October in Cocoa history

Hurricanes, a dispensary ban, a gateway steamboat and a village for women veterans: what the City’s October minutes record from 2016 to 2025, and what this month’s recordings show.

Jump to: 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · 2026

CocoaCivic’s archive lists 108 October meetings of City boards and district town halls held from 2015 through October 22, 2026, not counting cancelled meetings, duplicate entries and City promotional videos; they are listed at the end of this article.¹ City-posted minutes exist for 68 of them, three of which the City headed “DRAFT”; draft minutes printed in a later agenda packet exist for 5 more; and the archive holds no minutes of any kind for the other 35.¹ The two October 2015 entries are Council recordings with no City minutes, so this look back starts in 2016.² Below are one to three October decisions from each year and, where the archive shows it, what became of them; for 2016 to 2025, votes and figures are given as the minutes print them, and 2026 comes from recordings.

2016 Hurricane Matthew, and refunding the bonds that built City Hall

At 5:08 p.m. on October 4, 2016, the Council opened a special meeting and voted 3–0 to declare an emergency for the purpose of holding an emergency meeting.³ It then adopted Resolution 2016-106, 4–0, declaring a state of emergency for the “impending disaster conditions of Hurricane Matthew”; the City Manager said the declaration would last seven days.⁴ On October 25 the Council voted 5–0 for a resolution temporarily waiving building permit fees for damage caused by Hurricane Matthew, which staff said would run six months with a possible 60-day extension.⁵

At its October 11 meeting the Council also approved, 5–0, the negotiated sale of up to $10,000,000 in Capital Improvement Refunding Revenue Bonds, Series 2016; the agenda packet describes the purpose as “refunding and defeasance of the Series 2007 Capital Improvement Revenue Bonds.”^6,7 The City Manager explained that the City Hall approved in 2007 had been funded with $11,675,000 in Series 2007 revenue bonds, of which $9,550,000 was outstanding, and the City’s financial advisor reported an A+ rating on the new bonds.⁶

2017 Deciding on medical-marijuana dispensaries

With the City’s moratorium on medical cannabis activity due to expire on October 21, 2017, the City Attorney told the Council on October 10 that state law offered two choices: ban dispensing facilities or treat them like pharmacies.⁸ The Council voted 5–0 to have staff draft an ordinance banning dispensaries “until the legislature makes changes or something else changes.”⁸ On October 26 the Planning and Zoning Board recommended Ordinance 12-2017, prohibiting such facilities from locating in the City, 7–0, and the Council adopted it on January 9, 2018, 4–0.^9,10 The archive also holds a later ordinance on the same subject: on July 8, 2020 the Council adopted, 5–0, Ordinance 05-2020, “providing for the location of pharmacies and medical marijuana treatment center dispensing facilities”; the cited minutes give its title but do not say what it changed in the 2017 ban.¹¹

2018 A police advisory committee, a village for women veterans, and McFarland Park

On October 24, 2018 the Council voted 5–0 for Resolution 2018-097, establishing a Cocoa Police Community Relations Advisory Committee.¹² It would have seven members and meet quarterly, and the motion added two hours a month of volunteering in Dispatch and two on the road; the City Manager noted that the City had a board previously in 1990 that was abolished in 1997.¹² On January 25, 2022 the Council voted 5–0 to move the advisory committee’s meetings from quarterly to every other month, and the archive holds October meetings of the Police Community Relations Advisory Board in 2021, 2022 and 2023.^13,14

On October 29, 2018 the Diamond Square Community Redevelopment Agency approved, 4–0, a development agreement with Habitat for Humanity of Brevard County to build six single-family homes for female veterans on Whaley Street; staff put the selling price of each home at $104,000.¹⁵ In June 2020 the agency extended it by 24 months, 7–0, after Habitat cited Covid-19 and difficulty finding qualified female veterans.¹⁶ In July 2022 it voted 7–0 to name the Female Veteran’s Village the Major Abbie Sweetwine Female Veteran’s Village, for a Cocoa native who served more than twenty years in the Army and Air Force, and in March 2025 the Council approved, 5–0, a contribution of $1,216 toward the village sign.^17,18

On October 10, 2018 the City Attorney told the Council that no record could be found showing McFarland Park had ever been conveyed to the City, and the Council voted 5–0 to close the park until the issue was resolved and 5–0 to move forward with a resolution as he recommended.¹⁹ On February 27, 2019 it voted 4–0 to proceed with a resolution disclaiming any future City interest in the park, and on April 10, 2019 it adopted that resolution, 4–0; at both meetings one member filed a voting-conflict form and stepped down for the item.^20,21

2019 A steamboat at the city’s gateway

The Cocoa Community Redevelopment Agency tabled a choice between two gateway designs, 7–0, on October 10, 2018, and awarded Phase 1 construction for $142,865 on September 11, 2019.^22,23 On October 2, 2019 the Planning and Zoning Board recommended the “Cocoa Gateway Entry Sign” site plan, 7–1, asking that the steamboat be enlarged to scale and a live oak planted in the center of the parcel.²⁴ On October 9 the Council approved the site plan 5–0; staff said the City had bought the small triangular parcel at King Street and Forrest Avenue in July 2016 for this purpose and that the design followed FDOT requirements.²⁵ On October 4, 2021 the agency voted 7–0 to fund pouring the concrete bases to install the figures.²⁶

2020 Masks, a name for a community center, and a sustainability plan

On October 13, 2020, after a state executive order moved Florida into Phase 3, the Council voted 5–0 to extend its face-covering emergency ordinance, No. 13-2020, for thirty days, and 5–0 to extend outdoor restaurant seating through February 2021.²⁷ The same night it adopted, 5–0, Resolution 2020-211 officially naming the Dr. Joe Lee Smith Community Center in the Diamond Square community; staff said the building had never been officially named after him.²⁸ On October 27 the Council adopted, 5–0 each, Resolution 2020-225, the Sustainability Action Plan presented by the chair of the City’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, and Resolution 2020-224, setting a transition to 100 percent renewable, zero-emission energy by 2035 for the municipality and 2050 for the entire community.²⁹

2021 Backyard chickens

On October 6, 2021 the Planning and Zoning Board recommended, 7–1, Ordinance 14-2021, a backyard chicken pilot program allowing up to four chickens on an occupied single-family property, after amending it so the $50 permit fee is paid once, with a yearly recertification.³⁰ The Council adopted Ordinance 14-2021 on February 22, 2022, 5–0.³¹

2022 Hurricane Ian, a split vote on an Indian River Drive parcel, and community policing

On October 11, 2022 the Council voted 5–0 for Resolutions 2022-105 and 2022-106, extending the emergency declared for Hurricane Ian retroactively through October 14, 2022.³²

On October 25, Ordinance 11-2022, which would have changed a 0.59-acre parcel at North Indian River Drive and Dixon Boulevard from very low to medium density residential, failed 2–3, with Councilmembers Dyal and Goins voting yes and Mayor Blake, Deputy Mayor Hearn and Councilmember Koss voting no.³³ For the yes side, Councilmember Dyal, who the minutes say had brought up quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative decisions at the previous meeting, spoke about a prior issue that went to court and which the City lost, and said that if the applicant went to court he would win and taxpayers would pay the legal fees; Councilmember Goins asked staff about submitted site plans for the Dixon corridor and, the minutes say, “mentioned the ordinance and stated that everyone knows it is subjective,” and asked about the maximum footprint for a single-family home.³³ For the no side, Councilmember Koss cited the comprehensive plan’s objective to direct population away from the Coastal High Hazard Area; Mayor Blake, who said he had voted yes at the previous meeting, said he had weighed the social impact on the whole community; and Deputy Mayor Hearn, who had also voted yes before, said he wanted an updated engineering report.³³ After the vote, the minutes also record Mayor Blake noting that the issue “could be used as a learning point as they protect personal property rights.”³³ The companion rezoning, Ordinance 12-2022, was then denied 5–0 after the City Attorney advised that it would be inconsistent with the comprehensive plan.³⁴

That night the Council also adopted, 5–0, Ordinance 14-2022, amending the Cocoa CRA plan to allow a community policing program; the agency (March 6, 2023, 7–0, in minutes the City posted headed “DRAFT”) and the Council (April 25, 2023, 5–0) later approved the interlocal agreement to carry it out.^35,36,37

2023 Filling a vacant council seat

On October 10, 2023 the Council adopted Resolution 2023-117, 4–0, recognizing the resignation of Councilman Rip Dyal and declaring Seat 3 vacant, and set a noon, October 18 deadline for applications.³⁸ On October 24 it appointed Matthew Barringer, 4–0, to the unexpired District 3 term through November 2024; those minutes were printed in draft in the January 9, 2024 agenda packet and approved that night.^39,40 On July 23, 2024 the Council recognized Mr. Barringer’s resignation, effective July 31, 2024, 5–0.⁴¹

2024 Hurricane Milton

On October 8, 2024 the Council met at 5:00 p.m. and voted 4–1 to table several items “due to the impending storm.”⁴² Councilmember Koss, who voted no, had moved to table two consent items, saying she “did not feel comfortable voting on these items under Consent because she has questions”; that motion died for lack of a second.⁴² After the vote the minutes print: “Councilmember Koss wished to add that she only voted nay as a result of the motion”; they do not say which motion she meant.⁴² The Council then adopted, 5–0 each, Resolution 2024-098 declaring a state of emergency for Hurricane Milton and Resolution 2024-099 temporarily waiving building permit fees for Milton damage.⁴² These minutes were printed in draft in the January 14, 2025 agenda packet and approved as written that night.^42,43

2025 The Four Corners overlay, and another storm

On October 14, 2025 the Council held a first-reading hearing on Ordinance 02-2025, creating a Four Corners Overlay District, which staff recommended; representatives of several property owners spoke, and one asked the Council to deny it.⁴⁴ The Council voted 4–0 to have staff meet with the property owners, hold public workshops at the Dr. Joe Lee Smith Center and postpone the item to January 13, 2026, and 4–0 to postpone the companion comprehensive plan amendment, Ordinance 01-2025.⁴⁵ On January 13, 2026 both were postponed, 5–0, to February 24, 2026, a meeting the City’s calendar lists as cancelled.^46,47 In the recording of the July 14, 2026 Council meeting, after a question the transcript marks as uncertain, a speaker answered: “we are coming back to the council in the second meeting in August.”⁴⁸ Recording only The agenda in the packet for the August 25, 2026 meeting, the second Council meeting that month, does not list the item, and this research found no later vote on either ordinance in the archive’s 2026 minutes and packets.^49,50,46

On October 28, 2025 the Council added to its consent agenda, and approved 5–0, Resolution 2025-082, temporarily waiving building permit fees for repairs from the storm event of October 26–27, 2025.⁵¹ A search of the archive’s minutes found the Council approving similar waivers for storm damage after Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Hurricane Irma in 2017, a March 2019 hail storm, Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022, an April 2023 hailstorm and Hurricane Milton in 2024.^{5,52,53,54,55,42}

2026 This month, from the recordings

The City has not yet posted minutes for any October 2026 meeting; the archive holds machine transcripts of five of the month’s meeting recordings.⁵⁶ From the October 13 Council recording (the City has not yet posted minutes for this meeting): a council member moved to pass on second reading the ordinance regulating artificial lighting nuisances, Ordinance 15-2026 on the agenda, and the chair announced the result as “four yes, one nay.”^57,58 Recording only Before the vote, one council member said they would vote no, asking whether a code enforcement officer would be in a neighborhood at one o’clock in the morning to investigate, saying “we already have an ordinance in place” and that the new one “beefs it up” but lacks “the teeth,” and noting that some residents feel safe only with floodlights where street lighting is poor; by the transcript’s speaker labels, the same member said the ordinance “is not going to help” one resident’s situation.⁵⁹ Recording only A second member said they would vote yes “just to give it a shot,” because what the City has “does not take care of” that resident’s situation, and that it can be changed later.⁶⁰ Recording only A third member said “there isn’t anything in place now,” that lights can be “directed downward,” and spoke of light’s effects on sleep, on birds and on seeing the stars.⁶¹ Recording only The same recording has the Council approving Ordinance 16-2026, the City’s five-year schedule of capital improvements, with the chair announcing that the ayes “have it unanimously.”^57,62 Recording only