and welcome to the Putnham County Board of Commissioners meeting. Uh we're going to call the meeting to order. Invocation will be led by Allison Wetszel from How Memorial United Methodist Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by Larry Harvey. Please rise if you're able to do so.
Good morning. Let us bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come to you today asking for your guidance, your wisdom, and your support. As we begin this meeting, help us to engage meaningful
discussion and make decisions that reflect the best interests of our county. Grant us the ability to listen with an open heart and speak with clarity that our work today may be fruitful. In
Jesus name we pray. Amen. To the United States of America, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> All right, we have the approval of the minutes. >> Madam Chair, I move approval of the minutes of the regular meeting for
February 24th, 2026 as stated in our packet. Second. >> We have a motion to second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. >> All right. Um >> Bill's not here, right? >> Mr. White. >> Yeah, I don't see. All right, we'll go. Is I don't see Britney either. Is
Britney here. >> Miss Parker is ready. >> I was going to say we'll just go right into Lori Parker, HR, human resources. Morning. >> Good morning. >> Morning. >> How's everybody? >> Good. >> Very well. Um, we received nominations
for employee of the month and um, you're about to hear how Miguel Flores, who is the employee of the month, has exceeded expectations and his performance and his personality and attitude that brings everybody together at Animal Control.
Um, there you go. She has her speech she's about to read, but Miguel Flores is employee of the month for January. Thank you, Miguel. Good morning. >> Good morning. >> So, I want to say a couple things that the co-workers said about Miguel just so
I can share with y'all how special he really is. Um, Kennedy wanted to miss school for Miguel. She calls her his she's his best friend. Miguel is one of the hardest working people I've ever met. He makes work feel like a team effort instead of all the work being on one person.
Miguel always does things right even when no one is looking. And he really is the guy that you want to be a role model for animal care. So everybody, Miguel definitely earns this. So let's give him another round of applause. >> Miguel, do you have family here? >> Is your family here? They're welcome to
come up. >> Yeah, please come up. >> Please come up. >> All of us. Yeah, >> we'll get a picture. Okay. Congratulations. >> I appreciate everything you do. >> Thank you. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Yeah, I like this.
>> We don't bite. Why don't we bring a dog or cat? >> Congratulations. >> Miguel, is that your parents? You want a picture with just them? >> Can we do one more picture? >> Hey, parents. You're going back in.
>> He wants a picture >> with his family. >> With his family. >> We're going to bring more people into the center. There you go. There you go. All right, one more. Miguel definitely deserve that. Every time I go out there, he's always very
helpful and I appreciate all the hard work that everybody everybody does at animal services. >> Yes, sir. All right. Uh we're going to uh we're going to have to come back to presentations and go right into the planning and development public hearing.
Okay, we go ahead All right. Uh we shall begin with case rez 25-00000020. Uh sorry for the delay. Uh the application is by the applicants Albert Miles Jr. and his agent Terronica Miles.
Uh they are requesting a zoning map amendment from commercial retail C2 to commercial general C3 on 0.57 acres of land located at 147 Philips Derry Road in Palaca to allow for the development of outdoor storage. Surrounding zonings
include intensive and retail commercial. Uh the subject site has a future land use designation of commercial. The parcel has approximately 320 ft of access from Philips Derry Road. According to the National Wetlands Lair and the FEMA flood zone layer on the GIS
reference map, the lands do not appear to contain wetlands and is located in FEMA flood zone X, which is not a special flood hazard area. Should the applicant's request be approved, the applicant will then be subject to a second review by the development review committee before obtaining any permits
for development on this property compatible with the C3 zoning district. Here you can see an aerial overview of the property. Here you can see the future land use. You will know that it is part of a commercial nodal area.
Uh here you can see the zoning. Uh on the far left side of this map, you will notice that the uh kind of L-shaped property there, it has recently also been changed to commercial 3 as well. And just beyond that, there is commercial 4.
Uh staff recommends approval of the request to amend the zoning map from commercial retail C2 to commercial general C3. Staff finds that the proposed reszoning is consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies of the adopted comprehensive plan and meets the location requirements of the
commercial general C3 zoning district provided in the land development code and the comp comprehensive plan at the February February 11th, 2026 planning commission hearing. The planning commission unanimously recommended approval to the board of county commissioners for the proposed map
amendment. Are there any questions? Are there any questions for the presenter? All right. Is there anybody This is a public hearing. Is there anybody in the audience who wishes to speak on this item? All right. Seeing no one come forward. It's back to the board. >> Madam Chair, I'd like to move approval
of ordinance number 2026-008 amending ordinance number 2512-12 and ordinance of Putnham County. Ordinance of the county of Putnham, state of Florida, amending the official zoning map for Putnham County Incorporated. Article two of the Putnham County Land Development Code, Ordinance
number 2025-12, reszoning 0.57 plus or minus acres from commercial retail C2 to commercial general C3 providing for severability and effective date case number 25-000020
Albert Miles. >> Second. >> We have a motion to second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. >> Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Michael. >> Uh, next up we have Britney from Episcopal Children's Services.
>> Good morning, Britney. >> Good morning. Can you hear me? Okay. >> Yes. >> Perfect. Thank you. We have it in our packet. Yep. Thank you. >> Okay. My name is Britney Spangler. I'm from Episcopal Children's Services and I
did um provide a PowerPoint presentation that's in the packet. In case um you're not familiar, I can still go over all of the different programs that we have throughout the packet. Um, if you want me to move forward with just the quarterly updates, uh, if you go to page
seven on the packet, our year-to-ate numbers so far, we have an average of 750 Putnham County children receiving the school readiness services with about 549 of those being from lowincome families.
We have sent out uh 280 funding notifications and um I have an updated number of 154 to date that have receives funding starting new funding since those have been sent out. We have 29 child care programs that are contracted to
serve school readiness children with 10 of those being family childare homes. 446 children currently participating in the voluntary pre kindergarten program and 23 child care programs that are contracted to serve those VPK children.
And uh so far year to date, we have completed 1,23 childcare resource and referral contacts for families, which is on consumer education, financial assistance, community resources, and child care listings, as well as other information.
And that's families uh reaching out to us seeking information um not only about childare, but other community resources. Um what's not on the slide, it's we are currently enrolling still for school readiness. for sending out funding notifications weekly and our VPK program
has just opened up for the 26 27 year so families can apply online for that as well. Any questions for me? >> I see you have on here you made a note about how the income threshold had had increased. >> Yes. Um actually October 1st um I
believe I was able to talk about that last time but the state itself changed um the entrylevel income from 150% of the federal poverty level to 55% of the state median income which is about an $8,000 difference for families um of
entry into the program. So that's been amazing. And when we've been able as we're sending out these funding notifications, more families are qualifying for services. >> And the majority of your funds comes through the state. Is that correct? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Majority of it federal funding, but we are required to do a 6% match. Um, for
the VPK program, which is the volunteer per kindergarten program, that's strictly state funds, but the school readiness is is federally funded. >> Very good. Commissioner Harvey, you're recognized. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Britney, for being here today. You know, I remember um many many many years ago,
we didn't get these updates from agencies that were with us and u a lot of people said they were helping our people, but we saw the numbers weren't there. So, I do appreciate you coming. I think transparency is very important there. When you talk about the match,
and that was going to be my question about funding, where do you make up the 6% at? Uh how do you can people donate to your organization? So, we're trying to give you a little commercial break here if you want one, but um how do how does someone help you be successful in
helping Putinham County children be successful? >> Uh they're currently in legislation right now. I believe there was a bill that just passed that we're um trying to understand it a little better. It looks like people can start personal like individuals can donate, but right now um
I reach out to all of the different counties that we serve and reach out to the board of county commissioners, the United Way, the city of Palatka um and all the different small little towns and ask for the match. Okay? >> And um those who can provide money,
those who can't let us know and that's okay, too. Um right now we are receiving for Putham County um board of county commissioners 5,000 city of Palatka where they were able to increase this year from 3,000 to 5,000 and um United
Way um I know the number was 10,000 and I believe that changed just a little bit um off and on but that's that's currently where we're getting our funding from. >> Well thank you >> and I will of course be requesting. >> Thank you very much. Thank you madam chair. >> Well very good. Thank you for everything you do in the community. I know your
program is um very vital to our community for people for the for the working parents and for the students to be able to get an early education. >> Of course. >> And one thing that anybody can do if there's any community events or anything where you would like for us to come out and talk about our services or meet with
families directly, we're more than willing to go out and do that. That is part of our childcare resource and referral program is to try to get the word out there as much as possible because as much as we try, there's still people who have no idea about our services. So just getting the word out is one of the biggest accomplishments we can do.
>> Very good. All right. Do you have any any comments, questions? All right. >> Yeah. Thank you. We appreciate your your update. >> Do you have anybody here from the um St. John's Water Management yet? All right. Moving into uh public comment on agenda
items. This portion of the agenda is designed to allow citizens an opportunity to bring matters to the attention of the board. It is not reasonable to expect that the board will engage in debate or deliberation about matters on which the board has received no prior information as part of the agenda. Please limit the time to three minutes. Public cards are conveniently
placed at the meeting room entrance and should be submitted prior to the meeting to the deputy clerk who sits to the right of the podium. So, we're going into um consent agenda items. Do we have any um comment cards on on agenda items? All right. Any commissioners wishing to
pull any items? Starting with Commissioner Harvey. >> I have none. Madam Chair, >> Commissioner Pelier, >> I have none. >> Commissioner Alexander, >> I have none. >> Commissioner Newol. >> Nothing to pull. Thank you. >> I have nothing either, >> Madam Chair. Then based on that, I move
that we approve consent agenda items A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H. >> All right. >> Second. >> And we have a second. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> All right. going into new business public works um dirt to pave for fiscal
year 26. It's in your packet. I don't know that we need a presentation, but if you want one, we'll get one. Does anybody have any questions for Mr. Stout? >> Madam Chair, if you mind if I took a point of privilege? >> That's fine. >> Yesterday in reviewing this, I contacted
um public works director Stout and went over in my district and there's some roads that really need to be changed. added Cessna Way and Cessna Drive uh right there by the airport at Melrose Landing. Piper Drive is the road to the
north on the north side of the of the runway and Cessna is on the south side. So I would ask that if you don't mind that we include those roads as part of my dirt to pave list and then look at an alternate keeping Melrose Landing
circling around as an alternate while we're there. we'll go ahead and design it. We'll get a price on it and see if we can fit it in our budget. If we can't, then we'll come back at another time and add that road, but it'll already be designed. So, those are the only changes I would like to make on
that list is adding Cessna Way, Cessna Drive, and then using the the list that you currently have is looking at an alternate on Melrose Landing, bringing that around while we're there if we can afford to do that road.
If not, we'll be ready for another cycle down the road. >> Okay. So, um my comments would be there's not a budget amount on this agenda item, is there? >> No, ma'am. I didn't put the >> All right. So, I don't know if what he's proposing is within our budget or not.
>> It's less mileage than >> Yeah, it's less mileage. Uh it'll it'll fit right it'll bring us right at the budget mark. We're averaging about 550,000 per mile on dirt to pave. So, it'll be right there on the cusp. Um, and it's again one of those things where if we come in budget, if we get a price
on it, we can always value engineer it and move it to the next year if it doesn't follow within budget. >> Okay. >> We also have um better place plan reserve dollars that can also come into play if the board wanted to use those also. >> Well, listen, if we're going to use that, we're all going to be giving you roads. I mean, let's just be real. Um,
>> Mr. Grimes, you're recognized >> as that's just a preliminary list, you know. Um I don't know that while we're in the area I mean is this as we talk about is doing maintenance right and we're trying to get out of neighborhoods is to go ahead and just to design the design it all while we have I mean we're just giving direction to staff that hey
these are the roads we want to do that we don't design the whole neighborhood right while we're there because if it's going to follow in years to come for the dirt to pave. We're sending a survey crew out there to do five roads if we go ahead and do seven roads that it's designed. Not saying that we're going to buy it but having it designed. I was
just wanted to talk with Mr. Stout while in front of you is to go ahead and design that whole Melrose Landing area. Not that we put it all out to bid. Maybe we do and see where it comes in and then we got another decision to make at your level >> to where you can always come back and cut it, lean it and go, "Hey, put this into another year." But we don't know
till we put it on the street, right? We may save a lot of money by doing a whole entire neighborhood at one time, much like we did last year or two years ago in district one when we went ahead and just took the bite out of the apple and did all of Saratoga Harbor at one time because we save mobilization fees. So, I
think it's very wise to sit here in a whole neighborhood um and we're just use Melrose Landing today and just go ahead and look at design the whole thing, put it out for bid. We can always when we come back we can go, hey, yep, can't do it. We're only going to issue these roads. Um, and then it can and it can save money. So, I just was just want to
think of those things long term. Um, as just go ahead and put it out there and see what it what it brings back. We don't know do we till we bring it to you guys. >> Okay. >> So, so to be clear, Madam Chair, >> yeah, please. >> We're going to take Cessna away and Cesna Drive, put it on there, and then
we're going to alternate. We're going to look at Melrose Landing all the way around like just J.R. just mentioned, and that'll clean up that whole area. If we can't afford to do Melrose Landing, we'll come back another year and do that, but we'll have the other ones. And the adding cess taking that off actually
reduced my mileage down from 2 point something 1.78. So, it's you know, we don't know what the budget till it come the numbers come in and how hungry the contractors are at that time. >> One and I have just um to put this out there, one thing that we have done that has helped reduce prices and I've talked
to two different contractors about this. they had the same uh answer to but to my questions was the way we're grouping them together to get out of an area with a greater is helping and the fact that we're awarding them by district not by road is saving us a ton on mobilization
fees. So they acknowledged they're able to bring their prices down and want to continue working with us because we're being more strategic in what we're doing. >> Yeah. >> Correct. That's just good business. >> Yeah. >> Y Madam Chair, do you need a motion? >> Please. Madam Chair, I make a motion that we accept the public work uh dirt
to pave 2026 road list with the uh Cessna Way and Cessna Drive added in and the uh engineering of Melrose Landing around from Piper to the other roads. So that's my motion. >> Have a motion and second. Any further
discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. All right. Public comment on miscellaneous items. I'm not going to read it again. I've already read it once.
>> Yeah. And that Reyes Good morning, Evette Reyes, PO Box 253, Boswick. Um, one thing I would like for you guys to consider is possibly increasing the funding that you give to Episcopal. I personally know that they
do a great job for our community and our children. Thank you, Britney. Um, and then the second thing, thank you for finally recognizing animal services publicly where you actually gave Miguel.
Hopefully they won't be mad at me, but to me, he's like the best they got up there. Every time I went up there, he was friendly, helpful, and just so professional regardless of what was going on in the chaos. So, thank you.
>> Thank you. Willie Lusen. >> Good morning. I'm Willie. Uh 129 East Calpin Lake Point Road, Hawthorne. >> Can y'all hear me? All right. >> You can pull it up a little bit if you want. There you go. >> Not really sure how to use this. Um I want to congratulate y'all on the
purchase of the boat ramp at George's Lake. Um that's great thing for the community and the county as a whole. And I also wanted to bring to your attention that the the owner of the neighboring property who sold the boat ramp parcel is interested in selling his property for
conservation and the state's interesting interested in purchasing it. Um but the state won't move forward with acquisition unless they have a willing manager. Um we've reached out to all the state agencies and and none of them are willing to manage that property. So I
wanted to propose that the county consider managing it. It's about 200 acres. Um the boat ramp area would make a great uh trail head parking. Um there'd be minimal maintenance needed for the property. The county could cooperate with uh division of forestry
for the land management portion, you know, controlled burning every few years. Um maintaining fire lines. Uh it's a beautiful piece uh property. um lots of nice natural communities and it's part of the the greater Florida Wildlife Corridor, an important
connector in that that um area between the Etna Estate Forest and the Bmore State Forest. So, it could be a great opportunity for the county to um help uh the state acquire more uh conservation lands without costing the county any
considerable amount of money, you know. So, I think management would be pretty minimal. Um, so just wanted to I don't know how to move forward with this, but if that's something the county would consider, uh, if you all could.
>> So, who would be the owner? >> The owner would be the state of Florida, >> right? And so, they don't want to work with water management on managing the land. We don't have a land management division. >> Yeah. Yeah, I understand. Um, but maybe it's something that could be done through the parks and wreck or whoever is going to manage the boat ramp. Um it
the state will only purchase lands if an agency is willing to manage it and it doesn't fit in into any management goals of of the agencies right now because they don't own a budding property. But since the county owns a budding property, it seems like it might be a good fit.
>> I see what you're saying. Commissioner Harvey, you're recognized. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I I asked Mr. Dloan to come and speak to the board today about this. Um, I think it's a possibility and you and I have talked about this. It would be something that
would have to be very, very minimal maintenance that the county in my opinion if we took if we took on any management. We don't want to go back to the days where we promised that we would do this that and paint it in gold and we just cannot do certain things. And you
and I have talked about that. We talked about the minimalist approach to taking care of this. So, I I think it's something that we should probably put in a pot, put it on the back burner, kind of get it warm and and talk about it maybe in the future. Um because I do
think that if we can be in the conservation business with minimal minimal effort, okay? And and let the public use that. I'm not in I'm not in agreement if we fence it off and say you can't touch it. That's not what this
this commissioner is about. But maybe some hiking trails around there. Maybe maybe partnering with the Georgia's Lake community on theou that they can go in there and cut certain lanes. I don't know the answer to that, but I don't want to build ethsis. I don't want to
build fences. I don't want to do a whole lot of work. I'd like the idea of the state owning the land and us doing a minimal work out there, a very minimal work. But I think for this board, I think it's good to start the conversation today and then we'll come
back at another date maybe possibly and see if there's any any interest in going forward at this point. And that's what Mr. Dloan's here for today. >> All right. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. >> All right, Commissioner Newer recognized. >> Parks and Recre is currently in the
process of of identifying needs in the county. uh there's advisory committee that's that is uh working in that direction. Um I could certainly take this to parks and wreck and have some discussion and and just talk about you know levels of care and and expectations
there and and maybe come back after that. >> Great. >> Commissioner Alexander, you're recognized. >> State so has the state already made a commitment for the funds to purchase that if you could find an an agreeable
party to manage it. >> Um they haven't expressed an interest in in uh acquiring it. They they have to go through the appraisal process and negotiations with the owner. Um the funding is uh there right now for for um
acquisitions in the Ocala Oyola Wildlife Corridor. Um that funding probably is not going to survive the next the budget. And so this this is kind of the tail end of the funding. Um there may be some funding in the future, but right now
there is funding um as long as that there's a manager and they come to agreement on price with the seller. The state can only pay up to appraised value. So limited by that, >> but and it's valuable to you or to the state because it uh it aligns with that
wildlife quarter. >> Correct. >> Um >> and it and it has wetlands on it. It's on the it's on the lake. Madam Chair, >> may I ask staff to weigh in on this and get their opinion? >> Yeah, I had Julian had >> All right, we're good. We're all on the same page today.
>> Um, good morning. This is the first uh I've heard of the proposal part from a parks and recreation standpoint. Um, we'd be very interested in exploring the opportunity. Green spaces is something that we know as a county um, we're not getting more of. So, if there's an opportunity for us to get more and
partner with a community that could open up some additional nature type recreation, not um not to be a big financial impact, but nature type recreation. Um that'd be something that parks and wrecks from a a department would be very interested in.
>> All right, Mr. Grimes, I know you had your light on earlier. Did you have any other comments? >> I got a lot of questions. I just want to do a little research. Uh because I mean I really want to know what's going to be what what can the because when the state buys lands there's restrictions. >> Yes. >> What are the restrictions that can be
can be done on the property? Is is is it truly the county doing a management plan? Is it truly the county having I'm just going to use timber for instance, right? >> Is it the county doing a timber management plan? The county engages contractors, vendors to cut the timber.
Who gets the revenue? Right? >> I mean because if we're going to manage it, it needs to be managed such as as a as an adventure, right? I mean it needs to be managed properly. Wildfire, it needs to be prescribed burned. Who's in who's who's responsible for the prescribed burning? Is it us? Is it
division of forestry? If it is the division of forestry, I'm a bit confused on why they don't want it touching all of their current lands that they have in that at nine state forest. Um, so I would really those are the details that I'd like to see is what's what's the what's what's the county going to do?
Are we just the agency that gets to go open the gate? Um, so or what what restrictions are put on the county from the state level, right? Because we could take 200 acres of land in the George's Lake and use it as green space. We could also do a management plan. You could produce some revenue off of it. There's
a lot of opportunity there. Just don't know what the restrictions are. I mean, I've we've looked at some personal stuff and conservation and it looks like you can manage it as as you owned it and then the you continue to sell timber, you can raise livestock, you can I mean, you can grow blueberries. I mean,
there's there's so many things you can do, but I'd like to see what the what the restrictions are going to be to the county. >> All right. All right. Very good. Commissioner Alexander, you're recognized. >> Yes, ma'am. All the questions that Mr. Grimes had are great, but you know, anytime you involve a state agency or
federal agency, there's always some control issues, questions, responsibility, liability. I'm almost to the stance that I would consider maybe even the county purchasing it depending upon where he was at as a price since it is adjacent
to other properties we had. And to Miss Holm's point, um, green space, it abuts other properties within our county or they're getting fewer and farther in between. So, I would be interested to see what the value that the uh owner
puts on it and um you know what the appetite from the board and staff is for potentially purchasing it as a green space or park for that community because we're going to continue to experience growth in our county and opportunities like this don't always come up. So, I
think we got a couple of different paths to explore. >> Okay. So is this I think the recommendation though is to go back in front of the parks and recck board >> committee is that what you're saying Mr. Newol Commissioner New? >> Yeah
>> we just need more information but I think your starting point would be sitting down with Julianne and and Commissioner New. >> Okay great >> and Jr and Mr. Suggs >> or whoever else they assign. >> So should I start with Julianne? >> Okay.
>> Great. >> All right. Thanks for coming forward. >> Well, thank you for listening. It's great to hear your interest in this. >> Thank you, Mr. Ralph Hegy. >> Good morning, sir. >> Good morning, everybody. Uh Ralph Hegy,
112 Paul Drive, Hollister, Florida. Okay. Um, I've got a a concern about uh well, a question of uh when we hire contractors to do whatever job that might be. Do we
grade these contractors? I mean, do they get a grading of what, you know, their level is? I mean, I mean, we get reviews when we look up stuff on, you know, Amazon or whatever it might be to see about what good the product is. So, I'm
just wondering, do we grade these contractors? That's a question that I pray to me. And then another question is um is is there any way
that we can have a meeting at least once a month here uh in the evening? because I've get several people saying that, you know, they're always working, you know, only as retired people or
people that have the luxury to come here during the day. But I was thinking that maybe, you know, even one one day a month, you know, uh either the evening here, you know, like we're here now, excuse me,
here now and then maybe this evening on the same day, you could do it the same day or you could pick a day that might where we have the opportunity to come here and you know, I know maybe they've
done it before, but you know, we got a lot more people now. I mean, we got, you know, Florida's growing. So, um, I just wanted to bring that to your agenda. And then another thing is, I don't know if I'm at the right place
to ask for this or not, but maybe you could direct me in the right way. Um, I live in Hollister and I've been there like 30 years and within the five first five years they had a uh a vote on mail
delivery. Well, been 25 years ago and I'm just thinking, you know, are we ever going to have mail delivery out there? Because it causes me mass confusion whenever I order something. I got two PL I got two zip codes and they get screwed
up all the time and it's like I had to come to PLA to get my to get my order. Uh I just wondered I didn't know if this is the place to do it. If it's not then maybe somebody could direct me in the right direction. Uh because uh it's been
25 years and I'd like to see it before I die. You know, maybe put me a mailbox out there for you know we got paved roads out there. So, um, but anyway, I didn't know, like I said, I didn't know if this is the place to address that, but but my main concern was the the
contractors. We need to, um, I think we need to do a grading scale. It may be a percentage or something, you know, uh, when we have stuff done far as buildings, whatever it might be, you know, I think they ought to have some kind of grading scale. But, but thank
you for your time. Yes, sir. Any questions or >> All right. It's good to see you all. Glad you got to see me. >> Thank you, >> Commissioner Harvey. Did you have any comments? >> Madam Chair, if you don't mind, u just
for for the board's sake, the community of Hollister was lumped into Palaca and for deliveries. Congressman Yoho, Congressman Kamik, Congressman Waltz, and Congressman Fine have worked on that, but it's not. United States Postal
Postal Service is a different animal >> and they're there's nothing we can do at this level. And these guys even tried and it's there's nothing. I mean, they got a post office there 32147,
but the problem is the community is registered as palaca and it throws off deliveries, mail. It it screws up a lot of things, but uh that's beyond our our lane. We have to and these other congressmen have tried this multiple
times and hasn't worked out. So, just want to let you know. Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner Alexander. You're recognized. Give me a second. Just a second. Let's get through our comments up here, please. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I appreciate what Mr. Haggy said regarding the um the
evening meetings. Um, when I was campaigning, that was a recurring theme that was brought to my attention. You know, why why do guys why don't you guys have a meeting where working people can come to it? And and I understand that they shouldn't have to sacrifice their vacation time or family time to come
here. And maybe we could consider them. We can't do it obviously once a month because that the logistics of allowing staff to come here in the evening because they have lives as well beyond ours just like you do. So um Miss Young
and I had spoken about it when I first came into office and there are definitely some challenges. um would be interested in visiting visiting it again. Perhaps not once a month, maybe once a quarter or once every six months to give folks an opportunity to come in
and see how things work in real life and and give them an opportunity to voice any concerns or any perhaps accolades of what we've been doing since we've been in office, but um we'll definitely take it under consideration. >> Yes, sir. >> Commissioner Palier, you're recognized.
>> Um Mr. Hey, um I've talked to other commissioners all around the state about their meeting times and some of them do have evening evening meetings and some of them say this productive, some not. Um it to me it doesn't matter. We'll meet at 3 in the morning whenever y'all want to meet. It doesn't matter. It's my
job to be here. The point that I found and all the other commissioners in the state agree it's the subject matter. >> What are we talking about? If we're talking about, you know, dog barking ordinance, it wouldn't matter when you had it. They they could care less. If we
said, "We're coming to get your guns this afternoon at four o'clock." You fill up that parking lot with Putinham County people. So, it's all to me it's all on the subject matter as to what to turn out and how much people care >> and and and I think maybe if you as
commissioners and I've seen this done before, if each commissioner wanted to have like a something in their district and have like a a forum or an a town hall meeting, we can certainly do that as well. I think that would be that's a little bit different than having a it's just an open you know everybody comes in
you just have a good conversation give updates about what's happening in your district and then um or countywide because some things are affect the whole county not just your district then we can certainly do that as well >> and that might be a better idea to see how it works because um you know our our schedules are a lot more flexible than
staffs and I you know I'd hate for one of our staff to miss a baseball game or a kids event or something like that when we could do it ourselves and take those recommendations from the community and bring it back to the commission. So, I would be open to that as well. >> I would say on the grading um as far as
our contractors, there is a process when we hire somebody. It depends on the kind of um contractor there is, but there is a follow-up. They go back and we have staff that goes back and checks what work they did um and that kind of thing. All the I mean, M. Young, do you want to talk about that or Mr. Grimes, do you
want to address that? >> I'll take the first stab at it. Um, every every building that we build goes through an inspection process through the building department like everybody else. Um, either either it's a it passes or it fails, right? Um, they stick by the Florida building code. I mean, that's that's the permitting agency. Um,
we employ inspectors at public works that inspect all of the road and bridge projects. Um, we sometimes hire, depend on the thing, is a third party, uh, CI. Um, you guys, um, awarded it at the very last meeting for a North Platinum drainage project. Yep. that we may or
may not have the staffing ability to go out and a project that big um because of sometimes it's our limited resources, right? And sometimes we get a quote on going out into the private sector and saying, "Hey, can you watch this project for us?" And they do. Um and that's what we determined to do for the North
Platinum drainage. Um because we do have a lot of projects going on at one time, whether you have resurfacing going or you have dirt to pave going or you may have another project striping. I mean, that goes on countywide. So, we have people that go by. We have a county engineer. He's got staff that go behind him, bring back their recommendations.
The public works director just went out last week and actually went and did some spot pothole checking on dirt to pave before it got started so we can make sure we're getting quality assurance. It does happen. Whether it's a report card grade or not, I don't know that that happens. Uh, but we are engaged in
watching every single one of our projects. Um, so I mean other than that, most of your maintenance projects like such as an MSBU, we have a coordinator that watches projects inside the MSBU. So we get it gets watched. I mean even at my level. I mean I'm I go out and check. I mean we're building a concession stand right now at Francis. I
go out there every single day to make sure we're getting there. We did the same thing at animal services. Make sure that the taxpayer and the board is getting what they directed us to go do. So it does happen. I don't know that we'd actually write out a like a report, but I mean we do a field inspection reports are available at public works um if somebody wants to look at a
particular project. Um so and then you know we're relying upon our engineers to design the project to make sure that gets done. So like i.e. the fairgrounds. Um the architect of record comes by there every once a month at our bi-weekly construction meetings and checks make sure that the vendor is
doing what they did by the architectural design. Fire station, same thing, right? Um the the engineer of record comes out there, each one of the trade engineers comes out and makes sure that that what they drew on the paper is what happened. So yes, it absolutely everyone that projects um but as far as like a grading
or a percentage, no because most of our bids made by your direction are bid on the lowest bid. >> Right. And it comes back unless we'd go for some other specialized service. >> All right. Very good. Right. All right. I think that addresses
that. Moving into um >> Yes, sir. Come on up. I'm gonna >> You can come up to the podium. >> Can't hear you. Good morning again. But um am I to go to the post office to address that or
>> you're welcome to meet with um Congressman Fine's office because it's it's a United States Postal Service issue. >> So is where is is he located in Tal >> got an office right here right here >> in our building? Yes, sir. >> Okay. All right. Well, I appreciate that. >> Yep. Thank you. And as far as the
evening meetings, I mean, we don't have a whole lot of people here now. I mean, I know it takes time to build it up, you know, people to know it that, hey, we got an evening, you know, meeting. So, it takes time to do that. So, just keep that in mind. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you for your
comments. >> All right. Um, do we have any commissioner committee updates starting with Commissioner Harvey? >> I have none, Madam Chair. >> Commissioner Pelic, >> I have none. >> Commissioner Alexander, >> I have none. Commissioner Newold. >> Nothing. >> All right. Me either. All right. Appointments. Um, starting with
Commissioner Harvey. >> It's my day to be first today. >> Yes, sir. Today's your day to be first. >> I have no appointments, Madam Chair. >> Commissioner Palisier? >> I have none. >> Commissioner Alexander, >> I have none today. >> Commissioner Newold, >> no appointments. >> All right. Me either. We're moving right along. Clerk of court.
>> Good morning. I have no updates as well. >> No updates. All right. Woohoo. County attorney. >> I'm not going to rock the boat now, so >> County Administrator. Really? Nobody? Okay. Well, I got at least one, Madam Chair. >> Okay. Go ahead. >> Uh, I've been asked to bring up Chimera
Way. As you know, last board meeting, uh, we had a lively discussion here. Uh, the board made a motion. Uh, it was, uh, at the end of the meeting, there's a consensus by the board to bring, uh, Chimeir Way back to the board for further discussion. Having reached out
to uh the representative of the citizens that were here uh having spoken with uh executive director JT Stout from public works we feel like the request of the citizens and and I had this conversation with their their representative the the goals that they were seeking were met at
the last meeting. Uh as far as Chimeir Way uh it is now uh we didn't vacate any rights to it. is basically consider a class two road at this point which does not obligate the county to any uh continuing maintenance and when speaking
with uh their representative they agreed with that and they were fine with us not bringing it back to the board this week. >> Thank you for following up on that because I had I had sort of forgotten. So, thank you for doing that. >> Yes, ma'am. >> All right. Are there any questions for Mr. Sug? All right. Moving into uh commissioner comments. Commissioner
Alexander, >> I >> we're going we're going in alphabetical order today, sir. >> He's used to being called on first for for that >> for something. Um, no, just a good meeting. Um, I wanted to thank Mr. Suggs
and his group for putting together our annual report. I thought it turned out very well. And um, to keep it short and sweet, folks, uh, this is the week of the fair. It's uh it's we've got a lot of kids out there that have worked their butts off uh with their livestock. We've got a lot of presenters out there.
There's a lot of information. It's a great opportunity to go out and spend some time with your family and friends you may not get to see very often. Enjoy it >> next. >> All right. Um before we go on, Mr. Grimes, you have a couple things you want to talk about. Yeah, Commissioner Alexander just hit on just a little bit of it, but the fair this week, I mean, I
know every one of you going to touch it, but I'd like to thank you guys because you guys have made an investment out there from nothing but the matching roofs >> um to the to the paint that's on the walls to a little bit of concrete asphalt inside the buildings. >> Um without you guys, none of that stuff
would have been done without your discretionaries. You put it where I mean, where I believe it really did make a difference. Um, when you walk into the Tilton Arena, I mean, they've got a portion of it painted. I mean, it makes it look good. It is very presentable. If you guys have had an opportunity to look at one of the ferris wheel pictures or
something that somebody has shared or maybe even a drone shot that somebody's flown over the fair. >> I saw that. It was nice. >> It looks amazing. And I mean, and it was just little things just, you know, I think you got people over there that are taking pride in that now. I think you guys are doing a phenomenal job. Um, but I just want to tell you guys that it it looks great and I think the kids are
seeing it. Um, and it's it's made a lot of progress over there and just just maybe a year a year year and a half of time frame. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thanks, Mr. Grimes. >> Commissioner Newer recognized. >> Yeah, I'm going to piggyback on that. Thank you for that recognition. There there's a lot of people who have been putting in a lot of work for a long time
and it's taken collaboration with the board, with the community, but you know, please do. I think tonight is the hog sale if I'm if I'm not mistaken. >> The Tonight, yes. Is is the is the is the swine show. >> The show. Yes, >> Thursday will be your steer show and then of course on Friday will be the the
sale of all. Uh so yes, absolutely. Come out, bring your checkbook. >> So that show tonight is fantastic. You know, come out and um and and take a look at something you've probably never seen before. Um anyway, I did have the opportunity to go
out to um Mount Royal to that community center. the um annual report was a nice reference to uh to kind of show off a little bit of what's been done in in 2025 and our direction for 2026. So um thank you for that. It was a a great
little piece. I'm not going to keep this any longer. That's it. >> You're welcome to say whatever you want. We have time >> where >> All right, Commissioner Harvey. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um I want to say about the fair. Yesterday I went out there at 4:30 and walked around with the
pres fair president and you know JR's right, Mr. Grimes is right. The um the whole aesthetics of the place is pleasing now. It's not embarrassing and it's not anybody's fault. Like I always say, it's easier to govern when you have
money, right? So, you know, money's always tight and we were able to put money in from our discretionary funds to help them out. And I will tell you it's a showcase now to go out there and I watched the weighin of the pigs yesterday and that's an exciting also
depressing because some some pigs got rejected and they had to go home and um you know that's kids kids put their lives into these animals. I remember as a young a youngster raising you know pigs and steers for the for the FFA and
showing them and it's a lot of responsibility but it's well worth the effort. And I asked one of the people yesterday, I said, "So when these kids get rejected and their hog didn't weigh in, do they give up and oh no, they come back the next year and they make sure
that that's that's working." And as as bad as it may sound, what a life lesson that they get out of that. So, you know, not everybody gets a ribbon for participating, you know, and that's the way it is in this world. And um and I
really admire all the people that were there yesterday, all the volunteers, our fair board members. I said, "Are y'all sleeping out here?" Because JR, you were there. I was on the fair board. There's a lot of work that gets done during that
time that you don't have a clue what goes on. But it's such a it's such a great environment to go out there and see all the people, you know, grandkids now that for my generation, you know, and you just think here we are building,
you know, planting trees that we're probably never going to sit under, but these kids will carry on this tradition for life. And that's what this community is about is helping each other. And the fair is the the fair is a big agricultural thing for me. and just the
exhibits and and how well clean it is and it's just a it's a blessing to be part of that. So I just want to say that I do want to thank those who could attend the town of Enarkkins rededication of their new bu of their old new building. That's a remarkable
place. If you haven't been out to the new new old town hall, please go out and take a look at what they really did. They did a fantastic job up there and they were they were very gracious to allow me to speak about my family and how we got there. My wife's family got
there. And last but not least, Robman Reservoir. I want to thank each and every one of you. Not only because Save Rodman's important to me, but the environment's important to me. Every commissioner here
stood up and was counted for. The legislators are scratching their head going, "We heard from three people thinking that represents the community, did not represent the community. We represent the community." And we hear from people and and Commissioner
Paliser, you said it right. It's about the issues. People will show up when there's an issue. and they showed up and showed out uh to us about representing their environment and their water and the needs that they have and the history
that they have with Lake Okawaja and the Rodman Reservoir and the Okawaja River. We're in a drought. There's no doubt we're in a drought and we need to keep the water we know. And um and I just really want to thank each and every one of you commissioners for stepping up
going to Tallahassee, making that drive up and back the same day. It's it's hard. It's hard. And then you're testify for three minutes and go home, but you make a point when you're there. And I believe we made a point. And I want to thank Representative Sap, Senator Leak
for stepping up and representing us. That's what our representatives do. They stand up for even if they I mean it's hard to go against leadership. Let's be honest. >> But they stood up against leadership and said my people don't want this. My
people that I represent that's not in their best interest. And that's what we that's what we elect people to do is to represent us. U so I really appreciate that. And our staff I can't be more thankful for all the work that you've done on that issue too. and and not just
on that issue, but representing all of Putnham County. I remember the day we were up there for Putinham Day and we shined. We really shined. And I want to continue seeing that as we go forward because again, if we're not telling our
story, somebody else is. And it might not be the story we want be told. So, we have a great story to tell. We all have hometown stories to tell about our region. We all grew up here. There's no reason we can't tell the proper story in the proper fashion. And Miss Reyes, let
me say I I enjoyed your face today talking about animal control because I remember when your face was not like that, you know, and I'll say that, but it was a long time getting animal control up and running to where we're at today. The building, it was a dream when
we first started years and years and years ago, but we're there now. So, Putham County is moving in a fabulous direction and I want to thank each and every one of you for all your hard work and all the work that you've done up here. I know it's daunting. I know it's
tiring, but take time when you can to be with your family and get back in there and fight the fight for Putinham County. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, sir. Commissioner Palis, you're recognized. >> Um, couple things. Um,
I I think what you said, Commissioner Harvey, about the kids learning life lessons and that their hog didn't make weight and it had to go home. I think probably in that hog's eyes, a trip home was probably better than a trip to the freezer. But, um,
anyhow, um, but it is a life lesson taught that, uh, you know, my didn't do so well this time. Next year, I got to do better. I got to, you know, manage my quick granner. Um, sorry.
>> Pretty good. >> You You inspired that. >> That was almost as funny as Larry saying grandkids. I think it's great grandkids for him. >> All right. >> Talking about the fair and how it's changed. Um, and I can remember going there as a kid and I was telling this story to Mr. Suggs the other day. I can
remember going in there as a, you know, just a kid wanting to ride rides and eat cotton candy and all that stuff. And and some kids say, "Don't don't step over there. you'll get shocked, you know, cuz it was it was not one of the safest places I ever been in my life. But, uh, it functioning, thank God, nobody did
ever get hurt, uh, badly that I know anything about, but, uh, it has come a long way. Um, I've spoke to president of the fair association and they've they have done a lot of good things there and lots of good more good coming. Um, I'm
very excited about it. Um, real quickly about Rodman, um, you're right. We, uh, we stuck together, and, uh, we made our voice heard, and that minute, um, passionate few that were against it, uh, wanted to take it out, didn't win, didn't prevail,
and I'm very happy about that. And, um, but I'm, this is far from over. They'll be back, and we and we'll be back, as they say. Um, Ed Taylor Fishing Tournament, Save Rodman, April 18th. April 18th. That's something to put on your calendar. um need to try to make
some of that if we can. Uh that's a good thing. Um I would like to see and I don't know if this is our chambers uh part, but I would love to see us reach out to all the organizations who
thought that this past Saturday was a good day to have everything going on at one time in Putham County. Road He's Boys Ranch Fishing Tournament will like a springfest, the tractor pool, the county fair. market at the uh courthouse that was just in our county and just
over the county line in St. John's, they had a rodeo. So you we love to have participation and people turn out and spend money and go and do and enjoy our lovely piece of Florida that we have, but you can't go everywhere. And people would be more apt to go more places and
spend more money if it was spread out a little bit. So I would like to if it's the chambers's responsibility reach out to those folks and say hey let's get on the calendar next year and spread our events out a little bit and see if we can't make it better for everybody. And as much as I would like to go to all
those things the volunteers are getting the fire worked out of them that you know I parked boats at 4:00 the other morning then I went and collected money at the fair for parking that afternoon or evening till 9:00 that night. So there's just so much of us to go around,
but um it is very good times in Putnham County. Lots of good things happening u in in various areas and we we just touch on a little bit here and there, but um I'm excited about what the future holds for us and it's a it's a good day to be here and
and be a part of Putnham County's growth and I'm proud of it. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. So it's a good problem to have, right? several several issu several um >> events going on every weekend. They have a calendar. You can look at them at the at the chamber's website and it's usually there usually is three, four,
five, sometimes more events going on every weekend. Um I do want to um call up Jason Fochch from the um forestry service and um just ask your opinion on um whether or not the county should be issuing a you know voluntary burn ban or
something like that. Thank you, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Uh, as you know, we're dry in a pretty severe drought. If you're from Putnham County, this is probably I've seen it a little bit drier, but not this early in the years. So, as going
forward, I mean, this week, I've been looking at the weather. That's what we do. We look at the weather morning, middle day, and afternoons before we set restrictions for the state. Uh, this week doesn't look terrible with fire weather. Yes, you're going to have some winds. Mid's a little high this week,
but it's coming. It's uh >> the rain's coming. >> No, the no rain ain't coming. I mean, >> oh, okay. I thought you were saying the rain's coming. >> No, the the drought's going to persist. What I've been hearing, I've been to meetings in Georgia, Tallahassee, everywhere. Doino, they do a lot of reading off of it. It's the lowest it's
been since 2011, and that was like in May. So, all that is dry. So, it's just a matter of time before we get into even worse drought in my opinion. >> Okay. So this week doesn't look terrible for fire weather. >> Yeah. And we issue them seven days at a time.
>> Yes. So next week maybe looking into it a little bit more, but yes. >> So and the cold fronts I mean we got a cold front today coming down. >> No rain. I mean >> my weather app said 0.03. >> So >> Mr. Grimes, you're recognized. I just
want to for the for the public's benefit know when we do and when we don't set burn band bans and burn regulations because I think it's important, right? Um it's not one person's opinion. Um it's kind of a a group effort. Uh the first person that I call when I feel like we're getting dry as I reach out to
our fire department leadership and also reach out to Mr. Foscher um back when we had the the freezes. I said, "What do you think?" He said, "Yes." So that's when I approached the board chair and asked, "Hey, can we go ahead and put this in?" Right? because our these guys do this every single day. So, it's not
willy-nilly, right? So, when we decided to take the burn ban off, I made a phone call to Mr. Fosche and said, "Hey, what do you think the next few weeks look like?" He says, "I think we're okay." Well, then that gives our citizens an opportunity to do the things in their lives that they need to do. So, even though sometimes we take a lot of heat,
we have had the conversations that have happened in the background going, "Hey, what do you think? What is your professional opinion? What are your guys seeing out there? They're seeing crazy fire weather. They're seeing fire spot. they're seeing fires jump, he can go, "Hey, we need to slow this thing down." And we give them the opportunity, right? Because they're not necessarily a county
department, but our county departments lean on to them for their professional opinion. So, I did reach out to Jason yesterday and says, "What do you think?" He said, "I think tomorrow u we may see a little rain. If we don't see rain, then I'm going sit down with the board chair again at their and fire department administration's leadership and go, hey,
it's probably time again." But we had about a four-week lull in here between that that weather in the early late winter in the early spring that we could let our agricultural community and and our constituents do the things they needed to get done. If Mr. Foscher reaches out to me this afternoon and goes, "Hey man, we need to get this,"
we're going to do it right. Uh so it is it is an effort behind the scenes of when and when we don't put a burn ban on. Um our drought index is one of the key factors that we use. Um yesterday it was 463 which was points less than when we took it off last time. Uh but
sometimes fire behavior does it. U winds, humidity, things like that. So there is a lot of things that go into assessing that burn ban. But I just wanted to bring it out to the public that there are phone calls made that talk to our forestry officials and our and our fire departments and things like that to make sure that we're making the best decision for our constituents out
there so we're not just making it on our own. >> Thank you. So the um fires that we had over the weekend, they were not uh based on a burn ban wouldn't have made a difference on these. >> Well, I mean because the forestry has the ability to override it in far as
agricultural burns, right? They could have issued the permit on Yelvington Road that we had Saturday um outside of your burn ban because they can trump your burn ban and give it to a certified burner. Um so that one maybe maybe wouldn't have been prevented. The one in the south end, I talked to Chief back on
Monday, was caused by a power line, right? They don't abide by our burn pans. Um, so, um, there is different things that cause fires out there. I mean, it's not always somebody malicious. I mean, we have underneath power lines. I mean, we do have lightning that starts fires. I mean, so
there's a lot of things, but we ask people this time of year, please try to restrict your burning. I mean, um, we probably need to look at some some kind of media release of voluntary burn ban, not necessarily a strict enforceable, um, but we may need to be there next
week, right? So, but we just need to encourage our citizens to be smart, right? If you have any questions, um, we have forestry officials that have can come out and assess and do things. That's a lot of what they do. I mean, they do mitigation. Um, and maybe Mr. Foche one day could come back and give us an idea of what all their departments
do. They do more than just firefighting. Um, and they do a great job u for the local resources that we have. >> Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Harvey, you're recognized. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I learned in this business a long time ago, you don't go fishing with a cast net. You might catch things you don't
want to catch, right? Just don't throw the blanket over the whole thing. I think it's responsible, personal responsibility on our part. I got a pile that I'd like to burn, but I talked to our sanitation director. He said, "Just bring it out to the landfill. Bring it
out to your collection centers. It's you can throw it in there. It doesn't cost you a thing to do that." I think a lot of this is based on personal responsibility. When the wind's blowing and it's fire danger and there's no water in the lakes, it doesn't take a rocket scientist figure out you don't
light a match. And if if you're cooking out like I cooked out steaks the other night, the wind was blowing. I had a water hose sitting right there. If any embers took off that I was ready for. And when the when I got done cooking steak, I put the fire out. It was that simple. So I you know, a lot of times I
don't know if we can manage all bad behavior is what I'm trying to say, right? We just need to say, guys, use common sense here. >> Don't burn. You can see that the woods are dry. You can see the lakes are down. You can see this. This doesn't take a rocket science to figure it out. So, I
think personal responsibility, but Madam Chair, whenever you need to pull the trigger, you have my full support on any burn ban that we can we can enforce in this county. So, thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner Alexander, you're recognized. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um, just I wanted to add to that. Um, as someone who has
experienced a fire recently in one of our pastures, um, it it didn't start at our at our property. It started at our neighbors property. And the amount of resources that had to be dispatched to put this small fire out takes away resources that could have
been your neighbors. You know, they're putting out a grass fire in a pasture, but they were all at my house. If there was a house, somebody's home with their personal belongings that were burning and they weren't able to get there in time because they were dispatched to a small fire over here because somebody was irresponsible.
To me, you just you need to consider the impact that it's going to have on your neighbor. I mean, we're a small community. We we pride oursel on courtesy and taking care of our neighbors. Um this is something you need to be cognizant of. You this what seems like a small impact here may take
resources away from saving someone's home and their livelihood. So that's where I'm at. >> All right. Thank you, Commissioner Newbel. You're recognized. >> I know there are folks citizens out there who are abiding to the burn bans. I've had several people contact me about large wood. You know, what do I do with
my large wood? I don't want to burn it. Um I had one fell say he took a whole load to the the Cresant City station and they wouldn't take large wood. Today you can take it to Palatka. Um is is am I mistaken there or is are there large
wood prohibitions at at the remote locations? and it needs to come to PLA. Yeah, that that's that's a toughy. I think, you know, people in those rope locations, I'm afraid that stuff either gets burnt or gets dropped in the woods somewhere. But I I don't know if there's any help
for that in the long run. I don't know how big a problem it is, but strangely enough, in the last week, I've had, you know, two people ask me that question. So, anyway, I'll have to talk to you about it sometime, see if there isn't something creative. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you, Jason.
We appreciate you coming up. I want to just take a point of privilege and recognize Tyler Nolan from the Northeast Florida Regional Council. Thank you for being here today with us. We appreciate it. Also want to say that the paving on Palm Avenue looks really good.
That is nice. And so I appreciate that and what the county is doing trying to get these roads up to date. Um and I also want to thank Erin at Animal Services. Um she she has such enthusiasm and creativity and she called me last
week and said, "Hey, you want to come do a video?" And I said, "Sure." And we went out there and next thing you know, I'm wearing a doodle wig. >> And it it was funny. And um but you know what? It's the creativity that brings the attention. It brings the positive
attention to the animal services and that's what we want. And bringing awareness and that we have adoptable dogs. They all don't have to be perfect. Doesn't mean they can't be adopted. Um >> we have doodle wigs available for each of you gentlemen as well if you're ready. >> Yeah. >> Did you get wigs for this?
>> Yep. Okay. >> We did the treat video and then we did the doodle video and she does videos all the time. And believe it or not, I know we're most of us are old school, but that's what catches the young younger population's attention. And u my friend
said that her grandson come running in and said, "Miss Leota's on a video. Look at this." And he's like six. So she was like, "I didn't even know what he was talking about." So um I do I do appreciate her creativity and enthusiasm and and um her recommendation for the
employee. Um, Miguel helped us when we when I was out there. Very good recommendation. I I think he's a he's a such a positive person. So, um, thank you Aaron and animal services for all y'all were doing. I know you'll continue to push animals, push the dogs out to get adopted, and we just really, really
appreciate that. And, um, I'll echo the sentiments of my colleagues regarding the fair. Take your family out. We went and did it. By the time we were through, old Nana here was uh hurting from walking so much. But it looks so good. It looks so good and um I'm proud of it
and I know y'all are too. And it's just going to be a great week this week at the fair. So with that, is there anything else to come in from the board? Yes, sir. Yeah, we have we'll hold our resolution um and do that next time for the water management. All right. With that, this meeting is adjourned. Thank
you'all for coming.