Good morning. The Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025 regular board of 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 our armed forces. We'll then have the uh
invocation by none other than our supervisor elections, Leslie Swan, and our county attorney, Jennifer Schuler, will lead us in the pledge. Please rise. [Music] Heavenly Father, we come before you
today with thankful hearts for the blessing of living in this wonderful community and for the privilege of serving the people of our county. We ask for your guidance and wisdom as these commissioners consider the matters that impact our community. We acknowledge
that our perspectives may differ and that the topics before us may be difficult. Grant each person here patience and humility. Give us listening hearts and discerning minds through clarity of thought, fairness of judgment, and a spirit of collaboration.
May their decisions honor the trust placed in them by the people they represent. Bless our county, its residents, and all those who work each day to make Indian River County a better, safer, and stronger place to
live. May our decisions today be respectful and productive, and may the outcome of this meeting serve the common good. Bless our first responders and those serving in the military who keep our community and our country safe. We
ask these things in your holy name. Amen. Amen. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all. >> At this time, are there any uh additions, deletions to the agenda? uh staff has uh requested that the
battalion chief's agreement uh be placed on the agenda and uh I would assume that we would like to put that over uh county administrator or >> 12. Mr. Chairman >> 12.
Thank you. Is there anything else? >> Move to approve as amended. We have a motion by Commissioner Moore, seconded by by Commissioner Adams. Anything further? All in favor? >> I
>> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. With that, uh, next item is proclamations. We have a proclamation for 2011, uh, September as suicide awareness month. It's a proclamation
that we truly wish we did not have to deliver, but uh talking about it gets resolution gets the help where it's needed. So, we do need to talk about it. >> On behalf of 211, I just >> by way of proclamation,
>> allow me to deliver the proclamation and we most certainly look forward to uh some presentation. Thank you. The proclamation as follows. 211 proclaims September as suicide awareness
month. Whereas it is recognized that suicide deaths have been on the increase in communities across the nation and throughout Florida. Whereas last year, our dedicated and highly trained staff responded to nearly 120,000
requests for help throughout the 5count area. And of these, close to 48,000 people expressed mental health and substance use concerns with close to 4,000 people requesting help with
suicide crisis. Whereas the lingering health and economic challenges and the continuing housing crisis have taken their toll on the mental health and the increases of suicidal ideiation
and deaths and substance use, household violence, food insecurity and more. Whereas there is a call for public health response to increase suicide intervention and prevention efforts and
increase community level of efforts and strategies. Whereas 211 is the central access point providing individuals and families further guidance and their crisis support via telephone, text,
chat, email and anytime day of night. and it serves as the regional responder for the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. Whereas 211's highly trained and caring
staff work 24 hours a day saving lives, deescalating and stabilizing the people in mental health or suicide crisis and guiding people through the struggling with substance use and disorder to
connect with the help that they need. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of County Commissioners of In River County, Florida, that we urge all citizens to be aware of the only telephone number they need to know to
access the information for more than 1,600 agency providers with wide ranging programs and services throughout our area, including food assistance, mental health care, health clinics, growth and
develop- Velment screenings, special needs resources, crisis intervention for elders, daily check-ins and calls for isolated citizens who caregivers support and veteran services and more. This is
duly adopted the 23rd day of September, 2025 and signed by all five county commissioners. Good morning. >> Good morning. I just I'm here on behalf of 211 to thank you all for your continued support
of our mission. Uh we will continue to provide the muchneeded services to Indian River County. >> Thank you. >> So you have a tremendous call for service and we're handling all of these counties. Is there a a call for
volunteers uh to work the phones and to work with the program? We do have some volunteers, but the the people who work the phones are trained um and paid.
Um but you know, we do use volunteers. The the board is very active and pursuing uh fundraising and anything to help the the the 211. Well, I could ask uh what the telephone
number would be if somebody wanted to volunteer, but I guess they can utilize 211. >> Absolutely. That's it. >> Well, thank you for all you do. >> All right. Thank you all. [Applause]
>> I have to give it to someone, right? You're doing fine. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. That's yours. >> Next, we'll have a presentation of proclamation and recognition of fire
prevention week, uh, October for 5 through 11. And we will have none other than uh former captain commissioner Joeman. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And again, it's my pleasure to read this. Every year in
October is a always been a big time for the fire department and fire prevention. between going to schools and doing fire prevention tours and answering fire prevention questions. It's always a it's always a busy month between that and and
Christmas time with Christmas trees. So that'll that'll start again also. But it's again it's my pleasure to read this proclamation on behalf of any river county fire rescue and the fire prevention division of the organization. This is a proclamation in recognition of
fire prevention week October 5th through the 11th 2025. Whereas any river county board of county commissioners is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living in and visiting any river county.
And whereas fire remains a serious public safety concern both locally and nationally and the presence of lithium ion batteries and many household devices introduces fire risk. And whereas most
of the electronics used in homes daily include smartphone tablets, laptops, power tools, ebikes, ecooters, and toys are powered by lithium ion batteries which if misused, damaged or improperly
charged, can overheat, start a fire, or explode. And whereas residents should follow three key calls to action. Buy only listed products, charge batteries safely, and recycle them responsibly to
prevent battery related fires. And whereas the proper disposal and recycling of lithium ion batteries help prevent environmental hazards and reduce fire risk in the home
and community. And whereas the 2025 fire prevention week theme, charge into fire safety, lithium ion batteries in your home serves to remind us of the importance of using charging and recycling lithium ion batteries safely
to reduce the risk of fires in homes and communities. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the board of county commissioners of any river county, Florida, we hereby proclaim October 5th through the 11th, 2025 as fire
prevention week throughout the state. And we urge all people in any river county to make sure their homes have working smoke alarms and to support the many public safety activities and efforts of Indian River County Fire
Rescue. adopted 23rd day of September, 2025 and signed by all five county commissioners. And again, I want to personally thank I know each of you, some of you much better than others, some of us have been together a very
long time, but uh I appreciate everything y'all do every day and uh community does also. So, thanks for all you do. Richard, >> good morning. County Commissioners, County Administrator, and County Attorney. On behalf of Inter County Fire
Rescue, Fire Rentry Bureau, and Director Johnson, I'd like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the county commissioners for issuing this proclamation recognizing fire prevention week. Your continued support plays a vital role in helping us raise awareness
about fire safety and preventing through our community. This proclamation not only highlights an importance of public education and preparedness, but also strengthens our efforts to protect lives and property. We are grateful for your partnership and commitment to the safety
of the well-being of our residents and thank you again for standing with us in promoting fire prevention and and repair readiness. Thank you. I do want to add a couple quick things. Uh you're talking about to the proclamation charging char. You always
want to charge on a hard surface. When the item is fully charged, we should you should remove it in from the plugs. It could cause a fire. The one of the big thing is use ull listed, ETL list, or CSA listed. So when you buy a device that has lithium batteries, do a little
research and see where the batteries are have been tested. Make sure they're safe. Sometimes you'll get some barriers in that aren't tested to a a representative a lab and that can cause a hazire hazard. And recycling is important on those. There's a website you can go to. It's call to cycle.org
and it'll tell you a safe place to take your lithium batteries for uh disposal. We have seen a uptick in lithium battery fires in our community. So, we really want to promote the safety charging, buying safe batteries, and disposing them safely. Once again, thank you on behalf of the fire department and chief
and director Johnson. Thank you. Thank you. Mitch, you wanted to call us. Thank you. She's quick. Next item is a uh proclamation in regards to hunger action month and
this will be presented by vice chairman law. >> Good morning, Mr. Chair. It's an honor and a pleasure to uh proclaim and recognizing Hunger Action Month. >> Welcome. Whereas hunger and poverty
remain issues of grave concern United States in the state of Florida and of the Treasure Coast with 25 I'm sorry 250,000 children, adults, seniors, and veterans experience experiencing food insecurity on a weekly basis. Whereas Indian River
County is committed to taking steps to raise awareness about the need of hunger in every part of the county, provide additional resources that the citizens of Indian River County need. And whereas Indian River County is committed to working with the Treasure Coast Food
Bank, mobilizing uh people about the role of importance of food banks and other hunger relief organizations in assessing hunger and bringing attention uh to the need to devote more resources and attention to our hunger issues.
Whereas food banks and hunger relief organizations across the country, including the Treasure Coast Food Bank uh coordinated hunger action day on September 9th, 2025, and will continue to host numerous events throughout the
month of September to shed light on this important issue and encourage involvement in efforts to end hunger in our local community. Now there now therefore be it proclaimed by the board of county commissioners of Indian River
County, Florida that September 2025 is recognized as hunger action month in Indian River County inspiring our citizens to come together raise their voices and stand united against hunger adopted Mr. Chair this 23rd day of
September and signed by all five county commissioners. Welcome. >> Thank you. Um, good morning and my name is Karen Ielo on behalf of Treasure Coast Food Bank. Um, and we just wanted to say thank you on behalf of our president and CEO Judy Cruz. Um, the dedicated staff, volunteers, partners,
and the board of directors. And thank you for proclaiming September as hunger action month. Treasure Coast Food Bank provides millions of meals to our neighbors facing food insecurity each year through partnerships with 300 plus um, agency partners, strong collaborations, and a full roster of direct service programs in Indian River,
St. Lucy, Martin and Okachchobee counties. Together with our community, we are not only working to solve the immediate problem of hunger, but we are building solutions to create a stronger and more resilient Treasure Coast for generations to come. As part of our month-long campaign, um Treasure Coast
Food Bank hosted our Outrun hunger this past weekend. We have also been um doing a month-long campaign called Light Up Orange um as orange is the color of hunger relief and represents encouragement and determination. And for more information on ways to get involved, please visit our website at
stophunger.org. Thank you again for your continued support. Hunger doesn't stand a chance when our community comes together. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you once again. >> Well, that concludes uh proclamations,
but I believe we have a presentation uh by Calvin and uh I think he brought Ben with him. Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Good morning everyone. Um, my name is Ben. I'm the vice president of tourism
and marketing with Visit Indian River County. Um, the official tourism office for all of Visit Indian River County. And this is Christa Hoy, our tourism communications manager and our visit Indian River County mascot. Um, Calvin. Um, so a few weeks ago, um, Christa and
I attended the governor's conference on tourism presented by Visit Florida. Um, the governor was actually in attendance this year. Um, and there was part of it was an awards ceremony. Um, and last this time last year that I was here, uh, Visit Indian County took home first
place in website design. and then best of show overall in marketing. Um and then this year we were awarded two more awards. Um first place for specialty marketing um for our pause some trips to Indian River County campaign and then second place in television advertising.
Um and I do want to show you those because these campaigns were not seen locally um unless you do follow us on social media. So, make sure you're following us at Visit Indian River and then you can always make sure that you're seeing Calvin's content. Um, but I want to show you these and how they
performed and why we won. Explains to you kind of why we won. Um, when we submit these, we don't know, you know, if we're going to win. Um, we don't know what place we're going to get. Um, we are just submitting all the material that we did for the campaign. So, I'm
going to give you a kind of quick highle overview here. Um, so when we submit, we have to create a whole deck and slide and results and kind of how we planned everything. Um, so we are always in tourism, you're always seeking new ways to do things.
Um, and so one of those we found that people are traveling with their pets. People do not leave their pets. Um, and what better way um, to do a campaign than to do a dog selfie campaign. Um, so we talked about, you know, and
pinpointed that booming pet market that we have, how people are traveling with their pets, how more and more places now are becoming pet friendly. Um, so we did different sort of tactics. Um, one of those was taking Amazon's party purchase data. So people that would purchase dog
products or dog toys, dog food or whatnot within Amazon, then we would then serve them an ad about Indian River County featuring Calvin Um, and then on top of the different ads and things that we did, um, that
included a fulllength television style series video, Places for Pause, which then was edited down into 13 30 or 50 second commercials for Meta Television, connected TV, whatever the case may be. Um, social media type um, ads, new pet
stickers, and those that is actually Calvin in those stickers created as an animated form. So, those are pictures of him from the campaign and created in that style. Um, and then in our guide this year, we devoted a full page to traveling with your pet and what kind of tips that you should do, where they're
allowed, where they're not allowed, um, safety to travel with your pet. Here's some example of the ads that were run on Indian River County. Um, I do want to point out that the first one with him and I performed the best, so just
saying. Um, and then we have to talk about results, right? Because they want to know how it performed. It can be really great. It can look really good, but then they want to know how it performed. So, you'll see here that it performed extremely well. Um, 6,000 in pet friendly landing page. So, on our
website, a 6,000% increase to that blog page. And I will say Ka writes all of our blogs, designs all of them. Krista runs all of our social media. She's phenomenal. Um, uh, 6.87 87 click-through rate on the video. So, they've watched that video and now they've clicked through it into our
website. Um, the dog selfie carousel exceeded the benchmark by 226%. Um, so the ads that ran with him taking selfies, as you can see down there, um, performed the best. And he really did, I mean, there's no staging in that at all.
I mean, I put the sunglasses on him, Christa held his hand, took the photo, that was it. Um, and we took him to all different kind of iconic places. the Halloween ad we did. We went up to Felsmere and did different um advertisement up there. We did a Christmas ad. We did a Valentine's Day
ad. All kinds of stuff. So that's Calvin. And then our next one was television advertisement. Um so with this, this is now this is last year's commercial. When I was here, this uh I showed you our new commercial why in River County. This commercial we
run for is one for is our this is commercial. Um, and we started to use this to elevate our brand, our awareness, um, show people that is a relaxed lifestyle. It's an ideal getaway. And it was launched during
National Travel Week of May 2024. Um, and our newest one, why was launched in National Travel and Tourism Week of May 2025. This commercial is called This is Indian River County. Our newest commercial is called Why Indian River County. So you put the two campaigns together. It's
called this is why Indian River County. Um and then how did we implement that with a creative branding approach um high style video um using different locations that are not just your beach um highlighting all those places to go within Indian River County. Um Vola
Media Nick Barola completed this for us and she's phenomenal at his work. And then the results for this obviously mobile was the biggest. So when we delivered this campaign um and TV advertisement across mobile um we saw 83% of all responses came from there and
then during its run it had a 98.77 completion rate which means people completely watched it all the way through. Um and when we did this commercial we obviously have it in different formats. We have a 15-second 30 second a 90 second voice over without
voice over. We do it in vertical. Um, all kinds of different versions depending on where it's running. And then here, I want to show you the full length commercial. Oh, I think you might have to click on it, Kim, for me.
No, no, maybe not. Oh, I do. Oh, sorry. Let Calvin do it. >> Yeah, he'll probably get it right. >> No, on the image. If you click on the image should come up with a video. No. Okay,
that's okay. I did show it to you last year. So, if you remember it from last year. um and it is on our website. Um that video is also broken up into different formats within um on our website as well. So again um this year we received first place for that pet friendly campaign and then second place
in television advertising. And I will say television advertising is huge. Um you know that's places like Miami, um Amelia Island, Space Coast, Daytona, all of those areas. Um so between Krista and I um we've been here two years and five
months and with our guide actually last year we won with the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals. So underneath Krista and I in two years and five months we have five awards um and the first time for visiting county. So
and thanks to this one we have another first place. Um so we're we're very proud of what we do. Um, you know, if it weren't for us, people wouldn't be coming here, um, tourism is extremely important. It helps to support your local businesses. People are not just coming to the beaches. They're coming
all over. Um, and if it weren't for what we do, you wouldn't have places to be able to go or places to visit because us as locals, our favorite restaurants would be closed um because they rely on tourism. So, it's important that we have it. It's important that people support
it. Um, and people are seeing us. Um, we go to these conferences now and they're like, "Oh, you're the visit Indian River team." Um, or how's Calvin? I mean, people know who he is now. Um, so that's that's a pretty big deal. We were at a conference in May and it was his birthday in May and I had gotten up and we presented and I said, you know, our
mascot today is his birthday and I'm missing it. And the whole conference said Calvin and they all sang happy birthday to him. So that means that people are seeing our ads, they're noticing who we are. Um, connection >> visit Indian River County has become much larger. Um it's a it's a large
thing that we do. Um it's a lot that we do for two people. Um and it's important to recognize what we do. So it is being recognized. Um and we're just proud of the work that we do. So thank you very much.
>> Thank you. >> And we do have stickers for all of you. So you do get >> you mentioned the stickers um at the tourism presentation. uh you bestowed me with a sticker. I placed it on the vehicle and you'd be amazed at how many
people want to see my dog. >> But my dog, they won't see. He's not a visiting type. He's not a touring type. He's a homebody. >> Okay. >> But uh they all want to see Calvin. >> Yes. >> So uh the stick of works a little 2 and
1/2 by 2 and 1/2. It's not bold, >> but it gets the eye. Really appreciate it. Was this Calvin's idea or? >> No, it was. So, we created this long form places for paws video in our uncovering Indian River series. And that
was in February of 2024. And that was a video of Calvin and I going to different pet friendly places and and we did it in television style. So, it was a full 20-minute video. And that video was so successful that we said, "Well, let's break this down into smaller pieces and highlight even more
areas, do even more photos." um we just kind of grew it from one thing. It just kind of grows and grows and grows. Um and we're still working on new stuff, you know, this year coming up. So, um those stickers are for sale, too. So, we do have them at the chamber office. They're on our website. Visit any county
has a full merchandise store now as well that we'll be adding more to. Um so, they are for sale and available. So, everybody can have a Calvin sticker. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Everybody should have a Calvin sticker. >> Thank you so much. We appreciate it. And uh you you make a difference.
>> Thank you. Thank you, >> Mr. Chairman. I didn't get I didn't get any credit for getting Calvin ready to come here today. >> Well, giving him his bath, combing him, making him look good. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, he did. >> Royalty. So, >> I was going to ask if if Calvin has this
gone to his head like any star or is he still just the same down? >> Yeah. I mean, he's like he is >> and he knows when he's taking pictures, like when we take pictures and when Christa is around, he will put out his hand to her and it's just like, "Okay, ready? You can take my picture now." So,
yeah. Yeah. Um, and he's been in shows. I mean, I do a lot of theater as well, so he's been in two stage productions as well. So, um, he's he's a superstar. >> Would Calvin like a a picture here before the commission? >> Sure. Yeah, we'll get his picture. So,
yeah. So, thank you. >> Put him up somewhere. Well, he's a little heavy. >> Don't tell him that. >> I know. >> Huh? >> I don't know how we're going to get Calvin in the shot.
>> You You want to bring Calvin up here? >> Thank you. >> This week? Yeah. Whatever you want. >> No pressure. >> Cal. Got it. [Applause]
>> Thank you, team. >> I got one for the other side of the car. >> All right. Labrador. >> Well, we have uh no minutes to approve uh orformational items, but this is the
time if we wish to have public comment. If anyone wants to speak on anything on the agenda with the exception of the uh public hearings, now is your opportunity. if you don't feel you're going to be here later on. Otherwise,
please stay. We enjoy your company. >> Yes, ma'am. Do you have a question? >> Yes. Are you allowed to speak on anything on the agenda at all or do we have to wait for another time? >> You can you can speak on any item that's on the agenda now if you don't
anticipate being here later. Otherwise, you have an opportunity during the actual agenda item to be able to speak upon it with the exception of public hearings. Having given ample opportunity and seeing none, we'll move forward to the
consent agenda and I would like to uh pull and discuss. Um item 9 a alpha. Is there anything else on the agenda that anyone wishes to pull for further discussion?
>> Approve was second. Bless you. We have a motion by vice chairman law seconded by myself. Any further discussion? All in favor? Opposed?
Motion carries unanimously. Item 9 A alpha was approval of changes for the uh procurement policies and procedures uh manual. Uh I discussed that with the uh county administrator
and there is a change in uh authority and obligation and I think ultimately the authority falls within the uh county administrator. So, I'd
like to see if we could uh add one more sentence to that that uh the county administrator will be notified within one to three days. This way you have an opportunity to make any adjustments,
changes, call back or uh you are ultimately notified of any inaction that this county is taking. uh because the level increases to $100,000 uh authority to the office of management
and budget. Uh and I and I I believe that if that's the case that uh you should be ultimately uh accountable, responsible, and have the authority That's sidebar.
>> That's what >> you're allowed. We can >> Yeah. So staff's not opposed to the three within 3 days notice of or 3 days notice of the purchase of notifying the county administrator. >> Thank you.
So, we'll we'll add that verbage to that the addition. >> Where do you want that added in? Um um and Julian when it says the right before it gives the county administrator
the authority uh on the >> 200,000 uh that uh the office of management budget will have uh the the authority u and the county administrator will be
notified within 3 days. >> Would that be appropriate for 2 section 2.4 for capital item purchases. You see the last sentence, request for unbudgeted capital up to 100,000 must be accompanied by written approval of the budget director and purchase over 100,000 of the administrator. But then
also you could say those other purchases uh unbudgeted capital would be uh notify the county administrator within three business days. >> That's correct, sir. So after written approval of the budget director before
the comma and include notification to county administrator within three to one to three business days >> up to three business days that works. >> Is that where it would be in? I just want to be clear >> because it already requires written
approval of the county administrator >> purchases over 100,000 >> over 100,000 >> right >> but and it's no reflection to our purchasing agent or the office of management budget I just uh felt compelled because the ultimate authority
is falls within the hands of the county administrator and uh you'll ultimately be held accountable. >> So you just want to clarify that all purchases whether up to or over are notified. >> That's right. They'll have a little
tickler on each action and say call John. Let them know. >> Sure. >> Just wanted on record that the county administrator will be notified. Communication is important. Transparency is important. >> Yeah. So the addition would be within
three days of the purchase notice will be provided to the county administrator within three will be provided to the county administrator. >> Yes. Okay. >> We can just add that sentence at the end. >> Perfect. >> Thank you. >> I can't make a motion approval.
>> Motion to approve. We have a motion by Vice Chairman Laws, seconded by Commissioner Joe Herman. Anything further? All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries unanimously.
Thank you. That was nice presentation too. Now move on. His consent agenda has been fully approved. And now we'll move on to constitutional offices and governmental
agencies. The inner River County Sheriff's Office fiscal year 2025 auction proceeds. It's all attached. Um I don't see the sheriff here. Um this is a request by
the sheriff. Uh he stated in the letter that uh as customary uh we will have uh uh be able to have the opportunity requesting opportunity to purchase like items.
Um, I just want to say well in the absence of the sheriff that um this has been customary and I believe that it would be appropriate if the sheriff is uh stating that uh these are uh like
items that uh he should let us know. >> Move to approve. >> Second. We have a motion by Commissioner Mo, seconded by myself. All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries unanimously.
In County Sheriff's uh fiscal year 2025 offender fees reserve account. I don't see the sheriff here. Any representative? >> Mr. Chair, I'll move approval. Second. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Vice Chairman Lure,
seconded by myself. Any further discussion? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Move on to public items. Uh 11 A1.
You like to move forward or you want to take a brief break before we start? >> Yes. >> All right. Uh we're going to take a uh a brief recess This meeting will now be called back to order and we'll begin with item 11 A1 which is
a public hearing for changes to the chapter 105 Indian River County Code for the purchasing procedures. This is legislative in nature. Good morning. Now you have your opportunity for presentation. >> Good morning. Good morning. I'm Jennifer Hyde. I'm the county procurement
manager. And uh today we're going to discuss uh proposed changes to chapter 105 the Indian River County code which pertains to purchasing. Um it was last updated in 2019. On August 19th, 2025, the board
did um approve some recommended changes uh that were we presented. Uh so today, we're here for you to consider the draft ordinance repealing the current chapter 105 and replacing it with a reordered and streamlined chapter 105. Uh the legal notice for this meeting did appear
on September 12th, 2025. Um a lot of the changes were structural. We moved uh sections around just so it flowed a little bit better. So this table just kind of shows what was what was the previous location and what the revised location is.
Um there were some content changes within proposed within the the code. Uh first is adding the authority level of the procurement manager within the code. Typic previously, it's just been delegated within the procurement manual, but in an effort to ensure all of our policies are included in the code and
our procedures are in the manual, we wanted to add that level of authority here in uh paragraph 10501c. Um, and this just provides us a clear structured level of purchasing authority within the code. Another content change is the uh authority of the county administrator.
We're proposing a threshold increase from $75,000 to $200,000 with the goals of shortening delivery time to acquire uh lower risk goods and services and offer more opportunity to local small and disadvantaged businesses.
Uh one section of pro of content that was removed is uh the technical bid procedures uh public notice, bid security, bid acceptance, award of bid and the bonds. Those are all already present in the purchasing manual. So
again, this is uh to help us ensure that we have the policy in the code and then the procedures in the manual. Um one additional content change is the disclosure of relationships. We're making it clear that any employee or county commissioner that owns a business needs to disclose that if they're
attempting to do business with the county. And that way uh for those specific cases, we would have to say no because statute does prohibit employees uh from selling goods, services, or real estate to the agency that they were employed by. So we're just trying to make sure that's clear to everyone.
Um in on August 19th, we talked about several different thresholds. So this is just an overview of of what our thresholds will be effective October 1st, both with the procurement manual changes and the requested changes to code. Um, the two that we're discussing
today are the $10,000 to $100,000 uh procurement managers authority and then the $100,000 to $200,000 county administrators authority. Um, staff's recommendations today are for the board to open the public hearing related to the draft ordinance that's been prepared and by the county
attorney, receive public comment, close the public hearing, and we're asking the board to adopt the draft ordinance. >> Thank you, M. Are there any questions of beside before we go forward? Seeing none, I'll now open up the public
hearing. If anybody wishes to comment on the procedure, uh, please find yourself at the podium. Get your name and address for the record. No one coming forward and having given ample opportunity, we'll now close the
public hearing. commissioners. Um I I'll start off with fine work. Agree with every bit of the change with the exception of the elevation of the
$200,000 authority. It's no reflection. I just did not support it going into it. And ultimately, as chairman, uh if this passes, I will have to sign it. So, uh, with that, I just want to say for the
record, you did a wonderful job, but but for that one item, I can't support. >> Is there anyone else? >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> We have a motion by Commissioner Moss,
seconded by Commissioner Adams. Any further discussion? All in favor? I >> opposed. I motion passes 4 to one with myself consenting. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Next item is uh item 11 A2 which is an ordinance amending chapter 400 of the In River County Code entitled Chapter 400 Regulations of Contractors. >> Hello and good morning commissioners. Scott McAdam, Bill Nicial,
>> um, building facility services department. Glad to be here. Um, what staff has before you this morning, like you said, is proposed amendments to chapter 400 for regulating of contractors. Uh, what I'm going to do is provide some background and then I'm
going to um also summarize the proposed amendments and then uh give a recommendation and then also answer any questions that you have. So the background is this is a state preeemption of local occupational licenses starting in 2021.
2021 House Bill 735 effective July 1st of 2021 preempted local licensing including a provision known as substantially correspond and that's what we're going to talk about a lot is a substantially correspond. At that point in time, some local license categories
were indicated that they could no longer be licensed locally, and those went away right away back in 2021. And those are such things as painting, flooring, cabentry, and there's a list of other uh smaller groups of uh uh contracting
activities. 2023 House Bill 1383 provided a one-year extension to expire July 1st, 2024 and created some additional state specially contractor categories. And this was a major concern of the construction industry.
And then 2024, Senate Bill 1142 provided an additional one-year extension. And this allowed local license contractors to apply to the state to obtain a state license. sort of the grandfathering concept another concern of from the
industry. So it's important to note that the preeemption is talking about all the local licensing categories. There are no changes to the state categories except that they added a number of um specialty contractor categories but those are
state. Um, the building division desires to regulate construction activities, verify construction companies, protect licensed contractors, owners, and citizens. Staff heard from multiple contractors that have been in business for many years, some 30, 40 years or
more, and they do not want a state license, and they do not want to find a new qualifier uh to qualify their company, and then they also don't want to go out of business. So, we heard a lot of those concerns. Um staff held multiple meetings with other Treasure
Coast jurisdictions with the intent to be as consistent as possible regarding these new regulations. Treasure Coast Builders Association was instrumental in these meetings also for their input and concerns. Uh our attorney's office was also involved.
The results of these meetings and applying the substantially corresponding provision, it was determined that the best approach to be consistent was to create married local license categories matching the state new and existing specially contractor categories with the
same category name and the same scope of work and place current locally licensed contractors that substantially correspond to a state specially category in that new locally specially contract a category. So, current local license
contractors that do not substantially correspond to any of the state categories will no longer require a local license. Most of these trades will be designated as exempt trades. These trades are still required to apply for and obtain permits similar to an owner
builder permitting process. Um, so chapter 400 proposed amendments. The amendments address updates required for the state preeemption mandates, address handling of current local licensing following Florida statutes, the
inclusion of exempt trades categories, the replacement of the old appendix A list of contractors with a new list following the state categories, new local license categories, and exempt trades. Updates are also needed due to
chapter 400 not being updated since early 1990s. Items such as the building department correct name as building division. Outdated items now covered by the Florida building code. Outdated types of contractor designations such as master
electrician and plumber to certified to registered electrician or plumber and a and various other minor edits and corrections. So staff is recommending that after the public hearing the board vote to approve these proposed amendments. Thank you.
>> Thank you Mr. Any questions board? I just want to say that uh that this was in conjunction with uh all the other jurisdictions as you stated and
it'll provide for uh more consistency, viability, and the ability to be able to work within the county without having to have a hurdle about a license. >> That's true.
everything is fair and equal across the board and I think it'll en in encourage uh more diversity into the contracting as well. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Well, we will open up the public hearing. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. I'm Deb Frasier with the Treasure Coast Builders Association. Uh I am here to support what your building division is proposing. I I did attend
all the meetings and a big thank you to Scott for inviting me to those meetings. We did meet with all of the other jurisdictions in the area. Uh there was a general consensus that many of them are going to follow the same pattern. So, and and one thing Scott didn't
mention is when this originally happened, the reason the the um original date kept kept getting moved was the fact that the legislature did these 13 new specialty licenses and then handed it off to DBPR and said, "Here you go."
And so, we were actually in a meeting down in West Palm Beach with DBPR and their attorney was on Zoom and a lot of the questions that were being asked their attorney still didn't know the answers to. and that was in August. And so, um, there's been a lot of confusion.
And I think what our building, uh, departments in the community have looked at and are trying to, um, put into effect will make it a lot clearer and that the contractors and everyone will
understand what they have to do now because there's even still confusion within DBPR. So, Treasure Coast Builders Association is supporting what these building departments are doing and we appreciate all the work that they have put in and Treasure Coast Builders Association appreciates being invited to
those meetings. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Seeing no one coming forward and at this time we've given ample opportunity. We'll now close the public hearing. >> Commissioners, m Mr. Chair, can I just
take a point for I just want to thank Scott and his team for all the hard work that they've done and for their commitment to engage our stakeholders. We certainly appreciate all your efforts. Thank you. >> You know, often times uh yes uh often
times uh there were some complications and we met uh many with many folks who had missed the mark in order to perform work whether they come from the county or out of county uh not having the
proper tools to be able to perform the work in the county. And I believe ultimately the citizens were uh shortened uh with the ability to have the best price and the best work uh by the people that they wanted to have to
work in in the environment. So I I think this is a big win. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I'd like to say thank you also. I was impressed by how comprehensive uh the listing was. I mean, I don't I can't imagine you left a single stone
unturned. I mean, that was quite incredible. Thank you for that. >> Make a motion to approve. >> Second. Ready to have a motion by Commissioner Herman, seconded by myself. Any further discussion? All in favor?
>> Opposed? Motion carries unanimously. That's a win. Next item is uh item 11 A3. Um, and this item is uh on the agenda is a request for a special exception for the
use and site plan approval for a change for the use from an adult congregate living center facility to residential treatment center located at 6410 Old Dixie Highway. This
is a quasa judicial proceeding. The parties of the proceeding are Indie River County and Treasure Coast Detox LLC. The applicant at this time I need to ask all the county commissioners to disclose any
expporte communications site visits or independent investigations. We'll begin with the left. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um I had a phone call from Mr. Scott Parker who is associated with this project and he had um just general questions about the
planning and zoning uh commission and so I answered those questions and also mentioned to him that if I were applying for something I would plan to actually be there that usually you know that's the procedure the applicant often is there. Um I didn't I don't know what he
did. I didn't watch the video because that was the same night that they were doing the comprehensive plan. Thank you again uh for that. Uh and that went for hours. I did watch that section of the video. I did not watch the section of the video having to do with this. Nor
did I visit the site and nor do I have any uh independent investigations. >> No, >> that was a little shorter. uh none that I'm aware of uh other than the
fact that in my my prior career I uh very familiar with the site and spent a lot of time there and passed there but no conversations. >> None none that I'm aware of. I too used to be Dixie Oak.
>> Yeah. >> Okay. And at this time, I want to confirm that all commissioners have an open mind and are able to base their decisions on the evidence presented and applicable law. >> Canon will and will. >> Can and will. >> Can and well.
>> Can and will. >> At this time, we will uh then open up the public hearing. Madame clerk, will you do the honors of swearing in anyone that wishes to speak during this
proceeding or anticipate speaking during the proceeding? >> Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, >> and nothing truth? >> Thank you. Now it's the opportunity for staff to make that presentation.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Brandon Craig will be presenting the item. >> All right. Good morning, chair and members of the board. Before you today is the Treasure Coast Detox Special Exception use. The property is located between US Highway 1 and Old Dixie Highway directly north of 65th Street,
approximately 500 ft from the intersection of Old Dixie and 65th. property is also zoned CL limited commercial. On screen is an aerial of the site as you can see there's existing building, there's existing parking and existing storm water pond and also to the north,
east and south is mostly heavily wooded areas. And then also to the west is old Dixie Highway, the FEC railroad and then also some environmental lands of one of the residential plan developments uh directly west.
So for the site plan, um this is currently a 29 bed um adult congregate living facility. Um the applicant proposes to still maintain 29 beds um but it's going to become a detox facility. Uh the only changes, physical
changes to the site are four uh parking spaces that are required to um satisfy the special exception criteria for this change of use and then also a minor change to the storm water pond to accommodate those four parking spaces. Traffic circulation plan calls for two
existing full access driveways onto Old Dixie Highway. Again, the storm water plan just calls for a slight minor modification to the existing storm water pond to account for the four um impervious parking spaces. Landscape plan is going to be beefed up
to a 20ft type A landscape buffer. Currently uh on site the buffer is a little sparse. So this will bring it up to the standards um for the 971 criteria that is required for detox facilities. Uh no improvements are proposed or
required for this project except for the parking lot and storm water area extensions and then also that landscape buffer um ex um enhancement. Uh residential treatment centers in the limited commercial zoning district must adhere to the specific land use criteria
in section 971.28 28 subsection 6 of the county's land devel development regulations. The proposed plans comply with all seven of the criteria that are listed in the code section for such items and are detailed in the staff report. These items are limited to the interior living space, the minimum
parking standards, the number of residents, and the facility's location. PZC at their meeting on August 28th, 2025 voted 7 to zero to recommend that the Borda County Commission grant special exception approval for the Treasure Coast Detox Facility with the
conditions recommended by staff. Staff recommends that the Borda County Commission grant special exception use approval for the Treasure Coast Detox Facility with conditions in the staff report. These conditions are limited to the installation of the required 20ft type A landscape buffer with screening along Old Dixie Highway and the
construction of all other improvements indicated on the site plan, which would be the four additional parking spaces and the minor modification to the storm water pond. I'm available for any questions you may have. >> Thank you.
>> Are there any questions of staff? Yes, this is this is not I mean this is a this is a rehab facility. It's it's closed. It's not something people just come and go as they want or anything like that. Is that is that correct?
>> Mr. Chair, for the record, Ryan Sweeney, acting planning development services director. Uh yes, Commissioner Man. Um it's a inpatient care facility. Um and the applicant operators uh proposed operators are here if you have any detailed uh operational questions, hours
of operation, receiving, releasing, but it's not a come and go. It's an inpatient facility. >> Right. Is are those folks here? >> Correct. Yeah. If you could just give us a quick overall of of what >> what you do there and and the fact that
it's a treatment. It's not a come and go as you play. >> Yeah. This is not a it's not a methodone clinic. It's not a sober living excuse me. >> Uh this is part of your presentation, staff presentation and has concluded and now we're moving on to the applicant's
presentation. So we need to state your name. >> Sure. >> And then just for the >> Brian Regan with Treasure Coast Detox. >> Hi Costa Velis with Treasure Coast Detox. >> Dr. Terresa Prescott, Treasure Coast Detox.
>> Jessica Oliveria, Treasure Coast Detox. >> Thank you. >> So to answer your question, yeah, it's an inpatient facility. Um uh all patients will be transported either by a loved one or Uber Health through us. So all admissions are known ahead of time.
They're scheduled, they come in, they stay for 10 to 14 days and then they move on to the next part of their treatment journey. We control all transportation to and from the facility and it's going to be covered by private health insurance. And it's important to note also and I I completely understand
your concerns about uh potentially a either uh a sober house or something like that where people are just walking in and walking out. Uh this is a medical facility and it's 247 supervision and that's something that that uh we wanted
to make sure that you all were aware of. Um and because often times you hear about a good idea like that but you don't want it in your backyard. And I can completely understand that. But um when you do uh think about a facility like this, don't think about uh just
criminals or people that you see on the side of the road. These are our neighbors. I mean, there's likely not a person in this entire room that hasn't been affected in some capacity by substance abuse. And the facility itself uh is uh not going to be marketing
out of state. We're not importing people from all over uh the country, which is a a common thing that a lot of treatment centers do. Uh we really there's a huge gap between Indian River County North uh
all the way up well into Bvard. And uh we want to help the residents here who have private insurance, uh veterans, uh VA insurance, tririccare insurance, or self-pay. uh and there are a whole lot of them especially with alcohol which uh
we have you know tons of statistics and that we can we can relay as well but uh it it is a much needed situation and right now if uh god forbid you walked out of this meeting and somebody had a somebody in your family had a problem
and uh hopefully you didn't use Google to to find the treatment center but you called us we would have to send you somewhere as far as an hour to two hours and uh away or send that individual for medical detox. And that's not treatment.
That's just getting them medically stabilized. I'll let Dr. Prescott talk about that, but that's a that's a life-threatening uh uh situation. It can actually alcohol detox kills people. Killed my oldest friend at the age of 50. So, we we definitely understand the
need here because there there is not a detox in the county. And we want to make sure and incidentally we all live here. I have a one-year-old that we had to usher out because he was making too much noise. And uh and and so from our
perspective uh we're not a a nameless faceless private equity company from Palo Alto or something like that which has taken over most of healthcare. Uh we we live here. We're passionate about it. Uh Vera Beach Recovery Center is uh our is the founding company. Uh we've been
around, we're the oldest uh private substance abuse treatment center in the county. We have an excellent reputation and um and we're certainly put staking our reputation on the fact that we're going to provide something that's not only much needed, but uh also not not
the kind of eyesore that I've been uh trying to warn warn uh some other agencies not to create in this county. So we want to at least be in a position to manage it and operate it in such a way that we'll be proud of it and not just a uh you know something that that
uh unfortunately uh we we we've seen in other parts of the state. >> So um Dr. Prescott if you want on the medical side >> I would like all of you I would like to thank all of you for giving the
proclamation to 211. Let's face it, substance abuse and mental health um mental health issues are a crisis at this point. I've been a boardcertified child, adolescent, and
adult psychiatrist for over 25 years. I see the need for it. What Mr. and Mr. Rean were saying about this, this is not an open facility. This is a medical facility. I wonder if anybody would have
a problem with one of their loved ones going into the hospital. This is the same thing. This we do not have a whole bunch a whole contingency of people roaming about that. That is
completely completely absurd. This is for stabilization. And we are all members of this community. All three of us live in Verau Beach. We know what we're doing. We don't want to put the community at
risk and shall not because of the way we have structured this programming. I invite any one of you to ask questions of any of us. But this is a passion and
as I said I have been doing this for 25 years. That's where I'll end. >> Thank you. >> Want to talk about even what you do in >> I'm a nurse practitioner uh in the I'm Jessica Oliver. I'm a nurse practitioner in the emergency department at Cleveland
Clinic as well as um an admissions provider at your beach recovery center. And I know from the patients we see in the emergency department, there is nowhere to send them in in county and they often have to wait and that they need and all of us have someone in our family like that and we all want them to
get the best care. So I think this place is it. >> Thank you. Does anyone else have any questions of the applicant? >> Staff, do you have any questions of the applicant?
>> No, sir. >> At this point, uh, we can seek public input. Uh, and if anybody has any questions, please come forward. Yes, good morning. My name is Gregory Potter and I am the director and
principal of North County Charter School, which is a public charter elementary school serving BPK to grades 5 with about 350 students located about uh just over 1500 yards uh sorry feet and about 3/10en of a mile north of the
proposed facility uh in the detox center on Old Dixie Highway. Um, so I'd like to thank the commissioners for allowing public comment and for listening to our thoughts. I am certainly not here today to engage in any kind of an altercation
or a fight of any kind. Rather, I'm here in the spirit of what Miss Swanso articulately uh described and requested in her wonderful invocation that um you know we are a community and there are interests here that are most importantly
related to people getting help getting treatment as they need it. We all have people in our lives, our families and our networks uh where these kinds of things are important and it is essential that people get excellent care. So I came today rather in a a spirit of uh
making sure that you as a group understand um what's in that area and also to make sure that you have all the information to consider before you make um a a final decision on this. So I have a few questions and most of them were
answered very well by the group that just spoke. So thank you for for that and I also have a possible recommendation. So, of note, our school did not receive any notices for this meeting or the last meeting. We did hear about it from some parents. Some of them are here today would also like to speak
to you. Uh, I also found out this morning that the school district of Indian River County was not formally notified either because I did check with the school safety officer and I checked with our liaison, Miss Anne Bieber at the district. Um, they just found out about it this weekend. uh and also
through a parent uh one of our parents at NCCS that happens to work in the school safety office. So um I'm also not here to share anything formal from our school board. We do have our own school board of five members. Um they have not had a chance to have a discussion about
this. Uh but they do have an agenda item this Thursday morning uh to discuss. They have a meeting at 9:15 at our school. Our school also has an active safety committee as all schools in the state of Florida are required to have. They have had one discussion to date. Um
we are very comfortable with our own protocols that and procedures that we operate during the day and we comply with all state of Florida expectations for school safety and security uh to keep our students safe and the people who enter our campus as well. We're not
so worried about during the AC the actual academic school day because we have a lot of support there. Um like all Florida public schools access is well controlled at North County Charter School during the school day and we have a full-time sheriff's deputy present. Uh
we contract separately with Indian River County Sheriff to provide that service. But after school is a very different story for us. We do have many clubs and activities that are happening plus an aftercare program that is open until 5:45 every every evening during the week
and every day that school is in operation. Um those are the times that perhaps could be a little bit more concerning. So I have a few remaining questions and perhaps they could be addressed. Um, will there be number one, will there be any asurances that
patients departing the facility either voluntarily or not won't be walking north to the location of where the school is? There is a sidewalk that actually does connect from the facility and it ends in the northwest corner of North County Charter School. So, there's
a direct walkway there. What kind of security presence would be um at that facility 247? We understand there would be staff working with patients and so forth and monitoring things, but we really don't know what kind of security they have or will have. How will
communications be uh implemented with local and or county law enforcement if there does happen to be an issue and somebody does happen to leave the facility in a state of agitation or confusion or or possibly under the influence of a chemical. We presently do
do not know also what impacts and we do worry obviously that this could have on our recruiting and retention we have just as I mentioned earlier 350 students little over 150 families that do send their schools and entrust us with their precious children each and every day and
last what is the the timeline for opening would be my last question. um a recommendation. I would encourage um the commissioners to seek additional information and consider whether there may be alternatives or alternative sites
that are not so close to a very active public elementary school before making a final approval of the exception to the commercial zoning that is being considered. This might also provide additional opportunities for our school and potent potentially other area businesses and/or residents to be better
informed and have their questions or concerns addressed. There could be alternatives that could achieve all of the aims that we also desperately want to see and that are all important to the stakeholders that are involved here. So, thank you so much for listening today and I appreciate fully and on behalf of
our school, we appreciate the job that you all do each and every day in service of this great county. Thank you so much. [Applause] >> I I want I want to thank you for your wellthoughtout presentation and uh I
would like it acknowledged uh by staff as well as the applicant. Okay. >> To staff, we have uh reviewed the site plan. Is there anything that you would
like to add to the inquiry about safety and security egress? >> Sure. >> The concerns that were expressed. >> Yeah, Mr. Chair. Um uh with regard to the four or five questions that were asked, those are primarily operational.
So I I will defer to the applicant. However, I do want to just clarify our notice procedures. Um for special exception, it is 300 ft um in any portion thereof that it touches. So we did follow those procedures. It it's mostly vacant around that area. We
actually did pick up on I believe six lots and so I was kind of surprised that we didn't hear more from them. But uh the 1500 feet where the school is is is considerably further than our uh notice ring. However, um the current chair of
the school board, I believe she's still chair or vice chair, Terry Baronborg, she does sit on the PNZ as a non- voting um attendee and um would have been indirectly notified by way of this going to PNZ. So although they did not receive a formal notice by mail per formal
procedures, uh she should have been aware by way of this going to PNC. >> Was she at the meeting? >> Was she at the planning? >> I don't recall. That was the ear >> meeting. >> She was not. >> And there's a number there's actually
several uh school other folks alternates that also would have received the notice in the agenda. >> Yeah. That's why we have them on that board. Yes, that's the very reason. >> Thank you. >> However, we do have to stick. We can't pick and choose whether we extend our
notice. I mean, we have to we have to follow the rules. We can't just arbitrarily expand our our notifications. >> Thank you. >> Would the applicant be able to address some of the um inquiry and concern?
Yeah, I mean in terms of uh patients leaving uh after hours uh as we mentioned earlier um if a p we're not holding people against their will there they can leave but it you know they are either leaving in an ambulance to go to the emergency room uh or they're leaving
uh in in an Uber health to to go back home if that's what they're choosing to do if it's after hours. If they if they want to leave they can leave. It's not typically something that happens, but it's we can't say that it'll never happen. Um, but that we we do have procedures in place uh to ensure the
safety of the patient. We're not just going to let them walk out the door and roam the streets. It's just, you know, that's not how we do business and it's uh, you know, it's not in anybody's interest for that to happen. >> Yeah. I I want to reiterate also uh and and thank you u for uh allowing us to at
least answer some of the the thoughts when people hear detox. Um and and again I I if if I thought there was a place going in near where uh children were that was going to have uh uh homeless people, criminals, whatever it is
roaming the streets around there. I I wouldn't want it either and I wouldn't want it in the county. That's not what a detox is. uh that's more in line with what a sober house is or or some of the other types of facilities that uh heck even 12step support meetings are going
to have uh more of that uh uh detoxes that's the first part of the uh process of getting rid of a disease especially with alcohol uh we were talking to a Cleveland Clinic concier's physician uh he said that it is epidemic in Vero
Beach and he he said at least 25 to 30% of patients have uh abuse alcohol. This isn't something that uh has we're getting court-ordered individuals to come in. They're doctors. We're healthc care uh certified by the way. We can uh
work with health care professionals. They're lawyers. They're engineers who work on aircraft. They're uh educators, teachers. They're law enforcement officers. They're veterans. These are people here in in in our in in fact we
we we got a tremendous number of uh support letters as a result of it. So when we hear the stigmatization of uh of substance abuse, I mean it kept me from getting treatment for alcohol for quite some time because it is something that
uh I had an issue back in about you know mid teens somewhere in that neighborhood and yeah you don't want that scarlet letter on your chest but I was also an executive in the financial industry and and and when when I thought about
detoxes and things like that I thought about those people and and uh but I am one of those people. The the clients that we see on a daily basis, again, it's a voluntary situation. They're coming in with private insurance. They're supervised 24/7. It is a medical
facility. This isn't a facility where we're uh going to be having uh people coming in and and uh doing uh it's not a support group or a 12step or a sober house or something like that. Um, and the main thing to consider with that is
that uh we actually u if you believe it or not, the with the planning and zoning committee, we asked for a reduction in the parking. We asked for a waiver uh to uh because we would we'd rather have less parking because no one's going to be driving their car
there. Their loved ones are going to drop them off or we're going to have Uber Health pick them up and drop them off. and and that's in the event that uh if they end up discharging uh either against medical advice or otherwise, they're going to be getting an Uber
Health to help drop them off. But we we in no way, shape, or form are going to be letting anybody roam, you know, free uh uh around that area. But again, we're talking about fellow residents and people in in communities around us. part
of the in terms of this the the site itself we're in between a highway and the train tracks you know if we were if we tried to put this in downtown Vero it would never pass you know if we tried to put this in somebody's neighborhood that people would come out say not in my backyard so this is we selected this
site specifically because it was out of the way and unfortunately I understand there's a school there and there's other businesses there but this is as remote as we can essentially get without going out into a farm somewhere and building a facility from scratch So uh the way we look at it is existing for the last 20 years as assisted living facility
basically the same capacity we're just changing who the patients are and it will operate in much the same way. >> The the other thing is in terms of the safeguards uh we'll be doing FDLE backgrounds on every single patient and staff member that comes in there for the
sex offender registry. Uh most medical facilities don't do that. I can I can assure you. And um aside again from the 24/7, this is not a situation that's a 9 to5 where we have uh 20 people lined up at 9:00. This is staggered staggered
admissions and staggered discharges. We don't have an active like uh and and uh I I'll just bring up a school for instance might have hours of 8 to 5 or 8 to 6 or whatever it is. The that's not necessarily the only activity that we're going to be having there. It's it's uh
it'll be outside of those types of hours, but again, it's a staggered situation. It's also not emerent care or urgent care. So, we're not if somebody has an issue or a medical issue at the facility, we call 911 immediately because that we're not that's not a level of care that we're we can provide
at that at that facility. So, um, and again, in terms of traffic impact, it'll it'll actually it would likely, even though we'll have more parking spaces, which in case you all want to wave that, we love that. But, uh, uh, even though
we'll have four more parking spaces, we'll probably have half of the traffic that is at the existing assisted living facility right now. Because this is not a visitation facility. We're an alcohol detox is about five to seven days. After that, it really medically stabilizes the
individual, gets them prepared for treatment. We're only doing a 7 to 14 day residential treatment. We're not trying to do a 30-day or a 60-day or a 90-day type thing where someone's living there. We we want them moving back into outpatient program treatment, which is
where they're getting reintegrated back into the community with safeguards, with structure, with accountability. This is not a facility intended for long-term treatment. It's a it's a facility that is uh gives them a break from the cycle that they're in and then
prepares them and gets them into the level of care that is going to best suit their needs. >> We've we've been operating our outpatient facility since 2021. We've treated probably 500 patients. We've had zero calls to the police to the fire department for an ambulance. We've had
and that's an outpatient. So this uh ostensively will have uh you know fewer patients and also um you know much less chance for us to even need to to call uh to have any issues. >> Yeah, it won't be a Baker Act receiving
facility either. And uh and right now, by the way, a Marchman Act facility, you have to take them to the New Horizons in Fort Pierce. And um and New Horizons, look, they're you know, it's uh they save lives, but uh good lord, I wouldn't want to send anybody I know there. And
uh and we only have two beds, but that that's that's not the type of facility that we're creating. This is a private facility. Uh it's a medium-sized detox. We're not trying to do like they tried down in Stewart, I believe, 140 beds and importing people from all over the known
universe. This is for Indian River County and surrounding communities and that's it. We're not marketing to southeast to Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and some of these other places. And and um and some of the concerns that were raised, they're
valid. There there are some there's some awful places and uh we're but we are absolutely not building something that that is uh that that other than something that we're going to be very very proud of and and there are some definite concerns about that. the the
the places that I think uh come to mind when I hear some of the concerns. Again, sober houses. There was a sober house here in town uh that uh right up from uh Rose Rosedale uh elementary. They were marketing to sex predators and they were
within a quarter mile. I got that shut down. By the way, the uh the other things to think about methadone clinics, those are the things that come to mind when I think about people walking around that are uh you know, where there's there which you don't want in your
backyard. Um and those are the types of things that concern us. And we all live here. I mean, we're we're invested in this community and we want to see it do a lot better. Um but we we sure uh know that this is a massive gap. It's something the hospital district since
I've been going to the meetings early 2022, it's been at the top of their list. Uh and some of the other concerns, uh so security presence, this is this is a voluntary medical uh treatment. Uh I
mean, no, we're not going to have security. We do screens on people when they come in. So um again it's a it's if uh it'd be the same kind of concept is it's overnight medical treatment for for up to 29 beds. It's the same thing
that we're doing right now in the assisted or that they're doing in the assisted living facility. It's just a different condition at this point. So no, we're not going to have a security presence. Um, in terms of communications with law enforcement, again, that's that's
assuming that we we we're our patient population is mostly criminals or and and I I I just don't uh I don't understand that. But if there are issues, we're calling 911 and we'll have a open door hopefully with uh with the sheriff's department
and the police departments, although this will be in the county. And um and the main thing with that again we'll be focusing on law enforcement officers are one area that we focus on incidentally. So um something to keep in mind the
other two questions I I I don't uh I >> which one we got was the site location >> Mr. timeline for opening. >> Oh yeah. >> Yes. So, we're, you know, obviously we have some some uh renovations to do. You
know, we're hoping that uh if assuming we were approved today that somewhere around the the the first of the year >> and you're providing care and comfort uh and that includes sustenance, meals. >> Yep. Um so that is there'll be some of
that traffic as well consistent with >> like food delivery trucks. Yeah. >> Uh you did mention transportation and and again um there was you you mentioned Uber help or
private conveyance. I think one of the concerns is is having uh lights the ambulance. >> What ambulance? For what? >> Right. That's what I'm saying. I I think
that's one of the concerns that when a facility of this nature is is going into place that uh there'd be a lot of presence of emergency vehicles. Um, no. And and again, you know, I I appreciate
your presentation and clarifying and dispelling that concern. >> Yeah. Any if uh if a if an individuals has medical and again if if Dr. Prescott obviously can address this much better than I can, but we do careful screenings on the individuals when they come in. If
there's any kind of an issue, if there if there's a cardiac event, uh obviously we're going to do everything we can. And when I when I say we, I'm I'm neither a clinician or a physician. We as a facility will do everything we can do for that individual, but that they are immediately getting uh we're calling 911
and having them taken to, you know, either Cleveland Clinic or the appropriate uh uh hospital or emergency room in in that regard. Even though, for instance, uh Jesse, who's a a highly talented nurse practitioner in the ER, she won't be providing e services in in
the detox other than to save somebody's life. But we do uh careful careful screening on the individuals before they come in to make sure that they meet the criteria for our level of care. >> And and I'd like to add to that too because I understand what you're saying
about the red lights. Somebody is not going to be transported from an emergency room over to here, right? >> Everything is well planned. it. You would not notice any difference
between what's happening there now and what will be happening now. >> And um once again, if we have an e situation and that's going to be driving somebody to the hospital because they're
medically unstable, that's when 911 would be implemented. I I hear a lot of everything, but The one of the things that really really flabbergasts me is that these are
people's loved ones, husbands, wives, cousins, >> children >> and children and I've been doing children for 30 years. I I understand the importance of safety. This is not a
facility where someone is going to completely flip out and run in the streets like I'm saying. Would you expect your wife to be that way in or or your husband, one of your loved ones, your neighbor, would you expect them to
be flipping out and running out of the facility? >> It's happened. Well, um I I have to say again, u me personally, I did not know what to expect in as far as attendance,
community concerns. Uh but it it does sound like you're addressing those community concerns and you're presenting a a hotel with special care. >> Yeah. Basically. >> Okay. To to get people on the right track
>> in a voluntary basis. >> Yep. covered by their insurance or self-pay. >> Yeah. >> Uh and this is not going to be an ER or emergency response environment. Again,
you and your nurse practition ensure if someone is having a medical emergency that there would be a response by perhaps an ambulance. Oh, there's of course as as they would be responding to
any home in the area or any other environment. It's a medical emergency, we will see lights. But again, just anticipating that there would be concern there'd be a constant flow of traffic of oh, there's another one, there's another one, there's another one, here's another
ambulance coming. Uh it it does uh heighten um community awareness. I could tell you I was New York City police officer in the 80s. Uh you mentioned that the M-word, the Methodon Center.
>> Yes. I And I think if if that's a perception, it doesn't sound like that's the perception that should be had by what you're wanting to do in the community. Um Yes. >> No, I I think the stigmatization is
alive and well. >> Yes. >> Um but We're not looking to recruit people and there are different agencies from out of state to drop them on our streets to to to
risk the safety of the community itself. >> Thank you. >> Yes, Mr. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, just to be clear on a few things, uh, are any would any of your patients be court ordered to be there? >> No. Uh the followup is after the
Marchman Act that you mentioned earlier, would any of those patients perhaps be relocated to your facility from Fort Pierce >> from CBH? Not >> at this point. Yeah, I I think the only I mean from from our perspective on the
resources side would be the only way that we would uh entertain that if you had somebody that was more and we have uh a client right now where uh very great family but their son can't unfortunately
he's stuck in a a very very bad cycle of alcohol and um they can afford sending him anywhere but if you do a marchman act within the county right now. >> He's got to they they've got to send him down to Fort Pierce uh to New Horizons.
This is not a New Horizons. And anecdotally, I mean, you all can Google bad things that happen at any kind of institution, a school, a detox, anything else like that. Anecdotally, that's always going to happen. So, there's always going to be some bad things. All
we can do is uh operationally ensure uh that we're doing everything that we can possibly do to make sure that this is a a top quality facility. And and again in terms of uh some of the characterizations of how
this uh this community of of uh patients that are this cohort uh you know act on a daily basis. Again, I I was other if if I hadn't been in in this industry for this long, uh I would probably be offended because that's not the people
that I know. There are places where it's involuntary. Uh they're being forced to be there. The facilities because they don't have the funding to really provide something good or the treatment uh their heads in a bed they call it. uh they're
trying to collect as many humans in one spot as humanly possible and see who sticks. That's not at all what we're doing. We're doing a medium-sized facility. We'll likely have in the vicinity of around 14 15 people in detox, 14 15 people in residential treatment at all times. Um opiates, uh
stimulants, things like that, they they don't get detox. That does there's not a detox protocol for that. So, um we're not providing outpatient MAT services. So, we're not going to have people walking up to a window uh of any kind. There'll be very likely less traffic
than there is right now because we're not going to have loved ones coming to visit them. It's a short-term uh facility. And um and and again, it uh you know, I I I would urge everybody uh the statistics that I've seen unfortunately about the county, alcohol
is uh our biggest issue here without a doubt. And uh alcohol detox is primarily what we're going to be focusing on because and again right now they're getting it. They're just not getting it here or within a a sphere uh
that's close to home. And and it dissuades people from actually getting treatment. >> Well, the other thing is that the the statistics show that when people get treatment within their community, they have better outcomes because they're not being shipped all over the state and and having to travel and disrupt work. you know, we have an outpatient facility
where we do groups at night because we cater mostly to working individuals. >> Thank you. We understand that. Um, by chance, do you happen to know if you have a waiting list >> already? No. >> You know, and Mr. Chair, I'd also submit
that there's probably a lot more ambulances and other things going there as it is today versus what this facility would bring. You know, often times we we look at our community and I think it might be overused, the fabric of our community, and we talk
about the parks and the museums and all of the fine things. Uh but the reality is when we bring up something like this, uh it's not in the like most favorable. However, uh to be consistent with uh our
community, Mr. Chair, I'll be in in favor of this. Well, certainly was I. >> Well, um, thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> I hope that >> your inquiry was, uh, addressed. Is
there anyone else that wishes to speak from the public? >> My name's Diana Hannet. I'm a patient of Dr. Prescots. Um, I'd like to point out a few things, including that this is indeed a a 247
medical monitoring facility, and it does ensure patient safety during the withdrawal. It's not a it's not a methodone clinic. That's already been brought up. Um, it will have a higher completion rate and better long-term recovery outcomes than outpatient detox.
Um, it's this would reduce the strain on emergency rooms and first responders, I believe. Um, it should improve public health. It will actually lower crime, help to lower crime, and will support families in our area. It fills a critical local service
gap and reduces travel for care. There's an economic upside, including jobs created, health care costs lowered, grants, and insurance reimbursements. This uh is a licensed accredited
facility with professional oversight. Now, to address some common concerns, I'd like to respond. Um well-run centers, there's evidence that they do not raise crime rates. Uh unfortunately, I didn't uh post this the the source,
but I can get that for you if need be. Um they oftent times have traffic plans in place. Um, the cost to taxpayers includes savings from fewer ER visits, fewer hospitalizations, and legal expenses that outweigh the
costs. The quality of care, it's staffed by licensed professionals with clear oversight and accreditation. The secure facility facility design and strict monitoring will prevent diversion or elopment.
Um, it has an attractive design. they're uh going to be landscaping more and it's proven to have a neutral impact in other communities. And finally, financial sustainability. This is going to be funded via insurance grants and established revenue model.
Those are all things to consider when making your decision. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Still morning. Good morning. Morning. >> Um, my name is Carla Debadetto. I'm here both as a parent of a child
attending, not a child, twins attending North County, uh, charter school and a homeowner of the Winter Beach area. Forgive me, I'm not a public speaker, so I'm going to take my time. I want to be clear from the start. I
support everything that was talked about today. Absolutely everything that they're talking about hits home. But what doesn't sit well with me completely going off script now because I get emotional is the location, the
safety of my kids as the most important and not only my kids but my parents that are here, their kids, their concern as well. In my neighborhood, um there was a discussion about notification about 300 ft. I want to
clarify it. I know people that live in the Antilles that were not aware of any of this happening. Um, Antilles is, I believe, is within 300 ft of the location. >> Putting a detox center so close to homes
and young children raise real practical concerns for families here. Increased traffic, which we've been talking about. calling 911. Sirens. My kids do not like sirens. They get scared every time they hear it. The potential for more foot traffic in
our neighborhood, which is very quiet. The Winter Beach area is very quiet right now. But the most important question is the safety. So, how can they guarantee the safety or
that they they can't guarantee someone can selfch checkckout because that's someone's word that they said can't guarantee it. So, how can we know that we're safe in my home overnight or at the school during the day?
I asked the board, commissioners, everyone here to please delay the approval and please review it a little bit further. And I'll leave it at that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> This this is not a a sporting event.
>> Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for having all of us. My name is Susan Aguire. I am an invested parent. Three generations worth of children in that school. Um and I am a member deeply invested as well alongside the administration. Um, one of
the biggest concerns for me, um, before anything I preface is that the detox is sensational. The idea, the concept of it in this county, we know what we we face, all the beautiful things in the county, but the dark spaces that also occupy a lot of the families that um are affected
by that. Um, a story very close to home for me. Um, part of the reason why I grew up without a father. Um, but I'm a mother before all things. And as mothers, we are the protectors. We are the guardians of our home and the places
that they our children go to. Um a material fact regarding the detox center for me um is that uh the volatility that comes with patients being in detox centers and what that brings. Um detox centers treat individuals undergoing
acute uh withdrawals and we all know that and all the things that come with that. Um it seems to me that this detox center is maybe a 14-day you know first stop but then what happens after that? Um the other thing that I am very aware of is uh patient dropouts and wanderoff
is in incidents are more common than they are alluding to. The national average show that 30 to 40% of patients leave detox centers early without completing the program. Some leave due to cravings or discomfort and all the other things and that's directly coming from a source of the general addiction
of medicine from 2021. Um a risk to the school patients they loiter. Uh they said it in their statement today that they can't stop them from leaving if they chose to. What does that mean? They have a less than a five minute walk to our school, going past it, through it.
At night when we don't have safety there and our deputy is gone, we do have children and families coming in and out. Uh in the wintertime, sun sets very early and Old Dixie itself is very dark, incredibly dark. Um we have a lot of people who live on that area in that
area who ride bikes. We have a a bee company there. So, there are families in the area and that poses a big risk for us as a school. Our officer on staff, if a 911 call is posed by the detox center, he'll get that 911 call and would likely immediately go into some kind of alert.
But after hours, that's not possible and our children are left um vulnerable in that situation. I ask that the county commission uh re-evaluate this site. There are other places in the county that this place could be that would serve the population that we know is
vulnerable. um and commit to the services that they want to to render. But next to the elementary school, I just don't think that it's the best um the best option considering that children are also a vulnerable populace as well. Um so I really I really hope that you consider that part of that and
understand what populace is being served at that detox community and how it affects the families and the children in the area. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Hi, uh, commissioners. I I did want to address a couple things. I I think I I I
I guess I we have to uh revisit what a detox does because I I heard I've heard uh multiple times now u that uh because people are going through acute withdrawals and things like that. That's
actually why they go to detox is to prevent acute withdrawals and and to actually uh medicate the individuals that come in particularly with alcohol. And I can't speak to if if uh you all come up for uh please uh I can't speak
on the medical side but they're getting a combination of medications that prevent withdrawals. Withdrawals for us when when folks are going through withdrawals, the uh the the things that concern us are health risks and the
things the protocols that are put into place for individuals are very standard type protocols. Um and so I I'm we keep hearing the the concept that we're going to have uh you know drug crazed uh opioid uh withdrawal people running
around the community. That is simply not the case. and we can't prevent them from leaving because it's a voluntary uh 24/7 medical facility. It's going to be a DCFlic licensed JCO accredited facility
like a hospital would be JCO uh joint commission and if they want to discharge we're going to take them off site in some capacity either a loved one or it's going to be uh via Uber Health or something similar that Lyft may have or
something along those lines. And those are those are some great options for us. But we're not we're not going to be uh having people going through withdrawals because that's the point of going to a detox is to prevent withdrawals which then leads to relap. It's relapse
prevention and risk reduction. So again, I think the characterization here I I'm just I I and if we have to keep explaining it um I think it we're we're kind of losing uh time. But in terms of Antilles, uh, our engineer on this, Wes
lives in Antilles. I don't know that he would have probably, uh, put this whole project together if he thought that this was going to be, uh, a a bunch of people roaming the streets where he's raising his family and he's met us and he knows us at this point. But, um, if you want
to address on the medical side, uh, please, because really I' I'd like to put that to bed once and for all and and kind of address that upfront. That's the whole point of a detox. >> Okay. >> Well, I I believe that uh the inference
was uh actually aligned more with a lockdown facility uh that you're not um you know there were two members of the commission who actually got locked into
the facilities as they did a drop off or a conveyance. Uh and again that that was more or less aligned with the Marchman Act or something of that nature. >> Oh yes, >> this is not a lockdown facility. This is
not uh that you won't be distributing uh control substance and having people stop by and you know not all that should be dispelled. I agree. Um this sounds like a whole different concept and uh I
believe the concerns will always be there. >> Absolutely. >> When we mention the word detox, it will always be there. That's a stigma. That's a stigma that the people who need the help have to fight. That's the stigma
that the people in the community have to address and fight. And it is also one that you have to as practitioners have to well we have to label it it is a
detoxing center but it is not the with lockdown withdrawal environment. >> I I think that's the issue. >> Okay. And and I'd also like to address a couple things that I've heard. What do
you do with somebody after those five to 14 days? We have case management services. We arrange for next level of care. Okay. And and that's that's just part of the whole licensing and certification and actually just good
medicine. So we do arrange for lower levels of care. So people are not going to linger here. If someone wants to leave in the middle of the night, we're still going to give them Uber health. It's not like we're going to, oh well,
go. You don't want to be here. A lot of people decide to leave earlier, but it's not like it's not like a locked facility. We're going keep you against your will. We will provide transportation for you. That there's no
ill feelings here. We just want people to get the services that they need. >> Thank you. >> So, Anyone else wishing to speak? >> Uh, hello commissioners. My name is
Connor Pickering and first of all, thank you guys and also thank you to to you guys um for doing such a great thing for the community and as a resident of the community. I understand how important it is, but also I have two kids who go to the school and I volunteer um for PE.
Now, alcoholism and substance abuse runs deep in my family and I understand there is a correlation. You know, there's empirical data that a lot of people who have alcohol alcoholism also can have mental health issues and a lot of people have mental health issues. I understand
that. But just because you go to somewhere involuntarily, you can be persuaded by loved ones. And so there's no security. And if someone has a mental health issue, I I I'm not in great shape, but I can run a six and a half minute mile. I could be by that school
in under two and a half minutes. And the only thing separating me as a parent, this is where my mind goes. Uh for their safety, obviously, is a 6ft fence by the pee. The pee grounds are right next to the sidewalk. I could be I jump I volunteer the pee. I have to jump over
that fence probably five times every day. I volunteer to get footballs and stuff. I could be on that school in under three minutes. Now, if you can tell me a deputy could be there, um, obviously there's deputy at the school, but that doesn't mean he's going to be out there at PE and he can't be every
place everywhere one time. So, we could have someone on that campus within 3 minutes. And as a parent, I don't really feel that that's very comforting. I know what you guys do is so important for the community, especially since I have people in uh my family who struggle with
alcoholism, but there are ties to higher crime rates with people who struggle with alcoholism and me mental health issues, particularly crimes of violence and trespassing. So, I'm not necessarily concerned about um the traffic even though we do not have a um we're not in
a school zone, so people fly by there. So I don't know, you know, if an ambulance some we we are not in a school zone. So it's I find it very dangerous. And also I know 99% of the people who go there are going to be great people and and people who we need in the community
to be healthy. But even if it's the 1% that's all it takes and in how the country is right now, it's just it's just really scary. And I don't think um anyone who who has kids at that school think it's a good idea. So thank you.
>> Thank you. Good morning. Thank you so much for hearing us all today. My name is Ally Duperry. I'm a mother of five. We have lived here in Indian River County for over 20 years. I have two children that currently attend North County Charter School. And it's very concerning that a
facility of this nature would be so close to a school. I believe it's about 1500 square feet is the recommendation and we're at 1584. So we are very close to this proposed facility. A couple of things I wanted to touch
upon today uh specifically was them saying spec that they are not holding anyone against their will. Now when you do when you are in an agitated state or you are deciding to um check yourself out AMA against medical advice, yes,
there are procedures that are typically, you know, in their protocol to protect the community. However, with no security and no added features to the surrounding areas, what guarantee do we have as parents that these members won't
infiltrate our children's area? Now, I want to make something clear, very clear. Our children, and my eldest is going to be 24. She's in the PhD program at FSU. I have very successful children. I work
really hard to teach them different things. What's what's concerning most to me is the fact that we have no security measures in place for a facility this close to a school. There's not one in Indian River County to be exact. Not one
detox center. Now, what's the difference between a detox center and a rehabilitation center? Well, a detox center is going to offer medically uh sound detox and they're going to have a
revolving door every 10 to 14 days. So even though there are only 29 beds in this particular facility, that number is going to be calculated immensely every two weeks.
So how is that fair or just to allow it to be this close to our children? Did you are I'm not sure if you're aware but if there is an ambulance or if there is a procedure that needs to get called to this facility our children are forced to
go into lockdown on a code yellow. How is that fair to them? There's code reds and code yellows and code oranges and all the codes that are unnecessarily unfortunately part of our society at this juncture.
I have five children that have gone through Indian River schools. I have five children that are that are going to be community supporters and are currently studying fields that will help our
community. And although there is an unfortunate need for all of these procedures and all of these detox and rehabilitation centers, it does not need to be this close to where children are. There is plenty of land out west that is
farmland. You had suggested, well, should we do a farm? That's a wonderful idea. That wouldn't affect our children. That wouldn't affect traffic. That wouldn't make code reds or code yellows have to come and play. Our children are already hiding under desks. Our children
are already practicing for safe shooting drills, and that's not okay. My daughter was on campus at FSU with the gunman last year. I don't want anything like that near where it could possibly take place. And that's a mental health issue which is handinhand with alcoholism. But
we haven't even broached the subject of other people joining this facility. We've spoken a lot about alcoholism. Yes. But what about fentanyl? What about other drug abuse? What about other statistics
that show unfortunately how lacking detox centers really are? We mention others, you know, centers. I believe you mentioned New Horizons quite a few times and made some terrible comments against them. And I'm not trying to make terrible comments against anyone. I'm
trying to make the community aware that this is important for our kids. They're just as important as someone going through an alcohol or drug detox. And they matter. Our children matter. Thank you. >> Please.
Thank you. Hello, my name is Anthony Leon. I'm a resident. Um, my biggest concern right now is the no security. I mean, I think you're doing a disservice to the community along with the people that are working there.
Uh you're we're you're working with people that are working on de detox which there is a mental deficiency in these people just be because of their their uh habit or their
alcoholism or any other uh system that they're um trying to detox from. Also, is there other um things that other than alcohol is are they being detoxed from anything else?
Um, these are all concerns like I said and the biggest thing to me I I totally um am for these type of systems for detox and it sounds like you have a lot of of good thoughts and and plans put in
place but I don't agree with the nonsecurity. >> Thank you. [Applause] No, >> I just wanted to address the comment about the uh the mental or emotional
deficiency. Um I'm a physicist. I was I retired. Um I also taught at university and community college level as well as high school level. So I understand the concerns parents have. But um I would
like to to make noted my um disappointment in the comments that indicate that people who are alcoholics or uh or have other addictions might have some uh deficiencies somewhere else. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Hi. I don't believe that we think that the correlation is there for a mental deficiency or an educ uneducated or any of those matters. I think the bottom line comes down to, you know, why is someone else's safety above our children
who who are so close to the facility >> and and uh I I just want to point out one >> wait >> sorry pardon you want to address that >> uh just uh really more the ambulances
going by if you look at the location and the location and the proximity where uh the hospital that we would be going to is Cleveland clinic south of us and the school I believe is north and I I mean we're we're not going to be having more more ambulances than is currently at an
assisted living facility. So, um I that's I'm not really sure what the whole ambulances flying by with the lights on uh comments uh have to do with anything. So, I I did want to dispel that. terms of the detox itself, an
alcohol detox protocol and a benzo benzoazipene uh detox protocol, that's what uh is treated in a detox in other substances are treated in uh residential levels of care, inpatient treatment because the the the fentanels of the
world, if somebody's lucky to get to a treatment center uh on fentanyl, uh and we have very high numbers of overdose deaths in this county. Um, they're not put into a detox level of care, by the way. They they go into treatment level of care, and they're medicated, and
they're medicated with things like Suboxin, which prevent withdrawals and get them onto a medicationass assisted treatment program. Then that's the start of their treatment continuum. And we are uh under DCF regulatory requirement to
make sure that we are providing every recommendations for every step of that treatment continuum which hopefully lasts longer than six or seven months in various levels of care as they step down and step down into different levels of care. And I don't know if you wanted to
discuss the medication aspect of it. >> No, we're good. I I I just I just want to say thank you for addressing that. I want you to know that at the school you have the finest SRO available.
>> Uh you have great camera systems and I I believe that I I think you're you're looking at the the the public comment has been addressed to an umbrella of safety and security. Correct.
>> You have a formidable staff. Um they that they're cognizant. I think they wanted to hear that. I think they want to hear that although you're not a lockdown environment, you are going to
ensure safety as well as well as the school does. The the the school is a a very secure environment. But I want want you to know that that we're comparing this facility with
something that it's not. And that's what it's about. >> Mr. Chair, I do have a question for staff real quick. >> Are we still open for public opinion? >> Come on aboard, Lolita.
>> Hi, I'm Lolita Jankee and I'm a resident of this community. Um, we have already stated how important mental health care is and addiction
is part of that. whatever addiction you have. I am a mother and a grandmother and a great grandmother. So I quite understand the fear of having a a a
facility close to a school. However, I also know the importance of having such a place in our community. We I have dealt with a lot of people who
have had to leave town and it's very expensive to have to go to some place outside and this is a start of such a facility in our area and I think we need something like them
in our community. I wasn't aware that they what they were doing. I just have been listening to the dialogue and I feel I wish to speak up on having such a facility. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Did you >> I did I just had a question for staff. Um you know my son went to North County Charter and I actually served on the board um prior to your arrival. Uh, however, my recollection is there is a
fire station and ambulance squad directly next door. >> Correct. I just was gonna make that comment. It's across the street. >> Yes. >> So, every time it goes into code yellow that every time, >> right, but that's anytime, not just because of this facility. There's a lot
of sirens that go back and forth because of the location of that facility. And as I recall too, you guys have very much recently updated your fencing and your layout and even your um pickup line. In fact, I was um I think it was you put up
um an opaque fence around the playground. So now you can't even see, you know, the kids playing on the playground. So it's a it's a much more secure location than it used to be. But I just did want to point out cuz again there was a lot made of the sirens and
those types of things that it's been located next door to you >> forever in a day. >> Exactly. And um just real quickly um get it giving the board a sense of what does
go into those procedures for a school. First of all, everyone here has expressed their interests and they're very valid. Everyone's right. There's such a need. But there's also um this remaining thing about security and communications. I uh attended an institute in the northeast uh that was
offered by Michael Dorne called um Safe Schools International. Um somebody that's consulted with schools all over the world. Uh is is a really top official in this capacity. Florida does lead the nation in school safety much like Colorado and we've modeled a lot of
our things about um that we've done in the state uh with what's happening in places that have had unfortunate experiences. Um what I know it comes down to as Mr. Pickering said it's literally 2 three minutes that somebody could be on our campus. The one thing
I'm left with today if you do go ahead and approve approve is what assurances do we have that communication happens very quickly to the right people. Now to give you a sense of what we have to do every one of my staff members is wearing a push button badge a strategic system
we can call a lockdown in a few seconds and that's what it really is about taking advantage of just a few seconds if there is some kind of threat or potential threat on a school campus. We raptor and background check everybody that comes on board. We have fencing. We
have real real time crime center. Will this facility be connected to the real-time crime center? If there's something going on, can the sheriff's department look in on cameras in certain areas? They can in in our schools. Um we again have the full-time security that's
there every single day. And you know, we we are made to feel much safer because of these kinds of things. So I'm really left with this is how quick can communication happen at any time day or night if something's occur who would the communication actually go to and what uh
asurances do we have that we can make adequate response literally in seconds to be able to address or deal with any situation that might arise. So it's really about that for me security and communication. Thank you guys. >> Appreciate it. >> Thank you.
>> Good afternoon. And I'm Carrie Lester, the CEO of Thrive IRC, and I've been listening to all the comments, and I certainly empathize with people's concerns. I I am a mother. Um, but I just feel compelled to come up here to remind us that I what I hear being
proposed is a medical facility for a medical condition. And I think that's really important to understand that substance use disorders are a medical condition. And there's a a lot of of fear, but we've talked about like I've heard so many people talk about this is in my families, right? like maybe there's the 1% chance that that one
person will have, you know, violent tendency, but the reality is the fear is the untreated alcoholism or addiction, not the treated addiction. And so I wanted to point out that discrepancy and really say the lack of a detox in our
community could the flip side be potentially more dangerous for our community than um than than what is being proposed. I mean, there's risk with everything, but I um you know, I I just want to stand out for the people who have a substance use disorder and remind everyone here that it is a
medical condition and we don't get up in arms and concerned about the treatment for cancer or kidney dialysis. And I just want to remind us about this piece. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else wishing to speak? >> Thank you.
Hi, my name is Chelsea Arts. Um, I have two children at the school as well. Lived here my whole life. Family's been here many generations. Um, I'm going to keep it very short. All I'm hearing is the argument of basically this should not be put in this community. And I
don't that's not the argument. It everybody here is in agreeance that our community needs this. What the issue is is so close to the school. These are elementary children, children that start at the age of five. These aren't middle
school. These aren't high school who can mentally deal with if somebody were to show up on the campus. These are children who aren't at that capacity. So the concern is to not have something this close that could affect our
children. Addiction runs very deep in my family. I have seen the outrages. I have seen the mental part of it and just the mental issues that come with addiction, which is what this facility is in less than a quarter mile from this school. It
is not being said that it should not be put in our community. It's just being asked to to consider a different location. this location may not be the best and most suitable when we have these children so close to where these
people will be. And I'll just leave it there. Can anybody guarantee me that when they go to pick up their children from school, the person picking up the child does not have an addiction, is has not
drunk or taken substance abuse before coming up to pick up their children from school. They are just as dangerous. Those untreated people who pick up their children from school are just as
dangerous as those that they're asking do not get the medical help that is required. >> But that's not what we're asking. >> But parents do go and grandparents and I do know they don't they're not
healthy themselves. >> Thank you. Although yes, although I understand your point regarding um this is >> not this is not a debate. >> This is not a debate. >> Okay. Right. So I understand that we're saying that um you know parents could be in question, but that's not what we came
here for today. We came here to decide whether or not this proposed facility who was once an adult care facility for adults with special needs and other and whatnot, it can be turned into a detox facility so close to a school and how the impacts of said detox facility would
have on the community and what how would it affect our community. So that's why we're here. There is plenty of land out west. There are acorage acres and acres of land out west where it would not interfere with any school with any major
infrastructures. We are not set up in Indian River County. We have had an overflow of houses being built and communities being reestablished here. In the 20 years I've seen, I've seen 66 go from a single lane road to a double lane road to now it's almost going to be four
lanes. We don't have that same infrastructure located here close to the railroad tracks and close to US1. We don't have that to support. What strain will that put on not only our our our you know transportation or you know what
about what about the the the care that we've already receiving at the hospital. they're severely understaffed and now we have to rely on another facility to um possibly have to transport by ambulance uh people that are ill or that need need more support. Everyone is in favor for
this to occur, just not in this location. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hello. Thank you. I'm Don Wright and I'm the operator of the facility, the assisted living facility that was there is there. That facility was built in
1994. It was expanded on in 1995. I invested in part of it in 2004. I became fully invested in 2015 and been operating it since 2015. And the reason that I bring this up is because there's
been many residents in that facility that have overcome alcoholism or drug addiction and they've been living in that facility for years and years and years. So this facility is, you know, between the school, there's a fire
station next to it, however far it is. We talked about that. But there's been 25 to 29 people living there full-time over the years with many of them that have overcome addictions. So, I just want to pass that along. There's been
people that have been in there that are borderline mental health, limited mental health. Um, it's just it's it's when we never had a problem with the people. It was not a secured facility, was not locked down. So, I just want to share that as an operator. Thank you. Thank
you. >> Is there anyone else that wishes to speak from the public? >> I'm sorry. I'm just going to say one thing. I'll take two seconds. And that's and I appreciate everything he does as well, but and those are full-time people. You know, it takes two weeks to for people to go in and out. So you
could have potentially if you divide two weeks um throughout a year you and with 29 beds you could have a potential of 750 people going in and out of that institution and and you can vet as many people as you can but at some point
that's 750 people in the institution less than two and a half minutes from our school. So I think that's a a huge turnover compared to full-time living um residents at that facility. Thank you. Can I go one more time?
>> I just have a question about infrastructure. I was under the impression the infrastructure was already in place um to be able to handle a facility of this type. if they were to uh have to put uh a facility on a farm, there necessarily wouldn't be
infrastructure and perhaps it would be cost prohibitive in this county to uh even develop a uh a facility that far out. Just just a thought. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Anyone else from the public that wishes
to comment? Do >> we have any final presentation from staff? >> Mr. Chair, um since the principal uh Mr. Potter, I believe um has has asked twice about communication. This is an operational thing, but if we could get a
commitment from the operator to exchange contact information with the principal and hopefully the SRO, I think there's a an ability for them to contact each other directly should there be an event. Um, so it's not something that I think staff can necessarily impose, but I
think it's a goodwill item that I think they should commit to. >> Yeah, good point. >> Unless M. Schuler thinks otherwise. >> Well, no, I I did want to kind of tell you the standard of review here because I think it could help. Um the C board of
county commissioners shall approve approve with conditions or deny the application furnishing the applicant a written statement of the reasons for any denial. Um and again the standard of review is competent substantial evidence and there you're looking for expert
testimony facts um and beyond kind of generalized opinions. So, I did want to say that there is room there for the board to place conditions on an approval if that is your um pro, you know, if that's where the board would like to go
with that. >> Thank you, counselor. >> Is there any uh further comment from staff? >> That was the only communication. Is there any uh further
comment from or presentation uh by the applicant? >> Applicant rests as well. We want to at this time we want to ensure that all the documents and tangible evidence if any
have been admitted to evidence and are in the hands of the clerk. Madame clerk, thank you. County staff agenda materials are automatically admitted into evidence
unless there is objection. Seeing none, at this time, we'll close the public hearing. Commissioners, >> Mr. Chair, I move staff recommendation. Second discussion. We have a motion by Vice
Chairman Law, seconded by myself. No discussion. No discussion. All in favor? I >> opposed. >> Motion carried unanimously. Thank you all.
Uh at this time, uh staff is going to uh set up for the next presentation. So, we're going to take a brief recess. meeting will now be called back to order. The next item is item well we were going to do the county administrator's item
first for the battalion chiefs. Yes, Mr. Chairman, members of the board, as you know, the uh the battalion chiefs uh with the International Associate Firefighters certified on May 21st, 2024.
And the parties, the county, and the uh IFFF uh local 2201 have reached a tenative agreement, and the battalion chiefs have voted and approved this agreement. Uh this agreement is being presented today uh to the board of county commissioners for ratification.
Before I go into the details, I want to thank uh our lead negotiation team as well as the Kristen Brewer. I think she was here, but she had to leave for her and her team's effort. But we have Mike Zitto, our deputy county administrator,
Dave Johnson, our uh fire chief and director of emergency services district. And then Suzanne Bole. We also had Benton Wood. And uh I also would like to thank you all for your input and comments throughout this process. Uh it was a rather lengthy process, but it is
exciting and I think it's good news for the county that we've been able to come to this initial agreement with the battalion chiefs. Just by way of a summary, the key provisions of the agreement that that are being provided uh is one the u the agreement does
provide for a limitation as it relates to uh grievance and arbitration for merely for demotion or termination of employment. Uh provides for the 4% retroactive wage adjustment to October 4th, 2024. If you recall uh last year
the the rank and file received 10% and these these members received a 6% consistent with other general employees. Uh it does provide for a regularly scheduled day off every 3 weeks. This is similar to the Kelly days just and then
the last uh the what I would say is it provides for the honor guard incentive in terms of the costs for the salaries and benefits related to the retroactive wage adjustment. and it's $65,57. Uh with that, uh Mr. Chair, members of
the board, staff respectfully request the board approve ratification of the collective bargain agreement between the Indian River County Emergency Service District and Indian River County Firefighters Paramedic Association Local 2201, the IFFF for Battalion Chiefs
effective October 1st through September 30th, 2025, and authorized the board chair to sign the agreement. >> Thank you, county administrator. Any questions? New staff a recommendation. >> Second. There's a motion by uh Joe
Airman, second by myself. Any further discussion from the commissioners? I do want to say that yes uh Kristen Bill, the president of 2201 had to leave um for a time constraint, but did
express extreme thanks for the entire team's process which you have done. I can't thank them enough because they spent a lot of hours and and days and time working together collaboratively. At one point, you know, we we thought we might be at impass and and all both
sides got together recognizing what was in the best interest of the public and so I appreciate both sides and especially Mike, David, Suzanne for their work and Benton for his his legal guidance. >> Thank you, councel. >> Anything further from the commissioners?
All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carried unanimously. Thank you all. Next item, uh we now will be going to natural resources item 13F1 which is the In River County storm water management plan.
>> Thank you. >> So good morning everybody. Kylie Yula, natural resources director for the record. So, Indian River County is increasingly impacted by more intense and prolonged storm events as well as coastal flooding. So, with approximately
twothirds of the county situated within the 100red-year flood plane, the need for proactive and resilient storm water planning is critical. So, simultaneously, the county remains committed to meeting water quality requirements under the central Indian River Lagoon Basin Management Action
Plan or BMAP. So this necessitates a thoughtful balance between flood mitigation and environmental stewardship. So in response to these challenges, the board of county commissioners, so you all approved a work order with environmental science
associates on March 19th of 2024 to develop a comprehensive storm water management plan, which provides a strategic framework for assessing the county's storm water program, particularly focusing on the water quality component and for
identifying sustainable funding mechanisms. It also prioritizes capital improvement projects based on a rigorous evaluation of design feasibility, permitting complexity, cost effectiveness, and alignment with regulatory and programmatic objectives.
So, we are pleased to have ESA here with us today to formally present the plan for the board's consideration. So, we have Brian Flynn. He's going to uh be giving the actual presentation on the storm water management plan. and then Emily and Katherine are in the audience in event that there are questions that
they need to help answer. So with that, I'm gonna pass this on to Brian. >> Thank you, Doc. >> Thank you very much. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Brian Flynn. I'm the program manager for environmental restoration design uh
program at ESA. And um we've been had the pleasure to work on the Indian River County storm water management plan over the last year and just want to give you some of the highlights of that plan. Uh here today we're going to walk through uh the goals
of the storm water management plan. Uh talk a little bit about the basin management action plan overview. As Kylie had mentioned, that's the BMAP. Um, we'll walk through the storm water management plan sections and then look a little bit deeper at each of the
priority areas uh throughout the county and then leave you with our recommendations. The goals of the storm water management plan were to address the BMAP and water quality in the central IRL. Uh minimize
flooding in the priority areas, identify funding opportunities, and then recommend strategies for improved storm water management. This is the process uh that we went through. We evaluated each of the basin characteristics. Uh we conducted an
assessment based on the water quality data that we had at on hand. Uh looking at the flooding data that we had on hand and then identifying strategies uh from there related to the storm water management those priority areas. We actually got out on had boots on the
ground on each one of those locations looking at not only the data that we had uh you know uh accumulated in in a GIS format on our tablet while we were on site but uh you know also looking at it right after some of the storms uh last
summer and fall. All of that information was in input into a matrix that then gave us a ranking uh for each of the conceptual improvements and then we use that matrix to base our recommendations going forward.
We were also in touch with a number of stakeholders in the area and actually had uh face-to-face meetings and really productive conversations related with the city of Vera Beach, the city of Sebastian and also uh a lot of the residents in some of these priority
areas as well to talk a little bit about where we stand currently with the basin management action plan uh and give an overview of water quality uh That basin management action plan is a framework for water quality restoration not just
in uh any river county but statewide. The goal is to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus and restore seaggrass coverage in the lagoon. Uh load reductions will have to be met by 2035 uh for each entity within the wershed.
The graph that you see here on the right gives us the metrics of where we stand today. Over uh or close to 40% of the nitrogen goal has been achieved and about uh 30% of the phosphorus goal has
been achieved uh towards the VMAP. looking a little bit more at how each one of these are being reduced by each entity and stakeholder in the area. Indian River County, like I said, is accounting for over 40% of that uh goal
at this current time with uh almost 73,000 pounds reduced. And then uh the total phosphorus reduced um like I said is about 30%. And you can see here that Indian River County again
uh outside of the regional projects are the is the largest contributor to to meeting that goal. Look a little closer at each of the priority focus areas. These uh priority areas were based on uh flooding
complaints uh to the storm water uh division um and also uh knowledge of issues that we've had uh in the county uh during storm events going forward. So those were identified. These nine areas were 90th Avenue, uh the Rock Ridge
neighborhood, College Lane, 37th Street, the county portion of Felsmere, 4th and 27th near Rivier Lakes, 4th and 8th Street near Pineree Park, then Indian River Drive, the county main port
uh maintained portion of Indian River Drive, and then the lagoon out outfalls into the Indian River Lagoon. So the general recommendations for each priority area you can see here uh we took it an opportunity to look at not
only where we stand right now uh but what is going to be coming into those areas uh in the not too distant future and primarily it come came down to expansion of storage uh or improvement of conveyance uh for each one of these
areas. Now how we get there for each one uh varies just a little bit and um you can see primarily the issues that you see here were related to uh related to flooding. So the matrix that we uh compared all of
these project areas on we came out with a total of 29 different projects uh based on these 14 ranking criteria that you see here. Each one of these criteria were given a number of points based on their importance. And um you can see
here it ranged from uh cost and water quality improvement which got 20 points uh down to alleviating the storm water flooding and timeline for implementation and providing resiliency which were assigned five points.
Also important to note in here that um the community rating scale activities were each given 10 points for shoreline protection and also for storm water management. Uh those that community rating score is going to give you
benefits to your uh insurance long term. So here's our ranked pro uh project list. Um the uh county-owned ponds are under further evaluation based on uh some of the uh vendor supplied information that
we have uh looking into improved water quality or potentially harvest uh vegetation. And um you can see that those ranked you know around 18 or 20 on the scale. The ones that ranked higher were actually closer to the Indian River
Lagoon along 37th Street at Royal Palm Place. Um, this included increasing storage um and uh establishing bios that would attenuate some of that storm water before it um reached the lagoon and the
Indian River Land Trust properties that buffer the the lagoon. Continuing along this list, you'll see that um some of the other higher ranking projects included uh fourth and eighth street um and also the areas immediately
along Indian River Drive. So, it didn't necessarily mean it had to have a uh a direct uh connection to the lagoon. Fourth and eighth street is a good uh bit away, but the area that it that were working in there just had a higher uh
load loading of nitrogen and phosphorus. So, it ranked higher in importance because of its ability to take that out of the system. Looking across the projects, the uh estimated implementation cost range was from about 10 million to 70 million. If
we implemented each of the highest ranked options in each priority area, it would be about $10 million to do uh one project in each priority area. Some of these are able to stack upon each other and uh add additional benefits in each
one of the priority areas. Uh some of them are either or. If you do, if you decide to do one of those projects, that means that you're deciding, you know, to do that over another option um in the in the matrix as well. Take a little a look at the number one
ranked project was at 37th Street. This is in district 5. And um like I said, you can see right here immediately across Indian River Boulevard is the Indian River Land Trust uh property. And then the lagoon is is also immediately
adjacent. So, um this is a new pond that is already on the uh not has not been constructed yet, but it has been permitted at that location uh with a realignment of River Boulevard and 37th Street intersection.
And the total project cost you'll see is at the top of each one of these page. So, this one was $465,000. That's in 2025 money. That is if we were to go and implement that project. Uh today at 90th Avenue, uh there was the issue
was flooding near the fire station. Um there's been a lot of other development of uh hotels and office offices in that neighborhood in that area. And um it's kind of created a little bit of an island or a pool effect there near the
fire station. And the solution would be to connect those drainage features to the southwest to uh to an existing pond. Uh there would be some easement that would need to be uh negotiated uh for a project like this.
The Rock Ridge neighborhood is an example that you'll see in some of these where we have a historical uh neighborhood that then uh also has uh several canals contributing to that location. Um and those two canals in
this case go directly to the Indian River Lagoon. So you have flooding not only uh from rainfall but also coastal flooding from the lagoon as well. And uh the proposed improvement here would be to install backflow prevention devices. And this one ranked about number eight
out of the 29. College Lane again existing residential area between College Lane and and uh State Road 60 are um you know is a historical neighborhood. the new development on College Lane has um you
know pushed some storm water into uh backflowing into that neighborhood. We would look to connect ditches and other drainage features to improve the conveyance and to existing structures and move this material, move this storm
water uh east uh to connect to the lateral canal. And you can see here in the bottom picture some of that uh some of those existing ditching ditch network um that would be connected up to those uh to those larger lateral canals
in Felsmere uh district one. Uh again, mostly ditches that need to be connected in a thoughtful manner, not only to work with uh some of the existing countym ditches, but also work with the city's uh storm water infrastructure. Uh this
project r uh ranked about midpack. uh you do see that there's quite a large cost at 4.7 million, but that's also because you can look at the size of the area that needs to be addressed compared to some of those other smaller project areas. >> I have a question on that one.
>> Yes. >> Where are the county maintained ditches in there? Because those all look like Fels Water Control District ditches. So everything um south of the black and white dashed line um is the uh uh
county's responsibility. And um >> that's not accurate. >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The uh the area south of the red line, the um that that black and white dash line is the area that we had LAR information that was available. Uh
>> the area south of the red line is that's Jackberry Groves, correct? End of Willow Street. That's within the Felsmere Water Control District and within the city limits of the city of Felsmere.
>> Based on the GIS information that we had, we were under the impression that this was all responsibility of the county. Now, if the Fels Water Control District >> um has some portion
uh there, then we you know, >> all of that that you're showing is the Felsmere Water Control District. >> And I notice on the first slide you did not have a meeting with them or the city of Felsmere. >> We attempted we attempted to meet with both of them. Yes, we did send them a
copy of our draft. Uh >> I'm I'm sure they were not as responsive as others. Um they've gone through a change in leadership, but I'm just concerned because this area that you're calling out, that's not
those ditches aren't ours. We don't even maintain all the roads within that area that you and that's been the problem. That's been the problem with the flooding in that area in Felsmere in general is that the entirety of the city of Felsmere County and city limits
or that area is the drainage is controlled by the water control district. And if they're not partnering with us on this, I'm concerned about a the cost of that project being accurate and two just
being able to do anything to affect the drainage situation out there, which has been a huge concern of the residents. Understood. Um I
I think that the um yes had we had the opportunity to gain input from the Fels Water Control District um you know we we may have been able to revise this. Um the the plan is a living document and it can be revised
going forward um as needed. So if we are able to get information and have those meetings in the future, then absolutely that information can be in included in and this portion and revised. So >> okay. Well, I mean I would hope that
that would be something that you guys were doing and we can certainly pick up the phone and call and set up a meeting. I'm going to have we have all those numbers and the new city manager of the city of Felsmere. The executive director of the
Felsme water control district is the old city manager of the city of Felsmere and the new city manager has been in place now for about a month with the city of Felsme and I know Kylie we went to a presentation where the city of Felsmere
was doing their own storm water master plan. I don't know how this works and if you reference that in this or if that was provided to you, but >> it >> I just have significant concerns about not having any real communication from
the water control district >> related to flooding and water and storm water in this area, which I know they are autonomous, so it's a bit beyond our control, but if we're going to base if you're basing a plan on information that's not accurate, it's very important
important to that area. We have a lot of community groups out there and input that um is is bubbling up. I mean, I think we've we've all been reached out to by residents in the county in the Felsmeary Water Control District area. So, I want to
make sure we get that right, especially with some of the um proposed development that's going to be happening there in the future. >> Understood. Um, if I may, so in this particular project area, we do have a multitude of different entities that are
providing storm water support. We can certainly go back and look at the maps and verify that we have accurate numbers in terms of what our potential contribution towards a larger scale project would be. So, we'd be happy to do that and follow up with the water control district and the new city manager.
>> That would be great. Thank you. >> Sorry. Sorry. Um on the Riviera Lakes uh project in uh district number four, uh there is a partially completed development that you see there in the middle with the uh storm water pond that
uh is has kind of changed how the flow of uh of water reaches the lateral uh there along ong um 27th Avenue. It's called standing water and road and um
the proposed improvement here would be to uh pitch roadway and achieve uh positive flow along the northern and southern boundaries of that new development uh so that it could reach uh
that canal and and then be reconnected uh to the system. This one again ranked about midpack uh about number 13 out of 29 of the 29 projects at Fourth Street and A Street.
The uh area that you see outlined in orange is a planned development. Um there are a lot of low-lying homes with mostly swale drainage and uh limited discharge volume. So discharging into
existing spawn ponds potentially uh integrating it with the Laurel Springs or the new development uh would potentially be an option moving that water to the northeast. Um we also in conjunction with this looked at um
moving the water further to the south and west of this area as well. Uh but this is the project that ranked the highest um based on uh mostly on the cost of connection uh to the existing uh water control feature.
>> Can I can I add something? Yes, this is Pine Tree Park and it's always been pretty resilient, but it does have some design and flooding issues. I mean, this was a neighborhood that was built in the 60s
and 70s. So, you know, the houses are flat on the ground. Any new houses that were built right there, we always have an issue because it has to go higher than the than than the other houses. So, water is an issue. It's dirt roads
primarily. Um, a lot of other stuff going on there that that that that would need some internal work, but it's definitely Yeah, it's definitely one that I'm glad to see on the list. There's just a lot lot there's a lot of other stuff going on here.
>> Yeah, absolutely. And and this plan is to is to provide that 30,000 foot look and and show how it all is uh working together. uh you know from this plan moving forward there'll be detailed analysis and model storm water model at
each one of these to be able to further these projects along and and just like you said we we would be you know looking at uh you know uh bringing along different elements online in those uh in those situations to be able to really dive into how best to get uh the water
out of this >> like within the park there's you know you got houses that are joining the dirt roads that have the 12inch culverts under their driveway that are need to be fixed, repair just I mean stuffs as small as that to to to major you know on the out on the
outskirts of it such as you show here in your diagram like you know curblets inlets and stuff like that structures that that would need to be included. >> Absolutely. at Indian River Drive. Those uh
countymaintained rightaways uh are north in the Rosland area and then also south of the city of Sebastian. Um they are immediately adjacent to the Indian River Lagoon in the Sebastian River. Um some
of the ownership of these structures is still unclear. Um and there is limited right away uh um at these project areas as well. So, uh, we would need to con, uh, acquire some easements to be able to connect and improve conveyance
throughout the system and maintain it. But like I said before, we had a really positive meeting with the city of Sebastian and looking forward to um, you know, some future collaboration there. U, this ranked uh, number six out of the 29 projects.
>> So, I just want to make a comment on that one, too. I'm glad to see this one on the list because it's a area that continues to be a constant problem um over the years just because of the way it it has developed and between Old Dixie and um Indian River Drive and
coming down off that ridge. Um it's just it's going to take kind of that regional project to address. So I'm I'm happy to see that on there. Again, I have a question about the boundary because the yellow line is the city limits of the city of Sebastian.
>> That's correct. >> So, this project is solely within the county. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Um, I also want to mention that on the consent agenda, you probably saw that we do have an active project in design for part of this location and we did do a
change order today to amend that to add a little bit additional water quality to that particular project that public works is performing. Thank you. >> And then Indian River Lagoon Outfalls. Uh there's numerous locations that uh
storm water is now uh you know being conveyed directly uh to the lagoon. And there's potential for water quality improvement uh retrofits with uh vort vortex or screening structures to be
able to uh remove sediment, remove uh leaf litter and debris um and also um you know improve the um the water quality prior to that uh storm water
reaching the lagoon. Um so uh this project also ranked very high out of the 29 projects. Um it is split between both district 1 and district 2. Uh but the project cost is about 3/4 of a million dollars.
And as I spoke about before uh one of the ancillary projects that we looked at was the county maintain storm water ponds. Um there's up to upwards of 40 existing ponds that could create BMAP nutrient reduction credits. Um there's a
two different approaches that we looked at. One was a vendor supplied uh floating aquatic mats. Uh that vegetation can be harvested and removed removing those nutrients from the system. Also, uh if there's some of
these ponds are uh have uh existing vegetation, they could be or muck, they could be dredged or um that that vegetation could be harvested, removing those nutrients out of the system. Um but that requires more information as to
what the condition of each one of those storm water ponds looking at. So um some of the limitations we had you know looked at the the state's uh BMAP production uh requirement is you know
disproportionately high. We are looking to at avenues to be able to reduce that. I think that um there are you know like I said these are 2025 costs and they are you know significant costs uh to be able
to put these projects in the ground and that's today's costs you know we need to get there by say 2035 we have another 10 years of of cost escalation uh during that time frame um in some of these locations land availability is an issue
um either going to have to purchase some property or negotiate some easements in order to be able to uh put these projects in the ground. Um and there will be need for funds to apply to um new staff, new
equipment to be able to uh to be able to accomplish these goals. Um and again uh one of the other things that was notifi uh that we noticed was that some of the agricultural lands uh
were classified um inaccurately. Um and that kind of goes back to the BMAP um reduction and the amount of credits required. So would want to work on getting those uh uh identified accurately.
So looking at our recommendations and this is um you know kind of in an order of what we would recommend to go to with uh first would be to obtain survey and GIS database of all the storm water assets. You know, one of the limitations
that we we did or we uh one of the portions of the project that we did was a a data gaps analysis early on, looking at what information we had and what information we needed to be able to, you know, adequately assess each one of these sites. And uh having that
information then builds on where you're headed with design and and uh modeling uh going forward. uh creating an asset management system um off of that database of information that then the uh
county stormwater division can um can use to effectively manage those assets going forward. And um that includes developing a maintenance schedule on all of those uh items in the in that system. We want to maximize the BMAP credits
obviously so that we are uh not only addressing flood areas but also getting water quality credits for those um the priority project areas. Um as I as I talked about a little bit before this is a a living document. So these priority
areas and these projects as they get implemented come off that list and then the list can be updated with new projects using that same matrix and applying that to ranking additional projects in the future. We recommend investing in additional
staff and equipment to perform that maintenance and then uh retrofitting those county storm water ponds with either the vendor supplied item or uh harvest of of vegetation and maintenance going forward.
um with you know an accurate view of where we stand on the B map um and accounting for some of those uh agricultural areas that we feel like may have been uh left out of the equation. Uh would like to look for uh would like to lobby for a rem a revision to the
required amount of BMAP credits. Um you know the the county has done a great job of preserving land countywide. However, that land is not really available for use by storm water for storing and uh
and and managing that storm water before it gets to those uh those preserved lands. So establishing a land acquisition fund for storm water would be uh another recommendation so that you can just like we looked at in at 37th
Street uh you can polish that water before it gets to uh those buffer areas uh to the lagoon. And then if funds become constrained on the project going forward, uh the ma the plan talks about how you would set up a an establish a
storm water utility and how some of the other neighboring municipalities have done it as well. So with that, um, staff recommend that the commissioners approve the storm water management plan and authorize staff to proceed with implementation
phases and to seek additional funding and I'll answer any other questions that you all may have. >> Commissioners, >> um, we're not approving a storm water utility today, right? That that would be a separate discussion. Okay, >> that would absolutely be separate. Um,
and I I have an overarching concern. Um, and that is developing right along the lagoon. And in reading this uh master plan, I'm looking at 1.2.3 a community rating system. And it says the main objective of the flood
ordinance is to minimize the potential for flood damage on future development, thus protecting people and property in the county. And what I'd like staff to consider
is not asking us for flood waiverss. And I don't even I don't even know that you were here at the time, but this was in on December 5th, 2023. Um we were asked and we voted on this um
but not to be labored, but the lots I'm going to quote it. lots are proposed approximately 1,000 ft from the banks of the Indian River Lagoon. Okay. And then there was a different piece of property for development. Same day, same meeting,
um same agenda. The project is located east of US1 uh proposed approximately 1,734 feet from the banks of the Indian River Lagoon. So, you know, you put huge effort into this
and we're going to get to the repeated loss um considerations next. It's also on this agenda. But I have this feeling you we're making this huge investment, time, energy, funding,
and what I see from my perspective is doing and undoing. you know, I mean, we have to consider just not or maybe you have to consider I don't know where the consideration is, but like don't even
ask for this kind of thing. I mean, really, I we're going to be developing within a thousand feet of the lagoon, but somehow we're going to uh to fix it, you know, we're we're going to preserve it. We're going to or we're going to clean it up. Um it's, you know, we're
we're not going to get there uh doing that. So, as I said, it's just it's an overarching concern of mine for your consideration. However, it gets addressed and I'm not saying it's your responsibility. It could be interdep departmental, but I would appreciate,
you know, a conversation just among staff about this. Um, you know, developing that close to the lagoon. Um, I just don't see how that can be done and without affecting anything. Oh, you know, yeah, it's kind of has no effect.
I I just I don't I don't think so. And there is a huge, as you know, there is a huge concern among the amongst the community with overdevelopment and protecting the natural environment. And we saw that in the community outreach we did, for example, for the
urban service boundary that came up number one. That was the the number one priority was with regard to development was impact on the natural environment. And it was that that was the number one concern even more than traffic. So So please I'm just asking for your
consideration. Thank you. >> Mr. Chair, I did have one question for the administrator with respect to the $70 million uh that was mentioned. uh not to go out on a limb, sir, but how
do how would you forecast uh the potential of funding this? >> Well, I Well, I think there's a couple things. One, that's $70 million is the entire plan. Uh it is broken into areas and priorities that ranked and I think
we would have to do it, you know, it's it's a large number, but there's also, I think, if I recall correctly, a $10.1 million. Is that the number for the the the highest priority projects? And we might have to do it that way. And um and
the reason why I know the stormwater utility fee was mentioned but we have held off because we think it's important to better understand what Tallahassee is doing because right now we do use general fund and other for other sources to fund these programs or you know so we
would want to make sure that we weren't in just arbitrarily putting out a stormwater utility fee. I know some people call it a tax but in this case I think we need to wait and see. Uh there may be opportunities for grants that exist out there. Uh but I think we have
to be strategic and look take this report and focus on the high priority areas and projects that would be most impactful early on and that would have to be programmed into our CIE over a five-year period. >> Yeah. So um if I may. So um it's staff
intent to take this document and then to program projects into the CIE. I do want to mention that there are significant implementation challenges inherent in several of these areas. As Brian mentioned, we have limited right of way. We may need to acquire and purchase
property to make these actually a reality. So, some of these um hurdles may ultimately be things that we are unable to go over. So, I think that that's going to ultimately impact the total cost of full implementation. So,
it's really about feasibility, >> right? Thank you. And you know, it's fair to say the top 10 if those were accomplished, uh what it would save in our staff time,
uh maintenance, upkeep, wear and tear, uh and last but not least, the enormous amount of phone calls that we get. I guess all five of us get these phone calls from the top 10. So that's something to keep in mind as well. >> And I also think it's important that the
county has taken the step in this direction in terms of establishing, you know, a storm water management plan to give us guidance between not just because it's not just short term could be long. It's might be longer than the five-year CIE. Uh the other thing I do want to mention and I know I've
discussed it with some but we have already been in discussions with uh deputy secretary uh Adam Bllelock with FD regarding the BMAP and he has one assured us you one recognized the county's efforts and assured us once
they update their uh the swill model they will they the commitment that they made previous to going back and looking at those allocations. s and uh that that that would occur and we've we he actually encouraged us to participate in
that and uh and we agreed that we would do that. So uh to the point that you know that was on the slide about you know the BBA discussion uh and large it was Kylie Eric and myself you know on the phone with uh deputy secretary
Bllelock so we've already undertaken some of that and we'll continue doing that because that's a big issue for us. I think Eric has way long time ago told us we could do all the things, you know, connect every septic system and and we
get pennies on the dollars in terms of BMAP credits. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Chairman. >> Yes. >> Um th this is a this is a great document to give us a start to what we want to do.
some of the suggestions that Commissioner Lur's already made and and the administrators made and colleagues made with regards to prioritizing what we need to do maybe where we need to do it. It's kind of a moving document right now because of funding issues and things
of that nature. So, I think it's a great document. I support it. I do agree with uh Commissioner Adams that you need to make sure you're talking to these other entities. I know you talked to the city of River Beach, the city of Sebastian,
but you need to talk to Felsme Water Control District. You need to make sure you talk with with David and Ward Gunner at Indian River Farms. I mean, they're they're big players on where this water is going to go and how it goes and how it heads out to the lagoon because in the end, we all want to get our B maps
in line. You know, I know it's great we're working with the D and all stuff, but we have to we have to get them in line and that's what we want to do. Storm water is an issue. I grew up here. Storm water wasn't an issue 20, 30, 40
years ago. We had enough open ground where everything percolated. It went in the canal and went out in the river was not in the lagoon. It was not a it was not an issue. We have more concrete and asphalt on the roads. There's more people here. There's just more issues.
If we're going to keep eating healthy, this is one thing that we have to do is to is to work on our storm water and eventually we're going to have to find ways to fund it. There's various ways to do that. We all know we don't want to say like right now, you know, a storm
water utility tax, but that, you know, that may be a fair conversation in the future. Not not necessarily today. I think we need to look at all those alternatives first. But it's a real discussion. It's that we need to have about a lot of things. It's real problems. It's some it's things that we
that we really need to do now and in the future. And we and the time to get started is now and figure out have our have our plan, have our map, have our ideas, have our thoughts in place so we're getting the best bang for
our buck. We're doing the right projects at the right time in the right place and where we're going. We're already doing a lot of good things. See, it's s such a great improvement. Central Natural Resource Department took this over and we got a great staff. So, let's just
keep the momentum. Let's keep it moving and let's move forward and and I think we can I think we can really make a positive change over the next few years to the next 10 or 20 years and I think we could come in line. So, but there's some there's just some real questions,
real task, real things that we need to that we need to really ask oursel and as to what we're going to do and what we're going to do. And it's going to take coordination not only between natural resources but public works, other you know our
conservation land people. It's going to take all those people to be a part of it. So, let's let's get the conversation started. Okay. Any further comments? >> Mr. Chair, we need a motion on >> anybody from the public wish to uh
comment on the storm water management plan. Commissioners, >> I'll make a motion to approve staff recommendation. >> Second. >> We have a motion by Commissioner Amit, seconded by Commissioner Moss. Any
further discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carried unanimously. Thank you. Next item is uh item 13H1, environmental lands acquisition status update
regarding a purchase contract. That's the Durant's place. >> It is now. Good afternoon. Okay. Good afternoon, commissioners. Thank you so much. We have uh two items for you today and um with your approval
we'll combine the two as a presentation as there's no formal action that we're requesting today. Beth Pal, parks, recreation conservation director and Wendy Swindell, assistant director. Today we're going to be uh reviewing and providing you with uh some detailed information regarding uh the Durant
Place and Hailrove properties. This is a status update regarding the purchase contracts that have been received from both owners. And just quickly, oh, can we advance a slide click or something here? >> Oh, amounts here.
>> And we can do that. We can present both, but we'll be voting on them separately. >> There's no voting today. So, this is just for information, but because of the detail, we put it under departmental items. So, thank you so much. Um and and because they're located adjacent to each
other, that's another reason that they're combined. Normally, we would have them separate. Uh I'd like to just uh for any of the general public who are not familiar with the environmental land bond referendum, uh resolution 2020216 call for a bond referendum. This allows
for the purchase of environmentally sensitive lands uh that protect water resources, natural areas, wildlife habitat, uh drinking water. And it also includes uh the provision for us to provide public access uh passive
recreation access to these uh what will be conservation areas managed through our conservation lands division. Uh we have a $50 million uh bond referendum and we've uh issued the first trunch of 25 million. So that's what we're working with right now. The environmental land
acquisition panel is the panel that we meet with about once a month and the panel is responsible for reviewing all of the nominated parcels which can be done through our environmental land acquisition panel dashboard. It's a very
easy um and userfriendly application that our GIS uh division worked on and it provides updated information including all of the apprais um eventually the appraisals but initially it includes all of the background information the parcel IDs uh the tax
assessed value etc. So all of this information is available uh and easy uh for the public to get. Another consideration that we just want to remind um everyone about is that the matrix evaluation is what is utilized to
score and rank properties. Um per the uh elapse recommendation as well as your approval. These are being done a little bit differently than the first two bond referendums as they are ranked in tiers. So we have tier one, two and three. and
during uh the last approval from the board, we were um approved to move forward with the tier one properties only. So that's just an important caveat to kind of where we're at right now. The other direction that we had from the
board was to separate and differentiate um the properties that are fee simple versus those that are being purchased uh for conservation easements. All of the tier one properties including uh fe simple as well as the easements are
currently uh being uh sought after. We're working with the owners on those uh willing seller parcels and they are in different stages in terms of the acquisition. I do have a slide and an update uh toward the end of the presentation if you would like an update
on where we're at with all of the properties. Um but for now we're going to uh dive in a little bit to the Durant Place and to Hail Grove so that you have really good understanding and that the public has an opportunity to hear basically the information that was presented to the ELAP. But again um
we're giving everyone the opportunity uh to be able to see and understand the parcels that are before you today. So we will uh move straight into um and again this um the tier one uh was brought on
March 11th uh for your consideration and that's what we're moving forward with now. These uh two areas are within the tier one though they may not have ranked the highest from a point standpoint but they they're residing within the tier
one uh ranking system and I will turn it over to Wendy. >> Good afternoon everybody. Can you hear me? Okay, there we go. So, the first property that we're going to talk about is the Hail Grove property. You can see on this 1943 aerial. Um, as with a lot
of Indian River County, this site was a citrus operation uh from the Hail family for many, many generations. Uh, this is a tier one property. And a couple of the reasons that need to be considered as to why it was ranked in that manner was one
of the first things that you saw in the resolution was uh properties that are in proximity and can um have beneficial aspects to the lagoon. So this is uh the the roadway that you see on the left is actually primitive US1 and then to the
right you can see where it used to be salt marsh habitat before it was uh converted into grove. The property includes four parcels um and the total size is 21.89 acres. Currently the site um the as you
probably know because you drive by there all the time the building has been removed and this the grove is currentlyow. The zoning on the site one of the parcels is um zoned as commercial and the other is zoned as multif family residential.
There is a large um conveyance that runs through the site. We're going to give you a little drone shot here. We apologize it's a little bit um quick and fast in certain spots, but here you can see the entry to the area and where that truck is parked is where the old
building used to be. And as you move through the site, you can see the Grove area and the large DOT ditch. The area that we're coming up on now um was initially nominated as part of the bond, but then was paused because there are some compliance issues there. But you
can see how close the site is to the lagoon. Um, and as you shift back and look at the north, you can see some mangrove areas that are associated with that parcel. And then as we move a little bit to the north and the west, you're starting to see the balance of the Hailrove site. And then we're moving
into what is the Durant's Place property. So these sites are contiguous. They were ranked and considered as one nomination because of that fact. And the opportunity was that um even though now it is someow grove um with the DOT ditch
that there is opportunity to create a water quality project if we incorporate the DOT ditch into the site similar to what we did on Jones's Pier where you can bring in lagoon water and treat some of that runoff that ditch that you see actually extends off to the west and
terminates at the railroad where there is another ditch that intercepts it. a little bit about the acquisition um process. We have to get two appraisals that are completed by D approved appraisers. The value of those appraisals, as you can see in the slide,
was 2.125 million and 2.455 million. Based on these appraisals, our consultant worked with the owner and a sale price was agreed upon of 2.54 million. And per the state statute and chapter, we have to advertise these
appraisals 30 days prior to a scheduled public meeting. So we are planning on bringing these back to the board for consideration of the purchase agreements on October 7th. The Durans Place property very similar as you can see um more grove very likely
may have been part of the original hail operation. But what I really wanted to emphasize here is looking at those historic aerials. We use these a lot in restoration work because if you are going to restore something obviously you need to look towards what resources were there previously. And that signature
that you see on the upper right hand side that's all what was high marsh. That is herbaceous salt marsh wetlands which we're going to talk a little bit about later as to why they're so critical in Indian River County. So this also is a tier one property. It was
originally nominated as two parcels. You can see the little piece that sticks out on the um adjacent to US1. That is a 1acre parcel that um eventually the owner decided he did not want to include. So the site is part of the citrus operations and as you can see
there are wetlands on the site which did affect the um appraisal of the property. So, we're going to take a little view over Durant as once again you're coming back from the lagoon and you can see the upper part of the mangrove area that was
associated with that property that was paused by the elap for some compliance issues. But just taking a nice aerial view. One of the things I wanted to highlight on this um this particular video is the development that's right there. So in absence of acquiring some
of these properties, it would be more than likely that these properties would also be developed in some form or fashion. And so by moving forward with this acquisition, we're um conserving properties along the lagoon, which is one of the foremost parts of the um the
bond resolution. As you zoom across here, you're seeing this site has a lot more intact areas. You've got more cabbage palm and oak, more uplands on this site. So we would be able to capture those resources into some really unique trail opportunities
in addition to creating the wetlands. And then as you can see that little darker green area that's the commercial piece that was not included. But as we turn to the south then once again you see the DOT ditch and the Hail Grove property. So they're all contiguous.
The Durant Place purchase. Um once again we got two appraisals there. Um the original appraisal included a larger area but as I mentioned it was reduced um by the owner. So the 11.74 acre uh appraisals came back at 1.23
million and 1.19 million. Um both of those appraisals were negotiated with the owner and a final price was agreed upon as the 1.26 um which is the purchase agreement that you're going to be considering on the 10th. And we did
public notice this just as we did the hail property 30 days prior. So this property will also be brought before you again on the 7th for consideration. So one of the things that I wanted to highlight, you can see that lovely view of Jones's Pier um to the left. So if
this property is acquired, the proposed use would be conservation and passive public recreation like most of our conservation areas. Uh but as I had mentioned several times prior to the site being a citrus grove, a lot of that probably was salt marsh at lower
elevations and then pine flatwoods and hammock as you moved to the west. So with the dot ditch there and these um community types, I think we have some really unique opportunities to create a mosaic of wetlands and uplands that'll provide a really great recreation
education opportunity for the public. So, why do we talk about salt marsh so much? Um, in these discussions, I've mentioned in um other presentations that most of the salt marsh habitat in Indian River County was converted into mosquito
empoundments in the 40s and the 50s. Once you do that and you put those berms in, the only vegetation that's really going to persist is mangroves because really nothing else can tolerate that water depth. So with this site, we have the opportunity to restore herbaceous
salt marsh, which is one of our rarest communities in this county. And we also have the opportunity um to take the fresh water that's untreated currently going into the lagoon, and combine that with some lagoon water, if we are creative enough, we can create a nice um
pathway of water that'll filter those pollutants from the lagoon water prior to them getting discharged back into the lagoon. One of the most important aspects that's been um talked about during this bond is how we can leverage these monies for construction and
acquisition. And this site in particular provides a great resiliency option because its proximity to the lagoon. We can create habitat that will be resilient to storms and and future events that will be um looked at very
favorably by agencies that are providing grant funds. So the acquisition summary um the ELAP reviewed these parcels as Beth mentioned on September 16th. The ELAP provided support uh in a unanimous vote of the
corn. Should these parcels um be approved on the 7th when we bring them back for the board consideration, there's a 30-day due diligence period for the Durans parcel and a 60-day due diligence uh period for the hail parcel where we can do all of all of the
assessments related related to making sure there aren't any incumbrances or any kind of hazardous materials or anything that would really affect the county's intended use of the properties. And upon completion of those due diligence periods, both of the sale agreements would be back to brought back
to the board for approval of the acquisitions at that point. And then we'd have a closing period after that. Um, as I mentioned earlier, all of our conservation areas, um, similar to Jones's Pier, we do a ton of environmental education with nature
trails. This would have these sites would have an opportunity for creating wetland overlooks, a possible kayak launch. Um we have been speaking with DOT um on several of these nominated parcels where there are um surface waters running through them and they are
eager and willing to work with the county on developing cooperative projects where we can um treat the the water and also provide some um attenuation on site which is helpful so you don't have those giant pulses of fresh water into the lagoon. And with
any of our sites we have the volunteer opportunities and the education. So, I just wanted to leave it with um the cons consistency of this project with the environmental bond. Uh it meets the criteria in that it's eliminating the potential for high density development
and proximity to the sensitive habitats of the lagoon. We're creating habitat adjacent to the lagoon for wildlife that would use wetland and upland habitat not currently there. It's basically a blank slate at this point. We have the potential for water quality improvement
via the treatment of lagoon waters and we we have a resilient project here that we feel can um rank well with a lot of funding opportunities. As you're probably all aware, a lot of the funding is um is a little bit uncertain at this point due to some of the um changes in
the laws. And then we have um we feel a great opportunity to create some unique public access improvements for recreation and education for the county residents. So with that, as Beth mentioned, we do have um information if you want to hear
about the other tier one properties. Um I think Commissioner Man was at that meeting, so he's already gotten that briefing on where we are with those. Um and other than that, we're happy to answer any questions. It's good information. >> There's been a lot of lot of work, a lot
of people. The dynamic duo, as I've always called them, has been extremely busy putting this information together. GIS has worked really hard to keep it updated, and it's just been it's been fascinating. When they talked about a
matrix at the beginning, I was a little confused, but I finally figured it out how to do it. And then when you put it all together, it seemed to come together fairly well and make sense of how we rated how the elap rated the properties.
This is not the only two. Obviously, we were looking at others. Um, it's it's still ongoing, but this is a this is a this is a good start and and I would recommend that you uh hear see what they have to say further.
>> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Mr. Chairman, if I may, I want to thank our staff for the detail in the presentation. I do have um a contracts in front of me and I do I do see 60 days on both of the due diligence periods. Is that they adjust that? Yeah, I think
they did with 30. Okay, >> just to be clear. And then also there was um a postappraisal adjustment that because they carved out that commercial piece that affect the appraisals. You want to just >> Yeah, I can out for full disclosure and then >> Sure. Sure. Um, as I mentioned for the
Durant's Place parcel, the original acreage when you look at the appraisals um, that are going to be attached to the agenda item for the 7th will have a 12.78 acre um, that includes the 11.7 acres of RM6 and then the 1 acre of the
commercial district. The owner decided to pull the commercial district piece. uh we went back and asked the appraisers to reconcile their appraisals which they did and with that reconciliation there's a separate number for the 11.74 acres and those are the figures that are in
your package >> anything further >> no sir >> you know Mr. Chair I think it should be comforting for some that we have an opportunity to buy some RS6 take it off the market.
>> Yes. Thank you. Absolutely. Whether it's by be simple or just by rights. So, it's here for the future. We heard we had a young child here in the in the room earlier.
>> It's for them. Yeah. so they can enjoy what we can enjoy. >> Thank you. >> And we do need you want to just plug a commercial for because Go ahead. >> Sure. So, um I'd like to mention that we
do uh have this is a this is a moving target. Uh we had drafted last week the next uh public notice for the next two parcels uh that will be coming to you. Now, the timeline because of the way that the ELAP meets and then the way
that we schedule the board meetings, we and again, this meeting today was just to bring you the information so that you have it, the public has it, that you have plenty of time to look over the information before we come back to you on October 7th. In the meantime, we had started to draft uh the public notice
for two more parcels. One of those is the um jungle trail parcel that we're all very familiar with. It's located next to Captain Forester. We did receive that signed contract yesterday or today. So again, everything's happening pretty
quickly. So that parcel is going to be publicly noticed. Uh that means that uh the appraisals are will now be available to the public and all the information pretty much all the information is already available to the public through the dashboard. But what we do is we print a comprehensive binder that's
available uh for viewing by the public or anyone at the IG center during normal business hours. Uh and that's all included in the uh public notice. We also got the uh contract for the winter
beach 73rd piece. So these are coming in and you're going to start seeing uh these public notices. But again, as soon as that we c we can tee these up to you, we would like if it's helpful for you to give you a presentation so that you can ask any questions. There's full
transparency. The public can come to the meetings and ask questions and they can also call us at any time. In addition, receiving nominations is really important. We're hosting um a GIS seminar uh on the dashboard. I believe
that's October 8th. We've publicized that. It's on our social media pages. It's on our web page, etc. We're going to allow for in-person or an online opportunity so that people can be literally walked through the process for nomination. We will also take
nominations over the phone or uh in writing. So, we've made it as as easy as possible. uh we just ranked uh nomination periods two and three or well not ranked but we've presented those uh the next ELAP meeting they will be
ranked so we can continue to move these pro um properties forward. So um you know it's it's not um a fixed system. this is now starting to come in and if you if anyone ever has questions we're available to u meet with them, talk with
them on the phone or provide any information so that everybody has um the the most ability to particip participate in this process. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> All right. Anything further? >> Okay. >> Not moving on.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you to county attorney's office too for walking us through these transactions. They're labor intensive and Chris has been with us attending ELAP meetings and traveling this journey with staff. So appreciate that Jennifer very much.
>> Thank you. With that, uh, I'm being requested for a break, so I'm going to take a brief recess. No. Meeting will now be called back to order. We're moving on to public works, which is item 13, Joliet 1, the adoption
of the repetitive loss area analysis, better known as the RLA, to fulfill the community rating for the CRS. um program requirements. >> Good afternoon, honorable chair and commissioners. I
>> do >> public works director and flood plane administrator and staff is pleased to present to you the repetitive loss area analysis. Uh this is probably one of the the first few initiatives that we are looking into since the the adoption of
uh the last round of uh flood plane management regulations almost 12 years ago. So with me I have Denise Boning with Coastal. She's our flood plane consultant and then I also have Kerry kind of uh she's my right-hand person
when it comes to floodplane management. So I'm going to let Denise give you an overview of the repetitive loss area analysis and then staff will stand for any questions or feedback that the commissioners might have for us. >> Thank you. >> Denise, please. >> Uh thank you commissioners. Uh again my
name is Denise Boning. I'm a certified floodplane manager. I'm also an associate in the national flood insurance program and I have been in the flip plane business as well as community rating system program for about 20 years or so. Um, as part of the CRS program
that the uh, Indian River County participates in, we are required to meet certain minimum credit credit criterias. And a community that has 50 or more repetitive loss properties must provide
a repetitive loss area analysis report in order to stay in the program period. And also in addition to that um if they write the report they also get additional points for that report. So what we did is uh being that Indian
River County has quite uh a large number of repetitive losses uh we got the property list from FEMA directly of all the properties that have encountered repetitive losses over the last 5 to 10
years. We take that data and we create areas looking at where these properties are located. We create areas and put them on a GIS map to figure out and analyze why is it that these properties
have um suffered repetitive losses. So we analyze these areas. Usually it is um maybe these homes were built a long long time ago. They were built below the base flood elevation or um their proximity to
a flooding source is too close and uh storm surge or other factors could affect um their loss their flood losses or um as we heard earlier storm water drainage is not appropriate for them to
protect them. So we need to improve their storm water uh drainage program in those areas. So we uh develop this analysis and then what we do is we look at specifically why did they flood, what is the reason for the flood and how can
we prevent any future flooding events that these homes um will avoid getting flooded again. So we made proposals of what we or recommendations of what we can do and uh that could be anything from elevating
the homes, improving storm water drainage and things like that. And of course then we also took into account well how are we going to pay for it? And there are certain things that a community can do from hazard mitigation grants to um Elevate Florida was a big
one during the storm that we uh were able to provide for residents. And there's other plans that we can do um where you can get grant funding to help these residents um mitigate for future
losses. And with that uh by adopting this plan we are not only going to review it on an annual basis but we also look to implement certain programs so that we can prevent the future uh losses
future flood losses in these neighborhoods or anywhere else for that matter. I also wanted to point out that right now uh Indian River County is a class 5 CRS rated community and this is a key
part of that rating program. So, you know, favorable consideration by commissioner would would be really helpful. >> Okay. >> And with that, you know, we we're happy to answer any questions. >> Any questions?
a question. >> Um, one of the, uh, I guess proposed, um, measures that could be taken is, uh, property acquisition. So, you know, I'm just wondering going forward, um, as you may know, we're
involved in these largecale uh, septic to sewer uh, projects. So, and you might not know now, but please keep it in mind. Yeah, I mean, if there's an area, say like in Sebastian, that's going to be taken up. It's going to end up being property acquisition,
then perhaps it's not necessary to incur the costs of subject to sewer. So, I just want to be sure that there's an overlap that you know that everything's being taken into consideration that might not be your direct concern, but in this case, but it's an indirect concern.
>> We we we do consider those things. Um but what we would love to point out is that um these areas of repetitive loss are losses to the structures and when we purchase properties um we take there is a great benefit to areas in the flood
plane when we purchase those properties we can use those as either natural functioning open space or open space um in the storm water management plan um I'm not sure if he mentioned I I don't remember um but some of these areas when we purchase them in a flood plan we can
turn them into rain gardens such as you know some proposals that Rockbridge had or um retention areas or just natural open space or or just open space. So when consider one doesn't really have to do with the other in in this situation in the repetitive loss situation with
the septic to sewer but if we end up purchasing properties we can use them to our benefit >> and those would give you earn you more credit in your CRS program. Anytime you have septic to sewer, you can get credit under the CRS program. Anytime you
create more open space, you get more credit under the CRS program. >> Your point is duly noted, Commissioner. >> Okay. Um, another question, too. Um, and this is more general. This is very specific, by the way. I read the whole thing. I loved it. Um, watch out for
that, uh, what is it? Word check or something. It changes words on you. I think there were a few places that that happened in here. Uh, I I didn't proof I didn't actually make proof reader proof reading marks, but I'm thinking of um the change in the
Florida building codes and FEMA and that kind of thing. So, this doesn't have to do with any particular neighborhood. This is a general concern when you have um neighborhoods where you have some new construction and then the neighbors become the stormwater pond, you know,
and I'm sure we've I've had complaints about that and I probably some of the other commissioners have too. Um how does that relate to this? I guess is is what I'm asking. It's not it's going to be a repetitive loss, but it's not, you know, an entire neighborhood. It's maybe a smaller area.
>> You you have two things here. So you have the Florida building code which has your minimum standards for flood plane ordinant for flood plane management which is minimum. Your CRS program is higher standards and that is regulated
under your flood ordinance. So whatever um more stringent regulation is the one that applies to your community and each municipality has their own flood plane ordinance. So, uh, for example, if you have, um, let's say the town of Indian
River Shores, they have a requirement of two foot of freeboard. Indian River County, maybe only one foot. So, that all is distinguishable in each municipality. So, you can't necessarily say whatever Florida building codes says
applies generally to all. >> I I understand what you're saying. I was asking more at almost at the block level because you know you get complaints well it's not maybe just one block but you know several blocks uh doctor's row for example 16th street go going out west
around uh 16th street and uh what is it 40th a just around that area generally so it involves probably three four maybe five blocks >> are you um >> are you more asking what happens when um >> there's new there's new construction there okay on on different blocks. Okay,
there's new construction there. So that's elevated. Okay, that's raised so that the neighbors become, you know, receive the runoff. Is that is it a politic enough way to say it? So you know how I mean that's not the only place is my point. It's just an example.
So this because of the building codes and I'm talking only about the county now, not municipalities. understand there are different rules in different places but for the county um you know do we need some kind of policy or h how can we address this because I don't think we
can have a policy because it's a state flood plane elevation is set by the state and then our policy is that you have to contain your storm water upon your property you can't flood out your neighbors so for ones like that were built in 1952 that are down here and
then the new elevation is like five feet above or whatever They're supposed to have a swale that runs down beside there that captures that. Is that accurate? >> You're absolutely right. And that's what I was going to point out that, you know, you can have some best management practices while you're doing the construction to basically contain all
that runoff on your particular site instead of letting it, you know, go on your neighbors. And one of the ways you can do it is basically, you know, putting some swells around the the land. In other cases, you can also put silt fences. And there are some other best management practices that you can do to
reduce impacts to your neighbors. >> I think Commissioner Moso, what where we start getting um people um with concerns that are reaching out to us is where maybe that has happened and now, you know, everything's permitted, they have their CO, it's a couple years later and
maybe those swailes weren't maintained properly. So there is some now encroachment. Um I'm assuming that's a code enforcement. um issue. >> Yes, ma'am. You're >> code enforcement. Okay. Thank you. >> And this does give us the opportunity to
make just like uh Denise was saying, the opportunity to make some of our requirements a little bit more restrictive. So, you know, the residents or the the contractor is paying a little bit more attention to when they're doing construction. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> And I believe what was pointed out earlier is that municipalities have
their own regulations and then now we have to take into consideration annexation. we have to take into uh consideration CRS regulations, state regulations. So I don't believe that we can have a an a general overlay of
regulation because we have so many different variables to consider. This is just one aspect. Is there anyone from the audience that wish to speak regarding this matter to microphone?
>> Seeing none commissioners, >> Mr. Chair, unless there's other questions, comments, or concerns, I'd be happy to move approval. >> Second. >> We have a motion by Commissioner Adams, second by Commissioner Moss. Any further discussion? All in favor?
>> I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. >> Thank you foration. >> We'll now move on to uh attorney's matters, county attorney matters. And uh we're looking at the authorization to proceed with the foreclosure of code
enforcement cases 20107106 Anderson and 2011 803 Mr. one one two >> I think we're missing 14A is the committee vacancy appointments >> you skip that
>> yeah yeah we did turn the page on us >> you got excited >> I I I was because this will be uh >> we're seeing the end of the >> an additional one day >> okay so uh yeah let's let's just uh go back to attorney matters and we're
looking at committee assignments That's right. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, before I get started, >> do you want me to proceed? >> Oh, please. >> Okay. Before I get started, I I did want to say thank you to Christina Moore,
who's done a lot of work to um a advertise and and put together all these various um vacancies for your consideration uh for appointment. And I also wanted to give another shout out and that's to Scott Johnson who's our
web master. Um you know he's he plays such a critical role in so many of the things we do here at the county and I know that he works closely with our office and he's been working with Christina just to make sure that these committee vacancies are advertised to keep the information to update the
information on our website. So I did I did want to acknowledge him because he does such great job. So, um, if it if it's agreeable, I think I'll just kind of we have quite a few vacancies on various boards and so I'll
just go through them one by one and then the board can make uh their choices. Your your first uh vacancies, we have um two vacancies on your agricultural advisory committee. This is a two-year
term for each. Um the these are vacancies for an agricultural industry representative and a farm bureau representative. Um we had three we have three applicants here. I I will say that um in looking through them I I noticed
that Mr. Jacob Fodek >> Fchek does work for the Farm Bureau. So I know one of the vacancies is a Farm Bureau representative vacancy. he seems to be the one fit for that. And then the other
is an agricultural industry representative. And I know there's two applicants listed here. One one clearly falls into that category and another may maybe not his work uh reflect that he's
more interested in agriculture. So um if we if we'd like >> take these committee by committee. Is that how you want to do them, Mr. >> Yeah, that's what I was going to suggest. We just go committee by committee. So, >> so for a advisory, I'd be happy to make a motion um for the Farm Bureau
representative to be Jay Quitic and the A industry representative to be Steve Dvos. >> Second. >> So, we have a uh for that first position, we have a motion by Commissioner Adams, seconded by myself,
and any further discussion? >> All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Congratulations. >> And the next committee is the Beach and Shores Preservation Advisory Committee,
which is one it's a two-year term, and there's one vacancy just for a general board appointee. >> Mr. Chairman, if I may, I' I'd like to nominate Richard L. Harris. Mr. Harris uh lives over on the the beach side and
he's been very active for beach and shore meetings. He's most of them and he's uh been one of the u the advocates to to try to work with the sector 7 people as we know how that's been
ongoing. But uh he's got a really substantial background in in service in this area they saw be a good fit. Definitely second. >> We have a motion by
Commissioner Airman, second by Commissioner Moss. Any further discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Congratulations. Child's advisory. >> Right. We have one member at large um
vacancy, which is a four-year term, Mr. Chair. I really enjoy the way that SEESAC is working right now with our grant subcommittee. Um they're doing a lot of fantastic work. Uh so I would love I know there's some members there, but I
would love to kind of keep that intact. So I'd like to make a motion to nominate Lindseay Samberg. >> Second. We have a motion by Commissioner Adams, seconded by Commissioner Aman. Any further comment?
All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries unanimously. >> Mr. Chair, your next committee is the Community Development Block Grant Citizen Advisory Task Force. There's two vacancies. Um they're it's a four-year
term, and these two vacancies are for low to moderate income level um persons. And I will say we advertise these vacancies this way. We don't go and then run their finances. So, you know, the these people that have applied um have
applied to represent be a representative on that committee in this income category. So, we have four different applicants for two vacancies. >> U Mr. Chair, I'd like to nominate Amanda Lane and Christopher Roberts. both have
been uh long-term residents here and I think have experience that would uh be of benefit to that advisory task force. >> Um I'll be happy to second that.
>> We have a motion by Commissioner Mo, second by Commissioner Adams. Any further? >> All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Congratulations. >> The next um board is the construction
board of adjustment and appeals. Um there's there's actually two vacancies on that. One is an architect, but we got no architect applicants. We have an engineer vacancy and two applicants for that. >> Mr. Chair, I'd nominate Jason Shore.
>> Second. We have a motion by Vice Chairman Law, second by Commissioner Aman. Any further? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Off
the roll. Congratulations. >> And our uh last vacancy looks like our last one. Um is there are two vacancies on the Economic Development Council. Um, they're both four-year terms. One is a
member at large vacancy and one is a local agricultural industry representative. And I will say that I know that Christina has mailed out information to all of you and you've been able to review these um applicants yourself. Um, it appears that we have a
couple on there that are would qualify for the local agricultural industry representative. >> All right, Mr. Chair, >> I'd like to >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Like to nominate uh Jacob Voytech for
one of those positions >> that and he would he would qualify for the local agriculture >> agricultural. >> Yeah, >> Mr. Chairman, if I may, counselor did second. No, >> we didn't make a standing rule about being >> we didn't make
>> Yeah, I know that. I I recognize he's just gotten appointed to another egg, >> right? It's just that um you know we we did a lot of advertising and this is this is who applied. >> Well, I just to I did second your motion. >> Oh, thank you. >> Um
>> we could discuss. >> I will say that the A advisory committee um doesn't meet >> very often. Um it's more of an ad hoc uh committee at this point. Um I'm sure we'll probably utilize them in the future when we start talking about some of the a zoning that we've talked about
with the comp plan. But um we are going through our economic development study and there is been a severe lack of um agg voices on that committee. So
um I I know Commissioner um Flesher the chair has made a motion. Um I also have a motion I'd like to make but we'll go one at a time. >> Okay. Any further comment? Make sure that wasn't >> No. And once again, they they rarely
meet and this committee we we we need somebody in that arena. >> He's more than well qualified. >> Thank you. Okay. Any further discussion? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously.
Thank you. Congratulations, >> Mr. Chair. For the member at large position, I would like to nominate Mr. Steve Devos. Do we have a second? >> Second it. >> We have a motion and a second.
Commissioner Adams, Commissioner Moss. Any further hearing? None. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Congratulations. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
>> Our committee assignments and appointments and we'll ensure that uh they all get the supporting materials so they can begin the process of doing good work for the community. >> Absolutely.
>> Thank you. Now we can move on to go back. We almost missed that that one moment. The next would be the uh 14B which is the authorization to proceed with the foreclosures of the code enforcement cases 201070106
Anderson and 2018 803 0112 Anderson councelor >> good afternoon commissioners Susan Prao deputy county attorney for Indian River County Attorney's Office I have been
asked by code enforcement to bring these two cases before you. Um, they've already been in front of the code enforcement board and approved. I do have a presentation for you. Um, you will note before I begin, this is the same exact parcel. There just happens to be two different cases on
them. So, the address is 3512th Street Southwest Beach, Florida. This particular code case was open in July of 2017. On March 18th, 2018, the code enforcement board held a public hearing where the above reference property hearing after subject property was held to be in violation for multiple
different things, including no building permit, vehicle parking, storage violation, boat trailer storage violation, junk vehicles violation, a vehicle parking in the rightway, and junk trash and or debris violation. This hearing was noticed via certified mail,
returned unclaimed on February 28th, 2018, and posting of the property on March 16th, 2018. >> Did I hit the wrong button? I apologize. >> That one. >> Um, continued history on this case. On August 27th, 2018, the code enforcement
board conduct conducted a compliance hearing at which time they deemed the violations were still not complied with and a order finding violation um issuing a fine of $100 a day was imposed. The subject property to this day remains out
of compliance and it's not a homestead. Therefore, we are able to foreclose on this particular property. These are some updated photographs that was taken recently by the um code enforcement officer. You will see here that the property seems to remain out of
compliance. There's still just random kind of junk trash and debris and numerous um items piled up around the property. Again, um similar issues. You'll see there's stuff there on the bottom left with a blue tarp. Um just items around.
And on the photo on the right hand side, you see there seems to be kind of a trailer that's got some weeds even growing over in it. Um, and you can see the top of a car hood that's popped open there from an inoperable vehicle. Um, and you can see that same vehicle
has no license plate on the back in this photograph. And you'll notice the posting of the property for the hearing that took place in front of the code enforcement board and a number of different just kind of vehicles including some more without tags there present.
>> So the code enforcement board issued an order approving a move forward with foreclosure on this property pursuant to the lean. Um staff is requesting guidance from this board to see if they would like to move forward with foreclosure on the code enforcement case 2017070106.
And just to note, there was a letter sent out via regular US mail um to notify the property owner of this meeting today. We're not required to notice them of this because it's not a hearing, but we do it as a courtesy. So, I'm not sure if they're present, but it
doesn't look like it. So I would like to take them one by one. So if the board would motion on this one and then I can go on the next one. I think >> was the property owner present. >> It would appear not sir. They were not a present at the code enforcement board either
>> and we even though it wasn't required we ensured that we notify them. >> Yes sir. We did send out a letter via US mail notifying them of today. >> Move to um foreclose. Move approval. Second
motion by Commissioner Adams, seconded by Commissioner Airman. Any further discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carried unanimously. Council, >> thank you. The next um presentation,
it's the same exact property um but for a different violation. This particular case was opened in 2018. Um you'll see the uh there's an aerial photograph from January 20th, 2018 from the property and you can see the violation there. It's a swimming pool. Um it was built without a
permit and has an expired permit um and also for an unmaintained swimming pool violation. This particular case was started and taken in front of the code enforcement board on July 23rd, 2018. Um the hearing was noticed via certified mail return receipt unclaimed on July
10th, 2018 and a posting of the property on July 13th, 2018 for the evidentiary hearing. Continued history on this case. You can see the uh uh following year photograph from January 25th, 2019. The pool is still there. Um, on September 24th,
2018, the code enforcement board conducted a compliance hearing at which time it was noted that the order finding violation was not complied with and a $100 per day fine was issued. The subject property remains out of compliance. It is also not homesteaded, therefore, the county can foreclose on this particular property.
These are just some updated aerial photographs from January 5th of 2025 to demonstrate that yes, the pool in fact is still there. The code enforcement board did issue an order approving moving forward with foreclosure on this property. At this
time, staff is requesting guidance from this board, the board of county commissioners, whether you desire to move forward with foreclosure on the code enforcement case 201830112. >> Can I do you what are the fines up to? >> I'm not sure. I have code staff here. I
did not ask um to see if what the fines exactly would be considering the fact that I think we were basing them off of the actual violations and the nature of the violations in particular. If you look at the pool violation without a permit, it seems to be a little bit grievous. >> 2018 at $100 a day.
>> Yes, sir. >> I move approval. >> Did I have a question? >> The the green square is the pool, >> right? >> Okay. >> Well, I'm assuming that's what that was. Um, >> okay. Evan, I'll second that.
>> My question is these both started in 2017 and 2018. >> Yes, ma'am. >> So, if I was a neighbor, because I I get this from people in other areas of the county, why does that process why has it
taken code enforcement so long if they are not getting any response to get to some kind of enforcement perspective? So, I will let um code enforcement staff answer that. Um I get a request from code enforcement staff to move forward on a case and the only thing our office
does is check to see if we can legally move forward or not. Um but I will let code enforcement staff respond to that particular question. >> The code enforcement >> Mr. Chair, members of board, I did inquire about this and I was just told it's been past history that the county
has not been warm to moving forward with for foreclosure, but I couldn't agree more. I would be livid if I live next to this. And it's a hazard to the community. It degrades property values. And I think working
with code enforcement, we can come up with a policy that moves for more expeditious, you know, resolution of these matters when people literally snub their noses at their neighbors and the community and this and the code enforcement proceedings.
>> And I know this is all new to us. I mean, we've just now in the past what couple of years actually started foreclosing. And I and I'm, you know, I think it's a tool perhaps we should have used in the past, but we are using it now. I was just curious and I know if they are
doing a little bit, they can kind of continue to kind of extend that 30-day a bit, but it seems like these were just not, it's not like they were gaming the system. They just weren't even playing in the system at all. So, just curious. >> I mean, no worries.
>> You covered it by way explanation. And it it it is that's a lengthy period of time to have to have that next door to your property. However, code the code enforcement procedure is many steps and which has culminated at the the the
hearing. There's still another opportunity for them to mitigate and when the fines begin. Uh it again our history uh it only goes back maybe two years where we started initiating let's
go forward with the foreclosure. Um, that's a that that's a a very harsh task >> to be able to have to flip the switch. So that even then uh would there may be some sort of notice of appeal
uh last minute request. U I'm I'm going to turn this whole world around. But again, >> yeah, there's a fine line. >> We've had a few quite a few at the 10 yard line. uh that we had to pull back a little bit. So,
you know, I I have to say in all fairness, it would have been nicer if this was actually moved forward a few years ago. If you're the neighbor, but I think every opportunity for
fairness and benevolence to the property owner has been given and exhausted. >> There is a fine line between voluntary compliance and ignoring compliance. So, I'm glad we're here. I was not a ding on I was just
curious what our process was. >> And if you're the property owner, you always have that last hope that maybe perhaps something will change. >> Mary, >> but thank you for that. >> I just want to address the board. Patrick Murphy, chief of long-range planning. took over code and enforce
supervision earlier this year. So, I'm not really clear on the history or the policy that the board and that the county staff has had moving towards foreclosure. I know taking somebody's property is the last thing you actually want to do. We always seek voluntary uh enforcement and compliance through code
enforcement. We work with folks to get their properties brought up to speed. But when you get to a certain period of time and several years go by and this still has all these violations, the property still looks the way it does, you want to get this community to have its blight removed and restored and have the community looking good again. So,
this is something that I'm going to be taking a closer look at as far as older properties that we have that have been issued a notice of finding violation in a code uh imposing fine recorded where the fines have gotten to the point where they've gone above the property value, which is the baseline for doing
foreclosures and start to kind of move on these, give the folks one more chance to clean up. If they don't, we need to do take some kind of action. But this is really sort of a policybased decision for us to move forward. And what I'm hearing is we need to make sure that
we're taking care of our communities and that's something we're going to be doing looking a little closer at. >> Thank you, Mr. Sir. >> All right. So, we have a motion in a second. Any further discussion? All in favor?
>> I opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Lease termination for that's item 14C. Lease termination for 8865 91st Avenue, Vera Beach, Florida. Counselor.
>> Good afternoon, commissioners. Again, Susan Praau, deputy county attorney on behalf of the county attorney's office. This afternoon, I bring to you a proposal for uh accepting an agreement for lease termination. Um I did have a request to add an amendment to this
item. and um an amendment to add an additional portion to the attached agreement to terminate lease agreement. Um that should another code violation occur that the lease be terminated immediately. Um
so I'm going to ask that I'm not sure if that and I'm sorry I don't know who the lady is that just approached the front. >> Neither do I. >> You have to go to the podium if you want to.
Thank you. >> Okay. Thank Sorry about that. >> I don't I didn't even know who >> So, we are asking um that the board um approve either the agreement to terminate the lease agreement as it's written or if the board wants to consider adding an additional um
verbiage in there about if there should be any subsequent code violations um that it terminate immediately. Thank you councel. >> Thank you. >> Any questions from commission?
>> Not at this time. >> Ma'am, I see you approach. Are you the subject? Your name and address for the record? >> Gina Hower. >> Okay. >> 8865 91st Avenue. >> Welcome.
>> Um, my council suggested I come show up here. Thank you. >> Um I think he put in a letter for an extension and at this time to attain another resident would not be feasible
due to the drastic price hikes with today's rentals and with the serus health issues with my daughter. I fear for setbacks or decline or worse.
Because of this, I'm concentrating on trying to save her life, not packing and looking for a home that is unattainable for me right now. This a lot of stress on us.
We will be homeless. By the way, originally you only needed 30 foot of easement of the property that I only bought six months when you came domain me
which was my dream home. So we are hurting by stay there the other then one what are we hurting by staying there other one code violation that was corrected immediately >> so
>> I just plead for some sympathy >> from my >> from my understanding Miss Hower Yes, ma'am. >> Um, we have the I have an agreement here that you signed. >> Yes. >> And it's dated August 12th, sorry,
August 6, 2025 for you to vacate the premises by June 1st. >> Yes. >> Of 2025. Is that correct? >> Sorry, 2026. Is that correct? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Through council. Yes. >> Okay. But
like I said, um I'm really concentrating on trying to save my daughter's life right now. >> So, we're being asked to accept the agreement to vacate for her to vacate by June 1st of 2026.
>> Yes, ma'am. And the agreement is um attached here to as an agreement to terminate lease. um if you all would like to accept the agreement as it's currently written or if there are any changes or amendments to the agreement that you all would like to see.
>> Well, I would say Miss Howard, good afternoon. But there was discussion about us enforcing this lease termination on 1231 of 25 just so you know. And I think 61 of 26 is more than benevolent. And I don't think we need to
go into the details on why >> we feel it's more than benevolent. So you have until June 1st of 2026. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That's that's nine months. >> Long time. >> That should be >> That's a motion. >> Be happy to second.
>> Okay. That's a motion by by Chairman Law, second by Commissioner Adams. Any further discussion? All in favor? I >> oppose. Motion carries unanimously.
>> Thank you, commissioners. >> Thank you. >> Next item is uh item 14D delta, which is the purchase of property for animal control emergency services. >> Good afternoon, commissioners. We are here with Chief Johnson asking
the board to approve an agreement that was negotiated for the purchase of a piece of property at 60 6580 69th Street. The initial purpose of the property is to allow for overflow and for us to include the ability to handle more animals to
allow animal control to do their job in a more robust way than they currently can just due to the nature of the growing county, the growing number of animals and growing number of calls. And the humane society is limited as we are all aware of this humane society. We've had a relationship with them for a long time and we don't plan on stopping that.
But we need to augment the services in order to provide the county with everything that's needed all the citizens. The good thing about this property is it already has existing structures that we can retrofit much quicker than we could building anything new on any piece of property. And the import of that is we can start accessing
those services much quicker and at a much lower cost than putting up a new building. As we all know, construction prices are not going down anytime soon and they just continue to skyrocket. The retrofit will be much smaller in a much more limited space than we need. And we
have negotiated with humane society where they're going to work with us to continue process as it's going in the foreseeable future until we're ready to get up and running. But then we're also going to work with them to get as many animals adopted as possible. The another benefit of this site, I know Chief Johnson can speak to this more readily,
is it it's a large site and compared to the prices we paid for some other fire station sites recently, it's actually affordable comparable comparatively. This can also be used for future fire stations or other anything that emergency services needs. There's enough land there for them to build out for
years to come and have a central location for a new fire station. As the county continues to grow, we're going to need it. And so it's planning in the future and we're buying land at a much less cost than we would be if we're in 10 years from now and we need to buy another piece of property that it's where we're at. We don't see another
option and I know if you have any questions, Chief Johnson and Mr. Zita can probably answer those as well. But we believe it's in the best interest of the county. And I know I've spoken with each of you individually over the past year of trying to find solutions for more space. And this is the quickest, most affordable solution we've been able
to find. And and as we said, the Humane Society is actually on board. It allows them to pursue their mission at a greater rate and to do what they need to do better for the animals in the community as well. So it seems like a win-win for everybody.
And in in addition uh again you mentioned the chief's concerns uh you know years back we had uh talked about uh something being at Liberty Park u and again that's that is a very nice site
but uh after talking with the chief understanding the close proximity to station 11 at this time and the concerns of annexation and expansion in that area. We most certainly will be looking at station
in in the very near future in order to encapsulate the land with this project uh is uh financially beneficial and does reduce the concern of a large land acquisition.
>> Well, thank you for covering that as well. >> Yes, it's a uh two for one, so to speak. we get a quicker solution to our animal control problem plus a future station site. So it is is a great opportunity. >> There's two schools nearby and we have a
lot of growth and those other concerns too of uh between the annexation and the rest of what's going on further west. So >> m >> good opportunity.
I'd be happy to move approval. >> Second. >> Well, I'd like to uh Yes. So, we have a motion by Commissioner Adams and seconded by Vice Chairman Law. Uh I'd like to see if there's anybody from the public that
wish to speak regarding this. Hello, my name is Joan Carlson Rataba. Um, historically I was executive director of the Humane Society for 27 years. And truly, um, there is a need for additional facilities in Indian River County with growth. And in
addition to that, it's been 20 years since any type of facility was constructed. So, that is a given. However, I just want to mention that um we can't uh warehouse animals. Um that's not going to be the solution to the
problem with homeless animals in our community. Right now, people in our community um that need services have to go out of county to pro to provide things like spayneuter or vaccines, that sort of thing. Lower lower income people. So the scenario is is when we
look at um and I should explain that I worked for the national ASBCA for nine years as community initiative director going into communities working with animal services, humane societies, rescue groups, bringing everybody together to the table to try to come up
with good um strategic plans that were feasible. And so the scenario that we know is is that it is far more cost-effective to provide services directly to the animal owning community. Okay. or also to do simple things like returning animals to their owners uh in
the field instead of warehousing them at the shelter. So, so the scenario is is that I hope that you will as a body will to look at not only um the the uh the the housing of animals but also look at what can we do in the community to really effectively reduce the
overpopulation problem here. And um and I think that's a combination of with the nonprofit community, social services, veterinarians, um animal control, humane societies, rescue groups coming together and sitting down so that we don't duplicate
services, but also that we come up with solutions that are going to be uh cost-effective. Thank you, >> Joan. Thank you for your input and I want to thank you for your years of commitment and service. I have fond memories of delivering one of God's
creatures inside of a patrol vehicle and you had open arms and you address the needs of the community. something that uh I think we we probably out outgrew those days because of growth, expansion,
the number of animals that are are in here and with the ecology in mind is too as well because there are some environmental concerns. >> Absolutely. Yeah. >> So, uh again, it has grown. Uh but I I just wanted to take the time to say
thank you for being here. >> You're welcome. your statements and your years of service. >> Thank you, Joe. >> It was great working with you. >> Well, I hope you will consider um doing some sort of um a group. There are national samples or models that bring that bring organizations together within
communities and uh again it's cost effective to do this and coming up with solutions that are going to really uh have impact in the future. Thank you. you ever think about a volunt volunteer uh assignment to help staff as they navigate?
>> I would be happy to do that. I'm retired now, so um I do have time for that. And I do think this that like with your animal control officers do a great job. Um they're really uh short on resources. Uh so there's ways that we could probably bring people together, maybe
even coming up with a volunteer force that could help with this facility. >> I I believe staff uh would embrace your tutelage and assistance if you had that time on your hands. Um, we'd appreciate it.
>> Okay. Be glad to help. >> Thank you. >> Yes, we welcome the offer. Thank you. >> Thank you, Chief. >> All right. Well, we have a motion and a second on the floor. Is there any further discussion?
All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Thank you all for your time. >> Great to see you, Joe. >> All right. Now, we're moving right along. We're down a solid waste disposal
district. >> Yeah, Mr. Chair. >> Oh, no. We still have many more to go. >> I keep trying to skip around. >> I'm trying. He wants to >> I might listen. Okay, >> I'll be quick. I'll be quick and I won't be take it personally.
>> Okay, >> Zotti and Danny. Okay, there we go. >> Sure. >> Commissioner Adams, you want to talk about uh unmaintained roadways? >> Roads, you know, after the landfill on maintained county roads is my second favorite subject in Indian River County. Um, so I just want to have a brief
conversation with my fellow commissioners. Um, and I am not springing this on Addie or Danny. I have talked to them ahead of time. Um, but we have a lot of roads in Indian County that are I'm not talking about the private roads that are public county
roads that we do not maintain. >> Um, there's a ton in VLE. There's a ton down in the Oslo area, um, out west. Um, Commissioner Moss, I think you even have a few, um, in your district. So, what I
would I would like to ask staff if they would, if they had the opportunity, can we look at all the unmaintained roads that we have on the list? Can we triage which ones we might be
able to just simply add to existing grading routes? Can we look at which ones might need material on them? Because in some areas, it's sugar sand. You can't even just start grading them. You would need to put material on them.
Um, and can we just get a plan together of how we might start adding these roads to the maintenance list for a couple reasons. One, anecdotally, and I don't keep the data, but just going by what my emails and
phone calls, this is about 75 to 80% of the calls that go into public works, I think, are about maintaining unmaintained county roads. Um, and nobody likes when you say, "Well, yeah, it's a county road, but we don't maintain it." That's on you. Um, the
comm community is just not the same as it as it was. And over the years, you know, we have allowed people to build on these roads because we've accepted certain ones of them as access easements, whether it is Falsmary Water Control District roads, whether it's um
roads down in Oslo Park or even VLE. You know, I'm going to use that as an example because it's it's in my backyard and I'm familiar with it, but there's a lot of roads in VLE that were essentially they needed to be mowed, not graded because nobody lived on them and and
they were all grassed over and now you have three or four houses that are being built on them and there's no base there. We're not maintaining them. And from time to time, I think we actually have to pull out um the UPS truck and I think
we had to pull out a waste management truck once. I can say that cuz our public's in the back and not waste management. >> It's a sugar sand road, >> but it's a sugar sand road, but it's still a county road that people are driving on. But in order to maintain it, we're going to possibly need to put some
material down. So, I would just like to start the conversation. We've kind of kicked it around for the past couple years without any direction. And what I would like to see is maybe between now and sometime in December before the first of the year if we could bring back
kind of like a plan that looks at the roads that are county roads that aren't maintained and what it would take to start maintaining them in a phased approach. like the lowhanging fruit again might be the ones that are in good condition that just could be added to an
existing greater route without without messing up that route. And then there might be ones that >> are going to need some material or would require a new greater and a new greater route. Um, and that's something that I would I would like to have so we can
start talking about that for next year's budget cycle. Like I'm not talking about spending millions of dollars tomorrow. I just want us to start a conversation about having a plan to start addressing some of these things. A so road and bridge can focus on some of the other
things that they need to focus on, but two, so you know, we're being responsive to the constituent complaints that we're getting >> and and I didn't know if you guys wanted to add anything to that. >> Good afternoon, commissioners. A jave, public works director, and I have Danny
with me, the assistant public works director. uh this is music to our ears. You know, any help and resources we can get to undertake some of these additional streets would would be a welcoming thing, you know, by by the staff and the team members and we can certainly come up with a plan that would
make sense for the residents and also for the commission to consider. Obviously, just like you you said, Commissioner Adams, it would have to be a phase approach. You know, some of the numbers that we are looking into right now is that the overall cost for something like this could be like, you know, somewhere north of maybe even 100
million just depending on the overall cost cuz lot of unpaved streets right now even do not uh meet our county standards >> and just to be able to bring those sugar sand based streets to our county standards, you know, can involve a lot
of uh extra hours from the staff. In addition to that, the bigger bigger thing is storm water. You know, on these unpaved streets, trying to make sure that as we start grading these, we are also looking into, you know, how to take care of any additional runoff would be a
big consideration. Just to give you an example just in context like with our paving program right now, our road and bridge team actually goes out there and they fix pipes and ditches and stuff before our contractor goes out and starts paving those streets. So that's
the same thing. You know, we would have to look into some of these options as as we bring those online with our existing program. >> And to be clear, I'm not talking about paving anything that a whole, but just starting to kind of stabilize and add
them to some kind of maintenance program >> because it's a you know, it's upwards of a hundred million now if we went out tomorrow and did it. But if we wait another five years, >> you know, it's going to be even more. And then that's five years worth of phone calls and and headaches. I just >> I think I think it's a great idea. So it
would be an inventory in in effect taking stock of what needs to be addressed. >> Danny or Audi, how would you guys envision that? That's kind of >> assistant public works director. Uh given the time frame, like you said, we can put an inventory together and get
you a list of roads lengths so you can get an overall total. But I I would like to make it clear and very important for the commission to understand that the reason these roads are not maintained currently because they've never been up to a standard.
>> None of these unmaintained roads can we take stabilizer and just dump it on the existing road and start maintaining it. That's part of the problem. And I understand that's why the residents don't understand. There's nothing there to hold up this material. If you take
stabilizer and dump it on sugar sand, all you're going to make is a sugar sand pit. You can dump six inches or you can put a foot. It's never going to hold up. Uh so all these roads are going to they're going to have to be staked. They're going to have to stake the road
right away and this uh overall rightway for drainage because some of them being unmaintained, people have chose to drive through the years wherever it was comfortable and if they felt safe >> necessarily in the road. Exactly. So, some of them aren't where they're
supposed to be. So, it's going to take stake and grade. They're going to have to be undercut to bring good base in to hold up the stabilizer. Then, you're going to have to bring the stabilizer in and grade it out. Uh, and as Audi mentioned, we are in certain areas,
we're going to have to install new drainage if there is some existing drainage, as he alluded to, like we do on resurfacing. If we go into do a road and there's existing drainage, we want to make sure that that drainage is in good shape and it's going to last 10,
12, 15 years. We don't want to go in even on a dirt road and have to go six months and replace drainage. So there there's a lot of things that go into this. I know maintaining an unmaintained road sounds really easy,
but there is a lot that goes into it and it is it is going to cost. Is this um I'm thinking of the stormwater uh plan that we just looked at. Is this could this be similar to that where you identify areas um that need that need work and
prioritize? Is that is that possible? I understand what you're saying. You can't fix everything. >> Yes, that is a good option and that can certainly be done. Yes, ma'am. So, I know you weren't seeking a vote on uh converting all the the streets,
alleys, and accessways in in our fine county, but in you particularly in your district, there is quite a bit of we call soft roads or recreated roads or redesigned in unintended roads. Okay.
>> So, uh this this is going to be a long range project. >> Yes. >> And uh again, we you could recall we we were having a challenge with the access ways uh by the water control district
and uh did they didn't have any funding to do it and we wound up having to discuss each one of them. I think we did it at the Felsville Library and uh we had to uh get involved with correcting a lot of u customary woes in in the
roadways. I I think it's rather widescale. I'm glad we're talking about it. Uh but um I I think uh I guess you you're looking for consensus to so staff has this understanding. So, so Danny,
would you say we would want to do an inventory, do an assessment, identify constraints and opportunities, and then prioritize based on that? Like maybe there's some areas, I know she mentioned VLE, they have existing storm water
swells and >> a storm water system, but there's other areas that are very similarly situated and maybe we just need to Is that what we're talking about here? Is that what you you could do by December? >> Yes. >> Like what's a reasonable I'm not looking to say
>> come with some magical plan tomorrow and I recognize that you have a lot of stuff to do. So even just an initial >> outline or assess >> because we have some of this probably identified. I know it's not specifically but with our pavement condition index,
if I recall correctly, the roads are already identified if they're, you know, they're county not maintained. Am I am I wrong in that? >> Yes, there there is put together already. So I believe December is >> a good >> at least
>> point to get to at least to get you an inventory so we know what you're talking about. >> End of December presenting in sometime in the first meeting or so in January. >> That's fine. >> Yes. >> December. Yes. >> 2025. >> Okay. I just no just to
the conversation. I think that is so large scale that uh we might be comparing this to septic to sewer uh you know as far as the amount of roadways >> you know have to assess each one of them. >> Don't tell Sean that.
>> Yeah. You know if just last time I remember when this was brought up it's probably been but three or four years. If I remember right, the inventory at that time there was between five and six miles just in Vero Lake Estates. >> Yes. >> That was unmaintained road right away
that now there's houses on every one of them. >> Yeah. There was like 200 miles countywide or something. >> It's a lot. Commissioner Adams mentioned the when when there were grass roads. Yep. >> Uh I remember the undercarriage of a patrol car cooking the grass as you were
trying to get to another home. There's a stop sign in front of this sandy pile and that was the road. >> When I first started with the county, I remember driving a tractor mowing those roads. >> Mowing the roads. Yeah. >> If only we could still do that.
>> Yes. And it had a different order though. >> I do remember. >> Yes. So, we'll be looking at that. And no, you don't have to include 30 second. You've got that under control, right? >> We're working on it. We'll be coming back with an update on that. >> Exclude that. >> Yes, ma'am.
>> Mr. Well, he's got a different approach. >> Commissioner Adams mentioned something about triaging. >> What do you mean by that? By the volume of complaints that we get? >> No, I mean by the ease and cost of addressing the issue on that road. So
there, for instance, there's already a greater route in Oslo. Right. Right. So maybe there's a couple of roads that are kind of on the fringe of that that are that have the right base that could be maintained that would just need to be maybe added to that route that wouldn't
impact um that wouldn't really impact the turnaround time for for doing the whole loop. But there's someone ones like, you know, way out west of town, like maybe my way that's going to require a lot more
to figure out what to do with. That's all I meant by ease of addressing. >> That's good. Thank you. >> I actually have the three top roads here in front of me right now. >> Okay. that the and one is South 85th
Street between 104th Court and 106th Avenue >> in Barrel Lake Estates. >> We have 106th Avenue North 85th to 87th Street in Felsmere. And then we have 12th Street Southwest between 9inth
Court Southwest and 13th A Southwest. All three of those roads are going to need worked on and brought up to spec. There's no way to just put material on them. And as you mentioned about greater
routes, everything we have in the county is on a greater route except the unmaintained. But when you look at an overall map, all the roads that we're going to inventory and bring to you are within two to three blocks of a greater route.
So, I can understand the residents frustration with that when you see the grater circling the block but not going down that road. >> So, it's not it's it's going to add to our timetable, but it can be done. We just have to put all this work into it
to get it to a point where we can do it >> and then we could address the greater situation after the fact. >> Chair, >> I want to thank Mr. Ulie recently for >> uh responding along with Audi to some concerns. Sometimes we have constituents
that are a little more vocal than others. Um yeah, believe it or not, Mr. Ulie, one question. How do we defend and I I don't know the public school bus routes, but oftent times, I don't know about the other four, but we hear about,
well, the school bus goes down this, how come it's not in better shape? So, how how do we as a board defend that? That is a very good question because we get complaints from the school board when there's trees interfering with the
bus routes when trees are interfering with a sight distance for a bus stop. But to my knowledge as of now, the complaints you're getting about a school bus goes down that road. We haven't got that from the school district. >> Okay. >> So where the call is coming from and
being initiated, I'm not sure. But the school board is very vocal and they should be for the safety of their bus drivers, the buses and the children. And we are responsive to that. But as far as school buses not being able to get down the road, we haven't got that that I'm
aware of at this time. >> And the same with Amazon and >> UPS. Okay. And I'm pretty certain we could probably get uh GIS maps or the the shape files, what they call them, from the school district on all their routes and kind of overlay that just so
we identify that too for the December. >> And I would like to clarify that you were mentioning waste management and UPS and all that. Indian River County does not remove those vehicles.
>> No. Right. No, I didn't mean you guys went and did it. >> I just wanted to clarify that. So, there's no >> Yeah, it's probably a big truck, a big record that we don't have. >> They have been stuck in these roadways, but the county has not removed them.
>> Um, so, commissioners, I would just ask I don't know if there needs to be a motion or not. If so, I'm happy to make one. just a consensus, you know, >> but just a general consensus to kind of start the process with the understanding of the time frame to kind of bring
something back and then we'll see how it moves forward from there. >> Sounds like Danny knows exactly what you intended and sounds like we're going to get something delivered >> Christmas >> Christmas present. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.
>> New year. >> Yeah, we'll see how many people we can make out. Did you get a word? Had a go. >> Yeah, I'm happy with that. As long as I think everyone >> and they're still smiling, so they're not completely mad at me. So, >> he's not saying anything. So,
>> saying anything. >> Okay. Well, we we heard from enough that we do have >> I got I got a few down south, I'm sure. >> Thank you guys. I appreciate it. >> Thank you.
>> Yeah. P tree park. Yeah. All right. Well, now we can move on to item uh 16 uh special districts and boards. And we have solid waste disposal district. I see Hamachu is here. Uh item
16B Bravo 1. Approval of the fiscal year 2026 annual adjustment board request by Atlas Organics in Dean River Sustainability Center and Bulk Express.
And I guess Hamancha didn't know if he was going to have to come down that somebody was going to make a motion before he got to the podium. >> You're on. >> All right. Good afternoon, Commissioner. A man Schumath, the managing director of solid waste disposal district. Um, annually in a lot of our agreements, we
have consumer price index approvals. Uh, apologize. This is kind of the last meeting of of this fiscal year that we're bringing this. It should have probably been brought uh earlier but we have budgeted for CPI increases on these three contracts and uh this basically
this is just a opportunity to bring this to the board. Uh we do this annually uh on these contracts and um just requesting board approval for the annual adjustments that that's allowed in these contracts. There's a limit on all three of them, a max of 3%. And so based on
their request, uh staff supports uh the approval of the of the annual adjustments to these contracts. >> Move approval. >> Second. >> We have a motion by Commissioner Adams, second by Commissioner Airman. As you realize, I I would have initiated
a motion, but chairman can't make motions. >> Okay. >> All right. So, we have a motion in a second. Any further discussion? All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Item 16B Bravo 2 is the approval of the
operation and maintenance of any river county landfill agreement with Republic Services of Florida. Bid number 2025028. And we have attachments. Monte, you're up.
commissioners. Um, so in the Indian River County landfill and our convenience centers, you know, they they've been operated and maintained by Republic Services for the last 14 going on 15 years. Um, next week the the agreements expire and so staff uh
working with purchasing and legal uh we went through a procurement process and earlier this year uh the SWID board approved both the uh landfill agreement and the convenience center agreement uh to Republic Services uh as the lowest uh most qualified uh vendor and the lowest
cost vendor. Um ci since that time um we've uh basically been in good faith negotiations with Republic Services. Uh one one of the things that occurred was during our typical uh bid packages there
was a termination for convenience of 30 days that that's typical in our procurement packages. However, in our sample agreement, uh we did not have that. Um, so working with our county attorney's office, there was a period of time going back where the attorneys were working together to discuss that
termination for convenience. It has uh turned into more of a uh an agreement uh subject to annual appropriations. So that that was one of the big items that when it came to the to the landfill and the convenience center is making sure
that we don't we don't just terminate these agreements. These are important agreements for, you know, the the uh the functioning of our community, right? All the trash and everything that needs to get picked up in our community needs to go to a landfill. And and uh long story short, I'll say that both the attorney's
office and Republic Services work together to come up with language that protects both parties. Uh we have instead of 30-day termination, it's 180 days. Um, and I'll let uh county attorney, you know, clarify any of that,
but but uh basically in case if in a future budget year we're not able to appropriate funding uh for operating the landfill at convenience centers, then we would have this opening to notify Republic services of 180 days to to
basically be in discussions about, you know, contract changes or terminations. Um, so that was sort of the main holdup in terms of uh of of the negotiations. Uh, and what occurred during that time is
Republic Services and Staff Concurs uh recognized that there were some tonnages that um, uh, we have a private CND facility across the street that potentially could be uh, recycling more CND, which is not a bad thing for our community. I think it's a great thing.
Uh but one of the things that uh came in discussions is Republic got concerned about losing tonnages, right? There's a contract that they bid. Uh we didn't guarantee any tonnages. We we had an average about 220,000 tons uh based on
fiveyear history that that we put on there. And again, looking back at the history, last 15 years or even prior to that, we've always operated on a per ton basis. Uh the the bid price that Republic had was $1870. uh considerably
lower than their competitors. Uh and and so we we went into some discussions about, you know, how do we protect our residents? How do we protect Republic services? Uh not knowing what we, you know, what we could expect. Looking at
the trends, there are some declining trends in CND. However, overall, I feel it's a cyclical process. Overall, the tonnages are continuing to increase year after year. Um but but there is a potentiality that the private you know
vendor across the street could could maybe attract more customers uh you know and and to that challenge I I feel like with with improvements that we're making with an automated scale and and potentially continuing to look at how we can be more competitive uh is is a
direction that I'd like to continue for us to go into. Uh but but again uh long story short, there was concerns by Republic Services about declining tonnages. And so again, good good faith negotiations between both parties. What
we've come come up to in this agreement is a 10% basically margin up or down. uh where if the tonnages get reduced um you know we we we the the county and our residents are are potentially could have
saved some money because there's less tons going in the landfill. Uh however, we would still make Republic basically whole. Uh it would be a flat sort of a fixed base contract on tonnages. However, the other 10% works in our favor as well. Uh whereas if the the
tonnages are higher, we would not pay Republic services anymore. And that's again a 10% margin. We're looking at again looking at 220,000 tons is is kind of where our margin was. I project at the end of this year we're probably going to be over that. We're going to
probably be around 230 232,000 tons. So I don't see a trend of declining. Um, but we basically set the bar at 220,000 tons and it protects us up to 10% higher is about 242,000 tons. So, anything
between 220 and 242, we would not pay Republic Services any additional money. Um and however if there is their concern that if the tendences go down like if we were go going down all the way to 198,000 tons total for the year which I
would say we haven't experienced in the last four to five years probably five years ago total tons in the landfill were like around 192,000 tons. So looking at the growth, looking at more building development, so on and so forth going on, I don't see us going to total
tonnages that are, you know, from 5 years ago. Um, as as sort of the the cyclical nature as as the construction sort of booms, uh, then it'll start start to decline, but now people are living in those and their garbage, the amount of garbage that they're producing
goes up. So So you'll see the construction material go down, but then you'll see the garbage tonnage is going up. So again, I I feel like um given that we were so close to the end of the contract, uh there was a possibility that we could extend the contract for a
year, go back out to bid. Again, looking at the other uh competitions that we had, we we were concerned that overall we've got a trim notice that's already out. You know, budgets have been set. trying to uh go go back out to bid at
this stage and risk the potential an additional $5 million $3 million increases that we've seen other vendors provide. It wasn't a risk that we as staff wanted to take uh and wanted to um basically again we feel we have an agreement with Republic Services that
does protect our residents in terms of the tonnages you know going up uh and at the same time protects them if the tonnages go down. So, um, long story short, that's that's the agreement we have negotiated with Republic Services. Staff supports it. We recommend an
approval. Uh, we have a lot to do, uh, in this new contract, uh, in terms of, um, a lot of capital improvements at the landfill, a lot of capital improvements at the convenience centers, uh, which I think are going to be overall benefit to our community. And so, we continue to
support this agreement with Republic Services. And I'm happy to answer any questions here. >> Everybody's got their own microphone. >> I don't have any questions, but I would be happy to move approval. >> Second discussion.
Any discussion? See none. All in favor >> opposed. >> Motion carried unanimously. >> Thank you. Thank support. >> Thank you much. Thank you.
>> Well, that about covers everything on uh the agenda, but if there's anybody member of the public that wishes to come to the podium and speak about anything, even if it wasn't on the agenda, now's your opportunity.
Seeing none, and seeing no further business for the greater good, this meeting is journed.