Yes. >> Yes. Good morning. The Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 regular border county commissioners meeting will now be called to order. We'll begin with a moment of silent reflection for our first responders and members of the armed forces,
followed by an invocation by Reverend Timothy Wulmarmac from the First Presbyterian Church. And then we'll have uh the honor of having the pledge presented by Commissioner Laura Moss. Please rise. Move your father.
Almighty God, we give you thanks for this time today to do service for those who are citizens of our community. We do pray for our first responders and their service to us. For those who seek to honor and
protect those who take care of home and property. We pray for those in the armed forces. We celebrate their service and we ask for your protection upon them. We give you thanks for our county commissioners for this governance that
is working, that is serving, that is engaged. And we ask that you would be with them in the difficult decisions they face. Allow them to know that we honor their service and we seek God's blessing upon them. Be with our
community and guide us this day that we may know that you are always with us and reinforce all the good that we strive to accomplish. All this we pray in your name. Amen. >> Amen. Uh, next Tuesday is Veterans Day,
November 11th. Veterans comprise more than 10% of the population of our county. We're proud and happy that they choose us, that they choose to live here and thankful for all of them. Let's honor them with the pledge. I pledge algiance 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. >> Could I take just one moment of personal privilege? I want to thank the county. I'm Tim Wac from First Presbyterian
Church. Just did the prayer. One of my shorter prayers, so you're lucky. Um, I'm sorry I'm underdressed, but as you know, we had to tear our sanctuary down because it was below flood plane and we had a lot of issues with that. We want to thank everyone and just guarantee to
everyone that we are looking to put an equally beautiful space uh sanctuary on that space so that it continues to be a beautiful little part of our county right there on Indian River Boulevard and the Roll Palms. So, thank you very
much. That was what about 50 plus years old or more. >> Yeah, it was uh begun in 1954 and it was uh completed in 1950 I think. Uh or 1955
uh for the uh amazing cost of $140,000. >> Wow. >> I wish it was that today. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Ruben. All right, we'll move on to uh any additions, deletions to the agenda. Uh
the emergency service staff has requested to pull item 9 Q Quebec uh for this time. We'll be coming back and uh I'd like to pull item 12B, county
administrators matters on his contract. Mr. Chair, you may pause and discuss. No. Uh take it off the agenda for now. Come back at the next meeting.
Um it is it's nearly a million dollar decision. It was it appeared on the agenda on Thursday.
It's been in Granus for a month. I I've met with the county administrator. It was never discussed and I asked you all if it was discussed.
Again, in transparency, this is a rather formidable decision that appeared on the agenda on Thursday. >> Mr. Chair, I would disagree and I'm fully prepared to have the discussion today. >> I also disagree and I'm fully prepared.
>> I would assume so. Have you had discussion with the county administrator on the matter? >> That's not um the task in front of us. The task in front of us right now is amendments um or deletions or additions to the agenda. >> No, there's a discussion on additions
and deletions to the agenda. I ask >> I'm going to move to approve deleting only nine Q. >> Well, that's I would like to hear from the rest of our commissioners. Thank you. >> I'm prepared to discuss it. I think as a
board we need to discuss it because I think we've looked kind of dysfunctional and I think we need to clear the air and make a decision one way or the other is what we want to do. Thank you. All in favor? >> Opposed?
Motion carries. Mr. Chairman, I'd like we still we're still on the agenda deletions. We're going to talk about it now. You just voted to approve everything. >> Oh, deleting only 9Q which was requested
>> because I I would like to pull 9L and 9M. I'm sorry if we can go back and do that because I >> Oh, for from consent. We haven't gotten there yet. >> We haven't gotten to that point. >> Oh, I thought we were there. I'm sorry. I'm confused. Forget I even said anything. I'm sorry. My apolog.
>> That's the reason why I wanted to pull the other item. >> Consent. You're right. I'm sorry. Thank you. >> Jeez. >> You've Yeah. Never done this before. >> Wow. Okay. Well, there are no proclamations of
presentations. There's no minutes to be approved. informationational items. Anybody want to discuss anything onformational items on uh 7F? I've y'all saw my letter. I've
been invited to Mobile to speak on behalf of the Inn River Lagoon Council on the National Estuary System on a panel discussion on what the estuary system and the lagoon system,
how valuable it is to the coastal communities and I'm looking forward to it. Seems like a very esteemed board and I'm just proud to be a part of it and I'll fill you in when we get back. So it'll be next week. >> That is awesome.
>> That's at no cost to the county of the estuary system paying for it. So >> pain pay of freight. >> So >> thank you for attending >> represent well move on to the consent agenda. This would be the time
>> said agenda 9L and 9M. >> 9 L and 9 M. Mike and Lima. Is there anything else that anyone wishes to pull from the consent agenda? Hearing none. Commissioners
move approval as amended. >> Second. >> Second. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Commission. >> Thank you. 9L
research here yet. >> That's all right. I can handle it because 9L uh approval to submit a FWC bulk derelch vessel remover grant application. This is for another derelch vessel in Indian River. We are we are uh
doing extremely good things with regards to this and and this is the one that was in the river. The second one's the the one that's more high-profile, but I just wanted to to to bring that forward that our natural resource staff is working
extremely uh hard to get these. Melissa is got some got some help now that they're moving forward on on getting these taken. So, with that, I'd recommend we approve step. Oh, there you are. Right there. Go ahead. >> Sorry about that. >> I'm sorry. I'm talking about 9L at 9M.
I'm on L right now. >> Okay. That's the first one that was removed or going to be removed. >> Good morning everybody. I apologize for the delay. Kylie Anchula, natural resources director for the record.
So, um, we do have two FWC Derelch vessel grant applications that are currently in process. So, technical difficulties. There we go. All right. So, we have one vessel that is north of Round Island.
So, I'm sure that several of you have received calls about this particular vessel. So, this vessel washed ashore right after Hurricane Milton and it's on the beach. It's about a half a mile north of Round Island. So, the removal
cost of this one is $33,995 and this is 100% reimburseable through the FWC rapid removal grant. So basically we are recommending that you authorize us to apply for this particular grant so that we can remove
that vessel from the beach and we recommend that you authorize the county administrator to execute the contract documents if funds are awarded and upon concurrence by the county attorney's office. So this one has been on the beach for quite some time. It is currently buried
in the sand and um we are pursuing a rapid removal grant which just facilitates a faster removal process. They are actually going to have to cut this one up to take it off the beach at this point. >> So >> yeah, I mean that's the one that was
obviously was said on the beach and real high profile and the fact that it's got to be cut up and just can't be hauled off like a like one of these normal boats is a pretty big deal. But I just want to commend staff for for moving forward on on both of these. So
>> unless you have anything else, >> I have a little bit about the next vote as well. >> Just a map. So we also have a vessel that is just north of Fritz Island, which is close to the Vero Beach Marina. That's also been
there for quite some time. Thankfully, the removal process for this particular vessel will be a little bit more streamlined. So, the cost is significantly lower. It's $6,900. And this one is 100% reimburseable, but through the FWC bulk derelict vessel
grant. So, that grant process is a little bit longer. So, that one um basically we apply and then we work with the contractor, we open the PO and then we go for reimbursement with an agreement in place. whereas the other one is through um FWC actually opens a
PO for us specifically. So there's just a little bit of a procedural difference in terms of the bulk grant and then the other one the rapid vessel removal grant. So we do recommend that you authorize the chair to execute the FWC bulk derelict vessel removal grant
application and that the board authorize the county administrator to execute the contract documents if funds are awarded in upon concurrence by the county attorney. So, these are two vessels that we are recommending that we apply for the FWC grant, but we also have two
other ones that are currently in process, meaning right now we have four derelict vessels that we are aware of. Three of which are in the lagoon and one of which is on the beach. >> Mr. Chairman, I'll move staff recommendation on 9L.
>> Second. >> Very excited. I again you pointed it out how quickly this was done. And the public needs to realize how much difficulty there is in this travel as
far as checking with insurers ownership. Uh there is a rather lengthy process and this one was expedited as best it could be. Thank you. Anything further? All in favor? I
>> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. >> I'll move staff approval on 9Me. Mike second. Any further discussion? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. The
consent agenda is complete. We now move on to um any matters that public wishes to discuss that's on the agenda
other than public hearings. If not, we'll move on to the public hearing item 11, which is the second public hearing proposed for the developers agreement
between PY Home Company LLC and Indie River County for Emerson Oaks subdivision. This is legislative in nature. >> Good morning, councelor. >> Good morning, Commissioner. Susan Praau, deputy county attorney for Indian River County, Florida. Yes, this is our second
public hearing um of two required public hearings under Florida statute 1633225. The first public hearing was held on October 1st, 2025 in these chambers. Um this is again for the developers agreement that is being proposed for the
Emerson Oak subdivision um for 171 single family lots to be located on the southwest corner of 43rd Avenue Southwest and 13th Street Southwest. Again, it's proposed to be constructed in three phases. Each respective phase has their own set of
improvements that the developers required to add or provide. Um there was also several items which um the developer is providing as well such as dedication of rightaway. There's a 0.94 acres of rightway alongside 13th Street
Southwest frontage for future street realignment. Um that is realigning again 13th Street between 43rd to run straight across and over some other developments that are heading in so it can line up straight between 27th all the way out past 40 43rd. So, we're trying to get
that roadway um ahead at uh hopefully and save us some taxpayer dollars that way. Um 100 ft of rideaway along the entire 17th Street Southwest frontage of the project. Again, that helps us get right away ahead of time. 50 feet of
rightway along the entire 43rd Avenue Southwest frontage of the project. Um that will bring it up to a total of 100 ft of rightway there. Intersection uh turn lane improvements. There are required traffic improvements that they're required to do. Um these are not
things that are necessarily above and beyond. It's a westbound left turn lane um which they have to do to help offset what their actual um their actual impacts to that area would be. Uh southbound right turn lane onto 43rd
Avenue Southwest at 13th Street Southwest and northbound left turn lane on 43rd Avenue Southwest. 13th Street Southwest and an eastbound left turn lane on uh sorry, eastbound left and right turn lane on 13th Street Southwest
at 43rd Avenue Southwest during phase 1B and paving and drainage improvements because we know drainage is extremely important. They're required to deal with their own drainage um in for their subdivision along 17th Street Southwest along the project's entire site and
frontage um eastbound left and right turn lane on 17th Street Southwest at 43rd Avenue Southwest. They are also contributing their fair share to a bridge that needs to be constructed. Their fair share is a 3.7%
to the 17th Street Southwest bridge. Um, there was a traffic analysis that was I believe Commissioner Moss, you received a copy. I'm not sure if anyone else I believe requested a copy of that. Um, but at this point in time, staff would ask that uh our recommendation to the
board is going to be that the board review the proposed developers agreement, open the public hearing for comment, close the public hearing, and that you accept and approve the developers agreement, and allow the chair to execute same. That's what
staff's recommendation is at this time. I am ready for any questions. commissions before I open up the public meeting and hearing. Do you have any questions? >> Thank you, councelor. >> Thank you.
>> At this time, we'll open up the public hearing. There are two microphones. Please state your name record. Good morning. >> Morning. >> Walter McDonald and near River County
resident, Vero Beach resident. Um developers, when's it going to stop, people? You know, nobody wants this to keep growing and growing. Why not a two-year moratorum to get the infrastructure
together first? I just came over this morning. I don't live but six miles away, 20 minutes. You just keep I mean, what's the deal with the developers? You guys in tight with them? I mean, uh it just makes no
sense that we continue to approve these developments and the infrastructure is terrible right now. 60 needs help. I mean even the big roads like 60 and I just wish that you guys would take a two-year or fouryear moratorum from
building from everything except for infrastructure and that's my own opinion on it and you guys do what you want but obviously I'm a voter and I've talked to probably in the last month 200 people
and we're pretty disappointed with a lot of what's happened lately and one of them is this here. We got to stop developing for a while, catch a breath, get the infrastructure right, and then come back and revisit it. But you're
going to do what you want to do. And uh that's all I have. And thank you for your time. >> Thank you, sir. Morning. >> Hi. How are you? I'm Barbara Mileus. You all know me. I'm probably here and I'm put a target
on my back, but I work for Roaden Bridge and this is getting ridiculous. We have 37 people at Roaden Bridge. Eight of them are bosses.
We get looked down upon because we are told that whatever we are supposed to do, it comes from downtown. We can't do this county. We don't have
enough people to take care of this county. We have one one pipe crew. We have 30 pipes or more that need to be just put in the highlands that are that have been failing for 10 years at least.
And like he's saying, you know, you all are just keep building and building. Who's going to take care of this really? We have no people. Do you all have incentive to try to hire people at Roaden Bridge? We don't have the equipment. Yes, we did just get some new
graders that we needed three years ago. Okay, we're out pressure cleaning sidewalks because we're told that's what downtown wants us to do when we have thousands of miles of sidewalks that need to be fixed.
Okay, we can't get cement trucks to come and help us pour these sidewalks when we do get to go and do one. So, you know, we do one here and there to let the community look at make it look like, well, they're doing something,
but in the meantime, we're getting hammered as the workers and it's not fair. And you all sit back and you go, I I you know, but you're not thinking. Y'all have been to Ron Bridge. You you have all heard what we have to say, but
nobody listens. When I first started working there 10 years ago, I had such inspiration. I loved this town. This was one of the most beautiful towns I've ever been in. It looks like Palm Bay.
No disrespect to Palm Bay, but this C when y'all walked into the the toenbridge the first day, I told you y'all the county commissioners are ruining this town. And y'all laughed at me. And it's true. And I, like I said, I
probably just put a big target on my back for my job, but I do my job. I'm not one of those ones that stand there and lean on a lean on a shovel every day. I've been everywhere from the back lot ditches all the way up. I carry a
CDL with the hazmat and a tanker's license. I can read a grade rod. Wherever they need me, I go. Have y'all been there? Have y'all seen what we really do there? I don't think so. I don't think y'all
are looking at the whole picture here. We have equipment out there that has been rusting. When Will was in there, he got equipment that was so useless, it's ridiculous. It's sitting there and it's rotting, but nobody listens.
We can have these meetings all day long. Does it really matter? Because, you know, the town is pretty much ruined right now. and I just hope that the voters wake up and see what's really going on here. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Can I just say one more thing? Why do why do they have these meetings during the day when the when the workers of this town can't come here and give their um give their opinion? I had to take my day off to be here because I
just feel that John my my purpose in coming here was because of John and him getting a raise and um you know why aren't they having these meetings when the real workers in this town can come in here and give their opinions.
Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? having given ample opportunity and seeing no one coming forward the public hearing is closed. >> Councelor, thank you commissioners.
>> Thank you commissioners. Again, staff will ask the commission to move forward and approve the proposed developers agreement and to afford the chairman to execute same. Thank you. >> Thank you, Ken.
>> Um I I'd just like to to comment on this. I'm not I'm not happy about it either. And to the uh people who spoke against development, um I don't know if you attended the meeting that we had, which was in the evening. It started at 6:00. It was uh October 16th, and that
was a joint meeting with county commission and the planning and zoning board. We will be having a followup probably in late January, early February. Um, at that meeting, I said it, it's on videotape. Um, I I think we probably
should hit the pause button for a period of time and allow the infrastructure to catch up uh with development. So, it's it's not that it hasn't been stated, it's been stated. Um, and we are going to have a follow-up meeting. The problem with what we have right now
is we have to follow the rules as they stand currently. You know, we have to change the rules um you know, in order to uh oppose something. So that's what we're looking to do to change the rules. So please be a part of it in late January, early
February. Uh the meetings are always posted and that meeting as I said the previous one was in the evening. I would expect the next one to be in the evening. It's going to because it'll be a joint meeting again. It began at six o'clock and it went till 10 pm. So, uh
about half of it was uh you know we were speaking county commission and planning and zoning was speaking and then about the other half was public comment. So, it was about you know went on for like I said four hours and half of it was public comment. So, please be here uh
next time. Please be part of it and you can watch the video. uh it's it's four hours but you know it's an interesting topic. It's an interesting topic and it's meaningful to all of us. So just to add that to the record and thank you for
your comments today and >> thank you. Um I I just want to temper everybody's uh expectations. We did have a joint meeting with B&Z and I think a lot was learned, a lot was discussed and
we took uh great public input. Uh the downside with uh Senate Bill 180 uh there can be no changes, there can be no reduction, there can be no limitations
uh upon the actions of uh planning, zoning and development. You're aware of that? >> I'm I'm aware of that and I'm aware I'm aware of a house bill also. Um, so you want to contact uh, Representative
Brackett. There's a House bill. The Senate bill's been around, I think, for months. They're both very troubling. They both take away our decision-making power here locally. And so that takes
away your opportunity to comment on any of this. you everything will be decided by the state and how many people are going to travel to Tallahassee to speak to them and a lot of things they decide are decided in the hallway you know I
mean that's that's the standard operating procedure as I've been told so well I will and but you're right we need to factor all of this in >> and I and I don't disagree with you uh I just am stating that uh you know I I
don't want the expectations to be that if they come to this meeting in January that all will be fixed and resolved and there'll be a stoppage of bulldozers and >> uh and I I I just don't want to create
that thought process because none of none of which can happen at this point and I do believe that uh uh there is a tremendous uh limitation on home rule and how we envision our county and how
we want to maintain it and it it's it's unfair. It's inappropriate. Yes, we'll say that. But uh the state has uh offered a mandate
>> like the word off it uh offered a mandate that uh gives us tremendous limitation on our ability to navigate uh the planning and zoning process. >> That's very true. We never know what's coming out of Tallahassee, but I still encourage everyone to participate
locally. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Yes, Mr. Mr. Chair, members of the board, I'd just like to uh I understand the the consternation or frustration and I know that again as Commissioner Moss mentioned and and yourself that there has been a joint uh meeting between the
board of county commissioners and the planning and zoning commission specifically concerning plan developments. But I would like to point out so uh just so it's understood that this project this PD was approved back in December 3rd of 2024. And the item
before you is the development agreement memorializing the improvements infrastructural improvements that are required consistent with that planned development. So, the project was already approved and this devel this this development agreement is memorializing
those on and off-site improvements as it relates to the project. >> Thank you, uh, county administrator. I but I did want to address that I did not want the public to be misled in any way.
>> Thank you. Well, it's back to the board. Mr. Chair, move approval. >> Have a motion by Vice Chairman Law, seconded by myself. Any further discussion?
All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion. >> I'm I reluctantly agree to it. Motion to approve unanimously. Thank you.
Next item is uh 11 A2 which is a public hearing and a consideration for the roadway jurisdiction transfer agreement between Florida Department of Transportation and Iny River County to transfer county
roads onto state highway system. >> Good morning Mr. Freeman. Good morning. Brian Freeman, MO staff director, and I have a presentation for you on the proposed transfer agreement. This is a couple of years in the making to get to
the uh point where we are today. And uh first I just want to summarize when we're talking about county roads and state roads, what do we really mean? We're talking about who is responsible for the maintenance and improvement of the road. So, in the case of county
roads, the county is the entity that's responsible for the maintenance, the resurfacing of the roads. Um, any widening or capacity improvements would be programmed through the county's capital improvements program. The work that's going on on 66th Avenue at this
time is a real good example of a widening project that's gone through the county capital improvement program process. Generally, these are uh funded with impact fees or 1 cent sales tax revenues. We also often apply for and
receive grants from the Florida Department of Transportation, such as through the trip program. That's the transportation regional incentive program to get some supplemental funding for that. Sometimes for county roads, we will program those through the MO if we
have uh an agreement in place with FDOT to do so. and the work that's been done so far on county 510 is an example of that. One of the limitations of going that route is FDOT can only fund that project with federal funds and not any
of the state funds that FDOT works with in their work program because it's considered an offsystem road. In the case of state roads, um Florida Department of Transportation is responsible for the maintenance and resurfacing of the roads. If there's any additional landscaping, really anything
more than sod in the rightway, then the local government, which could be a city or a county, would be responsible for that additional landscaping, and that would be through an agreement with FDOT. When it comes to capacity projects such as widening, those are going to be
programmed through the MO. And in the case of the state roads, they can be funded with both state and federal funds. and the different improvement projects that have been done to State Road 60 and US1 over the years are examples of widening projects that have
gone through that MOO process. Shown on the map here in green are all of the current state roads in Indian River County. And so this is primarily US1, State Road 60, A1A on the barrier
island. Um all three of the causeways that go across the lagoon are also state roads. So, one of those is State Road 60, but also you have the Wobbaso Causeway, which is State Road 510, and then the 17th Street Bridge, um, which
is also designated as State Road 656. And then also Interstate 95. Then way out in the western part of the county, the Florida Turnpike. Those are also state roads. And shown on blue on the map are the roads that are proposed to be a part of the transfer agreement. And
basically these roads are going to provide east west connectivity in the northern and the southern parts of Indian River County. And so that's through the remaining parts of 510 and a 2 and a half mile section of 512 in the northern part of the county and then Oslo Road in the southern part of the
county. And these go from US1 to I95 in both cases. Just a quick overview of the roads themselves. In the case of County Road 510, it's just under six miles of roadway that's being transferred. And all six miles of that road are currently
in the NO's transportation improvement program as part of a widening project, which is divided into a total of five segments. And construction has recently started on the first of those five segments. The part of the road that's already a state road is just uh looks
like it's 2.6 miles that goes from US1 to A1A, includes the causeway. In the case of 512, as I mentioned already, it's 2 and a half miles of roadway from I95 to 510. And this was widened from two lanes to four lanes by Indian County
back in 2009. FDOT will be assuming the responsibility for maintenance of that roadway and any future resurfacing of that roadway. And looking farther out into the long term, there is a um six lane widening project that's identified in the MO's long range plan, but uh
that's towards the outer years of the 25-year plan. The other sections of 512 will remain a county road. In the case of Oslo Road or 9inth Street Southwest, um this is already designated as county road 606. It will become state road 606,
but the Osel Road name will also remain. It's 7.8 miles of road to be transferred from I95 to US1. The sections of the road that are east of 58th Avenue were widened by Indian River County um in different uh phases u previous years and
FDOT has the widening project that's under construction right now from 58th Avenue to I95 along with the new interchange and that is expected to be completed in 2027. And the aerial image here is the new interchange that's under construction at
this time. There are two railroad crossings that are affected by the transfer at 510 and Oso Road. Currently, the county has maintenance agreements with FEC for those crossings. And at a future uh board meeting, staff will be presenting
an agreement that involves both FEC and the F FDOT to transfer those county obligations to FDOT. So they will be taking on those maintenance obligations at those two railroad crossings. Um obviously there's a lot of u
beneficial aspects to the transfer agreement for the county um especially financially when you considering the uh substantial costs are involved in both improving these roads and maintaining these roads. And so that will be uh very beneficial to the county um in years to
come. and just kind of looking at the transfer process and where we are. Uh it's taken quite a bit of coordination between county staff and FDOT District 4 staff to get the agreement in place to where it is today and after approval uh
by the board today. It still needs to be approved by FDOD district 4 and then finally by FDOT Secretary Purdue which is expected to occur soon after the new year. So in early 2026
and for two of the roads the transfer will occur immediately upon execution of the agreement by the FDOT secretary. That's for 512 and Oslo road. For the 510 transfer the agreement is structured so that the transfer will occur when the
final phase of widening receives rightaway certification for that project. So that's expected to be several years down the road before that finally that handoff occurs. And so staff's recommendation is that the board approve both of the resolutions along with the agreement and also authorize
staff to take any of the actions that are necessary to complete the transfer process. Thank you. >> Commissioners move approval. >> Second. >> I have a motion by commission second by
myself. Any further discussion? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Next item on the agenda is a 1183 which is miscellaneous budget amendments.
>> Good morning. >> Good morning, commissioners. Kristen Daniels, budget director. Before you today is budget amendment six, which uses cash to fund rollover projects, grants, as well as compensated absences.
Um, per Florida statute 129.062F, whenever the budget is amended using cash, a public hearing must be held. So today, staff recommends that after the public hearing is closed, the board um
approve the budget resolution amending the 2526 budget. And I am available if you have any questions. >> I know you all had the opportunity to review. Any questions?
Commissioners request no questions. Open public hearing. Oh, this is a public. Sorry. having given ample opportunity and seeing no one coming forward. Public hearing closed.
Move staff request. We have a motion by Commissioner Airman, seconded by Vice Chairman Law. Any further discussion? >> All in favor?
>> Opposed? Motion carried unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. We'll move on to the next item. We're going to take a brief recess five minutes. Thank you.
meeting will now be called back to order. And next items, public items. Um, we'll move on to uh county administrative matters, proposed commission meeting dates
for the year of 2026. Yes, Mr. Chair, members of the board, before you you have the calendar year 2026 board of commission, Court of County Commissioner regular meeting uh dates. We did um we did uh verify and
looked at these uh dates as it relates to I know some you know many attend the floor association of you know counties conference um in addition to uh this meeting schedule uh I have added and I'll I'll
touch upon the uh the items in section 102.01 01 the board of county commission meetings and procedures and in this regard we are seeking direction or your direction to the county attorney with regard to potential changes. Uh in
section or subsection one uh looking to add the annual schedule of regular meetings shall be approved by the board no later than the first regular meeting in November each year for the ensuing calendar year. in subsection 4. As the
board knows uh is aware, the agenda items for staff for the next county commission meeting uh are generally due the Wednesday after the meeting. Uh because it has to be before and make it all the way through to the point where
the county attorney and myself review those on Wednesday prior to the um the the board commission meeting. So we are proposing um some latitude there as it relates to the commission and the commission assistance submitting commission matters
10 days prior to the regular commission and extending that to our constitutional officers and governmental agency governmental agencies whereby they could submit no later than 10 days prior which would be the Friday before the meeting and that would give us sufficient time we believe to process those. Uh
previously the board agenda uh packet was required to be you know pri uh delivered to the uh the board of county commission uh by noon on Friday. I think in the last year there's been three instances where we have not done
it on uh uh Thursday or we've got it late on Thursday. Uh so we are proposing to move it up to that the that it would be completed and delivered before close of business on Thursday Thursday preceding the commission meeting. So
you're not there's no instances where you would be receiving it on Friday. Uh those are really the only changes that we have for your consideration and depending on your input on that the county attorney I believe is prepared to uh draft the appropriate revisions to
the ordinance. So with that, I'll return it to you. Staff recommends approval of the board of county commission regular meeting dates for the calendar year 2026 as well as direction from the as well as providing direction for the board of county the board for the county attorney to prepare an ordinance amend amending
declare the code to clarify sections 1021 subsection one and subsection 4. Return to the board for comment and discussion. Looks good to me. >> All good. >> Do you need a motion?
>> Is noted noted that we have no meeting in July >> of the budget workshop >> and but one meeting in We used to have no meetings in August. >> Excuse me. >> We used to have no meetings in August.
>> I don't I don't I don't think we ever had a time where we didn't have a meeting in August. There's always been a minimum of one. >> No. >> And July. July we historically had a few,
but it's all good. We need a motion. Move to approve. >> Second. >> We have a motion by Commissioner Moss, seconded by Commissioner Adams. Any further discussion? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously.
Next item, county administrative matters. Um, the county administrator employment agreement. >> County Administrator. >> Yes, sir. Mr. chair, members of the the board, thank you respectfully and consistent with the contract whereby I'm
shall schedule renewal of the county administrator's agreement for consideration by the board. I'm requesting your approval of this contract renewal. Uh I'm deeply committed to Indian River County, uh this board, our staff, and the community. It is truly is an honor to
serve as county administrator and believe renewal is merited not only as a recognition of our shared progress but as a message of stability and direction to our organization and the public. Over the past two and a half years we've
navigated significant organizational and cultural changes together. We've moved beyond many respects patterns that have held us back, invested in restructuring and working to renourish the organization and laying a foundation for long-term uh change. We've prioritized
our employees and began to building momentum toward our shared mission of dedicated to Indian River County through service excellence. I believe we're seeing how data and performance uh tracking are improving our outcomes from community
services to building and permitting. We've seen how master planning and parks and wreck and currently in utilities uh as well as in public works as we evaluated the uh all the our streets where we do resurfacing and identified
which ones needed to be done first and foremost. I think that's good planning and so we are making smarter investments in in those areas of infrastructure addressing them. Uh also as well as storm water lagoon protection
resiliency. Uh we have provided equipment upgrades and Barbara was here earlier mentioning we have pro I think in the last couple years we've purchased more equip uh equipment for public works and road and bridge to help them give them the resources do their job. We did
add some additional crews and then um all with the intent of as it relates to road resurfacing. If you recall in prior years we did approximately 10 miles. This past year we did 26 miles to the tune of about 267,000
uh dollars per mile. And why would we do that? You know, we did at an accelerated pace with your direction. And that arguably saves us a significant amount of money from 267,000 uh dollars a mile to close to more than
a million dollars if we would have to do a full depth reclamation. I believe we made real progress in permitting and development review. Uh we see customer satisfaction is riding rising. Uh we're using performance met metrics to drive uh continued
improvement. Our goal remains clear, predict predictable, timely and transparent public review process. Um but you know these this transformation hasn't been without its challenges and I certainly appreciate the diverse uh perspectives and opinions each of you
bring uh my commitment remains unwavering uh to lead to lead transparently empower our staff uh and turn our strategic goals into measurable results and outcome and I believe we've remained fiscally responsible. I think this
budget year uh highlights that and while we are planning for the future I don't believe uh I certainly I'm not perfect and I don't think any organization is but we are learning adapting and moving forward I believe what's needed now is clarity staff leadership in the
community my and to be honest my family and I need to know the direction of this uh commission uh the agenda proposes a three-year contract renewal to be clear to with regard to the one statement this contract does not contemplate any salary
increase. The salary increase that was provided earlier, you know, as the at the outset of this fiscal year was already included. So, there is no additional salary increase being contemplated by this contract. Uh the contract does include previously discussed updates by
this board. Specifically, back in January, we talked about having consistent deferred compensation language. Uh it does include uh an additional year of a curl for vacation. And then the other item that it includes
is a provision for an annual performance review where all members would individually complete a review and then it would be tabulated brought back before this board to discuss publicly that review in totality. uh there is no fiscal impact to this
contract as it relates to this year because funds are already budgeted. And then the last I would uh acknowledge that uh I I understand that you know we've have endured some distractions and I I think some mischaracterizations of
routine matters and they can sometimes undermine our focus and I'm certainly hopeful that we can stay centered on what truly matters with delivering results for our community. In closing, I I just would respectfully request your approval. I certainly thank you for your
your leadership and your guidance over the last two and a half years, and I thank you for your consideration, continued support today. With that, I'll return to the board for discussion. >> Thank you, county administrator. >> Discussion,
>> Mr. chair, if I if I can. Um, I heard the administrator mention a couple things about distractions and trust me, I've heard that from the public as well. and any distractions with respect to any types of publications
uh that are in our community. I will say um those parties reach out to me and it's been my practice uh for 36 years to respond to media. Uh I think it's a bad practice not to respond to media. Not
saying that the other four aren't contacted. Uh but just for the record, I'd like to say that Mr. Mr. Chair, if I could just a a very brief uh recollection of when we hired the county
administrator and his contract began August of 17th of 2023. Um I think the whole community and the spirit of this agency uh felt refreshed. Um I truly do and all of us know it's in
the best interest of the county. Uh we had John come to us with over 30 years of experience, an educator, a leader. Uh and we heard things about uh resultoriented leadership, uh solutiondriven government and single
points of failure. We also, if you recall that first year, we talked about mission statements. We talked about strategic plans, which we'll we'll get to that in a moment. uh as well as our values as well as a salary study. And as
important uh last year we implemented uh the Atwill uh employment process which included over 60 employees which has been used two or three times since its inception. And then we fast forward
um to September 10th of 24. And if we recall, there was a a rather lengthy and often heated discussion on uh the administrators uh back then, his performance. And one thing that came out of that uh was his desire to effectively
communicate better with us. In fact, I think he said that not only in September of 24, but again in December of 24 about being a more effective communicator, which I think we all agreed upon that. In between those two meetings, let's not
recall uh or forget that we in fact had hurricane Milton. So sometimes when you when you look at the leader of an agency, there can be uh outside distractions i.e. hurricanes, uh
sometimes something going on in the community that uh is is abnormal, COVID for example, um a down economy. Those are true things that will test a true leader.
And in the process uh absent hurricane which Milton which we could say was u relatively speaking uh a minor storm uh economy um again was relatively strong and we didn't have any outside
influences like COVID that would truly test uh the leadership of a leader. And then we fast forward uh through the summer of course uh of 25
and we don't have to uh be reminded but on May 1st the sheriff uh gave his budget which as we know was was uh the talk and I think all five of us talked to the administrator about that and we
also know that simultaneously um he had requested his his uh performance pay which was effectuated then it came to us as a discussion and then I recall commissioner man uh being rather stern at one particular meeting.
So then uh we get over that hurdle and I will say that the administrator did a did a fine job with respect to the sheriff's budget. No one's arguing that. Um and then we fast forward to uh seeing some things that are not
brought upon by this commission but are brought upon by uh employees and those of course drove the media to some extent. uh with respect to our planning director
um when that went down, I was notified and then I notified the administrator who did not and was not aware of the situation that the that the planner was in. I found that a little
unusual in that uh he being the leader of the agency uh probably should have had some type of communication with someone Uh that afternoon he and I in my office talked about uh the resolution of
that particular u employee and my philosophy then was um he's at will let's separate the employee. Well, we know that um there was an arrangement made um and we lived with it and we
talked about it and it was in the public and then uh 6 weeks later uh there's another situation uh with a department head and again uh the communication uh on the backside was in fact that um
there may have been some deficiencies. In fact, in his six-month annual report, annual appraisal, uh there were indications that that he could do better. There was also discussions that in fact um that employee might be separated at some point
on uh the 13th of October. Uh, I met with the administrator and we somewhat agreed that the planning department director could have been handled differently. On the afternoon of
the 13th of October, I suggested to the administrator that uh this employees at will. If we're going to do this, let's do it this way. uh the public opinion of how uh the policy is and how we separate employees
uh was not favorable and we agreed on that. At 7:58 p.m. on the 13th, all of us received an email about the public works director uh separating and a discussion about labor attorney being uh
communicated with. Uh and then of course uh what was very popular in the media was the auto allowance. Well then the following commission meeting we modified that uh that wasn't exactly um communicated with
me and I say that commissioners on the heels of last year when we talked about effective communicating. Additionally, if you recall that December of 24 when our general counsel was on board uh and one
thing that we talked about was in fact uh weekly communications uh and I will say general counsel has done a fantastic job even in her absence of communicating with these commissioners about what's going on, what the topics are going on
that started uh what we believe was a a trend of having public evalu valuations and discussions in full transparency on this dis of both the attorney and the administrator.
Following that, the administrator also began giving us weekly reports, weekly administrator reports that were emailed to each of us to better communicate with us. And those were refreshing. Those kept us in the loop. Fact is, we only meet with the administrator uh I only
meet with him on Mondays for an hour, an hour and a half. Um administrator performed those duties uh uh sporadically. In fact, the last administrator weekly report that we have received that
I have received uh was five months ago, the first week of June. I would submit that that is not uh effectively communicating. So, we fast forward um to the to the sheriff's budget and all of
the uh issues that came along with that. Again, I will compliment him on handling that. Additionally, uh the back and forth was going on. What has clouded this commission again has been external
forces that have brought things to our commissions, their opinions and the like. I'll say again, I respond when the media calls. That has been my policy and it will always be my policy. Absent responding to the media,
it will appear as if you uh either aren't engaged or perhaps avoiding something. I will say this, if anyone has any hesitation, um the committee that will oversee
uh the conversation with the sheriff, those uh arguments have been forwarded uh not only on the the sheriff's behalf, and I say that because this is important in case someone uh questions where I'm
going with this, is that essentially Both briefs are not essentially both briefs are there. Uh that commission will hear both briefs. Uh time certain will be uh an opportunity for oral
arguments which uh I think the public or or they should know. We have uh an attorney in in Tallahassee that is representing us along with uh our general counsel which I think uh we are very well positioned uh after reading
both of them and and being somewhat familiar with the with the policy or the the process of the sheriff's budget. I feel very comfortable in that. In other words, the the administrator has put us in a position um to defend that.
So, in thinking of November 18th, which was when I had scheduled and I believe the the administrator was familiar with this uh an opportunity to talk on the 18th of of November about as well as uh General
Counsel Scheler about uh their progress. Some call it a report card. I purposely waited for uh general counsel to come back um from from her leave which is appreciated. And by the way, she came back earlier than expected. So that is
very refreshing. So then I'm thinking about how we're going to navigate this knowing that administrator's contract is up uh on April 17th of 2026. a three-year
contract. Mind you, uh in the last two weeks, I've had at least two sitdowns uh with the administrator and then uh th this past Thursday, the
30th of October, the agenda comes out and to my surprise, I see his request for a contract renewal andor extension. thinking that was odd uh because that had not been communicated with me had
not been communicated with me albeit we had met this was entered uh in Granicus on the 18th of October so that was the Saturday and the administrator had had entered that and yes we know he's been busy with a variety of things to
effectively communicate with this board two separate meetings this was never brought up never brought up to me that Hey, by the way, on the 4th of November, I'm going to have a contract extension. I still don't understand why and haven't
been explained on why the urgency to have it heard today. Follow up with that. Um the the general uh theme is that we've been somewhat at least on my part
inconsistent with uh communicating. One would think that if you're going to talk about a contract extension that you would share that with a commissioner during the briefings that you have weekly. We talk about everything else from waste management to manatees. Uh
but for whatever reason that wasn't brought to my attention and to say I was shocked on Thursday afternoon when I got the agenda as the public got the agenda as well uh was a bit uh a bit
troubling to say the least. Now with respect to the first six or eight months of the administrator, we had some very uh extensive discussions and I
think that we all were excited to see the direction. One particular item that is very very important in the leadership role is in fact the strategic plan and we've talked about the strategic plan and we've seen the strategic plan. the
strategic plan for the leadership of this agency from the directors uh to the to the division leaders to the line employees is very important. Uh today being November the 4th um that strategic
plan is not completed. Uh and you may hear that that was purposely delayed uh for greater board clarity or what have you. Uh but if we're going to have a model on how to run an agency, obviously
communications is is paramount, but as important, what's our road plan? What's what's our map? Uh our strategic plan, as as many of us know, is woven into the direction of the agency. Our strategic
plan is often reflected in performance and review appraisals, right? Uh those should dubtail together. Uh but the fact that we have not completed the strategic plan is is somewhat troubling. Uh you
couple that with this uh basically being sprung upon me, I don't know about the rest of you on October 30th of of u the renewal. Uh and my guess is the renewal
is uh that the administrator uh wants to know direction for his for his family. I understand that. Uh I think it's awfully unusual that uh obviously within the contract it says 90 days prior to which
would put us around January the 17th. Uh I think we would have an opportunity for even more clarity. And I want to go back briefly and and talk about um the budget process that's in Tallahassee. I would submit today that our work here on a
local level is essentially done. Uh this commission will review those facts. Um and a determination will be made that's out of our hands with respect to having outstanding things uh that are on the
line. I do know that uh recently the administrator uh has his his u his third assistant which is fine and she's only been here seven days and appears to me in the first few days um
to be uh very engaged in his comingings and goings and keeping him on task. Uh I don't know how the other commissioners um feel with respect to how the
administrator communicates, gets back to us on certain projects, uh shares certain items. From my viewpoint, I am continuously asking and reminding of things that I think are somewhat
significant in the overall picture of the agency. uh and I simply don't get those uh and that is the frustrating point that I'm uh that I'm seeing. But in interest of time, Mr. Chair, I will
uh yield my comments with with followup. >> Thank you. You want me to go response? Okay. >> Yeah, I'll be glad to um I I can't agree with a lot of what
vice chairman said, but I understand at least what's been transpiring here over the last few months or probably longer that
when we hired Mr. Kanich, we basically demanded a change in the culture of this organization. We were not seeing customer service where it should be. We were not seeing
um just things in general to where what we weren't serving the public well. I know when I was elected in 2020, that was one of my first priorities with then county administrator Jason Brown, who I who I think the world of.
He didn't have enough staff in place for various reasons. I mean, most most of you all know that that uh he was being very physical responsibly to the point where it was probably hurting the organization a little bit
and I think he, you know, again, I think he did a I think he did a good job, but I think there were some changes that need to be made and that's what we asked Mr. Katanic to come in to do. And I think he's tried very hard to do those things
yet while staying within the budget and keeping the taxpayer in mind the whole time. And I think we've been successful at that. Can we find fault in things that he's done or not done? Absolutely. I don't
know how many of in here would would want that job, but I can't think of a harder job to have to be pulled in five different directions by five different personalities to sit up here. I can't think of what, you know, his staff and the and the general public has to say.
So, there will be some uh some trips and I and I'm not so sure by a few of us on this board that Mr. Tanic was even accepted when he was hired. I think there was there was other people that applied for the job that we were looking that some of us were looking for that
that wouldn't have been a good fix because it wasn't uh it wasn't a a good it just wasn't a good good idea for that in general. So, but hopefully we can overcome that. But I think that that uh he has tried extremely hard. I think
he's excelled exceptionally well in other areas. I think there's room for improvement in other areas. Communication is one of them, Mr. Vice Chairman, and I agree with you on that. I think that can be improved. The issues that I've had in the past with the county administrator have been, let's
move a little faster on certain projects, but in the end, everything that I've asked him has finally got done. Did it get done as fast as I wanted to? No. But I don't, you know, I I don't have the problems and the issues
that he faces every day. I'm the conduit when I hear from our constituents and relay back to him and the staff as to what I think we need to do into this board. I think from what my discussions have been for
him and I didn't know it was coming up till Thursday like like you did, but I understand why. I think with what's happened lately and I think it's been unfairly done in the newspaper and in the media and in this building because
commissioners as you heard me say in the very beginning when we talked about pulling this or not pulling this I think this board I think all five of us and I'm calling myself out I think we have been dysfunctional in the way we have have managed
some of the issues that have come before us and I'm and very disappointed in that. I believe that the media is is getting information for whatever reasons to try to did to discredit not only some
of the members of the board but our county administration. Frankly, I think that is the wrong thing to do. We may not can talk to each other about issues, but we can work together as a team when it's time to pull together as a team.
I'm a sports guy, and that's very important to me. We are the team pre We are the team president. The constituents are the team owners. We are the team president, the managers. We set the policies. We tell the coach what to do.
If we're trying to undermine our coach every day, time and time again for various reasons that that I don't understand, then we're not trying to work with him to communicate a positive attitude and a positive culture. We're
just as much his fault as is as is as as he is. And we're but we're blaming it on him like we're untouchable and we're blaming it on him. We have to focus, give him direction, work with him, support him in order to
carry out what we what we need to do in this county. I don't know when or why, but we have thousand employees in this organization. Some of them are going to make bad life decisions. It happens.
We're all human beings. I think to use the quote what you said in the media sir is you know we are fallible as human beings we have our faults and we don't always make the best decision did our planning and zoning director we don't
know what demons he was fighting sure he had been arrested for DUI but we knew that and and everybody knew that but we don't know what demons he was fighting he made a bad decision in life he lost his job how he lost his job the policy
that he how he lost his job. That's something if it doesn't apply or doesn't work in that situation, this board can change it. So why was it headlines in the news? When Rich Burka was here, he was let go by Mr. Katanich due to
pressure from commissioners and developers and builders in this town. We let him go. His name His name was in a paper. His bedside manner was ferocious, but he was a darn good engineer, but he was let go for various reasons because
he wasn't being part of the team at the time. That didn't make headlines. The public works director leaves. I don't know if he was ever a good fit for the county. I'll say that publicly and I've told him that personally that, you know, he need to work harder on his
relations. Maybe he did or maybe he didn't. But you know what? when he left, he didn't come back after things were found out. And then all of a sudden, it gets in the paper that the count that the public works director has has crashed the the the basically the
the county cyber system. He's taken all those files and deleted it. That made the paper when it wasn't even a story. He shows up the next that following Monday or Tuesday and brings everything in. But boy, we were sure quick to discredit this board and our county
administrator. That's what the problem is, commissioners. It's not Mr. Kane yet. Is he perfect? No. Do we need to do a better job? Yes. But we need to support him and quit undermining. And I'll use the word that I've used when I've talked
to a few people in this room. We need to quit sniping. In other words, you know, we need to quit throwing out these bombs and see if he can if he can if he can move around them. I'm I am totally
over this. We need to settle this here. If it would make y'all better to give him because I guess counselor, can we we can bring yours or his contract up anytime and do whatever we want to with them. Right. We can do that. >> The cont either one of y'alls, right? We
are at will employees, >> right? So, we could bring that up anytime. If it would make some of you feel better, let's put it out a year, but sit here today to to to uh discredit
him or or or or have him, you know, fire him, if you want to call it, would be the wrong thing to do today. He did an excellent job on the budgets ever since he been here. He's done an excellent job on this budget. I understand what the vice chairman said.
He's correct about that process. But we need Mr. Katanich to get through and settle this distraction that we've had with our sheriff of any river county that I'll remind each one of you that's never happened in 100 years. This is the
first time this has ever happened. And frankly, I'm ashamed of it. I'm ashamed for us. I'm ashamed for the sheriff. I think we did the right thing, but I think it's the wrong thing to do. And the taxpayer dollars are being spent for this to pay a lawyer in Tallahassee.
Everything's ridiculous. But we have an obligation to the taxpayer. We promise to keep the millage the same. And we did that. So now is not the time to tell him, you know, sir, we don't want to renew your contract and go basically go find another job. We don't need to do
that. We owe it to pull together as an organization, this board, the public, all the department heads. Let's get it done. Because you know what I would tell Mr. Katanis, and I've told him this before, if a department head is not doing their job, find somebody else
that will. Don't, you know, do it. Let's get it done. Let's do what we need to do. Let's make things happen and quit being the dysfunctional Brady bunch up here on this dis. We got to work together for the public to find a sense
of direction and make sure we've had so many good things happen in this county in the last two and a half years. It's being overshadowed by headlines of a of a of a public works director that made a wrong decision in his life and then a a
public I mean a public planning and zoning director make a bad decision in life and a public works director that kind of never really got it in my opinion and and it just didn't work out and that's fine because we got good people in there that can lift us up
right now and lead us through until we find somebody. He's already hired John Stole who's a former employee of this county that I've talked to numerous employees down there in planning and zoning time and time again. They are excited about having John Stole come
back to the fold. So, commissioners, I I could go on and on, but I think we need to look at our own house before we start blaming the county the county administrator. And I'm going to leave it at that and I'll save further comments if needed for later. But thank you, Mr. chairman.
>> No. Um, Commissioner A, I I I just want to address something that um you made a statement about how the information on the public works director
getting out with some kind of computer. >> Did that he that he crashed all these files or something? He didn't crash. He deleted files. Right. >> I want you to know that uh you stated that that occurred
uh by information that was delivered to the media. Um that part is right, but it was the county administrator. The count Wait, wait, wait. You can shake your head all you want.
I I I I want you to know that the county administrator spoke to the media and the county administrator spoke to all of us stating that the public works director have has deleted files
and basically at that point he was uh near getting ready for a conviction. At that point, it was not the media playing. It was not information from this commission. It was
from the county administrator. Okay? And it was an effort after the third time he had been written down or written up or written somewhere that that occurred. I just
want to clarify that because nobody sniped anybody. There was no uh misunderstanding. It was information directly from the county administrator and his conversation with the member of
the media. It had nothing to do with this commission. This commission was told uh of the information and the discovery of where that in total transparency that the information was no
longer available, deleted and I guess it was a project that you were going to uh on in Point West that could not be found. Okay. a meeting that by the public excuse me, excuse me.
>> Well, I think this is a very thorough explanation and I appreciate it, but I think the comment that Commissioner um Earman was trying to make was that it was unfortunate that that article was so premature and filled with uh what has
proven to be inaccurate information. >> And the county administrator is the one who released that information. >> That was the uh >> the county administrator. That's the point. >> We understand you. >> Okay. >> I understand what you're saying. >> Okay. So, there's no reason to discuss that any further.
>> Any event, and I appreciate that >> as far as I see where this is all going today, and that's just fine, but I just want the public to know the truth. The information
that was given was given by one author. Okay. >> Respond you see. >> Okay. >> Please. So I would like to respond to that because there was an article written that I felt was premature
regarding Audi or our public works director and in the course you know there as you know there was an ultimatum at the end of the article like well you know I guess we'll see other articles if he doesn't respond because I did not
want to participate in some of the comments that I felt were the questions that were it seemed like there was more character assassination on Anie's part, but I did in the interest of one and did request that we go off the record and I
advised him because I didn't want him to find out about this and then say we were hiding this even further. I did speak with every one of you. >> Yes. And I have the text right here where I've confirmed through commissioners most of the details
pertaining to the former public works director and the deletion of files. I requested I told I was very adamant that this was a possibility and it was being investigated and we were looking at it. That's what was said and I I requested
that that not be publicized until we knew for a fact. And then I got on a Sunday that email I've confirmed through commissioners. So I so what I meant what I did not want you know the reporter to think that we
were hiding information and to kind of cover that up but to let him know that we were looking at something. >> I just wanted to clarify and thank you for that explanation. uh almost learned I I used to handle uh public information uh for an
organization uh for quite some time and you know the the request for u off the record is one that's honorous but one must realize that we're speaking
with an individual who writes for a living >> and he honor He said he would honor that request. >> Yes. >> And then subsequently was informed on Sunday that he had received verifying information concerning everything he
needed to know about the deletion of emails >> from commissioners >> from commissioners. >> Interesting. >> Which didn't say >> can you elaborate because >> I I can read the qu I can read the text. I've confirmed through commissioners
most of the details pertaining to the former public works director and the deletion of files and I immediately let him know that the that the individual was coming in tomorrow and informed us that the files are
available. Let me >> I was asking him to hold off for the purposes of allowing us the opportunity and not to write an article that was I felt would be inappropriate until we had all the information. Let let me ask you something and we have
to just talk about it. You know my sentiments about the public works director. They were very strong and very positive. Correct. >> Correct. And that that intercepted from
the 93 days for County Road 512. And I I gave him high praise. In what world would you think that I would ever say anything negative about the guy that I was constantly
cheerleading to you? So it was not I. That's clear. I I want you to know that when you're dealing with the media and I I don't know if I'm saying it or not
there, we have five public relations people in the building that are disseminating information um in different departments, which we've never had before. I will tell you that if you're speaking
with the media, you're speaking with the pen. And I have never was I mentioned in that article. No, because I had no input.
Okay. No input as >> I I wasn't >> Can we get back to >> Yeah, I mean I'm just We are on the topic. Thank you. >> I appreciate you. >> It doesn't seem like you do, but >> No, no, I don't appreciate I I I don't
>> I feel like we're down a winding road. This is distraction. This is nothing to do with the contract. This is just a side issue item, which again is a clear indication
of what Commissioner Earman was trying to say earlier. And I do think that this is also a very good example of some of the difficulty that John has in making decisions because there's five people up here telling him five different things.
And you guys want him to jump at what you say irregardless of what other commissioners say. and not all the commissioners even in this conversation obviously uh agreed on the performance of one of the department heads
or how that whole thing was handled. So I think this is a clear clear illustration of some of those issues and again this is a governance by a board a collective it's not governance by one person or one individual
and I also think that there needs to be a higher level of professionalism between the commissioners amongst themselves. >> Thank you for that. Um it it is uh it's a governed board by five individuals,
but it's led by one, the county administrator. We are a strong county administrator form of government, constitutionally run, creating leadership through policy and legislation.
But once again, it is led by one one county administrator. He is the leader. We have hired a leader. So we have discussed everything that we have discussed
on the dis. Uh correct me if I'm wrong, John. Have have I not discussed any of this with you in private in the meeting? >> I I mean yes. I mean we had a discussion
yesterday regarding this contract. Um I had to I attempted to have a discussion. I think I actually had a discussion with every member although I did have one that wanted to discuss it today and okay so um I I don't think anything is
unwarranted unnecessary a distraction. I believe it it is appropriate something was said that uh I I don't want the public misled that the that information went in one direction. We identified
that that information you did give under the premise that it would be between you and I kind of thing or you know off the record. Um, again, I'm staying straight out. There is no off the record. There
there is no off the record. We We are uh a total uh we we're committed to and totally obligated for a transparent form of government for the people. And if
we're speaking with the media, it's all bets off. It's whatever comes out again. You fire a weapon, can't stop the bullet.
So, you can't fire it and then say, "Well, I I didn't mean to do that." Or, "I I I I asked if that was." It just doesn't happen. >> I just, >> you know, it's honorous if they do. If you say, "Well, I don't want to do that." Sometimes you want to play that
relationship level. I've done it for many years. just would like to I think that's a mischaracterization that I was firing a bullet to try to make harm somebody. I was trying to clarify. So I I just I >> I'm sorry. Maybe that was a a wrong
assessment and I did not mean that analogy in that way. It's just saying once you take the action that action will have a result. >> That action is Julie noted for next time I engage with that reporter. Okay. Or
any reporter for that matter. But that's another one of the challenges because we have about four or five people in the building that are disseminating information. >> That's a very untrue statement. You continue to characterize it as if we have all these PIOs and we do not. We
have communication specialists within each department that help communicate the projects that those departments are doing. And to call them PIOS is inaccurate. But this also goes back to continuing to mischaracterize things in
a way that feeds a certain narrative. >> Thank you. Thank you. Again, I know where this is going, but uh I I have a responsibility for the public and for all of you. Um I
I can count. But I will say I appreciate what was said, but I just want to recall back to um the interview experience with uh Mr. Tican. Uh again, I note I made the
motion to let's go forward. Okay, we narrowed it down and it was getting very fatiguing. Um I had great hope and great promise and some have actually came to fruition
on a positive note. But um during the conversation um John Tanich said uh I asked about changes and bringing in different personnel and
um his statement was assessment assessment is key uh evaluation of operation and given resources. It will take time.
I said what is time? Uh and the time was well I got to give it six months to a year. >> Fair. >> That was to that was to do the organizational assessment. That is correct. Yes. >> And it took far less than six month. I
mean took about 6 months we implement stuff implemented items in the ensuing fiscal year >> and it was so it was within six months. Um it was identified that uh uh you had a feeling that the culture was bad. Um
yes there was some shortcomings and uh from that point on uh there was an immediate erosion of institutional knowledge and the cultural experience in Indian River County within the
organization and there were changes. We had a reorg meeting uh another Rioorg and then the the chart was moved a few times. I'll tell you that it it has been uh a time of of
change and again if we we know anything um about an organization change is tough. Change is not always received. change is no is not always embraced
especially when people are used to certain ways that are more convenient for them and uh for them and mine not on the public that we serve. So again a difficult task John a difficult task
that you had to perform with that we've had some consulting a lot of consulting some was warranted some was additional experience to assist
with the the training and the changes and the adjustments that were necessary or perceived as necessary. Some were but when you want want to look back in retrospect
there is basically close to single digits as to the institutional knowledge that's in this building and that has happened by design direction and in for positive a positive change.
Uh some of it has happened but by and far uh there is really it has eroded upon the communication and direction that we have and we continually talked about silos
and the way in which there is no communication between interdep departmental and you said that you were applying an interdep departmental relationship to to try to build that bridge.
Uh I it's maybe that's a work in motion but it really doesn't happen all that much. Okay. And it's not criticism. It's change is tough. And then the application and the approach and
principles in order to get there are far more difficult. And I I don't think that you can have a playbook to make those changes happen. It just has to happen with spirit, dedication, and constant
leadership. Would you agree? >> To a certain degree, I do. >> Well, we we since we don't really have that. And I I just want to talk about some of the uh consulting that we've done. Uh we had something called the the
Sataly report. Where did that go? uh actually prior and current um bbudsman have been working continuous to implement that and if we're going to go down this road I would think when you
talk about change let's look at the building and permitting division because that was one of the most ownorous and difficult ones to get to and we now track KPIs key performance indicators and how on on the average time of review
uh We track the number of permits. So these are these reports and that you are receiving on a frequent basis as they're pro as they're completed each month. I do forward them to you. uh customer service uh we started a customer
implemented a customer service survey to to find out how well we're doing and I can tell you that we've increased you know since the first surveys started in December of 24 and looking at October of 25 anywhere between six and 16%
you know and specifically when it comes to var satisa satisfaction overall rating received I mean I could tell you we started back in the the 65s and we're up in the 76s. So, we are continuing to grow. Uh I can
see other areas where we are, you know, the question is did they did the staff help me, you know, compel provide consistent answers? One of the problems that we had before back in December, the results that reported in November or January was 56% said yes, we're up in
the 70s now. Uh staff responded in a timely manner. uh back in December of 24 50%. You know, October 2025, which would be the September, 68%, 18% increase. You know, I mentioned
previously in one of our meetings, you know, these things weren't being tracked before. We put a system in place to start tracking permits, tracking customer satisfaction and key performance indicators. So that's one area I would say has been a an area
where you have started seeing the change and you have started seeing the responsiveness and there are other areas that I would suggest that it's happening as well. I don't I mean are there areas that we still need to work on without a doubt. Okay. So uh and
MGO the the discussion the discussion continues and and I appreciate that and you're right the SS budsman has been uh one to to repair a lot of the shortcomings uh statistics are what
statistics are but we can throw the mean median mode there are some that fall through the cracks and those challenges is uh that been brought to your attention uh or uh again some you know
where we could say it's 5 days 6 days there were some that were many months and they fell through the cracks and I will tell you that the arms budsman uh has repaired those cracks >> well in all fairness I would say the
department you know when we created building and facility services you know the department director and his staff uh as well as the unbudsman, they look at those monthly reports and they identify permits that are outstanding. you know,
maybe they've gone beyond the 30 days and they they determine what the issue is and then they work to resolve the issue if it's an issue that the county is capable of resolving or are we waiting on documents or resubmitts because sometimes they're sitting there
waiting on a resubmitt or something that has to be provided before we can move that permit along. So, I I mean it's more than the unbudsman. It's a team effort. Ashley does a great job. Anthony does a great job. Will, Scott, McAdams, Erica, they are all working together to
move permits along and and the numbers data shows it. It's not they're just pure descriptive statistics. We're not doing any special, you know, uh, you know, R square analysis, any any correlation or anything like that. We're kind of using just descriptive statistics to make it at the most
simplistic form. Where were we in December of 24 and where are we today in October of 25? >> I can't disagree with you uh as as far as the team effort and I did not mean to capitalize on one individual.
>> She's great, >> but I I just want you to know that the budsman has taken task and traveled through the departments. As far as the the members that you mentioned doing an outstanding job, >> the ombbudsman is a pos one of the
positions if you recall that I advocated for for this exact reason to be able to cross departmental lines to cross divisions and help get things completed andor move forward if you have an economic development project, if you
have a affordable housing project or if you're having where we're finding maybe there's a challenge, Right. And again, as we've we've said many times that if if everything was rolling, you wouldn't need an arms
budsman. But maybe perhaps one day uh that position will be obsolete and it you know again I'm setting the bar high but uh again maybe the budsman can be doing something else
because there's no need to have somebody travel each one of these tasks to get them through and the ones that follow fall through the cracks. Agreed. I I didn't say anything that I haven't said to you privately. Correct.
I'm going to remind you again because I you know I don't want anybody to think that this is time for dirty laundry. It's not. It's public information in total transparency that we have had some challenges and you have worked wii
with them unarguably. Uh I I just there are some projects and again uh some may seem that's insignificant but
when we make a commitment to the public and we say we're going to do something and we vote on it as a board and there's at least three that go in that direction. Well, that's the commitment that we have for the public. Correct. Well, if that's the case, um I just want
to bring up uh a a couple challenges that I have. Um and one is Gford neighborhood project 32nd. Um and again, one could say, well, the
public direct public works director is no longer here. So, because we've had an interim and then we I I get it. And the same thing with uh anybody remember we talked about food trucks
quite a while ago and the delay in the CRA. I I I I just don't what's happening to Sebastian. I mean, I was delighted to be there because it was exciting and to see the trucks and
the commitment and elected officials get a picture. But I was under the impression that July was happening and we had all discussed that and that was a commitment with Sebastian
yourself and this board and their board and it was working magically. I assume this is November. And to me it was a little bit of a let down and I still can't get the right
answer as to why it's November other than I have a calendar. Well, I mean, I'm not sure if it's I mean, if you want to go there on every specific issue, we can certainly >> No, I I think Sean at a meeting or
meeting before explained that there were supply chain issues and they were waiting on materials and that's what was delaying that project. He was very he was crystal clear what was delaying that project and the county has committed to with that project. uh actually one of
the I think it's an example of one of the things that you all asked is to improve inter relationships with the cities you know if you go back to the recruitment for sure I mean I think we've done that so I mean I just I just I I could provide an answer here for
every item I mean it's I guess >> I'm not saying >> I'll follow I will follow a detailed memo to every member of this board on any question that's brought up here today >> we we we're saying things things that >> I think I have provided in meetings this
information but I will do it again you know because I think we're maybe losing sight of what I'm requesting is I think it's meritorious I think we're moving in the right direction and yes I am asking uh the the contract provides that the
county administrator shall schedule the renewal of the agreement and I'm doing it within the timely fashion as set forth in the agreement And I want to know probably I want to know for myself, for my family. I know staff members that have been anxious about this. Uh and I I
just think it's appropriate. You know, I don't want to find out in the middle of the holiday season of where we are. So I >> and and I did discuss this back in August with some that it was going to come in November. So, I'll just say that >> I I agree and I thought it was coming
uh a little later on and I wanted the opportunity to be able to discuss these matters once again directly with you. uh we do hear from uh quite a few citizens and they have concerns and they want to
know what's going on and then on Thursday when they see this on the agenda they're saying well what's happening with all of this. So you see the dilemma is in. I I wanted to get it out, but I wanted to get it to you once
again so we can have that retort. We can have a response, but there is no other alternative other than discuss it now at the meeting. I understand you want and it's very important for your family to have that.
Um, I I don't know if I feel comfortable with uh looking at uh a million-doll decision uh for three years, a commitment having some uncertainties.
Uh personally u I feel that and it has been identified by others not just by me that there is room for improvement. there is room for adaptation for getting the ship uh on an
even keel. uh and again as I noted it's the task at hand is very difficult change is difficult and there's uh a a mechanism I know I um I point out a a
rather popular um hospitality chain uh many times and we've we've have had some lengthy conversations about deployment and the mechanism but it but
again I don't think we have achieved that yet. Okay. As far as you personally I like it. Okay. We have some very good conversations. I'm just looking at what you intend to do operationally for the
citizens that we create legislation and policy and their connectivity of it actually happening as opposed to being talked about it and talked about it in media or talk about it talked about it in public
circles or on social media that really is not getting the job done. So, uh, me me I want your firm commitment that we're going hard and fast and forward
and to the betterment of this county. Um, I without the opportunity of being able to speak uh in any great lengths and yes, you're right. I don't want to articulate
uh many of the concerns. Uh we have talked about them. I would have want the opportunity, but I would feel more comfortable with going forward with uh let's settle your your concern for your family and and go with uh a one year
and coming back. And I know that probably wouldn't be palatable for you. you want a long range plan, but we have a lot of long range plans that haven't narrowed down either. Um I I think that uh I I personally I would feel more
comfortable with it uh not feeling 100% about your um ability. Don't take me wrong, okay? We have several departments that have interim status. Uh we have several
directors um that uh have voiced some opinions uh of of action. Some of those actions that have taken place I think need to be
coralled by their leader and uh you do have some great assistants in an assistant and a deputy uh who are here today. Um that was an addition. Uh well one was and and I believe that you can
make it happen with them and focus and I just I I just think that personally I would feel more comfortable with looking at this for year one year.
So, you're settled, but we have an opportunity to have an evaluation. I see there was some changes made in in the uh contract. Uh one, um as far as an evaluation process,
um it's in there. And again, I know we've had that discussion that the attorney thought you didn't need one and then you want then we started having quarterly. And I I think you're right about that. >> With all due respect, Mr. Chair, I
believe the three-year contract is appropriate. On any given meeting, you have the ability to do a performance evaluation and say that I'm no longer a good fit for this organization. This board asked that I make a long-term commitment. You know, back during the uh
interview process, I agreed to that. I initially proposed a 5-year contract. It came back three. I would like to see the three-year contract renewed. And with that, I'll just return to the board and ask, you know, for the other members conversations or comments. >> And if my my memory serves me correctly,
uh you almost had the five-year. There was a couple individuals that wanted the five-year and it just took one more squeak to get it out. So, you were close. So, uh, I I have to say that, uh, a five-year commitment is, uh,
rather lengthy. Um, and, uh, it didn't pass. uh but I think 3 years in 3 years time uh even though the changes were intended uh to be positive for the community and they are difficult and
sometimes it is as we've uh discussed uh change is not easy uh I think in three years time we or two and a half years time we could have seen far more robust change in a positive action.
>> You have anything, >> Mr. Chair? I just want to add briefly. Um, and I hate to go back to the public works director, but the administrator contacted me and said he was contacting Verau Beach Police Department and FDLE,
which to me would seem to be uh somebody said something about premature. The fact is that he brought that to my attention. that would raise the level of concern. And finally, Mr. Chair, I will say this. My message today to my fellow
commissioners is simple. If you like the direction and the leadership that we have had in the last two and a half years, then it's up to you to continue with this relationship. It's that simple. We don't have to talk about projects. We don't have to talk about
any of this stuff. The fact is how you and I perceive communication with the with the director, the executive director or the administrator. Uh that could be subjective. Who knows? But the fact is if the majority is comfortable
with his leadership, that's the mission today. >> As as for me, I'm not. Um but I'm only one of five. But keep in mind the clarity and the effective communication that our leader presents
to us is paramount in the success of this organization. I just John one thing I I showed you some vignettes of the building.
Did you feel something then? No, but I know I did, but I also know our employees felt very, you know, uh uneasy about you walking around the employee work areas videoing their work.
>> I I didn't No, I didn't video. And you know what? Nobody knew that that was happening. But I appreciate that comment. Um there was nobody there. There was nobody there to have seen that.
Just that's a comment. >> Well, everybody knows you do it. Everybody knows you do a seat check. They're always out in the field working. >> That was humorous. Um, >> did you want to speak now or do you want me to go? >> I'm I'm in the building and I do walk
about. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Excellent. Um, we all know, all five commissioners know why this contract was brought forward. Now, they might pretend not to know, but they know. And that is what has happened is
that some of the commissioners have weaponized the media to harass and intimidate the county administrator, hoping that he would resign. Well, he hasn't. He's tougher than that. Thank God. It's interesting to me because when
the sheriff weaponized the media, some people sitting here are pretty uncomfortable with that. Yet, they feel free to use that same tactic. So, very, very interesting. Meanwhile, I'd like to go through to shed a more positive light
on some of this. I'm very proud of what we what has been accomplished uh these last few years, and I'm going to take the time to go through it. And so everybody's taken time to nitpick. These are major accomplishments. All right. Some of them inaugural. The county
didn't have this. It didn't exist. All right. Parks and recreation master plan. Board approved inaugural plan being implemented now which is for the betterment of the entire county. Storm
water management plan. Inaugural plan. We didn't have it. We needed it. Thanks to this man, we have it being implemented now. Indian River Lagoon management plan, board adopted, inaugural. We needed it.
We didn't have it. We have it now. Thanks to this man. Urban service area boundary study. Board accepted. Hadn't been done in decades. Decades. Had not been done. We needed it. We have it now. Thanks to this man.
Ear report. Comprehensive plan amendments not done since 2008. I'll repeat that. Since 2008. We have it now thanks to this man. And last but hardly least, and this is my
personal favorite because the utilities department was about to go bankrupt. We did the utilities rate study and you might have it had not been done in decades and the utilities department and we have
a graph there's a line chart. It was it's an enterprise fund. It's run like a business and it was about to go into financial distress. If it were a company, it would have been bankrupt because the rates over the last 20 years
were increased by approximately 10% and over the 20-year period should have been increased by about 200%. And that's why in the community, if you're wondering why your bill went up twice within a 12-month period, that's why. But it needed to be done. It was going to be
bankrupt. So, you know, we talk about what didn't happen. Well, what about what did happen? you know, well, well, maybe it would have been more exciting if it had gone bankrupt and then maybe the press would have had more to write about, you know, but he prevented it. It
didn't happen. And again, thanks to this man. So, nitpicking, please, let's not go there. And thanks to that, thanks to this man sitting here and I'm happy to move it forward at any time.
>> Is that a motion? Yes. So, I'm making a motion to renew the contract. >> I'll be happy to second that. Um, the only thing I want to add to to the conversation is, you know, imagine what we could have been doing
over the past two years without some of these distractions. I think our job as commissioners is to provide steady leadership for the people in this county. And that means making decisions based on facts and results, not rumor or innuendo. We hired our administrator to
take on the hard work of changing the culture of this organization and making it more responsive, more serviceoriented, and more accountable to our residents. Change of that kind is never instant. It's never easy, but it is progress. And it jud it deserves to
be judged fairly. What does not serve our citizens is constant destabilization. Leaks and political games don't just hurt one person. They shake confidence in the entire organization and distract us from the real reason people elected
us and what those issues are. I always will support accountability and transparency, but accountability means measured evaluation of performance, not campaigns designed to undermine. Our community expects stability, fairness,
and results. And that's the standard I think that we need to set and uphold. We have a lot of work that needs to be done and the constant distractions are making it very difficult and it's impacting our organization.
I would hope that the my fellow commissioners would see that and we would start working together to move projects forward. Thank you. Commissioners, can I just clarify is your motion and second to approve this proposed contract in front
of you. Is that okay? Just want to clarify. >> Yes, >> Mr. Chair. I just asked what would his new anniversary date be? >> The the contract provides that it would be November 4th.
>> So, it would shift from April 17th to November 4th. But with with no progressive increase, the anniversary staged in there, the anniversary date of my employment would be the anniversary date. The contract date is the three-year term. Again, there's just to clarify, there's
no salary increase in this contract. >> Thank you. Uh this is a board decision and we have a motion and a second uh on the floor. Is there anybody from the public that wishes to comment?
Hello county commissioners. Michael Marsh, proud county resident. I wasn't going to speak because I didn't have much to say on this topic, but there was two interesting fun facts that was brought up. Public records. Now, one thing was shared that a commissioner
leaked something to the press. Believe that's what we heard a text message. So, that text message is subject to public record. I don't think we've heard yet during the conversation. Is it important? I don't know. Which commissioner was it that went to the
media through the chair? Chair said that wasn't me. I didn't do it. I think Commissioner Adams or Commissioner Moss wasn't those two. So we look on this side. Who was it? County Administrator. Someone leaked it to the media. I think
it goes to the point here about the distraction that we wouldn't be here if the media and remember Ray McNei. Good in some days, bad in other days, right? Depends on who's weaponizing. I guess the second public record that I just listened to and Commissioner Flesher,
Mr. chair, I wouldn't be making these public records. Me and you have a good relationship. I don't have the shirt yet. I don't know if Tony's going to give me a shirt, but the videoing, I think Commissioner Adams said, we all know you do that, taking videos of chairs. I don't know if you do that with your personal device, Mr. Chair.
>> No, I don't. >> Whether it's >> I I I I don't I did not take uh the action on which was stated. Okay. >> So, that was a lie. I I took um pictures of empty chairs.
>> So those pictures should probably be subject to public record, Mr. Chair. I wouldn't be making them. I don't care what you have on your personal device, but we listen to that today and people who may not be fan favorites of the chair. Elections are right around the corner. If those pictures were taken,
picture video, I think County Attorney Scheler can correct me if I'm wrong. That would be subject to a public record, would it not? That's all I have to say. I wouldn't be making a Mr. Chair. We have a good relationship. The green and brown leaf. I'm on the green
side. Mr. Chair, have a great day. >> But if you would like them, I would be happy to provide the photographs. >> Walter McNeely, uh, Indian River County resident, Vero Beach resident. Um, I don't know where the the rush is. There
is a lot of stuff going on. Uh, you'll all be proud to know that in my many conversation with Doge and uh, Blaze's office, you'll be visited early next year
because you've brought up a lot of attention. You've definitely made a lot of news further up in the state. Uh, Commissioner Irman said about coaches and and us the public. Well, I sit here
as a public member. I know I've talked to over 200 residents just since the meetings I attended in October. Not speaking for us. Somehow some of you believe
you're it. We're the smartest people in the room and we don't care what the people that voted for us say, but you're going to find out that's not the way it's going to work. Things are changing. Okay? They're not distractions. They're
problems. It's not a distraction. It's a problem. It's a problem when you have these things happening. And we're not talking about one a year, you know, oh, it just goes away, gets swept. And and let me clarify something, okay? My last
name is McNalty. No way, shape or form. Total different political stance is that gentlemen. Okay? I am a fiscal conservative, a constitutional conservative. When we vote for you, I don't care what
your thought is when somebody else comes in here and you do a vote. You don't speak for yourself. You speak for me. If a majority of me says no, then you say
no. If a majority of me say yes, then you say yes. Very disappointed that we're still talking about the sheriff's budget because you know what? I'm trying to get over that because if anybody looks since 2000, this board
I mean this budget for the county has raised 52.3%. Okay. sheriff's budget 56%. Little bit more, but look at the added responsibilities. But we're not going to rehash that because we'll let the court figure that out or whoever is going to make those
decisions. It's almost an embarrassment what happens here because of the fact that so many of the board members are speaking on their own behalf. You're not listening to us. You're making your
decisions based. There is absolutely he's going to have a good Christmas and everything. Well, welcome to the world of business. Okay. Welcome to the world of employment. There is no guarantees. And I know the at will thing. Okay. I worked for a company where if I wasn't
retired, if I hadn't retired six months ago, I wouldn't even be allowed to walk in here and speak my for myself without some type of, you know, it's like they say, freedom of speech. Absolutely. Absolutely. You got freedom of speech, but there may be consequences for that
speech. I have no consequences anymore. And I'm going to make it a point that because I have not been represented or not represented in what I believe the people that I live next to that go to my
community meetings where we have a HOA, they've not been represented by many of you in here. And we're going to make it a point that it's not going to happen again. There is accountability. Okay? And just like
I gotta agree with Sheriff Lord, I mean, Commissioner Lord, you know, you can sit here and say, well, you know, and I had a conversation during COVID that I shouldn't have had, but I did it anyhow with one member up there
where when the mask thing came out. So, what do they say? They say, "You know what? Uh, well, the emergency manager is the one who made that decision. I didn't vote for that guy. I voted for you to make a decision based off of what
I wanted. Okay? So, some of you can believe what you want. This county is still very conservative and it's going to stay that way. But there's no reason to rush a contract that's done in April. It's not up till April. My god, if so
many employees out there could ever be told, you're guaranteed six months from now, you're still going to have your job. You know what? I worked for a very, very honorable gentleman for a long time. And I was one of his top people. And I went to him doing a double mortgage. You know what it's like to do
a double mortgage back in uh 2008. Everything was looked because what happened? We had a crash. Everything went crazy, right? I went to him and said, "Hey, you know what? I'm in the middle of this double mortgage. I'm
buying a house for my daughter that I have to sign for and I'm and I just want to make sure we're good." And you said, "Well, yeah, and if it's not good, then you'll leave just like anybody else." So, it will is fine, but
why rush into this? Okay. Why Why do it? Why jump forward? so far ahead. There's absolutely no reason for it. As a citizen and a voter, and I know what I'm going to see today
when I go back and I tell everybody about what happened here today, if it does get approved, what are you hiding? What does he have on you? What does it I don't know what he's up to. All I know
is every time I and not read the paper, every time I attend a meeting or I speak to other people that are privy to information, I have I know a lot of people. I just don't want to sit there. God bless you all for sitting there. Okay? But you got to remember you work
for us. He works for us. We didn't hire him. You hired him. But he's got to be accountable. He's got to be accountable for what he does. And somehow the board has lost that. They've some of you the members of the board
have lost it. You work for us. Okay? You work for us and there is no guarantees in life. Okay? There's no guarantees. >> I worked many jobs where I thought I was doing a fantastic job. Never got fired from one, but got called
in and said, "You know what? You're messing up. You're making mistakes. And some of the things that we look at is when we go to go back just on sheriff for one moment. Okay. Every time you approve another
community, totally understand that the state's got your hands tied on some of that. That's another area that he's got to get out there and do. That's a bigger and you say, "Well, it's only another 800. It's only another 125."
You got two guys up there that were It takes a lot to patrol a community and to keep it right. I raised three sons, two daughters, and all of them are outside the area. But when they come back, I want them to
still be able to see Vero Beach. Okay. Now, one of them she went to Canada because she's total opposite of me. But she's still my daughter regardless of how she's lost her mind. But the other four, two of them want to come back so
bad. But at the same time, they got families. They're in place and things. We got to make it so it's nice for everybody later on. Okay. Hey, and I agree in the fact that maybe maybe Sheriff Flower shouldn't have sued the county, but
maybe the county should have did what the public wanted. If you did a poll right now, you would find out that even today, I bet you it's in the area of 65 to 70%. Okay? Because just like you
said, I'm at will. Well, we all know one thing. What happens to the money the sheriff doesn't spends spend? comes back, right? Automatically comes back. That's the law. Correct. You don't use the money, it comes back.
>> He's doing the same thing that he turned away. Well, you can always fire me. I'm at will. Why? Why give it to you? Why give it to you? Your contract's up in April. January.
Yeah. 90 days is plenty of time. You got through the holidays. Congratulations. But it's this keeps up. How could you do it? He's making a stain on every one of you. And that's
I'm just telling you by I would never get involved in this except for I'm It's very important to me. I don't want to come up here in public speaking. But I tell you what, it's scary. It's scary what's happening here.
It's crazy what's going on over here. And you guys hired them and now you're going to say, "Hey, I know you want this six months early and everything, but you know, why not just be honest with the man and say, you know what? No, we can't
do that." Because you know what? Me and I'm sure some other folks out here are saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Because in all honesty, if this happens, I got to wonder what everybody's up to. What are you hiding? But we're gonna
find out because you'll be glad to know. My conversation yesterday with Bla1's office. 219 phone calls and emails from Indian River County since Thursday. All about this.
You know what the CFO of the state of Florida makes? Do any of you know that? $195,000 with incentive bonuses. It's public record. 195. He makes more than the CFO of the entire state of Florida. Okay, I don't care if you pay
him a quarter of a million dollars, $750,000 for the next three years, but let's see what happens in the next three months. We've had a real crappy four or five months if you ask me. And things are looking bad on everybody up
there. Okay? And there's others that sit here and shake her m shake her head. the socialist trash collection. That's socialist universal trash collection. Okay. And you do it with waste management. Waste management.
Number one shareholder, Bill and Linda Gates Foundation. Number two shareholder, Black Rockck. 10 years. I got my tax bill the other day. I'm a veteran, partially disabled. what I get for a tax savings by being
that unless I get to 100%. Wasn't totally went away. had a commissioner three meetings ago I guess they said hey you know the millillage all you running around millillage oh this is this and we didn't raise it we
didn't raise it but you raised taxes why am I paying three times more for my trash collection than what I was did everybody up here always do you all feel like you all got a vote together as 100% I think we're going to see different
today but how did that come about I know how it came about who came up with the idea of universal trash collection. Somebody made the the first, right? Somebody came up with that idea. Well, that's socialism. Okay. You
can't com you can. And the only reason I hear commissioners say it's not a tax. Oh, yes it is. The Supreme Court said it was a tax because you just copied exactly what Obama did with universal healthcare. Okay. I'm not happy about
it. I'm not happy about it. And I have landscapers to do my yard. I don't have to worry about the waste. He takes care of that. Let him pay for that. I pay him to take care of that. He's not giving me a discount because of that. But on this
particular subject, I don't want to lose lose this subject. This is not right, folks. We don't need to give somebody guaranteed employment six months ahead of time. Let's get closer to finishing his contract and then look at it. I'm
not opposed to maybe having him stay, but let's see if we can get through three or four months without having all this stuff coming out about what's happening. And it's it's just I'm I'm concerned. I'm very concerned because people that I thought were fiscal
conservatives are not doing that. You're not doing that because if you were, some of these items would have never taken place and we wouldn't be here today trying to extend somebody's job three years when they got six months left on a contract.
There's no guarantees. So, you're going to vote the way you want to vote. I'm just going to tell you again, I respect each and every one of you. You can all have your own views, whether they're right, wrong, ridiculous, or whatever. You know, it's like when I ride past 60 and see the nonsense error. Why hasn't
the county stepped in and said, "No, no, no. You got to get a permit before you even do this." Instead, you let them stand out there on the side of the road. Many people drive by hoping they step out in the road. But, you know, you're going to do what
you want to do, but there are elections coming. As this gentleman said, there are elections coming and we will collectively as a community find fiscal conservatives because just like asking for a building building
moratorum, you've got to get with the state somehow and fight it. And you got to say we got to put a building moratorum on. We can't continue to do this. We want growth, but it's got to be the right type of growth. Okay? And
all I can tell you is I think some of you are going to be quite shocked during the next elections. The only way you will keep your seat is if they're too far to the other side. They come up. But I don't think that'll
happen. I think they're going to find fiscal conservatives to come in here and say because let me tell you what be unique and let me tell you blazes thought on this millillage as we've grown tremendously have we not
miller should go down not up call his office ask him and they'll tell you our miller's rate should be going down you don't get to brag that oh we kept the miller rate the same, but we just charged you $600 or I
think mine's $398 or something for what you were paying $130 for. You don't get to do that and then say, "Oh, it's not a tax." Supreme Court says, "Yes, it's a tax." You're just calling it a fee. Okay? It's still a
tax. I got to pay it. Okay? So, this is wrong, though. This is totally wrong. No offense to John at all. And uh you know, I hope things turn around for him somehow, but this is wrong. This
soon to sign another three-year contract. It don't matter if he's at will because you're always going to have a couple of you there that are going to cheerlead and say, well, and so he might end up spending it even if he makes big mistakes.
So that's all I had to say. And I would hope that we vote to at least put it off and let's do an evening meeting with it. And I'll make sure and I'll promise you if you give me two weeks before this decision
is made in an evening meeting, I'll make sure this room is filled with plenty of people that can talk. Okay? Because you got to start listening to your voters. You got to start listening to the people to put you in office. Other than that, thank you.
Yeah. Best of luck. >> Thank you, sir. Anyone else? >> We have a Hey, good morning everybody. Tom Sullivan, 4187 West 16th Square. I
was on my bike. Give me a break here watching this. you got me to jump in the shower and come. Uh I would just like to speak as I always do in support of John terms of the contract. Uh you know uh I I think
he's done an excellent job. uh in terms of uh I don't I really don't want to comment on what other people say, but um you know um people use this socialism term a lot and I know once a month everybody's very thankful for President
Roosevelt and I think I can leave it at that. But um I think sometimes we forget about the greater good and sometimes things have to be done for the greater good and as you grow you grow more collectively and things are done for the greater good in
terms and that's my statement as reflects that part. Um we are becoming a much larger community. We need more sophisticated levers of government. I remember when I first came here, and this was a funny story. When I first came, I don't know if I mentioned this
to Daryl or to I'm sorry to Commissioner Laura or Commissioner Flight, but I was a basketball coach. I'd be all over the country. I used to chase down cops. You pull into Manoma, Iowa. I need a place to eat. Nobody knows a better local place to eat than those two guys.
I remember chasing a guy and he was running away from me, you know, and and I pull so as soon as I come down to Vero, I see a cop sitting on the side. I pull up, you know, uh so I can talk to him. We're facing opposite ways. Kind of
a little, you know, shocking if a guy doesn't know you. I made sure. But in those days, it wasn't as scary. It was like 11 years ago. I said, "Hey, Chief, what's up? How you doing? How's everything going? Where can I get a good coffee, good breakfast?" you know, and the guy tells me, I said, 'Hey, uh, my
best friend happened to be a cop in New York. I'm very friendly with my family way back when we had cops as uncles. And so I say, 'Hey, how's it going? You're enjoying it. And the first thing he says to me is, "Man, they don't pay us. This is 11 years ago, you know." And I
remember 11 I remember probably very shortly after that, I was at my first meeting and there were a couple of guys in the back in administration. Nobody up here, but people that were in administration. And I went up to them and I said, "Hey, the cops are pissed." I said, "You know, I come from I I lived
in Boston. I lived in New York. I lived in Newark, New Jersey." I said, "Usually those guys are paid very well. They're taken care of with pensions. They're taking care when they retire with their retirement benefits." And I said, "It's the first time I've ever gone up to the cop where he says, "This is like this."
And I said, "Wow." So here we go 10 years later we have a festering situation now and I do understand what happened there with the COVID thing you know that and and how you managed not to lay everybody off which was a wonderful thing and you know and now the time has come that we have you know we have to
equalize to pay for the area which is wonderful actually I have to say this Mr. the guys that I met on EMT, they always spoke like I said, hey, how's it going? And they would say, yeah, we get paid, you know, they were happy, you know, and
and I said, that's great. So, so now we arrive at this state and I'm saying things are going well. Uh, I was curious. I started hearing the building and then I started talking to Sean and we started talking about sewage and we started talking about how maybe we
should develop. What do I know? I just built buildings when I was an athletic director. I had to look with massive campus future projects here. I said, "How are we going to build out?" Well, you wait till PY comes in. You
wait until GH decides to find some infill lots. We wait for DevOTA. And then they deal with our, and I mean this in no disrespect, they deal with our functionaries. Those are the people who interact that John controls and they
get, you know, you go and you meet with these people and I met a lot of them, you know, the the young guys in the office here and as Joe as commissioner airman always says, they're hardworking, good. It's our staff and they are but
the level of sophistication that the developers were hiring with far exceeded their ability to deal with it and pretty soon they didn't even realize they were being co-opted in my mind and I think this is something that
we have to look at and and I enjoyed that John when he came here brought in new structures to monitor that you know and I think he's done a good job of And and the other thing I'd like to say is that I'm I'm still concerned about
that and we're at a a sort of a pivotal point here. At one of the former meetings, the guy got up and he said, "Maybe we don't do this the right way. Maybe these grander plans should be brought to you first because I picture
um let me just backtrack a little here. In the last meeting, someone threw back maybe even the whole commission threw back to a person who is a functionary good one that you develop what the greater good is. Give us give us the
definition of the greater good for for the community. In other words, how do we determine benefit when a contractor wants to build something? Do we am I being too vague or does anyone remember that? Okay. And and I was saying I
picture you guys and maybe uh maybe I have an illusion. I don't know. I picture you guys as the visionaries. I picture you guys as where we want to go, where we want to be. And and and and not to point anyone out. You all do it,
but I can point to Commissioner Airman, you know, with the ELAP. I can point to him when he first came here and he had an idea of turning a pond into a recreation area and unfortunately it abudded some water district. But those are the types of things that I thought
the commission would do. I think and I understand how we get involved in this nitty-gritty, you know, but I I expected you guys to be the visionaries. Where do we want to be? And and we won't even be here. I I for sure, you know, at 75 years old, you
know, give me another give me I don't even want to mention a number. >> Oh, >> okay. But I think that that's where we want the community to go. And I have to say, uh, I understand the greater good concept and sometimes that requires some
people to pay. Actually, I'm looking forward to having a discussion with Commissioner Airman similar to what we do with the ELAP program. Maybe we can do something for people that we need in the community, firemen, policemen, teachers, and give them grants as down
payments, the comm, you know, us buy land, you know, and not get into the real estate business or anything like that, but make it more affordable. But these are visionary ideas that I'm hoping you all can come up with. I think John has organized
the department here very well and having had five jobs, you know, uh, in basketball, knowing how hard it is to go and turn a culture around, you know, it's tough and and not everybody's going to like styles. Some people didn't like
mine, some but as long as we're you feel we're headed in the right direction, you know, I I support them and I have to get back to my workout later. Thanks a lot. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? We have a motion on the floor and a
second. Any further discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? I >> I motion carries 3 to two with vice chairman Laura and myself
take a and it's been request for a quick break and we'll honor that. We're taking a brief recess. meeting will now be called back to order and we're on to parks and recreation and conservation item 13H1 which is
consideration for the sale agreement for the purchase of 19.6 6 acres of Jungle Trail Island Club Mana which the site through the environmental lands acquisition bond.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Michael, >> good morning. >> Good morning, commissioners. >> Uh Michael Cto, deputy county administrator and with me is Wendy Swendell, parks recreation and conservation assistant director. And uh I see Chris Hicks is also with us today.
who was part of our team and um of course Commissioner Urban being the chair liaison to the environmental lands acquisition panel. Today before you we have the second iteration of the uh jungle trail island club manner acquisition. This acquisition was
presented to you in great detail at our last meeting and as we've developed the a consistent pattern. We bring it back to you after the public has had a chance to absorb the presentation uh review the appraisals u give staff some feedback
and we it's before you today for the uh vote to approve the contract. But with that, I would ask um for you to entertain any input from the public or if you have any questions of Miss Swendell. She has the original presentation ready to um access if it if
you need uh information from it. Otherwise, I would ask you for the staff recommendation. Are you you going to show it? If not, >> we were not intending to do the we have the presentation available if perhaps maybe just show the aerial of the property for everyone's recollection.
But this was all presented in detail on the 24th of October. There there it is 19.6 6 acres tier one property for the uh environmental lands acquisition panel
and the appraisal support the purchase price and we're can take any input or questions from the public or the commission. >> Wendy, what's your idea on this being a buds captain forest or obviously jungle
trail which was but what's your vision for that? make it part of Captain Forester kind of thing. >> I think yes, as we talked about in the last meeting, I think the um juxiposition adjacent to Captain Forester is really important. We would
like to resolve some of the issues that we have at Captain Forester relative to it getting inundated on the southside and this gives the opportunity to consider that. And as I mentioned, the site is pretty much a blank slate. It's been cleared. So we have the um
opportunity to bring back to you a conceptual plan with and perhaps maybe several iterations of a conceptual plan as to what's possible. >> Mr. Chairman, I'll be happy to make a motion to approve. It's already been done.
But you made a motion. >> Oh, I was just a second. I thought he had already made a motion. >> He did. Well, I did, but I would say it again. Yeah. That bears repetition. Good job to all. >> We have a motion and a second. Any
further discussion? >> Anyone from the public wishing to speak? Microphones. All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carried unanimously. >> Thank you, sir. Next item, utility services. Item 13 L1,
which is the review of the America's Water Infrastructure Act risk and resiliency or resilience assessment updates in >> River County. Still say good morning. >> Good morning, commissioners. My name is
Howard Richards, manager of capital projects, department of utilities. Uh we're here today to present an update on the America's water infrastructure act. Uh we're having some technical difficulty there getting access to the file. Uh but by for introduction uh AIA,
America's water infrastructure act was passed in 2018. Uh it requires community water systems serving populations greater than 3,300 to uh do a risk and resilience
assessment and develop or update its emergency response plan and their very specific requirements under WEIA for that. Uh IRC developed its risk and resilience and emergency response plan and certified
with the US EPA in 2020. The EPA also requires an update and reertification every five years. So over the last five years there has been changes to the law uh adding more stringent requirements.
And so this time around we engage uh Arcadus to uh support us with the update of the risk and resilience and emergency response plans. Both documents have been completed and we s certified the risk and resilience assessment in March of
this year and the emergency response plan in September. Uh we presented to you in April of this year on the risk and resilience assessment and today Arcadus will be presenting on the emergency response plan. So we have the
Arcadus consultants here with us today. Um I'll have uh Corey Sap who is a lead consultant and also Zahira who is a project manager uh but Corey is going to be presenting today as well. Uh Corey we do have challenge with access to the
file >> so maybe you can you know somehow >> yes >> it's not it's not allowing me. Well, we had some great graphics, but basically this emergency response plan,
>> um, is it the one that's attached to the agenda item? Is it the presentation that's attached? You can pull it up online. >> Yeah. Okay, I'll do that. >> Just trying to give you guys a work. >> Oh, that's fine.
>> It does have nice. >> Thank you. Right. I'll go ahead and start by um telling you what we did as far as we updated and expanded the emergency response plan itself. It's a very large document. We
also updated the rapid response guide and that is a smaller document that pulls out the critical information that staff need right away and we're addressing the all
hazards that sort of floated to the top in that risk and resilience assessment so that the utility services will be prepared, able to respond, know what resources, roles and responsib ibilities, recovery, and working with
emergency services. So, that's sort of the basic reason why you do these plans. And having that smaller plan, you don't have to flip around. And staff had a lot of input, what would help them, what they wanted to see in response, you know,
contact list, maps, the things that they really don't want to be fumbling trying to find. So there are two documents also part of this task at when we we were added like a draft final phase of both the ERP and the rapid response
guidance. We did a tabletop exercise to exercise it. All right. There we go. Okay. So here we have a picture of the emergency response plan. and next to it the rapid response guide and Howard
covered the requirements and certification to EPA. So still going through that last part I was talking about the exercise we did with staff with emergency services you know with stakeholders to test the plan
to make sure the basic contents information direction were clear concise able to be followed and people you were able to follow along in a scenario and you know work through that scenario with
the information at hand. Subsequently, we looked at all the things that really went well and enhanced on those and then any challenges we, you know, adjusted the ERP and the guide to make sure that it
fit what staff can follow and what they do. So, that's sort of the whole part of that task. So just stepping back a bit, the reason we do these plans, it's not only because it's they're required, but we have a
preparedness cycle for emergencies that is, you know, industry standards, femographic. It's universal. And the first one is the one we're talking about today. You write the plan and then the other elements are
part of that cycle and you organize, make sure you have what you need to implement the plan. You train, you exercise, and you evaluate and then you start again. And that's why there's the five-year update requirement or sooner should something major change
as far as the system or the things that we're dealing with. Just to note, it does align with local, state, and federal standards. Um, it also incorporates other response plans and procedures from the utility
services as well as emergency services and it follows the guidance provided by EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, and other entities that build the systems that we all coordinate and
respond under. So what's in an ERP? It's basically used a way as to enable activation. So if there's a major emergency, when to activate it, what operations, you know, of the water system need to
happen during those times. So there's roles and responsibilities not only of the utility but also stakeholders. It talks about monitoring what you need to know about monitoring you know whether it's your water quality
or the status of the situation everything that needs to be happening activation implementation and administrative portions of a disaster um as said the operations response and recovery and support and coord
coordination of resources and that's really where you work with emergency services to get into that EOC, make sure that the requests are going up and down the chain and information is being exchanged in the under the same system.
So the bottom part is just the actual statements in the law that it must cover and we do do that. We coordinate local emergency planning committees. Um, we document all of those things, document everything to make sure that
we've covered all of these aspects and EPA is able to find them if they come and take a look. So, I won't read all of these boxes, but these are basically the major elements that we approach an ERP and make sure
that we cover. Um, we want contacts. That's very important. using titles, you know, who do we need to call when, for what, who, how, and then also a good description of the system and the assets because not everyone is going to know
that. And this ERP also sits in emergency services. So, it really helps everybody answer quickly, you know, and and know what we're talking about and incorporates the findings of the risk and resilience assessment. That's sort of your where do you know what hazards
to address. Has maps um incident specific response procedures for some of the incidents that came out of that risk and resilience assessment to really focus in on those. Again, we had staff input list all the resources
inhouse, you know, availability for sharing and who, where, when, how to ask for these things. and incorporated the lessons learned. So the guidance we use it follows EPA
uh FEMA industry best practices or American waterworks association. They have manuals and standards that we make sure for water specific for water utilities that we get in there. Um,
and it also like the RA addresses natural and man-made events, whether it's malevolent or technological and that kind of thing. I'm not going to read you the contents, but just kind of go over how it's
organized. The first two boxes we call the base plan, and that's a really long nine section. It's got introductory up front, then nine sections following it. That is a great preparedness and training tool. It tells you everything
about everything. And then it has appendices that have really specific information, you know, equipment list, generators, you know, where they're at, what's their capacity, what to do in the event of
this, that, and the other. training and exercise goals, recovery phase information and plans gets really into the details of how to remove debris, how to who to call and how to coordinate different things. And then the rapid
response guide itself which has that key list of information. This is the tabletop exercise that we did and um I throughout the whole thing I really would great kudos to Howard and
Shauna and their team. They just knocked it out of the ballpark. We've had workshops and everybody is very engaged and participated and we've got a lot of great feedback. So this is really designed and tailored with them and
without that help we have a hard time putting these together for utilities. But we had fun exercise. Um it was a hurricane with a hazmat release as well and you know we had emergency services
involved. We followed the standard homeland security exercise and evaluation program and that's really good. includes a structured way that all exercises are executed. Um, when you follow these processes and includes an afteraction
report and a review meeting that we went over, well, how can we tweak it? What really worked and how can we even improve on that and what things maybe do we want to move to the rapid guide or what did we really need? That type of thing. Tweaked everything and had the
final issued. So, I know that kind of went through that kind of fast, but are there any questions on why we did this? How we did this?
All the people we tested. >> It's Yeah, it's a very proud of this. It's It's very useful and efficient and effective. Okay, >> thank you. >> No questions. >> We have a motion by Vice Chairman Law,
seconded by Commissioner Adams. Any further discussion? All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you once again. Next item,
county attorney's matters, and that's the coverted road cross maintenance agreement with Burough Beach, Bureau West Business Park. Good afternoon, commissioners. Susan
Proud, deputy county attorney on behalf of Indian River County Attorney's Office. Um, I bring to you a propo a proposed coververted road crossing maintenance agreement. Um, there is a proposed development that is going around um and has a plat that is
awaiting this particular item. The plat is for a business park west in the west side of the county. um this business park. There are two separate pieces of property that are under the same ownership that happened to be divided by a canal, if you will,
that is owned by the county. It was dedicated to the county in the Kilworth State's plat long ago. Um we do maintain that canal and we are responsible for maintaining that canal. However, um there in this proposed develop in this
proposed development, you would see in the attachments that there is um a an aerial there that I had put red on which demonstrates the particular process of property. The blue line that goes in between represents the canal and there's
a little black square just on uh over the little blue line that connects both red parcels. That is the coververted crossing that is being contemplated here. It's actually already in existence and has been for a long time. However, the maintenance has not been clear. Um,
so I want to make sure that we clarify that at this time before we agree and move forward with the finalization of this plat to make sure that we can avoid any future confusion as to whose responsibility it is to pay for said culvert and maintenance. with that. Um,
I was negotiating with their attorney and we have come up with this culverted road crossing and maintenance agreement in which the HOA does in effect agree and take full financial responsibility and maintenance responsibility for this covert and the road crossing. In this
agreement, it also states that, you know, we have the ability to reasonably act should they fail to do so, but only if they were to fail to do so, it would impede us from doing our job and make sure and maintaining the canal. So, that's what this access agreement is is
about. So, it's more of a um preventative measure, if you will. It will be recorded in the public record. So that way that if any time in the future someone has a question as to whose duty or whose obligation it is, it will be well noted it is the obligation
of the HOA of the business park. Do I do any of you? So my recommendation for today would be to go ahead and approve the proposed coververted maintenance and road agreement allow the chairman to execute um so that I can
move forward and have this item recorded. Do any of you have any questions for me? >> One question, Mr. Chair. >> Yes. >> Were the surrounding property owners uh back briefed? >> The surrounding property owner is the
applicant. Um so it is essentially it's north and south and it's only right here and it's literally the applicant as both on the upper and the southern side. So there's no one else around there. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Have a question. Um, is so are they going to build a road? Is something
paved now? What is the current? >> It's actually >> It's funny that you should ask that, Commissioner. It's actually already paved and there already is a covert there. When this plant first came up and was presented to our office, that was one of the first questions I had was that's fantastic, but where did this
come from? How did it get here? And who's maintaining it? And so this agreement in essence is to make sure that in future because it's only gives a private benefit to this private business park um that they should be the ones to take on that maintenance obligation
should this covert or this little roadway fail. >> So there already is traffic. >> We're not we're not adding traffic. >> No, it's it's an internal it's odd because it's essentially it's internal. It just connects the two I'm sorry the
two private parcels that are there that are owned by the applicant. It doesn't connect any external traffic if that makes sense. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Question.
Any member of the public wishes to comment on this action. Mr. Sure. >> We have a motion by Vice Chairman Law, second by myself. Any further discussion? >> All in favor? >> Opposed?
Motion carries unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, councelor. We'll move on to solid waste disposal district item 15B1 which is residential paper shredding event and November 15, 2025.
>> You're speaking. >> No, both of us. Good morning, commissioners of Monument Waste Disposal District. Uh we're just happy to bring you, you know, the paper shredding event. It's coming up and Jill's here to give you some details. >> Hi, Jill Brown. Good afternoon.
recycling specialist. We are once again having our fall paper shredding event. We have it twice a year at Southeast Secure Shredding 3910US1 from 7 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on November 15th. It's a Saturday. All residents are
welcome to come bring three boxes to have them securely shredded right on the property. We usually get five or six hundred cars and last April we got 555 cars and that diverted 7.5 tons of paper from going to the landfill. So it's
always a good thing and there's no cost except advertising which is already budgeted. Waste management handles the paying for the car is $7 a car. So we're just great happy to do >> any questions.
>> Anybody have any questions? Thank you once again. We always look forward to the event and I know many people do. >> Yes, it's a great event. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Bags of shredding material. >> Thank you. >> At this point, is there any member of
the public wish to speak about? Anything that was not on the agenda that they would take the opportunity to be able to speak? This is your opportunity. >> Good afternoon. >> Good afternoon. Lisa Surski, Indian River County resident. I do love to
mention I'm a fifth generation native and I am here to to discuss a few topics that have to do with land use. A few things that were mentioned I believe earlier in the meeting, not necessarily on the agenda of course, but uh I want to bring them up for anybody that gets to maybe
rewatch this later. Um I'm really trying to learn a little bit about a lot um different subjects and um the couple things that I just wanted to reach uh touch on were um SP 180 was
mentioned earlier. Um I really want the the public to try to wrap their heads around it. Um just like I said, I'm trying to kind of understand a lot. Um I I'm aware that there's a lawsuit
uh regarding SB80. There's different cities, counties, um other municipalities that are involved in a lawsuit. Um I want to know, I guess, what Indian River County's stand is on this and just for
the general public again to understand that this violates our state's home rule. it takes away from the things that are important to me and to many people regarding land use. And so I uh if
that's my understanding that other cities and counties are standing up and saying no, we don't want this to to take over what we get to say that happens in our county and they're taking a stand and actually coming together to fight
this. Um, I wish that we could be involved in that. And, uh, just to make it clear, some of the participants in this lawsuit are Orange County, Manatee County, um, some of the municipalities, Destin, Delray Beach, Deltona,
uh, Pompo Beach. So, places that we're all well familiar of, but they're involved in a lawsuit to fight this. And again, I'm very uh I care deeply about what happens to the land in Indian River
County. Um so I just want to again bring that awareness to people that we as a county and our leaders have the ability to stand up, not just say that we don't like it or that we agree that it maybe is a problem or a concern, but we have
the ability to get involved in a in a deeper level. Um, and that's just something again I just want to bring up to the public to learn a little bit about. Um, it's not only in our county, but it's statewide and we have to be aware of things like this. Um, another
subject. Um, you mentioned, I believe, um, House Bill 105. I wasn't here when Representative Brackett was here. I believe he uh proposed that's the word that bill maybe the next day of being here in Indian River County. Um again
that jeopardizes what we get to do in our county with the land use. It's detrimental to what would happen to our small town, if you will, character that we're trying to hold on to. Um again, the development happening. We're talking
about infrastructure and not being able to keep up with what's already currently being developed. That affects us here and we all really need to be I I want to say taking more of a stand against things like this um at a county level
because again many other places are are trying to um challenge that and I want to be more involved in that. Um, one other subject when it comes to land use, something that I really uh I think my question today will be how can
something be be put into place or what do I need to do as a resident here? Um, to oppose large data centers. Um, it's something I want to learn more about. Um, I try to look at the land for
sale. Oh, I have dreams and hopes that I get to own a large, not even own, but protect a large amount of of property someday. And I'm grateful for the ELAP program. I'm trying to get more involved in that. Um, I'm thankful for the
property that was just saved and protected for conservation. That's a beautiful program. Anyhow, um I just want to bring it to again the public's attention that large data centers, they're looking for places to go and by
a quick Google search, you will see that we have 500 a thousand plus acres for sale in Indian River County. I know for one that I don't want to see a large data center here and I think the public needs to just be aware of
what the data centers are. It's for chat, GPT, for AI, for all of this new technology that, you know, there's some benefits to it, but the city of Stewart just turned down a 13.2 billion dollar deal to deny a data center in their
area. I don't know if they're looking to come here, but I I would like to know how I can move forward with putting something into place to say that in River County does not want a large data center here. It increases our electric
bills. It takes away water. It literally can deplete an area as a water source for for people living close to that data center. The noise, not to not to mention the land use, they're bad news. And
again, Stuart, it's just, you know, not too far away from us. If they said no, I'm sure somebody's looking to put that data center somewhere else. And so that's my question today is how can we move forward? How can I move forward to getting something in place that says we
won't allow something large and and destructive like that to be here? So that's my question I guess comment. Yes, but but a question what do I need to do to move forward? I guess would be a policy. I'm not sure. But to say that
we we wouldn't go forward with something like that. How do I bring that to another step? I guess >> do you want me to stab at it? >> You mentioned a couple things. I know Senate Bill 180 is one of the items that
we are keenly aware and watching and uh seeing how it may affect us. We obviously have comprehensive plan amendments that are up in the state right now being reviewed and we understand elsewhere that they're being wholesale rejected and some instances
without a basis just saying well it may potentially harm. So we're going to be very curious when we get our comprehensive plan or what we call work objection recommendation comment report back. House Bill 105 is not really about land use. It's about uh and I'll I'll be
honest with you. I told Representative Brackett I supported it and I would come up notwithstanding my probably my colleagues should grin but uh it's when we when staff impose a local policy that's not adopted by this board and
I'll use driveways as an example. We have this we had a a former public works director had his own idea of what a driveway should be where it should be located how how how wide it should be and we've been enforcing that. problem is it's not adopted by this board. So
therefore that shouldn't be the case. You know, we thought we put that to bed and it just came came back not too long ago. I think we have put it to bed now. But still, there may be other issues where at the end of the day, this is the policymaking group. If staff or or a resident feels a policy should come
forward, they bring it forward and this board deliberates debates it and then makes a decision one way or the other. And whatever decision they make, if they adopt it, then we enforce it. So that bill is probably in my personal opinion, you know, professional opinion is not a
bad bill. Uh in terms of opposing large data center, it really goes back to where they propose to locate and what zoning district it would be in. >> Uh we generally try to when you look at zoning districts to make sure they're compatible with the surrounding areas.
They're not going to like So I mean it just it depends on where they're located. I don't know what the the exact zoning district. It's probably going to be commercial industrial or something like that or light industrial and medium commercial they're typically you know outside of parking uh having worked with
some before I don't know how much of uh the demands are on the system but I mean you traffic coming to and go but they're very but but we would certainly look at that and uh but it be would be in the zoning districts. I can follow up with you to tell you where those zoning
districts may be. I'll get with you after to get your information. >> Well, I would say that uh zoning in my mind, I mean, I understand the the policies and and such on where things are maybe allowed to be built. I
say nowhere. I I don't need to know where the zoning would be acceptable. To me, it's opposing completely. There is no space here in Indian River County for a large data center. that would be detrimental to our electric bills for
water usage. They don't create jobs for people. So, we can talk about that if people are concerned about money and jobs. I am concerned about land and wildlife, water, our future. And I know I'm again
I'm bringing up a subject that again isn't on the agenda, but that's my time. I'm here to say things that are concerning to me. This just happened in Stewart. This isn't like something, you know, that's just random. It has happened very recently and I know that
these centers are looking for places to come and so, you know, I'm proud of the city of Stewart for denying something like that. It was a big big dollar item. But again, >> I'm just bringing things up to the public's attention because I for one
just drive around and I see things I'm like, "Oh, when did that come? Oh, how did how is that allowed to be here? I don't want to just drive out 95 one day and see some data center that I had the ability to come up and just at least say my thoughts and concerns on it. So,
again, I I I would like to know a little bit more on maybe another step I can take to bring this up to um some kind of agenda item, I guess, to to I don't know, have a vote on it. I know that
these things take time and there's there are procedures. Um, but again, that needs to be something in my opinion that that would be voted on. >> I I'm not asking everybody's opinion right this second, but to be voted on to
say it's not a zoning and and uh developing issue. It's a it's a matter of no, we don't have we're not we don't have space for that. We we would oppose it completely. Um, I don't know if that's even allowed in the sense of
zoning and developing. I mean, somebody comes here and they say, "I want to build." And we just say, "Let's find a spot for it." We don't say no. Um, that's what it sounds like, but I would hope that as a community we can say yay
or nay to to what's being um what's being brought up to to be built here. Not just we allow building of any kind. We we get to say yes or no and then find that space for such building or
development. Not we just let anything and everything come here to be built. I mean right that's that's in my mind that's what I'm hearing but it doesn't make sense that so again is there something I can
do next? I like your your um I appreciate your suggestion or um offer, but again, I'm looking for more. How can I get this on something that comes up to a vote to say that we would yes or no approve a
data center if somebody brought that to our planning and zoning department? >> Based on the size, you would say, last thing is you I'll give you my card. Last thing I would say is based on the size you're talking about, it would be required to go through a public review
process. It would not be administrative uh process. >> So if some like if somebody came here saying with that with that potential, it would come up to the public's attention and >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Well, certainly. >> Okay.
>> I mean, I would assume that, but I'm I guess what I'm looking at is like a step ahead of that. like we don't even need to bring it up to the public because it's not appropriate here. So, I guess that's not really the process, but that's okay. >> Well, I I I think what you're looking at
is is to build the wall. I I get it. And again, we are here to protect and do positive work for the citizens. >> But as we talked earlier and you you
also cited to it uh with the Senate bill and the direction now and and hearing from the county administrator that much of the work that we did >> is in jeopardy, in compromise. >> Yeah. Uh and and again you have state
prohibitions that have eliminated that. I coined it earlier when we talked about having the the joint meeting uh that we had with PNZ. Um again that was at best and I said it
last night the meeting uh it wasformational purposes. >> Yes. again to know the wants, the needs, the commitment, the interest of the boards, the public, and what the future
is for the county. >> Mhm. >> However, with what's in Tallahassee, what has been decided by many in a broadscale area, uh, and again, these are representatives from the entire
state, >> right? Uh we have been hit with some serious grave concerns of our ability to continue with our home rule home rule philosophy
in in pres preserving this county. >> Yes, I understand. I think that's where my mind is going with the different things I mentioned that if we don't say something now >> and and get that in place is one are these bills going to take over that decision and next thing you know we just
got data centers left and right because we didn't say anything in advance I don't know if that even works but >> it I'm sorry I didn't >> no I don't know if it it would work that way but that's I guess what I my my request or my ask is is there anything I can do to bring this up is that even the
possibility for a vote to take place. Um >> we we can meet you go over the process. Um yes because >> we will talk further but there's at this juncture for what has happened in the
northern part of the state >> and and uh again uh with the actions that have taken place our home rule versatility has been somewhat hampered. >> So
>> and so there's nothing that the board can do >> to change that. Again, we can't provide for more restrictive covenants on what we would allow and not allow. Uh, and it's not concern about threat of
lawsuit. It's concern about approvability. We we could not go in that direction >> at this point. >> Okay. >> I think I think I understand. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Anyone else
at this juncture? The meeting is journed. Thank you.