##VIDEO ID:07_S8TD5vuI## e e e e e e e e e that's between me and you though all right is everybody ready we'll go ahead and call the meeting to order we're going to start with a moment of Silent reflection for our First Responders and members of the Armed Forces that'll be followed by an invocation by Sheriff Eric flowers followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by myself everybody would please rise dear heavenly father thank you for this day thank you for our time here performing your work Lord please uh place a hedge of protection around our law enforcement and our military that are deployed overseas and Lord just ensure that the job that we do here today is all in your best interest and that we're watching out for the best interest of our citizens and our taxpayers in Jesus name amen amen everybody would please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the FL FL of the United States of America the stands na all right before we get started I would like I would like to welcome our new County attorney Miss Jennifer Schuler this will be her first of many uh commission meeting so welcome we'll try to keep it brief and calm for you I see the look welcome we're very happy to have you with us I'll keep it look all right Commissioners um additions and deletions to the agenda I do have one um commissioner irman is going to have to leave at 10:30 uh so I would like to move um 11b 12 E1 12 E2 and 12 J1 up to after consent so he has an opportunity to participate in those conversations move to approve as amended did you have something else you want to move no I I just thought that uh item uh 11 8j should move to the other understanding and agreements uh with access and construction to the beach but uh okay you want to move 8j to the under natural resources so pull that you want to combine it you want to combine it with which which one 12 E1 second one 12 E2 instruction okay E2 okay if it makes any sense yeah that's fine un unless uh commission has objection as he wants to be here together yes yeah just put it makes sense okay he serves on the beach and Shores and I just wanted to make sure it would be nope that makes perfect sense so we'll move 8j under 12 E2 and move those four items up to after consent all right thank you madam chair move to approve as amended all right we have a motion and a second all in favor oos osed motion carries and with that we'll move on to presentation of proclamations for recognition of Fire Prevention Week October 6 through the 12th 2024 and this will be presented by commissioner irman to come on down everybody don't be shy anywhere you guys want to be okay commission Airman thought he might uh wear his dress uniform uh as a fitting touch but uh I I see we have ample uniforms of our First Responders here that's why you didn't do it right Joel I thought about wearing mine today before you sir but it just you know I got too many things going [Laughter] on Chief Johnson Chief Marini staff welcome it's my honor to to read this Proclamation regarding to fire prevention fire prevention is probably the most important aspect of a fire rescue system because you know that people are going to get in accidents and injuries and have fires and all this stuff and so whatever fire prevention can do to prevent those mishaps is well deserved and money money well spent so let me read the proclamation and then let y'all say a few things it's a proclamation and recognition of Fire preven week October 6 to the 12th 2024 whereas any River County Board of County Commissioners is committed to ensuring the Safety and Security of all those living in and visiting any River County and whereas fire is a serious Public Safety concern both locally and nationally and homes are the locations where people are at the greatest risk from fire and whereas hires killed more than two 2,700 people in the United States in 2022 according to the National Fire Protection Association and fire departments in the United States responded to 360,000 Home Fires and whereas roughly three out of five fire deaths happen in homes with either no smoke alarms or with no working smoke alarms and whereas residents should install smoke alarms in every sleeping room outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of their home and whereas any River County First Responders are dedicated to reducing the occurrence of Home Fires and home fire injuries Through Fire Prevention and protection education and whereas the 2024 Fire Prevention Week smoke alarms make them work for you pay attention to fire prevention effectively serves to remind us to stay alert and use caution when cooking to reduce the risk of kitchen fires now therefore be it proclaimed by the board of County commissioners of any River County Florida to hereby Proclaim October 6 through the 12th 2024 as Fire Prevention Week throughout the state and I urge all people of any River County to make sure their homes have working fire working smoke alarms to support the many public and to support the many public safety activities and efforts of Indian River County Fire rest resue adopted this 24th day of September 2024 and signed by all five County Commissioners Chief Morini thank you well thank you good morning County Commissioners you County attorney and the County Administrator the difference between escaping a fire and avoiding tragedy come down to seconds smoke detectors are leading life-saving devices in home fire safety most fatal home fires occur at night while people are asleep smoke detectors can alert sleeping residents before they become fire victims DET tectors should be installed inside every sleeping room and outside in the hallways you should test smoke tectors monthly by pushing the test button and change your batteries once a year and a good reminder is when you change your change your clocks change your batteries we have partnered I'm glad excited that we partnered with American Red Cross to install smoke detectors in residents of ir County that cannot afford them we have also installed a bed shaker for hearing impaired person that was never seen one of those before that was pretty interesting where it kind of smoke picks it up sends a signal to looks like an oldfashioned alarm clock and the bed vibrates and wakes up to resident so that was pretty awesome be able to install one of those as part of our public outreach program we also go out and install smoke T we get the phone call that uh L resident or resident cannot reach a smoke detect and it's chirping chirping chirping we'll send an engine out and or firor out and go look at it and see what the problem is and if it's a battery we'll change the batteries out for them you can go to our website request a smoke detector and we'll come out for you free of charge for any residents in our County who need them because we like we said earlier smoke Tex is the first line in defense and protecting somebody on behalf of director Johnson fire rescue myself my Prevention team I want to thank the County Commissioners count administrator and County attorney for his Proclamation today thank you very much thank you [Applause] you than you move too far fantastic thank you guys all right Commissioners next item is approval of the minutes of the July 2nd meeting Madam chair move approval I have a motion I'll be happy to second that all in favor opposed motion carries all right information items um it is National estuaries week September 21st through the 28th um we have one of the best estuaries so be sure to go out and enjoy it also um I've been asked that we do have an opening on our IND well we have two openings on our IND no County Construction Board of adjustments and appeals so we are soliciting volunteers for the mechanical contractor opening as well as an engineering opening so if anybody um is interested or knows anybody that would be interested please um go to our website and fill out the committee application so we can continue to have meetings for the construction board of appeals and adjustments all right Commissioners with that we'll move on to consent agenda 8j has been moved to 12 E2 um are there any other items that would like to be pulled from the consent agenda anybody from the public mam chair how about I Indigo I I eight eight Indigo eight I okay anything else anybody else from the public seeing done M chair move approval second all right we have a motion on a second all in favor opposed motion carries with that commissioner flusher 8i amendment number one to tetr Tech Inc work order number one for public Outreach efforts on the Lagoon management plan to include story map development Madam chair uh uh quick approval I uh am excited that we're going to have an Outreach we're going to have a program that people can see what is going on with our Lagoon where we're going and what we're doing a dashboard more more or less and uh I was discussing it with the County Administrator and I was wondering if our um our GIS team will be involved with that as uh it it may uh enhance the abilities of of the dashboard Eric and Kylie are coming forward but I would imagine they would have to be in terms of rgas Team manages the metadata and all the layers shape files and they would have to coordinate with tetratech in the uh development of these storyboard Maps projects yes good morning Eric cheris assistant director of Natural Resources um you are correct the uh um County Administrator is correct the intent is to use this process as a kickoff or a jump start for our efforts um which our GIS department will be able to build upon what we receive from tetratech so it'll be kind of like a live document that we can add to as the projects continue so and it'll be available for the public yes on our website yep so and we've actually even you know been discussing this with the utilities department as well um and they're going to be actually adding some of their subject TOA projects onto this as well so it's going to be an all-encompassing um you know story map if you would um to really highlight the County's projects and efforts towards improving the health of lagon and we have a timeline on that about six months um realistically yes um you know I really haven't defined the timeline too much with tetr at this point but they're aware of it they've done this for several other entities um they're aware of what we're looking for and it should be fairly quick because our projects that we're slating to put into the initial story map you are already completed so we have the metrics to put in there and it's just really uh defining our process for us so I would say realistically within 6 months you should see something up on the website which we will promote at that point so great work and good use of funds mad chair move approval all right I'll be happy to second that any further discussion seeing none all in favor opposed motion all right with that um we will move on to 11b ratification of collective bargaining agreement between Indian River County and Teamsters Local Union number 769 effective October 1st 2024 through October 30th 2027 yes Madam chair members of the board uh as you aware the teamsters Collective bargain agreement was up for a full negotiation uh I want to thank Steve Meers and the members of teamsters Representatives our employees our our negotiating team Mike zto an Bole and the department and the affected department heads uh we did uh come to agreement on a uh three-year agreement that for the duration between October 21st 2024 through September 3rd 2027 uh yesterday the teamsters did ratify that agreement so it's be presenting it to you today uh it does call for in terms of wages a minimum of 5% above the new minimum in the pay plan or $1.75 per hour or 6% % or placement in the new pay grade based on time and service and current pay grade penetration whichever is greater uh the agreement does provide for wage reopener in the second and third year and just to summarize some of the other items that are included there's there was an increase to the safety shoe allowance uh there's language providing for seniority uh related to The Selection as a selection Factor when fill in vacant shifts within the same classification language you know providing for ability to request time off for the remainder of a shift when the rest period for a portion of shift is triggered there is also a modification of overtime language when an employees held beyond their regular shift as a requested SI leave in advance of being held over uh there is instances or Provisions in there for an increase in the on call standby pay for nonwork days and holidays from two hours to 2.4 5 hours a day there was providing for an additional personal day bring the total person days to two personal days per year uh there was an increase in the vacation Ural rate for employees for 20 or more years service from 20 days to 22 days per year and allow the allowance of being able to take vacation increments of 30 minutes uh there was uh we calculated and looked at the lump sum anniversary amount for those that may be topped out and it seemed fair and Equitable to increase that from 1300 to 1500 uh we also uh expanded the class CL a Class B commercial driver's license incentive pay to include storm water and Parks division employees and then lastly uh it did provide for a reopener we have a continuing discussion on shift differentials and that's something that's going to require some more time and and and data uh but we are uh pleased with the outcome of the agreement uh we thank the teamsters for their you know coming in together and working together and so with that staff respectfully recommends the approval of the agreement and request the board County Commissioners authorize the chair to sign the full agreement Commissioners are there any questions or concerns approve all right we have a motion in a second anybody from the public seeing none all in favor opposed motion carries all right with that we will move on to 12 E1 sector 4 hurricanes Ian and Nicole Dune re nourishment project are we going to do the first no he moved 8j to 12 E2 they combined those two all right good morning Commissioners Kylie Yan Chula Natural Resources Director for the record and I have with me quinon Bergman and Dustin van geson here to talk to you about the sector 4 Beach project good morning Commissioners um I want to take this opportunity opportunity to introduce Dustin vanon he's our beach environmental specialist in the natural resources department uh he is uh coming up on one year here at the county and has been a tremendous help in expanding our drone program he brings experience from American Red Cross and a couple other entities and his background is diverse so it's a a great opportunity to expand our uh department and bolster a lot of our programs especially our beach education and Outreach programs as as well as uh our beach re nourishment projects with that I will go ahead and get started with our uh presentation so I've today um I believe I'm presenting on three thank you uh three items today before you uh we have an award of bid the agreement are use agreements and a construction oversight work order so moving right ahead into the W of bid uh back in 2022 many of us know that we had we were our County was impacted by two hurricanes hurricane Nicole and hurricane Ian um you can see here on the on the slideshow that hurricane Ian caused 11 uh there is 11 feet of wave height recorded offshore as well as 19 foot wave heights recorded for Hurricane Nicole um our post storm engineering report showed that on average sector four uh retreated about 19 ft of the Dune backwards so here are some visuals to kind of give you a representation this is Beach comr Lane right in the heart of our sector 4 Beach Management Area uh take special note of the sand located underneath that Dune crossover and the vegetation behind it then after the storms this is what that beach looked like you can see a lot of that sand has moved away the Dune crossover received damage as well as that now lawn for that person 's home is now exposed um now today what that beach looks like is uh this back in August of this year so the Dune crossover has been rebuilt by the town of Indian River Shores as as you can see there's still significant damage Dunes do not rebuild back quickly it a natural process that takes decades if not more uh here's an example of some of the damage uh structures that were inside of sector 4 so this was a a building that was quite at risk after the storm past um fortunately for this person they have since rebuilt their own Dune in front of their house and and made the necessary repairs on those pilings so an overview on the sector 4 project it's about three miles long uh it is just south of our sector 3 area and north of our Sector 5 area um this project was designed to place 135,000 cubic yards of beach compatible sand and roughly 150,000 uh Native salt tolerant Dune plants the Dune height is going to match the existing the repaired Dune height is going to match the existing Dune um and we're looking to add anywhere between 9 feet to 20 feet of Dune towards the water depending on the area so in uh in August this year we went to advertise for the bid in September on September 4th we had a bid opening we received one responsive bid um that was from Dickerson infrastructure in the amount of about $6.6 million County staff and our Consultants performed a review of this bid and it was deemed that it was within uh within the scope as well as it was actually about a million dollars lower than our Engineers estimated uh cost our sector 4 funding is uh it's a fun one we've got 4.3 million dollar awarded from d and demem so you can see the breakdown there um what is new to our program is the unused portions of a hurricane Ian and Nicole restoration reimbursement grant program that's a mouthful so that is another program from the D that there was leftover monies that were unused and they open that program up to local municipalities in that fund there's about $1.6 million and what's interesting is that it is a first come first serve or first first come first serve basis the county has with your approval we applied to the These funds and we are still uh assessing the D is still assessing our application um so with that fund kind of being a option either way uh the county is expected the county share is expected anywhere between .6 million to 2.3 million depending on those those funds um just to remind our public our the local funding for Beach restoration is provided by a portion of the local option tourist tax a timeline for our sector 4 project we anticipate uh starting construction November of 2024 and we expect uh that construction to be wrapped up in April of 2025 if not sooner so the recommendation of staff is that the sector 4 hurricanes Ian and Nicole Dune restoration project be awarded to Dickerson infrastructure in the amount of $6.6 million thank you commissioner questions mam chairman yes th this is um this is a really big deal for us because this beach was never it was just a natural Beach it was never engineered or anything else you remember the problems that we went through and this has been a great experience because the community latched on to this especially people like Pat Brier and David fer moved on with this program and and got the uh residents behind it we got the uh easement signed in in record time and and and and met our goal with that which is uh absolutely uh tremendous especially because of the residents not being there a good part of the year and staff just did a wonderful job following up on this and working with this work this crew and and I got to thank Mike copor over there with the the John's Island folks they were uh a very big part of making this happen so this is a this is a really good day and a really really big deal and I'm proud to see that we that we got this done for the the residents of of sector four so with that all move approval second all right and I just want to follow up on the thanks I want to express thanks to representative bracket and Senator Gro for their support um for the D funding so we we appreciate our the support from our uh delegation with that all right there's a motion and second actually two seconds I think um anybody from the public seeing none all in favor opposed motion carries thank you all right with that we'll move on to 12 E2 which has been combined with AJ Okay moving forward thank you Commissioners uh use agreements in order to bring sand to the beach we have to transport that sand from the pavement out to the beach so we need East West access we're going to achieve that with uh construction access um there are three permitted locations for the sector 4 project to bring sand uh across the the the Dune line um the first one is Turtle Trail beach access County owned we've used Turtle Trail in the past for sector 3 nourishment projects we the our staff coordinates with parks recreation and conservation department to make sure that we can still use that that one is moving forward lot one on SE Court uh is a privately owned property we'll discuss further and then the Third location is Beach comr Lane so here on the map you can see where those are uh pointed out in in relevance to the sector 4 area um Beach comr Lane is maintained by the town of Indian River Shores we approach the the town and they've agreed to a use agreement where we we can utilize this area for our construction um to to access lot one and it is uh is located through John's Island Property Owners Association same thing we approached the John's Island Property Owners Association uh came to an agreement of of the our the county and the contractors utilizing the roads there um and then finally uh we have an agreement with the owner of lot one to utilize that vacant property it's a large grassy area a little bit of sea grapes and uh just to to mention too um are these these Agreements are timed they're limited so they would start on October 15th ahead of construction start so that if the contractor wanted to there's some mobilization that could occur and we'd have to be out of there by May 1st 2025 uh one thing I would I would like to note too is that all of the sites have to be maintained and rest restored to the preconstruction conditions as well and with that staff recommends the board of County Commissioners approve the three uh agreements for Access and Sandry nourishment for the sector 4 Beach area and authorize the chairman to sign on behalf of the county than commissioner's question Madam chair No I um I just want to say I believe we were all present on that first slide that you showed uh I I think we were we were all there and and to witness the the the respect and operation that they do I think is is part of the reason why you're able to achieve these uh accesses uh so easily I think there were a lot of citizens there too and they see how respectful The Operators are just getting the sand in and applying it and then leaving and restoring appropriately they did an outstanding job in the past and uh I'm excited that we're going to be moving forward with that second motion to approve second have a motion a second anybody from the public seeing none all in favor opposed motion carries thank you all right thank you so much last uh portion Ken thank you uh last item of before you is our construction Administration uh work order so I wanted to provide a little history uh of our consultant so in August 15th of last year the board approved an RFQ for uh engineering biological biological support services for the sector 4 Dune renourishment project that RFQ um showed that Coastal tech technology corporation was the selected as the sector 4 consultant then moving forward in August 20 of August 29 2023 the board approved the first work order that was for conceptual design permitting pre-application conferences as well as public Outreach meetings then on October 3rd we had our second work order which was the final design of the project final permitting and as well as bidding Services um then in May and May 3rd and June 17th the county received our Beacher nourishment permits that are required in order to move forward so then moving forward into August 20th of this year um the board approved the third work order which allowed us to monitor for late season sea turtle nest uh in preparation for the construction starting this November and then today the work order number four consists of construction Administration monitoring as well as permit compliance um construction Administration activities performed for the sector 4 hurricanes Ian and Nicole Dune restoration project require strict adherence with numerous permit requirements the the two the two permits d as well as Army cor engineer are a quite good read if you're looking for something to put put you to sleep at night um but lots of uh requirements that have to be followed so our our recommendation is that we we uh approve or sorry uh this work order provides professional Engineering Services and support of construction Administration and monitoring during the entire length of the process project so uh staff recommends the board of authorized Coastal Tech work order uh with in the total lump sum amount of $392,500 [Music] second all in favor opposed motion carried thank thank you very much thank you all right with that we will move on to 12 J1 which is Award of the final scope and fee for integrated water master plan to HDR engineering mam chair do that one's moved up M okay all right apologize I didn't I didn't hear it welcome morning Commissioners Sean leisi director for Indian County Utility Services um with me is Howard Richards and we do have a short presentation that we're just going to give today um just to kind of let you know kind of where we are um we started back u in February of 2024 where we had issued a request for qualifications um we received five qualified um bids and proposals um on April 2nd and then on June 18th we came to the board and you awarded the the contract and the original where actually the award to HDR to begin negotiations and we've been working with them to work out the final scope and fee which is what we are here today to talk to you about um oh the other one sorry there we go um so we've been working with HDR uh we do have a couple of Representatives here um with HDR we have Carly Fen camp and David oconor um who have been we've been working with them over the last several months to work through this scope and fee and so why are we here um as you all are aware and I've spoken to you all about this before you know one of the things that was imp this behind this was we've got a lot of things that are kind of all coming together right now we've got a growing population U we anticipate that continuing to happen we've got what we call a dynamic regulatory Horizon where we just have a lot of unknowns in the regulatory World about what's coming down the pipe for water and wastewater utilities both at the state level and at the national level um those ever revolving regulatory requirements often have substantial financial burden on the utility um we have resource uncertainty we did just recently get our St of use permit um increased however um there is still some uncertainty about where and how we continue to to obtain Water Resources um so we're going to be evaluating that uh we also do have aging infrastructure uh the last time we did a master plan um the utility was still relatively young we are aging and our infrastructure is aging and so we actually also have a a point where aging infrastructure new infrastructure is colliding and we really have to be able to be mindful of of all of our resources to to accommodate that those uh those aging and and new infrastructure issues um so some of the benefits that we would get through this integrated planning effort include kind of long R long-term planning really we're going to be looking out 20 to 30 years um possibly longer to see again where population growth is going to happen anticipating that where and how we're going to um obtain Water Resources um this is really a comprehensive plan to look at you know water Wastewater and reuse reuse water um you know we have requirements in our consumptive use permit to make use of our reuse water 75% of our reuse water um and reclaimed manner so we're going to be looking at all those issues to make sure that we are again using our finances in the most responsible and reliable way possible um again it kind of helps us with decision- making we put this out there and it will help us in evaluating those projects as they're coming down the pipe um we will be and it'll talk about this a little bit later but the idea is to make this flexible so as things change if population projections change we can adjust and move on the Fly and move things around depending upon um current current situation um again the program is based on rate affordability and acceptability so we'll be working with them in conjunction with our rate which we're going be talking about a little little bit a little bit later today but working with our rate um Consultants to make sure that what we are proposing in this is is Affordable um looking at various options from from not just rates fees but if there's also other funding options available to us um again it's phase adaptive management looking at again ways that the that we can adapt this as things change and so kind of looking at the key the key scope um what they had is they had kind of a six-phase approach to this when working with HDR was to build a vision really that's going to be a workshop to work with us to build kind of where we want to go with this what are the main key key points that we want to evaluate kind of evaluate the exist ing system that's a big component of this really doing condition assessments evaluate where we are today understand what our system looks like and how it is operating um a another big component is engaging Community stakeholders so a lar large part of this will be reaching out to community um in know various times throughout this effort to to engage them and help them be part of the part of the conversation um and then finally kind of looking at a couple of things is evaluate alternative Solutions so start to look at what alternatives might be available start to evaluate that and then to develop those Solutions so when looking at those Alternatives what are the the eventual solutions that they will have and then finally the Implement and measure success um and so again those are those are the main tasks and kind of broken out the one task you see here there's ta task seven but the one task that was out of that kind of um that that schedule there is the project management so project management oversees all that throughout this we're certainly have project management and I'm not going to read through all these highlights but just gives you an idea of of where we are with each of those tasks and so the main deliverables and and as I mentioned the main deliverable for us is going to be a living master plan um my my vision of this is not to have a document that sits on a shelf um that is is a is a paperback you know hardback binder that sits on a shelf and you look at once every so often this is going to be a living document something that we will be able to utilize routinely modified dep depending on certain um issues that are are unfolding again kind of population being one uh Water Resources being another just kind of how things are are happening within the county and what's happening and so we have to be able to adapt to that and and adjust to that those changing environments and so really the idea is that this tool is something that we will be able to utilize you know year after year after year and adjust based off of current um the current situation um again some of the the other things we're looking at though is is and a big component of this is the physical condition assessment so going out and evaluating our plants our lift stations evaluating how they look where are they um currently and what is the condition of those currently um pipelines as well be looking at kind of our pipeline condition assessment so there's a this this is a highly involved and and highly complex effort um and this is just gives you an idea this is and I really appreciate the work that HDR did to put this presentation together um but this gives you an idea of of some of the the materials they will be using as far as like a live CIP these are types of things that we'll be able to look at modify change inputs um and change things to adjust depending upon again current current events um and with that just wanted to kind of give you an idea of you know the proposal that we got from HDR was uh 2.47 840 million um so 2,475 840 I can't say this right 2,475 1840 um we anticipate the project being around 16 months that was within the proposal but we also recognize that there's a lot of uncertainty with this um as we get into contion assessment um we're not even sure exactly how much they're going to have to do and will there need to be you know more than what's anticipated so they put certainly put a certain dollar amount within the proposal to that but there's some uncertainty about how much we need to do and whether or not we're going to need more or less than what they put um so one of the one of the things that we are asking is also kind of to have a management reserve and I know this is a high dollar amount but a 30% and and if you look at what we're thinking this project could extend from up to from 16 to 20 months um and so with that that's about a 25% variation so we've actually included about a 30% um management Reserve in the amount of 74275 to give us some discretion as we as we embark on this project project so we ask you to kind of consider that as well I mean the main request today is for the the 2.4 and change um but we are asking for this management reserve and the idea is that um we would we would seek approval and going to have to go through John and and you know the the County's management staff um but rather than coming back with a bunch of change orders and and things along the way if this were to extend and again this is a management Reserve we're not not guaranteed that we're going to use this um you know we got a proposal and it's a firm proposal from HDR um however we do anticipate there may be some some variation along the way that we need to account for and so we're asking for this this management Reserve um to allow for that as we embark on the process so um and that is budgeted so we did actually budget um $3.4 million for this project two million the next year and then we anticipated another 1.4 the next fiscal year so we did include up to 3.4 in the budget um are anticipating that and so this is actually the total dollar value is less than what we had originally budgeted for so with that I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have thank you Commissioners any questions comments or concerns chairman yes Sean I think it's a great idea to to do this to do your study just you know when you talk about the infrastructure and what we're going to face in the future and all this stuff I think it's great the only question I had talking with our County Administrator yesterday was and I'm probably going to ask him to explain it better than me uh was it was the transparency of this exactly maybe how the money's being worked how it's being shifted and moved around with this sir can you help me with that yeah yes uh uh chair uh board member uh $742,000 additional allowance on top of the 2.4 quote is a large amount of money so I think you know initially what was presented was that the the director would be able to approve that in the interest of transparency I think it should go through a process go through me and I would even add another step is I know we don't want to delay the process on the front end by coming to seek change orders but I think in the interest of transparency it would be it would be wise to also require utilities after they approve a work order you know with my sign my sign off that it come comes back before the board as an informational item and keeping a running tally so you can see so we can arguably manage and prevent scope creep and I'm certainly okay with that I mean I John and I have talked about that and I certainly agree that that makes a lot of sense that if we as we dip into that if we have to that we certainly bring that back to the to the commission just to let you know that hey we we are having to to to in you know kind of dip into that management reserve my thought was on this since this is this is just such a big deal I think we owe it to the public to say this is what we found this is what we're going to do this is what we got to correct okay next month same thing you know hey next month hey all looks good let's move on to the next item just kind of see where this is going over the next would you say almost two years could be almost to years 16 to 20 months 16 to 20 months that that's the only recommendation I have yes commission um I I see in the uh scope of services uh 20 monthly progress meetings so perhaps that could be something that a synopsis of it um if you will could could be either I think it probably should be presented um as opposed to an informational item you know a brief update on this because it is it is a huge project I'm glad we're doing it water is our key resource and this is long overdue so I'm delighted that we're doing it but uh again in the interest of transparency I think it would be good since we're we already have these these meetings 20 meetings uh to present publicly uh what is coming out of the meetings Thank You by publicly you mean at a commission meeting May just a brief item with an update okay nothing like crazy we do have we do and I do believe that HDR has built in board briefings on a number of occasions throughout the project um so I think I don't know if we want to do that monthly um but we would certainly however if when what at Whatever frequency you would like we would certainly be happy to come back and provide informational items to the board um on kind of progress that's being made and I have no problem I do think we should be transparent and keep the public updated since there's so many people that want to be involved my only concern is if that they're doing it on a monthly basis that's one meeting a month where they're preparing an item um to come before us so I'm not trying to not be transparent I'm just trying to be respectful of all the other things that are going on and and perhaps we can maybe not do it every month I bet we leave it up to the discretion of the director in the county qu we need well I think commissioner monz wants something that's that's I think I think we can leave it up to their discretion and if Sean wants he can make a movie because I saw his movie last night at the North County library and he's uh he's quite a star okay does that work so start with cly and and kind of we we're just at our discretion I mean I do know that we've built some of that in um you know I don't know how much we'll make in a quarter right off the bat so I don't know that there'll be much value in in a first quarter report but maybe six months in and then kind of go from there quarterly from there does that sound good to everybody okay and that keeps us engaged too so if there's something going along we can provide input um first is getting to the end and then you know yeah a lot of the first quarter is going to be them doing a lot of data analysis and a lot of like condition assessment so there's probably not going to be a whole lot of of real good data to provide in that first quarter so okay so six months and then we'll go quarterly from there unless there's something going on that you need to bring to us before then does that sound good sounds good okay so I mean how's got a lot of work to do and uh we have to a lot time for work to be done before we can present and I know that how was the trying to uh look at or assess if the gfed water tower is a utility or maybe a utility and that might help out the resources too so we want to allow plenty of time for that as well well and it gives us the opportunity to tell our story as we're going through this process too so I don't think we do enough of that and um this would be a good opportunity to kind of include everybody on that Journey so all good stuff I'm glad we're getting this done I know it is a huge undertaking but it's really going to put our utility where we need to be for the future um and exploring all the things we do to make ourselves sustainable so yes good stuff all right any other questions comments anybody from the public no all right commissioner Ean this was your motion to approve second all right I have a motion by commissioner irman with a second by commissioner flusher all in favor opposed motion carries thank you all right that brings us back to our regularly scheduled Commission meeting order thank you madam chair of course I'm glad we were able to do that for you commissioner Airman all right Indian no County Sheriff Eric flowers regarding fiscal year 24 auction proceeds welcome good morning how are you guys I'm here today to uh ask you for two different items one is our auction proceeds uh we gained a total of $ 46,7 48 uh after subtracting unclaimed property sent to the state at forfeiture funds the debt amount is 42448 uh we're requesting that those proceeds be used to acquire new light kind property uh within the current fiscal year pursuant to fora statutes Commissioners any [Music] questions all right I have a motion by commissioner lure with a second by commissioner flesher all in favor opposed motion carries and with that we'll move on to offender fees the next one is uh again in accordance with the County ordinance we're requesting $222 40 from the offender fees uh to purchase investigative surveillance equipment uh Duty and tactical gear and office of field supplies 22,240 Commissioners questions comments concerns move approve all right I have a motion by commissioner lure with a second by commissioner flesher all in favor opposed motion carries thank you guys have a great day thank you all right Commissioners with that we will move on to public hearings our first public hearing is to revise Utility Services rate schedule for the inden county department of utility services wow quick I know you didn't even get a chance to leave the room I didn't I I barely left the room um good morning again commissioner Sean leisi director of utility services um here to kind of wrap things up on on the rate study hopefully and so I do have a a quick presentation and Brian beavers here is here also to to help answer any questions that might come up um but kind of going through this real quickly and and I'm going to try to go through this you've seen much of this so I'm not going to kind of try to bore you with too much of it again but just kind of wanted to to reiterate why we are here today um we had stantech we hired stantech to do a rate study um the you know the idea was to evaluate our utility rates to make sure that we had fair and Equitable rates for our our customers to assure that we did have sufficient revenues and funding for our our system as we go forward um looking at again Pro future growth and demand projections um and a variety of different things that they looked at within that and um you know we did try to engage the community um in multiple Community presentations so why we're here today um just real quick I I believe you all received this and and I am going to read through this because I actually really appreciated the inter neighborhood association for taking the time to put together this letter of support but um if you don't mind if I if you don't mind if I read this real quick um dear Commissioners the Indian River neighborhood association strongly supports and proposed utility fee and rate modifications presented by the IND County Department of utility services these adjustments are both necessary and long overdue to ensure this sustainability of the County's Water and Wastewater infrastructure which is vital to the health of the community and protection of Natural Resources particularly the Indian River Lagoon the comprehensive race study conducted by stantech Consulting Services has highlighted the critical need for these changes over the past 25 years while inflation and costs associated with maintaining and improving essential Water and Sewer Services have significantly increased ircd us rates have not kept pace the current rates are now insufficient to meet operational costs and fund the necessary Capital Improvements required to maintain and enhance Utility Systems the proposed rate adjustments are designed to address this Gap by implementing a fair and Equitable tiered structure that ensures those who are more those who use more water pay proportionately more this approach not only promotes water conservation but also aligns with the principle that cost of utility services should reflect their usage the adjustment of existing fees and the introduction of new ones will also provide critical funding for infrastructure projects that are essential to protecting and restoring the inter River Lagoon a Cornerstone of the County's environmental and economic health excuse me in addition it is recommended that the board consider implementing a mechanism that ties future rate adjustments to inflation or other relevant economic indicators such a measure would prevent the need for large abrupt increases in the future and allow for a more gradual and predictable rate environment for residents and businesses the RNA believes that the pros fee and rate modifications are both necessary and prudent The increased Revenue will enable the county to maintain high quality water Sur Services invest in crucial infrastructure upgrades and continue efforts to improve the health of the Indian River Lagoon approval of these adjustments is an investment in the long-term sustainability of the community's natural resources and public health thank you for your consideration important matter the irna urges the board County Commissioners improve the proposed utility rate and fees changes for the benefit of the community and the environment um I really appreciate them taking the time to to write that letter um it does speak to kind of kind of the importance of this but again with this started back in 2003 and I'm not going to read all these dates um and we've you know kind of went through a series of workshops with them and we did have a couple of of community outreach present uh pres or supposed presentations um we had one at at South Oso at the IG Center in in South um alha Oslo Road unfortunately we did not have anybody attend that Workshop um we then had one last night at the Sebastian library and we had 100% more and we had at uh at the IG Center we had a whole one person individ show up at that good job North County we thank that Resident we're coming um and and so you know we have tried to reach out to community but you know this is this is a critical step for the utility um and um you know we are we are at a point now where you know we've we've and this is something that was mentioned in the letter from IR a that if you look at kind of where we have where the the CPI the Consumer Price Index has gone over the last several TW you know about 20 years um compared to where our utility rates are we're a little bit behind and so what we're trying to do today is is look at correcting that and and putting rates where they should be and just again in comparison uh to where our rates are to um several of the the treasure coasts and uh other Utilities in the area again we're we're the lowest currently if you look at just the 2024 rates and these are our current rates compared to other current utility rates and just to kind of give you an idea again I know this was all presented before but at at our current trajectory if you look at our current trajectory if we kept spending without increasing our rates by 2027 we would be dipping into our reserves not dipping into our reserves would actually be gone we're actually currently dipping into our reserves so if we continue along that same trajectory we would be um without reserves by the year 2020 27 um and so all what we're asking for is you know a slight increase so about close to $10 um for this fiscal year um actually starting on January 1st so this fiscal year we would not be starting the rates until January 1 um but again in October of of that year we would be be asking for another increase of about $7 um so that's what we are asking today is to approve both of those rates um so going forward this initial one in January of of 2025 and then again in October of 2025 um but again in looking at that if you look at the proposed rates um 2025 and um for fiscal year 26 uh we are still considered one of the lowest if not the lowest um again compared to those other utilities and I think as Andy mentioned during his presentation likely that many of these utilities up here are also going to be seeking um rate increases so again this is this is not accounting for any rate increases they may be having over those next two years as well so even without their rate increases we would still be the lowest within those those um those we compared to and again what we're doing is trying to kind of you know level that out and bring our our rates in line so that we're not continuing to dip into our reserves we do have a requirement that we have a certain amount of reserves um in place and so in doing these rate adjustments it kind of gets us and brings us back in line and if you kind of look at that line we still dip into the reserves slightly um over the next two fiscal years but then we start to make make progress on that um a couple of the other things that we are seeking approval on today as as well is impact fees so we did have the consultant evaluate our impact fees and these are basically um when new Services come online uh they are required to pay impact fees which pay into the the Capac capacity of a system and the evaluation um looked at that we do need it do need a raise in water impact fee however according to State Statute we cannot do that we have to do that phase that in over four years and so in fiscal year we would be raising the impact fee from 1300 to 1463 in fiscal year 26 again 1625 and then again 27 and 28 um we would never reach that calculated so their calculated impact fee was at 2,000 by we can't reach that because there's also a limit in how much you can raise it each year um so we by 28 we'd be at 1950 um their evaluation did uh recommend a reduction um in the sewer impact fee um down from 2796 to 2624 um and so you know our plan is to to implement those and if you look at the the increase this year um and the decrease in the impact fees were about the same um you know for someone who's having to do both Water and Sewer those impact fees end up being about the same dollar value please please keep in mind that come 26 there will be a slight increase in the the water impact fee so that will be slightly going up um and just again comparison I always think this is an interesting slide when you think about a thousand gallons of water um and what you can get basically 1,000 gallons of water is about 280 even with the new rate increase and so so or that's about the new rate increase so th000 gallons for 280 what what else can you get for around that price a gallon of milk um is actually more than that um one low for bread is right around that cost um a single slice of pizza is 350 um you kind of joked last night that a whole pizza cost $7 or something like that which I guess maybe if you go to Sam's Club you can get a pizza for seven bucks but a lot of places it's it's 350 for a slice of pizza a large coffee at many of the the you know coffee shops around town 375 again in a box of cereal 325 so most of those are all greater than a thousand gallons of water that's that's pretty profound when you look at at what you're getting for the price um and the water is good for you some of those things are not may not be there's the value there's a good point um you know I think one of the things they used they joke about and there was a slide that says you know our water is cheaper than dirt when you looked at filling up a pool 10,000 gallon pool that it's a lot more expensive to fill it with dirt than it is with water um we're also looking at a variety of other user rates and fees um that we are requesting an increase or in some cases perhaps even a decrease um interestingly but for the most part we do have um you know fire protection charges that we're we're seeking an increase on um bulk services so Water and Sewer Services of utilities that's not really use that often really we only have one emergency connection with elmir so you know that bulk rate is really not something that we use much but um we're asking for an increase in the reclaimed water cost for golf courses um and then you know kind of St his disposal and costs are going up there as well from 17 to 26 so you know we have a number of variety of different things that that are increasing um in addition to that the um customer deposits interestingly right now we have a $50 water deposit the $50 sewer deposit um in The Proposal we're recommending that we reduce the water deposit down to um $40 um is that right and then increasing the the sewer deposit to $85 um so again that if you're paying both though it will go up to 125 but if you're only paying water it's 50 or 40 and if you're paying sewer it's 85 um and again those are refundable to the customer um after 24 months um of good payment history so and then got approximately you know 35 other fees and all this is available in the report um but we all are seeking approval to um increase fees that have not been and not been adjusted in quite some time interestingly the new account fee is actually being proposed to go down from 2841 to $25 so that is one fee that is actually going down aside from the the sewer impact fee and so with that we are recommending approval of the utilities rates and fees and ask um the board's approval for those for the next two years I'd be happy and Brian I would be happy to answer any questions you might have he Commissioners this is a public hearing so before we get into questions and all that I'm going to go ahead and open the public hearing all right any questions comments or concerns Commissioners Madam chair I would just like to say that uh on this particular topic I think all five of us have received uh a lot of information we've seen this uh presentation at at least four times each and I think that proves that it's very thorough and a good sign of good government agreed all right thank commissioner Moss I just want to say um especially that line chart is um encapsulates the entire situation the we were on a Glide path basically toward financial disaster for this util for our utilities so you know thank you for bringing it to our attention didn't happen overnight um this is something that needed to be addressed uh over time and wasn't and I'm glad that you uh brought it to our attention I mean maintaining and financing infrastructure is one of our key responsibilities as elected officials so thank thank you for helping us to live up to our responsibility all right we all got a chance to see the movie right we can if you'd like to see the quick quick movie see a movie that sure absolutely John lisy put together well Jay Shar our Our Community Affairs manager put the video together and he did an excellent job so complete with costumes I like that I like the Wardrobe Department hi my name is seis I'm utilities director for River County Utilities we a water waste water Solid Waste as well as reclaimed water utility I'm here today to talk to you primarily though about against our water waste water and repl water rates basically fund ourselves and you can kind of see behind me uh this is one of our water treatment facilities we have two such water treatment facilities in the county we also manage three wastewater treatment facilities as well as a large sewer system and and water distribution system and in order to maintain an operate those systems we have to have a large amount of funding and that funding is primarily served through our rates and fees we are not served by uh the general fund whatsoever so we do not receive taxes from the county we're called what we call an Enterprise fund we are only uh provided funding through our rates and our fees for the past year we've been working on our rate study we haven't raised our rates in a while and knew we couldn't continue under our current rate structure this table shows what we would happen if we don't raise our rates and fees we couldn't make repairs Replacements or rehabilitate our aging infrastructure and this would negatively affect our ability to continue providing safe and reliable Services during the study when our rates were compared to 14 peer utilities we found that we had the lowest rates in our region the recommendations coming from this study suggest to keep providing safe Clean Water and Wastewater Services we need to increase our rates and fees we plan to do this over two years starting in January 2025 and again in October 2025 even after the rate adjustments we will still have the lowest rat in the region to put this into perspective an average volume user will experience an increase of less than $10 on their monthly bill as it goes from about $50 to $60 it important to understand the cost of water will still be very affordable especially when compared to other basic needs and their costs check out this graphic it shows the cost and value of water as compared to other items you might typically buy after a public process that starts with a public workshop on the rates and fees changes the board of County Commissioners will hold a hearing and then vote on the new rates and fees this fall Indian River county is our home and we at the department of utility services are committed to providing the lowest cost safe and reliable services to our communities while also ensuring these services are there for you well into the future we are reviewing our rates and our fees annually to ensure we are operating sustainably to learn more about the rate study please visit www.cu ility rates.com until next time this is Sean leis director of Indian River County Department of utility services signing off fastic Stars Bor have a future if ever you decide not to be a utilities director all right anybody from the public wishing to speak please come up to the podium and state your address Tom Sullivan 4187 West 16 square uh I'm a big proponent of Sean he does a great job actually I I thought he should have got a raise when he was doing both jobs the bridge end tunnel and his own job but Sean has his own fan club now he's already started the celebrity now that I got his movie um so my question and I guess Sean might be had to answer this was on the on the Water and Sewer impact fee okay my question was can we raise the connection fee because according to unfortunately I read this stuff okay uh Florida statute 163 31801 authorizes local government to oppose impact fees as a condition of development approval and provides guidelines for calculating and using impact fees that uh that study that was done they know that they that that doesn't apply through water and sewer hookups am I correct um well if you could bring that up on the screen for me are you talking the impact yeah the impact study and I like I said I'm just trying to help out you I think we get more money heads you talking this I'm talking page three oh of the report itself of the report itself oh I I can't I don't have okay okay all right so no that's all right okay so but I think you're gonna understand what I'm saying at the end I read that whole report and at the end it said Water and Sewer hookups are not govern by that principle yeah I know they are adjustable my point I think I know what you're asking so the impact fees cover I know purchase into capacity right so the existing capacity we have water plants we have waste water plants we have an infrastructure so the impact fee is to cover their their fair share of buying into that capacity yes we do have a connection fee that we do charge as well that's the one that is is basically to help cover the cost of let's say the the delivery of that water to the home that's the what I'm talking and so that that is being adjusted we are adjusted adjusted and that's the one that you even said the sewer would go down on well no that's that's the impact fee so the impact fee is is is buying into capacity there's also a connection charge but what we talked about in your first uh display that you put up today about future uses that impact fee can go towards that into an account am I correct yes if we were to ra that yes that's all I'm saying my my feeling is that with the amount of development going on I I I come to this point all the time that it's well worth it for the developers to develop because our impact Fe is all low I would rather see the impact fee on water and sewage only I can't figure out fire and ambulance stuff you know that but if we would raise that sufficiently I'm not saying kill them but I think it should be raised because when you think about the amount of growth that is happening right right now that's going to directly affect you it's not indirectly affecting you and it's going to directly affect everybody that has a house in town sure so I I understand what you're saying and you know when they evaluate those impact fees they have to evaluate what's someone buying into the existing system right and so right now we have an existing system not in the case of water and seage well it right now we do but going forward there is a chance which is why you see I think we just did a major modification to our our water plant which is probably why the impact fee for water is going up because you have to buy into that system right if in the future we have to build a new Water and Wastewater Plant those impact fees would absolutely go up I I have no problem with that so again that that's an evaluation that as we look to that and if we had to in the in the future look to be building a new um and and Laura actually was stch Laura turo is here um and maybe she can speak to this if I can't but one of the things they do is if you as you look into the future let's say we say okay about 5 years from now we need to build a new water and sewer we would have to re-evaluate those impact fees and determine if they're sufficient to cover the cost of some of that well what about the what about the Consultants that you just hired and if we were to object into the future they would tell us what our water Deeds would be with the new population and therefore we could charge these fees and again I think you're familiar then you would be the consultant that would be familiar that this does not apply to water and sewage and actually the last I think it's on the last page it actually can you speak into the microphone I'm sorry on the last page it actually says error when you go to site the code of your report if you want to come to the other Podium so we're not like all crowded I want to say together I want I want more money too I just want to know where it's coming from right and and we should be part of this conversation not just otherwise you guys can just have a sidebar so yeah just so speak hi good morning to speak to that point it would be we did two different studies so the buyin and the incremental so one that assess the current assets and what it cost for that capacity and then based on future expansions that have already been approved what that would cost as the capacity so it actually benefited the utility to use the the one where we assess the current assets and that's what came up to the lower sewer impact fee however in maybe a year or two if we were to reassess the impact fees based on the new expansions we would be able to Inc increment that just to apply for the new capacity so what I'm hearing from you is that impact fees are based on our current system and as our system changes we will continue to review impact fees and make adjustments up or down to them based on on the system that we have the usage the customer base and all that kind of thing correct okay I I have no problem with that I'm just saying that by Statute the state allows for us to increase the water and sewage attachment fees is that correct the connection fee or the impact fee con the connection fee okay that's totally separate than impa that's what I'm asking Sean so when when this when this impact fee was done we talk about impact that's a much broader category am I correct Sean well I I think you're your confusing a couple things the impact fee is a specific fee that is meant to accommodate purchasing into capacity of the system uh and so we evaluate our current capacity we evaluate what those fees are and someone's someone's buying in and as those as those assets depreciate the value of that asset goes down which is kind of why like the sewer rates going down because we've had sewer plants that they're depreciating they're going down in value therefore someone buying into it today is not necessarily having to pay what someone did yes you know yesterday the problem is is with those impact fees you've got to look at if in the future we needed a new plan those impact fees would have to evaluate the cost of that new facility and someone buying into that overall capacity which then may necessitate increasing that impact fee there's also a connection fee that people pay that is separate from the impact fee that accommodates the the cost of the buried infrast structure the pipelines that it takes to get them that water um and that's the connection fee that they pay so M chair can I just kind of sure add some so just understanding that with impact fees it there's a fair share principle and it's based upon while it does take into consideration it's about New Growth so it takes into the capital plan that's proposed as we know we don't have a really robust Capital plan for the sewer at this moment in time so therefore or you can only allocate or assign and you can't arbitrarily raise an impact fee unless it's based upon the actual data the footnote to which you are referring to is under demonstrated needs analysis in section three it's saying that if we were to raise the water and sewer connection fees the provision for phasing that in Over a four-year period is not applicable to those specific it's that's that's what that footnotes for it's not saying that that you can't do it or you can do it it's just saying it's not applicable to the phasing in approach I mean that we're required to by this statute for the impact fee right but the statute for the impact fee does not cover okay correct just let me just ask this are you trying because we're like running around we're running around the house 700 what I'm trying to do Mrs Adams is I am trying to raise the fee that people pay to attached to water and sewage so you want us to consider raising the connection fee that's correct okay thank you I appreciate that okay because because under under state law even under this C even under the law that's cited which is 163 31801 that's allowable and under under statute 180 13-2 city council or other legislative body of municipality May establish just and equival rates on charges okay I just want I appreciate that and as we move forward we'll take that under consideration thank you so much I like living here I and I appreciate you living here too very much all right anybody else from the public all right seeing none Commissioners any more questions or comments for staff Adam chair on a side note our building permits and our inspections are down year to date from last year yes yes all right if there's no other input then I will close the public hearing Commissioners what is your pleasure mam chair move approval and I'll be happy to second that commissioner lur will second that and I just Sean um I've had the opportunity to visit some of the plants lately and they are awesome our operators are fantastic so I know um you know this kind of impacts them and their ability to grow and do so just want to give them a shout out for doing an awesome job we have amazing facilities if you guys haven't been out to see them they are very fascinating Water and Wastewater I'd welcome you anyone anytime to come out and it is a fun field trip to see how it all works but and and I'd be just real quick I'd be remiss if I didn't really think Laura and Andy and the Stant Tech Team for all their hard work on this I mean they really did a a bang up job and and we couldn't have done this without their their services so I just want to take a minute to thank them too thank you all right there is a motion by commissioner fleser with a second by commissioner lore all in favor opposed motion carries thank you so much thank you very much all right with that Commissioners are we doing good you want to do one more before we'll take a break at 10:30 for commissioner okay with that we'll move on to local provider participation fund approval welcome Mrs prto this is also a public hearing thank you commissioner Susan PR Deputy County attorney Indian River County um so today is our annual meeting that we have for the local provider participation fund um the local partic provider participation fund was approved and an ordinance was adopted back in September 2021 this is our annual assessment of the hospitals Sebastian Lawnwood and Cleveland Clinic um there's still no exponential from the county on this um we don't spend any funds on this um so at this point in time we would ask that the board go ahead and open the public hearing take any public comment and vote whether to approve the local provider participation fund resolution and letter of agreement and I'm open for any questions if you have any all right at this point I will open the public hearing Commissioners any questions comments or concerns of Staff seeing none if there's anybody from the public that wish to speak on this item please come to the podium and state your name and address for the record hi thank you can everyone hear me okay my name is Dr Richard Rothman I'm the chief executive for Cleveland Clinic in New River hospital um thank you guys for having me here today um so we're here in support of the resolution um for those of you that are not aware uncompensated care in Indian River County um continues to be a top priority for Health Systems as we look to balance the care that we deliver um as a microcosm of that Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital in 2023 delivered over $20 million in unfunded care um and that's exclusive of a 9.8 million Gap um from our Medicaid payment um for the public and as it behoves the commission we we continue to see a decrement of about 40% of our payment meaning that um for the care that we deliver Medicaid funds about 60% of that um and this payment helps for helps us reconcile some of that difference um and so to that effect um we're here to speak on behalf of the Cleveland CL Comm River hospital and other uh healthcare providers in the community in support of the great resolution thank you happy to take any questions any questions no all right thank you anybody else welcome hello uh Colleen Ernst with otono Healthcare Ventures we're a consulting company that works with the hospitals across the state on this program I've been here a few times before it's always good to be back uh just want to say thank you especially compliments to your staff for all of the hard work to implement this program to keep it going every year this program continues to grow uh we now have 26 jurisdictions in Florida participating in similar assessments of their hospitals to support closing the Medicaid reimbursement Gap so it's a growing program it's a successful program every jurisdiction that has started doing this has continued and and as I said additional jurisdictions are coming online so it's it's a wonderful initiative we're very grateful for what you do and for your staff's time in this initiative fantastic thank you so much I'd like to also return to Cen uh the if you could recall the the first time that we've climbed this ladder yes it was a a very lengthy clim I think today is not and uh I want to thank you for facilitating and explaining it and working with our County attorney thank you thank you so much anybody else chair move approval all right let me close the public all right now approve second all right I have a motion by commissioner lore with a second by commissioner flesher all in favor opposed motion carries thank you commissioner all right Commissioners um Mr Rigby was unable to make it today so he will reschedule for the public discussion items and with that we will take a 5 minute res for e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e call the meeting back to order and we will move on to County administrators matters 11a approval of proposed 2025 IND County centennial celebration welcome welcome do we have a centennial happy birthday song for the county I feel like uh you don't want me sing practice that that's not something I do I I can sing but nobody wants to hear it kind of surprised about that um I have a presentation fantastic um I would like to start off by thanking you for allowing me to present today and um I see some of my Pioneer people people in the audience so I'm excited to see that as well um so Indian River county is starting to gather information coordinate so we can have our 100-year celebration starting in January of of 2025 so in 1925 um took several months but the county the S the virau residents wanted to go ahead and create their own County there were some issues they were having with St Lucy County so instead of them being able to work them out they went ahead and they had to go up to tasse and petition to have the county established um basically there were some funding questions and so forth but the final straw was St Lucy County had blue laws which meant that one of them on a Sunday you could not one Sunday you could not watch movies at the movie theater and so they came the sheriff came up and decided to arrest people and so they said that's it we're done with this we're going to go Ahad head and we're going to start our own County so through like I said through several times they went up to uh tasse and they were able to get Governor Martin to approve Indian River County so in uh May of 1925 it was signed by Governor Martin with a 30-day stipulation before it came into law so our actual 100-year anniversary is going to be on June 29th of 2025 the one thing that I think is kind of comical is that when Indian River County became its own County they wanted so badly to get away from St lcy County but they stole their seal and I say stole in a in a comical way not like you know they Cen criminals um but that is why we have the elk head because it was for the Elks Lodge that was something that um the Elks Lodge was very prominent in in the St County and so that is how come we have that seal today and then a lot of people say oh what about the oranges originally that was grapefruit so we're just going to go with what everybody wants to call it today it's Citrus um and you can see on the smaller white part of it that is the meeting notes part of it from the original Indian River County minutes Board of County Commissioners from the first meeting so we have a lot of events planned so far this is not an extensive list but this is a list that has pretty much giving you an idea of what we're going to do every month is going to include something April has been designated as Earth month so there will be several things within the county we're trying to work with the Parks and Recreation Department to do those things um we have lectures we have seminars we have movies we have a um Heritage Center event with the Uso event so they're working with the veterans Council to kind of duplicate a dance and dress up in costume of World War II um so there's a lot of different events we have several things that will be happening in gford um a lecture series and um civil rights and so forth and then we also have a Pioneer dinner ceremony and this is actually going to be Ur served and I have donors that have are helping out with with the beverages no alcohol but this will be to honor the people whose fames start started this great County then we'll have a history fair and a parade a nighttime parade so that should be fun and then we will have a time capsule ceremony but that will take place the day after the Centennial 100 Year during this time frame we're also going to have walking tours for downtown Sebastian we have felsmere walking tours gford walking tours Downtown Vero Beach we're going to have a pub crawl um one of my I don't want to call them my favorite because that sounds terrible but uh Indian River Distillery is going to make us a centennial whiskey so I'm looking forward to what that's going to taste like um that will be capped at a 100 bottles so when that comes out people are going to want to get their their bottle then um but the pub crawl will be taking place over a month because I don't want people driving to you know a certain number of bars and weekends and getting plastered I don't believe in that so that will take place over a month we will have a citrus squeeze where people will go and um they will take pictures along the Citrus Trail Mar Mania historical markers again going along where the historical markers are all of these things people will be taking selfies with these locations they'll come back or they'll send us the pictures and then we'll give them a raffle ticket and that ticket will go into a pot and then they will be eligible to win a prize and I've got several great things right now that are for prizes so that will be a lot of fun um this is a sponsorship level and currently I have confirmed $122,000 in sponsorships and we haven't even started so I think that's pretty good to go with that um I do have a ray of sunshine which is more for individual sponsorships and that is kind of basically pick your own so say you have a mom and pop business there's only one or two of you but you want to have a yard sign or a garden flag this is the way you can purchase it and still be part of it you can also purchase it individually if you don't want to be a sponsor and that is my presentation there's one of the yard signs there um it would have the the county logo the Centennial logo I apologize and it would have the sponsor's name on it and that would be something that they could put in their yard and um we have a wonderful website that we have worked very diligently on I have to give Scott Johnson and Tracy gallentine all the credit for putting that that website together um they've done a phenomenal job and they basically I send them stuff and they just put it where I need it and I look at it and give the okay to to go ahead and post it um and that website is Indian R.G go100 I'm open for questions fantastic well Madam chair I I just want to say that uh I I know we all had the opportunity to have the presentation and discussion and I want to say that you have done a remarkable job thank you in the short time that you've gotten together and you you've taken information I know that you've already reached out to some of those contacts as well to enhance it I also would like to um you know we're very proud that we are the first uh uh we the first conservation uh project a designation uh by Teddy Roosevelt in the United States yes very much part of Indian River and I wanted to see if we can get Teddy to come and talk a little bit about it uh because it's very important uh you pointed out the uh the icons yes we kind of borrowed the elk and as as you know uh it was endangered even though no elk ever existed in any River County a few years back there was some folks that wanted to take away the elk and change that uh we've done enough with the Citrus that uh I I I think I want to admire the logo the design and going forward as we were talking um you gave a list of merchandising and of course there'll be more sponsorships but I I believe that you know we get one opportunity and having seen other uh municipalities and jurisdictions that have done their hundredth uh it is a large undertaking and uh I want to say thank you for your conservative approach in your merchandising and selection process uh I I don't know how you're doing it all okay I don't either but I'm enjoying it but we appreciate it but a as I discussed um your numbers were extremely low and uh I see what the the budget is I would like to see it increase by about $220,000 uh to again that's availability for use it's not uh directly infused and it's not spent and I want uh everyone to know that uh this is uh the draw but I would I would like to see uh an additional $20,000 designated I saw some of the uh the items in which you were choosing and uh again that's I'll say it again it was fairly conservative we get one shot at this none of us are going to be around for the 200 I believe I don't know but uh it's safe to say that we got to do it right and you're putting a lot of work into it so that that's my comment I would like to see that increase Madam chair thank you okay other Commissioners comments do we have the ability to increase that Mike motion find the money if that's what you want okay Madam chair it may may be a little premature to raise it at this time I'm sure Michelle can come back for as if needed we know that some of the sponsorship dollar are going to offset our initial investment so hopefully this can wind up being a net zero you know I I agree with that but this is an earmark it's not uh it's not writing the check it's giving it the opportunity uh again sh's uh approach has been extremely conservative I'll say for the third time and um her knowing that she might be able to expand the opportunity to make this even a greater success I I I I just would like like to see that done of course we could always do an amendment I don't know if uh she's going to get into the thick of it now and as we progress I think I'd like to set it on the right tracks from the very beginning as opposed to having to make an amendment what would you propose the extra dollars be used for uh well I again looking at some of the Endeavors uh I don't know did you have that list up um I have the list of the merchandising and uh it it was it was conservative yes um I I believe that uh uh the local municipality who had just uh endeavored through and is still wrapping that up uh ran into some close calls and uh in the very beginning um is it happened I I see Fred Jones is uh at the podium uh maybe he wants to share some of the trials and tribulations uh in having the recent Sebastian celebration yeah um no I appreciate that and and I think one of the things I don't know what the budget is right now but I can tell you if you're talking about doing a fireworks display right now for a decent one that's going to cost you upwards of $30,000 if you're talking about getting Teddy Roosevelt and personator that's going to cost you quite a bit of money because this guy is really good we have him but it costs a lot of money to get him there so I don't know like I said I don't know what the budget is but if you can increase it so that you guys can have a a great celebration that would be wonderful so because it's going to cost it's not easy the merchandise is only going to raise so much money but you've got to put some other money in there to pay for these other things that you're going to need and and once again uh again it we you've had some close calls with uh having to finance uh yes there will be money generated uh but uh by the same token I I think if we do it do it now we do it right and we can get the get the job done yeah I think the if you guys can put money in there more money in there it's going to be better for the county for your team that's actually doing this setting this up and actually running it it's going to really be a great help to them if you can add some more money to it I don't know how you do it but I I think it'll be a great great idea to do that because they're going to need every single dollar that they can get because the merchandising you can only count on that so far so you've got to have other funds that's put in there and and in addition it does not have to be used but it could be used um and it I I just believe the timing is now as opposed to halfway up the road uh we have to remind ourselves you know this is for the citizens we have uh just short of 170,000 citizens in in River County but uh more importantly is that this is a tourist draw people are going to come for this event and they are going to spend money in our community and they are going to attend it happens in Sebastian and people want to be participating uh in an event a moment occasion so I believe there's more of a drawer than meets the eye right and then also The Upfront cost for all your merchandise you're prob going to have to do that and whether or not you can make that back and make a profit above what you spent on the merchandise itself so this is why I'm saying the more money that you can put in there the the better off it's going to be so that you can have a great event for for your 100th Year celebration so thank you um I don't necessarily have a problem with spending a little bit more money I just would prefer that if that's something that we were going to do it was clearly delated what that was going towards versus just extra swag because I feel like if it's going towards an event of some sort or some kind of hoopla that to me is is a better expenditure of the money than on bags and vinyl clings and whatever I have not reached out to um Teddy Roosevelt 2.0 to find out how much it would cost for him to come here um the other thing is the parade was going to have a laser show and so that gentleman is working with me but he did not give me a quote yet and so if firworks were roughly 30,000 that's my whole parade fund that I had for that and so if there's extra money needed for something like that I'm I would be more willing to to add it in now versus I just don't think we need to spend 20 extra, on swag no no and I I that was not my intent uh but also and Teddy was recommendation it it might be outclassed and I rather see it with a laser show and fireworks and celebration and uh things that are going to bring our community together uh I I think that's very important important and some of the the great events that you have lined uh there's going to be there's also cause factors there I know that uh some of our tourism Partners have uh developed uh some plans in in with the DDC money as well uh looking to make sure that they have everything in in a row for the celebration so uh it it is quite quite the undertaking yet yes sir Michael zto Deputy County Administrator good morning uh we could certainly it's September we can certainly come return to the board and early November with a more refined budget request if if that's the commission's preference and um I think that would probably make okay most I mean I'm not disagreeing with you that we can put a little bit more in there I just think we need to kind of Mark out what it's for so everybody's on the same page yes if we have time then that would be fantastic I mean that would would be great too I mean that's plenty of time yeah November just wanted to get it out there thank you sure so maybe just rework the budget with a little bit more in events and some fun cool stuff and maybe have a I'm not saying go crazy but have an aspirational budget and a midline budget and a you know what I mean yes didn't we can kind of I do agree we're only going to do this once we are definitely I mean I like to think I'm going to live forever but I'm not going to be here for 200 you're the youngest member on the board and I can guarantee you I will not be here at 200 unless something happens in the medical world that I'm unaware of but be that as it may you know we only do 100 once so we should celebrate it so if I may let me just say uh this uh came onto our radar uh we had just had a new County Administrator appointed uh he immediately embraced it with great enthusiasm and and had a meeting with me and um you know my comment to him was John if you want something done right give it to a librarian and so this is Michelle Wagner by the way we haven't introduced her she's taken it um upon herself leadership role in this endeavor and she has doing a tremendous job we we're great it's above and beyond her um calling uh as most of you know she is our genealogy librarian and that division of the library system which is thriving um is is special and and uh just want to thank you for everything you thank you and I can already say this is shaping up to be much more of a to-do than the city of felm's 100th anniversary which was cupcakes and a laser show so there you go we're on a good track all right thank they were delicious cupcakes I mean you can't really go wrong with cupcakes weave that into the budget somewhere and we'll be good to go all right thank you so much Michelle we appreciate everything that you're doing on this all right did we need a motion on that are you do you want a motion to approve the tenative budget and then you can come back with yes ma'am okay move Mo to approve okay the 160,000 yes the one that's presented and then we'll bring something back in November that's a little bit expanded okay there's a motion by commissioner I did flesher with a second by commissioner Moss all in favor I opposed motion carries and with that we will move move on to 11c revision to am 503.com chair uh with the negotiations for teamsters one of the items that came up and that was negotiated down was to have two personal days uh as part of their Collective bargain and agreement uh we believe it's fair that the that same should apply to our non-union employees each year uh the estimated cost for that is $139,450 and that would give um the a total of uh holidays observed under the policy would be 12 versus the uh or well 13 versus the 12 okay Commissioners questions Madam chair know that um this may have Genesis may have been the teamsters but in keeping up with U or established policies and procedures it benefits every employee of the agency so a good move fantastic all right personal days are always much needed especially when you have a lot going on like we do in IND over County so I encourage everybody to utilize them Centennial parade and go to the Centennial par grade or eat cupcakes or whatnot all right um any other comments questions or concerns seeing none no was still moved oh I'm sorry a motion by commissioner flesher I'll be happy to second that all in favor opposed motion carries with that we will move on to Revis policy am 68.1 use of conference and meeting rooms and administration buildings A and B and commission Chambers yes m chair members of the board uh please recall it's probably been some time but uh there was a request to update the policy for the use of the conference meeting rooms we've done that 68.1 and we've uh you know carved out the commission Chambers specifically they cited them cited them versus just making them part of the meeting rooms so what we are recommending is that uh request for meeting rooms uh by entities external to the county um that would be outside be obtained uh for the excuse me I stand corrected EX for the request for the chambers for outside entities governmental entities would be required to be approved by the County Commission whereas request for the meeting rooms in A and B Building A and B could be approved by the County Administrator to reduce the number of requests that would come before the board and uh with that we have a set of Co comments or with the policy as it relates to specific items like for example the the audiovisual equipment that they would require the assistance and you know uh and make that ADV Advance request to our County's it Department I believe this is reflective of the direction that the board provided uh last year and so or earlier this year so uh just bringing it back for your consideration and we did carve out because I know that was a concern how the 4 leadersh competition is something in which the County Commissioners participate in those proceedings so therefore that's uh covered all right Commissioners questions comments M sure one thing uh I would be careful in any formulation of any policy or procedure including a specific entity which is included here I I spoke to the administrator about it yesterday and and I can live with it the uh second condition is it should be out out lined of the fees of our U employees in the IT department that whatever entity uses it if it's after hours uh then we need ample reimbursement okay so do you want that included in here or as an attachment oh it's a policy I would think so yeah and then if we include the fees in there for the other meeting rooms not the chamber correct then we would need to include something that says it would be reviewed annually as those fees increase because you don't want to lock in as correct as stuff goes up so is that something that can be added in do we have a cost on that we don't have a cost but we could we normally charge them the cost you know like with the school district uh they did not use on canvasing day they did not use our it folks so Chambers was available they had their own person and they consulted with ours but generally speaking they use theirs so we did not charge them anything do you want it to say something as simple as um reimbursement for any cost incurred by the county to provide the room available or something like that right I think so and that being said the policy is over 10 years old and I think it we have to live with the policy that we established okay um so number five would be reimbursement for any cost incured by the county related to the rental of the or the the use of the space I will ask the attorney how she would suggest that we word that and if you don't have something off the top of your head maybe we can just give direction to have something that is acceptable to the attorney inserted in there that kind of covers the gist of what we're trying to say are you trying to do it just it or all St whichever you might as well include it all since it's a living policy any old person course and Technology okay all right is there any um any other feedback on the policy commissioner leer anything or was that all for you commissioner for no no I I appreciate that because we do the same thing with the fair grounds if we have to have somebody in in in the base of operation and also include that as well to commissioner laur's point do you want us to make item number two generic you know whereby any partic event that the in which the Border County Commissioners participates make it kind of generic and that would incorporate 4 and then not call out specifically 4 they would seek your approval either way correct if it's for the for the meeting rooms yes but for the chambers it's a board I would just be careful identifying a specific entity we support 4 uh but remember this policy will be in existence decades perhaps would you prefer it not to say 4 and then they can just come to us or okay so then that that means that that would uh predicate a approval at the board each and every time that's what I'm try annual event it's annual yeah that's what I'm trying to is that the way you guys want to handle it I think it's fair to other agencies other entities as well anything else commissioner flusher anything commissioner Moss F fine with me as proposed okay all right we got all those changes we're good so then we would basically need a motion to approve the policy as amended with direction to the attorney to insert remove okay second all right we have a motion by commissioner lure with a second by commissioner flesher all in favor opposed motion carries all right let's see where we are here next is planning and development services 12 H1 urban service boundary study Workshop announcements welcome thank you madam chair for the record Ryan Sweeney assistant planning Vel Services director hopefully my shortest item I ever present to you all no don't jinx it Ryan the uh final uh findings and recommendations will be presented at a special call board County Commissioners meeting on Wednesday October 30 starting at 2 pm. um all of the projects materials are available currently on the projects dedicated website which is www. inspiren engagement. indan Rivery in USB but if you just Google Indian River USB study it comes right up okay that would be the easier way for the community because even think I can type that in Google Indian River USB and every study and everything will come up correct so special call meeting to discuss October 30th 2024 at 2 pm correct in commission Chambers yes all right is that good with everybody I think you had something but it was earlier and 2:00 was my understanding was our understanding could accommodate your unless we are right I have uh I have a speaking engagement but also have canvasing board um so right around that time so we we'll be good we'll be good we'll be good okay all right awesome thank you we look forward to it all right let's see now County attorneys matters you know I have to say you for your first meeting kind of loaded yourself up but it's all good stuff so let's do it out Susan's doing the heavy lifting there you go perfect all right first item is purchase of property for Fire Station Number 15 good morning again commissioner Susan PR Deputy County attorney yes so um the county staff has been in negotiations for purchase of Fire Fire Station 15 I believe it's the temporary fire station that's located off of that North County behind the pool or by the in the pool parking lot actually it's not even parking lot it's the trailer adjacent to the pool so County staff has located a parcel that they wish to desire so they can actually build a final fire station or a permanent fire station and relocate the temporary um so that's what this per um this particular item is about the particular parcel is about 10.5 Acres it's zoned as through residential up to three units per acre it is located on the west side of County Road 510 if you look at the attachment there to there's kind of a photograph there on page two um of the agenda item there's a rather large lake SL retention area to the right um and to the West is the particular parcel that we're looking at purchasing it is across the street from a couple of um individual residential Parcels in the ver Lake estate's area and it's just south of the Sebastian high school you can see it says Hammer Headway just above there on the picture in the memo um so this particular parcel is the one we were interested in it is the purchas deal agreement that's attached here to is for the amount of $ 1.35 million um at this point in time staff is seeking to purchase this uh we have let staff know that um I think there is one thing just to bring to the board's attention is that there is a request to have um particular language in there just limiting any future uses to just governmental uses um they're requesting to have that put on the deed so at this point in time staff is seeking the position of the board on whether they'd like to enter into the purchase and sale agreement for the proposed Fire Station Number 15 site if you do choose to approve the purchase and sale agreement please also authorize the chairman to execute same fantastic all right commissioners questions comments and concerns Andor concerns no concerns I'm I'm excited uh it's been 10 years since we moved Fire Station 15 and now we can look forward to a permanent home uh concept to concrete I know that Chief is anxious and I want to thank the attorney for the negotiations and motion to Pro just I had just one question um how are you defining governmental uses since we're limiting um or limited to that it's not necessarily defined and I can tell you because they were wanting to limit it just to the fire station but because um and I think maybe John can answer some of this a little better I think the area is bigger than what's required for the fire station but I'm not sure what they intended future uses are but I believe John can answer that question we did not want to limit it just to the fire station because we do have other plans there's maybe there's an opportunity to create a North County you know Public Works compound where we can store material to limit the time that it would take to bring material for the roads uh you know by dump trucks you know maybe can be a little bit more as well as Park the greater somewhere that's protected versus in the RightWay that exists right now so but we were adamant that we were not going to and plus it's it's broad the fact that they just said governmental uses but assume governmental uses would cover anything that is a use owned by a government that's how I would Define it broadly be something uh for example for the public benefit um park or something like that no it could be yes I mean I I would think so I mean the term is the idea was to leave it pretty broad so any future uses because I think the idea was were wanting to restrict um us from selling it to other people or like we do sometimes keeping the portion and selling off the remainder um so this way at least um this is what they would agree to was the governmental uses language and it's the broadest kind of brushstroke I think we can kind of provide um so we do not box ourselves into a corner of a specific use per se commissioner Moss what I think staff at least in the conversations I've had with them is we this is 10 Point some odd acres and we need basically three acres for a fire station that leaves Seven Acres that the intention is to or at least conceptually at this point utilize that for another type of facility Public Works facility has come up um what happens now in the north county and particularly in the ver Lake Estates area and I get a lot of phone calls about this is when they um are amassing material for the roads or they are cleaning out drainage areas and that type of stuff they are dumping and storing that in the right of way which is county-owned property but it's next to people's homes and you know we've had some issues in the past where the neighbors are upset because it's they drying out um we had an issue where the the material had to sit for an exponentially longer time than intended because there were gopher tortoises in it because there's a lot of gopher tortoises in so that raises other issues and I think a lot of our equipment is stored at the north county park which is not ideal um this would allow us to have kind of um a count a North County Annex of sorts whether it's specifically for public works or utilities or anything like that a staging area we don't have anything up there um it's similar to the north county offices that we we have for some of our con constitutionals this would provide that for kind of our infrastructure departments um and I think you know that is a good location it's kind of midway between everything I don't see this as being left or turned into a a park at some point I think there's other areas in that vicinity that might do that um but you also have to consider 512 I mean 510 is going to be widened actually I think that portion is the first the first phase um and then that that pond is being used as a storm water Pond for part of that as well and if I may this because it's zoned RS3 um if any other uses obviously other than the fire station believe the fire station said administrative use it would need to be free zone for whatever it would be so the board would inevitably see it again because it would have to go through a pnz for rezoning and then back up to all so you would it wouldn't be like it was something that would completely disappear into an abyss as far as is what happens to it okay thank you commissioner lore yes ma'am Madam chair the U administrator touched on what I was going to talk about about the storage but as important um less than two miles away with the CDD at Liberty Park uh which requires another fire station which is a good example some may say it's they're too close to each other but I would I would disagree with that in that we would have two in that North County area uh considering the anation and some growth that we anticipate so uh I don't think we can have too many particularly the way the movement's happening in in North County so motion approved all right we we have a motion and a or we have a motion by commissioner flesher a second by commissioner lore any further discussion anybody from the public Chief do you want to you don't have to but you're welcome to you're here I know I mean we're yeah I just want to thank the commission for purchasing this we've been waiting a long time to find a piece of property and to finally be able to act on it is is a great day for us uh I thank our County Administrator for pushing us for this and I don't see him our uh real estate adjuster who found this property for us Ken KR now he he helped us a lot for this and he's helping us for future Land Development for stations also so thank you again for this great opportunity to move forward to North County support and coverage so and we do already have money for construction yes it's already funded we've just ma'am for the residents been waiting on finding the property so now we can and we have a station plan we're going to use the same one we're as station 7 so we're just there's will no be be no delay for that wonderful I am very happy about that looking forward to theone compy there you go all right um motion and a second no further discussion all in favor I opposed motion carries thank you thank you all right with that I think you're up again on the new lease agreement with Rosland Women's Club for the Rosland community center this also has been a long time coming yes yes it has Commissioners thank you um so this particular lease agreement is uh a new lease agreement and it's almost a renewal of an old lease agreement from it looks like 1984 um for the Rosen Community Center which is located sorry in rosand community park off 12925 83rd Avenue in Sebastian Florida um the Rosland Women's Club has used this uh Community Center historically um kind of upkept it and also let it out to people um for small Gatherings baby showers and such um staff has entered into or come to an agreement with the Rosland women center for the rental of this particular um Center there's no funding required for this item um staff requests to know the desire of the board to choose to enter into the new lease agreement and if so we ask that the board U be authorized to execute the new lease agreement for the benefit of the board there is a copy of the original 1984 easement attached toer to along with the um proposed update dated new lease agreement that will last for it's a 10-year lease with an option for two 5-year renewals so a 20-year total time period fantastic and Commissioners just um in the effort for a little history and background the rosand uh Women's Club actually gave the rosand community center to the county many many many many years ago I think back in the 50s or 60s um and the they have acted as the custodians of the building um over time that lease and they you know kind of maintained it scheduled it and and and done that with it over time that lease has now expired and I think with the um Renovations that that happen we just want to kind of get it back in some kind of legal agreement so we're all marching forward with the same understanding so this is not something that wasn't done in the past and I just want to give the history for the nework Commissioners so with that are there any questions no U move to approve I'll be happy to second that Miss Greenberg I know you're here did you want to say anything as the representative of the rosand Women's Club I'll just say thank you to the staff um women can be a little bit uh demanding and and we feel like that we are off on a very good foot with the county and good report I I'm just I can't say enough for the staff that have really um facilities you know attorneys working through all of the little issues that we came together and with a vision that says this building needs to last another hundred years and how are we going to work together to make that happen and uh so I'm I'm just very pleased and appreciate um the work of Commissioners also uh being very Visionary in the whole process so that thank you from all of the ladies and the men because we do have our men's auxiliary thank you thank you we appreciate that all right there is a motion by commissioner Moss with a second by myself is there any further discussion anybody from the public seeing none all in favor opposed motion carries thank you for thank you commissioner for bringing that forward and getting that done and thank you to the ladies for all their hard work in rosand all right with that we're going to move on to commissioner matters commissioner flesher you are up on the gford neighborhood plan good morning still morning ah yes well thank you madam chair uh I did place his item on the agenda um for a variety of reasons uh gford neighborhood plan has a look about in in the audience uh again none of us none of us were here as the GI neighborhood plan was initiated as I look in the audience there are two that were here three that were here during the original if neighbor plan it was over 25 years ago um they were a lot younger then and their expectations were met for many years uh over that gif neighborhood plan and uh in around7 uh I guess we started entering into an economic downturn and uh some projects came to a halt or they were thwarted a bit I believe if I recall we we had to downsize the workforce in in rer county by county administrator uh had reduced the workforce by about 262 people Physicians uh that's Frontline and uh those that were getting the work done um so we a lot of lot of of the parts of the project were somewhat subdued um and as we carried on uh again some contined work was done but they were some of the uh items that are ongoing continual support but the uh some of the projects had just gone by the wayside in 2014 uh again not all of us were here I believe I was the only one that was here other than the uh constituents uh the GIF and neighborhood plan was Revisited uh that was the GI and neighborhood plan of 2014 uh many things were determined and it was looked at it was looked at about the report card and what had been done in the past and the shortcomings uh due to the economic down turn and the recovery uh I believe that we got on track after uh many uh meetings uh which we had uh meetings uh in gifed we participated with uh many of the the factions in the community uh specifically uh the GI Progressive League uh took a tremendous lead uh I'm looking at those individuals now and uh want to thank them for putting it in the Forefront we agreed again the gfed the gfed neighborhood plan is not just a plan it's a commitment we labeled it as a commitment a to do uh oriented uh movement moving forward and correcting some of the infrastructure items and the day-to-day operational items that quite frankly were not taking place and we also specified we would have an annual report card which we had done many times and we got quite a bit accomplished with the GI neighborhood plan but there was more work to be done uh we ran into some issues and getting uh some of the uh the heavy lifting uh done uh those were items that required a large amount of funding and a large amount of staff time large amount of staff time was was put into it and a lot of community time was put into it and members of the community as well uh just want to look at I provided the original the 2014 plan and more or less the checklist with the backup and if I I just reviewed and I actually uh walked through the community and looking at the different adjustments addresses and spoke with some of the constituents and uh spent some time after just a a meeting just a few weeks ago that we identified hey we we have work to be done well we in fact do have work to be done but a lot of stuff was done um I'd just like to point out uh and again because we have a new County Administrator I remind us we have quite a bit of changes in staff I don't think we have a staff member that was involved with the process here at at at the county um I I believe we've had ample changes and in those changes sometimes we get a little bit of disillusion and uh reduction of attention uh although uh I know that uh a staff member was uh updating at the GIF Community Center um it I don't necessarily believe that the uh the updates were when I read done or ongoing uh that pertains to some of the pro some of the minor projects and some of the actions well not all of them are actually done they're just in motion uh but I just want to talk about some of the bigger things that that were discussed um and one of them was uh we would talking about numbers just a few weeks ago uh 7.3 uh in the gford neighborhood uh action plan of 2014 was to repair and connect this sidewalk alongside of 45th Street and uh from 58 to US1 uh some of that was done uh 43rd to US1 but 43rd to 58th was not done and uh that was Reliant upon uh public works as far as the the note of responsibility uh I I believe that we should revisit that and see what the objections are what the constraints are and get the job done we had earmarked that for that was 2018 and then it was moved uh but that was because of ongoing concerns of of uh getting the project done by public works but it's now 2024 and I believe that uh we should have a fresh set of eyes to look at it and see if we can get the job done uh Monitor Street conditions um I I believe that we we might have not been as aggressive as we we could have been uh we have uh a lot of we just have gone through another rainy season we do have flood conditions and uh a reasonable amount of uh fractures in the in the roadway I.E like potholes or uh breakaways and and I believe that uh a little more attention to detail uh could be in order for that um there was a project uh that uh we were to seek right of way for uh donation uh for unplanted streets uh and we we denote that uh it was the prog gifed Progressive League that would be the responsible party um they can surely assist the giord progressive league has assisted Us in some sidewalk projects specifically the Old Dixie project uh which was about about 6 years ago uh and we were able to get the uh the right of way so we can improve and get the sidewalk done but um on 8.5 um the the DU date for that was uh because we were in need of RightWay was 2022 uh that's coming past and these were not tcid ear marks these were commitments that we were going to get the job done um I I don't believe that we can rely upon the uh Progressive League to be going door too on RightWay issues they again uh we're very grateful that they've helped us but I think we need to look at staff to uh look at those righto issues um there wasn't another one 8.6 uh which is uh to pave 302 Avenue North of 43rd Street and 35th Avenue North of 45th Street um and that was went to Public Works I believe there was some discussion about that whether constituents wanted that or not wanted that I know we did some um work and drainage and put a manhole uh or a person hole on in the center of the the roadway and uh it was applied with an anticipated elevation of that paved Road and uh well it stands up kind of high I have some pictures if you we need but take my word it is it is peaked up I think the County Administrator has been there as well uh it it's quite a few inches up and what happens is the roadway is uh roadway uh bed material which is cocaine and and uh aggregate uh but not asphalt and uh as it wears down we now have a temporary speed bump until there's more erosion then we'll have undercarriage tear outs and it it could be costly so I believe that we need to determine whether the commitment to the pavement of that roadway uh can be fulfilled or if it cannot due to the citizens not wanting it uh then maybe some corrective action could be taken perhaps a bid or a fairing around uh the uh the opening so that we don't have erosion and we don't have that as I was uh visiting that more recently I was watching the the cars pass up and they rise and fall and the undercarriage does come pretty close to the uh the the the metal cap so I believe it's a concern and I believe that we need to address it uh if if it's not um if it's not payable or if the citizens do not want to uh have it paved then we need to place that down as rejected by or refus by and if the intention was to make it better and that was part of the agreement we have to at least be transparent and and just make a statement that that that can't happen um we need to identify some again I just mentioned it uh along 38th we have a lot of uh drainage concerns um that was uh 2000 that's ongoing but that was a 2018 commitment um there was just just a a few items that I I wanted to to go um again uh on on 8.5 uh which was uh again we talked about seeking RightWay that was originally proposed for 2016 after some concern I believe uh and rich bker said this ain't never going to happen got it um got moved moved to uh a 2020 it was Revisited and then we uh then turned it to a 2022 due date for and now we still have RightWay failure um I will say that uh one of the uh larger projects uh that we we had was to develop a scope for coverting the canal south side of 45th Street which included a lot of work a lot of rideway lot of uh sidewalk and uh Canal uh completion uh we're able to uh with great work with the no uh Phil Matson and we lobbied uh fdot fdot is taking on that project so now we actually are going to get more because they want to do more sidewalking and they want to enhance the project that's the good news the bad news is we don't know where it's at so what we need to do is to have have staff uh be in touch with fdot monitor it and give the people an explanation of when it's happening a better timeline I believe that we need to address those uh areas uh that we can complete we also even though we have uh an an assessment that was done in in the GI Community uh as far as a public report card we were committed to a public report card and I believe the uh one of the last ones which we weren't getting a good grade uh because of some of the failures um I I I asked for an incomplete but when you ask for an incomplete it's to either finalize the project or to ask for a pause but now we have that but we didn't finalize the project um so a again I don't believe we achieved everything at with the GIF neighborhood plan I believe that we did a lot there is a lot on the giord neighborhood plan that really is continual or uh an enhancement of uh relationship with some of the services is we're able to provide the school district is able to provide the uh Chamber of Commerce is able to provide so it's not all inclusive that hey we you know we we didn't do it um there is a lot of work to be done but I've looked at the GI neighborhood plan and I see that there there's a lot of stuff that really just is just it it just happens and so uh you know so with that in mind I would like to propose that we target these areas ask for ask the County Administrator to look at all of these with the new staff that I I don't believe anyone here is was familiar with it that was in that operating capacity and I believe that we need to bring it forward and uh get the job done um if if that's the case um we can do that and then my second ask is uh the GI nebl plan is 10 years old and it was Revisited 14 years after it has initiated and I'd like to propose that we not only address these needs and concerns and be in touch with FDO for that other project but now propose to revisit the GI neighborwood plan once again uh and have a giid neighborhood plan 2025 uh we could probably clean up a lot of the things that are there so it's not cumbersome and we could probably look at infrastructure needs that we can place in a timely fashion okay what's everyone's thoughts yes commissioner Moss um I think my understanding is two of the biggest changes in the last 10 years are that uh Treasure Coast Community Health now has a location um in Gord and also you have the Treasure Coast uh Technical College which by the way is having um a fair uh this evening so uh it's open to the public I think it starts at 5:30 uh p.m. um I just have one question because you know you may know this and it it Trails off uh this is the uh and I'll just read it it's a cdbg grant for re rehabilitating substandard housing units and it was completed on July 10th 2018 with the BCC approved uh submitting the cdbg rehabilitation Grant application the last um document that I have on this is minutes from a meeting on January 10th uh 2020 and then it just it as far as the paperwork goes it appears to end unless you're aware of all the paperwork or documents that I could no I uh not uh the the granting committee has uh or the the committee has not met uh there was a lot of great difficulty due to the economy and getting uh a lot of it was out classed by the the challenges in the economy and that's the position we're in now we're also in the same position with affordable Workforce housing as well uh Sticks and Bricks are extremely expensive uh Insurance property uh there is a lot more involved with it other than we just didn't get the CBG grants and apply the funding I'm sorry did did not get it did not get the grant did not get the grant is that what saying I don't believe we have an open Grant at this time okay and this one this one from the past um how did how did that go did was it well did it accomplish anything I guess is what I'm wondering the previous one that was approved uh says completed July 10th 2018 how did how did that go morning Commissioners Chris Balter chief of long planning um that actually went very well we spent almost all of the $750,000 that we were awarded um for the low income areas that were in the county so it was spent not only in gford but it was spent in wabaso and felsmere the majority of the houses were done in the gford area it was a part of our rehab program for rehabbing houses it was also we used ship dollars as well I believe there was a total of I want to say 18 houses if I'm not mistaken that we did with our cdbg funds um we have not applied for cdbg funds currently uh we have actually been talking with our utilities department on possibly having them apply for the cdbg funds in the coming year or our public works department to do large projects in that area the rehab projects generally when you do housing projects you do a housing project then you take a year off or a couple years off from doing housing and do large projects with either our public works department or our utilities department um how we've supplemented that without doing the rehab projects for cdbg is with our ship in ARP dollars um with the ARP dollars just um sunsetting we've used our ship ship funds okay but it was very successful if I understand you correctly then the timing is such that we could consider a cdbg uh application at this time we would have to have a plan and it's uh I believe it's due in probably the next week or so so I believe that it would have to be a large scale project the rehab projects to do that type of work on housing we wouldn't have enough timing to write that so is is are the intervals annual then yes they are so this is something we could consider correct next next deadline okay thank you you're welcome other comments y good afternoon my name is Miguel Alberto davan I live in 3605 16th Street P Florida the reason I'm here I would like to own your proposal Mr flure regarding the local preference that were discussed uh previous meeting he I've been involved with unit against poverty they have been training a lot of young fellows and middleaged fellows they need work also ladies they've been training in all the aspect of construction and development ER they carry uh all the uh Li license and training uh so will you please you know uh look at it regarding that proposal to bring you know now now that you have the uh phones for all these you know uh local projects maybe you can you know uh help regarding local contractor preference on those uh capital projects that you that's coming online that's all I have I'm a Florida State Contractor and uh I'm licensing here I'm not a Indian River contractor I am Floria they contractor I'm I'm just you know say semi- retired it's a lot of fellows that they need you know proactive you know have involv in the the capital projects also ladies so please just take a look will be uh appreciated okay thank you thank you should be noted that we had a local preference um intact uh where um a match uh could overtake uh a a local organization uh could match and take over the contract um we had an attack for about a year and there was Zero participation uh I didn't see any harm in taking it off but the board at the time uh I didn't support it but uh the board at the time uh determined to take it off off the roles so we did not have a local preference but just as a reminder it in one year's time there was no participation uh and that was about 25 contracts were uh that were let out were monitored and there was no consideration anyway that's that's that's a thought as well but I I don't believe that that applies to some of the concerns that we have today I don't want to get off track uh I believe that we can uh address some of the concerns one of them is very costly I I understand that uh that RightWay issue is big uh I just wanted to know if we can uh revisit it and uh get it done if we can if not have the the mind of Well it can't be done but we'll have a gford neighborhood uh project plan 2025 that's again that's my thoughts okay anybody else from the public welcome Mr idet joid 457 57th Avenue I'm listening to uh commissioner Fletcher and uh in in spite of everything that's been said it's expensive high cost like I said the other day all these projects that are being done they're expensive don't don't uh hinder us because of uh gifer because we each year we we we we get those bills I got my bill sitting on the top of my uh cabinet now for the property taxes so we get all those things just like everybody else the the discussion the discussing of of the Gord neighborhood plan that's all great we've been doing it for years but it's time for implementation and uh that's what we're looking for now as opposed to a bunch of talking uh working it's just time it's time for implementation and all that's that's where I'm going to leave it okay thank you Mr wolber welcome Freddy Wolk 4590 57th Avenue this is my first day back to work been on vacation for 10 days to get a little rest and relaxation take care of few honey de items and happy wife happy life but I'm here I'm here to say one thing to this County Commission group is that you are new but you're learning fast I can tell it by your responses and we don't expect Rome to be built in the day but we don't want it to last as long as to last with the with the date and the years that have passed big project cost money but somehow some way I just feel that you guys can make it work that you do some experimentation and look across the the the St Lucy Bard say what what did you do to take care of situation of this sort maybe you get some ideas but I do believe the new County Administrator new new attorney new you uh commission other than commissioner fleser you guys can do it it is kind of darted when you drive through Gord and look on South gford Road and see a a new construction going on and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about the county county uh department when we see things we don't know the background behind it but we do know that money came from somewhere to take care of that and we just simply ask you to buy money to take care the project that's been on the book all this time you're going to do it you got a cheerleader hear from me you're going to get it done and we look forward to working with you any way we can thank you so much thank you anybody else welcome Mr Sullivan Tom Sullivan 4187 West 16 square um I hear I I listen and I hear these things quite often Joe it's great I I would just like to see action like I just passed Ryan Sweeney and we've had many head-to heads but I'll tell you this the kid can get it done you know what what I would like to see throw a guy like that out on the street for 4 days let him analyze problems let him bring back a report it and we'll know what has to be done very concrete very hard and fast uh Ryan and I but heads quite a bit uh but I'll tell you this he can get a job done and those are the kind of people we need out on the street instead of just talk Ryan can be out there he can have spend three days he can analyze everything he give you a report and then you're going to know what your priorities where what you want to go and how much it's going to cost but yeah I get T I understand what people say we got a lot of words you know and words create action but I think everybody's saying let's get some action that was my only thought you much can the can you do that can you order someone I mean can you tell well we don't order anybody we don't do any of that I know I know as as a board of region well we're not a board of regions although that sounds fancier than a Board of Commissioners but yeah well I'm just used to a I'm just used to a college setting where people would say this is what we want done and the next thing that would we ask the county administr to take care of things I'm still I've been I've been but ites sound nice if we could order people but we can't I don't mean order I mean I mean I think if we're Regents do we come with like wigs and you got to have a cap and gown well it depends what school if you you're giving us too much credit but but my my point is I I live close to that area and every once in a while I'll drive over there to go to the center and I just noticed that some of the roads are in chabby shape and I noticed you know there there are things that I don't think they' been assessed in quite a few years and and a a oral and visual report on the situation and remedies to resolve it would probably be handy for everyone to have we appreciate that Mr Sullivan you're absolutely right there's been a lot of talk and we don't need talk that's why we're here and that's why we put it on the agenda and that's what that's why I put it on the agenda I'd like like our County Administrator he's got a whole new team and they they're wanting to do it and they want work well we need work and again I did point out that one of the the large obstacles was that whole RightWay issue and and the cost Factor U and and again uh someone said just a few weeks ago uh that the mo most one of the most honest individuals was the former public works director who said it ain't ever getting done okay that hit me because that's not what I want our team to be known as when someone says it's never going to get done well maybe they don't need to be on the team well he's not but we have a new team so let's get the job done and I did point out it it could be costly but you know I don't want to have us as a commission over committing and underperforming because that's who we are we're here to ensure the infrastructure gets moving forward so that's why the nature of the discussion today thank you all right can you summarize what you're asking uh I think the County Administrator U knows the uh the the Five Points of con concern uh of projects that uh were just kiic that can was kicked down the road whether it be for economic reason or uh Land Development reason or just uh lack of resources and I believe uh Madam chair that the County Administrator um heard today and he's prepared to address so are we bringing something back from staff or what's the I just for myself i' I'd like to hear so okay yes uh first and foremost obviously we want to address the existing projects and bring that back to the board I did go back and I looked at the record and I know back in 2014 I looked at the planning process that was used to update the the uh the then plan which created the 2014 plan and that was a year-long process and that was very community driven and which was very wise because then it's grounded in what the community wants so uh that's something I think we can work on uh def definitely getting the existing projects uh we actually held an internal staff meeting last week and we have some exciting staff you know staff members existing you know yes there's some new members uh and so we are working we'll work towards these uh what's your what's the timeline for the board I can we get you an update on the status of existing projects um I think we have one that we've provided but it just there's there's a couple others I think that are on there that were not mentioned in that update and there was one on the the the Brownfield enhancement but I I see uh am muchu has that under control yeah well the EPA has advised to the Treasure Coast region planning Council they would not support any additional funding to do additional uh assessment activities on this property um that's the one where there's a conceptual plan that was devised I think back in 18 I think it was uh on the uh Amphitheater and or Farmers Market something to that effect my and that discussion just got kind of sheld but we we uh we did commit that we would uh make beautify the frontage so that it's less obtrusive to the community that there would be some Shrubbery and I see thato has those yeah that's that was about two meetings ago I believe maybe three approved by the board right that was an original concern too because nothing had been done uh with with that and I understand the constraints with the Brownfield and then the the caution as to what could be developed there that uh in in in the event that something did arise even though we got clearance and we've paid a lot of money in assessment and um uh values uh to see if we re reclaimed it to the standards and that's all well and good but there is always concern that we might have missed a spot as with any eradication so that so for purposes of expectations can we say by the second meeting of October we'll work back an update on all the item I can get with public works and get with the other staff to make to see if we can chart a plan or at least and know you mentioned if do get the update from them on their Cal their uh when their projects are do and all that would that be fine and then we'll start working on the internal committee putting together something as it relates to bring back to the board for consideration to update the gford neighborhood plan on that meeting or there or the meeting there after yeah I I would want to maybe red discuss that and then uh we can start that motion forward for 2025 but I I really would like to see us get some of the action done so that's okay so I believe the County Administrator heard and I believe that's uh in the form of a motion to uh direct staff to address all of the the short comings uh in in the projects and return back with a uh an analysis and the go plan okay so and if possible the 20 or the second meeting in October bring back a status update on the outstanding items why they're outstanding what we might need to do to jump start them and get them back on track is that a summary I just want to know for myself the expectations okay and do you want included in that an update on where we stand with the brownfields design and that type of thing or do you want that as a separate item at a future date I I that could be a separate date let's get a beautified first okay and then we I believe that because that's a compound issue I believe that could be part of the GI neighborhood 2025 plan okay when we roll it out once we have gi I just want to make sure everybody's on the same page as far as what we're kind of bringing back on the on the second or at least in motion if not completed okay fantastic is that everybody understand where we're good where we are and there is a motion by commissioner flesher I'll happily second that to move it forward any further discussion all right all in favor opposed motion carries all right thank you team thank you all right with that we will move on to Solid Waste Disposal District first item 15 B1 approval of the swiid meeting minutes of July 2nd 2024 Commissioners any addition thank you I'll second that all in favor opposed motion carries is that meeting leg I don't I don't I think so we need more coffee all right um and then the next item is amendment number one to agreement for landfill gas flare station and piping comments questions or concerns M chair move approval I will happily second that all in favor opposed motion carries all right thank you hu as always fantastic presentation um is there anything else for the good of the order seeing none We Stand adjourn