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 evening and welcome to the July 8th meeting of the county commissioners. Tonight we have Keith Beecher, Space Coast Humanist. Sorry. Sir. Good evening, commissioners, staff, and neighbors. Before this meeting gets underway, I politely ask that we pause, not to dismiss the gravity of the various situations and events that surround us, but to reflect on them with the utmost prudence and conscientiousness. We are a community made stronger by our differences and the resolve of the people. I make a plea to all of you this evening that you commit yourselves to representing all your constituents, that all of us respect the growing diversity of this county. For diversity is not something we have to endure, but something we should protect. It is the scaffolding that strengthens and supports our communities. May we resist the urge to sow division and stoke fear. Threatening to kill unarmed citizens, assaulting officers with a flagpole, or cheering on the suffering of others does nothing for our communities, nor does exalting those who choose to ignore our shared humanity while giving others a license to dehumanize their neighbors. What are the shared values we can coalesce around as a community? What values will make room for all of us? Do our neighbors not deserve the right to fairness, dignity, and inclusion? We the people, this is a phrase we have heard and hear so often, yet we have continually failed to make these words a reality as our country's history progresses forward in time. So the question is, if not now, when? Let us remember we don't all need to think alike, worship the same, look alike, or love the same, to have a community that everyone can call home. May we humble ourselves, speak with honesty, listen intently, and hold a shared belief that the law, the county of Brevard, and the space we make it belongs to all of us. Thank you. Nicely done, sir. Thank you very much. Commissioner Atkinson for the Pledge of Allegiance. Okay, commissioners, this is a housekeeping item here real quick before we get started. We have commissioner Altman on the phone. Are you there, sir? I'm here. All right, very good. We need a motion and a second to allow him to participate by phone. Second. All right, 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. Chairman Feltner. Yes. Thank you for that. All right. We have minutes to approve from March 6, 2025 budget workshop number two. We have April 8, 2025 regular meeting and May 6, 2025 regular meeting. So moved. Second. I have a motion by commissioner Goodson. I have a second by commissioner Delaney. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Felton. Yes. Thank you for that, commissioners. We'll move into resolutions. We have three tonight. I have one for Commissioner Goodson that I'm going to read. And then I've got two. We're going to go to the second one, E2. Colonel Marcus Smith is here tonight for men's health, and he's got a meeting in Melbourne to get to. So, sir, you're welcome to bring your group up if you like. Just you? Well, you're just enough. All right. All right. We have a resolution tonight for men's health awareness month. Whereas men's health is a critical component of the overall well-being of our community, and addressing men's health issues is essential for building strong families in a vibrant society. And whereas statistical data indicates that men are more likely to face health challenges such as heart disease, diabetes, prostate, and other cancers, and mental health issues, often due to a lack of awareness and preventative care. And whereas men's health month observed each June serves as a national campaign to raise awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. And whereas Brevard County Board of County Commissioners acknowledges the importance of promoting healthy lifestyles, regular exercise, and routine medical checkups for men of all ages, races, and backgrounds. And whereas the upcoming Cocoa Merritt Island Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and the Men in the Community Foundation Men's Health and Fitness Summit, scheduled for Saturday, June 27, 2026, at Eastern Florida State College's Melbourne Campus, aims to provide men with resources, education, and activities focused on physical, mental, and emotional health. And whereas the summit will feature expert-led workshops, interactive fitness sessions, free health screenings, and a local vendor marketplace, all designed to empower men to take charge of their health and well-being. And whereas Brevard County Board of County Commissioners supports initiatives that align with our commitment to community health, education, and empowerment. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners hereby recognizes June as Men's Health Awareness Month in Brevard County and express our support for the 2026 Men's Health and Fitness Summit, done in order and adopted in regular session this 8th day of July 2025. Is there a motion? Do approve. We have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. 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? Chairman Feltner? Yes. And Colonel, you're recognized. First off, thank you, Commissioners and Commissioner Feltner for that proclamation. So for many of you who may not know, but June is nationally recognized as Men's Health Awareness Month. And when we come up on the month of October, we know that that's Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So we're creating this initiative as a way of advocating for more men's health awareness initiatives. And in 2026, we're going to have that Men's Health and Fitness Summit. There's a website that's already up. And so this proclamation is just a way of creating more awareness and also just letting the community know that we want men to be a part of taking care of their health. And we want to create a safe space. So in 2026, we're hoping to have 200-plus men to come to Eastern Florida State College. And this proclamation is just a way of saying, you know, we're here and this is an activity. So thank you for this. And to the public, thank you all for being here and hearing this. More to come. And I have to head off to Melbourne for the city council meeting. I got a resolution for you. And we'll take a picture real quick. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, commissioners. We'll go on to E1 recognizing Space Coast Day. And I think we have Jamie Draper, sir. After we vote on this, you can say a few words if you like. Up to you. I have a proclamation for Space Coast Day. Whereas on July 24th, 1950, at 9.28 a.m., a small group of scientists, engineers, and technicians accelerated America into space age by successfully launching a modified V-2 rocket Bumper 8 from the sands of Cape Canaveral. And whereas today, 75 years after that historic event, thousands of launches have been conducted by military, NASA, and private contractors for national security or scientific or commercial purposes, and whereas the missile program led to the deployment of such missions as America's first satellite, Explorer 1, orbiting the Earth in 1958, Alan Shepard riding the first manned mercury capsule in 1961, John Glenn orbiting the Earth in 1962, and Apollo 11 landing on the moon in 1969. Further ventures include probes traveling to other planets and journeying outside of our solar system, the space shuttle, and an overwhelmingly successful manned space program, and a permanent human presence in space aboard the International Space Station. And whereas many of these launches began their journey from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and whereas the use of space has had an immense impact on the world from wireless capabilities to weather prediction, from medical advancements to global navigation, and beyond, and whereas currently, inactive launch complexes are being rejuvenated for a new generation of launch vehicles to support space exploration in the increased commercial application of space, and whereas the launch of Bumper 8 had a national implications as it set the stage for the development of the world's premier gateway to space, Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, does hereby proclaim July 24, 2025, as Space Coast Day, done order and adopted in a regular session this 8th day of July 2025. Commissioners, is there a motion? Move to approve. We have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. 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 Feldner. Yes. Thank you very much. Sir, you're recognized to say a few words if you like. Well, thank you for helping us celebrate 75 years of launch from Florida's Space Coast. I just discovered today that we started referring to this area as the Space Coast in 1969, so that's another little addition to all the whereases. So, thank you very much. No other remarks from that. Okay, very good. I have a resolution for you to take with you, sir. Thank you. Okay, Commissioners. We have a resolution for Parks and Recreation Month and Parks and Recreation Professionals Day, and we have quite a contingent today. That's great. We appreciate you all coming tonight. That's what I realized. Okay. Okay, Commissioners. I have a resolution designating July 2025 as Parks and Recreation Month and Friday, July 18th, 2025 as Parks and Recreation Professionals Day. Whereas Parks and Recreation serves as an integral part of our community through the promotion of health and wellness, encouraging active lifestyles, improving mental health, and it's fundamental to the environmental well-being of our community. And whereas Parks and Recreation Programming and education activities such as after-school programming and day camps, youth sports, and environmental education are critical to childhood development, help cultivate lifelong friendships, and create memories and community bonds that people hold dear decades later. And whereas our parks, natural recreation areas, and environmentally endangered lands, sanctuaries, ensure the ecological beauty of our community and provide a place for children and adults to connect with nature and recreate outdoors. And whereas the U.S. House of Representatives has designated July as Parks and Recreation Month, and the National Recreation and Park Association recognizes this July as the 40th annual Parks and Recreation Month, and will celebrate Parks and Recreation Professionals Day on Friday, July 18th. And whereas this year's theme, Build Together, Play Together, is a reminder of the contributions of more than 160,000 full-time parks and recreational professionals, along with hundreds of thousands of part-time and seasonal workers and volunteers who maintain our country's close-to-home parks. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners hereby recognizes July 2025 as Parks and Recreation Month, and Friday, July 18th, 2025, as Parks and Recreation Professionals Day. Done order and adopted in regular session this eighth day of July 2025. Is there a motion? Move to approve. We have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. 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, Chairman Feltner. Yes. We'll show that. Passes 5-0. Ian, you're recognized. Thank you. Good evening, and thank you again, Commissioners, for recognizing the important park, Parks and Recreation, and the professionals who work there, play in serving our communities and residents, such as the kids that you see here from our camps. Our staff and facilities embody the county's mission to enhance our residents' quality of life. We like to say it starts in parks, and this is never more evident than when we look at the sheer number of people who utilize our parks, our facilities, sanctuaries, and educational centers. Through them annually, internally and externally, there are more than 2.5 million people who attend programs there. More than 59,000 campground stays and almost 10,000 facility rentals. This year, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of July's National Parks and Recreation Month, we've actually launched a passport to our community educational centers with the goal of increasing knowledge in the activities and programs available. So families that participate will be able to pick up a passport at one of our community centers, and they get them stamped as they visit different centers. And as you visit more centers and get more stamps, you're eligible to get prizes, all the way up to if you get all 19 centers entered into a drawing for two free nights stay at one of our campgrounds. So, unfortunately, for the discounts in the raffle drawing, county staff are not eligible for that level. Sorry. Sorry. But, again, thank you, and we hope to see you at one of our community centers. That's great. Thanks, Cian. Sure. How do you put a center like this and get them to scrunch in on how to get an overall shot and get the commissioner stand here? So you want them on the other side? They all need to come to this side and face that way. All right. But they can do that. We're going to take a file over here and face that. Hey, what's that for you? Squeeze in. Yeah. We're busy. Always busy. Come. Come. And we're going to look back. Yeah. Come on back here. Come on back here. There you go. You're doing good. And we turn around. Of course, you're back. Come on. Yeah. There we go. Good job. I got it. It's good. All right. Yeah. You can get more. You can get more. Come on, Steve. All right. Can we squish in? I need some more. To Linda, no hiding. It's great. This side, we need to come in a little bit more. Why don't you come kneel? Is that all right? Well, one more. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. I hope you don't have to give me advice. Amber's the one who took over with me. Oh, she took my place. Oh, yeah, I'll get some of you. She'll take good care of you. She told me to give a few, too. Right? And that's it. Yep. Commissioners, while they're leaving, we're going to move into consent. Do we have any items to pull from consent? We have two cards on consent. We'll go ahead and go to those. Sandra Sullivan. I'm sorry, F4. F4. She's up. Okay. Sandra Sullivan, South Patrick Shores. Just a quick comment on this one. So this is about waiving impact fees. So essentially, our impact fees are already really heavily discounted already because they haven't been updated in 25 years. So they're cents on the dollar as it is. So waiving impact fees when we have a fiscal crisis on our infrastructure is probably not the wisest thing to do. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. And then we have Jennifer Hopkins on F-22. Jennifer? Okay. There you go. Good evening. My name is Jennifer. I am a long-term resident of Brevard County. I'm here today with my neighbors to express my disgust regarding Sheriff Wayne Ivey's warnings to peaceful protesters ahead of the No Kings demonstrations on June 14th. His continued use of violent and inflammatory rhetoric deeply concerns me. He is creating a threat where none exists and in doing so... I hate to interrupt you. Pardon me? I hate to interrupt you, but on F-22, that's appointments and reappointments. Did you... Correct. Oh, okay. All right. That's one. I'm going to clarify. Sorry. That's okay. Okay. I'm sorry. He's creating a threat where none exists and in doing so, he's escalating tensions, encouraging fear, and putting his own deputies in greater danger. I'll be honest. I wrote and rewrote this a couple of times. I have so much to say and none of it is good and it certainly won't all fit into a three-minute time frame. So here are the highlights. My distaste for Sheriff Ivey's version of law enforcement began in 2022 when he stood in front of the jail and threatened our students with old-school discipline and fear. There's never been an arrest or report of vandalism or violence at a peaceful protest in Brevard County. I've personally attended several over the last year and the only thing that has made me uncomfortable is the amount of people that like to rub their engines, blow black smoke over the crowd, and peel out. Sheriff Ivey's threats to kill his graveyard dead and Governor DeSantis' declaration that it's okay to run protesters over with their vehicles served to make those demonstrations of weakness even more threatening. Sheriff Ivey got exactly what he wanted. His posturing put him on a national stage and he desperately wants that attention. Some of the comments I've seen on social media include, don't spit, throw bricks, point guns, or stand in front of cars in the street. Seems reasonable. And if people don't behave that way, they have nothing to worry about. Kind of like if you don't want to go to prison for a crime, don't do a crime. You know, any crime. There are multiple points I can make about comments like these, but I'll stick to two. One, none of these actions is a capital offense. Threatening extrajudicial violence is not law enforcement. It's intimidation. Two, many of these commenters have never been to Brevard County, much less attended a peaceful protest here. His threats have the rest of the county believing that we are inherently violent and deserve to be treated like animals. Wayne Ivey's a bully. He's just using harsh language. He isn't just using harsh language. He's using his badge, his uniform, and his platform to intimidate students, protesters, and anyone who dares to speak out. That's not leadership. That's a bully with power, and it overshadows any good he may have done for this community. Every person physically standing next to him while he spews his rhetoric should be ashamed of themselves. This commission has a responsibility to speak up and push back because silence is complicity. His words do not reflect the reality of Brevard County, nor do they reflect the values of a free and democratic society. I respectfully urge this commission to publicly condemn Sheriff Ivey's dangerous rhetoric, initiate or support an independent review of his recent statements and conduct, and publicly affirm that Brevard County supports peaceful protests, civil discourse, and constitutional rights. Please look into docking Sheriff Ivey's pay. I know he's based on election, but we're asking for something to be done in this situation. Thank you. Okay, commissioners, those are the only cards that we had on consent. No one asked to pull anything off of consent. Is there a motion for consent? 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? Chairman Felton? Yes. Thank you for that, commissioners. We're going to move into the G portion of public comment. Susan Connolly. Good evening, commissioners. I'm Susan Connolly, Palm Bay, Florida. For me, Speak Up Brevard offers an opportunity for a new level of citizen engagement that goes beyond public comment into committed collaboration between citizens and their government. Throughout Florida, there are similar programs. Orange County has Connect. City of Miami has Forever Ideas. City of Tampa Envision. Palm Beach County Input Initiatives. And City of Melbourne has several programs for community feedback. None of these, however, have a dedicated program like Speak Up Brevard, with its clear process for submitting and reviewing citizen solutions for general government operations. None of these programs have a structured method calling for solution proposals with a defined submission period and a subsequent review by government staff. Some of these programs focus on urban planning and development. However, none of them focus on the broader goal of efficiency and effectiveness of government operations. None of them have formalized presentations before a commission. How does it make you feel to be innovative and a leader? It makes me feel very proud of Brevard County, my government. Brevard County is the first to see the necessity and benefit of citizens and government collaborating for the purpose of solutions for local government issues. Brevard County made SEER, which is Citizen Efficiency and Effectiveness Recommendation, a household word before DOGE became a government department. I have participated two years in Speak Up Brevard. The process is not perfect. However, the process can be improved. In fact, a group of citizens, I am one, calling ourselves the SEER Process Improvement Group, have been coming together to complete written suggestions for change. In 2026, we will be celebrating our nation's 250th birthday. This will also be a time to celebrate Speak Up Brevard as a shining example where citizens and government come together to be we the people. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Elizabeth Blackford. Good evening, commissioners. I'm Elizabeth Blackford, a Palm Bay resident and a 2015 graduate of the Brevard County Citizens Academy. Tonight, I'm speaking on behalf of the ad hoc group Speak Up Brevard Working Group, composed of people like me who participated in this year's program. For some of us, 2025 was our first time, and while the program has generated great ideas since it began in 2010, we found the process for submitting and implementing suggestions less than ideal. This led us to form our group aimed at ensuring future citizens' efficiency and effectiveness recommendations are more thoughtful, better researched, and actionable, making it easier for county staff to implement them. I think two modest changes could significantly improve the program, and you'll see my suggestions here. The first change involves revising the information entered by the submitter on what I'll call the database input form. It includes an advisory that their contact information is publicly visible. My own experience was that although I could read other people's suggestions and see their names, I was unable to contact them to try and coordinate with them. The second change is to make an annual workshop a permanent part of the program, held soon after the submission deadline passes. All submitters, the commissioner, county staff, and public, should be invited and encouraged to participate to address duplications, oversights, legalities, and frankly, bad ideas. The desired end product is a list of thoughtful, actionable, and well-qualified SEERS that department personnel can reasonably be expected to recommend and implement. Coordinating a workshop like that will likely require additional time and effort on the part of county staff. Fortunately, the county already has a program in place called Bravardians Responding as Volunteers, BRAVE for short, that could easily solicit for candidates interested in helping out. In fact, I mailed my application today. I'm taking my time to share my observations now because this program is really important to many of us. I hope you'll choose to take action soon so that next year's Speak Up Bravard session will be far more productive and satisfactory. May I answer any questions for you about the submission form? And thank you for listening. I just have a statement. Thank you so much for you and your group's hard work for this. This is a program that's near and dear to my heart, and I look forward to collaborating with you all and hopefully bringing forward some of these changes that you're talking about. Great. Thank you, Commissioner. Mary Beth Laburda. Did I say that right? Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Mary Beth Laburda. I'm a Brevard County native, a licensed mental health counselor, and vice president of Space Coast Pride. On behalf of Space Coast Pride's Board of Directors, I'd like to offer a very sincere thank you to four of you for your no vote on the cultural grant. Your choice rallied our community, not just here in Brevard County, but also across the state and even the nation. As a result, people came together to keep our festival thriving. In eight days, we fundraised over $9,100, and in 30 days, we fundraised over $19,000. So thank you for the visibility you helped generate. Now let's talk about why this no vote was so confusing. Space Coast Pride was awarded the same grant in 2024 after our parade and festival helped boost revenue for businesses on the Space Coast. Our festival took place just two days after Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm, made landfall in Florida. Despite that challenge, our attendance held strong, and we achieved a 25% increase from past years in out-of-county visitors. Nothing about our mission or our event has changed. The only thing that seems to have shifted is the political landscape. Suddenly, we are labeled too political or not family-friendly. So let's respond with those feelings with facts. By the way, that's a little therapist tip to help reduce cognitive distortions. Space Coast Pride is a 501c non-profit organization. That means we are explicitly prohibited from participating in or intervening in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any political party or candidate for public office. We have always respected and upheld that rule. More than 20,000 people came together to celebrate in a safe, joyful, and welcoming environment. Our attendees represented a wide range of ages, gender identities, and cultural backgrounds. We hosted over 120 local and out-of-county vendors and shined a positive spotlight on the Space Coast as an inclusive destination. Families were present. Children were present. And yes, it was a family-friendly event, just as it has been since the very beginning. So while your vote said no, Bavard County's response was a resounding yes. As always, we invite you to attend Space Coast Pride's parade and festival on September 27th in downtown Melbourne. Happy Pride, Commissioners. Thank you. Jane Rogers. Good evening. My name is Jane Palikin Rogers. My husband, Raymond Edward Rogers, and I have lived on Maymere Way since 1993 in Rockledge. And since we moved into our beautiful home, our street has flooded. The water from Fisk Boulevard floods into our street and from the canal into our street to such a point that we had to buy a boat so we could get off of our street. We have water moccasins that end up in our mailbox and attacked our mail lady. We've asked for help from the city. We've sent letters. We've asked for requests, made phone calls from Rockledge City. They said it's not their problem. It's Rockledge County's problem. Same thing from Rockledge County. They said it's not our problem. It's Rockledge City's problem. But in the meantime, Fisk Boulevard, with all the new building that's going on there, is increasing the flooding down our street. So it comes up this high, up at waste level. The mosquitoes are standing. We can't get out. It shorts the engine on our car. And we have been requesting help over and over again since 1993 when I was there. And people before me have asked for the same thing. And there hasn't been a solution. It's always finger pointing at somebody else and nobody helping us. Now, the canal in front on Fisk, it overflows. Trees fall into the canal. One of our neighbors pulled a couch out of the canal that was blocking the water. And then, in addition, Allura, which is next to the wall, is next to our street. They promised there would be no more additional flooding. Well, now the water from Allura goes under the wall, into our yard, and then onto our street. So we have been fighting this battle for a very long time. We're just wondering if somebody would please help us. We've even hired an attorney. But that didn't cost $800 just to get an attorney to talk to us. Anyway, and what good is that going to do? We haven't got any help. We've asked for help numerous times. And we're just wondering if can one of you please help us? Give us an intersection of where you are. So I know you say Fisk. And what's the next major street closest to you that crosses Fisk? Barnes is near Ruby Tuesdays. Barnes is the other one. And then Roy Wall. Okay. All right. But it's just, it's miserable. And it's, I mean, you shouldn't have to have a boat to get off your street. Okay. I feel confident that Commissioner Goodson's office. We're in the process of trying to set a meeting up with DOT, Tyler-Sroyce, Rockledge, and the county. But your street was built, I guess, in 92? It was in 74. Our house was built in 74. Okay, 74. And if you know anything about your street, once you come off Fisk, you're two or three feet lower. Correct? The road is two or three feet lower than Fisk. It is lower. Yes. So, therefore, the water goes south. We did get DOT to clean out the ditch. It goes south to the 7-11. It crosses under 95 and goes out to the, do the canal. It is a terrible problem. Everything you're seeing is dead on. Now, other than setting up pumps there, I don't know what anybody in this whole organization is going to be able to do. I just don't. That would be helpful. We have a pump on our yard, even. I understand. So, I mean, we have lakes. We could dig a lake. We'd get enough water, we could just have our own lake in our yard. Where would you dig a lake at? We have an acre of land, and we could dig a lake. This is the first I heard of that. But in digging your lake, I would assume we'd have to pump the water to the lake, or will we have natural fall to the lake? When it rains, it fills it up. I'm not proposing that we don't really want to do that, but we thought about it. I don't want the gators and more water moccasins. Yes. All right. But we've been suffering a long time, and everybody tells us they'll help us, or they tell us it's not their problem. Well, I'm sure that they might tell you, and, of course, I don't think my office has told you it's not our problem or your problem. It is a problem. Now, it's a major problem for your street. I don't know how we're going to solve it. But, like I said, I'm trying now to set up a meeting. Tyler Sroyce was in Tallahassee, and the state of Florida needs to be on this meeting, too. Rockledge. Now, if you know anything, no offense. I ain't saying that. Anyway, we're trying to set up a meeting. Well, I'd be happy to help write letters, to do anything it takes to send it to the state level, whatever. I'd be more than happy to do the legwork, because I know it takes manpower. And it's going to have to be a joint venture with everybody to try to help us all. Yes, we need everybody, and not this. I hear you. Please. But Florida, if you know anything about Florida, it's basically flat, water don't drain quickly, and then you build a road three or four foot lower than Fisk. And we don't control Fisk, because Fisk is a state road. Okay. But we'll try. Karenza, would you make sure you get the lady's name and number? Okay. Well, Mr. Goodson, thank you, though. No, Tom, please. That you're going to, at least this is the closest we've got to somebody saying they might help us. We have had meetings down there since I was in the state of Florida in the House about this problem on both sides of Fisk. You know, the people on the west side on Martin Road, they complain about it. But, of course, they bought houses or built houses lower than the crown of the road. Well, there's also an additional problem. The Allura white wall has blocked all access for the water to go to the retention pond that is right in front of Allura. So, instead, their water flows under the wall and into our yard. Right. And that's Rockledge. Once you get to that white wall, step over to that's Rockledge. Yeah, you're telling me, that's Rockledge. That's not city. It's not county. That's Rockledge. You're doing the same thing. Right. Well, I want you to understand when we have this meeting, if anybody impresses you, please denote them so I can shake their hand. Please do what? Just single out that person that impresses you from Rockledge or from the state that we can, I'll shake his hand. Because if they got the answers, this is a major problem. Now, Dad, you're familiar with this, correct? Can you comment for the lady? Yes, sir. I know we've been working on getting the meeting set up with all the agencies that you mentioned. It's been an ongoing problem, and I believe that the key factor is ditch maintenance there, which would be south of that subdivision, is what I think everybody's kind of identified as being a primary concern. And if I'm not mistaken, the last meeting we had about this, the state of Florida didn't want to even clean their ditch. Was that a fair statement? I believe that's true, sir. And the ditches are full of stuff, and then it overflows. Oh, yeah. Okay. All right. All right. My three minutes are up. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Okay. James Blosein? Blosein? B-L-O-C-E-I-N? B-L-O-U-I-N. Well, okay. Blowing. My hands shake, you know. That's all right. Old age. I got reading glasses, too, so it's not perfect. I live in West Melbourne, and I've taken part in several of the protests that we've had up in Cocoa, one in Palm Bay. On both of those events, the city of Cocoa, the city police department of Cocoa, and also Palm Bay worked with the organizers, and everything was good. But then, you know, you see all the, around the country, all the, and around Florida, all the different sheriffs saying things, and it was pretty much all level keel like that. And then you got Ivy, and he said things before, like this, and done things. And I hear that his budget's coming up, and it's funny that this man, his department is ranked number four in the most corruption in the state of Florida, any police force. Number four. The other three are in South Florida, which is where I'm from. I've been up here two years. And enough on that. The traffic light timing, y'all have it set up to where it's like a small country town to keep speeding down. Well, you've grown to the point in this county that you need to change that timing to traffic flow, because keeping the speed down timing creates traffic jams. And the timing up here in these lights is unbelievably bad. And then red light cameras. Y'all really need to get some running the red light cameras in this county. It's not against the fifth. They've had them down in South Florida for years. And it actually took about a year and a half, two years, and people stopped running red lights. Some of the worst intersections in Dade County and Broward County stopped being that, because people stopped running red lights. And you don't get any points on your license, unless you keep doing it. But it's a dangerous thing. And then, finally, the speed limits. In every single town, you go three blocks here, it's one speed limit. You go two more blocks, it's another speed limit. The county has to take some initiative and regulate the cities that, depending on the roadways, keep it all the same. The city shouldn't have so much control over the speed limits going through their city. The county has to take some initiative and keep it all one speed, keep traffic flowing, because some of the old people in this town, speed limit 40, 45, and they're doing 25 or 30. And just blocking traffic all day long. And it's kind of ridiculous. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Okay, Commissioner, so that concludes the G section on the G. Oh, well, I have one for H1. I didn't have one on G. Okay. Well, go ahead. Sandra Sullivan, South Patrick Shores. So, oh, let me drop. So, I want to talk about the comp plan. And to this lady's point, there's two documents, and that's 15 seconds. So, I want to talk about, you know, that lady's talking about flooding. The other side of I-95 around Fisk, we're just putting in a massive development on the wetlands. So, you know, we're going to see a lot more flooding in Brevard County, because we're going to become like Broward. You can't fix South Florida, because they filled in their wetlands. So, when it rains, guess what? You know, they dump to the rivers, and they just flood massively. We're doing the same thing in our comp plan. So, the first thing I want to say is we need to safeguard insurance rates. We have an insurance crisis. These comp plan changes are so bad. So, I just want to say, you know, that's flooding from the West Coast. Our lives matter for evacuation. So, you're doubling and tripling, more than doubling and tripling density on the barrier island, Merritt Island, from Res 15 to Res 50 with bonus density, my area to 37.5 from Res 15. Doubling density equals more people will die. Sad what's happening in Texas right now, right? So, we get surge, 9 to 13 plus feet of storm surge. No place to go if you can't get off the barrier island. How many people will die? This is from the Eastern Central Regional Planning Council document. And they talk about the flooding issues pre-landfall. So, in 2000, there was a study done, and the state mandated, I use that word, mandated the county on their future land use to restrict density to Res 15. Okay, but counties, and they even wrote a letter to DEO at that time saying, you know, the county shows a commitment to cap or even reduce densities, starting with South Beach's. As recently as 2000B Plan Cycle Amendment, the county adopted comprehensive plan amendments that capped the residential densities for the unincorporated areas in northern and southern barrier island at existing levels. So, what are we doing? The county is rewriting history, writing that the intent is those right-sizing studies to maximize density. Rewriting history. When I did a records request, they said for that 2000B comp plan, oh, no records found, so I sent it to them. I allege malfeasance, right-sizing, reduced density to Res 15 with only three properties to Res 30, and yet you're massively increasing. And I would like my 15 seconds. So, Florida statute says to protect human life. It's also in our comp plan. The key point is we're under 9 to 12 feet of storm surge. According to Eastern Central Regional Planning Council, we're 61 hours to evacuate. And Brevard County staff is basically lying, saying there's no evacuation issue. By state statute, we're supposed to have a level of service evacuation standard, which is a number to not exceed. And that is another problem with the comp plan. Thank you. Well, I've got a question. I've got a question for you. You commented about Fist Boulevard and the big development south of 95 is going to cause huge flooding. Is that correct? No. What I'm saying is what the county generally is doing. Forget that. No, no, no. You made a comment about that. You were affected. You made a comment about that. That's something specific to her. I'm saying about that problem. I'm not talking about her. Listen to me. Yeah. You made a comment that the development south of 95 on Fist Boulevard, the apartments, is going to cause flooding. No. I said west of I-95 by Fist Boulevard. Do you even know how that water gets out of there? Do you even know that? That what word gets out of there? How does the water get out of that area? I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fact that when you fill in wetlands, what you're doing, that water has to go somewhere. Guess what it does across Florida? It floods people's homes. Okay. All right. Thank you. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, yeah. Just look at south Florida. Okay. All right. All right, commissioners. We're going to move to H1. Kathy, you're recognized. Good evening, Mr. Chairman and commissioners. This is a request for the board to consider adopting an ordinance rescinding the economic development Avalorum tax exemption for Project Zeus, also known as comprehensive health services, and to consider the clawback of $50,436.12 granted to the company in 2023 and 24 exemptions. As you know, each year we get the annual reports, and based on the annual reports, we found that they're not meeting the requirements of their application. All right. Questions for Kathy? Commissioner Delaney. Is that the total amount that we have given them in tax abatements? No, ma'am. It's not. It's just for the 23 and 24, the other years they met the criteria. Okay. Thank you. Other questions for Kathy? Okay. We have one card. Sandra Sullivan. Good evening, Sandra Sullivan. So I'm happy to see that I think it's nine years that we finally go, oh, by the way, they're not meeting their commitments. So you might remember Commissioner Tobias' presentation. Some of you are newer, but he did a presentation of how effective the EDC was. And so 14 million in tax abatements, we have some fiscal crisis that's going on, and 85% of those failed to deliver on jobs. 85%, all right, according to Tobias. And this is a tax break for big business with an average company, a number of employees at 36,738. net jobs created by all of them was minus 404 jobs. And so the issue I have with the TDC tax abatement is annually we should be going through all of them, and annually we should be going, if 85% of them failed, 85 of them should not be getting the tax abatement. The other thing is, in the ordinance itself, it says these companies are entitled to the tax abatement for 10 years. It doesn't say it gets renewed the next time, you know, the tax abatement gets renewed, that they continue and get a forever tax abatement. But I'm looking at these companies, and when they got the tax abatements, and it looks like you just, like, roll them over, and it's a forever tax abatement. It's supposed to be a 10-year tax abatement to encourage new companies to come here and invest or to expand their existing businesses here. It's not come to Brevard and get a free forever tax abatement. And we need to do something about that, because this county has a fiscal crisis, and we need to address that. We need to bring in more revenue. Thank you. That's the end of the cards. Commissioners, in discussion, is there any discussion on the item? Is there a motion on the item? Proof to proof. Second. I think Commissioner Delaney beat you. That's okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Goodson. We have a second by Commissioner Delaney. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Chairman Felton? Yes. And we'll show that pass as 5-0. Thank you. Commissioners, let's take a five-minute break. Can we do that? Come back 6-0-1. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll take your seats, we'll get restarted. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, please, if you'll take your seats, we'll get restarted. Item. We're going to go to item H2, everyone. Thank you. Item H2. Mark, you're recognized. Thank you, Commissioner. Board, this is a petition to vacate a portion of two public utility and drainage easements east of Grissom Parkway, south of Curtis Boulevard, and Coco. Applicants are Mr. Scoville and Ms. Lynn Scoville, and there was no objections. Okay. Commissioners, questions for Mark? Any questions? I don't think we have any cards. Is there a motion on the item? Move to approve. Commissioner Delaney, motion to approve. Is there a second? Commissioner Atkinson seconds. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Chairman Felton? Yes. We'll show that pass as 5-0. Thank you, Commissioners. We will move on to I-1. All right, Commissioners, I-1 is authorization of a settlement agreement for the Brevard County Shore Protection Project. This is for the mid-reach segment re-nourishment. It's a specific easement, BRP 174. Back before the June break, we had an executive session to discuss litigation and settlement strategy on this. And this particular property, it's one of four that we're in eminent domain proceedings on. This particular property is one that the board gave me direction to finalize a settlement negotiation with the amounts indicated here. The local cost for settlement and acquisition of this easement to allow us to place the sand and for a perpetual public easement for access along that beach is approximately $26,000, which will come from the Tourism Beach Fund. I do want to ask, because Commissioner Altman is a trustee of the property involved, I just need him, obviously he'll abstain from voting, but Commissioner Altman, if you could please just briefly publicly state the nature of your interest in the matter, which is really just as simple as you being trustee and the property involved. Well, same from this, but due to the facility and part owner in this. Thank you, sir, and I will help you complete the conflict disclosure form that we'll file with the clerk within 15 days of the meeting as required. And that's it. This is all consistent with what was presented in the executive session. Again, this is required in order to get the easement necessary for the United States Corps of Army Engineers to perform the project. If the board has any questions, I'm happy to try to answer those. All right. Do we have questions for Morris on the item? All right. Is, I don't, we have any cards, right? No. Okay. Is there a motion? Move to approve. We have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. We have a second by Commissioner Atkinson. The clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Chairman Feltner? No. We'll show that passes 3-1. Thank you, Commissioners. We'll go on to item J-1. Good evening, Commissioners. J-1 is seeking direction for staff regarding disposal sites for muck that's being dredged from the Indian River Lagoon in Districts 1, 2, and 4. To date, dewatered muck has been used as a nutrient-rich organic amendment for agricultural soils. However, local interest from suitable agricultural landowners is nearing full satiation. So, disposal options are needed for the O'Galley Causeway muck removal project in District 4, the Sykes Creek Phase 2 project in District 2, and the Mims Rim Ditch north of the Jones Road boat ramp project in District 1. The best disposal options may differ from one project and county area to the next. You have seven options in the agenda packet. Of those seven options, the first two really only apply to the southern part of the county, whereas the remaining five apply countywide. You have more detailed sort of pros and cons and risk considerations for all of those options and tables attached to the packet. And if you have any questions. Okay, questions for Virginia. All right, we have one card. Sandra Sullivan. Sandra Sullivan. Well, this is going to get a little bit entertaining tonight. Okay, we got mucked. So, that all been with Senator at the time with Senate Bill 346 doing in 2015 to try and change the law so that it was legal to create a muck tax so that it would be legal under Florida Statute 212.055. Guess what? That bill failed. It failed twice in appropriations. There was even a newspaper article about it as well. I'll give you a copy of the bill and when we're done here. So, you have your list of options here. It's real interesting to read. Basic problem, just to clarify, is where we're putting the stuff that we dredge after we dewater it. That's what this is about. The end result, which is contaminated in some places. But what's real interesting, what we're not talking about, is where the DMAA location is, you know, BV52. So, for some of these projects like O'Galley, we're pumping it for 8.1 miles. So, prior to this project, the O'Galley project in the Indian River Lagoon plan was $8 million something to dredge that project. I have the numbers here. And that project increased to $54 million. What you don't have on this list for that 100 acres is the $113 million project for O'Galley South. Now, I want to talk about in-year options. This was really interesting because I have been posting about the controversies with the Sarna lands. You know, the land that was a controversy, somebody made a profit of $6 million back in 2000? Well, there's another controversy because it looks like some staff member accidentally let the cat out of the bag. So, that property, which the county owns on property appraisers and has not been disposed of, although the county's trying to give it to the city of Melbourne. Hmm. So, it says on here, on the form that's attached on this attachment on this agenda, that this is owned by Sheridan Lakes Development Corporation. Oh, how did that happen? I don't think so. So, here you have an agenda item from the city of Melbourne Beach, I mean, city of Melbourne, saying that it is also the city's understanding that the county has received interest from potential buyers for the Sarnau parcel. Again, the muck dredging project was $8.75 million, and it's now $54 million. If you don't count, like, the shenanigans now that Natural Resources is doing to make the project two-thirds less and take out interstitial so you can add that stuff in later to hide what it's really costing. Anyway, the bottom line here is by giving away Sarnau, it's costing the taxpayers $160 million, and it's time to end this insanity with the muck projects. It's just time to end it. So, here's those documents. Okay, thank you. Commissioners, in discussion, discussion on the item. So, a couple of things here. We have an agreement that we can enter into with St. John's on an area that is in the Micco area that we can take dredge material to. So, that's a recent development, and I appreciate St. John's working with us on that. I think the other thing that we ought to consider tonight is to advertise a request for proposals to see what is out there from the community for dredge material. Commissioner Atkinson. I have kind of a procedure question. Are we going to look at these things as three individual? Yes. South Central? Okay. Well, we can take separate motions on the items if that's what you're looking for. That is what I'm asking. Okay. Okay. The other comment I just wanted to make is I am not crazy about the idea of us using parks that people frequent or eels land or our airports, just as a thought. Okay. Any other comments in discussion? Sorry. Commissioner Goodson. Yeah. Go ahead. Virginia, how much muck would be coming out of the, left to come out of the Pineda Causeway Grand Canal? 67,300 cubic yards. Okay. So if there's 1,400 cubic yards per acre per foot, the Sarno could handle it very easily on 50 acres, correct? Yes. Okay. Now, is it true that if it was placed there, would you have to mix it in the existing soil or just spread it over the 50 acres? So, first of all, I believe part of that Sarno site has been set aside for debris purposes. So to answer your question, if we could till maybe a foot or so in, right, if it's going to be deeper than that, I'm not sure how we could till in and still maintain soil quality for, it would depend on what purpose you're trying to use the site. Well, I guess right now we use it to grow grass, right? And then the medieval show is there, so you wouldn't have to take all 50 acres. So you could place it there. Would that be a good spot? I believe the site could work. We would have to get a conditional use permit from the city of Melbourne. The water management district is offering their site, which is already, you know, developed and permitted and ready to go, more or less. Now, is it true that I understand that the dump doesn't want it, solid waste doesn't want it, because water sheets off of it, but water won't flow through it, correct? Right. The material is hydrophobic, so it repels water. Well, if that's the case, why wouldn't they use it to build their leach aid system out at the new town? Well, let's ask Tom that question. Sir? With due respect, let's ask, we've got Tom here tonight. He was ready to answer some of these questions. Okay. Okay, Tom, the question is, if water won't run through it, but water runs off of it, why would you not use it out on 192 to build your leach aid banks that you have to buy clay for? Commissioners, because it is not, at the moment, it's not an approved material to be used as a leach aid barrier. Who approves that? That would be the Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. So that would take 10, 15, 20 years? It would take a while to have that change. Government had its best, right? Now, why wouldn't you take some out to your dump, mix it in place, because you're buying dirt now, if I'm going to say, at $24 a yard from SNL, right? Correct. Why wouldn't you mix it, and then would it be better if it was mixed? It might be better. We have tried this in the past with the previous O'Galley River dredge material, and it created lenses because of it being hydrophobic. And you end up having to use a lot more dirt than that soil. So it becomes a point where you're spending just as much money in the effort as you would if you just bought dirt. Of course, I never thought I'd live long enough to see hydrophobic dirt. That's impressive. I mean, that's some bad dirt. All right. I don't have any more questions. Commissioner Atkinson for a follow-up question. Follow-up question. With regard to the St. John's, the first one that we were discussing, my understanding from the chart that you made for us is that, like Commissioner Feltoner said, it's already – we already have a letter of intent to be able to use it. We've already been permitted. FPL is allowing us easements, or we think they're going to? Not that we've applied for the FPL easement. It's a 45- to 60-day review process, so we don't know yet. Okay. And just the water management district folks are here if you have questions for them. We also have the consultants for the dredge projects as well as the contractor. One other question, if I may. Yes. Is this one of the least cost-effective of our options? Least costly. Most cost-effective. Most cost-effective, yeah. Yes. Okay. Follow-up question or other discussion on the item? Let's do this in a couple pieces. How about on the first option to approve memorandum of agreement with St. John's? Is there a motion on that item? I make a motion. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Atkinson. We have a second by Commissioner Goodson. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice Chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Chairman Feltner. Yes. I guess we must understand there's a delay with that. Okay. All right. Very good. We approve that item. These other items, I think, potentially just to see what's out there, advertiser requests for proposal to see what other possibilities for dredging material. And, by the way, since Tom's in the box over there, there would have to be some site preparation at Sarno. It's not as easy as just pulling up tomorrow and start. So, sir, could you give us just a couple minutes of the challenges to using that? There would have to be different stormwater control on that, which would require stormwater permitting through the Department of Environmental Protection. Burms would need to be put up to make sure that any material that leaches out of the dredge material would stay on site. Again, as Virginia had mentioned, we would need a conditional use permit from the city of Melbourne to have their cooperation in this. And I think one other issue that might be potentially a barrier would be the traffic issues that have been pointed out with the Renaissance Fair on New York Avenue and the intersection of Wickham and New York Avenue with the amount of trucks that would be trying to get in and out of that. I don't think it would be conducive to that being very efficient. There would also need to be some kind of fund transfer in the form of a lease or other arrangement because of the way that that property was purchased with ratepayer funds. There would have to be an interdepartment transfer. And we had a discussion on that today, that there has to be some consideration for utilities. So, you know, I think one of the things, if we sell that parcel, and we'll just use a round number to say that utilities was able to receive $6 million from someone who buys it, and the cost of disposing of material, let's say, in a pit or something like that, is $1 million. As far as the taxpayers' money overall, we're on the better side of that. And then Sorrel would have to pay less potentially in the disposal than maybe what the kind of consideration that we'd have to give to utilities. Is that fair? That's fair. Okay, question. Sir, go ahead for a question. Question. Can you, either one of you, tell me, is there a good purpose for this material? Can it be used with anything or at anywhere? So, it has been used successfully as a soil amendment when a small amount is blended in with significant native soils. And where can it be placed in the county if everything was perfect? If the board determines there to be a public interest, then it can go on vacant land stacked up to six feet tall in compliance with the county code. Now, I'm asking you, can you use it anywhere in the county in construction? That's what I'm asking. In its current state, not that I'm aware of. If you blended it with a lot of other suitable material, you could slowly use it. But like Tom described for the landfill, you know, by the time you do all of that mixing and blending and buying more sand, you know, that may cost more than disposing of it some other way. In construction, you'd have to stabilize soil, you know, either lime rock or marl. So, is that what you're saying, you can use it as a stabilizer? Mixed with other soil, it could be used as regular fill. But again, you'd have more of the native soil than you would of the muck itself. And it really would not fit as what you would call structural fill, something that you would want to build over. Okay. I thought that you couldn't use it in residential, but you could use it in industrial. Is there any truth to that statement? Based on the constituents, that's true. Okay. So, you could purchase it at $25 a yard for fill dirt coming out of Orange County. Why would we not want to stockpile that and sell it to the public? You don't think there'd be a... Now, granted, there's 67,000 yards and there's 300,000 yards coming. I don't know if you could sell all of it, but, you know, of course, contractors mix stuff all the time. So, because it's state lands, we're actually dredging it out of state waters. It's state land. We can't sell it. So, an end user could mix it, blend it, turn it into some product that they could then get their costs out of, but they can't sell the state land. Is the contractor who's doing your dredging allowed to sell it? No, they can allow others to have it, and they can recover the cost to get it to them, but they can't obtain value for the material itself. Right. Sure seems like a lot of issues, isn't it? There's a lot of rules, yes. Okay, thank you, Chair. I'll make a comment real quick, and then Commissioner Atkinson and then Commissioner Delaney. Thank you, Chair. It would look like a little cube, but if you look at this, and maybe Natural Resources said this once before, too, it would look like little balls, and so it's hard to use that in any kind of building material. But there are other smart people out in the world who are looking at this issue, too. Commissioner Atkinson. So staff's asking for us to give them some direction, and I don't like the idea of buying land for us to throw this muck on it that we are just going to never be able to use again. I did speak to the sheriff because I know that he's got some property that's already contaminated, as I understand it. Is that correct, Virginia? Yes. And he was amenable to the idea of talking to county about using some of his land maybe to fix this, to take some of it. So perhaps we could have a fuller conversation with him about that. Because I think his properties are big enough. Is that correct, Virginia? The three that you have listed? Yeah, it is one of those three that was the former state prison site that has contamination issues. The contamination isn't on that entire site, but there are several areas of it that are contaminated. So we would need to work with the sheriff to determine what his plans were for that site. It seemed like he was interested in having a conversation, so that would be good. Commissioner Dillain. If I could just comment off of that. I would have some concern over that because surrounding the jail, there's a lot of density, a lot of lower socioeconomic homes around that property, and I just don't feel right about putting a whole bunch of contaminated soil there. And so I just wanted to say that. But my question about the RFPs, if we were to put out an RFP and nobody bid, would it come back to the commission for us to make a different decision? Yes. Okay. I think that that's where I'm personally leaning for, for the northern project. I don't love the idea of putting this on any kind of usable land, but unfortunately, you know, we have to do something with it, and piling it six feet high is not ideal. I think what we would probably, I think the reality that we would expect from the community who would submit a proposal to us is filling in a pit. Right. I mean, we have pits all over, and we're not, I mean, we're not the only ones. I mean, throughout Florida. And that kind of solves the problem of, because I'm with you, land that's usable for something that seems like a waste. Right. So, Commissioner, if you make that motion, I'll go with you on number five. So advertise. Sure. Is that good? Yes. And if I could, I just want to say one more thing. It's not completely pertaining to this, but I just feel like this is, this needs to grow into a bigger conversation, because the muck from testing is, a lot of it is from the sewage plants. And I really think that we need to stop the source of the contamination and really find some solutions in that, be it, you know, adjusting the sorrel tax to focus more on infrastructure or whatever it may be, however we come up with that. But we can't keep doing this forever. But with that said, I'd like to make a motion to advertise an RFP to find an owner who would allow disposal on their land for the Northern Project. Okay. Hold on. With your motion, I think we have a couple questions here. And I will say to you, we're going to have a larger discussion a little later. It's, it's, it's, it's ahead of us on, um, on the future of, of that. So you're not alone. Okay. Commissioner Atkinson and then Commissioner Goodson. Okay. Question and comment. Are we talking, does this motion cover the central and the North? Well, I think we're going to see overall what that is. As far as I think on the next item, um, if that's what you're talking about. I'm not talking about the next item. I'm talking about, we have the central project, which is Sykes Creek. And one of the options there is to go out for an RFP. And also the Northern Project also has an option to go out for RFP. So I'm just wondering if they're separate or together. I think we would, we'd look for both of those. Right. And then also we have a possibility, um, with, uh, with another property in the north end of the county. Is that right? Virginia. For, for the material up there. No. Uh, county on property. I think another pit possibly that the school board even, um, we were. Right. There's a school board pit that we've been exploring that could take a portion of the material, but not all of the material. So we still need a board direction. I can amend my, um, my motion to include the central, uh, projects as well. So you were just talking about the north initially. Yes. So then I guess my comment on that would be if we, if we, if that was your motion, could we also in that motion say, discuss the idea with the sheriff of the possibility of using his land and put that in a motion, but I, I think we're going to continue, um, that path, but commissioner Delaney, you want to amend your, your motion? I'll amend to add the central project. Okay. All right. And we'll continue to see what else is out there. Okay. All right. I'm sorry. Commissioner Goodson. Yes, sir. Virginia, can you tell me on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the worst one being the least what contamination is this material? The, the only thing in the, the projects that are coming up, the only constituent of concern is arsenic. The arsenic levels are above the residential threshold, but they're below the requirements for agriculture, commercial, and industrial. So it really depends on the future land use and intended use of the, the land, whether it's a problem or not. So it's, it's, would it, I guess, would it be a three out of one to 10? Sure. Sure. Like that. Thank you. So it's not, you're not going to die by handling it, right? Correct. All right. Thank you. Okay. The issue is, is that there's a lot of people out there with wells, and so it could contaminate their wells. Okay. Commissioner Delaney made, Commissioner Delaney made a motion. Is there a second on the motion to advertise, to see for what proposals would be out there? Can we clarify the motion? I think she did, to include central, right? And discussion with the sheriff. And discussion with the sheriff. I, I didn't want to add the discussion with the sheriff at this point. Um, I feel like if, if we could go out to the RFP first, um, you know, if that doesn't work, then we can, when it comes back. But I just don't feel comfortable, that being my district, I don't feel comfortable at this point putting this back there. I'll split that with you myself, okay? So, your motion to include, um, include those areas, including the central, and we'll, we'll talk to the, to sheriff separate after, after the RFP process. Awesome. Is that, is that fair? Sure. Okay. Motion by, uh, Commissioner Delaney. I'll second that. 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 pass at 5-0. Thank you, Commissioners. Um, we'll go on to J2. Thank you. Okay. J2 is, um, direction on muck removal from the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal project was contracted based on volume estimates that were conducted from surveys six plus years ago, and more muck has been removed from the canal so far than was included in those original estimates. Uh, there are a number of reasons for that. Hundreds of homeowners have signed waivers that allow dredging to reach closer to their docks and seawalls than was assumed in the original estimates. The permits were revised to allow adding the Berkeley Canal and allow us to go a little bit deeper to get to the bottom of the muck instead of leaving six inches of muck behind in the canals, um, and, uh, additional new muck accumulation over the intervening years. So, because of that, the contractor is, um, is completing the contracted volume of muck removal before completing muck removal from the entire Grand Canal area. There are three areas remaining to be dredged, the Lake Shepard area and the southern two entrance channels, and so what you have in your packet are three different options to either, uh, award a change order to continue with the current process to complete those three areas, uh, completing dredging by November 30th of this year, and then completing site restoration of that Pineda dredged material management area by February 28th of this year. Another option is the pipeline option, which would be to stop using the Pineda DMMA, um, in a couple weeks as soon as the contractor is completed with the Berkeley Canal, uh, take the remaining material in Lake Shepard and the two entrance channels, um, all the way to the BV52 site in Palm Bay, um, or there's a hybrid option, which is to complete Lake Shepard, uh, this year by October 30th using the Pineda DMMA, and then come back, um, years from now with the pipeline to Palm Bay to complete the entrance channels. Okay, commissioners, questions for Virginia. Okay, we'll go to the cards. Caralia Vaughn? Caralia Vaughn? Okay. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Caralia Vaughn, and thank you for having me here to speak. Um, I have been in the local area since I was born. I've lived off of, uh, Lake Shepard and the Grand Canal all of my life, and I've really seen an absolute decline in the water, the birds that come. We used it for swimming as a child, watching the wildlife, going fishing. I don't see that anymore. You can't go in the water. It's muck. It looks like chocolate milk. I used to be able to see 10 feet into the water and be able to look at the fish and the stingrays and the sheep's head when I would go fishing. I can't do that anymore with my kids. For generations, my grandparents bought the house 62 years ago. They have since passed, and my parents are now there. My kids have grown up there, but I could not take grandkids into the canal. It's chocolate milk. There's nothing lives there anymore. We could see manatees would come up to the dock and bring their calves. They don't breed that anymore. You might see one old one out there scarred up. But what we have now is we don't see the migratory birds. We don't see the purple martins. We don't see the ospreys fishing. When you go and you look at the boats and you see the ospreys and you hear them crying in the morning, they're not there anymore because the fish is not there. We don't see the mullet. We would have great masses of mullet coming by, and you see the sheep's head. It would be beautiful. We did the oyster. We put oyster nets out there, oyster bags out there, and we pull those up, and we take the data from the oysters, and that data showed us that the oysters didn't do quite as well in the lake. But what did well was we would find all kinds of fish and crabs and seahorse. We found one little seahorse one year. It's not there anymore. It's all just chocolate milk water. And we believe that is because of the muck and also climate change and other things. But the muck is poisonous. How can an animal live where there should be seagrass? It is a natural spring-fed area. We are imploring you to continue the dredging into the Grand Canal and into Lake Shepherd. And Berkeley is so important for our manatees. We want our kids and our grandkids to see the beauty of nature. It's going goodbye. So please help and continue this process. Thank you for all of your time and listening to me. Thank you. Patricia Barnett. Good evening. My name is Patricia Barnett. And I live on... Just a little closer to you. Oh, sure. Okay. That's great. And I live on Lake Shepherd. And like Carly, Carlina, for years. My parents bought there in 1983. I was in my 20s and lived on that lake. More on the lake than in their house, but have been exposed to that lake. Um, then I moved there permanently in, uh, 2005. And what a difference coming back, uh, after being away for a while, the changes that I saw. And I thought the best thing for me to do is to liken it to something that everybody can relate to, which is almost like when you get a bad diagnosis that somebody that you love is sick. And even though the intensity is not the same, the emotions are kind of the same as you watch that illness progress, if you will. And the steps are, basically, you get the diagnosis. Um, you get a course of treatment from the doctor. And you follow that course of treatment. Well, that course of treatment is to dredge Lake Shepherd along with the rest that has already been done. And that's what I'm, that's what I'm asking for, is if this was somebody that you loved, would you wait until the last bit that needs to be done and stop? Would you, would you stop your chemo treatments on the last one? No. You would push through. You wouldn't say, oh, this has been hard, and I'm not going to do it anymore. We know it's hard, and we know it's inconvenient, and we know that it smells, and we know that it's loud. But we're asking to see if we can get the life back in that lake. So thank you for your time. Thank you, ma'am. Brad Evers. I'm not sure of the protocol. Am I allowed to give you copies? Sure. As part of the dual frequency sonar scans that were shown to us, you're going to ditch this whole idea from the start? You should have them in your archives anyway, but in case you weren't on the board then. So, again, my name is Brad Evers. I'm here on behalf of the users of the lake and the whole waterfront community. I grew up in St. Augustine. I came down here to Florida Tech and was fortunate enough to buy a waterfront home about 10 years ago, just in time for the big fish kill when all this discussion came up. As I said, I attended that Schechter Town Hall Center where I asked for a copy of these charts because I'm an engineer, and I found them interesting. It kind of shows the depth, the cross section in the canal as well as Lake Shepherd as well as Sleepy Lagoon where the hard bottom return is as well as the soft bottom or the top of the muck. You can see in those cross sections where, you know, like the canal I live on only had like a foot of muck, and then a lot of others based on their width and depth, you know, muck flows downhill. So, the deeper the stuff is, evidently, you know, the more it collects. So, I was initially skeptical of the whole project and curious if it would even, you know, mean a hill of beans. And they came through my canal last year, and since then, in the past 10 years, you know, I've seen water quality fluctuate. Sometimes it's clear when it's cold and all this stuff dies off, and in the summer and the rains come, like, last week, I guarantee you, like, we'll have algae and pollution, you know, within a few weeks. So, I was skeptical, but they came through last year, and I did, like, for the first time in years, I've got full-size oysters growing on my dock and my pilings, and, in fact, like, just a few weeks ago, I started seeing soft corals, like soft sponges that you would see, like, maybe in the Keys or something. Not algae, but actual, like, legit growth. So, it's kind of turned me, swayed me to believe that it's working. I voted for the tax in hopes of, you know, last-ditch resort. So, basically, these charts show that based on the canals, and, you know, there's lots of muck, and if you just look at the overall picture, A, Berkeley wasn't in the initial soundings. Maybe that was because of timing with the manatees, but Lake Shepherd definitely was. And you can see that in some of those, and for you in the audience, Lake Shepherd's up to three stories deep in certain spots. And you can see in those cross-sections that the muck is up to ten feet deep in those holes, and across the entire lake, it's about average of six feet deep, the entire area, left to right, north to, you know, front to back. Whereas my canal is just, you know, a lot of these canals are just deep right in the middle. So, to postpone or potentially wait and ship the Lake Shepherd muck elsewhere by the time the infrastructure gets set up to go south, I guess I'm here just to advocate for finishing the project as originally sold to us, that, you know, let's get it to the DMMA site, shut that thing down, and then figure out the infrastructure for the whole next phases, you know, just to stay on track. And I know it's volumetric estimates, but in my mind, like, this black line says what we paid to have you guys do. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Lisa Lantrip, did I say that right? Hi. Hi. Good evening. Thank you for having me. My name is Lisa Lantrip. I'm a local resident and a real estate professional here in the area on behalf of REMAX. I live and work in the community, and the issue that is currently at hand is the urgent need for Lake Shepherd to be demucked. It was once a beautiful and active part of our community, and now it's an eyesore. It's clogged with muck, algae, debris. It's a health and safety concern. It's attracting mosquitoes, emitting odor, and discouraging both recreation and investment. From a real estate perspective, the condition of Lake Shepherd, it impacts everyone. Homes near the water should carry a premium value, but right now they're appraising lower, they are taking longer to sell, and they're turning buyers away. And it's not because the homes aren't desirable. It's because the lake that these homes are looking at is completely being neglected. And to put it in perspective, I currently have a property under contract that is on Lake Shepherd. It's a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-car garage, block home, beachside. That's creme de la creme. And that property is selling for $500,000. That's with the lake in its current state. The land alone is worth that. There was a lot just on the other side of the lake that sold six months ago. The land alone sold for $525,000. Why this house is selling for $500,000 is drastic. Like I said, the land alone is worth that cost. So it's, you know, the numbers alone, it shows the incredible potential that this specific area has right here in Satellite Lake Shepherd. So it's not just about the money. It's about all the people. It's about taking pride in where we live. I personally have a young son, and I would love to see him go play in the water. Now he says, Mommy, can we fish? And I say, yeah, just in, out, let's go, if he catches a fish at all. So I think it's, you know, it's an area where our kids deserve to be running, laughing, playing near a clean, safe, and beautiful lake the way they used to. So tonight I'm asking the commission to prioritize the funding and support for the demucking of Lake Shepherd. And it's not just about luxury. It is about the responsibility and restoring a shared place that once was a place of joy. So thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Sandra, Sandra Sullivan. Sandra Sullivan, South Patrick Shores. So as was mentioned by the previous speaker, I support finishing the project of Lake Shepherd, and there's only a little bit left, and this would be done by the end of the year. So there is a grant called LPA 0475 that is for 150,000 additional cubic yards of muck. And this was discussed with the community last year in the meeting that there was additional muck found. And so the county applied for grant. They got $9 million to address this additional muck. The issue is kind of misleading here because it's being misled like, oh, where do we do the DMAA site? No, we have a DMAA site for this project now, and you signed a TUA last year to extend the use of the site for that additional muck. So this is all handled. The issue is where you're putting the dewatered muck, the people who are in the permits to receive it keep deciding they don't want it anymore. So there's a legacy of contamination, but you have property. You have lands like Sarno. You have other sites. And to that point, that site was previously used for de-mucking, de-watering. So it's had permits. It's not an issue. You had perms. That was used in 2017 through 2019. You do have land that you could put the dewatered muck. Now, what's the issues there? We know we have arsenic up to more than two times the commercial cleanup target. We have petroleum. We have copper over exceedances. And we have PFAS. And PFAS is really the big issue because in 1991, the base put in a newspaper article in Florida Today. It was the most contaminated site. Now, I go to all the RAB board meetings. They did PFAS testing in 2014 in December. And so I allege that the whole muck tax that was called in the early 2015 was to address the federal contamination interest and put that burden on we the people. One of the concerns is using that DMAA site. The issue I have most concern is that ensure that the Pineda DMAA, that the county keeps the promise, that it is only used for the Grand Canal project for South Patrick Shores because that was a commitment made by the county. My concern is when the muck tax was created, that in there was to dredge the base. And the county has been testing and moving forward towards that. We don't want that. And then there's the issues with, just real quick on the papers I gave you, that Satellite Beach is saying that if we have to pump the muck all the way down to BV52, we can't afford to do the projects. And there's enough evidence here to suggest that the concern is that the county intends to use that Pineda site for other projects. And we don't want that. Thank you. Vicki Carter. Good evening. My name is Vicki Carter. I live on Lake Shepard in Satellite Beach. When I turned 50, the age of wisdom, I signed up for an Ironman triathlon. Although I was confident of the 112-mile bike and the 26-mile run, I had never before done a consecutive 2.4-mile swim. But for that, I had a couple of options right in my backyard. I could do 418 laps of a 30-foot pool or about three laps around the lake. So the lake seemed like the logical option to me. Turns out it was very nearly the lethal option. I dove in. I came up. I swam two strokes. And I suddenly realized something was very wrong. Breaking the surface of the water had released a cloud of noxious gas. Little did I know that on day one, it was day one of an upwelling event, when a change in temperature forces a swap of the surface water for water from the bottom, a bottom full of muck. Muck, decomposed organic matter, muck, releases hydrogen sulfide, lethal in high concentrations. And with no choice but to breathe right at the surface, I was getting all hydrogen sulfide and zero oxygen. And I don't care how fit you are, try swimming even just 10 yards without oxygen. Your life will pass before your eye. Mine did. Anyway, I made it back. I'm here. And I can tell you, muck is no joke. It kills seagrass. It starves manatees, dolphins, and birds. It kills fish. And it very nearly killed me. Please vote to continue muck removal. Please vote to include Lake Shepherd. And please vote to do it sooner than later. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Craig Wallace. Craig Wallace, Satellite Beach. Thank you. Chairman, commissioners, and staff. I'm going to make it real brief. I think what you just heard kind of, I'm sorry, I'm a little choked up with that one. But I think that says it all, doesn't it? I mean, so, you know, I'm chairman of the Broad and the Northern Lagoon Coalition. And one of our things we do is go out and talk with people. We're out all the time. Matter of fact, I was at the zoo this weekend at Science Sundays. We saw over 500 people came through there. So I was just kind of asking people, what do you think? I'm not a surveyor. I said, what do you think? What do you? So their biggest thing is they want to know that the lagoon is being cleaned up the most efficient way we can and use our tax dollars as most efficiently as we can. And so I said, well, I think we're doing that. And I think the staff of the county is doing that. They're using scientific methods. I think you all know that. But it's the emotional thing. The things you heard tonight, that I don't think you've heard that before. But I heard a lot of that. People really have, you know, fishermen, people out there in the lagoon a lot. Those are the tales they tell. So please listen to those. And from a Tortoise Island perspective, yes, I live in Tortoise Island. And it would be nice to get the inland outlet canals done. But there's very little muck in those. We would like to have that done because that's our main navigation to get in and out of the Grand Canal. So if you can do that, great. If you can't, but it is important to get this done quickly and identify a date when it's going to be done that we're going to stick with. Thank you. Thank you. James Glass. Good evening. This is the first time I've spoke before this commission, so a little bit about my background. I'm a civil engineer, having worked in the Tampa Bay area 25 years working on cleaning up Tampa Bay. I managed the water quality management plan for the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. And that led to the decisions that they've reached in Tampa Bay to clean up the bay by removing sewage effluent from Tampa Bay. Now, I just wanted to highlight, on the basis of my experience, some recommendations that I have regarding the cleanup of the lagoon. First of all, we're spending money on projects to restore the lagoon, not to dredge canals just because people think the canals need to be dredged. So, here's my recommendations. After nine years, a sorrel plant has failed to make a priority of removing human waste from the lagoon. Instead, muck removal is the priority. You're spending more money on muck than anything else. Funding projects such as planting oysters and mangroves, seagrass, restoring shorelines, tossing clams in the lagoon, and harvesting aquatic vegetation before eliminating human waste is wasteful. It's wrong. These projects should be delayed until the lagoon water quality has been restored. That's what we did in Tampa Bay. Didn't plant any seagrass until the water quality was cured. The county is facing a huge financial burden to meet the state mandate to upgrade and connect all 60,000 septic tanks. Either upgrade them or connect them to a sewage plant by the year 2030. Yet, the sorrel plant is funding dredging muck. For instance, the plant is funding dredging muck from the Sunnyland subdivision of the South Beach area. The 200 or so homes on septic tanks deposit an average of 250 gallons a day of human waste into those canals. The human waste is the root cause of the muck. Fixing the septic tanks problem should be the priority to get rid of the root cause which causes muck. To my knowledge, with so much dredging muck in the Grand Canal and the tributary canals, I've yet to see any evidence, and I've asked the staff to show me this, that the water quality in the Banana River outside the Tortoise Isle area has been improved. I've asked that twice, I've yet to get an answer. Yet, we had staff people report to the commission that after you removed septic tanks and you cleaned up sewage problems, the water quality was restored. So I would like to leave this with you, and also, I'm going to leave with you a letter that we did in 2020 to the commission about the same problem, and this led to the commission at that time taking $100 million out of the muck fund and spending it on sewage problems. I'd be glad to answer any questions you should have. We have another card, sir. So we're going to go to, another two cards. We're going to go to that. Big card. We have another couple of cards, so we're going to go to the cards. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, sir. Give that to the clerk. Amir Pishtad, sir. Commander. Hello, commissioners. My name is Amir Pishtad. I'm the president of the Florida Fly Fishing Association, and we're concerned about the water quality. I can understand the residents that live in the Grand Canal and the other estuaries that are concerned about the muck. It is definitely a problem. As a professional diver and myself, I have seen muck. It is mucky down there. But at hand is these funds that were taken in the tax dollars that were from Soro that were designed to deal with the Indian River Lagoon problem by solving the problem of identified 60,000 polluters from septic systems. And as of this afternoon, my understanding is from the offices here that only about 8,000 have actually been resolved. In the Grand Canal, and I understand all the people that live there, but in the Grand Canal, every home except for a few of the commercial establishments are now being held, their sewage is being taken care of by city pipes. So they're no longer having septic systems that are causing the problem. So the muck that's there is not actually contributing to additional pollution. It's there already. And I don't know if you take it out of there, how much that's going to cause more problems. But if we're not spending the money that we've identified to Soro that we have to do by 2030, which is four and a half more years, what are the ramifications to this county, to the state, by fines or whatever they have that they want to charge us more for not doing what was intended for the plan? So I'm saying the plan needs to be reviewed. The muck does need to be removed. But we've got to look at it in a responsible manner. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Steve Diaz. How are you doing? My name is Steve Diaz. I live directly behind the DMMA site, about 225 feet. So I have been, my family, breathing the hydrophobic, polluted dust, the black dust, every single day. I would like, though, for the canal to finish in Lake Shepherd and the South Channel. I think it's fair. I think that it's gotten this far. I think let's just try to wrap it up before this manatee season. And like Commissioner Delaney said, let's find out what's causing this. And let's address that, because the muck's just going to keep coming if we don't address the problem. So that's my comments. Steve, I'm very empathetic to your situation, as you know. And we've talked many times about this. Yeah. In my mind, we've got two real options tonight. We have an option that just continues the path we're on and finishes up at the end of September, or I'm sorry, February, excuse me. And then we have another option that means that they've got to come back sometime in the future to do the entranceway. And that ends, that's at the end of January. You know, I hate to put you on the spot, but can we agree to finish the Pineda, get Lake Shepard, and be done at the end of February? I can't speak for everybody else. I'm asking you. And I know it's hard. But I'm, again, very empathetic. But I feel like we're right at the finish line. I think you do, too. And so a little longer. That would be my motion tonight. I'm going to get a hard commitment date. I mean, you know, no more change orders, no more. Because I know there's been an extension of that permit up to 2032 that I saw that went through from DEP. So my concern is, you know, ending, having a hard end date, getting that land that's zoned PUD as conservation back to what it is supposed to be. Maybe get that in the deed language as well so this never happens again and have it put back to its natural state. And like I said before, let's address the cause of this problem with the GOAT. That's ahead of us, I promise you. But tonight, and, you know, commissioners, just so that we all understand, we have this issue tonight because I was presented with a change order. And I said, no, I think we need to discuss this as a board. So that's why we're here tonight. We're making this decision together. I've talked to the residents a lot over the summer. And so I'm leaning towards the Pineda option, which, to finish this up, it's the most efficient and straightforward. And we get out of there the end of February. And you and I are going to go out there and plant a sea grape together in March. Okay? You got it. All right, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioners, we're done with the cards. I think I said my piece on that, if you will, with Mr. Diaz. Is there discussion from the board? Is there, Commissioner? I just want to say that I think we promised that something needed to be done, and it needs to be done. I don't want to risk losing any grant money. I hate losing free money. So if it's appropriate, I'd like to make a motion that we go ahead with the Pineda option. I'll second that. Okay. Very good. So 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 Felton? Yes. We'll show that passes 5-0. Steve, thanks, everyone. Thank you tonight. Say one thing. Ma'am? Do you mind if I just say one thing? Go ahead. I just want to say it seriously warms my heart to see a full room in here and all the engagement. I mean, it's just incredible, and I just thank you all so much for being so engaged, coming up here, having really thoughtful things to say, and it just... I'm a gold star to all the citizens. Thank you, everyone, for your understanding also. I know that there's consequences to these things, and you've been enduring a lot over the last few years, but I feel like we're at the finish line, and we want to get it done. With that, let's do this. Commissioners, let's take a five-minute break. We'll come back at 7-10, and we'll be on J-3. Thank you. Commissioners, three. I think I have the cards. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll take your seats, we're going to go on to item J-3. Okay. Thank you. Item J-3. Commissioner Delaney, this is your item. Thank you. This item seeks the board's approval of legislative intent and permission to advertise proposed amendments to Brevard County's zoning regulations related to farm animals and fowl, specifically chickens. Currently, the code restricts most non-agricultural properties to only one chicken. And I know we have a lot of things to worry about, but this is important to people. Currently, the code, sorry about that. Due to public complaints, particularly that chickens are flock animals and suppliers typically do not sell them individually, the board is asked to consider updates that would allow up to six chickens on certain residential properties with appropriate conditions. If approved, staff will draft an ordinance to amend Chapter 62 of the code to reflect these changes and bring the county more in line with practices in other jurisdictions. There is no fiscal impact associated with this request. And the reason why I picked six was because I just felt like for anybody who has chickens and knows like laying cycles and things like that, I figured a family of four, if you're trying to feed your family with some chickens, you know, two is not enough, four is not enough. So I thought that six was a fair compromise. And the other thing, I felt like if we're allowed to have five dogs in a house, six chickens are, you know, quite a lot less of a nuisance than five dogs. And I'm a dog person. I love dogs. But I would love any questions and board support for this. Okay. Questions for Commissioner Dillene. I've got two cards. Jennifer Harris. How are you doing? My name is Jennifer Harris, and I live in northern Brevard County. I live on 0.39 acres in rural, incorporated Brevard County. Titusville city limits, I don't know if you know or not. Also, Satellite Beach allow their residents to have four chickens inside city limits. But unincorporated, Brevard County is only allowed to have one. You can't go to Tractor Supply and get just one chicken. And it's just not right. You know, the chickens, they're flock birds. They have to be in groups. Illegally, you can, I think you have to purchase four to be able to purchase them. Just asking that, you know, maybe you could change this because people need to be able to feed their families. Sometimes the grocery stores can put limits on, you know, amount of eggs you can buy. Excuse me, I'm nervous. This is the first time I've ever been up here before. But, yeah, just, you know, the grocery stores, they put limits on the amount of eggs you can buy. Sometimes you go to the store and there's just no eggs available. The quality is not really that great. I don't know if you've ever had a store-bought chicken egg compared to a backyard chicken egg, but the quality is just, is really different. So I'm just asking you to take this in consideration and change it for people living in the rural areas. That's all. Thank you very much. Thank you. Luke Harris. Good evening, board. My name is Luke Harris. I am Jennifer Harris' son. I have lived in northern Brevard County my entire life. When I was about seven years old to the age of ten, we had seven chickens in our backyard. They were a joy, me and my family, to just have after school, you can go outside, pet the chickens, feed them, take care of them. Just to, it was a really good mental rest from the work day of what school brings. Just, it was very beneficial to me and to my family of doing it. It also helped to teach us responsibility of learning how to take care of these animals and how we can do that for our futures just in daily lives or for the daily responsibilities, learning from a young age. I'm asking that we just, we consider this, six chickens is a very good proposal. Just, it really helps kids with, you know, maybe staying outside a little bit more. I know sometimes, especially in today's day and age, we have a lot of children who are inside a lot or maybe on electronics a lot. I think it might be a good thing as well for them to be outside and learning, you know, animals, taking care of them, learning responsibilities. Just, I hope that we're able to make the changes and make decisions and whatnot. Thank you. Okay, that's the end of the cards. Discussion. Go ahead, Commissioner Atkinson. So, I'm not opposed to chickens, but unlike maybe many people who live in Brevard County, I actually live on 0.27 of an acre. So, I actually am not living in the county, so I'm not directly affected by this, but for those people who are, that's not a very big plot. And I can tell you that my neighbors across the street, who we love and adore, moved in, and they have a couple of chickens. And they feed them the scraps of their human food and whatever else you feed chickens. And they bring us eggs, which is great. But unfortunately, they've also brought us rats. And while we talk about responsible ownership, I don't, I've never owned chickens, so I don't know what that means. But what I do know is that these particular people who've moved onto my street, into my neighborhood, who are lovely humans, have also brought us rats. So, in my backyard, we have rats that run the fence. And my Great Dane ran against the fence, cracked his head, and, you know, now I pay $67 a month for seizure medications for him. Now, that's not going to be every situation. But I want everybody to understand that I think that we have to have some kind of limit on the size, where we allow some number of chickens. And I would be amenable to that kind of conversation. But I have had some emails from people in my district who are opposed to this. So, unless we can come to some sort of agreement about the lot size, I would have to be a no on this one. Other discussion on the item? Commissioner Delaney. I hear what you're saying with that. Maybe we could do, like, a sliding scale. Because, like the speakers had mentioned, there's a limit to, like, how many you have to purchase if you purchase chickens. So, maybe we could do, like, two if you have a really small lot. And then, at a certain size, we could go up to four and then up to six. I'm open to some kind of negotiation on what that looks like. So, I'm happy to discuss that. And can I ask a question from my knowledge here? Would that be rural versus, you know, obviously, we don't zone for cities on things. Zone is the wrong word. They have their own rules. But, in your mind, would that be rural versus, you know, single-family residential neighborhoods? I would imagine, too, that HOA. No HOAs, right. I mean, I live in HOA, and a lady walked a pig down the street. And I said, how big is that going to get to be? And she says, oh, maybe 200 pounds. And I said, I'm going to tell you now. They're not going to go for that. And, anyway, she ended up moving away. I don't know what happened with the pig. Maybe she moved to a rural setting where she could do that. Right. So, how would, is that what we're talking about here, more of your hope is in the rural? Because, see, I think if you have an agriculture classification or zoning, maybe you don't have these constraints. Correct. Is that right? Okay. I'll tell you what. Would you work on that and bring it back? Would that be maybe the right way to go? And my thought about this, and my opinions fundamentally changed about chickens during COVID, when the stores were empty, or chicken egg prices were, you know, $8 for a dozen eggs. I know that it saved my family a lot of money. My kids can down some eggs. And so, I just really feel like it's an American right that we should be able to feed our families. And so, I really hate to restrict it to a certain zoning, because, like I said, we could have five dogs in a house, which that's far more of a nuisance, in my opinion, than, you know, a few chickens. And, you know, it's not counting roosters, so there would still be a restriction on that. But, you know, so, hopefully we can come to an agreement on this. Now, can I ask just a technical question, because I don't know anything about chickens. Does one chicken make a certain amount of noise, but two together make a lot more noise? Is that a, I mean, when they have friends come over, is that a thing? So, the only time they really make, the hens make a lot of noise is when they lay an egg, and that's usually in the middle of the day, not in the early morning or late afternoon, and at least in my experience. And it's not very loud, and it's not for a long period of time. It's maybe five, ten minutes while the chickens lay in the egg once a day. I have one thing to say. Commissioner Atkinson and Commissioner Goodson. I just have one thing to say about what you just said about rights, because I think it's important that we all understand that your rights end where mine begin. We all have individual rights, but we need to respect each other's rights and where we live. Commissioner Goodson, sir. I just wanted to comment with six, just say five chickens laying an egg a day times six days. If you give them all Sunday, your family's going to live off a lot of eggs. Now, are you going to allow the people to sell the eggs? In my proposal, it's for personal use, not commercial. How will you control six chickens making 35 eggs a week, and you don't sell them unless you eat eggs? Well, the reason for the six chickens is because the hens don't lay eggs every single day. Sometimes they skip a day. And so, like, for instance, my three kids, they could down a half a dozen or more eggs in one. I mean, they're... Now, would it be fair to assume, Commissioner, that if your chicken didn't lay an egg, that becomes chicken pot pie? I mean, somewhere along the line, just to make sure I understand this, because if we're into killing them, I'm all for it. Yes, actually, that is part of my proposal. I believe that people should be able to feed their families. Other questions, sir? Okay. Commissioner Goodson for a follow-up. If you have chickens and you have feed and you have chicken poop, does that... Do you then become... Then do you get rats or do you get coyotes? Which one comes first? I would think that people would have to, you know, live, abide by the law, just the same as, you know, if you have a dog or a cat. So, taking care of your property, containing your feed properly, all of those things. Okay. I hope the coyotes realize that, or bobcats, because they do pretty... They tear them up pretty good. Thank you, Chair. I've never purchased a chicken before. I think one of our public comments, Ms. Harris, said that you can't buy them one at a time. That's a thing, too. You can't just go in there and buy one. That's like a rule? It is. It's a rule? Yeah, yeah. Okay. All the breeders and the stores, like Tractor Supply, you can't go in and buy one chicken. Okay. Mm-hmm. I stopped in a rural canyon, northern Ohio, recently, and I'd never been in one. I was killing a little time for an event, and they had hundreds, hundreds. It was the most incredible thing. So, from their perspective, I could see that they don't want to sell one at a time. Right. Okay. All right. And Rural King, if you're listening, we would love to have one of you in Brevard County. Okay. All right. Okay. Okay. Very good. I think with a little work, maybe bring this back. Thank you. Okay. All right. Okay. That was all the cards, everything. Item J4, Commissioner. Delaney. Thank you. This item proposes updates to Board Policy BCC 43, which governs the annual budgets for Commission District Offices. This recommendation revision aims to improve transparency, accountability, and clarity in how district office funds are managed and reported. In response to growing public expectations and internal discussions, the proposed changes include the implementation of quarterly versus actual report for each district and clear procedures for funding and approving office-related facilities expenses. These updates are intended to strengthen fiscal oversight, ensure responsible stewardship for taxpayer funds, and promote a greater trust in local government operations. There's no fiscal impact with this item. And so, I'm proposing to update to the 24-25 district office budget. Just update that number to what's in the current budget book. And then, also, Section C, I'm proposing to update that the budget office will provide each district with a quarterly budget versus actual to show year-to-date commitments, expenses, and remaining balance. Just so that we don't have to go and ask for those things, that it'll just come to us. And then, facilities, this is regarding any kind of updates to commission offices or renovations. Facilities will provide a written estimate of anticipated expenses and obtain written approval by the requesting commissioner for any commission office-specific capital improvement or renovation project prior to proceeding with the work. And, um, I would like to share that this has been, um, presented to staff. And, um, we, I worked with them on their input on, on this. And, um, this is what we all came up with. Okay. I think, do we have a card on this one? First of all, are there, are there questions? Go ahead. Go with your card. Do you want to do the card first? Yeah. Okay. All right. Sandra Sullivan. Sandra Sullivan. So, just, uh, um, just a quick comment. I thought that the update was very good. It's, uh, been overdue. It seemed like that, uh, policy needed to be, uh, updated. Um, and I think, you know, getting, um, you know, having commissioners have estimates for work ahead of time is just good business practice, right? So, finally, I would just say, in the interest of transparency and accountability, it would be also nice if quarterly this was placed on, uh, an agenda item. Um, so that the public had access as, uh, transparency and accountability so that we see it also. Thank you. Commissioner Goodson, you have a question, sir. Commissioner, has there been any problem that I'm unaware of? Yes. About, uh, facilities? What seems to be the problem? So, when I went through my office renovations, um, there was just, uh, a miscommunication between the facilities department and my office. And, um, for instance, when I was, uh, before my office renovation, I was told that we would have a moment where we would do blue tape and that I'd get estimates and all these different things, and those things just didn't happen. Um, and I, I was under the assumption that they would come to me with those things. Um, and I got busy doing other things, you know, as a new commissioner. And, um, the next time I went to go and check in and say, hey, how's it going? What's, you know, what's going on with this? Um, I was told that the work had started and was, you know, well on its way. Um, and they didn't have any, uh, cost, um, updates for me. It was all really, we don't know the invoices, you know. And because it was a facilities project and not out of the commission office, um, there was no, basically we found a hole in policy. And when Mark and I worked together on this, um, this was, he had already made the administrative change, um, that this is what he was going to be going forward and doing, um, regardless in the future. And, um, they had asked that I just solidify it in policy. Now, wouldn't you, um, if you were remodeling your kitchen at your home, wouldn't you, wouldn't you be aware of what they were, the contract was doing? Or were you just turning loose and go for a vacation and come back with a bill? Would you watch that any closer? With all due respect, I was not on vacation. Um, secondly. Secondly, um, the, I was told that the first step would, we would have a, a moment where we would go through the office with blue tape so that we could decide where the walls were going to be. Because the state's attorney gave over a section of his, um, space to the commission office so I didn't have to go out and rent a space, um, because I was fulfilling a campaign promise giving back Tom, Tom Statham Park to the public. Um, and so that meant, um, better utilization of a wasted space and, um, some walls had to get put up and, and whatnot. And so, um, you know, that, that never happened. The work began without my knowledge. Okay. Question. Is, Jim, is the work began without her knowledge and without any kind of understanding what she was spending? I would say more likely no. I mean, I don't have all the details in front of me. We had, we, uh, we answered a number of questions. We sat down with the commissioner. Uh, I will. Not in the beginning. No, you didn't. No, sir. You weren't even part of this at all. I know that you didn't let me finish. That was my part. I was going to explain. I wasn't, I wasn't there at the beginning. So that's part of it. Uh, I do know as part of the process that the facilities department already, um, agreed that the, any, uh, renovations or changes to your offices that you guys would get it ahead of time and sign off on them. So you would like for us to vote to restrict future, future commissioners. Not, not restrict. No, sir. That's what you're implying. No, not at all. If you would listen. Um, um, what I'm, what I'm asking for is to make sure that the staff lets the commissioners know what they're doing and gets the approval of that commissioner. And that they cannot, they cannot continue without the signature of that commissioner approving that, um, change and project. Well, thank God you didn't buy furniture, right? That would have been more money. That was taken from my office before I even got there. I have all asset management furniture. Well, if you know anything about furniture, they've got a barnyard full of. Okay. Now, I guess the only other question I have is, you know, you talk about that, that guarantee to the public about giving that center away, giving the center back to them up there at the park, right? Correct? Yes. Okay. So far now, that being said, they tried that thing with a venue of marriage or funding or parties or reunions. They tried that up there previously. And Ian, where are you at? Please come up. Because you still got the cost of that to remove the walls inside of that building. And it was minimal. Oh, minimal? It was. Do you have the price? I believe it was, it was minimal. It was about $5,000. So you, okay. Ian, can you tell the board, did that, by giving up that office, previously, to Rita Pritchard being there, did it make money as the venue that it was proposed to do? So, Commissioner, like Commissioner Delaney said, there was minimal funds that were generated. We did an RFP in previous years. We had an agent that went in that used it and facilitated it as a event space. What they found, or what we found, is that they actually charged too much and priced themselves out. So there could be a benefit to doing that, right? There could. Okay. We don't know yet. We're actually not going to be putting it back out as an RFP. We're going to be putting it out as another rental facility like we do our other rentals, and we're hoping that that generates some more revenue. Okay. Thank you. Jill, may I have another question? Thank you. All right, Jill, I don't know, but every month I get a breakdown of my expenses and what I'm spending it on, correct? Do you know that? Correct. Commissioner, when you took office, you had asked for that monthly report, so I have it on my calendar to provide that to you. And she could do the same, correct? I'm happy to provide any commissioner with a budget versus actual at any time. Okay. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chair. I would like to add that Tom Statham Park, not only can it be used to, you know, generate some income, but we have a serious shortage in North Brevard for space for not only the elderly, but people with disabilities, with places for teenagers to hang out. So if this does not produce the income that we're looking for, I believe still that this building will provide a massive community service to my community. And when I was door knocking, the community came out loud and clear and said, we want this building back. And so I made that promise to them, and so I was going to fulfill that. And now we're using, we renovated a space in the six-story building, which massively needs huge improvements, as many people have talked about. And now this space is being better utilized, more efficiently utilized, and, you know, people can come see me, come see the tax collector and the property appraiser all in the same trip. Everyone knows where I am, you know, it's traditionally where the D1 commissioner should be, is in that six-story building, and I stand by my decision. But really, this policy change has nothing to do with any of that. I think that it's fair because there are no onboarding, there is no onboarding for commissioners. I don't know if the public knows that. You basically get thrown to the wolves. And it would be great if we could safeguard our policies so that when new commissioners come on board, they're not, you know, there's some safeguards in there that we don't have to, you know, that our budgets just get sent to us. That's just good practice. So what is the issue with that? Why does a commissioner have to ask for it? That should be something that most people would assume just happens. A CEO of a company doesn't have to ask their financial person for the budget and for, you know, it just happens. So I just, I don't understand why it's controversial asking for that. Um, it's, these are pretty simple changes that staff, all of the staff that this would revolve around, um, they all signed off on this basically and said that this is, you know, this is good. They're, they're comfortable with it. And so, um, with that, I would, I would ask for your guys' support on this. One of the things looking in here, uh, you have out to include out of state travel, um, has discretion and approval over their line items within their budget to include out of state travel. Now, I, I thought, correct me if I'm wrong, uh, that we didn't do out of state travel without asking the board. I seem to remember that, that we had an issue like that in the, in the prior board. Am I, am I right on that? I believe you're correct. You come back to the board for out of state travel. Yeah. So, um, any other discussion, uh, commissioner Atkinson, Jill, I have a question for you. Um, it's my understanding from my staff, um, that we can actually pull these reports ourselves from SAP. Is that accurate? Uh, that's correct. And so that's what some offices have preferred to do, whereas some like to have the reports sent to them during different time periods. It all depends on the office. So we work with each office on how they would like to receive those reports, or we provide training on how to access those reports. So I have capable staff, which I appreciate. So we don't need to have the report sent to us quarterly. We can pull it ourselves and I'll be responsible for the money coming in and out of my office. Because I think, Commissioner Delaney, that there is no excuse for not knowing what was going on in your renovation. I also had a renovation, although smaller than yours. I knew exactly what was going on because I asked. And I think that... And I was told that I would, I would be brought into the loop when the work was started or before the work was started. Like I said, there's no excuse for not knowing what was going on in your renovation. You lived there. Okay. I think that it's important that we have, like I said, safeguards put in place so that new commissioners don't have to go through what I did. And... I was also a new commissioner at the same time. Okay. Great. Okay. There's no second. And by the way, everything that was done in my office, just because I haven't said this on this dais, everything that was done in my office was standard. Standard. Is that correct, Jim? I believe that is correct. Okay. So if there's an issue with what happened in my office, we need to start looking at the standard in this county. Okay. Anything else? All right. So I'm open to any suggestions that you guys have as far as tweaking the language. Again, this was, these were staff recommendations. And so I, I'm happy to change and, and tweak any of this. And so if there's any, uh, suggestions that anybody has, I'm happy to talk about that. And, you know, we can, we could bring it back for, you know, a red line or if everybody wants to bring back their, um, what their red line would look like, um, or their suggestions. I'm, I'm happy to do that as well. If you guys aren't comfortable with this exact language. Um, I think there certainly could be a couple amendments. I don't know if we're prepared to do all of that tonight. Um, that's my personal view. Um, and I appreciate the, the other information in here. Um, you know, that was the one thing on the out of state travel, um, that I saw. I happen to think, you know, bill folders are pretty good. I think we all agree. I think that's one of the good things that came out of prior boards or a consequence of, um, we find that works pretty well. I'm aware of our budget. Uh, we did, I discussed that with my staff. Um, I don't ever have concerns. Um, I think, I think you moving offices was, um, obviously a different thing. Um, so, uh, some of the others have been able to come into a bot office that already existed. So I'll, I'll give you that. I don't know if this is ready tonight. Um, that's, that's my, my two cents. Um, so. Sure. I'm happy to bring it back. Ah, okay. All right. Thank you. All right. Let's go. And, and, and by the way, just so that we know, I think we have quite a number of cards on the final public comment. Um, so that you know, we got, we've got three on J5. Um, so let's, let's get to it then. Um, let's, let's go to J5. Commissioner, that's your, uh, that's your item also. Thank you. Um, this item calls for a board discussion regarding the potential dissolution of community redevelopment agencies throughout Brevard County, originally created to combat blight and spur redevelopment in certain areas. Many CRAs have now exceeded their intended purpose, often operating without updated plans or measurable outcomes. While I, I will admit there are some of them that are doing a really great job as well. Um, but meanwhile, the Brevard County fire rescue, um, faces increasing pressure from population growth, rising call volumes and aging infrastructure. Um, this proposal recommends directing staff to assess each CRA's legal status and funding structure to determine if dissolution or a reduction in county, um, tax increment financing TIF, um, is possible. And, um, the ultimate goal is to sunset outdated CRA's and reallocate millions of dollars in annual revenue to essential public safety services, um, most notably fire rescue, improving response times, promoting equitable distribution of taxpayer dollars, and prioritizing countywide safety and resilience. Um, and, um, I, I spoke about this, um, when the topic of the North Brevard economic development zone, um, was brought forward and, um, you know, and that was, you know, uh, dissolved. And so that money is now going back to the general fund. And, uh, during that time I had talked about the other CRAs, even though embeds wasn't exactly a CRA, but the other, um, similar, uh, funding mechanisms, these, these, um, we've said this over and over again, we have a crisis in the fire department and while, um, we're heading in the right direction, I don't believe that where we are right now is enough. Um, I don't believe, um, I don't believe it's going to fix the problem and I was told that to get the MSTU, the voter approved MSTU back to its, um, voter approved millage, we need to come up with around $4 million and this, these CRAs, um, would equal about that. Um, CRAs can't be resolved if they have outstanding debt and there are a couple with outstanding debt, um, there are two that are significant and, or I'm sorry, there are three that are significant and then there are two that have some debt that I'm, I'm assuming, um, that we could pay off that debt and, um, the remainder of that money could hopefully come back to us. Um, so $3.5 million could be available now. Um, and then once we, um, resolve the debt on those two, that would give us another $671,000. Um, and then once the, the other debts are resolved, which will take some time because it's considerable, um, the total is $4.2 million. Um, so, um, I, I think that while CRAs, you know, there, there was a time for them right now, we're dealing with a massive fiscal, um, issue in, in our County and we have to be able to fund our fire department properly in a way that they could be successful. And right now, um, even with this newest proposal, while I hope the fire department, um, the fire union accepts it and, um, you know, I hope they do that, but I, I fear that it's not enough. They're not going to be able to use it as a recruiting tool. And if we dissolve these CRAs and can get that funding that we need, um, to, to get a Kelly day, that will be the thing that they will be able to recruit with, and we will truly be able to solve this issue like we promised we would do. And so I'm hoping that, um, I can get the board support on this, like you guys supported ending the North Brevard economic development zone. Thank you. Questions. My questions on the item. Got three cards. We'll go to the cards. Uh, Sandra Sullivan. Sandra Sullivan. So historically speaking and coming to these meetings, commissioners generally defer to whose district it was in making decisions. And this board isn't operating in, in that way. So with other commissioners making the motion to dissolve NBITS, which was a district one and partially district two, um, issue. And at the time, I agree that we don't, we have a fiscal crisis and we, we, we don't need to cut costs. And this is one of those areas we can cut costs, the CRAs. Now, obviously the ones that have debt, you can have an interlocal agreement to cost share and pay off those debts over time. They don't have to be paid immediately. Um, I would also like to say that, you know, there, there are other things too that need to be done to address the magistrate's report clearly states that the cost of growth is competing with wages. In other words, you don't have enough money to solve the problem with fire and EMS. We have a fire department that has been harmed greatly, um, since last October and longer that they have been advocating. Um, you guys took a vote to do impact fee, uh, to study, to address the costs of that growth. And unfortunately, despite me coming up and speaking, this board decided not to do milestones to get the fire and EMS assessment back earlier. Now, in 1997, a study recommended that the $97 fire EMS impact fees be updated to $305. It's still $97. So this, this problem of growth, which went from $48 million in January to the magistrate's meeting being around $63 million in 2022 was $620,000 huge costs in growth and we're not addressing it. And so I'm going to say, in addition to addressing the CRAs, I would strongly urge, urge this commission in November, which means you have only until August 19th to do a referendum for a one cent sales tax for fire and EMS, and then we can remove the fire assessment and EMS assessment from our tax, property tax, uh, bills. So we take, we remove that tax from our bills and we give some relief. And I would also suggest, you know, well, I won't get into that, but we've got to address our fire department. And this is just a single step addressing the CRAs is only fair. You abolished embeds, which is similar type. Let's address the CRAs. Tracy Moore, Tracy Moore. Okay. It had been all the way down. Okay. Thank you very much for this opportunity to talk about CRAs. I got down here. I'm hoping I'll be able to get back up. That's quite a, uh, a steep way to come down. Now, CRAs, uh, it sounds like I'm hearing that, uh, the value of the CRA is not really, uh, being seen by all the commissioners. Uh, I think that what CRAs offer, uh, to the communities overall is, um, needs to be examined and also, uh, realized that we are not through. Um, there are, you know, since we have completed what we're supposed to have done, I beg to differ. I say that you still need to go around and discover what we have done, yes, but what still needs to be done. There's still a lot of economic development that needs to happen. Uh, we are trying to do our best to revitalize our communities. Uh, I am with the Diamond Square Redevelopment Board and we have lots of projects that we've been doing for economic development. Uh, we're creating jobs. We're bringing businesses in. We have an upstart program, uh, that we have invested, uh, $10,000 in new businesses that are coming into the Diamond Square area. We have affordable housing, uh, everyone's talking about that as a subject and affordable housing is definitely something that we have been able to do. In fact, uh, we received an award for that. Uh, we built, uh, five houses that we were able to, uh, invest in our community and was able to actually get folks to live in those houses. So those provided tax increments for this county and for our community. We developed streetscapes and roadways and so we are developing the appearance of what the community looks like. I don't know how long each of you have been here, but I've been here since 1984 and what, uh, Diamond Square used to look like. It's, uh, a lot better now, but it's not all the way there yet. Uh, we have improved infrastructures, public spaces, called the LIFA residents, and it affects our businesses and visitors who come to visit, uh, COCO overall. Now, I know I only have 30 more seconds, but I'm just going to, um, tell you about how we're affecting our children. The future of COCO. The future of Brevard County. Uh, we have programs, Cops and Kids, we have the PAM program, we have Alliance for Neighborhood Restoration, we have Summer Camp Scholarships, and we have, for community, facade grants, and paint and beautification grants. So we're doing a lot, but there's a lot more to do. Uh, I hate to see any CRA, uh, be dissolved, because we are making a difference in Brevard County, and each and every community, uh, that exists, that has a CRA. Thank you for this opportunity. Now, I've got to figure out how to get back up. Thank you, ma'am. We're going to go this way. Thank you very, thank you very much. Marcus Herman. Good evening. It's been a long night. I'll try to keep it short. My name is Marcus Herman. I live at 3015 Water Oak Drive in Merritt Island. I'm also currently the chairman of the Merritt Island Redevelopment Agency. I stand against the proposal to end CRAs. CRAs play a vital role in helping to revitalize our older communities, which helps bring a larger tax base to our communities, which helps pay for firefighters and police and everything else that we need. Now, I can't speak for all the CRAs, because I don't know specifically how they function or what's going on with them. I can specifically speak about MIRA. MIRA is very different than any CRA that you have, because it's 100% controlled by this county commission. The residents of Merritt Island are very thankful to the commission, this commission, and past commissions for allowing the local residents appointed by our district two commissioners at those times to be a part and have a voice in the TIF funds that are used for the MIRA district. Specifically in MIRA, I believe that we've done an outstanding job. The board members and the staff, they've been great stewards of the responsibility that's been put upon them. A couple of notes, 86% of the money that we get in TIF funds is spent on infrastructure. That's roads, bridges, parks, and septic to sewer. We were doing septic to sewer before it became popular after the big fish kill. MIRA also has an outstanding track record of leveraging the money that we get. But we have gotten millions and millions of dollars from federal, state, and local agencies that makes a much better return investment than just the money, the TIF money that we're getting. And that money gets, this is all county money. This goes back to the county. Everything we do is owned by the county. So I respectfully request that this commission continue to allow the residents of Merritt Island to have a say in the future in keeping MIRA intact. I'll leave it at that. Thank you. Okay, that was the ending of the cards. Commissioner Goodson for a question. A question, okay. Jim, if anything is true with what Marcus said, with all the infrastructure work, the bridge work, the corridor work, the landscaping work, would you or would the county have been able to do it solely on your dime? No, no. We would have had to move other projects around or cut. I mean, you know, like the stormwater project, the veterans, that was three or four different departments. I could tell you, you know, even like Waterway Park, that MSTU on Merritt Island does not have enough funds to build parks. So, I mean, that wouldn't exist. Even though it's county money, they still are doing it. You would say they're doing a good job. Yeah, I mean, this is just me as a professional planner, background, that stormwater project that, I'm going to get the terms a little bit wrong, but it made more parcels available for development. I mean, that was pretty much ideal. Okay. Can you tell the board, and I'm just asking because it's my district, do you know of any job that they might have done that has not been well received by the county government? Uh-oh, uh-oh, go ahead. Facade grants were once incredibly criticized. They weren't well received by a board at one point, and they were done away with years ago. And the only other issue I can remember was the sign at the courthouse that Tobiah didn't like, right? Correct. Yeah. Those are the two I can remember from the board. Okay. All right. Thank you, sir. Any other questions? Commissioner Delaney. I'm not going to discount all the good work that these CRAs have done. At all. Just like NBEDS did a lot of great work. But we have a serious fiscal crisis, and this board said that our priority is to make sure that we fix this. And, you know, if North Brevard was told, you're not allowed to have this because we need a fire department fully funded, we should be equitable and fair across the county. That everybody should be contributing to this issue, not just North Brevard. So I am not trying to discount the good work that people have done along the way. It's just that we have to make these hard decisions when it comes to funding our fire department. And, you know, if anybody has any other suggestions to do that in a very quick way, I'm open to those. But I'm hoping to get your support on this. Okay. Anything else on the item? Just personally, I think there's one that touches my district and might go into five, and that's the city of Melbourne O'Galley community. And I think we have a pending meeting with the city on this specifically, don't we? Yes, Commissioner, we have a meeting Friday. The city had set it up before this agenda item, and it's to talk about the parking garage in what I call downtown O'Galley. That's a single issue, CRA, if you will. You know, it's something that the prior boards had decided on. And I think Commissioner Tobiah, when he was here, he had pared that down to just parking garage in the O'Galley Arch District. Anyways, I'd like to let them have that meeting before we do something with that one, at least, only because I don't have all the information on that. So would that be more? Would that cost the $300 and whatever thousand, or would it be more than that? Well, that's what the annual TIF funding is. Right. Yeah. So do you know how much? I don't know how much a parking garage is going to cost. I don't have that. So, and I'm not... Because that would stop it from being able to be dissolved if we allow them to go into debt. And so while I understand that they want a parking garage, being able to recruit for our fire department seems to me... Well, I don't know that they would have debt. So the money that they have could be used on that. But I don't have that today, Commissioner. And there's, you know, a pending meeting with the City of Melbourne to discuss that. If they don't want to move forward with that or whatever, then that's fine. I just think that they ought to have that meeting. We had a lot of pending things in NEN beds, too. Okay. And so respectfully, I think that this board made it clear what our priority was. And, you know, you yourself campaigned on getting rid of the CRAs. We have made it a priority that this is what we're going to do. We're going to fund the fire department. And North Brevard has done its part. And so with that, I'm making a motion to... I guess it would be to go out for legislative intent to dissolve the CRAs. Is that right, Morris? I'd suggested that you also request staff to prepare a report on the CRAs identifying exactly what we are able to do. Because, for example, you know, my staff did some preliminary work on this. Actually, some pretty thorough work that's pretty close to final. And at least five of the CRAs... I'm sorry, three of the CRAs that are municipal CRAs the board can't touch because those were created prior to the county's home real charter. We have the issue of CRAs that have outstanding indebtedness. And because of the CRAs were greatly pared back and restricted with a series of interlocal agreements ranging from 2018 to 2021. And the board only retained authority to dissolve some of those CRAs. So at the most right now, we've identified three of the CRAs that the county commission could either dissolve or take on the hat and lower or eliminate the TIF increment funding. Okay. Looks like it would be MIRA, a city of Melbourne O'Galley, and Diamond Square. What about the second MIRA one? So there's only one redevelopment agency. There's a portion of MIRA funding that's been dedicated. So the TIF was, you know, others would be able to better explain how it was accomplished than I. So there's not separate CRAs. Basically, there was a millage adjustment. So there's a dedicated fund to the replacement of the CRA bridge that's annual. So it's still over a million dollars, well over, probably closer to two, if not more. MIRA one, one and a quarter. And then the Melbourne one? Three hundred and twenty-six thousand annually. And they've been setting aside funds for that parking garage project. And Diamond Square gets very little, one hundred and twenty-two thousand annually. Right. I'm not saying this isn't a hard decision. I wasn't for getting rid of embeds. I voted no. But this board, you know, said that this is a priority. And so, you know, this will be really telling to people. So did the motion include that report? Yes, sir. All right. Is there anything else on the item? Is there a second on the item? All right. Maybe this will come back in the future. All right. It's very disappointing to hear this. And I hope that everybody watching this at home sees that this was a vendetta, a political vendetta to harm North Brevard. Okay. We're going to, we have a lot of public comment tonight. And we're going, I think we're probably take a break in between. So I'm sorry, sir. I need a few. We've been here since five o'clock. You want to take a break now? Is that what you want? Okay. Well, okay. Well, we're going to take a break and then we will do all the public cards. Five minutes, please. Okay. So 815. Thank you, everyone, for hanging around. We're going to go in a public comment. Rose Plummer. Is Rose still here? Yes. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Rose Plummer, and I have lived on North Merritt Island for 28 years. Our family built our home, raised our children, and have made our lives on Crisofilly Road. Several years ago, we noticed a significant increase in speed and traffic on Crisofilly Road. We put up signs, along with many other families, encouraging people to drive as if their children lived there. Those signs were both ignored and some even stolen. After realizing this issue would not go away, I reached out to the county to help find a resolution to this problem. The county came out, performed a traffic study on Tuesday, October 31st, 2023, for a 24-hour period. The study was shocking to me, not only on the number of vehicles, but the speed. In that 24-hour period, there were 11 vehicles that were traveling in excess of 70 miles an hour. Imagine that. Would you want your neighbors driving 70 miles an hour past your driveway? In that same time frame, there were 422 vehicles that were traveling between 40 and 70 miles an hour in a 30-mile-an-hour zone. Since the installation of these speed humps, the families that have the humps in front of their homes have been subjected to months of harassment. We personally have had trash thrown in our yard. We have had dead animals dumped on or near our property. Some members of our community posted on various social media platforms, and I quote, I urge all of my East Christophilie neighbors to sign the petition to have them removed. In the meantime, show your appreciation for them by giving a short or long blast of your car horns. That post was made by a neighbor present this evening and a main offender of the speed limit. My family has had to engage law enforcement assistance to intervene on our behalf due to excessive harassment, to the point that one individual has been notified that if he didn't stop, criminal charges could be filed. I have lived and served in this community for decades. We have enjoyed our neighbors and their friendships over the past 28 years. It boggles my mind that some who used to stop by and chat or wave as they went by now despise us because we and others try to make our community safer for us, our families, our pets, and the community as a whole. Christophilie has become a dangerous road. We respectfully ask our neighbors to slow down and likewise request that the commissioners see fit to keep the speed humps in place. Thank you for your time. Thank you, ma'am. Bill Plummer. Bill Plummer. 355 East Christophilie. I guess you would call our house ground zero for the speed humps. To begin with, this is a situation that has been increasingly worse over time. Countless vehicles have gone off the road and into the drainage ditches along Christophilie. In front of my house, four cars alone, causing damage to the ditch, the head walls, and even mailboxes. Countless pets and wildlife sprinkled all over Christophilie, hit and killed by speeders. My daughters have lost three cats to this. And the lives of two young men who died while speeding on Christophilie, is that not enough to justify speed humps? On the first attempt was to try to get a four-way stop at Judson and Christophilie. The traffic study determined it didn't meet the criteria for the stop sign, and the situation just got progressively worse. I put signs up in my yard, drive like your kids live there. Those signs were met with vandalism, and one was even stolen. Some of the worst offenders of the speed limit are here in this room tonight. It was no longer safe to walk the road, bicycle, or even drive your golf cart, not to mention try to check the mail or back your car out of the driveway. So how did we get here? At the request of more than 85% of the residents east on East Christophilie, west of Judson Road to Courtney, a study was conducted. This study was done on the eastbound and westbound lanes of Christophilie Road from Courtney to Judson. The study was done from 12 a.m. on 1031-23 and concluded at 12 a.m. on 11-1 for a total of 24 hours. In front of my house, a recorded volume showed 969 vehicles passed by my house in that 24 hours. So this is what we know from the speed study that is public record. Of the 969 vehicles, 431 exceeded the speed limit by over 10 to 14 miles an hour, 30 miles an hour on the road. 122 of those vehicles were 15 to 19 over the posted speed limit. 51 vehicles at 20 to 24 miles over the speed limit. 28 vehicles at 25 to 29 miles over the speed limit. We had nine vehicles at over double the 30-mile-an-hour speed limit. Six vehicles, 20 to 39. And to top it off, 11 vehicles in a 24-hour period that went in excess of over 40 miles an hour over the speed limit. This is a public safety issue, and I thank the commissioners for hearing. Thank you, sir. John, did I say that? Louie. Louie Hanna. Okay. My name is Louie Hanna. I live at 710 East Christopher Fully Road. Oh, by the way, I think Wayne Ivey is the best sheriff we've ever had in this county, and we are damn lucky to have him. He'll appreciate that, sir. It was summer of 1965. My old man pulled up in the yard one day, and he said, get in the truck, boy. And here I am. And then in 1980, I was lucky enough to go to work at the Space Center, and I went there a long time. And in 1996, matter of fact, it was 29 years, 4th of July weekend, we moved into our house on East Christopher Fully Road. It's been my neighborhood, my home. I like it there. It gets kind of wet when it rains. I mean, the water gets, I had catfish swim past me in my driveway. But it was my community. It's my home. And then they resurfaced into East Christopher Fully Road, and I thought that was great. And about a week later, they came in and put speed humps in it, and I thought, you know, I didn't ask for that. I didn't know anything about it. I asked my county commissioner about that, and he said, well, you weren't asked because you're not affected. And I'm thinking, not affected? This is my home. It affects me. If you go to Publix and you want to avoid the speed humps, you have to drive Judson Road. So that's two miles every trip on a dirt road. I didn't buy property on a dirt road. East Christopher Fully is my neighborhood. That's my home. I don't like the speed humps. I don't like Judson. But the fact that I was told that I didn't have a say in the matter of what I thought didn't matter in my own neighborhood, that bothers me. Because it is my neighborhood. It is my home. I've lived there a long time, and I think that I should have been included. I think everybody, there are 130 houses in the East Christopher Fully Road neighborhood. And they asked the people from Judson to Courtney about this. And everybody down there just about voted for it. So that means you've got 11% of the people in that neighborhood decided for the other 89% that we're going to have speed humps. That is not right. I don't care what your policy says. We should have all been included in this decision. That's wrong. And some of us don't like it. And some of us, well, I'll just leave it at that. Some of us just don't like it. Thank you. Robert Adams. I think that's right. Did I say that right? My name is Robert Adams. I'm here today talking about the speed humps. I've lived on that road for 41 years. Haven't needed speed humps. It's none of my business how you drive by my house. If you want to run into a canal, you go right ahead and run into the canal. On November 16th, Mr. Goodson, with a swipe of his pen, decided to install five speed humps on a half-mile section of road. He only surveyed 20 of the folks, like Lou said. Not one of the individuals in the affected area was mentioned, even though it's a dead-end road. The only way you can get off that road without going over the speed humps is to drive around Judson one way or the other. You either drive down a washboard or a muddy road. I haven't taken a clean buggy to church in a year because I have to drive down a dirt road if I don't want to tear my equipment up going over five speed humps. In April of this year, we waited our designated year before we were allowed to put in for a request to have the speed humps removed. We spoke to a lady by the name of Cynthia Morris. The only term in her vocabulary is, this is policy. Well, obviously the policy's not working. She gave us a packet to have the speed humps removed, but she only gave us the packet for the people that already put them in. She didn't give us a packet for everybody east of Judson Road. So I don't know what that game is. I have no clue. Then we were told that we have 120 days to complete those forms and get them back. We're in the process of getting all those signatures now. And my question is, once we get this package done, do we burn another year waiting for something else to happen? There are over 200 homes in that affected area, and we've gotten 146 signatures so far, and out of those 146, only two no's. So obviously their percentages that they work with to get those humps put in were bogus. They didn't need to do it that way. Some of the factors that they put in different papers are slower emergency response time, damage to vehicles, noise pollution, ineffectiveness in reducing speeds, and the negative impact on the property values. And additionally, it's caused a dreadful rift in a neighborhood that was very pleasant beforehand. I used to go by the plumber's house and enjoy the fact they were sitting out there burning logs in July or August because it smelled like fall. Now you can't go by at all because it's nothing but aggravation. It's harmful. And if anybody that has any ideas, if you go right there, everybody that leaves this place has to go over 10 speed bumps every day. I've driven over, if I did it that way, 3,650 speed bumps in one year. Something not normal about that. Sorry. Thank you. Catherine Testa. Is that right, ma'am? Yes. Okay, very good. Hi, I'm Cathy Tester. I live on Crisofoli. I live at 615 East Crisofoli. My concern is that even though we're further east of Jetson, we are still impacted because I drive Crisofoli. I have a sports car. I can't drive on Jetson because it'll actually ruin the car to the point where I won't be able to use it. I'm fortunate I have a lifetime warranty, but it wouldn't. They're not going to fix what's wrong with my car if it's been caused by the road. So that's a big concern of mine. I don't have a choice. The only time I would ever drive on Jetson with my car is if there was a brush fire and I had to get out. I would take the risk then, but not if I'm driving anywhere from two to six times a day over this particular road. Other concerns, since they put the speed bumps in, people pass me because I go slow over the speed bumps and it's not to their liking. And so people then drive over the double yellow line, pass me, and there are curves in the road. And at one time, the person who was passing me literally missed hitting the person coming from the other direction by inches. And that scares me because what's he going to do? He might not hit the other person head on, but he might come back in to me because at this point he's still passing me because he can't see past. So a stop sign, which I had never even heard was even a possibility, makes a lot more sense. It slows people down, but it doesn't cause you to have to go over five speed bumps in like a quarter of a mile. I mean, I get up to speed. I get up to about 15 miles an hour before I have to brake to go on to the next speed bump. It's just, it's dangerous. People passing over the double yellow line, people going on the opposite side with head-on traffic coming. It's dangerous. It's more dangerous now than when, before we had the speed bumps. And the mention earlier about the two boys who died, that was actually almost right next to my house. Those boys had been partying the whole night. It had nothing to do with being safe drivers. They were just totally reckless. And any speed bump wouldn't have stopped them. They probably just would have gone over the speed bump at whatever speed they were doing that took down the telephone pole and the electric pole and stuff like that. And I feel really bad because I have to pass where they died. But no speed bump would have ever stopped that accident. It's just, it's become more dangerous because people are now angry as they go over the speed bumps. And I have to go slow because I don't want to damage the undercarriage of my car. Thank you. I have a question for you, ma'am. Yes. You have a sports car that has a lifetime warranty? Yes. American made Dodge Challenger. Okay. A lifetime warranty? Lifetime bumper to bumper. Okay. No, not Boniface. No. Okay. All right. I came from Vero Beach because Boniface didn't know they had three purple ones. I wanted a purple one. I got a purple one, but Boniface wouldn't sell me one. I didn't picture you as a Hellcat driver there, but now I understand. Okay. All right. Very good. But I don't speed. I put on cruise control because I have a purple car and I don't want to get a ticket, so I always have my car. I can't use, oh, just one other thing now that you brought up my car. I actually clocked gas mileage, miles per gallon. On Crisifoli, I get about nine miles to the gallon. That's pretty bad, even for a sports car. Because when I go down Courtney, I get about 30 miles to the gallon. Again, I use speed control, cruise control, but you can't use it. So you're braking and you gas, brake gas, brake gas. It's a horrible way to have to drive every day. You might be in low gear, too, but okay. Interesting. I know how to drive my car. All right. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Emily Robinson. Emily, you have the nicest handwriting of anyone who's ever turned in a card. I very much appreciate it, and it's very small. I don't know how you do that. That's very good. I try. It's my superpower. Okay. So unlike everyone here, I'm, like, relatively new to Brevard, lived in Titusville, and then we moved to Merritt Island about a year and a half ago. I'm a newer resident to East Crisifoli. I live in a newer development. I think it's safe to say that my neighbors are happy to have me represent them here, but I'm here to just speak on facts because I really have no dog in the fight in terms of emotions or anything. So I just want to say that there are very specific perimeters. We're all aware about these speed humps, volume of traffic, the road size, et cetera, et cetera. But I do want to note one specific statistic about that traffic study that was not mentioned. The average speed in that traffic study was only 35 miles per hour. Yes. That is five over the speed limit, but the average for that night was 30. So those outliers that were doing 70, that is what that is, an outlier. So one of the parameters to have a speed hump installed is no more than 1,500 vehicles per day. That traffic study that's been cited up here was about 1,189 cars. That was 19 months ago before our development of 200 homes was built. The volume of traffic has greatly exceeded that. So I posed my question to traffic ops saying, hey, I guarantee you the volume has exceeded 1,500 now. Can we conduct another traffic study? If so, if the volume has exceeded 1,500, is there room to have these speed humps renegotiated, removed, anything? I'm like, because you can't tell me that if a road has a speed hump today just because I'm at the perimeters today, it's there forever. However, I'm sure traffic ops is a great office. Cynthia was very pleasant to talk to me. She said she would get back to me. I gave her a week. I had to call her back, and she told me she forgot about me and then was told that her supervisor said it was grandfathered in. It's done. You can't remove it. That's an unacceptable answer to me because I'm like, speed humps are not forever. They can be removed. But that's neither here nor there. I think that does need to be addressed in a future policy about if a road no longer meets the requirements, how can we get it removed? The other thing that I do want to also address was I reached out to Commissioner Goodson's office kind of with the same question, saying if the perimeters, the characteristics of this road are no longer matching, can we compromise? Can we talk about this? Because there's so much animosity in the community. There's so much drama. All I got back was a response, see the administrative order, not a let's work with you, not a hey, you know, let's talk about it, just see the attached. Like we already told you what it is, what it is. So that's my two cents. Thank you. Thank you very much. Richard, is it Weber or Weber? Weber? V-E-B-E-R? Richard? No? Okay. Carissa Johns? Good evening, everyone. My name is Carissa Johns. I'm a mother in Merritt Island, Florida. Today, I'm here to address the grave injustices and the continued tenure of Sheriff Wayne Ivey of Brevard County, Florida. The law enforcement officer should be a guardian of justice, a protector of civil rights, and a servant of the people. Yet Sheriff Ivey has repeatedly demonstrated that he is none of these things. His record is married by corruption, radical profiling, violent rhetoric, and a blatant disregard for constitutional rights. It is time for him to be removed from office, disbarred from any position of power, and held accountable for his actions. That is all. Carissa Johns? Oh, you have a card, ma'am. Do you want to speak? You said Carissa? I believe so. K-A-R-I-S-S-A? I said it again. Okay. Kelly Colombooty? What's that? I'm a B-U-T-I. Did I say that right? Yeah, I'll let you know. All right. Hi there. Yeah, my name is Kelly Colombooty. I'm a resident of Palm Bay. And I'm here to ask the board for help because the person in charge of keeping us citizens safe, Sheriff Wayne Ivey, prefers to threaten us with disproportionate and cruel punishment as a PR stunt to appease his MAGA friends. Wayne Ivey's comments from June 13th must be unequivocally condemned by this board because every rally we have held in Brevard County has been operated with maximum cooperation to law enforcement and etiquette. Come see for yourself. We even tidy up the space when the rally ends. This is not an L.A. city riot. It's basically Woodstock with poster board. Ivey's comments about making protesters graveyard dead, saying someone who spits will end up in the hospital, his entire tirade was unacceptable. And he may feel like a big man for gleefully fantasizing about killing the very people he's in charge of protecting, but most of us were repulsed. He is unelected official, not Judge Dredd. I don't care what he says when he looks in the mirror, because we are asking that you as the board do everything in your power to demand accountability and reasonable behavior from this unhinged sheriff. According to the Brevard website, he makes as much as four-fifths of this entire board. He gets paid $256,000 a year and seems to put more care and detail in the police procession for his dog, Junie, than for the people of this community, immigrants or not, who deserve due process and actual justice. He is accountable to the residents of this county, not his followers on Facebook. His fear-mongering and intimidation will not be forgotten by the voters of this county, and if he chooses to not rein in his cowboy daydreaming, I would love to promote his recall and replacement and make his policing career in Brevard graveyard dead, because I can't tolerate three more years of this childish beta behavior. Wayne's TV sheriff antics have garnered the ridicule and disbelief of national and international news outlets. On one hand, I appreciate Wayne's theatrics, because I, too, am an actress at heart, but he should spend a little less time playing influencer and a little more time understanding why Brevard citizens are coming out in the thousands to protest his buddy Trump. He should be helping keep these peaceful protesters safe from the reckless drivers, both on Chris Affili and at these rallies, who blow their exhaust in our faces and nearly run people over. These protesters are retirees. They are veterans. They are families. That's who Ivy threatened. That's who Ivy wants to be intimidated into silence. Additionally, I find his association with the Constitutional Sheriff's Group deeply concerning. It's associated with a white national group that can't be denied. That's the circle that Ivy runs in. And Brevard citizens deserve a sheriff who lives in the real world with the rest of us and believes in human dignity and wellness. Deborah McGurr. Good evening. I'm Deborah McGurr. I live on Mamer Way in Rockledge. I've lived there since 1988. We have a problem there with flooding, which has been brought up here before. We had a flood there last year when the hurricane came and everything was pretty bad. We had a meeting with the county commissioner and some engineers back in November. And I brought pictures so they could see certain things to help them out. And they asked to keep the pictures. The two engineers was a gentleman and a lady. And they said that they would follow up on this and get back to me. And I've heard nothing. We were also told at that meeting that they would coordinate with the city of Rockledge, the state of Florida, and the county together would get together and have a meeting to work on trying to resolve our problems. I learned tonight when one of my neighbors came up here to speak from the gentleman that they're planning to have this meeting. It's eight months later. They're still planning to have this meeting that has not happened. We're right about ready for hurricane season. And we've been fortunate this year that we've had drought. And so we've had no problems. But the problems have not gone away. They will continue. And I understand the road is lower. But that is not the main problem. We have an issue. The bank along the side of the road, from Maimor Way to Milan, on the south side of when you're going on Fisk, on Ottawa neighborhood, the bank is lower in certain areas. And what has happened is when the main drain on Fisk becomes full, overfull, it now has an inlet. And it drains into Maimor Way. And we have a reservoir. It looks like we have a lake. We have no lake. And then so now we are becoming a reservoir for your water that's not flowing down your drain. My suggestion was for them to take a look at it and see if they could burn that so that the water would not be able to overflow and come down into Maimor Way. The other thing was for them to clean the drains, which they did come and they put some pink ribbons around two or three, two trees on one side and one on the other because they were falling over and tearing down the side of the bank. They took those away and left to other ones that are still falling down into the drain and pulling down the side. I don't know why they took some and left some, but they did. I think that one of the issues why this problem has become worse is because several years ago there were pepper trees growing along that bank. And they sent whatever machines they use to chew up and pull up all the pepper trees. And I think in doing so, it caused some erosion. And that's why when the water rises so high, it's able to run over the banks and come into Maimor Way. And so I'm asking once again, please, because it's hurricane season, for someone, please, to address this and not leave us hanging like this. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. I did leave the pictures so they could see where the inlets were. And unfortunately, now some bushes are starting to grow, so it's a little harder to see where the inlets are. So I'm asking someone, please, to do something to help us. Okay. Darius Varner. Varner. Okay. Hi. I'm Doris Varner. I've been before you guys before. I lived to Merritt Island for at least 17 years. My husband passed away, and I'm going to try to get as much of this as I can through. I work at, I go to East Coast Church. I help the homeless, and I try to help people that are single. I try to help them find jobs and be able to find housing. The problem with the situation as I am having is we have more and more elderly people that are coming into the food bank that is getting homeless. The thing of it is the housing situation we have right now is really, really bad. The cheapest place I can find anybody is $1,300 at Orchid Lakes, and that does not include the rent or the lights and the other things. The other thing of it is, as I'm having a complication with, is that when these people are going to register, like at Orchid Lakes, one person has to meet a total of $33,000 to be able to get in that place. And if two people are going to rent it, they need $36,000 just to get in there. Now, we are coming up with places. I'm trying to find some of these single people rooms. If they can't get an apartment, then I'm trying to get them rooms. The rooms are running like at $600 apiece. I'm not asking for a handheld, handout. I'm asking for a handout. The thing of it is I do want to say this, and I will say two big things that's happened since the last time I talked to you. I was working with a mother and daughter. They was homeless for three months living in a car. This guy that was in my neighborhood, he knew what I was doing for. Anyhow, he ended up selling for me that house for them for like $1,000. So now they're off the street, and they are living there. But I just want to say this. I am having people coming in, and I need access if you have any information on what we can do. We've got to help these guys because these people are coming in, and I'm trying to get us through, but these people are coming in from New York, New Jersey, and all these places. They're buying these campers up and these apartments and stuff. They're raising their rent. Colony Park raised their rent like three times in just one month, I think. I'm not sure. If it was on the news, you can go back on the Channel 9 News and look. But I just want to ask you guys, if there's any way you can help, please give me any ideas. I can't give up. I can't quit fighting for these homeless people. I can't. I'm tired of seeing them laying on the street. I'm trying to find them jobs. When they go for jobs, they're not getting hired. And I just wanted to come before you this evening to let you know what is happening. And I am fighting like crazy to try to do something for these people. I'm not trying to hand them out just to homes without money. I'm trying to get them jobs so they can help get themselves money to come through. Okay? All right. Juanita, will you talk? Ma'am, Ms. Juanita Jackson is going to talk to you for a minute, okay? She's from Housing and Human Services. All right. Ma'am, we have someone from the county who's going to talk to you here for a minute. Okay? All right. Robert, is it Spennis? Okay. All right. Hi there. My name is Robert Spinning. I live on Maymere. We've been having a flooding issue. Bad. I mean bad. Now, I had sat down with the council member there, asked him, you know, what is the status? My council member said, May, we're going to have a sit down with Rockledge, with the city, the county, and the state. May has came and gone. May has came and gone. I call his office several times, and I leave a message. So, the other day, I just happened to call another council member's office, District 1, whoever district, are you District 1? You have sweet people. You have, and it was very nice. She said to come down here and spend your three minutes. And I'm not trying to get nobody in trouble. We're in trouble in our street. Now, he gets hit there and say that the street's wrong. But if the main canal won't take the water, we built a lot of developments north of us of Rockledge. The county got paid $10,000 per whatever you call that bond. And why aren't we putting it back into our cities and counties and states? We're, you know, where's that money go? You know, I pay a lot of money for taxes. I mean, I've left, I've called the county manager's office, left five phone calls, and he never called me back. And I understand there was a storm there. I finally, I called this man's office five times. And finally, he called me back after the fifth phone. But it's awful funny. One night, I happened to be on, walking past the TV. He was in West Melbourne for another meeting over there. Why? No, I'm referring to you. Okay, you, okay, okay. But you weren't on Channel 2 news. Okay, okay. But you repeatedly told us my house was built wrong. You told me the street is, did you tell me that? All right, let's do one factor here. Brevard County set the standard for the slab height. Brevard County, no, you can shake your head all you want. Brevard County set the standard for the road. Drainage and all going out. Now, you can sit there and roll your eyes all you want. Brevard County set the road height of the road. Did they or did they not? Or did some developer, did some developer just come in there and lie about that? No, that is your fault. That is your fault. It was built in 1972. No, it wasn't. It wasn't required by the way built in 72. It was, there was plans for it. And you just, somebody decided not to make them. But what's the retention pond going to do? Once that fills up, where's the water going to go? In our homes. You're right. You're absolutely correct. You are got to be the worst county commissioner. Thank you. Thank you, sir. I would like, I would like people to look at these photos. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah. All right. You'll get another one come next November. Okay. Because you won't, your word is no good. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Gretchen's. And I'm sorry for being this way. But, you know, I stress, I, I, I stress my neighbor's home took on a foot of water during Irma, I think it was. And we got, we had a county manager, assistant manager in her backyard said, oh, we'll take care of it. You're right. You're absolutely right. Thank you. Gretchen Ziegler. Good evening. My name is Gretchen Ziegler. I've lived in Brevard County for nearly 20 years. Sheriff Wayne Ivey's appalling display on June 12th was an example of the polarization taking place in our nation as a whole. The so-called constitutional sheriff is nothing but a bully with a badge who threatens and demonizes anyone who disagrees with him. His incendiary comments actually put peaceful protesters at risk of suffering extra-legal violence, both from those sworn to enforce the law and those who would act in their absence. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 has received a lot of publicity lately, but the concept for which this act is named dates back to biblical times. In medieval English common law, Posse Comitatus allowed an English sheriff to summon able-bodied men to assist in keeping the peace, making arrests, or pursuing criminals. The constitutional sheriff's movement is an ideology based on a selective interpretation of this concept and is an attempt to apply these historical powers to our modern U.S. concept to wit that the county sheriff is the ultimate constitutional authority and has the power to interpret and implement the law as they see fit. When I heard Ivey's threat to kill ICE protesters, graveyard dead, it brought to mind Ivey's own mounted posse and citizen observer patrols. Would he send these volunteers and reserve deputies to disperse peaceful protesters? Would they rely on strong-arm tactics and even violence? He sure sounded as if he meant it. Ivey will neither confirm nor deny membership in the CSPOA, but his ties to the far right are clear. He served as an advisor to the group Protect America Now, itself associated with the hate group, Federation for American Immigration Reform, as well as True the Vote, the organization responsible for the debunked propaganda film 2,000 Mules and its claims of widespread election fraud. The Orlando Sentinel and Florida today have repeatedly written editorial pieces warning citizens of Ivey's ideologies. So far, these have fallen on deaf ears. Excuse me. Because June 12th outburst went viral and not in a good way. People the world over learned of his record of corruption, racial profiling, and bribery. The timing couldn't be worse. Florida is already being boycotted as a tourist destination around the globe. Ivey's remarks served to fuel this fire. While Ivey has never been convicted of a crime, it's worth noting that he continues to act with impunity. As an Air Force veteran and independent voter, I respectfully ask the Commission to heed our call for transparency and accountability. The citizens of Brevard County deserve no less. Thank you. Richard Schuette. Thank you. My name is Rick Schuette, and I'm a resident of Vieira and a veteran. I'd like to add a few thoughts about Sheriff Ivey's comments, statements in the video, and irrespective of how people feel about him. Sheriff Ivey's comments amounted to nothing short of a presumption of guilt by association. With non-peaceful demonstrators such as many in Los Angeles. His remarks indicated to the world that there would be no presumption of innocence nor due process here in Brevard County. And I think that's actually a reflection on the Board of Commissioners. He and his and he and his deputies would serve as judge, jury, and even executioner at the scene. How ironic that the sheriff made these statements just a day or two ahead of the No Kings rally. Americans exercising our right to peaceful assembly is not breaking the law. In the event that a rally goer does commit the very real crime of throwing a soda can or a water bottle or a rock in protest, yes, certainly an arrest and due legal process should result. But that level of incident does not carry an immediate, unchallenged death sentence, whether Sheriff Ivey thinks it should or not. I'm reminded of the saying, when your only tool is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail, intimidation tactics against nonviolent Americans raising our collective voices are not only morally reprehensible, but also a direct violation of the sheriff's oath to protect and serve. Our governor has proclaimed this free state of Florida. Peaceful and lawful demonstrations will and should be encouraged to continue in Brevard County as a means for Americans' collective free voices to be heard. And I sincerely hope that will be the case for Americans across the entire political spectrum. America is still a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people. We are not a police state. Whether or not you personally agree with the threats and promises in that video, Sheriff Ivey crossed that line. At the very least, please consider issuing or requiring an official retracting statement. Thank you. Paul Lyle. I'm a little tall here. I'm going to have to bend down. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Paul Lyle, and I'm here today not just as a concerned citizen, but as someone representing a growing nonpartisan group of residents who are paying close attention to how our county's leadership chooses to wield its power, spend its funds, and represent its people. We recently addressed the mayor of Melbourne regarding his support for troubling rhetoric coming from Sheriff Wayne Ivey, rhetoric that starts with local leadership but carry ripple effects far beyond a single city line. Today, I want to bring that same concern to this board. This board holds the purse strings, the oversight authority, and the responsibility to act in the interest of every Brevard resident. We are watching a dangerous erosion of transparency and public trust. When local officials use inflammatory language or propose policies that stoke division or threaten civil liberties, the consequences don't stay confined to sound bites. They impact public safety, community cohesion, and even our economy. Tourism is one of Brevard's lifelines, and yet we risk damaging our image as a welcoming community when our leaders amplify rhetoric that alienates and intimidates. What you say and do at the county level matters. So today, we are asking this board for real oversight, not rubber stamps. We're asking for budgets that reflect community priorities, not unchecked funding for individuals or departments without clear accountability. And we're asking for leadership that recognizes the power of its voice and the weight of its silence. Let's be clear, Brevard deserves leadership that puts people over power, service over slogans, and accountability over ego. We are asking for you guys to either dock Sheriff Wayne Ivey's pay or consider recall. Please and thank you. Okay, commissioners, that was the last card. We're going to move into board reports. Mr. County Manager. No report, Mr. Chairman. Mr. County Attorney. Just one, sir. It's my anniversary, and since I got to spend the night with you wonderful folks, I just want to give a shout-out to my wife at home and say that I remain the luckiest man in Brevard, nay, Florida, nay, America, potentially the world. Thank you. And it's Donna in how many years? Donna, 19. Very good, sir. Very good. And we're sorry, Donna. Commissioner, I think we've got a slide thing for you, right? Is that right? Okay. Let's just sort of go in order here. Commissioner Goodson? Yes, I just have a brief thing. I'd just like to take a moment to honor our friend Jack Retterman, who passed away last month. Jack was a constant present on Merritt Island, always advocating for the betterment of his community that he loved. He served as a volunteer on many boards, Myra, Historical Commission, D2 Dredging Committee, North Merritt Island Dependent Special District Board. Jack's dedication and spirit will be a lasting impact and will be deeply missed. Thank you, Chair. That was a nice tribute, sir. I don't think Commissioner Altman's still on the line. There was a delay. I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. Yeah, that noise that was hit and dropping off the line, we don't think he got back on. Yeah. Okay. All right. Yeah, I was pretty late there. Commissioner Atkinson? No. Okay. Commissioner Delaney? I just got to say again, I'm so blown away by the citizen participation tonight. And regardless of people's opinions or views or whatever, I'm just really glad that people are showing up and speaking up. You know, regardless of what your topic is, that's why we're here. We're here to listen, and it just is really encouraging. So thank you. So I guess I'll start with we had a month break. No commission meetings for the month of June, but I was pretty busy. I wanted to give a shout out to the MIMS Water Treatment Plant, the people who work out there. I had the opportunity to tour the facility, and there were some major repairs that needed to happen. And the people who work there, I mean, they are just incredible, and so I just wanted to acknowledge them and thank them so much for what they're doing. And Rudy and your team, you guys do a great job, and thank you guys so much for what you do. So one of my campaign promises was to try to make my office more accessible, help information get out there easier to the public, not make it so difficult to have to go through and read, you know, 1,000-page agendas and things like that. And so when I first got elected, I attempted to talk with our communications department on some things maybe that we could do differently, but then I learned that that wasn't the correct avenue. And so I decided to hire a part-time helper, Megan Moscoso. She's also a Titusville City Council member, and she's my, what I'm calling her, is a communications coordinator, and she also is helping in constituent relations. And so basically any extra help we need in the office and that kind of thing, that's what she does. But we have finally got everything all organized, and so, Logan, if you wouldn't mind putting the first slide up, I just want to say thank you to Dawn and your team for putting out our press release so fast and just made it very easy for us to do that. But I, not only am I keeping everything up to date, if you could go to the next slide, on Facebook, and I started a Substack website, and on that website I'm putting up articles of things that are going on that are pertinent to D1 that people care about. Like, for instance, we have these plates on Fay Boulevard, and there was a lot of community engagement around that issue. And so I wrote up an article about, I went to the staff to see what we could do about these plates. And basically I just put it in an article and let everybody know what the plan is, you know, why have these plates been here for so long, so on and so forth. And I just wanted to put this information out there because I know a lot of people at home are watching these meetings, and I want to make sure that people are staying connected and informed and, you know, that they are able to, you know, find me. So my, I put all my information on there, my office number, my email, and I, yeah, so that's, this is one of my campaign promises, and I'm really happy that it's another one I can check off. And I'm going to continue, you know, just putting out information so that people don't have to dig so hard to find the information that they care about. So thank you so much to my team, and thank you so much to the county staff that has helped along the way as well. Thank you. Very good. I also want to thank tonight the gentlemen who come to every meeting and keep us safe. Our lieutenant and our sergeant here tonight from the sheriff's office, thank you. We appreciate you. I think that's it. That's it. Good night, everyone. I've got to depend on something. I want somebody to do that for me, just like you have. I'm sure you now, where you're advertising writers, have written up a work on a meeting that had never even been held, and it's reminiscent somewhat of that action that you took in removing all of those McCarty appointees without giving them the courtesy of any hearing. Perhaps that's your nature to judge, and then before any hearing or any opportunity of anybody else to be heard on the subject. Moderator, when I can say something, I don't want to interrupt. No, you have a minute now, Governor. Well, when you talk about removing those McCarty appointees, when I investigated and found out the things they were doing, just like grass seed Dick Simpson, selling the state of Florida, 50,000 pounds of Pensacola behavior grass seed at $34.70 a hundred when they could buy it at a considerable cheaper price, I'm certainly going to remove them. And I'd do it again, but they say, why didn't I give them a hearing? Well, Senator, I removed them. My investigators found out about what they were doing to the taxpayers of this state, and I removed them. But what would have been the use of me giving them a hearing? Then you would have said I was the one to remove them and then the judge. And you know as good as I do that the Constitution provides them a hearing when the Senate meets next year, and that's when they will be given a hearing. But I felt like it would be an injustice to remove them and hear them also when my mind was already made up in the type of appointments that they were. All right, Governor Dunn. You thought it would be an injustice to those men to give them an opportunity to be heard when you leveled charges and assassinated their characters and their reputations? When I was the one that brought those charges, I certainly do. Why would you give that sheriff over there in Baker County the courtesy of a hearing when you preferred some charges against him? Well, that was a different proposition. I understand. Gentlemen, now let's get on with the questioning. Don, I believe you had a query at the beginning of the program.