##VIDEO ID:a5tm9dx0gUY## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e right um want to thank you for attending our border of County Commission meeting we're going to call the meeting to order today is Tuesday November 26th it's N9 o'clock uh I've asked former commissioner Bill Pickins if he will lead us in the invocation this morning and the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by commissioner Leota consent All Rise if you're able to do so let us pray Heavenly Father we just thank you for this glorious day and all the blessings in it father God we just thank you for the opportunity to you to gather here as your citizens County Commissioners staff father God we just uh ask for a special blessing for the three new County Commissioners that'll take the dis today and continue to guide the two Commissioners that have will lead us uh for the next four years father God father God in this time of Thanksgiving just let us thank you and praise you for all our blessings in Jesus name we pray amen please join me in the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you uh Comm former commissioner Bill Pickins thank you so much and uh do want to thank commissioner Wilkinson thanks everyone for being here today uh do want to thank commissioner Wilkinson for the lovely decorations that are you see today in the beautiful tree that's out front um it's nice to have a woman's touch and we appreciate your effort on that uh we are going to have to recess the meeting and go to an executive session that'll be held right next door it's a few times in Florida Statutes that this board's allowed to meet uh without the public there it's it's a legal matter and then we'll be right back so if you will just uh hold on to your seats and we'll be right back as we recess this meeting thank 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 all right we're going to reconvene the border of County Commission meeting and move right into to our election of chair and vice chair Mr s do you have the floor and while he's coming up let me say it's been an honor and a privilege to be the chairman for the last year every year has its own challenges and um every commissioner before me can say that um this one had a few with a couple hurricanes and navigating through that but um it's a pleasure and an honor to be the chairman and it's a lot of work some days and um but it's it's well worth moving this County forward so Mr Suggs you have the floor sir well thank you Mr chairman good morning Board of Commissioners good morning uh Mr Harvey chairman Harvey if you don't mind when you join for just a minute sir you know in your closing comments you talked about a few things that the county went through this year under your leadership and so I want to start off by saying I think it was seven years years ago maybe eight years ago we had a hurricane situation Mr Harvey was caught at Sea I believe it was on a uh on a boat enjoying his never Liv that no living the life living the dream and and he hasn't forgotten that and every year when we have an issue Mr Harvey brings us back up so what does he doing this year as a as chairman he has two hurricanes to make up for the one that he missed but uh but you know in all serious uh chairman Harvey uh you know your leadership this year through uh through some difficult situations you joined us at the EOC you're a part of a uh the discussion uh you saw the the activities within the EOC during those storm events so you know how everything works prep and the leadership skills that the staff that you've allowed us to put together here how how we take care of this County and this community you know we miss that this year your leadership has been exemplary this year and I as a County Administrator and on behal of all of our staff and citizens want to say thank you personally for everything that you've done this year we've accomplished a lot uh you'll hear a an update on reports later but some of the things that was accomplished this year under your leadership we can go down a list but I just want to talk about a couple of them real quick uh Public Safety communications project we've been talking about public safety for seven eight years and it's finally coming to fruition and uh that's huge that touches every single citizen as well as our surrounding County so thank you for helping us get that across the Finish Line our ISO rating this year went from a 10 to a five plus I think it was a 5x which is countywide which is tremendous you know the things that we've accomplished you know all of our dirt to pave projects you know it's been amazing uh putting together a new Engineering Department Public Works you know having the board of the county commissioner support that has made a huge change in this community how projects get moved forward again under your leadership ship I as County Administrator say personally thank you so much for everything that you've done for this year and look forward to serving with you for a couple more years thank you yes sir and on behalf of the uh the Board of accouny Commissioners and staff we want to present you with this plack in appreciation of effective and dedicated leadership as chairman from 2023 to 2024 thank you Mr Harvey thank you sir absolutely [Applause] thank you sir all right what's your show sure I would love to you know um thank you staff and thank you Mr Suggs and thank you fellow Commissioners you know like I said every chairman has its um its year and every year is different um but one thing we were able to do this year um and let me let me say this it's easier to govern when you have money it's a very simple process we were able to move this U make our reserves better uh lower keeping our millage rate the same watching property values grow in this County for years when they didn't grow a lot of good things are happening here in putam County unfortunately unfortunately both in and out um people are found us people are going to be coming to putham County they want to be part of the the rule lifestyle and and be away from the big city hustle and bustle and that's our responsibility now to to make that work but I will be remissed if I didn't say that every chairman tries to push everybody else's agenda ahead of their own and that's the job of the chairman and and still get your planes to land too if you can possibly fit them in and but you got a great staff you got a great clerk here you got great people people around you to make this happen and everybody in this building and the buildings that we have and the people that we hire are there to help you and they're going to help you land those planes and get them done it might not be the 747 when it lands it might just be the little Cessna but just get on base that's the main thing and you'd be surprised um I want to tell a quick story years ago I I was approached by some people who wanted a school cross Crossing area out in enar and across from the Junior Senior High to the library but the cost was tremendous and we really did not have the money for that at that time I thought it would be a slam dunk I thought everybody wants a school crossing guard well it didn't work that way but we got a pedestrian crossing a few months later and just recently when County Road 315 was resurfaced now we have lights and we have buttons that they pushed across the Road get on base get your project on base and you'd be surprised where it goes and let the let staff know your vision because they're going to help you accomplish that and again I would be not be able to do my job effectively last year if it wasn't for Mr sugs J.R Grimes who has probably the best Common Sense approach to government and getting things done Julian who knows the ins and outs of our finances and and can get things done and all of our staff It's amazing And I'd be remissed to not say something about rich commanda who I call at 6:30 in the morning to say I have a question for you and he's always gracious to take my call and to answer it and say well have you thought about this well no because I'm thinking about that and uh so that's what we have a staff for and uh that will make your life easy thank you thank you very much you know before we get into the electing of the chair and the vice chair I think Mr Harvey touched chairman Harvey I apologize touched on a couple of things and and uh I'd be remiss if I didn't also say thank you to to miss Julian young as well as our honorable Matt Reynolds for a another year of a clean audit you know we've got a ton of projects that are going which which means we have a ton of contracts and a lot of spending going on here in puel county and I believe Miss Young you can correct me if wrong but I believe this was a another audit where we didn't even have as much as a comment and so thank you all for that uh from the County Administrator because that means more to me than than you'll ever know and I believe Mr nuble will Echo the same sentiments about reaching Mr Commando as we did Friday evening and with a question so uh Rich has always been a pleasure so uh love see you next to you thank you for being being who you are and how you represent us thank you all right ladies and gentlemen let's go ahead and get ready to elect our next chair and vice chair uh I will read off the uh uh the process and then we'll open it up for nominations so when electing a chair and a vice chair the moderator myself will open the floor for nominations nominations do not require a second if only one name is placed in nomination the moderator will ask for a motion to close the nominations and to elect the nominee by acclamation a second to the motion and a vote will follow if more than one name is placed a nomination the moderator will ask for a motion to close nominations a second to the motion and a vote will follow the moderator will then ask for a show a hands in support of the nominees in order for which they were nominated the moderator will acknowledge the newly elected chairman and the same procedure will follow for the election of the vice chair so good morning again and I'll go ahead and open up the floor as a moderator for any nominations uh for the position of moderator I'd like to uh recommend commissioner Leota Wilkinson as chair of the board of County Commissioners we have a motion for commissioner Leota Wilkinson to serve as uh chair is there any other nominations seeing none I will close nominations I will go ahead now and ask if there for a show a hands anyone or go ahead and elect the chairman Wilkinson by acclamation and the show of support by the board of County Commissioners thank you all thank you congratulations Madam chair I will go ahead now and open up the floor for nominations for vice chair do we have any nominations for vice chair Mr moderator I make a motion to um nominate Larry Harvey for vice chair we have a motion for uh commissioner Hardy for vice chair is there any other motions here none we'll go ahead and close uh nominations and with a show of hands and support for uh commissioner Larry Harvey we'll go ahead and and and approve that by acclamation all in favor I I all right thank you very much good luck congratulations mam chair Vice chair Harvey and we can go ahead and uh would you like to recess for a few minutes please thank you for five e e e e e move into our meeting reconvene the puam County Board of County Commissioners regular uh meeting we have approval for minutes on the on the table Madam chair we a motion we approve the minutes second second we have a proper motion and a proper second all in favor say I I I I I okay we're now going to recess the B meeting and convene the Port Authority meeting we'll need to vote on each one of these uh separately because they are not consent agenda items so first we have item a grant agreement in resolution number 20241 131 Mr Sam Sullivan good morning uh Port Authority board members uh Sam suiv Port manager uh before I get started I would like to uh thank uh commissioner Harvey for carving time out of his busy schedule yesterday to uh help the port staff with uh visitors from out of town who are very interested in being Partners in long term with our Port uh thank you very much for your time and your fantastic driving thankk you Sheriff Mr Sam sh um our first uh item before you today is a uh fad Grant agreement between putham County and the uh fad which stands for the uh Florida oh excuse me too many acronyms like Florida State uh Transportation Economic Development Group uh this is a security Grant to install uh a camera motion based camera system at uh the port to ensure safety during non-operation hours uh the system itself was designed by Our IT department uh Jacob and uh James were involved with that um our match is $900 uh fet will give us $2,700 for the cost of the system is $3,600 uh we are asking for the board's approval and the chair's uh signature on both the agreement and the uh joining resolution okay Madame chair I move approval of the item we have a proper motion second and a proper second any discussion I just want to say thank you um Sam this is a great Grant we'll always take $3,600 for $900 all in favor say I I I motion approved second we have an administrative Grant agreement resolution number 2024 d134 and 135 uh good morning Sam S again uh this is a grant agreement between the Florida Department of Transportation uh on behalf of the state legislature uh for $1.2 million for the construction of a new design and construction of a new bulkhead at Port putam as well as if any money is remaining to work on some of the docking area if necessary uh there is no match this is a legislative appropriation uh we are asking for approval of the uh this grant as well as the resolu adjoining resolution uh so that we can proceed with uh building a new bulkhead so we can start accepting uh commercial cargo at Port putam Madame chair approval for resolution number 2024-25 fdod agreement FD agreement number 45 47641 94-01 Port putam docking infrastructure second I have a um proper motion a proper second all in favor oh any discussion favor say I I all right uh administrative lease lease of Southern section of Port Annex uh Madam chair we are asking that this item be tabled to the next meeting on December 10th uh Mr Lloyd and uh Port staff are still ironing some of the lease uh details and we will have it ready for the next meeting and present at that time all right very good we'll table that we need a motion for that no' all right all right withdraw withdrawn from the agenda all right at this time do we have any public comment on Port Authority items only public comment on Port Authority items any general discussion from the board all right with that we'll close the Port Authority meeting oh go ahead I'm sorry yeah just if you don't mind just for clarification Madam chair the items that came before you this morning was uh uh ABS absolutely needed for the port uh we've been pushing this project for several years I'd be remiss again this morning if I didn't thank Mr Sullivan uh for bringing these items forward Mr Sullivan was uh uh anointed as the uh Port manager a year or two ago uh but mr's uh full-time job as well as is Grant Administration so uh he went out and got these uh Appropriations for the county I'd also like to thank representative Bobby Payne for to 1.2 million because that came through a legislative appropriation through do so uh you know we've gotten a lot of support at the Port since this began about five years ago and uh so uh for the Commissioners uh the new Commissioners uh we're one of I believe Sam 17 or 18 uh ports and we sit on the floor to Ports Council which is uh a tremendous benefit to putam County and so a lot of good things are happening there and I look for a continuation of a lot of good things to move forward hopefully be an economic development driver for puon County as well so uh uh any questions from the Commissioners after afterwards please feel free to give us a call we'll sit down take a ride go out and look at it and bring everybody up to speed on what what we're doing out there thank you administrator sugs for bringing uh reminding us all about uh chair I chair I was said chair Payne uh state representative pay's um involvement in that I that's very very good I appreciate that all right anything else all right we're going to close the Port Authority meeting and move into our presentations we have Proclamation for National hospice and Pala of care month I'm asking uh commissioner Harvey to please read that good morning Madame chair fellow board members Proclamation number 20241 32 National hospice and relative care month and if we uh stumble through this we've all been affected by this so we pleas bear with me whereas for more than 45 years Haven Hospice has helped provide comfort and dignity to thousands of people in North Florida allowing them to live in their last months weeks and days comfortably with people they love and whereas Haven utilizes the in disciplinary team oriented approach to treatment including Expert Medical Care quality system control and Comprehensive Pain Management as a foundation of care whereas Beyond providing physical treatment Haven attends to the patient emotional spiritual and family needs and provides Family Services like respit care and bereavement counseling whereas Haven provides Community Based paliative care which delivers expert expertise to improve quality of life and relief of pain and can be provided at any time during an illness whereas in an increasingly fragmented and broken Health Care system hospice is one of the few sectors that demonstrate how healthc care can and should work at its best for its patient whereas every year 1.5 million Americans living with LIF limiting illnesses and their families receive care from nation's hospice programs in communities throughout the United States including Haven whereas Haven an advocate and educator about Advanced Care planning that helps individuals make decisions about the care they want whereas the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services of pled to put Patients First in all of its programs including hospice ensuring a coordinated and patient l approach to care protecting patient choice and access to Individual Services based patients unique care needs and wishes now therefore be it proclaimed by the putam County Board of County Commissioners that nov 2024 is National hospice and paliative Care month encourages citizens to increase their understanding and awareness of the Care at the end of life discuss their end of life wishes with their family and observe this month with appropriate activities and programs thus proclaimed this 26th day of November 2024 Madame chair move approval of this Proclamation thank you do we have a second second have a proper motion a proper second all in favor I thank you thank [Applause] you good morning good morning thank you commissioner Harvey and thank you Commissioners um I'm my name is Crystal Burks and I am a patient care representative with Haven um this has been several times I've been in front of you guys to receive this Proclamation uh so he did a great job actually reading so uh some of the words and they're a little um hard to interpret but um we um want to celebrate this this year is Haven's 45th year serving patients in putam County so um it's a big milestone for us and we do appreciate um getting to come before you guys today and receive this Proclamation and um allow us to continue to do the good work that we do so we appreciate the service you do in the community it's hard to um it's a hard time during those times but at the same time we're blessed to have have you guys here um I know most people in this community have been touched by your services I know I have and I really appreciate it yeah I was that with someone in the audience um earlier as well so uh we don't we don't even know when we walk into a room that's right you know how many lives we've touched so thank you and um if you will just help us celebrate our 45th that would be wonderful it's a big deal thank you thank you thank you again and we'll see you again next year right we'd like to get a picture yes ma'am sure all right little bit working well though you smell it yeah okay Miss Parker if you'll make your way forward for our um employee of the quarter ch Madam chair would you mind if I make a comment real quick while she's coming um Mr Suggs last week we lost a a great employee of the county would would you like to talk about that before we do this or you want to wait yeah if at all possible um you know we did lose a a longtime great employee of the library system Mr Beaton um I got that call on Sunday and uh if if if I had have the floor what I'd like to do if we could uh Madam chair and vice chair is if we could just maybe have a a momentary moment of silence sort of beating family because of all they've done for this community and what they've been involved in this community so I'd ask Rish if we could if we could possibly rise and have a moment that was Robert Robert Beaton worked at the inck and Library passed away unexpected yes let's do that thank you please rise for a moment of silence thank you thank you thank you madam chair good morning morning Commissioners I'm Lori Parker human resources and our presentation is on employee the Gorder every um um year throughout the year employees and supervisors will send nominations in on their employee for employee the month after that we will recognize a person for employee the quarter and employee the year will be recognized next month it's always the meeting in December okay so you will get that right now the employee of the quarter is Stephanie Brown if she could come forward hi with the um employee the month the employee gets $100 the employee of the quarter gets $500 right and next month is $11,000 for employee the year okay so this is an exciting time if um also Sean I believe and JT wanted to say a few things about Stephanie before she comes up thank you um Stephanie we call her Renee so if you call Public Works uh and hit number two uh nine times out of 10 you will be talking to Renee um not all the time do you get compliments from the public you'll learn that real quick uh new up here but when you do get one in public works uh more than one time I've gotten a phone call about Miss Renee and they always enjoy their phone call with her she's very informative she's very helpful and gets them in the right direction and our office is very blessed to have her so thank you Renee for everything that you do for us thank you Rene I just want to say thank you it's my honor there's a big congratulations Renee all right Miss Young will now go into our countywide project update good morning Commissioners good morning this is our quarterly project update and just as a reminder this is not intended to be every project or initiative underway by County departments is intended to be a snapshot of those projects or initiatives that have been of most importance to our Administration our commissioners or our citizens with that we'll begin with the administrative um Port putam projects the port infrastructure development plan funded by the Federal grant for maritime Administration is nearing completion the final project product will be presented to the port at a public meeting Port staff is working diligently on having an infrastructure project started to facilitate the resumption of a commercial cargo traffic at Port Pam the animal control facility the main building and office and kennels are under construction and moving towards completion John theold Sports Complex one of the new shade structures the pickle ball and the basketball courts has been ordered and scheduled to be installed this week an additional shade structure has been ordered for the pickleball Court's fence area next to the volleyball court the project play um playground has completed some repairs this weekend remaining repairs to the Rope bridge and the trans Glide system is set to be within the next few weeks at Nia Bon Community Park a new shade structure is on order and we are awaiting delivery and installation Bost Community Park a new shade structure has been ordered and we are waiting delivery and installation the West putam Sports Complex a purchase order to dig a new well and renovate the infields has been issued a user group who desires to be the primary user and develop the baseball program will present their proposal to the recreation Advisory Board in December the planning and development department has the evaluation and appraisal report project an evaluation and appraisal report comprehensive plan Amendment Consultation Services by Northeast Florida Regional Council are underway State coordinated review and transmitted on October 24th 2024 adoption hearing is expected to be in the first quarter of the calendar 2025 Planning Development has a traffic G project underway collection of trip data from 80 plus plus Road locations throughout the county has been awarded to Proctor and cross the fieldwork is complete Consultants are processing the data for each collection site and will begin building out the analysis tables anticipation this will be ready for the first week in December 2024 Planning and Development also has the impact fee study underway RFQ 2326 was approved by the BCC to engage alfri vanes and Consulting Services data collection is nearing completion if all items can be delivered within the next couple of weeks the cons consult should be able to submit a draft report by the end of March adoption hearings would be expected in the second quarter of the calendar year 2025 Fort Gates Ferry Landing project fdot Bridge report was obtained for the landing on the West Side the County engineer is in the process of analyzing it and there is no funding at this time that has been identified St John's Avenue resurfacing Palm Avenue to CSX Crossing at the blacka fire department phase one is in final fdot acceptance and closeout process phase two began Construction in June of 2024 a Time extension extension was granted due to the Hurricanes the last day of the contract is now April 1st 2025 the project construction is moving smoothly Public Works dirt to PVE project 2022 the project was split into two phases due to water Expansion Project in the Paradise Point Area of San Mato the design phase of two roads which includes fisherman Creekside Edgewater paradise and Paradise circle is complete construction is 90% complete at this time dirt to pay 2023 survey and design completed in-house construction was awarded to three contractors copper roads is already in construction we are scheduling preconstruction meetings with the remaining contractors Halifax and North Florida emulsions durt to pave 2024 the survey and design Pro um work is in progress inhouse we anticipate bid documents to be ready in January 2025 East petam drainage and flooded mitigation phase four the construction has been completed St John's Avenue drainage improvements St Road 19 to County Road 309c all segments are substantially complete the final walkthrough is scheduled for December 12th the project is on scheduled for a December 24 deadline and close out County Road 315 resurfacing project State Road 20 to State Road 100 the project is 85% complete County Road 315 resurfacing project designed from State Road 20 South to the County Line Design is in process with completion anticipated February of 2025 Port bav Vista wastewater treatment plant conversion and Sewer main extension the project has been completed Paradise Point sewer hardening and Generator installation we are currently working with de to change the scope of the work East Baca septic to sewer project phase 4 the design will be complete once D Awards permitting East Baca water plant retrofit the project is complete San Sano water extension project we are approximately 98% done with the project with a date of completion of 1212 2024 North puam drainage project tasked engineered firm for design recommendations for Palm Bluff Road and melin Road drainage basin study expected to have those studies March of 2025 South petam drainage project DB civil started construction November 20th 2024 East Baca watermain expansion this is an arpa friended project it's currently 10% complete with an estimated completion date of December 22nd 2024 putam County Water infrastructure project this is an Army Corps of Engineers funded project we are waiting on the Arma Corp of engineer to finish the Environmental Studies expected start date for construction is February 2025 the Ash Street drainage problem project is complete Rio Vista an Overlook Point sewer project is complete the hmgp Port putam County Boulevard lift station generator design was completed in house and bids are due for the project December 11th 2024 hmgp Paradise Point retention fond the project has been is working to be cancelled County Ride res resurfacing fiscal year 23 the construction was awarded to three contractors and the work is currently 85% complete thank you thank you administrator Deputy Administrator young um as you can tell we've got a lot going on at the county all of these projects are available on the putham county uh bccc website she will they will be uploaded and um updated soon and if you have any questions you're willing you're um certainly able to get with Deputy Administrator or young Madam chair may I yes go ahead thank you madam chair um Julian just a couple things for the new commissioner zlin um the other especially for commissioner palace here because this is in his district county road 315 South from 20 to 310 and 310 to Maran County Line will be done concurrently uh and we did JR um did add the intersection of 310 into that mix for resurfacing so um hopefully we can get that all done by do very good okay thank you are there any other comments or questions before we go into presentation all right we are now going into our Planning and Development public hearing rezon ordinance number 202 24-24 this is the first of two readings I'll be on your screen thank you good morning for the record Jennifer Cass planning and development services this application is a text Amendment to the Land Development code the applicant is kimley horn the agent is Mark Sheldon the request is the text the text Amendment purpose is to amend putam County's Land Development code by adding solar Farms as a use by right in the Agriculture and Agriculture state zoning districts as well as the addition of a new section 45201 defining solar farms and its standards Florida statue 163 32053 specifically States a solar facility shall be a permitted use in all agricultural land use categories in a local government comprehensive plan and all agricultural zoning districts within an unincorporated area and must comply with the setback and Landscape buffer area criteria for other similar uses in the agricultural District maintaining consistency between Florida Statutes Land Development codes and the comprehensive plan is the main goal and responsibility of Staff the proposed text Amendment will bring our Land Development code into compliance with Florida statute 163 3205 staff recommends approval of the request to amend the Land Development code as the request is consistent with Florida Statutes and is consistent with other comprehensive plan goals objectives and policies at the scheduled public hearing on November 13 2024 the Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the text Amendment application are there any questions for the presenter I do Madam chair um basically we're still preempted by Florida statue on solar Farms correct yes sir so there's not a whole lot this board or any board in Florida can do when it comes to solar Farms on agriculture ultural land no sir okay um and the two readings are for because of the Land Development code change yes sir that gives the public more option to be able to speak is that correct yes sir okay thank you thank you which was also um decided at the Florida legislature and uh this specifically um basically we are now bringing in um our County documents into conformance with what the Florida legislature has told us yes ma'am okay thank you is there um a motion to set another date or is it just going to be the next U Madam shair I move that we set the date for the next board meeting the first board meeting of December okay Madam chair if I may please this is still a public hearing item so I I think we need to do a public comment thank you yes ma thank you I was going to do that it's on my notes are there any public comments regarding this resoning um application Amendment all right we have none okay Madame chair I move approval to the next move this to the first meeting in December at 9 o'cl in the morning okay we have a motion to move us to the first meeting in December at 9 o'c do we have a second second second all in favor say I I I motion approved all right we're going to go into our agenda items before we do that are there any public comments on agenda item only we have three items a b and c before we run away from that sub the previous subject yes sir while we're looking at the Land Development code I'd like to consider the idea of increasing the setbacks around agricultural projects um currently stated at at 10et I'd like to have staff look into the idea of increasing that to 20 possibly 30 feet um just this is the first of an a property that be taken out of bag um we're going to have a lot of that over time and I'd like to mitigate that as as strongly as we can to keep a good no buffer between a and non a entities in the future yeah and I appreciate that I don't know that we can do that for solar Farms because I think they're going to be guided by the Florida legislature um but staff can look into that I think they have to adhere with our land use development codes as well so um we just look into it Zach could you get back with us on that yes all right thank you any other comments right thank you commissioner no Bal um any public comment on agenda items we have three agenda items any any public comment on agenda items commissioner would you like to pull any consent agenda items all right having Madam chair since no one wants to pull an item I make a motion we approve consent agenda items a b and c second we have a proper motion and second on any discussion on on the items all in favor say I I I any opposed like sign consent agenda uh pass code enforcement are there any applicants in the audience who would like to speak or has a case on the code enforcement issues all right m chair morning get started um kind of keeping to what we've been doing um I'm going to if you don't mind there's little problem with uh there's almost redundancy on a and what was the other one Thomas I talked to you about yesterday it was a and C yeser A and C okay so if you don't mind U we'll put those to the end Madame chair on Item B I would ask that we accept staff recommendation of U $196 if paid within 90 days code case 29- 01075 correct we have a proper motion second we have a second by commissioner Alexander any discussion all in favor say I I I motion pass Madame chair on item D codes case 2012 - 029 um I would recommend that staff that we take the staff recommendation of that would be 2550 of pay within 90 days say what are you're on um oh yes sir oh I'm Sor I was on the wrong one I'm sorry yeah d i was yeah it's uh let's see there's a tax Surplus on that one yes sir so it would bring still be due receive six which would bring Thomas is at $653 48 yes sir that's still due yes sir on that if paid within 90 days that's my motion we have a proper motion second second commissioner newold on item D all favor say I I I any opposed like sign motion passes okay and on 2014- z310 codes case uh codes enforcement is recommending total enforcement action of $216 if paid within 90 days that's my motion second we have a motion and a proper motion is second by commissioner Alexander any discussion all in favor by saying I I I any opposed like sign motion passes and mam chair on codes case 2014- 393 uh staff is recommending the hard cost of $2,286 if paid within 90 days that's my motion we have a proper motion second second by commissioner palir all in favor say I I I motion passes right back to code enforcement a Madam chair in the in the this board doesn't set a precedence for anything we do but we have done this in the past we've got two code cases on the same property item A and C here one being for and there different codes they're different codes viol violations yes so one in the T of $1,573 and then another one and let me get to that real quick the other one is $2,550 usually this board looks at those and goes okay we had two running together they are our lean we can do what we want with them Madam chair um but I would recommend that we look at this uh it is in compliance that's the main thing we want out there uh we're trying to help the community by cleaning these up uh I would look at taking the higher fine reduction on item C and making that 2550 uh pay within 90 days and reducing item a to zero as we um try to enforce these claims but that's just my opinion so I'll just leave that open for discussion right now Madam chair would you make a motion I will I'll make a motion that we um the board of County Commissioners accept $2,550 on codes case 2012- 000090 if paid within 90 days and on code case 2006-8 n that we reduce that fine to zero okay we have a proper motion do we have a sec Madam chair I'll second that with a little tiny bit of discussion with it um when I served here before that was something that was not uncommon to the board so I think it's a a good way to help out the people when we can do it like this I think it's the thing to do but U second that so we have a proper motion to Second any further discussion was it um it has been remed remediated I understand and was that done in you know with did they cooperate with you and yes sir very good yes sir so there's a good spirit involved in the in the process yes okay thank you any other discussion all in favor say I I I I any opposed like sign motion passes thank you Commissioners thank you that gets us through our code enforcement um might take a point of privilege here and um I'm going to I'm going to move our um appointments to after public comment so we'll go into new business okay Clerk of Court are you um are you presenting this yes ma'am um thank you chairwoman and and County Commissioners um quick summary on this um this was a project that I uh to the previous Board of County Commissioners um it's been several months ago now I think it's probably been 10 or 11 months ago uh but the board um approved um a contract with a design firm to come up with a design for the uh timmith customer service building um we call it the tax deed building but it's the building that has the old uh bccc room in it um and um so we got to finalized plans to develop the old bccc room into a single um where that building will be our single customer service building instead of our customer service being uh separated into two different buildings uh when the bids went um uh and the bids came back in um they were uh quite a bit over the budget that was allocated to the project of 225 and so um we've spent some time talking with County administrative staff and my staff and um we think we have a a solution to be able to move forward if the board is willing to um set aside the original 225,000 that was going to be used for the project in a reserve line uh we will my staff will move forward with um overseeing the project and hiring in the the subcontractors to get the work done um and we think we'll be able to um achieve that project um within that uh budget with um with potentially using some of the excess funds from this current fiscal year so my request is to um if the board would be willing to to move that set aside that 225,000 in a reserve line within the general fund which then I can come back to the board and request at a later date if if needed okay um I'm going to start on this we'll take a little bit of privilege here um when I got elected I went down and met with all the Constitutional offices officers and viewed all of their offices and if you haven't done that already I would highly recommend our new Commissioners to do that um and I learned in that process the challenge that clerk Reynolds was facing at the time which is there's a safety issue um in that particular building so there you have people coming in around a corner and potentially you could be running into the person that you're trying to get a divorce from or trying to get custody of your children from or there could be some serious or domestic violence domestic violence injunction situations happen yes and uh so what this does is this is going to allow a big safety component to happen for our uh staff down there at your office and I think it's very much needed and you gave some money back last year through through the end of the year and again you're believing that you might this year so this makes good sense that you would do that that's just my two cents worth and um um if anybody has any further discussion we can move to a motion Madam chair I move I move this forward resolution number 7 approv the attached budget resolution to transfer 225,000 into existing clerk reserve line item budget and budget numbers there which will be drawn upon when needed all right we have a proper motion do we have a second second second from commissioner Alexander any further discussion or questions all right all in favor say I I I any opposed like sign motion passes thank you commissioner that's very much appreciated I know that my staff will will greatly appreciate that as well well your sa the safety of all of our employees is important so thank you thank you all right Public Works Curry Road lift station generator Grant match yes ma'am we got two grants going on there this has helped to cover part of the match of a hmgp grant that we originally applied for that was approved this is just a secondary supplemental agreement where we might have to put in the match dollars does that make sense it covers our portion of the match it's just it's just a supplemental Grant agreement okay do we have any questions do we have a motion so moved we have a motion from commissioner newal second by commissioner Harvey any discussion all in favor say I I I motion passes all right we're going to move on into do we have any speaker cards this portion of the agenda is designed to allow citizens an opportunity to bring matters to the attention of the board it is not reasonably expect that the board will engage in debate or deliberation about matters on which the board has received no prior information as part of the agenda please limit your comments to 3 minutes public comment cards are conveniently Place placed in the back of the room and should be sub submitted prior to the meeting to the deputy clerk we have three as it sits right now but um at the end if you can still um speak if you'd like to so first we'll have Miss Sue Holland good morning Miss Su thank you for your patience sure um please sayate your name and address for the record actually it's Susan Marie yes ma'am address 115 creek side roads that's okay I'm a repeat offender here so this is in regards to our sewer I know you're not going to address the issue today but um our bills went up without any notice that the County Commissioners were having a meeting to discuss an increase I know putham County does not have a Public Utility Commission to notify us that there's going to be an increase or an approval by the state um I've done homework obviously um um I think the homeowners or the customers whatever that are using the sewer should have been notified before a courtesy letter was mailed that it was going to go up without a dollar amount in it we are all on a budget I'll be the first to lay my finances out now that my husband passed away I can't afford a $400 plus so it's going to cost me $1,000 a year to flush the toilet is what we're looking at um if there's all these grants that are given from the state I know I spoke with the um town clerk in waka this morning the grant did go through to them they're 90% finished with their project and getting ready to start their sewer $32 million why if we need new equipment new Machinery whatever it is to make the sewer work are we not asking for a grant from the state what are you going to do a $34 increase per month from each homeowner if you're looking to increase and make better sewer equipment how are we going to pay for that as homeowners where where's this money going to go what are you doing with it um I mean the median in income in putham county is $44,000 a year that's for somebody who's working a lot of the people in this area that it's affecting are on Social Security because they're retirees some of them aren't even there six months out of the year and we're still paying for this um the average State cost for water and Wastewater together is $61 a month we're looking at sewer of only 8334 a month for sewer I was one of the neighbors and I am a notary you can go back and look at all your documents that notorized to an allow this easement to happen I was all for it so we weren't polluting duns Creek the St John's river anymore I was part of that happening but to be blindsided not even knowing that this increase was coming and again what is the money coming for what are you doing with it I did go speak with Mr Alexander about it he knew we were coming thank you I hope I get a response on this thank you Mr Jean giri good Mr Gary good to be here meet all of you but uh I'm one of the sewer people on Mr Gary I'm sorry if you'll just give your name and address for the record we have to have it spoken into the record oh okay and uh um I'm on a fixed income Social Security and I cannot afford to pay an extra $33 a month on sewer and I'm only here six months out of the year but I cannot get it shut off those six months I pay sore Bill the year round I only use a six months which isn't right I can't have a call and say Hey I want just put on vacation or disconnected till I get back from vacation I got to pay the year round so I'm paying double and I I think I should have a seasonal connection I do my TV I do my telephone but I can't do it on my sewer and as far as the water I mean if they're going to keep raising prices like this I can't afford water either I mean they started out $30 a month for water and we don't even have water yet and it went up $10 now they went $40 for water plus if you go over your limit then you pay more of course but uh I don't don't I think we're getting gripped off is what I think we're getting because even that 33 30 $ 44 raise they come out with we got the bill two days before it was due should have been sent out the first month but they sat down there and held all those bills and sent them out two days before it was due and if you didn't get a pay down you got to pay late charge which it I mean you got to have more than two days to pay your sewer or your sewer bill we always got it the first of the month not this month we got it just the other day and if you don't get down there and get it paid right now you're going to pay late charge that's all I got to say thank all right and for the record it's Jean giri 110 fisherman Road Satsuma Mr James D D I'm not sure if I'm saying it correctly good morning sir if you'll state your name and address for the record my name is James deal I live at 112 SATs uh Creekside Road and uh well we were told one thing when the S come in and the 3% at the most the price of going up later but uh it's jumped up $34 which I didn't even know until we paid the bill this last month there's a lot of people down there including myself that uh uh are on fixed income com cost yeah you get a little bit of cost of living increase but it ain't enough to according to the groceries uh the bills uh uh and everything the gas uh they don't do nothing for you I don't mind paying it an increase but that's just too much uh I don't know if the sewer system here in Paca or uh in putham county is uh $83 a month which I I don't know uh I imagine it ain't but I I can't say but uh uh nobody can afford that uh unless you got a lot of money and uh the Bill's going to get paid sooner or later uh uh on this sewer system and you guys are going to collect on it even after it's paid uh but you guys just you got too much money going in for an increase and uh that's about all I can say about it thank you thank you for l we're coming yes sir do we have anybody else who wants to speak during the public comment step on up please state your name and address for the record morning good morning Gary hob I live at 207 Clearwater Road in Satsuma Florida um I'm I was very um disappointed in the way this whole thing was handled I feel deceived um the information that I received verbally and en n writing led me to believe that the prices of these things the sewer and everything was going to be $50 a month with a three and a half% increase well I don't understand why there was no bills why there was no information given to us about this thing what upsets me is you come in with giving me this information you come in to destroy my septic tank knock my sefy tank out and then two months later I get a 63% increase in my sewer bill water bill has already went up to $40 and we don't even have water at our place any yet that's not hooked up with it now I was all for the sewer system I believe we need to stop polluting the river in and the creek and everything there I I I all for the sewer system but I think the way the I think the way the board of supervisor handled this was strictly pretty much unethical that's all I have to say yes sir thank you I think I saw another hand go up somebody else want to speak publicly please give your name and address for the record John Bowman I'm at 218 clear waterer Road in Shuma I did sign up to be listened to I don't know why you didn't have my name there yeah um I'm on a fixed income I cannot afford this increase um what's basically going to happen is is I'll probably end up having it shut off on me and uh going to force me to buy a compost and toil it from Amazon because you crushed my sewer tank so I can no longer longer hooked back up to that and uh as far as the city water goes I'm going to go down and take my name off the list they've ran the hoses down the street and everything but Lord knows what they're going to do with the water bill too I have to live on $1,400 a month and I just cannot afford it something needs to be done thank you thank you all right do we have any other public comment Miss Reiner David Miner 116 cheffy Road uh it has nothing to do with this but um for those that you didn't know that U Sid I mentioned to Matt um uh Sid passed away the the Riverside trust has passed away the other day I don't know if the County Commissioners are allowed to present his uh family with a plaque or something like that because he served in this County for building trusses for if anybody's had any work done anything you probably had your trust is done from him um he passed away I'd like his family to know that the the county appreciates the service he provided for this County for so many years and had such a wonderful reputation and uh I I just I thought a lot of City he was always very helpful I don't know if you're allowed to do that but I wanted to bring that to your attention thank you Mr Miner you're welcome all right before um we're going to close out the public comment one last chance any other public comments all right um can we ask for a discussion regarding the issues that were brought up today I'm going to ask for um either administrator sugs or um unless you wanted to her to M Madam chair what we'll do is we'll go back and look at our our our rate structure make sure everything is correct we will do whatever is necessary if there was any issues or any corrections need to be made we'll absolutely notify the board of County Commissioners and do anything I need to do forward but I'll also defer over to Mr Grimes and Miss Young at this point but just just know that we'll do whatever is correct and and and right I mean I do know that we we we did this through the budget process this was during the budget process and there was notification for our budget but in several meetings as well in several meetings but go ahead um Miss Miss Young I think commissioner Alexander wants to speak first and then I we'll follow up go ahead ahead yes make sure this thing's on but miss Holland I spent U about an hour and a half yesterday visiting with JR excuse me Mr sugs Mrs Holmes I'm young yes I can be J though I really I really need to learn about the process and how we or how the commission achieved the number that they got to and um I really we drilled deep into it so I could understand the cost because you know like we talked about the other day prices have in increased on everything and unfortunately this is something that you have to have and unlike other items that we as households have to buy we can make choices to have a lesser quality or a lesser service but this isn't one of those things we have to have water and we have to have sewer um they explained to me kind of where we had gotten or where the process went and how the budget went but what I would like to compel you guys to do is maybe set up a meeting where we could all sit down and go over the numbers and kind of explain exactly where we're at and I would encourage you know any ideas or participation from you guys because we as Commissioners don't know everything and that that's the beauty of this if if you guys have ideas or opportunities that we might be able to improve I'd be happy to sit down and talk to you um Julianne has also agreed to sit down and and go through the budget and show you exactly how the numbers are achieved um a big part of it that uh Jr and JT explained to me we've had a number of the tanks or the the plants in our community that we are obligated by law to assume the operation of if the current operators abandon those sites and if they're going to abandon them they've probably been neglecting them for the the years and the time leading up to that and you know bringing that money in and not doing the maintenance so when we take those plants over we incur those costs as well and even some of us that do not have City and water those costs are carried on over to us as well so even those of us that don't have City and water through funds manipulation for lack of a better term we receive some of the cost too so I would be encouraging you guys to come in and sit down with us and they can go through it um we could present it on the screens here but that would take a lot of everyone's time but if you guys have the time we can sit down and go over anything you'd like to and maybe visit coming up with a different solution or some opportunities that exist can can me I make a recommendation um Mr Grimes did did we have an issue with the billing month so Commissioners if if you would allow and commissioner Alexander told us that we the first we heard about it was yesterday morning when we met with commissioner Alexander so truly staff wants to make sure we diligently research the concerns of the citizens if we could get a copy of the public comment cards of those that are here today let us look into the situation and at their concerns and then we can schedule some one-on-one conversations with them and follow up with all of you guys okay all right are there any other comments regarding the public comments uh Madam chair um the gentleman or lady said something about how late they got their notice in the mail did they hold it back and send it out um my experience with the Postal Service in the last 6 months has not been good so um I don't think our people held back anything um on a a bill but I would like to know a little bit more or see that we I like notice on anything I get in the mail if there going to be an increase or change of my monthly um accounting I want I'd like some notice I'd like to see some um that looked into that is if if we're doing something if not we should be doing something like that and chairman can I clarify one more thing so the fee schedule just for all the Commissioners um these rates are set during our fee schedule discussion which is budget development so we began talking about this in July this is the fee schedule wasn't item that we had conversations on no less than at four different public meetings the minute the board collectively gave staff the final Direction on which way they wanted to go notices were sent out with their monthly statements advising everyone of the new impacts of the fee the new fee schedule right which would have been um Cycles prior to the one where the bill would have come into effect but there were um no less than four meetings and or workshops where Commissioners deliberated multiple parts of that fee schedule because the fee schedule sets all of your countywide fees um from Parks and Recreation um registration fees to what it cost to to be a member of the pool to waste waterer and water right all of those things are part of that fee schedule that we do have multiple conversations through budget development um so we do have meetings available and we can walk you guys through that fee schedule as well and the notification was sent out that there would be a fee increase yes the utilities right so we don't send them out for everything on that fee schedule like parks and re didn't send something out that said right but the customers of the utilities would have receive notification yes sir and if I remember correctly this this um area was in the red um as far as so each utility area looks differently because like in Bost week with their water uh we their water is $815 um not $4 and so there are depending on the situation um depends on you know what we how we set that fee so we account for our Utility Systems independently of each other um but all of them are running Enterprise fund accounting which essentially means that they should be paying for themselves right because not the entire tax Bas is getting the benefit of that utility so if you live um in Bon there's not a single utility that you can tap into which means you shouldn't be being the cost of the utility system that may be sitting in Melrose or in east batka or in Boswick so then we bring you guys during that fee schedule discussion kind of the um details as to how far each of them are running none of our Utility Systems are running in the black yet um and that was a lot of the conversations that we had last year which is we have to start making the progress to get us those you Enterprise systems into the black um because otherwise we're having to offset their expenses through another funding source right they don't have to be profitable they just have to be self- sustaining correct right so the grants that we had received was for the infrastructure that was put into that's not being no consideration for that to the customer it is specifically for the the operations and usage of those systems that's right so so the maintenance every day that that system has to be maintained Water and Wastewater right um and we are required to do that seven days a week 247 to 365 days a year um and so that that requires operational supplies materials and people all right well thank you for bringing these these issues to the board um it sounds like um they're going to reach out back to you and have one-on-one conversations and then if we want to do something further you can reach out to your commissioner Alexander and we'll do that so with that we will move into appoints let me give me just a second to get myself together here so the way the appointments work we're back on item 11 on our agenda District appointments do not require a vote however at large appointments due um I will start with this commissioner district one um for the better place plan oversight committee I would like to uh reappoint Maryann bradock and Patricia LEL whose terms are expiring at the end of the year so you're reappointing your District appointment for better place plan oversight yes ma'am all right do you have any other appointments I have one on the Zoning Board of adjustment uh Ron West he has agreed to continue and I would like to um extend his appointment all right and that's an atlarge that's an out llarge um I think what I'll do is I'll go through and list all of the out larges I mean I'll go through each Commissioners and if we have multiple outlar appointments we'll um address them at the same time uh District three I wasn't able to reach Jerry Hafner okay but I will reach out again to him and um get we'll reassess that on our next meeting and and the contractor's review board is those appointments are all at large as well so we'll have to make a motion yes sir you can you have a recommendation do that now you can okay I'd like to um make a motion to appoint CD Smith to the uh contractor's board for the roofing position roofing contractor all right do we have any other Commissioners that will be making a recommendation for that seat all right I just changed my mind that's what happens in the seat um so we have a motion do we have a second a second second by commissioner Harvey all in favor I I I all right motion passes District Four thank you madam chair um like to reappoint uh Rebecca sharp to the affordable housing advisory committee and on better place um I would like to reappoint uh Larry Michaelson and jene Galloway and those are my two appointments today those your two appointments all right District Five Madam chair I'm still working on that that not a problem it's everybody not a problem okay um chairman yes do you have I'm sorry were you not through I'm apolog okay I actually it's my fault I I forgot about one so U I would like to remove Marshall fulum from the fairboard and he serves as a at large uh thought he was my district actually or is he a district yes I think he is I need somebody to look that up pleas do you have a replacement at this time yes ma'am I do all right give us just a second please District three all right go ahead yes ma'am I'd like to remove Marshall and appoint uh Martin berall all right and will provide his address and he lives in your District yes ma'am all right so um just so you'll all know that the way this will work is um Laura will provide uh forms and you in coordinate with you on how to get the information for each of your appointees thank you and then that information will get updated all right so now I'm back at mine yes M wison can you spell the last name or say it again berall I believe it's spelled b y r d a l l and he lives for Comfort Madam chair yes yeah say something yes Madam chair there is a form online where our citizens can go online and pull down the citizens participation form fill it out with the board that the the where they'd like to serve at so just FYI okay um let's see um I have for contractor review board I'd like to remove Tom Williams as the consumer representative and replace with David Miner I concur second that all right we have a motion in a second all in favor say I I any opposed right Mr Miner will replace Tom Williams on the contractor's review board um I'd also like to renew Susan Roberts for the Planning Commission that's an atlarge appointment I second that I have a motion and a second all in favor say I I any opposed motion passes um I think that's all we have for appointments at this time say that again nomin yes we need to do Mr West thank you um Mr Ron West Ron West okay for Zoning Board of adjustment um I'm sorry I had changed my mind that's what happens when you're district one you know things can happen um at large Ron West we have a motion do we have a second yes second second all in favor of Ron West for the Zoning Board of adjustment I I all right so now I have a question I my live yes go ahead okay um as far as the at large position for the Planning Commission yes Joseph rolic will be resigning do we need to wait until that point to um appoint someone else or can we go it's on it's in the board book so he's already um apparently told staff that he's resigning okay do you have an appointment I do I do I would like to uh nominate Jason Sheffield for that position okay we have a motion for Jason Sheffield at large for the Planning Commission Madame chair may I make a comment yes um commissioner Alexander the um this Planning Commission um has to give up their financials and a lot of people don't like to do that that's why that form is so important for them to fill that out I talked about that with Mr sugs yesterday and um I have not gotten in touch with him since speaking with him yesterday before prior to that learning that information he was committed to taking the position so I can table it until that point if you would prefer that might be okay yeah that's what we do all right some people aren't aware of that when we do that and then they get you know oh yeah and it's a big commitment to give up your financials for a volunteer position absolutely yeah and I had some questions about that too but I agree thank you sir right so we'll we'll put that on hold okay all right are there any other appointments for um committees citizen advisory committees all right um I do want to say um we the special election has been announced yesterday from the supervisor of elections office um myself and administrator sugs currently serve on the canvasing board however I believe it was for like a one-year term um in this situ since this is such a short notice and we've already received training and uh there's some time constraints um it would make sense if the two of us could continue to serve Madam chair I'd like to recommend that we keep you commissioner Wilkinson and Mr sugs on the canvasing board do we have a second second second all right we have a motion in a second all in favor say I I I like um motion passes all right um you know I love you both come up next election that'll be different it's all I'm saying all right um there's some other committee commissioner committees um we have board when you look at your go to the bard of County Commission websites there's a a a committee book if you look on that that'll show all the Committees that we just discussed it'll also show who is currently serving and so these things will get updated as Laura puts them in the system um I currently serve on the waterways and trails commiss committee as the chairperson and I would like to remove myself from that and um if there's another person who I guess I can't make a motion can I can I make a motion you can make I would like for um commissioner Alexander to chair that U meeting going forward what do you think of that commissioner Alexander we're going to do a little informal stuff right now I like that turn your mic on okay all right so we make a motion that commissioner Alexander be appointed uh to the waterways and trails to replace commissioner Wilkinson thank you do we have a second second second all right that was good good we have a motion and a second all in favor say I I I all right motion passes um we previously had um commissioner adamac served on the northeast Florida Regional Council and commissioner Harvey serves on the northeast Florida Regional Council do we have a recommendation m madame chair um you had made it very clear that you would like to be on that a few months ago uh commissioner adamac was not willing at that time to give up his seat so I recommend that we put you on Northeast Florida Regional Council right we have a motion do we have a second yes second second by commissioner newal all in favor say I I I all right motion passes um the affordable housing committee was previously served by commissioner Pickins um I have an interest in that because of my real estate background and uh I did give up something to take on something so I'm trying to not put myself too thin um but that is something that I would like to serve on I'll make the motion to install you into that position all right second second we have a proper Motion in a second all in favor say I I I all right and parks and wre uh the same way um that was also something that commissioner Pickin served on well we're handing out all these uh chair positions I haven't seen these two get anything yeah I'm still working on that we have a couple more I'd be happy to to work on that that would be good all right so I recommend commissioner anal to be on the parks and rck I second that there we go we have a proper Motion in a second all in favor by saying I I I um putam Behavioral Health forum is not a commissioner appointed seat it is a um it was enact it was started by a former commissioner um it's very helpful as far as knowing what's going on in the community basically they meet once a month and um the information that they share is what are all the resources that's going on in the community as far as opioids um and a mental health and a whole number of issues and it's it's a really good again it's not an appointed you don't have to go to that meeting but we can't have multiple people go only one commissioner can attend so um commissioner Alex SRE you have your light on yes ma'am um commissioner Wilkinson was generous enough to take me to one of these meetings prior to being uh selected for the commission and it was really enlightening uh I've lived here my entire life 50 plus years showing my age but uh there are tremendous opportunities that are available um and I am able to share that with my constituents and I think it was it's a great idea to have at least one of us present at each one of those meetings and I would propose that we create a rotating schedule or something that I don't know I'm sort of liking the idea of you going every month and then coming back to the back to the board but and I I think that might be selfish because you may be thinking I need some help from those people no that's not the case at all but I did enjoy it and I will go I I will go if if that's if that's what the commission asked but I think it's really enlightening to go and I think everybody they should at least go once so you can see the opportunities that are presented and the sacrifices that our community makes to help those in need it was it was heartwarming okay all right um and you still have commissioner pal has kind of been left out of the no I've got something I've got something I have something U we also have the Paca CR a board so I don't we didn't need a motion on that that's why I didn't take that but you sounds like you're our representative for the pent behavioral and then if you can't go what I would suggest is maybe you just say to one of the other Commissioners hey I can't go would somebody else like to go all right there we go got a partnership forming good stuff um Paca C is um the Paca community redevelopment Authority um that sits with the city of Paca and um we have one commissioner that hasn't taken a seat yet on a board so somebody would like to make an a motion well not only that Madam chair but it is part of your district is part of the city of Pac so um I think that I think that's what there's others that have more it requires a little I'll be happy to help you out anytime you need it all right so um is that a motion it is commissioner palace here we have commissioner paler as um appointed for the Paca CRA do we have a second second all in favor say I I I guess I'll vote on that vote on that all right we go into our comments um any other appointments that we need to discuss uh chairman Harvey since you're no longer chair was there anything that you wanted to transition off of I think we're good we good for now and there will be more that come up these were just the ones that I could think of um that needed immediate attention I would like to bring the board up to speed if you don't mind yeah go ahead please okay I do serve in many state roles so let me kind of go through them real quick I do serve on the northeast Florida Regional Council um and I was the chairman of that a two years ago uh representing putam County I do serve on the board of directors for the Florida Association of counties I'm the chairman of the Florida Association of counties trust uh I serve with a small County Coalition on the board of directors there and I am the chairman of the Institute of County government under the Florida Association of counties so education is very important to me uh last Friday I was at UF with one of our ACC classes that were going on and kind of lecturing um basically what I've learned in my past 10 years and that was very very good to do that so those are some of the things that I serve on on a on a more Regional approach I also serve on the the Freeda board which is the Florida rural Economic Development Association so there's a state board that I serve on and then a local Rayo board that we serve on and in February I believe it's February 7th is that Julianne julan sir I think it's February 7th that we we are looking at having our local raayo board which is 13 counties the rural economic uh opportunity board coming to putam County uh we're going to have meeting here at the Ravine Gardens and a lunch at the um River Center on top of that we are looking at inviting Freda board our state board to be a part of that also so that will be an exciting time where we can all showcase putham County and uh we're going to get more information as time gets closer Mark is actually out of town right now but we uh we nailed down the Deep for putam County to be a part of that and it uh it brings a lot of economic people uh through our region back putam County so thank you madam chair thank you um before we go into comments I do want to um say that traditionally we this board has not met on the second meeting in December because that is I believe on Christmas Eve is it Christmas Eve or da Christmas Eve um it's the day before Christmas Eve it's actually actually Christmas Eve so um we need to discuss or do we plan on meeting the second meeting in December or do what the board's traditionally done and not chair I think we should just um foro that meeting and enjoy the holidays with our family and come back together on our normal meetings in January all right that was a motion I'll second it all right we have a second from um commissioner newold all in favor say I I I all right um go into our comments Clerk of Courts clerk Reynolds thank you Mrs chairwoman um I have no other items of business bus other than to just quickly mention that I hope that all of you as well as staff and the public at large have a very Happy Thanksgiving thank you thank you again all right County attorney Mr Commando first I just want to thank chairman or former chairman Harvey for his year of leadership you know watching you come in you made a comment very early on that you realized you didn't have a whole lot of time and you had a lot of vision and plans for the county and it's uh it's amazing that you accomplish so many of those and M our chair Wilkinson congrat congratulations on the support of your colleagues to our new Commissioners you do not have to complete your ethics requirement for December 31st of this year according to the Constitution you're allowed to wait a year however I would strongly encourage um for everyone to take that four hours ethics training it's provided by the Florida Association counties periodically throughout the year if you can't make that the Florida League of cities also has an online program that you can um sit at home do it from home but they provide a lot of good information that is just a good refresher for many people coming into the office if you have any other questions feel free to contact me at your convenience and I look forward to serve with you and Rich the Florida Association of counties has an online version you sit there for five hours and that's five hours you'll never get back in your life again uh but you can sit in there in your in your house and do it on your own so it's and it does include the Florida Sun it goes over the sunshine laws as well that's right it does yes thank you thank you County Administrator Terry sugs uh yes ma'am before I get into M I'll defer over to Miss Young she has a a comment she needs to M just real commissioner newold um congratulations Parks and Recreation your first meeting will be Monday at 4 and you are the chair sir so let me know what you need fantastic So to that point everybody who thinks you just show up to two meetings a month is not true you have we are very involved and have lots of different committees that we have to serve on um go ahead uh County Administrator sus yes ma'am thank you uh Miss Young wrote me a note that I need to remind everybody that there is a live auction for equipment going on right now and it ends on December 3rd so be bringing the results back to the board U most likely on the 10th so uh let you know where we're at with that I also want to join on attorney in in uh commenting on mr's leadership this past year uh chairman we had a lot going on and you handled it with class and dignity and I appreciate it our uh our uh B uh Monday meetings were I think very helpful uh we got a lot accomplished and was able to do a lot of uh um work behind the scenes so to speak on the things that need to get done so thank you very much for that um for the new Commissioners um we've already had a lot of meetings and I appreciate that that's how we get a lot of stuff done communication is Paramount and uh Walt commissioner pelis apologize for that um give you credit uh my phone absolutely rings and I get messages and text call or text messages and calls and he's uh always point with the questions and the concerns of of what's going on and and I appreciate that that's that's a great way to communicate so over the next few weeks few months uh my desire would be to uh work with each of you and figure out what's the best means of communication uh for each of you uh because everybody does okay differently and please don't borrow the page from uh chairman har 's book and get up at 4:30 and start calling but uh but Mr Harvey it all jokes aside will absolutely let me know when there is anything that needs to be looked at or discussed and uh that that goes so far to be able to fix the issues uh that much quicker so again a great leadership but I do want to learn the uh communication styles of each of you because that's Paramount it really is and as you heard earlier uh Miss Young's report report the project report Mr uh commissioner pelis asked me about this last week and I told him that uh it's not in your agenda packet but it be uploaded to the County website as soon as we're done and the reason for that is because we're constantly updating as we go till we get here it was updated this morning I believe at 8:15 so uh and that's one of the reasons why we don't put it in the the agend packet a week early because there's a lot more that goes on in in those few days believe it or not so but it is uploaded you can see amount of that's being done it's also emailed to each of them and now and I'm being told it's also emailed to each of you you know and and the next thing I heard yesterday was getting some information on the uh work order uh program so you can see what's going on there and I think that also is instrumental uh we do several hundred if I'm not mistaken uh work orders a month and I think it's it's critical for you folks to see just exactly how much work is being done by your staff out there so I think that's the another opportunity and and commissioner Alexander as you saw this morning a little communication yesterday with your folks coming in today we can't answer all the questions however now we know a little bit more about what the issue is and we can sit down into those folks so I appreciate that as well and just uh quick reminder uh that I will be out I Believe Miss joh possibly will be out as well next week uh and possibly commissioner Wilson and uh or chairman and uh woman thank you and uh commissioner Harvey attending the floor Association County's legislative session and so uh hopefully U you know we'll bring back some good information from that we always do and um you know and personally to staff our commissioners County attorney honorable Matt Reynolds uh thank you for a great year many things to be thankful for uh we've done great things this year but I just want to wish everybody happy thanks and look forward to seeing you uh December 10th thank you thank you before we go into commissioner comments I just want to say thank you for your vote of confidence and um putting me in this seat I hope that I uh don't disappoint you and I do I'll promise I will my very best uh before we go into comments I also just want to say that each of you um new Commissioners will soon realize that you represent 880,000 people within your community not just the district that you serve and and um I know that she've come in with an open mind and that you love your love your community and that you have a good heart or you wouldn't be sitting here that your constituents believe that or they wouldn't have voted for you um so sounds like you've already started by taking the time to ask questions of staff and relying on them um and not just going on what you hear in the public but actually finding fact and I appreciate that so um moving right in we'll start with um commissioner paler for any comments that you have this is our time I know this is a little bit different than when you were in office as far as the agenda and it could change but um this is your time to speak freely about anything you want make comments um whatever you want to do it's kind of how I remember um anyhow I usually don't get to go first five is always at the end of the road but um I appreciate that um I want to um thank commissioner Harvey for his year of leadership and uh moving the county forward in a positive direction um did a great job um I look forward to working with with the commissioner Wilson chairwoman chair lady chair some chair is fine you don't have yeah um and and the good things that you're going to help help us move forward within the county um for those of you that know me um or don't know me I've been a public servant in public service for over 40 years and that's what I'm going to do uh as I move forward um I uh when I was here before I took public works to task and uh we made some really good changes down there and um now my my focus is going to be on uh uh building and Zoning I think some things over there have still got some corrections to be made and I look forward to seeing some some good things u in that direction um having taken office last Tuesday I technically I guess started making moves with uh Public Works about a month ago and uh contaced them about some issues that the constituents had contacted me about uh personally yesterday worked with Mr Stout and his staff five or six his top AIDS I guess that's what I'd call him um on three different drainage areas in the county and um I am really excited about uh progress that we're going to see uh in that area because he's he's really doing a good job and and really I'm proud to have him on our team um we uh we met uh we had a three-way meeting with different Property Owners on on a situation and we had a meeting of the minds and everybody came away with a a happy face and um I think things are going to go in a real good direction there and and just that's what it takes is just working together to help your fellow man and U you know your neighbor um in small rural Florida that's what we do and um that's what I'm going to continue to see but I'm I'm real excited about about that department and the good things that are going to come out over there thank you thank you commissioner peler I still want to say Walton sorry I'll get it um commissioner Alexander starting on my outside first thank you uh Mr chair Miss Wilkinson it's we'll get used to it yeah one day we'll figure this out but uh um many of you don't know my background don't know my history but um I was dispatched on a by a national company to handle problems and typically it was our company's problems that were they weren't taking care of the issues that the way they should have so uh I look forward to working with our community and trying to find some satisfaction um I want to thank commissioner Harvey um for welcoming me into the fold shortly after the election and prior to I think that he is a he's been a great leader for our community um and Leota excuse me Mrs chair see there we go well it's it's very difficult you know coming in this community and being here your entire life you look out and you know most of the staff here um you you understand their personalities and you have confidence in them because you know who they are and what their capabilities are so that brings great excitement to me I know Jr excuse me commissioner newold I know commissioner Wilson I know commissioner Harvey um Walt commissioner Walton I think that um we're going to work well together I think that we all have a common goal in achieving growth and making this A Better Community without any um personal interest it's all about self-sacrifice all of us have other opportunities that we could have explored but we chose to stay here and serve our community and I look forward to it um I'm very confident in the folks on my left I've worked with them for a month now in the background and just uh for formally the last week uh any questions I've had they respond almost instantaneously the guys back there in the back corner I look forward to great things um they've been super helpful and I know their capabilities as well so I see a bright future for putam County about all I've got to say very good thank you commissioner newold well I'm going to repeat a lot of what you've heard already but I would like to thank the residents of putam County for kind of entrusting me in this new role um I'd like to thank the past Commissioners Turner Adam Zach and Pickins who were gracious and and willing to share experience and and have just uh are willing to still help guide um they all have passions for our community um commissioner Wilkinson and and commissioner Harvey you guys have been gracious and and willing to share little tricks of the trade and and experience that you've gained over time and and I'm glad you're willing to do that not let us new guys uh sink or swim yeah it's not like that throw us right in the deep end so so dramatically um the county staff man this has been a nice transition um smooth I'll repeat what what we've heard already we've got great folks in place and I've heard that but seeing it firsthand is is refreshing um we are we are in good hands um like to give a little extra shout out to to Mr Tilton our Solid Waste director you know the the first little uh test that came to me passed on by commissioner Pickins it was amazing how quickly he passed those on he had no reservation in uh in doing that and what I thought was going to be oh a little prickly take a little time you it was a call right before the weekend you know and I was trying to Prime the citizen up for hey you'll probably get this done you know in a week or so well man her uh her her problem was solved in a matter of hours and she could not have been more thrilled and that was a great um a great start so thank you guys for making my job easy thus far um i' like to wish everybody a nice Thanksgiving and thank you all for making this a a nice transition thank you thank you commissioner Harvey thank you Madame chairperson Wilkinson I appreciate it and congratulations to you on your chair you're going to do a great it's going to be a great year under your leadership and I look forward to that uh one thing I did leave off I am the director of the Career Source Consortium for putam County but that's somebody anybody that wants to take over some just give me a holler I'll be glad to talk to you about um don't forget to parade this coming Friday night after Thanksgiving on Thursday we do have the banners done that we're going to be riding together and having a great time throwing out candy lots of candy for that and you're going to be coordinating that I will okay I will I do want to kind of touch base on something that was said today and and I don't want to beat a dead horse here but when I came in commissioner paler you were here then we uh had groundbreaking on the sewer system over in East Paca remember that over there and that was that was the the bones of it if you will and that was a big loan that was carried on by the citizens of putam County and what you've heard today is really Water and Sewer is only available from the bridge to the east east Paca duns Creek area U doesn't even cross over the bridge down there but it was very important to then governor Scott to get those sewers Systems off the river as much as possible so a lot of grant money came to us but make no mistake the citizens of putam County have been subsidizing this for a long time even out in our district I don't have water and sewer out in the anaren area so we pay for that through our sales tax goes some of that money goes to that to prop that up and it's been propping it up for years years so one thing I think I'm really really proud of is the former board really took notice of a lot of these rates the msbu rates were the same from the day we started now they're indexed so their cost of doing business if it costs this then divide it by the lot owners that's what it costs to do business so we're trying to get to a to a product where somebody else isn't subsidizing now unfortunately in Government taxes fees we don't work that out I mean it's not fair for everybody and some people are going to pay that's just how it is but I think we've made great strides in getting to that part where we're trying to make it not a profitable organization but at least Break Even or close to as much as possible and one day we'd like to see that happen we see it with our landfill you know we fought very hard not to sell the landfill you were part of that decision and very stood we stood together on that um or we would be talking differently to Mr Tilton right now if we didn't own our landfill um and that is that is does make money for the county and basically what it does is it offsets the cost of of doing business so our taxpayers see a reduction in fees for that so this this board I I fully expect us to go forward and look at those fees and and the rates that we charge and and unfortunately and uh we just had to carry on another water system in the Boswick area that we didn't even want and people go well why did you take it well basically in Florida when the provider gets tired of dealing with it they hand it off to local government and we can't hand it off to anybody else we have to accept it and we accept it the way it is and believe me it's not a Cadillac anymore they might have bought a Cadillac but it's not not a Cadillac and now we've got to bring it up to standards to to be able to do so it's it's a task and I would ask that everybody keep an open mind as we go into explanation and discussion about rates and things in that nature uh because we do want to move this County forward and the best thing we're doing is providing water and sewer to some of those areas that we know are flooding the St John's river and we see it all the time and and I I'm very proud that we finally paved those roads down in Paradise Point area that needed to be done we talked about it almost eight years ago but we were waiting on the Water and Sewer lines to not be in the middle of the road and we've done a good job on getting that done and uh I I want to say hats off to Public Works who have just completely uh Mr Sugg you're right with the engineering department we have have moved our projects Fast and Furious is no more do we have to spend 3 hours every Tuesday talking about transportation we talk about them right here we get them done and we get them moved out and no more of this a year down the road or two years we're moving projects and I appreciate that so Madame chair that's my remarks so Happy Thanksgiving to everybody and see you on Friday night thank you well he's got a lot more experience than the rest of us so don't stress because he can speak better than we can just remember he's he's a little bit more seasoned on this so a couple things I want to remind um we do have um a legislative day the first week in January and so start thinking each commissioner start thinking about if they have any legislative priorities email them to County Administrator and he can sort of gather them up for all of us and it's and at our December meeting I would assume we'll have to discuss what are those priorities would be or how we would want to see those handled um but we I've I've got a little list in my office I've been working on but um please think of any legislative priorities you have and we'll have the that discussion at our next meeting um also I did miss the ride solution board commissioner Pickins did serve on that I don't think that's something we have to decide now but at the next meeting we probably should make a decision on which commissioner would want to serve on the ride solution board um also um if you have not been by the animal services building I know Miss Young gave us an update today but if you haven't been by there please feel free to do so and a schedule an appointment if you want with u Mr Grimes or with Brian and they can give you an update uh we did not receive the spay and neuter Grant from the state um however staff has been diligently working with the University of Florida so that whenever the new building is built that we can um have some spade and neuter surgeries right there on site Julian do you want to add to that or just basically commissioner and you said it very well um what we're hoping to do is partner with UF vet school um and bring some of their students Down Under the direction of a um f licensed veterinarian that can begin doing some Services here in our community um as as part of their teaching or instruction right so in addition to that we'll also have the mobile clinic that they're working on with u Miss Jenny in Crescent City at the art Consortium so we have that we've been over capacity um we'll continue um to be a capacity at one time back in I think it was September uh Mr Helms brought in some recommendations if you will send that out to from the Animal Welfare League if you will send that out to all the new board members just so they could read it and sometime in the future probably in January or so we'll have to have that future discussion if we're going to make any policy changes or recommendations for the for the policies for Animal Services um that's all I have um for as far as is work well storm debris um can you give us an update Mr Grimes on storm debris I know that's a a hot subject for everybody so let's just discuss it most certainly uh thank you madam chair uh Commissioners uh it's been working it we had a real rough start because of the way that it was regionally affected by storm debris pickup it wasn't just regionalized to Florida because we had hurricane Helen that hit the Georgia North Carolina Tennessee all those different areas so as we engage our contractor for debris management he doesn't have just a cont puam County they have multiple over across the State of Florida they have multiple Over Georgia North Carolina the different areas so equipment was really difficult to get um mobilized into putham County because we were not one of the most most hit directly um so um where it's really easy for their contractors that they had the work for them to go to a beach town or something that was hit really easy and they could get a load from here to Krill Avenue um and then that's how those folks you know that's how they generate their revenue is by the faster the load so to get resources into putham County was a little bit difficult uh because it truly is like a 841 square mile Easter egg hunt um so it took some time they went into the heaviest affected area that was hit the hardest which was in the Crescent City area um and they worked two or three weeks in there they were only able to mobilize two two trucks to start with there's a total of seven or eight here now okay so they are mobilized they're still getting some debris out of Crescent City um they have moved into Satsuma Waka Georgetown they've moved up that way they've got a couple trucks working in the Sano area I know there's one working east Paca area um so they are starting that there's one that when they they moved from the city of Paca out to um off Silver Lake Drive so there is still some the larger trees that are still in the rideway those will get taken care of underneath that contract but what happens is is the debris vendor moves through there he finds or they find the um large that needs a saw crew and then they'll send a saw crew in behind the city that needed to be done so they are working they have worked in Melrose area um already so they're kind of bringing it in centralized which was his operational call because he said I'd rather work out and my way in because as sources become available it's just much quicker to get to the landfill uh one of the problems is as we all know the roads going to Crescent City it just just an hour and a half turnaround for a big truck so he can only get down there so many times especially this time year when we're short on daylight he can only do two or three runs a day down there so um we do get an update on the board from our to Thompson our our um debris management when it comes to the landfill to get certified so we're able to get them back from femo there is a dashboard out there that tells us how many cubic yards they've hauled thousands of cubic yards of debris already to the landfill so as that's being done um I think they've probably still got a couple weeks left to go in putham County so they are still out there working in the the geographic region so if there is a one-off that you guys are getting please let me know I can got Chris or Mr Tilton one uh we can call and and and get the oneoff picked up real quick if they happen to miss one going to happen uh we sent them through pretty quick after Hurricane um Milton cuz we did some Helen pickup before Milton hit and so there was a big transition in there so there is going to be the one off that they missed and if they just people just let us know give us a call shoot us an email shoot you guys a text or you wanted to get to you and if you'll just let us know we'll absolutely get it picked up because I mean there's ones that have been put out since they've been through um they actually have a map of where they had in I don't have access to that map I'm sure we can probably get it if we need it so then there'll be piles that come in after the fact but they're they're doing a great job and I mean what we've seen they've done a great job up we've had a little minor snafus here but they are still working day in seven days a week in putam County because I mean I see where they haul in debris on Saturday and so I mean they are working seven days a week in the 10 hours a day that we had to work right now in the daylight so they are still very well moving well I appreciate that update I know that's one of the things being discussed in the community so it's important that we get the right information out to our citizens because I think sometimes there's there's misinformation we started with two trucks and I think they're probably up to 7 eight n now that are working throughout the county trying to get this stuff C cleaned up as quick as possible I think their goal was to be done by December 2nd I they're going to make it or not but that was the first goal that they put out was getting at least the first push through done by the first week of December and did we typically do two passrs or if we is it as needed only kind of as needed I mean if there's a specific area hot spot we need to go get picked up we'll go get picked up but it's a big County to cover so listen they all ran for office they understand how big this county is I get it just that's when you realize how big the county is is when you run for office so um thank you for that update I appreciate everybody um support today and I truly believe that have a Great Commission we do have a great commission and I look forward to serving with each of you and with that the meeting's adjourned