##VIDEO ID:SFdAmhgPtd4## e e e e e e avoidance e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e lost her mother then her father okay we are back on Department two contracts that meet the threshold for board approval of a million dollars or more Miss Brotherton Christy Brotherton chief procuran officer I have two contracts for your consideration today uh the first is a continuing Services agreement for generator maintenance and repair uh this contract has a maximum not to exceed value of $1,500,000 with a maximum not to exceed term of five years staff is recommending that the contract be awarded to the two highest scoring firms which is 360 Energy Solutions um and Genet services and move that the board authorized the County administrator or design need to execute all documents related to this request and the next contract uh is a continuing Services agreement for food food services items and cleaning supplies this contract has a maximum not to exceed value of $5 million with a maximum not to exed term of five years and staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the two lowest responsive and responsible biders which is Allure Hospitality suppliers and Cisco Southeast Florida and move that the board authorize the county administ or designate to execute all documents related to this request and that concludes this item any questions Miss Brotherton NOP move staff's recommendation and for approval second there's a motion and a second all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you on to Department three which is state and federal legislative program good afternoon all right commissioner CS is that a light no snake thank you start with the state program so uh the purpose uh I'm Sarah po legislative coordinator for the record um the purpose of the presentation today is to go over our State and and legislative federal or state and federal legislative programs these documents um we've I've been handed them they've come down over the years this is our platform that we use and Tallahassee and DC it's kind of the expressed consent of the board to let us Lobby on um issues that uh reoccur every session and every uh year in DC um so like I said we provide these to our delegation members our lobbyists and that um gives them kind of a guide to 2025 um priorities and we'll start with the state table contents nice new picture um so of course our local Bill request um was approved by uh the delegation last week so that bill should be getting filed any day now um and working that through committee weeks and uh session uh some of our priorities of course um we've combed through and in um clean this up some of this language up but of course um comprehens comprehensive Everglades restoration plan conservation land acquisition septic to sewer conversion um biosolids uh coral refunding and resilient coastlines programs these are uh reoccurring programs and some new um FWC is asking for an increase this year in their budget um for the brief program which would then turn help us out um the national Estuary program and the lahache river preservation initiative are continue to be priorities um opposing um unfunded mandates and home supporting home rule water quality and natural resources all this is kind of our miscellaneous water things that we see reoccurring every year at the state level and some statements on human services and public safety as well as economic growth and tourism Nissa revisits this every year and helps us kind of edit where visit Florida is and um T you know bad bed taxes and all of that uh infrastructure Recreation and transportation um at the end I'll kind of go through a list of some things that um we've identified that we do need to add um that includes um some bright line language in the OR rail language and the state program as well as the federal so there's that last line um some test language that we've um put in there as in the draft version we can tweak it and then before you leave this the state I'm on page seven which under biosolids in the first sentence says support land acquisition for biosolids let's take that out yep so we've come up with some draft language um support so take that out support funding for capital projects oh wait no that's bright line Sorry support alternatives to the land application of biosolids excess nutrients from Land application of human waste from wastewater treatment affluent termed biosolid reach surface waters and continue to increase the occurrence of harmful Alo blims okay good and then on to Federal so this this document again has remained mostly unchanged as our priorities have have remained very uh similar over the years um so of course again Ser uh comprehensive everclay restoration plan is in there passing a worda Act is always important um every 2 years uh IRL South Phase 2 um we were when we were up in DC that was one of the um points we were already advocating on beach restoration inl management again reoccurring federal funds the national Estuary program remains a priority back to the reefs uh Noah's Reef act as well as working with FWC at the state level another big one conservation of land acquisition um with light of our recent sales tax U passage making sure that um that is included in there and that's all I have um just bring it back to here um so some things um that we would we've identified that we would like to add um to the state program we'd like to add support um for the rule and family lands Protection Program I know um commissioner heatherington brought it up earlier um the that was used to purchase bull hammock um so obviously we would like to include that into um somewhere right here the in the state program uh and also um we could draft a letter of support to or a letter thanking the uh governor and Wilton Simpson for um bull hammock bull hammock yeah for that purchase and so you know continuing supporting uh us here in Martin County I don't know if that needs to be a separate motion but no we got okay perfect uh we'd like to add uh support for uh srf funding uh something that we're kind of missing out on at the state and federal level so just making sure we add that into both of our programs that we support um funding of that and and that's the state revolving Fone fund which we use in our assessments to help lower the cost to our citizens and to our projects um so that's one uh changing we talked about changing that language of biosolids to make it make sense and again uh adding bright line to the state and federal program it does your direction we don't have to have it say bright line it could say ra it says rail right now um but we can we can make that more specific and we've already applied for um federal grants I don't know that there's any State dollars but if it comes up at least we have it in there and then adding a line item um supporting ship emergency funding for post disaster recovery and so on the on the rail the the projects that are are obviously very important to us is the the station is one piece of it the other is the replacing of the railroad bridge which we've supported significantly and if uh in the future if there's anything related to um um uh you know noise abatement or things like that we might include in in in kind of our priority but certainly the the the The Trestle replacement is still a critical support and of course our um station so those are what we plan to to Advocate on the federal and state side it's principally been Federal at this point in time but there are times when the do also uh comes into play the state do any other additions that's all I have on my list and you know there's anything you want me to add uh from there we're more than happy to listen and um add those in I heard that we did get another appropriation for the railroad bridge so so the uh the there was a a couple of Appropriations and I think um the L the currently the rail is working with the florid navigation District as a local sponsor for part of it as well and so we would just be we would be supporting those other local sponsors as in the activities okay and also the Orlando bright Line Station was completely funded by the state who funded it fdot or was it a legislative appropriation or it was a big appropriation and it was all the state yes I'm not I'm not 100% sure on that I don't know if you no I don't have that off the top but we can we'll find out commissioner look into it if there's money available let's find it um and lastly um what's up with the farm bill John you're on buddy I was gonna say I'll turn that over to to John I know the answer but John M environmental resource administrator from Martin County um just at the end of the Congress they renewed it they put a CR in for a year so they have until I think September October before they need to start um getting something put together I'm sure committees will be working on the draft but right now they're just wholly focused on the budget resolution and the tax bill that's due up in April and well actually they're still focused on restructuring um but but they've just um in the last couple days kind of created that timeline for themselves so up until May it'll all be budget tax and then an energy bill that has to go through so probably July they'll start working on Farm Bill hopefully to pass something by the end of the year because we used uh agriculture money to buy uh alipa and we would love to be able to to Avail ourselves to that funding once again and just restrict it to governments for Ser projects I know we're I know we have our lobbyists on that for sure okay good commissioner caps yes in speaking with uh our County Administrator don Donaldson uh yesterday um he told me of an interesting that thing that happened in Washington when I guess commissioner herd and and Don were up there and it had to do with commissioner herd and uh yes John and uh Sarah I thought I'd like to hear the story told again it had to do with the northern Everglades component in the word Bill and how it almost was not in the word Bill and but you got it back in at the last minute it is I thought it was no worthy because I did mention it at one of your new meetings but I'm sure it kind of flew through the air as to just to uh it it was significant and I thought it was just important to reiterate um um what little Martin County was able to do and really the three that were up there commissioner herd and and John and really the collaboration with um a multitude of um of congressmen and Senators um and uh I think Lois Frankle helped from down south and and Senator Scott was a big instrumental in it and so you know I I'm telling it secondhand and I just knew it was an amazing story from my own personal experience up there so John I'll let you tell the story it's a much you know so um I I'll start with some context you know we take these trips to Tallahassee and to DC we always create agendas we have our bullet points and talking papers things we want to advance sometimes we don't have a like a a super German um appropo argument but I don't think I've ever made a trip or something something didn't come up that made it very worthwhile so that that was the case for this one for certain so we got up on our first morning we were briefing on our our meetings for the day and I got a text from the executive director of South Florida Water Management District Drew Bartlett saying hey worda drop last night which means the the committee staff released the word bill that was going to go to the floor and this is at the end of like it only has like a week left right so this is at the very tail end it was as often the case it was put off to the very end and and it's several hundred page document staff were reviewing it and they did not see the lake okachobee component a reservoir project included in the worda which authorizes that project to become part of surp it would make it eligible for funding um and it would also pave the way for the state to make its investment in it um it was a huge problem that it wouldn't wouldn't be in worda it really probably would have killed the project it's a you know billion Reservoir that stores water north of the lake it also allows that water to move back from the lake to this Reservoir you can send it east and west from from there through the CMI River um Outlets to to provide water supply for egg and anybody Downstream of that Reservoir would be a beneficiary of that stored water including the St Lucy river which would be spared harmful discharges if that Reservoir was um was built so something definitely something we supported when we talked to our you know we have kind of Elder States figures and our lobbying team up there they said well we'll shoot for 26 and and Drew's like no we we can't we have to do this now and so everybody kind of you know took on their role and started making phone calls figuring out where it was stalled out and then putting in place the um the calls and the letters and the right delegates to get it moving from place to place and within 24 hours it went from um kind of stale at the White House Office of Management and budget they didn't have any feel any pressure to get it done before the end of the year and statutorily they didn't have that pressure to being in a I mean just the steps it had to go through om had to send it to the headquarters for usace which is the core of engineers chief of Engineers had to review it sign it send it on to the committee staff that puts together the word of Bill they had to amend the word of Bill that they had ready for a vote and then the leadership on the House and Senate side had to accept the amended version and then by the weekend it was already done and and they had later that week approved uh by both floors um the new version and then the White House signed it into law you know shortly after the new year so really saved a couple billion dollar project that benefits all of South Florida there was several NOS that were also there for the task force meeting that we we regularly attend and um uh but when the when Drew bartler was reporting this out to his governing board in December or in January a couple weeks ago um us the Everglades foundation and the Bone Fish and Tarpon trust which is a huge lobbying Organization for water quality and stuff were mentioned specifically um for our role in that you know sometimes we're just making people aware of a problem um you know that's often the case I know last year in Tallahassee we had a similar thing where there was just something that wasn't right and we just had to tell people and well I I do appreciate having a small smart and humble team but you guys kind of did an amazing thing so I just that's why I had to brag about it you know so anyway thank you any other questions for me any other any other additions or changes that need to be made looks good you want a motion to I'll um with the amended changes I'll make a motion for staff's recommendation of approval with the abended language added by Miss Powers second there's a motion and a second all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you thank you ours thank you so much hey you're going to have to go up to Tallahassee soon there's a special session yeah if it happens uh next is Department four permission to use construction manager at risk delivery method for the south east Dixie Highway storm water and Street skate project good afternoon Commissioners Susan cor's office of Community Development and I I just want to say I think um I might deserve a little slack because I have to follow John Ma and that's really not fair you know I don't have a story like that anyway um the southeast Dixie Highway storm water and streetcap project was approved as a capital project in our fiscal year 25 CIP for the agency this is a large multiphased project that includes storm water and drainage work from Southeast Bridge Road to Southeast Saturn Street on Dixie Highway includes post office alley and all of the side streets of which there are seven the updated streetscape design will allow for wider sidewalks increased Landscaping parking along side streets we plan to underground utilities and this is going to allow for easier and more effective Redevelopment of the vacant parcels and the underdeveloped properties that are there now I'll say a little bit about semar if you'd like to hear that sure and why this project works for that method okay a multiphase construction project on these streets is perfectly suited for the semar process the construction manager will provide plan and phasing review comments during the design phase of the project instead of providing change orders that typically develop using the design bid build process so the construction manager comes in at the beginning or close to the beginning um on this project we have a conceptual plan already so they would start uh with the design phase of the project and move along and what that does is it provides value engineering kind of at the beginning of the project instead of waiting until um further in the process this method provides a project schedule and detailed cost estim estimates earlier in the process which assists the agency in planning our funding accordingly and decreasing construction fatigue for the residents and businesses in the construction area it also allows us to procure long lead times in advance to reduce construction delays and increase cost the early plan review Logistics and coordination of this work by a construction manager using the semar process We Believe will be crucial to the success of this process so I am here according to the purchasing manual to ask for permission uh to move ahead questions from Miss cores comments commissioner caps move approval second this looks like a great project yeah um there's a motion in a second all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you very much next is department Five a presentation on the Witham field strategic business Plan update Mr McAn good afternoon good afternoon Madam chairman good afternoon Commissioners so this agenda item is a presentation on the Strategic with and field Business Plan update um see so this this business plan update is initially updating the 2010 airport business plan which is obsolete in today's business environment for the airport uh the 2010 business plan was published after Florida Department of Transportation published their guidelines for airport business plan and the 2010 business plan is also heavily based on the impacts of 911 on the on the aviation industry of a whole so this business plan is going to bring the airport's business environment to where it needs to be in this update um in addition to that there's going to be a peer airport benchmarking where the airport is going to compare itself business-wise to other airports in the region and a financial review and assess M including a marketing plan as well so the four main uh pieces of the business plan update is a stakeholder engagement this is where we go out to internal and external stakeholders to kind of get their opinions on on the airport business plan and the airport as a business environment as a whole in addition to that we're going to do the analysis and an assessment that's where we look at the financials of the airport our grant dollars the self-sufficiency status of the airport and see if there's any changes that we could make there there's going to be the business plan development that's the actual writing of the business plan document and into addition in addition to that is the implementation program this is where we will create an actual road map for the business plan to take the airport from A to B if that's necessary if that's the direction that the board decides to go in this slide is just a brief timeline for the airport Business Plan update as you can see right now we're in the uh internal and external uh assessment as well as as a stakeholder engagement Workshop this is just a public kickoff um presentation on the business plan you the the commission will have an opportunity to provide more comments uh during additional Workshop sessions and um just to add more to the business plan the business plan is being funded uh by F do and the Airport Enterprise fund it's about $250,000 uh 20% of that is coming from the airport um and the rest of that is coming from the 20% of that is $50,000 and the rest of that is coming from the Florida Department of Transportation I'm here to answer any questions that you might have on the business plan update questions on the airport business plan we we had yes thank you we had spoken about uh talking with other businesses besides doar Aerospace uh I know there are a lot number of flying schools there to be able to increase the revenue have you been able to look into into that uh not just yet commissioner and we will look into that as we progress through the business plan and if you could please get back with us yes commissioner on that I appreciate that yes commissioner thank you commissioner campy motion to accept the presentation as presented the plan uh the recommendation is to hear the presentation that's it yeah I've heard it thank you Mr McAn thank you stay where we are and you're joined by Mr poosi this is approval of commercial lease with dier Aerospace Inc yes commissioner so we have Mr Sebastian perowsky here the airports uh Council uh this agenda item includes the approval of the commercial lease between dahare Aerospace and the Maron County Board of County Commission as some of you may know that uh deare was a successful respondent to a 202 4 RFP uh deare intends to make a foreign direct investment of about $30 million initially which will increase the $80 million over time the intention of dare is to relocate their final assembly lines for the TBM and the Kodiak model aircraft here in Martin County um the benefit of that is the retention of 400 jobs that's existing at dahir as well as adding 180 jobs for the final assembly line production process at dare in addition to that the county will also benefit from tangible per personal property taxes um as you know this this item has been delayed twice due to a review process with the FAA but at this time we're comfortable moving forward with the item and the recommendation is that the board of County Commission approves the lease with dahare any questions I I'll be willing to answer those Mr campy thank you brief presentation um several of us were uh had the privilege of being at the opening when the deare family and the folks from France came to announce and to take over that that site and it was a remarkable day filled with a lot of big plans as you can imagine a lot of businesses that are coming to town they're excited they talk about we're going to do this and we're going to do that and they did it they lived up to the very lofty expectations that the community had for them they are a remarkable company that uh brings as you had mentioned and then the business development board was here this morning to talk about indirect and direct Financial benefit but they are also great stewards of the community they're very involved in all sorts of uh educational programs chamber programs uh I couldn't have asked for a better partner to come to Martin County for them to now see a an opportunity to increase their operations here is a complete win for us as you mentioned they have 400 employees currently and they're going to look to bring in what another 180 180 now some communities would look and say well you know 400 500 600 employees that's not such a big number in Martin County that's a tremendous number you can for argument sake multiply it by 10 and where you would see things like that happening further south in Miami and Fort ladale um they also bring bring a benefit to the airport without additional U takeoffs and landings that's correct and so it's exactly what it should be uh I'm thrilled that they chose Martin County because I'm sure they could have gone wherever they wanted and uh I'm honored to make the motion to accept their changes in the lease thank you commissioner commissioner heatherington briefly I would just add on to that that's exactly the aviation and Marine industry these kind of businesses are exactly the niche kind of of business business Commercial businesses that Martin County wants and that will help us into the future take the burden off of residential taxpayers so I would gladly second the motion thank you commissioner would anyone from the public like to address US anyone from dier would like to speak to us afternoon afternoon Tyson Waters from the law firm of fox mclusky here on behalf of dare I just think um it's been wonderful working with staff a lot of hard work has come into this lease and there's a lot of excitement about what this is going to mean for both the airport and Martin County and we thank you for this opportunity and again we have some Representatives here if you like if you have any questions for them but thank you me meru yes commissioner caps um initially we talked about a $30 million investment yes commissioner that was what was outlined in the RFP it I suppose a lot of that is in the buildings that will be replaced that is in the demolishing and the uh construction of the new Final assembly line buildings commissioner yes M and those buildings will be owned by the county you know I mean they're built by someone else and we're going to be the owner of them yes commissioner right and that that's interesting and then the the old buildings that are being replaced are in poor condition I believe yes commissioner I think they were there since just after World War II they served Grumman okay thank you thank you any further questions or comments if not there's a motion and a second on the floor all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you very much thank you Commissioners that brings us to the end of our meeting we have time for commissioner comments commissioner Vargas okay let me grab my notes here um yeah I really would like like to have a motion consider for any future projects or development on ordinance addressing uh sale and storage of petroleum products that they must be at least 500 feet away from residential areas that did come up last meeting uh in uh December um and I've had quite a few people sending phone calls sending emails and requesting that we consider to have an alterntive on the BC meetings as somebody mentioned this morning later in the day starting later in the day I mean a lot of folks have to work and they really want to be participant they really want to be engaged uh but they just can't do it financially um so I'd really appreciate that also I've had a number of um concerns uh reach out to us about signs on major thorough Affairs throughout Martin County and of course some people say Well they're only lifting my signs not the I know how that feeling is I really do it's still fresh but I assure them we're equal opportunity sign snatchers in this County um if if there's any way that we might have maybe the sweep like every two days with the Department that handles that at least it won't look as if well you know the junk gu's sign is still there a week later but my sign for roofing is still or my puppy sign or you know whatever it is do you know what I mean I they must have some some sort of uh schle or something there I don't know but we're getting these phone calls so I really need some help here you know to you know what I mean we banned those sign we call them snipe signs we banned them um one year when I was running for office which I thought was wonderful because I consider them litter um and I also have to put them up myself which I also don't like and I thought that was really terrific just Banning them all together remember we weren't if I remember correctly I I agree with you what you said the signs are a lot uh not necessary even in campaigns if nobody did it would be terrific but I thought there was a First Amendment kind of state statute or something we were not allowed to stop those signs from happening I think there I Sarah Woods County attorney there were two issues there was the the Free Speech First Amendment issue but it that is not the case within our rways because that's cons those there were two different issues so I'm not sure commissioner her how long ago that was so it may have Li I remember we had to amend our sign regulations to comport with the Supreme Court decision but we still pick up signs that are on County property right and and there are plenty of them in addition to those that are hanging on I assume County owned fencing you know which ones I'm talking about they're all over and the events have already passed so they're starting to get weathered I mean you know if they're out there and they got their truck so our uh our code enforcement folks obviously we we can arrange their priorities there you know we don't have a a staff they do not go out there every day we usually are are generally our Code Compliance is more complaint driven than on routine uh although we do go through the C on specific times based upon requests um but we can I'll get with our building official and talk and and get back to you on if we want to do a schedule uh around the whole County on whether you know we can accommodate that on a routine basis or how frequently we can do it without interfering with our inspection schedule right well I I know that that they do sweeps during campaigns daily I know that for a fact you know the campaigns are always a difficult uh uh time uh and we also have at times signs that disappear that our staff were not involved and um you know we would always take them to the uh building department and and put them back by uh you know the dumpster and then the um I know Mr overdorf can use his name because we talked several times about his signs disappearing and then he couldn't find them at his at the dumpster because we don't know who was taking the sign so it is uh you know the campaign season has its own um sensitivities that we're aware of and we will try Endeavor to do a a more accurate and professional job that's fine but I appreciate again those signs that have been there forever you know I mean sure no we we just want to keep Martin County different other places so whatever they were great and they came out to see me when I was standing in the dump trying to find my signs they were great they even helped me pull some out you know I'm just say but let's just clean up F do also maintains they do their state roads fot and they used to make put the signs in a big pile by the turnpike entrance in Palm City but in the last year or so they take them all to Fort Pierce you're not supposed to put them in the right away anyway anywhere yeah but you know when it's campaign season commissioner Vargas is not wrong they they're all over the place and the ones that are well events that are months after they happen their signs are still up but there's always enthusiastic supporters who find a place to put them that's true that's true all right so about the motion about the benzing okay so the the question is is there the zoning change it did come up when we had the item and so staff can bring an item back on on that zoning change we will bring you know there are um we'll have to prepare an impact on what that would do to um um you the existing or properties that are currently able to have gas stations and um and with the Bert Harris and other things uh um it may be we'll just determine what uh what the impacts can be and how how successful we can be at it so we'll bring that back to you and I'll get with growth Management on when that can be done so if that's a priority to the board we can we can um get it done I'm interested in that sure thank you okay thank you anything else don't don't forget about the folks that want to participate too that that's a that's a that's a five of you thing yeah I was on the board when we there's pressure to have night meetings and there was pressure to have meetings in all the districts and so we're public servants and we're obedient and so we did all those things we had night meetings we had meetings in every district and by about the sixth or so meeting there were absolutely no no people in attendance we were the only ones there and it cost a whole lot of money to take this show on the road okay so that was in the district what about here we did it everywhere we did it the we did it at come here nobody showed up it was it was a failure it we it was and we spent a lot of money finding out that it was not going to work for us it's amazing city of Stewart has it four o'clock on so and they have house there's a reason for that yeah I'm not you next I'll wait till my turn yeah one thing I think that's different about the county is is because we have 160,000 residents when a controversial issue comes up the number of people that can end up coming here to speak at public you know at times can be three hours of that right uh public speaking so I don't think it serves anyone's interest to have meetings going late into the night because people end up leaving because they're tired and and and you the idea is to try to get more people there but it's not working because people actually leave because they're exhausted and I think that's probably the case in the past when they when this was tried in the past am I correct aren't the budget hearings in the evening 5 o' well the final approvals are are at five o'clock and no one shows up for those either right statutorily prescribed yes commissioner campy thank you I I'm glad that topic came up I obviously received the same emails and I thought about what they do in other municipalities I'm not opposed I remember what commissioner heard saying a lot of folks say well you know we need to have these meetings at night so we can attend but then they don't but that being said that was a while ago and I would not be opposed to uh at least doing a recap of with the municipalities you know the counties in the you know Palm Beach okachobee St Lucy Indian River let's see what the rest are doing uh how they're doing it I know that when I was a chair we did take when Indian town was still part of the county I did move take the show on the road and we went out to Indian town and um for a daytime appointment uh commission meeting there and actually other than our staff and the and the Beautiful kids from The Hope rural school who sang there were no other residents there I'm not opposed to having a nighttime uh beta test to see if having in in the evening would work I do remember that uh when we started at 9:00 in the morning back in the days when we met three times a month we were here sometimes until 11:00 at night uh we had and commissioner caps is not wrong if you get here at 6 o'clock at night even with the city of Stewart meetings the big complaint I hear and I watch their meetings they had a couple meetings that went to like 1 or 2:00 in the morning and so remember if you're having your staff throughout the course of our meetings we have staff that are participating through the day if they're working their entire day and then they're working into 10: or 11:00 at night um that has to be factored in so I'm not opposed to giving it a try to see but it it really you can't say okay you know the second meeting in February we'll do it because if if the Public's trying to prove a point they'll come but what if on that agenda day there's not really anything of consequence that would bring out a crowd but I agree as commissioner herd said we are public servants if the public is requesting that we try a nighttime meeting I'm not opposed to that to see if it'll work or not but I don't know how you would verify a success of a night time meeting because if the agenda didn't have anything of consequence or the opposite if people you know 100 people showed up just to prove a point I I don't know that's why I'd like to see what the other community I think St Lucy County meets in the evenings they do yeah so I'd like to know maybe our staff can speak to them and find out how what's the logistics of that yeah I know what they do is they have a workshop in the morning to have go through all the lengthy discussions to try to abbreviate the night because they otherwise your hearings would go for a long time so there are some different strategies but I we can certainly meets at night they we can certainly come back with a report on how other people are doing it it it all you know you know well I want our public to understand that we hear them if they're making suggestions recommendations or complaints that we hear them we don't just be like okay whatever so we're asking our staff to review that and see what's the feasibility of it commissioner heatherington I would just say in that feasibility to bring back what that means for staff time additional full-time employees overtime a fiscal analysis I wasn't here when you met at night but I can imagine that would be very expensive having staff do their job during the day be here at night I personally don't care what time of day we meet but I would like to take all that into consideration because if we're going to need to hire new FTE and overtime and things like that that should be a consideration wonder if we could wonder if we could also consider um when when looking at other jurisdictions like how active uh the uh residents are in County government Affairs it seems to me like we have a very active citizenry and that's a wonderful thing that's why we're such an awesome County but there are a lot of people that take interest in County government here and a lot of people that come and speak and they like to have their time and I kind of wonder if it's an unusual level of participation and maybe some of these other local governments don't have as many people who want to participate as we do and that that might mean that our our meetings are going to be going very late into the evening on a regular basis that would be my concern um you know the wear and tear on the staff you know going till 11 12 one o'clock in the morning because I mean look at this meeting today this is a a relatively uh brief meeting and it's 2:15 you know and I mean we've been here since 9 o00 and right that's true that's true but this is a r this is a short meeting the last one was till 5:30 right so yeah I understand about the um the financial aspect of having employees here and also keeping them here paying them overtime I I don't know if their schedule can shift so if you're working the meeting and I may have asked Mr Donaldson about this before can they shift to a later time like you're on a second second shift for this particular day this particular meeting I don't know just trying to find different ways to be able to say hey we heard you and then get the word out we are going to have the meeting on such and such a date at this time beginning do you know what I'm saying and also is it possible if you do have quite a lengthy agenda and there's some items that really don't need to be tackled could they be moved off and pushed off to the following do you know what I'm saying uh so the uh couple questions there I know so in terms of um you know the policy of the board if you want to have meetings at night we will adapt we will find find a way to to make it happen in terms of how we schedule folks and you know what uh you do with uh um you know some of us are uh our salaried employees and it doesn't matter what whether you know so the I think it would be more about the efficiency of uh of your operation it's really about you all being able to make good decisions is what's most important um and uh so that first answer is if if we will make it happen so whether what time of day however many hours as it's been I as the others upset I I do routinely remember when we were first adopting Our Land Development regulations a midnight meeting was a regular occurrence um uh and that was from 9: to to midnight for many times and so and and so shifting things around when when when County government gets busy and you have a lot of projects especially on the regulatory side that have um uh essentially statutory requirements um there are times when we can't push them off you can or you have many meetings stacked up we're pushing them off just makes one the next meeting even busier so um I I think that's certainly possible but it it generally what we wind up pushing pushing off is your own um uh internal items which would be a Parks discussion or something like that to deal with the required items which often take the most um time public hearings and and the like so um in terms of managing the actual agenda there are there are some things we have control of but there are a number of things that come before you that are just a consequence of um um property owners and others uh contracts with the hair or others that just they they have timelines and we don't have a choice so um I so in the answer in your question the first is that yes we can accommodate night meeting we've done in the past and we we can do in the future I think the suggestion of looking around and how others are doing it we we can do that well Florida Association of counties and see how they how the other counties do it but um um and uh and whether or not it was you know how how the strategy of how we connect with our citizens is is uh always evolving and trying to adapt and I think that's uh uh we're open to to to to the will of the board how do you get the word out is it you know so you know today uh you talk about how do you get the word out and of course that I think is just an overall challenge with with any entity any entity today and that is um you know the newspaper is not what people are are going to anymore um even Online subscription services and so you're challenged with you know one it's all demographic based on you know uh uh you know you know a boomer like myself you may still able to get by newspaper you know um but um uh otherwise is it is it um Facebook and then you know my Facebook is old yes well I'm moving down the line so give me a chance and then so anyway so your challenge is how do you get the word out because even Even in our projects that we have in a a neighborhood of uh Golden Gate if you remember we had various Town meetings we have advertisements all these things and then when we go under construction we have people right on the road come and say i' ever knew about this and so getting the word out I think is ultimately all of our challenge but social media is the and all of those Avenues of electronics are how you're trying to do it um and uh we have a great Media Group but they don't always reach new customers and uh you know you have um those uh social or our own platforms our own website which we're always trying to change and our staff do a good job I but um you know once once people lock into their media they're sort of in their own Echo chamber and so I don't have a good answer for you than other than describing the frustration we have on anything that we have which is how do you reach the public with um whether we're having a meeting or we're trying to discuss a project and and so quite honestly um part of what we rely on is you all you know um talking to your friends and neighbors us going out and and meeting with um interest groups like we had uh you know the the hippie group as an example sometimes they have meetings and so or HOAs so staff meeting with the public using social media all those platforms is how you get the message out um but when you change the structure of a meeting like this um we would do all we could to you know notice to the newspaper notice to you know try to get some television coverage if you could um and uh and just hope people get it you know that's a um I know I know that's not the answer you probably wanted to hear but that's the reality we live in is the how any government today and you Florida associate County everybody talks about is how do you get um people engaged um uh with what you're trying to achieve now I will say that uh commissioner caps is correct I've always found Martin County always have some citizens that are engaged um um and uh so I don't think we'll always have somebody here but uh maybe not always the everybody we would like right that would follow along the 20% rule which is you know in every organization but uh what about uh the database for the registered voters I mean could we you know people have emails and just do blast out there and don't discount Facebook that is very effective I can tell you that oh no I like it I was just busting his job yeah no leave him alone Facebook is good it's good yeah we use that I mean sort we have but in terms of you know uh you know mailings and things like that are expensive you know and getting access to mailing email list blast those types of things are um uh uh you know what the what the uh um tax collector has and other things is uh uh we do mailings on occasion those are expensive um no I'm talking about you know social media you have their you know email or you know you put it out there somehow I guess that's a Laura question yes that's a Laura question Laur question okay well she she'd be the G and I'm going to a Tech conference so I'm going to ask that question good let me know if there are any other questions on Tech related thanks commissioner caps yeah on the issue of evening meetings I think we ought to look at the start time and end time of the meetings in the last couple of years and and then average it out and I think you're going to find that the average meeting was at least 5 hours maybe six or seven does that sound about right to you if you had to gut check that six seven hours eight hours and and ask yourself how are you going to compress an eight hour meeting into a three-hour evening so that people get home at a reasonable hour and it seems to me like that would lead to a feeling of of being rushed everybody's rushed oh I would love to make some comments have some more explanation on an issue but we're in a hurry you know so we won't be able to say anything let's just have a motion a second quickly approve it boom we're out of here I mean you're going to feel really rushed when you're trying to compress a 7-hour meeting into three hours uh there's just no way to do it I don't think so that's my oh and then when it comes to public speakers you know some people might say well let's cut down on the number of public speakers speakers cut it down to one or two minutes that I think people have a a right under Florida Statutes to speak at public meetings and you cannot cut them out if if there's three hours of public comment it's happening whether you like it or not even if the meeting starts at 6 o'clock and and you can't get to business until 9:30 because you've had three and a half hours of public comment I just don't I don't see being practical that's the truest form of public participation is the public comment I'm not interested in I think certain school districts they say we're going to have an hours worth of public comment well if you have four hours worth of public comment that's our actual job is to listen to the public I've always felt that if someone came took the time to come here to address us and it's sometimes nerve-wracking people are nervous to do it that's what we definitely should be doing and if there's 3 hours worth of public comment that means the topic is really important you know and then to make it any less 3 minutes is you know it seems like an eternity for some folks and sometimes it seems to go by real fast so yep okay I agree with commissioner campy I like to s that thank you so you know what to do find out what what the other board County Commissioners are doing and let's have this discussion again when we're armed with some facts that's right yes we'll do my home okay at the conference so commissioner campy comments I'm all set thank you commissioner heatherington I'm all set as well Mr Donaldson I have uh two things um first of all is uh as uh Miss oier uh with our tourism has we've got a gold standard for um our leave no Trace which I guess we're the first in the State of Florida to get that um designation which is uh uh you know the her continuation of numerous rewards for that program and then uh and finally and and and most importantly you have Carolyn braa won the Excellence award for risk manager safety and Human Resources uh recognizing outstanding leadership in the claims process for Injured Workers it's presented to individuals who positively impact the outcomes and ensure inj injured employees receive the best care and treatment so that's one of our Carolyn BR has been with us a long time she does a great job for us and so uh if you see Carolyn thank her for her great efforts and her award would you explain leave no Trace so the leave note Trace is is about uh and it's we it's a a program about uh when you explore natural areas and the uh you know the the concept of uh uh you know leave only Footprints but it's more than that it's about education um how you actually uh in uh inform the residents uh it provides uh and and uh uh that's not and how we manage the land it's a whole comprehensive program I'll have Nissa in our ecotourism come and and meet with you on it because it's it's a significant um uh program that we uh parked upon started a couple of years ago um and it uh it we we cover all our habitats from from the ocean uh and uh our esterine world to our hiking in the in our in our natural lands and so they have various programs on each one of those areas and uh and it also deals with those that have um impairments and how they can uh uh get around and what kind of access we have for them so it's a it's really quite a comprehensive uh uh program and and the fact that we got the gold standard award means that we just don't have one trail with one uh piece of information it's a comprehensive program that also integrates with our hotels and our local citizens participate very nice Miss Woods do um as you know last fall we um started uh our application for the bright line uh Grant agreement with the federal rail um Administration we sent out emails to all of the municipalities in Martin County for letters of support it's one of the criteria area that the grant will be graded on uh we responded we received letters of support from every municipality in Martin County with the exception of the city of Stewart um they failed to take any action one way or the other it never even came to a vote um so because we have as you all are probably aware we have a uh 20203 interlocal agreement that uh where the city and the county agreed to each support each other in applying for grants for the bright Line Station it that that agreement that interlocal agreement has not been rescinded or in any way modified it still sits as a viable inter local agreement so pursuant to that uh County staff sent out a letter on January 7th requesting for a letter of support from the city of Stewart in accordance with the requirements of the inter local um my understanding from uh I requested what occurred last night at the city of Stewarts meeting and I heard back very thankfully from the city attorney and uh was advised that uh the issue uh has was died there was never a vote there was an attempt to get a letter a vote on sending the letter and that died and then there was an attempt to even place it on the agenda and that has died therefore that ends the matter they're they're not responding to us so um in accordance with Florida law I'd like to bring a um dispute resolution authorization agenda item this is under chapter 164 bequ that's how government local governments are supposed to resolve their differences it's not suing them it's a it's a dispute resolution where we take various steps and try to come to consensus um and I'd like to bring an agenda item back at the next meeting I believe it's the 20th 8 um and we I can outline what that is and then I will also present a resolution for your consideration of whether you'd like to um invoke that process do I have questions not that I can bring that back you bring the resolution back and then the dispute resolution goes forward you just need us to agree and and what I will do because I want to make sure everybody understands it is the agenda item will outline step by step how the dispute res res solution has gone we've used it in the past with the city of Stewart so if you bring the dispute resolution forward you have so many other municipalities that are in agreement that have submitted a letter of support for you to make application it's our sister city I mean why would we continue if they they're not you know there's a lot of questions about we had the discussion about we haven't finished our discussion um but you know I I would I would be more genial I definitely would be more genial with city of Stewart I mean you can bring what you want forward in the next meeting I'm not saying Sarah but you know yes ma'am I you know what Tri our best I don't know what else to do they won't even consider it um or they haven't been able to even consider it I I have not watched the the meeting again I am not an advocate of of disputes with our local governments on the other hand um like with all of our agreements I would like at least like to ask them to honor their commitment and I haven't been able to get a response I will say from the standpoint of the effect on the grant um the city of Stewart is the most important letter of support because that's where the train will be the train station will be located and that's where the greatest econ economic benefit will be placed I I but beyond that I respect your opinion of course and and we need to if we're going to have this discussion which we need to have this discussion um we need to advertise it so that the public says sure it was on the agenda it was right there it was we want to give transparency yes ma'am I'm all for it thank you anybody else we're adjourned --------- ##VIDEO ID:SfIwPXBeevE## two teachers for sexting minors a High School Janitor for having violent infant porn the worst our Sheriff had ever seen the janitor and the man he was working with were convicted with 1700 years of prison because of awareness presentations as Rob says we've been responsible for four arrests we were running they were running four homes from Martin County to Lakeworth prior to the pandemic also a man who was luring children into his van with ice creams at the bus stop there have been five arrest for infant porn and a man in Jensen Beach was arrested in 2024 for taking photos of neighborhood children and using AI to strip their faces put it on child porn marketed worldwide which can later be used to sex tort the family and the child through face recognition now most notably last month December 2024 Stuart police arrested three men for going after a child by offering gifts for the purpose of grooming thankfully they were arrested just in time and we also helped to rescue two children out of a Ru blocks Game Vault they were being exposed to unspeakable virtual sexual violence because a local grandmother attended one of our awareness presentations they were rescued understand that the arrests and convictions all involve child porn as most arrests do 88% of all pornography now shows violent scenes and pornography is the only unregulated industry on the face of the Earth the good news is is that Mar County Florida Faith Alliance and Indian River School school districts employees and students are experiencing live trainings and Powerful videos in curriculum we are affecting over 70,000 children 7,000 employees in 2025 across two counties with plans to grow we work with Florida house representative Toby overdorf and we helped to get Bill hb3 just passed and the good news is that PornHub one of the largest porn Industries in the world has just pulled out of Florida as of January 1st so our call to action that's a big win yes it is so our call to action to Commissioners is to join the Ashley Moody 100% club which is a very simple Club that's going Statewide and you have a note there from Toby overdorf to ask that you join also and train all your employees in a very simple online program and it's a free program and it's a good way to get your employees who are engaged with your community to be able to recognize the signs and know what to do and so I provided you with links and I will email you this packet so that you can uh just easily go to the links then our second call to action is to attend our day of Defense in depth how to protect children and I really want to thank commissioner campy he has been championing this cause for a long time and you attended our day of Defense on Saturday thank you so much and also commissioner Vargas I know that you're a champion of this also I know all of you care about this issue so I want to thank you it's time to unite and fight child trafficking and we all say together not on our watch thank [Applause] you okay thank you our next Proclamation is one celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Martin County and here to accept that Proclamation is Evan Anderson it All Began in 1924 when residents of Stewart located on the North End of Palm Beach County created a committee to take necessary steps to establish a new County during the 1925 session of the Florida legis because they felt they were politically underrepresented fast forward to 2025 as we celebrate the Centennial of Martin County an amazing place to live Work in Play complete with a vibrant arts and culture scene strong local economy and beautiful waterways this year-long centennial celebration provides residents and visitors a unique opportunity to reflect upon the area's Rich history and cultural heritage and to celebrate the thriving successful community that Martin County has become and here to accept we have Evan Anderson who is our historic preservation board chairman looks like good morning uh Commissioners and Madam chair uh Evan Anderson um you may have already said some of this so you have stolen some of my thunder but I wrote a little blip um petition by local businessmen who had the foresight to recognize the area's many offerings and need for local representation Governor John W Martin agreed in Martin County was founded on May 30th 1925 you may not know this but Martin County was uh formed from portions of existing St Lucy County for the north portion of the county and Palm Beach County on the south in the Roaring 20s our area boomed with thriving agriculture Growing Vegetable uh vegetables Citrus pineapple uh and cattle farming as Main Stays along with having quote the best fishing and hunting to be found anywhere in the United States still considered the sailfish capital of the world many things have changed but not our standing as a great community and our appreciation for the natural resources we consume and enjoy 100 years later here we are working to preserve and learn more about our past this may does not only coincide with Martin County Centennial it ALS uh it's also National Historic preservation month that's May uh Martin County also celebrates its preservation Month in May through the many free events put on by local businesses and volunteers at our County's historic locations to those of you watching the meeting today please please keep this in mind and go out and explore some of these events in May flyers and schedules will be available both online and at the area's libraries and public facilities in April let this be our best year so far and let us work together to preserve the many reasons people want to live and raise their families here thank you for the opportunity to declare that 2025 is our Martin County Centennial [Applause] Anderson thank you thank you very much [Music] conru next on our agenda is public comments you will have three minutes to express your thoughts to us the first public request form is Jeff mlan followed by Gail Goldie and just as a reminder at uh 2 minutes and 45 seconds you'll have a a beep that gives you 15 seconds to conclude your comments thank you yes sir good morning I have never seen an HOA override City County state federal laws or zoning I am looking for the board to stand up for small business in Martin County I'm reaching out to the board today in regard to an issue I've had I am having as a small business owner here in Martin County my company is mpw filter worldwide we distribute air oil and fuel filters worldwide for marine vessels of all sizes we are looking to bring two more lines of manufacturing to Florida since 90% of our business is Marine related the problem we are having is that we purchased a building in An Li zoned area on Jack James Drive the HOA is telling me what we can and cannot do inside my own Warehouse I was approved by Martin County as marine and Marine manufacturing wholesaler and approved by the fire marshall when does an HOA know more than of zoning and Fire Marshall the HOA is trying to ensure the building as man caves instead of the intended use as Li Zone buildings in Morton County man caves are Zone GC General construction An Li business business cannot move into a GC area but a man cave can move into a light industrial area and change the zoning and the rules it is like putting a teenager in a 55-year-old community it doesn't work in An Li usage area it should only be business use by letting these man caves come in they are hurting a small business personel because the warehouse spaces are so overpriced that the average business cannot afford to operate within the county so now they moved up to an area that is more affordable what does a manave give to the community regarding nothing a small business creates sales tax jobs and sells to local clientele man caves are an extension of residential use and do not belong in An Li zoned area look what just happened two doors down from my warehouse the feds just busted a marijuana marijuana grow inside my building because they said they were using it for storage another man cave in my building was using his Warehouse as a shooting range until he shot through the building and almost hit somebody the HOA never reported this to local enforcement because he was on the board an HOA is used for common areas which is outside the building and HOA cannot tell you what to do inside your home so why should they have the right to tell a small business what to do inside thank you i' I've talked to a few of you you know my predicament but this is an ongoing thing in the Marine industry we cannot afford to stay here because of everything and these man caves are overtaking everything and even zoning your time is up thank you thank you Gail Goldie is next followed by William Corbin MH I'm sorry before you begin commissioner Vargas that's an old okay thank you proceed thank you Happy New Year Commissioners and staff first I'd like to say I wish you all a happy and a healthy New Year and um good decision making in 2025 with God's help the situation surrounding the bright Line Station GR application raises concerns about the Integrity of the decision-making process in recent articles by several news outlets the focus was on communication from County Administrator don Donaldson to city manager Mike Morell the letter highlighted a specific clause in the interlocal agreement between Martin County and Stewart that requires the city to support efforts to secure grant funding for a new train station Donaldson's Remar Donaldson's message also implicated that the county might pursue F future actions should the city fail to endorse this initiative the city has yet to issue a formal letter to of support for the proposed train station one CR critical legal question is the interlocal agreement still in effect since the county first relieved bright line of its contractual obligations thus altering the agreement it seems overly optimistic to believe that a mere letter from the city could sway the department of transportation's assist assessment which should be grounded in objective criteria like need and financial viability not wishful thinking and political gambits since it's doubtful that such an aggressive request for funding will be granted is the county plotting its next move the notion that a PO potential lawsuit from Martin County against Stewart stemming from the city's reluctance to advocate for the project hence at more strategic maneuvering that could imply a troubling ulterior motive the county preemptively threatened lawsuits when the city rescinded its agreement with brightline and has since desperately SE searched for a basis such actions resemble extortion and suggest that there may be a deliberate attempt to manipulate political Dynamics undermining the straightforward Grant application process because of this Behavior the idea of a preconceived plan to coerce the city to participate financially possibly obligate it to $45 million does not seem far-fetched it is critical to prioritize transparencies and fairness in the process rather than allowing political manit to dictate outcomes why are we indulging in legal posturing instead of focusing on genuine Community needs it is truly appalling that the county has even entertain the idea of suing the city which threatens to deepen divisions within our community neighboring officials are supposed to cooperate and get along not bicker over political differences steuart's residents are not just City citizens but part of the county sharing resources challenges and a collective future the thought of local governments treating each other like adversarial par parties ma'am your time is up thank you thank you very much thank you William Corbin is up next followed by Robert Aronson good morning good morning Commissioners uh hope you're doing well today William Corbin here executive director for the business development board Martin County got two matters I'd like to make comment on the first is regarding the warehouse and condo association issue that the gentlemen before me spoke about second comment relates to agenda item number 25- 0221 approval of commercial lease with theare Aerospace uh so first briefly I'd like to piggy back off of Mr McLean's earlier comments Mr mlan as you know is owner of npw filter worldwide and finds himself in a difficult situation with the condo association where his business is located I understand and can appreciate that M municipalities oftentimes tread carefully as to their level of involvement in disputes of this nature that being said I urge you all to please strongly consider directing County staff to review the zoning rules and regulations as they relate to what are known as man caves and look into what can be done to prevent situations like this from happening in the future for my second comment I'd like to respectively request your approval of the commercial commercial lease with theare Aerospace the bdb had the privilege of working with them when they first arrived back in the summer of 22 a family-owned business that's founded in France they manufacture aircraft produce Aerospace equipment and provide logistical and Supply Chain Services now although it has several facilities throughout North America the company credits its acquisition of the facilities at Witham field with solidifying its position as a tier one supplier for Aviation companies like Boeing and Gulfstream the stored history of Witham field its proximity to Cape can its strategic location to a redundancy of shipping options all helped seal the deal uh for dare fun fact the State of Florida Forest uh service recently bought two Kodiak planes which are manufactured by dare to help fight forest fires deare also had a display at the Stuart Air Show and conducted a career Pathways workshop and demonstration session with local students interested in the aviation industry and just last week it was announced that Canada will be using two newly purchased TBM 960 aircraft from deare to fight wildfires during the 2025 Fire season for contexts these planes cost nearly $5 million I also wanted to briefly highlight the significant economic benefits this project will bring $30 million of capital investment and 180 highquality jobs with an average salary of $86,000 which is a direct payroll impact of nearly $15 million annually there are also additional Ripple effects to local suppliers and service providers their investment is projected to support about 425 Regional jobs when accounting for indirect and induced employment significantly bolstering the County's Workforce once operational they'll continue contributing to the County's tax base generating approximately $1.5 million annually uh in state and local tax revenues through employee spending business operations and related economic activity this project it represents a Strategic investment in the County's economic future it's more than just a facility it catalyzes sustainable economic growth job creation and Community Prosperity thank you for your service today uh to the community and for your consideration of the proposed lease agreement thank you you're welcome The Landing Mr Aronson will be followed by Dy Lancy good morning Commissioners uh morning Miss Vargas good morning I had sent Miss Vargas an email about the the the highest thing that I have felt from you is that you said you were going to walk my property and I haven't felt like that since Woodstock that's how high I got from CU that looked to me like you were going to help me because the former commissioner didn't help me and that's why my wife had a brain aneurysm and of breakdown because we weren't able to build a house for 37 years in Sugar Hill we're the only house a piece of property with floodlands Wetlands out of a 100 homes there we're the only one so uh I basically asked you to help me fix it because the water drained onto my property and I'm not accusing any engineer or whatever but it's a fact because my brother-in-law has been here several times and the former commissioner did nothing said he' call him said he'd get back to him this is the time I was taking care of my wife to find that you can't build your home because of wetlands after 37 years of basically trying to build your dream home was unbelievable you know it it was just un you know one out of a hundred and then I was told that he got someone in the community got a political uh help which I don't know about yet but you know that's why you investigate things but I call the internet the devil's toool because that's what it is the devil's tool but uh I really would like to find out what's going on with the property my property and that they haven't cleared it in 38 years that I know of the dredge was it's never been dredged and all the water went onto my acre in the culde saac so that's it I know how you are with your three minutes from the last time that was cool you know get out but I mean it's this is serious stuff this is this is not something that is you know okay you know you have a $50 million deal at this uh this train station and that brought flashback to memory cuz when I was a Teamster the Italian guy took 50 million from a company so they did a three-page full page ad in New York I got the money back because that's the type of guy I am I mean I went after the guy they said oh he's a mafia guy in Italy well he paid he got the money back thanks to me and I got a big sir your time is up thank you all right thank you commissioner Vargas yes uh hi Mr arenson thank you so much for coming uh very briefly uh I finally was able to sit down with some of our directors here at the county yesterday of course you know we had the holidays right and uh it's really skeletal here and I'm pretty chakra block with meeting a lot of folks and giving them the time and going to events that I have to do so you will be hearing from us imminent ly right so that's what I can say at this point just to be able to let you know that we appreciate your trip over here and I do appreciate your concern all right and in that email I said i' take you to lunch someone says you can't do that why not well you know you walk the property you want to go to lunch you know you that's how I work I have no enemies thank you you Dy Lancy is next followed by Linda Smith morning everybody that's a hard act to follow but anyway um I'm Dorth I'm dty Lany I'm from Hutchinson Island I live over there and I'm a member of the Hutchinson Island preservation initiative or U better known as hippie and anyway I'm here today because I wanted to make you aware of a project uh and this project is being proposed in the Riverwatch community on Hutchinson Island and it is about to be certified by fdot I mean so not fot but the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and it concerns a dredging in a Perpetual Conservation Area it's a a an easement um I guess they call it a Perpetual conservation easement and it borders on the Indian River Lagoon and it will allow gasoline powered boats to navigate through this easement although this easement is technically in St Lucy County it is adjacent to the mosquito empowerment in Martin County it is a very environmentally sensitive location and a birthing place for manatees and I did bring a picture that was taken by a a a a resident of Riverwatch and it shows this was taken last week it shows a manatee there uh Manatee mother with her calf and this um this lady in the um development there um does go around in her um kak a lot and does take pictures and I um I noticed your um calendar out here and uh it this picture if you can see it looks very much like the easement that I'm talking about it's very pristine people go out there in their kayaks and uh it is in danger of being dredged um if it's allowed to proceed the seagrass there will be destroyed and it's just starting to grow again in this region and further pollution will uh negatively affect the water quality in the Indian River Lagoon of course the pollution is not going to stop in St Lucy County uh it's going to affect the whole Lagoon right into Martin County too our organization as well as other many conservation organizations like the um guardians of Martin County and uh the Indian rivere keeper have been making every effort to stop this proc project we believe it is illegal since the conservation area in question was established in perpetuity and also the plan CLS the plan calls for disposing the sludge from the dredging onto Martin County property there in the mosquito empowerment we have obtained a letter from the public works department in Mountain County here uh objecting to that part of the project of putting the sludge in our area I don't know exactly how the but I hope the Commissioners will support our efforts in preventing this harmful project from happening thank you very much for the time Linda Smith is next followed by Tammy Mota good morning Linda Smith I do live in Jupiter but as a Sierra Club lockah hatche group executive committee chair I represent members and supporters in Martin County as well and I stand Sierra Club stands with doy on this issue that she just brought up it is in Port St Lucy so I wasn't expecting to talk about it here um I want to welcome the new Commissioners and it's a pleasure to meet you folks I look forward to working with all of you and your constituents on environmental matters I been reviewing your 2025 legislative program draft and there's a lot in this that I think we can work together on if there are any proposed changes since it's a draft I hope it's only to strengthen it we all support funding for the comprehensive Everglades restoration plan or Ser we also support the acquisition of conservation lands including Palmar which impacts Martin and Palm Beach counties and Martin County's blueway is so very critical water is a critical issue all across Florida septic conversion has long been a priority for the Sierra Club and important to preserve and heal our waterways along with reducing biosolids in our water wads we need to reduce and Eliminator fertilizer runoff during the rainy season in the hurricane season we also need to increase native plant planting dedicated coral reef and resilient coastlines and the Indian River Lagoon and lockah hatche preserve initiatives are all obviously no-brainers many if not all of the priorities will impact our water quality the Sierra Club also supports improving public transportation but not so much expanding roadways if you build them they will come and so we encourage development in the urban core and infill in existing open properties and use them more effectively not expanding into farmland and open space Urban infilled taxes do not pay for the infrastructure increases buildings on remote farmland and open space actually cost more to all of the Martin County residents not good Physical policy and finally please support sb80 proposed by G harell to protect our state parks this needs a companion house bill at this point and support by all senators and representatives we need to make this bill veto proof to protect Jonathan Dickinson State Park thank you for your time thank you hammy Mota is next followed by Kathy White House happy New Year and welcome so um I just have a few things here I want to tell you all uh the meeting in December November I don't know the last meeting it was canceled and I didn't realize it until it was too late um seleno had a Christmas B at Pirates Cove Resort and it was phenomenal um I wish I would have had the information to you ahead of time but this year you'll all make sure that everyone is aware of it it turned out to be phenomenal we had food and music Santa Claus we had a snow pile we had um Raffles um the kids got free stockings pictures was sted I mean it just went on um save our solo Facebook page has got a lot of pictures sure you can go check them out it turned out to be a really great event and we're excited to do another one um I have a question about the tiny homes that are supposed to be going in in the area there's some confusion people asking me questions and I have no answers a clarification of what's actually going on right now if they're on hold if they're waiting for some kind of permits if um I could get some kind of answer on that it would be great um and then new mon yeah Mr stokas told us last year that we would have an answer in December on grants there's been no word at all on any kind of Grants if they went through for the septic to sewer so um if we could get some kind of answer find out if we got any kind of grants that would be really nice and let's see a lot of noticed a lot of complaints and emails to you about the meeting times I do agree if we could work out a meeting time even if it's they're the people are not asking for every night meetings if we could throw in an evening meeting once a month in a morning meeting or whatnot um one of the girls actually did a lot of search on other Commissioners that in commissions that do um meetings at a later time for their communities and then I have a question about the NAC meeting money being used for the paving of George's way we're not saying that George's way doesn't need to be paid to it's like $57,000 but um there seemed to be no transparency in there there was no public input whatsoever on the spending of this money and like I said we're not saying that it shouldn't be paved but how about like we have new Monrovia subject to sewer we've been waiting on for over 10 over 10 years they've been waiting and we're waiting on grants so how about grants on these new projects like the moing field or the pavings and use that NAC money in in our tax money to do what's been waiting the longest fix what's broken before we add more and other than that I want to let you know that tomorrow morning your time is up thank you on the Innovation your time is up thank you our last request to speak is Kathy White House good morning good morning I want to tell you about our residents of can get Clos to the mic we have 294 residents trying to turn out on a highly developing traffic area as they leave our community and try to merge onto Martin highway on a daily basis we compete and deal with three scenarios firstly the completion of the fdot construction project on East Martin Highway has gone from two from four lanes to two from the bridge as westbound drivers Traverse over Newfield Parkway and Martin Highway it creates a effect where there is a competition for jockeying and speeding drivers to get ahead of the other guy because the N the lane Narrows down to one lane secondly across from our entrance of Martin Highway our drivers compete with the Palm City sad business and Pender Nursery each of these businesses have a steady flow of deliveries and outgoing product and large con construction vehicles thirdly from the West a solid team of commercial vehicles school buses and commuter traffic are all headed toward the turnpike and Points East of Palm City to Stewart they speed along Martin highway from the west and never confront a traffic light until they meet Newfield Parkway the data that the fdot has and told me was obsolete the population has greatly increased and continues to do so with the development of Newfield Parkway our responses to these non-transparent claims continue to be fdot guidelines are not laws traffic studies are point in time indicators they do not cover the expansive day of traffic further fdot study does not provide a forecast of the expanding traffic due to the Future development and residential housing and businesses near West I95 and that in the Newfield Parkway development the only valuable data the fdot traffic study provides was a clear need for widening Martin Highway and the bridge which has been done to the up to Newfield our canopy Creek community has gathered over 473 signatures on a petition supporting illust installation of a traffic light to date we continue to gain support for the light but need your help to protect our citizens we are asking you the Commissioners to help us by providing your written endorsement perhaps some funding and other support to convince the Florida Department is up thank you transportation to help us thank you your time is up thank you [Applause] and next up and this is just guest work is Frank M mistal for the record my name is Frank mccristal uh if my comments seem scatterbrained and slightly schizophrenic it's somewhat purposeful i' like to start off by pissing everybody off with who who they think are my friends by saying hey douge we miss you already uh we didn't agree on much Doug but uh I always respected you for your professionalism and and how much you were always prepared and how you were really in my mind not the true politician because you always kind of did what you said and uh there's no gray area with you so and every time I drive down U uh Green River Park Parkway the completed Green River Parkway so that I can avoid US1 all the way to Fort Pierce I think man I fought this thing for so long and now I use it at all times and I'm thinking this is the Doug Smith Parkway absolutely so douge we miss you already and hope you're doing well here we are 2025 seems like yesterday 1998 when our town was a very quiet peaceful town before the illegal extension of Runway 12:30 I guess it is and here we are in the midst of not Republicans versus Democrats but Global Elites versus populist nationalists and you as a board need to decide where you're at and uh the best representation for me is as I dve the Indian Town a spot just be just after the huge storage buildings and commercial center there's a there's a spot where you can look to the right and you can see this big 40 foot BM with all these Pines on top of it thrown in there they're doing a good job of trans planting native trees they've learned that for sure but uh and then to your left you see old Florida and as far as the eye can see as far as your eye can see you see old Florida okay and to the right you see the elites view of our County we will buy all your land and we will build our little communities our little golf communities inside of these and we will'll build these 40 foot BMS so that we don't have to even pretend that you populous little people even exist as far as bright line put it on the on the fairgrounds but we know you won't do that because the airport interest have their plans for the fairgrounds thank you thank you would anyone else like to address us from the public yes sir please come forward and when you're finished please fill out a request to speak for I did oh I'm sorry I don't have it okay please come forward good morning commissioner morning my name is John tellum um we have a piece of property close to the mic we have a piece of property in Palm City that we were trying to build a dock on for the last three and a half years we were given three different building permits they were taken away from us we've not received a reason why they were taken away I gave you all a package last week regarding this did you receive them okay um at this point I really was unprepared for this I don't know how these meetings go but we'd like to find out number one why our permits were taken away from us there was an there was an existing dock they've even refused us to uh the ability to repair the dock we have five very large boats that are tied up without uh safety the last storm that came through broke the dock in half and one of my boats ended up in my neighbor's backyard yard one of them sank because our electrical permit was taken away from us without cause and quite honestly I'd like just to figure out exactly what we need to do in order to get back to where we were as far as our permits were concerned and I dropped off some additional paperwork that I had earlier um that um will give you a better idea of what is happening with us with the building department specifically Jeff Dy and um commiss uh Mr Donaldson we have not been able to receive a straight answer from any of them other than the prop that our property is too small to do what we what has already been done which was to rebuild a dock that was already there for the last 25 years so with that said I I thank you for your time and um if possible I'd like to get back the original copies that I I gave to to the B thank you Mr tellum thank you commissioner campy I am familiar with your story sir I will have it's a much more complicated story than you're presenting but I will arrange a meeting with our staff and you thank you very much do anyone else like to address us this morning in that case we will go to commissioner comments commissioner Vargas okay I'm uh thrilled to be back uh 2025 uh in early December I attended the Florida Association of counties conference in Tampa uh that was aligned with the Institute of County government and partnership with the University of Florida and some of the topics that we covered ethics public records Sunshine laws workshops uh what's the purpose for setting a standard for public officers and employees promotes transparency objectivity which in turn provides a method for public reporting promotes confidence in government and the primary dut duties of County Commissioners at that particular conference I also attended new commissioner boot camp it it was a whole week uh just Chalker block full of information and um we were able to Garner a lot of information um how to be a successful County Commissioner and enables one to develop a personal philosophy of government it distinguishes us also between making policy and day-to-day Administration in addition to our manager we Embrace teamwork and routinely with fellow Commissioners staff and members of the community we show value and respect to everyone we maintain the Integrity that has been that has been placed in us uh for our position and we do appreciate the public and your comments um don't be afraid to say I don't know ask for help when you need it and this is what we're asking you to do uh and ask for opinions and listen listen listen to everyone in mid December I attended a Western lands Workshop presented by 1,000 friends of Florida it was really informative and I'd like to thank the Guardians of Martin County for hosting this event um I also attended the Martin County Business Awards December luncheon it was presented by the business development Board of Martin County uh the partners in economic leadership working with strategic Partners not just for Martin County but the city of Stewart and the village of Indiantown um these are economic and chamber Partners developers real estate Partners Capital Finance education federal and state Regional Partners um there was a a few companies that stood out and did win Awards one is Parker Smith he's a graduate of project lft which is amazing a young entrepreneur he founded his business at 16 years old he has a marine services business so he provides mates Captain Services washing detailing boats young man that is going places uh another one of Security Solutions new entrepreneur um it uh specializes in retail theft to prevent it that is counterfeit currency refund fraud and fraudulent receipts uh we just had a busy retail season so I'm certain they were called upon another one is trench diggers uh two fellows uh they're newcomers they have handheld gas powerered outfitted with single dual blades another one is called grind hard it's a company to watch it found a solution to National Security so what does it do it manufactures ammunition expanded into Indian Town unfortunately most of the ammunition has been manufactured overseas so what they did is they felt because it was such a threat from foreign governments and especially today we have to be aware they have the copper casings to primers from arms industry and the manufacturer of the Year aircraft manufacturing pars for aircraft for nearly every US military or NATO fighter and we want this on USA companies and our grounds not overseas so you know the thing is that these entrepreneurs whether they're new or new newly minted uh they're developing uh the the their models for students Runing them for manufacturing jobs after high school education when I taught I thought everybody had to go to college I have since Changed My Philosophy I'm very big on votch and certainly if you can have some sort of a residency within a company more better so the headquarters oh we also have another manufacturer headquarters for fragrance manufacturer and it created sense for Automotive home commercial use over 90% of the clients are international so we're becoming an international known town uh c community and County and also we have them serving um um com companies uh that cannot obtain the products and they're tapping us over here day after New Year's I was one of the elected officials to throw a first pitch for the senior softball at Langford Park and also our sandun Cafe on beautiful Jensen Beach head of fire early New Year's Day um there are additional restroom facilities there and our Parks and Recreation Department is working to enhance this area this beautiful area of Jensen Beach um I'll reserve my other comments for later after I just want to leave you with one thought ideas have consequences or benefits bad ideas have victims thank you commissioner cat it's been a very busy time since our last meeting on December 10th and because in December we only have one meeting so it's uh I wanted to mention a few things that I've had the privilege to be involved in in the last month or so just to bring some attention to these organizations on December 21 I had the privilege of attending a dedication for two Habitat for Humanity houses in pway village in hobes sound and uh I see uh Mike redling out here he's the director of Habitat for Humanity and it was great to be at that event and we welcome uh these two new families uh to hobes sown and then on December 22 I had the privilege of administering the oath to the new hob Sound Chamber of Commerce board which is a uh an organization that I've been active in for many years great great group on January the 2nd I joined commissioner Vargas in at Langford Park in her District in Jensen Beach to throw an opening pitch for the Treasure Coast Senior Softball Association and I was quite concerned about whether my pitch would go okay because I haven't done that for many decades and somehow I led out and threw a decent pitch so I was I was grateful uh on January the 7th we had the privilege of attending the swearing in of our new sheriff the ninth Sheriff of Martin County John buen seek and I'll mention uh commissioner campy he's one of District three's finest and uh from hobes sown and uh he's a friend of mine since childhood so he's a great guy and we look forward to his leadership of the sheriff's department on January 10 I got to speak to the Jupiter Island residence Association at Town Hall on Jupiter Island about matters affecting District 3 the southern part of the county and that was a great discussion and then lastly on January 10 I took a tower a tour of Martin County fire rescue which is really a fun fun afternoon uh District Chief Scott Fisk was my tour guide real nice guy we visited the Port Salerno station which I learned is the busiest of all of the I think 12 fire stations in Martin County uh it's actually one of the busiest in the country surprisingly uh for a fire station as far as the number of calls they received and so uh we visited the Hutchinson Island station which is Martin County's newest fire station right across the street from Indian River Plantation there and we visited the lifar hangar at the airport which is the helicopter that transports people to Trauma Centers boy what what important work they do and uh uh it just uh seemed to be a really Top Flight or organization uh we visited the training facility and the fire buildings at the airport uh where they'll be training up the new Fire recruits and then we witnessed a heart attack simulation event that really took me by surprise uh one of the firemen uh just out of the blue began to pretend that he was choking and and I it looked real at first I believed it I mean he he fell down he was like you know regurgitating and um and he was replaced by a dummy on the floor and then there was a whole group of of firemen or and uh that surrounded this this dummy and performed all kinds of medical procedures they had an enormous amount of equipment everybody had a job and there was another guy who who just kind of stood up telling everybody what to do and it was an amazing display of professionalism and skill I was I was uh quite taken by it and then we ended that tour with going over to the Lifeguard offices at the beach at Jensen Beach I'm sure many of you know where those offices are to see their very important work at educating the public about how to be safe at the beaches and Performing those rescues when needed so those are some of the things I've been involved in in the last month and I would have wanted to bring some attention to those groups thank you commissioner campy thank you uh happy healthy New Year to everyone a couple of things quickly we have a eagle scout um recipient a young lady believe it or not it's uh the second one I believe believe in Martin County's uh scouting history her name is Katherine steel her last name might sound very familiar to some of us her dad is a judge normally the county issues proclamations to Eagle Scout recipients uh the timing on this particular one based on the holidays uh got away her Eagle Scout court of honor will be held prior to our next meeting so I would like to make a motion that we uh craft a proclamation for Miss Katherine Steel on the uh achievement of her becoming an eagle scout second there's a motion in a second all those in favor I I opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you that allows us to create that Proclamation prior to our next meeting and I appreciate that two exciting opportunities uh for our residents uh in Palm City coming up this week um once a month I do something called with the commish where I have a member of the public I've had the sheriff both our previous sheriff and our new sheriff I've had uh state representatives I've had members of our County staff I've had Congressman Mast uh come and we spend a very informal hour so having a conversation and do questions and answers this month my very special guest is Sandy thurlo uh Martin County's historian the reason we are having her this month is she she has just recently with her daughter Jackie uh published a book of Martin County's history she's done several she's done Jensen Beach and sus point and Hutchinson Island she's her name is very well known uh throughout the county she just published a book on the history of Palm city that is available and so she and I will have a conversation about uh her life uh how she became our historian uh what her passions are and specifically about the book uh with palm City's history she's got a lot of it's a beautiful book with illustrations it's hard cover it's gorgeous she'll have some available that day it's this Thursday so this week on January 16th it's at starts at 8:00 a.m. in the Charlie Leighton Community Center just over the uh Palm City Bridge immediately on the on the other side of the Palm City side of the Palm City Bridge it's free open to the public it's got a little bit of a continental breakfast you'd spend about an hour and 15 minutes and you'll get to hear from uh miss thurlo the other event that we're having is the first and what I'm hoping is a series we're calling it The Patio playlist it will be monthly um music at the patio at Palm City Place which is relatively still new I would count it as new it's on map Road in Palm City uh directly north of the Palm city fire station this Friday January 17th we're having Indian Town's own a Martin County resident Carla Holbrook she's a wonderful performer um she has a solo act she's in a jazz Trio she also has a girl band uh she'll be performing that evening from 7 to 9: under the Gazebo there we're calling it stars under the stars but we're also going to start at 600 p.m. with a couple of food trucks along the sidewalk there air so you can bring your own chair or your blanket you can pack a picnic lunch or there'll be a couple of food truck options or if you'd like there's several restaurants in the area that you can take takeout come listen to music here Carla you will um if you don't know her uh take my word for it she's got the a beautiful voice puts a beautiful show on so that starts at 6 PM this Friday and goes till 9: and then again dish with the commish this Thursday the 16 it starts at 8:00 a.m. and goes to about 9:30 and I'd love you're all invited to come both events are free uh and uh we're just highlighting some of our local talent in some of our beautiful locations thank you so much thank you commissioner he heatherington right sounds like a great place to celebrate my birthday see that happy 50th birthday to commissioner heatherington so and as far as birthdays and gifts we got a great um fantastic Martin County got a holiday gift that I think none of us could have possibly hoped for this holiday uh the go Governor D santis and the cabinet uh approved a conservation easement on over 5,800 of acres of land in Western Martin County bull hammock Ranch it's a beautiful piece of property um I had the pleasure of kind of running around that property when I growing up so um that was through the rural family lands program and a couple years ago I remember being in Tallahassee with Wilton Simpson and he was very very excited about the rural and family lands program and I think that's exactly the direction that we need to be going I'm so happy they identified property in Martin County and anytime we can balance uh agricultural productivity and conservation environmental preservation I think we're winning and it's an absolutely amazing way to protect our western land so I I appreciate it I think we should send a letter to the governor and the cabinet thanking them for um that beautiful gift so I agree with you me too and that's all I have yeah thank you for for bringing that up I was going to bring it up too it's called bull hammock Ranch and it is uh owned by the Carlton family uh has been for decades and there isn't a better maintained sustainable uh Ranch in Martin County or anywhere in Florida it's beautiful um Commissioners I um we began our our latest Martin car's class on this past Thursday um you're all aware of Martin car's what you may not be aware of is that in the past we began each of the meet each of the Martin car's classes with a uh presentation by each commissioner and we ended that practice uh maybe 5 years ago something like that and I think that the residents really enjoy hearing directly from the Commissioners so I would like to suggest that we uh Begin Again each of those classes with a little presentation information provided uh by the board of County Commissioners um I would ask that the uh presentations be limited to 30 minutes no more than because these classes run on really really strict schedules and if we go over it completely ruins the schedules and we frequently have uh field trips so it's we have to maintain schedules but I think that that would be a nice addition to our uh Martin car's classes and we have two new Commissioners who I think it would be good for the the public to uh get to know you and I think that's a great way to get to know you commissioner Vargas so that would be all five Comm Comm Commissioners at each Martin cares no one at a time one at a time one at a time all right so I don't I so it just started last week so I'm not so sure that they can be uh retrofitted for this Martin car's class maybe the next one is in March so I just wanted to uh float that option and see if it meant with your approval sure I think that's a good idea it it was that way in the past I think it gives the as people an opportunity to have a little like you said you know a little bit of time to meet with us individual meet us individually yeah there are awful lot of new residents in Martin County too A lot of these people have been here uh fewer than five years and so it's it's a great introduction to their local government um also about I think it was about 10 years ago um this board majority uh made a decision to take take away the community redevelopment area from the Comm from the five Commissioners to appointed NAC members I thought it was a bad idea at the time I think it's a worse idea now I think that it's absolutely essential for in in in terms of transparency and predictability and accountability for the board of County Commissioners to act as the CRA no one is more uh familiar with our our communities than the Commissioners are and as it is we don't have any exposure to the projects that are being prioritized in the nac's all we do is give perfunctory approval for their budgets we don't know what the projects are we just rubber stamp the budgets each year during our budget review and I think that that's a disservice to our communities and to our residents so I would ask that you consider that that we once again take up the responsibility for the community redevelopment area commissioner campy thank you I don't mean to do would you prefer me to wait until your comments are all done yeah I I think you and I were the only two Commissioners that are still here that were part of that process of that transitional period uh I know that there is a difference of opinion and I respect your opinion I disagree with it but I respect it uh I think that that the concept to refresh people's memory or like you said people that weren't here at the time the board of County Commissioners would be having their regular agenda there would be a couple of CRA the community redevelopment agency agenda items we would say oh we're going to uh adjourn as the board of County Commissioners and reconvene as the CRA we would spend approximately five minutes running through a couple of agenda items and then we would reconvene back as the commission I thought that that was the least amount of transparency when you create a situation where and I know that you disagree even back then I remember um which was a respectful disagreement the concept of having additional uh opportunities for members of the public and in the case of the CRA board members are very tuned in to their individual communities they come out of the nac's to sit on the on the agency it creates an opportunity they meet in the evening ings it or late afternoon it creates an opportunity for residents to have another chance to hear about projects they start at the NAC level then it goes to the CRA level and if your concern is that as the Commissioners we're not hearing enough about the projects I would suggest we increase the level of information that is presented to us not eliminate the CRA I don't know how that would add transparency the folks you know I am obviously very familiar with what's happening in Palm City and I'm somewhat familiar with what's happening everywhere else but I wouldn't want to trade you know my uh local knowledge uh for a countywide ability to know all of the projects if there is concern that the projects are being approved at the CRA level and and we as Commissioners don't feel even if one of us doesn't feel that they're uh tuned in enough with what these projects might be then let's hear about them during the commission these I think would also be sort of a disrespectful to the folks that have donated so much time dedicated so much time to not only participating in these organizations but learning and knowing the projects I go to my NAC meetings locally I've been to a couple others but I try to stay in my own backyard for the most part I have attended CRA meetings and sat as a member of the audience and learned these SE are folks that are passionate about their communities I'll use Julie priest as an example Rex centel as an example they have Decades of experience right where they live with projects I would not want to I I still want to have a say but I wouldn't substitute my uh knowledge of what some of these folks are living whether they live there as residents or work there as as business people I I hear your your philosophy and I think maybe what we would need to do before we throw the baby out with a bath water is ask that we have more information about what they're up to not eliminating them as a board thank you commissioner hea I I don't have to repeat all that but I agree just about 100% with commissioner campy's comments and I have a great working relationship with Golden Gate there's a lot of Engagement we finally have you know um our NAC almost full and communicating very well between the NAC the CRA board and um commission and our and our district to office so um I think just more information would be more transparent and um I agree completely with commissioner Camp's comments commissioner Vargas yes uh chairwoman herd uh so you're proposing that we eliminate the NAC and just have the C say again you're proposing the nac's would remain and the CRA was always under we were the CRA the board of County Commissioners was at the CRA because we're the ones who were elected to spend to allocate tax dollars yes so so about 10 years ago that decision was made to sever our decisionmaking and instead to assign it to unelected NAC members to create a CRA that was composed of seven members of the nac's all right so the NAC would remain the CRA would be dissolved Board of County Commissioners elected to make the decisions because of the tax dollars are being spent we'd be more in the know of the projects is that correct that are being discussed yeah okay I'm not asking for a decision I'm just saying that we should I think we should consider it so I'll bring it up in another month or so you'll have time to ample time to consider the uh Alternatives thank you thanks Mr Donaldson yes just uh I have a couple things and uh first of all on the um Martin cares uh we'll come back with you all with some options one options might be to allow you to speak at the end of the day then you can go over as much as you need because sometimes the public has a lot of questions and I know that 30 minute time frame sometimes plenty of time think it used to I I agree I think it used to be five or 10 minutes half an hour you could that's a long and that's coming from me a half an hour is a long period of time it used to be 10 minutes I won't describe examples of what's happened in the past but I was just we were just I personally prefer the morning might actually deal with the the morning than the afternoon but anyway we'll come up with some some options for you um then uh the next thing is I do have an announcement and this is required due to a public process of Miss which the Miss Alisa Elder can further describe if necessary but this is a notice of public hearings and community meeting for designation of a Brownfield and so I'm making this announcement because we have an applicant who's made this uh is going through the Brownfield process and through this statutory process um we have to make a public announcement prior to public hearing so just as a quick background we have some uh a property owner in Martin County it's been used as industrial Waterfront for many years and has uh uh they're looking to have it designated as a Brownfield there'll be a series of public hearings and public Community meetings this is not the County's project uh but it is a process by which we are obligated to make this announcement so I'm going to read this into the record um and again the title is notice of public hearing and community meeting for designation of a brown field uh 9,670 Southeast marineway LLC is requesting that the board of County Commissioners designate the property located at 9670 Southwest marineway as a green reuse area also known as a Brownfield pursuant to Florida statute section 37680 there will be two two public hearings before the Martin County Board of County Commissioners they will be held on Jan January 28th 2025 and February 11th 2025 at the Martin County administrative center located at 2401 Southeast Monteray Road Stewart Florida 34996 beginning at 9:00 a.m. or soon thereafter as the matters can be heard there will also be a public community meeting held by Ferrera construction on behalf of the applicant on January 23rd 2025 at 5:30 p.m. the community meeting will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott uh address 7615 Southwest L River Road Stewart Florida 34997 the community meeting is being held for the purpose of affording interested parties the opportunity to provide comments and suggestions about the potential designation of the property as a Brownfield all members of the public are intended invited to attend and participate in both public hearings and the community meeting that concludes the uh notice um there's no action by the board taken this is simply the requirement for providing a notice to the public in accordance with State statutes anything else no that's all I have thank you Miss Woods ma'am thank you then let's take a 10-minute break e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e you're on thank you we will now take up uh the remainder of our agenda which begins with let's take up consent pull 14 are we ready to Pi that up do we have Mr gazela you also need to approve the consent we do we need to do that first no we don't we we'll do that after yeah this was pulled by uh commissioner Blake caps do you want to explain why you pulled it yes I just wanted to explained a little bit I think it's big news in hopm when we're getting a traffic light on us one and I think the residents of uh Cambridge and Ridgeway will be glad this is going in I would suspect and um and I'll make a couple of comments after our engineer speaks as well okay this this is actually a signal that's been a long time coming the point Santa Gardens people have would you introduce yourself I'm sorry I'm Michael groko the County engineer um this has been a long time coming the points out of guards people have been petitioning for a signal going on decades now um the opportunity arose with the MacArthur golf club for MacArthur golf club is building the Constitution Avenue between US1 and circle street with that and with people across the street and with the Dollar General now a signal becomes warranted at this location so we've moved forward with the signal um we're actually repurposing portions of the old signal that were at the fire station down the street that got decommissioned um and currently we've already gone to contract um you go the board has authorized to contract for construction so they are online I believe the last I heard was towards the end of February for putting in um bases and stuff for the for the new M arms great fantastic great uh I thought I would just mention a couple of things about traffic lights you know a lot of people might say well I would like to have a light uh at an intersection close to my house and and they might think that it's just in the purview of the County Commissioners to uh to install one of those the first thing I noticed was the cost of a traffic light this the the cost of this one is $1,830 so that's something to remember and then also I think it's important to remember that fdot is often the agency that is approving these lights and is that correct in this case yes it is correct right so it really wasn't a County Commission decision glad they're doing it but just for future reference when someone else might want to have a light it it often times involves the fdot and their ultimate determination on the matter and I thought I would ask our accounting engineer just maybe to give us a couple of highlights as to what justifies having a light you know when when when does the fdot think one is appropriate the do has a process of uh warranting a signal it deals with projected um existing background traffic flows projected traffic flow flows um basically that's what it's all B it's all based on the existing traffic flows and projected traffic flows for that intersection and they also have safety um concerns that get rolled into it as well good thank you any other questions about the Constitution a signalization then we'll move on to uh consent 16 which I pulled and this is a request to lower the speed limit on Cove Road which is currently posted at 40 and 45 down to 40 and 35 um the posted speed limit in Rocky Point where I live which is all residential is 35 and I it's it's uh in in congruous for me to to believe that anybody is Rec making a recommendation that the speed limit on Cove Road be the same as the rocky point residential uh postage speed limit um I am the slowest driver that you've ever met I rarely go drive the speed limit rarely drive over the speed limit and yet on Cove Road I always drive the speed limit or more just because it seems like that's the correct posted speed so I am wondering why we are being asked to make this change and who's who's how is it being justified yes ma'am uh for the record on Michael Koka the County engineer the through the PD process with the the the do they take everything into concern and traffic safety is one of the big items that goes in when they're um studying New Road segments so this one due to the um past um accidents and Records on this road that was some of the things that came out in Martin County's Vision zero initiative to uh reduce traffic accidents and stuff and it's not really a big big change currently the Cove Road is 45 from caner to alt it's 40 from alt to Avalon and it's 35 from Avalon to US1 the the with the addition of the two roundabouts that are that are proposed within this study to also help slow down the traffic and um avoid more accidents there's a roundabout proposed at um Trey Bell's entrance and a roundabout proposed at alt Avenue so what we're only changing really is from the 45s speed limit between caner and ALT is stopping to 40 which is really necessary to facilitate the roundabouts but when are the roundabouts going to be constructed with the with this whole project this this this is not a the this is not we're not dropping the speed limit like today this is when the road gets widened and this is all the future um once the road is widened and the roundabouts are in when because this this also talks about the the road being uh expanded from two lanes to four lanes okay so this is not a project this isn't a change now this is a change that's going to be executed in 2028 or whenever yeah whenever the the project is built okay are you okay with that answer yeah I do they do they always make these changes 10 years in advance of the construction what what they're asking for is the um approval of the typical sections that they have that they've identified as and along with those typical sections and the the proposed roundabouts they're asking to then reduce the speed for that section of road at that time okay any further questions I I was going to make a motion to accept staff's recommendation on consent agenda item number 14 we haven't approved any of the consent agenda so you want to do the whole thing I'll do the whole thing we'll bundle it there's a motion to approve the consent the agenda all those in favor I I opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you we will now move on to uh let's do bnc1 you want to do those Miss Gordon this is Industrial Development Authority appointment there is one appointment to be made Donna Gordon for administration there was two applicants Mr Matthew Abes received two votes Mr George guso received three votes is there a motion to appoint Mr gatuso motion to appoint Mr P puso puso there's a motion is there a second second there's a motion in a second all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously BNC 2 is a vacancy on the community red development agency at large member there are three applicants we were asked to select well wait a minute one well actually there's a whole bunch of appointments that need to be made so there's a staff recommendation for about six different things there terms were going to expire on the community redevelopment agency there's three applicants for one position the atlarge position and you all gave me your voting sheets and Mr Chuck Smith received five votes okay and then Michael reedling for the Rio Rex sentel for old Palm City Cynthia hall for Jensen Beach and Sadia saferides for Golden Gate motion to accept those uh appointments and then oh sorry second any other comments questions there's a motion in a second all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously and then you're asked to appoint a chair and vice chair to the community redevelopment Agency for the calendar year 2025 okay Rex Andel is the current chairman and Robert Krebs is the current Vice chair commissioner campy have they may I speak to miss corus good morning good morning has the CRA board proferred any uh recommendations of who they would like to see in these positions generally what happens Commissioners is that the vice chair would move to chair uh so that would indicate Robert Krebs he's the hob sound member uh be appointed as chairman and then it usually reverts back around to the other members um for vice chair so they didn't make any particular recommendation um and I will I would Elevate the vice chair to chair and I would uh make a recommendation that Mike redling from the Rio Donna you shaking your head no Donna okay I'm sorry I'm just double checking myself he serves on the CRA correct he does I would make a recommend that he become the vice chair second that there's a motion in a second any discussion all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you shall we move on to public hearing number one which is a public hearing to consider adoption of an ordinance amending chapter 111 by creating article 8 regarding registration fees for sex offenders sex sexual predators convicted felons and career offenders and a resolution establishing the registration fees good morning good morning Commissioners uh senior assistant County attorney Melissa Petri I have next to me detective pesy from The Martin County Sheriff's Office um she is one of the detectives that handles registration of sex offenders um and other uh felons also behind me I have Sergeant Spencer who she is with the Special Victims Unit and Captain wner who oversees of uh various Bureau various departments including the sex uh Special Victims Unit as well so I'm here today um board because we are looking for the board to consider an adoption um of two sections it would be for Section 111160 as well as 111.1 161 what this is about is 160 are the definitions regarding sex offenders sexual predators felons there are certain individuals within Martin County that are required by law to register with the Sheriff's Office these registrations are set up by Statute these registrations we require um updating email addresses updating employment and as well as updating residences there are certain parameters that must be done in the sense of registrations whether it's yearly or monthly or quarterly it is all dependent on that uh particular offender and what the item is that has to be registered so what this ordinance is looking to do because the sheriff's office has to expend time money and resources when they register these offenders they actually go out to the field they have to verify where they live they have to push notifications out to the general public um this ordinance is looking to EST um establish registration fees through the issuance of a resolution um their minimal fees I believe it's approximately $25 that is before the board um they range from anywhere from 25 down to 10 and these amounts are merely to cover the costs that the sheriff's office is being is incurring as a result of registering these offenders so in regards to what is before you today um the sheriff's office with the approval of the county attorney's office is asking that the board adopt these new ordinances and that would be 111160 and as I stated that includes the definitions of the different types of offenders that are required by law to register as well as section 111.1 161 and that ordinance discusses the different types of registration as well as the implementation of this fee um I do have one ministerial error um to address and that was in one six um 111.1 161 subsection g under penalties and that was just that Florida statute 125.638 this ordinance with the change and also to adopt the resolution and that resolution establishes the amount of the initial registration the yearly registration the periodic and a change of address that requires personal verification by the um officers of the Martin County Sheriff's Office and if any campy thank you first off thank you for doing this work I know it's very difficult work to do uh when I was reviewing the agenda item I was surprised by the number of individuals you have to deal with in Martin County am I correct and it's 400 give or take correct yeah so I think that that's a that's a big uh responsibility with a lot of people it's not like a dozen people and I'm sure you don't have a tremendous staff that goes around to do this work on top of all your other responsibilities I think uh creating a fee that these these folks would have to pay makes perfect sense uh and it's important because uh you know I remember in the general vicinity of where I live there was a situation where someone had sort of rented a place to someone else and that person you know these people don't readily come forward and say here we are it's more of an investigative and you have to track these folks I thought um when I read the item I thought okay and then when I got to the to the fees I thought they were remarkably low $25 and $10 so I of course would make a mo motion to accept your uh request uh if anything I thought they should have been more money but if that's what you're asking for then that's that's what I would support thank you thank you for your work commissioner Vargas yes I have a question um I see that yes I understand about the fees that you're going to be implementing initially it says here under G that a person and I'm paraphrasing here fails to pay $500 will uh be subject to a fine of $500 so they don't pay the $500 what happens then so like any County ordinance when somebody there's an ordinance and somebody violates the ordinance they can be issued a citation this is just like with our animal cases if someone if there's a dog bite someone gets an ordinance likewise if an offender doesn't pay or refuses you know and if they can't pay they still have to register the sheriff's office will keep the running tab of what is owed the sheriff's office which has their discretion to do can actually issue a citation for failure to comply with an ordinance it is not a misdemeanor it is a civil infraction it's not a a penalty um in the sense of it's not another penalty against just a sex offender it is merely a civil infraction if the officer chooses to issue a citation against the offender okay and if the offender is working is there garnishment of wages or so what happens here is when the officers come in in regards to the fees part of their responsibilities is to ask them about their employment and their sources you know essentially that's a source of income um if they can't play then yes they can keep the running amount that's owed and then they can the Sheriff's Office can go forward through civil enforcement and try and recoup those charges I mean that would be essentially have to be another civil suit if the Sheriff's Office decides to do that there really a promise to pay MH that type of thing and this is throughout the United States if they move to another state I'm asking uh offic yeah yes they are required to register throughout the United States and you exchange information uh for the most part yes ma'am I mean each state is different each state has different fees each state has different registration requirements no no what I was referring to is you exchange information that they owe this money to Martin County do do you have a database or anything like I mean that could be done but in terms of a like a National Database on the fees owed there are fees that would be owed only to Martin County not I I don't in saying if their person moves to let's say Georgia can Georgia can't enforce that lean against them it's up to the sheriff just like whenever we impose any sort of lean on somebody we can try to seek it down here um I mean that's up to the discretion of the sheriff's office if they want to notify the next jurisdiction saying hey this person owes money over here um but that would be their discretion whether or not they wanted to do that yeah I understand because they tend to migrate right right they tend to move around yes ma'am they do yeah thank you any further questions or comments pending any public comment I'll second the motion any public comment any further comments from the commission there's a motion and a second all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you thank you thank you next up is Department quasi judicial one uh request plat approval for Newfield Crossroads Phase 1 A1 project um commissioner Vargas any expart disclosures no it's been filed if I go ahead if I have any they've been filed Mr campy if I have any they've been filed and commissioner heatherington if any they've been filed and if I have any they've been filed um let's see have you submitted all the your records to the clerk turny in a copy of my work history in the agenda item to be filed as exhibit one are there any interveners no interveners seeing none proceed excuse me commission oh yeah we have to swear in Witnesses if you're going to be providing testimony in this uh agenda item please stand stand and be sworn raise your right hand 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 now you may begin Mr Senate thank you madam chair good morning Commissioners I'm John Senate senior planner with growth management this is a request for plat approval for Newfield Crossroads Phase 1 A1 the plat is to be consistent with the Newfield Crossroads Phase 1 181 final site plan which includes 36 res residential lots two Civic areas and Associated infrastructure on an approximately 7.17 Acre Site the subject site is a portion of the approximately 139 acre Crossroads neighborhood Phase 1 master plan and is located Northeast of Southwest Newfield Parkway formerly known as Southwest Citrus Boulevard about 7 miles south of the c23 canal in Palm City included is a request for a certificate of public facilities exemption this is a request by the property owner Madam Palm Beach as part of this application minor technical changes were required to The Phase 1 A1 final site plan to achieve consistency with the plat these minor changes were approved on December 16th 2024 this shows their location of Newfield Crossroads Phase 1 A1 in relation to Southwest Newfield Parkway and the c23 canal the site's located uh just under a mile south of the c23 canal in Palm City this hashed area shows the boundaries of phase 1 A1 it's just over 7 Acres in size this is an example sheet from the plat Phase 1 A1 includes portions of uh Southwest Creek Street Southwest Prairie Avenue as well as uh internal Alleyways Southwest Prairie Avenue connects to Newfield Parkway Phase 1 A1 is their model row it consists primarily of single family detached dwellings along with some fee simple townhouse units review of plats is not required by the local planning agency final action on this application is required by the board of County Commissioners in a public meeting pursuant to table 10.5 F9 ldr Martin County Florida development review staff have found the application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the attached staff report staff recommends approval of the new field Crossroads Phase 1 A1 plat staff recommendation is to move the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments including the staff report as exhibit one and move the board approve the Newfield Crossroads Phase 1 181 plat including the contract for construction of required improvements in infrastructure that concludes my presentation questions for staff seeing none would the applicant like to make a presentation the applicant doesn't wish to make a presentation no but they can make themselves available if you all have any comments I believe or questions okay I have questions yeah it does have you been sworn in sir okay would you please raise your right hand 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 identify yourself good morning Carl Albertson with Madam Palm Beach see one question I have is I noticed that that um these Lots the dimensions of the lots are not given and I see that some of the lots are as small or even smaller one some of them are 4 hundredths of an acre some are smaller so what exactly are you what's the what's the minimum lot size and what are you building on these lot lots that are 4 hundredths of an acre this is our primarily our model Park which is out there built and it's a combination of town home lots which I believe are the 30ft lots and we have Villas and then we have the different size single family lots this this area has a it's not all consistent U size of lots because it is the model Park um so we have lots that would accommodate the town home lots and the single family lots and they meet all the setbacks and the lot coverages for the approved site plan what's what's the smallest lot that we're you're asking us to approve by platting today it looks like as you said the 04 Acres I think that would be intended for a townhouse unit so what are the dimensions of that of that the dimensions are noted here would be 20 ft by roughly 77.5 is there any setback on the 20 ft the setbacks are established by The transex Zone according to the final site plan are there setbacks there are setbacks yes do you know what they are I don't know the off the top of my head no they're again it's tnd so they are set further up towards the front of the street with the garage is accessed off the alleyway and for these townhouse units obviously they would have a party wall so there would be a zero you know side setback for these particular units except that they're all the same size so what happens on the two ends where there isn't a shared wall are 2 feet wider there's oh I'm sorry there's 2 feet of setback on the side setback the lot area is 22 is 22 ft on the exterior units compared to 20 ft for the interior units so staff is an exception being made for this that we have a two- foot side setback I don't recall the particular side setback for the end units it might be between three and 5 feet from that end property line like it's two good morning I'm just seeing how this with all of our regulations good morning the uh Peter Walden Deputy growth management director uh the final site plan is in uh compliance with article 11 of the Newfield they have their own uh um setback criteria development standards and it is in compliance with article 11 these lots are narrow because they are actually designed to accommodate tow houses commissioner Vargas yes I've been out to see the site uh the models and um the lots are extremely narrow I think you could hand somebody sugar is that what you do today still a cup of sugar they're right there and um there there are no shared walls on here correct they're they're just freestanding well these on the town home buildings no they're if you were at the model Park and you were at our sales Center and walked to the to the um to the left there was a town home building so the town home buildings if it's a five unit building those five units are attached they share a wall with each other the single family homes and the Villas they are detached there will be a physical separation between the walls yeah I I it just seems like there are some questions that need to be answered here and I'm following your your line of questioning and we don't have all the definitive answers could could we table this till we you know this has been approved I do have the the approved final site plan which would show the setbacks more in detail so for example looking at more of a a detached um single family detached building over here this lot 26 I believe the side setback on that lot would be 3 feet and a front build two Zone if you will between 6 feet and 18 ft from the from the street right of way line and and the setbacks fall within the County requirements yes per article 11 the plan mixed use Village code um part of the appeal of Newfield community and this new urbanist design aesthetic is to have you know more of a denser development that results in you know walkable neighborhoods walkable streets a greater sense of community some would say so if the board decides we can have uh some informational things come forward in the future if you'd like to go through the Newfield code but the the code has been found in compliance with article 11 all the development standards have been uh very much gone through it uh meets the standards that is a comp more compact uh development standards than you're used to seeing and that is by Design and uh I'm not sure where we're headed here but uh it is in compliance with the code that is adopted in mun code commissioner campy uh can I hear from Mr donalson first M just I think just real important to go through that uh Newfield was it had it created its own form based code so it has a the it is the County's code so they took the uh the the zoning that was created for um Newfield uh created a form based code which approved and created the the whole concept of of Newfield so it has its own chapter if you will in the in the zoning and the process of where we are today is that the you you approve a a master plan uh that uh gives you the overall structure and in this case it's different than a PUD in that the form based code specifically designed all of the layout of the community so that it is now the term of art sometimes we uses by right so they have a a very strictly defined um approval process in terms of how they meet the the zoning requirements of Newfield the next piece of it is you approve the final development plan and the plat is the last piece that allows the developer to sell the Lots in accordance with the plan and the plat has to meet all of those other subsequent pieces so that's where we are today at the end of the piece is really is the Plaid is the is the final instrument that allows the property to be final subdivided and and so the zoning questions in terms of zet packs and things um are uh are what you approve when you created the code so um we're certainly can provide information on it but um um we are the based upon and I and Miss Elder can fill in the some of the nuances of it but the form based code is is unique in the fact that's the first one we've done in in Martin County but it does establish a very strict criteria on what can and cannot be done and it essentially the road map is um has been laid down and approved I guess is what I'm saying and then so the plat has to follow all of that it can't deviate from what was previously approved approved and if I can extrapolate a little bit further the code is much more dric and um than normal code where you just have setbacks that you have to adhere to these have build to zones where you have to have a front and rear setback that is adhered to the form of the building is actually dictated and uh the criteria is very specific as to how the placement of the buildings the form of the buildings how the building is uh meet interacts with the street how the parking interacts and everything else it's it's um much more detailed than our normal ukian Zone zoning code commissioner campy thank you yes I know it's uh like taking a drink from a fire hose for some of our new Commissioners but uh and those of us that have been here through this process when this was uh originally presented and debated and adopted and approved moved uh all the way up through to Tallahassee we've been out there I believe all of us have been out here to look it is a unique uh kind of design concept for us in Martin um I think we have to be careful that if you have questions as staff has recommended the opportunity to discuss those questions but I certainly don't want to get involved in a situation of delaying uh based on looking for additional information delaying these appr approvals this is almost just sort of like a touch base at this point the process is well on its way uh this is a project worth hundreds of millions of dollars with hundreds of employees waiting for approvals it's a very Swiss watch type timing that is uh required of this and I know that the process even when it's handled exactly appropriately is frustrating for certain developers in terms of the timing to continue to move the process along so uh with that in mind I would make a motion uh after public if there's any public comment to uh make a motion to accept staff's recommendation of approval uh letting the applicant know that if our my colleagues have questions maybe they need to have you know instead of coming to the office invite them out to show them exactly here's what we're talking about this is what this looks like uh I have had the opportunity to go out and take a look it's Unique but I think I think it's fantastic agree second uh Miss Aldridge Elise aler Deputy County attorney I would just add on to what uh commissioner campy and Mr Donald said under the law the board's um legal obligation is to approve the plat it's an administerial um it's a ministerial task by the board once the County Surveyor determines that the plat is in accord accordance with our Land Development regulations and our CL plan which I think he did in this case so then under Florida law your job is really ministerial to approve it um and like uh Mr Donaldson said this has already been reviewed to make sure it's in compliance including the setbacks with our ldrs and our comp plan that's all is there any public comment I I just must say there isn't enough information here for me to make an informed decision you know I'm used to looking at at at plats um and these These are if if this is the way that this is going to done then you have to provide more information for me to be able to understand what you're what you're proposing because just simply saying that there's a a 4 hundredth of an acre parcel doesn't give me enough information you know if there's all this specific information that's available I want it to there's a motion in a second all those in favor I I opposed opposed that motion passes for to one with commissioner herd dissenting thank you thank you Commissioners we'll take up the next item which is uh departmental quasi judicial number two which is a request for plat approval for the Newfield Crossroads Phase 1 A2 project you have any expart disclosures commissioner Vargas uh none has been filed thank you caps if I have any that they have been filed commissioner campy I filed that I had none and commissioner heatherington if any they've been filed and if any they've been filed um let's see is anybody going to if you're going to provide uh a testimony please stand and be sworn in raise your right hand do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth are there any interveners no interveners have you provided all the necessary paperwork to the clerk C by work I interning as an exity i one excellent please introduce yourself and provide staff report thank you madam chair good morning members of the board my my name is Lis agilar principal planner for the growth Management Department I'm presenting a PL application for a property owned by madami PM Beach LLC this is a request for a plat approval for New Field Crossroads Phase 1 182 Phase 1 2 includes Agricultural and farm uses including a farm operations building and related Civic space on an approximately 4.85 Acre Site the subject site is a portion of the approximately 139 Acres uh Crossroads neighborhood phase one master plan this is the project location the subject site is located Northeast of Southeast Newfield Parkway approximately 7 miles of the c23 canal in Palm City the canal will be around here and this is uh the project location with the the the new field Crossroads Phase 1 a which is the great area review of plats is not required by the local planning agency final action on this application is required by the board of County Commissioners in a public meeting the development review staff have found the application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the attached staff report staff recommends approval of the new field Crossroads phase 18 two plat and we recommend to move the board uh receive and follow the agenda item as it and its attachments including the staff report as exhibit one and would the board approve the new field Crossroads phas 1 182 plat this concludes my presentation questions for Mr agilar I I do so this is a plat for um Agricultural and Farm uses including a farm operation building and related Civic space on the this 4.85 Acre Site can you show me where the farm operation building is where the farm uses are where the agricultural uses are and where the Civic spaces are well that that is part of the uh master plan um let me see if I'm able to find it so the area that we are discussing today is this one over here uh let me see if I can uh remove the going to remove that okay so for for me to show you that I will have to show you the the master plan uh but we are here today to appro just the plat but you know uh all the information you're requesting is in the master plan uh but I can show you uh what we are discussing which is all this area over here so the plat this is a plat of one parcel it's basically a boundary plat there are no individual sites within this particular plat so it's one common area controlled by the uh mam homes so there are no individual uh lots for the farm operation or anything like that it's one parcel so it's not going to show any site criteria other than that one parcel well I beg to differ what I'm looking at is is uh they're definitely look like they're platted Lots to me can you go to the final site plan do you have that you want me to put this on the camera I see unplatted stuff around the borders but I see that there's platted stuff in inside track Canal c226 Acres track Canal uh C1 1.73 Acres 1.86 Acres of something um .13 Acres of something I don't see any Civic yeah maybe we can [Applause] have he's not really paying attention you have this site plan there you go thank you Lis okay so so there are easements and encumbrances and areas around this uh particular site but uh you can see that it's it's all for a common area use there are no individual areas that are going to be conveyed it's all part of the project um it has an event lawn space common areas common Community Gardens green houses um they're all shown on the final site plan he hasn't stated his name for the record please state your name for the record uh Peter Walden Deputy growth management director so I understand that in the last agenda item that we were plot we were plat Pro uh approving the plat because we have to in order to be able to sell Lots so if we're not selling these Lots if they're part of common property then why are we approving this plat and what exactly are we approving okay so it' be great if the uh applicant would step forward but he hasn't been sworn in right come forward yeah you'll be sworn in again but the property is being divided up and by state law if it's got been more than one lot subdivision it needs to be platted and that's why this area I believe is being platted commissioner uh mayi Paul Schilling growth management director for the record so this application is simply plotting geometry which is the land we have on the screen it is it is simply for that purpose to legally describe that area uh as you know within the Land Development regulations and platting requirements there are requirements to Plat land if you do not meet those exemptions so this is simply just a plat of the 4.85 Acres okay please swear the applicant in raise your right hand do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and can you tell me what this what we're looking at here can you scoot it over just a little bit to the left and state your name for the record Carl Albertson Madam Palm Beach LLC get over to Creek okay so this is the main entry when you come into our um our our model Center the first building you're going to see on lot two which is designated a Civic is what we call the CSA building and that is where there will be the pro produce that's offered for pickup to the residents and anyone that becomes part of the CSA membership to obtain the uh produce that's grown on the farm the area behind it is an open lawn that's going to be used for events um lot three that's designated there is basically like a demonstration garden they're basically raised beds that the on-site farmer shows on how demonstrates how to plant different types of um vegetables the building behind it is going to be the main Farm building which is currently constructed and that is going to be where the farm operations are and also provide some event space um that can be utilized by the residents then behind that we have the farm which is building number three you're going to have your farm club barn and that is basically where there's supplies um there that the residents can use everything behind this is area that residents can do their own plantings and have a little space where they can plant their vegetables and go there and tend to them get help from the farmer on how to um make sure they're growing adequately and and the rest of it is Civic is C1 and C2 just open space at this point in time okay staff Das Mr Gela the record on Michael grula the County engineer the the two sea tracks that are on there are the canal tracks for for the master drainage system which gets broken out and being be maintained by the CDD so it's they're breaking out portions of what's part of the master drainage system as opposed to what is Farm operations so that the CDD will be maintaining the the master drainage system like all Open Water Master drainage system is maintained by the CDD um and then the for operations is more of a homeowners respon responsibility okay any questions for staff or for the applicant would anyone from the public like to address US Mr Donaldson I was just going for the public CDD stands for for the information CDD stands for Community Development district and it is a a method by which the um uh The Entity pays all the property ERS within Newfield will pay for the maintenance and operation of everything owned and developed by the Community Development District thank you commissioner campy thank you madam chair having had the opportunity to go out there and see some of these buildings that are mentioned on this on this plan and how uh beautiful the project has come along this even if you're just driving by on Newfield Parkway you can see most of this from the road way um I think it's sort of a new way uh new lifestyle choice for some people the farm is like Community farming uh it's been done elsewhere I've seen this done elsewhere and I know that this was intrical to KN kiplinger's view of what he wanted for this community kind of coming together you can drive by and see the buildings they're gorgeous and I would be happy to accept make a motion to accept staff's recommendation okay was that a second yes commissioner caps I was just going to say that I uh I appreciate the fact that they have this uh big community garden I think that's a a cool change from the traditional Golf Course model for a homeowners association and nothing nothing against golf Ed I know Ed's dad was a professional golfer but but I I think the the garden concept is uh is really uh interesting and appealing and I applaud you for doing that I think it's a a nice feature any further questions yeah I just in the future please provide me with more information when we're you're asking us to approve these uh very very detailed opaque uh developments with not enough information we will I'll our Consultants do a presentation to rehash the site plan that is the basis for the flats thank you there's a motion in a second all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously thank you very much we'll take up Department one is that what's next that's Office of Management and budget items which require board approval [Music] good morning Miss merley good morning um Stephanie merley director of OMB here to present four items on the OMB item today our first item is a permission to accept the Bureau of Justice assistance um Edward burn Memorial Justice assistance grant program um this is for the Martin County Sheriff's Office um requesting the acceptance of a grant Award of $2,564 for funding to offset cost for the Martin County Sheriff's Office Traffic Unit and agricultur agricultural environmental unit and there's no cash match required on this grant our second item is a permission to accept the FY 2425 Spencer Educational Foundation summer internship grant for risk management student intern our HR and risk division is requesting the acceptance of a grant award for $7,500 to fund a student intern um which will expose young professionals to the field of governmental risk management and there is no cash match required for this grant as well item number three is a budget resolution to allocate a contribution from the coastal Conservation Association or the CCA for boy for the Boy Scout Island Shoreline project um we are in receipt of a contribution from the CCA in the amount of $50,000 um for the Boy Scout Island Shoreline project um this $50,000 will be allocated toward numerical modeling and a feasibility study to evaluate alternatives for restoration and protection of the island um we request a budget resolution and um the amendment to the CIP sheet to recognize this unanticipated Revenue stream and the last item is a request to amend the Charlie Leon Park um Capital Improvement plan or CIP sheet the Parks and Recreation Department is proposing the reallocation of some currently budgeted funds with the active Parkland impact fees and budgeted adum capital from other Parks projects that have longer project initiation schedules in order to advance the Charlie Leon Park project um we are requesting the reallocation of $600,000 that was previously allocated for multi-purpose fields at Citrus Grove Park um and also $700,000 in active Parkland funds um from the sandun CAF project that'll be redirected um it'll take at least two more years to secure all of the permits for sand Cafe and to leverage current funds um we are requesting that reallocation of that and that's all I have for you today I I have questions on the on number four on the request to amend the Charlie Leighton Park CIP and that is um tell me about the uh additional fields in the new field development when they're going to be where they're going to be what promises that they're going to be built in certain time good a good morning Kevin abti Parks and Recreation director um my understanding is the Newfield project is as Mr Donson alluded to is its own separate little function they have they required to provide the county a full master plan to meet level service requirements for the county they did have a um an impact fee credit to do that um so the funds for the funds for um the old citus Grove Park was to put an old soccer field there we have since many many years ago because this project is seven years in the making for Charlie Lon Park since 2018 we have since re um we had an old softball field over at um Lance corpal Park that we turned into a new field a new soccer field and we're accomodating the teams over there so um the the space requirements over at um citus Grove Elementary are just not conducive for another field and my understands that new Newfield has recently approached us in the last couple months they're going to be developing on top of their Newfield Park additional ball fields at their own expense on the uh the opposite side of citus Boulevard so that's in addition to their required Master their master plan that they o the county uh when are those fields going to be provided I don't I don't have a date I know that the M the the first field that they're supposed to build for Newfield complex is based on I believe it's the first after the first 100 home is uh constructed and then that will be open so it's a phased approach from what I understand because they have a they have a county a board ass signed development agreement that requires that yeah okay uh also the $700,000 from the sand dun Cafe we're going to not permit the sand dun Cafe for two years so the the cafe is fully funded for design and permitting now we are working with the design team to move through a sear construction management at risk uh model going forward so we have full design money that's not going to stop this project from being designed we have met with the design team um and Public Works is officially taking over the project on half of on behalf of the parks department so we're going to accelerate that in Le of the fire that just happened over at the the rest of the restroom facility um so we are moving as quick as we can to get those necessary permits in order which will probably take minimally 18 months because of it's it's in proximity to the Coastal Construction line in the sandun and construction money for sandun Cafe um what I intend to do is to um bring forward a a revised CIP sheet for the FY 26 budget 27 and so on so forth I'll be we'll be coming off several projects for the Parks and Recreation Capital Improvement program um we be wrapping up um Indian Riverside Park and Charlie Leon Park and other products where we can reallocate existing funds over to the CAF project as a whole because it's not only the cafe it's the it's the restroom and storage facility and the deck itself it's a kind of a combined project and I'll be bringing forth a funding strategy that will include active Parkland funds some general fund dollars some bed tax dollars for Dune crossovers I'll come up with a full program and over the next few years it'll kind of or 18 months or so it'll kind of redevelop as a funding a funded project commissioner campy thank you I just wanted to lend a little Clarity to the Charlie Leighton Park and and say thank you to Kevin and Kevin and the other folks that worked on this I actually inherited this project from commissioner D ter Lizzy when I took office originally in 2008 I still have a old yellowed uh Board of design plan of what what was supposed to take place 20 nearly 20 years ago that project that that Mr Bate was mentioning will increase boat trailer parking which is desperately needed it'll also be the next in a phased approach of rehabbing all of our boat ramps um Charlie Leon Park is a very busy boat ramp we get a lot of traffic from our neighbors to the north that it's the closest one for them to get into and before you say well you know it should be only for Martin County residents based on the grants that we've received it cannot be um we'll also be adding additional parking parks and wreck a couple of years ago did a very nice job on rehabing the Charlie Leighton Community Center uh and the restrooms there the it's been a phased approach if you're not familiar with the area it's also on the southern portion of the property where the Treasure Coast Road Club has successfully been operating out of on a smaller kind of a footprint they have hundreds of kids that utilize the program from all to schools and adults uh we're going to give a portion of the property back to them it's currently a soccer field and we have a no net loss for soccer fields uh and as Mr Abate said we have found space at Justin Wilson Park to create a multi-purpose field I think the concept in involving Newfield is more there was an original plan back in 2012 that when the baseball field facility was built at Citrus that to the north would be two additional multi-use rectangular fields that after a change in philosophy uh turned into a storm waterer retention Pond and the reason that there is a deal in the works with Newfield is the fact that when we were all out there with mrb and I and we knew that Newfield was going to need that same kind of space we were able to make a deal that allowed them to build those fields closer as as Kevin said to was Citrus now it's Newfield Parkway right across the street from where these would have been so that's a western uh Martin County Western Palm City thing the field space that is currently at Charlie Leighton Park is underutilized it's not the best use of that property from a county perspective the field will stay in place we'll put a um sort of a little Bandstand or something in the center the lights will stay in place the for many uh Palm City in particular residents they have no access to the river and that access that we've had there is is not only underutilized I think it's like not utilized at all and we're going to put uh some new boat launch there like a kayak launch and some fishing opportunities some picnic tables and a gazebo it'll take that piece of very valuable Martin County real estate and really elevate it to its best use and we have been working on this version of it for about seven or eight years and I appreciate that we are finally now uh at the doorstep of getting it done the NAC and the residents have had an opportunity to participate uh in the process and Kevin and Kevin have been very clever as they have many other times in maneuvering finances around to continue to move projects to fruition and I thank them and I'd make a motion to accept all of it especially number four commissioner Vargas hi I had um several discussions uh with director Abate and uh he assured me and he showed me um on spreadsheets and we talked it through uh that Monies would be available for the sandun cafe at the time when you can start building but that everything will continue to go forward the design as we move along closer to the 18 months so that was important you know to me also specifically because it's in district one so any further comments I I think that this this uh Charlie Leighton Park Improvement is a is a fine one but I can't just ify spending $1.3 million that were allocated to other projects in order to accomplish it because there's no way to to refund these we don't have $700,000 sitting in in uh you know some some magical fund for the sand dun Cafe so I don't know how you're going to to uh to fund sandun Cafe and I'm also not we have no guarantee that the additional uh ball fields are going to be built at uh Newfield except they said they would apparently we don't have a contract so I'm not going to support that so I would prefer that we uh divide these into one through three and then four sure I make a motion to accept one through three is there a second there's a motion in a second to approve one through three all those in favor I opposed that motion passes unanimously I make a motion to accept number four understanding and appreciating that our folks that have crunched the numbers feel that they can do it and I appreciate it there's a motion and a second all those in favor I opposed opposed that motion passes opposed that motion passes three to two with Commissioners Vargas and her dissenting thank you may I also ask that we revisit this again for it's done I mean we can put that on no we can put on a future agenda with with no discussion we're just not yes I I get that but I mean this is moving forward with design sandun Cafe so we could take another look at this as we move forward I mean if Newfield does complete its promise of building ball fields then that will take up that and also if we're pulling back on what we're going to be spending at the park in Palm City well I know that officially the these projects will appear on our Capital Improvement plan which we look at in May um I don't know if we're going to planning on looking at them anytime before then or not we've already approved the parks budget for 2025 yes Mr Donaldson I would suggest that we uh um would would review this in detail with the capital Improvement plan um or if necessary maybe shortly before we do the capital Improvement plan just to I think Mr Bate can give a an overview of the plans for the sandune cafe and some of the uh um Financial opportunities uh with their revenue stream on some of the parks projects that could help um mitigate the uh um projects approved today at at a minimum commissioner Vargas I would recommend that you get with Parks people and have them review the spreadsheet again commissioner campy just for clarity sake we approved today moving forward we're well P at least for Charlie Leighton we're well past the planning we are ready to move forward with the project and remember the boat trailer uh the boat trailer parking lot and the boat ramp is well beyond the scope of just the park it's it's a multi- uh use facility for the residents and we're moving forward with construction so that's what I meant about it being done I will Advocate strongly for the sand dun to have its funding because all of us represent every Park as you represent the Palm City Parks I help you in Jensen so when I I when I first saw the numbers being crunched I'm like oh I had a conversation with Mr Bat and and we discussed you know I don't want to rob Peter to pay Paul but we're not doing that in this case but where I don't want to think that 3 or four months from now we're going to talk about Charlie Leon again because I'm hoping in three or four months he'll come forward with a update on how far along we are with construction Mr abat how do we get this far in this with a $1.3 million deficit so Charlie Leighton Park is a capitalized project it's the the the board's CIP program for boat ramp improvements that's part of it so the charter Lon Park project that you that was approved today is the boat ramp and the park improvements and so as we as we move forward with projects and funding and we look at available funding like in this case Park impact fees was a good use of it because it's Pro it's shovel ready it's we've been working on this project for over seven years but more aggressively through all the permitting um through D and getting and we were just awarded a $585,000 fine Grant in the fall so we matched it and so and so to kind of when we got to the final project scope with the peers and The Pavilions and the gazebos and the parking and the roadway through the park um the total cost was uh 4.4 million and so when I look at the budget the total budget for uh the parks department we look at um for as example Citrus Grove funds have been sitting in there for over nine or 10 years unused untagged and and um well well knowing that Newfield is going to do something they're required to do it in their own master plan according to their development agreement um that this would be a good use of those funds and then finally with the active Park uh impact fees but to Mr doon's Point um I'm actively working on our FY 26 CIP program that will include a funding strategy for the San new Cafe and now the restroom uh replacement and I fully expect um we'll have insurance proceeds I fully expect that we'll have have more funds and impact fees as we go along each year through uh the county and and I will have a strategy for for all of our projects that we have for the parks department any further questions commissioner Vargas yes I understand uh what um director Abate has saying we talked about this because I certainly didn't want to have any money taken from sandan dun Cafe to put to a park in Palm City uh it is expensive uh the park in Palm City that's a a lot of money absolutely a lot of money um I I understand what Mr B has said that um he is taking funds that have not been used put to good use shall I say for about nine years and um allocating them elsewhere um however the funding cannot cease uh because we want to put the boat ramp and we want to expand some Fields out in Palm City um people come to Martin County for the beaches and this must be at the Forefront of our decisions and I urge everyone on this board to consider this so um we definitely can have another sit down we will and um he's very thorough and um I I found nothing that was unored that I felt that there might be something lacking I'm not so certain about Newfield though if there's not nothing written just promises then it doesn't have to be done so um according to what you you've said chair chair woman heard um so that's my statement in so far as um sand du Cafe Johnson Beach facilities yes we're going to have hopefully uh some uh insurance money that that might make a dent in the cost of uh transforming our area anything else let's break for lunch what time do we want to come back 1:30 is that good