Brevard County Board of County Commissioners on 2025-08-12 5:00 PM - Regular - Aug 12, 2025

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 August 12th regular meeting for the Board of County Commissioners. We have a quorum. We'll call the meeting to order. Tonight, if you'll turn your phone off, that'll help us greatly. Tonight, we have an invocation by Donnie Legg, 2nd Adam Ministries. Sir, you're recognized. Thank you for everybody to bow. We'll pray. Father, we're so humbled and thankful for this brand new day that you've prepared for us today, and you tell us to rejoice and be glad in it. And, Father, we need not go much farther than the cross of Calvary to see your demonstrated love for us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so we rejoice. We rejoice. But, Father, you also have made it clear that you love organization, and we're thankful for that. And, Father, we come here tonight in an organized meeting, and I know that's pleasing to you. And so, Father, we recognize in a meeting like this that we can absolutely do nothing without you. This is why we have an invocation. This is why we pray, because the people before me, the county commissioners, whom we love, and their families who sacrifice right along with them. And, Father, we pray for their families. We pray, Father, you would just meet all of their physical needs, meet all of their spiritual needs. And, Father, and then the county commissioners, what a heavy burden and load for so many of them that, Father, they're making decisions for our county. And they're not going to please everyone all the time, but yet, Father, they distinguish in the decision-making and what's right and what's wrong. And so, Father, we ask you to give them the wisdom that only comes from you, that they may do their job appropriately and feel good and be able to sleep at night, knowing that, Father, they've sought you out and you've led and guided and directed the decisions. And so, we do pray for them. And, Father, we're thankful for them and ask you to be in this meeting tonight. For the people behind me, Father, I pray for them. I pray that, Father, that they've come with the right heart, the right attitude. Father, and one of the things, Father, that I learned while I was in the military, Father, and I'm thankful for it, is that when you see a problem, Father, don't complain. We don't complain about it. We look at the problem. We give us some thought. We come up with a possible solution and let people tell us why we can't or can do it. And so, Father, may this meeting be that kind of organization tonight. And then, Father, we'll give you the praise for that. So, we thank you for the Kathies behind the scenes and those who I don't know the names of that would be impossible to have a meeting like this without those behind the scenes. And so, we lift them up, too, as well. And so, Father, again, we turn this meeting and submit it over to you and pray that you'll be honored in this meeting tonight and give you the praise for it all. In Jesus' name, amen. Well done, sir. Thank you very much. Commissioner Goodson for pledge. Okay, commissioners. We have minutes to approve from the July 3rd, 2025 special meeting and July 17th, 2025 zoning meeting. Is there a motion? Move to approve. I have a motion to approve by Commissioner Delaney. I have a second by Commissioner Altman. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice Chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltner. Yes. And we'll show that. Passes 5-0. Thank you, commissioners. Commissioner Delaney, you have a resolution tonight. Thank you. If Dr. Potomsky and his, all of his people with him, please come on up and I'll read your proclamation. This proclamation is celebrating 60 years of the aging matters in Brevard, whereas it is the desire of the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners to celebrate the enormous contributions of individual and businesses, which substantially contribute to the economic vitality of Brevard County. And whereas, in honor of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Aging Matters in Brevard, the Board of County Commissioners is justly proud to congratulate the Aging Matters Board of Directors and leadership team. And whereas, Aging Matters in Brevard, formerly known as the Community Service Council, was incorporated as a non-for-profit organization in 1965 to promote the general welfare of Brevard County and established programs such as the Senior Helpline and Retired and Senior Volunteer Program. And whereas, in 1974, in conjunction with the Older Americans Act, Aging Matters in Brevard began their Meals on Wheels program in Brevard and in 2024 delivered 336,000 meals on wheels to homebound seniors, along with wellness checks and friendships too. And whereas, through the Community Care for the elderly funding provided personal care and support services to seniors in need beginning in the early 1980s and expanded into the Community Home Services Program in 1999, which continues today. And whereas, with the acquisition of the Sunflower House in 2006, Aging Matters in Brevard continued operation of this invaluable Senior Resource and Caregiver Center and added the Vets Driving Vets Program in 2013, providing needed transportation for local veterans. And now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, does hereby congratulate Aging Matters in Brevard upon the celebration of the 60 years of distinguished service to the citizens of Brevard, done, ordered, and adopted in regular session this 12th day of August, 2025. Thank you so much. And you want to make the motion, Commissioner? I'd like to make a motion to approve. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. I think I have a second by Commissioner Altman. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Chairman Feltner? Yes. Thank you, Commissioners. And Dr. Potomsky, sir, you're recognized. On behalf of the Brevard County Commission on Aging, I would like to extend our congratulations up to the formerly Community Services Council, and now Aging Matters in Brevard, for 60 years of dedicated service to the seniors of Brevard County. So not only congratulate them, but thank them for all they do every single day for our seniors. And with the Meals on Wheels program, as you mentioned, in addition to all the other things that they do, they're providing the basic nutrition and basic medicine for all these elders. So I'd like to turn it over to the CEO, Tom, who is going to give you a little bit more information. Tom? Thank you. Commissioners, staff, and guests, my name is Tom Kamendenner. I am the president and CEO of Aging Matters in Brevard, and in that role, I serve as a member of the Brevard Commission on Aging. On behalf of Aging Matters in Brevard, Board of Directors, its professional staff, hundreds of volunteers, and the thousands of seniors that we have served since we first launched in 1965, thank you most sincerely for this proclamation. It means a great deal to us. On July 1st, we kicked off our new Champions Initiative. On October 30th, at our Champions Breakfast launch event, that initiative will take flight. As we prepare for launch, we are looking back to remember the champions who made all that we have done possible. Among those champions are you and the commissioners who preceded you, who had the foresight to support our mission in keeping pace with Space Coast seniors, keeping them home, independent, safe, healthy, and with quality of life for as long as possible. In this proclamation, you mentioned your desire to celebrate the enormous contributions of businesses that substantially contribute to the economic vitality of Brevard County. We are a business that is in the business of saving money. Donald, a 92-year-old in critical need of Meals on Wheels, lives in Brevard County. Donald is homebound, has advanced dementia, and while his family can assist him, they have extremely limited resources. So Donald was on the verge of moving into a nursing home. Why? Because Donald, along with 21 other people in critical need, were on the Meals on Wheels wait list. That has 330 seniors on it, with 22 in most critical need. Without champions like you, the Space Coast Meals on Wheels wait list will double by this time next year. Why? Well, federal, local funding, state funding, no longer keep up with the growing cost of food and transportation, and the silver tsunami that is flooding into Florida. So it's time for new champions, champions like Sherry Tabbit of RE-MAX Space Coast, who heard we were starting or adopting a senior program to drive down the Meals on Wheels wait list. Starting with Donald and other seniors in critical need, so she donated $2,000. The cost to feed one senior for a full year, and now Donald could stay in his home. So consider this, if Donald instead of went into a nursing home, it would cost about $340 a day on average. So in less than a week, the cost could exceed the $2,000 it took to keep his family and Donald safe in his home independently, healthy, and safe with a better quality of life. Commissioner Kay Delaney met us at the Titusville Chamber, and in that setting, we were looking to set up a Meals on Wheels delivery drive-along route, and we're working on that now because she's going to come and drive and see what we do. We invite each of you to do the same so you can meet some of the seniors we champion. In closing, we invite you to share our vision for the future. The Epivar County will be an example to the nation of how to treat its citizens as they age. To do that, we are going to need all of you to help us continue to champion for our Space Coast seniors so we can go well beyond for the next 60 years. I want to thank you again. I'm happy to offer any information or answer any questions you may have, but we do appreciate this proclamation. All right, sir. Thank you. Commissioner Delaney has the resolution for you. If possible, get pictures of it. Don Walker's going to do that for you. Want to go down there, Commissioner? Here, let's all go down there. Come on. Come on, Commissioner. Okay, Commissioners, go on to consent. Is there anything we need to take off consent? I have one card. Sarah Hodge? I'm kind of confused because I thought it was F-14 that is going to be discussed for the county manager. That's not the right item, ma'am. It's I-1. You want to come back on I-1? We'll just change it before you hear it. Oh, thank you. That would be great. Okay, that was the end of the cards. Is there a motion for consent? Move to approve. Okay, I think I had a motion by Commissioner Goodson first. I 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 Feltner? Yes. And we'll show consent passes 5-0. Thank you. We have a few G-section cards. I think it says Reverend J.B. Dennis. You're recognized, sir. Reverend J.B. Dennis, 3710 Catalina Drive. I'm the president of the National Action Network in Cocoa, Florida. I'm also a Navy combat veteran retired, and I'm here to speak on the lies and racism of a county government. Usually, I've been up here to this podium for the last 15 years. So when you see me, we've got a serious issue going on in West Cocoa. We are a 99% black community, and the first thing I want to tell you, we pay the same amount of money that everybody else does, but we get no service for our money. I was in the county manager's office seven months ago about the great hall because the last storm we had, because they weren't cleaning those ditches out, I had water in my living room, ruined my carpet. So to prevent that, I had to bring the news in on it, but they started bringing the great hall out once a year to dredge those ditches. So when we got excessive rain, we don't have no flooding. I was in the county manager's office seven months ago, and I had to call in about four other times before I got a response. So the response I got was from the streets and highway supervisor, which told a lie about the great hall. Oh, we're going to be in another neighborhood for about two months, all right? That was seven months ago. Okay, now, I called Mr. Laney's office one time, and they asked me did I want to make an appointment. I said, no, just let her know that we need that great hall out here to dredge these ditches. So once you get a chance, I'd like for you to call me. What will you do a ride around in West Cocoa? So it's been seven months, and the great hall hasn't showed up yet. I seen it over in Leavitt Park. I saw it today, I think, on Easter. I saw it down there on Plucker Bomb, cleaning out the fish ponds. So the last time we had the storm out there and the water come in my living room and rent my carpet, I call that a loss because the carpet was old. But if it happened again, I'm going to have to take some kind of action. So what I'm saying is we pay the same amount of taxes that everybody else do, and we're not getting into services. It's been seven months the great hall ain't showed up yet. I see it everywhere. I see it in some ditches that don't even need cleaning out today. So, Mr. Laney, I know you knew. So give me a call. First chance to get what we do a ride around. I'd be happy to. Thank you. Question, sir. Question, question, please. Yes. Just let me ask staff something. Eister and Levitt Park would be Rockledge, correct? Yes. Would. Yes, sir. So would that be a Rockledge grade hall or would it be a county grade hall? I believe that would be a Rockledge grade hall. Okay. Maintaining their ditch. I don't know. Now, just hang on. One other question. Let me ask you this. In the county, how many grade halls do we have? One. I don't. I'd have to ask Mark Bernal. Oh, he'd ask him. You have three, Mark. Is that correct? How many miles of ditches? The walking excavator, too. Yeah, okay. That's right. The walking excavator, too. But how many miles of ditches do we have to clean with three graders, three grade halls and the walking excavator? Approximately 1,000 miles of ditches and swales combined. Now, in reference to this gentleman here, Plucky Bomb, you know, Burnett Road, you know, that's pretty much in your neighborhood, correct? Yes. And they were out there with the grade hall cleaning the fish pond out. See, the fish pond doesn't flood. Where is this? But the ditches behind Catalina, the houses over there? Yes, sir. There are three ditches that are a problem. Correct. See, I live on Catalina. But the houses behind it, if you don't greg them out at least once a year. Yes, sir. When we get two or three weeks of rain, like the storm, the water comes out in the ditches and it's four feet deep in the streets. The cars float down the road. Correct. Okay. So we don't want that to happen again. I understand. We like for you to come out once a year and do it because we pay the same amount of money as everybody else does. I understand. But we get the... Okay, I understand. Just stay right there. Okay. How do you rotate? In example, his neighborhood, would that be once a year or it would be twice a year? Tell me how you do that. So it really depends, Commissioner. So it depends on the number of ditches within each district, how much equipment, how many resources we have, but then we also try to prioritize based on whether or not they're similar to roads, whether they're collector ditches or, you know, just local ditches. Historically, we have ditches within the county that don't get maintained or hadn't been maintained for 10, 20, 30 years. We're doing much better where on average it's one to three years. I'd have to look into this specific issue to be able to answer, you know, for this particular ditch. Now, I know maybe two or three years ago, you did a lot of work at Stratford and Range Road, and then you did work down Clear Lake, and the ditch crosses back over 95 and goes out to the river, correct? All right. But with his particular situation, can you do some research and get back to the board? Absolutely. To his problem. Now, what fish pond are you referring to, sir? The one on Pluckett Bombs and the new $300,000 homes. Where I live at is $200,000 homes. Yes, sir. So, he was out there cleaning the fish pond out. The fish pond doesn't ever flow it. I've been living out there 16 years. Now, would that be the Rockledge Pond? Yes. Okay. Well, that's not county. No. That'd be Rockledge. Right. Okay. But what I call the county, Streets and Bridges, they say we only got one grade all. Well, we've got to be kicked. We resolved that. We've got three. I've got to be kidding. Well, three, and we have a walking mucker, whatever what it's called, right? We have two of those. We have several Kaisers. They're assigned to different districts. Okay. But you're going to get back to the board on his problem and let us know when it's scheduled or something like that or when it was done last. Is that correct, Mark? That is. And I was just getting a text on this. So, we actually have, so I apologize, we have 12 grade alls, five Kaisers. On average, outfalls are cleaned once or twice a year. And collectors are three to five, just as I mentioned. So, but I can look into this specific issue. And also, I'd like for you to tell the board, how many miles a day do you get when you are cleaning a ditch? I don't know if you get two or ten or what, but I'd like to know that. Okay. All right. Thank you, sir. Okay. I got one other thing. Sure. Okay. When the grade all comes out to clean those three problem ditches out in my community in West Cocoa, it takes about four days. Do they do a good job? Yes. May I, Chair? Yes. Do they do a good job? Once a year, we don't have any flooding. So, they do a good job? Yes, they do. Thank God. When they show up. Okay. That's the question. All right, sir. Thank you. Jesse Wright. May I pass these out? Sure. Who would I? You could give them to Commissioner Delaney, and we'll pass them down. Go ahead, sir. Good evening. My name is Jesse Wright. I'm the developer and the sponsor for the Titusville Resort and Destination at 3550 South Washington Avenue. I want to thank the commissioners, number one, for the grant that you approved, the $2.4 million, and I think we're going to go for the first tranche of about $800,000 so we can move on to getting the infrastructure done. What you're looking at is a package that I have created. I have gone to the city of Titusville as far as getting to the environmental commission there that unanimously agreed and approved that the city of Titusville should be involved in the leak that has been coming from Cumberland Farm since 1983. I have not been able to get anyone to listen to the issue that I have, and that is the contamination that is existing in the portion of the property, nearly about almost half of it, about almost five acres. As you see on the second page, you will see that the groundwater tab is around 3.5. This means that the contamination has been moving towards the lagoon. FDEP, of course, is the responsible party, and you see the communications between me and them, which is really not that nice and polite. That's the only way I can get their attention. But nevertheless, I'm actually pleading to your board to see if the county can be involved. This contamination right now is hurting the businesses there as well. We still have about 23 tenants in the existing mall. That's about 112,000 square feet. We have kids that are going to jazz and ballet. This business has been there for about 20 years. Some of you may know the demol, prior to me demolishing, but 168,000 square feet of it. This has been a battle between me and FDEP for a long, long time. I purchased the property in 2018, in February 2018, and all I have done so far is just keep giving them access for monitoring and monitoring and monitoring. This has been nothing but just watching the paint dry. This is a second phase, fortunately, but nevertheless, we are still going to be developing this property, 22 acres. 10 acres of it is not usable, and we have tenants there. They have not done any OVA, any sort of gas coming out of the ground. They have not done anything about the residents' possible contamination. I've got 12 seconds. And so, when the residents do not see what's going on below the ground, obviously, they're not being notified, and that's the reason I'm here tonight. I'll be happy to answer any questions. I think I have a question from Commissioner, and then you want to ask a question? Okay. Commissioner Goodson, go ahead. Question. Yes, sir. Have you contacted the state DEP about the gas leaks? I have, yes, but they have been non-responsive. Have you contacted your local state representative for help? Yes. And you see the emails going back and forth. And what did he do for you? Nothing. It's just you see a copy of his email. Basically, I have looked at this. It still needs to be monitoring and all that. But they have been the worst referee that I've ever seen. Now, last question, Chair, may I? Titusville, has Titusville helped? City of Titusville, I just talked with the mayor, and he said, as you see, I was going to go to the city of Titusville city council meeting. He said, don't come there and just come to you, believe it or not. But is it in our jurisdiction, Jim, or somebody? Chab will correct me. This is the fuel tank monitoring program, and so we handle that for the city of Titusville. So Amanda's there. Tad knows a little bit, too. So the county's aware of it? Yes. Oh, yeah. You can see part of my edited email in there in the response. If you could look at just, please, the last two or three pages, I have highlighted the areas that this has been approved unanimously by the TEC, and I understand that the city is not going to be respecting their unanimous approval. I'm literally begging that the county would be involved. Let Delaney ask her, and then I would like another chance. Okay, Commissioner Delaney, while Amanda's making her way to the box there. Go ahead. This is a question for staff. What exactly is our power and responsibility in this situation? Good evening, Commissioners. Thank you. So this is part of our delegated program from the state. So our local program manager, Tina Swanson, has been working on this site for years, and there have been many, many meetings between DEP and Mr. Wright and Cumberland Farms and all of the attorneys involved, DEP's attorneys as well. And the path that was chosen years ago is natural attenuation and watching to see when those remediation levels are achieved, right? So we wait for the data to come in from the consultant, from Cumberland Farms consultant. We review the data. We just got another set of quarterly monitoring data, and Tina Swanson, our local program manager, who coordinates with DEP on whether or not that meets those target levels and whether or not we, as, you know, the contracted program, can release the site with no further action. To date, we haven't been able to do that, but she was having conversations as recently as today with DEP to see whether or not this site reaches those levels. But that's our role is kind of the go-between between DEP. With all due respect, they keep coming closer and closer to the phase one. They keep coming closer to the tenants that we have there, and this has been the issue. This has been going on seven years. This leak is coming in from 1983, and the fact is, the FDEP says that since 2004, that is not true, is a total lie. I've asked for documentations that this should have, Cumberland Farms should have been given to us, and they just lost their records. They don't have any records except maybe two or three pages, and that's in 2010. Jim. Mr. Chairman, I want to add, Mr. Wright sent me an email last month. I sat down with Tina and Amanda and Tad. Part of the attachment Mr. Wright sent me is he went to Representative Herodopoulos' office, and the letter he actually attached to it is they sent it on to EPA, the federal EPA. The federal EPA agreed with what DEP and what we, you were right, with the DEP, and what the process we're following right now. They agreed with our process. I want to add that. That's not in these attachments here, but so other outside people have looked at what we're doing and agree that what we're monitoring and providing the reports is appropriate and proper. Monitoring since 1983. Is this monitoring prohibiting the further development of this site? No. From what I understand, you can proceed with phase development right now. So if we were to start with, if we were to, I guess it would be Titusville that would be permitting this, but if they were to permit for phase two, there would be nothing holding this project back? It's my understanding that there is not. That's not quite true because we had to go around the contaminated area and actually put water line all around it. That went against the site plan that we had approved. Mr. Chair, there's two options that Mr. Wright has or the Cumberland Farms that could be involved in this, and one of them is the monitoring aspect that they've been following. The other is they could actively mitigate the plume and remove it and fill it in, and that has not happened. So, I mean, there's two. I just want the board to understand that there's two different resolutions. Just for my own clarification, an old gas tank that they can fill in with sand? So they're... Plume from the river. Okay. All right. Which would eventually reach the river. If this was in California, it would have been taken out within days. Commissioner Delaney. So who would be responsible for taking out and filling in this land? Well, I mean, on Mr. Wright's site, it would be Mr. Wright. On Cumberland Farms, if they were doing something additional, it would be Cumberland Farms. So those options, mitigation options, were discussed years and years ago, I think, with Mr. Wright, even before the purchase of the property. I wasn't involved in those conversations, but, you know, he's right. We have quite an extensive history on this site, and the agreement with, I believe, Mr. Wright's attorneys and with Cumberland Farms was this monitoring path, and it's a longer path than actively mitigating the plume. But that was the path that was chosen. That doesn't mean that you couldn't choose a different path now or at any point from when those discussions commenced prior to the purchase of the property. So the polluters, they are not liable for the damages to Mr. Wright's property? I can't really speak to who has liability in, you know, those civil matters. I don't know that I can speak to that, but we can only speak to how it could be cleaned up or how it can be monitored and, you know, the different paths that we can take as the delegated program or as the local program. Commissioner Delaney, this is not just about my site. There are people who live around the property, too. Right. I mean, they have rights as well, not just me. I'm not asking you guys to just help me. Right. But certainly bring it to their attention. I mean, the next thing I'll do is just do a petition with all the neighbors because I don't think they know what's going on. So with us being the monitor or being in charge of the monitors, do we have any responsibility to alert the neighbors? Well, it's a known contaminated site. Our responsibility is to review the data and issue a no further action if we can. So far, we don't have the data to do that. We just were not able to do that. We just don't have data supporting issuing that letter. I know that's what Mr. Wright would like. Okay. I see a meeting in your future with Commissioner Delaney. Okay. Thank you. All right. Also on the G section, Gerard, is it Klasser? Klasser? Klasser. Okay. You're recognized, sir. Thank you very much, Commissioners. Thank you for your time. I appreciate you. This morning, I received a letter from you saying I just need to read the first couple of two paragraphs. Dear business owner, Brevard County is in the process of developing an industrial pretreatment program in accordance with rule 62-65-500 Florida Administrative Code. The goal of this program is to help protect the environment, public safety, and the safety of our wastewater treatment employees by identifying and working with non-residential users to that discharge to the Brevard County utility service system. Can I ask, why did you send me this letter now? I mean, I understand it says it's for public safety, environment help. That's a very, very, very broad group. Why did you send me this letter? Can I ask? What is the reason? What prompted this? Okay. I think Eddie's going to help us out here. Hi. Good evening. So going through an industrial pretreatment program to establish one, we go through an analysis of commercial industrial sites. If your site was one of them, it's just a protocol. That's nothing more. Okay. I think maybe I'm not making myself clear. But I'm trying to understand why did you do this now? Is there something that prompted you to do this? So in order, so we have not, and we've sent out two, and I'm assuming we sent out one for South Central and one for Sykes Creek. We don't currently have an industrial pretreatment program. So for us to go through and establish one, which it's a state requirement in order for us to do so now, we have to go through the steps in order to establish it. So you receiving that survey is one of probably about 300 that we've sent out per service area that meet the criteria of warranting them to receive one. Oh, I understand. I'm not the only person. I'm aware of that. What I'm trying to understand, is this the first step in this process? It's one of the first steps. Okay. Now, can I just say that if you are going to look for contaminants in the wastewater, would it not be a better idea to start at the wastewater plant and see what is in the water? Excuse me, Chairman. And then work back from there. Okay. Eddie? Instead of burdening me with an 18-page, I make tea. Tea. I make tea. I put water down the drain. That's it. Okay. But I have to spend the whole day to do this. Yes, sir. And I'm not done yet. Yes, sir. I'm going to sit in the chair if I don't mind. Okay. Eddie, go ahead. So, Chairman, we go through. There's right now five steps currently underway in establishing an industrial pre-treatment, and looking at the thresholds of the treatment plant is currently one of them. So, I understand you guys are looking at what is actually in the pre-treatment plant. Is that correct? Eddie? Because that's my question. My question is, wouldn't it be a logical thing to start at the end and say, okay, I have T-Lin or I have 2,4-D or DDT or whatever I have in the water. I have stuff in the water I don't want there, okay? Shouldn't we start there and say, okay, since we have these things, let's see who can possibly give that to us. I make tea. I don't even put anything solid down the drain. Everything that goes down my drain is smaller than one micron. Is it a survey? Is that what I'm trying to understand? It's a survey, sir, and Mr. Chairman, the process to go through an industrial pre-treatment is dictated by Florida statute. It's very specific on what steps you have to go through, what time frame you have to go through, and we're following it and coordinating with the FDEP throughout. So, this isn't a process where we're just creating our own process and establishing this. Okay. We're following state statute today. And, sir, I understand from our staff that it's just a survey at this point. They're just collecting data at this point. I understand, sir. It's an 18-page survey, sir, which includes me testing my effluent. Okay. I'll tell you what. Leave your information with us, okay? And I have – we have your card, and we'll find out if – is there less or more that he needs to do? Maybe – I'm not done, sir, because to test my effluent, I need to find a lab that can do it. Then I have to find a way to get into my wastewater, and then I'm just one single unit in a big building. But then I must find a way to get into the wastewater, and then I must get somebody to come and do the testing. Then I have to wait for the results, and you want this back, I think, on – what is it? I think it's the 20th, 17th, 10th of September. So that's 28 days from now? No. Yeah, 28 days from now. Okay. I think. Hold on. Let me get Jim for a clarification, and then Commissioner Delaney. Oh, well, I'll defer to the commissioner. All right. Okay. All right. Commissioner Delaney. I was just curious, is this something that's required for the, I'm guessing, business owners that – are these businesses that are being asked? Yes. And it's required for them to go through this survey? It's part of the data collection. We do a best – you know, we obviously send it out. We demonstrate to the state that we're doing this. But in addition, there was a cover letter that came with it, and we encourage – and we've been getting a lot of questions, good questions, where we have staff walking them through it. We even try to walk them – help them through with regard to the – and I forgot how many pages are in the survey. Thank you. We have to get that survey approved by the FDEP before it gets released. So whatever the number of pages are is what the DEP is saying is necessary. Thank you. Mr. Chairman – I mean, the commissioner and Eddie both stole my speech there. So we got Mr. Clawson's comment, tech information. So we'll get somebody to the department to give you a call to help you work through the survey and on whether or not you need to fill out the whole amount. So we'll have somebody – personal service. We'll have somebody help you with that. Okay, sir. Sir, I'm sorry. That's the best we're going to be able to do tonight. They're going to contact you. So not only did I waste my whole day, I'm going to get more time wasted by talking to somebody from the county on top of that. And I say wasted in the sense that I'm a small business. I literally do everything. If I do this, I cannot do my work. Sir, they're going to do their very best to help you with that. But it sounds like we need to do this survey. Did this survey go out to every business in Bilbao? Eddie, is it going to? Or did you decide some business and some not? We went through and looked at business tax receipts in order to establish which businesses would meet that criteria. Again, we share this information with the DEP. They go through their analysis, and then they approve us on the list that we send out. I'm assuming that the more extensive the list, the less likely you're going to miss somebody. Correct? I make D, sir. Okay. That's it. That's all I make. I make nothing else. All right. Let's make sure we have your contact info, okay? Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. Commissioners, that was the last of the G-section cards. We are going to go on to H1. I see Mark coming. Mark, you recognized on H1. All right. Good evening again, Commissioners. H1 is a petition to vacate a portion of a public utility and drainage easement in Shady Villas. This is in District 1. The petitioner is requesting the vacating of a portion of the public utility and drainage easement to allow an existing garage to remain. We've received no objections. Okay. There are questions for Mark. I have one card, I think, from the property owner just for questions, though. No questions? Okay. Is there a motion on the item? Move to approve. Okay. I have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. Is there a second? Second. I 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 Feltner? Yes. We'll show that pass. It's 5-0. Thank you. Mark on H2. H2 is another petition to vacate a portion of a public utility and drainage easement. This one is in Brandywine North. Also in District 1, the petitioner is requesting to vacate a portion of the public utility and drainage easement to allow for the screen pool to remain. Again, no issues and no objections. Any questions for staff? Okay. Any discussion? No. Is there a motion? I'd like to make a motion to approve. We have a motion by Commissioner Delaney? Second. I think Commissioner Altman second. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Chairman Feltner? Yes. And we'll show that pass as 5-0. We're going to move on to H3. Tom, you recognize, sir? There we go. Sorry. Good evening. H3, we are requesting that the board adopt amendments to the Brevard County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 94, which is a solid waste ordinance. In July of 2024, the board adopted some amendments to the ordinance, and in doing so, we inadvertently had omitted certain portions of certain sections. Tonight's proposed amendments are to replace those omitted portions. Okay. Questions for Tom? Any questions for Tom? I got one card. Rick Heffelfinger. You're recognized, sir. Rick Heffelfinger, 2000 Juniper Drive. I'm probably a little late for this, but I just recently had some conversations with waste management. Garbage is kind of my thing, but I don't know if anybody. But my cans that I use for yard debris, I use garbage cans, and they're pretty beat up. I just learned that the garbage guys, waste management, can pick those up with a machine if it's one of those bar-type carts. The problem is the cart that they say they'll approve is only 40 gallons. And I had some conversations about, well, could I get the bigger one? And it was kind of like, well, waste management's heading, it says 40. I'd like to see that get increased in size because a 40-gallon, I'm not going to buy three of them. There's an economy of scale when you buy the bigger one. And it's, you know, it's leaves and it's, you know, branches. It's not heavy stuff. And I don't think my guys, I talked to the garbage guys. I said, I had no idea you had a hook on the back. You could pick that up. I said, because I've got to replace these. The bottoms are falling out. So if you guys, I don't know if it's too late to do a revision, or you'd probably have to talk to waste management to negotiate that into the contract. But I don't think anybody sees a problem because I think there was kind of a verbal. But I'm not going to buy big cans and then somebody tell me, hey, they're too big for the contract because that's what people do, right? But I would like to see that get increased in size, at least to the size of the cans that you use for the garbage and for the recyclables. Because, you know, for $100, you can get a good size one, and then for $90, you can get the $40 one. So you can double the size for pennies on the dollar kind of thing. So I don't know if it's too late, but that's just my recommendation. Thank you. Any talk of containerizing yard waste anytime soon? I have a meeting with waste management on Monday, and we can bring that into the discussion. Okay. I know that's something that they'd probably like to do. And in terms of Mr. Heffelfinger and his – with the 40 gallons, that's also part of our ordinance. We couldn't change it in a quick amendment tonight, but we can look into doing that as well. Okay. So we can concede to make that happen. Okay. Thank you. All right. Very good. Okay. That was the only card that I had on that one. Discussion on the item? I would – just for the future, I would be interested in having that come back to us. So I appreciate that. Thank you. Can I get a giant recycling? There's got to be an upper limit. All right. Motion to approve. All right. Second. Okay. Very good. I have a motion to approve by Commissioner Atkinson. I have a second by Commissioner Delaney. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney? Yes. Vice Chair Goodson? Yes. Commissioner Atkinson? Yes. Commissioner Altman? Yes. Commissioner Feltner? Yes. We'll show that. Passes 5-0. Thanks, and thanks for the input. All right. Commissioners, H-4. On H-4, we are requesting that the board adopt three rate resolutions. The first is the annual solid waste disposal special assessment rate resolution. That reflects a 4.16% increase according to the Consumer Price Index for Garbage and Trash. Adopting the solid waste collection, recycling and special assessment rate resolution, that reflects a 3% increase, which is both according to the contract and board approved. And the special rates and gate charges resolution, that's being modified to reflect the definitions to match Ordinance 94, and it also has a 4.16% increase according to the CPI Garbage and Trash. We are also requesting the board ratify, confirm, and certify the annual disposal, collection, and recycling special assessment rolls to the Brevard County Tax Collector. Okay. Let's do questions first. Commissioner's questions. We have questions for our staff. I don't have any cards on this one in discussion. Let me say this. We need four motions. Okay. You could actually do it in one motion, just have the board approve all four at once. Okay. I had a note yesterday. Sir? Okay. Okay. Well, are we good with that? We're going to, we'll have, okay. So, is there a motion for H-4? Motion to approve. Okay. I have a motion by Commissioner Goodson. I 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 Feltner? Yes. We'll show that passes 5-0. Thank you, commissioners. We will go to H-5. Mark. Good evening again, commissioners. H-5 is a seeking approval for an ordinance for the board to amend Chapter 62. Article 7, Division 2, Section 62-2844, entitled Performance Security. This was brought to the board for legislative intent back in April. It went to the BCAC, where it received unanimous approval, and then the LPA, where it received an 11-to-1 vote. This is to allow the county manager or designee to release performance bonds. The county staff already accepts the work. This is seen as an improvement or an efficiency measure. Questions for Mark? Okay. I don't have any cards on this one. Is there any discussion on the item? Is there a motion on the item on H-5? Move to approve. I have a motion by Commissioner Delaney. Is there a second? I 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 Feltner? Yes. We'll show that passes 5-0. Okay, commissioners. We're going to skip over I-1. I think we'll have the most discussion on that one. So we will come back and we'll go to J-1 and Peter. Sir? Good evening, commissioners. We have from the TDC recommendations for the marketing support program. We have 18 cultural and 24 sports grants for a total amount of $572,665. Happy to answer any questions. Questions for Peter? I can try to help if we have questions. Okay. I don't have any cards on this one. Is there a discussion on the item? Is there a motion? I have a discussion. Okay. So my issue with this one is it says each district office must grant up to two organizations. So I still don't like this. I think that we have a group of people whose job it is to make the decision where this money goes. And as last time, I would like the opportunity to give it back to them to let them do what they need to do with it. So I don't like the idea of giving money to organizations that didn't meet the criteria. So the word must for me, if we could change it to may or not obligate me to doling that money out. Okay. Commissioner, I'm amenable to that. Thank you. If I accept that as a friendly amendment. Um, the rest of us good with that change potentially in the motion. Okay. Um, and was there another concern that you had? No, that's it. Okay. Uh, is there a motion with the friendly amendment of changing the must to a may? Move to approve. Okay. I have a motion by commissioner Delaney. Is there a second? I 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 Feltner. Yes. And we'll show that one passes five zero. Thank you. Commissioners. Uh, J two. Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. I just got one last item about, uh, when, when would we come back or for the point? He was supposed to remind me of that. It's my, my fault. Uh, by October 14th meeting. Okay. So by the October 14th meeting, we would like your selections, right? Peter? Very good. Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Thank you. That's just a housekeeping issue. Okay. Morris on J two. All right. Commissioners. The value adjustment board is kicking off its, um, annual cycle of meetings with an organizational meeting on Friday. Uh, they have asked that this board elect two members of the board to the value adjustment board and elect one of those members to serve as chairperson. Currently commissioners Atkinson and Altman serve on the value adjustment board with commissioner Altman serving as the chair. Okay. So organizational meeting is on Friday. Is that correct? Nicole Friday. That sound right. That's correct. Okay. Okay. Um, and we're, we're taking this up now cause we need to sort of get the calendar on sync with, um, the VAB, um, versus the change in the board, et cetera. So commissioners, um, I'm willing to serve again in the same capacity. Okay. Uh, I think, I think that would probably be easy for the VAB. I am also willing to serve, but I would like to make a motion that commissioner Altman take the chairman seat. Okay. I think he said he'd be willing to serve in the same capacity. Okay. So, so let's do this commissioner Atkins or, uh, commissioner Altman for chair of the value adjustment board. Is there a motion on, on that move to approve? I have a motion by commissioner Delaney. Is there a second? I have a second by commissioner Atkinson. Clerk will call the roll on that one. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltner. Yes. Congratulations, Mr. Chairman. Hope it's everything you dreamed. Uh, yeah. I'll think about you on Friday. Okay. We'll send you, we'll send you some, some donuts or something. Okay. Uh, on commissioner Atkinson. We have a, we have a motion. Move to approve. Okay. We have a motion by commissioner Delaney. Second. I'll second that one. That's okay. Just keep it moving along. Clerk will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltner. Yes. And we'll show that one past the five zero. Thank you very much. And, uh, we will go to J three. I think this is an easy one to, I'm sorry. Um, commissioner Atkinson, actually, this is your item. This is me. Yeah. You're welcome to explain. So the historical, um, commission is a commission that, uh, it's countywide. And currently we have, um, all of us can appoint three people from our district, which is pretty important to me to do, but I have advertised, um, on the county Facebook, press releases, newsletters, websites, and I'm not getting anybody. But I did have a gentleman come to me who was, um, he's a published author. His name's, uh, Dan Reiter. And he has an expertise in surf history, which is all of our kind of bag. Anyhow, so I, I had my staff and they went to looking and they found that previously in 1996, the board actually approved, um, the change so that we could appoint outside of our district, but it never got signed by the chairman. So I just wanted to bring it back so that we could appoint from all of our county. That's okay. If Morris has anything to clarify, please. Let's think back to the night. No, all of that's exactly correct. Okay. I'm sorry. I think he was asking who the chair was. I don't recall. I'm just trying to remember myself. I'm sure they're on the wall over there, uh, looking at us. Okay. Um, I think this makes sense. It's, it's a certainly a lot easier when you have, um, at large versus, um, in the district. So I don't have any cards on this one. Any other questions or comments? Okay. Uh, is there a motion on the, could, could Morris actually say, state the motion in a sensible way for me? Okay. All right. So for this, it's just that the, uh, the motion would be that the board of county commissioners approve legislative intent and direct the staff to prepare an ordinance implementing that intent and grant permission to schedule and advertise the ordinance for public hearing with the proposed ordinance amending the historical commission's membership requirements to provide for appointment of members at large rather than by district residency. I just said much better. Second. All right. Okay. We have that, right? Mm-hmm. And I, I think we have a motion by commissioner Atkinson. We have a second by commissioner Delaney. Hark will call the roll. Commissioner Delaney. Yes. Vice chair Goodson. Yes. Commissioner Atkinson. Yes. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltner. Yes. And we'll show that one passes five zero. Thank you commissioners. Okay. Does anybody want a quick break? I do. Okay. Let's, uh, okay. Let's take five minutes. Okay. And then we'll be on. I won. I'm not a fall guy. I saw that today, but that's interesting. Uh, what the gentleman that did the podcast or whatever, please next time refer to the eight years I spent at Port Canaveral that you must have missed with your investigation. I would like to stick with the leader that we know instead of taking our chances with someone else. The department heads are supporting Jim Lingenfeld, the county attorney and other elected officials. I believe the board as well will support him. So there, chairman, I'd like to make a motion that we appoint Jim to be the county manager. And I would like to include the motion that we appoint chairman Feltner and the county attorney to work out the details and bring it back to the board. That is my motion. Okay. Hold on. We're, we're questions. Questions. Okay. We have cards. I have a question. Okay. Yes, sir. We had a point of order. Would that receive precedent? I'm going to go through the normal process. Is that, is that what your point of order was? Okay. We're, we're going to go through the process like we normally do. Thank you. I wasn't ignoring you. Thank you. We're just going to go through the process. Okay. We don't have questions. All right. We'll go to the cards. Wendy Ellis. Good evening. My name is Wendy Ellis and I reside at 41 Riverside Drive in Cocoa, Florida. I had the opportunity to work professionally with Jim Lingenfeld for over two decades when he was a director of Space Coast Area Transit and our firm provided marketing support services. I was excited to read about a motion Commissioner Goodson was making tonight and wanted to share my support for removing the word acting from Mr. Lingenfeld's title. There are many observations that I could share from the 20 plus years I work with Mr. Lingenfeld, but at the heart of it all is his honesty. Through his honesty, he builds trust. I watched as Mr. Lingenfeld earned the trust of his team, his peers, and his superior. Trust is a foundation of strong working relationships and effective teamwork. Without it, collaboration breaks down and morale suffers. He encourages open communication. When managers are honest, it sets a tone for transparency. Everyone feels safer sharing ideas, giving feedback, and reporting issues, leading to better problem solving and innovation. He promotes accountability. Honesty holds stakeholders, managers, and employees accountable. When leaders give clear feedback, it creates a culture where taking responsibility is the norm, not the exception. He supports ethical decision-making. Honest managers make ethical choices and avoid deceitful practices that could damage an organization's reputation. He improves morale and engagement. Employees and community members become more engaged and motivated when they know their leaders are honest, straightforward, and fair. It builds confidence in leadership and reduces cynicism. His management style led to better decision-making. With honesty, information flows more freely. Management and elected officials can make better decisions when they have accurate, unfiltered data. He enhanced the organizational culture. His honest management style contributed to a culture of integrity. This not only attracted talent and retained employees, but filtered outward to stakeholders who also value fairness and transparency. In summary, honesty in management isn't just a moral choice. It's the strategic advantage that fosters trust, accountability, and long-term success for an organization. Trust, open communication, accountability, ethical decision-making, improved morale and engagement, better decision-making, and enhancing the organizational culture. In hiring Mr. Lisenfeld as county manager, I am confident that Brevard County would be the benefactor of the greatest strategic advantage of all, the many benefits of Mr. Lisenfeld's honesty. Thank you very much for allowing me to speak. Thank you. Sarah Hodge. I'd just like to say, Mr. Lisenfeld, you sound like you're a wonderful person. And if my husband and I would like to see the process completed, if you're on that list and you're top, we will be very thankful. But we would like to, there's a lot of people that are concerned that it's not being completed and spent a lot of money for this selection and you haven't finished it. And it would just be more assuring to everyone out there if you do complete the finished study. And we will welcome you with all open arms. I mean, I don't really know you personally, but you seem wonderful. And I've heard wonderful things about you. But please finish this process and then everyone will be happy. Thank you. Thank you. Marcus Herman. Good evening. My name is Marcus Herman. I live at 3015 Water Oak Drive, and I am also currently the Merritt Island Redevelopment AGC chairman. Just a couple of quick notes. First, I would like to thank Mr. Goodson for recognizing the value that Jim brings to this county and setting forth this vote for the board to consider today. I am very much in favor of removing the interim status in front of Jim's name and making him the designated county manager for Brevard County. In my dealings with Jim, while on the MIRA board, he has proven to be very competent and a very effective manager in all the different positions he held through the years. I can also say that as a business owner, I see great value from hiring within. By doing so, you plant the seed in the minds of other employees that here in Brevard County, you too can excel to the top of your field, which in turn can be very good for morale and the overall fulfillment of one's current job. Additionally, I think that by hiring Jim, he has a tremendous array of institutional knowledge about our specific county and the unique issues it confronts. This is a huge asset that no other candidate outside of the county will ever have. Finally, because we already have a competent leader in this position and the county continues to struggle with funding, this will be a great way to save taxpayers' money by not spending the money trying to find someone else. Now, with all that being said, I do believe it's reasonable to question Jim's sanity to consider the job. Please do. Thank you, board. Thank you, sir. Rick Heffelfinger. Rick Heffelfinger, 2000 Juniper Drive, District 1. I'm a little confused because I thought we had a vote and we're going to spend $35,000 and we got this outfit that was going to do a search and everybody voted for that, right? Yeah, we voted for that. I think we already owed them that $35,000 because they've got 53 candidates. Did I hear that correctly? Can anybody confirm the number of candidates they've got lined up? 60. 60. 60. So there's 60 people. I don't know why Tom didn't say something earlier. I don't know why we're talking about this now. And I don't know what Jim, if he wants the job. So I don't know where this is coming from, but there's a process. It's got 60. If you want to avoid spending more money, tell the agency, cease and desist. We're going to evaluate to 60. If Jim wants it, let Jim put his name in. I'd like to see resumes and have a selection. And then we're going to, and like I said, it was said earlier, if he's the number one guy, he's going to be the number one guy. I don't understand also the request to say, hey, we're going to pick Jim, and he's going to go sit down with Richard Morrison, Morris Richardson, and they're going to talk about the salary. But wait a minute. Did the contractor, the guys you've got doing the selection, aren't they going to negotiate salary? Isn't that what they do? They know what the industry is? They don't do that? Okay, so you're going to cut a – so whoever it is is going to cut a deal with you. Is that correct, Mr. Morrison, Mr. Richardson? That'll be the negotiation. I understand that. Now, who's on the selection committee once you pick that – who picks that candidate? If we did what I said, we got 60, we rock and chalk, we rank them, and we file them, we do all that right, and then we pick them. Who's on that committee that does that rank and file? Everybody? So everybody's on that. We're sure? That's true. Are there anybody outside of this commission that rank and stack? Everybody's on it. Okay. So everybody gets the rank and stack, and then we go forth, right? Sounds good. I'd like to see the guys that did the selection. Well, they provide you all that. You've got to read it over real good and do the ranking. But why would you – because that'll stop them from bringing in other candidates, spending additional money. I have no idea how much they spent on these 60 to fly people out here because the per diem and the hotel, so it's bigger than 35. You didn't say how big it was. I don't know how big it could get. But that sounds like they're trying to get a little extra money because we want to get some more candidates. And that's just the way business is. But you can shut them off right now and say, hey, we want Jim in there? As long as Jim wants to be in there. I haven't heard from Jim. I don't know why we decided we were going to short sheet this. We could have done that earlier. And, you know, if Jim gets it, since he didn't raise his hand earlier, I think he ought to pay the $35,000. Because we went through a selection process. And if he wanted it, it should have been said. You guys should have said, we want that, and do it. So I don't understand why you're backtracking. But I think that's the right thing to do. So, again, I don't know him. You know, he worked with Frank. You know, he's got a history here. That's great. But, you know, you've got 60 people to look at. Thank you. Thank you. Kevin Jeffrey. It was Thomas Paine who said this. No country can be called free, which is governed by absolute power. And it matters not whether it's absolute royal power or absolute legislative power. The consequences for the people are the same. As county commissioners, you are engaging in representative government. You are not the government. The people are the government. The American Constitution bestows all of the power on the people. You're supposed to be representing them. As representative for the people, you're committed to having an open search to replace the county commissioner or the county manager. You have spent $36,000 on a search firm with 60 applicants and still have an open window to receive more. If you freeze this process and appoint the interim manager, this will be an affront to the people of Bavard County. They deserve better, and you're going to be circumventing the process. There appears to be no valid reason for doing this. It actually has all the earmarks of cronyism. Maintaining the public trust is important. A vote to suspend your process will do serious damage to the public trust. When I was a boy, I went to this store, and on the over-the-counter, there was this sign. Since man to man is so unjust, we know not man we ought to trust. We've trusted many to our sorrow. I want to really reverse that a little bit and say, since politician to politician is so unjust, we know not politician we ought to trust. We've trusted many to our sorrow. Let's continue the process. We'll trust tomorrow. Chair. I've got one more card. Okay, go ahead. Okay. Sheriff Ivey. I have our clerk of course going to join us, so there will be three of us. That gives us nine minutes, right? I was kidding. I'm just kidding. Hey, Richard. Is that a buffet joke? We stand before you, first of all. Thank you for taking up this matter. Thank you for hearing from us. We have all collectively had an opportunity to work with Jim, not just in this last budget process, but over the past 12 years that I've had the blessing of serving as sheriff. He has always been open door to us, always understanding of this community, the challenges it faces, the needs that it has. And when you have somebody at the helm that has demonstrated, you know, the old saying, past performance predicts performance. And Jim's performance has been stellar for this community. He is dedicated. He loves this place. I agree with Marcus. I think we probably ought to have some type of psychological exam done on him to understand why he would be willing to do this. But I think if we don't select him in this capacity, then we all ought to have our heads examined. I think he is right there ready to do the job, and he knows the challenges, and I'm proud to stand with him. So, Rachel. You know, I've heard the people and what they're saying about looking up for outside, but it says something about our community when we look at inside and we grow our own leaders. And when the leaders and the people that work for Jim and have worked for Jim for many years, and he's dedicated his time and his service to this community to then reach the point of being a county manager, I think that is something that is said about how we promote within our community and for the people of Brevard that gives them hope to have jobs here that are secure and bring them to a level that they have hoped to achieve. So I hope that people can think about it that way. Jim and I have worked together, and we get along, and we do well, and we might not always agree, and that's okay. That's friendly competition or friendly disagreement, but I do hope this board votes for Jim to be the county manager. I think he will represent all of his team well in this community, and I think he will work with all of the constitutional officers very well, and I think he will bring a great breath of fresh air to what we needed today. Chief Waller. My parents taught me a long time ago never miss an opportunity to brag about good people, and I can honestly say this to Sheriff and trust me to work with the county commission. I've worked with some incredible commissions. They gave me the opportunity to work with the county staff. I've worked with some outstanding staffs, and I've also been given the opportunity to work with some incredible county managers. I view Jim already as the county manager. I apologize for taking the vote ahead of you. I work with him on a daily basis. The man treats his people good. He treats his constituents fantastic. I trust him. He trusts me. When we have conversations, we don't always agree. Even good sheriffs don't always agree with me, but the opportunity is always given to say what I need to say. I trust this man. He has put himself in a position of value, and I trust that value. So thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to speak on behalf of Jim tonight. And under Sheriff, I've had the privilege of knowing your parents, and so I have no doubt that they did say that. All right, sir. Thank you, everyone. Okay. I think it's appropriate we hear from Jim at this point. Sir? All right. Let me, forgive me as I stumble a little bit, but I'm not good talking about myself, so I actually took notes. A couple things, you know, I was asked, you know, why was I interested in it before? I'll be straight out and honest. A couple health issues, I'll be out open to everybody. I do suffer from migraines. I thought they would be an issue. I haven't had a migraine in several months, so I mean, so that makes me happier. So I'm feeling good about that. Working, you know, we, a tad is new, or new enough, at least in the position. Brought Jill up. I love working with both of them. We work way better than I could ever hope. I mean, we're in and out of each other's offices all day long. So that went way better than I thought. We have a wonderful set of department heads. We have great staff people on here. And in the two months, didn't think we'd get the contract, the firefighters contract, in front of you guys as quick as we did. That all came together, so that was a good working group, along with the firefighters. We did the budget. I can't, I'm proud of the budget. We balanced it. We worked pretty hard. We met with all you individually, even after the workshops. I wish it wasn't everything that we presented to you guys, but we got the budget done. So, you know, in those couple months, discover that we can get the job done, that we'll do a good job for the county. If you indulge me a minute, I can at least, because a couple people asked, hey, you're smiling. Just for the folks, and I'll go very, very fast, because I can talk fast. I came, I was a summer intern, so I came here as an intern in 1990. Graduated from Indiana University. No Hoosiers. Graduated from Indiana University with a degree in public affairs, which is one of the top public administration programs in the country. Came back in 1991, worked in the Transit Services Department. They couldn't figure out how to get rid of me, and I became transit director in 1997. And I hope somebody's listening, I will say, at the age of 29, so the youngest director, we think. Somebody thought he was youngest at 30, but I beat him. Under our leadership, our ridership on a fixed route went from 250,000 passenger trips a year to 2.2 million passenger trips a year. That wouldn't have happened without the crew. That's just not leadership. That's a bunch of good, hardworking people we have. We implemented beach trolley, Saturday service, expanded our volunteers in motion program. Did a whole bunch of that stuff. We won national and state marketing awards. Too numerous to count. Our most prestigious award was we were named the best small transit system in the nation, 2003. We've had three employees that I've worked with in the Transit Department become department directors. We worked very hard to promote within and support the county. But most importantly, and I think I have the number right, we've had six different bus drivers be named state bus driver of the year in the state of Florida. Work hard to promote folks. Assistant county manager, one of the biggest projects we did is we got the golf courses off the tax rolls. Samana's went back to the community. Golf Brevard manages the other two. I'd put their contractors up against anybody, but we're no longer subsidizing the golf courses. In the last few years, I've had to staff the redistricting committee. Staff of staff, I guess is the right word. That was chaired by Speaker Chris LaFoley. We staffed the Charter Review Committee, which was chaired by now Congressman Herodopoulos. We focus a lot on infrastructure, library, parks, transit. I'm sorry, Commissioner. I'm almost done here. In 30 years, I counted last night. I've worked with 30 commissioners. If you want to count, and I saw Commissioner Volz here earlier, if you want to count Commissioner Volz and Commissioner Altman, it's 32 because they've been here twice. Many excellent bosses. You pick up mentors, and you don't know they're mentors, but I got them here. My bosses have been great. Perry Maul, Jim Brown, Don Lust, Stockton Whitten, Anne Frank Abate, people that inspire you to do better, Sharon Luba, Kathy Swainsberg, Kathy Wall, Wendy Ellis, Kathy Lively, Marianne Donner. I didn't know Wendy was coming, but she was on the list. I mean, those are some of those, but I won't forget, but we as staff, we work together, and as a leader, I've always looked at it. It's my responsibility to provide the resources our staff needs to do, then step aside, get out of their way, and let them get their job done. And that's how I work. Okay. Discussion. Discussion on the item. Commissioner Dillene. Thank you. I want to start this off by saying this is not personal to Jim at all. He's done a great job as interim. I just really feel that we made a decision together as a board to go and do a search, do our due diligence, and make sure that we have the best candidate. And I just don't believe that we should deny him nor the public the opportunity to prove that he's the best candidate. It really just feels like we're giving something away, and this is probably the most important decision we're going to make as a board together. And I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror and say, I knew without a shadow of a doubt we made the best decision for our county moving forward. And I can't do that right now because we haven't had the opportunity to play out the process. I'm not saying that good work hasn't been done with the budget and with the firefighter contract. A lot of people were involved in that, and, you know, we have to have a balanced budget every year. I'm not saying that that's not hard work. I'm not saying that there aren't challenges that come along with that. But we have a lot of serious needs. And we have 60 applicants who have put in the work to put together an application and put their neck on the line. And some of them are probably even currently employed and are putting their employment at risk just applying for this job. When I spoke to the consultant today, we have 10 strong candidates, and we have solid representation from Florida. There are some that are outside, from what I was told. I don't know the specifics, but I was told that we have a solid group of candidates, and I would be happy to see Jim's name among those candidates. I feel like we're doing a disservice to him and to the public by not following through with this process. I'm asking for the board to discuss this a little bit because I haven't heard any explanation, really, any thoughts other than what was put in the agenda. And, Commissioner Feltner, you had mentioned on Thursday last week that we would have robust discussion around this. So I would really appreciate that. I think I said that we would take the time we need in response to you bringing that up during planning and zoning. In discussion, Commissioner Altman, in discussion, sir? Okay. So I can appreciate what everybody's saying on both sides of the issues. I'd like to explain why I think we should make Jim our county administrator and why we did the search. I don't think that was wasted money or wasted time to do a search. We needed to have a search for a new administrator as soon as possible because it's a very important position, and it needs to be filled. What we didn't know when we made that decision to have a search was how Jim would react to this role as being an interim administrator. And I think he's done an exemplary job. And so, yes, we have a search, and we have 60 candidates. We still have to negotiate with Jim, and if that doesn't work out, we have a backup. But I think it was not money wasted. It was a process we needed to go through, and this is a process that we need to go through, and I think we need to appoint him. And, you know, it's not a great county administrator that makes the county great or any government. It's a team, and it's how they work together as a team. And when Jim took this job from the very first day that he took it, I noticed something very special with this Brevard County. We have a remarkably talented team, and I saw the way they responded to Jim. I saw the way that they worked. I saw the way that they responded to a change to a new administrator, and I've experienced that twice in my political career. And I realized that, wow, we have something very, very special with this county. I think we have something very special amongst this commission. We don't always agree, but this has probably been one of the most trying times that this county has ever faced. What we faced with the firefighter was a very, very difficult time. What we're facing with revenue shortfall is a very difficult time. And this commission has really risen to the occasion, and I think Jim's relationship with the commission as well, not only with his staff, has proven to be something exemplary. There are probably some really talented people on that list of 60 candidates that we could consider. But one thing we don't know and we could never know is how that person, he or she, would fit within our team, our system. How would they respond to a management team, an administrative team that we have that I think is performing at a very top level? Don't know that. I'm not willing to take that risk, to lose a known commodity, to go with an unknown. So I fully support our interim administrator, and I hope we can work out an agreement. And I can tell you I see his commitment to Bevard County and to this organization. And so I wholeheartedly will support this appointment. But, again, I don't think we've wasted time. I think we're in the midst of a process that we needed to go through, and this is a part of that process. And we need to put this issue to rest. We need to make a decision. We've got a lot of work to do. And, golly, I was trying to think of an analogy, maybe a sports analogy. You know, your starting quarterback gets hurt or retires, and you put your back up, and, my gosh, he starts performing to this amazing, amazing level. And the team rallies around them, and you're winning. You're not going to put that guy on the bench or trade them and bring an unknown. You're going to go with your guy. And he did receive a big endorsement that we do know as well with our prior administrator who appointed him in the number two position as well, and that affected that in. But we've got a winning team, and I want to keep it that way. Thank you, sir. Commissioner Atkinson. So, we've heard from not enough staff, and I would like, we had an email from a previous staff, a Stephen Darling, who was a previous director with Brevard County, and I wanted to read just a few excerpts from the email that I received from him. He says that he's worked with Mr. Leisenfeldt for several years and found him to be an exceptional leader. He says that his ability to listen and process all available information prior to making decisions is second to none. He said that he would often seek his counsel to get another perspective because he knew going to him, he would get informed and unbiased opinions. He says, I am confident that there is no better candidate qualified to be placed into this position. He says, I know that Mr. Leisenfeldt is an exceptional candidate who understands the needs and priorities of Brevard County better than anyone else, and myself and my family support the commission confirming him as our next county commissioner. So, that's from somebody who used to work with you. And I will say from my own perspective, I was nervous being a new commissioner, having a new county manager. But it's been seamless, the transition. When I talk to you in several conversations, your ability to notice your staff's ability and aptitude is just amazing because you're aware of their capabilities and their strengths. And like you said a minute ago, it's to pull that out and get out of the way and let them do their job. And that's something that a new county manager would have to take quite a bit of time to understand and recognize the value that we have in all the rest of our staff. I could go on and on, but I'm not going to. I'm just going to say that I would definitely support you as our next county manager. Do you have a question? No, I have a comment I'd like to make. I'd like to ask Jim a question. All right, go ahead with your question. Could you explain to us, the way I read the contract with the people that were doing the search, at any time we could say stop and they had a, that would be a stopping, it's not going to spend $35,000 or $30,000. We can stop them at any point because they had it set up in increments. Is that correct? There's a, I'm sorry, Morris, there's a termination clause, 14 days. 14 days, they finished like two parts of their contract. So we wouldn't own the entire amount. Okay, and two parts of their contract was what, $16,000? $4,000 and $16,000. I remember the, yeah, I'm sorry, I'm looking at Melissa nodding to make sure I'm speaking right. Thank you, sir. I appreciate the historical perspective of all of the county staff. You know, I have the great privilege of being the commissioner in this complex. Maybe some of the staff thinks that's a curse, I don't know, because I show up in their office a lot and everyone here has been incredibly gracious to me. And, you know, I think I'm a smart guy and I come in and when it was Frank, you know, I would tell him my great idea and he'd say, oh, well, you know, Commissioner, they tried that 20 years ago and the board at that time decided this, that, and the other. And it was a good process because I would go home and I would think about that and I'd come back today with something better. And so I really do value that. And I have that with Jim, 34 years here in the county, not including your internship, right? And I think that that says a lot that you're willing to undertake this. So you'll move forward with my support. I think if the board votes for Jim tonight, tomorrow morning, we'll just be another day at work in Brevard County. Commissioner, anyone else in discussion? Commissioner Delaney. Thank you. I appreciate all your thoughts and sharing that. I've had many people reach out to me with concerns, people with concerns about hiring somebody that has been with the county for so long. There are a lot of people out there suffering and they're worried that it's just going to continue. There was people that were very hopeful when we talked about and voted on, going out for a national search, finding somebody that could bring a new perspective, that could bring fresh ideas. And I'm not saying that Jim can't do that as well. We, you know, I have had some great experiences and I've had some not so great experiences. And in my time here, you know, I feel like there is a little bit of, I've been here for so long and I know what's going on without so much follow through of, you know, let's get to the nitty gritty here. Let's, is, is this something worth, um, you know, saying no to a commissioner? Like, is it, is it a big enough deal? Um, there are things like, for instance, I'll give an example. I had a constituent come to my office and they were talking to me about one of the issues that they were having and they said to me, well, how many people work in that department anyway? And I said to them, I'm not sure. Let's check it out. I went to go to our organizational chart and it didn't have FTEs on it. And so then I found out that you have to go through our budget book, which is hundreds of pages, um, read through the narrative and figure out, you know, how many people are working in the department. So I called up, um, the county manager and I said, you know, Hey, there are some other counties that do that put the FTEs on the organizational chart. I thought that would be a really cool thing to do. Um, you know, it would give people one stop shop of something, you know, to find a quick answer to that question. And I was told no. And I was told because I like it the way it is and that I would have to get board approval to put an FTE on an organizational chart. And to me that I know it seems like a small thing, but for me, I I'm saying, well, what if it was a big thing? We're supposed to be here to serve the public, to make it, you know, um, easier for them to so that people could just click on our organizational chart and boom, find their answers. You know, we already have a pretty good one that has, you know, the phone numbers and, and all that, but this could have just given it a little extra something. And it's something that would have not mattered to pretty much anyone. And I feel like we are shorting ourselves if we're not going to give ourselves the opportunity to, um, see if there's anybody out there who would like to come to the Space Coast and make this place their home and that they have fresh ideas, something new perspectives, new horizons to where they could help us, you know, work our way out of this situation. We've gotten ourselves in, um, you know, after decades and decades of, um, doing whatever we've been doing. So, um, like I said, it's, it's not that I don't think that we should have Jim put in an application and, you know, come out and show us, show us that you're, you're up for this. You want to do it. And that, you know, because there were multiple times where I was told, I don't want to do this. And only after, you know, elected officials came and asked, and this is a decision that the five of us is supposed to make. We told our constituents that this was a decision that the five of us were going to make. And we agreed upon a pathway forward. And if this is the way that this is going to go tonight, I would really, and I would have loved for this to happen behind closed doors in a, in an interview process, but I'm going to need to ask some questions to, you know, so that I can say to my constituents that I did everything I could to make sure that we had the best person in place. And, um, so I guess I have a couple of questions for Jim and the first one is, I would love to hear what, what is your vision for Brevard tomorrow? I'm not like Mr. Visionary on it, but we have a number of things, at least on the immediate that we got to address. The budget isn't finalized. We got, you know, when it would depend on implementing board direction of, you know, we all voted on different millages and you have to finalize that. We got to continue to work on maintaining our quality workforce with our employee development. We have landfills, water plants to build. We got to maintain our roads here today about our canals and ditches, been out already with some of the crew understanding that some of the processes there. Sorrel is coming to an end. We all have to decide from the board if we want to continue the funding of Sorrel. We got lots of infrastructure we need to deal with. We have, um, uh, referendum projects from parks that are 25 years old, libraries, 20, 30 years old, bunch of other buildings. We have the detention center. We got to keep up on top of that. Um, uh, there's increased tourism we have to deal with, um, and public safety remains a priority. The proposed budget we sent to, that was the number one priority listening to you all. So that's, that's, that's the, the main vision. And the other vision, I mean, we'll continue on and, um, uh, I have a note here. There will always be hurricanes other than natural disasters to face. So that's, we have to be up and ready for that. If I could chair, um, thank you for that. Um, as far as the fire department goes, um, the 2472 schedule is something that's becoming a standard around the state. Um, are you willing to, of course, with board direction, um, are you willing to get to a place to where we can offer our people Kelly days? I, I won't really answer it directly because that would be part of the negotiation and that a little bit overstepping today. Um, but I can tell you, I've had conversation with several of you. We know where the market is going to compete for firefighters. So we know what the future looks like. Thank you. Um, I won't go into detail. Um, but some of the, some of the employee issues that you and I have talked about, um, are you willing to look into these things, not just at a director level and, and do your due diligence to making sure that you have the whole story from all parties before a decision is made. Mr. Chair, if I can go backwards, I, you know, let me do debate. I also forgot to add, not only when the market's going for firefighters, we know when the market's going for, uh, deputies and law enforcement and everything. So we have to face that issue too. Um, uh, personnel, I mean, there's a process. Um, I can tell you one director we had, I wouldn't call it, we called him on the carpet with the first situation. We had the director went through a number of things, um, but there's a process. And as I explained on the one, uh, we had the county attorneys involved, office involved. We had HR involved. We had, um, uh, myself, we had Tad involved. So that's kind of giving it away a little bit. And I said, nothing would happen until all our eyes are on it. I mean, you can't jump all the way down into a, you know, an overrule or tell a supervisor what to do when they've been through the process, but you can oversee. Provide direction that way. But we do have a process for employees looking at those two situations. Um, uh, I was satisfied the way it was handled. Um, and, and I said that, but then I also followed up with those departments explaining where I saw some issues. As far as North Brevard goes, we have, um, I'm going to call it a flooding crisis to say the least. I had, um, um, a meeting, uh, town hall where over 200 people showed up, uh, a week and a half ago. And, um, you don't have to go in depth to what the plan is, but do I have your commitment to helping us find a way through this and help, uh, giving the direction and the leadership to, um, help solve this problem that we have in North Brevard. Sir? Um, you know, I explained on the phone to you, you know, we have flooding and I don't use the right words, but water movement all throughout the county. You know, we have North Merritt Island we have to be keeping an eye on. Um, we've, uh, West Cocoa, we've been in Rocklet, unincorporated Rocklet area, um, you know, the old days Lamplighter Village. Um, so yeah, so we're always going to have to focus on what we got to do to help on flooding. So, you know, it all depends on resources, but it's another case of you had, uh, and I'll name them straight out. Bach was up there, but what you got to do is Bach comes back with solutions. You try to give him and his team, public works, everybody, the resources we can give them and get out of their way to get the job done. Well, I, I hope that you, um, understand where I'm coming from and that, you know, I, I understand where this is going tonight and, um, I appreciate you, uh, stepping into the hot seat and, um, putting yourself out there for the public. And, um, with that, uh, I'll let Commissioner Goodson make the motion, but I'd like to second it. Okay. Any other discussion before we get to that? All through, all done? Okay. Commissioner Goodson, sir, uh, reread your, your motion. I'd like to move that we appoint Jim Lienfeld to be the county manager. I want to include the motion that we appoint the chairman Feltner and the county attorney to work out the details of a contract and bring it back to the board at a future meeting. Okay. 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. Commissioner Altman. Yes. Chairman Feltner. Enthusiastically, yes. Jim, congratulations. We'll need to, uh, add some money to the county's mental health services. Okay. Um, commissioners, we're going to go into, I got one card on the K section of public comments. Ronald Thompson. Thank you, commissioners. I came here tonight to talk about an agreement that was approved by the previous commissions in December the 3rd, 2021. This, this project was also talked about last year when Mr. Goodson and Mr. Felton was on the commission when a company wanted to, when the commission was to approve a project that was a joint for this and changed the zoning from residential to B1. I mean, to B1. And so this project was discussed in detail. But the project was, this project was an agreement with D.R. Horton for, uh, traffic, track, traffic impact credit. Okay. And it changed free improvements on Minton and Hill Road. Normal routine business to do so forever. But for whatever reason, they gave this developer three years to complete this project. Two years to start it and an additional year to complete it. Very abnormal. I don't know of another case in the county that has done that. So it's been three years and the project's at a standstill. Just to bring you up to date, this project was completed by the developer in March of 23, per the tax assessor's photograph. And then it was sold to another Canadian company for $79 million. So I don't think, I don't think economics is reason. But for myself and other residents, we've made many calls and emails to Commissioner Altman's office seeking information and advice about this product. And the last call I got, an email was from his office dated 8-8 just last Thursday or Friday. And I will give you a quote from the email from his chief of staff. I spoke with Commissioner Altman and he went over all the details with him. He completely agrees that delays have been frustrating and he hopes that we can wrap this project up soon. However, with that said, I have explained in the email there is nothing that he can do to accelerate this project. He is at the mercy of the contractor. For these reasons, he felt a meeting would not be productive and therefore not needed. At this time, paragraph 10, section D, which I have a copy of this thing right here, specifically states, the city and county shall, and to me that means must, review this project agreement, not less than once over 12 months. I'll yield you a little time there. Finish your thought there, sir. It's okay. Extend your time. Go ahead and finish your thought. And in good faith, compliance with the agreement. If the developer fails to comply with the terms of his agreement, this agreement can be revoked or modified. So you, the commissioners, are not at the mercy of the contractor. And Mr. Altman, I regret that you would not take my call because you said it was not needed. But I'm here tonight because we were failing to take my call as well as others. So, yes, we're wasting my time, your time, and everybody else that's in this audience to hear me complain about this. This project is done. It's passed a three-year commitment. And it has not been 40 days since not one shovel of dirt has been moved on that project. And so I'd like to know about three questions. Why has this project been collected? Let me get to the right one here. And this is the project, the questions I have been trying to ask for quite some time. Sir, perhaps we could talk. Pardon? Commissioner. Yeah. Commissioner, on me. Okay. First of all, I've had lengthy conversations with my staff. Yes. And my staff have been over backwards to work with the residents there on these issues. And I can tell you to note. And I totally agree with your staff, Danielle, answering our emails. But the problem is there's been no results. Yes, sir. Let them finish. I don't think there's anyone who's fought for the quality of life on Hill Road more than I have as an elected official. So I'm committed to that. But it's not like we haven't done anything. We're working. I wouldn't say it's not necessarily we do something. It's probably premature. Sure. I'd like Mark Bernath, if he can, maybe address the issue in a little more detail from the county's perspective. Because our staff has also been working on the issue. But I appreciate you being here. And it's not like we've done nothing. We're fully aware of it. And I'd like maybe Mark to address it. Well, hasn't this been done before? Okay, sir. We're going to let the. So, Commissioner, as you know, and we've talked extensively, my staff, with Danielle, this is a development project. It is not a capital improvement project where we can hold them accountable to a certain time. We, you know, can't exert LDs or anything like that. It's actually, and I don't have it in front of me, but it's a multi-party agreement with the city where it's actually a project. The intersection improvements are a project that supports their, I believe it's townhouses or apartments. And so, you know, our ability is very limited. It doesn't mean that we're not engaged. We are frequently talking to the developer and trying to get this project to fruition. I think the county attorney has something. And Mark's correct. This is a project within the jurisdictional limits of the city of West Melbourne. There were some intersection improvements that are required on Minton Road, which is a county facility. So the agreement you're referring to, sir, is just an impact fee credit reimbursement agreement. If the developer constructs the improvements as required, they're eligible for impact fee reimbursement. But that's the county's involvement in it. As far as the requirements, you know, that's sort of a carrot. The stick is with the city of West Melbourne who permitted the development. They have the development approvals and things like that. This is an impact fee reimbursement agreement. So as Mark said, this isn't something the county contracted for work to be performed. But rather, it was an okay developer because some of the improvements you're being required to do are capacity improvements. To some extent, they are eligible for impact fee reimbursement. So I'm sure we will review those and make sure. And if they have, you know, not complied with the terms of the agreement, they're not going to be eligible for impact fee reimbursement. But I'll work with the commission office and with staff. I was actually with the city of West Melbourne back when that agreement was entered. So I'm very familiar with it from that perspective. But I don't know the status of the project out there these days. So to summarize, what are you going to do about it? Well, I heard what you said, but what are you going to do? Well, I think the only thing we can do, because it's the city of Melbourne had this development agreement. They're the city of West Melbourne that would enforce it. But we did mention that impact fee credits could be affected as a result. That's significant. But right now, that's all we can do. And I think my staff has communicated that a lot. And I think it will eventually be worked out. I think those impact fee credits mean a lot. But I'm optimistic. But we'll continue to work with you and monitor that situation. Well, okay, it said the city and the county shall agree yearly has that been done. You know, they can build a 300-unit apartment in a year and a half, but can't build a road in over three years. That's all the question. And so they've not done anything in the last 40 days. And it looks like a junkyard the way those things are out there now. It's a safety hazard. The cones are down. The flags are flying in the air. The barrier cades are down. So I just can't understand why somebody can't have action. Have you taught the city of West Melbourne? No, I have not. I think that's where you need to go next. Because they're the ones who gave the development order. And they're the ones who gave the permits. I think if you read this contract, the county is very much involved. Now, I could be all wrong, but I don't think so. Okay, hold on for a second, sir. So the county had to approve permits because it's a county facility, Minton Road, where the improvements were being made. But, again, it's a city permitting issue. I wasn't aware of this. I'll be happy to look at it, talk to Mark's folk. I'll talk to the city of West Melbourne staff and figure out what's going on and get back to you about what we can do about it. Great. Thank you for being here. Okay. Can I say one more thing? Yes, sir. Hopefully it will benefit all of you. If you'll take five minutes to return citizen's call, it will save time more than what it takes to make a phone call. But all we got was excuses. And don't get me wrong, Danielle has done a tremendous job of answering our questions, not only just mine, but many other residents. And I regret that she has not been able to give me more detailed information. If you think West Melbourne is holding us up, you bet your bottom dollar there will be a lot of phone calls somewhere tomorrow. Okay. Thank you very much. All right, sir. Thank you. Okay. That was our public comment. We're going to go into board reports. Mr. County Manager. Are you guys going to kill me? I actually have something. Because I didn't say thank you. But, and I wrote this down. But I came across a quote from St. Augustine. I read a lot about humility. I spelled it humility. Those who work with their hands know that in order to carry a weight safely, it is best not to lift it too far from the ground. So, with all the county employees, the directors, county manager's office, we will support each other and ensure that we all carry the weight safely together and not have to carry it too far to provide the best residence for the county. So, I am humbled. Thank you very much for your vote today. Thank you. Thanks, Tim. Okay. Mr. County Attorney. No report, Mr. Chairman. Okay. Commissioner Delaney. No report. Okay. Good night. Okay. Commissioner Goodson. None. Okay. Commissioner Atkinson. Very quickly, I just wanted to acknowledge yesterday Governor DeSantis came to congratulate Brevard County on the newly completed weir at the Crane Creek Project. There was a lot of county staff there. We had commissioners there. And it just shows that what we do for the lagoon, what we have been doing to improve it, is not going unnoticed. And he promised to continue to support us in that endeavor. That's all. How about funding? Exactly. I mentioned it. Continue to work on the funding with the state. Commissioner Altman. No report. Okay. Okay. And for me, Jim, again, congratulations. And then Don, sir? I'm going to end us on a happy note. We have a spotlight video that Don's going to show us. Do you want me to read it? Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Appreciate that you gave me something there. Commissioners, today we have our second installment of the Space Coast Government Television and Human Resources Recruitment and Employee Spotlight Campaign. As Communications Director Don Walker told us in our previous board meeting, these videos were put together through a summer internship program over the past three months and will be used in a variety of ways throughout the year to help recruit new employees to Brevard County government. Today's video features Jermaine McWhite from our Mosquito Control Department. My name is Jermaine McWhite and I've been working with the War County Mosquito Control for going on 10 years. How are your mosquitoes getting in there? I'm putting you on the spot. We have 80 solicitors, 80s of Jetta, we have the Mansonia, Qlegs, Sorofa, Ferox, 80s of Tegaricus, the Gali Nipper, Anopheles, and Myra Poppa. When I first came in, I started as an inspector trainee, and then I moved up to an inspector after I did my classes, which involves you getting your pesticide license and your application license. I decided to start voicing, start telling people, hey, instead of waiting for our supervisor and the other lead to say something to us, let's go. That's when they looked at me and was like, hey, you'll be the next lead. I prevent viruses. It's a typical work day. The trap's got to be set. The trap's got higher than normal. We go out and see what's going on. If it's bad, then we got to spray. We have toys that are fun to use, but also helping treat the area, because I thought we was only stuck behind the daytime truck and our nighttime truck. But when we started implementing drones and we started with the eight-wheeler, I was all about it. This is not a, like, a one-man machine that I do. It's like we're a whole team. That's another part of the leadership is helping one another. We all, sometimes, we're either too busy or we're having a rough day. I would check on them. I was like, hey, how are you doing? How are you feeling? They could be upset from having a bad night and spray, or they didn't get paid to rest. You know, they're fatigued or they're grumpy. I was like, that's when I tell them. I was like, listen, take your time. Don't rush nothing. If we need, be crappy. My tip is don't be nervous, because the whole time coming in here, I was thinking, like, oh, no, they're not going to pick me, because I know nothing about mosquitoes. Always come in to any Brevard County facility with a blank slate, so you're eager to learn and eager to be trained. There's plenty of opportunity to grow and plenty of opportunity to start in Brevard County. Coming in to mosquito control, I didn't know nothing about mosquitoes, and now I'm going to leave. Do you like dragonflies? I love them. I love dragonflies. They are larvae killers. You could ride a dragonfly, would you? I got to go now. See y'all later. That's great. Are you interested in a job like this? Apply today at www.brevardfl.gov. Good job. I'll say something about Mr. McWhite. I met him and spent part of the day with him. We removed some tires with the waterway warriors from the river, and we were at Cocoa Beach Utility Services area, and they have a ramp there. And so we – I don't go out in boats. So we were on the receiving end of all the tires dropped off, and so if you happen to see that video, Jermaine was there, and we spent several hours together unloading tires from a boat, put them on a forklift. And he actually is very enthusiastic, but, you know, he kind of downplayed it there a little bit. But I enjoyed the day with him. So, Don, everybody, thank you very much. I think we're done tonight. Commissioners, thank you. The opinions expressed by any member of the public during any period of public comment do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, Space Coast Government Television, or the program sponsor and are solely those of the presenter. The Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County, Florida, Space Coast Government Television, and the program sponsor hereby expressly disclaim any and all responsibility or liability for any defamatory or slanderous statements expressed by any member of the public during any such period. Some of the drivers, you can't replace it, so, you know, if something really happens to it. So, I don't know. I think for an $800 investment, I think I did pretty good over the years. To many, these cars are truly priceless. Thank you.