##VIDEO ID:M7TD6-oBBNo## [Music] [Music] [Music] for [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 3 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 evening and welcome to the January 14th 2025 Board of Commissioners meeting we have a quorum I'll call the meeting to order is Robbie elogo did I say elogo did I say that a dog you'll say it correctly sir you're recognized for invocation tonight you're with teen Missions International yes sir thank you for being here if you will stand for the prayer let's pray Lord we thank you for the Commissioners here tonight Lord we lift up fad and Kim and Rob and Tom and Katie to you Lord we ask for strength and wisdom tonight Lord that you'd give them a freshness about the business today Lord we ask your Holy Spirit to lead and guide the conversation tonight Lord we thank you for every person present here tonight Lord with intentionality to take care of business tonight Lord we ask Lord that you would increase Communication in this place tonight Lord we ask Lord that your business would be done we thank you for a county Lord that would ask your blessing on business Lord that that would ask your hand to to guide the business tonight Lord we ask that uh no hindrances would be in the place tonight Lord but that you would give everyone in this place Clarity of thought Lord that everybody would be an example of of how to have good etiquette and business tonight Lord and may your name be glorified in Jesus name amen okay stay standing if you would commissioner delag United States of America to the for stands na indice okay okay Commissioners we have minutes to approve for the October 22nd 2024 regular board meeting and also the November 7th 2024 zoning meeting is there a motion we have a motion by commissioner Goodson we have a second by commissioner Alman clerk will call the rooll commissioner Delaney yes Vice chairman Goodson yes commissioner Atkinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman Felton yes thank you very much we'll show that passes 5 on the resolutions tonight uh um Don if you don't mind we'll we'll take we'll take you third okay we'll get the other two out of uh commissioner Alman you have a resolution tonight you're recognized to explain your resolution sir come back we can come back if you want sir okay yeah do do you have your group yeah I do I have the resolution you want to invite the group up yes please uh so we have um some folks for National CRNA week is there anyone here for that tonight all right commissioner Alman you recognized sir okay um this is a resolution recognizing uh very important uh service provider in our community it's our our registered nurse anthesis basically it reads certified registered nurse anthesis uh also known as nurse anesthesiologists or nurse anesthesist are Advanced and practice registered nurses who have been providing anesthesia care to patients in the United States for uh more than 150 years and it declares uh uh here in Bard County that we would declare National CRNA week January 19th to January [Music] 25 2025 and that's the resolution okay and Sir you'd like to make a motion to pass that yes I move that we pass this resolution recognizing National CRNA week second and we have okay so we have a motion by commissioner Alman we have a second by commissioner Delan clerk will call the rooll commissioner Delaney yes Vice chairman Goodson yes commissioner Atkinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman felner yes and we'll show that passes 5 um and then commissioner I guess you'll give the framed resolution to your group when you see them okay sir okay we're going to go to the next resolution uh commissioner Goodson do you want to um introduce ask your folks and then I'll I'll go ahead okay would you please come up anyone here the weightlifting for the power lifting program Frank buzo in your group right after we present it then you'll be able to speak family's welcome too if you like you could you could come here to the podium after we're done then then we'll recognize you to to speak okay all right okay I'm reading this on behalf of uh commissioner Goodson tonight we have a resolution recognizing the fitness club youth powerlifting team whereas the fitness club youth powerlifting program FCP located at the fitness club Meritt Island is a 501c3 nonprofit organization created under founder and former world champion powerlifter Frank buzzo it was created to encourage increased strength self-esteem and work ethic in personal goal attainment in powerlifting and whereas the fccp team is comprised of Meritt Island high Coco high and UCF students that train several days a week under buzzo's help and guidance and whereas in 2023 just one year after the team's Inception the FC YP team competed at the wnpf competition in Greenville South Carolina where they broke multiple state National and world records and whereas in 2024 the FC YP team went to Virginia Beach Virginia to compete at the 100% raw powerlifting Federation 2024 World Championships which is more competitive than the wnpf they competed against 400 contestants from 12 countries the competition is the top event of the 100% raw powerlifting Federation with more than 8,000 lifters in its worldwide membership and whereas nine team members lifted their way to five first places plus second and third spots in their weight and age classes Jared Smith Drayton Barrett Caleb hotz Ethan Underwood Jack Mosier Lucas Pollock Devin schotsky River Dennis and McKenzie Davis the FC YP team's performance ALS o earned them first place in the team championship and whereas the leadership and support of the of Team founder Frank buzzo dedication of the fitness club Meritt Island and the commitment shown by the FC YP team members brings a great deal of Pride to our County now therefore be it resolved by the board of County commissioners of Bard County Florida that Coach Frank buzzo and all the members of the fitness club youth powerlifting program team be recognized for their dedication and achievements done order and adopted in regular session this 14th day of January 2025 and commissioner Goodson you want to make a motion sir I make the motion for approval second we have a motion by commissioner Goodson we have a second by commissioner ainson uh clerk will call the role commissioner Delaney yes Vice chairman Goodson yes commissioner Atkinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman felner yes Commissioners will show that passes 5 Z congratulations Mi Mr Mr buzo Sir would you like to speak you'd have you're recognized there at the podium these kids started powerlifting three plus years ago their hard work and dedication has paid off the memories they have made will last a lifetime I thank God he blessed me to be part of it thank you for recognizing their accomplishments God bless goodal I think we and then we have a framed resolution for you commissioner Goodson yep okay thank Frank gentlemen gentlemen all get here got 11 and 12 good start [Applause] okay Commissioners we're going to go to E2 and Don you're recognized sir all right thank you good evening Commissioners uh I was asked to give a uh presentation on the speak up Bard campaign uh this is an initiative uh that started in 2010 uh officially known as the citizens efficiency and effectiveness recomend commendations campaign it was approved by The Bard County uh Charter review Commission in 2010 uh basically the program invites residents uh hold on one second I'm sorry let's just give him one minute here oh good job Chief good job good job I'm all for this sounds good anytime okay Don all right I will Rec recap my first couple sentences there so this is an an initiative uh called speak up bravard that started in 2010 during the charter review commission uh known as the citizens efficiency and Effectiveness uh recommendations and this program invites residents uh one month a year uh normally December but we've started now doing January to submit ideas to the county that they think uh might help improve operations so uh in the since 2011 uh we've done over 175 total SE recommendations uh of those we've approved 21 we've approved revisions meaning we we didn't approve all of the recommendation but there were some elements of the recommendation that we were able to incorporate in our day-to-day operations uh and we've rejected 99 of those uh some of the examples from last year is we uh were asked if there was a way we could include paddle uh pickle ball I mean sites uh on our website and we've done that we also extended the hours of our Port St John Library so we do get some good recommendations from that program uh last year we did some updates to the program uh we did some language improvements to make the charter uh job with what the board policy is on the program we also moved the program from the month of December M when a lot of folks are on holiday to January and then we also moved the evaluation deadline that the county staff has to look at these uh review recommendations review them and evaluate them and make recommendations uh We've increased that time frame from 45 to 90 days and that was basically a result of the fact that over the last couple years the number of sear recommendations we've received have greatly increased um we also added some administrative rejection recommendation options for the county manager which basically allows him to uh reject a seir if it's not under the county jurisdiction we get a lot of those that deal with other agencies municipalities the school board uh people think the in government is all inclusive when actually it's it's not uh and then also if it's a recommendation that doesn't necessarily do with the program uh a guidelines are we can uh remove those as well uh the submission dead line this year is January 1st through January 31st uh as of today we've had 22 seir recommendations uh and the evaluation period again once once that period ends January 31st uh we'll have 120 days to do our do all of our reviews and evaluations before we turn those over to the board and once we do uh turn those over to the board uh the commission RWS them and then they'll see our recommendations and ultimately whatever the board uh direction is is how we move forward um so once the board has made it before the board makes its final decision any of the citizens who've made recommendations we notify them advance of that board meeting to let them know that we've not only reviewed their recommendations but we've also turned our findings over to the board and so you'll be taking action so if a citizen wants to show up at that board meeting to comment about their recommendation or at least be here when that decision is made uh they are notified well in advance so they can be here uh and then also as far as the program itself uh since January 1st all the seir recommendations that have been made to this point are on our web page uh they're available to the public they can review not only theirs but other recommendations that have been made and those are those will be there uh through the process and after afterward even after the board makes its decision we've got them up there from last year and previous years I wanted to mention as part of this presentation that while the Sears program lasts from January 1st through the 31st for 365 days a year there are other ample opportunities for the public to make recommendations to the board uh they can do that on our website there's a tab there they can go to and they can on any given day of the week at any hour of the day they can make recommendations uh and as you're very aware they can come to the board meetings and talk during public comments uh and they can also reach out to your individual offices and obviously if there's a commissioner who feels that a recommendation that's been made Bears Merit they can bring it to the rest of the board and see if uh they can get buying from the rest of the commission so that's pretty much how that program works um it's as simple as that uh uh and like I say we're already Midway through the month and that's where we stand okay are questions for Dawn do you mind if I go ahead so Delan for for process are we discussing this after questions or is this the time for a little discussion um we don't we don't have cards normally on items three there were no other questions uh so so you're recognized in discussion thank you I just wanted to say to Don Walker thank you so much for putting this presentation together and all the work that you um have put in to make this um this year the best it could be and uh so I just wanted to publicly say thank you for that I appreciate it thank you and um so the last meeting um I I remember hearing uh commissioner Altman mentioned that he didn't have uh that he hadn't heard of this program and so that's why I asked for the presentation so that not only commissioner Altman could know but um give the public a refresher um and like Mr Walker said we've had 22 suggestions so far everything from faucet repairs to libraries to the animal shelter to Department budget accountability um and I just wanted to to put this out there that this program is highly regarded um by the public the residents they want this program they fought for it they voted for it um and if I remember correctly there was even a rally last year um with over 25 residents protesting outside of this very building um and they were asking for a more robust program and there were multiple articles about this in the newspaper and um I actually was reviewing the uh minutes from the charter uh today um from the charter review where this was brought in and in my opinion it was it was clear that the intention was to have a discussion and collaboration between the county and the citizens and um that goes along with my workshop idea and um if we all remember the April 9th meeting last year where commissioner Goodson um mentioned that more collaboration between the public and the um and the county with this program and so I just wanted to bring up again if anybody is interested in participating with me in having a workshop either February 18th or 27th at 5:00 pm to discuss the um proposals I think that should be an agenda item with respect would you would you mind putting that on the next agenda sure is there um on January 28th would be the next regular agenda you can you can bring that back other than voting on it is there any way that I could dis that we could discuss it that way I know what kind of agenda we're in discussion now I didn't I didn't see any other L is there anyone else in discussion on this item if there's any interest okay commissioner if if you want to if you want to bring that again that gives me a direction okay okay all right Commissioners we'll move into consent and we do have some cards on the consent agenda tonight is there any item that you want to pull off of consent okay we're going to go to the cards then on f11 we have a handful of cards uh Sandra Sullivan okay so this is for appointments is that the one uh yes okay appointments uh so I take objection to uh a couple of the appointments today so uh this is an email dated January 9th 2025 from the from the county uh it says District 2 commissioner seeks appli an for three citizen advisory boards uh Myra is not among those now at the last County Commissioner meeting I spoke specifically to this point and made a request that we had multiple people that sit on boards that have been on these boards for nearly 20 years and it's time we have policy on this that you're not to be on a board we respect term limits and not to have them longer than 8 years you advertise that what this Comm has done in the past is when somebody exceeds eight years they're instructed to go and advertise on the part of their district for the for those to put applicants into those seats if they can't find them then they can wave the term limits now this is on from the agenda and at the bottom it says a waiver of the term limit is recommended due to the difficulty to fill the appointment I know for a fact there's a lot of people that want to fill this position and have have asked to be on this position so therefore I am requesting this board to reject putting Marcus Herman on there in addition there are other issues with Mr Herman in that he led the incorporation committee a Pac and Ed his influence as chair to wave the fees at the veterans and when I brought it up at a Myra meeting he suddenly paid the fees and There's issues with brownfields and other things I'm sure some other people will talk about that um in addition um you know there is on the Myra website you see Camy ads cami's part their some of their members are on that committee incorporation committee Mar according to email Mr Herman was going to come here under public comment and if you recall that the merid island incorporation got approved on under public comment which is not legal under Florida statute it has to be on an agenda item you can't take a vote under public comment without public input um and the other one I object to is JNS on the TDC uh I looked up the companies he owns I don't see any that meet uh the requirement which is on the category he's under uh is for uh hotel motel RV park some other tourist related business I looked up his businesses on sunbit I sent you an email I do not see any of his businesses in that category so I'm making the recommendation to reject that one as well thank you thank you I'll make sure I say this right Diana Scher did I say that right you recognize me um uh my name is Diana shmer I live on Meritt Island and I'm here to speak against um Marcus Herman as well because he is so in favor of incorporation and I'm not I live on Meritt Island it was voted down in 1989 it was stopped again in 2012 why we keep facing it I don't know I walk a lot of streets and knock on a lot of doors and of all that that I've done I've not talked to one citizen in mered Island that's in favor of incorporation and yet there's this great effort to push it and RAM it down our throats um it's I it's my understanding that with this pack that they've already engaged a marketing firm which is just to put lipstick on this pig because everybody knows in corporation is going to bring another layer of taxes and it's going to bring another layer of rules and we don't want it we don't need it and he is so in that camp and I just I I I don't think he should be in Myra I don't I think his bias is not right and um and I highly object to it thank you ma'am Diane laclair lock layer ma'am thank you good evening I'm Diane laclair I live on merid island I was born and raised here and um this has been an issue repeatedly in my growing up years it was an issue and now again in the 80s it was an issue and then now again recently with some questionable practices that led to um there being a study and money spent and um I am against the appointment of someone who exceeds term limits without other people who are interested in those in seating in in one of those positions who has a perhaps contrary or broadened Viewpoint Beyond um uh Marcus and uh the other gentlemen we need some new ideas and not these same old stale ones that we keep turning down I don't want another but it'll be nice to have all the same colored trash cans is what one of the foul ideas was promoted to people to try to get behind that and it was pushed down our throats we didn't want it we don't want this we I I agree with the last two speakers these people should not be confirmed there needs to be opened up to other applicants who are interested but are being ignored thank you thank you ma'am St Bailey good evening St Bailey Coco Florida I just want to repeat what they just said um I'm really worried about the appearances of this and nepotism and potential I don't understand why we continue to reappoint people that stay on these boards 20 30 40 years I hear through other cities that we don't get enough people that apply um but are we advertising this how are we pushing this out to get people to be aware of these boards that make very important decisions for our County and they advise all of you sitting up there I actually came here because I strongly object to the appointment of Andrew Connor to the tourism de Department Council um I object because he's in health insurance he doesn't know anything about tourism why are we putting this guy on a tourism picking him out of the entire County to go on this this board that he doesn't really know anything about it he doesn't have experience additionally he has a lot of controversy right now in the city of Titusville that I believe um there's alleged involvement in election interference that undermines the integrity and trust that should be foundational for any public servant such as actions if true conflict directly with the values and standards we expect from those in leadership roles um is this the best that you can do and my last uh issue with this is that a different district is appointing District 2 is appointing a district one appointy if we're going to do that you know maybe Tom Goodson can put me on some boards for Katie's you know she's my my representative's district maybe you know Altman could put Sandra Sullivan on some boards for you while you're at it you might want to really consider that Avenue as well thank you thank you Kevin Jeffrey good evening Happy New Year my name is Kevin Jeffrey president of the bavard County Republican assembly it's an organization that goes back to 1935 in California and Ronald Reagan actually loved this Republican assembly he said it's the conscience of the Republican party now I wanted to just ask some questions here CU I don't know and I wanted to try to find out about this Andrew Connor guy that you guys are going to appoint to this board and I want to see if this is the same Andrew Connor so I want to ask him a few questions is this the same Andrew Connor who harassed his mayoral opponent by putting up fraudulent signs in front of her established area and filed charges against her is this the same Andrew Connors who lied to the people of Titusville to get votes and said that he was going to bring in a Chick-fil-A is this the same Andrew Connors who engaged the Titusville police to use The Bard County Sheriff's Department to go after a guy who posted things on the internet about him that he didn't like is this the same Andrew Connors who the first day of office refused to uphold the home rule and case law on constitutional rights of the citizens who voted 82% to Passion initiative is this the same Andrew Connors uh who is accused of harassing doctors and a disability investigation and also suing a paralyzed citizen who was involved in the accident with him is this the guy if this is the same Andrew Connor I want to give you the quote and it's from George Washington our first president and he said this associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your reputation for it is better to be alone than to be in bad company so in this case it is better to leave this position open than to put in a guy who has shown himself to have bad character he has a bad reputation in Titusville and the thing about it is I think in a year's time we're going to have to deal with him maybe recall him but up to this point in time you do not want to put him and to allow him to be a part of Bard County and diminish the rest of this County by his Antics this guy has shown himself to be a guy who has bad character please do not for the sake of Bard County put this guy on any board thank you Liz Michaelson Michel Michael men sorry I'm sorry I didn't put my glasses on yeah mine are on my head I knew that already Liz I'm sorry hi guys um for a lot of you you aren't aware of what we're really he about or some of the issues we heard about the characters and this and that I'm here because I'm merid Island Liz Michael and mered Island hi guys this hopefully will you it's a list of the uh board members thats last year and I feel really strongly about this issue um so the issue that we're having there is an ordinance that was put into place in 2022 within this ordinance there are time term limits for for seeding board members and it's St for a specific reason and I'd like you to take a look at that ordinance at your uh Leisure but so I can just kind of come where I'm coming on this list they took away and it's advertised if you see on the other page there is an advertisement for four vacancies four vacancies I felt so strongly about a certain individual on the board actually two individuals I spoke with Tyler zy who um in turn set up an appointment with Morris and at that point I had discussion about this um there's so much to cover and there's so little time but this is what it's all about you've got an ordinance in place please take you know consider that 20 years is a lot of time to empower an individual that has no oversight like you guys you're elected you're limited to two terms that's it end the story these guys are supposedly limited by eight um excuse me uh eight years you've got he's here right now you got Marcus Marcus has been on this board for almost 20 years you've got Andrew Barber who who's been on this board for 15 years there is a bias these people are not wrong it's in Florida today I'm more than happy to share the article um but they have gone on record as promoting incorporation they do more for incorporation than they're doing any good for myON I hate to say that but it's true um I know more details about it I'd love to share it with any of your offices if you'd like to I'd be more than happy to sit down with you but the point is and I wanted to put this here you know why are people corrupted by power it isn't because it corrupts you know what is it absolutely corrupts it's simple they've given the themselves the time and the energy and they have the information the wherewithal plus the power of knowledge to know how a system works thank you please you've got the law you've got the rules you got the ordance please do not put Marcus back on the uh agenda by the way they took away three three others that were there for only four years H thanks Liz away because okay thank thank you uh we're going to so F12 also we have a card on sander Sullivan good evening Sandra Sullivan uh okay so what F12 is the board Lees on appointment and I think a lot of people aren't aware which appointments who's on what board so cfx is district one the eastern central Florida Regional planning Council which is about disaster and evacuation off the Barrier Island um that is district one and District Five EDC is District Five um Indian River Lagoon council is District three tourism Development Council is District Four and affordable housing is District three um and that's the main ones but one of the things I wanted to point out is in uh the recent commission we had a you know few people up here that well one that was appointed by our governor what we weren't seeing that has occurred at previous commissions is under board reports board reports this is board appointments your board your board reports is when you are supposed to report to the public and to each other because you can't talk to each other except here under with Sunshine for you to tell each other hey what's happening on these boards because you have that knowledge and they don't and the public doesn't have this knowledge unless you sit there and watch all these meetings and so I would appreciate if this board would do what previous boards have done and give us an update each month when you go to these boards because that's your responsibility to communicate to the public at large who you serve thank you thank you okay that's all the cards that we had on consent agenda sorry chairman I was just going to ask is this where I should make my point about F10 uh well okay let me let me uh that's it for the cards are are there are there questions on consent is that a discussion or or do you have a question on consent okay commissioner Altman do you have a question sir no just okay the same okay all right okay let's do the questions first commissioner delen how would I go about voting no on one thing but yes on everything else you you can uh we can you can tell that to the uh Clerk to the board now and um I you just say it here um okay all right or is there an item that we need to pull uh I don't or we just you just you want to be a no vote on an item yes okay all right um I would like for the record to reflect um a no vote on f11 and yes on everything else okay commissioner ainson um I would like to for continuity say that I'm a no on F10 and yes on everything else all right commissioner Alman yes I'd like to um register a no vote on F10 and yes on everything else all right um okay fair enough that was from F10 just for everyone's uh information that's the um findings of fact um on the item that we had on the last zoning meeting right just to clarify for the clerk okay with that said for the rest of consent is there a motion for the consent agenda so mov okay we have a motion by commissioner Goodson we have a second by commissioner Alman clerk will call the role commissioner Delaney yes Vice chairman Goodson yes commissioner adkinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman feltner yes thank you Commissioners we will go on to sorry I'm going to go on to public comments in the G [Music] section Charles toy Mr tovy Charles toy 2555 Roberts Road Melbourne happy New Year happy day we all woke up today it's the gift of life life is a learning experience erience unless you're a and can't learn about mistakes and don't want to grow and besides that uh another suggestion I would um want to make is putting your District numbers by your names that way everybody can clarify who's voting what and this and sometimes there's clarification issues and it would help me thank you um commissioner felner I'm holding you personally responsible and whatever people do to me they do to God because I give my life and my soul first to God whether however discretion I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ God my savior I'm learning and it takes me a while and I've enjoyed learning and being close to God the past years and I thank you commissioner felner and I hope and pray that God rewards you with ultimate blessings because you've not only recognized my right to live but you've also helped to restore my life liberty and pursuit of happiness which every day is a growing process for me and I am try and enjoy all Endeavors of life as much as I can and where I can how I can um I used to speak twice at every meeting public comment and then I'd speak on I uh agenda items as well thank you and I hope to work with you in cooperation I'm not against anybody I'm for God and help and love about sea Cals um and the old testment seals were used for God's temples and they could be considered sacred animals but we have no use for them so let's make leather coats and Tents and stuff for them and H maybe Josh West 7 I'm not sure um the other thing I want to do is p u speak work on is pedestrian safety especially at Pine Causeway US1 and local area um wildlife and the lon of course and I have suggestions for uh the rec recovery of Wickham Lake Wickham Park when I was a kid I used to swim there and enjoyed it and the fish and all the other stuff but now and it's all relative I want to thank you again and hope to see you thank you thank you Mr tovy Christy Bernett hi I'm Christy from Christy Barnett from centry can you imagine discovering that an easement had been invalidly granted and recorded for your land as bulldozers are arriving to demo Imagine The Mad Dash to gather all the information you can and searching for an attorney before your property is destroyed imagine presenting the information to those in charge of the project and being told that they intend to proceed by any means necessary this Commissioners is the nightmare we have been living since late October of last year now imagine that the county is responsible for all of it when workers started to appear in our backyard we had to search out plans and found the Oak Park drainage project in the works and then we see that the design of the project had a 3-ft concrete pipe cutting through the right through our backyard and we were very confused we called my father-in-law who was a real estate expert in Northern Virginia to help we all started digging through the public records and found where the HOA had granted the county a permanent easement to our property how can anyone give a permanent easement to our property other than us my father-in-law is a licensed surveyor in multiple States and found many errors on the plans within minutes he was as surprised as we were that the project got to the boots on the ground stage without someone discovering the simple property boundary error he said and I quote had the slightest bit of due diligence been done we would not be discussing ing this someone should definitely lose their license here mind you our HOA hasn't owned that parcel of land since 1988 we provided all parties with copies of our survey ASAP and explained that our HOA doesn't own the land we joined the meetings that started taking place in our backyard between the county reps and the construction company it was apparent that we weren't a welcome addition to the conversation we were told in the most disrespectful of ways by the county reps that they were going to continue to get the pipe in the ground even while ackn in that they were using inaccurate engineering Plans by any means necessary we left it with our lawyer would be in contact we have continuously tried to come to a resolution with the county and instead of working with us they've threatened to remove our pool if we didn't sign over the easement that the HOA had given them a pool that has been permitted by the county instead of collaborating it felt like we were being extorted meanwhile they told the construction company to proceed without our permission I feel completely defeated as a citizen who is and has always followed proper policies and procedures only to be bulldozed by my local government who knew that their information was incorrect the clear disrespect to us as Property Owners mistakes made or not is unacceptable the double standard is unacceptable citizens are definitely not allowed to just push their way through improper planning all consequences be damned please help me explain to my children ages 11 and 13 why the government that is supposed to protect our rights has instead chosen to bulldoze them and our backyard while they could have worked something out with us to come to a solution to make this right I've seen sent each of you Commissioners an email with further details please get to the bottom of this so others won't have to endure such a nightmare thank you Sandra Sullivan Sandra Sullivan I am very concerned about the state of our County I was up at a meeting I think I talked to you about this before up in Titusville a building whose Paints peelings in a deplorable condition goods and build building looks like he just walked out in 1960 this building very poor condition leaking Windows toilets set back up mechanical failures just Count's not maintaining we have 100 uh uh we have eight almost a billion dollars and in transportation deficits I saw on the um bid award uh $33 million additionally for the dump out west What's the total cost on that I mean that was supposed to be you know around $33 million then it went up to $40 million what is it now but I bet you're not going to tell the people what what's going on because that's what you guys do there's a lack of accountability and there's a lack of transparency so what's coming we have a fire department where we're down like 75 uh firefighters uh we're losing them we're bleeding firefighters because we're not giving them an adequate wage to live by um the county appears poor but we're the Space Center I mean we we should be wealthy we should look like when you go to UAE to Dubai how beautiful Dubai looks okay and I use that country for a reason because Dubai is here you go into the port welcome to the Dubai of the Americas with the Exploration Tower and the Investments hundreds of billions of dollars here is this America or is this Dubai but we don't look like Dubai we look poor and what I think is coming is that the tax cap wants to be removed because when I was running for office I was told by staff that they wanted the county wanted to remove it I brought you guys an attorney general legal opinion that was dated 2012 that said if you had a ordinance for EMS assessment prior to 2002 which we did then you can move EMS assessment to below the line but there's no will to do that so becomes apparent there's another agenda that my belief is that you're purposely creating a disaster with our fire department so that you can say to the public Buy in here's a disaster Buy in to tax yourself let's do away with the 3% cap that's what I believe is that play manipulation of the people for higher Taxation and you call yourself fiscal conservatives I'd like to see you act like fiscal conservatives later on the agenda there's money that you're moving to one area it should be going to deal with our firefighters you should be addressing impact fees that have not been updated in 35 years and I'm running out of time I'd like to say more about that but we're out of time thank you Diana Scher I think I'll use this time to talk about c i called um I think her name was Kathy anyway I was very heartened to find out that we're down to 11 because about 10 years ago when I did this study we had 22 cras these are uh community redevelopment agencies these agencies work by giving a grant to a business why I don't know why public money should go to any business privately owned is beyond me but that's the way it works and once that Grant is given to a business all the increasing taxes that that business their property taxes as they get bigger all that upper amount goes to the Myra in my case but in a community redevelopment agency that gave the Grant and it goes to them for 40 years um so of these 11 cras that we have out of our funds um our our General budget 7,361 n31 went to these CRA um Meritt Island got 1, 513,000 $986 I'm against CRA I'm inherently against it for starters it's taking over $7 million out of our general fund if you do away with them there's 7 more million there that can pay for the things that we really need instead of painting other businesses front doors for them um I I I just I most other states have done away with them I I don't understand why we hang on to them here I don't understand the purpose I wish Myra wasn't there um anyway I'm I'm against them because they take my tax dollars and you give it to an agency and you let them do whatever they want to with it and it's really very little oversight and I never voted for CRA to begin with so I'm against them I I think that they should go away I think the county needs the money for the county thank you for your time sir hang on hang on hang on are you aware that Myra gives $250,000 a year for 10 years to the bridge repair on merid island are you aware of that no are you aware that they put in bus terminal uh benches covers for people traveling on the bus are you aware of that it still isn't right are you aware of the fact that they take the maintenance of of the be line another be line 520 and cut the grass and all that are you aware of that and they put in the trees and they got a Federal Grant and yes so therefore Mara does nothing nothing of value correct nothing I don't want it I don't want but you're one of a multitude so you're one I'm not the only one okay there's three okay you're right all right thank you for the comments and question Diane Lair llir yes ma'am thank you I'm sorry hello Diane loir merid Island um I too uh see very little value for considerable uh chumminess on specific interests uh that serve a lot of people and make wealth to a lot of of small group of people I don't see the benefit the cost analysis benefit to cras I I heard what you said Mr Goodson commissioner Goodson and um yeah that's nice that you know uh they mow The Lawns but the county would have to do that anyway they don't need a CRA to do that um and I don't see a benefit to Myra especially if you're going to house it with people who have vested interest and have agendas and don't care what citizens think so that seems to be what it is though you know you don't care what we think okay Commissioners that's the end of the public comments on the GSE section we're going to move to H1 I see Commander bernath sir are you recognized good evening Commissioners uh H1 is a petition of vacated public utilitiesman at 3214 Armen Drive um it's located in merid Island uh east of North Courtney Parkway and north of Smith Road uh seeking 5 ft of a 10-ft wide public utility is meant to protect a an existing manhole uh from being covered over uh with future uh utilities uh there's been no objections commissioner Goodson this is your District sir move for approval sir we have a motion by commissioner Goodson second we have a second by commissioner Delany clerk will call the role commissioner Delaney yes Vice chairman Goodson yes commissioner kinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman felner yes and we'll show that passes 5 we're going to go on to uh J1 and we have uh Juanita you're recognized evening this is a presentation to provide background for the state housing initiatives partnership ascented strategy report appr approval of this report facilitates the continued receipt of ship funding for the Florida Housing Finance Corporation which this year is 2.6 million go ahead okay got it State housing initiatives partnership or ship are funds provided to local government as an incentive to create Partnerships that produce and and preserve affordable home ownership and multif family housing ship is funded from document documentary State stamp tax collections ship funding can be used for the following emergency repairs new construction rehab down payment and closing cost assistance and matching dollars for federal housing and Grant programs Florida statute 42 20976 is the adoption of affordable housing incentive strategies and committees it establishes that each municipality that participates in the ship program must establish an affordable housing advisory committee and produce an annual report on the local affordable housing incentives in conjunction with the incentives report the committee annually reviews the affordable housing policies and procedures ordinances Land Development regulations and adopted local government comprehensive plan following the annual review the committee then recommends specific actions or initiatives to encourage or facilitate affordable housing while protecting the ability of their property to appreciate and value our ship funding is contingent on the committee annual report which is before the board this evening in closing we have a few examples of the repairs completed serving the citizens of Bard County with our ship funding this is a walk-in shower with um grab bars electric service panel replacement a full roof replacement and a condenser unit replacement are there any questions Commissioners are there questions for1 question quit ma'am we we're going to get to that on are there any questions okay uh we don't have any cards uh I'm just trying to stick to to the process commissioner Delaney you recognized in discussion I just wanted to say thank you so much for giving this presentation um and I when I asked for this presentation I I just really felt like it was something that um the public would be interested in hearing about so I really appreciate it and um I love that you put in this presentation that some of the different things that this program is doing to help our community so I really appreciate that so thank you are there is there any other discussion on this item okay I think we're looking for uh a motion to approve is there a motion to approve motion to approve we have a motion by commissioner ainson is there a second second we have a second by commissioner delini clerk will call the role commissioner Delaney yes Vice chairman Goodson yes commissioner Atkinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman feltner yes Commissioners will show J1 passes 5 okay we will go to J2 good evening and Ethan or I'm sorry Ian I was going to say I see you over there go ahead sir you recognized yes thank you I appreciate that good evening this agenda item H Commissioners I I'm passing out a set of photos that I uh had received a request uh just right before uh the meeting I saw it these are pictures of items that are included in the uh appendix to this agenda item I was asked to to distribute these pictures uh to the commission thank you so agenda item J2 is requesting direction from the board regarding hurricane damage to park lands and Facilities we have about $2.3 Million worth of damage to Parks facilities as well as a natural resources project that we currently don't have funding identified for uh it provides for four options from the board or for the board first option is to authorize the county manager to advertise a public hearing for the January 28th board meeting to recognize unanticipated balance forward from the charter officers in an amount not to exceed 2.3 million uh typically that's recognized in April this will allow us to move forward more quickly and it also authorizes the county manager to approve all necessary budget change requests second option is a loan from the general fund reserves on an as-needed basis for that same dollar amount at 2.3 million authorizing the county manager to execute internal loan documents uh and approve all necessary and reasonable appropriate budget change requests third option is do not proceed with repairs until a funding source has been identified and approved by the board I will say that there are potential impacts with that uh first being that we are currently in a 90-day window where we don't have to seek permitting for to bring these damaged items to pre-storm conditions it's a 90-day window that is from the date of the last emergency order signed by the county manager the other thing is that if there is a another storm before repairs are done FEMA will not cover those repairs in the future and then the fourth option is any other direction as provided by the board Commissioners cour questions commissioner Goodson question um on the FEMA money is that two or three years out not typically we are actually still currently waiting for uh hurricane Irma funds so it's typically more along the lines of five to seven years so the $2 million now would be five years seven years out right of reimbursement correct sir potentially uhuh and what did you say about the permitting now would that be easier or would we still have to go through consultants and all kind of engineering and we do still have to do design for some of the repairs some of the repairs we have moved forward with the ones that we can do inhouse but these are projects that are a little larger um some of them still need design for example the uh ugali boat docks need to be designed for repair uh but it's for the permitting so example would be we don't have to go to St John's now I would assume Sher I would assume like anything else you would have a Volkswagen Dock and a Cadillac dock who decides on the Cadillac docks if we want to remain where we don't have to pull permits or go through that process it has to be brought back to the condition it was in Prior to the the storm so we couldn't make improvements to those structures beyond what was there before the storm that could be a blessing right it can thank you thank you sherff uh commissioner ainson just a real quick question so the 2.3 that we're talking about funds wise is that going to spread over North Central and South everything that we have list it's everything that's on that list yes ma'am there's no D4 on that list just kidding just kidding all right are there any other questions for Ian commissioner Delaney I just wanted to um ask these questions that I asked you earlier just for the Public's sake um has have all of these project been build or submitted to FEMA so they are in the process uh we have to submit to Insurance also and a lot of times FEMA wants us to see what insurance will pay for first but it's in the process for reimbursement and then do we know how much will be reimbursed by FEMA we don't uh FEMA could reimburse you know everything we asked for minus the insurance I believe there have been projects in the past where FEMA has uh reimbursed none of what we' asked for from for them thank you any other question commissioner Goodson Frank this question to you the fee of response on the bridge on Merit Island they have not responded to that yet either have they U no they had denied it we appealed it and it's still in process and how many years has that been it's at least seven we're on year seven I believe right now okay eight excuse government works fast right federal government works real fast thank you it's been commissioner ainson sorry I have one other question so since we're on like a Time deadline here of our four choices which is the quickest obviously in my opinion option one would be the quickest okay because again it keeps us within that FEMA window or the uh the permitting window any other questions for Ian okay I had uh one card but I think she left Sanders no okay all right Commissioners we're in discussion commissioner Delany um I just I just have to have to say this out loud and I apologize in advance um but uh and I understand the time crunch and how how all that process works but we're sitting here talking about um these Parks when we have our firefighters out there who were in a pretty serious crisis about and so I just um I'm frustrated to say the least thank you in discussion I'd like to make a motion we accept number one direct staff to proceed second okay we have a motion by commissioner Goodson to approve option number one and we have uh second by commissioner Alman clerk will call the role commissioner Delaney yes Vice chair Goodson yes commissioner Atkinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman Felton yes we'll show that passes 5 Z okay Commissioners we're going to go to item j3 this really we all have to vote on this but only concerns a couple of you so s that you've taken a look at this item between uh commissioner Alman and commissioner ainson we need a chair for the value adjustment board I would like to move that we have commissioner Alman be the chair okay you didn't give him much option there commissioner Alman sirw you withdraw your name I'm good okay all right okay we have a motion for commissioner Alman to share the VAB is there a second second second I'll commissioner delini uh second Clark will call the role commissioner Delaney yes Vice chair Goodson yes commissioner Atkinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman felner yes we'll show that congratulations Mr chairman um Kim you didn't sound very excited about this this was your item so uh um okay just kidding uh we're going to go into public comments got have a few cards here Brent Wallenberg um Brent Brent wenberg Fels um I was hoping I come up here and save you guys some money so you can spend it on other things uh once again the the S is uh the Monday's paper Florida Today it sounds like more sand for beaches is on the way for Bard it sounds like they're rescuing but they're spending 47 million and you can take that sand and put it in the lagoon and put your foot on and feel the heat from the chemical reaction like I say I'm hoping to save you guys some money because I can see you know it's a uh disaster in other areas uh the $24 million storm treatment plans would be unnecessary in the 60s all our roads were shell so uh the high the water that run off was high pH before it hit okay I go a little bit on National and kind of tie it into local uh you see around the country uh the fires that disaster was a disaster before the fire started uh they got metal roofs fire  of paper um all uh clean the brush from under the eaves things they could have done before the fire came and then just lock the doors and you're good now here local I see um a lot of these apartment complexes they use a whole lumber yard building them I don't know why they didn't use metal studs but I think before hurricane we need to make sure that wind they can withstand the wind and uh wind tunnel testing or whatever and there's things you could mitigate the problem like building concrete walls so the wind would hit before it hit the building but one thing I like is when I help build your hospital here in Vieira uh they use tilt wall construction and I don't see why if you got a slab left be it from the hurricanes in North Carolina to the coast to California if you got a slab you got measurements that you could prefabricate tilt walls and bring them in on trucks and Bam you got a dog on community again and this time build it back where it's not don't build it back the same way that was destroyed build it back that and it can take the hit uh that dog they use angle iron um cat operators prefabricate everything to where when it comes out it fits like a glove and if you utilize this type of construction then you won't be going back uh it could probably take a flood too from uh the hurricane on the Tampa to the Carolinas um it could take it's so it's like a bunker but and it's it's quick it's efficient and you won't be coming back again that's why FEMA is about to go bankrupt I don't know how they can deal with all that thank you thank you sir Peter mous recognize sir Peter mous U Bard renaissance fair I live at 3900 l in Coco uh I just want to come up here and thank you folks for allowing us the opportunity to put on a Bard r sound fair this year we spent the last 60 days working around the clock on the Sno site there uh I think we're about ready to open up on this Saturday morning some very tired bodies but I hope we uh make the county proud of what we've done so that's really all I came up to I wanted to thank commissioner feltner and all the hard work they did putting this deal together thank you Peter I appreciate it Andrew me hello I'm Andrew me I am the entertainment director for The Bard Renaissance Fair uh last time I was here I wasn't as [Music] nice were you one of the guys trying to take our job did you bring in the sword I didn't bring in the sword no they made me check it at the door uh but I do want to thank the Commissioners very much for listening to the workers of the festival and the people of the county and working with the city of Melbourne to figure out a solution there's a big strip of what was grassy uneven land doing not many people any good and this Saturday it's going to be one of the Premier Entertainment destinations on I mean on this Coast at least but in most of Florida it's going to be huge uh and a lot of people are really going to be happy about that and so I wanted to thank you personally for the roles that you took in making that happen especially Mr feltner thank you very much uh I just wanted to close on uh I just wanted to share one uh can I share a picture here wonderful a member of our local cast his name is Adam he uh he came out today and he's uh he took a sapling tree out of his parents yard out of his the yard of his childhood home don't tell his parents he that a Shrubbery yeah shub yes uh okay uh he didn't ask his parents permission he was like I hope I don't get in trouble but uh I guess it's not a great image but somebody's texting you there yeah that's his uh those are three of our cast members there we've got Adam and we've got Emily and we've got Victoria they're all Bard County residents they're all excited to come out here and he said can I plant this tree and I was like I don't know man I mean we don't know what the future holds he's like well I want to plan it anyways you know kind of like a tree of hope you know so we put the tree in and uh hopefully uh it bears fruit so thank you very much thank you sir appreciate that Jason Barrett good evening Commissioners my name is Jason Barrett I'm not a resident of this County I'm actually of Mobile Alabama beautiful city little north of here but my family and I travel around the country uh supporting our own therapeutic writing program a nonprofit organization we started over 17 years ago we work with special needs kids and children and adults uh with with different disabilities on the back of horses horses are incredible creatures that uh We've grown very close to and because of your consideration of The Bard Renaissance Fair we've been able to make it bound here another year to perform in Florida for your community it's something we enjoy to do and we intend to do it in the future if you continue to support this project uh we intend to bring all of the skills and things we've learned over the years to support your community hopefully during the weeks of the fairs coming up and in future years we'll be able to make acquaintance with organizations in your area that support children and those with mental and physical disabilities and we can show them the skills we've learned over 18 years of running our program so we hope to be able to do that thank you very much for assisting The Bard renaissance fair and continuing and we appreciate your continued support thank you sir I appreciate [Applause] it Michael Frost recognize sir [Music] thank you um I am also not from the area I'm currently live just outside of Orlando Florida I uh work for UCF as a historian Anthropologist I spent a lot of my time cramped in uh libraries looking over books that nobody cares about and I saw something on Facebook something I never go to and I highly discourage anyone ever to look at it but I saw uh The Bard renissance fair I checked it out I went and I I talked to them and kind of wrote itself after that I went down I talked to them and I I thought this is going to be another one of those things where nobody cares about history nobody cares about anything that actually happened during those periods or anything that actually matters to anyone that studies history or cares about the past during the time that I've been with them they've taken my expertise in the past my expertise in uh in war my expertise in uh in combat and in military engagements and they put that into modifying and making it as realistic and safe as possible so this production uh I hope can be presented in a way that is both entertaining safe and instructive to uh the audience members that are there and I want to thank you all for giving uh your the audience and and the vendors an opportunity to see what I hope to be a an instructive and entertaining way for people to see the PES it was meant to be seen thank you thank you sir appreciate that okay commissioners before we move into board report I want to say something quickly about we have an upcoming work shop uh for the TDC items and so I mean that's to be informative I'm sure you've looked at things too but I think we have 40 applicants uh that are coming uh we have a we're going to have a presentation by uh Peter kranis uh certainly our discussion questions um you add all that up and uh uh we're going to ask the applicants 2 minutes and and on the public cards also 2 minutes and even with that we'd probably be doing well if we get the whole thing done in less than 4 hours um we'll put a couple of breaks in there too so just so you are aware of we haven't we haven't done a a workshop like that together so I just want you to be aware of of um what we're looking at with that said I guess we'll move into board report um commissioner Goodson I see you reaching for your light there yep I've got I have three things to discuss I would like the board to consider a proposal to separate Central and South Parks and Rec Advisory Board uh one for the central area one for the South area our office has received numerous requests about this as you might well know something in and um Sebastian is totally different something in maridon would the board consider that if they would uh do I have a second on that even for discussion I'll second okay if that being said U I'm sorry go ahead discussion uh I was going to say yes this could be an agenda item but if it's the pleasure of the board to do that now um well I would like to make a motion to direct staff to prepare an agenda item for this resend resolution 22053 and 23124 and create current that creates a current South Central Advisory Board prepare a resolution that creates creates two additional parks and re Advisory Board one for the central area and one for the South area allowing The Advisory boards to meet to occur in each Park area that would be the do we need like to pass that to Morris do we need to vote on that um no I Frank I don't know if we need to take a vote on that tonight if you want to do it as Direction from the board for sta to do the report we'll do that we have a motion by commissioner Goodson giving uh Direction um from the board on the parks uh advisory is there a second second okay I think commissioner Atkinson was the second uh clerk will call the role on that motion commissioner Delaney yes Vice chairman Goodson yes commissioner Atkinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman Felton yes okay Commissioners thank you for that commissioner Goodson you have another item yes um you know in December the meeting I I was kind of moved with a meeting and I'd like to read my thoughts on that meeting and see if all of us can agree to maybe change our personalities be better citizens maybe more loving and caring I want to take a moment to address something that's been weighing on my mind as a public figure it is inevitable that you will receive criticism and you're not always will not always agree with the decisions you make or the rules you enforce this is relatively I'm sorry this is the reality we all face but even more pronounce this when the when you're in the public eye have just because you voice your opinion doesn't always mean you should we must ask ourselves what does it say about our character when we use our platform to belittle others is it not our responsibility to demonstrate decor and professionalism especially when you're making a point I believe it is no one is perfect up here no one's perfect setting out there myself included but I was deeply dishearted by the remarks made from the podium last month specifically the Dory comments directed at Frank Frank's role requires a level of of expertise skill and decision making but it doesn't diminish his importance Frank has done an admirable job and I do not believe he deserves the kind of harsh criticism or anyone on County staff I urge all of us to strive for a higher standard in our re in reactions the more we divide ourselves with hurtful words and actions the least we'll achieve the less we will achieve together let's choose to build each other up rather than tear each other down and I'm not doing this because I'm in Frank's Hip Pocket I'm trying to do it for us to understand we surely will get a lot more done if we work together or in other words to beat me up constantly to to challenge me or rudely you're not going to get anything from anybody that that was my second comment now I have one more okay are you ready sir this addresses the board up here commissioner Delaney's requested a board scheduled workshop on a January 30th to talk about fire rescue since the scheduled Workshop County's negotiation with firefighters Union remains unresolved in fact there is a mitigation tomorrow and potential special magistrate hearing February or January the county attorneys advised us with letters saying hey you can't get involved in this as elected officials all right did everybody read the letter so therefore I'm making a motion that if the representative I mean if she would like Delaney commissioner Delany would like one she's welcome to have it in her District I will not be attending because I don't want to be charged by anybody for anything that I can read the letter and say that we're not not supposed to be involved thank you chair I have a question about that okay I think that's fair uh Morris can you can you ex uh explain that a little bit and um is there is there a law or is it a policy or is it a um per uh issue what what is the issue what's all the above it's it's Florida statute it's the contract with the union and it's your board policy 99 but those all address when we're in negotiations limitations on Communications between union uh the union and union members and the elected officials um all negotiations are supposed to go through um the uh the chief executive officer for the county that's the county manager and his negotiation team with the union and as we're still in negotiations and particularly since we're at a point where the union is declared impass we've got the mediation scheduled we have tentative uh hearing dates for a special magistrate hearing if needed if this isn't resolved following mediation so there there is concern that the topics that we be discussed at this Workshop it's going to be very hard to have a workshop where you know almost necessarily subjects that are mandatory subjects of bargaining are going to be discussed by both elected officials on the dis but also I pause you for a second um you're what you're you're preempting discussion that hasn't even happened yet is what you're telling me and so I this was an opportunity to bring the public into this conversation about the fire assessment and um I uh Mr uh commissioner Goodson you talk about professionalism and cour Y and all of that yet I was not told that this was going to be brought forward here today and I'm I am um I'm frustrated that this conversation um did not take place when I brought forward the idea um so at that at that time everyone was hopeful I think that the negotiations would resolve we would get somewhere and that we wouldn't be at a point where we're still impass and where we are but it looks like looking at the schedule now when where we're at uh but again you're you're preempting the public you're you're this is why we pay you this is your job is to stand in line when when something happens that's unlawful you step in and say hey this is this topic is off limits we can't talk to this because of Florida State statutes so on and so forth but to cut off the public from being able to have a voice in this conversation about the assessment is is wrong we wouldn't be able to cut off the public at a workshop on I mean we'd be inviting issues so it's it's certainly problematic maybe almost certainly I mean the the first thing listed on the on the agenda for the workshop is about um hours and working conditions which is a mandatory subject to bargaining so it's during negotiations those are the kind of things that that we shouldn't have in a form like that I mean I'm sure that we can speak about hypotheticals and philosophy without talking directly to negotiations is is that correct there was a list of three items for the workshop the very first one is about subject of mandatory bargaining it's not a hypothetical it was your agenda item right and my point was to talk about the philosophy of how the fire industry is changing and how do we want to be at the Forefront of that since our um our community is so Dynamic probably the most dynamic place in the country um for what our firefighters have to deal with and so it was to talk about the broader conversation of what do we want our fire service to look like here in Bard County that has nothing to do with negotiations so I I've advised about the pitfalls and the the potential issues and I can certainly you know if the Commissioners would like um you know push push a light whenever we get into a sensitive topic I haven't said you can't have the workshop it's a commissioner's motion to to um I'm not sure exactly what the motion was move the workshop to cancel the workshop or cancel the workshop because of the your letter and the state laws and the county ordinances I think the timing the timing of the workshop in the current state of negotiations currently problematic now if there's a good resolution at mediation that comes back back to the board before then may not may not be an issue but it's something you've got on the calendar right now I just want to put this forward that I think that this is a tactic um and I I'm embarrassed comment all right comment a tactic that I did and you're embarrassed by my motion frankly I don't know who huh well you can still have your Workshop go to it the whole point is so that the the discussion can be had with the public and the commission as a whole are we one person or are we a board and so it was brought forward it depends on what area you're in I I would think that everyone in Bard county is is thinking about this fire issue but when your attorney tells you you could get charged with something do you go down blindly down the road no but that's why we have him okay we have we pay him the big bucks okay Commissioners with the respect we we have two other Commissioners here let's let them weigh in on on this yes uh commissioner Alman I believe you were first sir yes thank you Mr chairman is it possible our council could he read us the Florida statute we're talking about I think it would give maybe give us some understanding about what we're talking about um well I don't I don't have that open right now give me some time I do have available pretty quickly your board policy 99 um give me one moment for that weit I'll tell you what let's go to another question while he is that is that good sir okay commissioner ainson well mine was going to be for Morris as well and I had two questions very simply what can't we talk about what are we not allowed to talk about and then secondly what kind of trouble do we get in if we do so what you can't talk about are pretty much you know anything that relates to working can anything that's a mandatory subject to bargaining and that includes things like working conditions wages and hours salary health and safety uh management rights their whole laundry list of things that are mandatory subjects of bargaining in a in a union situation and it's just hard to conceive of a workshop where you talk com comprehensively about fire rescue and certainly about um hours of work without getting into mandatory subjects of bargaining um you know what could happen you could be charged with an unfair Labor practice uh it's a violation of both our Collective bargain in agreement with Union but also again board policy and chapter 447 of Florida Statutes to engage in those all those during negotiations everything is supposed to go through the uh chief executive officer for Bard County who's the county manager taking direction from the board of County Commissioners um and County manager has been receiving direction from the board both before and during the negotiation process so the board gives Direction in the form of budget development and things like that board also gives specific Direction in the context of um collective bargaining at your executive sessions on bargaining one of which you had last month okay um you're still finding a statute there for commissioner Alman well I am but really it's it's a number of you know statutes it's not one specific provision but it's throughout chapter 447 but those are sort of summarized and collected in BCC 99 which is um states that the purpose of this policy is to ensure good faith negotiations between Bard County and public employees pursuant to Florida statute section 447 point 20101 at SEC we are applicable um also article set forth in the County's collective bargaining agreements um pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement agement it talks about the certification of the Union is the representative of the County Employees um pursuant to Florida Statutes 44739 the bargaining agent for the organization and the chief executive off the organization being the union and the chief executive officer of the public employer that's the county manager shall shall bargain collectively in the determination of the wages hours and terms and conditions of employment of the public employees within the bargaining unit unit the chief executive officer or his or her representative and the bargaining agent or its representative shall meet at reasonable times and bargain in good faith in conducting negotiations with bargaining agent chief executive officer or his or her representative shall consult with and attempt to represent the views of the legislative body of the public employer but it's not a direct negotiation between legislative body of the public employer and the union it's between the chief executive officer taking direction from the from the legislative body and the union um on article 1.05 of the collective bargaining agreement quote recognizes that the county manager and designes are the collective bargaining representatives for the county the union further recognizes its obligation to bargain solely and exclusively with the county manager and or designes and to refrain from any direct negotiations with the legislative body of the County County Commission or any of its members regarding work rated issues uh then it lists all the mandatory subjects of collective bargaining some of the things I've listed wages hours fringe benefits health and safety um length of contract management rights seniority dues collection things of that nature um then pursuant to 447 605 Florida Statutes all collected bargaining negoti negotiations between a chief executive officer uh or his representative bargain bargaining agent shall be in compliance with the provisions of section 28601 Florida Statutes that's Sunshine so that's why those collected bargaining agreements between or uh negotiation sessions between the entities uh are publicly noticed and subject to Sunshine and then your policy says it goes on to say member of the board of County Commissioners or their staff shall not engage in discussions or negotiations with a member of a labor union or representative agent of a union during a period of formal negotiations with set Union uh regarding any subject which is related to a bargaining agreement I have a question hold on I'm sorry um commissioner ainson was ahead of you there go ahead I I there's a motion on the table to um cancel the workshop I was just wondering if commissioner Goodson would consider a friendly amendment to maybe postpone it or let me hear you a minute just to um perhaps discuss an alternative day I don't how we would pick a day but a day that would keep us out of trouble well that I think that's I think that's a question for Morris so let's get let's get clarity on that real quick so Morris um could it be postponed where the cone of silence we don't we don't violate that um or or the collective bargaining process what absolutely what could be an option available to to us in in Def fire what's yeah absolutely I the workshop can absolutely happen once negotiations are concluded and however that occurs whether that's through mediation and then bringing back a mediated agreement to the board whether that's whether we go all the way through the entirety of the impass procedures and it ends up in front of this body to make a legislative decision once those are concluded regardless of how they conclude you can absolutely have the workshop and talk about anything can I ask one question before we make that m i we're we're going to make sure everybody asks their questions before we vote on anything okay go ahead commissioner Morris can we direct the um chief executive officer to make the County Commission the design on January 30th no why not why not um because the whole system is set up so that the CEO with all due respect I'm I'm asking legally why not I'm telling you okay all right the whole statutory scheme of chapter 447 is designed so that the chief executing officer chief executive officer is the bargaining agent of the um of the county January 30th is the workshop date did you mean correct that way we're not in trouble because we're the we're the chief executive officer no because if this for example if this doesn't resolve at mediation and this goes to a magistrate hearing at some point you're going to have to make a decision on the contract as a legislative body and you're going to have to do that as a neutral you can't both be the bargaining agent and the ultimate decider is a neutral I'm saying for the four hours that we are running this you couldn't wear that hat and take it off and not have been no you you're that's not the role of the legislative body I mean we're our role is to is everything in regards to the county so I I respectfully disagree no you absolutely cannot directly negotiate with the labor union you can't take on that role got a question that's an absolute legal Clarity okay we have another commissioner in here if you don't mind commissioner Alman you're recognized sir thank you thank you Mr chairman so and I appreciate your effort uh to keep us Le that we follow not only the letter of the law and the spirit of the law so I do have a question I was reading some of the statute and I know we're talking about the budget but I was a little surprised that that in uh 44739 2A again this is a process question maybe help clarify and I was surprised it talked about the actual budget it says upon ex execution of the collective bargaining agreement the chief executive shall in his or her annual budget request or by other appropriate means request the legislative body to appropriate such amounts or shall be sufficient to fund the provisions of the collecting bargaining agreement that sounds like it's telling us that we don't talk about budgeting money until we have a collective bargain agreement Am I Wrong how I read that or what is the intent of that Statute in your opinion I understand why you would say that I I think it's saying um that once a collective bargaining agreement is reached that's approved by the legislative body then it's an obligation of the County Manager as he prepares the budget to account for that agreement within the budget so the budget that he presents to you has to be uh adequate to to um you know honor the collected bargaining agreement I don't don't think it's telling you that you can't talk about budget in the absence of a collective bargaining agreement and follow up that's helpful that's helpful so I would it be possible for us to have a workshop to only talk about the budget just talk about the fee the fiscal impact of the fee um levels of service the board can and there are budget workshops that were that are scheduled now the specific purpose of this Workshop the first item on the agenda is about um you know hours and working conditions and it's it's just going to be very difficult to draw that line so again I'm not saying you can't have the workshop I'm wondering though if you want me here blowing a whistle every time we run astray and and probably more difficult is that um if you have public comment at the workshop you know this applies not only to Union Representatives but union members um very diffic you know we're in a bad position if we're having to stop the public as they're speaking so it it would be very difficult um not impossible again not saying you can't have the workshop but is it advisable to have it after negotiations are resolved would it be more productive um thanks thank but that's that's a decision for the board commissioner delini you could help me with a with some clar ification here just actually help us the goal of the workshop is for us as a board to discuss in the open um uh the issues because I think I think maybe there's two things happening in here and uh or to allow the union to come in to air their Grievances and and that's okay I either one but um it it may be that there has to be one or the other that that may that may be the path so can you can you clarify what what it is that you hope to do in in the workshop since originally was your item it's it's the first one that you talked about I'm and I'm looking also for an Avenue where we can solely talk about this issue as a group with the public um because and when I say the public I've said it multiple times um that it's frankly not just about our firefighters and I I say that with all due respect but it's about our public as well they need to have the opportunity to speak to us about this and tell us what is important to them and what they're willing to do to participate in in helping with all of this and maybe they have some great ideas um maybe you know we can talk about um some things like uh like purchasing um during this time because there we need to do a deep dive into our budget about um and figure out how to get some funding from within our budget uh about to fund our fire department not just the fire assessment but it needs to be um like I've said multiple times it needs to be the fire assessment it needs to be the um us talking about impact fees it needs to be um finding money within our budget uh I I know of a project today $36,000 on a shower literally a stall shower um that we spent and it's leaking so we we really need to look into all of these things and have a designated time and space where we can give our fire department the attention that it desperately needs or you know we're going to find ourselves in a real emergency situation I I appreciate that it but um it so listening to the county attorney it seems that the the only sure bet for a workshop that doesn't potentially get us in a collective bargaining conflict legal problem is that the board could have uh an open discussion and with staff and the public could come but not with public comment now I understand that I understand that nobody nobody likes that but Morris is that am I interpreting that way correctly I haven't thought about that specifically I'd be concerned about that first of all you couldn't take action because if there's an item you're going to take action on you have to allow for public comment but but I think by virtue of having a workshop we're not taking action is and I we could give board Direction a workshop but we don't vote to pass items without noticing it is that I'm I'm just trying to trying to split it with you here and try try to find us a good way and and me everything as far as as far as budget development and setting the assessment rates and things like that you can absolutely talk about all that when the time is right but the budget development process I mean we're going to have budget development workshops in uh in March and and that will be part of the budget development hopefully this is all resolved by then um hopefully by January 30th we have a a contract that would be great and then again no concern with with any of the subjects but I think at this point it it would be very difficult sorry commission I understand what you're saying Mr chair I have some I'd want to consult before I'd say that the oneway sort of discussion board only is okay that that in itself might be problematic too if I could just say one thing well commissioner Alman wants to say something also um let let's let him just speak real quick okay commissioner Alman I I think I found the part of statue that really applies here and um this 447 605 all discussions between the chief executive officer of the public employer or his or her representative and the legislative body or or the public employer relative to collective bargaining shall be closed and exempt from the uh from the provisions of 28611 just Sunshine that's correct that's pretty D gone clear it's a shout it's a must and it's all discussion so I agree with our our general counsel I know it's not easy and it's not maybe I I I like the idea of the public Workshop but it does put us at odds with the state law and the collective bargaining process which we've already I'm engaged on I thought maybe perhaps we could wave that provision but it's pretty clear in my mind and I I I we definitely want to follow the the law and I hopefully we'll get there in the same place I think you and I probably see a lot in line on this issue and we hope we can get there but we definitely want to follow the process the way it's set for and law what if we speak what if I take away that first bullet and we speak to the assessment um and like I said the budget is that is that appropriate if I could if I could I don't mean to answer a question with a question but how how do we deal with the public comment portion of it because it is it is a two-way it's a two-way thing go ahead um my concern with taking any action without the Public's input is this this greatly affects them and so for us to give any kind of board Direction um without their input I feel like that's just wrong I I don't disagree with you but we are going to have a vote on the on the final product before this board AR aren't we you're going to present that to us there's a couple of ways that could happen first way is if there's an agreement either at the mediation or a special Magistrate uh makes his recommendations and both the board and the union accept that then we would bring that contract back to the board for approval the second way is if there's a dispute if you don't have a settlement before the special magistrate special magistrate makes a recommendation and either party does not accept any recommendations that comes back to the board and that's what Morris was talking about you serve as the impartial there between the union and and uh the uh management whatever the difference is it comes back to the board at a public hearing the board at that public hearing makes the decision as to how it's going to rule so the public is the part of that process because that is a public hearing here um in front of the board and that's a statutory process that's provided for by 447 moris can probably speak to that issue more uh okay so having heard all these things let's let's just take it apart because I think we're still having a public meeting okay um to discuss the the the product and so certainly I mean at that meeting we we could have many cards and and all of that at a workshop we would have the same thing um [Music] so maybe that's all going to happen just at a commission meeting rather than a workshop is that I I know that's I I know it's not what you want but we might get to the to the same place you're going to end up with all of the same input the same discussion we can have it up here it's it's probably the best proper legal way to do to do that is Morris do that does that sound right to you yes and you know I think the board has received input from the public throughout at your various meetings there's been you know probably hundreds of public comments made on um the issue of negotiations in the contract since going back to the the workshop last year and multiple meetings over time so I think the board has heard public comment but but um just during as we navigate this uh negotiation and impass period um we all need to understand what the what the parameters are where the rails are and that the board is not the negotiating entity and just can't be by law okay uh commissioner delini um what do you think about what do you think about that in in lie of the workshop well I would um I would definitely like to still have the workshop um if if the board uh would like to do that I still think that we need to um designate time to this topic and while I highly heavily object to um working in front of the public as far as um assuming that they're going to bring up something that they may or may not bring up uh something is better than nothing and um I I believe that I'm hopeful that you all will agree to still having a workshop I don't I don't disagree with your your comments there uh on not having uh public input I think I've demonstrated that on on this board um since I've been here commissioner Alman is that a new light sir no okay uh commissioner ainson okay so um what's the what's the the would would you see that that at a commission because I I'm going try to split it with you I I try to as much as possible um if we instead uh what what if we postpone the workshop and we altered it okay and we we still agree we could agree now to have a workshop in the spring uh after the impass period and The Cone asyl and all the legal ramifications of that and that that workshop at that time be dedicated to the fire assessment fee in in the millage so rather than part of the larger budget we'll deal we'll have a workshop just on those two issues so you could call it method of funding would that would that be a a compromise with you here on this this legal process that we seem to be stuck in I feel like our people I we won't have a fire department at that point if if we don't show our people out there that we are actively working towards this and engaging the public and engaging our fire department I don't believe that we will be in a good place in the spring and canceling this will just kill kill more of the morale and it's I'm I'm frustrated that um my my County manager and County attorney did not talk about this to us prior to me putting this agenda item out because I was very clear on what my intentions were um we had briefings about it we had conversations about it and now in the you know 14 15 16 days prior to um to this and when we have um mediation tomorrow uh now we bring this up and I think when we booked with all due respect I think when we when we agreed to the workshop we didn't have a calendar uh before us on the when mediation would happen um you know those those other legal requirements um in the collective bargaining that we we didn't have that information at that time so with all due respect the that doesn't negate my point that this is supposedly a legal problem because we're in the impass process and if that were the case I should have been told that prior to this point yeah I mean we've had those discussions about appropriate topics of discussion for the workshop and what we can talk about we talked about it most recently at your briefing so that H that has been raised but again when this was scheduled uh you know we we weren't where we are now and you have to react to the developing reality again I'm not saying there's a law that says you can't have the workshop I'm just saying you're going to be very very restricted on what's appropriate to discuss and based on some of your statements you know the purpose of the workshop can't be about the current ongoing negotiations that that can't be a topic of the workshop at all and it wasn't okay commissioner Goodson sir question was it U when you asked for a workshop then I think representative I mean commissioner Alman asked you to did you ask her to write down what she wanted to do at the workshop do I recall that yeah you may be right your memb is probably better than mine doubt commissioner but okay but then you I may have I don't remember okay then you provided us a list of what you want to do at this Workshop one through 10 or one through five right right I made it maybe more into a pretty package okay pretty package or bad package you gave us what the parameter you wanted to do right sure okay so that gave mors the first time to look at it and I disagree with that okay well I mean I'm I'm glad you do yeah what can you agree on then nothing a lot okay a lot of 50 votes tonight is there any way we is there any way that we can consider things at the January 28th meeting before making a final decision tonight is absolutely is that a possibility absolutely okay given that what is what does the rest of the board think about that well I have a motion Mr chairman okay commissioner Alman go ahead sir I'll second the motion there any further discussion on the motion I appreciate uh chairman Fel felner um that you are that you suggested uh waiting on this until the 28th and hopefully um you know uh hopefully good things will happen tomorrow um so that's where my support's going to be for all right we have a motion by commissioner Goodson we have a second by commissioner Alman clerk will call the rooll can you repeat what that motion is commissioner Goodson the motion is to cancel the workshop thank you commissioner Delaney no Vice chair Goodson yes commissioner Atkinson yes commissioner Alman yes chairman feltner yes okay I think that was technically commissioner Goodson's board report yep that was it all right um let's let's go to the other end here Frank on board report no no board report commissioner commissioner Alman no board no report commissioner Atkinson I just wanted to say that um interestingly when miss came up and said that she was hoping that we would in our board reports report on the boards that we were on and just wanted to let everybody know that is going to be my intention so I will have board reports in future okay uh I think that's very good and uh with that said I want to thank the rest of the board uh I worked on the your appointments and I I think everybody so far by your vote tonight um we okay with that so I wish you luck on those boards uh some of them I've been on and uh for those of you who are driving to other places uh take a County car do something like that and we look forward to those reports later commissioner uh delini and board report um first I would like to uh invite if we do go forward um eventually with a with a workshop shop um at a different time and public comment is not uh included I I will invite the public to send me their public comments um and I can read them for you myself um and then the other thing that I would like to say is um we talked about respect and decorum and all of that uh earlier today and um with that being said I would like to ly apologize to the to the lady who came up here before who got spoken to so poorly a member of the public should never be spoken to in that regard and um I just wanted to apologize for that thank you okay um Commissioners are you it's okay who are youing we're on board reports or Morris and board report no report Mr chair okay now before we're done let's uh we're going to go back will you please talk into the microphone if you're going to speak to Commissioners if if we could just for one second we need to go back to one item I thank you uh commissioner Alman sir yes I faed to bring up one item um go ahead sir we didn't take that up I discovered that I had a longstanding prior commitment that I cannot get out of and I will not be able to present our delegated delegation package um before The Bard leg delegation we have a lot of good talent here and I'm sure somebody would might be willing to step up and do it and have confidence with any they could do just as good a job as I okay I'm gonna I'm GNA nominate commissioner Delaney okay all right are you willing to do that for us sure thank I I think my recollection is uh commissioner Alman remind me they give you less than five minutes isn't it isn't it very quick three minutes it's not a long time yeah so you got to get but they can ask questions in with the dynamic presentation you never know I I and I think if you're nice to the chair maybe he'll move you up does that sound is that your recollection that's true yeah that's true okay okay all right you accept that on our behalf sure thank you so much very good all right I think we're adjourned thank you 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 Bard County Florida Space Coast government television or the program sponsor and are solely those of the presenter the board of County commissioners of bravard 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] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]