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4-13-24 Town Hall Adopted minutesMINUTES Town Hall Meeting s� Saturday, April 13, 2024 - 10:00 AM r 3 Gail Baker Community Center City Hall, 800 Seminole Road Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 ATTENDANCE: Present: Curtis Ford, Mayor — Seat 1 Bruce Bole, Commissioner - Seat 2 (District 1308) Michael Waters, Commissioner - Seat 3 (District 1307) Candace Kelly, Commissioner - Seat 4 (District 1306) Jessica Ring, Commissioner - Seat 5 (District 1312) Also Present: William B. Killingsworth, City Manager (CM) Ladayija Nichols, Deputy City Clerk (DCC) Following the Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Ford called the meeting to order at 10:05 AM. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION Community Centers Survey Link to Community Centers Survey CM Killingsworth explained the survey as detailed in the agenda and described the results received thus far. Suzanne Shaughnessy asked if a veteran's services office was requested in the survey responses. CM Killingsworth reported that it did not make the top rated responses. Sarah Boren expressed that she would like for the new community center to be built in a resilient and sustainable way. She suggested that more community centered activities be available and that a request for demographic information be added to the survey. Mark Gabrynowicz inquired about the credibility of the survey and suggested getting more of the community to complete the survey. Commissioner Waters asked if the Commission has done a good job with getting the survey out. Mr. Gabrynowicz emphasized that the survey is important. Commissioner Ring expressed that there was potential confusion with this survey and the parks master plan survey. She agreed with the suggestions of demographic Town Hall April 13, 2024 information being added to the survey. She asked how long the survey would be available, CM Killingsworth answered that it would be available for two weeks. Don Wolfson inquired about the result of placing flyers out in the community. Commissioner Ring expressed that there are many places to place flyers and market the survey. She mentioned that she wouldn't feel comfortable with moving forward on any decisions with the current amount of responses received. CM Killingsworth spoke about the Commission priorities and explained that staff will be looking at ways to track services, by survey, on an ongoing basis. Sarah Boren made further suggestions on getting the survey out. Commissioner Ring offered further suggestions for getting the survey out. A citizen opined that the City does a good job getting information out. Veronica Rodriguez offered further suggestions on advertising the survey. Mark Gabrynowicz agreed with Ms. Rodriguez's suggestions. Atlantic Beach Elementary Mayor Ford made a brief statement in support of removing Atlantic Beach Elementary (ABE) from any list for potential closure. He encouraged citizens to continue to advocate to the school board for the non -closure of ABE. Commissioner Bole read a part of an email that was received from the superintendent of the school board (which is attached hereto and made part of this Official Record as Attachment A). He emphasized the importance of engaging the school board on this issue. Carolyn Zisser requested that the DCPS Superintendent's email be added to the City website. Don Wolfson commended the Mayor's leadership on this issue. He mentioned that he has communicated with all of the beach Mayors and encouraged the Commission to come together as a unified group to help coordinate these efforts. Commissioner Waters expressed that the Commission is in full support of ABE staying open. Commissioner Ring briefly spoke about the email received from the DCPS Superintendent and expressed that she would like to know where the City Attorney is in conversation with the DCPS Attorney. Mayor Ford briefly spoke about his findings from the most recent school board meeting. Don Wolfson provided further comments on this issue. Town Hall April 13, 2024 Commissioner Bole spoke about his conversations with individuals regarding this issue that occurred at the Beaches Town Center Agency Golf tournament. Debbie Monty expressed that all local politicians should be involved in advocating for this cause. Sarah Boren requested that the City set up a website with information regarding this issue. Mayor Ford expressed that this issue is a crossover from the school board to the City and that the City might not post things regarding this issue on the website and thanked her for the suggestion. Peter Coalson reiterated the importance of this issue. He asked questions about specifics of this issue and CM Killingsworth, Mayor Ford, Commissioner Bole, Don Wolfson answered his questions. Commissioner Ring suggested that Emily McCarthy share a presentation that she gave to the SOS group. She expressed that she wants to consider potential infrastructure impacts if this issue were to move forward. Emily McCarthy expressed that she is grateful to the Commission for passing Resolution No. 24-21. Mayor Ford mentioned that not all of AB's children attend ABE. He expressed that this issue could be an avenue for advocating that all children in AB are able to attend ABE. Suzanne Shaunghnessey spoke about the City boundaries as it relates to the school board. Colleen November shared that everyone can visit saveatlanticbeach.com for updates regarding this issue. Veronica Rodriguez asked if the school board community meetings are live streamed. Commissioner Ring shared that the meetings are live streamed. Mayor Ford expressed that the next step would be to attend the school board meetings. Mark Gabryonwicz made a suggestion for those who have a website regarding this issue. Elliot Zisser mentioned that the school board member for ABE's district has not attended any of the Commission meetings. A citizen mentioned that the school board made a collective decision to not engage at this time but rather, hold community meetings for a collective conversation. Another citizen shared that the superintendent has visited ABE and believes that she was able to get a good impression of the school's utilization. Cashawna Thomas echoed many of the sentiments citizens have previously shared about this issue. Town Hall April 13, 2024 Carolyn Zisser made further suggestions to the Commission regarding this issue. Lisa Herrold encouraged each individual to continue to advocate to the school board. Commissioner Bole offered additional suggestions to Ms. Herrold's comments. Colleen November expressed that she would like more information on completing a records request to the school board. Don Wolfson offered further suggestions regarding what to research in order to gather information to take to the school board. Richard Merriam made a suggestion on reviewing action items. CM Killingsworth spoke about the ad valorem tax as it relates to the school board. Sarah Boren mentioned additional topics for the City to review. Mayor Ford provided closing comments. 4-13-24 Attachment A 2 PUBLIC COMMENT - OPEN TOPICS None. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:32 AM. Attest: La ayija Nichols, Deputy City Clerk Date Approved: 05 — � 3 2024 k<, 7A/ Curtis Ford, Mayor Town Hall April 13, 2024 Attachment A to 4-13-24 Minutes From: Bartle, Donna <dbartle@coab.us> Sent: Friday, April 12, 2024 5:14 PM To: Elected Officials Subject: FW: Constituent Services Issue #'2024-C345E' (Atlantic Beach Inquiry- Bartle) Attachments: dcps_logo.png Forwarding the response I received (below). Thank you, Donna L. Bartle City Clerk City of Atlantic Beach 800 Seminole Road Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 (904)247-5809 From: Kriznar, Dana L. <kriznard@duvalschools.org> Sent: Friday, April 12, 2024 4:44 PM To: Bartle, Donna <dbartle@coab.us> Cc: Hershey, Lori O. <HersheyL@duvalschools.org>; Joyce, Charlotte D. <joycec@duvalschools.org>; Jones, Warren A. <JonesW2@duvalschools.org>; Willie, Darryl D. <WillieD@duvalschools.org>; Coker, Kelly G. <cokerk@duvalschools.org>; Pearson, Cynthia H. <PearsonC1@duvalschools.org>; Carney, April A. <CarneyAl@duvalschools.org> Subject: Constituent Services Issue #'2024-C345E' (Atlantic Beach Inquiry- Bartle) Thank you for your note to our board members and for your support of Atlantic Beach Elementary School. Let me assure you that the proposal gaining so much attention recently is only the first draft. It came from a consultant who presented it to our board earlier this year. Nothing has been decided, and there will be a tremendous amount of community conversation before final plans are written and presented to the school board for approval. We are in the very early stages of this process. However, as a district and with our school board, we do have difficult decisions to make. Charter school revenue sharing and pandemic -era inflation have had significant impacts on our budgets for operations and facilities. While we are a long way from final recommendations on how we address these financial challenges, I want to be transparent in letting you and the community know that the status quo is not an option available to us. The district must operate within the context of the financial realities we face. I do appreciate your note and your strong support for Atlantic Beach Elementary School. I hope you will remain engaged in the discussion as it continues over the next several weeks. Kind regards, Dr. Dana Kriznar Superintendent Duval County Public Schools 1701 Prudential Drive Jacksonville, FL 32207 Tel: (904)390-2115 Fax: (904)390-2586 Attachment A to 4-13-24 Minutes Original Inquiry ------ Please review the attached resolution, adopted by the City Commission of the City of Atlantic Beach on April 8, 2024, requesting that the Duval County School Board takes action to ensure that Atlantic Beach Elementary School continues to operate as the community's elementary school and is not subject to closure. Original Inquiry ------ This communication may contain privileged and confidential information intended only for the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination, distribution or duplication of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e- mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing. Florida has broad public records laws and virtually all written communications are public records unless specifically deemed confidential pursuant to state or federal law.