[Music] yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] oh [Music] e [Music] if you wish to speak to any item on the agenda or during the public comment portion of the meeting please fill out a speaker card each person addressing the board shall have three minutes to complete his or her comments on each agenda item for which he or she has filled out a card the chair has the discretion to determine or alter the time limits on any agenda item the board of County Commissioners requests that speakers appearing under the public comment section of the agenda limit their comments or presentations to matters relating to County Business that are within the board Control Authority and jurisdiction well good afternoon and welcome to the March 12th County Commission meeting uh could we please have Samantha Nazario are you giving the uh invocation today or have I completely missed that we could all pray probably be good right now here's what was on the thing ah see there 75 years old you just can't do it anyway the invocation for tonight is Pastor Lucas Alida aha there you are I just wanted to give you a little bit more time to think about your prayer Pray about my prayer yep there you go let's pray Lord I pray unto you the Triune god of the universe who alone has immortality who Reigns through Christ far above all Rule and Authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come Lord I recognize your power today but I also recognize your wisdom appointing government to extend your purposes on Earth one of the ways you have determined that your will might be done on Earth is through the leadership of civil magistrates father I pray today for The Bard body board of County Commissioners I thank you for this body of servants present here I pray that they would be greatly blessed and I pray that they would come together to make decisions on our behalf that are beneficial and benevolent for our County Lord whether they fear you or not you tell us that there's no Authority that is given to men that does not first come from you I pray that they might know this today I pray that they would know the source of power and the source of life that is found in your son Jesus Christ who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant being born in the likeness of man and being found in a human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on the cross Lord your son is the model of servant leadership he is mighty and yet humble he is Lord and yet obedient he offers life through his own death a cursed death on a cross taken on the punishment not of his own sin but of those who trust in him and father through death through through jesus' death death died and when Death Dies all things live I'm thankful for a faith that is interested in human flourishing I pray that this body would share this conviction the upholding of human dignity the sanctity of the human life from moon to tomb the free exercise of religion the care for the poor the Widow and the orphan father I pray for Bard County that this County would be known as as a county where the rights that were first endowed To Us by our creator are protected and promoted by the governing authorities I pray that Bard County would know that there is a God in heaven who loves his creation and who's willing to save and redeem all who will come to him through Jesus Christ I pray Lord in Christ's name amen amen call to order and if would all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance led by good Ali to of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay I'd like a uh a motion please to approve the minutes of January 23rd 2024 regular meeting February 1st 20 uh 24 zoning meeting and February 6 2024 regular meeting motion by commissioner Goodson is there a second by commissioner toaya any discussion all in favor signify by saying I I minutes are approved resolution uh Awards and presentations I would assume that all of you lovely ladies in the red are here for the bleeding disorder is that correct no all right I am grateful because normally I thought they were going to come get my blood tonight if you're public official that can happen very easily so I have a resolution uh for the bleeding disorder who is the head of that wonderful organization come on up here just stand right there yeah yeah all right we're just we're just going to have you stand there we're just going to have you stand there sir that's for the next no no no not yet all right not yet not yet I I told you I told you my cognitive abilities are going down the tubes here so all right is there somebody from the organization the pleading disorder organization here maybe there's one of your other folks are okay well I'm going to go ahead and read this resolution um whereas bleeding disorders that include hemophilia Von willbrand disease our rare bleeding disorders are characterized by blood not clotting normally due to the lack of clotting proteins also known as clotting factors and whereas in the United States more than 20,000 individuals live with hemophilia and rare blood bleeding disorders with 6,000 of them living in states of Florida and one half% of the American population having Von willbrand disease and while treatment can help the conditions are not yet Cur curable whereas symptoms of bleeding disorders include unexplained and excessive bleeding large or deep breeding bruising nose bleeds and bleeding into joints muscles and soft isssues tissues and if someone has a bleeding disorder they may have an extended bleeding with incence such as inquiry injury of the trauma menstruation surgery of dental procedures and whereas the bleeding disorder Foundation of Florida found that in 1996 supports the bleeding disorder Community throughout the state and its mission is to improve the quality of life for people with the condition and their families through education information Referral Services advocacy support and research and annually host events throughout Florida to bring awareness to the community and needed funding for research and support service now there now therefore be it resolved that the board of County commissioners of rard County does hereby proclaim the month of March as bleeding disorder awareness month and encourages all citizens to increase their understanding and awareness of these serious bleeding disorders and thanks the healthc Care Professionals and bleeding disorder Foundation of Florida and the national bleeding disorders Foundation uh for their dedication and commitment to the improving treatments and ultimately finding a cure do I hear a motion move to approve sir I'll second okay there's a motion to approve in a second and now we have this lovely lady in front of us what is your name ma'am Samantha nario and I'm with the bleeding disorder Foundation of Florida I knew darn good and well there was somebody by the name of Samantha out there I thought you were going to give us a prayer I've been coming here for years I've never seen a line that long that's a good thing all right there you go go ahead ahead Samantha um hi are you guys you guys pass the motion before or after I speak we've already the Motions on the floor okay uh my name is Samantha nario I'm a resident of Melbourne this is our sixth year in partnership with our wonderful County Commissioners here uh retired commissioner Kurt Smith was the first one to ever bestow this Proclamation upon us and his uh predecessor uh commissioner zanka and now thank you for District 4 we appreciate it um I'm here as a mother of a son with a bleeding disorder my son Tyler is 24 years old he's a student at Eastern Florida State College Tyler's medication and uh medical cost for the year can be upwards of a half a million dollars to a million dollar a year one dose of medication is $16,000 we were just in Washington sorry catching my breath here okay we were just in Washington last week advocating for um house bill this is what happens when you're running late Senate Bill 228 here in the State of Florida and last week another one of our wonderful co-sponsors and supporters Bill posy he is the co-sponsor on House Bill 830 on the Florida uh for the excuse me for the federal bill the bill we're trying to pass is called the help cocay Bill what that bill does is it allows every dollar that comes out of your pocket to go towards your out of pocket for the year instead of Disappearing into what we call the insurance Abyss everybody in this room I'm sure pays a co-pay if you have private insurance at one point or another well what they've learned to do in 2018 was to circumvent the previous law that stated that every dollar out of your pocket pocket went towards your out of pocket and they decided to say if it was any assistance from Pharma or anything else of that nature you're still going to owe your out of pocket so in our example they would take my $255,000 worth of assistance and in may they tell me you're still responsible for the $5,000 out of pocket I'm lucky enough that Tyler is not severe he is a mild Von will Bron's disease but in severe cases their medication is $16,000 of dose that can be two times a day that could be three times three times a day to seven times a week that can be up to as I said in the beginning anywhere from a half a million to over a million dollars a year medical coverage thanks to the ACA children like my son and other patients are covered and are no longer uninsurable as they would have been in the past um what I ask everyone here is if you do not know what a bleeding disorder is you've never heard of it please Google the Florida the bleeding disorder bleeding disorder Foundation of Florida or the national bleeding disorder foundation and educate yourself 1 and 2% of the population of the United States of America is undiagnosed with a bleeding disorder and does not know until it's entirely too late here in the State of Florida we have 6,000 patients and we do a bvar county called 433 of those patients called bavar County Home including administrators staff and lots of our kids here so we definitely thank bvar County for continuing their partnership with us and we look forward to continuing this for as long as I can thank you is there any questions from the board hearing none there's no cards I don't believe right hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I I'll oppose nay the motion carries now we're going to get all you lovely ladies up here to the front it's part of the bleeding disorder they're not here with me is there a bunch of why are you guys trying to fool me tonight I don't know but I'll take it coordinated the shirts that's what I want to know total we got two organizations with red shirts on tonight I think so holy mackerel I have my son and my cousin with me though see there there you go all right we need a picture yes thank thank you absolutely go yes yes you too yes youie one more second well I can assure you I'm putting on the next agenda no more red shirts in this you you good [Applause] luck I'm going to put on my dun hat and sit back down and then I'm going to have my dear friend to the left commissioner Felton to read the next resolution all right so we have uh surveyors and mappers week your turn I know no it's all right read that's all right don't be confused right I'm going to read the resolution uh then we'll pass it and then he'll he'll invite you to to make some comments okay whereas surveying has been an essential element in the development of the human environment since the beginning of recording history and it is a requirement in the planning and execution of nearly every form of construction with its most familiar modern uses in the fields of Transportation building and construction Communications mapping and the definition of legal boundaries for land ownership and whereas George Washington Thomas Jefferson Abraham Lincoln and other former presidents of the United States serve their fellow colonist as surveyors and whereas the surveying and mapping profession requires special education training knowledge of mathematics the related physical and applied sciences and requirements of law for evidence and whereas the continual advancements in instrumentation have required the surveyor and mapper not only to be able to understand and implement the methods of the past but also to learn and employ modern technology in finding soltion solutions to meet the challenges of the future and whereas the citizens of Bard County recognize the valuable contributions of the surveying and mapping Prof profession to history development and quality of life in Florida and the United States of America and make important decisions based on the knowledge and expertise of licensed surveyors and mappers now therefore be it resolved that the board of County commissioners of bavar County Florida in conjunction with national survey week does hereby proclaim the week of March 17th through March 23rd 2024 as Florida surveyor and mappers week and recognizes the many contributions and the ongoing dedication of our present day surveyors and mappers to the citizens of Bard County done ordered and adopted in regular session this 12th day of March 2024 and with that I'll make a motion Mr chair there's a motion on the floor by commissioner felner is there a second second all right there's a second by commissioner Goodson and commissioner Pritchett any discussion all in favor by signify by saying I I all oppose nay the motion carries you going to go down there with them please uh I think you GNA I just want to thank uh all the uh local surveyors in Bard County for all the great work they do uh uh supporting our community with all this the new development happening for the past 30 years that I've been here I also want to thank my staff our staff County surveyor Mike Sweeney Amber Holly our vacating specialist and all the other great people in our office um they always do a great job and I can't wait for next year and we'll do it all over again next year thank you all right we have the proclamation for you and we'll take a picture you go ahead the part's about to start anyways with the red the [Laughter] red Ma's not in a good mood today yeah we'll talk about it later we'll talk about it later yeah I'm trying to okay then now now he finally is going to read his own resolution today this is good okay all right and I'm glad I we readed today like I said it was an accident I have a resolution acknowledging gfwc viira Women's Club uh we have Jan Gates and all the ladies you're welcome to come up uh as I read it finally we get to the red shirts y there you go wow what a group hey Matt Wallace you're wearing a red shirt aren't you part of this group aha you're hiding back there I see you now who is going to be the spokesperson for this one miss Gian Gates there you go okay all right I'll read the resolution and then we'll pass it and then he'll invite you to make some marks okay whereas Bard County proudly joins community members in celebrating 20 years of volunteer community service of the gfwc Vieira Women's Club Inc on Monday April 8th 2024 and whereas gfwc Vieira Women's Club Inc is a proud member of the general Federation of women's clubs with a mission to enhance the lives of others in Bard County and surrounding communities through volunteer service and whereas in December of 20 or 2003 11 Vieira women met and voted to establish the gfwc viira wom's club in in April of 2004 23 paid members attended the Florida Federation of wom women's women's clubs spring convention at which time the club was accepted into the Federation and subsequently Incorporated in July 2005 and whereas gfwc Vieira Women's Club Inc seeks to inspire community members to remember that Community leaders can create Global change through support of volunteerism and whereas gfwc Vieira Women's Club Inc participates and supports over 30 Community causes in arts and culture educational libraries environment Civic engagement Health and Wellness and whereas gfwc viir Women's Club Inc recognizes that acts of volunteering service holds tremendous power power to transform lives and communities for the greater good of all offering an opportunity to transcend boundaries and unite people and whereas Bard County recognizes gfwc Vieira Women's Club Inc and its 20 years of positive influence for people across our community Through volunteerism now therefore be it resolved that the board of County commissioners of bavar County Florida does hereby designate April 8th 2024 as turn compassion in the action day in Bard County and urges all citizens to join gfwc Vier wom's Club Inc to make this day a spring board for volunteerism awareness raising activities and support done order adopted in regular session this 12th day of March 2024 with that I'll make a motion to approve Mr chair motion by commissioner felner is there second second second by commissioner pritchet all in favor signify by saying I I all oppos nay all right J thank you commissioner feltner we are honored and humbled to be receiving this resolution together with our community we make a difference one interaction at a time as we turn compassion into action vwc has served bavard County Community for 20 years with inspiring hard work dedicated self selfless groups of women working together on a variety of community service projects and programs our members proudly utilized their time and talents to meet specific needs for numerous nonprofit organizations in Bard County and Beyond in 2023 our club volunteered 13, 364 hours our projects were 89 donated 29,38 in kind donations was 9,282 along Ong with past presidents and members it is with sincere gratitude that I accept this on behalf of the gfwc Vier Women's Club thank you okay I have the proclamation we'll take a picture I I just want to say too you guys are so beautiful and it and it really makes my heart Happy I'm a female at this moment so thank you I want to make sure you're in the front Don's a miracle work you're having fun tonight that is good right so this is the only one on the consent again and maybe the people Morris Morris said do it on she has a public comment so I'm just move this out the way okay just so that you know app okay conratulations she's one of the ones who just and you started it all not thank Youk thank you very much impressive organization all right we're going to move on um for R shirt yeah well I figured out why Rob passed this resolution he wanted to be down there with all the women this is the perfect idea there you go we're not going to tell Veronica about that though all right we're moving on to the consent agenda uh anybody on the commission have any items they want to pull uh yes uh F10 no without comment okay um any any other ones that we need to talk about all right um let's go to consent item number nine and uh sander Sullivan has a card Sandra Sullivan SS Patrick Shores so my comment is about the uh the the county taking over parks and rack taking over uh the zoo um zipline portion and so if you go to uh the property appraiser site and you search for that property um the zip line is within the property that is owned by the zoo so it's it's kind of a curious thing I'm kind of curious about I just kind of Wonder have any of you zip lined in there cuz I have okay and you're literally ziplining you know over the monkeys and alligator the different areas you can see the zoo you're literally in the zoo so it'd be really nice to hear from you why we as taxpayers are taking over the running of a portion of the zoo if because this is a really odd um agenda item thank you thank you commissioner toaya if you read the item it's pretty clear it says linear Park and a zip line is a straight line so I get where the misunderstanding is but it's got nothing to do with the linear with with the zip lines that you request if you'd have read a little bit further you'd see that it's the walkway that is called linear Park so it is not anywhere near the the uh yes you have a print out but I'm going to punt it I'm going to punt this over please thank you to our um Parks director where you will get the exact same information I wouldn't mind taking over the zipline Park it's a money-making thing but uh unfortunately that's that's that's not it Mary Allen yes sir do you have any comments uh I'm here to answer any questions of the board is yeah are uh this transfer will this be the linear Park as it says in the outline or will it be the zipline facility it is not the zipline facility it is the linear Park 2.85 miles of the linear Park okay uh any other items that we need to pull item 10 I believe you wanted to speak about commissioner toaya or did you want to I I just voted no without comment on that one I'll be more than willing to but just quicker to vote no without comment hearing no other uh discussion all in favor of the consent agenda signify by saying I all oppose nay the motion carries thank you so much now we'll go to public hearings G1 request for public hearing interest uh determination P ID for the marker 99 Restaurant formerly known as Captain Katana to allow an approximately 122t deck expansion exceeding of 30% impervious areas within a surface water protection buffer and an exception to the National Resource Management storm water management requiring uh District 4 hello are you going to talk about this good evening I'm here for any questions okay I'll make a motion to approve Mr chair there's a motion to approve is there a second second there's a second a motion by commissioner feltner second by commissioner toaya all in favor signify by saying I I all opposed nay motion carries to the clerk pardon me just clarify something for the clerk clarify for the clerk yes ma'am I need to know who made the motion for consent commissioner F oh for oh for the consent um I think commissioner feltner and I second thank you thank you so much all right uh let's go to public hearing G2 petition to vacate Republic uh public rways Virginia Avenue and Maple Street June Park Edition number three plat book 4 page 74 Melbourne Andrew W PW District 5 uh Maryann Houston are you here hi I wanted to um let you know that I'm not here alone I have other community members here with me in the audience I'm just the speaker for tonight um we are opposed to allowing this to happen because it is going to tear up private roads it's going to interfere with um the safety of our children and our neighborhood we were not notified that this was something that was going to occur um when we purchased in this um neighborhood so so uh we are a gated private Street we are paying for our roadway our walkway um and this uh plot that they are going to have access to they have the option to do wellwater they also have the option to do septic which would not require them to then tear into our roadway and um disrupt our community they also have an option of uh utilizing other means of uh getting access to this property which uh I believe may be government property that they can access this property from and these so-called paper roads that they can also utilize rather than um coming through a private uh neighborhood this is also a property that sits between two bodies of water and it also houses a lot of wildlife um there have been Eagles resting up there we have gopher turtles that have been seen there and also um Sand Hill cranes so I would also ask that the board take into consideration to make sure that all of that is safe for our Wildlife also if there's any other questions from me I would be happy to answer them no ma'am we're good okay thank you I appreciate your consideration uh is there a motion please District how do you feel about question oh well if you take the floor for a second uh commissioner pet oh commissioner Goodson before I do could staff tell us what is the purpose of this other than you know give us a better understanding of what you're trying to accomplish yes commissioner uh good evening so uh this is a request to uh vacate that was uh by Mr poock so um from a staff perspective we're just uh reviewing the vacate request and then proposing uh that to the board uh this particular uh owner is looking to connect water sewer and then ultimately Annex the property into the city of West Melbourne uh as noted there are several objections but there is an Ingress and egress easement granted across the private roads by the developer and this is not part of the ploted subdivision so if we do it Shar yes sir if we do it are you going to put that all attached to to the resolution to that he has to do those things the uh resolution specific to the vacate those will be the comments you made will be in that resolution yes sir okay okay uh is there a motion yeah go ahead if go ahead and take the floor for a second yes I sat through the briefing on in regards to this and asked several questions and I understand your concern but apparently this lot was not included in the original subdivision in the first place is that correct Mark that's correct so it's kind of sitting out there in the middle of no place and uh it needed to be done if he's going to connect to sewer and water and all those other issues so uh um that's uh my opin that's what I heard at the at the briefing and I'm fine with it so is there a motion motion uh there's a motion to approve by commissioner pritet second second by commissioner TOA any discussion hearing no discussion all in favor signify by saying I I all oppose nay motion carries okay unfinished business the interlocal to transfer James Road Extension to the city of Coco this is kind of like the uh Nightmare on Elm Street keeps coming back coming back all right this is uh this is one more piece sir of the um 2007 settlement agreement between the county the city of Coco and several developers who own the properties at the Northeast and Southeastern intersections of I95 and 528 this one is specific to the southeast Eastern portion that agreement provided that access to the development on the Southeast which is now uh known as the windward preserve subdivision which is located entirely within the city of Coco that they would have an access across James Road uh the developer had applied to Bard County for a permit to construct an extension of James Road West of Friday where it currently ends for access to that subdivision because it's only going to serve a subdivision within the city of Coco and Coco residents uh everyone agreed that Coco should ultimately have the maintenance responsibility for that James Road extension for the so this is an agreement that's going to transfer the segment of James Road West of Friday to 95 to the city of Coco for construction of that roadway the county will maintain ownership and control of the 50-ft drainage right away south of that segment we'll still have permit Authority for the discharge into that RightWay and this agreement does not uh give any authority to discharge into that RightWay they'd still have to go through all permitting for drainage and things like that and I'm happy to answer any questions thank you Morris um we have some cards here Rick afternoon Rick afternoon Rick he finger 2000 Juniper Drive district one I'm kind of surprised to see the interlocal agreement and the fact that the permit closed and looking at the permit I have a public records request in that's almost a month old now I was going to try to figure out what was going on because I was concerned about the water I heard now that the county attorney says we haven't permitted any water into the James Canal I hope that's true I wanted to verify that myself get records a month later I don't have records I don't and I have answers to no question I've put written questions to Public Public Works I guess about is there a water permit special and how did this permit close the last I heard it had to be determined if it was going to be a public or a private road is it a public or a private road because somebody threw signs up that said no trespassing as far as I know it's it's still a public road isn't it I I'd love for somebody to answer that nobody even wanted to go down there and file a code complaint that somebody put illegally plac signs on Bard County right away without a permit you want to charge me for public records request that's fine why don't you collect some fines that are due I had to I went through you don't know how many emails I went through to try to get a response to that somebody tried to and I believe it was the developer or the owner to intimidate the citizens because we've been down there watching what they're doing turns out there's an eagle on the property oh my God who would have guessed now they're trying to say we can't is it is it a public road can I go down there last I heard I could County said oh no it's it's still public road you can go down that road well then who thought it was a good idea to say it's private property no trespass wow signs are still there as far as I know great job defending Bard County residents I really want to appreciate you're holding the line for us you've got a single point exit for a crapload of houses where's this have you did safety evaluation of that intersection the permit was supposed to had questions from the county from one of the engineers about well how are you going to improve that intersection I don't know because nobody gave me my public records I hope you got a good answer because when I get my public records I'm going to make sure you you went and did a thorough job I think this whole thing stinky stinky I mean I'm trying to do my due diligence and I can't get records I don't get any answers to any questions nobody enforces code enforcement about a sign trying to intimidate the citizens is this what I expect from my County Commission and and my government Mark Bernett is that is he the director is he here today I was supposed he was the only one that said okay we reached out we'll we we'll have him remove the signs holy God it had to escalate to that this is this is I mean I am trying to make sure you're doing it right and I will continue but so far you're non-cooperative and I'm disappointed thank you Mr heule finger' how long ago did you put public records in um on the hold on I have the records do you want to take time to go through that or sir if you would just tell me the date I'm going to ask questions and and see if there was a hangup or what was going on I'm going to check that out did you say it was about four weeks ago yeah I've got it here somewhere I got more paperwork than you guys do well if you just let me know um I will I'll take a peek and and see yeah I mean I was supposed to have them early this week and that was the last side but there were multiple questions that were not answered is is there a water variance of some kind question is not for questions go ahead commissioner toaya so a question and a public record are two different things a question requires U maybe engineering to get it a a public record and I don't know when Christin verret is she an engineer Public Works a public record is something that already exists and I don't know when you put it in but I pretty much guarantee if you put in something that already exists put in paid for it's already check you guys already cashed my check that we will1 140 something dollar thank you I I will get a couple of us will get on this but just to be clear a question and a public request uh a public records requests are two different things what about what about questioning answers that that is complet that's not a public record that is not a public record who answers the question I never got an answer okay I I don't know what the question was I don't know whe would that where that would be directed but we are under State Statute uh when it comes to the timely uh return of public record uh questions could require uh a whole bunch of stuff to be uh answered figures to be done engineering to happen and and that's a completely different I just want you to be very clear that a public record is a document that already exists and uh staff does a pretty darn good job getting those turned around exceedingly quickly because some it's work that doesn't have to be done other than gathering information and putting it together unless it needs to be redacted or something like that and I don't know what the request is but those cannot used interchangeably questions and public record are different just to be very clear so you were using them and and we will both look into that if it was paid for we we will get on that we will get your answers as as I expect my four hours worth that put put that together for that permit okay thank you thank you sander Sullivan good evening Sandra Sullivan so uh as stated by the County Attorney there was a court ordered stipulated agreement with some terms and one of them pertaining to Friday Road was traffic calming and a in the stipulated agreement it specifies a meeting with the people who live there to put impact input into where those that traffic calming should go so this is related so just like you did well it's a little bit different commission but some of you were here uh back with rockled trees drive and there was was a public meeting held with the commissioner to take that feedback and so there's quite a few issues pertaining with with these as referred to as commissioner Rita as the bright line developments north and south of of um 528 and I95 and there's a number of things so related to this I would ask that you hold off on a motion until you hold that public meeting and get the input and answer the questions that the community has pertaining both to the Canaveral Groves and this one especially since the the statement was made that no decision was made uh or no decision was made on the um uh Angelica Road through through through fair to a Urban Development from a rural development that's it so so the request is for a meeting for these people that live in these communities thank you motion to approve item H1 sir motion on the floor from commissioner pritchet is there a second second a second by commissioner toaya all in favor signify by saying I I I all oppose nay the motion carries all right let's go to um new business development Environmental Services Group an appeal request regarding appeal to denied sidewalk waiver for Store Safe of Rock Ledge um oh we have uh is there any cards on this I don't see any just we have cole Oliver here I believe you're the attorney for the applicant is that correct Cole yes sir I'm here on behalf of the applicant okay um so yes we have our request in for a appeal of the denial of the sidewalk waiver my client owns the property that was former Harvard Grove site at the intersection of barn Boulevard in US1 and they are under the process of developing a self stor facility there the client has requested a waiver from the requirement to install a sidewalk and in lie of a total waiver what they've requested from staff is to enter into a uh assessment agreement whereby they would agree to pay for and build the sidewalk at a future date when the county is connecting the rest of the sidewalks there are very limited if any sidewalks within that area I think the only ones that I can remember are the ones right at the inter section where it's crossing over US1 where the railroad was that um bright line put in and then if you go north I don't believe there's another sidewalk for a couple of miles if you've mov South there's a couple of sporadic pieces and specifically a parcel of my land or not my land that my client's land owns just south of there this County entered into a very similar sidewalk assessment agreement along US1 18 months ago um the reasons behind the sidewalk request is one it's really not going anywhere and it's instead of being a sidewalk it's kind of a side stand the client has had issues with people that come on to the property and um set up at shop start selling T-shirts and other trespassing activities and with a storage facility they want to keep it safe they believe that having sidewalk there that connects to nothing else would be a safety issue for their customers coming and going from the facility um you know with that I would uh you know hear for any questions that you all have and um you know respectfully request the assessment agreement commissioner Goodson this is your District have any comments yeah thank you uh if right now sidewalks are going for like for 6 in 5 foot wide sidewalk is $925 a foot so what I don't understand about the developer sidewalk was was there on the beginning initial plan all the way through permitting and sometimes you have to be first but U at the same token uh don't like the I'm more attuned to a bond placed on the land that would guarantee that we could either go to the bond if the developers sold or didn't want to buy or didn't want to build and have guarantee we'd have it but if you understand anything about construction there's always the first that has to go in he's absolutely correct the nearest sidewalk is that Park Avenue going north the next nearest parking lot is over the rot tracks on Barnes which goes nowhere it might be 75 ft uh I found out from staff that it's hard to to get these people in a no reflection on cold the developers to put a sidewalk in because everything I hear about plans is the about a sidewalk so we're either going to have to change the variances or do something to guarantee because uh they're they've put up a maintenance Bond two-year maintenance Bond if I'm not mistaken correct that maintenance Bond don't they you require that correct we require a performance bond for for things that they build in the right of way and then the maintenance of that work is required by maintenance correct and that's a two-year maintenance Bond correct correct yes that's correct for and then the county has the option to point out defaults and then to the Builder has to correct those faults before you accept it correct yes sir correct so don't understand uh why the owner wants to postpone this because if things go up you know right now at 800 feet 5 foot wide times 925 is somewhere around $45,000 and so everybody wants to save money but that's the last thing you do before Landscaping as a sidewalk I am all for a bond I'm not for the variance I'm sorry okay good okay commissioner toaya thank you Mr chair and uh I'm going to ask for a little leeway have a few questions here and uh commissioner Goodson's going to be a little afraid because we may actually be on the same side of this one um uh seriously sorry uh Mr ol I I'm sorry I you know I didn't get in touch with you before this is things that probably could have been handled behind scenes but you didn't reach out but clearly you are um uh aware of section 6229 56 uh B2 Bard county code of ordinance requires the developer quote provide sidewalks adjacent to the roadway AB budding their project yes sir um and I think Mr Goodson or commissioner Goodson did a good job uh that was their prior to this land being purchased was it not yes sir okay uh second uh when the site plan was created when the requirement outlines were the requirements outlined that just went over uh in Bard County of ordinance were they in place at that time uh I would agree okay um so section 62 2956 goes on to say uh requirements can be administratively waved in areas where it can be demonstrated by the applicant that there is let me read this because it's very important no current or future need for sidewalks in the immediate area so staff has shown that actually the contrary of that uh is true the site is within 800 ft of the intersection of US1 and Barnes and there is a high priority for site sidewalks near major intersections in fact Space Coast TPO has designated this quarter as a priority for improvements for pedestrians and bicyclist there are residential neighbor neighborhoods AB budding this uh uh this site so my question to you uh Mr Oliver do you believe that Planning and Development the Space Coast TPO and Public Works are all incorrect no I wouldn't say they're incorrect I would say that neither would I so I just St okay uh in in a 2022 study by smart growth America bard County was ranked 12th most dangerous area in the county for uh in the country I'm sorry for pedestrian safety based on uh death per capita there were 93 pedestrian deaths here in Bard in this 5year span according to vehic vehicular data management company giot tab the Florida section of US Highway 1 is the most dangerous road in uh in the county with 1,79 uh uh injuries over the course of a 10-year period the US Department of Transportation goes on to say that roadways with without sidewalks are more than twice as likely to have pedestrian crashes as ones uh without so uh my question to you Mr Oliver is how concerned is your client with uh client concerned with pedestrian safety I would say they're very concerned but their position is when the sidewalk would go anywhere else they're agreeing to connect it I don't see that the limited stretch of as as as commissioner Goodson has said someone has to be first and that brings up the followup here uh the applicant owns the parcel just to the South uh which would require approximately 9 900 linear feet of sidewalk to be installed if this request is approved would you expect your app uh your uh applicant the one that you're working for to request the same ra uh waiver for the parcel that would be coming up I don't know the answer to that one to be honest Sean okay I suspect they would yes if if it's not going any further uh I I appreciate your honesty I really appreciate your honesty um I I'll just go to closing here and let other people get uh the developer knew this requirement when they purchased when they started developing pedestrian safety should be the highest priority um and this is where I get into uh uh and I have no qus for for for Mr Oliver here but the county is comprised of Highly Educated experienced and qualified staff who make well-informed decisions when Builders and developers don't get the answers they want it shouldn't be the policy makers us that override the decisions of Staff again I don't blame you Mr Oliver but I'm very concerned if we sit here and we vote for this waiver here this is going to start an ugly precedent and you don't have to trust me on that you heard Mr Oliver just get up here and say he's going to ask for the very same thing on the adjacent property so uh I I I like the idea of the bond that that uh that commissioner Goodson said but I think I don't even think we should do that I think we should just require the sidewalks to be built alt together as you mentioned this isn't a big cost the developer just probably made a financial decision and said you know I can get an attorney up here for $4 or $5,000 or $10,000 and a uh you know a sidewalk cost $40,000 and we're going to build this and sell this in two years and by that time the sidewalk will be someone else's problem so I don't I don't uh belabor the uh the issue but I I I think that this waiver should be uh denied so my motion would be to deny the approval of the appeal requested by storage of Rockwood LLC regarding the administration uh denial of waiver 23 WV 000020 motion on the floor is there a second commissioner Goodson commissioner are you also so are you also denying you're not for the bond either correct corre so between you and me that's my fallback I would rather them build that as a condition but if the votes aren't there the fall back is that the the um uh I I do have a fallback motion if if the votes aren't there and I'd be more than willing to go over that but I don't want to show that card right now you know if you know anything about and you do you're very knowledgeable and staff's very knowledgeable the worst thing you have on a job is a sidewalk as far as maintaining the sidewalk watching the people that Park on it that drive over it don't drive through the driveway so there is some consideration there that you need time as a developer to get your security in place but uh but you know I'm for the bond I'm not for the variance I agree with you but just wanted you to be aware their sidewalks are a pain and the they're a pain if but I'm glad they're there but and he needs to be the first hold on Cole one yeah commissioner P um I just want to thank you first of all for being such a good sport um you're you're such a nice person and you have my respect and so I want to um also say this I I will um vote with the commissioner of the district on this in my district um I make everybody build the sidewalks so if if he would have been different I I would have done it because he has to um see his his area but I just want to say that um so complete respect for you sir but um whatever commissioner Goodson decides to do I will be with him and if you know if I may respond briefly um you know to commissioner toa's point I do understand the appeal um not wanting to overturn staff on you know each one of these as they come through either either way but you know my clients's in a position where literally just down the road they own a piece that's very similarly situated in which this assessment agreement was granted I wasn't involved with that application or anything else so I don't know the the very details of it but it's 6,400 US1 yeah uh m Mr chair can I yeah go ahead who made that decision the board didn't make that decision staff made that decision cor and so from your perspective of their being two ways I trust staff staff made that decision to to to grant that so I I'm all for staff but now you're asking for something different you don't you like the decision staff made previously now you don't like the decision on a different piece of property so so it's the from our position what what are the criteria for applying for a assessment agreement and having consistent application of that at the staff level um you know we don't know that and I'm I'm not picking on anyone here and maybe to I mean to your point of somebody's got to build it and maybe I can find a way to bridge the gap between everyone up here is if we can agree to the bond with the bond being tied to a specific date I.E when the development of the Southern portion that connects it to the intersection that whole piece because what we're going to deal with is this developer is going to build this first piece at some point someone's going to build that second piece and they're going to be in a process of are they tearing up that sidewalk breaking That Sidewalk maintaining that sidewalk with the next piece that comes in and that might be two years after that maintenance bond has expired then it's going to be the county that's going to be you know in the in the middle of dealing with it so I believe my client would respectfully agree to a performance bond to commissioner Goodson's point Point um if we can tie it to the total development of that parcel which would then tie it to the intersection within the 800 ft um intersection Mr chair do we have any idea how long do you have any idea how long that would be I don't know I would respectfully tie it to a time frame that you guys can agree he's not saying hold on hold on everybody please sorry chair uh commissioner P would you take the floor please yes sir thank you are you wanting to speak I am I'm kiding go ahead r r um after hearing this at the briefing I think everybody over there at the table will say that I was one of the guys that said you know I want a bond I want something I want a bond to see that it's going to be paid or done and I happened to be going to Titusville today and stop by the property and my whole thing turned around one away because I built a lot of subdivisions in my life and put some side walks in myself and I can tell you exactly what's going to happen if we put that sidew if they put that sidewalk in now it's going to be 800 ft with the sidewalk with dirt this way and dirt that way and people driving over it with concrete trucks and people doing stuff that will absolutely demolish the sidewalk and in the year's time they'll have to redo it so I would like to see if we go anywhere that we go with the bond on it I'd like to see that we at least get everybody in line with being able to know that it's going to be built at some point in time but I don't see it it's it's really ugly out there and to put a sidewalk in the middle of nowhere with dirt on both sides of it makes no sense to me but I'm good commissioner Goodson thank you oh I'm sorry no it's fine back okay this would be a question to Morris moris if we approve a bond tonight on this property you can fix the bond on a time frame and you can tie it to the land that if they sell it still stays with before they sell somebody has to make good on the bond is that possible we can do that we should tie it to a short developers agreement specific to the sidewalk and then we would secure performance of that with a bond next question sir yes sir now if we should do that pass that we're not coming back and would the bond be for a year or two years what or you could you could set the time whatever you wish it's on the bond correct the board could uh you you may want to do five years years uh with a provision that the staff deems it necessary prior to that then they construct it when the county requires but at a minimum you know if it if it hasn't been required by five years sometime before that it'll be constructed I I definitely don't chair go ahead definitely don't like five years because U you know I can see a one-year Bond and then at our discretion to say build it or either to our discretion to renew it for another year five years is way too long long because I agree with everything even though I drove the property many times and today what was funny about it when you got up to Dunkin Donut there's sidewalks but there's seven bicycles riding in the road so people don't always use they should but sometimes they have the bike lane and all that so I'm for I would like to make a motion that we uh propose the bond to the developer for a period of young one year or with an extension of a year and that's it or either you could word it excuse me you could word it if there's development on either end that warrants it then you could call the bond due at any time commission uh commissioner Goodson has a motion on the floor is there a second to that I had uh I had a a motion on the table so I'd like to first of all with that motion died because it lacked a second did we even bring it up for a second yeah well sorry I apologize uh uh commissioner Goodson can I expand a little bit on that I think cuz I think we're in the exact same place not expect you to expand and let me let me be this motion came from the county attorney's office I asked him to do this you got a key to his office I can't even get in there I I changed one thing and that was the five years down to one year so everything else I got directly from the county attorney's office the motion I would have that I think mirrors your yours I moved to approve the appeal requested by storage of rockage LLC regarding the administrative denial of waiver 23 WV 000020 the approval subject to the developer entering into agreement in a form acceptable to staff and the County Attorney providing for the construction of the sidewalk when there is a current need but no more than one year from today's date the developer shall post a uh one-year shity performance bond in the amount of 110% of the estimated construction costs of the sidewalk based on the estim estimate certified by a professional engineer and determined by staff to be sufficient the the there shall be no extension to the one-year Bond period uh I guess there should be one extra year uh so for a to uh one extra so that I would have to change as well the county manager of design is authorized to execute the developers agreement on behalf of the county and to take such action to require the sidewalk to be installed uh as uh may be necessary including forfeiture of the bond if the developer fails to install the improvements as required okay are you okay with that commissioner Goodson yes if if I may if staff is okay with it I haven't heard anything from staff about a bond directly thank you buddy sorry Dad or Mark who wants to handle whether you're okay with it if that's what the board wishes to do I I we would be happy to hand good answer that is that is not acceptable somebody say something of value trust me we had this whole discussion in the briefing and it went on for about the same amount of time that we're doing here and and pretty much the bond is going to be the answer to it so i' would like to get to that motion one more time County attorney do you have something that you'd like to put on the table I'd just like to request one point of clarification uh is the county manager authorized to make the decision on whether to extend that bond for one year does the board want to see that back I would say County Manager I agree or designate okay in an abundance of caution um we're going to let commissioner Goodson's motion die we're going to talk to commissioner Tobi a one more time and commissioner toaya is going to read the motion as agreed to by both parties can I borrow that P one more time sure thank you okay I move to approve the appeal of the uh requested by storage of rocklage LLC regarding the administrative denial of waiver 23 WV 000020 the approval subject developers uh entry into an agreement in a form uh accept of staff and the County Attorney providing the construction of the sidewalks when there is a current need but no more than one year from today's date the developer shall post a one-year shy performance bond in the amount of 110% of the estimated construction cost of the sidewalk based on the estimated uh uh certified by a professional engineer and determined by staff to be uh sufficient there shall be one extension uh uh of one year that can be approved by the county manager or uh his designate uh is authorized to execute the develop the county manager or design is authorized to execute the developers agreement on behalf of the county and to take such action to require the sidewalks to be installed as may be necessary including forfeiture of the bond if the developer fails to install the improvements as required okay you good with that is that a second that's a second all right there's a motion on the floor by commissioner Tobias seconded by commissioner Goodson is there any more discussion from the board hearing no discussion all in favor signify by saying I I all oppose nay the motion carries thank you Mr time now chair yes sir I I would like to uh propose to the board that we direct staff to either clean up the variance clause or whatever so that we don't have to fight this issue every time if we go through approving plans then we should have a good variance or no variance and have and put the bond in it so we don't have to fight this battle every time okay Mark or or Tad I've got that we are planning to bring that ordinance back to the board with that proposed modification in it at a future meeting okay good that'll clear up a big some serious questions all right anything more before we move on all right no uh resolution and maintenance M maps for Rockledge Drive right away from US Highway one to 1851 Rock Drive located in the Y Peri Bard County District 2 there are a few cards in number one is Sandra Sullivan Sandra Sullivan South Patrick Shores so just like the bright line this is another one of the shenanigans that uh was very difficult for this community um I helped work on this uh with this community and I was at the community meeting meeting that was held and the so this seems to be moving forward to the plans with the the paving Etc but in all those meetings the community was told they needed to cut down 67 trees for this project in order to repave the road and what we found out was on the Lagoon plan this was planned for sewer so when we followed up and we asked the question are you repaving the road because you're putting and Sewer the answer was yes but they weren't told and this is the part about not engaging the people so we the people paid we agreed to vote to pay taxes for projects for the save the Lagoon and then when you have a project where this road those trees H serve a purpose of holding the banks and holding the road from washing out has been identified by Noah as being one a being federally recognized as having a lot of resiliency issues with potential flooding from surge events so it just seems like you're not listening to the will of the people when it comes to projects a lot of people I mean they they had petitions with thousands of petitions on it they had people filled this room with more than 100 people and they voted for the lagum tax a lot of these people on this road already have advanced septic so you're going to come before the people related to this and you're going to ask them to vote to renew the Lagoon tax and yet here you are still moving ahead with a project with planning for Rock liid Drive to take down the trees that are important to them it's part of their quality of life that they live there so thank you thank you uh Kirk ralof is that how you say that ralof that's correct good job I want to thank the Commissioners for giving me the opportunity to speak uh I was here a couple of years ago speaking on the same subject so unfortunately I'm back to talk about it again um the the trees on rockage Drive the decision has been made in the past to go ahead and uh leave the trees as they are that was a decision that was made I believe a couple years back I believe that's being Revisited currently with the proposal being to cut some of the trees down or trim them down and um to me I don't see any change in the issues that existed a couple of years ago when the decision to leave the trees there was made uh the will of the people certainly hasn't changed in that period of time I'm I'm supposing that perhaps there's a different Viewpoint uh in in in the minds of the Commissioners or new Commissioners and I and I respect that um nonetheless I it's my hope that when the rubber meets the road and a decision needs to be made on this and I don't know that they has been that the uh the Commissioners will abide by the wisdom of the decision that was made a couple of years ago to leave the trees as they are and uh protect rockage drive this particular aspect which is very singular and it's part of the legacy of the drive that's all that I have to say thank you thank you very much Kirk um Christy Wilson Jay Christy Wilson j Christy Wilson you go how are you welcome sir thank you Mr chairman members of the commission my name is Jay chrisy Wilson II I'm an attorney with offices at 601 uh uh in Orlando um and uh I'm here on behalf of uh the organization the rockled uh Drive tree uh coalition I by the way my office is on Fern Creek Drive I was thinking in Orlando um couple of things that I wanted to share with you in the time that's allotted here briefly um you're being asked to approve a maintenance map tonight and that maintenance map gives you we can debate about the amount of ownership but it gives you ownership of something that you don't claim ownership you haven't claimed ownership to before in including private property that has been maintained uh and that um flies in the face it it's it's in strict tension with article 10 section 6A of the Florida Constitution which guarantees that no private property will be taken except with for a public purpose and with full compensation paid to each owner so you need to look at that very carefully there is a a statute a statute of limitations that in this case because the county didn't build this roadway uh if you can demonstrate that you have maintained it continually for a period of seven years then you can take these rights from the that today until you make that decision belong to the adjacent owners and I would ask you to consider this very carefully the I asked uh Council for the staff report and he sent me that and included in the staff report is an affidavit from the road from someone with rad and Bridge one of your staff and he says we've maintained this road for seven years well what have you done where are the records I think as a matter of inquiry you at least owe the citizens the the time spent looking at those maintenance maps to see what exactly has been done rather than taking uh the affidavit saying oh yeah we maintain this because we have a ser ious contest with you about with staff about that whether they in fact have um I have requested I filed a public information request today with the with the county and I apologize for the late filing but we only learned of this meeting on Thursday um and uh I've asked the county to provide me copies of all the work they've done job orders who did it when they did it because that's all relevant here and just just want to underscore the importance of Rocket's drive I'm sorry may I have just a brief no sir I I'll give you five seconds okay Rocket's Drive is a is a Scenic Highway and these trees are specimen trees you have a code that's 500 pages long dealing with trees and prohibits the destruction of specimen trees all right thank you sir all right Doug Simon good evening Doug good evening Commissioners uh I've been here before trying to save the uh historical I OES on rockled drive and their canopies and uh everyone sort of uh gotten to where I'm going already but uh our attorney Mr Williams kind of hit most of the points I'm I have written down here but and also Kurt has uh hit some points which is that Kurt Smith uh two three years ago I have a letter from him where he he said they said of County gives up and it wasn't my fault and I'm leaving the trees alone and here we are right back start again so my question now which our attorney Mr Williams covered uh to a degree but I I I just want to get it handled myself uh I was forwarded an email which uh Mark berneth the Public Works director vard County sent out just Thursday um in the email he stated that he wants to use Florida statute 95. 361 uh which is an adverse possession statute uh covering rockless Drive pavement uh I had called up his office and I never got a straight answer I want to know if it what the reason is for wanting to do this tonight this resolution and maintenance maps for Rock Drive uh they called it RightWay which really is only the pavement rockage Drive does not have a rideway it doesn't have does not have easements it's the old us one from 1900 or something like that um and I really just wanted to get an answer which I haven't gotten uh what is the purpose of this this um adverse possession is it to control the road to make sure the state doesn't see still have their hands on it to uh to I'm not trying to be rude things but to do a land grab uh where they think that maybe they can I I'd just like to get a straight answer that's all nothing uh nothing crazy that's it thank you very much sir can I get can I get a straight answer from can you put something in that I I can have him we're not answering questions on this sir tonight no no I understand that but can can someone ask him to do that why don't you email me and I will get it to the right person I appreciate that thank you that's very nice Jason do de at Bard florida.co okay thank you yes sir Carol Pope hello Carol been a while hasn't it nice to see you nice to see you too good evening I'm Carol Pope and I've lived at 715 rockl drive for over 50 years as Jason's been in in the Atlantic right yes ma'am um we're concerned all up and down the drive about the precedent that's being set with the this request tonight and don't really understand it um when I pulled the information up on the County website this is the information that comes up and you really can't determine how it's affecting your own property so I would request that you delay this tonight and let the county hold a meeting or at least make these Maps available to the public to the homeowners so that they can actually see how their lands being affected um again this print is so small you can't read it also as far as I've been driving up and down that road for 50 years many times a week I've never seen a County maintenance thing vehicle out there doing any type of Maintenance at all and I know they don't the county or the city doesn't maintain the roadsides in rocklage so that's one thing to consider but the one thing that I really would ask you tonight is please consider delaying this because you really we really can't understand how this affects anybody up and down the road there what this really means um and we are being quite concerned with the issues that have been taking place on rockid Drive um with the county attitude toward the street is this some type of a county Vendetta against rockage Drive particularly because there's many side streets that lead into rockid drive they have tree issues they have low hanging branches and there's not been this type of tree trimming request or um RightWay request we don't see that on any other street so what's going on with just rockage drive it's very concerning to everybody on rockage drive thank you for your time thank you very much Carol okay uh any more discussion in regards to this did we have somebody that wants to talk what yes ma'am commissioner pre Mr bernath can you answer um the questions on this for the maintenance um what type of Maintenance that you're looking to do with this yes commissioner so uh first off it it's important to note that we have been maintaining the road since the late '70s and 1980s based on available records depending on which segments were turned over to us by fdot at the time uh that includes uh road maintenance uh drainage and Landscaping um and so this is nothing that we are taking that we don't already have uh based on Florida statue we have been maintaining it more than the last seven years and as such this is simply enumerating um and documenting what the county already owns uh by on as far as boundaries on rockedge Drive is this going to set forth any different things we're about to do here soon or that's not part of what the maintenance map is this is just establishing confirming the ownership that's a separate issue and would come back to the board as a separate resolution in the future okay that's what I thought so I just want to clarify that and this action tonight doesn't respectfully doesn't have the effect described by by the attorney the besting of the title under the statute occurs when the prescription period under the statute is met so that was satisfied in in the case of rockage drive a long time ago the the maintenance map what that does is it visually depicts in lenss Clarity to what has been maintained for the required period of time in which under the statute title is already vested in the county uh it's filed then as fascia evidence of that maintenance uh but it's not an action tonight that that means if you take this action parts of the road suddenly belong to the county that didn't before that's already been established by that continual maintenance over time thank thank you sir um um Mr chair um if it would be possible I I would think this would be um fairly easy but if commissioner Goodson has any kind of heartburn on it um since it's his district I would like to hear from him sir if you wouldn't mind I have no heartburn about this issue if the C if the county owns it they own it and everybody needs to understand that and I've been here 65 years and I I have seen a lot of County work on rockl drive so I am would make a motion for acceptance motion on the floor to accept second by commissioner Pritchett my only discussion is is that uh I guess Mark are we going to we're not going to go out there and start cutting down trees or anything of that nature at this particular point in time that that's correct this is has nothing to do with the trees all right so and and there won't be anything done like that without public notice is that accurate that's correct all right uh you heard the motion on the floor no more discussion all in favor signify by saying I all oppose yes been seconded I'm sorry yes sir all in favor I right thank you the motion was by commissioner Goodson the second was by commissioner pritet okay all right so we are through that we have board reports no no what am I missing here oh this I3 was removed I3 was removed from the agenda oh thank you yeah yeah that's I'm thrilled with it too all right so um I for permission advertise a request for proposal for financial auditor Services appoint a board representative and auditor selection committee uh any cards on that we do we do that all on one motion right okay uh I'll make I'll make uh I'll make a motion for that and uh to point point um commissioner pritet I you're going to do that all right you okay with that commissioner pritchet yeah I did it all right that's great there's a motion on the floor by commissioner feltner is there a second second seconded by commissioner tobbi any discussion hearing no discussion all in favor signify by saying I I I'll oppose nay the motion carries uh request approval advertising a request for proposal for State lobbying Services um conversation but from the board in regards to this we got Sandra San that would like to speak about it Sandra did you say you're passing pass I'm I think I'm going to pass out yeah what you passed okay I could get used to that any other questions yes commissioner to sir thank you um thank thank you Mr chair uh since 2016 uh Ronald L book has served as Bard County I think he's done a very good job with this in fact since 2016 he hasn't uh received or requested a increase of his compensation uh controlled by either CPI or any other measure in other words he's at the same rate um I I think he's been a very effective uh lobbyist lobbying is a very very tricky job and I think uh Mr book does a very good job at that due to the compensation not by us but by the numerous clients both local government and private um he has uh quite a few connections with the governor's office um with uh leadership which by the way changes every two years uh so the incoming uh Senate President will be M uh Ben Al Brittain uh and um Danny Perez down down in Miami and he's fostered these relationships for uh quite some time so uh it's my opinion that uh Mr book uh has not only done a great job for us but he's uniquely positioned to keep on working um therefore I would suggest that uh we move forward with negotiating a contract uh with our current firm um and appoint uh chairman uh Jason steel to uh negotiate the terms of said contract clearly you have quite a bit of expert uh as a former member but someone that has uh numerous connections uh with uh the Mover shakers up there in in Tallahassee so uh the uh I moved to authorized staff to move forward with negotiation uh terms and professional service fees with the addition of chairman steel to the negotiating committee with the County's current lobbying fir uh Ronald L book and bringing back the contract to the board for consideration that would be the uh uh motion that I would have sir is there a second before we get did you hold on commissioner felner was next and then commissioner Goodson then commissioner BR just second okay thank you you were a second all right well I I think if we do this for one year continue with Ron book and then let the new board um select the next lobbyist that's what I'd be in favor uh of tonight is that a motion I think they already have a there's a motion on the floor it's been seconded by you commissioner Goodson not me hold on hold on slow down did you have any comments commissioner pres that we have a motion on the floor right but I think he was trying to make a friendly amendment I understand that so before the friendly Amendment comes up did you have any comments that you'd like to make no okay commissioner tobia are you acceptable to a friendly Amendment um I don't know how friendly it is I certainly would like to get uh commissioner Goodson's thoughts over there he will be his tenure will be certainly longer than mine I have uh I I looked up and and I'll pass this out I looked up some neighboring uh counties when I say neighboring I I'm sorry similar sized counties and and lobbying contracts and that would be Lee pulk Pasco and Valia that all are within 100,000 uh 100,000 residents of where we are uh we are current contract is by far the lowest per capita uh less than a quarter of of for instance what pul is paying um so I would say not only do we have a great lobbyist here we we've got uh great negotiating that has happened back in in uh 2016 um I but I would go with commissioner Goodson on this one as the tiebreaker as to whether or not that one year is uh friendly commissioner felner do you have a comment just clarify something uh I I think a lot of Ron book to and uh this is just simply uh the idea that we're going to have three new Commissioners here in Thanksgiving and so if the contract extends beyond that I think they ought to be able to vote on it that's okay there's a motion on the floor and commissioner toaya you will you're not willing to take a friendly amendment by commissioner felner if not then we're going to go ahead and have additional discussion no more additional discussion I had okay yes sir I'm sorry go ahead um tell me about Ron book's health tell me about that is this to me yes I'm sorry commissioner yes to you John I think it's public knowledge that that uh Mr book has uh um been through some health issues um but I think I hope I'm not a physician um that doesn't that hasn't stopped his work around Tallahassee that certainly hasn't stopped his contact here it's not just Ron book Ron book employs uh three other individuals uh as well but you're right you know we're you're paying for the Marquee in the top and that is uh uh Mr book and and and and I will divert to you on this one commissioner Goodson if you think if you'd rather do one year I will certainly uh uh change my change my um uh motion to one year as opposed to three I don't know I obviously I have no idea what negotiating position that puts us in a one-year contract versus a three but I'll go with your judgment on one um can I ask staff that if Mr chair yes sir go ahead Frank tell me about Mr book how how what are your feelings because you work with him more probably than we do yeah I mean he's done uh his yeah they've done a very good job for us on a a variety of issues they're always uh responsive and so you know we gave the board a variety of options um and so if this one would be to Extended it's just a a matter of the board's preference as the amount of time and we'll be happy to work with the chair if that's what the board uh decision is to bring back a agreement for that either one or three-year period we would staff would be uh happy with either one okay okay um I see some validity in commissioner feltner's comments about three new board members and they should be given the right could we John would you consider U asking the consultant Ron book his price on a one year giving the board the option next year to vote on him whether would you consider that you're Mr chair yes sir yeah I I have I would never enter into negotiations with Mr book uh dealing with that that is something with us in fact I asked commission I my motion foresees commissioner steel being part of that but if you're comfortable you're if you're comfortable with one year on this one if you'd rather go in that direction I am more than willing to amend amend that so I would rather do that okay uh so I will amend my um motion Mr chair yes sir uh I move to authorize staff to move forward with negotiation with nego negotiating the terms of the professional service contract and fees for a term of one year uh with the addition of chair steel uh to the negotiating committee with the County's current lobing firm Ronald L book and bring back the contract to the board for consideration um okay okay is is I I will break you'll second that okay there's a motion on floor that's been seconded uh any other discussion no in favor all in favor signify by saying I I all oppose nay the motion carries okay all right um this one should be good we have board reports no we're no sexual condentation oh boy yeah oh boy be a do legislative intent and permission to advertise an ordinance amending 74 AR article 6 section 74-10 forvard county code of ordinances pertaining to the sexual offenders and sexual predators act um who is uh who put this forward commissioner Taya get it you have the floor sir thank you Mr chair unfortunately this is not a solution looking for a problem there is evidence of sexual offenders having been at fairs and Bard as mentioned my board report on the 220 meeting Bard county code section 741 tb7 grants an exemption for sexual offenders and predators to enter into a thot radius of a park quote as a result of fulfilling legally allowable duties imposed by gainful employment uh there is no Prohibition in our code for these offenders or prohibitors whose victims were a minor uh to even work at a school daycare park or playground while organizations should be performing background checks on individuals we cannot mandate that uh what we can control is the language in our code code this item is requesting approval of legislative intent and permission advertise for an amendment of uh the section of code the amendment would add clarification that an offender Predator who has committed an offense where the victim is a minor cannot work in a school Child Care Facility park playground or other place where children regularly congregate uh the minor uh the this mirrors Florida uh section 77521 uh section 10B uh the motion is I've new to approve legislative intent and permission advertise an amendment to bravard county code of ordinances section 74102 B7 uh restricting the exemption so that an offender or Predator who has committed offense where the victim is a minor cannot work in a school Child Care Facility park playground or any other place where children regularly con uh congregate that is the uh the issue and the motion Mr chair is there a second to the I've got that card is there a second to it there's a second by commissioner it the motion was by commissioner TOA we'll have some discussion now before we do Robert Burns good evening Mr Burns good evening Commissioners thank you for taking this up in such a uh timely fashion um as commissioner toaya mention that this is actually happening this isn't this isn't a hypothetical situation this is something that's currently going going on in our County and when I found out about it um shocked isn't the right word I was angry about it because I just couldn't believe that it was true and if government's number one priority is to protect our citizens then the number zero priority should be to protect our children and the way that this ordinance is currently written not only does it not protect our children I I believe that it endangers our children because parents are navigating an invisible mindfield of trying to think that they're taking their children to a place that's supposed to be safe from individuals who've committed these crimes and been convicted of these convicted of these crimes um not knowing that not only are they with allowed to violate the thousand foot rule they can actually work in these facilities they can be strapping their children down into these safety rides they can be handing them snow cones and it's not hypothetical after we published our article some of the vendors that were working in this organization I'm not naming names but some of the individuals that were working in this organization next to it the individual that was the impetus of this was bringing free food to that vendor and they didn't know why and when they when he brought the food to that vendor he would play with their children unsuspecting no not knowing the history uh and the criminal history of this individual and they felt they kind of passed it off as just a strange character but after they found out who who he is and what he is they were extremely upset as I think any parent would be so this is something that is urgent I think it's Paramount that we protect our children I think it's an easy fix it's it's I understand the importance of trying to reintegrate and rehabilitate uh certain citizens and in our community but that should not and will not ever Trump the safety of our children and I think that we have to fix this and we have to fix it now thank you Mr Burns uh motion on the floor is there any discussion Motion in the second all in favor signify by saying I I all oppose nay the motion carries all right uh County Manager you have a report I do not have a report Mr County attorney do you have a report I have no report Mr chair commissioner Pritchett commissioner Goodson I have a report sir okay I would like I'm sure the board's aware of it but last week we lost a great great Bard County person Jerry Sanderson if you didn't know Jerry he was a lobbyist for the state he was definitely always at meetings around and uh a personal friend and let's all pray for Dixie now then I have another apology to offer uh last week last meeting I made a comment about term limits and undoubtly uh stepped on toes so let me apologize to Congressman posy and that Alman uh did not reply I meant it to imply their longevity I meant it just as an example of ter people wanting term limits and I'm sorry that being said that's it sir thank you very much commissioner felner I have no report commissioner steel I have no report commissioner toaya the light part of the menu is up I think thank you uh a couple things uh commissioner Goodson uh on behalf of the board we want to thank you for being out there on the camp in uh committee today we saw your smiling face there working hard for not only this board but the citizens of rard County thank you for taking up uh that responsibility um I too uh saw the news uh about Mr Sansom I uh known him for quite some time um I uh went forward drafted up a resolution sen it over to I know she's dealing with a lot of things but um you know whenever things calm down I I think uh that will be one of my TW if she's ad meable to it that will be one of my 12 resolutions so we can honor his uh Legacy not only to um you know the waterways of Florida but all he's uh contributed to to government bodies but thank you uh for pointing that out so on to the vice vice chair stuff today is National Bak scallop day uh there's the a uh useless Florida fact fora Southern College located in Lakeland has the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architect Ure in the world this Campus of FSC has 13 right design buildings including the Thad um bunker building Danforth chapel and Annie Fifer Chapel the construction of these buildings began in 1938 and was completed in 1950 this day in Florida history writer Carl hen was born in Plantation uh in 1953 is best known as a satirical col columnist for the Miami Herald as he continues to write for the paper in until 2021 uh he was hired by The Herald in 1976 one of heon's bestn Novel strip te's was turned into a major Motion Picture starring Demi Moore and directed by Andrew Bergman Apple TV is currently producing a series based on another heon book Bad Monkey which is uh set in the Florida Keys and Bahamas uh the show will star Vince vaugh uh County employees and today is a little bit uh different uh I have two uh number the first one is uh jezelle uh Newman she is associate uh Environmental Specialist with natural natural resources she has been here uh one year about Jazelle jezelle is a dedicated environmental permit reviewer and always had a smile and kind word for Citizens and co-workers the embodiment of generosity jaizelle was inspired in 2021 to anonymously donate a kidney after uh listening to a podcast she was found to be a viable donor in July 2023 and successfully donated her kidney nicknamed Sydney the kidney on January 30th 2024 her altruistic gift uh kicked off a chain donation that creates opportunities for Endless recipent donors uh pairings Jazelle invited anyone jelle invites anyone interested in donating to reach out to her as she loves to talk kidneys um when jaizelle isn't saving lives she's enjoys rock climbing crafting traveling and her two bearded dragons Nemo and Tad Cooper uh she uh will be marrying her fiance Alex in New Zealand uh at a destination wedding that sounds really exciting jezelle uh where are you the kidney one very very uh impressive and uh our second one is Karen Ki it's very important uh she's the assistant to the county manager in the county manager's office she has 30 years of service uh Karen Connie is an example of how Drive determination and excellent customer service SKS skills can lead to success Karen began her career with the perard county in 1994 the office uh assistant to in tourism development and she moved to staff assistant and then legal secretary in the county attorney's office and then administrative secretary the fire chief in fire rescue her work ethic in fire rescue led her to to be promoted to the executive secretary then Human Resources Director Frank Abate and then administrative assistant to the department director her positive attitude and excellent skills Set uh the lead to promotion as uh employment and compensation specialist personal manager and ultimately in March 2022 to the position of assistant to the county manager along the way Karen has received many accolades and awards including extra mile uh pulling together and was twice presented with a Bard's best award in addition she graduated the county management certification program known as the employee development program and Bard County Executive Leadership Institute she is uh uh participated and helped coordinate multiple lean Six Sigma initiatives and recently earned her Green Belt Karen is associate of science degree and legal assisting legal studies an associate of Arts degree a Bachelor of Arts degree and her master's degree in management and Human Resources during all 30-year career uh with Bard County she became a tremendous asset to The Bard uh to the county manager assisting County managers development directors and other County employees and the citizens of Bard County in total uh colleagues universally praise her for embodying customer service professionalism and genuine willing willingness to help others as a result uh of County success so here are some quotes quotes from Shannon Wilson County Attorney's Office Karen is a customer service professionalism and good mannered uh and and a good mannered professional uh as as they say when you look up any of these ter terms phrases in the dictionary uh there is Karen ki's picture I've worked with Karen a number of years and have never seen her turn away or decline to give her all in assisting a fellow fellow employee or citizen she does not hesitate to pitch in just for any project or assignment with uh when asked or needed as a friend I enjoy sharing updates on our daughters and sometimes commiserating sometimes laughing over our stories there are few people who there are few people who I enjoy working with more and respect uh quote from Tad ckins she's a fantastic resour resource for just about anything and she's always helpful with dealing with system application uh products uh quote from an McCormick Human Resources I consider Karen one of my best friends both in and out of work and her and having her to work with and lean on and laugh and sometimes cry with has made the employees uh workplace more fun and some days more manageable and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to share a friendship in this crazy life with her uh with uh Jim lefeld when it comes to hunting she's a better shot than her husband she also drives the highest Jeep in the employee parking lot uh quote from uh Mr denninghoff I'm going to have to bleep some things out here so sorry uh a a word that hasn't been used here is integrity uh she has Integrity uh that does not quit she's a pleasure to work with quote from uh County Manager Frank the key to uh any Leader's true success is having the right people around them Karen is a shining example uh that foundational principle and I'm confident every leader with our organization enthusiastically shares my thoughts about Karen Karen is a big fan of neow western series uh Yellowstone so you may want to pass uh if she offers uh you a ride to the train station but for any other need you might have there are few people in this organization more up to the task and eager to lend hand than Karen coni it sounds like uh Karen is everyone's best friend everyone considers her that way that is a special trait Karen I understand your tenure here is uh ending and the county will uh be worse off for wear uh so thank you so much uh um we appreciate all your hard [Applause] work thank you for the Indulgence Mr chair I'm done you very much nice um we have some public comments now and uh we have the mayor of Coco Beach here mayor Keith capes mayor sorry to make you wait this long but uh no big deal we welcome you sir thank you um so I figured I would just address you guys um I'm sure by now you've gotten no response to your request and I felt like I owe it to you personally to to let you guys hear it from me um I do respect all you guys as a commissioner myself I know it's not an easy job so uh I thank you we don't always agree but I do respect you guys for sure uh steel thank you very much for your um your accurate um portraying of how we do feel um toaya I'm not really can I don't really understand why our budget is any of your concern but I will address some of your concerns uh since you did decide to put a public request in for our $7,000 cartoons um that was something that was put in from the previous manager and it must have passed through without us even noticing it but current commission thinks it's a waste of money you're absolutely correct that is a stupid uh waste of money we are not going to spend that $7,000 on that so just so you know that's a that's a mute point the 2000 or 200,000 for the skat Park is a safety issue if you've been out to our skat Park uh there's holes in the coping there's cracks in the concrete it is absolutely a safety concern it's not just so we can just have toys it's it's actually something that if we don't take care of we're going to have to shut it down and that's an asset that we need to take care of um as we've stated uh well you also said that we decided to contribute nothing which is not true uh we actually we're going to send in and we voted to give you 89,000 for the lifeguards uh because you chose to take the stance and say that we uh are disingenuous and we we're going to give you nothing we'll we'll stick with that we'll give you nothing so uh you know you guys drive the tourist to us you guys advertise all the way from New York to Coco Beach come to Coco Beach Swim Coco Beach we have lifeguards and you you advertise Coco Beach because we are a name brand our name brand sells you know it if you could bring people in Coco Beach you bring in TDC money tax dollars so our taxes pay for our residents for our our residents beaches for the for the lifeguards on that and then the TDC should take care of their guests that's the way we believe it and I'm going to be talking with every single uh mayor in the county and we will stand United I'm sure of that so uh that's that's my my stance on it and I do thank you guys for for listening to me sir yes is it okay sir yeah go ahead we normally don't do this but go ahead commissioner pre right but we we can though um you you can you had I don't know what your response is did you guys say you weren't going to help pay for lifeguards on your beaches no your TDC uh money that you get will pay for it and we can't do that with the TDC fund you know that well hold on let me just finish this so um here's here's my concern we could quit advertising Cocoa Beach but that would be really hard on your community because there's a lot of tax you raise from having tourists come in because we're a big tourist area um so um I I do have concern I mean I I I'm in North forar we don't have beaches I don't have to utilize any of the County's general fund for this so you know when we do this with others I get it I don't want people to die that's a big concern of mine so right now with with this becoming so political like this I have a concern that you're not caring about that I'm just going to tell you my thoughts on it because you just you just said that um I don't understand why the city I really think that c the city's responsibility but if we do half I get it I don't understand the city's not understanding and helping with that I mean I it's up to you you can do your own budget of course you can figure out where do you want to spend the money or have money come in hold on mayor just for a second but you have a lot of money coming in because of the tourists that do go to Coco Beach I know you know that so um I I think it's just something to utilize and look at because I think we all want the same thing no one dying and I really I mean you'd have to tell me you guys don't want any more tourists in Coco Beach and maybe we need to look at that and work on how we're promoting Coco Beach but um again that was always for you guys cuz you know with me up in North Bard didn't really care if we promote a coco beach I'd rather have it go to North Bard but with you saying this it's it's really making me think differently um so I'm I'm listening to your words right now and it's going to really make a um might make a big change on how I am with how I promote tax dollars so okay that's fine so I'll address you as well um this okay yes sir go ahead yeah so uh to buyas sta we we get 7 $3.7 million in our parking Revenue as well that parking revenue does go towards our parking garage that we paid for it goes to taking care of our parking it goes to our our beach Rangers it goes to trash it goes to all the stuff that your tourists are are bringing to our city um the the revenue in my opinion uh for the lifeguards has been paid for for years and I think steel probably could attest to this there you guys have budget for lifeguards um so the reason why we feel like we're not responsible for it and the residents themselves they don't want more tourists there now we know that the the hotels and all that it's good for them and they want it and that's fine the residents themselves don't see a benefit other than uh more hotels which that's the way the residents feel they don't like that but I mean I heard you before you said you know well if they don't want to do that what else can we take away from them that's not what I said where else can we get the money to provide for that not try to take away from you but if if you lose those tourism dollars your your your um restaurants are going to go down you know all those income items are going to go down so if you're really thinking that I really want to know that because there might be better ways for us to do tourism dollars just just you know think through that and I get it you're allowed to govern your own area but those are some things we might need to make decisions on because the cost of Manning those right now and there it's the city's beaches so that's what we we got to figure out and commissioner toaya brought up early on this we paid a whole bunch of money up front because there was so many desks going on to the beaches and I agreed to it too with it to help people people from dying I mean it's I know that bothers you too so I I think you know just you think through that and figure it out because the goal is one for people not to die but if you guys don't want any more advertising there I mean there's melbour Beach and other beaches too I don't know but you're just throwing out a whole new thought to me that I haven't thought through before all right let's let's let the mayor make another comment my last to fin St please everybody just stop no sir I wanted to finish my statement Oh I thought you were finished with your statement No but that's that's why I was finishing up with that so oh I thought you're finished you're not okay you ready now okay I just wanted the mayor to have a comment okay and and then if somebody else on the board wants to comment this is a big issue so let's just move forward I apologize and I'm sorry as well um so 46% of all of our emergency calls are from non-residents that equates to uh $5.6 million in funding that we have to come up with as well and that's attributed to non-residents so we we are doing our part we are paying to take care of your tourists um we we like to see tourists we like to see growth it's nice but at the end of the day you're driving the people here you're advertising it so if you want to put that money towards advertising something else in Coco Beach is fine and you don't want to take care of lifeguards the thing about lifeguards we all want them we we know they're they're necessary they're absolutely safety is first and foremost our our discussion here is is who is responsible for it thank you sir Commissioners I'm going to think through bringing a proposal to us then to find other ways to use the tourism tax dollar um if that's um a a a situation Coco Beach would like have and that way would take a lot of that responsibility off them too with extra tourists there okay thank you very much commissioner pritchet thank you mayor we appreciate your comments uh Crystal Crystal oh there you are hi Crystal hello good evening chairman steel and distinguished Board of Commissioners thank you for hearing from your constituents we do depend on this board to govern wisely and appreciate the opportunity to bring grievances to you for resolution although although not generally a responsibility of this board I'd like to formally request that this board consider action regarding the Bard County Sheriff's Office handling of civil complaints is it directly impacts Public Safety when complaints are ignored the taxpayers of Bard County who file civil complaints of bcso employee misconduct deserve to receive investigation findings pursuant to state law commissioner felner I hereby implore you to compel the staff services and Internal Affairs of bcso to fully investigate these three civil complaints against Corporal Mike Williams SRO of Vie High School unfortunately two of these complaints dated 13124 have yet to be resolved and the misconduct has escalated I do have copies of these civil complaints for your reference thank you for your attention and your time thank you very much Rick come on back up R careful fer 2000 Juniper Drive District 1 uh I use this public comment as kind of just a review what happened in the meeting there seems to be a common Trend maybe Public Works doesn't answer questions how do we get questions out of Public Works the trees along the that they're going to cut down Public Works is doing Maps people thought that they had the tree situation solved now they're doing Maps we're still cutting trees we don't know where do we get information from our County I know you don't answer questions so but I'd like to know who does um interesting uh pedestrian safety came up a couple of times Mr chair point of order yes sir BCC 97 Section 3 G1 you stop my time please yes sir I think we should stop it all together uh the purpose of public comment is to allow individuals to comment on any topic relating to County Business which is not on the meeting agenda so my suggestion would be to follow uh board policy and provide Mr he finger with time uh discuss anything that has not already been discussed as uh BCC 97 Section 3 G1 States I'm summarizing the meeting can I not do that not according to section BCC uh section 973 G1 are you familiar with the term Shenanigans there was a bunch of people out front earlier can I talk about the people out front that's not really we're not going to get into an adversarial position tonight Rick I didn't start it okay well we're going to end it so just continue on with what you were saying and and try to stay on on what's happened tonight that didn't happen tonight on your public comments so if you would go forward if not I'll ask the the county attorney for a Robert's Rule of Order point of order okay um the the the topic did come up about pedestrian safety about some sidewalks that I didn't review that one that one's not my district I I'm concerned that when I finally get my public records request where was the public concern for the intersection of Friday Road and James I know we turned over James Road closed the permit where was the assessment for safety down there 438 some homes dumping onto one intersection did we do that I hope it's in my public records um this is doesn't have the term briefing was mentioned tonight do you guys get a briefing do you get a briefing from the county before the meeting I'm not answering that question I will answer that is that open to the public no no stop okay as the chairman of this County Commission I go before the whole count the whole agenda and we go over the agenda so that I have a complete understanding of what's going to be at the meeting that's all I'm going to tell you we do this is an interior thing for me as the chairman now you go ahead that it's open to the public though that is not open to the public what about sunshine rules has nothing do they not apply is it just for you don't don't stop don't start okay I'm not I'm just asking questions well you know better than to ask questions during public comment so let's stop this nonsense and move forward you can laugh all you want it's fine but we're not going to do this I'm going to sit you down okay go ahead with your comments please you got a minute and 3 seconds left I don't I I wonder a lot of people the commonality seems to be that a lot of people are have voiced their concerns and nobody's listening nobody's answering uh do we have do we have something in the in the policy about who the vice vice chair is that is official is that an official recognized position can I I can ask a question I know you won't answer how much staff time was spent to make that presentation some people seem to be very concerned about staff time and improper use don't we have the ability to recognize employees up at the beginning on the agenda why are we using I that's just an observation again I'm not asking any questions because I know what the policy is it just seems like that was a lot of time spent and we got people waiting to make public comment there's a lot of important things going on but we want to talk about you know all that other I suggest that you pull your papers and run for Cy commission and then you'll have every opportunity in the world to sit up here and i' rather try to hold five people accountable than be one vote well that's [Music] okay s Sullivan good evening Sandra Sullivan so a lot of what I do is a lot to do with accountability and transparency those have been key theme of me coming to these meetings for years and so I wasn't very happy last year when the budget Workshop under board reports a vote was taken to postpone it but really what you meant was cancel it so we have the meeting this year and lo and behold you know I did records requests last year to get it and information is missing from the presentations this year and we weren't allowed to speak under the agenda items and you guys took a vote under one of those um which there was an article recently that when you take a vote The public's allowed to weigh in well that kind of brings up the Merit Island Shenanigans right where vote was taken under public comment with no public have being able to weigh in and a vote taken on the feasibility study before the vote the people weighed in I'm very frustrated with the shenanigans that have been going on on so many it items with this particular board I've not seen anything like it in five years so let's talk about impact fees you're this this one is not updated 799 million $699 million deficit on Transportation you've added a lot of Transportation roads that are at capacity we don't have a new number in the budget that was presented we do know from last year these dark lines are what is funded and the rest is unfunded we don't have a source for that so Mr Berna spoke up and he said if we use all the funding sources we have available it's going to take us 20 to 25 years to catch up I was blown away and then we have two Commissioners who say well we don't want to make the decision while we're in office until we're at office let the next Commissioners Do It Let's Kick the Can down the road further when we're already in a fiscal crisis here so here are the the funding options that were in last last year's budget but not in this year's budget so what are those options one of them is an infrastructure s tax well I brought before you a attorney general's legal opinion you can't have two half cent sales taxes we have the Lagoon tax and the Schoolboard tax and they both sunset in 2026 and so you're talking about bringing the Lagoon tax forward well maybe we should be talking about having a 1-cent sales tax no increase get rid of the Schoolboard tax because that's not a critical need anymore we have a critical need for transportation and the other one was impact fees and from your budget Workshop a few years ago the transportation is 4353 and hasn't been updated since 2001 Wake Up Paving was up 27.7% just in the last year that's some fiscal accountability Katie bring your flag up go ahead always all [Music] right all right Katie Katie Delaney I am a candidate running for County Commission in district one and um I got to say I I'm frustrated um I'm frustrated especially after watching that budget Workshop when two of the Commissioners said that we're not going to touch these these fiscal issues this year and let's wait for the next commission these are two of the longest standing Commissioners on this board so what these fiscal problems just came up this year we we um it's a new problem I don't I don't think that's true some people were talking about Shenanigans tonight and it's what we see and there were people here tonight that were obviously passionate about their problem about the things that they care about in their Community the trees on rockage Drive the the people who live in West Melbourne they obviously cared about that and I will say as somebody sitting in the audience the lack of care that people felt out there was it your whole job and hopefully my job will be to serve the public and to make sure that the the people up here are working making sure the people over there and over there are not overstepping their bounds why are we still fighting about the trees on River Road I want to move on to the fire negotiations I was lucky enough to be at the negotiations uh last week or two weeks ago um for some reason I was told that usually the county uh county has somebody doing the negotiations thew the lawyer is it true that um we're we're Outsourcing that this time and paying them over $400 an hour uh that's that's a little confusing they're not able to talk about wages the whole the whole reason why they're there is to talk about wages and um there's a few things that that other fire departments across the state do and across the country do one of them is Kelly days making sure that these firefighters have a day off and not just firefighters EMTs paramedics anyone who works for them um have these days off on a regular basis so they could go and you know doctor's appointments whatever whatever they have to do we're done with the shenanigans we really really really need you guys to bring some professionalism back to this thank you Kristen lordy [Music] good evening Commissioners Kristen lorte Koko resident moderator of The Bard carees citizens Coalition on Facebook and a supporter of the stopless nanigans rally that occurred just before the meeting today our very first rally and people have some things on their mind and I many things have been covered already tonight but there's a few that I would personally like to cover I have gotten myself more organized I've been following your eyes off and on for a couple years I have my new binder stop the shenanigans binder um so I'm keeping good track good records as best I can to stay organized and what I'd like to do is put on record the on the workshop the 229 Workshop where I was denied the opportunity to comment before commissioner tobias's motion went through and I felt that was an excellent example of the subverting public input number one bullet point here thank you for a helper on my uh items here I won't be able to go cover all of them but um subverting public input and voting on non-agenda items actions against the public input interest you did covered all three and you know what you end up with a mess now we have the mayor from Coco Beach and if you want to hear more just start at minute 56 of the Coco Beach last meeting to hear more about what Coco Beach thought about the shenanigans that occurred at that meeting but I find it deeply troubling I think this is this is solvable stuff if you just have the right people in the room at the right time and before you make the vote so I brought I've got my three denied speaker cards first one is around on the uh lifeguards two other agenda items that your agenda said that I'd be able to speak to that is subverting the public process so um and I have decided that we have arrived at the Fashion Show stage remember the Florida Today comment we're we're here now we're here now we got a binder we got a fashion show we got whiteboard which I bought after the 26 meeting so we're getting all prepared here on the citizen side uh so I want to make sure that I say that at the meeting about the agenda item that I object to having being taken the vote being taken I object to my car being denied I did correspond uh with the attorney and email and you've all been copied on that back and forth correspondence because I spent Saturday writing back on that and objecting to uh his opinion on Florida statute 2860 0114 uh two sub two sub point2 because the end of the day he says I can come back in September when we do the public hearings in order for my points to be taken so I object to that and then I just have a few moments left but I would like to make a mention of the public records pun of the um oh barriers to public records so I've currently at about email 12 of attempting toar binder toita binder the speak up of our citizens binder and I'm going to have to pay $34.85 an hour to be Babys shot by the county attorney's office and they've sent me the policy WE 12 emails in I object I object access to public records thank you thank you for your comments Kristen Sarah hjj like or Ty um I'm Sarah Hodge and live at 390 Sanders Lane Meritt Island um I'm here about uh the cost of public records if you remember some of you might that uh many years ago the Florida today wanted records from the school board they um School Board told them it would be $30,000 well they paid it so they could get those records and then they turned around and sued the school School Board School Board lost big time and they had to pay the fees to for the Florida today plus the citizens had to pay for the Schoolboard fees for our County taxes um the the fees are getting out of hand from cities and County the the records need to be put on the internet just like the clerk's office did the public records and I think that's something you really need to do and that way there won't be a babysitter for three $35 an hour you don't have to worry about anything and it's costing you to to do that you know the records the way they are now so um I'm here to ask you to please put them on the Internet and thank you and I you know uh this delay on getting records that's ridiculous they know where they are they can get them immediately and they don't do it that's not right and this is the first amendment right that we have you know we have access to our public records and you can't deny it and if you keep doing it you're going to have a lot of opposition and it's not going to help and there's a a lot of people that are very upset because they can't afford the records so they can't prove their cases and you need to acknowledge that people are losing their houses because they can't afford the new taxes and their new insurance fees so you need to look at your the this is a public thing that you have to do you have to be able to get records at a reasonable cost or put them on the Internet and people aren't going to keep putting up with it I guarantee it you'll see it thank [Applause] you Hector what is your last name sir F Fung yeah oh okay you're up [Music] Sir hello um yeah I'm here to talk about the Hoover Middle School lights project um lived in indianic for over 30 years and um my parents uh also still live there um Mr steel you're very aware of the concerns in the comments I think about this right about this project okay guess not um but uh yeah we've contacted you before and uh you said that they were adequately addressed by the uh the county the comments and the concerns but I'm here today because they were not um there is light pollution uh that was created uh from this even though the engineering studies uh said that there would be zero Lumin light spillage um as you know Mr steal I'm a licensed uh professional engineer for the State of Florida that I I tried to communicate that to you as well with all of these concerns I invited you to come out to see the issues in person for these large structures placed behind our homes who would like uh super large 90 foot light pools installed right behind your homes that could fall that are large enough that they could actually fall under an extreme storm event none of you all of our neighbors at River Oaks and Franklin feel the same everyone I've talked to some of the issues you said that were addressed were simply uh just dismissed like the fall radius analysis on the home they're placed the the poles are placed so close that they could fall that's number one inspection and maintenance of the light fixtures themselves that can become flying projectiles Pro property value studies that were sent to the county uh based on cell phone towers that are placed behind uh homes that decrease the value of the property values of uh of homes and that's what's happening in this case uh uh the the other comment that was not addressed was public notice and the avoidance of the issue altogether population growth and the demand of Indi atantic there is none not very big demand all the lights uh were on just as we expected there's nobody using the fields at night pictures and video to show that the light pollution as well and what I ask is a response and a resolution to this uh We've simply been ignored thank you sir Steven Snooks good day my name is Steph SS I was the uh 2022 candidate mayor for Cape canaro Florida I only got 20 votes so didn't win but still trying to do my duty to keep the community safe um it's come to my knowledge that you haven't started the time for one but two um jokes um it's come to my knowledge that the Parks and Recreation have uh a slight issue that I'm trying to contend with um I've called Parks and Recreation spoke with the supervisor they've stated that there are 20 parks in Bard County that kind of wrap up this same argument um I was on my way from Cape marville to uh mered Island area stopping along Kelly Park on 528 um went to charge my cell phone uh went through every Outlet in the park wasn't one single outlet that worked I thought it was a maintenance issue so I called Parks and Recreation directed towards maintenance said hey you got some Outlets that need to be looked at they told me that it was not an outlet issue it was a power during um a Time issue um um so I went into more in depth about what this time was um they said that the time would be shut off after park hours and I said well that's interesting because I was there during park hours which is how I got access to the park um we're all taxpayers here we pay property tax sales tax uh income tax all that funds Bard County's Parks and Recreations um so to get access I was told to any electricity at any point in time of day I have to reserve a pavilion for x amount of dollars to guarantee that allotment of energy and time during any point in day um that's if you're on the fly if you're just on the go there's no time to schedule anything like that um so it seems to me there is a an oversight and overreach in policy within the council to uh mandate people have a pavilion registered to them for any point in time for electricity um and this overreaches into to Public Safety I feel that extremely um valuable Parks uh right on the water um people might be out Recreation motor boating um jet skiing uh the cell phones are having difficulty connecting to their cell phones it's taxing their battery it's uh really trying to find a signal um so their battery is going to run down quickly when they get back in the port they might not have any energy left by the end of the time that they get back um this be um a problem if there was uh an issue out there at C somebody needed to emergency if they didn't have a radio for whatever reason phone was their only thing their phone was uh not being able to charge of course you go to the port you pull in you turn your phone uh if it's off you plug it in and you turn it on at 1% try to make an emergency call um that is not something that is currently possible and I believe that is a public safety across alard County 30 parks that do not have access to electricity during the normal hours of operation thank you very much could I say something on that yes Mr chair if you absolutely you don't mind um sir your Point's well taken um I I would tell you that in the future actually today it is very easy to charge a cell phone with a with a solar panel um and everybody knows that I have given many of those away for Christmas and birthdays and that kind of thing just to prove the point uh um I Envision a time in the future where maybe just a panel is in a park and uh it's as simple as it has a few USB um ports I mean you can't walk up and you know put your tongue on it and get uh electrocuted or anything it doesn't make enough to do that but it would make enough to charge your cell phone Chief uh back there smiling at me he knows I went out to uh look at the new lifeguard towers and uh the new ones are pretty neat and that they're easily moved anyways talked to a young Lieutenant out there and I and they don't have power and I said uh I'm going have to get you a solar panel so you can at least uh charge your phone so anyways um I'm mindful of those things your points well taken uh thank you for your comment all commissioner P thank you sir uh quick um uh just a quick comment the items that we voted on even in the um Workshop which it was a workshop County attorney they're still going to come between two more public hearings to final those items we talked about correct sir we still have two more opportunities for public comment in reality more than that uh commissioner in fact the specific item that was addressed at the workshop the board had taken consistent action in agendized items by vote not once but twice into 2023 where there was opportunity for public comment on the specific item at the workshop there was direction to staff and preparing the budget as you pointed out the budget will come back a minimum of two times for public hearings uh in August and September pursuant to statutory requirements other items that were discussed relating to things like Grant uh things like that that will all come back to the board for official action and that's when comment will be required on those items okay good I just thought that would be a good clarification there's still two opportunities for at least for public comment on those items before they're finalized in the budget um another thing just I know we've done this for years um Commissioners are able to bring items that aren't on the agenda to the commission I mean it's what we do you have to have discussion and so um County attorney that is correct we're allowed to do that and make votes I mean it's not illegal for us to do that it's not you can bring items that generally in board reports it's of a ministerial nature um it's only if you take an official action that then some public comment is required on that action advertised well you can raise issues at a meeting that might require comment at that meeting depending on the nature of the issue and whether it's an official action or not okay so if if you um I think we discussed this before um we a couple things we've stopped we decided we need it more time and we wanted more time before we took vote so it's not something I think that typically is um we practice but it could be an opportunity it could happen sometimes and it's not necessarily inappropriate but again that item we did vote on in the budget meeting um still has to go through a few more um clarifications before it gets there as being part of the budget so there still is opportunity for public comment and um just wanted to clarify that thank you sir anything else motion to adjourn the motion on the floor by commissioner felner to adjourn seconded by commissioner Goodson all in favor signify by saying I I thank you very much the opinions expressed by any member of the public during any period of public comment do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the board of County commissioners of Bard County Florida Space Coast government television or the program sponsor and are solely those of the presenter the board of County commissioners of bravard County Florida Space Coast government television and the program sponsor hereby expressly disclaim any and all responsibility or liability for any defamatory or slanderous statements expressed by any member of the public during any such period [Music] [Music] [Music]