##VIDEO ID:jetRLufwUKo## where very embarrassing okay yeah it must be there little tiff all right ladies and gentlemen we're going to be starting in 9 minutes if you have your cell phones with you if you would if you would if you would um turn your cell phones on on violent or or silent them I'd appreciate it and thank you all man this is yes yes Mark how you doing buddy doing great hey Mark hey hea okay that back oh okay all the way in the back oh thank you and I think 2023 [Music] how are you tonight it e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 6:30 our Board of county commissioner meeting for June November the 2 1 2024 is now called to order at 6:30 if you stand now for our invitation and our Pledge of Allegiance Heavenly Father we come with Thanksgiving in our hearts and thankfulness to you for your love and your grace and mercy we thank you for the opportunity to do your will and to do good towards our community and others during this Thanksgiving season and help us to remember how much we have to be thankful f for and to remember others who are less fortunate than we father I ask that you place your loving arms around America and particularly our leaders our president our state our local officials protect us all from The Perils of evil and violence help everyone dear Lord to always choose nonviolent over violence and always choose love over hate Heavenly Father we thank you for each person who has come out tonight and those who might be listening online bless them all now father I ask that you guard our behavior and actions toward one another that we display Civility and courtesy and respect towards each other help us always to keep an open mind and be receptive and understanding of others help us the Lord to be good stewards and leaders in our community and to be a good example as followers of your will help us to always remember that we're all brothers and sisters and that you created us all Lord help us to always be kind and mindful of each other that we are one nation and a God now father guide us in our decision making tonight that it be done in the best interest of our community and that it be pleasing in your sight in Jesus name we pray amen amen to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all I'm so excited we have uh honorable Judge uh Tatum Davis that is here to do the swearing in um or okay I thought I was going to get you to hear no no no I was gonna say I could hear you do them and then I can remember what two times ago I in the South Elementary School coun do that ra your right hand I your name swear or I support I support protect protect and defend and defend the Constitution constition and government and government of the United States of the United States and of the state of cour and of the state of that I am du qualified d the whole office theice Under The Prostitute of the state of state and that I will well and I will and Faithfully performed and Fa perform the duties of the duties of county commissioner County Commission on which on I am now I am now yes sir I'm coming can you slow my daughter here all support protect and defend Constitution and government of the United States and of of the state I will thank you jh Sol Constitution and government and government of the United States of the United States and of the state of and of the state of but I do qualifi office office under the the of the State of the State and I will and I fa perform perform the duties of of can I get a photo of you with the three okay we're officially [Music] soring um at this time this portion of the agenda is um plac over to our clerk Mr Thompson for the board reorganization okay board it's that time again to nominate chairperson for the 2425 year and at this time we'll ask for nominations for chairperson I would like to nominate the commissioner rck for chair okay I have a nomination for commissioner rck do I have a second okay okay second from commissioner Andrews we have any public comments on this nomination okay come come up the podium please my name is Bay strong post office box 530 Ludy um I um I have some comments on Mr reic um I am against this nomination um because throughout the year um I've watched him during the meetings and he has not been attentive he has not been accountable he has not been for the citizens in um the other districts he has uh been quite uh selfish in his um governing and I don't think that as chairman he should I don't think that he should be chairperson over the commission I think that there are other people people that have been more Community wise overall uh I think that Mr dalry uh Miss Andrews Miss Spooner Mr Thompson are all equally qualified I don't think that Mr rck has this year been as accountable as the others I think that um he has proven that he only cares about his district and as a board everybody should care about the entire Community um he was given a task with the uh North uh East Florida Council um planning Council he's on the board and you guys have fired that board that was his job he didn't he didn't follow through on it and he sits on that board and we've wasted money with that board I don't think that that as a as a chairperson I don't think that that we need to we need to put him in that position to be the chairperson he has he has shown that he would not make a good chairperson and I don't I don't think that that that's a position that he needs to be in I think that that the other that the other four people on this board need to take a look at what he's done in the past year and what the other what you other four have accomplished and what he hasn't accomplished in the past year okay thank you Mr strong do we have any further discussion from the board on nomination of commissioner rck as chair sir I'll make a comment I didn't bring a resume tonight to the meeting to go for chair but um I I'll be honest board if if if if that's the way the board feels um I'd be more than happy to step down um because I I just want to do what's best for Bradford County period but feel like I have but whatever whatever the board whatever suppliers of the board I'll do I made my motion based on commissioner rics past chairmanship and I think he's done a fine job as a leader and uh L of uh public comment um I if I felt that way at all then I would have not have made the nomination so my nomination stands for commissioner ready any further comments okay this point it's time for the board to take a final vote on Comm uh commissioner chairman for or or commissioner R for chairman commissioner Andrews commissioner Thompson I say something before I say yes I mean in the past commissioner rck did a super job and I'm going tell you his hard is in this County hey so I got to say yes to um it actually needs to be a a a motion okay commissioner Thompson y or nay want say he's done a super job in the past hey his hearts in this Miss Spooner's did a super job hey I got to say yay for Danny okay thank you commissioner spenner yes and so just for for point of clarification so the nomination um was was so stated and then we asked for a motion for approval thereafter are we clear on the did I miss the procedural piece of it the attorney indicated no no we didn't okay yes okay ba yeah okay commissioner dhy I commissioner r i okay motion passes 5 Z and and then the pass and I don't know if that's was what he was trying to allude to that we asked if there were any second um nominations or if anyone else had we didn't do it this time but we did it the last time last year I mean do we need to take a second I mean so I mean a short case that's good okay if we'll move on uh we'll ask for nominations for vice chairperson i' like to nominate Mr Thompson for vice chair okay I have a nomination for commissioner Thompson as Vice chair do I have a second I'll second the nomination second from commissioner Doty I'll ask this time we have any other nominations I was going nominate Miss sponer okay I have a nomination for Miss Miss sponer from commissioner Thompson okay do we have any public comments okay okay this time any further discussion from the board okay we'll move on and take a vote final vote for vice chairperson commissioner Andrews from commissioner Spooner as Vice chair are we doing Mr Thompson I mean I'm sorry commissioner Thompson's Vice chair hi okay yay commissioner Thompson yay yay commissioner sper I accept it you accept I accept the U nomination so and and pass just for procedural clarification when we did the last year's nomination you asked for the nomination and whether that person would accept the nomination thereafter we did a motion based on that and then we voted but this time is I apiz accept it if yall vote for me but I nominated you you did a super job but okay and okay we we can back up we can back up up FR we need to commissioner Spiner do you accept the nomination I would okay I'll start the vote over again what we voting for commissioner Thompson you accept the nomination yes I do okay let's get all that out of the way commissioner Andrews on U commissioner Thompson as last chair hi yay yay Commission Thompson yeah yay commissioner Spooner n nay oh you told me to say nay n well this is getting confusing to me now commissioner Dory I for commissioner Thompson I commissioner Rd I I for commissioner Thompson I believe that pass I I'll accept Okay it passes 40 commissioner Thompson all right 41 excuse me well that was a little bit confusing but yeah it was that's my fault you can blame it all on me no just blame it on me I wasn't expecting a second nomination from anybody okay uh turn it back over to the board I'd just like to uh I know I could wait till public comments but I just want to commend commissioner Spooner for a fantastic job that she's done as a leader for our community uh she's been very active and uh we just appreciate her spiritual guidance as well as her leadership and so we just thank you so much and uh commissioner rck congratulations and thank you for your role as Vice chair and I would like to than thank you M for your leadership thank you for your you did your kindness and and always keeping us the breast of everything that's going on in the community um I I love you as a person I love you as a chair um I'm very very proud to serve with you on this board same with you Mr rck I do know that um you work hard and um appreciate that and and um look forward to the next four years chairman chairman Ric could we take a moment to reorganize on the dice sure sure I I just wanted to say too as commissioner sper you've done an excellent job as being the chair and I really do appreciate it and um and I appreciate the vo of confidence for uh for being the uh chair for this next year I hope I can do a good job as you have done and I do appreciate it and I looking forward to working with all of y'all for at least two more years so but um but thank you thank you and and before I relinquish um G commissioner Ric I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the opportunity to serve in this leadership role over the past year and I look forward to um the leadership from commissioner rck and I look forward to working with the board continually and hey we're going to do it together thank you thank you you want to take this that's I take the words I can take that seat if okay it's entirely yeah okay but just oh he can just do it from there okay okay okay that okay good all right you get to adopt all my okay belongings got it what you taking my name offine own keeper eight years I finally got a trash can get get you leave it you want it back in the box or reckon you want me to move on my papers all right again thank you all very much um please forgive me if I do start coughing tonight um having a little cough problem I've been to the doctor several times they just said gave me these little pearls said if you take them you won't cough I don't believe them I still coughing so anyway I do apologize ahead of time so I'll try and get through this okay the first thing we have next thing we have on the agenda is uh public comments and did you have okay okay uh Mr [Music] strong my name is vand strong post office box 530 ly 3 2058 first I want to say that um thank you to he's not here Mr um Jason um dobs that for one time I am not um complaining about my mom's ditch um that we made a pack that if he cleaned out my mom's ditch uh to my satisfaction that I would would stop complaining and so he uh did what I asked finally and so I am here tonight to say that the ditch is finally clean partially to my satisfaction um so I can give the road department um a pat on the back because they did do partially what I wanted them to do they are not complete in what they've done but right in front of her house and down the road they have done what I what I ask once they complete um what they're supposed to do but in front of her house they have done what I what I have wanted them to do all along so I can say that they've done partially what I've wanted them to do for the past three years it has taken them that long so I am here tonight to say to Mr dos thank you finally so please mark that down because you don't get that from me but I am here to say that partially they have done it thank you all right this time I have no other public comment cards if there's there is I'm sorry okay this one says um okay it just said COD okay um Monica kersch yes I'm sorry I stated Monica 179 Southwest County Road 225 Stark Florida that's in Samson City for all of you who do not know and I am right now next Antioch the cemetery that you guys very well cleaned up Miss Spooner um the problem is that we now have a neighbor who has decided to start an illegal business next door and in the last six to seven weeks has really really ruined the property that he's on um he has it's a um scrap metal scrap pile junk place now and as I went by there this evening on my way here he would he didn't seem to be complying to what he was told by Corporal Ward as in to cease and desist um of course this is only my view because it was only my seeing but he seemed to be um breaking down more things to add to the piles um as you well know no one wants to live next to that and um I had this whole thing written down I cobbled This Together very quickly this evening because I was told that there was a meeting this evening and um I referred to broken windows Theory I don't know if any of you are familiar with the broken windows Theory it comes from New York City originally and um it was originally juliani put it into place and it was a some people liked it and some people didn't but the fact of the matter was that that crime went way down when that happened and I see that this is happening a lot in my neighborhood there are other things that are going on there are people that are shooting um I have other neighbors that have complained but they don't want to have I'm not going to say their names because they're not I'm not going to willingly give their names out without um permission but they've also stated that people are waking up 8:30 last night I heard a gunshot I'm just falling asleep and there's a gunshot at 8:30 at night what are you shooting at 8:30 at night in the dark H are you seeing what you're shooting at because I really don't know if you can see what you're shooting at at 8:30 at night and um that's not the only thing there's ATVs that are up and down the roads all the time and sometimes I see gosh little children sitting on the back of these ATVs where they could fall off if anything happened and who's going to pay for that God forbid something happens to these kids who's paying for that because they they're not supposed to be on the road thank you ma'am thank you thank you and we will get what Deputy Ward at codes enforcement and get him to check back into it yes overwhelmed yes ma'am yeah Deputy ward he does an excellent job all right there's no other public comment cards that I see okay all right we'll move on to item five the approval of the consent agenda I make a motion to approve the consent agenda okay we have a motion by commissioner second um second by commissioner Thompson any questions all in favor by sign of i i i i any oppose motion carries 5 all right well next we'll move on to item number six Co communication uh Broadband expansion presentation Amy pstone thank you good evening commission how are you tonight even congratulations on your appointment and continued appointment thank you I'm was glad I was here to uh enjoy that um I'm excited to be here tonight to share with you our plans to bring broadband internet to the unserved and underserved residents of Bradford County um I'd like to introduce myself my address is uh uh 602 20 Northwest 43rd Street Gainesville um and I bring with me um my coworker Michael mckin you may recognize his name Michael's parents are dwey and Vicky mckin and Michael is homegrown here in Stark and has worked for Cox for 23 plus years and runs our construction department so he has a vested interest in making sure we do all very well here for the city I mean for the county of Bradford so just want to introduce him he's my backup guy all right what I'd like to do first if it's all right with the commission is I just like to introduce everybody to Cox we haven't served out here and we'd like you to know who we are and what we do I'm going to see if I know how to do this Amanda we'll see all right so our number one thing our mission in life if you will is to to connect our customers to the people and the things they care about most so if you think about it connecting people to education connecting people to medical use connecting people Facebook FaceTime to people they care about who aren't close by it's all about making those connections education um and making sure our commitment and our community can move forward I'd like to give you a little bit of background on Cox we actually are the largest privately held telecommunications company in the United States we were founded by Governor James M Cox um in 1898 it was after he ran for president of the United States and lost his running mate at that time was FDR and when he lost the race for president he thought well what the heck should I do next and so he bought the Dayton Daily News it was his first step into Communications he l loved being able to serve the community um and then he grew that um uh moved into the radio industry newspaper industry um the Atlanta Journal um is is part of the Cox properties um and then got into the cable TV business in 1962 so just kind of has morphed and stay in Communications and built that over the years um until today where we're the third largest multiple system operator across the United States I want to give you a little bit of an idea about the breadth of Cox and what we bring to the table for your community so Cox our main uh companies here are Cox Communications Cox business and Cox media but we do a whole lot of other things through Cox Enterprises we're the largest used car dealer in the world we own Manheim Kelly Blue Book um what's the other big name Auto Trader um and then around sustainability it's a huge part of who we are we are the first telecommunications company to be zero waste to landfill we achieved that goal this year it's one of our big goals um it means a lot to us to do the right thing for our environment and around sustainability I hear we have a lot in common we're the largest producers of strawberries in the united in North America so we got strawberries in common and we're looking forward to working with that moving forward but we own bright farms and mcci farms and another number of other properties and we do that through hybrid ponics and a sustainable environment responsible farming so we're very excited to bring this forward I love this slide because it's not only about the growth and I'm very proud of it but I what I want to bring to your attention is we have a ton of resources that we bring to bear for Bradford County how do we do this what do we need to do how do we move forward what is our stability how do we plan our business what's our our history and our investment in the community and all of this stand behind stands behind that for Bradford County just to give you an idea of where we serve customers we're across the United States give you a little bit of a picture in Florida we serve um the Pensacola market Gulf Coast Market um and then we are in Mon and uh W Robbins up in Georgia are our nearest neighbors but you can see where we are across the United States once we move into a community we believe in becoming an integral part of that Community our commitment is around Bridging the digital divide so I'm proud to say that Cox is dedicated to serving our customers with reliable high-speed internet through our digital equity and affordability products and I hinted out just a little bit of flyers and there's some for the public if you're interested in finding out more about some of things we offer um but through Partnerships with Community organizations and other stakeholders we've empowered nearly 5 million people through our digital Equity program since 2012 Cox's commitment to digital Equity is a strong as ever we're driving accessibility affordability and adoption through the following programs so we have connect to compete it's a um program that we offer internet service to a home who has children in the kindergarten through 12th grade age range the internet is critical critical for kids to learn the right way and we believe in providing the right kind of service to make that happen we also have connect assist it's a um affordable program um and people who qualified the people who qualify for Medicare snap Wick and many others qualify for this program at $30 a month to get Broadband so we want to make sure that internet is Affordable for everybody we also demonstrate our commitment to digital Equity through our rural expansion efforts in Central Florida we've we've received over 137 million in federal grants and that's just in federal grants that's not counting the money that we've mashed on our own through Cox so we're looking at over $150 million to build out rural Florida and provide internet to those who don't have it right now which is really if you think about it very uncommon and and a really a hardship we also participate in PCs for people it's a partnership to connect Cox customers with affordable refurbished devices offering affordable computers to bridge the technology divide and last but not least we provide a digital academy an e-learning platform with content for early school age children their caregivers and those who wish to build their digital literacy skills so we're looking forward to doing that here for Bradford County it's a wonderful thing to see people really enlightened and and excited about having the internet at their fingertips so Bridging the digital divide we also have Cox conserves I mentioned that we're very committed to sustainability and what we need to do in the community and just to give you an idea um I mentioned that that we are a very large Auto um used car dealer we recycle offenders we recycle all of those the tires um and if you think about cable TV and Broadband all of the wires that we get we're committed to recycling in that area so just just a continued commitment to doing what we need to do for our environment and then around charitable giving we never come to a community that we don't do our very best to make a big commitment and to really get involved in our community it's what we ask our people to do it's what we believe in doing we spend a lot of time working with United Way Boys and Girls Club the girls place um Junior Achievement Family Promise we are we are actually one of the largest contributors to the Boys and Girls Club we think it's a great opportunity to really get to kids help them out help with Innovation labs and so we're looking for those opportunities what makes a difference in Bradford County and how can we help and how can we get involved so you'll see more of us on that front moving forward all right now we get to the good stuff so we're extending um our Network into Bradford County it's 35 miles to reach approximately 400 unserved homes in southern Bradford County um the total grant for Bradford County is actually Bradford and putam County grant that we received so um the combined Grant is $5.8 million 3.89 from the state 1.95 from Cox so I just want to kind of lay those figures out for you so it's just it's just how the um the government granted the funds it just kind of went across borders as they identified unserved or underserved homes but doesn't make a difference we know which homes we're going to serve we know which homes are involved in that Grant and we have 400 of those that are involved in Bradford County and you're welcome to ask me any questions if you'd like as we go so this uh you probably know this better than I do so it's a a fairly general map but that gives you a lay of the land of the area that we'll cover in unserved and un and underserved homes for Bradford County that's the only are good pardon that's the only area we're coming up through Waldo and um we've actually identified an additional 3 to 400 homes along the way so we'll be touching on that but we're committed to 400 homes in this area okay well and like Samson I mean there's part of that that is in my district the last time we had someone come and speak the whole area of Brooker was unserviced and so that's why I was concerned because I don't see it on there again and um so that's why we can find out um I I know that people have submitted for different areas so we can look up what specifically you'd like to see if they're to make sure they're covered and make sure that somebody if it's not us has a grant for that so you'll know who to look to okay I'm happy to do it anything else you'd add Michael you want to come up here so they can hear yes so good evening Michael mckenny I'm now a resident of Gainesville Florida so 2931 Southwest 98th Way Gainesville uh used to be at the Country Club here in Star as a kid but um yeah that the process is when the infrastructure bill was signed the billion dollar infrastructure bill um companies like Cox Comcast Charter Etc have the opportunity to bid right as far as an RFP process goes so we along with with other companies have bid on areas to extend our Network and in some cases we've been awarded those those uh those rfps there request for proposals in other areas we haven't but other providers have so just because this is our we call it a polygon but as far as that cluster of homes that's what we've been awarded once again that's part of this particular Grant it doesn't mean we can't extend off of that in adjacent areas that would be something that Cox would fund on our own but we've already seen in many cases across the country that as we extend our Network sprawl economics it becomes affordable for us to actually extend other homes and he would know because he runs a show on construction so you heard it from him so just to give you an idea um what's the process um sorry um we've got a mix of aerial and under ground construction as we come up through Waldo and this is just the timing whoops oh it doesn't like that so I'll tell you the timing so I'm sorry yes may I interrupt you sure while you're looking for it but so for the um the whole Broadband expansion for our region so are you a part of that consortion for that are putting down the fiber optics in the area um along with the other broad Broadband groups or not our construction is Cox just Cox fber we own it it's not open it's it's it's just built for our services and our purposes okay yeah um just to give you an idea my dates aren't showing up here but Network design happened completed in Q2 of 2024 permitting and also I just want to stop for a minute and just do a shout out to Scott corn and Amanda they've both been just absolutely welcoming whatever they can do to introduce us to the right people we work a lot with the permitting areas we work a lot with um construction along the way we want to make sure everybody's informed where we are and what we're doing it'll give get you'll get a little more information as we get closer and closer but I just really appreciate you guys being so open and so willing to help wherever we wherever you can and wherever we see a need so thank you for that very much so um so Network design happened in Q2 of 2024 we are in permitting we have most of the permitting done as I shared with Scott recently um that was started early in Q3 of 2024 we're pretty much just outstanding on a few Bridge permits which take a little bit longer but we're not worried about them right now we're we're just building what we've got and we'll worry about it when we get there and I'll book Scott uh if we have any problems to to do what he can um construction is in progress we've already got shovels in the ground we started that early in Q4 of 2024 and uh we anticipate project completion Q3 Q late Q2 or early Q3 2025 so it takes a little while to get it here but it will be worth the wait okay Mand doesn't like me oh you got me back one just a want to play party is it me I said it don't want to play party today no it doesn't and I you know technology You' think I'd be better at it but this is really just a slide to help me focus and and which I already shared with you on digital Equity it means a lot to make sure that our communities um have affordable internet that everybody has a chance to get connected um if there's areas that are unserved or underserved we can work closely with Scott we can turn in those addresses we have access as you do too and we can show you how to do that through the FCC on how to check on addresses or these people served what areas are we coming to those kind of things so we know who we can tell you who can anticipate having service available to them soon any questions anyone might have just some comments I uh just as as Michael was saying I know we've seen that with some other providers in the area to where it was just going to be a certain area that was covered and it didn't take long before it started cing out and so excited about that opportunity um for those that are underserved or unserved so U it's uh just a it's it's very refreshing I know uh I've been on this board since 2016 and uh that was one of my initiatives when I came on and uh to see y'all here today uh I know things take time but uh just so glad to have you all and we appreciate you moving forward thank you absolutely thank you good thank you so much appreciate your time thank you so much for your presentation thank you all right we'll move on to item seven uh Clerk's report I have brenon Brenan mckitrick here tonight from James Mo Associates or James Mo company to present the 2223 audit good evening as the clerk mentioned my name's Brennan mck I'm a director with James Moren company I'll be presenting your audit for fiscal year 2023 there are a few documents in front of you there's the set of financial statements as well as the PowerPoint presentation if you want to follow along like last year I'd recommend using the PowerPoint presentation really summarizes what I want to talk about tonight um I did did want to thank the commission again for the opportunity to perform the audit this year and I also wanted to address that you know we are late with the audit this year um we did have some challenges specifically in the sheriff's office with getting that audit completed um Unfortunately they had some transition with their um their staff specifically the finance director as well as going through a system implementation and they also utilize a thirdparty CPA Laura Douglas uh unfortunately she wasn't really Enga re-engaged um till lateen the process so that really pushed everything we needed to do on the sheriff's audit further um fortunately or unfortunately we were able to complete all the other constitutional officers and the board by April May time frame but really it was the sheriff's office that being said we've had conversations with their office and really talking about how we can improve this next year because obviously we don't want to be in this situation either um they have said you know I think they have processes in place and again going through a system implementation if you have ever been involved in that that takes a lot of time as well so again from what we can see and the conversations we're having it it does look like they'll be better set set up for next year's audit which I don't know if Dana is excited about this but we'll probably get started tomorrow quite honestly um so in any case did want to just address that um speaking of Dana I did want to also thank her and her team for all their hard work as well as the Constitutional officers um we ask a lot of questions a lot of requests it's a lot of work to get to what you see in front of you so I appreciate all their hard work so so one thing I always like to remind the commission is that these set of financial statements are your financial statements however there are some reports that are our reports uh the first one the first report being your audit report this is where we express our opinion really over the reliability of the numbers in your financial statements you have the same opinion we expressed last year as well which is a modified opinion related to oped but otherwise unmodified kind of the biggest Point here we like to make is that this is accepted by the state and again uh the same audit report we've had last year as well the second report is your single audit report um this just has to do with you had Grand expenditure activity over 750,000 so because of that that creates additional work on our end we have to do additional testing over your Grant activity so U testing over controls and compliance and as you can see here there are no findings related to that testing as well the third report internal control and compliance report this is where as we're doing our procedures if we identified issues with internal controls we would communicate that to you all again you can see there's no items included in that report the fourth report the chapter 10550 report or what we also call the management letter to the auditor general some more required communication there as well no comments or additional findings that we would have in that report and then finally your the examination report in the back just indicating you're in compliance with all specific statutes so as I mentioned we do um work with the other constitutionals officers and we do issue separate reports so as part of this audit there are six reports that get issued this slide just really summarizes any comments or findings that we have associated with any of those reports you will see the sheriff does have um two significant deficiencies in internal control and two other recommendations Again part of some of the issues that we identified as you know being late and having to perform certain audit adjustments um again those conversations we're having with them you know they're they're working to remedy and rectify those items but again this is kind of a summary of kind of the six reports that are included in front of you in that the financial statements the next item here so is really the numbers specifically on your general fund so this is your main operating fund for the county um this is the the fund balance you have just shows you a three-year trend of what those fund balances are just some of the changes that you see really the big change there you'll see is assigned and unassigned fund balance was really is just related to your next fiscal year budget this next slide is really kind of what we like to focus on here um where we take that assigned and unassigned fund balance and we compare it to the expenditures that you all have and transfers out and the percentage this year is at 51.5% and for you all what we look at is the government Finance Officers Association recommends 2 months which is 16.7% so we'll take your percentage and compare it to that that percentage they give us that 16.7% is really bare minimum so we wouldn't want to be close to that so obviously you all are above that no concern in our eyes the next slide here just some other highlights your total other governmental funds approximately 122.5 million um with a overall decrease of about $4 million um and also highlighting there's no individual deficit fund balance balances in those governmental f funds and then I always like to highlight you do have uh the net pension liability related to F FRS it is a large number so it does kind of stand out and that numbers uh about $26.5 million what we like like to highlight here is that liability there's no impact to your budget really the the only impact to your budget are the required contributions that you need to be made and those have been budgeted for so again wanted to identify that but then also indicate there's no budgetary impact related to that liability and with that I will open it up to any questions oh um and I know that you do you will have your report with each constitutional um area but I know in the last findings from the last year and I guess the previous years there been some exceptions in the same area where there's some deficit and so I guess I'm asking oh how can uh we better help in that area specifically for the sheriff audit so the conversations we've had because again those are findings when we have repeat comments we want to make sure those get rectified so the those comments are really related to the the two significant deficiencies are related to really the audit adjustments that I kind of mentioned so there's material adjustments that we make as part of our procedures now what we see as a solution is engaging that third party CPA Laura Douglas now the conversations we've had is that is the plan moving forward with this year's audit fiscal year 2023 they didn't re-engage L until August of 2024 so past June 30th deadline so that was news to us as we were performing our procedures um so again this year moving forward we're having conversations to make sure she's plugged in throughout the year and again that's kind of the ongoing conversation but again there that's her plan and that's what the office has planed as well the other two comments are related to a public depositor report which is just a form you file that's already been fixed for fiscal year 2024 um and then there was a budget deficit issue um so again with lore being more plugged in and also having conversations with staff over there that is an that they're working on you know making sure that they don't do that again okay and I guess I had made the assumption that she was engaged you know over the course of the year and so that okay I understand we we thought so too it was you know again as we're working through our procedures and trying to communicate with the office we weren we didn't realize she wasn't engaged until you know it was too late okay so I'm just you know whatever we can do to make it so that it doesn't continue to happen year after year and and if the engagement of the um CPA or whomever will help then we hope so and then with our I guess with our budgets workshops that we'll have that that will help too yeah commissioner smooter I you know again I don't I don't like having a late audit either we don't I mean I'm an account we like to have everything button up as well I will say um the rest of the audit as I mentioned earlier is done very early uh you know timely again credited Dana and her team as well as the other constitutional officers it's just come coming up with a game plan for the Sheriff's Office and again I think we have a good game plan moving forward thank you any other comments this thank you so much for your report and um and it's a good report so also thank to clerk's office and Dana thank you all so much and and Mrs Rhoden thank you all for the work you do Dana's most definitely the biggest part of this well thank you very much is part of it and uh on another note I've I've spoken with the sheriff and um Smith and going forward they've already engaged Laura to do quarterly they they they didn't know how much it's hard to explain when everything's coming in and going out you need to uh get a fund balance at the end of the year before you know what transfers to do in and out they didn't do that the sheriff's also uh they're going make transfers to cover the deficit from his in-house accounts so we won't fix this next year all right and so may I ask you Mr Thompson so in in previous there was a um requirement where you have like monthly in and out but then we moved to quarterly um so that we can keep uh so that they could keep a better track of the record so what what you're proposing to engage um or recommend that they engagement Miss Douglas on a quarterly basis they actually got kep on that uh by their themselves okay they actually said they want her in there early so she already knows what she's looking at they had a bad year I going to tell you because they switched software somewhere in the fiscal year I'm not sure which part but uh anyway it threw a wrench and everything because they were working out a two set two sets two sets of books but you would be satisfied that that would correct what they yes they're not going to report to me quarterly Lis is going to come in and straighten books up every three months or clean them up yeah we we Al they actually went to our system yeah they actually went to our system okay think well they have one of our ex-employees over there now that had retired a couple years ago uh Lisa um Hall Lisa Hall so going forward we shouldn't have this happen again thank you so much thank you thanks Brandon all right next is the sheriff's report um he's not here yeah I don't see nobody here so we move right along anything ma'am Al righty um County Manager report Mr corn thank you Mr chairman the first thing we need to address tonight is the presentation and discussion of the draft Committee Member oversight list for this upcoming year um this is for discussion only no actions required and based on the discussions from the board uh we will go back and prepare a final committee oversight list for next year uh and be ready for adoption at your next regularly scheduled board meeting uh the first board we need to look at is Career Source North Central Florida local Workforce Development board the current appoint is commissioner Spooner so if we if you would like to see commissioner Spooner continue in that capacity or discuss someone else uh now would be the time just if that require it doesn't require the chair chair anymore usually was the chair of the board in past but I spoke with them and they said they no longer they just needed right however we will we will need an alternate and commissioner since this involves you um when we got to it I was going to ask you um because I know in the past um you wanted to work on the North Central Florida Regional planning Council board so I didn't know if you still want if not I'll continue doing it or or somebody else wants it or whatever no I I I I don't mind continuing on the ones that I'm on I wanted to continue on the other boards all right Mr chairman so commissioner Spooner will continue and now we need an alternate or if there's somebody else that wants to um serve on the career resource I I don't mind relinquishing to someone else commissioner Andrews has indicated that she would serve as the alternate okay all right moving on to the Bradford County tourist Development Council uh the current appointee is commissioner Spooner okay and you said you'd like to continue on with the same I could continue with the same ones that I have or whatever okay all right commissioner Spooner has indicated that she will continue as the appointee to the Bradford County tourist Development Council next is New River Library Co-op current appointees are commissioner dhy and commissioner Thompson with commissioner Ric as an alternate mean I'm fine by keeping that I'd like to continue on that that board too please thank you I mean we the Landfield in the library usually meets at the same time so yeah okay Mr chairman you want to remain as the alternate sure okay unless somebody else want to do yeah sure so we're going to stay the same all right so uh for the New River Library Cooperative commissioner dhy and commissioner Thompson will be the uh primaries and the ultimate would be commissioner or chairman rck moving on to New River Solid Waste Association current appointees are commissioner dhy and commissioner Thompson with chairman rck as the alternate I'll remain on that board too and I would love to remain on that board too chairman R sure is that good are you okay good sure all right so for the New River Solid Waste Association commissioner dhy and commissioner Thompson will be the appointees with an alternate with chairman rck next is the Santa Fe advisory committee the current appointee is commissioner Andrews I think they mistakenly sent me a a notice that I was on it so maybe they did that by mistake and it should be Andre well trying to get a hold of them did you run that yes but I received a um I guess it was a letter from the president of the college saying that was on their board so I I don't know can you send that to me I can send it to um Mr carneg and he can send it because I can't do it directly to you but I could send it to him can you I'm sorry which one was this for yeah can can you help commissioner Andrews um get the right contacts um she's having trouble with communicating with them with the Santa Fe advisory committee yes ma yes absolutely I was saying um that I just recently got um a notice that I was on the board and so then I can send that to you and then you whoever needs to be get it straightened out yeah okay all right so the Santa Fe advisory committee uh commissioner Andrews will uh continue on that board um we may we need to back up um on to item two the Bradford County tourist Development Council um Mr Commando just pointed out that that position according to our ordinances under chapter um 74 which defines the makeup of the tourist Development Council says that the chairman is the ex officio chairman of that Council so it doesn't allow you to elect somebody based on your ordinance but that would be you that should be the chair it should be you okay okay okay that's and I'm okay that's okay with you okay sure okay so uh chairman um reck will be the appointee for the Bradford County tourist Development Council next is the small County Coalition currently the appointee is commissioner dhy with commissioner Spooner as the alternate with that I'm still good with that all right we have consensus um commissioner dhy will remain as the appointee with commissioner Spooner as the alternate next is the north central Florida Regional planning Council current appointee is commissioner or chairman rck and the alternate is commissioner Andrew and I'm up for suggestions if anybody would like to do it um us I'll be glad to step down it's a good board to be on I'll just tell you that you know because you do that and then you do the uh Transportation disadvantage that we meet up uh every quarter and we we either use this room or we've been using the um at the sheriff department the AOC all right so we're consensus that chairman rck will remain okay okay and the alternate being commissioner Andre right next is the north central Florida Regional planning counc Council the original Florida tourism task force uh the current appointee is commissioner Spooner so we have consensus that commissioner spinner will remain next item is the north central Florida Regional planning Council Transportation disadvantage program current appointee is Chairman rck with commissioner Andrews as the alternate all right so um chairman rck will remain as the appointee with commissioner Andrews as the alternate and that is that so we will put together the list of recommendations and you'll it'll be available for you to vote on at the next board meeting moving to the second item which is uh comprehensive planning Services um yeah you you should have your packets where all the information is provided uh we told you at the last meeting that we would go through the nine respondents um from the recent RFQ and of those nine two provide planning Services uh those two would be chw and North Florida um Professional Services so also included in your packet are the uh fee schedules for each of those two um Consultants so at this this point um a decision needs to be made whether or not to remain with the planning Council the current Regional planning Council or to engage with the two contractors that um provide the services and just as a note um I was at the uh Economic Development Summit in oala today and met um Clint's colleague Brandon down there had a good conversation with him and uh so we we've already started developing relationships there and of course we already had the relationship Craig Basher at chw so it's staff's recommendation that we move forward with the two consultants and disengage with the planning counil any comments no Mr chair i' just you know based on the uh lack of responsiveness and U you know some of the other issues that have come up and some of the other uh you know counties and municipalities and as well as with the do um I think if we continue with them then we're going to continue to get the same service and so I would recommend that we uh talk to our two Consultants that provide those services and uh see if we can um with the rates that are currently U published that maybe we can negotiate those rates um you know with the two firms together and uh just kind of see where we are and uh maybe those services [Music] are I don't I don't if I want to say split but uh at least when we're using one or the other we're paying the same amount for the services so that they could agree upon U you know a negotiated rate then I think that that would be a a good good way to go moving forward so yes sir um yes Mr K do I know that the the that the no the FL region the planning Council offer this at 13,000 annually but I we we used to pay them like 26,000 correct so if we um engage um the other planning groups [Music] um to stay within that dollar range um but I don't know I'm a little dismayed but I I read the information regarding the issues with other areas but until it was brought to our attention at the last meeting there was no mentioning of any um issue from last time up until this past month and so I I guess I'm I'm a little p puzzled at so let me see if I can if I can clear things up we uh we consistently got no response from the planning Council um Mr Andrews would would reach out to them periodically try and prompt them nudge them along uh you can't even at this point you can't even communicate with them via email their servers down um it's public knowledge that the city of Gainesville and lotville County have both disengaged there's another political subdivision nearby that is about to disengage um you know can I guarantee you that that we won't spend more than $113,000 a year with one of the contractors absolutely not as a matter of fact there's a good chance we'll spend more than that but we can't go on not getting anything done okay and one of the things and the reason I'm sorry ma' go ahead the reason that it was not delayed but but didn't get addressed until now is because we wanted to wait until the respondents came back for the RFQ so we would know which ones were able to provide the planning Services okay and I guess I'm I'm a little puzzled because one of the things I asked is that we or you would kind engage with him so if there was an issue we' know ear you know early on if there was a problem you know so that if yes ma'am like I said they stopped communicating okay and um I know that there was an issue on this stand with the system their system for a few months or something and I don't know I'm I guess I'm asking was it doing that time or just throughout the course of the I think the I think the communication cessation is something fairly new like within the last six weeks we we can't get in touch with them uh prior to that there were some back and forth but never any results a keep comment and yeah and number one we ain't got a fair handshake with him in a while you agree with that yes sir I do and Mr chair um Mr corn and to your comment about uh you know we may end up paying more um I think that also um and I don't know if Clinton would agree with me or not but I think looking at our uh our development fees U for instance let's say like the the racetrack that's going in South um what they're paying in Bradford County they as a bargain right you know so being able to go and and and look at those fees and readjust those fees uh may come out at some point where you know we're either right at even where we were before or maybe even less so we don't know that yet but being able to uh examine those fees and what we're charging um and getting with you know our planning and zoning office and uh hopefully bringing in more Revenue because again something like that in a another area would cost three or four times times more and then they come here and again it's like hey that's a bargain we'll take it you know so but um I don't know if you want to comment on that Clint but uh just an opportunity to to renegotiate some of those rates that we currently have sure I can speak to that briefly Clint if you don't mind come up to the to the yeah my name is Clint caps I'm a project manager with North Florida Professional Services um we we prepared a list of preliminary rates for um the commissioner review um one thing to note about that is it is not comprehensive it's not everything we do it's not everything we can do um if you ask our administrative team that work with grants that work with planning side of things what they can provide you name it anything they will help however they can they will give you their full attention um so if there's anything on that list that is is you feel is missing um we would be happy to discuss that right and and I guess my comment was really more towards the developers that are coming into town not necessarily your rates but being able to you know raise our fees as Bradford County for development fees exactly yeah things like that that's what I is heading is that if you're reassessing your internal fees we can help with that too we work with a lot of different counties municipalities across North Florida that's where our focus is um and we could we could easily compare what different municipalities and governments are doing and make recommendations for adjusting those fees here as well right yeah because these are large corporations that are coming in and doing this and so again it's you know for them to pay I'm just using number say they're paying you know 25,000 in St John's County and they're coming here and they're only paying 4500 U again you know that's something that they're accustomed to paying in other areas so it wouldn't be foreign for them to come in here and do something like that because they're they're such large operations so yeah we'd be glad to help in that regard okay whatever we can do okay thank you thank you well and like we discussed too we have some issues that are very time time sensitive that we need action on because the longer we sit here and we have these sub um places developed with no paved Road I mean the worst we we're just climbing into a hole deeper and deeper and we need action um in in getting a handle on that yeah we definitely understand as soon as possible we understand that yes um we do a lot of work that is um either helping identify grants or applying for Grants and then administering them and we we are very familiar with you know whatever that deadline is you've got to meet it or your grant money goes away we never want that sort of thing to happen we want to we'll we'll make sure we get things done by by the time you need it any other comments um thank I I just um and and believe me I've given this a lot of thought I mean because Bradford County's been doing business with the planning Council for over over 40 years and they have done a great job for us and basically saved us a lot of money over the years um I've actually been on the board myself for 14 years so um but at the same time I know for the past two years I've fought fought hard to um to keep them um um but but I don't want to um I don't want to hinder any development going on in Bradford County on anything you know and getting things done and and also our our um zoning director Randy Andrews he's got a very tough job as you all know and um seems like he say he under a lot of stress and um so I I just hate to put any more stress on on Mr Andrews and um you know so with with that um you know I'll just say I you know as much as I like the planning Council and still will continue you know being on some of their boards um but but if if this benefits Bradford County then then this is direction we need to go and it seems like you know from talking with our County manager and listening to y'all's comments and the email you gave us from fdot and and your comments um you know I I can understand why why we need to make a change um and then next year I would just like to um re-evaluate it and make sure we made the right change and if we didn't then move back but um but that's that's the only comment I've got so so I that I guess did you have anything else Mr cornate no we all we need now is a motion to move forward with the uh with chw and um North Florida Professional Services in the future for planning Services I'll offer that motion okay we have a motion by commissioner doy second by commissioner Thompson uh all in favor by sign of i i i any oppose vort no I said okay I I mean I all okay so it's 5 all right thank you very much and that's all I have Mr chairman okay all righty thank you clown thank you sir thank you uh next we have our uh County attorney report Mr corn I mean Mr uh Mr Commando he's got all kinds of hats tonight too too many too many KS here no I just want to extend my thanks to commissioner Spooner for your service during your year of chair thank you and uh also to congratulate commissioner rck as your uh have the support of your fellow Commissioners and just wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving thank you I do have one more thing Mr chairman if you don't mind I I would be remiss if I didn't also speak directly to to commissioner Spooner and what a wonderful 12 months this has been your leadership and as close as the chairman works with the county manager um it's it was a real pleasure to to to do that with you um you're a genuine person and you're a compassionate person and everybody sees itk and uh thank you very much for your your year of service as as the chair and uh we look very much forward to moving forward thank you thank you thank you all right I guess now we'll go on to uh commissioner comments I'll just start with commissioner Andrews well just um happy that we get to serve four more years um very proud of everyone and um hopefully that that we can work together and do a great job for the for Bradford County hopefully we'll get some projects finished and move on and um I too want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and um congratulations to everybody and that's all I have Mr Thomson yes uh uh first of all I'd like to thank Miss Boer for the fine job you done I mean you could tell your heart was in it uh you did a fine job and I thank you for that and I want to thank commissioner rdick I know he's going to do a fine job he his hearts in it too so I look forward him being the chair this year and I want to wish everybody a happy and safe Thanksgiving and y'all remember when you sat down in the you know I was watching on TV the other night there's a lot of people that ain't got food to eat while we sitting there before we eat they a prayer for those people that ain't as thankful and ain't got the stuff and the food and all and the family that we got just say a prayer for them I mean there's a bunch of starving people in this world but we are the Most Blessed people in this world so just throw a prayer in there before you eat Thanksgiving dinner and remember the ones that ain't unfortunate that's all I got to say Thank you Mr SM yes and I just too wanted just to say what a pleasure it was to serve in the leadership role of as a chair and to work with our board and with the county manager and everybody the finance department it was truly a joy and a pleasure and I look forward to continue working um with our community Community um and I want us to move forward with our our financial workshops our budget workshops and um come up with a capital Improvement plan and move forward with our strategic planning process and um just continue that work and move towards more Economic Development projects to bring in more revenue for our community um and I'm just looking forward to the pleasure of uh of continue to work and I congratulate Miss Miss commissioner reik Miss Andrews on her re-election commissioner reic and myself I am feeling tremendously blessed uh to continue serving and so um with that uh I say Happy Thanksgiving to everybody and thanks again well I'll start with uh again just repeat what I said earlier it was a pleasure to have you as our chairperson and uh look forward to serving another four years with you and with with Andrews and um so just again and also with the other Commissioners as well but uh thank y'all um and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone uh just something I want to bring up real quick and uh I talked to Mr corn about this and this is in reference to uh projects that do come you know to our area um or additional uh well I'll just use for an example uh at our last meeting when we were discussing um the RV park so I think it's important that uh we somehow find out how we can you know whether it's U you know one of our Consultants that's going to be involved but U trying to get more information about these projects before they come to the board because what happens is you know we end up being the the firing board right and when the folks come in here and it hasn't been really vetted you know and I'm not saying it's anyone's fault I'm just saying no more needs to be done um to where it's more public forum so that everyone can understand what these projects are all about and so that way um it's not as emotional of a decision for us up here because everyone comes in angry because this way you know people have more of an understanding and and all the objections are hopefully you know kind of you know taken care of before it comes to us and I know through um you know through our consultants and being a part of um not necessarily them as our Consultants but I know when they work on projects in other areas they're there and they represent the owner and they're there to answer questions that are questions that we can't answer and so I think it's important as we move forward that again that we we we take a little bit more time and we have U uh just some some more research that's done into these projects and and uh so that that way again maybe there's only two or three people in here left with questions rather than 200 people that have questions and again we're up here and and we're just like we don't know the answer to that question and they want an answer right now and we don't it's here for public com it's not for question and answer so anyway I just wanted to bring that up and I think it would since we don't have a a Planning and Zoning Board um it'd be nice if we did have that because then that way you know it'd be you know kind of a buffer in between and for somebody else to be able to hear it but um I think that we need to uh certainly you know put some emphasis on that and make sure that moving forward that we understand you know what the projects are actually all about um so um Logan left I wanted to wish her publicly wish her a happy birthday uh belated birthday so um but anyway um again everyone have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving and U we'll see you next time thank you all right the only comment I have thank thank everyone for being here tonight I do thank you all for coming and um and congratulations again uh commissioner Andrews commissioner Spooner commissioner do um looking forward to serving with yall for for at least two more years and um and I cuz I I feel like we make a good board I'm not saying we all agree which is good because nobody wants puppets up here we all have our own minds and we we try and do what we can to better the county but the bottom line is we all have the best interest of the whole County in mind and I truly believe that so um and again commissioner Spooner you did an excellent job I hate following you in your footsteps but uh hopefully you'll be fine I'll be able to not quit bumbling through it and get it moving on so um but thank you all so much and thank you for the support of the board um it's a real honor to serve as chair I'll just say that and um and for for everyone again I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving um excellent comments about that there's so many people that that do without and we're very fortunate man Thanksgiving is the time I look forward to have my all my family in G kids and it's just it's just an awesome time so um I just wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving be safe and um there's nothing else to come before the board uh meetings ad journ all right you me long wind did this she was all right we'll see you love you