##VIDEO ID:YXFeF2GGZmU## okay good evening uh we are um we're going to start public work uh Public Works committee meeting um at today octo October 29 at 8:25 p.m. uh we're going to foro the silence and meditation and place of religion um do I get a motion to approve the agenda Madame cleric please may I have a roll call roll call chair Pella here Vice chair Nickerson here member Martin present also present for the record Janice Jobe Village clerk Chris ALU Village manager and um attorney G's Place uh attorney elberg you have a quorum thank you Madame clerk um may I have an approval of the agenda I move to approve the agenda Mr chair thank you can I have may I have second second okay um second by um cancel woman uh U Martin uh all in favor all in favor say I I I any names okay hearing n none uh let's start with uh section g which is G1 General review um we already had some uh conversation about the Public Works through uh about the um uh Road um maintenance and the CIT money um yeah Mr let's just um I'll open it to the council anybody has any questions no Mr chair but um I can say a couple things for you if you want me to go ahead uh mayor nerson yeah Mr chair thank you very much um yeah so we already discussed CIT and how that's going um just understand we do understand about the roads understand a lot of times also certain things are potholes and certain things are Road repair um potholes is a much easier fix than Road repair when the road looks like it's you know has little holes in it or has little indent in it it might not be deep enough to be considered a pothole that' be Road repair um which is much more costly also just want to say uh that there's a lot of uh you know projects that we have going on um Mr chair yes um you know we're all working on the phase two of the storm drain we did phase one already um hardini area um individuals are loving that and we have phase two coming up um we also have the money out there if you guys saw the uh District 3 uh commissioner hardman's um magazine that he put out um you saw in there that se the SE is still something that um we we we tend we working on very very hard um a couple of other things uh in 2025 Mr chair um make sure that the the mothers know in eleral that we're going to be looking to revamp our Tot Lot and Mr chair um you know you and I and the manager working on that and I know that you and the manager are also working on um the the nature trail Mr chair and uh you know that for a meeting and uh I know you're heading that up um when it comes to the nature the nature trail and we're going to be putting uh the equipment there the nature trail Mr chair and uh you know we all came to a wonderful uh understanding where how it's going to look and we appreciate you for that Mr chair but you know great information and great news and wonderful things for um those who have uh children or those who are kids at heart um with the new Tot Lot that's going to be coming there that uh been working diligently on and it's been a lot of hours so thank you Mr chair thank you thank you uhor Nikon yeah it's been a a long project uh the Park renovation me and manager Alou uh had had countless uh meetings with vendors and day County and uh and everybody so we finally getting um uh some uh you know answer the question you know um answers from uh our the vendors to do at least the top lot it's going to look pretty it's going to look beautiful um yes the second phase for the storm drainage is is is on the way so that's great we finally got that Eastman uh that we needed desperately to actually finish that uh project on um El hardine um that's great um and uh well I guess uh we did everything that had to do with the hor and preparedness we did the triming tree triming and the cleaning of the of the storm drainage right which is a schedule once a year um through um shanoa and the tree treatment is done by our um um landscaper right um uh other than that and uh on anything else in uh on Public Works um does anybody in the audience has a has any questions please come up and say your name and just for the record okay see Mrs uh Brooks Marlin Brooks 400 Northeast 90th Street I got a lot of the information that I came here to discuss when I first came in however this that has has to do with the renovations and potholes and what have you it's been over 25 years that I have been coming to this meeting complaining about the drainage system on 90th Street unfortunately that's where I live it's between 4th and 5ifth I can't believe that you all have not passed on that street when it's raining I do and I have and it's not potholes it's a river and the the the cars that comes through there they don't care I have taken pictures and now I took pictures to the senator so that he could see because nobody seems to Care Plus in front of where my property is the water accumulates there when it doesn't go down the street fills up when it rains eventually the water go down maybe after two or 3 days but in front of 400 Northeast it doesn't to the point that I've had to been calling 311 to come and spray because of the mosquitoes it it it pulls the mosquitoes and before I know it the mosquitoes are in my garage when it gets into the garage it's in my kitchen it's in my house I don't know when you all intend to fix this well I was told by the office I went to this week that you all supposed to take care of the drain each system not once but two to three times and because that's not being done then the water accumulates I would like for you all to get some of this money that's been held back from 2021 and please fix the street now I know that we're supposed to be also going from septic to something else that's not being done either so it's like everything on hold on that block I'm not the only person that lives on that block but it doesn't seem like the other people either know or care I have drawn come to the conclusion that because they're new and they uh they pay their their property through the bank that finan it they they don't care or they don't know that they could come to these meetings and complain about this I should not be the only person but because I'm the oldest liver there and I know I have been coming here for years I don't come to the meetings now because I'm older and I'm afraid to go out at night my husband is deceased so I don't come but it doesn't mean that I don't care because I still live there and I pay taxes I went downtown few weeks ago and find out that the taxes has increased so when are we going to either fix the street fix the drain or do what we have to do I am tired of it um thank you uh Mrs Brooks um yeah I understand the issue that many of those streets uh have and um looking at n like that though and looking at your street if you look almost every house has their easen paved and that's one of the biggest issues we have in the village that since Court enforcement wasn't actually active in in sighting these properties everybody felt like they they had the right to PVE their easts so and that's one of the biggest issues we have throughout the village it's not going to be nice people not going to like it but those will have to come down because it's the only way that we can actually mitigate some of the flooding and some of the road corrosions that we have a lot of people complain about but they don't complain that they have all their easements are all paved and they're complaining when they law is applied or the court enforcement is applied because they extended their easement or their approach or their sidewalk or their side um or their um driveway um and when they go and appli for a pool and they get a permit for a pool they they and then they go and um which is the case on your house next to you which they also have a artificial turf that is compressed soil or or sand or rocks so the the water it will run um away from the property and when you look at all these properties being sold now for a million. five and $6 million they all have the same a pull the extension to the max of the of the property um which is allowed plus illegally they do all the decking of the pool what are we doing about that what are we doing about it unfortunately we cannot go back to their backyard and see whether they uh but in the front we I guess that's that's a CT Enforcement issue that we'll um address later on but um it's one of the things will be actually having everybody to comply with their swes being common you know comeon LA or not paved to wherever is necessary we understand the issues before anybody from Sherwood for Forest come and complain about it we know there are certain areas that grass won't grow because they over um you know the canopy it's it's you know and and all of that stuff uh but most of the Village um is due to many of the streets including yours is one of the most effective one yes affected affected one and it's just because of that if you look around probably two houses um are the only ones without you know paved um easements so that's a big issue unfortunately um so um I don't see how we can address um you know um storm water drainage other than probably creating um you know storm uh French trenes which are super expensive so part of what you know uh for what I understand and I do have here what uh the pre um resident before was talking about I it's funny because I do have the tracking report here that used to do like that the previous Council used to like have almost every month just to go over certain things and most of the stuff here we have already done it without even having meetings every month you know so it's um just going and doing uh like and and having meetings every month just to like mayor Nikon said just for the to have fun I I don't think it's a productive way to do business anyway so um when it comes to uh the seped toour and uh that was a project that was you know that started a few years ago um and it stopped because of funding it's still it's still ongoing it's still ongoing but the first phase it's on the most affected area on the West Side Lower to the to the canal and like mayor Nikon mentioned uh thanks to um uh commissioner um K mayor leine Cava yeah and and mayor leine cava um they took on that project they're spending all they they they they allocating like $6 million just to do that uh but as for the rest of the Village um it will take a little longer um so that's why kind of like the conversation about the streets not being um you know um fixed because we were doing the seed to sewer and they were going to be ripped off anyway um that's kind of like um still in the meantime in the meantime what do I do I'm planning on fixing my driveway but I'm not going to take I'm not going to take that on because that's not my job okay in the meantime it is affecting me yeah and it has been and it it's just getting bigger and bigger it never used to be like it is now so it's getting worse in the meantime I don't hear what's going on I don't know if the manager have any anything to say about I would like to add something thank you um chair person Pell um I can tell you this Miss Brooks that um we are aware of this we have a storm water master plan we're doing it in phases you have to understand we don't have funds to rip up roads put in French drains or storm drains especially in your area I write through your um Street almost every day because it's on my way to the office so I'm aware have you passed through there when it's raining absolutely and I know how it is I have to go very slowly because it's pretty deep in a certain spot you go slowly but the other people don't well they should because we've lowered the speed limit but I understand we also have other areas in the village with tremendous flooding on the canal so we're in Phase we're only in phase two of the storm water master plan and I've been here six years almost seven years and we're only in phase two and it's not completely funded yet we have haven't even started on it so we're it's a process because we just don't have the funding to take up the roads and then put in the drains what we are able to do what we were this Council actually um um requested from our um urban planners for Serbia was the conceptual streets master plan which is a resiliency if we're going to build it needs to be in a resilient way so what they're doing now is looking at the code revisions um that's going to be a community meeting where uh they will be asking people to come and weigh in on how uh they foresee what swell material will be as um chairperson Pella said paved swells is a big problem on your street and I know you know this because you have a paved swell just like the neighbors and what have you so that water has nowhere to go it's going to flood but the the um only way we can fix it is to have it drain as quickly as possible and we can't do that when everything's paved so in time we have to build it the right way and that's where the conceptual Street master plan has been um adopted by the council and as we build and as we seek funding but until we get the funding we aren't able to build until those phases until we reach to 90th Street and we're still on 86th Street so in the meantime that's it so what do I do when the water remains there and doesn't go down and the mosquitoes tend to storm the area and affect me does anyone care we all care ma'am we you know we call 311 just like you and they don't come now either I sadly they they're you know you ask him you ask them that he ring the bell when they come they don't come another time he comes and he parks in the same place he need to spray the soil you know and I'm like does he know where is a swell you know it's it's it's a lot to do and like I says I'm not that able as I once was I I understand and I sympathize believe me I do I understand I have that in front of my home as well not in elel but at this point it just is a time um game you have to wait till it recedes and then you you know I I called the company and asked them if they would like do like everybody else Park some and plant some s or do some asphalt or something and that's like three or $4,000 the tax is going up and nothing is being done I do pay taxes like everybody else and now I noce potholes in the street as well you coming up there there are potholes things is getting worse what are we doing you know you you go and you find out they're holding the money because of comp and not being comp not complying comply so that we could get the money to do what we need to do because those holes not getting better they're getting bigger because people driving in them what's going on in Al Pell I don't know you know I've been here long enough to see that things is getting worse it's not getting better and it should be getting better thank you Mrs Brooks anybody else for comments for po works okay yes go ahead Mr pul Thomas pulum 205 Northeast 86 Street um regarding uh like water puddling flooding that type of stuff I don't know if this would be an option at all but I mean I know we again we have one of the highest millit rates right is there any kind of local Village Law we could pass or anything that you know if you do infrastructure improvements in this whale if you get a French drain if you pay if you get a vertical drain uh whatever qualifications like at a municipality level could we encourage something for people to invest in that similar to at the state level they had the my say Florida uh home grant for home hardening up to $10,000 well we actually doing that with no construction right if now if they're they're they're elevating their because now they're allowed to elevate their their their their um the the the swell right the the the the property the yeah um with uh you know put like all to three four um 3 ft of uh of of s or whatever they're they're supposed to actually do a what where we are they are doing the they have to mitigate the water the the the the stone drainage um within their property right and there are being a few properties that that to the bigger scale that they have been um uh asked to do the the the drainage uh uh um yes under Florida building code new codes with the um um the flood um manager I know um our Public Works director is our flood plane manager and so there are requirements under Florida building code but uh in terms of an incentive what you're speaking of I'm I'm interested I I I'll do a little research and if you wouldn't mind um yeah and that was something that actually a neighbor of mine just told me the other day he was like well why don't you us as a as a as a municip IP ality than you know for the people that's actually doing you know like building a new house or whatever to do the the in you know the the Improvement on on the on the on the roads or or on the in front of the road of their house or the the sidewalk yes that should be something to look that be great I also know because I've done a little research on vertical drains you can do it your is it can be as easy as a do-it-yourself project $10 with like a plastic crate and a PVC pipe so there's a lot of super economical you know ways that individuals can um even without any kind of incentive program you know do vertical drains um I know in in my Swale uh the The Village has has a drain and it's just a vertical drain it doesn't go anywhere it just fills up I know it's it's impressive and I was talking to that uh you know like the the LA the the last meeting we had with uh the people from from the launch the new um uh project over here um they were telling us about the storm drainage a lot of people were concerned about the you know the the runoff to the river and all of that uh because now the land is going to be developed to the full capacity you know whatever the max it is for uh loot coverage and uh he was actually explaining to uh me about you know the vertical uh drainage they go actually 75 ft deep and they have to concave the whole area area so there's no runoff water to the river to the canal everything stays within the property and goes straight down they do like three or four of them within the property is it's yeah it's a it's a great solution you mean like 5 to S feet uh no 75 ft down so but would the ground like through the groundw the water would come up no that's no cuz I know they have that problem in Miami Shores by the bay it FL you know just the groundwater comes up through the drains right um uh besides the flooding uh different topic the um District proposed uh Light Rail train there was a stop you know 79th Street called el elportal stop that has disappeared from the map you know months and months ago I did ask about that at just a regular town hall meeting I don't know about six months ago I was told at that time that there was really no like public hearings about that there was nowhere to like have our have our voices be heard what's any update on on that any advocacy around elportal getting a stop sure we have covered that because it's been a question uh and manager Alo if you can um shim on but I it's a it was a lack of uh lack of density um so 79th Street I actually I don't understand why well I do know they the where they wanted to put it um or was it was proposed to be um placed I think that um property did not work for um the project so that it was determined to put at the Magic City I think that's 64th Street or you know in that area uh and not in on 79th or elper toown elport we lobbied and lobbied to get um the trailer park to be considered I mean that would be a perfect location but that's when we were told oh you don't have the density so if we built if we built it up and the people were there then they may have considered it but this was so many years ago and the former um commissioner who represented this District before um the present one um pushed so hard to get it in El pel that uh she did not include it on the 79th Street um opportunity so we missed that chance or that window and we haven't been given an audience to pursue it it would be a great location especially concerning the congestion of 79th Street but you know I'm not a sadly I'm not the county planner so with that um that that's where we are we're not on in consideration for this phase of what's going to happen with that light rail or that rail station were were they aware of like the cista and then the plan for the landing and and other development yeah yeah we've told them do you know what CH like it was on the map originally so I'm assuming they already did all their density calculations before did they change the density calculations we we were not made aware we were just told we were dropped from it and they cited density okay that seems mysterious because like the density didn't change from when it was first right especially now that U FYI the the Little River little farm um is been on uh on auction and somebody offered $35 million for that piece of land and they're they're advertising it as uh 23,000 uh 23,000 new residents can go in there uh so with density is going to change but unfortunately the the we missed the opportunity with the train station now that's also a private right the the the train itself is a private uh County project when it comes to writers ship and whatever but I think the company itself the what's it called the fast lane whatever you call it the bright line is a private uh but they're working with the county to get although all these sta stations and so yeah it was moved from from 82nd to then 79 now they're saying the plans is to actually do it on 54th by where the Magic City is going to happen Little Haiti right yes but okay so but who's in like who's in control of that though is the county county like a trans Transportation Secretary of the county or yes okay okay okay thanks for the update thank you Mr pring any more comments okay here see n uh back to the Clos it to um floor comments uh back to the uh commission uh does anybody has any questions any no okay here is in on um let's move on to adjournment of the Publican Public Works committee uh may have a motion to approve so move Mr chair can I have a second second okay Madame clerk do I need to do a roll call not roll call okay yes name all in favor all in favor I I name okay hearing on WE adjourn the Public Works committee meeting at 8:53 p.m. --------- ##VIDEO ID:bDUZwljlUiE## the public affairs committee meeting for Tuesday October 29th 2024 will begin at 8:00 pm uh tonight so we've already had our silent meditation and pledge so we'll skip that and move on to the roll call Madam clerk may I please have a roll call roll call chair will not be in tonight um life foood Ward Martin Vice chair present member bbom present also present for the record janoi Village clerk ISU Village manager and in for Joseph Geller attorney Elbert thank you madam Clark we'll move on to subsection e good and Welfare does anyone in the audience have a comment now would be the time to step up to the podium you can state your name and address for the record all right seeing none I will move did I skip approval of the agenda yes can I have a motion to approve the agenda so moved a second oh okay I I second I guess all the favor say I any you po say nay okay hearing none we moved on to good and Welfare we didn't have anyone who wanted to step up to the podium we'll move on to the subsection F which is agenda item and we have just a general review so as you can tell I am not your usual chair um but I will say that public affairs is all about engaging our stakeholders and as far as as from my office uh we have made some strides to enhance that one of the things that we've recently done is created a public affairs committee and that public affairs committee will be meeting soon and be talking about all sorts of wonderful ways that we can partner with nonprofits and the Greater Community to bring great programming to the Village of el portel one such programing programming item was our Santa gift delivery which last year was um a tremendous hit um and we are thinking of ways to scale that up uh this year uh in addition to that we're talking about some really great um initiatives that might impact our business community and just keep us more connected the idea is to connect us all to each other and to this Great Village that we live in because we are all neighbors uh and I'm sure that we can benefit tremendously from being um more connected to each other so those are tidbits of things to look out for if anyone wants to participate in that Arts committee or the commission on the Arts and hasn't had an opportunity to you can always send me an email to be included uh and if you have any questions or thoughts on ways that we can uh really engage our residents that would be awesome send them my way uh so that is the entirety of my comments does anyone on the council have uh comment I don't tonight awesome thank you anyone from this is our second good and Welfare we'll move on to subsection G does anyone from the audience have additional comment question concern desire to say anything all right Mr pum please state your name and address for the record yes Thomas pum 205 Northeast 86 Street um the cat overpopulation here what um if anything can we do as a government unit or public affairs to kind of deal and and mitigate that issue um for myself who've lived here just under 3 years um there's been four five six cats who always come by I ended up adopting all of them because I do love them it's a huge expense to spay a neuter if you're going to a private vet I have seen um there are some organizations you know that that will go around do Catch and Release has Village of El Portal ever had a catch and release program has anyone ever looked into that can public affair um possibly take that on so I will admit I I don't know that much about cats but I do think that the clerk has some maybe historic knowledge on us we had a resident who actually was um she's very much FR Francis seagull she she actually did that for a while um I'm not sure if the mayor remembers that but she did take it upon herself to actually start like a mini program due to that Madam chair if I may please yeah yeah she doesn't do that anymore um she doesn't do do it anymore um yeah it's it's it's really difficult because the county used to provide that um but they no longer do they stopped I know it's not just a elportal issue it's not it's big issue big issue they just don't they they don't any anymore um it's difficult because the only way now that other municipalities do it is that they just have it in their budget to where they hire private a private company to come in and um and catch them um that's that's just expensive and I I just we just don't it's not budgeted we just don't currently have it budgeted uh for that but that's the way that other municipalities do it they just have a a private the same way we have a company that come out and cuts our trees or we have a company that you know they just have a private company that just they just do that so that's the way other people do it but we can stay engaged and we can look out and see whether or not these companies can provide us with a quote so we know what the number is right and if it's if it is indeed cost prohibitive for us but in addition to that since this is something that you care about and are knowledgeable of uh maybe you could send an email with some resources I'll look on my end and see if there are resources that I'm able to Pro to seek out as to whether or not someone does provide the service and would be willing to at low or no cost and then we can kind of uh engage in a conversation back and forth and if there's some sort of informational sheet that needs to be put out um to alert everybody on best practices as it relates to these cats um that's definitely something for for us to do so how about this you look on your end I'll look on my end I will also try to get a quote uh and then we can kind of uh put that as something to follow up on on the next public affairs committee meeting yeah I love that 100% I'm uh open to to doing that and perhaps maybe that could even be part of what you were mentioning earlier um you know getting involved with with philanthropies or you know yeah for sure a lot of these programs that they are nonprofits you know for sure and there are a lot of nonprofits that want to engage with the municipality or provide and a lot of the residents in elportal are already very active with nonprofits or have passions and I would love to connect uh those residents so that we can see what beautiful things can create can become from those synergies so uh since cats are something thing that you are passionate about I would love to hear your thoughts and maybe you know some other residents that are not exactly but they're all over the place so yes it's a it's an issue for me and I know a lot of residents and my neighbors so sometimes your passion finds you so this might be this might be the case but uh if you know some other people that are also worried about something uh this would be a great opportunity for you guys to come together brainstorm some things uh approach us with those possibilities and we can see how we can formalize them or incorpor orate them into something that the city is the village is already doing okay and and what is the budget the approved budget um upcoming or I guess currently for public affairs right nothing zero so okay close I don't know yeah for public affairs um we have it it overlaps so it's not really for public affairs but currently it shows um 20,000 okay but that 20,000 is is there because it's related to um the state of the Village address and Arbor Day which state of the Village address we have to have per Charter Arbor Day we have to have um to remain a tree City USA it's difficult to explain but yeah it's it's there but it's it's it's kind of allocated for accounted for yeah way and the desire was also with the villagers in mind I remember that meeting where we kind of slashed that budget because we said hey we don't necessarily want to be in the business of event planning or execution management there are some cities out here that spend tremendous amounts of money on uh events and activities that either their residents cannot afford to attend their residents are not attending but these are more vanity projects uh what we have done is said hey if we are going to bring quality programming to the Village what we're going to do is tax ourselves to create meaningful Partnerships and see how we can execute these events or Partnerships at low or no cost to the villagers so um I commend this on what we have been able to do with no budget I do think the opportunity for Partnerships are really strong and out there and a lot of our villagers are already very engaged with organizations and at least on that Arts Council have brought forth the possibilities of some really cool Partnerships for us so look out for what we're able to do and I really think that we are putting in the extra effort so that we can create that sense of place and uniqueness of elportal without using um our tax dollars I don't know what that means because we've allocated 20,000 of our tax dollars for it that's for two specific events right Arbor Day and oh outside of that outside of that I I do not plan Arbor Day but I do think that that's something that we have to do um I'm talking about the Santa gift delivery that we did uh last year I'm talking about some of the other things that we are going to do surrounding arts and public spaces and places with some huge organizations that have very big names and influence in our community and I think it's something for us to be proud of and the effort that we all individually put in here I do want to say this this is not a this is not a like a paid job I mean we do get like I think it's like $200 or something like that 3,000 a Year 3,000 a year yes most of the time we don't pick up our checks um I think everyone here is passionate about um creating a better Village and um at least for my efforts when I say Kudos I don't say it out of vanity I say it because we really are trying to do um a lot with a little um so yes it's not $220,000 and I I don't ever I don't think I've ever spent any money here in The Village although I do have money that I think I could spend on like shirts or something yes you have a stien or a um discretionary F and I've never spent that for your yes out of that discretionary fund um because it's just my position that there's there's a way to leverage Partnerships uh to create some of the initiatives that you would like to under public affairs so um yes that's what I'm trying to do and I I know that budgetary item is there but I have never personally used any of those funds and I don't plan to use them in the programming that I'm discussing now as far as whether or not other members of the public affairs committee I'm not the chair uh desire to do so who knows but as for me uh that's my position on it okay yeah thanks for sharing that's that's great to know and um I mean I know the I don't think there's a lot of wiggle room in the budget but hearing you know there's discretionary funds that are not used why is that not put to use for something like a spay and neuter program and also is that even within the realm of public affairs or spay and neuter you know really fit somewhere somewhere else what be called well spay neuter program might fit U either under uh Public Safety or it could I mean it could in theory fit under public affairs um I know it's something that we discussed in the past we used to have somewhat of an option to at least direct residents to but uh presently there's not so um I will say about public affairs in the past um as I came out of the council public affairs was used almost explicitly for PR campaigns from former Administration and so I came from uh you know background in essentially uh entertainment and event production and things like this uh Hospitality um all the rest so so for me it seemed normal that there would be events around the village but honestly I've I feel like I've I've grown in my capacity to understand what public affairs really should be used for and it it seems like the path that Dr leer Ward and Council person Martin are on with public affairs seems to be a much more uh uh productive much more beneficial uh Avenue uh for the village in the long run um as opposed to the way it used to be ran as far as Arbor Day specifically that is part of one of the requirements we meet uh essentially to maintain our tree status USA um our tree City USA status and um I will say as the chair of that board um or at least former chair of that board uh that uh very little money was usually spent on those events bulk of the cost from the grant that we got to essentially uh run that event was for acquisition of plants uh that would be given away to Residents so that they could do uh planting uh we had the nominal budget for you know tent chair rentals that type of thing um and the Women's Club of el Pau uh usually was you know critical and uh as far as like volunteer Manpower and things like that uh incl up to an including marketing for the event uh to have that go well so the arbor Arbor Day Festival has usually been pretty low budget in terms of um uh overall output I think I did it one year with a budget of 500 but uh typically it was about a th somewhere in there 1500 I think was the was the highest amount that I remember the village specifically uh putting out as far as like a budgeted line item for that event um I know there's other monies coming in from the grant but again those typically are going towards the acquisition of the trees for the residents to be able to take with them and plant so um yeah thank you mam chair if I can I'm not in the committee but um just to add um in light of Engagement with the community and all of that um same thing uh with me and the um the discretionary funds that um we you know allocate we get um to try to use to use in in in public you know Affairs uh events or stuff like that we never use it we always you know kind of like give it back to the Village so they allocate the monies and somewhere else um this year I decided um to actually go ahead and do this little program and it's um free yoga for uh families and stuff unfortunately I haven't have you know a lot of Engagement with uh with uh residents surprisingly because it's a wellness um kind of program I thought it was going to be you know it's something uh nice and and and and and cool to do um so um the program was uh is running for four weeks four Sundays um this past Sunday was the second one like I said unfortunately um not a lot of um um um um resident has showed up but uh uh the little ones that had actually showed up I said you know how wonderful that was and uh that he felt like a million Buck you know having something like that in in your community or your in your village because we are municipality we're not in an enclosed community so um I thought by using those funds for now to do something like that um will be great so hopefully uh more uh residents will um join this Sunday uh it's at 9:30 p.m. 9:30 a.m. um and the instructor is she's wonderful so we have it here at the top lot but yeah it was something like that it's something to um like like um Mar um kle Martin said um it's a it's it's all about engagement with a with a with a community and residents and uh and that's um hopefully we don't we don't we don't lose that here because it's it's it seems like came here to the Village um with that sense of uh community and talking to your neighbors and and rely sometimes on your neighbors and you know the knowing actually the name of more than than seven your your closest neighbors is is just um awesome so I just want to throw it out you thank I will say this uh I think it's an awesome program uh me and my little ones will be there this Sunday and just because it it wasn't as well attended as you wanted it to be doesn't mean that it isn't going to be I think sometimes it takes a while for the word to come out but we're definitely uh coming out this Sunday and I think it's a great program um and hopefully we see other programs like it I think a big part in lowering the temperature as it relates to certain things is uh creating environments where people can just connect on different topics that aren't about a budget or a job description or something just about something that they enjoy so they can kind of get to know their neighbors and it's also a great way to exchange ideas about things so uh I look forward to being there on Sunday any other Mr just one followup so with the um the financial question so the discretionary budgets when it's not used or like the 20k that's allocated for public affairs if all that is not used where does that go What Becomes of that Mr toen Feld oh it just folds over it it's us it or lose it but it it it it folds over you don't keep like for example if you if you don't keep um use your discretionary fund it's not like next year discretionary fund is is is added to it but it just stays the same so it's use it or lose it yeah so what does that mean it's in The Village's savings account it is yeah it just stay within the budget and it's paying down our loans and debts or what what's becoming of it well well well it has to be budgeted well it depends on what's budgeted for the the next year right Mr May if I could go ahead so for example in my discretionary income near the end of the year um I'll essentially mayor usually has some kind of project that he's working on so I might uh contribute part of my discretionary to whatever project uh the mayor has in mind that might need more than just simply his discretionary right um I do try to reserve um a significant amount of discretionary each year to give to the Little River Conservancy um I've just known them for a a while they're one of my favorite organizations that work directly in otel and they essentially have a constant need for um specifically sensors that they play place all throughout the C7 Canal so um they typically have a what I give them is not you know a significant amount of money I think my discretionary is $2,000 a year and so um we're not talking about you know massive amounts of money here but regardless um that's where I try to direct mine because that is my own uh you know uh personal interest it's a local organization that benefits the village and I know that they have a constant need that way so um it would be any Resident could essentially you know petition uh any individual council member uh you know call text email that type of thing to say hey I have this organization in mind um they could do X Y and Z with certain amount of hundreds of dollars uh would any of those be available from from your discretionary uh account so I mean it is at the discretion of the council members uh sometimes the mayor will say I have this Pro I have this project and ask if anybody has any remaining discretionary and would they be willing to contribute it um I typically will do something like that but for me personally the Little River Conservancy if specifically for sensors in the C7 Canal is usually where I direct my discretionary income yeah that's great to hear because it worries me when I hear a comment of just like you you use it or you lose it it's like it's our tax dollars that we're paying into it doesn't just disappear it doesn't go back to like the bank account or like it doesn't go back to like you know like the The Ether of of of uh it exists somewhere money and it's almost when we need you know whether it's spaying new neuter or whatever we know the village needs cop copious amount of of things so it worries me when I hear stay use it or lose it it stays within okay so it's reallocated and it's almost never it's almost never lost because there is usually at least some discussion of okay what is left and what can we get done with it so and and when does that discussion usually happen I guess before the budget meetings yeah t well typically around that time honestly because uh you know the clock is counting down at that point the money would to be spent or at least distributed by the end of September September 30th and so so ju so July August September is typically when the the you know the mayor might be reaching out to say does anybody have discretionary left and this is what I'm trying to do so yeah U that kind of July August September that Q Q4 of our fiscal calendar okay Madam chair may I sure I just want to give some historic background to about what you're discussing about this spay and neuter project I do recall that in the past um a member of the council did um uh give money to miss Francis um for her for her St neutering also um in terms of animal help we don't do animal control we have one person in public works well me and this one person on a dayto day and we have a part-time Public Works um director but prior to you know last year of him even being here we didn't have any kind of animal control Mi day County was called upon to do that and when they dropped the pro program we have an you know we have to figure out how to get the animals out of the street but we have peacocks and that has been an expense to us too to keep them healthy we've had to have vets come out and your normal vet is not going to come take care of a peacock we have to call someone who's bringing a a Mobile station it's not cheap so we want them to stay healthy because that's another good point I noticed the peacock population has really exploded the last couple years as well and it's also like do we even have food you know in the village for for all these animals well we cannot feed them we are not to feed the animals any human food if you see people feeding peacocks please tell them not to do that we have signs up and I remember former council person Dreer who was here tonight um really pushed that we not that we tell people don't feed the peacocks um because it is unhealthy for them to eat but I guess they're not spay or neutered either no they're not we we just don't have that kind of budget and we can't catch them and we don't have the staff to do that but also they're not um considered uh like the seabird station with not take them um if they're injured or hurt they're not going to come spay and neuter them they have to be go to a specialized vet that is in West uh Palm Beach so they come down that's costly so and what is the county program that was discontinued just to pick up uh injured or dead animals or or to take them to the Humane you know to animal you know any kind of stray or any kind of animal that's out of place that's not spoken for not not only like a dog catcher yeah they don't do that anymore sadly okay thank you thank you any other comments all right hearing none I will move on to subsection H was it which is adjournment do I have a motion to adjourn this evening's uh public affairs committee meeting you do and do I have a second second all in favor say I I I all right that adjourns the public affairs committee meeting it is currently 8:24 p.m.