[Music] [Music] [Music] Pretty
[Music] [Music] cool.
[Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]
[Music] [Music] Hey, [Music] Here [Music] [Music]
we go. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music]
[Music] Everybody, hey [Music]
if you wish to speak to any item on the agenda or during the public comment portion of the meeting, please fill out a speaker card. Each person addressing the board shall have three minutes to complete his or her comments on each agenda item for which he or she has filled out a card. The chair has the
discretion to determine or alter the time limits on any agenda item. The board of county commissioners requests that speakers appearing under the public comment section of the agenda limit their comments or presentations to matters relating to county business that are within the board's control,
authority, and jurisdiction. Good morning everyone and welcome to the August 26 meeting for the board of county commissioners. We have uh a quorum. I'll call the meeting to order. We have invitation today by Pastor
Rodney T. Osborne. Is Rodney here? No. Okay. Um let's do the pledge of allegiance. Uh, and that's me to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Commissioners, we do not have uh minutes for approval this morning. We have uh
two items before we get to consent. Uh Senator Tom Wright is here today to present us with a check. And uh Senator, you're recognized, sir. Good morning, everyone.
It's good to be here always. It's a privilege for me to be down here in the great company of Bvard, which I've been several times already in the last few days. Are we back again tomorrow? This is my favorite time of the year bringing checks back to the district. We brought
almost $500 million back to the district this year. So, it's really been a good year. [Applause] It's uh $6 million almost that we're bringing to you today. Each of these investments addresses a specific
community need while working together to build things that are safer, healthier, and more sustainable within this county. First, we have the West Central Avenue bridge replacement, which is funded at just a little over $1.2 million. This bridge is a vital connection point,
as you know, for residents and businesses. Replacing this aging structure will ensure safety and reliability for years to come. Next is the Indie Atlantic storm drainage improvements funded at just a little over $1.7 million. And we know that the
flooding concerns have affected neighborhoods here. This project will provide relief, reducing uh flood risks, and protecting property when rains, heavy rains come come into Bvard. Finally, and perhaps the most important one for our environment is the Indian
River Lagoon countywide sewer connection assistance, which is funded at just a little over $2.9 million. This is more about an infrastructure. It's about it's about protecting one of Florida's natural treasures. And by
expanding the sewer connections, we will significantly reduce nutrient nitrogen, excuse me, nutrient pollution, helping restore the health of the lagoon for future generations. So together, these projects, as I said, are nearly $6 million. And that is a powerful
statement of support from the state of Florida to Bard County. So I'm a proud to have worked alongside you and I'm looking forward to providing you with this big check here. So, and I think we'll have some commissioners come down and accept that.
Um, and also, um, I think public works. So, proud to present you with this check for 5,927,261. All right. Go ahead. Go ahead, sir. A lot of people are involved to make
this happen. So, it's not just me. It's a lot of people that have to fight for their share of the funding. Of all the checks that we pass out here in the state, it represents only 20% of all the funding that was requested. So, it's it's a challenge to make sure you get the money that you need.
All right, we ready? Okay. Thank you. Thank you again, Senator, for supporting Bvard County in the legislature. We appreciate you. All right. Commissioner Atinson, you have a
resolution this morning. I do. If I could have um Laura McCarthy come on up with any guests that you might have with you. So, I'm going to read the resolution um and then ask you for a couple of your thoughts. Okay.
Whereas addiction is a complex and treatable disease and with the right support life recovery is possible. And whereas more than 20 million Americans are recovering from sub substance abuse disorder which means that many of us are close to someone working to overcome
mental and substance use disorders. Whereas by celebrating individuals on the road to recovery, we commit to helping prevent substance use disorder, supporting those who are still struggling, and providing people in recovery with the resources they need to live full and healthy lives. And whereas
we thank peer recovery support professionals, counselors, addiction specialists, first responders, doctors, and family members who work tirelessly to help those who suffer from substance use disorder. And whereas we remain grateful for the efforts of the Bvard Recovery Fest sponsored by area
treatment centers, recovery support organizations, community businesses dedicated to ending the stigma of addictions and mental health issues. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Bvard County Board of County Commissioners hereby proclaim September 2025 as
National Recovery Month. Done, ordered, and adopted in regular session on this 26th day of August, 2025. And you want to make a motion, Commissioner? I would like I make a motion. Okay. Uh
have a motion by Commissioner Atkinson. I think uh Commissioner Delaney got there first for a second. Clerk will call the role. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atinson? Yes. Commissioner Alman? Yes. Chairman Felner? Yes. And we'll show that passes 5-0.
Ma'am, you're recognized. Thank you. My name is Laura McCarthy. I'm the executive director and the founder for the Bvard Recovery Fest, which is a local nonprofit communitydriven outreach to create a platform for providers and recovery
organizations so that Bvard County citizens can see that there is help and hope in the county. I am a woman in long-term recovery. My recovery date is May 3rd, 1985. And by the grace of God and the community of people like this, I
am here today to go from criminal to community leader, it is possible. Recovery is possible. And that is probably our biggest message is that you too can recover and there is hope. Behind me today, I have various organizations. We'll have over a hundred
vendors, sponsors, and donors at this event, which will happen at Melbourne Auditorium on Saturday, September 13th from 10 until 200 p.m. Uh with me today, I have Palm Point Behavioral Health, which is one of our exclusive event sponsors. We had La Amastad, Palm Point,
Central Florida Behavioral Hospital, and University Behavioral Center be one of our largest sponsors for this event this year. Uh we also have Space Coast Recovery in the House, Recovery Connections of Central Florida, which is our only RCO recovery uh community
organization in Bvard County, launching two new um uh facilities, drop-in centers that are going to be opening very soon in Melbourne and in Titusville. We have Orlando Recovery Center, Livewell Behavioral Health, and uh of course our board members that are
represented today, as well as Project Oasis, who works on our programs and most of our printed um material. SAMHA started the National Recovery Month back
in 1989. SAMA stands for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the federal government. It is the agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance behavioral health of the nation and to improve the lives of individuals living with mental health
and substance use disorders and their families. National Recovery Month was started in 1989 as a national observance held every September to promote and support new evidence-based treatment recovery practices, the nation's strong and proud recovery community, and the
dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery in all of its forms possible. I left my clinical work. I am a retired LMHC that stands for licensed mental health counselor MCAP master certified addictions professional in 2018 and felt like my
service to the community was not done. I joined the Bvard opioid misuse task force under the Bvard Prevention Coalition and at that time we did not have a recovery fest. In fact, it was Marian County that came over to us in 2021. Their heroin task force came over to our task force and said what's wrong
with you people in Bvard? Why don't you have a recovery fest? And we all looked at each other and said, "I don't know. Why don't we have a recovery fest? We need one." And so what happened was that vision birthed into the Bvard Recovery Fest, which was housed under the Bvard Prevention Coalition its first year. At
the end of that year, Stanley said to me, "You got too big too fast and uh you don't fit with my mission. You need to go create your own organization or get under another nonprofit." And I sought the community support. And at that time, Bvard Recovery Fest became its own 501c3
charitable organization with the IRS. By the way, I had my IRS designation within 30 days after they got off the phone and told me it'd take at least 120. I think they believe in our vision as well. This is our fourth year. We'll have over 100 vendor sponsors and donors. We have a
free family fun day. We are tired of seeing death in our county. We were number one per capita in the in Florida for fentanyl poisonings until we believe our actions which are many of our community partners started distributing Narcan throughout the city doing Narcan
training um within all cities in Bvard County. We have reduced ourselves to number five in fentanyl poisoning deaths in Bvard County and in the state of Florida. Uh we continue to believe that our efforts in this county will continue
to help people survive and thrive. We promote recovery. We believe it's possible. We know it's possible. We know treatment is possible. And with this kind of information, we hope to reach our county citizens and bring them hope and health. We this year launched a
mental health event. By the way, the National Mental Health Month is in May. We launched our very first mental health event. It happened to the Space Coast Health Foundation. We had well over 200 people participate and 30 primary mental health vendors support that event. And again, everything is free to the
community. Oh, by the way, did I say it's free to the community? So, free food, free fun, inflatables. Wings of Grace will do flight simulators. Bard County Sheriff's Office will do their teen driving simulator. We'll also have
uh the inflatables outside with face painting. We also have seven different mobile response units that we'll be showcasing including Matthews Hope, Sleeper Bus, Daily Bread's mobile unit, HUG uh which is Healthc Care Unity Group
as well as Curative Care will be doing HIV hepatitis C testing for free. Uh we also have uh daily bread coming out and showcasing their mobile unit. Uh so it's going to be a really fun day. We just encourage all the community. I did leave some cards. Please tell your friends and
family, anyone that's struggling. There is hope and help in Bvard. September 13th, 10 to2 Melbourne Auditorium. Thank you for Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Atkinson and Liz Atwood for this resolution. It means the world to
us very very much to be recognized by the commissioners. Thank you very much. [Applause] You did a a nice job. And Commissioner Atinson's going to come uh to present
you with a resolution. Uh community, please. Thank you. [Applause] All right, commissioners. We'll move on to consent. Is there anything anyone
wants to take off at consent? I would like to um pull F18 the authorization to utilize sole single source distri distributors and piggyback contracts for goods and services utilizing utilized by county
departments and offices. Okay. How about we take that up a little bit later so we can give staff um some time to to get that together. Is that okay? commendable to that. Yes, I think we got some other easier things today we could click off and maybe get
people on their way. With that said, uh minus F18. Is there a motion for the rest of consent? Move to approve. All right, we have a motion um by Commissioner Delaney for the rest of consent. Minus F-18. Is there a second? Second. I have a second by Commissioner Atinson.
Clerk will call the role. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Yes, Chairman Felner. Yes, we'll show that passes 5-0. I made a note. Commissioner Delaney, you won't let me forget, right? F8.
Okay. Okay. We have a few cards on the G portion of public comment. So, we'll go to those. Mr. Panic, sir, you're recognized. And he does have some
pictures for us. So, I'm going to show you a few pictures real quick before I begin. You might want to move the mic up. You're kind of tall so we can hear you. Test test. Okay. I'm going to show you a few pictures. Um I didn't know there was a problem um
in our county, but I took some took some pictures of uh this that landed up on my street off of Industry Drive. This picture that's and that's a side picture of it. This is um off of Pineapple and US1.
There's that old building that always sits there and um I there was about like 11 piles. It's just some of the pictures. Okay. And um I took some pictures and uh I saw
that um that ever since January 1st um what I found out from the landfill, the landfill now um commercial groundskeeper people have to pay so much for a ton. So, a lot of the commercial entities, even small or big, have now um have
found dump sites within the county. Any vacant land, they dump it. Um I found them throwing it over in the ditch in in in the ditches that go into our interculture waterway system and a lot of that gets washed out and we're constantly cleaning inter coastal waterway. Um there's you can go through
all the ditches and you could ask some of the uh um road and bridge because they clean out our ditches. And I'm sure uh Carl at the time was I knew him really well. He used to you know mow the ditches out and he saw his fair share of stuff. But um the solution to this to to
stop it from the epidemic because a lot of the the worst spot I've seen is about 80 piles that were on um Turtle Mound and um on um John Rose Boulevard that used to be an old AMF FM radio station and there's about 80. I let Amy know in
Road and Bridge about it. She barcaded it up and uh and they stopped that. Um there's uh the road and bridge and the city has been pretty busy cleaning up these piles that the commercial entities leave behind for us to clean up. And the
only thing I asked and maybe put extra personnel in those different within the county to you know maintain those and I did think of a solution um maybe with the attorney's help here the county's attorney is that um right now the landfill takes all all debris but if
they contract it out put on a contract two-year contract I mean the guy that right right next to Sarno does that he bags it sells it he sells it to landscaping but the county could put it out for contract that you know that all this debris now goes to a piece of land
5 acres that the county has leased out to the the the guy the guy that bid the contract and um and he can mulch it and he could sell it and do whatever he wants and if he wants to pallet and metal he can do that too. So that takes a lot of liability away from the county and buying all those big mulching equip
equipments that cost nine you know to a million dollars a piece to run to mulch. Um, I know that I talked to the uh county on one incident. A loader was loading these big trucks and I asked him where those trucks are going. He said they're going to Georgia to the heating
plant. They take 10 loads of um mulched up wood to their heating plant just over state line on the right hand side on I 95. You you'll see it. There's a big heating plant and they they they dump it there and they they use it for the heating plant. I don't know why we don't
use something like that for ours. maybe save a lot of coal and everything else and fuel. Um, and that's the only thing I have to say about that. If if we if we stop it now, um, the epidemic has really uh I'm just only interested in my
business center, the Wickham Road Business Center. If I see piles, I let um Amy know at Roaden Bridge right away and she takes care of it really quick at Roaden Bridge and they do a great job in our community. And I'm just letting the the board know that this epidemic is is
going has happened all over Bvoulevard County and uh maybe within your board members you can have a meeting and come to you know with the attorney and find out how they can contract that out for somebody to mulch all that stuff up instead of us mulch it because we really
have run out of space on that. And um that's all I have to say about that. And we'll we'll talk another day. We had a meeting and I'm sorry that that we missed that. Um thank you. Thank you. We had a meeting scheduled and I'm sorry that we missed that. I think I think you you came uh earlier than I did. Um
you're you're not alone. I I think uh we see this throughout the county and um so we'll we'll talk another day uh about some ideas. Um I'm interested in the uh business that you spoke about u doing the mulching there on Sarno as well. Any
other uh comment for Mr. Panic? Commissioner, I um I was wondering um I I totally understand what you're dealing with. We deal with it a lot in North Bard as well. Um all kinds of dumping, not just landscape, but um couches and all sorts
of fun. We should have couch amnesty, right? Uh um but I wasn't sure if if the board if I could get support maybe for the county manager and um the county attorney to possibly bring back some possible
options because this is an issue that um you know I've been talking with them about for a few months now um along with our solid waste director um about possible solutions to because I understand where the county is coming
from that you know our our dumps are filling up too fast and so on. Um, and that of course costs taxpayer dollars to build new dumps, but we also don't want our community be to become the dump. So, there's got to be some some kind of middle. So, I don't know if if we could
give it ask for advisability or how about commissioner, you first meet with Tom Mulligan um to to discuss some options and and see from that what we could bring back to the board. I I think there's interest among the board. That's That's my uh feeling today, sir. I'll talk to
you in the near future. Okay. All right. Thanks. Uh I'm sorry. Uh Commissioner Goodson. All right. Thank you. Uh Tom, since you en enacted the fee for private contractors to bring stuff to
the landscaping stuff to the landfill, have you seen a downturn in the number of people that might be dumping illegally somewhere else? We have not seen we have not seen a downturn in the amount of vegetative material that's coming into our
landfills. But you um of course I know that once you did those charges the local landscapers, mulching guys, whatever, they were up in arms on that. Correct. There was a portion of them that Yes.
were were opposed to the idea right now at the at Adamson Road. Do you own the mulching equipment or is that contract? That is under contract. And you mulch everything from trees to concrete. We mulch the vegetative material. We
crush the concrete. Yeah. Right. And you use it lo use it in landfill, right? Correct. Correct. A private contractor, too. We crush it ourselves at the Cocoa landfill using our compactors and our own equipment. We do have a contract for concrete
crushing which is up in uh Titusville, which is where we don't have equipment like that. Okay. Is there any way and you're I know it's kind of quick, but I'll ask you as far as illegal dumping. Uh that's going to be a hard thing to
stop because people do illegally dump everywhere. That would be And you don't have the forces to maintain or to govern that or check it, right? Is that pretty much it? We do not. Okay. But you're then it it falls on road and bridges to clean it up.
That depends. Some can be code enforcement issues that end up on uh road and bridges responsibility. Some of it we do work with waste management to go clean up as well. Okay. Thank you, Tom. Okay, we're going to the next card. Uh
John Reququia. Am I saying that right? Morning. Morning, sir. John requay from Barefoot Bay. Um, the issue we have at Barefoot Bay is significant with the water and sewer issue. It's becoming
uh unsustainable for a lot of residents there. I realized the bond I realized the bond deal. I realized the uh other deals that were made in 2013, it went from bad to worse to horrible. Um I realize none of
you commissioners were there at that time, but we need it to be resolved now. A offer was made from Barefoot Bay through legal counsel about spreading the cost
over southern Bard County. Uh that way the bond would be paid, there would be relief to the residents there and be little impact on the rest of the residents of southern Bard County. That's the best offer I've seen on the table. We need something like that. Um
and we're paying $75 delivery fee for water and sewer to the meter plus usage. In 2028, that will be $19. If you got a family, I'm one person. and I pay $110 a month. I moved to Barefoot
Bay two years ago. I invested $35,000 to move in there. If I would have known what I was going to pay for water and sewer, as much as I like Barefoot Bay, I would not have done that. It's insane. I come from Baltimore. $100 every three
months. better water, better sewer, more efficient from Baltimore. So, it needs to be resolved. I'm hoping you all will take it upon yourselves, give some thought, have some meetings,
get together on it. I know people just canceled their homeowners insurance. I've talked to people that are limited income that are cutting their groceries on the last week of the month. people are going to move. Um, I've started a petition which I will
present in October with probably a protest to get as much recognition on the issue. It needs to be focused on. There is a way to resolve it. I'm hoping that you all get together and work on that. We need it desperately. We're
feeling the pain. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Bruce Amos. My name is Bruce Amos. I live at 901 Jackaranda Drive, Barefoot Bay. Good morning. I'm a resident of the Barefoot Bay Recreation District, the BBRD,
located in Bvard County's District 3, and I am the chairman of the board of trustees. I'm here to speak about the BBRD's request to terminate a 2020 interlocal agreement between the BBRD and the county. It prohibits the district from increasing its annual
assessment beyond the percent change in the CPI year-over-year unless the district receives the express authorization from the board of county commissioners. BBRD residents elect five trustees to govern the district. Residents also vote for one county
commissioner to represent district three where Barefoot Bay is located. But BBRD and the county are separate, legally distinct governments. My statement is fundamentally about the importance of respecting the authority of a dulyeleed
special district government under the state charter. However, former commissioner John Tobaya inappropriately inserted himself in Barefoot Bay's affairs in the middle of CO 19 when he threatened to call referendum election to illegally take the district's
authority authorized by statutes to collect its annual assessment on the county tax roles unless the district entered into this agreement and that never expires. It was wrong for former commissioner Tobaya to force BBRD to enter into this interlocal. If the
residents of Barefoot Bay believe an assessment cap is necessary, they'll express it to the board they voted to represent them. Personally, I believe a cap can be a good idea, but it should be thoughtfully developed by BBRD's elected trustees in collaboration with Barefoot
Bay's management and formerly included in the Barefoot Bay policy manual that ensures transparency, accountability, and local control. If the interlocal remains in effect, the district will have to appear before this commission whenever the board determines it must
exceed the cap during budget development. In doing so, this body containing four officials never elected by the Barefoot Bay residents will assume responsibility for critical local decisions serving as de facto trustees.
Earlier this year, representatives met with Miss Atinson to present the VBRD's objection to the interlocal. A month later, she responded to the question at a town hall that the lawyers can hash it out. This commission should take swift
action to accept BBRD's request to terminate the interlocal. If not, the trustees are prepared to exhaust all available legal remedies before litigation, including triggering the governmental conflict resolution procedures set out in chapter 164, Florida statutes, which we are prepared
to initiate at our next meeting. To close, this interlocal agreement does not benefit Bvard County in any way. It only adversely affects the Barefoot Bay Recreation District. Please do the right thing and approve a resolution to terminate the 2020
interlocal agreement between BBRD and the county. Thank you. Thank you, sir. That was our last comment card on the um G section. I guess we're ready for Amanda.
Oh, I I was going to take that down with the J items. I thought we'd spend a little more time on that one if you don't mind. We're going to go to H1. Yeah. Good morning, commissioners. Item H1 is the adoption of the storm water utility
resolution ratifying, confirming, and certifying the annual storm water utility special assessment role. The rate has not been changed. Questions for Amanda? No questions. Commissioners don't have any cards on this one. We're in discussion. Is there any discussion on
the item? Move to approve. Motion. Motion by Commissioner Delaney. Have a second by Commissioner Alman. Clerk will call the role. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Yes. Vice Chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atinson, yes. Commissioner Alman, yes. Chairman Felner, yes. We'll show that passes 5-0. Thank
you. Commissioners Amanda on H2. Okay. Item H2 is a public interest uh public interest determination for wetland impacts for a property in district 1 on 520 just west of Clear Lake. Uh it's to impact 0.91 acres of wetlands.
Questions for Amanda? Okay. I don't have any cards on this one either. We're in discussion. Is there any discussion on the item? Move to approve. Have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. Is there a second? Second. Have a second by Commissioner Alman. Clerk will call the role. Commissioner Delaney? Yes.
Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atinson? Yes. Commissioner Alman? Yes. Chairman Felner? Yes. We'll show that. Passes 5. Uh, okay. See them getting in the box there. Chief on H3. Good morning.
H3 is requesting the board adopt, ratify, confirm, and certify the nonadvalorum assessment role, which has been updated to reflect the rate adjustment as previously approved and authorized by the board in resolution number 25-048
on May 20th of 2025. Right. Questions for chief? Other questions? I don't have any cards on this one either, commissioners. We're in discussion. Is there any discussion? Move to approve. Have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. Is there a second? Second.
Have a second by Commissioner Alman. Clerk will call the role. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atinson? Yes. Commissioner Alman? Yes. Chairman Felner? Yes. And we'll show that passes 50. Uh uh, Colonel on H4.
Good morning, commissioners. Item H4 seeks board approval uh for the the approval for a resolution for the adoption of the rate schedule rates and changes for hazardous materials special operations team standby response fire prevention inspection rates for fiscal
year 2025 2026. Proposed rates for hazmat and fire prevention rates and fee schedules are in accordance with the annual change in consumer price index or 2.95%. The proposed standby response rates are in accordance with the most recent FEMA
schedule and equipment rates. Uh Chief and I are standing by for any questions you may have. Okay. Questions for staff. Any questions? I don't have any cards on this one either, commissioners. We're in discussion. Is there discussion on the item? Move to approve. I have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. Is there a second?
Okay. I think uh Commissioner Atinson beat you there. So I have a second by Commissioner Atinson. Clerk will call the role. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice Chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Abson. Yes. Commissioner Alman. Yes. Chairman Felner. Yes. And we'll show that one passes. 50.
Commissioners, if you don't mind, let's let's go to maybe an easy one here that we could do real quick. Um Virginia. Actually, probably take care of the two Virginia items if you don't mind. Real quick. Virginia. Uh we're going to go to I think let's do
J3 first and then J2. I have a couple other people that maybe we could get out of here today. Uh, let's do J3 first. I think that's going to be the quicker one. I I'm guessing here.
Sorry, you caught me off guard. Sorry, I just Good morning, commissioners. Um J3 is a petition for an administrative hearing regarding a consent order approved by Florida Department of Environmental
Protection that allows excessive land application of bioolids within the watershed of the upper St. John's basin. The consent order temporarily allows H&H liquid sludge disposal inc to land apply up to triple the legal rate to
agriculture in the upper basin of the St. John's River, including the watershed of Lake Washington, which is the water supply for drinking water for about 170,000 Bvard County residents.
Um, Don, do we have the map? Thank you. The the map shows that South Florida bioolids are hauled to central Florida to protect the central the the Florida Everglades. Um, St. Lucy, Indian River
County, and Bvard County all adopted moratorum. So 73% of the state's hauled bioolids are deposited in our neighbor Oyola County and almost all of that is
within the St. John's River Basin side of Oyola. So it drains into uh this this Lake Washington watershed. The requested action is to authorize the county attorney's office and natural resources staff to submit a petition for
an administrative hearing, including retroactive authorization uh seeking the reversal or modification of the state's consent order and authorizing county attorney's office and staff to participate in the administrative hearing process,
including mediation. Any settlement agreement reached at mediation would be brought back to the board for final approval. And just a quick question for uh clarity. Uh the board currently has a moratorum on spreading bioolids in
Bvard. Correct. So so this puts potentially us in in conflict um here which I'm I think we're going to rectify today. Commissioner Alman for a question sir. Yeah. Couple questions. one um when you
say bioolids I know that's a general term basically what's in these bioolids that are being spread right so this is um partially dewatered sewage sludge so it contains everything that comes out of the back end of a
wastewater treatment plant sewage yes yeah um I have a question in your request for our approval I' I'd like to Um if if possible include any necessary
engineering, expert witnesses, legal support. I know these I assume this could possibly end up in a 120 administrative hearing. I know these hearings require a lot of expertise presenting evidence and data to support your position. I'd like to include
whatever necessary cost would be to get the ample legal support to present our case. I don't know if that's included in your recommendation or not. Morris, do you um want to speak to that real quick for us? That was not included in the agenda item
which was hastily put together because we just got notice of this issue last week. Um which is why we went ahead and filed last week because it potentially that was the deadline depending on how it's calculated. So we're asking for the retroactive authorization, but I think that's a great suggestion. That way we have the flexibility if we need it in
the process. Okay. But I would include that in a motion to support. Okay, we'll take that as a a friendly amendment, right? Okay. Um, other questions? Commissioner Delene. Um,
so I just want to um put it out there also that in bioolids there's usually POS, right? Yes. So um I know that what we're experiencing up in the north end um with the St. John's is the water quality is turning out to
be not great. Um the same if not worse off than the Indian River Lagoon. And so this is really concerning to me that um you know uh Lake Washington already has some issues. So um just anything we can
do to protect our water quality especially with the drink. Okay. Commissioners uh Commissioner Goodson for a question. Sir, um at present time you allow the sludge to be put on a certain no lower
elevation than something something because the lower elevation you get the more runoff you get into the St. John's River. So Ocel County is allowed to put it on the higher elevations. Correct. The there has to be the latest state
rule changes say there has to be six inches of separation between the level where the bioolids are applied and the seasonal high water table. So the groundwater table and so I I assume out you know in the
Ocula and Orange County they use it for fertilizer. Correct. Correct. Okay. And that's still allowed today, right? Correct. There are state rules governing how much they are allowed to apply and
this would allow H&H to temporarily put down three times more than the state rules and 73% of that comes out of Miami. 73%. No, most of it comes out of South Florida. But when you look at the entire
state combined of all the bioolids that are hauled, 73% ends up in Oyola. Thank you. Yes. Other questions? We're on questions.
Okay. I don't have any um cards on J3. We're in discussion. Is there any discussion on the item? Is there a motion for the item? Move to approve. Okay. I have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. Have a second by Commissioner Alman. Clerk will call the role.
Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atinson? Yes. Commissioner Alman? Yes. Chairman Felner? Yes. And uh let's just clarify that that um so that we all understand that included the motion we discussed uh for any potential legal fees. Yes. Okay.
Just an expert witness, engineering cost. An expert witness and engineering cost. engineering cost. Okay. All right. Okay. We're good on that. Okay. All right. Uh Virginia J2. Sorry, Amanda on J2.
to allow us to develop a countywide surface water uh model framework that would leverage some coastal surge data, some Noah data, and allow for early uh flood warning. There's a $100,000 match. We do have funds budgeted um for modeling in our storm water with our
storm water assessment fees, and there's a potential $900,000 award. We're also asking to allow the county manager to execute future documents. Okay. Questions for Amanda. Are there questions for Amanda? I don't have cards
on J2. We're in discussion. Is there any discussion on the item? Move to approve. I have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. Is there a second? I have a second by Commissioner Atinson. Clerk will call the role. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atinson?
Yes. Commissioner Alman? Yes. Chairman Felner. Yes. And we'll show that one passes five through 5 Z. Thank you, commissioners. Let's um let's go to F18. We'll get that one cleaned up.
And Kathy Kathy was staged. That's good. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and commissioners. Item F18 requests the board to authorize the county departments and offices and central services to utilize soul source and single source distributors when found
through advertisement to be the only authorized source for the goods and services required by the county. Two, authorize the county departments and central services to utilize back piggyback contracts for goods and services utilized by county when it's
found to be the most economical means to acquire such goods and services. and to authorize a county manager or designate to execute contracts results from approved single and soul source distributors and piggyback contracts subject to review and approval by the
county attorney's office risk management and purchasing services. uh the attachment in today's um item there are two sections one section is for soul source and single source including original equipment
manufacturers and soul source authorized distributors within that list of those categories a number of departments the board has approved standardization of equipment to their departments this includes public works central services
fire rescue solid waste and utility services department so that mechanics working on equipment needed to complete the work necessary are trained to ensure less downtime of equipment and supply of parts are necessary to equip keep the equipment running other items on the
sole source include licenses for the county's financial system system SAP software planning and development software and products fire rescue training fire suppression repair and engine parts for the helicopter at mosquito control, mosquito control
chemicals, digital materials for library services, storm water uh filters for county storm water programs, traffic operation supplies, drawbridge maintenance, vacuum sewer, transportation system, transport systems, and telemetry equipment for
utility services. The county also has several train air conditions which require train US uh to keep warranty on valid on these uh these um air condition systems. It's important to note that all soul source and single source requests
received from departments are verified by vendor and then advertised on the county's vendor platform vendor link to make sure no other vendor can provide those services. This list is reverified each year before presenting to the board. The other section of the
purchasing is cooperative and intergovernmental cooperative cooperations. These includes cooperatives with Bvard County purchasing cooperative which Bvoulevard County is one member. These include fencing, janitorial supplies, general contracting service, equipment rental,
fuel plant, paint contractors, plumbing services, best mold and leadbased paint remediation, chemical line for water, wastewater treatment facilities. The list also request requests the approval for purchase for through state of
Florida cooperative contracts for such items as tires, tubes and services, facilities, maintenance, repair, floor materials, vehicles, library materials, lab equipment for utilities. This list also includes cooperatives
from other counties and municipalities. It's also important to note that all of Bvoulevard County solicitations are designed to allow other other governments such as us and other agencies to piggyback our commodities as well.
Okay. Questions for Kathy? Yes. Thank you, Commissioner Delane. Thank you so much, Kathy. Um, I mostly just wanted to pull this item for um just to have more illumination into our process and whatnot. Um, for the
piggyback contracts, um, we we turn to those when we've tried to go out for bidding, we haven't found an appropriate vendor, so then we look to things like a piggyback contract. Is that correct?
That's correct. you know, and we also belong to the purchasing co-op with in the state in the county and that includes all municipalities, the school district, the Canaveral Port Authority and Eastern Florida. So, we work as a group to put out solicitations because
we are a larger group than just one person, you know, one agency. So, we try to get the best price for the items that we need. Awesome. Thank you. And if if there are no other questions, I'd be happy to move to approve.
Commissioner Alman for a question. Thanks. I and I apologize. I know we had the briefing and a question I thought of just here today that triggered something. You'd mentioned one of the companies. I won't mention what company, but it is a company that um
that when you buy their equipment, you're stuck. You can't compete. you can have other vendors and uh some of their servicing maintenance expenses are exorbitantly high. Um I've had personal experience
with that great equipment but there are now emerging technologies where I think people are realizing that they're more efficient uh more accessible from supply chain more vendors that provide those services. I'm wondering in our procurement process
if we flag those companies that have those type of uh those type of services and equipments and and and that are not very amendable to being competitive being nimble in terms of taking advantage of new technology. I'd like to
see us come back and maybe in our procurement process early on flagging those and having a higher standard so that we're not buying ourselves in getting ourselves into that situation. It's exorbitantly expensive. No
competition breeds high prices and um I I would have mentioned that during our briefing, but I hadn't heard that name. Mhm. And um I'd like for us to maybe take a look at those technologies, those companies,
those services so we can assure that we uh that we're nimble. They should have a higher threshold to meet when they go with the when you go with the procurement because once you use that them you're stuck. And I can talk to you
further about that. Maybe we can talk about that in a future meeting. I have a follow-up question to that if that's okay. Commissioners, um, with that being said, is are there items that we could pull from this? Is it are are we locked in if we pass this
today or can we make changes after we do this or what's the process of of that? If there's an item that you would like to be pulled from this list, we can pull it and come back to the board. I wasn't sure um Commissioner Alman what
you um felt like was appropriate for today. Well, I'm going through the spreadsheet if I'm looking at the right document. I don't um can I ask a question here while he's doing that? Commissioner, um, by virtue
of us passing this today, that's that's not in any way a commitment that we are we're we are going to buy from these vendors over the course of the next year. It's just that if we do, we need we need they need to be on this list today. That's correct. Is that fair?
Or we have to come back to the board, right? So, uh, we can we can amend this at any time and I I believe that the staff is, um, constantly looking for, you know, a better deal out there that
that can be had. Um, I'll consider us in discussion at this point. I think we moved on from questions. Uh, one one of the things I think that's difficult when it comes to equipment, heavy equipment and that sort of thing is uh we want to
stick with OEM, right? Because you know, you might be able to buy a generic part for uh heavy equipment. You always have the problem of we've waited two weeks for this to come. It arrives. Now, I'm saying this as a car guy, okay? And there's just nothing more frustrating
than it doesn't fit. And it was supposed to uh when I I bought it online. And that's that's even worse because in the old days maybe you would you would go somewhere and I could look at it and I say, "Okay, that looks like the one I just pulled off." And but now you get it in the mail and it arrives and it
doesn't fit. And um so it's an interesting thing. more and more I think people who work on on this kind of uh these items, even their own cars, whatever, they're they're probably sticking with OEM stuff more and more because the frustration of of having it
not fit, it just isn't isn't worth it. So, I understand that. Um and and if if you're buying uh even if you're buying that through a wholesaler and you have two different wholesalers compete against each other ultimately if they're buying a differential from Ring Power or
Volvo or something like that for this heavy equipment that's the only one that makes it. So um that's just the way that is. Is that does that sound fair? Yes. And we we try to diversify our contracts. Uh we have a great contract
with air conditioning that do not include the warranty items of those that have those warranties. Um so we do try to diversify as much as possible to make sure that the uh citizens taxpayer dollars are effectively used to purchase
the goods and services that we need. I've learned this firsthand with the walking excavators. I'm sure we've all seen those in operation now. They're really important to keeping ditches clean in Bvard County, but they're exotic machines and when when something
happens to them, uh it's the there there only is a part that fits it. Only only one manufacturer. So, um Okay. What What do we want to do with this this item today? Make a motion to approve.
I second. All right. I have a motion by Commissioner Goodson. I have a second by Commissioner Atinson. Clerk will call the RO question. I just want to have some discussion because I did go through the list and the one of the vendors that I I saw
that I know they're very good at creating uh nonsoul creating soul source contracts, monopolies, lack of competition. U they are listed here. I don't want to publicly talk about them until I have a chance of meeting with staff. Um
and um so what we're not com we can come back and address these individually in the future if we have a question at at any time that I understand. May may I say something too the re the requested action for the piggybacks is if it is found to be the most economical
means. So if we find that this is not the most economical means we will not use this list. It's only used if it is the most economical means to procure that those items. Yeah, I'm looking at what I don't think
is the most economical, but having experience and working in the construction, but we don't have to use these, but we'll we'll get together. We can talk, I appreciate. Okay. Um All right. I think we had a motion by Commissioner Goodson. We have a second by Commissioner Atinson. Clerk
will call the role on uh F18. Commissioner Delaney. Yes, Vice Chair Goodson. Yes, Commissioner Atinson. Yes, Commissioner Alman. Yes, Chairman Felner. Yes. And we will show that one passes 50.
Thank you, Kathy. Uh, commissioners, we will go to J1. And, uh, Commissioner Delaney, this is your item. Thank you. Um
so as many of you know um the SpeakUp Revard program is uh something that is near and dear to my heart. It's something that I campaigned on. Um I have uh worked really hard over the past two years to try to breathe some life
into this program. Um and unfortunately after the first year the the policy kind of um I won't say that um I think that there are just ways that we can make it a
little bit more citizen friendly. Also certain things that we could tweak to give us a little bit more time as the commissioners to have with the um staff recommendations. Um, one of the things that I did this year was I tried to uh either call or
meet with as many of this year submitters as I could. Um, but it was a little uh it was a little rushed and hard between everything else that we're doing um as commissioners to um squeeze
all of that in. So, I was hoping that um we could make some changes to the current policy. One of the the one of the things um this one's just like a a little bit of
feedback that I've gotten from from the public. Um in directive uh 3A, it says as a courtesy. And I just feel like this program um is
is citizen centered and whatnot. And it just the tone of that isn't um what I would think would be, you know, welcoming. Um and it's kind of uh unnecessary language. Um so I would like
to strike that. And then I would like to have the submission time frame open 60 days. So opening December 1st rather than January 1. That way people have a little bit more time um through the
holidays and whatnot to get their uh submissions in. And then um one thing that I thought was really uh great that we did this year and I appreciate everybody's support on that.
um was the workshop. I thought that that was just incredible. The citizens loved it. I think all of us, you know, really appreciated that time. Um so I would love to get that uh solidified in our policy that even after, you know, all of
us are long gone from this board, hopefully we'll continue on with these um workshops uh to continue that dialogue with our with our residents. Um, another change that I was hoping to make was um that the county manager can
just get rid of submissions that he doesn't feel are um under the jurisdiction of the board or like not relevant. And so I just really feel like we should have the opportunity as a
board to see um all of the submissions and to uh hear from the staff on on all of those. Uh and then one of the one of the other things that I would like to do is
uh shorten the time frame that the staff has with the uh submissions because the old policy said that we had uh or that the staff had 45 days and then um it was
expanded to 90 days. And what that did was it cut the time that we had with the um staff recommendations. And so I'm hoping that we can uh find a middle ground there and switch it to 60
days. Sorry about that. Um so if anybody uh has any discussion I' or questions, I'd love to uh chat. Let's do questions first and then we'll go cards and discussion. Okay. Because we do have a few cards. Commissioners, are there
questions for Commissioner Delaney on J1? All right, let's go to the cards. Uh Susan Connelly. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Susan Connelly. I reside at
3901 Dixie Highway in Palm Bay. From archival minutes for a regular meeting of the Bvard County Commission, just like we're having right now, only this one was in October 2010.
Then, Commissioner Trudy Infantini asked Dr. Carolyn F, excuse me, Carolyn Fastnau for her insights on how to improve the newly approved element of the county charter called citizens process for advising the county
commission. Dr. Fnau stated the design of the process is very important because it needs to be a process that is elicited from the population with volunteer efforts that can be very insightful into
how to move it forward in these challenging times. will fast forward 15 years later, change the date of that meeting in 2010 to 2025 and change the names and faces of the
Bvard County Commissioners to each of you. We are at another moment in time that will determine the history of Bvard County. One thing is different today and that is we have a more active citizenry
including the seir process improvement working group of which I'm a member of. This group consists of citizens with years of seir submission experience that has helped us go beyond the submission of our own sears and see a larger
perspective for the whole scope and intention of the speak up program. I want to just say at this moment the SEIR means citizen efficient and effectiveness recommendation. I think that's very important to understanding
the the uh purpose of this. Our group concluded that the SEIR process designed to bring recommen recommendations for efficiency and effectiveness was neither efficient nor effective itself.
However, we also concluded that the SEIR process could become efficient and effective with some revisions. And here you are today, 15 years later, doing exactly that.
I am committed to staying engaged with the SEIR process improvement working group and communicating with the county representatives and staffs until we achieve the results of an efficient and
effective SEIR process. I acknowledge each of you for your time that you have given to review and revise the policies of the SpeakUp Breard program to try to bring these new practices to fruition.
Thank you. Thanks, Susan. And we had a a very nice meeting in my office. I appreciate you coming. Uh I think you're already staged. Elizabeth Blackford.
Good morning, commissioners. I'm Elizabeth Blackford, a Palm Bay resident and a 2015 graduate of the Bvard County Citizens Academy. I have spoken to you previously to advocate for changes that I believe would make the SpeakUp Bvard
program more effective. And I'm pleased to see that some of those suggestions are included in the text of the proposed amendment before you. Residents want a regular opportunity to share their ideas and to
be more involved in how their county operates. An involved citizenry takes ownership for the successes and failures it witnesses and is far more likely to support its elected officials. When people people feel involved, they also
are more likely to come up with solutions to shared problems. They just need to be asked. The program itself is sound, but the current process needs some tweaking to work effectively. And our ad hoc improvement group isn't
going away. We're committed to changing this important tool residents have to participate in their government by making it less burdensome on county employees and by increasing the active engagement of participants in several
ways. Thank you for listening. I hope you'll choose to vote in favor of this amendment soon so that next year's Speak Up session will be far more productive and satisfactory. Thank you, Sarah Hodgej.
I just want to thank all of you for allowing this to be brought up today and that you know we really appreciate your support for speak up for VAR because it's something that the citiz citizens
really, you know, need. And um those two items that I gave you were comments from Commissioner Delane's office. I sent you a email yesterday and I don't know if you've seen it or read it yet, which had
a lot of the points that on two items, the consent agenda and the um public records to be put on the internet. And I've been trying to get public records on the internet, promised 30 years,
because of that lawsuit with Florida Today from the school board for $30,000 for their public records and was just absurd. And they Florida Today paid it, went to court, won right away, and we the taxpayers paid both
those lawsuits, you know, and the fees. But anyway, so um but that was just the beginning. But but there's been so many times for so many people that I know and they want the public records on out there on the internet, too. And we
realize you can't do them all. Just try to start and put as many as you can. But the um you know it it I've had uh friends that they know they don't have the money and
they charge them absurd amounts and they delay giving them to them till after the votes and it's something that should never happen in open government. But anyway, my email had that yesterday.
And then these are uh comments that we my husband and I support greatly for the two items that we're speaking about the consent agenda and the public records. So um just please consider it
and we aren't giving up. We're going to be here till we go. It may not be long, but you know, we're this is something that means a lot to us and we we're very thankful for your consideration. Can I ask something from my own
knowledge here, Sarah, of of you real quick? Um, yeah, just just uh follow up here. Okay. Uh, you know, if there's three things that are not on the county's website today that you think should be there, what what would those three things be?
Three things on the website today. Um, okay. I I mean, you say that there aren't records on the website. So, just what what items are you looking for to be there? Okay. Um, those are comments from u
Commissioner Delaney that I borrowed because I support every one of those. Um, but um I would have to research and find All right. But, okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Okay, commissioners, that was the last
card. Um, discussion on the item. Discussion on the item. I um I did want to also mention I forgot to mention it before, but part of my proposal is also to have a dedicated um
special meeting for for the SpeakUp Bard um program for the SEIR program. Um just because this past session um or this past cycle it was uh you know after a long I believe it was like 5 hour
meeting and we didn't really have um at that point we didn't really have a whole lot of time to fully discuss um the binder book and I know that residents were really you know hoping that there
would be a more something Um, and so I think that this program to dedicate a meeting to it is um, something that would be pretty cool. So I just wanted to add that for clarity. You're you're talking in addition to a workshop. That would be a
meeting for the board of county commissioners, not necessarily a workshop. Okay. When we make our vote to um, accept or deny this request. Okay. Uh, Commissioner Goodson, I see you reaching for your mic. Yes. All right. Thank you, Chair. I just
would like to read a statement I prepared for this. It's not long. The Sears program is supposed to be for efficiency and effectiveness, not requests for goods or services. Given that we are a representative form of government, it is the job of each
commissioner to hear from its district. Then that commissioner after researching the impact of the county can bring it before the board to be heard. To say it's not these changes mean we're against citizen input is a farce. Scheduling a meeting with your
commissioner, emails, phone calls, you know, I don't see the need to add 30 more days for input from our staff because they have a job to do also. So, you're taking away from them what they're supposed to be doing. I don't see a need for a workshop or a special
meeting. Each time we do something like that in nature, the staff is involved. And two things happen. We spend between $50 and $100,000 per meeting. Now, we can't we have a hard enough time balancing our budget, but now we're
going to spend more and and do these things. Confusing. Furthermore, the program is set up to allow staff to have ample time to review. staff are the best vetting the input because they are the ones that know it legally
and allow the financially attainable. They know it has been done before. They are the source. Therefore, they continue to have the full 90 days to vet them. The board still has the final vote, but if you prefer to hear from experts, we have staff first. I don't agree with any
of the terms provided. I take it a front to the staff and their capabilities. Again, as a representative government, these const these should be making sure we time is to see, write or call their commissioner. All I am I the only one
that sees the redundancy in this? Now, I'd like to ask one question to our attorney or to the county manager. Can you start at the beginning of this and explain to me how it had how it's evolved? Can somebody give me from the
beginning of time to now? I'll take my best stab at it, but I don't have everything in front of me. Um, in 2010, the Charter Review Commission took this recommendation up. Um, it was passed by the voters in November of 2010. Uh you heard one of
the citizens come up and read minutes from a meeting that occurred after it was approved by the voters in November of 2010 and at that point it was reemphasized that the purpose of this was it's right in the name efficiency and effectiveness as it says in the
charter and at the time they were talking the backdrop of this was the great recession and there was a lot of focus on operational efficiency strategic management things to cut cost for the county and there was an understanding that there was a lot of expertise in the county um among the
citizenry of people with the backgrounds to bring those kind of operational efficiencies and things like that to the attention of the county commission. I know at some point policies were promulgated by I believe Stockton Whitten was the first county manager to
bring forward policies that the board approved. Those have evolved over the years. Most recently, two years ago, this board um revised the policies and made some changes because there has been over the last couple years a huge
increase in the number of sears. So, the board in in response to that did extend the time for staff to respond to the SER request from what had been 45 days up to the 95 days now because we went from a trickle to, you know, dozens per year uh
to review. So, that's why that time was expanded. I I don't know if that fully answers your question, sir. One chair. May I? Yes, sir. Okay. Right now, you have 658,447 people in Bvard County.
Last year, you had 77 submissions, 1%. I want everybody to be heard. I just want staff since we employ staff and they're the experts to tell me what they can do or what they can't do. But 1% 77
out of 658,000 I'm in agreement that we should keep it as is and not change anything. Okay. Okay. Other discussion on the item. Comm um are you okay? Do you want to let Commissioner Alman go first?
Commissioner Zolene. Yes. Okay. All right. I um I just um debating where I wanted to say anything, but I feel like I should share my opinions, I guess, for whatever it's worth. You know, this is nothing new in
county government. I mean over the years the county in its effort to have citizen input and involvement have we have developed quite an extensive organization of advisory committees
from planning and zoning local land use planning parks and recreation libraries it's sort of similar to a sear but it's focused specifically on a specific policy where we want to have a process by which
ideas review of policy goes before the committee comes to the advisory committee comes to the board. It's an interesting um an interesting um process we have here. I definitely would want more time to kind of absorb any of
these recommendations. It's something to think about how it fits in with our broader scheme of advisory committees. If can we improve that? I I think it's worthwhile to discuss how we as a policy body get policy recommendations, input from
the public and then we direct that to the staff. It's a little concerning that we give too much put too much burden on staff to have to respond directly from the public, have to evaluate their ideas, determine if they're good or bad or if they're flawed. That puts staff in
a really difficult situation. They have a a difficult job as it is. They have statutory law they have to implement. They have federal law they have to implement. They have policy that we direct that they have to implement. And we have the budget that we and all the
requirements of grants and what have you. It's just a mammoth task and we have a phenomenal staff that does it. I want to protect them. I definitely want to have a process by which ideas change of policy come before
the policy body which is us um and let that filter down. So it's it's a fascinating issue something I want to review and talk to staff and appreciate your concern. I'm willing to hear from the public because I think it is important and um I'll definitely hope
that we can come back and talk more at length about this. Um, Commissioner Atinson. Okay. Commissioner Atinson, I just wanted to to point out that um I've had a lot of citizens come into my office about various things. Um,
and when there's something that we agree we need to do something about, every time I've called on staff to answer some questions, they've always responded as quickly as they can. So, I feel pretty confident
that if there are citizens who in my district anyways who need to talk um about something or have an issue that they need to fix, they can come sit in my office. We can call staff together or get an answer for you when I can. But
the process that we have right now, um, I'm interested actually, Morris, would you mind defining what exactly the SEIR is? It's um, so it comes from our charter section 2.9.10, which again was adopted
in 2010, and it's short enough that I can I can read it. It's the the board of county commissioners shall develop procedures that will provide a mechanism for an individual or an organized group of individuals to submit a formal written recommendation for the enhancement of the effectiveness and efficiency of county government to the
county commission on an annual basis. The county commission's procedures shall include the following provisions. An annual filing date. The written recommendation shall be reviewed by the county commission. And following the review, the commission shall vote to either accept the recommendation, accept the recommendation with revisions or reject the recommendation. and the
county commission's final vote in consideration of the recommendation shall occur no later than 120 days after receipt of the written written recommendation. So that's the requirement that's set forth in the charter. Um the policy is just the the effort to implement that. Technically,
there's no requirement for things like staff review. Although long ago it was decided by the board that it didn't make a lot of sense for them to receive these without staff having seen it and determine whether, you know, is this legal? Is it uh can is it something that we can do? Is it something that's been
considered? Is it something that we're already doing? But that's the that's it in a nutshell. And again, at the time I was here in 2010, the backdrop was the recession and recovery from the recession and cost cutting and the focus then was on the enhancement of
effectiveness and efficiency. The last several years we've had dozens of recommendations of which, you know, very few have to do with cost cutting and effectiveness and efficiency, but more of them are general policy or legislative um requests and suggestions from citizens, requests for service,
things like that that are traditionally addressed through commission offices through direct contact with staff or like we saw at our last meeting where we had a citizen talk about, you know, the size of his waist bin and things like that, which you can receive those all year without a formalized process. us
and you know the the staff review and all of those things. If I can just make one observation um the idea that our county manager can't take out ones that we don't have jurisdiction over I think um to me
doesn't doesn't sit well. I mean, I get emails and phone calls in my office all the time about people complaining about this or that, but but we're county and we only have jurisdiction over some things. So, who knows how many we might get. We are now making sure that people are much
more aware of the SEIR process. But if we get a whole bunch and we're talking about time for staff, tens of thousands of dollars to do this, shouldn't we have someone like the county manager to be able to say, "Hey,
this one we have no jurisdiction over um obviously need to get back to the person who who sent that that sear in, but why would we want that to come in front of us if there's nothing that we can do about it?" Mr. Chairman, may I address that briefly? Absolutely, sir. because of the language and the charter amendment, those
actually have to come to the board. Every recommendation, no matter no matter how wild, you know, we've had some like uh that sound great, like banning a certain plaintiff's attorney from putting his advertisements on buses and television and things like that that we obviously don't have control over. Um
we can't do that, but that still came to the board. All the policy allows when it allows the county manager to re summarily reject I think is the language for those is that it doesn't go through the rigorous staff review process that others do. He kind of puts it to the
side and says I'm not going to assign this out and we're not going to spend a lot of staff time on it. Ultimately it is still in the stack that's delivered to the board and and that's because we have no choice in the matter. the the charter language does say that they all shall go to the board for either
acceptance, rejection, or acceptance with modifications within that 120 days. So, we're still going to see it. You're still going to see it. It's just there's not going to be that rigorous evaluation by staff. Got it. Thank you. Okay. By the way, doesn't the Florida Bar have rules on attorney ads?
A whole host of them. I mean, they have been steadily eroded over the years. Uh okay. Um if I could have some followup if there's no more um no more discussion. Um
Commissioner Goodson you had mentioned two cycles ago um when I was part of this process as a citizen. Um, you know, I I remember you distinct distinctively looking at staff and almost
exacerbatedly saying, um, can't you just meet with them talking about the citizens and you were talking to staff and so I'm just wondering, has your opinion changed on that? Commissioner, I have no idea what you're talking about, but if I'm guilty of any
of your sins, I confess. And you know, but you represent district one. You represent the people district 1. Have you met with people in your office rather than imposing us to meet with a hundred people? Have you I meet with anyone who calls my office.
Good. Have you had any proposals come before the board that were uh that's been passed and trying to change the efficiency and effectiveness of county government? This one. This one. This one. The answer. There's a whole working group of citizens from the entire county.
The answer to the question is no. Let's do it one at a time. Okay. And so effectiveness and efficiency doesn't always mean money. It it also means are we effectively serving our citizens? Are we effectively providing services? And so that doesn't always
necessarily mean are we cutting spending. So I think that all of those things are equally important. Okay. Okay. Commissioner Goodson, you have something you want to follow up on that? when we can't hardly balance a budget.
We had a terrible time paying the firefighters and that's going to come back again. We haven't even seen the sheriff budget. But spending money for special meetings and workshops and all of that when 77 people applied last
year, does that mean there was 177 and we cut out a hundred or did everybody apply that wanted to apply? I don't I don't know if that's question. I don't understand how um you know all these other governmental entities in
Bvard County um can have workshops prior to their meetings every two weeks and it not make them bankrupt. If what you're saying is true, the school board has workshops um before every meeting. The city of
Titusville has workshops um presentation meetings before every meeting. Uh many other cities do the same thing. And that's honestly one of my frustrations on this board is that we have so little time to discuss policy and so little time to discuss the business of the
board as the board and not you know um I think that that's part of part of the issue. I think that we we you know more time together, more time working as a cohesive board will be helpful and
will prove to show that there will um that will gain effectiveness and efficiency as well. Okay, I have a sort of technical question I was thinking of for staff. Um
there's nothing that would preclude a commissioner from uh putting on the agenda any of the items submitted through the SEIR process upon I guess receiving the binder if I
remember that right when we have it all printed out I could go through there and I say hey I like this one um and I want to I want to bring that before the board there's there's nothing that procludes cludes a commissioner from doing that by virtue of them submitting it through the
website etc. Does that process in any way hinder me and in bringing something to the board? No. Okay. Um, I I think that's very interesting because I've, you know, since I've been a commissioner, I've I've brought several things to the board
that started off with uh just a conversation with a constituent and not everything can be corrected by um the commission board or it's not, as I think was mentioned earlier by Commissioner
Atinson, not always a county issue. And um but uh I've I brought multiple items before the board that uh weren't originally my idea. It's that started with a conversation with a constituent. So I mean that that's still available to
all of us too, right? Which I'm not married to any one of these um any one of these things. Um the the one or I would say the two biggest ones would be the workshop and the special meeting um for me personally. But I guess that's part of my
frustration is that um rather than us kind of working together at the time when we bring forward something, I'm being asked to bring forward policy time and time again and work on it totally by myself rather than as a board us coming to a consensus. And that's what I would
really like to see happen is for all of us to kind of talk about this and find some middle ground here because this is something that's really important to me. It's really important to our our citizens across the county. Um
people are looking for um a real something, a real engagement opportunity to where it's not just a checked box to where it's, you know, real discussion and and um engagement with our residents as a group. That's
the cool thing about this process is that we get to work together as one board with our residents to try to make our county better. And um I don't think it's a waste. I don't think that it's um
it's it's frustrating because this is something that a citizen brought forward because they were they were um being met with roadblocks to engagement. Um you know it's like the the um
uh organizational chart that I brought up a few meetings ago. you know, that got brought up because a citizen came to me. They said, "I've been trying to call this department and I haven't, you know, gotten a response back. You know, how many people even work in that department?" And so that's where the
organizational chart came from because I, you know, I I was like, "Oh, well, I'm not sure. I didn't realize it was on page 99 of the budget book, you know, and so it's as as I was talking with the county manager about this um process and he was
the administrator of it last year. Our previous county manager was the administrator of it the year prior. Um, one of the things that were said was, you know, sometimes the seers that come in aren't relevant
or, you know, they they're not something we can use. And I just want to bring up that even prior to the past two years, which that's really where the surgeent uh where the um increases have come of Sears, between
2011 and 2023, there have been 73 approved or approved with revisions um Sears that have come before this board. And that was from the county's own slideshow. like these aren't my numbers.
Um I've heard from from residents that, you know, they want to help make this process better. And honestly, there were a lot more really great ideas that this year working group um came forward with with improving um you know, the the
website, with improving uh you know, some of the questions that are asked to make it more targeted. um so that we can get those really quality SEIR um submissions.
And I didn't put all those things in, you know, this time because as many of us know, a lot of times you have to take small bites of the apple to make change happen. And um but but really truly there are some really great ideas out there where honestly a workshop for this
policy would be really cool because then they could share all of that with all of us and um you know if if that's something that people are interested in hearing I'd be happy to to um stand behind a a
presentation from the group um so that they could share all of those ideas. uh so that we could take those into account when we're updating you know if we end up updating this policy. And another thing is that
you know no one is trying to say that our staff is not incredible. We have great staff. Um, one of my frustrations as a representative of the people of District 1,
um, a lot of the county processes that I'm seeing are we put everything we have into staff and when it comes to the citizens, it's like sometimes it feels like it's the
leftovers. And I'll give you an example. our our county newsletter, the one that's with the citizens uh or that's for the citizens. You have to click on BVAR County Communications Department. Then you have to click on a hyperlink
when you get to that. Then it's this, you know, pretty, you know, simple um newsletter. you know, it has it has some good information on it and whatnot,
but then when you look internally at our staff one, this is really something that you want to read. I mean, it it talk it it's colorful. It's got um QR codes. It's got
um just all sorts of really great information. And I mean, it's y'all can see it's really thick. And so my frustration is is that this is what the citizens get and this is what staff gets. And I'm just looking for some kind
of equalizer to, you know, ensure that our citizens are getting the same output. Um, you know, you mentioned the staff time, a thousand hours of staff time, and I understand that's extremely, you
know, that's it's a lot. Um, there's also a lot of staff time being put forward to our staff, like the ELI program, for instance, 4,68 hours. I'm not saying it's not a worthy cause. It definitely is. It's, you know, our
leadership, um, it helps build our next leaders of tomorrow. But um I think that these things are equally important. Mr. Chairman, Commissioner Alman,
I think these are important items. Discussion probably exceed our time that we have here today. We I'd like to move to table this item to the next commission meeting. Give time to talk to staff and second.
Okay. So going to continue to work on it. Okay. Have a motion by Commissioner Alman table to the next meeting. Have a second by Commissioner Delaney. Clerk will call the role. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? No.
Commissioner Atinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Chairman Felner? Yes. And so we'll we'll look forward to discussing that next meeting. Commissioners, we're going to go in board report. I have a couple items and I don't want to forget. And we did take
care of F-18. That's good. Mr. County Manager, sir. No report, Mr. Chairman. Okay. Mr. County Attorney, no report, Mr. Chairman. Okay. Uh, Commissioner Goodson, no.
Thought you'd say that. Uh, Commissioner Alman, uh, no report, Mr. Chairman. Okay. and Commissioner Delaney. I do have a report. Go ahead. Um Logan, if you wouldn't mind putting the slides up for me.
Um I just wanted to announce that I um am putting this up on my website. It's the organizational chart that I had mentioned um with the FTEES. That way, if our citizens um you know, want a a
quick look look at how many uh full-time equivalent employees we have working in all of our departments. Um it'll be up on my Substack um where you can find that, you know, um on my Substack or through my Facebook page. Um and if you
have any trouble, feel free to always email me. But I just wanted to make sure that that was um out there and um accessible for people who may want or need it. Um if you could go to the next one for me. So uh one of the things
that's going on in uh our state, there's uh a bill that was passed SB 180. And I'm just curious, you know, for the board, where do we stand on this? Um there's
uh for for people who don't know what this is, um SB80 dramatically reduces local control over land use and planning in Florida by restricting municipalities ability to respond to growth, safeguard
environments, or prepare for natural disasters. The law increases legal risks and tilts policy outcomes in favor of development, often at the expense of community resilience and local planning.
And so, um, many counties and states, or I'm sorry, many counties and cities across the state are joining a, um, lawsuit with the,
uh, Thousand Friends of Florida. And um I I think that it's something worth looking into um and getting advi getting advisability from our legal team.
um if they could bring that back for us as a board. Um because I think that this is something and I know we talked about it a little bit at our um meeting where we updated our comp plan um when I was talking about keeping in the flood plane
protection language. Um, this bill is what I was talking about and I'm personally really proud of of the cities and and counties for pushing back against the state um for this uh
encroachment of our home rule. Um, in the US we are a country of bottom up government, not top down government. And uh I think that this bill is going to really harm our communities. Um I don't
believe that this was the intended purpose of the bill. I think this is a horrible unintended consequence. Um, but I feel equally that it's important, me personally, where I stand on this, I
feel like it's it it's important that we push back against um, you know, government that is trying to overrule our authority. Um, so I didn't know if anybody uh had any
thoughts about any of that or if you would be with me with asking uh our attorney to look into this and possibly come back with some advisability. Well, let's uh let's um take this apart, okay, in its in its pieces. And you
reminded me of something um with you bringing this up. So, let me go there first. Um the legislative delegation meeting this year is a lot earlier. Is it in September? September 30th. Which one? September 30th. Yeah. In in this room.
Okay. Um so before September 30th as a board, I think we need to decide our legislative um priorities. Are we going to disc is it that tenative plan to talk about that on the n is it the 19th or
whatever the meeting regular meeting date is the 16th I believe it is. for bringing I think I spoke to everybody. Give you a heads up. Staff will bring if you have anything to add then put it on the agenda. Okay. So, Commissioner Delini, I think um you know we're we're going to have that discussion. So, certainly you could
have that item um ready to discuss at that September meeting. So, um we can put on our legislative priorities. I I'll say personally that I don't think anybody here likes the idea of um going
around planning and zoning. So, uh I I I I think even throughout the state of Florida, most local governments feel that way. But the delegation meeting, I think, is the next important step. So, you want to work on that item
so that we have something. Uh okay. Um I Mr. chair that we got good staff. They've already alerted me. They're working on suggestions that we'll have in the agenda. Okay. Awesome. All right. Okay. Sorry. I should look that way knowing knowing that they're
they're working on that, but session is early this year and uh certainly should be mindful of that. Um Okay. Is that the rest of a couple little more things? All right. If that's okay. Yep. Go ahead. Um, I had my uh CFX
meeting and I just want to do some um rumor control. Um, if if you wouldn't mind, Logan, going to the next slide. Um, this I'm going to say this loud and clear. CFX toll roads are not coming to Bvard County. Um, I
have asked four times since I've been on this board. Um, and they are so gracious and um, kind with me and do a really great job over there. And um, but where their stance is is as long as BVARD does
not want a CFX toll road in Bvard County, we will not have tolls. And um, so I just want to say that loud and clear. Um, and uh, also they're going to be putting out
a statement uh, to speak on that as well. And the last thing I wanted to talk about, which this is uh a really cool thing, I'm on the Eastern Central Florida Regional Planning Council and we just had our update on the MIR um the
military installation resilience review. And this was uh over I believe over a year process of um stakeholder meetings, citizen engagement, um so on and so forth. And basically they are looking
into um planning for the future. What does that look like for our military installations? And what does that mean for us in BVAR County is is that we have some pretty critical infrastructure that leads to and from these military
installations. So um what that means for us is possible partnerships in the future to hopefully get some help in in updating our infrastructure and whatnot. Um, so I just wanted to let everybody know
that that has has been completed and um I would like to sometime in the near future bring them here for a presentation so that they can kind of show us as a board and the community um their findings. And if anybody is
interested uh before that there's all this information on the Eastern Central Florida Regional Planning Council's website. And uh that's it for my report today. Thank you. Okay, very good question. Um okay, let's do a quick question from
Commissioner Goodson. Commissioner, um thank you for your report, but the only question I got for you, ma'am. Do you have Sandra Sullivan on board with no tolls in Bvard County? I'm not sure what your report Sandra Sullivan, she's constantly saying
there's going to be tolls. So, have you convinced Sandra that there's not going to be toll roads in Bvard County? I'm not sure, but all I can tell you is what the actual organization is telling us. I understand they told me that too for a year or two years and Sandra was
adamant. I just was curious if you had her because then I would compliment you with roses. I'll work on that. All right. Okay. All right. Very good. Commissioner Atinson. Um, very quickly, I just wanted to, um, thank the board for supporting the the lease agreement for the old town
hall in Melbourne Beach, um, the historic Williams building. Just a couple of things. What they do engage with the community, they do book talks. Um, they have skill building from frontiersmen who come. Um, archaeologists come and give presentations. They're really engaged in
the community. So, I think us allowing them to use that county building um, was a very good idea and I'm just thankful. Um the other thing, uh Logan, if you wouldn't mind, um just Logan, if you can just go through the the pictures and and the videos, that'd be great. So on
Thursday, um August 21st, a wildfire broke out near Barefoot Bay in District 3. Approximately 15 acres were burned and 10 homes were evacuated. It was a pretty big deal, maybe one of the biggest uh most intense brush fires we've seen. Um the Red Cross was
mobilized and responded quickly. Um but because of the we have such great BCFR uh fire rescue. Um the fire was quickly contained and nobody was hurt. No structures were damaged. And I just want to give a shout out and a thank you to
every firefighter who was out there, every emergency crew who contained it because I have friends and and clients who live in Barefoot Bay and my phone was just ringing off the hook. Um but only for a really short time. So, thank you very much to all of our firefighters in Bvoulevard County.
[Applause] I get happy every day when I see it rain. I'm sure I'm sure you guys do, too. Uh, okay. Uh, commissioners, um, noticed.
Oh, yeah. Uh, just a housekeeping issue. I don't want any surprises here. We're going to uh put a picture in the lobby of Congressman Herodopoulos and direction to his office on the second floor. We're all okay without objection. Okay.
Very good. Um so finally, and we've been doing this each meeting, I'm going to give an intro here and and um Logan will cue this up for I missed the joke back there, Eddie. You can tell
me later. Uh, commissioners, today we have our third installment of the Space Coast government television and human resources recruitment and employee spotlight campaign. Just as a reminder, these videos were put together through a summer internship program as part of an
employee recruitment campaign, but they also serve a secondary purpose by recognizing the great work that goes on day in and day out by Bvard County government employees. Today's video features Wanita Jackson, director of housing and human services.
My name is Wanita Denise Jackson. My position is director of BVAR County Housing and Human Services and I have been with the county for 25 years. We serve the low income of Bvard. And so I enjoy working here because I have the
opportunity to do what I have a passion for, which is helping those that need help. I get to oversee those programs that provide the services to the low-income of Bvard so that they're able to stay in their homes, make sure that
while they're in their homes, if there any health or safety codes, we're able to come in, assess that, bring those codes up to park, make sure while they're in their homes that they have electricity, and just all those bare necessities. I look forward to coming in. I look
forward to being able to provide those services to BVAR County. I look forward to seeing my team members and seeing how I can assist them. So, being able to come in and do those things is what keeps me coming back. [Music]
Originally, when I graduated from college, my thought was I would go work for the government for a few years, get some experience, and then work for the private sector. What kept me here was the ability to grow and expand all while
still being able to provide and take care of my family. [Music] One of the best benefits with the county is the health benefits. And so when you're looking at how much you earn, you also have to look at how much the employee contribution is for health
benefits. Because even in some locations or businesses, you may earn more, but if the health benefits cost you more, then your take-home is really less. [Music] When you are sick or when you are injured, you don't want to have to think about how much is this going to cost.
And so, knowing that we have full coverage, it just gives you a piece of mind. Some of the great benefits of the F FRS system is called your highest five. So your salary that you're going to receive after you retire is based off of the
highest 5 years of when you've worked with the county. Stay here long enough so that you're able to really fully see all of those benefits. If you want to try a different job, you have the opportunity to do that. If you want to promote up, you
have the opportunity to do that. So, I would just encourage anyone to come and take advantage of all the opportunities that are afforded to us here in Bvard County. Are you interested in a job like this? Apply today at www.bardfl.gov.
[Music] All right, I guess the music can take us out. Oh, yeah. You look good there, Wanita. Yeah, I said you look good in that video. Yeah. All right. All right. We we appreciate
those. Uh I I think uh it's it's a nice way to end our meetings, too. With that, everyone, thank you very much today. Take care. The opinions expressed by any member of the public during any period of public comment do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the board of county
commissioners of Bvard County, Florida, Space Coast Government Television, or the program sponsor and are solely those of the presenter. The board of county commissioners of Bvard County Florida, Space Coast Government Television, and the program sponsor hereby expressly disclaim any and all responsibility or liability for any defamatory or
slanderous statements expressed by any member of the public during any such period. [Music] Okay. [Music] Nice.
[Music] [Music]