Council’s agenda on Thursday was highlighted by 3 items with council taking action on one of them. The proposed 250 foot ferris wheel in the Florida Aquarium parking lot passed 4-2 with Hurtak and Carlson voting no. Both Council Chair Alan Clendenin and Council member Luis Viera spoke to the benefits the attraction would be as a visual for “b-roll” video during sporting events. That the fairly common attraction would differentiate the downtown skyline. One detail I would argue with Abbye Feely, Administrator of Development and Economic Opportunity, is her “correction” of the public that the lease terminates in 2039 and not sure where anyone in the public got 30 years. Yes, the initial terms of the lease is through 2039, however the lease automatically renews for 2 10-year terms. The city would have to give 2 years notice otherwise. The included contract for the sublease clearly spells out costs into years 21-24. Nobody imagined 30 years.

The anticipated opening is fall of 2026.

Ethics

The discussion around the proposed changes to the city’s ethics code took on more focus this week after language surfaced from the 2022 recommended changes from the Ethics Commission that would have infringed on 1st Amendment rights by labeling anyone who advocated to council or staff as a lobbyist, whether they’re being paid to speak for an issue or not. City Attorney Andrea Zeldman took responsibility and apologized for including the inartful language and expressed it was never her intent to infringe on the public’s ability to speak to their elected officials or the administration. The solution was to remove the item from the agenda, therefore ending any further discussion of the proposed changes. The legal department will return with a new set of changes strictly focused on aligning city code with state statutes and constitution. A broader discussion about the ethics code—along with discussion on the utility of even having an ethics code considering state law—will be held during the February 26, 2026 workshop.

South Howard Flood Relief Project

And while there were early attempts to move the South Howard Flood Relief discussion until next year without any discussion during Thursday’s meeting, ultimately the item was discussed with the same result. A continuation until January 29, 2026. Details did emerge for the GMP 1 request; to replace several 100+ year old water mains that could be put under undue pressure when Howard Ave is under construction as well as resurface roadways that would be part of the primary detours for the project. Council expressed a willingness to approve the water main replacements if it were to be brought back separate from the South Howard project. Staff indicated that would be difficult to do as they are intertwined but it’s possible to see it return before the January workshop. Otherwise, there are too many unknowns for any council member to approve anything with the words “South Howard Flood Relief” on it currently.

The discussion now seems to have moved away from the route to cost and how it’s going to be paid for. Which bled over into an issue raised by a member of the community opposed to the project in relation to the storm water improvement assessment fund. Specifically how the fee has been used to fund large scale projects through bonding. All of which were approved by past councils in both the annual budgets as well as contracts. The South Howard Flood Relief project was originally approved in 2021 as part of the FY22 budget for $64.5 million. With the aid of $50 million in grants, nearly $300 million in stormwater projects have been completed with the assessment thus far.

The current assessment for a 2,000 square foot house is $82.00 annually for the services assessment (maintenance) and $89.55 for the improvement assessment (capital projects). The service assessment collected $15.9 million in FY25 while the improvement assessment collected $15.5 million. Every property owner in the city pays the service assessment; only those in the Central and Lower Basin Improvement area pay the improvement assessment which ends in 2045. I’m not sure about you, but kids in my neighborhood charge $30 and up just to mow the grass. Kicking in $82 a year to clean ditches and drains sounds cheap.And that might be exactly how we got into this situation in the first place. It’s also worth remembering that no one anticipated the economic impact of a pandemic and the drastic increases in both labor and material costs. The PIPES program is nearing a half a billion shortfall in funding. That an average of $90 a year assessment isn’t going as far as hoped ten years ago shouldn’t be a huge surprise.

Work will continue behind the scenes and hopefully a clearer picture will emerge in 3 months.

Charter Review Commission

Council set a special call workshop for November 4th, 2025 at 9am for a 3 hour workshop to hammer out the final details for the charter mandated review in 2026. The goal of the workshop is less for public engagement and more for the 7 members of council to work in the sunshine together to come to an agreement in order for Tampa City Council Attorney Martin Shelby to prepare an ordinance for first reading in December. Council is working back from a hard deadline set by the Supervisor of Elections for items to appear on the 2027 municipal election ballot.

One point Council member Carlson made during the discussion in Thursday’s meeting is that the commission only makes recommendations to council for possible amendments to be put to the voters in 2027. Council ultimately votes and decides what goes on the ballot. That’s assuming council were to all vote in a super majority on each proposal. Otherwise, anything with 4 votes requires the mayor’s approval too.