Testing testing testing is This is the Lake County Board of County Commissioners regular meeting on June 23rd, 2026 in board chambers administrative building to various Florida. Yeah. more than that.
Test test test. >> Yes, Commissioner Campion, we can hear you. >> Oh, okay. Good. I just wanted to check before I muted my iPad here. So, um,
how are you today? Yeah, I'll be [cough] >> sort of after this. >> We're ready. Yeah. But um Leslie, >> well, good morning. It is a beautiful day in Lake County. It is June 23rd,
2026. Welcome to the Lake County Board of County Commissioners meeting. Uh I am uh I am not the typical chair. Chair Campion is out today. Uh but she is with us. She's just not here in person. So I'll be filling in uh as the vice chair.
I'll try and do a good job today. Um we're going to start as always as tradition with our invocation. Um and today we have Pastor Michael Watkins. If he could please come forward and lead us in our invocation and then we'll have remain standing and we'll have our pledge.
>> Good morning to you all. In my younger years, I didn't quite understand why people were always excited about saying good morning. >> Good morning. >> But as I get older, I'm grateful for another day. Let us pray. Oh God, how
thankful we are for another day you have given us that we can live and respect each other and love each other and make our cities, our counties, our states, and our country better. So I thank you
for the county commissioners. I pray for their families and loved ones. I pray Lord God as they make decisions it will be for the better of the residents of Lake County. Lord God, I pray for the residents that may be coming with issues
that they need help with and I pray Lord God that you will bless them. So Lord God, we thank you for our country. We pray for our military and all those who are protecting us, our police officers. Lord God, we ask you to bless this
meeting. Let it be done decent and in order. And I pray, Lord God, as we prepare to celebrate 250 years of the United States, I pray you'll bless us as we come together celebrating. And I pray this prayer in the mighty wonderful name
of Jesus. Amen. >> Amen. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Amen. Y'all have a great day. >> Thank you, pastor. Yeah. Chair Campion, can you hear us? Just want to do a check before we get into the meeting. >> Uh, yes. Can you hear me? >> We got you. loud and clear. Okay. Thank
you. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. >> All right. So, we'll go to an agenda update. Uh Jennifer, is there anything new for us? >> Yes. I just wanted to point out that at the uh previous board meeting, the board
did approve the um for Commissioner Campion to vote remotely. So, she will be participating and voting today. >> Okay. >> And no other updates. >> No other updates. All right. Thank you.
We'll now go into a very special time of the meeting for us, our employee service awards. So, Janine, you come forward and tell us about our great employees. >> Good morning, commissioners. Morning, vice chair. My name is Janine Nelson.
I'm with human resources and risk management. This morning, you'll be recognizing employees who have reached significant milestones in their careers with Lake County. We're going to start with those who started in May of 2021, five years. Sean Bedet, parks and trails
program manager from the office of water resources. We have Ethan Blandon, firefighter paramedic, fire rescue. Megan Milanise, the emergency management director, also office of fire rescue, public works engineering operations.
Larry Sutton, survey technician, too. Um, would those individuals stand please so we could recognize them? >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you. Moving on to 10 years of service started in May of 2016. Office
of Fire Risker Blake Calder, Fire Lieutenant Paramedic and Public Works Maintenance Area 1, Leburg. Michael Sparkman, road senior equipment operator. Michael, you want to stand up? [applause] Thank you. I'll read the names of those
with 15 years of service started in May of 2011. Mark Gatau, fire Lieutenant ENT, and Jason Spanelli, also firefighter EMT from fire rescue. Then we also have a 20-year employee, May of
20 uh excuse me, May of 2006. She's on vacation, was not able to be with us today. December SERS scales attendant two. So let's give those employees a round of applause. [applause] Thank you. This concludes our presentation for today. Thank you very much.
>> All right. Thanks Janine. All right. [clears throat] So now we'll go to our uh minutes approval. We'll call on Mr. Cooney. Good morning Mr. Cooney. >> Good morning. I have two sets of minutes for your approval this morning. >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> Okay. Okay. All those in favor of the motion say I.
>> I. >> Opposed? There are none. >> There are none. That passes unanimously. Okay. So, we will go to our citizen question and comment period. This is uh your opportunity to uh speak for three minutes um on an issue or whatever you
want, I guess. Um assuming it's not on a zoning agenda. Um we give separate time for that uh when that comes up. So, is anybody let's go online first. Is there anybody online that's filled? Okay. All right. So, we'll come back to
the cards that I have uh have here in front of me and we'll start with um we'll start with Vance. But if I known Lesie was was not going to be here, I would have worn my Lesie shirt so you could make sure she was around. Um Vance Yokum 12619 Milwaukee
Avenue to various uh just quickly this is on one on minutes and the [clears throat] uh uh I noticed that the wind the minutes take forever to get uh produced and published on the agenda. Uh looked
here the the closest one was 40 days old. Uh, and I would suggest in the day of AI transcriptions and you can even put the video of this meeting on YouTube and it transcribes it and [clears throat] you have one maybe it's
not completely legal but uh it would suffice for us that uh want to see what they what the minutes were. Uh so I would encourage you to look at ways to update the minutes faster and produce
them. In my mind, they should be produced uh the next following meeting. They should be available, which means they'd have to be done about a week so they could get on the agenda. Uh okay. And the other two are on the agenda. So, we'll call you up then. All right. Thank
you, Vance. And I will just say that um you know, you've asked that question before, and I know the clerk, I think, does an excellent job on the minutes. They don't um I don't think they they would maybe they use AI, I don't know, but they would not want to double they'd want to double check that. So, I think
the timing is uh being thorough, which they always have been, and that's why it takes longer. So, >> actually, you guys have a two-step process. So, the things that would qualify legally as minutes are produced generally the same day or the day after um to meet statutory requirements. You
guys have asked us to give you not verbatim but fairly close uh to verbatim minutes. Uh they get produced and then doublech checked uh to make sure there are no errors um which is why it takes a little bit longer in that process. And I think the idea behind that for you was
that you wanted to preserve um the record for all of the citizens to come. >> Right. >> Um I know Mr. Mr. Vice Chairman, you've asked me for the first year of minutes of the county and so if you just read what the state would require as minutes,
that probably wouldn't give you a really good feeling of what was really going on in the county. And that's why you have the process you have. >> That is true. Yes. That and those were very interesting minutes. The the first year of this county um and the handwriting, too, that you don't write out the minutes in handwriting, do you? >> Well, I could, but you wouldn't be able
to read it. >> Yeah. We appreciate what you do. Thank you for explaining that. All right. Uh our next uh comment card is uh from Pedro Diaz. Pedro, I see Pedro in the audience. >> Good morning.
>> Good morning, vice chair. Good morning, Madame Chair and honorable commissioners. I had a quick uh three minute speech here prepared for you guys. My name is Pedro Diaz and I am the owner of Fuma Restaurant. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today and for your service to the
residents here in Lake County. I'm here today to ask for your support in proclaiming the last Sunday of June as Lake County Groeta Day. To many people, a kroetta is a simple, delicious Cuban snack. But to me, it's so much more.
It's family. It's tradition memories. It's a reminder that some of life's greatest moments happen around the table with people we love. My grandparents left Cuba in search for a better future and eventually made their made Miami their home. Like so many
Cuban families, they brought with them their traditions, recipes, values, and incredible work ethic. Those traditions were passed down from generation to generation and they helped shape the person I am today. The man who had the greatest influence
in my life was my grandfather. While my parents worked, he was the one who picked my cousins and up, my cousins and myself up every day from school. He taught me the value of hard work, humility, and perseverance. When I was younger, I used to DJ. I didn't have enough money for a case to hold my DJ
equipment, so he built one for me by hand. He never had much, but he always found a way to give me everything he could. My grandfather was born July 3rd. And when we first began planning Fumau, the restaurant, our goal was to open on
his birthday as a way to honor his memory and everything he taught me. As construction progressed, our open date became this Sunday, June 28th, the last Sunday of June. Looking back, I truly believe it happened for a reason. It
gave us the opportunity to be here today and ask you to help establish a new tradition for Lake County. Last year, my family and I moved here from Miami to Lake County. We now call this community home where we're raising our three
beautiful daughters. We chose Lake County because we believe in future, its people, its strong sense of community. Fumau is our way of giving back to this community. The community that welcomed us with open arms. We hope to share not only great food, but also a piece of our
family's history and Cuban heritage with our new Lake County family. If approved, this proclamation won't simply recognize a restaurant. It will celebrate family, culture, entrepreneurship, and the traditions that bring people together. It will support local small businesses
and create something that residents can look forward to for years to come. On behalf of my family and our team at FUMAOU and especially in memory of my grandfather, I sincerely thank you for your consideration. It would be one of the greatest honors of my life to
celebrate our grand opening this Sunday while celebrating the very first Lake County Croeta Day. Thank you guys. >> Thank you, Pedro. I appreciate that. Um I would just like to say um I've I knew you before but got have gotten to know you in the last week or so a lot better.
really appreciate our conversations and you know for again for all of you in the audience and those listening uh FUMA is going to be opening soon in Claremont. It's going to be a wonderful business uh so welcome very much uh very we want to extend a a warm welcome to you I guess
is what I'm trying to say from Lake County. I think all of us will agree on that. Uh into South Lake um as well and uh so what I plan to do is uh personally come to your opening uh this Sunday. I will uh read in into a letter uh of um
appreciation um uh just from district 2 uh to you as well. And I think maybe we have some thoughts about how to honor uh Cuban culture broadly even and the influence and um the the um you know all the all everything that's been done for
to um to to build community uh from the Cuban community itself. Um uh so we we'll find a way to to be able to uh I hope honor that as well broadly as a county commission. So >> good. >> Anything?
>> Oh, just yeah, we support it. We'll pass the proclamation at the next meeting. So, great job. >> I I think >> Yeah, I think what we can do is we can write up write up a resolution. We we still would have to approve it as a as a county commission and then uh we can read that and bring that forward to you. Yeah.
And I'm just checking in on timing. Uh, Commissioner Parks. >> Yes. >> Um, from a timing standpoint, can we get that uh together in time for the opening or should we just um, you know, all sign a a letter of support? Um, and then
we'll bring the proclamation forward thereafter. >> I think we could all sign a letter of support. I'm looking at Melanie because Melanie will help us follow procedures, but I think we can. >> Right. So, the the opening is this Sunday, I believe. Um, so you certainly
you can't do a proclamation today. I don't have one drafted for you to look at. Um, we can certainly draft a letter of recognition that you all can sign if you would want to do that today. >> Just just to be very clear, a formal proclamation that's drafted and read and all that, we can do that next month. But for the purpose of today, I would move
just to proclaim and recognize the last Sunday of this month as Croqueta Day in Lake County, Florida. >> Okay. Um, do I hear a second on that? >> Second. >> Okay. All right. Uh, any other discussion? Uh, hearing none. All those in favor of
the motion say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed. There are none. That passes unanimously. So, we'll be able to proclaim that on on Sunday at your grand opening. So, Pedro, thank you for coming down like this. I appreciate you and good luck with the new business. Thank
you. All right. Uh I don't have any other cards. I don't think these are all for agenda items. So, when we get to those agenda items, I will call your name. So, we'll move on to
um There's nobody else online, correct? >> Okay. What what would you you'll have to come forward. >> We submitted our name. >> What are your names? >> Okay. Yeah. Ju just come on forward now. Sure. If you need to go, that's no problem. You can speak on
>> No, that's understand. Understand. >> Um thank you. My name is Nicole. Good morning, commissioners. I'd like to thank Commissioner Sabatini for bringing this very hot topic of the AI data centers um to this meeting. Far too often actions are taken after the fact and I wanted to commend this county for
instead um approach for more of a proactive approach. I'm asking that this panel stand in support of banning of the AI data centers for this county where AI may have some benefit. We must carefully consider whether building additional large-scale AI data centers is in the
best interest of our communities, our environment, and our long-term goals as a county. Um, this is a hot topic around the state and the United States and we're seeing a lot of issues with this. AI data centers can consume enormous amounts of electricity. As AI systems
become more powerful, their energy requirements continue to grow. This places an additional strain on our electrical grid and can increase costs for residents and businesses. At a time when many communities are working to improve energy efficiency and reduce
emissions, it is important that we recognize there are real concerns on how this may impact our community. Another important part to mention is that data centers often require substantial water sources for cooling. And considering how high temperatures are in Florida, we
must consider the water availability within our county and our state. Committing large volumes of water to industrial infrastructure may create competition with residential, agriculture, and environmental needs. Economic benefits are frequently
overstated, while construction cons uh creates temporary jobs. Modern data centers are highly automated and generally employ relatively low amount of people once operational. Communities may bear the environmental and infrastructure impacts without receiving
a proportional number of permanent high-quality jobs in return. And lastly, we should consider land use and the community character. Florida has continued to become so overly developed and protected lands are becoming compromised. Large industrial facilities can alter landscapes, increase noise
from cooling systems and backup generators, and place additional demands on local infrastructure. Before approving these projects, decision makers should ensure that the benefits clearly outweigh the costs. Although innovation is important um because responsible growth is also equally
important, we should not assume that every AI data center proposal serves the public interest. Instead, we should demand rigorous environmental review, transparent costbenefit analysis, and strong protections for local communities before moving forward. So, please stand
with your communities and banning the AI data centers for this county. Thank you for your time and consideration and thank you for letting us go early. Thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate you coming. And but yes, sir, go ahead. >> Good morning, commissioners. My name is
Justin. Thank [clears throat] you for having me today. I also just want to thank Commissioner Sabatini for bringing this forward. Uh it's a very important issue to us. Uh it's not just the energy and the water concerns, but mainly that 247 low frequency hum that everyone's reporting in the other states. It's keeping the residents up all night and
it's just mind-blowing that they've put these things so close to the the wildlife and residents. Uh just thank you to Lake County for leading the way on this honestly. Uh you've got 10 other counties and cities that have already taken action and I believe five more are voting on it today, including yourself.
So that's really encouraging to see. Uh the most refreshing thing has been the unity across party lines. So many times I've come into meetings and it's been, you know, one side's on this side of the issue and the other on this side. So far in Lakeland and other cities, you're seeing people from every walk of life and side of the political spectrum speak
out against these centers because I think we all care about what untouched land that we have left in our communities. Um, so thank you for the moratorium. I'd be happy to uh see you all explore even a permanent ban on this. Um, and the other thing I just want to mention is let's go ahead and look into every little piece of this
sort of control grid that they're implementing in our lives. Like the flock cameras, I don't know if you have any in Lake County yet, but they're spreading across across Florida. And it's just a a uh collecting data and spying on us on our public rideways. You know, it's one thing to have a private
company have really high-tech cameras and spy on anyone that comes near their private business, but to use our easements and every time I drive and go to Publix, my license plate and my face is being registered into some database and we don't know what they're using that for. So, um, thank you for stepping up on the data centers and let's just
continue to take down all these little mechanisms that invade our privacy and affect our health. Thank you so much, >> Mr. Chairman. If I can just clarify for the residents and for the record, the agenda item today on data centers is not an adoption or an approval. It is discussion only. If the board chooses to
move forward with it, then staff will be bringing back more information and a potential ordinance. So, just so everybody's clear, nothing will be adopted today. >> Right. Yeah. Thank you. And so, you you know, you can continue to follow the issue. I mean, we take it very serious and we'll delve deeply into it. So,
thank you. All right. Uh, anybody else? Anybody online one more time? Okay. All right. So, I'll go ahead and close the citizen question and comment period and we will move along to our
clerk of courts consent agenda. Mr. Cooney. >> Morning. Again, I have three items in my consent agenda for your approval. >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> All right. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed? There are none. That passes
unanimously. Thank you, Mr. Cooney. Um, so now we'll go to our consent agenda. This is tabs 3 through 15. And I do have a card for tab seven. Two cards for tab seven. So why don't we pull uh seven?
>> And I want to pull four real quick, too. Do we have someone here from the supervisor of elections office or No. >> No, >> I don't think so. >> I'll vote to approve it, but I think precinct changes or Well, >> you want to pull it? >> I don't want Yeah, I don't want to interrupt. Just pull it. I'll talk about
it in a second. Okay. All right. Any anything else? Um, Commissioner, >> make a motion to approve consent agenda items three, five, six, 8 through 15. >> Second.
>> All right. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed? There are none. That passes unanimously as well. Okay. So, now we'll hear tab four. Uh well I would just say
this, you know, the item obviously is to recommend approval of the S so SOE's supervisor of elections request for precinct changes. Precinct changes to me are very significant because as you guys all know, we've all been in elections here. Every time precincts change, people say, "Oh my goodness, my precinct
and this and I'm so confused." And it's >> it's a big uh it's [clears throat] a big issue when you when you do precinct changes. Um and obviously sometimes they're necessary or close to necessary. Uh, I just wish there was somebody here from the SOE that could say a few words.
Would you guys be okay tableabling this till next month or is this like an emergency item? If it's an emergency item, I'll go with it, but I'd rather them say a few words about why it needs to be done. >> Supervisor Elections did request that it go today. Um, this particular change is only changing three addresses only.
>> Okay. If it's that limited, it's fine. I'll go ahead and move to approve it. [snorts] >> Second. >> Um, okay. And I will just say in the future if if there are going to be major changes um or even somewhat significant changes to the precinct map, perhaps the supervisor could come and just publicly
tell everybody what's going on with >> I will let them know. >> Okay. All right. Any any uh final discussion hearing? None. All those in favor of the motion say I >> I >> opposed. There are none. That passes unanimously. Uh now we are on to tab
seven which was pulled because we had some public comment. So um Jennifer, do you want to This is our our letter of opposition to the heart of Florida deep well injection project. Um I don't know if there's any
explanation you want to sum up and provide or >> uh so we did have a presentation at a last board meeting um providing information about the heart of Florida's application to do the deep well injection um deep well injection project. Um this board stated that they
were opposed to it and asked that we bring back a letter of oppo opposition and a resolution opposing this project. So that is what you have on the agenda today for consideration is the letter and resolution of opposition. >> Okay. Thank you. Um
>> to approve. >> Well, we got two we got two comments first. So we'll go ahead and hear those. Um so uh Katherine Wright where I thought I there she is. >> Good morning. Katherine Wright at 40216 Gator Lake Road, Lady Lake, Florida, and
all that good stuff. Good morning. Thank you for your continued opposition of the wall injection proposed by ACMPS, ACMS, also known as Heart of Florida. I've actually prepared a package for you guys detail detailing the company's past
actions which demonstrate the welfare of the public is doesn't seem like it's their priority. What I'm going to do is just go over a couple of the situations they have had um from unauthorized disposals of 11-year-old iodine tickure
from Thatcher chemical onto their um the facility to inspectors finding failure to detect unauthorized waste from other areas other times erosion leakage potential disturbance of asbast during a
piping installation. Um there also the recordkeeping is not the best of its ability. They decided to put in an evaporator as we know but then they decided to use some other evaporator instead. So the permitting
the permits are just not up to par. Also they just don't do what they say they're going to do. Um, also as far as I can see, there's no fines um that were given to him due to a strong odor and the strong odors have been constantly going
on. In fact, I have in this package two pages of 146 pages of them turning it into the sheriff department because that's what they were told to do. um their water quality reports from 2023 to 2026 shows benzene levels have exceeded
groundwater cleanup standards and it's it's just I just really appreciate what you guys are doing, you know, opposing this situation and even then their district manager um claims a commitment to
environmental stewardship and safety. The evidence in this package really does suggest otherwise. And there are multiple failing wells that are going on in the area. And I have their addresses here also. So in this packet is just
true data, emails, correspondence um that I've been putting together that has been given to me to prove that this injection well is not for anybody at all in the state.
So, do I hand that package over? >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, M. >> Is that package the one that's supposed to go to the sheriff or you got a separate package going to the sheriff? >> Well, the the that package is for you
guys, I think. Okay. On >> I just want to make sure. >> Right. >> All right. Thank you. >> You're welcome. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Wright. Appreciate that. >> Um, Mr. Jeff Connelson. >> Coulson, I'm sorry. >> Didn't take me too long to butcher my first name this morning.
>> No problem. >> All right. Um, my name is Jeff Coulson. I've lived in Lake County since 1978. I served in the in the military from uh 1983 to 2013. Uh, I worked uh in industrial uh food manufacturing at
Menameade and Leburg. I also worked at um uh making orange juice in Howen Hills. I also worked at Pasco Beverage and I also worked for Lake Wales. I know all about effluent waste treatment and
what this lady said only heightens what I already was concerned about when this came up. Anytime you're injecting any kind of substances into our aqua, either into our aquifer or beyond our aquifer, there is chance of leeching, leaking, uh
well, uh breakage, cracking, and there's heavy metals in this stuff because people throw batteries away of all kinds. Nikatic cadium, uh, lithium, uh, she already talked about some of the
benzo and, uh, there's acetones, there's solvents, there's, uh, paint thinners, there's all kinds of things that are being thrown in there. And this really came up so late. I didn't even know this was going on. And the only reason I'm here is because
it to me it was so urgent that we understand that this isn't going to affect Sumpter County. This isn't going to affect just Lake County. This is going to affect our entire aquifer if something goes wrong with this. If they want to do something like this, that water needs to be treated,
filtered, and sanitized before they ever inject it. And then they don't want to do that because the cost is high. So, they're looking to take all their effluent and all of their leeching water and pump it into the the ground and pretend it never happened. And if anybody knows anything
about history, things go wrong. You, you know, I don't know if anybody knows the old movie uh Broad Witch or whatever her name was. It was back in the early 70s. I'm old. Okay. And in the early 1970s, DuPont or I think it was DuPont. They
had destroyed a whole town and killed a bunch of people because of all of the the toxic waste that they were dumping and it was getting into the aqua into their drinking water. So, this lady's right. This is dangerous. This isn't just uh inconvenient. This is dangerous.
And I don't think anybody's taking it serious enough. And I know it's not on the card because I wasn't really thinking about that, but I've been having problems with data centers as well because of the water usage. We already give away too much of our aquifer to businesses uh who bottle
water and send it up north and they put labels on it and send it back. And and I've seen this go on for years. Aquifer is a finite resource. It's filled, but it's filled very slowly. And and and if you're taking that more of our aquafer water for those kinds of practices, it
needs to be monitored. They need to know how to recycle that water. They need to know how to reuse that water. They need to be conservative with that water. You know, when I was working at Minuteade and when I was working down at Florida Natural, we Oh, did I run out of time? >> Yeah, just go ahead. You're just
>> Okay. Uh I uh I was in in charge of a department and we had wastewater problems and we had drains specifically designed to catch uh runoff and we had to do unbelievable stuff to prevent uh chemicals and substances and then we're
talking about orange juice. We you know we had some solvents and stuff in there but we were talking about um costics and acids and all kinds of things that we had to use for cleaning and sanitation. So these are not issues that can just be blown away because once that's in the
ground, everybody's going to forget about it. Your grandchildren, my grandchildren, I have a lot of grandchildren. I have 13 and I have been a Florida resident forever. I love this state. So everything that's going on with this is really really starting to
bother me about this injection test because you know what they do with tests? They use it excuse to get approval. >> Thank you. Okay. So, that's my my beef. What she said gives you the the documentation of bad practices, which is another thing that you all need to be
aware of. >> Thank you. >> So, I thank you for your time. Um I'm uh you know, some of you I know, some of you I don't know. Yes. First time I ever met you. U Mr. Parks and um I know Kirby only because I think you're in my district. I'm at 1108 Pine Avenue,
Florida. I think you're in my district. And I know um Anthony because Anthony Well, I know Anthony. >> Thank you. >> Know me, but I know him. He's very public and I got a lot of emails from him. >> He's not He's not He's not public at all. >> So, anyway, I just wanted to give you all that and tell you that I love my
county. I love my city, you know, and and I'm really concerned when I see people just, you know, I'm not against industrial expansion, but it has to be right. >> Thank you. I agree. I I agree. Um All right. So, is there I do see somebody
that would like to speak. Are you ma'am, would you like to speak on this issue? >> Okay. Yeah. Just come forward and you got to say your name into the mic so the clerk can get the records. >> Um, my name is Elena Coulson. And one thing that he didn't bring up is that uh the Sumpter landfill that's doing this,
they're not it's not just their own waste. There are train loads of waste coming up now from Miami Dade. So, it's not just the local county waste. This is waste coming by train loads. I don't know how many tons are coming up daily
from Miami Dade. So that is all going in there too. I just wanted >> Thank you. No, we and we're we're aware of that. Definitely appreciate that about the waste coming up from South Florida. We're aware of that. Thank you. Um okay. Are there any other uh
comments? This is tab 7. Anything else on tab 7. Anybody else? I should say >> move to approve. >> And there's a second. I'll just add quickly for discussion. Um we I think we have expressed all of us that we strongly oppose this uh especially based
off the data from our uh wonderful geologists, professional geologists that presented the last meeting. So definitely moving forward. I'll add a personal comment and say I do think that this coming year we also need to be solutionsoriented because this is waste
and you can't send it to outer space. You can't put it in the in the aquifer. You can't put it in another landfill. Um, so there's going to be this circle of what do we do with this waste? And I think locally we have the power to be able to advocate for technology and ways
to actually treat it and so it's not waste anymore. >> It it may be a good idea to have this as one of our legislative priorities. >> Thank you. Yes, I totally agree. Let's make it a let's make it a priority of the state's going to have to help this on a broad uh from the statewide issue.
So that's a great idea >> and and we have technology now that we could um clean the water using on-site or something that's a portable wastewater system. So >> yeah, >> uh the opportunity is there. We just have to get the state involved with us.
So I would like to make it a legislative priority. >> Great idea. >> Definitely put it on there for sure. >> Commissioner. >> Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. >> Well, no, I just wanted to weigh in too. I appreciated the comments um especially uh Mr. Coulson's uh right on target and
I think that we've expressed our concern as a county commission and this is an extremely serious situation and I am really pleased that everybody is behind this as far as moving forward with our
opposition. I like the idea of elevating this to a legislative priority as well. Um but we we've got to be diligent about this and um again I want to thank the public for weighing in those that brought this you know to the attention o
of everyone and um I am 100% in favor of moving forward with the letter and making this a legislative priority and also exploring things locally that that we can do to address the waist stream and how things are are addressed going
forward from an innovative standpoint as opposed to just relying on landfills, which personally I've never been a fan of and frankly I have had concerns about part of Florida ever since the day that contract was awarded. So
those are my comments. >> All right. Um if there's nothing else, um we'll go ahead and take a vote. Um all those in favor of tab 7 say I. >> I. >> I. >> I. >> Um all those in opposed there are none.
Commissioner Campion, I'm sure. I'm assuming you voted yes for this. So, right. >> I did. You just didn't hear me. I think I blended it in with everybody else's. >> I wanted to check. Um, okay. So, no, there are none opposed. That passes unanimously. So, we've we've passed tab
seven. All right. We'll go on to um our presentations. Correct. >> Correct. >> All right. Tab 16. Uh, Miss Jamie Stewart. Hello. Good morning, commissioners. I
have actually four presentations, so I we'll just run through them one after another. Um I do have the first two for you today, which is the internal subdivision road maintenance and distributed uh storm uh yeah, wastewater treatment um MSTU.
This is seeking approval of the internal road subdivision MSBU and the wastewater treatment system MSBU rates and establish the public hearing dates. Like I said, I'll run through the um presentation. We'll do the requested
action and on repeat. The internal roads MSBU was adopted by the board of county commissioners in September of 2023. Its purpose is to provide a funding mechanism for maintaining the county roads within new subdivisions and will ensure a good
state of repair for roads, sidewalks, and associated infrastructure. As you can see, we have a new subdivision that came online. That's your trail side that you see there. Um, these are the rates that were calculated for each subdivision. The MSBU rate is calculated individually
for each subdivision based on the length of the roads, the sidewalks, and the number of lots in each subdivision. So, here's the requested action, which is for the approval of the um internal subdivision road maintenance MSBU, and
establish the public hearing date for September 8th, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. or soon thereafter. Move >> to approve. >> Second. Okay. Okay. Is there any discussion on that hearing? None. All those in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> I.
>> I. >> Opposed. There are none. That passes unanimously. Thank you. >> And I guess you might as well just stay up for the next four three at least. Yes. Sorry. Giving you an extra one. Tab 17. >> Indeed. So the distributed wastewater treatment system MSBU is next. This is
the um MSBU that was adopted by the board of county commissioners in July of 2023. It's for residents who opted into the program and covers the annual fee of the cost associated with the installation and operation of their system.
The current amount is $700.19. It was increased by 3% from last year and this annual increase is the minimum amount the contractor is allowed to increase the rate per the contract. Now for the requested action of approval
for the distributed wastewater treatment system MSBU and to establish the public hearing date of September 8th, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. or soon thereafter. >> Okay. Any questions? >> Yeah, I've got a question on this. Um,
if I'm not mistaken, uh, this is for our on-site and they're currently under a current contract currently today and that contract's good till when?
>> Uh, it's a 10-year contract. Um, so I think we started with them 24 maybe. So, but it's a 10-year contract. So, one of my one of my concerns is if we we're already having people who don't
quite understand what's happening with when they sign up for this program, and correct me if I'm wrong, they sign up for the program, it goes on their their tax bill, when the tax bill comes due, they have to pay that tax bill, but [clears throat] sometimes they're not
explained that or they don't comprehend 100% and they're unable to pay that tax bill. if they're unable to pay that tax bill, then the property would go into lean and then foreclosure. Is that correct? >> Correct. So, if they don't pay their
that portion of their tax bill or any portion of their tax bill, a tax certificate gets struck off um after three years, a tax certificate holder can then force it to a public sale for a taxdeed sale. And yes, they could lose their property. And some of the people who are taking advantage of this grant
are um disabled veterans, for example. I know we have a couple of them that that are on this grant that I'm afraid that when it comes up, if we raise the price of this, they will not be able to afford it. So, for that reason, I would like to
continue on with our current contract until the contract expires and then re-evaluate after that. Okay. Well, all right. So, you I guess you can This is to to advertise today for the hearing, right? To establish the public hearing date. So, I guess you could bring that up there. But, I mean,
isn't the new contract All right. I thought I thought the new contract was addressing some of those issues. Plus plus as well as um the education component of it, ensuring that they were going to know fully what they were volunteering to voluntarily signing
up for. Now, there's new MSBUs for the new neighborhoods. They just know right from the start, but because that's their that's in their neighborhood where where they could have been required to be on sewer or some similar system. >> Correct. But we're we're talking about
um systems that are in the BMAP. The state is the one that gives up the permits for the sewer systems. The state is the one that requires the BAP. >> That's true. So, so I'm not quite sure why the county would have to be on the
hook for statemandated state approved state given the authority of placing these systems and then having our citizens of Lake County bear the cost or the the whole cost of a state decision when they're the ones that give the per
the permits out to begin with. >> So, uh I'm not in favor of it. That's just that's just me. I'm not in favor of going going for a public hearing. I don't think it's necessary. I'm going to be voting against it either way. No, I
understand that. And I'll just say Laur because I know BAPAPS pretty fairly well. Um so what the the issue is with the county is we will be held just like the cities would be. If you don't do anything to address the BMAP requirement,
um you will you you will be subject to whatever the consequences are. Uh could be finding, it could be cease and des I mean it could be all kinds of different things. Um, so it's this is this has always and I we can get into it later, I'm sure, when when this comes up. But this is this was always been put forward
as a matter of trying to um think long range so that our residents are not in the situation like they literally are in Bvard County right now where they where the state has said you have to be on DWTS or a public sewer system and then you don't have any money that's
available for them to do it and then they are totally hung out to dry at that point. So th this would again um I understand the B maps and I understand that the state is the one that put the B mapaps out. I understand that the state put the regulations of the B maps out. I
also understand that the state is the one that gives the permits for the septic systems. And if the state wants to give uh hand down a mandate to a county or a city that they are providing the the permits for, then the state
needs to have some kind of ramification to help with the payment of those of those systems. Again, we already have a contract with this company. It's a good contract. I don't see a need to raise it. It's good for 10 years. They got
seven years left on it. let them finish out their contract and we can evaluate in seven years. >> Understood. And we'll talk about that when we have the actual hearing. And I I may not necessarily disagree with you on that. I I think again, you know, BAPAPs I think are important because it >> no doubt >> and we need to have somebody come in
because again those those people and and there are places around Florida where they have had to pay for it and this state has said you because they're they're progressing that way because water quality is so is being degraded now at this point by septic. So
>> and and >> deep water. >> Can I add something? >> Well, deep water. Yeah. I mean, uh, partially. Yeah. No, that's true. Yeah. Go ahead, uh, Commissioner Campion. >> Well, I was just going to mention that, you know, it originally started when the state was going in and providing money
for places that had um pollution of of groundwater or surface water from septic systems. They were helping them pay for centralized sewer and gigantic projects. Um, and then once
they put the sewer system in, the customer ultimately still had to pay the sewer bill. So you had customers that had been on septics, never had paid a sewer bill ever because they were on a septic system. They were then forced by the state to go on a
central sewer system. The state picked up the cost of the sewer system or at least assisted the local government with it. And then the customer still had to pay though the bill, not the bill for all the improvements and the capital, but the bill that came every month. And
what's different with the DWTS is that the bill can't come every month, you know, as a regular utility bill. That's why it has to go on the tax bill. So it does kind of create this scenario where it looks a lot larger because it's 12
months of billing on one bill and it's on the tax bill and then as you pointed out those ramifications that if you don't pay your bill you could potentially you lose your property. So I just think that as we go forward we need to think in terms of maybe those hardship situations similar to how we
have to address them in some other situations like solid waste pickup and things like that. So, if it's a scenario where it's a new neighborhood that goes on it, everybody has notice up front, they know what they're getting into, that's a different category. The situations where we have the BAPs and
we're trying to get people off of sewer and they're signing up, maybe we need to take a look at those hardship situations like you described, for example, a disabled veteran. So, I would just think that we we need to break this out and and look at, you know, some of these details to see where we may be able to
even get some assistance from the state in that regard. So, I just wanted to bring that up and we'll have more discussions, I'm sure, in the future. >> Sounds great. Okay. All right. Any other discussion? [clears throat] I think we just need a
motion. This would be to uh have the public hearing. I move for approval for the public hearing. >> Second. >> All right. Um, any other final discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor of the motion say I. >> I.
>> I. >> Um, opposed. >> I. >> Okay. That motion carries 3 to one. [clears throat] Um, all right. Jamie tab 18, please. Yes. And 19. The next two are solid waste and the fire assessment.
The intention of course is the same to um seek approval of the initial solid waste and fire assessment rates and establish a public hearing dates. The solid waste assessment is used to fund the collection, management, and disposal of the residential solid waste and recovered materials in
unincorporated Lake County and must be set annually and are included on the trim notice. It does not include vacant lots and the assessment cannot be used to fund countywide services such as the landfill operations, convenience sard centers, and hazardous waste disposal.
The proposed solid waste assessment rates you see here, they reflect the rate adjustments to match increased contract costs for hauling and disposal. The rates on the left are once a week, the ones on the right are twice a week and have increased by $37.
And the requested action is for approval of the solid waste initial assessment resolution and establish a public hearing date of September 8th, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. or soon thereafter. >> Okay, great. Um, I do have a card for tab 18 and 19 for Vance. I don't know if
you want to wait till you hear 19 to speak. Okay. So, what what we'll do is we'll I guess we can take motions for both 18 and 19. >> Move to approve. >> Okay. Well, all right. Let's we'll do it this way. So, move we have a motion for tab 18 and then
>> I'll second the tab. >> All right. So, Vance, come on up. [clears throat] Now my understanding for this is that uh uh this is taking the assessment costs the tax costs for fire and for
solid waste and moving it over to another line item on the bills tax bills that people get. Am I right or wrong? >> These assessments have been in place for many years. >> These this is not the milling. This is just to set up set the new values,
>> set the rates for the upcoming fiscal year and um establish the public hearing. >> Then as they used to say, never mind. [laughter] I >> appreciate it. We always don't mind the questions, but again, these are these are essentially like enterprise funds. So the costs are they are what they are, but they're not this isn't
discretionary. We we don't build up reserves. We just pass the cost on. And the solid waste I will say is very competitive if not better than cities. The cities do a great job too but um those rates are very competitive.
So t anything else with tab 18. Um all those in favor of the motion for >> I >> I >> any opposed there are none that passes unanimously. Tab 19 please. >> Yes sir. This is the fire assessment rate and it's used to fund the protection services such as fire
suppression, prevention, building inspections and basic life support. It does not fund the advanced life support services. The rates are calculated based on the call data and distribution of incidents, the allocation of resources and budget and the
proportionate share of each land use. This is the rate schedule which as you can see in the far right column has not changed. And again, this is for approval of the fire rescue initial assessment resolution and establish a public hearing date of September 8th, 2026 at
9:00 a.m. or soon thereafter. >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> Okay, just quick discussion. Uh, Vance, I assume you're okay, we'll wave you on that one. Appreciate it. And, uh, I do think there'll be a day to have a broader discussion. Um, you'll notice that you said that there's no increase,
but uh, I think at some point, and I'm look at our manager and Tommy who's in the audience about having um, a discussion on where we're going with the five-year plan and how that's going to be funded um, to get to where we need to get to with that so that everybody's it's transparent, everybody knows what
we need >> uh, to have the best uh, Lake County Fire and Rescue uh, in the country. So, >> yes, sir. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Just my two cents. Anything else? Um, hearing none. All those in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> I.
>> I. >> Opposed. There are none. That passes unanimously. >> All right. Uh, now we're on to tab 20. This will be Mike Fitzgerald. Mike, this is our JAPA. One of my favorite
topics, joint planning agreements. I see representative a representative from Mont Verde here. Give us some good news about a JBA. Mike, thank you. Good morning. Uh for the record, Mike Fitzgerald. I'm the office of planning and zoning director.
This item is to recommend approval of the joint planning agreement between the town of Montver and Lake County. For uh some background, on April 14, 2026, the town of Montver adopted resolution 2026-05, adopting adopting of joint planning
agreement between the town of Mont Verde and Lake County. The JPA creates a joint planning area boundary to be incorporated into the city and county future land use maps. The JPA establishes procedures for reviewing and commenting on development orders and planning applications and provides
provisions for consideration of municipal annexation, utility connection, transfer of development rights and a pathway for transportation planning to be completed. The JPA ensures the protection of the Ferndale special area and includes theation
strategy drafted by the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council as an exhibit and staff recommends approval. Well, I really appreciate that. Good to hear that you're recommending approval, and I know that you've >> We don't usually make recommendations, but we will on this one.
>> No, I know. And we I really appreciate your hard work over the many months. Uh and we do have East Central Florida Regional Planning Council. Thank you very much uh for your assistance as well. And uh town attorney Anita Grass Carver from uh Montverd is here as well
uh expressing support, I I'm assume. And so it's a it's a good day. kind of a quietly good. This is a big a big thing for uh the t for the county, I should say, to have better planning processes put in place. >> Yes, sir. >> Yeah, this is a this is a strong step
forward for what we're we're trying to accomplish throughout all of Lake County. So, I would like to thank Mount Verd for um being a big part of this process. So, thank you very much. And with that, I'd like to make a motion to approve. >> Excellent. Thank you, >> Mr. Chairman. >> Yes. We have to wait for Commissioner
Sabatini because you need to have a quorum present in the room. >> So, so um person online can't be considered a quorum. >> Commissioner Campion. No, you have to have a quorum present in the room. >> Well, I'm going to reserve my motion until Commissioner Sabatini comes back.
>> I mean, I'm happy to second the motion. We just have to wait for him to come back to vote. So, I can second that motion. >> Okay. He just has to be in the room. So, >> correct. So, Commissioner Sabatini, if you can hear this because they can hear we can hear in the back. Um,
hurry it up. There you go. [laughter] >> Or we were going to take a break. Either way. All right. So, you have to be in the room to vote. So, >> move to approve. >> It's already >> We already have a motion. >> Okay. Uh, all those in favor of the motion say I.
>> You need to ask her public. >> Oh, okay. Do Yes. All right. So, is there anybody that would like to speak on the JPA? Thank you. All right. Hearing none, I'll close that public comment period. Um, now we have do have a motion on the
table in a second. All right. All those in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed. There are none. That passes unanimously. All right. Thank you. Thanks, Anita, for coming. Appreciate you. Appreciate the council showing up as well. Good day.
And staff again. I know a lot of hours were put into this. Yes. Yeah. So, uh, this would be, uh, yeah, tab 21. Um, >> so, yeah, I'll read the title. Okay. So, an ordinance of the board of county [clears throat] commissioners of Lake County, Florida, amending or repealing the following sections of Lake County
Code, appendix C, land development regulations. Repealing section 1302 entitled alternate members. Repealing section 1303 entitled Board of Adjustment. providing for transfer of the duties and functions of the board of adjustment to the board of county commissioners. Amending section 130402 entitled membership. Amending section
1415 entitled variances and appeals. Amending other sections of the Lake County code and land development regulations to replace board of adjustment references. Provide for severability providing for inclusion in the code. Providing for filing with our department of state and providing for an effective date. If you choose to approve this today, it'll become ordinance
2026-27. >> All right. Thank you. Any any discussion from the board? And I'll go to the public. Yeah, I just Okay. Um, so this is opportunity for anybody the public that wants to speak on this um agenda item tab 21.
Nobody online. Okay. Hearing none, I'll close the public comment period on this. Uh, bring it back to the board. >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> Okay. Um, >> discussion. Uh, I will just say I made my objection to this known at the last
meeting. Um, don't need to dwell on it anymore for me, but all right. All those in favor of the motion uh say I >> I >> oppose. Opposed. So that motion carries 3 to one.
>> All right. Uh regular uh now we're back to the regular agenda now. Right into uh commissioners. We're going through this pretty quick. our commissioner's reports. Uh so this sabatini2 okay this would be tap 22 >> a proposal for a moratorium on data
centers um there's been 12 applications for large data centers just in the last year I think that number is going to accelerate I think this is the conservative position I'm not asking for an outright ban I think we start with the moratorum take a look at this and then as we get closer to October 1st
2027 when SP 180 expires then we can talk about what we really want to do with these centers but um they're underststudied uh even the legislative uh bill that passed the session this year doesn't really do that much uh when it comes to these data centers. They're underststudied, they're misunderstood.
Uh they're very very serious commitments to uh utilities and and land use. And I think just a moratorum is a very common sense position. That's why six other counties have done it. I believe it's Pasco, Jackson, uh Nassau, Citrus if I'm not mistaken, and someone
else. Yes. So again, just just a pause temporary measure. Um you know, puts a pause on these things until we learn more and then, you know, a year from now, who knows what who knows what it looks like. Most of us weren't even talking about this a year or two ago. So um that's it.
>> Okay. Ryan, any other discussion on it? >> Yeah. Um when when you're talking about data centers, everybody has a has a cons has a has a thought in their head of what a data center is, right? So data centers
can be of all different sizes. Um I would like to see um in this more this moratorum is not really a moratorum is the way I see it. I see it as a pause until we can get um the correct language
in the system for these things. Uh one that I would like to see is that we have to mandate that they use reclaimed water plain and simple. So if they don't use reclaimed water then it would go against the code anyway. Those are some things that I would like to see in a data center, but a data center could be
anywhere from a room in a in a bank to a big building. So, I think we have to quantify the size as well, but I'm okay with putting a pause on any um Citrus County set
right. Um, currently we like those specific zoning provisions and development regulations um to addressing the unique operational characteristics of data centers. So I would like to see that pause until we can get those in place and then we can
move forward from there. >> Yeah, good good comments and I agree. I think uh we'll use the word pause because we got to always be careful and I know you've said that too, Commissioner Sabatini. Pause would be good. a little bit of time to get our facts to get what we want for our community. The time is appropriate
because we're redoing our comprehensive plan, >> right? and we'll get all the facts and yeah I mean I think all of us definitely think of the ma don't not wanting to have a a major mega center you know clearly but also is there is there is it
smaller and you know much smaller u spread out approach that doesn't have environmental consequences or energy cost increases but we just have to have all the facts so I do I think this is a great idea to have a pause so I would be in support of that for sure
>> so do I need to make a motion on I think uh Commissioner Campion, do you have some comments? >> Well, no, I'll make the motion. I'm glad to make the motion. I appreciate uh Commissioner Sabatini bringing this forward and um of all the times that we push back when the state tries to take
rights away from us as local governments over our own decision-making process. I think this is one of the times when if the state would in fact take a more assertive uh position and look at the state as a whole and actually do an
evaluation of whether these have to even exist in Florida. Is our environment too fragile? Can our grid support them? How does it affect residents? All of those things need to be taken in into consideration. And if there is a need where you have to have them in certain locations that it would be looked at
comprehensively and um this if they would take the leadership role in this one this could actually make sense. Now I wouldn't want anything imposed upon a local government that did not want to have um a a large
data center in their community. But it just seems to me this is one of those times when it really has to be looked at comprehensively. And um I'm all in favor of us saying from from our standpoint in Lake County until we have more information and understand this better and know exactly how this could affect
the environment, our residents, our quality of life, all of those issues. We're concerned about the the grid um that we definitely take a pause on this and and do research. >> So, Mr. Chairman, I don't need a motion today. Um we by consensus have direction
for my office to prepare an ordinance and we will bring that back to you at a future meeting. Excellent. >> I appreciate that. Great discussion and uh thank you Commissioner Sabatini for bringing that forward. So, >> uh uh we do have a comment. Sorry. Uh before we get because Vance, do you want
to come up? I I know you filled out a card for this tab >> and then we'll get to you next. >> Hi. Uh last night I sent uh all of you including Jennifer a uh a couple of emails with some information on other
things that are happening related towards data centers. Uh, one of the things that I think you need to incorporate into your review of this is the uh the the movement that's already started to create decentralized data
centers at residential unit level. And the developers are cutting deals with these companies that uh want a data center and they actually provide about a $30,000 server that goes with a house
and it's connected through the internet and uh they they do some of the data turnurning right there. And of course they use a lot of electricity to power those things. And so you should be aware that the those things are going on and
you could have a developer that uh is planning on offering those just like a solar roof that generates power that you sell back to the power company. Well, this is the same concept and uh it's already being developed and I sent you
all information on that. The other one is just a short uh YouTube video about how there also is a trend where these power companies that want a data center are going out and buying mobile home parks
and then replacing them. Uh which I find hard to believe you can do that easily because it's not the same kind of land use. But anyway, that was an issue that came up. So be aware. I I monitor a lot of stuff on AI news. Uh and I I'll send
you more now that I know this is in the pipeline. But uh there's there's so much money involved. There also is a lot of changes in technology that may reduce the need for massive land uh data
centers. In addition, they have um uh some data centers have been slowed down or cancelled and because the the technology is changing so fast that all of a sudden you could have a new type of
um processing unit that is used for data centers that only requires onetenth the energy of the previous uh ones. And so that's happening. It's just it it's just it it's just like watching fireworks, you know, all these things going on. So,
you have to be aware of all of them. Thanks. >> Thank you, Vance. >> All right. Um, so we you have direction on this this All right. And now, now we'll go to uh tab 23. Uh, Commissioner Sabatine, this is [clears throat] you want you would like online proxy.
>> Sure. >> Rights to vote at NAO. >> Yeah. So, this is the National Association of Counties. Um, you guys probably know we get the uh we get their newsletter every two weeks basically of everything the counties are doing. You're probably some of you I mean maybe
Commissioner Smith um have never seen this on the agenda before because Nick is not something that historically the county's really been involved in. We've always been involved with I guess what BO fo >> Florida Association of Counties which actually starts tonight and runs for the next four days. Me and Commissioner Parks will be there and I hope everybody
comes. Uh but I don't think people realize how big of a county we are now and uh how much our voice matters at the national level too. So um we've seen estimates of how big our county is, but I think it's actually probably about 460 to 465,000. Although you see estimates
that show lower. Bieber from UF shows were that big. So if that's true, if we're roughly that big, uh we're actually the 160th largest county in the country out of 3100 counties. The average county is about 26,000 people. I'm sorry. The median county is 26,000.
The average county is 100,000. So, we're in the top like 150 to 200 out of the 3,100 US counties. So, we are a major county. Now, of course, as you guys know, it's important for us to have a statewide national voice um based on the amount of advertising we're doing in
terms of tourism to try to get national events here. So, I think we should send someone to Nico. Uh I would defer to anyone else on the board that wanted to do it. Um, I just I think I spoke to Commissioner Parks and I could be wrong, but I think you said you weren't get planning on going this year. Okay. So, I I'd like to go. I think it's important
to vote. I think whoever we send to vote should vote um um at the will of the board. So, whatever the board wants is how they should vote at the National Association of Counties. Um not obviously just spuriously on their own. So, I'd like to go I'd like to vote. Um,
I think we should make it a a permanent item going forward as our county continues to increase in population and it's in New Orleans this year. It's next month. Um, so that's that's the item. >> Yeah. And I will add that um, of course we we fact is extremely important
Florida Association of Counties because we get a lot of information about one that's going on in other counties. Um, two best management practices, what's worked, what's not worked. Um, so I I it's ve it's invaluable. Uh, no is uh
that I think you described Niko uh very well. It's broader. We have we're much different county. Uh we're not 200,000 people anymore. So I think you bring up a good point. No, um, of course, you know, maybe the maybe the thought is one of us I mean all of us should participate in Florida Association of
Counties. Um and and there are counties where all five commissioners do that and we can't always have that and we understand you know people got there's other things to do sometimes but we have good participation in port association of counties no I do think it it is important to have one of us uh uh
participate in no um there's opportunities to participate for multiple uh commissioners to participate in the policy side which those meetings are done via zoom which is something that is we encourage in in the state of Florida is encouraging fact is
encouraging all the counties to participate um more in Niko um because it's kind of like one of those things if you if you're not participating in it and you're not you know you're if you're not at the table I guess you could be on the menu so to speak but um with uh with
NATO policies and and we don't always agree the Florida Association of Counties likewise doesn't always agree with what happens at NATO and policies that are are u you know put forward but we are trying as a state trying to become more u influential in NAKO. So I do think it would be important to have
one of one commissioner whoever it is we can designate that on a yearly basis participate in NO and if others want to participate in the committees as well that could be all five of us. So >> with that said, I would say I think it's
um u good that this item came right out for the data centers conversation because it just shows an example that obviously the hottest topic at NAO this year will be data centers in my opinion. Uh and it's a national topic, it's a local topic and
it's a state topic. But I think if we're not part of the national conversation, we're missing out on something. So, I'd like permission to go vote and then come back and give you guys a short report on what I saw at NAO. So, okay. [snorts] >> Um, I would like to u do you know what's
on the on the agenda for for NAO for coming up? >> We skimmed through the agenda. I have not been to ANO before. Um, a lot of the items were sort of broad. U I think the agenda is only getting flushed out fully this month because it's about a month away. I I'm wondering if Jennifer or
Melanie can give me that information and I have no problem with that. But I would like to go to the annual conference which is uh in January or February or something. >> February. >> Yeah, in February. And that's a good one to go to because that is what actually the policy decisions are made at that day. So that would be
>> that would be great. That's uh it's that is very uh predictable in the sense of you know exactly what you're doing and it's in Washington and you are you are connected directly to your congressmen and women senators and you put the policies forward. So that would be
great. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Do we need a motion for that or no? >> Okay. I would move to approve to allow myself to to vote and uh also going forward a member of our body to vote at every conference. [snorts] >> Good. Okay. All right. Um, I'll second that.
>> All right. Um, any other >> And is there going to be a way I mean, are we going to be apprised of what the issues are or I mean, how do you I mean, I understand what you were saying, Commissioner Parks, um, that there are times when everyone can be involved versus, you know, one commissioner
weighing in. But, um, I guess is there a way like for us to see the agenda that's been published and even discuss like at our meeting before the commissioner who votes weighs in? Yeah, I mean what I would suggest, if I could jump in, is a week before the meeting, we have our
staff distribute um the full agenda to the whole board, get comments on what the the board thinks and and that becomes a public report that the whoever the design is is expected to act act in accordance with. >> That's what I would do.
>> So, okay. I if if I may, I can download the agenda, send it to all of you, and then we do have a board meeting. This this conference does not start until it looks like maybe the 17th. We do have a board meeting on July 14th. So, I can
distribute the agenda this week. It'll give you time to kind of review the topics and then we'll put an agenda item on the 14th agenda for you to discuss >> any topics you wish to discuss. >> That's perfect. And then it'll be up um it' be uh our our understanding that the
representative from our board's going to do as a board wants to do >> like a delegate independent. >> Perfect. >> Yeah. And um so this will mean that when you get back too, you'll need to whoever it is in the future, we'll need to provide a good report so that we're transparent. We did this, we voted on
this, we went to these general sessions, whatever. Yep. >> I think that would be important as well. >> Sounds good. >> Okay. Last thing though, just because back in the day, Commissioner Cadwell used to go to these all the time and so I think there needs to be a policy like there's the one I think that takes place
in DC is the main one. I know they have these others in um various locations. So, we we do need to consider um to what extent we're paying for expenses and stuff like that if someone's actually traveling and going to these meetings
and how many you would allow as a matter of policy. So, just I think everybody needs to keep that in mind. >> Um >> yeah, to totally agree. I think um just my experience would be the most valuable ones the best one is the one in in uh February, but also the annual meeting is
good because you still vote. So I I I think that's a great idea to have a policy. There's no reason whatsoever for us to go to Western Coalition or Western States Coalition or Northeast, anything like that. And you can see all those meetings they have. There would be no
reason why we would need to go to any of those, but that probably would be limited to just those two in the future. So that's a good idea. I think we should make it clear on that as well. All right. Uh any other discussion? Um hearing none. All those in favor of
the motion say I. I. >> I. >> Opposed. There are none. That passes unanimously. >> All right. Um Oh, so I'm up. Tab 24. >> It's uh >> you want me to say it now? Move to
approve. >> If you want to move, >> we need to go ahead and talk about it. >> I will read >> uh I will read it. We haven't read it in the last year or two, but I'll if you don't mind. Um I'll read it and then maybe you can make a motion. How's that? >> That's perfect. >> Okay. All right. We'll do that. So this
is uh we are at tab 24 uh for those uh attending with this is approval of uh hopefully the pride in America proclamation. So we are the only county that we have know of still to this day that has a a whole month dedicated to
the pride in our great nation. And it's especially powerful and poignant this year because we're celebrating 250 years. And uh this is something we do. We recognize the entire month of July as Pride in America month. And we have uh
those of you know this, we have guest speakers that come. We do flag retirement ceremonies. We do events over at the historical museum that honor uh what's good about this nation. Um no nothing's perfect. Obviously flaws and
all. we uh embrace our history and um this is about celebrating what's good and coming together, uniting us around our our flag, our country uh throughout the month of July. So, I will go ahead and read this uh proclamation and u I
appreciate uh Commissioner Smith um supporting it, moving it forward. All right. Whereas on July 4th, 1776, the second Continental Congress approved a declaration of independence which gave force of law to our separation from Great Britain. Each year since then, we
have celebrated the 4th of July as Independence Day, the birthday of the United States of America. And whereas the year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary or semiquincentennial of the f founding of the United States of America, a historic milestone
commemorating two and a half centuries of freedom, self-governance, and the enduring strength of our republic. And whereas this declaration of independence has given the world the strongest and most successful country in human history, a nation founded upon the
principles of defined invallet invalidate rights of the people and the equal and equitable application of the rule of law. And whereas the commemoration of this momentous and unprecedented achievement and particularly this 250th anniversary year
is worthy of recognition throughout the entire month of July. reminding the citizens and residents of this nation of the extreme risk and sacrifices undertaken by our forefathers to secure the freedoms so often exercised today. And whereas it is our hope and desire
that as a nation we set aside differences, celebrate that which unites us as Americans, taking pride in our great nation and its many contributions and advancements to mankind and to the world, especially during this historic anniversary year. Now therefore be it
proclaimed the board of county commissioners of Lake County, Florida proclaims that the month of July 2026 will be recognized as Pride in America month and honor the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, a month-long celebration of American patriotism, exceptionalism, and
gratitude for our great nation. [clears throat] >> Thank you, uh, Commissioner Parks. And, um, I'm wholeheartedly, uh, for this. I would like to say that I would like to see every city in Lake County adopt the same thing. Um it took a lot for our
founding fathers uh our founding fathers to even sign that document. They knew what was ahead of them uh previously and post the signing of the document. Uh we do truly live in the greatest country in in the world. Um it's I'm proud to be
here. I'm proud to be from Lake County and I'm proud to say I make a motion to approve. >> Thank you. All right. Uh any other discussion? >> Yeah, I wanted to weigh in a little bit. >> Sure. Go ahead. Um, just one of the things that I mean I think it's great
that a few years back we started doing the Pride in America month and I think Commissioner Parks, was it Commissioner Parks, you you started that and um I I have always wondered whether we could at least consider changing the terminology
to celebrating America Month. I >> You mean going forward after this one? going that's what I meant like >> for next year. >> Next year. >> Well, just from the standpoint of the terminology um because I think it I mean
I I kind of understand when when you went came forward with this it was sort of a twofold type uh concept. um because there was a lot of um controversy over different things
that were using the word pride and um and and you really wanted the focus of the the the month when we celebrate our our country's birthday. We celebrate all of the great things about America and the things that Commissioner Smith just talked about. And um and so I always
felt like it we should utilize the word celebrating America or the terminology. So I just wanted to put that forward for everybody's consideration. Um >> yeah, >> I like pride better. It's stronger. >> Yeah. I mean, I just brought it forward
because I we want to we want to be proud of our country. That's that was pretty much why I did it. So but I >> No, and I understand and I I understand that's exactly why you did it. Um, so I I just didn't want there to ever be any I don't I don't even know if I could use
the word confusion versus, you know, a misunderstanding about, you know, other things that are going on in the month of um I guess it's month of June is is when the other the the pride month thing goes on. Um, so anyway, I just I just wanted
to be clear that what we're really focusing on, yes, it is our pride in our own country. It's our pride in being Americans. Um, but we're celebrating the fact that we are Americans and celebrating our country. So, just something for everybody to consider. Um,
but I I I support moving forward. Okay. >> Agreed. >> All right. Any other discussion? Um, hearing none. All those in favor of the motion say I. I. I. opposed. There are none. That passes unanimously. Thank you very much. Um really
appreciate that. Okay. Uh Commissioner Smith, Tab 25. >> Okay. Tab 25 is a presentation by uh Scott Chevier with uh Powerhouse. Now Powerhouse is an organization is helping
our youth. Um he has done a phenomenal job. he's within our uh local high schools and I thought it'd be extremely important for this board and the community to hear the type of positive impact that powerhouse is having for our
youth and the changes in the lives that are happening throughout all of our county. And I know some of y'all have met >> uh Scott, but I wanted to to do a a deep dive into what he's doing and how he's affecting the citizens of Lake County in
a positive manner. So Scott, take it away. >> Thank you. Well, thank you commissioners for a chance to speak. Uh I hope I keep my voice and you sit so long you think I'm going to be able to speak right now. It's great to be with you and it's great to talk about I think America's most
valuable national asset and that is our young people. That was not just said by me. That was said in an inaugural address by a president in this nation. I love it in a county commission meeting to give you a quiz. Do you know who that was? Anybody know who that was? That's normally the result I get from most
people. It was Herbert Hoover in his inaugural address who said that our youth are our most priceless national asset. I believe that too. Um, one of the things I want to do today in the brief time I have is to talk about why we exist as an organization and what
we're doing in Lake County schools and the impact that we're seeing it have in our young people. So, first of all, I want to show that we're not a new organization in Lake County. So powerhouse started in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. I moved to Florida 9 years
ago to a town called Claremont, Florida, not too far from here. Ran into a police officer, not physically, uh, on the Claremont Police Force named Officer Cologne, um, who had just come from a situation that was critical and he looked like he'd been to an accident
scene. I sat down with Officer Cologne and in that conversation he told me he was Baker acting five students in the Claremont community every week and he had no solutions. That was disturbing to me because coming from Nashville, Tennessee, if you were Baker acting five kids in a city like
Nashville, that would be a huge number. In a small community like Claremont, Florida, that got my attention. I began to share with him what we had launched in Nashville, Tennessee, and why we had stopped what we were doing in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville had a program called Powerhouse where we were in every
school presenting a message on the power of choice. It took us to the Pentagon. We partnered with the National Guard through three states. And I shut it down nine years later because I saw the need of something I would like to call sustainability. Not just telling a young person that they have the power of
choice and how powerful choices are in our lives, but showing them a pathway to understand what their future can look like. And so Officer Cologne challenged me that day and said,"Wh don't you do that here?" And I said, "I'm not 35 years of age anymore. It takes a lot of
energy to start a nonprofit back up again." And in the midst of his urging, we did that. I started collaboration meetings. And in those collaboration meetings, I had judges and attorneys and I had the theft recovery man from Target in Claremont come to that meeting. And they begin to communicate. One of the
reasons they were at the meeting was because they were having students being arrested who did not need the items they were taking, but they wanted to be seen. They wanted someone to know that they counted. And so in the meetings of collaboration, someone stood up, I wish I knew who the lady's name was to this
day, and said, "I bet you'll never do this, at Leburg High School." I didn't know where Leburg High School was except there was a Sonic in Leburg. And so I made my way there often, found the high school, met the principal, told him what we were working on, and he handed me a key to the school. I immediately pushed back and said, "We're not ready to do
that yet. We're just in the planning stages." A year later, we launched what we now call Pathway to Purpose at Leburg High School. The students who come to Powerhouse are assigned by school leadership. They are identified as students who are
probable of getting through the system or falling out of the system in the educational system as a dropout. They're either having behavioral issu issues or their grades are not on par where they need to be. And so they are identified as potential dropouts. So you need to understand first the audience that comes
into a powerhouse classroom. I'm going to show you very quickly and this may be the first time if you're watching or if you're here today. You get to see what hope looks like because hope's a word we use all the time. There are two premises and I'll go through these slides very
quickly that powerhouse believes. Number one, we believe every student has a passion and purpose. Doesn't matter where they come from, what their situation is, we believe they have that within themselves. But liken to that, every student needs someone to
achieve it. Nobody in this room, no one hearing my voice got to where you are by yourself. Someone encouraged you, motivated you, opened a door, introduced you, began to build a network for you so that you could have hope in your future, something that you were pursuing. So, as
I said, we're not new in what we're doing. As a matter of fact, I put this on the the screen. I don't like to put this up there. My board of directors says, "You need to be proud of that." And I am. that we were we were selected as nonprofit of the year in 2024 by Lake County. And I'm thankful for that recognition. I'm thankful because behind
that recognition are students lives who have been changed. In 2025, we received the leadership award for some of the things we've been working on behind the scene to see lives changed. The question I want to put up for all of us is this statement. You don't know what you don't know. In other words,
it's an exposure opportunity for young people. Some of the things I'm going to share with you, you might not know, but they're facts for us to understand because what is going on in young people's lives, if you don't know the solution, then you operate in your in your circumstances, in the environment that you find yourself in. So, what
powerhouse does is we begin to take students from where they are and begin to give them opportunities. Now, I want to give you some statistics. This is from the Lake County Economic Development Office. This is statewide. There are 267,000 16 to 24 year olds currently who are not
going to school and not employed. Now, that's concerning to me as a taxpayer to think about how many young people are not being engaged. About two months ago, I was invited to the KIA center where the assistant secretary of labor met with organizations around
Central Florida to talk about this issue. The government is now calling this bedrotting where young people are totally disengaged from the workforce because the only direction they're finding is on Tik Tok and social media and about every young person you meet is going to be the next social media
influencer. That's how they're going to live their lives. So there is a loss of direction and furthermore a loss of engagement into the why of their education. Now how does that impact us? These are some statistics that you might
not know. 63% of students who walk across high school graduation platforms never accomplish what they said they were going to do. >> Hey, my name is Scott Chevier and I'm the He doesn't need to talk right now. 63% of students never accomplish what they're going to do or what they said
they were going to do in high school. There's a reason for that. I I say it all the time. Students need direction beyond the diploma. They need a plan of operation. They need to understand the day after graduation. What are the stages? What are the steps you're going
to take to move toward your future? What are the relationships you're going to establish so you don't go to one semester in a college, get in debt, come back, and find yourself missing the opportunity or being in debt financially to what's going on in your situation.
30% of students who graduate high school, and I don't know what I'm hitting here that does this. Thank you guys. 30% of students who graduate high school say actively they don't feel prepared for life that they
don't feel they have the tools ready for being the next stage of life and what Hey, my name is Scott. >> What powerhouse does is powerhouse takes them to the next level. It engages who they are, helps them understand what their purpose is and then it launches them into the program. So I'll let that
guy speak. >> Hey, my name is Scott Chevier and I'm the founder and executive director of the Powerhouse Youth Project. I'm excited to share with you one of the most powerful career panels that we put together for students through our program, Pathway to Purpose. You see, throughout the school year, we're on
campus with these students, giving them the courage and understanding of what it means to step into the best version of who they are. [music] During week 16, we bring together different professionals from different industries from all across the community so that these
students can now be prepared to have a conversation of what that pathway might look like. The engagement in the room is magical. Students now know what questions to ask. They now have [music] the confidence to engage folks who are
doing things that they want to see in their own futures. You know, we live in a time today where students are disengaged. They're disillusioned. They're hopeless. Our government calls it bedrocking. They're literally disengaged from the workforce. But
during this session, students begin to realize the why of their education. They begin to understand that they do have a pathway to purpose. I hope you'll join Powerhouse in engaging your students in your community so that they can
understand they have a place in their future [music] and they can become the best version of who they are. So there is there is real studies behind what we're doing. This is this is interesting to me because two psychologists who have more degrees than
I do talk about the value of understanding purpose. On your screen you can see it talks about purpose being a a support to resiliency. Purpose supports their mental health. It reduces negative behavior. It buffers the social media impact and the stigma that te that
Tik Tok can have in a young person's life. Understanding direction in your life as a young person. Not identifying I'm going to be a plumber. Not understanding I'm going to be a welder, but understanding that my life has meaning. Let me show you the realistic significance of this right here in Lake
County because just recently we had driveby shootings in Eustace. You may have saw it on the news. I was called by Channel 13 to talk about why couldn't these young people just be in a summer camp program. If I went back to slide one, you don't
know what you don't know is exactly what I told that reporter. These students who are involved in that first of all don't feel valued to be a part of a such program don't know of such a program don't have access to such a program and does do not have someone who are giving
them the support to be in such a program but I can guarantee you this and I can say this because I've seen it work if these students would be engaged in a program like powerhouse where they begin to understand what their purpose is when they begin to understand the direction
and understand the power of the choices they're making has a lot to do with where they end up in life. I can guarantee you behavior would change because they become more passionate about what they're pursuing than the opportunity and the situation that they
find themselves in. So people ask me all the time, what is our secret sauce? It's very simple. It's relationship and relevancy. Relationship says, do I matter? Does my life have meaning?
To understand that they have importance that they have a relevancy in their life means that I'm here for a reason. Relevancy means why does it matter? Students ask themselves that question after co why after watching computer screens why
does it matter that I'm in a classroom? Why does it matter that I'm in attendance with my other peers? Why does it matter that I have to sit through history or math or science or whatever the class might be? They've lost sight of those things that their education has
a destination because they've lost sight of their purpose. Now, does it work? I want you to see the real facts. These are before and after pre- and post testing that Powerhouse does. Keep in mind what I said in the beginning. Who are the students that Powerhouse gets assigned to? Students that are looked at as the
highest probability of falling out of the system. of not making it in the system. We have up to this date as I stand here before you 100% graduation rate of students. These are students some of them who had
a.32 GPA. You have to work at that who graduated with a 3.5 GPA. I ask you what changed purpose. understanding that their presence in a
classroom was more than a grade and more than a test that they were pursuing something that was important to them and so it affected their behavior their decision process that they made in life. One of the things I want to point out on this screen that I think it's also very
important is to understand that 95% of the students we worked with reported having a better or an increased idea of their plans and their goals after high school. We purposed this in our classrooms. You
see powerhouse is on the classroom on campus. We have our classroom on campus. There is strategy to our pass path our classrooms on campus. Now, what are students saying? I don't want to lead all these up here for you, but I'll give you two I love. One said, "It led me to believe in myself." I want to go back to
what those psychologists found. I have meaning. I have purpose. I learned lessons that would carry me on through life to understand that what I was doing in high school didn't end with high school. There was more to it than what I
I saw before. Now, I I think we skipped through these. I got to show you cuz I promised you I would show you what hope looks like and I don't see those slides. So I I want you to understand today as we sit before you and I thank you for the time being in Lake County high schools where
we are right now and currently moving this year into Lake County middle schools the impact is significant. And so I I urge you in the connections you have. I'm new to Florida. I I thank you for Commissioner Kirby Smith. Sean, I know you I mean we've had long long conversations.
I would like to sit down with all of you to find out who are those people who care about education beyond a test, beyond a diploma, so that every Lake County student who graduates high school has in their backpack a plan, a network
of knowing what their next step is. Because the statistics of those sitting at home and those who are missing opportunities in the workforce, I meet them every day. They're the students who are now working at an O'Reilly's handing you and I our oil and I have the conversation and saying, "Is
this what you want to do after high school?" No, but I got to pay bills. Understanding that there is more for their life by understanding what steps I need to take. We call it empowerhouse passion, purpose, profit. I want to end
with this because I'm also the sports hub podcast host for Style magazine and yesterday I had on the show the weightlifting coach at Leburg High School and it was fascinating to hear him tell the story because one of the things he talks about in getting them
ready for competition and you understand if you don't know Leburg High School and the weightlifting team they are now seven times state champions they have people now going to national championships and I asked Josh, after the time on on
air, how do you get them to that point? Seventh grader walks in, he has no muscle. He doesn't know how to lift a barbell. His statement was profound because it's what powerhouse believes. He said this, "I want them to peak at state."
Didn't matter about the first week of weightlifting. It didn't matter about week two, week three. He wanted the mindset of all those students who came into that room to know I have a goal and it is to peak at state. Powerhouse's
goal is very simple. We begin with the end in mind. So all 17 sessions while we're on campus is leading to the point where they can identify what they want to pursue in life and then we can celebrate them with our mentorship as
they do that. I'll end with this because we'll be going to lunch soon and most of us will probably look for that Chick-fil-A sign and find our favorite Chick-fil-A menu item, but he said it best when Truit Cathy said, "It is easier to build boys and girls than to
mend men and women." Thank you guys for letting me spend some time. I would encourage any time that you would have to sit down that we can continue the conversations. Currently, we are in four Lake County high schools. will be launching in two more middle schools this year, but we want to see
Powerhouse expand so that all students have an opportunity. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Well, Scott, thank you very much for your time. Your program, I know um personally has impacted a lot of lives and um I open the floor up to any of the commissioners that have any questions
for Scott and really do encourage each commissioner and eachbody each person in the public whether you want to be a mentor, you want to know more about the program to go ahead and give Scott a call. Um, what a great organization and uh, thank you very much for everything you do. >> Absolutely.
>> I just want to park. >> Oh, >> can I just weigh in real? >> Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, I'll go after you. >> Okay. Sure. Uh, Scott, great presentation. I heard you a few years back at the Children's Services Council and um, I'm just uh, in awe of the great work that you're doing and your team is
doing. and any, you know, opportunities you see or when we meet and talk, um, opportunities, doors we can open, I'm there ready, willing, and able, I just think it's amazing that you're getting to the core of what makes these young people tick, what they need in order to
realize their own potential and to feel that sense of purpose, which completely changes lives, as you so eloquently uh, displayed today in your presentation. So, thank you. We value you and um we're extremely appreciative for the great work you're doing.
>> Thank you. >> All right. And I will just say um Commissioner Smith, thank you very much uh for asking Scott to come. Boy, this is a great it's great when we get these great positive stories and about building community and good leadership and what you're doing to affect the next
generation. So, thank you very much. And Scott, yeah, we had we've had some good conversations. I always say that I feel really good and inspired after we have conversations. We are long overdue for one. So I will commit to you that you and I will uh connect also to see what I can do to help you move forward in
powerhouse and everything that you're doing. So God bless you and thank you really because you're I [snorts] mean you're impacting lives. You can I can tell >> appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. We will keep moving
along here. We'll go um to tab 26. This is Mike. Come on back up. Thank you, chairman. For the record, Mike Fitzgerald. I'm the office of planning and zoning director. I do have a presentation.
Presentation. Yes. Um, this item is a request to approve for approval to advertise an ordinance amending section 900106 of the Lake County Code entitled landscape buffer requirements. By way of
background, on April 14th, 2026, the board of county commissioners considered public input regarding landscape buffer width requirements and what impact that would have on development. The proposed ordinance will establish a minimum landscape buffer width of 20 ft for
development along public roadways. This will serve to improve storm water infiltration uh the visual effect of landscaping. It'll reduce runoff and it will mitigate heat islands. With that said, uh a type A buffer
currently under our code it has uh choices of 2015 or 10 feet. Our code was not specific uh to the width of the buffer. It said a type A buffer was required along public roadways. This ordinance will serve to uh codify that a
20 foot width type A buffer is required. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions. >> All right. Thank you, Mike. Yeah, I think this is um we had some really good discussion back in April on this and uh March and April maybe, but um this is definitely a a step in the right
direction. a lot of questions about codes and what our codes will do in the future after they we go through the comprehensive planning process and make some changes. But I think this is great. Those if you like to see more trees, this is definitely a step in that right
direction to see a enhanced buffer. So I know um Commissioner Campion I think wanted to bring this forward. So appreciate her uh asking about this and here we are. We've got this um vote today to make this change.
>> Yes, sir. Any questions? >> I'm just waiting on Commissioner Campfield. >> Okay. So, I think it's a step in the right direction. I don't know whether Senate Bill 180 prevents us from going further or whether we could move forward
um at least with this and then entertain um some additional ideas. I mean, I personally would rather see um when we're talking about the major roads and rights of way, um I think it should be wider or I think there ought to be a way
to utilize a wider buffer to incentivize the use of um maintaining existing tree lines. And I am hopeful that maybe Mike could help us with that where maybe that's been done in other locations where you could
actually um be incentivized to keep the existing vegetation and as long as it's not, you know, invasive um non-native type vegetation, but it's um but it's native and it's it's healthy and so forth. It just seems
like that would be more beneficial to promote for wildlife and biodiversity and um at least keeping some wildlife type corridors intact as opposed to
properties being completely reconfigured and all of the existing vegetation ripped away. So, I want to put that out there for something that could be considered and see where everybody else is on at on that. Um, but
at the very minimum, I think being clear that it has to be 20 ft based on our existing rules is very important. I just think there should be again more landscape material and I'd like to see a proposal for how we could incentivize
maintaining natural vegetated areas. Well, the the board today approved um funding for the land development regulation rewrite and we can certainly take a deeper dive into the existing landscape regulations uh see how they address native plants,
see how how they address existing vegetation and and move forward in that regard. This ordinance is very simple ordinance. It merely establishes a landscape buffer width uh increasing it
from 10 feet to 20 feet. Uh in the land development regulation rewrite which is going to happen immediately after today. Uh we will certainly take a look at how the landscape buffer, I'm sorry, the landscape regulations read and make
improvements in accordance with uh public workshops that we'll be holding with the uh with the consultant. >> Yeah, I think that would be the the chance when um what you're talking about is um definitely going to be a good way to go for us. I think where you would
address that and the concerns Commissioner Campion is expressing would be, you know, when we change the rules, make it that um first of all, they're mapping nuisance exotic species where they're at so that those are removed. But then the natural heirs are also
mapped historic trees, native trees, and those areas are incorporated could be incorporated into extending the buffer, making it larger. Um is that kind of >> Yeah. Don't we already have an ordinance to protect our heritage trees? >> Yes, sir, we do. >> Yeah, we just passed that just a couple
of couple of meetings ago. So, they've already can't touch that. So, I think the incentivation >> would be to go around those and use this as part of their buffer. I think it's a great I think it's a great plan. >> Yeah, good first step. Uh it would again it would be to get into those well we
took a step at the last meeting too where now on all all your zoning reports we're going to um require that you tell us whether it's in a Florida um wildlife corridor the P1 P2 or P3 so we'll know >> that's correct sir GIS department has added that layer to our GIS map so staff
will be aware of that of that overlay. >> Sure. >> But that's keep in mind heritage trees are I mean heritage trees we're talking about large trees. We're not talking about maintaining areas where there's existing vegetation where
wildlife is currently living and would have the opportunity to continue to be um you know able to exist and live and so forth. So I think there's a difference. Just want to make sure we understand the distinction between
saying, "Yes, we're going to preserve a heritage tree here and there when they're really big trees on a particular property." And we've seen sometimes what that looks like. They they they recontour the property and then they try to create like an area around this tree
to keep that tree there. I'm I'm talking about keeping habitat in place and vegetation in place. And it just seems like you could incentivize that by um making it something that you know a developer considers to be beneficial
and then that would in the you know would make them want to go that direction as opposed to you know a brand new landscape buffer. >> Yeah, I I see what you're saying. I I [clears throat] then that's what I I go back to my comments earlier. I think this is a good first step because it
clearly defines the 10 to 20 foot with trees where it wasn't clear before. So that's a good first step. But to your point, Commissioner Campion, yes, it should be areas when we change the rules, which I hope we do on this, there would be natural areas that are mapped
on the site. Um, including could be historic trees, uh, which will be protected anyway. Um and then then it would you know whether it's incentive or it's required even maybe in some cases to protect those areas and use it as your open space when we get to right
>> yeah that would be the key to change it then >> um as well and to direct development away from those areas um and >> Mr. Parks when you look at this landscape material though that's in this 20ft buffer do you think that's dense enough compared to what you see in other
codes? I mean, I'd like >> I just think back to our landscape. I along 437, there's a project that was um approved by the county that was uh I think it's called Sarrento Pines and it
has the most sparse landscaping along the rideway that I've ever seen. Um what I want to make sure of is that we're actually requiring a a level of material that is adequate as well.
>> Yeah. I mean, I would I would like to see more. Now, I think within buffers, most of them should be uh Florida native or I know Florida friendly is something we do around entryways and things like that because we give more flexibility there. I would like to see that, but I
don't um you know I don't know how you would incorporate that into because would you have to change other parts of the code when it comes to Yeah, I think it wouldn't it be best just to pass this ordinance and then work on the stipulations
uh within this. I' I'd hate to muddy the waters of this one and then lose sight of what we're doing and have um planning and zoning come up with a very good uh vegetative buffering situation to bring it back to us.
>> Okay. I'm just looking at two canopy trees, one ornamental and one row shrubs and >> every doesn't seem like much material. So I mean a oak tree grows 40 feet wide.
So >> yeah that that's why they do that. Um, so I think I think what we could do is pass this, but if you if we also directed that you come back with some specific I can tell you right now on the on the types of buffers. I can tell you
right now like not just Cherry Lake, a local lake company, Lake County, but the outside collab they have they have and you I think we've talked about this before, but they have examples of what a buffer can look like. Um, and and they
actually give pictures and that might be If we had pictures and you saw this, you would see uh how much better it would look uh if we just have to require it. Um >> right, I think photos are helpful because when you just see like diagrams
um on landscape buffers, it gives no indication and and again go down 437, look at Sarrento Pines, that is a county buffer. that that's just not something that I mean I I feel like that's something we can fix immediately. We shouldn't have
to wait for a long process and that was that was the reason I brought this forward and wanted this to be addressed. So I appreciate the width being clarified. I just think the landscape material needs to be more dense and that's something that we should do as quickly as possible as opposed to
waiting for a long process. the longer process maybe can refine it and we can come up with some innovative ways to promote native vegetation use and those kind of things um and and maintaining existing um tree lines and vegetation.
But I would like to see this brought back with uh sooner than later with examples of the material itself that's in this 20ft buffer while we're waiting for bigger better changes in the land development regulations. That's my
request. >> Okay. So, I think if we if we got this moved forward today, uh I'm going to be maybe I'm going to be a little ambitious when I say this, but I think within a month or to six weeks, you probably could have some pretty nice nice pretty good nice pretty pictures that are
details of what could be actually put into this code as to what we're expecting with uh when it comes to the buffer. So, they're not just sparse. And there are other there are other requirements backed up like you do like the caliper um or maybe it's DBH of
these trees. So you're not putting in they're not putting in spendley stuff. [snorts] Um which we we need to clarify. But I think as far as a layout goes we could probably do that within a month to two months to make it quick. What do you
think? >> Are we talking about quantity? I think you're talk I think yeah commissioners configuration. I think it's both quantity and configuration. >> Okay. >> Yeah, I think it is. I think it's
quantity and configuration because how you lay that out matters as well, but I think there needs to be more quantity. Um and I think photos of what that looks like could be helpful. Yeah, we have photos and we have um we actually have there's buffers that have
been tested now for a couple years. >> We also have to be careful um when when we do this. I don't mind the 20 ft, but you got to we're thinking subdivisions. >> Yeah. >> But if someone built a single family
home, they would have to still abide by whatever we come up with. the the single family home single parcel is exempt from this. >> Okay, then that makes me feel a whole lot better. Okay, thank you. >> Partial residential subdivisions would be subject to this. >> All right. Thank you.
>> We are just today under this agenda item, we are just looking at the buffer type A. We do have a variety of buffer types um that have different quantities, configurations, widths. So if we want to
go down the rabbit hole so to speak, we are we are affecting more than just one piece of code and it will affect more than one chapter of code. So that's why I think we get this done today and then we look at maybe maybe I'm being ambitious maybe it is a little
longer but as quickly as possible all the buffers on numbers and configuration and composition we could do that and I think there's some examples so that way you can check you'll have time because you're right we need to make sure it doesn't conflict with other places in the code. This is something that the
board is requesting staff to bring back prior to the LDR rewrite. >> I think so. Yeah. I think Yeah. Yeah. It's I know that I know that we've talked about this. There's some things that you know my again my opinion is I
wish the code was changed a long time ago, but we're going to peacemail it and it's still going to professionally like you said today we authorized that to get written. that that's a longer process that'll take um I would I assume it would take at least a year to do that. I don't know what you've given them in the
contract. I can't remember but um >> I'm hoping it can be six months. >> Okay. So, um but >> don't quote me on that. >> No, I know. Just like don't quote my one month, but I think uh I think if we if we could get this, you could probably use whatever we get done in the ne next
month or two months in the new code rewrite, I would think. So, let me just jump in here. Um, so additional changes, if they're not incorporated in this ordinance, we're bringing a new ordinance, it's going to be longer than a month or two because all of these have to go to the planning
and zoning board. Right. So, >> there you go. Okay. >> Right. So, we have to write it and then we have to have it advertised at least 10 days before the PNZ board. So, chances are you wouldn't get it there until probably at least September based on the timing that we have right now.
Um, but just another suggestion for Commissioner Campion's purposes. So, right now what it says for the for the right-of-way buffer is it's a 20 foot typea. As Mike just mentioned, we have other buffer types that have more
material, more dense material. So maybe the solution right now while we work on something um different going forward, maybe you change this from a type A to a different type because we have we have
A, we have B, C, D, E, F. Um well, we don't have an F. I don't know why it's in there. Um, so I mean maybe that's your quicker solution is instead of a type A which is your very basic buffer,
maybe it is, you know, a type D or C or something like that. >> So you're saying making making a type D actually the standard for type A essentially? >> No, changing >> changing this particular ordinance instead of saying a 20 foot type A
saying a 20 foot type you know, >> around these roads. Okay. >> Right. Right. Just because this is right up against the right of way if you're looking for a fix sooner rather than later for subdivisions up against a rightway. >> Okay. So, in fairness to other commissioners, can you put up what a
type uh D is? >> So, let me ask you this question. If we approved a 20 foot buffer, can we not come back next meeting and designate the type within that buffer? because I'm not comfortable with uh word smithing it
right up here and not understanding what all the buffers are. >> So So this is approval to advertise. So >> Oh, this is approval to advertise. >> If you approve it today, then when we come back for the public hearing, we can bring you the different buffer types and then during the public hearing you could choose if you wanted a different level
of buffer. >> Thank you. >> Awesome. Okay, that that'll work. So can for advertising we can just add those different buffers as possibilities so that we look at those everybody can look at them going into that meeting where the ordinance is being considered.
>> Right. So you can advertise it as it is right now with the type A and then um >> Oh I see what you're saying because we're going more restrictive. So >> you need your more restrictive shown at this point or referenced. So, what I could do is change it to type D, which
is the most strenuous, and then you guys can always go down. >> So, could we could we could we make a motion to approve the buffer with with the um understanding that the buffer type will be determined at the public hearing?
>> Yes. >> Okay. I'd like to make a motion that we approve the um road width um landscape buffer to 20 ft with the understanding
that we'll be coming back with the buffer type at at the public hearing. >> Second >> discussion. >> Yeah, >> I'll second that. And then just want to add for discussion to just make sure
that it's clear that because I don't want to >> you clear >> problem that we've gone more restrictive. So >> because I want to look at all the buffers and and see them and I'm sure Mike's going to go back and send each
one of us a email that has every type of buffer type and what's what's in them. I would make a suggestion that the board amend the motion to eliminate the uh the width of 20 ft because the different buffer types
>> have different have different widths. A buffer type B has a 20 ft but a C does not have 20 feet. A D does not have 20 feet and an E does not have 20 feet. >> Right. I just did the whole buffer buffer tight. >> Yeah, I just did the whole buffer at 20
ft. 20 ft. >> So the motion could be would to for clarity could be up uh could be the this the D lance because that's the most restrictive with the understanding that it could be the last. >> How about we just bring this back on July 14th for approval to advertise
again and at that point you can then select your buffer buffer width and buffer type and then I can advertise it and bring it back for public hearing. >> Make a motion to to advertise. >> Okay. All right. Any discussion? Commissioner Campion. Again, I I don't want to advertise it today. I want to
bring it back on the 14th and then you can choose what you want and then we can approve it for advertising on the 14th. >> I'll withdraw my second that will be cleaner and we will have all those buffers in front of us and then we make our advertising decision on the 14th as
we look at those different buffer types. >> You're just talking one more meeting. >> So, so we need to table this. >> Yes, let's do that. I like to make a motion to table until next meeting. >> Okay. And I'll just say I'll Mike, I'll get you some of those diagrams of buffer
layouts that um Collab has done from the time. >> That would be a great help. Yes. >> All right. Um any other discussion hearing? None. All those in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed? There are none. That passes unanimously.
Uh tab 27. Um Melanie and Mike. I guess >> uh this agenda item is a recommendation to approval approve advertising for an ordinance amending section 14070 of Lake County code entitled subdivisions to bring the section into
compliance with chapter 2025-164 of the Florida statutes. Some background. On June 20th, 2025, Governor Dantis signed into law Senate Bill 784, which became effective July 1st, 2025,
that required that plat submitts be administratively approved and that they no longer come to public hearing for approval. So, the amendment uh today to the section 14070 would bring our regulations into
compliance with state code. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions. >> So, we've got to do it. >> This is a coming from the state. >> So, just to clarify, we have been doing it because it's state law. We just need
to make our LDRs match state law. >> All right. >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> Any final discussion hearing? None. All those in favor of the motion say I. >> I. >> I think she said yes. So would
Commissioner Campion >> I >> Okay. Um there are none opposed. That passes unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. [clears throat] We're at uh towards the end of our meeting, so we'll go right into uh reports. Um county
attorney, >> nothing. Okay. >> Jennifer manager. >> Uh yes, just one item. Um just to um make the public aware that our county offices will be closed on Friday, July
3rd in observance of Independence Day. >> USA. Go USA. >> Go USA. >> No update. >> No update. Okay. Um >> yeah, I would like to ask a board um at
least thought on this as we're looking at our codes and changing sides of buffers. You know, we've had a huge issue with internal subdivision roads. Uh I would like to come up with an ordinance that
we go above and beyond our traditional 20 or 20 foot or 24 foot wide. I know Mike is grimacing it. Don't worry about it. Um come up with a with a um a road width that is amendable
um to parking so we don't have all these issues that were coming up now with people parking on the street and just see what that looks like. Uh I I don't know. I know the developers it's going to cost more for the developers, but hey, you know what? it cost more for the
developers. Maybe they can have a better community. And I'd like the board's permission to at least have staff work on that. >> I think it's a great discussion uh and and work on that. Uh there's there's practices now that where places have
learned from mistakes in the past and some things they're doing, even designs and the way it's enforced and there's lessons to be learned. So, I think it's uh would be very good. And you know, you could always do um some neighborhoods now could you can do um alleyway and I know you know that's um often associated
with higher density, but it doesn't have to be. There's alley alleyway uh rear rear alleyway uh loading. There's also longer driveways that go in so that they're not um on the side. You just got to allow it um when it comes to
setbacks. And there's definitely a discussion to be had on that how to how to do that. So appreciate that. Um, also they do parking areas sometimes. So if they did want to have a more narrow road that had parking restrictions, then they provide separate
parking locations. So those are other things you can take into consideration when you look at this, but I think it's good to bring it up and and try to get it addressed sooner than later. >> So just as a reminder to the board, we have been putting in our PUB ordinances
since October. um that very type of language where it has to be a minimum 34 feet in width. Um if there's going to be street parking, if they're not going to do street parking, then they have to provide either driveways that are wide enough or long enough to accommodate four vehicles without impeding the
sidewalk or they have to provide overflow parking um on every block or however they want to design that. So, we've currently been putting that in our our ordinances. Um, we are in the process of working to put that in the code so it's applicable to every
development and not just PUD. So, we'll be bringing that forward to you soon. >> Thank you. >> I appreciate that. Okay. Um, Commissioner Campion, >> anything? >> Um, I don't have a report. I'll wait
until the next meeting. I have my hands full. Um, as you guys may or may not know, um, my daughter had a a little baby and so I'm in Boston, um, helping her right now and then I'll be heading home soon.
>> Congratulations. I I knew that. I just didn't want to say it, but you have said it. So, congratulations. And, uh, obviously a very important reason to not be here. And I tried to do my best uh, to follow your lead um, as the filling in for chair today. So, we look forward
to seeing you when you get back. >> Uh, you've done a great job and I appreciate everybody working with me and allowing me to participate online. >> No problem. Appreciate it. Safe travels. Um, many blessings to your family. I don't really have anything to report other than uh I want to wish everybody I
guess I won't see everybody in a meeting until July 4th, our Independence Day. So, have a safe, thoughtful, memorable 250th birthday of this great nation. It's going to be amazing. All kinds of stuff going on. Parades,
uh, activities. Get out, show the love, show your love for this country. Just do it in a safe way. Uh, and bring your family, get them all involved. And, um, this is we are just, we just totally blessed to live in Lake County and in this great nation, of course. But, man,
we're even more blessed to just live right here in Lake County. So, I just wanted to say that and I appreciate you all. And, uh, do you have a special day for us? I do. Um, in case anybody out there is wondering what today is, today
it's very special day. Today is National Typewriter Day. So, if you have a typewriter, just go out and use it just for old time sakes. >> Nice. Okay. All right. Very good. All right. With that, we are journed.
>> See you tonight. >> Yeah. See you. >> You know better.