City Council approves Dalton Threadgill lease amendment, reduces rental lien, denies livery extension

(Note: Individual speakers will be limited to 3 minutes. At the discretion of the mayor, this 3 minute allowance may be adjusted depending on the level of business coming before the City Council)

On July 21, 2025, the City Council directed staff to negotiate a value-engineered contract with Complete Site Source for RFB 25-04-REC, along with a budget amendment if necessary. | attachments=7 | reports=1

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The City has been working with Public Risk Insurance Agency since 1996 as a strategic partner in the administration of our Property & Casualty insurance policies. Insurance policies for Property, Automobile (A/L), General Liability (G/L), and Worker's Compensations (since 2024). | attachments=1 | reports=1

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Destin Little League Inc. would like to amend the current lease between City and the Destin Little League. The changes are attached to their proposal. | attachments=3 | reports=1

Back in 2018, the property at 3695 Scenic Highway 98, Unit 101 was found in violation of the City's short-term rental ordinance for failure to register a single-family home as a short term rental. A daily fine of $250 a day commenced accruing via the City's Code Compliance Lien on September 23, 2018. The property was deemed compliance on March 22, 2024, at which time the fines stopped accruing. This lien reduction request arose in the context of a scheduled real property closing to sell 3695 Scenic Highway 98, Unit 101, to a new owner. The total amount of the outstanding lien is $501,750 due to a daily fine of $250 a day for 2,007 days. The applicant/property owner is requesting that the City Council reduce the lien, and will be present at the City Council meeting to provide their proposed basis for relief. | attachments=4 | reports=1

The City Council previously approved an agreement with Sea Chase for a TEMPORARY EXCEPTION to the livery vessel moratorium and regulations that allowed Sea Chase to maintain ten (10) City livery registrations which were assigned to the following ten vessels: FL 7753RU 119 FL 7756RU 120 FL 2365RJ 121 FL 7748RU 122 FL 7759RU 123 FL 7755RU 124 FL 2363RJ 126 FL 7761RU 127 FL 7750RU 131 FL 7763RU 132 This Agreement terminated on June 30, 2025, but may be extended by mutual written agreement of the Parties, including approval by the City Council. This item was postponed until the August 18, 2025 regular City Council meeting. | attachments=2 | reports=1

During the regular City Council meeting on August 18, 2025, ​the ​Council passed the following motion: | reports=1

The City of Destin has faced longstanding challenges with managing parking in the Harbor District and surrounding municipal facilities. While revenues from paid parking have steadily increased over the past three years, enforcement and compliance remain limited under the current system. This has contributed to inconsistent citation revenues, lower compliance levels, and ongoing concerns from residents, visitors, and businesses about fair access to parking. To address these issues, the City issued a competitive RFP for professional parking management services. After a review of proposals and qualifications, LAZ Parking was selected as the City’s vendor. LAZ has extensive experience in managing municipal parking programs nationwide and will present two operational scenarios for the City to consider as part of contract negotiations. The two scenarios vary in scope, technology integration, and potential revenue outcomes. The purpose of this agenda item is to provide Council with a summary of available options, outline projected financial and operational impacts, and request Council direction on which scenario should form the basis of the final negotiated agreement. | attachments=3 | reports=1

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On August 4, 2025, Councilmember Bagby moved to direct city staff to develop and return with a justification for establishing a slow speed zone in Joe's Bayou, based on the criteria outlined in Florida Statute 327.46(1)(c), including but not limited to: •Presence of blind corners, •Unsafe levels of vessel traffic congestion, •Navigational hazards, or •Credible data indicating a threat to boating safety (such as accident reports or citations). The motion further states that once the city and the county agree that such justification exists, an ordinance may then be drafted to formally establish the slow speed zone. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Hebert and passed 7-0. | attachments=5 | reports=1

During the Public Comments time at the Regular City Council meeting on August 18, 2025, Mr. Daniel Danforth spoke regarding a grant opportunity through FDEP to evaluate new and emerging technologies for improving water quality in ponds and lakes. The Council passed the below motion for staff to meet with Mr. Danforth and evaluate the opportunity. | reports=1

The Destin City Council created a Youth Council to engage local teens, gather their perspectives on how city policies affect young residents, and offer them opportunities to contribute to the city’s decision-making by providing recommendations on youth-related matters. Members of the Destin Youth Council must be high school students who maintain a minimum GPA of 2.25 and reside within the city limits of Destin. Each term lasts one year, beginning in August and ending in July of the following year. Students may reapply annually as long as they continue to meet the grade level and eligibility requirements. | attachments=9 | reports=1

On October 2, 2023, the Human Resources Director, through the City Attorney, requested that future amendments to the Employee Manual be adopted by resolution, rather than through the more extensive ordinance process. Council had no objections. This change simplifies administrative procedures, allowing for more timely and flexible updates to personnel policies, while preserving transparency and Council oversight. The most recent update to the manual was on May 5, 2025 through resolution. The Employee Manual was adopted in July 1988 - and Revised: Feb. 1996, Jun. 2003, Dec. 2008, Nov. 2009, Nov. 2020, May 2025. The most recent version is attached as Exhibit A to proposed Resolution 25-18 in strike through and underlined form showing the current proposed revisions to the current Employee Manual. | attachments=2 | reports=1

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Pursuant to Florida Statute Chapter 200.065, and the City Charter Section 3.13, staff is presenting Ordinance 25-20-CN for adoption of the FY 2026 millage rate. | attachments=6 | reports=1

Pursuant to Florida Statute Chapter 200, and City Charter Section 3.13, staff is presenting Ordinance 25-21-CN for adoption of the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget. Budget Workshops were held June 9, 2025 and July 14, 2025. The current budget proposed budget for FY 2026 is $61.4 million, which is $353,008 lower than was presented at the last Budget Workshop held on July 14, 2025. CHANGES SINCE THE 07/14/2025 BUDGET WORKSHOP ARE SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS: | attachments=3 | reports=1

Proposed Ordinance 25-05-CC requires additional training and safety measures for livery vessel operators and their customers, codifies the livery vessel cap within the City, and makes clarifications to permit transferability. The cap on the number of livery vessels is based on the current number of livery vessels legally registered and expected to register based on the recent clarifications related to bareboat yachts and the existing boat club within the city. Proposed clarifications on permit registration transferability include the ability to transfer permit registrations provided the vessel is transferred with the permit, but prohibit separate permit transfers if detached from the vessel to which the permit is registered. Abandoned permits would be required to be returned to the City. The Ordinance was discussed by the City Council on May 19, 2025; by the Harbor and Waterways Board on May 22, 2025, and again by the City Council on August 4 and 18, 2025. Comments obtained from both the City Council and HWB have been incorporated into the proposed Ordinance before the Council this evening for first reading. | attachments=1 | reports=1