##VIDEO ID:FDBF4ZQ2Omg## so calling to order this this meeting of 23rd of September of the community redevelopment agency the CRA roll call please Mary Madam clerk chair Rich here here board member Clark pres board member Collins here board member goobi here board member Reid here board member campany here board member brickville here let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance please I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liberty and justice for all have to say that was that's how I was talking can I get a motion for the approval of the agenda moves second we have a motion for approval of the agenda by board member cenny and a second by board member Clark all in favor a motion for the approval of minutes so move second we have a motion for the approval of the minutes by board member ceny second by board member member Clark all in favor it's fine GRE Bill okay all in favor Hi I hi do we have any comments from the public on non-agenda related items Mary do we okay we have Jordan show good afternoon um thanks for having me my name is Jordan show 918 Madison Avenue Stewart Florida and I'm here to speak on behalf of skate park at guy Davis park in Stewart um this weekend we had an event in East Stewart supported by a bunch of different people um this was a skateboarding event that was supported by the NAACP a large portion of the legal Community doctors ministers businesses restaurants law enforcement both Stuart PD and MCSO on Saturday we gave out thousands of wings skateboards and had an afternoon where kids and grown-ups got off their phones and became a community kids and teens had positive interactions with law enforcement I'm a criminal defense lawyer I've been all over the county and the state representing people who are charged with crimes and in that I've seen a lot of where lives turn to Darkness and let me just say that from my experience I've learned both kids and adults need something to do something positive to do now recently and indeed this weekend I found that there's tons of ministers mentors Educators and organizations looking for a place to do their work a skate park would be that place practically speaking a skate park would be available for all kids in East Stewart it'd be walkable it'd be accessible skateboarding doesn't cost a lot of money to buy in all it takes is a skate park and my not for-profit will provide those to kids in the neighborhood you don't need a coach you don't need an organization so kids from single mother households can Thrive kids and adults from other areas of Martin County will come and it's good for the broader Community this is an opportunity for the city it's an opportunity to build a piece of concrete that's more than the sum of all its parts it's a place to build a foundation on which we can be a community um some of the groups that are wanting to be involved in this we've got FCA I've spoken to people with boys and girls club people with law enforcement again the list goes on and on different churches that NAACP all these groups want to get involved but we need this place and we need it now because kids are slipping away out there every year another generation goes by that doesn't have these things and they need them they need mentorship so what I'm asking for um I've done the research I've spoken to a one company spawn Ranch it's it's world class they they ball parked us at $500,000 for a skate park that is a drop in the bucket for what we're going to earn from it which is a legacy and it's a place for kids to thrive both mentally and physically and who knows we may even have Olympic athletes coming from this very place we have some other people here who are present to support and I know everybody can't make a public comment but anyone who's here for the skate park please raise your hands thank you so much and I have more materials if you guys need it thank you I'm sorry could I just ask you one question to clarify you said your nonprofit would pay for the park or did you mean to say would buy skateboards so skateboards um just to clarify on the park pretty much everyone I've gone to who says you know who I've asked for money to actually build the park they say look you know that's going to take away from the other not for-profits in the area and this is something that we believe the city should do no no I'm just I just wanted to make sure I understood you meant that's a good clarification I appreci any other questions that I yes ma'am thank you you mentioned a mentoring program would that be your organization or you're looking for mentors or well so um uh one organization that I'm very impressed with that wants to be involved deeply is FCA and I think they may have sent you guys emails today to that end um they've been looking to get an action sports um FCA Group for years and they haven't been able to do it this opportunity at the events that we've had they've said wow if we could just do this um it would be fantastic so that's one of the groups and I know um many of the other groups out there would also benefit from this and have a just a great place for people to come together so let me clarify so the this group for instance would do a mentoring program yes yes um well my the group that I have I think we would be focused more on providing the utility the skateboards and um arranging for events for these Ministries and these different organizations to come together with the already existing professional mentors and um people of that nature well that's what I'm trying to get out who are those mentors you're mentioning that there are people who would like to Mentor you're really just providing the skateboards and a ven so the people would be coaches um like coaches of the local lacrosse team um there's there's Co there's teachers there's Educators who would like to be involved and do these very things I had a vice principal who was at our event this weekend who was saying my gosh if I could just have a place you know because it costs a lot of money it's really hard to put these events together I've got three kids and it's got a lot of extracurricular activities so this is um it's not something I can be you know reliably doing every you know couple months or something like that so are you you are the non for-profit so I guess that's what I'm trying to get at you mentioned mentoring which would be great for this program it's having the skating but mentors for these young children to have I'm trying to find out who would do that mentoring would commissioner job if I could just we're really not supposed to engage with the I'm sorry the these speakers at this point at this length if it's an issue we want to go go into further detail we can do that if you want to clarify in your commissioner comments I just didn't want him be on the hook to pay for the part no and I can answer that specific question she oh sorry s Ju Just quickly for clarification for the new Commissioners um Jordan Show's been at this for some time trying to get a skate park over there I was at the event this weekend and in our conversations one of the things that came up is that the city actually just got a grant for about half a million dollars from the state specifically for guy Davis so in our conversations you know I said so obviously we can bring this back up for specific discussion of point Thank you thank you sir I'll speak more of my commissioner comments thank you pleasure thank you next our next speaker is Jimmy Smith gentlemen City commission I'm Jimmy Smith a longtime resident of steart Martin County since 19 61 almost better say that part but uh anyway I'm here on the support of that uh Park uh the guy Davis Park with the skateboard I mean uh it's if you really look at how much it would do for our city or steart Community it really brought diverse that Park belonged to all us no matter whether it's Easter or outside of there but what it would do it would bring in uh uh people that would be able to interact together with love and this weekend that skate park and I was just able to see the people how they interact they didn't look at race kids didn't look at because of what color they were they were just doing things together and they was having fun and the parents are just enjoying themselves and man thank you uh uh commissioner uh College uh for being there it it just brightened up the whole town that the law Law Officers with their interact with the kids uh it was just so so amazing to see that the pastors uh the people that was ministering if you really just can feel what it would bring to Easter we at a time now that we all should be united we got to come together with love so we can put our arms around our kids these kids need to know that there's more than just basketball and football is a way to make us uh uh make a living uh play base ball you got all these other activities out here you got lacrosse you got all these we have to provide these so they can have hope I was a kid that uh played uh football when it first began back in the little league and I found out I wasn't that kind of material all right I broke my ankle playing Mill a Lineback so linebacker so you know when you look at this I I I play basketball and I wasn't tall enough back then I just only grew a couple inches after I left high school and then and the only thing I ever found that u i was a wrestler at mon High you know and I was a great wrestler so you know there's so much other stuff that we have to offer these kids and I believe with you all and I know I can look up here and see these faces I see all the love and compassion that you have for this city of steart and uh city of Stewart belong to Martin County because we all have a imp uh a part of what the city becoming great so I just I just trust that you all will continue to work hard towards this park everybody waiting on this park this water SP Park come out the ground like over any Riverside Park so let's let's let's move and let's get it done and I'm quite sure everybody that listen I think it's going to be great for all us thank you very much Mr chair don't we have this in our budget yes no so the the discussion uh back in 20123 U when Jordan was came out to the meeting City commission meeting uh that we would um approach apprpriate space for the skate park but they were supposed to raise funding for the for the um improvements for the park for the skate park so now work on it the they want the city to fund the building of the skate park correct so um I will bring forward the actual cost of the project so at that time we can discuss if this is something you want to add to the scope okay thank you Mary bernardet Lindell oh are you speaking on item number two I apologize that'll be coming up this will be ogga Hamilton good afternoon uh yesterday evening I think I sent an email but we are not on agenda probably you didn't look at the email yet with our estimates and everything on now Olga Hamilton uh 311 Southwest sou Street Stuart Florida uh cdbg housing reabilitation program uh applicants so you're already familiar with our situation our situation is much more worse than even you can imagine because every local contractor who stopped uh at our place they right now have to consult with their insurance companies if they can take on the job that's how extensive damages are here's another document and pretty much funny document to me because that sounds funny uh when the contractor Patriot Response Group acknowledg this document and say uh sign it it states the bat estimates must be based on the work right up provided by the city I would like to ask who here in the city did right up on the work someone did and put the roof R wind that was not installed but it was faked but the most uh concerning part it's a Web of Lies when we hon started to inspect building permits file we discovered it and compared it with the emails and messages that we preserved it's lies after lies after Lies by Patriot Response Group and unfortunately by Guardian community Resource Management when we ask them specifically do you have any permission or any plan submitted to the building to the St building department to cut our walls to installed oversized windows and here I have these messages from Antonio Mr Jenkins yes we have plans and building uh Department gave permissions building department had no idea that they were installing oversized windows and they destroyed our rough openings and compromised our structures on August 4th okay thank you thank you but pretty much you can read it in my email and I Ur you go to the East steart and not listen on the phones talk to people there about about their situation please M adverse who is it I'm sorry David adverse thank for letting me speak on behalf of Ven Robert and the Stewart Church of art I've had the pleasure of professionally and person could you identify yourself and your address sorry sir yes David Aversa 3247 East thank you witness is their absolute love for that building you know it's a I think 1895 it was built it's one of the few privately owned historic buildings in the County and I've witnessed the violation that they've suffered both to the church itself it's been mutilated by Patriot there's been I'd like to say negligent oversight by Guardian I would hate to think that these acts were intentional or fraudulent but I've witnessed this firsthand and I've seen the impact on them personally they've been living since May in a building with no windows no air conditioning a historic building that's kind of delicate to begin with so they have bugs and lizards and no air conditioning the place has got to be riddle with mold and my question to the city who holds the money from this Federal grant is who has contacted Patriot Andor Guardians liability insurance carriers for their obvious gross negligence these people have suffered damages professionally personally and this Federal money is not being spent the way it was supposed to which is to preserve this cherished building so when it comes to who's going to pick up the slack for the negligent actions and I hope not intentional fraudulent actions it's going to be an insurance company why should the federal money be being spent for something that it wasn't intended for taxpayers money should be spent for what it's intended ended for so I hope that somebody takes this a step further and looks into the aspect of who can pay for these damages that have been caused by the actions of patriot and guardian there was mention of the city's possible a little bit deric supervision of everything but the true responsibility lies with the people that made the mistakes that affected these people and their building so I hope that they can whoever would do it take it a step further and notify those insurance companies and let's see what they have to say about correcting this uh because if they have the coverage and I would assume that both entities guardian and Patriot had a file certificates of liability insurance to get the contracts it should be a simple letter you know simple letter hey Insurance Company this is what's going on what your position on rectifying the damages thank you sir uh Mr mortell wanted to bring the board up to speed we have obviously spoken about this in past meetings the city of Stewart has been speaking with the involved parties and they have offered to hire and pay for a contractor at the uh homeowners expense to replace the windows and make sure that it was all uh paid up to the total amount that they were awarded in their uh Grant application and replace all of those windows if in fact there's a dispute between the homeowner and the contractor that's a civil action that the city wouldn't have anything to do with the dispute arises now with the additional cost because there's about 20,000 or $27,000 because the windows that were there had to be taken out and new windows have to be put in and the homeowners don't want the guardian to spend the $27,000 on the new windows they want something else to happen so it's kind of at a standstill but there's no doubt that the cdbg grant funding has offered to let them hire their own contractor and will come in and pay for those windows to be replaced by a their contractor's design I I imagine is what it is I've spoken to the homeowners we have not contacted any insurance companies though Mr chairman can I ask uh manager mortell a question please um board member Breck Bill yes thank you um what um what is our actual role in this whole process what what what do we actually do what's our whole purpose as a municipality we are actually just the connector or we apply for the qualify the city municipality for the cdbg funds and then we advertise it through the CRA and then we verify that people are residents of the CRA and then then they they can come in you have to be over a certain age and meet certain criteria but then you apply for these Grant funds and you get W awarded a certain amount of money and in this particular case they could pick from different contractors that were on the list we don't pick the contractors we don't do any of it we just are literally the Catalyst between it our build obviously the building is done in the city so our building inspector goes out and inspects it but it's not related to the CBG cdbg and it's not like we're even the actual Bank providing the fin financing we are literally more like a holding company that the the money passes through us or we assist with it but we don't actually provide the funding and in this particular instance I know Miss Gandhi sdas has spent more time than she probably wants on the phone with them but we have been dealing with them quite a bit to try and rectify it it was my understanding that they had in fact offered to hire the contractor of their choosing to replace those windows okay all right Mr Martel do we exercise any supervisory control over the contractors zero idea yeah we don't get to pick who they are we don't get to pick who's on the list we don't get to pick who's not on the list we don't get to influence the people that are picking the contractors by telling them yes or no who this is one way or the other we have absolutely no relationship to it at all we don't get to F we don't get to prepare the form that the contract would fill out to get on the list thank you Mr Mayor yes I just want CL I just want to add you can say there some more time I I hope I'm adding the correct information but the guardian group that's the um manager for this Grant and to help the county see through the city see through this I think they've had work before with the county and they do this in other counties and other communities and they have a good reputation for doing this this may have been an issue here and we see that we've hearing that other people have had problems in this particular go around um so we just have to I think that Guardian has come here before and talked to us and I believe Miss gandis Sabas is working with them I really appreciate the um you know the the the the the the push that um Mr Mrs Hamilton and others are doing to make sure that this type of a job gets done properly but Guardian has had a reputation for working through these contracts and getting them done in lots of communities and it's just kind of a little bit disappointing and shocking that we've not only had one but two or three or several this time around with this issue in Stuart and we're hoping that we can get this resolved and get it done satisfactorily I know that they had an issue with their um home the church with the special specifications and so on but I I'm hoping that we can we whatever we need to do to get it done I'm hoping that we can work to get it resolved properly we don't actually have standing to participate in any way well just Guardian that we can make sure that they they the homeowner and guardian and Patriot work through they could pursue a civil action if they thought it was appropriate thank you Mr chair as a short termer let me just say that I hope this board never again enters a program like this there is no upside for the city of Steward we we are in our attempts to help others we end up on the short end of the stick and so I would recommend that we never do anything like this again because there's just nothing in it for the city of Stewart because if something goes wrong we don't control it we don't pick it the homeowner is mad at us everyone becomes mad at us so I would recommend that we never do anything like this again thank you madam clerk Robert Hamilton Robert Hamilton 1895 Church Stewart let's not throw the baby out with the bath water Sirah Mr mortell had a little laugh with you guys it's not so funny from our perspective I do have my possession a letter from the governor's office in the State of Florida and I'm looking at the exact people that the governor's office as a competence and you have the authority and the ability to resolve this issue I adamantly disagree with Mr mortell Miss G's been working with oranai this has not been a pleasant situation some contractors don't want to come oranai are willing to sit down Miss Gandhi Mr baguette and Mr Hastings and I like to get this resolved the last thing I'd like to say the damages are $2,639 that needs to be deducted from the $ 48,49 that they're billing for I've never heard of an offer from the city manager this first time I've heard about stand in front of you tonight now I'm not mad at you I think you all know that I don't come here to be mad at you I come here to work a deal and the deal is I'm looking at the people responsible to deal with the situation you have the authority and the power it's all in the documents Miss Gandhi knows it I'm sure Mr baggett's going to be brought up to speed what they did was wrong but we don't penalize the rest of our community because of some bad apple that came in here regardless of their past reputation I'm aware of it it was good but for me and another person who has come to my home and I'm not going to divulge who they are but they're for me Stuart I think it was terrible looking at that lady sitting inside our church I felt her pain she knew things only people like me and ogre would know on how they operate she said certain things they pulled the same crap on that family good people but be as it may again I need to resolve it I want it resolved they need to deduct the 42639 off for the 48,49 and Miss Gandhi knows we will be more than happy for Mr Hastings myself to sit down Mr baguette and maybe Mr Versa might be there too I want to thank you all for your time thank you thank you Mr Hamilton Brandon Cooper hello Brandon Cooper 920 Southeast Flamingo Avenue 34996 um yeah thanks for for listening I'm here to um offer support and encourage when the East Stewart skate park does come forward to hopefully be on the the budget for the city of Stewart you guys would approve that um I've been here about over 10 years family uh near gu Davis Park and uh we have children of our own we're also a foster family also have a lot of um friends and family in the area with kids teens and uh we just know it would be an awesome space for for the community uh we were at the event at New Birth this weekend and uh it was just great we were at the one last year too to see just Community come out like others were saying um just the police different ages different backgrounds just everyone just hanging out having fun challenging each other you know ramps and everything delicious JoJo's Wings gotta say uh so you know and from that my kids they got a couple skateboards they hadn't really skateboarded before it's all they were talking about last few days they're like they weren't talking about watching Pokemon or whatever they're just like Dad can we go skate go skate go skate like all right so we we were going to skate and watching them challenge each other and then overcome you know a fear or something and go down a little ramp and so it just it was cool to see that and something that you know other you know kids in this community can can have it's it was really uh inexpensive for us to well we got the free boards but um you know with the donations that'll help but it was uh yeah just a a good thing for for them to have um I think it'd be great for the the community uh and lastly I just want to mention about Jordan show uh I've known him for many years um We've ran all over this town together literally running and uh he's been talking about this skate park for a few years he's just really really passionate about it and I'm I'm excited for it um and it's it's great to have an ambassador like him behind a project like this um with with his family his connection his friends connection 561 other skaters coming out to to help and support and um you know having FCA and others to come around as as mentors is is awesome so uh yeah when that comes up just uh hope that you will support that so thank you for your time thank you thank you I have no more no more okay comments by board members would you like to go first board member Clerk um I um I'm glad that um commissioner Collins went to the skateboard event this weekend and didn't get to be there but um it's always good to have representation from our commission at community events and especially things that we're interested in so um that's good I really don't have anything to say but this is a CRA meeting we're going to be talking about the budget later on and um I just know that again if our commissioners don't or the public don't know about the CRA and what they've done and the things that we go through to get grants and to get things done for um various uh groups in our community it's it's so important to make sure that we get uh that information and get get familiar with it and really work to to continue seeing some uh I guess great positive results from um our CRA activities and the actions that we take thank you board member Collins yes so just kind of continuing my previous remarks um in talking to Jordan this weekend about the skate park the conversation came up around the C and how we have received about a half a million dollars to put specifically towards guide Davis um that Park project who knows exactly what that's going to cost 8 million 10 million 12 million who knows but I do see that half a million dollars as being um functional right now to be able to get that skate park accomplished so that families could start using it now instead of waiting potentially who knows how long um depending on what happens with bright line and where money ends up Landing I would like to see the skate park specifically uh be carved out of the overall Park project and that we move forward with it now with that half a million dollars uh so that people in our community can start using it um it would be the first skate park in the city of Stewart and so um I don't know panal exactly how that would work uh I know you're going to be bringing it Forward hopefully in the not too distant future yeah in the next few months but I I personally and and if there was any consensus I would like to see it um specifically the skate park separated and have that half a million dollars potentially if we all agreed uh be deployed towards it do any of the others have any comments on that then I just have a question that half million dollars is a grant isn't it Mike and the grant was for what any improvements in the park pardon me any improvements in the any improvements okay I have I think it's a good idea then okay mayor uh board member goob um yes I love the idea of the park I think it'll be great for the community I'd like to learn more about the mentoring program because while it's great that everybody could go I think it's great that the kids would have mentors there so I'd like to know more about that but I'm certainly will forward do you have consensus yeah okay so it'll be on the an agenda item on the next meeting for discussion yes sir can I just could I just mention that um you done with your comments oh yeah sorry member brick Bill do you have any comments just two real quick ones one um I really agree that uh you know I think the more diverse types of activities we have at guy Davis the better it is for everybody and activities like this where the cost of it isn't necessarily going to be a private activity type thing a private company's not NE necessarily going to do that that type of event so um but um my comment is whatever we do out there I really would like to see us get it done in my lifetime I not that old but I just had a birthday so it makes me think about it and along those same lines I think I would like to skateboard but Medicaid tells me that if I have more than two Falls in a year I have to have a walker or something I don't know so I'm not doing that but anyway they'll especially build one for you board member Reed do you have any comments this evening I will say hopefully there's a positive resolution for the Hamiltons with what they're dealing with with that cdbg Grant and the contractor that they did use um I'm also going to be reaching out to panal and Jordan as well to learn more about the skate park I wasn't able to make it on Saturday um but I will reach out to Jordan and panol to get more information thank you board member goob do you have any comments no I did already thank you board member Camp Penny I do thank you Mr chair at the last City commission meeting I was threatened by a commissioner with remove removal from the crb and CRA boards because I wrote an opinion piece that was unflattering to the new commission majority I always thought that as an American I had the right to express my opinion it is what is known as free and protected speech for more than the past decade I have been writing what was once my constituent newsletter and has now evolved into an online local free publication which has grown to have an email list of 33,000 people we also have a friends and neighbors Facebook page where we run articles that are written in between editions and then may also appear in the following one the article referenced at the commission meeting appeared on our Facebook page let me just say that friends and neighbors is written primarily by me but we have other contributors there are over 25 columnists who Express their opinions a nonprofit section that has announcements and press releases government announcements where our institutional officers and other government bodies inform the public letters from the public reporting on government meetings and other sections of Interest it is a digital newspaper for our digital age but besides being a reporter editor publisher and janitor for friends and neighbors I am also a student res Stuart resident who deeply believes in serving his community by volunteering donating and serving on nonprofit boards as well as being active in local government I have done this for most of my entire life I did not expect to be reappointed to the crb when the reorganization occurs in December I and the new commission majority obviously do not agree on policy the new M uh commission majority has the right to have board members who reflect their ideas under our charge they also have the right to dispatch board members at any time because you have a right doesn't mean you should exercise it expressing criticism of elected officials is my right as a citizen I intend to do so regardless of whether the new majority removes me in the commission meeting that follows trying to curtail criticism of your actions by censoring the messenger makes you look Petty and dare I say comically tyrannical the receiver of such treatment becomes a mod to the cause of good government and the First Amendment at the last meeting another commissioner said that he would like to remove one of his inherited appointments because he too was criticized by the appointee on social media With Attitudes like that we had truly become the People's Republic of Stewart perhaps the new majority should take a break from social media media and live in the real word world for a change Stewart is not Sim City and the Commissioners are not memes playing a game regardless of what actions the commission takes later this evening I will go on writing my and Reporting the facts since commissioner Clark first appointed me to the LPA more than a dozen years ago when we were sweet mates and former commissioner McDonald appointed me to chair Stewart Centennial committee it has been a pleasure to be of service to the people of Stewart where I live thank you Mr chair thank you board member Camp Penney uh I have no comments this evening at this point um Mr so let's move on to our first action item number two Southwest Dixie Highway streetcape improvements conceptual plan resolution number 14202 force a resolution of the board of community redevelopment agency of the city of Stewart Florida approving conceptual design for Southwest Dixie Highway streetcape improvements from Southwest Joan Jefferson way to South Colorado Avenue Southeast Ocean Boulevard and safety improvements within the triangle District providing an effective date and for other purposes panol I believe you have a presentation for thank you panal Gandhi savc director for the record um this item is coming before you to um share the design for the Dixie Highway improvements um the design is from Joan Jefferson way to Colorado Avenue and we are looking for your feedback today and approval of the resolution um the project is located within the triangle District um it's in close proximity to our old downtown district and the creek District uh which is south of um of the triangle District um this area will help connect the historic district and the creek District by making it safer and also making it um walkable for our pedestrians um to get from one area to another the project boundary is from Joan Jefferson to Colorado Colorado Avenue and runs along the FEC Railway so this project was initiated back in January 2023 when the city commission authorized staff to apply for the 2023 F uh Transportation all Alternative Program Grant um and this was authorized by a resolution uh staff later submitted an application to the Martin County Mo board uh the mo board accepted the application and uh staff presented the project to all the advisory committee and also the MP board um and they did recommend approval to submit the project to fot um they did express some concerns about the design at that time and requested to come back uh once all their comments were addressed and incorporate into the project and we do plan to do that next month we plan to bring it to m board um after the discussion tonight and direction from from the board today um then we did receive a letter from fot that the project is eligible for funding for program year 2627 uh we expect to receive uh an estimated of $436,000 for the project we started meeting with the property owners in September 2023 to share the the initial conceptual plan um and then in August 2024 we had an Outreach meeting with property owners and business owners and presented a couple of different options um for their input um then in September 2024 we um we did uh make a a significant change to those conceptuals because of the feedback that we received from um the property owners and um and updated those plans and that's what you're going to see today today for um for your input so that was presented to the crb uh earlier this month and we'll present that to you um uh for your input and then October 2024 like I said uh once we have direction from this board we will present to the mo board on the updated plans um you'll notice that from September 2023 to August 2024 we didn't have much activity on this project uh because there were a lot of moving Parts with the tracks and the constru ruction of the second track and how that would impact the design um so uh we kind of you know um held tight and waited for those uh tracks to be completed so then we can figure out how we would uhu amend the design again I do want to emphasize that fot has already appropriated funds for this project so uh but the final award amount uh we won't know until 2627 uh for example uh we applied for the tap Grant uh for the Riverside Park neighborhood improvements project and at that time uh we estimated $1.2 million for that project and initially fot had allocated uh $590,000 for that project and then when we went out for bid uh the lowest bid that we received for for the project was 1.9 million so the fot did increase the award amount to $1.2 million so I just wanted to let you know um that the award amount may be adjusted based on the bid so um 436,000 is not the final number um again the FOC Grant has been around since 1991 and over the past 10 years uh city has received over $4 million in this uh grant for various Improvement projects um through CRA and um public works department so we do have a pretty good track record of following through with our projects that have been a awarded the Federal Grant and there has never been an instance where the grant was terminated uh before the funding was uh provided so you will see in in the budget the CRA budget that I did put in uh 1.5 million uh in the CIP for fiscal year 2027 because that's when uh the funding will become available to the city are you done I'm sorry no sorry um so as part of the application we also have to become uh lab certified to administer this grant um in the past Martin County uh admin administered this grant for us since they're lab certified uh but due to lack of resources on their end they did ask the city to administer their own tap grants so we are pursuing uh our own spe uh uh Project Specific lab certification so we could administer the grant um as a project manager I've already completed the lab certification and I know there are other City staff um Kevin Smith and other City staff that are pursuing their certification so that we can um manage the Grant from design to construction um based on direction today from the board we do have a kickoff meeting with fot in January 2025 to um start working on the Civil plans for the project the initial plans are due to fot in 2025 and also the Project Specific lab certification documentations will be due next year um the final construction plans are due in 2026 and construction is anticipated in early 2026 seven does Mr I'm sorry I keep in I'm sorry does Mr are you done no okay so these exhibits here show the existing condition on Dixie Highway I know we're short on time um So currently we do have significant portions of missing sidewalk as if you walk this area you know it's not safe to walk there the the the sidewalks are not clearly defined um on the west side of Dixie Highway we have crosswalks missing uh we do have f uh we do have on street parking in the FEC RightWay uh the city has a lease agreement uh with FEC for those on street parking uh there's very little sidewalk uh adjacent to Fe Railway so there's very little uh Landing space for passengers to get out of their car and also uh for the drivers to get out of their car um making it very unsafe uh to get out with oncoming traffic on Dixie Highway and this is just showing the existing conditions um the existing typical section of Dixie Highway is uh we have 11 foot um travel Lanes in both Direction parking in FEC RightWay and sidewalk in the city's RightWay that varies from 5 to 6 feet um as you may note that a portion about 2 feet of our Northbound travel Lane is in the FEC right away so we do need to note that in case if the FEC decides to terminate the lease agreement we do have our 2 feet of our travel Lane in their right of way that we will have to adjust the road in the future should that happen but this project will take care of that um so we do have multiple studies that show that recommend that reducing travel Lanes to provide adequate side sidewalks on both side of the road um so in March 2023 we decided that we were going to submit an application to FEC to amend the lease agreement so we can put in the sidewalk on on the Fe by the FEC Railway um we can do that by reducing the travel Lane widths to 10 ft reducing on Street parking with and adding new sidewalks um although we did submit an application to FEC to amend the lease agreement there was a lot of uncertainties as to what we can do it can't do in the FC right of way uh they were also concerns that they were going to ask us to remove the on street parking completely since bright line was adding the second track and they need at least 25 ft clearance uh from the second track for uh safety zone um so with limited cities right of way we started looking at other options which we presented to the community with oneway traffic and changing the traffic pattern um and and accommodating any lost parking that's in the FC right away um but we did not get the support from from the community so we did end up making modifications um to the to the design that was presented um we did hear back from FEC uh last month and they said that they don't want us to make any modifications to the leas area because of the future their new bright Line Station uh which could further modify the tracks um so the earlier options that were presented to the property owners uh like I said we didn't get the consensus so uh we are keeping with the two-way traffic along Dixie and um and all the improvements will be in the city's right of way um I'll let Joe Capra who is the engineer on the project he's with captech um walk us through the update plans for the project good evening board members I'm Joe kaer with captic engineering sounds like you're kind of in a hurry so I'm going to make this real quick okay it's fine Mr ke take your time so just uh as you know this is the confusion Corner area this is uh pretty much the circle at Joan Jefferson way here essentially what we're proposing we've done this a couple times now trying to accommodate the fec's future conditions potentially and then also to just kind of make sure uh we we kind of looked at the the funding we have so essentially what we're proposing is is still remaining two-way uh two-way traffic we had talked about maybe one-way traffic uh for some safety reasons but basically the business owners and everybody here preferred that we we keep the the current pattern of traffic so this is going to be a two-way street just like it is today uh basically what you're going to see for safety improvements here uh basically pedestrians can walk it on a sidewalk there'll be a continuous sidewalk uh basically that would be the south side of the RightWay essentially what you should know there'll be Ada improvements in there to make sure that the sidewalk is continuous uh as uh also we propose Street lighting out here uh so there'll be street lights that be put in place we also planned on As Much landscaping as we can get but I'll be truthfully honest with you there's not a lot of land that we control in here that we can put a lot of landscaping but we will put put some trees in there uh the other thing is we were we we're looking at crosswalks Crossing these streets it this plan may look like we're doing a lot of pavers but the fact of the matter is we are doing pavers in this area here and some of the crosswalks but most of the the sidewalks in here will be will be painted the or stained the coral color that you see throughout downtown so we are just staining what's out there but we are going to make sure the sidewalk doesn't have tripping hazards like it does currently have um just to make sure we kind of cover a couple things uh we are proposing a rather large area of pavers here uh those pavers will be similar to what we've used uh throughout throughout the community they will be perious pavers the benefit of perious pavers of course is when as you see settlements sometimes and asphalts and so forth these will dry out so whenever I get into a a pedestrian area which we're trying to create a pedestrian area here I like to make it so that we don't have people walking in puddles and so that's an advantage to the perious Pavers I know there's some concern about pavers I will tell you I've done doing pavers for a long time we did the pav crosswalks in downtown I'll Ola Street they've been there for over 30 years they work fine however I will tell you when a p system area fails guess what you continue to have problems with it we we ran into that on certain projects too but for the most part when installed properly those papers will work fine they do increase the cost uh in the area of this this area here we hope to gain out of the P area a couple things but one thing is storm water one of the things that is happening here we are providing a storm water system of underground storage here if you look at the the next few pictures you're going to see pounding of water and so forth we will be getting rid of that and and water will be underground and so forth but also the papers will provide storage um let's see what else we got um basically we we we're going to lose those parking potentially lose those parking maybe about 24 spaces we were trying to make it up throughout the neighborhood with restriping some of the parking that is out there we will be providing some parking right here on Third Street um again most everything else is is safety I think I kind of covered most everything um you know just to I know the papers was concerned by some folks we are trying to put put a b a a radius into this so people don't kind of shut shortcut through the Joan Jefferson way Circle here uh we are not doing any adjustments here other than pavers uh so the confusion Corner in this location will work just like it does now so we we didn't make any changes to that uh most everybody will retain the driveway entrances they have to their businesses we are not getting rid of that we will may we may narrow some down um with permission from the from the property owners I know these folks are here tonight they'll tell you their concerns and so forth but essentially they will retain the driveway entrances that they have according to the current plan um with that again I'll be happy to entertain any questions Mr board member campen you've said through this presentation before uh yes I've sat through many of these type of presentations before do you have any questions or comments I don't I think this is one of the best things I've seen uh you're absolutely right Joe we got to take the water off that street because it doesn't take much a little a uh just a little shower and we have that street flooded and the properties flooded so yes that's a good thing I'm sorry we're losing some parking spaces but I I don't know what we can do about that either so I would I would support this is that a motion can we can we get a motion I'll make that motion if we're ready for motions second I got a I got a question for Joe relative to that okay just let we have a motion by board member cenny a second by board member Clark is um there any discussion um brick I had some concerns about the traffic coming across on Joan Jefferson from down town and the fact that those cars are stuck on the tracks um have we factored anything into here to to stop that because right now the way it works is that traffic going you know heading north or whatever direction is in downtown is got the the RightWay and people coming over the tracks they're on the tracks before they realize they have to stop and there's less than six feet I think probably that they can actually stop on that side of the tracks we have to have some sort of a signal some sort of a to stop that traffic when the train is is coming so that we don't have cars stuck on the track CU that's going to be a problem I think and uh you brought that up before but basically we will be providing signage with with uh with blinkers on it so people can know that the other thing that I I figured that we probably need to start thinking about and it's not only at Joan Jefferson it's also at confusion Corner uh is a little more room for people when they do get stuck in that position they can there there's a wider area so they can get get out of the where they're confined so we I I've noted that and and we are we have been working with with the the manager's office to try to look at some other uh safety features at the Crossing okay I'm actually going to go I'm going to go to public comment Mary do we have so let's hear from the public first and then we can have our discussion can I just clarify one thing so you did say you're looking at signalizing that right there well there's there's there's there's sign there's they're not sign there I wouldn't want to call signals there signs with with flashing signs that tell people that about the safety similar to what we have throughout the city on caner Park Road right on uh pal City Road City that's right so be there'll be something like that but it won't be the same thing okay mad we'll be looking at some signage yeah we'll probably have you back so but let's hear from the public first okay thank you okay I have bernardet Lind good afternoon bernardet Lindell 11 Southwest Ocean Boulevard um we are actually the owners of the building that's on the corner of West Ocean and Dixie Highway in Camden the triangular shaped building on the corner and I just want to let you know that we are very much in favor of the final design and construction plans as recommended by the board it will make a much needed major improve movement to our neighborhood and we fully support the project and hope that we can move forward to the next phase thank you very much thank you thank you Frank mccristal I won't ran I'll get right to the point and lay off the uh philosophical stuff I guess I'll save that for later uh but contrary to the previous commission's belief fanatical belief not every street in Stewart can be a multimodal pathway that serves all this is the poster child for the worst idea I've seen on this topic A1A and US1 are literally the only north south corridors for the working man and woman in Martin County there are no pavers that will hold up to the traffic of that road it is a big waste of money and please don't do anything to make the traffic lanes for cars any less narrow they're already narrow so there you go if you're going to use papers how about if we have the you know prove me wrong have the contractor guarantee him for at least 10 years okay but common sense says you don't use pavers on a road that's going to be traveled this much and please don't make it any more narrow for the car drivers either thank you thank you Mr M I have no more public comment mayor okay I have I have a question yes Joe the reason that it's being narrowed is because it's not all our RightWay is that am I correct with that correct um correct uh basically what we have out there is about 20 ft okay of actually RightWay that we own okay and and I'm not saying the hole right away I'm just saying in in the narrowest location if you remember the where the Verizon building is uh it's a pinkish colored building that's really narrow there and we will be using 5T of the prop their property for a sidewalk okay so what we that's why we have two 10-ft lanes now we can widen it out in other areas but that's the narrowest part that we have I'm trying to avoid getting right away a lot of times acquiring right away in these tap type of Grants can can kind of kill a project so we're trying to avoid that so that's that's our problem that's where that's where our problem is any other questions or comments from uh board member clerk okay thank you so this is a conceptual plan and I'm what I'm most impressed about is the work that went into this when we had Community walks and um various uh group meetings to have people watch walk the community and to give uh input I know that the people at the church have um given a lot of input uh in this area and I just know that there's going to be Redevelopment and changes in this area and this is probably going to be uh a start to making sure that this area is safe and that the uh the road serves uh its purpose in a compact um area and I I just think that this is something good that we need to continue to work on it is difficult because it's a short stretch and it's a it's a vital stretch and it's going to serve a lot of the the changes that are there are a lot of empty buildings along that road now plus the church is going to have a change in use but that triangle area it is a start to work in the the plan that we've been working on for some years now in the triangle area and um did we make a motion already yeah you made it okay we're working on motion we're just commenting on a motion okay okay that's fine there's a second are you done mayor Rich may I um Mr kaer could you come back up here oh M oh I'm sorry had some com board member yeah I had some I had some comments um I did speak to panal about this I let her know that I wasn't in favor of pavers or narrowing of the road I know there's some Marine industry people here um boats heavily travel through here with trailers and it's difficult as it is um Dixie Highway will always be traveled North and southbound for traffic there's about 10,000 vehicles that travel through here um and I believe is the goal to to slow traffic and deter vehicles from traveling through this section with safety improvements for more pedestrian walkway that would be for staff yes um the the the Narrow Lane will help to address the safety concerns and reduce the speed but again it really comes down to our right of way we only we have very limited right of way so if we decide to keep 11 fet um and then keep it in the FEC RightWay we're concerned that if the lease agreement terminates then we're going to have to readjust the road at some point so we're trying to address all of that with this project and that parking would still be in the f right away so it still need a address down the road we will keep that until we get other further information from F but none of the 10 so if we had two 10t lanes that wouldn't be an FEC right away at all no correct and how wide would the sidewalk be on the South Side so I'm going to pull that up so you can see it's five foot in right here so it would be 5 feet of existing sidewalk you can see the proposed 10 ft of travel Lane Northbound and southbound and the rest is FEC eand so so we end up having a wider Street until FPC fix us out okay so but I didn't want to go and set this up where that you know later on we're going to have to re reconstruct it so so you're going to still have a little more room on on this side until they kick us out the right that's all and what is the notice on the FEC lease well I think you right now they just said that we couldn't make any modif sorry want to get come up and they're going to let they will let us overlay the parking area but they won't let us add to that area so the all of the rideway leases for the Florida East Coast rail are a 30-day termination however historically they have never exercised a 30-day termination what we'd expect in this particular circumstance is at some point they will the those parking spaces are within a 25 foot Zone of train cars and they have a policy that you're not allowed to have any people or or uh cars where people might be sitting in them within that zone of the 25 ft so at some point in the future they're going to say to us hey that's within that 25 ft you need to move those parking spaces out of there they've been here for some time they didn't identify it within that 25 ft until about a year and a half ago they brought it up they haven't told us to get out yet it may be that they changed the policy to 15 feet or something I don't know but so far we're kind of going on borrowed time I my recommendation would be no matter what if you're going to make make improvements to the road to follow Mr kapper's advice and make sure that you make the improvements within the road you're going to leave those parking spaces that's fine because if in fact they were to come in and tell us to remove the parking spaces we could just go in and that and be out of there in 2 seconds flat but if you kept them at the 11 ft and you actually had to come back in and get a you know 12 in of the road out of the rideway along with the storm water or whatever management is going to be taking place with these permeable pavers or with these pavers it could get complicated really fast You' have to come back and do the whole thing over again and therefore none of this would be worth doing at all so if you're going to move forward on it it'd be better to anticipate staying in our right of way and then keeping those parking spaces as long as possible okay um so I'm a little confused and either Mr kapper or pral I think the drawing set 11 ft for the street width but that's exist you said 10 it's going to be 10 yeah that's the proposed right on the top is the existing yeah narrowing the streets is going to slow people down and that's what we want yes that'll right so I mean I like this this is obviously a neglected to a degree it's or what's a better way to put this we haven't created as much opportunity over in this part of town as we could I know panal this has been a focus for you and this is a very good start on it um you know so much so many of our CI are designed for cars and not for people and we actually can accomplish both and this is a a good way to do that the 5 foot sidewalk that's very important I hope we can M maintain that with and you know um because that's going to allow us to put a lot of nice shade trees in and that's what's going to attract people right get they see all these beautiful shade trees over there they'll come from our downtown now and walk over there um if we look at that one picture um I think the lady says she owns it um where is it why isn't it moving all right so it froze up where's the one after yeah that's it so um so they're coming out what street is that I can't see that so they're coming up here so so yeah that's so I live on Flamingo so when I come off of ocean and go down Flamingo uh Old St Lucy it's not perpendicular it's actually a little angle and that is dangerous and difficult to look to your left so can't we make square that off to a greater degree that would be my concern as you're getting on to Ocean there it seems like a very acute angle for people to look I don't know if there's a stop sign in front of that pedestrian there but the stop sign seems to be you see what I'm saying Yeah so basically vehicles are going northbound here right and they typically go to the left if they want to if they decide they want to go to us one okay or they can continue North and go to the circle go to us one or go keep going north okay so so this this movement's okay when they come here they're coming southbound they they will have the ability to go to the right and and left they can go either way so but the majority of the cars that I think you're going to see come through here you're looking Northbound here on D right right no I realize that yeah but just so we can tee those intersections off to as greater degree as possible and we have tried to do that there there is a t here and here and this this property here will be redeveloped as you know you can see from the rendering but you're right it will be teed up what you don't see pretty well on this drawing is there's an right there and the and the and basically the garbage trucks come through this way this way or come come from south to North and this way so we we have kind of something that's a little different at this location with the garbage trucks and the vehicles because an alley and there's these these businesses don't have a lot of places to park so they use that alley also so the effort here is is to increase walkability and the drawings I saw you seem to have parking spaces almost right up to those C crosswalks and it was my understanding you have to be as I drive a sedan that's very low which my wife constantly reminds me of you know if there's a big SUV or a big pickup truck parked really close to that crosswalk it's very hard it can be very difficult to see those pedestrians so don't you have to be back 20 feet isn't that the fdot requirement they're usually 4 feet usually you stop four feet before the before the crosswalk that's that's no but the parking space you can't put a park you you want to be able to see around the parking space is what I think you're getting at right you want to be able to come up to this intersection and not have a parking stall right there where you can't see this way right it just seems we're awfully close to those cross rocks but yeah I don't like I said we don't have a lot of parking that come right up to the Dixie Highway cuz like you say you've been you're trying to get more parking in there to replace right so we'll we'll put we we have found ways to get some more parking in these areas is here with restriping the the parking stalls we have and we are getting some parking you're right in this right here but as you know you're coming up an alley here so there's no parking right in here back in here you're getting parked now does this plan include one waying a number of streets no okay we went we got away from the one way yeah it wasn't liked by the the people in the area so we decided no one way is turning out to be not such a good idea that's right it creates a lot of problems oh good well I'm very happy with this project and it's I look forward to its success no other comments I think we can take a vote Yes board member brick Bill yay board member Reed no board member goobi no board member Collins yes board member Clark yes board chair Rich yes and board member Kim Penney yes [Music] yes and the results of that I'm sorry Mr bre 52 52 in favor resolution passes next item do you want to read this Mr bagot or for the record uh City attorney Lee bagot this is resolution number 11-202 CRA a resolution of the board of the community redevelopment agency of the city of Stewart Florida adopting the CRA budget of the city of Stewart Florida for fiscal year beginning October 1st 2024 and ending September 30th 2025 and appropriating capital budget for fiscal year 2025 and providing for a 5 year Capital Improvement plan for projects within the community redevelopment area boundaries providing an effective date and for other purposes now I can make the presentation thank you again um so per Florida Statutes we are required to adopt the CRA budget by a resolution and also the fiveyear capital Improvement plan um to assist the board with managing CRA funds project imple implementation and any future projects um the funds received from the CRA area must be used uh for specific Redevelopment purposes within the target area and um it cannot be used uh for General government purposes so the city's taxable value and its millage um along with the County's millage is what is contributed to the tax increment financing in the cra's trust fund uh so the cra's original B base value is 299 million and the current taxable value for the city is 883 million um as Jolie had mentioned in his presentation earlier this month that the taxable value for the city and the county is different because of the certain uh county has certain uh exemp exemptions that the city doesn't have uh so this brings us to about 584 million in increment value and then if you apply the 5.0 millage rate the city's 5.0 millage rate um that equates to about $2.7 million from the city's General funds and the county payment to the CRA is 3.5 million for total Tiff uh financing is uh 6.3 million to the CRA trust fund this chart here shows a breakdown of all the CRA revenues from um the different sources for fiscal year 2025 um as I mentioned in my previous Slide the County's Tiff contribution tion uh to the city C is 3.5 million and the city's contribution from general fund is 2.7 million additionally we have other sources of revenue including the grants in the amount of 5.1 million um CRA has fund balance of 12.2 million uh for for projects such as downtown undergrounding of overhead utility seminal streetscape um that the C has been reserving uh funds for over the years and the guys guy Davis Park Improvement uh we have an interest revenue of $75,000 and the way finding signage program also brings in a revenue of about $2,700 so that brings us to a total of $23.8 in uh CRA revenue for uh for fiscal year 2025 um and of of that a total of 19.7 million is budgeted for operating expenses uh programs and project in fiscal year 2025 uh the remaining uh balance will be transferred to the fund balance uh the C does have the responsibility to budget and appropriate tip funds for Capital Improvement projects um and uh within the CRA boundaries uh We've appropriate funds for uh Capital Improvement capital projects in the CIP uh within the C boundaries here are some of the projects the downtown undergrounding project includes undergrounding on Oola seminal Lucy Avenue and Colorado Avenue um this is the heart of our community uh this project does not only do aesthetic enhancements but we also improve the reliability safety we preserve the historic fabric of our downtime uh downtown by eliminating threat of falling poles down wires causing electric fires or natural disasters um staff also feels that this is it's important to underground this specific area because we're pursuing the designation of our core downtown on the national register of historic places so it's really important to protect these historic buildings uh that have a historical significance and this will be a huge honor for our our city to be listed on the national register so staff feels that this is one of those areas that we do want to protect our historic buildings and going underground will will help us achieve that um this year has been working on this um undergrounding project since 2019 from feasibility study to designing to going out for bid multiple times um because this is a large scale project the C have been reserving funds over the years to support the funding for this project uh just recently we contracted with Burkhart to provide the guaranteed maximum price for the improvements uh the bids came in last Friday uh so we expect to provide the final numbers to the board at the upcoming joint meeting in October and get direction from the board at that time uh but for the budget purposes I am reserving funds um so that way once we get direction from the board we have funding already appropriate for these projects um another project that's kind of tied it with tied in with the undergrounding is improvements to seminal streetscape uh seminal street from St Lucy Avenue to Colorado uh this project is estimated at 1.2 million based on the engineers cost estimate uh we received about $274,000 in water quality quality grant for the storm water improvements for this project and also sailfish Cove development they contributed about $80,000 for improvements adjacent to their property uh as part of the streetscape Improvement so we already have a total of $350,000 um that is uh that would go towards the streetscape improvements um this project was also included in the burkart contract so we'll get the guaranteed maximum price for the streetcape component uh that will be presented to the board at the Joint meeting um in October the next project is the um C is the project lift uh we received two 6.29 one million in cdbg covid funding for acquisition and new construction of a new facility uh on the Willy Gary property to serve as a job training center uh this is a reimbursement Grant so the city the C does have to budget uh for the expenses upfront and request reimbursement um we're budgeting uh $4.3 million in fiscal year 2025 to finish off the project uh we already acquired the property so um we already submitted reimbursement for the acquisition uh and received the reimbursement from from the state for $1.6 million um and it was brought to my attention that um one of the board member was concerned about the cost for the engineering to design the project and and typically with the city's procurement um we expect about 10 to 12% of the construction cost um so this is actually below that that threshold um this cost the 250,000 did include field survey geotechnical Services civil plans and building plans um so we're we're going to be bringing forward the rezoning application for second round of review uh to the crb LPA and City Commission in October um there were some concerns about the rezoning of the application so um we're going to come back and we're going to keep the cpud uh and get direction from the board in October um so hopefully with everyone's approval we anti anticipate to go out for bid for this project in November and start construction in early 2025 and complete construction by early 2026 the next project is the guy Davis Community Park project the CR has been working on this project since 2019 and there was some work done even before me uh through the community services department uh currently we're at 60% design for the project uh we're into the final stretch of the project we expect to get the final uh Community input um by the end of this year we we plan to present to the neighborhood and then bring it to the board uh with the final uh final cost of the project in early 2025 um the project is budgeted at $7 million for the upcoming fiscal year and as discussed earlier we received $500,000 of State appropriation for the construction of the project so a total of $7 million is budgeted in the CIP for this project and we anticipate about 18 months to complete the construction with hopefully the opening to the public in Fall 2026 if we take the $500,000 out of that then where do you get the money to continue with the design this is for the construction and it's in the budget I understand but that you don't have in your budget now the skate park not the skate park right well that $500,000 is probably going to be allocated towards the state skate par right so then it would be 6.5 million for the actual other components so you're going to cut what you were going to spend to 650 6 6.5 million 6.5 million is that what you're saying right for the original scope of the work the skate park actually came from the Outreach meeting and that was part of the project So currently the budget is this is the current budget being presented to the board until we bring back that skat Park and have that discussion we can always do an amendment to the budget yeah I I know you will be doing an amendment but you still need money for design correct yeah the design was not included in the original scope okay next we already heard about the Dixie Highway project that's in the budget for fiscal year 2027 um MLK Street project that's also in the works and it's in the budget um for 2027 uh we're currently working on the design and um we plan to apply for grants for this project and uh staff is requesting approval of resolution number 11-202 24 adopting the C budget for fiscal year 2025 and the CIP plan move approval approval second we have a motion for approval by board member Collins a second by board member Clark um is there any public comment Madam clerk I do not Frank again Commissioners uh good afternoon over the past few years I'm still wrestling with the idea of the CRA I've asked to be explained to in a from a 30,000 ft point of view from a Forest Gump sixth grade Trump genius point of view to answer this one question how does all of this spending for instance 11 to4 million on one Street in Stuart how does all this spending benefit the average tax player say he lives in my neighborhood whose roads haven't been repaved in over 70 years a place where I used to drink the water but I don't drink the water anymore because you don't know when you're going to get a gallon full of chlorine and from a public service point of view I've talked to Chief pum Manelli there's just nothing in the budget to have the traffic enforcement where we need it especially between the bridge from sus point and Monteray Road where people are just passing through used to be 45 55 65 now they're doing 75 miles an hour so my again my question is how does all this benefit the average tax player taxpayer thank you thank you Mr misto board members any questions or comments regarding this item board member breckell yes I I had one comment um I think that and maybe it's somewhat along the line of what uh Mr mccristal was talking about but um you know we don't I I think we need to do a better job when these projects are are brought to us um of defining what kind of increase in value in the CRA we expect to get out of that I mean that's the advantage of the CRA is we're freezing we're freezing the the property values and anything that we appreciate above that we get an advantage of it we get to keep more of those dollars and so I think that any project I mean all of these are great projects but I think when we're trying to make decisions I I think that we should see what the expected result is over what time frame so that we can see is this a project that's going to generate no real benefit to us um it's just a cost or is it going to generate a long-term benefit to us or a short-term benefit to us that we're going to get to keep the the uh benefit of that and and that's I mean to me that's the sole purpose of a CRA is is to take advantage of that just comment mayor Rich board member Reed thank you this was for panol are you able to go back to the slide where you had project lift where it was broken down by each fiscal year for the civil engineering work and so if I'm understanding this right it's the engineering and the appraisals for fiscal year 24 and 25 that's about 670,000 just for this particular project that doesn't include demolition so that's TurnKey site plans to get you through permitting for 670,000 right so the engineering is about 250,000 once we go into construction to manage the construction that's $40,000 that would be in fiscal year 20 25 um the 30,700 is for the appraisals um and then the 354 is 352,000 is the all the development fees building fees um impact fees so all of that is is lumped together this is also not an expenditure this is a budget the idea here is generally as uh the CRA director pointed out earlier is it's a common business practice that 10% of the project costs is set aside for design in the budgeting process if it comes out at less than 10% then that's a bonus but in 22 and 23 we were seeing every single project coming in at Double the budgeting process not half and as a result if we budgeted these at lower numbers and then got to the point we were going forward and didn't have the money to go forward at all we'd be at a complete standstill it's better to over budget it have it come in less but when you have Pro procurement regulations and cnna or CCNA the uh architect and Engineering statute that's um requires us to guaranteed competitive bidding it simply puts you in a position that that these are the standard rates and so if we don't budget it we run into a much bigger problem like I said if if if you guys find someone that'll do it for half that's great we can have all the money left over at the end but the concern on our part is always always to try to budget it within the perspective of being able to finish it because what happens if we don't is we when we get the project goes forward and there's only a third of the funding there you're dead in the water I understand thanks Mike I'll get with you on the procurement process to understand it more too thanks board member go no I have no comments board member Clark no now we're going to vote Mr chair I just want to make a comment you don't mind now that I am short term I just want to uh I just want to say I think sometimes in in this CRA there is three or four projects for our c for our East Stewart Community we shouldn't forget that the only way these projects are going to be done is through the C so I you know I I I'm going to say I think it's critically important that we remember to use the funds where they are needed most and a lot of the funds are needed most in our East Stewart Community that's also any other questions or comments excuse me chair I do have one more public comment that was turned in okay Carla Williamson I'm actually here for something else today so I'm so glad that I've get to be here my name is Carla Williamson I actually live at 8:25 Southeast 13th Street so I back onto gu Davis Park I also back on best street ends essentially where the guy Davis Park development project will go through and one of the things when I first bought our house uh it's going into four years now in October um was that I noticed that a lot of the area wasn't maintained grass was overgrowing and I have two young children and another one on the way and um I did notice as well like a lot of cop cop cars coming through pulling up people who were just standing there and so one of the things I've lived I'm from Australia I've also lived in Seattle and um different places in America but I'm calling Stewart home and one of the things I did notice that was we really need needed something there it was such a beautiful space that needed to be used and this is a wonderful opportunity for the neighborhood and I think it would make it so much safer and somewhere where my kids could walk down the street which I don't feel very safe like there are cars flying down the roads here so I think it would be a wonderful place for not just my street but all of East Stewart a wonderful place to call home and enjoy the beautiful Outdoors of Stewart has that's it thank you thank you um panal we're getting you we're anticipating CRA revenue for fiscal year 25 of 6.3 million correct correct and what was it for fiscal year 24 about 5.7 5.1 I don't have the exact number but it's typically about 20 22% that we 5.3 5.3 so that's a pretty significant yeah it's usually 20 to 2 um there's a good opportunity there for you Mr breckbill to figure out why it went up so much um I know monies are allocated in the CRA but what is the approximate balance in there right now panel so if this budget gets approved um like I said $3 million will go in the fund balance and we have about $1 million right now so we would have $4 million in fund balance once this TW once $19 million is appropriated for the projects that are identified in the fiscal year 2025 budget plus once we do the audit for fiscal year 2024 budget there could be some funds that could go into the fund balance so you're looking about $4 to5 million in fund balance besides what's been what's going to get approved today that's unallocated funds or unallocated funds fund balance is your reserve your savings account but even including allocated funds how much is the allocated funds is um it's so total fund uh appro revenue is 20 and fiscal year 2025 is $23 million but 3 million of that is going to go in the fund balance yeah I right and so and then we already have $1 million right now so with the revenue for from fiscal year 25 we're looking at $30 million correct if we look at up everything yes so I just think that's an important number for all of us to keep in mind when making decisions regarding the use of CRA funds um I have no other questions for you thank you panol we can go to a vote motion to approve the budget as I think we already did who did that I was sleeping through that part sorry sorry good job good job just nudge me every now and then and I'll I'll just stop snoring and roll call please Madam clerk board member Goob yes board member Clark yes board member Camp peny yes board member breckbill yes board member Reed yes uh board member Collins yes and chair Rich yes wow unanimous resolution passes um it's late there is one additional item do we need to take this up car it over let's roll it there's so many people waiting yeah can do we can we get a motion to continue item for second all in favor I I see no other items for consideration this meeting is adjourned we will adjourn