Below are the news briefs from the Leon County Commission meeting held on February 10, 2025. The Board approved 14 Consent Items unanimously (7-0). This included 6 status reports. Status Reports Item 9: 2025 Annual Real Estate Portfolio ReportItem 10: Status Report on the Co-Location of Out side Service Agencies at Florida Department of Health in Leon County FacilitiesItem 11: Status Report for Golf Cart Crossing on Dempsey Mayo RoadItem 12: Annual Status Report on the Leon County Water Quality Monitoring Program and the 2025 Water Quality ReportItem 13: Status Report on Laws Prohibiting Loitering on Private PropertyItem 15: Status Report on the Fiscal Year 2024 External Audit Findings Consent Items Pulled for Discussion Item 14: Update on World Cross Country Tallahassee 2026 and Continued Discussions with World Athletics to Host Future Championships. The Board voted 6-1 (Minor voted no) to accept the status update and authorize travel for the Chairman to accompany the County Administrator and key staff for upcoming in-person engagements with World Athletics leadership to advance the Board’s initiative for Leon County to become the permanent home of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships. General Business Item 16: Fairgrounds Beautification and Improvement Project Update with Board Direction on Lease Renegotiation. The Board voted unanimously to enter into lease negotiations with the North Florida Fair Association. The county is seeking a shorter lease and reclaiming 50 acres for potential mixed-use development. The current lease, signed in the 1950s, allows the fair to use the land for $1 annually, requires both parties’ approval for major projects, and runs until 2067. The county’s proposed changes include adding six county officials to the fair’s leadership board, reclaiming 50 acres for development, shortening the lease term and potentially gaining the power to relocate the fair entirely with mutual agreement. Th eitem noted the Chairman’s participation would reinforce the Board’s clear commitment to establishing a long-term hosting framework with World Athletics. Item 17: Status Report on the Financial Review of Tallahassee Museum’s Use of Public Grant Funds. The Board voted unanimously to accept staff’s financial review of the Tallahassee Museum’s use of Tourist Development Tax (TDT)-funded grant awards following concerns that, over the past five years, the Museum paid a board-affiliated vendor (i.e., a vendor owned by, employing, or controlled by a member of the grantee’s governing board/board of trustees) without a competitive procurement process. Based on the records reviewed, staff determined that the TDT-funded expenditures examined complied with applicable state law, the Museum’s governing policies and procedures, and the County’s grant guidelines. While the review did not identify improper expenditures or violations, it underscored a policy gap that can create the appearance of impropriety and self-dealing in County TDT-funded programs; therefore, staff determined that necessary and appropriate revisions to the upcoming County Tourism Grant Guidelines are warranted to prohibit the use of County TDT grant funds to pay board-affiliated vendors.  Item 18: Full Board Appointment to the Canopy Roads Citizens Committee. The Board voted to appoint Mark Mahoney to the Canopy Roads Citizens Committee for the remainder of a three-year term ending on October 31, 2027. ...read more read less