City Commission - Regular Meeting

I will call to order this regular meeting of the Steuart City Commission. Mary, would you call the role? Mayor Collins here. Vice Mayor Reid here. Commissioner Clark here. Commissioner Gio here. Commissioner Rich here. And we'll have our invocation.

Would you also lead us in the pledge afterward? Thank you so much for this opportunity today to present this invocation. Um I would like to if I can first give respects to Mayor Collins, Vice Mayor Reid, and commissioners. Uh Commissioner Clark, good to see you again. Uh I'm going to base my prayer on um just a simple idea. We know that uh it's been said there's power with numbers. Um I would probably challenge that thought and say there's power and unity. Um certainly we could have many numbers not have unity. The scriptures support this idea. In Matthew 18, it says that if two of you, there's your numbers, shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done of them. So, we have our numbers, but it's important that we also have our unity. And I have been in enough of these meetings and been uh had the privilege of doing the invocation to know there may be some in agreement and maybe some in disagreement today. Um, but I do think that if we start this meeting out touching just one simple idea, that is that we're all here for the betterment of our city and our families and our citizens that I believe we could accomplish a lot today. So, with that idea, if you could bow your head and let us pray today. Lord Jesus, we thank you for this opportunity to come, Lord, for the betterment of our city, Lord, and our citizens. We pray that you would bless this meeting as Lord God, we come in agreement with that

one idea. Lord, we're touching that in your name. We thank you Lord Jesus for this opportunity. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. If we can, I'll lead the pledge of allegiance. I'm going to make sure I don't get this wrong because that would be the worst thing I could possibly do. We'll help you out here. All right. If we can. I pledge allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You want to go ahead and do it now. You have the letter.

Want to speak to what you're doing? Yeah, true. Hi everyone, Commissioner Joy here and today we're having a change of the guard and Roz who's been a most spectacular interim city manager is leaving and returning to her head of the HR department. But before she goes, we just had a little something for her because we appreciated working with her and uh just wanted to say thank you from all of us. Thank you. Thank you, Ros. Thank you. There's a little label on it with appreciation from all of us. Thank you. And you can look at our names until you're tired and you can take the label off and throw it away.

This is lovely. Thank you all so much. And that's not all.

And then we we have a letter and I'll go ahead and read it on behalf of all of us. Dear Ros, this letter is presented in honor and recognition of your exceptional service and steadfast dedication to the city of Stewart during a critical period of transition. Your leadership as interim city manager has been marked by professionalism, integrity, and a clear commitment to the continued stability and progress of the organization. Your ability to guide the city with confidence, agility, and purpose has made a meaningful and lasting impact. In addition to these responsibilities, your continued excellence as human resources director and your service as interim finance director reflect a remarkable breath of expertise and an unwavering dedication to public service. Balancing these roles with such effectiveness is a testament to your work ethic for sure, adaptability, and commitment to excellence. Your contributions have not only ensured continuity in operations, but have also strengthened the foundation upon which the city will continue to grow and succeed. The positive influence of your proactive leadership during this time has not gone gone unnoticed and is deeply appreciated. With sincere gratitude and respect, we recognize your stellar performance and the significant difference you've made for the city of Stewart.

Oh my goodness gracious. Signed by all of us. Thank you so much. Wow.

Oh, I appreciate you.

Wow. Misty, would you That's what I get for getting you new chairs.

Oh, we all have to go. Let's go. Thank you so much. And that will segue us into our oath of office for our new city manager, Michael Girardino.

Testing. Testing. There you go. Raise your right hand. I state your name. Do solemnly swear. I, Michael Jardino. I do solemnly swear that I will support, honor, protect, and defend that I will support, honor, protect, and defend the Constitution and Government the Constitution and government of the United States and the State of Florida of the United States and the State of Florida. That I am duly qualified to hold office that I am duly qualified to hold office under the Constitution of the State of Florida. under the Constitution of the State of Florida. and under the charter of the city of Stewart.

and under the charter of the city of Stewart. And that I will well and faithfully perform And that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of city of city of Stewart, city manager. The duties of the city of Stewart, city manager. On which I am about to enter. So help me God. On which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Let's get down there and get a picture with you, too. Thank you. Another picture. Yes. One more. One more picture. Got to remember the That's right.

So we don't have to do it for a while. Congratulations, sir. for you.

May I get citiz? Okay.

All right. You're all set. Welcome aboard. All yours. Thank you. Wow. What a difference a day makes. Thank you all again so much. It was such a pleasure working with all of you. Same here, Ros. Thank you, Ros.

Does anybody have any comments for him? For him? No. Just making sure. Just making sure. Yeah. No. Okay. Moving on to presentations. U we have um this presentation is Darren doing that I'm going to be handling this presentation mayor we originally were going to have we were going to have uh Darren do it but due to certain circumstances thought it'd be best if I took over okay speaking that it has to do a lot with the legal stuff

so this started back in the fall of 2021 and I was not here so I do not have personal knowledge so I want to disclose that I'm relying on both my investigation and Ros Johnson's investigation and we had spoken to multiple people that were here at the time. I've spoken to former city manager Mr. Das. I've spoken to former commissioners, former police chief and I've also reviewed a bunch of records, documents and so forth and also discussed such with Roz and her findings and what she found in addition speaking with Darren our IT director. So, I wanted to disclose obviously I'm not the things I'm saying are not personal knowledge. I'm just giving a timeline of things that resulted from the investigation. So, I'm going to start in the fall of 2021. The city lost $125,9912 and it was over increments over a 12-day period of time. And so since this request for this presentation came up, I've been asked certain questions. I've seen questions and such questions include when did the city become aware of the missing money? Is the city still exposed? When was the city aware of the crime? Why did the city not tell the public? And did the city seek to return seek return of the money? So, let's start with when did the city become aware of the missing money and is the city still exposed? So, the fraud was perpetrated through the city's online bill payment software. A payment would be made to the city with un unknown account numbers and then the payment through staff would be cancelled through sta our city staff. and the time that it would take to post the payment, it takes 10 days to clear, but when we would uh cancel it, it would be more instantaneous and so we would lose

money. And so somehow this scheme was was found out by uh people out there and they took advantage not only of the city of Stewart but four other cities uh across the country that were also the victim of the same crime spree. In October of 2021, multiple transactions on multiple days occurred, so for about a 12-day period of time, uh, and like I said, it totaled a little under $126,000. But when these little transactions multiple each day, they they added up to that that amount of money. When when they were these small amount of transactions were being realized, finance uh staff at the time were trying to ask other staff members of the city. They were trying to investigate to see how this money was missing. It took them about 12 days to figure it out. They eventually were talking to our third party vendor that was the software uh vendor for the payment software, but apparently on 12 on the 12th or 13th day, we were able to figure out and stop stop the issue. However, at that point in time, they still weren't aware there was a crime. From that point on, for several months, the finance department and our third party vendor were arguing back and forth. So, what caused how did this happen? And you know what finance director would email and then maybe seven to 10 days we'd get a response and then vice versa. So for a few months that went on back and forth and then I it's my impression that the budget came around in springtime and with the finance department they focused on the budget at that time and this issue with the the missing money was put on the back burner for a while and then on May see here I want to make sure I got my dates times so forth here.

So when did the city first become aware of a crime? So May 16th, 2022. So we were talking about seven months later, a sheriff's deputy from Fyet County, Georgia contacted the city to alert that city might have been the victim of a fraud that he was investigating. And apparently the county fet county got hit by the same fraudulent scheme. And so they let they alerted us on May 17th. the finance director notified the Steuart Police Department who then they opened up its own investigation uh in collaboration with the Fiat County Sheriff's Office. Very next day on May 18th, 2022, the city manager David Das was notified. So that was the first time they were aware of a crime. And then with the investigation started with with the alert from the sheriff's deputy and also the city of Stewart police department, they were told not to talk about it because there was an ongoing criminal investigation. They didn't want to let the bad people that were doing this be alert that we were now investigating them. So, it took until about December of 2022, so another seven months, that I saw a report online that they finally said that they were announcing that they had arrested 60 individuals that were doing this to not only the city of Stewart, but the other four local governments and that they were being indicted and they were arrested and criminal in the criminal charges were then ongoing. At that point, however, the city the city of Stewart police department didn't close its investigation until 2024. So, why did the city not tell the public? So, first during that period of time that there was a criminal investigation, they were told by both the police officer in the uh Steuart Police Department and also the sheriff's deputy not to uh publicly announce this

so that they can continue to investigate it. After dis after October 12th, 2021, the perpetrators of the crime were still trying to commit the crime against the city, but we we had stopped it at that time. So there were multiple other times and I think I saw somewhere where if they had continued to do it, we would have lost well over a half a million dollars and I think one of the other cities or counties lost well over a million dollars according to this fraud. So on the grand scheme of things, we did not get hit as bad as they did. So first off, the the police told city staff not to go public on the matter. Um, in speaking to the former staff members and commissioners, um, they were alerted on a private basis, but just not publicly. The finance director continued to communicate with the software vendor, basically debating who was at fault and how this happened. And then eventually the software vendor retained a lawyer who sent a a cease and desist letter for the finance director to stop talking about it. and and I believe that was another reason as to why they didn't go public at that time because there was a threat of a lawsuit. And then the last question, did the city seek return of the money? So, in my discussions with the folks involved, it was concluded that it was going to be very highly doubtful that any uh return of the money would come from the criminal restitution part. There were, like I said, there were four other local governments that got hit significantly larger amounts of money. And in looking at the criminals that were doing it, they were obviously going to jail. And I I saw accusations that they it was a lot of addicted to drug folks that probably spent the money versus they didn't have it's not like you would a lot of times we do forfeite cases against uh drug drug dealers and stuff that actually invest their money in properties and vehicles. that was apparently that was

not the the situation here. So then we went and looked at whether or not we could make a claim under our insurance policy. Now prior to this date we had made cyber it's called cyber liability coverage and every year we have to renew the policy or we bid it out and get a new policy with a different carrier. And apparently we had had a prior claim under the cy cyber liability coverage and our our deductible was significantly increased as a result of that. uh prior claim. I and I would be assuming that we did that because our insurance rates went up. So, a lot of times, just like on your regular personal insurance, a way of reducing the premiums is increasing the deductible. So, at the time that this loss happened, our deductible was $100,000. So, if we made a claim for $125,000, the most we would get is $25,000. And I I know I've heard questions, well, why didn't we still to go forward with it? They they had our staff had communications with our insurance administrator with relation insurance and they had recommended against it. If we had another claim, we could be potentially um cancelled with our policy that we had. And then we also would then have to the next year when we're trying to seek new coverage, we would also have to disclose that now we have another claim and this one was much higher. and they they had made the decision at the time that it would cost us more in the long run if we make a claim than this just to eat it and not make the claim. So those like I said those are the questions that I have seen and that's the results of what I had concluded. I'm happy to try and answer any further questions that you guys might have on the situation but I hope that was thorough enough to answer your questions.

Questions from the board? Well, thanks for the presentation, Lee. My my issue since um bringing it up wasn't necessarily with the vendor. It was more so with how it was handled and the public not being notified and how do we move forward so this doesn't happen again. And you know, we can give transparency to uh the taxpayers in the city. I think they should know when money's stolen. Um that's that's my comment because I don't think we're going to get the money back. While I understand the need for full transparency um in these cyber type crimes um you really don't want to alert the cyber bullies out there that you might be vulnerable even though we really weren't. Um I do understand that recently uh because of most of this cyber ransom cyber type crimes that um now a lot of it can be done in the shade so that to protect for the future so that um those who would do harm to the city cannot. I would say that the the one thing that I found in in hearing the explanation was that the one thing that we need to do better is there may not have been as many questions if the notes in the file might have been better better designating the fact of what took place after they were notified that it was in litigation. I mean that it was being investigated than possible litigation. There seemed to be a part where the notes fell off. There were no notations and I think we knew we need as a city to do a better job of keeping notes so that when someone comes two or three years later and says what happened here you actually have a full detail of what happened and that's all I have to say.

Thank you.

I just I wanted to touch base on that. So when we had ransomware the public was absolutely notified when that happened and it occurred. Um I I actually knew about this issue back in 2021. I have a multitude of list inside my head that I'm going to address while I'm here for the next two and a half years at the city. Um, so I just think if I knew about it, um, some other people should have known about it. From what I understand, the the city manager at the time didn't even know about it until uh, Georgia contacted Steuart Police Department. So, I think there's definitely a big disconnect between communication amongst maybe departments and we should absolutely know about these things. Um, from what I understand, I guess some elected officials, they weren't allowed to talk about it. Lee might be able to touch base on that. He had conversations with maybe some current ones, maybe past ones. I know you spoke with the city manager. I don't know if I don't know how much you want to elaborate on it if he knew about it before he was contacted. No, I think it was determined that the the city manager found out two days after the sheriff's deputy contacted the city and alerted that we might be the victim of a fraud. So that would have been about 7 months after it happened. But remember, as you recall,

the finance department didn't believe that it was a criminal issue at that point. They they were pointing fingers with the software vendor and the software vendor was pointing fingers at us. So, there was a ongoing dispute um as to who caused it, who's at fault,

and like I said, the city manager was not made aware until after the criminal once once a criminal element became apparent within two days, the city manager was alerted. And in situations like this, Lee, I don't I I I don't think we want to experience them. But when they do happen, does like FDLE or any state agency have to be contacted if like a city gets hacked or if anything like this happens?

Um I don't again when when this first happened, first off, there there wasn't a hack and so there was never a compromise of the city's systems and and Darren can come out and attest to that. this what would had to do with this third-party vendor software. Apparently, these folks learned how to do this and and it there was never a compromise or a hack into our system. So, if that's a different situation than what we had here. So, if there's a hack or um you know into our system, I think it's a different protocol that I don't know because that hasn't happened since I've been here. But, uh Darren could probably come out and give you I I assume it's happened in the past. Um I know it's happened at other local municipalities locally and I see Darren walking to the podium now and maybe he can

so like for example Darren if we are hacked as like state agencies have to be not and I know this isn't a hack it was um Darren Duke technology services director of record so sometime in 2022 or 2023 the state changed the law so now we have finite time limits for an actual cyber security incident to to report to the state um and to report to FDLE and report to what's called the Florida Digital Service. Um they didn't exist those reporting requirements back when this happened. And and to the city attorney's point, this is not a cyber security issue. This is what we would term in the business a cyber enabled crime. So it was a finance crime that was made easier because of the internet.

People were still robbing banks long before the internet came along. So that wasn't just it didn't happen because the internet came along. Mhm. So we have to be very careful. Um you know I I remember a meeting where myself and the finance director at the time we we sat down with the cyber security policy to claim and there's 8 to 12 check boxes on that form and we couldn't check any cuz our systems themselves had never been compromised. The compromise as as as the city attorney said was some ingenious person had figured out how to you know bypass the checks and balances in an actual system. Not a system we have not a system we manage. It's a third party vendor. All right.

Thanks. Yep. Sure. Any other questions? No. I said what I had to say. I just think moving forward the public should absolutely know about it. I know the case was closed in 2024, so there was definitely time to make a notification to the public, so they were aware. Okay, moving on to comments by city commissioners, Commissioner Rich. Okay, thank you. Well, welcome, Mr. Gardino. Thank you, sir. And um for the benefit of the city staff and the city residents, I hope you enjoy considerable success. Um

Thank you. One of the reasons I'm dressed up is because I had the honor along with Commissioner Gio. Prior to this meeting, we attended a center uh a ceremony rather with the charged affair from France uh recognizing the contributions of a 101year-old member of the city of Stewart at Addington. It was really quite an impressive ceremony and I will allow Commissioner Jobi to provide more details on that. um it was the Legion Donaire, their highest military award from the country of France. So um secondly, I would also like to acknowledge the recognition received by the city of Stewart's own officer Kyle Ozinga. This Saturday, the Palm Beach Benevolent Association had their annual meeting and recognized him as the officer of the year. Correct. And Mr. Mayor, if it's okay with you, Chief Z is going to

absolutely come on describe his the incident that led to his recognition.

Thank you, Commissioner. Mayor Flores and Elevate, Chief of Police. Um, Commissioner Rich asked that I address this from a historical perspective. So, Officer Osinga was uh nominated to the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association for Officer of the Year along with dozens of other officers, mainly out of Palm Beach County uh law enforcement agencies and from Martin County Sheriff's Office. and he was involved in a critical incident, as we term it in our business, back in March of 2025 at approximately 7 a.m. He responded to a 911 call on Monterey Road in the city of Stewart for the report of a person with a edged weapon, a knife, threatening people in this apartment community. Officer Osinga pulled up in his marked patrol car in uniform to address the complaint. He saw the individual that was the suspect that was described as having a weapon and asked that person from a distance from about 15 or 20 feet. Can you please go in in your apartment and put your knife down? And the subject appeared to comply went inside his apartment as Officer Osinga stood by his police car. And then the suspect and not two or three seconds later came running out of the apartment with it said a large knife. was more of a machete type hatchet, a largeged weapon and sprinted towards officer Osingo who in just seconds, blink of an eye, had to uh you know re withdraw, retreat from his patrol car so as he wasn't stabbed or hacked by this subject and he had to uh he was forced to use deadly force against this individual to stop the attack and he did just that. He did what he was trained to do and he did his job. Unfortunately, it results in a loss of loss of a life, which we never want, but sometimes it's we just can't prevent it. But he performed admirably considering the spontaneous uh action of the subject and had he not done his job and performed according to his training, he or members of the community who were uh

you know, a witness or victim of this knife attack may have been injured. though he was recognized by the PBA for his quick wit, his action to prevent an attack and present or I'm sorry, protect himself and the community. And quite quite honestly, he was just a a true guardian of the community that morning. It was 7:00 on a Saturday morning when most people are sleeping in or having breakfast. He was out on a on his first call of the day and uh thrust into this scenario. So, uh we are very proud of Officer Osinga. His training is very evident. it comes out in his actions and we appreciate the opportunity to address it here at the public comment portion.

I would imagine that case I got to see that clip is going to be used as exactly how to handle that situation. It was so fast what he did. It's it was incredible.

Yes, Mayor, you're correct. Responded. Yes. from a training perspective that offers the body camera footage and the surveillance footage from the uh the apartment building offer a clear perspective of just how fast that happened. And you know, I I'm just so glad that officer Osingo was there and he was prepared to react that quickly. And for us, it's always difficult as police officers to walk around. You can't walk around with your hand on your gun thinking that there's something going on around every corner because the reality is it's it doesn't happen that often. You just don't know when it's going to happen. So you have to be on edge at all times and be prepared to go from being, you know, Mr. Nice Guy having an interview talking to somebody to being forced into a position of deadly force. And that's a difficult position for any police officer to be put in. We know it comes with the job, but it's a, you know, again, it's a very impactful uh incident on their career both as an individual and as a police officer.

He's a great reflection on the department and he truly is, and I appreciate you saying that. He's very well trained officer, just over 10 years with the Stewart Police Department and he's a he's a father. You know, he wants to go home every day just like everyone else, but he did a great job to protect our community. And he's he's on patrol right now. He's on the midnight shift as a corporal uh helping to supervise the overnight shift. So, we're going home tonight. They're working till 6:00 a.m. to make sure that we're we're safe and in the community. So, will you let him know from us? Good job. Yes, I will. Thank you very much, Commissioner. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Commissioner Gio.

Okay. Um, and just to tag on what Commissioner Rich said today, we were both over uh part of a celebration, Mr. Robert Czecho, a Steuart resident, was honored today. It was his 101st birthday. And part of that honor, he was presented with um the highest award that you can uh from the French government. It's the Knight in Legion of Honor. and a council representative, Misha Trap, came to rep to present it to him and he was just an amazing man. I had a conversation with him, met with his family. He had been an infantryman in the second division and participated in D-Day and landing on the Omaha beach and fought onward to liberate Normandy. He also was very um he was in other dire battles the sloow and hill 192 in Normandy where he was wounded. He was then sent uh to recuperate. Once he recuperated he returned to his division and he went on to be part of the infamous battle of the bulge and was very much instrumental in the liberation of France during the second world war. It was an honor for us to be there today. The city of Stewart did a proclamation to Mr. Greco and um I will tell you he's still driving. God bless him. He he had Right. Was he not? He was amazing.

Amazing.

Amazing. And everyone, the honor guard was there, the uh veterans, there were so many people there to celebrate this event for him and it was really an honor for us to be there also. So, and thank you for being there, Commissioner Rich. Um, I just want to share with everyone I didn't get to say because I was going on that again. I'm the house is full. I'm so happy. It always makes me great to see that people come and uh participate in local government. Uh, one of the things I wanted to say was this will be this is out on the stands throughout the city. You should pick it up. It's called the local. It's finally a local paper or um information that is not filled with sarcasm and not filled with uh un you know halftruths. It is um an excellent piece of information. It is not bias. It gives the story and you should all read it. I have one for each commissioner. So, it's finally so good to have something that is not um always attacking people here in the city and not saying good words. This is something that tells the story as it is and everyone forms their own opinion. And that's all I have to say.

Commissioner Clark,

thank you. Thank you. I just want to say again, thank you and welcome to our new city manager and we wish you all the best during your tenure here. Um, I had the privilege of seeing our police department in action. Uh, and our fire department also. They came out to do safety training and just to work with the residents at Peer Point for the annual um night like a night out for crime, a neighborhood watch type thing. And it's um always good to see that participation. and as was prayed about today, trying to create unity in the community. So, I just want to give um a big shout out to our police department and especially the um the K9 team. They work so hard and they're so dedicated to what they do and it was great to see um their demonstration and and speaking to the residents at Peer Point. I have uh a couple of announcements that are from some events that are coming up and I probably didn't put in the boxes of the uh commissioners, but I know that I think this week we're having our environmental awards coming up on the the 30th and I know that our city has um projects. I think Annie is here. Uh we have projects that have been there for nomination and that we'll get awards. So, I just wanted to congratulate ahead of time those who've been working um to make sure that uh we have so many innovative things that we're doing at the city and that we'll be recognized for. Um, with regard to before I give out my my notices,

um, the summer is coming up and children always need something to do and we have a young man in our community. Um, he's here tonight. He's probably going to get a chance if he's filled out a green card to say something to the public. But I know Mr. Ryan Carter is here. He's brought his team of young hand-tohand um students, middle school and elementary school students that are hoping to work with our uh city recreation department to do at least a week um summer workshop reading activities with youth um in our community. So, he's working on that project. And I just want to recognize Mr. Carter. Put your hand up, Mr. Carter for what he's doing with young people in the community. And and on that note, on April the 30th, we're going to be um having our kickoff for the Martin County Historic Preservation right here at the Steuart Feed Store at the back of the Steuart Feed Store around 5:00 p. p.m. And we're just asking the community to come out. And there's a lot of um activities for the entire month of May. And there's a calendar for that. And I hope that we have a link on the city's website or at least have that calendar where people can pick it up and look uh look at it through the city or if you want to just put in Martin County Historic Preservation, you'll see all the activities that are going to be done. And one of those activities that will happen is that the city of Stewart will be uh recognizing the Steuart Training School on a uh the 12th of May when we'll be having a ceremony for Florida Emancipation Day. And there'll be a historic plaque dedication at 400 PM at Steuart Training School,

800 Bahama Avenue on that day. So, that's something that's coming up. On um May the 1st, um there will be a reading at the gazebo for Law Day. Law Day is May the 1st all over the nation. And we're asking adults, children, anybody who wants to come and read something that relates to uh developing community unity, um developing a a a a better government system, making sure that we're being neighbors and kind and respectful to each other. Those kinds of things will be well regarded if we um bring those those out and we read on that day. will be there from 11:00 until 2:00 p.m. on May the 3 at my church, St. Monica's Episcopal Church. I think this is about our 10th or 11th year that we're having a law day um ceremony at the church at 10:00 a.m. And Judge Candace uh Jennifer Alcorta um Waters, sorry, I'm thinking of Candace because I missed something. um she'll be speaking at at our church on that day and going to Candace on this past weekend. Uh they had as a part of Earth Day, there was a Stewart cleanup um down here in the downtown sweeping the streets. The Stewart Main Street did that program and I just want to give kudos to Candace and her community team who planned that and executed it. And I think it was really uh a great thing to do for the downtown area and to just get people to to be down here and to do something to help clean up. They said that they had a lot of cigarette butts and they were wondering about doing what we need to do to have more I guess more

more places for people to put cigarette butts especially in the downtown area. that kind of came up why there were so many cigarette butts on the ground, but maybe it's cuz people don't use the receptacles that are there. So, that was that was a an a shocker to people to see how many cigarette butts they they found. I mentioned the thing on the 12th and then on the 16th there's going to be a reenactment of Florida Emancipation message that was um General Mcook brought to Tallahassee on May the 20th of uh actually May the 19th 20th of 1865 and this is going to be May the 16th at the gazebo and also at the Courthouse Cultural Center. There'll be a presentation inside the courthouse cultural center and the black heritage initiative by Mr. Lloyd Jones is working on that project and it's something again for the public to participate in. Um I think that's it. That's all my that's all my notes. Thank you,

Vice Mayor. I have a couple things. I I did do that trash cleanup too, Ula. It was uh I think I got like six

six five gallon buckets and I emailed Roz about the cigarettes. It was uh it was definitely an issue. Um Dave, don't fall asleep on me now. So Dave had called me about a fence at PP Creek and there might be a liability thing. So I'd like that to come back as a discussion item for a fence at Pppleton Creek. Dave is going to know more when it comes back and provide more feedback. He said he had spoke to Milton already about it. Um, I also wanted to mention and get a consensus from the board on maybe a long-term lease for the Steuart Boat Show. So, it doesn't go bye-bye like a lot of other things in Martin County. And I don't know how you guys feel about it, but it's only a one term one-year lease, so they can't always keep the same vendors. Um, maybe they could get better vendors, but I'm all for the boat show.

It brings revenue to the city. Um, I also wanted to mention, um, someone contacted me about protecting East Stewart. There's an event on May 6, something about the historic district. I don't know if that's something where we should be contacting them to find out more information because no one has contacted me. I know there's a phone number that I'm supposed to call. I don't know if any of the board members

I've worked with Mr. Johnson and he's been working with Miss um, Gandandy Savdus. They're going to be meeting so that he can get his answers. On the 7th of May in Tallahassee at 1:30 p.m., the state historic preservation office will be presenting to the National Historic Register our application for the East Stewart um historic district designation. And so this the the folks we've had several meetings and outreach and I if if Mr. Johnson or anyone else has any concerns, we wanted to talk to him ahead of time. And then there's a webinar on the 7th where folks can sign up for that webinar and they can see and hear what's going on in Tallahassee on that day as our application that Mr. Weaver put together and the community has participated in uh will be there. I don't know. I Yeah.

Both the city and the state Stewart. Yeah. No, you had mentioned just each steward. It's both for the city also. It's for the city. No, but the designation of the East Stewart historically for the city too being here. Yeah. Well, that the city too. That's right. There's two two historic applications. Yes. Thank you. And and then uh I also wanted to send condolences to the Jeremiah Baron family. I uh I know he had passed away today that I saw. I know um some of us might not always agreed on development or anything like that, but you know, a life was lost. So, I'll send condolences to the Baron family.

And uh also, uh I spoke to Roz about this. I actually did a ride along with sanitation. Um, one of the reasons was because during the zoning in progress and uh our budget workshops and the exiting of a city manager, there was a lot of public comment and concern about your trash not getting picked up. So, uh, Rasheed had trained me this morning on sanitation pickup and, uh, Jeff Coleman assisted. So, I'm going to do two more days. So, hopefully uh, you'll get another employee that's trained in sanitation pickup for the residents. And that's all I have to say for tonight.

Two things from me. One is on Thursday's river Thursday's river coalition meeting, I spoke with um Mark Perry and he handed me a letter to ask of all of you. And so I I said I would bring it to you. They have on June 11th a they're hosting an international ocean film festival. Yeah.

And they had asked if the city would be interested in sponsoring the event as a film sponsor. And for $1,500 we would receive the city would receive recognition on their marketing um logo and signage but five tickets to that event. So I I told him I would offer that up to all of you and see what you thought if you would be interested in sponsoring that. What say you?

I'm I think it's a great idea. I would hope that maybe they would include our environmental attorney in something in that um if Ruth is available. We'll see if we can coax a sixth ticket. You can have mine, Ruth. I'm not going to be here. So there you go. We don't need another one. I'm be out of town. So we need to I I mean as long as we have the money to do it. Is that something city manager will find the money? It sounds like we can find $1,500.

Yeah. Spend 30 million on Bright Line. So Mike, it's definitely I make a motion that we Oh, you want to make the MO? You can't. You can't. No, he can't make a motion. make a motion. I would offer it up. Yes. To that we offer to the is it to the rivers coalition or to more Paris organization? Florida Oceanographic Florida Oceanographic Society to for sponsorship of $1,500 for the um program that they're planning. I'll second the motion. Is there any public comment on the motion? Seeing none comments from commissioners. I don't need a ticket. I'm not going to attend. What? I think the prices for for the table, correct? Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, you can just in those occasions maybe someone a city clerk or something like that. City staff came. Yeah. I'll double check with them, but I believe so. Would you call the role? Vice Mayor Reid? Yes. Commissioner Clark? Yes. Commissioner Rich? Yes. Commissioner Gio? Yes. Mayor Collins? Yes. And then Mike, I'll pass this down to you. That's that letter. So Yes, sir. Mayor Collins, are you finished with your comments? Almost. Almost.

Okay. Well, I have one little thing I want to say. I just want to say since we're talking about the environment um we've got a message from um our environmental attorney Ruth Holmes about the work that Congressman Mass did to make sure that letter got taken care of, sent up the line and and we just want to commend Ruth on her persistence and following through and of course on the congressman and him getting that done. I would echo that. You are a very valuable member of this team. I'm glad you're on our side. We appreciate you so much, Ruth. You have no idea. Good work, Ruth. Thank you.

Uh la last thing for me is and I'll I'll lean on Lee a little bit. Uh with regard to uh Martin County Forever, there's been brewing and I just wanted to bring it up publicly with everybody. Uh I was talking to John mail as well about this, but the Aan Leah parcels that we're aware of because that's been coming in front of us lately. Uh there exists an opportunity in some of those parcels, those are some of the most environmentally sensitive parcels that we have in the city because that water flows into that Haney Creek preserve. And that's been an adamant stance from the environmental land oversight committee lately is that we we need to make sure that that's what we're putting our focus into. So, I I wanted to offer up that there's the opportunity. I'm not sure if we've already submitted that that property into their application process, but to partner with uh ELOC and Martin County forever to potentially acquire that pro some depending on the price tag obviously, but some of those parcels.

I mean, how about we what restriction would there be on those parts? We have a resolution on the agenda tonight that addresses that. It'll be a resolution number 35-2026. So we get this is additional what I'm also in there. Yeah, this will include collaborating with the county and acquiring the land. It was it was an addendum. It wasn't in the original agenda. We did an addendum a day later that added that item. So thank you, sir.

Sure. So, I just wanted to bring it up for public consumption for all of us to be considering that we very well may have a partner in Martin County Forever and ELOC. Um, again, with how adamant they were that it's environmentally sensitive land, I'm looking forward to their partnership. I I anticipate it. Yeah. So, th those were my comments comments from our new city manager. Thank you, mayor. Yes, sir.

And, uh, to the rest of the commission commissioners. Um it is my honor to be here and I'm grateful for the opportunity. Um I I've been coming we my wife and I have been coming to this area for 20 years there and on a professional perspective uh there have been two goals in in my professional life. One was to be a naval aviator and the second was to be a city manager in Florida. I have been so blessed to be able to accomplish both of my goals and I know that that's not true in everybody's work life but I promise you that I have worked hard in getting uh to achieving both of those goals and I will work hard for you um with regard to um the uh our alignment is 100% I am aligned 100% % with the policies uh with this board and with also the employees who are dedicated employees the process for this Roz I want to thank you personally both personally and professionally because the process to choose a city manager for this city was bar none uh one of the best if not the best and most rigorous processes and I'm grateful ful for that of that because now that I am sitting here I know how professional the staff is and I'm grateful for that. So, mayor, commissioners, um, Lee, Mary, thank you so much for all of this and I am looking forward to

leading our team to accomplish the goals, the missions of the citizens of Steuart and the commissioners uh, who work so hard on their behalf. So, I'm grateful and thank you very much. Ready to get to work. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So, do we have an approval of the agenda? I was going to recommend that we add the addendum in as item 10. So, at the end if that suits the board.

So, move add in. Let me see. Is there a better place to have the agenda? We only have two other that's fine. After the ordinance second reading, yes, it's a discussion. Well, no, it's an authorization. So, that would be item number 10. Okay. I move that we um approve the agenda as publish adding the item that was published as an addendum item as uh item number 10 uh for regular discussion. And I'll second the motion.

Is there any public comment on the motion? Comment from commissioners. Mary, would you call the role or no? That's a roll. It says roll call or all in favor. All in favor, guys. I Okay. Comments from the public on non-aggenda related items limited to three minutes. Do we have comments from the We do. I have David Kelman.

Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Reid. Uh David Kelman, 950 South County Highway. Thank you, Commissioner Reid, uh for bringing up defense.

This has been an ongoing issue. Um I'm be honest with you, I'm I'm tired to I'm I'm just disgusted with constantly reaching out to people in the city of Stewart. This is a liability for you guys. I mean, if you all want to get sued, let people fall, break their necks, break their hips, cut themselves, whatever the case may be. These miscreants, that's what I'll call them. They they're going to the bathroom. They made a path. They tie their boats up to the to the mangroves. You don't see it because you're not there. I run the property. I've owned it for 23 years. I own my unit. Okay. These people are disgusting. I had Milton, which is I don't know if he's still here. There he is. Milton's a great guy. I call him, he comes. Ruth, wonderful. Commissioner uh Rich Coy comes. Everything is a roadblock. You know, Milton has a job to do, but he has to answer to uh what was his name? Motel. And now he's going to answer to this gentleman. Good luck, by the way. He had to answer to the the sitting uh uh city manager. At the end of the day, what are we going to do about the situation? It's a 15oot fence. If if I was able to do it, believe me, 15 foot fence is nothing. I take it out of my pocket. I pay for it. I can't do that because it's an easement that the city of Stewart has, you know, uh deals with. They these people have made a path. I got to walk down there. I got to clean up beer cans, beer bottles. I can't ask the chief of police to use his resources. What What do you have? Seven cops and and supervisor or a canine unit. We're going to take the resources of the police department to patrol that particular area because these miscreants want to do what they do there. Milton was there the other day. He's

seen it. The path, the dog waste all over the place. It's all property. Okay. Been there since 1974. And I've cleaned it up. Got rid of the drug dealers with the Stewart Police Department. Got rid of misgreants that live there. and trying to make it something special for the city stew it for us. When you have these people doing what they do, it's just I've had enough. Okay. It's just I'm over it. Uh one of the officers has suggested Can you put another camera over here? I got 44 cameras on my property. I'm going to spend another $5,000 of my residents money to put another camera in to for for what? to pick up these people that stock their boats in whatever what did you call it? I don't even know what that cove is where they all park their illegal boats to the people, homeless people. I don't even know what it's called. Uh so I I'm asking I'm over but I'm asking the commission and city manager to please allow Milton to do his job and let's get a fence and a gate up there because you're going to get a lawsuit. That's all that's all that's all I got for you is thank you for your time.

Thank you and thank you Commissioner Ree for contact. You're welcome. You're welcome. Next I have Janine Alexander. I'll get the

Oh, God. Help me.

Children here. Are you ready to begin? There's only enough documents here for three of the commissioners, so we'll have to make copies and provide them. If you'd like to go ahead and move forward with your comments, do you want me to wait until she's made?

We don't make you started. Let someone we'll provide them the copies after your comments. Congratulations to the new city manager, Michael Marie Geredino. I would like to see Stuart police take domestic violence policy 28 and evidence collection policy 27 a little more seriously. On March 23rd, I accounted for a domestic event whereby Dennis Gallas, former domestic partner, videotaped seven minutes in violation of dual consent made in his sworn police statement in March 1st of 2015. Yes, it has been 11 years. In 2018, Gallas accounted for the editing of said video to 55 seconds as supervised by former officer Nuvo of Steuart police. In 2018, when reported to Michael Martell, city attorney, I was gaslighted, mind game, told I was delusional when I filed a citizen's complaint at the and that the events never happened in over 200 emails. Really? An internal investigation was launched. I was denied an SIRB hearing by Mortell and Ros Johnson was relegated the responsibility of making and signing a report on April 19th of 2018 as final investigative report. Stuart police presented the 55 second clip edited from a 7-minute video to the state attorney as the only evidence in the matter of battery of an elder. 55 seconds really a charge for which I must seek clemency. Michael Martell persisted in denying any wrongdoing by law enforcement and as a result David Diaz was promoted to city manager in May of 2018 and served until 2023. Michael Martell succeeded him in taking position as city manager. I requested the production of public records in support of my clemency in 2023 and 2024 and Martell failed to produce those records. On May 25th um

brought a thumb drive to a court hearing. Really? Mary Kindle later provided certified copies which did not contain medical records or pictures sent with my citizens complaint in February of 2018. No fault of her own. Missing public records. Really? December 2017. Stewart police officer Sudof and Ortado were called upon fielded by fielded my complaint for tampering with evidence prior to the filing of an INOI and citizens complaint February 2018. tampering. Really? In 2018, Dennis Gallas committed perjury by emission and contradiction when he lied in the ini investigation about the seven minutes and was not charged in exchange for his cooperation with Steuart police. Really? A cover up. I assert that a coverup was orchestrated and micromanaged by Michael Mortell from 2018 to 2025. I come before the new city manager tonight in request of a complete investigation as to why Michael Martell and David Das were left unmonitored under supervised and to be able to condone the violation of due process

city police policies and potentially obstructing justice. Thank you. When she brings you these copies, you'll be able to finish reading what I really would have preferred to have said tonight. You're most welcome. Thank you for your time. Ryan Carter.

Thank you. Hello all. Thank you city commissioners for the job that you guys do.

Uh welcome aboard Mr. Michael. I can't say your last name yet so I'm not going to even pretend to. And Miss Roz, it was a pleasure meeting you wherever you are. Yes, definitely a pleasure. Um, so Hand to Hand is a nonprofit organization here in Steuart, Florida. Our mission is to uh empower our youth here through our recreational, educational, and mentorship programs. Right now, we are running uh four programs. The mentorship program, which is pass the batons. We also are doing two basketball programs. One is called Bamentals where we're focusing on the fundamentals of basketball which it is definitely missing nowadays and a huddle up academy where it's more so centered around a team uh effort and we are in we hope to be able to bring about the book program back titled the bookers which is uh focuses on the history especially our local history here in Stewart. Um yeah, so the intent of us being here today or me is just to kind of highlight some of the things that we are doing here in the community and to make sure that uh our mission is aligned with of course the city's priority and uh okay so I'm going to pass the baton down to some of uh the participants and let them speak on hand to hand. Thank y'all. within the three minutes

right here.

I have a Titan. It looks like Handhand Commitment Outreach Initiative is a wonderful organization that helps many different kids no matter who you are or where you come from. Hand to Hand provides us with many different learning opportunities, different activities, and lots of field trips. Some of the wonderful field trips we have been on include NBA game featuring the Miami Heat versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Florida Classics featuring the Batoon Cookman Wildats versus the Florida&M Rattlers and we also been on a boating trip which is very fun, very fun. Overall, I love hand to hand and I will always like to be a part of it. Thank you, Titan Carter.

Thank you, Skyler. Hand

bring the mic down. There you go.

Hand to Hand is amazing organization that help many different kids in any different ways. In this organization, we would we do a variety of different things hand in hand provide us with many different learning opportunities, many different activities and trips. Some trips that we had had include high school basketball and football games, a polo match, and selfish splash. I love hand and I will be a part of it. Style. Thank you, Styler Robertson. Thank you.

Can I have Elaine? Who would you hand to hand means standing beside someone when they feel alone and lifting them up when they need it most? It's about showing up, not because you have to, but because you care. It's more than just a program. It's a community that feels like a family. A place where real friendships grow and moments turn into lasting memories. To me, handtoand isn't just an organization. It's a place where I feel seen, supported, and at home. A true home away from home. Thank you. Next, I have Sage. Um, hi, my name is Sage and today I will be um speaking about what Handto means to me. Hand to Hand is an amazing youth nonprofit program that brings learning and fun together. I really enjoy being a part of it because we get to try new things and go on exciting trips. For example, Mr. Ryan recently took us to to learn about golf where we practice putting and had a great time. He always finds ways to bring the community together and give us opportunities we might not have otherwise. I'm very grateful to Mr. Ryan for creating this program and for all the fun and meaningful experience we share. Thank you, Sage. Thank you,

Shannon.

Hi, my name is Shampri. I'm saying what hand means to me. Hands to hands means to mean that everybody has a chance to be involved to show no matter who you are, you can make a difference by doing your part. Like saying putting things together, I think it means people working as a team to solve problems and support each other. When everyone shares ideas and helps out, we can accomplish more than we could do alone. It also includes doing fundraiser and activities to get the support we need for our goals. is teachers responsibility and teamwork because everybody has a role. Even if we are not always together, we are still a part of the same organization. We stay connected, care about each other, and support one another like a family. In the end, in the end, hands to hands is all about teamwork, helping others, and staying united. Thank you, Shreywood. Wobin Cartwright.

Evening, commissioners. I'm not as cute as these kids. So, here we go. Um, you guys are amazing, by the way. First of all, congratulations to the new city manager. It was a very thoughtful hiring process, and I say for many of us, we are very grateful that you are here. Um, I also want to acknowledge the gentleman who did bulk pickup at our property. We had a kitchen that was removed and it was a lot of particle board that had gotten rained on. And to his credit, he got 99.9% of it. I just want to be let you guys know what a great job that he did because I feel like sanitation doesn't always get the acknowledgement that they deserve. Um, but tonight I want to talk about how I can apply for a refund for some permitting fees and inspections that I've had done because I paid for an inspection that I missed due to a family issue because those are the rules. So, let's talk about one example of somebody who is not following the rules, and I will document the situation and email it to the commissioners and to staff. But here are the highlights. I sent in a public records request about a solar panel that's being used to heat a pool, and the homeowner filed an after- the-act permit as he did work by himself without a permit and got caught yet again. The specs for the roof, fasteners, and plumbing are all handdrawn by the owner instead of stamped by plans by an engineer. and he applied for the permit as an owner builder even though it's a documented Airbnb commercial property and I understand that that's not allowed. Also on the permit application, the owner listed the construction value of the work as $1,200, but on the permit itself, the valuation was listed at $500. So, was he given a discount on the permit fees as a result, or did he pay the increased amount for the after the-act permit? So, specific to the permitting and inspection process, there is a documented inconsistency and favoritism towards some with the permitting and inspection process. Some would say it's based on who you know, or rather whom you might have known at the city. I'm requesting an investigation into this permitting and inspection situation to determine what needs to be done to remedy the situation and what needs to be done to fix the approach to the process. Let's fix the process and make it equitable for everybody. And this is

further proof why we need to have access to this information online without having to request it in one or multiple requests from the city clerk to get the totality of the records. Thank you. Thank you,

Gail Goldie. Good evening. Gail Goldie, 1153 Northwest 12th Terrace. I'm not a city resident, but I am a county resident and I do attend as many meetings as I can because I'm just as involved and interested in what goes on in this city as I am in the entire county. But I just like to say that number one, I want to thank Roz for the wonderful job she did standing in and sitting in that seat because I know it wasn't an easy task for her to take over. But I will say that she added some grace and she worked very hard and it was a breath of fresh air to sit out in the audience and see her conduct such a professional uh association with everyone up there. And the other thing that I'd like to say is is that I'd like to welcome Michael Gordano to the commission and we are very blessed to have you here and I hope that God shines all of his love and light on you and your job is much easier than you think it's going to be. Continue to do well. And I also just want to just add one other comment and that is to both uh Michael and to Roz remember never never forget the importance of the job that you do because you do it so well. And sometimes it's just that it's like a never and never uh you're not getting enough credit or you're you're feeling a lot of negativity or whatever. But we really do appreciate you and I'm really looking forward to uh the next year that you're working here and and all the years to come. So, thank you and Roz, good luck to you back at your job. Thank you.

Thank you. We have no further public comment, Mayor. Okay. Moving on to approval of the consent calendar. Is there a motion, Mr. Mayor? The consent calendar is items 3 through six or seven through seven. Move approval of the consent calendar as provided. Do we have to vote for each item? No, you're approving the consent calendar. So, we're okay. Just checking since there's some special monies. You got me. That's the whole point of the consent calendar, right? All of the items. Do

we have a second? 327. Second. Okay, there you go. Is there any public comment on the motion? Comment from commissioners? Seeing none, Mary, would you call the role? Okay, she's going to call the role. Commissioner Gobi, yes. Commissioner Clark, yes. Vice Mayor Reed, yes. Commissioner Collins, I just want to call the roll. Yes. Okay. It's not my uh yay name. That's what I want to make sure. I'm not crazy. You just got You got me. It was good. No, we I just want to make sure we did the roll call. You got me to giggle. Okay. So,

moving on to item eight, commission action, award of the ITB 2026 103 downtown courtesy dock replacement project. This

Yeah, I'll read the resolution. Resolution number 28-2026, a resolution of the city commission of the city of Stewart, Florida, approving the award of invitation to bid number 2026-102, City of Stewart North Stewart Lyft Station Rehabilitation Project to CK Contractors and Development LLC, the lowest, most responsive and responsible bidder with a total unit price of $685,919 providing for an effective date and for other purposes. Um I don't know that we have Holly Bath is not here but um I don't know that we have

five. We're on eight. I'm sorry. You're right. Like man that's a cheap dock. I know. I was I was going to say million on the dock. Approve that baby. Sorry. I didn't pull I didn't set aside the uh approval. Let me repeat this then. Resolution number 29-2026. There you go.

A resolution of the city commission of the city of Stewart, Florida, approving the award of invitation to bid 2026-103. City of Stewart downtown courtesy dock replacement project to Customuilt Marine Construction, Inc. the lowest, most responsive and responsible bidder with a total unit price of 2,674,713 providing for an effective date and for other purposes. Yeah, I don't I don't Holly Vath is here to be doing the presentation, but I guess it would be Milton. Milton, if you have anything to say on this or

I don't think everybody's been put on. You guys have questions for Yeah, I don't know that we had a presentation ready for you on this one. Well, typically these are on consent calendar. So, public works director. Uh the the contract is here uh ready to get started. So, custom bill is there in the uh right now I'll back out there. So, they're ready to get started and I don't have any questions for me on that. Vice Mayor.

Uh no, I just I think it's great we're getting more uh dock space. Yes. Um, from a functional perspective, I will say I always appreciate a floating dock over a fixed dock. The cost though when we get hurricanes and storms. I understand that's why we're doing it and it's just something that we deal with when we go to fix docks. Yes. Can you speak to that on and M on as far as what now, sir? What we've been having to pay for the hurricane repairs and or some sense of at least the scope of work. Why?

Well, with the floating dog, every year we go through the storms and stuff and it's floating and everything. That's why we get all the wave action and everything and it's damaging the fingerprint that goes out right now. So, we decided to go with a fixed dock and then have ladders to get up to the that's why it's all fixed portion which will ultimately save the taxpayer. Yes. A lot of money is what I over time and plus we have 30 slips also. Every hurricane or even after the first storm there'd be money saved. Nor Easter. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. We're going from We're going from how many slips to how many slips?

17 slips to 30 slips. So there'll be more capacity for more capacity. Yes. And then were there other questions? Sorry, I didn't mean to hug you. No, you're good. That that was my my only comment. Okay. Do we know what the the fixed height is? Yeah. How far above main high water? Oh, I have to get back with you on that. No, no worries. I Okay. I didn't bring that. Sorry. Put me on the spot. Didn't bring I get it back. I get your answer, though. No worries. Okay. Do we have a a motion to approve this item? Oh, we didn't do that. Uh, did you want to do that, M?

I'll move that we approve resolution 29-2026. Second. We're awarding the new Is there any comment from the public regarding this motion? Seeing none comments from commissioners? No, just it's it's a tough choice as you know at the sailing center. Boy, we had this argument back and forth. The problem with this part of the river, if the breeze is right, it's got a long way and boy that fetch builds like you say, Milton, it just it the action on those floaters can get Yeah. so destructive. So fix is the way to go. Yeah, I think fix is the way to go. Thank you, Milton. Mary, would you call the role? Vice Mayor Reed? Yes. Mayor Collins?

Yes. Commissioner Gobi? Yes. Commissioner Rich? Yes. Commissioner Clark? Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

Moving on to item nine. Ordinance number 2551-2026, an ordinance of the city commission of the city of Steuart, Florida, approving a major amendment to the Walmart commercial plan unit development, providing for an amendment to the adopted resolution number 28-201 to authorize modifications to the approved unified signage plan, install a new canopy, and paint the exterior of the building. providing for conditions of approval, providing for conflict, providing for severability, providing for an effective date and for other purposes. And I just want to point out that this is the second reading mission. For the record, my name is Michelle Arbazowl, planner 2 in the development department. I should be presenting agenda item number nine. However, the applicant did not meet the requirements of public notice. uh signage were taken down before this meeting. Staff request a rescheduling of the meeting so that public notice requirements can comply with the code. Um as you can see on the screen during a site visit on Friday, April 17th, staff observed that the public notice signs had been removed. Staff contacted the applicant to inform them of the issue. At this time, staff is requesting approval to reschedule the hearing to the May 26th, 2026 commission meeting.

Okay. Is Miss guess they weren't a fan of the pastel blue, huh? Yeah. Is is is that a reasonable time frame? We're just going to put them on the 26th, which is the next the next meeting. Correct. to meet to meet the public uh notice requirement because they would have to resend notice for the new dates. And as far as uh the posting of those signage again, it's another month. Yeah, it's another month from now. Okay. Do we have a motion along those lines? I'll make a motion that we'll allow the meeting to be rescheduled to the What was the date in May? I'm sorry.

May 26th. It will be uh the 25th is Monday, Memorial Day, but we're off. So the 26th is the Tuesday. Will the other issues be addressed also? Uh it is ongoing that they are submitting. I'll second it. Okay. Is there any public comment on that motion? Seeing none comment from commissioners. Um yes, Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. Was there an issue with Walmart being informed of the comments that were made at the commission meeting? Are you aware of that, Mr. Bagot? for what comments and what I'm not following you. Well, I thought there was some confusion as to the position of that young woman who made the presentation for Walmart.

Were all the recommendations from this commission relayed back to Walmart? Are you aware? She wrote notes down. I can't answer that. I I don't know. Okay. I mean, the the meeting would have been published online and anybody could view it, but I I don't know. And I don't know if Michelle knows. She wasn't on. I had no communications with the the the representative or anybody from Walmart on this issue. So, well, I'm sure they'll get into compliance. Thank you, Michelle. You're welcome. Thank you. Would you call the role? Commissioner Rich? Yes. Vice Mayor Reid? Yes. Commissioner Clark? Yes. Commissioner Gobi? Yes. Mayor Collins? Yes. And moving on to item 10, our addendum,

resolution number 35-2026, a resolution of the city commission of the city of Steuart, Florida, authorizing the city manager or designate to pursue the creation of a trail head along with associated infrastructure in Haney Creek off of Baker Road and to move forward with acquiring land in the Aan Lea area utilizing proceeds from the halfsent halfsent infrastructure sales tax approved by voters of Martin County in the 2024 general election, authorizing city staff to collaborate with Martin County in the joint acquisition of undeveloped parcels in the Aan Lea area, including taking action to nominate undeveloped parcels in the Aan Lea area to Martin County's Environmental Lands Oversight Committee for consideration, providing for an effective date, and for other purposes. And so this has this resolution obviously has multiple uh uh components to it. I put this one together. So I'll give you the presentation. So as you recall the general election back in in 2024 um uh passed and it was regards to the half cent sales tax and it's going to be uh for a period of 10 years and the purpose of it uh is acquiring environmentally sensitive land for preservation, conservation and restoration. And uh in resolution number 21-20224, the city commission adopted a resolution supporting the initiative to to place the proposed sales sir tax referendum on the 2024 general election. And the referendum passed with more than 63% of the vote. On June 23rd, 2025, almost a year ago, the city commission adopted a resolution 57-2025, which authorized the city manager to identify and pursue projects with a priority of acquiring land and converting the 2acre parcel on US Highway 1 in Haiti Creek into a trail

head utilizing proceeds generated from the halfsent sales sir tax. So, we already passed a resolution last summer that we would do a trail head or you instructed the manager with the proceeds from the half cent sales tax to put a trail head in the 2acre commercial property on US1. But since then, we've had multiple discussions regarding this issue and you have instructed us to go back out to referendum to put that 2acre parcel back in conservation. And then there's also been discussion uh in with uh with regards to you guys wanting to move the trail head not on US1 but off of Baker Road. So that's what we're addressing. You've already authorized us to do a trail head or to start working on a trail head but it was on US1 and now I you guys had I think it was in a DND you guys had discussed uh changing that to Baker Road. So I thought it was appropriate that we do it via resolution since the first one was resolution uh wanting it on US1. Um number two uh on March 9th 2029 during discussion deliberation um you had the discussion of of that trail head being moved and also the Aania PUD. Remember we had something up with Nick Schro uh a couple of meetings ago. He has an undeveloped parcel. We we showed some videos and of water issues and you also saw um pictures of a lot of undeveloped land other parcels. So since then I I kind of investigated and there is a master PUB site plan and I attached that to the agenda item. I apologize I don't have it for for on the screen but if you look at the master site plan and um on this agenda item I highlighted everything in yellow that is still

undeveloped. So we have parcels 1 10 11 13 14 and 15 in the Aan lea master PUD which remain undeveloped. Some of these are in natural state full of woods and you can see on there that there are designated wetlands already. So a lot of this development would occur adjacent to wetlands which could impact you know the natural flow of the water um from the savas going on down to the St. Lucy River. These are also I put a a Google map kind of version. You can see I I I had these parcels are fairly close to the St. Lucy River and they're also very close to the Haney Creek which is already in conservation and some of them are across the street from Haney Creek which is already in conservation. So if you look at the sky view uh Google maps that I put on there I I put a bunch of red marks red marks spot where those parcels are. And so they would definitely in staff's opinion fit the bill for what the voters had voted for. And there's multiple parcels there. Um I have contacted all of the owners and all of them are somewhat interested in discussion discussing with us about uh the city uh purchasing the land from them and putting it in conservation.

Number two, Nick Dick had said when he was here,

right? Um, and I've had conversations with him since then, and I contacted the owners of the other parcels. Some some owners own multiple parcels. So, um, one more thing to address is the county, you had mentioned in your public comments, mayor, that, um, Mr. Mail at the county had reached out to you. I've also spoken to Mr. mail as well and they are interested or he would say they would likely be interested in collaborating with the city and acquiring some of the land. As you recall the the Haney Creek preservation area we 10 20 years ago we were in collaboration to buy all that land with Martin County. So we we both own that land together currently. So this would be a continuation of that efforts of putting some land into conservation. In order to do that, we have to at the last the very last page I have attached to the agenda item is an environmental land acquisition parcel nomination form. If you go to martin countyforever.com and you go to their website, this this one-page form is on there. I had asked like for example, I'd asked Mr. Schro if he would go online and do that and nominate his parcel. He said, "I I have no problem with the city doing it, but he was he did not want to nominate his own parcel." So, he said, "You have our authority to do it, but I still need to get permission from you guys to nominate um his parcels and some of the other owners parcels to Martin County forever so that their board, it's the um ELOC is an acronym for it, but it's the environmental lands oversight committee. It's a nine member citizen advisory board that they assess recommended parcels and they there's multiple parcels that have been you know recommended to them and they meet periodically and they vote on it. So Mr. May said in order for the Martin County to consider it we would have to do that

nomination form and submit it and then at their next meeting those parcels will come up. He said he couldn't do anything until we did that he said would be in June. I didn't get that date, but soon as I get approval from you guys, I've already got approval from one owner and I can contact the other owners and and likewise act accordingly. Thank you for your work on this. You've been busy and I really appreciate everything that you've done here. So, I'm hopeful we will pass this. Right. Again, it's multiple components.

Yes. We're talking about the trail head moving to uh Baker Road and we're talking about collaborating with the county and also even without the county. Maybe the county doesn't want we we we're going to have enough money we could purchase at least some of these parcels and put them in conservation. Give them any idea. So, but what we would do is uh the city manager and myself, we would work on negotiations and it would be an option contract. We couldn't bind the city to a contract. It would be an option that we'd still have to bring back that contract to the board and the board would have to vote on it at that point in time. It's probably not all going to be at once. It'll probably come in pieces, but you know, we're getting this money every year for 10 years.

In talking to him, he also mentioned a lot of different opportunities for grants. you know, like parcel 10 when we were talking talking about it last time, parcel 10 was never the the storm water was never that infrastructure wasn't built because it was assumed that when it got developed that would be dealt with. So, one of those considerations would be, you know, how to properly update that drainage so it properly flows across um the invasives. But in talking to John Mail, he he said I could share this. He felt confident that between a couple different organizations, one with storm water drainage and then like South Florida Water Management for invasives, there would be a lot of opportunity to collaborate with the county for even, you know, moving forward what we would do with that property. So, I was very excited to hear he already had his wheels turning and and this is a I think a great opportunity for us. Um, Commissioner Gio or Vice Mayor, you were first.

Yeah, he was first. I think mine was from old. Okay. Old light. My question is for Lee. Does the resolution need to include the fact that we are agreeing to complete the environmental land acquisition parcel form? Well, it's already in there. Oh, it is. It's in the title and it's also that's why I wanted to make sure you guys were voting on three components. Okay. Uh, I could have separated it out, but they all seem to roll together. It's on expenditures and actions on the half cent sales tax. Is there a motion for approval?

I make a motion to accept uh resolution 352026, resolution of the city commission of the city of Stewart, Florida, authorizing the city manager to pursue the creation of a trail head along with the associated infrastructure in Haney Creek off of Baker Road and to move forward with acquiring land in the Avalia area utilizing proceeds from the half cents infrastructure sales tax. Second, comment from the public. So, uh, Joe, behind you, Joe, Jillio, and first is um Gail. Ladies, first Dr. Joe,

Gail Goldie, I just want to say that I do live up near this area and I think it's a wonderful idea to have the trail head there. I'm glad that it would be on Baker Road, but I did sit at a commission meeting uh many many months ago and I know that there is a property on US1 and Baker. Uh you cannot get into that business off of US1. You have to make the right or the left into Baker to get down Baker Avenue, Baker Road there and then down to the school. I believe he was in here to ask for um getting uh some kind of a variance or something to have his parking to to exit his building from the backside and then it would come out and almost go down as far as the entrance where Publix has their entrance on Baker. So, um, and I know that road because I travel it and the school is there and oftent times the traffic is backed up because of the school. Um, I just I'm just bringing this up because I know that it was discussed at a previous meeting and I don't know where you are in the process of looking at his request for um making an exit road out of his business before you go ahead and do something to make sure that there's ample room for the trail head entrance for his business if that gets approved to have exit from his business and the school. And then you have the tennis association there. So, and it is one lane in each direction. So,

um the the parcel that you're talking about, Miss Goldie, is in the county. So, any building development permit has to go to the county. It's just adjacent to city land where we would want to put a trail head. So,

we get our Thank you, Gail. Thank you, Gail. Joe Julio from Martin County. I'm not a Steuart resident, but I'm very much involved with that parcel. In 1982 when I was a Wetlands Management, Inc., I told the developer that that 2acre parcel on US1 couldn't be developed. It's mostly wetland. So, to put a parking area there off US1, I think would be rather difficult. We're not doing that. Good. Yeah.

Uh the other thing is that I also the last thing I did before I sold wetlands management, I was the environmental professional who did all of the wetland delineation and the preservation. And uh we also cleaned up a lot of the exotics that were in the wetland. It's a beautiful piece. Um and I'm I'm I'm I never really wanted to see it get developed. And if you people could buy it, great. It would make a great uh um um preserve as well as a use for the public. So, go ahead, Joe. Thank you, Joe. Appreciate it. Any other public comments? I have none comments from commissioners.

I have one. Good first opportunity. Um Lee, your light was on. I recovered. Okay. Vice Mayor.

Yes. So, Gail, as far as that, what what it was the the parcel in question on Baker and US1 is in the county. Um, it was pitched by prior city manager to potentially talk with the developer that wanted to enex it into the city and potentially get them to pay for a trail head parking because their ingress egress and access to that parcel for their development of a gas station wasn't necessarily easy. So, that that's where that came from. And if I remember correctly, we really didn't want them coming into the trail head exiting with the And then Commissioner Gio. Oh, sorry.

Rich, we we all had our lights on by mistake. Sorry. Well, yeah. I mean, that issue is a matter of safety. It's a It's a point well made because they can be aggressing too too soon after the turn. So, it should be considered. I would hope in creating that trail head, we consider the offer from that business to pay for the construction and maintenance of it. If we can save the taxpayers money, it's we certainly should consider it. So, we want to create true two new trail heads. No. In addition, you want to put the one on No,

it says I think it still says, doesn't it? I thought he was referencing the previous one to identifying land north of the Rovelt Bridge for acquisition converting the twoacre parcel on US Highway 1 in Hanel Creek spelling error please into a trail head. So we're going to put two new trails heads in about no I don't know a kilometer apart from each other. It's moving it's moving the trail head two off of Baker Road. That's not what this resolution says though. All right. So, the city, let me read it. Page two, the second the second from the last whereas

am I looking at the wrong No, I'm on the right one. Where? Which which whereas clause on page two? On June 23, 2025, the city commission adopted resolution number 57. Correct. Yeah. In the past, the city commission had already authorized to do the trail head on US1. With this resolution, we are changing that. You guys had a discussion and deliberation uh about changing it and not being on US1 and being off of Baker Road instead. So, this resolution is changing your previous resolution authorizing it to be on US1. And you guys had previously had a discussion and deliberation about Ah, you're right. I see. instead of correct highlighted the

Thank you. Thank you for that clarification.

Um with regard to the the opportunity, I'll call it to have the entry paid for like you mentioned. Uh my my issue with that was having gas station race track traffic sharing the entrance in there where uh families would be parking, kids would be walking getting out of the car to go onto that trail to me did not seem worth the risk there of people, you know, flying in there and trying to get to that gas station. You know, we have we have these funds here to be able to do this without having to do to go in that direction. So, um,

personally, I didn't think Yeah, I don't know that that I that may well be, Mr. Mayor. I I think it's a valuable offer for the benefit of the taxpayer should be considered. They've got to move that entrance. They do want to put it right where the public's where the Baker Road public's which is definitely safer. That we know is true. So, I understand your concern. I don't know if there a means. For me, that's not something I would be interested. I mean, of ameliorating the speed at which they would leave the racetrack. I think it's a two it's a mix. It's a two-edged sword there. I think there's a benefit

should be totally separate. I don't want any uh into our park for the gas station. Personally, um Commissioner Clark, it's not about this item. I just wanted to say something after you finish voting on this item. Okay. Okay. Any other comments? I'd just like to say I'm sorry. Yeah. Um I think it's terrific we're finally going with the group that the county has put together. You know, it was the vote of the citizens who created this opportunity and it's nice that the voice of the citizens gets to be heard in these acquisitions. Agreed. Great opportunity. Okay. Mary, would you call the role? I will. Commissioner Clark.

Yes. Commissioner Rich. Oh, yes. Commissioner Gobi. Yes. Mayor Collins. Yes. Vice Mayor Reid. Yes. Okay. Yes. Forgive me. Yes. So, my comment that I wanted to say was during the time for the um consent agenda. What I wanted to emphasize that it was not going to be an all in favor item. It would have been a roll call vote on all of the items. That's what I wanted to I don't know if you mistook what I No, no. F forgive me for laughing. You just like you got I just wanted to emphasize that you and you got you got a chuckle out of me. It was

cuz sometimes you say all in favor and I wanted to emphasize it and maybe I didn't say it right but that's what I wanted to emphasize. That's okay. Okay. I had to see no other business. This meeting is a journey.