e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e all right welcome back to our um Board of County Commission meeting our last agenda item um 24 2024 legislative session final report by Miss Sarah Powers and Matt Forest take it away take it away it's a pleasure to be with you this afternoon now officially uh for the record Matt forest with Ballard Partners representing Martin County uh it's a pleasure to be here with you um um as I said uh it's nice that I live in West Palm Beach so it's easy for me to to zip up here and uh I hopefully we not stand between you guys and and your early afternoon as well uh before we begin I always like to remind everybody um because I know my name gets tossed around a lot I talk with your staff often but I just want you to remember you have a full firm that represents you um Ballard Partners is a Statewide government Affairs firm uh uh headquartered in Tallahasse Florida but with offices around the state including West Palm Beach Florida we also have now large practice in DC uh continue to expand uh Martin County especially is one of our one of our oldest clients you guys are uh a legacy client uh probably if I had to look back arguably you know maybe one of our even first local governments and so we we're proud of the reputation and and the trust you've put in us we love working with all of you but I always want to remind you that yeah more than just Matt when I go up to Tah uh we're constantly talking about all of your needs including Brian Ballard himself updating him and exactly what's important to the county so I always I think it's important to stress that you have a full firm and and not just me I'd also like to stress that I'm not out there alone I'm not a guy that you just send don't just call him he's really saying no no I'm I'm saying I always just want to remind everybody because a lot of times you go well maybe we need more people and and I'm I am your your main guy your main contact and it's also very convenient because I live just down the road but I'm in Tallahassee obviously ly throughout the session as you guys see when you come up there but the full firm is always working with you and we also take great pride especially as the firm has grown to be very collaborative uh we are not a firm that kind of gets siloed and say oh you're just on Matt's plate uh we're very much a hey who's great with this person over here and and I need help getting in there and getting this thing done so just want to make sure you know that also I always want to stress uh I'm not up there alone uh your your staff uh I talk with quite often uh from the from the County Administrator to to Sarah and to also to on um uh a lot of dialogue goes on between me and and the entire uh the staff um whether it's back and forth or also uh with Sarah up in the hallways there so you're very well represented in Tallahassee as my point the session concluded on March 8 which now seems like forever ago uh we call that the early session um so uh It won't always be obviously it alternates every other year but it can suited in on March 8 and things will probably stay pretty quiet in Tallahassee now um they're they're not anticipating any special sessions as of right now now there is obviously always rumors and Buzz um I can tell you that there was a strong Rumor for about two weeks there that they're going to go back up uh and do some other special nuanced things in a special session but that's all kind of been quelled and gone away um it's still possible something might happen between now and the election in November um but if they do it'll be very limited so with that said I I gave you that big picture to say things will stay quiet in Tallahassee legislatively which is not to say that there still can't be a lot of activity at the agency level but most people are back in the districts now uh in campaign mode um uh so this is a great time to dive into exactly what happened um some things that changed some things that didn't pass um and also start kind of slowly ramping up to what legislative issues you might have going into the 2025 session um uh normally when I give this presentation there's a a list of agenda items behind me and uh I always say this is a horrible setting for a deep dive into legislation even though I am the last thing maybe this is still a great reason to say this is still a horrible time a horrible setting for a deep dive into into legislation um there's a lot of nuance on what a bill is and and does and does not do um It's always important to read the actual words on the page and and and what does it do it's also great to to make sure your county attorney is up to speed on on exactly what it may do and also how it may impact the existing words on your ordinances and how they impact so this is a great setting for a quick recap and maybe some highlights but I always say dive into the actual end of session report feel free to read that at the beach with your when you have plenty of time and then we can come back in personal one-on-one time or with your county staff and really dive into exactly what might be an impact with that said let me dive into some highlights um let's start with the Appropriations world this year the legislature passed a $17.46 billion budget so that would be the budget the general Appropriations act going into the July 1 2024 to June 30th 2025 fiscal year now that number will probably decrease uh yet again the governor has not been sent the budget yet and therefore has not issued their his line item vetos yet so but before we even get to the veto list it's important to know that the 17 11746 billion is less than the bill the budget they passed the previous year so all reports are roughly the last budget was about $2 billion more so you're already going into a budget that had that was that had less projects less issues less money as they tried to reel in some of the spending up in Tallahassee uh the governor has already said that he'd like to get that budget below 117 billion so uh just to do math for you that's already about a $460 million cut that the governor will probably be looking through on the veto list last year the veto list was $510 Million so I gave you that big picture to to make you realize the veto list is probably going to be substantial um it always is um and especially when it comes to local governments there's a bulk of the projects the bulk of the line items are usually you know local government generated and so they're always going to Bear the brunt of of a heavy veto list also I think it's always great U for those of you that aren't big sports fans I I am and uh I always think stats are important even though I'm not an analytics guy I do think it's important to always get big picture otherwise you get very focused on just you know what you're immediately concerned about this year there was 2,772 budget requests from Members up in Tallahassee seeking $ 7.46 billion um I give you that number because it as a lobbyist that's now done this for probably 16 years it it see every year it gets bigger every year members get more and more um um ideas of ways to draw down dollars to the local districts which I think is great I think it's great that there's a a heavy dialogue with that at the same time I also feel like there's going to be a market correction eventually eventually somebody's going to say God we have we're we're seeing more and more requests every single year in the final budget this year um of that 2772 projects 1,500 1,547 are member projects in the budget so uh a lot of projects in there um even but if if you look at the big picture even uh you know out of 2700 that were filed only 1,500 made it so it's still a very competitive argument you know I always joke it's you're pushing a heavy Rock up a hill um uh some rocks are are lighter than others but you're it's really hard to get stuff in the budget but I'm proud to say with the staff's help uh we filed six projects uh to for for Martin County specific uh in the budget uh or to be considered and out of those six four of them made it through the process that are in the budget so we now right now have current line items for the mark County U Bessie Creek retrofit $500,000 County Road 710 reignment 3.5 million the Martin County Sheriff's Office mental health housing pod which we uh assisted the sheriff's office in pushing for 500,000 and of course the Martin County Gomez uh Community Petway portable water service for $940,000 so those projects are all four line items in the budget that we are advocating to the governor's office that they stay in there um I can tell you I'm advocating for all of them I'm also going to warn you and just give you you know like I said it's going to be a heavy veto list coming out I was thinking again from a sports standpoint we we filed six we got four that's a great day you're you're in the All-Star game but we're not going to go four for four probably in the final days um I have a I have a feeling you know hopefully we we maintain the large ones we're hoping we maintain as men as we can but it's going to be really hard to maintain four projects when when the Vil list comes out also of note in the budget I think it's important to note uh the final Proviso language in regards to everl Restoration uh when the initial budgets came out the Senate does their budget the house does their budget the Senate budget uh included Proviso language that was very specific and and as we learned restrictive on eligible projects uh in the uh comprehensive Everglades restoration uh project Silo um many agencies saw that uh that restrictive and very specific list and pointed out why this would be problematic uh I think Martin County is to be commended um in addition to numerous other agencies but your staff and many of your your Commissioners came up to Tallahassee to immediately kind of raise why this would be problematic and and how it could impact Martin County and I'm happy to say that in the the final negotiations uh the Senate moved away from their position and the final language in the house is the language that that Martin County advocated for and pushed and so um again not a member project but was definitely a a red alert all hands on deck and I'm happy to say in the end it all worked out moving on to some legislation of note um now again this is this is the the occasion too where we could be here all day talking about bills that did or didn't pass and exactly what happened with them so I'm just going to give you again one some big picture numbers so you can always get a good idea of perspective and then two uh some some bills of note that I think are important to highlight and kind of keep in mind uh for starters 1,957 bills filed so uh the Schoolhouse Rock video that everybody remembers uh there's a lot of those little bills and what they don't tell you is the life expectancy of most of them are not good A lot of those bills don't make it out of committee or even get Hur in Committee in the end 325 those 1900 bills passed both Chambers so uh A legislature uh even though uh numerous get filed uh It's always important to remember um very few were going to make it through at the end of the day three out of those 325 um I think it's always a note too that even as we sit here now in June you know several you know God what be three months after the legislature has has concluded 67 are still waiting on action so 67 of them have not been sent to the governor yet for for his approval or veto so that's 21% so there's still a lot to be determined from the legislative session is is kind of my point there's still a couple controversial bills uh that people are are are echoing and hoping for a vetto one thing of note though I also wanted to to note I'm not sure it will be an issue in Martin County but because it was slipped in a non-traditional place I think it's important to note in the budget in the budget actually in the implementing Bill Senator Broder uh included language that prohibits uh a county or municipal government from Banning the operation of leaf blowers uh for at least one year uh this is a controversial issue that's popping up in other areas of the State uh certain local governments are are Banning gas powerered leaf blowers uh and Senator uh Broder along with others basically said look we're going to Le take a moratorium on this no actions for a year there's going to be a study on it uh but because that's not a bill um it was never debated it was never uh you probably are never alerted on it it was never uh something somebody could stand up a committee and say whether they like or not it literally was done in the budget negotiation process I think it's important for for most local governments to note that I don't think you guys have a pending leaf blower ban but in case it comes up there you go so there you go well you can wait for a year other uh bills of note that passed again uh I think a highlight for Martin County U because I guess it's an issue I didn't know about until you put it on my radar going into the session is uh Senate Bill 7040 and the ratification of the D stormwater rules uh again a topic that was near and dear to your staff's heart uh these rules have been in place in development for the last 3 years uh most consider it the last piece in implementing the 2020 clean waterways act that ratification happened um so the bill passed I think unanimously both sides it has not been sent to the governor yet but most anticipate approval when it is done um the 67 that is one of the 67 still waiting yep who determines whether they go or they don't go well all bills will go eventually um when they are sent or how they are sent is is kind of done informally um most know that there's obviously a taking clock once a bill is sent uh the governor has I want to say 14 days to either act or not act that date changes if it's done during session most don't realize there's there's no time frame on when a bill must be sent usually theoretically it's before before the effective date so for example the the bill the budget um needs to be in place July 1 so most theoretically would say it needs to get sent before July 1 but and that's most bills are the same way so but I also would not uh read anything into the uh has been sent or not been sent a lot can be just done on maybe just we hey we want to have a great press conference on this and it's not in the schedule yet you know I can't be where I want to be yet just don't know if I've ever heard that there was a there was a hold back or there was a there was a delay of all bills being sent I mean I assume they all went no point they got ret or they didn't no they're definitely not all this is very normal again as a as a guy that's done this for years they definitely don't send all the bills at this at one time one again even though it's a smaller number that'd be 325 bills that all have a ticking clock now so he's got 14 days it'd be like you know plate spinning you know some they want to do press conferences on when they sign them some members want them to sign them in the district the governor couldn't possibly get to 325 places you know all at one time so there's just a a pacing of that for for for reasons and a lot of it also is just maybe some I mean I can tell you in some that are controversial they want more time to hear from all interested parties they want more time to really kind of weigh the merits of a of a case do any of them ever not make it or they all have to go all bills must eventually be sent yes for consideration yep a couple other bills of note that did pass uh HB 267 residential building permits uh this is something your staff is going to want to make sure that they take note of this speeds up the RW time for numerous applications I want to stress on this it speeds up the review time it does not speed up the approval time many local governments of uh show a little heartburn on this and we have X amount of days in order to get these approved that's not what they're saying um it's x amount of days in order to speed up the appr the the review time so you don't need to approve these all these permits right away but you need at least respond back to the applicant and whether they are sufficient or deficient and go on from there but the dates and numbers did changed significantly in numerous categories another great example of dive into the bill because there's a lot of categories another one is affordable housing uh you might remember two sessions ago um uh the live local Act was passed um this does a lot to incentivize projects that are uh considered affordable housing projects as long as they meet specific definitions they went back and further enhanced that program to make it more specific on exactly what those those enhancements could be and exactly what those restrictions would be again your staff will want to make sure they they they take a note of what those changes are also lastly on the on the it passed but we'll see what happens uh vacation rentals this bill has been around for many many sessions and it has not passed this year it did a version of vacation rentals passed it's SB 280 it has not been sent to the governor yet it remains controversial many local governments uh oppose it many local governments support it um many vacation rental platforms oppose it many vacation rental managers support it and I know uh as other clients of mine Hotel years do support it from a local government standpoint I would tell you um it gives you more Tools in your toolbox um for at least in terms of it it specifies exactly what you can and can't do on certain conditions it does preempt to the state the regulation of vacation rentals with you know away from these um abilities but for example one issue I've I've seen in this this area for years was the issue of occupancy and before even though it was not specified it was always unclear whether a local government could could set an occupancy limit on a house uh this bill does give that specifics now and say exactly what the occupancy limits could be I believe it's two per room and then there's a certain discretion on for you know a second anary room let's say you have a large uh garage that's air conditioned or undercover or something like that and so the point is again your staff will want to if you want to do local government ordinances regarding vacation rentals this gives you more specifics on how you can if it is signed this bill has not also been set the governor uh uh I can tell you this one is one of those that remains controversial and so uh wait until see would see the governor does but it it I don't think vacation rentals has been a huge issue for your county in the past um so it's just maybe making note of this thing that's never happened for a long long time finally did happen and so we'll see what what changes from there of note of bills that did not pass um bills the the that that that failed to move but I want to put on your radar because I have a feeling they will be back uh one is HB 609 local business taxes this was a bill um that that got some Traction in the house this preempted uh a local government's ability to Levy a local business tax or local business receipt uh many local governments have it a different title for them um many see it uh possibly uh were opposed to the bill one from the the loss of Revenue side of it um but also many local governments I I heard or heard testify or heard discussion of the bill it also removed you just your ability to a registration system to know what businesses we operating in your community you know look you know I heard many say we charge a very nominal fee but it's always nice to have somebody come in and say we're registering and and documenting exactly what kind of business we're operating in these locations so if you were to say hey how many barber shops do we have in town you would have a way to know that kind of thing and so that bill did not pass but again I have a feeling it will be back and so it's important to note maybe start thinking about um how you could modify your your ordinances to accommodate that so and I know you said you named it a couple different things here we call an occupational license fee is that what it is again that would be a great example look at the bill um to see how it was defined compare to what your ordinance says and then maybe start thinking of how we could make sure we don't fit this our square peg into that square hole make sense by your description it sounds that's what it sounds like yes I can tell you the intent was to cover all types of of topics of this category again and you guys aren't you guys are you know not new to this process you know the tone of Tallahasse is we're a a less regulation less tax and and if we can find a way to reel in a local government's ability and as usual it's also one of those great examples I think of in most cases it's not a factor and then you'll find a local government somewhere that's charging an exorbitant amount you know and and and the leg the legislature thinks there's a need for them to to to step in and and over and regulate that back another bill that I think again we we'll get some traction eventually uh SB 472 sovereign immunity this raises or changes the caps on your sovereign immunity um uh liability in terms of civil claims right now it's capped at I believe at 200 300 depending on U the the scope of the claim um this bill has been around now for at least two or three sessions I've seen it uh in various versions that were up to a million dollars I've seen in some cases unlimited I've seen in other cases where it ties it to the Consumer Price Index and and continues to move uh W with the cost of living it died again this year but it moved in both Chambers uh I think it's only a matter of time before they finally agree on what that that price will be and so I think it's important to take note of that in your own uh budget planning processes or your own uh insurance and risk management policies to just know that that number uh will probably be changing and also have note it hasn't changed now in in probably over a decade so it's probably just wise to also consider it from your standpoint as well lastly is s SP 438 hb4 57 term limits uh this was a bill that would have uh passed mandatory term limits for counties um it moved in both Chambers uh well uh in the end they just could not stick the landing on exactly what the term limit cap should be um it varied across the board um from 12 Years to eight years to non-charter counties to people that had already passed 12 years that people had didn't have any in place um again I think that bill will come back in some version or another and it's only a matter of time I think before they eventually settle on what you know what the the number should be and who it should be imposed to if you want on that one and this is a great example that is one you want to read the report because we try to I we try to do our best to give you literally like an autopsy on it of all the different ways it changed where it finally got stuck um what the final versions were and and and really even in the bill it you you would think an issue of this could be this simple of you know just term limits but it's very complicated in terms of non-charter counties and Charter counties and who had a referendum on it who hasn't had a referendum on it and things like that and so that's a great example of look into it to see exactly where where it ended um moving on from legislation and then I'll answer any questions just to give you some important dates uh as I said uh the legislature is now wrapped up um I don't anticipate um anything of note really uh going on in Tallahassee if there is a special session I don't think it'll be on a topic um U very specific to local governments uh just a friendly reminder when they call a special session um they have to also uh give the cause they have to give the reason uh the scope of the special session so it's not it's not just a hey this is a great time we can file a bill and try to move this during a special it's very narrow as to what they can be considered then so if there is a special session I don't think it'll be on a topic that's that's going to impact uh the local government operations dates of course to put on your calendar November 5th the general election uh the primary is August 20th all members of the Florida house are on the ballot all members of the Florida house are up for re-election only half of the Florida Senate is up all odd-numbered Senate seats which include Senate District 31 which is the one that represents Martin County Senator gerol harell is on the ballot uh so that is where most of the focus will be between now um and the end of the year after the the election in November 5th it's important to note that this is the start of a whole new legislative cycle we will have a new Senate President we'll have a new speaker of the house we'll have all new committee chairs all new committee assignments everything very much starts over from from scratch um uh going into the next session there will be an organizational session uh at the end of November and then they'll announce committee weeks normally there's a committee weekend one or two in December one or two in January usually two to three in February the next session starts March 4th 2025 so this is the long Gap this is the big gap so it'll start March so between now and then we have a long time between March and and may of when it will conclude and then to really forecast out though the the 2026 session is early so we'll wrap up in May of 2025 and go back in in January of 2026 so I I always actually consider it one session two halves and so we just got done with one session it's over we will start the first half of the next session um uh after the November elections uh so we have plenty of time to continue to discuss uh any legislative issues that the the county may have um your appropriation goals your legislative needs um I would say we all throughout the summer and into the fall we'll want to start nailing those down and and deciding what we need to push probably by you know September October so that we're ready to hit the ground running uh right after the election in November um but I also can tell you rules can change um the for example just the appropriation process that we've gotten very used to in terms of a member filing a form in each side that's only about you know six seven years old um speaker corkrin brought that in um they could very much change that and they could change the deadlines they could make it harder to apply for project they can make it easier to apply for projects and so I think it's great I don't anticipate more changes coming down the way but um just know we're going into a new legislative cycle new leadership new chairs and everything can all the rules can change and with that I'll pause and answer any questions Mr Smith thank you for that thank you for everything else uh two questions um I had the occasion about three weeks ago four weeks ago to meet with the incoming Senate President for a few minutes and um chatted with him about what I've always called All Things water and getting a water policy done that is a Statewide funding and planning program for 5 10 and 20 year Horizons uh he was uh instantly surprised but grateful um that um he said um I am I am going to be one of your Champions on that um so I share that with you if you've not already had that conversation with him uh but he was very excited about the idea the association counties and others are talking about it and wanting to do something with it this session so hopefully that is something that is going to be on our radar screen the other uh Ron book who serves as our uh uh director for our regional planning councils a Statewide Association uh we had a joint uh uh Regional planning council meeting with South Florida Regional planning Council probably about a month and a half ago um and we had about a three-hour conversation about home owners insurance and it was really interesting I mean we had uh some really good speakers really good experts in the field and there are seemingly uh some federal fixes um if there's an appetite to fix it uh but there's also some State stuff more that we can do uh I didn't know if you had any kind of inclination as to anything you hearing early already about is there going to be something more robust done at the state level relative this coming session and should we be doing anything in the process between now and then uh with either our community the industry um fact whatever let me start with water um um I've heard numerous people uh address the there should be a better process for this um the number of water projects and water related issues that come up year now are are are vast um I do think again I think it's one of those great examples of there's going to be a market correction um um as a guy that's done this for a long time there used to not be a ton of water projects and and now there are I think we might actually see a lot of that I think possibly in The veto letter that comes maybe any hour you know later this week maybe or next there are what is being said is there are now numerous programs through D you know existing Grant programs regarding resilience regarding septic to sewer Beach other areas that are important to local governments and everyone should be going through that process and so I do think there could be that that could be so I guess I point out hopefully will be less uh there will be equal amount of money for projects um if not maybe more but a different line for all of us to get in to push for him and I guess what we've talked about and Frank Bernardino and I have been working on this for years uh did Frank retire um I think Frank has retired uh numerous times and I've seen him in the hallways after retirement numerous times and so I don't want to say whether he is or is not but yes anyway um the one thing that's lacking and this is what we've been talking about for probably five or six years um with anybody who will listen um the predictability and the planning Horizon is is always what the challenge is right now we have a very we have had a very favorable house senate and governor relative to All Things water um but that can change and and the focus can change and even though there's tremendous amounts of money pouring into the agency which is where we'd like to have that happen the certainty and the planning ability from the industry that builds this stuff like what we have modeled it after with fot isn't there and that's that's kind of the challenge it's like how can we we know that there are billions of dollars worth of work to do but the question is can the industry plan and count on that and ramp up to a level to which and we just had Drew here this morning talking about how much is getting done and in the next 10 years it's very possible that we may be like completely ahead of the curve but that can all change if there's not this sort of infrastructure built in place that every five years we're redoing our work plan to make sure that the work plan matches the funding and the funding keeps growing with it like fot does and I I remind everybody of this when I started doing this fdot's budget I think was somewhere in the $3 billion range it's now like 17 billion water has to have that same level of of commitment if yeah like a five-year work plan type project yeah so you're not alone and so yeah I think that would we could see some some direction or change on that in regards to uh insurance that is one of the the buzzworthy topics of a special session is uh something to address homeowners insurance uh the other buzzworthy top topic is immigration of some sort we've seen other states uh pass uh legislation relating to how they can handle immigration issues and so those are the two kind of rumored ones what they would do though on either topic remains to be seen which is probably why they haven't called a special yet it's it's up in the air um I do not think there is consensus um again I'm not an insurance lobbyist but I have not seen consensus on one what exactly is the cause of the problem and then two what exactly would be the best solution for it and I think until you get either one of those um we're there and then the last thing I'll say I say this on numerous topics it's also Florida we are one hour away from whatever next catastrophe will happen whether it's a hurricane a oil spill uh um sadly a shooting sadly mosquitoes some new pandemic yeah a fire yeah it's any given moment in Florida where there will be a reason to Pivot um because of an emergency and that would obviously impact the the homeowners insurance policy for sure I'm not pretty sure we taped that meeting um you might want to watch that section it was fascinating the experts that they had um Congressman was there former uh uh FEMA director um at least in the conversation there are some more heavily handed Federal fixes that would have to happen with the reinsurance piece of all this um which is where a lot of it stems from but still there's some progress and and it just anyway we can talk about it later I just I just curious about what you thought about it yeah I do think it remains open I think it'll it'll definitely be an issue um and unless all of our policies go down in the next nine months it it they probably won't they'll probably be going up in which case they'll continue to be some sort of legislative issue dealing with it thank you thanks my pleasure any other questions comments yep commissioner heing did I was going to say I've not read an autopsy before but this is absolutely really very informative your end of session report so I appreciated it very much thanks for being here too my pledge of but I would also like to stress um I hate writing all because a lot of it is so nuanced so always feel free to give me a call um we try to write it in a way that is informative without just copy and pasting staff analysis at the same time there's a fine line between getting it legally correct actual words on the paper and you know the Nuance of exactly where it is so always feel free to to to give us a buzz and we can walk through it commissioner H yeah commissioner Smith I heard really really good things about that um Insurance Round Table also do you think that there's any way that we could get some of the experts who attended that participated in that to present to us so that we can have a better idea for what we need to Lobby for in the next session uh yes yes and yes um what I said to Tom L Lanahan following that joint meeting uh was that if for nothing else the Treasure Coast Regional planning Council should host its [Music] own thing um that whether we get the same people we don't um mosit Congressman Moscow that's what I was thinking about um it was incredibly informative so I heard um and I'm sure there's I'm I'm sure there's lots of things wrong with the conversation but if you're just sitting there absorbing and listening to what they were talking about it it all made perfectly good sense it's just getting the feds to move off of where they are at a global scale which may be impossible but and it's not just us I mean you know we we Florida fund like 70% of the of the FEMA side of the world we only use 30% of it and that's troubling in a lot of ways as well but this whole National catastrophic fund conversation that's a piece of it like should there be shouldn't there be as Matt just laid out for Florida I mean there are tornadoes there are massive fires out west there are all sorts of things that feed into this um but at the end of the day I what I took away was that the reinsurance side of this was the biggest piece of it MH um but anyway yes sir I I we are I asked Tom there were two or three priorities one is water policy we will have a summit at the regional planning Council on that we'll have one on insurance um and then we're talking about putting one together for our Wildlife uh Corridor issue that we have on the East Coast or lack thereof thank you thank you shks yes thank you very much I know that when I first came into office I was leery about lobbying if you're outside of the government you don't really get the value necessarily but uh having Ballard partners and being up there and seeing your work for us in Tallahassee and like commissioner Smith said this morning about Fowler West in DC we would just be roaming around in Tallahassee or DC as a small County on our own uh really not accomplishing much so I appreciate that you're there and then even to come and recap and then put something like this together because you know what happens up there is directly affecting us here and if we don't understand how it works we can't tell our constituents so thank you very much and for switching your schedule today our pleasure yeah thank you all right with that um our next meeting is a joint meeting with the city of Stewart School Board Village of Indian toown and on June 13th at 9:00 a.m. on the Blake Library and yes I did forget the commissioner comment no but also he's commissioner Smith me yep um you touched on something that I think we probably ought to have on the agenda for the joint meeting uh the city of Stewart relies I wouldn't say heavily but a lot on their occupational license fees uh for a couple different issues one for Revenue but also for they do a lot of their calculating of parking in capacity through who's working how many employees there are blah blah blah I'm I I don't know I wasn't necessarily aware what they had done with it this year um or how it all ended up but that's something that we should probably highlight to them or they should know and be cognizant of because it will impact them yeah I'm not sure if I'm still recognized or not but um um yeah I would recommend read the bill you know and again it was it was a bill that didn't get a lot of traction didn't a lot of movement but again I've done this for a long time and I know the member that filed it is not going anywhere and uh as they continue to matriculate it will continue to grow and go and so I think it's important to look at the bill now to say you know if it would have passed how would it have impacted Us and how can we maybe diversify our maybe Revenue collections registration processes whatever may be to minimize if this was to happen in the future he you just it's just a thing for our staff as much as any just to kind of okay we should have a conversation with them about that commissioner herd yeah I I would like to move for rec reconsideration of the vote on today's Department three which is approval of the Fifth Amendment and complete restatement of agreement of lease with Witham Arrow Club second want to vote on that okay um we have a motion by commissioner herd seconded by commissioner campy all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously now I the reason that I'm uh requesting a reconsideration is that um my husband is a member of Witham Arrow club and owns a an individual hanger at Witham marrow Club so I'm going to abstain from voting on this uh because it it may present a uh conflict of interest and I will file a form 8B with the clerk chman I would move approval of the with the marrow Club agenda item second okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith as seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I I all opposed I abstain okay motion passes 42 one with commissioner herd abstain 4 Z with commissioner herd abstaining eventually I'll get that right you got time any other commissioner comment commissioner campy no sir I don't have any do you okay then comment oh public comment damn thank God you're here uh do we have any public comment nope seeing none our next regular meeting and by the way I'm probably going to miss the July or June 13th joint meeting all right no I forbidden actually have right very good reason to uh and our next regular scheduled U meeting uh Commission meeting is on June 18th do we before you do that okay is there anything is June 13 packed with stuff not packed with stuff it's the joint meeting joint meeting joint meeting yeah so not packed not not packed yes okay I it's okay it's okay I'm sure you'd rather be at the Joint meeting right oh yeah Yes actually in particular instance yes okay and with that we are adjourned thank you --------- e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay now we're on okay Welcome to our uh June 4th 2024 uh Board of County Commission meeting uh we're going to begin with a invocation which is a moment of silence and the pledge allegiance will be by Wayne hanners chief petty officer with 20 years of service in the US Navy go Navy all right okay sir good morning if you're a veteran by Presidential Proclamation you're allowed to do a hand salute please join me in a pledge of allegiance 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 liberty and justice for all thank you chairman for allowing me to be here today my name is Wayne heners um once again I was retired from the United States Navy I served on five different Naval vessels and at five different Navy Recruiting districts I served from 1971 to 1991 during the Vietnam era best times of my life I'm also here today to represent Treasure Coast Hospice I'm a member of the Treasure Coast Hospice veterans honors program been doing this for about six years with Treasure Coast Hospice where I visit veterans either in ipu at end of life in nursing homes or in their own homes uh to date I've pinned over Pro we call it a pinning program uh pinned over 50 veterans and visited probably in either social network or with u we have a coffee socials with them at nursing homes and stuff like that and probably visited over 50 or excuse me a 100 Veterans here in our community uh this past Christmas myself and another veteran honors gentleman uh delivered over 50 packets of Christmas cards to Veterans and nursing homes and these gentlemen and ladies were just absolutely thrilled uh there is a group in out of uh somewhere up north that does these packets and so we were deliver them to the veterans in the nursing homes uh we're always seeking veterans to volunteer into our program with Treasure Coast Hospice of course Treasure Coast Hospice has numerous uh veterans prog or U volunteer programs and encourage anyone to get a hold of the people over here on Indian Street and render your time but the veterans honors program has meant so much to me it's a pleasure just to hear the stories of these gentlemen I've had the grace uh so far to met two who landed on Normandy and heard their stories and I just found that we do have a uh Pearl Harbor Survivor which we're down I think to 16 or 18 Pearl Harbor Survivors right now in the United States and there's one down in Testa and I'm begging to try to get to meet this gentleman and hear his story but like I say you're you're sitting there hearing the stories with tears running down your cheeks and just knowing what those people have been through I've been to normany and seen the the battlefield and how those guys landed and um so that is coming up here on Thursday celebration of dday and our uh um what's your the museum over here in Stewart is having a ceremony at 11:00 on Thursday so encourage anyone to come up and show to V road to Victory Museum uh for their celebration thank you so much for allowing me to be here thank you [Applause] sir all right so our day is going to go uh 9:05 public comment uh 10:00 preset for ever Everglades restoration highlight progress in Martin County then we have a 130 preset uh for uh 2024 legislative session final report and then 505 public comment we have a pretty short agenda I don't think it's going to be 505 um we have no uh consent polls and no additional items commissioner Smith morning Mr chairman move approval of the agenda uh with no consent polls and uh no additional items second okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner campy all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously now we're going to move on to proclamations with uh Miss Laura bro um first one is Centennial logo announcement so I'm going to go for this one Commissioners good morning Commissioners um as you all know 2025 is our Centennial year uh with Martin County and as part of the planned observances for the Centennial year um the board decided to do a contest with local high school students to have our Centennial logo created so we reached out to the school district and with their help put the put the word out to all of our high schoolers and this logo will be included on the County website promotion throughout the Centennial year other items that sort of thing we received 15 submissions um in our Quest and pulled together a committee to meet to review those submissions we had uh thanks to Carolyn timman Martin County uh Clerk of the circuit court and com controller Nancy Terrell with the Arts Council joette lauan rice with the historic preservation board Carrie Anderson Supervisor of Elections office and of course commissioner Doug Smith and they got together made their decision selected a logo it is done by Carly Salzburg who is in ninth grade at Jensen Beach High School and Carly is going to be winning Carly Saltsburg oh Jensen Beach High School yes I'll make that do you want me to say that again commissioner Jensen Beach High School very happy so Carly's going to be winning a bag of great goodies courtesy of the Martin County Community Action Coalition Parks and Recreation Office of Tourism marketing including passes to salefish Splash and time at the hitting bays and all sorts of other goodies in there so at this time I would like to invite both Mark cows with the Martin County School District and also Carly up oh and let me show you oh let me show you the logo jeez goodness gracious this is Carly's logo submission it's still kind of on the paper that we did it on but I don't know if they pulled it up hopefully on the screen um but this is this is Carly's logo that was selected pop it up right there so everybody can see it and with that I'd like to have Mark and Carly come up [Applause] morning Mr chair members of the board to our amazing Martin County Community my name is Mark colls I'm one of the content coordinators of Martin County School District I get to oversee art music physical education social studies and World languages so I work with a lot of talented students and adults and one of them is here today and uh on behalf of our superintendent Mr Michael M I want to thank Laura and the commission for allowing us to be part of this um and anytime we get to display the talent of our students and again this is a freshman getting ready to be a sophomore incredible uh job by Carly amazing design that's going to live on forever like her mom said at least for the next hundred years because then maybe maybe we'll replace it in another hundred but um thank you Carly for your submission we are very proud of you obviously her proud parents back there with the big smiles like a Colgate commercial and uh turn things over to Carly for any questions thank you thank you hello hi Carly congratulations thank you so much great thank you can you tell us what inspired you to do it this way um so I started with the sailfish because we are the sailfish capital and it's a large part of Martin County as a county um and then blue just to go with it and a nice font great job Carly thank you so much beautic thank you [Applause] congratulations this your swag bag every speaker today thank you thank you thank you plenty of homes for sale in Palm City if you just want to come by okay now we've got a presentation of proclamations previously previously approved by the uh consent agenda first being uh code enforcement officers week by and being accepted by John colando Code Enforcement Officers provide for the safety Health and Welfare of the citizens of this community Through the enforcement of building zoning housing animal control fire safety environmental and other codes and ordinances code enforcement officers are responsible for improving neighborhoods and improving the quality of life of residents in our communities the first week of June is code enforcement officers week and the board expresses their appreciation for the dedication and outstanding service provided by the individuals who serve as our Martin County cfor enforement officers and as commissioner jenin said we have John colando who is our Code Compliance administrator here along with some of his folks yes uh good morning and thank you Commissioners um I'd like to accept this on behalf of the code enforcement division we're a team of 11 that cover everything from taking in complaints to doing all the site visits uh for those who don't know what code enforcement does we take care of issues from High Grass trash um unpermitted structures uh un sary pools all the way to um unsafe structures um when we tag them if there's like fire or anything like that um so but today I'd really like to thank my team uh they do a great job I want to thank them for everything they do and for everything they don't [Music] do so I'd like to start with the uh admin team we have excuse me have them all come up yes Marbel Ruiz Jillian Cain and Francine chanas and then we have uh the code officers we have uh Chris counselor Maria espat Kelly Switzer Chuck ambrosetti Tama Clinton Bush and Frank Marcos and last but not least nuisance abatement uh Rachel Spradley it's amazing they all wear the same shirt today we did that on purpose one one has a different yeah got a blue jacket on though and who's that guy with the who's the guy with the tan Blazer on who's that guy looks familiar maybe we could hear from him good morning Jeff Dy the director of the building department which code enforcement falls under and I I want to Echo the comments of uh John but I also want to thank John too this is a very difficult job cuz somebody either the person complaining the person receiving a complaint isn't going to be happy so I think the the epitome of it is kind of what John said is when you go out um sometimes you thank for what you do sometimes you thank for what you don't do and how to make that balance is just about impossible so I do want to thank [Applause] yeah people come into the well to the well and get a good picture that's a lot of people sure I just wanted while they're coming into the well to say this is a very difficult job it takes a very specific personality to as Jeff said uh the complaining person versus the person that's getting the uh concern uh it's not normally a a happy time and so for you folks to do it so professionally we thank you very much I would say it's one of the most difficult jobs in the county come on over put this down that's going to be right over your face Jeff well I didn't say that all right let's take a few one two three everybody keep smiling jazz hands Commissioners no jazz hands thank youall very much thank you thank you Jeff tardy and our second Proclamation this morning is declaring World oceans month in Martin County Florida June is World oceans month and the ocean is our planet's life support system feeding billions of people around the world absorbing heat and carbon dioxide driving our climate and producing 70% of the oxygen we breathe every life on Earth depends on the ocean and we must make it a priority to keep our ocean healthy over 85% of all the pollution in the ocean comes from human landbased activities so during World oceans month the board encourages residents to protect and restore the health of our ocean and Coastal environments and here to accept Florida oceanographic Society board member Rob Lord Rob Lord back in the building hello my name is Rob Lord I'm a resident of Palm City Florida yes you are have you although for many years I was a resident of Jensen Beach and in a hospital in my district and um actually I recall when the discussion was on where they were going to locate that high school I was uh my wife committed me to be a spokesman for the community in that so um but I'm here on behalf of Florida oceanographic society today along with also in my district whatever um I'm proud to serve as an officer on the board of directors of Florida oceanographic Society um in this part of the world I've lived here for about 55 years um our identity is the water the beautiful rivers that we have the ocean that we have um so this June we are proud to celebrate world's ocean month since 1964 the mission of Florida oceanographic Society has been to inspire environmental stewardship in Florida's Coastal ecosystems through education research and advocacy and in fact advocacy is is the principal reason that uh I have joined that board and and uh uh will continue to advocate for our Waters uh it did surprise me that over 60,000 people every year visit the coastal center of Florida oceanographic Society um you can learn about our Coastal ecosystems and issues that they face but that Center offers entertaining and educational opportunities for all ages um florido shog graphic Society invites everyone in the community to visit the coastal center and take part in the many activities we have this month to celebrate World ocean month we have an ocean Film Festival there are Beach cleanups going on routinely there's volunteer SE grass matting which I participated in there a number of different things you can do to have an impact on our environment um if you're interested in those things just go to Florida ocean.org to learn about all those offers but on behalf of Florida oceanog graphic Society I want to thank each of you for recognizing the importance of our healthy ocean and and Coastal waterways to our way of life by adopting this Proclamation thank you so much thank you Mark Perry their director Palm City resident he goes over Three Bridges my district every where does he choose to live where does he choose to live the ocean is it can't move that that's a good looking group right there like Hispanic club or something oh answer excellent job really well done okay now it's um public speaking time I have three um speaker forms if you would like to speak please um fill a form out and give it to the bail off um Kim Singleton followed by Mr Tom Pine while they're on their way up apparently not Kim it's something else what how did I miss could be Ken yes no it's Ken a my parents it's worse it's Kimberly all right Kimber before Kimberly before you speak I just have a quick announcement here since we are in election season politicking is prohibited which is defined as advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for public office either partisan or nonpartisan this includes the use of words dates signs props and are wearing a perel that convey a message of support for a person or group of persons thank you sir restrictions understood thank you good morning good morning Commissioners I'm Kim Singleton I'm commenting on the doc Authority leech renewal I live on Southeast Park Drive right across from the docks have done since 15 years first of all thank you for your support of the doc Authority it defines my neighborhood and in a way that is unique special worthy of preservation and allowing this doc authority to continue operations for 10 years and renewals after that is important to the neighborhood important to me um because there's been some controversy about what the renewal says I took the time to read the document and I'm reminded in can you believe it 45 years ago I got out of law school and I went to work for a law firm and my boss said Kim my job is to make the deal your job is to read the documents and make them perfect and I'd work and work and work and I'd come in with perfect paperwork and he'd spent about six seconds and he'd Circle six things I had just gotten plain wrong um we got a little bit of that going on with this proposed lease I think the attorneys involved are aware of it there's some less e should be less or less or should be less e some exhibit references that are out of whack and this is the second renewal not the third with all that set aside that's that's sort of loyer trivia stuff the more substantive issues um you're making the deal so these are the ones that you worry about are two modifications to the existing lease one of them makes the doc Authority slightly less responsible and restricted with respect to alcohol and the other allows the doc authority to apply for special permits um I support both those changes with respect to alcohol the docks sit between a public park where there are no alcohol restrictions a public dock where there are no alcohol restrictions and it is a walkway for people going from one end of the corridor there at um Two Georges down to Pirates Cove it's simply impractical to ask the dock authority to assure that there is never alcohol on the docks or in the boats and putting it in the contract as a requirement of the contract simply sets things up for a breach of contract claim that is unhelpful so I support the proposed change from the original lease to the current Amendment version the other special events obviously several years ago and I stood here and talked to you I supported the seafood festival and I still support the doc authorities attempts to um raise funds and raise awareness of the Arena but I also appreciate the difficulty you faced when you said 2021 last time um that said if the dock Authority comes up with an idea I think it's entirely appropriate they bring it to the appropriate County officials for permission so wrap it up that's it I so I support the substance the lawyer's got to go back and fix those little mistakes out have made thank thank [Applause] you um Mr Tom Pine will be followed by Kathy wri Meer Kathy wri Meer good morning Commissioners my name is Tom Pine today I'm going to start by giving the definition of the consent agenda once again so that everyone has a sense how it's supposed to be used at public meetings although that's not how we use it in Martin County for sure I Googled it what is the consent agenda for the local for local government answer the consent agenda also known by Robert's Rule of Order as the consent calendar is a tool used for streamlining meetings procedures by collecting routine non-controversial items into a group whereby all items can be passed with a single motion and voted updated September 20th 2023 today in the consent agenda 17,424 6912 was spent between May 6th and May 19th 2024 without identifying the payes or the purpose of the payments one has to wonder were any of the consent items routine as they're all supposed to be the price tag for Road improvements on from mon Arthur boulevard now has increased from $250,000 to a hard to believe 543,000 wow when this master police is completed should be the prettiest Road in Martin County next definition blighted neighborhood a wide array of urban problems which can range from physical deterioration of buildings in the environment to health and social economic problems in particular area Rin and are often much lower nowhere in the downtown Jensen Beach area was this definition me met the buildings just didn't look enough to meet everyone's expectations how many Martin County residents had to go to bed hungry so the people in charge could make everything look real pretty Martin County property Improvement program is a major burden on WE the taxpayers of Martin County some of the six properties just completed are owned by some of the wealthiest commercial properties owners in Martin County our our Dax tolers were used to bribe these people into mostly painting these buildings so everything looks real pretty sad in Martin County it is now safe to say we are moving at lightning speed away from any hint of morals to outright greed in every direction these are some good examples why our tax dollars are going up almost every year over the past seven most of them spending hidden in the consent agenda what you permit you promote what you allow you encourage what you condone you own we the taxpayers of Martin County won our sidewalks back in downtown J Beach thank you your time and Kathy I noticed you're in your um thing you you want to talk about the docs would you rather talk about it at the item which is the next item up or now okay I thought it was last on the agenda and I can't St actually actually first on you can make it first it's GNA be first okay doesn't matter your choice thank you my name is Kathy rethm um I moved to Martin County in 2012 I was very pleased with Martin County and it's its focus on slow growth at that time it feels like that's not the focus anymore but I'm here today because I moved to Port Solo in 2018 and while I'm not a Florida native and I'm not a commercial fisherman I am a person that moves into the community and I'm respectful of the issues that they have at hand and so I'm here to speak um for the extension of the lease of the the docks of um Port solo um my understanding is that docks were the port was added to Port Salo in 1924 which is 100 Years of important history to that Community we have people that are making their living off of those docks um I've been I've become very familiar with the word gentrification lately and it feels like gent our community is being gentrified by outside interest and not the interest of the community that we are the people that are electing our commissioners our quality of life counts and our voices should be heard and our interest should be put put above the interests of outside people that have ideas on what our quality of life should look like and what value in our community should look like um those fishermen have been making their livings there our community should be able to um have a a say in what is done to it right now just trying to get here today there were 35 cars trying to get out of my little area to get here going up A1A at the and the traffic going the other way they were backed up to YMCA um anyway getting off track I bigger is not better our quality of life as residents of that area should count and by listening to the residents that area and support our interest not Outsiders who want to gentrify our little little piece of paradise and the docks that people use to make a living and feed us and Supply the restaurants in this thank Youk you Gary erer followed by Tammy maoda good morning Commissioners thank you for allowing me to speak Port Alo fishing docks have been providing Seafood since 1894 shipping fresh fish all over the country we the residents of Port cero support the fishing community and ask that you approve the amended contract staff and dock Authority have made changes to the contract that are both equal and fair to both parties this will cost the taxpayers of Barton County zer dollar and keeping the history and Heritage of porteno intact for future Generations this property that the county owns was given to them in 1922 to provide a working Waterfront and needs to remain that way thank you you and our last speaker form is Tammy mazzota Maybe [Music] so um is that correct I'm tamy maoda right I have this this booklet and I was going to make copies for you all and I thought well you know I don't even know if they're going to have time to read something like that or if you're interested but I do have copies if you're interested in reading this this is a very good history of port selano it was um let's see written by Margaret banon Peterson she's a fourth generation of in Floridian so it has a lot to do with the fisherman as Mr erer said from 1894 and from 1910 which was the start of the historic town Port Sano and the dogs they're not just the history of the future of the our history but they're part of our future so that being said we're asking and I'm asking that you really consider extending the lease for the dogs this is such an important part of our community it doesn't just Supply fish for our restaurants and our local restaurants it is also shipped around the country so unless you don't eat seafood I'm pretty sure all of you have eaten Seafood that has been caught or brought in through our dogs kind of makes sense so they're feeding us um it is important like I said to the entire Community it's jobs it's Community Support it's county Support it's um I I I could ramble on anyway so my basic purpose is just to ask you to please consider extending our dock lease and to keep our docks going let our fishermen do their job and keep our bellies full okay thank thank you very much thank you ma'am and we will move that um item up to our first item once we get done with commissioner comments commissioner Smith thank you I will not I will do my very best not to steal any of Ed's uh commentary this morning but um I will share with you that uh Saturday uh was the realization of the ribbon cutting of a park in Palm City that is part of probably a better part of a 25y year vision and dream for the community of Palm City to have a sense of place um a patio um that would create a sense of place and uh a place for people to gather a place for people to come together and really uh a place that forms the identity uh that Palm city has been lacking for um forever actually um it is really the centerpiece of of a community and Ed you and our staff did an absolutely amazing job um it is a fantastic um Park uh I'm jealous I it is it is it is as good as nice an urban downtown setting as they get um I don't know that you could have done anything any more special uh the water feature which is interesting years ago when we planned that ta ta storm water treatment area uh you know there was a conversation about are are these stas what are they really and and at the core of them they are an area to cleanse and clean runoff water from our older neighborhoods that never planned for ever having any storm water cleanup at all and we started retrofitting um gosh 20 some years ago these neighborhoods and they could have gone one of two ways they could have been off fenced in a water treatment area that did its job and that was the end of the day or it could have been designed in such a way that in the future it could become part of a park and part of an amenity to our community and and Ed not only took that idea with our CRA staff uh but ran with it at 100 miles an hour and uh made it into something incredibly special so Ed congratulations on your Park thank you very much that's kind um it was a great day you had a fantastic turnout uh and it is really one of those key features that in a downtown there are things that when you go to a special downtown they stand out there are things that happen um that people think of their home and their place and their sense of place um that really Define what your community is and fire stations do that libraries do that Urban Parks do that sidewalks do that there's a great Trail I know I'm taking all your what you're going to talk about but um great it's it's fantastic and you guys did a really really good job so congratulations on all that thank you thank you Mr chair I agree with that congratulations and I nothing further this morning and I'm pretty good I was out of town last week so a little out of touch but uh I saw all the the Facebook posts were just it was amazing it was like I was there so well we appreciate it um commissioner Smith thank you that's very kind the only thing I would like to do is thank there's a couple of people that have worked remarkably tirelessly on this Susan chorus and especially Jordan Pistorius from the office of Community Development or the CRA um both Palm City residents doesn't hurt uh and then especially Dr Rex sentel and a couple of the original CRA and NAC members some of them like Dr pliml and Mike surl uh Chuck Smith they have been on that board for decades and have constantly stuck with it you know hoping that the vision of the entire City CRA would be uh realized it's a very obviously a complicated difficult and expensive process but they stuck with it especially Dr sentel and his family he was the first person when he redid his business moved it up right to the sidewalk if you will which was the design of what the future of m road was supposed to look like he did it several years ahead of time to give an example to everyone else this is what we should do and finally the map road and the rest of the of the streetcape if you will caught up to what his vision was he's been exceedingly generous with his time and his talent and his money we have a gorgeous four-sided like one of those classic uh downtown clocks that you see in movies and in in communities he paid for that himself and it was thou it was tens of thousands of dollars um and I know he's not big for all sorts of accolades but he deserves them because he's probably been working on this for I would guess about 40 years and I know that when he and his wife were there and I know his dad was part of this and I didn't get to mention it the other day so I will mention it today uh with the help of uh George stokus that sta is obviously a working as commissioner Smith said it's designed to treat and cleanse water from the community before it goes into the river but we're going to change its name to Lake sentel now it's not like Lake Superior or Lake Erie but or lake okachobee but in Palm City we want to recognize um Mr santel's family uh forever with uh all of his efforts that he's done also the last thing I'd say about him is we wrapped our traffic control boxes in District 5 all over the the Palm City area with bird motifs that everyone liked very much Rex centel took all those pictures and donated them to us to use so he's a he's a pillar of the community like there are so many others in every Community but uh I just I can't find enough ways to thank him Jordan Pistorius and Susan Chorus for their efforts The Unbelievable outcome thank you so much commissioner Smith just one tag on with the photographic side of it um out at fos as as it would be pertinent for today uh with World oceans day uh the the electrical box immediately across from the Elliott The Interchange box whatever you call those things um is wrapped in an underwater scene which are also Rex's uh photographs he is an amazing underwater photographer like ja gustau was with him or something when he was doing it yeah just he's a talented man and such a nice generous person and so staff came to me I don't know a couple months ago and and said you know would you be interested in wrapping the rest of the boxes in in Jensen and I said yeah you use Rex's photos and and use his underwater photography and we'll make that the theme of Jensen so that be great we talked to Rex about that on Saturday and he was thrilled so it was all good good cool commissioner herd I'm set you're good okay all right with that let's move um our Port serno doc uh Department 4 request for approval for a Amendment to the lease between Martin County in the port serno commercial fishing dock Authority Miss Carla Sagara yes she is good morning Carla sigur real property manager in her office thinking okay I'm last on the agenda today I know right scurrying down here as fast as she can I was think you um this item is a request for approval of the Third Amendment to the lease with the portzer a commercial fisherman on July 13 2004 the board approved and entered into the lease agreement on Park Drive the lease was first amended in 2006 and then again in 2007 in December of this of this prior year to 2023 during commissioner comments the board directed staff to work with the fisherman to look at the current lease and make appropriate amendments um staff has been working with the fishermen and we came up with just a couple of changes to the which will be in the third amendment there're in the purpose section for exclusive use as a commercial fishing dock fishing offloading facility and Way Station and this mirrors the language in this Sovereign submerged land leas which also mentions that it's on County property and with County regulations so all other uses on the property will be special event permits with the permission of the county for activities that support the commercial fishing industry the third amendment also extends the term of the current leas which expires in 202 2033 this amendment allows for limited option to renew the lease for an additional 4 terms of 10 years each which will assist with future applications for Grants and funding opportunities that may arise the rent section was clarified to confirm that the fishermen are responsible for the entire invoice that comes with the submerged land lease for D therefore the county doesn't have to pay any of it along with total responsibility for the maintenance and repairs of the associated um area um finally the miscellaneous conditions section was amended to clarify that the members guest employees agents or other authorized persons are prohibited from dispensing selling or giving away any alcoholic beverages or tobacco products um the fisherman's rules and regulations were also updated to match the information within the lease and is attached as an exempt I also wanted to note that somehow exhibit B which is in the amend the First Amendment didn't get copied in the scanning on the third amendment but it will be attached in there and also that um in section three page two of the third amendment under the terms and options to renew the word less or was used in Era instead of Lassie so it should read the parties acknowledge that their intent that this lease term will be limited to qualified members of lesie Corporation I've already spoke to everybody and everybody's board with that so we recommend that the board approve the third amendment with the changes and between Martin County and the port solerno commercial fisherman and authorize the chairman to execute any documents if there's any questions happy to answer okay we do have some public comment Christine ardigo followed by somebody that neither me or commissioner campy can either decipher the first or last name I'm thinking the first name is Steve okay we'll go with that very unique handwriting good morning Commissioners thank you for the opportunity to come before you today we're seeking your support on behalf of the port Sero fishing docks and its request for an amendment and extend further lease to access and maintain the commercial fishing docks this is such an important interesting part of our local economy and history these are in many cases third and fourth gener generation fishermen who withstood a lot of challenges not the least of which was the net band which at that time drastically reduced the overall number of local fishing families but these folks are survivors they enrich the local culture support local small businesses and improve the freshness and quality of the seafood we all enjoy that's the really the key factor here the residents and the visitors they make up the market that loves the fresh seafood our local commercial fishermen Supply that's demand that the sustains these families and contributes to our economy the least we can do as a community is give them the confidence that they can continue to use the docs that are D dedicated to their industry and give them the time needed to make any necessary repairs we believe this is reasonable request we sincerely hope every one of you supports it and we appreciate your time and your service thank you thank you and the next person that filled the form out it might be you Steve here it was nice it's just hard to read it's getting worse if my name is Steve English English and I'm a member of the portela commercial dock Authority and uh I urge you to uh pass this amendment um I just attended two weeks ago the uh future of Florida's commercial Fisheries uh a summit in uh St Augustine put on by The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and one of the major topics that we were discussing was the ports and where we're going how we're going to exist because money is taking them all away and so in that discussion of course we discuss future funding and all of that so I'm hoping that that with the awareness of it that we're going to have funds available to uh improve our facility a lot more than we have in the past all the up to up to date any improvements down there were paid for wholly and solely by the commercial fishermen themselves and uh we I think we do have a grant that we possibly looking at right now we're hoping that that comes through and get us started but with this I'm I'm very hopeful that we'll be looking at even more from State and National level to be able to uh continue this because that's one of the main concerns of like I said on the state level and the federal level is losing our ports for the commercial fishing industry so I Ur you to support us thank you thank you that's my last speaker for unless somebody else would like to oh here we go Mr Tom this guy looks familiar you're up chairman Commissioners thank you very much I am the my name is Tom Whittington I'm the outgoing president of the Marine industry Association of the Treasure Coast more years it has always been my joy to advocate for our local businesses especially our marine businesses our accessibility to the water and certainly maintaining the the seaside town that we have here and the quality of life I congratulate the commission and the Commissioners for all the weighty subjects that you take on and the decisions you make I hope you will find this decision to vote as a positive vote an easy one today in supporting um actually multi-generation fishermen families that are helping our town provide food to uh to our visitors to the restaurants and the quality of life and I just ask you for your yes vote thank you very much thank you sir next up Mr Butch Olen Tom did you fill out a form I did I don't have it good morning Commissioners uh Butch Olson representing P Port doc Authority thank you for bringing this request this request reflects a long-standing history of of amending the lease when necessary this is actually as me as Miss uh SAR mentioned this is our third amendment to the lease so you know this lease is very straightforward it affirms that the docs are are to be used exclusively by the commercial fishermen uh they're approved users for of obviously their proved uses um we've also asked an amendment um an extension of the term we've done this to to provide some security um security and confidence for the future to our fishermen and also of obviously to preserve and protect the commercial fishing industry here which is I I mean it's it's um it's crucial for the identity and the um economy of portno you know our industry is is very via as you can imagine you know people um I mean relying on relying on sustainable fishing for a living is a very difficult thing to do so any assurances we can bring to our members is greatly appreciated also we've requested um we've requested an extension of the time frame used for um you know for repairs and maintenance and the reason for that is that just simply reflects the um the challenges we're facing the reality challenges we're facing with the um current Supply change which unfortunately still exist we also worked on some language about uh clarifying some language that gives the doc Authority a little bit more more breathing room and a little more um room to um to uh to do background checks and things like that on new potential new members so that we can um you know provide more you know still provide Integrity to our new members um in closing uh Mr G covered most of this presentation in closing I also want to uh just take a moment to to thank your legal team just been a pleasure to work with everybody's everyone has been extremely professional and they've respected our interest and protected yours so and that's obviously the way it should be thank you so much thank you thank you butch okay with that if we don't have any other public speakers um commissioner smithman thank you um so I've had the the honor the privilege the the pleasure working with all of uh the Amendments over all the years um when I first started um it was a very different uh structure that we had way back when and uh it's come a long way and Steve uh you and I talked a lot over the years um through a lot of issues and and a lot of struggles and I would say this much I think about the importance of what we're doing here today and I think all of the speakers spoke to this um our board has the opportunity to set forward uh once again um the protection of a of an industry and a history uh that is made Martin County part of what we are um it's ironic today would be World oceans Day celebration that we would be here with fos um that we would also have the doc Authority here that is relying upon our oceans and our in our waterways and the health of those waterways the health of our ocean uh and the health of the industry and so I think what's great about what we're doing today uh for the history and for the culture of what makes Port Solo solo uh what also uh makes Martin County Martin County is that we are doing something that will move hopefully future generations of the fishing industry uh ahead uh with the security and the confidence that uh the county is behind uh them 100% And um it's exciting and I'm glad you guys are still there and I look forward to some of the exciting things we'll be able to do with the future with you all so thank you for everything you do thank you for the history thank you for the culture that you've given us um and let's never forget really where we have come from and with that Mr chairman uh I would move staff's recommendation with the probably the little clerical changes that Carla recommended and I don't know if Sarah if you have anything you need to add to that um language but whatever ministerial changes need to be done that everybody apparently has agreed upon um I would move approval of all of that second okay I stole it from you with that you can have a third commissioner heatherington so for for all those reasons that the residents spoke upon this morning and commissioner Smith uh the history the the Heritage the the jobs um that are provided the food this is an very important part of Martin County's history and County's future so I will certainly gladly support without hesitation this lease Amendment and I think anything that we can do to preserve uh our fishermen in Martin County um we I certainly want to attempt to do that so um I I wholly support that and I would second it if commissioner campy didn't jump in and second it had to well I uh Echo all the comments I've uh lifelong known a few folks folks in this room and um appreciate what port CNO is and uh with that commissioner hert yeah I'm not going to support the motion this is an extremely valuable asset owned by all Martin County taxpayers it's a multi-million dollar asset it should be shared by all Martin County residents not just by one special interest group uh furthermore 10 slips can be subleased to non-residents people who have no state in Martin County who aren't taxpayers who aren't residents and Martin County is not compensated for those sub leases so our asset is being given to people who don't even live here and that's wrong we should be it should be shared by all Martin County residents who are the purchasers and the owners of this extremely valuable asset commissioner Smith you know a thought just occurred to me and I remember remember through the years of the conversations that we had with the commercial fisherman about the industry itself and and even living in other parts of the country that I have the fishing industry moves around uh wherever the fish are the industry moves to and what we benefit from here in Martin County there are times where our fishermen benefit from other parts of the State uh where those resources end up finding themselves and so you know one way to think about um how and and and how appropriately our our infrastructure is used uh there are there are absolutely times in the in the the year that our industry which survives on a very tough style of living it's a hard business to do what they do you have to move around and the support of this equally goes to the support of other communities that end up supporting our folks when it's time for them to be supported in their parts of the the State and so it's not in my mind this isn't a uh one sort of slip matches one sort of boat it's more about the industry and the history of the industry and making sure that the future is secure and I hope that at least the changes that Carla and our attorneys have made with the doc auor at least keep us moving uh for at least another generation or two to come in the future so thank you again for all you do commissioner campy thank you um always interesting to sit up here there's obviously always a diverse set of opinions um I jumped on um seconding it because I wanted to let the history books show how much I wanted to show my support for what you all been doing for so long I mean my family's been in in Martin County for 28 years 29 almost and as far as I'm concerned with all due respect to the rest of Port solo the dock Authority is the sort of the the defining feature of Port solo it always has been and I'm not a fisherman I actually don't eat seafood but when you think of Port Salo at least not yet um my mother's still trying when you think uh when you think of that that's what I think of you know living elsewhere in the community that is that defines that area that's in my opinion really what it is and I have never met anyone that wasn't proud of that uh work uh the the comments that were made this morning are spoton if we don't support these industries that feed us Farms fishing ports and and things like that then we won't have it and so uh for us or for I'll speak only for myself even though obviously you hear a majority of the board is in support of what you're asking of us you've earned it they've they've been good partners there has been very few problems and whenever there was you know an individual or some situation that turned into a problem it was self- policed it didn't become a big deal for our Sheriff's Office it didn't become a big deal for our code enforcement it didn't become a big deal for our legal staff it's been handled you know this as I was driving here this morning I'm thinking this is one of the easiest decisions it's it's makes perfect sense we've had lots of not for-profit organizations come before us and ask for longer and extended leases somewhere we had to sort of just hope that it would work out there was not a long history or a track record of success and and um sort of following along with what the original leases were it's very difficult anyone who's applied for Grants knows it's very difficult for granting authorities to issue money if you don't have long-term sustainable leases they don't want to give money to short-term leases they want really long-term leases and without blinking an eye some of us up here and others before us have supported uh leases for the Elliot Museum and the Children's Museum and Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA sites for nearly 100e leases and you have earned your respect uh of having this lease improved and extended uh if our staff who I think most people in the community that have ever dealt with our legal department knows they're not pushovers Carlos Agora and real property not pushovers I'm sure the the back and forth was was solid and for both sides to agree that this is the appropriate lease for members of our community our own residents I I would I hear my colleagues concerns I'm not disagreeing with what she's saying but I personally don't see that they would rise to the point that I wouldn't support this and so you have my 100% support and thanks for you continuing to do this it's difficult work thank [Applause] you okay with that we have a um motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner campy all in favor I all opposed opposed motion passes 4 to one with commissioner herd dissenting all right thank [Applause] you we have a 10 o00 preset which is in right now right now okay well we we have a huge big shot in the room um Mr Drew Bartlett the executive director of uh South Flor water management and a really nice guy he's going to give us a uh update on Everglades restoration highlight progress in Martin County thank you chairman uh thanks for inviting me up here to talk about what we do uh we're very proud of what we do and and I really uh actually could should we let them let them clear the room first yep no problem I thought they would stay for your presentation guess I was wrong they working yeah workers Don is there a clicker or something this over here's no see the mouse us see if it works scroll up and Down's that we're all here for you we're just regrouping true just for you yeah right all right please ready Mr chairman so it's a pleasure for me to be here I I love uh making the rounds and talking about what we do but just recently I gave a presentation about our investments in the Treasure Coast and what we're doing up here and uh commissioner Smith and commissioner herd saw that and they said hey why don't you come talk to the rest of us and and let us know what's going on so I'm I'm really happy to be here I'm joined by Kathy L Martina if you haven't heard she looks like she's retiring this year yes motion to deny we will absolutely miss her and I know all of you will she's a kid she retiring for and then I have taniel kusakin who's our public policy he's new to the district by about a month now so he's uh learning the ropes here in uh in the Water Management District so for those of you who don't know we were essentially formed I'm happy to say 75 years ago as a flood control district and we've been operating a a massive flood control system throughout South Florida the 16 counties uh since that time and just recently like within the last couple of decades that flood control system is realized that it was uh harming the environment harming our ecosystem so our mission has been transformed to one that where we're restoring our ecosystems front and foremost while providing in flood control and water supply and this is just a list of our infrastructure and everything we have to do but it all starts with science right and so we have been investing in science at the South Florida Water Management District for decades at this point we have I think I've added up like 93 water quality monitoring stations in this Treasure Coast Area Martin and St Lucy County um find looking at water quality figuring out what is going on in that system but what I'm really proud of is that once you have the water quality and know what's off kilter you also have the ecosystem science the entire food web essentially is uh sampled by the Water Management District here uh in the St Lucy Estuary and Indian River Lagoon to look at where it's getting off-kilter phytoplankton oysters seagrass fish we have all this data you can come around and we have all this data that is uh getting um collected analyzed and published so we know what science needs to happen and it's because of that science that we have the comprehensive Everglades restoration plan it's BEC it's how why we have the northern Everglades and estuaries ecosystem plan and when Governor DeSantis took office the first time he gave us an executive order to said achieve more now and then he got reelected and he's gave an executive order that said achieve even more now and as if I wasn't stressed enough to to begin with he's like you're going to get more done but he's delivered to go get the funding to make that happen so how did that second executive order affect Martin County and St Lucy County well it really starts with the Indian River Lagoon South program so what you have here is the basic layout of the program can you see my hand yep okay so right up here you have the Indian River Lagoon South Reservoir right now the that was before the second executive order on the core site to build they did not have the budget to build it they had the budget to build the north Reservoir but not the South so we took the South Reservoir and put it on our side we said we'd take it we would go to the legislature we'd seek the funding and quite frankly Martin County has been very helpful in US seeking that funding which is a lot more than we used to get to try to take on these new projects but they're important they're important for us to get done right now we're under construction here for this connection here with the c23 Estuary discharge diversion con connection so when it's discharging harmfully to the St lcy Estuary we can turn pumps on to move it to the c43 reservoir not just the c44 canal but also the c23 canal so that's what you see here under construction well let's talk about the storm water the c44 storm water treatment area so this was um uh this was we call cut a ribbon I think a number of you were there to cut the ribbon on the c44 reservoir it is is actually in operation the c43 the c44 storm War treatment area is in operation and we've been using it we're well coordinated with the core of engineers so when it's raining and the c44 canal is rising and you need to get rid of that water what used to happen is the S80 would open it go out to tide we have been turning these pumps on to stop the S80 from opening normal rain events hurricane Ian went through when you had that big band that came through Martin County those pumps turned on and that basically short the amount of the S S80 opening by weeks and weeks it was open for I think 6 days during that time instead of weeks so it's actually an operation the core is fixing a seepage issue but we have 10 ft of operation right now and it's down it's ready right now to take more rain when when the r rainy season begins but what I'm happy is just that at last month we were here uh with our board meeting and we designated the storm waterer treatment area as a storm water treatment area what does that mean that means we can do public Recreation on it and so I know commissioner heard you were out there talking about it so now we're able to host bird watching host hunts host things out at the c44 STA this summer we're putting in recreational features like a parking lot kiosks shelters so that we can open it up on weekends and people can just go and ride their bikes hike whatever you want to do another recreational feature uh in Martin County to enjoy in addition to all these that we have in Martin County to enjoy and St Lucy but you can hike and bike on our levies there's equestrian there's uh hiking and biking out at alapata Flats there you know we got dup you got nine gems Lake in the western part of the county you got the Lakeside Ranch stormw treatment area where aabon host bird watching over and over lot of uh recreational opportunities opening up here in Martin County as in aside so let's talk about the c232 24 project features this is in St Lucy County uh the storm waterer treatment area is under construction by the core of engineers right now this this and then these two reservoirs they basically intercept the c232 24 Canal water and prevent it from harmfully getting discharged to the Indian River Lagoon in St Lucy Estuary but this is what I want to bring your attention to this is the integrated delivery schedule it's a tiny font but this 2024 year that marks everything in the in River Lagoon South project starting being under construction right this was authorized when was it 2006 7 and so now here we are 2024 getting the Appropriations pulling it to our side of The Ledger everything getting under construction in 2024 very exciting times uh for the Indian River Lagoon and St Lucy Estuary and that's the St c23 Canal also to the north and on the treasur coast you have the c25 canal that empties into the Indian River Lagoon we are starting construction on the c25 Reservoir and storm water treatment area this year we're already doing the site preparation getting all the adjacent land owners made hold with their irrigation demands and everything so that will be under construction to intercept water leaving the c25 reservoir it's already uh uh getting prepar prepared for the first Construction contract which I think is coming in August to the board this year very exciting so that's all the reservoirs so when we were purchasing land for the c23 reservoir the South Reservoir right here uh we purchased land uh to the south of it but as we did all the surveys and everything we couldn't use those lands due to cultural resources so we are now converting those lands into more of a natural lands feature where we are plugging the ditches putting coverts in to keep the water on the land not a storage system but just a non-drainage system trying to recreate more natural habitat that is so our field crews are out there right now plugging those ditches trying to keep the water on the land so they're not getting into the c23 canal and going harmfully to our Estuary but also rebuilding Wetland habitat on those lands so that's another project we're doing outside of the comprehensive everglaze restoration but more is just a a good environmental project for on lands we own and then of course on the west side we have the Lakeside Ranch storm water treatment area and the Brady Ranch flow Equalization Basin which is basically a shallow storage system this is the s191 basin which is this entire Basin drains into Lake okobi it's got really high levels of phosphorus so we have a storm water treatment area treating that water before it gets there as much as we can pump into it some sometimes it rains too hard and it has to go straight to the lake but then when it's not raining we can recirculate through it we can recirculate you know Lake water like a kidney to try to get the lake okachobee cleaned up so another investment we have and then of course in St Luc and Martin counties and then in the northern lakeo Watershed we have a lot of public private Partnerships with private land owners I think we're up to about 60,000 Acres of of land in this kind of system where we're paying land owners basically instead of to instead of using it for agriculture using it for storing water and they will put pumps in Caulkins is right on the c44 pumps into the into their uh Wetland uh when it's raining and when we need them same with Bluefield Grove uh Scot waterer Farm uh All in St Luci and Martin County large swats of land recreating Wetlands essentially and uh and keeping the water from hitting the Estuary and the and the Lagoon so what I like to really talk about is let's visualize you know we've all been here a long time we know where we've been but let's visualize what we'll actually see in 2025 right so it's 2024 this is next year right so next year under ser and under our our efforts we will have both East Reservoir and the West Reservoir the c44 reservoir and the c43 reservoir completed uh and and operating we have all the Indian River Lagoon reservoirs under construction we'll have clean water going into the Everglades because all of our storm water treatment area work will be done so we can move water South cleanly uh a new sta 6,000 acre storm water treatment area will be constructed uh it is uh growing in right now but it will be constructed and uh available for Lake water to move Lake water exclusively South right um and then we'll have Northern and Southern Storage on Lake Hobe underway the core is building the EAA Reservoir now their final contract is on the street uh so they're hoping to award that before October to construct the EAA Reservoir um on the North side we are putting in aqua storage and Recovery Wells and we've also submitted to the core and above ground reservoir for their submittal to Congress for authorization in 2024 uh so they could really help manage High lake levels then we'll have tamy Amy Trail at the bottom end of the system raised and ready to move more water South through the system and then we have the 100,000 acres on the CMI River and the 55,000 acres in CER County and pikan strand restored that's a lot of acreage panther habitat I I will say too and then while it's not here biscan Bay coast of wetlands will be done right that's by the end of 2025 lot of sort projects a lot of efforts actually come to fruition because of the incredible support uh we're getting from the legislature of the federal government to actually get these funded and the staff at the Water Management District is is answering the call those those folks are busy trying to get these projects rolling as I know your staff are for all the projects you have in Martin County but I want to conclude by thanking you uh for welcoming Us in May uh we had our governing board meeting here out at Indian River State College uh it was a great uh reception we were we were you you know while we had some tough welcomes you know during the summer with the core's decision to discharge from Lake okachobee um we we were uh very much engaged and and and hosted very well so we really appreciate that um that welcome to Martin County Mr chair that's not me that's all I got for you thank you thank you very much commissioner Smith thank you always Drew and um thank you for the update it's really hard to encapsulate what you just said and really understand how much is in there um because uh the spatial of this entire thing is enormous I mean I the tour we took when we had the ribbon cutting down at the EA it takes a half an hour just to get to the center of the project um it's amazing how big this stuff is um and I remind people you know when you think about it um the mountain of of granite that was out there in the background was just like hard to imagine that that was all moved in to build that thing and so from Georgia from Georgia um and then trucked because there weren't Rail lines from the end of wherever the Rail lines were to to the EAA right um it is it it is really hard to pull it all together to understand how big it is and and I thank you for doing this and we should never stop doing this so that the public gets as many opportunities to see it as possible um of the 2 million acre F feet of storage that it was envisioned from the Inception of all this where do you think we are relative to that and and maybe not what's completed but like by 2025 26 that you were saying all these projects will be underway so by our goal is to have all storage authorized and under construction within the next 3 to four years right and so that's why we jumped on the IRL South Storage um but if you look east and west of Lake okachobee that's going to be done right and then you'll have the the EA Reservoir under construction uh and that that's why we submitted we took it on ourselves to plan and and we didn't depend on the core to plan that Northern above ground storage right uh so we're trying to get that authorized in 24 so it'll be authorized but all the rest of the storage in the entire serp system is authorized and and has a schedule for construction you're looking 10 years probably to get you know the um the northern the final piece will be that Northern storage above ground Reservoir um but building these big things is complicated so we're being as aggressive as we can but it's within our lifetime right which is that a decade ago you wouldn't have thought that no that's for sure and and I and there are a lot of people that have their hands in that and they should all be thanked but we'll forget somebody so we won't start um but I think it's it's it's really I think something else that should be noted uh you guys have done amazing job but our federal Partners have too um they six seven years ago really stepped up with their funding and and that changed the game I mean there were projects on on the schedule that I can remember the 16 County Coalition meeting saying no those are years and years out and then the next meeting all of a sudden they're in construction or they're under permitting or the whatever the cutof wall was one of my favorite ones right um that that wasn't going to happen for like 10 years and it's happening so just cut a ribbon last month on on the cut off that's finished it's in it's in yeah yeah and for those it's working you're standing on the burn and it's wet over here and it's dry over here can you just like for those that don't know where and what it is so basically what would happen is on on the east side of Everglades National Park there's communities that live there but there's like a 6ot head difference between water in the park and what the communities need and when it would rain hard basically the communities would flood because the park water would get in there and then you'd have to cut off water going into the park and so it would stack up north in the conservation area then Stack Up in Lake okachobee so we needed to get something in there to protect those communities so that we could keep the water flowing through the park and so that and it's been under construction we just cut a ribbon I think it was in May no it was in April and uh and we never had to cut off we never had to turn off water flowing into the park this year in the Years pass we would have fantastic and the other thing I I I would always say this relative to the whole conversation it's an easy thing to talk about moving water to the South um to talk about it doing is at a whole another level and when it comes down to it and when we're in DC last time um with the Everglades caucus the the the conversation surrounds inches it's not feet it's inches MH and for the folks that are down south the tribes that are down south have to manage that or deal with what we're managing here um it is a real Balancing Act and and and you guys do an amazing job and and everything that you've laid out here I think I know uh is where we've all tried to get to so uh congratulations and and and don't stop talking about it thank you I I won't commissioner herd yeah thank you for joining us today um I'm reminded of people who we so many people have moved here in the last 5 years and they look at this wonderful relationship that the county has with the state and with the federal government and they assume that is has always been so you've been around long enough to know that it hasn't always been so so uh uh Indian River Lagoon South was authorized in 2007 the progress the Investments that the state and the federal government have made in water quality in Martin County are simply astonishing it's it's unbelievable the the speed with which we're accomplishing these projects and I'm I've I've seen c23 24 from the roads but I haven't been on the site I'm eager to see that thank you so much for taking over the construction of that project that's terrific um natural lands is also now authorized we look forward to to partnering with you to purchase those lands and also uh we're all looking at a really bad hurricane season this year you are going to have so much more flexibility for moving water now than you did 10 years ago and 10 years from now it's going to be a completely different situation when we get a hurricane uh category five headed our way you'll have so many choices to get water moved around the state which is just terrific you've done a great job thank you so much I appreciate that commissioner and and I want to thank Martin County honestly too when we took over that project and we put that budget request forward um I did call uh Don and and said we might need some help up there to to make sure we get that funding and at the end of the day they did appropriate record funding from the state $664 million for Ser um out of the state so we could get on top of these these projects and so I want to thank that partnership and that relationship uh to to help Advance these things Comm hington thank you drew uh that was a great presentation and Martin County always appreciates when we could part partner with you or Advocate alongside um South Florida Water Management so and I would say I think some of my colleagues have have mentioned it with a thousand people or more moving to Florida um a day then this communication this is so important to let people know because many people are not familiar with our water issues in Florida where we've been where we are now and where we're going so I think it's important we continue to share this message with as many people as you can and that was a great presentation so thanks for being here everything you do happy to do it thank you commissioner Smith and one more person that should never be forgotten in her quest to see St Lucy County's side of this whole thing happen is Ry Hutchinson yes um c23 24 25 are all in St Lucy County but they directly impact Martin County and its relationship to the North Fork uh into the Indian River Lagoon and Franny was a um stalwart uh champion and always on the back of the Water Management District and on the core to make sure those projects got done and and happening and um I'm I'm thankful that they are um but people like Franny should always be remembered in this process that there are there have been Champions along the way um that have made these things happen and and and it's easy to it's it's it's easy to forget and and glass over uh the work behind the scenes um but I just thank you for any of if you're listening or if you ever get a chance to I'm sure she's watching our meetings can't wait every other Tuesday to watch the county that she doesn't live in she was she was a she was an absolute champion of all of this stuff thank you yep she busted my chops a few times yes lovingly lovingly exactly sometimes it was great to have her there Drew when you took over um it was it was a time you jumped right into it and your colleagues your predecessors before you uh laid down quite a quite a bit of U opportunities for you but you in the current team a lot of them live in Martin County a lot of your key staff live in Martin County and we're thankful for that you've done a remarkable job um this has always been an issue very very important to Martin County residents mostly because when the discharges happened we bear the brunt of them not as much North not as much South we do and so so even residents that are not involved uh in the day-to-day operation or on the water with boats or fishing or that's their livelihood everyone it's a really serious issue excuse me and we have heard those really sincere uh cries for help start to diminish a little bit because some of these massive projects have started to come online one of the first votes uh one of the first things I ever did when I came into office uh in 2008 was go uh when they were starting the groundbreaking for the c44 out there um I was watching and I mentioned it a couple weeks ago I was watching YouTube and there was like a little kind of a snippet for the biggest man-made uh Reclamation project or or you know um unearth MH and it was the uh ever Everglades restoration project on Earth uh between what's happening far north of us and the you know the Meandering the REM Meandering of the CMI and and all of these projects any One Singular project would be a massive achievement for any Community municipality state or organization such as your own and you have a dozen you had to have a slideshow to show this one and that one and this one and that one we've done these we're doing these we're going to do these most people won't most uh organizations won't do a fraction of those in their entire careers and you guys are doing them all now so I don't want you to think that we believe it's easy just because you sometimes make it look easy we know that it's not so thank you so much thank you thank you I thought we were done but apparently not commissioner Smith one more thank you there's a guy who's not in the audience with us um but he has been with us this entire Journey um that has taken Sarah and I for the most part to places that people don't even know exist up in DC and that's fer West yeah and again I mean there are some people in the background that um you never see hear from but they made magical things happen and fer was one of those guys and still does some things for us that are super important so just don't ever want to forget some of the people along the way that have gotten us where we are you're here Drew thank you you're here absolutely thank you for what you did thank you chairman thank you thank you commission and with that we are going to take our 10minute close captioning break and 10: huh I know you almost made it yeah um anyway we'll be back in 10 minutes 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 e e e e all right welcome back we are now going to do I think uh we're going to do uh Mr wheelie over there um so he doesn't have to stand on his wheelie um his name is scooter department number three uh approval of the Fifth Amendment to uh complete restatement of agreement of lease with Whitman Arrow Club Mr Sebastian I will not be presenting commissioner oh you'll just here my name is on it however will be here for moral and legal support good morning Commissioners Andrew MCB airport director so this agenda item concerns the approval of the Fifth Amendment and complete restatement of agreement of lease between Witham Arrow club and the Martin County Board of County Commissioners the a club approached airport staff and request an amendment of their lease to extend their lease for an additional 20 years in return for $768,000 in improvements of the property as well as an increase of $2,651 annually to airport revenues those improvements include items such as a roof replacement hanger door replacement lighting installation and additional generators and should be completed by September of 2034 Commissioners the recommendation here is to move to approve the uh Amendment and complete restatement of agreement of lease uh any questions on the items as presented none on this multi-million dollar asset of Martin County go ahead commissioner Smith pending any public comment I would move approval second any other questions for staff okay with that we have a um motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously thank you Commissioners okay Mr wheelie can go sit down now okay department number one office and management and budget items which require board approval M Stephanie mer that's not on behalf of on behalf of for the record Shelby Baker budget and CIP coordinator I have four items for you today first one's a um permission to accept for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection resilient Florida Grant this grant award is 250,000 for the funding of the adaptation plan consistent with the Florida adaptation planning guideline book public Outreach and stakeholder engagement this is programed in the school year 24 County resiliency program Capital CIP no mouse they're hazing you it's okay we're allowed second item is a permission to accept the Florida Transit Administration FTA physical year 21 section 5339 bus and bus facilities urbanized formula grant this Grant award is $121,400 this is an annual FTE formula grant authorized to be used partially funded through the purchase of the American with Disabilities Act Ada accessible bus to be used for the Martin County Transit service Marty the third item is the Florida Department of Transportation fdot shared used non-motorized suntrail multimodal pathway from US1 Toc Branch preserve State Park project this grant agreement consists will fund the design for the project up to 400,000 of the total project cost it's interesting one yeah finally final item is a permission to accept unitedway rental assistance funds um this grant award is for 15,000 to enable Martin County to offer additional emergency rental assistance to qualified residents who have experienced a crisis and that is all I have Commission job thank you very well done uh move staff's recommendation pending any public second thank you I don't know nobody used the light so I'll go with commissioner campy okay we uh have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner campy all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously uh Department two contracts that meet threshold for board approval $1 million or greater chrisy Brotherton City res take your time because we need to kill like 45 minutes okay tell us about yourself where do you live Palm City no uh Christy Brotherton uh Chief procurement officer I have one item for your consideration today it is the city of Stewart various location project which is Riverside Park neighborhood improvements uh staff is recommending that the board award the contract the lowest responsive and responsible bidder which is grsc incorporated um in the amount of 1,985 19963 and move that the board authorized the County administrator or design to execute all documents related to this request and that concludes this item I tried to talk slow sorry actually I just noticed we have another item that I skipped over anyway commissioner Smith to pause a little sure okay background I would move staff's recommendation pending uh comment commissioner campy second okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner campy all in favor I motion carries unanimously thank you okay now let's go back up to public hearing number one which I put a check mark next to and we never did uh public hearing to public hearing on proposed Martin County Tri Co settlement Joan Hutton versus Marina World Incorporated DBA Island Prin cruises Papa Sierra lllp DBA Pirates Cove Resort and Marina and Martin County Board of County Commissioners Mr Matt Graham not Matt Graham not Matt Graham Angie Grim for the record deputy hrr director good morning Commissioners can you pull that mic down a little bit sure there we go now you broke it yeah I'll get closer I'm here today to conduct a public hearing regarding the proposed Martin County trial settlement in the case of Joan hudon versus Marina World Island Princess Cruzes Papa Sierra Pirates cve Resort in Marina and the Martin County Board of County Commissioners this is a public hearing only no motions required in accordance with the procedure for trial settlements established by the board of County Commissioners this hearing allows any member of the public and any member of the board of County Commissioners to comment on the proposed settlement to provide some background the county self-insured and Trio assign Council to this matter the case originated on November 5th 2022 When Miss hudon was walking to the marina at Pirates Cove Resort in Marina she tripped and fell due to the a depressed area of Pavement in a rideway next to Pirates Cove which was owned and maintained by Martin County consequently Miss Hutton filed a personal injury lawsuit against Marina World Island princes Cruzes Papa sier Pates Cove Resort in Marina and Martin County a negotiated settlement of Miss hudon's claim against Martin County has has been reached with trial paying 25,000 on behalf of Martin County each of the four involved parties has individually negotiated their settlements attorney Garrison M dundis was assigned as Council for this case and represented the county during the settlement discussions both Trio and Mr dundis recommend that the settlement is in the best interest of the county the recommendations for this hearings are as follows number one the board should conduct a public hearing and reserve and receive public comments on the proposed settlement from any member of the public and any member of the board of County Commissioners the board should number two the board should direct staff to notify trial that the settlement procedures have been completed and that settlement should be finalized this concludes my presentation okay do we have any commissioner comments do we have any public comments nope and that's it and that with that did an excellent job there's no V that's all we do okay thank you thank you I'm your Trio representative okay now where did one left chairman planned this out wrong planning on the Chairman's part are we have to stop so Commissioners I did have one additional item that I was going to bring up during the administrator comments which we can do now and that's occurred at the um last no meeting wherein the no sent a letter to uh uh our Representatives uh regarding the widening of State Road 710 Warfield Boulevard um the request is simply to um write a similar letter uh from the board of County Commissioners so I'm just seeking permission to allow the chairman after concurrence from um um our legal staff if necessary that we could send a similar letter as the no uh as requested by the no Move Motion second or motion by commissioner Smith second by commissioner heatherington all in favor I I all opposed motion carries unanimously um why don't we take if there's nothing else take about a five minute break so I can determine whether our speaker set for 1:30 can come early uh and uh and and then we can decide whether or not we uh are able to come back before lunch and finish the meeting or if we must wait till uh the preset as scheduled okay that sounds like a plan 5 minute break e e e e e e okay we are back again and have made a decision our 1:30 speaker will be here in the building at noon so we are going to break we're going to do a early lunch break at 5: till 11: and we will be back can reconvene at 12: noon for um the presentation for our legislative session final report and with that we're out thanks