##VIDEO ID:nAYIs6IUTUk## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e all right welcome back to our commission meeting we are on public hearing number five legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report based comprehens of plan Amendment 24-14 Capital Improvement element a text Amendment Jenna take it away good afternoon Commissioners Jenna Nai senior planner with the growth Management Department this is chapter 14 of the comprehensive plan as part of this ear process and to continue with the uh topic of internal consistency we have some levels of St uh levels of service standards that have been revised in this chapter and these changes are consistent with chapters 1 5 10 11 and 13 of the comp plan then we have throughout this chapter there has been some revisions for an emphasis on portable water systems to differentiate these from the storm water management and conveyance systems that are written about in this chapter and then additionally proposed change number eight the requirement for the level of service standards for public transportation is removed from policy 14.1 C4 14.1 C6 and from section 14.5 D because the county does not have a level of service standard for public transit and additionally Florida statute preempts local governments from using public transit for concurrency systems so that is uh removed for the sake of internal consistency and then additionally policy 14.1 C5 in two places has the word uh mandatory stricken and this is because for public facilities the county no longer classifies them into the mandatory or non-mandatory category because impact fees are collected at the time of building permit all at one time additionally wanted to it's [Music] page2 so this pen 4 right here this uh proposed language it states the lowest floor of a building inside a special flood Hazard area shall be at least 2 fet above the 100-year flood elevation and I have Amy een here with me this is our environmental engineer sorry Environ resource engineer there we go and so this 2et metric here is in response to a standard that was issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD for establishing the base flood elevations and this is related to people being able to obtain a federally backed mortgage so this 2 feet is in compliance with Federal standards that were issued is there anything else that you like no I think you said it okay great and then also wanted to clarify for the record here on this same page when this PDF was rendered with the agenda packet some of the formatting got a little bit um wonky so I'd like to just provide a side by side this pen 4 right here and then this uh pen B that is proposed to be stricken you can see it appears that this language would be underlined but in our actual file here this whole section is proposed to be stricken and then additionally this language up here in pen4 that I just read uh the federal flood insurance rate Maps is staying as it is that's not being stricken so I just wanted to clarify if this amendment is translated or transmitted I'm sorry this uh image here with these two paragraphs is how the language would be reflected and so this section here just got a little bit messed up but that concludes staff's presentation of chapter 14 we recommend approval to transmit to the state land planning agency and we are available for any questions you may have herd yeah uh I'm on page 994 or 7 of 24 and it's about policy 14.14 state and federal arterial uh and collector roads level went from level of service C to level of service D is that because the state and fed changed their level of service this change is consistent with section 5. 2 B3 of chapter 5 so this change uh was reflected in chapter 5 and because it's mentioned here in chapter 14 we're reflecting that language accordingly so it's it's not just our roads it's it's state federal and local roads so this language here yes it's um this penb right here that's being stricken is essentially covered here in this sentence for all other roads yeah we're striking level of service C in B and C um I mean in the notes um it says that the level of Standards related are just to state and federal roadways yeah but we're striking level level C to be consistent okay and this is for fire resue um seven uh A and B Advanced life support uh responses are going from 6 minutes 90% of the time in urban areas to 8 minutes 90% of the time in urban urban areas and 15 minutes 90% of the time in rural areas to 20 minutes 90% of the time in rural areas why um my name is Chad Chuli fire chief Martin County Fire Rescue so to answer your question really what you're looking at is old language this was not updated for about 15 years on the fire rescue side um in there you see where it would reference basic life support and that would be trucks that don't have paramedics those trucks don't exist today so what you see now we're trying to clean the language where it's fire rescue response so that's for medical and suppression and it's Allin one the 8 minutes 90% of the time in the urban service area why that number is 8 minutes is if we hit 8 minutes or go over it means we have a problem and it means that either we have to turn on another truck or build another station what we do in the bbba service district for our response times we average 6 and A2 minutes that hasn't changed that's staying that way as far as your rural areas it's 20 minutes because that's what it it always has been for ALS that's all we have is ALS we don't have BLS our response times outside the urban service District Western Palm City um Indiantown you're 20 minutes to get out there plus so that right there has always been like that we just removed all the BS from this language we're trying to make it easier to read but we're not telling you our level of service is 8 minutes what we're saying is if we hit 8 minutes we're telling you we have a problem we are 6 and a half minutes inside the urban service District I I don't understand it's it's the numbers are going from 6 to 8 and from 15 to 20 so what I'm trying to get you to understand is the 6 minutes were for BLS trucks they don't exist and why the language was created 15 years ago I didn't author the language I can't tell you why I don't know why they did it like that but it doesn't make sense so we wanted to clean this up to where it's accurate to what the fire service is actually providing today there's a misunderstanding we are not increasing as far as TimeWise for the level of service the level of service is very efficient right now but you have to put triggers in the comp plan that if we hit 8 minutes inside the urban service District we have a problem so that's why those numbers are in there if I put six minutes in here it means I'm not going to meet that standard the only way I can meet that standard is if you want to build another station or if you want to have more trucks on the road then we can lower that standard toward toward 6 minutes flat but I need more people more trucks and more fire stations so I'm trying to give you a realistic number so tell me how many times over 8 minutes does the uh Advanced life support have to hit over 8 minutes in order to require the county to build a new fire station so 90% of the time I need to be hidden under that Mark if I am not meeting that Benchmark then that's when we have a problem and that's when we need to start having a different different conversation about fire stations in fact right now we are in a study where they are looking at Western Palm City Western Palm city is an issue for us right now and they're doing a study as far as a needs analysis on future fire stations that's going to be presented to the board my understanding is in December and then you're going to see where the true data is coming from and then you're going to see there's a true need where we need to build another fire station and have firefighters to complement that station as well thank you you're welcome done yeah oh okay with that do we have any public comment seeing none oh commissioner Smith I'm sorry just following public comment okay no public comment you have someone coming up um I'm um Gerald jenko Dubay um I'm speaking as a citizen um with fire rescue being having a threshold of 20 minutes now for areas that are outside of the Sur urban service District all of these developments that we are currently approving for Rural lifestyle what are the thresholds that you're addressing to assure these people that they have advanced life support I mean 20 minutes that's not survivable I'm very concerned you know how all of this is addressed within the comp plan and given the the rule lifestyle amendments with these you know thousand unit developments it's not thousand unit developments in they're right next to the urban service boundary and tell the people in Western Martin County out by the lake the 20 yes that's that's where the problem is right there anyway um staff light yes Elise Elder Deputy County attorney just for clarification purposes the 8 minutes and the 20 minutes are not new those are existing thresholds that are in the comp plan so we're not changing those they're just getting rid of the BLS got it commissioner Smith uh move we approve staff recommendation second okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed opposed motion carries 4 to one commissioner herd dissenting thank you okay public hearing number six legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-3 intergovernmental coordinating element a text Amendment Mr duelan thank you members of the board uh with me is Stephanie from the treasure gr Regional planning Council uh um this is a chapter that you have uh seen previously was presented to you in September uh I believe it was September 10th and the U the board of County Commissioners voted uh to uh trans um to continue it to this meeting and considered all of the our full presentation we can be happy to go back into it and do another presentation or cover any issues that you have but our staff recommendation is for approval Comm herd same questions I have on September 10th I'm on I don't know what page it is 6 of 17 maybe is the makeup of the no was that changed it was okay it's now five shown on there and also the um coordination of utilities services policy 3.1 E4 um is the interlocal between uh smru in Martin County expires in January of 2025 has that been noted I believe that's been added as well okay is there going to be a resolution to this interlocal before January 2025 um okay thanks we can revisit that in before adoption commissioner campy Mr duelan just the same question um the changes that you're making in this chapter are they just administrative and housekeeping or are there anything in your opinion that is consequential no there is no substantive changes in this thank you so in there are some but in these because my concern is when people said that there were so many chapters that we would be reviewing that there'd be no time many of the chapters had purely just like changing Village of Indian town and some of these other things so it wasn't like you were turning 17 chapters Inside Out correct most so the text in this chapter remains unchanged thank you motion to accept staff's um presentation do we have any um public comment seeing none second okay we have a motion by commissioner campy seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously public hearing number seven legislative public hearing to consider transmitt of evaluation and appraisal report based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-6 housing element a text Amendment Mr dlan uh thank you Mr chair uh I'll highlight one subject that was discussed at the previous well the board previously considered this amendment also 6 and uh this one subject that I believe was dis was yes 6.3 C uh staff had proposed a different uh piece of text and striking most of this but at board Direction um we instead just altered this enough to be consistent internally with uh section 4.2 A9 in chapter 4 that was the piece of board direction we we took from the last uh public hearing perfect do we have any public comment seeing none back to the board ask recommendation we have a motion uh by commissioner Smith and then a very quiet second by commissioner campy um all in favor I all opposed opposed motion carries four to one commissioner herd dissenting public hearing number eight legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation appraisal report based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-7 Recreation element text Amendment Mr dlan thank you Mr chair uh there are no changes from the last presentation uh what was made and U we have no additional uh items to discuss this is this chapter has fewer changes than all the others any questions for Mr Duan commissioner herd the comment um because of section 7.3 which says the county will encourage planned unit development uh to provide active Parkland based on current levels of service I hate planned unit development so I'm not going to support this eight is such a strong word yes not not for how the way I feel about PUD at least she didn't say despise it could be worse anyway any public comment seeing none recommendation you have a public comment oh did you fill out a thing from the last one yes cuz I got the next one you're up for is 11 goad J right um I just had a question because this Geraldine jenko du on behalf of the treasured lands um this entire section um was addressed and really not much in the way of anything was rewen but the question was uh when Morton County is negotiating agreements um with puds um regarding Park land and Recreation um why are manag Recreation sites that provide a range of fields courts and picnic areas why why aren't they providing also more passive Recreation areas such as Trailways or um just hiking in environmental natural areas why is that left out of the definition of recreation for the county there's no prohibition uh members of the board from having uh trails and and um passive Recreation in uh any of the parks whether they be active or passive okay I move staff's recommendation second any public comment you did I did that already okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed opposed four to one commissioner herd dissenting because she doesn't like puds anyway she hates them public hearing number nine legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report base comprehensive plan Amendment 24-8 08 Coastal management element a text Amendment Mr Duan U thank you Mr chair uh with me is Amy een our Coastal engineer uh and um we have no additional changes to chapter 8 that uh to present or discuss this has been PR previously considered by the by the board and staff recommends approval with that any public comment seeing none any questions for Mr Duan seeing none we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously public hearing number 10 legislative public hearing to consider consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-9 conservation and open space element a text Amendment Mr duelan again uh this has been presented to the board um we have uh I don't believe we have any changes additional to this um and staff recommends approval what do you have with you oh I'm sorry Sean McCarthy um principal planner with the uh environmental division of the growth Management Department um he's um here to assist with any questions uh on uh Wetlands the composite Wetlands map Etc question questions for staff did I ask for public do we have any public comment seeing none recommendation we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by campy commissioner campy all in favor I all opposed opposed what when didn't you ask a question then I did the I went through these before motion carries 421 commissioner heard dissenting public hearing number 11 legislative public hearing to consider transmissional transmitt of evaluation appr Presa report based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-10 chapter 10 senary sewer Services element a text Amendment Miss love lady good afternoon Samantha love lady with growth management I'm here with Leo retti from utilities department Technical Services administrator if I recall correctly and we have no changes to chapter 10 since you um last saw this except for um we requesting one change and that is um it was actually brought up by a member of the public and we think that woman that lady um had a I had a good suggestion um the sentence here says the forgoing does not apply to areas designated as a rural area of rural area of opportunity we are not one of those areas so that was probably copied in from statute and we're just recommending taking that one one sentence out um other than that it's exactly the way you've seen it before and staff recommends approval okay any questions for staff seeing none any public comment seeing none with the removal of the wait wait wait she's Economic Opportunity oops I'm sorry she's coming upal jeno de speaking on behalf of the Guardians uh the Guardians had sent a letter and they asked questions regarding the wastewater treatment systems and they noted that they're designed to treat treat pathogens and they have minimal effects on nutrient concentrations which are a leading cause of deterioration of waters in Martin County the Guardians would like an explanation of why the current level of service of 100 GPD gallons per day for both residential and non-residential purposes is being increased to 195 GPD uh Leo Petty with Mar County Utilities I can address that uh we actually changed from 195 gallons per day per equivalent residential connection to uh I'm sorry from uh 100 gallons per day per capita uh per person uh to 195 gallons per day per ERC equivalent residential connection within the commercial industrial non-residential world uh there's uh it's a whole lot easier to look at the numbers based on uh gallons per equivalent residential connection since there are no residents uh associated with that so the 195 gallons a day is also in our master plan for water and waste water uh element probably at the end of the day is less right so anyway all right so let's just be clear if you had 100 gallons per day per person and you have a family of six that residential equivalent unit could have 600 gallons uh correct and now they can have 195 for the entire household well there's also other residents that have one person in the household so it works out to uh an equivalent resent connection is 95 gallons per day per household for Wastewater flows instead of 100 per person got it yes 95 per household instead of 100 per person okay yeah any other public comment positive um seeing none back to the board who staff's recommendation we have a motion by commissioner herd uh seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously thank you all right public heing number 12's legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-11 chapter 11 portable water pable water services element 10-year water supply facilities work plan a text Amendment Miss love lady good afternoon Samantha love lady with the growth Management Department um we have chapter chapter 11 which is a portable water services element in the 10 year water supply facilities work plan excuse me I have Ann Murray who's the county Hydro geologist here um with me and nothing again nothing's changed in this chapter um since the last time you saw it um I do want to um point out an additional change that we have and so it's to 11-1 which is areas currently served by Regional utilities and this is currently what the figure looks like and this piece down here where this line is that is not within the secondary urban service district and so we are proposing to um move the line up there and same thing with um 112 and you'll see we're requesting to move that and those we think this is just a scrier eror so with that uh staff recommends approval of CPA 2411 commissioner herd this isn't related to that to this element who's whose utility is serving Ranch and apy or Three Lakes Mar County Mar count ities okay and discoveries being served by smru that's correct all right thanks that for sure okay M dubet I do have a one for this one 11 was the last one we did 11 oh we're on 12 never mind no it's it's 11 this is PH2 we're on 12 chapter 11 but pH my fault my completely I'm sorry I'm it's hard to follow the numbers the chapter we were going so fast too that methodically okay methodically okay with that do we have any public comment oh commissioner heard like was Hors at Old sorry I'm way behind that recommendation with the additional change to the m South Fork High School secondary boundary not secondary but boundary yeah it's taken a piece out of the secondary that's not supposed to being there okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by second commissioner heatherington all in favor I I all opposed motion carries unanimously public hearing number 13 legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report base comprehensive plan Amendment 24-12 chapter 12 solid and hazardous waste a tech Amendment Miss love lady good afternoon Samantha love lady with growth management and I'm here with Sam Amerson the utilities director and nothing has changed about this chapter since um you've saw it previously and with that um staff recommends approval we can go through any changes by the way if you want to any questions for staff see none any public comment seeing none sou recommendation second we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner herd all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously thank you thank you you're listed in the next one here where are you going legislative public hearing to consider transmitt of evaluation and Appraisal rep her early we want a gen H we told her earlier we want a genitive base comprehensive plan Amendment 24- 13 chapter 13 sure drainage and natural groundwater aquafer recharge element it says Samantha loveely right here on my piece of paper okay go sorry about that Samantha love lady growth management department and this is Amy e our Coastal engineer and has anything changed since we last yeah one there's one change uh similar to the capital Improvement uh element for the 2 feet above uh for setting finished floors because of Hud it's to be consistent okay so that was the only change okay any questions for staff IPA any public comment sir oh yes you do I'm sorry thank you 113 14 14 it's pump pH 14 they don't match up might as well just stay here building jenko debay on behalf of the treasured lands and the Guardians of Martin County um in the staff report under Section 13.3 uh groundwater and Aquifer recharge policy 13.4 States Martin County should give the highest priority to projects that reduce harmful impacts on the St Lucy River specifically the St Lucy Estuary the language should include not only those areas within those estuaries but also areas that are discharging into the lahache river uh the lahache river pollutant reduction has its own plan boundaries and that is in the South area of the county um um it uh shouldn't be also the County's job to monitor the pollutants although that is the only way to confirm compliance but rather written so that the burden of compliance should be the responsibility of those contributing to the pollutants to stop polluting and prevent the problem by monitoring and the language should reflect the policy in those terms uh additionally policy 13.2 a11 U should incorporate the concept of preventing saltwater inclusion into Estuary environments um this would require analysis of minimum based flows and seasonal adjusted basis um the these are the flows that must be protected in order to preserve our freshwat that we need the portable water for people um it seems also um that there should be some language included that would reference the guidelines that South Florida Water Management has already written um in order for Martin County to acknowledge that they exist thank you so actually I do agree about the lock Hatchy watered um some folks in the northern part of the county forget that we actually have two rivers in this County how hard would it be to add that language to include not only the St Lucy Estuary but the lockah hatchee water ship um I'll I'll review it but I remember having some locks language somewhere else so I'll I'll just take a look and see if I've I've covered it elsewhere but I remember adding locks in there because I'm very familiar with that ptin reduction plan down there we would need sorry Elise Deputy County attorney we would need definitive language from the board to put something in there um or provide the uh Coastal engineer with discretion on that issue well I don't mind the discretion part but I would simply think that where it says St Lucy River Estuary SL loah hatchee River we can add that language and then make sure it's not consistent with something else in the policy if the board would like that give them the description okay or or can we give Dr sometime until you know an hour from now 2 hours from now so she can review this and see if she can find the locks language we can could we could table this uh hearing if you want until later on today and see if she can find the language and come back to the board that is also an option yes that is that's actually important I I would really like to do that all right I'll I'll let me review it and and make sure because I do remember adding locks language in here um and it could be because of the background information making sure that all of our reduction plans are in place and I'll I'll review that part okay we would a motion to table it later on today move to table chapter 13 second I'll be back okay okay um we have a motion to table chapter 13 for a little bit uh from uh commissioner herd seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously so I'm going to draw a circle around that so I not come back to it anyway okay public hearing number 15 legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report base comprehensive comprehensive plan Amendment 24-16 arts and cultur historic preservation a text Amendment Mr Duan thank you uh Mr chair members of the board uh we have no changes from your our past presentation on September 10 um and staff recommends approval of uh transmitting this chapter to the state land planning agency who you with terribly sorry Stephanie with the Treasure Coast Regional planning council is with me she did actually the work on this oh whose staff light is this somebody I think it's old light old light old light okay okay any questions for staff sorry seeing none any public comment second okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously public hearing number 16 which actually talks about seven why couldn't you guys line the number legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation appraisal report based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-17 public school facility element uh text Amendment Mr Duan thank you Mr chair members of the board um again this is the same uh text that was presented to the board on September uh the 10th um with me is Stephanie from the treasur co Regional planning Council um I we uh we want to thank the uh staff at the uh school district for uh actually doing a lot of the work on this and providing a lot of the data and Analysis staff recommends approval of the propos of transm submitting this chapter to the state land planning agency and all of the state agencies okay shair pending any public comment I'll move staff's recommendation of approval okay any public comment on this okay we have a motion by commissioner heatherington seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously public hearing number 17 legislative public hearing to consider adoption of an ordinance for comprehensive plan Amendment 24-23 Three Lakes Golf Club a text Amendment uh Mr Dulan uh thank you m uh Mr chair members of the board uh this is a proposed text Amendment uh you have already uh considered this for transmitt and it is coming back today for adoption um I believe you have on your on the Das some public comment or not public comment but um agency comments that came in um we have no agency comments that um that would be the basis of a challenge for this proposed amendment um we had to update the trech Coast Regional planning Council comments because they initially gave us their draft comments and then they gave us the comments after they act the council actually voted on this so that's what's one of the things on your on your uh on the dis there I believe also there's FWC and D comments also so uh but none would form the basis of a challenge um this is a proposed text change that uh does not change the most of the rural lifestyle text I'll go to 3 35 um the proposed text change is entirely within the uh uh shaded text right there um it would uh allow a maximum of 324 bed boms which is already the maximum that would be permitted if you did 6 * 20 6 * uh six bedrooms time 54 golf Cottages it would be 324 either way um they're just ill they're just putting in the numbers um it limits it to one or two stories and instead of being limited to six bedrooms per Cottage it's um between two and 12 bedrooms per Cottage um since this would be located within a Thousand Acre minimum piece of property it would not have any effect uh on the surrounding property owners and it would not have any real effect uh in ch terms of public facility provision uh so staff recommends approval of this adoption of this proposed text change okay any questions for staff commission campy uh based on the fact that Mr Duan said that it really does not increase the number that had been approved uh originally it's just giving the the owners a flexibility to go from two unit uh Cottages two bedroom Cottages to 12 bedroom and any variation thereof maintaining the same total number of bedrooms I agree with staff's recommendation and I make the motion to approve we have any public comment on this item seeing none we have a motion by commissioner campy seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor L light she went with the late light did she yeah she went with the late light yeah I'm not going to support this it doesn't meet any of the criteria for comp plan Amendment it's urban sprawl on steroids it's conspicuous consumption it's Preposterous that it doesn't count toward their densities and 12 bedroom units completely outside the urban service boundary hardly qualifies as rural lifestyle [Applause] no Let It Go okay so we had a motion by commissioner campy seconded by commissioner um Smith all in favor I all opposed opposed motion carries 4 to one with commissioner U herd dissenting than members of the board you thank you for your work okay Department quasi disal number one request approval of the First Amendment to the Three Lakes Golf Course Golf Club plan unit development zoning agreement b1150 - 008 including a revised ma master and phasing plan and phase three final site plan Mr Elum um anybody that will be testifying please stand and be sworn in Raise Your Right hands do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth there are no explainers do we have uh have you turned in all your proper paperwork to the proper person have a copy of my work history and the agenda item for exhibit one do we have any experte commissioner Smith I do in their file I do they've been filed I do they've been filed I do they've been filed I have none and they've been filed okay I think that's ite thank you uh chairman good afternoon Commissioners uh for the record Brian elim principal planner with the growth Management Department this is an application by Lucio and Associates on behalf of Three Lakes Golf Club LLC for approval of the First Amendment to the Three Lakes Golf Club PUD zoning agreement including revised master and phasing plans and phase three final site plan included with this application is a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation the property is approximately 1217 acres and is located west and east of caner Highway approximately 2.4 mil Southwest of Interstate 95 at 11104 apogee Drive in Stewart the property has a rural lifestyle future land use and Three Lakes Golf Club planed unit development zoning agreement the revised Master site plan documents the changes that are consistent with the phase three final site plan and revised phasing plan that are part of this first first amendment application revisions to the master site plan include expand and revise Golf Course Lake configurations relocate golf Cottages from phase two into phase three Revis golf Cottage design access and parking in phases 1 2 and three revised Golf Club amenities including access and parking changing the tunnel under caner Highway with a bridge over caner Highway remove the Gated entrance at Southwest apig way and Associated turn lane improvements add helipad per FAA and fdot permitting requirements and move the employee housing facilities from phase three to phase four revisions to the phasing plan include moving the construction of the employee housing and supportive infrastructure to phase 4 adding Co subphase descriptions detailing the building permit and construction elements to be completed and updating the phasing summaries uh to be consistent with the proposed changes the Three Lakes Golf Club received major final sight plan approval to conru two golf courses and related amenities on approximately 1217 acre property in September 2022 in June 2023 23 the site plan was revised to add 14 golf cottages and a golf club house upon the approval of the future land use Amendment from agricultural to rural lifestyle and the Three Lakes Golf Club plan unit development zoning agreement including master and phasing plans approved on February 20th 2024 these previously approved developments were incorporated into the Pud as Phase 1 and are shown here in green phase two identify by the tan shading including included eight golf Cottages North Golf Course Performance Center East Maintenance building and golf training center the blue shading identifies the areas of proposed construction shown on the phase three final site plan that is included with this first amendment I'm just going to go uh briefly over some of the changes uh the phase three final site plan includes 39 Cottage buildings with six bedrooms each The Phase 1 Cottage buildings I wish this were much clearer and larger um remain unchanged and they are the quantities remain unchanged it's 14 uh cottages of two or four bedrooms they're located here golf Cottage pod a and golf Cottage cage pod B um with a total of 40 bedrooms The Phase 2 Cottage approvals consisted of eight cottages and 24 bedrooms and were identified on the phase 2 final sight plan and phasing plan as golf Cottage pod C and D they were located right here where this area is blue now and this tan area here the five golf Cottage buildings that were in golf Cottage pod SE location here have been removed and this approximate 2 acre will be become native landscape and tree protection area and the three golf Cottages that were located down here for the phase 2 uh have also been removed and replaced with one six-bedroom Cottage identified on these proposed plans as a Pool Spa Cottage pod in total the cottage count for this project is 54 and bedroom count is 280 which is within the thresold Allowed by the rural lifestyle future land use which allows 54 cottages and 324 bedrooms the River Club which on the previous approval was located up here this area has been removed and been replaced with a standard boat dock access additional Lakes have been added 3A and 3B which I believe are here and here and I just want to point them out because they're they're in Phase One and predominantly all the work for this proposal is the third phase which is highlighted with blue so the river Cloud was removed the additional Lakes 3 and b have been added in the phase 1 area uh the tunnel bridge which was here or the tunnel which was here has been uh is proposed as a bridge now the Gated entrance which was located here off caner Highway has been removed uh along with the associ turn lane improvements and the helip pad has been added over here and then what was and now the phasing plan has four phases and the the housing has been moved to phase four I think that yes so review of this application by the local planning agency is not required and development review staff have found the Three Lakes Golf Club LLC application to comply with all applicable regulations in the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report staff recommends approval of this application and move that the board receive and file the agenda item in all its attachments uh is in the staff report is exhibit one and move that the board approve the First Amendment to the Three Lakes Golf Club PUD zoning agreement including revised master and phasing plans and adopt a resolution to approve the phase three final site plan for the Three Lakes Golf Club PUD project that concludes the presentation be happy to answer any questions any questions for staff see none applicant good afternoon Commissioners for the record Bob Reigns land use attorney with the gunster law firm here on behalf of the applicant today we appreciate the opportunity to present this amendment to you uh we know it's been a long day um we are pleased to state that we have received and reviewed the staff report and we agree with the comments the conclusions and the recommendations in that staff report if I could begin our uh presentation commissioner Jenkins with I'd like to just ask staff a couple of quick questions if I could and then I'll bring in Mr Cady for some testimony and a short presentation uh Mr elim you said you had been sworn in is that correct sir yes and you turned in your resume also I believe for the record yes and you're the uh project coordinator for this project correct yes and so as part of that or section F and section g of the staff report are those your responsibility yes and if I could sir just read section f is a determination of compliance with the comprehensive growth management plan requirements is that correct yes and the findings of compliance in that staff report state that staff has reviewed this application and finds that it complies with the ldr as detailed within the report and the staff recommends approval of this development application as consistent with the guidelines and the standards of the applicable comprehensive goals polic objectives and policies as implemented in the ldrs is that correct yes sir and is that still your recommendation yes and then also on section g determination of compliance with the land use the site designs standards the zoning and procedural requirements also your responsibility to review and the findings of compliance there State staff has uh reviewed this application and finds that it complies with the ldrs is detailed within the report staff recommends approval of this development application is consistent with the guidelines and the standards of the applicable comprehensive goals objectives and policies as implemented in the ldrs is that a correct reading sir yes sir and is that still your recommendation and yes it is okay thank you sir I appreciate it I'd like at this time to have Mr Cady come up and make a short presentation uh I do have some questions for him before he begins though Mr Kady if you'll introduce yourself for the record yeah Morris Kady senior planner with Leo and Associates and have you been sworn Senor partner I'm and you've been sworn in yes I have and uh can you give us a brief description sir of your education and work hisory yes I'm I'm a 35 year member of the American Institute of certified planners I work for uh the first 10 years of my career with the Martin County uh Community Development Department Now growth Management Department and I've been doing land planning in Martin County continuously since April 1st 1982 and can you describe the paper that I'm handing you sir yes that's my resume and is it current yes it is okay I'd like to submit this as applicants exhibit number one thank you sir Mr great okay thank you okay uh of course I appreciate the work that Brian's done I think he gave a very comprehensive uh overview of the project I'm going to dig into a little more detail um with a colored rendering just to kind of this is to show you the this is the approv plan as approved last year um up to date and uh just going from north to south this is this is golf Cottages this is the River Club that we're removing so uh there will be increase tree preservation and Native Plant V uh preservation in this area we had a racket club here that we're relocating down into the south end of the property I'll go over that in a moment that also leads to the uh preservation of additional native trees um the Kenna house is located in this location and and and there is an amendment to remove the five Cottages here in favor of tree protection and go over that in a little more detail in a moment the pool and spa Club has always been here the clubhouse which is under construction we have cottages on either side of the clubhouse that are under construction um and then further south we have additional Cottages the East maintenance or the uh West maintenance facility and this is the was a future short course that's part of phase three I'll show you that in a moment uh and then of course the tunnel um and on the other side the employee housing hasn't changed um and none of these facilities have really changed um I do want I did update the aerial though just to show what is adjacent to us uh this is South Florida Gateway industrial park is now uh several buildings have been completed there is a signalized intersection here and this uh we're extending that this this road and which we Nam name Southwest fips place in in honor of Mr fips this is where his house was located um and this is where we're putting the helipad on this Lake the employee housing is still in the same location um the East the the uh East maintenance facility was approved with the with phase two in the North Course which is under construction was approved at phase two and this to dig a Little More in in a large version of it um uh all of these facilities again that we're going with the standard dock no no no Marina or or um or boat facilities although there may be a boat there in the future for the use by the residents or the um the members and guests uh there are no homes for sale on this property so these are all golf Cottages uh that that are owned and and operated by the club uh they're not for sale or for lease uh the the kenah house this is the area long hole three that that where the um uh we remove five Cottages in favor of saving some significant trees in that location uh the we course is a is a is a course for children it's a it's a practice facility for children that is adjacent to the pool and spa club which is um part of the phase three final site plan that hasn't changed uh the clubhouse again under construction um maintenance facilities is completed uh these are the additional golf Cottages in phase three or or at least the original golf Cottages in phase three but we did relocate the Racket Club that was in the north part of the of the of the project to this location so it can interact with the short course there's a 12 hole short course that's being built in this location and the racket ball the Racket Club and the clubhouse for that facility will all be contained in this area and then if you're looking at the um the east side of the road again this is the south Florida industrial uh Park Martin County future operations center is also located here and this is all Industrial property within the freestanding urban service District um the helipad again located on the on the lake um adjacent to fi's place and then we slightly modified the East Clubhouse um we did add a service and emergency access connection to um to uh ker Highway in this location and just you as you can see uh one of the next slides will show a blow up of the ker Highway Frontage but I wanted to note that that the vegetation that in the ride of way is really limited to our Frontage at this location uh the the uh there is really no landscape or or vegetation within the do right away north of this and this is about a quar mile between our property and in South Florida Gateway Industrial Park uh this is a blow up of the caner highway Frontage just showing uh where the the road is built that the road is built actually a little to the west of the rideway and this there was never really a lot of vegetation in this location but this this is where we installed the water and sewer lines that have been constructed now within this RightWay that runs along our property line uh to the best of our ability we've saved as many of the Oaks and trees while we while that construction was underway within the right of way but you can see the majority of of all the vegetation is located on the east side of of the actual paved Road and uh that continues all the way down to our Frontage you can see here all of the uh the vegetation on the other side is really on our property already and and what I did the other day was stand in the middle of the of ker Highway and take a picture of the vegetation looking uh north towards the industrial park and this vegetation except for a few trees is entirely on our site that's all being saved it's all part of a native buffer that that that is retained on our property and we've been supp in that buffer as well uh this the majority of all this vegetation is on is within the rideway and you can see some of these some of these Pines are over 70 ft tall um and then we have additional vegetation that we're putting on the other side on our property so they'll be a there'll be a significant uh buffer on both sides of the highway you can see this is all going to be native landscape this is all Native landscape this is all Native landscape and we're doing native landscape in along Bridge Road uh the entrance the main entrance is under construction it looks wide open there but we are installing additional native vegetation so that all you'll see going by the site is the the road going into the project there's no big sign there or anything like that trying to REM maintain the rural character so that was looking North this is looking South going towards Indigent town again all of this vegetation is on our property it's not in the right of way and all that's being saved as part of our our site design this this this is within the right of way so uh and and again the uh going back to the previous picture you can see the property line pretty clearly right here is the silt fence that was installed along our property boundary and this is the disturbance caused by the the water and sewer installation so um under understand that there's a there's a concern with going from a tunnel to a bridge and and our Engineers spent almost a year going back and forth with do and we do have our fdot expert here today if you have any questions of him um but we at the end of the day the road is a state road we have to meet do standards and requirements um uh their main concern was was Public Safety early on in our discussions they made it clear that they do not consider an actg grade crossing that would cause a stop in the road a safe alternative um they were looking for an alternative that minimize disruption of the caner highway traffic I think all of us including Martin County and and ape was concerned with the protection of the existing canopy of native trees along uh within the right of way and adjacent to the right of way and and also one of the things that we we found out when we were looking at the main entrance that was eliminated on the east side of caner highway we were told by dot that those turn lanes and the drainage for those turn Lanes um at the main entrance on ker Highway would have resulted in removing a large portion of those trees another um concern that we had in in developing our current plan um the the tunnel uh was a engineering uh exercise with do and our experts uh they did a lot of groundwater table um analysis soil conditions drainage had to be looked at they were concerned with hydrostatic pressure the which similar to a empty pool the the uh the the groundwater table um causing the tunnel to somehow buckle and and affect the the safety of the traveling public on caner highway so they were very conservative in their approach that they wanted us to excavate 35 ft below the existing grade which is deeper than we can dig a lake in Martin County and and in order to to offset uh the the ballast and and the alternative to that was to raise the road elevation rather than going 35 ft underground because that led to other environmental concerns uh engineering concerns they were concerned with the the maintenance and operation of of pumps and generators um all that kind of had to be analyzed and and they led us into a position where they felt the safest alternative for crossing a state road in this case was was a bridge a bridge that could handle not only our pedestrian traffic and um and golf carts but Alo also suitable for emergency access vehicles for for for um vehicle use so that bridge is a do standard bridge that that will allow full access from one side of the street to the other and and the problem the only way we could we could really work out a way to construct it was by raising the elevation where the tunnel was going and by raising that elevation it eliminated the concern with the hydrostatic pressure but it also required the removal of virtually all of the Native vegetation within the existing dot rideway all of that would have to we'd have to raise the where the tunnel was going then transition approximately 1,700 ft on either side of the tunnel which would have wiped out those 70t Tall Pine trees and and that was a concern by apogee I know that was a concern by Martin County and we're and and everything that we're doing is trying to uh preserve that those trees it also required uh a temporary Bypass Road during construction of the tunnel which would have further impacted the the trees within the right of we and and and turn lane and drainage requirements I I I went over that we did we move an entrance there because of the impact on the on the tree canopy and the tunnel allows or the uh the bridge allows us to remove that main entrance on caner Highway and the construction timeline they again they're worried about the the impact to the traveling public um the the construction timeline would have meant for a tunnel would have meant that that road would have been in disrepair for over for approximately 24 months um we can build a bridge without impacting that right those trees in the RightWay and that will that will allow Construction in less than 12 months and the impact on the traveling public is just a few weeks not months at all so all that was considered and and that's why we we we chose the Bridge Approach um and this would allow us to to to enter the the the property off of Bridge Road as the main entrance and allow continuous access without constructing any main entrance or or in or um or or having to remove the vegetation within the right of way uh and while the bridge is under construction members will be using a service and delivery entrance that's been con constructed in this location uh there's less trees in this area and we did add another service and emergency access on the other side of the road but that that does not affect these enormous tree canopy that's that's apparent here um again that's that's the canopy of trees that we're looking to preserve and this you know this pine tree alone I think is about 90 ft and so we tried to to lay in a uh a bridge design that that showed how that canopy could be protected the the bridge is 32 ft wide uh dot required that we build the bridge so that it it doesn't interrupt the future for laning of the road so the span itself is 170 ft so that dot can come in and there is no immediate plan to forlane d uh State Road 76 it isn't warranted now it may be decades before that happens and so we're uh uh and and it is this the height was also a consideration I did talked to um uh Foundry the the the industrial developer to the north and um we're proposing the same height as the the the turnpike overpass and the I95 overpass so it doesn't affect Commerce it doesn't affect any of the uh the activity on ker Highway that's currently in place so you know we're the owners are you know understand the concern with with with with the bridge and they are going the extra mile to create some architectural design but I'm almost thinking it should probably look like it's been there for a long time rather than than kind of create a um a an attraction but we are willing and and to work with do and reduce the The View Corridor along caner Highway by planting vegetation uh along both sides of the tree along the approach on both sides of the bridge uh approach going north and south so that that is what what where we are today with en enhanced Landscaping um I'll just go over the really quick the the other elements that I think um Brian mentioned well uh everything in green is Phase One and blue is the phase three final sight plan improvements including the relocation of cottages here uh the uh short course and cottage and amenities in this location the East Clubhouse and connection of emergency access service drive to ker in this location and the helipad and the employee housing is moved into a future phase um so this is the Kenna house and and and this is looking off I think the third hole um this is that runs along the Kenna house and we have proposed to put Cottages in this location uh five cottages and about a 2 or three Acre Site there um and it was um L connley actually um made it a point to uh to to focus on preserving the those trees because there are some very ancient Pines and Oaks in this area and if you just look at this this canopy of this tree right here uh this is that tree right here and this is where the Cottages were going and that tree has about a 46 in uh diameter at breast height um a very a champion Pine I would call it so so all of this vegetation here and and in the other locations where the racket ball Club was located where the um the the the River Club was located you know were all relocated to to save the existing native trees and and that's that's part of what uh apogee is all about at least on this side of the road the um as as you probably know the the the property on the east side of the road was was heavily impacted through through um by the previous owner and didn't have the the wonderful vegetation so we're still meeting all of our original public benefits um the native Landscaping along Bridge Road we've located thousands of native trees uh We've managed The Preserve areas in accordance with the pamp we're enhancing wildlife and prohibiting hunting on the property which has occurred for decades uh we created a the the wildlife Corridor along the St Lisa Canal by removing exotic plants and planting trees within a 200 foot wide uh uh core rideway that will be maintained by us we have permission to maintain that free of exotic vegetation and when I say us I'm speaking of apogee of course um we're exceeding the minimum open space required by rural Lifestyle by over 312 Acres we're at 95% open space mainly because we have no homes on this site there are no homes for sale there's no Home sites uh we're able to to create 95% open space because of that and we've increased the the acreage of of um Lakes which holds more water um by um building additional lakes in Phase 1 and and also the lakes in phase three that are part of the short course um we're we're opening up the golf course for three golf outings during the peak golf season that's still done and we did donate $30,000 to the to Martin County for protection of orchid species that was found in the Bridge Road public right away that's more or less where where our turn lanes are going along Bridge Road that money's been paid and that as far as I know that money has been used by the county for that effort this is just a a depiction some of these photos I think you've seen before but it shows the care that was taken um in the design of the uh West Golf Course working around existing uh trees that could not be otherwise relocated um all throughout the West Golf Course these scenes are visible this is an example of of just a couple of large uh trees we located to the 250 ft um core right away there is a a burm out inside the 250 ft that prevents any of our storm water from entering the canal so we're completely isolated from the canal and there is no discharge of our Golf Course water into uh directly into the um Canal this is an example of the some of the Native buffers we build along the perimeter of the site relocating uh everything from Sal Palm Meadow to Cabbage Palms Oaks and Pines and um again working around cabbage Palm hammocks working around Oak trees trying to carve in a course that that really emphasizes the unique um uh n natural characteristics of the site but on the other side of the course on other side of the road I should say which is about 700 Acres where we have the North and South course this is a view from and this was taken last week just to show you the um the progress on the south course this is the um standing at at one of the t's along the the driving range which is a 360° driving range looking at the performance center and behind the performance center there there is Bridge Road so that that is a view from the um uh looking South towards Bridge Road this is another view from that same uh area looking again South torge Bridge Road the the the um the performance center is over here and you can see barely that this little Lake uh which has been constructed between uh the golf course and Bridge Road which is basically this location um so I was standing here taking pictures first of the performance center and then of uh this this this View and again all this is um being revegetated and and and planted with Native vegetation except when you get into the site you know the the one thing about just going back to this previous View this may look like it's uh we took out a lot of vegetation but that happened to be the area where there was hundreds if not a thousand small pine trees and and Oaks that were planted by the previous owner and managed uh for hunting pheasants and quail so we were able to to take all those trees and relocate them because they weren't uh too large to relocate so that that opened up that area and and I can tell you we've been storing a lot of water during the this rainy season that has prevented um additional discharge into the St Lucy canal and so with that understanding I'll be glad to answer any questions that we do have have our fdot expert here and our engineers and environmental planners if you have any questions and just a couple questions for you Mr Kady you're familiar with the Martin County Land Development regulations and the comprehensive plan yes I am and you reviewed this project and worked on this project correct yes I have and in your professional opinion does this project meet the requirements of the comprehensive plan and the Land Development regulations it does thank you as Mr crazy said that concludes our presentation we'll be happy to answer any questions we have our team here those thank you commissioner heatherington I have a couple questions for Mr Kady okay yes so firstly you mentioned um that the some of the public benefits were on Bridge Road for enhanced Landscaping so I happened to drive by there um a couple weeks ago and the large structure that is on Bridge Road is that plan are you planning on completely camouflaging that that and Landscaping that so that you would not see that from the road that structures the guard house yes yeah except for the you know the the little bit of pavement that the road that goes in there you may get a peak when you go home by but You' have to stop to see it and you won't see it while as you're driving as you're driving by but there will be a peak you know where the road is where we have to have access to it because I had forgotten all of your public B many of your public benefits really stem off of Bridge Road protections yes so the fact that you should not be able to see that entrance at all with landscape from Bridge Road okay yes I'm I'm very much aware of that and I've been having well okay I know there's a a slide in here of an a large version let me just see if I can get to that you just have to scroll the wheel you know how to do that really you're you're right it's technology the mouse it is brand new wait I'm going the wrong way then I just want to get back to the the that shows the uh yeah this one yeah so so I understand so so we're going we're going to tighten this up so it's very clear that the only thing that you'll be able to see is the access going to there but we do have a landscape Island right here that will prevent few the view of the of the Guard house so there is an island there that's been designed so and and and um and there is no signage you know we're trying to make this as discreet as possible right so the next question and you went over this somewhat in your presentation why the sudden departure from a tunnel to an overpass over caner Highway so all the protections are on Bridge Road and now there's a proposed from the tunnel there'll be an overpass that crosses from one side of the property on cano Highway you mentioned in your presentation preserving the rural character and when we approved this there was a tunnel that's not what I had in mind for preserving the rural Integrity of this Corridor so now it feels like we're being asked to change directions and there are no protections for caner highway there are only protections for Bridge Road and in your presentation you kept referring to they they said that there's this disruption in traffic they said that construction time who are you referring to as they 100% Dot and I think you know that's the difference between Bridge Road and ker highway it's a do Road it's it's used for you know major Commerce you know they have they had a very much a concern with the tunnel and and they're creating a situation where was not constructible and they feel a bridge is the safest alternative for crossing the road um are they here to to to speak to this we do have the do expert that met with do do you keep saying that they are saying the do is a do here to answer questions on what they would like because we work many times with the no and the do does not take orders from us can you put that picture of that the uh overpass back up oh let me see where is it scroll yeah so if the do is asking you to do these things in lie of a tunnel when you submitted the application you submitted under the premises that the do was going to approve the tunnel correct yeah it was the requirement and the dot denied approving the tunnel they didn't deny it they just made it to a point where we would have to raise the elevation of the road in order to construct it which would have impacted the vegetation all that vegetation along there would have to been wiped out and an overpass doesn't doesn't disturb the vegetation correct except for where it's crossing the road and who is going to be in charge of the architectural design of the overpass well again that this is what we've submitted and we even had to work hard to get doitt to whom the do it's it's they they they permit you've already submitted this to the do yes we've been working with them for the past 18 months well first on the on the tunnel let me stop you there because I was always under the impression that you were doing a tunnel and by the way I also have to say the project is actually a beautiful project the the trees that they've done I was out on a tour earlier in the year they've done a really amazing job inside the property and I was under the impression because oh we're we're having a hard time with do but guess what we sit up here every meeting and we always have a hard time with do I've been working with DOT for six years to get a traffic signal on caner Highway have not been able to get that traffic signal so it's always difficult so you're saying it was difficult to get a tunnel so then you changed without anyone speaking to to anyone about doing an overpass I just discovered this almost 3 weeks ago and I discovered it because I was just flipping through agenda items and I pointed it out to Mr Donaldson and I asked him and then of course you and I were in touch that's when I realized that we were going to propose an overpass over caner Highway I apologize I should have came to you sooner there's no doubt so I if the do is dictating what's happening why aren't they here to answer questions I I don't I don't recall do ever attending a private you know application but we do have the the individual that met with do we did bring him here so he could he could share some of their comments I would love to hear them it's you want to introduce yeah commissioner we'll be glad to bring that up that gentleman's Randy crop and I would like to ask him to come up and uh I will qualify him also as an expert for your questions uh sir can you please introduce yourself Randy Randy crop Conan Graham contractor Martin County resident and have you been sworn in sir yes and can you give us a brief uh background on your history your education and work history 47 years of doing Bridge Water Marine Construction in Palm Beach Martin St Lucy Broward Dade Indian River counties from Bridges to to you name it what control structures to everything that uh from Murphy construction to to now con Graham for the last 20 years and been in Martin County as a resident for now 30 years 31 years and can you uh identify the document that I'm showing you right now sir yes sir that's mine and is that's your what resume and is that an up-to-date resume yes sir I'd like to submit that as applicants exhibit to and he's all yours [Laughter] commissioner I would just like you to walk us through because as Mr C just said that you've been working on this for 16 months or so on this overpass tell us how you know a little bit about the tunnel working with do their comments on the tunnel and how we have gone to present an overpass okay so I started so I am a member of apogee so I've joined there I'm a member of Jupiter Hills and apee both so I I'm very kind of um attached to what they do out there and want to see make sure they do the right thing because I'm paying the I'm paying the bill so how we got there I joined the club and found out they were going to do a tunnel met with them and I said guys first of all the dot and a tunnel the only one of the only tunnels they have is the kidney tunnel down in Lauderdale and they have more than enough problems with the Kenny tunnel so I meet with them and I talk about the tunnel met with down in Lauderdale met with uh Steve Brawn secretary Chris Caris District Ford met with all of them talk about this issue a tunnel requires fire suppression systems requires air ventilation systems requires massive amounts of dirt to be moved to raise it because we were going to have to create to build a pool because that's what you're building here you would have to put about a 8 to 10 foot slab down as as they said 20t deep to hold this thing from popping up on you the dot doesn't like something that's not normal they hate it as a matter of fact and the reason they hate it even more now is because of what happened down at fit after they had that accident at fit with the FIU oh somebody must be a after they had that accident down there they went absolutely crazy on anything that was a that was a design problem so when I met with them when did that occur five five years a five years ago yeah about five years ago and they just don't like it so they want things that are standard so I met with them and we discussed the issue you were going to have to raise the road about six or seven feet so staky I got you I want every tree left out there that's possible because I want to hide the golf course Jupiter Hills did the same thing and I have to compliment s she I think it's the only time I've ever heard Miss herd say or commissioner herd say you know people should do things like Jupiter Hills we we came and we donated land to do things we had the um teaching Center done and things like that it's the first time I've seen I was afraid of the vote that you would give and she voted for it because we were doing the right thing and I think we've got to do the right thing in anything we do if we don't we're ap's wrong and I'm wrong and I can't stand up here and tell you that that what they're doing is wrong so anyway I met with them on the tunnel it raised it six feet it was going to destroy I met with do on the tunnel I met with do on the tunnel I met with do on the tunnel and the bridge both we had a pre-meeting down there they were Randy you know what you're getting into here you're getting into a just a big bag of worms because they had the Howard Kenny tunnel under District 4's um perview and that tunnel is a mess down there Randy were you on the consult on their Consulting team when they presented the original site plan no ma'am or the Pud agreement no ma'am so but I I assume that someone consulted with do on presenting a tunnel as part of the the project I did I went over that when I first met with them I said guys they would like to do the tunnel oops I'm sorry yeah just to clarify we did have a previous engineer that had that didn't meet with do but we were led to believe that a tunnel was doable I don't know if they met with do but that engineer no longer works understand because we were led to believe also that a tunnel was doable so what what gives you the impression did dot tell you that they would permit a concrete overpass yes I I mean we're we've met with DOT several times and and have developed plans after they just kind of poo pooed the tunnel idea and said you just really don't know what you're messing with and they're right because doot is already committed to approve this overpass they have I've gotten a lease agreement from them and I should you have any why wouldn't we present that today if it's if it's well it's not done yet it'll be done hopefully next week so is is the do then going to dictate architectural standards no ma'am the only thing that the dot will dictate is they like standards but that doesn't mean that you can't adjust some architectural features that is correct so what are their minimum specifications do since they're not here to answer the question for an overpass over caner Highway which may or may not be in a widening plan down the road they require a minimum distance over top of the roadway which they're raising caner Highway eventually quote quote they don't know when so they require a 16' 6 in clearance they require 155 minimum clearance from any obstruction to make sure that they have a 36 32t clearance from the RightWay on each side of the white stripe for today and for the future so that's why the bridge is 155 ft long thanks thanks Randy thanks for the grilling Morris I have a couple couple final questions yes so we we work with do every day up here and it is not easy to get anything approved through there so what would have been I think essential as a part of this change is that do would be here to say whether they are going to permit or not permit this I think this is a complete Game Changer it changes everything the bridge like and I think it makes a statement too that that the applicant while they were um it was part of rural lifestyle and the main portion of rural lifestyle was to protect that Corridor I don't see how you do this with an overpass it just it makes a statement an overpass makes a statement and the statement I think that it's making is that the applicant has shifted its focus off of what's best for our community and this this bridge has no imagination even if you've been working on this for eight 18 months you've got a concrete overpass over a rural road why not make it something that's rural looking has no imagination it has no character if if that's what you're going to present why not create something that is more architecturally fitting with the area well again our goal was it was trees versus tunnel and and you know we wanted to save the canopy trees at all costs it wasn't possible with the tunnel and so you know again I've seen these types of of um bridges over rural roads and the older they look the more appropriate they look I mean I would even look at making this look like it's been there for a hundred years how could we ensure that do would approve something like that a rural looking bridge I don't know which this know this one kind of heard this described as you know and actually I had um by the way I've spoken to many people in Indian town that are not um fans of driving down caner highway and seeing this but but I know that there's been a description of this myopic looking Bridge with landscaping and and whatnot how does that get done with do I'm I still are you talking about this bridge that's who is going to make sure that the architectural standards of this bridge are in character with the caner corridor because all the protections right now are on Bridge Road all the public benefits are on Bridge Road and caner Highway is not protected in any way so if the dot is going to require a concrete overpass and if this board approves a concrete overpass who is going to be in charge of the architectural design of the bridge you know this this is the the final design I mean the the dot bridge is the final yeah the the the the first Bridge they didn't even want these the feature along the the what do you call those features along the top just standard Jersey standard yeah they just wanted a concrete slab we we had to fight to even add that those elements on top of the bridge so there is no more architectural control that's what you're getting no you can you can you can paint it or again my position is it should look old like it's been there a while and there there's some way we can make it look look you know more seasoned that's the cons that's that's allowed or I I don't think it should be painted white or or anything else I think it's just it you know the trees were the priority and and that to me maintains the rural character I don't think the bridge detracts from the rural character as long as the trees are are preserved and we're doing not only preservation of trees in the rideway but I showed you we have buffers along both sides of this road all the way up and down our Frontage that that end a quarter mile away when you get past our project to the north so I think it it is consistent with the rule character in my opinion but that's all I have thank you commissioner hey Morris Morris just just to clarify just a few maybe what I heard Stacy asking whose bridge will it be ot's doot will own the bridge no no can you speak to that can you speak to that think they own the it's an it'll be an AP owned Bridge they have to supply a bond to the do for maintenance and that bond has to be done every year or the do can tell them to take it out the dot you have has to supply a removal bond which they have to give every year to the do the bond will be for two years it'll be renewed every two years or the do can tell them to take it out because I think I thought you said in your presentation that the the um the approval of the easement was already granted the it hasn't been Grant so right now they're drawing up the easement as speak today and we're paying we pay app I say we it's probably we but apy has to pay the dot a fee for that easement I I just just for the clarity purposes because the next question I think answers hopefully a little bit of Stacy's question so it's your Bridge you're paying for it yes sir AP is um do is Grant will grant an easement I would assume um uh uh that is consistent with their design structural design standards and all the other requirements the the the span distance the height distance all that will be built into the easement yes sir and so from Do's perspective I would imagine the design of the bridge on the technical side has to meet the structural span requirements the uh uh the strength requirements of what you know it's not just a golf cart Bridge it is a something something dot standard yes sir it is right so architecturally on on the bridge there may be some room for some enhancements or not as long as it meets the structural engineering capacity load requirements easement requirements and so on yes sir correct and and and and and I shouldn't even say this CU I can imagine where this could go but um sort of like the new bridge in downtown Miami I I have to imagine that that is not a standard necessarily f. Bridge um yeah that's a $150 million lawsuit right now between the engineers in the but that that's correct and a billion dollars worth of construction and a billion dollars worth of construction okay I I just thought it was important even for the public listening to this conversation who controls what with what happens out there for all intents of purposes it's F dot it's their right away they have the final say over what happens over their right away yes sir um are you getting is it is it an aerial easement that you're getting is that what they're call so they're in between a lease agreement and an easement right now down down at the law firms down there the lawyers with the dot do matter and but we are getting a ground because they want a ground easement for the part that's on their land and an aerial easement for the part that's flying over caner so to your comment about the the uh the looks that railing that we propos cost like five times as much as the original railing no question and and I'm sure for their standards a jersey barrier style Edge would suffice their standards oh yeah because they used them I mean that's the Roosevelt bridges for instance you know right exactly okay and we built the Big John Monahan bridge too so I know where that is in relation to this bridge because I built that one thank you sir okay do we have any other questions for the applicant commissioner camping I wanted to give my colleague the opportunity to go first would you like no thanks be positive I appreciate what I've heard thus far I have been involved in the conversations and I remember when they talked about the applicant talked about well we're going to have a bridge or a tunnel over caner this is several years ago when the project was just being discussed as the whole entire project I said that's going to be a challenge just based on where we are who we are as a community that was going to be a challenge I think there's several misinterpretations I I know some because I've had conversations with residents and friends and family members about the concept most people when they think of the word tunnel they think you're driving down caner highway and everything is exactly the same same grade same elevation and you're going to go underneath it and it will have no real effect whats ever on the traveling public car truck boat trailer doesn't make a difference but what really we're talking about is building a hill the tunnel is nearly at grade or 50/50 if you will and I'm not an structural engineer but I've seen G uh cart tunnels they have one at Martin Downs Country Club the road if you come in the entrance of Martin Downs my parents live in the front there you come up over a big incline and then you come over the other side because basically the carts are going underneath almost at grade in Florida you can't dig down like you said if you emptied your swimming pool it would pop out of the ground so the concept of a tunnel was there but when I asked questions like commissioner heatherington was of the applicant and their and their Consultants the tunnel idea for me Rec goes off the off the possibilities because Mr Cady mentioned it briefly in his presentation you would have to build a bypass road so now if you're the traveling public you're going to drive towards this site you're going to make sort of a turn you know what bypass and you're going to leave the straight shot of caner in now whatever Direction you're going to have to like bypass so all of the Landscaping some people care about the Landscaping some people don't all of that would have to go away I'm just talking about traveling Logistics you know convenience of the traveling public especially if you're driving an 18wheeler or you're pulling a big boat on a trailer um or a school bus you're going to have to make this big sort of curve and come around and come back around to get back to the road that's during the construction then once the tunnel if it were to be left a tunnel you're now driving on a relatively flat level Road you're going to start to come up an incline I don't know how far out from the actual tunnel maybe half a mile and now you're coming and now you're 18 wheelers coming higher and higher and higher so now instead of being at what was normal grade of caner you're up 6 ft above the road now you're really up there and then you're coming down the other side to me on a on a day in day out basis that's more of a noticeable change to the road way landscape there so that to me Knocks The Vision in my mind of a tunnel so my next question to the to the consultants for the applicant was why anything at all why not just have an entrance and you know cross caner highway it's not US1 it's not 95 at the turnpike I mean it's it's a busy road but I if I'm in a car and I'm at the property and I want to go on to the other side of the property across caner I don't understand why can't just drive across and I asked the applicant Consultants that and they said fot doesn't allow it and I get the concept you don't want to have you know maybe it's easy for most of us to sort of get across but if someone doesn't do it properly you're not going to have a traffic light you're not going to have U stop signs you're not going to stop traffic so the easiest of options and the least expensive option for the applicant would have been just across directly across um so now we're back to the overpass the bridge now to commissioner hetherington's Point there's a lot of different ways you could go that route in my mind it was the opposite instead of making it more ornate or more noticeable or more architecturally pleasing I would do the opposite I would make it less noticeable I would make it where you're just passing over it's a it's a utility type uh Road way for the property owner to go from look it's not like he's got 50 acres on one side of the road and he's going to his other 50 it's 1,217 Acres you're going from approximately 700 acres to your other 700 Acres or give or take there's a color that Disney is famous for Disney green it's like disappearing green I would keep this thing as simple as possible and I would make it disappear I would just landscape and these guys already have shown slide after slide after slide of how they would how they have stuck consistently to their their Landscaping mindset not only do they have the wherewithal to completely plant a ton of brand new Landscaping they've gone out of their way to try to save Legacy Landscaping as Mr Kady called Champion pine trees and Champion Oaks and all the rest of it I've had the opportunity to visit the site and they are very specific about we could have gone this direction but we would have had to take all these existing Legacy trees out we we went different so if you landscaped this up and yes for a while it'll be a conversation there was some misinformation there was only to be clearance of 12 ft I think if you're meeting the height requirements of the turnpike at 95 that basically covers all bases boats uh construction U tractor trailers 18-wheelers everybody it's that's not going to be an issue um I would make it uh where you'd have to come from one side to the other it would be like you said very little inconvenience for the traveling public during the construction phase very little inconvenience for the traveling public during its life you're giving it the ability to widen even though I can't imagine F do will widen caner highway to towards Indian town for decades uh we sit on the no and we discuss like the 2050 plan and I haven't heard anything about this until we discuss this so in my opinion I would make the span and make it uh disappear and make it as uh you know you're not looking for a Bridges of Madison County here we're not looking for the quote unquote rural lifestyle bridge that would be a cupboard Bridge I'd make it a utilitarian thing where people that were driving back and forth from Indian town or heading west into Martin County they wouldn't barely remember that this was something that they went under uh the concept like the expert was saying about a tunnel with lighting and ventilation and fire suppression that's way more than it's necessary and the last thing I would say is that less than a quarter mile up the road is when you were at 96 Street and you're heading towards this location there is a industrial park that's been built that um is pretty close to the road so it's not like you're out in the middle of nowhere anymore my final point is why would we even give the applicant this opportunity because they're utilizing 1,217 acres for golf course in open space 95 % open space and even if you took the golf course out of that equation you know 85% rural natural open space protected forever yet still remaining on the tax roles no houses they're going to do this we're passing we're looking at um hopefully passing a uh an opportunity for Martin County to have money to to acquire additional lands we didn't have to acquire these 1,200 acres and as a matter of fact they'll continue to pay us for a long long time so um I'm not opposed to giving an applicant something that they've requested to make their uh business opportunity more efficient for them I don't see it I think there's always concern for something new but I don't see this as uh elevating to the point where it would be a catastrophe in the least thank you sir okay my comment is that uh I was a little taken by back because I didn't know about it until the last minute um I did meet with the applicant understand the logic uh 1,750 ft on either side of the proposed tunnel uh that's 3,500 ft on both sides of the road that's 7,000 ft of natural um mostly native Champion tree 60ft Tall Pine trees um really not excited about disturbing that you want to talk about changing the the uh the view or the rule whatever of of uh what we're all used to caner Highway being um that would do it um I agree with commissioner campy um I actually did that back uh that Disney back of the house tour and they talked about that green and it is actually pretty amazing that once you paint something uh that particular shade of green your just goes away um so I'm not going to dictate what color you paint your bridge but uh commissioner heathington yeah I I just want to take a little walk down memory lane here that we actually had an someone here this morning and they did a very nice job of uh we presenting that they had had started this with a PUD and they did exactly what they promised on Bridge Road and that was Discovery that's how this whole rural lifestyle started is that Discovery in in Bridge Road wanted to have a rural type development and I pleaded with them to come in and come in as a oneoff compl amendment project as it went on the the idea and the concept of rural lifestyle and I feel like Mr Jenkins you might feel differently if this bridge was going across Bridge Road where you went up and down and I feel like a lot of constituents might feel differently if they had to drive under to Hope Sound this bridge every single day and commissioner campy said okay well it's not really a big deal people from from Western Martin County and Indian Town they're going to get used to it I beg to differ we started this process with lifestyle I advocated against doing it saying just bring your project off a bridge Road forward bring that project and we will vote on it but that was transmitted rural lifestyle was transmitted by commissioner campy commissioner Jenkins and commissioner Smith I voted no on Rural lifestyle actually you voted to transmit rural lifestyle to send that to the state and then that came back from the state and after many many Chang in the original rural lifestyle it included everywhere in Martin County you could build a rural lifestyle project on the lake okachobee boundary according to the original rural lifestyle that's why I didn't support it because I didn't like the concept of it but I did however like the concept of Atlantic fields and uh just now just or Discovery Atlantic fields and I have a feeling that if that they had proposed building a Bridge or a overpass across Bridge Road that there would have been absolute absolute Mayhem from the residents of hopes down and they would have never gotten anywhere so fast forward we come back and you they did a great job of changing it the community worked on Rural lifestyle very hard including this applicant and commissioner Jenkins you were a staun supporter of that you you fought for that and I was an absolute no on roal lifestyle have Discovery I want to see that project build on Bridge Road send them back come back and have them put a project in on their own you sat up here on this dis and you argued on behalf of your residents in hopes sound and you advocated that this was the right thing for them this was I had no plan on supporting it you were so passionate about your comments on behalf of your residents in Hope Sound that that was the right thing for them that I thought if he's that passionate about his residents then I'm going to support this because what the assurances were in rural lifestyle is that we would have several opportunities to review things like this we would have to approve the land use we would have to then approve um a PUD that would get transmitted and it would get sent back and we had re we had assurances and this was part of the process that we got to discuss puds when they come before us and you changed my mind on the fact that you were advocating for your residents in hopes sound and right now I don't feel like you're advocating for residents I drove up and down this Rural Road every day to school you know what if there are residents in Bridge Road that advocated for that original project they they are not here now and they you completely had my based on advocating for your residents I supported that and this is not advocating for our residents I like the project they should build the original tunnel I don't care if it if it inconveniences drivers we they never presented the fact that they was going to inconvenience drivers for 18 months when they presented this project originally I mean please think of what you're doing this is this is forever okay thanks for dragging me through the mud in my uh second to my last meeting anyway uh commissioner campy oh with all due respect absolutely not that wasn't respectful at all go ahead okay I think we're getting a little off track here um the concept we can go down memory lane with the yes I vote voted to transmit the rural lifestyle amendment to allow our state agencies and other agencies to take a look at it and then when it came back I was never a fan of the rural lifestyle because like you just said I believe I voted no on the rural lifestyle Sir with your hand gestures appreciate it the history the the record is very clear the concept of the individual projects is what I voted on I talked about the three PS I need to know the place I need to know the project I need to know the people what commissioner heatherington with all due respect to you I will grant you that is vote on whether or not you think that the applicant should be allowed to build a bridge across caner don't start going into the whole history of rural lifestyle and whatever your opinion is your opinion to start you know disparaging commissioner J that's how he and I see it um that is not necessary just the decision at hand is do you believe that there should be a bridge over caner Highway at this location which is the applicant is asking for the concept that you're willing to say that the tunnel is a great strategy but the bridge is not when the applicant and our staff is saying that the the catastrophic effect to destroying and and and eliminating all of this existing Landscaping is is not a really the right strategy in my opinion what we have up here is five Commissioners that bring a unique perspective and life experience to make decisions one at a time that's why the agenda items are not all bundled together if you disagree that this bridge shouldn't be built you can make your comments and vote n but to run the rest of us through for some reason um I I don't see it I try very carefully even with my colleague commissioner herd I always try to understand her perspective I might disagree with it but I'm always trying to be as respectful of her opinion even if it disagrees with mine you and I have not had the occasion to have that happen as much but that being said the five of us will make a determination and if three say yes it's a yes to somehow brow beat us into agreeing with you is is not necessarily the way to go staff has made their opinion the applicant comes forward this is what they're talking about we can get into the small details but at at one point it needs to be are we doing this or not and to to move that process along I will accept I'll make a motion to accept staff's application uh to allow this to move forward so that we don't have to get up here and beat each other up to too much more okay commissioner herd yeah I'm not going to support the motion um this is classic urban sprawl it's inconsistent and incompatible with all the adjacent agricultural uses a helipad is not uh compatible in this area a dormatory for 70 employees is not there are 48 Cottages so far proposed with 262 bedrooms which leaves an average of 6,000 770 ft each for a cottage that doesn't even count toward densities um there's a 19,000 ft Spa a 30,000 sq ft Clubhouse another 33,000 ft Clubhouse a bridge instead of a tunnel these these uses are too incompatible with all the the uh uh adjacent land uses okay any other questions any other public comment we didn't take any public comment yet you didn't take any public comment yet I'm doing it now yeah Mr B put anything about the Green motion and I found your other things and I apologize it was underneath all my papers you don't need to apologize I I know it was well intended so uh Geraldine jenko debay um I'm speaking on behalf of the loaly uh steering committee we had an opportunity to meet um sometime back with the developer of this project and I don't know what is steering um this 32t wide bridge at this time um but it appears to me there would be a huge expense connected with building a bridge of that size and by having that kind of an expense maybe there's other things that have to happen with the development to have to compensate for that cost um and I'm saying all of this because originally when we met with a developer we were under the impression that the tunnel or whatever it was to accommodate was for the purpose of pedestrians and golf carts um this bridge is apparently also for vehic transportation and that's a huge difference and um I don't know that the lock saloi would have been um favorable at the time if we had known that there would be a change from a golf cart pedestrian tunnel to now a vehicle bridge and that's what I have to say thank you okay with that any other public comment seeing none we have a motion by commissioner campy seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor I all oppose opposed motion carries 3-2 commissioner herd and heatherington dissenting okay and we are going to take a 10-minute break be back in 10 minutes please 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 e e all right welcome back both sides we are going back to public hearing number 14 apparently we have some options take it away Miss love lady your first day good afternoon Samantha love lady with the Martin County growth management department and this is Amy Eastman the coastal engineer and we do have um three options for you regarding the Lux haty River we do have policy 13.1 D2 that is already in the plan and it states that criteria for water quality the county shall limit limit and increase in volume and degradation of water quality the county shall work with the south Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental protection to implement appropriate criteria in compliance with total maximum daily load NPD es and all other adopted state water quality requirements so that's already in the plan um or we can add policy 13.1 D5 which is a reduction of discharges in order to Aid in the restoration of Martin County's major waterways the county shall coordinate with the appropriate Regulatory Agencies to develop programs and policies to address sediment and nutrient loads and freshwater discharges so can you hold a minute sure I'm just to make a recommendation that we add policy 13.1 D5 do you want to hear the third option before we do you want to hear the third option okay okay so um scrolling down all the way at the end so we do have a sub element in here for the St Lucy River it starts and it's the same sub element that she was quoting but it was specifically for the St Lucy River whereas with that River Estuary we want to reduce fresh water whereas the locks we want to increase fresh water so there's two different ways of looking at this um the the one that you were mentioning to go ahead and and approve you know is is similar to what we typically do for water quality anyways is we don't want to see any degreg we want to see pre versus post it it's already in there for all waterways within Martin County this would give another option just to address lockah hatchee River and then later if we need to add more goals in Amendment we could do this so this is the third option so this is the third option is adding a subelement for the lockah hatchee river with a goal objective and a policy you might want to scroll because the policy would be yeah so it's taken that same policy but switching it more towards the lockah hatchee river versus what the St Lucy is but it's the same sort of wordage that um was mention that the other policy was mention I kind of like this sure me too well because it's specifically calls out the lock lock hatche River and then we could later um as you know you have a a capital Improvement um about to occur with the storm water master plan it's something that was we're developing the storm water master plan we could take a a closer look at the locks and add its own subelement and then be specific to the locks so we can go ahead and do that cool motion move to add goal 13.1 and policy 13.1 a second and you want that at as a sub element correct yes please all right Mr Smith Fri on the side and just for the sake of causing just a little bit more Havoc um huh yes Indian River Lagoon we've got a sub element we've got the Indian River Lagoon is within the St Lucy Estuary element there's a lot of references to the Lagoon and and things that need to happen with the I'm just we're calling out specific things and whether it's bined or not but I I I wouldn't do it at this point I I wouldn't because the portions of the locks that are in Martin County are just the Northwest fork and the North Fork so it's not like we have the whole entire river that goes out we just have those two specific I appreciate it I just calling out specific water bodies and yes in River Lagoon should okay you I'm done okay we have a motion by commissioner herd by commissioner campy all in favor oh we have any public comment on this seeing none all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously thank you now that we need a motion for the actual thing right we left it out transmit them all you just added that or did you make it for the whole thing we added it for the whole thing we added it for chapter 13 yeah but that's not what you said okay so do you need a motion to transmit all of them oh I see what you're saying yeah oh didn't no no I just added language one second I don't think I got it we didn't vote for it not for the whole thing right make a motion no I just meant commissioner herd's motion was to add this language into the chapter but we did not vote on the chapter that's what I thought yeah I so I'll make a motion to accept public hearing number 14 as staff's recommended with the initial language that commissioner herd had previously motioned for you understand okay you want the subelement 13.6 yes okay we have a motion by commissioner campy second have a second by commissioner herd oh wait a minute I'm sorry no that's coming next oh uh all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously thank thank you thank you we don't need any further motions on the your amendments we're good okay yeah I was just meaning transmit the chapter so do you have anything to say apparently not question commissioner no oh so are you 100% clear on that yes Elise Elder Deputy County attorney we voted for each individual um chapter to transmit it so we're going to transmit it as one package but you voted to transmit each one seem to remember in the past but that's okay I must be wrong no all righty Mr chair before we move on I think it's important that we acknowledge the work of our growth management staff our legal staff the other departments that participated Treasure Coast Regional planning Council as everyone knows trans you know the year and years past was Monumental this year A lot of it was handled in-house by our staff with a little assistance from the Treasure Coast Regional planning Council and it was remarkable work so I thank you very much thank you okay where's John Senate he's coming I don't know where um okay Department quasi judicial number two uh request approval for the First Amendment to the ranch plan unit development zoning agreement S2 2 39- 005 including a rised Master site plan and revised phasing plan and Mr Senate is going to handle this for us and would everybody rise and be um sworn in that's plan Raise Your Right hands do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth turn in all the appropriate paperwork to the appropriate uh yes I'm turning a copy of my work history and the agenda item be filed as one okay is there any interveners no interveners for this type of hearing do we have any exper Mr Smith I do and all have been filed I do and they've been filed I do and they've been filed I think know they've been filed I don't know if I'm going I don't and they've been filed I don't and they've been filed and that's it yes that's it for now take it away I'm John Senate senior planner with growth management there's a request by Urban Design Studio and Tyson waters on behalf of jwa ranch for approval of the First Amendment to the ranch PUD zoning agreement including a revised Master site plan and revised phasing plan the proposed amendment includes minor changes to the site configuration a provision clarifying treat protection standards outside of designated preserve areas and a provision regulating lake depth the ranch PUD consists of approximately 3,902 acres to be developed consistent with the rural lifestyle future land use included as a request for deferral public facilities reservation the ranch PUD is located in central Martin County near the intersection of Southwest caner Highway and Southwest Bridge Road the site includes approximately 3,460 Acres on the south side of caner highway and approximately 442 Acres on the north side of caner Highway adjacent to the St Lucy Canal the ranch PUD zoning agreement was approved in April of this year the site is located adjacent to the Three Lakes PUD and it's also located adjacent to land having the a28 zoning and the A2 agricultural zoning the ranch PUD will be developed consistent with the underlying rural lifestyle future land use designation the proposed First Amendment to the ranch PUD modifies exhibit F special conditions to clarify tree protection standards outside of designated preserve areas and to add a provision which would allow excavation of lakes to a depth of 40 ft in accordance with the requirements of article 4 division 8 Martin County Land Development regulations the revised Master site plan and revised phasing plan included with this application reflect changes in the size and of the Lakes reflect infrastructure adjustments modifications to the phasing boundaries with this application there are no changes to the access points along Southwest caner Highway or Bridge Road there's no proposed increase in number of residential units and there's no reduction in the total Wetland or Upland preserve area the revised Master site plan still provides approximately 3,536 Acres of open space or 91% of the site area this is an example sheet from the proposed revised Master site plan it continues to reflect the uses which were approved as part of the original PUD agreement including Bonafide agriculture 175 single family lots two 18 Ho Golf Courses short course range house and Training Center golf practice facilities Clubhouse golf Cottages recreational and accessory uses residential multi-slip docking facility maintenance facility ities and supporting infrastructure this is an example sheet from the revised phasing plan just reflecting the modifications to the phase boundaries pursuing to article 10 table 10.5 F9 Martin County Land Development regulations review of this application is not required by the local planning agency development review staff have found the jwa ranch application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report staff recommendation is to move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments including the staff report as exhibit one and move that the board approve the First Amendment to the ranch PUD zoning agreement including the revised Master site plan and revised phasing plan I'm here for any questions any questions for staff commissioner HT yeah article four division 8 which is excavation and filling and Mining limits the depth of mining to 20 ft and yet this proposes to excavate to a depth of 40 ft why the change we get that sure uh there's been recent revisions to article four regarding uh lake depth and uh it's been approved now to go to 40 ft as long as the geotechnical work is approved is it approved countywide or is it approved on a case-by Case basis it's approved on a case-by casee basis uh it's approved for mines and through a PUD you can do it for a a s site development where no fill leaves the site and what's been done what kind of data and Analysis has been done to in order to um allow us to make an exception in this case that will be done through the final site plan approval process which is just been submitted so Public Works will determine compliance so you're making a recommendation for approval before the data and Analysis is presented to us we're asking for approval to allow it if it meets the criteria designated by Article 4 okay thank you any other questions for staff Mr Waters excuse me good afternoon Tyson waters on behalf of the applicant and the ranch PUD U we are moving forward with our first uh our final site plan for phase one and as is often the case as you move forward with the detailed final site plan you start knowing some cleanup that's necessary for the master site plan to become compatible with the final site plan so that's this amendment in front of you today is to try and clean those up we're adjusting some phasing lines reconfiguring and consolidating some lakes and relocating some infrastructure and improvements a little bit again so that we mirror the final site plan which hopefully will be in front of you in the next few weeks um and with that we're not changing intensity we're not changing density we're not changing uses we're not changing the wetlands or up and preserve areas and I think staff gave a very good overview presentation and we support and um agree with staff's recommendation and would ask for your approval as well and we're here for any questions that you may have Mr campy I hadn't even had the light on I'm just quick quite uh a couple of things one I agree with what Mr water said by the way took 50 years for you to get here happy birthday to you sir 50th birthday um shouldn't go notice that you worked on your birthday good for you uh that being said I I thought as staff was going through the presentation that it makes logical sense that as you know you can't submit a Grand Vision on day one and expect it to be exactly the same you know months and months or years later uh it makes logical sense that as you as the project progresses there would be some incremental changes necessary so barring public comment I would make a motion to accept staff's recomend recommendation and continue my support for this project I think this is a remarkable opportunity for Martin County as a whole to have this level of project this size of project this caliber of project in Martin County I'm happy to have it commissioner hington I I thought you would reiterate um some of your public benefits if I remember would the applicant talk about the public benefits um Tom mcnicholas for the record uh speaking on behalf of jwa ranch um we are moving forward with the public benefits I'm I'm I may miss a few of them because we we have several we've already been planning meetings with South Fork High School to do the golf site uh golf course for them to redo that they have drainage issues we're working through that with the school district now we started on Banner Lake um as of yesterday so yesterday Banner ban Lake is underway and then IUS as well is moving to the site we've donated uh 20 plus acres to them and that will be happening over the next uh phases in process over the next year or so so ifis University of Florida will be moving to the site with Bonafide a on the site and 91% open space um other public benefits included 25 million in adval Orum a year uh you know I don't want to leave that one off the table it's quite significant but those are some of the the biggest public benefits some of them that are not in the Pud U Mr B also donated about 120 shes to Hidden Oaks Middle School ball fields those were in installed about 5 months ago uh all of them have survived and Hidden Oaks Ballfield has been better for it as so those those are all moving on and going well you got a public comment okay any other questions for the applicant that's not for this do we have any uh public comment on this item second commissioner HT yeah I'm not going to be supporting the motion this project is wholly inside the Indian River Lagoon South Ser natural lands component footprint it's extremely important for the health of our Rivers um it's incompatible it's inconsistent with all the surrounding agricultural uses and it is classic urban sprawl okay with that we have a motion by commissioner campy seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor I all opposed opposed motion carries 4 to one with commissioner herd dissenting thank you Commissioners thank you moving on to department number one Office of Management budget items which require board approval apparently there's three and Miss Stephanie merley will be leading the charge good afternoon commissioner Stephanie merley here to present just three items on om today um our first item is a permission to accept the Emergency Management performance or empg Grant um our Emergency Management division is requesting the acceptance of $6 67,2 se4 um to enhance planning projects provide for technology equipment and supplies and programs to meet mandates and also for um funding for training and planning to enhance Emergency Management this is a grant that we get annually and there is no match required a second item is item is a provision to accept the Florida Department of Law Enforcement FDLE drone replacement program um our fire rescue department is requesting the acceptance of a grant Award of $25,000 to cover the replacement cost of a drone um previously purchased that needs to meet the minimum security standards for um based on the Florida administrative code and there is is no match required for this grant either expens and my last item is a permission to accept the Florida Department of State Division of library and Information Services annual state aid to libraries Grant this is an annual Grant we receive um the library department is requesting the acceptance of $ 76,2 70 um for managing and coordinating Free Library services to Martin County residents um the funds will be used to upgrade idea lab equipment supplement funds for temporary staff and to continue funding a full-time Library specialist position there is no match required for this Grant and that is it okay commissioner Smith recommendation second okay we have motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all oppos motion carries unanimously General Services Department three depart uh permission to construct to use construction management atrisk delivery method for the Larry massing building future expansion Mr sha Donahue thank you Shan Donahue General Services director yeah this is a request to use a semar the CM at risk method for this project it's a perfect opportunity for the project uh since it has uh you know it's an existing building we we'll be working in and around staff we'll try to keep the building we will keep the building open the entire time the contractor can help us coordinate the logistics the phasing and everything with this project so it's ideal for for this type of delivery method and this will be our first foray into into the project or into this this method of construction commissioner heatherington yes but I was going to say that we've been talking so long about using this construction management at risk and I'm I'm happy to see it and this is a very important building named after a a very important um iconic figure in Martin County so I'll be happy to make a motion for this item and I would happy to second that okay we have a motion by commissioner heatherington seconded by commissioner campy all in favor I I I'll oppos motion carries unanimously thank you Public Works permission to use construction management at risk delivery method for the sand dun Cafe building project Mr Zama yes good afternoon George Zama Public Works deputy director uh semar is the theme today this afternoon uh we are also uh Public Works is working with the parks department um uh we we often team up on the major Capital Improvement projects and uh Parks was currently working on the design of the sandun cafe and due to the complexity of the project and this new delivery method it makes sense to proceed with the construction management at risk um just a little bit of a background the the sandun cafe what's being proposed is um a 3,000 ft² commercial kitchen and dining building and uh along with access improvements and Associated site work uh everyone's pretty familiar with the Seaside Cafe um this building would be upwards of 10 ft above the parking lot elevation so there is some some access improvements it's it's right adjacent to the ocean there's Coastal Construction line permitting and and um the foundation can get pretty robust so I think bringing in a a a SE a a contractor at this point in time can help value engineer the project and help steer Us in the in the right direction so with that uh staff is pursuant the section 17.5 of the Martin County Purchasing manual we are also uh seeking requesting to uh uh the board's permission to use the construction management at risk delivery method for this project as well as adopt a revised CIP sheet to reflect um funding for the project commissioner her yeah I think this is a terrific project it's it's one of our finest assets on the beach uh it's one of our most beloved assets on the beach and it like so many of our contracts we didn't we didn't supervise the contract very well and it's was a facility that's was run into the ground so I'm delighted that we are going to once again refresh this terrific location I'll take that as a motion so moved okay we have a motion by commissioner Herz seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor I I all opposed motion carries unanimously thank you now star of the show department number five water quality conditions and project updates Mr John Mayo where is he I thought thought everybody was hanging around to watch my presentation we've been here all day waiting for you no left I'm opening up a folder that um is it this one Donna yep I'm going to get this started because it take just a second to load so thank you for the opportunity to give you an update on uh water quality efforts and projects that are upcoming and some of our accomplishments at Martin County again my name is John Ma I the environmental resource administrator um have the pleasure of working with an incredible team and representing them today in all the great work that they do so normally I would spend some time contextualizing our problems um I can probably abbreviate that somewhat today um but basically when human beings decide to live in Paradise could you open the whole thing before commissioner campy has a stroke there we go for people that watch at home when you have it smaller it's hard to see what you're doing Donna took care of that Donna thank you Donna I wouldn't have known how to do it um so typically when uh people decide they want to live in Paradise um it can be a challenge to not deplete that paradise that you live in so to summarize it in a really obtuse way um humans move in they need roofs they need Transportation they eat so they need food and they need to deal with the waste from that all of those things are opportunities to either deplete eat Paradise or to balance our um enjoyment of it with um smart and efficient ways of managing that one of our major concerns um in every in every region where you you have people living on the landscape you've got to have um responsible management um to to make sure that you keep that in Balance we have the unique Misfortune of having to not only deal with our own but to have to deal with uh Lake discharges that come from other basins so that problem is a um a problem we commonly talk about um I want to feature some a new tool that we have to help us um with this issue and Donna if you could help me get to the video part of this I'm asking for um technological challenges here I think it's going to work so what you're looking at um is a a a graphic illustration of the out put of a model that we worked with one of our partners to create um what this does is it takes the salinity um measuring from 27 different salinity meters throughout the River Estuary and the Nearshore reef and it created a model so that we could turn on and off certain freshwater inflows we could set those at different levels we could run this thing and it would tell us the inundation of of fresh water into the St Lucy River Estuary Lagoon and even on uh the Nearshore Reef I I'll just run it this is um from this is an actual discharge event from Lake okachobee in March of this year this is a two-e period and what you see is the yellow is the fresh waterer coming from the South Fork or from the the St Lucy Canal the blue is ocean water and everything in between is some gradient of salinity um you can see where the as the uh this is about a 00 cubic foot per second Lake discharge with no local Basin runoff so it's a great example of um of how the lake in and of itself itself impacts um our ecology here so you can see how the the yellow kind of moves its way down um the actually no this is the wrong one I'm sorry this is actually showing the recovery there's there's another one in that folder Donna I apologize for the awkwardness of this I tried to do something cool and that was probably outside my wheelhouse here it is so this is the the discharge event um so really are it really demonstrates graphically how the the salinity from the freshwater moves through the river and Estuary and and how even with tide cycles that you kind of see that surging from the the inlet it doesn't really do much to exchange that water up into the St Lucy River you get some exchange right in the inlet and then and and going North in the lagoon um but it doesn't do much to uh to exchange down uh up into the the Middle estere where we have salinity issues um I don't have to keep running that let me switch back to this and I'm going to go full screen am I doing this right Donna oh man that's smart so we monitor the salinity because it's a great proxy it's easy to measure it mixes very well with the water and you get a really consistent result but salinity is not the only thing we're concerned about it's something we're concerned about because it impacts um it creates harmful and and and um Mortal situations for the oyster beds and for the seagrass and even the coral reef that are even probably the most sensitive to salinity changes but it's a good proxy for other things we're concerned about like nitrogen phosphorus turbidity and then this picture here this is from that event that we just showed the graphic uh modeling of um you can see the dark water from the St lcy River as it contrasts with the Indian River Lagoon water that's um you know much cleaner and then in the next photo you can see where the plume again this is just Lake water there's no Basin runoff um during this time period how how it blankets and chokes out the Nearshore of Florida Reef track um that's we are the proud um host of the northern Terminus of that um there's some obvious uh challenges with having turbidity in and of itself all of these ecosystems depend on photosynthesis or sunlight penetration through the water and this obviously it doesn't help that not to mention all the other pollutants that come with it so so that's that's the lake discharges who cares I don't have to probably preach to the choir about the value of water quality and preserving our delicate and Incredibly valuable e systems in Martin County but just as a reminder we have everything from Nearshore coral reef to Lake okachobee some some native Uplands um that are EXA excellent examples of the remnant domain um from South Florida's uh um sand Pines and Flatwoods we have um this the most biodiverse Estuary in America we have the lockah hatchee river commissioner Jenkins that is um a federally designated um scen wild and Scenic River it's got incredible ecological value economic value quality of life value and everything in between and I don't think there's a lot of places on Earth that can claim the the value that we have in our natural resources so um again I know I'm preaching to the choir but there may be some folks tuned in that are new to this so how has Martin County done its part in in addressing these um issues I'm proud to say that um that this board board and this County the citizens have um set a standard for world-class protection of their resources nobody is satisfied with where we're at but what we have accomplished is remarkable we've built 43 storm water treatment projects to date a storm water treatment area is when we go into a neighborhood that was built before our current drainage standards um and a lot of times they were built on a drainage so the drainage really isn't sufficient and doesn't do anything to help with water quality um and the county finds Grant dollars we design projects and build things to retrofit that drainage to improve the conveyance to store the water and to provide water quality treatment before it gets to our surface waters those projects have reduced over 70,000 lbs of nitrogen and 15,000 lbs of phosphorus and I'm proud to tell you today that um two weeks ago well and maybe just a little bit more than two weeks ago we sent in our annual report for the Basin management action plan to the D and we for the first time we're able to articulate that we've met 100% of our uh load allocation reductions for Martin County as a stakeholder does that mean we're done there's a few more slides here so the the the short of that is no um we've also spent over $150 million uh largely with state and federal grants at least 50% of that was from state and federal grants uh to complete these projects and to acquire conservation land we participated in the acquisition of over 70,000 Acres of conservation land largely in Western Martin County that provides uh not only does it provide Aqua fre charge it provides the Natural Area storage and treatment of rainfall and storm water it also keeps the problem from getting worse and forcing us to do other projects to to address those new concerns so what else have we done this board a few years directed staff to develop a integrated Pest Management plan which is a which is a really deliberate and intentional way for staff to develop ways to use herbicides and pesticides in the most responsible way possible to meet the objectives of our level of service but also to reduce the amount of um pollutants to the water to to as little as possible and to use the most responsible chemicals we have a fertilizer ordinance that's been longstanding and and well known we've trained uh in in partnership with UF of thousands of local citizens in what our water issues are and how they can be part of the solution as homeowners and as uh people who live on the landscape um my number there on septic to seers is is not quite right it kind of split the difference there's 6,000 uh septic to sewer conversions that have been made available with infrastructure thanks to the board's commitment to that program and and I'm told to as of today about 3,000 connections have been made to that the the remaining 4,000 uh units that were identified in the connect to protect plan are in some stage of design uh permitting funding and construction um we're well on our way to achieving that uh really honorable object uh objective this board has taken a very active role and advocacy at the state and federal table and making sure that our interests were protected making sure that Regional projects that will help solve these problems are funded that they're passed in word of bills uh this board has been at the table for State policy to to make sure that policies that could be harmful to the objectives of of cleaning our water were were avoided and policies that were needed were enacted and this board gave us incredible support um for your staff in the loome process which um as you all know August 12th we um were pleased to have a record of decision filed with the corv engineers and we Now operate under the lome schedule that um I think the easiest way to celebrate that is we most certainly if you ask anybody involved including the colonel or or the executive director Water Management District had we been operating Under LS in the traditional sense we most certainly would have had another law summer in 2024 and nobody's talking about it because it didn't happen I think sometimes success is is silent so if I could preach for uh just a second on that we um we really do have something to celebrate in loome it will substantially reduce discharges when we get on calls now uh with the core of engineers on a weekly basis to talk about current conditions and make recommendations they don't even have the option to consider sending water to the St Lucy River unless it gets to 17 feet or more depending on the time of year huge huge success without spending a dollar on infrastructure so what else is your staff working on something here's a list of projects that are either in some stage of construction design um or permitting the first one that you're probably going to see some actual construction work on is East Fork Creek Phase 2 this project is one we've been working on since I've been at the county it was East Fort Creek phase one some of the challenges that this project had forced it to kind of become East Fork Phase 2 we did another part of this thing first we finished last year this one's now ready to go we've got a Construction contract awarded we're working out some of the final details um and that should be under construction hopefully next month it involves about a 700t linear Lake right it's in an Old Dot right away that um that they gave to us to build this project it's between Mariner Sands and Heritage Ridge and then there's a shallow man-made Wetland that will further polish the water um before it goes through Manor Sands and then into the manate pocket um again that project starts here very shortly uh the next project you'll actually see some construction on probably this dry season is the manate pocket you guys are probably familiar with this project because you um approved about a dozen different board items on some really complicated land deals that we had to to to get through to get this one done um the land was at no cost to the county uh and the project has substantial grant funding in it and and this project is going to involve a small pond with a uh a larger Wetland restoration on on the tail water it's going to look great it um it's maximizing a very small area to provide some water quality treatment right at the tail water of the of this Creek that emps into manate pocket another project we're working on in design phase um this is kind of an exciting one where it's a good example of how the hole is greater than the sum of its parts we have a an existing storm water treatment area just north of the fire station on caner by Indian Street and adjacent to it is a dry detention cell that was built as part of the Indian Street Bridge Project that that dry detention cell um is is is underutilized in its current form we are designing a project where we would combine those two we would connect them together and we' do some excavation in the dryed detention make that a wet cell and and we'd make some improvements to the existing storm water treatment area to increase the capacity there and the uh nutrient reduction benefits and another exciting aspect of this project that um we're eager to see um is this will be our first channel enhancement project so the the half a mile of ditch that is immediately Upstream of coral Gardens is going to be the first project where we Implement some Innovative Channel enhancement it'll it'll turn the ditch into more of a natural stream function and it should reduce maintenance it should increase um the uh nutrient reduction just in the conveyance system we don't have to acquire any land Falls within the footprint um it was one of the loow hanging fruits for that project or for that concept John yes sir just pause it for one second um for those of you who remember this project when it started um there was a March storm that we had where we got like 10 in in the morning and there was like 3T of water out on caner like instantaneously and what we discovered with that I think post that storm was that this whole system had not been maintained pre this pre even the first phase of this and I think I know that that led to a lot of this connection and other connections to it and it's just interesting to see now this is like the third iteration of making it better but this is a really cool project that today doesn't do what it did uh after we had that storm which was really something and I drove through it that day it was amazing like in 3 hours how much water there was in there that the one we had all the flower farm or the not the flower farm but we had the all the pots from the um landscape uh Nursery yeah they were all all strewn out um the other project too before this the Mariner Sands that one also had problems in the past and we've gone through several iterations there we had some homes flooded uh due to dot failing to maintain the ditch and um that was the first time I remember we had an excavator in the bottom of the ditch Dot attempted with a crew they had like 12 people out there trying to clear the ditch and uh we had one of our operators get in there and in about 30 minutes he did what they did in in a day um so uh we sent him packing and finish the job for him good times good times it was good times actually it was impressive again we we showed them how to get it done you and all your engineering friends around the room were all excited to thank you for that point commissioner Smith and and and actually that's a you know it reminds me that in all of these projects we have you multiple uh benefit purposes in them that we try to balance and our our primary inspiration is water quality but we always try to improve some conveyance provide some additional lay level of service and flood protection and then the aesthetic benefit these tend to be park-like features that um you know when people hear that someone's going to build a storm water treatment area in their neighborhood they don't tend to get excited but when they see them they're like oh that's what this is why didn't you tell us it was a park um so they all those things help to make it easier to build additional ones in fact I I I regularly get um contacts from realter asking where we're building the next ones I don't know why but they do um this is a really cool project that I think only Mike Houston would try to take on um Mike had identified that there was an old Cypress flood plane on a tributary to the to the North Fork of the lockah hatchee that had was transitioning it had dried out from channelization of the Cypress Creek and um had identified really that the Ser projects that would be um being built Upstream of that would probably attenuate flows and maybe exacerbate the uh the dehydrating of this this flood plane and so he's been working with tetr design a project um to restore this it it's going to involve probably a really long lwh head uh wear system um that that will stage some water um above ground during high flow events but also it'll stage the water table which um Cyprus um sometimes don't care so much if they get it from below the ground or above the ground and and and we hope to to to sustain you know really historic and beautiful Cypress flood plane through that um this project is an interesting one is very concept ual at this point um it it involves trying to address a large phosphorus loading that comes from hog Creek that's always been one of our largest phospherous contributors to the to the St Lucy River and the map Creek it flows through the northern part of this um that has some opportunities for us to to achieve some water quality benefits as well so we have been for a couple of years looking at is there a way for us to engineer a solution that meets both those needs or or what what are some innovative ways we could try to address jce there's um there's not a lot of Contour back back here so maintaining the level of service on flood protection um while doing some water quality projects it's an engineering challenge and so we're we're kind of slow walking this there's some exciting ideas that are being kicked around there's one that I'm I'm really looking forward to Bringing to you in the near future um that that that could be a couple million dollar project where we have very little of uh County money involved and and we achieve several really cool benefits um that I'm going to keep my powder dry on that one for a second uh Kitchen Creek uh Eastern flow ways one another one that's just really complicated we found a we discovered another um Cypress flood plane that was transitioning because it wasn't getting adequate water and at the same time we knew that another portion of this the central flow way had way too much water it was a very flashy system so we're trying to provide some relief to the central flow away while getting the water where it needs to go we've we've engineered kind of a project for that but we're looking for ways to maximize the benefits and seeing if there's other uh objectives we can achieve at the same time before we bring that one to full design um I'll add that we have 20 acres that we need to acquire to make that work that uh is a very complicated acquisition that we could use some outside help the county get it done in the next two weeks that's not going to get done I've been we've been working on this for four years so but anyway um just throwing it out there for our friends that help us acquire uh it environmentally valuable land for the county commissioner Smith and it's one of my favorite projects and it goes back to its beginning and I would it would be remiss at least if we're going to remind folks of how we got from A to B to C um this goes back to Theos um and the mulch plant that used to be on that property and what it took to get us from mulch plant to Kitchen Creek restoration um it just it was it was a Herculean effort and it just continues on today Harold but um but the project all these projects have their own their own story in their own life but um I think this John I don't know how many more slides you have do you know how many just a couple um I think you ought to start off every commission meeting with this presentation because it would explain a lot to Residents that come up and perhaps suggest that we don't do enough um I I I don't know of too many more counties that could pull off what you all pull off so at the beginning of the meeting at the beginning of the meeting like for public comment but anyway go ahead um thank you for that commissioner yeah the kitchen Creek before and after is pretty remarkable that that's a project the county should be very proud of and um hopefully we were able to to keep moving Downstream with that one and provide additional benefits I I've been here six years I don't think we've done an easy one yet um chair so um you know we're not surprised that it's hard and we're not dissuaded by it uh this was a really exciting one um this is uh largely in the monitoring stage now we decided a couple of years ago that um it was time to start developing the science of estuary restoration um you've heard the adage that a watched pot never or a watch pot never boils do I have that right um and you know if you sat there stare at it you can start to be convinced that it's never going to boil but if you have a thermometer in the pot and you can see that the temperature is rising you can see there's a trajectory that yeah actually this is probably going to boil we have the the uh privilege of watching things like Everglades restoration and being closely attuned to the project progress and all the things that are happening with at the state level and with FDX and local contributions to water quality we get to look at the thermometer and we see that we're going to get there um so so we're probably a little more hopeful than most that don't have the thermometer to watch and to that end um it's it's uh your er's conviction that we don't want to be figuring this out when we're done with the water quality effort we want to know how to do it and be running um and so we we were able to tap into several different Grant sources to do a whole uh managerie of different uh approaches to learning as much as we can from getting 15 Acres of seagrass planting for free through a grant from the D um that was kind of that's the blunt force planting approach and we'll just keep an eye on it and we'll see um which ones do better which areas do better we'll learn things about what the habitat requirements are from how those perform we did a um a a grant with FWC to um build an industrialized version of fos is back of house Nursery so that we would have the nursery stock when we get into full Estuary restoration mode um we wouldn't want to be looking around for that seagrass when we're ready to put it in the ground um and then uh we did a whole bunch of uh small experiments with an EPA Grant where uh a couple of them for example where we were removing linga from seagrass Meadows to see how those Meadows responded we were we've experimented with some different Technologies we've been out there removing it by hand um which isn't in a terribly efficient way but it gives us a benchmark to see how that seagrass responds one one of the things we've noticed as we spent more time looking at um our seagrass Meadows is that wherever we have them we have this uh filamentous bacteria that we call linga and you trying to understand the relationship that that has and how damaging it is and um so there's been a bunch of different experiments with that um we're and analyzing it in the lab trying to do some Source tracking of the nutrients that feed it um but one of the ones that's that's pretty exciting today if if this meeting were tomorrow I probably would have brought my microscope and hooked it up Donna would have really had a headache on this one and showed you some can I say clamp porn they we we worked with um we worked with the Florida Shellfish Company at fos and we collected some native clam species that live in the soil and we you know we're hearing and be beginning to believe that um where the real Estuary restoration science is is getting the soil habitat right and so we discovered um that there's a a clam that has this um symbiotic bacteria that helps to digest hydrogen sulfide which is a consequence of hypoxia where you where you have low Doo levels in the seagrass meows and uh we decided maybe it'd be a good idea to propagate these things Farm raise them and in ruce them with our our restoration efforts and um tomorrow we will be taking a group out to fos and and they'll be in real time showing us how that works so the the contractor out there has has got kind of refined the the propagation method and he's he's been successfully it sounds like in retro fertilization to me they they take some of the sperm some of the eggs from the males and females they mix together and they're they're growing new clams that will be available to us to throw out in the soil as an to um help get the habitat right for those seagrass Meadows that's a really nerdy thing but um it's I think it's pretty cool we also are um finalizing a um U Grant agreement that we've been awarded from EPA to expand our water quality monitoring program fivefold um the the board gives us $100,000 a year to work with and um we're we are going to ramp it up a little bit with an extra 500,000 from the EPA to to answer some questions that we've been challenged to answer and that nobody really else has answered um for us and so we're partnering with some universities and some NOS to to do some uh sediment sampling in our stas in the in the river and canals to do some additional Source tracking to understand better how the land use changes have happened over the years in in in the county and to give us more information about targeting new projects um so that we make the right decisions about where to spend future dollars on uh water quality improvement efforts and I saved this for last it is certainly not least um and it's something I think that um you know we're just not we're hearing enough about um and that's progress on Everglade restoration you've probably heard that you know we're spending more than we ever have projects are moving forward you've seen Drew barlet cutting ribbons and turning shovels um we have been significant beneficiaries of of progress in is um much more so than other areas I think it's largely attrib attributed to the board's active advocacy um and our our County's involvement in these issues to the extent that we've reached in our own Pockets to help make these things happen and to that end uh the Indian River Lagoon South component of ser which is a suite of projects that helps to address the regional water storage and treatment um that helps the St Lucy River and Indian River Lagoon are every one of those things is in some stage of construction um it all the infrastructure projects a couple of weeks ago um the Corp of Engineers awarded two noteworthy contracts um they were funded through the bipartisan infrastructure bill um from a year and a half ago two years ago um there was a billion dollars infused into Ser from fed from a federal funding source that was outside of their normal budget which right now is running $450 million a year that billion dollarss was allocated to to projects that they could move forward um I'm going to highlight two of those one of them is the sep EAA A2 Reservoir the EAA Reservoir as we know it um $3 billion was awarded on a contract to build the EAA Reservoir a couple of weeks ago it's the single largest contract that Jacksonville has ever awarded it's the largest contract in America for the the uh the core of engineers this year um and it builds the reservoir that's going to store lots of Lake water that will relieve discharges significantly for us another contract that's just as exciting if you ask me is uh they awarded the Construction contract for the c23 24 North Reservoir which is a a storage Reservoir in Western St Lucy County that will store 30,000 acre feet of water it will feed water to the c23 24 storm water treatment area that the core is finishing up uh next year it's been under construction for a couple of years and then if you remember last year the south Florida Water Management District in an effort to keep up with the feds and their spending and their cost share agreement took over construction of the c23 24 South Reservoir which is another 30,000 acre feet of storage um and that contract has been awarded for construction so every Reservoir including the c25 um and every sta in the IRL South uh Suite of projects is is in construction um it's going to take a couple of years but but they're in construction and they're not going to stop they've been funded um and we're going to we're going to realize the benefits from that um it's it's really a remarkable thing and and to think that the EA Reservoir is funded for construction is um is remarkable um and then some of you will remember that in the IRL South project implementation report and included a thing called natural lands that identified the potential for 990,000 Acres of Natural Area storage and treatment um two years ago in the worda bill uh Congress authorized A postauthorization Change Report that raised the cost limits because originally it was passed in 2007 things cost a little bit more now um that also codified the natural lands and the EST restoration elements of IRL South that project partnership agreement is in the final stages of being worked out between the district and the of Engineers it looks like the core of engineers will probably take the 8 million cubic yard muck removal project for the St Lucy River and and Estuary and uh the state will end up with the on the kosier agreement the the natural lands component it's timely should the voters approve our uh our conservation sales tax initiative we would be able to leverage um heavily that program and and provide um seed dollars that that I would expect we would have a significant um partnership with the state and because it also leverages those federal dollars and the cost share um and like I said the uh you know we talk about um Everglades restoration I think we sometimes get frustrated with the lack of progress it truly is an example where it we don't really realize the benefits until it's complete IRL South is a great example of that all of the projects we've been building um have been dealing with the the the issues the Watershed challenges once those are fixed then you can go into the Estuary and actually do the restoration and that's when we'll see the benefit it's like you don't serve a cake before you've got it frosted right it doesn't taste very good when you're just putting the ingredients together you serve the thing once it's frosted and and the uh the the 8 million cubic yards of muck removal is really the frosting on our cake and that's when you know if we stay the course um we we should be realizing those benefits sooner than later I think that's all I have commissioner Smith this isn't going to sound right but I'm going to say it CU it's really it's it's very positive 24 years ago when I started doing this there was a guy here named Gary and Paul or two guys here named Gary and Paul and they came to us and really created the vision for what you just saw um They carried it out for I I don't know six seven8 years or so whatever that was um but they were the seed workor for creating this amazing slew of projects that John just laid out but as good as they were John you have elevated this stuff to a whole another game and um you know we talk about our staff all the time and the amazing work they do um it is it is remark well what you and your team have pulled off and are continuing to do um don't ever leave that would be really terrible for us um keep doing what you're doing uh it is you know until the last maybe month or two with the rains we've had it was the best I think the Lagoon at least up in Jensen has looked in the 30 years I've been there um and I'm sure the rest of you have seen other parts of your neighborhood look really super too so I tell everybody now and and it is hard for people to see this stuff because some of the stuff is so far away or so hard to like put your your hands on you don't you can't see it but I'd say not only do we see the Horizon but we we we are really close to the Horizon of getting this stuff done and so great work John fantastic presentation keep doing it thank you sir come back and do it again soon in in all seriousness and do it in the morning so all the people that are in the chambers can hear it yeah true I kind of like to end on a happy note yeah but it would set the tone this morning we had 50 or 60 people in here who would have enjoyed this presentation and I can't believe you've only been been here for six years John you've done a remarkable job in six years and your predecessors were all really really special too so it's it's uh you have all Paul and and Deb all they were all huge shoes to fill and you did it I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you and Mike I really have this isn't a going away song for you okay you still have your no compete contract in place I do you I think he I think he's holding it all right someday when he lays it on my desk I know it's been enough well we have reached the end of our agenda I believe and we have one public comment form Mr Mr Joe Cosgrove there he is evening I don't even know if I'm in the right place you're about to find out I have a question maybe more than anything about safety I happen to be a a bicyclist I ride a lot the streets and sidewalks of the city and the county and it's been my experience in the last several years there seems to be more motorized vehicles on the sidewalks than there are human powered pedestrians and Bic uh bicycles as such um I almost got run over the other night by a motorized scooter in the middle of the night with no light on it and I had lights and stuff but like I don't know if I'm the right I've been to the sheriff I spoken to the Corporal in the Traffic Division apprised him in a situation I spoke to the officers on the street uh not the city but in the county offices and I know there's a lot more serious problems how I happen to be a Victor I've been run over on my bicycle before and I lived in Port St Lucy and um uh I don't want to get run over again if I can help it um the situation is getting to be biblical proportions uh I see at least 50% of the vehicles on the sidewalks are motorized uh we're like almost in a minority um and they're prohibited according the Florida statute and I was just hoping if there was some way somehow this could be brought to the law enforcement agencies through the commission uh maybe to try to you know if possible I know they have more important things to do however safety to me is a big thing too um especially when it's mine um so with that being said that's why I'm here one of the reason another reason is the uh there's been a lot of construction up and down Route One they've tore up the sidewalks I've putting conduit underneath and such and many places where they would put I call them manhole covers they're probably inspection covers they're more of a rectangular probably a vinyl top they dig a hole they stick in the ground I guess it's where they make connections or something but what happens when they leave that construction site the hole they put in it is usually bigger than the item they put in it so it leaves a gap all the way around it which a foot can go in a bicycle tire um back in the summertime there was a a major problem at the corner of Route One in Monteray which the city did have someone come out and repair that type of issue when that is like I I reported three or four of them that are in that situation I've been in contact with the city and a private contractor that's supposed to make these they're supposed to put asheva in there to fill in those gaps till they can put concrete but in the Heat and in the summer and such that ashfa it it it um what do you what what you call it it it it um to him melts sinks down you know it it goes down so you have a sir your time is up all right Mr campy's got you uh in regards to the motorized vehicles I completely agree with you um what's happening when they're in the road you know if you're driving a car and you look to your left and you see someone on a bicycle you as a seasoned experienced driver you sort of have an understanding of how long it would take that bike to get to you except if it's an electric bike and he's doing 20 25 miles hour but in terms of them riding on the sidewalk I'd like to um I'm sure five of us could tell the same story have maybe we can send a letter from the commission to to the Sheriff's Office reiterating that because this gentleman is exactly exactly right in Palm City on map road it is every single day kids and grown-ups they're riding standup scooters that are electric that are very fast they're riding like a little I saw a sheriff's deputy pull over someone on Martin Highway it was two teenage kids young teenage riding a go-kart in the road on Martin Highway and she had pulled him over because at first I'm like who's she pulling over I don't see anything and then as I got closer in front of her her vehicle was two kids in a go-kart like a little low Buzzy those things are super fast and right by the patio a couple of I guess three or four weeks ago I was talking to some people and I just stepped backward I could hear it because it had like a loud muffler on it but had I takeen an extra step back he would have absolutely run me over on the sidewalk so I completely agree with you sir and then in regards to the the rim around that that's our head of public works right there Mr Gordon he said a majority of that is the city of Stewart potentially so we'll know to do that on hours but you'll probably have to speak to somebody at the city of Stewart for some of those as well okay but in terms of your first comment we'll send a letter from the five of us to the sheriff to say you know you're not the only one so thank you for coming you did come to the right place thank you thank you okay Mr Gary Eller er er er call the ice cream man you're running out of you're running out of time to get that right he'll see on the we're good with that and I appreciate everything you've done sir Gary earler for the record Port Salo um sorry I didn't speak at 9:05 and I waited till the end um something that's come up in our NAC meeting was the design standards that are throughout all the C they're going through all the nac's and into the CRA um the one thing that I've noticed attending a couple NAC meetings um it's a 48 page report when they did the when they presented it to the NAC um a lot of the text was left out of it um I guess what examples I'm trying to make is page 14 18 26 30 39 43 and 46 and I probably missed one or two all list design standards from one to four stories it's one to three stories 40 foot Max I know as well as you do someone will challenge that it'll be a be a man buy land type deal and we're going to have four stories in our CR if it's not taken out of the text before you approve the design standards whenever it comes back so I ask you to please look at that it's also my understanding that the County's looking to remove the appeal process for the design standards normally you go before the NAC and then the CRA and then you guys say yeah you can go ahead and do that whether it's a bigger structure or anything exceeding 450 Square ft um you know you want to put a metal building you have whatever it is and they're going to take away that appeal process inside the CRA I hope that never goes away um I don't think anybody knows anything about that our lawyer well it it was mentioned that it was mentioned at portelos once once the design standards go in I didn't mean to Jes no I understand um it's public knowledge that this commission is in the favor of a of a train station just thought of this this morning as I was watching like I said I couldn't make 905 and made sure I came back um what what would started as an update on bright line became an RFP and now applying for Grants so my question to you as a commission is what is your cap is it still the 15 million minus the grants I mean if if if the County's on the hook by itself no matter where it is there's still a cost Factor so what is the cap and if there is please trans transmit that to the public since it went from an update to an RFP applying for Grants not on the agenda the public feels it's already blowing up social media I could tell you it's already blowing up you know County looking for bright line my three minutes is up I understand thank you oh by the way off the Record thank you all for what you've done to port for port s thank you thank you all right with that commissioner comments commissioner Smith I'm done um there is something for me I did not pull this because I pulled one already for my whole career um but uh on the consent agenda was the uh uh approval of the interlocal agreement uh with um Jupiter Island smru for the PO Water Project I've been working on for quite a while um in the Petway Community um I just wanted to publicly thank um um commissioner Fields Marshall Fields for helping me drag this field field yeah oh okay um I've been calling in that for quite a while oops anyway he helped me drag it across the um Finish Line and um and um John Schneider and the our legislators got us at least half of the money we were looking for and steuart Trent has been uh wonderful and we are going to begin that project on Kingsway uh a portion of that project on Kingsway which is the easiest part of it that should be done by um uh Christmas and uh I I I keep bringing this up it if you literally looked at the water that's coming out of the faucet in these people's homes um you'd understand my exuberance of this project to getting to the uh thing so we're actually going to try to make up the difference hopefully uh um uh of what we need by private private funds um and uh obviously we'll be applying encouraging the next commission to be applying for some additional grants so anyway and I'll be standing over there instead of over here so so anyway thank you I'm all set okay and I talked to um representative oberdorf this morning and he told me that there is a meeting tomorrow at the Port cero Civic Center starting at 10 o'clock and it's a BN it's going to be state and federal agencies doing uh T Disaster Recovery stuff so any any residents you know it's it's it's at the Civic Center because that was the area that was most impacted by the tornadoes so if you have some ongoing questions needs that would be a good place for you to go tomorrow at 10:00 yeah we'll have representatives of the county there um and the state will be there um the feds are invited we expect them to be there there but um uh Insurance um uh we'll be able to discuss with them how we're dealing with debris um and uh pick up and of course debris on private property is is is how we do we do have a plan for how to deal with that to those who need help and uh um so yes that'll be tomorrow uh at the Civic Center FEMA also has their Disaster Recovery Center at the fairgrounds which is also providing individual assistance but one of the things that we're interested in finding out as those who are falling through the cracks and haven't gotten any help yet so that's a big part of what that Outreach is for and and helping people with insurance and how they deal with insurance so Toby I know and and our Representatives Schneider as well will be having helping to get the uh insurance commissioner and their staff there to help people with um those tough questions good commissioner Camp to your point about debris on private property I had someone reach out to me from Palm City Farms that had a lot of debris on their property and I guess word is going around hopefully that we'll help some people there because otherwise they going to put it all out on the street and I told them not to do that no that's exactly what they need to do is no I'm talking mountains of stuff that's what should you do we cannot enter private property even with permission uh not not unless we declare it a uh health and safety emergency and that would be for structures that have collapsed so we do not um we don't go on to home undamaged homes and clear people's property the only problem is is these people are large land owners on Citrus Boulevard that's fine I mean that's that's what we do you know it's part of what happens uh if it's not in the RightWay um we will not get paid we will not get any federal funds if we don't if it's and that's why when you said the other part that just made me think of it no so it's a and Jim is here to clarify but it's a disaster debris Pi pickup as complicated in the fact that um the expectation is that you're working on public property uh which is the rideways um we do provide a normal service in our our pickup not everybody has a a a a pickup like ours but if you have a vacant lot that did not have a house on it that is not eligible if it's a home yes it is eligible so those are the some of the issues of if you want to um address them obviously if there's a big pile in the in the street that was next to a vacant lot um we'll deal with it um but the idea is is that we're serving uh Residential Properties not um vacant or uh uh you know um silver culture areas that just want to clear their property and put it at the street it's got to be for residences right uh Jim Gordon Public Works director so the um I think I've got that same uh resident 8251 Citrus um has yeah has a large amount of debris so we can't enter into it under the FEMA program however other agencies may be able to and we're trying to get a division of Forestry to meet with them because they might be able to do a right entry project where they might be able to help them out so that's ongoing right now is to see if they have the ability to move that material if they if any volunteer organization can bring that material out to us then we're allowed to pick it up under our FEMA program so and FEMA here uh I was just meeting with them for the last couple of hours and they're looking at everything that's happening right now and they're they're monitoring what's what's going on they're happy with where we're at right now um but they they definitely have some guard rails that we have to stay within and uh we we're familiar with what those are and uh you know we want to make sure we don't jeopardize our reimbursement because this is millions of dollars that yeah we're we're looking at excess of 3 million in debris pickup alone and if you um uh just just to give you magnitude of how small this event was that's uh we're we're currently at $3 to5 million of um of costs um and um and while everybody is here to help if you don't follow the rules that 3 million or 5 million could be on the backs of our taxpayers so that's that's why we we we very careful about how we do it we're being fast about it but but we're also very knowledgeable and know know what we're doing Mr Smith and Jim thank you for being here because now I just prompted the question so do we have a schedule as is it Waste Management doing it is it us doing it um because I haven't noticed like on su's point I haven't noticed any of that debris moving away yet um so it's it's a combination thereof so um tomorrow we have a um debris management contractor who's measuring in trucks tomorrow um so we're going to have contracted Services picking up material we also have our internal Crews we have uh Public Works Crews and a utilities crew that's working on that stuff to supplement the contractor and to really bridge the gap between when the event happened and when the contractor gets here so both of those things are happening and then finally if it's normal yard waste less than 10 cubic yards which is essentially um three uh refrigerators kind of in size um then it'll be picked up under the waste management contract so small piles generally will be picked up by Waste Management if they're vegetation uh larger piles will be put into our our program and we're tracking those we the residents have been uh putting the information into our request for service system we've been mapping out where all of those are so that we can be efficient in the way that we use our resources to pick that material up so the answer is really all three it could be any of those three um but if it's a small pile it's going to be Waste Management it just won't be quite as fast as they normally have because pretty fast they're pretty fast they usually pick up on Wednesdays but it might be two Wednesdays by the time they get there they did bring in waste did bring in additional resources they normally have 12 uh clamshell trucks right now they're running 15 in Martin County see them everywhere yep so they're all over the place picking up those smaller piles but the bigger piles that we see in some of the areas that were harder hit like Citrus Boulevard or um Country Place off of Citrus Boulevard is just incredible how many beautiful uh pine trees and oak trees have been destroyed out there um um hundreds and hundreds of cubic yards of of debris is is out there um and then obviously the areas in town as well that we're we're damaged so so we're going to be picking up starting tomorrow after the trucks get measured in so the FEMA program requires you to determine what the cubic yardage volume of each truck is so that we can determine how much material they have in each load and that's what's happening tomorrow is they're measuring all of those and then they're going to put them out on the road so you'll see them in uh three or four different spots the the hardest hit spots and then we're going to move out from those spots thereafter so it could be still a week or two in SS point or Jensen or any place up north yeah it's defin I would say let's let's plan on being several weeks and then if we exceed those expectations then then that's what we'll do but I just want to um you know it is a a countywide impact although certain areas are harder hit and I think it's appropriate for us to focus in those harder areas so that they have room to move more debris out cuz right now we've got a situation in some neighborhoods where their entire RightWay is full and they can't put anything else out so we have to get that material out so they can bring the next load to us so that's what we're going to do over the next couple of weeks and then we're going to radiate out from there Comm heard yeah I was just going to to reiterate that repeat that we always have a debris removal emergency contract signed ready to go we're ready to go we don't have to have to do anything we just activate our contract and that hasn't hasn't been activated yet but I have to say that Martin County your department has been on the job ever since the storm came through there's been so there's so much debris that's on the right of way but there's been so much that's been removed already it's astonishing and I think you said that our county has removed more debris than any other County in Florida well we were I haven't looked in the last couple of days but we were ahead of most of the other counties with in-house resources and that's with Martin County be it trucks and employes terrific job won you hold Norm's retirement off till the end of the year I would if I could yes probably can too I I do have uh one business item for you all uh that I'm requesting and that is um the uh the schedule of uh commission meetings uh uh for the new year and so for at least three of you to consider for me would be that we have two meetings in December and that first meeting in December also happens to coincide with the ecosystem restoration task force meeting and uh some fact training so I'm asking uh that if with your permission that during the reorg we will not propose to have a December 3rd meeting and just have one meeting in December if you all agree with that sounds good to me yes no very well I'll allow it thank you sir stifling the public participation okay that's all I needed okay with that we're jerk thank God --------- ##VIDEO ID:gsGJu85mBSY## 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 you're on all right Welcome to our October 22nd 2024 Board of county commissioner meeting uh we're going to begin with a invocation uh from Pastor Jim harp of Stuart Alliance Church followed by a pledge of allegiance uh led by David yanit uh US Army veteran thank you please stand morning you uh join with me in a posture of prayer Heavenly Father we come before you this morning and we thank you I thank you once again for the privilege of being here today to be able to pray and uh Lord just to seek your will and your presence and knowing your presence is here but to seek your will and direction in this uh meeting today and all the things on the agenda Lord we thank thank you that your word teaches us that you care about these things uh Jesus was often praying and his disciples saw that and they said Lord teach us to pray and he began what we refer to today as the Lord's Prayer uh with these words Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name may your kingdom come and your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven and so God we ask for your will to be done uh your word tells us that there's a way which seems right to a man but the end thereof is separation from your ways and your peace and your direction so father we know that what's best is your ways and your ways are higher than ours and your thoughts are higher than ours so Lord we thank you for that and as I always pray Lord I ask your blessing uh especially upon these that you have put in leadership over us in this County Lord bless them bless their families bless them as they uh go about their lives and all the things that uh go on behind the scenes that we don't know about Lord would you give them strength and courage wisdom and Direction and so God we thank you that you care about all these things because you love us and you care for us and I pray it all in Jesus name amen please join me in the 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 with liberty and justice for all ladies and gentlemen bard of County Commissioners distinguished members guests fellow veterans my name is David yanit and I'm a proud husband and father of four Sons David who's nine Dean who's seven Dominic who's four and Dwight who is 2 months old and I'm honored to be here with you today I join the United States Army as an infantryman in August of 2007 and served until Christmas 2009 back then when the wars were in Iraq and Afghanistan the Army was handing out 2-year and four months contract for an infantryman and a $220,000 shipping bonus so I took it and I felt like I was the richest 19-year-old kid alive I was always knew I was going to join the Army it was definitely a calling but it came very true on 911 I don't come from a military family but once 9/11 happened I knew one day I would wear the uniform of this great country and like all who served carry the torch of freedom and pass it to the next Generation I also knew the Army was very excited for me to join as I would periodically receive responses to the thank you for your letter for your interest letters from the recruiting office and reminding me that I was way too young apparently there were requirements and being 14 wasn't one of them when I was finally a age I tried college for about a year to see if I wanted to become an officer and at that point where the wars were in Iraq and Afghanistan 200 2007 and at its height I thought I'd better enlist now before the war ends I went through basic and infantry training at Fort Bening Georgia and upon completion I received orders to Fort Hood Texas where they were standing up a brigade to deploy I was assigned to the recom platoon of the first Battalion of the 26 infantry regiment third infantry Brigade combat team first Infantry Division the blue spers same unit as Captain America joining the Army and going to a few states west didn't seem like seeing the world but nonetheless I was excited to get to my unit see upon graduation of infantry School the time from graduation to deployment was about 2 weeks to a year either your unit was deployed or headed back home but you could expect to be in country within that timeline it would be about 7 to8 months past graduation before we deployed during the train up I was fortunate enough to attend and graduate from Aeros salt school at Fort Campbell Kentucky where I learned about helicopters jumping out of them equipment and sling-load operations about two weeks before we were scheduled to ship out to solder City Iraq our orders changed to go to the kunar province of Afghanistan I didn't know much about Afghanistan as our Focus was Iraq but I will soon learn learn quickly about combat operations when we deployed in July of 2008 it wasn't too long until we heard about the Battle of wnat and how the sky soldiers of the 173rd Airborne got overrun and the loss of nine American heroes and others were very wounded knowing we were replacing that unit and the gravity of the tragic event we will only come to understand the true meaning of loss when it becomes our turn in the fight while in the rec con unit our Battalion pulled out pulled half of the platoon two squads and created a personal security detail and the other half will remain in the mountains I switched to the detail and became a machine gunner for the Battalion command sergeant major and his vehicle attachment our task was to escort the leadership to several meetings with Village Elders meetings with company commanders observe the battle space do air assault missions on The Afghan Pakistan border and to figure out enemy movements in and out of the region during the deployment our security platoon had completed hundreds of combat patrols numerous Air Assault missions and defeated countless enemy engagements while all that is important nothing will replace those who we lost or were wounded either in our element or in the blue spers as a whole staff sergeant Rogers my squad leader or one of my great friends Sergeant Dawson will always be honored and remembered and serve as a reminder to live a life worthy of their sacrifice we left Afghanistan in June of 2009 and I would tell you it was an uneasy feeling readjusting from sustained combat seeing family reuniting with guys who were wounded and then the beginning of new chapters as people either reenlisted and went to a new unit were discharged or stayed or stayed was a was a whirlwind of emotions excuse me I decided not to reinlist as I had enough of War it was time to see what else life had for me little did I know I would meet my future wife within a few weeks of being home I started at Indian River State College and graduated with my associates degree and went on to FAU for my bachelor's in political science I have two master's degrees one from George Washington University and another from the University of Nebraska both in the field of political science I was a Civics and US history teacher in Martin County School District at Murray middle and South Fork High School for eight years and now I'm in my third year of at IRSC teaching American government and international relations my very first class teaching is in the first classroom I was as an IRSC student even though veterans like me are happy to stay in the shadows and out of the spotlight we were we are also happy to shine the light on others who do so much for our community I would like to thank Martin County Veteran service for the amazing and selfless work they do on behalf of our veteran Community the knowledge expertise compassion and dedication to the mission which is the veteran and their success is second to nun and to brindell and Jeff and team thank you you make the difference and Martin County and its veterans are better because of you and thank you for what you have done for me and my family recognizing that Veterans Day is a few weeks away I appreciate the honor honor to share a little bit of my story honor the lives of others appreciate the service and remember the sacrifice it was an honor to speak to you and be with you all today thank you and God bless than you very [Applause] much that was awesome by the way it really was we should end on that huh we should end on that note yeah okay we're done all right um today we have uh 905 public comment which is 5 minutes ago but we'll get to it eventually um we have at 12:00 p.m. a um uh private attorney client uh session uh and at 5:05 we have public comment once again additional items Department six request for private attorney client session considering the case of be a man by land uh LLC versus South Florida Water Management District ET whatever that means case number uh TW uh two approval of a deed of agricultural easement from Becker b14 uh Groves limited as a condition of the approved Discovery planned unit development PUD zoning agreement for the discovery project I felt that this was a uh serious enough and um uh issue that we needed to uh have it out in the public uh okay and with that could I get a uh I'm sorry commissioner Smith chairman good morning uh move approval of uh the agenda with the additional item of Department item number six for the cl cl you private attorney client session and with the addition of consent uh or with the consent poll of uh item eight second second okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner campy all in favor I all opposed uh motion carries unanimously okay we are going to skip down to Proclamation number two Mr Gordon is is going to uh do a presentation for a retiring employee present a plaque of recognition and appreciation to Norm vanderen oops uh upon the occasion of his retirement from service within Martin County Board of County Commissioners I've had the pleasure of working with Norm uh and he is an amazing guy um the best quote ever we're meeting with a constituent and he goes ma'am I can't make water go uphill I will never forget that as long long as I live but anyway he's a great guy I'm guessing that's why Channel 5 is here today yeah that's it yeah great job John Jim Gordon Public Works director with me I have Norm vanderhaden so Norm has been with the public works department for nearly 31 years he served as a heavy equipment operator road maintenance supervisor storm water inspector and Engineering inspector even in for us as a bridge tender when we're in a pinch at the Hound Bridge he was a volunteer fighter firefighter out of station 33 and a Navy veteran Norm has an act for implementing new programs and performed critical roles in development of our VOR truck sweeper uh program and CCTV stormw inspection program all of which are essential water quality improvement um programs that we have and they're born out of his input and constant refinement his unique combination of technical skills common sense and will to succeed have served him well in his career customer service has been a consistent Focus throughout Norm's career and in his role as our lead stormw water inspector for the county he meets with the public on a daily basis to review their concerns and develop Solutions since the Advent of the online request for service system in 2006 Norm has investigated responded to and closed out over 5,000 requests for service that's more than most departments during that time frame one of the inspections um in Palm C Palm City during a flood event um resulted in Norm saving a child who was swept Downstream in a flooded Creek that gained local and Regional media attention while not one for notoriety he represented himself Public Works in the county well that day in closing I wanted to highlight the critical role that Norm plays in the county I was in the EOC during hurricane Milton when we started receiving information about tornadoes touching down in the county first out west in undeveloped areas and then in hob sound and portelo our homes were impacted Norm was the first person I called excuse me from the EOC to inspect the damage develop a response and to lead a crew to remove the down Pooles and debris to clear the way for emergency services he quickly coordinated a loader crew and mobilized to the area to uh remove the debris he and the crew were actively working on US1 when the second tornado went by about a quarter mile south of where they were working they worked until dark that day and every day that week to restore access and begin their recovery process for our residents after working DUS Hill Dawn multiple days helping our citizens recover Norm volunteered to go to a co-workers home to help him because he lost his roof during the second tornado this just speaks to Norm's character and willingness to help others which has been a constant throughout his career so please join me and congratulating Norm for a successful career and to wish him well in his future [Applause] endeavors I know you well I just have a few words before I read the plaque uh and that is uh Norm uh you can hear his service to our nation and his service to Martin County it's one consistent thing about Norm is he has a big heart uh he's a caring human being and he loves Martin County and all those that he works for and the citizens and that's what I'm most proud of working with him now Mark used to say don't let more Norm get bored you know a bored Norm is a dangerous Norm but anyway and I know for but uh uh but in all the times you know that's uh I think speak speaks to the character of your employees and Norm is exemplary of that and that is uh truly reflects the best of all of us and uh I'm going to miss you uh greatly uh working in our organization Uh there's Big Shoes to fill you and uh a handful of others have really led the way in uh our Public Works and uh our service to our community and it's been my pleasure to work with you for this many years and so in grateful recognition of 30 years of dedic ated public service to Martin County Board of County Commissioners and the citizens of Martin County presented this SEC uh 22nd day of October 24 thank you nor thank you you Comm campy Norm you look young and very fit uh motion to deny your retirement is it because they work you too hard because we could work out like a part-time thing for you I mean I think you're with all kidding aside you are a classic example of what makes Martin County great and the quiet uh steady professional leadership of our staff and when I talk about uh you know the five of us we are the public faces or leadership it's the men and women like you that are in the trenches that make Martin County so wonderful make our residents so uh pleased and safe so God bless you in your future and we will miss you very much I'm I'm also friends with Norm's wife and I know for a fact that Norm she will keep Norm busy trust me so prob wish he had a part-time job exactly yeah it'll be working harder at home trust me okay it's not oh now you have to have Paparazzi one two three is his wife here is that her in the back um with the holding up the phone video yeah why didn't she come forward for a picture Norm why don't you bring your wife forward so we can congratulate her and thank her come on Sue we know it's not one person that does all this work it's here she is everybody get a get a picture get a picture just you yes yeah much better all right you change your mind doors always open if you have the pleasure of following them on Facebook they do more uh traveling and canoing and you name it activities than uh anybody I've ever seen okay so back to we're going to do our proclamations now um Laura is going to read them and I'm going to stand down good morning Commissioners uh first we have a proclamation declaring paralal day in Martin County Florida paralegals are known for their integrity and professionalism as they support essential Services legal research real estate matters and other Factor facets of law practice October 23rd is recognized as paralal day and the board would would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the men and women of this profession for their diligence in meeting the continuing needs of our communities and here to accept we have Mandy Johns who is a real property professional under the public works department come on up Mandy good morning October 23rd is recognized as National pargal Day in the US and in Florida as well paralal day has provided an opportunity to recognize and appreciate the work of all paralegals in our state and the nation a paralal is an essential part of an attorney's administrative team and as the need for attorneys continues to grow skilled pargal are increasingly in demand the Florida bar currently has around 4,700 registered paralal who assist 107,000 Florida bar authorized attorneys paralal and Legal Assistant are largely considered the backbone of every law firm and fulfill critical roles within the legal Community from conducting research drafting pleadings contracts and more these legal professionals are fundamental in supporting attorneys here at Martin County we real property pargal are responsible for creating implementing and managing leases of County property as well as County property leases of outside properties we are responsible for obtaining easements and providing easements ments for drainage utilities access maintenance and many other needs we are also responsible for acquiring new property needed for County purchases as well of as well as disposing of surplus property and maintaining the list of surplus properties we are lucky enough to be able to work with most of the Departments within the county on a regular basis to help them complete their plans when it comes to real property as we celebrate National paralal Day this year we are reminded that paralegals are a growing Force within the legal field and we hope that will take a moment to sincerely thank these hardworking individuals who are responsible Gatekeepers for the legal profession [Applause] [Music] our second Proclamation is a proclamation declaring National disability employment employment Awareness Month in Martin County Florida October 2024 is the 79th anniversary of national disability awareness month and its purpose is to educate about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of America's workers with disabilities the board urges all citizens to recognize this month by bringing together businesses and partners to break down the barriers faced by individuals with disabilities who are working or seeking employment helping improve the quality of life for all and here to accept we have Glenn a Paris who is the gift planning officer of for helping people succeeded nope not GL Paris glena you look so different I know change it's the hair I changed um unfortunately glenno was not able to make it um today but good morning my name is Shannon Wilson and I am the director of successful Futures at helping people succeed um I would like to take the opportunity to thank the board of County Commissioners for this procl um in recognition of national disability employment Awareness Month the purpose of this month is to celebrate the contributions of people with disabilities to the workplace and the economy um this year's theme is access to good jobs for all good jobs change lives and all workers including disabled workers deserve the opportunity to prepare for obtain and succeed in them helping people succeed is proud to partner with businesses and organizations in in Martin County to provide training and employment opportunities for our community members with disabilities our goal is to help the individuals we serve to find real jobs for competitive wages in an integrated environment we strongly believe that everyone who wants to work should be able to and with your support as well as the support of the residents of Martin County we are able to continue working to make that a reality thank you again [Applause] Laur you're doing a very good job step and our final Proclamation today is Proclamation declaring Bible reading Marathon week in Martin County Florida the year 1990 was proclaimed by a joint Congressional resolution and presidential Proclamation as International year of Bible reading and Bible reading week has been celebrated annually thereafter in recognition of Bible reading week the 24th annual Bible reading Marathon will be held November 4th through the 8th at the Bandshell in Memorial Park and feature a 90-hour continuous readr of the entire Bible and here to accept we have pastors Eddie and Joanne Rodriguez as as well as Dr Julie bjornson uh there with step into Grace and New Life Ministries know morning good morning good morning um Commissioners we just want to thank you first for um once again giving us this Proclamation it means so much to the people in the community each year as We Gather and this is our 24th year and I do want to let you know that this is the longest running Bible reading marathon in our nation and it brings so much hope and peace um to the community as people come from all over the county and Beyond to come out and read they fill it's pretty miraculous they fill 365 15minute time slots um to read through the Bible day and night rain or shine and so when we're out there we get so many um just wonderful responses from families come out business people come out Ministries churches people connect that normally wouldn't be able to connect and it just is a wonderful week as we Proclaim God's word over our nation and it began with Pastor Donna and Jee Hilton to um to begin this to read the Bible over our nation as protection over our nation um so I just want to thank you for this week and and we invite everyone to come out and be a part of this week you can give us a call at 5 61 67469 we have Flyers out and we just welcome everybody everyone is welcome and um we're out there with love and peace and um and just looking forward to this year and all the community that it touches in a special way thank you you want to talk about that I just like to say that I am completely 100% in agreement with my wife smart man Dr Julie please tell them we need night night readers yeah okay I'm Dr Julie voron from Port Salo um I survived the tornado um good morning Commissioners this is my 24th time to thank you for our Bible reading Marathon proclamation to me this is really important and I I share this all across the county that our our commissioners have given us such a wonderful Proclamation um the marathon began 24 years ago um 9 11 2001 right after that our church was directed to read the Bible to protect us from terrorist attack and we've been really well protected other than the tornado um 911 was sudden and unexpected bringing people back to churches and the Bible the foundation of our nation's Constitution government and education and many presidents understood that without the morals and ethics taught in the Bible our nation's self government would fail but today Bible truths and God's Authority are under extreme attack nationally lawlessness is replacing our constitutional Authority and spiritually liberal rewrites and copyright limitations of the Bible undermine foundational doctrines throughout the Bible God's love is freely available to all who will accept it the entire Bible is a record of God's extremes um that he has gone to in order to avoid the destiny of our fallen edenic state yet what is our our response no God I want to love you I don't want to love you I'll do it my way but when humans fail to respond God has three Alternatives he can indulge it allowing our human Rebellion or he can force us to obey which removes our free will but that leaves the only real Choice the only way is to withdraw himself whether we realize it or not our existence of God is necessary for our continued existence just as an orchestra with many talented musicans requires a conductor our existence depends on God the Bible says in Colossians 1:16 all things were created by Him and for him all things are held together but what would it be like if God left us alone we know about physical death the body dies and we're separated from the soul but there is a spiritual death when the Soul by choice is separated from God ultimately it's our choice it is up to us to choose everlasting life or Everlasting death which is spiritual separation from God and it's final we have to choose or refuse do we have the ability to even imagine what Everlasting death without God really involves I don't think so the real you is not a finite body God wants you to know you are Eternal whether you are saved or not or you believe in Satan or not the important question is where are you going to spend the rest of your life in the presence of God or force him to withdraw himself we all physically die but spiritual death is a conscious Choice make sure of your destiny father God provided his son Jesus Christ to redeem us from the darkness of this world his gift is eternal life it's free just believe and renew your citizenship in heaven to help choose life God provided two gifts to resist evil his written word the Bible which we try to share every year and it's been preserved over 2,000 years and through the death of many Martyrs and the Holy Spirit who withholds evil on Earth and leads us into all truth please consider signing up to read 15 minutes this year for God's protection over Mountain County and our nation thank you thank you thank you [Applause] thank you next up is uh public comment uh please limit your comments to 3 minutes after 2 minutes 45 seconds you'll hear a tone that uh just simply says to you have 15 seconds to wrap your comments up and I believe Mr Donaldson has a a prepared statement yes sir uh since we are in election season uh um politicking is prohibited which is defined as advocating election or defeat of a candidate for public office either partisan or non partisan this includes the use of words dates signs props and or wearing apparel that c convey a message of support for a person or group of persons thank you okay our first public uh speaker form is John dial uh forward U followed by uh Patel last name Anil good morning Commissioners how are you morning first I want to thank the county on that response for the hurricane and the tornadoes the guys that are cleaning up in the street like Norm th those guys in trenches are unbelievably good second thing is i' been reading the newspaper and started getting the the Treasure Coast Paper again and a lot of the sentiments are concerned about making Ras decisions on agenda items right now with a new commission coming in I kind of support that the last part of this is I've got good friends in yellow here and uh they're pretty persuasive I would like the commission to take a long hard look on whether or not we're going to want a station in Stewart and every aspect of that and lay it out before the public let's don't rush into anything I don't think we have to if you're going to take a station you can take it today you can take it tomorrow you can take it next year uh if they want to go to Fort Pierce and they talk about the distance between the cities that they want to run all I'm asking is just give that a a a good look and a public read on and and let's see what the financial responsibility is thank you for your time Neil Patel maybe maybe not and maybe pronounce it correctly when you get up there thank you my name is anju Patel and good morning to all um I'm here to support the brightland station um I have been a resident of Martin County since over two decades and my my husband has been paying taxes diligently and this is a time when I want a station in my town in Stuart and it makes sense it's for my children for the future generations and just the fact that there is stations in Miami Fort laudel Aventura baton West Palm Beach Orlando and now Stuart Stuart will be in on the road map just by the fact that we have a train station and people will be connected to Big Towns and also to the world and um just the way the other towns these important towns that I just mentioned that has the stations will also be connected to Stewart it is important for the citizens of Stuart and the businesses and I strongly support the station and I know I will get the station thank you all right we Richard Olen followed by Steve Bal byal tally good morning morning I don't have much to say because I think you've heard everything um you know about the city's Steward and their issues you know about the bright line you know the good the bad the good is it's easy it's a it's a simple station where it's supposed to be um all I want to show I'm not sure what the protocol is but here's a plaque that basically says you know bright line the steuart city hall City commissioners didn't do it right and hopefully two weeks from now you will vote bright line in and this plaque will be on the wall of the new what I call the Martin County bright Line Station it's no longer the the Stewart bright Line Station should be the Martin County and it's basically showing that that you five are the ones that that brought it to us so I'm not sure if I give this to you or already give it to you thank you thank [Applause] you and again if you could pronounce your name correctly and then you're followed by uh Sherin Thompson maybe good morning Commissioners my name is Steven Vitali I live at uh NOS Road in Souls point I own the old Colorado wi in downtown Stewart I've been fighting for tourism for a large portion of my life I a former member of the tourism board for this County and it's no secret that tourism is the lifeblood of the Florida economy what happened at the city of Stewart meeting um last Tuesday was a disgrace in my opinion the way that the gentleman from Bright line the vice president was treated he was uh rudely approached from the dis while he was sitting in the audience and basically told to go to for Pierce um this bright Line station has been in the works for 40 years people have been working on it you have all spent countless probably thousands of hours working on this and we're going to allow a few rookies to come in at the last minute and take this away from from our town from our County we need this station not only for our tourism based economy but for the lifestyle of its residents I have to go pick my daughter up tonight Who's traveling from St Louis to come visit us and I would love to just go drive down to the station at downtown Stewart and pick her up in spad wasting my entire evening late at night going down to pick her up at the airport it's not rocket science um we we always knew on the tourism board that most of the people came from millions of people are visiting us from um from the Miami area and the Orlando area if we don't have this station we're going to lose a lot people will not be able to come here this is the new artery that's being developed through this train station in South Florida and it's eventually going to go over to Tampa as we all know when you some sometimes when you have a a younger sibling that's misbehaving you need to reprimand them and you need to correct the situation and it's time for you all to take decisive action this is the time for Action I disagree with the the first gentleman who spoke that you don't need you need to take your time and this has been analyzed for 40 years this is the time to exercise leadership okay and and take the bull by the horn and and do what needs to be done we have to we have to see the moment all the stars are lined up there is a grant with $50 million that's available if you make the application in December why would we why would anybody pass that up and allow that to go to another town we've all paid our federal taxes on that that would be insane the time is now please exercise leadership that I know you will and do the right thing thank you for your time [Applause] Cheryl Thompson followed by Raj Patel hi everybody my name is Sher Lee somebody else filled out my card it's a different person sorry about that this might not be you then it's it's me Cheryl Anne Thompson it's me that's very different than I have a stage name oh okay also known as Sherry Lee I'm Sherry Lee I struggle enough without anybody I know I'm sorry my friend is very sorry um whoever you are go ahead whoever I am thanks for everything you have done in the past to get bright line to come to Martin County what you did in 2018 I think it was with that that lawsuit and the settlement you had the foresight to make sure we had a a station um the city is a bit of an embarrassment to all of us right now we just want our station I feel like we've worked on this for a long long time we know that deal we know what's involved uh we we have the federal money if you guys could just assure the residents and the businesses that were going to get the station ass sure bright line that you're going to do the deal get it under contract and then put a back door in for Stuart to come in and join us in six months when they get their heads out of their butts if they do we don't know what they're what they're thinking we thought we had some people convinced that it was a good idea they made a good deal and that's that's gone off the rails pardon the pun so see if you can get this done for us we support it uh I think you can see that and we appreciate your your efforts thank you thank you Mr Patel is followed by Sam hay um good morning County Commissioners my name is Raj Patel I filled out her form uh oh it's all your fault um I'm two decades plus Martin County resident and taxpayer for both Martin County and for the city of steart same amount of years it's been 6 weeks and the bright line has weighed on my mind daily sometimes more than once in an hour and and the minds of all my friends and family I'm sure on your minds as well and I'm pretty sure of that um it's taking a tall please put is to rest the city commission as you all know has failed the people we all showed up on mass 10 times more people than they are here because they're tired so any you want to say that we should look at it and take our time and look at it more care makes no sense we're going to lose it um obviously you've seen that the city didn't uh didn't uh address it it's a monumentous juncture in all our lives to have a here they stalled the intentions are only known to themselves nobody else knows their true intentions all we know is they've made us a a laughing stock of the entire Florida State uh We've read it in the newspapers we've seen it on TV it's very very embarrassing um so please put this to rest get us the train stop so we can all reap the benefits we all know what the economic benefits are the safety benefits of not having to drive on I95 and get rear ended or sideswiped you all know it um the train it will help Intermodal transport which is the benefit of each resident each business owner that's the backbone of this economy um so please for the generations to come when you guys as City commissioners uh plan and planers plan you don't plan for today you plan for 20 30 50 years down the line so the time has come make it happen thank you thank you Mr hay is followed by Angela ranella which is probably wrong but morning I'm I'm Sam he live in Port Salo uh I see on your agenda for today's meeting there are several proposals for substantial changes to our comprehensive plan and considering the history of the current County Commission the prospect for any further changes to the comp plan is unavoidably suspect the recent election results for both Martin County and the City of steuart commissions indicate that majority of us feel we've had more than enough of excessive development I urge you now to reject any changes which would continue this trend of overdevelopment given the unambiguous results of last month's elections it would be inappropriate for this lame duck commission to make any questionable changes to our comprehensive plan because these proposed changes are apparently quite complicated I don't understand them all I believe that at the very least they should be properly presented to the public and that sufficient time be given for full public scrutiny any effort to rush through these changes would look a lot like our Governor's ham-handed plan to bulldoze a major portion of Jonathan Dickinson State Park to build golf courses and we know how well that sneaky attempt was received by the people of Martin County the obvious question here is who stands to benefit from these changes in the case of Martin County it's not citizens who wish for the opportunity to live in a location unspoiled by nerve-racking traffic increased levels of crime and rampant development we are again faced with the inevitable question of follow the money who typically benefits from weakening the comp plan is developers who seek to maximize their profits at the expense of our environment and our quality of life let's put a halt to this disastrous Trend now you Commissioners were elected to represent the will of the County Citizens if you vote to approve developer friendly changes to weaken our comp plan you are certainly not representing the will of the people the people of Martin County have spoken please respect our voice what's the rush to make changes in the comp plan anyway is it just to satisfy the wishes of often unscrupulous developers before a new commission can be seated Angela Rell please is followed by Terry kogal hi good morning I'm Angela ranella very nicely done standing here feels awkward but I can get over that what may happen to Martin County if you pass these amendments to change the comprehensive plan I cannot and will not get over that all of these people come before you they send you emails and all of them are asking the same thing to please wait to vote on these changes until the new Board of Commissioners are seated yet there's a big push forward to get this done fast there's no new laws that are commanding this to be done and there are many other items on the agenda as well it makes me wonder why couldn't it wait why not wait I really don't have the answer all I know is that is these people count on you to hear their concerns and act accordingly and why so many changes we believe this plan is designed to protect us from overdevelopment and should not be changed at all I don't know anyone who's asking for the contrary no one we all like the special nature of mort and want to keep it that way so why wouldn't you please wait to vote on these thank [Applause] you Terry kogal uh followed by Dy Lancy good morning Commissioners uh I've been to it the disaster area three times delivering supplies and emptying out two hous of debris I would like to thank Commissioners Harington heatherington excuse me campy and our newly elected cap for your concern and reaching out to help our residents who have lost so much the commissioner however the commissioner from the district that was severely affected by the tornadoes has never appeared and showed her true colors and all of them are Dark if there is a recall petition going around and I would like to be the first one to sign Miss uh doy Lancy followed by Walter Loya maybe morning Commissioners thank you for the opportunity to talk to you again um I wanted to do this without notes because I wanted to speak to you on a personal level but since I'm not as eloquent as I wish I were I do have a couple notes here but um I'm here because I think it's very very important and I'm going to ask you for a special favor um please find it in your hearts and in your consciences to table the vote on changes to the comp plan until the new board is seated next month I know you all love this County as well as I do we all love it and we're very grateful to be living in a in a excuse me a beautiful beautiful part of Florida and the reason that we do live in this beautiful part of Florida and it's different from most of the areas here in the state is because the former Commissioners had the foresight and they had the selflessness selflessness to preserve our natural resources recent elections have shown what the people want they aren't happy with the direction in which the um present government has taken and so um I'm asking you today to do the right thing to represent the wishes of the voters please do the right thing today and table any vote on the comp plan for some of you it's your last chance to do and show the people that you really really care about our beautiful Martin County thank you [Applause] Walter followed by Bonnie Moser no morning Commissioners my name is Walter Lloyd um H so our new Commissioners over at the city referred to as rookies they were voted in by the taxpayers and should be regarded as such voters spoke in the last election they spoke loudly wasn't even close it was a landslide so when it comes to the comprehensive growth management plan the ear doesn't Force changes as we heard before was so eloquently put um the number one thing from the workshop that was held for this subject the number one thing that your constituents asked for the priority was that we protect and preserve our comprehensive plan with no changes voters have spoken loud resulting in a lame duck commission some of you and it appears that part of this constituent is pushing an unwanted agenda at least three of you can still make a difference to hold off and let the new commission have input on these issues in a fashion that represents the taxpayers and that would be before any transmittal to the state so in my opinion that also goes for bright line I don't think you should be making any decisions on bright line before your new Commissioners have an opportunity to weigh in on it simply because they were voted in with such emphasis thank [Applause] you Bonnie is followed by Mr Tom Pine good morning Commissioners my name is Bonnie Moser I live on Southeast 10th Street in Stewart Florida I'm here today to talk to you about the bright line um I emailed you all yesterday um and what I have gathered from the last few meetings that I have sacrificed time to attend at the steuart city commission as is that um I I'm not confident that they are going to make this decision it seems like they're just going to keep kicking the can down the road um and using excuses to do so I want to talk to you about a few things um in terms of the bright line I'm a mother of two um our fames traveled in Europe and Africa extensively and and uh we love rail travel it's easy for families I don't have to worry about potty breaks or um you know when we're going to stop to feed the kids we get to be together as a family um but it's not also convenient as a mother it's safe um I work as an urban designer in the transportation field and I want to talk to you about some statistics from 2018 to 2023 in Florida there were 20346 roadway fatalities in our state there were only 297 Railway for fatalities um we have a study that says from 2001 to 2009 for every billion passenger miles traveled in the United States there were 7.28 car deaths there were only 0.43 um train deaths rail travel is safe and um in South Florida where we all I'm sure know somebody who has died in a traffic accident having another alternative of transportation is important um the bright line is also an economical decision for the county um you all I'm sure know our County Capital Improvement plan we spend $ 39 million dollar annually um to maintain and improve our roadways but uh you drive on our roads just like I do you know that not only are our streets not safe but they're congested um and the conventional measures that we are taking with the Florida DOT and transportation they're not solving either of those problems providing an alternative transportation mode like rail travel that can help um I also want to talk about bright line being a one-time cost so we've had lots of numbers thrown around we know that there are grants in the mix but a lot of thing something people aren't talking about is that um we're on the hook to build the station we are not on the hook to maintain our operate the station and that is a big deal um the sun rail has 16 stations up in Orlando it costs about $3.8 million annually per station to operate and maintain uh the Tri Rail I'm not sure how many uh stops it has but I did the math and it it averages out to about $7.2 million per station if you um you know do the math on that over the over the longterm of the lease us just paying for the station that's a good deal we don't have to worry about maintaining um and operating and last I just want to talk to you about folks are saying don't rush don't rush in the design and planning field we have something called analysis paralysis and it's when local governments mull over things and do new studies and have new meetings over and over and over again somebody mentioned before um we've been talking about this for 40 years we've always wanted to restore rail to Stuart Florida and I'm asking you to please do that for us thank you Mr Tom Pine is followed by Steve Adams good morning Commissioners my name is Tom Pine I'd like to first thank the board for having the speakers on in the rear of the chamber this morning shock surprise and thank you are an order after the re Paving of Jensen Beach Boulevard for leaving the old-fashioned Center turn lanane instead of the death trap that was used to replace the center turn lane on Dixie Highway in the port solono area I feel it's a rare event in Martin County when safety comes before beautification as in the portelo area I can't believe what I'm hearing that Three Lakes Golf Club one of the largest projects that was approved by violating the Martin County growth plan plan are now coming back to the table and have the go to ask us to pay for a bridge to go over caner Highway connect their two properties where does the greed end now on the destruction of the Martin County growth management plan didn't we just pay the treasure coach Regional planning Council $100,000 to survey Martin County residents on their priorities for growth management policies and if I recall correctly the number one answer was to protect and preserve our Mountain County growth management plan so once again we will watch our elected officials do act exactly the opposite of what the people said during the $100,000 survey I can only go guess it was some kind of thank you to your friends at the treasure croch Regional planning Council because you sure don't seem to care about any of the work they do add to this the questionable use of the consent agenda and this is a result of the voter turnout range of of 30% of 30% range for local elections democrac Democrat democracy is dying in Martin County to have a healthy democracy it is essential that electric the electric shows up to vote on a regular basis or we end up right where we are today watching the death of the Martin County difference voting could voting couldn't be any easier than is today so's turnout of 30% the norm is it that 70% of the voters have no faith in our local government that's scary this is the month that our governor said that counties throughout the state would have places for homeless people to pitch their tents have toilets and and water available can somebody please post the location of these facilities on the County's website or in our County or is our County government just waiting for the sheriff's department to lock up anybody that's homeless to show our real Christian values what you permit you promote what you allow you encourage what you condone you own thank you Steve Adams followed by Charles G G G good morning Steve Adams Palm City so um I'll let go some of the previous speakers about the proposed changes to the comprehensive plan uh please push that back um and allow the new commission to look at that and i' I'd say deny it because what's made Martin County great and attractive is less development and it's quiet so there's a lot of people in Mar County who want to keep it that way uh which leads me to last night I went to visit a friend in Port St Lucy I turned on the Martin highway to head to I95 and it was completely stopped um west of citrus uh completely stopped impassible um there was some sort of an accident who knows what but the tow truck couldn't even get the tow truck flatbed couldn't even get to the scene because everybody was stopped and we we all eventually turned around which allowed the tow truck to eventually get there but there's not even a shoulder this commission jokingly referred to the project between the turnpike and citrus that it t it's taken the state so many years to complete that and they you in your own words said it would take 25 years for them to build something more Lanes in the highway from Citrus out to I95 25 years this commission has put the cart before the horse many times in approving developments and either bending breaking or literally re rewriting laws or rules to promote this development it's out of control um there's a lot of people in Martin County who are telling you this and I please urge you to take a step back and look at it that also includes bright line take a step back fiscal responsibility no none of the people who are supporting bright line say that we're throwing good money into a Bad Company that's hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of dollars let's take a step back the grants are not granted they're there but they're not granted if if they're granted that's a different story but they're not so please I urge you to take a step back look at everything fiscal responsibility is very important and let's get our in infrastructure built to support what's going on as far as Ashley Capital going out there by I95 they're coming on to a two lane Highway that has no other emergency access how how do how do you do that I I don't know thank [Applause] you Charles morning commission followed by Christopher vatal my name is Chuck Gary I'm a local fourth generation grew up riding my bicycle in downtown Stewart I can remember when I could ride right down Flagler Avenue and uh no no uh no cars or very few cars I could ride my bicycle into the uh post office arcade and it was full of uh cobwebs you know we've come a long way and the the merchants and the commission work together the city commission worked together passed laws and zoning ordinances and they had a nice revitalization uh and like a lot of these guys I was shocked to see what has happened over there at the city in the last couple of weeks um they've abandoned the merchants they've abandoned the revitalization plans and uh they've abandon the train station that we've all worked so hard for um it is now uh on your plate uh I agree with Mr vital and some of these other people that say it's not going to happen uh we need adults to get involved this is like uh Thanksgiving dinner where you've got the kids table and the adult table this issue is now on the the adult table and we're looking for leadership here uh the Stuart Mort County Chamber is composed of uh many people and Merchants and voters many of them are downtown uh we got together we passed a resolution we formed a subcommittee uh we want to see this thing happen um we're here to help uh our goal is we passed an unanimous resolution in favor of this bright Line Station our goal is to support encourage and facilitate this station uh we're asking you to consider us a resource call us to help you and let's just get this job done thank you sir Christopher Vali followed by Nancy turl which is my last form good morning Commissioners um my name is Christopher Vitali I live on Alamanda way in Stewart um I work with my family business of the old Colorado in doing management um so I just want to speak kind of echoing what a lot of people have said today supporting um the the the proposed bright Line Station um and I agree that the time to act is now this has been you know being pushed off by the city and I think um that would be huge a mistake to continue pushing this off um the people have worked really hard to um secure the station here in Stewart it was already you know it was already secured and now it's kind of being um taken away so uh most of us I think in the um in Martin County want the station um at the end of the day regardless of you know the the little numbers that we can nitpick at the end of the day people want the station the train runs through 32 times a day that's not going to stop it would be crazy for us to let the train go through 32 times a day through Martin County and not take advantage of the benefit of a station um Stuart in this county is a whole we're built on train service um that's our heritage I think it would be um a a great way to honor the heritage of this area by a bringing back train service which the um the community has really worked hard to fight for over the past few decades um I also think that um there's a lot of talk about um um wanting to limit um you know overdevelopment overgrowth of this area I'm not against that I but I don't think that bright line is um I don't think that having a a train station in Martin County or Stewart is pushing us towards you know this crazy overdevelopment turning into Miami it's an asset to help um our downtown steart to to flourish and to continue bringing in the um visitors that the businesses depend on without without business in downtown Stewart it's going to go back to what it was a few decades ago when there was there was no business there was nothing um that's one of the treasures of Martin County is downtown stet that's why many people love to live here is having this really quaint walkable downtown with beautiful restaurants and shops and all these things and having the train will help to to Aid that um especially in a time when our economy is is really you know making it difficult to for these businesses to survive um but also you know not only that but also the um the benefit that residents and visitors will have to just be able to use the train whether or not it you know regardless of the businesses it would be great for families and um residents here to be able to utilize other um travel you know Avenues rather than than just the the highways which are really dangerous so um yeah I just hope that the the commission will be able to um make a decision on um moving this along as soon as possible thank you Nancy take us home I will try Nancy turle uh resident of city of the Stewart 229 Southeast coconut and also the long serving long-standing executive director of Martin Arts which is Martin County's local art agency I'm here today to express my support of the updates to chapter 16 of the County's comprehensive plan which is the history Arts and Cultural element of the plan historic preservation element of the plan I appreciate and wanted to say today that I appreciate the County's ongoing support for arts and culture in this community both the Commissioners staff and your partners at the regional planning Council who have worked on these updates for you um you have been a continued partner in helping us make sure that Martin County is a Vibrant Community that people love to live in work in and play in uh being a Vibrant Community has allowed us as we've been working all of the years that I've been doing this on U measuring the economic impact of arts and culture in the community we've continued to expand that impact the most recent study said the nonprofit Arts Community has a $31 million annual economic impact and that's really the tip of the iceberg because that is just the nonprofit Arts and Cultural Community it's not counting the frame shops and the videographers and all the small businesses and entrepreneurs that are part of that creative sector economy so I appreciate your support I look forward to continuing to work with everyone here to continue to achieve these goals uh both through the comprehensive plan and all the other efforts and I did just want to take a moment to say thank you to commissioner Jenkins and Smith for your long standing service to this community thank you all right that is my last uh public speaker form and I'm going to go a little bit off script here and I'm going to go to uh we did not have um a bright line discussion on our agenda um nor were we planning to talk about it uh but at the same time I would like to ask our County Administrator to give us a I don't know if update is the right word but uh let's call it an update an update is what it is yes sure commissioner um at your last uh meeting you're the board authorized staff to continue negotiations with our our partners which was bright line and the City of Stewart uh and also provided the Alternatives of staff to uh uh negotiate uh independently if necessary with bright line we continue to U uh work with brightline on a potential station um the city of steart as you know had a discussion and it certainly appears that they are not a partner at this time um and so moving forward in discussions with our County attorney uh there would be one action that we would need today that would help us continue those negotiations and that is our original concept included the um the city of Stewart being the um the property manager or property uh leas holder um the if we are to uh have a dis a negotiation continue on with the county and I we are also um keeping the door open for the city of steart I think we're still Desiring to have a three-party agreement but in conversations with bright line it is also um unfortunately that we do have a competitor um to our North and they are still seriously considering that in um in that that particular option so um in order for the county to be the a landlord independent of the city of Stewart uh we would need to uh issue an RFP to allow for um uh a Transportation uh lease uh for High-Speed Rail um and we would like to in according with State statutes the county has different rules than the than the city it would be fairly simple for us to we've had some discussions with bright Lane about this um and uh and it would be my recommendation that we would authorize the RFP to include not only the location that was in the original uh RFP which would be downtown but also the property that the county owns across from the airport so that would give us two sites to work with um including that so that that that is really a simple update certainly there's been discussions about what bright line was willing to uh amend with the city Stewart that we would look to include um there also is the issue of the grant um so we would be um um uh should we be successful uh ultimately we would request the board authorization to submit um um a Grant application uh to the federal rail Administration for um uh station improvements um at this point in time uh our original proposal that the county has the staff has not been does not feel the need to make any other amendments to what the board has already previously provided limits to um and so we would continue negotiations with uh bright line um as directed by the board and um uh with the only caveat that the county um in order to be a landlord I need that one authorization to do an RFP and if that's uh the will of the board uh um I can help clarify that motion should you all want to continue proceeding as a potential landlord I still um been provided direction as previously um that we would uh um continue to allow the city of Steward should they want to participate to to come in thank you okay Mr her I want to proceed I you too Mr Smith go ahead I do too and uh with that I uh I think time is of the essence from what I understand about the granting process California's um sense of urgency to consume every dollar the federal government has relative to rail uh Texas follows right behind that um if we don't move now we will miss that opportunity um so I would make a motion that we authorize the the administrator and attorney uh to formalize negotiations with bright line uh to go to RFP uh for uh a service provider for High-Speed Rail uh it's up to the rest of the board I would limit it strictly to our steart site uh as much as I find the fairground site an interesting site and it has its pros to it um I think the importance of putting a station back in downtown Services us and our community and our merchants and our folks in downtown probably the best of any site that could serve us um so I would limit my motion unless the Refuge say no let's open it up uh bright line wasn't interested in the fairgrounds I don't need I don't think we need to confuse it with that um and I think we need to expeditiously move forward and not miss the opportunity for this grant cycle because once it closes we will be out and California will go after all of it and for from what I understand um this grant cycle uh because our request would be one of the smallest requests even though $50 million is a lot of money uh it would also Faire very well given um the position upright line currently uh and that it's not a billion doll request it's a $50 million request and that would be my motion I personally would prefer as many options open as we can to ensure that we get a train station so they may not be interested in the fair grants today but they may be interested in the fair grants tomorrow so I okay if they're not interested they're not interested it's not going to happen but um I just ter my only my look and that's why I preference my comments by saying it the will of the board um I just don't want to complicate I don't want to bog us down I don't want to I don't want to miss this current Grant cycle we in but if if that's your inclination and others I'm I'm fine but my preference is downtown Stewart okay commissioner campy thank you um really interesting set of circumstances over the last several weeks um I have been up here for a while and have watched city of Stuart commission meetings very in frequently having my own meetings to worry about I have watched every minute of each of the meetings since the new board has sat um giving them um some leeway the new members it is an odd set of circumstances that you would have an election day and less than one week later six days later new Commissioners are sitting up there being asked to make Monumental decisions that have long long uh repercussions so I'll give them that I sit up here and sometimes my colleagues and I disagree sometimes the meeting looks like it can get off the rails a little bit their meetings have gotten quite off the rails uh I give the members of the public a lot of credit for coming that first day I was very surprised at how many people showed up wearing yellow uh or in support of the train I thought that you know I hadn't even heard that much of of a ground swell of support prior uh I was very surprised by the level of really passionate support for it uh and pretty consistent not just downtown business owners people from all over a lot of very well-known Martin County residents participated in supporting that and their meetings are crazy they start at 4:00 and they go until people are asleep it's like midnight and for the residents that stayed you know 3 four 5 hours I know they have a small chamber so a lot of those people that supported it stood outside in the Heat and then worked their way into the lobby and then work their way into the chambers to still speak on behalf of what they wanted to me that's that says something um I appreciate what we did a couple of weeks ago where we said you know there was there was talk that we should then leave steart out and just go at alone the county and bright line but we didn't we said let's keep the Partners in there uh and bright line reached out to their Commissioners their City staff had worked hard I know that one of their Commissioners was sitting in meetings um that basically looked like they were going to be promising and then at the last minute were not so as far as I'm concerned they've had their opportunity to negotiate uh they don't want it you know uh as far as I can tell the Commissioners a couple a majority there were two that were passionate for it there was three that were obviously not interested Ed one who was teetering that being said I I have no problem having it come back to us excluding the city at this particular point in the negotiation to commissioner Smith's point about the city of Stewart location the original location that does make sense to me however looking at negotiations I would definitely want to keep the fairgrounds as an option simply because if you think about it if we are able to negotiate Fair settlement and agreement with bright line to put it right back there and exclude the city and their checkbook they're getting everything that we were offering originally without any level of participation either through negotiation or financially I'm not interested in rewarding them for the last several meetings that they had by giving them the exact train station location that they were issuing there are disadvantages of moving it from downtown as well as of course the advantages but if the location just up the road is it's not like we're saying he maybe put it in hob sound or Indian town it's it's close by and then it brings new advantages for the people and the businesses that are located in that specific section of our community uh the bottom line is is that you know even today when you're listening to the speakers that are speaking for and against some of the speakers that are speaking against said they don't like the traffic they don't like congestion they don't like these things well I think a train service gives you uh a little bit of an alleviate some of those issues all of them of course not um I think a lot of people that are concerned about what the train station will bring and the negative uh comments that I hear in opposition to it that'll you know increase crime I don't know if people completely understand the level of service that bright line operates at it's not you know which it's also a disadvantage if it was a commuter line more people could potentially commute back and forth to West Palm Beach but that's where you're going to get the people that are coming back and forth that everyone seems to be afraid of um I think that it would be a benefit to our community personally and what I had said since the very beginning is that and I was part of the 2018 negotiations and this is my final comment sir we're going to have 32 trains completely bisecting the county from north to south every single day so we're getting all of the inconvenience of the service with no benefit of the service so a station in my mind would bring that I would second commissioner Smith's motion as long as he adds back in the fact that the city of uh that the fairground or any other potential location should one be identified elsewhere could be at least part of the conversation thank you heatherington sure um I agree with many of the comments but uh Mr Donaldson your direction would be in in addition to the RFP which I agree although my personal preference is that it makes more sense in downtown Stewart I think that um to negotiate that we need options so um would we be able to simultaneously apply for Grants because I believe that that we are really that the grants hinge upon this um station becoming a reality so could we submit the RFP and apply for Grants at the same time I I I think it's important I believe the county can submit however we do need an agreement for an estation with uh with bright line to be successful in getting the grant so I think um authorization to prepare and and and uh and have the grant submitt be be ready to go but I think um certainly before the deadline of the grant we have to have an agreement in place does that need to be part of this motion um it does not um uh today um uh but it can be it's it's your choice okay back to the motion commissioner Smith I I I I don't I I don't want to keep the conversation going on with the site however I I think that has to be determined like tomorrow by bright line I think they have to say we're in we're out because I think all of the timelines that hinge upon the decision- making um if we waffle around on this thing and we study it and we look at it and ultimately at the end of the day I you know I I can understand and the idea that let's offer up any location but if you stood at the 40,000 ft level on this decision and you looked at it and you said where does it absolutely make the right best sense to have it's in downtown that's where it was historically that is what created Stewart historically it's what brought Commerce to Stuart historically I remember this really cool story about Whitaker boats the first Hemi Marine engines that Chrysler ever made were shipped to Stewart for whitker boats as a prototype to put into their boat and the president of Chrysler came and delivered them I mean there's just some really amazing things that happened historically in downtown Stewart do I think Chrysler is going to deliver engines on bright line no probably not but do I think it it it it does it signalize to the rail system to the state to to everybody that has interest in this that Stuart really is um one of the the most iconic destinations in the State of Florida yeah it does I think um every night that my wife and I have dinner um in downtown Stewart or we have lunch in downtown Stewart probably four out of five days a week you watch what goes on you you look at the has transpired over the last 30 years it's nothing short of amazing of what really has happened in downtown Stewart 30 years ago it was a very different place 40 years ago and so adding this piece to to it I think is the most important thing we could do as a County Commission um I'll include it in my motion because I know it's important to some of you on the dis I just just the sense of urgency for Dawn and Sarah has to be immediate I think we also and I think that's what I heard you say is does it does the Grant application hinge upon the timeline I would apply with bright line as quickly as possible or at least put the application in if we can do it at the same time if it hinges upon having that agreement on the site even more so that we have that sense of urgency so I would include that in my motion that the Dual track run if that is the right language for that for for the grant process you have that or do you want him to restate his motion I I I'm I'm okay with the motion it would be the clerk if she's all right with it then um then we're fine I need it restated okay that we uh we direct the uh County Administrator and an attorney to um finalize negotiations with bright line relative no I'm I'm sorry finalize negotiations with bright line but also to issue an RFP uh for the downtown site as well as any Fe any other site or just the fairgrounds just the fair grounds is fine with me yeah me too okay just the fairgrounds so that the negotiations that are entered into would give us the option of having the conversation with bright line about downtown Stewart Fairground site uh and that uh uh coincidental co-terminus to that we uh work with bright line to uh apply to the federal government for the I forget what the grant is called it's um it's a rail uh rail Improvement Grant I don't recall the title y whichever one that is uh for the maximum uh allowed for us to apply for this station seconder agrees okay commissioner herd two quick questions one is um the city of Stewart has legal obligations that are not extinguished isn't that correct uh there is the possibility of that yes commissioner and secondly can if we can put together an agreement with bright line um will we have time in between November 12th which is our next meeting and the deadline for the uh Grant to prepare a successful Grant potentially successful Grant yes okay okay with that we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner campy all in favor I all opposed motion carries [Music] [Applause] unanimously all right on that high note um we're going to take our 10:30 uh close captioning break uh we'll be back in about 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 e all right welcome back to our uh uh Commission meeting uh and we are we left off with uh County uh sorry commissioner comments commissioner Smith I'm Al set Commission Mr Camp whatever your name is okay Comm herd yeah it's been 13 days since uh hurricane Milton unevenly impacted our County and by unevenly I I say that because every other storm that we've had has pretty much impacted count us countywide and this storm did not do that it was the impacts were very very localized um people were prepared for a hurricane they were not prepared for T tornadoes and the tornadoes were the thing that devastated parts of our community as I as I said very very unevenly District 4 was really really hard hit um and it's it's heart-wrenching to hear firsthand the residents talking about sitting there on Wednesday afternoon sitting safely in their houses and with no warning their front doors are sucked out their front windows are sucked out their back windows are sucked out their glass shards flying everywhere their roof is lifted off and it's unbelievable that we had no fatalities there were lots of people who were subject to to storms of broken glass in their homes um the people in uh manate Lakes new Monrovia Port cero uh the The Preserve Mariner Sands and Rocky Point were especially hard hit and I know that that countywide um many of us feel that this storm is over and for those residents it's just beginning um their neighborhoods are in complete disarray uh they've been they've been heavily uh destroyed and I want those residents to know that they are our top priority and that we will not rest until their neighbor hoods are completely recovered and it's going to be a long recovery you know it's going to take a lot of the homes were destroyed and a lot of them I don't know they're beyond repair but know that the county will be uh right there doing everything that we can to make sure that uh recovery is is is efficient and fast and complete and also I want to thank our First Responders um by all accounts they did a terrific job and are continuing to do a terrific job and also emergencies like this really shows Martin County's best side we respond very very well to emergencies and and support our neighborhoods and our neighbors and our friends and family so it's um I I want to thank all the residents for their support um it was a it was a terrific response thank you okay you have something I do I had uh and I think I need to follow on on that um uh and I think we'll be giving a um you know some updates to the board in the coming uh meetings but uh you know tomorrow I know our representative overdorf and um and Brian mass and others are having some have been reaching out in the local community and um and commissioner herd and I have had some discussions of sort of an ad hoc committee nothing official at this point other than we're meeting to to discuss how we get people moved back in and uh commissioner Jenkins will join that after he's out of office because it involves you know potentially how we deal with land trust and because we have three different types of folks there those that were fully insured and had incomes to rebuild and you see them out there with dumpsters doing it you have those that are partially insured where their insurance may only cover a portion of the damage um that will maybe need some assistance and then you have those who are completely uninsured but own the property and and how do we deal with that and so I think we're we going to try to see how we work with our nonprofits um our our local folks and uh and how we can get keep the new Monrovia Dixie Park and other areas in our community that want to remain there how can they remain there without being um financially displaced and so those are I think that's important for the the citizens there to know that we we have not given up and uh we're going to keep uh looking for some Creative Solutions to uh help people stay where they where they were commissioner Smith I I hope and maybe we can get this at at our last meeting but it would be good to get sort of an update relative to the storm as a whole um I've had a lot of conversations with folks about an idea that we've been talking about for years relative to how we shelter and and what we do in our Sheltering program uh it cost the school board uh and the state of Fortune uh when we shut down our schools and and unfortunately or fortunately I guess they're not as well used as they used to be because prior to probably Francis and Jean we had much different building standards and since all that time has happened um people have learned through codes and whatnot but houses are better than they ever were but still um the Sheltering expense is is astronomical and hopefully we can have the conversation or you all can have the conversation about um centralizing a location uh that would be able to handle all of our needs in one centralized spot that would be both cost affordable it would keep us from shutting down our schools um a day in advance two days in advance and then going through the incredibly expensive cost of cleaning our schools to get them back up and operational as quickly as possible so hopefully that's something you'll put on your agenda um maybe we can get an update um in our November meeting as to what was the what was the financial implementation uh I've talked to um uh superintendent main about it uh and some of the school board members as well and and they're certainly interested in the conversation so um as you all move forward hopefully we can keep that um on our radar screen as well as all the efforts which go into a storm recovery um I applaud and Norm this morning I I think you know just hearing that story this morning of of what his level of of attention to what we do during the storms and all of Fire Rescue all the sheriff's department is what makes us special and and different and thank you for all that yes so I think I just have to thank Michael main our superintendent for uh being part of the incident command group who did a really good job of working collectively on making decisions on schools and and Sheltering and getting that school opened right away for for back in business and of course sarff Snider was a great uh assistance and our chief Chuli so there is a whole host of folks that I think I can't do it all right now um but um um we'll bring that out as an agenda item and also give you an update on um financially what we see the landscape is for This Disaster Response uh as well as how we are working with FEMA and how the State of Florida for to get our maximum reimbursement I do have one other thing I want to read into the record that was sort of the uh and you know it's a it's it's a um not transitioning from a positive to a um just a statement and I just wanted just regarding um um some of the comments that were made in the city of Stewart meeting about transparency and uh just real briefly I just want to take a moment to address serious accusations by made by commissioner Reid at the recent city of Stewart meeting Mr Reid spoke about a lack of transparency closed door meetings question staff integrity and suggested that proper procedures such as the Florida Sunshine Law are not being followed regarding bright line while we respect open dialogue it is essential that Communications be based on accurate information it is disappointing that these statements have been made publicly and do not reflect the facts unfounded claims do not only under undermine the hard work staff but also erode the trust within the community we all serve our staff takes pride in upholding the highest standards of Integrity I assure you that our team is fully committed to following all established rules guidelines and best practices in every aspect of our work everything we do is in compliance with the Sunshine Law and our public records law which we have a whole division now devoted to that our goal is and always will be to maintain full transparency and ensure that all operations are conducted with the esmo professionalism and we welcome the opportunity to clarify processes or provide additional information as needed thank you all right thank you and I'm good um so I'd like to do our consent poll now um Peter Walden is going to do that for us and then the applicant is going to give us a uh update on the um state of the other public benefits that um is part of the PED agreement good morning Commissioners Peter Walden Deputy growth management director um before this morning is a request to have a deed of agricultural easement placed on 846 Acres of the Becker b14 Grove limited partnership property uh This was done in conjunction with the Discovery Land company's application to develop under the rural lifestyle land use uh one of the keystones for that land use is that if you want to increase density over the existing agricultural one unit per 20 acres you must set aside uh one acre for every two acres inside the Pud the planed unit development and that has to be set aside in either a conservation or agricultural easement and that was done through the plan unit development agreement agreed to last year and uh so today that they've come forward to ask for the uh approval of the Agricultural easement including a third party conservation Florida so there's a lot of uh safety measures built in into this easen it's not just between the county and uh the developer there is a third party involved that makes it safer and it's designed to go on for perpetuity and um I'll be glad to answer any questions that you might have regarding it good the third party um was put in place because of what happened in Palm Beach County with their agricultural easements that only had two parties and then Palm Beach County years later decided uh to not do that so we now have three parties um so the likelihood of that property ever becoming anything other than an agricultural entity is uh never going to happen commissioner Smith um that's a really good thing um we did a very similar although it wasn't a private nonprofit I say private it wasn't a nonprofit but when we did alapata uh that was a three-way agreement between the federal government the state government and us and it was a very rare agreement that I don't know has really been um replicated since um but the specific reason why Steve fry way back when and everybody who worked on that said to do that was for that very reason that we're doing that with this so um great stuff good I mean when you think about it this is Prime Property that is right along the I95 Corridor which could potentially in 20 30 years have thousands of homes or a campus of IBM or or something now we have taking that completely off the off the uh plate and um and uh commissioner Hart yeah uh one question I'm on page 108 or page three of 28 and I'm it's it's an AG easement and improvements include man-made improvements include fountain pools including swimming pools tennis courts irrigation facilities and patios and I wonder why those things are included in in agricultural easement they don't sound like agricultural uses to me okay so these uh fountains and pools are sometimes uh well swimming pools tennis courts let me see in this I think this is taken out of context a little bit so these are I believe let's see so yeah um these are not anything that has any habit habitable residential components to it I'm not sure why the swimming pools are in there but um I don't um get any help with this one so some of yeah Elise Elder Deputy County attorney so this was uh drafted by conservation Florida we participated heavily in it some of the things for the improvements are things that are already existing on the property um I don't know that there's a swimming pool on the property but um conservation floor fla is the one that was instrumental in including that um we can certainly take that out if that's a concern and move forward with the easement without that if that's the board's desire my preference yeah everything else is basically doing to do with agricultural uses and that type of thing so the pools and the including the swimming pools would be the only questionable item why that would be needed well we're one of the grantees so I think it's important that if we have a true agricultural easement that it be not that it not include those man-made structures we can have that removed if that's the board's desire we are a guarantee in that case I move that we exclude or that we that the uh inclusions not include fountains pools including swimming pools tennis courts irrigation facilities and Patos well fountains can you take fountains out of that cuz fountains need to be and irrigation facilities might be uh agriculturally related too so okay can we I'd be comfortable with swimming pools and Tennis Courts fountains patios patio is just a patio there's what does it have to do with agriculture there's an existing patio on their on their office facility I'm sure that has something it's yeah I think that relates to the existing Nursery operations that are out there there are offices that have patios for outdoor you know for lunch or whatever part of the existing operation let's let Mr M comment on this and see good morning bring us some clarity here to my AP yes we do not have swimming pools or things like that and we're certainly have no objection to have that language taken out um irrigation yes obviously we're a tree farm we have to keep Irrigation in and there is a patio on some of the the our office building and we do have a patio associated with our maintenance area where our guys take breaks and things like that so and the fountain has to be in The Lakes for water quity so that's just variate the uh the light then then remove swimming pools and Tennis Courts absolutely fine with that there we go excent look at how easy that was okay so you are amending your can you restate your sure I will move approve move staff's recommendation um that we approve the deed of agricultural easement from Becker b14 uh to conservation Florida and Martin County excluding and eliminating the uh Lang language on improvements to not include swimming pools and Tennis Courts perfect yes okay I'll wait till second okay we have a motion in a second so we're going to allow Mr my second we're going to allow Mr mccy to give us an update on the other um uh public benefits that are required under the Pud I appreciate that and my apologies I for the clarification on the pools truthfully that's something we missed and it shouldn't have been in there I missed that for sure um as you know that part of our PUD agreement there was several public benefits that were um incorporated into the contract just want to give you a quick update on where they stand um there was four principal public benefits obviously the first one is the conservation easement or the Egg easement that's sitting in front of you today that hopefully you will approve we'll get amended and get that recorded um the second one is the relocation of the hobest hob old hob sound train station down to um some property back into hob sound um if you have come by the property recently or in the last three months you've noticed that it's sitting on a trailer um we are waiting FPL and um AT&T to grant us the permits to actually transport it down there um AT&T we got kind of hung up on a strike so we lost about 60 days there and obviously FPL with their storm recoveries it's been a little bit difficult getting them scheduled but um we're actively trying to get that done and as soon as it's scheduled um they can hook a tractor trailer up to the trailer and take it away um the other public or one of the other public benefits was the granting of the existing facilities to or existing Barn facilities over to the state park um for public benefit and public use uh so far that requires two agreements one from South Florida Water Management District and one from D through their Acquisitions and acquisition and restoration Council we have received approval from South Florida for the transaction uh we originally scheduled to go in front of Arc back on October 13th obviously because of the storms that was canceled um that meeting is now scheduled for November 1st um so we'll be in Tallahassee November 1st um we've got no indications from Arc other than they're pleased with the agreement we're going to move forward there the East West or the East access road that connects Bridge Road to that facility is done um um so basically once we get approval from Arc we'll go through the formal closing process we'll be able to go ahead and um dedicate that l or that land to the park um the last is the habitat restoration area the 124 acres in the north uh East portion of the property that is basically going through the Earth workor process right now I would hope to have that pretty well wrapped up by first quarter um then getting into the plantings and and basically all of that stuff um so by the end end of first quarter beginning of second quarter that should be done and that's really the almost complete the four biggest public benefits that we have thank you so much happy to answer any other questions or update on anything else commissioner heatherington I wanted to say that I had an opportunity to um ride by and I saw the train station is ready to be lifted and you had a number of public benefits on your project and every single one of them you have committed and you have you have completed and held true to your word and committed to those benefits as I drove by and I saw the train station ready to move you wouldn't know that your development was even taking place riding by you committed to rural lifestyle you committed to that and I thank you for all the public benefits and for doing what you said you were going to do thank you all right with that we have a motion by commissioner herd and that was my second and seconded by commissioner heatherington uh all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously thank you and thank you Rick appreciate it okay now public hearing number one legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report ear based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-4 chapter 4 future land use element a text Amendment Mr Clyde dlan good morning members of the board my name is Clyde Duan I'm the comprehensive planning administrator and before we launch into chapter 4 I'd like to do some housekeeping or cover a couple of introductory subjects and comments with you as you may know as you may remember the ear process the creation of an evaluation and appraisal report started in 2023 uh we presented it to the board for approval on March 5 of 2024 and uh we received this letter from the Department of Commerce the state land planning agency which notified us that we had to do all of our transmittal before November 27 2024 uh this is an entirely uh a process that is entirely driven by State Statute we do this every seven years we did it in 2008 and9 we did it in 20 um s 1617 and uh we're doing it again now um and as you can see the the state land planning agency has given us a date of November 27 2024 to send all of these amendments up and they must all go at once in one package all of the items together so I wanted to cover that quickly just so that everybody understands the uh the why and the the time frame for this also on November uh I'm sorry on March 5 2023 the board asked the uh Treasure Coast Regional planning Council which did our ear Outreach for additional public comment or additional uh survey work uh to reach out to some of the community uh entities like the school district and Chamber of Commerce and so on like that and on um we attached it as a supplemental to the first public hearing uh there is additional evaluation and Appraisal uh public input summary uh it's on page 465 of your agenda package uh it was directed by the board to be done and the uh Regional planning Council staff did that and we thank them very much for it uh it's uh reflects uh additional Community input um moving on uh to the overall agenda uh public hearings 1 through 5 are um are items that are new or they provide new info uh and public hearings 6 through 16 you have seen previously in September uh and voted on each of them the you began the public hearings in September for items uh public hearings 6 through 16 and uh we will be happy to do a full presentation on those if you want or if you need uh or if an abbreviated presentation or no presentation is necessary we'll be happy to uh to uh not do that if if that's not needed uh you have additional public comment and and agency comments and so on that came in after our agenda packages were finished and they are on dis for you I wanted to put that into the record um so that everyone knows that they it has been done has been put into um into place getting into chapter 4 uh the um this is the future land use element and um Nikki vano has referred to this as the heart of the comp plan that could you give the public an idea of how many public hearings that this is uh uh experienced up to this point because um I'm hearing that this is our first meeting to talk about this certainly um since March 5 uh each of these items uh in public hearings 1 through 16 has been presented to the local planning agency they have voted on each and every one of them uh and then this is the second public hearing um as I said for public hearings 6 through 16 they began in September the board uh looked at each of these items um in September 10 and September 24 there's 6 through 16 and uh voted on them and considered them um a few chapters like chapter 4 and chapter 14 have not been seen before this is your first uh look at them here today uh but this is just the transmittal hearing is there are three basic sets of hearings there's the LPA there's the transmittal hearing and then there's a final adoption that will not occur until next next year this is not the final adoption on any of these um the actions taken here today are merely to make changes that the board directs and then to transmit it to the state land planning agency and all of the state agencies like the de and the do and uh it will come back we will get a 60 days after we will get what's called an objections recommendations and comments report from those state agencies we will have to address any objections in that report the board can make additional changes that were not made here today or directed here today and um the board has final approval for final adoption uh I don't expect the orc report until probably January early in January and so we probably won't be scheduling a public hearing until February uh to present these items items 6 through six 1- 16 uh uh will be presented again to the board for final adoption okay so just for clarity the reason why we're having this today uh and not in December with a new board is because we have a deadline of November 27th right correct so any change you need a couple of whatevers to get that done right so there's that and two is that if a new commission comes along and decides that they don't want to adopt what we decide today they have full right to do that so the hysteria that some how Doug and I on our way out the door are trying to alter negatively impact our comprehensive plan is nonsense thank you you don't need to answer that all right so go ahead thank you thank you um I'm going to go into the staff report for chapter 4 and go through it because this has some of the more substantive changes of any changes in any chapter being presented to you here today and what I want to lead off with is on the first page of the staff report is uh a quote from Florida Statutes uh 163 3191 a local governments shall it's not optional shall comprehensively evaluate and as necessary update comprehensive plans to reflect changes in local conditions that's not specifically T making a requ a required change in one spot or another like there are other sections we'll site today but that is um the requirement of Florida statute that we look at other issues and some of those will be presented in this staff report for chapter 4 here today moving into the staff report and into the issues um there are 10 items I want to go over with you here today in chapter 4 uh number one is tabular data in tables 41 42 43 44 and uh these are regular just Updates this is just you know updating the uh number of uh Acres that are in each future land use designation number of acres in each um tax District that the that the uh property appraiser has there's nothing but a basic update to information here this is aamp example of something that our own plan requires to be updated regularly uh a partial control number is added to policy 4.7 A14 which allows uh the extension of water and sewer to a a property that Martin County acquired uh next to the solid waste Transfer and recycling facility uh there is a plan there's a plan policy that already permits Water and Sewer to extend to the solid waste and transfer facility out on uh Bush Street and uh this additional 9 acre parcel was acquired we discussed this in one of our other presentations on September 24 I believe and this is just an internal consistency change in chapter 4 so that it matches what's in the other chapters now item three is text proposed for Section 41b dealing with a composite Wetland map again we discussed this in chapter uh nine in a previous presentation and this is just for consistency with chapter nine uh minor text change for consistency uh is also proposed in 42a and that's for consistency with chapter 8 Coastal management element element um policy change to four 4.5 5 C1 recognizes the United States Department Of Agricultural natural resources conservation service soil data which is regularly updated and available on the web it's being recognized in addition to the 1981 soil survey which we have referenced since 1982 uh we're not taking away the 1981 we're just referencing this additional more up-to-date data for soil uh use and we use soil data whenever we do future land use map amendments and so on like that objective four um 4.5e and policy 4.52 Barrier Island development restrictions this is a change uh recognized in chapter 4 for consistency with chapter 8 dealing with flood uh exposure to flood risk and title inundation chapter 163 3177 requires us to go to 10 and 20 year minimum planning periods there are numerous sections in chapter 4 uh that are going to change it from a 15-year to a 20-year planning period and this is the case in many other chapters that uh will be considered here today and have been considered in September uh along with that uh let me go to uh the page because I wanted to recognize that our future luse map this is the 7 242 our future lus series um actually makes reference to a planning period and we and we update this with every year uh we've bumped it out you know from 2005 to 220 uh from 2 to 2015 and so on like that and we're proposing to bump out the future land use map planning period to 20124 consistent with that 20year uh planning period that's required in Florida Statutes we would normally have just said bump it out to 2040 but the uh statute moves us to 2045 um that's number seven uh that's pretty minor number eight in the U presentation 8 nine and 10 are where the real mey uh material is and where um be happy to get into any discussion with you um staff is proposing and recommending a change uh this is the local conditions subject uh that would allow the blending of uh sharing of infrastructure between two different future land use designations uh presently residential and Commercial future land use designations have to have their own infrastructure on their own separate land use designations um but we have circumstances where one property owner is proposing a unified development that incorporates two different future land use designations like residential and medium D I'm sorry medium density residential and Commercial and a lot of times the Topography of the land really doesn't lend itself well to having storm water in two different places for two different types of development the habitat is located in one place and not not in the other and it's best to do the 25% native Upland habitat where the habitat is and where it's of the best quality so um this is a staff recommendation to allow the blending or or the the sharing of infrastructure on two different land use designations just residential and Commercial does not extend to Industrial uh because plan policies pretty much discourage having industrial and residential in close proximity to each other so the proposed changes would be to 4.9 A3 and 4.10 B5 moving on to number nine disconnecting planning periods from residential Capacity Analysis our plan policies uh in two specific areas section 42a 9 and policy 4.1 D6 require 10 and 15E planning periods uh and require a residential Capacity Analysis to look at uh consider those two planning periods and there's language in there that requires that when there's insufficient capacity in the primary and SEC or secondary for the projected population growth for the 15-year planning period the uh expansion of residential capacity shall commence uh we also have other policies in our plan in specifically in objective 4.7 that uh require criteria to be met for any expansion of the primary urban service district and we're suggesting that maybe this one should also have to comply with those you know any proposal that or any expansion necessary as a requirement of this should also comply with other policies in the plan um and the staff report has additional analysis on 4.7 A7 which lists those eight criteria but staff is recommending a piece of text that doesn't take away any of the other language but simply would say oh I don't like that uh Martin County shall not make residential Capacity Analysis the sole determining factor for amending the urban service districts all decisions to amend the urban service districts shall be consistent with Goal 4.7 and supporting policies uh it doesn't take away anything it adds to the requirement to comply with all plan policies so that's number nine in staff report of substantive changes and the last item is eliminating dependence on the decennial census in the residential Capacity Analysis methodology not only does FL statute requires to look at local conditions but our own plan policy in chapter one Preamble requires that every 5 years staff shall analyze previous projections to determine the accuracy of the methodology and improve on it for future projections we've worked with the decennial census in our residential Capacity Analysis on a number of occasions now and as you know we only get it once every 10 years and so in between those 10 years the data gets pretty stale and uh so we would would recommend not using the denial census uh we would recommend instead using um EDR and bber which are state agencies that provide very high quality data for projecting population and projecting growth and um we have that's available to us annually if not more often from those state agencies for total housing units we would recommend using the uh housing unit count that the property appraiser has that too is more up to date than the denial census and it would allow us to have uh more up-to-date data uh along with that uh there is a subject in the residential Capacity Analysis called excess vacant housing that is a statistic and a number that is only available through the denial census there is no other source that we have to get that data and that is the adding in of vacant housing units not vacant land not vacant Lots not site plans that haven't been approved but actual housing units that have been no longer are not being lived in and in 2013 this was put into the Capacity Analysis because we had we were still coming out of the worst recession since the Great Depression and um the justification for that is was found actually written into ordinance 938 and I'm highlighting it on the screen and it talked about how the 2010 census and the Great Recession made it clear that we had a lot of excess vacant units we had houses where people walked away turned them over the bank let the yard grow over and let the pool go green we don't have that in 2024 today in especially in our postco housing uh economy uh this is not an issue so staff would recommend removing this particular portion from the uh residential Capacity Analysis and uh with that I will end the staff presentation on uh chapter 4 and be happy to answer any questions any questions for staff commissioner her yeah I'm starting on page 7 of 84 228 um I'm looking at the the um existing land use tables and I'm looking from the difference from 2009 um which is uh undeveloped acreage which is let's call it 70,000 acres to 2024 where there are 13,000 Acres so that means that in the last years 57,000 Acres have developed no ma'am what does that mean it's really difficult to explain the the property appraisers um do codes Department of Revenue codes um they have their own Rhyme and their own reason for doing so it's for taxation purposes uh we're required to list uh certain data the Department of Community Department of Commerce the state land planning agency has um these this is just a data update based upon property appraiser data it does not reflect the development of of land as we do development every day and we we do reviews of development every day so in 2009 were the property appraisers uh statistics used also yes then there's still a 57,000 acre swing from the same data source okay um estimated Wetland acreage in 2017 was 39,000 in 2024 was 375 so that means that in um 7 Acres 7 years 1,500 Acres of wetlands disappeared when we know allow no impacts to Wetlands no the we do the best we can with Wetland acreage we do remote sensing data and as we discussed in one of the items earlier on here in this presentation we're not using we're we're deemphasizing the use of uh the composite Wetlands map and that data that goes into figure 91 uh and for the very reasons identified in this staff report that is remote sensing data that is taken from high altitude aerial photography uh National Wetlands inventory data that is not sufficient or or I'm sorry not equivalent to data obtained on the ground with on-site delineations and consistent with State Statute so this is a best available remote sensing data that we use it's not equivalent to on-site delineation did we use the same data source for our uh estimates in 2009 2017 and 2024 yes so between 2009 and 2017 um 350 Wetland Acres disappeared using the same data we estimate that from 2017 to 2024 1,500 Acres disappeared as I said the data is remote sensing it's not something you can compare to the on-site delineations in s in site planning it's unfortunately the best we have available I'd like to have better data for this kind of uh analysis but it's it's another reason why you have to take all data in uh in these in this long rrange planning as with a grain of salt this is the data that you're presenting this is the only data I have to rely upon it's the only data we have to rely on and but it's not accurate it's not even close to being accurate and yet it's in our comprehensive plan um I'm on the residential capacity determination before we go Mar County shall not make residential Capacity Analysis the sole determining factor for amending the urban service districts all dis all decisions to amend urban service districts shall be policy decisions consistent with Goal 4.7 and supporting policies now I'll read 4.7 to see what we're going to rely upon uh do you have number commissioner yeah it's 40 of 84 or 261 and it says okay this is what we're replacing the residential Capacity Analysis with to regulate urban sprawl by directing growth in a timely and efficient manner to to areas with Urban public facilities and services where they are programmed to be available at the levels of service adopted in this plan that's what we're replacing empirical data with uh no ma'am that that's 4.7 allow me to scroll down 4.7 uh no that's not the right spot 4.7 is describing uh a great many things about the primary urban service District let me to get down to the policy we're we're adding in the requirement to comply with 4.7 A7 and the requirement to comply with all of these criteria one through eight how do you DET demonstrate that reasonal capacity doesn't exist we have we have a reliable uh methodology right now but we're giving that up I don't know how you demonstrate that the how do how do you demonstrate that the land affected is suitable for urban uses how do you demonstrate that reasonable capacity doesn't exist on suitable land it's these are criteria that we consider whenever we have a proposed expansion of the primary Service District and we are simply requiring that they also be considered in addition to the residential Capacity Analysis so we're adding to the requirements no we're not we're subtracting and also on page I don't know what it is 265 or 44 of 84 these are just some illustrations of exceptions to um uh development being required to be inside the urban service boundary we have parcel numbers and and things like development on the parcels described in that certain deed recorded in official records book 2571 page 1350 of the public records nobody knows what that is I certainly don't so you make these exceptions and then you just uh don't describe them except by number and then shared infrastructure on residential and Commercial development you know we we don't allow that now um because we have stated uh in every way possible that commercial and residential uses are incompatible and yet now we're accepting that they can share infrastructure we this this this is the most significant chapter in the comprehensive plan it's it's where our strategies and our methodologies are laid out specifically to determine how we can grow in the future and we are amending those right out of there that's it commissioner Smith I was going to make the comment earlier relative to I think what transpired with the agricultural uh acreage numbers some 10 years ago maybe 12 years ago there was a significant shift in the State of Florida on how uh property appraisers viewed agricultural exemptions um I don't know if all of you were here at the time but we started getting calls from people on caner Highway uh that had enjoyed their agricultural exemption for decades and if they had a 20 acre or maybe it was a 40 acre parcel on caner all of a sudden 10% of it was um agriculture culturally exempt and the rest was now taxable and their beef was that I've had this generationally in agricultural exemption and now you're forcing me to pay taxes on it because it's not active Agriculture and what happened was and this isn't criticism it's just I there there I don't know that there was ever a full explanation of what happened but by region in our County we started reassessing what was active at and what was not active EG and so that one parcel which now perhaps has a very large box being built on it as a somewhat as a result of these kind of decisions in policy um had a few trees um that were still considered to be active agriculture on their 20 or 40 acres I forget which was the final number and it went from hundreds of dollars in taxes to tens of thousands of dollars in taxes and they were sold and so through no fault of anybody up here or anything else what was once classified as active agriculture no longer is agriculture pieces itty bitty pieces of it are uh but not the total number which I suspect would have a significant um impact relative to the codes and how the property appraiser codes various aspects of our Parcels all over Martin County on that one issue and on the last issue that was commented on um I would say this much um the parcel at least that I understand could have would have shared a residential and Commercial access point would have had a site plan um on caner that really might have been a a a pretty kind of cool interesting site plan through reviewed uh when Senate Bill 102 I think it was affordable housing was it 102 um came into be uh because we didn't allow the sharing of land jues um and we were basically denying them the ability to do a mix of uses across the two land jues because they couldn't share the same access point is now going to be uh the recipient of a Senate Bill 102 affordable housing project and so sometimes you have to um be careful of what you ask for because you might actually get it if I may follow up on that thank you commissioner for the very good description on the agricultural issue and the property appraisers codes I you're more aware of some of that than I am on the sharing of land uses issue uh I put a on a graphic on the screen uh for everybody to to help illustrate um I didn't I intentionally have not identified anybody's property um but this is a large RightWay that provides access this is a much more limited RightWay that provides access and to upgrade the right away here where my cursor is on the right hand side to provide access to a residential development on this property would impact a lot of other residential property owners uh whereas if you if if we were allowed to uh provide access Through The General commercial which is the purple and the red is the medium density residential from a major thoroughfare it wouldn't impact other property owners residential property owners on the east side of the uh proposed residential development that you see and what I have Illustrated here is one property ownership outlined and two different land use designations within that property ownership and um it it's an example of a site where I know most of the habitat is back here on the Eastern end in the in the um residential area and where you don't want the access going through the habitat anyway um and where um it allows staff to work with the applicant to come up with a design that has less impact on habitat and less impact on surrounding residential areas and for those of you who are not familiar with Senate Bill 102 for those in the community that were not happy with all the apartment units that were built in the city of Stewart over the last six or seven years um these kind of decisions are what force you in the the direction of getting what we will end up with and so I think for Martin County to have better control over its future and what land juices and Zoning produce I think it's a really good idea to be able to give our staff the best tool possible the other thing I was going to say um just before um we went into commissioner discussion on this item uh do not ever retire Clyde mind I I I don't know that everybody watching or listening truly appreciate the amount of knowledge and the amount of of um historical knowledge and understanding of all of this process that you have and you rattled through some stuff that was incredibly complex and complicated as if you like just had it all right here and so uh for all my years of doing this I thank you for your ability to do that thank you so I have maybe a little answer to the Wetland thing uh just my experience working with uh Michael used with our environmental things um correct me if I'm wrong Paul um but uh Banner lake at one point was considered a wetland well we did a study and it's mostly a lake M which then that would diminish the acreage of a wetland and all of that stuff uh we now um that goes all the way up to uh Point Santa Gardens all of those wetlands have been actually delineated in the acreage is actually accurate so I'm sure that that has and you know I don't know that for a fact but I'm it's logical that that would alter the numbers from a guess to a more accurate number right so that's that's a perfect example that's applicable both in past data and in present data uh of how the the remote sensing is going to treat the lake and the Wetland around it all is one I tell you what um uh all of my experiences with uh with that's been one of my most rewarding one is is working with uh those guys and understanding nature and hydrology and I've gotten really a lot out of it and I really appreciate it so with that um any further questions commissioner campy I just want to re reiterate the point that Mr Duan made originally to hopefully alleviate some fears of residents that either think the process is moving too quickly or look I listen to my colleague commissioner herd and um she brings up valid points that in her research has made her feel that that is the right way it's happening but I also listen to my professional staff Mr Dulan you didn't do this by yourself did you oh Lord no give us a little taste of how many people are involved for all all of these chapters I I my Thanks goes out to the public works staff the utilities department staff to a host of people in the growth Management Department Maria and Joan collecting public comment um you know Elise Elder all my comp planning staff Emergency Services Emergency Services utility yeah you know the list goes on and on if I tried to name everybody I'd leave somebody out the whole County pretty much so and the reason I asked that is not to grandstand is that I hear my colleague commissioner herd I hear what she says it sounds legitimate it's her it's her opinion based on her research and those that have assisted in her creating the opinion that she has the thing that I have heard consistently in the emails is is wait until the new Commissioners get here as commissioner Jenkins said um who was voluntarily did not run for reelection they will be Seated on November 19th this will be needs to be submitted about a week later give or take a couple of days which would make it a very difficult process as well as the fact that I know that their orientation to become new Commissioners has already begun and it's basically you know the expression of drinking uh taking a drink of water from a fire hose they're having to be brought up to speed on every topic this is a c is a very complicated process as you've heard so for them in their in in uh orientation to have to then be brought up to speed on this so that on their first inaugural day would have to vote so that it could get there the following 10 days would be Herculean and and I don't think would be fair the rest of us have had over a year to have conversation with staff public experts whatever the case may be the point I'm trying to make and I hopefully will is that when it comes back from Tallahassee in January and then you have a chance to review their comments whether they say we agree with everything that you've written or we have concerns it'll then come back one more time uh in potentially February for a final uh adoption by the board the new board cons constituted board at that point commissioner herd will still be here commissioner heatherington will still be here I will still be here and we'll have commissioner uh elect caps and commissioner-elect Vargas that will have a couple of months to at least take in this portion so if what commissioner herd has said today is proven to be factual or she can convince two other Commissioners the new ones that ran on a policy I watch them campaign that they were going to be much more um conservative in their decision making uh that's the back stop for all of this so I don't want people through October November uh potentially into December and January be like they've destroyed the comprehensive plan they've ruined Martin County the concerns that the residents have that this might be rushed or that commissioner herd is right and all of our staff that's brought this forward is wrong those two new Commissioners will have an opportunity to digest it hear from the public and then vote against it if they so choose so today is not us all jumping off a cliff that Cliff is actually located in February thank you so with that in mind I will make a motion to accept staff's recommendation for this specific agenda item knowing that the new Commissioners will see it in February okay we do have one public comment card uh GG debate thank you I I know this process has made it hard for a lot of us to be civil and and I I appreciate everything you said today about opportunities that we have um I'm Geraldine jenko Dubay I'm with the treasured lands Foundation um well one of the things that we look at as an indicator of our natural systems the systems that we love about Florida in particular about Martin County are the wetlands and um in reviewing what is being changed here um and the references are being made to the 1985 National Wetlands inventory the data satellite classifications the soil classifications um all of the studies that the county has done between 2001 and 2017 and and you referenced in the staff report that it was very uh important to note that it's not an actual indication of the location of wetlands as required by Florida Statutes so that makes me concerned that this may not go far enough in identifying Wetlands that have not been identif ified yet but in the future the uh environmental Department of Martin County may find our viable wetlands and they don't meet what maybe the state criteria is um in the incidents where something like that would occur how does the language address it um and that's what my question was because I'm not understanding that it would thank you I can do it I want to let them you want to respond sure um the data that we were referring to in item three in the staff report and in the chapter is as I said remote sensing data you fly over the the surface of the Earth with a plane and you take pictures and you make educated guesses off of that that's professional environmentalists make educated guesses on where the wetlands are and what is Wetland what is not um and that's used because you can't go on people's property and identify the wetlands on each and every property in the 365 square miles that is Martin County um what we do require with each and every final site plan with building permits with excavation and fill permits is an identification of any wetlands and a delineation by an environmental professional in compliance with State Statute and you really can't compare the remote sensing data that you get from flying overhead with the data that you or the specific analysis that gets surveyed in on a site with an environmental professional walking it looking at the plants looking at the hydrology and so on like that this remote sensing data is just used for planning purposes for giving us an idea of well it might be there got it okay okay with that anything else we have a motion by commissioner campy seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor I all opposed opposed motion carries 4 to one with commissioner herd dissenting thank you thank you can you do your next one in 13 minutes oh it's not you okay public hearing number two legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-02 overall goals definitions a text Amendment Jenna naby good morning Commissioners my name is Jenna knobby I'm a senior planner with the growth Management Department this is chapter two of the comp plan that is proposed for Amendment as part of this ear process and I will walk you through some of the proposed changes in the staff report here so with the comp plan one of the biggest foundations with it is internal consistency between all of the chapters and in Chapter 2 some of the proposed changes are cross references to other chapters for that internal consistency so policy 2.2 A2 is being revised with reference to chapter 9 regarding the uh exception ions for altering Wetlands there's a new policy proposed for um consistency with chapter 9 as well it's policy 2.2 A7 this is regarding the exceptions to Wetland buffer zone Provisions policy 2.2 c91 is being revised to reference policy 8.1 C1 in chapter 8 policy 2.2 C9 is being revised to include a sentence of about storm water design and the consideration of tital inundation and sea level rise impacts this is consistent with the proposed resiliency text in chapter 8 objective 2.2 f is proposed for addition also with this reference to resiliency planning that's outlined in chapter 8 policy 2.4 C1 is being revised to change this planning period time frame that we've referenced before from 15 years to 20 years and then moving into the definitions section of chapter 2 there are a few definitions that are proposed for revision uh to be consistent with either State Statute or um coming up to speed with for example the village of Indian Town being Incorporated and lastly we have a couple definitions uh the definition for housing units and actual use is being proposed for deletion this is consistent with the proposed changes in chapter four as you just heard in chapter 1 as well the definition for seasonal housing or seasonal population housing is proposed for revision also consistent with changes in chapter 4 and one and the definition for vacant seasonal housing units is proposed for deletion consistent with the changes in chapter 4 and one in addition to that we have some miscellaneous grammar and um housekeeping changes that are proposed in this chapter so that concludes staff presentation on chapter 2 we recommend approval to transmit this chapter to the State of Florida land planning agency and we're available for any questions you did that in three minutes all right any questions for St we have any public no saying none commissioner campy would you and Mr duelan classify these basically housekeeping and administrative kind of changes nothing no dramatic changes in this particular chapter correct correct thank you a motion no that was a question I don't want to steal everyone's Thunder commissioner hton a pending public comment I will make a motion to um for staff's recommendation of approval to transmit second okay I'll ask again for public comment since you me to but we didn't see any the first time around so we have a a motion by commissioner aington seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor all right all opposed motion carries unanimously thank you okay public hearing number three you did a great job by the way thank you um legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report ear based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-1 preamble a text Amendment thank you Commissioners uh Jenna Nai senior planner with the growth Management Department this is chapter one of the comprehensive plan this item was before you at the September 10th meeting and because of the proposed changes for internal consistency with chapter 4 and chapter 2 this item was returned to the local planning Agency on October 3rd and so in your staff report on page three the changes that have been uh proposed in this chapter since you last saw it are highlighted in this gray section so everything else from when you last saw it is the same but in section 1.7 B housing unit demand projection there's proposed revisions to be consistent with chapter 4 and the same with Section 1.7 C residential capacity calculations also proposed to to be consistent with chapter 4 so if you have any other questions we're available but we recommend approval to transmit transmit this to the state land planning agency two minutes get good all right any questions for staff seeing none any public uh comment seeing none back to the board same set of circumstances is the last agenda item correct very administrative housekeeping yes sir yes thank you okay we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed motion carries unanimously thank you okay we're on a roll legislative public hearing uh public hearing number four legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report year base based comprehensive plan Amendment 24-5 Transportation element a text Amendment Samantha love lady Lisa wixer no oh and uh PWD staff PWD what is Department Public Works Department staff okay and it's just Samantha it's just me she can handle it hopefully be joined she can handle it some one um so on you have seen this chapter in um October September 10th and we're back again on October 22nd and um the only changes that have been made are what's in red since you last saw it um so actually let's go down to the supplemental where we did here are the changes so um the revising the purpose of section 56. A relating to Future pathway needs and that is on 962 PD PWD guy hi hello do you want to take o this is Mike Gela yeah I'm Michael Gela the County engineer um she was doing a great job by the way she don't mess it up now going don't screw it up to be honest I came downstairs and then I realized I forgot my jacket so I went back you do require a certain level of so um the this is the changes to um 5.6 a and this gives you um fature pathway needs do you want to take over or you want me to I can take over if you can run that part okay um in 5. 6.8 these These are the comments that were all brought up at the last commission meeting that we're going to run through here that the changes have been made since the last commission meeting um in uh 5. 6. a we've added in about the U the guidelines for developing the future public non-motorized pathway needs and mitiga ation strategies for safer facilities basically we're um adding in the fact for mitigation then following further down in the SEC in the section we've uh identified the following table which provided to introduce the level of stress concept and to recognize that the adequacy of a pathway is not determined by the number of cyclists and pedestrian carries shows the general characteristics of pathway users these level of traffic stress can be established once realistic levels of stress targets are evaluated and established as set forth in policy 5.4 A1 and with that yeah there you go um we moved in to add all this language about the stress stuff existing and proposed facilities can be evaluated based on the craft surveillance report and the context classification described in section 5.2b by using the methodologies established in the fdot's multimodal qualitative level of service manual the following strategies can be implemented to reduce the level of stress and increase safety for cyclists providing continuous separated or shared Pathways providing 7ot buffered pathway adjacent to travelway where posted speeds are less than 40 m hour providing a rigid barrier between the pathway and the travelway where posted speeds are 40 mph or greater or where the pathway is on a bridge longer than one4 mile the following strategies can be implemented to reduce the stress level and increase safety for pedestrians providing continuous Pathways providing a horizontal separation between the pathway and the travelway where Post-it speed is 25 mph providing a horizontal and a vertical separation between the pathway and the travelway where poit speeds are greater than 30 so those are all the mitigation strategies that we can deal with for Pathways so that's all added in there we also added in the um a policy 5.4 A1 which is enhanced bicyle and pedestrian safety along Bridges and major arterials the county shall develop standards and encourage the state to develop standards that increase the safety of bicyc and pedestrians along Bridges and major arterials which may include providing a rigid barrier between the facility and the travelway where the posted speed is 40 m hour or greater or the bridge is longer than a quar mile and the final thing that we changed from last time was we removed the the references to a high-speed Ferry to Fort Pierce that was a originally um part of the regional Water waste plan so those are the changes that we've made since the the last time um you all saw this commissioner Smith yeah I think it's um great that uh given the conversation we had yesterday at the mo meeting relative to Mr Drummond that passed away on the sus Point bridge that the pathways conversation and the sort of memorializing in our comp and the idea that there need to be separation and better safety measures relative to cyclists and pedestrians um is important to our comp plan so thank you for that uh and I'm sure uh his family will be most appreciative uh in addition um hopefully uh you all will work with the legislature to uh see that the legislature follows through with some changes to when I say you all I'm thinking you all um to work with our delegation and whatnot on on just this very specific topic to see if we can't at least get some pilot projects done and looked at we also had a really interesting I thought a fantastic presentation at the regional planning Council the other day and Tom hopefully at some point you'll bring that presentation on the trails in Florida um to the commission uh there there was once um an idea uh not only with the Greenways Trail and the continuation of that in Jonathan Dickinson along uh Route One down hopes sound but uh also through the Atlantic Ridge to maybe really create something special for a trail so hopefully that presentation can come back to the commission for their ability to see that sure heard yeah I'm still concerned about um our quality level of service uh generally targets maintain uh losd uh during peak season peak hour Peak direction is the lowest tolerable level of service man I I think that's a really pitiful goal because it's it's it's called unstable flow why on Earth is that our acceptable standard why don't we at least aim for something that's better and also I feel like during peak season peak hour Peak direction that we're way below a d so I I I I don't what would you propose good Heavens what about a b what about a c b is reasonably free flow C is stable flow shouldn't that be our goal rather than saying okay we're going to live with d which is approaching unstable flow I feel like that's the kind of of traffic I'm in pretty much every day and and this States that's okay I suspect that Mr Donaldson has an answer for you yes Mr chairman uh the level service D has been the County's level service for I think for since the original comp plan and so one of the challenges you have is that um um I think one of the first examples that when I was County engineer of of a level service te of meeting level service te was Dixie Highway through um Port solo and in order to achieve even maintaining D it was to forlane it and in that particular SE section um the community said they did not want to forlane the road so we constrained it to a u um a more urban section so so the cost to go to a level service C or B you would have um basically unrestricted you you could travel through the county quite easily and the cost to provide those multi-lane Urban expressways Etc so um for instance in Jensen Beach when they looked at do we keep US1 to an8 Lane Road and Dot suggested that if we wanted to meet our level service D we should have um uh two or four lanes that actually fly over Jensen Beach Boulevard and you had this sort of kind of mini Urban Expressway in which we said no so that's the challenge commissioner is I think level service D Works um and if you make free two free flowing of traffic you um um the the costs are enormous and it is it inde D is the standard the city of Stewart of course has adopted a level service on US1 that is like um well they call it like d plus 50 or it's a it's a level Service app basically they they said that there will no there's going to be no traffic improvements to US1 because doing so would require the acquisition of properties and adding additional Lanes so it is a complicated um um consideration in terms of um uh I think I think what is probably more strategic is which roads are you going to allow for a higher level service and which roads you are not and I think that's where we've gotten into um constrained roadway concept which is in the comp plan which is Dixie Highway through Salerno um and other roadways we've talked about you just simply we're going to um keep the neighborhood character the same but the travel time will be longer and that's I know it's a very long-winded answer but the the main point is that level service D has been our standard since um um from the beginning of the comp plan and it is one of the areas that we struggle with meeting that balance between making improvements and keeping the look feel of the community um without overly accommodating Vehicles well I'm sure the D looked a a whole lot different in 1982 than it does in 2024 everything did um and also we've created Transportation concurrency exception areas and that's for those areas where you want to constrain the roads i' you know okay allow us that option but just to say yeah well we're just going to be miserable in in traffic because that's our goal is kind of a um a a poor way to lead um I'm looking at policy 5.4 A3 and I don't know which one I'm looking at I don't know if I'm looking at the old one or the new one frankly it says number well I got 974 or 27 of 34 it says include bicycle Lanes on new resurfaced County arterials and collectors is did you Mr gazela did you add some clarifying language on that or is this is are we going to include bicycle Lanes on County arterials and collectors we did not add any additional language on it no um anybody feel like adding bike Lanes on County alter um arterials and collectors is a good idea we have a lot of collectors that that have bike Lanes on them now and uh cuz collectors are just that's what they are they're they're The Collector roads for the residences and and moving people I just have issues with safety of bicycle Lanes on roads like arterials like caner and US Juan and roads like that I don't think that they're and also policy 5.5 A3 plan for a regional public transit authority can you amplify that a bit that's been in the um in the plan also for a number of years in terms of looking at um the efficiencies of running a Transit operation to either um expand our role Beyond or be partner to either Palm Beach County or St lucing River in terms of um it it it spoke to um a goal of looking at the efficiency of delivering Transit through a perhaps larger management it's it's been there for some time it it was just called Transportation before now we've actually renamed it Transit gotcha yeah not a fan of that strategy either um and on policy 5.5 A9 strive to expand the fixed route public transit system uh the county shall strive to expand or add to the existing fixed routes um blah blah and I think that we're trying to diversify Transit and I wonder if this ties our hands somewhat by just expanding fixed routes when I think there's been a lot of discussion about finding alternatives to fixed route planning may I jump in with you yeah I don't disagree with commissioner herd um if we are going to be looking at hybrid versions of offering transit services then maybe you don't want to take this language out but you would want to add something that gives you a little more of a broad definition of what that public transit might be if it's um Lyft and Ubers or free ride or whatever the case may be um if we're going to try to discuss traffic increases and change her level of service from D you have to have some of these other options maybe just strive to expand the public transit system rather than fixed route yes I think that doesn't tie your hands and then also leaves open the possibility of a of a new hybrid version or a new option that maybe especially considering we're not doing this every year who knows what to two or 3 years from now would mean I know that many communities and I'm not recommending that we do but many communities picked up those little Scooters or city bikes that you could leave around so there's no language in here that would encourage that and lastly uh policy 5.12 A3 deep in the channel in manate Pocket um can I get some clarification on 5 589 yep so you're just wanting to take out fixed round this statement here I think um they said that if you look at the starting sentence it said strive to expand the public transit system so you eliminate the word fixed route okay I don't want to limit us to expanding the fixed route and last Le deep in the channel in the manity pocket and do you have a page number for that please it's the it's well it says 981 or 34 of 34 it's the last uh policy in the transportation element there you go why do we want to deepen the channel in the manate Pocket Cruise shapes yeah um I I maybe that was written before it was stretched okay yeah J's coming to rescue we're I've got it now but it just took me a while to read it get to it so this this really speaks more to the the maintenance dredging that we've done in the past we need to continue to do dredging in there because the sedimentation that occurs in the channel um it's particularly susceptible to um Shing and areas where it gets too shallow for the ex existing uses especially some of the uses that are deeper into the pocket when we get that Shing and and sedimentation that occurs in there uh over time we're going to have to dredge it again um it's not something we could just do once we have to plan and and budget for maintenance dredging in the future well then that's what the language should say is is U maintain a channel in the manate pocket rather than deepen the channel in the manate pocket mhm well it says consider deepening I just don't want this to become a priority based upon this language and I can see it becoming a priority based upon this language um this this speaks to the marine services route so where the the large we have several Industries in Martin County where they um build very large custom yachts and where they launch those Yachts is on the very south end of the manatee pocket and we don't want to get into a position where our homegrown businesses aren't able to launch those um vessels um through that area that really is the only place they can put them in is is um the area in can we not just change the beginning of that sense the county shall maintain the channel in channel in manate Pocket to enable deeper draft vessels to access local Mariners and services it's helpful sure you got it I got it we got it that you're winning and winning and winning is your day motion do it you got everything you wanted it's Christmas morning I I got still got I'm still stuck on D so favor to my friend and colleague commissioner her I will make the motion to accept staff's new language based on her insightful uh comments commissioner Smith was going to do that apparently but well I was GNA I I wanted to add a while ago um comments some comments I you know I back to this level of service D issue um I would argue that over the last 20 plus years relative to level of service Veterans Memorial Bridge has been added Cove Road was Forlan or it was supposed to have been for laned by now it is in the PDN stage as we speak Monteray out here was for laned A1A North of Indian Street to Monteray was for laned caner Highway was expanded all to give us capacity to keep us moving versus being in complete gridlock which we would have been and were already entering into at the time at which those uh roads were modified people kind of tend to forget what Monteray looked like when it was a two-lane road but uh it was a very different stret between here and A1A um some years ago is that a second second okay we have a motion by commissioner campy which I forgot until now um and seconded by commissioner Smith all in favor we need public comment commissioner sorry any public comment um Mr Pine looked like he wanted to make a comment but no all right um motion by commissioner campy second and by commissioner Smith all in favor I all opposed opposed motion carries four to one with commissioner herd dissenting because of Road D grade I actually don't disagree with you but you know you're out the um I make a recommendation that jenabi do the rest of the chapters because when she does them they take like minutes they're unanimous minutes and they take minutes let her do the rest of them thanks you're doing great yes what was that all about so I hate to slow down or stop our momentum because we're doing very well here but it is a quarter after 12 and probably lunchtime so well we have to do executive session oh D it we're paying a court lunch no lunch okay bite your hands go all right so we're going to let Sarah say what she needs to say thank you commissioner Sarah Woods County attorney um I've asked to meet with the board of County Commissioners and the County Administrator in a private attorney client session in accordance with Section 28611 sub uh pan Florida Statutes to obtain Vice advice related to settlement negotiations or strategy related to litigation expenditures in the case of ban by land LLC versus South Florida Water Management District at L case number 2023 CA 0052 um in the background plaintiff be a man by land uh filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Martin County against the county South Florida Water Management District Florida Fish and Game Conservation Commission and the Board of Trustees of the internal Improvement trust fund of the State of Florida seeking vehicular access to bm's properties located within the pond Palm M Palm Beach Heights um unplanted subdivision the case is before judge Michael J mcnicholas the lawsuit seeks seeks veicular access to plaintiff's properties through three easements recorded in the 1960s but never accepted by the county plaintiff's complaint alleges inverse condemnation injunctions and declarations as to easements and their validity on June 23rd the court granted plaintiff's emergency motion for a preliminary injunction thereby preventing any of the defendants from restricting vehicular access through one of the alleged easement areas to the east section of Palmar a mediation was held on June 20th 2024 with all parties settle with all parties present with settlement negotiations occurring the mediation was continued and held on September 3rd 2024 um I am asking that the board agree to meet with Don Donaldson County Administrator Sarah Woods County attorney Sebastian pousi senior assistant County attorney in a private attorney client session for approximately one hour or less in accordance with 286118 Florida statute for a strategy session regarding litigation expenditures concerning the case of baman by land LLC versus South Florida Water Management District at l case number 2023 CA 0052 and I'm asking for a motion for that so moved second okay we have motion by commissioner heard second by commissioner heatherington all in favor I all opposed motion carries 4 to zero zero with commissioner Umi Smith uh exited stage left so I don't know where the board of County Commissioners well thank you the board of County Commissioners will now meet privately in an attorney client session in accordance with Section 28611 subp paragraph 8 Florida Statutes in order to provide advice to the county attorney regarding pending litigation to which the county is presently a party before the court or administrative agency specifically the case of be a man by land LLC versus South Florida Water Management District at all case number 2023 CA 00005 52 the session is expected to last approximately 1 hour or less the people attending this session will be Commissioners Harold Jenkins chairman Ed campy Doug Smith Sarah herd and Stacy heatherington County Administrator don Donaldson Sebastian perowsky senior assistant County attorney and myself Sarah Woods County attorney we are now in recess okay but we're coming back we will be we will be back then we'll adj break for lunch okay you 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 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 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay we are back done with our um executive session session um chairman of the board please announce that the meeting of the board of County Commissioners is now reopen to the public in the attorney client session in the case of bmm by land LLC versus South Florida water Management District at L case number 2023 CA 0052 is now terminated what she said so back in session and we are going to take a break for lunch and we're going to when when do we want to come back 2:30 23030 long day left two yeah say how about a compromise of 215 sure okay 215 it is all right right thank you for