pledge. >> [snorts] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
All right, good afternoon to everyone. Welcome to this special meeting. We have a few items on the on the agenda, Mr. Hammon. Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, item one, bid 25-2609. My recommendation we go with Roberts and Roberts as the best bid at
$2,830,622.50, if my if my math is correct. All right, thank you, sir. Any questions, Commissioner? I'll make a motion. All right, got a motion by Commissioner McLemore. I'll second. Seconded by Commissioner Pridgeon. Any further board discussion?
No. That's your recommendation. Second lower. >> Correct. Correct. Yes, sir. >> [snorts] >> What once what this award of what's the start date? Maybe you got a little timeline of how long it take you to get us a timeline. It'll take a little bit to get their documents together, their
bonds and whatnot, but I would say in the next few weeks and and then if you carry this I've got a little follow-up. All right, any more questions or concerns? All right, none. Anyone in the public questions or concerns?
None, all right. Any opposition to the motion? I vote no. Mr. Chairman, let me state that Roberts and Roberts has done [snorts] great work for us. I'm just concerned about him not being a local business. All right. Motion passed. 4 and 1.
So, the the overall bid came in significantly under what we had expected. So, we do have the opportunity to expand with change orders. So, if y'all want to get me a list of additional roads and the staff will rank those and and try to come up with
prices and and we'll we'll price them before we have them engineered and designed. So, if you can get that to me or Clay in the next couple weeks, we'll come up with a with a game plan that y'all can vote on at the next meeting. All right, thank you, sir. The other
thing that we had, we had a great call. Clay and I came in last Thursday and it was a follow-up call to a meeting that we had had in Tallahassee a couple months ago with DOC. We met with the secretary and and his number two guy, Mr. Comerford, and and some of their staff and and we made them a
an offer that kind of took them aback and they thought about it and had their folks look at it and and they came back and accepted our offer. So, before you is a MOU that Jeremy has drafted and I'll just hit the high points if I can unless you want Jeremy
to read the whole thing. We either way. Y'all good with the high points? >> I'm good with the high points. Okay. The the gist of the high points are these, that within 24 months, basically April 1st of '28, we will run a sewer line and lift station connection
to the work camp between Howard Creek and White City. We will charge them nothing for impact fees or tap fees, but they'll have to pay their fees going forward for regular sewer service. They'll provide us the [clears throat] property to and easements to get the line and the lift
station there at the at the work camp. They agree to open the work camp no later than April 1st of 2028 and that Gulf County will have the first priority when it comes to inmate crews going forward from that. If if uh
their attorneys okay this, we're going to execute this hopefully I'm asking permission to execute this if they sign off on it without any major changes. This would be the the biggest shot in the arm for the county that we've had in a massively long time. We're talking
about 65 to 70 full-time employees. We're talking about getting back to two work crews per district. The amount of work that we'll be able to get with more inmates, not only more work crews, but more inmates on the work crews. It it is it is like us having an extra
40 or 50 workers. Uh cuz that's what we were pre-Hurricane Michael. I think we had 11 crews. Some of them were DOC and some of them were ours, but the gist was you get 11 crews with eight guys on them versus we were down to three crews and we were getting three sometimes. So,
nine versus yeah, it's it's pretty good deal. Uh I think it's a great This is what Every time we go to Tallahassee, this is what we asked the department for. I like to ask Commissioner McLemore, I know you worked there a lot. This is probably going to be the ability for us I know we
get more jobs off of it. You know, we've always pushed the raises for them as well as for corrections officers, but this getting in Howard Creek, what isn't it a better chance to get more of the inmates that can go out because of its location and all? Can you Most definitely. Uh
Howard Creek holds 293. So, if you get 293 inmates there, I'm the most I've ever seen go out in one day that I put out was 180 in one day. And you look at right now you got 20 20 25 a day going out.
So, that this is a big thing. Really big thing. I think it's awesome. I do too. I thank you for your foresight, my friend Clay and Jeremy for this. They're very good very very good news. Yeah, I just add that I think every time we have been to Tallahassee, we have had
great conversation with DOC. They have been uh tremendous team players. I mean, they always invited us in, always welcome, always listened to us. And and so it's it's like I said, this is this this a nice shot right here to that they're going to agree upon.
Hopefully everything will go well. And and when we when you were sitting there, too, we were all sitting there when when it got mentioned that we could get the sewer to them, the whole the whole room changed then. So, having that sewer system coming this way is made it made the difference. So, Good
work on that. This was the last piece of the puzzle and it was a bad piece. When when they first closed, you know, we looked at it and about maybe one day having a jail there even though it's way too big for us today, but long-term, you know, if they were just going to go let it go to pot like they did over in
Bay City in in Franklin County. Uh That sewer start-up, I think the price we got was a half a million and then it it's just the maintenance of that sewer plant was just it was it way too much. So, this now again, I've got to find the money. This is probably a million and a half dollar
job, but between grants and and whatnot, I think we can we can swing this. And the and the 24-month period is right on our timeline tied with the city of Wewahitchka and tied with that line coming to our plant. So, it worked out. That was one thing we floated them and it was too good of an
offer for them to refuse. So, >> [clears throat] >> You have a motion? Please to to to agree to these terms and to allow me to execute this barring any major changes from their attorneys. I'll make the motion. All right, thank you, sir. I got a motion by Commissioner Pridgeon. I'll second. Seconded by Commissioner McLemore. Any
further board discussion? Anyone in the public? Any opposition? Motion passed 5 and 0. That's all I have, Mr. Chairman. Oh, we do we do have a video Austin went out and shot. So, they've got quite a mound of sand. They had
actually were broke down when we were out there, but we're going to start back this afternoon or tonight, I think. So, >> Yeah, we went out the last two days. >> [clears throat] >> You want to You want to show that, Austin, if y'all want to see that? That that roughly refer represents about 60,000 cubic yards of the 800.
And the second dredge is going to arrive tomorrow. So, they'll have two going at it. So, remember that it was basically all the way up to the road right there where that sand is now. So, And and look how quick they Mhm, they went on down. Put put beach chairs on
it. That was pretty good. They did have a lot of signage about staying off and whatnot, but but that does kind of concern me that I know they're not pumping today, but there's 100 people out there between the two pumping. So, somebody could probably get covered up if they uh
In a hurry. And yeah. And apparently whatever they're pumping is good cuz the the seagulls was out there dining when we were out there earlier. So, it's exciting. That's that's that's a piece of $38 million. Did you see that headwall was falling
in, Phil? Huh? I apologize, Commissioner McLemore. Did you see that headwall had fallen in there at Sunrise Sunset? It pretty much We we were there this morning and it So, Brad, you can go ahead and send the letter. Time for them to pull it out. >> [snorts] >> Yeah.
Uh can we go back to the roads right quick? Do you want us to rank or not rank, list the sequence we would like our roads paved in? Is that would that be helpful? Like I mean, I've got one that I have you know, it's like the priority and then two, three. Do we want to do
that by the district? >> So, you can just tell us. I mean, it's it's kind of going to be up to the contractor, but I I have it in the back of my mind that your Gulf County road's got to be number one. So, that's I think it ought to be last. He done had it twice. >> [laughter] >> Yeah.
So, they they typically mobilized in a in a pattern, but I'll let Clay work with the contractor and and we'll we'll go from there. But, yes, on on on your new roads, prioritize them, please, because
based on the previous deal, y'all are getting your your each district's getting a cut, and then the rest of them are prioritized by staff. So, if if you give me five more roads, say, Mr. Quinn has five more roads, tell us what you want first and and work down, cuz again, we have a finite amount
of money, but we do have more money than we had originally planned on. I think I'm in front of everybody, right? Cuz I got I got mine okay hold on, but but you said getting them in on Monday. Oh, you you were first. Okay. All right. I got mine in on Monday. Yeah. You I
don't know about them. Mine was in [clears throat] October. Commissioner Macklem was in my office at 6:30, but you'd sent the email before. You beat me to it. So, I'll make sure What else we got? We good? I'm good. We got anything else we need to cover?
Let me say one thing. Chairman, [snorts] I want to kudos to public works. Had an issue with a the bike path at the Cape uh yesterday, and it had been cut and not repaired and uh I'll leave it at that, but Mark and them jumped on it yesterday and
got it got it got it fixed up. So, I I appreciate public works. Thank you, guys. I just want to say about we've had golf carts again. Um I have never seen one pull out of Windmark main entrance with three kids,
six-seater going all the way from there it went all the way to Highland View. I know you you can't catch them all. I got that. But, I I think it's time that we put out a pit some signs out some signage out there starting because they really think coming from Mexico Beach they can still drive these. The rental
companies put tags on them, and and when you're in Mexico Beach, yeah, you can ride on 98, but when you hit our line, you can't do it. So, I think that we have to Sheriff, if we can get a sign down there when they hit Commissioner Husmann, I know it starts in yours right there at the 386,
no golf carts on 98. And then coming out of St. Joe, no, you have it, too. I'm just going to say it, we've got to do that in a PSA. I mean, cuz the golf cart companies we we tried to talk to the ones that we know, but there's a lot that we don't know that are renting them to them. They drop them off at their houses. Here we go with the tag and
everything else, and here they go down the street. I see Matt you know what I'm talking about, coming from Windmark. We've got to do something, and if someone's going to get hurt. And so, any suggestions, Blake, if we put it out on if the Sheriff can put something out, we can put it on TDC, all our Facebook
pages. We've got to let folks know that you can't do that. It's just not we can't do that here, so. Any I see you shaking your head, you got it, too. Well, well, I got another problem just to add to the Sheriff's problem, but down at the Cape you know y'all know how busy the Cape Road is if you've been
down there. So, I was at the Cape today and yesterday. 10 to 12-year-old kids shooting across the Cape Road on electric scooters. I mean, that that road that road is dangerous. Yeah, and I I just wanted to bring that up to your attention,
Sheriff. I know you you know, but but one I'm going to get hit on that road cuz people fly, but anyway. Is is are there any resources we can help with? I mean, that kind of want to open it up just quickly. We we've got a few minutes.
What resources can we help with to do make this a better I mean, people come here for safety, a safe environment, you know, that they you know, right now we've got some that are not here with their parents that are acting like they're not supposed to be acting, but how do we how do we do that? I I just
want to open it up. Any ideas, staff? I know we have to be very careful. I know Mark and the Sheriff and I we took a lot of time and with the signage and the wording on the signage with the Florida statutes and where those signs were placed a couple of years ago
in the same area. So, some of that area is golf cart available and some of it's not. So, it's kind of like that. You can drive it on the on the on the sidewalk. What I was talking about. You're saying on the sidewalk when none of the road is. None of the road is. Right, right.
Just so everybody knows. Yes, yeah. They're on 98 crossing 98. Let's let's buy let's buy 10 of the of the blocks that they put on the tire and give them to the officers, and that solves the problem. Cuz
somebody's going to want to get that they got to turn it in and whatnot. And when if they're crossing 98 on the beach side let's let's boot it and then that's that's that's that's and you won't have to do it many times, I don't believe, before it would get We will. Okay. Well, let's
let's let's do it in emergency ordinance. >> [laughter] >> And and and counselor, you you've been working on one of those, right? Sir? Counselor Novak has been working on that cuz we talked about that in January. Cuz again, the biggest thing part of it is ignorance. I mean, if if I can go to
somewhere in Tennessee and and I pull up at the house that I rent and there's a golf cart there and it doesn't say I can't drive on the road to the golf course or to whatever, I'm probably going to drive it wherever until somebody So, some of it's not intentional, but but we've but we have some folks that just are abusing it. And again, it's it's it
it will get the attention of those who rent it. Some are more responsible than others. Some care more than others, but yes, I if Jeremy can work with the Sheriff and come back with something quickly, I'd say the boot will solve the problem. Michael, I I agree with you that some of it is unintentional, but some of them
just plain out don't care. I mean, they're going to do what they come down here. It's unbelievable the amount of people you see will not even stop at a stop sign when they're on vacation down here. I'm serious. They they think if they pull up and they and it's a four-way stop, they don't
have to stop. They turn in right. They just go right on through. It's unbelievable. So. Yes, ma'am. Come on over here. Come on. Come on over here. Yes, ma'am. State your name for the record, please. Sarah Hudson, St. Joe Beach. As long as the Sheriff doesn't control
St. Joe Beach, buying signs isn't good use of our tax dollar. This has been an ongoing issue, and nothing has happened. We have been Randy, you know this, we've complained since they put up all the
stop signs on Alabama and all the new ones on Americas, and we didn't get no patrol. So, as long as they're going to roll stop signs, they're going to keep doing it if we don't get a presence of law enforcement in our neighborhood.
And spending the money on a sign that they're already not paying attention to is not good use for us. The problem with the rolling of the stop signs in St. Joe Beach is more locals than it is the the tourists.
So, we have a continued problem. As far as the golf carts crossing 98, it's already a state road. It's already a state law. So, why we have to do an ordinance if it's already in place? We just have to enforce it.
I would consider if people are going to use golf carts, getting us with the new crossings, a single place where we can cross in golf carts to access Windmark. There's a beautiful park down there.
Single place to cross the road would be great so we could take and go down and not have to drive. That would control it. It is an option to consider,
but the state law is already in place to not cross. We just need to get law enforcement to enforce it. Thank you. I think we looked we looked at that. You can't There's it's all about speed. That's right. You can't do it. The speed in that where she's talking about crossing right there, there's
uh Sunset Village is not going to let that happen. Uh they they've already their HOA would right there where you're talking about on that corner. I think they they've already let that be known that The the long-term deal is this. Back Beach Road, we drop that down to 30 or 35. It's a front deal, and then they
then it's legal for them to cross, and we can do crossing in the county control. We can't at 45 mph we can't and they won't let you do it. And if you had another crossing at this point, it becomes bumper-to-bumper traffic from from Windmark all the way into town. I mean, it's unbelievable. And it just it
creates congestion. So. The Back Beach Road that's our number one priority. So, hopefully that gets funded over the next 5 years. And there there is I know a lot of people saying it's never going to happen, but I I do think who's to say that we'd have got Highway 30A open? Who's to say that we'd have got sand on the beach out on the Cape? I
think I think the Back Beach Road's going to happen. I really do. I really think we're going to get it out there. Yes, let me address a few of the comments that were made. Our issue is the mechanism of how we enforce it. Okay, if someone crosses 98,
we have a golf cart that's on seaward side of Highway 98. Unless someone's sitting in there and we see them cross, we can't charge them with that. If they're at the beach and want to come back up and admit that they crossed, then we have a mechanism of charging
that person. We can't ticket a golf cart. I thought it was illegal to be on that right-of-way, Sheriff. Is that true on the No, that's not on the state right-of-way with a golf cart. Not not where they're parked there because anyone else could park it there. Okay? The issue is is we have to see them
cross it. Okay? So, we got to get that straightened out. If we did something with the ordinances as far as a boot or fine or something like that, then we could actually ticket the vehicle. Okay? Or ticket the actual golf cart there. So, we can we can do that and leave that for someone,
but again, there's no tag on it, so there's no way of tracing it back to where it is attached to that tag. So, we have to pretty much have meter maids that would be out there all day long to see the person crossing, ticket them, and then have the ticket on the vehicle. >> not illegal for that golf cart to be on
that right away. >> No, sir. On the state right away. >> Cuz they park it on the other side of the highway. Well, I mean, that that might I mean, two wrongs don't make a right. I understand that. What I'm saying is I thought you couldn't have it on the right away period. No, sir. That's That's No, sir. We have to see them crossing the highway. We have to ticket
them from that point there. You know, so but we'll work on on getting something. But, as far as the enforcement out there, we're making more traffic stops than we have ever made. And we're doing it all over the county. And again, y'all know [clears throat] my staffing
issues. Right now, I have had two positions that's been open for several months, and I have only two applicants that put in in the course of the last 6 months. And so, we're we're working as hard as we can. We've got three coming out of the academy at the end of the month, and hopefully
get them rolling through our LEAP program, which is a great program. We're able to hire local people. But, our staffing issues and we've got a lot of priority things that are going on in the county, dangerous situation where we're responding to those, and keeping us quite busy. So, uh
But, as far as the traffic enforcement, I'll be glad to start providing y'all some stats as far as the number of traffic stops that we're making throughout the county both on golf carts and and vehicles. So, uh It's not that there's not a presence out there. There's just
only I've got right now with one called out due to a sickness. I've got two deputies working that county. Luckily, we got somebody to come in to cover the extra shift. I've got three covering. So, how many positions do you have open, Sheriff? Right now, I have three. And then with the
Those will be filled. I'll still have three open up after I've got the after I get the LEAP guys rolling on me on a couple of couple of weeks. And just no applicants. Nobody's applying. Nobody can afford to move Gulf County. I know
y'all are doing everything that you can to get the affordable housing here. But, the unless we're recruiting them local here and putting them through the academy, that's the only way that I'm getting getting applicants in here. So, we've got to work on doing something. I'm hoping the affordable housing, the
work force first force housing is going to make a difference, but it's it's not easy getting people to move to Gulf County with the price that it costs to live here now. Okay, so the ordinance maybe by next meeting we can catch Memorial Day. Yeah, I'm going to advertise an
emergency adoption of it at your next meeting in April. And we'll advertise it and into the Sheriff's point, and to the residents, if you see someone break the state statute, you can issue my citation and we can enforce that. If you don't see them do that, then what we
need on the ordinance is actually when it's a dormant vehicle. They can't sit there for two or three hours waiting for people to come back from the beach. So, you need to actually have a mechanism in which you can just boot the actual golf cart when it's sitting there in the right away. And so, we'll do that. We'll get that adopted in April.
So, we'll have it ready for summer. Thank you. Thank you, Sheriff. We're good. I'll think about it for a minute to the special meeting and entertain a motion to adjourn. So move, Mr. Chairman. Motion by Commissioner Haskin. Second. >> Seconded by Commissioner Prizon. Any opposition to the motion? Motion by
Haskin.