Board of County Commissioners of Bradford County, Florida, September 25th, 2025 at 6:30. At this time, I'm going to ask Commissioner Thompson to lead us in prayer and no flag salute. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you tonight, Lord, for the privilege of
being here. Father, we just thank you tonight, Lord, for your goodness and mercy you bestow on each and every one of us every day, Lord. And Father, we just thank you about Mr. Guj, Lord. Father, we just pray, Lord, that you'd touch him, heal him if it be your most precious will, Lord. And Father, as we
go into this meeting this evening, Lord, we just pray you'd give us guidance, help us make decisions would be pleasing to you and to the citizens of our county, Lord. And father, we thank you for everything you do for us in Jesus precious name. Amen. Amen.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Yeah. All right, we have a special guest,
Representative Chuck Brennan. Yes, sir. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. It's uh you hear me? It's uh it's always my pleasure to come. Uh it's taken us a little longer this year because of
course you know the legislative session ran about two months longer than it normally does. So that backs up. Usually we try to do all these things in July and here we are almost into October this year. But uh we got some some good news here. I used to call it Christmas Jul July. So we'll call it Christmas in
September. Almost almost Halloween this year. But uh a very uh different kind of legislative session this year. uh uh couple billion dollars got shaved out of that budget and that's a lot of money. You're talking about billions with a B.
And uh my job I as I saw it was amongst all the other things I do there was to say hey this is my area. Don't get you're not going to get your cuts out of my area. So, I tried to protect that and and once again, I think we were probably Quay and Jason could tell you more than I could, but uh probably in about
there's 120 House members and of course what a great partner we have in the Senate with Senator Bradley. Uh they have to do their thing and we have to do our thing on our side and it all comes together at the end. But, uh I know on the House side, we were in about the top three again. There's 120 House members
and I'm talking about bringing in in the amount of dollars that we bring home to our district. Uh, I think we'll go up against anybody. I think the ones that always beat me out might be the speaker and the preparations chairman. They got an unfair edge on me there in that category. But, uh, this would have been
my third session, I guess. Uh, as your legislator, uh, you know, we had redistricting a couple of three years ago and my district before was Baker, Colombia, Swany, Hamilton, and a little bit of Elatchua County. And then in 22 uh when uh uh everything was
redistricted um I picked up Union in Bradford lost Swany and Hamilton and got a lot more of Elatchua County. Basically if you drew a line across the top of the city limits of Gainesville. I went from having just High Springs to having the city of Elatchua coming on across uh
through Lacrosse and right on uh over to Waldo over there. So a bit of a different district. So, this is my third session being your legislator. And I thought uh and I've done this with the city the other night. I thought I just wanted to give you won't take just a second, but a quick rundown of what we've been able to do in three years.
And I made some notes that night and I and I highlighted what city and what's county. But this is in the confines of the of the of the boundary lines of Bradford County. Starting with the 23 session, that's the first year I was here legislator. uh along with Senator Bradley, we were able to bring home uh
right off the rip $2 million for the US301 bypass project that extends those water lines out out there. That technically was a city project along with another city project which was $400,000 for the city of Stark CityWalk project. Then we got y'all Bradford
County a new fire rescue engine. I think that was probably the one we have already uh had the dedication for the other day over in uh over in Keystone out there. Is that right? That's about the right one. So that was $450,000 and then the city of Ludy got almost 100,000 for for a new dump truck and
then we brought home about 16 a little over 16 half million dollars in DOT road resurfacing money inside the the confines of Bradford County. So you go on to 2024 which is a really good year for Brooker that year. We got a half a million dollars toward that new fire
station and then we got almost a half a million, $475,000 for Brooker's new uh fire truck out there. And we're going to try to work this year to get you a little more money out out in that direction there. We also did something that we didn't think we could do, and that was the uh the statewide law enforcement radio system
that a lot of the counties are on. Some are. Columbia for a big county is not on it, but a lot of them like Baker and Bradford are. is we got uh 1,250,000 one and a quarter million dollars to uh upgrade that equipment. Now, traditionally that's a county responsibility. So, it was uh a little
hard, a little little arm twisting, but we got that money last year for that. And when we get around to the check this year, we got a little more this year to help. And that replaces I can't remember the sheriff here. I can't remember. Um, some of it replaces consoles at times, some up replaces portables and and
mobile radios and that kind of stuff for all your emergency folks. Uh, we also got Hampton a uh $550,000 portable water well and equipment replacement upgrade. Bobby Shepard Park 50,000 Hampton City Park 50,250 and came
back with the city of Stark another half a million dollars for the bypass economic development corridor water project out there. Now, that brings us to this year, the 2025 session, which didn't end to the about the end of June. Uh, this year, I'm proud to say that we've got a half a million dollars
towards your your courthouse renovation here uh at the Bradford County Courthouse. Uh, we came back with another what we called phase two of that slurs statewide law enforcement radio system. Another $97,000
this year for that project. Uh, Miss Spooner, $900,119 for the RJ EU building. Uh, the Keystone Heights Airport State Road 100 road connectivity project almost a quarter 3/4 of a,744,588.
And then for um DOT reservicing money for this county this year at about uh 8,534,000. uh the scrap program, the small county uh resurfacing assistance program for Bradford County this year, $2,300,000,
which is a separate from what I just talked about with the DOT program. And then once again for the city uh and the water by bypass project, another $2 million out there. So, uh, and then we, uh, on a side note, we did name the overpass downtown at the request of the
city the Heroes Memorial Overpass, which will recognize our first responders, our our law enforcement, our EMS, and and our military. Uh, for the third year in a row, you're getting $858,76 for your sheriff's uh, uh, salary increases for fiscally constrained
counties. That's that's three years running now. And then what we call the pipeline fund, that's a nursing education program. I think we've gotten about $1,222,000 in the last two years for that. So, alto together that was uh in these three sessions, we figured up the other night,
we were at the Stark uh commission meeting about $4.9 million for the city of Stark and about uh 52 a.5 million for for the uh for the county. altogether this year. Uh like I say, we had an offering really for the kind of of
contentious budget cutting year we had and it really got really really contentious this year. Uh we had put in 41 projects uh the senator and I uh we got 31 passed out of the legislature. Now we uh we did get three or four vetos. I think three of them were in
Elro County. One was here and that was two years in a row we've gotten funded for the ARC and the governor's vetoed that money two years running. So, uh, uh, and that that's tough cuz I I say all the time that's like going 99 yards down the football field, you get on the goal line, you can't quite can't quite
punch it in. So, we did two years in a row, we didn't get that one. But altogether for the district this year, we were successful with 28 projects uh, totaling for all the counties. Now, once again, that's Baker, Columbia, Bradford Union, and and a big portion of Malachi County. 223,472,580.
Uh, and that's pretty good. Altogether since we've been in office, this was shocking. We have brought home 650 million627,64 for district. So, uh, we're awful proud of that. Uh, going forward, um, nobody
knows what's on the horizon. We go back, not this week, but next week for committee weeks. I think the, uh, well, you might correct me if I'm wrong, is October 23rd might be the delegation meeting here this year. Does that sound right? Uh we'll be we'll be here for that and uh we'll see what the what the
session holds for us. Lots of issues. Uh you know, everything uh everywhere I go, top of everybody's mind is the the the property tax issue. Um I can tell you something's going to happen. Something's going We don't know. The trains left the station. Uh sometimes it looks like the
governor's driving it. Sometimes looks like the legislaturator's driving it. I don't know who's driving it, but it's going to wind up somewhere. Just like when I said my job's sort of protect my turf and make sure we brought home the the dollars that are are so important to our to our small counties here in North Florida. That's what we got to watch out
for this year is protect us because I know y'all have a hard job. Y'all probably have just gone through like all the counties your budget time uh a tough job to do that to make ends meet and put things together and sometimes you get lots of criticism for that kind of stuff. So I I feel for you I understand it. But what I hope is that every time
we can bring a check like that one, this is just for Bradford Countyy's portion. $3,51,77. That's money you don't have to come up with. That's a fire truck you don't have to buy. That's a station you don't have to try to build. Uh that's a borderline that you don't have to pay for out of your own money. So that's why uh I
always close with this and tell the joke. I say a blind hog finds an acorn every once in a while. We'll keep rooting because we root off a hard for these dollars and work hard to do that. If y'all got a question or anything, I know you got a full agenda. I won't take any more of your time. And we have had to divide and conquer tonight. Some of our folks are down, excuse me, in Lot
County at another meeting. So, we're going to try to get down there, too. But, I'll be glad to answer anything you want to ask me. Rep. Brandon, uh, thank you for being here. I think your timing is perfect because we are going through budget discussion. We just, you know, finalized our budget and I think a lot of people just don't realize how much money that
we get to help with fiscally constrained counties. and uh every penny counts and you know when we're looking at making cuts at the same time you know we're trying to get of course everything that you all have accomplished to bring to us we certainly appreciate that with the
property tax discussion going on certainly and I I don't expect you to answer this question right now because I know they're just going through committees but to be able to still fund physically constrained counties and to be able to
on public safety and schools and and uh you know our our road projects and things like that. How do you see that looking as far as pulling from other counties to be able to do that? How I mean where's the funding going to it's
to me it's a free ice cream uh you know everybody wants free ice cream but somebody's got to pay for it. Well, it's like dominoes. Everything affects everything else. There are ramifications to everything. Um, I heard the governor say the other day that, "Oh, we'll just can make it up to the fiscally constrained counties." They
threw out a figure. I think it was 300 something million. I don't know if that's enough. I don't sound like enough to me, but he called it. I got tickled and I knew what he meant. He said, "Well, that's just in a in a budget like we got, that's dust. $300 million is not dust, but it is in a
$17 billion budget. It is a it is a a small portion. So, uh, it's going to have to be made up somewhere. How do you do that? How's a fair and equitable way to do that?" That's why the House has formed their committee because uh the sound bite sounds good. You know, we can get on TV, we can stand behind this
microphone, say, "I'm against property tax. I'm going to cut it." Well, that's great. And and and you and I both know when it's on the ballot, who's going to vote against it? I want my property taxes cut because in places they're too high, but I know in places like Stark and Mlenny and Lake Butler, it's hard to
stitch that budget together and pull it together and make it work. And and you know, it's just it's it's tough to do. So, we have got to to work harder. Like I say, every session has been different. This will be my eighth, my final one. Uh we have just got to work hard to try to protect our turf and our territory to
make sure that that we're going to be held harmless. And because, you know, you can't uh it's it's all right, I don't like to pay taxes either, but it's all right to say I want to cut my taxes, but when my house is on fire and that firetruck ain't coming because it ain't got gas in it, then we got a problem.
So, that we've got to look at all sides of it. And I think the speaker and the house has took a a prudent approach to it and in forming this committee. I think this yesterday or the day before was their fourth time meeting. And there's all types of proposals out there. I wish I could answer the
question of where it's going to end and how it's going to work out. I don't know that. Just the only thing I've heard up and you mentioned the number 300 million. So when you have 27 fiscally constrained counties and you divide that up 300 and our advantum taxes are 15 million. So,
you know, we're trying to figure out how that's going to cover all fiscally constrained counties. There's going to be some things that are missing. And if it's raising sales tax or whatever it is, like I said, somebody's going to pay for it. You know, all everything has there's
different approaches to all of it. And there were some approaches. This year, the speaker had a plan to raise some sales tax, but uh you know, you I've seen numbers as high as 15% sales tax. Well, that's all right if you don't pay any property tax, but when you go buy a new car, you're going to pay 15% sales
tax. So, uh, it's going to be tough. I think the it's easy, right? We're in the easy part now when these politicians are out there spouting all this off. The hard part is when we get down to the nitty-gritty. How is it going to work? And we've got to to do it in a in a careful and prudent way that that
protects the small, as you said, the 27 counties that are considered uh fiscally constrained. Right. Well, thank you and thank you for everything you've done. Wish I had a better answer. Yes. But I'm only one of 120 legislators and there's 40 senators out there, too. I just want to express my uh eternal
gratitude towards you for all that you've done for Bradford County and that you continue to do uh and the significant um enrolls that you have made for us so that we can have services um funding that comes to us that doesn't
come out of our county budget that is coming from the appropriations and you've done an excellent job with that along with Senator Bradley. We're grateful for it. Um, and like um, Commissioner Dhy was saying, uh, I know that you're going to advocate for the
small rural communities when it comes to the property taxes because that impacts a great deal of our budget. And thank you. It's my job. Yeah. I'd like to thank you for all the hard work y'all do and the money y'all bring to us.
I've got I tell the joke, too. I've got some roommates in Tallahassee that put very few appropriations in. Very few. and uh um they're from big counties and it's not as important. It's just not as important because the Florida is a big state and no county is the same. They
all are affected differently by every issue and it's hard to sometimes figure out where we need to land because 67 counties have 67 different different opinions and 67 different issues that they're on dealing with personally in their county. So that's the thing. So
you think you got a roommate says, "Man, you sure got a lot of money this year. I didn't put in but a couple of little projects and I brought home $4 million to my district. In a house district population wise it's the same. Now size-wise it might not be because it takes five counties or mostly five
counties to get the the population for me to have a district where you know you get some of these larger counties. You know if you look at your map their little top portion might be their district 101 or whatever their number is. So uh everybody looks at it different. Uh to me it's critical.
Policy is important. policy affects all of us. Policy we do in Tallahassee trickles down affects y'all sometimes adversely. And uh in another county it affects it it positively. So uh sometimes there's not there's a lot of gray in a lot of things we do but we
always try to you know our main goal is uh I'm born and raised here spent my whole life in this in this uh this part of the country. So, my my main goal is to come home and and protect our counties and get what what we can that can offset y'all and help y'all and help
the citizens. Uh, you know, when they got a new road to ride on or a new water line and that stuff's not sexy. You know, you know, water lines, you bury them, you don't ever see them. But if your toilet don't flush or your cap don't come on, who are they calling? The city or the county? So, that's important
stuff. Well, Mr. Mr. Ron, I just want to thank you so much for everything that you've done and the hard work that you put into it. And um it is very difficult for people to understand just how much money it does take to run the county. And um
we couldn't do it without your your work and and what you have brought us is just um we words can't express how how much we appreciate you and the work that you and your staff have done. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, sir. and and I thank you for taking your time to come here tonight. I really
do appreciate it. And again, like everybody said, you have blessed Bradford County so much. We can't thank you enough for everything you do for us. And we appreciate every dime you give us. That's for sure. Get for us. Well, we hope to get that uh that big number I pointed out a while ago, $650
million on up again in this last session. All real real quickly, I'll tell you, and you they're your neighboring county. uh a couple of our bigger projects this year, one was right over in uh Union County, is that there were only two public school construction projects. Baker got a tiny bit, just a
little tiny bit to keep them in the game. Um but there only two uh small county school projects funded. One was in Dodto County, that's the Senate PR district, and the other one was Union County. So they got a check the other night for $29 something million dollars,
which is the first phase for their new Lake Butler Elementary. Of course, just a couple three years ago, y'all got a new school, too. And I think y'all probably are looking to get another one, too. So, uh, that's a program that we, uh, we look to keep dipping into and and utilizing because, uh, you couldn't you
couldn't build a school without state's help. Just couldn't do it. So, shocking what those things cost. That little school over there be about $80 million when it's through. Uh, the one Money got started out at 29 billion three or four years ago. Uh, wound up being right at 40 million. Uh,
and now they're wanting a new middle school. And I think the figure is 104, 105 million. Shocking. But y'all go buy a yard of concrete this month and then go buy it next month. Everything's going up. Y'all know that it's uh whether it's the price of diesel or or steel or lumber or whatever, it's all going up
and it's hard to do. Thank you. You want to take a picture of this? Yes. Here. Get behind this. I use my stomach behind me.
I'll see you all. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you for having Thank you for coming. Thank you. [Music] every year and other question I'm proud about. You look at the counties are
smaller. It's all about equal. We try to be equal to the county. You look at the funding packages that we bring back. Uh that dollar amounts differ sometimes, but uh it's all it's pretty fair to equal. I think we work hard for for all five counties. We got some other
projects we carry every year uh that uh funds some things for kids with hearing loss deness in Florida and some recurring money which is very hard to get in Florida. So we'll leave those papers here because we're proud of the work we do and what and only one of my
staff's here tonight place but my secretary Lisa and of course Jason my my legislative assistant we could do a video without here to ask questions details that I just leave it right here for y'all
and uh we'll see y'all in a couple weeks have a good meeting thank All right, we're going to go to public comments. Uh, each speaker will be allowed three minutes to speak. Uh, when you come up, please state your name and address into the record before speaking.
Uh, address all comments to the board. Uh, not the county staff. Refrain from demands or uh immediate board response. Commissioners will not engage with speakers during public comments and no boisterous behavior, personal
impertinent or slanderous remarks. And with that, uh, the first one I have is Bo Hasten. Good evening. How are y'all doing? I came to speak to the issue. I did go to the county manager's office to address the questions that I had the other night
at the meeting about the $50,000 hospital co-pays for Bradford County employees. Um I know the first time I spoke to her, she said, "Well, they're expensive." But she explained it to me that y'all char the county charging the taxpayers the 50,000 a year is actually
saving the taxpayers because they negotiated with AVMED for the because the insurance would have went up 20%. Kind of don't understand it. Uh she did say money was left over from last year, not an amount. And she said it never goes over 50. I don't see how you're
actually taxing us $50,000 again this year when there was money left over. Shouldn't that money left over be deducted? Um, it don't seem right. And Miss Ber, I had spoke to you outside after the meeting and you said Doge had been here a couple
of weeks ago and looked into everything, but I actually spoke to Jason at Doge. They have looked into the government budget on the website, but they physically haven't been here. They are coming. They're actually coming to every
county in Florida and every small city. It just depends on when Governor DeSantis puts us on the list. Uh they're looking at some of the bigger counties first. And it doesn't matter if we're red or blue. They are going to check every single county uh for government
waste, fraud, and abuse. And I just wanted you to be aware of it. And I wanted the taxpayers to be aware of us being charged $50,000 a year for employee hospital co-pays because that doesn't seem right when we're paying for the insurance, the
the health, the life, the predium, the gas, the travel, everything else that we pay for, membership, subscriptions, you name it, we pay for it. And it just seems kind of unfair that we're also having to pay hospital co-pays. So, that's why I voiced my opinion and I
speak up. And um I did call the M County manager's office today and left a a message with Taylor because Amanda was out with this meeting being busy all day to please send me an email with that explanation. So, I have it in writing that explanation. I mean, I only have a
Vettech education, high school education here in Bradford County, but that still doesn't make sense to me. If there was money left over from last year, then why are you still taxing us $50,000? Shouldn't that amount that was left over be subtracted from that to get to the
$50,000 instead of taxing us $50,000 more dollars for your hospital co-pays. I just think that something's not right here and I'll be really thankful when Doge shows up to Bford County. Thank you and have a nice evening. Thank you,
Mrs. Strong. My name is Vander Strong, Post Office Box 530, Lai, Florida. [Music] Tonight I come because um I want to say that
I was placed in a very uncomfortable position and I am speaking out because of it. Um, I was placed on the fair board and
um, if you guys put me on the fair board because I am a pretty face, then tell me that that's why you put me on the fair board because I'm a pretty face. If you put me on the fair board
because I'm a DEI placement, then tell me that that's why you put me on the fair board because I'm a D de DEI placement. If you put me there because I am a token, then tell me that's why I'm
there. Um, don't play in my face. Don't Don't play in my face and think I'm I'm stupid. Um because some of the things that are happening on
this fair board are just like the last things that happened on the fair board. And I'm not going to go along with it. It's it's just not going to happen. Not with me on there.
Now, either we're going to do things in sunshine and above board or we're not. And some of the things that are happening right now that are going to come before you tonight
have not been above board. And I don't appreciate people trying to play in my face. And that's what's happened. It has not been fair and it has not been above board. Now, if I'm a DEI
and I'm a pretty face, then tell me that's what that's the only reason that I'm on that I'm on that board. Otherwise, you might as well just go back to the old way that that fair board was done
because that's what's been happening. and things have been done out of the sunshine. [Music] Thank you. All right, that's all the public
comments I have. Moving on to the uh item for the approval of the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? I would also motion to approve the consent agenda. I have a motion from Commissioner Spooner. Second. Second from Commissioner
Thompson. Any questions? All in favor of a sign of I. I. I. Motion carries 50. Moving on to item five, proclamation declaring October 5th through 11th. Um,
2025 National 4 week. Um, could could our county attorney read that proclamation if you don't mind? Absolutely, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Proclamation declaring October 5th through October 11th, 2025 as National 4 week in Bradford County, Florida.
Whereas 4 is America's largest youth development organization having supported nearly 6 million you youth across the country thus far. And whereas the Florida 4 program as part of the Institute of Food and Agricultural
Services, Ethus, at the University of Florida has been positively impacting children's lives since 1909 annually, reaching over 200,000 youth statewide, helping them become confident, independent, resilient, and compassionate leaders. And whereas the
Bradford County 4 program engages over 200 youth and volunteers annually providing hands-on learning opportunities in areas of health, science, agriculture, and citizenship through community clubs, school programs, and other initiatives. And
whereas National 4H week showcases the incredible experiences that 4 offers young people and highlights the remarkable 4H youth in Bradford County who work each day to make a positive impact on their club, community, country, and world. And whereas Bradford
County encourages residents to take the opportunity to become more aware of this special youth program and to join us in recognizing the unique partnership between our county and the UFAS extension. Now therefore, through the authority vested in the chair of the board of county commissioners of
Bradford County, Florida, it is hereby proclaimed that October 6th through October 11th, 2025 as National 4 week in Bradford County, Florida. Thank you. And we also have three of the Oh, Bailey, do you want to say something?
Sure. Uh Bailey Scarbor, for a chief development agent here in Bradford County. I just wanted to say thank y'all again for um recognizing national 4 week. Um not too long ago we came and gave a update on our 4 program and everything. So I will spare you those
details but I did want to talk about uh we just started the 4 year September 1st. So I wanted to talk about some things we have going on um through this year. I promise it'll just take a minute. Um but um September 1st our new 4 year a few things that we have going
on. Uh we are revamping and starting up again our county council which is um we're going to call it our teen leadership council which is a group of teenagers who will basically um be helping us shape the program into what they want to see in Braffrey County 4 program. So that's really exciting and
something we haven't had in a little while. Um in addition to that something we started up later last year was our shooting sports program. Um actually that's started back up tonight. So that's why some of our members aren't able to be here. Um, we have a new inschool club at Hope Christian Academy that's going to bring in several
different grade levels from there. Um, specific to agriculture education at Hope. Um, and our livestock judging team, as you guys are probably aware, uh, were state winners last year and will be going on to national contest in November. So, they're preparing for that. So, that's really exciting. And of
course, we have a lot of great clubs as usual, in school programs, some great volunteers running our 4 clubs. So, all those things are going on as normal. I just wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some special things we have this year. Um so you guys know as the board what why 4 is important but just
for everybody else it's all about life skills teaching um youth life skills that will help them thrive in college and career. Um another really important thing is citizenship. So it maybe some of these youth members first county commission meeting tonight. So this is a
really good experience for them. Um, we really appreciate the board being so supportive of our 4 program because uh and allowing experiences like this because it's great for our youth to see. Um, so we don't have too many youth here tonight, but that's really because a lot of our youth are going a lot of
different directions, which we're very proud of between college courses, other extracurricular sports, all these things. We're really proud of everything they do, but of course that pulls them all different directions. So, um, we're excited for National 4 week in a couple
weeks. Uh, 4 is big on community service and giving back to our community. Um, so this year we are doing a countywide service project. Um, we've reached out to guardian adem uh making a little club competition for our 4 clubs to um do that service
project for guardian adidum. And we'll have a couple theme days. So we'll go green on Monday and uh Thursday we'll do a throwback Thursday. So anyone here who uh was in for growing up has some pictures they'd like to share with me to post on our Facebook, please do. Um but
I just want to say thank you'all again for allowing us to be here and for recognizing this. It's really important. Um and happy to be here. Thank you. Thank you. Yep. I got a few kids here. We want to get a picture.
[Music] Got it. Is my best You want to get one of chair. Push it all the way. I think that's mine. Thank you. Thank you all again. Thank you.
Okay. Now we have we need to u get a motion on the uh for the pro proclamation. Mr. Chair, I offer motion for the Bradford County, Florida proclamation declaring October the 6th through October 11, 2025 as a national voage
week in Bradford County, Florida. Okay. Have a motion from Commissioner Spooner. Second from um Commissioner Andrews. All in favor by sign of I. I. I. Motion carries 50. Moving on to item six, the uh clerk's report.
Okay. Um sheriff's report. Okay. County manager report. All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. The uh Bradford County Fair Association met last night and moved a candidate forward for uh contract
negotiations. And at this time, I would like to ask Vice President Brad Thomas to come up come up and introduce Miss Harley Hutchinson. Good evening, board. Just a small recap. We appreciate the support that uh we've got for the uh the fair association. Um
we put in a board in place uh went through the process. The board elected um a u eboard um which was a vice president, a president um secretary and treasurer obviously. Um through that
process just as a small recap there's been a lot of work done a lot of work. There's a contract side for a midway um for 12 days I think it is something of that nature. Um the the horse arena's got a lot of motion going um headed in
the right direction. So there's been a lot of movement through that process. Uh this board elected um and voted for the eboard to go through uh the hiring process um for a fair manager. Um so we
we went through that process along with uh Mr. Cornnegay and Miss Brown who was also on that board. So, uh, as going through that process and, um, we narrowed it down to six candidates. Uh, one didn't show up, so we got down to
five. Um, we worked through the process and through that process, um, I'm here this evening to tell you that we're super excited, um, about our candidate. Um, she's got a presentation for you tonight. Um, I really truly believe that
she's the right person um to help us um and you can make a decision for yourself as the evening comes on, but uh we're we're just super super excited and I'll be highly surprised if you're not impressed by Miss Harley. So, with that being said, I want to introduce Miss Harley Hutcherson and let her talk about
herself and then we'll have some questions afterwards. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Thank you so much for allowing me to present at your meeting. Um, my name is Harley Hutchinson. I am currently the director of events for the Ronald
McDonald House over in Gainesville. Um, and I am going to share a little bit about myself and hopefully, like Brad said, you will be impressed. I look forward to working on the fairgrounds. Oh,
let me go back through these slides. Can you help me, Amanda? Thank you. Okay, first I will share a little bit about myself personally. I am currently a resident of Union County. I live right down the road in Lake Butler with my
fiance and our two dogs. Before that, I grew up in central Texas uh close to College Station in a little town called Normandy that is not too different from the area that we are here in now. Um I am an optimistic realist. I share that
with you because I think that having a positive mindset when trying to achieve any goal is very important and affects your outcome. However, I appreciate facts, history, and realistic expectations. So, that is where the realist comes in. You can see that I
have put in bold, I have a passion for preserving the future of American agriculture. I first heard these words when I was considering becoming an FFA kid, and they struck me as very important. Um, after spending some time there, I realized that they were
certainly very important to me and that that was something that I wanted to do with my life, that I wanted to contribute to the future of American agriculture. Then I have included a quote from Theodore Roosevelt that I feel shares a little bit about my personality and that
is get action, do things, be sane. Don't fritter away your time. Create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody. Get action. Now I will let you get to know me
professionally. I have experience in marketing and event management specifically in the nonprofit sector. I have successfully coordinated several large-scale events that I will be showing you in the next few slides. Um I enjoy community engagement. I have
experience with diverse groups. Um, meaning I have managed sponsorships and partnerships with everybody from motorcycle clubs and college volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House all the way up to highlevel donors and the UF Alumni
Association. Um, I really enjoy community engagement. I like working with people and I like making people feel appreciated. I have experience in operations and logistics. I am pretty good at keeping things organized, scheduling and vendor management.
Um, I appreciate being on time and I appreciate people knowing where they're supposed to be, what rules they're supposed to follow, especially when it is my responsibility to share that information with them. Now, I will give you some examples of
things that I am pretty proud of that I have accomplished at Ronald McDonald House. We host nine annual events there and for each of those events it is heavily suggested that we have under a 36% ROI. At the end of the day it is a nonprofit. It gets audited and donors do
not want to see their dollars being spent on extravagant event costs no matter how much funds you are able to raise which leads to sponsor appreciation and development. This is something that I have really enjoyed getting to expand on in my time at
Ronald McDonald House. Um, like I said, I love to work with people and make them feel appreciated, especially when we are achieving a common goal together. Some of these photos I have included are the Audi Gainesville October Fest photo. Looks like it's still not showing up.
Um, but that is an event that we put on at the Audi dealership in Gainesville in partnership with them. Um, because of the strength of that partnership, they cover most of the costs for that event. And last year we were able to raise $22,000 in a Saturday. Then up top,
another example is Beyond Bourbon out at Santa Fe River Ranch in Elatchua. The people in that picture are the TV20 team. They attended my event last year and had a wonderful time. And that day we were able to raise $42,000 for the
Ronald McDonald House. The bottom right photo is Rock the Runway that we hosted at Butler Plaza last year. Um, that is a little screenshot off of the TV20 segment they did on it. Um, because that year was a record-breaking year. We
raised $53,000 that evening, which was more than that event had ever raised before. Then the bottom photo is another cool partnership that I wanted to highlight for you all. Um, we worked with Melvin Law on their charity stripe campaign where they agreed to donate
$19.78 to the Ronald McDonald House for every home free throw made by the Gators last year, which you can imagine was a lot. Um, and then we were able to take this cool picture with some of our Ronald McDonald House team, the team at Melden Law, Coach Golden, and the National
Championship Trophy. Um then one of my proudest moments that I've had at the Ronald McDonald House is the Red Shoe Affair just this past August. Um that was an event that we hosted at the Okonnell Center up at UF.
We had almost 800 guests sitting at 94 tables with table arrangements. Um so you can imagine that traffic, parking, and safety was a big concern before the event even started. On top of that, UF has a lot of rules and regulations that I was required to follow to use their
facilities that evening. Um, and then I've included this picture in the top left just to kind of paint a picture of what all it took for that to be a successful night. Um, you can see a little bit of the tablescape there. So, I worked with the vendor Merge Events to make sure that the centerpieces were
absolutely perfect. Um, Embers Catering. I worked with them to make sure that nobody got something they were allergic to or that was cold. Um, the stage, the sound, and the lights. We worked with Vivid Sky to make sure that that went off without a hitch. All that to say,
there was a lot of moving parts. It took a lot of organization. And despite all of that, we were able to raise $470,000 that night. Um, another exciting partnership I wanted to share with you is pictured in the top right. That is myself and Sean
Kelly, and he is holding one of BonJovy's guitars. Um, a partnership that I was able to really work on during my time there was with a liquor store called The Goodpour. Um, every purchase there, a percentage gets donated back to the charity of your choice. So, we
started sending a lot of our friends from Ronald McDonald House there um to buy things which strengthened that partnership and when I asked them this year to be involved in the Red Shoe Affair, they were more than willing to. Um I wanted them to get a celebrity to attend the event. Um now that did not
happen, but they did get BonJovi to send us a guitar and a video addressing our guests and thanking them for attending the event that night. Um, the bottom photo is the Isaac family. They stayed with us for a very, very long time. Um,
and they were one of the reasons that we raised all of this money. The baby in that photo is named Ezra. And unfortunately, he was given only three days to live. Um, but fortunately, he was able to go home with his family the week of the Red Shoe Affair. And all
that was due to the money that we're able to raise at these events. Then another thing that I was very excited about was being able to host the annual sporting clays tournament over at Bradford Sportsman's Farm in Graham. Um last year we hosted 107 teams. Some of
our friends here tonight attended that event. I hope they had a good time. Um the top left photo is special to me because we work with this event um with an organization called the Kids and Clays Foundation. They support Ronald
McDonald houses all over the country in doing clay shoots to raise money. Um, and because of the exemplary way that we hosted this event and organized this event, they suggested us to Winchester to include in their reality TV show,
Winchester Life. So, that photo is me um talking for a minute on part of that TV show. It was very exciting to have them there. Um, I've also included photos of our friends at WW Gay. They were our presenting sponsor. And then I wanted to show you this photo of the morning
flight. That was everybody's mandatory safety meeting before they went out on the course. That day we were able to raise $250,000. It was very exciting. Backspacing a little bit. Um prior to that I was the marketing and events coordinator for Gainesville
Harley-Davidson. There I hosted countless bike events that really boosted merch and bike sales in the store. Um, and I also managed their social media and website. During my time there, we implemented a buy online pick up and store system that was a big
success. Um, and I've included some of these photos to share with you a little bit more examples of my vendor management skills and some more really cool partnerships. Um, so the bottom left photo is just a picture from our chili cookoff. That was one of our
biggest events we hosted there. Then the middle photo is interesting because that is the Allen Law team. Uh during my time at Gainesville Harley-Davidson, I was able to get them to be a year-long event sponsor. They gave us a portion of money each month to host a bike night or afternoon event at the dealership that
they could put their name on. Um and if you've been to Gainesville recently, you might have seen an Allen Law billboard and you would see Mr. Allen on a Harley-Davidson. And that is in part due to this partnership. Um, another photo on the bottom right is when I organized the
bikers on parade ride. That was 400 plus bikes riding from Gainesville to Ocala. Um, so that also took a lot of management with traffic um and safety protocols and that was a ride for veterans. Um, the top photo is the most
important photo in this slide. This was taken a year after I left Gainesville Harley-Davidson. I have a very strong focus on making good first impressions and leaving lasting impressions. And um those are Ronald McDonald House board
members who would probably never be caught at a Gainesville Harley-Davidson if it wasn't for the fact that I talked them into choosing our charity as the beneficiary for their event that year. So those are the board members entering their chili in the chili cookoff and
realizing that we are not all so different. Um I will finish by sharing my vision for the fairgrounds. This was a question that I was asked during my interview and I wanted to revise and expand on for you all. So first I would like to improve
and expand on the youth leadership career development and livestock contest. This goes outside of the annual fair for the Union and Bradford County students. I think that we could be hosting jackpots and I think that we could be hosting those leadership and career development events for FFA and 4
all year long. Um the facilities that you have are very nice. They're much nicer than the places I used to compete in those things at and I think that it would be wonderful to get the students, the parents and other a teachers from other places visiting Stark. Um, I want
to host community events like trade shows, career fairs, alumni events, and third-party fundraisers. I have done some digging online and I really want to improve the annual fair in Midway, the Strawberry Festival, and the Fourth of July bash. It would make
me so so happy to see our reviews get better. Then oh I think it will be important to cultivate relationships with community partners, sponsors and buyers. Um it is going to be an absolute gamecher to
bring some of those examples of great partnerships that I have built into this field. Um I think that that is really a big key to success here. By doing all of those things, I want to increase the annual number of visitors to Bradford County because I want them to have
plenty of reasons to be visiting the fairgrounds, stopping at our gas stations, eating at our restaurants, staying in our hotels. Um, by doing all of those things, I think that we can build a reputation of excellence through exceptional service,
efficient operations, and positive relationships. I am very much looking forward to this opportunity. I am so grateful that you allowed me to present for you tonight and I look forward to talking with you again. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Harley. Um, if the board has any questions or wants to discuss anything with Harley before she sits down, now would be the time. Two things. Um, we used to for the county, they used to do a big bike fest
annually, and I'd like to see us get back to that. And then I have a challenge for you. Um, I issued a challenge to to the chamber. They came a little close. I wish that we can do what I would call a taste of Bradford so that
you like Duvall does. So, you invite people to come and share a little meal or whatever and um it's basically a big fundraising. People get to see our community and mingle with us. So, those are couple little things. I thank you for giving me the challenge.
That sounds like a great idea. Um, and I have heard that there used to be a bike fest at the fairgrounds. I wasn't sure if it was true, but I am glad to hear that that is confirmed and I definitely think I can get some of my old friends to maybe work on that with me. Thank you.
Thank you. If I could. Yes. I just would um like to say that the horse arena is very very important to my heart. Um there's a lot of people in this county that desperately want to see it happen be rebuilt and um I had
mentioned that I would be happy to help on fundraisers or anything um sounds like you wouldn't need my help but I am here to volunteer um to help raise money to get that project up and running um or to do
anything that I can do to help. Thank you. I appreciate that. And um I would love to see some rodeos going on here, too. I certainly miss them. Yeah. All right. And and anything you need, we we've got
your back. Anything you need, we support you 100%. Thank you. I appreciate that. You guys don't have to let us know. Come in and help. I will. And fair board, thank y'all for all y'all's hard work. I do appreciate it. It's a little early because I know
October is coming up, but uh like a BTO fest, something like that. Yes, maybe. I just got my leader who's in today for a party that I'm going to next week. So, okay. I'll be glad to uh support my leader who's in at the Biketober Fest. I can't wait to see you then.
That's right. Thank you. And and one of the uh bike fest I had a chopper and actually won first place trophy at the uh at the bike. Wow. So, yes, I'm very impressed by this. Yeah, I I liked it. Yeah, very good event.
Well, I'll work on that. He's old backer boy. All right. Is that it, Board? That's all. All right. Well, uh, given that, I will move forward with the fair board and uh, enter into contract negotiations with
Haley and we'll hope to have something finalized within the next week. Thank you. Thank you. I'm sorry. Amanda just told me I still have work left to do. Um,
so in your packet, you see the Bradford County delegation press release, fall 2025. The date has been set for Thursday, October 23rd, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. in these chambers. So, be sure and mark that on your calendar and uh let
your constituents know that it's obviously open to the public. Anyone can attend and we're looking forward to having Senator Bradley and Representative Brandon here with us at that time. The third thing I want to mention is last week, uh, Commissioner Andrews and
Chief Carter and I met with the contractor that is going to be constructing the Trailbridge pedestrian overpass on 301. We had gotten a heads up previously from Barney Bennett at FDOT advising us that the contractor had
a desire to change the construction from concrete walkway to a steel structure. And I know we were uh kind of stuck on concrete for a while, but once the three of us uh Chief Carter and Commissioner Andrews and I went down and met with the
the contractor and they explained to us the benefits of going with steel rather than concrete, they made a made a very compelling argument and the three of us all agreed that we should probably shift and uh choose the steel option. If you've been to the villages re recently,
you've gone under one of those structures. It's a steel structure down there. very very nice looking. Um they will allow us to have input on the signage that goes on the overpass. Uh whether it be welcome to Bradford or whatever whatever we decide to put up
there, they'll they'll accommodate us. One of the major advantages of going with steel rather than concrete is the minimal disruption to traffic. Uh they they I believe they told us that 301 would only be closed for like four
hours, four to six hours with the steel structure with concrete. There would be diverts lasting possibly weeks. So that made a lot of sense there. And uh the structure they
contend is more durable. Um if if graffiti happens, it's easier to correct on the steel structure than it is on the concrete structure. So, I guess having said all that, if you have any questions, I we can try to answer them for you, but our recommendation is to shift from the concrete structure to the
steel one, and all we would need is a consensus going forward. And Mr. Corner, did did they talk about with the steel structure, it wouldn't have that center, though, I left that out. Yes, absolutely. One of the key um benefits for the steel over the concrete is there
will not be a pier in the median uh which makes it a much safer structure when it comes to traffic. They they indicated that there have been a number of accidents across the state, you know, involving the pier and the in the median. And the the bridge will also be chief
help me out. Two two two and a half feet higher than the c than the concrete structure which would accommodate I believe he gave the example of a dump truck with the with the bed fully open would still be able to fit underneath
the structure. Right. Do we have consensus of the board to go with the steel? That good? Good. Yes, sir. All right. Very good. then that's what we'll do. And uh that's all I have, Mr. Chairman. Okay. Thank you. Um any attorney report?
Nothing tonight, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Commissioner comments. I'll start with Commissioner Daltry. Yeah. I just want to mention and county manager's office is working on it, but our last workshop that we had or excuse
me the final hearing for the uh fire assessment, there was a lot of things that were brought up in that meeting. Uh there's a lot of misinformation. Uh for instance, the $21,000 pizza party that we had that we did not have. Um whoever
it was, the gentleman that looked that up on our budget, first of all, it was revenue. It wasn't an expense and it came from our career source partners that leased the building over by the Pizza Hut. Um, probably something that we just need to change as far as
the name of it, but it's always been referred to as the Pizza Hut because the county always owned the Pizza Hut property there, uh, which is now owned by somebody else. But anyway, there are several things that the county manager's office is working on to address a lot of that uh, things that were said. Another
thing that I'll just mention too was uh when somebody talked about the impact fees and how much money it would have brought us if we would have you know enacted the impact fees you know several years ago. Impact fees are non-recurring
and they only apply to new construction or if somebody's putting a mobile home in somewhere. So the number that was brought up was a ridiculous number that saying that we could be bringing in that it was just it was it was just I I don't think St. John's County brings in that
much money. So anyway, and they have very high impact fees. But I just say all that to say that uh uh again when you know people come up here and they ask questions and we don't answer the questions. The reason why is because if we say one thing, one word, one number,
we lose all credibility as a board. And that's why we have paid staff that are here to ask questions Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00 and they're closed for lunch from 12:00 to 1. And if anybody has questions at any time, they're welcome to come down and if
they'd like to make an appointment with their commissioner to be there at the same time, that can be done. The last thing I have to say is I will hope I'll open the door for Doge when they come. Okay? We get audited every year
and we have clean audits every year and I will stand there and open the door and when they leave and I hear them say, "How do y'all do so much with so little?" And what people don't understand, again, with Representative Brandon being here tonight, the amount of money that we get from the state just
to be able to operate as a physically constrained county, not just us, but other counties as well. It's tough. It's really tough. And you know, we try to do everything we can to be fiscally responsible, but at the same time, you know, there are some things that come up
that are out of our control. But understanding again that the price of eggs used to be 99 cents a dozen and they're not anymore. And just like Representative Brandon was saying, cost of materials, the cost of diesel, wages,
everything goes up. And so again, I think we do a pretty good job and I think Doge would say the same thing. So look forward to him being here and u that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Um Mr. chair, it's going to take me a minute. Um, I spent some time
um, speaking with some of the folks after the meetings, the last couple of meetings we have, and what's more most important to our residents is knowing that someone listens to them or that their concerns are heard and that we take them seriously. Sometimes our
residents don't know that when they come up during the comment, as uh, Commissioner Dhy alluded to, we don't comment back to them. They may raise those questions. the chair has the authority to make an assignment or get with the manager or make sure those
persons questions get answered but we're not obliged at that moment but most people don't know that and so they were very gracious u and I try to answer all of the questions but the other thing that came through was a need to um
improve how we communicate and so um one of the suggestion that I've made through our manager if it's possible to establish a Facebook page for the for our county, not one in which we get comments, but just anformational page
because some people don't have access to the computer or they may not have access to whatever. Um but if we have that Facebook page, those who do can share that information and through some of the other uh social media um means that we
have but also to send a copy to the um the radio station. They would also um announce um free uh any public uh meetings. We also uh I suggest um that we um on our current um website that we
do have um create a page just there for information only because sometimes it's difficult for people who are not computer savvy to navigate through all of the information but to have some basic things like when our meeting is uh strugg uh scheduled or some significant
event that is going to happen to make it a little bit um computer friendly for for the people. Um, also I'm asking that our web um maker come and navigate for so that that is something that the
public can also hear uh and how to navigate through all of those um those pages that we have our for example our budget is on but most people may not know how to access that. Um so those are some of the things that I feel that we
can do with improving communication. The other thing is um it's not m maybe not convenient for all of the commissioners to do all of the time but have an occasional in our districts um you know just have a look town hall when there's
some big or significant um situations that occurring and I know the chief and um also um the sheriff has often done town halls um so if we can share that in our respective areas now the other big
issue has been for is with our budget and we had to make the decision that we had to consider the entire county, not just our individual districts or um just the people that may have been there, but in the entire county and what was
overall best for the entire county uh for our safety and and health. Um the other thing is um I would like for our board to get back to our budget workshop so that we can dissect our budget for
the major expenditures and the big uh spenders or the big budgets that we have. Not necessarily our small areas like um the supervisor of election kind of thing, but our areas where we have our biggest spending with our sheriff
department, with our fire uh rescue, um with our um road department, those areas that have the biggest budgets to dissect those and also if whatever um professional services that we have, looking at all of those things in great
detail to see if there's anything that we have that we can live without. So making that commitment and um while we don't know what our final um uh revenue is going to be because some people are going to be exempt from the fire
assessment when we have a hard number when we go forward next year if there's any remote possibility of reducing our millillage that is something that we can explore. Um but until that time we have to have a a concrete budget that we can
actually assess and see where we go through. So those are some of the things um that that are important to me. And one other thing I know that we've uh we're in the process of applying for a grant for um to do have a person who
would be in charge of strategic planning. But I think that that is something extremely important for our county that we get back to doing it even before we have a person because it's important that we have some strategic plan in place some goals and objective
that we're working towards that the citizens can be aware of. So anyhow, Mr. Chair, those are things that are near and dear to me. Thank you. Yeah, I'd just like to say thank y'all for coming out and uh Brad and the fair
board. Y'all, I think y'all have brought us a very good choice. Uh I enjoyed your presentation, Miss and uh you're young and energetic, so get to going. Let's make it happen.
Yes. Um, I agree with Miss Spooner on on what she said, but I also would like to interject. Um, people must listen. Um, in our meeting, uh, our last
meeting, we read the resolution. We talked about the millage rate and we in that meeting clearly said the millage rate would stay at 10 minutes. We have told people that it cannot be raised because it is at max 10 mills. But yet
we have someone shout from the the audience that Mr. Riddic is a liar because we did raise the millage rate. We did not raise the millage rate. And so, um, sometimes it it gets
it gets very difficult to repeatedly explain when sometimes um it's almost like some people don't don't want to know the the truth. And
the truth is we did not raise the millage rate. The truth is we cannot raise the sales tax. There's many thing and the things that we have said are the truth and um I agree. I I don't mind
inter interacting but at the same time I don't want to be cussed out or yelled at and screamed at and um I think that we all have to act professionally when we're trying to find answers to these problems. Are there
areas that we could cut? That's why we review our budget and um like you said, I enjoy breaking down the budgets and looking at how we are spending each one of the the budgets that are set up. Um
some of them are are are set up by Tallahassee pretty much. We can't change those budgets and but there's so many elements to our budgets that it's very difficult each one of us go in and and
talk to Rachel and Dana and and and Mr. Thompson every year about our budget because it's very very hard to understand how they do what they do. I I can't even imagine. So when someone that has never dealt
with our budget comes in, then you have the $21,000 pizza party or you I mean or we make six figures in our salary. I told my husband the other day, well, I guess I'm going to get a big check because I've made $20,000
year to date. um you know and and it's unfortunate for us and for the public when that that information gets out there and then people just spread it. So I I agree,
Miss Ber um that we need to spend time and and try to um educate people, but at the same time there has to be an element of trust that we're telling the truth and not um just
lying for no reason. So um I do thank you for being here. Um, I do hope that um that we can work out some problems that we may have and um anyway, thank you again.
Thank you. Can I say two more little things and I'll I'll leave you alone. Um, some the other misnomer was that we um determine the salaries for like a tax collector or for the school board. Those salaries are set by the legislators. We don't have
any control over that. So, but a lot of people don't know that. Um, the other thing is that we can't talk to each other. I can't call U Commissioner Reading and say, "How you going to vote on this?" We don't get to talk to each other until we come to this meeting. And most people think, well, you can just
call them up and have your discussion. Now, you have already made your decision before that. But that that is not the So, and we can't give ourselves a raise. Right. Right. Okay. did correct that against Okay. And thank you, Commissioner
Andrews, for taking up for I didn't mean to smile, but it it's either smile or go the other way, so I figure I'd smile about it, but uh but uh thank you. Yeah, because there's some there's some pretty hateful comments. Um, you know, um, I I'll just tell you when when people
write that they hope you that the whole board uh, I'll just say it burns in hell, I mean that that's pretty hateful, but uh, anyway, whatever. I I I'll get off that real quick, but thank you. Thank just real quick if I could also I want to recognize Miss Rhoden because we all
talked about going in and we sit down and she does an outstanding job. So again, like I said, I think she would welcome Doge as well because I she is very very I mean she's so organized and to the tea and and and uh it's just it's it's refreshing and it and to be able to
go in there and sit down and get answers from her. Um so I would be remissed if I did not mention that. So and I second that. That's for sure. Yes. Amen. That goes for all of us. Yes. Yes. I know I aggravated her here a while back and and I'll echo what you said. Anybody
that's called me and mentioned Doge, I welcome Doge. If they could come in here and show us how we can save money, don't you think I'd be all for it? And and Mrs. Rachel, you do a great job. And I I do appreciate you. So, I I do welcome Doge. I I hope they can come in here and
tell us how we can save millions. That'd be great. But, um but anyway, it's not going to happen. But, um so, the first thing is fair board. Again, I thank y'all so much. Y'all did a fantastic job. and uh great presentation. Really, really good. Thank you. And again, we're
looking forward to working with you and the fair board, whatever we need to do to make it happen. Uh I really do appreciate that. Um um let's see. Sorry, I had my little notes notes here. Glasses down there. Yeah, I can't even can't even read my
own writing. But um but uh the last thing is um you know and I'll just say this board, I've had a lot of calls on this and um when this board is voted out and there's five new board members sitting up here, I guarantee a year
after they've been in office, they'll call us and thank us for passing that uh FAR assessment. once they get into the weeds and really see what's involved and um how important that fire assessment
was to um help response times, help our paramedics, our firefighters to keep them safe. So um like I said, I just just wanted to say that and again I thank everyone for being here tonight and um nothing else come before the
board. Meetings adjourned. Thank you.