e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e all right Welcome to our May 21st 2024 um Board of county commissioner meeting uh please stand for invocation by Pastor Blaine Al Brighton of Christ Fellowship in Stewart followed by the Pledge of Allegiance uh led by Stanley oopi Junior retired Navy morning morning let's pray together uh father thank you for this day thank you for the blessings in all of our Lives we recognize that there are many in this world who don't enjoy uh the same blessings that we do of freedom and safety and community and so we praise you for what we do have but we also uh seek you and ask you for your will knowing that our blessings aren't meant to be kept to ourselves and so I pray for wisdom for our leaders uh both here locally and Beyond um so that they can make decisions that will promote righteousness and reflect your love for all people God I'm thankful for the patience that you've had with me so I ask that you'd give us all patience and Grace to work together to see um how we can best serve those around us I pray for your comfort for the families and individuals in our community who are hurting bring your peace uh to their lives bring that through your presence through your people in a time when most of our headlines are pointing to a lack of peace and a lack of trust um God we want to be different We Want To Shine Your Light we want to be a Beacon of Hope and so I pray that you'd increase our hearts for generosity for compassion uh give us Vision to see and to do your will all around us uh we know you're pleased when we seek you uh we seek you first and we submit to your Authority so let us be mindful of that for every moment and I ask all of this in the name of Jesus Amen am amen your name good morning morning hand over your heart I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all if you'd like to uh tell us a little bit about yourself certainly uh how much time do I have all that you want all that you want um I served 22 years in the submarine service now I'm going to go backt track 1959 graduated from high school decided to go to college I lasted one year came back to New Jersey and worked for my father for 6 months that did not work I was walking down the street in Asbury Park New Jersey past a recruiting station I saw a photo of a submarine and a mockup staring in the window and the recruiter came running out of the door Dr just drooling said do you think you can do that I said I don't know he said follow me so I took some test next thing I know he invited me for a nice trip to New York City to fill out some paperwork take some tests see a doctor and a psychiatrist I said wow but this is too much for me all I wanted to do was go to Rodeo so I passed all that next thing I knew I had a ticket to Great Lakes Illinois for a wonderful winter it was horrible after that I graduated they sent me to Key West Florida to torpedo school which is another story after I was there for two weeks they woke me up in the middle of the night and said this is not good this is the Bay of pig this is this is real so they gave me a loaded M1 rifle and I said I want my mother I didn't join for this so I survived that graduated from torpedo school and the Navy and its system they sent me to to Scotland to a submarine tender before they sent me to submarine school I graduated from submarine school and fortunately I had the honor of having lunch aboard the Nautilus in 1961 in the torpedo room that's where I live for many years I served on two diesel submarines two nuclear fast attack submarines and my last years I recruited nuclear Engineers from the various universities in California after that I retired and uh well you don't want to hear all about that but it was a it was a wonderful life and I love the Navy um so if I were 18 I would do it again thank you Jo [Applause] Navy okay you want to do we want to do what you want to do okay let's let's go through the agenda um presets 905 public comment 10:00 the live local act presentation 505 public comment additional items uh consent number nine confirmation of Erica Sinclair as chief financial information officer of Martin County consent huh Chief Information officer information did I what did I say Financial did I well you threw it in there okay I gave her permission anyway uh consent 10 adoption of proclamation declaring World ocean month in Martin County Florida consent 11 uh acceptance and approval of the First Amendment to the lease between Martin County and Florida Community Health centers Incorporated located at the Martin County Health Department on Willoughby Boulevard in Stewart uh consent poll consent uh number nine confirmation of Erica Sinclair as Chief Information officer of Martin County pulled by commissioner herd um yes I would move approval of the agenda uh with the additional items of consent number nine consent number 10 consent uh item 11 uh with polling consent item number nine with commissioner her second okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith second and by commissioner uh heatherington all in favor I I okay um motion passes unanimously um now we have proclamations um maranne will be handling that and we're going to begin with Mr hopy uh accepting the Memorial Day um Proclamation and I will step down there and Martha will handang out from here okay you'll do it um yep you guys can come up I'll read the proclamation and okay since our nation's earliest days America has been blessed with an unbroken chain of patriots who have served our country with honor and distinction from Concord to kandah generations of Brave Warriors have fought for freedom across sand and snow over mud and mountains into lonely deserts and through Crow crowded streets the board recognizes May 27 2024 as Memorial Day and calls upon all citizens to take the time to remember those who served and sacrificed to be sure this nation Remains the Bastion of Freedom we all have been privileged to enjoy okay do you want to speak or either one of you uh sure I just want to say thank you very much for this opportunity uh commissions uh and I just want to reiterate that Memorial Day is not Veterans Day Memorial Day is a time for memory memorizing these these Fallen Soldiers Sailors Airmen marines that didn't make it home I know when I went to Afghanistan I did not come home with my entire company so again it's not Veterans Day we we not thanking Veterans for their service we're just remembering the ones that fallen in the line of duty thank [Applause] you Martha an who wrote that one that Proclamation I I will find out I don't know was excellent I did it was per it was very well done you knew that was going to happen okay thank you okay ready yep fire away okay next up we have a we're presenting a proclamation honoring Miss Ruth Gran on her 102nd birthday in Martin County Florida Ruth Gran was born on May 11 1922 in Framingham Massachusetts she married her husband Ry the day before he was deployed to India in World War II serving in the Army Air Corp and they were married for over 60 years Ruth worked for the army pay masters during the war and then worked for the National Park Service in St Augustine and later after retirement in Georgia Ruth has one son three grandchildren three great grandchildren and one great great grandchild the board congratulates Ruth Gran upon the occasion of her 102nd birthday and extends their best wishes for her many more happy and healthy years happy birthday Miss gr happy birthday [Applause] I I just want to add that Mrs gr's father uh was in World War I her husband served in World War II her brother served in Korea her son served in Vietnam and Mrs Gran also was an Army pay master in World War II So a family of of uh veterans thank you thank you and Miss Grant if you can hear me um I grew up in Westboro which is just a town and a half away from Framingham and used to spend a lot of time in Framingham because Ken's Steakhouse was there and for those of you who go to publs and see Ken's original salad dressing that's where it's from not that that's the most famous thing from him but nonetheless it was a great town she spent more time in Florida than she did in Massachusetts that's okay we won't hold it against her happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday Mom y there you go thank you thank [Applause] you okay how about G oh what do you want to do okay oh never I lied not gardeners safe voting week okay yep they coming oh no okay flotilla 59 of the United States Coast Guard auxiliary based in Martin County sandsprit Park participates in the annual NA national safe boating week campaign to promote boting safety and encourages the Boating public to wear life jackets when enjoying the Region's waterways the board commends the auxiliary for their efforts in furthering the goals of the national safe boating week observed May 18 through the 24 of this year and their yearr round efforts to promote safe boating Miss O'Neal yep Commander O'Neal morning I'm cherl O'Neal I am the commander P the mic there we go I'm Cheryl O'Neal I'm the commander of flotilla 59 in Stewart we are located at sandsprit Park and on behalf of our 71 members auxiliarists thank you very much for supporting us for 50 no I'm sorry 82 years within Martin County and that is consecutive 82 years of servicing the community voting uh PE um the voting Community sorry um one of the things that we are excited about this year is I'm not sure if many of you know of the Austin Blue Foundation and it is the two young men who were lost at sea out of um Jupiter we have been awarded a grant that provides the um fees and covers the costs of children and students and young adults from 12 to 21 for all their boting education and this has to do with the boat America course it is a required course by the state of New of New Jersey you can tell I'm formerly New Jersey that was a long time ago um also this required by New Jersey but in Florida anybody born after January 1st 1988 is required to have a boting safety ID card in Florida a couple things that other than than that that are coming up one is um don't vote while you are impaired in December or January no I'm sorry June uh 7th and 4th I'm sorry I'm bubbling July 4th thank you everybody July 4th through the 6th is uh operation dry water and it is actually a full year program but focused in that weekend the July 4th weekend you're going to see a lot of um law enforcement out checking boers because one of our largest uh problems that we have in this area is boating while in um impaired and that is not just alcohol it is other products also so the um thing more closely is June 8th and that is everybody is being invited to station Fort Pierce the Coast Guard Station up there and that they are having an open house from 10:00 a.m. to 2: in the afternoon and we would encourage everybody to be there on that note just take care boat safely get home that is our biggest thing get home wear your life jackets and get home thank you and I think we have a whole bunch of people that are going to be putting on some life jackets so it's going to be a little bit of levity down here okay guess you want us down there I'm on down step into the ALCO while they while they get dressed morning there we go my son is there's any chance you could zip them up [Music] [Laughter] looks like it's yours to put on Sir name all over oh I have to read I think maybe the birthday girl should do it I'm in trouble now and um sud you guys want to get in it too to all get in it get in it hey gentlemen yeah I think all of you in won't be a to see we want everybody I'm fine right here no you're not that's an order theand okay and oh I crossed her off yes one two three boy we got a big group here today thank you awesome and I do have to commend you City commissioners did not know all know how to put [Laughter] jackets arms and um ofed a large but you can come back in we'll do a voice over next we're going to present a proclamation declaring National Guard week okay gardeners add Beauty fragrance and nutrition to our lives by growing herbs vegetables foliage and flowers gardeners work to preserve our country's traditional Spirit of Independence and initiative through Innovation and hard work during National Garden week June 2nd through the 8th the board acknowledges the importance of gardening and the numerous contributions of gardeners um Miss Rosita aristoff I watched you do the Val board that was a lot good morning as president of the Garden Club ofour I am honored to receive the National Garden week Proclamation on behalf of the Garden Club of Stewarts the Garden Club W stour is amount as many as 5,000 Garden clubs across America affiliated with the National Garden clubs all of which will soon be celebrating National Garden week on June 2nd to June 8th it is an opportunity for us to work with other like M minde groups involved in the areas of Florida friendly plantings native plantings floor design and in Sharing knowledge about gardening for garden week we will again Place floral arrangements at Martin County's Public Libraries other activities leading up to the week include an extensive cleanup of the all all Courthouse Gardens as well as at least 60 new plantings at the Sherman School of seamanship and the refreshing refreshing of our blue star memorial marker at Memorial Park so on behalf of the Garden Club of aour I thank the board of County Commissioners for recognizing our efforts to beautify the community in closing I would like to say that gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it and Sherman Jenkins knows all about that because he's a gardener [Applause] [Music] thank you so next up we're presenting a proclamation declaring Public Works week in Martin County Florida uh Jim Gorton public Works director is here to receive the proclamation Public Works professionals focus on infrastructure facilities and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and to the public health quality of life and well-being of the people of Martin County this year marks the 64th annual National Public Works week sponsored by the American public works Association the board recognizes May 19 through 25th as Public Works week Jim [Applause] I'm Jim Gorton the Public Works director I just wanted to take a moment to thank the board for the support that you give to the public works department as we celebrate this National Public Works week um our department consists of 12 divisions with 170 employees and I want to thank the hardworking public work staff for their dedication towards planning building managing and operating to help improve the quality of life for Martin County residents if you're not familiar with uh Public Works we do a lot of things from transit to managing traffic flow to Building Bridges Transportation Planning uh to improving water quality restoring ecosystems and controlling mosquitoes we are public works at work thank you bring the team up into the well for a picture into the well yeah we'll stay here you'll go down there Harold do a big shot we know how much you love the spotlight come on let's go guys let's go in the picture in the county has to a halt yeah it hasel is here we got the Heavy Hitters 17 John M Luke on the back George Zama got the PowerHouse sorry you can't be tall in the back not as tall in the front I think he's taller than I am even standing down there with heels yeah tall yeah get some of this squeeze in a little bit more on the side squishing like each all right ready one two three perfect W one pick [Applause] look I need some no parking signs you have any with you in your car by George okay and saving the best for the last we're presenting a proclamation declaring travel and tourism week in Martin County Florida narissa oier BCC tourism director is here to accept along with her uh staff uh National travel and tourism week provides an opportunity to celebrate distinctive character of our area promote the benefits of exploring our own backyard and recognize the hardworking individuals who make our local tourism industry Thrive the board recognizes May 19 through 25th as travel and tourism week in Martin County and urges all residents to explore the wonders of our community support our local businesses and share the warmth and Hospitality that make our area truly unique Marissa good uh good morning Commissioners uh Sarah Woods Don Donaldson thank you for having us here we're very excited to accept this award uh National travel and tourism week is an annual celebration it was established in 1983 and it recognizes the essential role in stimulating the economic growth cultivating vibrant communities and creating quality of job quality of life and job opportunities for Americans every day uh National travel and tourism week celebrate Ates the industry's critical role in empowering our nation's economy and connections the travel and tourism week uh or travel and tourism industry as you may not be aware is a $2.8 billion industry it supports nearly 15 million jobs and generates $89 million in generated state and local tax revenue it supports essential services like education emergency response Public Safety and more here in Martin County our numbers aren't quite that large but they're still very impressive tourism spending is about 730 million it supports over 10,000 jobs and it generates 85.2 million in state and local taxes for every dollar spent by a Martin County visitor 69 Cent stays local so it really does support our local economy this year to celebrate National travel and tourism week we try to do something a little different every year but we're very excited to announce our first destination distinction Awards brought to you by the Martin County tourist Development Council these Awards aim to honor individuals teams businesses and organizations that surpass expectations to serve tourism and serve as tourism ambassadors by exceeding their typical duties through their outstanding performance and actions these individuals create experiences that leave visitors delighted and eager to return to Martin County these nominees go above and beyond in their typical duties to make our tourism related businesses more efficient friendly and enjoyable so we're hoping that everybody body will nominate their favorite Hospitality worker we have five categories uh guest happiness Ambassador is for our hotel staff uh attraction and venue Superstar is for any of our uh attractions and venues or performing venues uh dining experience Guru so if there's any waiter or weight staff that really make your experience truly exceptional please nominate them and then we have a destination expert for those individuals who just really know everything there is to know about Martin County and finally we're very excited because of our sustainability and initiative we have a leave no Trace Champion award that we are awarding to either a business or an individual and leave no Trace organization is going to actually help judge that award so I would like to thank you again for having us I have Ian and Sally here with me I could not do anything without them not quite as big as public works but we're Mighty uh Emily is on vacation and Anna Grace is actually on a program so thank you so much for having us thank [Applause] you and while they're taking photos um I would encourage all of you to tune in to when narissa does Her update on what she does for tourism and what her team does it is absolutely amazing what that Mighty little team pulls off the numbers are staggering of what they accomplish and if you could just listen to the last 10 minutes of our meeting when we do our TDC meeting it is a whirlwind tour of what's going on out there and so thank you all very much for what you do it's incredible thanks [Applause] okay with that we will move into um our public comment portion of the meeting and Mr Donaldson I'm sure has something to say on yes uh since we are in in an election season politicking is prohibited which is defined as advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or public for public office either partisan or nonpartisan this includes the use of words dates signs props and or wearing apparel that convey a message of support for a person or a group of persons okay and uh as usual you have three minutes you'll hear a tone at 2 minutes and 45 seconds that means uh wrap your comments up and uh we're going to start with Mr Tom Pine followed by William ball good morning Commissioners my name's Tom Pine I've been a resident of Martin County for over 50 years today in the consent agenda 7,182 a73 was spent between April 29th and May 5th of 2024 without identifying the payes or the purpose of the payments congratulations on moving forward with the use of microtransit plan for the Martin County to use instead of buses or maybe with buses but at least we're moving towards the 21st century there is of course challenges to any new system but there are several communities in and around Florida that use various types of mro micr transit systems for some time now it was exciting to watch when the vote was approved to move forward to start buying defibrillators as soon as possible for our County Parks the five or so people from Palm spity from Palm City that spoke before this commission this past September pleading for help getting defibrillators at pickle ball courts after one of their own had a heart attack cuz the park Department had told them know three times even after they bought defibrillators with their own money so thanks again I'm going to talk about a shopping experience I had recently a couple of weeks ago I had a price for a leather chair recovered it was higher than expected but after a couple of weeks I gave in and brought the chair to the shop the owner was busy with another customer so I waited my ter came and the owner gushing over the previous customer she's telling me how beautiful the boat they live on fulltime is just goes on about it and then she turns to me she gets her paperwork out calculator and tells me the sales tax will be $113.75 if I pay with a credit card she goes on to then tell me that if I pay with a check made out to her I wouldn't have to pay the Sal tax I can only guess but my the expression on my face must have told her the the scheme wasn't for me so she came up with a better one you can write a check to our Christmas decoration fund I called her a thief her answer no no I have this form from the county that the Christmas decoration frund is legal my answer was loud and clear you're a thief you're a thief I left with my chair one has to wonder how many good Martin County residents take advantage of this scheme many I suspect thank you thank you uh Mr ball will be followed by Dr John hips morning morning did you all receive the beach bucket Foundation packet yes yes appreciate it good morning Commissioners my name is William ball and I'm a volunteer with the beach bucket Foundation I'm here today to talk about a very crucial issue that affects all of us the cleanliness of our beaches and parks in Martin County as well as we know our beautiful coastline is a treasured resource that brings joy to residences and visitors alike however the increasing amount of trash and debris is not only an eyesore but a serious threat to our environment and Wildlife beach bucket Foundation is a simple yet effective solution it provides public cleanup stations throughout our parks and beaches by doing so we can Empower our community to take ownership and to make a positive impact presently there are 75 station throughout Palm Beach County and bravard which is Coco Beach area and they've had exceptional exceptional results I'm submitting to you support letters from our local agencies that I have contacted along with support letters from Palm Beach County town of Jupiter Parks and Recreation town of Palm Beach Boon Beach and kogo Beach these stations will cost nothing to the county but an additional trash can next to the station for them for Parks and Recreation or whomever is emptying it by working together we can make a significant difference one protect marine marine wildlife and their habitats number two enhance the beauty and safety of our public areas and spaces three Foster sense of community and responsibility among residents and visitors we can get quite a few communities uh such as Martin County schools for community service I mean it's endless Martin County Sheriff it just goes local churches it goes on and on it's this a win-win situation for all it promotes Environmental Education and awareness like I said so on behalf of the initiative initiative aligned with values of Martin County as we all are trying to provide everyone I urge you all to consider and supporting this proposal let's work together to keep our beaches and Parks clean and ensure healthier and more beautiful environmental generations to come thank you very much thank you sir I think hold on just a minute commissioner question for you Mr ball when you said no cost do you give the plant I saw in your photographs do you give the plans and groups like us or individuals make them no sir these these these stations have are patented okay and they are all going to be the same on every location depending on a single double quadruple buckets okay for people obviously uh location will be assessed accordingly that's through our assistance with your help as you approve this okay the buckets and stations will be are all coming from donations people can sponsor a bucket if they'd like but and get their groups to come out we are involved with Surf Rider foundations uh surfing for autism the Endless Summer uh license plate through Coco Beach and quite a few more foundations that we're involved with that are all in conjunction of cleaning our environment here thank you I appreciate it I'll get in contact with you thank you Dr John hips and that is my last speaker form if anybody else would like to speak good morning Commissioners I want to thank you for your service to our community I'm here to ask for a withdrawal of consent item number six today from the consent agenda and that's the Cove of hopes down I'd like to have it suggest it be resubmitted for further study so that we can have questions and maybe have the public uh be able to to have this more fully vetted I I just received this agenda last night um and I I re reviewed the packet it looks on the surface to be a request but when I look in this carefully I see some number of questions that I think I'd like to have answered and it may require even answers from the wildlife biologists that did the study so that is my request and just respectfully requesting that we um just resubmit it maybe at the next meeting for public discussion thank you want to explain to him that we've already done it that ship unfortunately has already sailed we've already accepted the consent agenda so um Commissioners yes it has been approved this also uh um and staff can uh verify this allows the amendment to The Preserve area management plan but does not give final approval to the project right if I understand it it is still moving through the process so it simply allowed the uh adjustment to The Preserve area management plan that was approved prior actually made it larger so um there will be opportunities for the public to talk about the actual project itself this simply allowed them to move forward with a a modified project that increased The Preserve area management so it will be coming back under a different form okay and with that uh commissioner comments commissioner Smith uh yes Mr chair um uh don Donaldson through the chair about a week and a half ago if we could break today early uh for a service for one of our probably uh more wonderful Community uh leaders Community involvement persons um Miss Evelyn dler passed away uh about a week and a half ago uh the dler family has been a main stay of Martin County for Generations um and have provided a level of entertainment and participation in our Fair uh that has been really something very very special and quite honestly the the dler name is known all up and down the east coast of the United States because they traveled with their Carnival um to all points of the southeast portion of our country or you know of our of our country and so uh her service today is at 11 and so I'll be leaving to go uh to that service but a very special lady uh incredible uh family uh and just a really great storyline for um a business that's been here in Martin County for a very very long time and a family that has uh been very much involved in in participating in our community so with that I appreciate your time so what our plan is is we're going to break uh we're going to extend our close captioning to 10:45 and at that point we're going to break until 1 and then uh and try to get it we have a pretty short manageable agenda today so um that shouldn't be an issue commissioner Heatherton I will just wish all the uh the kids that will be out for school for summer uh most of them are getting out this week and congratulations to all the graduates I think we had the last graduation maybe yesterday at Jensen Beach High School so congratulations to the graduate and I wish everybody a safe summer and just on the note of the agenda I have a preop appointment for my son in Royal Palm so I probably will not be back after 1 so we'll I'll just we'll just work however we can from there do the best we can okay commissioner Cy thank you very much um I'm happy to announce uh after quite a while of working on the project uh for those excuse me for those folks in Palm City or or individuals that have been driving by on map road we've had a fence up between our Station 21 firehouse and Rex andel's Veterinary uh clinic for quite some time while we worked behind the fence on something that we're calling the patio at Palm City Place uh I'd like to uh thank and compliment Miss Susan chorus and Jordan Pistorius they worked tirelessly uh and really gave their Heart and souls to helping us create this it is in green open space uh it is attached uh or adjacent to a storm water retention Pond that was really very attractive and did not need to be fenced off and kept from the public in the back we have we have a a tea fishing pier where even as recently as this weekend kids were pulling you know bass out of that water as big as your arm we did a walking path around the whole entire uh area and then in the front close to map road we added a Bandstand uh concrete pingpong concrete cornhole and concrete uh table and benches that have the checkerboard Motif so you could just sit there we're going to do a concert uh series of concerts throughout the year at that location and um it's just there's a beautiful fountain in the lake and uh I think it's just a highlight and a compliment to Palm city but obviously welcome to all and we're going to kick it off with a ribbon cutting and sort of a days worth of festivities on June 1st it starts at 11:00 goes till the afternoon there'll be food trucks and vendors um and I know they have a tremendously great following in Martin County the first musical act to ever perform at the patio at Palm City Place will be the new V honkies so please come out and uh and join us and uh again for our staff that has worked tirelessly on this there was a lot of complications uh we kept it really environmentally sensitive and it's another and parks and W will take it over and maintain it so I just wanted to say thank you for the folks that were involved in doing it and uh it's just another uh addition to map roads Renaissance and so thank you and I look forward to seeing you all there on June 1st between 11: and into the afternoon thank you so much I'm set and I'm set we're all set how about we do um our consent poll uh commissioner herd um confirmation of Erica Sinclair as Chief Information officer of Martin County i p I pulled it because it's this is an important promotion and Erica has been a staff member for a very long time for Martin County she's had a number of of positions she has a wonderful resume and I just wanted the public to get an opportunity to be introduced to know Erica congratulations um if I could just take a moment to say thank you so much uh as I did have done some reflecting myself being with the county for 18 years um I stand here really filled with humility and gratitude for this opportunity to continue to serve the taxpayers and all the staff of Martin County as an IT department we serve everyone um so we're thankful for that opportunity and I also want to thank Administration for entrusting me with this responsibility it is a huge responsibility and I don't take it lightly and um I also o want to thank I have an amazing IT staff that support you all on a daily basis some you don't see or hear about but they're working so hard and they have really stepped up during this transition and I am very thankful for them and I hope we continue to um tackle any obstacles and celebrate successes with all of you so thank you for your support thank Youk you Comm Smith uh old light but new light okay congratulations thank thank you it's been fun to watch you all these years and and see where you started and where you are today uh really remarkable fantastic thank you Comm campy it is a tremendously large job and we gave it to the absolute perfect person to do it oh I agree thank you so much thank you all right I would make a motion I make a motion to accept uh staff's uh recommendation to uh promote Miss Erica Sinclair to our Chief Information officer of Martin County everybody wants to say okay motion by commissioner campy seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously commissioner Smith I did have one other thing I apologize for not doing it in my update but I was going through my notes of things I was going to share with you all um last week we had uh an individual come before us with a code enforcement discussion um I've had a lot of conversations with Miss Woods over the last couple days about our code enforcement uh policy or lack thereof uh or are um it's not even a policy it's more of a an ordinance right um I would like to just check with the board to see if we can bring that back and firm up some things that may not be crystal clear or that we never did adopt maybe way back when when we thought we did um just so that there's a better understanding for us as well as the public as to what really happens with code enforcement what the fines are how that is done who does what in what part of that process um just so the public is a lot clearer on that if that's okay completely supportive of that yeah so don if you could bring back or Don is there if you can bring back an agenda item outlines all that that would yeah we'll update the ordinance on Code Enforcement thank you okay well if we're going to go by the agenda the next in line is uh public hearing number one public hearing to consider changes to article 10 development review procedures Land Development regulations Martin County code regarding the threshold for review of solar energy facilities and Mr Peter Walden will be thank you sir good morning members of the board um I'm Peter Walden I'm the deputy growth management director give me just a second um this is a request for an amendment to article 10 development review procedures regarding solar energy facilities it's requested by Luc lucido and Associates on the behalf of Florida Power and Light little background article 10 development procedures was created in 1996 it was totally restructured in 2019 uh there was an ordinance 1067 adopted in 2018 that made the development standards and guidelines for solar facilities the request today is pretty simple it's to change the threshold for review for solar facilities or solar Farms from a major to a minor application uh this is in line with targeted Industries uh staff feels that the uh solar Farms are a green energy source they add to the resilience of the infrastructure for the county there's no noise or environmental issues with the uh uh solar farms and there's no traffic associated with them so the impacts to the community are very minimal and uh this the review process for staff stays exactly the same all the Wetland protections and environmental review and uh public work staff everybody still does the same review it just gives them an opportunity to move through the process a little bit quicker by not having to do the public hearing process uh there have been four solar Farms already approved there is been no opposition whatsoever to any of them uh FPL seems to be a good Steward of the land and uh uh for the staff to work with so with that um oh it did go to the LPA the vote was 22 there was no real recommendation from the LPA on the matter but uh staff recommends approval and move that the board adopt the proposed ordinance amending article 10 development review procedures Land Development regulations Martin County Code be glad to answer any questions Comm campy thank you Mr Walden um the solar Fields as owned by a private entity stay on the tax roles correct yes so based on no there are certain statutory exemptions for um solar fields in terms of your um TPP um um exemptions well TPP I get it's a solar field yes but it's another opportunity for large uh acreage of land to be utilized in such a way that has a very low impact at all on the residence and the environment and traffic like you mentioned uh but then also taking hundreds if not thousands of acres and turning them into solar Fields we've done in a partnership well FPL has done it with a partnership with us uh very successfully in the past and I think by creating this uh streamlined version even though it will still meet all of the requirements it has to meet all of the requirements in review but I think if if you're in FPL and have the opportunity to place these anywhere in the state or in their area uh I think it sends the right message to fpl that we want to do business with them uh and then it also takes you know hundreds to thousands of Acres uh that could been purchased to do something you know that would have a much a greater impact on the nearby residents or all residents I uh make a motion to accept your uh recommendation commissioner hington I want to say I think fpnl has done an exceptional job I think they're the only ones that have done solar Fields so far in Martin County but I think one of the very first votes I took up here was to put a solar field directly behind my family home fpnl has done what they have said they're going to do I think the public hearing process gives them an opportunity to um highlight all the great things they're doing so I I'd prefer to streamline it but still have the public hearing process because I think it gives it a wonderful opportunity for fpnl to let the public know what they're doing and they're doing some magnificent things commissioner herd yeah I agree with commissioner heatherington I think that they should be proud to to Spotlight these worthy projects and they do enjoy popular support U so I don't don't uh and I also don't like the expansion of administrative approvals uh we are going away from giving this board the opportunity to have public hearings and instead allowing the administration to make uh those determinations and I don't think that's good public policy so I'm not going to support a motion to uh uh change the the approval to an administrative one okay so move to deny commissioner Smith I'll second Ed's motion and and here's why I you know if if in the planning process or in the the idea of how something is gone from A to B to C um there's a lot of time there's a lot of energy and there's a lot of money spent on doing that these solar fields and and from the first one that we did with FPL which was the hybrid version out at the plant uh to the subsequent uh more current technology of what they are moving forward to um is really remarkable the investment that they're making in our community is remarkable uh I would even go much further to say not only their commitment to Martin County but their commitment to the State of Florida to be a much more resiliently directed energy producing company is again nothing short or remarkable and I think anything we can do to encourage them to do more of it uh is a good thing and I think if streamlining that process to something that we would vote for and that we would gladly want to have here in Martin County I think is something that we can absolutely be proud of to do and and I support the idea 100% commissioner campy I just wanted to respond to my colleagues I don't disagree with what commissioner heatherington or commissioner herd said I think that yes the concept of just allowing staff to make Administration administrative approvals is something we need to be leery of and when I hear commissioner heatherington say that she's really you know in favor of these projects and I remember that it was the one being built behind her family home but that being said did we come up with this idea or was this a suggestion or a request from uh FPL this is a request from the applicant FPL yes now I'm not sure how many I know they're not in every County but they're in many and um if it's if it's something that we are very happy about and you had mentioned that we've done four of these in the past and I've been here for those four I believe or at least three no one comes to make a public comment or to participate and if we're going to say that they should go through a long uh expensive process just so that we could congratulate them here in the chambers I bet there'll be fewer projects that they'll be coming forward with there's no specific rationale that it would need to be in Martin County versus okachobee County Indian River County St Lucy County just right here in our region and if those other counties say look we're going to help you streamline a process that you've asked us to help you with if I'm at FPL why would I do it here instead of in the other counties that have made it easier for us if it was something you know very few projects in my mind would I give up the ability to have a say in not just a say for myself personally but a say for a county commissioner to review this this is one of those in my opinion one of those types of projects that if we can you know enhance our our opportunity to have FPL look favorably upon the county to bring this here and I don't know if there's an FPL uh representative here that would be interested in sharing some of this with us I'm not interested in giving away my authority as a as a commissioner to review projects and the concept that we would have them go through the entire process so that we could congratulate them as we went along I think will backfire on us that's the only reason I would be interested in participating in this commissioner hington it's my understanding the way you described it it's basically a public hearing so I don't know if it's an LPA and uh and it I feel like you we could expedite that and have the public hearing and and still be able to get F pnl in and out of here well it would take a public hearing process which is the LPA and the board of County Commissioners and it it is a byright uh application so it's it's not like a PUD where there's a lot of uh there's an agreement or anything like that so they are straightforward in their application U and um like I said the review process stays the same okay with that we have a motion public comment public comment we have no I have no public comment form so yeah yes sir thank you you and are inen mhm thank you commissioner my name is Gary erer I'm a resident of Port salero as far as I'm concerned we need to leave the process the way it is and allow for public comment streamlining only takes care of transparency I'm one all for being as transparent as possible it posted everywhere possible yellow signs we already know yellow signs go up the process has already been started before that so anything to to increase transparency I'm all about so I would only hope that the process stays the way it is thank you okay with that do we have any other public comment we have a motion by commissioner campy seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor I all opposed opposed motion carries 3-2 commissioner heatherington and herd dissenting okay um next item public hearing quasi judicial uh to consider adoption of an amendment to the Martin County zoning Atlas to change the zoning classifications for Mr and Mrs Brian aana Reeves um and this will be by John Senate commissioner Elise Elder Deputy County attorney this is a Judicial judicial so do we have any experte commissioner Smith uh if I do they're filed if any mine have been filed I don't think I do but if they I do they've been filed commissioner I don't have any it's been filed I don't have any and they've been filed okay could everybody stand and be sworn in that are going to be testifying Raise Your Right hands do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth I are there any interveners there are no interveners and the proof of public notice was turned in at the LPA hearing okay work history that covers it thank you sir copy of my work history is being turned in as exhibit one thank you Mr chairman good morning Commissioners I'm John Senate senior planner with growth management I'm presenting the rezoning application on behalf of Mr and Mrs Brian and Oxanna Reeves they are proposing to rezone from the current A1A agricultural District to the re1 halfa residential estate District the property is located northwest of cero Road and Southwest of Highland Avenue in Stewart It's currently undeveloped is approximately 2.4 Acres they wish to develop a single family residence with customary accessory structures the future land use designation of the property and the surrounding properties to the north west and south is the estate density two units per acre designation the rural density future land use designation is present to the to the east of the property the property and the surrounding properties to the west south and east are currently zoned A1A agricultural District the A1A district is a category C zoning District to the north of the property is the uh the Southwood PUD which consists of single family residences because the A1A zoning district is a category C zoning District this application is being processed as a mandatory rezoning to a category a district which implements the policies of the estate density to UPA future land use designation there is one standard category a zoning District which implements that land use and that is the re1 12a residential estate District new PUD zoning is also an additional option for applicants these are the development standards for the re1 12a zoning District minimum 50% open space maximum 30 ft of height front setback of 25 ft side and rear setback of 15 ft these are the conditions supporting the applicants request the existing future land use designation of estate density to UPA for the property in surrounding areas is compatible with the re1 12a district the existing single family residential and institutional uses in the area of the property is compatible with the re1 12a district and the existing Southwood single family residential PUD to the north of the property has an overall density in lot size es which are compatible with the re1 halfa zoning District this matter was heard before the LPA on May 16th they approved the application 4 to zero with one absence development review staff have found the Reeves resoning application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report we recommend move that the board receive and file the agenda and its attachments including the staff report as a exhibit one and move to the board adopt a resolution amending the Martin County zoning Atlas to change the zoning District designation on the subject site from A1A agricultural District to re1 halfa residential estate District I'm here for any questions commissioner Smith thank you uh and and not that I don't want to ask you the question but I'll ask Paul um just for the historical piece of all this back when we we we as a state adopted comprehensive planning and land juice um every piece of land in the State of Florida was given a future land juice correct uh good morning Commissioners Paul Schilling growth management director yes uh the comprehensive plan yes sir and in theory what was supposed to have happened back then Is Not only was there a land use assigned but there was to be an accompanying zoning that would have bundled with that that's my understanding yes we never did that no he did not and so for the public that wonders why we would do a rezoning like this and to bring it into compliance it's because we have a land use that wasn't matched up with a zoning when we should have and now an applicant has to come forward to do what they're doing today to make it right with what the complant asked for that's correct so the A1A is a category C District established in 1967 in the County's original zoning code so then um further along the comprehensive plan was adopted and the two are not consistent so that necessitates um rezoning at the applicant's request uh of individual Parcels from time to time which you see us here today and so you know part of this is sort of an apology to the applicants that I wished that this had been done decades ago um so that you wouldn't have to be here today doing this and going through the expens of doing it but just for the general Public's knowledge or or understanding of why we're having a hearing like this and why would we doing this because historically we didn't and should have but here we are today and with that pending public comment I would move staff's recommendation second okay with that do we have any public comment do we have any comment from the applicant please state your name and tell us that you've been sworn in morning Commissioners my name is Brian Reed I'm the property owner for the uh uh application in question here thank you Mr Smith for uh I couldn't have said that better myself it's been quite a challenge horrible and I apologize but but thank you I believe John and his staff have done a wonderful job in explaining the situation and as we proceed forward with this thank you well if it passes we wish you the best great thank you thank you all all right we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously thank you Commissioners now we will move on to our uh 10:00 preset uh live local act presentation by Mr Tom Lanahan uh good morning Commissioners uh again Tom lanan executive director of the treasur Coast Regional planning Council um by the way thank you for uh inviting me to come and uh speak uh with you about uh this item today um as uh I said last time I was here uh Regional planning Council didn't write this uh uh we're here to help uh help you try and interpret uh what it means um this is uh uh um uh the recent uh the focus of today will be the recent changes uh from uh this past session uh which were adopted through um Senate Bill 328 uh and uh um in the presentation here some of this will look similar to last time uh but um uh Focus your eyes on the red text uh in there that's the uh either additions or changes um that have been made um so uh I like like last time I like to start off with the uh um statement of legislative intent which they did not uh make any changes to um and uh basically the the purpose of all this is to um articulate a state housing strategy that will carry the state towards the goal of ensuring that each fidan has safe decent and affordable housing uh and then they're looking to involve state and local governments working in partnership with communities and the private sector uh on uh regarding Financial regulatory uh and commitment uh aspects of that that goal so let me see if this will advance for me yes perfect okay um so uh starting off with um everyone's favorite topic which is preemptions of local government Authority um there uh the existing provision um which has been in the books for a few years now uh is an optional program uh whereby um the county could approve affordable um housing on existing commercial or industrial zoned LAN lands uh if at least 10% of those units are affordable and you do not need to change the land user zoning in order to do that um the next uh area is um this is an actual uh preemption uh you must authorize uh multif family mix use residential in commercial industrial or mix use zoning if at least 40% of the units are affordable um and of Interest here A A adjustment that they made is that the affordable units must be rentals but the rest of the units uh residential units can be rental or ownership um the previous version last year's version of the law required that everything be um rental the way that it was written so this actually provides a little bit more flexibility for um a uh a project um and then uh we'll talk about some exemptions uh mention um rent control uh and those sorts of things as we go through here so um again on that um uh optional program um here's the uh the stipulations there um and also give you an idea of some of the um dollar amounts that we're talking about uh and I did update these uh from last year's numbers so um uh for Martin County uh our 2024 Ami is $87,200 uh that's a um uh uh area median income uh and uh so that the range of affordability um runs from annual income of 31,200 to 10 15,360 for a family of four um 80% of that Ami is 73350 for a family of four just to give you some of the uh uh parameters that we're working with um so again that affordability is uh 30% to 120% of Ami those are those numbers that I just gave you uh and again like I said said before this is not a preemption it's a flexibility program uh for local governments um and uh you don't need to change zoning or uh uh comprehensive plan kind of like you just had to do here for this that little project um so uh the next uh moving into the preemption category um this is where you must act um the county must authorize multif family and mix use residential in commercial industrial or mixed use zoning uh if at least 40% of those units are for aable and again that's in that 30% to 120% of Ami uh range that's rent plus utilities plus taxes at uh 30% of the income maximum so again that range is $31,200 a year uh to $ 15,360 uh dollar a year for an income for a family of four um like I said the affordable units have to be rentals but the rest of the units can be um uh any type of ownership um so couple of different features here so um the you would not be allowed to require land user zoning change uh or uh comprehensive plan amendments uh or uh special exceptions uh variances there's a whole list of uh processes that you're not allowed to um require for this kind of development um you're also not allowed to restrict the density below the highest allowed density on any unincorporated land in the county where residential development is allowed out um and so there's some some confusion uh about um what that term actually meant um some communities have uh optional programs where uh if you meet certain stipulations you can get additional density uh so there were disputes happening as to whether uh what the actual you know what what do highest allowed density mean is it the by right density is it the density with all the um options laid in so legislature clarified that it is um and these are my words they didn't actually use these uh these words but the byright density so it's your basic density your basic highest allowable density in the county um doesn't include bonus programs um but interestingly enough if the project qualifies under the terms of that program then you have to Grant the bonus so some of those programs are affordable housing uh bonus programs and so there is a way to get higher than um what that um that basic highest allowed density is um you also may not restrict the height below the highest currently allowed height for commercial or residential development within the unincorporated area of the county within one mile of the proposed development or three stories whichever is higher now this area got a lot of extra clarification you can see I've got an almost entire paragraph of red text there um and there's there's there's some uh what you might say are are good are good clarifying Provisions uh uh in inside this thing um the first is that that one M radius does not reset when a um uh live local act project gets approved so um it's not a process which was a concern of some folks that um you basically set a uh uh set a live local act project you know 0.9 miles from uh the uh pretty tall building uh allowed in the county and then you go another mile from that and then another Mile and another Mile and so on and next thing you know um everything is like that it's basically what was uh that highest um allowed height at the time of um this all starting so um that's a kind of a um a scaling back if you will um and then we get into something um that's a little bit complicated um but this basically brings context to Bear uh on what is the highest um uh allowable height on a project so um if you have a um a site that is AJ Bas on two or more sides to Parcels that are zoned for single family residential and developed as single family residential two keys there um and they have at least 25 Lots so it's not like one single house that b need a 25 lot subdivision um the height may be restricted to 150% of the tallest building on any property adjacent to the site uh that's one one potential height the highest by right height for the site based on its existing zoning or three stories whichever of those three things is higher um and then adjacent also does not mean across the street so you're basically looking at um uh those those three sides for a typical site that fronts on um on a road um so that really does bring context um to bear on um what you would allow for um maximum height and I think it's a recognition by the legislature that um maybe there are good things that happen in an in an approval process uh where you actually look at those different factors um and then this is a uh this next one item four here this is a a provision to address something that um some um clever or tricky depending on your perspective uh communities came up with which is um oh they didn't say anything about floor area ratio so we'll put floor area ratio limits in as a way to um restrict this well okay legislature says uh no no I don't think so um so you can't restrict the floor area ratio below 150% of the highest currently allowed F within your um unincorporated County so um that um that basically took that um that restriction out uh so on to the next um area uh this got longer as they made all these changes so apologies um the uh we're familiar with the administrative approval requirement that they imposed um last year uh and now um there's requirement that you um uh have a policy uh with procedures and expectations on how you will manage these um uh approvals and that you post it on the website um when I was last in front of you um uh I shared that there were some communities that had um already done that um and I think I probably indicated that that was a a recommended practice um to have some uh some guidelines on how you're going to process these now you have to have them um and then uh the reducing parking requirements um they adjusted the distance from uh and what you um are near uh for you where you have to consider doesn't say must approve but consider reducing parking that's a quarter of a mile to a Transit stops that's basically within quarter mile of a bus stop and you can get there um it has to be accessible to the development uh and if you meet those stipulations then you're supposed to consider reducing the parking requirements then they got more serious about the parking uh requirement uh uh stuff and so now you have some new requirements of what you must do you must reduce parking by 20% if it's developments within a half mile of a major Transit Hub um and then you might remember last time I said oh here's a thing that you get to Define yourself well not anymore um they're telling you what a major Transit Hub is and we'll get to that in a second um that Hub uh has to be accessible to the to the develop and there's parking available in the area uh within 600 ft of the site you must eliminate parking requirements for proposed mix use development in an area designated as a Transit oriented development uh by the county so if you've already designated a particular area for to uh then these live local act projects um uh the parking is to be waved for them um they Define major Transit Hub as transit station bus train Light Rail served by public transit uh and a mix of other Transportation options so interesting to see the word public in there um development using live local act Provisions located within a um recognized Transit orent development must be mixed use it can't be U pure residential and use these um Provisions uh and then I added all the new um citations down there um at the bottom um continuing on in the preemptions uh category but there's some exemptions so recreational commercial Waterfront working Waterfront zoned industrial we mentioned that last time airport impact areas um which I'll get into that um in a next slide here but hold that thought uh and then um there is a provision for um counties to be able to opt out of the um 75% tax exemption if the uh shimberg Center at the University of Florida if their study data shows no need for housing in um the range uh the 30 to 120% range uh actually I think it's 80 to 120% range that's out there um You can call that the Pasco County exemption they um fought uh tooth and nail to get that put in um because their studies showed that they already had enough of that um and so why are we um uh encouraging it with a tax exemption if you already have enough so um you would have to um I did and I did not look and see what shimberg data is for Martin County on that but you'd have to check that out uh and see um what's in there so then we have all the uh property tax exemption requirements which did not change at all um you're still not allowed to do um rent control now airport impact areas this whole page is in red look at that um so any development proposed within a quarter mile laterally from the runway Edge uh and oh I have a typo there sorry uh within not within within an area a quarter mile wide extending 10,000 ft from either end of any existing or planned Airport runway uh does not get to use the live local act uh Provisions to um get out of the height uh uh requirements uh and those sorts of things and the density requirements so basically your existing planning in that sort of cloud around the airport runways um stays in effect and the exemptions um can't be used um also within an airport noise Zone identified in federal land use compatibility table or local land use and Zoning about airport regulations uh and um you also can't uh exceed the maximum height uh identified in the local airport zoning restrictions if they've been adopted pursuant two Florida Statutes uh and then I direct you right to where those Provisions are um because they're a little bit even more detailed than I've summarized here um but I think that does have impact here in your community certainly with um uh Witham field uh and the areas around that and basically this is an airport safety provision uh there's a cone of um height and uh sometimes use restrictions but a cone of height restrictions that surround an airport so that um uh planes can take off and land safely and have enough room to recover from any sort of whatever might be happening uh and not um uh impact a building um now this is one of these uh you know uh next up the conforming use part uh something that the authors of the uh Bill last year probably did not think about because they don't operate in local government but um something that I'm sure your county attorney was uh pondering uh when this got approved okay so it gets approved is it a conforming use or not um that's an interesting question right uh well they answered the question for us uh it is to be considered a conforming use meaning um if it's destroyed it can be replaced um you can also get uh uh loans on that basis Etc um the if they don't meet the affordability requirements then they um have to be treated as a non-conforming use which from my reading of the these amendments is the only enforcement provision that they've added in there um which is unfortunate uh it's something that I know the local governments were looking for I've heard it all over the region um anyway that's all that they gave you so far um and then the roll in of the new provision so this this law is interesting last year became effective July 1st uh when typically the statutes become effective this one becomes effective upon signature by the governor um I've been out of town for a couple days but when I checked on Friday it had not been signed yet I don't know if it's been signed um but when that happens um it's in effect but if you've already got a development in for approval uh you get to choose do you want to be under the previous ones or do you want to be under the new ones and even if I want to be under the new ones uh local government you can't make me withdraw and reapply uh I'd basically just provide you a letter and say I want to be under the new Provisions so um this is again the state housing strategy um do take a look at it it's um uh it is actually pretty um uh Innovative and um uh last uh amendment in there or change in there funding uh they did provide another $100 million to the hometown HERO program which is a down payment assistance program for um uh any full-time employee of a Florida based company um with particular uh income Provisions but basically it can um provide that down payment assistance um which can be a real challenge for folks moving from pretty expensive rental market we have now into trying to buy a house um being able to uh you know come up with that down payment so it's been very successful um the reason why they're putting more money in because all the money they put in last year has already been put out on the street and the year before that has been put out on the street so um it's been uh really good uptake um so is it being used uh my understanding is uh there's at least one project here in uh unincorporated Martin County that's using that um and then uh uh none yet to my knowledge in in Stewart or Indiantown um but there's been um you know some applicants will say well if you give me you know what I want or I'm going to use this thing um that's happening um around the region um and then the last uh you know feedback to legislature so last time I was in front of you and then at some other different meetings we've had um we were we the regional planning Council uh were um supporting the idea that the industrial um piece of the preemption would be taken out that basically your industrial would be allowed to stay industrial or that you would have control over your industrial turning into residential um for um some Shining Moments uh that was in in place in the in the legislation as it moved through the committee process and then when it went to um amalgamation or whatever you call that when the two versions get smashed together uh it came out so um you can still do a live local act residential project in an industrial zoned area um with all of the um potential uh Workforce uh impacts and um property compatibility impacts that come with that um it's very unfortunate um I was actually happy for a moment but then there it went so uh typical um so uh this is the income summary uh limits page if you're interested this is more for me if you ask me questions um anyway that's um uh that's the status of what they um what the legislature did with the Amendments uh this year and I'm happy to uh answer any questions to the extent that I can thank you very good job thank you sir thank you very confusing that um do we have any questions or clarifications you very clear all right nice job thank you when you don't have any questions you know you did a good job sure or I thoroughly dazzled you all right since we have the fot folks here um we're going to move on to um Florida Turnpike and I95 Direct Connect interchange PD and E study for Martin County and neither one of y'all are Ricardo so take it away start uh Jim Gordon Public Works director uh at the April 8th Mo meeting the Turnpike Enterprise staff updated the no board on the turnpike and I95 Direct Connect interchange PD and study at the end of the presentation the no board requested that the turnpike staff also provide a similar presentation to the board of County Commissioners for their input and this is jasine with the turnpike good morning board me um Commissioners uh thank you so much for this uh opportunity to present on this project and uh my name is jasine Haywood and I have a few members of the team if we get into questions that I can answer that they will assist me through so the presentation outline we're going to explain why we're even looking at doing this Direct Connect interchange we've developed two project Alternatives um and as was mentioned we were asked to present the Bridge Road concept so we'll present those three um two alternatives on a sketch level and then where we are in the project schedule off to the right you'll see that this is where we are in the transportation planning process we're in PDN study so the next phases are design rideway acquisition which we do need on this project and eventually construction so the project is in Martin County about 2 miles south of Southeast Bridge Road and it ends the study area ends about a mile North and we're looking at this project because we're trying to improve system linkage improve safety enhance safety and enhance emergency response and evacuation so right now there are no direct connections between Florida's Turnpike and I9 so we have uh in the blue are the 95 interchanges we got four in Martin County and and we're showing some Palm Beach and then we got one in in in long story short in order to make this connection between Florida's turn and 995 the drivers have to use the local roadway Network in Martin County and Palm Beach County in order to do that today so a system to system connection is needed and that would enhance safety the area that we're looking at Southeast br Bridge Road we're looking to provide uh highspeed ramp connections so the the the turnpike at 995 or space that far enough so that we can provide those highspeed ramps and it happens to be just about midway between where drivers do that today between Martin Highway and and and Indian toown road to the South we have some um safety issues that we're looking that this would help um address along the Florida's Turnpike at 995 and lastly as I already mentioned enhancing emergency response and evacuation by making these improvements especially that ability to switch between the two expressways would enhance that um emergency response and evacuation so let's get into the Alternatives before we do though this is how we got to where we are today so we started with Sketch levels we put them on the table we've took out those that had fatal flaws we made some um refinements to those and we just kept going and going until we got to the point where we have two feasible what we call feasible and reasonable Alternatives before we go to the public uh we were it was June we've pushed it to July we always come to the local our local agency partners to get to present the information and get feedback before we take it to the local sorry the public um for public feedback so this is alternative one I did have some some animations but I see that they're not here on this one I think this is a pdf version of my presentation all right so um so this is all layered here but the arrows show that we were provid um proposing four direct connections Northbound to Northbound southbound to southbound so four movements between the two the Orange shows the right away that would be needed um to make this happen and in this alternative this so we would have the the I95 access we're not taking away that access we're not taking away that access in any of Alternatives but in this alternative we have to modify the ramps um and there's a bridge going over one of them so it's just a modifications the it stays there and this is estimated to cost 231 million alternative one does alternative two the Rams are in a different location same movements northbound to Northbound southbound to southbound this one alternative to does not require modifications to the I95 ramps and um it's about about 100 million less $156 million estimated cost overall both of these Alternatives provide emergency access we spoken to the Martin County Emergency responders we are tweaking this a little bit to better suit their needs but at the end of the day both Alternatives will provide the same access and we are coordinating that with Martin County Emergency responders so looking at Alternatives one and two what are the traffic benefits um the new Direct Connect interchange those those four movements they're expected to carry in 20 in the year 2050 which we're forecasting out to 26,400 vehicles per day so what this means for PM Beach County at West Indian toown Road is that 15,600 cars will be removed from that crossover traffic uh 30% 37% decrease at the turnpike interchange and 16% decrease at I95 and up in Martin County um 3,200 Vehicles removed that crossover traffic which means an 8% decrease at the turn bike inter change now we also looked at the local roads so on Martin Highway we're removing about a 5% decrease in traffic there and a 9% decrease at High Meadows Avenue so those are the two Alternatives that we would like to take for public feedback let's get into now Southeast Bridge Road so it was a concept that was analyzed as we went through that teed process but it was eliminated the spacing between I95 and Turnpike is just is so close it's about uh 1,900 ft from the gore to the to the turnpike Mainline even less than a half a mile so it's too close for safe operations of two separate full interchanges so we did we're Engineers we we try to make it work we looked at what what it would take to make it work and we so we combined the interchanges so what that resulted in is three interchanges in one resulting in a complex interchange which I'll go through so again this doesn't have my animations but I'm going to go through it you know so the existing I95 access that remains but we do have to modify the ramps so the southbound um off which is it's a diamond configuration now in order to make this work it turned into a loop ramp so that's lower speed and a higher potential for lean departure crashes so so that southbound off at 95 becomes a um a loop ramp now we have new Turnpike and 995 connections which is the same the same four movements as Al Alives one and two that you just saw Northbound to Northbound southbound to southbound now the um Bridge AIS road is not going to be all four it's going to be only two so let me see if I could find them now they should be in green so you go from Turnpike head south and then you switch over to to I 95 and then you take that Loop ramp and then you get off at Bridge Road so that would be the oneand movement and then the Northbound on so you would be on Southeast Bridge Road and then you would get on on to I95 and then take a left exit which is not ideal um but you see it on some Express ways especially Turnpike when you're getting under service plaza but um so you would do I 95 take that left exit and get onto the turnpike so those are the two movements that would happen so in order to make this happen you have local access being mixed with highspeed um access so we had to in the southbound Direction it would require eled distributor Road and um that would create additional conflict points and again that Loop ramp that low speed Loop ramp that would would have to fo the south bound off and then um I already mentioned it's also mixing of traffic in this direction additional conflict points that aren't in the other Alternatives and it's a left exit so those are that that is the southeast Bridge Ro concept okay that's not feasible you're saying yeah so what we found is it is not so why was it eliminated we have safety and operational concerns we have that three interchanges in one is complex it introduces additional conflict points in 995 it mixes that lower and highspeed traffic and that Loop ramp it does have the most rideway impacts it has three times more rideway impacts than Alternatives one and two so that's more impactful to the surrounding parcel owners proper property owners and at the end of the day I we started with a slide that showed purpose and need system linkage enhancing safety and enhancing emergency response and evacuation it does not meet the project purpose and need there are no benefits to additional um adjacent interchanges in Martin County there's like the the Martin highway it's not so congested that it needs to be relieved such that this would provide that benefit um the the local access here would provide the benefit and Alternatives one and two do meet the project purpose and need so that's why we continued with Alternatives one and two so my last slide was this and but I know we're going to have questions depending on the outcome of this meeting we do would like to take Alternatives one and two for public input and right now the the anticipated dates are July 17th and July 18th but I know there are questions so I'll go back to whatever slide so I just want to make it clear I'm gonna since I'm sh I can do that um and you're the hes I was actually um talking to a press person the other day I actually I'm have to apologize I missed the no meeting that this was um presented the last time the previous ones is the Bridge Road interconnect with the turnpike was not on the table um there is people um in South County that are passionate actually both both sides of that issue yes um but it's always been completely impractical we're not going to put any more traffic on Bridge Road I just want to make that clear that we're not going there right so yes the Alternatives that we would like to uh move forward with do not provide additional access to Bridge Road thank you I just wanted to re reiterate that one more time commissioner campy Miss Heywood thank you for your presentation but I just want I'm not on the m so uh bored some of my colleagues all of my other colleagues are so I'm going to be but I haven't been yet for these you just spend some time showing us a version that you are not going to use yes because we were asked to yeah I appreciate that but that made it much more confusing because you spend time explaining an option that we're not going to use so for folks that are watching at home this is not the option is not the two that you are potentially going to use we didn't get into that level of detail as much as you did here I don't believe because it's it's much simpler interchange oh these yes I get it it was a much simpler there are much simpler um configurations Northbound to Northbound Northbound to nor uh southbound to southbound here's my question and actually I heard this being discussed on the radio this morning on my way to work uh that we were going to have this meeting right now and so with that in mind the the obvious question is if one is $231 million yes and one is what's the other1 152 156 and they're both work and there's no upside or downside why is there two options why would we ever spend an additional $100 million like we could what's the value of an extra hundred million we could have gone to public meeting with one alternative you are correct um I think it's apparent which one tending public feedback and local agency feedback which one is going to be the preferred alternative it's likely going to be alternative too correct unless there's you know money raining down into the cars on the expensive version if we looking for uh any kind of activity I would make a motion to accept the $156 million version thank you commissioner Smith so it was me who pushed for the discussion to make sure that we explore all the options what was glazed over very quickly and the impact were very slight where that Ed you are going to get some impacts in Palm City and if we ever do redesign the turnpike interchange up there it's going to change pal c um I I am on 95 a fair amount these days for whatever reason this SE can we stop whoa whoa stop stop sorry go back to the one you just had up okay we'll no or the one before I don't care stop moving it please we will get one shot at this for the next 50 years years whatever decision is made good or bad or indifferent we're not going to go back and rebuild this thing 10 years from now because we made a mistake in the decision this section and and Harold you probably know it as well as anybody but I've been down here probably 20 times in the last couple months for whatever reason the accidents and the traffic between the county line and the way station is like out of control I don't know what happens on the turnpike agree the firefighters call it the Twilight Zone but it is the Twilight Zone and so the other day when I was going down there was 6 seven miles of traffic on the turnpike dead still stop not going anywhere there were people on the 95 side that were slowing down because the the turnpike side was stopped and they were looking to find out what was going on in that component when you are in that mess there is no alternative to get out of that mess and do something different and so the options are if you know how to get around it if you're local you'll go out Bridge Road underneath 95 underneath the turnpike and you go out west which I've done before when there was something going on out there and all of that was congested and tied up I just I I I understand the concern of not wanting to open up Bridge Road to any more traffic I don't believe that that's what would happen I believe that you're giving the most options possible to both people in hob sound to get on or off if that that's the direction you're going I appreciate your cons your criticism of the the third option I don't agree with it I think it's overkill on the on the the concerns I travel all over the state and I see the crazy things you all do with interchanges all over the state the worst one in the world and it's the most confusing I said this at the no meeting is down uh where the turnpike Blends into the Saw Grass and it's you don't know if you're going to or if you're going north it's and then there's another one that goes to the East and you never know which one you're on and now you find yourself going to the airport when you had no intentions that you really wanted to get on the the saw graphs right I think of what you're doing in Orlando with all the interchanges up there and you have done crazy remarkable things up there but the idea that it's too congested it's too tight it's too this it's to that I completely reject all of that given what you're doing around the state um so look if if this isn't to move forward I I would have just liked to have seen if if we're going to be completely transparent to the public and give them options show them the options this one says no we've already made the decision why I even have the public hearing we're selecting item number two because it's the cheapest and why bother going any further so by not giving anybody the option not understanding the Dynamics of what will really happen with all this and I don't know that we absolutely know I think we're shorting the public and I always think that and and the funny thing is you know when one of these projects is is delivered to us there's also the no build option and that's not here right well because presented two yeah because of timing and nothing about no build and so I just that the you know and I said this at the no as well and and this is the last thing I'll say about this we were presented years ago with a plan from Engineers on the fourleaf Clover that was going to get built at 95 and 74 or 76 sorry I always get those two mixed up at 76 and if you didn't look at the drawings and you didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to what was on the drawing the M didn't say much until I said look you understand that there's going to be a hotel a restaurant and a fast food torn down because of the way this thing is designed and we were told what got built wasn't practical wouldn't fit we couldn't do it I said I don't know go up to Daytona and look at uh Pon Inlet or Port Orange exit there's a tight Diamond up there how is it you could build it up there and we couldn't build it here well guess what the no voted we wanted nothing to do with what was proposed and they built a tight Diamond like they are down south and like what was up in Port Orange I just sometimes when these things get presented because whoever and for whatever reason doesn't want an option it getss presented in such a way that it just can't work it's too expensive and it's too tight we don't have enough distance between A and B end of story and then a motion gets made and we choose number two because that's what we're going to present because it's the cheapest and I don't know that it's the best honestly and so I appreciate you allowing us to see this because that's what we asked you to do I just wish that the public would get to see in the public hearing process all of the options so they know what other options could be considered and with that I got to go I thank you commissioner herd yeah um actually could you hold on do you mind if we finish these two last items within your absence or okay all right okay yeah I I certainly uh can can understand the need for uh examining these Alternatives um in the last several months let's call it six months each time that I have traveled uh South and have come north on I95 there has been a terrible accident at Indiantown Road every single time not 80% of the time 100% of the time so I understand the need to reduce the traffic on the Indian toown interchange and also I have absolutely no interest in having in creating new exits in Martin County no interest whatsoever ever so I think that this alter the alternative to that just allows a fast exchange between uh the turnpike and um I95 is is a brilliant solution to a problem that exists today so I I I I like both uh one and two but obviously I prefer two because it's it's less expensive and I think that it will function just as well as as as alternative one I personally concur with you um we have such an issue on Bridge Road right now when there's a backup on 95 literally the traffic will back up to 95 to US1 um and it's just we have no you know I'll get a shot in if Willoughby would have come to Bridge Road and we had another means of maybe that would be different but the way it's configured right now um we can't take it anyway commissioner heatherington I don't disagree with all that I'm just curious how much right away is because it it's significantly cheaper I'd imagine construction but how much RightWay is required in alternative one or two because it looks like there's one section that you could acquire that right away and alternative two where you're going to either buy with from a willing seller or condemn this section but then you've got this other parcel in alternative one no I'm sorry alternative two so I I think I'm going to ask Bill if he remembers but between the two one is 67 acres and the other one is about 70 something so the the rideway between Alternatives one and two aren't that much of a difference but it is it is over 60 Acres needed for both yeah it is it is but it's elevated right what's that anyway never mind commissioner campy I'm going to follow on that okay couple of questions that we didn't hear timing wise I know that a lot of times we're thinking when we have this conversation that hey you guys are going to be out there starting this in the next six months give us the time frame of what you're talking about most of us might not even be around to ever get a chance to do this correct when is this going to be built so let me go back to my um so that's the transportation planning process this is a this is because we're dealing with I95 is a federal project so design has to be funded before this PD study concludes depending on public feedback and what's that as we get so design will be funded other other besides that we don't know but as as everyone knows fdot goes through that annual work program process and and and prior and and funds Project based and priority so it's just a yearly process of when when this will actually be done so two years for each phase if if you were just supposed to keep going and going it would be two years for each phase two years for design two years for RightWay and then you get into Construction so not holding you responsible for a guess the first cars driving over this what year will it be it it is not funded okay so but it won't happen within the next decade that I don't know how would I answer that Henry for well I just want to make sure that people don't start to have like a crazy sense of urgency this is if I were to guess yes I'm not the expert you all are 10 15 years out correct yeah we we're looking at like jasine said uh if everything is lining up it could be five or more years to start construction so that's five years fast to start construction that that's again if all the funding is in place and all that but again that little all the funding is in place yes yeah there is a lot of priorities ter for the ter would you state your name for the record please yeah my name is Henry Pinon I am the environment Turnpike Environmental Management engineer thank you thank you yeah I'm not I'm not criticizing you I think having the flyover option now without the u the requirement of going through Turnpike toll Boots the ability to do sunp pass or toll by plate allows a lot of this and I travel all over the country for my regular job and I see this all the time where you can get from one and and as far as I'm concerned hearing most of it having read the agenda item and now hearing about it from you all it's a great idea it uh you know it gives people the ability that if there isn't an accident on 95 or the turn bike to be able to find somewhere to switch over even if you're crawling along a mile or so before the switch over you know that at least you will at some point and then also to to alleviate anybody getting off at Bridge Road is a is a plus the other question if you do have to require uh potentially 60 Acres and this is an elevated roadway would the current owners of that property still have the ability to use underneath or do you guys block it and own it no we we block it and so it's not like because currently what's out there now is is very rural in nature yes there's no opportunity for it to be continue to exist underneath your project no there's cows on there now no they a fence would go up where the limited access RightWay line is but I would like to clarify that this is not elevated um the only things that elevated is when you have to cross over and um I 95 or but every other than that is at grade okay yeah so you going to have those the rise and Falls but for most part it's at grade no I understand yeah good good what it's amazing we all assumed it was well she you're not saying it's some sections will be elevated to get you over the tops of things and if you're having I'm not an engineer but if you're having a natural pitch at high speeds it's not you're not coming up the hill you want to start and it's going to elevate up and over that's what I'm I'm speaking of that so it's not like at the at the canal closer to Martin Highway and High Meadows where it's 60 fet elevated yeah you're not doing that yeah it's going to be gradual just like you said commissioner Heatherton I was just going to suggest it's complex enough that to I think you need more public involvement meetings you've got two days in the middle of the summer that if someone misses them they're done if you could spread those out probably throughout the timeline and have more than two meetings back to back in the middle of the summer I think that probably would be beneficial to the public thank you we usually we used to only have one but because of the pandemic we we are now Pro um providing the virtual option so no matter where anyone is in the world as long as they have that internet connection they can join that virtual meeting and then we have the inperson but we'll take that under consideration yeah in addition uh the virtual meeting is is put on the website so they can go to the website and see the meeting present and all the materials exciting opportunities and projects thank you yes one last thing though please if I may um um commissioner Smith asked about that no build because of the timing and we were trying to compress the presentation we did not present the no build but that is an option that remains on the table throughout the P study the no build or do nothing alternative and we'll get more into that in our public meeting presentation okay do we need a motion or commissioner can't be made a motion but do you need a motion I withdraw my motion all right thank you thank you thank you all right we are going to change up once again um since we are all the way to uh only having two items left we are going to take a 10-minute um we don't even need to that we're going to take a five minute you got the I don't need B you could take my word for it okay we're going to take a 10minute break and we'll be back um close captioning break for our two items which actually have a total of five and I like being defiant so e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome back we will now take up department number one Office of Management and budgets items which require board approval we have three of them and Stephanie merley will take us away good morning Commissioners Stephanie merley with the Office of Management and budget here to present to you the OMB item for today our first item is a permission to apply for the cops or the community oriented policing Services technology equipment program Grant a partnership between the general services and Department in the sheriff's office is requesting a $750,000 grant for replacement of obsolete equipment and support systems with effective equipment Technologies and interoperable Communications to assist in responding to in preventing crime at the e911 Dispatch Center there is no match required for this grant it's not scrolling sorry our second item is permission to accept the fdot supplemental agreement for the Northeast Jensen Beach Boulevard resurfacing project this is just a grant amendment that is increasing the grant project by $153,900 we have the match already budgeted in the FY 24 roads Capital Improvement plan which is available currently in the CIP and the last item is just a request for funds for development review Engineering Services if you recall back in December of 2023 we requested funding in order to get the backlog um of De development review uh engineering Plan reviews this additional request in the amount of$ 77,78 from development review fees in the unincorporated mstu will allow development review to continue this pace through the end of fiscal year 24 and that is all I have today move approval second we have a motion by commissioner herd seconded by commissioner campy um all in favor I all opposed motion carries four to zero commissioner Smith is not here thank you okay department number two thank you for being so quick uh department number two contracts that will meet the threshold of the board contracts that meet the threshold for Bo approval $1 million or greater chrisy Brotherton good after no good morning Christy Brotherton Chief procurement officer we have two items for your consideration today uh the first is a continuing Services agreement for fertilizers and pesticides uh this contract has a maximum not to exceed value of $3 million and a maximum not to exceed term of 5 years and staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible biders which are golf Ventures and site one landscape supply and staff is requesting that the board authorize the County administrator or designate to execute all documents related to this request uh the next contract we have is a continuing Services agreement for environmentally sensitive lands vegetation management uh this contract has a maximum not to exceed value of $5 million with a maximum not to exceed term of 5 years uh this particular contract the biders were not required to bid on all line items that's why we have the uh contract award broken down by line items and there is a change uh we are resending the uh contract award to ground level this was due to some contract exceptions that were submitted that we could not agree to so um the contractor and the county agreed to resend the contract award so with that being said staff is recommending that the board award the contract the lowest responsive and responsible biders by line item uh for items one through eight we have Earth Balance Corporation Kerner LLC Wetlands management for items 9 through 14 we have John Brown and Suns ker LLC and Salgado tree trimming and for items 15 through 19 we have Bright View landscaping services Salgado tree trimming and wetlands management um and that move that the board authorized the County administrator or design need to execute all documents related to this request and that concludes this item move approval second we have a motion by commissioner herd seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed motion carries four to zero commissioner Smith not here thank you with that we have reached the end of our exciting uh agenda today and uh do we have any public comment 50:5 at 4 11:15 seeing none commissioner M commissioner heatherington I'm all set thanks I'm all set commissioner campy all set I'm set Mr Donson yeah I think I just wanted to um uh say a few words on uh this last Thursday evening there was a fire at the Florida Power and Light plant um and our fire rescue staff uh responded uh um quickly and expeditiously to the scene um obviously there were some uh some incidents that occurred there um I I just just wanted to point out a couple of things that I thought the staff did a really outstanding job with um um in in in working with Florida Power and Light at the plant uh with those that had injured it was a it was a significant scene in that regard um Chief Deputy uh John buek uh remained in close communication with the administration and um and fire rescue team and assisting them and incing off the area but I think what's most significant is that the uh one the staff uh firemen went into to rescue those that had been injured due to uh uh an explosion um that did cause a temporary uh delay and the action of them fighting the fire uh talking to the uh our chief working closely with the plant managers and the I think it's a very important to note that our uh Hazard HazMat team was very involved with defining um what the conditions are and what could be done and then uh knowing uh Chad Tully our chief uh was not one for inaction after receiving uh really valuable information um from his team made a decision to act decisively to and put the fire out and no further um hazards were were encountered after they took that action and so uh I just think it's really important they took uh there'll be more after action review of it but um they really did an outstanding uh job in both um uh rescuing and helping to save the lives of two injured fpnl including their own inine injured firefighter and then um to assess afterwards um the risks involved and working closely to assess a safe means of continuing to put out the fire there was quite a lot went into that and they did really now standing job so that uh um and our prayers go to those uh injured fpnl agents uh for their for their recovery and our injured firefighter thank you thank you thank you sir with that nothing all right with that we are adjourned thank you for