Meeting started. Welcome, everyone. It's a great day in Brevard County. This is the Space Coast TBO Governing Board meeting. Today is October 9th. If everyone will please stand for the pledge. Thank you very much. Public comment. Currently members of the... I'm sorry, Zoe, would you please confirm the quorum? Yes. Atkinson, Altman, Allender. Here. Blake, Capizzi. Here. Cole. Here. Connors. Here. Delaney. Here. Feltner. Forrester. Here. Foy. Here. Goodson. Hammer. Here. Hanley. Here. Doffy. Here. Johnson. Kennedy. Smith. Young. Here. And I don't see... Are there any alternates? I don't see any alternates. We have a quorum. How many do we have? All right. Thank you very much. We have 11. We have a quorum. All right. Thank you. So currently members of the public are invited to offer general comments unrelated to the agenda. Do we have any public comments for non-agenda items? All right. Thank you. Comments should we get in. Any comments are limited to three minutes. We're going to move to reports, but first I would like to speak a little bit about Vision Zero to give you a little bit of crash information here. This is as of September 4th. So crash fatalities for 2024, year-end for Brevard County, was 82. Crash fatalities year-to-date is 55. Crash fatalities since our last TPO meeting we had sitting right here, as of the 24th, are eight people. On August 21st, a 16-year-old girl was killed in a 15-year-old passenger injured in a rollover crash on State Road 520 in Cocoa. On September 12th, an 83-year-to-date on September 12th, an 83-year-old was killed in a Brightline crash. Video shows a collision on the Rockledge tracks. I think you see it up there. A driver traveling eastbound on Eister Boulevard drove through the railroad crossing arms, crossing at Eister Boulevard in US 1, which has four-quadrant gate. Monday, September 15th, three dead, six injured, in a wrong-way crash on I-95. Federal Highway Patrol says a 34-year-old woman traveling southbound on the northbound lanes crashed head into a 34-year-old man traveling northbound. Both drivers and a 46-year-old woman were pronounced dead at the scene. Monday, May 15th, a man, 68, killed when pickup rear-ended his golf cart on State Road 8A1A. Monday, September 22nd, a 55-year-old Cocoa woman was killed after stumbling into the path of an oncoming car reported by troopers. And as of Sunday, right in my own neighborhood, right down from where I live on the path that I take back and forth to Walmart at Eber and Hollywood, there was a six-car collision and a box car, a U-Haul box car ran the light, ran into a woman from Melbourne Beach. Six cars involved. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. So please take this information back to your councils and please caution your citizens. We're the ones who are doing this. So humans make mistakes. People will inevitably make mistakes that can lead to crashes. But the transportation system can be designed and operated to accommodate human mistakes and injury tolerances. Responsibility is shared among all stakeholders, including the transportation system users. I didn't mean to be a downer because the rest of the meeting is going to be wonderful, but I did want to bring this to your attention. We need to pay attention to this. Ms. Gillette, please continue. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that. It's great to see everyone. In your package, you have the draft executive committee meeting minutes of September 11th, and there was a correction on the draft meeting minutes. Also, you have the TPO project status report, and this is for September 2025, and these are projects that the TPO are working on studies. Also, the DOT developed a video for use by stakeholders for the clearing and grubbing contract for Ellis, and this is within the right-of-way. And I think the clearing and grubbing. And I think the clearing and grubbing is almost complete. It's due to be complete in November. And once the clearing and grubbing is complete, they are going to put in a performance turf will be installed. And this is all in preparation for the upcoming utility relocation activities, which is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2026. So we celebrate these small wins, but we would like to show this very quick video that the DOT presented. Very jazzy, but it's great. So the last item I have, excuse me, the Cocoa Brightline Intermodal Station, I want to make sure everyone has an update on that. The City of Cocoa was notified that the Federal-State Partnership grant that they submitted last December, it's been on hold, and we anticipated they were going to rescind it, and they did. And so it has been reissued under the National Railroad Partnership Program. And under President Trump's administration, they now have $5 billion available under the FRA for these type of improvements. So that's really good news. And we are already on it. We are going to have a big kickoff meeting tomorrow. We are working under the City of Cocoa's leadership. We're having our consultant kind of take the lead on the grant. The City of Cocoa will again be the applicant, and the TPO will be the co-applicant. And the application is due January 7th. So we feel really good about this. Third time's the charm, right, Mayor? Yes, ma'am. The day before my birthday, and that was Presley's birthday, January 8th. Very good. So we're going to party. Any indication of when the decision may be made? We anticipate, and this is, you know, just a guess, probably the spring of 2026. And maybe even sooner, because, you know, things are moving very quickly up in Washington. So the sooner the better, you know, as far as we're concerned. So, Madam Chair, that concludes my report. All right. Thank you very, very much. Public engagement report. Ms. Hemingway. Good afternoon. Abby Hemingway, Public Information and Outreach Manager. As you recall, we're kind of dividing our report up now to talk more high-level and then also about our engagement activities. So to kick us off, before we talk about what's upcoming here in October and November, it's that time of year to update our public participation plan. If you're a new member, this is considered a core work product, just like our Transportation Improvement Program, also our LRTP. Our public participation plan, the PPP is what we call it, is a core work product that we update every three years. So the last time it was updated was in 2022. And so this specific deliverable really is all about a blueprint for action to how to get engaged and also in how to involve yourself in transportation planning. So it's a guide for public access and involvement specifically with this TPO planning process. And so it talks about our public communication tools. It talks about the different comment periods for some of our large-scale core work products and programs and plans. And it also talks about how to get involved, whether you come to a meeting, become a member, and so on and so forth. So this is just for kind of the good of the group to let you know that the public comment period will be drafting the public participation plan. And it is available for the public and for our members to review for 45 days. And that's going to kick off on October 27th through December 11th. And that will be the goal adoption date. When we come back in December, you'll have a bit more of a presentation on what's been included in this update, any new tools that we use, and some different messaging that we might be doing as the TPO. So you'll get a full presentation on that. And how we are going to advertise it, of course, we're going to be using all of our channels, including our website, social media, e-news. And we'll also be providing in-person meetings and at our outreach events out in the community. And then different ways that the public can participate. They can get involved and share their input on different channels, so they can call, they can write in, they can e-mail me directly. And we also will have an online public comment portal. That seems to be the trend of how people want to kind of submit their comments. So we'll also be offering that again. And just as our advocates, if you can share in your own communities, whether you have social media pages, newsletters, we'd really appreciate anything that you can do to help us spread the word and how to let people know that they can get involved in local planning activities. Moving on, we kind of did a big recap last meeting, so I'm not going to go too into it. But for August, this is a communication snapshot from August 1 to September 22nd. And a special note, if you can see kind of our trending topics on social media, specifically Facebook, we had a large increase due to we had a great back-to-school safety campaign that a lot of our partners shared out for us, including law enforcement and municipalities. And then in September, as it usually does, National Roundabouts Week saw a huge conversation, lots of dialogue happening there. We're just happy they're talking about it. And interestingly enough, that post alone had more reach than the four right there behind it in the top five. So that just kind of speaks volumes to what interests our community. All right. And then some upcoming topics for coming up here in October. We have Pedestrian Safety Month. We will be pushing that on our social media channels. October 15th is Blind Americans Equality Day. This used to be White Cane Safety Day. We'll be partnering with the National Federation of the Blind for an upcoming event there. And then the same week is Teen Driver Safety Week and School Bus Safety Week from October 20th through the 27th. So we will be highlighting both of those initiatives on our channels and working with some of our partners. And speaking of partners, we really don't do it alone here at the Space Coast TPO. It takes all of our municipalities, our law enforcement, our health partners to really work towards our mission of Vision Zero. And so this is a snapshot of some of the community partners that we worked with in September, but then a bulk of them in October here coming up in the next few weeks. October is a busy month for community outreach. The weather is starting to get cooler. And so, Leah, I'm going to pass it over to our community engagement coordinator. She's going to share more about our events coming up. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Leah Nepo, community engagement coordinator. So for the month of September and October, the public involvement team will be staying busy and visible in the community at over 16 events. Our reach is stretching far across Brevard, and we will be highlighting just a few today. This past month's outreach included tabling events, professional panels, and a crosswalk pop-up safety events. Just three ways we put education into action and really reinforced our role as the community's on-the-ground resource for safety and engagement. So at the 2025 Florida Planning Conference, the TPO team showcased how collaboration at the local and regional levels continues to drive progress across the Space Coast. Special kudos to our assistant director, Laura Carter, our senior transportation planner, Sarah Crum, and Councilmember Willis, who each served as experts on panels across various topics. And Sarah also joined regional planners to lead a workshop on advancing transportation. Last week, the TPO also kicked off National Pedestrian Safety Month alongside Indy Atlantic PD with a crosswalk sign-waving event at the pedestrian hybrid beacon on 5th Avenue and North Palm Avenue. With the help of partners from D5 Commissioner's Office, Health First, and Bike Walk Central Florida, the team connected with more than 30 cyclists and pedestrians in just one hour, and we're proud to share that all of whom were wearing helmets. And we tabled at Satellite Beach's Big Truck Day, encouraging children to interact with our safety materials and engage in fun conversations about how to do so. Florida, an aging road user, is defined as anybody over the age of 50 with a special emphasis on those over the age of 64. As of 2024, Florida had 2.7 million drivers that are aged over 64, and it is predicted in the next five years, 25% of all road users in Florida will be an aging road user. In Florida, motor vehicle crashes are the second leading cause of all injury deaths for this age demographic. So with this in mind, the Space Coast TPO partnered with the city of Cape Canaveral to host the Grandparent-Grandkid Safety Fair during National Grandparents Week in September. This fair included a safety presentation for each attendee, along with a helmet fit for both the grandchildren and grandparents. And additionally, we had vendors from AARP, Bike Walk Central Florida, and grandparents raising grandchildren to provide information about their programs that benefit aging road users. This fair came as our finale to the Aging Road Users Workshop that we had been hosting throughout the summer. And each person, no matter their age, was able to leave that day with a bit more confidence out there on those roads. Okay, yesterday was Walk and Roll to School Day, a national annual event that's each October, encouraging students to get out of the car and onto the roads. In Brevard County, we had over 25 schools that came out and celebrated in full force. Abby and I attended Coquina Elementary and R.L. Stevenson Elementary, respectively. We walked with their students, handed out goodies, and we got coverage from Florida Today on that event as well. And then coming up in October and November, it's a slew of outreach events that we will continue our engagement and involvement. To highlight some events, the TPO will be going out to each high school that hosts Driver's Ed throughout the next month. And we're hosting a pilot program about distracted driving. Additionally, at our next BTAC meeting, happening on October 27th, there will be a sign-waving pop-up event to close out National Pedestrian Safety Month at the crosswalk of Judge Fran Jameson between the Government Center and the School Board Building. And then at your seat is a flyer coming up on Sunday, November 16th. To Space Coast TBL, we'll be hosting our World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, a day that holds deep meaning to our organization and I'm sure to all of you. It's a time to honor each life lost or impacted by traffic crashes and to reaffirm our commitment to safer roads for all. This event will take place at the Vieira Government Center near the Reflection Pond. So the details are on the screen and registration is on that QR code at your seat. And finally, follow us on socials to be in the know about everything we're doing. Send us events our way and reach out to Avi and I with any questions or requests. Thank you. Thank you, Leah. That was an excellent report. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes, Mr. Capizzi. Thank you for that. Thank you. Actually, I was just wondering, since I'll be an aging road user in less than three years, can we move that up to like 59? Thank you. All right. The next item is a Technical and Citizens Advisory Committee report. Ms. Gillette. The TACCAC met on Monday and unanimously approved all of the action items that will be before you. A summary of actions is at your place. And you also have the draft Technical and Citizens Advisory Committee meeting minutes from September 8th and the 2025 Technical and Citizens Advisory Committee attendance report, if you'd like to take a look at that so you can see your membership. And that's the report. All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Our next is Space Coast Area Transit, which is Terry. And as Terry walks up, I'd like to congratulate him on becoming the new chairman of the Florida Public Transportation Association. Terry, you want to say a couple words about that? Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the congratulations and thank you to everyone else as well. As mentioned, I've been selected to chair the Florida Public Transportation Association. It's an association that spearheads projects for the entire state of Florida, any transit agencies throughout the state, large, small, rural, or urban. And so I've served as the vice chair over the last two years and have been recently selected to serve as a chair about a month ago. Congratulations. Thank you again. Today's report will be very brief as far as Space Coast Area Transit goes. Ridership continues to show a positive trend. We are about 4%, well, 4.5% over previous year to date's ridership. However, we saw a slight decrease in the month of August, which is our most recent reporting period. We saw a 3% decrease over the prior year's ridership for the same month and a 1% decrease over the prior month. We attributed it to many days of wet weather, very likely. No other concerns that we saw that could have caused a decrease. But we're still on trend to close the year out, the fiscal year out, with at least a 5% increase over the previous year. And right now we're sitting at 1.7 million for the year so far. Our goal is to see a 2 million mark, but we'll very likely fall a little bit short of that. One other item was, I guess, initiated by some questions, and Chuck brought it to my attention recently. So we have followed up on it. The Clear Lake Road project, as you're well aware, is complete, yourself as well. And so the next step for transit services is to install a series of passenger shelters along the project that were originally described and determined before the project starts. So I've instructed our service planner to start the process and work with our construction coordinators, and we should see those shelters being installed in a not-too-distant future along those segments of the roadway there in Clear Lake. That is my report this afternoon. If any questions, glad to answer. If not, congratulations. Thank you again, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much, Terry. Thank you. All right, our next item is the Florida Department of Transportation, Mr. Chuck Coperno. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. I'm Chuck Coperno with the FDOT. First, I'd like to start with some project highlights. First of all, US-1 from Century Oaks to Myers Drive is a safety and operation improvement project that will be starting on October 27th, 2025. And we have some completed projects. US-1, which was divided into two segments as a resurfacing project, has reached its final acceptance on September 5th, 2025. And the Hurricane Bridge Slope Restoration Project on State Road 528, 404, 520, and US-192 received its final acceptance on September 16th, 2025. And one event to report is that the FDOT District 5 Work Program public hearing is scheduled for October 20th to the 24th. This will be an online option that will be available these days, 24 hours a day, with the ability to submit public comments online. The open house itself is on the 21st from 3.30 to 5 o'clock p.m. at the FDOT District 5 office in DeLand. The address is shown here on the slide. Visitors will be able to submit comments at this vendor as well. And finally, public comments will be opened until November 7th, 2025. So I have some flyers out there on the table if you would like one with that information. And, Madam Chair, that concludes my report for today. All right. Thank you. Yes, I guess there are questions. Mr. Forrester. One. And I'm not sure, Jorgenna, I'm not sure who I should address this to, but I have a safety concern on US-1. Okay. And that is at the intersection of US-1 and Eistrate. Oh, sorry. I can speak up. I don't need a microphone. It's up there. US-1 and Eistrate. If you're traveling south on US-1 and planning on turning right onto Eistrate, as soon as you turn, there's a crossing, a railroad crossing. And there's no markers on US-1 to tell you what's happening at that crossing. I came blasting around the corner thinking I was going through the intersection, and bang, the gate was down. So there's no indicators on US-1 to show you what you're coming into if you turn. So I don't know if we need a signal light there or, you know, a couple of gremlins that stand there waving signs when there's a – the tracks are – the crossings are down. I don't know what we need. So perhaps just some sort of warning connected to when the train may be coming through? Right. Some kind of indicator that the gates are down and you can't just go through there. Or somebody will eventually take that corner a lot faster than I was and run smack into a train. Mr. Forrester, I just want to make sure I got the – what you said correctly. Yeah, US-1's southbound travel taking a right on I-Stir. Right. And you just run right – there's so many visual blocks that you can't see until you make the turn. Well, it's not that there are visual blocks. All the signalization is either facing east or west or – there's no signalization turning into that intersection that would indicate there's a train coming. You know, there's a turn signal there, and it's a pretty busy intersection. There's nothing indicating – if you're coming down through there and trying to turn right, there's no indicators. I understand that, sir. Thank you. Okay. All right. Mr. Capazzi. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I suppose if anybody's driven 520 lately, you can tell that the water is up. Again, I just want to reiterate that 520 should probably be on a priority list. We are not – we don't have a storm right now, and the water is feet from the road. Probably a quarter of all of the sidewalks from east of the 520 bridge are underwater three to six inches. So, again, pedestrian safety, sidewalks need to be raised at least, and the road should be raised. If we have a storm on top of what we have right now, absolutely 520 would be underwater. Thank you. Madam Chair, I was just going to say, Mayor, we actually have an upcoming meeting for the 520 Causeway – Cocoa Beach Causeway vulnerability study coming up. We will make sure that we share that. That study will come up with some alternatives as to what can be done, what is the preferred alternative to fix that situation. And once that is determined, then we can get that project on the priority list. Sarah, do you want to add something to that? I wanted to add that in the interim, because that's very long term, as we know, but in the interim, we can have Chuck reach out to Suzanne Phillips with Brevard Ops and see if we can't at least get some of that water off of the sidewalks. There's no way. The water is over – the water level is higher than the sidewalks. Yes, yes, I understand. But maybe they can bring in pumps or something. It's absolutely not possible. Pumps won't work. Okay. Well, either way, we'll have her go out and look at the current situation right now. Thank you, sir. Mr. Hammer. Yeah, I've had a few people ask me about the Ellis Road project. We are sodding where the road is going to be. Is that – I told them it's probably just so there's no water pooling and there's no runoff because it's probably going to be sitting there for a little while. Is that why we're sodding where the road's going to be? Exactly. Just so it doesn't tear it off? Doesn't tear, doesn't roll. It doesn't go down in the ditch and everything. Try to keep everything as level as we can keep it. Yes, sir. Okay, thank you. I just wanted to make sure I'm giving the right story. Yeah, when I looked at the flyer, they call it performance turf. Is that right? Yeah, that's the right one. Which I had not heard that term before. Mm-hmm. Okay. Thank you. Yes, Ms. Hanley. I have a question. On US-1 and 192, both roads, you have those – I guess it's so that people won't go into the bike lanes and all that. There's those little concrete – The lane separators? I guess that's what they're called. That's what they're called. Yeah, that was – yeah. But I've had a lot of people complain about it. One is we were – we happened to be sitting there watching – I forgot who I was. I think it was a police officer. And he's like, well, let's see how many people are going to hit that one. But the other problem is, though, a lot of people that have to pull trailers or different things like that have real fear of that. They go, if you blow a tire or they have to stop quick, they're worrying about flipping over or taking out their tires and doing – you know. They said that's almost more damage than if we didn't do – if we could come up with some other situations there because they're very concerned about that situation. Because if you hit that, you're – you can take the tire out. If you had – if somebody had a quick stop and you need to pull out, you know, just go sideways for a second, you're – we're going to have an accident. You know, that's an accident waiting to happen there. So they're wondering what else we can do for those situations. They're on the U.S. 1 and South Shores and 192 in the West Melbourne going into the county area. Okay. I'll send that comment up, ma'am. Okay. Absolutely. Other questions for Mr. Capernaum? Yes, Mr. Altman, Commissioner Altman. We kind of – in relation to what Frank mentioned in the Eister and U.S. 1, the train crossing, I know we recently had an accident there. Maybe a little report of what caused that, what happened. I've heard different scenarios. Do we know? Is that the – where the elderly woman – Yes. Went through the day? We – no, I'm not aware of what exactly happened. And, of course, the video does show her hitting the arm, the gate, and kind of hesitating. And then she just kept on going. It could have been a medical emergency. I'm not sure that – I don't know if we're going to ever know, quite frankly, but we would like – I mean, it's something that we would like to know, what the cause of it is. And as Mayor Young pointed out, that particular crossing already has four quadrant gates, so it is not one of the crossings that is in our Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant that we're going to enhance the seven crossings within Brevard County to seal the corridor. So, it shows you that I can still go through it, and it's tragic. It really is. And I'm not sure what we're going to do about it. Yes, Mr. Blake. I just want to say thank you very much. We had members from District 5, too, to come and elaborate about 524 future development. Very concise, to the point, pertaining to DDS, the conversions, trying to slow the pace down there, and I just want to pay homage and respect to them. You all did a phenomenal job. Please convey that. Absolutely, Your Honor. I will do so. Thank you. Mr. Laney. Thank you for sharing that. Was that at your Cocoa City Council meeting? No, ma'am. It was a meeting prior to that, yes, ma'am, with council members. Thank you. I'll chat with you. I'll chat with you about that. But I just wanted to kind of get these things out in the open. I'm going to be sending an email as well. But Highway 46, there is a lot of development that's going on right around 95 and 46. And that's starting to become a major issue in the morning, like at rush hour times. As you go further west, when you're crossing. On 46? Yes. Okay. There are, it's increasingly flooding. Years ago, it used to only flood in one spot where the St. John's would go over the road, but now it's four or five spots. And so I know that this is, I've been talking to the St. John's some about what we can do and whatnot, but I just wanted to get it on your guys' radar as well that, you know, this is something we should probably be thinking about in the future. And also, I wanted to bring up lighting on Clear Lake. And I know that originally that was one of the major things that were part of the project and because of cost savings and whatnot, it had to be taken out. But I was driving on there, I drive on there a lot, almost every day. But this time it was at night, it was coming northbound from 520. And that whole area towards the south end of it, south of Dixon, is so dark. And there are so many pedestrians that I don't know if that's something that we can start thinking about, even if it's a safety grant or something. Because, I mean, I drive that road especially so carefully and slow. And there was people on the edge of the road that I could not see until I was right next to them. And it really shocked me. Like, it was, it scared me because there's no give in the space there. And so, I just, I'm like, every day praying, you know, that people are on the sidewalks and away from the road. Because it's just, it's really dangerous to navigate that area at night. Okay. And then there was one more thing. I can't remember. I'll be here after the meeting, so if you remember, no problem. All right. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very, very much, Mr. Cappanotte. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Connors. First of all, I just want to say, Chuck, thank you for everything that you do. To reiterate Mr. Forrester's point, I think the challenge is, as you're driving into that turn lane, you're mostly looking at the intersection. Whether, you know, you can turn, whether it's safe to kind of make that right. So, if you're looking at the intersection where all the traffic is, and you think you are safe to continue in your lane, and all of a sudden the train's in front of you. So, I think that's kind of where they were getting at is, you know, you're focused right here, and you're turning, right? Too hard to direct your attention from this to this. Yeah. Is that what you feel might be a problem? Okay. Because it's also, The signals are not visible from that turn. Because I think it's, I think it's even sharper than a 90-degree turn, if I remember correctly. Oh, yeah. I'm definitely going to look at it on Google Maps. You're looking at this, and you're going very far. So, that's where I think, you know, he brings up a very valid point. So, if you have, like, a flashing light to kind of break your attention away to that. And see the sign. Okay. I got you. Thank you, sir. All right. Thank you. Any other questions before Mr. Cutt? All right. Thank you very much. Good report. Thank you very, very much. All right. Next item is the consent agenda. Ms. Gillette, would you please read the consent agenda aloud for the record? It's a very short consent agenda. TPO Governing Board meeting minutes of September 11th, and we do not have any new committee appointments this time. So, you can approve in one motion. I guess that was short. All right. Mr. Ollander, is that a motion? Or is that a question? Motion, yes. All right. Second. The consent agenda. All right. Motion, Ollander. Second. Second. Who else? Frank. Frank. Thank you. I've got to look right and look at this at the same time. All right. We have a motion on the floor of Mr. Ollander. A second from Mr. Forrester. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, say nay. Thank you very much. Motion carries. All right. Thank you. Next item is Actions Approval of the Regional Transportation Management and Operations Program Memorandum of Understanding. Thank you, Laura. Ms. Carter. Thank you. Thank you, madam. Good afternoon. Laura Carter, Assistant Director of Space Coast TPO. The memorandum of understanding agreement that you have before you today is really a continuation of renewal of an agreement we had back in 2021 with the same MPO partners, but this one is expanding the partners, so we'll be going from the West Coast to the East Coast, all of our TPO partners, to discuss and coordinate on Transportation Systems Management and Operations Program. What that involves is really the technology side of transportation and the strategies that we can implement. This would include incident management systems, your dynamic message signs that you see, coordinated signalization, things on a more regional level that we can coordinate to get people moving quicker, easier, and safer. We have a long-standing working with TISMO activities here at the Space Coast TPO, for those of you not aware. We did update our Transportation Intelligent Transportation Systems Master Plan back in 2021, and in that plan, I did want to highlight there was a cost-benefit analysis for investing in ITS technologies, a seven-to-one ratio, and that's huge. Investing now and continuing with the technologies and strategies that are out there can save us a lot of money in the long run, especially as we run into more congestion where we're constrained and cannot continue to just widen our roads. Pretty much on a bi-monthly basis, we have the Florida Department of Transportation District 5 has a TISMO consortium that meets. If you really want to talk nerd language and really technology, that group gets together and talks about the actual equipment that's being used and all the pilot programs that are in place. Really some interesting stuff with the air mobility and stuff is also discussed there. We are, next Friday, relaunching our Space Coast TISMO consortium, which is comprised of those operating agencies utilizing ITS now in Brevard County. Brevard County has an ITS system, which we do have the Transportation Management Center that's going to be under construction that we're moving to, City of Titusville, Melbourne, and Palm Bay are all going to be part of that consortium where we can collaborate and share information and resources. We also already include ITS in our list of project priorities, and we are wanting to be part of, again, this continuation of a memorandum of understanding of more to a higher level policy where we can coordinate more of those regional strategies. You think about truck parking and those signs that you see on the roadways that let you know how much parking is available. That all has to be coordinated on a much more regional level. So this will be a great partnership, a great opportunity to implement the strategic plan that is in your agenda packages and really that first Tier 1 task that they've identified. And this partnership will help all of us in the Central Florida region. So we're just asking today, one of the things that's also part of this agenda item is the approval of an amendment to our UPWP a year and a half ago when that was developed. This was not anticipated. So we do need to have approval to amend that agreement so we can include this memorandum of understanding. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Carter. This is not a roll call vote, correct? I believe we don't have that. All right. Is there a motion on the floor? So moved. All right. Thank you, Mr. Blake. Is there a second? Second. Second. I'm sorry. Second. Oh, Mr. Forrester again. Okay. Thank you very much. There's a motion on the floor from Mr. Blake and a second from Mr. Forrester. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, say nay. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Next item is approval of the 2026 legislative policy positions. Ms. Gillette. I will come up here to present this. At your place, you should have the draft 2026 legislative priorities. Do you have that at your place? Oh, I see it. Okay, great. Each year, the TPO develops a set of policy positions that are used to really convey important areas of focus that impact and influence the TPO and our member governments. So staff is recommending one update to this draft policy positions for your consideration, and I'll get to that in just a minute. But I'd like to highlight just a couple positions that are very relevant. But first, I want to also just kind of remind everyone, you know, the TPO cannot lobby. You know, the TPO is federally funded. And, you know, we look to our member governments to really carry the water for us when it comes to this. You know, we were actually highly encouraged a couple of years ago by the state DOT in Federal Highway to take the term legislative out of our policy positions. So you see at the title, we call it the Space Coast TPO policy positions, and we don't even use the word legislative. So that is how particular. We need to be very careful about what we do. But, you know, we can have informative discussions with our legislators, which we do, but we can attempt to influence legislation. So that is something to really kind of keep in mind here. So on page one, I want to, as you can see here, there's really three overarching priorities that focus on funding, safety, and technology. So I just want to talk about the funding, the top one first. And that is to increase funding for transportation that does not negatively impact the state transportation trust fund. That is really focusing on appropriations or earmarks. They can be good and they can be bad in the planning world, that is. If you're going after an appropriation, and we certainly want to support it, we will certainly provide letters of support, and I would never discourage any of our member governments for going after an appropriation, especially considering the financial situation that we're in, and if it's a priority project. But just please make sure that the appropriations that are passed come from non-transportation funding sources, such as general revenue funds. If the funds are coming out of the Transportation Trust Fund, that's not considered new money. All of the funding in the Transportation Trust Fund are actually on projects in the DOT's work program. So if we get an appropriation for a project, the DOT is required under state law to implement that project. And if it is coming out of the Transportation Trust Fund, they will likely come to the MPO and they will likely say, okay, what project do you want us to pull that money off of? And we, for instance, Ellis. We certainly don't want that. So it's just, it's important to know the rules of the game. It's been many, many years since that's happened to us, but it does happen. And they will be looking to the MPO to find a project in our work program to pull the money off of. So it's just something to keep in mind that I just kind of want to bring to your attention. Moving on to page two, I just want to highlight two things on that page. And at the very top of the page, it really digs into the funding in a lot more detail. The first one funds the Transportation Regional Incentive Program, TRIP, at a predictable level. So TRIP funding comes from DOT stamp revenue. And it's available at a 50% match. It's state money to improve regionally significant facilities. And funds have been diverted to non-transportation purposes a lot. So that funding level fluctuates up and down. We have gotten our hands on a lot of TRIP money. There's TRIP funding all over Ellis for construction. There's 50% TRIP money on the county's Traffic Management Center. We use TRIP money to fund the PD&E for Malabar West. And I think we've used TRIP funding to fund half of the Babcock PD&E funding back quite a few years ago. So TRIP funding is great. And just here recently, legislation was promoted to actually take this funding and actually move it over to affordable housing. If that would have happened, because the DOT did contact us, that would have taken all of that funding that we had on projects, and it would have went away. And so basically, Ellis would have been only partially funded yet again. So this is important funding that we use all over our work program. Brevard would have been hit probably the hardest, according to DOT, but all of the MPOs would have been hit as well. And then I'd like to go down to the fourth one down. Study potential revenue replacement options for the current motor fuel tax, which can no longer fully support the current or the future needs of the Transportation Trust Fund. FDOT has to do a study, and the legislature can fund and direct them to proceed to do a study. This is something that I know DOT would like to do. It's not something that they could go out and promote, because it would, quite frankly, seem a little self-serving. But they need the ability to be able to dig into what the options are. What is long-term? What are we going to do? So, you know, it's not a big deal right now, potentially, but if the EVs and hybrid vehicles continue, and they probably will, it's going to be a problem, and it's going to be a serious problem. Not to mention the fact that cost increases is continually going up, and here on the Space Coast, we have a lot of needs, and we know how expensive widening projects are. So, this is something, you know, those are the two things I think are really important. As you are out and about, you wear a lot of hats. If transportation comes up, this is something that we would really appreciate that you keep in the back of your mind. I mean, there's a lot of policy positions here, but those are two things that are very, very important that I think would be advantageous to all of us, if you would focus on that. Okay, and then moving on to page three. At the top of the page, this is the one change that we're proposing that we have added. Florida needs updated and clearer safety laws regarding e-bikes and e-scooters, especially because the recent legislation, you know, it gives local governments more power to create stricter ordinances, which is great. It was part of the micromobility law, but it can lead to confusion, and we kind of need, we need standardized safety requirements for e-bikes and e-scooters. So we're proposing to add support, safe operations for electric bicycles. So we're expanding, we would like to expand the recent micromobility law to address safe operation of electric bikes. And what we would like to do, and this was a suggestion by a citizen advisory committee member, is add electric bicycles and electric scooters. So that is what we're proposing for your consideration. And at the bottom of the page, we just have a, you know, a QR code where you can look at all of our priorities. And the very last page is our governing board members. So, um, we'd like to get your thoughts, see if you agree, uh, with that, um, proposed addition, or if there's something that we're missing, um, and get your thoughts on it. Mr. Hammer. I love the e-bike thing. Um, is, is low speed, like golf carts and the low speed vehicles, is that going to be in there as well? Because I know the scooters and the low speed vehicles are kind of running about the same, the same thing. I mean, the bikes, they need their own lane, but the low speed scooters, um, I think that, you know, paired with, I mean, they have 55 mile an hour golf carts now. Oh my gosh. Um, I think that, especially in Florida, with a lot of people just shooting up to publics and shooting up to little stores around. Um, we're seeing them a lot more in Palm Bay and that's something I've been discussing as well. But I know right now there's, there's something on the books to where if it's on a big, on a road that's 35 miles and under, it is, it is safe to, but it's not allowed to. So unless it's within your community, you're there, but something on the books for something that is, I mean, I've seen whole car dealerships close just to sell. Golf carts. So this is something that's going to be hitting us pretty hard and it'd be good to get in front of it. You bring up a very good point. And in fact, there was, um, a little bit of a debate about that, um, um, at the TACCAC. Uh, and the question was, is why don't we have that, uh, on here? You know, the biggest, there is a state statute that really does differentiate between a low speed vehicle and a golf cart. Um, whereas for e-bikes and e-scooters, there isn't. Basically, you follow the same laws as a pedal bicycle. So that was the reason why we didn't consider doing it. Um, an LSV, low speed vehicle, um, you know, you can, it has to be over 20 miles per hour, but not over 25 miles per hour. So if, uh, if a vehicle is going as fast as what you're saying, I mean, my goodness, how dangerous is that? So they have modified it some sort of way to where it's, you know, it's just going the speed of a vehicle, a car. Um, but there are very specific rules, as you pointed out, about LSVs. Um, you know, it may be operated where posted speed is 35 miles per hour or less, whereas a golf cart, uh, a golf cart, that's not the case. Um, and an LSV has to have all of the safety features, title, registration. So there are rules, and I am not opposed to putting it on our policy positions, but I, I'm not sure what to say. Um, I'm not sure what we want the legislators to do above and beyond what they've done. So I'm open to hearing from you guys. I mean, they just said a kid got hit in the back on A1A by a truck while he was going down the road with his golf cart. So, I mean, we kind of have, uh, have something that, that wasn't put on the table by us, put on, by an unfortunate incident, and it didn't say if he, what kind of injuries were, were abstained, but. Yeah. He was a 68-year-old man, and he died. Oh, really? Okay. Well, then, then, that's something that, even though, I mean, I know we have our, we have our legislation, or our, our priorities here, or our positions here. How's that? Positions. Because we can't say legislation, our positions here, but, um, it would be nice to have just this on the, this on the table for next year, because I think this is the, this is, this is where we're going to start to see it. This is, this isn't, it's not going to go away. It's a problem. It absolutely is. I have a question on that. Yes, Ms. Delaney. Oh, I'm sorry. Mr. Forster had his hand up first, and then we'll come to you. Thank you, Ms. Delaney. It's on the same topic. Yeah. So. Okay. Oh. I'm, I'm, I'm offering a word of caution, uh, because we're talking about the state doing this, and the legislator, get, legislature getting involved, you don't know what's going to come out of there. And we've, you know, all of us in cities and county governments have lobbied against one size fits all stuff coming out of the state, and Mayor Blake over here is the champion of that. And so if we get into a state mandate, you know, we've got little communities out here in central Florida where they don't have a sidewalk. It doesn't exist. All they've got is a two-lane highway that goes through the middle of town. And so I think the one size fits all. I'm not saying we shouldn't do something. I'm saying to be very careful what you ask for. Good point. That's all. I don't have a solution. I wish I did. Maybe if I thought about it a while, I could come up with something. But I'm just saying, you know, it starts getting up in Tallahassee. It starts scaring the hell out of me. Thank you, Mr. Forster. And I do apologize, Ms. Delaney. Thank you. I was just going to echo those sentiments because I get calls, emails on a regular basis in North Brevard about this topic and how people are like, we moved out into rural America for a reason. And this is, we want to be able to ride our buggies and four-wheelers and do all these things. And so I just, I'm very nervous when it comes to, I agree that something has to be done, but I don't know if it's like per community on a local level because we're just so diverse. Well, and so at the TACCAC, you know, someone said enforcement. And that is where I think, you know, our law enforcement officers are overburdened as it is, but enforcement can, I think, really help. Um, but it would have to be very specific with the community. All right. Thank you. Is Miss Boy. Yes. Um, I'd like to just maybe share a best practice that we have in India Atlantic. And this, so I'll give full credit to police chief Mike Connor. Um, we had an uptick right after Christmas, coincidentally enough, of e-bikes and we have sidewalks and these middle schoolers that aren't yet 16, um, they prefer the streets because they can drive fast and faster. So our town limit speed limit is 25 on our collector roads and our secondary roads are 20 and they go upwards north of 35 plus miles an hour. So our police chief fielding complaint after complaint, um, came, came to our council meeting and said, here's what we're doing. And this is a message to all the parents. We are going to stop these children and we are going to issue, we don't care if they're not 16 yet and they don't have a driver's license. We're going to give them a traffic ticket and they're going to get those points hit. They have to pay the fine immediately. Obviously the parents would, and they will get those points on the day that they get their license and they got out ahead of it. And that, and I shared that with our South beaches coalition and some other of our beach communities are going to adopt that process as well. So that's a law enforcement issue if it's on our streets. Wow. Thank you very much for that. Thank you. Yeah. Yes. Ms. Hanley. Um, okay. On the, on the motorized, cause this came before council and it was with, before I was on council, but watching everything with the, like the licensed, um, golf carts, they can go on a road that's 35 miles or less. What they were doing, and I do believe it was Indy Atlantic, don't hold me, that might've been Indian Harbor beach. They were going to, because on a lot of places on a one, a down in Melbourne beach, I know in Melbourne beach areas, it's down to 35 or less. So some of them, what they were going to do is make it 36 miles an hour so that they could not have the motorized, um, golf carts on, on those roads just by that one, that one mile per hour. So that, that would solve a lot of problems on that situation. Um, but you know, a lot of people say, I'm just surprised that somebody did go out on a one a being that it is, you know, they, they have to be depending on where were they at with a Indy Atlantic or in a satellite beach area. I'm, I know it goes up. It just says on a one a 68 year old man, it goes up and down in that area. So we might look at that where certain spots, we go up to 36 miles an hour and they cannot be on that road. So we can cause on the major third, like a one a, they cannot be on there or South Pat. I don't know where South, I don't know what South Patrick is right now. Cause like I said, there's different spots in there that we don't have to go through legislative situations, but we just say, this is what we're going to do to cut it out without having to go any farther than that. I'm not sure that we could get a DOT to put the speed limit at 36 miles an hour, but they were doing, they were, they were going back, you know, they wanted us to the city of Melbourne to look at it because we have part of a one a two. Okay. So that's, that might be a situation. All right. Thank you. Hold on, Mr. Hammer, Mr. Capese has his hand up. Thank you. Appreciate that. I actually echo his sentiments. I really don't like state oversight when it comes to local, local discretion. We, we do also have e-bikes and, and, uh, golf carts in Cocoa beach, and we choose to make our own laws and ordinances to govern those. And I'm, I'm very happy that I have the ability to, to go beyond what the state, you know, um, would say I have to do. So for example, um, we, we did recently allow, um, golf carts to be used on roads that are not F dot roads. Um, the nice thing about it is, I mean, electric is the future. I mean, you guys got to understand electric is the future. You can't, you can't ban it. You can't wish it away. You have to work with it. So I think that's very important to remember. And if you make it too restrictive, you got to understand that, that there are consequences that come with that as well. Um, so for example, um, we also have e-bike issue and we did very similar. What you're talking about is we regulated our e-bikes, but we started with one sidewalk that is basically our main issue, which is Minuteman Causeway, because that is a thoroughfare for all the kids going to and from, uh, junior high and, uh, elementary schools. Uh, we put a, we put a 15 mile an hour speed limit on that sidewalk. Um, no, no wheelies, um, or, um, reckless driving near other people. I specifically wanted to put near other people in there because I still want kids to be kids. I want them to be able to explore and have fun and go outside and enjoy themselves on our bikes. Um, but I think it's important to understand that, um, you can't regulate a speed across the board either, because I think, for example, that, that issue where the golf cart, where someone ran to the back of it, if you make them go slower, which is probably what happens. If somebody is doing, can only do 25 on that golf cart and somebody is coming by at 35 or 45, they're going to hit the back of that cart. And that, that's an issue. So for example, you want to regulate e-bike speeds. Well, on the side of the road, I don't want to push a kid on the side of the road and have them limited to 20 miles an hour. I, if anything, I want him to be able to keep up with traffic so that he is not at risk of getting hit in the back, like what happened with that cart. So I just, just put it out there that think it through, we got to, we got to make sure that we do it right. It's the future. We don't want to put people in danger because we're scared of, of, you know, what other possibilities there are. All right. Thank you, Mr. Hammer. Did you want to finish what you were saying? No. All right. Mr. Connors. Thank you, Mary Young. Um, I think because we, as a TPO can't lobby, uh, collectively instead of saying support, maybe we say we'll monitor the situation and then each community can advocate for what makes the most sense for them because then we're not collectively, uh, taking a stand together. And then the bigger issue that nobody's talking about is these electric bikes are not paying into the gas tax for the transportation trust fund and they're tearing up our streets. Oh, they're not paying their taxes. Okay. Thank you. Um, Mr. Lett, did you want to comment on that? Um, so mayor, were you suggesting we don't say support safe operations of e-bikes and scooters and say, uh, monitor? Just monitor any legislation coming with that. Well, I will, um, what is the board's pleasure? Hold on. You still have more comments, Ms. Delaney? Are we, um, are, are, are we towards the end of this conversation or can we talk about some of the other things? It's done. Yeah. Yes. Feel free. So one of the things that I was, um, a little surprised to hear from one of the members of the state, um, was that they were under the assumption that we could go and advocate for more funding, um, from the district because I was talking to them about how the other districts and district five get a lot more money than we do in Brevard County and, uh, and so on. Um, and which I, that's not how it goes. We kind of get told how much we get, right? Well, um, you know, we turn our priority list over to DOT. Um, they, um, they monitor, um, they look at fair share, um, you know, and they, they, they look at, you know, we are competing against the central Florida region. There's no question about that. Um, the central Florida region is the fastest growing region. And so the space coast is competing against, you know, Metroplan Orlando, um, the, um, Volusia Flagler TPO, uh, Lake Sumter where the villages is and one of the fastest growing counties. So we're competing against all of that. And so it is a challenge. Now, when I, you as a local government can certainly, you know, this is where you carry the water for us. Uh, you can certainly go and lobby and advocate for our policy positions, um, you know, and, and talking to legislators about funding and, and bringing certain priorities to their attention like I did when I spoke at the delegation meeting. You know, I, I thank them for Ellis and I mentioned that we have the 401 bridge that is so important and we have South Babcock and Malabar. So, you know, these are all important things that we want them to, to help us with. And I also mentioned, uh, State Road 524. See, they're all my babies. Okay. But I, it's just like bringing the money. And, um, so, so I want, you know, please feel comfortable doing that. It's just, we, me as the director and staff cannot, uh, we can't lobby. We can't use federal funding to lobby. Right. But you can certainly use your voice to, to, you know, talk to our legislators. Um, but we do have to walk that fine line. Uh, you know, talking with Secretary Tyler and talking with a district is very important. But instead of going, um, you know, I think he would want to sit down first. I, um, you know, uh, we sat down with Secretary Tyler and we went over all of our priorities and, and we have that relationship. We talked to, to, to staff about that. Um, but you know, when the department funds our priorities, everyone wins, but we are competing. So it was just, it's, it's, it's challenging. Right. But I, I guess I was just looking for clarification on that, that money is, we're basically told as a TPO, we're told how much money we're allocated. Only that actually, no, no, we just, we turn our priority list over and the department funds our priorities, uh, with available funding. Um, what we do get as a TPO organization, we get, uh, the TPO gets seven and a half to eight million dollars a year in our federal funding that we use for projects. That's not a lot of money for transportation. So basically what we are able to do is we take that seven to eight million dollars, we get that every year and we leverage it. Again, that's how we funded, um, you know, uh, the PD&E for Malabar. We, we used half of that and got TRIP funding is how we funded the PD&E for South Babcock. Um, basically we're leveraging it. We had our SU funding, it's called SU, uh, all over Ellis. And then we were able to put money along with it. So, so basically we're leveraging as much as we can to get as many of our priorities funded. So we do get an allocation for the TPO. But as far as the DOT's state and federal money, we turn over our priority list and they fund the projects as they see fit. Okay. Um, and so I think I also wanted to say something about the move over for people. That, um, you know, I see what it is doing right now for just the, um, emergency vehicles. And I mean, you see people flying on 95 and watching, you know, and almost getting into a car wreck just to move over. And so I wonder what that will look like if it's bikes, people, all of that stuff. So, uh, Florida continues to rank as one of the worst states, uh, for pedestrian fatalities. So that's where this is coming from. Um, and so there's been a lot, over the years, there's been a lot of support for what they call move over for people. And I mean, you know, you don't want to be at the top of that list, but we continue to be at the top of the list. And Brevard County, uh, was in the top 10. Um, and so that's not good. Uh, and so, um, you know, as, you know, pedestrians, bicyclists, disabled individuals, you know, it's just, if you're going to move over for a vehicle on the side of I-95, it's like, surely most of us would move over anyway. Right, exactly. You wouldn't think you would need a law for that, but apparently you do. So that's where that's coming from. Is that your question, Ms. Delaney? Yes. We're good? All right. Are there any questions on this item? Before we ask for a motion and a second in approval of the changes, um, you have the changes? I, I'm not clear. Are we, are we taking out the part about going to the state for more regulation here? So it sounds like to me we're going to, uh, this year we're going to leave the golf cart discussion off. Perhaps we revisit it next year. And the e-bike. Um, and so for the safe operations for e-bikes and scooters, do we want to change it from support to monitor or keep it at support? Because it sounds like everyone is pretty much in agreement with that one. There are no, there are no laws for, for e-bikes and e-scooters whatsoever. I mean, can we do a vote just for this, that, that one, and then see if you want to add it? Uh, that, that is the only new, uh, uh, uh, position. So if, if you're, you know, whatever your, your pleasure is on that one, do you want to keep it at support or monitor? And that will, and that will finish the policy position. What's the wishes of the board? How many people wanted to go to the monitor? I'll go to the monitor. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. I think that's pretty much priority. Okay. Okay. All right. So then can we get a motion to monitor? Actually, can we, actually the whole thing is the approval. Yes. The motion is to approve. Approve the, uh, policy positions, uh, with the change from, uh, support safe operations for electric bikes to monitor safe operations for electric bikes. And e-scooters. And e-scooters. Gotcha. All right. Thank you. And there's a second? Second from Delaney. Second from Delaney. All right. Thank you. All right. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, say nay. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Well, that was easy. Thank you. Okay. All right. Next, uh, next item, um, Ms. Carter. And this is going to be legal services agreement. Thank you. As you recall, last month, um, Georgiana had mentioned that we received word from our, um, legal representative, Christine Odinger, that she was resigning from the firm, um, which she had taken over for Mr. Gugelman, who had served us for over 30 years. Um, we'd also discussed that with the executive committee and we were given direction to really look into, um, um, a contract with our partners over in Metroplan who utilize Densmore and Shoal. Um, um, one of the things that we were considering, you know, is existing firm of White Sorority. If we were to go with that, um, firm and continue with them, they're located in South Florida. They're not local. Um, we're having to pay additional fee for a long travel commute to come up to our meetings every time. Um, and we looked at other areas surrounding us too, um, what's that slide's not in there? That Indian River NPO, they utilize, um, the county legal services because they're embedded with the county down there. Volusia Flagler TPO to the north, they actually are out to bid right now and they're selecting a new, uh, legal representation. And then Metroplan Orlando, as we mentioned, utilizes Densmore and Shoal. So, uh, we did go and work with them, uh, that firm has over 750 attorneys nationwide. They have a deep resource, um, for utilizing them. And then, uh, Mr. J. Small, I would like to introduce Mr. Small. I hate to call you out. Um, he has, had made the trip over here today to just meet with our executive committee and discuss his, um, experiences. He has over 35 years with the firm. Um, he's worked with the Metroplan for at least the last eight to 10 years as their lead counsel. Um, he has great extensive knowledge of how MPOs operate and the contract itself, um, which is in your agenda package. Um, the rates that are in there are 450 per hour for partner, 375 per hour for an associate and 185 for paralegal. The agreement would be effective for one year. Um, we would annually extend that annually with a review. One of the recommendations that was approved by the executive committee, and they did approve moving forward, uh, and into the agreement with them, was to change the anniversary of, uh, an annual increase from 7% to 5%. So at the maximum that we would be increasing, the rates would be 5% per year. Um, with that, um, I would like to recommend, have any questions, but recommend approval of the legal services agreement because we do not have Mr. Capizzi. Do we know how much money we've spent in legal fees in the past year? It really fluctuates year to year depending on how many agreements we have. Um, some years like this past year is probably going to be 15, 20,000. Um, the rates that are in the new proposal are, you know, pretty competitive with what's out there. I don't anticipate our rates increasing all that much, um, when we have a year that we don't have very many, uh, agreements that have to be reviewed, it could be maybe 15,000. Okay. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Any other questions for Ms. Carter? No? All right. Motion to approve. Thanks. I'm sorry. I'm seeing, are you pointing to Mr. Altman? Yes. Mr. Altman, did you have a question? Yeah. I was just looking at the agreement. Um, are we paying for travel time? I know. Yes. They live in Orlando. Are we paying the same fee while they're driving as we would? Yes. That's what we were doing with the existing or the previous firm, Ysorto, when they drove up from, uh, well, actually, Christine was from Tampa, but you paid for two and a half hours over and two and a half hours back. At the full fee? Yeah. No, it's not uncommon that consulting engineering companies charge 50% for the drive time. And with cell phones, they can make client calls. They can do other things. That just seems expensive. And my gut feeling is, why don't we hire somebody from Brevard so we're not paying all that travel time? One of the reasons why it's difficult is we were trying to find a firm that has experience with MPOs. With Paul serving for so many years, there were no Brevard County firms that had experience with an MPO because we are the only MPO. And there's only 27 MPOs in the state. So having that experience with how our operations are set up is kind of difficult. Any municipal attorney should have the ability to do MPO work. That's my gut felt. I'd prefer local if we're paying that kind of travel time. We have one year with him, and then we can look at this in a year from now and see if that's where we want to go. So I think we have to keep us going at this point in time. Just give him one year time and see where we are, cost, effect, and everything else. Ms. Delaney. Could we ask him if he's amenable to the 50% for travel time? Mr. Small, did you want to respond to that? Yes, please come to the microphone. While he's coming up, how many times a month would he come up? Would he come here? Just for this meeting? Yeah, we have roughly nine meetings per year. And historically, we've always paid for legal services travel time. So this isn't anything new that we've paid for. Is there a motion on the floor? No, there is not. Not yet. I thought we were not. No, we're coming. Mr. Small is on his way up to respond to the travel time charge. I don't mind taking it up to our executive committee to make that adjustment. As I explained to Ms. Carter and Ms. Gillette, part of the dynamics of a big law firm is there's only so much leeway that I have to compromise my standard hourly rate, which is $640 an hour. My effective hourly rate is closer to $790 an hour because I do condemnation work. I don't mind doing that. And I can represent to you that I think that given my effective hourly rate, the powers that be up in Cincinnati will stay out of my way. Since the agreement that the board has in its agenda package needs to be revised, because I don't want to have a cross through where we go from 7% to 5%, I'd prefer to have just a clean agreement. It'd probably take me a day or two. If that's the direction of the board, I think I can have a revised agreement back to staff at 50% for the travel time and the 5%. There's also another blank that needs to be inserted. I need input from staff on that. So I'm fine with taking that back if that's what the board's preference is and direction is. Any other questions? Any other questions from Mr. Small? No? All right. Thank you very much for responding. Thank you. All right. So are we going to leave this here and accept it later? Are we going to wait for the revised contract? Ms. Carter? I would like permission for approval if that is approved by his firm, because we don't meet again until December, and I have multiple contracts I need to legal advice on. We will approve the recommendation stated by Esquire Small, if they're approved by his company. All right. We have a motion on the floor from Mr. Blake and a second by Mr. Jaffe. All right. Alba? Real quick. So you were saying we're voting, if he brings it to half, then we'll approve it. And the 5% as opposed to the 7%. Thank you. Yes. All right. So we have a motion on the floor from Mr. Blake and a second from Mr. Jaffe. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, say nay. Motion carries. Thank you very much. All right. Next item, Ms. Crum. And this is Governing Board's Strategic Plan. Thank you. All right. Good afternoon, Sarah Crum, Senior Transportation Planner. I'm going to try and keep this relatively short and sweet. So this should actually say 2007 to 2009. I apologize. We made the decision to change it from fiscal year to calendar year because you serve under a calendar year rather than a fiscal year as your term starts in January. So I apologize. I made that change after making the presentation. Um, so as you recall, back in April, we had a workshop and I'll touch on that shortly. But, um, so right now we're bringing the draft board's strategic plan forward to you to kind of give you a, um, sense of where this falls in our organization is obviously you're the governing board. You provide us policy and direction for the TPO as a whole, um, 19 elected officials and you fall under Florida statute 339.175 to be, you guide the governing board strategic plan, which provides specific actions for the governing board members and provides direction to staff for their strategic plan. We then annually develop a staff strategic plan, which outlines the activities that the staff is going to be conducting that year. Um, and then that ultimately leads into our unified planning work program, which is our two year like working budget essentially, is it's where we actually take items within the staff strategic plan and all of the activities that we have to complete within those two years. And we, you know, put money to those and we plan out staffing resources. So our mission, um, as an organization, as a reminder is to plan a transportation system that enhances quality of life and economic development by engaging the community. Our vision is to provide a safe multimodal, innovative and resilient transportation system for all. So as I mentioned back in April, we did have a board workshop. It was very interactive. We tried to engage you. We brought in a consultant, um, to get some outside perspective. And what came out of that is that the priorities were, were funding collaboration slash communication and linking mobility and land use were really the top three ranking, um, emphasis areas that were discussed that day. So we took that back and all the information you gave us. And over the last several months have been massaging and kind of trying to actually take all that info and develop a plan. So what we came up with is for our emphasis areas, we'd have funding the future, partnership and outreach, linking mobility and land use, while still kind of keeping some of the focus areas from the prior strategic plan, as well as adding a new one. So the new one would be efficiency and transparency. Um, and then we have technology and data safety and vision zero and resiliency and sustainability. So the focus areas are more broads, broad that we would integrate into the emphasis areas as appropriate. So I'm just going to walk through the three emphasis areas. And so that is funding the future, expand and leverage regional and sustainable funding sources to increase priority project implementation. What we were hearing is that, um, one of the major problems is the current gas tax revenue is not a sustainable long-term transportation funding source. And our ultimate performance measure is for governing board members to take an active role on the local, state, and federal level to expand and leverage transportation funding. We would do this through a series of actions. So monitor upcoming federal reauthorization bill, engage legislators in conversations about state legislation that negatively impact the state transportation trust fund, only pursue appropriations if they are drawn from general revenue, encourage legislators to support and fund FDOT's research on potential revenue replacement options, leverage state and federal funding through local match, and pursue new local funding sources on a county-wide level to assist in funding the TPO's regional priorities. Next emphasis area is partnership and outreach. So encourage public participation and board engagement through collaboration and partnership within the community. The two problems that we were really hearing during our workshop was lack of public understanding on the process and funding of transportation projects, and a need to increase stakeholder communication related to transportation. So our performance measure would be increased open communication with stakeholders from, um, the public as well as also to the elected officials. It's a little bit of a shorter list. So report relevant TPO actions and policies to your respective councils and boards. Share the TPO social media posts and news. Attend TPO workshops or events. Um, and to communicate with D5 FDOT staff and secretary with issues of concerns. Last emphasis area is linking mobility and land use, a plan network that provides transportation choices and linkages to community and economic resources. The large problem that we are hearing is transportation. The transportation network does not reflect the needs of the surrounding development and land uses. Ultimately, we're looking for increased connectivity mobility choices and opportunities for smart growth within the Space Coast area. This is a little bit of a longer list. So support municipal development of land use codes and policies that support the transportation system. Ensure comprehensive plans are utilized and include a connected network for all modes of transportation. Explore opportunities to connect transportation hubs and further transit-oriented development, including the COCO multimodal passenger rail station. Approve the TPO's development of relevant plans and programs, such as sidewalk gap analyses, trail projects, ITS, master plan, and others that, you know, we bring to you over the years. Support, fund, and expand Space Coast area transit system. Fund and mobility on demand program within a municipality. Fund and fund projects that improve connectivity to affordable housing by improving system connectivity and mode choice. So our next steps are ultimately going to be that I am going to send this out to you through Zoe. And so you'll have a review and board comment period through the end of the month, almost, October 30th. And, of course, I can also take comments today. But we'll take any kind of comments, do any kind of massaging or tweaking that we need to, and then adopt in December. So with that, I'll take any questions or comments today. Any questions from Ms. Crum? Good. It was a great report. Okay. Well, thank you. All right. Thank you very, very much. Are there any further comments for the good of the order? All right. In that case, we will not meet again until December 11th at 1.30. Same spot, same time. So, and we will have the elections at that time. So please be thinking what you would like to do. I will, this will be my last meeting. I'm sorry, December will be my last meeting. I will finish that meeting, correct? And then in January, when you come in, the new chair will be sitting here. Anything else, Ms. Gillette? You will still be on the board, but you will, your term limits have ran out. Well, I'm going to let my board know, because someone else may want to be the TPO person. So it may or may not be here. So goodbye if I don't see you. But I'll see you at any rate. I'll see you December 11th sitting here. So we are adjourned. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Altman, could you hold on a second? We'll be right back.