If you wish to speak to any item on the agenda or during the public comment portion of the meeting, please fill out a speaker card. Each person addressing the board shall have three minutes to complete his or her comments on each agenda item for which he or she has filled out a card. The chair has the discretion to determine or alter the time limits on any agenda item. The Board of County Commissioners requests that speakers appearing under the public comment section of the agenda limit their comments or presentations to matters relating to county business that are within the board's control, authority, and jurisdiction. Good morning again. Welcome to the April 22nd regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. We have a quorum. I'll call the meeting to order. This morning we have invocation by Pastor Brian Moore with East Coast Christian Center. Sir, you're recognized. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. I want to also say thank you for the acknowledgement of National Day of Prayer next week. We appreciate that. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we're grateful for today and we're grateful for this community and the leadership that here is before us. And God, I just pray that your wisdom would be poured out liberally. You say if we'll ask for it, you'll give it to us. And we're thankful for wisdom. Thank you for protection and for your blessing on this community. And you've been faithful and we're thankful for that. We have so much to be grateful for today. And so, God, I just pray that your presence would be among us. And we're thankful that where we gather in your name that you'd be here. And so thank you for leadership and for guidance today. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, sir, very much. I'll lead us in the pledge. Okay, commissioners, we have minutes to approve from January 16th, 2025 Tourism Workshop, the February 20th, 2025 Budget Workshop, and the March 13th, 2025 Zoning Meeting. Is there a motion to approve? We have a motion to approve by Commissioner Delaney. Is there a second? Second by Commissioner Atkinson. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Chairman Feltner? Yes. We'll show that passes 5-0. Thank you very much. I have two resolutions this morning. Before we do that, I just have a housekeeping issue, and I don't want to forget it. I have a request from staff to move the July 3rd zoning meeting to July 17th. Is everyone amenable to that? Is there a motion? I think we have a motion by Commissioner Goodson. Is there a second? Second. We have a second by Commissioner Delaney. Clerk will call the roll on the motion. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Chairman Feltner? Yes. We'll show that passes 5-0. Thanks for that, Commissioners. I appreciate that. I think having the meeting right before 4th of July is probably not a smart thing. Okay. Today, I have two resolutions. And so, Ms. Minerva Rogers and your group, if you'd like to come up, I have a resolution for Myositis Awareness Month in Brevard County. Whereas, residents of Brevard County are among those affected by myositis and other rare diseases because nearly 1 in 10 Americans have rare diseases. And whereas, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies collectively referred to as myositis are rare, chronic, autoimmune muscle-wasting diseases. And myositis often features debilitating muscle inflammation and other symptoms such as pain, fatigue, and trouble swallowing. And myositis can result in myositis-associated interstitial lung disease. And whereas, myositis is difficult to diagnose, so treatment is often delayed and individuals generally experience difficulty finding a healthcare provider with expertise in their condition. And whereas, all who suffer with myositis experience reduced quality of life, especially as no cure has been found, and life expectancy is shortened, especially for those with inclusion body myositis. And whereas, the myositis association, TMA, is the leading international patient advocacy organization serving the myositis community, focusing on patient services, education, research, and public awareness, so as to achieve a world without myositis, the myositis association is organizing a nationwide observance of Myositis Awareness Month. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, does hereby recognize May 2025 as Myositis Awareness Month in Brevard County, and that all citizens are encouraged to come together, learn more about all the forms of myositis and its symptoms, and support the families in our community who will benefit from greater awareness of these rare diseases. It's done, ordered, and adopted in regular session this 22nd day of April 2025. And I'll make a motion for this one. Is there a second? Second. There's a second by Commissioner Delaney. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Chairman Feldner? Yes. Congratulations. Minerva, you're recognized. Good morning, Commissioner Feldner. Thank you, members of this chamber, all the commissioners, and everyone. My name is Minerva Rogers. I am honored to be here today as an advocate for myositis awareness. As someone living with dermatomyositis, one type of myositis, I know firsthand the challenges that come with the rare and misunderstood disease. I want to take the opportunity to thank Commissioner Feldner, his team, and all the members of this chamber for recognizing the importance of myositis awareness month. This proclamation is not just words on paper. It is a step forward toward greater understanding, earlier diagnosis, and better support for those affected with myositis. Myositis can be invisible, but it impacts its life-changing fatigue, muscle weakness, chronic pain, and skin reactions are daily battles for many of us. That's why raising awareness is so critical. By shining a light on myositis, we are not only supporting those who live with it, but also encouraging research, better treatment, and a stronger community. Today, we recognize that no one should fight myositis alone. With awareness comes action, and with actions come hope. Thank you so much for standing with us in this fight. Okay, and I have a resolution framed for you. Congratulations. Thank you. Okay, Commissioners. Ms. Loretta, can I bring your group? I should be about half the room. It normally is. Okay. I have a resolution again this year for a National Day of Prayer. I'm honored you'd ask me to do this again. Okay. Whereas civic prayers and national days of prayer have a long and venerable history in our constitutional republic, dating back to the first Continental Congress in 1775, and whereas the Declaration of Independence, our first statement as Americans of national purpose and identity, made the laws of nature and nature's God the foundation of our United States of America and asserted that people have inalienable rights that are God-given, and whereas the Supreme Court has affirmed the right of state legislatures to open their sessions with prayer, and the Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress themselves begin each day with prayer, and whereas in 1988, legislation setting aside the first Thursday in May in each year as a National Day of Prayer was passed unanimously by both houses of Congress and signed by President Ronald Reagan, and whereas the National Day of Prayer is an opportunity for Americans of all faiths to join in united prayer to acknowledge our dependence on God, to give thanks for blessings received, to request healing for wounds endured, and to ask God to guide our leaders and bring wholeness to the United States and her citizens, and whereas it is fitting and proper to give thanks to God by observing a day of prayer in Brevard County when all may acknowledge our blessings and express gratitude for them while recognizing the need for strengthening religious and moral values in our state and nation. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of County Commissioners in Brevard County, Florida, does hereby proclaim Thursday, May 1st, 2025, to be designated as a Day of Prayer in Brevard County and encourage the citizens to observe the day in ways appropriate to its importance and significance. Don't order and adopt it in regular session this 22nd day of April 2025. Commissioners, I'll make the motion for this one. Is there a second? Second. There's a second by Commissioner Delaney. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Chairman Feltner? Yes. Congratulations, and Loretta, you're recognized. Yes. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So good morning. Thank you to the commissioners. Thank you, Chair Feltner. And welcome to the new county commissioners. It's good to see your faces. I'm Loretta Dozier. I am the founder of Dove Bible Club, which is an after-school club that shares the gospel of Jesus Christ with students in schools. I'm also the Brevard County coordinator for the National Day of Prayer Task Force. And their goal and their mission is to multiply and to unify public prayer for America. So the leader, the president, Kathy Brenzel, and she's over the entire United States, where she's gathering all of the states, praying for America on that day. You heard Commissioner Feltner say it's since 1775. And then there was a Truman, President Truman in 1952, called for a day of prayer. Ronald Reagan, President Ronald Reagan in 1988 designated it as the first Thursday. So every first Thursday in May, there's a National Day of Prayer. For family and business and education, the military, the government, the church and media, we will be praying. And this is just a representative, just a few of the different ones that will be praying in Brevard County. And we just want to thank you all for designating May 1st, 2025 as a day of prayer in Brevard County. You have done that for the last eight years. And we give you a hand. Thank you so much. And I will say, our president, President Trump, and he said, we need God. We need God in our nation, in our government. We need God. We want God. And when he declared, when he talked about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and he celebrated Holy Week, Jesus died. He was buried. He came back to life. And now he's sitting at the right hand of the Father. So we just want to introduce, we want you to see your constituents. And if you see this here, oh, guess what? The theme for the National Day of Prayer this year is coming from Romans 15, 3. Pour out to the God of hope and be filled. So call out to God. You need wisdom? Call out to God. You need peace? Call out to God. So let's, this here, we'll give you a brochure. But thank you again for making this day a day of prayer in Brevard County. Well, God, I would love for our volunteers, National Day of Prayer volunteers, introduce themselves so you can know some of your constituents. Pastor Abby? Well, my husband, Mark Ostrander, can you, you guys come on? Over here. Pastor Mark. My pastors. Pastor of the Mission Church. And we're just all, there are several churches represented here. But I'd just like to make a point that you do have a handout here that gives you the listing from very early in the morning to later in the evening. And we're seeing the prayer events all around the county. And there's 51 actual locations. Some of them are churches. Some of them are in business. Well, 51 locations and 64. I'm sorry that I should have added the virtual prayer meetings. But you can tell she's the leader of the National Day of Prayer. And, but you're right with the virtual. And even the territories are getting involved. The U.S. territories, we do have one in Puerto Rico. But we know that there's more than what we have published here. These all go up on the Florida website to show Florida. And you should see the red dots all over Brevard County that show the red dots of these gatherings of all kinds of churches, businesses. It's multiple languages, ministries, home groups, just kids at schools and flagpoles, government facilities, all throughout our county. And if I didn't already say it, multiple languages, which amazes me. And some of these churches are multi-church gatherings in one place and or there are some churches that open and they just have all day prayer where people walk in and pray this time, that time, this time, that time. It is just so amazing. But this day is important because it has come through our government request that all Americans pray on this day. But I'd like you to know that beyond this day, you are always prayed for. That's right. Yes. We need it. So I appreciate that very much. Okay. I have the frame of resolution for you. Commissioner Felder, I just want you to see who we have here. Just say your name and where you're from. Go ahead. John Keene, and we oversee X2 Ministries in Melbourne. Okay. James Fontenot, love in the name of Christ. My name is Richard, and Evelyn Colon, we're part of Community Gospel Truth in West Melbourne. Bawana Bostic, City of Refuge Christian Center. I had the pleasure of praying at one of your meetings a week ago, two weeks ago. So I'm happy to be here again today. Coco. Coco. I'm Edie from Community Gospel Truth, and I work also with Dolph and also volunteer for National Day of Prayer Task Force. Margaret Irwin from the Mission Church, Prayer Coordinator. Palm Bay. Palm Bay. Edie Martinez, Casco Truth. Brenda Garcia. Sorry. Brenda Garcia, Mission Church. Willie Garcia, Mission Church. And they have the prayer gathering in Valkyria. Reverend Marcella Rojas, Palm Bay. Brother Ed, I live in Palm Bay. Worship at the Mission Church in Palm Bay. Very good. Okay. I have the frame of resolution for you. Thank you. Congratulations again. Thank you again. Thank you. Can we get around? Beth Evie, come up here. Beth Evie, come up here. Beth Evie, you're a little shorter. The shorter people. Brenda, come on over. Brenda, you're tying. Come on over. Thank you all. Thank you. Ms. Martin. You can see me. I can see you. Okay. Okay. All right. Here we go. Thank you. God bless you. God bless you, sir. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you, Ms. Atkinson. Thank you. I have a beautiful hand. Okay, commissioners, we'll move on to consent. Is there anything anyone wants to take off and consent? Is there a motion for consent? Move to approve. We have a motion by commissioner Delaney. Is there a second for consent? We have a second by commissioner Altman. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Chairman Feltner? Yes. We'll show that passes 5-0. Thank you very much. Commissioners, we have cards on the G portion of public comments. Elizabeth Blackford. Is Elizabeth still here? There you are. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners, county manager. I'm Elizabeth Blackford from Palm Bay, here to talk more about some of the excellent ideas from this year's Speak Up Brevard submissions. I'd like to draw your attention to four suggestions that could easily be combined and approved. They are numbers 23, 36, 68, and 75. These ideas are likely to succeed because they offer these advantages. First, they use programs already in existence at Keep Brevard Beautiful, the IFAS Brevard Extension Office, and the Sheriff's Farm Programs. Second, they offer landscape training, certification, and hiring incentives to county residents and inmates in a line of work with otherwise very low barriers to entry. Third, they reduce beach and roadside litter from entering and polluting the lagoon. And finally, they would steadily remove invasive plants like Brazilian pepper, replacing them with properly maintained native plants and trees. While researching the feasibility of these four suggestions, our ad hoc committee identified existing county programs that already provide necessary training and personnel. Two of the offices said their programs are currently being revised, making this an ideal time to incorporate any new material with minimal effort. I have provided a summary of the relevant seers to each of you and to the county manager, briefly showing how consolidation, revisions, and use of existing resources could bring four great ideas to life at minimal expense. I hope you'll vote to accept these four recommendations with revisions at your May meeting. Thank you very much. Thank you. Dolores Conway, good morning. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning. Let's see, I was going to try to... I'm glad you know how that works. I think they can see it on the screen up here. Oh, okay. All right, that's good. Thank you. All right, my name is Dolores Conway. I live in the South Beaches area of Melbourne Beach. Let me have the microphone just a little closer to you, just for the benefit of people at home. Thank you. Okay. I live in the South Beaches area of Melbourne Beach. I'm from BIPA. Thank you for allowing the public comment today. In July 2023, the Florida legislature designated the South Beaches, now called the BBIA, as an area of critical state concern. Today, I would like to address the native trees and shrubs on the barrier island in the area of critical state concern. Trees, especially those in tight groups, can act as windbreaks, slowing down the wind in a hurricane. Tree canopy also reduces the force and speed of the rain before it hits the ground. Roots hold the dirt in place and absorb stormwater runoff. Trees are essential to the barrier islands. Years ago, the Brevard County Code of Ordinances excluded tree protection for most of the island. Many lots west of A1A are around 75 by 150, or .26 acres, while others are around one acre. The exclusion site size for saving trees is one and a quarter acres and under. The county code has 28 pages of detailed information about land clearing and tree protection, but excludes most of the lots on the barrier island. I think this was an oversight at that time. Section 65, Landscape Performance Standards, state single-family lots, one and a quarter acres or less, are exempt from removal and replacement criteria, as outlined in 62-4341, item 18, including specimen tree criteria. The exemptions for lots under one and a quarter acres is having a devastating effect. Trees are being removed and not replaced. Once all the native trees and shrubs have been removed from a lot, it is never the same. The trees are gone forever. I have some pictures of before and after. There's a lot before. There's a lot after. There are two lots that before they were developed, and this is how they look now. There's just a couple palm trees. And then here's a house where most of the landscape was kept. The house was pushed towards the ocean, and then there was a driveway, but most of the trees were kept. So there are ways to do it. Trees that should be saved that are good for the island are live oaks, sea grapes, and sand live oaks. To save the native trees on the island, please consider the following amendments to the county code, which basically removes 1.25 acres or less and replaces it with 0.25 acres or less. So under Section 65-4334, the single-family lots of 125 acres or less that have a CO would go to 0.25 acres or less. And the same with Section 65-4341. In 2019, Kurt Smith and staff did a lot of work addressing this problem, but it was not taken up by the commission. I want to ask if the tree preservation amendments could get a second look to try to get that. Exemption removed. Thank you. Thank you. Would you mind emailing that to us? Yes, definitely. I will. Okay. I'll email everybody. Thank you. And I'm from District 3. Thank you. Christina Fleming. Good morning, Commissioners. Today, I want to talk about the firefighter EMTs, who have been serving their communities for five or ten or more years. Those who have stood the test of time and during countless 24s, been there through the holidays, missed, the birthdays celebrated in turnout gear, and the life-changing calls that leave lasting marks. These aren't new recruits. These are seasoned firefighters, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, and neighbors. And now they're being told, it's time to go to paramedic school. It's mandatory. Figure it out. But let me ask, figure what out? These are men and women who, after years of stagnant wages, had no choice but to build a second job into their lives just to support their families, to put food on the table, to avoid housing in the very communities they protect. They've created budgets that work. Barely. Budgets that don't include quitting that second job or coughing up hundreds of dollars in fuel for weekly clinicals and classes, budgets that don't stretch to cover the unpaid hours away from their families. Now we're asking them to throw that structure away. To give up the few hours they have left with their kids, their spouses, just to meet a requirement that was signed years ago. We're not talking about an unwillingness to serve. We're talking about exhaustion, about respect, and about fairness. Yes, the job evolves. And yes, there is a need for medics. But what's being done here is not support. It is pressure. It's force. It's disrupting lives, marriages, mental health, and a financial stability. We are cornering the very people who have already given so much. We are taking the firefighter to become a paramedic. And then in turn, while they're in school getting their medic and then becoming medics after a year, we're hiring another firefighter EMT to fill the spot that they just vacated. You're making it a shell game. It's a waste of time and money. If leadership wants more medics, then they need to invest in them. They need to hire them with comparable wages. Don't punish loyalty with mandates. Reward it with partnership. Because here's the bottom line. We cannot keep asking more from people without giving them more to work with. We're not building a stronger department this way. We're burning out at the core. Thank you. Thank you. Sandra Sullivan. Good morning, Sandra Sullivan. So the county is in a fiscal crisis. $2.2 billion budget. You've got $2.2 billion in capacity needs and maintenance needs for roads. And firefighters, another illustration of just how poorly this county has been managed fiscally. But there's a big secret. Don't tell anybody we have a situation with Space Florida because they're not paying taxes. Now, you've probably seen the news that came out in Spectrum. There's a massive amount of development going to be happening on Space Florida. Last year, legislatively, our legislators allowed live local there. And now there's hotels and recreation and lots of other things. Interesting, the NASA agreement doesn't allow those uses by their lease agreement. But I'm sure they'll change that. So you guys did a study under public comment. So the way it was done wasn't legal on the Merritt Island Incorporation. The biggest piece of information that came out on that was the unfunded liability for flooding between $5 and $10 million to the county. That's why you wanted to hand it off, get rid of it, okay? Because who's going to pay for that? Goodson's been great on this subject. He's brought it up. Space Florida doesn't want to pay for it. They said right here in this room, we want to use other people's money, meaning they want to use the taxpayers' money. This is the problem up there. The county paid half a million dollars for a hydrology study that puts that on the 10-year floodplain. This is the federal wetlands inventory, very clearly a problem. So then let's get to NBEDS, which is coming up. And their minutes show that they want to tap NBEDS to pay for the sewage pipes to Sykes Creek. Sykes Creek, which has one of the highest dumps in Brevard County for sewage dumps. So you see we have a problem here because federal government says when federal land is leased to private entities, that the local government, the state and the local Brevard, has the right to do taxation. When you read the state statute, they gave Space Florida the right to not be taxed land-wise, but not the improvements. And so since you guys have a fiscal crisis ahead of you, and you're putting your blinders on, pretending you don't see this problem, it's time for you guys to go to the state, get some legal opinions if you need to, or to your own attorney who just seems to do the will of the commissioners, which is why I suggest going to the state, and get this fixed because the burden you want to put on the people is too much. Thank you. Carly Cook. Hello, you guys. Good morning. Hello, good morning. My name is Carly Cook. I'm a public affairs specialist for the SBA Small Business Administration for disaster and recovery. And right now, our Florida Declaration has been back open again. So everybody is, all of the survivors of the Hurricane Haleem and Milton disaster are not able to get disaster loans. We have physical damage loans, which are loans for people that were directly hit by the hurricane. And then we also have EIDL, which are economic injury and disaster loans, that were for people that were indirectly hit by the disaster. So for all the survivors out right now, we do have loans that will be able to help you manage to get your house or anything back to where you want. And we have, this is for businesses, homeowners, renters, and more. So it's open for everyone, and it's very beneficial to the community. And you guys can also, at www.sba.gov slash disaster, that's where you'll be able to apply. And we also have BRCs all around Florida that you'll be able to go to also with our, which are business recovery centers for the survivors also. And that's it for me. Thank you. And you came all the way from Atlanta to tell us that? Thank you. I have a question. Is that right? One more time for me. You came all the way from Atlanta to tell us that today? No, I didn't. I came from Palm Bay today to talk to you guys. But it's at the address, so I'm from Atlanta, though. Okay. Yes. All right. Commissioner Altman has a question for you, ma'am. Thank you for being here, because I know we want people to take advantage of these hardships. But when is the deadline for filling out those applications? So for the physical damage loans, the deadline is April 27th, and then for EIDL, it's going to be June 30th, that it will be the deadline. But after you also do have a 60-day grace period, where they give you also to apply then, too. So they give you some room to work with, you know. All right. Great. Thanks. All right. Thank you, guys. I do appreciate you. Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. We will move into I-1. Melissa. Melissa and Kathy. Good morning, Commissioners. Item I-1 is a request for approval of an RFP for the county manager search slash recruiting consulting services. Pursuant to the board's direction, after the April 8th meeting, staff drafted an RFP seeking proposals for consulting services to assist the board with the search for qualified candidates for the position of county manager. Attached to the agenda item is the scope of services and the selection criteria for the RFP. Staff is requesting approval to advertise RFP. In addition, we're seeking approval of the selection and negotiation committee, similar to what was done in 2017. The proposed committee includes the director of human resources, the county attorney, and either a commissioner or a designee of the board. With the board's approval, the RFP will be advertised and the selection committee will review the proposal submitted. After its reviews of proposals, the committee will bring its recommendations back to the board for final consideration. Once the board approves the selection of the consulting firm, the selection negotiation committee will negotiate the terms of the contract and bring that final contract back to the board for final approval. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're talking about the consultant at this point, not necessarily the minimum requirements for the next county manager. Yes, sir. That's something we'll work out with a consultant. Yeah. Once the consultant's selected, they can work with you. We're just on RFP for the consultant today. Okay. Okay. We don't have a question. Do you have a question? No questions. Okay. We don't have any cards on this item, so we'll move into discussion on the item. Mr. Chair. Commissioner Atkinson. I'd like to make a motion to approve the requested actions with the chairman appointed to the selection committee. Okay. Is there any other discussion on the item? I don't know. I have some discussion. Okay. Let's go to your discussion and then we'll come back to the motion. I don't know if you all had a chance to see some of the changes that I proposed in the RFP. Personally, I would really love to see this a little bit more in the public, not so much behind closed doors with a committee. Some of the changes that I'm proposing is to get rid of the cone of silence. Like I said, I'd like it to be more in the public for us to ask our questions, you know, at a meeting or a workshop or however we decide to do it. Rather than a three panel committee, a three member panel, I would like to have the whole board as the people who picks the consultant. And then, um, I was also hoping that we could ask for, uh, email copies. And, um, also it says in there that the county is not required to notify submitters of, um, amendments. And so I just thought that, you know, it would be, it would be nice for us to send that out to people so that they're aware if there are any changes that are made. Um, and then majority vote required to add, um, a candidate. And I, I just felt like, you know, um, all of us should have the, you know, the ability to bring forward somebody that we, um, you know, would like to interview. Um, and then the, there was no minimum amount of candidates stated. So I was hoping that we could ask the, the consultant, you know, that are they, um, are they capable of bringing forward, you know, a substantial amount. I put 20, but I'm not sold on that, that amount. Um, no community engagement request specified. I would like to request the firm's prior experience with, uh, community engagement. So, um, not all firms are created equal in my opinion. And so some people might do a better job of engaging the public. And so it'd be nice to hear about that experience. Um, there were no samples requested, uh, of the firm's RFPs. And so I just feel like, um, we should be able to see a sample of their work before we decide to hire them. Um, another one is it states, uh, bi-weekly updates on the candidate search. I would prefer weekly updates. And then social media is not included in the reference checks. And in 2025, I just believe that we should be, um, you know, uh, they should be checking social media accounts. But, um, just for my own clarification on that, when you say, uh, social media references, no, what, what do you mean exactly by that for the, for the consultant? So social media consultant or you mean for the, uh, the candidate when we get to that point? So in the RFP for the consultant, it talks about things that we're asking them. Um, basically we're, we're asking them, um, it says verify the educational background of the board selected candidates and conduct criminal, um, financial newspaper. Newspaper. I'm asking to add social media and civil litigation checks for the consultant. Right. Um, do you have other things on your list? I didn't mean to interrupt you there. Sure. Um, there was no time limit requested. And so if we could, um, provide a recommended, uh, event timeline for the county manager procurement process. Those are just some of the things. Okay. Um, uh, I think we're happy to, to try to address some of those. Morris, I, I think, uh, there might be a legal question or two in there. So how about, how about you weigh in on that first? This, this issue of Kona silence, I think specifically. All right. So, um, BCC 25 requires the cone of silence in every solicitation. The purpose of the cone of silence is actually for transparency and to prevent individual lobbying of commissioners and decision makers in the process. It requires a more transparent and public process. It's a fundamental protection of the process reading from BCC 25. It says it's designed to protect the professional integrity of the public procurement process by shielding it from undue influence prior to the recommendation of contract award. The board would have to waive BCC 25 in order to adopt that particular recommendation. It's a requirement of every state agency under state law. The state law chapter 287 doesn't directly apply that to local governments. Most local governments have adopted it. My thought wasn't to, um, wasn't to get rid of transparency. I would like us to forego this policy and to, to have this public so that, you know, um, basically the consultants could come to a workshop or a commission meeting and they could give us their spiel. Um, and then the five of us, you know, decide. So it was never intended for, um, any kind of backdoor deals or anything like that. Understood. Reading from BCC 25. The cone of silence does not apply to the county's designated representative noted in the solicitation or discussion at a duly noticed pre-proposal conference or at a public meeting. Cone of silence doesn't apply to public meetings. So if that's the concern, there's no need to eliminate the cone of silence. I don't think we're in conflict there. I think we're, we're definitely going to have multiple public meetings about this. Um, on the, so your issue of the timeline. Um, so in, in this RFP, let's, let's just suppose, cause I don't, I think I can agree with you. Uh, I'll just, I'll just say in, in theory, in my mind, uh, at the beginning of the new fiscal, we, we have a county manager. Right. Is that, is that where you're headed on that one? Yes. Uh, commissioners, are we, are we amenable to, to that? Sure. As a, as a timeline amendment? Okay. I think, um, I think we could probably get that in the motion. And then what about the weekly instead of bi-weekly updates from the consultant? Um, is there any reason now, Melissa, you, you, maybe you have more experience with this. Is that? So the scope of services is just intended to give the, the vendors an idea of what we're looking for so that they can provide, provide a responsive proposal, excuse me. Um, certainly, as I mentioned before, you know, the, the details of how the search is going to happen will still be worked out between the board and the vendor once it's selected. So when we hire the consultant, we say, here's, here's what you're going to do. And, and here's the timeline, those kinds of things. Yes, sir. Uh, but it wouldn't hurt if we had it in the RFP, right? No. Like, like the timeline we, we just discussed. Yeah, we can include that. Um, I'm, I'm okay, personally, with weekly, um, updates. I don't think that's unreasonable. Close the business Friday. You, you send us an email, right? Right, exactly. Right, right. Something along those lines. All right, commissioner. And then the, um, I guess the two others that, uh, or three, sorry. The three others that I, um, feel really passionately about would be the samples of, um, RFPs that they've put out before. And then, um. Is that part of the process? I don't mean in a rush. Sure. They don't do RFQs or RFPs. They respond to proposals that, but they don't do any. Or proposals. Whatever their sample proposals have been in the past. I just figured that before we, you know, hire somebody, we should see what their work has been in the past. So, uh, I guess, uh, they have, that would indicate that they've done this before in other jurisdictions and they could include basically a resume that says, here's, here's two other jurisdictions I did this in. Is that, is that commissioner? Exactly. What I'm hearing? Mm-hmm. What, uh, what does staff think about that? This RFP does ask for resumes of the people that are going to be working on this. I'll tell you what, since that asks for the resume, maybe we can just follow up when we get to some candidates to say, can you. Send us some samples. Can you send us some. Okay. I think, I think one will lead to the other. And then the, the next one is the, um, the emailed copy. If, if the, um, people who are, um, applying for this, if they could email their version, not just the USB, because I feel like that'll be more accessible, easier, um, for not only staff, if we get a public record request or something like that. It's simpler to just pop an email over than it is to, um, you know, have to. You have to. An email of their work versus. Of their, um, of their resume, of their application for the job. Okay. So rather than having a USB dropped off, can we put down a share drive or something like that? Those type of items are handled by the purchasing process. They apply to all current, uh, processes for RFPs and RFQs. So if you want us to fundamentally change the processes we're doing, you know, that would, that, that's basically what we're talking about here. Okay. If we have a consultant, I think we can just clarify that they're going to send us things electronically. Right. Well, I think this was more so targeted to, um, the, the actual applications. I just figured that it would be, um, more efficient to. The applications for county manager or the applications for the consultant? For the consultant. Okay. Because I think people are interested. So they, they're going to, you know. We do get a USB drive on every proposal we receive. Right. Yes. Okay. So we do have that. So how about, how about we split this? Whatever we get when we, a USB is delivered, we'll just put it on some sort of share drive for the, for the commissioners to have. Perfect. Yeah, that's fine. That works. Is that fair? Okay. And then the final thing was the, um, three member, three member panel, um, versus the five of us making this decision. That's what, that's the pleasure of the board. Um, I'm, I'm happy to do this or if somebody else, uh, is nominated by the board to do that. Um, I think that was the motion though. So, um, I'm, listen, it's going to be a very inclusive process. Right. All we're trying to get to here is get a consultant. And I would tend to agree with you that we need to, we need to do that with some speed. Um, if, if we're going to meet our joint, uh, concern of having someone at the new fiscal. Right. Um, sir. Uh, I really don't know how you're going to vote on this today with all the changes. I think you're going to have to go back and write a small book and send it to us. Okay. I, I, I think, I think actually the, the clerk and staff there are clear on some of the things that, that we just discussed. So. So. But it's the board. Clear. Okay. So we need to probably restate the, the motion then. Does that sound right? Sure. I'll be happy to restate the motion. Okay. My motion is the same. My motion is to approve the requested actions with the chairman appointed to the selection committee. A second. Okay. And about, I think a couple of key amendments in there is that we establish a timeline that we're going to have a new county manager hired by the beginning of the new fiscal. That friendly amendment is accepted. Okay. So accept that as a friendly amendment. Accepted. Okay. And the biweekly to the weekly. Okay. I think, I think that's an administrative thing, but, but we've agreed collectively as a board that that's going to happen. Okay. All right. So. Thank you. We're acceptable with, with the amendment. The clerk's clear on that. We had a motion by commissioner Atkinson. We had a second by commissioner Altman. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltner. Yes. Thank you very much. All right. Item I two. Commissioner Atkinson. Thank you. I'm just going to go ahead and make my motion. Um, I move to approve the statement of legislative intent, direct staff to prepare an ordinance implementing this intent, schedule and advertise the ordinance for public hearing and direct the county manager to develop a fiscal year 2026, 2025, 2026 budget with the additional $3.3 million allocated to a specific fund to be designated to the BCFR budget. Okay. Well, let's do questions first. And we do have cards. So those are questions on the item. Sorry. Is it possible to, um, amend this today, um, and allow it to still go through if changes were made? Um, I'll tell you what, let's, let's consider that as part of the discussion. After we go to the cards, we've got, you know, we've got, I don't know, eight or nine cards here. Is that okay? All right. If there's no more questions, we'll go to the cards. Okay. All right. Jesse Wright. Sir, you're recognized. Good morning, commissioners. I flew in from Los Angeles last night just for this meeting. Uh, I represent the old Sears Town Mall project, which is a $220 million project with a mix zone of hotel, assisted living and apartment complex. I see my time is still not running, but ending embed is the end of projects that can create jobs, tax revenues, and tourism. It will end the dreams of the small business owners and developers. Why? Because without incentives, they will not survive. What I'm requesting is allow the board to continue. You can still kill the projects as they come through and see if they're legit or not. And promoting the small businesses. This is about growth, jobs, and tourism. I'm a witness to a hardworking people that have worked in embed for the last two and a half years, especially in my project that we are ending a runoff on a 22-acre project into the lagoon. If you are killing the board for political reasons, then I rest my case. Embed drives local growth. It is built for Titusville and North Brevard County, not Tallahassee or Washington. Ending it gives away local control of our community's future. Grants have revitalized commercial areas, attracted tourism, and also has helped reduce crime. Embed often serves as the final push that brings millions in private capital to Brevard. Without it, the money may go to other counties or states, weakening our competitive edge. This is not a political risk. It is a leadership opportunity. Supporting embed means protecting and creating jobs in this community. Voters remember who stood for opportunity, not who backed down under pressure. Small businesses, families, and job seekers support this program because it gives them a real chance to succeed and to stay in Brevard. I am hoping the commissioners to allow this board to continue. And I know that Commissioner Goodson could possibly change his vote. And I agree that as far as killing it. And I agree and I appreciate, Commissioner Delaney, that you have come and stated that you ran on killing the board and you have confessed that you don't need to do that. I appreciate your time. Sir, we have two questions. I have one real quick. How much are you requesting from the zone? For the last two and a half years, we have been working on a grant of about $2.4 million, a division of about $800,000 for each segment of the project as each section ends. And of course, Morris has been working with the city attorney for well over two years. Okay. Thank you. Commissioner Altman. First of all, I want to thank you for coming to our community and working to upgrade Surstown Mall. I grew up here. I've been part of this community for a very long time. You were a little boy when this year's Sun Mall opened up. Yeah. I remember we used to have Tarzan land near there. And I can tell you all kinds of stories. But it really, Tysville is a special place and we're excited about what you're doing and thank you for that. Question I have, when did you make the investment? When did you make the decision to purchase that mall and upgrade it? The offer was made back in 2017 and I purchased the property in February of 2018. The intention was to retrofit Sears. Unfortunately, after Hurricane Irma that came through, it flooded Sears. Sears filed bankruptcy in July of 2018 and they wanted to rent it to another entity which we ended up paying them to move out. And retrofitting it was not an option. And I saw the community's need for every development. We then started putting residential in the front facing US 1. We flipped the project. And recently, within the last couple of years, we changed the independent senior living to assisted senior living because that is the need that the city needs. And that's why the project is moving forward and so forth. And we should be done with the infrastructure within the next 30 or 40 days. Question I have for you. Your decision to make these investments. Were those decisions based on or acting in reliance of our local government providing this tax increment financing, this redevelopment entity to help support your investments? Yes, because obviously we're getting rid of 1965 when Sears Town Mall was built. And you've had runoff for well over 60 years into the lagoon. And so I assume that this incentive is going to be given to at least cover a portion of it. And a $220 million project, $2.4 million is just a little over 1%. Yeah. So this economic development zone was something you based your decision to make these investments into. That is correct. So I'll have a point during discussion, but I thank you. I think this will be a different meeting for me to present the project in a different setting. That's what I understand. Commissioner. Chairman. I'd just like to thank you for remembering my name. But there was two other votes. Let me point them out to you, okay? Commissioner Atkins, Commissioner Felder. You might want to make sure they change theirs, okay? I'll dance on this table right now if that's what it takes for you to change your vote. We met before. Yes, of course. We did have a meeting in my office. Okay, sir. Thank you very much. I have a question, too. Okay. Commissioner Delaney. So can you tell us a little bit about your project as far as there is a business that is actively polluting right now that you're not associated with onto your property, and it goes basically directly into the lagoon. And the upgrades and changes that you have made on your property are basically going to make some huge impacts to that, correct? Yes, Commissioner. The contamination from Cumberland Farms, which is on the northwest corner of the project, has been going on since 1983. And I've been fighting Cumberland Farms, and I say this in public because we either end up sowing them and FDEP, because they believe that's their jurisdiction and the city is not doing anything about it. The contamination, as you know, it goes from west to east, ending up in the lagoon. And we are putting them under pressure to end this, either take it out and do some things to give us the no further action letter. And, yes, I'm making sure, I'm a stand-up guy, making sure that this is going to stop polluting the lagoon. And that's been going on again 60 years, in addition to the runoff. So this is really benzene that is going underground. As you know, the water tap is about four feet, three to four feet. So it moves with the water going towards the lagoon. Thank you. Just to clarify, the Cumberland Farms is on Hopkins? Yes. Thank you, sir. Good morning. I work for Space Tech Partners, which is located in Titusville. And we are in the middle of operating, standing up a training facility on Chaffee Drive to help out manufacturing, skills, trades in the aerospace industry. This started out as a grant from Florida Department of Commerce. And we've also worked with Troy Post in part of North Brevard Economic Development Zone for an agreement for funds to help us and also to locate in North Brevard to help qualify for those funds. We're in the middle of standing up and building out this facility right now. So I'm just wanting to cover where it says honoring existing contractual agreements, if that's going to continue to be the case. I believe that is the case, sir. That's required by law. Yeah. It's required by law. That makes me very happy. Thank you. Okay. Glad we answered that for you. Bart Gageons. Good morning. My name is Bart Gageons, chairman of the Zone. When I moved to unincorporated Titusville in 1990, I didn't know much about Brevard County, but it became readily apparent to me that while working throughout the county that there existed an economic iron curtain, starting at the beach line, B line back then, heading north to the county line. North Brevard has experienced many economic downturns from the demise of the Mercury and Apollo programs, the move of the governmental agencies to Vieira, and most recently, the end of the shuttle program. And as you may recall, in 2012, Scott Pelley in 60 Minutes did a segment on Titusville after the shuttle program ended, and they painted Titusville as dilapidated and inferred that we were finished. We knew we needed to diversify, and the zone was created. Some will say we already have an economic development commission and that the zone is therefore a duplication of efforts. I'm the past chair of the EDC, and they do a fantastic job, but not all economic consultants are aware of the advantages and the opportunities that North Brevard offers, as these consultants often insist on locations in a better-known area in the south end of the county. Therefore, promoting the benefits of North Brevard is the job of the zone staff and the board members. Many state that there is no need to offer incentives to the Bezos and the Musks, and yet all five districts in Brevard have employees working for these companies. These employees buy homes, pay property taxes, etc., which benefit the entire county. Simply put, if North Brevard has a population of approximately 45,000 and a future population and job growth, then the residents will be paying the increased taxes or receive less services as a cost of materials and laborers increase. The zone project portfolio lists 165 businesses as having been assisted with financial, technical, or both services. We have granted 54 incentivized projects where employers must meet certain criteria or do not receive the incentive or grant disbursements. Some of the small businesses which have created jobs in North Brevard include Raider Outboards, which is currently creating an electric outboard motor for the Ukraine Defense Ministry, Paragon Plastics, Gen H2, New Energy Electric, Precision Shapes, Red Canyon Software. All of these businesses started with less than 15 employees. As you heard from Jesse, we also assisted with redevelopment such as the Miracle City Mall, if you all remember that, and transformed it into Titusville Landing, and we are currently working with Jesse on the Searstown Mall. I heard comments such as, well, you all are back on your feet and no longer need the zone. To me, that would be like Urban Meyer in a championship game telling Tim Tebow, it's the third quarter. We're up by three. Take a seat, Tim. We got this. The zone serves an essential function. Without the zone, my fear is that we will see a reemergence of the economic iron curtain. The zone is making North Brevard a better place in which to live, work, and play. Thank you for your time. God bless you, and God bless Brevard County. Thank you, sir. Bob White. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the commission. I'm pleased to be able to be here today to speak on behalf of this and to speak on behalf of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida. You know, our Jeffersonian principles are personal liberty, limited government, and free markets. And I would just share something with you from the Declaration of Independence. Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That phrase reflects the social contract theory, which suggests that individuals agree to give up some freedoms in exchange for the protection of their rights by a government. So there's always this conflict that exists between individual liberty and the existence of government at all. And that's where that consent of the governed always has to come into play. As far as personal liberty and limited government, by doing this, you have an opportunity to eliminate an entire layer of government, okay, which obviously it served a purpose, a very valuable purpose. No one would argue that there wasn't a need at one point for a North Brevard economic development zone to exist. And clearly it served a useful purpose. But I do. I'm one of those people that believes that it's run its course and it's no longer necessary. And the consent of the governed ought to be now that we take those funds and move it to an area of expense that we would all agree is absolutely essential. And that, of course, is fire rescue and emergency services. I don't think there's anybody in this room that would disagree that that is an essential government function. And so this is an opportunity to eliminate a layer of government that's no longer in play, no longer necessary, and actually use that funding for a government that, for a level of government, a purpose of government that we all agree is necessary. And as far as the free market goes, that third principle, if you will, that third Jeffersonian principle, I think clearly, while there may have at one time been that barrier that was talked about at the beach line, I don't believe that exists any longer. I don't live in Titusville, so I don't claim to know everything there is to know about Titusville. But I've watched the development that's been happening up there and that's been going on. And certainly some of that has been because of the Brevard Economic Development Zone, but not all of it. It's now standing on its own pretty firmly, and I think it can continue to. And so I would just encourage you to go ahead with this item and approve it today. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time. Thank you, sir. Robin Fisher. Good morning, sir. Mr. Nurse and Chairman. Good morning. I'm Robin Fisher, 1625 Garden Street. In 2011, I actually came down from that dais and walked down here and made a presentation to the Board of County Commissioners about the Economic Development Zone and how I thought it was important to the future of North Brevard. It's ironic that 14 years later, I'm back here trying to save the zone. You know, as a commissioner, this is a 72-mile-long county. It's your only strong is your weakest link. And if you had a chain on that 72 miles. And I always tried to, as a commissioner, make sure that I was doing my best to represent the entire county and make sure I wasn't doing anything in one part of the county that hurt another part of the county. And I think this move would definitely hurt North Brevard. Some of the things during my time that we were able to do, for example, for Commissioner Goodson in your District 3, I can remember the Pulte Homes property was one of those things that we tried to make sure that it was successful because it created the Fultonbury, you know, stormwater thing. In District 3 and 5, it was a fill of dreams, trying to create a park for kids with disability. Also, in District 5, we also helped with St. John Parkway, which at the time, if you guys remember in 2008, 2009, 2010, the county was really bad. And people were judging whether we ought to be buying property, whether we couldn't pave the existing roads, why are we extending Parkway? And then Parkway, but we realized the value of that Parkway and your Commissioner, and your District Commissioner Ackerman towards, you know, that. And I want to thank Commissioner Altman and Commissioner Goodson when they were in the house to help make that fill a dream happen because you gave me state money, and that was a big thing for us. Also, I just, I think that it's important that we realize in District 4, the success of District 4, I know Duda had a lot to do with and the planning of it, but District 4 has greatly benefited from North Pivari. If you hadn't taken the county seat out of it, you hadn't taken the school board out of it, you hadn't taken, now and lately, the court system out of it, I think that we would be better off. And I don't fault the air because I think they've done a great job and they're the golden child for the county, but at the same time, I think they need to be sympathetic to our situation up there because they have definitely benefited from it. And I was the first one when the stadium, Washington National Stadium was going vacant and Washington National were moving, that we created a USSSA for that stadium, and it's been good for the air too, and it's been good for the county, and we're proud of all those things. So, a little factual information I just want you to know, that in 1990, Titusville's population was 40,000 people, and 2024, it's 50,000 people. In Brevard County, the population was 398,000 people in 1994. The population in Brevard County right now is 658,000. So, the county's grew 260,000 people, and Titusville's grown 10,000 people. So, I don't believe in the notion that in 35 years, if you're growing 350 people a year, excuse me, Mr. Chairman, may I have just one second? Thank you. I don't believe that when only 10,000 people or the 260,000 people move to the county that you now have arrived and you don't need any help anymore. Titusville still is considered the weakest link of this county. We're trying everything we can to change that. The zone was a huge benefit for us. And so, I'm going to respectfully ask you to do something. Don't kill the zone. If this is about firefighters, my suggestion would be that you table this or you maybe make the decision a day, but go back to the zone board, and that's the zone board, if they will reconsider how they allocate funds. And what I would suggest that that zone board might want to consider is that you have six fire stations, I believe, in District 1, and I'm not sure that maybe firefighting happened. But if my research is right, you've got Station 21, 22, 24, 26, 29, and 44. Take half of the zone dollars and allocate it to those stations in the zone, you know, economic development zone area, and take half of those dollars and allocate it to those for the firefighters for infrastructure or salaries or whatever you have to do. You don't have to kill the zone, but at least you are, you know, as a community in the north end, we're putting our money where our mouth is, and we're trying to help the firefighters, and that's a way to do it without killing the zone. So, if I was up there and making a motion, Mr. Feltner or Mr. Goodson or Ms. Ackerson, I would say, please table this. Let's give the zone board a chance to reallocate dollars and look at possibly how they could help the firefighters because that's what everybody said this was about, and you can still keep the zone in place and at the same time help the firefighters. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Questions? Oh, questions for a problem? Yep. Thank you for being here, Commissioner, and thank you for your public service. Thank you, sir. We don't get to hear from a former commissioner often, and it's wonderful. It's usually not good when they've got to come up. I hear from them all the time, actually. Oh, do you? I mean in public here in our meetings. As we move forward, and obviously we know what's happening with the challenges that we have here in Brevard to meet our economic growth, our economic destiny, what's happening in North Brevard, what are some of the shortfalls, the things that need to be fixed and addressed that may not be addressed if we do away with the North Brevard economic development zone? Well, I think the first thing, Commissioner, is North Brevard and that region getting its fair share. We know that a lot of population statistics, we haven't had the kind of growth that the rest of the county had. We know that the CRA from downtown Titusville is only creating $300,000 a year or so in revenue, so there's really no additional revenue coming in that would allow you to expand and incentivize companies to come. I mean, I'll admit it, and some people, I love that community, and I've been there for 35 years, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. But we're not the shiny penny on the block, and when there's opportunity for people to come to Brevard, it typically is going to be in Melbourne and Vieira and down south Brevard. And so the zone has given us that incentive to allow us to have redevelopment, which is badly needed. There are still sections of our community that's in the 60s, and the zone has played a huge part in helping make Titusville better. Are we proud of where we've been since 2010? 2010, yes, you know, since the shuttle started rolling. But we're nowhere out of the woods, sir, and I think that by taking your foot off the gas right now, it would be the typical thing that's happened to Titusville in the last 60 years, is you have a little success, and then somebody yanks the rug from underneath you. Sir. Mr. Goodson. I don't know if you've followed it, Robin. There was a developer who wanted to develop Royal Oaks. Isn't that the name of the country club, Chairman? Royal Oaks out on Carpenter, right? No, that's Sherwood. Sherwood. On Carpenter. Wanted to put in town homes. One is in Titusville, one of the projects, and one of them is unincorporated. Sherwood's unincorporated. But he wanted to do town homes, homes, and all that. Public came out in an outcry. Commissioner Delaney spoke against it. Okay? It was approved in zoning. So how can it be always you're not the shining penny when people speak against development up there? Help me understand that. I'm not sure. I think people in general all over the county, if it's going to affect them, they're going to speak about development, and you're going to have some people that support of it and some people oppose of it. I think in that case, people that lived on that golf course, they were, you know. They had their piece of the pie and didn't want anybody else to have it. Of course, one lady stood up and found this totally funny, moved from New Jersey and was going to have a lake behind her house, but didn't want the alligator. But yet, you moved to Florida. You think about it, okay? Okay. Yes, sir. I understand. Hard to understand, but thank you, sir. If I can expand on that a little bit, just because my name was mentioned. Sherwood is a bit different from the things that are being redeveloped because of the zone, like the Searstown Mall, for instance. That is a major blight right smack dab in the middle of Titusville that, luckily, because of the zone, we have somebody who's coming and willing to put the money in and get the infrastructure in and get rid of that blight in that community. Sherwood is on the outskirts of Titusville, and the issues there were flooding. It had nothing to do with blight. You're absolutely correct, Commissioner. But it has a lot to do with the tax revenue or just one. So if you don't have infrastructure as far as homes, developments, then you don't become the shiny penny. Isn't it more profitable for our community to have commercial rather than residential? I think this is starting to sound like debate, and so, with respect, we have three more speakers. Let's get through the cards. Sandra Sullivan. Good morning, Sandra Sullivan. So let me just first start with this agenda item and the last meeting. So, in the last meeting, there was a motion made to direct staff to prepare a statement of legislative intent regarding the discontinuation of county TIF payments to the NBEDS Trust Fund, the disillusion of NBEDS, and the refund of any uncommitted TIF funds on the deposit of NBEDS Trust Fund to the respective taxing authorities that contributed those funds, including the county. This is official record. So when you have this unfinished business up there, you already took a motion to issue legislative intent. The only thing that you're adding here and the only thing that the motion should be for is a vote on the intent to put this on a critical need for the Brevard County to fire rescue. The decision to issue legislative intent has already been voted by this commission, unless you intend to rescind that today, or, you know, what, I don't understand the point of this item that contradicts with a vote that is already taken. The only add is whether you're going to use this money, and the intent is to use this money for fire rescue, and that the vote should, the motion should be amended to that point. I also want to just add something here. I brought up a lot of points in the last meeting about the controversies with NBEDS from, it was formed in response to the agreement with Titusville on the, doing the site planning and building permits on an agreement with Space Florida. And so a lot of the money and a lot of the controversies involving, for example, bond funding, the Space Coast Infrastructure Agency, which is created by them, and bond funding Blue Origin. You cannot bond fund if you are a special district formed by a vote by the commission, and the county was sued, and the clerk's office won, okay? There's a lot of controversy. This NBEDS was created, and that area recovered by 2016. It was supposed to be created for five years in sunset. It didn't sunset. We now have a much greater critical need. We have many critical needs beyond fire. I mean, just on transportation, you have a $2.2 billion deficit for capacity and maintenance, which matches what your entire budget is. The county is in fiscal crisis. It's an analogous of your house falling down and giving money to your neighbor to go on a vacation to Europe. Stop this. We have the EDC. We have the EDC tax abatement. We have a lot of incentives. We have Space Florida, which is offering tax breaks on where they are as well, you know, so they don't pay taxes on the land. They should be paying taxes on the buildings. That's a different issue. Mr. Fisher spoke over, so I did too. That's okay. I'll let you. Larry Linkus. I think I said that right. Pastor, did I say that right? Hello, I'm Larry Linkus, the founder of New Life Space Coast in Titusville, Florida, a church that has served our community for over 40 years now. My wife Sandra and I have lived in Titusville for 45 years, Titusville, Brevard County. The Space Coast is our home. And I'm here today to appeal to this commission to retain our North Brevard Economic Development Zone. And a whole lot's been said about that. And I have a whole lot to say that I may not say. I just would like to say that I don't think it's good, I don't think it's fair, that this commission has pitted the zone against the fire department because it makes everyone to stand here for the zone looks like they're opposed to the fire department. That's not a good position to have to be. Anybody would be out of their minds to be against our fire department, our first responders. They're our heroes. They're our champions. They run to what we run from. And I just would hope that you would reconsider. And with all of, and I don't mean this lightly, with all of the wisdom and the experience and the ability that this commission has, that you would find another way to finance the fire department without eliminating the zone. The zone is very important to not only North Brevard, but when you look at the zone related to Blue Origin. I mean, that's not a Titusville issue. If you would say, well, Blue Origin is a Titusville company, somebody would laugh at you. But the zone was very, very important to what has happened with Blue Origin and bringing it and establishing it at the space center. So I just would hope that you would consider that for us, that you would find some other way. We're not opposed by any means. It looks like we may be. It looks like we are to the fire department. And that's ridiculous. And you have put us in this position. When we stand for the zone, it looks like we're trying to take money from these fine men and women. There's ways. You know, we're intelligent, and we're creative, and we can do better. So I just ask you to really reconsider, and let's find other ways to finance the needs of the fire department without eliminating the zone, because the zone has been and continues to be a vital piece of help, not only in North Brevard, but in Brevard. And we are not just North Brevard. We are one county. We are one people. And we're through. I got beeped. Thank you. That's okay, sir. Thank you very much. Robert Jordan. Good morning. Good morning. I'm Robert Jordan, 1605 White Drive. Good morning, Vice Mayor, Vice Chairman, Chairman, County Attorney, and, of course, County Manager, Arrested of Commission. I work alongside a great group of people on the zone who are a reminder we're not paid for these services, who have spent hundreds of hours making decisions for the benefit of North Brevard and all over the county. We are all small owners like myself that range from real estate sales, civil engineering services, mechanical services, sports video technology, logistics and procurement, and CPA services. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the hard work and commitment that each of you bring to our community. I know all too well the difficult decisions that elected officials must make, and I applaud all your work. Your efforts in managing our county's resources and addressing the needs of our residents are commendable. However, I'm deeply concerned about the recent decision to cancel the North Brevard Economic Development Zone. We embarked on the intentional practice of improving our community's well-being and quality of life. While I understand that there may be reasons behind this choice, it is crucial, it is crucial to consider how this action will affect not just our dedicated firefighters, but also the 115,000 residents of District 1 who rely on economic stability and growth. The cancellation of this zone could lead to diminished economic opportunities within our districts. Perhaps we can look into modified incentives or additional funding sources that would allow us to achieve both goals. Let us come together as a community, residents, business owners, and public servants to discuss how we can best support both our firefighters and our local economy. I would like to respectfully request the County Commission support a delay in the legislative decision today. Perhaps table it or not even vote on it. Certainly, that would make me happy. The community of North Brevard humbly seeks your divine wisdom and compassionate guidance. In our journey together, we can recognize the strength found in unity and the profound impact of a shared insights. Your support is not just welcome. It is essential for nurturing our collective spirit and fostering growth within our total community. I sincerely appreciate the time and effort you dedicate to serving our community and I'm grateful for your consideration of my words. Thank you once again for your dedication to our County. I look forward to your deliberation and please note I will respect whatever decision that you make for the benefit of all of Brevard County but please note North Brevard sincerely needs your love, your support, and your guidance. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Commissioners, that was the last card and we're in discussion. Discussion on the item. Commissioner Altman. I'll be brief. I know we discussed this last time but my position hasn't changed. I feel that this is extremely important. I'd like to add one thing. I think it's important not just for North Brevard but I think it's important for all of Brevard. North Brevard plays a very critical role in supporting our space center and space businesses and activities and so many companies when they look to move here versus moving other places that are in the aerospace community. They first look at Ticeville because that's in closest proximity to the Kennedy Space Center. We need to have a strong base there and I support this economic development zone not just to help North Brevard but I truly believe it's in the best interest for all of Brevard. It's a part of our package to be a quality community with a high standard of living, a high quality of life, good clean jobs, and the ability to meet our destiny as a community that's so rooted in aerospace and discovery. Commissioner Delaney? I just wanted to answer one of the questions that you had, Commissioner Altman, about what are some of the struggles that are going on in North Brevard and why is this needed? And one of the things that I've been hearing from business owners is that one of the things that steers them to say South Brevard is the fact that there are ready buildings for businesses to move into and North Brevard doesn't necessarily have that and so what NBEDS has done is helped incentivize these businesses to come with the help of getting sites ready for construction because we all know that the site prep is a huge investment. So just having those properties prepped for construction makes a huge difference. Yeah, that's a huge contributing factor as to why businesses would choose South Brevard over North Brevard and, you know, I've talked to business owner after business owner who says that if it wasn't for the zone, they wouldn't have come to North Brevard and so, you know, it's not a secret that before I was elected I did not have a full understanding of what this group of people have done and what they've done for North Brevard and, you know, spending more time reading, talking to business owners, talking to, you know, the people up there, I see the value in it and I still stand by, you know, if North Brevard is going to sacrifice its economic development, everybody else should be sacrificing as well. You know, I'm not opposed to looking into ideas about, you know, like some of the speakers had mentioned, a portion of that money going to the fire department and continuing the economic development. Is there any way that we can continue some funding of economic development in North Brevard and, you know, attributing some of those funds to public safety? I'll say that I thought that was an interesting comment too because I'm sticking to the matter at hand which is we have a situation with our fire. So I think it was suggested earlier that half of the TIF would go to potentially the firehouses, something along those lines that are up in the north end of the county. So let me ask this question of Morris just so I understand. If we were to move this along today and something was worked out before the next meeting, could that be amended in the next meeting to include that potential proposal? I think so. I think as long as we advertise it broadly enough that would be an amendment that you either could make at the meeting when this comes back or the board at that meeting if necessary, depending on what different action the board wanted to take compared to the advertised ordinance, the board could ask for it to come back at a subsequent meeting. You can't use TIF for that kind of general purpose government, but what you could do is just reduce the contribution which would recapture for the general portion of the TIF. Commissioner Goodson, for a question. You know, one thing I haven't heard from any speaker is what is Titusville going to do? Titusville, what are they going to do? Nothing? Aren't they on the hook to help their own city as far as incentives and stuff like that? Or is Titusville just let go free? Commissioner Delaney, I see you reaching for your mic there. The zone encompasses more than Titusville, so there's a lot of places outside of the city of Titusville that benefit from the zone. Chair? Sir? I'm well aware the zone is outside of Titusville, but if Titusville is the weakest link and they're not the golden penny, wouldn't Titusville want to help some? They are contributing. Oh, thank you. Well then, that was so simple. Thank you there, Commissioner. Okay. All right. Ask Roman Fisher to comment. He's got all the answers, right, Roman? Don't use my name again either. You know I don't have all the answers, sir. Just so you know, though, and Morris could make reference to this, but actually... We had public comment. I'm going to... Oh, I'm sorry. You're answering his question, okay? Oh, yes. That's all I was doing, sir. Okay, all right. He said ask Robin Fisher to come up, so I'm sorry. All right. Do you want me... Can I answer his question, sir, or... Without objection, we're going to let Rob... Okay, sir. And the county attorney and maybe county manager can answer that, but the Titusville does contribute to the zone. Forty percent of their revenue on the commercial business does go to the economic development zone. So Titusville does to do that. No, they do it... I mean, they... Yes. Correctly. If I remember this correctly, those funds have to be used within the city, though. If that is right. Do that. That's correct. There's an interlocal agreement. The city funds, a trust fund, those funds are kept separate from the county TIF trust fund. For example, the first speaker, Mr. Wright, his Searstown Mall project, I believe the way that's set up is it would be funded entirely from Titusville's portion or Titusville's TIF trust account. Okay. Commissioner Atkinson. I just want everybody to understand that this is not going to be the only difficult choice that we have to make here. We have some pretty serious budget problems. This is not the only cut or change that we're going to have to make that people aren't going to be happy with. That's all. Are you open to including your amendment the possibility that the next meeting there could be an agreement that would include some of the revenue for fire as suggested? It doesn't mean we have to do it. You're saying that at the next meeting you'll possibly change what we're doing today? Yes. No. You're going to go ahead with your motion? Yep. Would you like me to read it again? Okay. I move to approve the statement of legislative intent, direct staff to prepare an ordinance implementing such intent, schedule an advertise the ordinance for public hearing, and direct the county manager to develop the fiscal year 2025-2026 budget with the additional $3.3 million allocated to a specific fund to be designated to the BCFR budget. I'll second that. All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Atkinson. We have a second by Commissioner Goodson. Clerk will call the roll. I have a question. Sir? On the motion. On the motion. It's my understanding we're advertising an ordinance, but if there were to be some sort of agreement or, I mean, we're advertising an ordinance, it doesn't mean we're setting in the concrete how we're going to vote. That would go contrary to the intent of advertising. So when the public comes and we hear if there's some potential tweaks or changes or compromises, we can consider that. Yes. That would be what the public hearing is. Absolutely. As long as they're within the scope of what was advertised, you could tweak the ordinance. If it's outside of the scope of what was advertised, if it's so different that it's a substantial change, then it might just have to come back in a different form. Okay. What was asked today is that, would that be considered a substantial change? To what? For the 50% of the money to stay with the general fund to be earmarked for fire rescue. I'm going to try to write the advertisements, the ordinance titles pretty broadly. So I'd imagine that's something that could be considered, but I haven't done that exercise yet, so I can't say for certain. The board could always, if a majority of the board wanted to do that, it would just be a procedural mechanism to how do you get there? Would it be at the same meeting or a future meeting with additional advertisement? All right, we have a motion and a second. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? No. Chairman Feltner? Yes. We'll show that. Pass this 401. Okay, commissioners, we're going to, I'll tell you what, I think Peter could be quick, and maybe we could return to him to other important tourism things he's doing. So if we could, sir, let's see if we can, we can take up Peter real quick, and then I'm with you. I want to take a break too. Okay, Peter? Yes, sir. Good morning. J-1 is an item coming from the TDC. Okay. It is the 2025-26 Marketing Support Program Funding and Criteria. Okay, commissioners, questions on the item? We have one card. Questions on the item. Okay, let's go to the card. We have Ruth Koffold. Did I say that right? Okay. Good morning, commissioners, chair, and staff. And thank you to Commissioner Altman's staff for helping me yesterday. I don't know where she's here, but thank you so much for all the help they gave me yesterday. So I just wanted to, I have a very big concern with the application process for the marketing, and I don't know if this applies, but I just ran into all of this within the last week. The cultural grants applications need to be seriously reviewed because we cannot have people that are not cultural being or companies or anything like that be allowed to continue applications. Space Coast Pride is not a culture. I'm just going to tell you. They're not. It is a lifestyle that's chosen by people, not a culture that you can see that has existed in this county for many, many years. This is ridiculous. So that's all I want to say about that right now. Thank you. Okay, ma'am. I appreciate that. Okay, that's the only card we have. Is there any discussion on this item? Commissioner Delaney. I have some concerns about, I think I mentioned this when it was brought up before, about the commission splitting the $100,000, and I was wondering if rather than that, because I think the intent from what I remember was events that weren't large enough to qualify, but couldn't we just make a different one that was $0,000 to $5,000 versus giving each of the commissioners a $20,000 pot? I just feel like any time in the past that the commissioners have been given a pot of money to spend, the public seemed to have some concerns about that, and so I was wondering if that would be a friendly amendment. Well, let me address that as both the chair of the TDC and, you know, I guess the person to move that forward. The marketing grant structure that we have, we acknowledge that there are some smaller events that wouldn't meet the criteria of the room nights. That's the thing that we're trying to cure, and so I recognize that, again, some of these that we had voted for before, the Melbourne Art Festival, the Native Rhythms in Wickham Park, Green Gables, Field Manor, some of these other things. The $0,000 to $5,000 is, I understand what you're trying to do there, but specifically with the, you know, also the Vietnam Vets, all veterans of Brevard, their situation is paying for the park, which is approximately $15,000, I think. So, I only mean that, and by the way, those are board action. I don't get to just give these groups any, a dollar without you saying, okay, you have, you have, collectively, we have to agree to it. I only wanted to put a mechanism in there where each commissioner, I expect you to, to know these events that are happening in your district and what's important and give you the opportunity to say, hey, we've left Melbourne Art Festival out of this somehow and I want to try to help them. That's all, that's all that it's intended to do. I'm certainly open to some kind of change in the future that somehow rectifies this, this situation. There was just a nice round number of 100,000 that was allocated for the smaller events divided by five. There's five of us, so, in trying to be sort of, you know, open and equal, I just suggested that we each identify a couple events up to 20,000. That's it. That's my only motive. So, and also the board for the TDC, while, you know, I think we have good representation, you know, there might be one area of the county that maybe doesn't have as much representation on there and so that gives you the opportunity to identify that group. So, that's... And I wasn't meaning any ill intent. I understand. I understand. I don't take it that way. Commissioner Altman, sir? I read the criteria and I think it's well written. I think the TDC's done a good job. I think that I agree with what our chairman says. you have these small programs that no one knows better than those people in that local community and having each individual commissioner to give their input and to make a recommendation I think is good. That's government closest to the people. There's a check and balance, though. We can't allocate or appropriate monies. No. The commission as a whole has to vote and approve on that. I agree, but the concept of how you define culture but that's not what we're doing here. That point is very well taken. We will have to hear all these requests as they come and we'll have to make a decision as a collective body what's good for the community. But this is just a criteria and I think it's well written and I think it's a good story. And, you know, if we, not to interrupt, sir, to your point, if, you know, the veterans group came to me and they said, you know, we're a new group of younger guys taking over for the older guys and we're not great fundraisers and we've had just a horrible time coming up with the money just to cover the park fees and so that's what they needed to help with. They would never be able to meet the criteria of the room nights because also, quite candidly, they camp. so they're not staying in hotels. They're camping at Wickham Park and so that's just a textbook example and so and that'll be one of the groups in the future that hopefully future boards will help out. That's it. If you got an improved idea for the future, I'll tell you what, I would bring it to the TDC, okay, so I'll leave that option open for you. If you can find another better way around that, currently, I don't have one. I think I'll say something about prior boards with, I don't know, ARPA funds or CARES. I think that's when they got in trouble. We all acknowledge that but at the time in the beginning, I think they weren't going to have board approval and it's my recollection that the clerk said, I'm not writing a check to anything without the board's approval and so ultimately the board did vote on those things. So your point's well taken and if you have a suggestion in the future, I'll certainly be open to it. Is there other discussion on, okay, Commissioner Peter, prior to all these changes in the old days or the old time, did you have near as much trouble as you have now? And because I would say you have more trouble now, but you tell me what your thoughts are if you wish to. Well, sir, I think these grants over the last four or five years have been well discussed at the board level and been in a lot of different positions on those. Hasn't changed a whole lot in the last four or five years. So you're telling me right now you're happy as heck, but if you were to tell me you'd like to go back to the other way, I'd make a motion, let's go back to the other way. Why do we have to make it so difficult? Why don't we make it a little easier on staff? So if you're happy, I'm happy. I'm happy if you're happy. That was a good answer. I'm happy. I'm going to respond to one thing and then Commissioner Allman, okay? I'm happy. I do think we're in a better place because we've made some adjustments from where the prior board was, which was that when you were applying for the grants, the TDC was going to do the marketing for you. And so this board had decided that that's what we have in here actually before us today, that it might not be the best thing for the groups that TDC does the marketing. Now there have been some groups that say that's wonderful because I'm not a marketing expert, I'm good at running an art show, but I'm not a marketing expert. And so I think that's been a good thing. But there are other groups that say we just need the grant funding to pay for our security that day. And that's what we're putting in here is giving them the option. And I think that's a cornerstone part of what we're doing here. So that alone has, and Peter, I know you try to stay out of the opinion business, but that will probably make it easier in what the group's future asks will be. Would you agree with that? Yes, sir. I think the way the criteria is written, there's a lot more flexibility for the group, so I think that's an advantage for them. Yes, sir. Commissioner Altman, sir. Well, just going to, and I know Commissioner Goodson already knows this, any old guy questions, certainly I'll be willing to fill them since I'm one of the old, old guys. I can go back to old, old days when we first created it. I think one thing that's important, you know, there's been movements in the legislature to sunset TDCs, which I'm against because I think they're very important, but if we do have those laws that are passed and we have to look at sunset votes, I think it's really important that we include as much as our local community as we possibly can on these type of grants because we're going to need their support. I can tell you, I don't think, I was the chairman of the TDC when we passed the tourist tax, and it failed twice before we got it passed the third time, and one way we were able to pass that was we were able to be very inclusive and include broad spectrum of our communities, and I think it's been a real positive growth of our tourist industry, and it's been really positive, and I'm very impressed with what's being done now, and I support it. Okay, all right, I think that's it for discussion. Is there a motion on the item? Make a motion to approve. Second. We have a motion by Commissioner Delaney, we have a second by Commissioner Altman, the clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Chairman Feltner? Yes. Okay, Commissioners, let's take a break and be back at 11 o'clock, okay? So you get a few extra minutes for that. 11 o'clock. Take your seats, please. We're on item J2. Item J2. All right, Chief, you're recognized. Good morning, Chair. Yes, sir. Good morning, Commissioners. I am Matt Wallace, the director of the public safety group for Brevard County, and I have with me Chief Pat Voltaire, our Brevard County Fire Chief. We'll be going over J2 this morning. I'll give a brief introduction to the agenda item and review the requested actions, then I'll turn it over to the Chief to go through the various options and get down into the details of those. On February 11th of 2025 at a regular board meeting, the board asked us to go back and update our seven-year plan to include employee recruitment, retention, infrastructure, and capital needs. The board gave staff to bring back options to meet those needs with potential fire assessment adjustments. So in this action, fire rescue is requesting board consideration for three actions. Now each separate action would require a motion and a vote for those to be approved. So action one would be a proposed fire assessment not to exceed rate. Action two would be for the board to approve the fire assessment notice to the affected property owners. That may be found at attachment two of the agenda report. We will update this notice with the not to exceed amount if the board so chooses and approves that in action one. Also, we included at attachment three impacts to each property class so every property class owner, whether commercial or residential, could go to that attachment and see what the impacts are for the various options. Action three would be to set a public hearing for final approval of the fire assessment. Staff is requesting that day to be the 20th of May at nine o'clock in the morning at the regular scheduled board meeting. Florida statute requires that 20 days after public notices are sent that the public hearing date may be set. So if the date of 20 May is approved, staff will begin immediately after this session to get those public notices in the mail to ensure that we meet that Florida statute. Additionally, in the property notice to assessment to the owners, we include a phone number for Brevard County Fire Rescue that senior staff will be monitoring between now and the public hearing. We will bring data back to the board as we get inputs from the civilians about whether they are for, against, or neutral for the fire assessment. We will bring that data back and share that with the board at the public hearing. With that, I will turn it over to the chief to go through the individual options and the details of that. Good afternoon. I will go over the various options that you have in the package just as the options we spoke of when we met individually. They will be the options that are in both table one and appendix one. Option one captures capital and infrastructure requirements and addresses future station and crew needs not identified in the previous seven-year plan, accounts for inflation losses from years 2021 to 2025, and covers exhausted, non-reoccurring ARPA funds. The option includes a 6% annual inflation rate for capital and infrastructure. Adjustments would use the current approved fire assessment methodology with annual increases equal to CPI rate or 3%, whichever is less. Option one provides for the county's proposed one-year contract including subsequent increases for two years thereafter. Option 1A would be STEP plus CPI plus a modest additional wage adjustment. 1B would be STEP plus CPI plus an aggressive additional wage adjustment for the two years beyond the one year that we are currently in. Option two captures all those things that I spoke of. The only difference being it's a proposed one-year contract and the subsequent three-year wage increases or adjustments. STEP plus CPI modest wage adjustment would be 2A and 2B would be STEP plus CPI plus aggressive additional wage adjustment. Option three is notated as zero percent because that would be anything the board desired outside or above or beyond those options if none of those options work for the current team. Option four submitted by District 1 works out the current options but adds in scheduling, some different scheduling flexibility. Option 4A would basically be option 2B with the three-week Kelly Day option. Option 4B would be option 2A with a 24-72 work option and option 4C would be a 2B with the 24-72 option. Before I pass it back to you for discussion, I just want to thank you all for the time that you've taken to discuss this with us and how you've really taken a lot of time in our discussions in getting to where we are today. So, thank you very much. Commissioners, questions? I have a question. I think Commissioner Delaney's light was first. Chief, could you just let us know what the modest and what the aggressive percentage is? So, percentages would be a negotiated topic. So, the aggregate rates are what you see in the table. Just as you've seen the negotiation, the percentages vary from rate to rank and rank to rank. So, for me to give an exact one percentage would be tough. And I can answer that question, Commissioner. the chart that you have that shows the impact shows the differential between each of the options. So, you would add the total additional fire assessment revenue plus the total general fund impact for each of those options. And the differential is the difference between a modest and a more aggressive one. So, if you look, for example, between 1A and 1B, you would add the 9.4 million plus 7.6 as modest, and then the 12.9 million and the 9.8. And the difference of those numbers between a modest and an aggressive one, the total amount of revenue there, would be the amount that would be available within the department to use, and then whatever is negotiated within that would be what would be done. If I'm remembering correctly, was it 6 and 10 percent? That's only one option, Commissioner, because that depends on what's negotiated. What rank, what position gets what. Right. So, it's different amounts. I'm just trying to put it out there in layman's terms for people, that's all. Thank you. Other questions, Commissioners? Other questions? Sorry, we have cards. Christina Fleming. Hello again. Christina Fleming, District 3 resident. In 2017, we were addressing the fire assessment then. It was increased, but obviously, it either wasn't enough or the monies weren't used correctly. You were given four options today. Whatever options you decide on needs to be extremely aggressive. You are so behind the eight ball that you need to be progressively thinking for the next seven years. Your fire department is hanging on by sheer determination of what employees you have left, and they are exhausted. I am willing to support an increase, and it actually, for me, if we did the aggressive 4C, I'll be paying $21.66 a month more than what I'm paying now. I am more than willing to give up anything. I will give up my coffee if I have to, and they all know how big that is for me. I will give it all up. I will even take it if you raise my taxes. I will pay it in order for you guys to support your fire department and be what it is supposed to be. The definition of budget is a plan for the coordination of resources and expenditures. So you must plan for the future, not now, for the future. And please, budget appropriately. Thank you. Thank you. Ryan Barrick. Good morning. Ryan Barrick, Port St. John. Commissioners, thank you for hearing this item, giving it the attention that it deserves. Public safety is a core function of government, and your constituents appreciate being made a priority. I've met with all you on multiple occasions, and I know that all you support the fire department. Commissioner Feltner, thank you for always making appearances at our new higher graduation, sponsorship signings, promotional ceremonies. Your presence at these celebrations does not go unnoticed. Commissioner Atkinson, the first time I met you was at our chili cook-off. You were warm and engaging, and our people were instantly enamored. Commissioner Delaney, you were a permanent fixture at our negotiations for over a year. You dove headfirst into our culture and labeled us your firefighters. This brought tremendous pride for your employees, knowing that you held us in such a high regard. Commissioner Goodson and Altman, you fought the fight for us at a state level for years. Your support of cancer presumption and PTSD benefits create tremendous benefits for our trade. Additionally, your support of FRS at the state level ensured some form of post-retirement benefits for us all. For this, we're grateful. Unfortunately, I stand before you today at what seems like Groundhog Day from four years ago, when Fire Rescue's revenue sources were last explored. None of you were sitting commissioners at that time. The fire assessment was amended. However, over the past few months, you've all been briefed on its shortcomings and burdened with fixing it. Record inflation and competitive job market made the last fire assessment increase inadequate. What was sold as a seven-year plan was ineffective after one or two years. We have experienced soaring prices, supply chain delays for the capital products that our trade is relying upon to provide life-saving services for our residents. Furthermore, the additional personnel positions that were allocated to Fire Rescue sit unfilled. Our administrative team has become incredibly creative with overcoming some of these obstacles, but we're still coming up short with capital replacements, CIP, infrastructure enhancements, and most importantly, staffing. These staffing issues continue to plague our organization, and we're approaching a breaking point that has already resulted in service-level cuts for our residents. I suspect that these service-level cuts will continue, and soon ISO ratings could soon be affected by the difficult decisions that Chief Volk Terror will have to make. The competitive job market is a double-edged sword. Our great country sits one full point under the nation's historical unemployment rates. However, this competitive job market means that employees have the options to sell their services to the highest bidder. Though we acknowledge that Brevard County will likely never be the highest bidder, we continue to strive for the mean. I acknowledge the relationship between policymaker and constituent as it relates to taxes is intimate and a sensitive one. They elect you to ensure that the core functions of government, being infrastructure and public safety, are met. They also expect you to be good stewards of their tax dollars while showing them some form of ROI. I think it goes without saying which fire assessment option will fix our issues. There is only one option that will provide a real fix for our personnel issues. The rest will result in wet band-aid fixes not dissimilar to the options chosen four years ago. If another wet band-aid is chosen, it will peel inside of two years and perpetuate the glaring issues that we aim to fix. Thank you for your consideration. My prayers will be with you as you navigate this difficult road. As always, I'm available for questions now or your earliest convenience. Thank you. Okay, sir. Thank you. Dr. Robert Ford, I believe. Hey, good morning. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak in front of you today. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Bobby Ford. I was born and raised in this community. I grew up in West Melbourne. I left the area after high school and made my way back here after my emergency medicine residency to serve my community. And now I am proud to be the EMS medical director for Brevard County Fire Rescue. EMS is a backbone of our community. It provides timely and life-saving care to individuals in their most vulnerable moments. Our mission is to ensure that every resident receives the highest standard of care, regardless of the circumstances. This has been my mission ever since my own mother, who was a nurse for 37 years, lost her life just six hours after walking into a local emergency department. In EMS, we can change the trajectory of people's lives before they ever reach the hospital and ensure they get the care they need in a timely fashion. In the last few years, we have been working to improve this care for our citizens. One of the key areas we have made remarkable strides is in the management of sepsis. Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to an infection causes damage to its tissues and organs. Prompt recognition and treatment are crucial in improving outcomes. One study showed the mortality rate increased by 7.5 percent for each hour in delay in an antibiotic administration. We have implemented advanced protocols for early detection of sepsis. Our paramedics are now trained to recognize subtle signs and symptoms of sepsis, allowing for quicker diagnosis and intervention. Using state-of-the-art equipment, we can measure vital signs that indicate the presence of sepsis before ever reaching the hospital. Our sepsis care bundles, which include the administration of IV fluids and invasive pressors, are designed to stabilize patients en route to the hospital. We now even give those life-saving antibiotics in the field, avoiding any delays in administration at the hospital. Beyond sepsis care, EMS service has embraced several other advancements to enhance the care of patients. We have upgraded our cardiac protocols, incorporating the latest guidelines for the management of acute coronary syndromes and cardiac arrest. Our paramedics are equipped with the advanced cardiac monitors and defibrillators, enabling them to provide high-quality care in the field. I personally have performed something called double sequential defibrillation on someone with retractory V-fib, using two defibrillators with our paramedics. The 50-year-old, who otherwise would have ended up dead, walked out of the hospital after receiving their stent. I'll move forward because we're running out of time, it looks like. But it looks like... We'll yield you another minute, okay? Okay. That's great. Thank you. We have a few units that I have personally trained to use point-of-care ultrasound. This will be the future of EMS care, and our paramedics are currently using it to enhance the care of trauma patients. They can see if someone has blood in their abdomen from trauma, or a pneumothorax, or collapsed lung, and able to early alert our trauma center and someday deliver whole blood in the field. They can deliver a medication called tranexamic acid, which slowly helps, which helps to slow the bleeding early. They can physically tell if a heart is beating in cardiac arrest, or if there's fluid around the heart that's constricting its function. We all know the effect the opioid epidemic has had in our community. We have seen many friends and family members in our community die from the disease. Paramedics for BCFR are not only delivering immediate life-saving Narcan in the field, but they're now delivering buprenorphine. This drug is revolutionizing the care of opioid use disorder and helping to get rid of withdrawals and get patients in the mindset of recovery with less chance of overdosing again once on the medication. They then can help these patients get directly to an addiction treatment facility rather than going to an emergency department only to be discharged and overdose again. I'll just get to the conclusion. Well, it might be important. Is it okay if I speak a little bit more? Because this is an important part. We agree it's important. All right. All right. These are just a few of the examples of the high-quality care BCFR, paramedics, and EMTs deliver our patients. Recently, we have been dealing with the closure of Rocklitt Hospital, which has been a pivotal place in our community to provide emergency care. I am also the medical director of the emergency department there, and we'll be working the last shift in the ER tonight. As a team at BCFR, we have been resilient, and our paramedics have been responding to the need. They now have a longer distance to travel to bring patients to emergency departments that are fuller than ever. We have worked together to reinvent our 911 system to be sure our advanced life support units are available in their area to provide care for our community. We will be creating a system that's more efficient and aligns the care with the needs of the patient. In conclusion, our EMS services are committed to providing exceptional care through innovation, collaboration, and dedication. The advancements in sepsis care and other critical care areas are a testament to our unwavering commitment to the health and well-being of our community. We will continue to strive for excellence, ensuring that every resident receives the best possible care they need when they need it most. I have friends, people who my sisters and I went to high school with, and even family who are paramedics here, and I am proud of the care and the direction we are heading. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you, sir. Are there any questions? No. Go ahead. Okay. Thank you, sir. Sandra Sullivan. Good morning. Sandra Sullivan. I have always said that the burden should not be just put on the people, and that seems the emphasis on the presentations by the county. I want to look. So this was the chart and the options presented in the agenda item 2B is 37% increase. So we currently pay 279.57, and this would increase it to 383.01 for a single-family dwelling. So 383, to put it, that number. So you did a comparable analysis of 10 counties. So that amount would put us at just under Lake County, which is the highest, at 415. The problem is that's not going to solve your problems, because in 2021, you did a 33% increase, which was very much badly needed. And at that time in 2022, you had a cost of growth of $620,000. By 2025, that was predicted to be $30 million. And then at the beginning of the year, you were projecting $43.5 billion, a million, sorry. And then more recently, $68 million. What will it be next year? And so in 2021, when you did the FIRE assessment, this was to primarily bring their wages up to be comparable with surrounding counties. And it failed to do that because of the cost of growth. And what you're not dealing with is the cost of growth. So when I look at your RFPs online, you're really quick to put through, like you gave a week's notice for somebody to bid on going out, you know, about $70,000 to go out and advertise this assessment, which is needed. But the impact fees, it's not there. You could have accelerated that one and moved it up, but you've been dragging your feet, dragging your feet. Personally, I just think you're going to drag your feet on this. I mean, the meeting, the selection committee is on the 28th. You waited nearly a month for that. But you were darn sure fast. You know, RFP time period, one week, and turn around quick on the selection committee. Then you got $7 million lost because of a dumb selection committee and selecting a vendor who had a history of being hacked. And so you guys got hacked and lost a ton of money on ambulance losses. And then I did a records request for that. You obstructed providing those records. Still haven't provided it. There's a lot of areas for you to find money. And ultimately, you can't just put this on the people because it's not going to fix your cost to growth. And so while I support this assessment of 37%, you got to be smarter than this. Thank you. Ken Appling. How you guys doing? Good morning. Sir. If I may, if it's okay, I apologize. I just like to address Chief Voltaire. I just wanted to tell you, I'm sure you don't hear it enough. I appreciate everything that you do for us as a fireman. I know you do a lot of stuff outward. You do a lot of stuff behind closed doors that we don't get to see. And I know deep down, everything that you do is for the betterment of us. And I'm sure you don't hear that enough. I thank you from a brother to a brother always. Thank you very much. We won't hold that against your time. Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. Fair enough. That's amazing. The job that I do. And yet here I am nervous just to talk to you guys. So I apologize for that. A public speaker. I am not. The only thing that I have is this. My name is Kenny Appling. I'm a special operations lieutenant with Brevard County Fire Rescue. I've been doing this for 23 and a half years. According to the base pay, if you look at our pay rates, with my special operations incentive, which is quite minimal, has been the same for 30 years, I would be the second highest paid lieutenant in Brevard County on paper. Now, obviously, these guys work a ton of overtime because we have to. Even with 1,200 hours of overtime in 2024, which equates to about 50 extra days at work, my family, my wife, and four children, we qualify for WIC benefits through the county. That means that I get free cheese and milk and that kind of stuff to make my family go. That doesn't seem like that should make sense, being the second highest paid on paper lieutenant in Brevard County Fire Rescue. Yet, that is the case that we have. Also, as a recipient of the cancer benefit that you guys, some of you, have pulled forth through the state, because of the minimal and kind of not great medical benefits that you guys also provide us, I looked at having to come out of pocket for $3,000 of my own money to get the process started to have the cancer removed. I wish we could make that better. You know, of course, I did receive some funds, but there was, because we live paycheck to paycheck, sadly, you know, it was difficult to come up with some of that money. And so there were some choices that had to be made. Just, I don't know how you do it. I don't know how you go forward. I'm not the guy to answer that. But if there's a way, I would appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Okay, commissioners, that was the last card. So we'll move into discussion, or if you have follow-up questions. Commissioner Delaney, I see your light first. Logan, if you wouldn't mind putting up my slide. Thank you. I just wanted to put this up for the public. And, Chief, I appreciate you reading out all the options, including the ones that I have put up there. I think that, you know, one of the speakers talked about this is not just about the right now. This is about planning for the future. And with that, I'd like to make a motion to propose not to exceed 75%. Okay. Second that. Which option is that? 4C. 4C. But I don't think that that has anything to do with, that stuff really has to do with negotiations. I'm just talking about a percentage, you know, to go forward. And this is just not to exceed. This doesn't mean we're picking this amount. This means that the letter that goes out to the public, we are committing to them to not exceed that 75%. And this is totally 100% still up to discussion between all of us. After we get, I'm sure, a ton of public input. But I just really feel like we need to leave the opportunity open to see what the community believes that our people should be. Not only are our people getting paid, you know, the way that they should be, but, you know, taking care of our equipment, our buildings. This has to do with everything for long-term planning. And I really feel like we need to catch up and not have to come back for huge increases every, you know, couple of years. If we reassess every time we do a contract, for instance, it could only be, you know, single-digit increases if we got ourselves to the right place. So I just was hoping to leave it as open as possible to be able to include the most amount of citizen input and leave all the options on the table. Okay. We're in discussion. Other discussion on the item. Commissioner Atkinson. I think that it's important that everybody understand this is not just about your residents where you'll be feeling it. This is when you go out to dinner as well. This is when you go to your daycare. Everybody's, this fire assessment's not just for your residents. So it'll be touching you and your pocket in many different ways. Other discussion on the item. Is there a motion on the item? Say which option or the percentage. I would like to make a motion not to exceed 75%. I'll second that. All right. We have a motion. That's 4C. Okay. Not to exceed 75% increase. That's the motion, right? Okay. And we have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. We have a second by Commissioner Altman. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice Chair Goodson. No. Commissioner Atkinson. No. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltner. No. Okay. I'd like to make another motion. Okay. Let's get straight. Is there anyone else who's going to make a motion? I'll defer to her. Okay. All right. Go ahead with your alternative motion. I'd like to make a motion to not to exceed 50%. Second. We have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. We have a second by Commissioner Altman. Clerk will call the roll. Yes. No. Commissioner Atkinson. No. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltner. No. All right. Commissioners, what's the option, what's the rate that we don't want to exceed? 37. All right. Go ahead. I was just going to say that it's, I mean, if in any other part of our lives we talked about a 75 or 50% increase, we're talking about something that's generally unacceptable. It's unfortunate that that's where we are, it's unfortunate that that's where we are, but I think we have to have something more modest as a place to start from. Okay. I have a question. The 37% are, would it be the will of the board to also roll up the MSTU? So I appreciate that you brought that up, Commissioner, because that's going to happen at the hearing in July, right, the budget hearing. So, you know, there's two parts to this. There's a fire assessment fee, which has got this longer, drawn-out process, and then there is the millage question that we'll face in July. So we haven't gotten there yet with the millage, so that's going to happen this summer. So we're just on the fire fee now. If I could. I mean, I think it's fair to say that there'll be increases in both. Right. Of course. And never was I suggesting that, like I said when I made my original motion, never was I suggesting a 75% increase. I was just trying to have it as open as possible so that all the options were still on the table. That way we could have a discussion as a community as what are our priorities, what are people willing to do. And so. Can I tell you what I think is interesting about that as far as the process is concerned? Just quickly. So we're talking about letters going out to taxpayers saying that the board is considering a fire assessment increase not to exceed 75%. Right. I'm not sure that the end result of that would paint an accurate picture if you wanted to consider that a poll, because I think you're going to treat it like a survey. Is that right, Chief? Is that fair to say? You're going to compile those results, and you're going to bring them back to the board, and that's going to influence our decision-making up here as to the increase that we do adopt. We will compile the information, and if you want the result of what we get after the month, we'll absolutely report it. Yes, sir. And compile that data and bring it back as for, against, or neutral. We'll categorize it. Along with two public hearings, though. So that would give the, and, you know, honestly, this is such a, we are in such a crisis, and I say that word because, Commissioner Atkinson, you said that word, the magistrate said the word, and our chief said the word. So we are in a crisis. And so, I think if we're at, this is my opinion. 91 vacancies. But I think if we're at, we're in part one, and then we're going to have part two, which is the millage question. If we're asking the voters, or we're making them aware that we're considering a 37% increase, is that the right option to be? Puts us at 37%, correct? In fact, I think the results back from your survey, it's my belief that the community will be much more amenable to that. If I could just put this into perspective, and this is stuff that, I mean, the county put together for us. This is not my information. 1,800 to 2,200 square foot house, okay, which is about an average house. You're talking $14 a month with a 50% increase. I feel like you're speaking to a 75% increase. The 75% increase is in here, too, even if it was that much. We're talking a $21 increase for the average size home in Brevard County. I mean, to have fire and EMS show up to your house or not, I think that people are willing to spend, you know, under $50 a month to make sure that, you know, when their kid ends up in a pool or when their, you know, grandma doesn't wake up or when these things happen. And I think that people are willing to pay for these services. And so characterizing it as this, you know, massive increase is just unfair when we're talking about $21 a month. Okay. Commissioner Atkinson. And I think that's the point, though. Commissioner, we're not just talking about $21 a month. It's going to affect you when you deal with every business that your life touches, every single business, whether it's the daycare, it's the restaurant, it's where you go buy your groceries. It's not just $21 a month. For our information, Matt in chief, because we're talking about the average cost per single-family residence, what's the cost to, just in general terms, for any commercial on fire assessment fee? How would we be able to get our? I have that right in front of me. Okay. It's, you know, for $5,000 to $9,000 square foot, you're talking $50 a month. That's for a 75% raise. Okay. $54. I mean, I can't imagine that would increase, you know, maybe $1 or $2 per person. I mean, like, like, say, if you're using a daycare, you know, $1 or $2. If you're going to a fast food restaurant, we're talking, you know, 2,000 to 3,500 square feet, where it's $42 per month. And we're talking about our public safety. We will not have, we watched a whole room clear out just now. Of people. And if you don't think that Palm Beach is watching this, that Destin is watching this, that Miami is watching this, our people are some of the best trained people in the country. And they want our people. And we just gave them to them. Commissioner Altman. Sir, you recognize? Okay. Just so for a procedure, are we on a motion for 2B? Have we had a motion? We haven't had a motion on that. Okay. Well, I'll wait for a motion. Well, that's, do you want to make that motion, sir? Well, I'm going to hear from the others. I supported the other two. Okay. The 4C, but I think it probably is. What's the pleasure of the board? I'd like to make a motion to accept option 2B, which is the largest increase that the county suggested. Okay. I'm going to have a point of clarification. All right. We have a motion segment, but Commissioner Delaney, go ahead. Accepting the 37%, that does not lock us into the 2B option, correct? Meaning the pay scale of, you know, it doesn't lock us into certain particular raises for our people. No. It absolutely does not, Commissioner. I just wanted to put that out there. As you've heard. Yes. There are multiple components. The board hasn't discussed at all the general fund impact, which is part of that sheet, but also, and I think it's what you were referencing, you know, there is the opportunity with the MSTU. Now, there's going to be a general component to that as well, because it's a 55-45 split. We've tried to give you that in the chart. Those are discussions that the board can have, and depending on what the board is willing to do, there's some significant dollars that are available in the MSTU going forward. Okay. We had a motion by Commissioner Delaney for option 2B. Atkinson. I'm looking at you, and I'm pointing to her. I know. It's okay. I'm sorry. Commissioner Atkinson for option 2B. We had a second by Commissioner Altman. Clerk will call the roll. May I have a debate? Okay. A little bit. I'd like to say. I want to thank this commission, all five of us. This, this, you cannot underestimate the significance of this. I know I supported a higher amount. That's a lot, 75%, but I felt it was necessary. But the 37% is significant, and it's meaningful as well. And I agree with the chairman. I think he was concerned about the survey, and sometimes you've got to be careful what you ask for. You might get it because that might create a backlash that might make it more difficult for us to achieve some other revenue sources. One thing we haven't talked about is the staff. We have such an amazing staff, and they're working diligently in finding a revenue mix, a way of raising revenue in a very diversified and dispersed way. There are other options that we have out there, not just property taxes, but other fees and some things that the cities are using. There's a lot of tools out there, and I'm open to using all those tools. So this is not an ending. This is a beginning, and it's not necessarily a bad approach either because by sometimes having a diversity of revenue sources, it's much easier on the public and easier to sell. So I appreciate this motion, and I support it wholeheartedly. And I think this is a very significant beginning of a long and challenging task that we have to really make up for past actions that sort of kick the can. So I know a lot of folks are upset, and I understand, but I wouldn't be too upset because this is just a beginning, and it's a significant beginning, something that I think prior commissions have not even agreed to do. So I appreciate that motion and your courage and insight and commitment to trying to solve this problem. And I'm optimistic as we move forward we're going to be able to fill those holes that are obstructing us, and we can move forward. So I think it's a good step. All right. Any other discussion on this motion? I just have one more thing to say. I just wanted to also put out there that the roll-up of the MSTU, just for any of our public safety officers that are out there listening, that gets us to a place where work-life balance can be adjusted. So, you know, there still is hope for good things to come. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Atkinson for 2B. We have a second by Commissioner Altman. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice Chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltoner. Yes. And we'll show that one. Passes 5-0. Now, we need to do three things on here, right? So we need to vote on Action 2, which is to send the notice to the property owners. I move to approve. As we have a motion by Commissioner Atkinson. We have a second by Commissioner Delaney. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice Chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltoner. Yes. We'll show that one. Passes 5-0. On Action 3, we need a motion to set the public hearing date for final approval of the fire assessment. And so that will be at the regularly scheduled board meeting on May 20th at 9 a.m. Is there a motion for that? Move to approve. We have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. Is there a second? Second. We have a second by Commissioner Atkinson. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice Chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltoner. Yes. We'll show that one. Passes 5-0. Thank you, everybody. On this item, we will move to item J-3. Commissioner Delaney. This is your item. All right. So I was hoping to get board support on a workshop to discuss the 2024 year and area of critical state concern. We, before we were on the board, the last board suggested a workshop about this. And I've gotten a lot of people recently reaching out about some of the changes and some of the draft, some of the language in the draft. And so I just really feel like we didn't have an opportunity as a board to kind of go through that with the public. And so I would really love to do that. There's some debate on some shalls and some shoulds and some different things. And I brought forward four dates if the board is interested, May 14th, 15th, 26th, and 27th at 5 p.m. And this is something that I understand there can't be substantial changes, but I really feel like if we're going to do this thing, we should do it right and make it the best that it could be. And so I'd love to hear if anybody has any support for that. Questions on the item? Any questions for the sponsor? Okay. We do have two cards. So Robert Logsdon. Logsdon, 9020 South Highway, A1A, Melbourne Beach, Florida. I'm here representing the Barrier Island Protection and Preservation Association. And I'm here specifically to ask you to endorse a motion to include BIPA and Thousand Friends of Florida, C-Total Conservancy, and other non-government agencies in a workshop that we could possibly bring the agenda to the workshop and include staff, planning and zoning, Mr. Richardson, and commissioners that feel they need to be there. And the reason I'm asking this is back in 2022, the state delegates for our district came here and we came to the meeting and asked for their support in helping protect the Barrier Island, which is now referred to as a BBIA or the Area of Critical Concern. Our delegates, including Mr. Ault, responded by saying, what can we do to help you? And out of that was, or the result was, the Brevard County Area of Critical Concern. BIPA had a major part in the conception of that. We would like to be included in the drafting of the policy more than we have been involved in. We're just asking for participation, and I would certainly like for you to present a motion where we could be included in a small workshop. We are stakeholders, and we'd like to be heard. And I know it's not according to me in making the preference, but we would prefer late May. If you do so, make the motion. Thanks very much. Thank you, sir. Mr. Goodson, hold on. I have a question. Yes. Thank you, Chair. Have you been denied being at their meetings or voicing your concerns? No, sir. I don't think we've been denied. I just think we haven't been invited. So explain to me what your purpose would—what do you—you just think you'd have more clout if you were on it. Is that correct? No, sir. What would you do? I think our input needs to be relayed to the planning of this policy. It was, let's say, it was through our efforts that we brought it forward, and the guiding principles and so forth were through our effort, and we just feel that we have additional input and would just like to participate in it. I don't think it's— What is it you don't like that they have done? Well, there's protections for, let's say, trees, for instance, which a previous speaker spoke about. There are additions in it where there are additions to density restrictions and so forth or future land use element references in the draft proposal that we oppose, that we think that they're already in the future land use element of the comprehensive plan, and we see no reason to add future land use references into the existing or the future draft. We just don't see it as being necessary, and that's why we would like to be able to—we don't have a vehicle to have this discussion with the people that are putting it together, and this workshop would be that vehicle. Okay. Stay right there. Billy, question. Is it not true, or do I understand correctly, that if you mess with this plan now, you could affect funding from the state? That is true. If the board were to make substantial changes with what the board finds not to be in compliance, that the state can withhold funding, yes. So, Chair, may I ask? Yes. So that being said, when is the next official meeting that will allow these people to take part in? The LPA—right now we're on track to have this go before the LPA board on June 13th. Right. That's the plan that's already been approved, correct? The plan has been transmitted. We have made adaptations since then, including based on BIPA comments, and that would come forward for the next LPA meeting. My question is, when is it going to be up again, what year, for you to rewrite the whole plan? Any—so the next year is in seven years, but the board can choose at any time to make changes. All it has to do is direct staff to do a tax change amendment. Okay, without affecting the funding from the state. That is correct, sir. Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you, sir. If I can chime in. I think there is a very good product out there right now. We're not asking to change the entire policy by any means. We want an excellent, good policy, and we just think we have input that could help identify a better product. Commissioner Delaney, you have a question for— I would be happy to include these groups, as the speaker had said. They were the—this came from them. They went to our state legislature. This was their idea. They brought it forward. These people are the experts, and so I'm more than happy to include them in this process. And, Billy, if you wouldn't mind, we have an extension, correct, for the 60-day extension? Yes, Commissioner. A 60-day extension was approved by Board of Commerce. So—and the changes, unless they're substantial, that won't affect our funding. Correct. So we have to do two things. One is to—well, we have to respond to the state comments that was included in the work report. So assuming we do that and not make substantial changes, we have that freedom to make non-substantial changes. But they don't say what substantial changes are. So there's no definition. It's what they—you know, we have to see what they say. And then on top of that, some of the changes that the state suggested that came out of some of the suggestions of the people in these groups have not been implemented. And so, you know, if the state is saying we need to turn these shoulds to shalls, you know, I think that it's—I don't—and please, Board, this is not a knock on any of us. I don't think any of us are complete experts on this topic with the area of state critical concern, except for maybe Commissioner Altman, because he was involved. But these people are the experts, and I'd love to hear their input on this. And I think it's very important that we get this right the first time. Commissioner Atkins—okay, Commissioner Altman, I guess you're first, and then Commissioner Atkinson. I know Commissioner Atkinson is dedicated and committed to this issue, and I appreciate her concern. I'd like to hear from her and give a briefing on her of where she is, because I know she's working hard. So, thank you. Prior to getting elected— Thank you. We went to the South Beach, and we had a—several hundred residents showed up. And this is just the summary, I believe, of all of their comments. I was there. Commissioner Altman, you were there. And the staff took all of those comments and put it into this document. When I finally got elected, BIPA came to my office with all of their specific concerns. We redlined. And each one of those concerns, as I understood it, was given to staff. And, Billy and your staff, you went through every single one and addressed it. I had it back in my hands. I had BIPA back into my office. And as a group, where the two of you were there, you agreed. And I believe Mr. Shantzis even said, this is a great document. There are a couple things that need to be addressed. But in general, this is amazing. We are so proud of what staff did. Now, I understand that it needs to be tweaked. My concern is that if we take too long and we end up messing things up, that we could create some bigger problems for ourself and for the county. Billy, you've assured me, and correct me if I'm wrong, that some of the concerns that I still have about the document, they can still be addressed after this thing gets adopted. Absolutely. The board has the freedom to change its comp plan. And I will bring those back. Yes. Commissioner, let me remind you that we still have a couple cards. But because it's starting to sound like we're in debate. Commissioner Altman, sir. It feeds right into that question. And I've been briefed with staff. I'm very impressed with their knowledge. From what I understand, and to build what Commissioner Atkins said, that we might be better off. And I'm happy to hear she's committed to those changes. That's wonderful news. From what I'm hearing from a technical point of view, from a legal point of view, from an implementation point of view, and a relationship with our state, it probably would be better to do those at a later time. Is that what I'm hearing? If the board is considering substantial changes, for example, removing the future land use part of the BBIA element, then yes. Because right now, you wouldn't have the protection of having the state come back to make comments. They would simply find you in noncompliance if they had a problem with it. May I follow up? How about the landscape part of that? If we were to implement a tree clearing ordinance, for example, would that be considered substantial? So the ordinance aspect of this, once the board approves this comp plan, we have to focus on the ordinance aspects of this within one year. So that is kind of the next phase of this once we complete the comprehensive plan aspect. We haven't begun, well, I shouldn't say, some staff have begun drafting it, but we're in the very preliminary stages of that. At that point, we would be seeing complete board input. The board has the freedom to direct staff to make any ordinance changes it chooses, whether or not it's a should or a shall in the comprehensive plan. Okay. Okay. All right, Commissioners, we have a couple more cards. Mary Spahr. And then, Sandra, I haven't forgotten you. Okay. Maybe up next. Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Mary Spahr. I live in Cocoa, and today I'm representing Sierra Club Turtle Coast Group. We have not been involved in this process before, except for reviewing quite a bit of documentation. So, first, with regard to the South Barrier Island area of critical state concern, we believe that you have a wonderful opportunity to protect a really important environmentally sensitive area of our county. And in spite of the debate that's starting here, we do have an unusual situation with this Barrier Island amendment, where instead of one group wanting a targeted amendment for the South Barrier Island and another group not wanting it, virtually everyone agrees with the concept of an adequate amendment. So, it should be energizing to work together on this comp plan amendment, since everyone shares the same overall goal, effectively addressing the environmental challenges of the South Barrier Island. And we ought to be very thankful about this common goal and gladly embrace the time-consuming task of evaluating numerous well-intentioned suggestions in order to identify those suggestions which will really solve and prevent problems. Now, some thoughts regarding both the Barrier Island and the EAR amendments. It's a fact that writing comp plan language is not an easy task. And whatever else staff and the consultants do, they don't want their proposed language to make things worse. Caution and careful study of proposed changes is in order. Staff has now received an extension, so the county will have until September to adopt the amendment, taking some of the time pressure off all concerned. Sierra Club believes that the Barrier Island amendment is currently proposed, needs more work if it is to be the very best product we can produce. I am going to, excuse me, can I, can I, I don't have too much more. I should say the very best product we can produce without substantial changes, because we know and we're familiar with the state process. The EAR amendment also needs improvement. A workshop would be very helpful in reaching the goal of excellence. Excellence. We need to hear more constructive ideas from the commissioners and also from the public. And if these ideas are heard in May at a workshop, staff will have time to carefully consider them. We urge you to vote yes on holding a workshop for the ACSC amendment and the EAR amendment. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Sandra Sullivan. Thank you, Sandra Sullivan. So, I also was involved with this. I want to just say the, first of all, thank you to Mr. Altman, our then rep, who supported this bill. The Thousand Friends of Florida wrote the legislation, and Sea Turtle Conservancy is very much supporting this. And I think the bottom line issue is the process, which the vote was taken under board reports by previous District 3 commissioner without public comment, and funded with, said a number that wasn't a number. They continued using Bonnie Landry for this process when the state came and did the area of critical concern. This is the first area of critical concern in 45 years. This is such a big deal. So, they go to P&Z with the changes, and P&Z voted to remove the key element, which is the loopholes that are in there for increasing density and intensity use. That's the bottom line crux of the issue, okay? Because the area of critical concern, the whole purpose of it is to limit density increases because of the sensitivity of this environment for the sea turtles for evacuation. I mean, it's very problematic. This was the survey that was done at the meeting that was hosted by Bonnie Landry, the consultant that was hired, and the very top of the graph, that's density. That's the number one concern of the residents down there and what they deal with. There's some egregious, you know, on steroids, changes coming to Live Local that are also going to be impactful, but, you know, that we can't control that. I would urge you to have a workshop. Invite the stakeholders to the table because the other commissioners here went and passed that P&Z. The P&Z board, your board, rejected these density increases in that language, and this board ignored the will of the P&Z board, your own board. You didn't take their recommendations. I was here, I spoke. Other stakeholders spoke and said that the changes that were being sent to the state were a violation of state law under the area of critical concern. So given those concerns that were put on public record, the thing to do now as a new board is to listen to the will of the people, listen to the law, because there's some allegations that some violations are in place, and have a workshop, and come to the table, and let's get this done, and let's resolve this, because lives could be lost down there, but there's also the environmental concerns. That is a very sensitive environment. We are the largest loggerhead nesting in the world now because our mar was destroyed. I have a question. And Altman has a question for you, Sandra. Actually, for staff, because I think you make a very good point there, I'd love for staff to comment on the density issue in terms of the submittaline. The version transmitted and currently in existence expressly prohibits density increases in the area. So is the exception that was put in there for when you change to a PUD and you can get an increase in density? You're saying that language was removed after this commission voted for it and it went to the state and you've since amended that? No answer. No. Billy, go ahead, sir. Doing it right. Yes. I think there's a distinction that needs to be made between a zoning change and a land use change. So what it prohibits is residential density designations from being increased, for example, from Res 1 to Res 4 and the like. The PUD issue is separate. We have our current version that we're looking at has some language that no new PUDs would get a density bonus. And I think there's been some confusion there. We've tried to split it as best we can so that the people that already have, the very few people that have PUDs only existing get to keep their land rights that they have today, but no new PUDs would get a density bonus. Other questions? Follow-up? No. Okay. Sir? No one cares for this more than I do and I love BIPA. Thank God. We need more BIPAs in this. They're wonderful. But also the staff is doing a remarkable job as well as Commissioner Atkinson tracking this issue and I did the bill. And unfortunately, we had to put an amendment on the bill right at the end to get it passed. And Sandra, you're right. This was huge. But the first, and the Sierra Club is right, the first area of critical state concern in how many years? 45 years. 25. 45. 45 years. Wow. But we had to put an amendment on right at the end that said that we would not be depriving any landowner of any existing development rights. And I think that PUD is, you're walking a fine line here. You don't want to violate the law because the whole thing could be thrown out. And I think that kind of factored in as well, didn't it? That is absolutely the line we're trying to walk, Commissioner. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. I just wanted to say I'm certainly not against a workshop, but I don't know that this is the right time for it. I think that it would be when we start to address the LDRs and text amendment changes and things like that. That's when I think it can be useful. Well, right now, I kind of feel like it would be spinning our wheels because we're not going to make any substantial changes to this thing because it gets us in trouble. Okay. So there might just be an order of operations situation here where we need to send this now to prevent us from having problems with the state, potential funding, etc. But possibly it could be... We're not until September. Yeah, we're not here in June. When I had spoken to staff about this, Billy, if you will chime in on this too. When I had spoken to staff about this, they said that this would be the best time because then it would give them June to make the changes that were suggested and directed from the workshop. And then, you know, that would give them plenty of time before that September deadline, if I'm remembering correctly. If the board were to wish to have a workshop, the earlier the better because we need to have time to make whatever comes out of that workshop, you know, to make those implementations. I think we have a dilemma here. We risk having a problem with the state or you have a workshop. I mean, you can send it, not have a problem with the state, and you have a workshop, make changes, and then potentially have a problem with the state. Is that the choice before us? Yeah, Commissioner, yeah, we can't make substantial changes without risk. But we can make non-substantial changes without risk, right? We won't know that until the state tells us what they think is substantial or not. Yeah, I mean, there's certain tweaks like, you know, we've been making, of course, those are, but there are certain, there's a gray area there, and some of the changes that were talked about even in public comment today are clearly over that line. So that's, you know, So how do we make the changes from the shoulds to the shalls that were suggested by the state going along with the BIPA suggestions? That was included in the ORC letter as a comment to consider what was in the BIPA recommendations. So we had the freedom there. Right. But if the people who establish this whole thing and then the state also says make the shoulds shalls, I would think that that would we would here's my issue is that the comp plan is basically the Bible for development in our community. It's the law. And so this the gray is where we run into problems. And so if we could shore some things up to have protections for our community, why not have those? What's the pleasure of the board? Is there any board support for a for a workshop? I think I think that there's consensus that not at this time is what I'm hearing. And is there anything that that we could do, Billy? Could we bring up say an agenda item or something at a meeting that would address some of those concerns before that before it gets sent back to the state for final approval? There are multiple avenues. One is the LPA meeting and if I can make a correction I said June 13th before it's June 16th and then of course it's going to come back to the board for adoption. At that meeting which the board moved the meeting today it'll be July 17th is the projection. Because we have that 60 day extension we'll have some time to implement any changes the board directs us to make. It's I'm just going to comment on this because I remember sitting in the audience hearing but it's you know you'll have time to talk about this when it comes before the board and time after time the people see no changes made and things just pass through. So I hope that that just all stays in the forefront of our minds as we're moving forward with this. Thank you. Okay we will go on to item J4. I am requesting board support for a executive session in regards to collective bargaining. I believe that there is significant hardship that Fire Rescue is dealing with with the closure of Rockledge Regional Hospital and from what I've been told from staff there are some things that we could do to help slow the bleeding a little bit within our ranks and I would really love the ability to talk about that and see what we can do for our people who have been loyal to our community and have stayed you know in our community as we're working through these negotiations and I would just like to also read some things that the magistrate said in his response to us he says this unit substantially lags behind the average pay of comparable employers he says in either case one could expect current high levels of turnover to increase at the same time the negotiations for a new contract remained unsolved it appears that staffing levels barely satisfy minimum legally mandated minimums and if units were to receive what they viewed as a bad contract turnover would be expected to continue if not accelerate he also goes on to say if the pay disparities are not to be addressed now and this was March 9th the wage gap gap will only continue to grow making subsequent efforts to address the disparities even more difficult later and he says I'm not taking sides only pointing out what I see to be obvious and now this person is somebody who you know both sides have agreed upon you know this is not somebody who is biased either direction this is somebody who heard both sides of the story and said there's a problem here and I I really feel like we need to see if there's something we can do for fire rescue right now while we continue on with the impasse process Commissioner's questions any questions on this item we have one we have one card Sandra Sullivan Sandra Sullivan I'm gonna be blunt when people were campaigning the number one issue that was being discussed was our public safety of our fire rescue it was a crisis then and a concern of critical service failure we're all seeing where this is going I just wonder what the agenda that is playing out by the county what is the agenda that is going to come to light when you were campaigning the message was as soon as you got elected we were going to have a contract for the firefighters it was November November December January February March April we're five months later now what should happen today is you guys should go into executive session and go talk about this and there needs to be a contract for these guys so you're gonna have I'm seeing the posts already online you're gonna have a mass exodus of people and if you think you're up the fucking creek right now yeah if you think you're up the creek right now with Rockledge hospital closing today where do you think you're gonna be in a couple weeks from now you guys need to wake the fuck and I'm allowed to say that under my constitutional right and if you don't believe me go look up the Moms for Liberty lawsuit now I'm gonna put this very clearly government is created for public safety and infrastructure that is the purpose of government and you are purposely endangering lives these guys are talking at groups and talking about the ramifications of what is going on and lives are gonna be lost and your lack of action is liability for the county wake up all right all right all right okay all right thank you we're still on the item that was it for the card that we had commissioners discussion on the item is there a motion on the item I'd like to make a motion to have an executive session today after this board meeting sir do you want to say something just don't understand what we're going to gain by going upstairs again when the magistrates still got to rule we're trying our best to fund it with the fire assessment with raising the MSTU funding to hear the same thing again what purpose does it serve commissioner when does the magistrate give the final word to us it should be within 30 days the briefs were due yesterday and I believe it's statutorily the magistrate has 30 days if I'm correct so we could have a closed door meeting before the June break with the magistrate's decision the process commissioner is once there once the decision is made by the magistrate both parties will have the opportunity to determine whether or not they accept the magistrate's decisions if both parties accept the magistrate's recommendations then they would go before the union for a vote and come before the board when would the board of commissioners make the decision whether we accept the board doesn't that's done that's done at a staff level we then bring it to the board for a vote once the union if the union accepts it then they ratify it would come back to the board for a vote I believe that would have to be it depends how quickly the magistrate renders this decision whether or not because the board has a break during June I understand so you have to come back for a special meeting and the more difficult process would be if either party does not accept the magistrate's decision then you enter into a cone of silence where you are not allowed to speak to anyone either on the county side or on the union side or anyone in the bargaining unit there's a cone of silence because the board will play a different role at that point it will come to a public and the board would make the decision as to what they would impose for the one year period that one year period would end September 30th of 2025 if I can answer Commissioner Goodson's question from what I understand there's 7.6 million dollars right now that was planned to be spent on a contract if one was ratified back in October and what what we could talk about is a memorandum of understanding we could talk about you know a way to give the people that have stayed here during this difficult time the step raises that they have foregone as going through these proceedings and so there's there's still things that we can do to alleviate some of the bleeding right now especially after you know the the earlier conversations with the assessment people are very unhappy and I feel like if we don't do something to show our people that we value them that we will not have a fire department by July does for clarify go ahead commissioner goodson okay frank explain to me they could have had that increase months ago correct they were offered a very I believe significant increase they know it back in December including retroactive pay they chose not to the county has never walked away from the impasse that's always been the union's decision which they had a right to do let me clarify on something on that that point so that deal is that still effectively on the table they could take that at any time we have never refused to negotiate commissioner we've been there every time early we've been accused of you know negotiating too quickly because they weren't prepared to come that would be a one year deal right now it could be a one year could have been a three year right those things were done back in December they were done at mediation and with all due respect I'm sorry to interrupt with all due respect there have been substantial changes since that time we have a closure of a major hospital and we have more vacancies now so the job looks completely different today than it did even two months ago and so I understand there's a lot of history there's a lot of feelings there's a lot of you know battling it out on both sides but what what I'm hoping that we can do is looking to do is look from today look at where we are today and see what we can do to help the heroes that are in our community as we're making our way through this process do you have some indication that x y and z done today would would be acceptable I would assume that if I don't assume anything I'm I'm I'm asking yeah is it's there is there some something that we're not aware of that they would not more than anybody else watching social media or the news or anything else you know it's I don't consider social media to be a good source of anything but if we're going to have a closed door meeting today to discuss some specifics um do we have specifics to discuss yes commissioner this may sound strange but but it's sort of how I feel and and we have gone we've gone so far in this direction and we've invested so much time energy both the union the special magistrate and the county and our county attorney I'm kind of curious what the magistrate comes up with I'd like to see what their recommendation is I think that's why we have this process into law so if we go into any sort of executive session the intent would be to to try to work out an agreement prior to the special magistrate giving the recommendation which we've tried and tried and tried I don't I don't know if that's going to happen I'm at a point now let's see what the mattress is an independent third party objective source it's going to be interesting and that's going to come out when Frank it should come within 30 days I believe okay July is longer than 30 days we wouldn't have an opportunity to to make a change for our people until July that's what I'm trying to get to Frank so do we get it on May 26 and you know what's the earliest date we could make a change for these people is what we're asking we've always been open to negotiation commissioner all they have to do is say they want to negotiate and we would be at the table we've never walked away the county has never walked away from the magistrate is what I'm asking what's the earliest date we could I can't tell you what the earliest date would be because I don't know when the magistrate the process was extended at the request of the union attorney for 10 days so that period expired yesterday both parties submitted their briefs yesterday I believe the magistrate has 30 days after the submission of the briefs to render the recommendation and provide it to both the county and the union so the earliest time would be after the magistrate has given us that and both parties respond to what those recommendations are they'd have to be reviewed by both parties and then they would have to make a decision I don't have on the top of my head okay how many days that is that each party has do you know Melissa it might be 15 days so either party would have to review what the magistrate recommended and then decide do they accept or not if if they accepted then the union would go for a ratification vote and that would take a little bit of time and then it would come back to the board for final vote if not then we would set up the the hearing where the board would make you know the impose what they wanted to impose as a contract all right we have a meeting schedule a regular meeting on the 20th of may so is it possible so it's possible we could have that decision no it's a recommendation and then both parties would have 15 days depending how quickly they were ready to respond it could be you know if he if he if he gave the uh recommendation within two weeks you could still do it and they would have the 15 days I just don't know because you know I believe it's the magistrates from out of state so I don't know how quickly we should expect that decision what what if what if we just bring this issue up again on the 20th okay of may we have we have a meeting anyways and if we have the magistrate's decision in our hands at that time then we could decide to have a closed door meeting to discuss the results of that at least armed with that information aren't there things that we could do that would that could give get our people paid today that we could continue on with the negotiation process we don't have the ability to impose is that why I'm talking about like a memorandum of understanding that would that negotiations and as I've said commissioner we're available today if they wanted to negotiate they just have to tell us they wanted to negotiate we have not walked away mr chairman may I yes commissioner I don't have a problem with the executive session we probably could have had one by now if we've discussed here it's probably more appropriate we do talk about this so I don't have a problem it if we want to go into executive session I'm not I'm not opposed myself I I don't know what the yeah it's hard I think it's hard to to figure things out before we have um what what their brief is what are um you know what what information we're gonna get from the magistrate but I'm so all right okay with it all right uh go go ahead with uh your motion commissioner I'd like to make a motion to have an executive session um today after the regular board meeting a second all right we have a motion by commissioner delaney for executive session after the end of this meeting and we have a second by commissioner altman clerk will call the roll commissioner delaney yes vice chair goodson no commissioner atkinson yes commissioner altman yes chairman feltner yes all right so we'll see you upstairs uh after we get through and I may ask politely that we have a short board report so we can get to it is that is that a fair trade I know I know it I haven't forgotten it thanks all right commissioners let's go to j5 and we did have three cards so we're minus one I think and uh j5 commissioner goodson or peter somebody want to introduce this $5,000 to each one of these as far as the cultural alliance money we originally requested two items but I guess that's your prerogative yeah I'll second it okay we have a motion by commissioner goodson but actually we have two cards I'm sorry we need we need to go to the cards first all right ruth uh caulfield after that bill bill harwig sir if you're still with us okay good afternoon just afternoon commissioners and chair and staff and audience I sent out an email to every single commissioner and do the um tourism bar last night I hope you got it if you did not I have copies for you did y'all get it or no I mean would you like a copy I'll just pass these out it's a quite lengthy email I'm not going to read it all but I am going to um try and give you an idea of what you're walking into if you decide to um give money to space coast pride uh commissioner goodman opposition to language spoken earlier yet wants to give money to space coast pride pretty hypocritical um in my mind but I would like to play for you what the plan is from people that are associated with this organization shoot sir i mean if you could just just i'm sorry what right we just tell us or any video or audio those are supposed to by board policy be submitted in advance so staff can make sure that we comply with regulations i don't broadcast this to the public that's why we have that so we you you could okay we just need to make sure there's vision is coming for our children okay this organization is already funded by many organizations in brevard county so that they don't have to answer to the dei crap so the dei crap has already been addressed by our governor by our president and by many other people we don't need this type of cancer in our community to be given taxpayer money or any sort of monies at all that come from the commission so i don't see any benefit to this and it's tourism so you want to advertise to the united states and to the world that tourism is entertaining space coast pride lgbtq transgenderism and all you would say when you give that money to them that you support that and then that's what you're going to be inviting that's what you're going to be bringing to this county we don't need it here all right ma'am thank you bill harwick thank you good afternoon uh thank you in advance for three minutes uh my name is uh bill hartwick uh brevard residence county in west nolburn uh as you all and we all are taxpayers uh i love this country i'm uh a veteran honorably discharged uh i had a strong uh urge to uh serve my country um and also i'm also uh proud to say that i'm a grandson and a uh a son of city firefighters in rochester new york my concern is uh where my tax uh dollars are going both federally and locally uh i have a grave concern for america's tomorrow and you know what our kids are america's tomorrow do you want this uh pride stuff going to these kids i don't that's my tax dollars i don't like it i'm a taxpayer and i'm telling you all i don't like that uh that's the moral fabric you know our kids we got to look out for that and like i say america's tomorrow are our kids and if you any of you voted in the past for any of this shame on you because you i don't have to stand here and tell you the direction of our company uh country has been going but we're in a mess and i applaud all of yous for the job you're doing it's you're getting everything from everybody from everywhere please don't fund this crap do not do it we have firemen we got the first line you know cops i could go on and on of the things that have happened in this country and we all know that my wife funded the uh rochester police department uh in her job and they got defunded and she's funded them we're headed in a very wrong direction so please i urge you no more of this trans crap it's destroying our country i believe in our constitution i serve my country and it really irritates me greatly that we have our government's systems funding this crap i don't know if you remember uh during the biden administration when they had their gay day on the the lawn of the lighthouse or the easter bunny and the transvestites bunch of crap if you support that stuff shame on you look at the videos if you funded some of this in the past take a look at the videos with those uh little ones no that's that's sick so please do your best for our country and our kids thanks for the time that was our is that it that was our last card on that okay i've got a comment okay please in discussion yes sir these people are taxpayers just like you are you're not required to go to this function you're not even asked to go but they pay taxes i don't like the venue i don't go but at the same token you answer this question do you have anybody in your family that could be of a different venue well maybe you do maybe you don't but you're going to persecute them and now all about we hear about we the people we the people those are the people so until they do something wrong in melbourne that they get arrested for or they do something wrong then i'm going to give them the same money we'd give to possibly a german parade that wants to take the jewish people back to germany so that's all i got to say if you don't want to vote for it don't vote for it but be prepared don't let me hear you say we the people again okay okay that's uh the end of the discussion or is there any other discussion i sir i have some discussion um i i um i'm opposed to giving tax dollars to space coast pride um the things that i have seen um put out there um that go on at this event is not what i would consider a family friendly event um when these cultural dollars are uh were put out to be spent it was supposed to be for you know things that everybody could go to and i don't think that that fits within uh what we're looking at okay commissioner altman sir i saw you reaching for your life there i'm ready to vote okay um commissioner goodson what's your item sir okay i would like to make a motion for approval of my twenty thousand dollars okay a motion is there a second sir would you like to amend your motion nope okay we'll show that dies from a second then nope all right um we have one card on public comment from the supervisor of elections good afternoon commissioners thank you for the opportunity um i just wanted to extend my gratitude to the men and women of brevard county firefighters melbourne fire department and the forest service last wednesday the april 16th we had a major brush fire that came up right against our election support center which had millions of dollars of voting equipment myself and my chief deputy were over in orlando at a user meeting conference and got the call from our warehouse manager who expressed our concerns uh chief olterra was uh was great to work with kept me in very close contact and uh we were on site with me as uh the fire approached got within 20 feet of our building uh so i just want to commend all of the hard work they did an amazing job and they continue to as we get flare-ups even now uh we're still getting smoke out of that area so i just wanted to express my gratitude to them thank you very good um we're going to go into board reports and i'm going to keep it quick i'm going to start because i i have two things and kind of a segue into uh tim actually uh we had discussion the other day and i suggested that uh because we need alternates for canvassing board and uh we do have a regular member and we have an alternate but it's it's it's hard to to meet it all and so uh i would like for us to designate our chiefs of staff in each of our offices to be um alternates um for canvassing morris is there any issue with that i think i don't believe so i know we've done that before tim i don't think there's chief of staff i think we've had we've had danielle i think um before um do it for us so anyways um is that something we can go ahead and make a motion and danielle's done it several times uh okay uh but when i mean canvassing board meets i think almost daily for 10 days or so during the election period yes sir would you just explain to the dilemma to us real quick certainly so uh our canvassing board schedule is published on the voterevard.gov website it's not every day there's a number of meetings that starts with our logic and accuracy test and ends through our post-election audit i can assure you that the meetings this year are very short uh for the ones that commissioner delaney attended uh commissioner goodson or the alternates sometimes we are at in and out of there in an hour this isn't like the regular election cycle but the most important criteria is the county commissioner whoever's designated cannot be an active participant in any campaign cannot be on any kind of a host committee fundraiser openly endorsing a candidate so those are the what ends up disqualifying a number of commissioners unfortunately but i'm all i'm all in support of the only the only stipulation was by per state law anybody serving on the canvassing board and it can be any uh elector in brevard county so certainly the chiefs is happening it's a wonderful idea they would just have to take the mandatory signature matching training and then there's also a canvassing board uh workshop video as well and i think danielle's been through this and danielle's willing to do it i can't see her raise your hand but we're happy to share the will i'll make a motion all right you'll you'll make it okay the alternate well we'll designate our our chiefs of our office okay that'll be it's just uh everybody's okay all right so we have a motion by commissioner altman we have a second by commissioner delaney uh clerk called the roll on that motion for us real quick commissioner delaney yes vice chair goodson yes commissioner atkinson yes commissioner altman yes chairman feltner yes all right we'll show that past five zero and just a reminder every individual does have to take the training you can't i have to have a certificate on file for each individual we'll make them available thank you very much appreciate it okay very good uh commissioners one other thing i got an update um earlier i'm going to read it to you um representatives royce on this to me orlando health has agreed in writing to one fund 10 million in assistance to space coast health foundation to demolish the building at their expense and three give the property back to the city of rockledge that's it that's all that i have you'll have to call him with any other updates on that uh that'll constitute my board report so uh morris board report no report mr chairman mr county uh manager frank anything no report okay uh commissioner delaney i did have a report but due to time i'm gonna forego that but anybody who's interested i'll put it out there on social media okay commissioner altman no report commissioner goodson commissioner delaney sorry i'm sorry commissioner atkinson commissioner kim just do that all right real quick uh i just wanted to say palm bay high school girls basketball team won their first ever state championship yay and uh jada civil from that team was named uh player of the year so i'm proud of him good job let's uh let's do this let's can we how about 110 okay so nobody can get lost in 20 minutes i have to sign some things for the clerk gives everybody a chance to refresh themselves a little bit and we'll meet in the conference room of county managers okay all right thank you thank you everyone the opinions expressed by any member of the public during any period of public comment do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the board of county commissioners of brevard county florida space coast government television or the program sponsor and are solely those of the presenter the board of county commissioners of brevard county florida