This Commission Meeting was conducted utilizing Communications Media Technology. Some Staff members were present in the Commission Chambers while others were present via the Zoom application.
ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT
IN CHAMBERS:
Dan West, Mayor
Brian Williams, Vice-Mayor/ Commissioner Ward 3 (Present via ZOOM)
Tamara Cornwell, Commissioner-at-Large 2
Sunshine Joiner, Commissioner, Ward 2
Harold Smith, Commissioner Ward 1
Scott Whitaker, Commissioner-at-Large 1
STAFF PRESENT IN CHAMBERS:
Jim Freeman, City Clerk
Marisa Powers, City Attorney
Mohammed Rayan, Public Works Director
Scott Tyler, Chief of Police
Rowena Young-Gopie, CRA Director
Cassi Bailey, Assistant City Clerk
STAFF PRESENT ELECTRONICALLY:
Todd Williams, Information Technology (IT) Consultant
1. Mayor West called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, and Commissioner Joiner gave the prayer for tonight’s meeting.
All persons intending to address the City Commission were duly sworn.
2. CITY COMMISSION AGENDA APPROVAL
MOTION: Commissioner Joiner moved, Commissioner Whitaker seconded,
and the motion carried 4-0 to approve the May 19, 2025 City
Commission Agenda with the addition of the Grey addendum.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT
Karon Dixon spoke on Palmetto Downtown Mainstreet. She shared a paper from Deland. She is asking for a collaborative effort from the Commission. The next concert is on the third Saturday of the month from 6-9pm at Sutton Park.
May 19, 2025
Page 2 of 4
4. CONSENT AGENDA
a. Minutes: 4/21/2025
b. Furniture Surplus
c. CRA Advisory Board Appointment
d. Police Officers’ Board of Trustees Appointment
MOTION: Commissioner Cornwell moved, Commissioner Joiner seconded,
and the motion carried 4-0 to approve the Consent Agenda as presented by staff.
5. RETIREMENT OF POLICE CHIEF TYLER AND APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM CHIEF WAITERS (MAYOR WEST)
Mayor West spoke on the retirement of Police Chief Tyler. He will be retiring as of May 31st. He would like to appoint Interim Chief Waiters for the month of June. On July 1st, they would like to re-appoint Chief Tyler as the Chief.
Commissioner Smith said Chief Tyler may not want to come back once he takes a break.
MOTION: Commissioner Williams moved to allow Mayor West to
appoint Lorenzo Waiters as the Interim Chief of Police
from June 1 through June 30 and re-appoint Scott Tyler as
Chief of Police as of July 1st until the organizational
meeting in January. Commissioner Joiner seconded. The
motion carried 5-0.
The Commissioners thanked Chief Tyler for his dedication and hard work, and they all enjoyed working with him. They look forward to having him back after a brief retirement. Chief Tyler said it has been his honor to serve. He is also extremely honored to be asked to continue to serve.
ADDENDUM TO GRAY AGREEMENT (ADDED)
Mark Barnebey and Ms. Young-Gopie spoke on this addendum. This was made part of the Minutes. The addendum extended the time to complete a CRA Tif incentive agreement by 60 days.
MOTION: Commissioner Cornwell moved, Commissioner Joiner
seconded, and the motion carried 4-1 to approve the
Amendment to Agreement of Purchase and Sale and
Development of the Property between the City of Palmetto
and Gray Property Group. (Commissioner Smith voted nay.)
City Commission Meeting
May 19, 2025
Page 3 of 4
COMMENTS:
6. DEPARTMENT HEADS’ COMMENTS
Mr. Barnebey shared that the legislative session is done but the governor still has to sign off on bills. During this legislative session we did ok.
Ms. Young-Gopie said the CRA has been awarded a $500,000 grant for brownfield projects. It won’t be available until October 1st, but any monies that are spent after July 1st can be reimbursed.
There will be a photoshoot with FreeBee on June 12th at Riverwalk in Bradenton. The CRA applied for the Phoenix Brownfield Award. If they win, they will go to Chicago to accept the award.
Mr. Rayan congratulated Chief Tyler on his 30-day retirement. Improvement to 2nd Avenue is ongoing right now. The 8-inch water line has been installed on 2nd Avenue. There are some delays on the restoration of 2nd Avenue. There is also additional work being performed on secondary roads for sanitary sewer work. The 10th Avenue Complete Street is moving forward. The RFP has been developed by the engineers, and it is being reviewed by legal. It will then go to the FDOT. He and Mr. Freeman are working with the engineers to develop work assignments and drawings for the 10th street and 8th Avenue turning lanes. Mr. Rayan is meeting with the DEP on June 3rd to discuss our in-kind project to fulfill our obligation for the consent order.
Mr. Freeman congratulated Chief Tyler. He discussed the upcoming calendar. We have our break in July and the only scheduled meeting is July 21st. Currently we will have to report to TRIM prior to the August 4th meeting. Commissioner Cornwell believes we could do a workshop and meeting on July 21st to discuss the budget. We could possibly have a dinner meeting to extend the workshop on that day, if needed. That would be the only item on the agenda for the workshop. Commissioner Whitaker agreed with that, especially if they get the budget earlier in July.
Commissioner Williams didn’t have a problem with that, but he would also love to see staff schedule a couple days with the Commissioners to review the budget with Jim and Cheryl to ask questions ahead of time.
The unsolicited proposal of the south portion of the PD site by Altier Group will be going through the unsolicited proposal process. It will probably come back to them in July.
Mr. Freeman shared that on June 16th he will be at FGFOA conference and will not be physically at the Commission meeting. He will try to call in to the meeting.
As of May 15th, the City launched both Facebook and Instagram pages.
Mr. Freeman went on to share that the County scheduled their final budget public hearing on September 22nd, which is our normally scheduled meeting date. Therefore, we will have to select another date for our final budget hearing. He wanted everyone to start looking at the calendar to determine an alternative date.
City Commission Meeting
May 19, 2025
Page 4 of 4
Chief Tyler thanked everyone for their support and looks forward to coming back in July. There are 3 new officers and a dispatcher starting soon, and they will be almost fully staffed.
7. MAYOR’S REPORT
Mayor West acknowledged Officer Moriarty as a finalist for Officer of the year. He shared the events he has been at recently including the Desoto Children’s Parade, FFA banquets, MPO meetings, Pre-school visits, etc. Annie, his new executive assistant, will be starting on May 29th.
8. COMMISSIONERS’ COMMENTS
Commissioner Cornwell asked if the police have some events planned with students over the summer break. Chief Tyler answered, yes. Happy birthday to Rowena and Ed, and congratulations to Chief Tyler. She spoke about the recently painted black building in the City. She doesn’t think that is the look they want to promote for revitalization of the City. She questioned what restrictions they can put in place.
Commissioner Joiner asked if there is a schedule of when the seahorse monument will get some touch ups. Ms. Young-Gopie reported that they have just asked Mr. Berman to touch it up.
Commissioner Whitaker addressed Ms. Dixon and expressed that they greatly appreciate all they do at Palmetto Downtown Mainstreet. They are supporting them even if they’re not there. He will make a point to try to be at more events.
Commissioner Williams shared that on the 15th and 16th of this month was the Regional Resiliency Summit at the Palmetto Marriott. They thoroughly enjoyed the whole event. He asked Mr. Freeman how they visit the City’s social media pages if they don’t have social media. Mr. Freeman shared that there are links on our website to access our pages. Commissioner Williams asked Mr. Barnebey if they could meet before the next meeting. Mr. Barnebey answered, of course.
Mayor West shared they must get their Charter Review Committee Representatives to fill out the forms that were given to them and turn them in to Ms. Bailey by May 30th.
The Riverside Property score sheets from the Workshop need to be transferred to the final scoring sheet and given to Ms. Young-Gopie. They will share the results at the next meeting.
Staff at Public Works have been evaluating future needs based off last year’s hurricane season. They plan to purchase radios.
Mayor West adjourned the meeting at 7:46 pm.
Minutes approved: JUNE 16, 2025
JAMES R. FREEMAN
James R. Freeman
City Clerk