[Music] All right. It's uh county commissioner Bradford County, Florida. It's June 17th, 2025 at 6:30. At this time, I'm going to ask Commissioner Spooner to open us up with a prayer flag salute.
Heavenly Father, we humbly submit ourselves to you today. Thank you, dear Lord, for um your loving, your kindness, and your blessing. Heavenly Father, we thank you for each and everyone that is here this evening. Help us, dear Lord, in our deliberation of our duties that we do it in a fashion that is pleasing
in your sight. Dear Lord, we ask for a special comfort to the families and the um the loved ones um those who've lost loved ones. And Lord, we just ask your hands to be on those whose hearts are in
the wrong place. And help us to steer away from hate and violence and harm toward one another and to remember that we are one with you, we're brothers and sisters in Christ. Lord, bless this meeting and help us to do that which is pleasing your sight. In Jesus name we
pray. Amen. Amen. to the flag of Americans. I have uh three cards up here. Uh the first one is uh Mr. Paul Steel. All still 14167 Southwest 101st Avenue
Star. Um, we're in hurricane season, so I wanted to suggest that uh you encourage emergency management to take a look at primarily Alligator Creek and the Samson River uh for blockages. I
believe they have a uh drone that they may be able to easily fly that and and look at places where we have trees across the canals. There was a major blockage just downstream from the three pipes. Taking
my chainsaw to head and got most of it out. There's still a little bit to be done. But uh the other blockages when they're discovered if the county can send in a crew and particularly remove the trees that are falling across because what happens those trees then
accumulate uh debris and u our last high water was particularly bad because it uh the debris that came out of the area where they did the vegetation control on Lake Samson just came down
and matted all of those uh areas and really made a great beaver dam. So surveying the the areas to see which of these are the worst and how and getting them cleaned out I think is going to be really good insurance in
terms of going forwarding people in along Alligator Creek and around Lake Son Lake Crosby. We're lucky in that we've gone through a very dry spill. Uh so it's going to take a five to six inch
rain to sort of saturate the weapons again. So we can handle five or six inches of rain, but once we get that five or six inches of rain and we start getting runoff from everything, then we can very quickly have some high water. Once you start having high water, then
too late to do these cleanouts. Thank you, Mr. Yes, Mr. Ste. Oh, I mean I'm honored to those lakes out there because I fish them. You know, Crosby is down about what, four and a half foot. It's down. Yes. All the legs
are really down. I mean, very bad. That's why according to my little old meter I got, it's down about 4 and 1/2t. Yeah. So, have you checked Samson or any of Samson's down too? It's not not as as
much as Carl's. So that's why we have this this window of opportunity here that fills up very fast once the water starts running off. So yeah, my little major all of these down
38. Yeah. Sunday. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. St. Next one I have is uh Richard Diggs. Good evening. Richard Digs with Corkcon Solutions LLC of Glen St. Mary, Florida. Uh here to address the board regarding
the project that bid back on June the 5th, County Road 325, the Hampton Trail Head Park. Uh there were three biders on the project and according to the bid opening, we were low bid on it. After reviewing your agenda for tonight, it looks like you are going to award the second place bidder. Uh there was an explanation on the agenda saying that
our company was not DOT qualified and I wanted to address those concerns. We we do have a DOT qualification and see if there was anything the board would do to review that process to make sure that there was no documentation missed in our submitt prior to awarding that project.
I I know I heard a little bit about this, but Yeah, Mr. Chairman, what do you do? Do you want to uh you want to address this? So, it was my understanding in your bid packet the FD submitt was not included
in it. That was what was brought to our attention. So, in the uh in the agenda it says pre-qualification and there's two different couple different qualifications for DOT. Our company's considered a small business through DOT. We've been on what they call EDI projects for DOT. It's a small business
um affidavit that we have to do annually and it's to set aside projects that we are certified in the same scope of services for this job. Your roadway, bridge work, civil construction, your road control and those kind of things. um if it was missed in our bid package, it was an error on our part. I know in
section 18 of y'all's bid proposal allows the board to to uh have ultimate response or authority to review that if it's something that's incidental. It's not changing the price, the scope of services, or the timeline for the construction project. So, I'm I'm asking
that the board review that prior to awarding that we have a registration with my Florida marketplace. We're we're active with that. We have our activate our FDMT qualification for this specific scope of services. Um so that that's why we're here tonight. Can I ask have you
and you've done DOT work in the past? Yes, sir. Yeah, we we just actually finished a project for the city and storm water. Yes. Where did you say you just I'm sorry. Where did you say you just We worked did a project for the city of
Hampton on Hampton Village Drive. Storm water project, storm sewer project just completed I think about a month and a half ago. I was looking to see if Mary Lou was here from the administr [Music]
and I will just say to make it clear to the board that once we open those bid package and record them we send them to the state for review and approval from them and that's where it got identified that the sheet was missing. So So that's what actually kicked it
out. Correct. Well, I think ultimately it comes back to us with the notification saying that this sheet was missing out of their bid packet. Um, as far as anything other than that, I would kind of lean on our attorney for it. But it it was
recommended that that since they didn't have their pre-qualification sheet included in their bid package that it would fall back to the next lowest bidder. Mr. Sure. Can I just say that, you know, this qualification, the bid
qualifications are generally cut and dry and, you know, it does, you know, go down a checklist of items that need to be provided. Um, I'm in the industry myself and so I know at the end of the day when we go to submit on a project, there's several
eyes that go on it to make sure that everything's included in that bid package. And I can think of one time and eight years where something was not included for a school board out west and we just got eliminated because we didn't have that one form in there because
there's a checklist and it's required and everybody has to follow the same set of rules. Appreciate y'all consideration looking into it. Thank you. Thank you, Jason. Next person is uh Bran Thomas.
Good evening. Brad Thomas, 6155 Northwest County Road 125. Um, most of you are aware of who I am. I'm on the most recent uh elected fair board. Just want to point out that I'm not here to represent the fair board. What I'm talking about this evening, I have not spoke to the fair board about. This is
Brad Thomas and not the fair board. Um, I'm not here to tell the county how to spend their money. what I'm going to suggest the proposal that I have. Um, with all due respect, it's your job to come up with where the money comes from, whether that's via cuts or wherever you find the money, that's that's what you
are here for. So, I'm not here to propose extra spending. I just know that um Mr. Rick brought up a proposal two weeks ago, and I just wanted to piggy back off of that a little bit. Um, small pass real quick. Um I'm been in the prayer association and involved um with
our youth for the last 10 or 12 years there. As most of you know before that I was involved in the rec department for many many years. Me and commissioner dorey coached together. I run the rec department in Lahi. I assisted with the rec department start. So I said all that to say that I'm limitedly educated in
both areas. Um and I can't express that enough. But uh just just for the u subject of time, Commissioner Riddick brought up his uh proposal for the rec department two weeks ago and I know that he had a meeting, not sure how it went
today with the city of Stark. So um thinking on that, I know that has been mentioned that this board has um committed to a salary or let's call it the fair manager for today just because we don't know what it's called. Don't know what that number is. Um,
with the limited education that I have in both departments, I believe that we can combine those two efforts. And I believe that somebody can run the rec department, uh, facilitate the Charlie John's and the Ferry. Um, I don't need somebody, and I'm talking for Brad personally, I don't need somebody knows
how to throw a fast ball, a spiral, or or catch a soccer ball. I don't need somebody who knows how to walk a cow or or a pig. I don't need somebody who knows the difference 2078 Chevys and 81 Ford. I need somebody that can go to somebody who knows the differences. I
need a facilitator. I need somebody who can raise money at the fairgrounds, who can raise money direct department, who can organize these things that we need for them to generate their own funds. The only way you're going to do that is by properly paying somebody to come in here that's qualified to do that. I
think that the combined effort um is really the smart thing to do in my opinion. Again, I'm not here to represent the fair board. I haven't approached the fair board about this. They may turn it down just as well as you will or city of Stark may, but I just felt like it was proposal. I think it's coming up this evening and I wanted
to make sure it's considered um through that process and I can't I can't say enough that I don't believe that the funds are there to cover any of it. That's not what I'm here for today. I'm just saying as it comes up and as we discuss it, keep in mind we've already committed to y'all have already
committed county has already committed to a salary uh with the fair manager and I think that we can combine the two and help our uh process. So, thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. All right, that's all the comment cards I
have. So, I'll move on to uh item three, approval of the consent agenda. I'll make a motion. I'll make a motion we approve this agenda. Have a motion. Okay. A motion from Commissioner Thompson on approval. Um, you got a
second? Sure. Okay. Second from Commissioner Dry. Um, any questions? All for point of clarification. items. Um would the items here include the bid um
for the project the previously discussed project? No, ma'am. That's a standalone item number seven on your agenda. All right. All in favor by side of I I motion carries 50. Next item is um
the recreation uh funding requests. I don't have a real long PowerPoint presentation for you all. It's kind of short and sweet. Um but if you don't mind, I'll I'll run this and do this now for you. I'm sorry. I apologize. I didn't get to
click or something. Dang. That's my bad idea. Okay. First item, I just wanted to bring a couple things to you all's attention. Um, this is money that we currently have uh invested in and um in the bank right
now. I apologize. Let me find one. I give up. All right. This is the money we have currently invested. Um, some people were talking about the money that we drawn interest on. So, there's one on this. There's three of them there.
There's three more here. You'll see almost all of them are for 6 months. You can see the dates, the interest, and then I'll follow it up. Right now, there's 11,249,582 invested. Uh, and CDs are shortterm. One
of those is for a year. Uh the total interest we're going to earn on those in six months is $165,425. Now, I do know that last year uh we brought in I believe it was right around $880,000
in interest. So, this will be closer to about four about about half of what we were bringing in before. And that's because of the funds as we talked about that are being transferred out. All right, just what I wanted to talk to you about as far as revenue,
we need to pass the 50% fire assessment. That's going to bring in approximately the 1.6 million. Um, realistically, it's probably going to bring in uh a little bit more than that. Uh, if you look at the houses that's been built and different things in the past two years
since this was done. The other thing I wanted to bring to your attention is we have even if we pass the assessment, we have to keep the millage rate at 10 mills for one more year to to make it work. Um because again, we don't know
exactly how much we're going to be bringing in. Um the the second thing is the property taxes for this year uh have an increase of 6.55% increase on the uh on the total taxable
value. That's going to bring in approximately 1.2 to$ 1.3 million increase from last year. The other thing I wanted to mention to you is the uh solid uh solid waste. If you remember in
around 2023, we increased it from $75 to $125. That has brought in an increase of $454,772. The um how do I make it go up, Amanda? Or where they can see the rest of that slide or
Whoops. Now I did do it. Thanks. Okay. So, uh the solid waste for this year 2025, um we've already had an increase of $16,786. So, combined with the increase from last
year, we're doing very well in solid waste. Here's the other thing I wanted to run by y'all. the little green stickers by us making everybody put the little green stickers on their vehicles so that um out of town first people could not dump. Believe it or not, that
is saving $10,000 a month. $120,000 a year just by having that green sticker on everybody's vehicle. The other thing is I wanted to for the first time in many many years, solid waste is almost totally self-sufficient.
That's uh equivalent to uh what I believe over $500,000. So it's it's doing very good. Almost self-sufficient. So I'm showing you these things because this is where you want to know about revenue. This is
where we're at. Um um the other thing is I'll just be honest with you board. I I searched and searched and searched. I could not find an extra $150,000. I mean, I met with Rachel and Dana. Um,
just could not find it. Y'all, y'all know our departments. You know how tight our budgets are. Um, I could not find it. But the one thing I will say, if you add up these numbers for next year, we're going to have at least a $3.2
million increase in funding coming in. So, if we if we are going to fund the recreation, we need to add to the recreation budget. Just like we've added to the fire
department budget, we added to the um road department budget, we added, I believe, 170,000 to the supervisor of elections budget for tabulators. Um we've added an extra 20,000 for the state attorney's office. And I was going to have all this up on the board, but it
isn't official yet and it hasn't all all the requests haven't been sent in. So, but these are some of the ones I know about. But the bottom line is we increase other people's budgets and revenues. We already have a line item for Wreck.
It's at 15,000. We need to increase it to 150,000 and and make this thing work. The the last thing is, as you can see from the money we've got invested, the money we got coming in next year, the county is not broke. We're not broke. I
mean, we're we're in the black this year. We're going to be in the black next year. The county is definitely not broke. Here's the same slide I put up last time. Now, what I will tell you, I just came from the uh city of Star meeting
and I was I'm very happy to tell y'all it was a 50 vote for the city to join forces with the counties. So, I got one part of the handshake. I need the other part to come together tonight and make this thing work. Um like I said, the
city was was very very excited. Um and um I was very very happy to get a a 50- vote in full support of combining with the with the county to make this go forward and work. Um again, we'll have to um you know get our attorneys to get
together and uh send out a agreement of understanding and you know put this thing together as to how it's exactly going to work. But um but the the bottom line, this is my favorite side. It's all this is for the kids. It's all about the kids. And I will tell you this, the city
of Stark commissioners got it. They were all in. And um and I I just you know I and I will tell you this. I did mention it because I thought it might come up tonight. I did mention about you know maybe combining uh fulltime wreck
department director and slash um fairgrounds. I will tell you from the discussion I have with them, I don't believe they're on board with that at all. From from what I took out of here, they would they would prefer to have a full-time rec department director and let them totally concentrate on wreck,
bringing in tournaments and this and that and and run properly. It again from everybody I've talked to, it's going to be self- sustaining in a couple years. I just chair, can you help us? Come on up here.
It's a We need Today was a good day for us. Good. We need some Well, the governor finally signed last night late in the night u some money that we didn't contend on um with that and then the projected millage
from the city for doing this policing in the city is going to be a little more. So, our projected budget this year with the increase in the retirement rates and and those type things and 3 million y'all want to give across. I think there were like $270,000 increase for the 3%
and then the like I said never know what pension rates are going to do those type things but with projected millillage increase in the city and then the governor just stepped up and increased our funding uh for physically constrained counties for law enforcement. We're going to be able to reduce our somewhere in the neighborhood
probably about $75,000. So that's that I know of. It may be more than that when Colonel Smith gets back and we look at the math and the numbers we're going to submit. But as you know as we submit usually this year the legislative session went on a lot longer. Not sure what was can't blame
the Democrats but I can't it it went on a lot longer than than projected. So we were holding tight to the vest and some things we were projecting. So I think when you see ours be much less which will give some more room there. And then when the city's numbers came in with the projected millage that they're going to be getting, the two and a half mills
that we do the policing with is going to come in better. It'll offset what we have. And I think ours won't be as big an increase. So that'll give us some some room there. Say I'm committed. Uh the youth can't say enough because it's not just the youth, it's the economic impact on
our community. I think about every time I drive to Lake Asbury over there, I've got gas over there. The kids got to have icings after the ball game at Russell Baptist Church. You know, go to Keystone, we got to stop and eat. We're spending all the money in
Klay County. The economic impact when you have all your parents, people that are able to go with their kids, all of us grandparents, you get stuck buying, it makes a very big impact. But the biggest impact is our kids and making a difference. And it helps all of our schools, our middle school or high
school athletics getting our kids invol involved. And that's the best crime prevention we have. Even with the parents, we keep them involved with the kids are not getting into trouble. So, we're going to do our part on our end. And I think if everybody departments can find just a little bit and adjusting this because the uh the rates didn't
come in as high as we projected, they leveled off. The governor did us really well in retrospect to that and it's helped us out. So, we're going to be re resubmitting a a much reduced increase in ours. Maybe 2%. At least. All right. Not more. I'm hoping to get more. I'm
going to get Colonel Smith and Lisa and Paul and them. They're doing it now because what we had is it's going to be much less. Well, we know how how your budget is and we hope that everybody else will take a look at theirs. Just a little bit soon. Just a little bit. It doesn't take much, y'all. Just a little
bit. We can all take it. Don't matter if you're little department or a bigger department, but even us and you know, we're we're a big chunk of it. So, we have to look at us. when that came in last night and knew it was getting signed. I was teasing Senator Brad attorney Bradley over there.
But when I seen that done and then this morning get to read some of the emails and stuff that was coming in and getting to read projected what the city was going to do so far be a little better projected. So we knew the increase and it may you've already got on and tightened me up. So I you were the first
guy I said absolutely and we've been working on. So she's she's been tough on it because it's important to you and I think it's every commissioner up here. I've tal spent a lot of time with Commissioner G's called Commissioner Thompson's bit my I think he bit my ear one time but uh and we're all working and working with the
county manager while we get it done. Thank you a little bit helps. It does. Well, Mr. Chair, um Mr. Mr. Kgate, what is our budget for maintenance off the top uh for the three parks that we
maintain? Speed bill, Pleasant Grove, Lincoln City, which is a part of our recreation budget. I know that we have the 15,000 allocated for sports. But do you know roughly approximately what that is? 50 and 60,000. 50 to 60,000 maybe.
Okay. of that. So we if you add it back so we have about 75 roughly that colors recreation of type jeans. Um I I guess I need a little clarification
too. What would the 150 what would that cover? Okay. Um last I'll just pull off memory. basically the the 150 from the city, the 150 from the county will go towards field maintenance and the recreation director salary and the
assistant and then whatever funding we get from the TDC board will go strictly for improvements to the to the Edwards Roadfield for right now. So, so that that's that's why I'm asking for the 150 because I know with that budget from the from the the people that
I've asked um a lot of questions to and had meetings with um we feel for sure the 150 from both boards would definitely cover the cost for two years for those positions that we talked about. Um I mean I can break it down as
far as um you know the the fees coming in from the rank and it's it then it will cover itself for two years. And if it don't, I won't ask for anything else for two years. I just need a 150 commitment from the city and from the county. And again, right now, I got
the 150 commitment from the city for two years for sure. The reason I asked if if we're investing right now around 75,000 in the recreational area that includes the maintenance and what you provide for the sports, then you're just looking at,
you know, not 100,000. Right. Right. So, um looking at 75 more. And that's and and board that's the only reason that I even brought up this revenue just to give y'all an idea what's coming in, you know, where we're at, what's actually in
the banking interest. And um and I I can back it up with a a book here, but um that's so that's that's one and even the like I said the uh the solid weights. We've never been close to breaking even on solid weights. So that was a fair statement. If I can just say we're not
breaking even on solid waste right now. I need to clarify just with regards to just speaking on the budget and the revenue. So the solid waste right now. Yes, we're doing good. That's largely because we
have a reserve fund balance that's going to last us maybe a year or two. After that year or two, we're going to be back at where we're going to be about half a million in the hole on solid waste. And that's something that we had communicated early on when we had
increased it to $125 that at some point you're that's better than nothing and it's getting us further, but we're still going to have to supplement solid waste of the general fund by about half a million dollars. So, I want to make that point here just
so we haven't not a check yet from the city yet on the the meat house. So that will be some revenue coming in. But we are looking at about approximately half a million in about a year or two that we're going to need to fund solid waste from the general fund. But even even
though um like a solid waste, we're we're picking up an extra 120,000 because we're not picking up as many dumpsters. So the expenses aren't as much. We have a a pretty significant fund balance right now that's helping to
sustain us. That's going to go away. So if I also I just I want to the interest that you spoke just this board needs to keep in mind interest fund balance things that we have it's what helps balance our budget the next year.
So although interest rates are going down, so that'll just be more, you know, or less that we're going to have to help balance our budget when those interest rates go down. I do just want to point that out. And I think it's also important to acknowledge as far as
actions that we've taken as far as new expenses. We're already about at $3.4 million new expenses. 42526 new hires in the road which we need
which was a good thing to do health insurance cost I'm not even talking about health insurance increases that's about 1.5 million right now we're going to have to add to the budget the broker fire station good thing great that's a
new expense of about $627,000 opering expenses that's about $2.1 million. Now, I'm not even considering our CIP yet. We have CIP capital improvement projects
planned for next fiscal year of about 1.3 million. So, you wrote that up. That's 3.4. I think what you're proposing, Mr. Rick, nobody in here is saying we don't need recogition for youth and we need to invest. Maybe what we need to do is look at ways that we can tighten the belt or
cut in other areas. But I would just caution this forward as far as the revenue, we've already spent it. The revenue that we're going to create with the millage rate, we just spent it and our new recurring cost. So I just that's what I I just want there to be that
balance to consider and also be aware about what's going to take down, you know, what's coming down the pipe with solid waste and fire rescue. I know we already have a consensus from this board to go at 50% and that's what we're going to be shooting for at that August 21st
meeting and hopefully that'll get passed, but in about two years we're going to be back to square one. Square one, you know, we're going to be out of wash and we're going to need to look because that's just the nature of that operation. That's not critical. That's
just the nature of all operations that we're going to need to look at increasing at some point or we're going to be back to square one. So I just want to throw that out there. Mr. Chair, I wasn't finish looking at
the approximately 75,000 that we have invested with maintenance that cost and the including the other recreation. And if the sheriff would just say that they have um 25 that they can put in, that
would be your 150. But it would not take away from your um contingency funds that we need to be able to maintain, you know, our cost and for our future um things because we do have the capital improvement plan that we need to
implement and getting our buildings repaired. Um and those costs that are associated with all of the departments that have to maintain a contingency fund so that we have something in case we have an emergency, we have to be able to maintain. But if we can do it within our
existing funds such as that and combining that with our current existing fund of 75 that would be the 150 and not take away from the contingency. I'm all good Mr. Chair. Yes. So something to consider also with solid
waste. I am the chairman of the new river solid waste and right now we're sneaking up on negotiations with some of the other counties that currently come to the river solid waste and in those negotiations if things don't work out,
we could be faced with having to charge even more for solid waste. Yeah. So again, that's that's something I wouldn't rely on and it certainly is far from being fully funded. You know, we bumped it up to the 125 amount.
I think Mr. That got us about halfway funded. That brought us up to about 1.2 million. We're we're still a little over half million short. Half million. Yeah. So, um anyway, something to consider. Also, u you know, when we talked about
two weeks ago, we talked about looking at at making cuts to come up with this money. And so, you know, that's where we need to talk to our departments and say, you know, it's not just the departments, it's the phone calls you get as far as the
services because you're going to be cutting back on the services to be able to generate that money. And that's where we talked was my understanding that we were going to try to find it, you know, within the budget and not necessarily going and looking at, you know, different fund balances and things like
that that we're trying to pull money from. Um, you know, the sheriff, you know, is able to come up with 70 or 75,000, uh, you know, then I start looking at our military again. We always talk about
role the military. Get to a point to where, you know, saw up there where you had maybe next year. I think we've been saying maybe next year for quite a few years. So again, it's something that needs to
be examined, you know, uh is it, you know, other departments? Is it, you know, again, is it employees? You know, there was the cola raise there. I think that amounted to quite a bit of money. Um our employees don't pay anything for insurance if they're on there by
themselves. And you know, that's something that uh some counties actually have the employees where the employees pay in a certain way. You know, if that's something that we looked at, and maybe that generates enough. So again, I think there's a lot of different ways out
there. I'm probably the most hated guy in the room right now for saying that. You know, at the same time, um, we pay about $12,000 a year for insurance
and that could be going up 10 12% maybe. 12%. So again, I always I'm the guy ran on the freight. But there there things that that we need to
look at. And again, if it's the services, then you know, we have to be able to answering people. You know, why the ditches aren't getting mowed, why the roads aren't getting, you know, why it's taking longer to get somebody transported over to,
you know, North Florida, you know, wherever else they go. Uh, you have help. But um I don't think I can say that enough. Uh we have a list of organizations here that are going to be asking for money
tonight and we've been funding them for forever. Um we've even cut back on the funding. Think we cut it back uh 25%. And so again, we just I don't know. I'm I'm
trying to wrap my head around it. I certainly, you know, thought a lot about what you said a couple weeks ago and uh thought about, you know, recreation and certainly, as the sheriff says, it's not just important for the kids, it's important for for the community and I totally
understand that. But, you know, to be able to do that, I think we have to figure out, are we doing more for our employees than we are for people right here. And like I said, I'll wear a bulletproof
vest from now on, but you know, it's it's a back keep going up and up and up and it's just uh not much of an attempt to make a lot of cuts.
Mr. Chair, I just wanted to confirm um the recreation budget. I I was way off. It's actually 16,800. what budgeted in there. So I just and that primarily is for utilities and repair maintenance
for parks. Why? Well, I I I think that um I I disagree a little bit is I think that the other departments like I
threw out contingency funds the other day. I'm not talking about wiping out contingency funds because of course there may be an emergency. Um but then there may be um a cause just to spend it
because it's there. um we have large contingency funds and we have small contingency funds and I think that um if giving them the opportunity to take a look at what they had what they spent
last year that was a true emergency and not just I need this so we're going to buy from that. Um, you know, I I think that um and and with the sheriff's kind of
taking the lead for that, I understand that he's receiving money, but um I I would have liked to give them the opportunity to take a look at their budget again and and see if there isn't
something that they can either take their feel like they could take their contingency down some or um something they could cut. That's just my thought. All right.
Well, I'm not going to beat it to death. Um I I will say I'm very disappointed that the city's in the same financial shape that we are, but yet they can find it. We can't find 150,000. I'll just be straight up and tell everybody. I mean,
we can't find 150,000 for rent. But anyway, um y'all can bring it back up again if you want. Um I won't bring it back up again. That's that's it. I'll let it go. Um I hate it. Would be so quick to dismiss
it. Um again, like I said, there's work to be done. We just have to do that work. That's all. It's It's not Well, I I guess if it doesn't get approved in this budget year, it's going to be four or five years before it comes back up again. I I just know it will. that
that's the trend how we do things. If we don't vote for a big item, usually it's years before it comes back up. Now, that's that's my concern. Now, if you want to discuss it again once we get the actual budgets in, I'm I'm all in. Uh but I think that that that is something
that we should do. Okay, Mr. I definitely don't want to to um take this off the agenda and never talk about it again because I feel strongly about us being a part of this and doing this. Um but I think that we need to give
people an opportunity to look and see where they can come see what what we can come up with that won't cost us anymore, but yet it will be funding for that. And I I think that our people have heard enough about it to understand that they
probably can give up a little bit. So I I'd like to see us give them the opportunity to try to do that. Mr. Okay. Mr. Chairman, if I may. Yes. Uh we have a budget workshop scheduled for July 1st. Okay. We could take the time
between now and then for our department heads to look and see if there is anything and then we can discuss it at the budget workshop if you'd like to do that. Yes, I would if that's okay with and and we have to change our culture
and how we think. We we have to think outside of the box and um reparation is important um but we have to figure out a way to do it within our existing budget without depleting our contingency funds. And I think, you know, something could
be worked on, but it's not done. Okay. Well, one thing that comes to mind, I don't know if you guys did in the ACC or the CCC sessions, but you know, there was a board game that they put out and played, you know, so are you
going to cut the library? Are you going to cut the code department? Are you going to cut, you know, where are you going to go with it? And you have a limited amount of time to think about that. and right when you think you're right where you need to be just like what we're working on right now and then boom you know we get hit with a
hurricane or something you know so that's where the contingency funds need to be you know we need to be real careful again I think it's looking at the current budget how we can cut there to make this work is I think a better
it's a better mathematical problem sounds good I appreciate it very I mean, we don't need a right to check. We can't things are tight.
So, hey, believe me, everybody in this room knows me. I support you 150% at the fair or wherever. But we just need to do a home. Yeah, I think that's a good idea, Mr. 48
as far as let's just let's move on and just do the the July 1 work job and we'll see what we can do. Yeah, don't drop nothing. Just got to make it work. All right, sounds good. Thank you. Um okay, moving on to the
next item. Um the community organization you want to the first one I got on the list is the uh North Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce family. Hello. I did this old school. So, you have a thing with our big agenda on the
front, our mobile on the front. Um, again, I'm Kim North Regional Chamber of Commerce. And uh as Commissioner Dothrey just pointed out, for many years, as far back as I could tell to 1996, the chamber was a partner with the county
and we received $12,500 at the request to the county in 2020. We were asked to cut that by 25%. And uh we felt like that was our part we needed to do for you guys because we are your partner. I mean, you were called on
at least once a week by somebody around here wanting us Do you have this? Can you help this? Can you answer that? Can you be on this? Whatever. And um we went to $9,375. That was in 2020. Our ask today is still
$9,375. I don't know if you have anybody else that's still at their 2020 budget, but we can make it work. So, that's what we're doing. Um, yes, we want to see recreation. I'm also, as you know, part of TDC and that board and we're we're
working on this. So, I just want to say that that is part of my request. I have some things in here for you in case you're interested. You know, we have two full-time staff. Most of you know, there's just me and Susan there. We make it work. There used to be five of us. Now, there's two. Um, we are 501c6,
which is a not for profofit. And most most communities value a chamber in their community. Um, we basically live off of membership dues, workforce board, you know, little bit that we do for TDC that they pay us for, we may get from
you guys. That's it. And we make it work. Um, I put you a picture of the strawberry festival in here and some of the things people we bring to this community. And as I was looking at it, I was thinking about if every one of those cars on this picture had two or three
people in it. And remember, we turn the parking lot about every three hours. So many people we bring into this county in a weekend. That's a lot of folks buying gas, eating out, stay motivations. [Music]
[Music] There are people that come as far up as Tiffan, Georgia and way past Daytona and coast to coast. It amazes me. They'll come over from city and everywhere else. They come to Bradford County. It's good
publicity for our county. Um, one of the best publicity that we get for our county is rural county base because people now know Bradford County, not Broward or Barnes. And we have worked long and hard on that.
dished out the meeting shortcake let people know that you were Bradford County and uh I have a picture here of Chris the one you actually were in I think so Chris he got up early that morning and helped us set up um we have
spent the money buying tents and tablecloths and everything else we were actually called pro queen this year and does not want to be by us anymore because they do not like being freshman sitting no problem. So, yeah, I got took
that as a compliment, especially from the ladies who dished it out because they were formerly from CL County. So, I was like, um, some of the other things, you know, like I said, the committees, different things that we get asked, hey Dan, can you sit on this? Can you do that? Can
you do the other? I remember a few years ago, we hired somebody to come up with a logo for the county. didn't like any of it and it had cheap and Gordon me Gordon
the superintendent somehow got volunte and they did and you're still using it. So yes, I consider us partners. When we need something, we come to you guys. Um, you know, even with the TDC, the conference center, the things that are done there, the trainings that are done
there, and we coordinate with with Ben and Dylan and Cody and, you know, all the sheriff's office, whatever. We have all these trainings that go on and take place there. You don't have anywhere to do that. So, it happens there. We don't
charge you for the night. We don't charge you rent. You're just there. But we manipulate it around sometimes like, "Okay, y'all got to leave 3:00. I got a paying customer coming in at 5 a.m. But we work it out. We're partners. Um, do I
have a specific line item we spend this money on? No, not really. We just work all year long. It comes out about 20. What I do? $25. Um, I didn't put it on here. About $26 day. I think we're pretty good deal.
So, that's it. Thank you. Appreciate it. Next is the art of Bradford County, uh, John Williams. Thank you, commissioners. Uh, thank you for the invitation. Uh, my name is John Williams. with the arch of Bradford County and got a PowerPoint
presentation. I'll try to um just go through it pretty fast, but if you have any questions uh at the end, feel free to ask. So, so at the Arch of Ber County, we support individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. Uh we have
been uh supporting individuals uh in this community uh as well as several other communities uh for the last 50 years. Uh we are actually celebrating our 50th anniversary. Uh while we are the arc of Bradford County, we do serve uh and have served in the past Baker,
Union, Elatchua, Clay, and Putnham County as well. Um so we uh because of where we sit uh we are the closest provider to a lot of individuals who live in areas like Lake Butler, Keystone Heights, Melrose, Waldo, areas like that. So we do bring uh individuals from
outside the county into the county uh and it does uh bring additional revenue to the county. These are some of the services that we provide. Um we provide residential services. We operate three group homes. We have two-day programs that we
operate. Uh we provide transportation services, mental health services, um personal supports, uh companion services, uh really any kind of support that an individual might need. uh to live in the community to continue to uh
be a functioning member of society. Uh we provide that level of support based on their individual need. Uh so there's some individuals who live in their own homes, they live in apartments, and they just need someone to come in and help with things like paying bills, um maybe going to doctor's appointments. Uh and
then there's other individuals that we support who require total care. Uh and so we support those individuals um basically on their level of need. So, this just kind of breaks down our agency funding. We have a budget of about $3 million a year. Uh 70% of that
uh comes from program uh services that we provide. Uh we build Medicaid uh or med waiver services through the state. Um but it only pays about.7 cents on the dollar. Uh and so we have to come up with other revenue sources. So one of the revenue sources that we have um is
our business uh operations. And so we operate a wood shop, Sunshine Industries. Many of you um know that organization. Uh and so that comes up with about 28% of our budget. Uh and then about 5% of our budget comes from uh whether it's grants or contributions
that we receive from the community. This just kind of outlines uh where the money that we've received from uh the board of county commissions in the past. um your contribution accounts for um a match that we're required by state law
to get from local sources. So when we operate a day program, uh the general appropriations act requires us to have a 12.5% match. Uh so you'll see figures from this is the 23 uh 24 fiscal year. Uh we don't have numbers for 2425 yet,
but this just kind of gives you an idea of where uh those matching dollars uh go. And again our uh the match um that we are required to have uh the port of county commissioners uh their contribution has accounted for 40% of
that match uh in previous years. So we're we're very appreciative of your support and uh you know we request that you continue that. These are a couple of uh things. Uh one of the things that as we're celebrating our 50th anniversary, we are uh
attempting to change the narrative about the ark. Uh we feel like a lot of people view the ark as uh a charity that uh only receives uh and we want the community to understand that it's not just about what we get. It's about what the individuals we uh serve and support
can give back to the community. Uh so we have started uh food distributions. Uh we do those in partnership with our community resource hub and feeding northeast Florida uh in the Hampton community. We do that every other first Saturday. Uh this past um food
distribution at the beginning of June, we served 151 families uh provided uh food support to uh through those families 424 individuals uh in the county. Uh so we do that again every other first Saturday. Uh also we've
started uh hosting one of the community resource hubs uh that we uh operate out at Old Hampton Elementary School uh in partnership with uh the community resource hubs uh and other providers in the county uh so that individuals can come in uh and receive those services.
We offer that uh twice a month uh on the second and fourth Tuesday. And then these are just some of our initiatives. Again, uh I mentioned our 50th anniversary we're celebrating. Uh I know it's a county commission night, but it's going to be on July 17th. So if you
get out a little early, you can come have dinner uh and celebrate with us on our 50th anniversary. Uh but we uh we again appreciate your support and uh if you have any questions, I'm happy to question just comment. John, you have an
angel's heart. I'm just I see you around a lot. I know that you do this because of your heart. Appreciate everything you do and certainly a great organization, very well run. Thank you for for all you do. Appreciate
you. Thank you very much. Okay. Next, I have the uh University of Florida uh 4H program, Lizzie Whitehead. Quick presentation. So All right. Good evening everyone. I'm Lizzie Whitehead. I am the uh UFIS
bracket county livestock agent and event coordinator for beef bash. This is going to be my fifth year putting beef bash on and it is a youth agricultural event for our beef exhibitors. Um and this year I can work this thing. Um this year I'm
requesting again $2,500 in support of this event. It is open to all 4 and MFA members who have beef projects locally and in the North Florida area as well as we had some um visitors from Georgia attend this event in the past. Um it brings revenue to
local businesses. We had about 550 people attend last year in Bradford County. We have local vendors and then we also have people staying in the hotels nearby and also going to the restaurants. Um, and all the proceeds, if we make a profit from this event, will go to the 4 programs, summer camps,
live judging teams, all of that good stuff. Um, and then in this, this event provides an excellent opportunity for local youth to showcase their beef projects before the fair. So, the next show that's the closest for us is Marian County. And then just the next option
would be GMI or Chevy Tampa. So, we are one of the only North Florida area north of Marian County that provides it throughout the year. And it is a lot of work, I do have to tell you. Um, this past year in 2025, we
had about a little over 100 exhibitors and about 150 head of cattle. When you came by or drove by the fairgrounds at that time, you saw lots of trailers out there. It was a really good event. Lot plenty of space at our fairgrounds. And again, it brought in about 550 people,
families, people locally, people from all over the place. Um, and about 24 businesses support this event, whether it's a small donation or large. Um, we have a lot of local support. And I give out try to give out the best prizes possible for these youth, whether it's a
belt buckle, um, a leather patch that goes onto a speaker, um, money, whatever I can do whenever I get those donations come in. Um, we also have a huge attendance from the local kids from Bradford and Union County. So, when I
was looking at my expenses, I spent about $1,500 this past year on all of the costs that go into having a show. Without the support, I cannot do this show because we'll be in the hole. Um, and it's a lot of work to have to um go in the red for an event. So, you can see
there in the breakdown of trophies, cash, buckles, banners, insurance. Just paying the judge to come is about 15 to $2,000 because I'm paying for their expertise and I also try to get somebody that's not local, so they don't know the kids. Um, and I have to pay for a
service to pay for the um registrations that come in and it collects the money um over the internet. And um you can see there my facility cost last year as well. So this year I anticipate about $12,500 for this year's event in 2026.
And you just go to the next slide. Anyway, the next line was just thank you um for your support last year. I really appreciate it. supporting the agriculture community and the beef kids, those beef projects, they're really expensive. A sear nowadays cost about $2,000 to be able to just get in the
beginning. They have to feed it. So, having an event like this where they get some money back into their pockets and give them some hardware to wear is uh really useful for these kids. Um any questions? Just a comment, excuse me. Um, just want to thank you, Lizzie, and
all of your group for everything that you do. And it would be wonderful, especially now that we have the fairgrounds that we could put on more of these events just like this because we've all been to these and and families stay where they where they're at. and
they they do buy food and buy gas and and um so it is a a great um fundraiser for us to have these events. But thank you for all the hard work that you put in and um it doesn't go without
notice. Everybody really appreciates what y'all do. Thank you. You do a sacred job. Yes. I hope to add more species in the future, but right now I'm sticking to cattle and we'll we'll branch out to some others, too. a lot of work into that. Y'all do a good
job. Hey, uh Bradford Soul and Water. Uh Amy, is that Mory? Mory might be. Yes. You know, it's it's one that's often. All right. So, um, I put some information up just because we don't come before you guys very often. So,
just a little update on what we've done and what we do. Um, we are elected. Um, we are not paid, not partisan. We're not allowed to tax you. We're not allowed to impose rules on you. But where we can
help is facilitating things between agencies um and between some of our land owners and public places that can really use that help. Uh right now we have three supervisors in office. We're looking for more. So if you know somebody in one of these districts,
we'll put you to work. Um we are basically folks that are in agriculture. um our statute doesn't require us to be um doesn't require our assistance in the community to be agriculturally based,
but to run for this office, you have to be based in agriculture. Um so I'm a little bit more used to having dirt under my nails from the nursery than get nothing speaking like this. But um what we do I think is pretty important. Um, so got the little blurb up there that is
from uh our actual Florida statueets about what our soil and water boards do and the people of Bradford County voted ours in in 1950. Okay, we have been working on more volunteers. Um, we have many many thanks
to Mr. Still who served on these boards and mentored some of our members. he um stepped off of our board in February and he is now serving as a volunteer for our board. Um so that's the kind of thing we really want to encourage our reach and
um what we can do in the community. Um we also have a new volunteer Francis Bradley who is in district um one I believe. I'm sorry I'd have to double check that but she's been a really good asset as well. Um, and we're really looking, as you'll see when we get into
our projects, that to kind of expand that and have more reach through folks in the community who are willing to help out with these things. Um, looking ahead, so we've had project redevelopment. Last year, there was Florida statute, the one up saying our
special districts had to have annual plans, goals, objectives, performance measures. So, we've been working all of that on all of that. And for this year, our goals and objectives have been to kind of really re-examine all the projects we were working on, see how we
can make them stronger, see how we can expand some of them, make sure we're doing the right things, talking to the right people, that kind of thing. uh some of the impacts we've had um just the time that the board gets alone. If you put that value of volunteer time on
it, uh for the last couple years, it's come out to about $75,000 a year in volunteer time from the board members donating their time to the community. So, with additional volunteers, we can really expand that reach. Um and that's
just from our five or less board members as we've had during the year. I think this year um we're actually looking more like about 85,000 in that inind contribution. Um we saved the county um the Samson Canal project. Mr. Still was
able to find a new method that really gave a good alternative, low cost. Um and that's what I'm all about. You know, we're spending the people's money here. So, let's find ways to do this that are, you know, maybe new and innovative, but that are not going to be shooting our
budgets in the foot here. Uh, we increased knowledge for land owners. Last year we kicked off a great annual dinner event where we had USDA and RCS. We had Fish and Wildlife. We had the Forest Service. We had extension agents
like Lizzie from four different counties here. We had folks from FDAX um and the water quality management programs. And these folks all came together in the room and gave our land owners um information on all of the clawshare
programs that they have, all of the technical help that's available. And we actually found a sponsor for that. So we were able to give everybody dinner, have a nice sit down and some presentations and not a dime spent from the taxpayer money. So we try to put on more of those
kind of things. Oh, I'm not sure what I hit. Thank you. Keep my fingers off the button. Um, and now we've really just been trying to increase our outreach um, and awareness of these concerns. This year we had a
workshop for folks who live on Lake Samson and have special concerns in that area. And we've kept up a little mailing list going so that folks can continue to share the concerns. As we find possible solutions, we can share those with people.
Okay. Um, so this is just our closer look. Um, in this last year, uh, 87,000 actually. Um, and then our mission statement. Um, we really want folks to be using appropriate soil and water conservation methods. This is our
farmers. Um, but also anybody who's out there kind of interfacing with those uh, preserve wildlife, protect public lands, our public lands, and our private here. uh and general health, safety, and
welfare issues. Um I'm a landscape architect by trade. That's kind of one of our mantras is we have to protect health, safety, and welfare. Whether we're doing storm water calculations or installing playground equipment, there's always that concern.
So, um basically, you know, what your funding allows us to do is to bridge all of those service gaps. um that'll be fine. We can keep an eye on what the water management district is doing and let people who are impacted in certain
areas know. We can go to the um local mitig mitigation strategy groups and contribute there. And we're hoping one of our projects to contribute even more this year. Um doing agricultural best
management practices. So, we've been doing landowner tours where we take folks out to a working operation. They get to see it. They get to ask questions of people. Um, we had a really successful kickoff with this with a timber operation last year. Um, so we're
going to be planning more events. Um, the volunteers, I know Lizzie knows about it's not just getting volunteers. You have to recruit them, you have to train them, and then you have to keep them around. Um, and this is I'm
actually a former IAS agent, so I know a little bit about that with master gardener program. Um, so that's something that's really on our radar to help with invasive species cleanup days in our parks to help with water sampling so we can check on our water quality
more thoroughly. Um, those are the ideas that we're going with and putting that information out there. Um has done a lot of great water quality sampling. We put that together in Excel spreadsheets. I think in some cases we,
you know, done little graphs so you can see a little bit more detail about what's going on in some of those areas. We want to increase that kind of information that's available to Oh. All right. So, this was a breakdown of our budget. We did submit a budget
letter as well, so there's a little bit more breakdown in there if you'd like more detail or I welcome any questions. Uh this year for our water programs, uh we're putting a little bit more into that protection. We're actually going to
be putting out a call if we are successful with getting this funding um for a research study or a stipen to try to help get a little bit more of our missing gap information about our waterways and where water's flowing in the county
surface water quality. We'd like to arrange to do more testing sites and test for more things especially things that uh impact health safety and wildfare. If you look at the right outline of our county here, we've got the Trail Ridge, very high elevation all
the way down to those lowlands of the New River and the Santa Fe River, all the swamps and great farmland and everything in between. Um there's I know every one of you have areas in your district that are subject to flooding or
people have water quality concerns and those are the things we'd really like to expand our reach on. um land management programs um invasive species I mentioned um looking at our parks and public spaces as well as anytime a farmer or
somebody managing their land calls us and says hey was planted but it's getting out of hand can you come take a look recommend some ways for us to get rid of it we can go out and do those kind of advisements or we can work with somebody at the extension office to make
sure that person's it's heard and their concerns are met before that problem gets even youth development. Um, this one's a little bit of a switch, but we'd like to we've had in the past a soil mark contest, and this is been supported at
the state level. So, we would really like to bring that back and work harder with our 4 and FFA groups that have this speech contest, especially um we've been seeing a little bit of a resurgence of this in the surrounding counties. Um so,
we will have a very small budget on that because we're going to be looking to have a sponsor to make that happen. um to give out those premiums to the kids and not make a purpose. And youth development support, being able to go out to the clubs, the
schools, have interacting exhibits and things like that. Operating expenses, I do want to talk a little bit about that. We do have a little bit of an increase here. We were being provided a website which
is as a government agency we are mandated to have it and publish our meeting agendas and things like that. Um the state has not renewed funding for that. So all of the soil and water districts are in the position now of having to do their
own website. We've come up with a very very lowcost we think solution. And as we'll see in some of these other slides, um largely we reduced our board education and training down quite a bit this year. I've been working with
outside of our soil and water board with soil and water supervisors from around the state to offer training programs. Um so we actually just had one on those goals and objectives and how people can write their reports. We'll be doing some on ethics and sunshine laws coming up.
And so that gave us a menu to offer free training for our members. Okay. So water protection um the flood protection we'd like to gradually increase the number of gauge stations that are around so it's much easier to
see when water levels are going. Uh develop resources to assist with those local mitigation strategies. So helping Brad with the um group that he's got going and then developing more local volunteers,
you know, getting out there with the chainsaw. So the more that we could have some kind of grassroots effort to do that, the less that we'll be putting on the county departments as well. Can't say take over everything, but
Oh, and then service water. I mentioned increasing the number of sites. Um again developing some local volunteer support and increasing our public outreach on that. Um getting more of the word out there. Okay. Land management programs. We
really want to expand our invasive species. Um as people come into the county and the county grows, this one can really get fallen by the wayside. No pun intended. Um but you you'll start to see more problems in areas and more
folks are coming through which is naturally bringing things in. Um we'd like to continue the great removal project that Dr. Still has been doing for a few years now. Um we do have some ideas to apply for grant funding in this area and expand that program capacity
there um so that we can increase that volunteer base and plan some removal events. And we've actually been talking to a group called Sysma, which is um a local statewide invasive species group uh who's able to help with some of these
and possibly provide funding operator education. Like I mentioned, our dinner was a really great success. So, we're planning to bring that back and expanding those tours. Um, we're looking at one tour coming up in the fall with a livestock operator and we'd
like to just kind of see other operations so that people get a sense of what kind of things they can institute on their own, what better practices they can do. All right, like I said, we're about to poster and speech contest with a
sponsor. Um, we have some past samples there. We get some really great info from the kids. a theme every year that has to do with soil or water or uh forestry. And then public events, we've really been trying to increase our reach there. Have something fun and
interactive for the kids to do and have something they can take home. So at this event, we actually had ink made out of pine cones. They could take paint a little watercolor painting and take it home with them. We also provided tree seedlings as a giveaway for the public
and those were some that we had left from our Arbor Day. celebration we did with UFIS extension this year. Okay. And then program development. These are the kind of things we want to mitigation strategy group. Our USDA
working group are looking to put together a small group of farmers in the community who can help input on that funding uh adisement group. Um and our back is in. I think I've said a lot of this, so I'll just start wrapping it up.
Okay. And any questions? And I will say too, um, being somebody who's worked with recreation quite a bit in my career and knowing what government budgets are, um, we are most certainly willing to look for a reduction in our budget
request. Uh, if that is at all helpful, I think that, you know, we have some ideas on acquiring extra funding and I know I see that kind of opportunity passed by the wayside. Um, all of these things are intertwined to me for the
health of our community. So, um, just to to put it out there that we will definitely consider reducing our budget. Thank you. Any questions? Thank you so much. Great pres. Thank you. Cowboys Athletic Association. Uh, Rodney
M. Good evening everyone. As I said, I'm Rodney Mosley, a lifetime resident here in Stark. I was asked to come represent the Bra Cowboys today. Um, actually been a part
of the program for 30 years now. 30 years. Uh coach Bill has been a part of the program for 50 60 years. I would tell you 80 been a part of the program for quite some time. He actually was the person
that got me started and um glad to have a son that start out. He asked me to actually coach and my daughter was cheering. So that's kind of how I got started. But um we've actually been before you quite a few times. uh the
sport um sponsorship and uh donations for for this program. Um every year uh explain to you what the funds are for and and um we give you our budget so on and so forth. We're definitely thankful
for everything that you do for us. All right. Um majority of the time um well all the time the the monies that we receive um is used for basically the safety of our children helmets uh shoulder pads uh uniforms um just the
overall operation of the organization. Um like I was saying last time I was here I think u forecasted amount to operate the organization around 28,000 something like that. That's for a whole year because it doesn't just start or
stop in the fall. It's a whole year. Uh with prices going up on everything basically. Uh this brand done a little research on it along with myself. Um now we're up to somewhere around 37,000 to just purchase
everything. Now, um we never get to what we forecast. Small small small county, small uh organization, um but we make it work whatever we have. U Jordan time with what you give along with um all the um
nonprofit organizations. So along with fees, donations, sponsorships, parents, uh just kind of helping out along the way, we we make it work. um we kind of a lot of times reduce that that um that
paperwork or that budget down to the essentials. We've done that year after year. I've actually been the president of the organization the last 12 years. I actually stepped down last year because I took on uh another business of mine
that I run a business owner here and start. So uh Coach Willby is now the president but I am on the board and I am involved in uh the day-to-day operation of it. Um so what we're doing this year,
last year was 50 years of uh Cowboys and we celebrated 50 years last year. God wars organization started in in 74. Uh longest running organization in the city as far as youth sports. Uh I do want to say I like your idea. As far as
recreation, uh, I think everything would run a lot better if we had everything under one umbrella. Football, basketball, baseball, so on and so forth like it used to be when I I came through when when it used to be uh
the armory right in front of the high school and you go get your pads and everything from the armory and uh we play football along with baseball. I mean, youth sports is kind of really falling off with everything that's going
on with it, with money being hard to come by and prices of everything going up. Uh, just an example, I'm I'm from Li. Li always had a baseball program. It was, in my opinion, the best baseball
program in Canada for a long time. Now, it's almost like non-existent. Uh we don't have those programs anymore right now. Um it used to be Lloyd had a program, Stark had a program, Hampton,
Brooklyn, everybody had a program. Now we're we're reduced down to just what happens at El Road or you know things of that nature. And um and I think it's because of uh we just first of all my opinion people don't care like they used
to care. You just see it every day. I see it every year. they don't actually care. Um, you know, I've said it, you have a slogan there, and I've said it a number of times right here in front of you guys. It's about the kids. I think we always use that slogan. It's always
been used, but when we see actions, is it is it really about the kids or because it always it always comes down to money. And I understand everything that that we're talking about with budgets and all that because I have budgets with my business.
But what happens is you you can you can do what's important. You do what's important. You do you put things in priority and you and you work in that you work in that way. Mr. As Gordon was saying, uh, this program, if you, if you've really been
around a program, Chris has been around, his son played in a program. A number of people in here has been a part of the program. This program has produced college graduates. It's produced kids that went on to military and retired from military. And I can say that
because I've been in it that long. Coached kids and uh, coach their dad, now coach their kids. I haven't reached grandkids yet, but uh I've coached dads and been coaching their kids for for quite some
time. And uh it actually works. Right now in my barber shop here in town, I got a whole wall full of signatures of kids that that's played and gone on to do not just football, army, navy, marines, and so on and so
forth. It's it's establishing it's establishing life traits, life skills and that's all sports. So when when you say you know baby putting it on the back burner now you got to deal with
kids that's out here doing doing wrong doing things that's going to bring you know trouble prison or anything like that. And then we going to complain about why are they doing it because they didn't have anything
constructive to do leading up to their their high school years or after. So it it's very important. It's very important. The recreation is very important and everything else. Solid waste is very important. It is, you
know, but but like you said, you kind of you kind of got away weigh your options. I know your job your job is hard. It's hard. But uh don't put on the back. Don't give up what you what you're trying to push for. Just want to tell you, continue to push for it because I think it's going to be instrumental in
Bra County. It's going to be something positive to we can get something like that going. Uh you just got to find a way. Just got to find a way. But we're here today to request uh uh 15 grand uh to to help us um continue this program.
Like I say, it's it's 50 years running and and we've never ran and and got everything we've needed as far as to to make it run. But I think just the couple people that's actually been a part of it and and been the main
stays in it have made it happen. Whether it comes out out of our pocket or or however it works, we we we get it done. So again, you know, uh whatever you choose to do, uh we appreciate it and and we tell you thank in advance. Um
sorry I didn't have PowerPoint. I didn't know we supposed to do Power I have one next. Um, so, uh, with that being said, any questions? I just have a comment, Mr. Mosley. Um, I
agree with you. I had a grandson that's played for the last four years, and through that, I saw a group of young men who became very, very close. Yes. And, um,
One of them my stepdaughter actually adopted. Um he was going through a horrible horrible time and we love that young man with all of our heart and um it break
down it breaks down walls. It teaches com camaraderie. It teaches leadership and it changes their lives in many ways that it's not just about playing playing
a game. It has changed this county, this team in the last four years has brought this county together more so than I've ever seen it. I mean, we were lined up in the street watching
buses come through. I will always remember that and um so yes, this is more about about the children and what they need sometimes and people don't
know what they're going through at home or, you know, the things they're dealing with, but I can I can attest personally um the changes that I've seen in my family um And it was it was a very very
positive thing that came about. Yes, ma'am. For us. And I thank you and Mr. Willie B for everything that y'all done. I mean it goes beyond the words that we could just to say thank you is very very
small thing but it's all we have to have to give you. We really appreciate it. Yes. just say thank you very much for all that you do for the community. Coach Willie is one of the hardest working guys I know. Not just coaching,
but just everything he does. He puts his heart into it. I know you do too, Rob. We appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Go Hampton. We were at Hampton Hornets. We used to come play you a lot of guys.
Thank you. Yes, sir. the uh acorn clinic. Uh Tina Lloyd. Good evening. I'm Tina Lloyd. I'm the executive director at Acorn Clinic. Um Acorn Clinic has been around since 1974
as well. Sounds like a few of us have. Um Acorn is a nonprofit dental clinic. A lot of people don't know that. Um I live 10 minutes away. I started last May and I just did not realize the things that ACORN does as a whole and the uh
communities that we serve. We served 27 communities in 20124. 311 of those patients were Bradford County residents who had 896 procedures at our clinic. We um bill
only through Medicaid sliding fee uh sliding fee cash pay and we are not funded through federal government. Um there was a change in verbiage and the government level a couple of years back and so ACORN somehow nonprofit status
got removed from an approved qualified health center. Now, also with Senator Bradley yesterday, Senate Bill 2514 was passed and nonprofit verbiage has been added back to that uh qualifying center. So, that's going to be huge for 81
clinic. So, please extend a thank you to Senator Bradley. Um I am so passionate. Um I'm listening to everybody here now. I wish I was a Bradford County resident. Just saying. Um I am from Union County. Um, I do have um a big desire to give
back to the community and I think there's a lot of things that you all if y'all come together as a team, y'all could make some change. Um, two weeks ago um I started a back to school bash uh giveaway drive online and making
calls and I personally have raised $27,900 in two weeks. You can look on my Facebook and you'll see the different businesses are hunting me down to try to get their um advertisement on my Facebook page. We come together as a
community because what we seen and I know I'm supposed to be on acorn, but I'm I'm hearing these things so I'm tying it all together. But um what we were seeing was different um backpacks backpack giveaways were all over the town. You'd have one over here, one over here. And so you'd have the same kids
going to each backpack um giveaway and they'd end up with four or five backpacks for the you know to go to school with. But in reality, a lot of the students that really really needed them didn't even get taken to the backpack giveaway. So what I did when I have eight other ladies that we work
together and we've been working together for five years, we go around and we get community buy in by getting them to sign up and now it's all one effort in Union County. And so I have 46 businesses participating in this backpack giveaway.
That'll be July 19th. Now, moving to the second thing, Union County Impact is another thing we started. You may have seen it on um Facebook, but I started that group because I one wanted a place where people could network and um you
know business building relationships, but we also wanted to use it as a place that community leaders and business um and members could come together and identify disparities whether it's healthcare, social, economic, jobs, um recreation, whatever, roads, whatever it
is, and talk about those identified issues and to identify areas that we could work on and come up with solutions together. We had our first meeting three weeks ago and we had 85 businesses there, 100 people and we had we have businesses that are supporting this
effort by sponsoring the lunch to provide the milk for everybody. We had a venue donated for the space. So, I think a lot of this is where you ask. I first want to respectfully change my ask to 25,000, which is $1,250
less than y'all did last year. Um, Acorn loses $83 for every patient that sits in the chair. I will figure it out. Um, I'm all about trying to do our part. A lot of people think you're just here want to ask for money. Um, I do think outside of
the box. So, if it's a fundraiser dinner that we need to have, um, I started in May and it was our 50th anniversary. So, I said, "Well, if it's my place to raise money, what can we do?" We'll have a dinner. What do you think my goal was for that dinner?
$50,000. We profited $56,000 on that one dinner. But it's because we did ask we asked for the venue space to be donated. Um, we had the food donated. Um, we The only thing that we had a cost for was shirts
that we put all of the vendors names on the back of the shirt. So, I do believe in trying to find every grant possible. We just got a Jackerine grant out of Tampa. It's way down there, but I found it online and they awarded us $25,000.
Our budget is almost $700,000 a year and we are very much right on the line. Um, it's been challenging because the grants have decreased, but we just have to do our part. Um, it's grants, grant ask. I mean, I'm writing those grants and trying to use everyone. Wawa gave me
5,000. Wingstop gave me 6,000. So, I'm looking every little place I can. Looking every every rock I can find. I'm looking under there. So, I appreciate the support from you guys. I know that um dental is uh necessary. A lot of
people think it's just cosmetic, but it's not. It can cause heart disease. It can cause pneumonia, aspiration pneumonia. there's many different health issues that can be um that can be saved if we do the dental care correct and make sure the education is out there.
So, I thank you each one of you for your commitment to support our clinic and um if I can ask and answer any questions, I'd love to. I just think we need to find a way to bring you across that line, that county line and it for us. Well, I will tell
you I love that kind of thing. I am the co-founder of United uh for Cure um cancer organization in Lake Butler and that one walk every year we we bring in around 50 to 80,000. I'm the treasurer for Lake Butler Rotary and with that uh
we do have a good group in there but we raise $81,000 for one dinner for the Saddleup Suray. Um the uh I'm the Woodman Life treasure but that's about giving back. So we always try to find ways to give back. I am a big fundraiser. All I can say is if you
don't ask, they can't tell you. That's what I believe. So, if I can help anybody, I'd love to. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for the wonderful work that you all do and service to our community. Thank you. Okay, moving on to item six, uh, Cider
Electric. Mr. Chairman, if I may, I'd like to make a couple of comments. So, um, when the board hired me, one of your primary directives was for me to go out and seek additional revenue sources for the county. I think we've done a pretty
good job of that so far. Uh, initially we brought you utility franchise fees and then as was mentioned earlier, uh, we we increased the solid waste assessment. Um it looks like well I know we did raise fees associated with
services provided by the fire rescue department and now it looks like we're going to get a fire assessment made across the line and then shortly following that we'll be addressing impact fees. So this is a uh this is just one more opportunity that we're
bringing to you in terms of cost reduction and and additional sources of revenue. So tonight's proposed item will be presented by the team of Schneider Electric as part of these efforts to fulfill my responsibility and my commitment to you and the residents of
Brad County. I want to begin by expressing my support for this project and its potential to reduce long-term energy costs, promote environmental sustainability, and position our county as a forward-thinking leader in renewable
energy. At the same time, I recognize the importance of addressing any concerns and ensuring that the project aligns with our shared values and long-term planning goals. I trust in your thoughtful deliberation and support your decision, whichever direction you
determine is in the county's best interest. With that said, I'm pleased to welcome Mr. Larry Perry and the team from Schneider Electric to present the project details and answer any questions you may have. Mr. Thank you, sir, and thank you, commissioners, for having us here tonight. I want to first of all commend
you because we've been working with your staff for probably about the last eight months now. I think this started in about September, October time frame of last year, these conversations. And in that time, um, I want to commend you all because we go through a lot of counties and the amount of growth that I've seen
here in this county is really incredible in that short amount of time frame. Um, just the gas stations alone are incredible. Um, but I I say that because um you all have great staff here that have helped us through this process. They've been very supportive in getting
us what we needed, working with us, bouncing ideas back and forth off of each other because like your county manager said, when we looked at this initially, we understood that you all have deferred maintenance needs across the county. You operate facilities and
you as many other small counties across not only Florida but the rest of the country are limited in funding. You're constantly asked to do more with less. You have limited manpower. You have limited funding, but you're also tasked with doing these things without raising
taxpayer money. So, one thing that we aim to do through this partnership is find ways to create cost savings because we know that services that you all provide, we've heard it here tonight, are going up. We know that budgets are getting tighter. You all's budgets will
be in a shortfall on certain things in the coming years because costs are increasing. So, as we put this program together, one thing that we had in mind and that county manager asked us from the beginning was we need to make sure that whatever we do is going to save the county more money than it's going to
cost the county over time. Um, we understand that your county facilities are aging. That's never going to change. But one thing that we're doing through this partnership is looking for creative ways to fund those needs. So in this partnership, the number one thing, like I said, was create a revenue stream to
address deferred maintenance. The second thing was to address failing roof systems here at the courthouse. One thing that we learned through our investigation at the courthouse and the jail is it's not just the roofs that are failing, and that's not where the water infiltration is necessarily coming from.
The roofs are outdated. They are in need of repair and replacement. But there's also some other items that we found up there. There are some flashing issues on the two wings of the courthouse. I think you all replaced these roofs in 2016. Um, we did some moisture scans. There was some areas where there wasn't proper
flashing around HVAC drains. Um, those areas are leaking and causing wet decking um and and wet roofing insulation. So, that those are some areas that need to be repaired. There's sealant around windows that are failing. um they've been cocked over time and time again, but there's water
infiltration there. There's some skylights in the building that are leaking water. There's some stucco that has just deteriorated over time. So, it's just general maintenance items that happen over time, but if they're not addressed, cause water infiltration to the building, compromising everything
inside the building from there. So, that was the number one priority. Second priority was the two or the excuse me, the four holding cells here at the courthouse. Um, those toilets are leaking. They've started to come away. We presented you all a presentation that
has pictures of all these items. Um, those are in need of replacement. Um, and making sure that those are up to standards for correctional facility. Making sure that they're properly adhered to the wall, safe, and that that's installed in a way that when inmates are held there to wait trial,
that those spaces are safe. So those items cannot be removed or taken away from the wall up to correctional standards. The next item we looked at was LED lighting throughout the count or throughout the jail and the courthouse. Um this would provide operational
efficiency but also improve the lighting. As you can see in this room, there's different light temperatures around the building. The intent of the lighting was not so much to improve the lighting as much as it was to reduce operational cost. It's a low hanging fruit that's just going to generate
revenue for you all to address some of the other needs. Beyond that, we started looking, okay, how do we find the most effective way to fund this project? One thing that is an awesome opportunity for you all, something that you can take advantage of right now, but over time or
soon here, if uh the federal government passes their current proposed tax plan, uh this federal tax credit for solar will go away. We have an opportunity to capture $800,000 in investment tax credits through the federal government
to install solar here. You all have been talking throughout this meeting about rising costs. One thing that we all know it's inevitable, costs of utilities are going to increase. You all are currently spending about $400,000 a year on your utility costs across the county. The
idea with this project is to in implement a solar array that is going to produce power that'll limit how much power you're going to need to consume on an annual basis over time. That reduction is going to be used to offset the cost of deferred maintenance needs
throughout the county. You all produced or have um purchased the Douglas building. You all have purchased the fairgrounds now and you've taken over ownership of that. You've got the library that you maintain, the Charlie John Center, the extension office, the jail, and this courthouse. So over time,
one of the things that we talked about was knowing there were projects on the horizon that are going to need to be done from a deferred maintenance burden. How do we pay for these things out of existing operational dollars? So money that you're already spending on an annual basis through your utilities, how
do we reduce that cost and put that towards funding these necessary improvements across the county? So the project we've proposed and discussed has those impacts, but it also takes into consideration making sure that this is implemented in the most effective and
appropriate way possible. Making sure that any of the work that's done in the correctional facilities is done safely. Whatever is taken in is taken out. everything that is installed is up to correctional standards that are necessary to maintain those facilities. Keep your um jail staff, sheriff's
department employees safe as they're working in those facilities. Um but also reduce the operational costs. We feel that this project is an incredible opportunity for you all to make an investment in the future of the county and save you a bunch of money. So on the back of the one pager that I've shared
with you all, what this project has the opportunity to do is over the next 20 years provide a guaranteed savings to the county. And then beyond that, solar panels are rated to last for 30 years, they have a 25 year performance
guarantee associated with them, which is going to generate an extra $2.4 million over the life of the panels beyond what they cost. So we've got a project that right now costs $3.6 6 million. You're going to get a tax credit which is $800,000. So it's going to take the $3.6
million project, reduce that to $2.8 million. You are going to make an investment through your AR funds of $350,000. So that reduces the total project value to $2.45 million. So for $2.45 million,
you will have the opportunity to have a project that saves the county $6 million over the next 30 years. and really makes much some much needed improvements. As your county manager said, you all are constantly tasked to do more with less. We found a way that's going to really
improve these facilities and we're excited about the opportunity to work with you guys because in my career, I've worked in several different with just several different public sector clients. And one thing that's always remains the same is when we're working with our
clients, how do we help you do more with less? How do we help you improve your facilities using your existing budget in a way that's not going to have you go to the taxpayers and ask for more funding to help upgrade these facilities? You want to be able to do things like was discussed tonight on recreational
sports. You want to be able to do things like programs at the library with a fair. So, I think this project is an awesome opportunity for you guys to make an investment to fix your operating costs for the future, but also improve the county facilities now with some much needed projects that need to happen. So,
Cassie and I are here today. Um, we're just we're here to answer any questions that y'all have, talk through this. We want y'all to be comfortable with it. We've put a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of work into this with your team. Um, and just really excited about the opportunity to work with you guys. So, I'd like to open it up, answer
any questions you may have, um, and talk through this a little bit more. Question. Yeah, sure. Um, what other Florida county projects are you working on or currently working on maybe counties of our size with a limited budget like we have? Yes, sir. So, I
moved here four years ago. We worked with Citrus County Commission. I'm working with several school systems. um Holmes County schools, Lake County schools we're working with. Um we have a project on the um agenda for approval there come Monday, Monday the 23rd. Um
Jefferson County Schools I'm working putting work together for um so Citrus County is our one reference on the county side. We've worked with several um county commissions in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and then like I said, Citrus County here in Florida.
What what type of project are you doing with Citrus County? Very similar to this. Is it something that you're currently under contract with? Yes, sir. We've been under contract with Citrus County, I think, for the last 14 years. 12 or 12 or 14 years. So, it's got a proven track record. Um, it had many of
the similar things that you all are looking at here. Um, we did some HBAC work, some roofing work on the roof of their courthouse, lighting at several of their facilities. So it had some similar scope to this one. Yes sir.
Could you speak a little bit um to the longevity of the solar system and its long-term benefit? Yes, ma'am. So I'll and I'll let Cassie chime in here as she is our uh lead project development
manager on it. the solar installation, they the panels have an expected life of 30 plus years. They have a warrantable life on their performance production, so how much power they're actually producing of 25 years. So, what we're
projecting here is that these panels are going to last 30 years. Obviously, anything past that 30-year period is going to be excess to what they're projected. Cassie, do you want to add to that or did I cover it? That pretty much covers it. Like you said, 30 years, 25 year performance warranty. Um, there's
not many other parts and pieces to the system. The racking system will last full lifetime. Your inverters are something to consider. The life on those is a little bit less. Um, but your solar system, the modules at least, should be lasting 30 plus years.
And if there should be a failure under their warranty, then you would guarantee that. Yes, ma'am. So, one of the one of the reasons that we've had success with our partnerships um is because once we've installed the project, because we have a
savings guarantee associated with the project, we have to guarantee the performance of the system in the event that the panels are not producing the power that they're supposed to produce. We're not going to be able to uphold our savings guarantee. Therefore, we need to replace the panels for you. So, it is in
our best interest as yours to make sure that if there's a warrantable issue that that's handled under the scope of our project. Yes, ma'am. What's the inverters and how long do they last? The inverter converts the power from DC to AC. Um, it really
depends. We have a nice shaded area in both places to place your inverter. So, 10 plus years on your So, what happens if they go out in 10 years? Um, you just replace them. It's like a an operating at our expense or your expense. That
would be at your expense. Operating cost. Are they expensive? What are um I would say they're like 10% of the total project cost. Um, I just put a number on it right now, but we follow up with you on and it's something we could include.
The hard thing is if you go include that, the thought process, it could last 10 years. it could last 15 years. Do you want to include the cost of something in the project that is could potentially last longer and go replace it before it's failed? It becomes a decision that
you all make. We chose not to because the thought process is if it fails 10 if it doesn't fail after 10 years, why replace it? Why incur the cost up front? Now, it's just not necessary, but it's something to consider.
Yeah, sure. And the panels in 10 15 years they start losing their Am I correct? No sir. If if they're cleaned properly, which is what we're going to train your staff on how to do, this is something that we've talked with Rick and Jason about. If they're
properly cleaned and maintained, they will not lose their production capabilities until a year 25. So they're they're guaranteed to produce the same power from now through year 25 as when we install them. So as long as they're cleaned properly and maintained, they
should produce the exact same power from day one to year 20. And how many panels are we talking about? Um there's a picture. It's about 260 of power on each uh the jail and the
courthouse. Um, I'm trying to remember how many modules on top of my head. We can get you an answer. 2400, I think. Well, and what I'm looking at is Jason staff. Um, that's going to take a little while, isn't it,
to maintain those? I believe we got to do it once a year. Is that correct? Yes, sir. It's once a year. It's similar to watching windows. Um, so you like similar to how you would spray for bugs. You get like a pump solution can. You spray solution on there. Um, usually that does it, but
sometimes you may need to wipe with like a squeegee type um item or a like scrub brush and you'll be given this cost on the inverters because I'm just thinking if it starts breaking even at what was it
14 years but the inverters cost 300,000 then it really won't start breaking even Yeah, they don't they don't cost Yeah, they don't cost 300,000. We'll get you and I know it's 30 years out. Um, but
what happens with the panels then? Yes. So, we talked about this the other day in one of our meetings and I can't remember who asked the question. You can choose to replace them or you can choose to take them off and never put them back on. The thought on this is we're doing
this to produce something. There's a tax credit. We can get these panels installed. You're saving $800,000 on the installation. You could replace them if it's cost effective at that time. You don't have to. You could jump back straight onto the power grid at that
point if it makes sense or look at replacing them, but I think that's a decision that's to be made at that time. Um it's not necessary. I guess my question is um and I'm sure that you you know like in other places when the
panels have been removed if they are going to put new ones up what happens with the old ones I mean where what do you do with them? Yeah. I mean, you can either dispose of them. I'm sure they're Where would you dispose of them? That's my question. Because they have like
precious metal. I think typically how it would work is you would work with um a solar group or if you to do another solar project, it would be included in their project to dispose of them. You would have to do a a very particular I think waste disposal on the solar panels
because of the makeup of them. But you can't just take them to the No, ma'am. But sometimes I know you I I do know that you can sometimes resell them to be repurposed at another point. So it's going to depend on and you're you're
talking 30 years in the future. So it's we can't we can't say like you know they may come up with you know a a new recycling opportunity or something like that. So it's just hard to say right now. Mr. Chair,
yes, just a few um followup comments and questions. Um Mr. Harren and his team have done a wonderful job in meeting with all of us and going over all of the details and I think that his team has demonstrated what they needed to accomplish which is
showing and cost saving. It's just now a matter of us to determine what project we want to do. I know in the beginning when we spoke about this, our primary focus and need was the courthouse roof.
And um I think we were very interested in seeing if there were grant opportunities um that we could maybe go after to try to help, you know, identify those opportunities to help address some of those needs of ours. um again primarily being the roof and I think
this project has grown into you know some other needs that I think we can all agree on repair replacing some of the toilets in the inmate cells and replacing LED lighting. Um but it's just a matter of what is our priority and how quickly are we wanting to tackle these
items and I think the way that you were able to address that was doing it all at once and through solar panels. Um certainly you know it's worth looking at because there will be a cost savings after 14 years we would see that return
on the investment. Um but some of the things that I think that we still have to consider as far as our community there is going to be a loss of revenue to the city of Stark if we were to implement this. What does that mean to the city of Stark and their operations?
As Mr. Riddick indicated earlier they have limited revenue too. What is that going to mean to their citizens? You know, I'm a just speaking frankly. I'm a city resident, you know, and if they lose that revenue, is that going to mean city residents are going to be charged an uptick in other costs? I don't know.
But it's not something I think that we've had a chance to really explore and look at and determine. Also, I think just something that we need to look at too is what is the total cost of the roof repair and can we handle that
internally? Do we want to look at our CIP and and say, you know, what do we want to maybe eliminate and what do we maybe want to tackle and apply those ARPA funds? Um, and continue to replace our light bulbs as they go out with LED
lights and continue to replace things, you know, as we need to instead of maybe all at once. Um, I don't want to, you know, say in any way that Mr. Parin hasn't done a good job. He has. He came in, he did a an analysis of our needs
and we created this big proposal as far as being able to address it all at once. It's just a matter of do we need to address it all at once or should we do it in phases. So, and I think Mr. Cornne has done an excellent job in trying to find ways to, you know, look at addressing those needs. So, I I
certainly don't want to be critical in any way. I just think it's at this point looking at, you know, how quickly do we want to tackle these things and do we want to maybe do it a little bit um I'll give an example. I have a lot of in my home and I have a lot of projects that I
want to do in my home, but I'm not going after it to increase my interest rate. I'm just going to chew it off a little bit at a time. Um, so but that's me. That's my budget and I just want to throw that out there for the board to think about. Good point. Thank you.
Next question. Mr. Carnegie, are we receiving the funds for the roof on the the um the courthouse? The only funds we'd be receiving would be the tax credit, the $800,000 tax credit for the installation of the solar. So we we didn't receive any
appropriations for for the upgrade. The the $350,000 ARPA funds would be looked at as a down payment. Okay. No additional we request for upgrades. Oh, you're
talking about this year's appropriation. Yes, we uh I think we're in the budget now for a million little a million and change and that's that's for the upgrades in the jail. It it's not for the roof. That's correct. It is not for
the roof. And and one thing that that I will add, so you hit the nail on the head, um Rachel, when you were just describing how the project has evolved. When we initially started looking at this, there was needs throughout the
county. Your library HBAC work is going to have to be done. It's the way it was installed. There's strip vans that are not properly draining, so there's water dripping through the roof there. The extension office has humidity issues that are going ongoing because of how
the HBAC system is set up over there. We all we've talked about the roof here, roof of the jail, the gutter system over at the jail, the toilets here at the courthouse. The project evolved and I think this is exactly to your point. The reason we looked at the solar was
because and I'm like a southern boy. I grew up in Louisiana. The solar thing for me took a little minute to to understand. I look at it as a financial benefit. We can get a $800,000 tax credit. Money
doesn't grow on trees. I My take on this is how do we do this in a way that sets the county up for financial success. If we can come up with a project that the federal government's willing to pay for almost half of the solar cost and it's going to generate excess savings for the
county. You've got those needs at the at the library. You've got needs at the jail, both interior and exterior of the building. You've got the extension office. If this project can save you more money, that you can over time address those things as that saving comes as that savings comes in, great.
By no means would I say, "Hey, do solar for the sake of doing solar." That to me, it doesn't do any good. And that's not why I'm here. I'm here to help you. your county manager asked me find ways to save money so we can do these projects in an effective cost-effective
manner. So when we looked at it, it evolved to including solar because if the federal government's willing to pay for it and it's not coming out of Bradford County taxpayers pockets, then I see that as a financial benefit. So that's kind of how this evolved into what it was. So I think that was a great
great point as well. And I see that you've offered us um three options. One just dealing with the courthouse um kind of renovation re renovations and then the possible jail. And when I was
looking through the data that you provided, it seems that the jail is the one building that um that was spend the most money for. Yes, ma'am. Um for power. Yes, ma'am. But the floor house
is only about 96,000 as opposed to 231,000 a year for for that. And so when you look when I'm looking at um on the investment side, we were able to get um the 800,000
credit. Um it, you know, it may be worth looking at um the courthouse for the 1.5 um when I look at the fact that it would take um you know 20 years to really
realize um a significant saving um perhaps that's an option that we we could look at but um when I think about the other options we still have to spend
almost u about 380,000 a year for a for the the power for the electric electricity cost still and then over time how many years then would it take
to realize the the savings for it. So those are the critical pieces for me to look at weighing all those those um factors. Um, so it may not necessarily be feasible to go to
do the max, but perhaps we'll have the less options. Yes, ma'am. I I think option number three was year 14, I think, is where it started seeing a positive return on investment every year from then through however long the solar panels last. If it's 25 years and then
they start degradating in performance, you started saving a bunch of money at that point from year 14 on. if they last 30 plus years, then yeah, $2.4 million. I think it's definitely there are things to consider with all of the options. I
think regardless of what we determine, I say we what you all determine because you're the ones that get to make the decision. No matter what, there's a great cost savings that can be had that can be used to upgrade your county facilities. So, I think there's there's three great projects that we presented
you all. It ultimately is going to come down to what is the most financially advantageous for the county over time and then how does that address your needs because I know budgets are tight like we talked about several times. So just trying to bring you guys different
options so you can make an educated decision. And I guess I have one and this year Mr. trying to get an option answer. Uh if it came to with the jail being 380
something,000 annually for electricity, can the portions of the jail set aside fund be used because it is the jail to um address that issue. The jail right now uses $231,000
a year in utilities. And to your point, it is obviously going to be the highest utility cost. It's a 247 facility that people are living in. So that's obviously, you know, that's the case. So yeah, I I can't speak the sheriff. Um I
was putting you on the spot, Sheriff. Yeah, we we've been making the upgrades uh with that. We've been using jail set aside fun to do that. So we've been doing those things to fix the lights, insulation, floors, sealers. Y'all remember we've been doing all those along the way.
You can fix all the toilets today, but you can have one inmate destroyed another one. Those those are constant things we do all the time anyway. Plumbing. Uh we've done things they can't flood the jail system. They have to flush certain things gets in the sewer system. A lot of those things that we do along the way we take out of that
jail set aside. So that's been something we've been doing all the way. U roof I think we looked at it. Guy said resealing things we need to do. I wor about putting more weight and stuff on there because what we have not sure about how all that plays into and solar panels
you know I wouldn't ask I'm just throwing in so I don't know this like I say I just heard it come up here recently so here I am but uh yeah we're going to keep doing what we do regardless what y'all decide to build there if you want to do that that's great I think maybe I'll be honest with
you I think personally oursel going out and contract and building things I could be do much more efficient and with a hands-on way. Like I say, 70% of it replaced LED. So other than doing the roof repair, we see the new gutters. We've got the gutters up came from that.
The new guttering system, those type of thing we do along the way as we have the money are set aside and we ask them to do it. Can I ask you about your gutters? Because you said they were in bad shape, right? Yes. They're brand new. Yes, sir. That's why they Yes, ma'am. That's why he his team has gone to replace those.
So those Oh, so we don't have to replace them. Not the guttering system though. Now there still are those um I guess the passengers. I don't I don't So the gutters what we have heard from maintenance staff is that it's still um draining over the edge of gutter so it's
not evacuating the water properly. Um they were thinking it was because it was set um at the incorrect height. So they were going to um adjust the height so it catches more water to evacuate it properly. We go bigger than what were on there originally and do it. You still get the same problem high steep roof.
You still get some overshoot which is part of it. Jason have to come do the asphalt sometime to get gaps in that but it's been there 25 years probably longer now. Yeah when the building was built but I think those are things we just been doing along the way. It's up to you the
commission but you know a lot of these things I said we selfcontract we can do say they were sent over. I didn't have a whole lot of knowledge of it. I know the history of the building. I've been here since day one. first one will connect. as a new one. I've seen a lot of the
change and we just kind of been fixing as it goes along such as the light such as insulation such as new air conditioner units we have upgrade and replace we go they wear out using it wears out and reducing the light which we have we
set water to temp it state statute so we keep the water boiling all the time feels good in the summer it feels nice and warm in the winter to keep the water temps replacing LED lights reding timer switches sealing the floors become back
up. Y'all help us a couple years ago. We seal all the floors and redone all that. So, we've done a lot of those things. Thanks. One last thing. Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. Um, is it possible to see what the house would be if you just did the jail just
the jail solar how we showed you option two but flip the jail instead of the courthouse and the impact yeah we can do that the reason I'm asking is because when I look at all of the figures that's the greatest cost yes ma'am that's the
courthouse is only 96,000 a year yes ma'am um which will be a manageable fee but the jail is over a quarter of a million Justice. Yes, ma'am. We can look at that. Um
I think we we looked at it compared to the courthouse. There were Yeah, there's just some design considerations. Um so with the courthouse, you have a flat roof that is very easily accessible. Um so it makes it a lot easier to clean the panels. Um you also have a really you
have an ideal spot to put them. You have a mechanical penthouse um with one side that is typically shaded with the way it's positioned. Um, so there were like design considerations that went into um, preferencing the courthouse solar installation over the jail if you were
to only do one, but that does not mean that we could not look at doing the jail because it is definitely a higher consumption facility. Um I think also you just have to look at it from an overall reduction in your utility cost rather than um I guess facilitywide
unless you are going to be appropriating specific funds from that budget to that project that makes sense. And one one thing that I'll I'll add here the reason that the impact and reduction is greater at the courthouse than it is at the
jail. you have a higher consumption at the jail, but we collectively as a team and looking at this with your staff decided, it would be better to not put panels on the part of the building where there are inmates um just because of how
that that circular or I guess rectangular shaped building is polygon. I I don't know exactly what shape it is. the way it is positioned, it isn't really conducive for supporting solar the way that it needs to be. So,
the payback on the investment would not be there. So, our ability to produce enough power to fully offset the cost of that facility, that's why you're seeing a greater reduction here at the courthouse than you are there. Now, I will add I think the overall
reduction at each facility is within $5,000 give or take a year in cost reduction. So, what we can do is we'll run the numbers on it. We'll get those to you all so you can look at it, make a decision. Um, but just wanted you to have all the information on how we
arrived at the decisions that we did arrive at. I won't preced anymore, but when I think about the amount that the electricity cost for the jail in five years, if you had the solar, you could realize the savings, significant saving the uh
because you're going to spend, you know, you would have saved a million dollars in five years without having to pay that $23 one 231,000 annual. Oh, so one thing on that um partially correct, partially uh
incorrect on that information. So you're not we're not fully reducing the utility. We're not going to zero on the facility. They are still going to require to purchase some power. The reason we didn't offset the cost 100%. Is there's a point of diminishing
returns. So there becomes a point where it's going to cost X amount to install it and it's only going to save so much. In order for us to install an array that would fully offset your utility costs at the jail, there would be months that you're overproducing power that you're
not using and the amount of credit that you're getting back from your net metering agreement would not make sense. So you'd be producing more power than you're using half of the year. So therefore, it would not make sense to install that much solar. So that's how
we we right sized it to the minimum month of production, making sure we maximize the production in that minimum month. So February, you use the least amount of power. You'll be fully off the grid or right at that line in February.
And then the other months, you may have a little bit more costs per month. Um, but that's just how we've decided to put that together because it's the best bang for your buck. Yes, ma'am. Any other questions? Any other questions? Mr. Cory, did you have
anything else you wanted to add? No, sir. I believe uh Larry and Cassie covered it all quite well and few questions have been asked. We'll uh we'll move on from there. Thank you all very much for your time this evening. Thank you so much for all your time and
footage. Yes, sir. Very much. Thank you. All right. Item number second seven uh recommendation to approve a bid for Southeast uh County Road 325 Hampton uh trail head um the Eptop Financial
Project number 447120-1-38-02 uh from John Hip Construction um for the $349,6 $66. Yeah. I make a motion to approve uh the bid for Southeast County Route 325 as
read by the chairman. We have a motion from Commissioner Dy. Second from Commissioner Thompson. Is is there any questions? Yeah. Um Go ahead. Do we know what um his bid
was? Um the gentleman that's Yes. Um he also bid uh 349 and a number that was slightly less than 67. So they were within
few hund few bucks of each other. A few hundred. I don't know the exact I mean I I give you the exact number. It's um 362 142 I'm sorry 34908750 was uh the gentleman I spoke to you
earlier and then hip is 349606 so they were within uh 500 change and I like this. So I'm I'm just uh just asking is this the normal way that I
mean if if there's a piece of documentation missing that we don't give them I I think that um the issue that has arisen is that these are FDOT funds and um the only way something could be
waved like that would be it would have to go back to state so there would be a delay while that occurs. Um I don't know the length of that delay. I'm not saying that's why you do not do something and you just that's just a fact. Um and uh
you can't unilaterally say, "Yeah, we're going to wait." That would be something that would the department would need to reflect upon. Um number one. Number two, um Mr. um I've been doing a second law for a
long time. that you know the these um there's there's rules for a reason. You submit your documents in accordance with the um with the parameters of the of the bid.
Uh and and when that and there's a deadline and then when that's not uh conformed to then um there is often uh you know what can be perceived as unfair but you know that's the rules. Um
I I'm not going to tell you that that waving doesn't happen in the world. I'm not going to tell you that um you couldn't pursue trying to see that the department would wave this situation. Um perhaps could do. So, um what that then
does is create a whole new set of issues which is is that material um deviation from what the specifications were. In other words, the then you have another person that didn't fit who then has a um potential
complaint that hey, I followed the rules. What's the problem here? Um, and uh, I'm not saying that that's a complaint that would carry today if they were to do something about it or not, but I'm just presenting to you all, you know, my experience and how these things
unfold. That all being said, the motion in the second that was made, um, if it were approved, that that would be something that, uh, I would I as your attorney would be very comfortable in defending. Mr. to my um my question that I wanted
to raise. Uh I I want to be clear that everything was done of course but I'm assuming it's a sealed bid or or is uploaded uh to our
system that is reviewed um by multiple people and looking at all of those documents that were submitted based on the criteria that was outlined of what needed to be in there. there's no chance that something could have um
not been scanned or went through or any of that kind of thing that I I don't know. So, I just wanted to be clear on that piece. Uh assuming that it's been reviewed, it's been reviewed by our staff for all of the documents that were to be
contained therein. So DOT uh engages a uh engineer to kind of watch over these matters and then comments to DOT what they see in the bids and included in that commentary was
um concerning FB pre-qualifications per LAP specification 21 at sole discretion the department may wave pre-qualification requirements on contracts of 500 grand or less. So there so the engineer
pointed out that there was a failure to comply. Um but uh you know the department could wait. That's I've said that. Not saying that that couldn't happen. Um it could happen.
Um but I'd also do other things which is that motion second were pass that would be something I would be very comfortable with as your attorney. Not telling you to do that, saying you need to do that, saying you have to do that, but you also are faced with these competing
matters and it's difficult. And I I feel badly for the individual who came here tonight because obviously has good business. Um, you know, these are not things easy things putting these packets together.
No, they're not. And they they do take a lot of time and I appreciate the that you put into that. And certainly um I mean I've seen you know people come sliding in at at at 2:01 when the bids due at 2 o'clock and you know it's well hey I couldn't find a parking place.
Well you know what you have 30 days you know so there's so many things that really go into you know that checklist you know you've been doing this for a while I'm sure especially if you guys are DOT certified. So I know if you were submitting a project that was a federal
highway or you know anything like that then certainly I mean if you're missing a signature you're out you're done you know so I again it's very unfortunate and and like I said I've I've been a part of it and then I've seen it happen
and again like I said I think that you know based on the bid requirements that were out there something that was missing in the bid requirements and therefor before that box wasn't checked. So again, I'm just, you know, standing with my motion and
sure that there would be other projects in Bradford County that you I hope you would come back to bid on, but u you know this time, like I said, I'm I'm standing by my motion. Anyway, I I just wanted to be clear that it was there was something missing, but if the document
wasn't there, then Okay. And I was the same way. I just didn't know the um complete process and just wanted to make sure that um that that everybody was given the same opportunity. That's
and and I hate it. I I do I hate it for you for missing out of a bid like that for one document. I already got a motion. Yeah. Yeah. So again, and and like you like
our attorney said, DOT reviewed this. This is what they kick back and this is what they recommended. Well, I mean, I said what they that what they said what their comments were. Yeah. Um and uh what their comments were that um it was at their sole discretion
the department. I mean that not not the BCC, right? Fine. Everybody good? Okay, we have a motion and a second. All in favor by the sign of I. I. Motion carries. 50. Move on to the uh court report. Mr.
Chair, board. Um Kirk Thompson regrets that he couldn't be here tonight. He's attending a conference in Orlando, a clerk's conference. And Dana Lallet, as you see, is not with us as well because she's attending a finance uh conference as well. So, you just have to leave
tonight. And I just want to say that um you know our office will do what it can. Um we will meet with the county manager and see what we can try to find in our budget. Um I mean we we certainly support the initiative of recreation. We
see the value of it and I want to be a whole part at least see that from this. I know often we're sometimes portrayed as the bad guys when we have to sometimes show the reality of where the dollars are and sometimes what our our spending is and sometimes it's not. Um
you know I just want to remind everyone too that not so long ago talking maybe think 10 years ago and that may seem like a long time but it really wasn't our auditors were warning us that we were going into our reserves um and that
if we continued in that path in years we would be grow and for the first time because we are at 10 million and because we've maintained our spending our fund balance is growing. So you all would be disappointed in this office if we didn't
report you to you know when our spending is increasing um so that way we can try to continue to make sure we're keeping that balance. But that's all we're doing. Um, I do think that there's some areas in the budget that we can look at and and that's what we'll do as a staff
and a team to try to look back that we can because we do believe in that initiative and I think as you indicated, you know, this could be a self- sustaining operation. I think that makes a big difference obviously, you know, if we're looking at a two-year commitment. Um, so let us see what we can find.
I appreciate it. Thank you. Paris report. We're all county manager. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to point out to the board that uh Chief Carter attended the commission meeting,
city council meeting in Lahi last night and they unan unanimously approved the uh the fire assessment. So, the city of Lahi is now on board. The next thing I want to mention is the next meeting of the Bradford County Fair Association will be at 6 pm on Tuesday,
June 24th. at the fairgrounds building. They're going to conduct a tour of the fairgrounds and then hold the meeting at building 3. The next is the Florida Association of County's annual conference. It'll be held next week in Orlando with a total of five of us going. So, we're looking
forward to the participation there. And then lastly, the uh Florida Association of Calities calendar contest has opened. So, uh, this year, um, the theme is Florida flower power. So, we would encourage anyone in Bradford
County to submit a photo that, uh, could be considered for inclusion in next year's calendar. That's all. That's all I have, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Any report? Nothing to report.
All right. Commissioner comments. I'll start with Commissioner D. I don't have anything. Um I wanted to thank the consent citizen. Um I sponsored the the assigned bus for the concerned citizens camp and it was a wonderful experience for our
children the children there who attended it's important that we uh impart to the children that learning can be fun and to get them engaged in science and they had a really good turnout. We had um Dr. Steel there. We had Carol Mosley and
um Mr. Wilson who brought actually brought the science bus uh and the kids had just a great learning experience there. So, we need to do more of that in the community. Um and um I want to um
express my appreciation to Mr. Weeks and and his absent reaching out to um one um person in the community who really needed some help. Um and that program is being effective in helping people in the
community. Um I wanted to um just say um Mr. Carnegie we have asked you to look at methods and means in which we can engage in that would be cost-saving over long period of time not for short times
but long periods of time. So we have to look critically at areas that we can realize the savings over time. Um so if there's any way that we can look at a solar program even if not being able to
implement the most costly one to look at it and see if see if it's possible and that we could benefit from it like you know with the jail. Um and and to you Chimmer
um never let go of dreams. Um the children are important. Our our community is important. So, it's not a no, but it's a matter of looking at whether or not
uh we can sustain a program within our existing budget because we have encouraged this board. Clerk department has encouraged us to have some contingency funds so that we we can maintain and sustain ourselves if
we if we need to have an emergency, if we had an emergency. So we can't deplete everything that we are trying to to save u for a rainy day and not knowing the tenement of political situation or
whether we may have um property taxes reduced in another year or so. So we have to consider all of those things and how we can maintain and sustain ourselves based on the revenue that we're generating and to look for for um
new means. So I think that it it's something that we could possibly do for a recreation and and it's not a no, but it's just figuring out how to how to do that. Um, tomorrow is a holiday, Junth. It's uh it marks a
significant event in the life of African-American uh in our nation. Uh it's was the ending of slavery. Um and it was um in Texas um on June 19th, 1865
was the last um day that um slavery was enforced in our country. So, we're we're fortunate to live in a country in which all people are free and that we're brothers and sisters. And so, that's a significant holiday for us. And
I'm appreciative to our county for recognizing that and celebrating it with the rest of the nation. um to say thank you to all and I'm just appreciative of this board and that we talk through things. We try to work through and process things together. Um that's and
that's important. Thank you. Yeah. I'd like each and everyone coming out tonight. I'd like to thank Rachel and all
I don't know how y'all do it. But I know Benny's getting a little prepared, but I appreciate y'all. What y'all do? Well, I'd like to say um Thank you to the chair who is um looking
to cut in budget and hopefully that we'll get some money that may help with this project. Um I got to thank Jason. Jason Jason has has um been there for me a lot this this week and
and last week getting some little last minute projects done before the rains all get here. And um Jason, I really appreciate very much and um I'd really like to get with you ma'am and um and talk about some
fundraising. I mean absolutely because as we see this is not just a county desire and it's not just a city desire. This it's the I mean the the board of commissioners what I meant. It's the
whole county that would like to see this implemented. So, in my opinion, if we put it out there, like you said, the only thing can happen is they say no. But I would very
much like to help maybe doing some fundraising and um to to kick it off and get it started. And the gentleman sitting right directly behind you is the world's best helping with fundraising. He can draw the money out of people. I
promise he gets it out of us. Just kidding. But um got a gun. But he does he's very helpful in anything that we try to do. So if you would just wait a little bit, I'd really
like to to talk to you about that. Mr. I appreciate it. Mr. Rick, before we go on, can I just say one thing and and I mean this from my heart, too, because you know, we've talked about this and we all talk about we need, you know,
everybody else making cuts and and different departments and everything. And uh so I'm I'm sitting here running some numbers and thinking about this a lot. I want to put the board on the spot here. We've not talked about cutting our own being us and what our salaries.
There's 26 more weeks left starting July 1st. $192 192 coming out our paychecks of deduction every two weeks would be $5,000 a piece from each of us.
So, I'd like for you all to consider that going in. That's $25,000. So, there's there's a fundraiser right there. We just raised $25,000 if we're all in. I do believe people across the county
will be just be the same way. They'll be proud to be a part of it. I honestly believe get part of your your salary. I like my big picture up there. I want to make a picture when y'all go in the gates. Is that is that I that's
something that we can do. We just get the payroll and just have it deduct. Well, it's a it's a little more complicated than that. There is a statute that talks about what you make. Um but we we'll I'll work with the clerk and we'll talk about potential options. I just don't want you have to pay t
taxes on your donation. I can't understand what I'm saying. Thank you. Um and so that's um I really just not But but these are very sensitive matters and that's for y'all to work out and talk and all this kind of stuff that I know
that sure the citizens appreciate the incentive and um but there may be some laws that prevent you from being we'll talk about okay I understand understand the intent and
certainly do everything to make your intent be effectuated. I just don't want you to get in a situation where you're paying taxes on money you didn't get. I don't want to do as I say and not as I do, you know. So, understood. And and and I'm and I'm not I don't want to put around the bra. You ask a question.
Sure. Thanks. Thanks, Chris. Uh again, I just want to thank everyone for being here tonight. Uh great presentations. Thank y'all so much. Thank you, Snider. See what happens. But um thank you everyone for being here and um there's
nothing else coming before the board. Um