and gentlemen, we will commence with the June 2nd, 2026 Board of County Commission meetings. If you'd please rise for a moment of silence, reflection for our first responders, members of armed forces, followed by the invocation by Deacon Wilfford Hart.
Let's pray. Father God in heaven, we first acknowledge that you're God. There are many gods out there, Lord, but they're called idol gods and they don't have any power. All power, Lord, is in your hands. And so, Father God, we're going to ask
since you're sitting on your throne up in heaven, that you send a blessing right here in this meeting today. We don't know what the needs are, but you do. And so, Lord, we going to ask that you furnish all our needs. When
other communities and counties are hurting, Lord, we're increasing. This is Indian River County. And I'm going to call it out to you, Jesus, to let you know that Indian River County deserve to be blessed. I ask that you bless our leaders that are up in the das today
about your business. Not their will be done, Father God, but your will be done. Bless their homes. Bless their ministry because what they're doing is a ministry, Father God. We have other elected officials in this room today. Bless their ministries as well. And then
Lord, we just ask that this community any sins that it has committed be forgiven by you, Father. Only you can forgive us, Lord. And then, Lord, we're going to ask that you supply us with our daily bread as
you made that promise to us. Lead us not, Lord, into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. and every heart that love the Lord will say, "Amen." >> Please remain standing as Commissioner
Flesher leads us. >> Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the greatest nation on earth, the United States of America, home of the free because of the brave. >> 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. Thank you. >> Thank you. And good morning again. And let the record reflect that uh Commissioner Susan Adams is in Washington DC representing Indian River
County at the National [snorts] County Commission uh convention commissioners. Any additions or deletions? >> Mr. Chairman, move approval. Second. >> Have a motion to approve. Any further
discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I >> measures. That brings us to proclamations and presentations. And I will tell you this uh is a very special day as we honor uh Pastor Bone. Uh just so the public knows, we u decide
amongst ourselves who reads the proclamations. Uh and everybody uh knows pastor. In fact, uh Joe Man was anxious to read it and I said, "Well, uh I'll take the chairman's privilege and read it myself." Uh he has been vital to
Indian River County. Those of you that have ever experienced any losses on any level, um he has been there and his church has been there accommodating [snorts] us. And it is an honor and a pleasure for me to read this proclamation.
Today's proclamation honors Pastor Bone's 50 years of ordained ministry, five decades. Whereas, Pastor Larry Bone has faithfully answered the call of God, dedicating 50 years of his life to ordained ministry and the service of
others. Whereas through his role as global outreach pastor at Central Assembly of God, Pastor Bone has demonstrated unwavering commitment to spreading the gospel, equipping believers and impacting lives both locally and around the world. And
whereas his compassion, leadership, servants heart, and steadfast faith have encouraged, discipled, and inspired countless individuals across generations. Whereas Pastor Bone's ministry has extended beyond the borders, advancing missions and bringing
bringing hope to communities through the love and message of Jesus Christ. And whereas this golden milestone stands as a powerful testimony of God's faithfulness and Pastor Bone's enduring dedication and divine calling. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the board
of county commissioners of any river county, Florida. We express our deepest gratitude to his faithful service, spiritual leadership, and the lasting legacy he continues to build through global outreach and ministry. May the Lord continue to bless, guide, and strengthen him in his years ahead.
Adopted on this second day of June, 2026, and signed by all five county commissioners. Larry, please come up. >> [applause] [clears throat] >> Commissioner Man, I know you have a few few words you'd like to share.
>> Absolutely. I've known Larry for I don't know more than 50 years, bro. [laughter] >> Wow. Yes. >> But uh gosh, I remember when I was in charge thing strikes me is I remember when I was in charge of the one of the founders in charge of the firefighters fair and
>> Larry was was working in the advertising business and working with the radio station and >> with the out of there at the church and all that stuff. He was always a big help to >> to do other stuff for us. It was just just a lot of things. He was always
there. He's just been a guy that's always been for his community and always doing what's right and doing what's best and and I could go on and on and and and talk about his what he's done and the people that he's touched and everything else, but but he's he's just a he's just
a real good guy. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. And you think about um and I know Commissioner Flesher knows this. Uh unfortunately sometimes in our line of work, you have uh crises that come up uh
no matter the the volume. and to be able to call Larry on very short notice uh and being assured that uh the accommodations are made and the families are taken care of. That just takes one
less stressful item off of our agenda. Uh, Mr. Flesher. >> No, I you know uh we we often uh look at our own belief and we we look
for our guidance. Um you know, sheriff touched upon something that [sighs] you know, we we get hit at 2 o'clock in the morning. We get hit at 6:00 a.m. We get hit at 3 in the afternoon.
something is going to happen. And when you have that critical incident, when you have somebody that you can go to or call upon and things start happening, you know, we talk about our victim services. Larry, you've been a victim service.
You're there for support and assistance and whatever the church can do for the situation. I truly appreciate that because over the years, you know, when uh it go back to times when uh when I
worked for uh Sheriff Raymond, um there were many times that you built the bridge and I just want to thank you. You got us through it. >> He is so good all the time. He's good.
>> Five decades. And the and the public doesn't see that. That's the point of today. The public does not see that we can call upon Larry and he's there. >> Yeah. >> And open arms. What do you need? What
can I do? because you assist and then you go back to whatever you were doing with pride and an understanding that we made it a better place. >> So, thank you.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Pastor Bone. You know, we don't go back 50 years, but I wish we did. And I think it's lovely and it's testament to you that it's not just your family who's here with you today. It's your church family, right? And that's that's really a beautiful
statement uh in your behalf and 50 years. God bless. Thank you. So >> I started when I was five. [laughter] >> Excellent. >> Thank you. >> All of this is uh possible because of incredible staff that we have at
Central. Our lead pastor, John Hamilton, and his wife are uh out of town. They would be here today as well. But uh uh these incredible folks here make it make it all happen. So I just get to enjoy. So thank you for your kind kindness and
your your generosity and and giving me this tremendous honor today. Thank you so much. >> Thank you Larry. Come on up. >> Yeah. Come on up. Family too. [applause] All the family. Thank you. >> Did this
>> Thank you again. Sir, >> thank you. >> Five decades. >> Yep. >> Round four of those decades. >> Commissioners, that brings us to approval of minutes. We do not have any
minutes to approve. Uh information items from staff and commissioners. uh attached in your backup material, you will see the event calendar which is full of fascinating events. We would encourage you to
review those. At this time, we will uh take any public comment that is agenda related. Any public comment that's agenda related specifically. If you have comments that's not agenda related, we will entertain that towards the end of the meeting.
Hearing none and seeing none commissioners, that brings us to the consent agenda. What is your favor? >> Mr. Chair, >> Commissioner Flesher, >> move approval. Second. >> We have a motion by Commissioner Flesher, a second by Commissioner Man.
Any further discussion hearing? None. All in favor? I. And the motion carries. Commissioners, we have no items from governmental offices or governmental agencies. Uh the next public item is
11B. This is a notice to schedule public hearing to discuss and approve a resolution adopting new fiscal year 2627 utility rates and fees. Mr. Administrator. >> Yes, Mr. Chair. Uh as you noted, this is
uh merely the notice to we will be scheduling a public hearing to uh review and discuss and uh present to you a resolution adopting the new fiscal year 2627 utility rates. Uh that will be for the
next meeting at June 16th. >> June 16th, commissioner, this is a placeholder that we're hearing today. Uh so we will be addressing this in detail on June 16th. No action is required on that agenda item. Commissioners, we will move
forward to uh departmental matters. Uh bringing us to 13 I planning development series uh which I know Commissioner Adams is involved in this and this brings us to
his planning and development services with the Indian River County Local Jobs Grant Program revision. Mr. Administrator. >> Yeah. I'm looking for Doug Dumbrossski. >> Montu, can you see if Doug is in the
green room? >> We have Doug Dumbrossski. >> I do see that we have the uh the chair of the economic development committee for the county, uh, Lance Lensford, and then also I see the president of the
chamber. And uh one of the things I know that came out of the uh the study that was adopted was to evaluate and look at our [clears throat] local you know incentives. This particular one is related to the local jobs grant program
and there's some revisions and um at the end of the day the goals for this uh agenda or this item was to eliminate unnecessary program complexity, reduce the burdensome of compliance requirements uh and then enhance ensure
that we have an enhanced return on investment for participating businesses. It was in February that uh the uh the planning development services staff presented the 10-year performance and utilization analysis of the program and
they requested authorization to revide it revise it. Uh they've done that and now I'll turn it over to Doug. I've already teed it up Doug to where you've got it revised and you can go over the specific requests. Commissioners, now we
will have an overview by Doug Dumbrossski to go over the recent changes in the grant application. Welcome, [clears throat] Mr. Dumbrosseski. Good morning, Chairman Lauren, commissioners. Uh item 13 I1 is for
consideration of a resolution to revise the Indian River County Local Jobs Grant Program providing for new guidelines and a revised agreement. So I'd [snorts] like to start with a little background first couple slides.
Uh this is a timeline of kind of how we got here. As early as January of this year, the economic development council uh made their recommendation to staff to begin revision of this program. Uh as such, in February, we came to this
board of county commissioners for authorization to revise the program. Uh you all had granted that uh revision. Uh so in March of uh this year the economic development council worked with
staff with some specific revisions that they wanted in the program and in April and May uh planning and development staff and the county attorney worked on those revisions together. Um I'd like to thank the county attorney for her time
uh in preparation of this item. And then on May 19th, the EDC met and uh they reviewed the resolution, the grant agreement and guidelines and made a recommendation to this board to adopt the new program. Uh this next slide is just sort of a
summary of a recap of why the revision was requested back in February. Uh basically this program had a lack of participation and it was underutilized. So, we felt it was time for uh some revision to the program.
The 10-year program analysis between 2017 and 2025 revealed only two businesses were assisted by the program. Uh the reason the businesses did not did not participate or continue the feedback that we had received was the program
agreement was difficult for the applicants to understand. The program was overly regulatory and burdensome to meet compliance. Uh the old program had extensive uh reporting, quarterly reporting and the the term of the agreement could go out as far as 7
to nine years. So it had a lengthy term and finally the program return on investment for the businesses uh did not outweigh the contract management required for the businesses. Uh in other words, the grant amounts
were insufficient for the cost. Uh so there was a costbenefit consideration for the businesses and the grant payments were structured such that uh the business would didn't receive the full grant after they created the jobs. They had [snorts] to wait over a three-year period to kind of realize
that grant. So there was a time, value, money consideration for the businesses. The economic development commission really had three goals in mind identified when uh they wanted to revise this program. It was to eliminate the
unnecessary program complexities, reduce the burdensome compliance and enhance the return on investment for the businesses. and their anticipated result in this will be to improve the inducement for business attraction and expansion,
improve small business participation, and increased job creation in Indian River County. So, I'd like to review the key changes uh in the in the program going forward. First, it changes the qualifying jobs
definition for grant eligibility. uh it raises the minimum threshold to participate. Uh the wage threshold will be changed from 75% of the Indian River County wage to 100% of the Indian River County wage. I know that was something
that Commissioner Moss had brought up the last time we had we had discussed this program and the economic development council had agreed. And then the employees must work at the Indian River County facility for the by virtue of this agreement.
It reduces the term of the agreement uh by eliminating um several job creation periods and phases. Uh this agreement will be uh simplified to really just have a maximum term of a three-year job creation period. So um once the
commencement date is scheduled in the agreement they have three years from that date to create the jobs and it reduces the reporting requirements. uh the reports will now be annual versus quarterly
and it provides 100% of the jobs grant reimbursement after verification in that annual report rather than having to wait three years for the full grant reimbursement. Once they've created that job and it's been verified, they can receive their grant.
Uh finally or not finally but we we also included a clawback provision uh a clear clawback for uh businesses that do not fulfill their representations. The uh former agreement didn't have a real clear clawback provision and we
thought that was necessary and it changes the grant ceiling for uh the businesses that participate. It went from 500,000 to 1.5 million. Uh however, that grant ceiling in any budget year, the a business cannot
receive more than $500,000 in any budget year. And uh it's important to know that each application and grant is considered on a case-bycase basis. So the process would be that the business application would go to the economic development council and then it would come before
the county commission uh for approval and all all grants are subject upon available funding. It revises the incentive amounts and grant eligibility categories. Uh again,
it eliminates the grant care category of 75% of the Indian River County wage and it provides larger incentives for high wage job creation. So we're really incentivizing uh businesses that can u bring high wage jobs to Indian River
County. So there's two tiers now. um the 100 to 149% wage category can receive 20% of the Indian River County average wage per job. And those businesses that create jobs
that are 150% or greater of the Indian River County average wage may receive 25% of 150% of the Indian River County average wage. I I think it's important to note too that u we receive data from
the state each year regarding what that average wage is for the county and it fluctuates. So by doing the percentage you know we're not locked into any any um any any grant based upon that that
wage. They fluctuate mainly they increase but there have been times over the years where that average wage has gone down. And then lastly it incorporates a requirement for certifications in the annual report. Um there are four certifications the businesses must uh
provide as part of that reporting. It's that they maintain their target industry status. They have to be a target industry to participate. They maintain their operations in Indian River County. They're current on their real and tangible personal property taxes and
they need to provide statements of new employment and wage information uh that are true and accurate. Uh final thoughts, uh the existing local jobs grant program is underperforming. The revised program is less complex,
less burdensome and has strong financial inducement. It fosters large and small business participation. In particular, small businesses found this program difficult to navigate. Um so the hope here is that we will have more small
business participation. Uh the board of county commissioners will consider each application on a case-byase basis. So you'll have the opportunity as a board to make an alternate uh funding decision. So they might be eligible for a funding amount
but uh this commission may have some other thoughts of what what that funding should be and the program is always contingent upon available funding in any budget year. uh the the revised program remains performance-based. So the businesses
have to do what they say they do and the re it's a so it's a reimbursement once they create their jobs they can get they can receive their grant funding. Uh and uh that'll be through their annual reporting and I'd like to emphasize the new clawback provision that's in this
agreement. And with that, staff would recommend approval of the re re resolution revising the Indian River County Local Jobs Grant Program by adopting the revised program guidelines and the associated agreement.
Also, uh to note, I know that um Chairman uh Lunford from the Economic Development Council is here. He may have may want to say a few words as well, but I'll take any questions. >> Commissioners.
>> Well, Mr. Mr. Chairman, I I I appreciate the changes. Uh again, the uh the jobs grant program was uh initiated or brought forward at a time when uh by Commissioner O'Brien when
the uh economic development packages were growing by the minute across the eastern seabboard. uh there was a drive and it was great incentivization. uh throughout the uh I guess more recent
times it's lost a lot of the incentivization or the vision of incentivization and uh it it became uh extra fund at best or viewed as hey you
know I just throw [clears throat] this in there so that we can have uh some return or a grant that it was just available monies. I I I think it did lose its
effectiveness and I appreciate the the changes because the changes has brought back an encouragement element uh to participate and uh in these economic times we're
going to need every bit of help that we can because a lot of the original participants uh changed and moved honor, but they took advantage of the grant process. Uh
there are just a few that were uh that maintained the relationship, but they took advantage of the the the grant. the state and and the Fed
does do their part, but I think by the virtue of the changes that you've made, we've brought back a stronger element of encouragement for economic development in our community. >> Thank you. Just a couple questions and I
see uh Chairman Lunford and our director of the chamber if you two would like to come up and add a few things. I just uh think that would be healthy for the conversation. >> Yes, Mr. Administrator. I just want to uh comment that um I do think what
they've done Doug and in and the EDC has modernized the the program. uh it's you know the clawback provision is something that is very should be very standard and by raising the criteria the
eligibility amounts I think that's important and then tying it to our qualified targeted industries versus any QTI business in the state of Florida because we're trying to find the businesses that complement and enhance
our quality of life and not overtake us. So, I mean, I think that's important. And then the I've never seen a program where it's done on a quarterly basis because at some point it becomes more money to comply with the grant program
than it does to to the benefit of the the business. So, uh and then that clawback provision where they literally can claw back, you know, the money these that were provided if they don't, you know, carry through. So, I think it's important and I want to thank Doug and
and the the economic development council and the chamber Paul for for their help and their their assistance in this. >> Sure. >> Good morning. >> Uh, commission. I just Lance Lford. I serve as the chairman of your EDC. I just want to reiterate everything Doug has said. This has been a historic
effort. Uh, it takes other counties years sometimes to get these programs revised and between all of us, we're able to do it in four months and get this proposal to you. I know the EDC was unanimous in January when we recommended that this process begin. We were unanimous in this recommendation to you at our May meeting to get this program
revised under the current specifications. Uh if approved, this would actually be we've checked the most ambitious job grants program in the state. At the same time, it removes the ownerous red tape that administrator Dannich just spoke about, taking the quarterly requirements away, making it annual. At the same time, increasing the
accountability through the clawback provision, and also preserving the decision-making process that the old program had of it ultimately being this commission's decision um subject to available funding. So, a really well done effort from our standpoint. Um, I also want to thank Doug for all of his work um on the process. I want to also
thank county attorney Scheler uh for for her work as well and the fact that I think all of us worked well together in our different roles is important. Again, I just reiterate this EDC was it was a unanimous decision to get this program revised to use. So on behalf of the economic development council, we formally recommend that the board of
county commissioners adopt this revised job grants program. And I also believe we have um Brian Cartland who's the vice president of economic development for the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce. In case uh Mr. Chairman, if it's all right, if you can maybe you can say a few words as well. >> Sure. >> Brian. Absolutely. Thank you, uh,
chairman and commissioners. I am Brian Kartland, vice president economic development, uh, for the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce. And if all goes well, uh, with real estate closings, I will be a resident of Indian River County by June 26th. And I'm here today to to express strong support for
the proposed updates uh, for the program. These revisions represent thoughtful strategic enhancement uh to one of the county's most important economic development tools and I want to commend county staff and our county attorney and the economic development
council for their thoughtful input and direction for this program. Uh the updated framework aligns directly of course with the treasured tomorrow uh strategic action plan. And what makes this program especially effective is its performance-based structure. Incentives
are only paid after the jobs are actually created and those jobs must meet defined wage thresholds tied to the county average wage. U and every agreement comes before this board uh for approval on a case-byase basis. Um so
the revisions also reinforce the key safeguards focus on target industries requirement that net new jobs be above the baseline employment levels and provisions for the reporting requirements and clawback provisions as previously stated. Um, and just as
importantly, it remains accessible, as Doug had outlined, to both new businesses, existing employers, and I personally love that it's not just targeted toward the large companies, but also those small target industry employers. So, uh, in short, although I
am the newest uh, person to the table, I believe this is a very well-designed, very powerful tool that's going to greatly enhance our ability to attract and retain those targeted industry employers. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you, Brian. Commissioners, any questions, >> Mr. Chairman? >> Yes, sir. >> Um, I'm like really excited about this because I know part of the problem with us getting
moving this forward and and Commissioner Flaxer touched on some of it when he spoke just a few minutes ago about this when Commissioner O'Brien, I think, came up with this idea. we didn't have the staff >> to really reach out and do this and get
these things done. Um the economic development council was kind of new. It was kind of different, but we didn't have the staff. It was it was placed on the planning and zoning department to get out and do this. I mean, it's not really in their in their set, you know,
to to to do this. They're planners and and and busy enough with all the stuff that's going on down there, as we all know. So, I I would give credit to Commissioner Adams. I would give credit to the commission recently when we said we needed to to to up our game on this
and the county administrator for for uh pulling this getting people getting Doug on board and all that sort of stuff. And then I think and we owe Lance Launchford and his desire to be on the economic development board and and and and to bring this forward. And now Brian's on
board who I'm and I'm so very impressed with in the short conversations that we had that that I think there's I think there's much better things to come here and it and and I I don't want to the public to feel like why didn't we do this sooner.
It goes back to again we only have so much staff and so much people to do it. Business in Indian River County has always been pretty good. We probably took that for granted, but we didn't have the people to put this emotion and to regulate it. All there was was Helen
Castle. That was it. And we didn't have anything else. And you know, Helen, God bless her, she she's out there still doing stuff and we appreciate her efforts, but she was a one-man band. And uh I think we're on the right track now. And I'm I'm really excited about this.
And Doug, thank you for your work. Lance, thank you. And Brian, we look forward to a lot of good things. So, we we appreciate the chambers help and and everything else with this. So, I just kind of wanted to clear that up to say >> we never overlooked this. We just never
had the the the the lifters to to make the heavy lifting to make this possible. And I think we've got great people in place and and moving this forward and you know, I want to thank the economic developments council for for for getting this moving this forward. So,
>> yeah. >> Thank you. Yes. >> Um thank you. I'd like to especially thank Mr. Lunsford for this. Um, I was the city of Vera Beach's when I was on Vera Beach City Council, the appointee to the economic development council years ago and I asked to be taken off of
it frankly because I I could tell this is going nowhere and doing nothing and you really need somebody to, you know, to take it in hand and I think you did that in very short order and I want to thank you very much. I am curious
though. Um I'm glad it was long overdue to get rid of all the red tape and I see that you you've definitely streamlined things. You and the uh the council and Commissioner Adams. Um I see this I just want to know how you see it. I see this
as step one. You streamlined all the red tape. Um I would see step two as as targeting specific uh industries and our businesses. And I would see step three as actively pursuing them. Um you
know my understanding in the past was that it was and granted it was due to you know not perhaps not enough employees dedicated to it or not enough funding or whatever the reason doesn't matter now now we're going forward. Um but I in the past it was very passive
you know it's like well we'll see what fish go by and I think it needs to be more like fly fishing like go out there go go get it. You need to be more active. So we Is that is that a consideration? Are you going to target more? Are you recommending that? And and you know and be more active.
>> Well, >> I'll leave it [clears throat] question for everyone. Sure. >> Administrator, >> I would say the relationship between the county and the chamber that is the intent and we bifurcated the responsibilities where you know, excuse [clears throat]
me, Brian said Paul earlier, uh, Brian is going to focus. It's just part of that's for his expertise with the chamber. And then Doug also has been done site selection and done local government economic development for 20
plus years and and so yes that that is the intent and God bless you that is consistent with the treasure tomorrow you know strategic action plan. >> You know you know interesting point uh >> I'm sorry uh interesting point uh is
that you know you touched upon Helen is handling this uh just want to bring it back to you. You you you can see uh a commercial for an automobile, but unless you go to the
dealership, you're never going to ride a car. You're never going to purchase a vehicle. So, this needs marketing. This needs forward marketing because uh in the past when it was first developed, it
was a cold call from Helen that got people interested. uh she would you know she did what she could do with what we had but in addition I think now uh we have to go a little forward with the
marketing and reach out to the targeted industries say in river this is where it is look what we can give you encourage you to be here I I I think it
needs some forward marketing Thank you, Commissioner Flesher. And it is also refreshing [clears throat] to see uh Chairman Lunsford here uh obviously the youngster of the group and seems to be full of energy and excited
to to do this. In fact, I think it is his uh his trophy for fast forwarding this in six months, lightning speed. Uh and for that, Lance, we thank you. and commission I just want to say very importantly um this is this was a team
effort I mean we have 23 members on the economic development council I simply serve as chairman we had a wonderful wonderful process um many suggestions and and this was a collaborative process not only on behalf of our council's relation with the chamber with this commission with the staff but really
amongst the EDC and um I appreciate the praise but I really want to redirect that praise towards the council as a whole um and to all of us as a shared partnership in this effort and just to reiterate you know the chamber being the designated economic development organization. I know Brian is very excited about the opportunity to market
this program if if adopted. Uh two prospective businesses coming in here and certainly our EDC is always happy to take up um any issues that this commission really would like us to um in our capacity to advise and provide our perspective on the direction of Indian River County's activities pursuant to
the resolution. I believe it's 2000 20003127 which is the 127th resolution in the year 2003. um that's our responsibility. We're going to continue to uphold that and conduct ourselves in the way that this commission would like us to. And uh really on behalf of this council, this
has been a historic effort and we look forward to the commission's decision. Thank you. >> Thank youairman >> commissioners. What's your pleasure >> chairman? I'll make >> anyone from the public would like to comment on this. It's not a public
hearing. >> Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion to recommend approval of the resolution revising the Indian River County jobs grant program. Second, >> we have a motion by Commissioner and a second by Commissioner Fletcher. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Those
in favor? I. And the motion passes unanimously 4 Z with Commissioner Adams being on assignment. Commissioners, brings us to utility services. Utility services. It's easy for me to say. uh Department of Utility Services integrated water master plan
update. As we know, this is a continuing um update that we as the commissioners receive as well as the general public. I see Howard and Director Lisky here. Good morning. >> Good morning, commissioners. Howard
Richards, manager of capital projects for the Department of Utility Services. Good morning again, Commissioner. Um, today I'm going to give you the fifth update of the integrated water master plan. This is uh the simple agenda I'll be going over. I'll give you a quick
overview of the project. Uh then I'll give you an update on the scope or accomplishments to date primarily since our last update in um in March. Uh and then I'll give you an update on the schedule and the use of contingency. So
as you know the department of utility services engaged uh HDR incorporated to develop an integrated water master plan for the department. And the reason we embarked on this uh project is because we're continuing to see um continued
population growth u changes in regulations, aging in infrastructure and resource and uncertainty including source water uh financial and people resources. So um HDR is embarking on
this for us. So what is an integrated water master plan? Uh it is an integrated approach to the development of uh water wastewater and reuse planning. Uh it aligns objectives and this plan will look at the future needs
of all systems to set the course for the next 20 years to achieve the county and community priorities. Uh we established four uh guiding values uh for the development of the plan including ensuring that we have uh adequate
quantity to meet future demand for services uh quality of services as well uh to meet uh regulations, future regulations, equity. uh we need to consider all customers fairly as we plan future improvements and resiliency to
prepare our utility to meet future challenges in a sustainable way. So the integrated water master plan is not your ordinary master plan. Typically utilities will do separate plans for water, wastewater and even reuse. Uh
this is integrating all three services in one. A typical plan would look at population and demand projections, level of service, alternatives evaluation, and then developing a CIP. Historically, that's what master plan do. Our
director, uh, Sean Leki wanted a more dynamic plan, a plan that was more comprehensive. So the integrated water master plan uh is going to have additional scope items looking at asset inventory because we are embarking on an asset management program to better uh
and more effectively manage our infrastructure uh by looking at uh what we own and the current uh assessment of their condition. We're doing extensive public outreach. We have done that and we are planning a second round of outreach uh
hydraulic modeling and calibration uh which I'll get into a in a little bit more. >> Uh HDR has also developed an extensive risk model to look at our future needs for the renewal of our assets and uh the plan is going to be a digital delivery
of the plan because uh unlike any plans that I've done, this one is going to be very adaptable. So for example, we're not going to wait for a future plan uh master plan update to you know to update us. We're going to be changing our plans
as conditions change on which the plan is built. So HDR is embarked using this framework uh by the uh US EPA uh for doing one water integrated planning and it it
comprised these uh six phases and we've shown this uh before which is going to make it prioritized adoptable and affordable. So what have we accomplished? So this is the scope update I'm giving you currently. Um since our last update,
we've completed demand and flow projections. We've built levels of service. Uh drinking water supply and wastewater treatment uh have been completed. And we have those technical memorandums. Uh wastewater basis of planning is complete. Regulatory review
is complete. Sewer distribution evaluation of our sewer and distribution system and um and sewer distribution as well has been completed. So this is the overall work plan that HDR
is using. The takeaway from this plan is we have now completed seven of the 10 modules that the plan is going to be delivered on. Uh as a timeline, this is a timeline we were on. Uh in my last report, I reported that we were on a 20
22 month timeline to be completed in mid July. items to the left of this red line Z uh zigzag red line has been completed and the items to the right of that is projecting out further. So the new
schedule now is that we're going to be completed around the fall of 2026 uh i.e. the October uh November time frame of this year. Contributing to that extended timeline is uh a few factors.
One, the calibration of the hydraulic model was much more extensive than was originally anticipated, taking additional uh time to get that done. and the coordination with other projects as well, other planning projects like we
are doing a major conversion of one of our uh repump station into an inline station to meet future conditions and the coordination of those projects is taken uh quite a bit more time and also we will be doing more public outreach
once the capital improvement uh uh plan the 20-year plan is developed. So, those are being programmed in to set this new timeline. Um, as an update of the contingency, recall that the board
approved us uh up to 742,750. uh so far we have used um 272,000 uh of that and uh the remaining conting uh remaining contingency uh I think there's a math here um is
roughly uh 400 400,000 so there's a math here I'll have to correct that uh the two contingency that you've already approved number one and number two there is a third contingency that HDR is currently estim estimate. So hopefully
by the next uh update I will have a the amount for what that is but we expect that to remain within the total contingency that the board approved. So that is my update. Thank you uh for allowing me this time and I'll take any
questions. >> Well, commissioners, any questions for Howard? >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> An ongoing process. We appreciate that. Thank you, [cough] [clears throat] >> commissioners. As I did not mention, but earlier at 10:30 today, we have a shade
meeting uh time certain for ongoing litigation. We'll talk about that uh as we get closer, but we will continue to move forward. Next is 16B, the solid waste disposal district. [clears throat]
Item I, item one, requesting approval of Leche treatment pilot test. And we see Himachu here. Good morning. >> Good morning, commissioners. Iman Schimetha, managing director for the solid waste disposal district. Um, so the item in front of you today is I think a lot of you were at our ribbon
cutting ceremony for our Heartland evaporator. Um, as a former county administrator has called it garbage juice. Uh, that that's a lie. That's the liquid that we collect in the landfill. Right. We we have a liner that captures all that liquid and we make sure that it
doesn't get into the environment. We capture it and historically you know just a brief history over the many many years of the landfill uh at Liquid used to go to our county's wastewater plant until we uh partnered with Hardland and Universe sustainability center to uh
build the Lee evaporator and the intent of that is to basically capture all that liquid treated on site. It has a 90 90 to 95% efficiency. Basically, all all that escapes as water vapor. Everything else gets concentrated and we put that
back into the landfill. So, it it's a great closed loop in making sure that everything sort of stays at the at the landfill footprint. The challenge has become uh during the rainy season. We uh the Lee evapor evaporator has a capacity
a treatment capacity of 30,000 gallons per day. Uh we do have a half a million gallon storage tank. So we are able to put the leech into the tank and pull out of it for for the evaporator to use. However, last year we experienced uh in
the rainy season a coincident with a new cell that we had uh deployed that basically there wasn't enough waste in the cell yet and all the water that kind of hit went you touched the garbage and went right into our lee collection system. And in those instances, what
we've seen is we've have to divert the extra leech to the wastewater plant. And as uh I'm sure Sean and Howard and others have have told you, the regulations have gotten more and more stringent on wastewater plants. Uh and and again, our goal and intent of the evaporator was never to divert lee and
to send it to the wastewater plant. We want to get away from that practice. And so uh one of the things that um coming to the present item right now in front of you is we've uh had our engineers geocentech consultants. I have Dr. Tim
Copelan and Miss Christina Graver here from Geocentech. We we started uh having them evaluate sort of uh pre-treatment options. What could we do in the rainy season to basically handle that high volume of water? And uh so they
evaluated different technologies and the technology they landed on was reverse osmosis. Um and like like you see in the water treatment side it basically when we take our deep aquifer water uh it's it's brackish water and we put it through membranes and and it comes out
sort of a clean water. Same concept on on the leeate side. it can take the the leeate uh and put it through membranes and basically the efficiency there is about 70% of clean water comes out and 30% is concentrate water and the idea is
to put it in front of the evaporator where we can treat high volume of water right get 70% clean water out of that we would divert that to our wastewater plant uh they would be able to handle that and then the 30% the concentrate we would blend that with some of the rest
of the leeching and then have the evaporator process that. So it's a um a small pilot if you will uh in terms of just testing out the technology at our site and uh Geocentech evaluated two firms. One is Indian River
Sustainability Center Hardland. They also are in the uh reverse osmosis uh you know field and the other one is sustainable landfill solutions SLS. and they evaluated both companies uh presented the pros and cons of each and
uh evaluated their pilot proposal if you will. We were we do have a pilot budgeted in our fiscal year budget and ultimately after reviewing you know the evaluations uh for for both firms uh staff and and our engineer felt that it
might be they're they're similar but different in terms of their approach and to really fully understand the total cost impact that uh we're recommending a three-month pilot you know for Harland and a three-month pilot for SLS um and
we would have geocentech basically do an evaluation of of both uh pilots uh after the six-month period and we would come back to the board you know with the results at a future meeting and then take a look at the next steps. But um in in terms of the particulars again both
both technologies and both both companies are are in this field. Uh they they have ready ready system ready to deploy. Uh it would be a mobile system that would come onto our site. we would need to connect, you know, connect it to power, provide some space for it. Uh there would be some setup configuration
that would needed to be done to to bring Lee into the RO unit and then the concentrate, you know, into the uh evaporator. Um it overall summary when Geioentech evaluated this and it's in your backup um the total combined cost
for for SLS was like about 18 cents a gallon and for Hartland it was about 16 cent 17 cents a gallon for for their system. So again their costs are are very close in terms of uh treatment capacity. Now, that's overall not only their processing cost, but some
electrical costs, some other other operating costs related to the to the project. And what we're recommending is that we wave bid requirements, allow the purchasing manager to issue a a three-month PO to each company. Uh, Geocentech would work with them on some
of the sort of we feel um not very uh it'd be a permitting process, but it'd be a notification to the state agency that we want to run a pilot program. uh we're pretty confident that they'll support uh short-term pilots and um and the the total cost that we have we're
we're looking at a three-month pilot for uh SLS about $415,552.50. Uh for for Hardland, it's $379,57.50 for a total combined cost of $794,610. Again, we have funds available this fiscal year. uh given kind of we're
looking at the the six-month time frame that we will kind of carry over into the to the next fiscal year a little bit as well where we have funds to also uh you know uh do this type of a pilot. Um and with that I'm I'm happy to answer any questions. I I I did mention uh the two
companies we do have Mr. Sean Reese here from Hartland. He's here if you have any questions about their pilot. We also have Dr. Praep Jane and Mr. James Wallally of SLS. And again our engineers are here as well. So happy to answer any questions or they're here as to answer anything that I can't answer.
>> You get it up and running? I mean, how quick this >> what's that? >> How quick could this mobilize? >> Um, we we need to go through the regulatory just notification process. We think that will be fairly quick. Um, we have I I believe that the both parties are here. Uh, we we're looking at within
3 to four weeks we could possibly have the system on site. So, we're kind of getting geared up for the rainy season. Uh and um and I think it'll be it's a perfect timing to take the few weeks to go ahead and get the regulatory step done. Uh it'll take time for them to
mobilize to the site and then there's some piping configurations that we'll need to set up as well. Um and go from there. This is a a pre-treatment skid. the
the me current mechanism will still be processing into vapor. >> Yes sir. Yes sir. So the 30% that comes out of the reverse osmosis it's concentrated material that will get further further treated with the evaporator and that'll bring that down
to 90 to 95% and then we'll be able to take that and put it back into the landfill. So again, trying to long-term uh I should have mentioned these pilot uh systems are 25,000 gallons per day. So again, they're they're they're meant
to be just, you know, a um testing uh of our lee on our property and and configurations and see how it works. Ultimately full scale, we would maybe need to look at a 50 75,000 100,000 gallon per day, you know, uh RO unit. Uh
these are modular in nature. So, you know, you can bring a system on site and add another one to it. Um, the other nice thing in terms of these companies is uh I know for uh and the folks are from Harland are here. Did you correct me? But I know I recall when talking and
reviewing this uh SLS has basically indicated and their proposal is kind of set up where if the reverse osmosis is on and we're processing leate, there's a price per gallon there. If say we're in the dry season and we don't need to process any any any water through their
system, there is no cost to us, you know. So, so again, it's it's it's meant to be modular, meant to be kind of there. They can they can remove it if you know for six months if we don't need it. They can come back. A lot of the setup would already kind of be there uh you know in the future years. But but
that that's the idea beyond go going forward as to what we do is that we would want to deploy this technology during during the wet rainy season uh when we expect you know a lot of lot of liquids. >> You you're going to be moving rather
high viscosity fluid. >> Sure. >> Uh concern about uh the membranes lifespan >> turnover. >> Yeah. both both of these systems that they're proposing are are proven.
They're uh they're in operations uh and some in in Florida already u and some across uh across the United States. Um Hardland has what they call a high pressure more of a high pressure system through their membranes that that kind of covers that. The SLS folks, they call
it a low pressure membrane system, but uh there is a combination of some chemicals and some, you know, anti-scalin materials that they use to keep the membranes kind of running smooth. Um the good thing about in terms of this is we're we're relying on them.
We're paying them price per gallon for them to have to utilize their equipment to process our lee and demonstrate the efficiency that that they're saying. you know, both companies are at about that 70% efficiency that they can take the the raw leak shade and get about 70%
clean water uh out out of their system. So again, that that's the reason for recommending both pilots is because they have a different approach on again the pressures that they use, the chemicals that they use. Um you know, pressure relates to electrical usage as as well.
And so we we've gotten information from the companies and compared it enough to know that there could be a high electrical usage for the H Heartland evaporator versus the SLS uh sorry not the evaporator the RO unit from Hardland
versus uh SLS uh because of the low pressure they they have a less electrical demand. So that's the reason to recommended both pilots. Let's test out and see and then ultimately have our engineers evaluate this and and we'll come back for a full recommendation down the road.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. Yes, Commissioner. >> Um, thank you, Mr. Chair. There's a lot of money, but um I noticed it said in here that you'll also use the information from the pilot test to update uh data on the leech itself. And
that that I guess hasn't been done since 2019 >> if I read it correctly. That's correct. before my time and before most of us um sitting here. So, you know, what kinds of things could you talk about that a minute? I what what kind of information could we expect to glean?
>> Sure. It's it's part of the pilot program that we're looking at and and one of the reasons when initially the the Hardland evaporator. We we did a pilot on uh it was a thousand gallon per day pilot that we did for one week uh to evaluate evaporator technologies back
then. and we did extensive um sampling of our leech to to basically evaluate the evaporator technology. Um state regulations don't require routine sampling of leeate. So that's why we haven't really you know it's very expensive. One of one of the things that
we looked at when we were evaluating the the evaporator is you've heard of the the terminology forever chemicals, the the PAS chemicals and uh and that's a very expensive laboratory analysis if you will. And so we did that when we're evaluating the evaporator technology. U
since then it's it's hasn't been a requirement. Our our performance and our contract with with Hardland required them to process our leech. Um we have made some adjustments in the contract related to the quality of that leech and and it being a little more concentrated
but we haven't really done any recent laboratory results. So the idea what the pilot would be is we would do laboratory analysis of the raw leech coming in also evaluate take samples after the RO unit to see what what the quality of that is
what the efficiency of each RO unit would be. Um, and we also want to recognize and make sure that there's not any negative impact to the evaporator. Um, so you know, we're talking about a a concentrated product that will come out
of the reverse osmosis membranes and we want to make sure that that doesn't negatively impact the evaporator. So getting samples in between the the two units is essential as well. And that's where we'll utilize Geocentech to basically collect samples, send them off
to laboratory. will have the results. It'll verify the efficiency of the the systems and also give us more updated laboratory results on on sort of what's in our leech and how efficient are we in processing it. >> So at at what intervals would you want to examine the leech just out of
curiosity. Um so we'd want to establish a baseline right right once everything is set up and ready to go we would establish a baseline of our raw incoming lead shade once this system is sort of running and I would say you know the the
engineers will have to kind of confirm the like the system is is operational running steady state the the you know water's processing properly uh and and say maybe a week later uh get a sample of of what's happening uh after
everything is turned on. Um, and then generally I would say maybe once a month. Uh, but we're going to have to look at both cost and also kind of, you know, the overall approach. Uh, we want to evaluate it and both both projects and and make sure we're collecting
enough data. Uh, but we at the same time want to be respective of the budgets as well. >> Well, I'll speak for Commissioner Adams. I'm sure she's going to be delighted to have uh more data on lead. >> Sure. Sure. and and as once you know we get this uh set up and running, commissioners, uh if you'd like to come
out there and take a look, we'll be happy to show you around. >> Thank you much. Any questions, commissioners? [clears throat] >> Motion to approve station. >> We have a motion by Commissioner Man, second by Commissioner Flesher. Any further discussions?
Hearing none, those in favor? And the motion carries 40 with Commissioner Adam is being on assignment. Next commissioner 16B2 again is with Himachu the SWID temporary operation and maintenance of the RC landfill gas
collection and control system. Good morning again Himachu. >> Good morning commissioners. Um uh the other you know great project we have at the landfill uh as you know is collecting our landfill gas uh properly operating and maintaining that system and then uh you know sending it over to
the new renewable natural gas plant. And uh one of the one of the things that we did envision when we were going through the um update or RFP process for the landfill and the convenience centers and so on and so forth is historically
landfill gas on and m was part of that landfill contract. And uh when we went for that RFP knowing the changes and the RNG plan operations uh uh that were coming forward, we decided uh to remove landfill gas on M from the landfill
contract and we have uh prepared a draft RFP uh that staff's been working on and we're looking to put that out on the street. In the meantime, um what we had to do is we we didn't have a basically a landfall on&m contract if you will. Uh
but however, Republic Services so far has been uh great partner and and you know uh utilizing Integrity uh is a company that does landfill gas on and M on our site and um so we've been basically hiring Integrity as a
subcontractor under Republic Services for for the time being since since October one and uh and we feel that at this time with the scope of the landfill gas on&m it's about close at about $27,000 a month is is what we're looking
at. um that Republic Services as as great partner as they are, they've kind of indicated that, you know, instead of uh going through them and paying us 5% markup, uh they've kind of said, hey, if if we were to just enter our own purchase order, if you will, for for a
short-term duration uh for these onm services and and that that's the purpose here today is uh we've gotten a proposal from Integrity and uh we're we're looking to basically sort of temporarily uh issue them a purchase order for about six months. months uh while we complete
the RFP uh process uh and um and and and kind of uh basically uh make sure that we have continuity of our landfill gas on and m uh it's so critical to the RNG plant that we we have a robust uh
operation maintenance program uh to to make sure that all of our wells are being being tracked and monitored and we're trying to maximize what we can produce out of there. Um the the latest projections is you know before before the RNG plan was commissioned and
started up our our flows were uh over a thousand SCFM. Uh we we have invested in adding some gas wells. Some of the older gas wells are not not producing as as we would expect them to decline over time. And uh so our flows have have come down.
Uh but but that's why it's so critical and important to make sure that when we're talking about liquids, for example, the gas wells, we want to make sure the pumps are functioning in each of the wells to to make sure there's no water in there and we can maximize gas recovery. And and it takes it takes a
team of people out there to to uh to almost in the way in this proposal almost five days a week to be out there uh put putting putting hands on these wells. uh you know we we have a robust network of gas wells out there probably over the course of the years probably
over 100 100 wells uh network out there uh so uh gas on and m is so critical to our operations uh one of the things historically we've always had a voluntary system to reduce odors to reduce the potential for fires and and
again here in this case the to also try to maximize production for the RNG plan project uh we have a great partnership with no Metro. So we want to we want to ensure that that we have a good functioning system. Um and so the recommendation with this this agenda
item is to um basically wave requirements for for bids and authorize a procurement manager to issue a purchase order for an on andm contract with integrity environmental solutions uh for six month to to not exceed about
$242,000. Um, and we are uh have completed the draft RP. Uh, it's it's it's on my desk, if you will, that to do the final review. We're going to get it to purchasing and legal and then and then uh try to issue that as soon as
possible. >> Yes, sir. >> You you mentioned uh of course productivity. We're looking to ensure then the the straws uh do clog. They they do fail. Um and But you you spoke
about productivity. It it's also about safety. >> Sure. Sure. >> We have to ensure that we off gas somehow. >> Yes. Yes. >> Right. >> We do. Do it's critical to again when I mentioned about a odor, but but you know
there there's you you want to monitor the gas field. You want to make sure that uh that you're capturing the gas. We have a lot of the landfill that's capped. Uh if you don't pull the gas out, you could actually have the the cap basically it'll be a balloon of gas underneath the liner. Uh you don't want
to do that. That would jeopardize the integrity of the cap as well. So So it's important to capture the gas. Uh again, capture the odors, minimize the the risk of fires, and so on and so forth as well. >> So what we don't need is a selfinitiated flare.
>> That's correct. That's correct. That's correct. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Commissioner Fleser. >> Motion to approve. >> We have a motion to approve by Commissioner Flesher. I will second that motion. Any further discussion?
>> Hearing none. All in favor? I Let the record reflect it's unanimous with Commissioner Adams absent on assignments. Mr. >> Chairman, if I may, real quickly, um I I will be out for a few weeks. Uh baby's
coming possibly Monday. Um there is a related item uh going to be brought to the board on the next meeting the 16th. I most likely will not be here but but just briefly just for information purposes. It is related to the RNG plant project. Uh as we mentioned the flows
are declining and uh no no pro has basically stepped forward and that's what the item will be coming to you next week. Uh they're looking to uh invest and put in infrastructure some horizontal wells in in our landfill. Uh it is allowed in our contractor agreement for them to do that. They're
going to pay 100% of sort of the design, permitting, and construction costs with that. Uh it is expected to possibly cost a million dollars, if you will, to to know pro and that investment. uh in terms of our contract agreement, we just need to bring something forward to the
board, which we plan to do the next meeting for approval so that they they sort of have our our our approval and blessing to expend the money uh on on infrastructure in our landfill. So, it's just forformational purposes. I won't be here next next meeting. So, I just wanted to to just me mention that to you
for for the record. >> Thank you much. We wish you and your family well. >> All right. Thank you, >> commissioners. As mentioned earlier, we have a 10:30 time specific u close session to discuss
uh pending litigation. Um [clears throat] I do believe it's safe that we will well it's not safe we will be returning after our close session for the p public comment on nonrelated agenda items. So,
at this time, I will ask the county attorney uh to prepare us for the 10:30 shade meeting. >> Yes, ma'am. >> I'm sorry I missed it because the county administrator was talking to me. Did you ask me a question?
>> Yes, we're we're finished with this and we're preparing for the 10:30 upstairs shade meeting. That's right. If you would like to read your preamble. >> Okay. And this is required before we go to any shade meeting so our public understands that.
>> That's right. Um, commissioners, I desire advice uh regarding pending litigation in front of the board and the actual I'm going to go ahead and read the case title of it, which is the 22
beachfront case. Um and and at this time I ask that you state how long that the close session will take and the people who will be participating. Mr. Chair,
>> so [clears throat] we anticipate this meeting uh to take approximately one hour uh for our public uh that are in attendance. And this is a closed litigation session. Indian River County versus 22 Beachfront Properties LLC.
That is not 22 separate distinct. That is the title of this particular entity that we are involved with litigation. Location uh being an including 9586 uh the balloon drive and but not
including 1820 Waso Beach Road, Bureau Beach, Florida 32963 and Summerplace Improvement Association, Inc. Case number 31-208CA0881. This session shall commence at an open meeting at which the person chairing uh the meeting, which will be myself,
shall announce the commencement and the estimated length of the attorney client session and the names of the person attending. At the conclusion of the attorney client session, the meeting shall be reopened. This meeting shall be reopened and the person chairing the
meeting shall announce the determination determination of the session whether there is a settlement or other activities are agreed upon. >> Exactly. And the people who will be attending will be myself, Susan's Jay
Praau, um Paul Berg who is outside council, members of the commission, and John Tannich who's the county administrator. Okay, thank you. So, commissioners, we have our our orders. Uh, at this time, we will close this session the meeting. We'll go upstairs for our 10:30 meeting.
We will come back and resume this meeting, open it for public comment, and close this meeting. So, at this time, we are in recess until approximately 11:30. Welcome back. The time now is 11:31. We have concluded our shade meeting over
pending litigation. Uh, no finite resolution was uh made, but we are back now in regular session of the June 2nd, 2026 Board of County Commission meeting, which brings us
commissioners to our final item, which is public comment for any nonrelated agenda items. So, we open the podiums for public comment, any non-related agenda items. Hearing none. Seeing none,
this meeting is journed.