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City Council · Wednesday, July 9, 2025 · 9:00 AM

Regular Council Meeting

Agenda (PDF)Minutes (PDF)

Summary

The Freeport City Council met on July 9, 2025, and approved multiple infrastructure and operational initiatives. The council voted unanimously to fund additional mosquito control operations through October, purchase chemicals and equipment for mosquito control, approve an engineering proposal for replacement, award a contract for water tank painting, establish an in-house building permit department, and grant a special event permit for a firefighter challenge. The mayor also received approval to attend conferences and recognized outstanding employees.

Why it matters

These decisions represent significant investments in the city's infrastructure, operations, and services. The establishment of an in-house building permit department could generate additional revenue from fees previously paid to Walton County and improve efficiency for residents and developers. The infrastructure improvements to water and wastewater systems support the city's growth and modernization.

What happened

Development & zoning1 item

  • Building Permit Framework Implementation

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council approved establishing an in-house building permit department within the Planning and Zoning Department, to be implemented October 1 in the new . The city will hire a building official and building technician to handle permit administration, plan review, and inspections, streamlining the process and ensuring compliance with the Florida Building Code and . The council also authorized staff to develop a Land Development Code amendment pertaining to building permit procedures.

Budget & taxes4 items

  • #6 – Mosquito Control Funding

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council approved additional funding for Mosquito Control to sustain operations through October 1.

    • $34,300.00 · Additional funding for Mosquito Control through October 1

  • Mosquito Control Prepaid Chemicals

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council approved purchase of chemicals for the mosquito control program, to be ordered ahead of time and charged to next year's budget.

    • $25,000.00 · Purchase of chemicals for Mosquito Control

  • Monitor Flex Hardware for Mosquito Control Sprayer

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council approved purchase of hardware to calibrate and control the flow of spray from the mosquito control sprayer.

    • $5,462.84 · Hardware package for mosquito control sprayer to control flow of spray

  • Frontier Precision Software Package for Mosquito Control

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council approved purchase of the Frontier Precision Software Package for mosquito control operations, selected as the most cost-effective option over a five-year period including maintenance fees.

    • $10,692.95 · Frontier Precision Software Package for Mosquito Control

Roads & infrastructure1 item

  • 3280 Replacement Proposal

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council approved an engineering proposal for survey, design review, permitting, grant management, bid phase services, and construction inspection for the replacement.

    Where: 3280

Utilities1 item

  • North Bay Elevated Water Storage Tank Project Award

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council awarded the contract for painting the North Bay Elevated Water Storage Tank to US Tank, the low bidder, after receiving three bids on July 1, 2025. This is the final tank requiring painting in the current cycle.

    • $322,750.00 · Award to US Tank for North Bay Elevated Storage Tank painting project

Parks1 item

  • Special Event Permit for Heroes for Heroes Firefighter Challenge

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council approved a special event permit and fee waiver for the Heroes for Heroes Firefighter Challenge to be held Friday, November 7 from noon to 10 p.m. and Saturday, November 8 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. All benefits go to the Fisher House.

Other2 items

  • – Bills and Minutes

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council approved the containing bills and the June 10, 2025 meeting minutes.

  • Mayor's Attendance at Freedom Rural Conference in Ocala

    Passed 5–0 · unanimous

    The council approved Mayor Barley's attendance at the Freedom Rural Conference in Ocala on November 19-21, including the conference registration fee and hotel reservations.

    • $450.00 · Freedom Rural Conference in Ocala registration fee for Mayor

Coming up

  • Heroes for Heroes Firefighter Challenge event · November 7-8, 2025
  • Freedom Rural Conference in Ocala · November 19-21, 2025
  • Florida League of Cities Annual Conference in Orlando (hotel deadline July 22) · August 14-16, 2025
  • Building permit department implementation and new · October 1, 2025

Summaries are AI-generated; each meeting links its original documents · Independent, not an official city site · Source · Updated Sep 28, 2026 · Privacy · Terms