--------- Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Good morning and welcome to our June 23rd, 2026 Board of County Commission meeting. We are delighted that you have joined us this morning. Please join us
for the invocation, which will be led by Joanne Gillespie, who's from the Humanist of the Treasure Coast, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by James Cubby. >> Good morning. As we gather today in this chamber of
public trust, we pause a moment in reflection. Two and a half centuries ago, a bold experiment in self-governance began, shaped by imperfect people striving toward enduring ideals,
liberty, justice, and the belief that power derives from the consent of the governed. These were startling notions to much of the world. This experiment in liberty, justice, and self-governance now rests, in part, in
your hands. You have been entrusted by your communities not simply to lead, but to listen, not merely to decide, but to deliberate with care and integrity. The responsibilities you carry are not
abstract. They affect lives, shape futures, and define the character of our shared civil life civic life. Therefore, may you be guided by the clear a clarity of purpose, the best interest of our communities,
even in moments of complexity and distraction. May you opt not for what is expedient, but what is right. May disagreement sharpen your thinking without dulling your respect for those who see things differently.
May you remember that public service at its best is an act of stewardship, a stewardship of our democratic principles, of our communities, and of the well-being of our diverse citizenry. Lastly, as this nation approaches its
250th anniversary, the measure of our strength will not be found in the past alone, but in the wisdom, creativity, restraint, and resolve demonstrated in rooms like this one across America.
So be it. >> Mr. Cubby. >> [clears throat] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. >> Would you like to tell us a bit about your service, sir? >> Sure, thank you. So, I [clears throat] was picked up at 2:00 a.m. in the morning on my graduation day. And I was when I get my headset,
going to accomplish something. I wanted to fly in helicopters. And so, we obviously have, you know, various armed services, but the Marine Corps was the toughest, the roughest, and so that's where I wanted to go, and that's where I went. Um
Shortly thereafter, after I got through my different schooling, next thing we had the the Gulf War. And so, it's kind of interesting. People will go into the service, I call them ribbon hunters. They're they're after fame and glory,
and then you have those that are just there to serve. Okay? And so, you find yourself in some unique situations there, and so it was Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Desert Calm. And then I thought, well, okay. So, out of my 8-year enlistment, so 6 years
active, found myself then being deployed to Somalia. Not once, not twice, but three times. Not a place I recommend anybody go visit. And then we did a few other operations
there, and then uh over the years, um worked my way into a training squadron. So, I was with a light attack helicopter squadron. So, so Marine Corps light air, so the Huey gunships and the Cobra attack
helicopters, and um there's some harsh conditions out there. It takes a lot, um a lot of time, effort, resources to keep the equipment functioning uh we can perform our missions. So, that's what I
did over that span of of time. Um And so, there was time that there were places where time literally would stand still. And there were times to where it was like almost like it was going too fast, right? But, uh but I loved loved every
minute of it. So, so thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you FOR YOUR SERVICE. >> [applause] [applause] >> THANK YOU. >> WE HAVE UH THREE PRESETS TODAY. At 9:05, we'll have public comment. At 2:00, we will have an operations facility
presentation. At 5:05 or at the end of our meeting, we'll have public comment. There are two additional items today. Consent 13 is an update on election precincts at the request of the Martin County Supervisor of Elections. Uh department seven is a presentation regarding Martin County operations
facility. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> I'll move approval of the agenda. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. We'll now take up public comment beginning with Charlie
Bartholomew followed by Holly Merrill Rashi- Rasheen. >> Well, they're on their way up. Uh since we are in election season, politicking is prohibited, which is defined as advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for public office, either
partisan or non-partisan. This includes the use of words, dates, signs, props, and or wearing apparel that convey a message of support for a person or group of persons. You'll have 3 minutes. At 2 minutes and 45 seconds in, there will be a buzzer, but that means you have 15
seconds to wrap up. Thank you. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, Commissioners. Ladies and gentlemen, um I'm here to represent the applicant, Lisa Copeland, who's not able to be here this morning. Her daughter got released from the hospital last night.
Hopefully everything's okay, but as a mom, she she's taking care of her today and wishes you to know that she's still working hard to correct some little mistakes in communication
regarding the crane and other such things, but they've been removed. Uh we're actively uh looking to find homes and clear the dock and do what we can to make the following interface between the county
and the state work. And uh I know Commissioner Campi rightly pointed out a couple weeks ago, I think, that this is not the place for this type of uh situation, and I couldn't agree with you more. Uh but having said all of that, I would
just simply say that uh communication and the breakdown of and then the nonexistence of communication is pretty much the hallmark of this particular problem. And it's to me that I see it as completely an interdepartmental
situation. Uh there wasn't a motivation to study the problem, to review the history of the problem, to review the uh black and white comments from the DEP twice in two two visits.
And uh it started so well, you know, they were they were given their opportunity. It was a storm-damaged dock, and they were given a permit and a second permit. Got whacked again by Milton, which really uh did a number on Florida in
general because of Cat looking right at Tampa, but the dryer and all that energy went everywhere without any type of pattern at all. Took another hit on the dock. But the long story short is is is that
even at the closing uh Maddie Cain he says you buy the dock, you buy the house. They go together. The history was there. The interface was there. The comments all pointed out to it and actually
uh that's really uh the small problem which has become a 5-year problem uh due to finances, due to um no comment, non-comments from departments.
But I would like to thank John Galondo and his assistant Rachel um for their professionalism, their cooperation. They requested uh literature, documents, we provided them. I believe at this point they're in front
of all the eyes that would be uh necessary in reviewing it and making a determination. So we are standing by. Uh we are going to hope that it can be worked out um in the meeting and >> Sir, sir, you have 15 seconds.
>> Okay. Well, that's all I have to say and I just hope that uh uh as when the next meeting comes we've made more positive progress cuz I think I think we all want the same thing. We want to keep it beautiful in that part of Palm City. Thank you all.
>> Thank you. Holly Merrill Reshine is next followed by James Crocker. >> Good job, Madam Chair. You got my name right. >> So good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners. I'm Holly Merrill Reshine. I am director of Florida
Government Relations for AshBritt and I also have the pleasure of serving as a county commissioner in Monroe County. >> Welcome to the >> I'm here on agenda item 26-0591, the debris removal awards under RFP 2026-3769.
First, thank you. AshBritt has been Martin County's debris removal partner since 2006, 20 years, through hurricanes Matthew, Irma, and Milton. And we hold this board and your staff in high regard. We also
support community programs like Keep Martin Beautiful and the United Way of Martin County. We are not here to criticize your team, no way, or the other firms. As someone who sits on a board like yours, I don't write raise these issues
lightly, but I'd be doing a disservice if I stayed quiet. Our concern is straightforward. The evaluation appears to have departed from the rules this RFP set for itself and it was decided a contract by just 1.1
points. Three things stand out. First, the RFP says the highest ranked firm is determined by a tally of first-place rankings. The tally was never done. The committee averaged raw scores instead, a
different method than the one published. Second, the committee was instructed on the record to score only what is in the proposals. Yet one evaluator lowered AshBritt's past performance score based on their own outside experience with us.
And that score was a five-point outlier from the other four evaluators who scored us 14 and 15. Third, the committee credited the two recommended firms for using a docu- documentation system that appears just once in the entire RFP and only as a
contract term, not a scoring criterion. While AshBritt, which described that same capability, received no such credit. And on availability, your local home-based incumbent AshBritt scored lower than an out-of-state firm.
Each issue by itself is small. Together, on a 1.1 margin, they are decisive. So, we respectfully ask that the board not approve this item today. The RFP reserves your right to require presentations or interviews, and we
would welcome that opportunity. Exercising that right will allow the committee to speak to each contractor and finalize their first-place rankings in accordance with the RFP. Short of that, we ask that you return the proposals for re-scoring under the method the RFP
requires, or cancel and re-issue, so that every firm competes on clear, consistent rules. This is not about AshBritt winning. It's about public confidence that Martin County followed its own process. Thank you for your time and for your
service to this beautiful community. >> Thank you. James Crocker is next, followed by Jim Moyer. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. >> I'm here this morning to represent the taxpayers of Martin County. I speak on their behalf, I being one of them.
What this commission has done with respect to the approval of a $74 million construction project is so outrageous, I struggle for words to describe it. You, the taxpayer, you should go to chat GPT, Claude,
Google, whatever you use to do your research, and make this about the numbers, not about emotion. >> [snorts] >> Make this about the numbers, not about the legality. When I've approached commissioners about this, they say, "Well, what we've done
is within the confines of the law." To which my immediate response was, "Just because it's legal to jump off the Roosevelt Bridge, doesn't mean you should." And what you have done in this project, you can be my friends, but you'll no
longer be my commissioners. The going rate for construction, I know a construction company in Palm City, MJD Construction, just built 230,000 square feet for Mr. Sands, and did it at $70 a square foot, not counting earthwork.
And yet, your commissioners voted to spend $74 million for 114,000 square feet. $649 a square foot. >> Sir, address your comments to the board. >> It should be reversed.
I've already raised $30,000 in a legal fund to legally fight this. But I as a taxpayer should not have to fight it. It should have been your decision-making and the invocation this morning. She said public trust, the public trust
has officially been broken. Some people are suggesting corruption. It can only be corruption or incompetence. It's not corruption because I know each of you personally, and I know that you're of the most honest type and would never receive a
dollar of corruption. But this is incompetence. And by the way, past instances of incompetence because when I went and met with some people here, they said, "Well, we spent this much money on this project and this much money on the other project, and this is kind of in line." Past instances
of incompetence are no defense to the current instance. I would kindly ask that if there is any remedy that you guys do the work on on the part of Martin County taxpayers. Not only no bid,
no bid. No bids. You just signed up and unsolicited proposal. I don't know. I guess that would be like me receiving an unsolicited proposal for a new 85-ft Jim Smith sport fisher boat.
Somebody must have been soliciting. Somebody somewhere had to know that these people were Anyway, it reeks and it's not even a local contractor. Thank you, Eileen Burgess, for being the lone dissenting vote against this travesty of public trust.
And I'm hoping the tax taxpayers and voters will not miss it. >> Sir, your time is up. >> [applause] >> YEAH. FOR THE FOLKS JUST TO FOR MY FRIEND, MR. CROCKART, 2:00 today we are having a full explanation with all of our staff,
an agenda item just like you would asked for, another vetting of the process, all of the experts, all of the people that made the decisions, the full entire process will be discussed today at 2:00. >> Jim Moyer is next followed by Frank McChrystal. Good morning.
>> Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Jim Moyer. I'm a resident of Rocky Point. I'm here today because I don't know what the procedure is to get a proclamation. What I would like you to do is to consider proclaiming July as mangrove month.
Mangroves are an incredibly important species to our area, to the state of Florida, to our resilience, to the way we live our lives. They're a foundational species that deserves the recognition. July 26th is UNESCO's
um international mangrove day. Um that would be appropriate if we could designate that as mangrove day in Martin County. I can't think of a species that's more important to the our way of life in this community and in this part of
coastal Florida. It's an incredibly valuable thing that that we're losing a lot of. Red mangroves seem to be growing further and further north, but there are lots of diseases, there are lots of people that are not respecting them and taking them out. And our shorelines are being
bulkheaded all the time. And this this species deserves our respect and our care. And I think it's appropriate to designate July as mangrove month. I hope you'll do that. Thank you. >> I agree with you. I would like for July to be designated as mango mangrove
month. >> [laughter] >> Could be mango too. >> be mango too. >> Mangrove and to have it >> Mangrove. >> I think that's a terrific idea. Thank you. >> We can celebrate our our specimen tree. We have the state designated black mangrove there. >> Black mangrove that is just gorgeous at
Jonathan Dickinson Island, but also there are a bunch of big huge black mangroves down on Jupiter Island that are just gorgeous. >> I voted for our our county flag to be the mangrove, but wasn't successful. >> Selfish and mangrove are tough ones.
>> [laughter] >> Thanks. Thanks. >> Frank McChrystal is next followed by Sabrina Stewart. >> Wow. I didn't know how chill I really was until a few minutes ago. >> Yeah.
>> Thank you, Lord, for this day and thank you for all those who served and sacrificed so that I may have this freedom of speech. In 1998, runway 1238 was them was illegally extended 460 ft in order to allow bigger and bigger private jets to take off with a full
tank. It was extended using faulty documentation. By acts of omission, staff recommendations to county commissioners were improper and possibly illegal. The 1230 extension did not include required federal environmental impact studies, which were bypassed by
relying on faulty documentation and improper statements made to local, state, and federal officials. The runway 12/30 extension violated federal air regulations by having departure and approach runway protection zones extend into existing residential
neighborhoods, which is a flagrant safety violation and prohibited by federal regulations. A portion of the YMCA athletic fields built in 2000 is also in the runway protection zone. The 12/30 extension immediately turned
our once quiet town into a dirty, filthy pit stop for the global elites. This sad part of our history was proven to be true in 2011 when EMAS was required to be installed because 12/30 did not meet the FAA's minimum required minimum criteria for
runway protection zones. The FAA approved the Windham noise compatibility study in 2004. The noise contour study was done over a 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. The noise contour map produced in the fake effort
for noise mitigation is null and void in my opinion. I was there at the golf course watching every jet. Instead of taking off at a normal 45 degrees balls to the wall safest way to take off, okay? They all used the whole
weekend 4 days of short field take off where they go up like a jet and keep all the noise over the center of the airport and then they limped out of town. So, they the original noise contour map is not even right. Okay? >> [snorts] >> Now, would you believe
would you believe the global elites don't give a rat's glutius about the center of our community? The major part part of the noise mitigation plan was a rerouting of all jet traffic over the rivers as soon as possible. You river greenies are nothing but
hypocrites for allowing this. About 1/3 of Witham proper at this point does not put jets in the sky. It has other uses. Tell the FAA we're just fine and we'll do what we want with our airport. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Sabrina Stewart is next followed by Missy Harris. >> Good morning, distinguished members of our commission. >> Can you pull that down a little bit for you? Perfect. >> My name's Sabrina Stewart. I was born
and raised in this county and many of these names that I see up here today are names that I personally have checked off to represent our community. I'm a registered nurse and I love volunteering in our community. I volunteer with the Ten City Helpers and just a couple weeks
ago I was on CBS 12 News for the House of Hope for their Feed the Need campaign. I'm here in regards to Ten City Helpers. I wanted to come and speak to you and talk to you about the unhoused in our community. I've heard so
many derogatory names, the homeless, the home bombs, strangers, people we don't know, but I see neighbors. I don't see outsiders. I see people that are members of our community, people that work here,
go to school here, people that grew up in this county just as I have. How many of us in this room today are one paycheck away from being their neighbor? I see the man that had a traumatic brain
injury. He's now living under our bridge. He's not on drugs or alcohol. He got hurt. His head was hit. I see veterans without anywhere to go. Our veteran facility is beautiful, but it is full. I see a grandma with everything
she owns in a car. She lost her home because of the rising rent costs. I see domestic violence survivors. They have nowhere to go because our facilities also are full. >> [snorts] >> I just saw somebody that came out of our
local hospital, had surgery on their neck, and they have nowhere to go and are staying in a tent in a neck collar. It's shameful. It's people like you and me with nowhere to go. They were one
paycheck away, and now look where they are. The unhoused is just not simply a drug or alcohol addict. As a nurse, I see this as a final symptom of somebody with unmet needs. Rising rent costs, medical
crisis, job loss, a crisis in their family, one devastating event away from living in the woods. I ask us all to look beyond the stereotypes of the individuals. I ask us to see the human beings.
We all deserve dignity, compassion, and opportunity to rebuild our lives. Today, I ask our community to consider these people, how much they could do in our community if they're given the resources to face their greatest challenges. Thank
you for your time and your commitment. As a nurse, I personally have discharged people with nowhere to go, and it breaks my heart. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Missy Harris is next, followed by Angela
Harrison Good morning. >> Morning. >> I'm back again. >> Good. >> I wanted to tell you more about why we need to insert back again so help me God in the oath.
And now it says, "Do you affirm to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" And it should have so help me God at the end. And you've And it's been deleted. My desire and my assignment is to see
Martin County thrive and be blessed. To do this, it all depends on whose law we follow. Do you see for For me, God is the one I follow. I believe that he's in charge. He
creates life, and his ways are always the best. The Bible is America's manual. It was the foundation of the Constitution. Every president said this oath.
Someone in Martin County decided to delete it from the oath. I'm asking for it to be reinstated. I'm not asking why was it deleted, but I'm asking for it to be put back in. The city adds it,
the county does not. This is my third time asking for it to be put on the agenda, if that's what it takes. Cuz a free and just society must begin with faith in the one true God.
This is in the Constitution. Why was it taken out of our swearing of the oath for the builders and the developers? In Martin County, the courthouse doesn't even say it. And years ago, I remember them holding up a Bible
and saying, "Would you repeat after me? Do you swear to tell the whole truth and but the truth, so me God?" So, when the president of the United States declared one nation under God back to be
in America, he knows we need God back in this country. Our Constitution was written for a free, just society to have faith in the one true God.
The original intent of our Constitution was for the people to run the country, not the government. Deleting God takes it out. Our freedoms are gone. So, please restore it back.
We need the it to be reinstated. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Angela Harrison is next, followed by Justin Ducasse. >> Good morning, everyone. >> Good morning. >> Thanks again for giving me the
opportunity to speak. I hope everyone's doing well. Um I really don't have much >> One second. One Something's with that microphone. >> Awesome. Good morning, everyone. Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to speak. Um
I just kind of want to take today to recognize Gail. Um our director's going to try not to get emotional, but she's leaving us and we have about 35 volunteers and we've
all stepped up to continue to keep Tent City Helpers going. Um I just think it's a beautiful organization. She's carried it on for 8 years. I'm privileged to be a part of taking over the warehouse um as manager
and continuing the services that we provide. Um I really do encourage you guys to come out with us on a Monday just to kind of understand and get a feel of what the people are. We have a lot of um homeless people that have cars. They do have jobs.
And um it would just be great for us to find a way to help them kind of get that next step of having housing. Um maybe even possibly finding somewhere where they can park their cars at night and be safe and not
you know, have to be harassed by the police. And I hate to say harassed because I don't want to degrade anybody's job at all. I understand they're doing their job. Um I don't know what we can do to kind of get it on the agenda.
But that's hopefully my next step for us to possibly get it onto the agenda. I'm going to continue to try to come up with solutions for you guys just to kind of help. I know your schedules are very, very busy and you have more than enough things to take care of. So, I'll continue to do my due
diligence. But if we could possibly please just get it on the agenda so we kind of start talking about resolutions, you know. Um like I said, a lot of them have jobs. I mean, a lot of them have gotten jobs since I've been with the organization at
the beginning of the year. And I'm just it's it's a proud moment to see them still continue to strive to try to be, you know, productive citizens of the county. And I mean, them
just taking that initiative, I think we could kind of give them the next initiative or or whatever step to kind of give them housing. We have housed two families so far this year. Um I believe since last year we've housed six vets.
And I know about three or four people that we've housed so far this year. And I mean they're very appreciative. Um thanks. Thank you. Guys have a wonderful day. Stay blessed. >> Thank you. Justin Ducasse is next followed by Gary Earler. Mr. Earler is the last request
to speak form. If you would like to speak to us, please fill out a request to speak form and hand it [clears throat] to the bailiff. Good morning. >> Hey, good morning. All right. Um So uh
I think like one of the best ways to go uh about like this whole like housing thing or like a place to sleep is I feel like House Bill 1365 needs to be like amended or changed
to like specify if like the county like doesn't have like a shelter >> [clears throat] >> or like a designated area what happens then? And then I think like that would solve like a lot of the problems, you know, so
we don't have to build something that's crazy expensive or something like that. Um and I don't know if it's in like you guys' power to do so. I'm not sure, but um I think like
that power like lies like with like the senator or um I can't think of like their name right now. But um Yeah, so I just wanted to like lay that down on like the table that we could also change the law.
That's option, too. You know what I'm saying? So um Thank you, guys. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Gary Erler is next, and that's the last request to speak for him I have. >> You got a lot of ice cream shirts. >> [laughter] >> I got I got I got one for every day of
the month. Morning, Commissioners. Thank you for allowing me the time to speak. Um I brought this up at our NAC meeting uh under the CRA property improvement program and the grants that are awarded. Um how
is it that we taxpayers can find can fund improvements to a property only to have that property put on the market and sold with our tax dollars that actually funded part of the improvement um and reimbursement not required. I understand it's part of the
SHIP programs uh policy that if it's sold in a certain amount of time, I'm not sure what it is. I haven't researched that far. But, if it was 20% a year all the way down. Um I spoke I had the consensus of the NAC
board. I spoke yesterday at the CRA. I had the consensus and a lot of head nods from the from the CRA board, and I would ask a consensus of this board um basically it'd be a paragraph added to the application that in fact if it was
sold within your determined time frame. 5 years is enough. It could go to 80% of the money, 60, 40, 20, and then after 5 years we're legit, but we did have an applicant in Port Salerno that did receive the money
um and now the property's for sale. They're moving and building a new building, so that that would be my suggestion. Thank you. >> Thank you. Commissioner Campy. >> Yes, I have seen Mr. Erler make that presentation at the NAC. I watched him
yesterday do it at the CRA. I I agree with him that the CRA members looked to agree that that was a good strategy. Uh his point that he was trying to make is they have a program that certain local businesses can receive some additional funds to enhance
their property and I think it's it's a good strategy that if they do accept those funds that there be some kind of a time [clears throat] frame that they can't then sell the building or the business uh either without paying back the money that they borrowed and I like his idea
of a percentage decrease uh or pay it back. Uh and the time frame is appropriate but the to be able to receive that cash and then very quickly, maybe it had nothing to do with them selling the business but it looks like it did or at least it enhanced their ability to sell
the business or to receive the dollar amount that they got. I would agree with that and I think it's it's a CRA decision but I think we I would tell staff to begin the process of adding in that language. Thank you. >> Do we have some
Do we have some agreement with the commissioner's statement that we would bring back an item? >> I agree. So, would you please repeat that again, what they're inserting? >> And and I'll uh re- paraphrase what I believe the the request is is that for
um there be a policy created um for those business grants that are awarded in the CRA that um that if the property is sold within a certain period of time, they must reimburse
um the the grant and it may be a sliding scale but staff would have to come back with a um some definition to of how that works and I would suggest that staff would look at other communities if there's some examples um that might follow. >> So, do we have a [clears throat] a
definitive time frame or who's working on that. >> There There is no definitive time frame other than the suggestion that if a property is sold within a period of time that the the CRA should be in revert
reimbursed for that grant. I think it would require us to explore the nature of the grant. For instance, if it was a minor improvement something as paint worth is something maybe structural. I'm not as familiar with all the grants that have been awarded, but I think the
the purpose of the direction was to develop a some criteria that could [clears throat] be considered for amending our grant program requiring a reimbursement. >> I understand that, but who is going to make that determination what the time frame is? >> The CRA
>> The Board of County Commissioners would make it or the CRA. And I think that would be with you know So that's the direction I understand it. We would not proceed on even exploring it if I don't have at least three commissioners saying
please explore that county administrator. >> To bring back criteria. >> To bring back criteria. My My suggestion was not to give you the criteria is that and that it should go through the proper channels start with the CRA through how they made decisions in the past and then it eventually would come
here, but as the gentleman followed the proper procedure he started in the NEC, he went to the CRA, then he came here. I think we should follow the proper procedure. I'm not giving you the language. I'm just giving a head nod that that's a good idea. >> Mr. Capps >> I would prefer just to have an agenda
item on the matter and to hear from staff's perspective. We're not making any decisions here, right? >> No no, just whether or not I should employ staff time to investigate and bring an item back. >> Okay. >> I'm good with that.
Thank you. >> Okay, we're going to take up proclamations. The first proclamation is a proclamation recognizing National Mosquito Control Awareness Week in Martin County. >> Good morning, Commissioners. Proactive mosquito control and community
awareness efforts help protect public health, excuse me, enhance quality of life, support outdoor recreation and tourism, and contribute to a healthier, more comfortable environment for all. Martin County recognizes the valuable work of public health professionals, mosquito control specialists, [cough]
community [clears throat] partners, and volunteers engaged in reducing mosquito habitat, educating the public, and applying safe, science-based mosquito control methods. June 21st through the 27th is recognized as National Mosquito Control Week, and the board expresses appreciation to all members of this
important industry for their contributions. And here to accept we have Roxanne Bodelaire, mosquito control manager. >> Want to go that easy? >> Yeah, go ahead. >> Well, thank you, Laura. You pretty much just summed up everything I had to say, [laughter] but on behalf of the mosquito
team, thank you for adopting this proclamation. Thank you. >> Of course. >> Bring your team up. >> Everybody gets Perfect. All right. 1 2 3 1 2 3
>> Thank you. Thank you. >> The next proclamation is a proclamation declaring July 2026 as Parks and Recreation Month in Martin County, Florida. Parks and recreation programs are an integral part of communities throughout this country and encourage physical activities by providing space for
sports, hiking trails, swimming pools, and other pursuits designed to promote active lifestyles. During July, recognized as Parks and Recreation Month, the board acknowledges the benefits derived from Parks and Recreation resources, commends the department's work, and encourages citizens to take advantage of the amenities and programs offered in Martin
County. And obviously here to accept we have Kevin Abate, director of Parks >> Uh Kevin Abate, Parks Director, Jessica Ballas, a Deputy Parks Director and soon-to-be retired this Friday Assistant Director Todd Faust. We'll talk about that at the end. Um July is Parks and
Recreation Month and now Mangrove Month um and gives us a great opportunity to celebrate [clears throat] something uh that we all take for granted sometimes. This uh spaces and programs that truly define the quality of life uh here in Martin County. With 75 parks and beaches across the county, from our
clean, safe, and welcoming shorelines to our well-maintained boat ramps that support that support both recreation and local tourism, our park system plays a vital role in keeping our community active, connected, and thriving. Martin County Parks and Recreation continues to make a meaningful impact across all
generations. Through more than two decades of partnership with the Children's Services Council, we proud we are proud to provide no-cost programs to ensure that every child and family has access to safe, enriching opportunities. Each year, hundreds of children benefit from
our after-school, our out-of-school, and summer camp programs, giving them a safe place to learn, grow, and stay active. We are also helping building uh life skills that last a lifetime. Our aquatics programs teach children to swim, an essential skill here in
Florida, of course, while creating opportunities for young people to enter the workforce. Over the past decade, we have employed thousands of teens and youths, often providing their very first summer job as a foundation of future success. Youth sports remain a cornerstone of our
efforts with participation exceeding 12,000 kids, a testament to the demand for our structured healthy activities that bring families together. We've also seen tremendous community engagement with over 364 permitted special events, and we welcomed over
46,500 attendees to our parks and public spaces. For our active adult and senior population, we've delivered over 30 programs serving more than 2,500 participants, along with athletic leagues that have drawn over 18,500
participants, reinforcing that recreation is truly lifelong. Parks and recreation are more than amenities. They are essential services that strengthen our community, support our economy, and enhance everyday life for our residents.
We're proud of the work being done, and we remain committed to expanding access and maintaining excellence, and continuing to serve Martin County with programs and spaces that everyone can enjoy. Finally, I would like to recognize and congratulate Todd Faust, right behind
me, for over 15 years of dedicated service to Martin County. His commitment and contributions have made a lasting impact in our community, and we thank him for his years of service. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> I THINK HE WAS JUST NOW YOU HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING. >> YES, TODD.
>> [laughter] [clears throat] >> Good morning. Todd Faust. >> The mic is on. >> For the record. I want to thank the commission for their support, as well as Don and George, and the department directors and staff over
the past 15 years of my career. Especially Kevin Abbatte, our parks director, for his leadership, guidance, and support uh over the last 20 years uh and spanning both Broward and Martin counties. So, uh thank you. It's been a
been an honor and a privilege to serve this community and to be a part of this community over the last 15 years. >> CONGRATULATIONS. >> THANK YOU. >> [applause] [clears throat] >> DO A PICTURE. >> THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
AND THANK YOU. >> HE'S going to Michigan Friday. >> We're going to miss you. >> He's going to be a snowbird. He's still going to live in Palm City half the year. >> [clears throat] >> The next proclamation is a proclamation declaring National Garden Week in Martin County, Florida.
Gardeners seek to add beauty, splendor, fragrance, and nutrition to our lives through the growing of herbs, vegetables, foliage, and flowers. And gardening provides a productive activity for our citizens, promotes a healthy lifestyle that lasts a lifetime, helps reduce stress, and teaches that rewards can come from diligent efforts. During
National Garden Week, June 2nd through the 8th, the board acknowledges the importance of gardening and the numerous contributions gardeners make to our community. Here to accept we have the chair of the National Garden Week Committee for the Garden Club of Stuart, Linda Sarubbi. >> Yes.
Good morning. I am Linda Sarubbi of the Garden Club of Stuart. As chair of National Garden Week, I'd like to thank the commissioners and express our sincere appreciation for this proclamation honoring National Garden Week held in June each year.
Gardeners and garden club nationwide take this time to celebrate the art of nurturing and beautifying our environment. Here in Stuart, we place creative arrangements in each of Martin County's six libraries and include
education material regarding the plants and flowers used in each arrangement. Bookmarks, as well as information on the benefits of participating in the Garden Club of Stuart, are provided as handouts. Photos of our displays at the library
can be found on our Facebook page. The mission of the Garden Club of Stuart has always been to educate the public about the rewards of gardening, rewards both to oneself and to others, rewards such as community pride and
conservation. Gardening also promotes both mental and physical health, such as mindfulness and physical exertion. When we garden together, we cultivate beauty, connection, and a brighter future.
Thank you, Commissioners. >> Thank you. >> [applause] [clears throat and cough] >> Thank you. Thank you. >> And our last proclamation is a proclamation recognizing June 19th, 2026 as Juneteenth Freedom Day in Martin County,
Florida. >> Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the abolition of slavery in the United States and the emancipation of African-American slaves recognizing the successes gained through education and greater opportunity. Union soldiers landed at Galveston,
Texas on June 19th, 1865 with news that the war had ended and the enslaved were now free. Celebration of June 10th remind us reminds us of the precious promises of freedom, equality, and opportunity which are the core of the American dream. To that end, the board
recognizes June 19th, 2026 as June June 10th Freedom Day. And I don't believe I saw Ms. Dooley come in, so we will accept it on her behalf and get it to her. >> [cough] [clears throat] >> Next, we'll take up commissioner
comments. Commissioner Hetherington. >> [cough] >> Yes. Oh. Be brief today and I mentioned this, Ms. Harris has been here, I don't know if she's still here, three times. And I would like to ask Ms. Elder if that is
adding so help me God back into the oath, is that a simple um motion from the commission or is that an ordinance change? >> No, that's just a motion from the commission. >> make a motion to add so help me God into the oath. >> And I third it.
>> There's a motion and a second. Any objections? That motion passes unanimously. >> THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> TOO BAD SHE'S NOT SHE DEPARTED. She's not here. >> She'll She'll find out. That's all I have today. Thank you. >> Mr. Campy.
>> Thank you, ma'am. Um we have music in the park once a month in Palm City at the patio Palm City place. We don't do July and August for [clears throat] fear that the rain and the weather is just too difficult to plan around. Uh June is also too difficult to plan
around. Last Saturday, we had absolutely monsooned in Palm City, but all of the participants were willing to come again this Saturday, the 27th, so we will try one more time for our June music in the park. It's on
Mapp Road, just north of the Palm City fire station. We have food trucks. [clears throat] Uh it's for all ages, kids, grandparents. Um it's a great time to get out and meet your neighbors. We feature local musicians of all different types. Each month is something different. So, if uh
if one month is not your style, uh the next month it might, but it's also a great time to meet neighbors, for kids to get away from uh laptops and iPads and phones. Uh it's a lot of fun. You can picnic. You can buy food from our local restaurants, or you can use our food
trucks. It's a lot of fun. Uh hopefully, we'll see what the weather will bring us this Saturday. Uh you can look at the Chamber's Facebook page or the county's Facebook page to see if at the last minute. We try as hard as we can to make the decision at the last moment.
Uh we have a great um musician from Jensen Beach that will be performing this Saturday. So, um I would like to invite you all to come. And then finally, just briefly, um I try to highlight, you know, there's people that sadly pass away in our community all the time, but every once
in a while there's a pillar. Uh and recently, Bob Burson, who has been involved in our community for decades and decades, the Kiwanis Club and all sorts of other organizations, quietly did remarkable work on behalf of our community. He's a lawyer. He He
represented a lot of not-for-profits uh pro bono. Uh he served on many boards, the Keep Martin Beautiful board in particular. He was one of their founding members. Uh and uh all of our respect and condolences to his wife and family and
those that called him a friend. So, uh Bob Burson, rest in peace. >> He will be missed. >> Thank you. >> Mr. Kaps. >> Last week we had a joint meeting between the school board, the city of Stuart,
and the village of Indiantown. And there were about 12 or 15 public speakers who came forward calling for a new community pool in Martin County. Apparently, there are just one or two of them right
now. The one at Martin County High School, which has fallen into disrepair and has been kind of patched up. And then the one at Sailfish Splash. But apparently, there's great demand for
an additional public pool. Uh The advocates made rather compelling arguments about the demand for for the need and the need for this and how we need to be teaching our kids how to swim
and to avoid drownings. And I thought their comments were quite impactful. I just wanted to acknowledge them today cuz I think they're going to be continuing to build the case for the need for this.
And and I wanted to thank them for their concerns about child safety. And to let them know that I would be interested in discussing it further and publicly uh after we know the results of the
proposed tax referendum. I think that could be a a very uh large influence on what we have resources to do after that [clears throat] referendum is is dealt with. But I just really wanted to just to acknowledge them today,
bring a little attention to their concerns since there were so many of them and since they had a rather compelling case to make. >> Thank you. Commissioner Vargas. >> Yes, I was at that meeting also and I just want to bring some information here
that uh in speaking with Superintendent uh and he did say this last time that the district has invested more than 315,000 dollars in recent upgrades including depth markings, improved ADA access, rescue equipment, a springboard
guardrail linear determination bars, filtration system repairs, and upgraded disinfection system along with a full review of the electrical distribution system. The The bathroom areas were also renovated and the entire facility received fresh paint. So, it's not in
disrepair. It is open. But, like other district facilities uh including gyms, fields, athletic spaces, the pool is available for community use when it doesn't interfere with other school activities or the district's primary purpose of serving students in
our county. I had swim lessons when I was a child. I'm a Florida native. Um graduated all the way to uh the Red Cross uh life saving and of course scuba diver.
Um the thing is that the pool is open specifically during window times. It does offer access in the early mornings, evenings, and on weekends. We do have a pool. It is functioning. We put a lot of money into it.
But, depending on the request, the group requesting can bring a certified lifeguard or use one provided by the district for an hourly fee, but you also need the custodial support, and you also need security, and that
will be billed separately. Now, >> [clears throat] >> pools are not inexpensive, and my heart goes out to those that have lost loved ones. However, we are being redundant on requesting a
pool when we do have vouchers that are available, and I did verify this again. I do my homework before coming. The Boys & Girls Club, Children's Services Council, the Health Department, the YMCA,
and the thing is that you can request the vouchers for private swim schools also. So, we have the means. We've already put our dollars behind this, and to just say, "Well, let's just build another pool." We have Sailfish Splash
also. However, despite of the fact that it's a wonderful pool, we are losing money there. >> Oh, no. >> 224,000 Yes, we are. 224,626 last year, and this year so far $378,112.
This is big bucks for us at this point. So, I think we we should ask respectfully for this group to look at what is available here in Martin County to help those that want to learn to swim. These are our tax dollars that come from
the state also. I've enumerated them, and very happy to speak with anybody who wants to get more information on this. >> Mr. Donaldson. >> I'll be there. >> Ms. Elder. We will take up now our consent agenda.
There are two consent pools. The first one is consent five, and the second one is consent six. Is there somebody here who can take up the discussion on consent five? >> [clears throat] >> Can I go ahead and comment on that?
>> Sure. >> Yeah, I pulled this one. And I have concerns about the fact that we only have one applicant for the value adjustment board position and that we cannot tell from the application how long this person has lived in Martin
County and how long uh she has owned homestead property in Martin County. And I think that's really important for the value adjustment board that someone have local knowledge of real estate and its value.
Um especially when you're dealing with disputes as to the value of property. And I spoke to the clerk of the court who has oversight over the value adjustment board. She said there's no urgency to fill this position. So I would make a motion that we
continue this item until we can get clarification on this issue and or until we can get additional applications. >> Second. >> Any further discussion? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, I. Opposed? That motion passes
unanimously. I'll re-solicit for applicants. Thank you. And now we'll take up consent six which is the Business Development Board 2025 annual report submittal. Mr. Stokus. >> Good morning, ma'am chair. George
Stokus, assistant county administrator for the record. Uh before you today is the the consent poll. Within this, this is the annual report submission required by the BDB's contract. Um to be brief, uh basically all the attachments are there including their
audit, their annual report, and I believe their financials. The BDB is not requesting additional funds for next budget year. Um and so we're more than happy to answer any questions, comments, or concerns. Mr. William Corbin, the executive director, CEO, I apologize.
See, I can never executive director is here to also assist in answering any questions. >> Good morning, Mr. Corbin. >> Good morning. >> Commissioner Vargas. Yeah, I I had a lot of questions about your budget here. Um we spoke to you last year about this and we said we cannot
continue to fund this. This is seems like a great opportunity for lots of folks to have a good time. Um and I say that because the salaries are very high. You also have
outside services of 121,000 and change. That's a lot of money. A lot of money. In addition to that, business appreciation luncheon, $52,000. >> Yes, ma'am. That's our annual business
>> that, but $52,000? Um there's a host of other expenses here which I won't go into at this moment. Now, I asked I asked Mr. Stokas and I also asked the director of the
airport. Somebody who receives a nice salary as you do, sir. You put them on a plane to Paris. I've been to Paris. I know Paris very well. It's not an inexpensive city nor an inexpensive trip.
This is very flamboyant. This is wasteful. You know, we are a small county. We're a small county. That's under 200,000 people. We have another entity here in Martin County that also does the same
thing that you do. So, I I I really quite don't understand what it is that you're doing that is different. I I think you two ought to marry each other. I do. That is the Economic Council of Martin County. We don't give them money.
And if you're economically in tune, you should be able to raise funds from those that support you. I have a whole list of your leadership team that have businesses and know business owners. I can do the math with you. They want to give you $5,000 and you
want half a million dollars, how much would that be? How many people would you have to touch? Do the math. It's not that many people if they support you. We are in an era of belt-tightening. We can no longer afford to support this.
Now, somebody wants to go have lunch or have a wonderful meal, that's fine. I will never stand in the way. Commissioner Kapps is on your board or he's on your committee, that's fine. But we cannot afford to do this anymore. You were told
last meeting Chairwoman Hurd and myself were the one that spoke to you about this. You haven't done anything except come with your hand out again. So, why is that? >> So, one of our overarching goals at the BDB, um
you know, if if you boil it down, is to exist uh assist existing businesses um and entrepreneurs connect with resources to help them thrive, to help them them succeed, to help them grow. And and so that, by doing that, we accomplish the
other goal, which is helping to increase the non-residential ad valorem property taxes, which enables you all as leaders to help fund the operation of government. And so, this is going to become even more important especially with property
tax reform coming down the pike. You know, right now we have the cap at 3% for residential, commercial, um the appraisal cap is 10%. That 7% represents additional value that we can really lean into and we can really help,
um you know, to foster economically. And that's why we work in those sectors of marine and aviation and manufacturing. That's why we help to, you know, increase the, um you know, the business environment and the ability of companies to thrive and grow here in Martin
County. So, that's what we do. That's our goal and I believe that our goals, um you know, really tie well into the county, um the county's goals. And that's why we are working with you to, you know, to help improve the the business climate here.
>> We have another economic council here in Martin County. >> So, they're focused on a different, uh a goal. Their goal is more policy-oriented. Our goal is more, uh business-assistance-oriented. So, they're two different organizations with
two different goals. And so, I would disagree that, um you know, that they should be combined. >> Okay. Well, maybe you should combine because if you have other goals and they have their goals, you mesh together, it works well. We have the Florida Department of
Commerce which we pay for with our tax dollars. People can find their way to Martin County if they wish to come here. But, these expenditures are out of line. Totally out of line. And if you believe so strongly and those
that are in your leadership team, raise the funds for it. Commissioner Kaps can still be on your board if you wish. >> A lot of those >> we we need to be very frugal. You, sir, have spent a lot of money here. >> Those expenditures
were due to the fact that there was an executive excuse me, an interim executive director for the better part of a year after the departure of my predecessor and a lot of the the business attraction function was outsourced and so that is the
situation which we came into. It was outsourced to the tune of $10,000 a month and we have reduced that now and we don't no longer rely on those consultants. So we've addressed that situation. >> Okay, but it still doesn't negate the fact of what I'm telling you.
You're an overlap. You may be very nice and all that you pay somebody as a promoter also. Why? We don't need this. What you need What you need is a pad of paper
a device, whichever you choose, a pen and walk around and talk with business owners. You don't need fancy offices next door in the office park. You don't need to be jetting off to Paris. You don't need a 50 or $60,000 luncheon.
You don't need these things. You want them. And I'm the only commissioner standing up and saying enough is enough. This is your project. I'm not stopping you. I applaud you, but not at taxpayer expense. Not at all.
>> This is the county's project. We are the contracted organization to perform economic development on behalf of the county. The business plan, the all of the items that we have on the agenda here, our annual report speaks to
all of that. I encourage you to review that if you have not. It spells out everything that we do from business attraction, business retention and how we support the business community. And I think the business community would disagree with you as well. >> Well, that may be, but the point is they're not footing the bill.
>> The business community is your community, also. >> I understand all of that, and businesses are closing. >> And that's why we need to support them even more. >> no, no, no, no, no. You're not listening. You're just not listening. This is something that's more nationwide, and we have quiet closings,
also. These are the smaller businesses that may not make the headlines. >> And we support the smaller businesses every day. >> I have to ask a question, Ms. Elder. I understand that somebody dreamed this up to have this particular organization, but I also looked to see that this can
be terminated within 6 months, either way. Correct? >> We would have to look at the ordinance. I believe the economic development is enacted through an ordinance, so we'd have to look at that economic development ordinance, and then the board would have to repeal it, most likely. >> Yeah, that's fine. I would like to get
an answer on that, if you can please do that, but I looked at the contract. This is a waste of taxpayer funds. You can You can write as I'm a language arts teacher. I know how to read. And And it was very flowery. It was very nice, but this is an unnecessary
expense. >> I would disagree with you, and I think the business community is very important to the city. >> We just got a report last time. Okay. >> Let's Let's >> About the upcoming About the upcoming belt tightening. >> He's not listening. >> And And the point is there may be some
others on our commission that may not have the experience of businesses, and they enjoy, you know, the frivolity of this. I've had people come to me, and they can't quite understand why this expenditure still exist. If you're strong, and you really, really
love the business world, you can stand on your own feet. This is why I pulled this. >> Commissioner Campy. >> Thank you. Let me start with my mantra, which I will say every meeting, if I need to. That's why there's five of us.
To all due respect to my colleague, which is getting harder to offer. Uh it's one thing to have a personal opinion. It's another thing to continue to uh tout your resume. All four of the rest of us have resumes. I would have no
problem putting my professional resume. She can say little side comments that we're up here just guessing or partying or frivolity. And I respect her position that she was elected to bring her opinion. It's one
of five. Some of us that have years of experience here, which I would count and I think a majority of the community, at least every time that I've run for election, has found that that experience is important. You can come up with a personal opinion, and you can also do your homework, and I'm not saying she
has not done her homework. And but it's what she feels is in her in her mind. Terrific. I'm being very respectful of her, no matter what happens. Well, I guess we'll do this every meeting. However,
I have been through Ron Bunch, Jill Marassa, Tim Dewar. The Business Development Board every several years goes through some kind of a beatdown, because someone will show up and doesn't see the value in it. Uh I do. I've been to
if not dozens, hundreds of events that the BDB has participated in or hosted. I've been to hundreds of our local businesses. I happen to work for one uh that has value has had tremendous value from not just what you have done,
but your predecessors have done. The Business Development Board is made up of, as we've heard, local business leaders, executives, employers, school district members, other other municipalities, and it is literally the heart and soul of our
business community. The Economic Council is completely different as you tried to mention. Two separate entities. The history would show us that we have had opportunities and discussions about merging the two.
And it has never happened because they really identify two separate goals. Uh the concept that the commission or the county or the taxpayers have contributed to the BDB's finances has always been an issue, sometimes more
than others. It used to be more money, it used to be different. Uh I don't expect that you should be volunteers. Uh I think that you, and I'll speak specifically about you for a moment, were very, very fortunate in this community that you decided to move your
family and be here. I know the story that when you were coming, you came during the hurricane. Um but that being said, your your uh resume, your reputation, uh what you have accomplished in other communities, we are very fortunate to
have. So, although you might be hearing very strongly from one member of our commission until three of us decide that that's the case, it doesn't make a difference how impassioned one member can be and and talk about all the different reasons that, you know, you're
being overpaid or that in that person's opinion, uh the the day-to-day operations of where you've decided, I know for a fact the gentleman that went to Paris that was sponsored, uh was not tax dollars necessarily, it was a sponsored trip. I
also understand that the Paris Air Show is the busiest and most important aviation event globally. >> [clears throat] >> One time, one person from the commission from Martin County went there. Um in business, it's difficult to see an
immediate return on investment. Sometimes it takes years or you're laying groundwork and foundations for this. Again, I will close with the fact that every opinion up here out of the five of us is valuable. We've been selected by
members of our community to be here to give five opinions. And until three of them are in agreement, I completely support the BDB. I know their work. I know their history. I know the people that are involved. And yes, once in a while you'll have to come
forward and uh through a process similar to this. Uh we all have different personalities up here and different ways of presenting information. Not saying one is better than the other. That's for everyone else to decide. But I
in my vote and opinion, the BDB is an important uh resource for smaller businesses. It affords them opportunities that they would not be able to get anywhere else. Or if they did have to hire professional consultants to give the services and advice
that your organization gives freely, free, um they might not be able to afford them. And to paint a doom and gloom picture and to constantly say that it's the taxpayers' money and that you somehow seem to be wasting it, um
today might not be the right day to discuss that the hypocrisy of demanding that every dollar be accounted for, but when commissioners freely spend taxpayer dollars however
they see fit and are not held to account that everyone else seems to be held to. That to me is the definition of hypocrisy. Thank you. >> Mr. Stokas. >> Madam Chair, I just want there was question um the BDB was created in 1990
and out of the chapter 15 element of the 1990 comprehensive plan. That's all I wanted to add. >> Mr. Capps. >> [clears throat] >> Um I think Commissioner Burgess, your comments could have been a little premature here
and that it might have been better for you to to assess the situation after the proposed tax referendum. I think the work of the BDB is very important now, but it could be really important
uh a few months from now when our uh ad valorem taxes uh are greatly greatly diminished. Yeah, as we remember from the last
meeting in the first year when the exemption is $150,000, we lose, I believe it's $43 million. And and in the second year when the exemption is $250,000, uh $250,000, we lose like $75 million.
And then when there's full implementation of the ex- uh the exemption for homestead taxes, we lose $176 million. So, we live in a a very changing landscape.
Um and uh the work of the BDB in bringing uh quality commercial and industrial projects and businesses to our community
could be key to our survival as a local government in the years to come. >> [cough and clears throat] >> Commissioner Heatherington. >> Yes. I My uh comments were on the long lines of Commissioner Capps. I'd written down
that our uh revenues are very heavily based our tax dollars on residential um taxes here. And I think that this just exemplifies what's happening in the state. The BDB is going to be more important than ever to diversify our
revenues and to increase our tax base that is commercial and business revenue. So, and not only that, I made a note here that our comprehensive plan requires us to do economic development. So, I look forward to supporting you and you
supporting the businesses in Martin County to grow and diversify our tax revenue. Thank you. >> Commissioner Vargas. >> You can exist. And I could not believe my colleague, Commissioner Campi, said that it's getting harder to respect. I beg your
pardon, I couldn't believe you said that in public. But anyway, there it is, recorded. Did you get the answer to the question I had about how many businesses, if they want to contribute $5,000, you won't have a million dollars?
>> No. I'm happy to discuss anything. I don't think that's relevant to our conversation. >> only. You know, the thing is that money is just spent.
We are a small county. We have another economic entity. Merge. You have your drift that you want, they have theirs. It could be quite successful. But how do
the local business community support you? Just as the Chamber of Commerce are supported by their members. What's wrong with that? >> I appreciate that and I will take everything into advisement. >> I I wish you would. Thank you.
>> Commissioners, we will have an opportunity when we do our budget this summer to prepare an evaluation of whether or not we think that the BDB should be funded and if so, how we do it. If we don't, how we dissemble it.
So, this is is you know, we have another fine opportunity a month away to consider this. And then, as Commissioner Capps said, after the referendum in November, we will be taking another hard look at all of our expenditures. So, do you want me to Commissioner
Vargas, do you want me to divide up the consent agenda excepting out uh five so that you can vote against it? >> There So, in other words, five was what, Commissioner? That's >> That's That's the one that you just pulled. >> No, she did six.
>> I'm sorry, six. >> six. Yes. >> So, there's no action taken. It's just here the presentation. So, there's no action taken on consent. >> in that case, can we have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> of the consent agenda. >> Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, I. Opposed? That
motion passes unanimously. Uh we're going to take a 10-minute break now, and then we are going to take up uh the first item, which it looks like it's public hearing number one. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> 51 solid waste.
>> Okay, good morning. Melissa Petrick, um, senior assistant county attorney. I'm here on, um, the public hearing number one. So, this is an amendment to an ordinance underneath chapter 151, which is the solid waste chapter. What this ordinance [clears throat] is
doing is amending certain definitions within there. Currently, as written, single-family dwelling units consist of a single home as well as duplexes and triplexes. So, underneath our ordinances, those
single families, duple duplexes, and triplexes actually get curbside waste management pickup. So, that means their garbage pail goes down to their end of the driveway, and then our waste management contractor picks up their garbage. Those homes are they pay for that service through their
non-ad valorem taxes. As written, a multi-family, which would be something larger than a triplex, is either treated with a commercial dumpster, or they can actually get curbside pickup. But those multi-family
units are actually billed by our waste management contractor because of the way our ordinance is written. So, what the amendment does here, it clarifies a single-family home and a multi-family to be any home that receives the curbside pickup, and then
we also still have those other multi-families that receive the container pickup. It allows us the authority to place all multi-family and single-family homes that get curbside pickup on the non-ad valorem taxes. So,
now all of those homes will just be paying for their services directly through their non-ad valorem assessments. Those entities that are still getting the container pickup, think of like a condo building that has the the garbage dumpster outside, they
are billed then through waste management. This streamlines our billing process. This will allow for more efficient collection of the tax of the um the waste management fees, and then ultimately our waste management contractor is not going to be having or
there won't be bad debt or old debt that they can't go after and be collecting. So, staff, and now this is a public hearing. This was advertised appropriately and so our recommendation is going to be that the board move the
proposed ordinance amending chapter 151 solid waste article 1 general provisions article 3 assessments article 4 collection of the assessment article 5 collection and disposal of the general ordinances of Martin County and I do
believe we need public comment if there is any. >> Questions for staff. Would anyone from the public like to address us? Seeing none, back to the board. >> Move approval. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. All those
in favor, I. Opposed, that motion passes unanimously. Thank you. We will take up public hearing quasi-judicial number one, which is a public hearing to consider adoption of an amendment to the Martin County zoning atlas to change the this zoning district
classification for the Jesus House of Hope. This is quasi-judicial. Any ex parte disclosures, Commissioner Vargas? >> I have any of they have been filed. >> Commissioner Kaps? >> If I have any, they have been filed. >> I don't have any and they've been filed. Commissioner Campi?
>> If I have any, they've been filed. >> And Commissioner Hetherington? >> If any, they've been filed. >> Mr. Elam, have you provided all relevant materials to the clerk? >> A copy of my work history and the agenda item turned in for exhibit one. >> Anyone who's going to be providing sworn
testimony, please stand up, raise your right hand and be sworn in. >> Do you swear or affirm the evidence you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God? >> Uh-huh. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Very nice. She had it right off the bat. >> Please proceed. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, Commissioners. Uh for the record, Brian Elam, principal planner with the Growth Management Department. This is a request by Kotler and Hearing and Coastal Life Church Corporation on
behalf of Jesus House of Hope Corporation for proposed amendment to the county zoning atlas consisting consistent with the existing future land use. The subject property is one parcel that is approximately 43.9 acres. Included with this application is a request for a certificate of public
facilities exemption. Subject site is located in the southeast quadrant of the intersection of Southwest Martin Highway and Southwest Martingale Drive approximately a half mile east of Interstate 95 in Palm City. The current zoning on the property is
A-2 agricultural district, which is a category C zoning district consistent with the agricultural [snorts] future land use. The limits residential density to one single-family residence per 20-acre tract. The underlying future land use on the
property is agricultural ranch yet. The current A-2 zoning district is not consistent with the future land use. Therefore, this request to rezone is considered mandatory. There are two standard category A zoning districts available to implement the agricultural ranch yet land use policies
of the comprehensive growth management plan, which are AR-5A agricultural ranch yet district and AR-10A agricultural ranch yet district. The PUD or planned unit development district is also an available option. The PUD district offers more design
flexibility to applicants for proposed projects. In exchange, the district requires additional benefits to the county and more controls by the county. The applicant is requesting the AR-5A agricultural ranch yet district, which is a category A zoning district consistent with the future land use
and compatible with the character of the existing land uses in the surrounding areas and consistent with the documented zoning changes in the area. This is a slide which shows the development standards and structure setbacks for both the standard zoning districts AR5A and AR10A. There's
They're identical except for in the minimum lot size. Um one unit per five acre acre and one unit per 10 acre. Uh this application was heard before the local planning agency on June 18th. Uh the LPA voted four
four to one? I think >> Four to one. >> Or three three to one? >> Yes. >> Four to four to one. Four to one. In favor of staff's recommendation uh approving this rezoning. Development review staff have found the Jesus House of Hope Corporation rezoning
application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report. And staff recommends approval of the rezoning request by Jesus House of Hope Corporation. We move that the board receive and file the agenda item and all its attachments
including the staff report as exhibit one. I move that the board approve the request to rezone from A2 agricultural agricultural district to AR5A agricultural ranch at district. And that concludes my presentation. Happy to answer any questions.
>> Questions for Mr. Elam. Applicant, would you like to make a presentation? >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Thank you. All right, good morning County Commissioners, Chair Hurd. My name is Leah Heinzleman with Cotler and Hearing.
Here on behalf of Coastal Life Church and the property owner Jesus House of Hope. Want to thank staff for their presentation and today we are presenting a mandatory rezoning application that is required to bring the property zoning into consistency with the adopted
agricultural ranchette future land use designation. Is my presentation >> That's it. >> Do you have the thumb drive? >> I do have the thumb drive. There we go. One moment. All right.
Yep, there we go. >> [snorts] >> All right. So, represented here today is a team that has worked collaboratively with Martin County staff throughout the review process, and we're happy to answer any of the questions that you may have. So, the request before you is very straightforward. The property currently
carries an agricultural ranchette future land use designation, but carries an older A-2 zoning classification that predates Martin County's comprehensive growth management plan. County regulations identify this inconsistency and require a mandatory rezoning to a compatible zoning district. Accordingly,
we are requesting rezoning from A-2 to AR-5A. This is not a request for additional development rights. This is a code-required action to align the zoning map with the county's adopted future land use map. Subject property consists of approximately 44 acres located on the
southeast corner of Southwest Martin Highway and Southwest Martingale Drive, approximately 1/2 mile east of I-95. The site is situated within an area characterized by agriculture ranchette land uses and larger rural residential properties, while industrial designated properties exist to the west and the
south. The existing A-2 zoning district is a legacy zoning classification established under Martin County's 1967 zoning code. While the zoning has remained unchanged, the property's future land use designation was established as a grant share under the county's comprehensive
growth management plan. As noted in the staff report, this creates an inconsistency between the zoning district and future land use designation that must be corrected through the mandatory rezoning process. The A grant future land use category allows a density of one dwelling unit
per five acres and establishes the policy framework for the property. The current A2 zoning does not implement those adopted policies, which is why the county code requires this rezoning application. This is perhaps the most important slide of today's presentation. A place of
worship is already a permitted use within the A2 zoning district. However, because the property zoning inconsistency, county regulations require it to be resolved before future development approvals can proceed. Staff conducted a comprehensive review of the application and reached several
important conclusions. They found that the proposed AR5A zoning district is consistent with the A grant share future land use designation. The request is consistent with the comprehensive growth management plan. The request is consistent with the land development regulations. Rezoning is compatible with
surrounding development patterns and the prop the proposal implements the future land use assigned to the property. These findings directly support approval of this application and it's also been noted that this rezoning does not increase density or development intensity. There are no policy changes
required, no exemption exceptions are requested, and no comp plan amendments are requested. So, this zoning just simply aligns with the zoning map with the future land use map that's already been adopted by Martin County. Um and as sta- staff stated in their report, amendments to the zoning atlas
do not authorize development and do not result in increased demand on the public facilities. So, this property remains subject to all future permitting and development review requirements. So, as shown on the screen, the application meets all the criteria for
approval. It's consistent with the A-1 jet future land use designation, implements the comprehensive growth management plan and land development regulations, creates no increase in density or public facility impacts, and establishes consistency between the future land use map and zoning atlas.
So, we appreciate staff's coordination on this and their recommendation for approval, and we would request that from all of you as well, and we appreciate your time. And at this point, I'd like to invite James Pendleton to come up and say a few words. >> [clears throat]
>> Commissioners, thank you. I just want to introduce myself. My name is James Pendleton. I'm the lead pastor at Coastal Life Church. My family and I have lived and been a part of Martin County for almost 25 years. Coastal Life Church has been a part of Martin County for almost 18 years, and we as a church
love this county, love the people of this county, and I'm excited to be in partnership with House of Hope and Rob Bernier and his staff, and as they serve this community in the ways that they do, we as a church want to continue to be able to serve the families of Martin
County and do what we what we do. And so, I just want to thank you for considering our request in this application, and thank you for serving our community because I know it is not always easy. So, thank you very much. >> Questions for Mr. Pendleton or Ms.
Heinzelman? >> Commissioner Canady. >> Thank you. Not necessarily a question, and I know you'll take public comment, but um I'm appreciative. I know that the Coastal Life Church has been looking to as a congregation has been growing. A lot of
uh friends in Palm City neighbors are are members of your church, and I know [snorts] that you've been looking for a larger um footprint for quite a long time, so I'm happy that it's sort of found its way, especially like you said, to, uh, coordinate and
and work with the House of Hope is terrific. I just wanted to make a point that earlier we had a woman that had been here several times asking us to add in God we so help me God back to oaths. And we unanimously voted on it, and then the first,
um, agenda item, which is quasi-judicial, which would require us to have you be sworn in as witnesses, Leila added in, uh, so help me God, and the agenda item was Jesus House of Hope and Coastal Life
Church. So, if there is divine intervention, I think that would be today. And so, with that, I would make a motion to accept staff's recommendation. >> And I would gladly second it. This is a public hearing. Would anyone from the public like to address us? I don't see any. Commissioner Vargas.
>> Yes, uh, hi, this would be for both of you, Pastor, you also. I do know Pastor Pendleton. Met him at the gym. >> Yes. >> So, he was staying fit, okay? Not just spiritually, but in in body, too. Um,
I think that some of the concerns, and I just want you to address this so that it's recorded, uh, folks were concerned you were going to be building homes, tiny homes, on this property. I did express this to our staff, also. Can you speak to that?
>> Yes, I I'll gladly speak to that. I do believe, without knowing details, I do believe there was some misunderstanding, maybe some mis- misinformation. Uh, we have no plans of building any kind of residential place or tiny homes or housing of any kind on our this future
development. >> Right. Is this the same for Jesus House of Hope, also, Mr. Ranieri? >> Correct. >> Okay, that's good. You're comfortable back there. That's fine. Um, okay, I understand this property, also is has quite a bit of wetlands on it as I
saw and the staff did point that out to me. So, um, you you, I think, um, Pastor Pendleton will want to build a gym in the future if all works out well. >> We we, uh, have future plans of of not sure exactly what all what all we want
to develop with this part of it, but we also, in addressing what you're talking about the the wetlands and preserves, we are in we are prepared to maintain those wetlands and preserve, uh, as they should be maintained. >> As God put them there, right? Okay. Now, the other thing is uh, you'll be on
septic? >> Uh, right now, our development plan is on I'm I'm going to make sure I'm using the right technology terminology, well and septic. Yes. >> Yes, septic. Okay, because we we we don't have water there and you're aware of that. And what about, um, fire suppression? How will you handle that?
>> So, part of our, uh, plan right now is, uh, water tanks and, uh, our fire suppression system being uh, taken care of through, uh, stored water. >> Yes, I understand and then potable water for the facilities?
>> That would be an engineering question at the time of final site plan. Um, and I I believe our our engineer has that, um, underway with how the potable's going to be coming to the church. >> So, so would that be a tank or because we don't This is outside the urban service boundary, isn't it?
>> It Commissioners just >> is. Uh, but that's part of the >> Uh, just a reminder that this is not a site plan approval. It's just a zoning and so the the zoning category has all the different uses in it and would still require coming back with a site plan
approval which would, uh, enumerate all of the uh, requirements for getting a development order, road access, water, sewer, those types of things. Um, this is an unusual site that it does have water and sewer out front, but the
property is ineligible due to the comp plan requirements. >> I understand. These were questions posed by members of the community. So, I was trying to get more information from that. So, later on, Mr. Elam, we will be addressing the water potable water. >> Yes, that's in the final site plan we're doing.
>> For for both entities? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Commissioner Capps. >> Yes, I wonder if we could turn to page 216. >> [cough] [clears throat] >> And I'll I'll
I'll bring our attention down to the very last line on the page of 216. And then we'll go into 217. There are two standard category A zoning districts available to implement the agricultural ranch at land use policies
of the comprehensive growth management plan, which are AR5A agricultural ranch at district with a minimum lot area of 5 acres and AR10A agricultural ranch at district with a minimum lot area of 10 acres.
In addition to the standard zoning district, the PUD planned unit development district is also available as an option. The PUD PUD district offers more flexible design flexibility
to applicants for proposed projects in exchange the district requires additional benefits to the county and more controls by the county. It seems to me that what [clears throat] we're
angling toward here is to change the zoning and then if we if we did that, if we changed it to AR5A or AR10A, The next step would be a final site plan. >> Correct.
>> Right. And that kind of sets up what you might call a by-right project where the commission doesn't really have much of a say on the details. Whereas if we went with a PUD,
the commission would would have more input because and we have more discretion because public benefits have to be offered. And I I feel more comfortable with the PUD in this particular case because of
where this land is. Um it's got a very storied history that has to do with uh the water and sewer lines. That That's a long discussion. But what we're real concerned about in
that area of the county there on 714 out close to I-95 is an explosion of development. >> True. >> And all that would need to happen for that area to turn into Indiantown Road like in Jupiter
would be for everyone to be able to tap into water and sewer lines uh that are there. So, that's a big concern of the commission and to the residents of western Palm City
who [clears throat] bought their properties um in a rural area and you know, there's a lot of growth that goes on out there even by right. And it's a it's a sensitive situation. Um
and PUD sounds better to me cuz then we have more discretion. You don't have a lot of discretion with by-right projects and final site plan approval. So, I would like a to make a substitute motion that
we go with PUD zoning on this project. >> Commissioner Vargas. >> Okay, if if we were to look at and approve the PUD zoning, would this be still
would this still work? This would not impede what the plans are. Is that correct, Mr. Elam? >> I would really have to look to my legal. I don't know that we can require a PUD zoning on a mandatory rezoning. >> So, >> I don't know if that's possible. >> So, it's a it's a mandatory rezoning.
The applicant is required to rezone it for the future the existing future land use. There are the two zoning districts that are compatible. They are five is what they're asking for. We can't force them to enter into PU agreement PUD agreement. That's a mutual
beneficial relationship. But, the county is requiring them to rezone it. So, a PUD has to be agreeable by both sides usually. So, you can't force a PUD zoning agreement. And then I have my light on Commissioner Hurd because I was just going to reiterate reiterate what
Don said before and that the specific use that this applicant is doing is not an issue in a rezoning. You have to just consider all the uses. So, whether or not they're going to do a church or House of Hope, they're not bound by that. And I just want to remind the board that in their evaluation. But, you
can't force someone to do PUD zoning. They would have to be agreeable to it. >> In light of that, I'll I'll withdraw that motion. Then. >> Mr. Fox, is this your light? Or Mr. Walden? Somebody who's >> Yes, this was mine. Sebastian Fox, senior assistant county attorney. Just
wanted to make the record clear that the required notice to neighboring property owners was provided by the applicant at the LPA. >> Okay. Would anyone from the public like to address us? Then we will return to the board for discussion of whether to
move staff's recommendation uh of 10 or five units per acre. >> Can Can I ask one more question? >> Of course. >> Uh say we get to the next step. Say we approve this and we get to the next
step, it's the final site plan. Um what if they change their mind and said we want water and sewer? >> So, in order for them to have water and sewer, there would have to be a text amendment to the comprehensive plan. So, under the future land use, they're they're entitled to the five-acre lots
for residential housing, but they're not entitled to water and sewer. So, to extend water and sewer would be a decision of the board. It would be a legislative decision based on the comp plan cuz there would need to be some kind of comp plan language added or an exception or something. So, they're not
entitled to water and sewer if you change the zoning. They're just entitled to the five, you know, one one house every five acres, which they're entitled to under the land use right now. >> Right. >> But well, I'm good with that then. >> We have a motion and a second. >> We do? >> Yeah.
>> Okay. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Yes. We will now take up public hearing quasi-judicial number two, which is a
first public hearing to consider approval of the first amendment to the development agreement between Martin County and the master developer for Newfield. This is quasi-judicial. Any ex parte disclosures, Commissioner Vargas? >> I have none, but it's been filed the report.
>> If I Yeah, if I have any, [clears throat] they have been filed. >> If I have any, they've been filed. Commissioner Campi? >> I have some and I have filed them. >> And Commissioner Hetherington? >> If I have any, they've been filed. >> And have has staff submitted all required
documents to the clerk? >> Submitting the agenda item and my work history is exhibit one. >> If you're going to be providing sworn testimony, please stand up, raise your right hand, and be sworn in. >> Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? >> Excellent. >> It's natural. >> Mr. Walden. >> Good morning, commissioners. >> Morning. >> Peter Walden, the deputy growth management director, and with me today is John Meale, the environmental systems
manager. >> Environmental resource administrator. >> Resource administrator. It's a mouthful. >> Yeah. So, we're here today to discuss the first amendment to the Newfield development agreement. >> Free speech? >> Excuse me?
>> I thought is it free speech? Is that what they're asking for? >> [laughter] >> No. Um So, uh some brief history on the project. It's been eight years in the making already. Uh in 2018, the mixed-use village land use specific to
the Newfield development was assigned to 3,400 acres in Western Palm City. Uh uh a month later, we approved the ordinance 1083, which created Article 11, which is the land development
regulations specific to the Newfield project. It's a form-based code and it's also consistent with the land use. Uh 2 years later, we approved the board approved a development agreement between the master developer
and Martin County, and they also approved the first master plan for Newfield, which was the Crossroads master, which included about 1,200 uh residential units and some commercial properties. And also at that time, a Newfield Community Development District was
approved. Since then, conservation easements have been applied to the 2,200 acres of the areas for open space. The SDW Workplace Master Plan has been approved.
Trailheads have been site planned and constructed. A soccer fields complex of four fields is going to be opening soon. That's been site planned and approved and been under construction for a while. A parks master plan has been approved
and numerous residential and commercial plans and plats have been approved in the Crossroads neighborhood. So today, staff is initiating a an amendment to article to the development agreement. It's pursuant to article 7 and state
statutes. It requires two public hearings. This is the first. They were noticed in the newspaper and uh to the residential areas. Mailings were sent out. And there's only one section of the development agreement we're amending
today or proposing. And that's 7.0B, which refers to the open space conservation areas. We'd like to add a use to the property. Right now, it is specifically relegated to a storm water treatment area. And we'd like to expand
on that and John Mayo is going to go into that part of the program. But uh impact fees are part of the developer agreement for this area. And it's an important part of the whole development program for Newfield.
And this is the areas we're talking about. This is the Crossroads neighborhood under development for New Field. This is an existing fine site uh where they're going to work in collaboration with them, and this would be New Field's
contribution to that site, and um I'm going to turn it over to John cuz he has the specifics of how all of this would take place and what the uh amendment is all about. >> Thank you, Mr. Walden. John Mail Manor Resource Administrator, thank you uh
board chair and board. Um I I just want to contextualize this amendment a bit and explain a little bit about why why I'm even at the table for a growth management issue. Um and when this was originally contemplated and approved as an agreement in 2018,
um building a stormwater treatment area on the C-23 was a a profoundly progressive and cool idea. Uh at the time, we had made uh very little progress with the IRL South CERP projects, which were identified to to build watershed
improvements on the C-23 and C-24 basins in western St. Lucie and western Martin County. And the county had uh saw an opportunity with this uh private partnership to meet the needs of water quality in the C-23 before it gets to the St. Lucie Estuary
and and river and the impacts that that brings with it. Um so I I it's a it's really a profound idea. I would have been proud to call it my own. I wasn't here then. Uh but in 2024, when the developer brought this forward to start beginning design elements of the stormwater treatment area, it it ended
up on my desk, and I was looking at this and thinking about um the challenges that they would have today with that type of project. And that's namely because of the profound progress that the uh the Corps of Engineers and the Water Management District had made on
the IRL South CERP project. Um between 2018 and 2024, billions of dollars had been directed to this project and we had already completed basically for all intents and purposes the C-44 Reservoir and STA. The C-23/24 Stormwater
Treatment Area went from an idea to basically completed. The C-23/24 North Reservoir was under is and was under construction and is anticipated to be completed in in in a few years. And the C-23/24 South Reservoir
was fully designed, shovel ready, and it's just awaiting its its turn in the funding cycle for construction. In addition to the the progress that we made in Everglades restoration in that basin, the state awarded large dispersed water farm projects that takes water out of
the canal and and puts it onto fallow citrus or unused agricultural land for aquifer recharge for evapotranspiration and for water quality. And in addition to that, Port St. Lucie had started a
big project that's very much like a water farm at McCarty Ranch, which takes water from the canal and puts it into a a man-made wetland for treatment and aquifer recharge. So with all of those changes in the basin, building another
STA right at the tailwater of the C-23 didn't have as much value to the public as it did in in 2018. And as I was looking at this and thinking about the implications, I remembered that in the IRL South
Project Implementation Report, there was a a box on a map in this very location that had identified this as the most suitable location to spoil dredge material from the restoration phase of IRL South. So IRL South was really
divided into two phases when it was originally authorized in order of 2007. The first phase dealt with all those watershed improvements where you would store and treat water from the basin so that it wouldn't get to the St. Lucie River and continue to degrade what had
been degraded for 100 years. The second phase of that project is really geared towards the actual restoration. And if you would suffer me an illustration to help make this make sense for the general public. Fixing the watershed is like repairing a
roof after a hurricane rips it off. Well, we all know that if your roof gets I have a hard time saying roof from Iowa. It's a thing. If your roof gets ripped off in a storm, everything in the house gets destroyed, right? So, fixing the watershed is like
replacing the roof. If I just replace the roof and I tell you occupants that you can move back in your to your house now, they're going to say, "No, thanks. It's full of mold. It's totally degraded. The paint's destroyed. The walls are destroyed. The carpet's destroyed. The cabinets are gone." Um the restoration phase is where you go
back into the house after the house has been sealed and you replace all that and make it livable again. That's what this project does. What phase two of IRL South is it fixes the interior of the house and makes it livable again. So, to not do that element or to not contemplate that, um
we could spend billions of dollars in the watershed and and really have not created a livable house again for uh our seagrasses, for the oyster, for all the different fauna that depend on that. And I'm going to read something if you would
uh allow me one more minute um from the actual project implementation report from uh 2007 when Congress approved this. It says, "Without removing or remediation to below the resuspension zone, each wind event will resuspend the sediment, ultimately decrease light
availability, and increase algal growth. Each of these situations will decrease the recruitment and production of both SAV and oysters, resulting in a system that will continue to be highly stressed. And then jumping ahead a bit, it continues, "Removal of St. Lucie
Estuary sediments has been identified as a component that may bring about an immediate and potentially dramatic improvement in water quality as well as improvements in habitat quality and extent." And it goes on to identify the the merits of this particular location
for this project. So, when I was looking at this and thinking about what would be a a more suitable public benefit, I thought this is our our one chance to actually preserve this property for um this project and then we can go to
the Army Corps of Engineers and say, "Hey, the biggest hurdle you have in completing this project has been achieved at least in part by the county's partnership with this developer." And I'd like to give credit to the developer for I mean, I actually approached them about this. It wasn't something they brought to us. And for
them to have the flexibility to um accommodate this uh pretty significant change in their planning, um I I I think is is noteworthy. I um In addition to I don't know that the developer has comments, but I In addition to them, I I also invited our
partners from the Corps of Engineer, the Water Management District, and Florida Inland Navigation District, which owns the site on the east side there um to to make comment if they would like. Mr. >> Good morning. >> Good morning, ma'am. How are you? >> Great.
>> Commissioner Heard, fellow commissioners, uh Major Corey Bell, Deputy Commander for South Florida, US Army Corps of Engineers. Proposed the permanent uplands disposal site is critical for the de-mucking of the Indian River Lagoon South project um through the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The identified site
will provide approximately 125 acres of stored material, which is just south of the C-23 Canal. And just uh to the east of the uh Florida Inland Navigation DMMA site, which will result in approximately 250 acres of storage, which will provide
easier logistical challenges for the dredge material and operations cuz it's centrally located within the um project footprint for the de-mucking project. Uh the de-mucking of the IRL south will provide 2,650 acres of clean substrate, which will improve the quality uh for the organisms and
ecosystems there. Any other questions? >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh Michael Kennedy from the Florida Inland Navigation District. He's our board representative for Martin County. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, Commissioners. I'm here to speak on behalf of the Navigation District. We are your
neighbors on this property. We are We have the 125 acres, plus or minus, just to the east. This will give us an opportunity to collaborate, to work together on this. Uh personally, I've been watching this 7.9 million uh cubic
yards of material removal with a lot of hope. I've had the extreme displeasure of falling in the river and going up to almost to my thighs in that stuff. It's atrocious. Dawn doesn't get it off. This is a good opportunity for the district and the county to work together on a
great location. Uh I'm wearing another hat here today, too. I'm also with the Coastal Conservation Association. We considered this project last week. We support it. Um we don't do a lot of uh high high-level stuff here in Martin County in terms of publicity, but we are
co-oping on Boy Scout Island. I think we provided a substantial funding to get the phase one going. FIND is in the process of considering that, too. Uh we had a presentation last Saturday. Uh this is a great opportunity, and we'd encourage you to move ahead. Thank you
very much. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. >> Questions for Mr. Kennedy or Major Bell? >> I know what you're talking about, the dishwashing soap. >> Yeah. >> As as a former board boater. >> Thank you very much for your time. >> Thanks.
>> Commissioner Capps. >> Seems like a great thing, had a great idea. Uh I have finding muck sites whenever muck removal actually happens from our rivers uh
as authorized by Congress through CERP. It's It's in the plan, but my concern is that anytime you're dealing with congressional funding for things like this, it can take forever. What if What if we never get the funding to do muck
removal? Say 10 years have gone by or 20 years or 30 years or 40 years. I mean, they've been talking about Well, well, CERP went into effect in the year 2000. That was 26 years ago. And the muck removal hasn't been done yet,
and it's who knows when it will be done. Um say you know, just say long periods of time have gone by and nothing has happened, and we could have had a nice STA for environmental enhancements
in the area, and and now it's just an open field. Like how how could we put a safeguard in there like this agreement that we're asked to approve, could it have a provision in it that says that every 10 years we're going to take another look and reevaluate or something
like that? >> So, Commissioner Melissa Elder, just um so, the way it's written that the county can use it for environmental purposes including this muck removal, we don't have to. We just have to use it for environmental purposes. So, there's nothing requiring us to do the muck removal, so to speak. It's It's an
environmental parcel to the count for the county to use for environmental purposes. >> Okay. So, we would have control over that, and we could switch course and and do an SDA. >> Okay, cuz the the county's coming into ownership of this land.
>> That's right. >> Right. Right. Okay, good enough. >> So, we have flexibility. >> [clears throat] >> Would the applicant like to make a presentation? >> Thank you. So, that um this is not our application. I'm Kristen Speak of the Gunster Law Firm here on behalf of Minto the developer. I'm here because I want
to make sure that our notice affidavit gets onto the record. And we appreciate We appreciate that um we could cooperate in this endeavor. And I'm joined by representative of Minto if you all have any questions for us. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Commissioner Campi. >> Thank you. Um first off, job well done. Appreciate it. I know that we had the opportunity to speak about it. It's one of those topics. It's not like the sexy, beautiful projects, but like you said, it's very important that it still gets
done. Uh and I wanted [clears throat] to thank our our neighbors and friends at Newfield and Minto me uh because when they listed off when Mr. Walden listed off the sort of the history of
the project and where we've come from, we those those soccer fields uh is a collaboration with our Parks and Rec Department that uh the owners or the Newfield folks built at their expense and they're beautiful and all of the amenities, the
restrooms, and the things that go with them. They put them right along Newfield Parkway so that we could collaborate and our residents, not just the residents that live in Newfield, but all Martin County residents or specifically a lot of the kids that will live in the Palm City area
will get the opportunity to use those. So, they're not fenced off and closed off. Uh you're also building a beautiful public library that will be enfolded into our public library system. Uh now, here's another example. Uh you also did all of the Kiplinger
Conservancy trails that are open to everyone. I know that Knight vision was no gates, no private, you know, private, no uh you can't go there. So, uh you've really have done an excellent
job of keeping with what Knight Kiplinger had said he wanted for the community when we all approved it. And here's another example. It's sort of more of the, you know, the utility mechanical side of of it, but like we heard, you could have used that
property. Uh you had a plan to use that property for something else, and I know that switching in midstream is expensive and time-consuming, and you did it anyway. So, thank you to you, to our friends at the Army Corps, and find, I mean, we like to have you come. You're more than welcome to come as
as often as you want because I feel that when you gentlemen are sitting in those seats, things get accomplished. And to our staff, uh we really work on these things, you know, beyond the obvious things. Uh as Mr. Mail said, there's a lot of
technical aspects in order to keep the water clean, uh and we're working on them all. So, it's my my pleasure to make a motion to accept this staff's recommendation in District 5. >> Commissioner Heatherington. >> Yes. I'll just say John Mail, that was a
perfect analogy. The roof analogy was very good. And without muck removal, our um it it's going to be essential to the restoration of our um lagoon. So, um I know that Commissioner Heard, I believe,
had muck removal on her priorities this year. I think this is a great first step. We look forward to getting funding to go to the next step, and um thank you for your partnership, Madam Mayor, in accomplishing this. And I will say, too,
on a side note, I would love to still see how Banana River, that restoration was very successful. I would love for us to see a presentation on how they accomplished that, where the funding came from, and because I've heard great success stories for that. With that with
that, I will gladly second it. >> Madam Chair, may I just also recommend that Mr. Mail reach out to Congressman Mast from the financial side. I know he's very interested in helping with these projects. >> I have one request to speak form, and that's from Jim Moyer. If anyone else
would like to address us, please fill out a request to speak form, hand it to the bailiff who will get it to me. >> [clears throat] >> Nice to see you walking again, Mr. Moyer. It's been a while, a year. >> To be trying. >> It has been a little over a year.
Hi, my name is Jim Moyer. Thank you, Commissioners, for being here, and thank you, staff, for and Army Corps and and FPL and and Madam Meholms. Um I'm a huge fan of IRL South, but I want
to just say not so fast. Um dredge spoils from the Indian River Lagoon and from the St. Lucie Estuary are all laden with salts and other minerals, as well as contaminants. You know, this this site that's being
proposed is actually upstream of the salinity control devices on the C-23. We're spending an enormous amount of money and time on the C-23 C-25 connector canal into the C-44
uh SDA and reservoir. I'm I'm more than a little concerned that these efforts at restoring these ST or creating SDAs that are functional and and useful may be affected by storing
you know, uh 2.4 million cubic yards of dredge spoils. Um it's, you know, I think it's it's instructive to recall when Manatee Pocket had its environmental dredging
project that was between 250 and 280 thousand cubic yards. We're talking, you know, many, many more times that volume of dredge spoils being stored in a residential development area um on properties that had been
designated or previously used for agriculture. Salting agriculture is a you know, age-old technique of destroying it for future use. I know that there are technologies and and innovations out there that could be
used. Um I was sort of joking around the other day saying that you know, maybe we could have a salt spa or you know, some bougie you know, culinary spice or something like that. But we need to figure out what we're going to do with
the salt. Brevard County's Soral program was going to remove something on the order of 6 million cubic yards of of muck from the upper IRL uh Banana River and and um um Mosquito Lagoon.
They've managed to get rid of about 2 million cubic yards so far. They're using about 600 million dollars to do that. They are now having to dispose of that that dredge spoil material in uh solid
waste facilities rather than being able to spread it. There has not been yet any agricultural amendment discovered for this. It's uncompressible because it's hydroscopic. We just don't have all the answers yet. I look forward to helping in any way I
can. Um the IRL South is a very valuable project. I don't mean this to be in the way, but I think we need to consider all of the negative implications. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh Ms. Elder. >> So, there are two public hearings required for the amendment of a
development order, so there's no board action needed today. Um we'll have another public hearing at the next um scheduled board meeting. So, I just wanted to point that out. >> my motion. >> [laughter] >> Okay. >> Till next time. >> Okay. >> Commissioner Vargas. >> Yeah, so this is just a report. Is that
what I'm understanding? >> This is the first of two public hearings. So, we have to have two public hearings, so we're presenting it to the board so you can hear and understand it and public can make comment. We're going to come back and present the same thing at the next regular scheduled board meeting, and it'll be advertised as well.
>> Okay. Um Mr. Mayo, you lay things out beautifully, and especially for those of us that are lay people, um and are trying to understand the scope of this. I understand it's an important project, but possibly we
should address what Mr. Moyer has, you know, brought his concerns here legitimately, and see if there's another way of looking at this, uh because we will have to sit again and listen to the petition uh for this particular project. So,
possibly we could schedule time to talk in between. >> You bet. I would just say that um there are there are some innovative approaches to DMMA management and dredging, and uh we'll have the opportunity to work
with the core on the development of this project over several years. This won't begin right away, but having the land conveyed gives us the opportunity to have that conversation. >> Yeah, I I have worked tirelessly from
2002 to 2007 in order to get this proj- project authorized first by the core, then by Congress. It was authorized in uh into cut by Congress in 2007. Since that time, I've worked just as hard to get it funded by the state and by the
federal government. We have been very successful in the last 15 years. We've completed and are working at completing some wonderful, wonderful essential projects. Those being reservoirs and STAs, about 9,000 acres
of reservoirs, about 10,000 acres of stormwater treatment areas. Those are terrific projects. They're They're They're They're working in part. They will continue to improve water quality. They are engineered repairs. And the goal of Everglades restoration is
ecosystem restoration, not engineered repairs. So, the final two projects in IRL South, which are unique to IRL South, are natural lands, and we're well on our way toward acquiring those lands, which will certainly clean up our water,
store our water, recharge the aquifers. And then the final project is muck removal. And the reason that the Indian River Lagoon is the most biodiverse estuary in North America is for a number of reasons that conditions that exist here that exist no place else in the
United States. And one of them is a substrate of white sand that no longer exists because of 100 years of punishing discharges from Lake Okeechobee. So, this is the last important part of Indian River Lagoon
South. We will never ever complete Indian River Lagoon South unless we take this final step. It's systemic. It's restoring an ecosystem to historic conditions as close as we can get it. We have to think bigger and
bolder and better. And this is the the removing that 9 million cubic yards of muck is absolutely essential. So, I will gladly support this. I think it's it I think it's And
also uh Colonel Bowman said 2 weeks ago at the county coalition that the Army Corps is prioritizing IRL South and SEP. Those are the two two projects that they are are supporting
in no uncertain terms. That's important. They are they are going to fund it. If for them not to fund it would require congressional deauthorization and that's never going to happen. Commissioner Camps.
>> I would just like to commend Chair Hurd for her tireless work on comprehensive Everglades restoration and IRL South. It's a real testament to her experience and her depth of understanding
on the these issues. I I always enjoy enjoy hearing her talk about it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Commissioner Hetherington. >> Yeah. And then I would also point out that I believe that there will be technology. If you look at the contract that Martin
County entered where we have the Varcor Technologies and Sedron Industries that is that are taking solid waste and separate that separating that by high heat and coming out with a solid and a byproduct of water. And I'm not a scientist and but my
thought is that there are brilliant people like Sedron and those technologies that can figure out how to take these spoils and separate that and address some of the concerns that you mentioned Mr. Moyer. I have faith that there's technology to
do that and I hope that there will be funding for the research and development of it. >> Thank you Army Corps. Thank you fine. Thank you Madame E. This is terrific progress. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Let's Should we take up department one?
Good afternoon. Good morning. >> Good morning. Stephanie Murray, the director of the Office of Management and Budget here to present eight items on OMB today. Our first item is a permission to apply for the Bureau of Justice Assistance
FY25 State Criminal Alien Assistance Program funding opportunity. Um the Martin County Sheriff's Office is requesting application of $357,899.09 um for funding that will help offset costs due to incarceration of undocumented criminal aliens within the
Martin County Sheriff's Office correctional facility. Um this program helps reduce the financial burden placed on local taxpayers while allowing the Sheriff's Office to continue providing essential correctional services and there is no cash match required. The second item is a permission to apply
for the Children Services Council Grant Program, the after-school out-of-school program grant. This is a grant that the county receives annually. Our Parks and Recreation is requesting up to $410,000 um for funding that will pay for staff,
maintenance, supplies, and programming at various um county community um centers. Um these programs will include homework help and educational components for youth in Martin County at no cost. There is a grant match of $350,590 um and is currently budgeted within the
Parks and Recreation operational budget. Item number three is a permission to apply for the the Department of State Division of Historical Resources Special Category Grant Program. Um our General Services Department is requesting requesting permission to
apply for $354,450 for the restoration rehab rehabilitation of the boathouse building of the House of Refuge Historic Site. The work will include um restoration and rehab of exterior siding, windows, doors, roof
replacement, and structural framing repairs, and weather roofing. There is a grant match of $354,450, which is currently budgeted in the Public Buildings Historical Fixed Asset Replacement Budget. Item number four is a permission to
accept the Small County Outreach Program or the SCOP grant for the Southeast Bridge Road Bascule Bridge Rehabilitation Project. Our Public Works is requesting acceptance of $1,754,232 um for funding the scour protection and
fender repair of the bridge and construction engineering and inspection services of the project. Um anything over and above the grant will be budgeted in the FY26 Roads Capital Improvement Program. Item number five is a permission to
accept the State of Florida's Department of Health Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida Grant. Our Human Services Department is requesting acceptance of a grant renewal of $841,965 to provide tobacco cessation and
prevention education and policy advocacy. Um the funds will allow Martin County to work with community groups and agencies to advocate for tobacco policy changes and implementation, and there is no cash match required. Item number six is a permission to
accept the Federal Aviation Administration or FAA grant for the extension of taxiway A hold bay. Our airport is requesting a grant award of $1,125,913 for the cost of constructing the hold bay extension at runway 12 end of a
taxiway alpha. There is a local share in the amount of $29,630 that is programmed in the app the airport capital improvement plan through the airport enterprise funds. >> It's a nice small match. >> Yeah, it is.
>> Item number seven is a permission to accept the FAA grant for the reconstruction of runway 12 30 runway end identifier lights. Airport is requesting the grant award of $774,478 for the replacement of those various
items on runway 12 30 with LED units. There is a local share in the amount of $20,381 that is programmed in the airport capital improvement plan in the airport enterprise fund. And item number eight is adjustments to the fiscal year 2026 budget. Um
The Office of Management and Budget is in receipt of funds of $1,163,042 for the state Florida Housing Finance Corporation or SHIP program funds. These funds assist qualified homeowners to bring their homes up to current code
requirements and quality of life standards. The funding also assists qualified households with sewer and water hookups, home demolition replacement, and rental assistance. And OMB is requesting the adoption of a budget resolution to allocate these funds in FY26 budget.
And that's what I have today. That's all. >> Commissioner Camps. >> Yes, I had a question for Mr. Gorton about number four. Just That's the Hobe Sound Bridge. Bridge Road.
>> [clears throat] >> And uh since I'm the District 3 guy, um I just [clears throat] want a little explanation about what scour protection is and what fender repair is and why that was needed. >> Okay, so uh Jim Gordon, Public Works Director.
The uh that bridge, we have two bridges in Martin County that are considered scour critical, which means after a severe storm, we have to before we can allow traffic to go over those bridges, we have to inspect the um structure of the bridge to make sure there hasn't been scour. And by scour, what I mean is
erosion of the bottom of the the river um that could impact the pilings that are in the water there. So, uh for scour protection, what we do is we excavate the bottom of the channel and [snorts] put in um essentially riprap boulders
um below the bottom. It won't impact boats. It won't impact depth of of uh of uh folks trying to traverse through that area, but what it'll do is keep erosion from occurring around the pilings of the bridge. So, that's what the scour protection piece of it is. Um and then we will no longer have a
scour critical bridge anymore. Uh the other one is 96th Street Bridge or the Arundel Shop Bridge. Um and that one we have a project in design as well right now. I also have a grant for that. Um and then the fender system is if you notice on bridges, there's usually kind
of a wooden dock that's on both sides of the channel. That's considered a fender and that's there to actually keep boats from running into the piling. So, that fender delineates where the channel is and it also is essentially a bumper that keeps those uh vessels from running into
the structure of the bridge. So, that is made out of wood and um has a you know, in a marine atmosphere, it decays over time and we have to replace them and and we can do the two things in conjunction because we would affect the fender um with the scour protection anyway. So,
we're going to get into that area to set the the boulders and we're going to have to rebuild the the fender system which has really reached the end of its effective life. >> Cool. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Commissioner [clears throat] Vargas. >> Um hi, this is Mr. Mr. Gorton.
Um thank you so much. You're always very complete when you sit with me to explain needs uh for [clears throat] the the uh facilities and um the benefits to uh Martin County residents. Uh would
scour protection and fender repair also uh be addressed in the Jensen Beach area, my district, District 1? Do you see that? Foresee that? >> Um so, we don't have any scour critical bridges in um Jensen Beach. We just don't have any designed that have the
pilings kind of right in the middle of the channel the way those two bridges are. So, there aren't any county maintained bridges in Jensen Beach that require that are scour critical. >> Right. I think that was transferred to the Department of Transportation. Is that correct? >> Yeah, so the the the causeways would be bridges that that could be scour
critical um and uh we don't maintain those. Those are maintained by the state. >> Is that the same with the Stuart Bridge from Sewall's Point, too? >> I don't think either one of those is classified as scour critical, but I can tell you we don't maintain them and don't have a responsibility for it. Um I I think uh most bridges these days are
designed differently so that you don't have the condition that we have on those two bridges. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Just as a point of note, during the 2004 hurricane, the Jensen Beach Causeway, which was under construction, I think had about either 30 to 50 ft of scour um
uh on the old bridge, which was pretty significant and validated some of their models in terms of what hurricanes can do moving water around. And uh I know the the uh Stuart Causeway was designed with ship impact piling um so that if the
Causeway washed away could still be functional as a bridge, but um anyway, those are both as uh Mr. Gordon stated, state responsibilities. >> [clears throat] >> Any further questions? >> Thank you. >> Is there a motion to approve?
>> Move approval. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. Would anyone anyone from the public like to address us? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you.
I will now take up uh department two contracts that meet the threshold for board approval of $1 million or greater. Good morning. Commissioner Hetherington, would you >> Yes, uh Madam Chair, I would like to separate items number one and number
three as item number one, um I've been an employee of Herrera Companies for 12 years as one of the companies that bid on Southeast County Line Road bridge replacement. I will be abstaining from the vote. I have turned in my form 8B to the clerk and I will
respectfully ask for you to consider that uh separately and I will abstain. And on item number three, there was a public commenter this morning, Holly Raschein, that had a number of questions and I would like um some more information and answers to those
questions to bridge management is a very important function as we've experienced after the storms and that is a um scored and um subjective uh
award and I would like to have more information as it was um pointed out, it was 1.1 points. Um so, if we could separate those, please. >> Please proceed. >> Absolutely. So, we're going to start with item A1, which is Heatherington, you need to
abstain from voting. Thank you. >> Can you pull in on the mic a little bit? And state your name for the record, please. >> Yes, Seth McConihe, your assistant procurement supervisor for the record. >> Thank you. >> Um so, item A1 is for Southeast County Line Road Bridge replacement. Staff is recommending that the board award the
contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, Con and Graham Incorporated, in the amount of $7,462,501.50 and move that the board approve the amended CIP sheet for this project. And lastly, um authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents
related to this request. >> I'd make a motion to accept staff's recommendation. >> Mr. Kaps. >> [clears throat] >> Again, this this one is in my district and uh the bridge replacement on County Line Road was one of my commission priorities.
Um I made uh priorities that had to do with Hobe Sound, and then I made some that had to do with Indiantown, and then I thought, what could be one of my five or six commission
uh priorities for South County or northern Tequesta. Uh some might call them the forgotten tribe. A lot of people don't even really think of them as being in the county, but they are. So, uh we need to
pay attention to their needs, as well. And I would I just wanted to take this opportunity to just talk a little bit about the project rather quickly. And I had a few questions. What is the length of construction and
when would it start? >> Uh once again, Jim Gordon, public works director. Um the project is predicated on some utilities moving their facilities out of our way. That's happening right now. FPL, we had the road closed last week where FPL removed
their lines. They were directly over the bridge. And then the next thing is a raw raw water main has to be moved from the village of Tequesta. So, they've got a water main that's connected to the existing bridge. And they've got a um
do a directional drill under the um northwest fork of the Loxahatchee River um to run that water main through there. So, those two things have to happen before we can start our project. But, um once it starts, it's going to have 12 to 15 months for uh construction. We're
going to have that section of road closed. There's a detour that'll run through town. Um, and we have worked with the Boy Scout camp to create a temporary fire station on the west side of that bridge so that we can serve the community that's on the west side of the bridge, not reduce um we're actually going to
increase um response times cuz they're closer to those communities. And then we're um going to have the normal fire station, which is about a a mile south of there to service the rest of Tequesta. So, um we 12 to 15 months is the total time frame for it.
>> Great. One more. The detour route that you talked about through town, do we know exactly how that will be done? Uh >> Yeah. >> Just just for informational purposes. >> Yeah, so it runs down to Tequesta Drive and then comes back up Country Club.
So, um so you'll go into Palm Beach County and then do a loop through Palm Beach County and then back up Country Club. >> Great. Thank you. >> Please continue. >> Thank you very much. Um >> You want to do that? Yeah, okay. >> I'm abstaining.
>> Okay. So, we'll vote on on number one. There's Is there a motion? >> I made >> a motion. >> Second. >> There's a motion in a second. All those in favor, I. Opposed? That motion passes with That's the one you're abstaining on? >> Yes. >> Uh 4 to 1 with Commissioner Hetherington
abstaining. >> Thank you very much. So, I'm going to continue with item A2, >> A0. >> which is the professional services for the operation and management of the St. Lucie Inlet 2027 rebid. Staff is recommending that the board award the contract to Gahagan and Bryant
Incorporated as the sole responsive and responsible proposer in the amount of $4,362,094.18 and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designate to execute all documents related to this request. >> Questions?
Is there a motion to approve this item? >> Move approval. >> Second. >> There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, I. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously and disaster-related debris removal. >> Would you like me to present first? >> Great.
>> Uh so, item A3 is the disaster-related debris removal. This is a continuing services contract with a maximum not to exceed value of $3 million and a maximum not to exceed term of 5 years. Staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the two highest-ranked
firms, Ceres Environmental Services Incorporated and DRC Emergency Services LLC. And lastly, the staff is recommending um county administrator be designated to execute all documents related to this request. And prior to addressing any questions, I
would like to make a a statement based on the comments this morning from a procurement perspective. Um I would like to note that the record, the concerns um for A3 were raised. Um this is the first time county staff have been made aware of any of the 11 proposers expressing concerns related to the procurement
process, evaluation, scoring, or recommendation. While we appreciate and very much respect the comments provided, the Martin County Purchasing Manual established specific procedures, requirements, and deadlines for requesting clarification, challenging a
solicitation, or filing a protest. County staff did not receive any formal request, challenge, or protest in accordance with those procedures during the procurement process. Additionally, the recommendation before you today is based upon the evaluation process established in the solicitation and the scoring and recommendations
provided by the selection committee in accordance with the applicable procurement requirements. However, at the board direction, we will readjust as need be. >> Ms. Hetherington. >> Yes. Uh, there were a number of questions raised this morning and um it
had to do with and I I didn't get a chance to write them all down as the score evaluation, uh the documentation. And I will say too that I um and even the public speaker is also a county commissioner in the South. So, uh I believe there would be a cone of silence uh
for this matter. So, if someone did want to reach out to us as individual commissioners, I believe they would have been restricted to do that by a a cone of silence. >> to the Purchasing Division. Yes. >> Yes. So, I I think this is an appropriate place for um them to raise
their questions. And I again, I I didn't write down all the questions, but um what I do see is that there are 11 firms and we're awarding to two. Have we always only awarded to two?
>> It was yes, in the staff uh department recommendation of two. And it was advertised in the solicitation that the county reserves the right to make a recommendation to one or more. And it was two. >> And then can you speak to um did you did you document some of Ms. Rasheen's
questions this morning. >> Briefly. So, the first one was improper comments based on a selection committee. While I understand that perspective, AshBritt in their submittal specifically calls out their experience with Martin
County in hurricanes Matthew, Irma, and Milton, which opens experience and um um with that vendor. So, staff is allowed during the committee if the proposal specifically mentions Martin County as
past experience, the committee is allowed to comment on that experience. >> Do we have their scoring um So, we can request the presentations >> Yes. >> of the the bidders, the
and we can request the final um scoring because the scoring matrix I see in here is just a general scoring matrix. >> We do have >> has the totals. >> So, I would I would suggest that if if there is um an analysis that you would want to be
done is that if you add um uh interviews, which were not done in this, then there would be uh a re-scoring, if you will, by staff uh on based upon adding interviews in. >> So, there were no interviews >> There were no interviews >> done. They were >> They were just scoring based upon the
written presentation. >> Oh, it So, if we had 11 bidders, um would it not not be prudent to to narrow that down to the >> Typically, you would do a top three or >> and then then have those
top X be uh interviewed and or um have presentations? >> Yes. Yes, typically we do three to to five, I believe it's a typical uh interview process and when we short list. >> And 11 firms is great. You you love to see that competition. I would have
preferred to see it um whittled down to the top you know, even if you did the top four or five and then scored um accordingly and have them do the presentations. And I think that would have probably have >> [cough]
>> um been a better process. >> Commissioner Vargas. >> Yeah, um are there um and believe me, competition is great and I've always proposed that. So, I'm glad I heard Commissioner Heatherington say that today. Uh but are there any adjustments that
could be made to you know, to give the appearance of more fairness? Maybe a uh an interview might be added to besides just the scoring. >> So, the RFP specifically states that the county may request uh presentation. It is not typical for the county to have
that second step with an RFP. Um it's generally followed with an RFQ process, which is usually governed by CCNA and uh specialties. Um however, this one was not, but again, it it does the solicitation does clearly state that we we may enter into presentations. Um
however, usually presentations are geared through a short list process um where we would take the top three highest ranking firms um and bring them back for presentations. Um for this one, that's not really a standard, so we would need to know which ones to bring
back if not all of them to to to present um and the criteria will remain exactly the same and the committee will rescore based on the presentations and the written submittal. Um so, the written submittals are still they're not kicked
out if um we do do presentations, it would be in addition to the proposal. >> Well, I would like to make a motion that uh we do have an interview process. Um again, it can be the top I'm looking at the top chart right here. It's 1 2 3 4
5. Is that correct? >> Um so, the chart you're looking at on the exhibit is not in order based on scoring. Um however, it was discussed that we would maybe bring back those scoring 80 or above or 90 or above. >> Okay. I see several that are 90 and
above. Um unless you felt there was some kind of compelling reason to bring those over 80 and above. >> Absolutely. >> In your experience? >> Not at all. >> It not at all >> that we would need to bring them back. >> You don't need to bring them back. Okay. So, how about just the top 90 and above? And then, make that standard. I think
that uh a bidder knows what they're able to offer much much better than their competitor and to be able to give them the opportunity I'll just say sell. >> No, absolutely. And that perspective, I mean, it is offered to the committee during this um and they're fully aware
of that option. Um just depending on the comments and the scoring, while unfortunate and only off by one, there were still two clear higher-scoring ranked and that was as advertised. Um but again, the committee will need to reconvene um and rescore based on um the
presentations. >> Okay. I think this is important. >> Absolutely. >> And I think that we you know, we should definitely not be casual about this. So, I would like to make a motion that uh we include um an interview process with the a top scoring of 90 and above.
>> Commissioner Capps. I'd like to hear from Commissioner Hetherington next because I think she she deals in this world a lot more than most of us do um with her other work that she does. Um and maybe I'll comment after her.
>> Commissioner Hetherington. >> I don't think it's necessary to rescore, but to shortlist the top five and then interview those top five. And then, you bring back a recommendation based on that.
>> It's established by a scoring criteria. I'm not I would how would we I wouldn't know how we would award >> would take the I'm sorry. You would take the original solicitations >> Yes. >> Not I'm sorry. Not Not re-solicit >> The criteria will be regurgitated for the >> Not re-solicit >> No. >> Take the original proposals, you would
score and take the top five, interview those top five, and then recommend from there. >> And re-score. They would be re-scored in their entirety. Yes. >> Do you not re-solicit? >> Nope. >> Take the original um submitted proposals, and then you would take the top five,
>> Yep. >> re-score, interview, and then present. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Is that a substitute motion or >> Yes. >> Okay. I'll I'll second that, but I would like to ask one question. The deviation from the norm, I'll call
it, is that just applicable to this particular case? We're not like changing our >> Absolutely not. This is very typical for future >> projects and that kind of thing. >> Correct. This is very typical for an RFP process. A one-step >> what we're proposing here only applies to this particular
>> This particular one. This is the deviation. >> I'll second Commissioner Hetherington's motion. >> So this isn't a change in policy? >> No. >> It isn't an appropriation of your responsibility in taking it on ourselves?
>> No, I don't believe it is, Commissioner, because it's simply the option for the interview was in there. It just wasn't exercised in a lot of many cases like in the previous previous presentation on uh you'll have consulting contracts.
The interview process is sometimes used and not at the discretion of staff. I think the board requesting this discretion be used in this case is uh it is reasonable and appropriate. Does not change the practice. It still will come back with a staff [clears throat] ranking.
>> And since this hasn't been awarded is does the zone of silence still apply? >> Yes, they will. Yes. >> I would just like to say Mr. McConney, I thought you did an excellent job filling in. It's a tough day for Ms. Brotherton not to be here, but you did an excellent job not only
explaining it to us, but navigating through the process. Well done. >> Thank you, sir. >> Are we on good footing? >> Yes, we are. We're following the RF >> With the zone with the zone of silence also? >> Well, the zone of silence were in a public meeting, so we're fine, but the applicants cannot speak to you outside
this venue. >> Okay. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. >> all very much. >> Thank you. Let's see. Want to have a public records update? >> Sure. >> Sure.
And we'll take lunch break maybe. We did approve number two, right? >> We did. >> I'm on number two, number two. >> Yeah, we did number two separately. We did one and two >> Good morning, Commissioners.
I am Kim Lovie. I am your chief of staff and I have with me >> Sangita Mirage, >> Look towards you. >> Tap them and see if they work. >> Okay. >> All right, I think we're good to go now. Again, I'm Kim Lovie. I'm your chief of staff and this is
>> Sangita Mirage, the records administrator. >> We're here to give you a public records update of the public records program. In 2016 the Board of County Commissioners established a program to um help us with the comprehensive um
centralization of public records in the function of Martin County. It's a very complex, um, excuse me, a very complex public record protocol and procedures and necessary for the county's defense of of in an
event of a public records litigation. Public records is considered all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, data processing and all other materials regardless of
their physical form, characteristic and meaning of transmission. With me, I have our public records management liaison officer, Sangita. Sangita will start to tell you about her role and her role in the division. >> So, uh, we just heard about the purpose,
but what does the public records team do? Uh, the obvious answer is we respond to public records requests. [clears throat] But, there is so much more to the program that is not generally known and I wanted to highlight some of those procedures and processes that we were able to implement based on specific
statutes and case laws um, to ensure that the county is in compliance with the public records law. Since inception of the program, as listed, we have centralized the request process, implemented several public records training programs, established procedures related to
security records, provided exempt information to contractors, and created exempt the exempt persons list database. Uh, that list basically protects the address and names of people who have worked in government and are qualified
for an exemption for their personal information. Um, that includes recently, most recently, county commissioners. Uh, additionally, we've also updated the county's records management and public [clears throat] records and social media policies and procedures,
centralized the capture of all social media pages being utilized by the county, drafted and implemented a notice to preserve policy and procedure to ensure proper preservation of records for litigation, and implemented a procedure related to the release of copyrighted
records. Most people do not realize that if we get copyrighted records, even at the county, we cannot copy them and release them without the permission of the author. They're also pants that incorp- but they are still public record.
So, we had to come up with a solution for how do we provide these records to the public if we're not allowed to copy them. There are plans to incorporate a public records presentation into the CARES program to promote public understanding.
As we were identifying and implementing the specific programs that needed to be put in place at the BOCC, the public records program began evolving. Initially, other departments were involved to carry out some functions. As time passed, employees left, retired,
etc., and those duties and responsibilities were absorbed completely by the public records division. Those additional duties include, but are not limited to, email searches, social media searches, advertising advising on proper retention
and disposition periods for public records, including contractors, working on the disposition of emails from the email system. These responsibilities are challenging and are taking significant time and effort to be accomplished.
The public records law has become popular, and as a result, there's a steady increase in requests received by the county. In turn, this is also led to an increase in email searches. So, as shown on the graphs, the county has received 82 more requests and 114 more email search
requests from January to May 2026 as compared to the same time period in 2025. I ran the updated numbers and the county has now received 132 more requests from January to June of this year compared to last year and 180 more email searches
done from January to June of this year compared to last year. Um we're on track to surpass last year's total of uh 1440 requests. Along with the increase in requests, the nature of the requests have changed and they're more com- complicated and
voluminous. There has been an uptake uptake in requests from law firms not only because they're trying to get information via public records requests that they normally would not get in discovery but also because Florida has enacted litigation reforms and initial
disclosures must be proactively disclosed within 60 days of service of a complaint. Due to this change, law firms are now submitting large public records requests prior to filing a complaint in court. With the growing popularity of the public records law, the public is using
the request process as a research tool. Requests have evolved to seeking any and all records for entire projects spanning several years. With broad email searches as as opposed to seeking an an agenda item or resolution a few years ago. Uh there over a thousand exemptions to
the public records law and all records must be reviewed prior to release for anything that is, you know, exempt or confidential. For some context, the county received a request from a law firm where the search produced over 34,000
responsive records and 5,746 emails to be reviewed for exempt and confidential information. The production of the records for this request including gathering and review and review time is a estimated at 230 hours. Uh this must be completed along with a hundred other
open requests where responsive records for those requests are 500 pages with a thousand and 17 emails or 4,800 pages with 1,900 emails. All the requests are not voluminous but they're heavy on redaction. A responsive document to request seeking servers
internet search history etc. Took a significant amount of time for review and redaction. Although the document produced was a single Excel spreadsheet a majority of the information was covered under a cybersecurity exemption. And thousands of cells had to be
reviewed and redacted because release of that information will pose a risk to our cyber systems. Reviewing and redacted exempts or confidential information is required by law and there can be serious criminal or civil consequences if there's a violation not only for the county but
for the person assigned to the task. As a result of creating new and updating existing policies and procedures keeping up with exemptions and case law and being diligent with our responses the BOCC has not been involved in a public records lawsuit since the creation of
the program. And public records cases if filed are now more defensible by the legal department. >> We can we can thank Sangeeta for that because she's a huge part of the program. >> We're at the forefront of identifying the need and putting procedures in place
to protect the county. An example of this is a public records lawsuit filed in 2019 and it's a short development versus the city of Boca Raton where the city of Boca Raton was found in violation of public records law because they did not have a procedure in place.
And did not reach out to their commissioners for personal communication that was possibly in their possession possession and not responding within a reasonable time. The BOCC has had a procedure in place addressing and obtaining records from commissioners personal devices for a few years. And I
know you guys find those forms annoying, but >> [laughter] >> it is a requirement that we send >> I think it's fantastic. >> The um there's also another case, SDE Media LLC versus the City of Doral in 2017. They violated the public records
law. They were found in violation because it they misrepresented that all records had been produced in response to a request when in fact they did not do a good faith search to produce when they knew there were possibly other records that were responsive. So, they were
found in violation there. The the the county has procedures in place to prevent such things. Um so, you know, if there was a lawsuit filed, we could say we did make a good faith effort to to locate all those records and produce them. Uh the BOCC has also um is also used as
a benchmark for other municipalities and counties as our training materials, policies, and procedures have been requested across the state from Miami-Dade Police Department, Indian River County, St. Lucie County, City of Port St. Lucie, uh City of Stuart, Village of Indiantown, and counties from
the west side of Florida. Uh the public records division has given general public records presentation and fielded general questions from other public offices. I actually uh one of the counties actually requested my training and she said that she didn't change a thing. She
just went in and searched for Martin County and replaced it with her county's name. >> That's a compliment. >> A huge compliment. >> Uh the public records program is an integral component of the Board of County Commissioners' operations. The program has implemented various public
records initiative and training programs, has experienced increased growth, and is used as a benchmark and a source of information for other agencies. In summary, we have made solid progress and continue to remain focused on executing our priorities to promote transparency and openness at Martin
County. Thank you for your attention and continue confidence and that concludes the update. >> Commissioner Campi. Thank you for your presentation. Couple of quick questions. One, the advent of AI, have there been AI
used in an effort to create records requests? And then to the reverse of that, do you have the ability to use AI to help you go through 36,000 pages of information? Is some of that new technology available to help with
on both sides? One, I get that people are using AI to make requests. I you've brought one of them to our attention that I see is more of a national um initiative to try to make big big requests, very broad requests, but then
on the the positive side, can AI be a tool that could help you? >> So, it it could possibly help with the what the problem we have right now, the exemptions are not With AI, it may help, but what is available right now does not
cover what we need. There are programs that can search for a social security number, a date of birth, and and they can automatically redact those in that information if it's within the record. However, the county covers We have 14 departments and there are
numerous exemptions, so it's not just looking for a social security number or date of birth. But it'd be hard for a a program to go through It's not available right now that will identify security lock systems that we have to redact if it's pertaining to a building.
Uh HIPAA information because we are a HIPAA-covered agency and we're not allowed to release any kind of medical records. So, it would be difficult for a program right now to go through and and find that information. Uh Hopefully, it will you know.
>> Okay. So, hopefully you can come back to us when you hear about some within the industry. My final point is is that I think each of us had an opportunity to meet with the Sheriff. And I know that he and his department have been going through a tremendous amount of public records requests because they're all everyone's asking
for body camera. And that body camera footage has now become not only is it used by lawyers and and the like, but it's all or news media, but it's also being used by social media influencers that then take
that information and create platforms that they can then monetize. So, I know that he'll be coming forward with the same set of circumstances and consequences that you've been going through. I remember when they put you in charge of this. You're our initial you're our
the OG of public records and um >> [laughter] >> and I think you've done a remarkable job. I remember it used to just be handled by the aids. And then we said, "We're going to bring Sangita in. She's a It'll be easy. She'll do it part-time and she'll do it by herself." How many people in your department now?
>> Three full-time and we we have assistance from two contract. >> Yeah, but I mean I can't imagine when you say one request is 36,000 pages and you can't look and say, "Well, you know, I can look at 10,000 of the pages." You really have three people. So,
well done and I appreciate you. >> Thank you. >> Commissioner Vargas. >> Yes, um on page 441, um it says all requests must be responded to within a reasonable time. What is that reasonable time, Ms. Sangita? >> Reasonable time means it depends. Okay.
>> That was >> It depends on what is requested. It depends on the availability of the record and it depends on uh how many pages there are to review for exempt and confidential information. If it's something that is readily available that has no exempt or
confidential information, then that information that record that those records are to be turned over to us immediately to be released. Um if it contains uh 500 pages and the department turns it over to us, a reasonable time would be
the time it would take for us to review those 500 pages and and release it. Um and it depends that only a court can actually determine, you know, what a reasonable time would be um if we did step outside of that. But, the
only delay to a request would be to review those records for us uh exempt or confidential information. Otherwise, reasonable time is as soon as possible. >> As soon as you get to it, right? >> Commissioner Capps.
>> Yeah, in the agenda item summary on page 433 down at the bottom, it says uh every agency is required by law to appoint an records management liaison officer to serve as a point of contact between the
agency and the division of library and information services records management program. So, I I just wanted to point out that this is an example of a um unfunded mandate by the state of
Florida, right? Like every county government has to have this kind of a department. >> Correct. >> Just by >> All agencies. >> fiat declaration, this the legislature has required this. Do you Do you have a budget that
number the for your department that comes to mind? Like, is that something in the uh in the budget? Like, do we know how much this department costs us? >> Off the top of my head, no, I can't tell you exactly what the entire department costs. Um they are a part of administration. >> Part of administration, okay.
>> their budget falls within our all of administration's budget. >> Well, I'm sure it's significant. And and it's an example of an unfunded mandate and how the cost of government rises with new rules and regulations.
Um, we've heard about uh, requests for public records being on the rise, the frequency of them. And they're more complicated and voluminous. And this is just another example of how with the passage of time and with the
implementation of new rules and expectations uh, there are rising costs. And I just wanted to bring that up. >> And so, this is a requirement that we provide public records. And we do it and we get the your volume
is going up and up and up. What percentage of public records we can charge? What percentage of the uh, customers do you charge? >> Uh, I don't have that number off the top of my head, but I do have uh,
the the number that from June to from January to June of this year, I did the numbers and uh, we did get uh, payment from 100 people from June to um, from January to June of this year. Uh,
that So, I would say um, we >> It's roughly about 14%. >> Okay. >> Oh, no. That's for over the um, the I don't have that number. >> Okay. >> Of the percentage that I do charge, but they uh, the the um, the Government in
the Sunshine Manual has stated that the agencies cannot use public records as a money-making venture. And so, we are only allowed to charge uh, for extensive use of um our services
uh and and clerical assistance. So, we're not allowed to charge for all records. And I think a substantial amount of records we didn't we we don't charge for because it doesn't fall under that definition. Um >> Thanks.
Commissioner Hetherington. What's the process and how do you verify that it is an actual if if someone is going to be paying for the records, how do you identify that it is actual um it could be a resident of anywhere I I suppose in the US or the the globe,
but how do you identify it's not spam, it's not some kind of um autobot real requesting the record, it's an actual human being, do we take identification, how does that verified or does it have to be by law? >> So, we
>> assume you're a robot. >> [laughter] >> We We cannot If the somebody can make a request and they can make that request totally anonymous. And we are not allowed uh under law to uh demand the name of the person, who they are, why
they're making the request. So, if if a request comes through from an anonymous email, we we simply have to just confirm receipt and and work on that request. Uh we we cannot um by law state, you know, ask them who they are and and why they want the records.
>> And how would that person or persons provide payment for those records? >> If they want to make an anonymous request and and there is an invoice, if if there isn't an invoice, we can just attach the record to that email and send it to them. Um if there isn't an
invoice, we send it to that email and they have options to pay. They can buy money order, they can mail in cash, they can um come and leave the the payment at the front desk. Uh there's several ways they can do that. >> Okay. >> We do not have an automated system at
this time. >> Commissioner Vargas. >> Is there a minimum age for request for public records? >> [laughter] >> No. >> No. >> Okay. So it could be anonymous and you could be a one-year-old.
>> [laughter] >> And they can't ask them who they are or why they want the record. The law says every person, so it's also defined as a corporation, another county, it's, you know, any person is allowed to make a record
request. >> Commissioner Campy. >> Is there any system or fail-safes in place for people that take advantage of the system and just constantly make requests just to burden either you all or the government, you know, as a fishing opportunity to sue?
>> No. I was just [clears throat] reading that this morning, actually. I was looking over the rules and basically, what the courts have determined is that although an agency might might find some requestors
annoying because they're consistently making requests, we cannot prevent them from making a request as much as we would like to. >> You should write a manual or something on it and then spread it around the state. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Should we take up one more item and then
take a break? >> Yes. >> Let's take up department four. Which is legislative mandates affecting building department operations effective July 1, 2026. >> Requiring board action.
>> More unfunded mandates. >> Unfortunately, it's headed that direction. Good morning. Jeff Doughty, director of the building department for the record. Today with me I have Josh Nae, the assistant building official. Little update. Uh We have a Senate bill,
excuse me, House Bill 803 that changed the way we need to operate and and fund ourselves and that's all in relation to ship to the Florida Building Code. The Building Code was originally brought into effect in 2002. It was mandated by the state by Chapter 553 of the Florida Statutes.
We operate to ensure the safety and well-being of the community. We are allowed to charge fees for that. We are not allowed to make a profit. We can have reserves. Our reserves are limited into what they can do and what they can't do. House Bill 803 has changed that and they changed the way we collect
the fees. Historically, everyone pretty much charged fees based on evaluation and a percentage of that. We are no longer allowed to do that for building inspections. It must be actual cost. So, we have to make a determination what the anticipated actual cost is and we would
charge that that way. If I move the agenda down if you would to a couple pages, you'll see that um I've just for an example of the way the world changed. This is a fee calculation from 2001.
And you can see there a low-cost entry-level home was under $34 a foot. Today, the International Code Council establishes the minimum cost for a house as $189 a square foot. So, it's gone up almost six times.
Even the excellent category of 85 isn't even half what the low cost is today. The luxury is probably up near $1,000 a square foot. So, the cost has drastically increased and you can see at the time we used evaluation of 0.7%.
The reason for that is obviously cost of inflation and this, but there's also the mandate that required the houses to be built much better, more energy-efficiently uh constructed at the federal level and also the windows the impact and all
those types of things. So what I like to do if I could very quickly go to the slide show Donna and give you a little overview of building codes. This is a legislative mandate that the state's giving us and it's all building departments not Martin County. If we move on to the next
Um I'm sorry. >> Are you in that picture? >> I am I am not the governor. Um These mandates as we move on to the next slide you can see what I what we do as I mentioned earlier protect the health safety and welfare of the citizens and that's one of the projects that it's
underway down at South County Line. Um moving into the next slide what was the first building code? It was actually the code of Hammurabi back almost 4,000 years ago. It was etched in stone and it is still on display at the Louvre in Paris.
Um it is the eye for an eye. If you had a builder and a house fell and killed his wife your wife was killed. So it was an eye for an eye. Very very uh very uh strict rules. If you go to the next one what was the first one that related to it in United States in 1965 in New
Amsterdam was more of a fire code. They had a lot of troubles with uh fireplaces burning people didn't clean them and this is uh New Amsterdam which today is New York New York City. Uh moving forward to the real building code a full comprehensive building code was 1891 in Baltimore. They were first
city to adopt it. On your right you'll see the House of Refuge. So that was actually constructed before any building code existed in the United States. So we kind of give perspective to the age of that. That's the oldest building in the in the uh state in the county but it certainly predates building codes. As we
move forward up to 1987 anybody any jurisdiction could do anything they wanted and have a building code not have a building code. They didn't have any requirements up until the legislature 1974 said you must have a building code. It must be one of these four.
And you can change it whatever way you want, but you got to have one." So, they moved forward and then we had Hurricane Andrew uh in 19 uh if we move forward there, Don. Uh uh excuse me, right before Hurricane Andrew in '92, uh the governor decided that we need to
establish a task force for something to do cuz all these building codes with all these different jurisdictions with all these different revisions, we need to make it uniform. Oddly enough, at the same time in 1994, three of those building codes merged and formed the International Code Council.
So, they no longer existed. And the International Code Council tried to take these and one was really for the East and one was for the North and one was for the West, so it made sense to move them all together. So, as we moved forward, that report was presented to the legislature in 1998,
and it was to we need a unified building code. One of the driving forces too was insurance because to get stable insurance, you have to have stable ability of what we're building and doing. So, in the 2000 legislature, they actually implemented uh the adoption of the building code and
that would go into effect then in 2002. So, perspective. This is the 1965 entire building code for the Southern Building Code. 1965, this was it. This was the entire code. So, we moved
forward and they adopted the So- South Florida Building Code. This is 1972, the entire building code. And back then you registered them, and uh apparently we didn't turn our registration form in, and so we haven't got an updated copy,
but it's there if we need it. Perspective today, we have a statewide building code. It is modeled after the International Code Council and modified to Florida by the Florida Building Commission.
So, I have for you just the residential code for that. There's 10 books. Josh is holding it. That is only the residential code. There are 10 more books. And in each one of these books it references others such as American Concrete Institute or the American
National Standards or the American Society Heating and Refrigeration. It's estimated there's 3 to 400,000 pages of code today. So, we went from this to that on steroids. So, that's what we currently do. When the building code
came out, it mandated that everyone's building code was eradicated, any local amendments were removed, you had to use the state building code. If you wanted to modify the building code, only the Florida Building Commission could change it by their permission. You could have a
local request, public hearings, send it to the Building Commission. They had 30 days to either say yes or no. If they did approve it, it was only good for one code cycle. Every code cycle is 3 years. So, if you sent one in in the middle of the code cycle, a year and a half later,
it was eradicated. The theory is that if you have something so unique that it's so special, it would get adopted into the next version of the code. And if it wasn't that special, it really didn't need to be there, you're not going to get it again. So, that's that's the way the state
worked on it. Uh the Building Commission is all appointed by the governor, and they operate meet once a year. If we go on to the next slide, it shows you some of the many books there. Uh this the building code restricts how building departments operate. You cannot use any
of the funds you generate on anything but enforcement of the building code. You are restricted on what your reserves are. You can have some operating reserves. You used to be able to have some capital reserves. That's been taken away by Bill 803. So, if we move on, um what's the
legislative shift? What do we do? What's in this bill? In the next one, you'll see there's 12 important things. One of One of the things uh single-family home permits we used to be good for 6 months. They're now good for 1 to 3 years, whichever's longer. 1 year or the length
of a new code cycle. Our new code cycle comes into uh play January 1, 2027. That would be the ninth edition. So, if you get a permit January 2nd, it's good for 3 years. Uh it's it's definitely changed from what it was. One of the bills that uh one of the items in the bill was an
exemption for any work under $7,500 on a single-family home. Everyone's heard about that on the news and the paper. What they didn't hear is the other half that says, "Except plumbing, mechanical, electrical, structural, and flood zone." So, it eliminates almost everything other than maybe a fence or screen door
on your front porch. It also requires that if you get an exemption, you must file an application to the building department. It must include your contract to prove that the scope of the work is not within those exemption and under 75. And then the building department's obligated to issue
an exemption. Effectively, it's the same amount of work as getting a fence permit as is getting exemption permit. But nonetheless, our concern is you're going to have people that heard the first part. You're going to have a unqualified, unlicensed person that goes up says, "I'll change your hot water heater. You
don't need a permit." You do need a permit. You go in, they change it. They say, "Well, you know, I'd like a bigger one. It's 40 gallons. I'll make it 50 gallons. Okay, I need a bigger breaker to charge this. Instead of 30 amps, it's 40 amps." But it didn't change the wire. Now I got a fire. So, you're going to have all those types of things that we're really going to have to spend a
lot of time diligent enforcing it cuz the exemption is very, very little when you take out uh the requirements for it to fit into it. The other main thing, and one of the items you're here today for, is you can no longer have a capital reserve. You
cannot use any building department money for any capital to build buildings. That's now being shifted back over to the county ad valorem or whoever they decide to fund it moving forward. Um couple other things that expands replacement of mobile homes that forbids
the building department from withholding a permit for a mobile home. So, there's some definitions of where that is. That's got to really kind of sort through it exactly what that means. Uh if we go to the next slide, it limits our fee structure. We can no
longer charge based on a percentage. We have to based on the actual cost as it's associated with inspections. It limits us on some time. So, for example, if you have an accessory building, you must issue the permit within 5 days or it's deemed issued. So, it's put a lot of demand on us for turnaround. It's very
much geared towards private providers taking over the industry to some degree. There's some expansion on what a tiki hut is versus a tiki hut and where you can place them. So, there'll be some people trying to utilize that. It does make a statewide building code Excuse
me, building permit application. We will no longer be have our own. The state will now make all building code Excuse me, building permit applications. The building commission has been tasked with that. They will have that out I think July 1st or January 1st of '27 and every
jurisdiction must use that application form. We have no choice. Um mailing things. Uh we can, if we want, require everyone to now use electronic submission. We generally have 85% of ours are electronic. We do have a lot of people that walk in with paper. We do not
intend to eliminate that because there are customers that may not be savvy enough to use it, but we're there to help. Private providers. At any time during the construction process, a person can say, "I don't want to use the building department. I want to use the private provider."
Uh we've never had that happen. Uh recently we've had three private provider uh uh users come and ask if we would take over the private provider. So, I'm not really sure what's going on in that world, but it's in there. Uh we have to have a registration system for private providers, so they don't have to
constantly do it. So, we're making it easier on them. And one of the things that changed too is we can no longer review any of the documents that they submit. So, we cannot re-review them. If they come in, we cannot re-inspect them if they do the inspections. However, it does say if
we see a glowing error, we can uh attempt to fix it. But if we're not allowed to look at them, I don't know how we would see a glowing error. So, that's kind of the uh the issues that mainly are affecting us. If we go back earlier, Donna, and then to the resolution, I think in there uh
we're asking today for a resolution uh that establishes the new fee schedule, which is based on the requirements of House [clears throat] Bill 803. The other item is we are transferring the remaining funds out of our capital reserve into the construction operating
for the completion of the Larry Massing project. Those items are the items that General Services typically procures directly through contracts uh that are uh either national purchasing co-ops or direct contracts. Example is the air conditioning equipment we buy through a co-op. We
don't don't pay sales tax, and we don't pay the GC overhead profit on it. Uh the other ones are the sprinkler, the security fire sprinkler, the security, and the IT. Our IT department likes to use contractor they have negotiated with. And security obviously want to
keep that tight in uh in the uh uh security realm, so they use our security contractor through the General Services contracts. So, we're asking for those things today for a resolution to adopt the new fee schedule and to transfer the
money out of the reserve cuz as of July 1, you will not be able to do that. And moving forward, you will not be able to have a capital reserve. It also allows us to have the application for the waiver, which is required for the $7,500 exemption. And with that, I'll be glad to answer any questions that you may
have. >> Commissioner Capps. >> As um you may have touched on this and but I don't think you did. Um in prior discussions that I've had with you, one thing I'd like to bring to the attention of the public is
in years past, you've been able to call the building department to get records that are very old. You know, 20 years, 30 years. Uh and you might need these records for insurance purposes
to prove something about your house. But that's all going away, right? You're only going to be keeping 10 years of records. >> We worked with the public records and the I'm not sure it's Department of State Do you remember what division that was
that came out with retention requirements and we're required to to keep them 10 and dispose of them uh after final disposition of a action. So, if you came in for a building permit, um the final
action would be the CEO. That may take 6 months or a year or two. At that final action, we would keep them for additional 10 years. We have worked to upload all of our records into the Accela software cloud, so they stay there. All of them were paper. We
eventually converted them to PDF and then from PDF, we converted them into a actual account number and uploaded them into Accela. But they're disposed of in accordance with the state retention rules. >> I mean, I see that as a huge problem for
the public in the future. Cuz so many people don't keep good records, but suddenly they need to get their hands on them uh for proof to insurance companies. Uh, and there's not going to be any remedy
there, right? >> Going forward, I'm not exactly sure, and I've asked this question. What will the records do? We started using the Accela software around 217, so we haven't hit the 10-year mark. All those documents we have in now, I
don't know we go in and dispose of them cuz they're in the cloud. So, those records may stay. We'd have to work with how IT would do that or how the cloud storage would do that at that time. We haven't gotten there yet. Uh, so they
may be retained, but we don't retain them in our records. They would be retained in the cloud records of Accela. >> Right. And then I had one more question about mobile homes. And it sounds like this is a new rule and then and you haven't fully fleshed
it out at this point, but but the general idea is that mobile homes can like go anywhere except maybe in a homeowner's association. If uh, you know, if you just live on a regular street and there's an empty lot, somebody's going to be able to put a
mobile home there by state law, right? >> Well, there's there's two issues. One would be as it addressed to zoning, which I would defer to the county attorney's office. In terms of the permitting, it specifically tells us we cannot deny a permit based on the placement of a mobile home on a single
any single-family lot. So, we are forbidden from telling them they can't do it from a building permit. Now, the other issues I haven't investigated from that growth management side. >> All right, got you. Okay. Well, thank you. [clears throat] Oh, and I'll I'll make a motion to
approve the items that you have requested. >> Second. >> Commissioner Vargas. >> No, I I wanted to say thank you so much. Um, Mr. Doherty, you always do this very very well and explain to us what we need to know
um for this uh there's some unknowns and I think Commissioner Caps addressed those and we'll have to tackle them as they come forward. Um so I I definitely am going to uh go along with uh moving that the we adopt the resolution for the fee schedule which was remarkable as a
matter of fact and also the budget transfer which is required as of July 1st and whatever else comes down. So thank you so much. Thank you. >> Also. >> Any further questions? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? I. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously.
Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> We're going to take a break for lunch. We will return at 2:00 for our preset. Part: 2
Thank you. Welcome back. We have a 2:00 preset. We are going to take up first a very very short uh department six which is a Langford Park pavilion donation. There are two ladies who have been sitting here all day waiting for this
moment to arrive. >> Call it a >> good afternoon, commissioners. >> Afternoon. >> Can you hear me? Okay. >> Yes. >> Okay. I am here to present a proposal for a community donation project that includes the design and construction of a new gazebo at Langford Park in Jensen
Beach. Um, oh, I had a presentation up there. Okay, >> Donna handles all that. >> So, the intent is to provide a comfortable outdoor gathering space for active adults and participants and
visitors of the log cabin. The proposed gazebo would be located adjacent to the log cabin, accessible along an existing walkway. And the Jensen Beach Garden Club in partnership with N2 Architecture is leading the effort in this collaboration with Jensen Beach High School, the
Treasure Coast Builders Association, Professional Women in Building, and of course, the Parks and Recreation Department. Architectural Design students at Jensen Beach High School were provided design criteria, including dimensions and conceptual design specifications. The
designs were reviewed for layout, floor plan, elevation, seating, and overall visual present uh presentation. 10 student designs were presented to the Jensen Beach B Garden Club and Tristan Zanfini's concept was selected as the final design. Tristan could not be here
today because he is beginning the summer session at UCF and he will be studying architecture. >> How about it? >> Fantastic. >> What makes this project especially meaningful is that student involvement does not stop with the design. Students will continue into the next phase of drawings, permitting, estimating,
construction support, and giving them hands-on experience in architecture, construction, and other skilled trades. The project is supported by multiple donors and community partners through financial contributions, inind professional services, donated materials, volunteer label, and
technical expertise. The estimated total project is is 85,000 with no cost to the county. In attendance with me today is Dana von Rtown. >> Rettown. Yep. >> President of the Jensen Beach Garden Club. And today staff's recommendation is to approve approve the donation and
authorize the county administrator or designate to execute any necessary documents and administrative actions to complete the project. This concludes our presentation. Is there any questions you might want to ask? >> Any questions? Anything you you'd like to add, Dana?
>> That's right. We are very excited to be partnering with everyone on this. The students were just amazing. Uh the enthusiasm that they displayed uh was was incredible for us to see and we were thrilled to be able to pick a winning design. So we're
very excited to see this come to to fruition. We feel that this structure will provide a very needed, wanted structure at the log cabin. We see a lot of folks who come to the log cabin for their programming.
They come early to socialize. They stand around out there in that Florida heat and this structure will give them a nice shaded place to gather. And I know that the director there at the log cabin would also like to use it for some other purposes. I think she's got some designs on some Christmas activities. So, um, we
certainly hope we have your support in this project. Thank you. We appreciate the generosity of our residents. Thank you very much. We we could use one of these in district three as well. >> District one. First one >> and district five. >> Uhuh. First one. You know, this is an
easy one. And we so appreciate you very, very much and everybody that's participated, the students. It's fantastic. I'm all about for VOTE and the skills trade. And this is exemplary. It's very inviting. I will use it myself and I know that others will gravitate
towards this area. So, I want to thank you uh from the bottom of my heart for doing this for us and it's such a perfect perfect place for it. Thank you. >> Absolutely. Our pleasure. We look forward to it. >> Commissioner Henrington. >> Yes. Thank you for your contribution and hanging in there all morning with us. In
addition to you ladies, um Deb Frasier from Treasure Coast Builders Association was here this morning and had to leave at lunchtime and wanted to mention that um TCBA along with Boys and Girls Club and their career construction program
will also be constructing two of the benches that will go into this project. So, thank you for all you have done and I will gladly make a motion to support this. >> Thank you. Thank you. I second that motion. Any further discussion? There's
a motion and a second. All those in favor? I opposed. That motion passes unanimously. Thank you very much. >> Thank you all very much. >> We will now move to our 2:00 preset which is
department 7, a presentation regarding Martin County Operations Facility. >> Yes. Good afternoon, chair and commissioners. Mram, assistant county administrator. Joining me today is Shawn Donahghue, our general services director, as well as Stephanie Merley,
our OM director. At the board's request, today's presentation provides an overview of the Martin County operations facility project, including the history of the project, the unsolicited proposal process, the independent evaluations
that were performed, the board actions that occurred throughout the process, the financing decisions that were made, and the current status of the project. So, I think it's important to briefly explain the unsolicited proposal
process. Florida statute 255065 authorizes local governments to receive and evaluate unsolicited proposals for qualifying public infrastructure projects. The purpose of this statute is to provide public agencies with an
additional project delivery tool that can encourage innovation, leverage private sector expertise, and potentially accelerate the delivery of needed public infrastructure projects. Unlike a traditional procurement process which begins with a public agency
developing specific uh excuse me specifications and soliciting responses, an unsolicited proposal begins when a private entity approaches a public agency with a proposal for a specific project. In this case, Building
Tomorrow's Infrastructure submitted an unsolicited proposal to Martin County on October 31st, 2025 for the design, construction, and delivery of a new operations facility. Although the proposal originated from a private entity, the statute requires substantial
public oversight before a project can move forward. The process includes public meetings, public comment opportunities, consultant evaluations, a public interest determination, board actions, and a negotiation of a comprehensive agreement. For this
project, the county completed every step required by Florida statute, including the multiple public meetings, the public comment opportunities, consultant evaluations, a public interest determination by the board, negotiation of a comprehensive agreement, publication in the Florida
administrative register, and final board approval before the project could proceed. One of the reasons the legislature created this process was to allow public agencies to evaluate innovative project concepts while maintaining transparency and public accountability. Ultimately, receipt of
an unsolicited proposal does not obligate a local government to proceed with the project. Rather, it provides the governing body an opportunity to evaluate the proposal through a process specifically established under Florida law and determined whether moving forward serves the public's interests.
So this slide here summarizes the major milestones that occurred following the receipt of the unsolicited proposal. The initial proposal, the unsolicited proposal was submitted by building tomorrow's infrastructure on October 31st. On December 2nd, the board
considered the proposal, received public comment, and directed staff to proceed with evaluation under section 255 0653C. In January, a second unsolicited proposal was submitted by Florida
Development Solutions. Florida Development Solutions is an experienced public private partnership developer with a successful track record of delivering projects throughout Florida and submitted a competitive proposal for the operations facility.
The Florida Development Solutions proposal included 112,000 square feet while the original proposal from Building Tomorrow's Infrastructure was 114,000 square ft at a projected cost of 74 million. Although Florida Development
Solutions proposal reflected a lower overall project costs, it also proposed a smaller facility. When evaluated on a cost per square foot basis, the proposal was approximately $654 per square foot
compared to approximately $649 per square foot by building tomorrow's infrastructure proposal, a difference of approximately $5 per square foot. Another notable difference between the proposals was the anticipated delivery
schedule. The Florida Development Solutions proposal contemplated approximately 22 months while building tomorrow's infrastructure proposal contemplated 18-month delivery providing a 4-month shorter delivery
timeline. At the February 24, 2026 board meeting, the board considered the consultant evaluations, received public comment, made public interest determination required by Florida Law, and elected to continue with building tomorrow's
infrastructure proposal rather than moving forward with the proposal from Florida Development Solutions. Following that meeting, staff began negotiating the comprehensive agreement with BTI. Over the next several weeks, county
staff, legal staff, engineers, financial adviserss, and consultants negotiated the scope, the contract terms, the financing structure, risk allocation, and performance requirements. As a result of those nea negotiations, the project evolved from the original
proposal. The facility increased from 114,000 square feet to approximately 118,000 square ft with an increase to the overall project without an increase to the overall project cost resulting in an effective
cost of $627 per square foot. On April 21st, after several weeks of negotiations and review by multiple county part departments, consultants, legal council, and financial professionals, the board considered and approve approved the negotiated
comprehensive agreement and approved the financing structure necessary to fund the project. Today, the project is progressing through the design, development, permitting activities, and preparation of construction. We anticipate the first round of review following the expedited
process. Like other targeted businesses, this project advanced through multiple public meetings, consultant evaluations, board action, negotiations, and financing decision before reaching its current stage.
So, in addition to the consultant evaluations, the county also received an independent review from Florida Tax Watch, a nonpartisan taxpayer research institute and government watchdog. The Florida tax recogni, excuse me, the Florida tax watch recognized the public
private partnership process authorized by section 255065 Florida statutes and highlighted its ability to improve accountability, accelerate project delivery, and transfer certain risks while maintaining public o ownership and oversight. The letter acknowledged the
board's rigorous threemeating statutory process and the work county staff and professional adviserss concluding that the project represents a disciplined and financially responsible approach to delivering public infrastructure. While the board's decisions were based on its
own independent evaluation, consultant findings, public input, and staff recommendations, the Florida tax letter provides an additional independent perspective supporting both the process and the project. So, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Joe Barry from CPZ
Architects. He's going to discuss the consultant findings. >> Thank you, Matt. Um, happy to be here, commissioners. Um, as you may recall the last presentation we're at, is this Can you guys hear?
>> It doesn't sound great. And and if you could just give us your um background and credentials before you begin, please. >> Sounds like it's on. >> Sure. Uh, my name is Joe Barry, president CPZ Architects. We were brought on to uh work with the county on
this project few years ago, I believe. Uh we met with the county went through a programming phase, identified what the building components were, size of the building, etc. Uh
then began looking at the building conceptually. So we developed some concept floor plans, elevations, renderings, and then the project um stalled a little bit. We're brought back in to do a peer review of the P3
proposal we're talking about here today and we found that the proposal supported the objectives of the original project that CPZ was involved with. We noted that the site plan presented
generally aligned with the goals of the project and we also felt that the the programming was uh very much in line with how we left the project uh prior to the P3 proposal being offered.
In addition to that, we compared costs of the projects and we found that the P3 proposal costs were in line with what we would have expected for a project like this and what we had counted on or at
least developed uh budgets for for the original project. So with that said, we were in support of the project moving forward. felt that the P3 proposal was comprehensive, met the goals of the county and the project and um and here we are today. So,
>> thank you. >> Mr. Campy has a question. >> Sir, can you tell us about your firm and your experience and your background, please? >> Sure. Uh CPZ Architects was uh founded in 2002 by Chris Zimmerman. Uh so we've
been focused or the firm has been focused on municipal uh work since then over 20 years and we've done work with Martin County, we've done work with Port St. Lucy, St. Lucy County, uh Broward County all the way up through Palm Bay. We just finished the fire station for
Palm Bay. So our municipal experience is extensive over 20 years. Uh projects similar to uh this one. In fact, we're in design now for a project in Brower County that is very much in line with a
program and scale of this project. So, that's that's our experience and I hope that answered your question. >> It did. Can I ask another question? Um, there's been a lot of concern that the dollar amount per square foot is dramatically out of line. Can you share
in your professional experience how you feel that uh this numbers are? >> Sure. Uh well, like I said, we did review the the the the dollar amount proposed in this project and we did find it uh to be in line with what we would
have expected. And just to give you some some real examples, I made some notes here, so bear with me a minute. Uh we just completed construction of a fire station in Palm
Bay. That fire station was 13,500 square ft. When you calculate the the the cost of the project, it finished at $585 a square foot. We just went out to bid in a fire
station in Lakeland. And that project is roughly same size, 14,000 square ft. Uh that price came in at $593 a square foot. Now, this includes building, this includes site.
Um, again, aligning with what you're seeing in the P3 proposal. We are in design. That project I mentioned in Broward County, it's not public record yet, so I don't want to give too much away, but that project is
uh it's a facility very much like what we're talking about here today. It's a little bit larger. It's actually three buildings, 152,000 square ft, and that number per square foot is $563.
So again, we found that the P3 proposal as presented very much was in line with what we would have expected for a project very much in line with what we anticipated for construction costs, current construction costs. And I gave
you three very current examples of what we're seeing. >> And Mr. Barry, those three projects, did there was there already water, sewer, electricity provided to those sites? >> No, these were undeveloped sites.
>> The other question is that uh our P3 is not just slab construction and tilt wall. We're gutting it delivered. What's the final product that we is I don't know if he's the right person to ask this question to. I believe you are. Um the final product that we're getting is
when we have that square foot dollar amount. It's everything. It's >> it's it's everything. It is uh building. It is all building systems, HBAC, electrical. It is the interior buildout, all the finishes, all the walls, all the
doors. Um, it is all of the the the site utilities brought into the site. Um, it is the paving, it's the wheel stops, it's the fencing, it's the fuel station, um, it's the uh site bins that they use
to store materials for for their projects. So it and it includes sorry it includes uh professional fees and uh FFNA furniture. >> Can you share with people what that means? >> Furniture, fixtures and equipment.
>> Furniture, all the furniture, all the fixtures and all the equipment. >> Correct. >> So when I hear numbers being discussed publicly uh of a building in Sands Industrial Park or elsewhere, those are concrete slab tilt wall construction
pricing. Yes. the utilities and the rest of it, but this is, as far as I know, and if I'm wrong, correct me, turnkey uh construction, and when it's done, it's everything. Landscape, lighting, all of the things we need. Am I wrong or right?
>> No, you you are correct. Um, and I the the project that was referred to earlier today, because I I did hear uh this morning's uh meeting, I don't know it. I I can't really comment on the specifics, but just from my experience, um it
likely doesn't include the interior buildout, the FFNA, uh the permitting, the the uh professional fees and and the site work and site amenities. So, again, I don't know the project, but just from what I've heard this morning and from my
experience, that's my opinion of of that. >> I know the project, I know the location, I know the folks involved. It has all of the utilities. All of those things are all the roads and the landscaping for except for right around the site are all already done.
Thank you. You're welcome, >> Mr. Caps. So, we just heard about three examples uh from this gentleman and around the state and all of the prices were in the
mid to upper fives, 585, 593, 563. Um Sean, if you could put page two of the memo up that staff prepared for us. I want to show some other prices. >> This here.
>> This one right here. Yep. >> Yeah, that's it. You got your hand on it. There you go. Is that >> okay? Correct. >> So, this this is part of a memo that staff prepared on May 14 explaining
about the P3 project. And also there is a table at the bottom of page two that says cost per square foot of construction for other buildings that have been built locally in recent
days. And I just want to read through these to get us familiar with what some other projects have cost around here lately. And keep in mind that most of these were
not bid with the the P3 process, but the traditional design bid build method where there were competitive bids to get these jobs. So the first one is the Sea Turtle Beach Cafe. >> It's not built.
>> Well, it's soon to be built. The price is going to be $912 a square foot. >> No, that's faulty. You pointed that out. I've heard your arguments on that, but that is not fair for you to count vertical and horizontal construction
when all of the rest of them are only counting vertical construction. But nevertheless, that's a small part of the argument here. The second one is district 19 em. That's a medical examiner.
And that price per square foot is $839 per square foot >> specialized equipment. >> And then the third one is the landfill administration building. What's that price? $6.98 per square foot. And then
we had a building department expansion. What was that one? 579. And then the marine operations building 579. And the very last one listed there is the operations facility that we're
getting that we're talking about here today. That's the cheapest one of all. 533. So we we have we heard about three other examples in the fives. And then we have one, two, three, four, five, six more
examples. And then over the weekend, I was doing some researching and I came across a uh TC Palm article and Sean, if you could put that up. I'm going to read it to you.
I couldn't believe how apppropo this was to our current situation. Uh the title of the article is Port St. Lucy ready to spend $16 million for a new public works department building. So
why are we building this building? To house public works primarily and then it's going to house uh parks and recreation and also general services. That's why our project is a larger building. But this is public works construction
here that the city is is getting ready to build. And this is current. This article is dated June 17, 2024. So, this is a a recent project. Let's just read this. It's real short.
The city is poised to spend up to $16 million for a new public works department building. The city council plans to consider the project at its 100 p.m. Monday meeting. It's listed on the consent agenda,
meaning the vote would be held without discussion and without public comment. It could, however, be pulled from that list during the meeting for full discussion. top recommendation to the city council.
Following a two-stage review process, the 15,996 uh dollar uh bid for the Delray Beach Kaufman Land Construction was recommended to the council. Kaufman Lynn outscored two other biders in the second round despite another company's bid
coming in at 4 4.5 million lower according to city records. Paul Jacquwin and Sons of Fort Pierce bid was 11,471,135. The bid of Charles Perry Partners of Gainesville was the highest at $21
million and change according to records on the three criteria reviewed by the city's evaluation committee. design bid team organization management
project understanding and approach of the project and project schedule. Kaufman Lynn scored the highest with 200 points according to the city. Charles Perry received 189 points and Paul Jwin
received 169 points with projected cost included. Scores were Kaufman 264, Paul Jacquwin 259, and Charles Perry 236. New building would replace shuttered
facilities. Okay. The 29,782 ft public works facility would be located within the existing complex on Thornhill Drive and Behore Boulevard and would replace several exist existing structures that have been closed for years due to mold. Target completion
date for the new facility would be August 7, 2025. There also are plans to eventually construct a new warehouse and maintenance facility to replace other shuttered buildings at the complex. Anyway, I wanted you to hear about this.
I thought it was really relevant because it's it's building a new public works facility. The price 16 million. And I did the math at the bottom divided by right at 30,000 square ft. The price $537
per square foot. That's another local government paying that price right up the road. And what's interesting, I talked to an official in Port St. Lucy and the official told me their price is
going up. It's it's a project that's in the works now and the the price is going up because they use the traditional design bid build method that allows for de developer initiated change
orders which commonly drive the price up 10 20% and more. this it's a common thing in design bid build to get developer initiated change orders with
the P3 process that's the main way that local governments save money there is no there are no developer initiated change orders it's a fixed price contract so I wanted
you to see this example in addition to we have 10 examples here of of prices in the fives, the sixes, the sevens, the eights, and the nines.
And we've had sort of I think reckless charges out there on social media that buildings like this should be able to be built for $200 a square foot. I just think that's outlandish and it's reckless. uh based on what we're seeing
here. Uh you have a professional staff overseeing this that deals in this world all of the time and um and we the evidence is right here before us that this is a good and fair project.
>> Commissioner Heatherington. >> Sean, yes. I would like for you to take that um that former um spreadsheet table you described at maybe the the previous meeting or the meeting before that how you calculated
the square foot because I think what's alarming to some people when you talk about vertical vertical construction you're you're including the site and the building of square footage all and you did a nice um job explaining how you
could do that because you you need to compare some price per square foot, but I think sometimes it's alarming when people um are very versed into the horizontal construction versus the vertical and how you average that out into a square foot price. Could you
explain that again? >> Sure can. So, so all these costs were were developed using the low bid process uh with the exception of the sea turtle beach. That's an estimate from the designer. uh but to to have an apples to apples comparison uh it wasn't with um design costs, it was only the hard
construction costs. Now dividing that by the vertical square footage gives us the price per square foot that you see to add horizontal components into it starts to skew the numbers quite a bit. So the vertical is is generally the way to go. Uh and and when you start adding horizontal square foot, for example, in
our case, we have 30 acres of site. Uh for our price, we could get it around4 $48 a square foot. So it really starts playing with the numbers uh and pushing them around a little bit. So in order to compare them uh you know side by side uh the horizontal uh square foot is
excluded and and and you only use the vertical uh along with the total price the total um construction price of the entire project and that's what this table shows. >> Mr. Donnie, can you give us your background and experience please so people can understand where you're coming from when you give us this
information? >> Sure thing. I I my I'm a prof professional engineer uh 27 years experience as a civil engineer. I'm also a licensed building code administrator for the last 15 years. I've worked in construction and construction related related industries for the last 35
years. Uh I've built probably a half a million square foot for various agencies. Uh I just came from Indian River State College. I was their chief engineer and building official as well as their vice president of of uh of facilities. Uh and and so I've got quite a bit of experience in and especially
costs of construction. Uh we've priced quite a bit at the at the college uh and done very similar campuses uh such as this one. >> When you worked at Indian River State College, did you were you responsible for all of the campuses? >> I was. Yes, sir. >> How many square feet of buildings and
facilities and >> about 1.5 million square feet and about 80 or so structures all across the >> track. So when we hear you're giving these numbers, it's not like you just showed up. >> Commissioner Vargas, >> you know, I I'm really disappointed in
my fellow commissioners. Um this is not the time to be spending this kind of money. I will go out and find rental property that'll have bays and office space and it'll be a lot lot
lot less expensive. We need to hit the pause button hard on this and you can make formidable opinions and that's pretty much what it is. I brought numbers here last time. Again, Sea Turtle Beach Cafe is different. I said
last time should be taken out completely. That was just vertical. But we do have the other construction plus it is on the sand dune also that is specialized. So that is faulty. That is thrown out. The other thing I want to
say here is that I have been in communication reached out to me not me seeking them. These are Treasure Coast quality, formidable, experienced construction companies.
And I still can't get an answer as to why this was not proposed in the community for construction companies to directly come in and cut out a developer. We have to realize, please, eventually
that this is not our money. This is a reckless spending of money, but this has been the commission doing this over and over. Now, having said that, I had a whole dialogue last time, and you can replay
that. That was two meetings ago wherein I talked about numbers. You can build $200 a square foot. You talk about desks.
You talk about electrical components, bay doors. Some of the schools and firehouses have been built extravagantly. We don't need that. This needs to be a
simple building with offices and whatever you need for the industrial component. But better yet, as a real estate broker, I've already spoken with brokers in the area, and there is plenty I see signs all over, like those mushrooms that
sprout in your front yard, all over the place, warehouse and offices, that if you have to move off of the airport area next month, I can deliver that to you. They can deliver that to you and hit the brakes hard on this. We
received a report from Miss Merley, our budget director, and Mr. Donaldson, our county manager, last meeting. Also, this is not the climate. And and you could opine or or say what you want that this is nice. No, we're not here to
throw away money. We don't know what money we will have. None of us do. The price of gasoline is coming down a little bit, but that's another discussion because that was already pumped and refined a long time ago. Another discussion. I lived in that part
of the world. People are just trying to make it today. Shame on us. They're just trying to make it. And to say, well, $500, $600, it's really more than it's more than $600 a square foot, but it's kind of like a smoke and mirrors type
thing. And I've called that out. And unfortunately, it's an unpopular opinion because some folks here on the commission have been here way too long and they decide that they're going to make the rules. But it's not like that. Times are changing and they've already changed. We are in an era when people
demand accountability. There has been no accountability whatsoever. None whatsoever. And I'm the lone voice up here. But I've had people call me, visit with me, thank you very much for standing up
for us for once and for all. The developer and the construction company are not even from the Treasure Coast area. This is Martin County. We don't need fancy buildings. We need a functional building. But I'm doing it better for
you. I will go personally with a broker and with Mr. Donahghue to tell him what you actually need in order to move those departments off the airport. We'll satisfy the FAA for that directive.
And then number two, you'll be safely comfortable there for a couple of years. We have to see how things are going to work out. None of us know. We cannot just decide we're going to build it because it's a fantastic price
at $500 or $400 or whatever it may be. This makes no sense economically. None. And this this is an affront to everybody who puts in a dime. And I've seen over and over, especially one commissioner
who steps over $1,000 to scream about a nickel. That's why I go to meetings. And there is a very important conference this week, the Florida Association of Counties of which I am going to as soon as I finish here today to talk with my other 66 county
commissioners and find out how do they do it? What is their solution? How are they saving money for their taxpayers? And I know Mr. Donaldson will be there also, I believe. So having said that, being in the business world, living internationally,
this is not something that you just do on a whim. Well, let's see. Let's just pick one company. No, no, no, no, no. You get bids and you get bonafideed numbers and you cut out middlemen as
much as you can. We are a governmental agency. If you were in private business, you would go bankrupt. And I know there's some business people sitting here in this room right now. And I'm a businesswoman also. And I watch my P's and Q's as much as I watch yours.
So, you know, when we have these inflammatory statements and saying that they respect me less, which was said earlier, I couldn't believe that was said. I say, wait a moment. A person that would say that is uneducated because they don't know what else to say. Or
maybe they don't like women that can think a little bit. Maybe that's it. But having said that, that's fine. I'm a Miami girl. I can take this. But this should be on a hard stop. Nobody is telling us from the heavens that we must
do this now. Again, I'm making my offer to go out with you, Mr. Don Hugh, and I will go out with you, Matt, also to look at property, see what is available, and what will work for us. Now, that's a a lot less money than what we're going to
be spending now. So, we should be in no rush whatsoever. None whatsoever. The topic this week at the conference would be about the advorum and everything else that trickles down. >> We're not going to be using adorum to
pay for this. And this agenda item was at your request, Commissioner Vargas, to gather facts about this project. Let's allow our staff to present the facts that you asked for. >> Yes, please. That's my comment. >> Please proceed.
>> You can shut my light off. >> Can we get the PowerPoint back? >> Thank you. >> Let's talk about the uh the site infrastructure and the needs uh how this how this supports the county's facility and the the work that the county needs
to do. Uh the the site's about 30 acres, just shy of 30 acres. Uh it'll have uh 10 acres of secured parking. Uh there'll be enough room for 648 parking spaces of light and heavy and other equipment vehicles uh such as trailers, uh dump
trucks, uh greatalls, things like that. It'll have a lift station with the sanitary for the sanitary sewer system as well as other water and wastewater infrastructure, a fire protection system, uh with portable water, uh storm water management systems. So of the 30 acres about 20 acres of the site is
remaining after the water management system and that's basically considered all work area. There's the building of 118,000 square feet. Uh but the rest of the site becomes a giant large work area that includes uh transit bus parking material for storage or storage for
soils, landscaping uh street light poles, fixtures, culverts and other storm water management materials. A vacuum truck settling basin, vehicle maintenance areas, hazardous material storage, a bulk water fill area, dumpsters, a chilled water plant, a fuel
depot, a hot mix asphalt truck utility system, uh sentinel chicken area, an oil water separators for the various components and and things that we need to do with the uh vehicles that have oils and greases on them. The county assets uh at this site will be valued in well over, you know, several million
dollars. So the s the site will have a pretty secure robust security system. It'll have a 6ft wall with burm all the way around. It'll house access management, surveillance systems, uh man gates and vehicle gates. Uh the life safety systems uh include a fully
sprinkled building with fire pumps and alarm system. Uh the sanitary lift station and other critical infrastructure will be supported by backup power systems that way. All right. Uh the facility features include uh it's it's now at 118,000
square ft. Uh it will be a rated structure uh able to withstand 180 mph winds. It'll have a fuel depot with 15,000 gallons of gasoline and 15,000 gallons of diesel. Uh we increased the size of that those stoages because we were running out in previous storms uh
as it took too long to get new fuel in. It'll have a mosquito control chemical building. That's the hazardous material storage. It'll have a chiller plant that supports the building. It will be supported by the backup power systems. There'll be two 250 kowatt generators that support the chiller systems and the
building. That's about the size of a large Publix in South Florida. The generator capacity that's needed to back that up. It'll have a staff training area that will also support the CARES program uh for public uh education. It'll have emergency response support capabilities where staff can stay
overnight in this hardened backup power backed up system or site uh to better respond to storms after after they move through. It'll have secure uh light and heavy vehicle storage storage areas. It'll have aggregate storage areas for for all the different pieces and parts that public works and and um parks and
wreck uses. It'll have a a very robust security and perimeter controls. Uh it'll have fiber optics uh supporting the uh traffic control system and it'll have the three fire pumps that I mentioned before. Uh there will be over 160 county staff that report to this facility with over 90 from public works,
over 50 from general services, and up to 19 from parks. That's about 14% of the county staff that will report to this new facility. The facility will house offices, trade work areas for carpenters, electricians, HVAC techs, plumbers, painters. It'll have a receiving area and ve and for vehicle
maintenance. It'll have locker rooms and adequate restroom facilities, a mosquito control lab, hazardous material storage, a traffic signage fabrication shop, the traffic control center. Uh it'll it'll have emergency response materials for store the storage area, and it'll have
equipment and tool lockups and distribution areas. Divisional storage and other work areas will also be included both inside and outside the facility. The facility allows for a consolidation of county departments and divisions within one hardened storm proof facility that's able to withstand
180 mi winds. Parks the parks department field operations will combine with general services and the public works department to share resources and common support areas so we're not duplicating them uh as we if we were going to build these separately as well as combine layown areas, material storage areas, and other work areas. Storm response sta
staff will have the ability to house inside the hardened buildings for quicker storm response. Operational savings include maintenance cost avoidance needed to maintain the current age systems that are weakened from decay. Uh these sites are these these current buildings that we're in are 50
60 years old in some cases 90 years old. Uh the current facilities are aged and well beyond useful life. This new facility will be built to last more than 50 years. The planning timeline. This started back in 2017 when an appropriation or when
the project was identified in the budget as a CIP uh project funding in began in 2019 with a set aside of about $6 million to start looking for property and start and and with that property um building eventually road a signal and
doing some other design work. Um multiple properties were were looked at throughout the you know the property evaluation period and then uh in 2022 water wateride property was identified as the site and that property was purchased for $2.9 million.
Since a property was purchased for the facility, the county has worked through the development approval process with zoning approvals, property purchase requirements, including the construction of Wateride Way signalization at the intersection, and the establishment of a wastewater service area. The need to relocate the operation facility from its
current location was compounded by the federal aviation voluntary uh compliance action plan, VCAP, that was uh completed in 2025. This is the current site located on the airport property. It's about 15 acres. Most of the buildings in this site were
constructed in 1970s. Many additions were constructed over the past creating a series of aged inefficient groups of buildings where departments are scattered throughout the site uh into multiple buildings with inadequate support spaces. In one building, there's about 40 people that share two bathrooms. At the current conditions,
options for repairs and expansions of facilities on this site have been limited by ADA and building code issues. This shows the current parks or field parks field operations site at the corner of Dixie and and Indian. These buildings are over 50 years old with one
being about 70 years old. The board discussed a possible sale of the site and/or a portion of all of the fairground site uh once these current uh uses are vacated after the construction of the new facility. These are the uh camp or the county operations that'll move to this new
count new uh site. uh public works, field operations, mosquito control, traffic operations, storm water, roads and sidewalks, environmental resource operations, the parks and wreck operations, parks administration, and then the general services department, the administration portion of that, and
then the trades and the fleet maintenance. And I'll talk a little bit about each one of them. The public works traffic division maintains about 15,500 sign panels, almost 1,800 street lights, 130 traffic
signals, and 125 flashers and beacons. The traffic control center at the public works site uses advanced technology uh in the traffic divisions operations center. We can monitor major monitor major intersections and adjust signalization and timing from for the
most efficient traffic flow throughout our intersections. The technology in our in our state-of-the-art traffic operations center is the envy of cities and counties across Florida. The storm water maintenance and field operations division is responsible for maintaining much of the infra
infrastructure residents rely on every day. Their teams respond to natural disasters and emergencies, maintain roads, sidewalks, storm water systems, bridges, landscape rights of ways, and provide 24-hour operation of the Hope Sound drawbridge. They process over
23,000 maintenance work orders annually. They maintain over 565 miles of paved roads. They maintain 5200 storm water inlets and 120 m of storm water pipes. The Environmental Resource Division is a dedicated to protecting and restoring
Martin Countyy's unique natural environment while improving the quality of life for future generations. This division manages more than 37,000 acres of environmentally sensitive lands, over 100 miles of public trails, and 20 m of shoreline. Their work includes beach
restoration, artificial reefs, Everglades restoration initiatives, coastal resiliency planning, environmental permitting, and the administration of millions of dollars of grant-f funed environmental projects. The mosquito control division monitors and manages mosquito populations using
environmentally responsible practices that comply with all federal and state requirements. The team manages aquatic vegetation and storm water channels, coordinates mosquito-born illness response with state agencies, provides educational outreach outreach through the throughout the community, and
supports the hurricane operate uh response operations. Each year, they treat more than 178,000 acres for adult mosquitoes and manage over 2200 acres of mosquito breeding areas. Public works repairs potholes on 565 mi
of paved county roads. They also perform maintenance on 15 miles of unpaved roads. Public works repairs 44,000 square feet of sidewalk annually in the county right away. Public works also maintains
and ms 800 acres along county roadways. They collect and remove 125 tons of material annually from drainage ditches and baffle boxes box boxes to preserve water flow and reduce pollutants entering local waterways. They mow and maintain 1222 miles of ditches two to
three times annually. Public works maintains 40 major storm water treatment areas, STAs. That includes 125 acres of open water, 125 acres of wetlands and upland preserves, 110 acres of marshall of marsh land, and
45 acres of preserve areas. Along with the annual maintenance of the county's infrastructure, the public works departments provides pre and posttorm preparation and response services using innovative and customized equipment. Parks operation division supports a
large and diverse countywide park system. The division maintains approximately 127 million in county assets across 75 parks and over 1,700 acres, which is about the 38 the size of the city of Stewart. With 52 full-time employees, parks operations is
responsible for the inspection, repair, maintenance, and operations of public facilities used by residents and visitors throughout Martin County. Park's infrastructure includes the following. 10 recreational buildings, two historic buildings, an amphitheater, 30 standalone rest restrooms, 18
combined restrooms and concession buildings, approximately 160 pavilions, 24 playgrounds, 25 multi-purpose fields, 32 diamond fields, 21 tennis courts, 34 pickleball courts, 20 boat ramps, two fitness courses, one covered hockey
rink, two arenas, a splash pad, and a disc golf course. The general services department maintains and operates over 100 or 1.2 million square feet of buildings including public buildings like the administration building, the Larry Massing building uh building department
among others. They we maintain our libraries, the constitutional offices, the courthouse, the clerk, the sheriff's areas, supervisor of election, the property appraiser and the tax collectors. Uh we we maintain all fire stations and all historic buildings in the town in the county. We provide trade
services and support to all county buildings and departments including HVAC, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, painting and vehicle maintenance. We manage over 1100 HVAC systems in county buildings. We manage almost 600,000 gallons of fuel
across 15 locations in the county. General services staff manages capital improvement projects for various departments and constitutional offices like the replacement of the Martin County Jail's fence shown here. We provide repair and maintenance services for over 800 light and heavy
vehicle vehicles as well as various equipment including building generators, mobile generators, and pumps. We process over 11,000 work orders a year and pay over 9,000 invoices for services including electric and other utilities, custodial services, security
services, fuel, contract maintenance, and grounds maintenance. We maintain multiple lift stations and drain fields at many county facilities. County staff like this guy here in the in the drainage pit are dedicated to operate and maintain county facilities
ac in infrastructure for the board residents staff and county guests. We thank the board for providing the facilities and materials to do our jobs which serve the county residents and guests. And from here I'll turn it over to Stephanie Merley.
>> Good afternoon commissioners. Stephanie Merley, director of the office of management and budget. Um, as part of the evaluation, >> Marley, before you begin, can you give us your background and your history, please? >> Yes. Um, I have a finance degree from the University of Central Florida and as
well as a master's in public administration. Um, I've been with the county um at the in exclusively in the budget office for 15 years and more importantly, I grew up in Martin County. I'm a taxpayer here in Martin County. >> Thank you. So,
so as part of the evaluation process for the proposed Martin County operations facility, the county examined a number of funding options to understand the financial implications of each approach. The information presented here reflects the analysis conducted by the county's
municipal advisor, PFM, regarding the county's financial position and potential financing structures available for the project. Three options were provided in the original proposal which included lease options of 30 to 40 years with the proposer.
Ultimately based on the analysis, the option that was identified was self- financing through the issuance of bonds secured by the county's existing halfsent sales tax revenues. The financing plan included a $10 million budgeted buyown that has been
accumulated over the past seven fiscal years and approximately $64 million in bond proceeds to fund to fund the project. Additionally, because the board paid off existing debt obligation during this current fiscal year, the resulting debt
capacity helps offset the annual repayment requirements of this bond, enhancing the project's overall financing structure to minimize the impact to the county's budget. The analysis also evaluated repayment scenarios. A 20-year repayment term was
identified as an alternative to a 30-year term and was projected to reduce overall interest cost by approximately $22 million over the life of the debt. In reviewing the project's overall financial impact, several several factors were considered, including
construction delivery costs, estimated inflation, and time value of money impacts, operational costs, and comparisons with alternative financing structures. Based on these assumptions, the analysis estimated approximately $45 million in
potential savings over the life of the project when compared with certain alternative approaches that were evaluated. Another consideration identified during the review process was facility ownership. Under the bond financing structure, the
county would retain ownership of the facility upon completion. This differs from leasebased or third-party ownership models and may provide additional flexibility regarding future use, maintenance, and operational decisions made by the board of county commissioners.
So, as with any significant capital project, the financing strategy has been subject to multiple levels of review. The proposal was evaluate evaluated by my office, the office of management and budget in conjunction with the clerk of the circuit court and controllers's
office, the county attorney's office, our bond council, Bryant Miller Olive, who has been here the past two meetings, and PFM in its role as municipal adviser. So, at this time, I would like to invite Jay Glover um from PFM, our municipal advisor, to provide additional
detail regarding the evaluation process, the county's financial position, and the B bond issuance itself. >> Thanks, Stephanie. I think there's another presentation that we pulled up. Can you hear me? Okay. >> No, I don't think your mic is on. >> Can we check?
>> Check. Check. >> Better. >> Just talk closer. Sir, can you start with your um history, please? >> Perfect. Uh chair, commission members, I'm Jay Glover from PFM Financial Advisors. We are the county's municipal adviser. And what that means is, you
know, we generally provide municipal advice and work with local governments on the most cost-effective ways to fund capital projects via the issuance of debt. I'm a managing director with the firm, uh one of 35 or 40 partners that we have. I've been with the firm for 26
years. Uh represent cities, counties, school districts, authorities all over the state of Florida in the southeast United States exactly to provide municipal advice on debt financing. So during the course of my career, I've advised on upwards of a billion dollars worth of municipal debt, both taxable
and tax exempt. Um, and I was asked to just come give a brief uh postpartum uh analysis of the actual financing process that we went through, why we chose to do what we did, and the actual results for the county which we think were very favorable given current market
conditions. Am I flipping the slides or is something here? Perfect. Uh before we get started on the actual financing process, just a little bit of background on why local governments generally issue debt to fund large capital projects like we're talking about here today. And we
really outlined four reasons mainly why they do that. First of all, it's hard to generate enough money on a pay as you go basis over time to build up enough money to fund a project of this nature. And really that goes in line with the second one. as you build up proceeds, if you
wanted to pay for this upfront with cash, the cost of the project continues to go up and it's sort of an endless cycle that you never catch up in in an inflation environment like we're in today. So, obviously building upfront, borrowing upfront to build locks in construction costs today and generally
can save you money over time. Um, there's also a concept of taxpayer or rateayer equity. um you know, future generations of citizens of Martin County will benefit from this project. Uh so putting the burden on current taxpayers
by doing a pay as you go type process doesn't allow for future citizens to actually pay for the cost of this project as well, which is another reason we generally see longerterm financing for projects like this up to 20 years as was discussed here. And then the other issue just really market conditions
wise, local governments can borrow on a tax exempt basis. So generally borrowing on a tax exent basis provides for fairly attractive rates that you can borrow with and minimize the interest costs paid over time which we'll talk about here in a few few slides. Uh now getting to the process of the issuance of the
sales tax bonds. As Stephanie mentioned we really analyzed all the financing options available to the county to finance this including doing financing through your P3 partner. uh we ultimately recommended that the county going about the financing process and
isolating the financing mechanism in the public private partnership and doing a standalone financing would allow for a more coste effective means of borrowing. The reason behind this is and we'll show some examples of this later is the county has a very strong credit quality.
You're rated in the double A category which we'll talk about here on the next slide and you're also again able to borrow on a tax exempt basis. So after reviewing all of the available sources that the county could pledge for the issuance of debt, we determined that your halfsent sales tax revenues were a
stable source of revenue that would allow us to achieve a strong credit rating and minimize the cost of borrowing moving forward. So we recommended the county pursue a financing secured by your local government halfcent sales tax revenues to secure the financing. And as
Stephanie mentioned, you also contributed $10 million upfront to buy down the cost of borrowing and again minimize the interest paid over time. I mentioned this before, but anytime the county goes out for publicly offered bonds, whether it's a general project
like this or a project for your water and sewer system, we always go out and seek a thirdparty credit rating from either Moody's, S&P, or Fitch to help drive down the borrowing cost. In this case, we went to S&P to get a credit
rating. Uh that involved uh the rating agency sending a list of questions to us. We had a conference call with them that included county staff. The clerk and her staff were on the line. Your financial adviser, myself, was on the line as well as the analyst from S&P. Uh
the outcome of that process, S&P assigned a double A credit rating to the financing. Uh and in this grand scheme of ratings, AAA is as high as you can get. So double A is two notches below the highest possible rating. So a very strong rating and really puts you in the
upper echelon of credit ratings in the state of Florida and nationally. Um there's four bullets here and I won't read each of those, but these are direct quotes from the rating report as to why they came to the double A credit rating. They talk about the strong and diverse
local economy, strong debt service coverage ratio. So that means they look at how much sales tax revenues the county generates. They compare that to the annual debt service and the metric is 2.7 times coverage which is very strong in this case. They also point out
the strong financial results the county has achieved over the last eight fiscal years resulting in strong reserves. And then they also talk about management policies which are well entrenched and allow you to be proactive in making decisions as you move forward.
So again, that double A credit rating really is a strong rating and is a reason why on this slide, we got 10 competitive bids to purchase the bonds when we went out to bid. So on May the 19th, we advertised that the county would solicit competitive bids for the
purchase of these bonds, and the bonds would be closed on June the 12th. Again, we received 10 bids for the bonds, and they were awarded to the lowest true interest cost provider at a 4.03% 03% true interest cost to key bank capital
markets. And you can see here the list of biders. There'll be many well-recoognized financial institutions. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley are probably the biggest ones. And then some you might not have heard of before, but all of these are reputable financial institutions that
bid on the purchase of municipal bonds. And then the final slide I will mention here is this is the annual debt service payment that the county will pay over 20 years. Again, we structure this for a level debt service payment. So your payments are about $4.7 million a year,
total debt service of about $95 million. As ste as Stephanie mentioned, at the outset of the process, we also looked at a 30-year financing to to do this project. The useful life of the asset would allow you to finance it over a longer period of time, but that would resulted in significantly more cost up
to $22 million. So, given the budget relief you all received from the payment of prior debt and how this might fit in the budget, we thought 20 years would be the opportune uh repayment period for this type of debt. And again, that's just a bit of a a postpricing analysis.
It was a very successful sale, as I mentioned, really due to the credit quality of the county. Um, and we're very pleased with the results being around a 4% true interest cost. So, we locked in a favorable rate for the next 20 years. The bonds are callable in 10 years. So, at that point, if rates are
lower, you could potentially refinance and save money then. But if not, you're locked in for the entire 20 years at that 4% rate. And with that, I'm happy to address any questions you might have about the financing process. >> Commissioner Campy, >> thank you, sir. I appreciate it. I know you came down from Orlando one more time
for us, and thank you. >> No problem. Um, I think you answered it right at the end there. If we wanted to repay, we can repay. When does the window open to look? >> Yeah, 10 years. So, generally, municipal bonds will have a 10-year no call
provision. So, at the 10-year mark, you will either be able to refinance the bonds at a lower rate or you could pay them off without a penalty, >> knocking knocking it down from the 94. >> Yeah, you would not pay any interest beyond that 10-year period. >> Thank you. That's that's sort of how we
operate at the county level. And two, knowing now that you are our expert and selling the bonds, what would happen if you've you heard some of the suggestions that we should stop what we've done thus far in your opin in your experience? How often have you seen that happen? And if
it were to happen, what would happen? >> Well, the reality of the fact is the project does not secure the debt. The debt is secured by half cent sales tax revenues. So regardless of if the project moves forward, you are responsible for repaying the debt
essentially. So if you decided not to do that, you would be defaulting on your debt, which is catastrophic from a financial perspective. That would essentially eliminate your ability to access the capital markets for a very long time. Um, including for potential
water and sewer projects that I know the county has pending. So um, municipal bond defaults just don't happen. I mean, you've probably heard of a few of them. Jefferson County, Alabama, you know, Puerto Rico, things like that. But most local governments that do tried and
trueue traditional fixed rate bonds like this and don't get into esoteric products, you know, pay their semiannual debt service payments and and that's it. So, at this point, the bonds have closed. So, you're responsible for making the debt service payments regardless of the nature of the project.
>> Thank you very much. I appreciate you. >> Further questions for Mr. Glover? >> For him. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Jay. >> All right, commissioners. Just one more slide for you. Another question that's been frequently asked throughout this process is how the project will be
overseen once construction begins. The the project is subject to oversight by multiple county departments and professional consultants throughout the design and construction. County staff involved in this project oversight include engineering, building
facilities, utilities, administration, our budget office, procurement, and legal staff. In addition, the project will be reviewed and monitored by department directors, operational stakeholders, and technical staff who have been involved throughout the planning and evaluation process. This
project is also subject to multiple contractual and financial safeguards, including payment and performance bonds, inspection requirements, progress payment review procedures, financial reporting requirements, public records requirements, and construction administration services. Progress
payments are reviewed prior to dispersement and are tied to project milestone and completed work. This helps ensure that the county funds are only expended for work that has been completed and verified. Another important aspect of the project is that
the county employees involved re in reviewing and overseeing this project will ultimately work from this facility or directly supervise employees who will work from this facility. As a result, these staff members have a vested interest in ensuring this project is
designed, constructed, and delivered in a manner that meets the county's long-term operational needs. Unlike an outside consultant whose involvement ends when the construction is complete, these employees will be responsible for operating, maintaining, and utilizing the facility for many years to come. The
goal of this oversight structure is to ensure accountability, transparency, quality control, and protection of the county's interests throughout design and construction while delivering a facility that will serve county employees and residents for decades to come. Before we
conclude today's presentation, I'd just like to invite Lauren Hollander, the chief executive officer of Building Tomorrow's Infrastructure, to offer a few brief remarks. Thank you. >> Welcome, Miss Hollander. >> Thank you very much. Let me make sure.
Got it. Yeah. >> Okay, great. Good afternoon, commissioners, county staff, and members of the public. Uh, my name is Lauren Hollander and I'm here today on behalf of Building Tomorrow's Infrastructure, also known as BTI. BTI is a 501c3
notfor-profit organization that was formed to promote community welfare by addressing critical public safety, infrastructure, municipal building, and health care needs while easing the financial burdens on local government.
Our affiliated organization, Building Tomorrow's Schools, which has also been mentioned in this particular project, focuses on helping school districts and school operators on providing highquality educational facilities through the same proven approach. Over
the last 20 years, our professional team individually and collaboratively have participated in a significant number of public projects totaling millions of square feet while helping local governments and taxpayers save dollars.
BTI exists specifically to help local governments deliver critical infrastructure more efficiently and effectively through the public private partnerships commonly known as P3s. A P3 brings together the expertise of
the public and private sectors under a united project structure structure that actually shifts the risk to the private organization or in this case the nonprofit organization rather than managing the financing site
selection planning development and construction as separate processes with separate teams. A P3 integrates these functions into a coordinated approach from the very beginning of the project.
This reduces redundancies, shortens project timelines, improves accountability, and also allows challenges to be identified and resolved earlier in the process. Projects can move forward more quickly
because planning, financing, design, and construction activities are aligned from day one. Costs can be reduced because of our experienced professionals are involved throughout the entire project life cycle. They work together
collaboratively throughout the entire project, helping to avoid delays, change orders, any inefficiencies, and unforeseen expenses that often impact traditionally delivered projects.
We bring decades of experience working as a team and it is precisely this unified approach which creates savings in both time and money. We appreciate the opportunity to serve this community. Look forward to working with county
leadership and staff throughout the process. We have enjoyed the engagement of over 30 different individuals who have patiently worked tirelessly as they designed exactly what your staff has articulated the facility will include.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Questions for Miss Hollander. Thank you. I do have a couple members of the public who would like to address us. The first is Gary Erler, followed by Kevin Powers Gary Earl Porterno. Uh listen, I wasn't
prepared to speak on this item. Um, listening to the presentation, kind of had to scratch my head. The bonds have already been set, the money's already let, and no matter what, we're on the hook for it. Is that my understanding? >> That's what I heard. We don't even have building plans.
>> Kevin Powers. Madam Chair, commissioners, uh Kevin Powers for the record. Um I'm here this afternoon as Kevin Powers, a resident of Martin County, but I wanted I felt compelled to share um a P3 story real
from Indiantown High School, but do it from my perspective. I'm a private sector guy and know most of you fairly well. Um, and ironic you had it, and I'm going to do everything I can to get in my 3 minutes and get to the point, but I think it's important that, um, ironic
that you had your IRL South um, update this morning and and it brought to mind um, my service on the governing board, the South Florida Water Management, the governing board. I've worked for the previous two governors going back to 2009 and I remember I was that guy um
when I went into the Gun Club Road and I needed to know why these projects cost twice as much and take twice as long than the private sector and I was hellbent on understanding that and it was something like whoa cowboy you need to slow down there's a public
procurement process covers this infrastructure and all of them and as frustrating as it was I realized that that's the way it worked. And so, um, so I quickly got with it and I was thrilled in my eight years to be able to watch
over, uh, a billion dollars of public dollars go to work to to help the, uh, the entire ecosystem. But specific to Indiantown High School, fast forward a few years, concept for a school that uh, serves um, careerbound kids been out
there for a while. Indian River State College. Vicky Davis with Clark uh or brought the Clark Advanced Learning, my wife on the school board said, "Yeah, we need we need this." Um Indian River State College, it looks wonderful, but we don't have any money to support that.
We support what it is. What was my role in that? Well, when Sister Elizabeth, the principal at Hope Rural, called my wife and said, "Well, I have a couple here you should meet." Um they're interested in this concept. his story is right up there with folks that were
careerbound and not collegebound. And long story short, um and so it was they decided that that's what they wanted to do. They went up met with Indian River State College and put the money on the table. Uh about 30 days later, they came
back and they said um they they gave them guidance on the price. They're going through the traditional public um procurement process. That was 40 million, right? that number, the timing was 3 and 1/2 years. And I'll never forget the donor coming up on 90
years old. He said, "I'm not going to live that long. I just don't in my business. I'm a private sector guy." And when I put my check on the table, we build infrastructure um with with with ample vetting. And my wife said, "Give me two weeks." She
called everybody in the construction universe that she could find in the state of Florida. She learned about the P3 process and she learned about the the the company that ultimately ended up building it. It came with a recommendation not only from a former
Senate President but from a former um head of Senate appropriation. So it there it was finished product. Um so the first one the original through the public procurement process was $40 million and three and a half years. the
P3 came in and it was $28 million and it was built in less than 18 months. So I don't want to see a good process get tarnished by what's a a inefficient um public procurement process and and
meanwhile on my private sector side I'm very dialed in to what the private sector does. I'm working on the largest motorsports project in the state of Florida. It's a half a billion dollars 650 acres. It is night and day what we do in the private sector versus what
happens in the public sector and I just felt obligated to share that. So thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Have another one coming. >> Please come forward sir and introduce yourself. >> He doesn't need an introduction.
>> Thank you. Thank you for your time. wasn't prepared to speak, but after listening to all this today, >> state your name for the record. >> Rick Manel, sorry. Lifetime resident, born and raised. Um, there's a lot of questions I would have.
The building can be built for a certain amount, a lot less than what I hear. I do infrastructure every day. You could do the infrastructure out there for 75 bucks a square foot because the building doesn't cost anything under the building. your infrastructure costs in
your asphalt and your drainage. You've already put the road in. You've already put the red light in. Somebody else paid for the water and the sewer that went by the site to go to the golf course. And not only that, I'm building a 1.4 million square foot building in St. Lucy
County. The biggest project in the area, thousand employees, Project Orchard. We're doing it for $250 a square foot. So that includes the land, the building. It's a glass foundry.
It's uh huge. So I think there should be some evaluation on the cost of what we're really paying for this infrastructure from the building. I don't know if you can do it for 70 bucks, but you got to
finish it out. So I think you could probably do it for maybe double that. Then you got to add some other costs. your land cost was cheap. Um, I just don't see a $75 million project or a $63 million project. There's two different
numbers out there and you're paying 35 million in interest. It's a lot of money. >> A lot of money. >> I agree. I would love to see this. I've seen all these buildings. My dad sprayed uh mosquitoes when I was a kid with an airboat for Martin County uh in that old building that you talked about on Dixie
Highway. All those things, I've seen them. have lived them. We need one place would be awesome, beautiful, but do we need to spend $110 million to do it? >> No. >> Just that's what my that's what I think. Thank you. >> Thank you,
>> Commissioner Campy. >> Mr. Donaldelson, we've spoken over the last several years, I guess, anecdotally, about two things that weren't really brought up so far today. one, the requirement of leaving the airport. I've had people reach out and say, "Why are you moving in the first
place?" And two, uh, when we hear people say, "Well, why didn't you do this many years ago, and why didn't you save the money?" I think our bond council said it's difficult to save for a project that continues to get more and more expensive as the years pass because of
inflation and cost of materials. Can you share with us you you've had a front row seat for the whole entire time the history of why what we've tried to do and why we're doing it now? Uh certainly um I think first I'll address the the
airport issue and that is um the FAA has consistently said that the non-eronautical use of the county facility is uh um uh not acceptable to airport use overall and um and they also
require that we pay um market rent for it. So it's not that uh that uh we're paying the airport essentially to stay there and the airport's enterprise funds. So it's used in the air uh runway resurfacing like you saw on the agenda today and other things. Um and more
recently that's come to a much sharper focus because as the demand for air services and and run uh and uh runway dependent uses or aeronautical uses has increased, so has the FAA's um uh concern on the lack of progress of the
county um uh making more or moving facilities like ours off. Um and that came to a a sharp point uh in in 2025 uh you know or in this last year as well um
with uh the FAA um uh considering uh uh a part 13 and a part 16 which would result in a trial um and uh and in all of our conversations with our legal counsel and FAA staff is that they're um
uh they're they're more than serious in their and They're frustrated with the the lack of progress. Part of that uh commitment by the county is that we were moving off of the airport um in our VCAP uh uh um presentation that was ratified
by the board this this last year and the FAA is continuing to monitor that progress. So, that's a real issue. um and it comes with unfortunately real threats in terms of how it would impact um our ability to uh uh to stay at the
airport. The other thing is is why why um why didn't you save for it? And um I know when I came here in uh in 1996 um and uh and then uh in '98 when I became the engineer or public works
director um we had those facilities were in bad shape at that time and uh we were constantly looking for um you know uh maintaining what we had and and and of course what we've it's hard for people to realize if you haven't been a Martin
County resident or I'm Sure Rick understands the the the type of equipment that our staff were using um was uh was much different today. You know, we've uh I always tell my staff of Martin County, I'm fortunate and been
able to as time has progressed invest in in more efficient technologies to get the work done, but we're generally not too generous on how many staff we actually have to do the work. So there's a lot of uh components in our general services in our public works area. If
you look at it, you compare the team of and I'll use traffic as an example. It's a very small team that is noted by district 4 is the most best traffic management team in all of all of South Florida, but they also per per signal
per per whatever unit you want to put, we have the least number of staff. So um and so that's important that these are essential. These are essential services. You're not going to get an AI bot to to fix your pothole or or clean your street in a after a hurricane or after a flood.
And we've had a number of those. 95 was a significant event that kind of triggered the whole re-evaluation of how M Martin County does drainage. So, I think what's important to know is that we've often had a lot of infrastructure in the county, roads that were
constructed by subdivisions in the 60s and 70s with metal pipe. and we've always been tracing deteriorated infrastructure. So, our first goal from the county commission is let's fix what we own and operate. Um, as we came up to
the uh after 2004 air hurricanes, we were successful in getting certain FEMA funds to help rebuild what we lost. But we still were carrying this deficit and we've had a number of conversations over the years about our backlog in infrastructure and even how we collect
funds to maintain and resurface the roads. So I'll try to compress the the what what the history has been, but the board's focus has always been on serving the public and their needs first. You know, how do we fix the roads? How do we
fix the drainage? And drainage has been a huge issue for Martin County ever since, you know, before I got here. But it and it still is today. But where where we are today compared to 2000 is is light years in terms of where we had
you know homes flooded on a regular basis from uh either a lack of maintenance and sometimes it wasn't our own DOT dish was clogged and we would the homes would flood things like that. So always our investment was how do we maintain how do we fix these problems
and that's what we've always addressed first then you along comes a great recession and you certainly had no money to store then you know we we uh shrunk government quite a bit and then it was basically a mode of you just you wait
till something breaks and you fix it and uh and it took the state of Florida and Martin County was part of it over 10 years to recover and again the continuing in conversation about our the systems that we own and operate is how
do we deal with the backlog? We went to the voters on several occasions on a halfsent sales tax to deal with just infrastructure backlog. Um and unfortunately we were unsuccessful. Ultimately the board uh approved a franchise fee which is largely what also
funds your septic to sewer. So we had these also competing interests at the same time of looking at water quality, storm water drainage, uh you know harsh releases from the Everglades and how we do with deal with the um uh the
environmental impacts that has had and the also the the other feedback is what are we doing about our own drainage? We have a history of of uh of uh old subdivisions that have no drainage or water quality. So we've invested a lot. So, we put our money really first into
um fixing the roof as the analogy was earlier. Let how could let's stop the leaks. Um and it really wasn't until a few years ago that we finally started catching up. We stopped the backlog from getting worse. I I can't tell you how
many times I've made presentations to the board measuring the cost of the infrastructure backlog and uh and Harold Marky would look at what was happening in buildings and parks would look at what they were looking at inter deteriorated um uh ball fields or uh
playground equipment and we were just we got to a point where we treading water where we could only replace we weren't making any advancement on that backlog and as if I recall uh 15 years ago, that backlog we estimated about $150 million somewhere
in that neighborhood. Um and uh and those were those costed that day. And so we were just trying to get a point where we could catch up. And and when we did start to catch up, the idea is how could we improve it so that it wasn't just a fixed road, but could we add a little
bit of water quality to to do that or improve some sidewalks? And that's where you all came up with your neighborhood restoration. So, we were just at the point where we could save some money. And then you got $10 million um uh dollars on a project uh that and our CIP
was estimated at $80 million. Um and uh and and really we were seeing and we talked about this that we were going we were tracing um a difficult it was we it would be it would be impossible for us
to to make it for a um a a pay as you go because unfortunately even though our our uh public works and our parks and our general services and our traffic folks and and all the others are are are the people that make this county work
every day and they respond to hurricanes. Um, their first line is to fix the citizens infrastructure first and theirs is second. You know, it's kind of like, you know, I guess living with the the carpenter who doesn't fix
his own house cuz he's too doesn't have it when he gets home. But, um, that's ultimately why we're here. It's complicated. We looked at multiple properties, you know, all over the county in the urban boundary. That was a big tough decision to to buy this property um in a newly established um um
uh urban services uh uh area. So um that's ultimately it it's it's a combination of fix what's most important to the public first. a a great recession put us back and it's only in the last few years that Martin County has gotten
to the point where we can make some advancement on our backlog of infrastructure. The jail project for that fencing has been talked about for about 10 years. Uh and there's nothing cheap about it. Several million dollars to do that. So these are the jail became
a priority too. Fixing that. We had multiple um improvements on the jail. So the county has a lot of demands on it uh to provide and um uh what's to me is important about this project is that um it is a generational project. It it
comes at a time when um at a rare unique and time where we could actually afford it um in the sense that we have uh bought down some debt so we wouldn't actually impact the rest of the counties. This will be here 100 years from now. It's it actually has water
quality to treat the runoff from the facility we own and operate. If you looked at that image before, the runoff goes right into the creek. There's no water quality for that facility. Um, there are the parks either. Um, and so a modern facility that actually we have to move equipment out of there because the
buildings have fallen down in storms in the past. It's it's flooded. Um, and so it's necessary, but so we look at the cost of this repayment. Um uh it's uh if you add the budgets of public works, parks, and general services together,
it's uh roughly 7% of of their overall budget. Uh is what we're talking about in terms of uh if you look at that. These are essentials. No matter what you talk about in terms of the future of the economy of Martin County due to voter
referendums, you still need these men and women doing the job they're doing. And they're they're they're they are essential. That's it's what you know that's the ultimately you have to have them um uh in order to have an efficient
uh community and uh and this investment will serve it. Whether you um have to reduce the staff by a third, they're still going to need it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Another question that had come up about the um separate RFP for a construction
consultant. You mentioned at the last meeting that you had made that determination not to do it. Um I have my own rationale, but can you share with us what your thought process was and not spending $750,000
additional money to have an outside firm oversee the project? >> Yeah. First of all, I think what's most important is, you know, we're, you know, we're in the people business and it's people that make make things work. And we're very fortunate to have uh a group
of uh staff that have the credentials to actually um manage a project of this side u efficiently. We have not always had that. There have been times when absolutely we would have had to contract it out because we just didn't have the expertise uh and the uh the history of
actually doing projects of this magnitude. So we have that we have staff members who are willing to commit theirselves to the time frame to for this project and that's number one. And then number two really because you without the staff it doesn't matter what the price is. You you have to have the
professionals to do it. U was the price. We we didn't need to spend 3/4 of a million dollars on on experts who would likely hire some of my staff away so that they could actually manage the project manage the project. We are still
in an environment that um you know skills of um inspectors and um um and engineers that know this type of construction are uh a commodity that it's a very competitive market. um
finding folks that that live in our area that can afford to live in this area or have because they've been here. Um it's hard is the you know private uh contractors and are still um you know having a hard time getting the A team
keeping multiple A teams together and we have that here today and that's that's why I decided that we did not need to to do the RFP. I canceled it because of talking with staff and that what we had available it made sense to to do to do it and that's still my recommendation.
>> Thank you. My philosophy on that was that when private sector businesses are building hundreds of thousands of square feet uh sites anywhere in Martin County. They have their contractors, their architects, their professionals, but at
the end of the day, they rely on Martin Countyy's growth management department, environmental department, building department, engineering department to come and do those inspections on their projects in the private sector. So to me, I thought it made sense that if we have these professionals that do this
for a living every single day, why wouldn't if they have that level of uh dedication for someone's project in the community, of course they would have it for their own where they will be working. The other concept that you know
that everyone that's in the approval process or in the inspection process would only be yes men or women for you. What do you think about that? that they're just basically going to say and do whatever you expect of them. >> Well, the the the folks that that work
for me are all all of them have the ability to um come into my office and close the door and tell me what they think. And they have my all the one that I'm talking about are um um uh and if I told them something different, other
words um uh they wouldn't be here. you know, that that's the caliber of folks that we have. So, I I there aren't any um uh you know, we have some seasoned professionals um who who have a longevity um that are here because they were
making money. Most of them were making money somewhere else in the private sector and here um because they wanted to give back to their community and and they are and have fun at serving their community and that's what we have. So, I don't that in terms of self-s serving,
no, I we don't have any of those. >> And besides that, Don's not the scary one in the county. She is. >> Yeah. I I told her to take it easy today. Uh there was also I watched a podcast where one of our colleagues and a couple other members of the community
ran through a lot of scenarios. I'm trying to remember them so that we can just sort of address some of them now. There was discussion either there or elsewhere about that we wouldn't have had, you know, a a staff member necessarily dedicated specifically to overseeing this project on a day-to-day
basis, but I see a superstar sitting in the audience. >> Uh Ron, can you share with us what your vision is for Ron? >> Yes. Well, >> if not yours, whose it is? because he's been overseeing a project that was starting to sort of tip off the rails a
little bit in Palm City and when he showed up he just handled it and it's been remarkably great since. So we have the benefit of knowing his his skill set and his eagle eye. So can you explain that he would be our person? He he is one of our key people and I'll let Sean
embellish all of the credentials that he has and or or we can invite him up himself, but I'm sure he doesn't like most of our folks. They coming up to the microphone is not their favorite thing. So Sean, if you want to >> Oh, well, Ron's definitely not a yes man. He'll tell you how it is uh no
matter who you are. Uh and he does that to contractors. He does that to his supervisors. Uh he plays it straight. He's one of the most honest people around that I've met. Uh he's built uh gosh half a million square feet all by himself. He's a certified contractor. He could build this facility uh with his
own credentials. Uh he has uh worked for the tribe. He's worked for a multitude of different people uh throughout the state. Uh we're blessed to have him here. Uh he's he's completed on time and on budget many projects for the county. Uh and I have full uh confidence in him finishing this one.
>> Thank you, Don, and and maybe anybody else. When I first heard about this public private partnership and that we were going to do it differently, I obviously had my own concerns. Uh most people grow up thinking about that if you're going to work on a project, you're getting multiple quotes and
that's how it works. Now that concern was based on the fact that I was not familiar with some of the new strategies that have been I guess working in the industry. There was a concern from my friend who's obviously been one of the most vocal
critics of the project um that just because it's legal doesn't mean you should do it. He uses the example of it's legal to jump off the Roosevelt Bridge, which actually it is illegal to jump off the Roosevelt Bridge. But that being said,
this is beyond just that we're using the low bar that it's not illegal. Uh I did my own research. There's 47 other states that have done this technique. It's it's done globally. I think that when we were doing the presentation, we sort of glossed over
the Florida tax letter when I believe all of us received it in our email boxes. I read it and I was absolutely shocked by how glowing and uh complimentary the letter was to the process that we were using. It really
reassured me because most of us know that Florida Tax Watch is the nonpartisan doesn't take any tax money or any government money from anybody. 50 years old and that letter which I think should be put on the on the front page
of the home page of our website spoke very highly of what this was a great and I felt reassured by that. Of course, then some folks would say it's a scam and you could pay $5,000 to get that letter. I'm pretty sure the former lieutenant governor of Florida who runs the organization would differ. But then
even Martin County's tax, you know, uh, taxpayers association had come out, you know, weeks and months ago, having done their own research, having had their own concerns about this process and and you know, I think what's happened here today and I, you know, and Rick Manel is a
friend. I mean, I I respect him and I hear what he's saying. Where was the point that you and whoever wants to speak from your team either one embrace the 3P and two felt comfortable with the numbers? You know, when I hear Rick say,
"Well, you know, you could do it for hundreds less." Where are where's the chasm? Where are we as a staff feeling with our experts and our and our architects from PPZ, CPZ? We've had so many outside
professionals giving us advice that this is the right path, but then I hear from a friend that says, "We seem to be off base. Where when did it happen that you felt that this was appropriate?" I value your opinions, your professionals.
What's the story? So I I think uh it's important to note that um you know we've been looking to how to build this like we I said before some time um and uh and the way um our local government works is you you hire your county administrator
to um manage the staff and provide you all recommendations. So, first of all, it's it's important for you all to understand that um the staff under my direction are we are looking at different avenues to to do things. Um
and my first experience with actually knowing about three P3s was when DOT did uh the I595 project in Broward County many years ago. And I remember that uh the couple of things I picked out of it,
it was a very new process at that time and it was interesting and of course it was like a billion dollar project. It was huge but it was also um scary in the sense that um there were subcontractors um that went out of business over it
because it is um it's a process that I learned from that listening to DOT and talking to them. it wasn't for for for the week because the contracts that you're driven on this are are serious. There's not a you know no running to mom
or dad supposedly if I underbid the project and there was a signal contractor that went out of business because um they had bid a lot. They thought it was plenty of money but it was a big project and they did not and they ultimately they were held responsible. They had to deliver. Um so
that was my first kind of understand didn't and then when the state of course implemented it as a procurement process I I knew about it but you know for for implementing it in Martin County it really didn't become more apparent until we saw the college using it was really
the an example and then looking at that and seeing a number of school districts around the state and how they had used it effectively that it was a tool that could be could be used. And so that's why we recommended amending our adding
it to to to the possib uh possibility. Once uh that was out there, we had hired consultants to make it knowledgeable that county uh would be open to a P3 process. And so this is where it falls really. Um if there's anybody to blame,
you can blame me for actually, you know, uh adding it in there uh or recommending it because it as a process to to follow through on. Once we receive the P3 proposal, the whole process at that
point is why would we do this? So that's why the P3 individual provides funding. They pay they pay you to accept this proposal and you use that money to hire consultants to see is this something we ever want to do and as we talk to you all along the way each time we had a
hearing or whatever is we are under no obligation to do this we are simply exploring it it it appears to be a good project and so that all along the way was um measuring against um you know uh you know George Zama was the original
one who estimated this project and he did good He was actually a good estimator for us for many years. Um and uh was fair was very accurate always the time what we cost to build whether it was a fire station or a bridge or the other things. Um and so when you start
adding up the unit cost of all of those things a fuel station a fuel monitoring it's all the software that goes with it. I mean, it's not just the shell of the building. It's everything. You know, the air conditioners, the controllers, the, you know, all those little tiny units
that add up that make a project. And so, a biggest part of our evaluation and why we have folks with us from CPZ and others is to double check and look through and comb through a proposal. That is a big project. Uh, it's it's a
big project for Martin County, but it's also a really important one because it is an essential service. they these these folks their facility is critical to the long-term um um economic uh stability of this county in reality um
and how we deal especially with storm resiliency and response time. So ultimately that's that's where it started. Um um I continued to review with staff and um throughout the time of what um does this make sense and uh it
kept coming up and then you know initially the financing portion within the proposal was also attractive. >> You know we would be using um really the savings that we were looking at as uh a lease option. We do that all the time
with with firet trucks that are a million and a half dollars and you can imagine how can you spend that much on a on a fire engine, but that's that's what they go for. Inflation has been a real thing this last these these last years. And so um and and all of the facilities
that we have out there are complex. That traffic facility is a very complex um uh operation on its own. all the things that mosquito control do while they seem to be using um simple machines it's also very complicated on how they they treat
mosquitoes environmentally friendly way. So the each each area has a very unique a lot of equipment and things that are included in this that are not just the shell of a building um uh that we're doing that. So my recommendation was to move forward because one it was cost
effective. Uh two uh the financing that ultimately that uh Miss Merly and our financial st got was was very clever and competitive. Um 20-year payment all those things. Um we can get a facility that will in my mind last 100 years have
proper storm water treatment that we don't have at all. Um and uh and and also storm resiliency. We can store equipment and have people there responding to hurricanes. Um uh you know I I remember after you know hurricanes
and staff um uh you know driving in the middle of an eye the store to help evacuate a store you know working with fire rescue and the police department uh uh because the school had uh had uh no electricity and the and they were
leaking and they had to move them to uh a new facility. And so these people respond um all the time for us and so we need that facility for them and uh and that's why I recommend it. So in ultimately I'm telling the public that if you you know our our commissioners
are elected uh lay people they they come from various backgrounds. This is a complicated project. I don't deny that. Ultimately, their decision was based upon my shephering this process through to the end and and and made that
recommendation. So, um if it was too complicated for Martin County or something like that, you can blame me. I still recommend the project. I think it's a great project. Um but, um ultimately, the buck stops here with something like this. Um it's uh all
those nuances, all those little details are in the analysis, but it's hard to convey that in a you know a 30 minute presentation um for you all to make decisions and you make decisions uh dozens of those every time we meet and
throughout the year. Um and you have to rely on on me and my staff to do that. >> Thank you. I appreciate that you'd say the buck stops with you, but I think officially the buck stops with the five of us at the end of the day. Um, and when you made that decision, you weren't making that. I mean, obviously, you
know, people might not even understand what your background is. You're a professional engineer. You've been in the in the industry for what, 40 years? 38 years. >> Yes. 40 years. >> And so, but you are also relying we rely on you, but we also get the opportunity
to speak to the department heads. Uh can you give us sort of like the group of people that you were relying on internally to make that decision? I see most of them are sitting around here, but this is a big price tag for our
residents. It's turned into quite a um controversial topic uh for a multitude of reasons. Uh I think one of the things that's important to remember is that this is not a decision that was made like in the last week or so. beyond the fact that we've needed one for decades
and talked about it for years and then reviewed for property for years, found the property quite a couple of years ago when that project was just coming up. It it checked a lot of boxes. Not all of us agreed on its exact location because
there is no perfect location. Closer to town, you're closer to neighborhoods and you know, just like anything else, you're going to have backing up, beeping of, you know, trucks and facilities. Um, can you I see, you know, I don't want to, but if you can name off sort of your
senior advisory team so that people don't think it was Don Donaldson just popped this off the top of his head. >> Well, you know, obviously we've got uh Sean and uh and and uh Jim Gordon and uh Matt Graham has been a big part of the
team. Stephanie Murley, our county engineer, our our utilities folks have been involved. uh uh our our our building officials. Um there there's actually quite a a lot more and then all of their division managers and others
were involved in this. I think um um perhaps it would be good to actually give a list of all those participated to the to you all commissioners because it is I could name them all um because uh they're um there's a number of them and uh
>> and they subcategory down. Exactly. I like the idea of putting that uh the decision-m process on the website. >> Uh the other point to be made is that >> this company that we're using, BTI, is not a Martin County company because
there are no public private partnership companies as far as I am aware uh that operate or located in Martin County. But one of the things we did I mentioned when we were making the final decision was the two things that I was looking
for in order to show my support was one that as we consolidated from satellite locations throughout the county that unless there was very compelling reason for the county to keep it uh i.e. maybe help pedoke uh that little spot there. But the rest
of them should be put back for sale back to the private sector back onto the tax roles that generates cash. I don't know where that cash can be used as a payown. I would tell you that the property that was shown in that picture that is the parks and wreck facility on the southern
side of the fairgrounds at Dixie and Indian Street is probably one of the most valuable pieces of property that the county owns. That should bring a number. I also said and I see the you know I appreciate that you came back again. Um it was your company was
getting pretty beat up in the process as well and I apologize uh but I'm sure you can handle it. Uh but we made a strong request that uh beyond the fact that it went to a company that wasn't based in Martin County that a majority uh or every opportunity should be used to
provide service from our subcontractors. We have some of the best. I mean everybody feels that way about their own people but I think that was an important part and we seem to agree. Uh so those are the things um in terms of what else was
causing great concern. I would say this especially after I appreciate what we've done. Originally, we did the little infographic to try to quell some of the concerns and questions that people had. And then a couple of meetings ago, I had mentioned that I thought we should do
some little videos where we can give a more of a visual kind of concept so that people that are interested. Um, and then this came where it felt like we needed to elevate it more uh for this level of of recap. And I know that uh all the
work and our staff have, you know, done in the last couple of weeks, I think we owe it to our citizens, our taxpayers uh because they had questions. But my final point is this. There are some people that will never change their mind on this. We could bring everybody out.
Warren Buffett could come here and tell you that he thought it was the best thing that ever happened. And some people are not going to change their minds. And it's sad because some of them I would hold in very high regard. And they're furious at us. You know, I appreciate that they don't think we're corrupt, but they think that we're uh incompetent. Not all of us because we
got someone at the end who did not want to participate, but four of the five. And that's not ideal. I don't like, you know, we get it. Uh I think that we rely on our professional staff and then the staff also relies on professional consultants. So this is for the people
that are willing to be objective and this is what we're doing. I have no intention of changing my mind especially when you hear that it would be absolutely catastrophic to do that. It wasn't a decision that we made because the legislature decided that they were going to put a tax uh a property tax
refer referendum on the ballot and that the next day we decided to pull this out of out of our hat. This has been in in the works for months and years. So for the folks that are interested in hearing the facts, you got to hear them. And for those that we've changed their minds, I appreciate that. And for those that we
weren't able to, I'm sorry. So, we brought up some some good reasons why we haven't been able to build this facility earlier. And one that's a huge reason that hasn't been brought up is we had concurrency requirements. Back when we had a Department of Community
Affairs, we were required to create concurrency projects and we didn't get to pick them. we were required to provide them and that kept us from doing some of the projects that we wanted to do because the state insisted that there were concurrency projects that we must
complete. So, um I am a true fiscal conservative. I don't pick and choose which projects I I want I want to support and which I don't. Uh I have voted against far more projects than anyone on this dis has throughout the
last 23 years for I thought compelling reasons every time I voted against them and this isn't one of them. This is one that I fully support. The people who brought this project to us and who are making a recommendation that we approve it are cleareyed
professionals who have thoroughly evaluated every uh opportunity, every option. And we decided that the P3 project, particularly this project, the the proposal that we got from from building tomorrow's infrastructure was
was in our best interest. The the airport facility is disgraceful. Uh Mr. Donnie who used conservatively said that there are 40 people using two restrooms. There have been 100 people using one. Uh we are forced to get off of the
airport. Um and this project is I this fixes our prices. No change orders. No no developer uh initiated change orders. Uh they can't cheapen up the products. the pro the
products they can't take anything away. It removes risk from us and Ms. Merley got a really really good financial benefit for us. Uh so this is this is a uh it's a going to be a fantastic
project that I'm proud to support. Commissioner Vargas. >> Yes. Uh they do need to move off of the airport property. However, not at this price. We have nothing
nothing no other offers to compare this with and everybody is gung-ho to go with this one company. This is incomprehensible and Warren Buffett would not approve of this. By the way, we have no owners independent
independent owners representative whatsoever and change orders. Yes, the contract. Please, Chairwoman Herd, please look again >> that that change orders are possible and that would not come to the BOCC. That would be through Mr. Donaldson exclusively. So, I I don't
know why we're saying all of this that this is this is going to be over hund00 million because we have nothing to compare it with. I've been saying this since the beginning and this is not our money and we are
borrowing the money. So, that cost more money. We have the figures here. You can do the math on this. It this makes no sense to continue with this. You need to put a stop on this and
get other bids that are with the same intent, the same intensity that have all the furnishings, all the upgrades, whatever is necessary. But I'm just thinking of five companies here that are Treasure Coast companies
that are very capable. And I said that before. So what we're talking about are two different things. And somebody can talk for 15 minutes and and go on and on and on, which is usual, but it doesn't negate what was presented last meeting,
nor what the facts are in the contract. And there is nobody who would say that's wonderful to just have staff who reports to the county administrator to be the overseers of this. You need an independent individual who's going to
write the checks, who's getting paid. I said all this last time and I cannot cannot do this to the taxpayers of Martin County. I will not. >> Commissioner Caps,
Matt, I asked you earlier to put that up on the screen, the page two of the report that you all gave to us on May 14. Commissioner Vargas just said that the project will cost ultimately over a
hundred million dollars because of change orders. And is that on the screen? I don't see it on our >> No, not yet. >> All right. There's the table at the bottom that says cost per square foot of
construction. And look just above that at the other table called risk transfer and cost certainty. And I yellowed in the the bottom line there in that particular
table. No developer initiated change orders. And then over on the other side where it talks about design bid build county bears more risk and cost uncertainty. So let us be clear there are no change
orders you know uh >> unless we initiate them >> unless we initiate them. But but that would be true >> under either arrangement. You know if we initiate something if we say hey we want nicer flooring of course you're going to
have to pay more for that. But that would be true under either method design bid build or P3. The kicker is where where contractors really get you under the the design bid build arrangement is
they they have the power to initiate change orders themselves for things like unknown conditions. Oh, while we were digging the foundation, we hit some rocks. it's going to be another $400,000 or all kinds of things like that where
they they come up with stuff and that's why it's very common in new construction to pay way more than the contract price, but that is not the case with the P3.
Um, and then I want to recap something that I said earlier. During this uh hearing we've had this afternoon, we had 10 examples of
recently built buildings or ones that are in the works where the prices per square foot are 500, 600, 700, 800, and 900. >> That does not say that one. Um, that's what it said right there. >> I know that's what it says, but that is incorrect. And I
>> You keep wanting You keep wanting to focus on one of those little Just take your thing out. >> Turtle Beach, forget this. $900, Mr. Come on. You're in business. >> All right. All right. Let's take that one off. Since you want Since you want to >> This is a vertical square foot one
portion of it. I have reviewed this last time also. I also went to the parks director and we spoke with Mr. Donahghue also. But we have 10 examples. Even if you want to pick it the one of the smallest projects on the list, take that one off. But we still have nine examples
here today where the prices were in the fives, the sixes, the sevens, the eights, and the nines. All right. So, we got tons of examples. I read you an article from the city of Port St. Lucy that's doing one right up the road for
for right about the same price. We've got all of these examples. Um, and you know, Kevin Powers came in earlier and I I wanted to emphasize a phrase that he mentioned and he's someone I really respect with a background in real estate
and development and also in government as a member of the South Florida Water Management District for eight years where he had to prove approve uh numerous gigantic public contracts.
His phrase was twice as long and twice as much as the private sector. I think that's the bottom line here. When you're building things for governments, the rules are vastly different and the prices are very, very
different. We've had uh a couple of private respected businessmen in our community come in here uh throwing out numbers in the twos. And I I think the story there is there there are private contractors who build
in the private sector. Um and the public sector work is very very different. One other thing I want to mention is that nine or 10 examples that we we talked about earlier those were under almost all of them were design bid build
projects. Those were competitively build bid projects where we had multiple bids and these were the prices that still came in. So that's that's really important. Um do we have a copy of the Florida Tax Watch letter? I have
one here if you need it. >> I like you to read it. >> Um it would take me a few It would be easier if I got that for you. >> Yeah, I'm not going to read the whole thing. Don't worry. I know it's getting late. I just I'm giving my only copy so I'll
need to see it on my screen before I just want to read a few lines that I highlighted. All right. Dear Chair Herd, Florida Tax Watch is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, taxpayer research institute
and government watchdog. For over 47 years, we have worked to improve the accountability, transparency, efficiency, and productivity of Florida's government. I am writing to you to express my enthusiastic support for the board's
April 21, 2026 approval of the comprehensive agreement with building tomorrow's infrastructure for construction of the new Martin County operations facility. Uh, so I think we're dealing here with an organization that has a tremendous
amount of credibility when it comes to government contracts. Let's skip down to where I put a star on the page. The fiscal case is compelling. The county's third party consultant professional analysis identifies savings
to the county exceeding $20 million. And the right at the very bottom of the page where I have a inked in circle something I think is very important. The project is slated to break ground this fall and reach completion in under 18
months for the board's approval. Roughly half the 3 to fiveyear timeline. A traditional process. And can you flip to the next page? typically requires. That's really important. Three to five year normal
process. We we don't have that long to get off the airport property, folks. That's that's the whole reason we went with the P3. We got to get out of there. And this company can build this project in 18 months. That's the whole idea. And then the last thing,
well, second to last thing I'll read, uh, look at that next paragraph. The board deserves praise for this outcome. And then let's read the very last paragraph. Martin County chose the option that serves its residents best by executing this comprehensive agreement
expeditiously. I commend the board for its leadership and encouragement uh to continue into an accountable and fiscally responsible future. Um, so I just wanted to highlight a few of
those things um that I thought were real standouts and the evidence that we've presented here today. >> Any further comments? Mr. Donny, Mr. Graham, Miss Merley, Mr. Donaldson? Yep.
>> Fine job of presenting facts. Thank you. Yeah, we have Yeah. Yeah. Let's take a 10-minute break. He he just said $300 a square foot. >> We are back taking up our final item for today which is the 2026 emergency
management hurricane preparedness presentation. >> Tomorrow it'll be 400. >> Good afternoon. >> Good afternoon commissioners. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. My mic's off. >> Your just speak. >> Okay, great. Thank you for allowing me
this opportunity to discuss hurricane preparedness today. I'm going to talk a little bit about what we've been doing to prepare for the upcoming season and what the community can do to be prepared as well. Martin County faces many different types of hazard, natural, technological, and societal. And emergency management
plans, trains, and exercises for a majority of these events. But today, since it's hurricane season, we're going to stick to hurricanes. >> Would you identify yourself for the record, please? >> I'm sorry. Sally Wait, your emergency management director. I'm practicing that, too.
Uh, so hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 31st. They are predicting a below normal hurricane season this year with 8 to 14 name storms, 3 to six hurricanes, and one to three major storms. And these predictions will change throughout the
hurricane season as well. The reason for the below normal activity is El Nino. El Nino increases the upper level wind shear across the Atlantic Ocean and it is historically associated with fewer Atlantic hurricanes. But I just want to point out that Hurricane
Andrew in 1992, devastated Miami and Francis and Gene in 2004 both had an impact in Martin County and all three of those storms were in an El Nino cycle. Many of our board of county commissioner employees transition from their regular roles to the roles of the emergency
operations center or shelters. So to help with that transition, we held 14 trainings, 11 exercises, and trained over 483 employees and partners. Evacuation zone A or B, evacuation zone Z or D, C or D, or evacuation zone E.
And just remember that if you live in a mobile or manufactured home, you are in evacuation zone AB regardless of where you live in Martin County. The next step is to build a kit. You should already have your kit ready since hurricane season already started. But if you don't, you should have clothes,
food, and water, at least one gallon per person per day, and medication. And it's important to remember that many times before a storm, the pharmacies will open allow you to pres refill your prescriptions earlier. The third step is to make a plan. You
should write your plan down. Share it with your family. Share it with your friends. Know your evacuation routes, your meeting points, and your contact numbers. You should make sure you let somebody know where you're going. And if you're going to a shelter, you should let that person let somebody you know
know that which shelter you're going to. Speaking of shelters, we have 10 10A general eight general population shelters in Martin County. one special needs shelter and one pet friendly shelter. And not all shelters are open for every storm. But I just want to
remind you that a shelter is a lifeboat and not a cruise ship. And it should be your last resort. The fourth Oh, I'm sorry, not the fourth step. Our special needs shelter is available for those people who need a little extra assistance besides that we get in a regular shelter. And you must
register for this shelter. Transportation is provided if needed and you must meet the medical criteria to be approved. The fourth step is to stay informed. You should follow us on social media. Sign up for Alert Martin. Call us at the community information center at
7722871652. There's a bank of operators just waiting to answer all your questions you have about the storm and everything that's going on in Martin County. And then circle back around to us and visit our social media platforms because we have continuous information leaving those sites.
The fifth step is to get involved. Neighbors helping neighbors is vitally important. Assist your neighbors with preparedness activities such as putting up shelters or bringing in their patio furniture and then check on them after. Depending on the the storm and the impact of the storm, it could be some
time before someone gets to your area. And in closing, I just like to say that hurricane season is a shared responsibility, but by working together, we can help our community recover and help and make sure that our friends and family are safe.
So be prepared. That's what I my closing comment. >> That's good. That's good. >> Anybody have any questions? >> Questions? >> Uh ju just a comment. I I'm a Floridaian. I lived through Hurricane Andrew and nobody was immune uh from the effects of that. My sister's home just
exploded. Also, hers, you know, was a frame home, but anyway, it was all the way west, so it wasn't on the coastal area. and we all stood in line for ice and water and uh food. Uh churches were handing out food. Um so is there an easy
way to find food if if we need to or water or ice or >> Yes, absolutely. We actually put up points of distributions. We call them pods. Um we the last one we had during Hurricane Milton for the tornadoes was at the at the fairgrounds. Um and the National Guard came down and helped us
deliver food, water, and ice. Um, we also had many nonprofit organizations such as the Salvation Army distributing food to our communities as well. So, yes, we have definitely have a plan for that. >> Super. Thank you, Miss Wait. You're welcome. >> Very thorough. >> Any further questions?
>> Thank you so much. >> Great. Very nice. Thank you. >> The time I just want to make sure that that that that's not last on the list that the money doesn't run out. Um, and then the other thing, uh, on my way
to the, uh, CRA yesterday, I passed by the docks, um, they have a wonderful new, uh, dumpster enclosure around there. Um, with a dumpster in it, of course, gates are closed. Looks great. Right next to
it is the Upland mooring facility.