Welcome to a meeting of your Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. Representing District 1, Harry Cohen. Representing District 2, Ken Hagan. Representing District 3, Gwen Myers. Representing District 4, Christine Miller. Representing District 5, Donna Cameron Cepeda. Representing District 6, Chris Bowles. Representing District 7, Joshua Wostel. The county administrator is Bonnie Wise. The county attorney is Julia Mandel. Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for citizens to speak on any issue. So we have time for everyone. Speakers are asked to limit their comments to three minutes. Today's meeting is brought to you with closed captioning by Hillsborough Television. Good morning. Welcome to the May 6, 2026 regularly scheduled board meeting of the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. Would everyone please rise for the pledge and invocation given by our chaplain, Commissioner Gwen Myers. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Oh, gracious Heavenly Father, I come to you again, thanking you for this county, thanking you for this board leadership. Father God, I ask for a special blessing for the Elseworked G. Simmons Award and honored to our sheriff today. He's a visionary in our county. Our crime has been decreased. He protects us and all the visitors that come here as well. I ask for a special blessing as I recognize the sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, this morning for their services that they give to our county and to the city. Father, bless us, protect us, our first responders, in all that we do. I ask that you bless this meeting in your holy name I pray. Amen. Thank you, Commissioner Myers. The first item this morning is a very special one for both the Board of County Commissioners and the people of Hillsborough County. It is our pleasure to present the 2026 Ellsworth G. Simmons Good Government Award. First, Vice Chair Miller will present the history of the award. Commissioner, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Board of County Commissioners established the Ellsworth G. Simmons Good Government Award in 1996 to honor an individual or group for the significant role they play in improving government through leadership and vision. The Ellsworth G. Simmons Good Government Award is named in honor of a respected government and civic leader who served seven years on the Hillsborough County School Board and 21 years on the Board of County Commissioners. Through Mr. Simmons' efforts and involvement in such initiatives as the University of South Florida, Tampa International Airport, and University Community Hospital, he helped transform Hillsborough County. Since the first Ellsworth G. Simmons Good Government Award was presented to the late U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons in 1997, Hillsborough County has had the pleasure and honor to recognize the achievements and lives of 29 other individuals whose dedication to public service has strengthened the county's legacy. Other past winners include Florida Speaker of the House, H. Lee Moffitt, Judge E.J. Salsines, Governor Bob Martinez, and Crisis Center of Tampa Bay CEO, Clara Reynolds. Last year's recipients was Louis G. Betts, Jr., a local civic leader and consultant. First, I want to recognize the Simmons family and the other members of the award selection committee. We are very pleased that we continue to have a member of the Simmons family involved in this award. Michelle Henry, the late commissioner's granddaughter, serves every year and is here today. We also thank the other committee members who made nominations and recommended finalists. We appreciate your service. If you could, please stand and be recognized as I call your names. Michelle Henry, granddaughter of the Ellsworth G. Simmons. Brenda Thrower, committee chair, Freddie Barton, Joe Gidring, Rico Smith, Piero Wong, and Mary Wood. Thank you all very, very much. Thank you, Commissioner Miller. This is a very special year for this award. I am pleased to announce that starting this year, the Ellsworth G. Simmons Good Government Award recipients will be honored on a special permanent display in the lobby here at County Center. The display will feature a plaque and image of the most recent winner, as well as images of past winners, along with the names of all winners going back to 1997, when Sam Gibbons was the first recipient. Next to the wall display will be a plaque honoring my former legislative aide, Rich Reedy. Before his passing a few months ago, Rich envisioned and led the establishment of this permanent display to honor those who share his passion for public service, as exemplified by the recipients of the Ellsworth G. Simmons Good Government Award. In fact, there was a motion by the selection committee this year to recognize and support the board's action to acknowledge Mr. Reedy on his efforts in creating the new display. Our deepest thanks to the selection committee. The permanent display further solidifies the legacy of this prestigious award that recognizes our brightest beacons of leadership. I'm proud to have played a part in establishing it and seeing Mr. Reedy's vision to conclusion. Now on to our presentation. The individuals who earned this award over the past 29 years have contributed profound, positive impacts to Hillsborough County. These leaders shaped this community into what it is today. Today, I'm honored to announce that this year's recipient is Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. Sheriff, would you please join me at the podium? Sheriff, welcome. It's a pleasure to recognize this exceptional leader and friend who served 34 honorable years at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Since his appointment by Governor Rick Scott in 2017 and subsequent re-election three times, Sheriff Chronister has guided the agency with a vision rooted in accountability, operational excellence, and lasting community partnerships. During his tenure, crime in Hillsborough County has seen a sustained decline, driven by his emphasis on proactive policy, interagency collaboration, and data-driven enforcement strategies. Additionally, Sheriff Chronister is committed to a culture of professionalism. Under his leadership, the agency has strongly invested in training and best practices, modernized tools and equipment, and established its own accredited law enforcement and detention training academy, as well as an advanced training facility. He has also championed innovative public safety initiatives, including enhanced mental health and crisis intervention training, and targeted enforcement of internet predators to combat human trafficking. Sheriff Chronister has prioritized specialized enforcement efforts, creating dedicated squads that reduce crime in critical areas. These include a gun reduction squad, violent crime squad, opioid overdose squad, gang squad, organized retail theft squad, auto theft squad, interdiction criminal apprehension team, and DUI enforcement squad. Most recently, a domestic violence squad was established to proactively identify and intervene in domestic violence cases, further recognizing the urgent need to address violence that too often remains hidden in the home. Sheriff Chronister is equally committed to rehabilitation. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office operates the only state-certified drug treatment program in a Florida jail and a mental health unit, reflecting his belief in a holistic approach to treating the root causes of crime. He launched the Veterans Resurgence Program to treat and support incarcerated veterans, and he opened a vocational training center, providing inmates with educational courses and real-world skills that reduce recidivism and help them build a proactive path forward. Sheriff Chronister has also led significant investments in advanced technology to improve deputy safety, public transparency, and real-time crime analysis. He oversaw the development of a real-time crime center, an in-house firearms lab, DNA lab, and digital forensics lab, each designed to streamline investigations, accelerate evidence processing, and bring swift justice for victims. The sheriff's also well-known and respected outside of his department. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Regional Domestic Security Task Force for Region 4 Tampa Bay and as a council member of the Florida Attorney General's Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, Florida Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council, and Hillsborough County Public Safety Coordinating Council. Sheriff Chad Chronister was recognized for his visionary leadership with the 2023 NAACP Walter Moses Burton Unsung Hero Award. In 2024, the sheriff was honored with the inaugural Compassion Champion Award by the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay for his work to help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health in the community. His dedication—it's okay to clap. His dedication—I'm almost there. Sheriff, you've done a lot, okay? A lot. His dedication to the law and the sheriff's office is matched only by his love for his wife, Nikki DeBartolo, and two sons. He cites his faith in the example set by his grandfather, a decorated World War II Marine, for inspiring his lifelong commitment to service. Sheriff, you've provided tremendous leadership to Hillsborough County and the state of Florida for decades. This award further illustrates how significant accomplishments have been. Your service to others sets an example for us all and embodies the spirit of the Ellsworth G. Simmons Good Government Award. Your name will be added to perpetual plaque that lists all the previous winners. I'm also pleased to tell you that your picture and plaque that includes your name will be added to the Ellsworth G. Simmons Good Government Award display in the county center. We are grateful for your work and dedication to our community. The Hillsborough County and Boarding County Commissioners is proud to congratulate you. With that, I'm pleased to give this. Sheriff, thank you for everything that you've done and continue to do for our community. Please share with us a few words. Thank you, Mr. Chair, the Simmons family, the entire Ellsworth Simmons Committee, this distinguished board that I have absolute distinct pleasure every time I'm able to appear in front of you. Anyone who's able to ever receive such a distinguished honor as being and receiving such incredible recognition never stands here and celebrates success alone. To every relationship that we have in this community, every partnership that we have to our criminal justice partner, Susie Lopez, the entire executive staff that I have the pleasure of working with each and every day. And the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners, County Administrator Bonnie Wise, your entire staff, and the entire Hillsborough County Administration. When you talk about good government, you can't talk about good government and not talk about being prepared. You can't talk about good government and not talk about being budget responsible. You can't talk about good government and sustaining such tremendous, significant, and historic crime reductions without talking about the Board of County Commissioners and the County Administrator and the entire administration that provides our office with the tools, resources, equipment, benefits, innovation that we need to keep this community so safe and so vibrant. I'm extremely humbled and grateful and grateful and I accept this word on all 4,273 members and dedicated individuals that are the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Thank you, everyone. Don't go anywhere yet. Sheriff, Sheriff, don't go anywhere. We're going to get a couple pictures. But Sheriff, you're an amazing man. You have an amazing team behind you. And we're proud to be your partner and proud of everything that you and the Sheriff's Office has accomplished under your tenure. And with that, board members, anyone want to say a few words? Anyone? Commissioner Cohen. That was a beautiful ceremony and I just think that Commissioner Hagan, you said it beautifully and Sheriff, of course, your words are always inspiring. But I wanted to just take a minute to thank you personally. I don't know if people realize when you sign up for a job like this, it's seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You are the sheriff all the time. It doesn't matter where you go and what you are doing. And it means that you're willing to take on this burden on all of our behalf. And it just, it gives me and I know the whole board a tremendous amount of pleasure to be able to thank you for being able, for being willing to step up to that responsibility and to do it so beautifully. So thank you. Can I speak? Yes. I just wanted to say thank you. I think Commissioner Myers hit the nail on the head when she said that we're going to be able to honor a visionary leader. And that's truly what you are. I just hope that everybody in the county knows that that visionary leadership comes from your heart, watching you care about every single person that not only you employ, but that comes through your facilities and your passion for the recidivism rate, nailed it the first time, is just really what I think separates Hillsborough County from all the others. And I appreciate your service and dedication to all of us. Thank you very much. And Chef, lastly, just thank you for your leadership and all that you do for our county. We certainly appreciate your support and all the time. Thank you. He calling up the rest of his folks. Will Audrey Sullivan Moore, chair of the social action committee for Tampa alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, please join me at the podium along with three other members of Delta Sigma Theta. Bring them all. Put some pep in your step, Robbie. Thank you, Robbie. Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. Now, I would like to ask the other members of Delta Sigma Theta to stand and be recognized. Thank you. You may be seated. This is one of my favorite times of the year. A truly great tradition. Each spring, the board presents a proclamation to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated honoring its steadfast efforts and unwaving dedication to the community. Two alumni chapters, Delta alumni and Tampa Metropolitan alumni, along with two collegiate chapters, Kappa Iota at the University of South Florida and Tai Iota at the University of Tampa, provides outstanding service and support to our residents that make a world of a difference in our community. For their efforts, I'm proud to honor them and the entire sisterhood today with this proclamation. It reads, whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated is a private not-for-profit organization of college-educated committed to providing assistance and support through established programs in local communities around the world. Since its founding in 1913, the sorority has distinguished itself as an organization that boldly confronts and challenges facing African-Americans and, by extension, all Americans. Today, its membership exceeds 350,000 initiated members in more than 1,050 chapter charter collegiate and alumni chapters across the United States, the Bahamas, the United Kingdom, Buran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwaita, Oman, Bermuda, Canada, Germany, Jamaica, Japan, West Africa, South Africa, South Korea, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and whereas Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated is dedicated to culture, educational, and service-oriented activities that uphold high cultural, intellectual, and moral standards. Its work is guided by five-point programmatic thrusts, economic development, educational development, international awareness and involvement, fiscal and mental health, and political awareness and involvement, with a strong emphasis on social action. And whereas, social action has been the fine element of the sorority's mission since its participation in the historic women's suffrage March of 19, March of 1913. The sorority continued its advocacy as a non-governmental organization, member of the United Nations, and through its National Social Action Commission, and D4 Women in Action. And whereas, the Tampa Alumni Chapter Chartered in 1947, the Tampa Metropolitan Alumni Chapter Chartered in 2003, the Kappa Iota Chapter at the University of South Florida Chartered in 1973, and the TAR Iota Chapter at the University of Tampa Chartered in 2001, provide dedicated service to the residents of Hillsborough County. These chapters champion social change and public policy, support quality education and scholarship for high school seniors, promote economic development initiatives, and work to improve the holistic well-being of minority population locally and national and globally. And whereas, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated honors its recently departed 25th National President, Dr. Paulette C. Walker, who visionary leadership and steadfast commitment of service, mentorship and civic engagement profoundly impacted countless individuals and communities. And whereas, other distinguished members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated include former State Senator Athenia Joyner, former Democrat leader of the Florida Senate, the Honorable Frenchess Driscoll, Minority Leader of the Florida House of Representatives, and State Representative for District 667, the Honorable Charlene Edwards Honeywell, the United States District Judge Judge for the Middle District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, and the and the late Gwendolyn Henderson Tampa City Council member for District 5. And whereas, in alignment with the theme of the 37th Annual Delta Days in the nation capital, One Delta, One Mission, One Strategy. The Social Action Committee of the Tampa Chapters are convening this 20th Annual Delta Day at County Commission. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Board of County Commissioners of Hillsborough County, Florida, does hereby declare May 6, 2026, as the 20th Annual Delta Day in Hillsborough County, and commend the Tampa Chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated on their years of continued exemplary service to Hillsborough County and its citizens executed this 6th day of May, 2026. Madam Chair, would you like to say a few words, please? Good morning, everyone. Good morning. For more than a century, Delta Sigma Theta has stood at the intersection of civic engagement, advocacy, and social action. This year, we celebrated our 22nd Delta Days at the United Nations, our 37th Delta Days at the nation's capital, our 32nd Delta Days at the state capital, and today, our 20th Delta Day at the county commission. We receive this proclamation annually, but we do not take it for granted. We would like to make sure that the county commissioners know that we appreciate you for all of your support. But we do want to recognize, especially Commissioner Myers for her dedicated and steadfast advocacy for our D9 organizations and our communities. This partnership has enabled us to take our initiatives and our community programs to the next level, and we look forward to the continued partnership. Thank you so much. And I'd just like to say to Delta Sigma Theta, a sorority incorporated, how much I appreciate what you all do in our community. The empowerment of our young people, you are always there to give service and to make sure that the education and scholarship is among the top level that you all provide to our youth. Thank you all so much. So come on up, Deltas. Let's take a picture. We're going to take a group picture. If you can't come up, it's okay. You can just, you know, you got to move fast. We have a meeting. Thank you, Commissioner Myers. Bonnie, we'll review the changes to the agenda. Yes. Good morning, commissioners. We have one item for board consideration pursuant to rule 13 rules of order by Commissioner Hagan. This is item F3, regarding a discussion regarding the county's role in the Hart's bus stop relocation policy. We have one off the agenda item, item G2. This is to receive a report regarding the Hillsborough County Swim Safety Initiative Drowning Prevention Program. We have one item that has been deferred to a date to be determined, item A8, which is to set a public hearing to consider a draft ordinance to amend the Hillsborough County Code of Ordinances and Laws relating to the senior citizen discount for the solid waste non-advalorem disposal assessment. We have a few items for time certain. The first one is item D1 at 10 o'clock. This is to conduct the first of two required public hearings to consider the adoption of a resolution expanding the geographic area of the county seat beyond the city of Tampa to include all lands lying within the boundaries of Hillsborough County. The second item is item G1 at 1015. This is to receive a report regarding fiscal impact, any potential grant or financing options, and outline any potential next steps to the concerns of the residents of the Sunset Manor and Lutes within their privately managed water system. 1145 is the recess for lunch. Those are the changes to the agenda. Committee have a motion to approve the changes. Move to approve. Second. Mr. Meyer. Second Commissioner Willstall. Please record your vote. Changes the agenda. Motion carried. Seven to zero. May the board go on to public comment. The board welcomes comments from the citizens about any issue or concerns. Your opinions are valued in terms of providing valuable input to board members. However, at the same time, it is requested that when you address the board, the comments are not directed personally at staff or the board members, but rather the issues. We've set aside 45 minutes for public comment this morning. When you come forward, please state your name, speak clearly into the microphone. The first three speakers are Colleen Kruk, followed by Karen Jarosch, and then Denise Herndon. Good morning. I am Colleen Kruk. I live in Lutes, and I'm the president of the Sunset Manor HOA. I want to thank you all for evaluating our subdivision's needs and placing this on the agenda for today. I'm going to tell you a little background. In 1987, a developer was permitted by this county, as well as DEP and Swift Mud, to build our well. Our well is 450 feet deep, and our system was built to serve many, many homes. But it only serves 21 homes, and our developer never marketed our well to other developments and exclusively managed it until 2007 to recoup his investment. Then suddenly he terminated his control over the well and took our reserve funds. We had no reserve funds from then on and had to build up whatever we have today, and that was in 2007. Right now, the reason why we're here today is because we're facing costs of over $150,000 to repair our system. Our system is now over 40 years old. It's, as I said, a deep system with a large tank, and it needs a lot of repairs. The amount of money that we would have to raise in 21 homes, it's a great impact to the community. The specifics of our repairs have been provided to county staff back in October 2025. Staff report today has four options for us. To be very honest with the commission, not all of them are really what we expected. What we really need is for the county to take over our system until it can provide us county water. County staff have indicated that that would be troublesome for them to do because we don't meet code specifications or technical standards according to county procedure and policy. So, therefore, they, right now, do not think that they can assume control of our system. The county cannot provide us water until 2029. Some references that we've gotten from county engineers as well as others have been more likely that won't happen until 2031, which means we would have to make our repairs and continue to manage the system. There are no grants or funding sources for us for private public well systems. These types of grants are only available to local governments. And so, what we're asking is that the county strongly consider our situation, especially during these economic times, and find a way to assume the management of our system. Again, we are only 21 homes, and this is a great burden. We have written estimates to prove that we're facing $150,000 in repairs. We are mostly concerned about the Hillsborough County Health Department, that they will make us make additional changes that we could not afford. Thank you, Ms. Crug. We ask that you give us consideration today. Appreciate your comments. Karen Jarosz, followed by Denise Herndon, and then Myosha Powell. Good morning. Good morning. Commissioners, my name is Karen Jarosz, and I'm speaking on agenda item A64, which is the Tampa Sports Authority meeting minutes. After reading those minutes, I'm alarmed that even the Tampa Sports Authority, a body generally supportive of sports facilities, raised significant red flags that have still not been adequately addressed. At the meeting, a TSA board member asked whether an appraisal was done for the HCC campus before it is essentially handed over to the Rays. Excellent point. Before we hand over 130 acres of prime public land to the Rays, taxpayers deserve to know what exactly we're giving up, not just what we're getting. These are questions. There are also questions about what the Rays Promise contribution actually includes. Is it only the stadium construction? Does it also cover costs for land, parking, infrastructure, or relocation costs of HCC? If not, then their contribution pales to the public cost to taxpayers because we pay city, county, state, and federal. They're talking about federal grants as well. There are also concerns raised about the six cent tourist tax and most importantly, the CIT tax. Voters were told in 2024 funds were strictly for roads, schools funding, public safety, and other critical infrastructure, not a billionaire's ballpark. There are basic reasonable questions coming from inside the process, yet months after these questions were raised, we still don't have answers. We now know the public subsidy could easily top $2 billion once you consider bonding and interest costs. We're talking about diverting massive taxpayer resources while the county has serious unfunded needs for roads, flood control, and public safety. Meanwhile, the artificial June 1 deadline is approaching. The county's own attorneys have flagged dozens of unresolved issues in the MOU, and the full cost of relocating HCC remains vague and unfunded. To the commissioners who are supporting this deal or who remain on the fence, the public is paying close attention. Before you commit to this billionaire ballpark using money we voted to spend on real infrastructure priorities, you need to recognize the red flags the TSA has raised, among others. I urge you to stop this project instead of rushing towards a taxpayer-funded gift to the Rays. Protect Hillsborough taxpayers first. And if county dollars are used, let taxpayers decide at the ballot box. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Roche. Denise Herndon, followed by Mo Chapal and then Donny Rutherford. Good morning. Good morning. I'm Denise Herndon. I totally agree with the last speaker. The taxpayers don't need to be funding private billionaires or sorority sisters arts and cultural center. As far as our increase in our solid waste collection and stuff there, I've been going through some of the county records, and for some reason I can't print up why isn't everybody paying the same amount that does not have senior discounts like I do. Some are paying none. Some are paying 700 right now, which isn't for the non-ed valorem collection and disposal. Someone needs to address these issues. The county is losing money in places, and as far as these only 21 homes to hook up, that is a precedence that will affect 190 other communities. Not 190 other homes, but 190 other communities. From what I'm understanding and reading this is that they can be given 30-year loans on this, but why should the county put a precedence for many other communities over just 21 homes? It's something that we shouldn't be taking a responsibility. I can understand a loan, but we had voted to have the CIT pay for fire stations, sidewalks, infrastructure, and it's not to pay for an arts and cultural center or a baseball park, and it's not to pay in our ad valorem taxes under the sports authority. Something has to stop with this spending of county commissioners and not really realizing. And I want all the Delta sisters to walk over to the site 2103 where they want this arts and cultural center and see what the community is like. It doesn't even address exactly where this building is going to be. Why should we county taxpayers have to pay for this? I can see funding for a nonprofit like any other nonprofit, but not to be given up all of our money to fund something and, oh, look it, I've done this, billionaires. We got a baseball park. Oh, Delta sisters, we have this. I truly want, walk, don't drive. I had to take the bus and walk over there to find out where this place was. Thank you. Thank you. Myosha Powell, followed by Donnie Rutherford, and then Benjamin Diabold. Is Ms. Powell on the line? Yes. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. I thank you for taking the time to let me speak. My concern too is with agenda item A64. I did go over some portion of the minutes of the sports authority for the previous meeting. Now, my concern is about the finances because yes, they're requesting, at least it's from my understanding, at least a billion, if not more, of tax dollars. And it has yet to be really delineated as to what the expenses are going to be to us, to the tax payer, as it relates to moving, relocating HVC. We have not, we don't know exactly what land is going to cost. We don't know what it's going to cost to rebuild. We don't know the details of those costs. And I find it very concerning that this is even being considered, especially when we don't know what will be the ultimate fallout. We don't know if there will be any returns really worth noting. So there's just a lot of vagueness around it. Again, I just have a concern about diverting tax dollars and resources to building a new stadium, especially when we do have a lot of infrastructure that still has not been addressed. So I heard it said earlier today that part of good governance is responsible budgeting. So let's be responsible about our tax dollars and not just go head on headlong into a deal like this and just stop this project. Thank you, Ms. Powell. Donnie Rutherford, followed by Benjamin Diabold and then Sergret Doss. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for letting me address you. I'm Donnie Rutherford. I live in Sunset Minor. I did most of my life with the Air Force, active duty, and then I worked for the Air Force Reserves. Then I worked for the state of Florida for a while. I retired. I'm reaching my last part of my life in Sunset Minor, planning to stay there till I go toes up. And it's been a real tough thing over the past few years to know that I have to follow HOA rules. Okay, that's fine. But now we got a well that doesn't work. It has never worked right since I've been living there. It's every year or two we have to do something with it. I do think that the Federal Water Act tells us that houses of 15 or more could get water, should get county water as far as I'm concerned. I've always lived where the county furnished water. I just didn't know whenever I bought into that, that that wasn't county water. In fact, they have a fire hydrant and I've run people off because they say, well, this is county water. So a lot of times they get away with it if I'm not up to run them off. We have senior citizens living out there. We have retired most of, I'd say over half of the people are retired. And if you know you're retired, you don't get a raise every year. You're not in the high six term, six digit numbers. And every year you get less because everything goes up and your money don't mean as much. We need that water. We need it now. Why would we want to pay five or six thousand dollars this year and then a few years go around and pay another five or six thousand? Laying a burden on us out there that should have been taken care of 20 years ago by the county. We let this guy get away and turn that well over to the HOA if they wanted water, they had to manage it. And that's the way it is. I look at the HOA and if we didn't have to bother with the water, we probably wouldn't even need an HOA because we're good friends all of us out there. And I beg you, please give us some water. I know that says, but everybody's going to have to pay for it. But we don't mind paying our part to get the water run out there. We just need it now. Thank you so very much for listening to me. I appreciate you all. You're great guys and servants to the state and the county and I appreciate you. Thank you, Mr. Rutherford. Benjamin Dybald, followed by Sir Gret Doss and then Tom Cobert. Good morning. Hi, my name's Ben Dybald. I'm president of resiliency for Le Moyne disaster. I'm here to discuss RFP 2500378, the construction manager for CDBG DR Housing, where Ducky Recovery ranked first, Le Moyne ranked second, Dynamic ranked third. I was on February 18th in this meeting with Commissioner Wolstal First Express' concern over there being no intent to award made for this procurement. I wanted to meet each contractor and even never heard of two of them. But by March 6th, he had done some research. He had reviewed every presentation, every document, and conducted his own independent inquiry. And on that basis, he spoke first, recommending that this board award only the first and third, specifically excluding Le Moyne. He argued that Dynamic should have been ranked first, despite the committee ranking them third, and raised concerns about Le Moyne not providing a reference for Volusia County, not a requirement of the procurement. Commissioner Myers moved to award all three, consistent with the rankings and prior board practice. Commissioner Cohen seconded it, stating that cherry picking the first and third did not make sense. But that motion failed, and also as motion passed, Le Moyne was not selected. Now, since then, the subsequent documents I've sent to each of your offices show that the record may not support the conclusions that he drew that day. Volusia County has a policy prohibiting staff from participating in reference checks for any vendor. Our Vice President addressed that directly during our oral presentation on video, on the record. And that explanation was in the documents that Commissioner Wolstal reviewed. It was also claimed that Dynamic had superior bonding capacity, while Le Moyne submitted $250 million per incident and a billion dollar total bond line, the highest of all three firms also in those documents. On references, Le Moyne submitted seven, more than double of the others, including current state leadership from Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia, and BDO, your own strategic partner on this grant. Dynamic submitted less. And one of those also was Restore Louisiana. While we submitted the current state executive director for the program as our reference, Dynamic provided a third-party program manager from over a decade ago. As Commissioner Wolstal and Stoff identified on February 18th, no notice of intent was ever awarded. And that denied us any protest path forward to challenge any of the things put on the record. But it also leaves this procurement still open for an additional award. And that matters because the Le Moyne team was built on ten of the contractors that are some of the best in Florida, and maybe eight of the ten that are working on BDO's programs across South Florida in commerce. Litigation would only halt this program, so we're asking you to do what I have in emails and others. I'm asking if there's one of you that is willing to place the selection of Le Moyne on your team and our team for RFP 25038 on the future agenda. Thank you. Appreciate the comments. Chagret Doss followed by Tom Cobert and Alan Behrens. Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Chagret Doss, and to the two veterans here and the veterans around the nation, I want you all to listen to what I'm about to tell you. And people ask me why I come in so often and raise hell with government officials. And, well, first, I want to say I don't raise hell with anybody. But my military service means that I'm vested in seeing this great experiment work itself out if for no other reason to maintain posterity. But there's too much lip service given to how much you care about veterans, but watching the inactions bear out the way they do, I would beg to differ. I'm going to show you all what you all have in your hand in order from the Second District Court of Appeals that essentially reversed an eight-year lie by several law firms. And the names on the paper, by the way, represent law firms who intentionally take advantage of veterans who treated the James A. Haley Hospital. And these law firms actually use a VA doctor to perform compulsory medical examinations on veterans for the benefit of insurance companies so that they could reduce their payouts to veterans. And I know because I dealt with it. And unfortunately, I had to sit here and do this thing self represented. But while I was arguing or defending my case, one of the judges over there stopped short of calling me a nigga and told me not to argue with one of the attorneys who's a liar in her courtroom. The transcripts are in the record over there. I put them in there. And again, don't take my word for it. Just go look up case number 2018 CA 3553 in your clerk's records. You can see it. And actually, I had one of the attorneys from Banker. No, from Butler, Weidmuller, Katzen, Craig tell me that his firm had no obligation to tell me that they had co-opted a VA doctor. That's also in the transcripts. And I don't want anybody to take my word for anything. Just go look it up. But in the words of the late great Cuda Patterson, if I tell you a duck can pull a truck, you hook it up. But you all saw the case number. And, you know, what's kind of crazy is in that order, the court said that the order was erroneous on its face and lacked sufficient findings to even bring about their attempted injunction. They wanted to get sanctions from me for fighting for myself when I sued them for fraud and the inducement. That same judge over there, by the way, ordered me to sign a release that dealt with unrelated parties for matters that I did not sue them for. Again, look it up. I stand here and fight because of I stand on the shoulders of people who came before me. And I've been told I'm always going to be a soldier. You know, I have a long history of family members who served in the military. But I say this to you all because I just have the ability to articulate what many may not be able to do. And I talk to veterans all the time. They have many frustrations with the system that they defended. And unfortunately, some gave their life. That being said, shout out to the greatest institution of higher learning in the city. The University of Thomas Jefferson High School. May I ask one brief question? Yes, sir. We don't normally do this, but what are you? We're a legislative body. We can't overturn a court. So just briefly, what are you asking for us to help you with? I don't understand. Well, you do have oversight powers in because the courts are in your county. And a couple of you all are attorneys. I know which ones are. I'm not going to say the name. We can't do anything to the judiciary. No, I understand how the system works. I'm very familiar with six. I did say I went to the greatest institution of learning in this county. But the reality is that you all, as government officials, have obligations to the people who have elected you to hold these positions. And if you're an attorney, you absolutely have an obligation to look into any allegations of impropriety from an attorney. The rules of professional conduct mandate that. I know that. But also, pursuant to the obligations of the OSIS, you all took 876 and Section 5. I'll talk to you. I think that you have the ability to just. I'm going to get my aides to come talk to you. I'm going to talk to you afterwards. But just so you understand, it's illegal for an attorney to practice law as an elected official. They can't do it up here. No, I get that part too. But I get my aides. But you have the ability to use your power to say, hey, can you look into it? Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Tom Cobert followed by Alan Behrens and then John King. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, commissioners, staff, and deputies. Good morning. My name is Tom Cobert. Those decimated federal government agencies that serve the American people. Now Sun Tzu taught me don't get upset about things you have no control over and can't change. But as Mr. Spock would say, he found things fascinating. And I find out what's, I find what's going on in the federal government fascinating. So I follow it. I believe act locally because I learned years ago one person can make a difference. I got involved with the juvenile justice work group, which evolved into the juvenile justice council. Phil Spazansky became a mentor, as did Julie Holt and Elvin Martinez. And they taught me well. We have some serious issues we're facing. The National Weather Service has been decimated. There was one small town hit by tornadoes that was given 30 minutes warning. Thankfully, no one died. And I, 30 minutes isn't enough time. We're also facing the fact that FEMA is being destroyed. They are working on forcing it onto the states. The poor people that got hit with the tornadoes lost everything and are getting no help from the federal government. As a county, I know that we're capable of stepping up and figure out how to deal with being abandoned. We don't have any choice. But I know that we're capable of it. And I'll be back to talk about it. I appreciate you guys and thank you for listening. Thank you, Mr. Covert. Alan Behrens. And the last speaker is John King. Morning, sir. Good morning. I have two smaller, probably less important issues than what I've been hearing today. One of them involves recycling in our county and two smaller issues with the public libraries. I don't know, has the board ever considered cutting the recycle collection to twice a month instead of four times a month? Because everyone in this room could do their own random survey. Check the blue buckets on your street. They're almost never even half full. I just can't see the expense of four times a month collection. So how about using that as a cost-cutting measure for us property owners? Also, with the libraries, when we borrow books, this has been going on for years, you get the receipt that says when the books are due. And at the bottom, it says that, congratulations, you have saved hundreds of dollars this year and over years, thousands of dollars, which doesn't make any sense. It's not true. And it makes the county look kind of silly because I guess they're saying we would be buying these books if we weren't borrowing them. And who's going to do that? That's why we pay for the library. And one other issue is in South County anyway, at least, the libraries do not open till 10 in the morning. My wife and I get there quarter till and you'll see people walking up to the door. They can't believe that the place isn't open. Manatee County opens at 9. So how about if we could like open them up by maybe 9.30 as a compromise. So that's my issues for today. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you coming down. Last speaker this morning, John King. Good morning. Commissioners, thank you for your time and your attention. I would think that the stadium deal is going to be one of the most significant decisions that you are ever going to be asked to make. I would admonish you not to be pressured into making your decisions in undue haste. The funding mechanism that you choose to use is going to have an impact on this community for the next 25 to 30 years. I would think that CIT funds would be wholly inappropriate for the purposes of funding this mechanism or this deal and that its intended purpose is for infrastructure improvement and capital improvement projects throughout the county. I would encourage you to look at alternate funding sources that are available to you principally tourism development funds, tax incentives as a way of funding this project. I think it's very beneficial for the entire community that we have the Tampa Bay Rays in Tampa and not to leave the city yet. There are areas within this community that will be adversely impacted principally areas like Tampa Heights. They will not enjoy the same benefits that other areas of the county are likely to enjoy. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. King. Appreciate your comments. Okay, that closes public comment. Can we have a motion on consent? Move to approve. Motion from Commissioner Meyers and Commissioner Wollstuhl. Please call your vote on the consent agenda. Motion carried, 7-0. Okay, Bonnie, want to introduce the first item? Yes, we have a few minutes before the 10 o'clock time certain. So let's go ahead to move to the regular agenda, item B1. This is to improve the capital improvement program for the CDBGDR program. Kevin Brickey will take us through this item as well as item B2. Good morning, Kevin. Good morning. Good morning, Commissioners. Kevin Brickey, Management Budget. Items B1 and B2 are budget amendments and associated items related to recent CDBDGDR initiatives recently approved by the Board. Item B1, on April 15th, the Board approved Phase 3 infrastructure projects consisting of 10 additional items for neighborhood drainage improvements, channel restoration, culvert repairs and replacements, power outage emergency beacons, pump station resiliency, low pressure sewer system conversion, and flood mitigation of natural land restorations. B1 seeks approval of a resolution amending the adopted CIP to add three new DR projects, CIP projects, power outage emergency beacons, low pressure water system, and flood mitigation, environmental land restoration. As well as approval of a budget amendment appropriating a total of $95,070,000 within the CDBDDR project fund for these three items, which are grouped in seven CIP projects. Thank you, Kevin. Any questions, comments? Can we have a motion on B1? Move to approve. Second. Motion, Commissioner Meyers. Second, Commissioner Whelstall. Please record your vote on B1. Motion carried, seven to zero. Do you have any comments on B2? Yes. Thank you. Item B2 seeks approval of a budget amendment to appropriate a total of $208 million, $400,496 within the DR grant fund to provide $185 million approximately for the county's single family housing program, which is expected to assist approximately 1,000 single family homeowners, including mobile homeowners, who owned their property at the time impacted by hurricanes, Helene and Milton. Also $17.3 million for BDO government services for consulting and payment processing services, $1.3 million for related personnel expenditures, also $4.1 million for BDO to provide consulting services for multi-family housing, for multi-family housing and special population programs, and approximately $600,000 for Ernest & Young to design the blueprint creation for workforce standards. Because it's 17 months to matter, see. Now that we're. Robert Hendricks. We're. Check out probably in early July or so for the reimbursement portion of that program, because that's the most straightforward in terms of timing. We don't need to engage contractors to do any work. And when will contractors be able to actually start going and help people? The answer to that is mid to late summer. Again, we have one application process that covers reimbursements, repairs, reconstructions. I think we've edged past 400 applications. Now that number may be a little off, but we were on track for that. And when they get through the application process, of course, if they qualify for repairs or reconstruction, damage assessments are done and then the contractors get deployed. So the short answer to that is, again, probably mid to late summer. We'll know more based on the quality of the applications we're receiving and how they look to meet eligibility requirements. And I'm happy to come back and give everyone a better briefing in terms of exactly where we are in the program in a month or two. Really, whatever you need. Okay. I was just curious. And, and also I'm, I'm, I know it's tough to get excited about sewer systems, but I'm sad that there's not more people excited about the low pressure sewer system overhaul that we're going to do. But anyways, thank you. Thank you. Can we have a motion? Approved. Motion to Commissioner Meyer. Second to Commissioner Willstall. Please record your vote on B2. Motion carried seven to zero. Okay. Bonnie, D1. Yes, we can go to D1, which is our first of two public hearings regarding expanding the geographic area of the county seat. And Jared Delfino from the county attorney's office will present this item. This is. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. Jared Delfino, assistant county attorney. This is the first of two required public hearings concerning the proposed expansion of the Hillsborough County seat. The city of Tampa has served as the county seat since Hillsborough County was organized in 1834. If the proposed resolution is adopted, the county seat would extend beyond the city of Tampa to include all lands within the jurisdictional boundaries of Hillsborough County. For some background, the county seat is the legally designated location where the county's main courthouse is situated, where official county and court records are maintained, and where the principal offices of the county's officers are located. This framework dates back to the 1800s when nearly all government business was conducted in a centralized location. Expanding the county seat modernizes this concept by aligning its legal boundaries with how the county government operates today across multiple locations throughout the county. This expansion will not relocate the county seat, will not change municipal boundaries, and will not affect the provision of county or municipal services. It will simply enlarge the legal area in which the county seat activities may occur. A second public hearing has been scheduled for May 20, 2026, board meeting at 10 a.m. That concludes my presentation. I'm available for any questions. Once again, this is a public hearing. All right. Thank you, sir. On this public hearing, one individual signed up, Denise Herndon. Good morning. I'm Denise Herndon. Since it's been over 100 years that we've had this county seat issue, what difference is going to make by expanding it? Is it going to allow courthouses or is it going to allow county money to go for things? Because normally when something's changed, especially like the CIT, there's loopholes or gray areas that are called. So what is the actual purpose of expanding it? What does it do? Does it it makes now the county responsible for payment of things or what? Is this another way behind the scenes to fund things that we're not wanting to really fund? Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Karen Jarosian. I'm sorry. I did not sign up to speak, but I would like to support this. I think with the amount of unincorporated residents, this would help modernize and improve access to all. So I'm definitely in support. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. All right. That closes public comment. We don't take any action today. Did any board members make any comments? If not, next item. The next item, we can go back to the regular agenda. We have item B3. This is to approve scheduling a public hearing for June 3rd regarding the solid-based management system. And Damien Trammell will take us through this request. Good morning, Damien. Good morning, Commissioner. Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Damien Trammell, Director of the Solid-based Management Department. Item B3 is a request to schedule a public hearing on June 3rd, 2026 to adopt the annual solid-based assessment, fees, rates, and charges. In years past, we've held workshops prior to seek approval to schedule a public hearing to consider rates for the new year. Today, we are combining the request to schedule public hearing with an overview of the department's and a recommendation for FY27. You are not approving the rate today, only approving the date of the public hearing. Next slide. I would start with the department's guiding principles and vision. Our goal is to ensure adequate disposal capacity for both current and future residents, while improving our collection and disposal system with a focus on public health and safety. Curbside collection services are provided to more than 327,000 single-family homes each week. And we also provide collection services to over 20,000 commercial businesses. Our infrastructure includes a landfill, a waste-to-energy facility, also known as our resource recovery facility, two transfer stations, two yard waste processing sites, and five community collection centers. Next slide. Our services extend beyond just curbside collection. Residents may self-haul bulky items such as appliances, furniture, paint, batteries, and electronics to community collection centers six days a week and no additional costs. In addition to other benefits, we offer a community cleanup program that supplies roll-off containers to neighborhoods for bulky waste disposal and no extra costs. Next slide. Customers receive two annual assessments on their property tax bill. The disposal assessment and the collection assessment. Next slide. In physical year 2027, the system will face multiple cost-increased challenges. Our residential curbside collection services are provided by three contracted haulers, with all of the additional costs. In physical year 2027, the system will face multiple cost-increased challenges. Our disposal service contracts include CPI-based increases. This includes our agreement with Reworld, which operates the Resource Recovery Facility, as well as our agreement with Waste Management, which includes CPI-based increases. And other related service agreements. Next slide. As previously stated, we will face multiple cost-increased challenges. Our residential curbside collection services are provided by three contracted haulers, with all three contracts set to end in 2030. Each agreement allows for annual changes based on the Consumer Price Index. Our disposal service contracts include CPI-based increases. This includes our agreement with the Reworld, which operates the Resource Recovery Facility, as well as our agreement with Waste Management to operate our landfill and other related service agreements. Next slide. As previously stated, we provide curbside collection services to over 327,000 customers throughout Hillsborough County. The three franchise collectors are Republic Services of Florida, Waste Management of Tampa, and FCC Environmental Services. Our system includes two garbage collections, one yard waste collection, and one recycling collection per week, totally approximately 1.2 million services weekly. All three contracts are scheduled to expire in 2030 and include CPI-based increases. Next slide. The cornerstone of our system is our Resource Recovery Facility. Waste is delivered either directly or through our transfer stations. The Resource Recovery Facility plays a critical role in reducing the volume of waste sent to the landfill. Originally built over 40 years ago, it continues to process more than 40 percent of the county's waste stream. The facility is operated by Reworld under a contract that includes annual CPI adjustments. Additionally, Pittsburgh County has one active landfill covering about 3,200 acres. This facility accepts waste that cannot be handled by the Resource Recovery Facility. Waste Management partners with the county to operate the landfill under a county contract with costs adjusted annually based on a consumer price index. Next slide. Last year, I presented a rate plan that projected a 6.5 percent rate increase for physical year 2027. We were successful with reducing our operating expenses, which allowed us to lower our proposed rate increase by 2.2 percent, bringing it down to 4.3 percent. Of the proposed 4.3 percent rate increase, 2.4 percent will fund the annual cost increases from the residential collection service contracts, and 1.9 percent will help cover other annual contractual disposal cost increases as well as ongoing system maintenance. Next slide. We offer for consideration a rate increase of 4.3 percent for residential assessment in physical year 2027. If approved, this change will result in the annual increase of $22, which is approximately $1.83 per month. Of the proposed $22 annual increase, $12.09 will be allocated towards our residential collection service contracts, and $9.91 will help support our contractual disposal cost increases as well as ongoing maintenance. Next slide. Next steps is to schedule a public hearing for June 3rd, 2026 to adopt the annual salaries assessment fees, rates, and charges. This will conclude my presentation. I would like to note for the record as provided, the correction to the background agenda item B3. I will read the corrections into the record. The collection assessment is recommended to be adopted at $314.26, and the disposal assessment is recommended at $218.51 for a total FY27 annual salary assessment of $532.77. This will conclude my presentation and corrections to agenda item B3. All right. Thank you, Damon. We're going to board discussion. Commissioner Wollstone. Thanks. This is just a note. As we've discussed the urban service area a lot. I don't expect that Mr. Cassidy or Mr. Trammell have the information yet. But I point it out because we receive so many objections and concerns about the urban service area. But waste collection is an urban service provision. And we provide this to every home, even outside of the urban service area. Is that correct? That is correct, yes. And I think it would be very interesting for the board to understand what that does for our rate, especially when they have to travel extremely far outside of the density areas, where you basically get less bang for your buck because there's less service in a centralized area. And I think that that would be very interesting as this rate comes back around next year. If we truly are going to be more restrictive about the urban service area, then we need to really understand about why we're providing urban services outside of the urban service area. If that is promoting growth outside of the urban service area and what costs the county incur because we are providing those extensive services. But that's just my note. Thank you. All right. Thank you. I don't see anyone else in the queue. So can we have a motion to set the public hearing for June 3rd? Move approval. Motion. Commissioner Cohen. Second, Commissioner Myers. Please record your vote. Motion carried. Six to one. Commissioner Miller voted no. Okay. Can we have a body? Next item. Thank you. Next item. Perfect timing, commissioners. The next one is item G1. This is your 1015 times certain regarding receiving a report regarding the Sunset Manor and Lutz. Commissioner Hagen, you had asked for this item. So I didn't know if you wanted to say a few words. Yeah, I'm going to make a couple comments. Then we'll hear from staff. I want to first of all, I want to thank the residents from Sunset Manor who came out today. And for those who have reached out to our office, we've heard your concerns. We want to acknowledge that we understand this is a real issue. You're facing significant infrastructure costs tied to a system your community has been managing for years. Board members, this is a privately managed water system serving 21 homes. There are no current violations, but there are anticipated repair costs that the community is trying to plan for. That's why I asked staff to take a full look at this and break forward a report on the current state of affairs, the options for the community, and the financial implications for the community, the county, and existing rate payers. So with that, I'll ask for a staff report, and I would also ask if you could touch on the difference with the Windermere utility that the county purchased years ago and just, I guess, just distinguish between the two if you can during your report. Thanks. I'm sure I will. I'm Kevin Moran, Hillsborough County Environmental Services, and I'd like to start with I'm also excited about sewer. And George was not on his head as well, so we're in your corner. In fact, my kids say sometimes I'm too excited about sewer one time. Good morning. This presentation to the board is to discuss residents' concern in the Sunset Manor subdivision about the potential cost of repairs to a privately owned community water system. The Sunset Manor subdivision is located in northeast Hillsborough County. It's a 21-home subdivision located near the intersection of US Highway 41 and Sunset Lane. The subdivision was built in the late 80s, early 90s, and the HOA owns and operates a permanent community water system that's regulated by the Florida Department of Health. Sunset Manor, the neighborhood is, as I stated, it has a community water system that is almost 40 years old, and reportedly in need of significant maintenance. The residents of Sunset Manor contacted the Water Department staff with concerns about the aging water system and the rising cost of maintaining the system. They requested that the Water Department take over the water system as owner operator. By policy and ordinance, Water Resources Department is not allowed to take over systems that are in the rural area. As the speaker mentioned this morning, Hillsborough County is taking over a franchise, or as noted in the report, I should say, The Water Department has taken over a franchise that's in the rural area, and that was done by a policy the board had years ago. In fact, I've been here 22 years and listed in the CIP when I started was a line item for the Water Department to buy franchises. So Windermere subdivision is a franchise, water's privately owned water system that charged rate to its customers just like we do. And that franchise was essentially a license granted by the county to provide water service. And Windermere also provide wastewater service. The county bought that system a few years ago. And one of the reasons I think the board wanted to get rid of those is these private systems charge significantly higher rates than we did typically. And the service is usually less quality service than ours. The county receives a number of requests to take over private systems throughout the years. We get requests to take over private water systems, wastewater systems. I know Public Works get requests to take over private roads and stormwater systems. And there are policies and procedures to take over these systems. These policies have a lot of requirements in them though. These systems have to meet our technical standards. The residents would, if they don't, the residents would have to pay to bring them up to our standards. They also would have to pay any types of fees, impact fees, connection fees, meter set fees. The residents in Sun State Maine have reported that repairs to their community water system could cost $7,200 per home. And that's a significant burden and I understand that. However, if we, so as the speaker mentioned this morning, we're building a water main down Sunset Lane that'll be right in front of the subdivision. When that's there, the board is allowed to give an exception to connect in the rural area. If that exception were granted, the neighborhood would still have to pay a significant amount of money. They'd have to pay for the pipe to go from the water main we build to their neighborhood. They'd have to pay those impact fees, connection fees, meter set fees, et cetera. A quick estimate by me the other day, that could equal $6,000. And we've been told PVC pipe's going up 30%. So that'll probably be more money in the future. The chairman asked that we look for funding. We reached out to a number of agencies in the state and federal government. Unfortunately, most loans are for areas that are considered distressed or in the state of Florida. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's rural areas of opportunity. This neighborhood does not qualify for those. We do believe that there's an opportunity for the neighborhood to apply for what's called a state revolving loan. We could help technically with them filling out their application. It's not guaranteed that they qualify for the loan, but that's an opportunity for funding. That's not free money. They still have to pay it back. Unfortunately, we were not able to find any monies for them that would be a direct grant. That's the end of my presentation. Staff and the county attorney's office here to answer any questions. Okay. Thank you. Board members, as you can tell, this is not a simple fix. There are real costs involved. There are broader considerations. As listed in our report, 680 smaller privately owned drinking water systems in Hillsborough County with 190 smaller than Sudset Manor. Again, in our report, we've never acquired a privately owned HOA-managed water system. So any action here will certainly set a precedent for other communities moving forward. The goal, I think, is to make sure that there's clarity on what options are available. Moving forward, I know four were listed in our backup. We've heard from many residents, many fixed incomes, and it's important that they have a clear understanding. So I don't want to just accept the report. I'm going to pass the gavel. I'm just going to make a motion to receive the report, but then also direct staff to schedule and conduct a community meeting with Sunset Manor residents, walk them through the full scope of cost and implications, and assist in identifying any available funding or funding options. This would also include presenting the infrastructure assessment unit as a potential pathway. while ensuring we're not shifting cost onto existing rate payers. And then additionally, I was asked to include, should the community choose to connect to the county water system in the future, that this motion would authorize the connection subject to applicable fees and requirements. So that's my motion. Second. Second. We have a motion by Chair Higgin and a second by Commissioner Wistel. Commissioner Wistel, you recognize? I just wanted to make a comment that Hillsborough County has over 1,000 HOAs. So we have to be very delicate about what precedents we might set here for that reason. I know nobody wants to, and nobody on this board wants to see anybody struggling. Are they, do we know if the community is majority low to moderate income or any analysis like that has been done? I don't really know anything about this HOA. I apologize. No, sir. We're a water engineer. I'm sorry. No, no, no. It's okay. The reason I brought it up is because I feel like a lot of the community development block grant item funds, not the DR funds, I mean the general ones that we get, go to some pretty questionable things in my opinion, and if this community is somebody, I would be happy to support an amendment if Commissioner Owen, Commissioner Hagan brought it forward to reallocate any CDBG funding that we were considering back to help a group of senior citizens that are on fixed income. So I would just like staff to look into that eligibility as well. Thank you. Commissioner Bowles. Thank you. In my former life, I actually used to serve this area as a firefighter and an officer there. I'm pretty familiar with the area and understand some of the issues that those homeowners face there with the, certainly the fire service there. One of the things that I brought up to staff and for consideration with the cost, and maybe this is for the water engineer, was are you aware when they did their $150,000 cost estimate, does that include servicing or restoring and repairing the service to the fire hydrants in the system? Because it's going to be a private system. The repairs that I was told about is a large hydrant pneumatic tank, and I believe the size of the tank is a requirement of the fire flow needs. So I don't know the costs are for the fire flow. Okay, but don't go anywhere yet. So we're hypothesizing here. So if we know that we're going to do this in five years, so let's say five or six years down the road, and that's not quick enough for the residents that live there, but understanding as we've heard the bureaucracy sometimes gets in the way. If, do we know if, because I didn't see it in one of the four offices, that if there was maybe a proposal that was presented that, or at least thought about that were if they restored the system without repairing the need for the fire hydrant, because there's a fire station less than a mile and a half away that has a tanker there, and everybody else in that area uses that, the tanker as their mobile fire hydrant. If they did that, would that reduce the costs of the repair? It would probably change their ISO rating, and do we know if that offset, you know, it would be something that they could consider? And has that even been thought about or even talked about? And maybe that's something that should be considered and proposed, because that short-term time between when we run that line down from 41 down Sunset into that community. Is that something that could be considered? I believe if the system were repaired to a standard water system without fire flow, it would be much less expensive, yes. Okay, so is that maybe during our community meeting there, Commissioner, I'd be happy to go and, you know, have some conversations about that, just my experience in the fire service, but if we literally have a fire station a mile and a half away or so, and that could be something that could reduce the cost and allow these people to have some relief in that way, too. As they understand their insurance. Well, again, and that may be something that they could talk to their, what the ISO rating would then change to if it's a $200 bump for two years. I think that's a lot less than $6,000 over however 30, you know. I don't know what that would be. Thank you. Okay, I'm, I have some comments before we call for the vote. I, mine are very sort of high level. I'm concerned as well as Commissioner Worstel is about the can of worms that this would potentially open. I mean, not just the water systems that are out there, but HOAs in general. And just because the subdivision was permitted, and I would have to better understand it, we approve subdivisions that have clubhouses and all these things to be managed and operated through HOAs. And so I think that we could potentially be opening ourselves up to, you know, 34 years after a subdivision, you know, sort of gets into trouble and they go, oh, we're out. And, and they're going to look to the county for help. And that's not actually how it works. They would have to plan for the future of repairs on things that the HOA owns. So, I would need a lot more information on that before I would feel comfortable moving forward with, you know, any type of details. So, those are my comments. Commissioner Worstel, you recognize? I just wanted to add on to your comment. Yesterday, a former HOA president in Miami was arrested for basically stealing $11 million from an HOA down there over like a seven-year period or something like that. And the bag of worms, again, that's, that's the big concern. Thank you. It's clearly a wealthy community. What's that? It's clearly a wealthy community. It's still $11 million. It's really unfortunate, but we would need much more information on it. So, with that, we have a motion by Commissioner Hagan and a second by Commissioner Worstel on item G1. Please record your vote. Motion carried, seven to zero. Okay, Bonnie. Thank you. The next item is item F1. This is Commissioner Miller's item regarding SB 686 in the recently enacted state legislation. Commissioner Miller. Thank you, Chair. There's some new legislation taking place soon, and it's just important that the board and the public clearly understand its potential impacts. I'm just asking for a report to help ensure that we are prepared and thoughtful in how we approach any future developments if we actually have any say over it. That's my request. Okay. Can we have a motion? Do we have a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Worstel. Please record your vote. Motion carried, seven to zero. Okay. Next item. Thank you. The next item is Commissioner Myers' item, item F2, regarding renaming of the Health Care Advisory Board as the John S. Curran, MD, Health Care Advisory Board. Commissioner Myers. Mine has said it all. I'm going to ask to move for approval for F2. Motion Commissioner Myers. Second Commissioner Cohen. Please record your vote. Motion carried, seven to zero. Okay, Bonnie. Thank you. The next item is Chair Hagen's item, item F3, regarding the county's role in the Hart's Bus Stop Relocation Policy. All right, thank you. Board members, this will be quick. I brought this issue forward because I was contacted by a small business owner with concerns about a bus stop that was relocated directly in front of his business. Apparently, the previous bus stop had been in existence for over 15 years and is roughly 200 feet east of his business. I'm not going to get into the weeds today, but can tell you the owner has done his homework before contacting me. He listed in great detail the errors and mistakes that he feels were made throughout this process. I'm not on the Hart Board. I've never been on the Hart Board, so this is, I'm going to tell you, it's over my head when it comes to any Hart's Bus Relocation Policy or what the county's role, if any, there is. I want to say that up front. However, my office did some research, did find that the county has an annual general use permit for maintenance in the right of way, but it's intended for relocation, it's not intended for relocations. It appears other necessary permits were not acquired and other action should have occurred but didn't. It is a little confusing. So just to keep it simple for today, I just want to send it over to staff, have staff and Hart review the situation and specifically have staff research if Hart followed all of the required actions or steps and to come back with any options, if any, exist on how we can make this a win-win for the business and Hart's passengers. So it's just a passing gavel. I'll second. I'll second. Sorry, we have a motion by the chair and a second by Commissioner Wistel. Commissioner Wistel, you're recognized. Commissioner Wistel, I just want to, a little clarity, Mr. Chair, because we're getting comments on something else, which is a requirement from the APAGA study, which as many of us know on the Hart Board, we were very close to eminently being placed in receivership by the state and Hart being closed down. And the reason that we're having to change the bus routes right now is because of part of the APAGA study required us to analyze the ridership and the ridership on a few routes was abysmal. And I understand that it's uncomfortable for some people. Is this that or is it that physically they decided to move a bus stop like down the street? It's the latter. It's literally 200 feet. I mean, apparently there are drainage issues that Hart is saying or suggesting is why. But the previous location, I mean, at least had a bench. I mean, there's no bench here. It just seems kind of funny. And again, I'm not putting any blame. I just wanted to look at it. But it's not a route relocated. It's literally, I mean, I've driven by it. It's 200 feet. And to me, the location seems unsafe because it's like two feet from the road. So I just want to look at it. And if we can somehow make Hart whole and make this, again, a win-win, great. If not, I understand. But again, this is not under my purview. I bet it was about ADA, but I'll wait because they had a lot of compliance issues. But okay, cool. Interesting. Thank you. We have a motion by Chair Hagan and second by Commissioner Wistel on F3. Please record your vote. Motion carried. Seven to zero. Thank you, Board Members. Thank you. Our next item is a staff report, Item G2, to receive a report regarding the Hillsborough County Swim Safety Initiative Drowning Prevention Program. Commissioner Hagan, you had also asked for this item. And Rick Valdez will present this item. All right, thank you. Board Members, if you recall, I asked for this report back in February. Of all the initiatives that I've championed through the years, this one is certainly at the top of the list because we're saving lives with this program. I'm not going to rehash what I stated then, but I initiated it in 2015. As staff's report indicates, despite transportation challenges, it's been very successful focusing on Head Start and Early Head Start children. The first year we served 941 children. Last year it was 1,772. The success rate, or they call it progression rate, has increased from 73% to 95% last year. To date, nearly 16,000 children have learned how to swim in our program. And we're serving all of Hillsborough County's and the school district's Head Start children. So the program has been extremely successful. The challenging thing is there are still too many kids who are not learning how to swim and more and more kids are drowning. We must continue to reach more children if we're ever going to have a chance to eradicate this problem. Admittedly, we can't solve it alone, but thankfully we're not the only organization that's working on this problem. The YMCA, the Children's Board are doing a great job. The State's Credit, you know, they've expanded their voucher program. But as I said in February, we wanted to see if there was a way that we could reach more children without breaking the bank. Staff looked into it, other opportunities for expansion, and identified our summer program and the Boys and Girls Clubs where there's an opportunity and a need to reach more kids. This can be accomplished for 51,000. Ideally, I was hoping we could expand the program with existing resources, but honestly, $51,000 certainly doesn't break the bank, and I strongly feel it's a worthwhile investment that we should make to save more lives. So I'm going to pass the gavel and make a motion. I'll ask Rick if he wants to say anything. But I'll make a motion to approve the additional 51,000 in this year's budget for the Swim Safety Initiative Drowning Prevention Program in order to expand into the Boys and Girls Clubs and Hillsborough County Summer Program and have Bonnie included in a recommended budget. And then lastly, not sure if procedurally how we do this, but if possible, take whatever action is necessary to have the expansion in place for this summer if that's possible. So I don't know if that requires a budget amendment or what, but see if that's possible. So that's my motion. Second. Good. The second. We have a motion by Chair Hagen, a second by Commissioner Wostel and Commissioner Myers. Commissioner Cepeda, you're recognized. Yes, thank you. I think this is a really awesome program and especially for our children, and I'm very happy to support this. Thank you. Thank you. Rick, do you need to add anything? You put a jacket on today, so I feel like you kind of should say something, I guess. I just want to thank you guys for the opportunity to expand this program. It has been very successful, and I also want to recognize our partners that make this happen. That's a good point. I left that out. We have outstanding partners that we couldn't do it without them, so thank you. Yes. Thank you for what you do. We have a motion by Commissioner Hagen, a second by Commissioner Wostel and Commissioner Myers. Please record your vote on G2. Motion carried, 7-0. Thank you, Board Members. Bonnie. Thank you. The final item or future discussion items. Any future issues? Commissioner Cohen. Yeah. There is a piece of property that the county owns on Sheldon Road adjacent to Rocky Creek that we not too long ago took off the affordable housing list. We are using it right now to put some injection wells and monitoring wells, and there's also a pretty large amount of infrastructure that needs some right-of-way there. I would like to, for the staff, to explore the possibility of turning this into green space that can be used by the community, perhaps put it on the road to becoming a park one day. It's adjacent to a dog park and to the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, and there's been a lot of community interest in actually making use of the property. So, if we could bring that back to the Board for consideration in the near future, I think that would be wonderful. Bonnie, you got that? Thank you. All right. Don't see anyone else in the queue. So, with that, we're adjourned.