City Commission - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call the regular meeting of the Stewart City Commission to order on June 8th, 2026 at 4 PM. Mayor, you roll call?

Mayor Reed?

Here.

Commissioner Clark? Here. Commissioner Giobbi? Here. Commissioner Rich?

Here. And we have an invocation from Chaplain Edward Skiba from the City of Stewart Police Department, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, city council members, and most importantly, the citizens of Stewart, I thank you for allowing me to come and invite the presence of God into this meeting. I got to thinking on my way here about some of the things I've done as a chaplain, and I was up in Charleston riding with an officer, and a lady went whipping around us, and another guy pulled in front of her, and she reached out the window and gave him a one-finger salute. The officer I was riding with said, that's not right. And he pulled her over. I said, what's he pulling her over for? He jumped out, went up to her. He said, all right, out of the car, hands against the car. And I said, what's going on? He said, look at the back bumper. It says, I love Jesus. There's a big silver cross. Follow me to the downtown community church. He said, after she did that, I figured she stole the car. Let's go before the Lord. God and our Father, great creator of the universe, you give us humor to keep us cheerful. Your word says a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, and we try to laugh whenever we can. Sometimes life overcomes us. Thank you, Lord, that you give us leadership that can help guide us through these difficult times. I thank you for this city council and for the men and women that you raise up and put their heads above the crowd. And sometimes... take the tomatoes that are thrown at them, and many times take the accolades. They represent each one of us, Lord. And I ask you to be here in this presence, to give them your wisdom, your guidance, your understanding, so that all the issues that come before them can be done in accordance with your will. I thank you and praise you for this wonderful town of Stewart and for Martin County and for all that you do for us here. You make this small place, this gem, a shining light in the darkness, and we thank you for letting us be part of it. Bless us now in what we're about to do and be with us. In Jesus' name I pray. Please join me now in the Pledge of 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. Please be seated.

Next up, we have the Arts Moment. Brett McCarran with the art presentation.

Yes. Can you hear me? Am I OK? OK. My name is Brent McCarran. I'm a 38-year living here in Martin County from Indianapolis originally. I've been given the, I got my degree in Purdue University in visual design and I came down here to become an artist because I felt I was pretty good at it. Anyway, I was asked here by Eula and Eula Clark and Mary to talk about the arts in Martin County and opportunities that I've had being part of it. Forgive me, I've been. I've brought examples of my work, my artwork and murals that I've created together with my son Tommy Kroll. Tommy is also an accomplished jazz singer and she and I, I play drums and she and I will be performing at the Riverwalk on September 6th this year. Artistically, I'm currently working with the Elliott Museum, thanks to Deborah Duvall and Rob Steele, where I have painted murals, restored artwork, restored sculptures, created a four-foot Fabergé egg for their display. I'm also on my 13th year as a scenic artist at where I build sets, props, and costumes for Jennifer Yormack and Peter Jones at Starstruck Children's Theater right down the road, where we will be performing The Lion King. You must have to come see it. This is part of it. Anyway, that's just a sample. I wanted to step into our... Here's a larger... of my award-winning Arts Fest piece that I got involved with the Martin Arts. I actually won in 2019. Ami and I just painted this one at Cedar Point of the Dolphins. We have turtle driveways that we've been opportunity, people just talk to people and they find us and I get to paint all these beautiful pieces at people's homes and in businesses. a baby mural in St. Lucie West. This is to show you the scale of the recent House of Refuge at the Elliott Museum. And this is my grandson to show scale of my art that I've done. The last piece. I was asked to paint a 27-foot limousine to look like an alligator for a customer in Okeechobee to take his clients out to airboat rides. I was nominated for a Marty Award to the Martin County for my set for Into the Woods at Starstruck. Some of my murals glow in the dark, so I was trying to give you a representation of that. Circa 69, right over in Jensen Beach. I did with friends from Alchemy and Art. I hire them, they hire me. So it's a big family of art. And this one, the last one, is the Shark Shack Suites in Palm City. I just showed you a sample, but it's big, and it's got sharks fishing for humans with ice cream cones. Anyway, I've been lucky enough to be Published in Stuart Magazine for my murals. Again, when I did the House of Refuge in 2023. And Martin Arts for winning the Arts Fest. I was also published in the paper for winning $10,000 in first prize for my Halloween costumes. So in doing the costumes, that's how I got to do Starstruck. Finally, I'd like to mention Anthony Oliveri and his river creek walk art district in first Fridays of the month. And he and I were planning on trying to get a mural on the Johnson Avenue 150-foot wall across from 901 Hub and Wawa. I want to do that one. And finally, if I ever get the opportunity, my vision for the city of Stuart would be to build a giant sculpture from US 1 down Colorado to downtown Stuart of leaping sailfish with scattered kinetic fish jumping off the sides that you can drive your cars under. to put us as the destination, as the world sailfish capital of the world. So anyway, thank you for your time. Thank you, Eula. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. See my stuff at bmccarranart.com, and there's a couple cards outside if you want.

Brent, we're going to have to fix your certificate of appreciation, though, because they wrote Brent on it. We'll get you a new one then for Brent.

Take a picture.

I'll get a picture, though.

Thank you.

Thank you for your time.

Brent, keep it up. We're going to take a picture. Thank you so much.

Next we have proclamations and we have garden week and the recipient would be Mary Neal, president of Garden Club of Stuart. Lee, if you could read the proclamation for us.

Absolutely. Whereas gardeners have a passion for nurturing the beauty and resources of the earth through the planting of seeds, the care of all plants, and the riches of their efforts, gardeners seek to add beauty, splendor, fragrance, and nutrition to our lives through the growing of foliage, flowers, herbs, and vegetables. And whereas gardeners advocate the importance of all creatures, large and small, that share our world and their roles in a balanced and productive ecology, Gardeners work to preserve our country's traditional spirit of independence and initiative through innovation and hard work. And whereas gardening furnishes a challenging and productive activity for our citizens, for those just learning, as well as those having years of experience. Gardening promotes a healthy lifestyle that lasts a lifetime, helps reduce stress from other areas of our life, teaches the rewards that can come from diligent efforts, and whereas gardening enables members of garden clubs across the nation and the world to make a world of difference in the communities where they reside and work. Now, therefore, I, Sean Reed, Mayor of the City of Stewart, Florida, do hereby proclaim June 7th through the 13th, 2026 as Garden Week.

Mary Neal, did you have any comments for us, or did you want to? Yes.

Good afternoon. I'm Mary Neal, president of Stewart Garden Club, and these fine ladies in pink are members of our club, and I especially want to introduce Linda Cerubi, who is our chairman for National Garden Week. I want to thank Mayor Reed and the commissioners for honoring the Garden Club of Stuart with the proclamation for National Garden Week. Gardeners and garden clubs throughout the country take this time to celebrate the art of nurturing and beautifying our environment through several select activities to bring about awareness of this great gift. Here in Stewart, we have placed a creative arrangement in each of our libraries and include education as to what plant material is used, what National Garden Week entails, information on gardening, and how and why to participate in garden clubs. Photos of these arrangements can be found on Facebook under the Garden Club of Stewart with links to what other clubs in the country have done for this event. The mission of the Garden Club of Stuart has been and always will be to educate the public about the various aspects and rewards of gardening, including conservation, community pride, natural resources, and civic beautification. We believe gardening envelops our whole being. Therefore, our theme is mental, physical, and emotional health through gardening. Thank you.

Do you want to take a photo with everyone that's in attendance? Yes. The next proclamation we have is for Juneteenth Freedom Day, June 19th, 2026. The recipient would be Nina Dooley, President of Afro-American Citizens of East Stewart. Lee, if you could read the proclamation.

Whereas Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the abolition of slavery in the United States and the emancipation of African American slaves and celebrates the successes gained through education and greater opportunity. And whereas Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 with news that the war had ended and the enslaved were now free. On that first Juneteenth, the people of Texas were read general order number three, which stated, the people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the United States, all slaves are free. And whereas the first Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassurance, prayer, and the gathering of family members, today, Juneteenth continues to grow with communities and organizations throughout the country. Numerous local and national Juneteenth organizations have arisen alongside older organizations with the common mission of promoting and cultivating knowledge and appreciation of African American history and culture while encouraging continuous self-development and respect for all people and cultures. Whereas on a larger scale, a celebration of Juneteenth reminds each of us of the precious promises of freedom, equality, and opportunity which are the core of the American dream. Now, therefore, I, Sean Reed, Mayor of the City of Stewart, do hereby proclaim June 19th, 2026 as Juneteenth Freedom Day.

Nina, did you have any words?

Thank you to Mayor Reed and the commissioners. for this proclamations. My name is Nina Dooley. I'm the president of ACES here in East Stewart. And I would like to thank the city for partnering with us once again for this wonderful event. We are hosting our third annual Miss June Junior Teen Pageant. It's going to be at the Boys and Girls Club on June 20th from 7 to 9. I encourage everyone to come out and take a look at these wonderful kids, young women, and their talents. And so I would like to also thank you guys for this partnership once again.

And I'll be a judge.

And Eula's a judge. Yes, she is, along with two others. She will be a judge at the event. So again, thank you to the city of Stewart.

You're welcome, Nina. Thank you. Next up, we have service awards from the police department, and I'm gonna have Chief Z introduce his personnel from the police department.

Good afternoon, commissioners. I'd like to take a moment to call up the following members. I'll make a note that Lieutenant Brian Basio was scheduled to be here to be recognized for his 15 years of service with the Strip Police Department, but he was approved for training late last week, and there was an opening in the training class, so he's had to attend that and can't be here today. So I'd like to call up to the front of the room here, Detective Kenneth Leadham, back here in the corner. Kenneth, if you could just come up to the front here. Detective David Jacobson. K-9 Officer Chris Heitfeld. And Officer Danielle Matucci. So if I could just share briefly that Ken Leadham has been with the Stewart Police Department for 15 years, and he currently serves as our evidence and crime scene detective assigned to the Criminal Investigations Unit. Ken has prior law enforcement experience with the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office prior to joining Stewart PD 15 years ago, and he also serves with the Florida State Guard where he is a, Ken, I apologize for not giving you the proper credit. Lieutenant Commander with the Florida State Guard, and we have a very good partnership with the Florida State Guard. They help supply additional resources for our 4th of July event and the Christmas parade every December. So the last three years, I think they've sent as many as 50 Florida Guardsmen to Stuart to help us with security and ensuring a safe environment for our community event. Detective David Jacobson is also a 15-year veteran of the Stewart Police Department. He's currently signed to the Detective Bureau and he normally works any type of case that's given to him from a theft to a credit card fraud to an elder fraud or an occasional violent crime like a shooting or something more serious. He does Jake stuff when it comes to looking, and his nickname is Jake. He does Jake stuff when it comes to looking into the weird and unique cases and has an ability to find those silver linings and the evidence and information. So he does a good job with his service for the police department. He's been with the Stewart Police Department for 17 and a half years total, 15 of it as a full-time police officer. Before that, he was part-time. Canine Officer Chris Heidfeld, as you see him here, he's assigned to patrol with his canine partner, Jerry, for the last three years, roughly. They work the night shift from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., so he's one of the crew that are out there ensuring our safety for the overnight patrol hours. Chris has been with us 15 years, and prior to that, he was with the Port St. Lucie Police Department for a year and a half before coming to Stewart. and then we have last but not least we have danielle matucci she is currently assigned to our traffic unit with just over a year and a half in service as a police officer prior to that she served as a dispatcher in our communications center for three and a half years so danielle has been with the police department for five years total or with the city and uh serves a great role now in our new traffic unit so uh if you would just help me uh congratulate them on their service Mayor, thank you for allowing me to recognize them.

Next for service awards, we have Deborah Smith with 15 years of services with Human Resources.

Good evening. I'm accepting on Debbie's behalf. She had a scheduling conflict and regrets not being here. Debbie has actually been with us for 20 years. She spent five years part-time status as well in the police department in part. So we celebrate the 15 full and the five, and she's sorry she couldn't be here tonight. So thank you on her behalf.

Thank you, Raj. Next, we have Bobby Holliday with 15 years of services from utilities and engineering. Bobby will not be attending, but we'll still give him a round of applause. Next, we have Jose Nido with five years of service from utilities and engineering.

Hold on Joe. Can you come into the picture? You come into the picture. One more.

Next we have Michael Redstone with five years of community services. Next for service award, we have Suzay Malecki with five years of service with the Deputy City Clerk.

Good job.

No speech? No. Okay.

No speech.

For the next service award, we have Brian Shing with five years of services for utilities and engineering.

Good job. Yes, come on, family. Come on. Oh, wow.

Whoa, and the baby.

And the baby, too.

Cameras.

Nobody's on this side. Good job. Good job. Take care, Brian. It's Jerry. Oh, we got Jerry. Oh, there he is. There he is. And to sit now.

Mayor, you want that picture? Yes.

Sit. Sit.

He's good.

He's good.

Is he at the airport?

He's all excited now.

Finally, somebody gave a speech.

Yeah, thank you, Chris. That's his canine partner, Jerry. He patrols with Chris. When Chris is out in the patrol car, his partner is right with him. So very successful these last few weeks working the night shift, sniffing out drugs, narcotics, specifically some cocaine and other hard drugs that have been found up in the Jensen Beach area, helping out the county with a sniff here and there. So we have one other canine that's Ara with Officer Chase Dorman. He works on the other night shift. But these dogs are a vital tool for us. So thank you, Chris.

Thank you, Chris. Thank you, Jerry. Thank you, Jerry.

Thank you.

Next up we have comments by city commissioners. Commissioner Rich?

So on Friday evening, late Friday afternoon, I sit on the board of directors for the Florida League of Cities on the big board, on the corporate board. So the Florida League of City represents 411 different municipalities. Just a few days before, some of you may be aware, the legislature has passed some amendments which pose an existential threat to many of these communities. It was the most tense atmosphere I've been in in a long, long time. We will be discussing this in the future between now and the election. I asked our city manager for some preliminary figures when I was speaking to Senator Harrell and Representative Oberdorf and Representative Snyder. Nobody's quite sure of the numbers, but the city may be between $1.5 and $3.5 million reduction in revenues, which is not existential, but is serious. The joke going around was, that Florida will stop being the free state and we will become the fee state because all these parks and beach parking areas and all these services that we provide we're gonna have to find a way to pay for them somehow, and it's probably gonna be through fees. So I don't need to be alarmist, but we're very concerned. The league is gonna fight this very hard, and hopefully we obtain the result that we need to keep Stewart functioning properly and at the high level of service that we're all used to. and that we can retain our staff, which is so important because the staff works for you. They don't work for us. They work for the citizens. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

You're welcome. Just for clarification, was it two and a half or three and a half on the high end of the range?

Three and a half.

Three and a half.

Okay, because I thought it was two and a half. At least that's what I was emailed. That's what I read, too. Well. Yeah, maybe you guys were sending something different. Regardless, moving on, Commissioner Giobbe.

Yes. Good evening, everyone. As always, it's great to see everyone here. And on a positive note for our city, it really is in the hands of the voters. So it's really your decision to decide whether to go with this. Just because Tallahassee put it out doesn't mean you have to vote for it. And we will certainly, at the city level, be working to work all those numbers and work to the best of the city, what's best for the people in the city. And I want to thank all the people who sent me emails, and one sent the letter, and the people who are here today. supporting one of the items on the agenda which would be chickens. So just want to say thank you very much for your support. That's all, thank you.

Commissioner Clark.

Thank you so much. You're welcome. I just want to say that I'm really appreciative. This was one of the days when I saw the arts moment come together because, you know, sometimes we have readings or dance or poetry or singing, and to see the breadth and depth of Mr. McCarran's community involvement, art involvement, his family's involvement. It really shows how important the arts is to his life and his well-being, as well as to our community. And I just want to thank him, and I'm glad that he mentioned the Creek District. There are people who are dedicating their whole lives, their whole businesses to improving that area and making it a destination. I'm glad that you mentioned that about a destination plan so we can do some art planning for Stewart. It's long term and it's a good idea and I hope that we'll continue to hear from you and to work with you and to work with others in the community. Stuart is A-R-T in Stuart and we really mean it and I really appreciate your participating in the Arts Moment today. and for all the others in Stuart who really work on that. I think it is so important, and that's a good thing. Kids are out for the summer in school, out of school, and they need so many things to keep them occupied, and I think the arts is a big thing, and I hope that those who have opportunities to support children during the summer will support them with any type of assistance or some type of art or music program. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Clark. Moving on to comments by city manager.

Thank you, Mayor. I was contacted by our audit team who then shared some information. They've adjusted the audit schedule for fiscal year 25 to be done no later than August 31st, according to their letter. When I found out this information, I met with the managing partner and I met with the field auditor just to establish a relationship and to ensure that they knew how to get a hold of me and to ensure that we were providing everything that needed to be done. They attributed the adjustment to the calendar due to the turnover in the finance department. And I accepted that explanation and I wasn't happy about it because I believe an audit should be done on time and it will be done on time in the future. So just established that relationship and made sure that they have everything that they need to conclude the audit for fiscal year 25 and they assured me they do. So that'll begin next week. On a positive note, not that that wasn't positive because we're always moving forward, I have had in my queue some of what are called what's good and what's good turned over by the interim city manager some time ago and i apologize for the delay but jim miner a battalion chief with our fire department he accomplished getting a master of public administration and that was done SOME TIME AGO, A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, BUT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE POINTING THINGS OUT AND REPORTING TO YOU AND TO THE PUBLIC THAT OUR STAFF IS ALWAYS ON DUTY, BUT THEY'RE ALSO OFF DUTY GETTING MASTER'S DEGREES AND OTHER FURTHERING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES which is fabulous. And this particular master's degree had an emphasis in government and policy. And as you get further up the chain of command, although a firefighter never stops being a firefighter, there are administrative duties and government duties that I'm sure this education will benefit our battalion chiefs. So I wanted to recognize James Dennis Minor. Also, I want to also recognize two of our folks in the police department, crime analyst Kaylin Brown and Eileen Finley, graduated from the Florida Law Enforcement Analyst Academy, class 40. This is administered by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and provides training to analysts from across the state. Eileen and Caitlin attended training in Palm Beach County for one week a month for six straight months, and we're very proud of them achieving this and becoming certified crime analysts. So that's what's good on the staff next we begin budget meetings with department heads starting on monday so i'm looking forward to that we are putting together the budget we have been putting together the budget but we're getting down into where i will sit with department heads and they will defend their budgets to the city manager and we'll go over that process that begins next monday And a story from the new guy who moved here, hopefully on his last move, and my wife reminds me of, it's been 16 moves and this will be 17 and hopefully the last. A gentleman helped me today. at the house while doing some things. And the gentleman said to me that he moved to Stewart some time ago, reluctantly, reluctantly, told the real estate agent, keep us on hold because we're probably going to sell this house in two years. That gentleman told me today that although he and his wife parted ways, and she moved away, that he stayed and he stayed for good. And he is a proud city resident of Stuart and thinks it's a fabulous place. And I think that too, and it just goes to show you what a great city we have and we're gonna make it even better. So thank you, Mayor, appreciate it.

Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Thank you for upholding the transparency in the city of Stuart by letting the public know about the financial audit. To further touch base on transparency, we have a mayor signatures log on the city website. Things that I sign administratively, they never used to come in front of this board until that was something that I pushed for. So things that I sign administratively, the public will become aware of those things. If you go on the city website under city commissioners at the bottom, there's a mayor's signature log to keep track of things. I also wanted to state there's been two controversial agenda items that have come through this board through the last two meetings that have gone nowhere for the public. What I asked for from fellow board members, we have one on the agenda tonight regarding the chicken ordinance. Instead of letting things potentially die here tonight and maybe not move it to a second reading, if we could at least have a motion to table to a date certain to where we have that fifth board member so they could decide the future for the public instead of just letting things die here tonight. That's all I have to say for my comments. Can I get a motion for approval of the agenda?

Move approval of the agenda as published. I'll second the motion.

We have a motion for approval of the agenda from Commissioner Clark and seconded by Commissioner Giobbe. Is there any public comment on this motion? Seeing no public comment, all those in favor? Aye. Motion passes unanimously. Comments from the public on non-agenda items, please remember it's limited to three minutes.

Jeff Crosscoff.

Welcome, Jeff.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Mayor, Commissioners, Jeff Kroskopf, Stewart. There was an article in the paper where there was a 2-2 issue, if you will, and it was regarding the two-acre parcel north on US 1 on the bridge and its ability to generate revenue as an offset to the costs of maintaining the Haney Creek Watershed project. Rest assured, the public has already approved this. It really doesn't need to go out again. That was a very complex project that was put together and took a lot of effort. As architect of the project, I know your control rests in site plan approval. So that's a good thing. Environmental sensitivity was always first and foremost considered in that we put in there that there should be no gas stations that close to what we were trying to protect. The planning department file on this, with all the iterations in it, it has quite a few. I don't know if you've looked at it or taken the time. There were a number of them in there to generate revenue, and that was not wrapped up. That was one of the things I was unable to wrap up before I retired. So I encourage you to move forward with the project, especially in light of what you mentioned, upcoming restraints that very well may pass in Florida. limiting revenue and I know Milton has boardwalks in the area and maintenance to do so you should never pass up the opportunity to lease property not necessarily sell it and I think there's a prohibition because the county was originally involved in this that's where we cobbled half of the funds and I'm happy to meet with each one of you individually to give you historical context or some of the ideas, constructive ideas that we had in order to gain revenue not only there, but if there's anything else, I'll be happy to help you with that historical context. Thank you for your consideration. I appreciate it.

Thank you, Jeff. I'll be reaching out as well.

Thank you. Robert Mayans.

Welcome, Robert. Thank you. Good afternoon.

Robert Mayone, 4461 Southeast Federal Highway. I'm here today respectfully request a pause of the enforcement actions against my property. I've done business in Stewart for 26 years and care deeply about this city. Unfortunately, many attorneys, business owners, and residents are saying the city's current government processes are in disarray. My property has become a clear example. Staff obtained a special magistrate order with deadlines and fines based on incomplete and misleading information. at the hearing key questions were referred to the city attorney but left unanswered the special magistrate still issued the decision in order without those answers and relied on misinformation from staff weeks later the city's own emails confirmed serious ambiguities in what rules actually apply to my property THE CITY CANNOT LAWFULLY ENFORCE REGULATIONS WHILE ITS OWN LEGAL COUNCIL ADMITS THE REGULATORY GROUNDWORK IS UNCLEAR. THAT IS SIGNIFICANT. IN 2007, I HELPED THE CITY ANNEX THE 25 OVERGROWN ACRES TO THE SOUTH. THAT HISTORY CANNOT NOW BE IGNORED, INCLUDING THE CONCESSIONS, ZONING HISTORY, PRIOR ALLOWED USES, DECADES OF PARKING AND STORAGE, GRANT FATHERING, VESTED RIGHTS, EQUITABLE ESTOPPLE, AND THE CITY'S OWN CONDUCT OVER MANY YEARS. THESE ARE NOT MINOR ISSUES. THEY GO TO THE HEART OF WHETHER THESE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS ARE EVEN VALID. THE SAME UNCERTAINTY AFFECTS THE SIGN AND SANITATION DEMANDS. I'M NOW BEING TOLD THEY NEED A PERMIT AND A SIGN COMPANY JUST TO CHANGE A COPY ON AN EXISTING ACCEPTED AND GRANDFATHER SIGN FACES. CHANGES THAT I HAVE MADE FOR TWO DECADES AND AT SEVERAL LOCAL SIGN COMPANIES CONFIRM HAVE NEVER BEEN REQUIRED FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES. SIMILARLY, STAFF PUSHED FOR AGGRESSIVELY FOR UNNECESSARY RECYCLING DUMPSTER BEFORE BACKING OFF AS IF THEY WERE DOING ME A FAVOR, WHEN IN REALITY IT WAS A FABRICATED REQUIREMENT. The city has no history of my garbage collection needs, so I offered a common sense initial approach to establish service that does not waste the city's resources, my space, or money. These examples show why staff's demands need independent review before more costs and fines are imposed. I'm not ignoring the city. My current approved compliance work proves my good faith. I've spent significant money, absorbed business interruptions, and worked seven days a week to improve the property. I should not face daily fines, costly changes, or further business interruption while the city is still sorting out what lawfully applies and the consequences of unresolved problems in its own annexation process. Even now, staff has refused to answer legitimate written questions that would either clarify the city's position or expose the overly aggressive and misinformed assertions behind these violations. I respectfully ask that the current order, deadlines, and fines be placed on hold until the city issues a clear written determination of what lawfully applies to my property. That determination must address the annexation history, zoning status, allowed uses, BTR, sign authority, sanitation requirements, grandfather rights, the lawful limits of inspection, and the proper scope of enforcement. This is the fair and responsible path. Thank you.

Thank you, Robert. I'm going to shoot you an email as well just to follow up to get more information with you. And if Mike and Lee can look into this. And from what I understand, the magistrate board is the one that would be handling any code enforcement stuff as well, not necessarily this board majority. And Lee might be able to correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Yeah, correct. It's in the magistrate's hands, and you guys are not allowed to interject into that process. So the petition he's making, he needs to make it before the magistrate. And he's not been fined yet. He's been given time to get in compliance. In my understanding, he's done a good job at doing what all he can. If you want me to go into more details, I can.

I think the point, if I may, I think the point is that the special magistrate acted upon misinformation and lack of proper information. When Mr. Baggett was addressed by the special magistrate, he had no knowledge of the ambiguity that was actually occurring surrounding my property. So he referred to Ms. Coogler, who further led to more misinformation to the special magistrate, and he made his decision based on that misinformation. So I think that's my main beef. It was.

Well, I appreciate your feedback, and hopefully the city can resolve this with you. Like I said, I'll follow up with an email just so I can follow along the process with you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. And I'd be happy to meet with anyone individually or separately if so desired. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Robert.

Alan Marcus.

Hello, I'm about to talk to you about affects every sign in this town. I've been a sign contractor here for almost 36 years. I do work for the city, which I'm very grateful for. I do a lot of work for the city. I help write the codes for the city, Martin County and Port St. Lucie as a sign contractor. Many things in the current sign code needs to be updated. Things that are in the sign code shouldn't have been in there from the start. And they were acknowledged at the time saying that we'll get back to that. Well, I think this is the time to get that straightened out. But for the most pressing thing right now is face and copy changes. For over 34 years, no sign permit was needed. Last year, out of nowhere, we were told that you need a permit to change copy on a sign face at Piranha Pats. We removed the sign face, stripped the old sign face from Frankenstein's, re-sprayed the back, put new copy on it, put it back in, and all of a sudden they said, you need a permit. That came after over 34 years of not needing a permit out of nowhere. The code did not change. The interpretation by one person did. In Martin, St. Lucie, and Port St. Lucie, Sewell's Point, all do not require a permit. All the sign companies in town are not aware of this change. This is not a structural change whatsoever. I have probably installed over 500 signs in this town over 34 years. Are you going to go back to 500 places and start finding them? They started finding somebody I had to pull a permit for a couple weeks ago just to help him out because he was frantic. It cost him $600 for, actually over $1,000 for the permit. $600 in back fines. Like I said in the past we never needed a permit Many issues come with this it's not transparent. No sign companies are aware of this The permit cost sometimes costs more than the actual copy change We don't know if it only is only for a wall sign on monuments or replacing old vinyl Only a contractor like myself, which I'm state licensed, online can get a permit. If you're changing a copy, can I proceed?

Three minutes, sir.

Comments are limited to three minutes, but I do have something to say. It won't be a back and forth exchange necessary, Alan, but my comments regarding this would be I met with city staff, I met with Mike and Jody. My comments would be for this to come back as a discussion item based off the consensus from this board to get more information on how other municipalities operate and why it changed and just have the discussion publicly. Excuse me. Hang on one sec, Alan. We're not going to go back and forth with public comment, but I just wanted to see where the commissioners were, if they wanted this back as a discussion, a D&D item for us to give a consensus to the city manager to bring it back.

That's one thing to say. Hang on, Alan. I think it's certainly important. Commissioner Rich?

Sure, I would like the city manager, however, to look into this initially. Perhaps he can resolve it.

Correct. So I believe there's been discussion and meetings with the public comment and city manager and potentially city attorney.

There's a real easy solution.

Hang on, Alan.

As long as the city attorney and the manager can talk with the development director that's administrative things and we just need to make sure that staff has the opportunity to use their whatever power administrative rule they have to do that and then If there's something that needs to be changed, I know we're going to be working on the comprehensive plan and adding some things. And I did talk to Mr. Marcus. So I just let city manager work with it. And if we need to have a discussion deliberation, they come back to us.

Okay. So do you guys want to wait then? It sounds like two of us support it and two might not. They want staff to figure it out if they need us.

Yeah. There might be any regulation change.

Yes, Commissioner Giobbi.

Yes, I agree that staff should look at it, but I think that we should have the right to deliberate once we have the information. Because this is one individual who knows, but the rest of the community may not know how that code affects them.

If we need to change or do something to the code, yeah, well, it's a real simple solution.

So, Alan, I understand you're trying to provide comment back and forth, but your three minutes were up, and I was trying to get a consensus from the board. You can see two of us support it coming back as a D&D item. The other two do not. I need board majority, I believe, for a consensus. They want staff to talk about it if they need us. I'm in the solution item.

I like solutions.

I understand. Your public comments for three minutes, though, Alan. I'm sorry.

And you'll see it. I was just going to suggest to the gentleman that he can send his solution via email.

Thanks, Alan.

Did he fill out a card? Yes.

Next I have Bob Zacchio.

Welcome, Bob.

I was just about to go sit back down again. Sorry, I hope everything's okay. I'll keep it brief and definitely in the positive for sure. I just want to say thank you to the commissioners, mayor, all of you that have come out, seen Project Lift, been involved in the community programming and the community engagements that we're doing. For the record, Bob Zacchio, CEO of Project Lift, And certainly very impressed with the city staff. Certainly I know some of us are in the crowd that are working on this project over in East Stewart. But I just wanted to say thank you to the commission for all the hard work that they put into it. and the support they've given. Also, you know, making a shout out to Pinal for her steadfast work that she's put in over this past couple months, and Lee as well. Thank you so much, sir, for all the work of going back and forth and making sure that this is a good project. Also, extending a warm welcome to Michael Giardino. Nice to welcome to Stuart. I hope you stay longer than and no divorces or anything like that end up in it. So, but we're glad to have you. We're glad to have you welcome. I welcome the opportunity to come see you or come meet you when the time is right and certainly the rest of the commission. But again, thank you all very much. The project is moving forward really, really well. And again, hats off to the city staff for all the work that they've put into this and the changes that they've had to go through over the past year or two to be able to still move projects forward is awesome. Thank you.

Thank you, Bob. I hope all is well.

Grand opening, Bob. We're hoping for in the November time. We're looking for program launches first quarter of 2027. Proctor Construction is doing a great job, by the way. Thank you. And also the CDBG grant manager. I think it's Guardian doing that. Doing a great job, too, staying in touch with everything that we do. I know that there's been some pieces to that in the past that I think are important to know that we got a good one in there. So we appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks, Bob.

Next, I have Reginald Floyd.

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners.

I have a partner who's also been making this presentation. I'm Reginald Floyd with the Genesis Group 1906, and Mr. David Myers, who's the president of this group also, he's going to also be assisting in the presentation this afternoon. Thank you. To the mayor and to the commissioners, we appreciate and thank you. We've humbly submitted the opportunity to speak. We represent Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. We're the oldest existing Greek letter fraternity for African Americans. We plan on bringing a chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated to Martin County. Our fraternity believes in manly deeds, scholarship, and love of all mankind. Some of the programs that we happen to support as a fraternity are March of Dimes, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Go to High School, Go to College, and a Voteless People is Hopeless People. Part of that is one of the things that we'd like to ask is a letter of support from Citi welcoming us to come in and continue our mentoring program. Our mentoring program is called EGO. EGO stands for the Educated Gentleman Organization. Historically, we've served some 270 young men. Those young men that once they're in our program, we have an 84% completion rate of our program. We have a 100% participant graduation rate if they stay throughout the 12th grade. We have a 100% All participants receive scholarships. We have a 77% those that are in our program are accepted to colleges and universities. And we have a 82% rate of those that were in our program that went on to college go on to receive college degrees. The AA bachelors are going down the line. We've had participants from, go on to Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman, Alabama State, Tuskegee, Clafton, Valdosta, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, University of Miami, Full Sail, Emory Riddle, University of Florida, University of South Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Massachusetts, Indian River State College, St. Augustine, Clifton, and several others. Mayor, commissioners, we come in humbly wanting to help. We want to work with young people, and we'd love to have a letter of support from you, from the commissioners welcoming us to come in and lend a hand. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. So to the board, I was the one that instructed the clerk's office to send Mr. Lloyd an email back to instruct them to provide public comment, asking for a letter of support to get a board consensus.

No problem. No problem.

I mean, what age group do they work? Can we just get a little more specific?

So you can ask them for clarification purposes during public comment, or it could come back as a D&D item.

Yeah, I'd just like a little more, I would fully anticipate in supporting their efforts. I'd just like a little more specificity as to what age groups.

You can ask them while they're here, or?

I thought you didn't want to do back and forth during public comment.

You can ask questions for clarification. So, yes, I will allow that.

Yes, sir. So what age group of young men do you work with?

The young men in our program, we accept them as early as the 8th grade all the way through the 12th grade, basically 13 to 18.

Okay, I was just approached by an individual who was expressing frustration that we weren't reaching out to this specific age group and how dire the need is and how much impact you can have. So I'm delighted to hear that. Okay, thank you.

Thank you, sir. Thank you. I have no problem. All right, so you have your consensus for a letter of support to the city manager? Perfect, thank you. Welcome, Mark.

Thanks.

You're welcome.

Mark Breckbill, 406 Southeast Finney Drive, Stewart, Florida, 34996. And I'm glad I ended up coming today because it turned out what I wanted to mention. I was glad Jeff Crosscroft came in because what I was going to suggest is that we're all going to be facing budget, I think some budget constraints coming up. We have a lot of money that's in the CRA and not any money hardly that's in the general fund. And what I'm asking is that we take a look, whether we bring somebody in to help us with it, but we take a look at ways that we might be able to redirect services to the CRA, that they could be funded by CRA money, instead of having that money come out of city pockets. For example, and I'm not saying, if we had a park that was in the CRA, and that park was supported for the CRA. Now other residents can use that park, right? But that would, I would think, and that's why I say we may need to bring somebody in, would be the potential to fund that out of CRA. And we hear these big projects and those big projects, the taxes they're paying, well let's get some of their money in helping out city residents. So there's things like that that I think that, for example, uh... uh... fun in fund accounting you can have uh... personnel and that personnel can be funded out of that font so you know i'd i think looking at who's doing what and how much of that may be as concentrated first for c r a instead of just the city You know, we may be doing an allocation. We may need to do actual people. But just to take a look at that. And I think that, you know, since Jeff was here, maybe he'd be willing to, as many of you know, he was always kind of our go-to guy on budget for years. But I just think it's something that we should look at as a way to potentially, and I don't know if this would qualify or not, but I'll give you one other example. The fire station that's over on, that's over on MLK, right? That station has to have certain types of equipment, it has to be in a certain location because of something that Collier once told me called conflagration or something. So conflagration means that the downtown will burn instantaneously, that's what it means. That anything that's much further out than that, you won't, the downtown area is vulnerable to that type of thing because of how they're built, how it's constructed, what's there. So if that's the case, that's a CRA activity. So if we have to have equipment and items there, because of this, I think there's an opportunity there to move the funding with it. Anyway, so those are just some suggestions I wanted to make. And then the other thing is, since Bob was here, his project and what they do is great. And there's a serious suicide problem going on right now in the middle school to high school. So take a look at that. We may need to do something.

Thank you. Thank you, as always, Mark.

Sherry White?

Welcome, Sherry.

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners. Just want to comment on the gentleman who was speaking from the sign company. Being a former Planning and Zoning Board member for the City of Port St. Lucie, I was one of the persons that went through the whole sign code, and the Planning and Zoning Board was instrumental in looking at that code, so if that helps any. Thank you.

Thank you again for your comments.

I have no further public comment, Mayor.

All right, seeing no further public comment, we're going to move on to approval of the consent calendar.

Move approval of the consent calendar.

Second.

So we have a motion for approval of the consent calendar from Commissioner Rich, seconded by Commissioner Clark. Are there any public comments on this motion? Seeing none, Mary, roll call.

Commissioner Clark? Yes. Commissioner Rich? Yes. Commissioner Giobbe? Yes. Mayor Reed?

Yes. Motion passes unanimously. Moving on to commission action. Agenda item eight. Lee, if you could read that for us.

resolution number 41-2026 a resolution of the city commission of the city of stuart florida authorizing the city of stuart police department to provide services to the martin county school board for teaching the phoenix curriculum at spectrum academy jd parker elementary school and any other martin county school within the city requesting the curriculum authorizing the mayor to execute the attached interlocal agreement between martin county school board and the city of stewart for the stewart police department youth crime prevention intervention program providing for an effective date and for other purposes

Chief, you had some comments on it? Yes, Mayor. Thank you. Commissioners, this was placed on the commission for commission action. It was probably better suited for the consent agenda. This is a ILA that has been in place for almost nine years prior to this renewal. And the Phoenix curriculum is a curriculum that our crime prevention intervention specialist, she's a youth counselor, Kathleen Lannan, who's been with the city of Stewart for 26 years. She teaches this program. She's certified to teach it and has been cooperatively teaching it at the school at J.D. Parker and at Spectrum this past school year. Prior to that, she was teaching it at the East Stewart Youth Initiative, the after school program, but that was later rolled into the Boys and Girls Club. um however word the school board and kathleen are just looking to expand opportunity to allow her to teach this in other schools to fourth and fifth graders and up as a deterrent to gang and drug activity in the community it's a very past proven effective program she teaches it one hour once a week for six weeks in the schools, and she can do different grades throughout the school year. So this past school year, she taught it to about 170, approximately 170 children, and is continuing to expand to other schools, or looking to expand So this would just allow us to clean up some language in the prior ILA and allow her to teach if other schools in the district, especially the ones in the city, would like her to come teach that to the youth to better educate them on these areas.

Question, Chief. With this ILA, this is just us authorizing us, Stewart Police Department, to work with the Martin High School District for the curriculum implementation, I guess?

Yes, Mayor, and if the schools request through Mr. Main, through the school district, that they would like Kathleen Landon to come teach this curriculum, she'll expand it to other schools, but she is currently teaching it at J.D. Parker and Spectrum.

Does the school district pay for the curriculum, or is it? to her police department or as a collaboration?

Yeah, so there's no money that exchanges hands. It's a very, you know, she learned and has the curriculum. There isn't much cost associated with it other than providing her as the subject matter expert to be able to teach it for the one-hour increments over the six-week period of time.

Okay. Commissioner Giovi?

I'd like to make a motion to accept Resolution 41-2026, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Stewart, Florida, authorizing the City of Stewart Police Department to provide services to the Martin County School Board for teaching the Phoenix Curriculum at Spectrum Academy.

Second.

We have a motion for Resolution Number 41-2026 by Commissioner Giobbe and seconded by Commissioner Clark. Are there any public comments on this motion? Seeing none, Mary, roll call.

Mayor Reed?

Yes.

Commissioner Clark? Yes. Commissioner Rich?

Yes.

Commissioner Giobbe?

Yes. Motion passes unanimously. Moving on to Lee. Do I have to read the second reading if it has a date certain?

No, so we put it in place just for advertising purposes so we don't incur more advertising costs. Since it was continued to a date certain and announced at the last meeting that this item came up and it was to a date certain the next agenda, the next regular commission, we don't have to read it.

All right, so moving on to ordinance first reading regarding backyard chickens and residential zoning districts. Lee, if you could read that. Sure. Ordinance.

Ordinance number 2552-2026, an ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Stewart, Florida, amending the city's land development code chapter two, zoning districts uses allowed density intensity section 2.06.00, supplemental use standards to add a new section 2.06.24 backyard chickens in certain residential zoning districts and to amend the city's code of ordinances chapter eight dash animals article one in general section 8.2 livestock prohibited in the stuart in in the stewards code of ordinances by removing certain provisions relating related to allow backyard chickens in certain residential zoning districts providing for the repeal of prior ordinances and resolutions in conflict, providing for codification, providing for severability, providing for an effective date, and for other purposes.

Thanks, Lee.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. My name is Jody Kugler with the Development Department. Just to give you a little bit of background, on February 23rd, 2026, the City Commission directed staff to prepare the necessary ordinance to allow backyard chickens within certain residential districts. The city commission recognizes a growing trend towards sustainable living practices, including the desire to incorporate fresher locally sourced products into daily diets. Additionally, there is an increasing interest in providing residents with opportunities to engage in a small scale backyard food production. allowing a limited number of chickens on residential properties supports these objectives by enabling property owners to produce eggs for personal consumption. The proposed amendment would permit the keeping up to four chickens as an accessory use on an occupied detached single family and duplex properties within the R1A, R1, R2 urban neighborhood and single family detached zoning districts within the East Stewart neighborhood. The use would be subject to the terms and conditions outlined in the attached draft ordinance. This item was heard at the CRB on May 5th, 2025. The CRB held a public hearing and recommended approval to the city commission with the following recommendations. Consider a hedge in lieu of a fence, increase the height of a chicken coop to seven feet, and consider a five foot fence in lieu of a six foot fence. This item was also taken to the local planning agency on May 14, 2025, where the LPA held a public hearing and recommended approval for the city commission with the caveat that the city commission considered an annual fee in lieu of a permit of $65. And additionally, the LPA recommended a yearly license renewal fee of $10.

Thank you, Jobe.

I'm sorry, this concludes staff representation.

Thank you. Commissioner Jobe.

Yes, I'd like to make a motion to move ordinance 2552-2026 to the second reading.

I second for this question.

Was it seconded by you? Okay. So we have ordinance number 2552-2026. A motion was made by Commissioner Giobbe to move it to second reading and seconded by Commissioner Clark. Are there any public comments on this motion?

Yes, I have a comment. Samantha Smith.

Welcome, Samantha. Thank you. Welcome.

I'll keep it brief because you have the letter in your email. I am one of the constituents that's reached out to you. I'm sure there were probably a few more. I took some personal time today to be here. Unfortunately, the timing is a little tough, so you might not see too many more supporters in the audience. I just want to say that this was a concerted and organized grassroots effort to get something put in front of you that balances both private property rights and public health and safety concerns. It allows for people to connect with their food, to have a sense of sustenance and also achievement in raising these animals. And the concerns that most folks have are not much different than concerns you might have with managing your own pets or caged pets. I do think that the city of Stuart has wonderful constituents and residents and I do have full faith in folks to responsibly manage their households as well as the things that they choose to do in their backyards. And through this program there is good balance. We have some skin in the game. We're asking for a registration fee of sixty five dollars and then an annual renewal fee of 10. So when we talk about cost cutting this is actually a way to generate revenue in some cases. If there are 8,060 residences in the city of Stuart that qualify for this program with an initial registration fee of $65, that is $523,900 at initial registration with an annual rollover of $10,000. A household, that's another $80,000. Even if you cut that in half, those are still attractive numbers. That's a quarter of a million dollars and then an additional $40,000 a year. I think that this is balanced, it addresses everybody's concerns, it provides for recourse, it provides for responsible management, and I would just appreciate it if you would consider all information when you make your decision, if this does make it to second reading. Thank you. Thank you, Samantha.

So that was all the public comments. Do any of the board members have any comments for staff?

Commissioner Rich.

Yeah, it didn't take long for this ordinance to go off the rails here with the language. So attached at the very end of this agenda item was on page 187 was a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences article exploring the possibilities of backyard chickens locally. If you go to the last three pages of that two or three pages there's lots of links and I started going clicking all those links and reading those articles and I came upon one. That at the end near the end rather. And it's titled raising backyard chickens for eggs from the University of Florida ifast extension. And it talks about, it says, give a hoot, don't pollute. Do not store waste or compost in proximity to water bodies and consider the effect of runoff from your coop. Chicken manure is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients that can lead to excessive plant and algae growth in water. As microbes decompose the increased organic matter, they can deplete the available oxygen in the water, leading to fish kills. florida has many water bodies considered impaired due to excessive nutrients runoff containing waste from your chickens can contribute to pollution it says in our comprehensive plan which is cited in the very first time Item in the ordinance, policy 5.A2.5. No activity shall be permitted which would adversely affect the quantity or quality of recharge entering the city's aquifers or within the city's watershed basins. We simply cannot do this according to the comp plan. There is no survey of water bodies in this ordinance. There's no survey of homes that may potentially be too close to those water bodies and should be excluded. If you look at Fraser Creek and Poppleton Creek, there are homes all along that. We're gonna hopefully receive a substantial grant and spend quite a bit of money to clean up Poppleton Creek. If we have coops polluting it right above it, what's the point? This ordinance is premature and should not be considered at this time unless we pay much closer attention to our responsibility under not polluting our own waters. For the municipality that is the only environmental attorney dedicated solely to holding all others to runoff requirements, we should hold ourselves to the highest standards and this is just, I find it unacceptable that we've overlooked this obligation under the comprehensive plan.

For clarification for staff, is staff comfortable addressing Commissioner Rich's comments or would that be addressed at the second reading?

Mayor Reed, if staff can address this at the second reading. There is ways to manage the waste. So there is things that you can buy on Amazon that does have a waste contraptment that are made for chickens. So there is ways that we could look at it to where they would have to to manage that waste. Also, they can compost it as well, which is most people do compost a lot of the chicken waste and use it for their plants. It is a very good nutrients for the plants. So there's a lot of that. And those are the part of the process that if this was to go forward, that the city staff would educate anybody who comes in for a permitting, show them what they can do as far as keeping the waste within the runoffs within their confined area. We can certainly draft some language in there as well. So there is opportunities if you're close to an inlet or next to a storm drainage that we can provide them some information or some things that they would have to obtain.

And also for historical purposes, this ordinance passed back in 2017. Is this the original language from that ordinance as well and it hasn't been amended?

Mayor Reed, that ordinance was not, this was drafted strictly through the attorney, Baggett, and we did not go back to the original language, but there is a lot of information out there that when you're writing these chicken ordinances, what you want to make sure that it's captured in there. Again, I am very familiar with writing chicken ordinances. I'm not an expert, but I did work for St. Lucie County at the time, and we did adopt a chicken, backyard chicken, and it was very successful. There are still people obtaining permits, and their staff is a little bit larger than ours, but if there is an issue, our code enforcement will be knowledgeable, and also our department will be knowledgeable of what we're looking for and what would be anything that's proactive or reactive.

Awesome. Thank you, Jody. Commissioner Clark, you had your light on?

You had yours on. You had it on first. Okay, good. Thanks. So I grew up with chickens, so I know them, but I was in a rural area. And I love chickens, and I agree with them, but my main concerns were, of course, any type of pollution or any lack of responsibility from a homeowner. So I did talk to our... environmental attorney. Ruth Holmes, or I want to make sure she, or Ruth Holmes, our attorney, and we talked about the possibility of Any type of language with regard to distance from waterways? I know when we had the urban floor, urban ground floor farms, which was a urban district of agriculture or what? I don't know what the actual uses. Yeah, and it was right by Fraser Creek. or Bruna Pond and Fraser Creek, all the same difference. One flows into the other. So they were right there, but they had very strict guidelines how they were gonna control any type of waste that came down, or if it even came to the actual earth, it was a way to collect it before it got to the earth so that nothing seeped into the earth and got washed away during rains and so on. So there was guidelines for that, and that's a good example that it was there beside a water body or a couple of water bodies that converge into each other. But when we have residents who we're not watching, and that was a very special land use and that was a very special project and business that they had in that location and so they were watched carefully. We just want to make sure I know that the fee that the 50 or $60 fee and the $10 any whatever the number of the fee is and doing it every year but whatever it is that we have to do to make sure that people controlled and i had some people actually came to the last meeting but we didn't discuss it i don't see them here today and i know that there are people in seward who have chickens now uh... even though it's not allowed but i wanted our um... environmental attorney to look at some other to see anybody in the Treasure Coast which are municipalities not rural areas or in within the county but anything that's within a municipality and especially a municipality that has creek rivers or any type of water bodies there if there were any descriptions and I'm glad that Commissioner Rich brought up the University of Florida guidelines but it's a no brainer that we have to look at these things and make sure that we're careful and if it's going to be burdensome on us and if we're not setting the right example or if we're not getting the bar high enough I think we need to make sure that by another reading that there is enough outreach and information from our environmental attorney that gives us some clear guidelines because we know that if we do this we're going to be the example that a lot of probably other small cities along the coast look at and we're going to be the one that has it. I couldn't find anybody I found Okeechobee and St. Lucie, they're all counties. I didn't find any of our cities along the east coast that had chickens, but maybe I didn't look hard enough. But I just want to make sure that we have everything from our environmental attorney, and if we need to add those guidelines and distances and details as to disposal and additional fines or anything like that, I want to make sure that's in there.

Does that conclude your comments?

Yeah, for right now.

Commissioner Giobbi?

Right. I'd like to make a motion to move this to the first reading to August 18th, and the second reading in the beginning of the second first meeting in September.

I'm not going to be August 18th. Are we going to meet on the... August 18th, we would have a full... Oh, you made the motion.

Is it a Tuesday?

Or is it the 17th?

What was it? Second meeting in August.

Yeah, make it the second meeting in August. But why are we rushing, though? Why don't we just wait until, if we have new people here, they can always.

They will be here August 18th. I believe that's the date.

August 18th is election day.

It's an election day.

I'm sorry, then what is the. August 17th.

So it will be the second week meeting in August.

August 24th. It will be the first meeting after election.

Yes, it will be the second meeting in August.

Commissioner Rich, you had a comment?

Yeah, I still think we're going to have to amend the comp plan, which is not a big deal, folks, because we have to amend the comp plan. We still haven't amended the comp plan since the second zip, and we've changed those ordinances, and they're actually going to expire because we've waited so long. So to include this... I appreciate Commissioner Giobbe making the amendment. Because I'm very discouraged that the staff made no recognition of the obligation of this city to protect its water. I don't understand how that happened. So to me, you should have to start all over again. And there's nothing wrong with You know, getting a survey, you know, it may turn out like the pond that's over on over by the Audubon Park there. That's surrounded by homes. You know, you might, you know, 10 chicken coops. May create too much of a load. We haven't done any of that assessment. We've shown no, I just. I'm very upset that we ignored our responsibility to adhere to one of our most important comp plan policies. So I would like the city to start all over again, do much more comprehensive analysis. There's nothing in here about rats. I don't know about you. But there's rat problems in my neighborhood, and there's nothing talking to them. These do attract rats, and we need a whole different type of fencing. You need a whole different type of compost protection. You need a whole different type of bagging of the waste. It's not to say it can't be done, but it needs to be done right, and there is no hurry at all here. Those are my comments.

Thank you, Commissioner Rich. My comments are I have full faith in the homeowners to take care of their own property. I don't... Sitting up here, my job's not to police law-abiding citizens that can follow common sense rules. That's something that's taught from your parents. Jody, are you able to show us on the GIS map where... You would be able to even have chickens based off of how the ordinance is written now? I can pull it up for you. Yeah, no worries. And as far as the comp plan, was that language in there the first time the ordinance passed for a week in the city back in 2017? I know it's a lot.

Mayor Reed, I don't have that answer for you today, but I can get that answer for you.

Okay. My other comments would be, as far as in the ordinance, I think the coop height should be higher than six foot. Some people that are taller than six, I'm six foot myself, so you're gonna duck going into a chicken coop. I think it should be seven foot, in my opinion, and there's people even taller than myself that might want chickens. As far as property value, I think that might be negated. You can look at Key West and the Keys. I don't think it affects their property values one bit. I can't afford a house down there, but I can afford one in the city of Stewart. As far as a rodent issue, would this potentially attribute to more? I don't know. There's rats in downtown Stewart currently, and there's no chickens. You see some homeowners in multifamily, they have dogs. I'm not sure where they walk their dogs. So I think for homeowners, they have a backyard, they should be able to use it how they feel necessary. And hopefully staff can answer all the questions and concerns that we have as board members as far as rushing something I've seen things done much faster in the city even prior to myself getting here. I don't think anything From this ordinance is being rushed. It was voted on and approved back in 2017 and rescinded after a week There's still property owners that probably still currently have chickens in the city and the county, and they might be out of compliance, but I don't get calls about that. I don't know about staff if they can attest to that for homeowners, unless your neighbor's calling on you. But this is property rights, and I think the city deserves it.

So if you see the gold colors, that is your R1A. Your R1A is your yellow properties.

And did you filter out the GIS for where you're allowed? Based off of how the ordinance is written now, where they would be able to be, Jody?

I would have to go through the other side. If I could do that and provide that information to you just to show those locations of where this proposed ordinance. So one of the other things too, when we bring this back, you could even look at a pilot program. I know a lot of places started out with pilot programs. So that's something you may want to, if this is something you want to test before you actually move forward with this type of ordinance, you can also do a pilot program for a year. A lot of places have done that in the beginning. So it's just something I can bring back both options just so you can look at that as well.

So when you say like the pilot program, Jody, it would be an ordinance that would sunshine out after a year or it would be renewed?

It would be sunshined out, and it could be a year, two years, but it would be something to, then we can collect the data that Commissioner Rich is referring to. But there is other options that we could do, but I can bring back both, so you can look at those as well. If that's something the board would be inclined to be wanting to hear.

And my statement to the board would be, this is what we do up here. We set policy. So the questions and concerns that we have, they don't have to be resolved in first reading, second reading. You can ask for a third, fourth, fifth, sixth reading. So nothing is quote unquote rushed. So any questions or concerns you have, I would ask them now for staff. And then when it comes back at second reading, I know there is a motion and Commissioner Jovi, you're talking about potentially amending your motion to a date certain. My suggestion would be to go from first reading to second reading and see if we can get these concerns addressed that the board has currently brought up for staff. And if they get addressed, then we decide what we wanna do. If there's more new concerns that are brought up at second reading, you can always ask for a third reading. So like I said, it's not rushed, as some like to say. Commissioner Clark, you have a comment?

whatever region we go to, we should at least have, I don't know, Mr. Krolski or somebody, our city manager, put a little blurb somewhere in one of our newsletters so that people know that this is being considered. It's not just the people who are interested in chickens, but everybody needs to know that we have more time to get comments and invite people to learn more. And I'd also like to ask just to come up, just to say, even if it's just hello, but I just want to make sure that we have the ears of our environmental attorney, Ruth Holmes. So I did talk to her earlier. Yeah.

Hey, Ruth. Hi, Ruth.

Thank you, commissioners. Commissioner Clark and I did speak this afternoon a little bit about the ordinance and in ways that it could be improved upon. And to Commissioner Rich's comments, those are valid comments he's making. But also, the state of Florida has developed very sophisticated stormwater rules over the years. And a lot of these types of real industrial polluters or commercial polluters are required to keep their stormwater on site. And there could be some ways that we could apply those types of principles to this type of ordinance. But I do think that looking into what other communities have done, sometimes we don't have to create the wheel ourselves. other communities that may have sought out or have in-house expertise in Raising chickens. I don't know that that's true, but it could be true, and it's something that we could apply, but we definitely don't want it to affect the waterways. There are setback requirements in the existing language that's meant to keep it from being a nuisance to your neighbors. Same thing could be said for required setbacks for ditches and waterways.

They are different if you're next to a water body.

Right. Yeah, that's right. They should be and so we need to think about that So, you know the city of Stewart is also a stakeholder in the basin management action plan, right? And we don't want something like this to to affect our our very good score right now so we and maybe if we do some if we do a bang-up job and Have some really good requirements that really aren't intended to burden the homeowner, but the property owner But what they're intended to do is make sure that the property owners actions don't have unintended consequences on the city, on the waters, on the neighbors, things like that. So there's a lot that we could do, and maybe we could get more credit in our basin management action plan going forward if we were to do something. Just a thought.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ruth. And this might be for staff. Has Rivers Coalition, has it ever been presented at their body before? They might be a good resource to reach out to as well and maybe even find out if chicken poop versus dog or cat poop is more nutrient rich because there's homeowners that have dogs that don't clean up their dog poop. So does that attribute to the nutrient rich river as well, I guess? It's like where do you draw the line on what people can have on their own property as far as animals or whatnot. Like I said, it goes back to common sense and having full faith in homeowners. Any other board members have any comments or questions for staff? Any public comment?

You already asked for public comment.

Sure, but you've got to come to the mic.

The way that it's being presented seems like everybody and their grandmother's going to have chickens and we're going to have a poopy state and i don't understand that you're just saying okay to somebody that wants to or produce their own food and take care of and limited the numbers it's not going to be 400 chickens consume you know That's all I wanted to say. Thank you.

I appreciate it.

There was one other thing, too. I saw a comment in my research. I know in the ordinance currently, as it's written, they wanted a number of four maximum. I read where six maximum was better, I guess, for the chickens. Oh, that's a good idea. So that would be a nice number to hit then, too.

Some have five. I think in Okeechobee or somewhere they have five or four.

So we have a motion from Commissioner Giobbe to move it.

One more person.

Hang on. Yes, Missy, you have a comment. Sorry, it's a slow night. I have no problem with public comment. We work for you.

I don't either. That's why they're here.

Thank you. I am a gardener. I have a vegetable garden. I have to pay $25 for chicken manure that you dilute to fertilize your plants. I have tomatoes this big. I just want to tell you that it's gold. The manure is gold. It is not trash. It's not going to go into the system. Trust me. And I just want to say, I was here, what year was the first voted on?

2017. 2017. It was approved, the first.

So I just want to say that it's a win-win. So thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Commissioner Giobbe, you had a comment?

Well, I just wanted to amend my motion. Okay, based on the conversation that all of the commissioners had, input from our environmental attorney, Ms. Holmes, I'd like to move this forward to the second reading, but at the second reading, as the mayor stated, we can do a third and fourth reading, have a lot of this information available, and that we can then make a decision then. Well, no, I'm saying I'd like to amend it to say I'd like to move it now to the second reading. Okay. That was your original motion. That's the original motion, but I wanted to say.

Can you have a third and fourth reading, Mr. Baggett?

Well, technically it could be a third and fourth, but it would still be the second reading. If you want to continue the second reading, you can continue the conversation to the next meeting if you'd like. So you wouldn't have a discussion. You would just agree to continue. Yeah, you're not done.

Sort of like what we did on the prior motion.

You just say we're. Right, I mean, let's say we're having an exhaustive discussion. You guys have a lot of still questions out there the staff can't answer, and we've gone for three or four hours. You can say, let's just continue this to the next agenda meeting. And then it's the second reading. It's just continued. But you don't call it third, fourth. The statute just requires the first.

It's continuously called the second reading. OK. Thank you for clarification.

So the current motion is to move this to second reading, so it wouldn't need amended unless you were doing a date certain, but this would come at the next city meeting at the end of this month, or would it be at?

Next city meeting, second reading.

You're wanting to have second reading. I thought you were talking about August is what you were talking about.

Originally I was going to make a sub menu since we hadn't voted. But I think that with all of the commissioner's input and with the environmental attorney, I think for the second reading, we certainly could have the information that Commissioner Rich, Commissioner Clark and the mayor and myself would like. So I'd like to be able to move this on to the second reading.

which would be the meeting at the end of this month.

That's how I interpret the motion, to move it to second reading, and hopefully all of our concerns can get answered.

So was that your original motion, Commissioner? Yes, it was.

I thought I would have to amend it in the sense of saying we'd need all that information at the second reading, but I'm sure that the staff will have that.

So to restate the motion, it's... Coordinates number 2552-2026, there was a motion by Commissioner Giobbe to move it to second reading, and it was seconded by Commissioner Clark, so hopefully all of our concerns will be addressed at the second reading, and like I stated, if there's any more concerns, we can always move it to another reading, and hopefully we can get everything addressed, but that's the current motion. But seeing no further discussion, Mary, roll call.

Commissioner GOB?

Yes. Hold on one second. Oh, sorry. Was it seconded? It was.

Yes. All right, okay.

Commissioner Clark. Commissioner Clark seconded.

So Commissioner GOB? Yes. Commissioner Clark? Yes. Commissioner Rich?

No.

Mayor Reed?

Absolutely yes. Motion passes with Commissioner Rich dissenting. Seeing no, is there any further discussion or deliberation from this board? I'm gonna adjourn this meeting then.