City Commission - Regular Meeting

All right, guys. We're going to start this regular meeting of the Stewart City Commission on August 24, 2026 at 5.30 PM. Mary, if you could do the roll call.

Mayor Reed? Here. Commissioner Clark? Here. Commissioner Giobbe? Here. Commissioner Matheson?

Here.

Commissioner Rich?

Here. And then we're going to have an invocation by Pastor James Harp from Stewart Alliance Church. And if you could, lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you.

Let's go before the Lord in prayer. Our gracious Father, we just thank you for today. Thank you for your love and your grace, Lord, and your mercy, your goodness. God, you're good all the time, and all the time you're good. We just give you praise tonight. I thank you for the opportunity and privilege to be here to pray, Lord, and to consider that the most important thing that I've done today is to pray and seek your face and seek your presence and seek your power and your direction, Lord. I pray for these that have been elected to be our leaders in this city. Lord, I ask your blessing. Your bountiful blessing to be upon each one of them and their families, Lord God. Supply all their needs according to your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Lord, thank you for these that are here tonight to have input, to hear what's happening. I pray for wisdom, as you've told us in your word. If anyone lacks wisdom, they're to ask you in faith, believing, and you will give it liberally without reproach to those. And so, Lord, I ask for that wisdom in the making of decisions, in the contemplating of issues and the other things that are here. Lord God, we just ask you to guide and direct. And we know you're here. There's no place that we can go to be away from you, out of your presence. So, Lord, again, I thank you. I thank you for this privilege that you've given me to be able to pray and encourage and to continue to pray for these in this room tonight. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Next up, we have the Commissioner's Oath of Office, and it's going to be the Honorable Judge Jennifer Alcorta-Waters that is going to be doing the swearing in. Thank you.

Ms. Clark, do you want to come down with me? Ms. Clark, do you want to come down? Who's first? You. Who? Ms. Clark. Come on down. All right.

The most experienced.

Decide the price is right. It's coming up.

It's coming up. I do solemnly swear that I will support honor protect and defend the Constitution and government of the United States and the state of Florida that I am duly qualified to hold office under the Constitution of the state of Florida and

And under the charter of the city of Stuart.

And that I will well and faithfully perform. The duties of the city of Stuart Commission.

On which I'm about to enter. So help me God.

Okay. Can I see Campbell Rich, please? You're up next. Are you ready? Raise your right hand for me to be sworn. Aye. Aye.

Campbell Rich.

Do solemnly swear.

Solemnly swear.

That I will support.

That I will support.

Honor.

Honor.

Protect.

Protect.

And defend the Constitution.

And defend the Constitution.

And government of the United States.

And government of the United States.

and the State of Florida that I am duly qualified to hold office under the Constitution of the State of Florida and under the Charter of the City of Stuart and that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of the City of Stuart Commission City of Stuart Commissioner You got it. On which I am about to enter. So help me God. Merritt Matheson, you're up next. You ready? Raise your right hand for me and be smart. Aye. I do solemnly swear that I will support honor protect and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States and the State of Florida that I am duly qualified to hold office under the Constitution of the State of Florida and under the charter of the City of Stuart and that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of the City of Stuart Commissioner on which I am now about to enter so help me God

Thank you, Judge Waters. Moving on to comments by city commissioners. Commissioner Matheson. Sorry, you're the first in line.

Thank you. I did make a couple notes. I'm deeply humbled and honored to once again have the opportunity to serve my hometown as city commissioner. Over the past few months, I spoke face to face with hundreds, if not thousands of Stuart residents. Face to face conversations like these are the foundation of our small town charm. A common theme that I heard from residents during these face-to-face conversations was the desire for us to focus on positive based solutions to our common interests and goals. We are all neighbors, all Americans, and we are best when we treat each other with respect and civility. I'm incredibly grateful for all the support and advice from so many that got me here today. I especially want to thank my wife and family for their patience, backing, and encouragement. Thank you. Moving forward, one of my top priorities as Commissioner will be acquiring conservation land in the city of Stuart. We have the funding source through Martin County Forever. This model at the county level has been a tremendous success. In future meetings, I will go into further detail. For now, I challenge our city staff, my fellow commissioners, and all residents interested in this Please come together, support this mission. Let us use the funding as the taxpayers voted. Let's manage our growth by growing our conservation land. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Matheson. Commissioner Rich. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And congratulations to Commissioners Clark and Commissioner Matheson on their victories. And I've known Merritt almost his entire life, so it's going to take me a little while to get used to calling him Matheson. But I'm very happy that's taken place. So tonight presents more than an addition to this commission. It is an opportunity for us to renew our commitment to a more prosperous, resilient, and welcoming community. a place where people want to live, work, raise families, and visit. And to reiterate with what Commissioner Matheson just says, because of that successful effort to secure voter approval for the half cent sales tax for land acquisition, the city will have approximately $2.5 million a year for 10 years. And that is to acquire environmentally sensitive lands, And this investment can expand public green space, protect valuable natural resource, and something that's in the headlines right now, strengthen our storm water management capacity. Some of you may ask, what's the value of that? Look at Northwest Indiana. Two weeks after a rainstorm, tens of thousands of people are still without power because they did not manage their storm water. But events like these remind us that responsible planning today is far less costly than recovering from preventable harm tomorrow. We also have to keep our focus on the heart of our city, the downtown core, the CRA. With roughly $10 million a year available to us, we have the capacity if we bring commitment, imagination, and sound professional planning to make strategic investments in our parks, streets, sidewalks, and public spaces. We can make downtown more vibrant, more comfortable, more interesting, and safer for everyone. We can create a place that reflects the best of our community and strengthens its future. Let's be deliberate about the community we want to become and confident that by working together, we can achieve it. I look forward to the progress and shared success ahead. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thanks, Commissioner Rich. Commissioner Giobbi.

Hi, everyone. As always, I want to thank you. It's nice to have a full house. We're investing in new commissioners here. I want to say congratulations to Commissioner Rich and Commissioner Clark for maintaining your seats. Congratulations to Commissioner Matheson for coming back to the dais after four years, I believe. okay thank you all um and i want to thank all the people who did campaign i mean they all put in a great effort i will say i'm a little disappointed we only had 28 of our electorate come out to vote i would hope that in the next election that you do better we can do better we certainly can have a majority of the citizens who live here to vote and i'm glad to hear that commissioner rich is you know and in collaboration with commissioner matheson that he is all for green space because i think it was at the last budget meeting you said we had enough green space so i'm glad that you've had this turnaround thank you thank you commissioner clark thank you thank you mr mayor

I just want to say thank you. Thank you, first of all, to Judge Waters for coming today. This is a part of community. I remember when I first came on the dais, Judge Levin swore me in, and so I'm so thankful. This will be a memorable day for me to have you swear me in after this very, very... plot election. It was a tough time during this time, but I really appreciate you coming in. Congratulations to Commissioner Rich for re-election and also to Commissioner Matheson. I think one time when Commissioner Jobe had come on, she had made a comment with regard to uh... our supervisor of election and we say well we can't favor our supervisor of election but i tell you martin county just stands high and proud for the work that is done not only in all race but all the other races for our supervisor of election and that post and that role in our community is probably almost sacred and we just really appreciate everything that that office does for us and so um That's it, I didn't call any names. See, I just said supervisor of elections. So anyhow, I ran on a ticket or a plan that says let's bring civility back to our commission, if I ever got back on the commission. Let's make sure that we have an opportunity to talk to our residents, to have a revision of Stuart, to talk about what we'll be doing in the future with our buildings, with our waterfront area, and let's talk about preserving our community and also uplifting our community, especially our downtown area, which with the way the economy is, people consider what happens when I come downtown and what kind of a transportation will I have when I come downtown, what kind of a parking. And so we have to look at those things and we have to look at where Stewart stands in our community, meaning the Treasure Coast, as a transportation hub, and I'm using that word, yes, transportation hub, for the whole area. You go southwest Palm Beach, Orlando, Fort Pierce, and so we have to look at where our little area on the map stands and when people come here to go to the beach and other places. So I want us to keep that in our forefront when we go through this next four-year term, that we have all of our residents giving us as much input as possible. I go back to my roots where I'm from, originally from Jamaica, and I'm very proud of that. And I would say that I have the heritage of an artiste, the Honorable Robert Nestor Marley and his theme, forward ever, backward never, and that's what we're going to do in Stewart. We're going to go forward. We're going to have a vibrant community and we're going to make sure that all of our residents are participating and that we're listening to our residents. With regard to my regular comments, Mr. Jim Krolski has been nominated and is, I guess, a candidate for the uh... stewart magazine we can vote on these pillars of the community and jim cross is our community services director please go to the stewart magazine facebook page look at all the credentials of all the community organizations as well as persons who are there and please try to vote for jim and any other organization or person that you see again it's a part of participating in our community and making ourselves be more familiar with what our community offers. During my campaign, I had somebody just sent me a message and says, you have to look at this real quick and the city has to do whatever they can do to make sure that the honor that is due to this person is given to them. And this situation was of a young man, Mr. Ryan Carter, who had gone to see the lady fall in the parking lot. And they're saying, well, what can we do? Can we do something to honor him as a hero? And so I just want to thank Mr. Carter for helping that lady. and I know that I've talked to city manager but we haven't really talked about it as a board and so I just want to bring that up and if this board would ever want to look into that and have an opportunity to find a way to honor Mr. Carter and really there are people who do lots of kind and wonderful things every day but this was truly a special act and I would like to say thank you to Mr. Ryan Carter. I've also had persons in the community come and talk to me about the community pool that used to be at the Martin County High School and what the issues are related to that and whether or not the city of Stuart can help to support something else. in some form or fashion. We're in the process of doing our budget now for 2027, and we have not included anything like that in there, but I think that that group, again, may either come and talk to staff in more detail, or they may come and even make Presentation to us as a city commission, and that is something that we have to look at as a community in general, whether it's through the county level as well as us at the city of Stuart to see how we can best work with that organization to provide swimming opportunities for persons in our Stuart community as well as our Martin County community. And, um. I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT BECAUSE THERE ARE LOTS OF THINGS TO DO WITH THE COUNTY'S FACILITIES AT THE SPLASH PARK AND OTHER FACILITIES. BUT I JUST WANT TO LET THE COMMISSION KNOW THAT I HAVE TALKED TO THEM AND HOPEFULLY THEY MAY BE COMING BACK TO US WITH ANOTHER TYPE OF PRESENTATION IF YOU'VE EVER SEEN SOMETHING THAT THEY'VE DONE BEFORE. THIS IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT WAY AND THEY'LL BE COMING BACK TO US. In 1928, I mean, yeah, 1928 there was a storm that came across the eastern coast of the United States, and that was, the blunt of it was in Florida, right here in our area. That storm of 1928 came through what would be Jupiter, came right across Lake Okeechobee, and that storm killed thousands of people in the Belle Glade area, or people called it the Glades area in general. Every year on September the 16th, the City of Pahokee has a memorial service at the Port Myakka Cemetery out in Port Myakka. And again, they've invited us. I've been going for many years. I've gone with Mr. Willie J. Thompson. I've gone with the van from the community center, the 10th street recreation center and i'm asking our commission if they could if mr redmond wants us to um Mike, what's your last name again? Redstone. Redstone. I don't know why I keep calling you Redmond. All day I've been doing that. Mr. Redstone wants to get any help or permission or anything to bring the vehicle out there with our seniors. We've done that before. We've brought the people from the Meals and Wheels program out there to that program in Port Myakka that we could work with our city manager and see if we could have the city go out there. In the meantime, I've asked our mayor if the mayor would also, traditionally, we've had a proclamation done early so that we can send it to the city of Pahokee and let them work with it in whatever programming they want to do. So I've asked the mayor to, we've traditionally done one, and I appreciate you looking into this, mayor, and I'll try to get that over to the city of Pahokee. So that's September 16th out at the Port Mallorca Cemetery right off of Kenner Highway. And it's at the end of Martin County and the beginning of Palm Beach County. It's technically Palm Beach County out there, at least portions of it. And so I just want us to have participation in that. Mr. Mayor, I think that's all my comments.

Thank you, Commissioner Clark. My comments are simple. Congratulations to Commissioner Matheson, Commissioner Rich, and Commissioner Clark on your elections. As far as Ryan, I support you with that. I saw the post on social media, Commissioner Clark. I think the pool, I think they're doing proof of concepts, though, starting in October. I could be wrong on that, but I'm pretty sure Martin Swims is doing that. And I also want to get a consensus from the board on switching public comment before commissioner comments. My opinion is I think it should be before commissioner comments so we can resemble what the county does. Commissioner Clark?

When I tried to introduce the arts moment at the city, it is still somewhat of an elective because the actual order of the agenda is in the charter. So I don't know if, Mr. Baggett, do you have any opinion?

I can look it up, but I think you're right.

So is that something we'll just address then after? I don't expect you to look it up on the spot. I think she's right. I think it has.

You want to have comments from the public on non-agenda relief before the city?

Correct.

No, I would not agree with that.

Just so we could address them. That was my concept on it.

So that's another thing. I like the idea myself.

No.

I just said I liked it. It's off, sorry. I like the idea because it gives us an opportunity to. Commissioner Giobi. Yes, I'm sorry.

Commissioner Clark, your light was on or?

Okay, so it becomes a big shout and match and we don't address, I mean, I know that sometimes the residents think, well, why are we talking to you for three minutes and you're not addressing us? We have staff, we have time. Talk to us ahead of time. Let us work things out two minutes at the dais and going back and forth It just it doesn't it doesn't work. I don't agree with that I think that people should hear their thing or come and talk to us ahead of time They can still talk it out in public. No problem with that, but it becomes really disruptive and chaotic when we have to respond to those things. Sometimes we do get clarity from residents when we ask them about something, but for the most part, it can get out of hand.

All right. Thank you, Commissioner Clark. Commissioner Rich?

Yeah, the charter specifically says that the mayor may ask the public speaker for clarification, but we do not want to set up a back and forth. You could have people who could completely hijack the agenda, and that's not fair to the people sitting here. They have the agenda in their hand, they have the issues before us, and they may be prepared to speak. And to start a potentially endless dialogue is fraught in my mind.

Thanks, Commissioner Rich. That wasn't my goal, though. But moving on, can I get an approval of the agenda as posted?

Move approval of the agenda as published.

Second.

We have a motion by Commissioner Clark and seconded by Commissioner Matheson for approval of the agenda as posted. Are there any public comments on this motion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Commissioner Clark, did you?

Aye.

OK. Motion passes unanimously. Comments from the public on non-agenda items?

Jimmy Smith?

Welcome, Jimmy. You're first.

Hey, good evening. Good evening to you. Commission first I want to just say thank you judge for Sweeney and you and have been Selected to be Commission's Congratulations to all of you I want to start out and say that um, I'm gonna I'm a vote for Jim Well, Jim, I'm gonna vote for you, Jim, because you have been a great worker in the city of Stewart. Jim has did some great things. So if you don't know Jim, raise your hand, Jim, wherever you are. You can call on Jim. He has really helped this city become a great city. I'm telling you, it's hard to find good workers that you can call on and you see involved.

So I want to say thank you, Jim, for that.

that next thing I want to say to you I want to say thank all of you that ran hard for your candidate for this race not only in the city the county and the school board I want to congratulate all of you because this has been a long journey And I want all of you to know that those that won, we want to congratulate you from our heart that people have chosen. And those that didn't win, I want you to have a good heart. You're not a loser. I always say that a winner never quit and a loser never win. So don't never quit fighting to the end. Because there's no other time so good to see people in Martin County that wants to work in their capacity to become a commissioner, a school board member, to represent the people of Martin County. Because I look back in 1963 when I first come here, when it was Rattlesnakes and Dirt Road. And we had to walk to school and did all those things. And then to see the city has grown all the way back when the Astor game come through. And then you see Jesse Jane came before that, their game. So a lot of you don't know some of this history. But I want to encourage you, if you want to live in the city of Stewart, try to learn the history of Astor. Martin County. Do not come and just say I've been here 30 years and you don't want to have no knowledge of Martin County. Once you come to the knowledge of Martin County, you will really, really appreciate Martin County. and you understand how Martin County became great, not because of people just being here 20 years, 15 years. These people have paid away and their families have died and took the ground here and worked hard to become what it is today. And so when you learn that, that will give you a good heart how to love one another, embrace one another. We have to come better in loving one another in Martin County. Regardless of your race or wherever you come from or whatever, this is a place of love. And we can overcome all this hate and bittering that we have sometimes. And I just pray that we continue to work together, support our city, support our county, no matter who it is that's chosen, just love one another. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Jimmy.

Next, I have Kevin Hempel.

Welcome, Kevin.

Good evening, thank you. I'll be real quick. I don't wanna stir it up, Eula, but I got a couple things to say. First off, I wanted to thank everybody that ran. It takes a lot of courage to run for office nowadays, and everybody who ran, I wanna thank them. One thing I just wanted to mention real quick, and some of the neighbors have been talking to me about this, is something's gotta happen with all these campaign signs. It used to be you couldn't put campaign signs in the right of way. Now I don't know if that was city policy or if there was an ordinance somewhere, but there are towns that enforce that and don't allow it. And nowadays we have social media, we have stuff that we did back in the 80s and 90s. I think some people vote against people when they see the signs. And proof of the pudding is some of the folks that had the largest signs lost. So the signs, yeah, look at how effective they really are. And I know everybody's scared that I would be, too, to lose a vote by changing something like that. But it's something that needs to be looked at, I think, because it really detracts. In some cases, signs were put on corners that were actually made it dangerous as a driver to try to see over the signs with oncoming traffic. So that's my two cents worth. So good luck, everybody.

Thanks, Skip.

Thank you.

We have no further public comment.

Seeing no further public comment, I wanted to apologize to the city manager because I overlooked his comments. So city manager, Mike.

Thank you, Mayor, and no problem. I wanted to first congratulate our newly elected officials, and I want to let all of you know that the staff is dedicated to working hard for the betterment of the city, and we'll keep our heads down and keep working really hard for all of us. So additionally, I was gonna put out a public service announcement about campaign signs, from the guy who's supposed to keep it orderly and tidy. If you have any, pick them up so that we don't have to. We would really appreciate it. So that's just a little public service announcement from here. because we'd really appreciate it if, and I think the time's coming close to when it's supposed to be taken care of. So anyway, so that said, weather affected us yesterday, just yesterday. So I have a degree in meteorology, that doesn't matter. Living in a tropical environment for a good deal of my life, and it doesn't matter whether there's a tropical storm in the neighborhood. Dew points in the high 70s and 80s will produce severe weather. and everyone should be cautious about that and take every precaution that you can. Your city's ready to respond, but you can help us out a bunch if you take care of your areas, and we'd greatly appreciate it, because it can pop up out of nowhere like yesterday. I'll leave it for next time, Mayor. Thank you very much.

Thanks. Commissioner Clark, your light's on.

Yeah, I just wanted to thank you. I just wanted to say that I forgot to acknowledge our former Commissioner McDonald and I think Commissioner Collins, newly elected to the county, was here. And we have Commissioner Campy. I just wanted to say that they're here with us today. And Sarah Heard was here also.

Moving on to approval of the consent calendar if I can have a motion for that. We have a motion by Commissioner Rich and seconded by Commissioner Giobbe on the approval of the consent calendar. Are there any public comments on this motion? Seeing no public comment, Mary, if you could do the roll call.

Commissioner Rich?

Yes.

Commissioner Giobbe? Yes. Commissioner Matheson?

I abstain.

Commissioner Clark? On the consent calendar?

I wasn't at any. He wasn't here.

He wasn't here. Mayor Reed.

Yes. Question, though. Can you abstain from that, or do you have to take a vote? Because I was always told you had to vote regardless unless you had something on file.

It was in the Board of the Minutes.

Gotcha, okay, so motion passes with Commissioner Matheson dissenting, I guess, or abstaining. Moving on to commission action item number three, acceptance of the utility easement agreement with Martin County Airport. Lee, if you could read that ordinance.

And it's not an ordinance, it's a resolution, Mayor, but I'll read it. Resolution number 59-2026, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Stewart, Florida, accepting the conveyance of a utility easement located on county-owned property at Martin County Airport, Witham Field, to the City of Stewart to allow for utility-related services to the airport operations building, providing an effective date and for other purposes. Attached to your... Agenda item, you will see that the county had, county commission had already granted us a utility easement for our infrastructure that's there. Part of the airport is not within the city, but we've had a longstanding interlocal agreement where we've provided the infrastructure for utilities underground there. And if you had questions more, I'm sure Mr. Coonan or utilities director can answer them, but we have some infrastructure that was newly added over there and so in ground that we didn't have an easement before. I'm not sure about the specific details, but sometimes when you build buildings or move things around, you gotta shift the easement. So they granted us the easement and by law, we need to accept the easement. So they have given us the easement and this is a formality to accept it.

Hang on one sec. They got other lights on. Commissioner Clark. Commissioner Giave, your light was on first.

I was going to make a motion about the resolution, but if Commissioner Rich had something else to say.

No, I didn't indicate I had a comment.

No, so the lighting system is, well, they're different, by the way. Oh, that's right. So I might make some mistakes because the names are wrong up here, by the way, so I'll do my best. Good point.

Yeah, that's right. We all just moved. Your line is on Commissioner Matheson. Yes, gotcha. Yeah.

I was going to make a motion as well, a motion to approve, but...

I first wanted to thank Attorney Baggett for explaining. There might be people who don't realize that the county owns the airport, but there are many lines underneath that are city utility lines. So this is an important easement. So I'd like to make a motion to accept resolution 59-2026. Resolution of the City Commission of the City of Stuart, Florida, accepting the conveyance of a utility easement located on the county-owned property at Martin County after Witham Field to the City of Stuart to allow for utility-related services to the airport.

Second.

So we have a motion for approval of resolution number 59-2026 by Commissioner Giobbi and seconded by Commissioner Clark. Are there any public comments on this motion?

Yes, I have a public comment from Frank McChrystal.

Welcome, Frank.

I see some of the finest of people are back in the house. That's awesome. On things we can all agree on, I would hope this would be one. One I know we all agree on is the number of great, great, great people that work in this building. Runway 1230, 5,828 feet, became the longest runway at Witham Field in 1998 with an illegal extension. This illegal extension was done with no environmental impact studies, which were bypassed by relying on defective documentation and improper statements made by county staff to local, state, and federal officials. This statement was proven to be true when the FAA, in order to rectify the 1230 violations of federal air regulations, which extended runway protection zones into existing neighborhoods, ordered Witham to install EMAS at both ends of 1230 to stop out of control planes. Here's my point. There are 23 acres of mature pines that border runway 1230 on one side and Monterey Road and YMCA on the other. Miraculously, about three-fifths of this airport property is indeed inside of city zoning. I know Jody has spent plenty of time confirming this. There is insatiable demand for hangar space at Witham. The finest of people are all coming here. They're running out of water out west for their golf courses, and they've already ruined South Florida. According to Don Donaldson, there have been winds, and quote, winds of change at the FAA, and they will no longer accept the 30% of land use at Witham Field that does not put jets in the sky. This 23 acres of buffer is now on the chopping block and slated for hangar development. Again, miraculously, the city of Stewart controls these 23, controls about three-fifths of these 23 acres of native habitat on airport property with their zoning. Asking the City of Stewart for a zoning change is required to develop these 23 acres that buffer all the neighborhoods in Stewart north of Monterey from airport noise. A huge chunk of our residential neighborhoods bordered by 14th Street, Palm Beach Road, Monterey, and East Ocean will be drastically affected by increased airport noise. when these 23 acres of tall mature pines are all gone. I would hope we could view this as a gift from God with the control we do have over those 23 acres and stand up for the citizens of your city. Thank you so much.

Thanks for your comments, Frank.

I have no further public comment.

Seeing no further public comment, Mary, if you could do the roll call.

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

Yes. Motion passes unanimously. Moving on to commission action item number four, authorization to submit grant application to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Lee, if you could read the resolution. Sure.

Resolution number 60-2026, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Stuart, Florida, authorizing submission of grant application to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for water quality improvement and innovation grants that would benefit the St. Lucie River, including muck reduction and removal from creeks, authorizing execution of a grant agreement if awarded, further authorizing any minor amendments to the grant application documents if requested by the grant program, authorizing city staff to expend awarded funds, providing an effective date and for other purposes.

Thanks, Lee. Commissioner Giobbi.

If no one has any comments, I just wanted to make a motion. Second. Why do you make the motion? All right. Thank you.

Do what you feel you'd like to do, Commissioner. Thank you. OK.

I'd like to make a motion to accept this resolution. But first, I'd like to thank our environmental attorney, Ruth Holmes. These grants, it's the reason that we do get the grants. She's on top of it. She's always looking for them and working with everyone in staff to get those going and out the door. Thank you, Ruth. We appreciate it. And the motion is to accept Resolution 60-2026, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Stewart, Florida, authorizing submission of a grant application to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for water quality improvement and innovative grants that would benefit the St. Lucie River, including muck reduction and removal from the creek. Authorizing execution of a grant agreement if awarded. Second. Thank you. Commissioner Clark.

So we have a motion for approval of resolution number 60-2026 by Commissioner Giobbe and seconded by Commissioner Clark. Are there any public comments on this motion? We have one. Just make sure you fill out a green card after your public comment. You can do it after your public comment. Yep. And then you just have three minutes, okay? Thank you.

My name is Joe Giglio. I'm an environmental professional.

Joe, can you speak up, please?

My name is Joe Giglio. I'm an environmental professional. I've done some work for the city. I encourage the commission to pass this because this is one of your best opportunities in basically 100 years to remove the muck from the river, especially if the proposal is to use nanobubble technology. You will not add any dangerous chemicals. You will not have any dredge spoils to worry about. And it would bring the reduction of the muck in the river to the point where you will start to see some cleaner water, much, much more fish coming in, that's mullet and snook, which is the best way to do it. It's cheaper than dredge spoils, and I hope it passes, and please give any consideration that Ruth Holmes needs to help this pass. Thank you.

Thank you, Joe.

Thank you for your public comment.

I have no further public comment.

Seeing no further public comment on this motion, Mary, if you could do the roll call.

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

Motion passes unanimously. Moving on to ordinance second reading, the 1560 Boone LLC major amendment to Windermere Point CPD, and it's quasi-judicial, so please make sure you pull out your yellow cards.

It's OK.

Lee, if you could read it.

Sure. Thank you. Ordinance number 2546-2026, an ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Stewart, Florida, approving a major amendment to phase 3B of the Windermere Point Commercial Plan unit development, providing for an amendment to the master site plan to authorize the development of a 1,995 square foot Popeyes restaurant with dual drive-through lanes located at the southeast corner of Northwest Windermere Drive and Northwest Federal Highway, providing for conditions of approval, providing for conflict, providing for severability, providing an effective date, and for other purposes. And as the mayor said, I just want to remind you that this is a continuation of the second reading. And I believe we've got a presentation from the development department for you.

Yes. Do the commissioners have any ex parte communications to disclose? I'll start with Commissioner Matheson.

Prior to being a commissioner, I spoke with residents in the Windermere area. And the past few days, I've spoken to staff. Thank you. I'm here with an open mind.

Commissioner Ridge?

I have spoken with staff about this. And a woman approached the dais before the meeting. I don't see her. I think, is that Ms. Connelly? I'm sorry. If you could identify yourself, please. Lisa. Lisa. And she spoke to me regarding this project.

Commissioner Giovi?

I spoke to staff several times and I've had numerous emails from different residents in Windermere.

Thank you, Commissioner Clark.

Yeah, since I last voted, I think, against this project, I spoke to staff briefly, and I think that there have been several emails to myself and other commissioners, and I hope that those are in the record because I don't have them with me, but I know that they've been sent in with regard to this. I'm here with an open mind.

my comments are the same as last time we've just received more emails that are not in support of the project i did make a social media post on my government official page but i turned comments off so there's no ex parte on there but i'll still disclose it and that's me and i'm here with an open mind if the city attorney could place any potential witnesses under oath

Sure. I want to say my little spiel before we get into that real quick. In a quasi-judicial hearing, the City Commission steps outside of its legislative or administrative role and into a judicial capacity. The City Commission will be making a determination by applying existing laws, ordinances, and regulations to the facts presented to the board. Everything needs to be officially entered into the record and testimony needs to be under oath. So will all potential witnesses for the applicant and the City staff please stand and raise your right hand and be sworn in. You affirm that the testimony that you are about to provide in this hearing will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Okay, you may be seated.

Thank you, Lee. Will the Development Department please provide a brief summary of the agenda item, including the location, size of the property, current zoning, zoning requested, and list the applicant's request to deviate from the land use development regulations, if any?

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners. For the record, my name is Michelle Arbizow, Planner 2 with the Development Department. I'm presenting Agenda Item Number 5, the continuation of a second reading for a major amendment to the Commercial Plan Unit Development, Windermere Point. A petition to develop a Popeyes fast food convenience restaurant with double drive-through lanes within the vacant footprint of Phase 3B of the CPUD. The request was bought before the LPA on November 13, 2025. The first hearing before the commission was on January 12, 2026. The city commission voted to postpone the second hearing until the applicant addressed the monument sign, traffic, and the letter from James Tucker that was dated January 9, 2026. That was received by the city clerk's office on the 12th of January, 2026. A SECOND READING WAS DONE ON JUNE 22, 2026. MOTION WAS STILL APPROVED AND WAS SECOND. MOTION FAILED 2-2. THE APPLICANT REQUESTED THAT THE SECOND READING BE CONTINUED TO THE AUGUST 24 COMMISSION MEETING. HERE WE ARE. A MOTION WAS MADE AND APPROVED FOR THE SECOND HEARING TO BE CONTINUED. THE APPLICANT IS SEEKING TO MODIFY THE APPROVED SIDE PLAN TO DEVELOP AND REDUCE THE SIZE OF PHASE 3B DEVELOPMENT OF THE CPUD. Pursuant to the land development code public notice requirements, the applicant mail notices to all property owners within 300 feet of the subject property to provide details of the requested development and the date and time. Additionally, two signs were updated and posted on the property with the same information. The meeting was scheduled in a public hearing on June via the commission meeting. For today's date, public hearing requirements have been met. The Windermere Point CPUD comprises of three parcels. They total approximately nine acres. The 1.64 acre parcel outlined in teal, a circle in red, is the location of the proposed project with the address of 1961 Northwest Federal Highway. The parcel is situated at the southeast corner of Northwest Windermere Drive and US Highway 1. The subject parcel is currently designated by a CPUD, a Commercial Plan Unit Development. Northwest Windermere Drive is situated to the north. Northwest Federal Highway is situated to the west. The properties to the south is zoned CPUD, and the properties to the east is also zoned CPUD. THE SUBJECT PARCEL AS WELL AS THE PARCELS TO THE SOUTH AND EAST ARE DESIGNATED BY A COMMERCIAL FUTURE LAND USE DESIGNATION. TO THE NORTH IS NORTHWEST WINDEMEAR DRIVE. TO THE WEST IS NORTHWEST FEDERAL HIGHWAY. THE MASTERS SITE PLAN GRANTED ACCESS ON NORTHWEST WINDEMEAR DRIVE AS WELL AS NORTHWEST FEDERAL HIGHWAY. Regarding Northwest Windermere Drive, an agreement between Jensen Beach Investors LLC and Pineapple Plantation Property Owners Association concerning the driveway connections and the traffic signal was part of the approved ordinance. Per Ordinance 2149-08, Exhibit C, Item 6A, it states, the applicant shall abide by each and every terms, conditions, and agreements made and expresses in that certain agreement by and between the applicant and Pineapple Plantation Property Owners Association, Inc. This is dated February 25th, 2008. The approval for the Phase 3B, granted under Resolution 99-2017 and adopted on September 25, 2017, authorizes the development of a 2,034 square foot retail space and a 1,794 square foot restaurant with a drive-thru totaling 3,828 square feet. The architectural renderings and elevations of the PDQ, which was the proposed, is displayed on a screen of what was originally proposed. The layout shown is of the original proposed PDQ. The applicant seeks to amend the commercial plan unit development to eliminate the retail portion, designating the restaurant as the sole use for Phase 3B. The applicant is seeking approval from the City of Stewart Commission to construct a 1,995 square foot Popeyes restaurant with dual drive-through lanes. This proposal represents a reduction of 1,833 square feet from the total square foot of Phase 3B, originally approved by the Commission in 2017. Based on the LPAs and the public feedback, the applicant submitted the proposed color scheme to match the plaza. In accordance with Section 6.05.02.F, all large commercial development must provide a minimum of five design building treatments. And staff have identified the display window, wood facade, painted face brick, decorative light fixtures, and shutters. According with the submittal, the signage and elevation proposes a total of five signage. There are two wall signs, one on the west elevation fronting US 1 and measure 43.2 square feet. One sign on the elevation fronting northwest Windermere Drive measuring 24.1 square feet. And one chicken graphic which is 33 square feet. MURALS MUST BE DEFINED AS WALL SIGN IN THE CITY'S STEWART LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE. THERE IS ONE THAT SAYS LOVE THAT CHICKEN GRAPHIC. IT IS 117 SQUARE FEET. ONE FAMOUS LOUISIANA CHICKEN GRAPHIC WHICH IS 40 SQUARE FEET. NOTABLY THE PROPOSED SIGNAGE PLAN DOES NOT INCLUDE A MONUMENT SIGN OR ANY TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION SIGNAGE WHICH WERE PART OF THE ORIGINAL PDQ RESTAURANT APPROVAL. The applicant mentioned the monument sign at the Commission January 12th meeting, however, decided not to move forward with the proposal, stating that Popeyes will take care of that request with a later application. On the screen you will see two Popeyes location in Port St. Lucie that were featured in our staff report. One off of Port St. Lucie Boulevard and the other off of US 1. The community's feedback during our public meeting specifically highlighted these architectural features and color palettes as the design standards for the Stuart location. Reflected on the slide are clear images of the current location as it sits now. The City of Stewart will continue to provide sanitation services only to the site, ensuring consistent and reliable support. The existing parcel provides a total of 103 parking spaces. Of these 21 spaces are allocated to the current retail sale, a use. The proposed restaurant development will remove nine existing spaces, but the plan includes striping 16 new spaces to offset this impact. The restaurant will require 25 parking spaces. Additionally, there are 64 surplus spaces that would have been utilized if the remaining retail development had been constructed. As far as traffic, the proposed development is anticipated to generate approximately 122 trips during the a.m. peak hours. That is 67 entering and 55 exiting, as well as 229 trips during the p.m. peak hours, which is 127 entering and 102 exiting. The analysis compared the proposed trip generation with the previously approved retail development. The traffic consultant review concluded that the net trip generation for the proposed project reflects a reduction in afternoon peak hours trip and a de minimis increase, less than 1% in morning peak hours trip. March of 2026, the city received an updated traffic review from the consultant, which stated that the analysis was updated to use current ITE trip rates and compared them against the previously approved development. The proposed development is expected to generate slightly more traffic in the AM peak hour and slightly less traffic in the PM peak hours than what was originally approved. using the newer rates and the project is considered to have a de minimis impact on roadway network when compared to the previous approval. The proposed site plan indicates an impervious surface coverage of 57% and a pervious coverage of 42%. According to Kim Lee Horn, the city's consultant reviewer, the submitted drainage statement demonstrate that the project meet the city of stewards development criteria. The live oak tree impacted will be relocated on site by a certified arborist and will comply with the land development code. A tree removal permit is required prior to work commencing. In response to the flooding concern raised at the first Commission meeting, staff contacted FDOT. FDOT and their contractor Oasis indicated that they received a flood-related complaint in 2023, dispatched a crew to investigate, and found no issue at the time. No additional complaints have been reported since. THE APPLICANT IS PROPOSING TO INSTALL EIGHT CANOPY TREES THAT INCLUDE DAFOON HOLLYS, CRAPE MARTLE, PINK TABIBUA, LIVE OAK, AND A FOXDALE PALM. HEDGE MATERIAL WILL CONSIST OF COCOA PLUMES, GREEN ISLAND FICUS, AND TRINITS AS WELL AS ANNUAL GROUND COVERS. THE PERIMETER OF THE SITE HAS BEEN LANDSCAPED AND WILL BE MAINTAINED FROM THE ORIGINAL PLAN DEVELOPMENT. The conditions will include the following in the proposed ordinance. Water and sewer service will be provided by Martin County. All civil utility plans must be reviewed and approved by Martin County. All proposed dumpster enclosure must be constructed per the City of Stewart dumpster enclosure construction details. The applicant must provide approval from Martin County for the proposed dumpster location within their easement prior to the issuance of the site permit. If any of the proposed sanitation receptacles per use unit require more than twice a week pickup, the owner and developer will be required to install VertiPaks with 8-yard receptacles. On November 13, 2025, the LPA approved the Popeyes development, reducing the number of signs from 10 to 6, and asked that modifications are made to fit the architectural style of the surrounding plaza to ensure consistency. Staff finds the proposed development consistent with the city's land development code and finds that the reduced number of signage is less intensive. However, the approval is subject to the city commission approval. I do have current pictures taken by staff today of the plaza if the commission would like to view those.

I would.

Sure.

Yes, please.

Thank you, Michelle. Commissioner Clark, your light's on.

Yes. This is mostly for the clerk and for staff. I know we had set this to a date certain the last time when we had it. Was there any additional notice or any green cards that were?

was no additional notice sent out to anybody within this it was done via a public hearing of a date certain right and uh for august 20th so it was yes the requirement was obviously they knew because people have been sending us comments so yeah right okay and the sign yes was updated to make sure so can i continue mr mayor

It's up to you unless you want to wait until they're done with their presentation. Oh, okay.

I was going to say the other side has to give their presentation. That's fine. Staff just didn't say anything about any notice. I wanted to make sure that's on the record. Thank you.

Yeah, this is the old LA Fitness. They're not currently there at the moment. This is the building that is next to, that will be next to the proposed development.

Does that conclude staff's presentation?

This concludes staff presentation. Staff and the applicant, we are available to answer any questions.

Okay, so I'm gonna yield the floor to the petitioner to present its request to the city commission.

Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners, and congratulations, Ms. Clark, and congratulations, Mr. Matheson and Mr. Rich for your reappointments and success in the new four years, I believe, correct? Correct. thank you for allowing us to come back and hear the presentation I have with me today some other consultants that are local that will also be speaking they've also signed in we have with the consultant from traffic consultants we have the consultant from Tarragon, our civil engineer. And we actually presented a letter, which you might have read, you might not have read, which I'd like to read in, from the architect of record. Unfortunately, he was at a different housing authority tonight, and he couldn't attend. obviously you've all heard where we stand on the project what we've done as staff has confirmed this is a confirmed cpud it was all approved many years ago there were resolutions approved for the third revision we went to constantly downsize the massing of this out parcel to a point now as you heard that there was a reduction of close to 1833 square feet we fail at this point it's much more fitting and in a full compliance with all the ordinances that have been presented and reviewed by staff and confirmed as you saw on the presentation if you give me a minute i'd like to read in a letter from gallo herbert architect they were the original architects of the project when we started this many many years ago and it addresses 1961 northwest federal highway It provides the parcel number of 29-3741-101-000-00030-0. It was addressed to Michelle, and it reads as follows. I, Brian Herbert, a duly licensed architect in the state of Florida, he provides his license number. AR0015474 hereby affirms that he's the architect of record on the above reference project the construction documents including all architectural drawings specifications the related submittals have been prepared under his responsible charges in accordance with the requires of chapter 481 Florida statue in the Florida building code as adopted and amended by the state of Florida in the city of Stewart the certification is based on his direct involvement in the design process his review of all the relative and project documents the application and of the professional judgment and interpretation applying the applicable codes the plans have been developed to address at a minimum the following structural safety life safety accessibility energy efficiency local amendments the staff report which was prepared by the planning office for the city of stuart which recommends approval has been reviewed by my office and is consistent with the development codes and the site plan guidelines to the best of his knowledge the professional judgment and submitting the plans and specifications are in full compliance with the following building code and all applicable local regulations in effect as of the date of this letter should you have any additional information clarification of support please reach him at 954-461-6625 or brian herbert gha brian is the owner and licensed person involved in this project he did an amazing job on the entire project from the very very beginning from the la fitness all the way through the design It's been many years, lots of involvement with municipality, and we always seem to be able to resolve in a very amicable, very beneficial way, not only just to the boards and not just to the tenants, but also to the community as we proceeded. I would like to have Luke Lampert come up from Traffic Mobility, please.

I just wanted to provide a little bit of clarification on behalf of staff presentation the numbers that were presented in front of you were for the entirety of the CPU D so that is with the square footage of the Health Fitness Center all the retail and the proposed fast food restaurant. So just the fast food restaurant itself would be a much lower trip generator than what was indicated in staff report. The essence of the report was to demonstrate that this proposal is a decrease in traffic trips over the original proposal back in 2008. So I just wanted to provide some clarity on that. And then we do agree with staff's presentation that we meet the requirements of the code.

Does the petitioner have any other comments before we, just if you want all of them to come one at a time.

Jeff Anton, another local civil engineer, has worked on the project since the inception. He'd also like to speak. Thank you.

Welcome, Jeff.

that we've prepared our plan specifications in accordance with the land development code of the City of Stewart the the PUD compliance with the PUD and also FDOT standards for pavement and curb and other such items that is all Thanks Geoff Did the petitioner have any Yeah there's one more person here

Her name is Kiti Altora. She's the district manager of Popeyes. So she's available if there are any questions about operations and the likes, but I'd like to introduce her to you. She is currently operating everything in the west side and very local to the area and very knowledgeable of the area. Thank you.

Welcome. Was it Kiki for the record? Did I? I didn't know if the petitioner wanted to present anything, and then I would move on if any of the commissioners had questions for the petitioner.

I just want to tell you that we're available to respond to any questions that you might have. Once again, we're talking about the property that is owned by 1560 Boone LLC. As you heard, it is a portion of a larger CPUD.

Thank you. Thank you. Do the commissioners have any questions for staff or the applicant? I'll go down the line. I got three lights lit up. Commissioner Clark.

Ms. Kitty.

Sorry.

Can you just give us a little rundown on Popeyes in our area? How many we have in the Treasure Coast and what's your average about new jobs and about the number of employees just generally?

I think the amount of stores that you guys have in the area is about maybe two to three. The employee leveled, say it's about 50 to 60 team members. And then what else did you ask? I'm sorry.

That was it, just to find out. I mean, so that we'd expect all that would be new jobs created in our area? 50 to 60, or is it the same people who rotate in different shifts?

It might be. Most of the teams will be rotating to the new location, but for the most part, about 40 new team members.

Thank you.

I have a question for Keehee.

Hang on one sec, because Commissioner Clark's recognized.

Oh, okay. Thank you.

Commissioner Giobbe.

Hi. Hello. As far as Popeyes drive-through at night, because that's a big concern for a lot of people who live in the area, and I realize that Popeyes had agreed to close their drive-through at 10.30. What is your average amount of people coming through drive-through between like 8 and 11?

Between 8 and 11, dinner rush is already gone, so I would say maybe 50, 50 to 60, might be less. That's like after dinner, so it's not much.

Right. So if there was no demand after 8 or 9 o'clock, then Popeyes would certainly close that. If there's no demand, you're not having any traffic, would you consider closing that drive-thru at an earlier time?

I wouldn't say so because around that time a lot of the customers are coming through the drive-thru instead of the lobby, like at a later time.

Okay. All right, thank you.

Commissioner Rich?

For the applicant, did you meet with Carl Chalupa recently? He was a representative, indicating he was a relatively new representative.

No, sir. Like I mentioned to you, I'm not part of the, if this is related to the POA or anything like that, I have not had any involvement, any conversations at all. We're here representing Popeyes and the owners of 1560 Boone. So there's been no communication at all with either the owner, Mr. Castellano, who's in New York, or myself regarding any of this. I have no knowledge of it whatsoever.

So this is for staff.

So the original traffic study was in 2007, correct? Right. And then this was updated the 11th of August 2025, correct? Correct. And it actually shows a decrease in TRIPS generated versus, I mean, ironically, this was originally approved for PDQ, so we're still on chicken here. But could you talk about how will the traffic enter and exit Popeyes? Because it's all not gonna come enter and exit on Windermere Road, right? Do we have any sense of how that would be divided?

On the original site plan shown on the screen, if you could see it is Northwest Federal Highway and Windermere Drive. There's access off of Northwest Windermere Drive and access to Northwest Federal Highway.

Correct. But does the traffic study break down entries and exits? Because the concern is I think they look at some of these numbers and they think if all those people are coming from the north and turning onto Windermere, we're going to have an issue. If you would, feel free to answer, yes.

We have Luke here to answer some of these. By the way, there is three points of entrance, not two. There's also one off of Raceway, which was a mandatory requirement when the original PUD was put in place. to assist because of the amount of traffic required from LA Fitness. So a special easement was put in place to access that entranceway as well as the other two. But Luke can give you much more important information.

Good evening again. So just to make this clear, the original approval was for a much higher intensity of uses on the site. So attachment A goes to the trip generation for the proposed health and gym fitness. That square footage has remained the same at 45,000 square feet. The retail was originally approved at 33,000. So essentially when they started to develop the site, they were not able to get to that level of intensity. So that is what the purpose of this the traffic analysis is showing you, it's showing you the original approval with higher intensities, and so therefore with lesser intensities and with updated trip rates, it is a decrease in trip. And then as far as this analysis goes, we did not analyze the different driveways, so the one on US 1 or through the racetrack or through Windermere, through access on Windermere, but those would all be decreased in that original analysis as well.

When you look at the original design of the center it was pretty much set up that as traffic was coming north you have two points of access you have the access which would a lot of people when they would go to the LA Fitness would go through the racetrack the main point of access is coming in through Windermere into the center and by the way you cannot make a left into this particular parcel you have to drive through the center and then drive down the driveway along the western side into the Popeyes. If you're coming from the north, the traffic light that we installed was specifically designed to allow to receive traffic along Windermere. That is one of the three access points that is there and probably will not be the most used

That's a good point that if you're coming from the north the intersections turn left is lighted. It's a lighted intersection.

So Thank you, you're welcome Commissioner Matheson Thank You mayor welcome So a lot of this for me.

I'll have a few questions for staff and probably some for Luke is Establishing a baseline and what we are voting on so Michelle I'm gonna go through the timeline. 2008, this was approved as a CPUD, is that correct? Correct. And it's, so right now what's before us and what we're deciding on, it is a commercial plan unit development as existing.

Correct.

And if what was sitting, well, if the proposal was to build a PDQ with a retail in the square footage you stated, the retail was a little over 2,000 square feet and the PDQ restaurant originally proposed and approved was just under 18,000 square feet, is that correct, 1794? Yes. Okay. If that proposal was on the table, Would we be here right now as a commission debating it?

So it would have been the exact site plan. However, if the timeline for construction was expired, they would have to come back before the commission just to update the timetable.

OK. And then correct me if I'm wrong, Lee, but we might get into some legal matters about states of emergency like COVID or any hurricanes that might get extensions. Correct. Yes. Probably multiple times.

I guess extensions were great. I'm sorry. Extensions were granted by the emergency. However, it ended before it ended. So they it was expired.

Would you say we could legally reject any proposal there right now?

That's a complicated question. I would probably say no without a lawsuit.

I guess that's what I'm getting at. What I'm trying to establish, staff, thank you, is a baseline because that's the helpful thing when you're deciding these. And I do not believe, but correct me if I'm wrong, that the baseline is the existing parcel as is with Saad on a CPUD that was granted approval in 2008, then in 2007 for 3,800 square feet, a different chicken franchise, and a 2,000 foot retail site plan. And so would it be correct to say that the proposal before us is a reduction in intensity of what was approved?

Correct, yes.

Did the original proposal have signage, can you go back to that, on Windermere Drive, and that was one of the things that's been removed?

I will bring that up.

It is very helpful for me to know what we're comparing it to.

The monument sign was actually proposed to be located on US 1.

For the PDQ. For the PDQ, yes. And what's the status of the proposed signage?

The monument sign is not part of this approval. The applicant stated that that would be a future application from Popeyes.

Okay. So if it is approved, we are not approving a monument sign.

Correct. The image on the screen shows you two wall signs. W1 is the west wall sign. It's 42 square feet. W2, it is a south wall sign, 42 square feet. There are directional signs, 1, which is 2.8 square feet, and directional 2, which is another 2.8 square feet. There was a monument sign, which is F1, and construction sign, which is a temporary sign, and then a flagpole. So minimal signage.

And it was stated, as far as the parking, that the new proposal will have a surplus of how many spaces? 63 compared to the code. What about pervious compared to impervious? I'm trying to just compare the history of what was approved. You said 42% is pervious? 52 to 43, was it?

I think it was 57 to 42. Yes, something like that.

Yes. More pervious than originally.

Is our code still like 30%? 25. 25. Okay. So we're at 42% pervious. Correct. I believe that's it. That does help me establish what we're comparing it to. I did have one more question. Luke, you said something that maybe you could repeat one more time about the traffic. I'm just comparing it to the PDQ and the other proposal. I don't want this to become us debating Popeyes versus PDQ. It's more traffic and square footage in my mind. I could make a joke about KFC, but I'm not gonna go there. You said that this proposal is going to be a reduction in traffic. Is that what you said compared to the original proposal?

This CPUD with the intensities that are proposed today, developed and proposed, are a reduction from the original PUD.

Okay, that's pretty important to me and you know, I believe that is one more question for Kitty. Concerning smell, and I'm not a restaurateur, Can you describe how often, do grease traps have anything to do with smell and are they regulated and how often are they changed?

The grease trap, when they pick it up, it might have a little bit of smell, but it's not like something that just stick all day. And they pick up every 30 days.

Every 30 days, okay.

Yikes.

Is that city regulated or county regulated? or just a standard Popeyes? Would a Popeyes change their grease traps differently than a PDQ?

I'm not sure about PDQ, but.

Popeyes is 30 days. Does the city regulate the grease trap changing cycle?

No. Is Mr. Coonan in the lobby, in the audience?

I don't believe so. I don't know. Yes, Mr. Coonan.

If I may request Mr. Coonan answer that question. He's with our engineering department.

We'll need to swear him in. Mr. Coonan, would you raise your right hand? You affirm that the testimony you're about to provide will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God.

I do.

Thank you. Could you repeat the question, please? I'm just curious. as different ways to learn more information about the smell of what might come up. And does the City of Stewart regulate grease traps as far as disposal and emptying them, or is that something the business owner does at their own choice?

Well, Commissioner, the City of Stewart does regulate grease traps as far as the frequency of cleaning. This particular location, however, is located outside of the city's service area for wastewater. It's in the county service area.

Okay, so it's not under... I don't deal with grease that much, so I assumed it was under the trash, because City of Stewart's handling the waste.

We handle sanitation, but in this particular location, not water and sewer are provided by Martin County.

Okay. So would the county be regulating this, and it would be on timeline?

The county would be regulating the grease trap at this location.

Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that insight. I don't believe, Mayor, I have any further questions. Thank you, Commissioner Matheson.

Commissioner Giobbi, your light was on? Yes. And I'll get to you, Commissioner Clark.

I had a question for Luke, right? Thank you.

Hmm.

So I believe these traffic studies were done when LA Fitness was there, which generated traffic, and this facility was not. So my question is, is that LA Fitness, I'm not sure it will be a gym, but we don't know what it will be, so there will be traffic back in this complex. And we don't really know what traffic will be generated by Popeyes. So my quest had always been to have another study done of the traffic, and maybe we have to wait. until the actual facility is in and the LA Fitness is rented. But I don't know that I can, but I'd like to request that that yellow blinking turning light, if it could be an actual red-green light, you know, where you can turn by the light, not waiting to just jump traffic because it's a red blinking light.

So the Florida Department of Transportation has jurisdiction over US 1, and so they, through an agreement with Martin County, Martin County operates a traffic signal system throughout Martin County, so we could definitely make that recommendation to them.

We can ask.

I know a guy.

I know a guy, too, but we can ask. That's all we can do is ask.

And then just further clarification, so this analysis is purely about trip generation. There are trip generation rates established for different land uses, and ITE has a plethora of trip generating land uses. So when you look at this report, the health fitness is the highest potential generator of all those uses. And so with it being vacant, there's probably a large exodus of traffic that's just not going there anymore.

Right. Now, for now, and we don't know what the future will hold. Correct.

When it becomes leased, and that's what many of these are based off of, gross leaseable area, gross floor area. So we know that as it's vacant, it's just not producing that.

Just that the people who live in the area are very concerned. They're concerned about that light. It should be a solid green or red turn light. And they're concerned about the traffic coming off into the Windermere Lane. So the other thing I wanted to say was that the PUD has expired. I mean, and we're here today, that means it's open up for new, changes or requests so i i just want to say that you've almost made it sound like it's we're dedicated to approving it but it is the possibility of having different things amended because it is an expired pud that was my understanding it's i'm trying to figure out what the current make sure you're just speaking to the mic that's all thanks

For me, establishing a baseline is what is the build-by-right scenario? So they're coming before us for a major amendment to the PUD. So with every property, I guess the question, is it zero? They can build nothing. Is that what we are deciding on? That's why I asked our city attorney that.

I was talking more about modifications.

Yes. No, no, that's why I want to compare it to what was approved already.

Okay, thank you. Does that conclude your comments, Commissioner Giovi? Yes, it does, thank you. Commissioner Clark?

Okay, thanks. Since I just came out of an election and people tend to go into your history and your background, I'm sitting here having deja vu because I don't know, maybe 20, 25 years ago, I left the county in 1993. Luke, is that you? Okay. You just graduated college. Luke Lambert. Okay, we worked back at the county back in 1993. Well, I left the county in 1993. We're the first people for the MPO doing transportation planning. We did all the work with UPWPs and whatnot. So Luke, I said that I didn't know anybody. I'm sitting up here and I'm thinking, that's Luke. I did read the TMC report, but that's Luke. So I do know Luke from pre-1993 at Martin County. Now he's doing something else in a different company. That's number one, full disclosure, I just wanted to say that. Number two, with regard to that with traffic, and I apologize, it's not about your project per se, sir, but I remember when we did the zoning in progress and then we adopted some things, for a new amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, meaning that we adopted a section that we wanted to change. And at that time, I can't remember what maybe Mr. Baggett, you can tell me, or Jody, we had said, at least it was a majority, I think, that said that we're not gonna use the ITE trip generation rates, which I thought was Probably not right, but I'm not sure what standards are using now, Jody, or what standards we're using. But I think that that was a part of something we have not gone and made any major changes to the comprehensive plan based on the what was adopted at the the guidelines that were adopted during the zip, but I just wanted to, since Mr. Lambert is here and I know that he's an expert and most of us have been doing development and planning based on the ITE trip generation rate, Institute of traffic engineers. I just wanted to come to find out from Jody if when people come in with development plans, if that's what we're working with. Because I thought that we had some discussion on that. Then the other thing, back to Jody, is that the main thing here, it's a long plan and the report starts back in 1998 and it comes forward to 2008 and then it comes forward to now. And this old plan that was done 2007-2008 really with the PDQ, this changes and this is the time when we're asking. As far as I'm concerned, I heard that we've asked and I had my concerns the last time, but staff is saying that it's consistent with the LDRs and we have the staff report. and we have a decrease in traffic. We have the water, we have the ingress and the egress and potential noise, pollution, smells, the things that are considered in our plan and also for the neighbors. And I thought for sure that we had gotten all of those answered and that I was ready to to move forward with this project but um i'm just sensing something from the commission questions um what are we asking them to go back to the drawing board on staff has been working on this and um it seems like their recommendation is that all the issues are taken care of and the timeline issues are taken care of because if they fell out of the timeline, now that they're coming in for this particular development on this parcel, that they're meeting all of the requirements. So staff, if you need to go over and list again the requirements or list how the timeline works, please do that so that we have a full disclosure as to why we would vote one way or another on this project.

Commissioner Clark, if I may, Jody Coogler for the record. So first, let me address the zoning in progress. This application was submitted in 2024 prior to the zoning in progress being adopted. So we would use the ITE schedule. So that is why it's being presented tonight. The other question that you asked, if this application came in as with the PDQ and the retail center and the only thing that was expired at this time and they wanted to build this building exactly how it was approved in 2017, they would be just asking for the timetable to be extended. as in previous other requirements that they've asked for over the timeframe that this PD was established. The 2008, as you know, this was annexed into the city around 1998. There was a commercial plan unit development assigned to the property around that timeframe. The commercial plan development stated that you will come back and bring a final site plan approval with the different phases. That's the 2008 document that we refer back to, which established the ingrass and egress off of Windermere Drive, and then also established the traffic light that was installed by the developer. in 2017 and in between there they did extend, do some timeline extensions. 2017 was the PDQ and the retail center that was approved. However, time changed and they did some extensions prior to that but they did not amend the extension and that is why we're here today. One is the timeline lapsed. but now they are changing the development to ask for a double queue drive through to reduce the footprint of the building and eliminate the retail building and the amount of signs that is less than what was PDQ and the retail center was approved in 2017. And I hope I answered all your questions.

Yes, and in terms of low PAC development, so this would be a more efficient footprint, technically?

I can say that the footprint today is less intense than what the original footprint was approved in 2017 with the PDQ. And as staff evaluates that, we evaluate it based on the current pattern, the approval throughout this entire process. and our land development code and our comprehensive plan. That's what we do our analysis based off. And the plan and the project does meet all those requirements.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

You're welcome, Commissioner Clark. Commissioner Giobbi, your light was on.

Yeah, I have a question for staff. And I don't know if this is possible. In 2017, it was changed from retail to restaurant. Is it possible for that space to be both? I mean, just let's say 10 years from now, Popeye decides to leave that space, then they would only be able to have a restaurant there. Could it be a dual space?

could you have either retail or restaurant originally uh approved with the um 3a and 3b it had a restaurant and a retail together and in this proposal they're eliminating the retail and just having the restaurant um You're asking if Popeyes would?

Is it possible to leave it as both? They would only be utilizing the restaurant piece. But five, ten years from now, if Popeyes decides to move down the road, then it could be a restaurant and retail or retail. It could be either or. I don't know if that's possible. I'm just asking the question. That's not what they're asking.

Commissioner Giobbi, if I may.

No, they're not asking. I'm just asking if it's a possibility. That's all.

So if you approve the site plan that is proposed today with the double drive-through, the retail center that's being eliminated would not have any space or parking available.

OK. Thank you.

Do any of the other commissioners have questions for staff or the applicant? I had one for the petitioner or for the applicant. Did you guys address Carl Chalupa's comments at all? And I don't even know if you're aware of all the comments.

So Mayor, Mr. Rich has asked that question a little while ago. I have read everything that came through staff because staff shares with me everything but I have not been in contact no he has not contacted us we represent 1560 Boone and we're not involved in the association or the relationships all that we have confirmed is that we will do everything possible to assist in the landscaping requirements to make sure that it is upheld from our standpoint.

So Carl sent an email on August 3rd and verbatim said at the end of the email, it said because Windermere Drive is privately owned by their POA, they're considering closing the Windermere Drive entrance to Windermere Plaza until this matter is resolved. And they were reaching out for a meeting because of the implications for the city's pending approval of Popeye's Restaurant. Closing the entrance would presumably strongly impact the economic calculations of the Popeyes franchise to the point where they might terminate any interest in putting in the restaurant because of this potential consequence. I am reaching out to discuss this in more detail, and he wanted to have meetings.

So is he the current president or the past president?

According to his signature, it's Carl Chalupa, President of the Pineapple Plantation Property Owner Association.

I will tell you that if it's the president that lives there, a while back when we started this, The association, the manager, did put me in touch with somebody over there in the beginning, and there were conversations about trying to resolve this all over the maintenance issues related to the landscaping past the entranceway and the ability that the association wasn't managing or maintaining the swale area in Windermere. those were the specifics of the conversation at that point i wasn't involved in negotiation finishing and the likes except mr castellano did agree that if there's anything that we need to do from fifteen sixty dunes parcel to make sure we buffer and fill that area to the best of our ability greater than in compliance with the plans and specifications that it meets all the codes we're still willing to proceed and assist but we have no involvement in it yeah he must be a new president because there's another email from him No, he's never reached out to myself at all or Mr. Castellano. Once again, this is something that goes on between the... management of the condominium association that runs this buildings the owners of la fitness and 1560 boone we're only a smallest component of sharing in the costs which they pass through and we will have to pay whatever those costs are yeah i have a question for you luke would this affect the traffic study if you lost an entrance to your cpd

I'm not positive on where they would close, but that would be a major impact for the residents in there. And then it would obviously force all the traffic, you know, the current employees and patrons through the access points on US 1, through those driveways.

I guess they mentioned because it's a private road, I'm assuming. So that's what Carl's email was alluding to. So if you lost an entrance to your CPD, would that change the traffic study?

I think that that would greatly alter driveway volumes, yes.

Gotcha. Those were my questions for the applicant. Commissioner Giova, your light's on again.

I just wanted to say that, yeah, that last email said he is the new president, Mr. Chalupa.

Did you have anything to say, Lee, regarding what I mentioned?

Right now, the road is open. It is a private road for Windermere. In the PUD, the prior PUD approvals, so you have the residential homeowners association that is north and west of the commercial PUD that we're discussing today. So the road, this private road is owned by the residential HOA, and they had a written agreement, a contract, a legal binding agreement between the CPUD Property Owners Association, which Mr. Sherman is indicating that his client is a very small part of because it's probably based on square footage, And so he has probably low voting rights compared to the rest of the owners in the in in that commercial development They have a written contract the property owners association with the homeowners association To use that driveway and then off that I'm not I'm not going to call it a driveway a private road a private road With a drop with an entrance and exit into the commercial PUD so You can't vote tonight on a what if. saying something in an email, but it has not happened. So you need to, I wouldn't say that that's hearsay, but I wouldn't rely on that as substantial competent evidence for today's hearing. Whether you approve or don't approve this project, they're gonna have probably a dispute between those two entities. One entity is required to help fund maintenance of the roadway, the private roadway, and the landscaping. Apparently I've heard allegations that's not being done. which Mr. Sherman, his client, has no control over. And then you have HOA threatening to shut down, I don't think they're gonna shut down the traffic light in Windermere Drive. I think just, they're gonna put barricades up to the commercial property. So the commercial property, in their original development orders, and it's continued throughout all the amendments, they're required to have that entryway. If the homeowners association all of a sudden comes in and puts a barricade up, there's going to be a lawsuit. It would be a code violation if for us under, even if nothing happens today, under the current sitting PUD agreement, the commercial property owners association is required to have that entrance and exit. And they are relying on a binding contractual relationship with the homeowners association in order to comply with that. Conditioned with the city. So if all of a sudden that entryway is closed off the traffic gets worse. We're gonna get complaints We're gonna code enforce them and then I they're gonna have a legal dispute amongst themselves That's what's gonna happen I don't I It's my recommendation. You don't consider that in your vote today.

Okay.

Thanks Lee.

Yep Do any other commissioners have any questions for staff or the applicant? I Seeing none, does the petitioner wish to offer any additional information before concluding its presentation?

No Mayor I think we stand on where we are obviously if the opportunity to do a retail and or restaurant was something that the Commission wants and in the event that does play in and in the event that change takes place and it can meet traffic I would approve adding that if the Commissioner feels that it's something they want to do

That's my understanding.

Thank you. Well, you could have that in a form of a motion. Correct me if I'm wrong, Jody.

Mayor, yes. Yes, sir.

Okay, thank you. The presentation of evidence has ended and the hearing is closed. Does any member of the public wish to make a comment? Remember, public comment is limited to three minutes per the city code. Just make sure you fill out a green card. If you have not already filled one out, you can fill one out after your public comment. And if you could, just state your name.

I have Jennifer Costantini.

Welcome, Jennifer.

I apologize that my thoughts here are scattered I was trying to take notes and listen just make sure you speak into the mic okay and I only have three minutes so sitting here listening to the previous findings and current findings they've already stated that there's inconsistencies which is concerning you keep saying that there's a reduction in The space but I keep hearing more traffic and more cement less absorption rate and we didn't break ground yet I don't think the public notice sign that blue sign was updated with today's meeting Everyone knows about it due to like a Facebook posting the traffic strategy reports that are done I think they were done when school was not in session and when the snowbirds weren't here so both of them that doesn't really make sense and Seems like this was approved 10 years ago. Doesn't sound like it was ever approved for the two drive-throughs. Not a space without a retail section. And in 2008, I don't think any of those people are even involved anymore, except for the developers. There is an ongoing issue with the private entrance. We did just have an overtaking of our HOA. Just happened like a month ago. There was something about money being not paid to the neighborhood. It's supposed to be something with The trash being cleaned up and I do believe they will shut down that private entrance It's out of my pay grade though, so I don't know I do appreciate the pictures from today for the ones that were there today How come they didn't take pictures of the exit and the entrance and the stoplight? That's the main concern So no one has mentioned that the US 1 entrance is one way so if you're gonna go in that way you have to make a u-turn the traffic light is on US 1 but goes into our neighborhood doesn't go into this shopping center you have to drive through our neighborhood and then make a left off the private road into our neighborhood and already with the Googan coffee shop it's very busy in the morning there's all healthy stores there that close at 7 p.m. ideal nutrition pliables There's a wellness spa, cosmetic dentist. There's the wellness suites complex with all the hairdressers and masseuses that close at 7 unless you have a code to get in. There's a drive-through that's going to be open until 1030, so it seems like it's really out of place there. Racetrack exit that they keep stating. way far out of the intersection you have to drive through the entire shopping center down a hill into racetrack to even use that so that's not a true entrance or exit if it is it's going to be more dangerous because you have to go through the entire shopping center it's also closing in three months they're gonna redo construction So between LA Fitness, no one knows what that's going to be. Race track is changing. Who knows if they're going to change their traffic pattern. We don't know if we're going to shut down the private entrance. Is that my three minutes?

Thank you.

Sorry.

Frank Legalbo.

Welcome, Frank.

Worked for the city for 30 years. Your name?

Didn't know any of you, except for you. Then I worked for the county. I was a cop for the city. I was code enforcement for the county for seven years. When they built, what are we building?

No, what are you building now?

Popeyes. Out on 76th. county got so many complaints about the smell about traffic and it's there you can drive behind it or go in that neighborhood you will smell chicken my concern is you got 200 people that live on that Windermere some of you got voted You didn't have 200 people come to the whole vote. You approved this, and I'm not threatening anybody, but there's a lot of people, if it goes up, the smell from that blowing in, and all the lights from the cars coming out onto Windermere, gonna blind those 10 people, or 15 people, with their lights. It's open till 10.30 at night. That's ridiculous. This is a community. You got LA Fitness. That's out of business.

There's all those people. If you could, just make sure you address us. That's all.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's basically all I have. You should protect your people. just drive up there drive up to the 176 and see if you smell anything and you will so Windermere is a large area if a lot of them aren't here but they're gonna be complaining after it's built I guaranteed I got so many calls from them And they're all on the water. It got approved, but they complain. Larry Massing, he had to deal with it. Nobody checks the grease pits. He went outside. He doesn't have anybody to check grease pits or to check when it's due to the time. Every 30 days, there's nobody in the city that does that. There's nobody in the county that does that. So the people that own it and the employees, they don't know how to do it. It's going to be a problem if you put it at Wright Road and Federal Highway. Thank you, sir. Commercial.

Thank you for your comments.

Robin Woodward.

Welcome, Robin.

Good evening commissioners my name is Robin Woodward and I'm a resident and homeowner in the neighborhood directly affected by this proposed Popeyes development I want to begin by saying that we are not opposed to responsible commercial development we understand that US 1 is a commercial corridor what we are asking you to consider tonight is whether a high volume fast food restaurant with double drive-through lane is an appropriate use for this particular location immediately adjacent to our homes i actually back up to us-1 and so the light pollution is a concern the rats that we're dealing with are a concern and the smell is definitely a concern Our concerns are not hypothetical. We already live with the effects of the existing commercial properties. Traffic is one of our greatest concerns. Windermere Drive and the intersection at US 1 already experience congestion. I hear accidents nonstop. I even participate in calling 911. A double drive-thru is specifically designed to accommodate high volume of vehicles. My parents have a double drive-thru Chick-fil-A adjacent to their home and thank God they're closed on Sundays. When traffic backs up or drivers look for alternate routes, our residential streets become the convenient shortcut. Those streets were never intended to function as an extension of a commercial traffic pattern. Trash is another existing problem that this project will intensify. The homes along Windermere already deal with the litter coming from the shopping center. I just saw like a six pack race track container behind my house that we just picked up the other day. a fast food restaurant serving primarily disposable food and beverage packaging will inevitably create additional waste who will be responsible for keeping that trash out of the neighborhood not just on the restaurant property but along windermere and the surrounding areas we as a community are responsible for over 400 acres of preserve area it was how we were built with the builder we also remind concerned about lighting and signage i do appreciate that the last meeting we did come to terms with some of that this business will bring illuminated signs parking lot lighting drive-through menu boards and a continuous stream of headlights for the people living directly behind this property that light does not disappear at the property line it enters our homes and then there is the noise a drive-through operating late into the night means vehicles engines car stereos ordering speakers employees deliveries and customers potentially until one in the morning that may be normal activity for a commercial property but it is not normal activity immediately outside someone's bedroom we appreciate that changes that have already been discussed including reducing signage and moving toward a more appropriate coastal facade but changing the appearance of the building does not resolve the fundamental issue the problem is the intensity of the proposed use thank you for your time thank you thank you joan dickinson welcome

Probably the only person here freezing. Oh my gosh. Hi, good evening. I don't know how many of you have ever actually been up by Windermere. I live on Marsh Rabbit. My house was up there on the screen. So this is near and dear to my heart. We have a very quiet community. By 7, 7.30, you won't even see a car go by. It's quiet. The mornings are filled with people walking their dogs, joggers, bicyclists. Everybody says hello to each other. We all know each other. Close knit, quiet, sedate community. The proposed Popeyes is going to be a push into that quality of life that I think a lot of us are very panicked about. Talking about the traffic, for whatever reason at that light, people make U-turns there all day long. I'm learning that on US 1. U-turns are a very popular thing, but on our corner, there seem to be a lot. So as you're coming out of Windermere to the traffic light, you're always jockeying to see who's not paying attention. They're just going to make a quick U-ey. When you look at the traffic numbers that were set out, It seems inconsistent that the rest of the town has had such an increase in residents and buildings, but that these numbers are going down. It just doesn't make sense to me. And if the numbers are going down, the truth is a two-lane drive-through, that's not consistent then with that. Two lanes means they're anticipating a lot of cars coming through, and they want to make sure that their customers are served quickly. And I appreciate that. But I also know Windermere is a single lane in each direction. I don't know how many of you live on a road like that, but if three cars are waiting to make a turn, the traffic backs up. Three cars. The traffic will back up. So now you're talking about adding hundreds, potentially, coming into that one road. That is my only way to my house. One road, one lane. Now you're talking about tons of people potentially coming right in front of me. I find it unnerving. I'm not thrilled with it. I love my home. I love Martin County. I love the Windermere section. It's fabulous. I'm concerned about what a development like this will mean to our quality of life. I hope you recognize that and we're hoping that you feel that same sense of community pride and will let us actually stay in peace. Thank you.

Thank you. We have no further public comment.

Seeing no further public comment, the party shall be provided with equal time to present the board with closing remarks. Suggested is five minutes. New evidence or testimony will not be allowed during closing remarks. The purpose of the remarks is to afford the parties with an opportunity to comment on the evidence presented during the hearing. And issues raised during public comment can be clarified by referencing evidence presented during the hearing. The petitioner shall present last. Did the petitioner have any closing remarks?

I had a time to sit down and listen to the Jennifer and Frank and Robin and John and a lot of their comments and I must tell you one of the things which I think is very important to address is Frank's comments about landscaping and the likes when this development was put together back when it was a PDQ we were very very sensitive to make sure that there was extra landscaping put in to buffer the lights of people leaving the shopping center so that's in the master plan it shows a series of plants to be built to buffer lights when someone leaves we're friendly developers we're conscious of these concerns as we were living there as well so I wanted to address that When it comes to Robin's comments about spillage of lights and those type of issues, everybody knows the code. It's a zero spillage requirement. I know when we ended up developing the LA Fitness and we had to certify as a requirement of the code to have the photometric certified because it's a requirement when you develop that you have to go out and you have to get it certified if there is spillage extra shields have to be put on the lights to make sure that there is zero spillage I just wanted to address the concerns with some of the neighbors With regards to the inconsistencies, I'm not here to dispute Jennifer. Maybe it wasn't fully understood. But I think staff has made it very, very clear that there are no inconsistencies in development. We're fully in compliance with all the codes. Lastly, I wanted to discuss John's issue, or I'm sorry, is it John or Joan? Joan, yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah. So look. No one likes any development. When you're living in a community and you're used to a certain thing, and this piece has been vacant for many, many years, you become accustomed to traffic. You become accustomed to a way of life. I think that any development's going to happen there. The community just is very comfortable with having the traffic as it is. We did everything we could. If the county and the city can get together on changing light timing and the likes, it's really out of our control. We really can't do that. We're very conscious of it. We've worked very hard for this. We think we know we're fully in compliance with the code as represented, and we're asking for approval. Thank you.

Thank you. So I'm requesting direction in the form of a motion from the commissioners up here.

I move approval of ordinance number 2546-2026.

Second.

So we have a motion for approval of ordinance number 2546-2026 from Commissioner Rich and seconded by Commissioner Clark.

Mr. Mayor?

Yes.

I don't know if Mr. Rich will agree. I wanted to add a condition. Can I talk about a condition and see if Mr. Rich will agree with it?

Sure.

If it's a condition that can work. I was going to ask if... If we could put a condition that, uh, that if Popeyes could do, um, maybe bring that, um. Restrapped pick up to, like, 20 days or something. I don't know if it's a. You know, it might be some kind of a. business Way that things do things as usual they might have something I don't know what I didn't look up the health department requirements or anything but maybe that would help to keep down smell if we can if We can ask that they do that 20 days instead of 30 days. Is that something that can work Miss Keddie?

Just make sure you come to the microphone, thank you. Sorry I

I wanted to add that we do use a company, the company, it's called DARPRO, and the 20 days can be adjusted, the 30 to the 20.

Okay, thank you. Mr. Rich, I'd like to put that in as a condition. Is that something that you can agree to?

If the applicant's wanting to accept that stipulation. Okay.

As the applicant, yes, we definitely will, especially as it's been confirmed by Popeyes.

Okay.

Do you want to amend your motion then?

I will amend the motion to include that stipulation.

Thank you.

Is that clear, Mr. Beckett? Yes.

I'll restate it.

Yes, we'll draft the final version and add it as a condition. Okay.

Thank you. Do you want to second it, Commissioner Clark? Yes. Okay. So we have an amended motion from Commissioner Rich to include the 20 days for the grease trap to be taken care of and seconded by Commissioner Clark.

Are there any discussions amongst? Can we clarify the language, taking care of it? Maybe the maintenance.

Okay, for the maintenance of the grease trap every 20 days and the applicant is okay with that.

Sorry.

Commissioner Rich, your light's on.

Yes, to address that light spillage issue, that is the case. We're currently involved with a very egregious violation of that on Fifth Street, which I was made aware of by the residents. From the back of the building, they had installed some very strong lights because they were having a homeless problem. And that light has to end at that boundary of that property. So that is something we enforce and measure. So that should not be a problem for you. And I believe as far as the hours, the old LA Fitness used to operate till 11. So this shouldn't be a shock to this neighborhood that the business is operating this late. The applicant has agreed to shut down at 1030, I believe.

Is that correct?

So you're right. So I think those concerns will be and have been addressed.

We may want to add that as a condition. I don't think that's addressed in the proposed ordinance. I thought it had been. I think he agreed to it. I think in the first reading.

Yes. You want it on the record, though?

I'm saying I don't think it's in the draft of the ordinance.

I think that we did discuss it, and if it didn't make it to the ordinance or the agreement, it should, because it was agreed to by Popeyes. They actually had Oliver on the call that day, and we did agree to that.

Yeah, just my recommendation, just like Commissioner Clark wanted that added, we should add that.

We will add that condition. Okay. All right, Commissioner, do you need him to?

Yeah, we need to proceed. Do you amend your motion and just include the 20 days for the grease trap and then for Popeyes to close at 1030? Hours of operation until 1130. Is it 1030?

1030, sorry.

And that's Monday through Sunday, right? Seven days a week? Seven days a week. Okay. Second.

Second.

All right, so there's a motion for approval of ordinance number 2546-2026, updated by Commissioner Rich to include 20 days for the grease trap to be serviced and for business hours seven days a week to be, they would close operation at 1030. And seconded by Commissioner Clark. Do any other commissioners have any comments on that motion or wish to discuss any of it? Seeing none, Mary, if you could do the roll call.

Commissioner Giobbe? No. Commissioner Matheson?

Yes.

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

No. Motion passes with Mayor Reed dissenting and Commissioner Giobbe dissenting. You can put your yellow cards away. Is there any further discussion from commissioners before I adjourn the meeting?

Yes, Mr. Mayor? Yes. Are we recognized? Yes, Commissioner Rich. There is a position unfilled on this commission and there's no reason we can't do it now since there's five of us up here. So I would like to nominate Commissioner Giobbi to be Vice Mayor of this commission.

I can, is it time?

So we, yeah.

Can we do that at reorganization in October?

That's what we've done the last two years. I get where you're coming from.

We can actually make appointments to and from the commission at any time. Is that correct, Mr.?

Yeah, in the code it says that we do reorganization every year at the December, but as you know, this year Mayor Collins resigned, so we did vote originally to To appoint Commissioner Reed as mayor. So I mean that was in the middle It would just if you make a motion it's seconded and it's just like any other motion if you want to Appoint someone in the meantime, that's your board.

You can do it with majority vote basically All right, so we have a motion for Commissioner Giobbe to be selected as vice mayor by Commissioner rich and seconded by Commissioner Matheson Are there any public comments on this motion? Seeing no public comment, Mary, if you could do the roll call.

Mayor Reed?

Yes.

Commissioner Matheson? Yes. Commissioner Rich?

Yes.

Commissioner Clark? Yes. Commissioner Giobbe?

You can vote for yourself.

No, that's okay. You have to vote. Yeah, you need to vote.

You have to vote.

Yes.

Yes.

Motion passes unanimously. Congratulations.

Mr. Mayor, I have another motion.

Sure, let's hear it.

So when we did do reorg in December for no good reason, we ignored tradition in regular order and you were appointed as vice mayor. And now we have the opportunity to go back and provide a respect for tradition and a return to normal order. So I make a motion that the mayor be forced to resign his position and that Senator Clark be appointed to the position to which he is rightfully entitled as mayor.

Do we have a second?

Second.

All right, so we have a motion from Commissioner Rich to remove Mayor Reed from his position and seconded by Commissioner Matheson. Are there any public comments on this motion? Any public comment? Nope. Commissioner Giobbe, your light's on.

Yes, two years ago, we did not follow precedent for Commissioner Rich. At that point in time, it was really time for him to vacate his spot that he had gained. And reorganization, it was decided that he would stay and have a whole year as the mayor. And I don't know why we would not do that for Mayor Reed. We had a precedent that was set for you. I don't know why that precedent wouldn't continue. When someone takes over in a mid-year, someone leaves, whatever it is, that person who is filling in as mayor should have the opportunity to have a full year as mayor.

Commissioner Rich, your light's on.

Collins who was vice mayor became mayor that was the regular order When I was appointed vice mayor in regular order it was because Commissioner Bruner Was mayor and then she lost her election. I normally I would have been mayor the succeeding year so as is the tradition the vice mayor becomes mayor and And then the mayor serves out his normal full term. The proper rotation that had been observed for 100 years was that Commissioner Clark be appointed the vice mayor. And that opportunity was denied her for no good reason.

Well, number one, Commissioner Clark has- Commissioner Giobbio, your light's on, you're recognized now.

Number one, Commissioner Clark hasn't been here for 100 years. I know she's been here a long time, but not 100 years. Number two, can I have a consultation with the city attorney? It's my understanding when we made the motion to have Commissioner Rich complete a full term as mayor, the tradition you're talking about is not mandatory. So again, I say if we were able to do that for you, why would we not do that for any subsequent mayor who should have their year, their full year, not coming in, filling in for someone, vice mayor to go a mayor because of an election, full year. You had a full year and you also had more time because the person who was the mayor at the time, she lost her seat. You then graduated traditionally to mayor. Precedent was set at the end of that year with you stating that you should have a full year as mayor, and that was fine. Now, why is it not fine now is what I want to know.

Is there any further discussion from the commissioners? Seeing none, the only thing that I will say- I believe Commissioner Matheson would like- There. Well, make sure you flip your light on. Thanks, Commissioner Matheson.

It does work. It does work.

I think the majority of the commissioners can decide what's going to happen. I think Commissioner Clark has served as an honorable mayor in the past, and I think she'd make a great mayor going forward in the future.

Commissioner Giobbe, your light's on.

Okay, there was a statement just made, and if I remember correctly, historically, that Commissioner Clark was asked to leave the mayorship due to circumstances at the time. Again, forgetting that history, we're sitting here today. There was precedent set for Commissioner Rich to maintain a full year as the mayor. I don't even know what you could possibly say. That that was fine for you, but not for this mayor. I want to hear each of you say why that's okay.

Do any other commissioners have any comments on the motion? Seeing none, the only thing that I will say is I was elected here in 2024, August 20th of 2024. And I recall the board reorganization coming up in December. And I was the only one that fought for you, Commissioner Rich. But I'll take it. I did stand up for you, by the way, on the dissenting side. But there's a motion made by you. I disagree with it. I think it's childish. But I'll keep my comments to myself. Mary, if you could do the roll call.

Commissioner Rich? Yes. Commissioner Matheson? Yes. Commissioner Giobbe? No. Commissioner Clark?

No, do I have to vote for myself? Yes, you do. Yes. Mayor Reed?

No. Motion passes with the ex-Mayor Reed dissenting and Commissioner Giobbe dissenting. I'll let you take over, Commissioner Clark.

Thank you for your service, Commissioner.

Congratulations, Mayor.

I guess it only works one way, huh?

Good evening, everyone. Thank you for the change in space.

I hope that the city will continue to go forward.

Mr. Bargatt.

Yes, ma'am.

City Manager, are we at the end of this?

Is the meeting adjourned?

No. Mr. Clark, I have another motion.

Okay.

That's my laptop.

Where is the gavel?

I just got to pass it down.

The meeting is not adjourned. I'm taking over. Is this yours or mine?

It's mine.

Mr., we've lost one of our commissioners.

Apparently.

We need to take a break or we're just gonna, we're gonna wait it out. There's no clock, so.

I don't think the absence of a commissioner.

No, just one person, that's fine. Because I only have three people. Could you please continue, Mr.,

We have the affirmative duty with this small number of employees to always make sure we're finding that we hire the best person for that job. Fortunately for us in the city of Stuart, the best person for the job does happen to reside in the city of Stuart. And this is someone who has raised his family here, has served as city commissioner, has served as city manager, has served as city attorney. He obtained one of the largest class action settlements in the history of the United States for the benefit of the residents of the city of Stewart. He was essential and most recently we realized in obtaining the final piece of the railroad grant, which we now have $230 million for, to complete the railroad bridge, which is essential. He is well known by our local delegation. He's well known in Tallahassee. And at this time, to provide the greatest benefit in what could prove to be difficult times ahead, I move that Mike Giordino be removed as city manager.

Second.

There's a motion and a second to remove our current city manager. Is there, okay, one at a time. Motion and a second to remove our current city manager. And may the record also show that we still have one city commissioner who did not excuse herself, I'm not sure, Chief Ortado, Officer Ortado, yes. Would you please check if Ms. Jobe is in the room?

I'll make sure you speak into the microphone.

Check if Ms. Jobe is in the premises.

Madam Mayor. Yes, ma'am. Should we have discussion on the second?

Yes, I just said we had a motion and a second. Any discussion?

Public comment first.

Okay, any public comment on this matter?

I see Mr. Laughlin of 950 coming forward I will Laughlin this is kind of surprising not really surprising we kind of suspected this but certain members that were running for this election they were running on the platform that the previous city commissioners were agents of chaos but now it's okay for this Really, I understand now you have the majority. I understand the other things that you intend to do. And I understand that the people of Stewart had a chance to vote. We were close, by the way. Congratulations, Campbell Rich. But this, this really exposes the hypocrisy that went down over the last several months. Anyway. I hope the citizens are paying attention to what they just won and the chaos agents that are about to try to roll up a power play here. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Laughlin. Any other public comments?

Joe Cooper, 906 Southeast 9th Street. As it relates to the motion, I think as a stand up here to try to petition and address the commission on the motion, I think it was definitely when we look at where the city went to and the people came out and voted and said they didn't like the direction the city went in and part of that direction was the removal of the prior city manager without cause if he had been removed with cause it would be unjustifiable to restore restoration is a good thing right because we all should be restored at one point and so I think that the motion was surprising I support it I think the voters support stability in the city. They want the city to move forward, and the prior city manager had the city moving forward and was managing the city. So I'm in agreement with the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Cooper. Madam Clerk, is there any other comment from the public?

Yes, I have Andy Noble.

Mr. Noble. You said your address for the record?

Pardon me?

Your address for the record.

My address? Yes sir. My home address?

Is that necessary or?

It's one of those things that we do that's okay.

Stewart I live in Stewart.

Thanks.

You know, I came here tonight after witnessing a number of chaotic meetings in the past. And Mr. Laughlin, who I don't know, I really appreciate your comments. I think there's a lot of people that are charged here tonight and were charged going into this election. this meeting reminds me of a meeting i was at regarding the bright line when uh... christopher collins was in leadership and mister reed and miss giobi sat here with a room full of four to five hundred people at least spilling out into that lobby and there was an overwhelming majority of people that were in support of this train station and i realized i'm living in a community that our representative government doesn't represent so as much as i am sorry that this gentleman sees this as chaotic i see this as representative of this community in that i don't like the leadership that's been running this commission personally and that's my opinion and i don't like the way it was handled mr mr reed i don't like the way you've operated and I don't think what Mr. Rich did, it's completely under the law, and it's within our right as a community to decide what we want and what we don't want, and the decision was just made and voted on.

That's all I have.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, is there any other comment from the public?

I have no further public comment.

Officer Tardo, could you find out in goodwill if Commissioner Jobe is coming back to the meeting? If there are no other comments, as soon as we determine whether or not.

We have discussion amongst ourselves.

Okay, you can have some. That's what I was going to say. Let's determine and then we can have discussion among the commissioners. I wanted Commissioner Giambi to be here for the discussion. All right. I will allow you to continue with your discussion since you're the motion maker, Mr. Rich.

No, this is not a negative. This isn't it.

not to cast negative aspersions on the job Mr. Giardino has done. It's to recognize who is clearly the most capable of doing this job at this time. And we're in a bit of a mess. We have not received an allocation from the state for the last three years, and that is a burden, an unnecessary burden on the taxpayers. Who is best positioned to restore the relationship with our local delegation who will sponsor and make sure we receive those allocations? That's Mr. Martel, for sure. What really worries me, and I was just three days at the floor of League of Cities and take one guess what all the discussion was, was all about Amendment 3 which would eliminate ad valorem tax receipts for the municipalities. Martin County would be hit very hard. I don't know how Sewell's Point will survive, and we will be hit very hard. This is not the time for someone with training wheels to negotiate us through that very difficult period. We need the most experience we can possibly get. We need the most someone who has, you know, the most relationships with all the individuals who are required to make this city operate, we're going to be going to, and Mr. Matheson can speak to this, Commissioner Matheson, we're going to be... buying a lot of land, a lot of green space in the city with the funds we receive. This is someone who knows every alley, every telephone pole, every swale. He's just too valuable a resource for this community to turn its back on. And I feel we would not be serving the constituents well by not bringing that resource, by reinstating him to where he should be.

Commissioner Rich, I agree.

Yes, I didn't see any lights. Sorry. I'll recognize Commissioner Matheson.

Commissioner Rich, I agree. This is in no way disparaging Mr. Giordino, but the fact of the matter is, over the past few years, I've sat in the audience watching clear chaos and watching a highly qualified prior commissioner, long-term resident, hometown who lives here, whose heart is clearly in it, long-term city employee, city attorney, and then city manager be wrongfully terminated. And there is no doubt in my mind, he is the best at leading us forward in the uncertainty ahead. And I distinctly remember sitting in this audience, hearing someone say, well, I didn't take any part in hiring him. And I hate to even bring that up. But that rung through my head. And that's not a reason to hire or fire someone, in my mind. But clearly, the prior commissioners felt that was. The reasoning in my mind is we are tasked with appointing the best man for the job. And the city of Stuart has been through a tremendous deal. And I see this going forward as the opportunity for stability. We need to leverage connections with higher elected officials, with the county, with businesses, and beyond with state and federal agencies. And former city manager Mike Mortel has that experience.

Thank you, Mr. Commissioner Matheson. I guess that light is now Commissioner Reid.

Yeah, I wanted to read something into the record. So there was a complaint on Thursday, July 2nd, 2020. Thomas Reitz, senior planner, filed a formal complaint against Michael Mortel, city attorney. Mr. Reitz reiterated sending texts both professionally and personally until the recipients, including his family, asked why his messages were either out of character or inappropriate. And Mr. Reitz had just noticed the same. Mr. Mortel texted him on June 17th and Mr. Reitz was attempting responses but noticing alternate words were loading into the message. Specifically, the following examples of words and names in his text messages were producing the words and phrases shown below. Home would change to porn studio. kev would change to my lover and no would change to absolutely and steve would change to the guy i have a crush on at work and yes would change to are you serious no way in discussion with mike mortell He apologized to Mr. Reitz for alternating the text messages and text depiction on his phone. So if that's professionalism, I mean, I guess I'm on the dissenting side, but that's professionalism from Mike Mortel and from the city commission majority. Mr. Reitz was deeply disturbed by the events documented in this report and states he feels violated, hurt, and offended. That's all I have to say.

Thank you, Commissioner Reid. Are there any other comments from the members of the board?

Yes. I was just to remind that financial soundness is one of the most important parts of what we do, and Mr. Martin, You know, considering the alternative to Mr. Giardino, for years this city has had the highest possible bond rating available for a city of its size. And that's a considerable accomplishment and saves the city quite a bit of money, saves the taxpayers quite a bit of money. And we're talking about an individual who engineered the acquisition of the Wells Fargo building and it cost the taxpayers almost nothing because the deal was structured such that the renters paid the bond payments. I can't turn my back on that much experience and that big a commitment to this community and that considerable success over such a long period of time.

Thank you, Commissioner.

I wanted to read something else into the record. So on October 2nd of 2025 at around 2029 hours, while conducting routine patrols in my Mark patrol vehicle, I observed a 2022 gray Tesla sedan bearing FL tag. I'm recognized, correct?

Yes, yes, you're recognized. Thank you. I just checked in on the record. Is that you're talking about yourself or what are you reading on the record and what's the relevance?

You'll find out when I'm finished. um tesla sedan bearing fl tag number jp 5bh traveling eastbound on northwest jensen beach boulevard an elvis query of the tag revealed that the register owner michael mortel had an active suspension on his license dated 0125 2025 due to failing to attend the school election I activated my lights and sirens to conduct a traffic stop near Northwest Green River Parkway and Northwest Jensa Beach Boulevard. I met with Mortel, who was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle. Mortel stated that he was unaware of the active suspension of his license. Deputy Sheriff Hoyrat, who was also at the scene, informed me that a David query revealed that Mortel received notice in December of 2024 regarding his license. He was issued a criminal citation. There was also an email dated following this incident, or before this incident, prior to it, on September 17, 2025. It said, good morning, the LPR hit tonight with FL tag number, blah, blah, blah. It comes back to Mike, and it is showing that the license is not valid. You might want to let him know to look into it. On body cam, he also lied that he didn't know his license was suspended, but he was well aware because the chief of police had verbally told Mike Mortel. That's all I have to say.

Thank you for your comment.

You're very welcome.

Are there any other comments on the motion that we have at hand?

Madam Mayor, a lot of this was brought up during his termination. Mike Mordrell addressed all of it, also demanded an investigation. He was fired without cause. I call the question.

Okay, there's a question. And this, may I ask a question, Mr. bridge commission rich uh... this this motion to uh... relieve uh... our current city manager of his duties is uh...

I apologize because we've had overlapping discussions here. Yes. And in order to accomplish that, we do have, there are three steps. The first would be the removal of Mr. Giordino, then the appointment of interim city manager, and then the decision to hire Mr. Martel. So we're only at the first step there.

Okay, and I was going to say cause, no cause, and if there's any time, you'd want to put in a time frame on anything that you're making a motion for?

No, it'd be effective immediately.

Okay, Madam Clerk, do you understand the motion or do we need legal to state it?

I simply have moved that Mike Geradino be removed as city manager effective immediately.

Okay, there's a motion. There's a second. There's been discussion. There's a motion on the floor so we can have public comment.

We had public comment.

Oh, we did have public comment. If we need more public comment, you have a chance. We've had our re-talk here at the... Are you coming up for public comment? Oh, you're... Okay, you can speak and then fill it out later. Thank you.

name and address. My name is Catherine Collier-Qirulis and I live in Stuart. I just want to say that I've watched some of these online and it would be great to see more professionalism. The role of a city manager can be filled by a number of people, but I think going backwards is not the correct direction. I also think that it would probably be in the best interest of this city for what's ahead and what's been a growing city for us to consider someone with an actual education in city management.

Thank you for your comments. I have a comment. Madam Clerk, with regard to, I guess, protocol, I'd like to call Deputy Chief Hurtado, please. I want to confirm we're up here meeting as the City Council and I did ask the Deputy Chief just because I don't know if Ms. Giobbe is in the bathroom and sick or anything. I want to confirm what time you went to look for our Commissioner and what is the result and what time it is now and so that we can confirm for her well-being as to what's going on.

Yes, ma'am. A few minutes ago, I checked the lobby in the parking lot. I didn't see her. I didn't check the restrooms. If you'd like me to check again, I could also do that, but I did not see her in order to contact her and check on her or inquire.

You don't know her car, right?

I do not. Someone pointed out and mentioned it. I didn't see anybody in the vehicle, but again, I didn't go into in-depth. I could check again if you'd like.

Okay, Madam Clerk or City Manager, were you given any notice or aware that she would have to leave at a certain time for anything? No, I was not.

I was not.

Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Okay, so at this point, Madam Clerk, it's your turn.

Call the roll.

Commissioner Rich?

Yes.

Commissioner Clark?

Is this the one we're abstained? This is tough.

Mayor Clark, sorry.

What was that, Madam Clerk?

Mayor Clark. Oh, yes.

Yeah, you have to call me by my other name. This is really tough. We never should have lost Mike. And having this mic, it is somewhat of a disservice because people have said it's a disruption, but the disruption should never have happened. And we need to correct and move forward. And yes.

Commissioner Reed? No. Commissioner Matheson?

Yes.

Okay, so that motion, you said you had another motion.

Mayor Clark.

Sir, yes, you can speak, Commissioner Rich.

No, I'd like to make a motion to appoint as an interim city manager, and he would need to accede to this request, and I still see him. Mr. Trotsky, would you be willing to accept that position as interim city manager?

It's been a night of change, very unusual night. All the directors work on behalf of the city commission and if that is what the city commission would like, I'd be happy to serve on an interim basis.

Thank you, Mr. Chorolsky. My motion is that Jim Chorolsky be appointed interim city manager until the new city manager can assume his new position.

Commissioner Rich has made a motion. Is there a second on that motion?

I second the motion. Thank you, Mr. Chorolsky.

There's a motion and a second. Any discussion among our board?

I support you, Jim. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Public comment.

Yeah, I'm going to go to that. Mr. Karofsky, you can have a seat, sir. Any public comment on this motion and second? Going once, going twice. No public comment? Mr. Karolsky, I'll call you back, please. Briefly, Mr. Karolsky, could you give us a brief history of your time with the city and what your proper name and your role is right now?

James Karolsky. I've worked for the city of Stewart for 20 years. I'm currently the community services director.

OK. Have you ever served as, or you've served as assistant city manager?

I have served as an acting city manager.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Rich, Commissioner Rich. Commissioner Matheson.

I would call the question, Madam Mayor. You have a motion and a second, and a public comment.

Okay, question. Close public comment. No, not for the public. Mayor, I mean, clerk.

Okay, this is to appoint Jim Chorolsky as interim city manager. Commissioner Reid?

Yes.