Board of Commissioners Special Workshop Meeting

THE CITY OF MADEIRA BEACH, FLORIDA PUBLIC NOTICE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL WORKSHOP MEETING The Board of Commissioners of the City of Madeira Beach, Florida will meet at City Hall, located at 300 Municipal Drive, Madeira Beach, Florida to discuss the agenda items of City Business listed at the time indicated below. 10:30AM THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014 CONFERENCE ROOM CALL TO ORDER -The meeting was called to order at 10:34 a.m. ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Travis Palladeno, Mayor Terry Lister, Vice-Mayor Nancy Hodges, Commissioner District 2 Pat Shontz, Commissioner District 4 MEMBERS ABSENT: Elaine Poe, Commissioner District 3 (prior commitment) STAFF PRESENT: Shane Crawford, City Manager (CM) Aimee Servedio, City Clerk (CC) STAFF ABSENT: Thomas Trask, City Attorney (CA) Vince Tenaglia, Finance Director (FD) Dave Marsicano, Central Services Director (CSD) TOPIC DISCUSSION OF CONTINUANCE OR TERMINATION OF SISTER CITY RELATIONSHIP WITH BIMINI, BAHAMAS City Manager, Shane B. Crawford CM: Late last fall, there was going to be sizable delegation to visit Bimini but Leonard Stuart, the man orchestrating this relationship, had to wait from the Bahamian government to get approval for such a meeting. The meeting will actually be in the capital building with the Minister of Tourism. We need to decide if we want to continue this relationship, which would require a delegate to attend the meeting th on April 10 , or if not, to notify them of the City's non-interest. It has been over two years since the last visit, and the island has certainly flourished over that time with the success of a casino. Tom Verdensky and Misty Wells, local developers, have volunteered to go. Mayor Palladeno: Stated that he was unable to attend then asked if there were any other commissioners that would like to go. BOC Special Workshop Meeting 04/03/2014 Commissioner Shontz: When is it exactly? CM: We have to be there at a meeting at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. If I were going, I would leave on Wednesday since it's the cheapest day to fly and return on Friday morning. Commissioner Shontz showed interest in going. V-M Lister: Explained that he sees no problem with both Commissioner Shontz and the CM going on this trip. There will be some signing of documents so he thinks it's a good idea. CM: Agreed with V-M Lister that between the two of them, they can answer any questions, sign any documents, and negotiate what the benefits of maintaining the relationship would be. The relationship needs to be beneficial to the City. V-M Lister: Asked the CM what his opinion was - did he think that this would be valuable to the City? CM: The City of Bimini came to us. Dave and Travis were involved a little bit. Bimini explained that they only had access to cities like Ft. Lauderdale and Miami but also wanted access to the West Coast of Florida to promote fishing and tourism. So, they are again, coming to us and he thinks they really want to do something real with this relationship. Misty Wells: It's good press - it gets Madeira Beach in the media and the City really wants to be on the map and get some attention. We can also do some co-marketing with them and this is dollars that Bimini is already spending and they're adding us in there, she thinks that's a really big deal. She doesn't know exactly what they want from us, but it is definitely worth investigating it. She advocates getting the benefit without spending the money by getting creative and attracting sponsors from the county. CM: Also thinks it's worth investigating to see how far Bimini has come in the last two years- have they developed nicer areas and increased tourism? He wants to know how it has evolved because Leonard Stuart has explained that there have been many great advances and improvements. Ms. Wells: Has heard from others that the marina in Bimini has really improved and that the area is really nice to visit and it is becoming more accommodating of a 'ritzier' population with much larger boats. Mayor Palladeno: We host the largest fishing tournament in the country. The upcoming tournament has lots of rooms already sold out. The money coming in will be outstanding. We are definitely creating bed tax dollars with these kinds of events. He thinks that the relationship is a win-win all the way around. CM: Even though we are going to a different country, the trip is very affordable. He is going for a meeting and coming right back - the whole thing should cost less than $1,000. We will be able to meet with a top official, the Minister of Tourism, who up to this point hasn't been available. Commissioner Hodges: 1n traveling to and from, do they go all the way around that state to Miami then over? BOC Special Workshop Meeting 04/03/2014 Tom Verdensky: It depends on the time frame. They can take trailers over to the Ft. Pierce area and leave from there or go all the way around. CM: The last part, if they are looking just to receive, that he can have authority to pass on the relationship - it has to be a give and take. Mayor Palladeno: Wants the Bill Fishing and Loop Tournaments to come back to the West Coast and wants to know if this relationship could help re-establish the series here. It's a great economic impact for our City. CM: That would definitely be a big question to ask. There was a consensus that the CM and Commissioner Shontz will attend the meeting in Nassau on April 10, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. CM: He will bring back a report at the next BOC Meeting. Also he made the Board aware that the City is working on private property to host the Bone Fishing Tournament. They are not giving money or checks, the City is just sending labor to help clean up the property since the property did not have a budget for a cleaning crew and the City does not want to lose the tournament. The Fish House is scheduled for th demolition in the next couple of weeks (April 17 ). Lighting in Leverock's property will be up soon and should help issues with property. The restaurant next to Kitty Stuart Park is still in limbo due to the developers being unable to find restaurateurs. Mayor Palladeno: Asked if Tom Wells would give an update at a BOC Meeting on the King of the Beach Tournament. He thinks there will be record numbers coming here from other states. Mr. Verdensky: There are already registrations from many other states. He wants to bring back the anglers and change it back to how it used to be. The Mayor said they could get event money from TDC to help infrastructure. ADJOURNMENT - The meeting was adjourned at 11:03 a.m. Date Approved: 0 5 I \ ?J / d O \ '-\- Mayor Travis Palladeno ubmitted by Sea Marshall-Barley, Support Specialist BOC Special Workshop Meeting 04/03/2014