##VIDEO ID:ey_NKmk2EFY## e e e e e e e e e e e welcome to the board of County Commission meeting today is Tuesday October 8th at 9:00 in the morning this morning our invocation will be read led by Pastor Robert Bush at Faith Baptist Church and the Pledge of Allegiance by commissioner Bill Pickins please rise if you're able to do so Lord God we do thank you for this day we thank you Lord for uh God just all things that you do for us Lord we thank you for dying for us Lord for Rising again the third day Lord we do pray uh for this meeting here this morning we just pray you'd give them wisdom Lord you'd help them get things done God we just pray for this upcoming storm Lord that's coming through we just pray you keep your hand of protection Lord on this County and on these people and Lord those in the path of the storm we just pray dear God that it might subside a little bit weaken Lord before it hits land God we just pray again Lord for your safety your wisdom and God that you would give us uh understanding in Jesus name amen amen please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all Pastor Bush thank you so much commissioner Pickins thank you do want to let the audience know if we seemed a little rushed today um we do have a a lot of Staff preparing to for your safety with the storm coming so we're going to get through this agenda as quick as possible so our staff can get to um doing what they do and at this time they wear multiple multiple hats uh to protect the citizens of putham County next item of business on the agenda is approval of the Amendments Mr chair I move approval of the board of County Commissioners meeting scheduled uh September 10th 2024 we have a second second all in favor signify by saying I I oppose like sign the eyes have it we going to recess the board County Commission meeting call to order the Port Authority meeting first item of business is our Port Authority regular minute meetings Mr chair I move approval of the minutes proper motion proper second any further discussion on that motion hearing none all in favor signify by say I I I oose like sign the eyes have it next on our Port Authority is our public comment on Port Authority items only is there any public comment on Port Authority items only go ahead once going twice and we'll shut that down and Commissioners is there any general discussion on Port Authority items Mr chairman I'm not a commissioner but just to give you an update we have signed the lease and got the lease back uh as discussed the last meeting so National Industrial Services are now uh on the property site there the OG G GP property good deal thank you very much okay and seeing no other discussion we'll close the Port Authority reconvene the port I mean p of County Commission meeting and our first item of business is the proclamation for domestic violence awareness month and I do apologize I did not wear my purple although I knew to do it and I ran out of the house and didn't do it but commissioner Pickins will be reading the proclamation and he will be directing you as to what to do now okay um the representatives from Lee Conley would you like to come to the podium okay putam County Proclamation number 202 24-104 domestic violence Awareness Month whereas domestic violence is a crime that impacts all citizens of putam County and whereas the impact of domestic violence is wide ranging take it a d dramatic toll on the criminal justice system law enforcement the Health Care community and society as a whole and whereas each year in putam County an estimated one in four women and one in nine men are victims of domestic violence that would translate to 13,000 individuals affected in our County and whereas it is vital for our community to support the victims of domestic violence and assault assist with their grave Financial physical and psychological losses and to pose legal sanctions against perpetrators of personal violence whereas the Lee Cony house is the only only Domestic Violence Center in putam County providing 24-hour services and cing counseling to victims and their families and has been awarded certificate through the Florida Department of Children and Families and whereas the putner County Board of Commissioners urges all citizens to actually participate in support of all programs sponsored by Lee colly house therefore assisting in the elimination of domestic violence in our community now therefore be it proclaimed that the board of County commissioners of putham County Florida the October is designated domestic violence Awareness Month in putham County to participate in planned activities benefiting the Lee County house and his mission to provide shelter and support services to victims of domestic violence and their families done ordered adopted this 8th day of October Mr chairman I make the motion that we approve this Proclamation second have proper motion proper second further discussion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I oppose like sign the eyes have it okay I'm I'm not going to talk your ears off um in the interest of time but I do want to say that um this Proclamation is not for us this is for the survivors and just a very quick story I did a presentation the other day and a lady came up to me afterwards and said I came through your shelter when I was 5 years old and it changed my life and that is why we do what we do um because she went from a life of pain and suffering every day to her mother getting out and building a life and this young lady is now a mother and she lives a a productive life and um that's why we do what we do and we want to recognize the thousands and thousands of women and children and men that have come through our uh shelter and through our Outreach Services over the years we've been in business since 1997 and um so we're very proud of the work we've done we're very proud of of the people that have come through our services who have survived horrible treatment and horrible things and still come out on the other side and that's what this is about today and I thank you all I've stood here for seven years and for seven years I think most of you have been sitting right on that uh side of the the panel and um I'm so thankful for not just this recognition but the continued support of the commission and uh many of you do it personally many of you do it uh through your vote um when it comes budget time and we appreciate that that thank you so much thank you [Applause] youor come on we won't bite well some of them might thank you truly making um a difference one person at a time thank you so much for the work you do at Lee Conley next it will be commissioner Wilkinson is going to do the proclamation for the 4 and she will direct you as to what to do thank you Mr chairman puam County Proclamation number week whereas 4 is America's largest Youth Development organization having supported almost 6 million youth across the country thus far and whereas 4 has developed over 800 youth in putam to become confident independent resilient and compassionate leaders and whereas 4 is delivered by Cooperative extensions a community of more than 100 public universities Across the Nation that provides experience where young people learn by doing on in hands on projects in areas including Health Science Agriculture and citizenship and whereas National 4 week showcases the incredible experiences that 4 offers young people and highlights and the remarkable 4 youth in putam County who work each day to make a positive impact on those around them and whereas 4's network of 600,000 volunteers and 3,500 professional provide professionals provides caring and supportive mentoring to all four Hors helping them to grow into true leaders entrepreneurs and Visionaries now therefore be it proclaimed by the board of County commissioners of putham County proclaimed that October 6 through 12th 2024 as National 4 week throughout putam and encourage all of our citizens to recognize 4 for the significant impact it has made and continues to make by empowering youth with the skills they need to lead for lifetime done ordered and adopted this 8th day of October 24 Mr chair I move approval of this Proclamation second motion proper motion proper second any further discussion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I poose like sign the eyes have it we just want to thank you again this year we look forward to this week every year recognizing 4 and what it does for the Youth not only in putham County but throughout our country and as you can see we've got a great group of young ladies today um our fellas fell out on but um they might be working to help the storm yes um but we do appreciate the support of the county we just went a couple weeks ago I took a lot of these girls to Southern Region team leadership conference in Tennessee and the kids were able to learn so many incredible communication skills and Leadership skills that they've brought back to their counties and can share with the younger kids in 4 and with their schools and so we would not make it without your support and we appreciate you guys so much thank you thank you come on up and get a picture taken and again congratulate thank you see you again sorry as I've said many times that's the best part of our job so next will be uh Wendy our agricultural agent extension director I'm sorry with farmer Troy Maine yes both of those things are correct I am the extension uh director as well as the agriculture agent and this is my very motivated farmer that grows commercial datle Peppers here in putam county and we have a very very exciting event coming up on the riverfront we want to personally invite you all to attend October 26th I'm going to let Troy just kind of give a this is something that has happened for years and years and years in St John's County it is going to be a a fantastic culinary celebration of the datle pepper we are excited St John's County huh do I know anything about datle I don't know I don't know actually we need you to be a judge we have an amateur datle contest and we're going to invite you to be one of the judges but um um this went on for years and years and years in in St John's County they stopped it during covid and we're bringing it to the riverfront partnering with Main Street Paca huge corporate sponsor of um FPL gave us $7,500 for this inaugural event so we want this to be the AG Centric uh event in the upcoming years in October as big as blue crab that's what we're hoping for so I'm going to let Troy just kind of give y'all a a a snippet because he really is the the fire and the inspiration that made this happen good thanks Wy well welcome thank you thank you Commissioners for having me this morning um as Wendy was telling you I own Mayhem datle pepper Farms down in Pomona Park um uh my family has deep roots in putham County since 1883 uh my great-grandfather in the early 1900s helped do uh uh bring in change on malaria all the malaria outbreak um he also mapped the first 12 miles of the aaaha river in 1915 and helped bring about the Waka fish hatchery in 1920s um our farm has a long history of growing everything from oranges to ferns um until about 20 years ago I fell in love with dle pepper a few people grow it uh because it's very labor intensive and very tricky to grow uh but it does thrive very well here in putham county in fact uh there's only two farmers in the world that I'm aware of that grow heirloom quality dle peppers and that's Rebels pepper company and us when we're right here in putton County so we ought to be proud of that uh due to that lack of Growers we coin the phrase save the datle to highlight Florida's hidden gym and at the festival we're asking attendees to sign the save the datle petition to make the state the official state pepper the datle pepper uh Texas has one New Mexico has the Hatch Chili they even have a a New Mexico um State smell and that's the roasted has chili so I think that's about time we brought it to the D light here in Florida um over the years we've been featured on ESPN's award-winning uh TV series true South we've been in numerous um uh various magazines uh uh Northeast edible magazine as well as numerous radio shows and TV broadcasts earlier this year I retired for to uh work full-time on the farm uh and to revive the datle pepper Festival because like Wendy said it was huge over in in the a center in St Augustine but there was very little parking uh there was no really lot of food it was well attended um but I felt it was about time to bring it where it belongs and bring it back here in putham County okay so with your support you we would appreciate anything support y'all can give us Larry we're serious about you being one of our judges uh we got some really good celebrity judges coming along and we'd love you be part of it so you know I was invited one time to be a judge at a barbecue in contest in in uh mclan and I found out some people can cook better than me and some people can't cook at all and that's what I'm scared about about being a judge for your D I might find myself in the top end or the way bottom end so but I'll be willing to yeah one of the things we thought with the amateur contest it's not necessarily always about the taste that's what the judges going to hear it's about the story where it came from so that's what our big thing is so my business partner and best friend for 45 years Scott Murray is going to be the MC and he's going to be reading the stories behind all these recipes about where they came from and there's some great stories so far so it should be a whole lot of fun but we would love for y'all to come out it's going to be a black we've got live music we've got cold beer I don't know if I should say that here um but um but you know we appreciate everything y'all can do a lot worse is sitting here sometimes so trust me so but everybody stay safe with it's Hing coming thank you thank you and just to wrap it up we do have great culinary experiences we've gotten vendor or restaurants from St Augustine to come over and we're trying to get a couple from putam and they're going to be giving out four 4 ooun samples we're selling 200 tickets to The Culinary stroll and they're $25 and you get 16 datle pepper samples of of it could be like Savory sweet or drinks and then we also have a VIP experience we're partnering with the Douglas group who's given us the River Center for the rooftop so those are a $100 tickets and vofs is preparing all the food for the VIP experience so those are pre purchase tickets um everything else is free kids zone going to be amazing I mean we're going all out on the kids zone so this is something that we're really excited about and we really want to see happen year after year after year and we're going to grow it not just the dle pepper but grow it as an entric festival for for putam County you know Wendy I was late for my tourist development council meeting yesterday you were there and um I was at the EOC and made and then we had an emergency board meeting but I'm going to tell you the first quarter of next year it is going to be a busy time in putam County I mean there is a lot of events going on if you can't find something to do you just don't want to do it period and it's going to be good to Showcase putam County and anything we can do to get behind that we so we appreciate we just want you to know we want you to come out we're not asking for your money right now go buy some tickets online that would be great just to support our culinary stroll but um we just want y'all to know about it spread the word for us and be there and yes we're going to follow up with you specifically about the judging because we'll have six judges so if you do a terrible job the other five will be fine they'll make up for you all right that's it guys we don't need a picture uh be safe through the storm thank you for all you do where's your boots at today yeah okay good she has the best Florida boots around so thank y'all for coming today guys girls have a good day um next on our agenda is our Planning Development public hearing and our first item is our reone PUD 24-0 end in six how's that sound good morning for the record shenn cazelle planning and development services this application is to rezone from commercial retail C2 to plan unit development PUD the applicant is Celtic Investments FL Incorporated the agent is Don homes it's a 6.96 acre parcel located at 436 South Highway 17 in East Paca the applicant is requesting a zoning map Amendment for the purposes of expanding and making improvements to an existing vested overnight recreation park go ahead keep going I'm sorry the parcel is designated urban service on the adopted future land use map the subject lands have approximately 7 370 ft of paid Road Frontage on US Highway 17 according to the putam County GIS reference map there are no apparent Wetlands the FEMA flood zone layer indicates flood Zone X is present on site flood zone X is not a special flood Hazard area on December 7th 2022 Pam County planning and development services approved a vesting determination the vesting determination acknowledged the parcel had an extensive history of being used as an RV park and has been operating in good faith since at least the 1970s as stated in LDC section 45813 non-conforming land uses are not eligible for expansion or improvements unless a determination is made by the Zoning Board of adjustments allowing for such alterations rather than petition the zboa for expansion and improvements the applicant chose to bring the campground into compliance by way of planned unit development should this PUD be approved the applicant will then submit to the development Review Committee to satisfy additional development requirements the DRC will review plans to ensure the development is compliant with local state and federal development regulations as it pertains to this property the DRC will ensure placement of RV lots as acceptable based on the development agreement and the Florida Department of Health review plans as the Department of Health is the primary regulatory agent for RV parks other agencies including but not limits to putam County Public Works Emergency Services Florida Department of Transportation and St John's River Water Management District review plans to ensure the development will not adversely affect surrounding Properties by complying with each agency specific regulations associated with new development your aerial view future land use zoning flood zones Wetlands staff recommends approval of the request to amend the zoning map from commercial retail C2 to plan unit development as the request is consistent with the requirements for PUD zoning cons consistent with the future land use designation and consistent with other comprehensive plan goals objectives and policies at the scheduled public hearing on July 10 2024 the Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the resoning application questions no I have a comment though on our our page in our book page 23 U the directions to the complex is wrong it says to go out to inar and and turn into Cooper Lake RV park so I apologize and I I meant to say that yesterday and time got away from me so I apologize for not bringing that I'm sorry I made that mistake no we'll just clean it up so as long as everybody knows the directions are wrong we're we're good any questions for I I have a comment yes commissioner Wilkinson the other um one of the things that um I understand is an issue in puam county is uh the tourist development tax has not being uh processed not being received for mobile home parks and um while we as the county is not the enforcement arm of that uh the way it is right now whenever a a campground comes online they have to go to the tax collector's office and download the form well I'm not sure that those RV parks even know to go on the tax collector's website and download the form so we're not having we're we're having an issue with campgrounds not filing their tourist development tax return so what I would like to see as a county again we're not the enforcement end of that but if we could work in when these new developments come in for for uh campgrounds that we're at least providing them the information and saying here's the form it's your responsibility it is self-reporting um but let them know that there is a because they don't know what they don't know and so they don't know necessarily to go online to do that and I feel like we're the first stop for them whenever we're giving these permits out and so um if we I'm not sure if we got a work that in the process or if it's just more in your office where you guys are handing them that form and in their package or development review saying listen you guys have a responsibility to fill out the tourist development tax return but I want to make sure that we're doing that in the future those are just my comments yes ma'am it's something to look into yes ma'am commissioner Wilkinson I love that idea and honestly maybe that could become part of the final order that you know you have to bring back to us the application that you've already downloaded and it's been approved by the tax clle I think that's a wonderful idea because we do we do projects based on tourist development funds yeah and those are people that are visiting our community they're not our TA you know they're not our normal taxpaying citizens so you know we want to capture that we don't want to lose that yes ma'am thank you I love that thank you thank you commissioner Wilkinson okay any other questions all right is the applicant here would like to make a statement if you will state your name and address for the Don Holmes 222 North Third Street attorney for Celtic Investments uh as you pointed out the site is not in interlock and it's U on 17 South in what some call Sano um God's country yeah I know we hear that but not sure yeah um some of you may recall at one point it was a KOA Campground many years ago it's been in existence as uh Jennifer indicated since before zoning actually I believe in early 7 it kind of evolved into about a 50 sight uh Park uh 17 to 20 of those sites became permanent or long-term stays or mobile homes my clients bought it uh and began the process of attempting to upgrade but in that process of course they found that they weren't allowed to because they were operating as a vested park instead of U instead of a you know properly zoned uh put or or or facility so they made the U decision to try to move forward with a PUD in the process they've uh cleaned the place up quite a bit established a camp store uh re revamp the bathrooms stabilize the roads uh perimeter fencing done quite a bit with the idea of um of of upgrading the park and and and making it profitable but also a nice place to to stay so um we presented the plan to um and we've the PUD plan has many details that I'm happy to answer for you if you'd like but I know in the interest of time I'll simply state that we presented the development plan U reviewed it with staff multiple times presented Planning Commission received approval and recommendation from them and hopeful to receive approval from you today and then we'll go to our development Review Committee and um work out the details good thank you question to answer Mr Hol thank you sir okay this is a public hearing is there anybody in the audience that wants to speak in favor or opposition to this um request for the Pud anybody in favor or opposition going once twice Okay no Okay you thought you might but you didn't it's another project okay so we will close public hearing and Commissioners what's your pleasure Mr chair I move approval of P 24-6 okay we have proper motion proper second further discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor signif I by saying I I posos like sign the eyes have it thank you very much next item is rezone of r24 uh-h z0 all the zeros plus the 8 George Pacific this is our second reading uh we've already had our first reading and um we just skip staff presentation yeah I think we we don't need to be you're not adding anything from last time no sir okay as the applicant do you want to skip or wave and support or make a comment okay then is there any public comments based on this re reone of George Pacific property for or against going once twice three times we're to close with that staff what's your I mean Commissioners what's your pleasure Mr chair I Mo approval of rezone Rez 24-8 okay second proper motion proper second any further discussion all in favor signify by saying I I posos like sign the eyes have it thank you very much next item is our request to vacate portion of Magnolia Avenue in Bridgeport subdivision okay so you're saying you're saying theity to be mindful I get it good morning so this is the second reading for a portion of Magnolia Avenue to be vacated it's not a road that has been developed at all um and the citizens in that area are just wanting to take that out of play okay we have no we have no problem with the vacate of the road questions for Mr Stout okay good thank you this is a public hearing so would someone like to come up and speak about that first wait before we go to too far our first card is Mr Timothy pal Timothy pal if you'll come up and then we'll call good morning and I noticed Mr pal if you will state your name and address for the record and you also gave us a packet of information is that correct okay yes sir um I did modify the one paper that the county sent me Mr pal if you'll say I need your name and address for the record please Tim Powell 131 Magnolia Avenue uh sir I'm legally deaf and so it's kind of waving up uh if I'm speaking too loud please you're doing good if you could put the microphone a little closer I know you're tall like me it's sir you can pull it up it it'll it'll move for you there you go okay um thank you for allowing me to express my opposition to the request to vacate the unor unpaid portion of Magnolia Avenue there's four pictures in your packet uh the first picture it shows the the end of the unpaved portion it was taken prior to the current residence of the schneiders purchasing the property at 135 Magnolia which is adjacent to this property Mr Schneider was observed tearing down the chain link fence that sh is shown in this property I approached him and notified him that it was County property and he did not own it he responded my wife does not like chain link fences and ripped it down anyway picture number two Mr Schneider placed two buildings a trailer and other objects on the county property obstructing the view of the riverfront for all residents located on Magnolia Avenue even though he did not own it he also put thousands of pounds of concrete debris into the protected wetlands that had join his property puam County Code Enforcement after a complaint was filed by me instructed Mr Schneider to remove the buildings and all other items from the county property he did the State of Florida investigated uh Department of Environmental Protection out of Jacksonville and found that he had in fact dumped the concrete and ordered him to remove all of the concrete out of the protected Wetlands adjoining the property since his arrival in this neighborhood his behavior has demonstrated his total disregard for following County and state regulations picture number three this photo is how the subject property looks today this neighborhood is a beautiful quiet Waterfront community that is reminiscent of old Florida we do not want to turn and drive on our street and see a junkyard at the End of the Street instead of the natural beauty picture number four shows the property of patka Holdings LLC located at 136 Magnolia Avenue who with Mr Schneider would acquire this property if the commission approves his request I understand that the petitioner wishes to acquire the property to put a circular drive on the uh on it please note in this picture that the circular a circular drive already exists on the petitioner's property without the street having to be vacated the gate on the right the black Iron Gate what you can can't see very clearly it's a circular drive that goes behind the trees and comes out on the left hand side of that photo it's already there please do not approve this request I along with others want to preserve the the way it is now we do not want the beauty of a long established neighborhood destroyed a refusal to Grant the vacation of the property would not C har would not cause harm to anyone there is no Financial penalty if this request is approved an approval would give more property to the two largest Lots on Magnolia Avenue and we award Mr Schneider's bad behavior um there is no reason to even you would also take away the ability of the residents to file a complaint if such Behavior were to return because it's on his property Mr pal we got to wrap it up okay I do have a question for you are all the buildings off of that property right now currently yes sir he has um four one two three he has moved three buildings off of that property and he has them on his own property um Mr Schneider has a commercial Enterprise located in Waldo okay and all of the items IE the things that you would see at a flea market or stor in those buildings and all over his yard we just don't want it to spread past his existing property into the rest of it thank you Mr pal any other questions thank you okay uh is there anybody else wanting to speak please come up and state your name and address for the record we are going to time you at 3 minutes but as you can notice we don't there's not a trap door that opens and you don't fall out so if you go over Ashley you might want this for the public record thank you go ahead please good morning Commissioners my name is Iran Weldon I live at 134 Magnolia Avenue and I am representing the potica holding LLC for Dr Sam Brown this problem that we have here is not so much the property it's a hatville and McCoy between the sniders and the Powells and Dr Brown as you see this note that you have in front of you that is the proposal for that piece of property now if it was just let me just say one thing what you see in front of you is got put the microphone too and I Von seal Weld and his wife at 134 Magnolia um the paper that in front of you is what our friend Tim requested and Dr Sam Brown and Gary Schneider agreed to these documents that I got there the rep recommendations and we totally agree with that so you know that being said you can read for yourself go ahead the property would only have a decorative gate and a decorative fence which four of the people right on the same side of the street will all have the same type fence it's a black aluminum fence with a 6 foot gate electronic gate you can see and you can see right through it it's nothing as a matter of fact the poles would be no more than 6x6 a 4x4 or 6x6 whatever the fence company says that it's needed for the gate and once again the county said that the property could only be uh given to the persons on either side of the uh RightWay if it was up to Mr Snider he could care less he's not even up to pay any extra taxes but since it has to be those on either side he's brought into it if it was only one way which Mr Snider would agree to it would just be platka Holdings LLC Dr Brown and that's that's it sir so Dr Dr Brown lives on one side and Mr Snider lives on the other Snider lives on the other Mr Schnider lives on the opposite side okay and I'm here and representing Gary Schneider and Jan and they're out delivering meals on wheels today otherwise they would be here speaking for themselves but once again they are doing this to accommodate Dr Brown and hopefully this will still go through and can be approved and the driveway that Dr Brown is requesting would go straight down the road and then back behind his buildings and making another circular drive it's what he's got in his yard now there's driveways in there but not necessarily what you call a circular although it does go around a tree but this would make it easier for him to pull his boats in and back behind some buildings that exist on his property and then back out that was a circular drive at he all right thank you very much for your comment any other comments from May I add also that this when it's finished will be a mult I won't say a multi-million dollar but over a million dollar estate when it's all finished it'll be beautiful and more revenue for the county yes thank you for your time thank you for your time any other comments okay any anybody else from the audience would like to speak all right we'll close the public portion of that U Commissioners I do have a comment I want to make um based on the pictures that I saw really looks like a be nice to leave that open but and I know somebody's promised that they won't do something in the right now but in the future you can't make any promises like that but I will go along with what the board decides to do Mr adamack you have the floor yeah on all these that were Waterfront because we don't know what our drainage needs to be in the future and I know today we don't think it's an issue I voted knowing all of these in the past so I'm to continue to do that just cuz I don't know what our access the water may be needed someday in the future whether it's 10 years from now or 50 years from now um I have no objection to what they want to do with it just the fact that it does access all the way down the river I think it makes no sense for us to give it up thank you Mr Adams act Miss Wilkinson um I'm concurring with um commissioner Adams act I mean um regarding the view for the for the citizens and also um that 60 ft of River Frontage that the county would lose I don't know what the I don't know why we have a need to vacate it I really don't see that the county we're not doing anything with it anyway um so I'm I'm leaning with uh Commissioner Adam sacka this time okay any other deliberations we motion chair I'll make a motion I'll make a motion to deny the vacation of the RightWay second okay got a proper motion proper second any further discussion all favor signify by saying I I I oppos like sign the eyes have it been disapproved we're not going to allow it thank you next on our agenda is public comment on agenda items this is your time to speak on agenda items only um is anybody would like to come up and Share three minutes of their time this is your opportunity going once twice three times close public comment Commissioners Cent agenda commissioner Pickins and items you want to pull I have none commissioner adamac I have none commissioner Turner I have none commissioner Wilkinson I have none and I have none fa will entertain a motion Mr chair I move approval of consent agenda items a through K second proper motion proper second any further discussion hearing n all in favor signify by saying I I those like sign the eyes have it next is our F reduction case Mr Moore is the client with you today is anybody here for fine reduction codes case 2005-4 187 Mr chairman yes sir I move on codes case 2005 d487000 15539 if paid within 90 days second proper motion proper second any further discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I iose like sign the I have it thank you Mr Moore for your presentation today did well appointments Mr Adam Zach do you have any appointments you like to Mr Turner yes sir okay um on the tourist Development Council I'd like to uh nominate Keith Valentine TJ Smith and Ashton hods for the tourist Development Council okay how does that work when we only have one appointment we only have one appointment there there's three available there were two there're just not on the list oh okay yeah it uh Valentine came in the package yesterday afternoon late yesterday afternoon right at the end of the package it had the the three recommendations from the tourist development Council they didn't have Keith on the list but his term was up on the 24th and Ashton Hodge is taking the place of John Hodge who has resigned okay thank you so again I'd like to nominate Keith Valentine TJ Smith and Ashton Hodge to the TDC second any further discussion on that hearing done all in favor signify but saying I those like sign the eyes have it do want to make a comment about tourist development um yesterday today approved two items there was a bunch more that were approved yesterday we didn't want to bog that down we wanted to get the two that were time sensitive to you today we had a meeting planned for a couple weeks ago that had to be postponed because of a hurricane the storm that was here and now we almost had to do it again yesterday but managed to squeeze it in and get it done before we had to postpone so next meeting you're going to see a bunch more requests from tourist development uh Mr Turner you saw the floor is there anybody I have no additional ones today sir okay Mr Pickins just want to make a comment on the tourist Development Council um that is one of the things when you uh become a county commissioner you don't nobody tells you that you're actually the chair of the tourist Development Council when you're chair of County Board County Commissioners so anyway but it is a a unique experience working with the volunteers there and the staff from um from the chamber and I see the new executive director is uh Lori pav pavas right pavas is here with Julie Lenton and I just want to make a comment I've done it twice and I served with John Hodge both times and John was instrumental I believe in the starting of the blue crab U he's involved in CL Paca you know his whole life but he came to those meetings and he was early he was prepared and he participated and that's what you want so I just wanted to commend John Hodge for his service uh to everything he's done especially the tourist devel Council just one note on the affordable housing you see we have two at large um uh openings and I just want to say I spoke with John Nelson Jr and he is not interested in um being renominated so those would be two vacant spots there and hopefully we can come up with somebody pretty soon I think we will have a quorum for our next meeting um but we have had problems in the year's past so if um if you could think of maybe two people to um to fill those I would appreciate that's all I have Mr Pickins I'm glad you pointed out the fact that Mr hodj came early prepared and participated we need that with all the boards that we have and uh he has sure been a fine example we heard testimony yesterday at TDC Julie I'm going to get this screwed up but I think we started in 1992 with like $30,000 worth of income and now we're up to over 500 600 th000 somewhere in that neighborhood that the TDC brings in so and that goes right back out to support all these projects and festivals and advertising for this County and I mean believe me the numbers show themselves that people know putham County and that's working so thank you Miss Wilkinson do you have the floor for appointment I have none okay on the next item we're going to table that Mr Suggs you want to make a comment on that uh yes sir uh Mr chairman thank you you uh as uh as we're doing our research uh some information came to light and I'd like to have a little bit more time for staff to to look at that and then we'll come back uh at a future date to discuss the uh direction that the board would like to move forward on if we don't have a storm maybe the next meeting we can discuss it f we'll do our best thank you sir okay public comment on miscellaneous items is there anybody in the audience that would like to have public comment miscellaneous items going once twice three times gone thank you Mr cler the court Matt Reynolds honorable Matt Reynolds good morning Mr chairman um I'd like to take just a quick moment to update the board and update the public on um the tax deed sale that was planned to um plan to occur tomorrow um at this point we are still planning to move forward with that tax deed sale tomorrow starting at 10: uh but in order to accommodate for um owners and uh biders that may be uh the winners of those auctions we are going to extend the period of which that they can come in um to either redeem the property or make their payment um to next Wednesday close a business so that way it should um give all interested parties plenty of time to come in and address um either Redeeming the property or making the payment for the bid in order to accommodate for them by doing that um not having to postpone the sale it will save us a substantial amount of money it'll save the county taxpayers a substantial amount of money so just wanted the board to be um up to date on that um work closely with the tax collector's office on making sure that that goes as smoothly as possible Mr Turner you had a comment uh yes uh M the um if someone bids on a property tomorrow and they're successful are you saying that the property could still be redeemed after the sale yes sir that that per statute the way that a normal sale would work is that the owners have until noon of the following day which is Thursday to come in and redeem the property but we will be extending that out due to the storm yes sir even after the I wasn't wor that I just want to say thank you for um handling that with and working with the tax collector's office and saving the citizens money I think that's very important and trying to find a workaround um that's that's helpful for everybody so thank you yes ma'am absolutely and the only other comment I have is just to um to let everybody know to to please stay safe this is a a very serious storm we've seen many storms come and go over the past few years but this one really really seems to have everybody's attention as it should so I just pray that everybody's safe during the storm I agree County attorney Mr Commando nothing to okay sir thank you okay before I go to County Administrator Mr Grimes I'm going to give you an opportunity I know I put you on the hot seat real quick but you were you stayed for the full briefing and probably are stakeholder so if you would like to brief the board on any new developments or anything most certainly um so good morning Commissioners chairman um yeah everything looks pretty much the same as it did yesterday evening if people notice that storm did um take a downgrade last night um it had a eyewall rebuild or replacement during the night last night um they fully expected that I mean the NWS Jacks meteorologist said that he's can see it starting to reform a very narrow eyewall so he's fully anticipates it will re-intensify to a cat 5 again today uh they're not anticipating a cat 5 at landfall probably a three or four still going to be very destructive to that whatever region it hits in Southwest Florida it's kind of bobbled between the north and south of Tampa Bay there hasn't been a big the the most model guidance is coming into alignment and they're going to put it right in or just maybe just a tick south of Tampa Bay not a lot changed for us locally um we're still there is a little conflict we're seeing a hurricane warning for the um from the National Weather Service that everybody's receiving leing on their phones um they're showing us a tropical storm heavy intensive tropical storm warning locally um so there is maybe a little bit of confusion there but we're only talking one or two miles an hour you know whether you're talking of a very highend cat or tropical storm versus a cat one type hurricane rainfalls uh maintained 6 to 8 in uh locally they said you could see 10 to 15 um Storm surges remain in effect uh they're overly concerned or they are very concerned about the um High tide cycle and um with the river staying up and the water getting trapped um for many weeks to come so we're going to anticipate that flooding to stay on top of us for probably the next couple weeks anyway uh none of that has changed as of this morning um we've we're starting to Stage um everything inside the shelters this morning our fire rescue Logistics folks and um workers are getting all the stuff delivered um and getting all the shelter set up this morning um getting ready to open it tonight at at um six uh the storm did slow down a little bit it shows the impact probably coming in late tomorrow night and into early Thursday morning uh but we always have that um chance for it to speed back up um and I don't want to change the messaging right we we've got the community engaged they know the shelters are opening at 6 I mean we probably got a little extra time according to this morning's forecast but we're going to maintain the same Pace we're on um besides trying to cause confusion so um with that nothing else has really changed the landfill is going to be open an extra hour again today just so the citizens know um so they can do that uh sandbag sites are still open uh our staff and plan is put together for fire rescue they'll mobilize tomorrow morning at 0800 um for um their assignments other than that I think that's pretty much what we've seen in this morning's update uh not a lot like I said not a lot had changed since yesterday afternoon other than just that eyewall that eyewall rebuild um so I'll take any questions anybody has um this morning so if I I have one um so are we still um not going to pick up trash on Wednesday is that still the plan yes man that's the plan as of now okay um that may change we're looking at that because if we got a sunshiny day tomorrow I I really would the problem is this confusion right because we said that um the landfill's closed tomorrow but if we have a day that we could get the garbage up I'd rather get it up with that one extra day but we're going to look at that this afternoon so if we think we can get it out without causing too much confusion if we think we can run the landfill we may run the landfill tomorrow but we're going to look at that yet I mean I think it's just still too early to call but if we could get an opportunity we may and I know it's hard to anticipate um but seeing all the Travelers coming from south Florida on the interstate and um we're opening our shelters we are we thinking that we're going to get some of those Travelers or or we thinking it's going to be more local I know it's hard to tell but you've been doing this a lot longer than I have it has we'll see a few influx from uh South Florida to run through um we'll know later today um how many of them are staged here waiting on our shelters to open um we just don't know that at the moment uh We've uh not a lot of special needs requests we've had uh 10 confirmed this morning that but no no transport required um I did have somebody reach out to me right before trying to figure out how to get them some handicapped folks out the south end up to the special needs and we told I gave them the Health Department's phone number to get them um arranged to get in there this morning so we are doing that um and I don't want to change the subject but debris collection is going on right now um I'm sitting here as we speak watching the map turn from red to blue which is kind of kind of nice um seeing that our vendors and contractors are out there trying to get all the debris picked up well that's good okay thank you um that's all I have for now chair I want you to I was very impressed with decisions that were made Sunday morning about debris PR pickup you know like you said last week we had a plan of action to go out and spend a few weeks with contract there to get all the debris picked up in the county from the last storm and decision was made Sunday morning to get that stuff up as quickly as possible would you expound on that please about what what took place on that yeah so yes sir so Friday afternoon we had a 20% or 30% with going down uh anticipation of development in the tropics so we went ahead and rolled out to pick up for Hurricane hel debris we wanted to give two weeks uh for people to get their debris cleaned up in their yard and we'd send a contractor push through and then we could go back and get the oneoff piles if we needed to whether it be our own sanitation department but then on Sunday uh we had a 90% chance of development with um a tropical storm had already formed with a path that was coming this way so we made a decision to try to um get this debris picked up Mr Suggs and I went out Sunday all day and marked what piles we could um mobilize fire rescue to go out with cuz they got tablets and computers in their trucks and just start marking piles on the side of the road not sure how many on there's a lot of dots um never did go to a whole count but there's a lot um and they're pushing through this morning so um and they'll probably work through the day tomorrow some of them did start working yesterday evening but um we were able to engage them so a lot of it's getting picked up we're they're got some different strategic places located around the county that they are putting the the material for now in the staging area that we'll get it moved to the central landfill following um hurricane Milton um so we've tried to find county-owned properties that are secure out of neighborhoods the vendors and contractors can get in quick with their trailers get it dumped and then get right back out on the street picking up debris so we're pushing through pretty good today we've got a couple more crews on standby that said they could work if needed um but I think we've got probably close to the right number engaged at the moment if we need to engage another one or two we we most certainly can and and you reached out to to local people so go ahead and say that yes sir we did we reached out to local folks um Tred dividing the county up in some quadrants to give to them um because we were in a little bit different situation because usually in recovery we go through our debris contractor because we're in recovery uh this is truly in a category B is it's emergency protective measures which kind of opens up some of the procurement on how that we can do this so I reached out to several vendors that were either vendors for the county that worked for the county and other aspects that we knew that did some of nsbu contractors some of them that does abatements different things for us reached out to those folks got them in here and and asked and uh got those engaged yesterday which just really was able to do quickly and if we weren't in that cat B designation from the governor we'd have never got um the ability to do that so uh with the lsse and and trying to do the emergency protective measures in front of hurricane Milton abled us to do that that type of Engagement good thank you Mr Turner um we're going to open the EOC today as a to category one or to tier one or whatever yall Lev one yes sir um with it slowing down and not going to have effects until tomorrow evening are we going to fully staff tonight or are we going to let people go home and sleep in their bed even though we're going to stay at at one obviously we're not going to have you know full storm impacts until sometime tomorrow afternoon so is the plan to to just staff at whatever level is necessary tonight and then staff at the full level tomorrow afternoon or something yeah we'll we'll kind of play that by ear but we got to have enough Staffing in place to take care of the people in shelters so we still going to keep our Logistics Division up and running um I'll be there throughout the duration of the storm but we we'll be we can scale back I mean if we see it truly where we can get our people back to back to the EOC safely that's the that's the key is I don't want them traveling during the storm but if we can we can send them home let them do some evening stuff this evening and um once we get good and settled in and make sure we got all the the key elements there as far as making sure we got enough people to answer the phone because the the call center is just getting overwhelmed with calls in right now and we got all the shelter set and all the logistics and if we got a a little low period between when the storm hits we can absolutely rotate folks out and get them home to their families I guess my point is that a lot of the SE stations that are out there are storm related directly storm related or even after storm related a lot of the different eses we could let them go home and spend the night with their family tonight and then maybe come in tomorrow when it was necessary oh most certainly like our our um recovery folks would absolutely go and be able to do fpnl their Representatives probably won't come in until tomorrow morning um we're not fully activating fire rescue till tomorrow um so there we we got a stage plan coming in but we got to put it up to that level one when we got our shelters and all up up and running so that we have make sure we have enough St saying don't do that I'm just saying you know y we got you covered they got families too yes sir we all do and go ahead and make note of um what came in what you ordered in yesterday that came in sure so we um even post storm it does take a little while for things to mobilize and be able to get here so we did order um one semi load which I think is inclusive of 27 pallets of water that we can prage around the county until we get the next request in post storm um and then we also got delivered 2,000 tarps which is 19 pallets um we currently have those stored at um the pole barn at sanitation so we can roll those out post storm because we just didn't have enough room at EOC and I think we ended up with a whole semi load of MREs uh that we can distribute out um to folks post storm so we've got all the supplies in that we requested out um our generators are pre-staged everything's up and all of our prep work is if not completed is in the very ending processes of being completed and us up and ready to go within we'll probably be done with most of our prep today by 3 or 4:00 we'll be everything will be upstage ready to go just for um discussion purposes U I don't know if you I haven't heard it in a commission meeting and I don't know if you've told the other Commissioners or not but the generator at the water plant in East Palaca is operational again goodness um you know because if we lose power there we would have lost water and all the whole water system so uh through uh very diligent work by Jr and and Public Works they went out and got this thing running again in record time in the government it was like a lightning strike time but uh they got this done and and thank goodness they did because this if this takes out power in East bla we would also lost water to all these plers so good job on that one Jr and guys good job I have one more question um regarding the special needs shelter um I know that uh there's a process for them they just can't show up so we really we have done a first of all let me just say EOC and the staff has done a great job pushing out information I truly appreciate it I think that we are um we're informing our citizens the best we can with as much information as we can and I I appreciate that I know they do too but what about um the instructions for the special needs shelter should we put a bulletin together or some kind of and I'll go yes ma'am we can and I'll um I've got a number right here so um this is from Miss Stacy brandham at the uh Florida dep Department of Health she's in charge of making sure that we get on the list and all that stuff um her phone number she wants to be called directly and this is a cell phone number so um is area code 386 937 3563 until 6 o' tonight and that's when the call center opens and their staff will come to the call center and then they can start they'll call the 386 3291 1904 they'll route them to their ESF desk and be able to talk directly to the health department staff but they have to be pre-registered they have to meet a certain category um whether they're bedridden or they're oxygen dependent or things like that that acquire special need um they'll um but they have to be pre-qualified and if not they can get them qualified real quick they just need to make sure they meet the the metrics for them to get there so they can call Miss Stacy brandom from the Florida Department of Health she'll get them squared away okay thank you and then one other thing I saw that the Florida Department of Emergency Management will be in the future offering some Uber rides to local um shelters as long as they're going to the shelter they're not going to take them to Walmart but they're going to take them to the shelter of their choice in puam County if they're putam County resident um so once the shelters are open or will we be getting that information out we're going to do our best uh we are very Transportation limited in our County um but if we um we don't have necessarily an Uber Service uh we do use our partners through like ride solution um if there's a definite need we will get them to a shelter um if you told me right now how are you going to get them there I'm you tell you I don't know but I'm going to get them there whether it's send commissioner Harvey to down there in his car and go pick them up and send them out to the to to the shelter or send an ambulance by I mean because we're very we don't have the luxuries of the big cities where Uber is just right around the corner or lft or any of the other uses we've run into this in other areas of our job with like getting people home from the hospital right um so they have to utilize ride Solutions and other agencies to be able to get the people home so we deal with that on a constant basis U we will absolutely get if somebody will call in there I will get you a ride to a shelter if you need it um whether we reach out to a partner at ride Solutions that's one of our ESF functions that functions at the EOC um or if I had to send an ambulance out I'll get them to town or I'll reach out to the Sheriff's Office and see if they can help transport somebody to town we'll get them we'll get them to a shelter but as far as a uber ticket or lift ticket or anything like that we don't have those kind of services here which you're very well aware of but we'll absolutely get them to a shelter if need be okay thank you and you know I think it's prudent to say this there's plenty of time to prepare but there's going to be a time a cut off point where we're not going to be able to get to you so if you flooded in the past couple months it's going to flood again if your roads washed out in that spot every time it rains it's going to wash out again just be prepared take responsibility for your family and we'll get there as soon as we can you know but even on top of that the last two or three big rains and big storm events we've had is possibly not going to cover this one seven years ago when I first got here as a commissioner we had one of these events that had a 3-day nor Easter in front of it that blocked the water up and then we had all the water coming from the south up and it flooded I mean a lot of these places had water two foot up into their houses that since then have been Clos to getting in their house so the flooding of possible flooding event that's fixing to happen could be a lot worse than the what we've seen in the last five or six years through these other storms that's right so I remember at duns Creek that it was as high as the seats on the seat cushions on the houses along the creek that hasn't happened since then it was also crotch deep in um Sports Sportsman's Harbor down there because I walked it down there with Senator Yoho and uh Sheriff Gator Deo and myself we all went down there and walked it so trying to get into a certain place that we wanted to see and so I'm just telling you it hasn't been that deep since and this has all the bells and whistles to be the same situation with backing that water up so if your house didn't flood in the last two or three years or four years that doesn't mean it's not going to here if you're in a lowline area get the hell out just get out I mean I don't know what else to tell you get out they're not going to be able to get in there to you during this storm event once it hits so I just think it's very important that they do that thank you Mr chairman okay Mr sug I've stld your thunder so go ahead No Sir Mr Jeremy never uh just a couple things real quick uh received a couple calls last night from some Commissioners and just wanted to make sure we uh clarified some confusion I did reach out to Dr R Cy last last evening about the school closur uh closures today here in putham County and that call was but made by the uh commissioner in the Department of Education out Tallahassee and I believe that was in response to what I was told last night was 500 plus thousand residents are being evacuated out of pelis County so they were anticipating we might get an influx so uh the Department of Education made that decision last night not putam County and so uh absolutely and as you can hear there's been a lot of very uh positive and direct comments about this storm uh Mr Grimes is and and Miss young as well I'm I'm gonna give props for their due I have been monitoring all the National Weather Service call so they're very much up to date uh Miss Danny and Mr Stefan out at do has been putting out great information commissioner Wilson thank you for that because uh they don't get enough credit uh folks in puam County are really taking this serious I went out last night we had small group church group at my house last night and after that I went out to get some some fuel myself and it was a lot of the stations in town are running low and a lot of folks were out there uh filling up their cans and and anything they had to get ready for generators so uh I think the word is out and I think you're really paying attention uh but what you also have heard here today and in the last couple of days is um we're prepared we started Sunday uh Mr Grimes called me Saturday afternoon and we went to work and uh your staff went to work your Public Works folks you're Solid Waste folks here fire rescue folks everybody in public safety you know so uh you know we're up and running this morning understand the call center has been running all morning and so Mr Grimes is going to go to a level one at six uh you know Common Sense approach here and uh I love that about this this group and uh you know our community is in very good hands and all I can do right now is uh uh pray for our community pray for our citizens and make sure they understand the serious of this I believe they do and thank you five for what you've done to support this this effort as well but I can't say enough about about uh how staff has done their job you know getting those sandbag sits up first thing Sunday making sure sand stays PL plentiful out there bags are out there getting sand over to drton Island this time you know was was a big deal and uh so uh you know we learn from every event as Mr Grim says we've learned from the last one of this one and we'll learn something from this one and uh growth is the uh is what it takes to continue getting better and so thank you all and all I've got to say is please pray for everybody here and be safe and we'll we'll do the best we can thank you thank you all right commissioner comments Mr Pickins yeah thank you chairman hary just want to Echo what administrator s just said uh we do have great staff and they have been preparing they've done this before each storm is different but this one has the field of of Irma Matthew and we did experience you know the high winds down trees washed out roads and the flooding so if you're in one of those areas and I'll just point out Sportsman Harbor you need to be really uh cautious if you're going to stay um but I suggest that you probably get to Higher Ground uh what we see there is is people who have cars will stay and then they're trapped because if they B the car out of the driveway the car fills up water because the streets are there's just so much water down there so please prepare and be safe and I I really appreciate all the staff from Public Works Planning and Zoning um sanitation all the different departments that we have and then our law enforcement um for what they're already doing and what they'll do through the storm and everybody stay safe thank you thank you Commissioner Adam that yeah I mean just about everything's been said I fully agree if you're in one of those L Ling areas just leave um it makes no sense to stay there and risk it you're going to be able to go back in a couple days and see what's going on and just leave and then stay out of the way for the time right after so that emergency services and everything to do their job and just look out for your neighbors too like a lot of us have neighbors that are elderly and they can't get out there and take that lawn furniture and put it away and things like that um my feet are all wet I came here a little late because I was trying to help a couple people I thought I had more time than I did I'm going right back to try to do some stuff um so hopefully everyone's doing that and there's a lot of elderly people in our community I mean we're probably 60% over 55 60 years old um get out there and help them um just get that stuff out away from their house at least you know we were doing some stuff we hid some stuff behind the side fence for L this morning so just things like that if if you know all early at your church and things like that just checking on Mr Turner yes uh I also like to Echo everybody's comments by all means this morning and just be safe uh I also would like to request that we place uh Pico Road boat ramp on the agenda for the next meeting I think we're going to be ready by then I think we found a solution um and it's time to present it to the board it's not wasn't quite ready today but in two more weeks it should be so we can get that done good thank you commissioner Wilkinson if there's still a dock at P Road after this event doesn't really matter cuz our our our new our new proposal is going to be removed moving it all and starting over anyhow it's not going to be just fixing the one that's there okay thank you um I just wanted to Echo everybody's comments as well we are going to have um uh you know a a storm event that is going to bring flooding in into this area and the message that we have continued to say is if you were flooded before you will be flooded again and this time it might even be worse um so uh you know people got to think about that if they're in low lion areas if you're in the Cedar Creek area if they're in Federal Point duns Creek um Sportsman's Harbor you know look at your map I mean we have pushed out the county has pushed out a good a very good interactive map where people can put in their address and they can see if they're in one of the recommended evacuation zones which is a andf and if they're in those zones they need to really consider leaving um if you stick around you you might you might not get any help until after the storm um we can't guarantee anything we obviously we want to help everybody but we have to think about um our our firefighters and rescue and and First Responders so um please be mindful be prepared as much as you can and uh be safe and that's all I have thank you thank you commissioner Wilkinson I got a few things um want to thank commissioner Wilkinson our County Administrator Mr Suggs and Deputy County Administrator Mr J.R Grimes and our he's also our public safety director uh last Wednesday I cooked uh I think it was 12 pork butts and we took off and we were headed to Swan and uh we stopped at Sam's and bought some more stuff that we needed and wound up in swanie I guess it was swanie correct yeah and one of our firefighter Crews was over there and they were happy to see us and uh people there were happy to see us and we brought food and uh we were able to help a few people out and um just be a part of a really really U good process of helping your neighbor out uh the State of Florida is well oil machine with these hurricanes and mutual Aid goes all over but it was just our little moment that we could do something to help some citizens out and um and we did we took a long drive over there and a long drive back but it was wonderful and we had a great time together so I appreciate that I did have a comment U representative Tom Lee out to me this morning as well as representative Payne when we were at the EOC and uh they want to know what our need was and we told them fuel so uh they've already moved that up and I know J Mr Grimes had already put that request in so U that's working now again my last comment is stay safe please U no life is worth getting lost over this storm so do the best you can for you and your family and if there's nothing else for the good of the order this meeting is adjourned thank you