Our invocation will be a moment of silence and followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Jeff Norwood of our Veterans Service Officer. Yes, sir. 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. Good morning. I'm sorry. I forgot to ask, sorry. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning, sir. My name is Jeff Norwood. I am local to Martin County here. After high school, I tried a couple things before joining the Army, and I served from 2009 to 2013. I served as an infantryman, and for those of you that don't know what an infantryman is, look at the movie Saving Private Ryan. That's what all infantrymen are right there. I was boots on ground in Afghanistan in 2010, and I realized that I didn't want to do that twice. So when I came home from the Army, I started interning at a veteran service office for St. Lucie County. So eventually, eight years later, seven years later, here I am. I'm replacing Dan McHenry. For those of you who don't know, he retired last week, so I'll be filling his boots for the time being. This is my way of giving back to our country. I really appreciate this opportunity that you guys have given me, and I like to tell folks that this is not a job for me. It's a lifestyle. So I plan on sticking around for a long time, and I appreciate you guys giving me a chance, and I'll look forward to working with all y'all. Welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. See, presets. We have a 505 public comment. I mean, a 905 public comment. We have a preset of 930, request for concurrence of the appointment of the administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Martin County, which is department number three. Then we have 505 public comment. Additional items, consent 18, a local planning agency school district appointment. Consent 19, interlocal agreement between Martin County and the village of Indiantown to provide temporary building, a temporary building official inspections and plan review. We have one consent poll, which is consent 15, adopting a resolution approving the acceptance of Southwest Earl Avenue into the county road inventory for ownership and maintenance. That was pulled by Commissioner Hurd. We also have a request to withdraw an item, which is department quasi-judicial number three, right-of-way with variance request for Southeast Mango Terrace, Northeast Mango Terrace. Thank you. And with that, before we approve the agenda, we have a, let's describe it as a boatload of public speaking forms, and we have an agenda that is absolutely packed with CIP. I would like to request that we actually push CIP off till our next meeting, which is the 14th. Rather than trying to rush through the day and pack in stuff that will take us to midnight to get to, I would like to push that off if my... Oh, you have the chair. You can. Well, I'm asking for... Want a motion? Which isn't a dictatorship, so I would like to... Move that we move the CIP to May 14. Second. All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Hurd, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Now we can do the agenda. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Good morning. I would move approval of the agenda with the additional items of consent item number 18, 19, with the request to poll item, consent item 15, and also the request to withdraw item, quasi-judicial hearing item number 3. All second? Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Okay. Moving on to... We do proclamations before public, right? Okay. Proclamation number one, services and statistics regarding our Veterans Service Office. Ms. Michelle Miller. Good morning, Commissioners. Michelle Miller, Human Services Director. Excuse me. I'm here this morning just to give you a brief report on Veterans Services and what they have accomplished over the past few years. So the mission of Veterans Service is to assist former members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their dependents in obtaining federal and state benefits that are available to them as a result of their active military service. This is put in statute which governs it. Floor Statute 292.11 gives the authority to the Board of County Commissioners to employ our Veterans Services officers and prescribe them their duties, their compensation, and their terms of employment. So here are some statistics I just wanted to show you over the past three years. Primarily, like I said, their main job is to help Veterans file claims. And as you can see, the numbers are not...they have increased. But then in 2022, we had a very big spike. That was because of the PAC Act that was enacted in 2022 that allowed a lot of Veterans that were denied benefits to come back and reapply. So we had a lot more claims filed in 2022. In addition, we have employed a very strategic outreach program to allow Veterans in the community to know that our office has these services available and to get people to come in to file their claims. You can see the claims awarded has significantly increased over the years, with 2023 being our highest claims awarded. And again, we don't award the claims. The Veterans Administration does that. But our VSOs do their best to make sure that when the claims are filed, they have everything in them to receive an award. The monies recovered is a significant number because that is monies that go directly into our county through our veterans that live here. So in 2023, you'll see that we had over $7 million. So again, a significant amount of money that's brought back into the community. And then our client contacts continues to increase. You'll see in 2023, there was over 21,000. And again, that is really a result of the outreach that the VSOs do in the community. And here are just some examples of the outreach. We work a lot with the Veterans Council to bring you the Memorial Day ceremony, the Veterans Day ceremony. We work a lot with ALFs going out into the community, letting them know of our services. And then we work a lot with a lot of nonprofits, house a vet. We work with Homeless Council of the Treasure Coast to see that homeless vets in our community get housing, and then providing emergency financial assistance for those that are experiencing a hardship. So those are just some of the highlights. We wanted to let you know some of the great things that they're doing. Here's our team. You met Jeff this morning. Brindell is our other VSO. And Jane's our administrative assistant. Small but mighty team. And they do some great things in the county. And we just wanted to let you know about them. So thank you. Great. Hold on just a minute. Commissioner Smith. Michelle, can you go back to that first sheet, the one where you had the statistics? So the claims filed are, those are individual. So there's 805 individuals who filed. Correct. And the 21,000 is multiple claims per individual. So those could be client contacts for a lot of different reasons. Maybe someone's looking into a veteran funeral, or they want to know how they can get a homestead exemption. Many different types of inquiries come through the office. So those aren't only claims. And do you have any idea out of the 805, how many veterans live in Martin County? There's about 12,000 veterans right now in Martin County. Do we communicate to them through some kind of direct personnel, through some kind of, do all 12,000 somehow, when you said you're really doing a lot more outreach? Right. Is there a, just so everybody kind of understands how to do it if there isn't? Right. So a lot of it is word of mouth, really trying to get out in the community and letting them know. And we do have a presence on our webpage. And we do a lot of service through the nonprofits. So letting them know these are the off, these are the services that we provide and asking them to refer their friends and their family and things like that. Just a thought, maybe doing direct mail, like doing a piece at some time. Yeah. Or some time when people are thinking about it. Yeah, we can definitely look into that. If we do that once or twice a year, at least we'd be touching every one of them. If they're not communicating, like my mom is a perfect friend. She's not a veteran, but I mean, it's perfect. She doesn't have email. She doesn't have internet. She doesn't have anything. She doesn't communicate that way. Right. So we wouldn't be reaching that part of the population. And that's why I wondered about the 805. Yeah. If there's 12,000, how many more are there that we could be touching? Okay. That's a great idea. We'll definitely do that. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Okay. Our next proclamation number two. The first proclamation is stamp out. Where's Laura? Oh, there she is. There she is. All right. Okay. She's going to handle reading them and I'll stand over there and hand them out. Good morning, Commissioner. Sorry about that. Today we have a proclamation declaring stamp out hunger day in Martin County. Every year on the second Saturday in May, letter carriers across the country collect non-perishable food as part of the nation's largest one-day food drive, distributing the donations to local food banks. And it is important to note that all food collected in our community stays in our community, providing a critical supply for house of hope and partnering local agencies who strive to empower residents to overcome hunger and hardship. In recognition of stamp out hunger day on May 11th, the board recognizes all letter carriers and local pantry services for their hard work and commitment to their communities. And here to accept, we have Rob Bruneri, who is the CEO of house of hope. Good morning. Thank you, commissioners for the recognition. We certainly appreciate it. Like Laura said, this is the largest food drive nationwide that we, that exists for house of hope. It's especially significant summertime. We see a spike in the need for food with kids out of school, missing free and reduced lunch and with still so many seasonal jobs. So we'll see folks in June, July and August that we don't see again all year. It's substantial. Last year, we raised over 70,000 pounds of food. The letter carriers do an absolutely incredible job. They're very passionate about supporting this effort. Many of them have a friend or relative follow them as they're delivering the mail so they can pick up all the food that's out there and they'll put it in their truck. They'll put it in their friend's truck. So it really is a great effort, obviously driven by the generosity of our community. Last year, well over 10,000 households participated. So it's, it's significant. House of hope food is still the key resource for us, even with all the other services we provide. We distributed over 1.3 million pounds of food last year. We're on track for about the same number this year. So this drive certainly has an impact on the community and our ability to serve both through our four food pantries and supporting the 30 different food partners that we have across the community as well. So we thank you for the recognition. We'll encourage everybody. You'll be getting your bags in the mail. Please fill them up and put them out. Makes a big difference for so many of your friends and neighbors across the community. And once again, thanks for the recognition. Our next proclamation is declaring hurricane preparedness week. The 2024 hurricane season begins on June 1st. And as a coastal county, Martin County is extremely vulnerable to storm surge, tornadoes, flooding, and high winds. Whether hurricane forecasters have predicted an average, above average, or below average season, it just takes one storm to have a bad year. In recognition of hurricane preparedness week, May 5th through 11th, the board urges the cooperation of municipalities, businesses, homeowner and condo associations, hotel associations, and media to inform residents and visitors of appropriate awareness, preparedness, and safety measures related to hurricane season. And here to accept, we have Sally Waite, our emergency management director. Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for this opportunity to discuss hurricane preparedness week, as we want to encourage everyone to evaluate their personal hurricane risk before hurricane season. This year, hurricane season, which begins June 1st, if you might have forgotten that. This year, especially, we are going to be busy with 24 named storms and 11 hurricanes predicted. But again, just want you to always remember that it only takes that one storm. So after experiencing firsthand the devastation that occurred in the 2022 hurricane season on the West Coast, I feel compelled to stress the importance of hurricane preparedness. So now is the time to prepare, of course. Please make a plan to, and be sure it includes where you'll go if you're evacuated, how to communicate with your family. Remember that a shelter should be your last resort, not just a place to make your first plan. Please remember that shelter is, I'm sorry, just remember if you're traveling to get to a safer location, please don't go hundreds of miles, just tens of miles. And please don't forget about your pets as well, because they are very important. Remember to build your kit by stocking up on emergency supplies and know your risk. You should know if you live in an evacuation zone or not. And you can always find that information out on our website at martin.fl.us forward slash em. Remember to stay informed. Always listen to your local media, our press conferences that we always have in the Emergency Operations Center. And also we have a new Connect Martin app this year that we're really excited about. You can find information about open shelters if there's an active event occurring, and you can also take pictures and report damages of your house so that we can see that right away at the Emergency Operations Center. We know where to send our resources and where to send our damage assessment teams. So please remember, regardless of the hurricane predictions, that it still only takes one storm. Be prepared so you could be a hurricane survivor and not a hurricane victim. Thank you. Next, we have a proclamation declaring Child Abuse Prevention Month in Martin County. In fiscal year 2022, 3.1 million reports were made to Child Protective Services. Child abuse can have long-term psychological, emotional, and physical effects that have lasting consequences for victims. Helping people succeed is celebrating 60 years of service to the community and is committed to providing protective factors and conditions that reduce or eliminate risk and promote the social, emotional, and development of well-being, developmental well-being of children. The board urges all citizens to recognize April as Child Abuse Prevention Month by dedicating themselves to the task of improving the quality of life for all children and families. And I don't know if I saw Susie Hutchinson, which with, yes, not, you're not Susie, but, but you're here for it. Thank you very much, Joanna. First of all, I want to thank everybody for having us here. Thank you for your ongoing support throughout the year. Our Healthy Families Program is an abuse and prevention program. We are currently serving 500 families in Martin and Okeechobee counties. We have 100% success rate of these families never entering into the child welfare system. At Helping People Succeed, we focus on prevention. You will see pinwheels planted outside our offices, symbolizing pinwheels of prevention. Because of its very nature, the pinwheel connotes playfulness, joy, and childhood. It has come to serve as a physical reminder of the great childhoods as we want for all children. And as a symbol, the cyclical nature of the pinwheel calls to mind the positive cycles of love and support we want to help the families create. Thank you. And our final proclamation today is declaring Everglades Dark Sky Month in Martin County. The beauty and wonder of a natural night sky is a shared heritage of all humankind that inspires feelings of wonder and awe and encourages interest in sciences, technology, engineering, arts, and math or steam in our youth. Many residents in our region live under a dome of light pollution and are not able to fully enjoy the cultural, recreational, ecological, and health benefits of a naturally lit nocturnal environment and night sky in their own communities. In recognition of Everglades Dark Sky Month, the board encourages residents, businesses, and visitors to discover, celebrate, and protect the night starry skies and the natural nocturnal environment within the greater Everglades for the good of people, wildlife, ecosystems, and climate. And here to accept, we have Dave Brown, who is president of the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society. Morning, everybody. Thanks for having me here. Thanks for the proclamation, and I appreciate the award, and I'm here to accept it on behalf of the Everglades Dark Sky Society. I would like to introduce one of our club members, Patrick Mugen, who is our advocate, our Treasure Coast Astronomical Society advocate on the international dark sky. I promise he'll keep it short. Thanks. And also, by the way, we do work with some local agencies here in Martin County, Martin County Board of Ecotourism. If you know Emily Dark, we do do some star parties and moon gazes with Emily, and we have one coming up at Indian Riverside Park in about three weeks. So if you want to come out and get some nice views of the moon, come on out. But I'd like to introduce Patrick. Yeah. Good morning. I'd like to thank you on behalf of Dark Sky International for recognizing this, for the effects of artificial light at night, by following the five principles of responsible lighting, of usefulness, control, targeting, color, intensity. We can reduce the amount of our carbon footprint, save money, protect the environment, and protect human health, and provide the necessary security and safety required. Again, I'd like to thank you very much. Thank you. So an interesting little story about Dark Sky out in Sedona, in Arizona. They are a dark sky town, and I think it's the only McDonald's that has a green M as their logo. ...of a territory out in Flagstaff, and they are the first city in the United States, I think Sedona was second, to be designated as an international dark sky city. The cool thing about Flagstaff is the drive-by Flagstaff on the I-40. You don't even know there's a town there, because the lighting is so responsible that you wouldn't know it's there. Yeah, it's amazing. And just, if you've ever seen it, it's really weird when you drive by a McDonald's sign and it's green. Anyway, thank you very much. Okay, thank you. Now it's time for public comment. For those that haven't experienced that before, you have three minutes. At two minutes and 45 seconds, you'll hear a tone. That means nothing other than to wrap your comments up. As I mispronounce your name, when you get to the podium, please pronounce it correctly. And if I call your name and you actually would like to talk at the agenda item itself, please let me know, and I will set your card aside. Okay, we're going to start out with, oh, okay, that's right. Don has got a... I was ready. Thanks. So, just for the audience and those who wish to speak, since we are in election season, politicking is prohibited, which is defined as advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for public office, either partisan or nonpartisan. This includes the use of words, dates, signs, props, and or wearing apparel that convey a message of support for a person or a group of persons. Thank you. Okay, and we have quite a bit. I think everybody in the room, maybe even the building, has filled out a request to speak form. So, we're going to begin with Mr. Casey Kass, followed by Jim Moyer. Good morning. Casey Kass, Savar Salerno. During a recent meeting, one of the county staff informed the Board of Commissioners about his discussions with the marine businesses located in our Commerce Industrial Park. He emphasized the importance of making improvements to Commerce Avenue to enhance the marine transportation route. However, this information turned out to be untrue when the President of the Marine Industry spoke at the MPO meeting. The President clarified that the marine business, neither the marine businesses, neither required nor desired the proposed improvements to commerce, as outlined in the Innovation Hub Plan. The revelation exposed the earlier statements as falsehoods, or in simpler terms, lies. This deceptive behavior seems to be a reoccurring trend among certain county staff, who prioritize their own agenda while dismissing the concerns and preferences of the local community and businesses. This must come to an end. While it is acknowledged that the Commerce may benefit from resurfacing, extravagant additions like 10-foot sidewalks and parallel parking is unnecessary. Although some drainage improvements may be warranted, the last drainage improvements actually did their job. It hasn't backed up since then when it used to do it quite often. If I can get my next page. So onward. The language used in the CIP appears deliberately vague, particularly in the case of Port Salerno. This ambiguity grants public works excessive flexibility, allowing them to proceed with projects without adequate public input. Commissioning a business flair to create a study or plan, then directing them to align with the staff or a commissioner's preferences without considering the needs slash wants of the citizens and businesses is just unacceptable. The proposed improvements to Salerno Creek labeled as multimodal pathways by business flair within the Port Salerno CRA should be not only presented to the NAC, they should be afforded an opportunity to comment on it and elevate it to the CRA board. That doesn't happen. And coincidentally, on that Salerno Creek, Save Our Salerno within the next couple days will own five of those lots along Salerno Creeks totaling over an acre, which will bring our total investment as a community of $750,000 in the last year. If that's not representative of our commitment to preserving Salerno, I don't know what is. It demonstrates our commitment to preserving Salerno, the CRA, as well as ensuring our community has a voice in the decision making process. This financial and legal dedication underscores our determination to safeguard our community. Thank you. Mr. Moyer will be followed by Gil Smart. Good morning. Good morning, Mr. Chair. Good morning, Commissioners. Today, you may decide to double down on what, in my opinion, is an unfortunate and inappropriate change to the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan. Many years ago, granting clustered residential development on Colusa Creek Agricultural Ranchette property was a mistake. It was a bad idea then. It's a bad idea now. This proposed PUD agreement and the contorted modifications to the Discovery Plus Rural Land Use Amendment that had been proposed to let ranch come into existence set some really bad precedents. And it damages the utility and reasons behind the urban service boundary. This low-density suburban sprawl, and that's what it is, is unacceptable. It will leverage us in a very unfortunate way into not being able to provide services outside of our urban service boundary ever. This applicant's representatives make many hyperbolic claims and present very little verifiable data to support their claims. I have more doubts and concerns this time with this rural land use amendment than I have in the past. I am really disappointed about the expedited review process, in this one in particular. It's a rush to approval, and these projects deserve to have very comprehensive investigations into their claims. As preemption takes our ability to establish and maintain acceptable levels of service, and concurrency standards diminish, our MPO sets timelines for improvement into the distant future, we will certainly face gridlock on Canter Highway. Senate Bill 7913 requires the extension of gray infrastructure for water and wastewater services into these new outlier enclaves. They may pay for it, but it does not assure that we will maintain the ability to provide high levels of advanced treatment to our wastewater. Who pays for the extra load? They claim that there will be no negative effects on wetlands or conservation land designated by the SERP, but they have no proof of that. They claim that they will improve water quality of the water extracted from the C-44 and circulating it through their property, and only when it exceeds a 25-year stormwater event, will that water be tested for improvement. They have no rationale for improving the BMAP thresholds. They do not currently have an environmental review permit from Southwater Water Management District. They have no authority permits for their marina amenities. Sir, your time is up. Your time is up, Mr. Moyer. Thank you. All right, Mr. Smart is followed by Ronald Rose. Ronald. Good morning, Commissioners. Thanks for the opportunity to speak this morning. My name is Gil Smart. I'm here as policy director for Friends of the Everglades. It's founded in 1969 by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas and based right down the road here in Sewell's Point. We've provided written comments to you regarding the Colusa Creek or ranch development, but wish to follow up here as we believe there are serious questions regarding the Comprehensive Plan text amendment and future land use map amendment, which would pave the way for this massive project, and that you folks would best serve this community by voting no. As you've heard and will continue to hear, there's a lot of concerns about this proposal, but most alarming to an organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the Everglades is the possibility this project will impact the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. As you are aware, a January letter from the South Florida Water Management District articulated serious concerns, noting that the ranch is located within the designated Palmar Natural Storage and Water Quality Area, which is part of the Indian River Lagoon South project, IRLS, and that, quote, the proposed project associated with the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment appears to be inconsistent with the goal of this federally authorized project, and that, quote, regional water supply, wetland, and floodplain management will be impacted by the proposed map amendment. Given the billions in federal and state dollars allocated or already spent on Everglades restoration, it would be a mistake to approve these proposals without ironclad assurances that it will not impact restoration, it will not be inconsistent with the IRL South project, and that it will not impact regional water supply, wetland, and floodplain management. There are other concerns about water quality, some of which were just articulated by Mr. Moyer, we are concerned that there have been, to our knowledge, no detailed studies or reports about the impact of water use and regional water quality beyond those submitted by the developer's consultants. The developer and his representatives are claiming they will enhance water quality, but there will be no regular testing to verify this, which amounts to the county taking the developer's word for it. Given the epic water quality challenges faced by Martin County, this is a very bad idea indeed. We concur, in fact, with the guardians of Martin County who've recommended the county require projects like the ranch to perform continuous water quality monitoring as a condition of PUD approval where the project is located in an area where it discharges into impaired water bodies may occur. Other questions? Wasn't a Western lands study supposed to be done in conjunction with this proposal? Whatever happened to that? Do we know definitively what the impact of this proposal will be on the Florida Wildlife Corridor? And lastly, we too are concerned about the leapfrog nature of this development and the inevitable proposals that will follow. The ranch is a mile from the urban service district. Perhaps the next proposal will be a mile and a half from that boundary. At what point does the boundary cease to be relevant at all? We ask you please vote no on this proposal. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Rose will be followed by Barb Erick. Good morning. Good morning. Ron Rose, GenSpeech Chamber of Commerce. How are you all today? First, I want to commend you all for an excellent job in maintaining a positive economic environment here in Martin County. Projects that complement the Martin County different, like the branch project before you today, offers wonderful opportunities and economic benefits for our community. For example, redesigning and rebuilding South Fork High School's short golf course. On-the-job training that offers educational and mentoring opportunities for turf grass management. Creating career opportunities in beef production and management, culinary arts, and hospitality and tourism. Offering the first youth caddy program in Martin County. Donating approximately 20 acres of land for the specific use of the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension headquarters. The ranch has also dedicated $50,000 to perform an initial environmental restoration on Banner Lake owned by the Pine School. Please move this outstanding project forward. Thank you. Barb Erick, followed by Megan Shirley. Shiree. Shiree. Good morning. I'm back. My name is Barbara Erick. I'm here today to speak about the voyage recovery, who submitted an application for reasonable accommodation. Let's again talk about the law. The law, Martin County Code 3.75D states that recovery homes must be 10 miles apart. The voyage home violates this code. The property is located within 6.2 miles of the sister company of the same company, which is the property known as the Ocean House Voyage Recovery, which is located at 18083 Southeast Federal Highway in Tequesta, Martin County, which is 8.4 miles away. One more property is Heal Behavioral Health, which is located at 17953 Rocky Pines Road in Jupiter Farms, Palm Beach County, 3.6 miles away. The Serenity Home Detox and Recovery is located at 250 Thelma Avenue in Jupiter, which is 4 miles away. The Sandy Pines Hospital, located at 11301 Southeast Tequesta Terrace in Tequesta, Martin County, is within the 10 miles. I don't understand. Last meeting, Ed Campy asked Ms. Elder to find out how many recovery homes were within the 10-mile radius of this particular property. Has that been done? Well, I just gave you several, so maybe you can add to the list, but how can this even be an issue if you follow the law? You're only allowed to have 10, you know, have to be more than 10 miles apart, so that makes no sense. I have a lot more to read, but I've already said it all, but there's three reasons this application should be denied, which I spoke about the last time. The first is based on the application does not provide any proof whatsoever that 12 applicants are better than 4. And based on the fact that there is, in fact, a direct threat to the safety and health of other individuals in the neighborhood. And then lastly, that this property is less than 10 miles away from several other sober homes. So this application should be denied. Thank you. Thank you. Megan Shiree, followed by Shiree, maybe one of these days I'll get it right, followed by Mr. Joe Flanagan. Got that right. Good, right. There you go. Good morning. As Commissioner said, I am Megan Shiree. I'm with the Boys and Girls Club. At the Boys and Girls Club of Martin County, we are dedicated to empowering our club members to seek meaningful roles within our community and to take pride in their diligent efforts. The vitality of our economy hinges on the opportunity that we provide for our youth. It is not just about finding jobs. It is about creating pathways to prosperity for the next generation. We envision a future where every young person has access to diverse avenues for skill development and career advancement. From internships to on-the-job training and meaningful interactions with successful professionals, the possibilities are endless. By working in our community, young people can contribute to its viability and sustainability. The Boys and Girls Club of Martin County eagerly anticipates learning more about the opportunities available at the ranch as we are committed to empowering our club members to achieve financial independence and self-reliance. We seek environments that provide guidance, support, and valuable insights into career pathways and believe that the ranch's on-the-job training will provide that. Thank you. All right. Mr. Flanagan is followed by Jennifer Pelham. Good morning and terrific Tuesday. Joe Flanagan from Stewart. A couple of things. First of all, I mentioned this during the LPA meeting, but thank you to whoever the staff that puts the pictures up in the back. I usually don't sit that far in the back. Those are great pictures and everybody should take an opportunity to kind of look at them before they leave here. Today, my son works at the Indiantown Airport, and that's germane to this conversation because this morning he rides a motorcycle and it was going to rain, so I took him to work. So I had an opportunity to drive that long expanse between Stewart and Indiantown. And I'm looking at everything that's out there in so much of the land and so many things, the wetlands and everything that's concerned here. You guys have in front of you the packet for the other ranch proposal, so I won't bore you with all the numbers and everything that's there. But if you start looking at it, it exceeds our expectations. Whatever we have for the open spaces, it's far above that. It will have a working ranch because I noticed the applicant had said tried really hard to find a ranch or a farmer in order to sell the property to and it did not occur. So we're moving in that direction. I remember when I was on the LPA and the Pulte group was proposing out there by South Fork High School, the audience was full of people from the Florida Club. And at that time, I reminded them, 12 years ago, you guys were putting your application in and we were in opposition to you. But that turned out to be a very nice situation. So kudos to that one. And people show up sometimes with pitchforks and torches to these things. And then it becomes an emotional issue. The people that are multi-generational that have lived here. I moved here when Cove Road was dirt, but there were a lot of people here before I got here. It's paradise. Everybody, every time you read a magazine, we're in the top 10 places in the United States to live. People want to live here, but we cannot put up the wall. So this is a, I recommend that you do the staff recommendation and approve this. Thank you. Yeah. All right. Jennifer Pelham followed by Mr. David, David Hafner. Please pronounce your name correctly. Good morning. My name is Jennifer Pelham. I'm the extension director at the University of Florida IFAS extension here in Martin County. And I just wanted to come forward today to let you know that we are looking forward to the opportunity of relocating to the ranch. Thanks to the generous donation of 20 acres. As you know, we are currently located just north of the fairgrounds and we are very limited with our space. We have outgrown our building. We don't have much space for doing onsite educational programs and research projects. So relocation to the ranch will allow us to expand our educational programs. We can expand and enhance our demonstration gardens, Florida friendly landscaping, tropical fruit groves, citrus groves. We could also allow us to have an area for our 4-H youth so they can have an area to show their animals, for their livestock shows, for their archery program. And this will also give us space to collaborate with our UF researchers. We have a lot of researchers out there that are looking for opportunities to have research projects going on throughout the state. This would give us a great opportunity to collaborate with our researchers at the University of Florida on a number of different projects, including agriculture and ranching and ecology. So overall, the relocation of extension services to the ranch would not only benefit the extension service, but also expand our educational programs throughout Martin County. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Mr. Hafner will be followed by Mary Drosinski. I'm going to have to fix that one when you get here. Good morning, commissioners. My name is David Hafner. I am the University of Florida IFAS extension 4-H agent here in Martin County. I'm just going to keep this short because I know you have a lot of comments today. I'm working hard to expand our program in our community. I'm trying to include as many youth as I can, just like the Boys and Girls Club mentioned earlier. And I am really seeing a lot of positive changes in my first year as an agent really expanding this program already. And I'm just excited for the future. But my main limiting factor is space, just as Jennifer said before. We have a very small footprint currently. And so we have to do a lot of work outside of the office, working, partnering with other people, relying on them for space. And it can be cumbersome when you're trying to expand a program and you need something reliable. Part of the ranch, as you've heard, is a 20-acre gift to extension to have a new building, which would be huge. It would be, it would expand our programs incredibly. Having this amount of space, it would be an incredible asset to our office and it would be an asset to the community. It would allow me to continue growing my program, to reach more and more Martin County youth, to partner with other people like Boys and Girls Club. So I'm really excited about the ranch and I'm hopeful for your support today. Thank you. Ms. Mary, please say your name correctly. It's easy. Starzynski. I just have to break it down. It wasn't too far away. Good morning. Mr. Chairman, Commissioner, staff, my name is Dr. Mary Starzynski and I'm speaking today in the interest of the public health and the common good. I am neither an engineer, a planner, nor a commissioner. However, the basic tenets of maintaining the urban services boundary are analogous to the basic tenets of maintaining good health. So what helps to create good health? First, eat lightly and watch your weight. Get on the scale and try to maintain it within normal boundaries. Martin County-wise, maintain the urban services boundary. Second, exercise regularly to maintain your own ecosystem. Martin County-wise, maintain the urban services boundary to support Martin County's vital natural areas whose flora clean our air and whose natural wetlands filter and cleanse our water. These areas support essential ecosystem services which help to maintain the public health. Third, don't drink too much alcohol. Don't intentionally destroy yourself. Martin County-wise, don't destroy our ecosystem via the intentional destruction of the urban services boundary. This will occur if the 3,460-acre Calusa Creek Ranch Project or the Ranch PUD is approved. This will allow extension of public utilities and cluster. That was in three minutes. No, you got 15 more seconds. Oh, and cluster ranch development. Oh, shoot. I'm sorry. Anyhow, okay, request that all commissioners' hands and votes are on deck to vote no on any amendments of the threat to Martin County's water quality. Water, especially clean water, is the new gold. Man, your time is up. And next up is Mr. Serkis. You have pH 3. Would you rather wait? Okay. Good. And Joseph Pasano, you have pH 1. Would you like to wait for the item or speak now? You're going to wait? Okay. The same goes for Bill and Ingrid. We'll wait, too. Okay. Carol Ann Leonard doesn't have anything there, so how about you? Followed by Robin Cartwright. Good morning. Many different people in Martin County have come to speak at the LPA and Martin County Commission meetings. They came to both Blake Library meetings to speak about the seven-year revision of the Martin County Comprehensive Growth Plan. I read the interviews and some public comments. Hopefully those who send emails to the commissioners are in agreement with the majority of the people. I believe they are. The majority of people in Martin County do not want overdevelopment. They're very concerned about keeping all our waters safe and free of pollution. The majority of both county and city of Stewart commissioners don't listen to the people. The majority of the LPA and MC commissioners want to allow continuing overdevelopment of mega overpriced mansions with multiple golf courses, golf cottages, employee dorms, and now a boat slip on the C44 canal built by the ranch. These developments are being allowed by changing them to the rural lifestyle. It's also the way sewer and water is being allowed to go outside the urban service districts that were meant to slow down development, overdevelopment. First RLS was to apply to over 130,000 acres of agricultural and open land, then down to 1,000 contiguous acres. Now the attempt is to make it 3,000 contiguous acres, 6,000 feet away from a USB. These attempts need to stop until the infield area is full. Please don't pass agenda items 24-0-1-8-8, 24-0-1-8-9. More developments are being allowed west of Canter Highway and I-95 as well as along Bridge Road. Both are major highly trafficked roads. This needs to stop. The ranch brags about getting the water and sewer to stop septic tanks. If they weren't allowed outside the USB, then there would not be that septic tank problem. How can we be sure that the ranch with their water storage proposals, etc., can safely handle stormwater runoff, stormwater runoff from fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, possible gas, oil, and sewage from the boats on the C44 canal? Don't pass this as it is now. I agree with the proposal to mandate on-site water quality monitoring before passing agenda item 24-0783. The ranch wants to build a new home for UF and IFAS. Great. They will give 750,000 in-kind services to the local high school turfgrass program, offer a golf scholarship. It would be better to give a scholarship to someone to study regenerative agriculture, environmental cattle ranching, and the Audubon grazing program. We don't need more golf courses. We need clean water, affordable housing, the county to continue being what it has been in the past, smart development, not overdevelopment, to name a few. I emailed the commissioners with several reasons why I believe the three agenda items should not be passed. I hope you read them. I hope you would consider my request. We, the people, want to be listened to. Thank you. And Ms. Cartwright will be followed by Todd Orliff. Good morning, commissioners. Happy Tuesday. When it comes to reviewing development applications, theoretically, it should not matter who is on staff or who sits on the dais, but sadly it does. An application should be within the confines of a comp plan with minimal variances, and a land use change should only be sought if there is no other reasonable use for that land. Not because it makes a profit for a speculative land purchase or what is promised by buying goodwill. It doesn't change what's required by the comp plan. The original Calusa Creek proposal came before the commission on August 10, 2010. Staff recommended a denial, and it was motioned by Commissioner Hurd, and nobody seconded it. Instead, there was a motion to, quote, come to some kind of agreement for a certain number of units, including yeses by commissioners Campion Smith. This was the same time frame as Cannabis Sound and Becker. Yep, the same Becker that was the applicant for the Rural Lifestyle Text Amendment. Applicants have been waiting for this configuration of a commission, some since 2007, like the company who paid $70 million for land, immediately had it revalued for $7 million, applied for a grazing zoning, presumably to avoid paying higher property taxes, who are now rushing for approvals because they know this may be their only chance to get anything and everything they want. It took years, but this group of developers written about by Sally Schwartz in 2010 finally got the commission they want and that they need. Fun fact, the PR company who manages Calusa Creek's PR since 2010 also manages the PR for South Florida Water Management District and Big Sugar. Totally normal stuff. And sadly, this commission and its committees are not valuing true experts who are expressing valid concerns, like District 2's LPA rep who was forced to resign as a city commissioner over accusations of bullying who said that the South Florida Water Management District email was rogue. What an interesting word. Rogue is compared to what? Instead of holding the applicant accountable, there was a redirection attacking an email's supposed validity to discredit its information. A tried and true way to do business. So South Florida Water Management District isn't an expert into sending rogue emails. None of the environmental groups are experts, but the guy appointed to sit on the dais who says it's a rogue email somehow is, and every developer paid consultant somehow is. Got it. You should be doing what you were elected to do and getting generously paid to do, which is to follow the comp plan and not what an applicant or their friends ask you to do, nor by those contributing to a PAC, including a PAC that is registered to the local chamber of commerce and one that is registered to a local current commissioner. So to everyone in this room and watching remotely, make sure your voter registration is updated and current. Know who has been updating, who has been investing in literally our candidates. Elections matter. I hope everyone makes their voice heard in August. Thank you. Todd Orliff, or maybe not, is... Orloff. Orloff. Okay. Followed by Sam Hay. Mine's going to be really quick. There's a... As a resident of Martin County, I believe the ranch shows a great deal of promise for our community. This project demonstrates that you can develop while you still support conservation. The amount of land preservation and open space is really impressive with this project. Clearly, there's been a great deal of careful planning that kept in mind Martin County in maintaining its rural feel. We should use this project as a blueprint for others down the road in the future to continue our community, to continue making our community and its future better. Thank you, guys. Thank you, sir. Mr. Sam Hay is going to be followed by Darlene Van Riper. Good morning. I'm Sam Hay. I live in Port Salerno. Commissioners, first, I would like to remind you of a fundamental fact that some of you seem to have forgotten. You were elected to serve and defend the interests of the people of Martin County, not outside developers whose primary motivation is to exploit our natural treasures for their own profit. In particular, I would like to address those of you who originally voted to approve extending the so-called rural lifestyle designation 6,000 feet beyond the urban services boundary to accommodate the developers of Colusa Creek Ranch. I urge you to reconsider your vote of last December and overturn this grievous error. To begin with, approval of this amendment to our comprehensive plan renders the urban services boundary meaningless for all practical purposes. In addition, it neglects to address the concerns expressed by the South Florida Water Management District that the proposed project fails to provide assurance of adequate stormwater management and water quality protection. Whatever the developers might say, there is little doubt that the heavy fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides of two golf courses would eventually wash into our already severely threatened waters. Do we really need more golf courses? Finally, who's going to pay for all the infrastructure improvements that will inevitably become necessary if the Colusa project is carried through? Whatever assurances we may initially be given that Martin County taxpayers won't be on the hook for these, expenses for roads, fire protection, law enforcement, wastewater treatment will likely fall on our shoulders. My taxes are already high enough. Please do the right thing for the people of our county and for future generations, overturn the approval of Colusa Ranch, and reject any further amendments to weaken our comprehensive plan. Ms. Van Riper will be followed by Mr. Brandon Tucker, unless you have, you'll wait till later. Good morning, generously paid commissioners. I guess everything's relative. Anyway, Darlene Van Riper, Hope Sound resident. Somebody spoke earlier saying we don't want overdevelopment, and we don't, and that's why I'm totally in favor of this Colusa Creek project because of the amount of land that they will preserve. 3,547 acres. That's more than 91 percent open space. 1,200 acres of preserved wetlands, $25 million in estimated annual tax revenue. We could build a bigger golf course maybe. This is private industry paying us to preserve land. What more could you ask for? And I would make the comment that there was a gentleman here who represented the golf course industry, but he had made a presentation some months ago, which was a fabulous presentation, and if you are of the opinion that golf courses are the golf courses of yesteryear that used to pollute, you really need to watch that presentation. I'm speaking basically to the audience if that's allowed because it is so informative and enlightening. So please do vote in favor of this project. Thank you. Mr. Tom Pine's next. I'm sorry I forgot and followed by Tammy. Tammy. I know, but Good morning, commissioners. My name's Tom Pine. I'm a resident of Jensen Beach. In today's consent agenda, $29,566,336.14 was spent between March 25th and April 14th, 2024, without identifying the payees or the purpose of the payments. Not long ago, the Stewart News did a story about the St. Lucie County commissioners abusing the consent agenda. Maybe someday soon, the Stewart News will do a story about how our Martin County commissioners abused the consent agenda, too. The past two public meetings I've been attended, I've attended, two different men questioned me on how raising the sales tax adds to food insecurity. The second man noted in comments that there is no sales tax on food. I will try once again to explain that there is a direct relationship between food insecurity and raising the sales tax. I'm sure both of these men have heard the term living paycheck to paycheck, but obviously they don't understand the full meaning. At the end of the week, there's no money left. After paying all your bills, rent, mortgage, utilities, clothes, auto, and last but not least, food. So every time you raise taxes on people living in this situation, the food budget is the only place they have to cut their expenses. Yes, I'm well aware there's no sales tax on food directly, but if you take the time to look at the total picture, raising sales tax adds to food insecurity. During the budget hearing of 2023, for the first time in memory, the commissioner chambers were packed with local taxpayers concerned about the county's tax bill. The number one issue many of the speakers from various homeowners association and condo association was the fact that many long-term residents having trouble making ends meet. These are some of the same people in Martin County that have dropped their homeowners insurance in order to make ends meet. Palm Beach Post, April 29, 2024, front page, move, cut back, or go bare. More Florida seniors are facing prohibitive home insurance costs. So yes, raising the local sales tax does add to food insecurity. Indirectly, but it still does. Maybe it's time for those pushing this worthy initiative to consider forming a non-profit, solicit money from the many local residents that support this effort, and leave those that are struggling be. We can't use the tax dollars for low-income housing because the taxpayers would be up in arms. But it's okay to spend $40 million on a train station because the Chamber of Commerce wants it. Sad. What you permit, what you promote. What you allow, you encourage. What you condone, you own. Thank you. Tammy, if you would pronounce your name correctly. Absolutely. Larry Mueller. Tammy Semino. Good morning, everybody. It's good to see you. I want to just say I am one of those taxpayers who love everything about Martin County, who actually loves everything that you, your staff, have provided for us in the way of a quality of life. We are different because we do our due diligence. And part of that is by maintaining both our economic and our environmental lands so it works for all of us, not just some, but all of us. I'd like to continue to encourage you to continue these smart growth policies that we have in place by supporting the ranch. It not only has environmental, and I won't go through all the numbers because I know you're probably sleeping in. Environmentally, it's still agriculture. It's low density. Economically, it makes sense. It's travel, tourism, further golfing. And it attracts people who really do love Martin County and think it's a special place that end up moving here for all the right reasons, not the bad reasons that some people come. I thought it was kind of funny when I was going through my homework, looking up things that had to do with the Western land studies and stuff that we've all been through for many, many years, that I came across an article that actually Maggie Herchella wrote. And I just want to quote just a little bit of it for you. Martin County is sometimes accused of encouraging sprawl by its 15-unit density cap, its four-story height limit, its strict wetland preservation requirements, its requirements for both preservation of native habitat on the site, its general low density, and less intense lifestyle. Now, if she were here today, this is the ranch. This is exactly what it does. So I just want to remind you that not only have you guys done an awesome job in protecting Martin County, the assets we have in providing a great quality of life for everybody, but so have previous commissions have done it. It's smart growth. You can't just say no. You have always helped us look for a better way to do something so that we all have a win-win. Incredible tax base, incredible farming, incredible aquaculture. I mean, it's a win-win. Thank you for your support. Thank you. Mr. Mueller, I just noticed that you have pH 3 on that. Would you say Mueller? Okay. So I'll push him off to pH 3. Same with Brian Schwan, pH 3, or... Okay. I'll put you there anyway. Ms. Benny Caffrey. Good morning, commissioners and other guests. I'm Benny Caffrey, head of school at the Pine School located in Hobesound, Florida. Some of you might not know, but Banner Lake is actually located on the Pine School's 170-plus acre campus. It is the school's goal to restore this sheet flow wetland to its natural beauty. This wetland was disturbed decades before the Pine School purchased the land, and we would love to see it functioning the way it was intended to. A few years ago, the Pine School worked with Martin County and agreed to contribute tens of thousands of dollars to extend a water study Martin County had already engaged with with Tetra Technologies. The work of that project is ongoing. The school at the time also did some mitigation in the lake to begin removing some of the overgrown species. Last fall, we were fortunate to meet Ken and Suzanne Basked. They have a healthy interest in the Pine School and education broadly, and it was my pleasure to tour them around the Pine School's campus. They were impressed with our natural beauty and immediately stepped forward to donate up to $50,000 of in-kind service to help us with our first phase of restoration for Banner Lake. The Pine School was fortunate and accepted this gift. We are eager to have community support for restoration of Banner Lake and hope to see more community interest in restoring our sheet flow wetland in the future. Thank you so much. Okay, Linda Richards is followed by Kim Dinkins, which is also a PH3 if you'd like to postpone that. Good morning, Commissioners. I am here to speak to you about an email that was sent to all of you a few weeks ago, and it is to talk about a project that is on CANR, the CANR CPUD, which I fully understand is in the city of Stewart. However, it borders the county. We live in the county. I am here because there has been multiple instances where water has been discharged quickly off of that property, into the swales, directly into our river, through the canals that are on the side of Cabana Point. There has been nothing done. There has been nothing done to this developer. They have admitted to it. There is proof that it happened. It happened three times where a breach happened, and the water flooded the nursery property into the swales, under CANR Highway, directly into our river. And then it has happened, most recently, into the swale in front of Riverland, where it went rapidly into our river. It is taking construction silt into our river. The developers can't be held accountable. Now, after listening to everything about what's going on in our western lands, I want you to think of how you are actually going to hold these developers accountable. Because they're going in, and they start, and you know what? There is nothing you can do to stop them or hold them accountable. Because once they start, that's it. So I'm looking at a small 50-acre parcel, you know, just 19 acres of upland scrub disturbed and 10 wetlands disturbed. And we see what's happening there. And now we look at the western lands and what you're going to do. I would look really closely at the feedback of what's going on in the city of Stewart of the properties that they annexed out of the county, changed their land uses to land use that was basically created, just like this land use that you guys are looking at today. And look at the fallout from that before you go quickly approving these projects. Thank you. Kim Dinkins. Okay, how about Tammy Simone? Seminole. She already went. Oh, she wants to talk about the rancher. Okay. I am actually the Tammy you cannot pronounce the last name of. You got to speak louder, ma'am. Okay, Formanac. What? Tammy Formanac, who is the SOS. Could that have been the one that you called first? Well, no, that's not it. But go ahead. I'll find her. Did you fill out one of these? I did. Yes, sir. Okay. Go ahead. Okay. So anyway, I'm here in supporting Port Salerno in SOS. And I would just like to read this to you. It's the Capital Improvement Plan book outlines the county's budget allocation, but lacks the details regarding Salerno CRA. The language is vague and provides public works with considerable flexibility. This could be detrimental to Port Salerno as the board language allows for a wide range of projects. The exception is SPS slash Manatee Park, Manatee business park, excuse me, page, which includes plans for significant work on the Commerce Avenue. The ancillary improvement improvements for the neighborhood specifies these improvements, which the neighborhood they pertain to are unclear. Another page focuses on the resurfacing of Commerce Avenue, excuse me, extending to Salerno Road, which may not be necessary within the Salerno CR the idea that the Commerce Avenue is a crucial marine transportation route has been debunked. And it appears that the project aims to widen the right of way through a residential area to create a new downtown without input from the residents. Other pages hint at construction of a linear park without explicitly stating it. One mentions the multiple Maldon pathways without specifications in locations, potentially aligning with the business players' plans for a boardwalk. The other page proposes channel enhancement, which some commissioners equate to the Salerno Creek boardwalk. and linear park. Any work on Salerno Creek should involve input from the NAC and is not part of the Salerno CRA plan. Additionally, there is a page dedicated to Port Salerno CRA improvements focusing on intrafracture. For future growth and enhancing the aesthetics, priority projects chosen from CIP and CRA plan are ambiguous and should range from the railroad bridge to on-street parking. The issue lies in misrepresentation and manipulation of the CRA plan for alternative purposes without input or approval for Port Salerno NAC or CRA board. So thank you very much. Good morning, commissioners. I'm Kim Dinkins. I apologize. I was in the lobby. I was going to speak on PH3. Well, do you want to talk at PH3 or you want to talk? I can talk now. I'm already here as well. Again, my name is Kim Dinkins. I'm the policy and planning director for 1000 Friends of Florida. We're a non-profit organization that advocates for smart growth throughout the state. You may recall that we oppose the establishment of the rural lifestyle future land use designation for the exact reasons that I'm standing here today. It promotes the extension of public facilities outside of the urban services district and results in leapfrog development patterns, the definition of sprawl. The proposed text amendment seeks to push development even farther out than what was originally allowed and removes a reference to the maximum one dwelling unit per five acres, even though it still is contained in the text. It makes the intent more ambiguous rather than clearer without setting any new standards to ensure that the areas not slated for development at this time will remain that way into the future through conservation easements. Extending rural lifestyle projects more than a mile from the urban services district boundaries would vastly increase the area vulnerable to negative environmental and community impacts from development, including water pollution, congested roads, and higher taxes to stretch and maintain those public services. We acknowledge that cluster development is sometimes preferred and is a good tool to preserve tracts of land with sensitive areas or that could otherwise provide green space. But in cases like this where the density is already limited to one dwelling unit per 20 acres, you're not really getting any bang for the buck, especially when clustering is being used as a justification to extend those services into rural areas. Other policies could be created to protect sensitive lands while still allowing owners to develop portions of their property without bringing public facilities into play. Regarding the PUD, there's no guarantee that water quality will be improved by converting current ag lands to golf courses. In fact, golf courses are known to be some of the most intensely fertilized and irrigated lands in the state. And the current PUD agreement doesn't specifically require best management practices, reduced irrigation or water quality monitoring in those areas. It also seems that given the amount of land that's being set aside for preservation, retaining just 25% of the native trees is a little bit of a low bar. In short, we ask you that you reject the text amendment in the PUD as currently proposed. Anywhere new golf courses are planned throughout the county, ensure they're subject to low impact design and maintenance, and that they're not eligible to conversion to other residential or more intense uses in the future. Thank you. Okay, I have three requests to speak forms with multiple names on them. That is the All About Achieving Learning Center, and apparently they need to go back to school. So we're going to ask them to come up all together, I guess, and choose a couple of people to speak. Oh, three different topics. Okay. All right. Well, let's start with affordable housing. Whoever's going to speak about affordable housing. Huh? Yeah. And I apologize. I didn't realize you guys were needed to go back to school, but I'm sure you appreciate sitting here and not me. When do I stall? Okay. State your name or names. Hi, I'm Ellie Grace. My name's Ava. We are here today to talk about affordable housing for essential workers. Waiters, car mechanics, police officers, firefighters, teachers, crossing guards, and construction workers all do different essential jobs. Still, they have one thing in common. They may need to make more money to continue to live in Martin County. Think about all the work they do and how little they get paid. These people do so much for our community, and yet they make so little and can barely afford to live here. Why is this? Well, for one thing, some people think that if a smaller or more affordable house is near theirs, it loses some of its value. Secondly, there are also buildings and physical space issues. We are creating so many other significant unnecessary things that are taking up valuable space for smaller houses or even communal living. Think about the number of gas stations, car washes, restaurants, and luxury apartment complexes being built in Martin County. Not only are they taking up valuable space, but even the apartments and townhouses that are being constructed are asking for extremely high prices to buy or rent them that the average essential worker is not able to afford. In March of 2024, it was documented that there were allowed around 1,100 tiny homes for sale in Martin County. However, I would barely call them affordable at this point, as most traditional single-family homes cost nearly $500,000. And considering over half a million people in the state of Florida make less than $30,000 a year, I don't think that's sustainable for anyone. Single families and essential workers are struggling to make ends meet as it is, let alone having the ability to afford housing in Martin County. And over 8% passed the so that $34,000 increase on average is so much harder for people that they don't have large incomes in Martin County. Another big problem is the population. People are constantly moving here, taking up space, building, and buying houses, making even less room for lower-class citizens. My solution is to require all new housing units to require affordable housing before large homes. Although I may not know how to solve this problem, I do know that Martin County used to be a small town that had beautiful beaches, amazing schools, and affordable houses for the average family to be able to afford. As Martin County continues to expand in population and in business, the cost of living has also expanded dramatically as well. The average home price in Martin County has now reached unprecedented levels and unfortunately, many people like essential workers or even people who have lived here their whole lives may not be able to stay here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, then let's talk about non-service animals. How about that? Please introduce yourselves. Hello, County Commissioners. Before I run talk, I want to say thank you for letting me talk to you. My name is Luke Anthony Longo. My name is Jackson, and I'm Eli. We are with All About Achieving Learner Center and want to discuss something important, non-service animals in public. The main issue about non-service animals is that people bring them everywhere they're not supposed to, like restaurants, stores, baseball parks, etc. Unfortunately, some businesses do not follow state and local laws and allow non-service animals into their buildings or facilities. Bringing their pets into restaurants and stores creates numerous problems for the average citizen. For example, we have noticed the following issues involving non-service animals in Martin County. Dogs barking non-stop at people in public places. Animals go to the bathroom in public and their owners do not clean it up. The creation of unsanitary conditions where people bring their animals into restaurants and grocery stores where people eat food and shop for their food as well. People have allergic reactions to having these non-service animals in the stores and restaurants that they are shopping at. Anxiety and fear by children and adults who do not like animals or have had bad negative experiences with different stages of their life. Animal attacks in public. Just a few weeks ago, a child was bitten at a Martin County baseball field by a non-service animal that was not on a leash. Again, we understand the need for service animals in public, especially people who really need them. However, the number of people who bring their animals into public places have become alarming in Martin County. Pets are not people, and they definitely should not be public places where they could cause a disturbance or affect someone's allergies, impact the states in stores and restaurants, or cause unnecessary sickness or paranoia for others. As a result, we have come up with a solution. We need to make stricter local rules for non-service animals in public. For example, people won't be served if they bring non-service animals to businesses and can be asked to leave. And if they don't, it would be considered trespassing. Or businesses themselves could be fined for not following the rules as well. Some companies are only concerned about making a profit, so they allow any type of animal in their store, regardless of whether or not it is registered service animal. Lastly, one of the most powerful tools is education. Educating citizens about the negative effects of non-service animals in public is important. Thank you for your time and consideration upon this issue. Okay, now we're going to talk about water quality. Please introduce yourselves. Hello, my name is Cain Hollinger. And my name is Colby Galinas. We attend the All About Achieving Learning Center. We've got to get close. You guys got to get closer to the mic. Thanks. Hello, my name is Cain Hollinger. And my name is Colby Galinas. We attend the All About Achieving Learning Center. We're concerned about what is happening with the dumping of Lake Ukashobi. Unfortunately, the dumping killing oyster bars, seagrass, birds, and other sea animals in large numbers. It's also creating blue-green algae, which is killing a lot of marine life. It can really hurt you if you're swimming in it. The nutrient-rich polluted water that is filled with nutrients like phosphate and nitrogen from Lake Ukashobi can transport toxic blue-green algae to the coast and has been found to intensify existing red tide blooms, supercharging them and leading to massive marine kills like we experienced three to four years ago. Billions of gallons of water from Lake Ukashobi is getting dumped into the St. Lucie River, Lake Worth Lagoon, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico, which is making the water toxic and initially transforming our local ecosystem. Instead of dumping this toxic water into the rivers, one solution that we came up with is to dump this toxic water into the Everglades because of how dry it gets between the months of December through April. And this gives us enough time to fix the blue-green algae. And also, the plants in the Everglades are a natural filter which could filter out the toxic blue-green algae. This would help the issue because there would lessen the amount of water in Lake Ukashobi, it would lessen the amount of negative effects on our local marine life. This issue is incredibly important to us as we have lived our whole lives in Martin County and have enjoyed fishing, boating, and being out on the water since we were little kids and hope to still do so in clean water. So we hope that one day you will stop dumping Lake Ukashobi water into our local rivers. Thank you so much for your time. Very good. Next time you decide to do this, let us know and then we can get you in and out. I'm sorry. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. John, John, what looks like L. Hips, followed by Chad Miner, maybe. Good morning, Commissioners. First of all, I would like to thank each of you for your service to our community. First of all, I would like to thank each of you for your service to our community here in Martin County. And also, what comes to mind is those beautiful parks that you've expanded and maintained here. It really makes a big difference to our community. This morning, I am here to propose a 10-year moratorium on all new planned unit developments. So the reason for this is that we already have on the books many, many developments that have not even been put in place yet. There's thousands of units that we've approved but not yet even implemented. And so this is straining our infrastructure, our roads, our utilities, our schools. And there's also environmental concerns because it leads to massive deforestation and destruction of our wildlife. There's also quality of life issues because when we have all this massive overdevelopment, roads are clogged, people get stressed, there's a quality of life that just deteriorates. And so I think that's important that we need to look at. And the housing market stability and economics is very important because if we put too many developments in too quickly, we're liable to have an oversupply of housing, which could actually deteriorate our economic stability in the community. And lastly, public input and planning. I think we need to take a deep breath. We've done so much here in Martin County, and truly, we've done a lot of really great things. Arguably, we've done a wonderful job, like I said, with our parks, our community. You know, we have small businesses that have sprung up, and we've done a great job with a lot of that. But now it's time to take a deep breath and say, look, we need to do some additional planning to really look at this. And so finally, I think that taking to summarize, if we could allow us some time to step back and look at making some infrastructure improvements to catch up with all the demand and preserve the character of our existing neighborhoods and temper the real estate speculation in Martin County, This would give us a wonderful opportunity to step back and look at maybe some lands that we could purchase to help us keep – to help us maintain important lands that are really good for the environment. And, again, thank you. Chad Miner is probably going to need to fix that. And Carol Pelton. Can you hear me? Yep. So I came here – is it really? I got it right? Yeah. Oh, okay. Pardon? Never mind. I just couldn't read your writing, and I'm sorry. And I got it. So I just wanted to speak on behalf of the development that's going on. Lived here the majority of my life. My parents left an urban area down south so that they can raise their kids on what they had grown up with, which disappeared for them. And I feel like for my kids, my future kids, I will be telling the same story that my parents told, where yesteryear is the only thing I can speak of. My ask is that growth is eminent. It's going to happen. But to put aside future development and outweigh the cost and economic input in favor of our culture and the beauty of our community, I ask that you think of us residents first with greater weight than investors, developers, and all those that you're faced with right now. I hope that you vote against Western Sprawl, our fishing, our hunting, all of it has gone to the side, things that we love, things that our community loves. You always build what somebody wants. Golfers want more golf courses. Consumers want more malls. As a fisherman and a hunter, I want rural ants. I want clean water. And I feel that I am not the only voice that has those concerns. So I wish that you consider me as well as other residents when you make decisions going forward and help preserve the beauty of Martin County. That's all I have. Thank you. Carol Pelton, you want to speak now or okay? Good morning. My name is Carol Pelton. I live in the Foxwood community, and I'm in Western Martin County by South Fork High School. I just want to say that it took me 35 minutes to come in eight miles today in Martin County. And they're proposing more and more traffic lights to get into this, our county. The development that's out there is crazy. And the proposed development that's coming our way is crazy, with 4,000 homes they're proposing across the street, in the fields across the street from us. There's a big warehouse facility that's out there. And now we have two, three golf courses that are surrounding us. I want to speak to the environment. I would love transparency to see, tell me how you did gopher tortoise studies on those lands. There's a lot of wildlife out there. When a developer comes in, they wipe out, wipe out all the trees. Where do the birds go? Where do the tortoises go? Where do the wildlife goes? We have more roadkill on those roads today because of development. It's like a bait and switch when you start lightening up your comprehensive plans and developing a little bit further west. We got stung by Christ's fellowship. They came out there as a church community. They were Project 300. They were going to do all this for the community. We in Foxwood said, great idea. Five years later, they sold it to Pulte Homes. Joe Flanagan was on that land planning committee that approved the development of those homes, 300 homes on 300 acres. They're 15 feet in between them. Now, they wiped out trees. We've been inundated with the barrels that are in those roads. They still can't get the irrigation right on the middle part of that road. If Joe Flanagan went out there today, his only concern was, don't mess with my fishing creek. Are you going to put that water into that fishing creek? I invite you all to go to the western half of this county that you're going to vote to say, let's expand it and see the devastation that's out there in that environment. But I would love transparency. Who's doing the environmental studies? Who's keeping them accountable? Is the EPA in there, a Florida Wildlife Commission out there? Because do you bury gopher holes, you know, and pay the fines? Who's doing that? The developers are telling us. I attended that land planning agency, and they did a great job as far as what they did as far as conservation of the trees. But what did they do with the animals that were living on that land? So I urge you to vote no. And let's take a breath, and there have been a lot of good presentations today and concerns raised by the residents. Your time is up. Thank you. We have Dr. Tracy Miller. Want to talk now? Hello, Doctor. Welcome. Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Commissioners. It's a pleasure to be here this morning. Tracy Miller, Deputy Superintendent, the Martin County School District. And I just want to take an opportunity this morning to share a little bit of information with you about a community collaborative partnership between the Martin County School Board to enhance and really rejuvenate the golf course that exists at South Fork High School that has really been defunct for the last several years. Really bringing that back to be able to support two very important career and technical programs at South Fork High School. Those two academies are the landscape and turf grass management programs and our agri-science technology program, our agriculture technologies. These two programs are really important to help provide pathways for our students in the school district to be able to be college and career ready when they leave the school district and really be able to meet a market need here in Martin County. So we're very appreciative of community and collaborative partners who come forth to the school district to help provide support and really get behind our students and the mission of the Martin County School District in order to educate all students for success and to ensure that they are college, career ready, and able to be collaborative partners here in Martin County when they graduate from our school district. So I thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Ms. Wendy Shipman. Wendy? I thought I saw her. Oh, I'm going to push her off too. Here she comes. Do you want to wait until the item or talk now? She'll talk now. Good morning. Can you hear me now better? All right. Thank you for having me this morning. My name is Wendy Shipman. I'm the instructor of the Academy of Landscape and Turfgrass Management at South Fork High School. She is a national superstar. She is a national superstar. Yes, she is. Thank you. Thank you. We are super excited to be partnering with the ranch. Our golf course has needed some community help for a little bit, and so they're going to bless us with a $750,000 donation, as well as collaboration, on-the-job training opportunities, a caddy program, all kind of wonderful things to help build a relationship and also a pipeline for jobs for my students, which is something that I've been working on most of my career. I've been a teacher in Martin County for 15 years, and I'm very excited when my students get hired and are able to have successful jobs. This is a really important partnership for us, and we really need their support, so we're really looking forward to all of the other opportunities as well that this project will allow, including having the UF Research Extension agents there as well. We can do field trips. They're going to have a beef program, so both programs, both agriculture programs are going to benefit from this collaboration and provide lots of, like I said, lots of job opportunities for my students, which they need. So thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Renee Morseal, and you can fix that one when you get up here. Good morning. I'm Renee Lessard-Morseal from Jensen Beach, and I first want to thank you for taking off the agenda the Mango Lane extension. That was totally unclear. But I'm here to talk about the ranch. A month ago, just about a month ago, the lawmakers at the state and federal levels earmarked a combined $1.65 billion for the next 12 months for work restoring the Everglades, okay? The amount sets a record for how much money taxpayers will spend in a year on the restoration, and it shows how much we're willing to save this area. The Everglades has never seen this kind of funding. The South Florida Water Management District comments that they oppose the ranch because it's in direct opposition to what we're trying to do. You are encouraging the ranch is located more than a mile from our urban service boundary. Now, we're giving them access to public utilities, so within that mile, what's going to happen? And we're trying to preserve area for Everglades restoration. We need to stop this, and like you said, put a hold on it for a year. We've got enough PUDs going around and things that the county obviously doesn't know what they're writing about. They don't have time to get their plans straight. Look at the Mango Terrace catastrophe. That's all I have to say. Thanks, and have a great day. Mr. Brandon Tucker, followed by Carol Fitzpatrick, which is my last speaker forum for public. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board and county staff. Brandon Tucker, Executive Director of Florida Landowners Association. Mr. Chairman, thank you for giving me the opportunity to come back and speak after I deferred earlier for the agenda item, and I will speak again there. But what I was hearing, some of you may know that I'm the former past chair of the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District, and hearing these comments about one particular email from one particular staff member about this project, there are 1,500 very passionate employees of the South Florida Water Management District at Gun Club Road that are all about Everglades restoration, about protecting our lagoon, protecting our estuaries, protecting water quality. As this project moves forward, I can assure you that through the environmental resource permitting process and the review process that is very stringent with the Water Management District, that if there's anything that would cause damage to the ecosystem, that they will not be issuing a permit for this project. So I think that's very important to note. And lastly, what I'll leave you with before I speak later is, is right now, currently, this piece of property with the current land use and the current zoning in place, we can have 20, we can have 200 houses with 200 septic tanks with 200 drain fields, and this proposal was much better for this piece of property and for the environment. So we'll be speaking later. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Ms. Carol Fitzpatrick. Good morning. I'm Carol Fitzpatrick of the Florida Club. To me, this is important, what I'm going to have to say. Before you approve any more new developments, could you please widen Bridge Road? I was astounded at the land planning meeting when I learned that they weren't intending to widen it until 2045. Is that crazy? This is on your shoulders. You need to do something about it. And as for the waters coming off all of these new developments, we need oversight from the county, not the developers. Thank you. Okay. And with that, that is my last speaker form that is not earmarked for a specific item. We need a break for our closed captioning folks to catch up for about 10 minutes, and we will reconvene. Thank you. And we're on. Okay, good. Okay, we are going to take up our 930 preset at 11 o'clock. Request for concurrence of the appointment of the administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Martin County, Mr. Donaldson. Oop, I caught him with his mouth full. I'm sorry. I'll blame Commissioner Campy on the cookie. So, the Florida Department of Health has selected Nicholas Clifton as administrator of Florida Department of Health in Martin County, and the Department of Health is requesting Martin County Board of County Commissioners concurrence on the appointment. I'll say that it was my pleasure to sit on the selection committee with Commissioner Jenkins. I thought that during the interview process they had some really good competition for the job, but Nick overwhelmingly with his knowledge and character, I thought he blew it away personally. So, the recommendation is that the board fully endorse the selection of Nicholas Clifton to be our Department of Health administrator for Martin County, and with that, we need a motion from the board to do so. Commissioner Campy apparently wants to make a motion. I do. I only had a motion, though. What? I'll tell you. I had the opportunity, as you just did, to sit on the selection committee when they hired Carlette Peck, who did a remarkable job. And then when Ms. Peck was thinking about retiring, I was concerned. And then Carol Vitani showed up. At just the opportune time, what most people don't realize is the health department is not a Martin County health department. It's the state of Florida health department located in Martin County. But we do have a very close working relationship with normally the head and their team. They have a remarkable team. In the last couple of years, we have gone through a hepatitis A outbreak in Martin County, sort of focused, it felt like, in Palm City. There was the pandemic, and several other issues that, thankfully, didn't plague us as much as they could. But the leadership from the health department, including, at that point, in more of an assistant position, Nick Clifton, I could not be happier for our community that it's going to be Nick. He's a local. He's very professional, very knowledgeable. And for my sadness to see Carol leave, it's my pleasure to nominate and make a motion to accept Nicholas Clifton being promoted to administrator of the health department of Florida, the Florida Department of Health in Martin County. Congratulations, sir. Okay. I think the next light was Commissioner Hetherington, but I'm not sure, but I'm going to go with that. I tried to get to my light before Commissioner Canby got to his because, of course, he's said it all now. So I will just say, Carol, you know, you have done a tremendous job. You came in under enormous pressure and a very interesting time in history. So thank you so much for your service, and I wish you all the best in your retirement. And I don't think we could have gotten a better pick for, as a local resident, raising his family here. I congratulate Nick, and you've done a tremendous job already. We've done some very complicated, convoluted projects in Monterey subdivision. You all worked through that so seamlessly with a collaboration with the City of Stewart and DEP. So I think the Florida Department of Health is in great hands, and congratulations. Commissioner Hurt. And I'll second the motion. I just want to say also that the people don't realize what a complicated balancing act the health department is. You have to balance regional, global, and local issues, and you do a fantastic job of it. So thank you, Carol, and Nick is an inspired choice for your replacement. Thanks. Commissioner Smith. Well, it's almost good being last because everything that was just said. You're not last. I'm last. Huh? I'm last. I'm almost last. Everything everybody just said, Carol, I'd say one thing about you and Nick together in your performance with us as a board, and I'm sure you dealt with all of us the same way. On a regular basis, both of you came and met with us and shared either what we knew what was going on or what we didn't know what was going on and needed to know what was going on. And in our jobs, it's important to understand the dynamics of what is going on because there's an effect on everything. And your department, your agency, on the health side of what occurs in a community is incredibly important. And so, Carol, I wish you the very best. Thank you for stepping in, as others said, in a really difficult time and a time where when you work for the state, you don't really work for us. You're here. And messaging from the state and messaging from us is very convoluted and difficult to filter. But you did a remarkable job. Both of you did, honestly, in helping us understand our place and what we could do, what we couldn't do during the pandemic and so on. And so I know it was difficult because there were times where the public expected us to have answers, and sometimes there weren't answers. And everybody wanted to look back at you two and go, you guys have the answers. Nick, are you sure you really want to do this? I think that's the bigger question. Thanks again, both of you, Nick. Congratulations. We look forward to continuing the great rapport that we have. And Martin County is in a good place because of all your work. We really appreciate it. Thank you. I get to go last. So I have really appreciated working with Carol and Nick as a team, you know, over these past few years. They were wonderful. And some of these serious issues that came up, they were great about helping somebody like me understand exactly what the ramifications were. Nick I've known for quite a long time, apparently. He grew up with my sons. And I and Don sat through the interview, and all I can say is he knocked it out of the park. He knew the subject matter. He knows what's going on. He has the pulse of Martin County under his thumb. He knows exactly what the deal is, and we could not have a better applicant, and I fully support him. So with that. From the applicant. Let's hear from him. I have a question for him. Nick, just, yeah, just stay. I did not do that to you. He did. Well, we already have the opportunity to know him, but maybe the community who he will serve would like to hear a little bit about your background. Don't expect him to look like this ever again. Just a little bit about myself. Yes, please. So I'm a product of the Martin County School District. I went to Hidden Oaks in South Fork and grew up in western Palm City, went to school, got a bachelor's in biology at the University of South Florida, recently got a master's in health administration from FAU, have a background with DOH and the emergency preparedness and the environmental side. And as of the last five years under Carol's tutelage, I've gotten some experience in about every single program and stuff that you guys have, oops, sorry, I've worked with all of you guys on as far as, like, the pandemic and water projects and water contamination and blue-green algae. And I think that we've been through more in the last five years as a county than most, and that's what I got. That's what I got to offer. Well, we appreciate that, a local boy makes good, so congratulations. Well, we haven't voted yet. Okay, and I guess we do should go through the formal thing and actually vote. So we have a motion by Commissioner Campy, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Congratulations. All right, we're going to move on now to Neighborhood Advisory Committee appointees. Let's hold off. Three. Yeah. Applied. Applied. Three. Three. No, not for this, for Nick's job. Oh. There was one, well, they had whittled it down. Oh, somebody else. Yes, ma'am. Donna Gordon for administration. This is for Jensen Beach. I'm asking that you reappoint Robert Weyer. And for Port Salerno, we had three applicants, and Mrs. Christina Waldron-Ardigo received three votes. Move approval of Robert Weyer and Christina Ardigo. Okay. With that, we have a motion by Commissioner Hurd, seconded by Commissioner Smith. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. All right. Now we're going to move off to pH number one. We have, and the reason is because we have two speaker forms, so obviously two people in the room. Can we do Commissioner comments first? Oh, yeah. I just have one small. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I completely forgot about that. Yes, ma'am. One small item, and it's just a practical matter. If you've been following South Florida Water Management District recommendations, your yard is brown right now because we're in the midst of a rather severe drought, which is terrific for Lake Okeechobee and the estuaries. Lake Okeechobee has decreased by two feet in the last two months, which is great news. But for water managers, it's been a bit of a challenge. So I understand that tomorrow begins Sailfish Sands summer membership, and I understand there's a proposal to reverse the nine holes, the black course, which is a great idea under normal circumstances, but the water managers there have had to prioritize watering, and therefore they've only watered the 27 holes that have been in play. So the black course is well played. It's popular. The reverse is very brown, and as a practical matter, when it's the superintendent, the water managers, the greens managers there, they can turn this around, but they can't do it this quickly. So I would suggest that we keep the holes that are open now open until we can get some rain so that we can, because otherwise our members are going to be very disappointed to have to play on completely brown holes. I don't know anything about it. So, I mean, are you basing that on your experience in golf, or did someone tell you that that's a good idea? No, I just found out that it was going to be, that the new nine holes was going to be open, and they haven't been watered. No, what you're saying makes perfect sense, but are we going to hear from someone from Parks and Rec? I mean, because look, if I support your decision, it seems like you're speaking specifically, so. Commissioner Hetherington? I, I'd love to hear an entire presentation, maybe on the 14th or the next meeting, we can get a, um, Parks to do a presentation on the, um, on the reversible nine, reversible nine, and how that's going to function. I'll move to do a temporary halt, uh, on the changing of the black, uh, course and have a, a, a discussion on May 14th. Second. Smith. Just a, a, a, a side to that, remember that the STA that we built in back of the school barn bus building was specifically designed to tie in to rehydrate the ponds at the golf course to make sure that we had water that we were cleaning and even cleaning it further. So we should be consuming every ounce of water that comes out of that thing and using it. I don't, I don't know why. They're low. I can tell you that. They're two, they're two feet lower than they were a month. And how about the STA? Don't know, but it's, it's very dry. I mean, we've had extraordinary, uh, dry season. We have some, we have some wetlands up on Savannah road that are dry as a bone. Yeah. I get it. I'm just, but that system was piped in and tied in so that we could consume every bit of the water that we're trying to clean up. So I guess we'll hear about it later. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. I'll, I'll wait till we have the presentation. I move to postpone the changing of the black horse, the, to the reversible nine until we can have a discussion about it from the parks department on May 14th. Otherwise they're switching it tomorrow. Got it. Yeah. Okay. We have a motion by commissioner heard, seconded by commissioner Campy. All in favor. Aye. All opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thanks. You have anything? Sir. I don't have anything. Do you have any? No. All set. Okay. Now I forgot what we're doing. Okay. Public hearing number one, public hearing two, uh, and a final assessment resolution for the Harbor Estates, Gaines Avenue, Water Main Extension, Municipal Service Benefit Unit. Mr. Sam Emerson is over there and, uh, Phil Keithley. And neither one of you are them. So go ahead. No, uh, Leo Rapetti, Tax Service Administrator with Martin County Utilities and, uh, presenting today, Dave Duncan, uh, project manager for, uh, this assessment. And Sam's in the wings if we need him. Yes. Good morning, commissioners. Uh, David Duncan, project manager, uh, uh, for the record, David Duncan, project manager for the Utilities and Solid Waste Department. Uh, Martin County Utilities received a petition from Harbor Estates, Gaines Avenue residents asking the Utilities Department to ballot the area for a provision for water services to 160 properties that do not have availability of water services. Um, after the completion of construction drawings, the cost proposals received from our annual underground contractors, a staff level workshop was held on April 23rd at the board of county commissioners chambers to explain the project scope, associated costs and the assessment project. Um, the work will complete the utilities in that area since, uh, since sewer had been completed since, uh, March of 2023. A Florida Department of Environmental Protection permit to construct has been received by this department and the lowest cost proposal has been selected for Martin County and Martin County's annual underground construction contractors. If we go next slide. Yep. There we go. Alrighty. Um, slide two, you'll see a site plan of the Harbor Estates, Gaines Avenue area, including Stratford on the waters and Cape live Oak. Now, some of the anticipated benefits for the community would be enhanced water quality since some of the existing wells are high in iron and sulfides. It would also ensure reliable supply of water as well as continuous supply during power outages. And because it will be, we will be installing fire hydrants along with the water system supply, the potential for homeowners to recognize a reduction in the homeowners insurance rates could be possible on this slide here, the proposed assessment includes 160 properties, which comes out to 162 ERCs as indicated in the slide, the total project cost is $1,769,982. The utilities department is contributing 181,000, reducing the assessable cost to 1,588,982. Therefore, the sum is divided by 162 equivalent residential connections for an estimated prepayment amount of $9,808 and 53 cents per connection. Uh, this equates to an annual payment of $627 and 23 cents per unit amortized over a 20 year period at a rate of 1.52% interest plus standard fees. Martin County currently serves 36,700 water customers and the average residential water bill is roughly 6,000 gallons per month at a rate of $2 and 44 cents per thousand gallons. Based on the average water consumption, the base charge of $19 and two cents, the average residential water customer would pay approximately $33 and 66 cents per month. Uh, with the approval of the final assessment resolution today, the department anticipates commencing construction in June, 2024 and estimates a six month construction phase with completion in December of 2024 lump sum payments of the assessment by the property owners would be due by August 1st of 2025 and any payments not received by that date would be shown on the annual property tax bill in November of 2025. That concludes my presentation. Commissioner Hetherington. Yes. I know that our residents in the area have been waiting for water for some time. I do have a question because I've received quite a bit of correspondence lately and maybe you can explain to some constituents. Um, there, there were some folks that maybe they spend the winter out of the area and I think that they imagined they would have a zero bill, um, versus the, the base. So could you explain a little bit how that works and for some of our residents? Um, the base, the base charge for the water at $19 and two cents and then the consumption, they would just have a base charge if they had zero consumption for that month for the water. The, uh, uh, you, uh, more can utility bills, more can utility bills are broken into two components, uh, uh, uh, the more water use, uh, the more water we have to pump out of the ground. We have to treat with chemicals and, uh, uh, uh, transmit out to the residents. That's the variable portion of the water bill. Uh, the fixed bill, there's still a lot of fixed operations that go be, uh, uh, go on behind the scene. And so that's the cost of maintaining the non-consumption portion of the utility, uh, uh, in operation. So, uh, in, in this case, they would get a base bill of $19 and two cents a month, but no, no charge for consumption because we're not pumping any water to them. I just think that we need to be really clear when we, when we do our presentations to the public, because I've had a lot of misinterpretation on that recently and that, that people don't understand they're going to get a bill even if they don't consume, um, any water. So, um, I think this project, you know, is, is, has been supported and much needed. I'll motion to approve it. I just ask that as you go about your education, whether it be in this neighborhood or some of the future ones that you explain that base rate to the residents. Uh, we'll do. Commissioner Smith. So another way to say it is there is overhead to operating the system, regardless of consumption. Uh, that's correct. So there are, there's a plant, there's facilities, there's maintenance, there's staff, all of that goes on, no matter whether we consume or we don't consume to, to have the capacity when someone comes back after season, that that facility is operating and functioning. Uh, you are correct. And that is what the $19 effectively covers is that baseline of what that costs to operate the system. Well, I, I'd say above and beyond or below and beyond, um, the, the, uh, consumption side. Uh, correct. Thank you. The chair down there. Second. Okay. Uh, before we vote, we have two speaker forums here, Bill and Ingrid Venza. Venesia. Good morning. My name's Bill Venesia. Oh, I'm Ingrid Venesia. We live on Willow Lake Trail. Hold the mic up a little bit, maybe. How's that? Better. Okay. I, I wrote a short thing. I was just going to read it. We encourage the board to adopt a final assessment resolution for the Harbor Estates, Gaines Avenue Area Water Municipal Service Benefit Unit. We understand the cost of the project and recognize the benefit to the property owners. We appreciate the civil service staff of Martin County Utilities and the Solid Waste Department who have worked with our neighborhood so long and so hard to bring this resolution to the board for final endorsement. And I sincerely mean that. You guys have worked your, you know, I guess it's David now, but it was Phil Keithley. It's been an ongoing thing to satisfy a lot of people and we truly appreciate it. Um, the economic benefits for the homeowners are clear. Eliminating the septic systems reduces the maintenance and costs and mitigates the risk of expensive system failures. Um, moreover, removing the septic systems allows for other development on the property. You could bury a gas tank or do something else, plant some trees where you couldn't before, so it's all good. Finally, supporting the water main project is vital for maintaining the ecological integrity and a static value of Martin County. Healthy waterways are essential for supporting marine life and recreational activities that drive our local economy. You all know this. I'm preaching to the choir. Um, by reducing pollutants and our particular area on gains is particularly bad because we, we have neither septic nor sewer. I mean, we have neither water nor sewer. Um, the project is a positive step towards the sustainable, uh, and process for us, Martin County. I appreciate your time. And I just want to echo that we are totally in favor of this project, um, for the benefits to the river and for clean drinking water, it will provide for the households in the area. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all. Joseph Passano. My name is, uh, Joseph Passano. I live at 200 Southwest Willow Lake Trail, uh, which is lot six in Cape Live Oak. Uh, my wife and I first met with John Pauley of Water Utilities in 2004. Excuse me. One of the subjects we discussed, uh, besides our road was having water and sewage, uh, mains extended since they already were installed, but they already existed halfway down the street, which we can never understand why we weren't asked to join that, but that's another subject. Since my wife and I and neighbors, since then my wife and I and neighbors have met with, uh, Phil Keithley, also of Water Utilities, and other county officials many times over the years, uh, lot six at the west end of, uh, Willow Lake Trail is unique in that the water and sewer mains must pass through, uh, my property, uh, to serve the other four residents on the street. Before, before the project could be planned, I had to grant the county two easements on my property. I don't like giving property away, but I'm glad to see this project is finally ready to start. The last thing I want to say is that it has been a lot of years coming, and I hope you, uh, approve this project today. Thank you. Thank you, sir. All right. With that, we have a motion by Commissioner Hetherington, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to skip, uh, public hearing number two for the moment and move on to what everybody else is in the room for is, uh, public hearing number three. Legislative public hearing to consider the adoption of a comprehensive plan amendment C.P.A. 22-06, Colusa Creek Ranch text. Clyde? Good morning, members of the board. Good morning. Good morning. Please proceed. Members of the board, uh, this is public hearing three. My name is Clyde Doolin, uh, Comprehensive Planning Administrator with the Martin County Growth Management Department. With me is Daphne Schaub, Senior Planner with the Growth Management Department. We're going to present to you the legislative public hearing for Comprehensive Plan Amendment 22-06, Colusa Creek Ranch text. Uh, this is just the text amendment, not the future land use. That'll be the next public hearing. And this is not the PUD, which is the following public hearing. Um, the local planning agency considered this, uh, item on November 16. The Board of County Commissioners considered it on December 5. Uh, it's been sent off to the state, uh, agencies and surrounding jurisdictions for their comment. Um, there is no significant comment from state agencies on this text amendment. And, uh, so we will hit the highlights that you've already, uh, you are already somewhat familiar with. This is not a site-specific text amendment. It is applicable in Western Martin County lands along the edge of the primary urban service district and a freestanding, uh, urban service districts. It requires a minimum 3,000 acres. It permits a max density of one unit per 20 acres. And is a change to the existing text, which permits, um, rural lifestyle to be located adjacent to the primary urban service district and allow, and has a minimum 1,000 acres and a different density of one unit per five. It clarifies that employee housing cannot exceed the density of the PUD, uh, which was an oversight in the originally adopted text. It requires enhanced, uh, nutrient-reducing on-site sewage treatment systems instead of standard septic systems. Uh, and that is consistent with, uh, changes in state statute, which are discussed and analyzed in an attachment to this item. Uh, it, uh, permits residential docking facilities among other uses in the PUD. And I'm going to go to page 413, which is a map showing agricultural land and private ownership in large acreage. Um, this is a major piece of the data analysis that we considered in reviewing this text amendment. The hatching that you see is a hatching that's laid down around the, uh, freestanding industrial urban service districts and the primary urban service district. It represents a 6,000-foot distance from the primary urban service district. And it gives you an idea of where the rural lifestyle future land use designation must be located in this proposed change to the text. Uh, it must be located adjacent to or contiguous to this hatching that you see. Uh, and it cannot be located elsewhere in Western Martin County. If you, if you, my, my cursor is following the hatching. So the rural lifestyle future land use, uh, that is described in this text amendment cannot be located in Western Martin County where my cursor is now. It cannot be located adjacent to the municipality of Indiantown. It must be located adjacent to this 6,000-foot buffer that's shown around the primary urban service district. Examples, uh, and, um, examples of where the rural lifestyle has been located, uh, assigned is the Discovery property, Atlantic Fields here at Bridge Road and the Three Lakes property. And as we'll discuss in the next public hearing, the proposed location here, uh, where my cursor is at Canter Highway and Bridge Road. Uh, the map also shows land, in pink, lands that are in public ownership. It's unlikely that anyone would attempt to locate a rural lifestyle adjacent to lands in public ownership. Um, it's also unlikely that they would be proposed in lands here in this brown area, which is Ag Ranchette, where they already have a density of one unit per five acres. So, um, it would actually be requiring them to decrease their density if they proposed a rural lifestyle in this location. They'd have to decrease down to one unit per 20 acres instead of the one unit per five acres that are already permitted in this area. So, um, that's the high spots of this proposed text amendment. Um, I will try and go to the conclusion in the staff report just to make sure I haven't missed anything. Um, it provides predictability where, in some respects, uh, legislation currently, uh, that has been recently adopted in state statute takes away predictability in our western lands. Um, it does not permit the proposed text change under consideration here today. It does not permit a density to exceed one unit per 20 acres. Um, mentioned the dormitory housings clarified and the nutrient and, uh, it, the proposed changes meet or exceed the requirements of chapter 20 dash, 20, 23 dash one six nine laws of Florida that require, uh, advanced wastewater treatment. And with that, I will close out the staff presentation on the proposed text amendment and be happy to take any questions. Any questions for staff? Not at this time. Okay. Mr. Waters? Phone is here. Oh. Somebody's phone was at the podium. So whoever. That's his. You leave your phone. Oh, there you go. Good morning. Tyson Waters on behalf of the applicant. Um, very happy and excited about this opportunity to present not just, not just this first text amendment, but also the land you send, especially the PUD to come, uh, later this afternoon. Again, as you're familiar, um, this is the subject property. It's about 3,900 acres located at the intersection of bridge road and canter highway. As staff mentioned, we've been here twice before, once with the local planning agency on November 16th, who recommended approval of both the land use and this text amendment, and then in front of you for transmittal hearing on December 5th. And before I get started on some of the overview of the text amendment, I would ask Tom McNicholas to come up here to give a brief history about the property. Thank you, Tyson. Good morning, Chairman Jenkins. Good morning, Commissioners. Tom McNicholas from Stewart, Florida, representing the Barney family, the previous owner, and Ken and Suzanne Bax, who are behind us, who now have owned the property for more than two years. We're very pleased to be here today and humbled at the project that's being brought forward. On behalf of the Barney family, who couldn't be here today, they had family in town, their apologies. The Barney family has owned Colusa Creek for more than 20 years, and if you know of the history, some of you were sitting on the dais back in 2010 in a conservation project. The Barney family was approved by Martin County and the state of Florida to provide for 600 residential units with a 1,200 acre set aside. At that time, why that didn't come to fruition is, honestly, South Florida wasn't ready to accept the property at that point. There was budget issues at that time. So, Mr. Barney, in viewing in the future, decided to hang on to the property. We actually went back to Tallahassee and unraveled a comp plan amendment that would allow 600 homes, 600 septic tanks on that property. It's just not what he wanted to do. That was in 2010. Here we are today. There have been a number of suitors who have come to the Barney family over the last four years. Some of them have been the golf course developers in front of you previously who've had great projects, but they didn't align with what the Barney family wanted to do from a conservation mechanism in view. They sent us back out, and we were blessed to find Ken and Suzanne Bax, who were the developers and managing owners of Friars Head New York. And Friars Head, it's one of the top golf courses in the world, and one of the top in the country as well. The thing that makes Friars Head so good is the preservation that they've had there. I apologize, Tyson. I'm trying to go to the next slide. There we go. Sorry. So, Friars Head is located in New York on the Sound. It was approved with 80 units, 80 homes on that site 22 years ago. They've built zero homes. We're not saying that's what's going to happen here, but that gives you an idea of preservation from the Bax family. On Colusa Creek, you've heard about the expansive open space of more than 91%. You've heard of the agricultural preservation of more than 1,200 acres, and you've also heard of the upland and wetland protections of more than 1,200 acres. Those numbers speak for itself, and we appreciate your consideration today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Tom. And I'll be brief, just again, to go over what's in front of you today with this text amendment and what it does. As staff mentioned, it's not site-specific, and it's not an exception. It's the establishment of a new tier by modifying an existing land use. And what this modification, what this second tier does, it creates a requirement that you have to be at least 3,000 acres. So that's triple the size of tier one in the rural lifestyle, and you have to be within 6,000 feet of the primary or freestanding urban service district. And those are relevant because those are the two that allow water and sewer to get there. And this is very important, no density increase. So we're at one unit per 20 acres today, and we remain at a gross density, maximum density of one unit per 20 acres tomorrow. What it does allow us to do is have a residential development over a smaller footprint. So what you'll see as we move forward, the vast amount that we're avoiding and allowed to have an open space. And it allows water and sewer service. And I think this is especially important for environmentally sensitive lands, that you're allowed to have water and sewers as opposed to the septic tanks. But what does it require? At least 70% open space compared to agricultural, that has 50%. Development under a plan unit development agreement as opposed to zoning. And then all upland areas and wetlands, or upland preserve areas and wetlands, are outside of individual tracts of land. And I think this is most helpful. And you're going to see this slide again and again throughout the day, because I really think it breaks down a comparison between the agricultural land use and the land use we're asking to be under. Again, maximum density under both is one unit per 20 acres. The big difference here is potentially on this property, you could have up to 195 units spread out over 3,900 acres. You'll see later on what this land use allows us to do is have a much more compact residential footprint. In our case, and again, as you'll see this moving forward, we're able to get that under 200 acres. Guest houses are the same. Golf courses, they're allowed in agricultural land, just like they're allowed under the proposed land use. The big difference with that are the golf cottages. Under the agricultural land use, there's no maximum in number or size. Under the proposed land use, we're both limited in number and size for those golf cottages. And these last three and four, I think, are the most important for your consideration. The wetlands. In all of Martin County, wetlands are required, and upland preserves are required to be outside of a lot, except for the agricultural and ag ranch at land use. So if we were to develop this piece of property under the agricultural land use, those 20-acre lots could include the wetlands. Under the proposed land use, that's not allowed. They have to be separate parcels outside of individual tracts of land. Open space, again, 50% under agricultural, 70% under the proposed land use. And again, you see when we come forward later, we're actually at 91%. Water and wastewater, we've said this before, up to 195 well and septic systems adjacent to the St. Lucie Canal, an environmentally sensitive area. Under the proposed land use, water and sewers is available at the developer's cost to construct, serve, and maintain. And then again, the type of development. Under the agricultural land use, as long as I check all these boxes, it's a straight zoning, by-right development. Under the proposed land use, it's mandated to be a plan unit development, which means enhanced requirements and demonstration of public benefits. And with that, we're happy to answer any questions you may have. We would ask that you support your prior, or continue your prior action and support staff's recommendation and approve this. Thank you. Okay, any questions for the applicant? Seeing none, we have some public comment. Terry Gibson, followed by Greg Braun. Oh, I ended up putting you on the top, and you were actually supposed to be in the back. Thank you for your time. I'm in a bit of a catch-22 here, and I can't see you with my reading glasses on, and I can't read what's in front of me without them, so I'm going to do my best. Listen, I understand the concerns about the precedent here, and it concerns me too, but I've thought about this project really hard, and I've talked to dozens of people in this community that have lived here a long time. And by and large, most people are like, what's the problem? This is a good thing. Matter of fact, one person said to me, you know, if we had a few more of these out west of town, we wouldn't be worried about sprawl anymore because there wouldn't be any room for it, right? So, I mean, what's not to like about the project? You've got clustered high-end homes instead of sprawl. You've got a world-class golf course, a working cattle ranch from an organic garden and a research facility. That's amazing. A de facto wildlife quarter, conserved and restored wetlands that serve as natural filters and also guard against floods, partnerships with local high school kids. I was a high school teacher in Belgrade for a long time, and I'll tell you what, most of those kids weren't interested in Shakespeare. They needed to learn how to do things like farm and handle machinery and all that. We place too much emphasis on kids going to college and not enough about the things that we need. We don't have any kids coming to the agricultural community. We're not going to be able to eat if we don't get these kids trained up to do stuff like that. The new marina, probably most importantly, modern stormwater and wastewater and water infrastructure. We cannot have any more septic tanks in this town. We need to get every last one of them, including mine, out of the ground now. They are toxic. Anyway, I really, you know, last thing I want to say is that I'm really proud of the people that have driven this project through the approval process. It's been a rigorous process, and it's time to approve it, okay? And thank you very much. Mr. Braun is followed by Gigi Duke. Duke. Duke. Duke. I knew that. Good morning. Greg Braun, professional ecologist, certified environmental professional here in my capacity as executive director for the Guardians of Martin County. In November and December of last year, the Guardians provided to the county a position paper that had been adopted by our board of directors, identifying our concerns about projects that were outside the urban services boundary and were going to involve residences and golf courses. We are opposed to the extension of rural lifestyle by the 6,000 feet. We note that the county has received agency comments with concerns raised by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sharing some of our concerns on the environmental side of things and significant concerns that were raised by the South Florida Water Management District regarding water issues, not just the ERP that Mr. Tucker talked about before, but the impacts on the comprehensive Everglades restoration plan. We understand that the applicant has proposed to include more than 90 percent of the property in open space. We agree that this new threshold does set the bar for Martin County, but we remain steadfast in our position that the only way to ensure that this area remains as viable habitat is by requiring a permanent conservation easement for all open space portions of the property that are not otherwise encumbered by a preserve area management plan. The easement should have a third-party, non-profit conservation organization as one of the easement holders. Regarding water quality, Martin County is going to great lengths, spending a lot of time, effort, and money on trying to meet the BMAPs. The Guardians believe that it's counterproductive for a project like this with several golf courses to be constructed in an area that is discharging into the same water bodies that you guys are spending so much time, effort, and money trying to clean up. Phosphorus and nitrogen are indeed critical, but it takes more chemicals than that to keep golf courses looking good. So the Guardians request that the county require that continuous in-stream monitoring be done at the applicant's expense. A Kilroy that is fitted with sensors for nutrients, herbicides, pesticides, and heavy metals, should be deployed prior to construction and remain in place until five years after the phased construction is completed. The requirement for monitoring, though, must include a provision that if monitoring shows non-compliance with water quality standards or an impact to the receiving bodies, that the applicant or the owner is the entity that is responsible for the remediation to correct that problem. So until those things are resolved, I'm afraid the Guardians cannot support this amendment. We hope that you won't either. Thank you. Ms. Dubé will be followed by Brian Schwan. Didn't you party to speak? Oh, different one. Okay. Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity of speaking to you today. I'm a member of the public, so forgive me for being a little confused. I heard more than once that this is not site-specific, yet all of the backup information that we're evaluating is site-specific to the Colusa Ranch project, with the exception of one county map that shows other areas that also could apply. The Loxalusi, which I am a member of and speaking for, continues to be concerned about the intensity of rural lifestyle. Unlike agricultural ranchettes, we're allowed to have golf courses, dormitories, golf cottages, convenience stores, and other facilities that we would not find in a ranchette environment. What is happening is those facilities are going to be taking services from the Urban Service District, shopping centers, gas stores, hospitals, doctors, and yet we don't have any transparency as to what the county has done for looking at how those services are going to be impacted. That's per the comprehensive plannings that the public has asked for multiple times. It's just everybody's concerned about it. You've heard from probably 100 people today that are concerned about it. What do they see? What do they feel that you don't? I think that you need to address this. We're concerned about conservation and what is the plan for connectivity. How are we going to provide that on a countywide basis? We can't find anything that addresses that. You are required to consider all of the agency comments when you sign your resolution, and yet the Water Management District comments are buried in the public opinion comments. They're not even submitted to you as part of agency comments. Most of the public feel that water management had some very valid concerns. Where are the staff reports that you have addressed them as the resolution says you are required to do before submitting it to the state? Thank you. Brian Schwan, I hope, followed by Larry Mueller. Thank you, everyone. Commissioners, Mr. Chairman, my name is Brian Schwan. As a lifelong resident of Martin County, I feel privileged to live here, work here, and raise my children in Martin County. Today I'm here to show my support for the ranch. I think it's a great project that brings even more value to Martin County. This proposal represents a prime example of sensible development that prioritizes the reservation. They have committed to preserving almost all of the site as open space, which demonstrates to me the thoughtful approach to land use. I think it is crucial for Martin County to pursue smart and practical development initiatives that consider the long-term impact on the community. The ranch proposal not only makes sense by generating high tax revenue with very low impact, but it should also be considered as a model for future rural planning and conservation. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Larry Mueller, followed by Michael Serkis. Morning. I think it's still the morning here. My name is Larry Mueller, and my wife and I have lived in Martin County for 35 years. We raised our three children who are now living and working in Martin County and having children of their own. This commission and prior commissions have always worked hard to preserve the lifestyle that defines Martin County as an oasis amongst unbridled growth to our south and north. Determining the appropriate development use in the western ag areas have always been a major concern since I moved here. I'm here to support the ranch project. As some of you know, I have experience in real estate development. After reviewing the ranch site plan and getting a better understanding of what they are proposing, I am thinking that they not only meet the Martin County standards, but they exceed them. This project will maintain the rural character of the land. This project emphasizes the importance of maintaining the wildlife corridor by leaving 91 percent open space on their 4,000 acres of land. This applicant is committed to cleaning and restoring wetlands, improving ecosystems, and becoming a good steward of the land. This project will have a minimal impact on Martin County's infrastructure and services with its low housing density. Lastly, I am very excited that this project will generate significant tax revenue for Martin County. With today's inflation and ever-increasing cost of government, these tax revenues should greatly benefit all of us as Martin County residents. I urge all of you to support and approve the ranch application and take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to have a project like this take place in our community. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Mr. Serkis is followed by Harry MacArthur. Good morning. Michael Serkis. I'm a resident in Palm City. I come here today to tell you a quick story. I'm a blessed man. My family and I are blessed and fortunate to live on a small ag ranchette in Martin County that's been in our family for more than half a century. I have 22 neighbors on our half-mile stretch of road, and collectively we all come together at about 200 acres. We make up over a quarter of the small ag ranchettes that are still left in Martin County inside the urban services boundary. And I bring that up, and I bring it up in this perspective to let you know that we didn't put our ranchettes inside the urban services boundary. We preexist the comp plan. We were there, and the comp plan came behind us, and they built suburbia around us. We went from 20-acre ranchettes to 30,000 residents in Palm City in less than 25 years. We had 150% population growth from 1970 to 1980, and almost identical from 1980 to 1990. Now, it's unreasonable for me to expect anybody to knock their house down because of the effects it has on my property. I deal with increased predation, animal predation. I deal with light pollution. I deal with population intrusion. I even get complaints from suburbia about basic ag activities on my property that's happened for 50 years, 20 years before I was even born. Again, I can't ask anybody to knock their house down. That's unrealistic. But it's immoral for me to watch us make these same mistakes over again in the western part of our county. That's why we have a comprehensive growth management plan. That's why we have an incremental process, not jumping 6,000 feet outside of it. So I'm not asking you guys to do anything crazy today. I'm asking you to follow your comp plan. I'm asking you to follow the Rural Lifestyle Amendment as you promised it to us 18 months ago. Because at the end of the day, we have the history to show that this is not the road we need to be traveling down. This is a genie you're not going to put back in the box. Thank you. Mr. MacArthur will be followed by Larry Mueller. Hello, everyone. Harry MacArthur. I just want to thank all of you for doing such a great job week in and week out and keeping our county so great and everything else. All you have to look at is the both sides of us, the job all of you do and staff does to make us a great county. And these are the projects that we're looking at that it's the, I don't know, 40 years of battling big development, whether it's Palm City. When Martin Downs came in and then they were trying to take it to Hope Sound with 8,000 homes and we battled them. And we've, Hope Sound Plantation, all these things that we've battled that were bad developments and everything else. And you know what, until they shut, put a gate up there on the Florida-Georgia line, we're going to have people coming and they're going to keep going. And if they can, we can have the right development in Martin County. We're pretty darn lucky and it's because of all of you. So thank you all for doing your job. I think this is the lowest density we can get on this. I think it's pretty, pretty special. I'm only here because I've heard the guardians and those were against it. I looked at it and I said, of all the ones I've hollered about, this is the best one I've seen. So you know what, you've got to pick your battles. I'll take this one over what I've seen. Thank you so much. Thank you for the job you do. Appreciate you fighting for everywhere in the state and federal government. Thank you all. Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay. With that, back to us. Any comments? Commissioner Hurd. Sure. I'm not going to support this amendment in the first place. It establishes a precedent from which we will never, never return, recover. If you expand this, it shows me that rural lifestyle has no limits. At first we were promised that you have to be next to the urban service boundary. Now it's 6,000 feet away from it, over a mile away from it. What's the next one going to be? 10,000 feet away from it? Five miles away from it? There's no limit to the expansion of this if this is approved today. I'm looking at the changes to Chapter 4 where there's development proposed that a density of more than one unit per 20 acres has to have a special preservation outside the specific parcel. But there's no requirement that the parent parcel and the conservation parcel be owned by the same owner. Golf cottages don't count toward the final density. You can have up to 54 golf cottages. The provisions in Chapter 4 for extending water and sewer outside the primary urban service boundary are in direct conflict to the provisions, the laws, the requirements inside Chapter 4 which says that properties inside the primary urban service boundary will be prioritized for water and sewer extensions. That's a requirement. The people who in the agenda item before us, before this one, came in and told us, and they're solidly within the primary urban service boundary. They have been coming to Martin County since 2004 begging for water. They're finally going to get it this year. And yet this project welts is in and water and sewer are magically available to service 175 houses, 175 guest houses, 54 golf cottages, 234 employee dormitory beds, 36 holes of golf, a community store, a multi-slip docking facility, clubhouses, spas, on and on and on. The South Florida Water Management District says that this project is in direct conflict with the Indian River Lagoon South plan. It says that it is entirely within the Indian River Lagoon South footprint. Those natural lands are extremely important to Martin County. We have spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to clean up our water. This is the critical part of our geography that makes sure that our water does have a chance of recovery. The applicant must detail the methodologies, assumptions, data sources, and analyses that will be used to assess whether its development program will have adverse impacts to the CERP project. The applicant has not done that. It's unclear where the development is deriving water for both consumption and irrigation. The applicant has not provided that. An analysis of stormwater management needs and potential flooding issues have not been included in the proposed amendment. Changes to the capital improvement plan have not been made. This is in violation to so many of our requirements. The utilities department says the cumulative impact on the existing surficial aquifer and wetlands is unknown. It's a betrayal of the Martin County difference, and I will be opposing it. And also, if this amendment passes, I will be moving for reconsideration of my approval for the half-cent sales tax. Ms. Chair Hetherington. I see it a little different, actually. So, I was listening to the commentary this morning of our residents and talking to some of them. And a couple times it came up during public comment that this is going to be low-density sprawl. So, and by the way, I'm very familiar with this area. I've been back and from to Indiantown at least four times this week in the past week and driven past this project and just about all of the western land. So, I looked up the definition of sprawl just now, and it's entitled, Uncoordinated Growth, the Expansion of Community Without Concern for its Consequences, In short, Unplanned, Incremental Urban Growth, which is Often Regarded Unsustainable. And when I looked at everything that was presented, it's certainly coordinated. It's certainly sustainable. And it has certainly been done with a lot of concern. Now, it's no secret that I am not a big fan of how rural lifestyle the policy came about. I'm not a fan of the policy in itself because if it were up to me, everyone that had a great project would come in with their independent project. But I agree with what the gentleman, Harry, said. We sometimes have to pick our battles because 198 units today, well, as someone just, the applicant stood up and said, there were 600 units approved on this before. There's 198 today, 175. The PUD proposes 175. The maximum permitted by the existing and proposed land use is 195. And you have your exhibit up. As our ag policy or our ag lands require, you can build one house per 20 acre in just about every part of that green map today. Correct. And you can build a golf course in just about every portion of that green map. Is that correct? Correct. So I've just taken up golf. And actually, I think I'm not too bad at it. So I'm working on it. But if it were up to me, I wouldn't have determined that you could put a golf course in my beloved Martin County anywhere on that green map. However, that's been the policy since, when, 1970s, 80s? Yes. It dates back to at least 1982. So by right, you know, the speakers that talked this morning that they don't want any more golf courses, by right, many areas of Martin County can be golf courses. I think the opposite of the definition of sprawl is being able to cluster some of these together and have that open space. And so there was somebody worried about wiping out trees and habitat. The best thing for habitat and some of this conservation is to be able to move the units closer together. And then we're talking, this is 3,400 acres, or maybe this applies to more than that, this text amendment. But being able to cluster and being able to preserve that open space, to me, is the absolute opposite to sprawl. Having no septic tanks on some of these lands, absolutely more sustainable. And then I'll say, as well, as an Indiantown native, I attended South Fork High School, and I attended, well, I attended University of Florida, too. So I feel like this is like a double whammy for me. Not only will South Fork High School be getting, if this project moves forward, the golf course that used to be kind of thriving when I was there, the three-hole, and that contribution to South Fork, if this project moves forward, I think is phenomenal. And the same with IFAS. And if you drive our Western lands, I always said when some of these golf courses were coming in, what I would not like to see are the golf courses. When I drive Cantor Highway, like I have for many, many years, which I think we used to ride the bus from Indiantown, from Little Ranch Estates, every single day to Cantor Highway, down Cantor Highway to South Fork High School. What I want to see is that rural atmosphere that we always have seen. So I think it's a great project. I'm not, again, I'm no fan of rural lifestyle the way it came about, but if we don't do something now, then we're going to have thousands of units on some of these parcels later. So I like this particular proposed policy, and I'm going to motion to approve staff's recommendation. Commissioner Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chair. What I really like about the map that's up, I think it tells a remarkable story of where we were 25, 26 years ago. By and large, what you see in pink 26 years ago did not exist. Mike Dieter-Lizzi, who's a school board member, and I sat on the Sustainable Martin 2020 plan. And Mike and I had this epiphany one day that wouldn't be really cool or amazing if we could create a green belt from northern Martin County to southern Martin County. And again, that's before any of that pink that you see on that middle portion of the map existed. So we produced a, what is the current, this was 26 years ago, what was the current status, what was the not wanted status, and what was the desirable future. And what you see laid out in pink is what the desirable future was. All that's really left to create this barrier of what could have happened going west in Martin County is picking up the rest of Palmar. And that's what you see in yellow with those thousands of little hatch quarter-acre lots in Palmar, which is a whole other conversation, but it is part of the story. When these projects came along, it offered us the opportunity, with or without a sales tax, to acquire natural lands, to put a whole bunch more land into open space and preservation. What's going to occur on this piece of property and the others that have been already put into production, Martin County could not have afforded to do. We don't have the resources, we don't have the revenue to do what is being asked of this applicant to do with their product. It's amazing when you start to think about it. And when you tie it together with one of my priorities for this year in the absence of having any of our flyways or natural spaces through Martin County, it's what really frustrated me in the fact that we were kind of left out of the matrix of what those programs looked like. And if you start to piece together what these large tracks are doing for us, it already exists. The wildlife corridors that are potentially there are fantastic. There was another big acquisition on Bridge Road last year that could have been 800 homes that is not going to be 800 homes. And that is right on the edge of Hope Sound. It's remarkable, I think, with what has occurred and what is going to occur to prevent what everybody seems to believe can occur that won't. I'm happy to second Commissioner Hetherington's motion. I think it's remarkable what these folks have put together. It's amazing, and we'll talk about this later in the PUD, but the benefits and the things that are going to occur as a result. If for nothing else, the water quality that we gain out of this project, again, that we would never have been able to afford to build as Martin County. And I think the most intriguing part of it is the access and the kids that we have at South Fork. I was going to mention this earlier when the teacher came up and spoke about golf. They had a graduate from South Fork some years ago that I believe runs one of the larger golf courses down in Palm Beach County off of Military Trail. His salary is in excess of $350,000, $400,000 a year coming out of South Fork running a golf course program. That's a Martin County kid who grew up here, graduated from South Fork, and is making well in excess of what affordable housing is. If half the kids that have access to this kind of programming at South Fork take advantage of that, they'll be able to go anywhere they want in the world or in the country and name their price for what they want to do as employment. I think if you just took that one single opportunity from Martin County residents, it's huge. And so, again, I'm happy to support the project, and I look forward to it becoming reality. Commissioner Campy. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll keep it brief. The people that support this project are going to support it, and the people that don't, there's not much that any of the five of us, for or against, are going to change their minds. I try to focus my attention and my decision-making on the people in the middle that don't have an opinion, yes, I absolutely want this, or no, I absolutely don't want this. And I take a couple of things into consideration when we do that. One is what could happen on the property right now if we had no say. I think some people this morning, when they say, I think they were assuming that we were making a decision between leaving it exactly the way it is, with nothing ever to happen on it, or developing it. They were not, in my opinion, from some of the folks that I've heard from and emails that I've read, understanding that nearly 200 homes could be built on the property. Now, some people say, well, that wouldn't happen. Well, we don't know if it would or it wouldn't. It very well could. So that's a possibility. And then in terms of the septic system versus sewer, we are asking our residents on the coast, in the more established neighborhoods, New Monrovia, Old Palm City, to switch their systems. Some of their systems are in dire need of conversion. Some are fine. Some are new. But in a lot of neighborhoods, we, as a board, have tasked our utility staff, as the state has been looking to do, converting people from septic systems to a sewer system. Especially most of our residents are lucky enough to either live on the water or near the water. We're asking those people to pay $10,000, $12,000, $14,000. People that live in very small postage size lots and, you know, along Cornell. And whether you needed to or not, we're asking you to do that. However, we're supposed to just assume that it would be okay on these multi-million dollar pieces of property out west of town. They can have septic systems. To me, that sounds hypocritical, that we would force the people that are struggling to pay into a system to replace them while we were still potentially approving, by right, folks out west to have septic systems. That doesn't work well for me. With respect to my colleague who said, how are we allowing the folks out west who are brand new to the situation to have water and septic when residents in town were begging for 20 years to have it? Well, there's a big, big difference. The folks out west are 100% responsible for paying for all of it. All of it. If the folks in town were going to stroke a check in 2004 to pay for the entire system, I'm pretty sure they could have had it. But we're working on a sort of a balancing act in town. Some of the folks this morning said, until you completely infill inside the urban service boundary, you can't really think about working out west. Well, we also fill this room up on occasion with in-town folks that are furious when we infill projects right on top of them. You know, in regards to the Rural Lifestyle Amendment, I made no secret about the fact that I was opposed to it. I was opposed to it for certain circumstances similar to today. I did not like to have a blanket, broad brush approach to what could and could not happen anywhere in the western portion of the county. I, right or wrong, prefer to have some parameters on what I'm being requested to vote on, up or down. I like to know the project and I like to know the place. And I will as quickly vote in opposition to a project as I would necessarily to support a good project. Case in point, applicant comes forward with his perfectly legal right to build 90 apartments right on Martin Highway in the heart of Palm City. Three three-story buildings unlike anything that exists there currently. By right. If we had not gotten creative through the assistance of our staff and some brainstorming on my part and some of our residents, they would be under construction right now. 90 apartments in the heart of Palm City. Not affordable housing. Three three-story buildings right on the sidewalk in Martin Highway. And people would be losing their minds. So we were able to stop that from happening. That project is not a yes in my mind. This project is, you know, and I know that people don't want to really pay attention to the statistics because if you're not for the project, you're not for the project. And I get that. But to have it be 91% open space. And look, you can say, well, golf courses are not open space. But most people are familiar with at least the concept of golf. A golf course is a tee box, a fairway, and a green. The rest of the course is trees and scrub and bushes and water, whether it's man-made water or whatever. Very little of the actual physical portion of golf is man-made. Most of it is left by design to be sort of natural and rural to make it a better experience. 175 homes when we have projects on the horizon that could be 4,000 homes. We're talking about 175 homes on nearly 4,000 acres. And the things that any other project, I would say this project really stands out in some of the public benefits that they have done one after the other after the other. You've heard them. I mean, the three-hole course at South Fork is in bad shape. And it was always sort of their jewel because very few high schools offer golf and turf maintenance programs. And the students in the last several years have not really benefited because the course is in tough shape. It's expensive to maintain those places. This applicant's willing to do that. Throw on top the Banner Lake improvements. Throw on top that they gave 20 acres. 20 acres is nothing to you to say, well, who cares? To the IFAS who are on literally in the front parking lot at the fair in Stewart now. What will they be able to do? So when I have to make a decision on is this a good project or not, some people will never agree with me. They'll be mad if I vote for it. They'll be mad if I vote against it. But in my mind, you take my environmental review of the project, 175 homes clustered closer together instead of spread out all over the property. The water, we had a group, and it was mentioned this morning, come in here and explain, not just specifically for this project, for all of the golf course projects that people are hearing, oh, golf courses are horrible. It's not the same thing as it used to be. They're not pumping a tremendous amount of pesticides and fertilizers. First off, that's very expensive. Secondly, it's horribly damaging to the environment, and they don't want to do that. So we could get the date that we had that presentation that was mentioned this morning because it was pretty telling on how it really works. And I know that most people are concerned and think, well, you know, it's not going to work that way. But in my mind, to conclude, this project hits with a lot of things that I believe our Martin County residents will benefit from. And we'll see it, if you're not on one extreme or the other, they will see it as an opportunity for us to have a benefit in our project, in our community, this project. And I appreciate my time. I yield the remainder of my time back. That was the brief version? That was more of a Jenkins than a Smith. I beg to differ. So I voted against this project in the beginning until I was corrected on some procedural thing of a thing. So anyway, being a lame duck, it gives me the opportunity to call bull when I see bull, okay? Now, I've spent the last seven and a half years of being a commissioner of this polite, very soft-spoken guy. But this is becoming ridiculous. So we have a project that I really wanted to support the last time, but nobody stopped me from sticking my foot down my throat, and I did not. This is the most environmentally beneficial project that's ever come to Martin County. But yet, we have these not-for-profits up here speaking against it, speaking against something. And what they're speaking against are by right. We don't want any more golf courses. We don't have a choice. You're allowed to put golf courses. You can put as many golf courses as you want, right? We're opposed to homes. They're actually proposing less than what they have by right. And these are the two legs you're standing on to convince us to object to literally one of the best projects that's ever come to Martin County. Let's not forget that the guardians, at least the executive board, and some representatives from 1,000 Friends were for rural lifestyle the day before they were against it, okay? Let's not forget that. Why is that, I wonder? Why is that? Well, I tell you what, you can't pay Greg Braun's salary nor Paul Owen's salary if you're supporting something. You get people to write big checks when you demonize something. Demonizing this project, you should be ashamed, all right? And with that, I will say that I am going to support this project 100% this time around. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Did I do something wrong? You did not. But Elise Elder, Deputy County Attorney, before the board votes, I know that you guys know this, but I just want to clarify for the record that we are not voting for a project during this public hearing. We are amending a future land use designation that is going to be applicable to any project that meets the criteria. So in this public hearing, it's a future land use text amendment, not a specific project. So I want to clarify that before you vote so the record is correct. Understood. Okay. With that, we have a motion, which I've forgotten was with Commissioner Hetherington, seconded by Commissioner Smith. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion passes four to one with Commissioner Erd dissenting. All right. With that, it's 1220. Do we power through or do we break for lunch? There's two to go. You're not going to get through both of them, so you might as well wait. So if we're going to break for lunch, I would just like to, before we break for lunch, make a motion to reconsider my vote for the sales tax referendum. I think it was. I don't know how this. I voted in the majority. You did. It was unanimous. You don't have to make your determination right this minute. You want to think on it? Are you ready to just. I would expect that my fellow commissioners would observe the rule, which is if you vote in the majority. I'm not saying I'm not going to. You can vote to reconsider your motion. You know, look, I respect your decision to make your own opinions, obviously. I'm just saying, would you like to hear from the rest of the day? Are you jumping out on the ramifications of you exiting the sales tax might have a much bigger adverse effect on what your ultimate goal would be to prove a point that you didn't like where this was going? Are you narrowing, are you making a decision, and I'm speaking to you as a friend, are you making a decision specifically because you're annoyed by this that might have much broader benefit if you stayed with it? No. I think that this approval of this amendment shows me that we are not going to respect Indian River Lagoon South natural lands. Okay, so. This parcel is entirely within that footprint. Well, if there was information that will be presented in the next two agenda items, would you prefer to make, wait to make that determination? I'm prepared to vote now. I second your motion as a, you're right to make that determination, but now you will leave all of the people that did so much hard work to bring Martin County Forever's referendum forward to let the public decide if they want to continue this natural process, and you're going to exit now. I didn't make the vote to extend the rural lifestyle anywhere in Martin County. Understood. But now you will be leaving that group that's working hard on the things that you really care about. I think, I think there's, there's a trust issue. Very well. I second your motion. Okay. We have a motion. We have a second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion. Well, don't get me wrong. My vote, my vote was not, what? The effect of the motion for reconsideration stops the approval. Okay. Why is that? Because that's what the rules. Oh, I need to have a little more information. Okay. This is happening in real time. Okay. A motion to reconsider, a vote of the board may be made at the same meeting or the next regular meeting held after, provided the next meeting is not more than 30 days after the meeting. A motion to reconsider may only be made by a commissioner who voted on the prevailing side of the original vote or was absent. The board may debate the motion to reconsider, but may not debate the vote to be reconsidered unless it comes back before the board for reconsideration. A majority vote to reconsider will have the effect of suspending all action that the original vote would have required. In this case, it's an ordinance. You're suspending the ordinance. You will not, I believe, I can, during the break, look at the statutory, but it's a referendum, so we won't be able to make the referendum's deadlines. Remember, you have to send the, we sent the ordinance to the state to do an analysis on the ordinance, and that won't be able to be made. They've already started that procedure. I'm just letting you know they've gone out for RFP to hire a CPA to do the analysis. We won't be able to meet the requirements. It has to be on the agenda for the general election. I'm happy to come back after the break and explain all the deadlines you're going to make, but it won't, it kills, it ends the approval. Well, listen, I think you're talking to all five of us, but specifically one of us. I would speak again with all due respect to my colleague. Are you willing to torpedo the entire process, all that hard work, by yourself? Well, I will withdraw my second for, I want to give my colleague all consideration of a reconsideration. This is unprecedented area we're in. A normal reconsideration of a vote has very small and limited consequences. This has massive consequences. So I would respect her right to have a reconsideration, but not under these circumstances. But maybe she doesn't want to anymore. Maybe you didn't know all of that. No, I didn't. So I would like to have some time to reflect upon what my vote for reconsideration does. Thank you very much. I appreciate that consideration. So that we did, he didn't call the vote. Did we vote on that? No, I withdraw my second. I withdraw my second as the motion is being held by the motion maker. Are you withdrawing your motion? Sure. I'll withdraw it until I further confer with legal. Thank you very much. A little, you know, pre-launch excitement that no one was expecting. Just as we are all reflecting on the conversation, I remember years ago when we had a sales tax referendum and my colleague voted against it and then stated way after that that was the worst decision that she ever made and she should have supported it. So maybe as we all reflect on what's going on here, we'll think about that. Good. So we're still status right where we were after the vote. So why don't you tell us about lunch? Okay. Why don't we break for lunch? And what time would we like to come back? Two o'clock. Two o'clock. Thank you. So I understand we need to untangle the web we weaved before we wove before we broke. So Ms. Woods. Mr. Chair, members of the board, Sarah Woods, county attorney. So the last action that occurred before you broke for lunch was that you took a vote on a motion to reconsider the matter of the sales tax ordinance from the previous meeting. As I explained, that has the effect of ending the sales tax referendum because it's not possible to meet the statutorily required deadlines. There's a system and certain things that have to be done by a date certain. The board then responded when I at least I heard some expression of wanting to not have that happen. And so in order for the referendum to stay valid, what would need to be done is there would need to be a motion to reconsider the previous motion to reconsider. It's complicated. It needs to be made by someone on the prevailing side. And were that to pass by three commissioners, that would have the effect of suspending the reconsideration and would allow the referendum to go forward as was true prior to the previous matter. I hope that's clear. Commissioner Campy. I would make a motion to reconsider my vote to reconsider the other vote. If you would, the sales tax to reconsider the sales tax. I would make a motion to reconsider my vote to reconsider the sales tax reconsideration. Yes, sir. Second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Campy, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. I appreciate it. Are we done with that issue for the moment? The only thing I was going to say is that to explain to the public is the reason why it causes the delay is because we'd have to re-advertise the hearing. You would not have the opportunity to reconsider it today. We'd have to advertise a new ordinance hearing, and that is what causes the time delay that admits the statutory requirements to meet the deadlines for the referendum. Not only the advertising requirements, but the submission to the state for the fiscal analysis. It's kind of like a game of dominoes. One affects the other. Okay. Our next item up to bat is public hearing number four, legislative public hearing to consider adoption of comprehensive plan amendment, CPA 23-12, the ranch, PUD, future land use amendment, Ms. Schwab. Oh. Ms. Anyway, go ahead. You, too. You, too. Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Clyde Doolin for the record, and with me is Daphne Schwab. Schwab. We have a public hearing for you to consider the future land use map amendment on 3,900 acres from agricultural at one unit per 20 acres to rural lifestyle, allowing one unit per 20 acres. I think you're familiar with the project and the property. This was presented to the local planning agency on November 16 and presented to the board of county commissioners on December 5. It's been considered by state agencies. This is the location of the site. As you can see, here's Bridge Road, and here's Cantor Highway bisecting a portion of the property. It is, there is rural lifestyle to the north of this property here, and there is a golf course under construction here to the west between the canal and Cantor Highway. To the south is the Trailside Subdivision and the Sunlight Ranches Subdivision. They are both subdivisions with 20-acre lots on them. To the east is land owned by the South Florida Water Management District, so we consider this proposed change generally compatible to the surrounding lands. There are four criteria that staff must review. When making a recommendation on a proposed future land use map amendment, staff finds that the first two of the four criteria have been met. There have been land use changes in the surrounding area, and there is development in the surrounding area that makes this a logical for this proposed future land use map amendment. The sprawl criteria were evaluated and found favorable. The public facilities side of things, there's the same density, so your road impacts, your police, your fire, et cetera, are all pretty much awash. The same impact with the existing land use and the proposed land use designation. I'm going to go to the map to show you the same map we had on the screen previously at the last public hearing, but it gives you some context. This is the proposed ranch property in context with the surrounding area. Here's the Three Lakes, already assigned the rural lifestyle. Here's the Discovery. Our Atlantic Fields, already assigned the rural lifestyle future land use designation. And with that, I will end the staff's presentation and recommend approval. If you have any questions, we'll be happy to try to answer them. Any questions for staff? Seeing none, Mr. Waters. Good afternoon. Tyson Waters on behalf of the applicant, and we have our affidavit of mailings. Thank you. Can you sit up? Oh, sure. So we are here in front of you today for this portion of the hearing processes for the future land use amendment map. Again, as staff mentioned, on November 16th, we were in front of the LPA, who made a recommendation of approval, and on November 5th, we were in front of this board that made a recommendation of approval to transmit it to the state. As staff mentioned in their presentation in their staff report, they found two criteria to move this future land use amendment forward, as well as confirming that in regards to the proliferation of urban sprawl, 13 of the 13 categories were satisfied, and four of the eight in the other list of criterias. And again, we're going to beat this home because I think it's really necessary to appreciate what can be done in agricultural today and what can be done in the rural lifestyle land use designation once that's approved. You can see no density increase. And now we're finally also able to talk about this piece of property. The text amendment was about the county as a whole. With this land use amendment, now we're looking specifically at these 3,900 acres. And we can all agree and we all understand these are environmentally sensitive lands, 650 acres of wetlands right next to the St. Lucie Canal. And I think it would be devastating to develop this under the agricultural land use where you'd have potentially 195 units spread out over 3,900 acres. Also, I think we can all agree putting 195 septic systems would be a terrible thing for the environment. So what this land use designation does, it allows the property owner, and you'll see this in the next hearing, to work with the county to come up with a project that is suitable and appropriate for an environmentally sensitive piece of property like this. That's 3,900 acres in size. I know there's been comments previously during the prior hearing about the South Florida Water Management District's comments. Those comments were received or responded to. The project team met with district staff on multiple occasions. The district has confirmed that their comments have been addressed. And I believe in your packet, you've got a letter from Drew Bartlett, the executive director of the district, addressing that fact. And I want to call your attention to two quotes that I thought were really key. The first one is, the district appreciates that the private landowner is using their project to improve ground and surface water hydrology on the site and in the wetlands, increase water retention on site, and create natural managed areas around the southern boundaries of the project and adjacent to the district. And again, the district owns that land to the east of this property. It goes on to end their email by saying the district appreciates the county's consideration of the improvement in hydrology and wetland habitat associated with this project and how that affects the larger surrounding ecosystems. I think right there tells you this is a good land use, this is a good project, and we ask for your support. And we're here for any questions you may have. Thank you very much. Any questions for the applicant? Commissioner Hurd. Do you acknowledge that this project is entirely within the Indian River Lagoon natural lands component? I believe, I haven't, we haven't confirmed that with the district, but some of the maps certainly show it's part of SERP and the IRL South. And I think the district addresses that fact in their confirmation that this is a good project that they support. It absolutely precludes us from using this land for Indian River Lagoon South. 3,900 acres that's in the footprint that cannot be used for Indian River Lagoon South. But I think this project is approved. I'll defer to some of the other consultants here, but there's, this has never been on the district's radar to acquisition, certainly not on the county's acquisition radar. The only way this land is going to be preserved and protected in furtherance of that, those goals of water quality, water storage, is through a private partner, a public-private partnership such as this that's done through a plan unit development agreement that we all come to terms on and agree to how this is going to be maintained and preserved in the future. Do you acknowledge that Chapter 4 requires that water and sewer be extended first into the primary urban service boundary? I think this, under this land use designation, that's an exception to it, and it's a law under this land use designation. So that's, is there an acknowledgement that the, that Chapter 4 requires that all extensions of public utilities be inside the urban service boundary? I am not aware of that, no. Then why do you have to have a, a, a comp plan amendment that's necessary to make an exception to that if there, if the rule doesn't exist? But there's an existence, there's an existence, existence of having it in the urban service district, but there is a code today, this land use allows that outside. So I wouldn't, I would disagree with you that it's only allowed within the urban service district. And I haven't seen any evidence that the private landowner is using their project to improve ground and surface water hydrology on the site and in the wetlands. There's absolutely nothing in this project that, that shows that there's going to be an improvement. Well, I, I appreciate that. And when we come back forward to the next hearing with the plan unit development agreement, I think we'll have the consultants up here to discuss that in more detail. Commissioner Smith. Yeah. It's sort of a, a, a follow on to the commentary. Um, somehow it gets lost on all this and what was lost. I think even with some of our public speakers this morning, there were, there was discussion about the love of hunting and fishing out on Western lands. Well, last time I checked, this is private property. And I suspect that if anybody were on those lands doing anything without approval from the private property owner, um, they would be asked to perhaps leave. Um, the second part of that is that whether it is or isn't in the IRL South footprint, um, it's still private property. We don't, we, we local government nor the state have the ability to go onto this property and mandate that someone does something with their property until it's acquired. And last time I checked, um, that wasn't happening. Um, the, the last part I would say, and this was part of the, I think Tyson's, a little bit of Tyson's presentation or it was part of Clyde's presentation. The fact that 10 years ago, when this was changed and all the density was shifted to the North side of 76, there were 600 units that were going to be built on the North side total. I mean, we're, we're talking 200 units on the whole 34 and 39 hundred acres, whatever the total is. And I, and I just, I, I hope those, that kind of doesn't get lost. Now, the Barneys absolutely stepped forward and said, we're removing that because they didn't think that was the right process for what they had gone, gotten done years before that. But this could have looked a whole lot different than it's going to look today. And, and I think we have ended up in a much better place, uh, with where this applicant has taken us thus far. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay. With that, we have some public comment, uh, Gigi Dubé, followed by Mr. Greg Braun. Thank you again for listening to me. I do appreciate it. Um, again, I go back to the concept of rural lifestyle. Ranchettes don't have golf courses. They don't have convenience stores. They don't have golf cottages. They don't have dormitory housing. I don't know how you do math, but in my book, that increases population. That also increases the need that that group of population would need, such as the services that we have that have been identified in the comprehensive plan. A PUD by itself is a very reasonable approach to land planning. But you have to consider the acceleration of development that is caused by making this change versus what we have already done 10 years ago was when we really did an in-depth comprehensive plan change that evaluated all of the services that are needed and provided in the urban services district. Those are the things like the hospitals, the schools, the sewers. It's not just saying, yes, physically, we can provide the service, but how are you going to plan to build the infrastructure? An amendment for the comprehensive plan is needed. That's what gives the transparency. That is what gives us the trust, and it gives us the confidence in what you vote to do. We're not getting that. Everybody here is asking for it. You just can't keep increasing the number of rural lifestyle developments without evaluating those needs. We're going to be like Boca Raton. This isn't what the people here want. You have Williamson Cattle, that is said, and they're a large ranch holder, that we need to identify conservation areas. They're willing to work with us, the people in the agricultural community. Why isn't the commission looking at this and working with them? We're asking you. We're begging you. Why aren't you listening to us? I mean, I've been in land planning. I started in 1976 with the Area Planning Board. I work with South Florida Water Management District. I've been an elected official. I understand what you're going through, but you're failing us. Thank you. Mr. Braun. Followed by Tammy Simone. Simone. Good afternoon. Greg Braun, Executive Director of the Guardians of Martin County. And I want to assure you that when I speak before the commission, it is at the direction of the board of directors of the Guardians of Martin County. I don't take these positions lightly. I do so at the direction of the board to implement the policies and the procedures that they adopt. The Guardians board is not influenced by development. The positions that they take are shared by the community. As you heard from at least half of the speakers this morning who expressed their concerns about water quality and growth management. Yes, we do rely on the expertise of Thousand Friends of Florida for growth management, things that are beyond our capabilities. It was failed to mention that the recommendation from the LPA on this project was that there be a water quality monitoring program as a condition of approval of this project. The Guardians feel that it is inappropriate for this project to be able to commit over $800,000 in various community benefit projects and not dedicate even a single dollar to doing water quality monitoring that would assure our residents and your constituents that the discharges off of their property are not going to exacerbate the quality in the receiving body. It's nuts. The vast majority of the people who spoke this morning have nothing to gain by this project, nothing to financially gain for it. They're in it because they care about the county and they care about water quality. Tammy Simone? She's here. Seminole. Seminole? Terry Gibson, followed by Brandon Tucker. I'm leaving you on. Oh, you're done. Mr. Tucker? Thank you, Mr. Chairman, again for the opportunity to speak. Brandon Tucker, Executive Director of Florida Landowners Association. Commissioner Hetherington, thank you for defining sprawl for us earlier. That is a correct definition of sprawl. I had the opportunity some years ago, and I won't tell you how long ago it was, but I graduated from the Florida State University with a degree in real estate, and they taught us what sprawl was back then. Yeah, yeah. And I want to congratulate the staff of Martin County, the LPA, this Board of County Commissioners. If there's ever been thoughtful, diligent planning that has ever been done on a project, a project when I first heard about it, I said, this is a project that everybody's going to embrace. But here we are. But this is a tremendous project that provides tremendous benefit to Martin County, to the environment. FLA fully supports this project. Once again, I want to congratulate and thank our great county staff here in Martin County, that is probably one of the most tried and tested county staffs anywhere in the state of Florida. And once again, Martin County, we talk about the Martin County difference. This is the Martin County difference. This is that platinum standard that you can go anywhere in the state and say, we're from Martin County. This is how we do it. We do it with excellence. We do it right. So I would congratulate our staff on their hard work, the applicant as well. Thank you for your time. Thank you, sir. That was our last speaker form. So back to the board. Yes, I do agree with Gigi and Greg. I think we need water monitoring. The issue is by passing PH3 and PH4, you're opening the door for continual requests by developers to build these large, multiple structure developments, more golf courses, more strain on infrastructure and services. I don't want to see this expansion of the rural lifestyle. I think it's a terrible idea. Thank you. Commissioner Hetherington. Pending any further public comment, I'll move staff's recommendation. Second. Okay. We have a motion. Oh, Commissioner Hurd. Yeah, I'm not going to support the motion. Chapter 2 of the comprehensive plan details four criteria that must be met in order to make a recommendation of approval for a comprehensive plan amendment. First, as past changes in land use designations in the general area make the proposed use logical and consistent with these uses and adequate public services are available, no. The second one is growth in the area in terms of development of vacant land, redevelopment, and availability of public services has altered the character of the area such that the proposed request is now reasonable and consistent with area land use characteristics. It does not meet that either. Third, the proposed change would correct what would otherwise appear to be an inappropriately assigned land use designation. Certainly doesn't meet that one. And finally, the proposed change would fulfill a public service that need that enhances the health, safety, or general welfare of county residents. It doesn't meet any of the requirements for approval of a comprehensive plan amendment. It is the definition of urban sprawl. I will read you the definition of urban sprawl from the comprehensive plan. Urban sprawl is defined as a development pattern characterized by low density, automobile-dependent development with either a single use or multiple uses that are not functionally related, requiring the extension of public services and facilities in an inefficient manner, 6,000 feet from the urban service boundary, and failing to provide a clear separation between urban and rural uses. Man, this is textbook urban sprawl. Mr. Smith. I'm not finished. I'm sorry. So this is what the proposed uses are on the southern and the northern parcels. The first is it will consist of golf courses, golf cottages, pro shops, administrative offices, club and range houses, event facilities, residential multi-slip docking facilities, food and beverage service, maintenance utility facilities, storage areas, restrooms, practice holes and driving ranges, spa and recreational facilities, and similar amenities. The other is two 18-hole championship golf courses, clubhouse, range house, cart barn, pro shops, long and short game practice facilities, championship length practice holes, par three course, 24 golf cottages and other amenities. Plus, 175 homes, 175 guest houses, 54 golf cottages, 234 employee dormitory beds. Does that sound like agricultural land use to anyone in this room? Of course it doesn't. It is so incompatible with the agricultural land use and all of the uses around it. This is destroying the comprehensive plan, one harmful amendment after another. It's inconsistent with the state and federal mandates for Everglades restoration. A resounding no from me and from the vast majority of Martin County residents. Commissioner Smith. Clyde, just for the record and just hear us all say it. How many years have you been doing this? From growth management, about 25. And what is your background? I have a bachelor's degree from Florida Atlantic University. I've studied and been examined by the American Institute of Certified Planners and have the AICP designation. And so it is your professional opinion that the information that you have given us today and opined on and said that staff recommends approval is accurate? Yes. That was one thing I wanted to get on the record. Number two, I think it was stated earlier that ranchettes didn't allow this to happen. Was this ranchettes? This proposed land use designation does not provide for ranchettes. The existing land use designation does provide for 20-acre ranchettes. But it's not the ranchettes that we think of as Palm City Farms? Farms. It's similar in nature, just they would be larger. But not subdivided into or platted in the 1920s into ranchettes that we refer to as, that I think we refer to as ranchettes. No, they're not the same as the Palm City Farms five-acre ranchettes that were platted in the early 1900s. Thank you very much. Okay. Any other comments? We have a motion by Commissioner Hetherington, seconded by Commissioner Smith. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion passes four to one. Commissioner Hurd dissenting. Moving on to public hearing quasi-judicial number one, public hearing to consider the request for rezoning approval to plan unit development through a planned unit development zoning agreement for the ranch project, including a master plan and phasing plan. Mr. Peter Walden, is there any interveners? No, sir. No. Okay. Did you turn in all of your? All of the notices and receipts were turned in at the LPA. Do we have any ex parte? Commissioner Smith? I do and they're filed. I do and they're filed. I do and they've been filed. Commissioner Campy? Yes, I do and I've been filed. Mr. Hurt. If I have any, they've been filed. Swear. Swear in the witness. Okay. Everybody that is going to give some testimony, please stand up and be sworn in. You swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Mr. Walden. Thank you, sir. I'd like to start by turning in a copy of the agenda item in my work history as Exhibit 1. And good afternoon, Commissioners. Peter Walden, Deputy Growth Management Director. Now that there is a future land use designation of rural lifestyle on the Colusa Ranch property, all development pertaining to any rural lifestyle land use has to be done with a PUD zoning agreement. And this is that application. This is a request for a PUD zoning agreement and master phasing site plan. It is requested by JWA Ranch, LLC, and is requested by Urban Design Studios and Tyson J. Waters. This is a location map of the property. You've seen this a couple times today already. I won't spend too much time on it. But it's a couple miles west of 95 and the Turnpike adjacent to the C-44 canal. And it straddles both sides of the Canter Highway in Stewart. This is a closer aerial of the project. It has been used for agricultural purposes for many years. There have been ornamental tree farms on the property and mostly used for cattle grazing. One thing to notice about this property that's a little unique is that a lot of the wetlands that dot the property are surrounded by upland native habitat. This is a good thing for development because it makes for special preserve areas that are especially good for habitat. This is the title page of a 10-page master plan. One, the data will show you that all of the residential development on the property is on 5% of the property. The property itself is just a quarter of a square mile less than the city of Stewart, to give you some scale as to how big it is. And so the residential development takes up about 5% of the property. All of the golf courses and amenities take up another 10% of the property. So that leaves roughly 85% of the property undeveloped or as lakes. And most of that is in preserves and agricultural uses. This is a better view of the master plan. You can see all of the hatching. This diagonal hatching here is all agricultural use, which will remain. And basically is all that you will see from Canter Highway and Bridge Road of the project. These darker shaded areas are the preserves. And you can see they incorporate a lot of the wetland areas. Another thing to note on the plan is that all of the wetlands incorporated into the golf areas have an additional 25-foot buffer that is unique to golf. Anywhere else in the county, you can put a principal building or structure within 10 feet of a wetland. You can build a road within 5 feet of a wetland. But golf, you have to have no irrigated turf or anything that requires irrigation or turf or any kind of pesticides or anything like that within 25 feet of the wetlands. So that's another safeguard that is inherent to golf. This is a phasing plan of the property. You can see that most of the property is going to be incorporated into phase 1. Therefore, the PAMP, the Preserve Area Management Plan, will be mostly incorporated into that phase 1 final site plan. Phase 1 entails mostly just golf and amenities and the restoration of the agricultural lands and preserves. Phase 2 will have a couple pods of residential inherent to it. And phase 3 will have the residential docking facility and some more lots to the northwest of the property. Talk a little bit about the preserve areas. There is a preserve area management plan that will be implemented with phase 1. All of the upland and wetland preserve areas are demarcated on the master plan. So even though the PAMP isn't in place, we have the environmental assessments in all of the areas already site planned for those preserves. And also we are going to implement, the applicant is going to implement a tree clearing and mitigation program to ensure that as much of the native material that is useful can be either relocated or saved on site. Talk a little bit about the public benefits for the project. When staff analyzes public benefits, we look at what the developer is getting and kind of do request benefits commensurate with that. So in this case, the developer is able to cluster the development out there, which is both a benefit to them and what we consider a benefit to the site. Because if you didn't cluster development, you pose the possibility of fragmenting all of those great preserves that are going to be available out there. And the other thing is the extension of water and sewer service to the property is the other benefit to the developer. And again, that's a two-edged thing because of all of the talk about water quality in the area, it would be a shame not to have anybody hooked up to water and sewer in that area. So we think that the benefits that the developer are asking are commensurate with the public benefits of those already. But in addition to that, they are proposing to spend up to $750,000 redesigning and reconstructing the South Fork High School short course. They're also going to provide educational and mentoring opportunities as far as turf grass management goes on their property. They're also going to extend $50,000 contribution to the Banner Lake Restoration Project and cleanup. And they're also going to provide 20 acres of land for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and also contribute another $50,000 towards the engineering and planning costs of that facility. So this was before the local planning agency on April 18th. The board did recommend approval of the application. They also, with that recommendation, came a ask that water monitoring, water quality monitoring would be put in place. Additional documentation of water quality is a good thing. Perhaps it would be better implemented at the final site plan when the stormwater dynamics and mechanics are in place so we can better understand the nuances of the stormwater project, but that is up to the board's consideration. Development review staff have found the application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report. Therefore, staff recommends approval of the PUD zoning agreement. And we would move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments, including the staff report as Exhibit 1, and move that the board adopt the resolution approving the rezoning from A2 Agricultural District to planned unit development and approve the branch PUD zoning agreement, including the master site plan and phasing plan. That concludes my presentation. I'd be glad to answer any questions. Mr. Smith. Mr. Walton, I know you also submitted your work history, but can you tell it to us for the public to hear? Yeah, I'm a development growth management director. I oversee most of the development process for the county. As far as growth management is concerned, I've been with the county for about eight years now. I'm an AICP certified planner. Got my education at FAU, like Clyde did. We don't have to hear about the other two. That's great. Excuse me? We don't have to hear about the other two. No. The other two. I'm sorry. The other two. The other two. The other two. I'm sorry. Oh, no. No, just FAU, this guy. Yeah. Yeah. So, again, in your professional opinion, and I know that you just stated your recommendation, but you agree with the recommendation that your staff's work on this is accurate, and you agree? I do. Thank you, sir. Mr. Waters. I'm sorry. I'll tee you up there. You got it? Yep. Good afternoon again. Tyson Waters on behalf of the applicant, and it's with great excitement that we're finally here in front of you with this plan unit development agreement and master site plan. Again, as staff noted, what our request is is to rezone the property from A2 to PUD agreement, and then approval of a master site plan and phasing plan. This has been a lengthy process. It's been about a year and a half since the date we finished. We submitted the first draft of this proposal to the date we're here now, so it's a lot of back and forth with staff to work out both a site plan and agreement that's best suited for this piece of property. As you know, current zoning on the property is A2, and again, stressing the fact of what we can do on this property. We can do single-family homes. We can do golf courses, golf cottages, all those amenities, plus a whole lot of other things, including a couple of industrial uses you see there at the bottom. What we're asking today is to rezone this to a plan unit development agreement, and this is the site plan. 175 residential lots over approximately 195 acres, two golf courses, clubhouse and amenities, golf cottages, over 1,200 acres of agricultural land, wetlands of almost 650 acres. That will be preserved and restored, 324 acres of upland preserves, and 91 percent, over 3,500 acres of open space. And I think these next few slides are interesting to see exactly where those specific uses are located. The agricultural uses are all lined up adjacent to and around both Bridge Road and Canter Highway, so as you continue to drive down those roads, you're going to see the same thing today, that agricultural and rural feel. Our wetlands and uplands, 1,200 acres of preserve areas, comprised, as you can see here, 650 acres of wetlands, 250 acres of wetland buffers, and over 320 acres of upland preserves. The golf courses, we'll have two golf courses and associated amenities, and the residential lots, three pods of residential lots over a very small footprint, again, less than 200 acres. And what's also unique about this development and where these residential lots are located, they're actually away from the golf courses. You know, typically when you see a golf course, the houses are right up on the golf course. These are pushed away with large buffers, so even those residential lots are going to get that rural feel, where they're adjacent to wetlands, they're adjacent to uplands, they're adjacent to this agricultural use. And again, we've got clubhouse and other recreational amenities that are going to be limited to residents and club members. Another thing that we're proposing as part of this site plan, large buffer areas, 50-foot buffers along both Bridge Road and Canter Highway, keeping with natural grade, again, so you have that rural feel as you drive down both Canter Highway and Bridge Road. And then internally, 100-foot buffers to separate some of those internal uses. And at this point, I'd like to introduce and ask Toby Overdorf to come up here to talk about some of the environmental public benefits. Thank you, Tyson. For the record, Toby Overdorf, Engineering, Design, and Construction, Vice President in charge of the Environmental Division up there. I just wanted to run through some of the environmental benefits associated with the project. As you look at your slide here, first of all, looking at water quality, that's been a major discussion over and over again today. As we look at some different items here, number one, you're taking water right out of the C-44. You're filtering it on the property. You're running it through these enhanced and renewed wetlands, if you will. And then, right now, when water goes off the property, it's according to some old stormwater standards. Now we're going to be on the new stormwater standards. We are working through this process so that you're actually reducing phosphorus and nitrogen within the C-44. You're reducing that overall so that you're now in compliance with some future regulations that are happening. And if you look at the bottom left bullet point where you're looking at the St. Lucie B-MAP, you're actually going to be, you are now required in Martin County to address the total maximum daily loads associated with that particular B-MAP. And part of that is also going to be looking at the nutrient loads with septic and sewer conversions, if you will, throughout the area. And here, we're going right to sewer so that you have that nutrient will never actually be introduced there. And that's with some legislation that was recently passed that, well, I actually wrote. So moving on to that, we're looking at water quantity as well for the next side here. In this, we're taking, again, water out of the C-44, literally, if you look at this slide, almost 3 billion gallons. This is a permitted water withdrawal. This is water that's coming out. We have the permits associated with it using the irrigation, and this water will never go downstream in that same quantity. Is there going to be some discharge? Certainly. But it's not going to be that 3 billion gallons. That water is going to be utilized on the property, and therefore, we're going to rehydrate wetlands with that. We're looking at ways that we can reduce overall discharge that's coming out of this property and, therefore, taking some water from the C-44 and almost acting similar to an STA, if you will. Then we look at wetland restoration. I have to be honest. This is a project that I don't have to do. I get to do it. That's how I look at this project. This is a really interesting, incredible project for me because now I'm working with the landowner, working with other people that are on this particular project. I really get to work in some areas that I haven't done since my graduate work and doing some restoration stuff. We're restoring entire sloughways. We're restoring these wetlands that have been hindered by basically some overdrainage, if you will, in the past, where these agricultural canals did exactly as they were permitted to do, exactly as they should do in the grazing areas. But now we're rehydrating. We're bringing back these wetlands, and some of the plants that have been dormant for years are going to be popping. And I'm really excited about that opportunity and also being able to bring in some native plants that haven't necessarily been in some of these areas before and restoring these buffers. And finally, really working with the surrounding area, we're going to be rehydrating. And as you saw with the letter from Executive Director Bartlett, who looked at the fact that we're rehydrating these wetlands, is actually going to serve as a benefit to these off-site areas as well. And then finally, again, as we look at the habitat preservation, 39% of the upland habitat is going to be preserved. This is well above the 25%. We're looking at community farming. We're looking at other ways that we're conserving, looking at energy and water conservation on the site. And frankly, the other part in the comprehensive exotic removal that we're going to be doing on this site, it eliminates the seed source for the surrounding properties. And that also means the property is owned by the state, owned by others, so that you no longer have that Brazilian pepper being carried by birds off and planting somewhere else. Or you have the overall climbing fern that is being distributed throughout our region, which decimates all kinds of other lands that are out there. So that being said, I am really excited to be a part of this project, working on this project. And I think we're going to see some incredible benefits as we move forward. And I'll turn it back over to Tyson for some economics. Yes, sir. Oh, yeah, please. Mr. Robo, thank you very much. Just kind of curious, your work around the state and your knowledge of these kind of systems, have you ever got to work on a project of this scale, of this type? Of this scale, no. Worked on some other pretty exciting projects, whether it be the restoration of the Kissimmee River or looking at some private areas, wetland restoration with mitigation banks or things along those lines. But primarily, this has been a really exciting opportunity for me. So in your professional experience, again, would you say that this sort of does set a standard of if you were to do something to benefit large tracts of land that otherwise either would stay fallow or would stay in the former agricultural use that they were, and through no fault of the landowner in mind probably 100 years ago at this point to drain the land and make it ranch land. Does there come anything close to this? So there are things that may come close to this, Commissioner, but the commitment by the certainly not in Martin County, number one. The commitment by the landowner and their team, I've never seen that before from the transformation of land. And so I think, I hope that answers your question. Just curious. Thank you. I think Commissioner Hurd has. Yeah. Where are the methodologies, assumptions, data sources, and analyses that will be used to assess whether this development program will have adverse impacts to Indian River Lagoon South? Yes, ma'am. Thank you for the question. That actually will be coming through as we go through the process of the environmental resource permit. All of that information is going to be available not only to yourself but also the general public. So we're approving that without having that knowledge? According to state law, you do not have to move ahead with an ERP in order to get this approval here. So we don't know whether it's going to have a deleterious impact upon Indian River Lagoon South and therefore Everglades restoration. I apologize, ma'am. I'm sorry. I think the staff has done a great review of the entire project thus far. We're going to be going through the final site plan approval as well. And also there will be coordination back and forth between whether it be the Water Management District, DEP, and other agencies, I'm sure, with Martin County as they normally do. And has there been an analysis of stormwater management needs and potential flooding issues? That will also be comprehensively done under the environmental resource permitting, which is through the Water Management District. So Martin County doesn't have any say in that? They certainly have some say in it, and that coordination is going back and forth. And, in fact, part of the review that we had to do for this is within your staff report that I believe is on your computer in front of you. And will those things come back to us for approval or for consideration? In final site plan, you're going to be seeing some items that are coming back to you as well. So all these things will be addressed at that time in detail? I did not say all these things. I said there will be some items that come back depending on the phase of that final site plan. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Tyson Waters again for the record. And before I get to the economic analysis and the fiscal impact, because there's been so much discussion today and in prior hearings about the South Flora Water Management District's comments, I do want to reiterate and read into the record what Drew Bartlett said in his email from last Friday. As the county considers the future of the parcel, the important part of the natural land's footprint is captured in wetland restoration, which serves to retain water on the property instead of draining that water to the Central and South Florida flood control system. The district, as an adjacent landowner, is also interested in how this comp plan amendment, again, we were talking about the future land use with this, but it's certainly relevant as part of this plan unit development agreement, affects the larger Palmar hydrology as the headwaters to the Loxahatchee. The district appreciates that the private landowner is using their project to improve ground and surface water hydrology on the site and in the wetlands, increase water retention on site, and create natural managed areas around the southern boundings of the property and adjacent to the districts. The comprehensive Everglades restoration plan does not impose restrictions on private property rights or in the local zoning and comprehensive plan decisions. Therefore, the county is not legally constrained by CERT plans for making decisions regarding private property using their comprehensive planning process. The district appreciates the county's consideration of the important in hydrology and wetland habitat associated with this project and how that affects the surrounding ecosystem. So moving to the fiscal benefits, as part of our PUD application, we had to provide an economic analysis, and this is just one snippet of that analysis. And today it's agricultural land, so tax that pennies on the dollar, where you can see in just a few years that estimated taxable property value is at $230 million, and in 30 years estimated to be over $3 billion. So certainly that financial impact from the proposed use of this property. So we've talked about the environmental public benefits and the fiscal public benefits, and now I'd like to ask Tom McNicholas to come up here to talk about some of the community public benefits the applicant is proposing. Thank you, Chairman. Commissioners, I appreciate your words earlier saying that this is one of the best projects that you've seen and come in front of Martin County because that was the goal of the Bax family before they purchased this land. It's always been the goal of the Barney family that's owned this land for 25 years. The ranch PUD public benefits, first focusing on the Pine School and the applicant, will provide a kind services up to $50,000 towards the environmental restoration and cleanup of Banner Lake. I think we all know Banner Lake. This property is not even located anywhere near the ranch. So what our intention was is how do we help other communities and other goals, whether it's environmental education, and we're trying to check all those boxes, and I think we're doing a great job doing so. That restoration is going to help the natural flow of groundwater in the area and also help the Loxalusi project, which is big for Hope Sound, Bridge Road, and that entire area. So we thank them for that contribution. Benny Caffrey, head of school, spoke to you earlier today. We're hitting the high schools. As the Crow Flies, South Fork High School, that has been sometimes referred to as the redheaded stepchild of Martin County with the schools, has a lot of property out there. They've had a lot of problems with properties, flooding, and with the golf course. This is why we're connecting with them. It's a natural fit with South Fork being right there next to the ranch. So obviously what we're doing is the reconstruction of the South Fork High School short course and oversee that project all in kind by some of the best golf course designers in the world. More importantly, the mentoring opportunities for turf grass maintenance and the classes while the ranch is being built, these kids from South Fork will be zooming live and going to the property to help actually build these world-class golf courses. A first in the opportunity, maybe a first in the country, and then we have the on-job training opportunities for enrolled students at South Fork. This isn't something we're doing just to gain approvals. This is something the Bax family has been doing for 22 years in New York at Friars Head. Proof of that is Meg Kios, who's here in the audience. I think she's in the third row. She is a 24-year-old employee who's now here working in Martin County. She started mentoring at Friars Head at the age of 15. She just moved to Martin County in Palm Beach County about a year and a half ago from the University of Florida. So this is a program that they're going to implement at South Fork and maybe some of the other high schools upon its success because they've been doing it successfully other places. We're also going to develop the Youth Caddy Program in partnership with Western Golf Association Evans Scholars Program. Currently, Friars Head and the Bax family has four Evans Scholars. That are coming through Friars Head now. That will be the first kind of its program here in Martin County. The closest other one is in Palm Beach County. Those kids are all on full scholarships to colleges around the countries in the Northeast. So we're looking forward to that partnership with South Fork High School and some of the other high schools. Then we went to the higher level. We've had a problem in the county forever with University of Florida and IFAS that they haven't had a proper home where they can grow. With Martin County's agriculture and the farming programs that we have here in Martin County, I think we could all agree that that could be done better. We stumbled upon this opportunity when having lunch with them with the Farm Bureau, and we discovered that they were looking for and trying to figure out where to take maybe three acres in Indian Town. So, yeah, when you work hard, you get lucky. We got lucky on this, and we discovered this issue, so we invited them to take at least 20 acres. That obviously is going to be a lease of more than 20 to 20-plus acres of land for at least 40 years at $1 a year. We're also going to give them $40 at the end of the day, so their lease is paid for the next 40 years. So, University of Florida, we all know what they do. We're going to contribute also the in-kind services up to $50,000 for their soft costs so they can actually make that dream come to fruition with the engineering and the design costs to move right in as soon as possible. All of these programs are not starting next year. These programs are starting tomorrow. There are also some other off-site projects that are not in this PUD that we're not going to go into in detail today, but I think the Bax family has been known in this county already for two years on their contributions with the chambers. And when I mean contributions, I mean they show up in person. They know our constituents. They know our residents, even in Rocky Point and Salerno and Hope Sound and Jensen Beach, because they've done that work for the last 36 months. I want to quickly introduce Ken Bax, who just has a couple words to say with you all, and appreciate your consideration. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, thank you for giving us this opportunity to speak. I'm Ken Bax, and like everyone who's come here to speak today, I and my family appreciate how special Martin County is, and we are 100% committed to preserving its beauty. We've now been working on the ranch for almost three years, and conservation and preservation have been critical and at the forefront of our minds throughout our planning process. We're really excited about the community partnerships that we've made to date, and we look forward to foraging many more in the years to come for the benefit of Martin County and its residents. My wife, Suzanne, and I and our three children love it here, and we look forward to making this our home. Thank you. It's been said a couple times today, but it's true. Martin County is different. I have a bumper sticker in my office that says, Martin County, it's just different here. We've had multiple hearings over a number of hours. This project is 3,900 acres, 175 units, over 1,200 acres of preserve area, over 3,500 acres of open space. A list of public benefits, second to none. This is an opportunity. I think when you talk to the people behind me, there's a level of excitement that many of us haven't seen with other projects. But this is it. This is an opportunity, and we ask for your support, and we ask for your approval. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any questions for the applicant? Yep. All right. Ms. Dubak, followed by Terry Gibson again. Thank you again for listening to me. My understanding is this is the second of three parts of a quasi-judicial hearing, and that the LPA has heard the first part. No. Okay. Well, my question then is, the LPA did look at this development, and they did talk about making a recommendation for water quality monitoring. Um, I don't know if that should be part of your consideration. Um, on the fiscal analysis that is in the application process, I find that from a county perspective that it's dramatically lacking, because all it really does is do a pro-rata spreadsheet allocation of what the revenues generated by this project are versus the current millage rate. Um, so that leaves out a huge part for the county to do, and that has to do with the comprehensive planning elements. And again, that has to do with infrastructure and services that we now have and have planned for in the urban service district. And as we know, this development is going to have people living there who are going to need those services. And, you know, people have talked about hospitals, six-month waits to get in to see a doctor. Um, you need to get a pool service company. You need to get all the small businesses. That's part of the thing that you do when you're evaluating your comprehensive plan. We feel that the county is letting us down by not doing that. It's certainly not transparent from these hearings on rural lifestyle on any of that being addressed by the county. I do think that this project has promised some really wonderful public benefit. Um, the donations that they've made, I think, are fabulous. I think that there's going to be a lot of use, and that's going to be a long-term legacy that this family is going to be giving the county. But your legacy is preserving the Mount Martin County difference. And that difference is the conservation areas. Are those going to be actually set aside permanently as conservation areas? And how is our infrastructure going to be planned for, for all of the residents of the county, not just this development, for the future, so that we know that we have the things that we need for our day-to-day life? Thank you. Terry Gibson, followed by Carol Ann Leonard. Thank you for the time. You know what the most powerful word in the English language is, or in any language? Yes. It's not no, it's yes. And one of the things I appreciate most about this project is that it has the opportunity to smooth over a lot of the divisiveness in our community. It weds the past of agriculture and keeps it present with a ranch. All these things that my family knows so much about. And with a place that people want to be, but in a rural setting, in a setting where they're close to nature. The lady that spoke before me, I'm sorry, I didn't catch her name. She asked why the agricultural community doesn't appear to be wanting to work that much with the county. I would say that I don't own property in agriculture in Martin County, but I would say there is a willingness, except that there's a hesitance because all we do is get attacked. It's all we do. I mean, granted, the attacks land about as hard as spitballs, but it takes time and it's annoying and it's divisive. So what I really see in this project, I'm saying yes to this project as a citizen because it does that. It brings, it's putting people back together in a natural environment where we aren't so separated from where our food comes from, the ground that we actually should be walking on instead of concrete. You know, and we've heard of all the benefits and everything else earlier, but I just urge you to go ahead and say yes to this project today. And I really would encourage the folks that are the applicant and their team to keep telling the story, too, because we need to show that the really great things like this are possible for Martin County if we work together instead of hurling insults at each other. Thank you. When it's done. When everyone's done. Ms. Leonard is followed by Tammy Simino. Simino. Simino. I don't know why. Despite some good things, too much is just being built on this land, not just 157 or possibly 195 homes. The plans say both ground and surface water will be used for irrigation. Now, per Mr. Overdorf, 33 billion gallons of C-44 water. I don't know, but could this be too much use of natural waters? What about nitrogen, phosphorus, maybe blue-green algae? As I understand, some of the agriculture areas empty into the C-44, and that would be going into wetlands and other areas on the ranch. There was blue-green algae in another water area. I think it was the Blue Cypress Lake, and that didn't even come from Lake O. Could those things be problematic? I'm especially concerned about the boat slips on the C-44. Are all the other water management options to be implemented as safe as they can be? I am wanting water quality management mandated. I'm glad the ranch is open to considering that. Thank you. Ms. Simino. But I thought it needed to be said. I'm a resident of Martin County for over 28 years. Own a restaurant, live, kids, raised them, grandkids on their way, enjoy every single aspect of Martin County. And we had a previous person speak this morning and say that you need to have your voter registration. That is just so ridiculous to me because they moved here because they liked it too, because of the decisions and the vision and the power and the passion that your staff, you guys all have, as well as the residents of Martin County. But I think it's a little iffy because they throw these words around as if they are the end of the world. The urban service boundary is a boundary. It's not a piece of magical things that you walk through and all of a sudden you lose gravity. It's an urban service boundary. It's a boundary. The comp plan is dictated by the state to be looked at every seven years because you have to grow with your community. It's not that everything is carved in stone and can never be done. And we have an obligation to you to let you know what we need, food, clean water, jobs. We have so many wonderful things that have come, the customs, the Indian Street Bridge. You ask all the residents that were against that, how many of them go back and forth across that bridge today? It's easy to say no. It is harder to say yes. And I just want to thank you for taking the time. And your legacy is going to be your vision, the way that you have brought Martin County along. And with your decision to pass this, the future is endless. I also think one thing in closing. It's really unfair because you hear all the people complaining about the traffic and all that. You guys get a bad rap. Communities are being annexed almost every single day. But then when they think of what's this traffic and all these housing units and stuff going on, it's not Martin County. We do it differently. But you're getting the rap. I just thought that needed to be put on record. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Commissioner Campy. Well, we're coming to the end of the third agenda item of a long day. I appreciate the folks that came out to participate in the process both for and against. That's how we do it here. Every speaker brings something to the table that requires the five of us to take it into consideration. Some of the things I agree with, some I don't. I don't think bringing golf courses to the community is a bad thing. Obviously, I have a bias towards golf. People have heard me say my father is a professional golfer, 87 years old. But golf in communities is not a bad thing. Now, some people say, well, it won't benefit me. I won't ever get an opportunity to play there. Well, that's not how it necessarily works. But if we're going to create and protect green spaces, whether you think this is a valid protection of a green space or not, it is a green space. And I'm so thankful that the residents will have an opportunity once again to decide if they want to tax themselves, as they have in the past. You saw those maps that were shown earlier that had large, large pink boxes across from north to south on the Martin County map. Through the work of Commissioner Smith and Commissioner Hurd many years ago and other commissioners that came before the three of us here in the middle, those lands are protected forever. They are protected from decisions that Tallahassee might make, you know, no disrespect, decisions that Tallahassee might make on what our future developments should look like because they're protected and purchased. But short of the county through taxing itself or other clever financial means purchasing these properties, someone like the Basque family and the Ranch Project come forward and put 4,000 acres aside. Yeah, it'll have golf course amenities and the buildings and the things that you mentioned in the laundry list on 4,000 acres. It's not like you're building, you know, the Treasure Coast Mall. So I'm pleased that you've picked Martin County to do this. You could have done it anywhere. And probably in other counties it might have been an easier process. I'm glad that you put a team together that is made up of majority, if not nearly all, of local talent and representation from the community. They live here and know us the best. I appreciate our staff that once again delivers a product that they professionally believe in under some very difficult circumstances. And I think that this project will go along with the other projects that have been approved in not only creating a wonderful reputation for Martin County as really a premier location for golf. And people say, well, I don't play golf. Well, they will employ hundreds and hundreds of people, most likely locals, but not all, from every level, from the person that's going to maintain the golf course and the golf carts and serve inside the clubhouse and the other amenities to executives and high-level management. We'll all have an opportunity to have a new place of employment. And the 175 homes on 4,000 acres, I think potentially as residents of Martin County, we stopped realizing what's happening just to the north of us or just as quickly to the south of us where they're putting up 10,000 houses at a time. And we're talking about 175 homes here. And then I know for whatever reason people don't want to attribute the benefit of a tax base, but it has to count. And when we go through the difficult process of creating and preparing budgets and try to protect our residents from increases that are difficult for anyone to absorb, especially currently, this will be another opportunity in the future for us to enhance our tax base with not a tremendous amount of draw-on systems, not none, but 175 homes compared to what could have been 200 or if it was 600 that it was going to be originally. I do remember that. 2010, I was here then. I remember that project. So in my mind, this is a nice project. I get that some people will disagree with it because they don't want anything to happen here. But as one of the people that gets to sit up here and have the privilege of representing not just the people in this room from the morning to now or that spoke, we represent every resident of the county. And I don't believe in my heart that when people come here or my colleagues say that, you know, all 160,000 residents in Martin County are furious that this is happening, I would personally disagree. And I think that many people that don't have the opportunity to speak out either in public or in e-mails or any other notification, social media, they're very happy that this is going to happen here. It'll take a burden off of some of our taxes that people still want the services, and it'll be another line in the sand, if you will, for buffering future development demands that will come inevitably. So I'm pleased to make the motion to accept the staff's recommendation. Mr. Hetherington. I'll just keep it short and echo some of those. Now, I want to thank the VACS family for choosing Martin County and staying with this long process. And you put together a great team and staff for working so diligently. And even all the community input on this project, this is the way the process is supposed to work. And I think the process has worked really well. It's going to be an asset for Martin County. Mr. Overdorf made a really good point that I had not thought of earlier when he talked about the South Florida water management and the seeds for the exotics. You know, we like to preserve and acquire land, but it is very difficult to maintain. And I don't think that the county and the state, you know, we just have limited resources, and it's hard for us to maintain it at a level that a private entity can. And I had not thought about it would contain some of the exotics even on the neighboring property of South Florida water management, which I think is a great benefit. And if you look at some of the development near there, I'm completely dead set against 20-acre ranchettes that are ditched and diked and burned. And it's environmentally, I think, the most unsustainable thing that you can put. We've spent millions of, since I remember, since I've been up here in the five years, we've spent millions of dollars retrofitting some of the areas around Trailside and some of that neighborhood. It's a beautiful, beautiful community, but it's not something that I think we want for the vision of Martin County. This is as close as I could possibly imagine to the Martin County that I know, that I grew up in, and I'm really proud to be supporting it and a part of the project. And I love everything about it, including South Fork's ability to have that golf course amenity come back and teach some of the young kids, so I will gladly second it. Any other comments? We have a motion by Commissioner Campy, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion carries four to one. Commissioner Hurd, opposing. Thank you. I was actually going to do the school board next night just because I know they had a window, and I saw them just walk out. No. I know. They just walked out. Oh. So let's. Oh, Mr. Chair. Just. While they're transferring. Yeah. Mr. McNicholas. Mr. McNicholas. Oh, may I make a comment? Yeah. So I'm going to put a plug in for my son, and I was at Hidden Oaks Middle School on Saturday for the Treasure Coast Basketball Championship game, which, by the way, my son in his last high school game, they won the championship. So kudos to him. So at Hidden Oaks, I was able, Martin County Little League was leaving the field, so I was able to pop over there and see the McNicholas Foundation's work on the Hidden Oaks Park Recreation Ball Field. It was phenomenal. It's probably one of the most beautiful fields that I have ever seen. So thank you for your participation in that. Congratulations. And bring some to District 2, please. Never mind that. Farts it regularly. You're not on the mic. Okay. Where'd Doug go? I've lost control. Okay. Let's do Department 5. There's at least in and out. Department 5 approved the request by the Martin County School Board to place a referendum considering a one-half mil ad valorem tax increase on the November 5, 2024 ballot. Ms. Woods. Yes, Mr. Chair. Thank you. And members of the board, Sarah Woods, Martin County attorney. The county administrator received correspondence from the Martin County School Board recently that contained a resolution requesting action by the Martin County Board of County Commissioners to direct the supervisor of elections to place on the November 5, 2024 general election ballot a referendum on the question of renewing the current ad valorem millage by up to one-half mil per year for four years. This request is governed by Section 1011.71, paren 9, of the concerning district school tax. The school board resolution is attached to your item. And our recommendation is that the board authorize placement of the Martin County School Board ballot language contained on school board resolution 24-02 containing the increase in ad valorem millage by one-half mil for four years on November 5, 2024 general election ballot, which will be provided to the supervisor of elections for formal actions. I'm happy to answer any questions. Ms. Roberts. Thank you. I'm Christian Lee Roberts with the Martin County School Board. We thank you for this. You know, our first time to have this on the ballot was in 2018, and that provided some money that was primarily for teachers to help increase our pay that we gave to teachers to make us competitive in our regional labor market. And we collected in 2018, 19, 20, and 21. We reauthorized in 2022 for four years, which authorizes our collections for 22, 23, 24, and 25. Our issue mainly is that if we don't ask for a reauthorization on this ballot, we will end up having, because the rule now is that it has to be on a general election ballot, we wouldn't be able to be on the ballot until 2026, and we would miss a year of collections because we can't be putting it on the ballot and collecting in the same month. So that would be the issue that we have. We have changed the language slightly so that we're now looking for up to one-half mil instead of collecting the full half mil. So every year when we go through our budget cycle, we're very diligent at deciding exactly what the number is that we need, plugging that number in backwards, and coming up with what we have to collect. So I appreciate that. The other thing that I should bring to your attention is that our last board meeting, the board also voted to allow the half-cent sales tax that was approved in 2018 for seven years to go ahead and sunset on December 31st of next year, of 2025. So that will be over and done with, too. Appreciate it, though. Commissioner Campy. Ms. Roberts, thank you. Thank you for being the proud dad of three Martin County School District graduates, and I think they are as successful as they are based on the education that they received at Palm City Elementary School, Hidden Oaks Middle School, and Martin County High School. My pleasure to make the motion to accept what you're looking to do. Second. Thank you. Okay. Any other comments? We have a motion by Commissioner Campy, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Have a nice day. In regards to your board. I will. Thank you. All right. Now I'd like to go to Department Quasi-Ditional No. 1, if we can. It's okay. Request plat approval for Pantolago Phase 2, Project P147-014. John did that last. Senate. Yeah. Oh, that's right. Senate. There you go. Like the Senate. Or sin not. There you go. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, Commissioners. I'm John Sennett, Senior Planner with Growth Management. I'm here to present the Plaid application. Excuse me, Commissioner. This is a quasi-judicial. I'm sorry. I'm not, yeah. So anybody that's going to give, whatever, get sworn in, please. Raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Are there any interveners? There are no interveners. No. Have you tuned in all of your paperwork? No mailers were required. I'm filing a copy of my work history in the agenda item as Exhibit 1. And do you have any exporter? I do. They're filed. If any, they've been filed. If any, they've been filed. I don't have any. I don't have any, and they've been filed. Okay. Moving on. Take it away. All right. John Sennett, Senior Planner with Growth Management. I'm here to present the Pentalago Phase 2 Plaid application. This is a request by Velcon Engineering and Surveying on behalf of the property owner, Tightline Lakes, for approval of the Pentalago Phase 2 Plaid. Phase 2 contains 16 of the 42 lots in the Pentalago single-family subdivision. Minor technical changes were required to the Phase 2 final site plan, to achieve consistency with the plat. These minor changes were approved on February 26, 2024. Pentalago Phase 1 has already received final site plan and plat approval. The site is located in Western Palm City, north of I-95, and east of Southwest Citrus Boulevard. This is an example sheet from the plat. The site consists of five-acre lots, consistent with the Agricultural Ranchette future land use designation. All required improvements in infrastructure have been constructed and approved by the county engineer. Therefore, security and contract are not required as part of this plat application. Review of plats is not required by the local planning agency. Final action on the application is required by the BOCC in a public meeting. Development review staff have found the application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan, as detailed in our staff report. Staff recommends approval of the Pentalago Phase 2 plat. Staff recommendation is that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments, including the staff report as Exhibit 1. We move that the board approve the Pentalago Phase 2 plat. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions for staff? Does the applicant have a presentation? It does not. Back to the board. Public comment, Commissioner. Public comment, Commissioner. Yes. Do we have any public comment on this? Seeing none, Commissioner. Thank you. Pentalago has had a long history. It was approved, and then it sat for a little bit, and then it came back to life. And I remember it was one of the first things that I had voted on. And it was a unique kind of a project because the lots have lakes in them. And we were deciding back then if the lot lines could have the lake, and we approved that it would. I've had the opportunity to be past the project. It is beautifully done. It's high quality. The homes are very pretty. It's a first-class quality project. So for people that are moving into it, they'll have a beautiful neighborhood. And from our perspective, it's a nice addition to Martin County. So my pleasure to accept staff's recommendation, make a motion to accept staff's recommendation. I appreciate that they are here. He's been here from the very beginning, and he's a great guy. Thank you. Okay. And we did ask for public comment already, right? Okay. So we have a motion by Commissioner Campy, seconded by Commissioner Smith. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Commissioners. Back to work. Yeah. Good job, Johnson. Good work. Now we're down to Department Quasi-Judicial No. 2. Request Platt Approval for Discovery Plan Unit Development, PUD, Project H123-027, Brian Ingham. Commissioner, this is a quasi-judicial as well. Oh, no, you got to stand, and anybody going to give testimony, please stand and be sworn in. Raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Is there any intermediary? No. Have you turned in all of your thousands of pages of... I have my work history in the agenda item for Exhibit 1, and I'd like to turn in the applicant's work history into evidence for Exhibit 2. All right. Thank you. And do we have any exporte, Commissioner Smith? Yes, I do, and they're filed. If any, might have been filed. I'm sure I do, and they've been filed. I've had a few, and they're filed. If I have any, they've been filed. All right. With that, it's all yours. Thank you, Chairman. Commissioners, for the record, Brian Nealon, Principal Planner with the Growth Management Department. This is a request by Lacedo and Associates on behalf of Discovery Hope Sound Investors LLC for approval of the Discovery PUD Plat, consistent with the approved Discovery PUD Phase 2A Final Site Plan. Included with this application is a request for a certificate of public facilities exemption. There were minor technical changes required to the Phase 2A Final Site Plan to achieve consistency with the plat. The Discovery PUD project consists of 317 single-family residential lots and the associated infrastructure on approximately 1,530 acres, located north of and adjacent to Southwest Bridge Road, approximately one mile east of I-95 Interchange and Hope Sound. The Discovery PUD Plat consists of a replat of all of Hope Sound Polo Club and Tracks A and D of the Grove Golf Club. If the board desires, we can go through the 79-page plat. If not, I will continue to the end of the presentation. Review of plats is not required by the local planning agency. Development review staff has found the application to comply with all applicable regulations, and the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan is detailed in the staff report. The staff recommends approval of the Discovery PUD Plat application, and we move the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments, including the staff report as Exhibit 1, and move the board approve the Discovery PUD Plat, the Phase 2A Revised Final Site Plan, and the Contract for Construction of Required Improvements in Infrastructure, contingent upon the release or termination of all easements contained in the summary of easements to be terminated. And that ends the presentation. Mr. Hurt. Yeah, I haven't reviewed the plat because it wasn't available. It wasn't available to me until after 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon. So the public hasn't had an opportunity to review this plat either. Don't we have deadlines for submittal of materials that are due a certain period of time before the board meeting? If I may, so we do have some deadlines that requires the agenda to be published five days before. There's no requirement for the specific sections of the agenda items to be published. We did publish it yesterday after the county surveyor reviewed it. The board's approval in this action is ministerial after the county surveyor confirms that all the land development regulations, all the ordinances, and all the statutes have been met. So we are in compliance with Florida law, with our regulations, with publishing the plat yesterday afternoon. Not if the requirement is that it be submitted to us for review five days before the agenda item? That's only the agenda that needs to be submitted five days prior. I think we're bending and breaking so many rules today. I don't recognize my county. No one has had an opportunity to review this, and I don't think that staff has had an adequate opportunity to review it. I said I don't think staff has had an adequate time to review it. I understand that there's pressure to move an item because the applicant desires to move it, but that's not a requirement of us. We need to do thorough review for the benefit of Martin County residents, not for the benefit of the developer. I'd just simply say that it is a large plat. There were some issues that they were reviewing that were purely technical in nature that were on the level of the county surveyor and not on any of the other staff that they were completely review. We certainly appreciate the applicant coming in and our staff to get those final details on there. 70 pages, it was submitted in adequate time for the staff to review initially, but as I said, there were some things that were discovered that needed to be rectified, and we continued it on this agenda with the belief that the technical items would be the only things that would need to be reviewed, not the plat in relationship to the final site plan did not change anything. Why wasn't it continued in that case? We did not continue it. It was at the request of the applicant, and we felt that it was, and it's up to the pleasure of the board to continue to hear this item, but we felt that we could present it to the board with the item that it did not change any of the site plan items of any material change. It simply follows through the plat allows the land to be sold, the lots themselves. It's the final action to allow the individual lots to be sold. So the zoning was done some time ago, the land use and the final development plan. This simply codifies the final piece of it to allow the transaction of individual lots, which is a requirement by state law, and it is largely the plat itself is an instrument of surveyors, engineers, and lawyers on the technical details of how land can be sold. We included it on today's agenda item because it does not change the original approval of the board in any way. We have other things to do. Commissioner, I can't wait. I haven't even called Mr. Ragell. Do your thing. Are you? I'll wait. Mr. Raines. Thank you. Good afternoon for the record, Bob Raines with the Gunster Law Firm. Here on behalf of the applicant, and I appreciate the opportunity to be here today. We do have a staff recommendation of approval, and we have met all the technical requirements as proven by your staff recommendation. I can tell you that I've been doing this for 27 years. I can't think of a plat that's been reviewed and scrutinized as much as this one has with continuing comments coming back to an extent that I've never seen. And so the fact that it was given, and again, as was pointed out by Ms. Elder, this is a ministerial thing. This is not a site plan approval changing anything. This is strictly technical in nature. So for a public to review it, you can, but at the same time, you have no right to vote no against this if we meet all the technical requirements because it's ministerial. That's all that matters. So this isn't a thing up for public debate. So with that, I'd like to ask Mr. Frank Gettler to come up. Mr. Gettler, let me just – can you please state your name for the record, sir? Frank Gettler. And can you describe a little bit about your work history, your educational work history, please, background? Yeah, I have about eight years experience surveying, graduated from Everglades University, and I am with Velcon Engineering Surveying. And can you describe the paper I'm handing you, sir? This is my resume. Okay, and is that accurate resume as it stands today? Yes, sir. Okay, and I would like for the record to reflect that that resume is included in the packet that Mr. Elam submitted into the record for us. So we do have that. A few questions for you. So did you prepare the plat, sir, that's before the commission today? Yes, sir. And are you familiar with all the rules and the regulations and the technical requirements of Martin County and Florida Statute 177? Yes, sir. And in your professional opinion, does this plat meet those requirements? Yes, sir. Thank you. That's it. Thank you, Frank. So, again, this is a technical ministerial deal, and we have a staff recommendation of approval. It has been thoroughly approved. We have a witness with qualifications who prepared it, the state's, in his professional opinion, it meets all those requirements. So we would respectfully request that you follow the state law and approve this plat. Thank you. Any other questions for the applicant? Seeing none. Any public comment? Seeing, geez, it almost scared me. Commissioner Smith. I don't feel any feeling you were going to do that. Yeah. If there's no more public comment, no more staff comment, I would move staff's recommendation. Second. So what's your light was for? Mm-hmm. Okay. It's like we're playing family feud. So we have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion carries four to one. Commissioner Hurd dissenting. Thank you. Thank you. And with that, we're going to take our closed captioning 10-minute break. Please come back in 10 minutes so we can prove it. All right. Welcome back. We are now going to skip, we have not been following anything here, down to public hearing quasi-audation number two, because Mr. Tom has to do something with his daughter. Public hearing to consider an abandonment of the portion of the platted right-of-way lying within the Olympia Platte. This is for our train station in Hoops Sound. So... It's not an actual train station. No, it's a historic train station, yes. Thank you for clarifying that, or I would have, yes. All right. Can we move that one to the City of Stewart? Mr. Walker. Commissioner Elise Elder, Deputy County Attorney. Oh, I'm sorry. This is a quasi-judicial. Okay. So anybody giving testimony, please stand up and be sworn in. Raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Do we have any interveners? No. Have you turned in all of the multitude of pages to... I do have a copy of the agenda, item summary, affidavit of publication, and my work history to submit for the record as Exhibit 1. Okay. And then do we have quasi... Ex parte communication. Ex parte. Yes. Commissioner. I believe that I do. If I do, they're filed. If any, they've been filed. I have a whole bunch. They've been filed. None. If I have any, they've been filed. Okay. All right. Thank you. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Tom Walker County Surveyor for the record. Today, we have a request from Public Works Department in accordance with Florida Statutes Section 336.09 that the board consider the abandonment of 5,465 square feet of platted right of way, lying between blocks 8 and 9, Olympic plat number 1. If I can go to page 1930, I can show a map of where that's located, outlined in red right there. The easterly portion of the abandoned right of way will adjoin to the county-owned property to the east, and the westerly portion will be granted to the county by quick claim deed from the westerly property owners, who are Patrick J. and Elizabeth T. Martin. The quick claim deed will be executed by the property owners once the board approves the abandonment of right-of-way. Section 139.31 and 139.32, General Ordinance's Martin County Code require that any conveyance of an interest in land to Martin County for any public purpose shall be accepted and approved by resolution from the Board of County Commissioners of Martin County. And staff is also requesting permission to initiate a zone change request on the property. Once these transactions are completed, the abandoned area will accommodate installation of the historic Hope Sound train station that was donated to the county by the Atlantic Fields developer. The intent is to implement Phase 1 of the Hope Sound CRA Dixie Highway streetscape project to include the train station and parking improvements. Staff's recommendation is, one, move that the board receive and file the agenda item summary and all of its attachments for the record as Exhibit 1. Two, move that the board adopt the resolution, abandoning portions of platted right-of-way lying within Olympia Platt No. 1, as described in Exhibit A, subject with the following conditions, President, which is proper publication of a notice of adoption of this resolution. Three, move that the board adopt the resolution approving and accepting a quick claim deed conveyed by Patrick J. and Elizabeth C. Martin. Four, move that the board authorize staff to initiate a zoning change request on the property. And five, move that the board authorize the chairman to execute all documents necessary to complete this transaction. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Any questions for staff? Commissioner Smith. I do not. And pending public comment, I would request, respectively, that the chair pass the gavel to the vice chair so that he might be able to make the motion. I'd like to do that. Ask for public comment first. I've got to ask for public comment. Is there any public comment for this item? Seeing none, it goes back to the board. Motion. I would like to make the motion to accept staff's recommendation. This is a wonderful step in a process that there is a lot of folks in the Hopestown area that's been working on this for decades. Thank you. Great. So we have a motion by Commissioner Jenkins and a second by Commissioner Campy. Yes. Any other comment? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Congratulations. Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right. Consent poll. Mr. Zama, consent number five, adopt a resolution approving and accepting Southwest Earl Avenue into the county road inventory for ownership and maintenance. Mr. Zama. Good afternoon, board. This is a request for the board of county commissioners to adopt a resolution for the acceptance of Southwest Earl Avenue into the county road inventory to allow roadway improvement project within the plat of Henderson's addition in Palm City. Earl Avenue lies between Southwest Olmos Place and Southwest Sunset Trail, as I mentioned, in Palm City. It was originally dedicated as a 50-foot public right-of-way within the plat of Henderson's addition in 1925. The roadway was not accepted into the county road inventory for operation and maintenance at the time of construction. However, all other roadways within the plat were accepted in the county road inventory. The county currently does not have legal obligation to maintain it. However, the roadway is in poor condition, and based by the county staff standards within our roadway resurfacing program, the roadway is in need of a full-depth reclamation, which is the most costly repair method of construction. So, the roadway also has currently has a single frontage property owner. There is only one property address on this roadway. And the typical process for the county to accept this roadway into county inventory would be through our roadway MSBU program, or roadway assessment program, if you will. And typically, that requires an assessment to the frontage property owners. In this case, it would be one property owner. There has been a cost estimate for the repair of the roadway, upwards of $83,000. One extenuating circumstance for this condition is we have a privately maintained roadway that is the only ingress and egress to a county-maintained road. I do have a map that was not, unfortunately, not included in the agenda item that shows maintenance responsibility. If you could see, I'll turn it right side up. We have Sunset Trail up here, which is a county-maintained roadway. Earl Avenue runs north and south, and that's the privately maintained portion. The parcel that legally fronts the property is right here, and that is in the agenda packet. And the roadway is the ingress and egress for southwest Ole Miss Place, which is a county-maintained roadway. So staff has considered this, and due to the extenuating circumstances and the condition of the roadway, it serves 16 properties along Ole Miss, upwards of 45 properties within the Henderson addition. And for the interest in the health, safety, and welfare of the public, staff has proposed accepting this roadway in the county inventory, it is, you know, a lot of the parameters have been listed in the agenda item. It's a 600, approximately, it's a little over 600 feet foot roadway. It's 20 feet wide, which is, meets the minimum characteristics for a local residential roadway. There is 50 foot of right-of-way, there are roadside swales, and the county staff is recommending that the board adopt a resolution to accept southwest Earl Avenue from southwest Ole Miss Place to southwest Sunset Trail into the county's road inventory. And with that, the county would proceed with the necessary roadway improvements. And with that, I'll answer any questions. Mr. Dillon. I just wanted to add one other fact, and that's important to note, is that from the exhibit, you can see that in order for the county to maintain those other roads, they've been utilizing our own equipment to gain access to the other road for maintenance. The other thing is, Mr. Gordon, if you can point out that we did it recently in an STA construction, use that road for construction access, and the contractor's equipment and stuff help to deteriorate the road a little bit more or perhaps a lot more. And so that's the extenuating circumstances I think it's important to put on the record, is that our own use of the road has contributed significantly to the deterioration of the road, and that's why we're not requesting the normal MSPU route. Mr. Hurd. Well, we all have these conundrums on streets. We all have roads that are dedicated to the public right-of-way but that are privately maintained. And when the residents ask us, how do we get accepted into the county's inventory, we tell them, well, you can be assessed and do the construction yourself and build it up to county standards, and then we'll take over the maintenance of it, or we'll do the estimate, we'll do it, and then you'll pay us back. And it's a matter of equitability for me. I'm still undecided about this just because I know that I have so many streets in my own district that are in this same situation. And I know we're not going to bail them out. You know, when we do the neighborhood restoration in Rocky Point, there are going to be a whole bunch of people who are going to be disappointed because they're not going to be getting the water and sewer that some of the rest of us are for this very reason. So I have difficulty picking winners and losers here, and it looks like we're picking a winner. We sure can't be. Is that a staff? Oh, staff. Yep. Sorry. Jim Gorton, Public Works Director, for the record. We have 46 miles of publicly dedicated, privately maintained roads in Martin County, and we've done previous presentations to the board on the conditions of those roads. This is the only road, this 800 feet of this road is the only road that solely serves access to a public road. So we did look at it from that standpoint that this one is unique. And as much as we accepted Ole Miss and should have accepted Earl at the same time, we shouldn't have accepted a road that has no public access with a publicly maintained road. They should have come as a pair. So for whatever happened back in the 20s, that roadway didn't get accepted, but it should have been accepted. Don, were you here then? I know you've been here a long time. If Patrick Hayes was here, I would have put that on him. Commissioner Campy. Thank you. There's a couple other things to take into consideration. A lot of people on Thelma don't go east on Thelma to MAP. They go west on Thelma to Earl and then come into the western portion of Palm City. So a lot of those public roadway residents also use Earl. The staff has helped me in the past at the sort of at the terminus of sunset, and Earl has been chewed up quite a bit there. And the other thing to take into consideration is it's just out of the picture. You see the large structure at the end of Earl is a church, but then to the right of it you see there's one of our stormwater treatment lakes. But that little white line is a sidewalk that leads you to our most recently constructed fishing pier as part of this whole Palm City place. And so I would expect in the times that I have been there to visit it, that is the way that folks that are using our new county amenity fishing pier are driving down Earl and on to Ulmus and parking there. So it's another thing, as well as the fact there's only one house that would have to eat the whole expense. And, Commissioner Hurd, if you have streets that you have raided in a system of, like, really catastrophic down, bring them forward so that we can have these same conversations because these are Martin County residents, Martin County taxpayers. And, yes, we can't just pave everybody's road, but if there's a set of circumstances similar to this one, I would be in favor of assisting you in getting those roads done for our residents as well. Thank you. I'd make a motion to accept staff's invitation. Mr. Smith. Yeah, we have, we've had, I wouldn't say similar issues, but like issues in Rio and some other parts of my district. One of the things that I would think if we were ever to discuss the policy again with our neighborhood restoration is that if we're putting water and sewer in and we're getting access, I mean, we have, we literally have roads in Rio that there, there is no public right of way. The, the property lines go to the center line of the road and you can't, there's no way to get any easement without them giving up the land. But I think if there's a consideration for giving services to those neighborhoods that otherwise wouldn't be able to get them or wouldn't be able to fund them because we don't have access, that's sort of an almost obvious criteria that we would build into if we ever want to talk about that as a, as a more comprehensive policy to doing it. Because at some point, and I've, I've used this argument with staff before, whether it's a privately maintained road or not, they're still taxpayers. They're, they're still paying taxes to the county, whether they have a private road or not. And I think therefore, if they want to do it, they want to bring it into the county system, I think we should allege that and do it and use our, our neighborhood restoration strategy or just our resurfacing program to do that. Is that a second? Second. Sorry. Okay. This is a public hearing, so do we have any public comment? With that, we have a motion by Commissioner Campy, seconded by Commissioner Smith. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Moving on to public hearing number. That wasn't public. That was a. Public hearing number two, Mr. Ash. Public hearing for the Federal Transit Administration, FTA, FY21, Section 530, Urbanized Formula Funding. Have no idea what that means. I guess you're going to explain that to us. Good afternoon. So Martin, either approved or not. At all times to lose power. Yeah, right? You know who probably did it? Actually, that's not true. You're right. You're right. Publicly endorsed Susan Gibson. No kidding. You're going to have to put a lot of your name recognition on Susan. Blake's got a lot of name recognition. Yeah, he does. Yes, he does. Yeah, he does. Well, that doesn't make a difference. You want to know why? I call it inside Blake, outside Blake. Outside Blake. A lot of people like outside Blake. Only the people inside Blake know inside Blake. All right. Oh, we're still on. All right. So we're back. We had a little paraphernal here. So, Ash, don't do it again. He kicked. There's a plug under there, and he kicked it. Anyway, please proceed. Okay. So Martin County's public transit system is partially funded by a Federal Transit Administration grant that must be applied for each year. The grant application requires Martin County Board of County Commissioners to conduct a public hearing that encourages public participation and opportunities for the community to comment on the program of projects for the filing of the fiscal year 2021 Section 5307 grant application. The recommendation is that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute and file a fiscal year 21 Section 5307 urbanized area formula program funds application on behalf of the Martin County Board of County Commissioners with the Federal Transit Administration for federal assistance as authorized by USC 49 Chapter 53, Title 23, and other federal statutes authorizing a project administered by the Federal Transit Administration. So this is an opportunity for the general public to make comment on the POP as well as for the board to ask any questions regarding the 5307 grant application. You done? I'm finished. Okay. Any questions for Ash, staff? If there's no public comment, I'll move staff's recommendation. Do we have public comment? Seeing none. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Hurd, seconded by Commissioner Smith. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. That was quick. Thank you. All right. Office of Department No. 1, Office of Management and Budget Items, which require board approval, 17 of them. Oh, my gosh. By Stephanie Murley. Good afternoon, Commissioner. Stephanie Murley, Director of the Office of Management and Budget. I have 17 items on OMB today and a gaggle of support over in the wings if we have any questions. Our very first item is a permission. You look like a community choir. Yes, I do. Sorry. Please don't make them sing. The first item is a permission to apply for the fiscal year 2024 Florida E-9-1-1 state grant for smart transcription. The Martin County Sheriff's Office is requesting a grant in the amount of $47,869 for geospatial routing of wireless 911 calls. There is no match required. Sold. The next item is a permission to apply for the fiscal year 2024 Florida E-9-1-1 state grant for call taker console refresh. The Sheriff's Office requesting a grant award of $452,890 to remove current consoles and install 25-9-1-1 call-taking positions, providing emergency communication staff with support and operational equipment. And there is no match required for this as well. The third item is permission to apply for the fiscal year 2024 Florida E-9-1-1 state grant for the geographic information system data services. The requested grant award is for $350,523 to bring the county's GIS data to 98% accuracy level and to provide quality control checks on GIS data to measure GIS data quality. There is no match required on this one as well. The next item is a permission to apply for the children's services council grant program for the after-school, out-of-school program. Parks and Rec gets this grant every year, and they're requesting $400,000 to pay for the staff maintenance supplies and programming at Golden Gate Alternative After School Program, the Lamar Howard Park in Golden Gate, and the Jensen After School Experience Program at Langford Park. The grant match is the currently budgeted $345,921, which is just budgeted within the Parks and Recreational Operational Budget annually. Number five is a permission to apply for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Artificial Reef Construction Grant. The Coastal Management Division is requesting $60,000 for the construction of reef darts for one rubble reef in the permitted area, and the project will enhance the marine habitat and provide structural complexity. There's a grant match of $30,000, which is already budgeted within our Reef Management Capital Improvement Plan sheet. Item number six is a permission to apply for the Indian River Lagoon License Plate Program Grant for the IRL Estuary Restoration Project. This is a requested grant award of $60,000 to spawn, grow, and release clams as part of the county's efforts to restore seagrass habitat. A local share of $60,000 is required, and it's already budgeted within our Indian River Lagoon Estuary Restoration CIP sheet. Item number seven is permission to apply for funding from Florida Inland Navigation District fine for derelict vessel removal funds. The building department is requesting the reimbursement of $75,000 for 18 vessels through the waterways of Martin County that have been determined to be derelict. We have already expended these funds, and this is just a recoup, and there's no grant match required. Number eight is a permission to apply for the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Justice, and Mental Health Collaboration Program Grant. The Human Services Division is requesting $300,000 for Martin County's Mental Health Court to offer a continuation of case management services, transitional housing assistance, and supplemental funds for the treatment services of the population. There's no grant match required other than some in-kind match through salaries and staff time. Number nine is a permission to apply for the Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance to Firefighters Grant for Equipment. The Fire Rescue Department is requesting $113,460 to support the equipment needs of aging nozzles and a standardized fire hose and acquisition of new EMS training tools. There's only a grant match of $10,314, which is budgeted within the Fire Rescue Fixed Asset Replacement Budget Program. Number 10 is a permission to apply for the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant for Fire Prevention and Safety. Fire Rescue is requesting a grant award of $65,647 for the purchase of over 2,000 smoke alarms for installation in homes of Martin County residents that are in critical need. There is a grant match of $3,126, which is already programmed in the Fire Rescue Fire Prevention Operational Budget. Number 11 is the permission to accept the FDOT County Road 714 Supplemental Agreement, number one. This is actually a reduction in funding for construction and CEI services by $452,000, which also reduces the grant match. And there is no other information other than the construction costs have come in lower than anticipated. Number 12 is a permission to accept the Fiscal Year 2023 State-Funded Emergency Preparedness and Assistance Grant. The Fire Rescue's Emergency Management Division has been awarded a grant award of $29,400 for the accreditation program for the Emergency Management Office that's designed to establish and maintain quality standards by insurance compliance with criteria, and there's no match required for that as well. Number 13 is a permission to accept Amendment No. 1 for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Agreement. The Utilities and Solid Waste Department is being awarded additional funding in the amount of $400,000 for successful septic-to-sewer program and project readiness. There is already a required local match of $1.3 million budgeted within the Utilities Connect to Protect CIP sheet. Number 14 is a similar one, Amendment No. 1 to another FDEP septic-to-sewer connect-to-protect item. Utilities is being awarded another $937,000 for this program, and the match is already programmed within the Utilities Connect to Protect CIP sheet. Number 15 is a permission to accept the State Housing Initiatives Partnership SHIP funds. The Human Services Division is being allocated $1.8 million to assist qualified, very low-to-moderate-income Martin County households with housing rehabilitation, home demolition and replacement, emergency repairs, down payment assistance, sewer and water hookup, and rental assistance. There is no grant match required. Number 16, we're actually doing a permission to award money for the Martin County Deployment Grant of the American Rescue Plan Act, the ARPA funds, for Broadband Infrastructure Program to Comcast. First, Martin County has awarded the Deployment Grant for $1 million for funding for Internet access in areas that are currently underserved or have no Internet access from the American Rescue Plan Act allocation as previously awarded by the BOCC back in 2021, I believe. Stephanie, would you pause there for just a second? Yes. Yeah. So is Martin County going to install this? Are we awarding the contract to Comcast, AT&T? Where is it going to be? Good afternoon, Commissioner George Stoke, Assistant County Administrator. This was publicly bid between companies. Comcast was selected. They were the lowest, or I think they might have been actually the only one that submitted. I'm not exactly sure. What will happen is this will be installed in the Palm City Farms area along Citrus, south of Martin Grade, north of 96, I was going to say 94th Street. That's the area, basically, it goes just south of 95 to 96th Street on the east side of the road. How was that area selected? Because I live in Rocky Point, and we don't have decent Internet. So that area was selected because they currently have no service, and it was through the – Yeah, I did not have the time. It was through – Me too. It was one of the – that area was identified by the Federal Communications FCC. I don't know what the other C is, as well as the state of Florida. And the reason we had to re-advertise it was because the state of Florida was quicker to issue their grant for the west side of the road. So we then were supplementing the east side of the road because those individuals in those neighborhoods have no Internet service. And, Ms. Murley, going back to numbers 13 and 14, the DEP grants, I'm so pleased to see those. Who applied for the grant? Utilities? Utilities, yeah. So those go to the actual final step of connection. And Sam's here, if he wants to chime in, where the actual final step is to abandon the tank and get everything hooked up. So they already had the grants for that. This actually extends an existing grant to add more funds to it to continue. I think you had almost, like, almost 2,000 properties that were eligible for this, a total, or 1,700, something like that. Fantastic. I'm glad to see that DEP still has confidence in us. Yes, they do. That was good to see. Thank you, Commissioner. I was glad to see that. Thanks. Thank you. I have one more item. The very last item is a budget resolution to allocate additional revenues and expenditures for the Sailfish Sands golf course, Hitting Bays, Bar, and Restaurant. At the time of the fiscal year 2024 budget development, the operation of the restaurant and Hitting Bays was new to us, so we didn't know exactly how much it was going to cost or how much we were collecting. So after some reflection on how the golf course is doing, we have now decided to increase the budget for that operation within the golf course by approximately $1.1 million. And I'm happy to say the golf course as of today has seen a net profit of approximately $820,000 to the good. So it's self-sustaining, and we would really love to get this budget in there so they can continue to rock and roll. Excellent. Okay. And that's it. All right. Any other questions? Seeing none. Approval. When he grits his lips like that, it's like, no. Oh, did somebody? No. Approval. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Hetherington, seconded by Commissioner Smith. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Department number two, contracts that meet the threshold of the board of approval of $1 million or greater, Christy Brotherton. Good afternoon, Christy Brotherton, Chief Procurement Officer. I have three items for your consideration today. The first item is a contract award for the Harbor Estates-Gaines Avenue Area Water Main Extension Project. Staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, which is Jamie Underground, in the amount of $1,444,778. And move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. Do we not have a mouse up here? Hold the pause there first just a sec, please. I closed my iPad, but there was a bidder that was lower. So do we apply a local preference to that particular? We do not. I'm just curious. We have grant funding tied to it, so we do not apply local preference programs. We're not allowed to. Because they were technically the second, at least on the bid tab. For this one, no. So the reason we didn't go to number one is the low bidder was non-responsive. Okay. Donna, can you scroll down? I don't have a mouse up here. Thank you. Number two, we have tree pruning, removal, and installation. This is a continuing services agreement with a maximum not-to-exceed value of $1 million and a maximum not-to-exceed term of five years. And staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidders, which are all Florida Tree and Landscape, Sherlock Tree Company, and Tri Brothers Tree and Landscaping, and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. And the last one we have is a contract change order for our Bathtub Beach Sailfish Point nourishment project. The purpose of the change order, can you go up a little bit, Donna? Thank you. There was some unforeseen wind and wave events that occurred after the project contract award, which has been a significant increase in sand loss within the project area. This necessitated an increase in the project's dredge quantities from 215,000 cubic yards to 275,000 cubic yards. The amount of the increase is $1,095,879.52. And staff is recommending that the board approve change order number one to Atlantic and Gulf Dredging and Marine LLC in the amount of $1,095,879.52, and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute any and all documents related to this request. And that concludes this item. Move staff's recommendation. I have a motion by Commissioner Hurd. Seconded by Commissioner Smith. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Excuse me. Now our last item is Department 4, discussion on Martin County Wellness Clinic location. Mr. Matt Graham. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Matt Graham, Assistant County Administrator. With me today is George Zama, Deputy Director of Public Works. And I'm just here to give you a quick update on the clinic as well as get your direction on which county property you would like us to build the clinic on. So just to recap, this here is a timeline. In November of 2022, the board authorized us to design and construct a clinic on one of two county properties. So if you look here at the map, site option number one is the parcel or the property located next to the building department. And then site option number two is located right out in front of the Fire Rescue Fleet Maintenance Facility and just east of Sailfish Splash. So just going back to the timeline, we did an RFQ for the design in May, and that was awarded to Salts Mickelson in December of 2023. And then they most recently gave us their recommendation on which location to build on. So this is another view of site option number one. This is the one next to the building department. And then site option number two, again, next to the Fire Rescue Fleet Maintenance Facility. So in their site evaluation report, there was really three things that identified and what they came to their conclusion with was the site preparation, the open cut. So in option number one, that's the one next to the building department, there's about 400 feet of open cut, whereas in option number two, there was only 40 feet of open cut. But for the utility connections, there was longer pipe runs required on option number one. And then for environmental, option number one did have some wetland impacts. And on option number two, there was only surface water, and that wouldn't be impacted based on where they plan on constructing the facility. So their recommendation is site option number two, and really just the three reasons are reduced material and installation costs, lower maintenance costs, and there were no identified wetlands. So staff recommendation is move that the board authorize staff to construct the county wellness clinic on site option two, located at 951 Southeast Runkey Street. That concludes my presentation. I also have the architect and engineer here, if there's any questions, as well as public works, who's taking the lead on this project. I'll only add that the consultant was contracted. This was publicly advertised as an individual project. The consultant was tasked first with the site assessment to review the constraints, perform an environmental assessment and analysis, as well as constructability. So the basis of this recommendation is on task one. Upon approval and direction, we will move forward with design development of both the building and preparation of a site plan. And lastly, the site option selected is actually within the county jurisdiction. The other site adjacent to the building department is actually within the city of Stewart and does lie within an existing dry detention area, and it does have a flow-through easement. So those were just some of the other constraints that were involved. Yes, sir. Just as a quick reminder that in the clinic, having our own clinic does save the county quite a bit of money. But the other thing is that in this particular operation, we're continuing conversations with our sheriff's department. And at this point in time, we're looking at this would be a shared facility by both Martin County employees and sheriff's employees, including all of our fire rescue staff. So that obviously gives us a greater scale to save funds in the future for our county. Commissioner Smith. Can you go back to the first slide that showed the overall aerial? So your choice, your preferred choice is site option one? No. Site option two. Site option two. And that's adjacent to the fire rescue maintenance facility? Yes, sir. So I just have not been a fan of either one of these sites for a bunch of reasons. But nonetheless, for expansion purposes, for where that's built, I know that I'd be putting this right adjacent to that if we ever had the reason to expand the fire rescue site. Regardless of what the constraints are on the secondary site, I just wouldn't want to box in the ability of fire rescue to expand if we were to do that. Because I can see that will be the next conversation. Oops. We didn't plan right. We've got to expand, but now we've got to move off this site to a whole new site because we don't have enough room. Understood. This site is a little over three acres, and we really only need two. So we do have potentially capacity for expansion. We don't know what the needs are of fire rescue. There are also other dry detention areas in the northeastern section of that parcel, which would be to the west of the existing maintenance facility, that we could potentially relocate. There's that triangular piece to the north. We also understand that there could be the potential for expansion of the water park, but we do have options. Yeah, but for those obvious reasons, that's why I wouldn't go there. I like number one. If we ever expanded the water park, and then you've got to look at parking, if you've got an expansion of fire rescue, you're hemming yourself in, even if you leave yourself an acre. I mean, it's like, okay, I don't know that I'd do that, but that's just my opinion. I'd choose the other site if that was mine. Yeah, move staff's recommendation for site option two. Commissioner Campy. For similar and additional reasons, with all due respect to the folks that did the work, I would have chosen site number one. As Mr. Zama said, you only need two acres for the building. Site one is two acres. You're basically diminishing the 1.5 acres that are left on three. I think having it over there by the building department, the health department, the property appraiser utilities feels like a little more of a campus than putting it up there. Either way would be fine, but I was going to not say anything, but if there is an expansion either of the park in the future or of our fire rescue, which even when they built that, it doesn't have a tremendous amount of, not building-wise, but property-wise for facilities. Either way, I'm okay, but if you were asking me my opinion, I would have picked one. Commissioners, we can certainly go with site option one. There's benefits with both properties, so whatever the board desires, we're willing to make it happen. What does George Zama want? Well, you know, there are some constraints. We would have to work around that is an existing dry detention. There is only a certain amount of capacity. We do have our civil engineering consultant here that can further expound on that. The building department is also looking to expand a facility, and that would reach the capacity for the detention area. So we would have to, you know, not to say that it can't be done. You know, we can engineer our way out of anything. It just takes money. And we can introduce WGI, the subconsultant, and civil engineer. Adam Schilbeier with WGI. Yeah, again, we did the analysis for the environmental, the civil engineering, the public works. Coming closer to the microphone. Yep. Gotcha. Standing too tall over this. And, again, as staff has eloquently put it, again, side option two did make more sense. Side option one, you're reducing the capacity of the existing dry detention area by filling that in. As Mr. Zama pointed out, the flowage easement does go through that same kind of area in the back of that existing detention area. And our environmental team, when they went out, they looked at that detention area, and there was some wetland species that were growing up in the detention area because it's kind of cut a little low. Second commission Hurd's motion. So side option two seems to be a little more. There's less hurdles, it does appear. I'll go back and tell your boss as you twisted our arm. Mr. Donaldson. Did you? That's an old light. Yes, thank you. Commissioner Hederton. I was going to say, at face value, I like site option one, too, because of the proximity to the building department and some of the other departments. But I understand your logic behind two. Commissioner Smith. Yeah. How far does our property go to the east in back of option one? In the back of option one? Is that that whole wooded area in back? That whole wooded area, which would be behind if you. Okay. So for. Oh, we have a cursor. Go back. So all of. It would be right here. That area. That line. Right. All that area is ours. Correct. So for stormwater and whatnot, you've got another three acres, three and a half acres in there to work with. Well, that stormwater area is treatment for this property, this entire impervious area. If I'm not mistaken, there's a flow through for these areas. So it's shared storage, really, in this whole area. But you wooded area to the east, right? There's no stormwater anywhere where your glove is, right? There is. This is the part of the dry detention area storage, this whole area. There's no depression there. That's all just natural land. Oh, there's three. It's a three-foot depression. Okay. I'll only say that having worked with the previous owners around the drainage in there, that dry detention area was a lot more complicated than staff kind of brought up in terms of how it serves the other area and with the flow adjustment. So it could be done, but it just requires worth working with other property owners and relocating that equivalent storage. So it is a much more complicated arrangement for what is relatively a small facility that we're trying to build. Okay. Any other comments? We have a motion by Commissioner Hurd, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion passes three to two, which is an oddity, with Commissioner Smith and Commissioner Hetherington dissenting. And something you thought was just going to be so simple. I thought this was so simple. Nothing simple. Nothing simple. Thank you, Commissioners. So with that, we have reached the end of our agenda because we've pushed CIP to the next meeting. But I'm hoping our agenda is a little lighter than what we've experienced today. Mr. Donaldson, I'll stress that again. I'll do my best, sir. Okay. And so we do have a public comment. Dr. John Hips. You guys, I'm exhausted. I've been here all day listening to everyone. It's been very enlightening. Thank you very much. It's been really helpful. When I came up here this morning to talk to you, if you recall, I recommended a moratorium on all new PUDs. I knew that was going to be unrealistic. But my point of saying that was that we have so many projects on the book, and so many of them have not been implemented yet. And I fear what the county is going to look like once it's all implemented. I have been a resident of Martin County since 1973. And I really am concerned about the quality of life here. So today, when I heard about Colusa and the ranch, these were projects that I didn't know anything about. And I listened to the people speaking, and I heard you all, your comments. And actually, they sounded really good to me. And you were talking about preserving some of the wetlands. And I'm all for that. I guess my concern is, are the developers really going to do what they said they're going to do? And I'm going to give you an example. I live in South Stewart. And when I drive down Cove Road, I see tighter ecosystems, trees ripped up, and the pavements of concrete that just has changed the pace of Cove Road. One project in particular is the Cove Road intersection of Willoughby. And that is a crime against humanity. And they ripped out all those trees there. And the ecosystem, I didn't think they could fill in wetlands, but it looks like they did over there. And it's frightening. It's just disheartening to see that. And so I'm just asking that we just try to be careful and make sure that the staff is on top of this, that we just be careful with our development. Now, I'm a real estate investor, too. And I believe in property rights. But we also have the rights of the community as a whole. And we have a responsibility to their well-being as well. And so I just want us to be careful with our future going forward. And I know you are. I listen to you. And I know you guys all work really hard just asking to really be mindful of what's going on. There's just so much of it. Thank you. And have a good evening. I'm done. You guys should be done, too, because it's really a long day. Commissioner Smith. Yeah, Don, I just think we have to be better at responding sometimes to things. Does Martin County allow any damage fill-in whatsoever to wetlands? No, we do not allow impacts to wetlands. There are rare circumstances where they have a preclusion of reasonable use where you have to gain access to the upland portion. But otherwise, there are wetlands are protected by Martin County, much different than most other communities, which allow mitigation. The county does not allow mitigation. Sometimes, and just for the gentleman who was speaking, I just think it's important that we don't leave with the impression that we do on things like that, because we don't. Thank you. Our next speaker is Gary Eller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gary Eller. At the last county commission meeting date April 9th, I mentioned that the Salerno community and the NAC were not being heard. We had zero input on the upland facility. We didn't even know about it until fairly recently. Actually, it was the October 2023 NAC meeting. Commissioner Hurd had said that NAC had had six presentations, which were prior to the commission's approval. Susan Coors had said that the NAC had three or four presentations over the last year, as well as numerous updates since 2017. I guess it all depends on your definition of a presentation. My definition says it would be listed on the agenda and open for discussion, that a discussion actually takes place, questions are allowed and answered, residents have an opportunity to express their opinions, give feedback, and have input into the final plan. None of that has happened. Since November 2017, the Salerno NAC had one presentation on the mooring field. That was at June 8th by the deputy director. It did not include the upland facility because it was in the cone of silence. We were kept in the dark. The upland and the mooring fields were always lumped together with updates on four or five other projects, like Costello-Williams Park's bathrooms, and they went like this. Anchor balls, anchors for 42 mooring balls had been placed, dock-constructed contracts had been awarded, an RFP for the upland facility was posted, all in the cone of silence. When we were first told in October, it was not going to be at Pirate's Cove, but at Manatee Park. Whenever we asked questions, we were told, it's not a CRA project. Contact Jesse Garland and the Public Works Department. Commissioner Smith, if you truly consider these presentations, you told me that if it had happened in a vacuum, that you'd call for an immediate pause on the project. We were kept on the outside of the decision-making, and it certainly feels that it was in a vacuum. I'm asking you to take that pause that you promised. Also, the updates were given because the NAC had been asked, and I raised a question with them at the last meeting. Again, not on the agenda. Thank you for your time, Commissioner. Thank you. And with that, is there any other public comment? Seeing none, our next meeting is May 14, 2024. And with, yes, sir. I do have – I know you all want to get out of here, but I have a couple – I just – there's three things I just need to highlight since our last meeting. And that one is – please, it's regarding just some of your staff's accomplishments. And so it's a positive note. I think it's worthy to pause even in this moment. So, first of all, Jen Salas and the library department got a Taxpayers Association Award that was – and they were celebrated the other night for their fiscal responsibility and delivering high-quality services. And then there was a regional awards for safety awards, and we had several departments. And I thought, compared to Palm Beach County and our surrounding Treasure Coast counties that were there, we did very well. Martin County Health and Human Services got an overdose action program. The fire rescue had, with their training with the sheriffs on active shooter simulation training. Our fire marshal had a new program for safety that they were highlighted on. And then our traffic department has a new preemption program for fire rescue and how they deliver when they have an emergency call and how our new system implements. And then, finally, we had Yuri Paraga, who got a – from the Rotary, Service Above Self Award, which was awarded at their luncheon this last – a couple of weeks ago also for excellence and singled out amongst other public safety representatives for doing, again, service above self. And there was a lot – to all of these, which I only mentioned their names in the titles and what happened, but when you peel back it, it was – all of the – all the accomplishments from these employees was very impressive and was proud to participate in some of these events to celebrate our – your great staff. So thank you for that. Anything else? No, that was it. Can we adjourn now? Yes, sir. Okay. Once again, we'll see you May 14th, 2024. And with that, we are adjourned. Yes. Thank you.