to um our meeting of the town commission of T uh of the town of Highland Beach. Today is Tuesday, September 2nd, and it is now 1:30. And I'd like to call the meeting to order. If we could have the roll call, please. Commissioner Chinatski, present. Commissioner Peters, present. Vice Mayor Stern,
present. Mayor Moore present and Commissioner Judith Goldberg is absent. Town manager Labidy present. Town attorney Rubin present. If we could all rise for the pledge. Ice and to the for it stands
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Are there any changes to the agenda? If there are none, could we have a motion to approve? A motion to approve the agenda. Second. All in favor say I. I. I.
Next item, presentations, proclamations, epoch blood analysis system presentation. Commissioners. Uh, morning mayor, commissioners, manager, attorney. Uh, Tom McCarthy, assistant fire chief operations, Highland Beach Fire Rescue, and we're here to do a
brief presentation on the Epoch Blood Analysis System. Primary benefit of being able to have these EPO blood analysis systems on our rescue trucks is because of what the name stands for, emergency point of care. So, gives us the ability to bring
these devices on calls with us. They're basically the size of a tapandgo credit card reader at your tableside in the restaurant and um within 3 and 1/2 minutes, it'll give us a pretty good metabolic profile, blood gas profile of what's going on with the patient. Uh we
have a population here in town that does have a lot of medicines that are on board. And so this really helps us have an opportunity to do a pretty good drill down. Even if it's not actionable with us while we're in the streets, it is definitely good intel for the hospital to have when we get the patient there.
So this photo here shows us getting the actually um direct contact training from the folks at Seammens, the manufacturers of the device. And uh you'll see that uh we actually took opportunities to do our
own um in-house qualifications on blood draws actually using devices as we do own two of them and we're able to get pretty good accurate readings on the devices. So as I stated on the first slide um the benefits for sure is bringing the device
on with us uh real time diagnostic information. Uh the goal is for improved patient outcomes, right? Every time we roll the wheels, that's always what we're looking for. Um I can guarantee you that our agency uh both the firefighter, paramedics down below, and your fire administration is always looking at what's the next best thing
that we can do to provide the highest level of service to the community. Great. Excellent. Any comments or questions? My only comment is that how proud we are to have this happen in our community. Absolutely. I think it's just outstanding and um I'm I'm sure the
Coastal Star will cover this deeply um and uh it's just a a wonderful opportunity for us, but thank you very very much. It truly is our pleasure. Yeah, I'd like to say thank you there. Now, the information you can print this out or this goes to the
goes where's it gets stored, I guess. Absolutely, sir. So the information will automatically go into a database that's held within the device itself and at the end of each shift uh during morning changeover that information actually goes into a database that we store into
a dedicated laptop computer. Okay. Now also to to that end um this is also information that we can we can import into the EPCR that's electronic patient care report. Right now we can do it with a video with still photo. our vendor is
working with us to be able to make that an import as far as exclusive values going within the the overall profile of the report. Okay. Thank you, Don. I think it's outstanding. Thank you. Yeah, that sounds great. So, it's the information is trans automatically
transmitted when the individual is transported to a medical facility or something. Yes, ma'am. So, the way that our electronic patient care report system works is that as our paramedics in the field are getting ready to transport to the hospital, they're simply hitting send and it's going to the hospital
choice. It just goes up into the cloud, then it goes down to the destination facility. This data that we collect using these epoch devices will also be part of that patient care report that they receive. That's great. Yeah, we uh really appreciate you always looking out for us
and what the next best thing is for you know patient outcomes and that's really the goal to have the best patient outcome and you know as quickly as as possible. So absolutely that's great. Well, thank you very much. Our pleasure. Uh we have a public comment or question.
You want to come on up? Yes, please come up. Come on up. Rick Greenwall, Tranquility Drive. Um, I guess I have some comments with some questions built in. I'm not sure where we are with this,
whether this is something we have adopted or something we're looking at adopting or whether I know it's something that Palm Beach Fire Rescue has adopted and several other communities have as well. It kind of reminds me of the Theronos
business some years ago, except this works how you can get so many instant blood results available or almost instant. Um, and obviously information is key for good patient care and that's what we want. And when we broke away from
Delray, we promised everybody in the community that we would be the the best and innovative and, you know, state-of-the-art and all that. And this certainly sounds uh uh promising, but I do have questions
and some concerns. Um, I no longer claim to be a subject matter expert on all this stuff. Uh, but I think I know enough to ask some of the right questions that we should be asking
before we just say great idea and and embrace this. And I would encourage us certainly before we get into it too deeply to you know use the resources we have maybe we have already but certainly ask
you know have Terry Conv involved he's our medical director who's been involved with uh emergency rooms and emergency room care and also uh fire rescue care for many years and is wise enough and experienced
enough to help us decipher uh to find gold nuggets. when we fall across them like this may well be. Uh but also to uh know that all that glitters isn't necessarily gold. And again I have a couple of questions
in in that regard is one we want to be sure that any technique like this we have a tremendous advantage in this town and that we're literally uh from the center of town 15 minutes
from Bokeh Hospital and maybe 18 minutes from Delray Hospital. So we really don't want to be engaged in any procedures that could inadvertently or in an unintended fashion uh distract us from the primary mission
of you know rescue which everyone is is well aware of but you know monitoring pulses and blood pressures and supporting the circulatory system and getting IV access started and making sure that rhythms are appropriate and uh
getting oxygen saturations and make sure that airways are intact and all the routine stuff. We don't want this activity to be delaying any of the crucial activities that uh go along with it. Particularly since we're talking about only a 15minute transit time. It's
not like some counties where it may take someone an hour or whatever to get to the nearest skilled facility. So, that would be one potential concern. A second potential in uh concern is some
of the tests that Epoch does and I don't know all the factual answers to this but they're readily available but some of these are moderately ad what are called moderately advanced laboratory tests and as far as I know unless things have changed and they may have because again
I don't claim to be expert on all this anymore but it used to be for laboratories whatever they were to do these kinds of tests You had to have some CLEA certification. CLEA being a clinical lab agency of the
federal government that requires significant amount of of administrative uh wherewithal in order to get approval and to maintain approval to do these tests. Because in addition to being potentially
life-saving and helpful information, if they're done inappropriately or produce inaccurate results, that can obviously lead to a decrease in the quality of patient care. So to do these tests, you need to be properly educated, properly trained. That needs to be an
ongoing process. You need to run controls to make sure that everything is working properly. And I think you need some kind of certifications. Now whether we can piggy back on to the county or how that works or how ownorous that is in
2025, I don't know. But it used to be like a a challenge to get clea approval. You needed a medical director who was skilled in laboratory if you did enough tests. I don't think that epoch requires this, but you needed actually a licensed pathologist.
And it's not just, oh yeah, let's go buy these cards, drop a few drops of blood in, and we're ready to ready to go. It's not that simple. And it's something that at least we need to look at uh before we get involved. And then the other question that comes
rapidly to mind is uh uh the finances involved with this. So if we are going to get involved with seammens on this kind of project, we need to know who's paying for training, who's paying for on ongoing training of personnel because again, you can't just
take anybody to do these tests. There's a certain amount of training that's involved. It's not the amount that a skilled laboratory tech needs, but there's some training that's involved. Uh so we need to know that and we also need to know about cost not just the cost for the
system and the cost for the supplies because every time you use one of these cards that you do the tests on it you need another card. uh but cost for education, ongoing education, certification,
the bureaucracy, etc., etc. And then again, in a 15-minute ambulance ride, what is the relative benefit versus the risk that we acrew when we start doing these services? Uh and then finally, who's paying for it? Is this something that the town is
going to do as a value added service because we like to be a first class kind of a place? Is it something that insurance companies pick up? Is it something that uh the individual is going to be responsible for? How is all that going to work? I mean, if we have
to get involved in billing and all that stuff, that's a whole other uh thing that we may or may not want to be involved with. So, all I'm saying is when I first saw this, I said, "Wow, this is really neat technology." And I'm certainly not saying we
shouldn't be involved with this. I'm just saying that before we do, there's a significant amount of due diligence that should be performed and we should pursue it in the appropriate kind of a manner. So, I know I took up a long time and I
hope that that's uh somewhat helpful. Thank you, Chief. Convenient beeper there, Glen Joseph the fire chief. Uh absolutely good questions. uh we've addressed all those. First of all, the medical director was involved and very
excited about bringing this project to bear. He was part of the initial assessment and our assistant medical director has pathology training and he is going to be our medical director for that particular project. As far as um
clea certification, we are clear certified. We just received the licensing yesterday and it requires continuing education training, but the training is going to be done by our instructors internally. So, there's no external cost. What is the cost for each
of the tests? The tests are each card costs 25 uh $12 for each test and does the multitude of uh of tests that we've outlined in the presentation. And what's the ongoing cost? Well, the ongoing cost is that the first year we
certified we've already had the training in June and July. We have to do it again in 6 months which we already planned on put in our training schedule and we have to repeat it again in one year and after that it's going to be anni. So, and again the training is going to be done internally. So there's no external cost
for those that training. What is the cost going to be to the patient? Uh there is an MIH initiative right now that's going to allow us to build Medicare and the insurance companies for any costs we incur for providing that care. And so that's not going to be
borne by the town or but by the patient and their insurance company. Uh okay so the the big thing is we're 12 minutes away. Why would you want to do that? So, if you are a patient right now and you went to the hospital, uh to get a lab result, it'll take you 2 hours sitting
on the side of the, you know, the wall, you'll come in, the nurse will take care of you, uh do an assessment, they'll put you in a room, call the doctor, the doctor will come take care of you, take a look at you, then order the labs, then the lab technician has to come down from the lab, then draw the labs, and then wait another hour for the results to
come in. This this lab results in 30 seconds. We turn the unit on. It takes 3 minutes to warm up. We put the card in, put a drop of blood in. 30 seconds later, we have a result. So, why do it now and not do it at the hospital? Well, delay of care. Do we need to
transport that patient? Answer that question. Maybe they're dehydrated. We give them a liter of fluid, talk to their doctor. As part of that continuum of care, and we could leave the patient home and then make them feel better, address the issue that at hand, we could
identify using scientifically validated testing procedures, and then leave them at home if they need to be at home. So, how about uh quality control? Quality improvement. Quality control. We uh we do quality quality
controls every time we get a new card, at least monthly, and that's sent to an outside uh facility to check the results to make sure they're correct. So, the unit is always being validated constantly every single month. So, the problem of not
having accurate results is I wouldn't say eliminated, but minimize the point where it's non-existent almost. And we track everything with paperwork. Like you said, there's a lot of paperwork involved. All the forms are in place all to do it automatically.
Um so um we are the first department in Palm Beach County to go live with this tomorrow and we are the third department in the country to go live tomorrow. So when we came here what you told us as
the leaders of the department is we wanted to have the leading edge technology the leading care for our for residents. We want to be top-of-the-line, cutting edge, tip of the spear. And unless you've changed that direction, I think this is the direction to go. We uh Palm Beach County
is uh one other thing that they're doing which we are cons we're looking at is the blood giving in the field for our population and for our number of calls. I don't think it's a viable option. Although next year there's a technology that will allow us to give plasma which
is about 90% as good has a two-year shelf life and will not require all those need for blood and you know opas and all that stuff your blood type. So that's a consideration. But again, this will be done under direction of our medical director which is very
experienced and both medical directors and they are excited and they're trying to get Booker Tone to take our lead and put that out in the field because they think it's such a good thing. We are also integrating that I'm sorry I'm running long but uh we're
integrating that technology with tele medicine. So we'll have a TEAD do so I when I get a result say God forbid I fell down blah blah blah they came took a look at me they could actually call a doctor on the site an ER physician give him my vital signs my assessment
physically have a video conference with them and give him my lab results and he could make a more educated informed judgment about whether or not I need to go to the hospital I could stay home or what the next step in that care is going to in that continuum of care is going to be. So yeah, it is new and with newness
uncertainty, it is the only testing mechanism in the country that you could do at room temperature storeing the truck and it it it works. We've tested it several times. I drew my blood twice just to make sure that, you
know, it was not an honorous process. So uh yeah, we've thought about all the things that you've mentioned. We've assessed the risk. We've assessed the cost. We've assessed the the benefit to the public and I think it's a good thing and we have to thank the foundation for funding the equipment
and then the ongoing cost of course will be meas uh managed internally. Can I ask a question uh to go with what Dr. Greenwall was saying if you are responding is the protocol to always do this or is it only when it the condition
of the patient warrants the test to be run? So if somebody's having a heart attack, you're not waiting. You're still continuing your process to move them. But during transport, you could do this to assist with the care at the hospital. So if a patient that would get that assessment, okay, uh when you get to the
scene, you turn the machine on, takes 3 minutes to warm up. Okay. While you're doing that, you doing the vital signs, the interviews. When you draw the blood to do an uh uh IV, you take a drop of blood from that. I take 60c I'm not done eating just a small drop of blood put on
the card while you're doing everything else in 30 seconds you get a result so what nothing is interrupted the care is not interrupted it's not delayed it's it's just another part of the care and we take one drop put it in there let that sit while we do other things and when it's done it beeps prints up the
results and then you add it to the report that would take you in the emergency room an hour two hours if you're not in cardiac arrest or in some kind crazy critical medical that would take two hours and you have a bill for about $5,000, maybe 10 depending on which
hospital you go to. So, is it a cost benefit? Yeah. Is it new? Yes. Is it uh there's some uncertainties? Sure. But I think in a year or two it's going to become second nature and every department in the the county is going to be doing it. We just happen to be ahead of the curve. Questions?
Yes. Uh thank you for your comments. Um should be on the foundation. we could have used you and some of your questions at that time. Um, similar questions came up at the foundation when we first were approached with this. Uh, and uh, being lay people, best thing we could do was talk to the emergency uh, doctors uh,
both at Del Rey or at BOA BOA Regional. The comment was pretty consistent. The more information we have, the better off the patient's going to be. I mean, that was the So, without going into all the medical discussions they were trying to educate us with. So we did ask that questions because we asked the same
questions about AEDs being used and we wanted to understand you know what is in the best interest of the resident uh to save that life uh and it was a very very positive response. The more information we have the better off and we basically took that information and that's why we
supported uh the entire movement. Thank you very much to the foundation and all the work that you've done to raise the money for this. Uh I'm very convinced and thank you for raising all those issues because I don't know that we would have had this discussion had you not uh raised those questions. But
I'm convinced there's been no change in the direction. I totally agree that we want to be cutting edge um concierge service uh for our residents. Um yeah, very impressive that the costs were covered by the foundation that each
individual card is so inexpensive. Um, I'm really pleased to hear that there is no doesn't sound like there's any kind of delay. Um, it's just part of the process it sounds like. Um, so I'm very much in favor of this and thank you very much for bringing and and I'm happy to
hear that it was so thoroughly vetted. So, and thank you doctor. Yeah, without your question looked this good. That's right. That's right. That's right. Thank you. Yes, you could. Did you Oh, do we have another comment? Go ahead. Come on. Uh when I made my comments, I had no
idea where this was in the process. So I am greatly reassured that all this work is uh that I suggested be done has already been done and uh it sounds like it should be and again it's new so there'll be some bumps I'm sure but it
sounds like a a significant advance and that's a good thing. So, all in favor and thanks to the chief for doing all the work beforehand and the foundation for supporting it. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Excellent. Moving on to public comments.
Any public comments? I don't think there's any reason to approve it or there's no action to be taken. That was just a presentation, correct? Yeah. Yeah, there's no action. Uh, no ordinances, consent agenda. Uh, there's just one item on the consent agenda. Any anybody want to discuss it?
If not, could we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? I make a motion to approve the town commission minutes of the August 5th, 2025. I'll second that. All in favor say I. I. There's no unfinished business. Moving
on to new business. uh consideration to cancel the next uh the September 16 town commission meeting. I guess we don't have a little light on agenda items and we have uh we're a little heavy on budget. So our budget meetings will be a little bit lengthier than usual. I apologize
those that will be here on Thursday. David's going to give a presentation. So the the threeminut meeting becomes uh 34 minutes. So Oh, really? Uh, but it's a good update and again I just I was just selling Jason with us but here
I was just tell I was just selling Jason on how quick that meeting was going to be just kind of memorializing those conversations we had on the budget some of the tinier the smaller tweaks to reset um but you know wants to get that up talk about capital too because it's
we're in a unique spot where how the some of the capital projects are delayed which is going to affect how we process those through budget amendments. So, just wanted to strike on those items. And is that the only item on Thursday's agenda that and the two resolutions which take about a minute? Okay. To to approve. It's just he's just going
to give an update. I told him to move it along. So, and you're talking about the September 4th, the one that this meet this week on Thursday. Thursday and then come back on the 18th and then we do the same things. We approve the budget, approve the resolutions,
uh contract update. We've got um yeah the ratification and then we have uh a couple other small items that are relatively straightforward. Fee schedule, stuff like that. Okay. Could we have a motion to cancel the September 16th?
Yeah, I make a motion to cancel the uh 16 September 16th meeting. I'll second it. All in favor say I. I. Motion carries. Um, moving on to request for land filling approval for a portion of the property located at 2564
South Ocean Boulevard. Good afternoon, Ingred Allen, Town Planner. Just going to fill up the PowerPoint. Okay. Uh so the item before you is a request for landfill approval uh for the property at 2564 South Ocean Boulevard.
On October uh on August 14th of this year, the planning board approved a special exception request for this property which included the installation of a 105 linear foot seaw wall and seaw wall cap, a 275 foot dock, and a 33
pound capacity boat lift. Can you not hear me? Okay. Um, but now these three items again were approved by the planning board via the special exception class. Um, the special exception approval uh was subject to the
town commission's approval of the landfill. Uh, this is in compliance with chapter 14 of the code. So in your staff memorandum on page 10 of your packets, I've gone ahead and provided those regulations in chapter 14, if you take a look at that, you'll
see that for landfill and the commission has looked at a few landfill requests in the past. There's not too many of them, but when you look at that language, you see that a narrative is required and a narrative has been provided by the page all the packets and a copy of the plans.
So the 11 by7 plans that are in your packet, those are the plans. um that were approved by the planning board and it shows the landfill area and I'll get to that in just a moment. Um I did want to go ahead and just show you uh some of the aerials um that are also in your
packet and the um photos of some of the existing conditions and I'll go ahead and start that PowerPoint. There we go. All right. So, here's the property in question. Uh here we're looking northward. Uh you could see on the left side and uh I'm sorry, Lenzela,
do you have the the light thing the Okay, but anyways, on the left side of the screen, you see the uh pilings of an existing dock that was there. Um and then you a little bit north there, you'll see a moing piling. Um here's the
same property again. This is a aerial from 2025 January. Uh this is looking eastward. You could see again those stock pilings that currently exist. Now, here's an aerial from 2020. You could see how the dock looked back then. Um,
and there's actually a vote lift there as well. And then you'll see two mooring piles in the waterway. And then this is the aerial from 2021. You could see that a portion of the dock on the south part is completely gone. So, just those pilings um that we saw earlier in the
most recent aerials are are there as well. Um, now these are some of the photographs. Uh these were taken in in June June 9th of 2025. Um here we're looking northward. This is the existing rip wrap that's there. Rip wrap are those big rocks, right? Um the applicant
is going to remove them. Uh when you look at the plans, the existing site plan sheet and those 11 by 17 sheets, they do have a note that the the rip wrap, the pilings, all that's going to be removed. Again, looking northward here in this picture, you could see some of those pilings in the water a little
bit more clearly than the aerial pictures. Um, again, just looking northward with the pilings on the left. Uh, this is looking a bit more eastward. You could see a little bit more detail on the rip wrap. Um, again, another uh photo looking
north. And this is a retaining wall uh which is budding the pool. On this photograph, you could see the pool a little bit better on the top right side. Um here's the pool as well. You can see them on the top right. Um this is the
side property line and then this is the adjacent property owner. Now we're looking southward. So this is the seaw wall for the town of Highland Beach uh the condo there. Now um in your again 11 by7 pack it's on
sheet five of 13. Uh this is the uh seaw wall section and in your 11 by17 plants you don't have the colors that I put here. I added the colors here just for clarity purposes but just to get back to you know what is being proposed here. So
the applicant is proposing 1,000 square ft of fill from the existing retaining wall which is again along that pool to the property line. The rear property line you could see I labeled the rear property line there. So that's 1,00 square feet of fill. And then to the
west of that is an additional 360 square feet of fill. Um that is again uh abuing the property line moving westward. So the total request is for 1,360 square ft of fill. Um I did indicate in
your staff report that the applicant did receive FD, that's the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as well as the Army Corps of Engineer approval for this project which includes the Phil uh the authorized agent for the project uh Mr. Bill Thompson is Thomas is here and I'll be happy to address any
questions that you may have. Ingred, I'm curious on curiosity at what point in the wall does the grade is how far up do they go as far as adding fill? Um yeah, on this sheet here um it's about
it's at 6.21 ft. You don't I'm sorry, Lenel, you don't have the So that's out of seven out of seven feet, they're going to be up six feet. Yeah. And then you could see on this particular section here, they have to step up because the seaw walls at 7 ft. Initially the approval that they got
from Army Corp and FDP um showed the seaw wall at 6 feet or 6.21, but our code requires that it be at baseful at elevation and the baseful elevation recently changed to 7 feet. So now they got to step up, right? Yeah.
And the neighbors, uh, any issues with the neighbors? Um, I've received no public comment from any of the neighbors. They've been notified though, right? There's a the regular process of not for the landfill. The landfill permit doesn't require any type of advertising. But when this went before the planning board in August, August
14th, everyone every property owner within 500 ft received a notice. That's requirement of the code. We did not have any. Yeah. It would be attached um to the staff. I figured that. I thought it'd be important to ask. Always get stuff out. But yeah. Yeah.
I'm in favor. I think it's a great idea. I um I It's part of their property and I I think it's a a terrific idea. So, I don't have any questions. I I think it makes a lot of sense.
Anybody else? Yeah. No, I like to make a motion. Yeah. If everyone's in agreement, we can go ahead and uh make a motion. Does make a motion on uh the landfill request for uh 2564 South Ocean Boulevard. That good
enough. So motion to approve. To approve. Thank you. Second. Do you want a roll call? Sure. Commissioner Peters? Yes. Vice Mayor Stern? Yes. Commissioner Chinatski? Yes. And Mayor Moore? Yes.
Motion carries. Thank you very much. And thank you very much for attending. Yeah. Thank you. Sorry for you to say, but it's a great idea. Looks like a great project. Yes. Okay.
Next item. Resolution number 2025-021, a resolution of the town commission of the town of Highland Beach, Florida, authorizing the town manager to finalize and execute the recognition acknowledgement petition related to the Highland Beach Professional Firefighters
local number 5504 Union providing for conflicts and providing for an effective date. Thank you, mayor. Um, I received uh this information via the fire chief from uh the membership uh which in I guess they had 27 of the 28 uh signatures uh to
form this union. We spoke with the labor attorney. Uh we wanted to make sure that the captains were okay being included in this group. They have been because it is a small enough group. Um and then basically this is the first step and probably about eight steps that the
union has to go through to be formalized and ratified as a a bargaining collective bargaining unit by the state. The first part is us just recognizing that they want to move forward and saying we get it. You're going to move forward. We're here uh to participate and and partner with you, but they still
have a lot of other leg work. Um, so the option it does exist not to do anything, but I don't know what the purpose would be outside of the slow the process further, potentially aggravating membership of some sort. So uh they seem to be uh
excited about it and want to move forward with creating their union. We knew that when we created this fire union that it wouldn't be too long before this occurred. So this is just the natural sequence of events. And basically, I signed this form saying, "We acknowledge that they're they want to be collectively bargained as a group.
They've got their local, they have an attorney, they have it all signed up. So, all we do is you give me the okay to sign it, and then they finish the process." So, uh, driver engineer Sterns is here if you want to ask him any questions. He's on the leadership team, uh, with
Daniel Rush also, um, another driver engineer with our team. They're kind of representing the group. I is that correct? So they're representing the group kind of moving through this process. Any comments? Anyone? My only question would be um where are
the benefits right now? I mean just my own education. Well, I I think in the immediiacy I there probably isn't a lot for the for them to organize. But what we have to uh it's hard for me as well is we have to
step away that what if I'm not here? What if you're not here? Uh that's usually the benefit of a collective bargaining group that if it does become difficult relationship with the manager or with the commission, the union has some representation of themselves and
their interest moving forward and you could read in the newspaper where it doesn't go so well. So um right now I but I guess they're just planning for the future. So um I'm glad they have a the long vision for needing this
immediiacy. you know, not sure there's a lot there. Um, there's probably some language they want as it relates to grievances and things of that, those type of protocols. I know a few other things. We'll get into those later, uh, when we start the collective bargaining
process. But otherwise, um, great great group of guys and gals over there. They're ready to to form the union. They seem very cooperative. I was cooperative, I think, pretty well. Yeah. So, you know, so we're all moving in the right direction. So for now, Chief
Hartman, you know how I am when it comes to bargaining. So um it's Kumbaya at the moment. We'll get through it and uh you know, again, working with the commission and through our financial positioning and stuff. So it's it's good. Everyone's going to get along and we'll get through
this process. My turn. Yes. This it's a good thing. I know I'm a PBA member for, you know, 20 years. I'm still a indirect associate member. This is a good thing to have and I'm uh glad you guys are organizing and Marshall
will have to deal with you all the time. My only my only question is so the only two people that aren't is the chief and Matt aren't involved in the union. The three four Sylvia will be with uh the general membership of which the regular general
uh non-represented employees and then the the three chiefs um are not in the group. Thank you. Good. Okay. We expected this to happen as soon as we were talking about having our own fire
rescue department, not our group because they weren't together yet. Awesome team wasn't here yet. Uh but the county was quick to remind me and Chief Joseph on a regular basis that this would become a union shop. So, um, yeah, it's it's a it's a the
firefighters, uh, paramedic group throughout the country. I would even say they stay pretty. They're all organized. Maybe some rural places where it's mostly volunteers, maybe not. But any professional uh uh department where you have full-time, it's pretty much
in South Florida there Washington, you know, California, but you know, you could go to even in Texas and places like that, everyone's unionized, right? So, it was it was to be expected. I don't think this was any kind of surprise. Um and our expectation is that
it will be a positive relationship. I don't see why it wouldn't be. Um you guys do a fantastic job and we are thrilled to have you. So I expect this to be a good relationship going forward. So um and we really appreciate the value that you bring to our community. So uh I
yeah I have no issue with it and um I expect it will be positive going forward. So, so if we could have a motion to approve the resolution. I make a motion to approve uh 2025-021
acknowledgement of Highland Beach Professional Firefighters Local 5504 Union. Second that. Commissioner Peters, yes. Vice Mayor Stern, yes. Commissioner Chennowski, yes.
And Mayor Moore, yes. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Moving on to new union. Yeah, I guess they've got a work to do, right? They still have good a good amount of work to uh moving on to town commission comments. Commissioner Jnoski,
I think that um the theme, the general theme of safety, health, and financial security is surely getting out to our community. Marshall, I appreciate you driving that and the mayor. and um is something that I think the community is
going to support for many years to come. Yeah. I just want to say thanks uh the firemen and policemen of the town there and uh I'm glad the new union there help you out. Thank you. I echo those comments and thank you all.
Yes, absolutely. and you know the accreditation for the police department with such a um excellent uh result um having an independent peer review give such glowing results for our police department and uh the epoch system um
sounds like that's really going to uh help our community. So I'm very proud of our public safety and uh you're everything we ever wished for and and more. So thank you very much. Um, moving on to town attorney. Any comments?
Um, yes, mayor. Briefly. So, at the last commission meeting, we had um a lot of discussion about the temporary sign regulations and the commission provided direction. Unfortunately, um, upon further research/reflection, we talked about when I did the
legislative update, Senate Bill 180 that, um, prohibits all local governments in Florida essentially from adopting more restrictive or burdensome um, land development regulations or comprehensive plan amendments. The definition of land development regulation includes sign regulations.
So, notwithstanding that ours, we have a separate chapter sign code and then we have our zoning regulations. Our hands are tied by Tallahassee. We can't make them any more restrictive. And that's in place till October 1, 2027. So those towns that currently have more
those were done before I Oh. So it's like a grandfather. Oh yeah. So yeah. So essentially what they did with Senate Bill 180, it's retro back to August of 2024. So if you adopted anything from August 2024 through now that was more burdensome
restrictive, it's null and void. And now um we're prohibited from proposing or adopting anything that's more burdensome or restrictive until 2027. So it's moot there. It's moot because we can't reduce the number. We can't reduce the size. But
you know, we'll keep it on the radar. Right. Right. So hopefully um when 2020 they you know we had this once before with Senate Bill 250 they and then they rolled it back a bit realizing that maybe they shouldn't have included all the counties that didn't really have hurricane damage um in the last cycle.
So hopefully maybe if it's rolled back in the next session we can move forward but at this time it's sort of on hold. So Marshall, can you get back to the individuals who Yeah, we'll get back to the individual groups. I'll also put out a a a notice push notice in all our general communications that while we have
commission support the commission desired moving in that direction we can't even propose it really per se at this point. So we can't take any formal action without potential penalty from uh the state. So um from an administrative I'll just circle back add it to the
strategic plan wait for that 180 October 2027 date. I Len has told me some local communities are have taken the fight to Tallahassee on that plan. Yes, there there's actually a loss. So, that's another factor. Um, uh, the Weiss law firm down in M well, they're down in Miami and Broward. Um, they are filing a
lawsuit challenging 180, saying it's a taking away local zoning authority and a bunch of other grounds as well. So, I will if that moves in a positive direction, they're looking to get an injunction. So, if that happens, we can proceed. But, I'll I'll let the commission know if there's any movement on that front as well.
Perfect. Yeah, that sounds good. If I may, I I think we also have to have clarification of what our regulations are before that date so that we can enforce whatever those regulations are. We're basically stuck with what we have now for now until we have an opportunity
to change it. Thank you very much for that update. Town manager, um I guess I'll piggyback off the 180 into a lot of the stuff you're hearing regarding property taxes. It's going to be the energy is going to build uh the
the blue the blue ribbon team and that the uh speaker of the house uh speaker Perez put together to talk about property taxes. They're going to start meeting in September and coming to conclusions before session to propose what type of um amendments or changes to
the constitution. I'm guessing it'll have enough energy for something. uh whether it's a a modification of the homestead amounts, complete elimination on homestead properties, all of these things have uh significant impact on us providing our
services and as we know 80% is police and fire. So that really uh puts a strain on us. Uh but with that, the uh Florida League of Cities put out some stuff. I'll share that with you. Some communication items to educate the public what it is. I don't think it's an
issue we have. have we have a pretty good relationship right now with our uh uh residents to know that you know what we do has been asked for and needed um and we have low taxes versus other towns that have high taxes. So there's a lot of uh debate and discussion that's going to be occurring over the next 3 to four
months. Um and I think 180 kind of started setting the foundation of don't be more restrictive. we kind of want to put the squeeze on local government which seems to be a running theme I would say with the local legislators that preemptive action is over and over and it's it's
getting deeper and deeper on every issue you could think of. Um, I guess until something breaks. What that is, I don't know. Again, um, that's a difficult It's probably going to make the some something's going to make the ballot in 26, but again, it takes 60%. So, it's
going to have a lot it's got to have a lot of support to to move through. But, I'll share those communication pieces, uh, some of the other uh, videos they have. We'll kind of get it folded into our website and, uh, get those uh, things out there just so the public can kind of start hearing the value. As we
all know and believe, local government provides the greatest value for your tax dollar. It's where the rubber meets the road. It's your closest contact. You'd be surprised how many people come in and talk about federal stuff, residents, well beyond our control or state or county, because we're available in here
and that's where the real value in local government is. So, we'll see where the journey takes us. Uh but it's interesting. Speaking about the state, this is my segue into ABDOT. Um uh uh that's an interesting one. We've been communicating I think pretty well. So I
I've been receiving uh some positive feedback from residents to for keeping them informed of everything that's going on on this project as of late after that was it two weekends ago where we had that flooding. A lot of them uh a lot of the F dot team is you know be patient. I
I don't know how patient we can be at some point in time. So, um, the the the date completion dates moving to later October, maybe even into November. FDOT and the contractor are starting to pick up the rhetoric towards each other.
There's a lot of work out there and a lot of concern we have where maybe the road is okay, but the rightway is going to be taking a brunt of the uh the runoff and flooding more often or standing water on the bike path. Um, so there's a lot out there. uh we're
with working with them and you know informing or directing them of their commitments that they made to the town and our expectations for them to honor those commitments. We'll see how far that goes. Um we met
with nine of them uh last week. I don't feel any warmer and fuzzier just there's a little bit more work but I I don't know uh at the end of the day how this all comes together. uh but it's delaying it which is hitting our sanitary sewer project. So we're working with our
contractor on our side as to how far can they delay before they start their work. Uh one lap will let us into it. I think they're going to jam us up pretty hard because the last three weeks will be rightway restoration and they're probably not going to let us go into right away while they're putting down
sod and we're setting up camp on structure. So the story is still to unfold. We're really concerned of where it goes and what happens next. Um again, I just want everyone to know we'll continue to communicate. Uh we're
working to ensure those again commitments are honored and our interests are protected. So, we're working on that. They're hearing us. Um, I don't think they like us pushing back, but nonetheless, we're having those conversations and I'm preparing because
some of those conversations have elevated to the representatives office. So, uh, Peggy's contacting us what's going on, getting a little better insight. So, I think we're going to slowly move this up the food chain for a better response if they don't honor
those commitments. So is that basically the um other action we can take is just to escalate it to uh the representatives. Well, they want they're changing they've now their change set six. So they're
changing it. So people again botting I generally apologize but uh the folks designing in Fort Lauderdale on CAD aren't seeing what's happening in the field in Highland Beach and their construction
engineers aren't employees, they're contractors. So there's a disconnect. So we get the design engineers, they roll out the plans and say, "Oh, we still have work to do." not realizing the context in which their decisions are being made. So, and the construction engineers are saying, "Well, I'm kind of
telling them these things that we got to watch out for." And now the contractors getting upset cuz I think they're going to start getting hit with liquidated damages for the delay. So, that's going to create the energy between those two be friction. So, communications chance to break down. So that's why, you know,
keeping Peggy potentially informed and in the the background at the moment will help, you know, smooth those waters or bring the district secretary into the conversation. You know, my my concern is the uninformed and disillusioned that are going to come down in the next 45 days.
Uh people left here when construction was were starting. Um and even the questions that we're getting in the in the by the the residents now is, you know, what did they do? A lot of people just don't understand how much work has been accomplished to get to where we
are. And I'm not sure if it's going to come out to the press, but I had a gentleman ask me, you know, when are they putting in the French drains? Totally uninformed on the process that took place. You know, is there another layer going in the road? So, the communication to the 4,000 plus
residents right now, plus the people who are going to be coming down the middle of October, that's going to be concerning because I can see the types of questions we're going to entertain as people are coming down. Well, hopefully it's done before they get here. But I, you know, I'm not uh that's very wishful thinking and I don't
know that we'll we'll we'll be there because they're still working. They're still digging in Delray. They still have to come all the way to the south end of town, turn around, then hit the east side and go all the way up. and their messaging is off. Like they tell us one thing and then two weeks later they tell us
something different. That's where the confusion is where we jump in um and try to again make sure they're honoring their commitments that what you said you're going to do, you're going to do and not make changes on the fly, which they seem to be doing. Unfortunately, it's a disconnect to the context. You
looks great on CAD. You come out and you'd see what it looks like and that's the disconnect. Um, so we'll be a little bit patient. Um, but I just want everyone to know that we're working and communicating with them on a regular basis. Um, holding their feet to the fire and keeping
residents informed. Again, that the residents gave us pretty good feedback. Not happy, but they're they're pleased that we're communicating more. So maybe the app is what we hoped it could do is communicate quicker with residents and they're getting that or reading the emails because I'm hearing from folks I
haven't heard from. um can't believe one of the residents she kept notes from from the original meeting and she said why don't you show them the notes I took from the meeting that said exactly all these commitments and uh I graciously shared those along. So um
just so they know that it's not just us watching the residents are watching. Uh so hopefully all those things will will clean up. But um I forgot her name so if you're watching I'm sorry. And uh but you know residents have been receptive. good that we're communicating, keeping in the loop. And so I'm excited that's
working. So what does the sewer lining contractor say? Like they'll move will they uh he seems really good. Uh Instit remind me. It's some weird name. I got to work on that. But um they're an
international company. Uh they're big presence out of Miami Dade. Um do a lot of work here in Palm Beach County. seemed flexible, but you know, when we signed the contract, the completion date was in July. Then it moved a little bit into August, then it hit September, and
they were saying, "Okay, we can work with the September date." Now, if you're pushing it all the way into November, the one thing I I'm concerned is if that and I, you know, can they finish on this deadline now, right? It's their fourth deadline change. So, that could be pushed further. You don't really want
high season being here and doing sewer lining. more apt to have problems with bypass pumping at the condos where I'm going to have a high higher flow and volume to have to manage. Um, again, it's trenchulous technology. We're not making a mess. I mean, the contractor
said, "Yes, I'll screw up some sod, but we'll replace it." But it's not like we're digging up the rightway, but we're going to be setting up camp when we start bypassing with high flows. Um, that could be a little bit difficult. Um, so he may want to start and stop. We're talked to that too, like
maybe to go into Belo and the side streets now, which are totally clear, but he did indicate that he would like to continue after doing the side streets, which take about a month, and then coordinating that to hit A1A. So, he's going to have to look at his contract. We're waiting for him because he's still going to have to get an MOT
from FOD approval to be in the rightway on the A1A, not the side streets. We we issue that, but um so we're kind of in that waiting period. I'll keep you informed soon as I hear we hear from Frank on what he can do with his contract with the sewer lining. Uh
then we'll just queue it up from there. Well, at least it sounds like everyone's aware of what's going on, right? The communication's open and flowing. Me and I got a lot of projects waiting, right? I kept on saying as soon as I talked about it, so maybe I Murphy's law and myself and said capital projects kind of
their schedules constantly move and pressure between projects. Here we are, you know, we're going to be bidding out the bridge. Maybe they'll all come at the same time. Then everyone's going to be upset that we're working on everything all at the same time. But um you know uh we're proceeding but it's a
lot of changes, starts and stops, which is very frustrating. Anything else? Is that Nope. That's have a question. So, I I was under the impression that we were going to get an update on the uh compliance of the fire department with
the violations and where we stood and how many uh are complete, not complete. I I think we're moving pretty well, but I could get that queued up for our next meeting to have Matt come in and talk about all the fire inspections. Uh I will give you a prelude to a smaller kiss as it relates to our
budget. False alarms are driving me crazy. As much as it's driving them crazy, it's driving me crazy. So, we're changing the fee structure. We have some condos that are hitting what 12 12 false alarms. I mean like we're constantly deploying all our resources. So we're
making the life safety is going well, but the fire alarms are a little bit messy still. So we're hoping we can get folks to start working on their fire alarms. That frees up a lot of our time when we constantly get false alarms. Definitely. We're running all those calls. Just I'll
send out uh chief's report here. And again, just take a moment and go to the unintentional false alarms. The numbers are really climbing and we're spending a lot uh too much time, right? Every now and again to get a false alarm is good, but when it starts, right, where we're getting a condo with a dozen
of them and it's repeat offenders, like we got to fix those type of situations. But we're doing well. uh all that initial push back that we uh chief told me to anticipate. Uh I think we've gotten through that first wave and everybody's come into compliance with the health safety stuff and he's coming
up to tell me more cuz you asked. So um I don't have any specific numbers for you, Vice Mayor, but I know that about 8 to 10 buildings are fully compliant. We haven't actually got given them the award yet. We haven't given one
out. We try and do those once every meeting just to keep it keep it moving because we're kind of falling behind now. Um we have a few issues uh with the the concrete restoration. There are some issues we're addressing there, but for the most part, generally
speaking, most of the buildings are getting to a place where they're safer than they were before. I know Seagate is doing putting some major work on their infrastructure and that's going to be pretty significant putting underline uh replacing some of the uh under water
lines and digging up the driveway and putting additional hydrants and that. So that's a huge huge project and on the south end we have some projects also that's water supply again we'll be working with Pat Roman on that but for the most part uh the stuff that the long
lists that we have in the getting smaller and smaller uh every month. So we're making good progress. I'm comfortable with the progress. I'm happy where we are. I didn't think we're going to be this far this soon. So we're making good progress but we're not there
yet. We're not 100%. We're getting that much better. I could get some specific numbers for you either in an email report to everybody or with a presentation by Matt the next meeting. Could could you comment? I had heard that there was an issue that backup
generators were not on any elevators in a given condo and therefore people were stuck in the elevators and needed to be uh helped out. So in transparency, we had our first mutual aid call with the city of Boerton two weeks ago. Uh we had
that storm, the big storm where the power line broke and uh and a lot we had a unit uh condo that didn't have their generator the elevator on the generated. They thought FPL according to the engineer was reliable power supply and
so they was not required. So we had people stuck and we had like three or four calls almost simultaneously because they all happened at once. So we end up having to call Book RON to assist somebody out of an elevator. It was our first call in a year, what two almost
two years now. So uh we did pretty good, but it was a minor call of no consequence. Uh it was basically just a matter of safety and emotional support rather than it was a major event, which is a good thing. Um we are going through
right now and encouraging our condos associations to put their elevators on generator and having the switches switch them back and forth and uh it's not as easy as saying just do it. Uh Coronado is going through that right now where they're you know there's a lot of
infrastructure has to be upgrades and switches and con uh making sure that the power supply from FPL is uh is adequate. So yeah, there's a lot more to that, but again, the attitudes have changed. They're positive. They're making
progress. Uh they're not as resistant as saying this is ridiculous, blah blah blah blah blah. They're seeing the the light and we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. So all good things, all progressive things, and I'm very happy with where we are. That's great.
Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Chief. Uh just to remind you one last thing um for all residents, you know, just check your yard. Uh things break from time to time. We're getting a lot of uh billing problems where people's have
irrigation leaks and stuff like that. Check your irrigation systems every now and again or have your contractor do it. Um but we're having a lot of um you know, breaks. Again, we're on a two-month cycle, right? So, we don't catch it for two months. So, it could be
pretty exceptional um when you find a leak and you're not knowing what's going on. So, just word to the wise, just check your systems, make sure everything's there. You don't have spongy spots in your yard when you shouldn't. Just check make sure things are going well. That's it. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Moving on to announcements. We have one vacancy on the code enforcement board for a three-year term. upcoming meetings and events. Um September 4th, uh in a couple days at 5:01 p.m. we have the town
commission first public hearing budget meeting. The se September 16th we just discussed is cancelled. Um after that we have on September 18th at 501 the next town commission second public hearing public uh budget meeting. So yeah, note
the time. So on the 18th that's at 5. I'll have to remember that because we usually have 1:30. Um uh and there are no board action reports. And so with that, we can adjourn. Thank you very much, everyone.