##VIDEO ID:gfrv9LmrotY## comments by City Commissioner commissioner Reed do you have any comments this evening I don't I'm sorry I don't okay commissioner go no I have no comments commissioner Collins I do just have really one um I was a bit disappointed by a blog post by one of our board members um on the crb and it yeah know very disparaging of our two new Commissioners and you know we argue about policy and and where to go but I felt like it was very disrespectful to our two new Commissioners and so I wanted to bring up potentially I know typically we do reorg December but uh revisiting whether or not Mr Camp Penny uh should be our crb at large appointment since the at large is who is voted on by the five of us so I just wanted to offer that up for potential DND or Andor vote item at an upcoming maybe next meeting that's I just have a question is that something that would be brought up at the crb meeting correct I'm I'm not familiar with how we so the city commission appoints the crb members and as a result it would be a City commission item because it's related to the at large members it would require a motion from a City Commissioner a second from another and a vote of at least three members to remove the atlarge position thank you um I just have one brief comment um and first of all I am not on social media I'm a seven-year-old guy and I just missed that so but uh I am my wife occasionally will say to me you have to read this you have to read this and I would agree with commissioner Collins that the tone can be quite unpleasant with both sides but just my interaction with this community I have never seen it like this at this level um so many people so many different people who have who are very angry very disappointed very confused about the actions we're taking both with regard to the bright line and the potential decisions we make re regarding the zip um I would just ask that we tread carefully these decisions can have some very serious consequences especially for businesses who are the lifeblood of our community and I hope we can be courteous to each other and lead by example and hopefully we'll make the best decisions we can for the benefit of the city of Stewart for the long term thank you mayor yes so uh Mike do you need me to um ask specifically to have that agenda for next time if if the commission wants that as an agenda item I need direction from you or consensus from the staff that or from the board that you guys want me to bring that back for Monday night and I can add it to the Monday night meeting what do you guys think is it require I'm sorry mayor you can ask oh yeah okay um can I speak commissioner goob yes yes um again that that was my question would it be something that takes place here tonight or it takes place it would not take place this evening okay since it's not on the agenda the better practi is due process wise because the board is voting on something is to direct me to bring it back and place it on the next agenda agenda thank you has it ever happened Mr mortell that someone's been removed um that you're aware of last year the um City added the language to the code that provided the authority to remove people during um the during their tenure so prior to last year there wasn't the ability to even do it I mean removing people for because of a difference of opinion is very dangerous road to head down so but can I get us is is is this a matter that the the commission wants to take up if you guys are directing me to bring it back next week I'll put it on the agenda I just give me a kind of a consensus yes or no you want to disc I I would I I disagreements take place all the time and there's people on that board that I strongly disagree with and I would never suggest that they be removed but it is it's been offered up by commissioner Collins so um is it a motion are you we're just trying to tell me you want me to bring it back I I didn't read the article I tried not to read some of these so I didn't read it I'll but uh it it is I've read some things and they're just I understand people have difference of opinion and I understand that there's a split Community now in in certain areas that we are planning to go but to be I mean some people have been very vulgar vile or whatever online and for no reason as you said it's a difference of opinion it should not call into to question other people's characters or whatever and to me just so we're clear what we're we're not actually talking about the basis for removal tonight it's just is the board I'm sorry is the board directing me to put that on the agenda and if so what I would probably do is put there's there's two at large positions on the LPA and two at large positions on the crb so I would put for notice purposes I would put all four positions on the agenda for your discussion as a board and then you guys would have the ability to vote at that time whether or not you were going to remove them or not because they are in fact the board's appointees but it wouldn't necessarily be all four it could be just one well you could right you could do whatever you want it right I I would just like to add to it that um the renewals they The Advisory board members uh serve for one year and so those renewals will come up in December yeah so we we we would reconsider all the appointments and you have your new appointments come December just so you're aware of the normal course of events for me for me just the derogatory nature of disparaging the Commissioners personally like that was to me outside of the realm of okay well let not as as Mr mortell says we're not talking about the specific allegations we're talking about the general idea of bringing up prior to the reor which is in the charter an extraordinary measure to remove a serving board member Mr Mayor yes okay so basically they could just not be renewed as of December when the reorganization takes place that is correct because we all vote on those mayor Rich may I yes so I'm not opposed for it being a discussion item at the next uh commission meeting I actually spoke with city manager Mike mortell about myself removing a board member that is my appointee I think board members should conduct themselves professionally inside the chamber and outside of the chamber and my spefic spefic appointee was on social media as well um not talking so nicely about myself so I'm not opposed to the atlarge members being discussed at the next meeting and and policy-wise an individual appointee can be removed by their individual commissioner privately without board action without having a public hearing the reason that the at large require the due process and the public public hearing is because it requires three votes of the commission to make that decision as it related to your individual appointee you have the discretion to do that on your own correct do you feel like you have consensus I have consensus to bring back can can you read the consensus of this the consensus is that the consensus is just to bring back the item for the four positions of the LPA the two LPA and the 2 crb it's not that anybody is moving to replace anybody it's just to put the discussion on the agenda thank you tread carefully here okay before we approve the agenda I'm going to take the opportunity to explain what this means because there were some very nasty things said about me when I said a motion was not in order because it had gone against the order we all agreed to when we approved the agenda when we approved the agenda last week you will notice we removed one item and we took the item that was last and we put that first we established the order we all agree upon that the items would be considered that is the point of approving the agenda okay and the reason you do that is because say there's two Commissioners who doesn't want who don't want an item to be really considered and they know they have a six-hour meeting in front of them they'll go oh well I'm just going to put this at the end and hopefully everybody leaves and we can sneak it by so there was a we approved the agenda you'll hear it there will be a motion and a second and that's it that motion now governs my actions as the chair I am required to enforce that order and it also governs all the other Commissioners so neither I nor a minority of Commissioners two can say oh no we're changing the order however what they can do and failed to do they can make a motion to resend that prior motion or they can make a motion and a second to amend that prior motion but they can't neither Nei can I nor can they simply say I'm taking this out of order I'm going against the unanimous vote of the commission that was made just know 30 minutes ago and it is essential we understand we are all bound by that requirement thank God because that allows us to run these meetings in an orderly manner it allows all of you to have a voice and it allows all my fellow Commission to have a voice and the M it's a simple fact that the majority rules up here so I would whether you're indifferent or ignorant of the rules it's my job to enforce them and I did it and that was the correct decision and it's not like that item was not heard it was simply not heard in out of order it was heard in the order in which we originally agreed to so do I have a motion for approval of the agenda mayor can I just make one comment no there's there no reason for comment on this I would like to make a comment mayor okay commissioner Collins thank you and I I would also like to say that I appreciate you know some of that confusion was clearly my fault as well so I wanted to say I appreciated getting some more clarity on how to navigate once the chair has made a motion that I may have an issue with and specifically motioning to appeal your um ruling as a chair and then offering that up for a vote after a second that is also an option that's available to any commissioner at any time that was all thank you yes sir and before we move to the agenda um there is comments by the manager oh I'm sorry keep forgetting that's okay um I uh did hear from the county following their meeting on Tuesday and I uh informed them that currently I do not have any direction from the board as to uh negotiation or discussions with them or bright line moving forward and that I would bring it up during uh commissioner comments or manager comments tonight and ask the board for some direction do you want me to schedule an agenda item for next Monday's meeting do you want to have a special meeting do you want to give me direction now or what whatever the pleasure of the board is commissioner Collins yeah I think having you hashed this out internally is probably the best bet but for me what I'm looking for from a deal with bright line is that they would pay something that looks more like that original settlement agreement um just to give you some direction from me personally but the county is's going to be on the hook for its portion but I would like bright line to pay its portion its half of that station uh would be my direction that that would be my Anchor Point for the beginning of a negotiation with them oh Mike are you looking for a motion tonight or just to make it what direction to go in honestly the Direction's fine for sorry just sorry I just have one question because I've often heard this original settlement agreement and spoken here this evening is that a reference to the agreement between the county and bright line in 2018 I was I was asking just for the record I was interpreting it as the December 12th in our local agreement but I could have been wrong could we get some clarification from the it would be any commissioner who I think that I mean I feel like what I said was pretty clear I'm looking U for bright line to pay that other half of the station as an anchor point an initial initial negotiation so it's it's not the 2018 settlement agreement because that actually the city was not part of that so it would then be am I correct in assuming it would be the December 23 [Music] agreement Mr B you want it seems confusion and there's a lot all these agreements so there's the 2018 settlement agreement between the county and brightline which did not include the city of Stewart did not include the city and then in December of 2023 the county in the city entered into an interlocal agreement the initial interlocal agreement should not include bright line not correct yeah I guess that's what he's the mayor is asking for I just need clarification on which original agreement is being made reference to so that we have a basis to move forward okay Mr here uh commissioner goob yes um we're at the point of renegotiation so yes we might reference an original agreement from December but I think now it's really at the time we should be negotiating for new terms with bright line and you know I don't know if it's at this point you list those or they put on the agenda for next that there I'm looking for your guidance do they get put onto the agenda for the next meeting to be discussed it's up to us well they're looking for our guidance um I mean Mr mortell has asked us so do we agree to put what sort of agenda item Mike would you I I mean I can I can schedule a d and d for next Monday I know that there's a lot of members of our public that continue to be interested in this issue and I intentionally didn't put it on tonight's agenda because I was concerned that we already had an issue that was going to have significant public comment already um but I'm happy to put it on um for a d and d for next Monday and I can have with me the December 11th interlocal agreement as well as the um 2018 settlement agreement that bright line entered with um the county as well as the March 4th letter that bright line resp responded to the RFP a copy of the RFP and then also a copy of the March 25th letter where the county responded to the March 4th letter and I can walk through that and then you guys can kind of discuss and give me direction accordingly if that's the pleasure of the board do it next Monday as a DD D and D is that okay you okay with yes I'd like to okay with that I'm sorry I'm okay with that yes I'd like to do that I'd like to open up please great thank you um I only have seven other items to talk about no I'm just kidding anything else Mr M that's all I've got okay now we get the approval of the agenda do I have a motion for approval of the agenda move approval secondly motion would you do a roll call please J Commissioner Reed yes commissioner giobi yes mayor Rich yes and commissioner Collins yes comments from the public on non agenda genda related items so if you want to comment on the award of the FEMA effort and Zoning in progress that's for later this is non-agenda items do we have any we do you can start with Mr here we go Mr Steven Swan it's been a long time [Music] um I used to know all the Commissioners by name and sight um I know only the mayor and Mr Mortel um and part of my concern is it took me 11 minutes to get here from my office which is a half a mile away may I speak I'm sorry continue I didn't know how the clock start could you please introduce yourself and stay and give us your address please sure I'm Steven Swan s SW Ann I live at 1173 Northwest Pine Lake Drive in Stewart okay okay good um in 1970 54 years ago bunch of us kids got together and we had the first Earth Day we celebrated it by having a funeral for the river and the Estuary um now we're old like you we're 70 years older so uh we've seen our city and county deteriorate over the decades and five decades it was the lot five decades ago was loss of our pristine water and today it's the steady drum beat of contempt For What Little remains of the former Paradise we had a real newspaper at the time I was talking to some people here who used to be part of that today we have no journalism left whatsoever um I drive two miles to and from work every day it used to take me 3 minutes now it takes me about 12 I go over the Rosevelt bridge where I'm at cruise control at 45 miles an hour and I am always last because everybody else is going between 60 and 70 um it's almost completely un enforced uh you can even see the cars have begun flying off the bridge I noticed that recently um various lands around us have been hungrily annexed by the city the appetite for tax revenues has become a bit of a sport um it's not just the expansion and the D density it's the noise and the safety when I finally get into my office in town which is on us one the road noise is so great that we often struggle to communicate with our people on the telephone um so back to Oz um I may have missed my notes here but I will point out that now we have a yellow brick road that's in controversy wants to pause in Stuart and three of our commissioners had the tarity to reconsider the idea I actually got the Cowardly Lion the Scarecrow the Tin Man has not yet arrived and I got the wicked witch and the uh flying monkey and for those who of you had the tarity and the courage and the love of the of local area you can wrestle for the for the nice puppets and for you who want to be the bad guys you can wrestle for the bad puppet um but I have uh anyway um just is that my time that is your time I'm done thank you Mr thanks very much thank you Mr SW I [Laughter] you okay Mr Edward lucente nice to work with him nice to work with okay I'm Edward lucenti I live at 51 Southeast old Street here in Stewart uh and U I'd like to start by reading to you A U petition that we are in the process of circulating you'll have a copy of it U tomorrow in your mail uh it is to The Honorable City commissioners of Stuart Florida request for approval of the bright Line train station at dated September 16th dear Commissioners we the undersigned residents of Stuart Florida respectfully requests that the decision to terminate the bright Line train station project and resend the contract be reconsidered the proposed bright Line train station in downtown Stewart has generated significant public interest and debate many residents believe that this project would provide substantial economic benefit and enhance the overall quality of life in our community despite the overwhelming despite the overwhelming popular support for the train station the city commission voted three to two to terminate the project we believe that such a decision with long-term implications for our town should not be made without direct input from the residents we urge the city commission to reconsider the decision to terminate the bright Line train station project and submit the issue to open public debate allowing residents of Steward to publicly vote on this important matter we believe that a public debate and vote is the most democratic way to resolve this issue in a manner that ensures that the voices of all residents are heard and respected it would promote transparency and Trust in the decision-making process given the potential long-term firm impact to our community it is crucial that the decision reflect the will of the people the vote earlier this month was made without the benefit of public debate my thanks to Commissioners Clark and to Rich who voted in favor of a bright Line station and for supporting the interests of the overwhelming majority of people who were here at that meeting we need a major discussion in the form of a town hall meeting so that an informed decision can be made Stewart is in economic decline restaurants are closing most have discontinued lunch service in the past year we lost our Jeweler we lost our art studio we did get a Distillery retail space has been available for over 2 years we endure 32 two highspeed trains 128 crossing gate closures and 512 miserable whist whistles day and night we have to endure that we have no choice what we need is the benefit of a stop here in store thank you Mr lente Helen [Music] MC Helen McBride Miss is McBride I'm here I'm always here H McBride from Flamingo Avenue I've spoken before about the conduct of our commissioners I was here last Monday night and I was appalled at the conduct Tuesday morning I was sitting there I turned on channel 20 because I watched Martin County Commissioners and they brought up about my Commissioners and how you acted and I've been here 51 years I've been going to the meetings I as you all know the first one was out up over The Old Firehouse next to hisor department store I've G the school board County commission sols point Jupiter Island and honest to God you represent us you are elected and each and every one of you will be the chairperson it's not just one person at the last chairperson she was bullied and it started again at this election you have to read Robert's Rules of Law and find out and or maybe you could find a professional to teach you how a median is to be conduct and what goes on and the next book you should read is mannerism Bullies Are we have problems in our school system with bullies we don't need in City Hall you represent me and all of the people of the city histor please respect us thank you Mr Martin [Music] biki good evening [Music] I see Mr lente made made the train so nice job there uh my name is Marty bicki I live down seminal Street yes I'm a teacher a Hall of Fame volleyball coach I'm speaking tonight because I like everybody Sean you spoke for us at seal get that rid get rid of that Harbor restaurant that we're going to put on the corner uh we talked Chris about uh you know sorry sir you cannot refer to anybody up here individually oh thank you very much okay I didn't know that rule but uh anyway I just want to say I was know disappointed at La last week's vote very disappointed and so was a lot of people I went to one store owner and he was about in tears about what was going to unfold and here I have friends here tonight I thank you for all showing up and um it's important that we decide this a very important issue it may not come again who knows I've traveled around the world everybody has a train station except Martin County I I I don't know hopefully you reconsider I good words uh I heard about renegotiating I think uh there is a word out there I hate to use it because it's a dirty word for a lot of people close your ears please it's the word compromise and I we need you to compromise on this issue I understand about taxpayers and I'm a taxpayer I I got three homes here so I pay a lot of taxes and uh so consequently I'm looking for a resolution with the city I mean with the county with bright line to have this train and I thank you very much thank you thank you Miss Valerie Jones Valerie Jones Vero Beach although tonight I was asked if I was moving back to Stuart um referring to last week's meeting uh I've been I've been coming to meetings like this since I was about 22 years old as a young reporter and I've covered City and County Commission meetings all over the country and um last week was the first time I've ever felt uh fearful about going out to my car after the meeting I stood in the uh in the lobby after the meeting and was listening to people calling the Commissioners uh traitors and worse uh lot of lot of uh swear words going on uh turned around to one gentleman and and commented on the language he was using and uh uh he said threatening things to me and um probably in part because I was uh supportive of the three Commissioners and uh when people are feeling threatened and using words like traitor and U worse uh about uh official proceedings in a little town like Stuart uh we're living in pretty scary times and uh people need to think about uh their values and uh uh being able to get along and uh respect our differences of opinion and uh be a little more adult thank you thank you thank you Miss Jones Mr Bill Moore don't worry I'm not going to read all these pages uh my name is Bill Moore uh I own kwins chocolates and ice cream here in downtown Stewart 41 Southwest alola street I'm also the president of the uh downtown Business Association of Stewart which represents about 50 businesses here in downtown Stewart about 5600 employees um back this week uh to ask some of the same questions I asked last week to save the bright Line stop or keep it but now we're trying to save it um last week I think we sat here for about six and a half hours and about six of those hours were people in support of the train stop about 30 minutes of those hours were people that didn't support it so the vast majority of uh supported the uh right Line train stop last week I think and we've heard all those we heard great comments why it should come here a lot of different reasons and so on and so forth and means different things for different people but one thing I wanted to get to you tonight was how is it going to be paid for one of the comments we hear and it's confusing is this Old Bright line deal that we're not involved with but we want to go back to negotiate with so that's confusing for me but the money was said Mike did a great presentation he said it's going to cost steuart around $30 million Max for this train stop to happen right now so the question was well the T who's going to pay for it right and we hear the taxpayers the taxpayers taxpayers Mike told everybody how it's going to be paid for but it's confusing who's going to pay for it it's the it's a residences and the businesses and the CRA will pay for the bright Line stop and they've all agreed to it we pulled 89 out of 89 businesses all 89 said they want the stop these are the taxpayers in the CRA the Tiff money that's been raised over the past 30 years almost 30 years is amounting to $4 or5 million a year now that's what will fund the train stop I'm a taxpayer here in downtown Stewart I've agreed to pay that money everybody that was here the other night most of the residences and every business I pulled in downtown Stewart once the train stop they're willing to pay for it we have the money it's there it's not the entire city of Stewart It's the CRA which is the money that people have invested they bought businesses they' bought properties they've invested businesses they bought residences they want to be in downtown Stewart they want to walk out the front door go to a restaurant they want to walk over to a bright Line stop and go to an airport go to the doctor go visit family in Orlando Miami or wherever it may be these are the people paying the taxes for the bright Line stop and I just want that to be understood by everyone thank you you Joe harski I'm not sure sure they could hear you yes it's on okay good evening Commissioners Joe harosi Stuart Florida so you already know much of why my family would like a train station uh and why I think we discussed that last week but my goal tonight is to to address what really happened last Monday the City attorney spent a good hour attempting to let yall know the way to thread the needle of negotiating a deal and getting something better out of bright line uh without breaking the law one commission member moved to attempt to cancel and a few followed them off that Cliff um as my mom always asked me if if my friends jumped off a cliff would I too there have been pretty clear statements from members of this board that they would try to cancel the station no matter including one directly to me during the intermission last week There's a little faith in the community that this board will consider and do this in good faith and that's out there in the community what the people think about what's going on here a few window dressing statements after the fact during that meeting won't solve a showing of bad faith and if this goes to court that's not going to look good for the city I believe a majority of you though a true majority of you are honorable and Believe In following the law and not willfully breaking the comp plan in an open and known manner in a way that could get us in a lot of trouble as a city you can still fix it you can resend the recension instead actually negotiate in good faith in a negotiation instead of as a recension for the details of that cost of the parking garage and clarification there I think there is room to do the right thing and I believe in the honor of this commission and if not we forget that the county can step in force us to build it and get a much more expensive cost to the residents and taxpayers of this city thank you thank you thank [Music] you Micah harski Micah horowski Fifth Street Stewart I am a resident of the city a former business owner and I would have completed a year on the crb or the CRA but that's my husband he got sick last year we dropped out um reasonable Minds differ I think most of us here agree that we have a beautiful city that we're proud to call home I think we each want to see the city continue continue to flourish reasonable Minds May disagree on how best to achieve that goal but it is important to remember that we are all ultimately working for that goal in my personal opinion a train stop stop in Stuart will excuse me be an economic Boon to the city of Stewart and a wonderful amenity for its residents I understand that is not an opinion shared by all of my fellow residents but I do know it is shared by many what I am concerned about and what continues to concern me is the manner in which it this commission has proceeded to back out of its commitment in the name of quote unquote fiscal responsibility this commission has exposed the city and its taxpayers to Legal Jeopardy and potentially large financial implications while single-mindedly pursuing this reversal this commission blatantly ignores Stewart's own comp plan I understand the bright Line station has generated a lot of commentary on social media and there's an extraordinary amount of um murkiness regarding how much the station would cost even though it actually is known um you know I've heard it would be free for us which is clearly not true or it would be a $100 million which is also not true people swearing up and down that they know the truth people also just want to armchair quarterback and develop these like crazy theories over motivations of elected officials like who's in the pocket of progrowth developers and they want to sell the soul of the city or who's jockeying to set up a no- growth or new business or where no new businesses are allowed they're protecting their their own business it's all malarkey I myself believe that there are rarely any Shady back room deals I don't think we have any Grand puppeteers here and I I rather hope I'm looking at a bunch of individuals who are trying to do the right thing for a city they love and care about I remain deeply concerned that you are making a mistake and yet you don't realize that in my less kind moments I wonder if perhaps the Commissioners would rather double down on a mistake made that admit they might be in the wrong I would also now like to address this commission's concern regarding the tone of conversation online you're the example thank you Michael Frank mccristal did I hear our fearless leader say thank God our atheist leader was that a factious comment Mr M could you please state your name and your address and please not refer to individual your Mr rich I did not mention your name I'm here to say thank you uh I've done my own polling since the vote out there amongst the common people everywhere I go little places like WWA and Fresh Market and the school uh you know out there amongst the common people who got you elected again the common people who don't have don't have time to be here tonight I see I look at this room I think of the Braveheart movie and I go the finest of people right here they are and they did not get you elected all right so I just want to say yeah death threats at the county meeting last Tuesday the tone was oh those ignorant brand new City commissioners the tone of just disrespect for you adults who we elected is just disgusting to the business owners downtown I it seems like you want it both ways I mean I hear about this thriving downtown how it used to be nothingville and now it's just thriving downtown and you're going to rely on a train stop if you have to rely on that you might want to change your business plan and recognize in this economy a train Stop's not going to help you so anyways I just want you to know that there are a lot of people out there who appreciate what you're doing all right and I want you all to uh Pace yourselves this is going to be a long thing and uh take care of your families take care of yourselves and uh hopefully you won't need police protection anymore hopefully no more death threats you know my trump tarted friends over here and my lib tart friends over there my trumptard friends say don't even talk to those people and I'm like what are you talking about they're people okay but I got to tell you people you're showing yourselves everybody's amenable everyone gets along until we don't okay and this city and county have always been divided the only difference now is it's not just the finest of people that have a voice it's the people and the people are coming thank you you thank you Christopher vit good evening Commissioners my name is Christopher Vitali I live on Alamanda way here in Stewart I just want to say something briefly in regards to the commission's decision last week to resend the brightland agreements um first of all I want to thank you all uh for navigating all the public discussion and debate about this issue I know it must be really difficult to you know hear all of the many many voices about this um so last week you voted to kill the deal arguing that it was a bad deal for taxpayers and implying that had it been a better deal for taxpayers you maybe not would have struck it down um the community has spoken at commission meetings and through many hundreds of emails sent to the Commissioners and the majority of the community has displayed overwhelming support for having a bright Line station here in Stewart uh you have indicated that Stewart should renegotiate for a better bright line deal so now I'm urging you just to please do that renegotiate with bright line speak with them actually work with them talk with them um our city comp comprehensive plan mandates that the commission must support the reestablishment of a train station in downtown Stewart so please do not just stand by and let the station go to Fort Pierce or somewhere else if that happens the bright line serves only as an inconvenience to the residents and visitors of Stewart I wholeheartedly agree that we need to be doing everything that we can do to limit the careless developments that we have seen in our city in recent years but reestablishing passenger train service is not a careless development it's an enhancement that will help to grow wisely please continue to honor steuart's Heritage as a City built around train service and finally please do not get Stuart into an unnecessary lawsuit by dishonoring and disregarding a comprehensive plan thank you thank you thank you Sher Lee good evening Commissioners I'm here to talk about the bright Line Station uh I spoke last week I was really really shocked that you guys voted the way you did with um an agreement that was in place it was understood by the business Community the residents here that we were going to have a station I think a lot of our residents were they left in the spring half of our residents probably left in the spring knowing we were going to have a train station and when they come back in the fall they're going to now be in a community that doesn't have a train station so I think that was wrong um I don't think 3,000 votes is in any way a mandate um with 12,000 registered voters I think a lot of people didn't realize what they were voting for I could be wrong but based on what I've seen the people turning out in favor of the train um I think that that was a miscalculation um we have 60,000 people in the city and 120 160,000 in the county that would be served by this train station um it's an economic engine um I wanted to just briefly talk about the losses that we are going to suffer as a result of that vote starts with the 2 and a half acres that you will lose right here in our city the county was going to give that to us us we had the money in the CRA to build the station we're going to lose the income and the Tiff funds from that station we're going to lose I don't know 1215 million a year in economic impact um we are going to lose a $30 million asset that will only grow over time we're going to lose the connectivity to the communities North and South of us where we all probably have family members or places we like to go like airports stadiums Cruise terminals I could go on hospitals universities and by being able to go to those places it actually kind of limits the need for that growth to be here if you think about it if you think about it um I hate to think but we could lose some of that bridge funding bright line was very instrumental in bringing us 130 million in federal grants 22 million from the Florida Department of um transportation and then bright line and the FEC put in another 23 million I believe our contribution was $250,000 of land so that just tells you when people say they don't have any skin in the game it's just bull crap sorry um yeah yeah these decisions these losses will probably bankrupt us if you continue thank you Ellen Murphy I good evening mayor Rich commissioner my name is Ellen Murphy I'm very nervous that's why I'm losing my voice but I live and pay taxes at 328 oral Avenue within the city I moved here in 1982 during that ghost town era I am not a developer I'm not a realtor but I am a microbiologist right now the City commissioners are putting our town into a coffin something that will have consequences for both the Commissioners and the city I am here to beg the board of County Commissioners and bright line to please please work together we need rock stars right now we need Heroes Board of counting Commissioners and bright line please be our savior now we need it and this is something I didn't consider when I was planning this but the owner of kwin reminded me of the subject of paying taxes I've paid school taxes in Martin County since 1999 I've never even used the schools and I never will so if you need to take my school tax money and apply it to a bright Line Station that I would actually use please do thank you thank you Rick Olen Mr Rick Olen good afternoon mayor Rich my name is Rick Olen my familyes live in Martin County and we consider Stuart our home I'm a retired licensed civil engineer and my statement is basically it is imperative that we allow our fragile independently owned downtown businesses not to be sacrificed as a train rolls through our town I don't understand why this is so difficult to understand to paraphrase a frictional character Sherlock Holmes because Stuart is now in a fictional situation right now when you eliminate impossible whatever remains however improbable must be the truth this anti- brightline campaign could have been conjured up by people with millions of dollars of disposable money with a 10-year plan they would want to stop growth downtown kill any hint of future development future Investments kill any potential for future grants Drive businesses out kill independent businesses encourage building vacancies this would allow us to return to a desolate ghost town of the 1980s then this group of people would buy a new city commission and rebuild downtown as a national mall and finally they would make the city build bright Line Station at full cost it's only 10 years away Martin County Commissioners please save us from ourselves make a deal now with bright line without any input from steuart here's a plaque for the new Martin County bright Line Station I'm going to repeat that this is a plaque for the new Martin County bright Line Station telling the story of how the Martin County Commission Commissioners saved our community thank you thank you Mr rash Patel good afternoon Commissioners I'm Raj Patel property owner and Steward for over 15 years Palm City resident I can only hope the County Commissioners are listening intently on the live feed right there I'm going straight into the facts about the company that's on our mind I don't have much time so I'm going to move real fast brightline is the first American private passenger rail company in more than a century a multi-generational project that is in its investment and ramp up phase they will not make money for a while as a commercial borrow myself I don't make money for many years but that's the plan if only our dear Commissioners knew that bright line is creating a solution to a problem routes that are too long to drive and too short to fly makes sense in 10 years they've opened up six world-class stations with four more to go including the one that's up in the air Stewart the bright line internal commuter network is in the works I don't know if you know that Miami to for laale with 10 stops in between at rushar most Riders are commuters and the trains are regularly sold out ftot is putting $74 million into just the first phase of this commuter project West Palm Beach is next bright Line West has started construction from LA to Vegas complete completion date 2028 bright L has announced that they're too long to drive too short to fly networks in Texas specifically Chicago Georgia North Carolina joining major cities and that have clogged highways for decades seamons is opening America's first High-Speed Rail Factory in New York with 300 jobs imagine if that factory was in Martin County I wonder if my Commissioners in front of me would be happy Martin County leaders would care the list is endless and we're playing around entertaining keyboard Warriors and their base less concerns that the company's going bust and we're all going to be on the hook for a Terminal Station that's going to become a homeless Camp it's crazy the stuff that's out there the Facebook following that certain members of the city commission seem to be defending uh depending on for guidance are saying that bright line will fail in three years and go out of business and we're stuck with a $30 million station makes no sense again because bright line is spending billions in its ramp up Phase 6 billion expanding in just 10 years 600 employees in Florida and you say you don't have skin in the game countries that have invested into these bonds of bright line no one feel that the time has come for rail travel in the USA does the city and its leaders think they know more than the Sovereign investors of these bonds these are hard money guys and they want to make money in the greatest democracy in the world United States thank I'm in business so for you um please make the right decision to write the ship don't get mired in lawsuits this is a partnership don't listen to the people that voice their opinions don't make a bad decision for Mr Patel citizens of Martin County Mr vital good evening Commissioners my name is Steven Vitali and I have my son's Christopher and Aiden with me here today you are looking at three generations of a family that has dedicated their time talent and treasure towards improving Historic downtown Steward your egregious violation of our City's comprehensive plan last week will seriously impact our ability to continue doing what we do without a strong tourist based economy in downtown Stewart families like ours may not be able to operate our treasured local small businesses far into the future if the tourists go to Fort Pierce and other cities that have stations downtown Stewart will be significantly impaired tonight however I would like to talk to you about this issue from the perspective of an attorney I have been practicing real estate law in this area for the past 30 years I recent recently reviewed the 2018 settlement agreement between Martin County and bright line I request that any Commissioners who have falsely stated that bright line reneged on an obligation to pay half the cost of a Treasure Coast station immediately retract that statement as pointed out by Blake fonton in his recent Stewart News article paragraph 6 of the agreement provides no such obligation on the part of brightline you have misled the public about this and should make an immediate public clarification and apology you have also inappropriately misled the citizens into believing that they will have a big tax increase when in fact there is enough money in the existing CRA funds to cover the city's portion of the station these types of material misrepresentations will only cause future legal nightmares for you furthermore as an attorney I can tell you that the downtown stakeholders who have paid these CRA funds and have taken actions relying on the city's comp plan may have legal recourse that will be financially detrimental to the city then there are the potential lawsuits that may come from County and bright line over this debacle rather than expose yourselves and the city to needless and costly litigation now is the time to settle this matter I know how stress stressful and costly litigation can get just look at the recent Martin County Lakeside lawsuit that cost the city about $50 million in Damages how many Millions more were paid to attorney Ethan L who prevailed in the litigation settling now allows you to control your destiny with a specific outcome that you can live with as opposed to filling the pockets of high-priced law firms furthermore since the county has taking control of the situation you would be well served to settle the matter now and retain control of the situation for all we know the county could strike a deal to put the station somewhere else in the county what would happen to Historic downtown if a new de develop if a new downtown area were ever developed around a station located elsewhere in the county in that event the county would still own the land behind the courthouse but you would have lost control over any potential parking garage in that area without settling you also lose control over the $130 million grant for the new bridge if that F falls through you just cost the taxpayers $130 million talk about bankrupting the city the point is that you lose all control with regard to these matters and potential lawsuits if you fail to act now to settle the matter and control the city's Destiny in closing the downtown stakeholders demand to have an answer from you tonight as to whether you will be authorizing the city manager and attorney to offer a deal to Bright line and if so what exactly are you willing to offer a wise settlement offer will allow you and the city to control your Destinies thank you so much you Mr duet price good evening Mr Price good evening mayor city manager Mortel staff so you know I thought I was just going to sit back there and watch the show but as I've seen everything unfolded tonight I was like nah I'm going to come up here and really let me tell you how I feel that this body is acting it's kindergarten at best all right I'm not going to say anything else about bright line I think Mr Patel and Mr Vali did a great job and I I Echo all they said but the reason I came up here like I said I said nah I'm going to come up here I'm reading the agenda and there's a thing that says what is civility all right in here what I saw transpired last week and at the beginning of this meeting you know I'm hearing Commissioners saying they're going to take out what happened on Facebook social media on board members so that they can have their come up on and be satisfied you know so you like I said kindergarten at best I think that maybe you guys haven't read this document okay it's pretty clear how you guys are supposed to govern yourself as Commissioners you represent everybody the detractors the supporters The Inbetweeners you're basically Sovereign territory up there when folks come up here to explain where they are now trying these things in the social media sphere come on that's not where it needs to happen it needs to happen here okay and if you don't feel you can do that you don't belong up here you need to understand that you present all of us that pay taxes who are members of this community and are willing to sacrifice to make sure that we are being fair in how we are looking at items addressing items staff members of each each one of you on the board everyone I'm not picking anyone out everyone needs to be respectful all right I'm a military guy I'm a veteran I'm G tell you what if any of you guys were my soldiers you're out in a heartbeat I'm telling you that right now you'll be out I would not go D range at you because you'll be putting all my men in danger so think about it sit with your city city manager your City attorney understand the rules that govern this board before you come up here because you have basically chosen that position by putting your name in that ballot and you are here to serve us thank you Mr Josh Marino good evening Commissioners my name is Josh Marino homeowner in Stuart I'm invested in Stuart and because the bright line chose steuart as their location I convinced my business partners and family members to invest in steuart as well many others have chosen to live and invest in Stewart because of the bright line due to Stewart's comp plan I knew the train was a sure thing I've never seen a more specific directive for a comp plan than stewards to have a train exactly where it's been approved then out of nowhere a newly elected commission gets elected and within 10 minutes completely ignores their obligation to uphold the plan that literally took decades to create and the unthinkable happens they cancel the already approved bright line I'm here today to remind all of us the critical role the comprehensive plan plays in shaping our City's future the comprehensive plan is not just a document it's essentially the Bible for how you are supposed to make decisions that affect steuart it represents a collective Vision developed with care reflecting the values and priorities of the entire Community when we stray from it we don't just violate policy we jeopardize the very Foundation of trust between the government and the people the plan ensures that development is balanced in our economy is supported it provides a road map that guarantees smart growth while maintaining the character of our beloved City ignoring the plan is not only illegal but also shortsighted it opens the city to Legal risk many Financial consequences and a loss of public confidence I urge you today to follow the plan and do what's best for steuart's future thank you and the last comment card I have is Miss Gail Goldie Gil Goldie County resident first I want to say thank you to the Commissioners our new Commissioners for your fiscal responsibility my disappointment is in the fact that there was no transparency now you can tell me that there were meetings prior to the agreements that were done but I come to commission meetings County and City and I did not see or read anything about the fiscal responsibility of the train station and whose shoulders it was going to land on other than the taxpayers people are talking about Tiff and CRA money I don't know whether people are aware but tiffan CRA money is generally earmarked for specific projects so it's not like the money is just sitting there uh for bright line it has to be looked at and see where the Tiff money has been already allocated another thing grants grants are not a given a lot of times people we apply for Grants they're accepted but by the time the project is ready the grants may not be available I want to applaud the commission for taking the time to realize that this was negotiated not with transparency and not in the best interest of the taxpayers we need to renegotiate this it was my understanding that in order to renegotiate this had to be rescinded and as far as transparency you know I brought up something at the last meeting on Monday and that was the fact that the thing that really gets me with the transparency is I would like to know why our mayor or the mayor signed the agreement prior to the signing in of the three new or the swearing in of the two new Commissioners why was that done before they were actually put on the board and because of that it's my understanding that that agreement that he signed unbeknown to the new Commissioners and the public that that was n null and void so I'd like to know why we are not being given all of the facts and these are facts and I understand Mr vau and Patel and you know they have the numbers and the facts and I wouldn't argue with that at all I believe that you know there will be money to be made and I think the downtown businesses should also be aware of the fact that you know even if this isn't renegotiated and it's a great deal and everybody's happy that train station isn't going to be built in three months it's going to take years so it's for your businesses that are suffering I hope you have a long-term plan and I hope you've got your loans in order because you're going to have to get something to finance your business until a train station is built and I would El also just like to say to the Commissioners that I really do appreciate you're taking the step forward to put yourself out there thank you thank you Miss thank you Mr Bag Mr Mayor may I speak on something yes go ahead um I just want to be clear as if my some of my language last week was not clear that and there seems to be allegations of Nefarious actions on behalf of the mayor um the mayor does not work here every day the mayor comes here for the meetings um I've only been here less than a year and I think we've had three Mayors during that time and it's pretty common that we have the mayor sign a bunch of documents when they're here um the lease agreement that was signed um the day before the county voted on it um we had the mayor sign it I signed it and the city clerk signed it because the mayor was here otherwise we would have had to have him come back days later to resign the documents he signed many documents that day when he was here because that's just what we've always done with all the mayors there's nothing nefarious about it the document the the agreement was not even binding until the county voted on it which was not until the next day um the county unfortunately did not vote on it the next day they they they continued their meeting but the County Attorney was demanding from us to get us a copy of that lease agreement it was mistakenly sent by to Bright line in the county um but it still wasn't in effect until the county voted at their next meeting to adopt the amended in our local agreement and if you read the agreement itself it wasn't effective until the county stepped up so we just had them signed while he was here and it was mistakenly sent to Bright line nothing nefarious the mayor wasn't trying to pull a fast one just because a new board came in but we had a lot of moving parts and and and that was it but we as soon as we caught it we were sended it even vocally we we communicated with them prior to that I me bright line so I just wanted to make clear that there's been a lot of allegations uh about the mayor doing something nefarious by signing the agreement the day before uh and again no nothing true about that at all I just want to say thank you for that and I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry um I would say it was inferred but I I'm I'm not stupid and I go online sometimes and there were a lot of allegations from other people not necessarily you that there there were so thank you Mr bagot for that clarification um Mr bagot will you read commission action one for our consideration please resolution number Emergency Management agency also known as FEMA under the building resilient infrastructure in communities also known as brick program providing an effective date and for other [Music] purposes let me get this up here I have it do we have a do we have a motion excuse me this is the good are you going to make a presentation I mean there I can briefly discuss it um second however you guys want to do it I mean procedurally the motion in second would come first but I'm happy to do the presentation first direction of the can we get a motion in a second to consider this item I would prefer a presentation first to be honest okay mayor I would also like to hear the presentation first thank you so um essentially this is a uh a um brick program is an uh participation that the city has been um awarded which is a uh non-financial direct technical assistance agreement to collaborate with FEMA under the building resilient infrastructure and communities program which is Brick or um uh the FEMA established this building resilient infrastructure and communities program as well as their direct uh technical assistance program or initiative to provide wide wide ranging non-financial support and technal technical assistance to underserved communities to undertake Hazard mitigation Solutions including but not limited to risk assessments Community engagement partnership building mitigation and adaptation plan the city of Stewart was one of 40 or um one of 32 in the State of Florida and one of roughly 460 Nationwide to be um qualify under uh the FEMA programs for their assistance essentially the resolution authorizes the mayor to enter into the brick agreement that is prepar was drafted and prepared by Fe FEA and submitted to us and then what happens is they then work with City staff to go through you know again all of the documents all of the things in the agreement but it says that FEMA will approach uh the brick DTA as a collaborative effort It'll recognize that the initiative is Community Driven it will work as a facilitator alongside the city of Stewart to understand the community's vision for resilience and assess and Def technical assistance needs it will consult with contractors and support of the community's vision for resilience and development of specific strategies to address Community Technical assistant needs and build Partnerships it will support and advise the city in the development of an action plan that identifies specific strategies and actions to build capacity and Advance potential projects and Partnerships it will ensure an action plan and overall delivery of the um cultural norms and traditions acknowledged in the past and current disparities and essentially when there's a hurricane or a a a horrific event and FEMA comes in it's a um the governor declares a state of emergency the city sometimes will declare a state of emergency and the city goes into a different programming and uh we have to submit all sorts of billing to FEMA and we get reimbursed for some of the things and back in 2004 and five we had uh billing that took place after those hurricanes we got reimbursement from FEMA and then after auditing literally we're writing checks back to FEMA later and recovering money was very complicated this program by FEMA is not necessarily to teach us how to do the audit Trail perfectly but instead what this is is it it goes hand inand with the Mandate by the state to do the resilience programs and to address the future uh hurricane hardening for lack of a better um description of the city and um because it was at a no cost to the city uh we brought it Forward because we figured the um two things number one any contact and relationship you can build with FEMA in advance of a event is helpful because then you have that much of an advantage when you need to contact them or when you need to communicate with them or when you need to tell them where to send supplies or do whatever and number two obviously any advice that they can provide as it relates to uh rein reinforcing or or creating resilience to these types of storms is is huge for us um the [Music] um uh the reality of it is is that it would be through our public works department that would work with them and you know it can range you have to recognize also that the the Florida D also sets the um flood plane maps and the the D is the one that requires that under our building code that all houses be built 18 in above the crown of the road and that those types of things take place and that's all in line with these same types of programs so what would happen is and they they the uh flood plane Maps I think it's about every four years they actually do come through and investigate and last time they came through we actually had a a resident who had built a garage and the garage didn't have vented um holes in the sides of the garage and they were in the new flood plane and they required this resident to literally cut holes in their garage and if the city of Stewart allows people to build in those flood planes or violate those flood plane requirements it then cannot qualify for FEMA funding when in fact an event occurs so by working with FEMA in these technical things we we can learn exactly what it is we should and shouldn't be doing now for what it's worth they don't give us any money to build a giant seaw wall around around the city or build pumps like New Orleans has instead they would make they would meet with our staff and work with our staff and make recommendations to stuff any recommendations they make we would have to bring back to the board and you guys would have to authorize but this is just would a this document is authorizing us to enter into the document that's attached so that the public works department could move forward with FEMA and again as I mentioned it's um at no cost Mr May May I a comment too on the agreement yes m u it's titled the memorandum of understanding it's kind of a broad agreement and in fact in the agreement itself it's not a binding legal agreement and it kind of gives kind of broad terms um I think um obviously if the city would get require to get any grant money um from FEA they would enter into a separate more detailed agreement on those terms I just thought I'd point that out it is n mayor Rich may I well for the purposes of discussion we need a motion and a second for us to consider the matter can we not have discussion yes with a motion in a second I'll move for motion of approval thank you we have a motion for approval of item 83202 4 by commissioner Reid it doesn't mean you're going to vote for it it just means you're willing to have a discussion regarding what benefits mayor may not exist for the city of steart okay Mr Mayor can you just clarify something I thought we were discussing it no we just had the presentation but for the board strictly speaking according to Robert's Rules we may not have a discussion regarding any individual motion or resolution without a motion in a second it's just okay I understand um I so if this if this motion dies I I can make a separate motion yeah sure we can just to clarify too that there's a motion if there is a second then the question the motion will be stated and then I think we' go to public comment then you could have you could amend it under a motion in a second that's true you bring it to the floor and that's when you start discussing basically so this the commission at this time does not want to participate in this program mayor Rich may I yes can I ask a question to city manager um so this this is basically a commission action for the city manager or the city to even apply for this Mike or no the city has been selected already this is to actually do it this is a this is to enter into the memorandum or the agreement with FEMA to do it Mr Mayor yes I have a question so commissioner G if the if the motion dies can it be brought back up as a new motion yes with maybe cave well maybe with caveats or it has to be on another agenda well well if you anticipate wanting to make changes to it then you would second the motion and then that's the exact type of discussion we would have with regard to it with any changes you would like to then it would be an amended if if there was a motion and a second and a yeah to that to your proposed amendment yes you don't have to vote to approve it if you second it you're simply saying I think the board should consider it it detail get all our opinion well I don't know there's no second it's over the motion disposed of you what is the motion disposed of yeah seen no second okay the motion fails so I I would if I'm recognized yes commissioner col I would like to move that we table this for now um be and I'd like to give some more comments to that but maybe I should wait for a second well if you table it I don't believe you have this the table is simply to think we have discussion about table I'm sorry did you second it the motion is failed if there's a motion to table the discussion motion we would have if we have a second we can discuss tabling it a motion and a motion to table with a second is a vote you call and vote you call the vote under the Roberts rules but it doesn't I mean as of right now it's not on the agenda right it's off you make a motion and you get a second you can tell about absent that no I mean we had all of that discussion last meeting without a motion no we did have okay we had public comment and then we had no this this is not a complicated element of Robert's Rules okay Mr bagot please read the next item for our consideration for the record the item fails for lack of a second resolution number 95202 a resolution of the city Commission of the city of Stewart Florida declaring quote zoning in progress unquote under Section 1.4.4 Stewart Land Development code for new development except for single family dwellings or requests that do not increase the density or intensity of an existing use or structure directing city city staff to review and propose certain amendments to the Stewart Land Development code the comprehensive plan and the code of ordinances providing for an effective date and for other purposes is there a presentation that accompanies this Mr marel um there isn't really much of a presentation you're obviously free to speak to the City attorney further about it but essentially this motion or this resolution was brought forward based on the direction of the board to bring forward a zoning in progress ress uh to allow the board to have 90 days to review the uh Land Development regulations and make uh potential changes there too in accordance with the direction they provided uh before at the last meeting the direction provided to staff was to implement the zoning in progress related to everything other than maintenance and uh continuation of existing property so for example and I hope you don't own a Dunkin Donuts but I'm using this as an example if you owned a Dunkin Donuts here in Stewart and your Dunkin Donuts was open for business and after the zoning in progress was over the Stewart changed its code and said no more Dunkin Donuts are allowed in Stewart your Dunkin Donuts would be allowed to continue in operation and you could come in during the zoning and progress and if a meteorite came through and smashed your roof in you could come get a new roof put on the Dunkin Donuts and your permit would be issued so long as you're not expanding the use of that Dunkin Donuts so the zoning in progress will not allow staff to accept any permits that expand the use of any thing other than single family homes um if there's a development order in place that's already approved and and the owner of that development order is not intending to amend it and expand the use of that development order they too will be able to move forward because the way you have to approach it is that the development department moving forward will look at the application or the applicant that's coming to the door and saying they have to presume that the zoning in progress is going to change all zoning and if in fact the change in any of that zoning would impact the project then the development department is not allowed to accept an application for that project for the next 90 days however if hypothetically speaking the city commission struck down all zoning and said there's no more Dunkin Donuts or no more zoning allowed nothing ever can come forward then everything that was already approved by development order would not not be affected because those are development orders in place that wouldn't be affected by new zoning and everything that already exists would be considered an an existing non-conforming use and under our code you are allowed to obtain or get a permit or seek a um assistance from the development department so long as you're not intensifying or expanding a non-conforming use so if it was a commercial office building and the new code was going to affect how commercial Office Buildings were built and said they had to be built out of brick moving forward whatever it might be cuz we don't know what the hypothetical is as a result if you already owned a commercial office building and you needed to put new windows in that would be a permit that could allowed to be done or if you need to put a new roof on or if you needed to paint it or if you need to re repave the parking lot however if you wanted to repave the parking lot and stripe 10 additional parking spaces that would be expanding the use of that existing building and therefore the 10 existing parking lots would have to be stayed pending the outcome of the zoning in progress so it will allow anything that is already approved to continue forward under the current development order as long as the time periods haven't expired Etc and it will allow anything that already exists to to continue getting permits necessary to maintain repair or operate that business accordingly but it will not allow any permits that expand or intensify any use again and this is all with the exception of single family home that is excluded anybody building single family home will be allowed to submit permits and applications to do so um the definitions of the city code in chapter 12 uh describe the non-conforming use and the uh criteria for the building department and as a result if you owned a house that was worth $8,000 and you came in and said you just want to remodel but the remodeling is more than 50% of the value of that house that is considered the expansion of an non-conforming use and therefore that would not be allowed to move forward but as long as it's less than 50% of the assessed value then it would be allowed to move forward it sounds a lot more complicated as I'm describing it than it is to the development department they understand it very well this is not the first time the city's done a zoning in progress this happened multiple times in the past over different issues so essentially it is a 90-day period perod during which the commission has an opportunity to review the codes and make changes without worrying about people coming in while they're trying to make the changes and if in fact at the end of the 90 days the changes are not complete and or they um need an additional 90 days our code allows them to seek an an additional 90 days up to a total of 180 days at the end of which it expires and if no changes to the code were made then everything goes back to the way it was if there were any changes to the code that occurred then those changes are what the new submissions have to be based upon is that cover it's as clear as that could be I know it's it's kind of complic we have a motion for approval of item is this a commission action you you want us to move this forward or already locked in well it has to be approved by the commission by vote it's already in place it began September or September 5th on September 5th when it was originally advertised prior to the last meeting and it's required to be voted on retro uh actively by the commission at the next available meeting last week I asked the commission to roll it to this week because I had the feeling we were going to run late and we ended up going to about 11 o'clock so I felt like it would be more appropriate to allow people an opportunity to speak on this item rather than waiting the seven hours after last week's meeting to be able to speak on it which brings us here tonight do we have a motion mayor I'd like to move approval on resolution 95 2024 we have a motion by commissioner Collins for approval of resolution 95224 do we have a second mayor Rich I'd like to ask Mike something okay my question would be would this zoning in progress apply to applicants that had a pre-application meeting with our development department and they haven't submitted a full application it applies to anybody that has not submitted an application and with this zoning in progress could it potentially apply to applicants on a Case by casee basis or is it just brought across the board it applies to everyone I should mention I did get a request from the count we have a motion that we exempt we have a motion we need a second it's that's all we need to keep going here then we can have discussion yes have a okay I'm sorry I'll second it thank you and we have a motion by commissioner Collins and a second by commissioner Reed for resol resolution number 95202 4 as the maker of the motion commissioner Colin you make go first uh the only feed I'm sorry we want to go to public comment oh sorry yeah perect public comment do we have any public comment on this thank you Mr baget thank you gentlemen mayor this is a massive violation of property owners rights freezing and pre venting applications for anything but single family homes can give the real world a message of a moratorium because of the extensions and I'm kind of taking aback that we're not having further discussion about the Federal Emergency Management Agency on uh number one I I mean that would serve all people immediately thank you for your time Jefferson Maggie for hi Joan Jefferson Palm City been there where you are for a long time um I'm here tonight because I want to know how many of you have read the dwy plan then it's interesting to me that if you hadn't read the plan why you want to do something before the plan it's me explained that if you do that you'll be going back to 60% vacancy rate in the downtown you'll have to tear down the historic um building where we have the art center because uh that was the plan to tear it down and have a parking lot except dnie changed it to becoming saved you'd have to tear down part of the post office arcade because again that was supposed to be part of a a parking lot you'd have to um have four um traffic lights on confusion corner and lose two streets because that would mean that you couldn't have the roundabout all of these things were in the dwani plan that you don't approve of or don't want to accept also the Roosevelt bridge in the original design was going to do away with um a good number of buildings south of the bridge again dnie came in gave us a different route and we saved that so when you're talking about not wanting the good old days they weren't so great also I don't understand the need for a moratorium because it seems to me that you should have an inventory now of all the vacant cities all this all the vacant Parcels in the city and that maybe you should have looked to see if they're compatible um moratoriums mean and this is one of the things that DW did when we came in we said you can do anything in steuart except two things I want to come back in 50 years and know it's steuart and I don't want you to take any property value away from anyone who already has property in the city what you're talking about is doing exactly what we didn't want to have happen then you're taking away property rights without really having a plan if you had a plan that said you don't want this kind of a development or that kind of a development place here there or ywn that's valid but simply say no we're not going to have any development until we decide what you're going to do with your property is not valid thank you thank [Applause] you Mr Jeff Dy good evening Commissioners my name is Jeff Dy I'm a resident of the city but I'm not here tonight to represent myself I'm here on behalf of the board of County Commissioners I serve as the Director of the building department for Martin County we currently have an application in we had a pre-application for a site plan in may we have an active application in now with the growth management department and it is for an expansion of the building department which is over off of uh uh Willoughby that area is predominantly government there's over 20 different buildings between Willoughby on Willoughby between Indian Street and um uh BL montere there's the Sheriff's Office there's the fire rescue of course there's the high school there's the swimming park there's the health department the property appraiser the tax collector the Su the uh uh um Mo Mark and you members sit on those boards there's the health department there's the building department there's the K9 unit on and on and on and on and and uh it's important that we are able to expand to provide the services now the building department Martin County is just not Martin County we serve uh as contractor licensing which the city of Stewart relies on you don't have your own contractor licing you can get licensed at the state level or the local level we do the local licensing We Run The derc Vessel removal recently you had a boat Knocked Up Against The Docks here that's a law enforcement FWC sheriff or the city can tag it run it through the adjudication and they turn it over to us for the removal we came in immediately removed that off so we provide those Services we do code enforcement code enforcement of the wrer ways within the city of Stewart for some reason recently we're picking up a lot of different signs and having them to remove them and have them pick decked up so that we've done that we do plan review and Building Inspections we do it for and have done it for all municipalities we currently serve as the building department of Village in Indiantown we've done it for Jupiter Island we currently serve a back up for Souls Point we've done it for Ocean Breeze and we've done it with the city of Stewart as a matter of fact our building is named after the formal building official and Fire Marshall L massing we did that within the last year what else do we do we do damage assessment in conjunction with the property appraiser so that we are FEMA eligible for the whole County if we don't read meet a certain threshold in a certain time frame we don't get it no one in that county gets it so it's important we go out property appraiser used to do this but based on technology don't have the staff to do it anymore so that's very important as that we talked about um so it's important that if you're going to do this that the building department moveed forward we're eligible for a $1.2 million energy efficient Grant through the conversion of a direct expansion air conditioning system through a chiller that'll uh be there it's very important that this not be delayed because we will lose that money and this expansion of government services in a government Corridor helps every member of the county and someone is touched here in the City by all those Services there so I would ask you to exclude the government services from them thank you very much thank you Mr Neil Effron oh good evening um my name is Neil Ephron I've been a property owner owner in stward for the past 27 years uh my concern is the way this uh is warded is affects um vacancies uh we own a shopping center we have vacant spaces we have a tenant who wants to come in and do some improvements to put in a space seems like that is not what is intended but I think the way you read it it would affect uh us as property owners taxpayers and would affect uh tenants who want to come in and uh uh start a business and that's it thank you thank you and if I can just tell the board we did discuss that with um the development department and this might curtail some public comment as well you discuss this gentleman's comment um yes I just I'm discussing the vacancies concept okay um we using uh The Fresh Market as an example this was the discussion we had with the development just for the sake of it if Fresh Market wanted to expand by 20,000 Square ft if they wanted to build toward the government building which would be an expansion of that Plaza that would not be allowed because there's not actually area to expand into that would require new construction of new square footage on the other hand if there was a vacancy in the plaza and the square footage already existed and they wanted to expand toward the dollar store or in that direction with within the envelope of the building that already exists and is built the development department would be allowed to expand that use because the plaza itself is being looked at as the total use and therefore the plaza couldn't add square footage to it but within the plaza the sub tenants as long as they didn't exceed the total square footage of the original approved Plaza would be allowed to shift and and could change so it would allow those vacancies to be filled and allow somebody in possession to expand into one of those vacancies as long as that expansion did not intensify the use of the plaza and when I say that an example would be if you had a plaza that the use was um a yo-yo store and they went out of business and a medical doctor wanted to come in and use that but the parking requirement for that same space required 10 extra parking spaces they're not going to be allowed to build the 10 extra parking spaces so as long as the plaza had the supporting parking spaces for whatever that new use was it would be allowed to go in and they could renovate and change the walls or do whatever but it just has to make sure that the new use is a use that's could be absorbed by the existing parking and the existing Plaza that's there at the time thank you next speaker Mr Matt Scott uh good evening mayor Commissioners my name is Matthew Scott I'm a lan zoning attorney with the law from greenspoon martyr with an address of 200 East barard Boulevard in Fort lauderale um I'm here on behalf of Floren deor uh my client is in the process of trying to lease the space from the gentleman that just spoke it's a 50,000 give or take 50,000 square foot um Shopping Center or Shopping Center building at 2130 Southeast Federal Highway used to be a wind Dixie so it's been sitting vacant for about a year uh to the city manager's point which I I think maybe is a little confused here which I'm hoping we can clarify tonight we had an application ready to submit last week or excuse me two weeks ago uh for what's called a minor site plan application so we were making some small changes to the parking area some small changes to the Loading areas but no expansion square footage and the development department said we cannot accept your application because of the zoning progress and so I'm I'm hopeful this was a matter of interpretation based on the city manager's comments but more generally I think there should be some clarifying language put into the zoning and progress resolution that excludes the types of uses that clearly the city can't possibly want to stop for 3 months and in reality we all know it's 6 months because in order to get neighborhood meetings arranged in order to draft new codes I've had lots of experience with zoning and progress in other municipalities and only one time did it not get extended for the additional three months just because these things take time and so there while I'm not here on behalf of the individual who spoke about the government buildings it can't possibly be the intent of this commission that you would block government buildings from being able to continue to do their business during this time and I think similarly I'm shocked my client was shocked to hear that you wouldn't want this big vacant space that is existing to not be able to get a new great tenant that's going to employ 40 to 50 people on an average basis can't possibly be the case that you would want that type of use to be stopped for up to six months and you would want that to just sit vacant for all that time and so uh while I think there should be some consideration to quite a few modifications to the zoning progress resolution what I'm specifically asking for tonight is that there' be language added to it that says in addition to single family homes that are accepted from the the zoning and ress also commercial tenant finishes are accepted from the process that's the application that we are submitting and I don't think that the town really wants to avoid all of that for the next six months thank you very much Marcel camper good evening Commissioners Marcel camor for the the record property owner business owner in the city for over 30 years resolution 995-2206 section 1.4.4 of the steuart Land Development code the language there makes it very clear that this section of the code relates to the Land Development code it relates to making text amendments and District map amendments to the Land Development code it does not extend Authority for staff to make make comprehensive Plan reviews or amendments the language in the resolution oversteps the ldrs because it unlawfully directs staff you readit um City uh attorney it unlawfully directs staff to review and propose changes to the comprehensive plan so as written let's start by that it is overstepping what the section that is mentioned on that resolution is authorizing so for transparency which was a theme tonight if a resolution of this extensive nature is needed number one it needs to be properly written first and foremost I am going to put this in for the record although unfortunately the rules and the complin and you know appear to not be mattering anymore but it should be properly written number two it should be properly outlined here you have we didn't mean I hope you didn't mean government business I hope you didn't mean vacant space I hope I hope it was rushed so I urge the city to clarify why we need the largest zip in history we just did two major overhauls to our Our Land Development regulations East Stewart with a new form based code and the arts district without a zoning in progress without freezing property rights I want to understand how come in the last three joint meetings with Martin County the steward commission the school board and the village of Indiantown this goes back to the reports from June of 2023 the city reported zero residential units being uh approved or in review it reported 2,445 square feet of non-residential in review and only 58,000 600 of commercial in review and then approved that's the same report for the last three meetings zero units so how is this a rush anyways I'd like to set in for the record because maybe one day we'll follow the rules Mr duet price all right good night again detet price again for the record property owner within city of Stewart I try to serve my community the best of my ability every chance I get right so right now I'm here in regards to this zoning in progress basically moratorium that the city is that you have you have implemented and is in effect has no real clear objectiv stated within that zip and it's impacting I think you just heard it no one has a clue of what was written here and I think that it goes back to my thing of when you guys are sitting up here trying to make decisions you got to talk to the attorneys before you get here okay so that way you can make informed decisions and discussion on this ZIP a good example Mr mortell clearly states single family homes are allowed or improvements if you go if there's an ex existing use and all that I'm not a planning expert but I play enough in this field to really understand how you do the zip and all that I work in different communities throughout the the city the state country and based on the writing of this this resolution it impacts and it's a lot more detrimental more than what people are thinking sitting up here and what the community has no clue or understanding because if they did this room would be packed just like it was if if was bright line case in point okay all these guys are going maybe maybe maybe I'm going to give you a factual reference of what has occurred to me this week I a property in the city of Stewart It's ploted Lots I got my order my ordinance that says hey five ploted Lots I can develop it okay I go well I'd like to come in for the vacant lot I need to go get my PCN at the County so I can get an address so I can go ahead and build this property out okay I went through heartbreak to get that zoning approved because most people in that area it was multif family and I wanted to go single family to go back to the 1923 plat which is basically going back in history to reduce what was there I got a big fight in that I had an intervenor right now I'm saying I want to do what I promised staff says sorry I cannot it's a single family home it's platted but because there's two addresses under the PCN per the county it's an existing use and if you're going to add another home it's now multif family I asked for the definition of multif family versus residential there's huge items that needs to be clarified here staff doesn't know how to govern or be directed properly the attorney just said there needs to be clear Direction in this ZIP all right based on what I've seen on social media caner and US1 are the only places that you need to worry about I don't see how that impacts single family homes there's one property on caner that is bacon right now that would apply to thank you Mr Price Mr Walter Odin mayor Rich Commissioners my name is Walter Odin II my family has been here in Stewart since the 1930s I was born in Martin MC moral Hospital one of D Dr Parade's Miracle kids for those of you who are more mature you may remember my father's radio show The Bongo party on wstu my parents were Educators here and I've owned property here for over 30 years I'm here to express my support for continued responsible development in Steward and to provide my perspective regarding the proposal to place a moratorium on development Beyond single family homes I own 12 properties right now in East Stewart while I believe and I understand the the intent of this measure I believe it is essential to consider the broader implications and unintended consequences of such a decision on Stewart's long-term economic vi vi Vitality as well as its quality of life limiting development to these single family homes alone would significantly hinder our ability to meet the needs of a diverse and growing population Foster a thriving local economy and create sustainable well-planned communities Additionally you will displace the residents of East Stewart based upon the rates developers will have to charge whether they be rents or sales prices to justify the high building cost in coastal communities we should be incentiv incentivizing developers and R residents alike by instituting programs that incentivize building Workforce and affordable housing solutions for the record the Adu solution can keep residents in their homes according to recent data from Martin County Business Development board our population in the county has grown steadily by approximately 1.5% annually over the past decade this growth is expected to continue as families retirees professionals are attracted to the unique lifestyle and amenities that Steward in its surrounding areas offer however restricting development could result in a shortage of affordable and diverse housing options potentially pricing out many current and future residents including young professionals Municipal workers essential workers and retirees seeking to to downsize but also residents of East stward many of whom sit below the median income levels in this area additionally studies show that mixed use developments multif family housing and Commercial prod projects contribute significantly to a Region's economic stability they provide opportunities for local businesses to grow create jobs and generate a higher tax base which can be reinvested into critical infrastructure public services and Environmental Protection efforts I'm suggesting a balanced approach to development can spur economic growth while preserving the area's natural beauty and Community character our respectfully encourage you to and the Commissioners to consider the long-term benefits of a more comprehensive approach to development that addresses both the immediate needs of our growing community and the future viability of Steward we can balance growth while preserving the character charm that Mak steuart such as --------- ##VIDEO ID:XbQyKg0ehus## in with this moratorium and I don't think this is what you intended I really don't think this is what you intended I think you intended you were worried with the growth that was unbridled on unchecked on what and you wanted to to to to closely review that expansion to ensure that it it met within what I would call Smart growth and smart development this this moratorium doesn't give you that what you need to be doing is reviewing it while this while this process continues so that you can see what unintended unintended consequences you you've introduced into the the the formula as a result of I don't want to say rushing but but being aggressive in terms of satisfying the needs of the constituents that have asked you to to to slow down growth here in East Stewart thank you very much Mr Jeremy L master Jeremy lamaster Metalist Building Group Metalist homes um some of you might know me um I own four properties uh one at 37 simal Street one at 315 oolo one at caner Highway and another one at canner Highway next to the states of Stewart U my other property was uh on canner Highway um across from the Chamber of Commerce um first off if there is an exclusion to a zoning in progress that will be discrimination um I am all for um the building department Martin County and all that stuff but you guys have got to read this code and understand it you guys are having a hard time making a decision about a FEMA you guys are elected officials for you guys not to know the code the process of how it is is really really disheartening okay by sitting back there now tomorrow I have a meeting with my land planner and my attorney to approve the changes that were comments from our three previous applications the comments that staff wrote that they were incomplete and needed to get submitted I will tell you if you guys do approve a zoning in progress there will be legal recourse and you guys sit up there for whatever reason and think the public is not going to be affected I'm only one person but I promise you this there is so many other people that have land rights that you guys are trying to take away and whether you guys say it's just a Zone in in progress I went through a Zone in in progress and I got emails back and forth with County staff two years ago I got delayed months and months and months it was actually eight months I have and I have it in writing back and forth if you guys want to go through it go ahead because we'll go back in time and we'll pull we'll go from the back portion of it and just keep on running forward because staff does not understand the code and there's people in this room that know this code inside and out better than staff and there's attorneys that know this code inside and out and you guys got to know this code you guys got to understand the implications that it affects people you don't want four-story apartment buildings [Music] great but you have to understand the code and understand the implications of how you're going to be taking away people's rights and I will tell you this the financial obligation that I have if you guys put a zoning in progress and then do an ex extension will be financially liable to City of Stewart because I will not stop to that point thank you sir thank you Mr Nick schro thank you Commissioners uh my name is Nicholas schroth I'm a resident of the city of Stewart my firm ni South Coast is a commercial real estate brokerage and management company that has been part of this community since 1983 I've had the pleasure of working at South Coast since 2007 I'm a partner in that firm uh I'd like to thank Mike for his clarification on what this um zip includes um as much as I hope this is the case I'd like to share with you an example of what happened to a client of mine just last week earlier this year we had the honor of representing Bob and Ruth flag in the sale of their downtown building which they had owned since 1990 when they operated their furniture store there over time they convered of the building into a multi-tenant space developed a new project on the former parking lot and contributed significantly to the vibrancy of downtown their legacy is a large part of what makes downtown what it is today buyer of that property had plans to invest in much needed exterior improvements on our advice he cont he con consulted a local architect who lives and works in our city and planed to engage a local contractor for this work which would have been a significant investment in our downtown however when the architect contacted the city on September 3rd 2024 he was informed we are not accepting any commercial permit applications this message delivered on behalf of this ZIP initiative made it clear that certain interests do not want this investment Commissioners while I understand the desire to manage development the zip goes too far the economy itself has already cooled the multif family development Market which was a natural correction after years of inactivity interest rates have stabilized the real estate market and new appli ation for multif family development have significantly slowed because demand has leveled off in many ways the market has already achieved what this ZIP seems to be aimed at yet in the process the zip stands to harm local Architects contractors and real estate professionals whose livelihood depends on projects like these the denial of a nearly 188 yearold building's improvements is not just bureautic bureaucratic overreach it's detrimental to our local economy and the people who rely on these jobs the impact is being felt now now just two weeks into the process moreover this ZIP is unnecessary any development greater than one acre already requires a vote from this commission meaning you have control over approving or denying projects based on their individual merits why impose a city-wide moratorium when you can simply vote no on developments you oppose shutting down the entire City's growth will have a lasting Financial repercussions that I fear may lead to the very downturns you are trying to avoid I urge you to reconsider the scope of this ZIP hold a workshop engage with the people not just the people that voted for you and get this thing figured out thank you Nick Mr Frank mccristal a previous speaker used the word balance I think you represent balance the common sense people that put you in those chairs looked around and said please help us it's only 90 days there's nothing new here everyone who spoke before for me has a vested interest and not having a zip the common people that want you to slow things down or at least the balance of taking some time out to look at what exactly the previous one or two commissions that were resoundingly voted out of office have put in the pipeline it sounds like it needs some tweaks but if your overall concept is to slow down a little bit and see what's in the pipeline then thank you for that Mr Joseph Cooper good evening Mr Cooper good evening Commissioners um Joseph Cooper 906 Southeast 9th Street also G Construction Group I'm a licensed general contractor local right here in East Stewart um a couple things talking about putting this ZIP in place it's it's very detrimental it does hit to the heart as um we just mentioned about the economic impact of doing this I'm in the business of you know building and pering and stuff like that and if I can't get um these types of projects going and this this it's it's hard for me to kind of feed my kids and everybody if you've got kids you understand what that means um I think this this whole process of understanding the intent of the zip is is is unfairly being um discussed tonight without the person who's who who has the background to really to kind of discuss this in in detail in the commission is commissioner Jula Clark who has a planning background without to take up this matter without her being present is is is is really derel as as a commission because no one up on this Das has the experience and the understanding of of what this means and to be able to discuss it in detail um so I don't think this matter should be taken up in in her absentee and so so we need to kind of you know you know growing up here everybody talked about the boogeyman coming Fort lale Miami it did not come it's not going to come um did we have some some development in the last couple years we needed it we were under developed we needed the improvements and so that they've been positive they've been impactful and so if you if you migrated to this area you don't get to tell people not to come today so but if you were born and raised maybe you had me have an argument okay you don't get to come to my town when I was born in Martin Mo right down the street grew up on Ninth Street still there my dad's 93 what if we to cut the the borders off and says no more development I wouldn't be here I had to go to South Florida because to to just earn money as a as a builder now I'm I'm back and you guys are going to put the zip in place because you want to talk about overdevelopment and overgrowth we have not been overdeveloped we have not we will not be Fort Lauderdale we will not become West Palm Beach we're going to always be the city of stort the county of Martin we're unique we're we're a coastal town we're not no crime is not out of control buildings are not out of control we need to make sure we're not being over zelous and and trying to create a process which is going to sty me economically folks like myself and is not and we're not and we're doing this we're taking up a discussion and you don't have the most tenured most um experienced person to discuss this matter of zip without her being here I think is is it's a travesty to take up this this this this matter and vote on it thank you thank [Applause] you we're all done mayor thank you discussion uh mayor I would like to slightly amend my motion by exempting government buildings um per Martin County's request so there's a motion to that would require a second provide an exclusion yes I'm just stating is there a proper form here Mike or please it's a motion to amend his original motion and you would need a second to motion is amended you a second to be amended so we have a motion a second second or second by commissioner goobi do you wish to talk about that Amendment well we can talk about them all now you have a motion on the floor for a zoning in progress with an exception to the motion was amended and the second was amended so the motion on the floor now is a motion for the entrance of a zoning in progress with the exception of government buildings okay do you all understand that yes I do mayor Rich may I yeah commissioner what about any applicants that have pre-application meetings with our development department already out of the board members a a pre-application meeting is not sufficient it has to be a submitted application entire application any other questions or comments commissioner Reed I was that no questions okay um you know after last week's meeting I was hope hoping to be able to concentrate on bright line and seeing if we can find a way forward but the number of calls I got regarding this issue from some of the oldest business people in this town and the anger that they expressed to me and then usually following that was you're going to get sued you know that right um deals have been threatened and I know business people who have had to work very very hard to keep their financing to keep their partner it's not only the Practical reality of business and business likes to get done it's also the tone we're setting with some of these financial institutions um I voted for the first zip or not the first one but the zip two years ago and you need to understand how powerful these are since we put that zip in place for multif family housing no new applications no new approval none zero you think oh just 90 days no it sets a tone it creates an atmosphere and you have to as I said tread very carefully um and the point was made too it seems like we have no confidence in our own ability I'm very confident that this group if there's a non-conforming use that covers forward they're probably going to say no but rather than us this motion we're just saying none of it we're not going to we don't want to hear anything about it rather than it should be our job to evaluate them one at a time I mean if you want to put a awning on your business you can't do that right Walmart wants to expand their ability for people to safely pick up their orders and we're not allowing them to do that this is a jobs killer and this is a business killer and I don't see the need for it this is a solution looking for a problem and I just don't see the problem right now um and I certainly I don't that amendment I does not undo the damage that this can potentially do so those are my comments any other comments if not yes I would just say that um you know nobody here is trying to take away your property rights I'm not but there's a lot of concern from residents and they voted overwhelmingly to try to prevent the further sprawl of these four story mixed use things that belong in the urban core of downtown from running down us one in caner this commission wants to take a look at our code and see if not necessarily completely undoing dwani I don't think anybody up here doesn't respect what dwani did but going forward do we need to have the same amount of density for instance and conditional use do we need to be able to uphold our parking requirements do we want to have half units in our land use I mean these are reasonable things to look at they are and so what's that I'm sorry we can't you public comment has been completed there's a lot of frustration with some of the things that were introduced into our land use and comp plan in previous commissions and so for me personally that's why I want to look at these I will provide concluding remarks I was said we did the form based code in the creek district and in East Stewart and it did not require a zip it was Workshop after Workshop year after year so much public input and we ended up with a a very good new set of codes so I don't understand why we can't take that same path that proved so successful and had so much public [Applause] input see no more comment roll roll call please and maybe for clarity susay can we restate what could you have Mr baggot restate motion as it now stand there was some confusion last time changes I will try so the motion was for approval of resolution number uh in addition to um single family dwellings also governmental buildings government and was that do we understand all this okay roll call please commissioner giobi yes commissioner Collins yes mayor Rich no and commissioner Reed yes brother we have a D and D here I don't think I don't know if we do or I don't think we have anything to D and do we Mr Mel see no other items for our consideration this meeting is adjourned for