Good morning. Welcome to the March 24th BOCC meeting. The clock in the room is 5 minutes slow, so we're going to follow the real time. We may need a battery. We'll put it in the budget and make sure that it's fixed for the next meeting.
>> Noted. Noted. Uh this morning, we're going to start with the invocation and pledge of allegiance with Robert Bradley, Bread of Life Christian Church. Pastor, thank you for being here. >> Let us pray. Eternal God, our father, we thank you for today. Uh thank you for
the gift that it is our life, our health, and our strength. We thank you, heavenly father, for the reason whereby we're here today for this meeting of this board of commissioners as they set their hands and their hearts toward the betterment of this county. We ask your blessings upon them that their decisions
be guided by your spirit. That their hearts and their minds be guided by your spirit. And that the decisions that are made today be all for the betterment of the county and for your glory. We pray also for the employees of this county that daily work out the plan of this
board. Heavenly Father, we are moving right now in a season in this country where we're experiencing turbulence in this country. And God, we're asking for your steady and calm hand to guide us through it. We pray for your divine protection over our men and women that are in the armed forces that are on the
front lines of war. And so God, we ask you, Lord God, that you just continue to be with them, guide them, strengthen them, be with us, guide us, strengthen us as a county, as a state, and as a nation. Our lives are in your hands for us to use us for your glory and for your honor. We ask your blessings upon all
that we do today in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. >> 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. >> It's the sound of >> It's the sound of winning. >> It is the sound of winning. I forgot to tell you to silence your cell phones and I forgot to silence mine. So, please do so as we speak. Uh
we are going to start today with a uh resounding congratulations to uh the Lake Mary High School women's soccer team. They are the state champions. Chairman Lockhart is going to read that. And before she does, I just want to say from this seinal and greyhound mom, go
Rams. Um, Commissioner Her gave me a promotion. I am still the vice chairman, just for the record. >> Did I call you chairman? >> Yeah, that's okay, though. Um, >> some days, >> uh, we are so glad that you all are here with us today. It is truly an honor for
us as the board of county commissioners to be able to continually recognize student athletes in our community who excel. Um, it's just really exciting and thrilling. And as a former school board member and a Lake Mary Ram former mom, I am really honored to uh be able to read
this proclamation this morning. So I make the I move the following resolution commissioners of the Seminal County Board of County Commissioners recognizing the 2526 Lake Mary High School girls soccer team as FHSAA Class 7A state champions. Whereas, Semino
County proudly recognizes the outstanding achievements of its student athletes and the positive representation they bring to the community through excellence and competition. And whereas, the Lake Mary High School Rams girls soccer team achieved a historic milestone by winning the Florida High
School Athletic Association Class 7A State Soccer Championship in 2026, marking back-to-back state titles. And whereas the Rams secured their championship in a thrilling contest against Cypress Bay, winning by a final score of four to three in a dramatic
match decided by penalty kicks. And whereas the Lake Mary High School soccer team overcame adversity and demonstrated resilience, determination, and composure under pressure, exemplifying the highest ideals of sportsmanship, teamwork, and competitive spirit. And whereas the
team's success reflects the leadership of head coach Christian Eley, whose commitment to excellence, character development, and community pride has played a pivotal role in the program's historic achievement. And whereas the championship reflects the dedication of the coaching staff, student athletes,
families, school administrators, and supporters whose collective efforts contributed to this remarkable season. And whereas this remarkable achievement has brought significant recognition to Semino County and serves as an inspiration to young athletes throughout the community to pursue excellence both
on and off the field and is worthy of special recognition and commendation. Now therefore, be it resolved that we, the board of county commissioners of Semino County, Florida, do hereby congratulate the Lake Mary High School girls soccer team for winning the 2526
FHSAA class 7A state championship and extend sincere congratulations to the players, coaches, families, and supporters for their historic accomplishment adopted this 24th day of March, 2026. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second, commissioners. All those in favor? I
>> hearing no. No in opposition. Congratulations ladies. We are proud of you. If there's anyone from the either the team or the coaches that would like to say a word, we would love to have you do that. You can take the podium. And I'd also like to recognize board member Abby
Sanchez who celebrates literally everything that happens good at Semino County Public Schools. And we are delighted to have her here. Anyone? You don't have to. >> That's good. We get a better shot of that baby.
>> Bring your latest recruit. >> Yes. Yes. Well, uh, yeah, thank you for having us. It's obviously a very special achievement that these girls have had. And, uh, I think for for me, it's very special to be a coach in this county.
So, I'm very grateful grateful for that. And, um, just watching these girls grow as, uh, players and human beings has been really special. Um, and how they impact the community and the people around them, care about each other is what sports is all about. So, um, you know, I'm I'm very proud not only for
the accomplishments on the field, but, uh, certainly for how they carry themselves and represent the school and the county, um, and this program. So, hopefully, uh, we can continue doing that for years to come. So, appreciate you having us. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> We have a second proclamation to read and then we'll come down and do pictures all at once. Uh this one is a proclamation proclaiming April 20 2026 water conservation month in Semino County and it will be read by Commissioner Constantine.
>> Thank you m Madam Chair. Um since we are winning everything um it must be in the water so let's conserve it. I move the proclamation of the Semino County Board of County Commissioners
proclaiming April 2026 water conservation month in Seol County. Whereas water is basic and essential need of every li living creature. And whereas the state of Florida, the water management districts and Semino County
are working together to increase awareness about the importance of water conservation. And whereas Semino County and the state of Florida have designated April, typically a dry month when water demands are most acute, water, Florida's water conservation month to educate citizens
about how they can save Florida's precious water reserves. And whereas Semino County has always encouraged and supported water conservation through educational programs and special events. And whereas
every business, industry, school, and citizen can make a difference when it comes to conserving water, thereby promoting a healthy economy and community. And whereas outdoor irrigation comprises a large portion of the water use, and Semino County will
encourage citizens and businesses to focus on improving outdoor irrigation efficiency in support of water conservation efforts. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the board of county commissioners of Semino County, Florida, do hereby proclaim April 2026
as water conservation month in Semino County. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second, commissioners. All those in favor? >> I. >> Motion passes unanimously. Let's head down to the floor for pictures. Thank you. Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat. Do you see? Hallelujah. You probably skip the financial advisor report. It's just a repeat for the last three months. >> Yeah, >> please do. >> Madame Chair, commissioners, I am Dear
Irwin, the water conservation coordinator for the Central Florida Water Initiative with the St. John's River Water Management District. That's a very long title. Um, I would like to thank you today for passing this proclamation. We are in our 28th year of
having water conservation proclamations in Florida. We've partnered with the American Waterworks Association to put emphasis at this time of the year in the importance of water conservation. This year in particular with considering the drought conditions that we're dealing
with. So, I really appreciate your efforts today and hopefully your constituents will follow suit and save water. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> YOU >> That includes the constituents in Heathrow. You're all thinking it, so I
just thought I'd say it out loud. >> Northwest. We refer to it as the northwest corner of the county. Next up on the agenda is Scott McIntyre who will do our county investment report which will sound a lot like the last few months as Commissioner Zimbau has
pointed out. Scott is appearing with us virtually today. Scott, >> good morning. I'll I'll keep it brief because um you guys are right. Things have things have pretty much looked the same. um job growth >> has slowed, inflation has picked up. Um
and obviously right now we're talking about I'm sorry, advance the slide. Yes. And then one more slide after this. The the Middle East is really driving things at this point in time and most of the data that we're getting is is suddenly very very stale. just kind of
to set the uh pick if if if you will, uh economic growth according to GDP was was uh 0.7% in the fourth quarter. So it sort of started out with a little less momentum going into the new year. Next slide, please.
Um this is non-farm payroll growth. So we got a a really bad number in February. Um five of the last nine months have been negative payroll growth. A lot of that has to do with technology. A lot of that has to do with AI. A lot of that has to do with uncertainty. Um overall, we don't need
quite as many workers, but the Fed is certainly a little bit concerned about the labor market at this point. Um normally, they might be in a position where they could cut. That's what we expected when the year began, but but obviously what's going on in the Middle East is at least temporarily tied the
Fed's hands. So, next slide, please. This is inflation. It's the same story here. Inflation had been moving lower. We had um core CPI at the lowest level since March of 2021, the last time we saw core CPI. Um a lot of that has to do with shelter costs that are coming down.
Right now, we're in a position where we all understand that elevated oil prices and by extension elevated gasoline prices are going to flow through to the March CPI and the April CPI number. We're going to see them quite a bit higher. Again, the idea that inflation
is higher is going to tie the Fed's hands for now. So, we don't expect the Fed is going to cut. Uh the earliest expected is at the end of July and the market doesn't expect that the uh Fed is going to even be able to cut this year. So, this is all in a state of constant
flux. So, um you know, we take that with a grain of salt. Next slide, please. This is the 2-year Treasury note yield. I show this to you guys every time. It goes back one year. You can see that that the yield on the 2-year Treasury note has climbed significantly during
the month of March. For a while, we have been in a pretty narrow trading range. This is shooting higher with the expectation again that the Fed is not going to be able to cut. It also reflects inflation expectations which have which have soared recently as a result of oil prices. Next slide,
please. This is where yields are. Obviously, uh you can see that they're sharply higher since the last meeting. Um and for reasons that I've already mentioned, the pool rates, which is where most of your liquidity sits at this point, are
stable. They will be stable because the Fed is not expected to cut, nor are they expected to raise rates. So, um where your liquidity is, we no longer expect that that's going to to fall over the course of the next six months. Next slide, please.
So um upcoming maturities got a couple of them in April. Um not a whole lot. 20 odd million is coming to recent transactions a couple of palm terms which in essence are are locked in longer pool yields locked in at 365 and
379. The recommendation at this time is that the county is fully invested. Um there were this is a time when some money is being used and this is a time when there wasn't a whole lot of securities
positioned. That is going to change in the coming months. But as of this point in time, we do not recommend that that the county make any purchases during the month of March. If if anything, this allows for additional liquidity. Next
slide, please. We'll come back to this, but uh as of the 28th of February, the average yield was just under 4%. For March, it's going to be just under 4%. It may be that the spending out of those liquidity buckets pushes the yield up
just a little bit toward 4%. And um next slide, please. And that 399 compares well to the um to to the benchmarks that the county uses. And and if we can go back a couple of
slides to the recommendation or the lack of recommendation as it were. >> Um and I'll ask one of you to to read the motion. >> Move a motion to implement the recommendation of our financial advisor based on the current submitted report
today and recommend the clerk implement the board's recommendations. I have a motion. Is there And a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? >> Thank you, Scott. All those in favor? I >> opposed. Hearing none. It passes unanimously. Thank you for being here,
Scott. >> Thank you all. Have a good morning. >> All right, we've come to the portion of the agenda that is the consent agenda. If you have any intentions on speaking on the consent agenda, I would ask that you turn in a speaker's form to Mr.
Coons who is sitting up here in the front. Um and uh with that I'll ask the county manager are there any additions, deletions or modifications. >> Thank you madam chair and commissioners. Um actually a couple changes. Uh I would like to pull for discussions item 19 and
20. These are the arts funding agreements that the board has discussed recently. There has been some discussion regarding the budget for this. So I just want to ensure that everyone is on the same page and the budget has not changed since you adopted the budget and I'd
like to have our director of economic development tourism Mr. Gekuna um present that if you want to do it after the consent I'll leave that up to you madame chairman. Also, just one other just to remind the board that we did have an add-on to the agenda and that is
item 24A and that is a good news item with the 434 and Ronald Reagan DOT project that they are advancing on our request. So, that is included in the consent agenda as well and that's it. >> Thank you. I do think we'll do the
consent agenda first. Are do we have any speaker forms? >> No forms. >> We have no speaker forms. So, we get to skip the reading of the directions for public speaking. And I know that does disappoint you every time we do that. With that, I'll look for a motion. >> I would have something to >> Oh, I'm sorry.
>> Commissioners, do you have anything to pull? >> Um, I'd like to pull 22. >> All right. Anything else? All right. So that takes us to item four 5-8 21- 24A
and I believe 25 and 26. Commissioners, I'll look for a motion. >> I'll try to pull this off. I'll move a motion approved. Um item four on the constitutional officer's consent
5 through 18 and 21 through 26 less 23 >> 22 >> 22 I'm sorry less 22 23 through 26 including 24A which was a walk-on
>> 21 through 20 Yeah it's 23 you got it the way you said it. Yeah. 72. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I >> opposed. Hearing none. It passes unanimously. Uh, >> county manager. We'll go to item 19 and
20. If you want to do that combined. >> Yes. Thank you, uh, Madam Chairman. And I'll have again Mr. Gekuna from our economic development tourism office just explain that the budget has not changed. Good morning, commissioners. For the record, Ghee Kuna, director of economic
development and tourism for Semino County. This is our one slide just to uh recap going back to the arts presentation on January 27th. This slide here on the table shows that
the approved budget for fiscal year 2026 for the arts program is $148,88160. That is the combined $74,440.80 80 cents for Wayne Dench performing arts center and the seminal cult cultural
arts council of 74,440 and uh $440.80. So, the entire arts program, that total budget listed below. After the BCC meeting on January 27th,
the Wayne Dench performing arts agreement has a scope solely for operations at $50,000 with a term that ends on September 30th, 2026. That is item 19 on your agenda. And then
item 20 on your agenda is the Semino County uh Seminal Cultural Arts Council. My apologies on that. 50,000 for operations and $48,88160 for arts grant program and that term
also ends September 30th, 2026. So the grand total for the arts program in the seminal county budget does does not change from the previous meeting. It is still the total $148,88160
in the agreements that you do have in front of you. the arts grant program that $48,88160 those funds cannot be used for salaries. I want to make sure we state that on the record. These uh agreements have gone
through uh updates for uh administrative purposes solely. We have not changed the core understanding of the agreement. When we did the updates, as we see from the last five years, these agreements
have changed hands a couple of different times. So, the intent of the up upgrades and updates are for transparency purposes and do not change the scope, term, or funding that was agreed upon on
January 27th, 2026. >> Anything to add? That's it? >> Nope. Yes. Thank you. Commissioners, any discussion? >> Yes. >> Um, I just want to say thank you so much for being the tip of the spear. Um, the whoever the county employee is who draws the straw to manage various contracts is
usually the person who winds up getting beat up from both sides. And so, I want to thank you publicly for for your willingness to dig in and really make sure that this is a this is set up for success for both of our organizations. Um, I do want to say that um, because we
have changed the way that we have distributed these grant funds many, many times over the years, personally speaking for myself, not for the board, I'm looking at this from a year-to-year basis and and seeing how this year goes. Um, it we get to choose who we want to
partner with, even though we're using other people's money. This is taxpayer dollars and when we um entrust a private organization to disperse those for for us um we're doing it on behalf of the citizens of Seol County. So I I will be on this like white on rice. Um this is
very important to me. The arts are very important to me and I want to make sure that the funds are being spent in the way that we are supporting as many organizations and artists as possible in this community. Um, so we're looking for
great partnership. >> Commissioner Zimbau. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I sincerely appreciate the additional transparency uh terms and conditions and reporting that's in this contract. I will however
say uh as you know I've requested all contracts through this division to be supplied to my office and I've reviewed each and every one of those contracts and I will say none of them have the oversight. >> Most men don't notice the details. >> Yeah, we usually don't. >> No. >> Um
however, uh many of those contracts >> do not have do not have the kind of oversight that is now in this contract. And as many of you know, I'm I'm a big advocate of equal treatment under the law. So, I would be looking for our
staff if this is the new road we're venturing down that um we certainly consider all the contracts start to resemble what we've now brought forth in this contract. So, every contract is at
least treated equally and fairly for those taxpayers dollars for these type of scenarios. So that that would be my request. >> Is that clear? >> Yes, ma'am. And yeah, and the commissioner Zimbar and I have discussed this. So >> it must it must you must have because it
so I'm going to ask for a little more. I need to be part of the discussion for all of us. Are you referring to contracts with regard to grants? Contracts with regard >> with our econom that's handled through our economic development through economic development. Correct. Yeah.
Yes. Okay. I just thought we should get that out. >> Yes. Absolutely. All right. Any other discussion? >> I I Commission Commission. No, >> it's a yes or a no. It's a no. >> All right. I would just say that as we
close this out that we we had a really healthy discussion about this a month or two ago and there was a lot of very clear direction given. And I think when uh Commissioner Lockheart says that she's going to be paying attention, I think we're all going to be paying
attention. And I think it's around following the direction of making sure that quite frankly from my perspective the ratio of things that benefit the community makes sense compared to the expense associated with the
organization. Simply not defendable in the way it was presented the last time. So with that I'll call for a vote. All those in favor >> I I make a motion for the approve. >> I'm sorry. Hold on a minute. >> Motion I'll second the motion for approval of 19 and 20. All right,
there's a motion to approve 19 and 20 and there's a second by Commissioner Delari. All those in favor? I >> opposed. Hearing none, it passes unanimously. All right, I think that brings us to item 22. Commissioner Lockhart. >> Well, I'm going to bring this up as
another good news item. I just wanted to draw to everyone's attention. This is the uh proportionate cost share of Sun Rail for um the Central Florida funding partners. And I want to um this is the projected. So, the Sun Rail, the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, that's
a mouthful, too. The Sun Rail Board um has not yet adopted the budget for the upcoming year, and this is coming to each of the funding partners as the tentative budget. And I just wanted to thank Tanya Lori, who has joined us recently, um who has an incredible
historic knowledge of Sun Rail and has been working on our behalf, um with our partners at FDOT and with the other funding partners. um the amazing you know we saw we saw a an increase last year in our bud in the overall budget
and in seminal county share and this year um through a lot of good work and some good conversation and I will give Tonyie um the credit for figuring this out for us. This is coming to the um to the region at essentially a a net neutral a no cost increase. And seminal
county's portion for next year is actually decreasing $260,656. So a decrease of two two and a4%. Um that's remarkable in a time when everything is going up. Um not to say that we won't see increases in the
future as needs um develop and evolve, but I just want to give a huge shout out to everyone who made that happen for our community and for our budget. We appreciate that. I'll give a shout out to Darren for finding Tony. >> Yes. Wonderful. Thank you. Great work. >> We appreciate all of you. With that, any further discussion?
>> I make a motion to approve item 22. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I opposed. Hearing none. It passes unanimously. Thank you. That takes us to our work session, utilities master plan final with the holistic water policy.
>> Yay. We have Johnny Edwards, utility director, and Kim Orinberg, environmental services director. Maybe we don't have Kim. >> She's coming. >> Oh, there she is. Sorry about that. Kim,
>> take it away. >> All right. Good morning. >> We've been waiting for this for a really long time. >> All right. The anticipation. Uh, so good morning, chairman and commissioners. Uh, we appreciate the opportunity to present today. I'm Johnny Edwards, the county utilities director.
Uh, presenting with me will be Keely Carlton, uh, the county's, uh, water policy program manager. Uh, and as you mentioned, this is our sixth, uh, and final planned presentation related to the, uh, utilities master plan. But today, we wanted to include an update
for the, uh, holistic water policy. That's the county's innovative policy uh created based on the board's vision to have county departments looking at water as a precious resource uh from all perspectives, not just utilities. Uh and you may also recognize um Steve Riley
from Jacob's Engineering who was certainly the brain behind the master plan uh and very integral part of creation of the holistic water policy available today to answer questions if needed. So our agenda briefly uh I'll talk about
the purpose. Um key will address uh the holistic water policy background and update the board on its implementation. Uh then I will talk about the utilities master plan uh looking at previous work sessions, the contents of the master plan and touch on a few highlights
before we talk about next steps and requested BCC action. All right. Uh so the purpose today uh we wanted again to provide the board with an update on the implementation of the holistic water policy uh review some highlights of the utilities master plan
and then request BCC approval of the holistic water policy and the utilities master plan. And with that I will turn it over to Key right to all right so good morning uh Madame Chair and commissioners. I'm Key Carlton. and I'm the water policy
program manager here at Seminal County. Um, just to start off, I would like to, you know, thank you, uh, the board for your continued support on our water resources in Semino County. Today, we've already emphasized the importance of conservation of our water resources with a proclamation, and now we're here to
stand to give a presentation on the long-term strategies to protect the source and ensure our community's water related needs are met into the future. Uh in August of 2024, our team was here to present the holistic water policy plan to the board. This plan is a key
strategic priority uh of the county. It outlines solutions uh to water resource challenges by protecting limited water resources, enhancing our natural systems, and advancing community engagement by shifting perspectives on water management and viewing all water
as one water. I do want to point out though that there are many onewater movements across the nation providing guidance on the collective management of water resources. However, in Semino County, we've coined our own approach um as the holistic water policy. So, what
this means is there's roughly 40 projects, programs or policies that intersect with many of our county departments, outside agencies as well as our community to provide a successful outcome. So on this slide you'll see uh the five main goals that make up the
holistic water policy. Those are enhance water conservation, develop alternative water supplies, enhance watershed management, mitigate septic tank impacts, and implement water utility projects and programs. So it's under each of these goals that
there are specific comp um concepts that are going to guide the implementation of this robust plan. So, kind of looking back, the idea of this policy began around 2021 2022 um and then we brought forward the plan to
the board uh and with Jacobs uh and county staff in August of 2024. Um and then we moving into 2025. Uh there are various foundational programs that have been kicked off such as the expansion of our water conservation program, the
start of an internal water audit program and um the successful launch of the septic upgrade incentive program that I believe you guys heard in the uh last session of the master plan. Um so also to kind of recap uh the previous
presentation in from 2024 we made mention that stakeholder engagement was going to be one of our first assignments at the direction and feedback of the board during that meeting. We also noted additional stakeholders to add to the list uh to look at including these concepts probably into the uh
comprehensive plan the need for a financial road map um and then also to treat this plan as a living document and to keep it updated as we learn. So relationship building both internally and externally has been a priority focus
since its kickoff. Before us is a list of stakeholders that we've have engaged. The form of engagement has been group meetings, one-on- ons, emails, presentations at workshops, and just organic conversations at collaborative events. So, they haven't just been a
one-sizefits-all. We've been out there talking about this um to everyone that wants to listen, and even if they don't. Um so the the feedback has been positive though and uh there has been relationships and ideas that have grown
from each conversation which is probably one of the most exciting parts of this process. Um stakeholder engagement will continue to be a staple of the program and it's going to be ongoing forever. Uh next
don't know if I pressed it too many times or if I'm okay. So now for the fun part, we're going to move into the implementation highlights. Beginning with the enhanced water conservation goal. Our water supply in Semino County is received from the Florida Aquafer system. As we know, this is a valuable
groundwater source throughout the state. Water conservation of our current water supply can offset the time that we will need a new costly source. uh water conservation um of our water supply is very important that roughly 50% of
drinking water goes to lawns and landscapes across the state of Florida. So our team has been dedicated to increasing the awareness of long-standing efforts that the county has already been doing such as our water conservation ordinance. This includes
our watering irrigation guidelines and then also the enhancement of our irrigation evaluation program. Uh also we have expanded our rebate incentive program for our seminal county utility customers and this includes our HOAs. So um we actually have had um high water
user HOAs come to us and request assistance for upgrading their irrigation systems and we've done a pilot program. So stay tuned on how that worked out. But um that was kind of a little exciting tip that HOAs are actually now wanting to engage with us
on these things. Um, we've begun strengthening relationships internally with um, all of the departments across the county, our cities, and our water management district. We also have worked to expand our outreach and education footprint by opening the gates to our water and wastewater treatment
facilities to a lot more groups. Um, and also stepping in front of classrooms from elementary to college. And there's so much more. I could go on and on, but we're not going to do that. Um, this slide it this one's kind of cool. So, if
you like data and are a nerd, water nerd like I am. Um, so this this slide is showing a graphic of a resident's water use. Um, it was determined that this resident was a high water user through our H2O software. Um, they were uh offered an irrigation evaluation. So
that means we actually reached out to them and let them know like hey you're probably using a little bit more water than your neighbors or than you should and we can reduce your consumption, we can reduce your bill. Uh they participated. So if you can see on this graph, they're using upward 750
uh gallons a day. So the one marker that you see right there with the number one on it, this is that when the interv intervention occurred, we sent out a contractor. They performed the irrigation evaluation. you can see their consumption dropped to well below 250
gallons a day. So that is a success. Um this program alone in FY25 saved us around 56 million gallons over the span of the year. So we intend to um hit this one pretty heavy moving forward because
it is successful and people love it. Um next uh the next goal is our mitigate septic tank impact highlight as I stated before. Um, we successfully launched our septic upgrade incentive program. And since this slide was created, we have
had more applications come in. Uh, we are now up to about 40 applications in total. And the majority of those are in progress. The ones that didn't qualify were not in the priority focus area of the Waka Springs, which is currently the area of focus for this incentive as part
of meeting state requirements of nitrogen reduction within the sensitive regions of the state. Um and then moving on to our enhanced watershed management goal. This goal focuses on the management of storm water, mitigation of flooding and the preservation of our natural areas. Uh
there are various departments that obviously touch this goal. But however, our watershed management division has been actively enhancing education and restoration efforts through our serve program, working on new content for the fertilize Florida campaign, which is now
live. um coordinating with internal departments. They have also kicked off the beginning stages of a water quality master plan and they've also added additional MSBU lakes to the program. So very successful teamwork over there as well.
And then these next two goals are develop alternative water supplies and implement water utility projects and programs which are going to be wrapped into the utilities master plan. Uh, so at this time I'm going to pass it back to Johnny so he can walk us through those steps. But again, I do want to thank the board for your continued
support. I want to thank our internal teams because yes, I am up here presenting this, but it takes a village and our internal teams are just as excited to collaborate on things and that's actually very exciting um to be a part of. And then also our external
partners such as our community members which I do see uh Miss Gabby in the the uh audience here and she has been integral in you know walking me through some of this too because she's a long-standing resident um and so I really just appreciate the collaborative
effort all the way around. So thank you. >> Thank you >> Kayley. We appreciate you too. >> All right. Um, so back to uh just looking at the agenda to remind the board where we're at in the program. Uh, now we're going to talk about the utilities master plan. Uh, and I wanted
to start off. >> Johnny, did you feel we needed to be reminded >> if history is any indication through this as expeditiously as possible. Um so I I wanted to start off with reminding the board about the uh previous work sessions that we've had uh
in the series um to talk about demand projections, water supply and conservation, our treatment plants and transmission mains. Uh last year we took a uh a pretty detailed look uh at a few of our specific uh assets. Uh and then in January we ran through the capital
improvements plan uh work session. Um I wanted to take a kind of a guided tour through the contents of the master plan. Uh and with any 500page document, an executive summary upfront is greatly appreciated. So that's there. Uh the first chapter is an introduction um
talking about the objectives uh of the master plan and a background of the utility. Um chapter two takes a deeper dive uh looking at the demands, how they're calculated both for portable water uh and reclaimed water and the wastewater flows that we anticipate uh
needing to manage. um looking at seasonal trends, daily hourly trends uh not only where we have these demands uh but when and how much is needed. So chapter 3 builds on those demands uh and answers the questions of what is needed
uh to meet those demands. Uh what are the the pumps, the tanks, the pipes uh the processes, the engineered physical assets uh that we need to meet the demands and the applicable standards. Uh chapter 4 uh is a very in-depth regulatory review that touches on our
consumptive use permit. This is a permit issued by the St. John's River Water Management District that limits how much we can pump out of the aquafer or surface water bodies. Uh talks about our drinking water requirements. Uh wastewater treatment, what do we need to do uh to comply with state standards in
treating wastewater uh to send it out uh as reclaimed irrigation water? um several other uh regulations both federal and state. Uh we have emergency response plans. Uh recently completed an assessment based on the federal lead and copper rule to make sure that the
country doesn't have another uh occurrence like Flint, Michigan years ago. Um, and we did a uh risk and resiliency assessment uh to evaluate what are the threats uh natural, technological, and other man-made threats uh and dangers um to make sure
that we are protecting our assets, our services, staff, and our customers. Chapters 5 through 7 uh look at portable water uh or drinking water and in a few different perspectives. Uh five looks at the water sources. How much water is out there? Where do we get it? uh and what
might like what might that look like in the future. Uh it also discusses the Central Florida Water Initiatives and this is a coalition that has been meeting for years consisting of state agencies, Central Florida utilities, uh environmental groups and other stakeholders uh talking uh about
management of water in Central Florida. And we know CFWI has implemented rules that will further limit our consumptive use permit. Um, chapter six looks at water treatment. We have five photoable water treatment plants and talks about those plants in
detail. It also talks about our Yankee Lake surface water treatment plant which is used to treat surface water uh to reclaim uh to augment our reclaimed irrigation system. Uh lastly in chapter 7 we look at our water distribution system. Uh we have four uh service areas
that are connected to our water treatment plants and several con consecutive systems that are connected to water treatment plants from our partnering um utilities, other utilities uh in central Florida. Chapters 8 and n we take a a very in-depth look at
wastewater treatment. Uh we have two water reclamation facilities or uh wastewater plants uh in the northern part uh of the county. Um there's a detailed discussion of bioolids. This is the sludge uh the leftovers from the wastewater treatment process which we
send to the county landfill for disposal and we receive leech eight from the county landfill uh in exchange. So there's a nice symbiosis going on there. Um there's a brief discussion of a potential future septage receiving facility at the Yankee Lake plant. Uh and as you know in the in the southern
part of the county uh we have partnering facilities uh where we send our collected wastewater treatment to their treatment plants. Um chapter um nine looks at the collection system uh talking about our infrastructure assets, our hydraulic models that are used to
design the uh the pipes and pump stations are inspection and maintenance programs used to uh make sure that those pipes and pumps are in good working order. Um and you know uh to meet state requirements to minimize the potential
of a sewage spill and overflow in our area. Um, finally, there's a brief discussion on septic tanks uh throughout the county. Uh, chapter 10, reclaimed water. How much is out there? Uh, what is available to us? Uh, how do we distribute
reclaimed water throughout the county for irrigation? And what are the costs and benefits of expanding that system? Chapter 11 looks closer at forecasting of needs through renewal and replacement of our assets um to make sure that our systems remain in good working order. Uh
while there's some built-in redundant systems within our utility, we want to avoid run to fail uh because we think our services are too important to fail. Uh so not only prevented maintenance uh but appropriately timed renewal and replacement uh reduces the potential for
service disruption. Uh finally uh chapter 12 is the capital improvement plans which I see is the uh sum total of all the preceding chapters and these are the capital maintenance RNR programs as well as the uh future projects needed to keep pace with future demands in our
system um and meet challenges of the future uh growth leading to more demand uh changing regulations changing environment uh and we want to keep evaluating those changes for cost effectiveness. So that's a a quick look through the chapters of the master plan, but I want
to touch on some highlights, some themes um throughout the master plan that I think are important to note. Uh first of all, coordination. We coordinate uh with all the county departments and delivery of the services that we provide and I just uh mentioned a handful of them here. Um environmental services from the
holistic water policy as you see today to conservation to septic tanks and in a few weeks the citizens academy. We work closely with environmental services uh public works uh we want to know each other's projects and plans uh for the future uh so that we can dig once for
efficiency uh and minimization of area disruption. Uh development services we have an engineer and development review committee meetings um making sure that we are in touch with new development. We're reviewing uh proposed new developments uh and we confer with development services about future
growth. uh fire department, fire chief Kinley tells me he likes water. So uh in in the fire hydrants and the sprinklers uh system. So uh utilities owns and maintains the public fire hydrants in our service area. Uh we help evaluate fire flow and if we have a main break or
other cause affecting a hydrant, we inform the fire department uh promptly. Um other utilities, oh I'm sorry, uh information technology. We have uh uh the SCADA system that we manage. This is a remote control system for monitoring
and controlling our facilities. Um so we manage that and it manages the uh communication network and we want to coordinate uh we do coordinate on updates and projects that improve that infrastructure and cyber security for our systems. Uh other utilities we have
interlocal agreements with pretty much all the utilities in Semino County as well as Orlando, Orange County, and Snock. Uh we're working currently to update all of those agreements. Um other plans and documents, there are five pages of reference materials uh within
the master plan. Can't put it all in the 500page document, but there are a lot of other moving parts and studies uh that feed into uh the master plan. We often coordinate with regulatory agencies, notably uh the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the St. John's River Water Management District.
Uh lastly, I wanted to talk about coordinating with program management. For us, program management is a team of consultants from CHA and Jacobs that work sidebyside with us on a daily basis uh on a wide variety of tasks and I just want to name a few of the tasks here. Um
they've helped us strengthen our regulatory compliance assurance uh with respect to capital projects. They've helped uh senior um project managers help mentor some of our younger project managers and they help support all of our project managers. Um frankly,
they've also developed detailed project worksheets and schedules to help keep us on track and on budget. Um they've provided updates to our engineering manual and given uh technical support when we review designs for our projects as well as reviewing uh projects
proposed by developers. Uh we're launching utilitywide key performance indicators. Uh this year we're going to participate uh in the American Waterworks Association benchmarking consortium. So that'll help us compare uh metrics against other Central Florida
utilities. Uh finally, we have over 350 pump stations on our system. Program management has helped us prioritize the RNR. If one of those stations goes down for any period of time, we could have a sewage spill and overflow. Um so it's important that we make sure these pump
stations are in good working order and we know that these results just listing a few here would not be possible without the support of program management uh the county manager and the board. Um I wanted to touch on water supply seems like a theme for today with
respect to conservation. Um we use words like uh growth, demand and regulations to answer questions like are we running out of water? Uh it's kind of hard to say sitting on a peninsula, a peninsula marked with lakes and rivers that we're running out of water. Um but the plan helps explain um that the more we use
the more difficult it is and the more expensive it is to meet drinking water standards. Um most of our wells are screened in the upper Florida aquifer. Uh that is the cleanest um water uh that we have available to us. And I don't want to turn this into science class, but you know, it's we've the Central
Florida Water Initiative has already told us that we've we're pumping enough uh too much, frankly, uh from the upper Florida aquifer. So, a line in the sand has been drawn from 2025. We can't increase beyond what we pumped in 2025. And the water management district would
actually tell us we need to roll the clocks back a little bit to avoid uh environmental problems with lakes, rivers, and streams and wetlands. Uh so we look at alternate water supplies like the lower Florida and aquifer or surface water sources and the bottom line on
that is that they are more expensive significantly more expensive to develop those sources than to stay in the upper Florida aquifer and this is why conservation is so important. One of the reasons frankly that it is much more cost effective uh to conserve than it is to develop these alternate water
supplies. um environmental protection, wastewater systems for us. Um we wastewater treatment um provides a couple functions. One, it provides more reclaimed water uh that we can use for irrigation instead of portable water and and two, it helps make sure that the waste water uh doesn't get into the
environment, uncontrolled and risking harm to the environment. Lastly, um being a public utility, uh everything we do is in service to our customers. We work hard to consistently provide highquality services. Uh RNR
programs are frankly the uh pillar one of the pillars of success that we see is uh providing quality service without interruption. Another pillar is making sure that our staff has the um proper training certification and lensures and we're appropriate. We use qualified
contractors uh for services uh for our customers and to help make sure that we are good stewards of another resource that is u limited and that is public funds. We want to strive to be cost-effective in everything that we do. So what are the next steps? um
conservation plan. Keely uh and the water policy group want to uh continue with conservation plan recommendations of capital conservation projects. Uh utilities um uh beyond implementing the utilities master plan. We want to work with a rate consultant to one update our
capacity fees. Uh the CIP is the foundation for calculating these capacity fees uh for new connections to water and wastewater systems. And this is how development pays for development through those fees. Uh we also want to take a look at our wholesale fees with interlocal agreement partners to make sure that they're transparent and
appropriate. Uh lastly, we want to update our tier structure to help keep uh the cost for uh the lowest tiers low uh and encourage water conservation. So we talk about this master plan being a living document. It is a 20-year plan.
We get new information uh every day, but we've scheduled updates to this plan every 5 years. uh CIP projects uh uh and funding are timed and before pulling a trigger on a future project, we want to re-evaluate our demands keep on par with projections. Is this the most
cost-effective project at the right time to meet those demands? Have regulations changed, environmental conditions, or are there other uh considerations? And when we propose our annual budget, uh we can highlight any changes from this document and the supporting reasons to
keep the BCC up to date. So with that, uh, this is our final slide. Um, want to turn it over to the board for discussion and request approval, uh, for staff to implement the holistic water policy and the Simol County Utilities Master Plan. >> Thank you. >> Thank you both. That was exceptionally
well done. Exceptionally well done. >> If if you don't mind, Madam Chairman, um, I would be remiss if I didn't put the exclamation point on this uh, whole year uh, process. when I became the county manager, when you all selected me
three years ago, you this was one of the top priorities that you had given me is to update our our master plan. It hadn't been updated in quite some time. And I really want to commend uh Johnny Edwards, our director of utilities. He
wasn't the director at the time. He just was Mikey did everything over there, I call him. Uh he stepped up. Uh Christian Swinson, our assistant county manager, supported uh Johnny a lot through this process. Kim Orberg and and Kay Key Keley and her team. Um Jacobs
Engineering, I cannot thank them enough. I see DDA Menard in the the back along with Steve Riley. Thank you. Um they were they stepped up and partnered with this as long as well as with CHA. Um this was a huge big effort to to go
through as you know. I've told the board and the staff sometimes is that, you know, you ask yourself sometimes what keeps you up at night? You know, this really one that kept kept me up at night. Is this cuz it wasn't complete? And you all had you're well aware of that and you put that on my radar right
when I got here. So, I appreciate that was a a gap and it has been filled and I am so excited uh to uh as well as Mr. Edwards to present the master plan for adoption today. So, thank you >> commissioners. I'll turn it to you. Any comments?
>> I'm ready to move for a motion. >> So, we're in work session right now. >> We are in work session. >> Okay. So, we don't approve things in a work session. >> It's not on the agenda as an approval. It's on agenda for a work session, >> but we can approve things in work
sessions. We've done it before and we've been told multiple times through multiple attorneys that we can do it. So, I'd like a yes from the current attorney that says we can do it. I am fine with you approving this during a work session. Yes, it's a noticed item >> and I hope we can build a consensus. Of
course, Madame Chair, I um I just want to tell you that uh in the years that I've been here, uh you know, this has been very very important, especially the holistic water plan as
well as the utility and bringing forth the consumption element, uh the conservation element. Um, a statistic I read a long long time ago is that and I I was, you know, you just never think of it. There isn't any more water today
than there was at the creation of Earth. It's just where it is and how it is and whether it's salt, whether it's, you know, polluted and everything. And so the the point that we have to make and
we did it with the conservation today and and everything and and I want to commend page 10 key that's amazing. I take that back to everybody and you know um all along the uh Markham Woods road
that I'm represent some others representing everybody look how much money you can save. Um, we're light years ahead. We really are. And from where we started and Johnny, Keely, Kim, everybody, Jacobs, uh, I really
appreciate it. We went from a observer to a leader in this. And I and I truly appreciate the fact I wish we could get everybody on this consumption program because the
fact of the matter is is that in Florida we use so much more water than we need to irrigate, so much more fertilizer than we need to irrigate. People come from the north, they think they've got to do what they did in Ohio. Well, they
don't. And so to to educate and train um this this is tremendous and to combine these two I think is is amazing. So congratulations to everybody from the county manager on down and and let now we have to as it says
implement. We're at uh the end of the beginning and we need to continue on. >> Any other comments? Yes, Commissioner Lockhart. Um, I was struck at one point in on one of your slides, not that this hasn't occurred to me before, but it
struck me again that as we are trying so desperately and entities of the state are trying desperately to get the message out that um water is not um plentiful. That's the nicest way of
putting it. Um, we have folks in other sections of the state, organization, agencies that are looking at preempting our ability to be able to to conserve
and be um uh what's the word I want to use? Good stewards of of the resources that we have locally. And our resources here in Seol and in this region are different than the resources in other parts of the state. and the way the way that we have to protect them and access them is
different than in other parts of the state. And so it just it it struck me that while we are try trying so hard to make sure that we are doing the right thing for our communities that there are folks in other parts of the state and in
other parts of the state organization that would seek to preempt our ability to do that. It just they are at such odds with one another. It is. It's remarkable >> and yet not unusual. Any other comments?
I think we had a half of a motion. I >> I'm ready. I'm I'm prepared to make a motion. >> I move to approve staff to implement the holistic water policy in the Seminal County Utilities Master Plan with an annual update in the last meeting in March annually.
>> Meaning anformational update or an update to the plan? and information. >> My concern is with progress report, >> yeah, regulations at the state level that may come in the federal level that we should be aware of those, >> you know, 10,000 foot view. Not that we need to take action, but just keep us
updated. Uh, as it was stated, it's a living document. Um, and I think that's important that we understand that because when people look back on this 5 10 years from now and say, "Well, this is what was said in the master plan in 2026.
Why is it changed?" And we we can follow that along if we get those annual updates. So, that would be my motion, Madam Chair. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All right. And I neglected to ask if we have any requests for public comment.
>> No request. Thank you. Any further discussion before we move on? I actually do have a few comments. Uh number one, I would love to see uh from our public relations department who I is keenly paying
attention back there some success stories with the HOAs that we can share with the other HOAs because that will actually um create a win-winwin. I think the consumer won. I think the community won and I think the
HOA wins when the neighbors have lower bills. So, it it's a rare opportunity to do that. Some of the things in this policy that I thought were just fantastic is the concept of runtofail avoidance at all cost. We cannot be
there. We cannot be like the communities that have done that. Um, the coordination among departments is starkly different from when I got here to where it is now, which I think has everything to do with when you got here, not when I got here. I didn't mean to say that like it was me. Um, because it
wasn't. And dig once is a great example of that. We were digging multiple times all the time uh before. And then I think the overarching proactive nature of this is stunningly different from where we were
before. And that is because of the coordination with all of the consultants and our team and the willingness to dig in and get us there. So, uh, with that, I will call for the vote. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Hearing none, it passes unanimously. Congratulations to everyone
who is involved. >> Thank you. All right, that takes us to our public hearing agenda. I'll look for um motion to accept proof of publication. >> Move to accept. >> Second. >> All those oppos I mean all those in
favor. >> I >> I >> opposed. Hearing none passes unanimously. Uh exparte disclosure. Madam Chair, I have some emails that you'd like to submit. Send that to the clerk. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> I have none.
>> None. >> I have none. >> All right. This is the Chapman Road rightaway vacate. And this will be presented by Annie Siloway, our principal planner. And I will go to Kate Lour to talk to us
about how to run this meeting. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. While the board welcomes comments from all persons with an interest in these proceedings, Florida law requires that the board's decision in quasi judicial actions be supported by competent substantial evidence presented to the board during
the hearing on the application. Competent substantial evidence is evidence such as evidence as a reasonable mind would accept as adequate to support a conclusion. There must be a factual basis in the record to support opinion testimony from both expert and
non-expert witnesses. Persons presenting testimony may rely on factual information that they present, on information presented by county staff, or on information the applicant presented or on factual information included in the county staff report to
support their testimony. All persons who present written materials to the board for consideration must ensure that a copy of such materials is provided to the clerk for inclusion in the board's record of the proceedings and the official meeting minutes. Madam Chair,
thank you. Uh we'll now hear from uh Annie Siloway. >> Hi, good morning. Um, for the record, Annie Siloway with development services. The applicant, Shane Heskin with Eklon um, constructors has petitioned the
county to vacate and abandon a portion of Chapman Road located approximately a quarter mile west of State Road 426. The portion of rightway subject to this vacate request is located along the south perimeter of lot 50 and lot 55 and
the north perimeter of lot 51 and lot 54 of the Slavia colony subdivision as recorded in platbook 2 page 71 of the public records of Simol County Florida. The subject rightway is 30 ft wide and approximately 1,74
feet in length. If the vacate is approved, 15 feet will be allocated to the north property and 15 feet will be all allocated to the south property. However, the home the owners of lot 50 and lot 55 FDOT have decided to sell
their vacated portion of the Chapman Road rightway to the owner of lot 51 and 54 LG development corporation. As part of the private sale of the right-of-way vacate, FDOT will retain a perpetual easement with LG Development
Corporations to ensure continued access to its existing storm water ponds on lot 50 and 55. The applicant has provided letters of no objection from all applicable utility companies and public works has no objection to the requested vacate.
This request complies with the requirements of vacating a right ofway under section 35.184 of the Simol County Land Development Code and the authority of sections 336.09 and 336.10 of the Florida State Statutes. Staff
requests the board of county commissioners adopt the resolution vacating and abandoning a portion of public right ofway known as Chapman Road in the Slavia Colony subdivision as recorded in platbook 2, page 71 of the public records of Semino County, Florida. And that concludes my
presentation. >> Thank you. Is the applicant here? >> Yes, they are. >> And would you like to speak? >> You better question. >> Applicant is here for questions. Do we have any requests for public comment?
>> We do not. >> No request. >> With that, I will turn it to the board. Commissioners Delari, this is your >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a quick question. First of all, I support the vacate. The other question I have is on Taff Street. Uh once we vacate this, I
do see as you clearly noted that DOT reserves their right after they sell the property to get a an easement in perpetuity. I understand that. But I just want to make sure that Tap Street uh there's full access to the partial on
Tap Street which is 2050. And you don't see any issues with that at all? >> I do not see an issue. Um Tetra Street will still be accessible. >> So there's no there's no issues with accessing the property at 250 Taft Street. >> Um >> that's the property we spoke about
>> to the north. Yes, there's no they can still gain access to that property to the north. >> I just want to make sure of that on the record. That's all. >> Yes, sir. Okay. >> Well, and for the record, are you referring to Tetra Street or Taft Street? Tetra. >> It's Tetra Street. I'm sorry. >> Okay. Thank you. That is throwing me off
a little bit. >> Chairman. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Ma'am, for the record, I just want to point out too that there is two easements being giving given to the county with this vacate. There will be an access drainage and utility easement
over the vacated portion of Chapman Road and there's an additional drainage easement to the south um that the property owner is giving to the county too. So, Commissioner Delari, any type of you know there will still be county access over that portion. So, it
shouldn't affect the Tetra Street access. >> County access wasn't the issue. The issue is the property owner to the north. I just want to make sure because at some point >> they could come in for development. I just wanted to make sure that there is full access to their property. We're not removing that access. That's all.
>> Yes, sir. That's part of the criteria when we look at these vacations. >> Understand that, but it wasn't noted. I just want to make sure. >> Sure. Absolutely. >> Commissioner Delari, are you prepared to make a motion? >> Is there any other questions? Madam Chair, I move to approve the
adoption of the resolution vacating the abandoned portion of the rideway public rideway known as Chapman Road in the Slavia Colonial Subdivision as recorded in plat book two page 71 and public records in S County and submitted here today. >> Second.
>> I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? >> All those in favor? >> Opposed? Hearing none passes unanimously. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you, sir. All right, that takes us to the county attorney report. >> Thank you, chairman. I have two quick
items for you. I wanted to give the board an update on the litigation regarding fire station 11. Um, the APM construction versus Seminal County where APM is the plainif and the counterfendant. Um, this has been in litigation since 2022 regarding
construction defects at Fire Station 11. Um we've been to mediation twice with this entity and the shity who's also involved in the litigation and it was set for trial for June for this June. Um and recently APM has filed for chapter
11 bankruptcy. So I wanted to let you know that um we received the suggestion of bankruptcy filing in the circuit court which means the county's proceedings against APM at least in the circuit court have to stop. We still have a claim uh against the shity. So that part of the litigation and there's
many pieces to this litigation also that that piece will continue and we're working with outside counsel to discuss our options with regard to what can happen um with APM and the bankruptcy. So we h we have options. We'll we'll know more later this week. So I just
wanted to update the board on that. And then my other item is just wanted to let the board know I've been asked to serve on the board of directors for Florida Association of County Attorneys. So, I will be commencing that role this year. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. And that concludes my report.
>> Great. >> That's awesome. That's awesome. >> All right. Top that county manager. >> Oh, I can't top that. She's too smart. U just a couple of events announcements that I would like to just inform the board about. You may or I'm sure you already know about these anyway, but
just for the public. First, we're excited to welcome more than 200 uh elite firefighters from across the country for the All-American Firefighter Challenge. Uh you know the and training camp. This will take place April 1st through the 4th at Seminal State College. Residents are invited to attend
the free family funday event on April the 4th. Uh so a lot of competitions, you'll be able to see emergency vehicles displays. So it's going to be a fun day and want to thank Semino State College for partnering with us as well. Um, on April the 3, our animal services is partnering with UCF for they call it the
pups at the Plex. It's with the UCF softball and they're going to help, you know, pets connect with their forever homes. Um, and then on April the 11th, believe it or not, Red Red Bug Lake Park will turn 50 years old. And so we will be having a 5K event that day. Uh, it's
already been announced and it's uh publicized. It's going to be a fun family day um at Red Bug Lake Park. And then lastly, just want to I know I sent this to the board, but just want to congratulate Joe Lasso for being promoted up to our assistant county
engineer uh position. Joe has been doing a tremendous great fabulous job for us. So uh we appreciate you, Joe. So thank you. >> Good work. >> Congratulations, Joe. >> Or condolences, not sure. >> Commissioner Zenbower, I hear things are
always fabulous in District 2. They they they actually really are. And the good news is we do not have the emu running wild uh unrestrained through the district. Um I attended the Lake Mary Comfort in airport grand opening on
March 12th. It was well attended. um sponsored by the uh the good folks over at the chamber and uh I think it's another asset that has come to bear for our sports complexes and those teams and families that'll come to enjoy you know
our sport outings. Uh of course Semino County state of real estate I attended on March 19th. Commissioner Lockhart was there. I saw Commissioner um >> Constantine >> Constantine there as well for a brief in and out. Um, so it was good to see
everybody there that attended. Uh, quick reminder, the chamber legislative update is March 26th for those that will attend. March 28 is the Orlando Hal Eats food trucks from 400 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at 786 Myrtle Street here in Sanford for those that want to go out and get the
food truck um, events. OEP announcement. uh National Science Foundation has awarded $45 million in new funding to the Florida semiconductor engine over the next three years. Uh that's great news for the semiconductor industry here
in in uh Central Florida region. Of course, down at Neo City is where a lot of those jobs are, but there's a lot of those jobs that um people here in Semino County are are part of. So that's that's great news from an economic development standpoint. Outside of that, um that's
all I have. Madam Chair, everything else is great. >> All right, that takes us to district three, Commissioner um Constantine. Y'all forgetting my name today, huh? Okay. Uh thank you very much. I just wanted to reiterate the fact that um
since the last meeting, uh the regional planning council, East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, awarded the county and our staff that was here today, Kim Warberg and others the um the diamond award. Uh it was not it was uh at their diamond awards in New Smyrna
Beach. Commissioner Lockheart and I were there and uh it was really a a wonderful event and it's nice to be recognized for something that uh is so significant in the uh cleanup of the little Wakiva.
Also, I did want to um mention that uh the uh Greater Orlando Sports Commission had a lunchon at the Dr. Phillips on March 20th uh for um bringing in uh various Olympic uh events, preliminary
Olympic events before the Los Angeles Olympics in 28. Uh they would be done at the Camping World Stadium. their BMX uh and um and uh skateboarding and flag
football which is becoming really uh big and of course beach volleyball which is really big and also that climbing the wall thing that makes you look like you're Spider-Man. But they would all be done at the
Camping World Stadium. many of them would continue to train and Gee was there also and we were pushing some uh events for Seol County to some groups that were there uh at our new uh indoor sports complex potentially. So it was
really nice to have them there. There was a lot of Olympic folks and a lot of Olympians that were there also. So uh I think we've got a very good shot pending politics. Of course the Olympics is not if anything polit political. So I wish
um the sports commission a great deal of luck. Also the uh leadership semin board is going to have a joint meeting um with the council and the board of directors on tomorrow 25th. Yep. Tomorrow. Uh also
Semino County Uptown Arts uh Expo at Cranes Roost will be this weekend. Wonderful event uh coming on the heels of the Winter Park Art Festival. On the 31st uh we have another meeting from the statewide council on opioid abatement.
uh that will be uh at Semino County uh uh you know seminal county sheriff's office but it will also be on teams the um and uh also I just want to just say
that uh there's a couple of things I don't want to take others people so the on the tw April 11th there is going to be um as you know one of the greatest best events we have every year in the spring is the uh springs concert. Uh
last year it moved to Crane's Roost to a great deal of success. It will be there again uh with a Orlando Filimmonic uh using the I believe the the uh bless you uh the Eagles. They're going to be uh
celebrating the songs and uh the uh history life lifetime achievement of the Eagles. Uh for all those of the Jewish faith, congratul uh happy Passover starting at sunset on April 1st and
happy Easter Sunday to all of you. >> That was awesome. >> That's it. Commissioner Lockhart, >> lots of different things going on. Um, >> it's spring. >> It is spring. Lots. It's the best time to be out and about for sure. >> Why am I sneezing in the mess?
>> I think it's just as much the fires. >> It's a combination. It's not good. >> Um, Commissioner her just is sneez. It's such a dainty petite little sneeze. No one probably hears that we're we're giving you up. Um, so the leadership uh the East Central Florida Regional
Planning Council leadership summit that uh Commissioner Constantine referenced in New Smyrna Beach was a it was a great job. The planning council did did a fantastic job organizing it. Brought in speakers literally from around the world. Um, however, closer to home,
yours truly, not from around the world, uh, was able to serve on a panel called Transport the Region, um, which focused on things that are happening in transportation like what's coming next in Central Florida. And, uh, was honored to serve on that panel with Secretary John Tyler from FDOT, and Rusty Roberts,
who's with um, the rail administration in Washington DC, and our own John Slott was our moderator. He did an excellent job. Um, we're going to be doing a a debrief on the event and figure out. It was it was such a great uh there were so many things that people could grab
nuggets on. It was unfortunate that we didn't have more folks from the private sector in the room to really focus on how important it is that the that those of us in the government group are working together handinhand with the private sector. So, I know we're going to be doing more reaching out um to have
more participation next year for that. Uh, I did mention at our budget work session that we toured the Valuchia County Medical Examiner Facility when Christian Swenson and um Chad um Wilski and Patty Rawlings and I went and spent
um the many many many hours talking and touring and um very impressed with the work that Dr. Fulture and his team are doing there. Um, I did want to point out though in our submissions we have a letter from Putnham County stating that
they support our request to leave district 5. And I feel like I need to reiterate again on the public record. We are not a part of district 5. We are district 24. We never combined with district 5. We do not need permission to
leave um and and stand up our own medical examiner facility. we are our own district. So, um you know, whether they were just wanting to make sure that we knew that they were happy that we were leaving or it was kind of like a
here's your h what's your hurry kind of letter. Um we are still planning to be in um in alignment with our current agreement which is that when the agreement ends in 2029. Um right now we do not we do not plan on renewing and as
you all know we are moving forward with the plans of a new medical examiner facility. >> So it was Sumpter. You said >> Sumpter. Did I say Putnham? Sumpter. >> Sumpter. >> My apologies to Putnham. >> Thank you. Thank you for the clarification. >> I'm sorry. Sumpter
>> because when I read it, I went, "Huh?" >> Yeah. Well, I just there continues to be this >> there's like a cloud of of of lack of clarity. So, I just feel like every time it comes up, I need to add uh comment. So, that's there's my comment again. Um,
Seminal State College had our uh camp many campuswide con convocation, collegewide convocation, which is where um the entire school shuts down for the day. We bring everyone from the team together and it's a day of learning and looking at the future and plans for the
upcoming year and had uh some great speakers and one of them was our very own Adameir Denn uh who presented on recycling in Semino County and how um it could be implemented even more uh efficiently at the college and things that people can do um at home and at
their workplace. So shout out to Adomir for doing a great job there. Um, thank you to everyone who pulled off the retreat and budget work session. It's a lot of work. Well done. Good, good things accomplished. Um, we attended the professional the chambers professional
women's lunchon uh a couple of weeks ago. Um, thank you to Highland for sponsoring a table. The room was packed down at the Hilton and the guest speaker was Michelle Micish from the Central Florida Expressway Authority. She did an absolutely amazing job. If you have never had the chance to get to know
Michelle, um she is about as genuine and smart and um just an an amazing executive and we are fortunate to have her here in this region. The state of real estate was was a great event um at
the Lake Mary Event Center. Um I will say I'm going to pile on Commissioner Constantine because I just think it is remarkable. He does this amazing talent of saying hello to everyone on the way in and
saying hello to everyone on the way out and I turned I was sitting next to uh Holly Kroll uh the tax collector's wife was sitting next to me and we both turned and looked at each other at the same time and we said that is truly a gift. How does he like there's this entire conference going on people and
he's just hiing and goodbyeing and it was it was amazing. We you you are a master at um at at these events. So uh there were I want to give kudos to everyone on our team who participated in the panel. You represented account seminal county so well talking about the
state of real estate and economic development and development and uh all of the things that are coming in semol county and and there were a couple of questions that I I saw a couple of you kind of like oh my gosh I know there are commissioners in the room. Do I really answer this question? Because because
the moderator actually said I want you to answer honestly right off the top of your head. what would you say is the one thing that you would fix in Semino County? And I was like, oo, that's I mean that's tough. That's putting someone on the spot for sure. And you all did a remarkable job. So, congratulations. And we'll also say the
five of us received kudos on the way out. Um, one of the realtors stopped me. I had not met her before and she said, "I just want to tell you I watch you on TV." >> And I said, "Oh, no. I'm so sorry." Poor >> thing. >> I know. and she said, "No, I just I tell
everybody if you just watch the meetings, you will know so much about what is going on in this community and if you want to be involved and you want to be engaged, you have to watch the commission meetings to see how things really work." And she said, "I love watching you all interact together. You
get along and work together so well." And I so I wanted to share that with you because that could not be said about this board in prior years. And so congratulations to all of us and to our county management team who have worked to help us all work together very well.
It's really important. Our community sees it and um it's a good thing. Uh as far we talked about the Sunreil budget links. We'll see how this meeting goes on Thursday. Um
yeah, the late night additional trains for Sunrail are being used very well. Um we have quite a few additional riders. Channel 13 actually is doing a story on it. Uh Tim and I took the train down to
a show Friday night at the Wayne at the um Dr. Phillips. Had a great time. We were able to take the train back. It like it's not the weekends. I know as soon as I told someone we we got to go down for a show, they were like, "But it's not the weekend." Okay, I get it. It's not the weekends yet. I know we
want the weekends, but to be able to do that um in this community is a really cool thing. And we enjoyed it and it was we were not the only people on the train. It was it was a very busy night. So um glad to see that's happening. Of course, you all know we've got the
chamber delegation meeting uh coming up at the Hilton and Alultimont on the 26th and the OEP leadership conference um on the 27th. And I cannot let today go by without telling you all it is National Cocktail Day.
>> Yesterday was National Puppy Day. That was >> wonderful puppies yesterday, martinis today. >> That's all I have. Commissioner Glory. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I'd be remiss if I didn't congratulate the staff as well as the county manager and
his leadership team as well as yourself, Madam Chair, for putting on a phenomenal retreat uh a week or two ago. I thought the leadership there and the information was spot on, and I want to thank everyone, including uh everyone that was there that worked hard on it. So, thank
you. Uh at the NO, we've been working very hard on putting together a report. staff has. It's not done yet. Uh regarding uh traffic calming devices in relationship to first responders. Uh I know uh Chief Kinley's involved in that
as well. Once that gets finalized, I'll be more than happy to make sure that everyone gets a copy of it. Uh it's interesting to hear other elected officials and how their cities or counties are not talking about this at all and they're willing to put speed
tables everywhere. And so we've had to put a group together uh with DOT to take a look at this to understand what it actually does or doesn't do. So we make sure everybody gets copy of this as well. Uh next month is uh child abuse
awareness month. So uh uh if you do want to get involved, there'll be pin wheels over by the uh sheriff's station as well as the courthouse as well as kids house. And uh just want to make sure everyone's aware of that. And Easter as one of the commissioners Kstein talked about is
April 5th. Happy Easter to everyone because we won't be here. We'll be back after that. That's the end of my report. Madam Chair, >> thank you. Commissioner Lawart, >> after the state of real estate event, one of the Altoont Springs city
commissioners, Commissioner Turney, um mentioned to me as he was about to take off on his ebike that he was very concerned about the county's uh potential conversations relating to
um putting ordinances in effect that impact the use of ebikes. um he said that he believed that uh the city manager Mr. Marts was in touch with someone in our organization on that topic. Okay. So he just wanted to express his concern. Um he thinks that
there are there is some happy medium. There is some middle ground that we should be looking at and not just completely um disbanding outlawing them or whatever it is that whatever it is that you all are doing. He want he don't want that. >> Okay. >> Okay. There you go. to having him be safer on that
>> whatever it is that he perceives that we all are whatever let's put that out right I don't know that we're banning ebikes before we get through I'm just saying I just clarification madam chair because we have not discussed this publicly or or individually >> which is why I wanted to say it so that
you all knew that the perception from a colleague is that we are doing something and I frankly wasn't terribly sure I knew what it was we were doing because I'm not you and >> doesn't or Frank >> yeah And if you want, I can just say two things of that. Yes, we have been in conversation, but I have been working
with Commissioner Dar with the NPO >> and we haven't we and >> Miss Lour can back me up on we've never talked about banning ebikes. So, >> never. And Madam Chair, just since the NO was mentioned, we don't have anything really at this point going on because it's been discussed in Tallahassee.
We're waiting to see what they're doing in Tallahassee. >> Right. >> Okay. >> They will take lead and then it'll trickle down. >> Fantastic. I would just point out that sooner rather than later with all the things that they are taking lead on on ebikes is important because there are close calls every day
>> that I witness. It's crazy. It's crazy out there. Um not that I'm a fan of banning them, but if you're on the road, you ought to follow the traffic rules on the road and that's not happening. >> I think the big issue and we'll talk about this at some point when it's more appropriate is on our trails.
>> Correct. That's what also the sidewalks. >> Yeah. trails, sidewalks, roads, four-way stops, having a conference in the middle of the road. It's It's crazy. >> Children >> complaints from the trail all the time. Winter Springs. Terrible.
>> All right. So, >> I'm so glad I brought it back. >> Um I don't know that I'm that glad you brought it back up, but uh but we do need to at some point get this figured out for the community's sake. So, as for district 5, we are continuing to work through the joint planning agreement with the city of Sanford. There have
been several um milestones that have been missed that our team has reported on um and Sanford's team has reported that we canceled a meeting. So, we are right back where we were and we need to pull this thing back together. I think we
canceled a meeting because there were several milestones that were missed. So, we can't keep talking about the same milestones that don't happen. Um, so I do think Darren, we need to to re-engage with um, Mr. Bonapart. I did let him know that
this was going on and that we really need to advance this ball. >> A question. >> Mhm. So, in my briefing with staff about that topic, um I asked if there would be an opportunity for us to perhaps send a letter or reach out to our counterparts because it could be that the mayor and
the commissioners are not aware that at the staff level things are not progressing. >> I can speak to it if you'd like me to. Um na worker for the record. So I think the meeting was cancelled because we had said at the previous meeting, hey, we are going to meet with all the
commissioners individually and determine how we should bring this amendment forth and the time frames um which we've all talked about and you all have had briefings and so that's why the meeting was cancelled till we got this answer. So we have that answer now and we have
the amendment um as drafted and it will be coming to you um to extend the JPA um and and then you all will have a chance to discuss that. Um so that's why it was it was cancelled um because we were
having these meetings. Um so they'll start back up now that we have and once we get it on the agenda. Um, as for and and I I believe that's been relayed to them. I'm not sure if Dagmar's followed up because we just had our last briefing. I think was Friday, I believe.
Um, so that's that's where we're at in the process. >> And Dagmarie and I had a conversation yesterday um after she briefed me on all the briefings with you all and it is scheduled to come back at your next board meeting. So, we will relay that to the city. We just put it on hold until we had your uh briefings. Thank you. And
at the same time, milestones on that side have continued to to be put aside >> for wait and you'll we'll bring all of that up at the next time. But from my perspective, I don't know. Um I'm not
feeling like we're getting to where you all think we're going to get with this, but can more work to to happen on that. Um >> agreed. >> Yep. So on the 3rd of March, I moderated a
panel of one. This was awkward. I moderated David Johnson and talking about property taxes, which is a task that's really bigger than it should be. Um, but I will give a shout out to Leadership Seinal for putting it on their agenda. I will give a shout out to
them for getting a room full that it was at Seminal State in Heathrow in the atrium. It was packed. we were out the door and it was a very engaged and knowledgeable audience and David always does a five-star job. So, thank you David for continuing to give the reality
of that message in the community. Uh, shout out and this has already been done but I have to say it. Board retreat was very well done. You all did a fantastic job and and we appreciate how productive that day was. On the 11th, there was a
PBS panel discussion on homelessness and affordable housing. It was very well done and uh there were a lot of um myths that were busted in that room which I thought was was very worthwhile.
Uh with regard to opioid abatement, there is a uh it's a company called stage cares and it's an acronym C. Don't ask me what it stands for. I did meet with them. They had some remarkable
ability to measure the results of programs that we're paying for and I did pass the information on to Stacy Smithwick with Darren's approval to do a meeting with them to at least listen to them. They
dashboard all of the results. We all know that I love the dashboard thing, but but it's the measurement and they're measuring against standards and this is a healthc care delivery program and it ought to be measured against evidence-based standards and that's what
they're doing. So, just an FYI, it was just wildly interesting. Um, Commissioner Lockheart mention mentioned National Cocktail Day and I did have that down. Today is the trifecta. It's National Contact Contail Day. Uh
National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day, which we all know that Commissioner Zimbau will eat anything that's covered in chocolate. And it is National Cheese Steak Day. So, just going to say Pats and without.
That's what you do if you're doing a cheese steak today. >> I'll be in this cheese steak. Not Goss. That's the new guy. And you got to get it without because that is not real cheese. And uh question for m commissioner Lockhart. The only thing that I actually
had on my board or or chair report was that letter from Sner County. And my question is do we would would you like us to respond in some kind way to clarify the record? >> I don't think it would hurt and I would copy the um medical examiner board just
so that I mean Thank you. Yep. I if if the board is agreeable, I think that would be wise. >> Sure. >> You know, I think they were really trying to help. >> I do too. >> Yeah. >> It'll be nice letter. >> In their way, they were trying to help. >> Yeah, that's how I read it as well was
that they're they're supportive of the mission. >> Yes. I And I will say their representative to the board has been quite gracious. Um they had an administrator attend the meeting. um one that I had I did not recognize who also
made a comment at the meeting that something about us separating from district 5 and just the way that it was made I felt like there's still some misunderstanding. So I I just don't think it would hurt to nicely thank them for their support and reiterate that we
are district 24 still. >> All right, we'll do. And with that, happy Easter, happy Passover, and I think that's meeting adjourned. Unless Oh, it's not >> public comment. >> Yeah, public comment. I I just want a
rebuttal. >> Consistent for the day. >> I want from the two of you. >> I just wanted Yes, I knew I killed it already. Um, I just wanted to say all kidding aside, if you were a realtor in
that room, Ghee, Mike, Steve, you did a marvelous job. >> David Johnson did a great job. And in my hopes and goodbyes, >> obviously,
>> every everybody look, well, it was a half an hour. I mean, come on. Everybody commented and complimented and said, you know, if they were going to live, they live in SE, most of them lived in SE, but if they were going to live somewhere
in Florida, it was going to be seminal county. So, I think our guys did a great job. And as I said, I didn't want to bring up anything that that um you all were going to do in your own districts, but Madam Chair, tomorrow you have and we all have the Midway drainage
improvement. >> We do. >> And I think that is incredible because we've been working on this for years and years. And I'm looking forward to that groundbreaking ceremony. And being that it's cocktail and Philly cheese steakakes since you're from
Philadelphia, today is a great day for you, but also the 28th is going to be a great day cuz it's two of your favorite things in Sanford. Paws and pores or pints. >> So that's going to be on the 28th. Uh
Paws and Pints craft beer festival in historic downtown Sanford. >> Wonderful. >> And now you have D. We are clearly not in district five the best event announcers. We do a lot of other stuff really well
though. All right. I have uh skipped public comment consistently throughout today's entire meeting. Do we have any public comment to close out the meeting? >> I have not received any public comment. >> Let's just act as though I knew that. >> With that, I shall adjourn the meeting.
Thank you guys. >> Thank you. Okay.