ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD

MINUTES - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD September 4, 2025 1 | P a g e The Economic Development Advisory Board of the City of Fort Myers, Florida, met in regular session at Oscar M. Corbin, Jr. City Hall, 2200 Second Street, a meeting place in the City of Fort Myers, Florida, on Thursday, September 4, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. Present were: Chair Dennis Landfried, presiding, Vice Chair Orie Lee Ford, Regular Board Members Ken Pariser, Jerome Miller, Gladston Clarke (Arrived at 2:01 p.m.), and Alternate Members Nannette Maxson, and Duane Dyar. Also present was Grant Alley, City Attorney, and Steven Weathers, Economic Development Director. Absent: Board Member John Kakatsch CALL TO ORDER Chair Landfried called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Landfried led the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC COMMENTS (None) REGULAR ITEMS 1. Approve the August 7, 2025 meeting minutes MOTION: Board Member Pariser moved to approve the August 7, 2025 meeting minutes; seconded by Board Member Dyar; motion carried unanimously. PRESENTATIONS 1. Discuss the process of negotiating goods and services with vendors by Nicole Setzer, City Engineer Nicole Setzer, City Engineer, detailed the City's procurement process for contracts emphasizing the use of continuing contracts for consultants and construction managers with limits of $7.5 million. She described the process of soliciting individual project contracts, and the steps involved in advertising, receiving proposals, scoring based on a predetermined matrix, and inviting finalists for presentations. The Selection Committee makes the final selection based on the presentations and the scoring matrix. She highlighted the importance of ensuring the right personnel are assigned to the right tasks during construction to optimize costs, and the need for detailed man-hour breakdowns ensure transparency and accountability. There is an ongoing effort to refine the single project construction management agreement for better clarity. Board Member Miller raised the idea of using third-party cost estimating services to provide an independent assessment of project costs. Ms. Setzer explained the current process of using the design team and construction manager for cost estimating. The potential challenges of using third-party services were discussed. Board Member Dyar suggested exploring Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to assist in project tracking, project management, and cost estimation as well as procurement efficiency and providing an unbiased scoring voice for selection committees.

MINUTES - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD September 4, 2025 2 | P a g e STAFF COMMENTS SPIN Micromobility Mr. Weather provided an update on the SPIN Micromobility Program by noting no incidents or accidents were reported in the first three weeks, and the riders are particularly at night. He noted the potential for adjusting the program in the future based on market demand and data. Culinary District Mr. Weathers advised that Spiro and Associates was hired by Council to work on a draft plan including branding and marketing. Economic Development Budget Mr. Weathers noted that the Economic Development budget has been submitted for approximately $525,000.00 in which the Council will vote on at the September 15, 2025 City Council Regular Meeting. Discussion ensued regarding programming funds. Parking Meter Program Board Member Pariser questioned the financial viability of the parking meter program and its impact on local businesses. Mr. Weathers conveyed that from his understanding that the parking meter program is revenue positive. Mr. Pariser requested that parking meter revenue be confirmed and provided to the Board. Mr. Weathers replied that he will gather that information. City Attorney Alley explained that there is parking revenue greater than the operating expenses, however the City is not profiting as that revenue goes towards paying the debt service incurred to build the parking garages and for maintenance. Board Member Maxson proposed surveying business owners Downtown about the impact of paid parking. Chair Landfried felt that has been done and the City did listen and modify times. Vice Chair Ford suggested increasing the free parking time to at least an hour from the 30-minute parking option. Board Member Dyar suggested offering free two-hour parking in front of businesses like Sarasota offers. Review of Contract Scoring Process and Local Contractor Preferences Board Member Pariser suggested reviewing for the potential to incorporate additional preferences for local contractors and minority-owned businesses in the scoring process of contract proposals and requested a blank proposal for the Board to review. Mr. Weathers replied that each proposal and scoring sheets are different based on the specific requirements of the project and there is not one standard proposal or scoring sheet. City Attorney Alley suggested reviewing the Request for Proposals (RFP) that went out previously for the City of Palms Stadium, which is public record, however, keep in mind that every RFP

MINUTES - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD September 4, 2025 3 | P a g e is different and the bids are usually very thick documents. Board Member Miller suggested going to the City’s Procurement webpage and registering with OpenGov to be able to see all the solicitations that are published by the City. Vice Chair Ford agreed that it is a good idea to review the basic criteria required in all the proposals. Discussion ensured regarding the scoring matrix. City of Palms Park and Midtown Development Board Member Miller inquired whether the Council’s recent hiring of Dover, Kohl and Partners Town Planning is for the planning of Midtown or just the City of Palms Park and if there is potential for another Request for Proposals (RFP) for the City of Palms Park. He mentioned the importance of having a clear vision and plan for the development of Midtown and City of Palms Park. Mr. Weathers replied that a firm was hired to plan design standards for the community not just the City of Palms Park. The potential demolition of City of Palms Park was recently discussed by the Council and a structural engineer was hired to assess costs and feasibility. Board Member Miller requested an update on the City of Palms Park at the next meeting and Mr. Weathers agreed to get that information. BOARD MEMBER & CHAIR COMMENTS 1. Discuss potential development incentives Board Member Miller mentioned that he recently met with the Assistant Community Development Director to discuss potential development incentives and review other municipalities incentives. There is a Comprehensive Plan Workshop at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow at the Collaboratory which could help bring into view specific incentives for the Board. He provided a list of incentives and suggested that the Board pick a couple of potential incentives to recommend to the Council and bring them to the next meeting. Mr. Weathers explained the importance of defining clear goals for the incentives such as creating jobs, higher wage jobs, capital investment, attracting specific industry sectors, or a combination thereof. Fort Myers is currently defined as a service industry community by its primary markets being the four R’s: Retirees, Retail, Real Estate Development, and Recreation. Board Member Dyar expressed an appeal to develop a technology sector. Board Member Miller suggested that Midtown could be marketed as a technology corridor. Mr. Weathers replied that if the goal is a technology sector, there will need to be research done to narrow down what kind of technology would be the most feasible to attract to this area. He mentioned that the Council recently approved an eleven-story Tempo by Hilton Hotel Downtown. Discussion ensued regarding various types of incentives. Chair Landfried suggested the incentive focus could be on community needs. Vice Chair Ford suggested getting a list of the incentives the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) offers to begin.

MINUTES - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD September 4, 2025 4 | P a g e Board Member Miller inquired if the City could piggyback on Lee County incentives and suggested inviting the Lee County Economic Development Director to the October meeting to get an update on the County Economic Development. Vice Chair Ford felt that raising the income level of families is an important goal and the incentive focus would be to recruit industries that will raise the level of income. He felt that the City needs to focus on a clear policy to balance housing and commercial development. Board Member Dyar felt that an incentive goal could be to focus on the boating community and boat service industry which would go along with the Yacht Basin improvements. Board Member Miller suggested inviting Gary Tasman, a local commercial real estate expert, to the November meeting to provide insights into market trends and the Board agreed. Board Member Maxson recommended that the Board Members bring one idea to the next meeting to contribute to the community's development. Board Member Pariser suggested having a workshop to clarify the board's focus and provide recommendations to the council. Board Member Dyar stated that he will use AI to summarize last 12 months meeting data to provide a starting point for the next meeting and suggested dedicating the next meeting to identifying recommendations for Council rather than having a guest speaker. Board Member Clarke agreed that the Board needs to become more mission focused and asked that the summary be emailed prior to the meeting for the Board Members to review. NEXT MEETING – October 2, 2025 ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Board Member Clarke moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:16 p.m.; seconded by Board Member Maxson; motion carried unanimously.