Heat. Heat. Welcome to the Valuchia County Council meeting. The meeting will begin in 10 minutes. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey.
Heat. Hey, Heat. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to the Valuchia County Council meeting. The meeting will begin in 5
minutes. Hey, hey, hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. N. Everything. Hello. Hello. Hello. Yellow.
Do you Wonder. Welcome to the Valuchia County Council meeting. The meeting will begin in 2 minutes. like hey Okay, if everybody wants to find a seat,
we'll get started in a few seconds. I don't need All right. Good morning. We will call the April 7th, 2026 Valuchia County Council meeting to order at 9:02 and we'll start in just a minute. I will ask
you to stand if you care to stand for the invocation and then the uh the pledge of allegiance. Uh this morning we will have Pastor Tommy Clayton of Grace Life Church uh in Deltona at the high school. Uh we're glad to have Pastor
Clayton here. here this morning. If you are a member of a faith group who would like to participate in the invocations, please just send an email to K, the letter K green.org and she will get you uh set up. But this
morning, we are happy to have Pastor Clayton. Tommy, good morning. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this day and thank you for the gift of governing body and thank you for the men and women who serve on this Fu Felucia County
Council. Um I pray that you would give them as you did Solomon when he prayed and pleased you with this prayer. Lord, give them a wise listening and discerning heart as they hear all the complex cases that would be brought before him at them at a public hearing
like they are listening to today. And uh I pray Lord as they make decisions that are g going to impact many lives for many years to come as they uh set policies in place, as they direct funding, as they represent the many interests of Valuchia County citizens. I
pray that they would respond uh first I pray they would listen with humility and with patience and that they would respond with wisdom and with clarity and with unity. And I pray that you would bless them, that you would keep them, that you would protect them, and that
you would make your face to shine upon them and give them grace, Lord, and peace. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen. >> Amen. >> I aliance 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. Next time. Oh my goodness. Carissa, would you call the role, please? >> Mr. Robbins.
>> Mr. Santiago, >> here. >> Mr. Dempsey, >> Mr. Johansson >> here. >> Mr. Kent, >> here. >> Mr. Reinhardt >> here. >> Mr. Brower >> here. We have a quorum with a full dis. Um, we will start the meeting uh hearing
from the public. when I call your name, if you would come up to the podium here, make sure that there is a microphone close to your mouth so everybody can hear you. All the uh the people online and in the room here, the podium, there is a button on the left hand side to
raise it up and down. Um you will see a timer uh on the uh screen in front of you over my head as well. You'll have three minutes to talk about uh any subject that pertains to Valuchia County that the council may be able to uh act
on in the future. Um please hold it to three minutes because we have uh a lot of people who would like to speak and one hour to uh to do it. Then you'll have another opportunity if you've signed up to speak on an item and then also at the end of the meeting. So,
first today, I know nobody wants to go first, but first today is Mary Dickinson. >> Good morning. I'm Mary Dickinson. I live at 2005 Marsh Road and I'm here to speak about Marsh Road. And I would appreciate to have more than three minutes so I
don't have to file a constitutional violation against this commission because that fine is only $250,000. So, we're going to start off. This letter was put in my mailbox
the a day after the last commission meeting. Dear Mary, your problem with the dump trucks lies with Don Dempsey, who is having hundreds of dump truck loads of dirt delivered to his property. And she
gave the address. She gave me directions how to get there. Okay, you will see the big loads of dirt he has been delivered there and made into a huge
motocross track for his kids and friends that covers almost 100 acres. Tell George Retinwald to look into this. I was flabbergasted, but it came full circle. about what was going on with all the
dump trucks coming down Marsh Road and destroying the road, our properties, putting cracks in our homes. You can't sleep. 3:00 in the morning, Eddie B is going down the road, and our
beds are just vibrating in our homes. We've had ground movement. My driveway is cracked and separating. The sidewalks, they do belong to us because they Valuchia County did not take and
install them. But now I am going to fence my prescriptive easement which goes to the edge of Marsh Road. And that happens to be because I have maintained it for over 20 years and my neighbors
and I'm maintaining the whole block from Pine to Palmetto and I will be fencing in the sidewalk because I am not going to be sued because this commission has not done their job because the sidewalks
are cracking up also. And the weight limit on Marsh Road is 10,500 lb. you have been told over and over and Mr. Retinwald uh needs to understand there is a difference between
a connector road and a substandard road by state standard. State trumps county. So I will be closing that up because I'm not going to have somebody come down there and fall on that sidewalk. My
driveway's cracking. There's a void under there because of the uh good old city uh water line that was put in illegally on private property. >> Okay, let's let's do this. Don, I have
her phone number. Will you contact her uh later on or have you contacted her? >> Okay. >> Yes. >> All right. Okay. And staff will follow up as as well. Well, we need to dump the dump trucks because they're over 10,500 lb.
>> Okay. Thank you for coming in. >> Uh, Adam Dory, >> pardon >> Dovy. >> That's a V. Okay. >> Yeah, it's a childish handwriting. I apologize, but I have grown up stuff to talk about. Trust me. >> It's better than mine. >> Yeah. So, uh, thank you, council, for
hearing me. My name is Adam Dovy. I reside at uh 270 West Country Circle Drive in Quiet Place in the country. Uh this is my second council meeting, so I'm very excited. Um I'm here to talk about Valuchia Forever. And I know it's kind of on the docket, but not I guess
in the context that I'm talking about, which is why the the uh the speaking up front um is my time to shine, I guess. So the simplest thing I just have to reiterate uh on Valuchia forever is what is confusing me a little bit as to where
something that was passed was 70% of the vote is kind of being eroded a little bit. Um I was at the last meeting and I watched uh Councilman Dempsey um again really good attorney well spoken smart handsome that's the uh lawyer trifecta
right there. um put his foot in the door and and keep something open that really doesn't make sense why it's even up for discussion. I get to a certain extent why we want to talk to talk to talk about talking about talking but it gets to be a little long in the tooth when we
just we kick the can down the road. I have a lot of uh dadisms I call them. But the the biggest thing is that that struck me as strange was we want to use it later. What if we need it? What if we run through the aquifer? What if we burn through everything? Well, God help me.
If we're too dumb to save what we have, why would we open up what was protected to burn through that? If we're not showing any responsibility or any any wherewithal to say, "Hey, we do have future generations, what gives us the right to just squander what little we
have?" Again, I said it last time. I've been to South Florida. It's terrible. Fort Lauderdale is in this state. Miami used to be gorgeous. It's a It's tragic. There's no other real word for it, but why would we allow that to happen here for something that we again
have a program in spa in place that is forever? So, I burned through my time pretty quickly, so I'll I'll uh I'll jump to it. The to pave over our wershed or to do it for anything other than letting it be a natural resource is is insane to me. And
then if we pave over it, then to stress the aquifer even more by draining from what we just paved over. Again, it doesn't connect the dots, but time frame you had mentioned 40 to 50 years for Valuchia forever. Even though I believe forever is in perpetuity, 4050 years
allows developers to plan for their kids. That is not a saving the county for the the residents. That's allowing attorneys and developers to manipulate the system. So, I would politely say in the honor of this great country, it's America 250. We've worked pretty well
for 250 years. If you want a time frame on Valuchia forever, I would say make it 250 years minimum and then go from there. That appeases everybody. And again, things do change in a decade, a century, a century and a half, two and a half centuries, but we should have
something that gives us a base to stand on and go from there. Thank you, council, very much. >> Thank you very much. Uh Justin Sandeski. >> Hey, good morning, council. My name is Justin Sanduski and I live in Dand Highlands off of Marsh Road. I'm here again because the situation on Marsh
Road and Old Daytona Road is not improving. Our residential neighborhood continues to be used by dump trucks, semis, and other heavy commercial vehicles as they cut through route, including during late evening and early morning hours when residents should be able to sleep in peace. This is not just
a traffic issue. This is a safety issue, a quality of life issue, and an accountability issue. Residents continue to observe heavy truck activity connected to property's operations that should have been received far more scrutiny by now. One of the clearest examples is the property at 2830 associated with Eddiev trucking. From a
resident's perspective, this appears to be a vacant property with no apparent residential structure being used for RV occupancy and for staging and storing dump trucks in the rear. There were already complaints in 2025 related to wetland modification on said property. Yet, the visible truck related activity
continues. it appears to continue. The timing also raises legitimate questions. Based on the property records I had reviewed, the property appears to have been acquired on January 28th, 2025 after the county had already moved a truck parking ordinance forward, sent it back for
revision, but before the ordinance was finally adopted. I'm not claiming a motive. I'm saying that the residents have a right to ask whether the county policy change helped enable this truck related activity that we are now seeing. At the same time, companies such as
Allen Plumbing, Allen Tractor Service, and other large commercial operators continue to use Marsh Road and Old Daytona as a direct route through our neighborhood. This is not one isolated concern. There's a broader pattern of heavy commercial traffic moving through residential roads that were never designed for it. What makes this even more frustrating is the county's
response or lack of one. Residents sent emails, ask questions, ask repeatedly to get straightforward answers from engineers, managers, and staff. Very too often the response is silence, delay, or no meaningful answer unless people force the issue through public records requests. Residents should not have to
invoke chapter 119 just to get basic transparency about what is happening in their own neighborhood. It is not just by email. Two weeks ago, I came in with Mary Dickinson ask questions in person. The response we received was dismissive and h helpful. We were treated like asking basic questions was an inconvenience, not like residents
seeking accountability from our own local government. If this kind of truck staging, storage, or other overflow activity is lawful when it impacts nearby residential homes and neighborhoods, then the county should say so clearly on the record. If it is not lawful, the county should explain why it appears to continue with no visible enforcement. Residents have also
started documenting the issue at marshroadsafety.org. The site is already up, is being improved. More information will be posted there. I am asking the council for clear answers. the consistent enforcement and real action to stop Marsh Road in Old Daytona from continuing to function like a trucking
corridor through residential neighborhood. Thank you for your time. >> You Jan Albert, good morning governing body. Jan Albert, Country East, Port Orange appraiser and hydraologist for 54 years. I want to
speak about the proposed creek crossing development that requires a 2,000 ft long bridge to go through the quiet place and then mention a few details that no one seems to be bringing up. The 60-oot platted rideway is uh consists of
20 ft of pavement, 20 ft of equestrian and hiking easements, and 20 ft of drainage. A private company cannot vacate those. They run with the land. So only you the council can do that because in order to even the planners cannot vac
uh use a waiver to change the comprehensive land use which is the Tamoka Farms village local plan. If you are going to do that you're going to have to justify changing a multi-deade plan for 111. And we are prepared to
litigate that. But more importantly is the fact that you're going to have to take down thousands of old growth trees right at the main wetlands and meander point. And there you're going to have a flooding issue that you can't keep on
that site of about a couple of hundred million gallons every 4 in rain. Not some distant 21 or whatever. We had eight of those last year and that's what we average every year. So, you're going to flood everything because of all the
debris still stuck there from 415 back to Rose Bay and take out most of the county infrastructure and then to ask 111 property owners to fund either in an HOA or even a CDD
a multi-million dollar bridge to maintain in perpetuity. That's absurd. And we and the Flying and the Tamoka Farms Village are working together with our legal team to uh mount an outstanding Florida water body suit to
save Spruce Creek. Because while Dantis wants more houses, he didn't mean to destroy a natural resource that's also going to flood a quarter of this county and take out all the infrastructure with us. And everyone in Valuchia will pay
for these decisions. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Mike Paneattowski and you will be followed by Gary Singleton. Good morning council. Mike Ponittowki to Mocha Farms Village. The last piece of
virgin historic oak canopy on Spruce Creek between Spruce Creek flying and a quiet place in the country is about to be developed under something called a conservation subdivision. A creek crossing subdivision is a proposed 125 acre property to de to be developed into
111 single residential lots, a conservation subdivision. There will be internal roadways, storm water facilities, including water, wastewater, reclaimed water for irrigation, and many additional amenities to be constructed. The proposal goes before the DRC on the 28th, and if approved, it will be
appealed and come before this body for discussion finally after eight or nine months of our discussions of this. Aside from a 2,000 foot concrete DOT approved bridge that will be necessary crossing over the creek, which will be its only point of ingress and egress, it will be
pllopped in a quiet place on Creek Crossing Road, a small culde-sac that has about 20 vehicles a day. During construction, we can probably accelerate that to about a thousand vehicles per day and averaging out to about three or 4 hundred a day as it services the 111
homes, dog park, tennis courts, pools, clubouses, UPS, Amazon deliveries, US mail, trash pickups, etc. Thousands of historic oak and other species trees will be cut down as lots are bulldozed, filled with slab on grade construction, shedding storm water wear into Spruce
Creek, which is currently undergoing a half million dollar study, which is not even back yet. So, I don't know why anyone would ever even entertain this subdivision moving forward as it is right on Spruce Creek. This is what the developer is asking for. Maximum buildable lot waiver,
public street rightway with waiver, public street and private bridge waiver, tree waiver, wetland impact waiver, historic and specimen specimen tree waiver. There's been so much push back on this development that Valuchia County has put a separate website together for
citizens to view all of these documents and the history of the progress of this development. So, who maintains the bridge? They want to do a community development district like Reedi Creek, which is Disney, the villages, uh, locally, we have one
Daytona and Indigo. Who's going to foot the bill for that bridge if it needs repair? if the CD CDD is still in existence. They may if they have the money. If not, are they going to charge the homeowners $181,000 a piece, which is what it's going to cost, or what? It's going to
fall back on the taxpayers. I don't think any of us want to accept that burden. Staff seems poised to approve this conservation subdivision regardless of all of these waiverss and the damage that will be done to Spruce Creek even before the study is done. So please,
when this comes before you, you need to study the pro the process, the problem, and vote against it to protect Spruce Creek, the wetlands, our our historic oaks, and the land that once it's gone, it's gone forever. So, thank you. Stop Creek Crossing.
>> Gary Singleton, and you'll be followed by Gregory Renzac. >> My name is Gary Singleton. and I'm a Valuchia County citizen. You govern with the people's consent. Your purpose for existing is to assure our rights and
protect us from harm. Laws, ordinances, regulations, rules, requirements are the guard rails that protect our homes, our properties, and our communities from those who would seek to do us harm. The Creek Crossing Conservation Subdivision is a concept, a concept that will do
great harm to the surrounding communities by way of destroying an irreplaceable component of the natural environmental storm water system. The plan is to destroy thousands of old growth oaks and essential wetlands. How are Valuchia County citizens to be
protected from harm when staff only checks boxes, grants waiverss, and interprets the comprehensive plan to the developer's advantage? It is the duty of this council and their staff to honor those protection guard rails and make all interpretations in alignment of that
for Valuchia County citizens. This county will only become involved. This council will only become involved if the developers have their project approved. Those who will adversely be affected will be forced to appeal. This council will then be able to deny the appeal
with clean hands, safely hiding behind staff reports, interpretations, and decisions based on a concept, not reality. But this council's hands are not cleaned. In 2022, you changed the comprehensive plan from one unit per 10
acres to four units per acre, a 40fold increase on a rural property filled with old growth oaks and wetlands on the banks of Spruce Creek. a creek that is the natural storm water system for southeast Valuchia County. Tens of
thousands of individuals depend on this creek to move storm water away from their homes. Developers don't want to build on a cow pasture. They want to destroy an essential component of a natural storm water system, a natural system that cannot be replaced with
retention ponds. Your duty is to protect our community, to honor our local plan, to enforce the letter and spirit of the laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations that are designed for our protection, not assist an individual developer corporation by removing the obstacles
blocking their objective, which is to exploit an opportunity in an illegal and wholly immoral way for profit. An additional thought last night, a 2-in rain prompted a flood warning in my area, a routine Florida rain. You cannot
use 12-in rainfalls in King Ties as an excuse to ignore development's impact on the flooding issue. >> Thank you. Uh Gregory Renzac, and you will be followed by uh Gail Greenzig. Grenzig.
>> Good morning. My name is Gregory Renac. I live in the Crestwind to land retirement community. I'm here to discuss the impact that the proposed truck plaza to be located near the I4 State Route 44 interchange on the East
New York Avenue service road will have on the neighboring area. You'll hear others discuss the general impact that the plaza will have on traffic congestion in the area, but I would like to focus on the increased traffic impact on emergency services. The proposed
truck plaza would be located immediately to the east of Crest Windland. Because the road it will be on is a narrow two-lane dead-end road, there will be only one way in and one way out. It's logical to expect that the East New York Avenue service road would see an
extraordinary increase in traffic from both semitrs and automobiles. At this time, we don't know how many vehicles will use this plaza on a daily or weekly basis. However, based on preliminary estimates provided by the plaza's developer, it could be as many as
hundreds per day. Every vehicle that enters and exits the truck plaza will need to pass directly in front of the Crest Wind to land entrance. During times of heavy traffic, it's possible that access to the entrance could be restricted or even
blocked. This would put the already vulnerable senior residents that live in Creswind at increased risk if an emergency were to occur. In a conversation I had with Chief Todd Allen of the Dand Fire Department, he indicated that the department would not be able to assess the impact this
additional traffic would have on emergency response times until a formic traffic a formal traffic study was completed. Unfortunately, the developer is not currently required to complete a traffic impact analysis until the official development plan and final site
review, which will occur after the PLDRC votes on the special exception request. To ensure that any decision that is made as fact-based, it's imperative that a comprehensive traffic impact analysis should be completed prior to the PLLDRC
vote. This analysis should separately estimate incremental semi-truck traffic and incremental automobile traffic and compare both to actual current levels. Comparison to an arbitrary hypothetical other use is meaningless at this time.
If you have the authority to do so, I respectfully request that you influence the PLDRC to require a comprehensive traffic impact analysis prior to their upcoming vote on the applicant's special exception request. Thank you for your
consideration. >> Thank you for your comments. U Gail Grenzig and you will be followed by Deborah Dudley. >> Good morning. My name is Gail Grenzig. I also live in Crest Windland which is
located within the SR or State Road 44 residential corridor and I welcome the opportunity to speak with each of you this morning. During a recent twoweek period, there were four major traffic incidents that impacted uh myself and SR44 and all required police
intervention. There was a rear-end collision at Summit Road and SR44 that shut down a turning lane. Unfortunately, there was a head-on collision on Kepler Road north of the new traffic roundabout that tragically took the life of a mother with two young children.
There was a four vehicle traffic accident on SR44 near Lake Winnm Road that shut down the entire area for over four hours. Traffic had to be rerouted through Lake Winnamoset and those trying to access I4 had to be rerouted through
Lake Helen back to exit one uh at 116. And I myself on my way to a Valuchia County Council meeting was impacted by a Cisco truck that stalled in the intersection of Blue Lake Road and SR44, backing up traffic for hours and
shutting down one lane. Unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents. This is a pattern. They demonstrate that this traffic corridor is fragile, already functioning at a critical level, identified by your traffic engineers in
a 2022 report. Since then, thousands of new vehicles have entered this fragile corridor impacting traffic congestion and safety. And as we all know, an applicant recently submitted an application to develop a a truck plaza
in this fragile corridor. But today is not about the merits of that development. That will come in the future. Today is about the process. Much like putting the cart before the horse, the county process does not require a ch sorry, a traffic impact analysis before
staff submits a report to the PLDRC. The methodology that they submitted may not reflect international traffic engineer characteristics, separating truck and passenger car characteristics and behavior. Heavy trucks behave differently from passenger cars. Slower
acceleration, longer stopping distances, and wider turns. When they merge, they cause sudden braking and destabilize traffic flow. This is particularly important if you look at the exit 118 west, where SR44 traffic, a bicycle
path, and the I4 off-ramp all converge in an elevated semilind traffic merge. County staff and other departments have constantly asked for a comprehensive traffic impact analysis with real traffic counts, crash behavior,
intersection operations, merge behavior, and separate modeling for traffic and heavy trucks. My request is that the county require a complete transparent IT compliant TIA separating truck and car behavior before the state staff makes a
recommendation to the PLDRC. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Uh Deborah Dudley and you will be followed by Jeremy Keragenus. >> Good morning everyone. My name is Deborah Dudley and I also reside at Crest Windland. I am here to
respectfully request the traffic impact analysis be completed before the PLLDRC decides whether to grant the special exemption for developing a truck plaza at I4 and State Road 44 interchange. Regarding the traffic, consider the
following housing developments under construction within a two-mile radius of the interchange. We have Crest Windam with 599 homes, Lakewood Park, 361 homes, Trinity Gardens, 309 homes, and
the reserve at Victoria 406 homes. These developments will add at least 4,000 more vehicles on the road every day within the next five years. Additionally, plans to extend East Barrisford Road to Summit Road will
allow for more residential development, including the Park Lake Estates planned development. The extension of East Barisford was initially planned to alleviate traffic on East New York Road. However, new developments along that
road are unlikely to reduce the problems East New York Road is experiencing. Furthermore, the new public shopping center at Kepler in New York will also add more traffic. Given these factors, how can Valuchia County permit a truck
stop with only a two-lane service road as ingress and egress without conducting a comprehensive traffic impact analysis? How can one make an informed decision about such a significant project without all the necessary information upfront?
Thank you for your time. Thank you, Jeremy. While you're coming down, Nancy Miller will follow you. And then Paul Holmes. Good morning, council. Jeremy Kerjenus,
president of Local 3574. I represent all the firefighters in the county. Uh here today, a little offset. Uh we had the opening of uh groundbreaking of Station 15 the other day. and uh coming up here and giving me the opportunity to speak being a thorn in your side at times to
maybe push that along. I had two new firefighters, it really resonated with them, the work that you guys are doing. So today, I just wanted to say I appreciate you. Um although government moves a little slow, thank you for listening to me. Uh thank you for letting me be a thorn in your side and
uh I'm really happy for the future of fire rescue. I didn't plan to speak, but I have the privilege of uh serving that Kepler Marsh Road area. I promise you the county has given me the equipment to get to you. So, um we'll be there for you if you call 911, but uh I'm a little
nervous today. So, just want to say thank you. >> Nancy Miller, >> Nancy Miller, Daytona Beach Shores. So, chair, vice chair, and councel, I want to take this opportunity to pass on my sincere thanks and appreciation for approving the budget that included
funding the citizens academy. George, Suzanne, I want to tell you what a phenomenal job your directors, your department head, and your staff did explaining how their department worked, their functions, and how it fits into the overall operations of Valuchia
County. I'd like to give my special thanks to HR department headed up by Dana Paige Pender and her team for the wonderful sessions. We had great classes. We had wonderful participation. They were engaged and they asked quality
questions. The academy uh offered insights into each county department. It fostered civic engagement, transparency, and pride in our county. There was a great experience available to each of the
county residents that want to learn more about how our county is structured, how budgets are developed and functions perform. What a wonderful opportunity this was for me to learn and build on my service to my community and my continued
service to Valuchia County. This was a 12week commitment with 15 sessions, but it was so worth the time invested. Our final session will be on site this Thursday evening at the beach safety headquarters in Daytona Beach. Some of
our sessions have included accounting, animal safety, beach safety. We had a visit from our county attorney. We had Daytona Beach International Airport, economic development, fire rescue, human resources, medical examiner,
ocean center, purchasing, and I can go on and on and on. There was actually 30 different sessions that we um had the privilege of attending. So, I just want to say I highly recommend this academy to any citizens who wish to learn in depth more about our county. Thank you
so much for count thinking of me and every one of our residents making sure we know what is going on in our county. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mayor >> Paul Holmes and you will be followed by Susan Holmes.
Hope you don't mind if we come up here together. I'm Paul Holmes. Uh Susie follows me. Uh, first of all, it's great to uh be here and and talk in front of you guys. Uh, um, especially Danny Robbins. You represent our our district.
And of course, Jeff, uh, thank you. Also, um, I'm here uh, on behalf of the Spruce Creek Property Owners Association. I am the president of that organization. We're 1600 homes and hangers inside uh, the gates of Spruce
Creek. We are deeply affected by the Cross Creek development and we want to just make sure that you understand what's going on. Um I have a list of four items here that I'm going to give to you guys later this afternoon in an
email. It's just a it's a redline uh request that we have made to the developer Luxer Corporation which is down in Orlando. We we have good ongoing uh communications going with them. I've had them over and given them a tour. Uh
they seem amendable to our requests and uh we've come a long way in getting some items that we need at Spruce Creek. It's typically protection of our waterway rights due to hurricane and high uh high flow circumstances. And of course, we're
the largest aviation uh community in the world. We are a jewel among the aviation and we uh I should say community and we have 32,000 flights every year over that area and it
brings a great impact to a financial impact to our communities. Um here are my requests. Number one, an navigation agreement in the deeds on the homes being built and an aviation disclosure
on all sales. They've already agreed to that. We haven't run it through our lawyers. We've hired, I think, the best law firm, Ansbachala firm up from Jacksonville, and we're very well funded. Um, number two, drainage swelles in three places with two corresponding
large coverts below the streets. Number three, move the entry road south. And my wife will be referring to this, move the entry road south as to not destroy a 2.5 uh5 acre wetland that is part of a Spruce Creek tributary. Spruce Creek is
an outstanding Florida waters and it's inside a conservation development. This is a conservation development. We must all remember that. They have to protect what's there. Number four, the mystery bridge.
What are the bridge plans? Where is the design picture? How high is it? How low is it? How long is it? Somehow this information is all still missing after two of your staff's technical review committee meetings. We have no idea what
this who's paying for this in the future. What are the standards going to be? How much is it going to cost anyway? This project should not be going to the development review committee before these items are disclosed. >> Thank you. >> Very secretive.
>> Thank you. Uh Susie Holmes, I'm also in district 3 with him in Spruce Creek flying. Um I want to speak um specifically about the cross creek uh the creek crossing waiverss. Um the wetland waiver is the one um that I want
to talk about. I think this should absolutely be rejected immediately. They are referring to um uh they're referring to a law that if there is if it is the only way to access your property, you could go through a wetland. That's what
their basis of their waiver is. However, their bridge is here. They have it coming through here. This is asis. They go through here and destroy this wetland. And then in their waiver, they mention that they're going to add homes
in here over the wetlands because they have to they're saying because they have to split it up, they might as well ruin the entire wetlands. They first call it average in the beginning of their waiver request and at the end they call it low quality. They're they're changing their
own language in their waiver. If they were to just move this road this way, it would completely al you. They they they have access this way. They wouldn't have to go through the wetlands. And in their waiver, they don't mention that besides
adding all these homes that go over the wetlands, they're also putting a pickle ball court in. They don't even mention that in their waiver. We This pickle ball court is ridiculous to put a pickle ball court over wetlands. What I see the problem going forward, if this is
allowed to happen and this wetlands goes away, then the headline's going to be that Valuchia approved a conservation development, they destroy wetlands to place pickle ball courts there. It makes absolutely no sense that they would be
allowed to add all these homes and a pickle ball court over wetlands when they have access to their property by just turning this way there. So, I really request that you get on with staff and discuss that this waiver should not go forward at all because
they have the ability to move the road over and not affect this wetland. Thank you very much. I hope that you consider that. >> Thank you both. And we can guarantee that the news is going to hear about that pickle ball court.
Okay. Uh JC Mackles, I don't know if I'm reading that right. Is there Pardon me? No. What is JC stand for? Come on, you're burning time. recognize the address or any number of
things. >> There is no address >> and that's not mine or 13 North Grand Avenue. Yeah. >> Um >> two things. Uh one >> Oh, >> uh >> did you read that >> again? Core values. Somebody came up and
thank you for a um >> citizens academy. Now, is that a core value to be determined? Now, if cultural arts is not a core value, what else is not a
core value? Library, airport, buses, ocean center, what's a core value? None of those things. If you go back to the founding of the uh US, none of those existed. So, what is a core value? Now,
Jeff mentioned it for a few seconds at the beginning of one of your workshops. Nobody responded. It was just a shaking of the head like, "Yeah, we agree." But it was never defined. So, I would ask you guys, please, so the rest of us know what you're going and where you're
going, please determine what are core values and what you're going to cut or possibly cut. The librarians need to know if they have to go out searching for a job. We need to know if we're going to sell the airport. Those things
are important. So, please establish core values. Secondly, I don't know if you guys heard about our city commission meeting last week. It was a circus. All right. Uh, poor Troy Kent would have
gone nuts. Three and a half hours discussing a 10-minute report. We had an auditor come up to give a report on the fire department. It took three and a half hours for the 10-minute report. Now, some
earthshattering things came up to the point where one of our commissioners wanted to fire our city manager. One was 15 smart televisions. Well, yeah, they upgraded the department
it with that all the upgrades required a smart television. So, we bought it and that's what her upset about. Secondly, the fire department spent $50,000 over five years
on food. Well, that comes out to about 50 cents a meal for a fireman. I mean, they're as big as Reinhardt. They sat in front of me at the meeting. They can't live on 50 cent a meal. But
what turned out is it wasn't their meals anyway. They pay for their own meals. The money was for the community events. The books they bought were for community books, not their own. And then lastly,
we have 900 vehicles, four of which did not have tags, one of which did not have a decal. Those are the things she wanted to fire the city manager on. I want the public to know it is not a big deal. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Yes. The the ever shrinking vice chair Matt Reinhardt >> Katherine Pante and there she is. >> Well, I know this is a bit redundant, but we've gone through Valuch forever for the last five months of it being picked apart. So, I'm going to be a
little bit redundant today. I'm here to ask for your support in placing a charter amendment on the ballot that fully protects what Valuchia voters approved in 2020 when they renewed the Valuchia Forever program with 75.6% of the vote. Elatcha County drafted a strong, legally binding charter
amendment designed to protect the land they placed into conservation through their voter supported Elatchua forever program. Valuchia can do exactly what Elatchua did legally, safely, and without conflict. Our proposal follows a model that has stood unchallenged for nearly two decades and is in full
compliance with state and federal law as referenced in section C of the amendment. The key element in Elatcha's amendment appears to be in section B which states in part protected public places may not be sold or converted to a use that will result in a loss of value or values for which the property was
placed on the registry except by a majority vote of the electors voting in a countywide referendum election. This amendment applies only to lands placed in conservation on the registry where all land purchased for conservation should be. All other county-owned land such as those used for public works or
other purposes could be sold with a simple majority vote of the council. While I respect the work done by our charter review commission, the amendment proposed for placement on the ballot falls short. It leaves a door open for the sale of conservation land through the vague term public purpose. That phrase is broad and easily manipulated,
weakening the protections for voter voters believe they were voting or were funding. For example, one member suggested, "What if we need a fire station? We should not be selling off conservation land for such purposes. Those needs should be anticipated and funded through the development that created the demand for additional
infrastructure like a fire station. Regrettably, we must protect Valuchia forever conservation land program from the political whims of those who wish to repeal and undermine it. At a time when a sitting council member continues to challenge and undermine Valuchia forever, the need for stronger protections has never been clear. An
Elatchua County style charter amendment sold an Elatcha County style charter amendment would ensure that conservation land cannot be sold without direct approval of the voters. These lands belong to the people who paid for them. The people of Valuchia County deserve the final say in protecting them. I respectfully ask you look past the
Sarasota red herring. Those two amendments were overturned were not in compliance with Florida state law and not an applesto apples comparison with the Elatchu amendment. Instead, give the residents of Valuchia County the same common sense protection that Elatcha voters enjoy. Thank you for your consideration the opportunity to speak.
>> Thank you. And that concludes the opening uh public comment and we'll move to item one, approval of the agenda. Can I get a motion to approve? >> Motion to approve. Second >> motion to approve by Vice Chair Reinhardt, second by Councilman Robbins.
All in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? And the agenda is approved as presented. Uh we'll move to item two, the consent agenda. Uh does anyone have an item that they would like to uh
comment on? I'd like to comment uh I'd like uh discussion and comment staff on P >> on P. Not for a vote just >> not for a vote. Yes, sir. >> Councilman Robbins >> motion approve consent agenda as presented. >> Second.
>> And we have a >> These are all for consent. Okay. Uh, Matt, you made the motion. Councilman Robbins made the second. >> Okay. Okay. And before we vote on it, we
have a number of people from the public who would like to uh comment on various items. Uh Jeremy Keragenus. Uh good morning. Uh the item is D. Um if you can bring that up. This was created by AI. So uh my name is
Jeremy Kerjinis, president of Local 3574. Um, anytime we can enhance uh the safety and accountability and efficient uh I'm all for it, firefighters for it. We live by it. We typically wear all our gear and do as we should.
But I do want to ask uh that we take a closer look at this item and actually see what's being proposed here. Uh the the agenda item refers to telematics, but I just want to call it what it is. I think Samar rep is here. Um these are video cameras, audio recordings and side
vehicles. Um this distinction matters especially when it involves employees times and most importantly to me is patient care. Um we live by HIPPA um and protected health information. And there really hasn't been any clear guidance or
documentation on this. So I'm sure he can uh probably uh make me feel more comfortable about this. But um the document highlights little things like tracking speed, location, vehicle activity. Um but the reality is is their cameras. They're recording it. It's
sophisticated AI. Um again, I'm I'm for safety if this enhances it. I would ask that what what did we do to research this? And why are we putting these in vehicles? Uh so are we and I'm also concerned with
the duplication of what we do. Our fire engines currently track our speed, GPS. It tells me if I'm speeding or not. Uh we pay a lot of money for these things to be installed in our vehicle. So, I have a little concern with the the duplication of the cost. It's 180,000
per year or more for the document. Um safety is always worth this kind of investment, but I think it's reasonable for the council to ask what the measurable benefit will be. Uh for me my concern is who has access to these recordings, how long is the data stored,
uh how it's used in like disciplinary things, and most importantly, how the protected health information is uh distributed. If it goes to some server in Idaho and somebody requests that video, uh, obviously if there's a video on scene of a call where a patient's
faces in there, the date and the time and everything, and this person in Idaho has this video, they're now becoming part of that, uh, protected health information. So, um, I'm not here to oppose this at all. I'm just asking that we'd uh, slow down, look at it, get it
right. AI is in the future, cameras are in the future. We see it all the time. Um, I believe a majority of the sheriff's department doesn't have them from what I was told by their union president. I think a few of their traffic units do. Uh, obviously they
have the body cameras as well, but at the end of the day, if we're going to move in this direction, I think we should apply these cameras thoroughly, consistently. I'd be interested to help with the policy or procedure. >> Before you go, uh, you also are up for item G.
>> Okay. But David Santiago, would you like to Did you have a question for him? >> I I do. And then for staff, Mr. Chair, you want me to do it now? >> Unless you want to hear what he says about item G first. >> I think we should deal with this one first. Go ahead.
>> Um, you you in your in your comments, you you believe that some of these things are duplicative from what the current uh systems that we have in our vehicles do. Um and um you sparked my interest. So thank you for coming up to
speak. Um and more so I just want to clarify that's what you said right but also from a staff perspective Mr. Chair and and to our my colleagues um if staff can give a synopsis of this as to the reason is also I think you said why do we need this? So I don't think you said it that way but I kind of interpreted
that maybe maybe wrongly. Uh but tell help me understand why the taxpayers should pay $180,000 annually for this service and how is it going to make life better for Valitions. >> Uh just kind of give you Robert Gilmore, fleet management director. Uh so this
item is actually for telematics for all county vehicles. Um we current we've had GPS on county vehicles for many many years. This is renewing a contract for that. Um it's typically we have uh about 500 vehicles that have uh telematics on it right now and about 150 of our
generators um are uh you know connected through telematics. We can check uh the status of those fuel levels, that kind of stuff. Um we do um the fire department uh did several years ago add uh six cameras um to the battalion vehicles that are forward facing like a
dash cam. Um and those are the only cameras that are actually part of this. Um there are we are exploring some other um technologies um as possibilities but that's really not part of this is renewing a contract of our existing fleet. Um he the fire engines do not
have uh Sam because they already have telematics on them. Um and so we're not duplicating we're not putting telematics on top of vehicles that already have telematics on them. These are automobile typically automobiles and that kind of thing that have um this kind of techn that we're putting this technology on
and currently have What why is this good for Valuchia? >> Well, you can fleet management. I use them uh my staff uses them daily to to route our drivers uh make sure they're going to calls, find who's the closest response. You know, if we have a breakdown, we can pull up our service
truck, see who's there, who can get there the quickest, um those type of things. The divisions, they use it to make sure they optimize routes. There's technology in there. If you have 10 routes, 10 spots, you can load and it'll tell you what what's the most efficient
order to to go take those uh to to make that route. Sometimes you may not realize that you're zigzagging. So, it kind of puts that in a in a most effective route. >> Give me an example. What do you mean by a route? What service? >> Um, so we use them for fueling. So, if
we I have a list of generators that need fuel or 10 generators, I'll I'll give that to the fuel guy. Um, but we'll put it in the order. You need to go here, then here, then here, then here. And it basically makes uh an efficient circle because sometimes when you're um beachside and maybe you see something
Ostein or something like that, you you know, kind of get, you know, you you know where things are, but you may not know what the most efficient uh route is. So, it it puts it in the most efficient route that drives the least amount of miles, burns the least amount of fuel, that kind of thing. >> And remember, his equipment that he's fueling moves. It's not just like he he
fuels heavy equipment. So all those public works guys you see cleaning ditches and everything, they don't always drive back. He goes to them and fuels them with uh that. He also the 150 generators he mentioned. The fact that with telemetrics we can now see what
their fuel levels, oil levels, check like that from a desk rather than driving around and going to each one of those. So that saves money. uh you know some of the questions that you've heard in other cities and things going on about where people are, what they're doing, we know where people are and what
they're doing. Um and we if we don't, we can certainly find out. So, and again, as he said, this is something we've been doing for many years, and this is just really u uh renewing a contract. I think the difference with the fire department
was there's six extra cameras for the battalion chiefs. So, Um, so yeah, can can you I'm still kind of Thank you for that, George. That that helped me. Um, but I'm still kind of confused to the fire department connection. What are we doing new in
this in the fire department? >> We're not doing anything new. The And I mean, I didn't get a chance to talk to Jeremy, so I didn't know uh of his concerns or anything like that. These cameras that he mentions have been in those battalion vehicles for, I don't know, three or four or five years, something like that. I have I didn't, you know, have to go back and look and
see when we put those in. But that this is not anything new. This is um continuing what we currently have. Um you know, so I'm I'm not really sure. We're, you know, we're always adding um you know, GPS's uh slowly to vehicles. I'm adding them more and more to my pool
vehicles so we have more visibility on where people are using pool vehicles and that kind of thing. Um so, you know, it's always kind of an evolution, but there's no big push to uh load up a bunch of cameras on fire services vehicles or anything like that. >> Thank you. And thank you for your addition, George, because I was questioning it from the perspective also
is to, you know, we're talking about money spent and do do we need it, but it sounds like there's a savings here in in performance. >> I think we've used it very well over the years to hone in on and be more efficient and that's the purpose. And the other thing, we we let everyone know
they're there. I mean, we're not we're not into I gotcha or anything like that. They know that the technology is there. Uh, and again, it's mainly used to become more efficient. Yep. >> And and and sometimes it's used to defend us. By the way, quite often we
get accused of being places uh where we can tell you exactly where we were and when we were there. >> Yep. >> And some of this technology is uh uh pretty exact. He can also get a lot of good uh vehicle and engine information if he needs it.
>> Yes. with these big pieces of equipment that we own. Uh it's very important that he has that that information. >> Thank you. That was very helpful to me. And Mr. Chair, I see our our sheriff just arrived to our meeting. I don't know if he's serving a warrant or not. >> Back here.
>> Uh Councilman Johansson. >> Yes. Sure. Um um my question to uh Robert and and Chief and Aaron and anybody else associated is um uh is this the first you said you had you hadn't
talked to Mr. Kerry genus about this before correct? >> Yeah, chief. >> I didn't think this was going to be controversy. >> My concern from a a process perspective is um I I don't want staff operating in
in silos. George. Um, it ought to be open lines of communication both ways. It sounds like these questions could have been answered um by staff had we communicated. Yeah, >> it was brought to my attention by Jeremy a couple days ago and I told them that
this has this nothing directly to do with the fire service that nothing's changed on our part. This is a county thing. Um there's there's no movement from this. We would have to make a decision to move towards this oursel. This is just on fleet side.
>> Sure. >> And the only vehicles like we said that we currently have is the battalion vehicles, >> right? >> That decision was made prior to me coming here. >> Got any changes would come, we'd talk about it. >> Yeah. if if we can if we can work to make sure that that that these questions
uh get answered at at the at the staff level so so they don't we have to assume that our staff is doing all the right work and and and leaving policy to us um and and it sounds like what what Jeremy is asking
or talking about or concerned about is policy change and if there is no policy associated with the contract, then then we ought to work hard to make sure that our our members are comfortable with what we're doing. So, so we don't have to uh take the time to clarify the
situation here. Um uh and and I'd love to have that conversation with you, but uh uh your public comment, we don't normally communicate with the public during public comment, so um I'll let that go. Thank you, Chairman. >> Vice Chair Reinhardt. >> Thank you, Chair. Um, David, to answer
yours, I had same questions. Um, I'm particularly interested in the in the safety of it, though. You know, we often got I'm going to refer to an agency. I don't know why at the jail, you know, you got accused of when we're taking transports that we were somewhere where we weren't. Now, whether or not we had
that technology back then, I don't know. They did a great job at selling it that they did. So, yes, Sylan Horse, thank you. Um, but also corrections if if they are going in some of them, I I I applaud that because we're not used to taking like the
sheriff's office is out on the road uh defending our streets. We're not used to that that our atmosphere is in a in a confined area. Um, so we have to take inmates to Orlando or RMC or you know to the receiving medical center to to taking 2830 inmates at a time. If we
break down, I want to know where they're at. This right here ensures that if in fact we are going to do it and and if we are awesome. If we're not maybe we ought to look into that. So >> thank you chair >> Councilman Kent. Chairman I wasn't going to speak until I heard Mr. Johansson and
it has compelled me. Not that George needs me to do this because he has very broad shoulders um and he can handle himself very well. But from what I've heard this morning, it sounds like staff did everything right. You had no idea there was a concern from
the union president. You found out about a concern, chief. You let the union president know. There was nothing new happening. So that's on the union president who decided to come in here, which he can do or anybody can do. Um, and share
concerns about something that it sounds like there's not a concern about. So, I just wanted to say staff, thanks for doing what you're supposed to do, unless the union president is going to come up and share new information that we haven't heard and that's up to the chair if he's going to allow that because the three minutes has already
been utilized for that. But, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for doing what you're supposed to be doing. >> Okay, Jeremy, you are also up for item G, which is a uh first amendment to the use agreement for Valuchia County Emergency Medical.
>> Am I allowed to address a couple things? Just 30 seconds. The last thing >> uh if there was no from the uh from the council. >> Go ahead. >> Just to clarify, I am for technology for
enhancing safety. The only concern which is very soon and it just happened to be this item number. I wrote up as a battalion for nine months. I never knew that there was cameras in the vehicles. There's no policy. There's no driving thing. The only policy for driving is from 2000 HR Bulletin 9. Uh the cameras
were mounted by fleet in a manner. This is why my head went crazy. They were mounted in a manner in the same expedition vehicle two different ways. This AI camera caught the reflection in the mirror and notified them to take care of something. My concern is only with the protected health information of
our citizens. This AI camera has the ability to do that. But I I don't want to beat the dead horse. It's a good thing. I can see the value. The Samsar websites very effective, very good at website. All right, give me one second. Let me pull this up.
Is there a Is there a clock? All right. Uh item uh G, this is uh uh adding essentially uh the capabilities for the city of DNA transport. I am for this. Anytime we can do a firebased EMS, whether it's in a in a event at Stson or
any kind of standby, 100% for it. Um, I appreciate our partnerships with the city of Dand. Um, I hope we just take a little bit look at this. Nothing major. Uh, just to bring concern. It wasn't that long ago that we had our EMS units at station 82 in Dant. We had to vacate
that property. We had it put the county in a situation where we had to find these crews uh a place to live. Um, and you guys did it. You guys put them at 46 in Glenwood. Um, I don't speak for them. It altered a little time, uh, response times, but we're getting through it. I
just wanted to pose a little consideration. Uh, we do a little bit more extensive training on transport and EMS. Um, I think those guys should have to do that as well. We usually have about 5 days before we can even think about transporting a patient after you've cleared as a paramedic with the
medical director. Um, again, you guys are conservative. cost uh 7 and a half percent uh collection fee. I think that's pretty routine around the county. I think the county should be doing it. I think the county should be issuing those COPCNS. Um the question becomes if and
we shouldn't be making money on transport, but there is a revenue point to this. If you charge a citizen in Dan at that and they let's say an ambulance transport is a,000 bucks, 7 and a half% my firefighter math is 75 bucks. I just hope uh we're at least getting a full
tank of gas back in this ambulance. It's stocked with high-tech equipment, very valuable. I hope it's housed in a proper manner. I have full confidence in uh Dand Fire Department, uh Chief Allen. I consider him number two chief number one being Chief King. Um but again, I'm for
this. I'm glad that we're kind of moving this way in that direction. So that's all I have. >> Okay. Thank you. The next item, we have uh four people to speak on item H. Before they do that, uh
would you mind coming forward and just giving us a a 30,000 foot view of item H uh on bonding? It might answer a lot of questions people have. I'm Ryan Oski,
chief financial officer. Uh item H is uh an an IRS document primarily. It does authorize some other preliminary matters like if we move forward, who the bond council would be, if we move forward, the fact that we'll need ratings and other things that are necessary for bond
financing. that the primary purpose of this is to declare the county's official intent that if we move forward with bonds and that is the important part is if if we move forward with bonds that we're starting the clock today that any
purchases we make under the Valuchia Forever program starting today would be eligible to be um uses of those future bond proceeds. In general, the IRS has a lot of rules and restrictions on taxexempt debt because they want to make
sure that when when tax exempt debt is issued, that is a that is a subsidy from the federal government. Basically, the fact that they're not collecting income taxes for that income because to the bond holders that's income. So, that's why there's all these rules uh for this tax exempt debt and that's why the IRS
is involved in our debt issuances. And those rules include making sure that we're not just trying to issue tax exempt debt for prior past projects. Um, and there they have an interest in that. So there's a process to try to extend
that and that's what this is. This is declaring an intent that if we move forward with bonds, the clock starts today. Any purchases made by council going forward would be eligible for that. It does not approve any individual land purchase. Each land purchase will
be brought forward through the Valuchia forever process. Council still decides on each and every land purchase and none of this is uh requires any individual purchase. So there'll still be an individual vote and individual decision on any land purchase uh that is done.
There is a reserve balance in the Valuchia forever fund. So depending on the purchases, it's possible that the the reserve balance might be enough to fund that. It just really depends on the actions that council takes in the next 15 to 18 months. The IRS gives you an
18month window. Takes about three months to get the bond financing process through. So, in 15 months is when we'll recalculate where we are. We'll look at how much uh how many land purchases, how much money has been uh allocated to that. And if there's a need, if the
purchases accumulated over that period of time warrant a bond issuance, at that point I would seek council direction to move forward with using any of those other uh preliminary services. So this will not incur any costs uh unless council directs to move
forward with bond purchasing. It just starts the clock that these are eligible if we move forward. >> Thank you. And that for the four people that wanted to speak that you just heard from Ryan Osowski, the chief financial officer. He's just uh
is is doing good preparation. Um so that if we need something, we'll have it. So I'll call your names. If you'd like to just say uh we approve, do that. If you want to come up and take your time. Uh first we have Mike Ponyattowski.
Thank you. I'll be brief. So, in 1986, with a flash of political exuberance, the city and county council and a bunch of land activists devised a program to purchase endangered lands for preservation in perpetuity. And I see that Mr. Dempsey just walked out of the
room. Um, it was a great program. It was approved with 61% of the voters in a formalized program called Valuchia Forever in 19 uh 2000. It was reapproved by 75.6% of the voters in 2020 because
it is very valuable to protect endangered lands to keep it from being developed so that thousand years from now that land is available for uh enjoyment by our population. We have another 14 years to go on that 2020 vote. So we don't need Valuchia
forever to be touched for the next 14 years. It comes up for a vote in 14 years. At that point, we can revisit it, discuss it, and see where it's going. But the next 14 years are going to be very important when it comes to preserving endangered lands because, as
you can see across the county, we are developing swaths of perfectly beautiful endangered lands. We're bulldozing them. We're chopping up the trees. We're filling it, building slab on grrey developments. And we're having the devastating
consequences throughout the county, not just in the Tmoka farms village, but everywhere in Orange City, in Dand, in Orman Beach, in New Simra, in Edgewater, in Port Orange, everywhere. So, it's important to find these pieces of property, to purchase them when they're
available. That's why bonding is very important because if we don't have the money, we can bond for it and purchase it today when it's available before it goes on the open market to preserve that land in perpetuity. Valuchia forever. The word forever means forever. I think you guys understand that and I think
everybody in this room understands it. I don't think anybody in this room is against Valuchia forever. We are against any changes in the program. We want it to remain the same. We have 14 more years to run out the clock on the program as is as voted on by 75.6% of
Valuchia County voters. Can we get that many people to agree on many things? No. But they agree on Valuchia forever. So protect Valuchia forever. I know discussions have come up about gutting it, changing it to the detriment of the program. We want bonding. We want it to
run the clock. We don't want any changes. No more charter amendments, nothing else, but keep the program as is. Thank you. >> Thank you, Doug Weaver. You're good. Thank you. Uh Katherine Pante,
followed by Suzanne Shyber. Good morning, council. I'm here to speak in support of bonding for the Valuchia Forever Land Conservation Program. Valuchia County residents voted for conservation because we understand what's at stake. We are one of the fastest growing regions in Florida, and with growth comes pressure on our
natural lands, water resources, and quality of life. Blue Forever was created to protect what makes this county special, our wetlands, our wildlife habitats, which includes turtles and squirrels. Councilman Dempsey, our flood planes and our drinking water sources. These lands
don't sit idle. They work for us every day by reducing the impacts of flooding, improving water quality, and preserving the natural beauty that draws people here in the first place. Bonding is a tool that allows us to act now rather than later. Land prices aren't going down. Development pressure is not
slowing. If we wait, we may lose opportunities we will never get back. This is about honoring the will of the voters. We approved funding for conservation with the expectation that it would be used effectively and in a timely manner. Moving forward with bonding demonstrates that you are listening and that you are committed to
delivering on that promise. Land conservation is the smartest investment a community can make. Land conservation protects property values, reduces long-term infrastructure costs, mitigates flooding, protects our drinking water, and ensures that future generations inherit a county that feels like home, not just another
overdeveloped stretch of Florida. I respectfully ask you to support bonding for the Blues Forever and ensure this program achieves its full potential for our environment, our economy, and future generations. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Suzanne Shyber. And I'll just remind everybody this item hasn't been
pulled for a vote. So, the only way to vote against it, we'd have to vote against the entire consent agenda. So, I think you're safe. But I we uh we do appreciate hearing from you. >> Good morning, Suzanne Shyber of Drink Green Valuchia.
There is only one Valuchia Forever program. There are not different versions of the program for the council, the state, the federal government, the charter review commission, the finance department, the Valuchia Forever Committee, or the public who voted. There is only one program to uphold with
integrity and perpetuity with partnerships, transparency, and bonding that we voted for. Because these were not read into the public record on March 17 and some were missing, I'm here today to make sure they are recognized. The following are letters of support from
municipalities and organizations. 10,000 friends of Florida, Indian River Lagoon Council, cities of Oakill, Edgewater, Daytona Beach, Orman Beach, Deltona, Daytona Beach Shores, Lake Helen, Arm City, Dand and the town of Pon Inlet, Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation,
St. John's Riverkeeper, Indian Rivereper, Southeast Felia Ottabon, Echo Valuchia Forever, Florida Native Plant Society, Papa Chapter, Cand Do2 Orman, Dillion Springs Community Association. It is a momentous occasion to reach 40 years of land conservation initiatives
or 25 years of Valuchia forever in 2026. We are in a position to celebrate our achievements. The best way to uphold expectations is by example. action showing our state legislators, federal representatives, local municipality
elected officials, and our electorate that we respect what we vote for. Property owner rights, the value of land. What elected representative or representatives will champion Valuchia forever? Who will be the ambassador or ambassadors to a celebration respecting
perpetuity, partnerships, transparency, and bonding? The state of the county next year should be dedicated entirely to celebrating our 40th year milestone and the goals we reach this year. Our intentions are pure. Leadership is about
leading. Showing that we will not sell our conservation lands and we will not develop them for future infrastructure because we know the value of where we live and we respect it. Land conservation transcends time, division, and politics in Valuchia. The support
shown is unwavering. This is a shared path of collaboration for the greater good that began decades before you, now during your time as elected officials and will continue after you. Humbly before and after many of us. Please support the concept of bonding today as
a tool required for success. And in addition, we support the Elatchua amendment for Valuchia as well. Thank you all for your time. >> Thank you for your comments, Wanda Vanam. and you will >> putting these in on public record. They are positive letters. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Wanda Vanam. And you will be you're good. Thank you. Uh John Nicholson to close item H out. >> John Nicholson, Daytona Beachside. Uh a question. I listen to people who talk on Vish
forever and Florida forever. And it seems everybody has their own opinion what they voted for. When I voted for Valuchia forever and Florida forever, the idea was to save the land
for a number of reasons, not just to leave them pristine. All right? If we need this land, let's say for a trail that goes through the forest, what's wrong with putting a trail through the forest? All right. Oh,
well, we can't do that because in this person's view, it has to be pristine. You can't touch it. Well, what's the use of putting all this land if we don't use it when we need it for recreation? Many of us thought, "Oh, yeah, we're going to use it for recreation." So,
which one do you all agree with? Must it stay pristine and never touched, or can we use it for recreation? Or can we use it for flooding? or can we use it for gas in the future if we need it? All
right. I don't believe those things were brought out during the vote. And if you put it to a vote, do people really believe that we can never ever touch half of our entire county for anything? I don't believe
anybody thought that. So when you look at this, I Dempsey has his own view. All right? I may not agree with it and I don't agree with the idea that we never touch it, that we leave it pristine. Half of our county can't be left untouched.
I understand it's water conservation. It's an active thing. It's it's beneficial to us, but so are trails. So are horse uh trails. So are whatever. There are all kinds of things that could be done that don't affect
totally that is what the land was set aside for. So I think we have to have a discussion at some point. Is it pristine? Does this uh amendment this uh valution forever say it must remain pristine and can never be touched or
there ca can there be a due to whatever happens in the future if we vote or if there's a count a council vote if there's a need we can change it not totally but in incremental things or that can be needed by the county and by
the people of Lucha County. Thank you. >> Thank you. And that brings us to item J, which is the NCA and NDA collegiate championship days. Uh Amy Manzi of DeLeon Springs.
Amy Muny Deleon Springs. We the public understand that this is your consent agenda and you're going to pass it. However, we want to be on record. That's the reason why we're up here talking about these things. This is out on YouTube for 500 people to listen to. It's important that yeah, you've already
passed it. You've already decided you're going to pass it, but it's important to us that those out there that can't come here are actually listening to us, the public. Um, I'm speaking on animal control officer week, uh, April 12th through 18th. That proclamation is long
overdue. Those animal control officers are absolutely incredible. I don't think anybody understands what they face and what they put themselves through on a regular basis. I want to specifically call out Officer Rigggins. We've had
interactions with him on Black Welder Road for over two years. Every time he's come out over this irresponsible dog owner, he's been incredibly professional. He's been compassionate. He's been kind. And he's followed state
law. And that's a difficult thing to do. Recently, my husband was out on Black Welder Road on a Sunday, minding his own business, riding a bike, and one of those vicious dogs came out and attached themselves to his leg and tore his leg open. He was screaming and kicking as
hard as he could. The dog let go and then latched onto his foot and tore into his foot. My husband finally got away, thank God. He he biked a mile home by himself, bleeding profusely. um drove himself to the emergency room, had to get tetanas shot, rabies shot,
stitches, and he walked out of there with several thousand dollars in medical bills. The owner of that dog had to put the dog in his room for 10 days, and he gets a $150 fine. And that dog gets to go back out again and attack somebody again. I'm getting upset because this is
very personal. And you can see what Officer Rigggins had to deal with, our attitude, our anger, our frustration. and he he dealt with us with respect, with kindness, with empathy, and he followed state law. He did everything right. And on the far side of that was
an irresponsible owner who who thinks his dog is a sweetie and his dog shouldn't have to pay anything. And he's upset that he has to pay $150 fine. So, Officer Rigggins dealt with us on that side, enraged, and those people on that side, we're not guilty, and treated all
of us with respect and all of us with courtesy. calm the whole thing down. This could have easily become a gun battle. Somebody could have gotten killed over this because so many people were so upset. These dogs have done this in the past. They've attacked another neighbor's dog and torn it to shreds and
this could have really gone south quickly and instead officer Rigggins brought the whole thing back down, handled it totally professionally. I just want to call him out and also his director because everything is a top down thing. You've got her who does a fantastic job. She trains all of her
people well and that entire division deserves much more than a week of praise. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh Councilman uh David Santiago, did you want to respond to that and then also speak on item P? >> Yes, I can go from one to the other. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh regarding
the uh the dog scenario that that the the lady presented to us. I'd like for for staff, not now unless you guys have it, but uh uh synopsis because you know we have a dangerous dog classification process which we've done several changes to recently. Um but if if you don't have
it now, I I don't expect you to. But >> when I I heard Miss Manuzi's comment, I've asked somebody to get with animal control to get with her to discuss that very thing because I don't I don't know the story. >> Okay. Yep, that's fine. I don't expect you to. I know it was last minute and
then you know for you know Valuchia now has probably one of the toughest standards when it comes to dangerous dogs because we we took that position almost a year ago now. So >> yeah with with insurance so it makes it very difficult to have a dangerous dog classified in Valuchia. So um I look
forward to an update from staff. Thank you Mr. Chair. And then on P, if we can get it P staff can come down. >> All right. This this sparked my interest. So tell me about it. I want people from Valuchia to hear what you're doing here with this. >> Sure. Yeah. Random Matusak, director of
public protection. Um, and if you don't mind, I'd just like to thank uh thank you for the the comments about animal uh services. That's also one of my divisions and and so proud of the work that they do. and we will be looking into that. Um, but as for the um item
here with beach safety, uh, this is actually we're really excited about it. It's an innovative kind of way that one of our deputy chiefs, uh, AJ Miller actually found to use this device called a slipstream. Um, and what it is intended to do, uh, this this piece of
equipment actually, you put it in a pool and it's basically a treadmill in a pool. Uh, and so you can have a small pool and you can swim against it and get a good workout in and all of that kind of stuff. and and um Deputy Chief Miller actually noticed like one of the major issues that we have of course at our
beach is dealing with rip currents. And so um how do you how do you train people to get out of and to feel what a rip current feels like um in a safe controlled environment? And so what he kind of started to play around with is
the idea of using this slipstream to train what what it feels like to get into a rip current, get swept out, swim parallel, and get out of that rip current. And so that's the intention here. And he's actually worked with the state now um to get these slipstream
devices out to all kind of coastal communities. And so they developed this grant, which is what this item is here, is to reimburse for the cost. But we've kind of been playing around with it. The the company um let us kind of use this and and test the theory uh for a little bit. And so this is really just to re to
purchase and reimburse than the slipstream uh equipment. But what our intention is is to put it into uh community pools. We've worked with the hotel association uh to get it into if they want to do some training sessions in hotels for people to really be able
to feel what it is to get into a rip current and get out of a rip current. Uh like I said, in a controlled environment. Um I was actually just out with them yesterday jumping off the pier because uh Chairman Brower asked me about it. And uh so um I tell them all
the time I'm like I know what the diagram is to look at what a a rip current is supposed to look like and they were pointing it out to me all day yesterday going like yeah this is a rip current and I was like I don't see it man I am not seeing it but when I was in it and I because I had tested out the
slipstream too and I said this is what it is this is what a what a rip current feels like and I thought turn you know turn parallel and and swim out and you could feel then what it is to get out out of that rip current. So that's what it is. >> How are we going to market this and how
can people utilize it? >> So one of the things so we can we can take it over. It's the equipment is very small. I mean it's just like it's like a little vent thing that you put into on the side of a pool. >> Sorry to cut you off. You could go to a Y I'm guessing because they have pools
and say we're going to do this here on X and date and time. Yep. >> People can sign up or just show up. Is that the plan? >> That's the plan. Yeah. So, the plan is to hold some training sessions either at the Y, at Daytona State, any kind of community pool. It will work in any kind
of pool. Uh, and even in a hotel pool, like we've said, we've we've reached out to see if there's any interest in in that as well. But yeah, we'll hold some training sessions or not training sessions but really educational sessions uh for people to get in the water and and to feel what that feels like and and
um it's really an an educational tool then beyond just that diagram that we have of what it looks like. Yeah. >> Well, thank you for that and uh I encourage you to make sure that I request that as we deploy this that we do not just deploy it on the east side.
We we have pools on the west side and our people on the west side go to the beach too. for sure. >> Um, so please do that. Thank you for it. And you know, sad. I I woke up this morning, watched the news >> and there was a father that his kids got caught in a rip tide in Florida >> and he went out to save them. He saved
the two and the father died. So very sad that happened this week. >> I've been caught in a rip tide, too. Is scary and I didn't know what I was doing so I could use that training. >> Right. >> Well, thank you for that and thank you uh George for bringing that forward. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you everybody for your comment. We have a motion and a second
to approve the consent agenda as uh presented. All in favor, please say I. >> Any opposed? And the consent agenda is passed unanimously. Seven to zero.
>> That brings us to item three, proclamation for presentation. Is that hot? Hot, mic. council. Thank you uh for your support and your sponsorship
uh with a much worthy proclamation. The reason we're here today uh council public is to recognize and honor the dedication and bravery of Lucia Sheriff's Office as an organization, but today specifically deputies Austin
Graham and Nathan Vargas. Uh excuse me. Uh, in short, on February 15th, deputy deputies Graham and Vargas responded to a house fire in Dand. Now, as we all know, that's a little bit outside their scope. Uh, but they
responded anyway. Uh, deputies were able to uh rescue an elderly resident uh from the home, which was fully engulfed, and their actions gave this resident a few more days uh here on Mother Earth with
their friends and their family. So, you know, today we're going to honor you guys. You know, as I read this and reflect back on it. I couldn't help but see you guys sitting in the back, you know, with your wives, your loved ones, your your young families. And as a parent, it's it's scary. We're all
parents here, you know, and um it hits home because a lot of us were in those sort of situations, but just enjoy and cherish every moment uh with them. And here, you know, it's a parent speaking, but as the citizen and as the council
member, I am absolutely honored and this council is honored to have you guys uh represent us and give us that level of service. So before I read that proclamation, if we could just give these uh young guys a
round of applause. Thank you. So without further ado, whereas thanks to their heroic and selfless efforts of two Valuchia Sheriff's Office deputies, Dandwoman was rescued from a serious house fire. And whereas on February 15th, 2026, Deputy
Austin Graham was the first to arrive on scene of the blaze and without hesitation forced his way inside the burning structure to search for the occupants. And whereas upon entering the home, Deputy Graham discovered the woman unresponsive on a hallway floor, flames
and smoke rapidly filling the residence. And whereas Deputy Nathan Vargas, who arrived to assist, helped Deputy Graham pull the woman from the home and immediately began performing rescue breathing to sustain her till emergency medical personnel could take over. And
whereas the woman was transported to local hospital in serious condition, and Deputy Graham, who had inhaled smoke during the rescue, was evaluated uh evaluated at the scene for smoke inhalation. And whereas the courage, quick thinking, and unwavering commitment demonstrated by the deputies
exemplify the highest ideals of law enforcement service and reflect the great honor upon the Valuchia Sheriff's Office. Now therefore, we the county council of Valuchia County, Florida, do hereby proclaim April 7th, 2026 Deputies Austin Graham and Nathan Vargas Day.
Congratulations, Sheriff. You have any? Thank you. so much for taking the time to recognize them. And Chief, they're not you cannot recruit them. And and Deputy Vargas, have you turned 21 yet?
26. Okay, gotcha. Thank you, council, very much. >> I thought you were here to serve a warrant, sheriff, when I seen you walk in. >> We could pose for the picture now. Everybody down here, take a giant step that way.
Now you're lined up. >> One more. One more. Awesome. >> Good job. Congratulations. >> Way to go. >> How you doing? Before we move on, can I get a motion to approve the proclamation?
>> Second, Johansson. >> Motion to approve by uh Vice Chair Reinhardt, second by Councilman Uh Johansson. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed?
Seven to zero. Item four. Wait just a few seconds for I think we're good. Item four is uh resolution reszoning of 1.02 O2 acres from transitional agriculture to
neighborhood commercial B2. >> Good morning uh council members. Ray Tiner, growth resource management director. This is a resoning of 1.02 acres from traditional agriculture A3 to neighborhood commercial B2. It's located
at 2455 Indiana Avenue, Orange City. Uh applicant is Mark Low. the applicant is here and also would like to uh to to speak on uh this item as well. Um
the uh you can see only aerial um where the uh location is. Um this is has some interesting history. Uh as you can see the existing zoning uh on the left hand side of the screen the B2 is is commercial and it is about
a half acre and it was zoned many many years ago probably about 20 years ago. Uh and in today's standards of our code it is non-conforming. Uh B2 commercial needs to be a minimum of one acre. So, the applicant uh who
owns the property, they also own the A3 portion to the south and they have a single family residential unit on that property. They put in a petition to reszone to uh make the zoning in
conformity uh up to uh 1.52 acres. Uh again, it's the the area is uh 1 acre. Um the uh planning and land development regulations commission voted to deny by a 34 vote.
Uh the concern cited was the um road network impacts. Um they thought that the commercial should be closer to uh the uh go back and show you the state road uh 472.
There was one speaker um who opposed citing uh concerns with future driveway access and uh handling the additional traffic um and transportation in the future. So we're here for any questions.
Again, I believe the applicant represent representative also wanted to speak. >> Motion to approve. Okay, we have a motion to approve by Councilman Robbins, second by Councilman Johansson. Before we go any further, this is a
quasi judicial hearing. Does any council member have any exparte that they need to declare being none? Okay. Uh and you said the applicant is here. Would you care? My understanding that the applicant rep
representative wanted to speak. >> Okay. >> Do you want to come forward? >> Mark Laauo County resident for 42 years. Um this property uh he won't move over most of it with you. The uh property is a threeacre parcel and 2 and a half
acres is A3 and the half acre is B2. The when split in half, an acre and a half is all wooded and the other half is basically a residential unit. It's approximately 200 yards off of 472. With a future growth of uh 472, I
believe there's going to be some additional things needed. Uh possibly some office space, things like that. That's what I'm looking to look at. and u looking for your approval and uh
thank you for listening. Okay, thank you councel. Any uh questions for staff first? Chairman Councilman Robbins? >> Ray, thank you. Uh just a a quick uh
quick couple questions. Do we have any public opposition? Yes, there was uh one speaker uh who spoke was concerned about maybe a future driveway uh and impacting the neighborhood, but most likely the
driveway would be on the um let me go to an aerial for you. Most likely if a commercial development come in, the driveway would be off of Minnesota >> and and that's something we can >> that's not on the dirt road. That's obviously something we can um u take
care of during the permit process to make sure that there's no um burdens like that or or problems like that created. Okay. That's right. >> Also to um A3 zoning commercial agriculture, >> right? >> A yes. >> A
>> um so so with that council too, you know, uh anything that pertains to agriculture can can go on there. uh machinery, tractors, uh traffic in and out, noise, a lot of that stuff. Um I see it's by a major roadway. Um but uh
I'll I'll save my um my comments for for afterwards. >> Councilman Johansson, I think Danny took care of them all. I guess Rey my question would be was the land as far as we can tell always split that way or was there more B2 at some
point it became >> yeah some of the research of asking uh staff that you know for about 20 years uh it it was always zoned that way um and then even before that I think there was uh more commercial within that area
became agriculture. All right. And um and right now B2 half acre nonconforming we really can't put anything there other than it's I mean he could use it for a right like like Danny said. >> Yeah. I mean right now the the halfacre
is is commercial and it would be non-conforming. So if an application would come in for some sort of commercial, it would be you that because it's conforming, you would need a halfacre. So in the future, then it would have to come to council again to
try to get that >> either way. Right. All right. That's all I have for now. Uh chairman. >> Okay. Uh Ray, the PLDRC voted to deny. >> Yes, they did. And again, some other
concerns um to PLDRC was they they prefer that the commercial would be located closer to to the state road >> to 472. >> Yeah. 472. And then also the road network impacts as well. Potential impacts in the future.
>> And this says recommended motion denial. Who did that come from? >> That was Shelley Sigma, Craig, and Bush. >> Okay. So, it didn't come from staff? >> No. >> From our staff? >> No. >> Okay. >> Okay.
Uh, any other council members? Uh, Councilman Robbins, >> Mr. Can? >> I don't want to step on you. Um, did you have a question or is that discussion? >> I just wanted to let the chairman know I was I was in the back for a moment. I had no exparte communication with this.
I just put that on the record. >> Thank you. Um yeah, you know, council, this this is one of these um I think rare occasions. You know, can we get the map u back up? Uh Carissa, if you don't mind.
I look at this and you know, I see B2. We hear test we hear testimony that prior there was more B2 on it. Um, I combine that with the uh the agricultural activities that could take place just like uh certain uh commercial
activities that could take place on B2. Um, you know, but but right now uh the way it was kind of chopped up and and and and whatnot in the past, he's got kind of like an unusable um
uh an unusable piece. And and what I want to do is try to make this hole. Well, I see it's by uh several major thoroughares. Uh which is good. It's not deep inside uh any any um uh neighborhoods from what it looks like. There's high density. It looks like
across the street. Uh and you know, anything in my opinion um looking at this that that you put there, it's going to uh service possibly the the immediate needs and and there's only so much that can go on. How um Ray, how big is that sliver of property in totality? Uh the
whole property is uh what two three acres. >> So uh council at the end of this you know by time there's um setbacks uh buffers uh mandatory tree uh preservation which
is how how many% 15% or so ray 20% something like that but ting it down. So there's only really specific things that he can do uh there. So, you know, I'm not opposed to to to granting that,
although I respect the um the the input of the the council, but this is rare. We've I don't think we've ever had really one of these, but I'm going to support and favor the uh land owner. Thank you. Okay.
Any other council member? Oh, I've as I'm reading this here on the item, we're the request is to uh move from A3,
which is the majority of the property right now, to to B2. And um Danny, I understand what you're saying, but I I'm I may be the only one, but I'm going to oppose this. I think if we the one thing that we could do
on this council to preserve a land and and um other undeveloped land is to just stop reszoning. Um the it's zoned this way for a reason. Um so I would like to uh I would like to
see it remain in agriculture. Um, so I'm opposed to this. Councilman Robbins, is this and and just Chairman, just to to respond, um, I I agree with you and I think we've done a a great job
uh doing that. I think we've conserved over 7,000 acres. Uh we also um uh unanimously I believe talked about uh supporting small business um and uh and and startups and uh diversifying our tax
base when it comes to that. So and I asked this this is one acre. This is not uh 1,000 acres, 10 acres, 100 acres. Um I agree with you on the on the a land but but we're talking about one one acre
here. Um, is there a middle ground, chairman, to to earn your support, uh, to, you know, they may put an agricultural business there? I I don't know. Um, but there's not a whole lot that they can do. They can do nothing with it now. Uh, but there's not a whole
lot that they can do on on one acre. Uh, they'll probably lose uh 40% of their property uh of that one acre uh just with setbacks and and all that. So the the impact I don't see a whole lot of impact here, but that's just my opinion.
If there's a middle ground, chair, I' I'd like to hear it. >> Okay. Councilman Santiago. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was going to stay silent on this one, but the overall premise requires me to vote because I can't stay quiet when it comes to rights
for people. Um, and you know, this is a minimal thing, but for for to we can't make comments like overall arching statements that we can't reszone people's properties because you have a right to petition
your government, right? The moment we do that, if we all said that up here, guess what? Your millage rate would quadruple be could we be sue the hell out of this world because people have rights, right? What we need to do is weigh that with
the actual request to see if it's a fair and balanced one. Does it have two overarching impacts to environmental and things like that and and make a balanced decision. So broad statements like that bad for you because one day it could be against
you right now. It's not. And you know uh I I'll call you can I can I call you all the blue shirts folks? And I see in the blue shirts folks some of you nodding your head and I I get it. And I think today I learned the community that you live in based on some of the things that you opposed. It's a fairly new
community. I want you to know when that community came up there were people there that didn't want you to live there. >> Yeah. So and and I'm not trying to disparage anybody. I want you to know that our job is to take all of that information and find a balance. And
every decision we make up here, there's going to be someone more majority or non- majority, they're going to hate it or not like it. But I think because we we're in these tough seats, and I really think it's a tough seat, we have to balance that. It's easy to take the
populist route on every topic because then you just make friends, right? >> Very true. >> And but we we have to be arbitrators of the law at the same time and apply it fairly to everyone. And sometimes it's going to put people on the opposite side. And I've always been an advocate
that if we don't like the law, let's work on changing it and apply that law as it's changed fairly to everyone moving forward. But as the laws are written today, we should apply those fairly to everyone because it protects everybody's rights. I don't like
everything that we have to vote for often. Not often, sometimes. Um, but I also uh swore an oath to apply the Constitution and the laws of the state of Florida equitably to everyone. This is a minor one, right? And so, we're
going to have some tough ones. Some of you talked about some of the things I didn't even know about this parking thing, you know, the the truck route. So, some things we have to consider there. But understand this that um I'll speak for myself and maybe some of my colleagues that um we have to treat
everyone equally and and weigh every single one. Um and um I I'll never make the the broad statement that I think could take people's rights away. Um because though it's popular to one or two today, today tomorrow it could be
against something you want to do and that's what our founding fathers warned us against. So thank you Mr. Chair. Tick Johansson. >> Thank you, sir. Quick question for Ry. Um I I took a a look at the satellite.
Um is is if if we grant this, is this going to be a challenge for him due to the um the land and and the trees and all that stuff in the front half of that that property. Well, you know, they'll
they'll come through a technical review and and I think like was mentioned before, challenge meaning they're going to have to comply with the setbacks of the zoning. They're going to have to, >> you know, that's when all the details come in when they have a site plan to look at the tree preservation and and
this and that. So, we kind of guesstimated, >> you know, kind of looking at the size. If it's this is reszoneed to an acre and a half, you could probably get a 5,000 square foot building, maybe nothing really large. You know, you got a parking field. You're going to have to
have storm water and all those. >> I know the applicant said something like a small business building. So, um, you know, back to back to Danny's comment, um, uh, as an egg property, it probably could have more
more traffic, more action, more a lot, including, um, what he wants to do on that front half if we turned it into all lag. Um, so, so this might this might be the best use
of the um, this might be the best use of the the acre and a half. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, I'll just wrap it up with this. I I'm not taking a a populist uh route.
I'm not breaking the laws of the state of Florida and I'm not taking anybody's rights away, David. The owner of the property has a right to do on the property what it's zoned for and yes, he also has a right to appeal to change
that. We are not required to approve that appeal. My my opposition to it is for the rights of everyone else that lives in that area that wanted to live in a quiet residential area with
agricultural pursuits. Um it's not close to the uh high it's not on the highway where there would be a business and so I'm protecting the rights of all the people that live around. We've got, you pointed out, the people in the blue
shirts that are opposed to uh a different use in a property near them that would will require changes. I think sometimes we need to protect the the people that move into an area um that moved into it for a purpose because of
the current zoning and the current land use. And so I'm seeking to protect them. Uh Councilman Santiago. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I I I don't think I called you out, Mr. Chairman, on that my statement. I think my words were were more that what I wouldn't do.
>> I was referencing myself um that things that I wouldn't do while I'm up here. So, um I didn't I don't think I >> But that implied breaking the law apply the laws of the state of Florida and taking people's rights away. I I don't
Well, I if you feel that way, uh I I I think it's it's a it's I I understand your assessment. Um but since you brought yourself out, you you made the statement saying that we won't change zoning. You basically said that. You
said that you will not support changing any zonings if we want things to stay the same. And we don't want to back up. >> No, that's that's incorrect. I did not say that. I said one of the thing best things that we could do for the residents of Valuchia County is not change every zoning that comes before us, every land use that and that's why
we're suffering from flooding around the county because we're changing zoning and allowing things that were never approved in an area. Okay. >> And so I'm I look at each one of them very closely. >> That's a good one. Thank you.
>> Call a question. Okay, Karissa, would you call the role, please? >> Mr. Robbins? >> Yes. >> Mr. Santiago? >> Yes. >> Mr. Dempsey? >> Yes. >> Mr. Johansson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Kent? >> No.
>> Mr. Reinhardt? >> Yes. >> Mr. Brower? >> No. And the change passes uh five to two. And we will move to item five. which is also a quasi judicial hearing.
Um, a resoning of 67.9 acres from resource corridor to a planned unit development. Uh, does any council member have any exparte they need to declare on this item? >> I do but chair from the just the
attorneys. >> Same here. >> Okay. >> Just the attorneys. >> Okay. >> Same. >> I think we have none from Kent. Okay. Uh this is a resulting for 67.9
acres uh of RC to plan unit development. It's located at 1620 Lake Hornney Road hosting. The applicant is uh Mark Watts uh and they have a represent representation here today and would like
to speak on behalf of this item as well. Um you can see the aerial. This is a little bit different of a reasonzoning. It stemmed from a code compliance case. Um if you look at the aerial on the right hand side, you can see something
that looks like a uh a landing strip for an airport. Okay. The original owner of the property uh had uh built that landing strip. It's it's asphalt. Uh they used it for I forget what they call these large
planes, not that people flying them, but uh they had it uh and they used it for for that hobby. Uh another uh owner purchased a property re uh I don't know recently, but they had a code compliance case uh that u weren't allowed to have
that airirst strip. So they uh initiated a petition for reszoning from RC to plan unit development. Part of the development agreement uh is that the existing um
uh landing strip uh asphalt would be uh removed and and also on the uh if if you look at the screen on the right hand side, it's not on their property. So they are removing that off uh somebody else's property and they're going to
replace it with grass. My understanding is that the the air strip would be used for the single family residence as a as a airplane small aircraft. Uh also um part of this um there there's a single
family home. Uh the development agreement limits it to to one home residential. So no increase in densities. Um, the PLLDRC held their public hearing on February 19th, 2026. There was no
public uh participation. Uh, the PLLDRC voted 4 to 3 to for this item to council with a recommendation of approval. I'm here if you have any questions. And again, the applicant rep is uh would like to say some words as well.
>> Okay. Questions for staff? Councilman Robbins. Thank you, Chair. Um uh Ray, great great uh presentation here. I just uh want to um stress that um the purpose
of this PUB is to bring the site ex existing site conditions into compliance. Application does not propose any expansion of new structures. Does it give them any future uh rights to to new
structures? cuz when people see or hear PUB um we're we're the big bad boogeyman and we just approved a resoning. Can you just emphasize this for us on record, >> right? So, you know, no additional units. >> Okay. >> Okay. So, but if accessory structures
for for a single family house and say they wanted a pool, of course, they can get that. >> That's that's not a big deal. Um and then uh reduces existing impacts by required removal of 59,000 foot square foot ashvalt air strip. One question,
why do these folks have to go through a PUD process that probably costs a lot of money when they could um I don't know, take a skid steer and start pulling up some asphalt and uh haul it off. Yeah, it's it's the use itself uh for the the
use for the single family area that does not permit for an air strip. Okay. So, that's basically why the PED is in place. >> I think this is this has been there for a long time. >> Long time. >> Okay. So, it's it's this is nothing new. I understand. Thank you, Ray. Good job.
>> He just answered he just asked all my questions. So, I I just want to point out are you here to speak and Mark's not here? Okay. I'll I'll call on you next. There is no development here. There's a house. They're not planning on on building a neighborhood. This is why I
just said pre on the previous item that you have to look at each one separately. Um I'm all in favor of of this. It's what it's going to do is remove uh an an asphalt air strip and replace it with grass and allow the owner of the
property to use it as intended as as currently. And it is a shame, Danny, that he has to go through this to do that. But so I'm looking at each one separately and um I don't have any any issues with this. Um would you care to
speak to >> Thank you, Ray. Welcome. Good. It's still morning. Good morning, Jessica Galla. Cobb Colola law firm 1 Daytona Boulevard, Daytona Beach, Florida. Good lawyer knows when not to talk. So, I will just clarify that it was an RC aircraft um landing strip,
which is very interesting. They were large. Um and our our client brought it in 2021, so it's been there for over a decade. We came in recently to clean it up. >> All right. Smart. Thank you. Uh, Councilman Johansson,
>> Ray, what you're familiar with the ongoing um issue with a helicopter uh pilot using his private residence out in Deleon Springs. You familiar enough with that? So
other than the FDOT and the FAA approvals that that this gentleman might get, what's going to stop him if he could land his his aircraft currently or if he does, I guess he already does. Um what's
going to prevent us from having that problem here? Well, I think the other issue that you is a active code case that we're we have been investigating. Um, they have not gone through
>> the permitting process. There's a process for special exception. For example, if you had a uh uh helicopter or he helipad and those type of things. So, that's with that issue. This issue, you know, they're going through the appropriate zoning. >> Got it.
>> To to set to set it up. uh as far as our FA requirements and all that, you know, >> so that should cover everything and and not that everybody's gonna be happy, but he'll he'll be a full up round and able to do it without >> Yes.
>> All right. Thanks. That's all I have. >> Okay. Uh no more questions for staff, for the attorney. Any uh comments before I call for the the vote? No comments. Uh,
we have a, uh, Councilman Robbins, you made a motion to approve. >> Yep. Was there a second? >> Joe Hansen made the second. Okay. All in favor of the uh of the
reszoning, please say I. I. >> Any opposed? And this passes seven to zero. Thank you. Item six is an easy one. A proposed vacation of a portion of a corrected plat.
>> Don't Johansson. >> Motion to approve by David Santiago. Second was by Jake Johansson. Any questions for the uh staff? >> No exparte communication from from me.
>> None. No one. Okay. No questions, no comments. All in favor of the proposed vacation, please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Fantastic presentation, Pat. >> You're getting better all the time, Chad.
Item seven is a growth and resource management services mini budget workshop presentation by Ray Tiner. Is Ray still with us? Okay. >> I am motion to approve.
>> I thought our finance guy was going to give an intro, but that that is absolutely okay. >> Welcome. Um, thank you. Um, we are going to cover Grove resource management services uh specifically for the general fund and the uh municipal uh service
district funds. Uh, we'll cover them. Uh we have uh three three primary divisions. We've got the administrative planning and development services and environmental management. We'll cover the Lyona
environmental center as well. And since it's a really big uh department, we'll cover each area and then I'll pause for for questions or if you'all have any any feedback. Okay. So, the first one we're going to cover is
the administration and technology. Uh, our total expenses is about $1.25 million. The administration
consists of about uh five uh employees. Myself, operations manager, special projects coordinator, senior administrative assistant, administrative uh assistant. Uh we have a technology side of this. Um and we have four FTs
there. That's uh for our mandator system that I'll talk a little bit more about here in the future. So just a summary of the administration department u activity of of the department is mainly we provide
administration and technical support. We want all of our separate divisions planning code building to be successful. We are there to support them to make sure that they are successful in their roles. uh we work to improve the operations uh
look at making things a little bit better efficiency again we uh maintain the Amanda system to uh process applications so if you don't know what Amanda is our our community Amanda is is uh a a system that um does our
accounting um it does our all of our inspections are online uh it goes through that process it's a technology process uh the process process our applications. Uh not only does uh growth resource management utilize it, we have
accounting, fire, rescue, public works, the health department. So many people are in entwined with with the Amanda system and it's a very important tool for us. Uh they maintain the connective live our web port web portal. It's for
247 24 hours a day. Uh we maintain online permit guide to provide a one-step source that's relatively new. Uh we monitor um we have a individual that does monitor the 17 community
redevelopment agencies. You when when council asks for information on on the CRAAS and other areas, we have a staff member that has ability to make sure that they're in compliance and they're doing what they're supposed to be doing with the CRAAS. Uh we also have a few
staff that um a couple uh staff that digitalize and archive historical growth resource management. You can imagine the paper that we have uh at the county and and micro the old microfilm. So we're
actually taking that digitizing that so to make it accessible not only to staff but also to the community if they need it. our operating expenses, our uh contract services about 180,000. Our software
licensing that's for Amanda, our ArcGIS, Blue Beam, all those tools uh that that help our our division at 112. Our temporary uh personnel, I mentioned the arch archive and and taking that paper
into digital. We do have a couple temporary staff that do that full-time because we have so much paperwork. Uh, our indirect cost and our administration uh fees. So, some of our accomplishments again
about Amanda, it it's pretty amazing. Uh, we completed about 160 requests for updates, training, uh, and 18 efficiency related items. So if a division like building wants to improve their process or planning, you
know, you're going to go from step A to step B, step B. If you change your processes to become more efficient, well, you have to change the MANA system. Amanda doesn't make processes efficient. Our departments make the process efficient and then Amanda has to
set the program to make sure that that workflow uh is to what we desire. uh the connect live. Um we've had 16,250 applications submitted online this past year. 99% of all of our building permit
applications are online. Uh 98% of the building inspections are scheduled online. So, and we also collect the payments. It's part of that abandoned system. uh it's done automatically and it's done
via uh not paper but you can do that uh via the the system. Uh we the two individuals that we have are uh with our records have digitized and archived more than uh 40,000 historical files this past year.
Um we've another big help that we have uh as far as an administration is we address growth resource management public records requests uh so other staff members can do their job. We process those those are 959 that we have
done uh this past year. So, some of our efficiencies, um, we implemented the new permit guide, uh, that was just released, um, to provide customers and submitts online and information, uh, of what it would what it would would
take to to uh, permit uh, a project. Uh we put links to customer service tools uh and and our uh made our GRM website more efficient. Uh y'all would remember this. We
adjusted the uh 10 permit types. This is a good example of Amanda when when council um uh when we did an ordinance to to look at like our fence permitting where we didn't require uh fences or if
we changed the special exception process that special exceptions didn't go to council but planning board. Well, the Amanda system has to take that and develop a system and a process to make sure that that process flows according to with with new regulations and uh new
code. So, future challenges I like um or opportunities I guess we would call them. Uh I think keeping up with changing technology, state statute, every time a state statute change or a
process change, uh our technology needs to change as well. U and then making uh efficiency improvements. I can tell you planning, building, we're all looking at this year of making significant improvements to our development review
processes, making it more efficient. That's going to take a lot of work on Amanda, you know, creating performance measures um for development review that we don't have now, but that's something that we're looking into and that's something that Amanda is going to be a
big help on and making sure that happens, making sure we're tracking development reviews on time and those type of things. So, that's going to be a great opportunity for us uh this year. Uh and again um our contract another uh
opportunity is that the Amanda contract that we have expires in 2028. So now we need to really start evaluating options. you know, is there another program uh that's better, more efficient, can do
the job a little bit better, or do we need to stick with Amanda and maybe make some improvements to Amanda? So, that's all going to be coming in the future that we're going to have to be looking at that system. Okay. What happened here?
Do we have Okay, I'm questions. Uh any feedback on the administration portion of GRM? >> Just I I have one quick question just on what you just said that you're going to have to look at at Amanda in the future. Any idea how how long are you looking
now at? >> Yeah. >> And you're talking about upgrading, not replacing >> both. Our contract runs out for Amanda. So, we're looking we have been researching looking at other um other other key development review modules. Um
and that's something that we will continue to do, but we that is coming up. We we're going to need to make a decision and what is the best for the community, what's what's the best for us >> after the special session in Tallahassee.
>> Yeah, maybe. Yes. >> Okay. Any other questions so far? Okay, doesn't it look like it? Okay, we'll go on to planning. And planning we have uh several
activities. We have operations, we have a customer service group, a planning activity and mapping and address and real estate. So our total expenses for
uh this group is uh 3.8 million a year. We do uh receive some revenues about 425,000 and those are primarily dealing with our application fees, our site plans or
zoning fees, planning fees and those type of things. So a little view of our organization chart. Um we have our um our division director. Uh we have the customer service group
planning again mapping and addressing. So some of our summary of our operations is we have a customer service lobby and zoning call center. Uh and it is amazing how many uh inquiries we get and the
work that they do uh in phone calls. We have our planning and de development review team and basically their job partly is to make sure that all applications that are coming in and all permits that we comply with the
comprehensive plan, the land development code, the area local plans uh and all the uh requirements that we have and they also conduct you know the public hearings with PLDRC and of course with city council and then we have a
development review. They're part of the development review committee team. It's a team of technical folks, as you all know, are professional engineers, transportation, and they meet on a regular basis to problem solve and to go
through all the application petitions that are coming in house. One of the things that we also do that's under planning and uh land development is our mapping and addressing. We have uh our GIS uh team uh and they do the
countywide E911 addressing uh for streets and planning uh disaster assessment. So that's a really big tool for for us in growth management resources when applications come in, new applications come in, you need to do an
address. This is life safety. you know, we work really close with with our our fire and our emergency services to make sure that, you know, we have the appropriate uh addresses on there. Another thing is our community rating
system that you know about, our national flood insurance program that we manage. Uh we have saved our taxpayers close to $2 million just on um um premiums uh savings uh for flood insurance and we
continue that program as well. Some of our operating expenses your indirect and uh cost is about a half million. Uh contracted services this is consulting services. Uh we don't really
use this. We haven't really used this that much. Um, we do have some money for a fee study that's in the budget, but other than that, we would use this for, you know, special if council says, "Hey, I want a
quick study on this." Sometimes we use consultants um depending on our availability uh to make sure that we provide that service. Uh our membership fees at 133,000 a little over most of that membership fee
is to the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council uh at 124,000 a little over that the rest of those are are memberships for staff like Association of Professional Planning. Uh we do have uh service charges that go to
other departments. uh legal ads. Uh a lot of that is also a pass through. You know, we have to budget for it, but the applicants at the end of the day will pay for pay for that fee. So, just by the numbers quickly, uh our
total customer service interactions this past year has been close to 70,000 people. That's amazing. Uh site plans reviewed 220. our standalone permits 250.
Uh our PLDRB uh C cases at 110. Uh we've done reviews, courtesy reviews, you know, when an applicant comes in, not not even an applicant, a customer comes in. Hey, you know, here I have this drawing of of of maybe what could I
do here? You know, what's the zoning? Those type of things. We do courtesy reviews all the time. uh address request. Um part of the E911 system did about over 6,000 of those. Um
and then we get uh GIS requests as well accomplishments. Uh I know uh Carol reorganized uh the division and really formed a customer service team within the last five months um and brought
these people together. The concept is this. You know, you have a zoning person that understands this and you have a planning person that understands this or building. Let's get them together. Let's train them. We don't want our customers going from one person to another person. Let's let's train them. Let's get them
going. So, we consolidated made made it more efficient. U also um the DRC schedule. Uh we streamlined some of that. some of the things that you may be looking that I'll be bringing in the
future is really changing the uh process making it more efficiency when when I was hired here and I spoke to you that first day I heard efficiencies efficiencies efficiencies let's make it more efficient so we're going to be coming to you in the future with with
some ideas on on a process that we believe can be uh better efficient for not only our staff but for our customers ers. Um we again we reduced the number of uh public hearings from that special
exception action that you that you took I think about four or five months ago. Uh that really helped the process and streamlined the process. Um and of course um we have that new low impact
development LID subdivision that our applicants are actually utilizing which is great. Future challenges our opportunities maintaining a high level of customer service. Again that's
going to be with efficiency changes to get more customers. We we want to modernize our development review process. already talked about that with some ideas we'll be sharing for you in the f future you know what streamlines the permitting uh to maintain our strong
community uh we have assumed the post disaster damage assessments uh we will be doing that hopefully we won't have to do that in a long time knock on wood but uh our our team has
been tasked of of doing that another thing that we have looked at is I know that our inspection fees or our permit fees or application fees uh do not cover our cost. Uh that's something that I know uh staff uh and and I think
council had mentioned it uh before too of looking at re-evaluating some of those application fees. There may be some application fees that are way off meaning way off too high for the customer. It could be the other way around. So maybe taking a taking a look
at that in the future. So I have uh any questions or any direction on on the planning side? >> Yes. Uh Councilman Santiago. >> Thank you. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. I mean, and just kind of refocus from the
perspective of that the the intent of these little workshops are for us to not only get an understanding of the operation, but also opportunities to see if there's savings or things that we can no longer expend um given the
uncertainty of what's happening with the taxes in the state of Florida. That being said, the comm the there was a slide there. there. I'm trying to remember the it was titled like memberships. >> Mhm. >> The East Central Florida something something. Tell me what does it do and
how does it benefit Valuchia? >> So it was the um uh East Florida East Coast Planning Council um that we did some research. It's it's
actually a requirement that >> we become a member. They're they're a clearing house uh for a region of of several counties. I think uh we we probably have members here that have sat on on the board. They they have a board.
Uh they review comprehensive plans, large scales, not so much anymore, but they do special studies. They do a lot of work for our emergency services. is they they a lot of times are tasked with updating the emergency management plan,
the evacuation studies uh and those type of services. >> Is it a quasi government agency? >> It is. >> Okay. >> Yes, it is. And it's it's it's via state statute, too. It's in in the state statute. >> So, we have no choice. >> Uh we we have no choice. Yeah.
>> Mr. Chair, if I could just add to Ray's answer because we did look in >> You may and I was going to give Jake an opportunity because he's our appointee there too. >> We we did explore whether we could opt out. We also looked very closely at the direct services we receive from that
agency and their role has changed significantly in the last decade by the state statute. I direct benefits we get from them do not come close to equaling our memberships. Just to be candid, uh they do some regional work, but for most
of the product we get from them, uh they charge us an additional fee beyond what our membership is. I that's just a fact. Um I I know they've increased their budget over the years. I think the best we could do is urge them to keep their
budgets low and to go more for fee for service for those who use them. We'll probably use them less moving forward than we have in the past. >> Can can someone give me an example of a most recent utilization that we've utilized specific to Valuchia? I
>> think the vulnerability assessment uh study that was done about a year ago. It was finalized that is a requirement mandated by the state to be eligible for certain uh grant opportunities for resiliency and and flood protection etc.
But I believe that was our last contract for service. >> So if we didn't do that through them, we would have to hire another private agency to do it. Is that what kind of sort of would have happened? >> Correct. Or have done it in house, which may be a strategy better suited in the future. >> Thank you. You've answered my questions, >> George. George, what a great right hand
you have. Suzanne is ready with those answers, man. I mean, she's got it on the tip of her tongue. >> Jake, while we're on the subject, would you like to add anything to >> Sure. Sure, sir. You know, I currently sit as the uh vice chair because when
you're there long enough, it's it's your turn. So, um I I think East Central Florida um regional planning com council does a a great job at regionalizing um
issues, right? We have five counties um uh in in the region and uh it's good to collaborate with all those counties to find out what they're doing, what we're not doing. Uh if if you look at the
flavor of some of our visiting or our neighboring counties are a little bit different than than this flavor. Um, so it's interesting to hear the the diverse uh opinions of of the rest of the crew and the and the boy Danny, what are you
saying? The counselor is about 25 people sitting around that table, so it gets pretty uh uh pretty diverse. Um, but but for me, uh, it's great to hear from the different water management districts and
things like that. Having said that, uh I'm with Suzanne right now. Our our county does not choose to use them at the uh at the same capacity that some of the other counties use them for. Uh they
there was a big um net zero push, which back to flavor of of of councils. Um um sometimes you're for that, sometimes you're against that. I think I think our advantage of being there at that point
was I was on that subcommittee and I was able to kind of temper what what the council wanted to do. Um uh and and they welcome that that diversity of opinion and we can we can um uh kind of mold what the region's
doing. Uh but >> can I ask you a followup to that >> either way? Yeah. >> Just that portion, Mr. Chair. Can I ask him a follow up to that portion? the the when you said the uh the flavor of the councils and I think you gave a description of something that it was a policy or something that they were
looking to do. Can can do you know of any instances in the past u and I'm sorry if I'm putting you on the spot that they adopted some type of position as a council that you think would have been contrary to this body here in
Valuchia. Uh, no. Uh, I I think they I think they work as dynamically as possible to meet the needs of of the region via the state and the fed via grants,
right? If there's a grant for something that's in their wheelhouse, they will apply for that grant, get that grant, and work with the region uh to execute whatever that grant was for. um uh if it's uh
if it's uh diversity of energy to include nuclear and things of of that that I appreciate, I want to be part of that conversation. Um um and in my conversation with the executive director
all the time is if if we don't participate, don't we still don't we still gain uh gain favor and and we're part of the we're we're part of the result whether we participate or not.
And and her comment back was a good comment is yes, but I want you to be part of the solution. I want you to be a player at the table. Um, uh, I think Ray, we're at 133 and change for for our
our yearly, uh, >> 124 >> 124. Um, uh, I I agree with Suzanne. We we don't use them for 124,000. Uh, but but some of our cities do. Now, having said that,
they they pay a little bit into it, too. But if you think about some of the cities that are less fortunate and and the the the services they get from East Central Florida, that that helps out a lot as well. Um, not to say that that's why we
pay, but but they do benefit. >> Was Was there an attempt last legislative season to cut this from the budget? there there was an attempt to change the way they are
to change the way they are guided by the state. Uh and and with that may have may have come some funding. I forget. >> Was that last year? >> Uh two two years ago >> because I don't think there was anything this year. Okay. Thank you.
>> Uh Councilman Kent. Thank you, Chairman Ray. Thank you for the um the information this afternoon, this morning, this afternoon. The only piece that gave me a little heartburn was the permit and inspection fees do not cover costs. I've said it before up here. I'm I'm not one for um doing no increases
and then all of a sudden, you know, we do a we do a 30 40 50% increase on on on our customers. I like small incremental increases to keep up with um what we should be doing. And I'm not crazy about the taxpayers footing the bill for others that are getting permits and
inspections done. And I feel like they should be able to that should be paid for by the the applicants. So George, that's where I am with that. Thank you. >> I if I if I may, I I mean, if you look at planning and and development, um I
tend to look at it as an investment for the community as well. And you know, most your municipalities and counties that the these permit fees don't quite pay, you're going to get the tax revenues back in the in the future. And
exactly you if you are going to raise and you most likely depending on council but incrementally is pretty typical. >> Any other questions on >> Yeah. generally I agree with what Mr.
Kent just said. Um but I have a question. You said you've done I guess last year 276 courtesy reviews and I was really glad to to hear that. that's important to our our citizens. Is there a charge for that? >> No.
>> Good. That's where I I don't really want there to be, but Councilman Kent's right. We need to we need to pay have revenue for our services. But I'm I'm really kind of glad that you're you're providing that service. Um
u because they they're going to pay down the road anyway if they move forward. Which brings me to my last question. Who who are your customers? >> Our customers are our citizens.
Our customer are our developers. Our customers are our applicants. Our customers are the whole community, >> right? Some of them are homeowners, >> right, >> that need permits, whatever environmental questions. Some of them are are home builders. It's a wide. It's
I don't know if you're the biggest division in the county, but you touch that crew sitting behind you touches everybody in the community at some time. >> It's a It's a really important division. Uh Councilman Robbins, thank you, Chairman
Ray. Um I appreciate um all the information that you were able to put together. Um I do know we do a lot that's above and beyond. I'm just looking at further um efficiencies that we can look at in the future. Um I know
we do a lot above and beyond state and federal law in multiple areas. Uh we talked about at this council, last council, and the council before that. at some point, doesn't have to be anytime soon, but maybe uh you know, in
the fall or or uh during the budget, if we can somehow get a number to see what that total cost that's above and beyond um state and federal laws at a local level, um that would be uh an interesting number to look at to see uh where we can save in departments,
positions, um bureaucracy, all the above. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, >> I'm gonna move on to if it's okay. We're going to talk about the environmental management
um division uh different activities. We have operations, water quality, protected species, uh pollution control. Uh total uh expenses is is about two $2 billion. We
are we do we do have uh internal reimbursement from from public works uh to help us um about $100,000 for our water quality where we take samples that's kind of related to our
MSDS uh uh countywide permit. So uh Ginger is our director. Uh we have administration again water quality uh protected species and pollution control.
Our summary of operations uh with water quality sample surface water have 80 locations uh within the county. Uh we also help the Florida Department of uh environmental protection
uh with inspecting of hazardous or domestic solid waste uh small quantity generators that we are required to uh do I think 15 or 20% of inspections a year for those. Uh our planning include our
low impact development. Uh we have a manatee protection program that is kind of based on state law where all counties are required to have a manatee protection program. We help enforce that uh make sure that everybody
is in compliance with that program. We do the uh the popular regrowia uh program and educational outreach and of course we do the annual s the successful annual St. John's River cleanup.
So, we do have uh temporary personnel. We have a a full-time and a part-time uh employee uh at about 59,000. We do have uh memberships
uh budgeted for for 55,000. Remember, 50,000 of that though is for the Indian River Lagoon Council and our over part of our overlay district there. Uh, of course we got vehicle
replacements and and tools and such. So, some of our accomplish accomplishments uh obtained and managed a uh 2.57 million grant for septic upgrades in Deleon Springs. That was uh excellent. And of course on council
direction we are continuing to try to get grants to help that community as well as our other communities. Uh we inspected 819 businesses that generated hazardous waste helping those business comply with the rules and regulations.
Uh we hosted the annual uh St. John's River cleanup. We had 440 volunteers uh and collected uh 40 over 4,300 pounds of garbage and we responded to 76 stranded manatees, dolphins, and wells.
Uh again, obtaining grants offset uh the costs. Uh we also get a grant from find for the uh St. John's River water management cleanup. Uh we partner with St. John's uh for for water sampling. Um we have a pretty
decent relationship, a great relationship where we collect the samples, they pay for the analysis, so it works out. future challenges. Uh, of course, the state mandated water quality improvements,
uh, rules and regulations, uh, particularly for the springs will require potential significant investment in the near and and and maybe long term. Uh, we've talked about those strategies, I know here at council as well. uh and
we will continue to uh pursue those grant fundings that we have been successful in uh getting in the past. So here for any questions on that portion of environmental we've got some more environmental that that slides that we'll we'll do I'll do here. >> Okay.
>> A little bit vice chair Reinhardt has a question. >> Thank you chair. Um just to stay along the same line I saw the membership for the same or the um IRL council that's a requirement as well. Correct. >> That is >> all right. I just want to I thought it was but just because we asked the question last time to kind of educate
the public as well. >> All right. And uh one other question we had attempted a Noah grant before. It was a rather substantial Noah grant and I know I was very I was so hopeful that we would have gotten that for and and
Ginger knows why. Um have we those is that something that's offered annually or just every so I I don't think it's annually is it? >> No. I took a shot. >> No, that particular grant isn't something that comes around that often. It was sort of like a moonshot type
grant. We applied for $50 million. There was a lot of money in that pot. Um, but we do continue to look and see what grants are up to fit in with our mission and and you know, keeping in mind too that grants take a lot of management and so you have the staff that can you know
>> Well, I appreciate your efforts >> and manage it once you get it. But we're still looking. >> Okay. I appreciate your efforts. You know why? I mean that that particular grant would have actually helped out everything all the way down to Indian River County if we would have applied it. So, thank you.
Okay. Go on to the uh Lyanna Environmental Learning Center. Um we have a total expenses in our budget for
464,000 that is offset by uh fees uh and um you know programs that we have at the at the area. Uh we have 4.5
uh employees. one is uh temporary uh mainly for for the summer months and to help out. Uh the summary of operation it is a uh heavily on the educational programs focusing on the local u systems
and environmental stewardship. Uh lots of programs, school and homeschool groups utilize the facility. Uh we have winter, spring and summer breaks and camps. uh and scouts and other groups
that uh routinely uh have activities there. So I mentioned uh temporary personnel. We have two part-time employees and this is for the weekends um and for camps specifically. Uh other
costs of computer uh replacement uh special program costs, supplies and those type of things for for events. accomplishments is uh we hosted over 15,000 people in the exhibit in the gallery this past year there and we
provided 206 public programs with over 2,000 people participating. Um they attended 21 community outreach events and held special events reaching over 3,000 people. hosted 37 school
field trips with a total of 18 over 1,800 students and then we completed echo projects for new exhibits um within the facility itself. So this is the key. I mean only have four four and a half
employees um is our volunteers again in this program. We have over 40 active volunteers who donate over nearly 5,000 hours uh equivalent to 2.25 FTEES. Uh we utilize
that contractor staff uh um to help with our workloads. I already mentioned that. But the volunteers is something special that they help help the program to continue to go. Uh we'll be evaluating some of our challenges, be evaluating
camp and field trip fees to help maybe supplement uh an opportunity to offset some of those costs. So any questions on the uh that's you have one question from uh Vice Chair Matt Reinhardt. >> Thank you, Chair Ray. I've seen almost every single and correct me if I'm
wrong. Um but just for again educating the public, every single category, every single department, there's more an expense than there is revenue. Correct. >> Yes. >> So, we're doing good. All right. Thank you. >> Okay. Okay.
I'm going to go into um our environmental pering permitting. Uh we have a total expenses of about 1.2 million dollars a year. We do bring in some revenues with with fees. Um, and
I'll break those down here. Uh, we do have, uh, we bring revenues in for gopher tortoise review fees. Um, not every application has a gopher to like if you have a site plan or we're doing a site visit for a tree. We'll be out
there. We're not going to charge it for gopher tortoise fee if we're already out there. uh provide some revenues with tree permitting, wetland alteration permit, class 2 permits and a little bit with farm pond.
So we have uh nine FTEs in this group. Uh we have uh activity project manager, some environmental specialists and and zoning technician. Summary of operations is you know part of that this team is to implement the
comprehensive plan our land development code our minimum standards are chapter 50 and chapter 72 which includes tree protection wetland protection uh our Indian river lagoon overlay zone
and looking for protected species. So you know we we had a little discussion earlier you know when a site plan comes in you know this group looks at the wetlands they look at all the environmental natural resources and work with the developer to to make sure that
they are protected in a reasonable way. Uh we provide courtesy inspections. Uh we implement the regrow valucia tree planting program and we also assist with uh post- disaster uh assessment. So some
of the operating expenses here we have two full-time employees uh of temporary personnel. They do not utilize uh the 92,000. I think last year they utilized a little over half of that
amount. And what that is is uh depending on workload and those type of things, you have those resources there to help and and try to get things done. We also have, you know, the uh the countywide indirect cost and administration fee. Uh
we have vehicle replacements and vehicle maintenance. All these are kind of our top operating expenses. Our accomplishments is uh processed over 13,000 reviews uh permits for
residential properties. Conducted 482 reviews for non-residential projects including site plans, subdivisions, and zoning cases. They also review that when these when these um applications come in. Assisted uh nearly 30,000 customers
in person by phone or by email. you know, someone calls and they want to have information on my tree, you know, or what to plant, you know, we're there for them. Efficiencies. Uh they recently, I guess, replaced multiple pieces of field
equipment with tablets uh to make make the process uh a little bit a little bit more efficient. Uh again using contracted staff. We want to make sure that our customers are taken care of and depending on the workload we may use as
contracted staff to do such things. Um identified and and implemented process efficiencies. We have been talking about this. We will be looking at improving those efficiencies in this group. Uh performance measures and those type of things in the future. Uh and you know
one thing about this group too is it's not just uh growth resource management you know they're a tool they're they're professionals along with all of our growth resource management that help and aid other divisions other departments
you know we the fire for example uh they'll utilize us on population growth and those type thing and studies same thing with environmental public works is doing something they're doing the public, our our resources are there to help them out uh internally to make sure
that they're compliant with the codes. Our future challenges um Senate Bill 180, as you know, the tree protection regulation, I think you all directed and rack to review that is kind of on hold because of 180. So that kind of uh pream
hampers uh code changes for us, you know, um or any other code changes we may want to do. I know our wetland code is was done in 1988. Um but looking at that with 180 and and making possible changes to any code, uh 180 will preempt
us from doing that. Uh they're also going to be part of our disaster management group of looking at uh uh you know post- disaster and then maintaining that customer service expectation uh providing solutions for constrained
sites. Sometimes you know a lot of the good sites are gone. Uh you know you got a lot of upland areas. You don't have 100% upland anymore for development. There's all it seems like there's going to be some sort of uh environmental challenge or maybe some wetlands could
be isolated wetlands but you know some of that big upland stuff is gone. Any questions or direction on on this? Just a curiosity question. You had a picture of a gopher hole. This came up I
think recently with a possible development in Pearson. What is the What is the fee for if somebody has to move a goofpher somewhere else? What's the fee for that? >> Do you know what the going rate is now?
>> Chief, do you know the rate? >> Yeah. >> Keith Abramson, County Forester. Um the fee is determined by the recipient sites. Um, it's roughly anywhere from 5,500 to six grand to relocate a tortoise. You can relocate them on site,
which is what everybody prefers, and you don't have to pay that recipient site to take in the tortoise. So, um, we work with a lot of land owners to get them to relocate tortoises on site to save them money, and, you know, they're happier in the habitat that they grew up in.
So that's per tortoise 55 to $6,000 each. >> Yeah. >> Do you do you find um do you find gophers that disappear before that happens?
>> Not often. >> Surprised. >> And Mr. Chair, just for clarification, those are not fees to the county. That's >> I know. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. answer to your question about do we see them disappear. Um the the beauty of the work that we do is that we go out on site as soon as someone applies for a
permit and we locate those gopher tortoise burrows. Um if we're going to be out on the site for a tree permit, like Ray said, um there's no cost to the owner for this, but we locate and GPS those gopher tortoise burrows, so they're less likely to disappear because we've marked them and we put a flag up
and we notify the property owner. Um, where we do sometimes see people doing bad things is before they've applied for a permit and then we of course have to take them through a code enforcement process and they go through the state process for, you know, disturbed site
and including criminal charges in some cases. >> How do you know something happened before we ever got out there? >> Sometimes there's evidence. We have a site right now where it looks like a large number of burrows were um dug into with equipment and the evidence is still
there that that that had happened. And so that's sometimes there's no evidence, right? I mean, you don't know what you don't know. Somebody buried something and you never knew it was there. We're never going to know that. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh Councilman Johansson had a question.
>> And I may have missed this. I should probably know this, but the county doesn't have any gopher tortoise hotel areas right now, >> condominiums. >> Our um resource stewardship department
operates a gopher tortoise recipient site exclusively for the use of county projects. So if we have a project where we have to relocate gopher tortoises, they go to our site. It is not a for-profit, you know, the developers can use it type. >> I'm not considering for profit. I'm
considering for the gophers that that we be included in being part of that and saving them. Uh is there any areas we could? >> Yes. Uh resource stewardship has looked at the Fuchia forever properties that we have to identify which ones are
appropriate. Um you do have to manage specifically for gopher tortoises in those cases and there's some some strict rules from Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Um but we certainly have properties where gopher tortoises live now and um I know that they've developed the one site which is
so far sufficient for our needs but they're on the lookout. >> Is is it worth looking into? >> I think we are I mean we we we're cons constantly looking and that is something we'll expand but right now I mean our number one priority was for our own
projects and there's even concern uh over with our projects do we have enough uh land ready? So, but and do >> he's charged with that and he he's working on it now. >> Do we do inner fund administrative inner fund charges when we do that?
>> Sure. >> If the fire stage Yeah. >> Right. >> Um All right. And go ahead, Nick. >> Uh yes, Nick Dunham, resource stewardship director. The county does have one recipient site on uh county owned conservation lands on Longleaf
Pine Preserve. That is an FWC permitted site. Uh we do have a a capacity that we have to abide by and annual monitoring. So the the cost to the uh the county is approximately $1,100 per tortoise for a county project. Um that reimbures the land management program for the cost to
maintain that recipient site over time. >> What one more trying to do a highrise? >> I'm sorry. We're we're really density >> getting off uh you said you prefer to relocate them on the property. >> Don't they do they not just go back or
do you have to put some kind of temporary fencing or something to discourage that? >> Yes. So during construction if if there's room on the site to temp to relocate the gopher to on site um you do that you fence off the construction area so he can't come back right and wants to
go back to his old home. So you you prevent the tortoise from doing that and then once the construction is complete you remove those physical barriers and then that go to can build a burrow on the property >> or she wants. Okay. >> All right. Were you done Jake?
>> Yes sir. >> Okay. Go ahead Ray. >> Any other questions on on this? >> Okay. Uh we'll move on to uh building and code operations code compliance. We have total expenses of about 1.2 2.5 million. Our revenues are uh about
$160,000. They come in the form of sign permits, outdoor entertainment permits, uh code enforcement, lot maintenance fees, uh fines and those type of things.
Uh as part of the uh code enforcement, it is under uh building and code uh administration. Some of the uh general fees are are taken from our um our our building folks, our our uh director and uh some
of our assistants. We have a total of nine FTEEs for code compliance. What we try to have is a code compliance uh officer in every district uh as as part of the service. As you
know, we are complaint driven enforcement uh for the county. Uh some of our top uh I think code cases are lot maintenance, working without a permit, uh unmaintained property, and junkyards. I mean, when I talked about planning, I
talked about an investment. I think code enforcement is maintaining your investment in in the community uh to keep that uh good quality of life. Uh we really really really try hard uh to to
make sure it's not punitive. We want to work with folks and we we continue to do that and um uh we rather them take care of their code cases rather than going to uh code board and we've been pretty successful about that. Uh our indirect
costs uh 115,000 administration fees, service charge, uh some of our expenses, uh maintenance of a building and grounds, uh lot maintenance, $49,000, vehicle replacement, legal expenses. Uh
but remember, you know, some of the like like uh maintaining some of the lots that that we do show in our budget, a lot of that will come back hopefully and and leans and those type of things. So, some of these costs are are kind of passed through. Uh
our accomplishments and efficiencies, uh looking at every vehicle that we get, we don't need the large vehicles anymore. They Nick has been uh doing great of of trying to cut costs and downsizing our vehicles. We don't need large vehicles when we're doing code code compliance.
Uh we upgraded with laptops, uh integrated cameras to eliminate the need for for multiple devices, uh where they can do their work out in the field. Uh and and again, I'm going to emphasize improving that voluntary compliance upfront, getting folks and officers that
are able to work with folks uh and say, "Hey, you know, let's move your trailer. You know, be be nice. Let's let's get them to comply without using force and let's let's let's improve that voluntary compliance."
future challenges. Uh again, aging uh infrastructure and the population growth uh you know we get as you know we get a lot of complaints and uh uh which a lot are warranted by our community. You know once we get a plate we're going to go out there and we're going to take a look
at it. Uh and this was discussed at the last um council meeting of the you know the state law had changed. So body cams uh we're looking into that. uh next year for for this budget cycle to make sure
that we have our code officers provided with those body cams, get the procedures and policies in place now uh and those type of things. So, any any questions or on code enforcement? >> No, you are free to continue.
>> Okay, I'm going to turn it over just for a few slides with Mr. Bartlett. >> Hold on a second. It's going to take a little longer, right? >> Little change of pace here. Um, public works plays a small role in our, uh, permitting and development review
throughout the county. Uh, we work closely with growth and resource management. Mainly, um, we're focused on the infrastructure that the county is going to be either getting in our rideway or maintaining going forward. So, we have a staff of five people,
three inspectors, uh an engineering assistant who basically is the intake for all of the use permits, rightway use permits, and we have a civil engineer to do development review, site plan review, traffic engineering review, things like that. So, what do we do? Anytime somebody wants to build something in a
county maintained rightway, they have to get a permit. We have to review what they want to do and then we go out and inspect what they're doing to make sure that they're complying with their permit. They're not putting anything in the rideway that could be unsafe or something that we have to maintain in the future that's going to cost us uh an inordinate amount of money. We also do
development review. We look at development within the unincorporated area from a storm water standpoint as as well as general site review and we review any infrastructure that's serving the public. Many times new development is constructing infrastructure that is going to be maintained by the HOA. We
still do a review of that to make sure it's constructed in accordance with the plans and specifications. And then we also do um uh MPDS inspections of construction sites to make sure they're compliant with maintaining they're not having any illicit discharges or anything offsite. Again, those are all
in the unincorporated area. The cities would do those inspections for their respective municipalities. And then from an operating expense standpoint, mostly is personnel. Um we do have the the usual administrative and indirect cost fees. And then we have vehicle maintenance, vehicle cost and
maintenance for our um for our inspectors. So happy to answer any questions you have on that. >> Councilman Santiago. >> Yeah. Can we go back to the overlying budget? The first one? Another one? Yeah, >> that one. Yeah. Another one.
Seems like a lot of money. Is that is that the proper amount of money we need to be using for this? >> Yes, sir. We do get some revenue through use permitting. >> I can't keep straight face with the question. Sorry, I was just messing with you. Sorry, Mr. Chair. It's Ben. You know, I got to have a little bit of fun.
Good job. >> That was it on the questions. >> All right, I'll turn it back over to Ray. Thank you. >> I think I should ask the same questions to Ray about the money, right? >> Ray, do you do you know what a NPDES is?
>> Municipal District. Uh, >> no. National Pollution Control. >> The Silk Fence guys. >> I said that. I just said >> Okay. I had that wasn't a trick question. I had I had no idea. >> Oh, sorry.
>> Okay. So, the the last part of uh my my portion of the presentation is the uh growth management commission. Um this is a uh a commission that was established uh through through the
charter uh many years ago. Um it um sorry about that. It has a total expenses of 241 uh,000. Um there is a 0.5 a part-time operations
manager who manages uh the program the consultings uh they have uh two contract planning firms uh and legal firms. So what they do is they uh again was established by
the charter uh they coordinate uh the Valuchia Growth Management Commission coordinates uh largescale comprehensive plans large scale that that come into the community. They they serve as a of a clearing house and they have a board
that reviews these and and they may make recommendations. Uh it's more of a clearing house for conflict conflict potential conflict resolution. If two communities are conflicting with uh with a comp plan, they're they're there to to
try to help resolve that. Um we have um on the board there, we've we've got uh the unincorporated citizens. I think there's five uh on the board. The cities each get one person on the board. the school board is representative and the
uh water management district is also uh representative as well. So again the operating expenses uh cont most of its contracted services I think uh last year there there was
100,000 put into the budget of anticipation of of some legal uh challenges that did not occur so that it should be a lot less. uh they are renting uh our building on beach side uh at about 5,000
uh and travel and and and and legal ads. So any questions? I know there is a member of or consultant who who's there who who runs the growth management commission, but I'm here for any questions that I may be able to answer.
>> Councilman Jake Johansson. >> Yes, sir. Uh Ray, we've seen um mainly cities that are having crossjurisdictional issues. Um um I Orman and Daytona I
think come to mind with a water issue and a and a few others. Maybe Edgewater and New Smyrna with Daring Park. I'm not sure. But how much interaction does the BGMC have on issues like that? Um and
and do do they do they resolve the issues or uh you know you not that I blame the newspaper but when you read the article it never says VGMC has proposed. So I'm I'm just curious.
>> Uh Mr. Johansson I do have Chris Dory here um that he may able to provide some of that information. >> Mr. chair. Uh, members of the council, Chris Dardy. I am a BGMC planner and I'm with Inspire Placemaking Collective. Um,
to to answer your question, um, it's not often that we have issues between jurisdictions, but they they do come up. Sometimes they come up uh when they're not reviewing the case and we say, "Hey, take a look at this amendment because this is potentially going to cause
issues down the road for uh you as a jurisdiction." But in the case of Orman Beach and Daytona Beach that uh we determined through our review of that particular case that Daytona Beach was doing what they were supposed to be doing. They were updating their water
supply plan. Uh part of their service area overlaps with Orman Beach. Orman Beach took issue with that. They already had an agreement in place for that particular situation. um everything else that we looked at
from a comp plan standpoint uh was above board. So, and that did that did result in a lawsuit. Um and uh that judgment was found in favor of the VGMC. >> Right. So, so does the VGMC actively
look at these plans or or are you more passive and waiting for people to um to submit issues to you all for consideration. >> We are active in our review. >> Got it.
>> Thank you. >> Reach out, >> Councilman Santiago. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, in um the whole purpose of these these hearings is to find efficiencies for government spending and specific to us. VGMC,
my colleagues know I've been very critical of it. Not from the individual, so don't take this personal. It's a self-imposed thing that we've done here in the county. I don't know if any other county does it, but I may be wrong there. Um and it's 241,000 I think what number was somewhere around
there. Um and unnecessary cost. Now, I know it's in the charter. I've talked to staff about that. But I I think if we are serious about looking at our spending, it's an unnecessary layer um that we have in our own government here.
If we can't get rid of it, then I think as we go into this budget season, neuter it as much as possible to still be in compliance with our charter requirements because it is in there. So our staff is very competent and capable of finding out if developments are
contrary to our views or things like that and we can act accordingly. So we don't need the extra layer of government. I just want to put that on the record. Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Go ahead, Rick. >> Uh that's uh that's it with the Bis. >> I thought you going to say I agree with
you. I'm joking. Okay, thank you very much. >> Appreciate your time. Thanks. >> So, >> any Jake? >> Yep. So, I I everything you said was was uh great
today. I I didn't chime in individually because I I wanted to wait till the end. I I think most of what I have to say is is general in nature. Um, and and I think I think what you're trying to do is going to get me where I want you to go, but uh I want to make it known to
the public, but um I I think we need to get to 100% cost recovery and and I know that's going to raise potentially raise the cost of a
home or permitting. Uh but we have to figure that out and and there's a couple ways to do that, right? Uh uh increase fees or become more efficient. Uh, I I think with Amanda coming up for for review and
and possibly going out to bid for uh um either renewal or or a better product if there's one out there that there's opportunities there for uh for some type of ERP that that works for you
that does a little bit of everything that you talked about today. I I don't know if that exists. you're the one that goes to those conferences uh uh and figures it out. But um I I would I would love to see that that efficiency and
automation. Um I know George that that our IT department is doing some type of experimentation and you're starting to dabble in AI. I I I I think there's money to be made there if you can
protect us from, you know, HAL 2000 coming and taking control of our county, but um but I I think there's plenty of of opportunity for you there. Um I I would like to see uh every every way we
can to get a 100% u um cost recovery. Find out make sure that that our that our contracts for external whatever we're contracting for is the best way forward.
very seldom does in-house in in that business does in-house save money because then you got to pay the government bill part of it and um and just keep working to invest in auto automation. Um if not to reduce the the
the pressure from staff but to get more people doing that human thing that they have to do and less time doing the stuff that that we can automate. So, uh, with that, I I think you can find even more efficiencies throughout the next few years. Thanks.
>> Thank you, >> County Manager George Rectenwald. >> Yeah, I just I want to commend uh Rey and his team because they have been constantly working that we've had studies, we've had uh our own in-house work and reviews and they'll continue
along those lines. it is uh sometimes we find ourselves maybe splitting some hairs. Uh there are areas where we really try to do customer service uh as mentioned uh we try to be friendly uh when people come in and ask questions
and uh because we we see such a wide variety of customers. You know, it's yes, we have the the uh the big professionals that come in and and deal with that, but we also many times have uh mom and pop
and and uh they they just want to split their property or they just, you know, and again, the staff works really hard to accommodate both areas. And into that, you know, they try to exercise some discretion when you get into like
fees, building fees, inspection fees, you know, uh do we hit them every time when we go back out look at something? Uh not necessarily. We try to be, you know, if if the people are working and trying to be uh honest about it, work
hard, there is some discretion. Uh you'll see more about that maybe uh coming up in the future. But uh again trying to split the hair between being very customer service uh friendly, but also to your your point, we do want to
be 100% cost recovery. And I want to say in the building area, we we are there. It's it's in the planning and zoning area uh where we're not yet. And of course, that's a little bit uh little bit more difficult, but we're working at that. And uh but I I just I do want to
say that we're we are there when it comes to the building fees and in that particular area. >> Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much, staff. Uh Lisa Lewis, have you have you enjoyed
your morning? Okay. And that brings us to the item that you've been waiting for all day. Item eight, appointment of Frank Bruno as substitute member of Valuch County Canvasing Board for all of the elections for 2026. Uh, Vice Chair Matt Reinhardt.
>> Thank you, Chair. I'd like to make a motion for the reappoint of Mr. Bruno to serve on behalf of the council for the Valition County Canvasing Board for all elections to be held in 2025. >> Second, Joe Hansen. >> Who made the second? >> Joe Hansen. >> Okay.
Any questions? >> Any questions for Lisa? She's been here all day. >> Does he do a good job, Lisa? Does >> Yeah. >> Good afternoon. I just want I do want to say thank you
for reappointing Well, you haven't voted yet, but hopefully reappointing Mr. Bruno. He does bring a balance to our canvasing board. I've explained that before. and he does, believe it or not, enjoy it. Um, he he has been doing it for several years back when he was on the council
and since he's been off, he has assisted. So, we appreciate him and we appreciate each of you also. >> Well, thank you. And we appreciate you. >> Thank you. >> You have a big job. >> Thank you. >> And you and you do it well. Uh, then
let's see if he gets approved. All in favor of uh the appointment of Frank Bruno, please say I. >> I. >> And any opposed? And he's reappointed unanimously. Seven to zero. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> I'm sure I'll be seeing you throughout
the year. >> Uh Councilman Robbins. Oh, chair. I was just going to uh volunteer for uh the last agenda item. >> Motion to approve. Councilman Robbins volunteering to to serve as
It's nice to hear your voice. >> Council member to Deep Creek Preserve Management Plan Advisory Group. I'll make the motion and I'll second it if it's allowed. >> Okay. Uh, a motion by Troy Kent, second by David Santiago for the nomination of
Danny Robbins uh, to Deep Creek Preserve Management Plan Advisory Group. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? and you are appointed. >> Thank you, Danny. >> And
that brings us to public participation. There not being any excited there. >> See if we can read the name this time. Jim John Nicholson.
>> It looks like Jim T. Nicholson. >> I was a doctor in a past life. Uh John Nicholson Bside. Couple of things. One, uh I know you want to get rid of the arts and culture from the general uh fund. Again, I want to ask you to put on the ballot in November the idea of
putting the arts and culture into the echo fund because what's the use of having these buildings? We did the brick and mortar. They have to be used. All right. So, ask the public. Things have changed. We're looking at uh budget
cuts. We want these buildings used and we want them used by the young kids, by the elderly, the poor, etc., etc. This is a a proper use of the funding. And ask them. All you have to do is put it on the ballot and ask them. Uh secondly,
um pay attention to the uh money. The state is doing these audits all around and they just did one for Flaggler. If you look at what the paper reported, I think they're they're targeting with the idea of they want to say there's too much money in the budget, therefore
lower taxes. And if they do that for the other three that I've I looked at, they're going to do it to us. So be aware that of what they're saying. um they are just not looking close enough into why things are in the budget. Uh
they're just assuming like uh our council person uh at our meeting, she looked at the seven uh the 15 TVs and automatically assumed that they were luxury items for the uh fire rather than a computer driven. Um,
also the CRAAS visualize driving over any of our bridges onto the beach side. You will notice there are seven large buildings on the north half of our CRA on the ocean. The south half there are none. No
new buildings since the uh CRA were in in 40 years ago. And why? One, because Jim Chisum didn't want them. And secondly, you took off the CRA representative from the county. If the county had been there, the misfunding
that that we found out would not have happened. The county would have looked at it. So, I'm asking you, again, I know this it's an appointment by the city, but if you don't ask, you don't get. So, I'm asking you to take a look at it, please. And Main Street is going to be
remodeled. They're looking at it carefully. You own it. um if they screw it up, which they're planning on doing, uh we all lose. Remember how valuable uh tourism is. All right. They are planning
on two laning it from what the diagrams that are showing so that there's no turn lanes at Peninsula or Halifax. They will back up. You do not want that backed up to the other side of the river or to Rididgewood. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. Uh, county
manager. >> I have nothing today. >> Okay. County attorney has something. >> Just uh two brief items. Um, I would like the authority to um proceed with
possibly filing suit if necessary. Um, we have a an agreement that the council entered into uh with Proto Group Inc. It operates as Daytona Grande Oceanfront Hotel. Uh we
recently the county performed 13,988 of work um that our position they are responsible for. uh we entered into an agreement with allowed proto group to place improvements and structures in the
approach in exchange for maintaining the approach and would like to ask for the authority to enforce that contract that council approved. >> Okay. And I hope you'll get that motion and second and approval. Uh Vice Chair Matt Reinhardt, >> I will make that motion. I'm very
familiar with that property. There's uh the hotel owner next door to it had reached out to me as well and that's what started asking him the same question. So I'll make that motion. >> Okay. >> There was a second. Councilman Robbins makes the second
to allow you to pursue the uh the suit. Uh any questions for Mike? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? and you get the approval of the council unanimously. Anything else?
>> And just one other item, I'd like uh your approval to bring back an agenda item to you. Um I sent you an email uh that one of the things that came out of this legislative session was a really hefty increase to our sovereign immunity
caps, which right now are at 200,000 per person. um if signed by the governor that would result in a 75% increase about 350,000. I would assume other local governments are in the same position that they're
looking at uh what is the authority of the manager to resolve some of the claims before litigation or if litigation's filed. I'd like to bring back an ordinance to bring that online um to uh really get us ready
for that change of the sub media caps takes effect in October. >> I'll make the same motion. >> Motion to approve his uh county attorney's request. >> Second by Jake Johansson. When would you bring it back? >> Um we would have to it would be a month.
>> Okay. Whatever your time frame is needs to be. Uh, any questions for the county attorney on this request? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Seven to zero. Anything else? While you're batting a thousand.
>> No, I'll stop while I'm ahead. Thank you. >> Okay. Uh, then we will go to council uh closing remarks. Uh, Councilman Robbins. >> Thank you, Chairman. Uh just a couple actually just one one thing I'd like to
talk about uh while I was surf uh surfing u Facebook. Um I found actually a good ad uh or company that has to deal with HOA accountability. I know HOAs have been a hot topic, you know, and in my travels here the last six years
throughout the county uh and in my district being it's a coach coastal district, I've realized or come to realize that people have accepted some level of growth even though we don't have a whole lot of it in unincorporated Valuchia,
not that that goes in front of us. Uh but we do see annexations uh that are controlled by statute um and uh growth in the cities. But uh I have a couple uh videos here uh that uh I'd
like to show if they work. Um and and pretty much the purpose of this and my idea behind it is maybe giving staff direction to see what we can do to um show our residents that hey there's a little bit more checks and balances or
hey the HOAs uh that border us uh or that come into unincorporated county that that they're keeping up with their storm water maintenance that it's not going to affect any neighboring properties or or residents. And that's primarily what I'm hearing uh is the acceptance uh of it. People understand
property rights. People understand that we cannot not do anything or build. Um but when it does happen, are we doing it? Um is there some long-term checks and balances? Uh Chris, if you could maybe just they only last about 30 seconds, but maybe the first two and
then the last one on that list for the original storm water maintenance agreement, the one the developer was supposed to hand over when the community was built 15 or 20 years ago and nobody can find it, you've got a bigger problem than a missing document. Here's what that missing agreement actually means.
When the developer built your community, they installed storm water infrastructure to get their permits, ponds, pipes, outfalls, drainage systems, all designed to manage runoff and meet county requirements. When they handed the community over to the HOA,
there was supposed to be a maintenance agreement transferred with it, a document that spells out exactly what the HOA is responsible for maintaining and how. If that agreement is missing, you're flying blind. You don't know what's your responsibility versus the
counties. You don't know what maintenance protocols were supposed to be followed. And you don't know what condition those systems were in when the handover happened. And now the city is asking for it, which usually means they're preparing to inspect or they
already found a problem somewhere in the watershed and they're working their way to your property. Either way, you need to know what you're dealing with, not what was on paper 15 years ago. What's actually happening on the ground today? Our storm water compliance assessment
gives you that. We inspect every system, document current conditions, identify deficiencies, and give you a prioritized road map. So, when the city follows up, and they will, you have all the current professional documentation that shows you're taking this seriously. Click
below. You'll land on a page explaining the full assessment. Drop your info in the form and we'll reach out to talk about your community and what the city. >> Um, yeah, maybe just the last one is fine. I think the last one was good.
>> Out that the industry recommendation is to allocate 12 to 35% of your annual HOA budget to retention pond maintenance and your community has been allocating less than 2%. You now understand why
everything feels like it's falling apart because it is slowly. And the math doesn't lie. Here's what happens when you underfund storm water maintenance by 90% or more for a decade. The sediment builds up in the pond. Nobody dredges it. The outfalls clog. Nobody cleans
them. The banks erode. Nobody stabilizes them. The vegetation overgrows. Nobody manages it. And each year the cost to fix all of it goes up. Deferred maintenance doesn't stay flat. It compounds. What would have been a $30,000 for bay cleaning 5 years ago is
now $175,000 full pond dredging. What would have been a $10,000 bank repair is now >> you get the point. um you know so so council at at the end of the day I'm
looking at at um possibly to hold um maybe some of these um huas more accountable long term. I don't know of a policy that exists here locally uh because there's a lot to do with state
statute in of what we can do with HOAs. Do you guys um I look forward to forward to hearing from everybody, but do you guys mind if we give staff just direction for maybe some additional info um to help I know any info would be
better than no info, but it would help some of my residents out. Um but also too, you know, it may let the folks that maybe live in these HOAs get on your HOAs if they're misallocating money, you know, so uh and not putting it where it
possibly needs to go. But I'm interested uh hearing what my colleagues have to say. >> Can you clarify your request? >> Just to send this back uh or send this over to staff to see if there's anything that we can possibly do at a local level
um that's not in uh conflict with the state statute in terms of um HOA accountability uh to their uh storm water systems. >> I don't have a problem with it. I support that. Yeah, >> information's good. I
>> I think that's a great re request. Uh, Councilman Johansson, >> I I do as well. I'd just like to ask uh George, what what do we do now to hold uh HOAs accountable, not not for how
much they spend, but but the outcome? >> Well, right now, of course, most of our work is done up front. And so, this is an interesting uh topic. I'd love to have the staff dive into it because I do think that uh uh over time uh this is
probably a problem and so you know we're not really equipped right now. Uh we do depend a lot on the HOAs. This is very similar to what you ran into with the condo uh >> exactly >> condo issues of not taking care of their
buildings and stuff and then it becomes a public problem. And this one here, you know, because of how it's tied into, uh, other storm water systems, uh, I definitely see it as something we should it'd be a worthwhile exercise to look into.
>> Councilman Robbins, would you would you make this, uh, time uncertain to give staff >> Yeah, it's going to take probably a little bit, you know, um, with the next couple months, two months here. you know, I'll just wrap it up with this.
You know, uh, council, I think what I like about this most, if we can even do anything, um, that it can be done by a third party, you know, we're not going to be increasing really government on our side. Uh, and it's something that may end up be a requirement by by the
HOA to follow these rules uh, or have this kind of stuff. So, I'm eager to to see it and it may help us out. So, thank you. >> That's all I got. >> Thank you. Uh, you made a motion. There was a second >> by Jake Johansson.
>> Okay. Uh, all in favor of Councilman Robbins proposal, please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay. Very good. Is that it for you? Uh, Councilman Santiago. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to
share a interesting my um experience my wife and I had. We just got back from our our vacation and uh one of the stops that we made, we had the privilege to visit the uh the beaches of Normandy, Omaha Beach and and those places. Um
it's a it's a real eye openener the the the experience that a lot of these young men went through over there. Uh it's kind of scary. um tried to I tried putting myself in that place of being told to either storm a 100 foot wall
scale and climb up ropes and dig parts of it or these uh two or 300 yard beaches where you could see where the bunkers were just shooting them down. So, but I learned something else interesting that we have a so there's the cemetery there that was houses the
American soldiers. I think there's like 9,000 of them that are buried there. So, we visit the Normandy Cemetery and is a Valuchia County resident buried there. And so, I just wanted to share his name and a little bit about him. Um, and we visited the site uh where he's buried is
a private Martin J. Cody. Um, he was part of the 115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. His hometown was Dan Valuchia County and he was killed on July 10th, 1944 during a fierce hedro
fighting near St. low France. It was interesting. I learned a little bit also about this hedge row fighting. So these hedros were separating a lot of these farms and there was these thick hedge that you really couldn't see through some of the stories that were shared with us that you know you could just be you know just within a few feet of the
enemy and not know it. Um so I just wanted to u recognize this private from Valuchia County that um we got the opportunity to visit the burial site. So amazing experience. So thank you Mr. Chair. Councilman Dempsey, >> I have nothing, but I will supplement
that. Remember that book I gave out when all the veterans were here and all that. And just as a reminder, because his name, I would imagine, is in that book because it dedicated to all the Valuchia County residents who were killed in action in World War II. And just as a reminder, the majority of the streets
that surround Halifax Hospital were named after uh Valuchia County residents killed in action in World War II. And so it's uh there's a book floating around with the veterans um director. I forget his name, but anyway, yeah, it's if you ever get a chance to look at that book, it's it's
very um humbling. It it just makes you appreciate what these Valuchia County people all did. And >> yeah, I'm sorry to step on you, but it was interesting because I'm I'm still jet-lagged from it. So, I was up at 2:00 a.m. the other night and I couldn't sleep, so I went to YouTube and I've
been watching D-Day stuff for the last 48 hours. well, in in the middle of the night. Um, it's just it's just amazing experience and the bravery. So, thank you. Thank you, Don, for sharing that. >> Councilman Johansson, >> thank you, sir. Um, uh, comment was made during public comments about, uh, core
values. I I I think we all agreed of what our core values were. It might have been a a quick decision, but uh, the the chairman made some good points. Um, the state has been going around and and
telling everybody that they're overspending in areas, but I I I think those assessments have to be tempered with what our local public wants to spend money on. Now, not
everybody uh is is interested in spending money on one thing or another. We have a a frequent flyer that sends us emails about what what he wants to spend money on and what he doesn't. Um we have uh uh 70 something% of the public that
wants to spend money on on Valuchia forever and so therefore there's like 27% that that doesn't or didn't care to vote for it. Um, so there's there's kind of a a dichotomy between what what the CFO
thinks ought to be spent, what the local public think ought to be spent in some cases. So, um, when it comes to uh non-mandatory spending, I think the public should have
a lot of say in that. Um uh so when it comes to core values, one of our missions is a quality of life for Valia County. Um we frequently here on on council uh get frustrated because people
say, I I knew nothing about that. And then you you look at George and go, George, how do they know nothing about it? And then he shows you the 80 million ways that we got the information out. radio, TV, every website we own and and
all that stuff. And you're like, well, we tried, right? Little yellow signs against the road that you can't read, so we ups the font and we we it's always something. So, um I I think I think the the public education in the in the
cities uh and the county's um uh universities ormies are are well worth our time. Um it's it's just like uh the folks are still out here um sitting in a council meeting learning about what
we're doing. The folks with the blue shirts could have left a long time ago, but here they are learning a little bit about about the the trials and tribulations of a council meeting. Um and and that's part of their education. They're going to go home and go, "You're
you're right. They do do that." Or, "No, no, no. Let me tell you what I saw when I was at the council meeting." So I think an informed not educated but informed public is is well worth our time and well worth our effort. Um uh so
so I I do believe that public education is a core value. Um secondly I I I kind of um I kind of mentioned that that I wanted uh staff to make sure they were talking to each
other. Uh most of you know that I come from 35 years in the Navy and with that comes a chain of command. Um that's a hard thing to shake. Uh and and I firmly believe there is there is a chain of command and and one of the things that
that we lived in the military is you don't jump the chain. Uh you you don't go to the general or the admiral before you go talk to the lieutenant and the captain. Um, so I I want to make sure in all instances that that that our our our
troops and and our workers and our staff are accessing their leadership to get the answers to questions before they come to us and and and
try to put something out there. Now, I I will say that that when when a member of our staff is bringing up something s I don't want to call it whistleblower, but brings up a concern
and that can that concern isn't addressed at all or addressed properly in in the public for that matter, then they have every right to come up here and and talk to us. Um uh and and and if if the person is still concerned,
then absolutely they have every right to come up here and chat with us about that. It wasn't a slam to you, George. It was just a um kind of kind of a thing about how I think about chain of command and and that that I want to make sure that that everything's being resolved at
the lowest issue. And if at that time it still needs to be brought up for public awareness, I'm I'm all for it. So that's where I stand on those two issues. Uh I believe that's all I have. Chairman, thank you. >> Thank you, Councilman Troy Kent. >> Thank you.
>> Wait one second. George, your name is up again. >> Yeah, I just uh real quickly I agree 100%. Uh I've worked with that chain of command issue. uh it is a you know probably almost half of our uh
organization is in a paramilitary type structure. Uh so to your point I do encourage that. But I encourage also the as you say the generals and the the colonels and whatever to go the opposite direction and push that information
down. And that that's a challenge and it can be a challenge particularly in something like a fire department where they have 20 stations and they work three distinct shifts. So, uh, in order to push it down, it does get to be a little bit of logistics challenge, but
we'll continue to work on that to make sure that they, uh, always have access. Uh, and again, I push getting that information in that other direction to try and eliminate, uh, some of those questions. And I think in today, I'm sorry that it took up time, but it was
I'm glad the discussion occurred. >> Councilman Troy Kent. Thank you, chairman. I um I dislike it. Excuse me. I just like it whenever I ever uh miss a meeting. I I did miss the last meeting and the meeting before that we ran late,
so we didn't have time for comments. So, I have just a couple of of brief comments here. My first one is actually to to John Nicholson. So, two meetings ago, I wanted to let you know you you were MIA. You weren't here and none of us knew why. So, I really asked staff to do a wellness check on you to make sure
you were okay. It was bike week and maybe you were busy. I don't know. But I just wanted you to know you weren't here. You were missed. Next. Um I see Michael Ryan is still here. And I have not had an opportunity to speak
about this since our state of the county address, but the state of the county address was um executed exceptionally well. Mr. Ryan, you and your team did a yman's job. And also I wanted to
publicly compliment um Terry and Miriam. Terry and Miriam to make sure everything on our end worked seamlessly. They were there for days. I heard um well beyond their contracted hours. So I just wanted to to thank them
for doing that as well. Lynn Flanders is in the house. Lynn, you know that when I ran for this council seat, one of my top three goals was to bring concerts and venues back to the Ocean Center. And ma'am, you have been making things
happen at the Ocean Center under your very competent leadership. So, thank you for what you're doing there as well. Gentlemen, on Sunday, May 31st, the county of Valuchia has partnered with Daytona Dog Beach, Nette McKill
Petrella, and her group. There will be a dog surfing competition in front of the Hard Rock Hotel, and they have asked me to be one of the judges. So, I'm gladly going to do that. And if you have nothing going on, or
even if you have something going on, throw your calendar, come down there and watch some dogs surf. This used to take place every year in Flaggler County. It brought thousands of people to the beach and it's going to bring thousands of people down for this event as well. So,
I wanted to make sure um >> Bad Boy Dudley, >> listen, here's here's the deal. Here's the deal. >> You were a surfer, so I'm certainly you showed him how to surf. >> Listen, the deal is is that we have Miss Daisy, who's the favorite, and Bad Boy Dudley, but Bad Boy Dudley actually does
better on the beach than Miss Daisy. So, I think the bad boy is going to have an appearance because Heather Kent will come down with with the dogs at some point. I'm sure. I'm sure. Um, we have a picture. Can we throw that up there? This is a really cool thing I wanted to
share with you council and that is I wanted to thank you gentlemen because you approved this proclamation for Geneva Jackson who about three weeks ago turned 100 years old. And Geneva was mine and
hundreds if not thousands of other young kids art teacher at Oyola Elementary. She also taught at the Riby Center for Girls, which was an all black school for girls in Orman Beach back in the day.
But Geneva Jackson is such a sweet, kind woman with a a loving heart and a kind soul. And for a guy who could not draw anything but a stick figure, she would
put her hand on top of my hand using pastel crayons and come up with a masterpiece and I would go home at six, seven, eight years old and give this to my mother. And my mother played along like she thought I drew it. But it was
always Mrs. Jackson that did that. and she was just full of fire and and kindness and love. And you know, I invited her to my wedding 20 years ago and she showed up and she danced with me
and she got in my ear and she said, "I left you a gift on your front porch." And to this day, if you come over to my house at the front of my house, because she I have a green thumb, but she really has a green thumb. uh she has 10 green
thumbs compared to my one. She left me a bird of paradise on my front porch. And that bird of paradise 20 years later is still thriving because of Mrs. Jackson. Council, I wanted you you to see this picture because Mrs. Jackson turned 100
and she loved it. And I came in to work today and I have in my hand a letter from her daughter um who is, you know, over 70 years old just thanking me for doing that and
sharing that story. And and I'll just tell you how these things kind of touch people. I went to the memorial of Jesus's death the other evening with my father and my sisters and a woman sitting in front of us turned around. and she knew my father and she said, "I
just saw you at a birthday party." And I thought, "My kids's not quite 20 years old and I haven't gone to a kid's birthday party and I don't know how long." She said, "I was serving some of the food at Miss Jackson's 100th birthday celebration and your
story about her giving you that p plant and helping you draw with uh putting her hand on top of yours." I mean, this woman knew what I said because she was listening to it obviously at the event. Thanks for popping up that picture and
council, thanks for letting me have a a couple of moments of personal privilege here. Have a great afternoon, everybody. >> Where is the picture? >> Where was the picture? >> Where is What was the location? >> I'm sorry, I don't understand. >> Where was the >> That was the Palmetto Club in Daytona
Beach. Familiar? Yeah, that's the Paul Meadow Club in in Daytona Beach on um not far from I would say the chart house. >> Okay. >> All right. You >> sure she didn't put her hands on you from eating crayons? >> Chair, if I may, just just two seconds. I forgot uh to bring up uh during during
my time. Uh Edgewater uh is uh looking to fund part of their dock uh project, see in in the city of Edgewater. Um, I just need to make a request uh for council consideration for staff, county staff to work with the
city uh on their application uh to use some port district grant funds. >> Make a motion >> that are available uh and that'll be my motion. >> Second >> motion to use fine funds uh port district >> port district
>> grant funds. >> Okay. Motion by Robin, second by Troy Kent. Any questions? All in favor say I. >> Any opposed? And permission granted. All right. Uh Troy Kent, you were
finished. Uh Vice Chair Matt Reinhardt. >> Thank you, Chair. Um don't have much. The only thing uh I want to point out LA I think it was last week or the week before there was the innovation challenge that was over at uh um the Ocean Center. Thank you, Lynn, by the
way. And the competition uh I unfortunately couldn't make it last year, but this year I heard it's expanded even more. So kudos to to Lou Paris and the rest of the econom economic development team as well as uh Connie uh who put that on. Connie Gar
Garz. Yeah. Anyways, but there were two individuals uh that I had met prior to uh at the uh team Valuchia event and I was talking to the young lady. Um she was here today for a while uh Amelia who
you met chair uh and Amelia is a dual major at Emory Riddle. She's 19 years old and her majors are engineering physics and space physics. Yeah. Yeah. Isn't that like
>> drawn with crayons required? >> So, she started to proceed to tell me about their project that they were entering into the innovation challenge. And I I stopped her a few minutes into it and I said, "Let me just stop you. You lost me at hello." So, unbelievably,
uh, we have some unbelievably smart kids that are here in this community. And what really pleased me when the individuals that I was speaking with at the event and prior to their plan is not to leave here, which has always been a goal I think of
everybody up here. You want to see them graduate, take their diploma across the stage and stay right here in Valuchia County and work here. I believe two of the past winners of the innovation challenge have done just that. uh that they've stayed right here in Valuchia County and started their they had every intention on moving their business to
either Connecticut or out west and they opted to stay here in Valuchia County. So that's a testament to what great job that we're doing and Lou and his folks are doing. Um but Amelia and Nathan had started this project. Uh it's called Emler. Uh and they did win the best of
category. Um, but Emler has a samsura flight computer and I I'm writing I had to write this down to remember this. But what it's capable of doing or you can go out and buy a tube from Office Depot, one of these document tubes, and make a rocket out of it. And the rocket those
that are enthusiasts we we talked about a little bit about the airplane enthusiasts the small airplanes today but these rocket enthusiasts that is growing uh can capture information flight data uh air temperature all kinds of stuff that can be used for bigger
projects. So I commend them and I I encourage them to continue to uh to explore that opportunity and and we'll rely on them for that that type of technology. Um, also in relation to the dog surfing contest, I'll be judging the
costumes. So, I'll be there with you. So, she >> Who's wearing the costumes? The dogs or the owners? >> The dogs. >> Probably the owners. >> Well, probably the owners, too, I'm sure. But I I'm not sure how that expands to what we're we're uh going to be voting on, but I was looking forward to that as well.
>> See Troy in a costume. >> I would go to see Troy surf. So, I heard he was quite the surfer. So, but anyways, u that being said, that's all I have. Thank you, chair. >> Okay. Thank you. Just uh couple of quick things. We um really on one topic we
brought up uh few meetings ago the uh potential charter amendment for uh banning uh potable reuse. Two weeks ago, the city of Daytona Beach uh passed that
um unanimously. last night went to the Edgewater City Commission meeting and they they passed both uh an ordinance to ban it immediately and uh placed a charter amendment will be on their
November ballot. Um I you know we had to vote here um it was it it failed here four to three. I bring it up because I I want to ask um just remind any of the
the four that voted against it, you could always bring it back put it back on the agenda um to uh to uh revote on that. So just putting that uh thought in your in your mind and
with that at 12:57 we are adjourned.