use does not constitute approval of any on-site changes or improvements to the site. Changes to the site will require approval of a site development plan, and any additional approval is required by the Land Development Code. This approval is for clairvoyant services, divine guidance, and is only valid only while the initial certificate of use remains active. If the certificate of use expires or the business changes ownership, the new operator must apply for a conditional use permit to continue operating. Uh, this was heard at the, uh, August 18th planning commission with a recommendation of approval. Staff is requesting city council approval of resolution 2026-097R. Staff is available for any questions that you might have. Thank you.

Thank you, Jeffrey. Uh, would the applicant like to speak on this item? Yes, ma'am. Yeah, please. You gotta come to the microphone. Can we get your name and address for the record, please?

What?

Your name and address for the record, please.

Oh, Michelle Miller, 213th Street, St. Cloud.

Yes, ma'am.

I just wanted to explain that it's mostly online and phone. What I do, I counsel people. I do do the palmistry, and it's just basically counseling. But it's mostly phone. And I would like to have this as an opportunity to do my business here.

Okay. So you do have walk-in traffic? Is it advertised? Yes. As walk-in traffic?

Yes. I would be having some, maybe, could be four to eight people in a month would be coming in on average. Yeah.

Okay. All right. Anyone in the audience like to speak on this item? Any council comment from the applicant?

I would just like to ask for parking if there is going to be drive-up.

Yeah, is it in that building? Yes. There's only one building on that property, or is there a house, another structure?

There's one building.

It's only one building.

Okay. I know it's a big piece property there, larger than this. Okay. And there's ample parking for that one business?

I mean, there is parking out front. I've never seen all the parking full. Okay.

Okay. Still had to phone her then. Okay. What is the, the advertising look like? I mean, it's a conditional use.

So what is the, um, well, what I would be doing is Google.

No, I mean like on the, like on the windows, the doors.

Oh, I'll have a signage. What the city of St. Cloud allows me, um, to be outside the building. Just saying, you know, my business, it'll be name or yeah, it'll be my business name and, maybe what I do. I haven't figured that part fully out yet, but yeah. It'll be a sign outside the building up in the corner is what me and the owner were planning.

Okay. No, like neon lights? No. Okay. And that's kind of what we want to... I wouldn't say... We want to discourage that kind of signage, right?

The neon lights along the highway and... You can condition no electronic variable message boards. You could condition no neon lights...

Can I do a solar light? Like for nighttime? I don't know what that looks like.

Well, from a signage perspective and what you typically see in conditional use firms, there's two types of signage. There's backlit signage, which basically puts off more of an obtrusive, for lack of a better expression. And then there's a light, a sign that has a light, like a spotlight on it, like an overhang light that comes on it. So if you could condition this on not having a lighted sign at all, or you could limit it to a non-backlit light if you wanted to do that. What are the hours of operation?

I need a little idea. The hours would be Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Till 9 p.m. Yeah.

Yeah, and that's what I'm trying to not... I wouldn't like to see it like an entertainment area. Yeah. Of novelty entertainment. Yeah. I'm not saying that that's what that is. No, I understand.

You know what I'm... To bring a large crowd or congestion. No, I understand.

Yeah.

It doesn't usually. It's mostly... It does bring people, but they usually call in for phone services, like they'll get a reading or a session over the phone. Sometimes they'll call, but it's mostly by appointment, and I do do more phone. So I need the signage, though, and a business place in order to advertise on Google. Google won't allow me to advertise unless I have an office with signage. for this type of business.

Mayor, if I may. Yeah. So, any sign permit that, or any new sign that the applicant would like to construct would have to meet the land development code requirements for signage. Neon colors are not allowed per our current regulations. Okay. Deputy Mayor.

I would not discourage any business, but I would recommend if the council would consider front lighting only, not back. This way, the front lighting goes onto the facility itself versus projecting onto the streets or somewhere that. But that's what I would say. The front lighting, usually you'll have a marquee, and you'll have a spotlight spotting that light, directing it towards the facility itself. Backlighting usually projects onto the public venues. So it's on the building? Well, if you have it in the front yard and you have a, a spotlight hitting that it will go on to the building. If you have backlit, it goes on to the streets and the public facilities such as that. So that was the only thing I'd ask council to consider a front lighting that that's lit from the front and usually that's a spotlight or, or some kind of a solar lighting or whatever. Yeah. Just some front lighting backlighting is usually a backlit that, usually illuminates through a plexiglass or something like that that projects onto the public area. I'd like that lighting to be projected onto the facility itself. But 9 o'clock is a pretty good lighting area where that could be shut off at that time, not to disturb any of the other businesses around it. I would just suggest that if we are to put that in part of the approval process. Council, I know we don't get to talk much, but that's the difference between backlighting and frontlighting. I yield back to you, Mayor. Thank you.

All right.

Dan, is this the first of this type of business to come into the city? Have you seen this before? I think it's pretty interesting.

As far as I can remember, yes, sir.

Mayor, have you ever been to Talladega?

I have never. Talladega? What's that place?

Cassadega. Cassadega. I've never been. No, I haven't. I'm sorry. Have you? Some Dega. Yeah.

So if you do, some Dega.

No, I don't. There are people I know. Yeah.

So this is a conditional use permit, and you can impose reasonable conditions on it. So if a condition related to the signage is, as Deputy Mayor pointed, you would like it to be frontlit or at least not backlit, and if you'd like the lighting to be shut off at a particular time, you can include that in the condition, meaning the lighted sign.

Yeah, and mine, I like the idea of that, obviously. And you said it had, like, your business name, Divine...

Yes, Divine Guidance of the Art of Palmistry. Yeah, palm and card reading.

But no, like, pictures or anything, right? Because that's what I, it's the...

You don't want, well, I was, he may be able to put a logo, but if I'm, I would rather just the names of what you're doing.

And that's kind of, okay.

Cause I did want to put a logo, but right.

But okay. That's the, that's the, that's just my view on the condition where it's that you're, you're talking about changing the identity of that area when you start putting that type of stuff and that impacts your neighbors. And that's my concern is it's the, the neighbors. That's fine. But I do believe in a business being able to advertise.

Yeah.

Here's my business. Here's what I do.

Yes.

Good.

Yes, that's fine.

Is that... What are y'all's thoughts on this? This is a condition.

This is something... Yeah, you got to formulate it for us.

Yeah. We have to come up with the...

CHRIS RODGERS. GO AHEAD. COUNCILMEMBER FLEISCHER. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WE'RE VOTING ON, RIGHT? SO THE SIGN REGULATIONS, AND OBVIOUSLY I LOVE WORKING WITH EVERYBODY UP HERE, WHAT MAKES IT A DIFFERENT BUSINESS THAN ANOTHER BUSINESS, RIGHT?

BECAUSE IT'S A CONDITION.

WELL, IT'S A CONDITION. WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO IT. WE DO, RIGHT. SO MY THING IS, IT'S AN OFFICE THAT SOMEBODY GOES AND MEETS WITH SOMEBODY what makes it, like, I mean, we already have sign regulations in our code. I don't think, because I believe our sign regulations in our code are actually pretty strict for what we have. Years ago, the council really put some heavy restrictions on signage. I don't think what we have in the code would be necessarily, you know, devastating to that particular area with what we have, but those are my comments.

And that is really the shape and the type of sign. But it's the imagery. That was my concern, is the imagery can change an area, right? And that's what I was asking, what is that? Yes. Is there going to be a big old palm on the window?

I don't know. I've never been to one, so I don't know what.

Yeah, I understand what you're saying. It's a novelty entertainment thing, right? Yes, I got you. Is it entertainment? I don't know what the proper term is.

No, it is. Some people come for entertainment, but it's mainly just to counsel people, to advise them. I'm intuitive, but I use the angel cards and I use the palmistry to tell them what I'm picking up. But mainly it turns into a counseling session. I've been doing it for so many years.

And I'm not opposed to the business itself. What is that look?

For the sign? I should have brought some sketches.

Yeah, and that's really what the look is. It really starts changing the identity of an area when you start changing the outside. What you do inside, people won't know unless they go to get their palm read.

No, I understand. Let me see if I have. I might have something.

Ken may be your first customer. Okay.

There was images.

He's going to end up in Talladega. May I show you?

Hang on.

Sorry.

May I show you?

I don't know.

Hold on one second, ma'am. Before she tries to show you anything, we need to make sure we can get a copy of it. Okay. Because we have to keep it for the record. So email it? I don't know how you want to address this, if she wants to show you something on her phone, unless she wants to give you the phone.

Okay, this is like an image of... Well, I was going to show you some of the things we were going to think about doing, but I could remove the image if you don't agree. Like, just to give you an idea, or... Yeah, and I wish we had that included in our... I didn't have it. I should have. Yeah, go ahead.

Can you put it on the screen? Is that able?

That's what Dan's saying. Can I?

If she could email the images to somebody so we can get them, then that's good. I just want to make sure we do that before she shows it to you. Or at least we have a method to do that because the clerk has to get a copy of whatever she shows.

Okay.

Okay, so... Can you show her on that and you can email it?

She can email it after. She can email it to the clerk right now or after. I'm okay with after doing it.

Ma'am, can you also email that image to the city clerk?

Okay, can you...

And because it's a conditional use, that's where it, more information the better because that's the.