--------- You're on. We're on. Good morning and welcome to our June 17th uh board of county commission meeting. I'm calling this meeting to order. Please join us for the invocation
by Pastor Stan Allen from Red Redeemer Lutheran Church followed by the pledge of allegiance which will be led by Colin Ryel and R Col Colin is then going to tell us about his his military service. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning.
Please pray with me. Merciful father, we are so thankful for this day. Another day which you have given to each and every one of us to serve. Thank you for this great joy and great blessing. Lord, I ask that you would keep Martin
County under your care. We also thank you for the various individual gifts which you have given to each of us. And today we are especially thankful for the gifts given to each of our county commissioners that they would continue to serve the people of Barton County with wisdom, compassion, and joy.
Lord, I pray for your guidance and strength be upon our commissioners as they discuss the issues brought before them that they would carry out their work this morning and every morning work which is given for the which is done for the welfare of the citizens of Martin County and that their decisions all the
decisions would be made with a spirit of enthusiasm, grace, and humility. And Lord, we're also thankful for all all who work in and for the county of Martin. May their service to the people of this county be joyful and rewarding.
And I ask that you would bless each and every one of them and their families as well. Lord, all these prayers we lift up to you in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Colin. Ryle. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. All right. Good morning, everybody. Morning. My name is Colin Ryel and I
served in the Marine Corps as a 70-51 aircraft rescue and firefighting specialist from 2015 to 2019. My mission as a firefighting specialist is the same as Martin County Fire Rescue, save lives and protect property. But our focus was to make sure pilots
and their crews made it home safely. Being a firefighter and a Marine is unique because whether you're at home or forward deployed, you're executing your mission 247 365. I responded to a variety of calls ranging from aircraft crashes to medevacs to responding to a volcanic
eruption in 2018. Did you put that fire out? Uh, you know, I tried my best, but fighting mother nature doesn't work all the time. You know, they're are tough. They are. The Marines taught mental toughness, leadership and followership, accountability, time management, and
service above self. All things that apply to my current role as an emergency manager. There came a time in my career as a Marine where I could choose to stay and continue defending our freedom or get out and follow my passion to protect the community. I left the Marines in 2019 to pursue a degree in homeland security so
that I could accomplish my new mission. The Marines have a lot to offer, but above all else, they give members a sense of purpose and belonging that we hold near and dear. But what happens when you leave all that behind and return to civilian life? I think this is an issue that many veterans struggle
with, whether they admit this or not. For me, for me, my purpose was clear. I want to protect my community. But that sense of belonging is difficult to find and something that not every organization has to offer. I feel extremely lucky to have found my belonging here with Martin County
Emergency Management. My sense of belonging comes from my emergency management team sitting behind me and from being a part of the Martin County Fire Rescue family. I can look to them. I can look to my team for someone to talk to about my own personal life or mentorship in my professional development. We are there for each other
through good times and bad and make each other better every single day. I'm very thankful for this community and getting the opportunity to be part of such a great team. Thank you. Thank you. There are no additional items. Is there a motion to approve the agenda?
Um, I'll move approval of the agenda with no additional items. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Uh, there is a proclamation recognizing the Boys and Girls Club of
Martin County Youth of the Year. Good morning, commissioners. I'm just going to introduce this item. We have Megan Shyri here with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Martin County and she's going to talk a little bit about the program and introduce their youth of the year winner. Good morning. Oh, and they would like a photo with the chair afterwards,
please. Okay. Thank you. Good morning. As mentioned, I'm Megan Shy. I'm the director of marketing and external affairs for your Boys and Girls Club here in Martin County. And I'd like to tell you today about the Youth of the Year program. The youth of the year event recognizes the incredible achievements of some of its most
distinct and inspiring members. Youth of the year candidates are celebrated for their academic discipline, spirit of good citizenship, community, and record of volunteerism. Commitment to healthy choices, avoiding vaping, drugs, and other dangerous
patterns, exhibiting leadership and support to their peers, and pursuing education, training, and career paths to contribute to a better world. BGCMC is thankful for the nearly 1,000 children in our five clubs daily and more of the 7,000 children impacted
through our annual programs. This nonprofit that I'm so proud to be a part of is proud of our efforts and celebrates these members achievements. It should be noted that to earn the mere consider consideration of youth of the year, the candidates must take extraordinary efforts, consistency,
comprehensively, and with an unquestionable clear commitment to excellence. Local winners will advance. They advance to regional and state and national competitions. And I am honored to say that our youth of the year placed in the top four in the entire state of Florida. So, it is my honor to introduce
to you Mildred Castillo. Thank you, Miss Megan. Good morning, everyone. I'm here to share a little bit about my of my story. Um, throughout my time on this earth, I learned the further you travel down the road of life, the richer your journey becomes
with wisdom, strength, and growth. One of the biggest challenges I encountered in my life was when my dad tragically passed away after getting deported. It was a very hard time for my family. My mom had to support my two brothers and I playing both parental roles. Despite the hardships, she always stayed strong for
us, pushing forward with that bright smile on her face. Although, when she made the big decision to move from Jupiter to Hope Sound, I was devastated. It felt as if we were finally figuring things out and now we're leaving our home. But this is where the Boys and Girls Club became my
second home. I've been going to my club since fifth grade and let me tell you, it changed before the better. My club environment changes lives, gives people a new beginning and a helping hand when needed. Hi, my name is Mildred Castillo and this is the story of how my club inspired me to be great.
As I mentioned previously, my club really is a special place. They always choose the right people to work there. They're all so kind and people you can always go to. I remember not long ago, I was a shy person. I never talk. I'd just go to the club, sit on my phone, and that's it. I was always afraid of what
people may think of me, whether it was how I looked or how I dressed. So, I found it easier to stay in my own bubble. However, the staff would motivate me to participate in fun, engaging activities to find myself, make new friends. Even though I didn't make it easy for them, they never gave up on me.
Some say that the Boys and Girls Club is just a place where kids go while their parents work. But it's much more than that. My club provides opportunities to go beyond a simple daycare. For instance, my mom is a single mother raising three kids. So, money was tight. I fear not going to college and didn't
want to put that burden on my mother. However, in sixth grade, I earned my very first scholarship through my club, covering four years of college. This meant the world to me and my family. I thank this program for making me realize my true potential. Great futures start here. It's a phrase
I've often heard throughout my club. I am living proof that the Boys and Girls Club wants to ensure this happens. At 14, my club provided me with my very first work experience at the Boys and Girls Club culinary team. I joined over a year ago, and let me tell you, it has been the greatest experience yet. I met
new people, gained new skills, all while earning a paycheck, which means I could go on more shopping days, but it also means I can help my mom financially in ways I couldn't have before. There are so many different paths I could have taken. Some may be better than others, but some could have been a real
catastrophe for me. But the path I chose, the path that led me to the Boys and Girls Club, has placed me down a brighter path towards my dreams and aspirations. I know if I ever get knocked down, I can count on my club to pick me right back up. It's a place that saved me, my second home, my Boys and
Girls Club. Thank you. I thought you would too. You're gonna do something else. No, I was just attend Mildred will go far, won't she? Yes, she will. Thank you. Uh, now it's time for
public comment. Uh, the first request to speak form I have is from Noel Delvier, followed by Maxi Delvier. We don't have Yeah, he's right here. That's him. Oh, okay.
Morning. Good morning. Morning. Is this working? Yes. I can't hear. Good morning, county commissioners. My name is Noel Delval and I am the executive director of the Martin County Police Athletic League, also known as Martin County POW. Martin County Powell
was founded in 2017 with a dream and 12 kids. I'm proud to share with you today that this fiscal year we had the opportunity to mentor over 600 kids in Martin County. Yes, we do offer athletic programs. We have boxing, fitness, golf,
drum line, and soccer. And these are led by people we're often called coaches. But at Martin County PAL, they are more than coaches. Coaches prepare kids for the game. Mentors prepare kids for the game of life. Each one of our coaches is a mentor, someone who helps guides kids
through challenges, encourages them, and shows them what it means to make smart choices and live with purpose. Beyond our sports program, we also run three important mentorship and diversion programs. a tobacco and ecigarette
prevention program where kids are educated on the dangers and long-term damage of caused by nicotine and vaping. A drug and opioid awareness program which youth we uh help youth understand the dangers of opioids and drugs and our
leadership program designed to provide guidance, support and positive role models to youth who need it most. These programs are not just about education. They are programs designed to help youth find their way, their
purpose, and stay out of trouble. This year alone, these programs have served over 225 kids. Many referred through the schools and through diversion court. And we are seeing real results. These programs are
picking kids back on the path. They're staying out of trouble and they are finding their purpose. They see a future for themselves. This doesn't change lives. It saves lives and it also saves taxpayer dollars by keeping these kids
out of juvenile detention systems. Today, I know you are considering a decision involving a valuable asset. But I ask you to see it not as a transaction of property, but as a lifechanging investment. Thank you for your time, your
leadership, and your support. Thank you. Maxi Delval is next, followed by Jake Delval. Imagine being a 12-year-old kid and hearing again, "When are you going to
change? You're not worth anything. When are you going to be better in school after school? When am I going to be able to make a difference? Over and over and over. Being put in a box by your parents, by
the school, by your friends, making choices that aren't necessarily the best for you right now or for your future. And then after endless midnight prayers, maybe seeing Mobile PAL at your middle
school, maybe a referral from juvenile court, you come across Martin County PAL, and you realize because of the mentors and the people involved that you have value, that you are worthy, that
you have a future. My name is Macy Delval and I am the wife and mother of well the wife of Noel Dval, executive director, the mother of two kids that have literally founded this program. And
I am here to tell you that the decision that you have in front of you is a responsibility that you hold to make a difference. Not just in the lives of these children that could potentially attend because a building being placed
in their community, but in the community as a whole. The community needs a place for these children where they can feel safe, but that they are known, that they are seen, that they are valued, and that they understand that they are worth the
chance. Martin County PAL's mission is to develop healthy, productive children of the future. Leaders, we need leaders, and leadership starts today. It's our responsibility as leaders in this community to break generational curses.
Oftentimes, these kids come to PAL because they don't know any better. They land there because of decisions that their parents have made ultimately. And unless that they are guided and supported by people who could help them, they will end up in jail or on the streets or potentially even worse. I ask
you, really, I implore you to think about the fiscal responsibility of PAL. If you don't know, you can pull the records. They are one of the leanest nonprofits in this community. I've seen it. I've seen the numbers. I know what
kids pay to go through their programs. Right now, they have a camp four days a week, all day, so their parents can go to work and do what they need to do for $45. and Kyle G's pays lunch. Well, I thank
you for your time and consideration and I hope that you make the decision to support the future of our community by supporting the building in Golden Gate. Thank you. Jake Delval is next, followed by Lillian
Melton. Good morning, commissioners, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Jake, and I'm proud to say I've grown up at Martin County PAL. PAL has been more than just a program for me. It's been a home away from home. It's where I found my voice, my purpose, and the people who believed in me even
when I didn't believe in myself. Through PAL, I've gained communication skills that have changed my life. When I first came here, I was a kid who didn't say much. Now, I coach, I mentor, and I lead confidently. That's because of Pal. Pal gave me the space to grow, the tools to
succeed, and the mentors, both male and female, who push me to become more than I ever thought I would be. Over the last three years, I've worked every summer camp here, mentoring younger kids who remind me a lot, like myself. I've also been helping lead boxing classes every
Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, both here and at our new Indiantown facility. It's become one of the most important parts of my week, showing up for these kids, helping them build confidence, and being the kind of role model I once looked up to. Last year, I was honored to be named
Pal's coach of the year. But honestly, the biggest honor is just being part of the family. Because that's what PAL is to me, a family. One who builds leaders, not just athletes. One that teaches responsibility, respect, and resilience. one that kids see a future they might
not have imagined for themselves. Next year, I'll be stepping into a new chapter as I begin my journey to become a firefighter. The lessons I've learned at PAL about leadership and hard work and service are lessons I'll carry without me through life. PAL helped me shape the man I am today, and I know I
will continue shaping the next generation of leaders coming up behind me. Thank you for supporting, PAL, and thank you for your time. Lillian Melton is next, followed by Eevee Clawson. Good morning. Good morning.
Good morning, commissioners, and thank you so much for allowing me to speak today. My name is Lillian, and I've been a part of Martin County PAL for several years now. Starting out as a Camp Spark youth and eventually volunteering as a counselor, I've grown through PAL's programs. From golf, media class, and
fundraising efforts at the Steuart Air Show. Every experience has left a lasting mark on me. PAL has an impact on me in many ways, just as it has on many other kids. What makes PAL special is that it's more than just a place to hang out. It's a safe
place where you always feel welcome. People here are kind, supportive, and generally care. You're never judged, only encouraged to grow, to lead, and to be yourself. Over the past few years, I've been proud to step into a more leadership role. I've had the chance to volunteer at summer camp and help
younger kids the same way others once helped me. Whether it's been in the gym, out on the field, or behind the scenes during our media class, I've learned so much, not just about communication and responsibility, but also about who I am and who I want to become.
PAL has taught me the importance of showing up, of giving back, and of lifting others up along the way. It's shaped how I see myself and the kind of leaders I want to be. I'm deeply grateful for the staff and mentors who believed in me and to the opportunities
that PAL has provided for me to grow and give back. Thank you again for supporting PAL. It is a place where lives change and I'm a living proof of that. Thank you. Evie Clawson is next, followed by Steve Clawson.
Good morning. Oh, stop it. Okay, you can pull the mic down. I have I have a broken toe. Okay. Um, first off, I want to say ditto to whatever my husband says because I thought I was going after him because he's got a really good thing. I'm here on behalf of not only myself
but also our grandson that lives in Miami that has attended the PAL program uh through the summers when he comes up to visit us. Uh he wanted to send he went he sent a little text for me to read to you of what PAL meant to him. He said PAL teaches good leadership skills.
It teaches self-dignity and it's very inspiring and it's a good environment. It teaches you a lot of needed skills in this world that not many teens have. I have to say that Jake had made has made an incredible impact on our son through
the PAL program. Um, you know, Jake coached him, he mentored him, and he is a true leader. And, uh, Austin said that if he lived here and if he was here now, he would love to go through the leadership course so that he could give to others what has been given to him.
Noel and his family are not just a program of Martin County PL. They are family to us and we will support them no matter what they do and how far we can go to to help them because we believe in the program and what it does. Thank you.
Thank you. Steve Clawson is next followed by William Repy. I need right. Good morning. Um you have to pull the mic up now. I don't Oh yeah. Okay. You live that every day, don't you?
Yeah, I do. But, uh, I hate talking in front of people, but um, when something's worthwhile, I like to, uh, stand up. So, uh, good morning. My name is Steve Clawson, and me and my wife have owned a local business for 14 years here in Martin
County. And, uh, we've always looked for good organizations to that are run by upstanding leaders to invest in and help. We both have a big heart for our youth and special needs. children's as we have one of our own.
Since Pal started um and was conceived by Noel and his family, it started over at West of Old England in a little hole in the wall there. I can still remember that and we've supported them ever since then and seen the growth that they have
uh developed uh because we have seen and felt what his care is and the partnerships that he has built um to help our young kids. He has provided boxing camps, uh, leadership classes,
um, and then just adult leaders that in after school programs have been able to help kids and keep kids out of trouble. Most importantly, he has given the kids purpose and leadership skills and confidence to deal with life, not just
situations. um you know it it he he he's he's taught him to say no to bad things and to feel cared about and with purpose. In fact, with retirement, we retired now in
January. I have joined the leadership class and become a coach and now I serve on their Wednesday night uh leadership classes. And it's really cool. They have 30 to 35 kids in there that are special, you know, that are in trouble and we try
to help them and guide them. Um um it's a well uh run organization and it makes a big difference. So I would appreciate your support. Thank you. William Repy is next followed by Terry Kogal.
Good morning. Good morning. My name is Bill Reppy and I live in Hope Sound. I've ended up speaking to you this morning because of a progression of disappointments that I have experienced with the Martin County Sheriff and the uh Commissioner Cap. My
experience with them has led me to conclude there is no enthusiasm for helping Martin County residents if the issue doesn't make the evening news. Let me repeat, there's no enthusiasm for uh helping Martin County residents like me unless we make the
evening news. My experience started when a large dog attacked and bit my 10-lb puppy on a public sidewalk, causing $1,300 worth of medical bills to me.
An agent arrived. I called. An agent arrived and uh yeah, she asked me to do photos and medical bills, narratives. I provided all that. I thought a police
report was forthcoming, something that would assist me in small claims court to retie get my $1,300 back and to put this dog away. The report was unprofessional.
It was incomplete and it was absolutely useless as a litigating device. I asked the agent to improve the report in very specific and brief ways.
She declined. I came here or to the Martin County Sheriff's Office and I talked to her lieutenant and we spoke for 10 minutes. He agreed with everything I said and he
said, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can help you, but I'll try. Nothing happened. Okay. So, I uh I wrote this letter to the sheriff's department
and I included a a template for a better and better uh uh capability of the agents to know what's important in a litigating uh experience. Excuse me.
I got a call from his lieutenant. His lieutenant and I spoke for 15 minutes. I don't know if he was humoring me or what, but he agreed with everything I said. He said, "Yeah, you're right. This this this is not going to work." I spoke to a lawyer, too. He said, "No, this is not going to
work." Guess what? Nothing happened. So, I wrote a letter to Cap uh to Commissioner Cap and I said, "Here, here's a copy of the letter and here's a template that I wrote to the sheriff's office and I said,
"Commissioner Cap, can you help me?" Nothing. H I I did say that. Sure. Your time is up. You have three minutes to address us, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Can you send us your information to each of us, please?
I sure can. Thank you. You're wasting taxpayer dollars. By supporting a animal control that does no benefit to the Martin County residents. We don't
have jurisdiction over animal control. Terry Kogal is next, followed by Bob Thornton. meeting has ups and downs. Good morning, commissioners. Terry Cole living.
Uh, this complete street design concept for Southeast Dixie Highway from Cove Road to Jefferson is not in the best interests of the residents and businesses. It was voted down in 2005. Business Flare did a report for Barton
County pertaining to innovation hub for Port Solano, Golden Gate, and residents of YCC back in 2023. For the last two months, uh they've been doing a survey for the same thing. I'd like to know where all where is all this
money going to. Uh we do have some concerns. I've been speaking to quite a few residents in that. Okay. Property will have to be purchased not leased from Treasure Coast Railroad Commission. Some businesses on railroad side of Dixie Highway will have to be purchased
or eminent domain. All upgrades, tree irrigation will be removed from Dixie Highway Center medium. Remove and relocate electrical telephone poles and lamp posts. Roundabouts will have to be removed Cove Road and St. Lucy Boulevard, making it more difficult for
Mariner K, Yacht and Country Club, Hidden Harbor, and Cove Road residents to enter their communities. Kensing Kensington Street entrance is used for all work trucks entering YCC. Elimination of congestion on Dixie Highway. We'll lose all parking spots
for businesses. This is a flood zone, an area specially designed to remove flood water to flow into the Manatee pocket. Where are the environmental and financial impact studies showing this is beneficial for the health, safety, and welfare of residents? Furthermore, this
board lectured the community to stop following misinformation we bring to the BLCC meetings. When we are provided incomplete and vague information regarding proposed projects, the largest amount of misinformation to the public comes from the BLCC.
The incomplete and vague information provided by the BOCC is no different from misinformation found elsewhere. Thank you very much. Thank you. Bob Thornton is next, followed by Jay Nuffer.
You definitely want to set the timer. Oh, we will. Good morning, commissioners. I'm Bob Thornton and I am gonna cry. I've been sitting back there crying. What does it do for the community? Let's
check the police records. I helped start a program up in Massachusetts. We went into the prisons. We did kind of a similar program. The rate of recidism in that prison was 83%. 83% of the guys that got out were back in prison in the first year. 28% of our guys were back in
prison. There's men now from 30 years ago still up there teaching in the seats that they sat in. So, it makes me think of um Frederick Douglas had a quote and he
said, "It is better to build strong children than it is to repair broken men." And that's what we're doing. We're mentors. I'm not a pro. I'm a business guy. All our mentors, they're not getting paid. We're in there because
we've all had, we all have a highlight reel in life. We also have a low light reel. And some of our low light reels are a little bit bigger than other people's. So, we're taking that experience and we're sharing it with these kids that somebody sucked the kind
out of mankind and we handed them a phone and told them to raise themselves. And they're not learning the lessons that we learned. We're teaching that at PAL. Leadership is teaching that at PAL. We are waking kids up, shake and wake, I call it. They
come in for a 16week program and they are tough and they know everything and they're closed off and all of the sudden about week eight, week 10, something like that, they start to wake up and by week 16, they're different people and they're
thinking different. And a lot of them come back as mentors. and I've watched him grow up and it's the coolest thing in the world. There's nothing better. You can build business, you can make money, you can do all these things, but when you reach out and help another kid catch fire, get their their torch of
faith and walk out and light other people up, there's nothing better than that. So, we're not trying to build more auto places. We're not trying to build anything else. We're trying to cobble together some land to build a place where we can go from helping 600 kids to
1,800 kids to 2500 kids because they are our future. They're the ones that are going to be taking care of us. So, please use this and this. Thank you. Jay Nuffer is next, followed by Eric Escalante.
Thank you. It's pronounced newfer. Um I had no idea PAL was going to be on the agenda, but uh I volunteer with Project Lyft and I definitely support uh Martin County PAL and encourage you to do the same. Um I I recently uh saw a
development sign go up and the property adjacent to me. It's item agenda 251023 Caner and Serno Road. And uh I understand that you know when I bought the property 11 years ago that it would be developed. Um the only thing that I
want to really speak to the board about is that um you have in place a 6-ft fence that gets installed on property lines. And I really think you should reconsider that if you have any influence on it whatsoever because a 6ft fence
really isn't much when you're going from a commercial line to a residential line. Um, and just think about that if you were living on the other side of it. Um, the other thing I think about is my neighbor across the street, uh, adjacent to the Publix property. Um, recently was
fined for Publix's fence that he complained about that's fallen in disarray after the 13 years that Publix has been there. He complains about it. Code enforcement comes out and they actually issue him a warning. It's not even his fence. and he's seasonal and lives down here and it's left on me to
deal with and that's a horrible experience all on its own. So, something to think about. Um, there's only four of us that live on that property line that you're looking at reszoning today. Um, we're all in agreement with what we really want. So, also it'd be really
nice, Mrs. Herd, if you would return phone calls once in a while. So, thank you. Have a great day. Eric Escalante is next, followed by Randy Cleveland. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. So, my name is Eric Escalante. As one of
the one of the very first PAL kids, I would like to share my testimony on what PAL has done for me and my future. Just initially wanted to learn boxing. I stepped them I stepped foot into what now I I consider a group of individuals I can count on from day one all of PAL's coaches who happen to be retired law
enforcements became what every coach hopes to become in a kid's life a mentor having the right mentors in especially for young boys like when I first started pal could really impact how their life will turn out such as Noel Noel Brooks a
retired uh deputy and captain press they have in they all have instilled in me hard work discipline and having the confidence that I can accomplish anything I can set my mind to. The dedication and work they have poured into me is a living testimony on what a great organization can do for the community and for someone who wants to
have a positive and impactful life. They taught me to stay resilient while accomp while while accomplishing my dreams and always be a helping hand to others. They have supported me and guided me which accelerated personal and professional growth. And now as a current um employee for Mor County Fire Rescue, I'm able to
carry those positive attributes. I can I can now attest that their guidance has shaped me into the person I am. The influence they had over me has uh made an immense difference in my life that now I can uh get to help the coaches and carry on those skills,
principles, and values when um when I coach the younger generation who now be um who now are a part of this great organization. Just as many other kids can benefit from a PAL facility. They're um instilling a great foundation for many other kids to set up a better future and provide them with a better um
better life. And just want to thank all you guys for hearing my story and pal has done a lot for me in my life. And now having a facility in Indian Town, I wish I grew up in in that facility, but you know, for those kids that are coming up in the Indiantown boxing um
organization, it's it's a great opportunity for them. Just want to thank you guys. Thank you. Randy Cleveland is next, followed by I think Stephen Iscoitz. Morning. I'd like to talk about uh
reszoning with uh driven brands. Uh I see they want to go from plan unit development to general commercial district. A layman like me is a little bit hard to understand. But what I do understand after living there for 20
years is uh the privacy and how much Steuart's changed in the 20 years I've been here. Uh that property has been a buffer zone with all the hurricanes come through and it saved my house and some of the neighbors houses. Uh when that's
replaced with the 6T fence, we lose the buffer zone. not only the animals and stuff that are there. Uh I've seen the development of the gas station and the Taco Bell and everything. And I had to put uh shrubs up around my yard because
I could hear the Taco Bell when they uh ordered their food and everything. And the thing I'm really concerned about is uh that's a tough SLO road going east from Live Oak Lane is tough to get in
and out of. It's not so bad going east. Sometimes I have to wait for two lights to get through because the people coming out of Publix don't have enough respect for the neighborhood. They pull out and block traffic coming the other way. And
especially when I come home in the evening at 4 or 5:00 and a lot of times I ride motorcycles and I'm looking into the sun and every time them people pull out and they start easing out and I
always, you know, slow it down to 10 miles an hour. But the amount of traffic that's coming and I don't know what you guys are going to do with reszoning Caner Highway or what the improvements are. Only thing I know is
the traffic coming in and out definitely can't come on to uh sl road. And the other thing is if this exemption is to make a taller building or whatever at least the neighbors would like to know what's going in there. So far, we have
no clue. So, I am really for the 10-ft wall myself for the safety and the uh protection from the wind and the storms and uh uh we'd like to not hear the
business that's there. We support business and business people and we support the community. We just like uh something in return. Thank you for your time. Have a great week. Thank you, Mr. Cleveland. We are going to take up that uh agenda item shortly.
That's uh public hearing quasi judicial number one uh which will be early this morning. Uh Stephen Iskowitz. Yes, that's right. I'm uh Dr. Steven Iskowitz, retired chiropractor from New York a little over two years ago. My
wife and myself opened up a local business here. We've been embedded in this community ever since. uh whatever we can do to help out. I'm here to speak about life experience. I'm 62 years of age. I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where it's a lot easier to go left than
right. And the work that Noel and his team does for these youth, I personally do not believe that Martin County cannot afford not to give them what they're looking for. All they're doing is good for these kids, keeping them off the
streets, keeping them away from drugs. And as long as I'm here, I don't have any kids or grandkids in this county. It's just something that I believe in. The youth is the future. Thank you. Tom Pine is next, followed by Jim Bole.
Good morning, commissioners. My name is Tom Pine. have been a resident of Martin County for over 50 years, presently living in the Jensen Beach area. Today in the consent agend agenda, this commission will approve $29,48,474.83 which was spent between May 5th and June
5th of 2025 without identifying the payes or the purpose of the payments. Democracy dies in darkness. Welcome to Martin County. It won't be much longer this government is going to have to tell us their plans for three new fire rescue stations in western Martin County. The
cost will be breathtaking to say the least. It's been reported that any it can take anywhere from 3 to 5 years to obtain new fire equipment. I attended a meeting with our Jensen Beach Commissioner, the head of the parks department with their appropriate
staff. I asked for the meeting with the commissioner so I could discuss my objections to the county being in the restaurant business. She invited the head of the parks department. So I was overwhelmed to say the least. The head's department gave quite a detailed beatdown of the prior operator of the
restaurant at our county golf course. He quoted a sum I can't verify. Even checked with the commissioner's staff that attended the meeting and took copious notes, but she didn't record the exact amount. I did a public records request. I don't remember the exact
number of the head of the parks department gave at his presentation, but but they were considerably different than the ones I got in my public record request. The management team that ran the restaurant at the county golf course was $250,984
behind past due rents as of May 14, 2023. The value of capital assets, the restaurant equipment, Swallwear, was valued at $256,83151 staff cents. Staff and the BOCC agreed
that this was a fair exchange for the contract contractual rent due on June 6th, 2023 and approve the mutual termination of the agreement. So, if you hear anyone claiming that the management
team at the county golf course walked out owing Martin County over $300,000, they're lying. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Jim Bole is next, followed by Kenneth
Russell. Hi folks. Morning. Morning. Thanks for listening to all of us today. Uh, I'll be pretty brief. I'm kind of new to the PAL system within the last year. Um, and uh, I echo what everybody else said. The
biggest thing that I would uh, emphasize is foundation. That's what PAL is doing for not only um, the community, but all the kids, which you kind of know, right? We talk about infrastructure and sinking money into all sorts of infrastructure.
I'd like you to think about how having a Martin County PAL building is infrastructure for the foundation of the children we're raising. And um the last thing I I just highlight was that I
remember I'm a mentor in the leadership program and I specifically remember a conversation that I had with a sheriff's officer when I was in the back of a police car telling me that I wasn't a bad kid. And I turned 16 in juvenile
hall and I never got in trouble again. And I went on to become a rescue battalion chief. I served at um the World Trade Center during 9/11 and uh Thank you. I appreciate it. Um I
didn't know how I would fit in with these kids, but when they hear that, wait, you turned 16 in juvenile hall. Yep. And you went on to, you know, be be someone do something that was impactful. And I can tell you out of all the the
medals that I have on my chest, um this is more rewarding. This is being able to to interact with these kids and just knowing you're making an impact. So, um I honor your your decision and I have no
doubt that I have no doubt that you're going to, you know, take us be with us in the right direction. Thank you. Thank you. Kenneth Russell is next, followed by Jackson Henderson. Uh, good morning, commissioners. Uh, my
name is Kenneth Russell. I am a teacher at Murray Middle School here and off for the summer. So, uh, my comment card went in a little after most of the other PAL participants, but I dragged uh, my little my littles here this morning. Um,
I wanted to speak uh of like a community perspective. You've heard from the PAL mentors. You've heard from the coaches and you've heard from a couple community members. Well, as a middle school teacher, I have done my share of mentoring. I started my own Murray to men program years ago. And just
anecdotally, just to share briefly, you know, having the kids come up years later and tell you what that little moment of mentorship meant, um, it it just blows you away. and creating an opportunity like Boys and Girls Club or PAL or any of our support organizations
that we have are all worthwhile. Um, my son started PAL because he was done with Taekwondo. Uh, what do they call Safe Space Karate, right? So, he's like, I've been doing the same routine over and over. Can I do something different? I'm going to hear it cuz uh I don't think he
likes me to talk about him, but he didn't know that this was the forum. So, I'm up here nervously trying to tell his story a little bit. I speak better to kids than adults. Um, so he wanted to sign up for something different and he signed up for PAL and started boxing and
now we take the entire family there two days a week and there has been 180° turn in my son. He's not a bad kid. He's my kid of course. I'm going to tell you all the good stuff only, but he's also a teenager and at times you know he's uh pretty resistant, obstinate. Uh I don't
want to say too many more of those words. He's here. Uh but man has pal brought a 180°ree change in my son's life. And then uh my my youngers are wanting to go too. PAL is mostly for teenagers and uh you've heard it
mentioned that the PAL Martin County is a family organization and and it is. They wanted my kids to be able to go too even though they're a little younger um than the kids who typically come to PAL. Um, so that's me and my family story, but also like I said, I teach at Murray
Middle School and Pal comes to my middle school uh with the truck and what an improvement it would be to have a freestanding building. When I ask my kids if they go if they know my son because uh we're where we drive out to Palm City to go to the uh the building
they have now, uh they don't go and they're like, I don't know what you're talking about or you know, but what an opportunity that would be. Uh and again I it's anecdotal one at a time but I believe very strongly that we're planting seeds and growing community
members. Um so PAL is not just something that's impactful for me and my family but for us for our community. Thank you. Jackson Henderson is next and Mr. Henderson is the last request to speak form. If you would like to address us,
please fill out a request to speak form and get it to the baiff who will get it to me. Thank you. Good morning everyone. Um my name is Jackson Henderson. You know, watching everybody up here, I'm getting more and more excited to go up here and talk to you guys. Um I'm here on behalf of PAL and I just want to start by telling you a little bit about
me. Um you know, I just graduated Martin County High School. Um, I'm going to attend the University of Florida in the fall and and I'm on the the snare line, the drum line, which is what I do at PAL. I'm a coach for the drum line. And I just want to talk to you guys about
how important I think PAL is, you know. Um, I started uh PAL in I want to say the sixth grade um to do boxing. And boxing wasn't my thing, but I just I saw the community there and the opportunity it provided for all these kids and I was
like, "Wow, this is this is amazing." So, I took a little bit of a hiatus, you know, and I came back um my junior year of high school as a as a coach for the drum line because they started opening up all these new programs. Um but first, I just want to talk about the opportunities
um that PAL provides. So, a lot of these activities that they know PAL has, you know, soccer, boxing, all these different sports. Yeah. It's so hard um for a lot of these kids in our community who don't have, you know, the money to be able to go and play
these, you know, sports for like clubs and all these things. It's so expensive, which is something so great about PAL. It's so inexpensive and so affordable for the community. I have a friend um who I went to high school with, which is so weird to say. Um his name's Jefferson and he has a younger brother who loves
soccer and PAL gave him the opportunity to start playing soccer in the community, which is great. It's just it's awesome stuff like that that I see every day, you know, with all these kids. Um, and I think that's it's so important for our community and especially for a new building to
provide. I mean, he does live in Golden Gate, which I I'm hearing is where the building's going to be and I mean, that would make it so much more accessible for him. It'd be amazing. Um, another thing I want to talk about are the life skills that PAL provides through their leadership program. I mean, um, going to Martin County High School, you know, you
meet all these kids, you know, and a lot of them I mean, you can there's a there's a huge difference between kids who are in PAL and just everybody else because I mean, the ones in PAL have these skills, these leadership skills that I think are taught in this leadership program that, you know,
kindness, respect, um, intrapersonal skills, they're willing to help each other out, which I think is amazing and I don't see that that often. Um, and it's just so important that PAL provides this and for them to be able to provide it even more to all these kids. It's
just that would be amazing. Um, okay, here's another thing. PAL provides um something for these kids to look forward to. This last thing I'll say this real fast. Um, a lot of these kids, like my sister, she if she didn't have PAL, she'd be playing Roblox all day in her room. These kids need to get out.
They need to experience the real world, and that's what PAL allows um for them to do what they want to do and have opportunities. Thank you so much today. Thank you. Thank you. Would anyone else like to address us in that case? Uh, commissioners, let's uh
jump around a little bit. First of all, can I have a motion to uh approve the consent agenda? So moved. There's and there's a motion in a second. All those in favor? I I. That motion passes unanimously. Now, instead, we're going
to bypass momentarily commissioner comments and administrator comments and go on to uh public hearing number one, which is a public hearing for board direction on a countyowned vacant parcel located at 2769
Southeast Fairmont Street in Golden Gate. Good morning, Miss John's. Want to wait? Yeah, I'll wait. Morning, Mr. Stokas. Man. All right.
This is a public hearing to request board direction for a.27 acre vacant county-owned parcel currently located at 2769 Southeast Fairmont Street in Golden Gate. The parcel is currently under an option to lease agreement with the
Martin County Police Athletic Assoc uh league, sorry, who is requesting the agreement to be terminated. the property surplused and donated to PAL pursuant to Florida statutes 274.05. Um,
back in 2020, the board approved an option to lease with the Martin County Police Athletic League, an for-profit corporation, to lease the property and build a public facility. uh pursuant to their option to lease, they are required to submit
architectural plans along with some other steps. And in that process, it has been determined that the parcel is not large enough on its own. And they have then went ahead and uh acquired the neighboring parcel. And in order to
unify those parcels, they need to be owned by the same owner, which is why we're here. Would you identify yourself for the record, please? Andy Johns, Real Property Public Works. Commissioner Campy, is that the
presentation? Yes. Do you want more? Do you want to go first? No, go ahead. Um, this is a personal one for me because I happen to in my regular job work uh at a location in Palm City and
my next door neighbor is Pal. So I have had the great uh benefit of not only knowing about PAL prior to them locating in that facility. I heard someone say when they were next to West of Old England, I remember hearing about a
boxing program and my kids at the time were young and my son that boxing program sounded like a perfect opportunity for him. So, I had heard about PAL and look, a lot of us have heard about the police athletic league in our communities when we were growing
up and and it was different. When I was a kid, we had a police athletic league. It was different. It was basically completely sports driven. It was basically, you know, after school sports and those kind of things as far as I could tell. But now having had a front
row seat to what Noel and his family, especially his sons, have been able to accomplish uh next door to me, sometimes fantastic and sometimes to my detriment, when he first started the boxing, they put speed bags, a whole row of them, up
on the opposite wall the of my office. and from after school until dark one after the other. And some kids were really good at it. Uh and then I went to my next door neighbor and said, "Hey, listen. You're going to have to move these speed bags off the wall." And they
did. And um then you heard a couple of the kids talk about drum line. uh which I can tell you the kids have really improved because in the beginning it was just
kids beating on drums and it was a lot. It was really a lot. But um I would look out the window and watch these kids and you can see the mentors even the mentors they're young training kids that are even younger. So, I mean, there's a
hundred different ways, and I'm really known for my brevity, so I don't want to beat the drum that hard, but I will tell you that PAL uh and the you you heard the common theme from a lot of the
younger people that said, "I started at PAL and now I train and mentor at PAL." That really speaks volumes to the program that these kids got so much out of it that they came back to present it
to the the younger generation which is remarkable. In Martin County, we are so fortunate to have lots of different organizations that lift up our young people, all young people, but especially our young people that are
struggling through many cases, no fault of their own. Parents have difficult sets of circumstances. Parents could be absent. One of the parent could be absent. Uh financial issues, health issues. So yes, we have organizations in
our community that lift up our students and our young people, but thank God we do because the pressure that society is putting on young people if it wasn't for organizations like PAL, the Boys and Girls Club, and so many others. And you can't say, well, if you have the Boys
and Girls Club, do you need PAL? Yes. One organization cannot do it. one organization doesn't speak to the desires and the needs of individual kids. If there was ever an agenda item that I could speak to with the most
confidence, it would be um what we need to do to support PAL. Now, some will say they have to do it on their own. It's not the government's responsibility to assist in any way. Now, in this particular case, this is surplus property that's been sitting vacant and we have never done anything with it. I
remember going to Indian Riverside Park many years ago when they had a fundraising and sort of a kickoff. Stacy, Commissioner Heatherington was there. They showed a rendering of the building that they wanted to build. That got to have been eight, nine years ago, maybe longer. They had boxing grates
that were there with their with their belts. And it's been almost a decade that they've kept this focus. They've done whatever they've needed to do to keep the program going and expanding. They've rented space. They've they've got mobile. They went into every school. Uh
I've had the uh pleasure of calling Noel my friend. So with all transparency, he's a friend of mine and I didn't know him ahead of time. He's just so remarkable a man and his wife and the boys. I've watched his son came up here. Jake came up here. I remember Jake was
little and to come up and so so effortlessly speak to a group. adults will tell you it's difficult to get up in that podium and speak to us and your group that spoke today. You could see the leadership. It's not just about athletics anymore. When they talk about
diverting kids from vaping and doing drugs and and when someone shows you a group of, you know, pills to have the emotional strength to say no, that's taught by the folks at PAL. Most of their mentors are friends of
mine I know. You know, it's harder. It's easy to mentor kids that are sharp and and on the right track and come from great homes. It's much harder to take a kid who's working at a negative, bring him to neutral, and then elevate
him above neutral. And that's what these guys are doing all for free. They have tried and succeeded very well at getting additional money from other sources. Everyone will say well it's not the government's responsibility as I mentioned go and get the money from not
forprofits from donors done it all very successfully they created this idea that we can't bring everyone to Palm City or to Indiantown we got to bring our program to them and Noel says I'm going to get a van and I'm going to outfit it
for boxing and we're going to bring it around and I don't know a couple weeks later there's this gigantic van as big as a UPS truck completely wrapped with boxing and the thing inside the van, outside the van and they go school to school and then that expanded and that
expanded. So this is the natural progression and for us to play a very very small role in our assistance. I was originally thinking, well, make it a lease, not a lease, make it a lease. And
then when you hear the legal ramifications that that's not a possibility, that in order to bundle what they've accomplished on their own with their donors, I think it's easy, in my opinion, easy for us to assist in
this way so that we will have another organization that can last for many many years because the the need won't go away. Need is if if anything, it's it's growing greater every day. So, in my small way to be able to assist
by making a motion to accept staff's recommendation, since they're going to be leaving Palm City and heading into Commissioner Heatherington's district, and I know she's a big supporter, I'm honored to do a small share of moving
this this movement forward and I hope that we're going to be saying congratulations to you in a little bit. Thank you, Commissioner Vargas. Yes, I am familiar with PAL. I was a former high school teacher in another county. So, I definitely had my share of
students that came through my classroom who experienced PAL. Um, I know that you your organization uh has been leasing the property. I know that it's about a quarter of an acre uh parcel and I know that you'll gather the funds from donors
to build and do what you feel you want to do for this. Uh, it's always nice to have something for the voters of Martin County, for the residents from this and, you know, maybe to get something from this, too. So, Commissioner Heatherington. Yes. So, I
believe Ed said so much of what I wanted to say. Surprise. So, um, when I first came into office, I had met John and Noel, and they were telling me about Police Athletic League,
which I was not familiar with, and they were in the west of Old England Plaza in a very small, and I remember Sheriff Snder was boxing there almost nightly with the kids. So, I had went to the facility and they said, "Let's let me
take you to St. Lucy and show you what kind of facility they have there for their leadership program and their kids. So, we toured that. I'm like, "Wow, that would be amazing to have in um Golden Gate." And Lamar Howard Park was a
perfect location. And I will say that Noel and his team and his family and his volunteers have worked so incredibly hard to raise the funds to get good people on the teams to provide these programs. My older son, who's now 21, um
he was in probably middle school and he attended both the boxing and the leadership program. So I got to see firsthand the impact that your programs make on the lives of others. Many of us have had an opportunity to see Sandra um
who was one of your early students that have come to this board and speak about how PAL completely completely changed um her life. Many of you know I'm a big advocate of um keeping our kids away from tobacco,
drugs. Vaping has become an absolutely epidemic. We've talked about it up here. We've tried to um pass policies to encourage and Noel and I have had a chance to sit down with schools and the
judicial system and they have a passion to make sure that our kids have a clean and clear path forward. And we as a as a board, one of our biggest legislative priorities this year was our inmate
medical bill. And when you are now taking in society those that have gone off track, it becomes very very expensive um for us as a society. So keeping our youth on track, building
leadership, building that those skills absolutely tell shows me there's a life-changing return. Um and I wholeheartedly support it. Absolutely. Um and and I don't think that you kind of glazed over this part. There is a
reverter cause clause. I am a thousand% confident that PAL will and they've shown they have a track record of raising money and building this facility. There is a protect there are protections in place for Martin County. Um I support you a thousand%. I can't
wait for you to uh build your facility in Golden Gate. And I will second the motion. Commissioner Caps. Well, my experience with PAL began several years ago when a uh friend
of mine had asked me to come over and do a little boxing when they were over by West of Old England. And I thought I was in pretty decent shape at the time. And I found that to be one of the most exhausting
things I have ever done. I did it for a little while. I had to sit down. It was it was tough work. I mean to tell you that is some that's some real physical fitness activity there. And uh so uh I I
will always remember that. Um I know Noel Dval and uh he's a great guy and I have great confidence in him. I really appreciated his comments about distinguishing
the difference between mentorship and coaching and I think that they are teaching life skills and leadership skills. I'm I'm familiar with some of the things they teach them and uh I
think it's just just great to see what they're building in the lives of young people and the difference they're making in our community. Um, I also would like to mention that I really appreciate all the support that they get from this
community, the people who have shown up here today and all of the supporters that I know that Pal has in our community. I'm always amazed at how giving people are in our community. It's
it's incredible. We have so many great charitable organizations uh that are supported at such high levels. Uh, I think I'll mention just a couple of things about anyone who might be concerned about
how a donation like this could be given to a a charitable organization. And um Commissioner Heatherington mentioned that there are protections in place for Martin County. One of them
being a reversion clause. If if the property ever ceased to be used for its intended purpose, it would automatically revert to Martin County. I think that's important and good. And then there's there's another
feature and limitation that is in the resolution. Um where and it says whereas pursuant to Florida statutes, the board of county commissioners has discretion to classify
as surplus any of its property that is obsolete or the continued use of which is uneconomical and which has a location of use only to the adjacent property owner. So that's
another big limitation. It's not like any charitable organization can come in and just and and ask for a parcel of land. There are lots of limitations here. One of which is that it has to be the property adjacent to
the organization asking for it. So I I think that's worth mentioning as well. So with all of that, I full fully support uh the work of PAL and uh and the the donation of this parcel to their
efforts. I will simply add my enthusiastic support and thank you for the wonderful example that you're setting in our community. There is a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank
you very much. We will now return to uh commissioner comments as soon as the enthusiastic crowd thanks for coming. Commissioner Vargas.
Well, uh, this past week, uh, we had, um, a number of our commissioners and our county administrator, our Florida legislative aid, and our director of environmental uh, go to Washington DC uh, trying to
bring back tax dollars for the benefit of Martin County residents. Um, so I think it was a fruitful trip. I think we all think it was a fruitful trip and we're anxiously awaiting um in the near future to receive uh the good report
that yes uh we do have the money and we'll be able to continue with our projects. With that, I'm going to pass this on to Commissioner Caps who will give a detailed report. Commissioner Caps. Yes. I would also like to focus my
comments on our trip to Washington last week to uh advocate for Everglades restoration and it was an enormous learning experience uh a very valuable great use of time. First I want to thank our staff
for their competence and hard work to make this trip a success. They were truly amazing. Um it was so obvious that they had been there many times before and uh and that their uh influence was very
well known in Washington DC. Um the world's largest ecosystem restoration is taking place right here in South Florida. The effort began in the year 2000 when the comprehensive
Everglades restoration plan was passed by Congress. That's called SER for short. The benefits of the project will be enormous both environmentally and economically. It will greatly restore the river of
grass in the 4,000 square foot or 4,000 square mile Everglades region which is one half of Florida's landmass while boosting the Florida economy. America's Everglades have been valued at
$1 trillion, spawning $ 31 billion of economic value each year. We have learned that or we did learn that Martin County has been at the
forefront of this effort from the very beginning. When we visited government offices, it was obvious that our people were well known and that our requests had great weight.
We made the case for completing SER projects in Martin County, chiefly the one called Indian River Lagoon South Phase 2, which involves buying the lands in the IRL South area
of Martin County and then removing 8 million cubic yards of muck from our rivers. We felt that we made real headway and that the federal government was poised to take bold action
in the coming days. Uh lastly, I want to thank Commissioner Herd for taking the lead in our encounters with federal government officials. Um uh it was very obvious that uh she had really mastered this
subject matter over the years and uh it was it was a great learning experience uh watching her in action in her communications with federal officials. Uh it was uh great to deepen my understanding of Everglades, of the
Everglades, and of Martin County's role in the restoration effort, and I look forward to putting my shoulder to the wheel and helping get this work done. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Campy.
Thank you. Um it's it's a downer. what I'm about to say is is negative in a way in in every way and I wasn't sure that we should be discussing it but we have to. I think
most of you read that in the last couple of days two young people younger than five years old have drowned in pools in Martin County. A two-year-old and the next day a 5-year-old. Um we've talked
about swimming lessons here before. We talked about the need for pool safety here before uh several years ago. Um I remember a young family in Palm City lost their son who had wandered into a
neighbor's yard and drowned in their pool. Two in less than two days or or within two days. I was reading it on my phone on TC Palm and was absolutely shocked to hear that. So, I was thinking I'm gonna
have to bring this up because it's awareness. I don't know the exact percentage, but I've heard it's as high as 75% of all child drownings drown in someone else's pool. Because when they're at your house,
you're thinking about, I got to protect my pool and my kids, but you don't know if your neighbor has the proper gate latch on their pool. So, I'm using this time to just sadly
reiterate the fact that and in one of the cases, and this is not secretive, it I read it in TC Palm, the mom was attending to her younger child when the 5-year-old was able to get out of the house and get into a neighbor's pool.
So, I don't blame that obviously on the mother. those of us that have raised two or three kids when they're close in age, it's hard to keep an eye every minute of every day on all of your children. So, it requires everyone then if you have a pool and you don't have any children,
your children are grown, but you still have a pool. Make sure that the spe first off that you have a child protective gate latch. Uh I don't think you can put a fence in or have a pool without that. However, make sure it
still works. You know, you could look over at your gate around your the fence around your pool and see that gate and know that you have that special latch, but maybe it's not catching properly. Go over and push on that gate. Kids are
very resourceful. But that's the first line of defense. So, and if you know, like I know I have a pool and my kids are well grown out of college, but my next door neighbor has three little kids. So, I'm thinking that
they are as much of my concern because I have a pool that as though they were my own. And so I would I would beg people to one be aware or especially sometimes when young children are
visiting their grandparents, the grandparents are not as used to keeping a tab. Uh and these happen to be very little kids, but six and seven and eight year olds also, you know, 10, 12 grown-ups drown.
Um, I would like to see through our parks and recck program. I know that there are all sorts of programs available to uh help teach kids to swim. There's private programs that are remarkably
successful, but even within hours. And so, just as a point for Mr. Donaldson to speak to our parks and wreck if we have the ability to offer free and maybe we're already doing this. I'm not I can't remember if we if the program
still exists or not. We as a community, as a county, should offer free uh swimming lessons to anyone that wants them. And if it's a funding issue, I'm sure we could find uh private donors to sponsor that program. We can't just read
what happened in our community in the newspaper and three days later forget about it. So my heart goes out to those families that will suffer for the rest of their lives, will question themselves for the rest of their lives. So let's take this tragedy and hopefully turn it
into some kind of a of a lesson and a and a movement going forward. Thank you, Commissioner Heatherington. Thank you for that, Ed. And um thank you to our colleagues for representing us in Washington. Um I had the opportunity to
represent us at the Larry Pendleton Awards um for the Treasure Coast Sports Commission and I want to congratulate Rick Thatcher. Many of us know him um head of the Treasure Coast Sports Commission. He received the very coveted
uh Larry Pendleton award um which was a surprise to him. And um Ryan Strickland, also Treasure Coast Sports Commission um received um quite quite great accolades and an award um at the Treasure Coast Sports Commission awards. So I want to
congratulate them both. And we talked all morning about leadership. So we have a young lady in our audience. I just wanted her to stand and be recognized. Sydney Spears. She's a local um Martin County high school student and she is um
has the privilege on going to Girl State this summer. So, she's here this morning just touring, meeting everybody. She's very um interested in government and she's a fabulous young leader in our community and I just want to recognize
her. not many uh young young um residents of the county spend their mornings with us on Tuesday mornings particularly in the summer. So, thank you Cindy for being here and congratulations on being accepted into Girl State.
Mr. Donaldson, yes. I have two two things. First uh uh our water uh utility uh won the Florida section of American water water works association uh region for the uh best
tasting drinking water and they will be going on the state. So just uh just another example of our utility uh being recognized for their uh ability to make excellent water portable water for all of us. Um, also I wanted to uh let you
know that next week at the uh Florida Association of Counties, the Florida Association of County and Human Service Administrators is going to give one of our own Joanne Green an award uh for uh for her advocacy recognizes an
individual member in good standing uh for who has worked to advance equity and advocacy contribute contributions that affirm the purpose of human services and Uh Joanne of course works for Michelle Miller and our and our staff and of course our group does a really excellent
work uh in that area. So we want to thank uh and congratulate Joanne Green for her for her upcoming award. Thank you. Thank you Commissioner Campy. I have an update. I received a text from uh Kevin Abbate the head of parks and wreck to say that there is a program in
place free swimming lessons. There are qualifications. It's for anyone between the ages of 6 months and 17 years. Parent or garden guardians, there's some uh financial um requirements that are necessary, but if you want to have your
children swim and you are above the eligibility for free, look, we all know there's some people that qualify for things that are free and some people that don't qualify for things that are free but still struggle financially. uh let us know and we will assist. The
parent or guardian must be present for each lesson and provide transportation. The parent or guardian must also uh attend a water safety class. Uh and then to register you can contact the parks and wreck to confirm eligibility. And
then the second step is to schedule swim lessons at Sailfish Splash Water Park which is in Stewart. But, uh, like I said, if you feel like you are just out of the qualification, uh, zone, but still would like to do this, I don't want anyone to be like, well, I I wanted
to do it, but I couldn't afford it and I didn't qualify. So, contact any of us at Parks and Wreck. There's no reason that if someone's interested in getting their kids uh, swimming lessons that there'd be any kind of restriction. So, thank you to our Parks and Wreck, and that's also sponsored by the Children's
Services Council. But tell your friends and neighbors, your co-workers, the people that you go to church with. This is a tragedy that we need to um find some kind of a benefit from. Miss Woods. Ma'am, thank you. In that case,
commissioners, let's take up B and C1 before we take our uh 10-minute break. Have you all turned in your voting sheets for the value adjustment board appointments? We just have his
one or two. We just select one. I mean, we just select one person. Donna Gordon for administration value adjustment board. We need one person and Mrs. Diane Castelluchcci received three votes.
I make a motion to uh retain Miss Diane Castelluchcci uh to the value adjustment board. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. We'll now take a 10-minute
break. You're on. We are back taking up agenda item number public hearing number two which is a public hearing to consider adoption of an ordinance amending the boundaries of the wide community development district.
Good morning Mr. Elam. Morning, Madam Chair, commissioners. Uh, for the record, Brian Elen, principal planner with the growth management department. Um, I'm turning in a copy of the agenda item, my work history, and the applicants affidavit of
publication. Um, for the record, it's not quite. This is a request by Cout Rock LLP on behalf of the board of supervisors of the water community wide community
development district to amend the boundaries of the wide community development district from the existing 179.9 acres to the proposed approximate 216.37 acres. The project is located on the west side of Southwest Caner Highway,
approximately one mile south of the intersection of Southwest 96th Street and Southwest Caner Highway. Uh for my own edification, for those who don't know, um this is a a description of what a community development district
is. Uh it's a special purpose unit of local government established under Florida law. It's a way for developers to finance infrastructure like roads, utilities, and amenities in new developments without overburdening traditional local governments. CDDs are typically found in newer amenity rich
developments. I have the uh Florida statute chapter 190 definition uh if anyone like to hear it later. The Wateride CDD was established by the adoption of ordinance 1175 by the board
of county commissioners on February 1st, 2022. The CDD was established pursuant to chapter 190 Florida statutes. The original CDD encompassed 179.9 acres which was the boundary of the South Florida Gateway PUD at the time. The South South Florida Gateway PD has been
amended twice resulting in an expansion of the boundary to 216.37 acres. The proposed petition to amend the CDD will bring the additional acreage into the boundary of the CDD making it consistent with the PUD. And this just shows the original
uh boundaries of the approved master site plan, PUD master site plan for South Florida Gateway and also the the uh sketch and legal for the boundary of the CDD which was the same.
Just going over some of the uh some of the reasons why we have to amend it or why it was petitioned to be amended. The first amendment to the South Florida Gateway PUD added 7.97 acres. Uh the second amendment added 32.26 acres to
the PUD. So this petition will amend the CDD boundaries and make them consistent with the South Florida Gateway PUD boundaries that have changed due to that and due to the acceptance of a portion of the Southwest Wateride Way by the
county as public right away. This is uh this is an image from the petition showing the amended areas of the Wateride Community Development District. Uh the original was in black. You can see the ones that are highlighted in red are the two additional from the first and second amendment. And then also
highlighted in green is a contraction area which was the area of uh a portion of the rideway which was uh accepted by the county. This is the new proposed CDD boundary. Um,
so the CDD petition is consistent with chapter 190.046 Florida statutes for amending an existing CDD. This public hearing was has been advertised consistent and the matter is required to be heard at a public hearing. Staff recommends approval of the request by Coutak Rock
LLP on behalf of the board of supervisors of the Wateride Community Development District to amend the boundaries of the Wateride Community Development District from the existing 179.9 acres to the proposed 216.37 acres. We move that the board adopt an
ordinance amending the Wateride Community Development District boundaries. That concludes the presentation. Questions for staff? Is there an applicant presentation? Morning, commissioners. Morning. My name is Ryan Dugan with QTAC Rock. I'm here
on behalf of the petitioner. Um, thank you, uh, staff, county staff for the presentation. Um, I don't have a separate presentation, but I just want to make myself available to answer any questions if there were any. Uh, I have a couple. It says um that the area to be served by the amended
district is amanable to separate special in special district government. Where is that amanability provided? Um that's a general reference to the um Thank you, Commissioner. Um that's a general reference to the statutory
requirements that are required to either establish um or amend a special district. um with the county's adoption and creation of the special district in 2022. Um I think that in itself shows that we've looked at the separate
special district being created the service only the public improvements that are located in that particular area. Um it's the process for setting up a special district um requires that point to be made. Um so this amendment
um doesn't change anything the general plan um for the original district simply is just adding land a little bit to the north and south consistent with um what the original district plan was I I have reservations I don't see this
looks like it has the possibility to be endless uh and it also is incompatible with most of the adjacent uh land uses which are almost exclusively agricultural.
Um it it looks like it's just keeps gobbling up more agriculture and more agriculture and I don't see the end. I don't see the benefit to Martin County. I don't see why this is preferable to a
homeowner association. Um, it's it's a unit of local government. I don't think that I I am in favor of expanding local government, particularly your ability to tax. Um, so because you can impose and
collect uh assessments along with other property taxes on your county's real estate bill, it just seems like overreach to me. If I might chair, um the regarding assessments or anything used to fund public improvements in the
in the district, those assessments can only be levied by the individuals that own land or live within the CD's boundaries. So, it would have no impact um on anyone living outside of those boundaries. And for for today's petition for expanding into those areas, the
process requires that we obtain consent to inclusion into the district's boundaries for those areas. So all the land owners in the boundaries have agreed to this boundary expansion and have agreed to um the possibility of being assessed for
just public improvements in those areas. the land uses that um for the areas for at least a development plan that's going to occur are consistent with the county's PUD for that area and the district is limited to
act only within those those uses. So, um any development in in that in the district boundaries is consistent with the with the PUD that the county approved. And the last point, I know I'm rambling a little bit, but the district's only going to fund public improvements. So, we're talking about
storm water ponds, um, you know, any public roadways or utilities. So, that's the only thing that the CDD would be financing or or maintaining. So, what the what this does is for today's petition, you know, granted this the district has already created, we're
expanding to an area where there may be a storm water pond put in there or or or storm water um part of the storm water system and the district would be able to maintain that improvement to make sure that it's not causing any issues or um or it's not being properly maintained
where it would impact um areas outside of its boundaries or the property within it. So I I think it's a benefit to the county and to the residents to create um or to expand this um boundary to cover that area where there could be a potential or there will be a need to
have a responsible entity to manage just the public improvements. I I can certainly understand that there's a de there's a a benefit to the developer. I'm not understanding what the benefit to the county is. And I also if you if you'll uh Mr. elim if you look
on page 357. Um I'm just concerned about uh limitless expansion of this because it's incompatible with every single land use
surrounding it. Understood. And and we would not be able to expand any further than the the district's boundaries. So we would have to come back and and and and get an amendment or an approval. And today, what you're seeing is being consistent
with the PUB and the plan for the development as it currently states for what the county already approved. So, we're not asking to go beyond that or do anything different. Um, you know, today's petition is is not to go speak to any um development approvals. Um,
we're limited and restricted to act within within um what what is already approved. So, that's a statutory requirement. are not allowed to go beyond that at all. So, it's a very limited analysis today for just looking at
has this petition submitted the information that's required by the tech basically technical statutory process. Commissioner Barus. Yes. I have a question. Uh is this a double taxation? Because I know about CDDs and people are not happy about them. I know a lot of
them I saw of this real estate broker. I get it. They're not happy about this. And I understand to uh Chairwoman Herd's point, agricultural around here, you said you would not be able to at this moment, but that does that opens the
door for the future then to come back and ask again for something different. That's absolutely true. We would if if there was any plans to expand the boundary, they would they would have to come back and ask permission. So, but that is kind of outside the scope of what we're looking at today. today is
just for these limited areas where all the land owners have provided consent. And to your point about double taxation, my response is no. Um any services that the district is providing um is or services that the county is not providing. So if the district wasn't
providing maintaining roads or storm water improvements um within this community, then um then the county would be providing them. So it's either one or the other. It's just for this for this growth in this exper this development in this area. What it's doing is is putting
those services and those those costs um for the CDDs and it's going to be funded by the land owners that live there instead of spreading that cost out on all the residents throughout the county. Yeah. But this is no guarantee of success. The CDD is not a guarantee of
success for this parcel. No, it Yeah, absolutely not. I definitely would not say it's a guarantee of success. Commissioner Campy. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um I think the conversation in terms of should we have a CDD, that was a couple of years ago,
correct? Uh what I think and I've heard you say is we're just deciding if we're going to allow for the expansion that you've requested today. That's what's before us today. Correct. Yes, sir. Now, the concept of a CDD, I have some friends
that live within them and they knew that it existed when they moved there and um and here I agree with you that when you say the two things that you mentioned that speak to me. One was whatever is
being charged is to the benefit of the people that are being charged versus their neighbors or any of the rest of us that don't participate in this. and two, you said that the people that you're looking to expand into the CDD are
willing participants. So, that being said, um the defined issue of the agenda item is adding in these uh additional now to Commissioner Herd's point and she brought up a lot of
very valid concerns which I'm glad to hear uh so that I have another perspective. But in this particular agenda item, I don't think that's the case. In my mind, it's not the case because yes, of course, it could continue to expand and expand. But you'd have to do the same
thing that you're doing now. You'd have to come back and then we either the five of us exactly or some variation would have to decide if we see the benefit in that. I think under the circumstances of what you're asking for here and understanding that we're not deciding if
you should have a CDD or not uh and whether or not the folks that are going to benefit from any improvement that would be need to be paid for by the CDD, they've already made that determination if they wanted to be there or not versus us having to do it. I would make a
motion to accept staff's um opinion. Commissioner Heatherington. Yep. Just for clarity, um, two things. So, you you mentioned and you referenced people who live there. Just it only applies and this is wholly industrial
property and the two red areas are the additional industrial property you're adding into the already existing CDD. Correct. And it's wholly industrial. Correct. Um, yes. So, it it does not apply to the area surrounding it.
Absolutely. And if you were to request that a those that land would need some kind of development approval and then you would have to request a CDD separately. This could not be expanded to that. No, absolutely not. It in order
to expand the development which is separate from today, there would be a lot of steps in the county's development process go through the same exact process that they would have um had to go through to get any kind of development approval. that's unchanged by today. And then on top of that, we
would have to come back and for a CDD boundary expansion to cover those areas consistent with any future development. A lot of steps, a lot of um review involved in that process. That's yeah, that's completely outside of what we're looking at today. today is was driven
by, you know, development changes that have already been approved and now we're looking to have the CDD boundaries match what the development approvals um so they're consistent. And okay, and and just and one other point is the CD
doesn't currently intend to finance or construct any improvements um in in these expansion parcels. um what they potentially could do is acquire completed improvements. So what that means is um you know it and I think it's
just common area improvements. So it it wouldn't be a um you know what we're talking about today too is more of a discussion about what a CDD could potentially do. But just for today's discussion, it's very limited to um you know these industrial um areas being
added to the existing CDD boundaries. Okay. and which is wholly industrial. Correct. And I listen I can appreciate a CDD. There are pros and cons and but I agree with Commissioner Campy's comments that those your tenants, your you know
your owners, those that are investing in building their businesses there get to make the decision whether they want to participate in the CDD or not. Question. Yeah, Mr. Dugan, you said that that uh if
the CDD wasn't expanded and if the developer wouldn't provide these improvements, the it would be the county's responsibility to provide those improvements and that's not the case. It's not our responsibility. It's the developers. However, the de developer chooses to finance that and this is just
a financing mechanism. Absolutely. And I apologize if I misspoke. again more of a general discussion about the CDDs and the benefit they provide to the community. Um so yeah, I agree with your statement, Commissioner Caps.
So you've stated it a couple of times. Um and just for clarity, this is not an application to expand the size of the development. We're talking about just applying the CDD
financing mechanism to some new parcels that were have already been added into the PUD. Yes. Yes, sir. And if you ever wanted to ex expand the size of the development, you would have to come in and do like a PUD amendment. Is
that the way it would work? Yeah, the absolutely the the developer would need to go and and petition and go through the you know POD um you know process and work with the county on on an application to expand their development. Um, you know, just in my at least my
world, I'm just dealing with the CDD. Um, and chapter 190 requires us to go and and get a um an amendment to its ordinance to expand the the technical boundaries. And we're again required to operate within what the county's
approved plans are for the development. So, we're the district cannot go beyond or do anything different than what the county approved. So if you had portions of the development that did not have the CDD designation or legal status
like the rest of the development, what would that mean for the people who bought property on those parcels that were brought in with those amendments, the the parcels in question? Like what would be the consequences to them if
they were not offered that same type of financing mechanism? So the um I guess we're speaking about property that's located within say a broader PUD area but it's not inside the CDDD boundary. Well, say say this board were to deny
the application of of applying the CDD to these uh amended parcels. Uh what would be the consequences to people who were buying those parcels of land?
uh like they they wouldn't be able to to uh participate in the um the infrastructure financing mechanism uh that the other people have are are already allowed to do. Right. Well, yeah. to the extent
that um the property is not located within the district boundaries um essentially any district improvements are financed can be financed by assessments levied on the the property owners the assessible property within the boundaries. So if their property was not within the district boundaries one
point is that um they would not be levied any assessments. So any any property outside the CD boundaries could not be levied assessments to pay for any district improvements. M that's a just a general concept as as far as the plan for this particular development. Um I if
the property was not within the CD boundaries then it could impact the district's ability to to finance or maintain or construct any improvements within those boundaries. Whatever the plan would be um that it it could impact the district's ability to um provide
those improvements. And you know, one of the, you know, benefits of allowing a CDD to finance these improvements is um we're able to deliver more cost-effective um public infrastructure improvements to the community. So, um you know, if if it wasn't if we still
had these improvements and and someone bought into that property, then they're benefited by it, it might cost them more to buy the property or might cost them more to um to to, you know, to own that property. So the CD benefits um you know the individuals that that live there
because they're able to get more cost effective improvements um and also having that that maintenance entity longterm there to make sure that everything is still functioning the way it should be. This is a point of of curiosity. Like say say I'm a buyer in a development that has a CDD. Like I
understand Newfield is a CDD. Um and the contract that you sign to buy the house and the deed um what does that look like when you're buying into a CDD? Does it reference
your slice of of the infrastructure cost for the development? And you know, you're buying a lot for or or you're buying a house for $700,000 and then you're buying a a slice of the infrastructure costs for an an additional $100,000 or something. How
does that work? I've never seen a contract that that involves uh purchasing inside a CDD. Yeah. So, just generally speaking about if it was a homeowner living in a CDD, um you know, the first part is when they're buying their property in their in their
purchase contract, there is required disclosure that lets them know, hey, you are in a CDD. Um as far as the public improvements, um you know, the district goes through a can go through a financing process where, um along the
way, we're we're posting notice of potential assessments in the public record. So, it will show up on when on on the deed or on your purchase contract. The district lays out basically a capital improvement plan of what they're going to what they're planning on financing. And um you know,
once we're holding public hearing processes similar to today's hearing where we're mailing or publishing notice in the you know, newspaper are directly mailing it to impacted residents and saying, you know, come to our public meeting. We're planning on financing these improvements. they're going to
provide a public benefit to the community. Um, and here's our plan. We we lay out the exact cost of what it's going to be. And at the end of the day, after a district can go through all those steps, um, you know, there is a assessment levied on, um, the the
residents either typically their tax bill will you'll see a line for, you know, debt service assessment for um, series, you know, 2025 um, bonds. and those bonds were used to, you know, build the roads or build the storm water
ponds. Um so there's not a um per se an ownership interest in those improvements, but as a member of the community um you are benefiting from those improvements and we are the district is required to hold um public,
you know, hearing and pro provide public notice of the district's plan to finance those improvements. So, um, it it's a it's a probably a lot to just dump out there, but I'm hoping that answer your question about the ownership of the
particular improvements will be owned by the district, but not necessarily owned by the land owners within the district. Yeah. So, yeah, that was my next question was the collection mechanism. that it actually goes on the tax bill, the uh the cost of of your portion of
the infrastructure. Yeah, that's exactly right. If a district has the option to um collect their assessments on the tax bill, um so there's, you know, one just you'll have your you'll have your county, you have your taxes and separately from that, you'll see any particular assessments
that apply. Well, I guess uh what I would say is that since it doesn't expand the size of the development, you know, we're just talking about giving a a financing mechanism to additional partials within the development that has already been
approved. I will I will support it. Commissioner Vargas. Yeah, I I think some of my questions were answered here. So, this is a mechanism for the developer to recoup his money. Pretty much it, correct? It it definitely passes it on. I've seen it in perpetuity. I've never seen them
go away. CDDs, I mean, their bonds are floated for long periods of time. So, yeah. And typically when you have a development that um you know gets to successful completion and um you know you h it's developed and and either landowners or uses of the property being
made by either resident or or non-residential purposes then yeah you have a successful community that was that was helped by um utilization of a district or of a CDD. So, you know, without the CDD, it it and it I I believe that it makes the development
could be negatively impacted. So, um the CDD does help the developer, it also helps the county by having a a stable community or development instead of having something start halfway, developer runs out of money and then backs away and doesn't, you know, carry
through with it. So, I think it there's benefits not only the developer, but it's also um benefits to the county to have a successful um development. When something is approved, you want it to um you know, be successful and and have um
reach its full potential. Yes, I understand that. But as I said before, there's no guarantee of success and you agreed. Very few guarant. So, you keep saying live, but this is industrial. Correct. Correct. it I'm the conversation's kind of been spilling a little bit into
general discussion about CDD. So, um you know I am making reference to other communities that which could be residential. But yeah, for for purpose of today's discussion bringing it back to this um narrow petition is we're just talking about adding two industrial
pieces that are that are you know zoned or approved for land use for industrial. Mhm. If the infrastructure improvements fail, whose responsibility is it to fix them? It'll be the land owners.
Commissioner Heatherington, second the motion. There's a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? We need to ask for public comment. Sorry. Is there anyone from the public who'd like to address us? Seeing none, there's a motion and a
second. All those in favor? I opposed. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes 32 with commissioners Vargas and Herd desenting. Uh we'll now move on to public hearing quasi judicial number one which is a public hearing to consider adoption of
an amendment to the Martin County zoning atlas to change the zoning class classification for Driven Brands Inc. Uh Commissioner Vargas any exparte disclosures? I have any. They've been filed. And Commissioner Caps, if I have
any, they have been filed. If I have any, they've been filed. Commissioner Campy, I don't have any. I filed that. And Commissioner Heatherington, I don't have any. And that's been filed. Uh, Mr. Aguilar, have you presented all of your uh credentials and materials to the
uh clerk? Eope, my work history has been turning as exhibit one. Excellent. Anyone who's going to be providing testimony, please stand up, raise your right hand, and be sworn in. Anyone from the applicant being sworn in? Thank you.
Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed. Thank you, Madam Chair. There are no interveners and
and approve of um public notice was turned in at the LPA meeting. What was the LPA recommendation? 420 to zero. Okay. Thank you. Good morning, members of the board. My name is Luis Aguilar, principal planner
for the growth management department. I'm presenting a reson application for a property owned by Driven Brands, Inc. Driven Brands, Inc. is requesting a zoning change from PUD Commercial District to General Commercial District.
The property is located at the southwest corner of South Ker Highway and Southwest Salerno Road. This is an enlarged area of the site. The property is undeveloped. The future land designation is
commercial general. The adjacent properties on South Caner Highway are Commercial General as well. The Soning District is planned unit development commercial through the Caner Square PUD Soning agreement which was
executed on July 1st, 2008. However, nothing was constructed and the timetable for development has expired. The proposed res area is approximately 2.97 acres. There are two standard categories a
zoning districts available to implement the commercial general land use policies of the comprehensive growth management plan which are community commercial district and general commercial district. A new zoning is an additional
option for applicants. These are the development standards for community commercial and general commercial district. The differences are in the maximum building coverage, maximum height and
minimum open space. These are the corresponding setbacks which are the same for both districts. These are the conditions supporting the requested general commercial district. The general commercial district is consistent with a future land use
designation, the direct access to South Caner highway, the adjacent properties with general commercial zoning district designations and the area of established commercial
development on South Caner highway. This matter was heard before the LPA on June 5th, 2025. And as I mentioned before, the LPA voted to approve 4 to zero. Development review staff had found
driven driven brands incarning application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report. We recommend to move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its
attachments including the staff report as exhibit one and move that the board adopt a resolution terminating the Caner Square PUD Soning agreement and amending the Martin County Soning Atlas to change
the Soning District designation on the subject site from PUDC plan unit development commercial to GC. C general commercial district. This concludes my presentation and the applicant has prepared a presentation as
well and is here to answer any questions. Questions for staff? Uh Mr. Aguilar, the the agenda item says that the PUD zoning agreement was executed on July 1st of 2008. Was it
this entire property or was it larger? It was for this property. And what was the zoning district before July 1st of 2008? B1. Okay. B1 is is uh is what it will be
right now the general commercial district. Would it also be uh uh CC community community? Good morning. Peter Walden, deputy growth management director. uh prior to this the uh stated
PUD there was one prior to that as well but both of them have expired and been over with the B1 business district is more comp consistent with the general commercial and its uses and it's permitted uh use table. So um and that
was the original uh zoning district assigned to it in 1967. Um, one other note, uh, when the future land use map came out in 1982, it was given general commercial. At that time,
community commercial didn't even exist. So, it's seems like it was always intended for a general commercial uh, zoning district, but B1 can be converted to general commercial or community commercial. Those are two the two
choices that are most likely that that those are our choices. Correct. because there are are some significant uh differences in what's permittable in those two uh zoning districts. Yes, those are the two consistent with the
general commercial land use. Correct. For example, community commercial does not allow restaurants or convenience stores with drive through facilities. That's correct. Yeah. Would the applicant like to make a
presentation? Hello. Morning. Morning. So, oh, beautiful. Thank you so much. My name is Shayla Stack. I work for Bowman Consulting. I'm a resident of Martin County as well. Um, I'm here to represent the Driven Brands resoning
that is occurring off of Canor Highway at the southwest corner of uh the intersecting roads of Solerno and Caner Highway. Um, the site is existing as a 2.97 acre parcel that has been
undeveloped and is um vegetated with impacted uh by exotic communities. Um there also has been um as previously discussed a
reszoning that was uh expired the uh Caner PUD and we're requesting to go to commercial general. Um the other options of course as you discussed were the CC,
the GC and amending the PUD. Um however we are looking to go for one use um and that being greater compatible than with GC. So with that um the previous use had uh provided
for a uh drive-thru use um so we were trying to continue and along with something similar. Um so as you could tell it was uh it's PUDC currently we're
proposing GC surrounding it in its um in the uh north south and east is all general commercial and then just directly behind on the west is B1.
Um, currently the PUDC could possibly allow for multiple uses anywhere from 1 to 3 to four. However, it does decide or gets reconfigured with that. A GC uh zoning would allow for one use in
itself. Um and then uh the PUD would also allow for some uh alter alternatives or deviations from maybe what the some of the intent of the commercial uh code initially was or is
currently. So what we're proposing is um general commercial and the requirements are on the left and the proposed on the right. So as you can see the maximum
building coverage is 60%. We're proposing only 4% for the most part. The minimum open space is 20% while we're proposing um possibly 50% give or take. And then we also are
meeting the setback requirements. Um otherwise I know buffering seemed to be uh a question and along the western boundary we are proposing um there is a 40 foot required buffer. Um from our
pre-application meeting we were told a type four. Um with that there has been mention of like fencing or walls and things along those lines being required. that is built into the code for GC uh where a type four buffer would be
required. Um in which case we are providing that at variable uh widths. Um so just to review we're requesting GC to keep essentially what the intent of the
previous caner square PUB was. Um and uh instead of multiple uses, we're proposing one single use um cohesive that would be part of the um that would
essentially be a part of that primary urban service district that is a um part of Caner Highway. So I appreciate you guys' time and I'll any questions? uh staff dies. Who is this? Police
Elder, deputy county attorney. Um I know the um applicant went into the particular use that's going to be on the property, but I just want to remind the board that this is a reasonzoning and we don't look at a particular use. You looked at what kind of uses can be put in there, but not exactly what they're putting in. So, I just wanted to put
that reminder out there. Mr. Vargas. Okay. So, Miss Elder, let me understand this. Uh this is for a Chick-fil-A fast food restaurant, correct? Um well so right now is a resoning so we don't look at what the intended use is. You can look at what
the highest use that can happen under a zoning district but what they're doing is not a consideration in the resoning that would come for site plan approval later but we don't look at what they're actually doing in resoning. It's what can they do in the resoning. And you can look at the highest and most intense use
in general commercial versus community commercial but what they're actually doing is not a consideration in a resoning typically. Mhm. Okay. Um I I think somebody was speaking earlier from the audience, the public about a traffic concern too. Um and of course fencing is
not a buffer for sound noise abatement. Correct. Um all of that also comes into the play in the site plan process, not in the resoning process. So all that will come before the board potentially when they bring a site plan, but for now the reasoning is you look at what the
potential uses are and what the code provides for those uses. Okay. And so they're asking for the resoning so that for this particular use. Is that what I'm understanding? Or they could do something different if it was commercial
or general commercial. I mean you you could do something different. I mean, I'm looking at the paperwork here, you know, the back information here in my book shows a fast food restaurant. So, I assume that's So, so that's one out of North Carolina. So, I mean, that's what it is, correct? So, one of the uses in general commercial would be a fast food
restaurant with a drive-thru. But, if the board approves this resoning, they don't have to do that. They can do any use in general commercial. So, that's why we don't take that consideration in a resoning because they could do anything that would be within general commercial. They're not restricted to a fast food restaurant with a drive-thru.
All right. And if we don't approve, then they can't do a Chick-fil-A. Well, if you don't understand, if there's not if you don't approve, there has to be an approval of some kind of zoning because right now they have an exa uh expired PUD. So, either the applicant would
renegotiate the PUD, which I don't think they want to because they want straight zoning. Um, so the board would have to pick some kind of reasonzoning for the property, whether it be community commercial, general commercial, or renegotiate the PUD, but which the applicant doesn't seem interested in
doing. So, it has to be reszoned. Otherwise, they can't do anything on their property. And the reasoning has to be based on the confident substantial evidence that's presented during this hearing today. Commissioner Campy,
thank you very much. Um, I struggle and I appreciate Miss Elder reminding us because it bears reminding. Uh, I think for lay people, you know, citizens and even for some of us commissioners, it's difficult to separate out what do you want to do on
the property. But having been up here long enough to realize that's how it works. So then I go to what you could have done before 2008, as we heard from Mr. Walden was basically
what you're asking for today. A B1 would have given you these things and that had been in place since 1967. So for nearly everyone that could be a surrounding property owner, if they got
there before 1967, they might be surprised by what could have been their neighbor. But since 2008 when it changed to the PUD, uh I just came in then. I don't
specifically remember the Caner Plaza or whatever this was going to be. I'm assuming it would have been something similar. It could have been multiple businesses. That seemed to be the model back then. It could have been three or four little businesses. Now, I don't blame you because I think
it would be even more helpful for you if you could tell us and I know you can't exactly what are you looking to do here because the public can either get on board or not. Commissioners could either get on board or not. So based on what you're asking for and
then I get the concept between uh if we went to general versus community, the real um decider there is drive-thru. Given the name of your company or at
least the applicant's name driven, I'm assuming you want a drive-thru. I would also tell you that I don't think and I think everyone would most likely agree that the food model, the not necessarily just fast food, but the food
model in general requires a drive-thru to be successful because most Americans don't want to get out of the car anymore. Uh I'll give you an anecdotal situation. We have a Culver. It's in the city of Stewart. But um I find it sometimes
easier, call me crazy, to get out of the car and go inside and order at the counter purely because the line to the drive-thru might be longer. That's the only reason I'm interested in getting
out of the car to go to the counter and order. Unless, of course, you're with your kids or you're with someone else and you're going to go into the restaurant to sit down and eat. But most people are picking food up. So I wouldn't want to be begrudge you as the
applicant's representative or the applicant, the owner of the property, hamstring them in their business model to not allow drive-thru. I think that's not like, hey, we want a drive-thru and America doesn't really care. America cares. So with that in mind, the only
two things, and I know that I'm not allowed to layer them up in this decision. I'm only going to give your owners, the people that you're representing, just a clear understanding of where I will be when it is time.
I really will be a proponent for the people that were there first. For instance, if your restaurant was there first and and someone wanted to build four or five homes behind you, you were there first. So, I would lean towards who's the existing person.
In this particular case, the residents are there first. So, go back to your leadership uh your ownership and say, well, one of the commissioners said that he's very interested in a wall, not a fence. And the other thing that became
like a issue after the fact was one of your neighbors just up the road on Caner built a fast food restaurant very popular and I think agreed to some type of filtration system exhaust filtration
system that they didn't do and it became a huge problem for the neighbors to smell constant cooking chicken in their yards and in there. I went there. Some of them invited us to go and sit down in their backyards. It might as well have been in the restaurant. So, whatever is
going to come there, and I know it's not part of my decision-making process. I told you what my decision-making process is, it will be. So, they can come forward and get there yesterday. And then come and say, "Well, we're not going to do a wall. We're not interested in filtration or whatever." Even if the
code is here, like the bare minimum. And I've always said minimum is the legal minimum. It's not code is not necessarily great. It's the legal minimum. If if I will be up here when it is my turn to say, well, I like that idea or I don't, I will expect exhaust
filtration and a wall. And because of what you're asking for today, which is the only thing I'm exclusively thinking about, I will give you the uh a motion to accept what you've requested. Commissioner Heatherington.
Yeah. Uh, a couple questions. So, for staff probably Elise, so this with the size of this property, if they were to be successful in reszoning, when that would come forward for site planning, would that be a site plan that would be
approved administratively by staff or is that something that would come to this board? It could be approved administratively depending on what they bring forward, but it could be an administrative approval based on the one use and the size of the property. Okay. So, that gives me reason for caution
because it it does it could be negotiated with all those great points that need to be added for the neighbors that um is now not coming before the board. So, so the the alternative options would be a
new PUD zoning or community the CC. Yes. And or renegotiate the existing PUD would be the other option which um you need agreement of both sides and I'm not sure that the applicant is willing to do that. I don't know if there's been discussions on that. Not I haven't been
prob. Isn't there a public hearing? Not a public hearing, but there isn't there like some kind of um public board or public meeting requirement or neighborhood meeting that requirement that is as part of final site plan. Not at that location. Only if it's in the
CRA. Okay, that's a CRA. I don't think um good morning. My name is Bill Barbaro with Bowman Consulting. Um I just want to make one clarification that seems to be circling around. Um, we could go the PUD route, but what would happen was we would come in with everything just
meeting code. Usually PUDs are are generated because there are certain things that you want to add in there that that are sight specific, so to speak. So, the previous PUD that was they did did have a site plan had a drive-thru bank and I believe a retail
store as well. And I think the one before that may have had two drive-throughs. But what we're doing is we're we're looking for something that just simply matches the previous code or the previous zoning um as much as possible and it matches that
surrounding. So I think that just want to make sure there was that clarification that um there's no need we're not looking to do a PUD because we're not looking to put multiple you know uh buildings and multiple retail locations there. So I think just wanted to make sure that we go through that
clarification. Could the May I could a PUD could um be constructed for a single use? Oh, of course. Yes. And as a clarification, this is this is Luca. Um the current PUD has 7,000
square ft of retail and 3,000 square ft of bank with drive-thru and 55 parking spaces. So that's essentially one and a half times what what's allowed by the um uh the requested
GC zoning that were basically stepping back from what was more aggressive previously approved. Mr. Aguilar, what were the public benefits in the the expired PUD? because I would imagine that that was factored into the decision by the majority board
that made the decision to change from B1 to P to PUD. I don't I don't have that answer with me right now. I got some information on that. We looked back at the original agenda items at this time of the uh application for a PUD. There
was a proportionate fair share um operation going on for the expansion of Canor Highway. And I believe looking at the site plan because there wasn't any real relief on the site plan showing what the developer could have gotten out
of a PUD. So I believe the PUD was evolving around that proportionate fair share uh negotiation that the board was undertaking at the time. Uh there was no uh public benefits or other monies um
associated with the agenda item. All right. I'm looking at permitted uses. Um, community commercial does not allow outdoor commercial amusements. General commercial does. Community commercial
does not allow restaurants and convenience stores with drive-thru facilities. General commercial does. Uh, community commercial does not allow trades and skilled services. It doesn't allow vehicular sales and services. It
doesn't allow vehicular service and maintenance. It doesn't allow wholesale trades and services. General commercial does allow all those things. And then please go Mr. Aguilar Ordana to page 408
and move that up so that we can see the that's what I want to show. So that's the parcel that we're considering and those are the adjacent uses which for me is is uh is significant.
Those it's large lot single family uh residential development but they are B1. Can you also read the definition of I can see what the uses are though. Yeah. Um that's a shed for someone. Is that Well, it's actually it's actually a garage that a business is operated out
of. It looks like homes to me. It looks like single family homes to me. But what is this owning? Can we read the definition of B1? We have to be concerned about
compatibility. So, so these are some of the the uh permitted uses under commercial uh uh community commercial and some of the uses under general commercial that are not permitted under community commercial.
Commissioner Campy the Can you go back to the slide that showed the setbacks north, east, south, the setbacks, what was required and what you were recommending or what you were proposing I should say. Okay. He doesn't have the mouse. I have
the the the mouse. Oh, yeah. They were on yours. Yes. Here we go. Okay. Can you make it larger? Like make it the slideshow. Here we go. Uh oh. Here we go. So, the western boundary in my mind is
the one that would have is adjacent to the residential existing residential homes. It's 40. you're going to do 659 to my staff. Is that uh once they propose that is that written into the conversation? Well, that 40 ft I believe
is takes into effect landscape code which requires a type four buffer. Um so again, we're talking about construction standards that are part of the site plan, right? Uh development. So hesitate
to go into it too depth. And in the resoning, if they say they're going to propose 65.9, they don't have to in the site plan. So just because there's nothing in the resoning to keep them to that. Again, that that number is an average. Um there
is 40 feet um minimum, but there is an area that is larger as well. And then but it does not ever become less. So you're saying it's undulating kind of thing. It's not a straight line across the Yes. that it does not become at any point lower than 40 ft. I Well, it
can't. Yeah. Yeah, it can't. Exactly. And as staff had mentioned, this was purely for, you know, speculation. Honestly, we we were going straight zoning here and matching what's the zoning. But when you present it and we're thinking about it and the public
is looking at these slides on television, I just wanted to clarify what what is what. So in my mind knowing that we don't uh go into the second phase of what it is and the site plan little disappointed that it won't come
back before us. Maybe that's a conversation we need to have not with the applicant but something that you know these are big decisions. Um, the other thing that I think weighs in in your favor from my perspective is the
parcel that you're talking about is completely fronting Canor Highway. So, yes, there are residential homes behind it like I mentioned. And I'm sure they would be thrilled to keep a treelined whether it's evasive or not,
treelined lot to their east. And I've told many people that like those that strategy, you need to own it in order to keep it what you want. Someone owns this property and I get that uh we don't owe
them a specific um business model. I understand that what you're probably looking to do and I think it said on one of the slides there had a name unless there's something else that's ends in full a uh that being said
I'm still okay with this under the set of circumstances knowing that a drive-thru which I'm sure you would agree you don't have to and I know we're not discussing drive-throughs. Oh, we are. I'm allowed to discuss a drive-through. Drive-throughs in general. We are discussing a drive-thru. Um, the business model would need to
have it. I think we're we're hamstringing you without it. So, I'm leaving my motion in place. This is a public hearing. Would anyone from the public like to address us on this matter? There is a motion. Is there a second? I
don't recall that there is. There isn't. So, Mr. Caps, can I have an uh hear from you one more time? uh uh Deputy County Attorney Elise Elder uh about why the site plan will
not be coming back to us. So, I'm not I haven't looked at it, but Pete is telling me that it is of the size that doesn't require board approval. It can be administratively approved. So, the site plan will if what's being proposed is brought forward will likely not come back to the board. There's no guarantee
of that. But, um Pete could probably tell you why. I didn't see it. Yeah, it's 25,000 or there is like ve vehicle use and service. That's another one. That's why the Waw Wa came before the board. That that always has to be a major, but right now the code is uh uh
just a restaurant with a drive-thru would not trigger that. I think it needs to for a future conversation threshold. That's what I mean. I think we're going to have to have a conversation that's not part of this because that's a that's that's a landscape changer.
Yeah. And then uh can I can we go back to the previous slide again that showed the houses along the back edge? A single roof single. Yeah. If you know, I understand uh the argument about who was there first, but
things have changed and houses are right up against this property. And I think we need to be really concerned about conditions that they would have to live with uh going forward. And I'm I just try to put myself in their shoes
to think about drive-thru places being right in your backyard. And um and out of concern for them, uh I think a community commercial would be a better fit. uh when I think about looking at the
backside of a a commercial building and and the limitations that community commercial would put on that u I think that's a better use. So um I will not be able to support this application.
There's a motion but there's not a second. Is there a a substitute motion? I will support uh Commissioner Caps. Is that a motion? Yeah, I'll commercial. Uh
yes. Um well, is is that a should we just make a motion for denial or should we make a motion for a community commercial? So you uh or can we do either? Either. Okay. Or you can make a motion to see if the applicant's interested in renegotiating the PUD. You
can do a motion for community commercial. Um if you do a motion for denial, they're left without being able to develop their property. So that's probably the least um preferential. Okay. I'll make a motion for community commercial. I second that motion.
Commissioner Campy. Uh prior to that, I was going to make a motion that we have the applicant go uh and renegotiate with our staff for a PUD. I think if you just if you take a CC today, you've limited yourself. exactly on what you can and cannot do there versus some of the
frustration that my colleagues and I have had was not having the ability to sort of dictate what you could and could not do there, how it would affect the neighbors, what the side setbacks were, filtration, construction of a wall, you could negotiate those things. And I think maybe if you were able to
successfully negotiate those things in a PUD, you might get to the end user that you were hoping for versus if you if we do a CC right now. You'll never have that because I agreed. So, uh, we have a motion on the floor
currently that we'll the chair will have to address and then if otherwise I would make a substitute motion, uh, afterwards to have you renegotiate with our staff to go back to the concept of a PUD, letting your ownership know now that
they didn't they were not successful today. But even with with PUD, once again, it doesn't come back to the board. The P the PU will come back to the board. Yeah, but the but the site plan won't. No, but we could negotiate everything that we would want that would happen at
a site plan during the PUD negotiation. So even if the final version of the site plan didn't come to us, it couldn't be anything other than what we negotiated in the PUD. It could come back as a master final site plan with a PUD agreement. Yeah, we could even negotiate that it had to come back. Your decision.
I just would like to ask staff what is the allow what are the residents allowed to construct and operate on those parcels that are zone B1. I wouldn't go there. I wouldn't go there. I'm just adjusting that it is a transitional use. Yeah. If they're doing something, it's
it's one person. It's not not the argument you want to go with in my opinion. Commissioner Vargas. Okay. So let me understand when they come back again after renegotiating PUD they're going to present a site
plan. We're going to put X business entity. It's going to be this type of thing. Is that what I'm understanding? Yes. So if they come back with a PUD agreement, they'll at least be a master plan where you can put your buffers and all the requirements that you're concerned about, but it would most likely be a master final site plan
because it's just one use. So that would require board approval. you can put whatever contingencies for buffering that you want in there to make sure it's big enough and you're protecting the residents so that they would be able to get their use and you would negotiate exactly how they're going to do it.
Okay. So then they'll say we're going to put in or not put in a fast food drive-through restaurant or we're put a strip center or whatever it may be exactly what they're putting. Okay. I think we need to have clarity. I need we have to have vision. We have to do this for the benefit. Let me speak the
compatibility. I don't see this as it stands right now. What you're asking for those who live in the surrounding area, I wouldn't like it. I would not like it at all. So, I I would recommend that we go with
PUD. You you could recommend the PUD. If the board does approve community commercial, there's nothing stopping them from coming forward with a PUD agreement as well. So, um, they have options moving forward depending on whatever the board decides today.
Okay. There's a motion on a floor for community commercial. May I just And there's a second briefly. Yes. So if if they adopt the community commercial, then therefore they would
not be allowed to do a PUD or No, they can if they if you if the board approves the community commercial today, they could still come back and propose a PUD zoning on that property. That doesn't foreclose them from doing that. You just put a new zoning on here and then they would submit a new application for a PUD
zoning agreement and it the zoning would change to PUD in the future, but then they'd have to reapply. Correct. They would have to reapply. So right now you would keep the same I'm sorry there's no application for a development right now. So that PUD would be part of the site
planning process anyway. Correct. Sorry. It's like layering in an extra step for no reason just to beat the applicant over the head. Well, or to protect the neighbors. No, there's more than one way to look at it. Commissioner Vargas. Okay. Well, you know, I'm going I'm going to look for the greater good, not
just for one entity. Not just for one entity, for everyone. and put myself there also. So what I'm understanding if we approve this today general commercial they can talk to you about a PUD it will come back before the
board anyway. Is this correct? If they apply for a PUD agreement it will come back for the board. If they take their community commercial and decide to do a final site plan that might not come back but a PUD would absolutely come back to the board. That's the board's decision.
Okay. and a revision like the to amend the current one and everything that would come back to the board anyways. No, correct. Okay. So, if we're talking about walls and filtration and turn-in lanes and all that will come back to the
board. Is that correct? As part of a PUD, the master plan most likely master uh final would come back to the board. Okay. I make a motion for a PUD. Well, we're already have to dispense of the motion. If you withdrew your second, then we could start over. Okay. Then I
withdraw and I make a motion for a PUD, which I I will second your motion. Thank you. There is a motion and a second. All those in favor? I I opposed. Opposed.
Opposed. Uh which way did you vote, Commissioner Heatherington? Four in favor. It passes three to two. uh with commissioners uh caps and herd desenting and for clarity that's to renegotiate a pe correct correct which they had before
correct yes that was expired expired yes thank you very much okay let's let's take a uh let's break for lunch until what time thank you 1:30 and Part: 2
You're on. We are back. Uh taking up agenda item PHQJ2, which is a public hearing to consider adoption of an amendment to the Martin County zoning atlas to change the zoning district classification for the American Humane Society.
Mr. Elam. Oh, so qu uh exparte disclosures. Commissioner Vargas, if I have any, they've been filed. And Commissioner Caps, if I have any, they have been filed. I don't have any and they've been filed. Commissioner Campy, I don't have any. And Commissioner Heatherington? I don't have any and
that's been filed. And Mr. Elam, have you provided all of your credentials to the clerk? There's a copy of the my work history and the agenda item. Excellent. Anyone who's going to provide sworn testimony, please stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn in.
Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioners, um, this is a request by Gary Oldhof on behalf of the American Humane Association Incorporated for a proposed
amendment to the county zoning atlas to change the existing zoning district on two contiguous parcels of land with an approximate area of 13.5 acres from A2 agricultural district to AR5A agricultural ranchet district. Included with this application is a request for
certificate of public facilities exemption. Subject site is located at the northwest intersection of Southwest Quail Hollow Street and Southwest Citrus Boulevard at 4903 Southeast Quail Hollow Street in Palm City.
Existing zoning on the district. The existing zoning district on the property is A2 agricultural district category C district consistent with the agricultural future land use per article 3 division 7 of the Martin County land development regulations. The property's future land use is
agricultural ranchet. The existing zoning is inconsistent with the underlying future land use of the comp plan. Therefore, this is considered a mandatory resoning. Here's an aerial view of the two parcels that are subject of this resoning
application. There are two standard category A zoning districts available to implement the agricultural ranchet future land use policies of the comp plan which are AR5A agricultural ranchet district and AR10A agricultural ranchet district. In
addition to the standard zoning district, the PUD planned unit development district is also available as an option. The PUD district offers more design flexibility to applicants for proposed projects. In exchange, the district requires additional benefits to the county and more controls by the
county. The requested zoning district of AR5A is the only category A zoning district consistent with the future land use designation and the currently existing development associated with the areas adjacent to and within the proximity of the subject site. Here
are the development standards and structure setbacks for the proposed AR5A and AR10A agricultural ranchet zoning districts which only differ in the maximum residential density allowed with AR5A one unit per 5 acres and the AR10A
one unit per 10 acres. This application was heard before the local planning agency on May 15, 2025. Um the LPA voted unanimously 4 to zero in support of staff recommendation to approve this resoning.
Development review staff have found the American Humane Association incorporated resoning application to comply with all applicable regulations in the comp plan as detailed in our staff report and staff recommends approval of the resoning request by the American Humane Association Incorporated. We move that
the board receive and file the agenda item and all its attachments including the staff report is exhibit one. We move that the board approve the request to reszone from A2 agricultural district to AR5A agricultural district. That concludes the presentation.
Questions for staff? Applicant, would you like to make a presentation? Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Madam Chairman, commissioners. I'm Gary Oldhof and I'm really pleased to be representing the
American Humane Association um in connection with this request to change the zoning. They've got wonderful plans for the property and they've got a one a wonderful looking uh property right now. I mean it is the most serene
beautiful place. Um with me today are Dr. Robert Robin Ganszer. she's the president and executive director of uh the American Humane Society and Miranda Garcia who is the program coordinator who's there on site uh at this property.
Um the association uh bought this property uh and they want to uh replace a barn that was on the that's that was on the property and they want to replace a kennel area with uh modern uh updated
raised uh elevation structures that are air conditioned and soundproof. But that triggered this requirement according to your code. It triggered a requirement that the property had to change its zoning to a consistent zoning under the
county's new category A zoning districts because it had an old category C district uh which is deemed by the LDR to be inconsistent with the plan. It's mandatory. Uh and the only zoning district that would be uh available for
this property is the AR5A which is consistent with and the same as the agricultural ranchet zoning district. Um so we agree uh of course with the staff's take on this. They've done a
wonderful job and I really want to commend them on the work that they've done on this application. Very very thorough work was done. uh and we're going to seek uh to have you uh approve this request for change of zoning. U Dr. Gansert would like to just speak for a
few minutes and tell you a little bit about uh what's going on on the property or planned to go on on the property. Um u and I think that you'll hear that uh this is going to be a wonderful addition to Martin County.
Gary, could you stay up and help me hold these? Thank you. We'll start out with this one. Hello, I'm Dr. Robin Ganszard, and I'm so proud to be here today. Thank you so very much for taking the time considering uh this
um this petition. First of all, American Humane Association is our country's oldest national humane organization, founded almost 150 years ago. And contrary to my children's belief, I haven't been CEO for 150 years, but it
has been a long time. We uh we work around the world. You already know us through our rescue program that was founded on the battlefields of World War I. You know us through our no animals were harmed in the making of this movie. If you have a cage-free egg, you know American Humane because we certify most
of the cage-free eggs in this country. most uh humanely raised agriculture certified through the entity that I have the privilege and uh uh the opportunity to lead. This organization is so proud to have Martin County as our new home,
our home for our sanctuary. And when Gary described it, I can tell you it is a place of peace. It's heaven on earth. And it's also a place where we are going to serve America's wounded warriors by providing them with service dogs. About 10 years ago, it was General Petraeus
and General Keane who came to me and said, "We need to have a service dog program for wounded warriors to stem the tide of suicides. These are the uh wounded warriors who face PTS and TBI." And so, we created Pups for Patriots. And as we looked at this program's
growth, I realized that I had a vision of having a beautiful sanctuary, a residential place for our service dogs. Hence the uh opportunity to be in Martin County, the opportunity to build this incredible uh facility that we're
talking about, have kennels, and of course what I call our ark of hope barn. So this is again a beautiful slice of heaven and we also have absolutely celebrated the land and the uh biodiversity on this particular plot of
land. I'd like to introduce you to a re uh a um a drawing of what our Ark of Hope barn will look like. It's rather large. It's rather glorious. And again, it is all state-of-the-art facilities for animal care and handling. And right
behind it, thank you Gary, you have uh the uh the view that you saw in the slide presentation. And of course, this is the the uh uh the entire
plot of land. You can see that this this right there will become the Ark of Hope Barn. It was an old riding arena uh that has been removed. And the kennels will be I think I'm right upside down. They're right here. And those will be the state-of-the-art
chemicals again with soundproofing and uh hepailters and all the latest in terms of systems. So, we're delighted to be in Martin County. We're delighted to protect animals here and bring our incredible rescue program, but most importantly, this will be a place where
we train service dogs for wounded warriors. Thank you so much. Any further information, questions for the applicant? This is a public hearing. Would anyone from the public like to address us? Hearing none, back to the board.
Commissioner King, first off, thank you for the presentation. Uh, your team, your local team, who I have had the opportunity to meet in the past, have done a remarkable job uh explaining to those of us that are not as I mean, once we heard it,
then I said, "Oh, like you mentioned in your presentation, we've heard of these things, just didn't realize who was doing it." So, it's a pleasure to meet you and thank you for picking Martin County. Um, I think it's a great compliment. We have a lot of organizations that we hope
to see you all collaborate with. I know that that has already begun uh to do that. So, it's my pleasure, especially considering you've smartly selected Palm City for your for your
operation. It's uh I'm honored to make the motion to accept staff's recommendation. Second. There's a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? All in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you
very much. Good luck. Next up is public hearing quasi judicial number three, which is a public hearing to which is a request for approval of a revised major final site plan for Parrot Circle Storage Facility, formerly known
as CNC Recreational Vehicle uh Resort Development. This is a quasi judicial public hearing. Are there any exparte disclosures? Commissioner Vargas, I have any that's been filed. And Commissioner Caps, if I
have any, they have been filed. I don't have any and they've been filed. Commissioner Campy, I don't have any and they've been filed. And Commissioner Heatherington? I don't have any and that's been filed. And Mr. Elam, have you provided your credentials to the clerk? Copy of my work history and this
agenda item has been turned in. Anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony, please stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn in. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, Mr. Elam. Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, for the record, Brian Elm, principal planner with the growth management department. This is a request by HJA Design Studio LLC on behalf of Land America 225 LLC for approval of a
revised major final site plan to construct a 59,932 ft two-story self- storage facility with a total area of 119,983 ft and the associated infrastructure on approximately 4 1/2 acres of an 11.1
acre undeveloped parcel. Included with this application is a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation. The subject site is located at 450 Southeast Parrot Circle, generally on the east side of South Caner Highway,
approximately.3 miles south of Southeast Pomememoroy Street and directly north of Charlie's Neighborhood Bar and Grill and Stewart. The site was approved on December 26th, 2012 as a 57 lot recreational vehicle park. A preserve
area management plan was established from previous Caner Professional Center and Southeast Parrot Circle Driveway projects approved in March of 2008. There are no proposed changes to the existing preserve areas or PAMP with
this application. The current zoning on the property is CC Community Commercial District and RS-3 low density residential district. The future land use is commercial general and low density. A mandatory resoning
was approved by the board December 6, 2022 reszoning the portion of land with a lowdensity future land use from A1A agricultural district to RS3 lowdensity residential district. The entirety of the proposed development is located on
the portion of land zoned community commercial setback is required from the existing wetland and preserve areas that were previously established. This is the revised final site plan. The building is set back from South Caner Highway approximately 390 ft and is
accessed via Southeast Parrot Circle. The building's primary facade complies with our article 4 division 20 commercial design standards, providing elevated parapit locations and accented cornice treatments and other various
architectural features. The property fronting South Caner Highway consists of approximately 2 acres. So here's Caner. There's approximately 2 acres of preserved land under a pamp um from the
street that's fronting the street. That preserve area wraps around the northern portion of the uh proposed development and all the way down the eastern uh property line all the way to the southern property line. The development has gated access to the
northern portion of the building that includes outdoor storage and loading areas. So, as you pulled in the driveway here, they have a gate which uh you access the loading areas and some outdoor storage that's on the northeastern portion of
the property. Development provides 16 parking spaces to accommodate customers. Development review staff have found the Land America 225 LLC application to comply with all applicable regulations of the comp plan as detailed in our
staff report. This matter was heard by the local planning agency on June 5th, 2025 and the LPA voted unanimously to approve staff's recommendation. Staff recommends approval of the application. We move that the board
receive and file the agenda item and all its attachments, including the staff report, is exhibit one. Move that the board adopt a resolution approving the revised final site plan for the Parrot Circle Storage facility project. That concludes the presentation. Happy to answer any questions. Questions
for staff. Would the applicant like to make a presentation? Hello, commissioners. I hope you're having a good day today. Thank you for your time. My name is Erica Bitler. I'm the agent for the applicant with HA Design Studio. Brian promised me the
mouse today. So, thank you. You're welcome. And thank you staff for working diligently with our team over the last couple years. Um, sorry, there we go.
All right. Um, so as Brian mentioned, uh, this site is located off of Caner, uh, Highway and, uh, behind Charlie's Barn Grill. Our team, uh, worked together with staff back and forth over the last few years, um, to make sure
that we meet all the needs. Um, this project represents a strategic reuse of the current currently vacant parcel uh to meet current uh growing storage needs in the community while preserving the environmental resources on site and align aligning with Martin Countyy's
long-term goal. You can see here this is our site and we're surrounded by residential communities um and Charlie's in our inner front. We have a shared access with Charlie's Barn Grill um through an easement.
Our site is, as Brian mentioned, mostly in conservation easements and the existing approved PAMP uh maintains the same and um we are surrounded by other residential areas.
The previously approved plan was formerly a recreation vehicle resort development. Uh, and as you can see, this was the approved PAMP area here that hugs the property. We are requesting a two-story self-
storage unit with a footprint of 59 uh,000 square ft and it'll overall be growth of 119,000 square feet. Um, we have shared access with improvements, a gated uh drive,
right? Um, right before you get into the bulk of the uh development, we have outdoor storage opportunities for uh trailers and uh recreation vehicles consistent with what was approved
previously, but also um high-end indoor storage secured um has elevators and really we are um preserving 70 well not preserving but There is 77% open
space on this site and 59% of that is within conservation easements. Um we have uh 46 trailer RV boat parking spaces that are 10 by30s and um we are meeting
all the uh appropriate setbacks from the wetlands and preservation areas as well as 100% native vegetation as is per code but always like to make it native as much as we can. And in the souththeast
uh south corner sorry um is the dry retention area. Um we have here this arrow is a front section um really from the road. You may
see some of this main area um to the south but in all this is the front elevation. It's pretty, you modern, clean, and it meets all the design criterias of working with staff that need to be met.
And here just breaks up a little bit more with details. Um, and the color palette. It's pretty neutral considering our environment and surroundings. We didn't want to make it a sore thumb. Here, uh, is just a extensive map just
reiterating the fact that we are surrounded by all these residents. um some Cleveland Clinic and IRSC down the road. And um I just wanted to show you that we are pretty far away from the
most rec um the closest residents, 280 roughly being the closest. But we also have the wetland buffer and um wetland and upland buffer and this native um ex
um landscape buffer to our south bordering um what is that? I'm sorry, I just blanked. Martins's Crossings. Um, so with that said, I just wanted to
say that um, Parrot Circle storage facility was thoughtfully designed to be code compliant development, low impact that integrates seamlessly with the surrounding community. This project meets and or exceeds all zoning, environmental, and design requirements
and emphasizes um that community compatibility and environmental stewardship as best as we can. Um preserving over 8 acres of open space. It provides a safe, efficient access for future users. So,
we appreciate your guidance and consideration for this project. And I'm here for any questions or site details you want to talk questions for the applicant. Commissioner Vargas. Okay. Uh Erica.
Erica. I'm Eileen. Um the owner is out of Delray Beach. Yes, ma'am. And this is what they do is set up storage places. They they do. They're they're known for high-end high security places. High end. Highend. Okay. Storage area. I just
think everybody will have a giant garage sale in Martin County. I've expressed that several times. Stop this. Um, so you said it's uh about 70% uh conservation wetland preserves. Is that correct? I had a different number. I I said 59%. Oh, it's 15. Okay. Well,
that's it's 77% open space, but of that is that about that. Okay. Um, so what about the environmental report? You know, everybody's talking about the gopher tours which have been discovered in that area and some companies unfortunately didn't respect that. So,
I'm very concerned about that. Yes, ma'am. Um, we don't have our uh environmental consultant here EW uh with us, but I do know that the PAMP has been reviewed diligently with staff uh and nothing has been uh affected uh for site
development for that. And um I'm certain with requirements of the state that we will be diligently searching for tortoises and go with the I would hope so because they could be disturbed you know once you start understood legal
I believe that's a requirement of uh prior to preconstruction I believe absolutely correct an updated gopher tortoise survey is required prior to construction okay and if they're discovered they have to stop they have to pay for the transport, relocation,
everything, which they don't survive too well. I know I spoke to a scientist about that. So, of which I am not, but anyway. Yeah, that was a couple of questions. Um, I noticed I was really concerned about who's going to be peering from the second floor into somebody's swimming pool area
in the surrounding area. Um, I do have uh rear elevations I could show you which don't have any windows. So, I hope there is nobody that can see through walls, but uh so unfortunately that they
wouldn't have anybody peering in and I would assume it would just be secured walls and rooms, but um with the native vegetation that's within the uh upland preserve and the proposed buffer, landscape buffer,
um I would How do you go back on this? This was the approved plan landscape detail um that we have since updated but we kept this um half requirement due to the
existing buffer and the crossings. Okay. And then it says six foot opaque fence or wall. Why wouldn't you put in a wall with trees? So that well we weren't going to do a wall because there's existing salt palm meadows there that are pretty
pretty substantially grown and we don't want to disturb the existing vegetation there. Um I don't have a detail of that per se, but um and underneath a lot of these trees are big um existing clumps of
probably five, four and a half, 5 foot um salt palmettos. Any further questions? This is a public hearing. Would anyone from the public like to address us? Seeing none, back to the board.
I'll make a motion for staff's recommendation of approval. I will second it. Is there any further discussion? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you all for your time. Thanks
for your service. Thank you, Ryan. And see you guys soon. Next item is uh quasi judicial public hearing number one which is a request for approval of the final site plan for discovery pud phase
3C which is a clubhouse track. Uh this is an uh quasi judicial proceeding. Commissioner Vargas any expparte disclosures? I I have none and it's been filed. Commissioner Caps, if I have any, they have been filed. I don't
have any and they've been filed. Commissioner Campy, I don't have any and they've been filed. Commissioner Heatherington, I don't have any and that's been filed. Mr. Elam, have you filed all your credentials? It's a copy of my work history on the
agenda item. And uh anyone who's going to be pro providing sworn testimony, please stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn in. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Please proceed. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, for the record, Brian Elim, principal planner with the growth management department. This is a request by Lceto and Associates on behalf of Atlantic Fields Club LLC for final site plan approval for phase 3C tract R11-L
which includes the main golf clubhouse, a lake clubhouse, spa buildings and outdoor amphitheater and associated infrastructure within the discovery PUD, excuse me. Included is a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation. The property is located north of Bridge
Road, approximately 1 mile east of the I95 interchange at 2935 Southeast Bridge Road in Hope Sound. Current zoning on the property is PED by way of the discovery plan unit development zoning agreement approved in September 2022. The future land use is
rural lifestyle. This is an excerpt of the phasing plan approved with the third amendment that I'm using here to provide a visual location of uh where phase 3C is on the property. Uh to the right is Bridge
Road. So that would be your south and then up above there is the the north. Here's an excerpt from the phase 3C final site plan showing the overall area consisting of approximately 11.81 81 acres. Development includes the main
golf clubhouse, lake clubhouse, spa, and the outdoor amphitheater. Development review staff have found the Atlantic Fields Club LLC application to comply with all applicable regulations of the comp plan as detailed in the staff report.
Review of this application by the local planning agency is not required. Staff recommends approval of this and we move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments including the staff report as exhibit one and move that the board adopt the
resolution approving the phase 3C final site plan for the discovery PUB project. That concludes the presentation. Happy to answer any questions. Questions for staff. Applicant, would you like to make a presentation?
Good afternoon, commissioners. How are you all? Um, for the record, my name is Bob Reigns. I'm a land use attorney with the Gunster Law Firm here this afternoon on behalf of the applicant. Um, I did just have a couple of quick questions for Mr. Elim if I could with your
permission. Um, Mr. Elim, um, I'm just reading I'm looking at the staff report section F. It says that uh staff has reviewed this application and finds that it complies with the LDRs as detailed within the report and staff recommends approval of this development application
is consistent with the guidelines and standards of the applicable comprehensive goals, objectives and policies is implemented in the LDRs. Is that your section, sir? Did you write that? Yes. And in your professional opinion, is that still the case? Yes. And then also section G states that
staff has reviewed this application and finds that it complies with the LDRs as detailed within the staff report and staff recommends approval of this development application is consistent with the guidelines and standards of the applicable comprehensive goals, objectives and policies as implemented
in the LDRs. Did you also write that? Yes. And you in your professional opinion, you still believe that's the case? Yes. And also in your professional opinion, do you uh believe that this proposed final site plan is consistent with the approved uh preliminary master
site plan and the third amendment to the PUD? Yes, it is. Okay. Thank you. Uh I'm just going to ask Morris Krady if I could commissioners to come up for one second. We're not really going to make any kind of presentation because we had a detailed presentation along this layout previously when we did the some
of the preliminary stuff and master site plan. But Mr. Krady, if you can just introduce yourself and if you're sworn in. Sure. Excuse me. Uh, for the record, my name is Morris Krady. I'm senior partner with Lceto and Associates and a 35 member of the American Institute of
Certified Planners, and I have been sworn in. And in your professional opinion, sir, does this uh final site plan, is it consistent with the approved uh master site plan and the PUB a uh and all the amendments? Yes, it's consistent with all the uh PUB amendments and the
master site plan and also the code the LDRs and the Martin County comprehensive plan. Yes, that's correct. So, commissioners, I mean, if you have any questions, we're certainly happy to answer that. I believe, you know, again, this is a final site plan approval. There is no amendments to the PUD. It's
consistent with the preliminary site plan uh and the and the uh PUD agreements and all the amendments. and we would respectfully request that you approve the final site plan before you today. We'll be glad again to answer any questions you might have. Any questions
for the applicant? Commissioner, not so much questions. Uh take public comment, I guess, and then I'll Would anyone from the public like to address us? Seeing none, back to the board. Thank you. Having had the opportunity as
many of us have that have been up for a bit to follow through this from its uh beginning iterations, I think that the project that Discovery Land Company has brought to Martin County and now Atlantic Fields with with Mr. Malcuri
and the team have created something that's just world class and we're so I personally believe we're fortunate to have it here. uh as they've reached these milestones. I'm happy for them. I appreciate the efforts of our staff to go through and make sure that everything
that we would require is handled. I think in a situation such as this, that is not such a difficult task simply based on the fact that they're creating a remarkably beautiful uh very welldone
facility that will bring residents, probably not their primary residents, but will bring residents to the community that I know our not for-profit community is already all buzzing about because uh not only will it bring a tremendous
tax benefit to all Martin County residents without a lot of draw on the schools and the the roads and the beaches and the libraries. Um but tremendous uh taxbased generation which as we try to balance out our tax
structure between taking some of the burden off of our residents and putting it more into commercial and industrial but in this particular case a mix of residential. Uh the statistic that we've been using and I've heard accurate is you know the
equivalent of nearly approximate 6,000 homes is what you'd have to build to bring in what these 319 17 excuse me and give you a density bump there. 317 will bring uh as well as the
fact from a not for-p profofit point of view I like to say people give where they live. And so as people start to um build their homes in this community, I think we'll see the ripple effect of how they will see we had two examples this
morning of charities that not forprofits that work in our community to our residents benefit. Um I think Atlantic Fields and one or two other projects will be the leaders in that effort. So honored to accept staff's recommendation
on this agenda item. Anyone else? I agree and I'll second it. There's no further comment. There's a motion and and a second on the floor. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously.
on to uh DPQJ2 which is a request for approval of the final site plan for discovery PUB phase 3B golf performance center tract and this is quasi judicial commissioner Vargas any exparte disclosures I have
none it's been filed commissioner caps if I have any they have been filed I don't have any and they've been filed commissioner still don't have any I don't have any and they've been filed and Mr. Elam, do you have credentials that you're passing to the clerk? Copy
my work history and the agenda item. You print up a lot of credentials, don't you? We can't just same same one over and over. Uh, this is quasi judicial. If you're going to be providing sworn testimony, please stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn in. Do you
swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Um, please proceed. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, again, for the record, Brian Elm, principal planner with growth management. This is a request by Luc and
Associates on behalf of Discovery Hope Sound Investors LLC for approval of the phase 3B final site plan for the Discovery Planned Unit development. The subject cited is an approximate 21.9 acre portion of a 1530 acre property.
The proposed development includes a golf performance center with hitting bays and training facilities including associated infrastructure. Included with this request included is a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation. Property is located at 2935 Southeast
Bridge Road, north of Bridge Road and approximately one mile east of the I95 interchange. The current zoning is Discovery PUB and the feature land use is Rural Lifestyle. This is again uh an excerpt of the uh
approved phasing plan. And just to give you an idea of where the location is, to the right would be Bridge Road uh the which would be south. And this is an excerpt uh closeup showing you the this particular phase,
the uh total area and the performance center and um the training facilities. You'll have to go over there. So, development review staff have found the Atlantic Fields Club LLC application to comply with all applicable regulations
and the comprehensive growth management plan is detailed in the staff report. Review of this application by the LPA is not required. We move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments, including the staff report as exhibit one, and move that the board adopt a
resolution approving the phase 3B final site plan for the discovery PUB project. That concludes the presentation. Questions for staff. Mr. Reigns. Uh, good afternoon again. Once again, for the record, Bob Reigns with the Gunster Law Firm here on behalf
of the applicant. Uh, and again, just very quickly, um, Mr. Elum, you you're responsible for section F. I'll try to shortcut circuit this, Commissioner, for section F and section G in the staff report. Correct. That's correct. And those find that we're in compliance with the LDRs and the comprehensive plan. Is
that correct? That's correct. And we also meet all the requirements of the in consistent with the uh the preliminary site plan and the um um PUD the PUD master site plan the PUD agreement and all these amendments. Is that correct?
That's correct. And Mr. Grady just for one second again we have no presentation again based on what we had but Mr. Krady for the record. Yeah. Again, Morris Krady, senior partner with Acceed and Associates and and we're yeah, I have reviewed the the we're actually coordinated the
application package through the process and I do believe it meets all of the um PUD requirements and applicable comprehensive plan and land development and you were sworn in. And I was sworn in. Yes. Thank you. Again, commissioners will that we'll be glad to answer any questions you might have and we again
appreciate your patience and time. Questions for the applicant. This is a public hearing. Would anyone from the public like to address us on this matter? Seeing none, we're returning to the board.
Commissioner Campy, you can go first. I'll move staff's recommendation for approval. Second. There is a motion in a second and no pressure, but the Golf Digest magazine just declared that Apogee was the uh the best practice facility and golf
performance center in the entire United States. So, no pressure. Well, you got to let them open. You got you got a you know, you got a year to achieve that. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I I opposed.
That motion passes unanimously. Got the meat cake. That's right. You're taking up golf. Best thing that ever happened in Martin County. DPQJ is a request for approval of the signal final site plan for discovery PUB
phase 1 C tract M2 which is uh the maintenance facility and associated infrastructure. Oh, this is a quad judicial proceeding. Uh, are there any expparte disclosures? Commissioner Vargas? None and I filed
the report. Commissioner Caps, if I have any, they have been filed. I don't have any and they've been filed. Commissioner, since the last agenda item, I did have a couple of conversations with the applicant. No, I have none. And Commissioner Heatherington? I don't have any and that's been filed. And Mr. Elam, would
you provide another stack of papers to the clerk? I have another stack of papers. uh the agenda item and my work history. But also included is the resolution to approve which
uh was somehow electronically not um not available on the agenda. Something happened during the compilation of uh the agenda. So I've turn I've turned it in. Okay.
Um, anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony, please stand, raise your right hand, and be sworn in. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Proceed.
Thank you, Madam Chair, commissioners. Uh, this is a request by Lceto and Associates on behalf of Discovery Hope Sound Investors LLC for approval of the phase 1C final site plan for the Discovery planned unit development. Subject site is approximately 21.3 acre
portion of the 1530 acre property. The proposed development includes a maintenance facility, office building, cart barn, various agricultural structures and related infrastructure, including a 50- foot wide landscape burm along the entire Bridge Road frontage. Included is a request for a certificate
of public facilities reservation. It's just uh the property is located north of Bridge Road approximately one mile east of I95 interchange at 2935 Southeast Bridge Road in Hob Sound. zoning is Discovery PUB and the future
land used is Rural Rural Lifestyle. Again, the phasing plan to the right is Bridge Road uh south and you can see that the this particular site plan has to do with phase 1C right along there.
This is uh an excerpt of the final site plan showing you the developments, the cart barn and the storage areas. So, development review staff have found the Atlantic Fields Club LLC application to comply with all applicable
regulations in the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report and staff recommends approval. Uh, this was not required to be heard by the local planning agency. We move that the board receive and file this agenda item and its attachments
including the staff report as exhibit one and move the board adopt the resolution approving the phase 1C final site plan for the discovery PUB project. That concludes the presentation. I'll be happy to answer any questions. I I have a request since the resolution for
approval is not included in our packet and you did include it in the clerk's packet. You want to put it on the uh uh camera so that we don't have any irregularities? that back. Yeah. Already got it up. Okay, good. Oh, you
don't have to. She already has it up. Oh, how does it How is it in her pack and it's not in mine? Mine. Okay. Questions for Mr. Elam. applicant. Once again, for the record, Bob Reigns
with the Gunsler Law Firm here on behalf of the applicant. And thank you, Commissioner, for putting that up. I appreciate it. I think that was a great idea to make sure we got all our eyes dot and te's cross. So, thank you. Um, again, Mr. Elim, just very quickly, uh, you're responsible for section F and
section G in the staff report, correct? Yes. And those state that the this this project and final site plan uh complies with um the land development code and the comprehensive plan and is consistent with that. Is that correct? That's correct. And and is it also your
professional opinion that this project and final site plan is consistent with the preliminary and master site plan approval and the PUB agreement and all the amendments? Yes, that's correct. Thank you, Mr. Krady. One more time. Yep. Just to take that and we'll be done. Okay. Morris Kdy again. a senior
partner with Ledon Associates and I coordinated the application process and I believe it meets all the requirements in the PUD agreement, the amendments and applicable codes and comprehensive plan policies and you've been sworn in. And I have been sworn in. Thank you again. Once again, thank you for your time and your patience and we appreciate
everything and we would respectfully request you approve this final site plan. We'll be glad to answer any questions. Thank you. Any questions for the applicant? This is a public hearing. Would anyone from the public like to address us on this matter? Seeing none, back to the board. Commissioner Campy,
I'd like to hear from the applicant if he could just give us a general update on how things are going. Are they on time? I hear things in the community, but we'd love to hear it directly from you. It's take your sons to work day. So, we thought it is on that. Um, good
afternoon. My name is Rick Melory with Atlantic Fuels. Um, we are pretty much on target with uh the project right now. The primary golf course is now complete. Uh going through the growin process. Um we're working through some of the golf buildings, golf house, performance
center. Um utilities are on schedule. We're um just about completed with our tie-ins to um SMR's use facilities north and C branch. Um, as far as the residential homes, we've
got about 10 under construction right now and another 2530 in the pipeline in some various process. Um, the furthest one along is in the process of windows and doors and that kind of stuff and the rest of them are somewhere in between.
Um, we intend to obviously because of the size of the clubhouse, we probably won't start that until at least in the fall. It's probably a 2 and a half plus year build. Um so um just based on timing, what we try to do is bring the amenities on in the fall when the
residents are coming back. So because of the timing on that, we probably delay the construction a little bit on it. But um still moving forward and obviously maintenance complexes and things like that are pretty important to us. So we need to get that going. Um beyond that, for the moment, we are shut down for the summer. Um so we're kind of in the
construction mode. We've paved about oh, I'd say probably 35 40% of the infrastructure. Now the roadways are paved. We're in the process of landscaping the streetscapes and things like that. Um I don't know if you've driven by lately the entrances kind of landscape. We're in the process of doing
the greeters cottage and um gate systems etc. And then now we'll start working on the perimeter buffers, perimeter security, etc. So happy to answer any questions that anybody has. One more for him. Uh I'm sorry just to follow up. I was at a presentation where Mr. Hurley
was talking about the um donations that you made when you originally put the project in place. Can you share again for either remind people? Yeah, there was um several components of the PUD that we had to that were part of our approval process. Um we are pretty much
through all of them except we haven't quite finalized the wetland restoration or habitat restoration area. That's probably still about 30 45 days out, but um the um easement over the tree farm has been completed. That's a three-party agreement with um the Becker family or
the owners there, the county in conservation, Florida. So, that's recorded and that's completed. We actually hold how many acres in conservation? 800 forever. Forever. And that um we just went through our annual um inspections from Conservation Florida and everything was concurrent with the
easements. Um, the train station is in Hope Sound. Um, I I will be remiss to say that once we got it there, I've been somewhat hands off on what they're doing with it, but we're happy to have delivered it and we'll let the the historical society take care of it from
there. Um, the dedication of the park access that is complete. Um, the building has been turned over and I did notice the park does have some people in kind of cleaning up and doing some things around there. Um, we have been asked when it's going to be open to the public. Um, and people are coming asking us and we just really don't know. That's
that's truly the the park and their operations and when they want to open it up to the public. Um, we still probably will do some stuff for them as far as parking areas and things like that when they they decide kind of what they want to do. Um, and the connections for actually for the
off-site storm water now that we were taking in the 320 acre um runoff from Thomas Produce that connections are all made. They're all tied into our systems now. Um, our systems are complete and operational. Um, so overall the overall drainage system is now done and it's
it's working. Um, thankfully because of the rains it's working well. So, um, but those are the the profiters that we had and I think everything's pretty much going according to schedule. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Commissioner Caps. Yes. So, one of the public benefits that was uh offered by Atlantic
Ridge was, excuse me, was the southern access to the Atlantic Ridge State Park that you just referred to. Can you remind us uh exactly what you all did on that particular public benefit?
And I know there's a road and there's a building. Yeah. Basically, we constructed a public access on the east side of the property that goes from Bridge Road up to what was an existing um barn that was on when it was part of the old Hopes on Polo
Club. Um we donated the barn and the parcel approximately 8 acres to the state. Um that was in basically in cooperation for us to get our easements for our utility connections. Um that was approved and the transaction was closed
three or four months ago. Um, so it is it is owned by the state of Florida at this point and and like I said, I I'm not sure. I know there are people in working on it. I'm hoping that they're going to try to get it open soon. Um, we still have a little bit of stuff to do as far as some um helping them create
some maintenance roads and things like that that we're kind of in progress with. Um, but those are all just sort of cleanup stuff that we're we're coordinating with Parkon. Um, hopefully they'll open it up soon. Um, but that really isn't our our call.
So, the road that goes north on the east side of your property there, who owns the road? Is it Atlantic Fields? You continue to own the road, but you're giving public access on that road to the Atlantic Ridge Park. Correct. We own the road, but it was a perpetual easement
that was granted to the state. Um, that was granted via the plat. You have any thoughts about what what is what else might be needed there? Do we need I haven't visited that site yet, but we're going to be going there soon to take a look at what we think we need
there to have us a good southern access to the Atlanta Bridge State Park. Uh, you know, it would seem like you would need some kind of gate and a trail cut through there or what we did was um at the park's request, we created
a turnaround. So there is a point where they can put a physical gate in because obviously they want to control the access in there. Um so we created that, you know, so if somebody comes in with a horse trailer and decides that they, you know, park's closed or whatever, they have the ability to turn around and get back out. Um other than probably some
parking that they're going to need and I think we would work with them on helping them to to deal with that. Um any improvements to the buildings, that would really be up to them and what they want. Um there is a couple paddics in that area that probably could use a little bit of rehabilitation. Um or you
maybe reduce them down to one or two. Um other than that really it's it's it's kind of up to the park what they want to do with it. Okay, that was very helpful. Thanks. You're welcome. Thank you. Anybody else? Did we do this already? We already voted, right? No. Oh, okay. I
make a uh vote would be helpful. Thank you. Motion to deny. I make a motion to accept staff's recommendation on DPQJ number three uh in the trifecta of today's approvals. Second.
Any further comments? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Morris, you dropped your pen. Next up is department one which is office of management and budget items
which require board approval. Good afternoon Miss Merley. Good afternoon. I have eight items for you on the OM today. Our first item is uh permission to apply for the children's services council grant program. The afterchool
out of school program grant. Our parks and recreation department is requesting permission to apply for up to $400,000 to fund various after-school and out of school youth programming. This programming has been run since 1994. There is a grant match of 375,000
that's currently budgeted within the parks and recck operation budget. Our second item is a permission to apply for the state of Florida FDOT public transportation grant agreement for the FY26 section 5311 non-urbanized area
formula funds. Um our public works transit department is requesting a grant of $176,811 to provide operating assistance to continue the Indiantown non-urbanized bus route services. Um there is approximately a grant match of 176811
budgeted within the public works transit operating budget. Item number three is a permission to accept the state of Florida Department of Health FY25 emergency medical services or the EMS trust fund grant. This is an annual grant that we receive
from the state. It's an amount of $22,360.99 and it enables the county to enhance the delivery of emergency medical services through the purchase of equipment that is not budgeted in the fire rescue department budget. There is no grant match required on this.
Item number four is uh permission to accept the small county outreach program or the SCOP supplemental agreement number one for the Southwest Fox Brown Road project. Um this supplemental agreement increases FDO's participation
by $167,727 and decreases our local requirement by 1.7 million. Um, this is budgeted within the the current match is budgeted in the Southwest Fox Brown Road CIP sheet.
Item number five is a permission to accept the United States EPA um 2023 South Florida Geographic Initiatives Grant. Um, our environmental services division is requesting the acceptance of $400,000 for funding water quality, land
use, and sediment nutrient analysis. There is a grant match of $80,000 which is budgeted in the Environmental Resource Division's operational budget. Item number six is a permission to accept amendment number one to um the agreement for the Martin County Portso
New Monrovia vacuum sewer system project. Um the first amount was $500,000 and this amendment is providing an additional 12.5 million um for by FTE to provide sewer availability to 960 parcels and eliminate nutrient loading
from on-site septic. I'm sorry I didn't hear the number at the total number. It went from 500,000 to 12,500,000 million for a total of 13 million. So, the funding will reduce the cost of
the assessment benefiting the property owners in that area. Worth the wait. Item number seven is a permission to accept the Clean Vessel Act grant. Our utilities and solid waste department is requesting the acceptance of $91,210
for um expenses that are associated with the operation and the maintenance of the pumpout boat program. We have a match of $30,43 which is budgeted within the operational budget of utilities and solid waste. Sam Emerson number one in the number two.
Number one. It's old, isn't it? No, it never gets old. Yes, it is. And item number eight is a permission to accept the Florida Department of State Division of Library and Information Services or the state aid to library grant fund. The state has
awarded a grant in the amount of $75,883 um to fund a full-time library specialist position that has been approved by the board back in June of 2015. Um there is no cash match required. And that is all I have for you today. Lot of good news. Any questions for Miss
Merley? Excellent job as always. Commissioner Caps um who decides the match amounts on all of these grants? They seem to vary a lot. You know, some of them are 50/50. Some of them don't have a match at all. You know, it's all over the board as far
as I'm curious about where that comes from. It it all depends on the actual grant, the agency. And uh so we match the criteria of the grant ahead of time as to some of them are nearly 100% on like some of the transit grants and then
others are um many of them are 50/50. But the uh uh um uh that's it's just it depends on who's issuing the grant and what criteria. So it is all over the place as you described, Commissioner. Right. Thank you. That's all.
Is there a motion to approve department one? I'll move staff's recommendation for approval for departmental number one. I will second it. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. On a
roll. We are. Department two is contracts that meet the threshold for board approval of $1 million or greater. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. Madam Chair, uh my name is Seth McCone. I'm your senior purchasing agent for the record. I have
two items for your consideration today. The first is a continuing service agreement for water meter installation. This agreement has a maximum not to exceed term of 5 years with a maximum not to exceed value of $4 million. Staff is recommending that the board award the
contract to the two lowest responsive and responsible biders, All Contractor Services Incorporated doing business as router 1 and Clearwater Solutions LLC. Staff has also recommended that the board authorize a county administrator or designate to execute all documents
related to this request. And my second and final item for your consideration today is another continuing service agreement for Banner Financial Management System Technical and Functional Support. This has another maximum not to exceed term of 5 years
and a maximum not to exceed value of $4 million. Staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the highest scoring proposer, David Kent Consulting Incorporated, and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designate to execute all documents related to this request. And that
concludes my items. Commissioner Heatherington. Yeah. On departmental number one, the um the the biders, it's very perplexing to me. So, you've got, I don't know, 10 or more 13 biders and they range from 755,000
to 5.7 million. That seems like a a very broad range. And now we're selected the lowest bidder, which is in the 755 and 790. They're the top two bidders. But it it seems highly unlikely. Are these people bidding on the same scope?
because you've got a range between 750,000 to 5.7 million. So I'm concerned that well definitely they weren't bidding apples to apples in some case but it's that's I mean what what do you uh for the
record Sam Emerson utilities and solid waste department um there was a bid form they all bid the same items there were numerous items for meter replacement um dual check valve replacement raising the meter box replacing the lid we provide all the materials and this is for labor
uh but they do it's been my experience, they're all over the board. That's a huge range if they all have the same bid form between 750,000 and 5.7 million $5 million swing. Are is there we we don't
allow change orders in say on those top two biders, right? If they were to come in and say, "Oops, we forgot XYZ are what's what's the bid is their bid.
and they're responsible and responsive. Occasionally we have um in that situation uh they are unable to perform. You have two contractors I think in this case right to that we would go to that have that actually accept they have to
accept the same bid price for both of them and if they're unable to perform um you'll see this rebid again. We just have to cancel it. if they're unable to perform at the price contractors. Yes. But with the two and they all both
accepted the lowest price then um it gives the opportunity that if one's too busy you have another prop contractor that can perform or if one as you said says hey I can't mobilize for this project that you assign me. Um you gives
you the opportunity to go to the second one. Occasionally when we've done this, one bidder may just simply withdraw entirely because they were unable to perform, but in the in the end, we're we're relying upon the good faith in the bid
bonding that they provide that they can meet the pricing that they put on the form. That's right. And uh reference checks were made for the two low biders. Uh they all came back with very good uh references. Okay. Yeah, just just
a very interesting bid that the way they bid that. So, any more questions for Mr. McConey? Excellent job, Seth. Yeah. Nice job. Is there a motion to approve? So moved.
And a second. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you, Commissioner. Uh, we are going to Are we going to take you last? We're going to go to department 4
next, which is a contribution toward the city of Stewart's Fourth of July fireworks show. I'll uh introduce this one. So, um, in uh this is in celebration of our 100th
year anniversary, um, I did reach out to the city of Stewart. this was not them reaching out to us. So, I'm going to make sure that you all understand that it was the at to the city manager, Mike Martell, um if there was capability for them to um uh
celebrate our hundreds with us as they already have an established fireworks. Um they are spending 40,000 on the fireworks display. It just that's just for the pyrochnics. They have another I think 25,000 in the rental the barge. Um
so um they did agree that they would love to celebrate our hundth with us. Um and the suggestion is is that we would augment their existing display um by 50% uh which would be a $20,000
contribution. So in the end you would have a $60,000 display of fireworks. Um uh obviously this is a little bit last minute um and the fact that we just have a few weeks before the July 4th um they
have done initial preparations uh hoping that we will participate with them um but uh I did explain to them there's no guarantee as as it was my recommendation. So anyway, I um as as it is in uh the incorporated city limits,
um MSTU funds are not eligible for this. So the so the funding would be general fund reserves. Um and so it is my recommendation that for this one-time event, the celebrating our 100th year anniversary
uh within the county seat that we would uh participate with the city of Stewart. they would acknowledge the county's 100th year as part of this event um and uh celebrate um the our our centennial and that's really the simple request.
Thank you. Questions and comments. Commissioner Caps. I think that's a really good gesture and we need some fanfare. This is a big dealundred-year celebration. So I would move approval.
Second. Any further commissioner Vargas? As I requested, can they say Martin County celebrating 100 years? You know, they do all this by computer. I don't I don't know that we have a sophisticated drone show, but they will certainly keep it in our their
literature and acknowledge. Yes. Uh yes, Mr. Mortell. Uhhuh. Yes. Thank you. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. And are you ready to proceed or do we
need to wait? Okay, we will now go on to department three, which is an affordable housing update. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. George Stokus for the record. Uh, thanks for delaying. We're trying to I think I don't know if Mr. Reer is behind me, but I know Miss Carol Howard Deetsz is behind me with the United Way. Uh,
both of those individuals represent some groups that we have as staff been meeting with for affordable housing. Um, I know it's been a little bit of a while since we've had the affordable housing update. We were curious as to see and still kind of are curious to see as to where the state uh is going to go through its legislative session on that.
Uh but during those various meetings, we've had uh numerous questions in regards to um LDRs as it relates to accessory dwelling units as well as we've had some conversations with the community land trust and where it relates to Banner Lake, which I know are
kind of two different projects for various commissioners up here are concerned. So, the reason I'm here for today, just to keep it brief, but hopefully brilliant, is I'm looking for some direction from the board as to staff would like to go ahead and begin researching and then come back to you with some proposed revisions to the
comprehensive growth management plan andor the land development regulations as it regards to uh in regards, excuse me, to accessory dwelling units as well as the definition uh of family that is in our county zoning definition book. Uh and also I'm I'm pretty sure that we
will need to come back at a later date uh in regards to Banner Lake. So with that, I know Miss Elder from our our deputy county attorney and I believe Clyde Doulan and Mr. Schilling are here from growth management if there's any questions. But really this is just a propo uh a request for us to be allowed to go back look at some of these things
and refine them and come back to you at a later date. And that is my presentation ma'am. Questions comments Mr. Thank you. Uh if you remember a long time ago, guess couple of years ago, I
started thinking about um affordable housing. It's an issue that's happening everywhere in America. U but obviously here as well. And there at the time I talked about like what the procedure
would be. It was it's such a large multiaceted issue. It's easy to become overwhelmed and when you become overwhelmed will just say ah we'll do nothing. And what I was trying to say at the time, and I appreciate staff
sticking with it, a lot of our not forprofits sticking with it, is instead of just getting frustrated by that it's so large we won't be able to do anything, we will look at it piece by piece. And I used an example of the
story, and I still like it because I think it just sort of sums up what we're up against, of a little boy throwing something into the ocean. And a guy walks up and he sees that the there's thousands of starfish on the beach. And this little boy is throwing starfish
into the ocean. And the man says to him, "What are you doing?" He's like, "I'm trying to save these starfish." And he's like, "Well, you're never going to be able to do it. There's just too many here. You won't it won't make a difference." and he throws another one into the water and he goes, "Well, it will for that one." And I think when we address housing, we're not going to
solve the housing problem, but to do nothing, I believe as elected officials is irresponsible of us. And every year that we wait or we don't act decisively, people are struggling. And now, sadly, more and more people are probably
joining into that. layer on top of that the remarkable if you're selling your home in the last several years the remarkable housing boom which forced and then of course now you have the much higher interest rates. So
folks that were well on their way to saving enough money to achieve that goal the dream of home ownership. They're not able to when the interest rates are hovering around seven. It takes them out of the home buying market, leaving them
in the rental market, compressing the supply, even more so, allowing landlords to make uh their rates higher. Now, I agree, and I've said all along, it's not the government's responsibility when we talk about these projects. We're not
talking about um government sponsored housing projects. We're talking about how do we assist not forprofits or private sector uh developers or in this particular case individual homeowners to
help ease some of the of the compaction. I think what Mr. Stokus and um Robinary and has a a an ad hoc committee of experts working on this. This was the first step to recreate some of the
definitions. That's the kind of thing that we can do as your local government. we can make the process more um attainable, more understandable, um easier to navigate
um so that you don't have to necessarily have a whole team of paid professional consultants to help you just figure out that you could put an apartment above your garage or add an accessory dwelling unit in your backyard. our language and I appreciate our growth management staff
with you and legal because it's a multiaceted even the solutions in the building uh you all have met many times with the with the group to bring this first step forward which is to help us define what's or or redefine what some
of these requirements and definitions and uh that we have in in our regulations. So I would hope that my colleagues would see it similarly. Uh it's just the first step by doing some of this. It also for people that are
concerned about larger scale developments, multi-unit developments, giving people the ability to create something much smaller. Not only does it add a unit to the inventory,
the other side of the benefit is if you were the original homeowner and you did have the ability to put a some type of an accessory dwelling on your property. And there's a lot of requirements on how you could do that, parking and and such.
You can also create an additional income stream that can help you get through the difficult times. So, there's a landlord benefit. Now, remember, we're not talking about multi-unit landlords. We're talking about someone who owns a home and might be able to get a one extra unit out of it. And these are not
meant to be 2,000 square foot, 3,000 square foot units. These are this is the opening kind of entry level of um apartments, if you will. And so, I'm very pleased that this is here today.
And I'd love to hear from my colleagues. Uh, I hope that Mr. Reeri will be able to attend. I know he's been back and forth all day uh here, but um I think it's a really an important step in the right direction for us as a board and as
a government to show our residents that we do uh we are uh trying hard to take the issue of affordable housing seriously here for our Martin County residents. Thank you.
Any other comments? Commissioner Caps. Uh, Mr. Stokas, when you come back to us, maybe you could refresh our memories about not only our comp plan provisions regarding
adequate housing for residents, but also I was rather intrigued by what the Florida statutes have to say as well about our obligations as a county to provide
adequate housing for existing ing and future populations. I thought that was really interesting when I I was taking u some online classes for this program called Certified County Commissioner
and uh which I think Commissioner Vargas is also doing it and our more senior members of the commission have already done. But we weren't allowed to do them online. We had to actually go to Gainesville and do them in person. All right.
But uh I took two or three classes on affordable housing from the uh Florida Housing Coalition. Yes, that was uh very very interesting and they emphasized several times that that that's actually in Florida statutes and it would be good
for us to be reminded of what those statutes say and then also the comp plan of provisions that we would have locally on the on the subject that have to do with residential capacity and that kind of thing. It'd be good to have a
refresher on that. The other thing that I think is interesting about accessory dwelling units is to remind everyone that guest houses are generally allowed now in many neighborhoods.
And generally the rule is that a guest house is supposed to be half the size of the main house. And technically, as I understand it right now, you're not supposed to rent your guest house out. It's supposed to be uh for like guests, you know, and and
not tenants. The but perhaps um we could just one of the considerations could be allowing those guest houses to be rented out with separate
water meters and uh mailboxes and electric meters and so that people are free to just rent them out. Um, so that that's a thought, you know, and it it would be something that perhaps we could discuss, but I think it's interesting to
remind the public about what a guest house is currently and how many people in many neighborhoods are already allowed to build something in the backyard. So, uh, this would perhaps be just a little more flexible.
Would anyone from the public like to address us on this, Commissioner Heatherington? I would I would just add um that I would I would prefer to look at things that work with Martin County specific than to preempted
uh be preempted by the state and be forced to do things. So, I I think looking at this holistically and what works in Martin County is a a smart decision moving forward and I think ADUs is probably a good place to start. Yeah.
Any further comments? Okay. Thank you. That brings us to the end of our meeting. Would anyone from the public like to address us on another matter? M Mr. Stokus, can I can I ask him one more thing? Did you need me to uh talk about
Banner Lake or I'll uh No, I'm good. We'll just bring it up next time. Okay, sir. Thank you. That's fine. Oh, madam chair, would you mind voting on my recommended motion proposed for just move that the board direct staff to research uh research research and
proposed revisions to the comprehensive plan andor LDR for accessory dwelling units in fur and in furtherance of providing affordable housing. Is there a motion? I'll make that motion. Is there a second?
Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. So, it's time for commissioner comments. Commissioner Vargas. Uh, no, I think we uh talked about um
hopefully uh a very very good trip last week. I have a lot of confidence. Uh we had a strong team there and everything moved seamlessly. So, um very grateful to have the opportunity to meet um the representatives, federal
representatives, senators, staff, and departments. Uh so, thank you, Mr. Caps. I'm good. I just wanted to to uh to bring up uh
hopefully you've noticed that we this room uh underwent a a renovation since our last meeting and it's a it's a substantial uh renovation and we were all a little nervous about it because it's a it's a a a big difference. It's
much bolder. The result, in my opinion, is warm and pleasing. And it's been at least 30 years since this room had any sort of attention given to it, including a paint job. Um, so we replaced chairs, we replaced uh carpeting, we replaced,
we painted. Um, and it looks sensational. And I just want to say it was a it was a major undertaking. And it was it was undertaken by our general services staff. and MCTV gave an awful lot of input and it was seamless.
Everybody was so pleasant to work with and it was so it was done in such an efficient manner and everyone cared and it was just a a marvelous uh renovation and I want to thank everyone who was involved all all of you who participated. Uh we I you did a terrific
job. Thank you Commissioner Campy. We won't be meeting again until July 8th. So, let me wish you a happy and safe 4th of July. Join the fireworks.
Commissioner Heatherington. I'm all set. Thank you, Mr. Donaldson. No, just thank you for uh uh the attendance in DC. I thought we did have a great team and uh ending up with the office of management budget which is quite pr prickly and then bringing in a junior member to get
educated on Everglades and Martin County issues to mentor them I thought was a great uh kind of explanation point at the end. So thank you again. Yeah, I just want I thought they were very friendly, very warm. I just want to say we go to see an awful lot of leg legislative uh
representatives. We go to see we went to see our our senators. We went to see our representatives. We went to see other people's representatives. Uh we went to office of management and budget. We went to the Army Corps of Engineers. We went to uh Department of Transportation. When
we go to Washington DC, we spend your money wisely. We spend our time wisely. Uh we went to the Everglades Summit for a day and that was extremely instructive. So, it was a very illuminating visit as always and also thanks to our uh representatives in
Washington who accompany us and hold our hands and drag us to to all of our um meetings navigating through the capital. Miss Woods, I have nothing. Thank you, Caps. Mr. Caps, one other comment. Uh
shout out to Congressman Brian Mast uh because he he he met with us personally with with all of the other senators and representatives. We met with key staff, very powerful figures uh on their staff,
but he he met with us personally. So that that was that was pretty cool. So did Congresswoman Frankle. She did she did too. That's right. Congresswoman Frankle from former uh mayor of West Palm Beach. Right. We are adjourned.
Thank you.