We're going to begin with an invocation, which is a moment of silence. And the Pledge of Allegiance will be by Wayne Hanners, Chief Petty Officer with 20 years of service in the U.S. Navy. Go Navy. All right. Thanks, sir. Good morning. If you're a veteran, by presidential proclamation, you're allowed to do a hand salute. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 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. Thank you, Chairman, for allowing me to be here today. My name is Wayne Hanners. Once again, I was retired from the United States Navy. I served on five different naval vessels and at five different Navy recruiting districts. I served from 1971 to 1991 during the Vietnam era, best times of my life. I'm also here today to represent Treasure Coast Hospice. I'm a member of the Treasure Coast Hospice Veterans Honors Program. I've been doing this for about six years with Treasure Coast Hospice, where I visit veterans either in IPU, at end of life, in nursing homes, or in their own homes. To date, I've penned over, we call it a penning program, penned over 50 veterans and visited probably in either social network or with we have coffee socials with them at nursing homes and stuff like that and probably visited over 50 or, excuse me, 100 veterans here in our community. This past Christmas, myself and another veteran honors gentleman delivered over 50 packets of Christmas cards to veterans in nursing homes. And these gentlemen and ladies were just absolutely thrilled. There is a group out of somewhere up north that does these packets, and so we were delivering them to the veterans in the nursing homes. We're always seeking veterans to volunteer into our program with Treasure Coast Hospice. Of course, Treasure Coast Hospice has numerous volunteer programs and encourage anyone to get a hold of the people over here on Indian Street and render your time. But the veterans honors program has meant so much to me. It's a pleasure just to hear the stories of these gentlemen. I've had the grace so far to meet two who landed on Normandy and heard their stories, and I just found that we do have a Pearl Harbor survivor, which we're down, I think, to 16 or 18 Pearl Harbor survivors right now in the United States, and there's one down in Tequesta, and I'm begging to try to get to meet this gentleman and hear his story. But like I say, you're sitting there hearing the stories with tears running down your cheeks and just knowing what those people have been through. I've been to Normandy and seen the battlefield and how those guys landed, and so that is coming up here on Thursday, celebration of D-Day, and our museum over here in Stewart is having a ceremony at 11 o'clock on Thursday, so I encourage anyone to come up and show the Road to Victory Museum for their celebration. Thank you so much for allowing me to be here. Thank you, sir. All right, so our day is going to go, 9.05, public comment, 10 o'clock preset for Everglades restoration, highlight progress in Martin County. Then we have a 1.30 preset for 2024 legislative session final report, and then 5.05, public comment. We have a pretty short agenda. I don't think it's going to be 5.05. We have no consent polls and no additional items. Commissioner Smith. Mr. Chairman, move approval of the agenda with no consent polls and no additional items. Second. Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Now we're going to move on to proclamations with Ms. Laura Burpee. First one is centennial logo announcement. So I'm going to go. Here for this one, Commissioners. Good morning, Commissioners. As you all know, 2025 is our centennial year with Martin County, and as part of the planned observances for the centennial year, the board decided to do a contest with local high school students to have our centennial logo created. So we reached out to the school district and, with their help, put the word out to all of our high schoolers. And this logo will be included on the county website, promotions throughout the centennial year, other items, that sort of thing. We received 15 submissions in our quest and pulled together a committee to meet to review those submissions. We had thanks to Carolyn Timmons, Martin County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Nancy Terrell with the Arts Council, Joette Lorien-Rice with the Historic Preservation Board, Carrie Anderson, Supervisor of Elections Office, and, of course, Commissioner Doug Smith. And they got together, made their decision, selected a logo. It is done by Carly Salzberg, who is in ninth grade at Jensen Beach High School. And Carly is going to be winning Carly Salzberg. Oh, Jensen Beach High School, yes, I'll make that. Do you want me to say that again, Commissioner? Jensen Beach High School. I'm very happy. So Carly is going to be winning a bag of great goodies courtesy of the Martin County Community Action Coalition, Parks and Recreation, Office of Tourism Marketing, including passes to Sailfish Splash, and time at the Hitting Bays, and all sorts of other goodies in there. So at this time, I would like to invite both Mark Cowles with the Martin County School District and also Carly up. Oh, and let me show you, oh, let me show you the logo. Jeez. This is Carly's logo submission. It's still kind of on the paper that we did it on, but I don't know if they've pulled it up, hopefully, on the screen. But this is Carly's logo that was selected. Pop it up right there so everybody can see it. And with that, I'd like to have Mark and Carly come up. Morning, Mr. Chair, members of the board, to our amazing Martin County community. My name is Mark Cowles. I'm one of the content coordinators of the Martin County School District. I get to oversee art, music, physical education, social studies, and world languages. So I work with a lot of talented students and adults, and one of them is here today. And on behalf of our superintendent, Mr. Michael Mayne, I want to thank Laura and the commission for allowing us to be part of this. And any time we get to display the talent of our students, and, again, this is a freshman getting ready to be a sophomore, an incredible job by Carly, amazing design that's going to live on forever, like her mom said, at least for the next 100 years because maybe we'll replace it in another 100. But thank you, Carly, for your submission. We are very proud of you, obviously, her proud parents back there with big smiles like a Colgate commercial. And I turn things over to Carly for any questions. Thank you. Hello. Hi, Carly. Congratulations. Thank you so much. That's great. Thank you. Can you tell us what inspired you to do it this way? So I started with the Sailfish because we are the Sailfish capital, and it's a large part of Martin County as a county. And then blue just to go with it and a nice font. Great job, Carly. Thank you so much. Thank you. Congratulations. Swag bag. Every speaker today has got a swag bag. Take your bag. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Plenty of homes for sale in Palm City if you just want to come by. Now we've got a presentation of proclamations previously approved by the consent agenda. First being Code Enforcement Officers Week and being accepted by John Colando. Code Enforcement Officers provide for the safety, health, and welfare of the citizens of this community through the enforcement of building, zoning, housing, animal control, fire safety, environmental, and other codes and ordinances. Code Enforcement Officers are responsible for improving neighborhoods and improving the quality of life of residents in our communities. The first week of June is Code Enforcement Officers Week, and the board expresses their appreciation for the dedication and outstanding service provided by the individuals who serve as our Martin County Code Enforcement Officers. And as Commissioner Jenkins said, we have John Colando, who is our Code Compliance Administrator here, along with some of his folks. Good morning and thank you, Commissioners. I'd like to accept this on behalf of the Code Enforcement Division. We are a team of 11 that cover everything from taking in complaints to doing all the site visits. For those who don't know what Code Enforcement does, we take care of issues from high grass, trash, unpermitted structures, unsanitary pools, all the way to unsafe structures. When we tag them, if there's like fire or anything like that. Um, so, but today, I'd really like to thank my team. Uh, they do a great job. I want to thank them for everything they do and for everything they don't do. So, I'd like to start with the, uh, admin team. We have, excuse me. Have them all come up. Yes. Maribel Ruiz, Jillian Killein, and Francine Chicanas. And then we have, uh, the Code Officers. We have, uh, Chris Counselor, Maria Espyat, Kelly Switzer, Chuck Ambrosetti, Tameka Clinton-Bush, and Frank Marcos. And last but not least, nuisance abatement, uh, Rachel Spradley. It's amazing they all wore the same shirt today. We did that on purpose. One, one has a different, uh, yeah. Got a blue jacket on, though. And who's that guy with the, who's the guy with the tan blazer on? Who's that guy looks familiar? Maybe we can hear from him. Good morning, Jeff Daugherty, the director of the building department, which Code Enforcement falls under. And, uh, I want to echo the comments of, uh, John, but I also want to thank John, too. This is a very difficult job because somebody, either the person complaining, the person receiving the complaint isn't going to be happy. So I think the, uh, the epitome of it is kind of what John said, is when you go out, um, sometimes you're thankful for what you do. Sometimes you're thankful for what you don't do. And how to make that balance is just about impossible. So I do want to come into the well and get a good picture. That's a lot of people. Sure. I just wanted, while they're coming into the well, to say this is a very difficult job. It takes a very specific personality to, as Jeff said, uh, the complaining person versus the person that's getting the, uh, concern. Uh, it's not normally a happy time. And so for you folks to do it so professionally, we thank you very much. I would say it's one of the most difficult jobs in the county. Right over your face, Jeff. Well, I didn't say that. All right. Let's take a few. One, two, three. Everybody keep smiling. Jazz hands commissioners. No jazz hands. Thank y'all very much. Thank you, Jeff Daherty. And our second proclamation this morning is declaring World Oceans Month in Martin County, Florida. June is World Oceans Month, and the ocean is our planet's life support system, feeding billions of people around the world, absorbing heat and carbon dioxide, driving our climate, and producing 70% of the oxygen we breathe. Every life on Earth depends on the ocean, and we must make it a priority to keep our ocean healthy. Over 85% of all the pollution in the ocean comes from human land-based activities. So during World Oceans Month, the board encourages residents to protect and restore the health of our ocean and coastal environments. And here to accept Florida Oceanographic Society board member, Rob Lord. Rob Lord back in the building. Hello, my name is Rob Lord. I'm a resident of Palm City, Florida. Yes, you are. Although for many years I was a resident of Jensen Beach. And a hospital in my district. And actually I recall when the discussion was on where they were going to locate that high school, I was, my wife committed me to be a spokesman for the community in that. So, but I'm here on behalf of Florida Oceanographic Society today. Also in my district. Whatever. I'm proud to serve as an officer on the board of directors of Florida Oceanographic Society. In this part of the world, I've lived here for about 55 years. Our identity is the water, the beautiful rivers that we have, the ocean that we have. So this June we are proud to celebrate World's Ocean Month. Since 1964, the mission of Florida Oceanographic Society has been to inspire environmental stewardship in Florida's coastal ecosystems through education, research, and advocacy. And, in fact, advocacy is the principal reason that I have joined that board and will continue to advocate for our waters. It did surprise me that over 60,000 people every year visit the Coastal Center of Florida Oceanographic Society. You can learn about our coastal ecosystems and issues that they face. But that center offers entertaining and educational opportunities for all ages. Florida Oceanographic Society invites everyone in the community to visit the Coastal Center and take part in the many activities we have this month to celebrate World Ocean Month. We have an ocean film festival. There are beach cleanups going on routinely. There's volunteer seagrass matting, which I have participated in. There's a number of different things you can do to have an impact on our environment. If you're interested in those things, just go to FloridaOceans.org to learn about all those offers. And on behalf of Florida Oceanographic Society, I want to thank each of you for recognizing the importance of our healthy ocean and coastal waterways to our way of life by adopting this proclamation. Thank you so much. Thank you. Mark Perry, their director, Palm City resident. Three bridges. My district. Where does he choose to live? Does he choose to live? The ocean is. It can't move that. A good-looking group. Good answer. Well done. Okay. Now it's public speaking time. I have three speaker forms. If you would like to speak, please fill a form out and give it to the bailiff. Kim Singleton, followed by Mr. Tom Pine. While they're on your way up. Probably not Kim. It's something else. How did I mispronounce? It could be Ken. Yes. No, it's Kim. Leave my parents. It's worse. It's Kimberly. Kimberly, before you speak, I just have a quick announcement here. 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 group of persons. Thank you, sir. Restrictions understood. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. I'm Kim Singleton. I'm commenting on the Dock Authority Leach Renewal. I live on Southeast Park Drive, right across from the docks. Have done since 15 years. First of all, thank you for your support of the Dock Authority. It defines my neighborhood in a way that is unique, special, worthy of preservation, and allowing this Dock Authority to continue operations for 10 years and renewals after that is important to the neighborhood, important to me. Because there's been some controversy about what the renewal says, I took the time to read the document, and I'm reminded in, can you believe it, 45 years ago, I got out of law school. And I went to work for a law firm, and my boss said, Kim, my job is to make the deal. Your job is to read the documents and make them perfect. And I'd work and work and work, and I'd come in with perfect paperwork, and he'd spend about six seconds, and he'd circle six things I had just gotten plain wrong. And we got a little bit of that going on with this proposed lease. I think the attorneys involved are aware of it. There are some lessee should be lessor, lessor should be lessee, some exhibit references that are out of whack, and this is the second renewal, not the third. With all that set aside, that's sort of lawyer trivia stuff. The more substantive issues you're making the deal, so these are the ones that you worry about, are two modifications to the existing lease. One of them makes the Dock Authority slightly less responsible and restricted with respect to alcohol, and the other allows the Dock Authority to apply for special permits. I support both those changes. With respect to alcohol, the docks sit between a public park where there are no alcohol restrictions, a public dock where there are no alcohol restrictions, and it is a walkway for people going from one end of the corridor there at Two Georges down to Pirate's Cove. It's simply impractical to ask the Dock Authority to assure that there is never alcohol on the docks or in the boats, and putting it in the contract as a requirement of the contract simply sets things up for a breach of contract claim that is unhelpful. So I support the proposed change from the original lease to the current amendment version. The other special events, obviously several years ago when I stood here and talked to you, I supported the Seafood Festival, and I still support the Dock Authority's attempts to raise funds and raise awareness of the arena, but I also appreciate the difficulty you faced when you said 2021 last time. That said, if the Dock Authority comes up with an idea, I think it's entirely appropriate they bring it to the appropriate county officials for permission. So wrap it up. That's it. So I support the substance. The lawyer's got to go back and fix those little mistakes I'd have made. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Tom Pine will be followed by Kathy Reitmeyer. Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Tom Pine. Good morning, everyone. Controversial items into a group whereby all items can be passed with a single motion and voted. Updated September 20th, 2023. To today in the consent agenda, $17,424,609.12 was spent between May 6th and May 19th, 2024, without identifying the payees or the purpose of the payments. One has to wonder, were any of the consent items routine as they're all supposed to be? The price tag for road improvements from MacArthur Boulevard now has increased from $250,000 to a hard-to-believe $543,000. Wow. When this master police is completed, it should be the prettiest road in Martin County. Next definition. Blighted neighborhood. A wide array of urban problems, which can range from physical deterioration of buildings and the environment to health and social economic problems. In a particular area, rents are often much lower. Nowhere in the downtown Jensen Beach area was this definition met. The buildings just didn't look pretty enough to meet everyone's expectations. How many Martin County residents had to go to bed hungry so the people in charge could make everything look real pretty? Martin County Property Improvement Program is a major burden on we, the taxpayers of Martin County. Some of the six properties just completed are owned by some of the wealthiest commercial properties owners in Martin County. Our DAX tilers were used to bribe these people into mostly painting these buildings, so everything looks real pretty. Sad. In Martin County, it is now safe to say we are moving at lightning speed away from any hint of morals to outright greed in every direction. These are some good examples why our tax dollars are going up almost every year over the past seven, most of the spending hidden in the consent agenda. What you permit, you promote. What you allow, you encourage. What you condone, you own. We, the taxpayers of Martin County, want our sidewalks back in downtown Jensen Beach. Thank you. And, Kathy, I notice you're in your thing, you want to talk about the docs. Would you rather talk about it at the item, which is the next item up, or now? Actually, first. You can make it first. It's going to be first. Okay. Doesn't matter. Your choice. Thank you. My name is Kathy Rethmeyer. I moved to Martin County in 2012. I was very pleased with Martin County, and it's focused on slow growth at that time. It feels like that's not the focus anymore. But I'm here today because I moved to Port Salerno in 2018, and while I'm not a Florida native and I'm not a commercial fisherman, I am a person that moves into the community, and I'm respectful of the issues that they have at hand. And so I'm here to speak for the extension of the lease of the docks of Port Salerno. My understanding is the docks where the port was added to Port Salerno in 1924, which is 100 years of important history to that community. We have people that are making their living off of those docks. I've become very familiar with the word gentrification lately, and it feels like our community is being gentrified by outside interests and not the interests of the community, that we are the people that are electing our commissioners. Our quality of life counts, and our voices should be heard, and our interests should be put above the interests of outside people that have ideas of what our quality of life should look like and what value in our community should look like. Those fishermen have been making their livings there. Our community should be able to have a say in what is done to it. Right now, just trying to get here today, there were 35 cars trying to get out of my little area to get here, going up A1A and the traffic going the other way. They were backed up to YMCA. Anyway, getting off track. Bigger is not better. Our quality of life as residents of that area should count, and by listening to the residents of that area and support our interests, not outsiders who want to gentrify our little piece of paradise and the docks that people use to make a living and feed us and supply the restaurants in this country. Thank you. Thank you. Gary Erler. Followed by Tammy Mazzotta. Good morning, Commissioner. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Port Salerno fishing docks have been providing seafood since 1894, shipping fresh fish all over the country. We, the residents of Port Salerno, support the fishing community and ask that you approve the amended contract. Staff and dock authority have made changes to the contract that are both equal and fair to both parties. This will cost the taxpayers of Barton County $0 and keeping the history and heritage of Port Salerno intact for future generations. This property that the county owns was given to them in 1922 to provide a working waterfront and needs to remain that way. Thank you. And our last speaker forum is Tammy Mazzotta, maybe. So, um... Is that correct? I'm Tammy Mazzotta. Good. All right. I have this, this booklet, and I was going to make copies for you all, and I thought, well, you know, I don't even know if they're going to have time to read something like that or if you're interested. But I do have copies if you're interested in reading this. This is a very good history of Port Salerno. It was, um, let's see, written by Margaret Blanton Peterson. She's a fourth generation of, in Floridian. So, it has a lot to do with the fishermen, as Mr. Erler said, from 1894. And from 1910, which was the start of the historic town, Port Salerno, and the dogs. They're not just the history of the future, of our history, but they're part of our future. So, that being said, we're asking, and I'm asking, that you really consider extending the lease for the dogs. This is such an important part of our community. It doesn't just supply fish for our restaurants and our local restaurants. It is also shipped around the country. So, unless you don't eat seafood, I'm pretty sure all of you have eaten seafood that has been caught or brought in through our dogs. It kind of makes sense. So, they're feeding us. It is important, like I said, to the entire community. It's jobs. It's community support. It's county support. It's, um, I could ramble on. Anyway, so, my basic purpose is just to ask you to please consider extending our dock lease and to keep our docks going, let our fishermen do their job, and keep our bellies full. Okay? Thank you very much. Thank you, ma'am. And we will move that, um, item up to our first item once we get done with Commissioner comments. Commissioner Smith. Thank you. Uh, I will not, I will do my very best not to steal any of Ed's, uh, commentary this morning, but, um, I will share with you that, uh, Saturday, uh, was the realization of the ribbon cutting of a park in Palm City that is part of, probably a better part of a 25-year vision and dream for the community of Palm City to have a sense of place, um, a patio, um, that would create a sense of place and, uh, a place for people to gather, a place for people to come together, and really a place that forms the identity, uh, that Palm City has been lacking for, um, forever, actually. It is really the centerpiece of, of a community, and Ed, you and our staff did an absolutely amazing job. Um, it is a fantastic, um, park. Uh, I'm jealous. I, it is, it is, it is as good, as nice, an urban downtown setting as they get. Um, I don't know that you could have done anything any more special. Uh, the water feature, which is interesting, years ago when we planned that STA, stormwater treatment area, uh, you know, there was a conversation about, are, are these STAs, what are they really? And, and at the core of them, they are an area to cleanse and clean runoff water from our older neighborhoods that never planned for ever having, uh, any stormwater cleanup at all. Well, and we started retrofitting, um, gosh, 20 some years ago, these neighborhoods. And they could have gone one of two ways. They could have been a fenced in, uh, water treatment area that did its job. And that was the end of the day, or it could have been designed in such a way that in the future it could become part of a park and part of an amenity to our community. And, and Ed not only took that idea with our CRA staff, uh, but ran with it at a hundred miles an hour and, uh, made it into something incredibly special. So, Ed, congratulations on your park. Thank you very much. That's kind of it. Um, it was a great day. You had a fantastic turnout. Uh, and it is really one of those key features that in a downtown, there are things that when you go to a special downtown, they stand out. There are things that happen, um, that people think of their home and their place and their sense of place, um, that really define what your community is. And fire stations do that libraries do that urban parts do that sidewalks do that. There's a great trail. I know I'm taking all of your, what you're going to talk about, but, um, it's, it's fantastic. And you guys did a really, really good job. So congratulations on all of that. Thank you, Mr. I agree with that. Congratulations. And I nothing further this morning. And I'm pretty good. I was out of town last week. So a little out of touch, but I saw all the Facebook posts. It was amazing. It was like I was there, so. Well, we appreciate it. Um, Commissioner Smith, thank you. That's very kind. The only thing I would like to do is thank, there's a couple of people that have worked remarkably tirelessly on this, uh, Susan Corris and especially Jordan Pistorius from the Office of Community Development or the CRA. Um, both Palm City residents doesn't hurt. Uh, and then especially Dr. Rex Centell and a couple of the original CRA and NAC members, some of them like Dr. Plymel and Mike Searle, uh, Chuck Smith. They have been on that board for decades and have constantly stuck with it, you know, hoping that the vision of the entire Palm City CRA would be, uh, realized. It's a very, obviously, a complicated, difficult, and expensive process, but they stuck with it, especially Dr. Centell and his family. He was the first person, when he redid his business, moved it up right to the sidewalk, if you will, which was the design of what the future of Map Road was supposed to look like. He did it several years ahead of time to give an example to everyone else. This is what we should do. And finally, the Map Road and the rest of the, of the streetscape, if you will, caught up to what his vision was. He's been exceedingly generous with his, uh, time and his talent and his money. We have a gorgeous four-sided, like one of those classic, uh, downtown clocks that you see in movies and in, in communities. He's, he's, he paid for that himself, and it was thousands, it was tens of thousands of dollars. Um, and I know he's not big for all sorts of accolades, but he deserves them, because he's probably been working on this for, I would guess, about 40 years. And I know that when he and his wife were there, and I know his dad was part of this, and I didn't get to mention it the other day, so I will mention it today, uh, with the help of, uh, George Stokas, that STA is obviously a working, as Commissioner Smith said, it's designed to treat and cleanse water from the community before it goes into the river. But we're going to change its name to Lake Centelle. Now, it's not like Lake Superior or Lake Erie, but, uh, or Lake Okeechobee, but in Palm City, we want to, uh, recognize, um, Mr. Centelle's family, uh, forever with, uh, all of his efforts that he's done. Also, the last thing I'd say about him is, we wrapped our traffic control boxes in District 5, all over the, the Palm City area, with bird motifs that everyone liked very much. Rex Centelle took all those pictures and donated them to us to use. So, he's a, he's a, a pillar of the community, like there are so many others in every community, but, uh, I just, I can't find enough ways to thank him, Jordan Pistorius, and Susan Kores for their efforts, the unbelievable outcome. Thank you so much. Commissioner Smith. Just one tag on the photographic side of it. Um, out at FOS, as, as it would be pertinent for today, uh, with World Oceans Day, uh, the, the electrical box immediately across from the Elliott, the interchange box, whatever it is, you call those things, um, is wrapped in an underwater scene, which are also Rex's photographs. He is an amazing underwater photographer, like Jacques Cousteau was with him or something when he was doing it. Yeah. It's just. He's a talented man and such a nice, generous person. And so, staff came to me, uh, I don't know, a couple months ago and, and said, you know, would you be interested in wrapping the rest of the boxes in, in Jensen? And I said, yeah, use Rex's photos and use his underwater photography and we'll make that the theme of Jensen. That'd be great. We talked to Rex about that on Saturday and he was thrilled. So, it was all good. Good. Cool. Commissioner Hurd. I'm set. You're good? Okay. All right. With that, let's move, um, our, uh, Port Salerno Dock, uh, Department 4, request for approval for a amendment to the lease between Martin County and the Port Salerno Commercial Fishing Dock Authority, Ms. Carla Segura. Yes, she is. Good morning. Carla Segura, real property manager. She's sitting in her office thinking, okay, I'm last on the agenda today. I know, right? She's scurrying down here as fast as she can. I was, thank you. Um, this item is a request for approval of the third amendment to the lease with the Port Salerno Commercial Fisherman. On July 13th, 2004, the board approved and entered into the lease agreement on Park Drive. The lease was first amended in 2006 and then again in 2007. In December of this year, of this prior year, 2023, during commissioner comments, the board directed staff to work with the fishermen to look at the current lease and make appropriate amendments. Um, staff has been working with the fishermen and we came up with just a couple of changes to the, which will be in the third amendment. They're in the purpose section for exclusive use as a commercial fishing dock, fishing offloading facility and way station. And this mirrors the language in the sovereign submerged land lease, which also mentions that it's on county property and with county regulations. So all other uses on the property will be special event permits with the permission of the county for activities that support the commercial fishing industry. The third amendment also extends the term of the current lease, which expires in 20, 20, 20, 33, this amendment allows for a limited option to renew the lease for an additional four terms of 10 years, each, which will assist with future applications for grants and funding opportunities that may arise. The rent section was clarified to confirm that the fishermen are responsible for the entire invoice that comes with the submerged land lease for DEP. Therefore, the county doesn't have to pay any of it along with total responsibility. Finally, the miscellaneous conditions section was amended to clarify that the members, guests, employees, agents, or other authorized persons are prohibited from dispensing, selling, or giving away any alcoholic beverages or tobacco products. The fishermen's rules and regulations were also updated to match the information within the lease and is attached as an exhibit. But I also wanted to note that somehow Exhibit B, which is in the First Amendment, didn't get copied in the scanning on the Third Amendment, but it will be attached in there. And also that in Section 3, Page 2 of the Third Amendment, under the Terms and Options to Renew, the word lessor was used in era instead of lessee. So it should read, the parties acknowledge that their intent that this lease term will be limited to qualified members of lessees corporation. I've already spoke to everybody and everybody's on board with that. So we recommend that the board approve the Third Amendment with the changes between Martin County and the Port Salerno Commercial Fisherman and authorize the chairman to execute any documents. If there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer. Okay. We do have some public comment. Christine Artigo, followed by somebody that neither me or Commissioner Campy can either decipher the first or last name. I'm thinking the first name is Steve. Okay. We'll go with that. Very unique handwriting. Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to come before you today. We're seeking your support on behalf of the Port Salerno Fishing Docks and its request for an amendment and extend for their lease to access and maintain the commercial fishing docks. This is such an important and interesting part of our local economy and history. These are, in many cases, third- and fourth-generation fishermen who withstood a lot of challenges, not the least of which was the net ban, which at that time drastically reduced the overall number of local fishing families. But these folks are survivors. They enrich the local culture, support local small businesses, and improve the freshness and quality of the seafood we all enjoy. That's really the key factor here, the residents and the visitors. They make up the market that loves the fresh seafood our local commercial fishermen supply. That's the demand that sustains these families and contributes to our economy. The least we can do as a community is give them the confidence that they can continue to use the docks that are dedicated to their industry and give them the time needed to make any necessary repairs. We believe this is a reasonable request. We sincerely hope every one of you supports it, and we appreciate your time and your service. Thank you. Thank you. And the next person that filled the form out might be you. Steve, here. Oh, it's nice. It's just hard to read. My name's Steve English. English. And I'm a member of the Port Salerno Commercial Dock Authority, and I urge you to pass this amendment. I just attended two weeks ago the Future of Florida's Commercial Fisheries Summit in St. Augustine put on by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. And one of the major topics that we were discussing was the ports and how we're going to exist because money is taking them all away. And so in that discussion, of course, we discussed future funding and all of that. So I'm hoping that with the awareness of it that we're going to have funds available to improve our facility a lot more than we have in the past. Up to date, any improvements down there were paid for wholly and solely by the commercial fishermen themselves. And I think we do have a grant that we're possibly looking at right now. We're hoping that that comes through and get us started. But with this, I'm very hopeful that we'll be looking at even more from state and national level to be able to continue this because that's one of the main concerns of, like I said, on the state level and the federal level is losing our ports for the commercial fishing industry. So I urge you to support us. Thank you. Thank you. And that's my last speaker form unless somebody else would like to. Oh, here we go, Mr. Tom. This guy looks familiar. You're up. Chairman, commissioners, thank you very much. I am the – my name is Tom Whittington. I'm the outgoing president of the Marine Industry Association of the Treasure Coast. It has always been my joy to advocate for our local businesses, especially our marine businesses, our accessibility to the water, and certainly maintaining the seaside town that we have here and the quality of life. I congratulate the commission and the commissioners for all the weighty subjects that you take on and the decisions you make. I hope you will find this decision to vote as a positive vote, an easy one today, and supporting actually multi-generation fishermen, families that are helping our town provide food to our visitors, to the restaurants, and the quality of life, and I just ask you for your yes vote. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Next up, Mr. Butch Olson. Tom, did you fill out a form? I did. I don't have it. Good morning, commissioners. Butch Olson, representing Portsmouth Dock Authority. Thank you for bringing this request. This request reflects a longstanding history of amending the lease when necessary. This is actually, as Ms. Segura mentioned, this is our third amendment to the lease. So, you know, this lease is very straightforward. It affirms that the docks are to be used exclusively by the commercial fishermen. They're approved users for, obviously, their approved uses. We've also asked an amendment, an extension of the term. We've done this to provide some security and confidence for the future to our fishermen, and also, obviously, to preserve and protect the commercial fishing industry here, which is, I mean, it's crucial for the identity and the economy of Portslerno. You know, our industry is very volatile, as you can imagine. You know, people, I mean, relying on sustainable fishing for a living is a very difficult thing to do. So any assurances we can bring to our members is greatly appreciated. Also, we've requested an extension of the time frame used for, you know, for repairs and maintenance. And the reason for that is that just simply reflects the challenges we're facing, the reality challenges we're facing with the current supply chain, which, unfortunately, still exists. We also worked on some language about clarifying some language that gives the dock authority a little bit more breathing room and a little more room to do background checks and things like that on new potential new members so that we can, you know, provide more, you know, still provide integrity to our new members. In closing, Mr. Gura covered most of this presentation. In closing, I also want to just take a moment to thank your legal team. It's just been a pleasure to work with. Everyone has been extremely professional, and they've respected our interests and protected yours. And that's obviously the way it should be. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Butch. Okay, with that, if we don't have any other public speakers, Commissioner Smith. Thank you. So I've had the honor, the privilege, the pleasure of working with all of the amendments over all the years. When I first started, it was a very different structure that we had way back when, and it's come a long way. And, Steve, you and I talked a lot over the years through a lot of issues and a lot of struggles. And I would say this much, I think, about the importance of what we're doing here today. And I think all of the speakers spoke to this. Our board has the opportunity to set forward, once again, the protection of an industry and a history that has made Martin County part of what we are. It's ironic today would be World Oceans Day celebration that we would be here with FOS, that we would also have the dock authority here that is relying upon our oceans and our waterways. And the health of those waterways, the health of our ocean, and the health of the industry. And so I think what's great about what we're doing today for the history and for the culture of what makes Port Salerno Salerno, what also makes Martin County Martin County, is that we are doing something that will move, hopefully, future generations of the fishing industry ahead with the security and the confidence that the county is behind them 100%. And it's exciting, and I'm glad you guys are still there, and I look forward to some of the exciting things that we'll be able to do in the future with you all. So thank you for everything you do. Thank you for the history. Thank you for the culture that you've given us. And let's never forget, really, where we have come from. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I would move staff's recommendation with probably the little clerical changes that Carla recommended. And I don't know if, Sarah, if you have anything you need to add to that language, but whatever ministerial changes need to be done that everybody apparently has agreed upon, I would move approval of all of that. Second. Okay. I stole it from you. And with that. You can have a third. Commissioner Hetherington. So for all those reasons that the residents spoke upon this morning and Commissioner Smith, the history, the heritage, the jobs that are provided, the food, this is a very important part of Martin County's history and Martin County's future. So I will certainly gladly support, without hesitation, this lease amendment. And I think anything that we can do to preserve our fishermen in Martin County, I certainly want to attempt to do that. So I wholly support that. And I would second it if Commissioner Campy didn't jump in and second it. Had to. Well, I echo all the comments. I've lifelong known a few folks in this room and appreciate what Port Salerno is. And with that, Commissioner Hurt. Yeah, I'm not going to support the motion. This is an extremely valuable asset owned by all Martin County taxpayers. It's a multimillion-dollar asset. It should be shared by all Martin County residents, not just by one special interest group. Furthermore, 10 slips can be subleased to non-residents, people who have no stake in Martin County, who aren't taxpayers, who aren't residents. And Martin County is not compensated for those subleases. So our asset is being given to people who don't even live here. And that's wrong. It should be shared by all Martin County residents who are the purchasers and the owners of this extremely valuable asset. Commissioner Smith. You know, a thought just occurred to me, and I remember through the years of the conversations that we had with the commercial fishermen about the industry itself and even living in other parts of the country that I have, the fishing industry moves around. Wherever the fish are, the industry moves to. And what we benefit from here in Martin County, there are times where our fishermen benefit from other parts of the state where those resources end up finding themselves. And so, you know, one way to think about how and how appropriately our infrastructure is used, there are absolutely times in the year that our industry, which survives on a very tough style of living, it's a hard business to do what they do, you have to move around. And the support of this equally goes to the support of other communities that end up supporting our folks when it's time for them to be supported in their parts of the state. And so it's not – in my mind, this isn't a one sort of slip matches one sort of boat. It's more about the industry and the history of the industry and making sure that the future is secure. And I hope that at least the changes that Carla and our attorneys have made with the Dock of Dark will at least keep us moving for at least another generation or two to come in the future. So thank you again for all you do. Commissioner Campy. Thank you. Always interesting to sit up here. There's obviously always a diverse set of opinions. I jumped on seconding it because I wanted to let the history book show how much I wanted to show my support for what you've all been doing for so long. I mean, my family's been in Martin County for 28 years, 29 almost. And as far as I'm concerned, with all due respect to the rest of Port Salerno, the Dock Authority is the sort of the defining feature of Port Salerno. It always has been. And I'm not a fisherman. I actually don't eat seafood. But when you think of Port Salerno, at least not yet – my mother's still trying – when you think of that, that's what I think of. You know, living elsewhere in the community, that defines that area. That's, in my opinion, really what it is. And I have never met anyone that wasn't proud of that work. The comments that were made this morning are spot on. If we don't support these industries that feed us farms, fishing, ports, and things like that, then we won't have it. And so for us, or from – I'll speak only for myself, even though obviously you hear a majority of the board is in support of what you're asking of us. You've earned it. They've been good partners. There has been very few problems. And whenever there was, you know, an individual or some situation that turned into a problem, it was self-policed. It didn't become a big deal for our sheriff's office. It didn't become a big deal for our code enforcement. It didn't become a big deal for our legal staff. It's been handled. You know, this – as I was driving here this morning, I'm thinking this is one of the easiest decisions. It makes perfect sense. We've had lots of not-for-profit organizations come before us and ask for longer and extended leases. Somewhere we had to sort of just hope that it would work out. There was not a long history or a track record of success and sort of following along with what the original leases were. It's very difficult. Anyone who has applied for grants knows it's very difficult for granting authorities to issue money if you don't have long-term sustainable leases. They don't want to give money to short-term leases. They want really long-term leases. And without blinking an eye, some of us up here and others before us have supported leases for the Elliott Museum and the Children's Museum and Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA sites for nearly 100-year leases. And you have earned your respect of having this lease improved and extended. If our staff, who I think most people in the community that have ever dealt with our legal department knows they're not pushovers, Carlos Segura and Real Property, not pushovers. I'm sure the back and forth was solid. And for both sides to agree that this is the appropriate lease for members of our community, our own residents, I hear my colleagues' concerns. I'm not disagreeing with what she's saying, but I personally don't see that they would rise to the point that I wouldn't support this. And so you have my 100% support. And thanks for you continuing to do this. It's difficult work. Thank you. Okay. With that, we have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion passes four to one with Commissioner Hurd dissenting. All right. We have a 10 o'clock preset, which is in right now. Right now. Okay. Well, we have a huge big shot in the room. Mr. Drew Bartlett, the executive director of South Florida Water Management and a really nice guy. He's going to give us an update on Everglades restoration highlights progress in Martin County. Thank you, Chairman. Thanks for inviting me up here to talk about what we do. We're very proud of what we do. And I really – Actually, should we – Let them clear the room first. Yep. No problem. I thought they would stay for your presentation. I guess I was wrong. They're working. Yeah. Workers. It's over here. No. Just regrouping, Drew, just for you. Yeah. Right. Shh. All right. Please. Ready, Mr. Chairman? So it's a pleasure for me to be here. I love making the rounds and talking about what we do. But just recently I gave a presentation about our investments in the Treasure Coast and what we're doing up here. And Commissioner Smith and Commissioner Hurd saw that and they said, hey, why don't you come talk to the rest of us and let us know what's going on? So I'm really happy to be here. I'm joined by Kathy LaMartina. If you haven't heard, she looks like she's retiring this year. Yes. Motion to deny. We will absolutely miss her and I know all of you will. She's a kid. I agree. What are you retiring for? And then I have Daniel Koushakian, who's our public policy. He's new to the district by about a month now. So he's learning the ropes here in the water management district. So for those of you who don't know, we were essentially formed, I'm happy to say, 75 years ago as a flood control district. And we've been operating a massive flood control system throughout South Florida, the 16 counties, since that time. And just recently, like within the last couple of decades, that flood control system has realized that it was harming the environment, harming our ecosystem. So our mission has been transformed to one that where we're restoring our ecosystems front and foremost while providing flood control and water supply. And this is just a list of our infrastructure and everything we have to do. But it all starts with science, right? And so we have been investing in science at the South Florida Water Management District for decades. At this point, we have, I think I've added up, like 93 water quality monitoring stations in this Treasure Coast area, Martin and St. Lucie County. Looking at water quality, figuring out what is going on in that system. But what I'm really proud of is that once you have the water quality and know what's off kilter, you also have the ecosystem science. The entire food web, essentially, is sampled by the Water Management District here in the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon to look at where it's getting off kilter. Phytoplankton, oysters, seagrass, fish. We have all this data. You can come around. We have all this data that is getting collected, analyzed, and published so we know what science needs to happen. And it's because of that science that we have the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. It's why we have the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Ecosystem Plan. And when Governor DeSantis took office, the first time he gave us an executive order that said achieve more now. And then he got reelected and he gave an executive order that said achieve even more now. And as if I wasn't stressed enough to begin with, he's like, no, you're going to get more done. But he's delivered to go get the funding to make that happen. So how did that second executive order affect Martin County and St. Lucie County? Well, it really starts with the Indian River Lagoon South program. So what you have here is the basic layout of the program. Can you see my hand? Yep. Okay. So right up here you have the Indian River Lagoon South Reservoir. Right now that was, before the second executive order, on the core side to build. They did not have the budget to build it. They had the budget to build the North Reservoir, but not the South. So we took the South Reservoir and put it on our side. We said we'd take it. We would go to the legislature. We'd seek the funding. And quite frankly, Martin County has been very helpful in us seeking that funding, which is a lot more than we used to get to try to take on these new projects. But they're important. They're important for us to get done. Right now we're under construction here for this connection here. It's the C-23 Estuary Discharge Diversion Connection. So when it's discharging harmfully to the St. Lucy Estuary, we can turn pumps on to move it to the C-43 Reservoir. Not just the C-44 Canal, but also the C-23 Canal. So that's what you see here under construction. Well, let's talk about the C-44 Stormwater Treatment Area. So this was, we cut a ribbon. I think a number of you were there to cut the ribbon on the C-44 Reservoir. It is actually in operation. The C-43, the C-44 Stormwater Treatment Area is in operation, and we've been using it. We're well coordinated with the Corps of Engineers. So when it's raining and the C-44 Canal is rising and you need to get rid of that water, what used to happen is the S-80 would open and go out to tide. We have been turning these pumps on to stop the S-80 from opening. Normal rain events. Hurricane Ian went through and you had that big band that came through Martin County. Those pumps turned on, and that basically shortened the amount of the S-80 opening by weeks and weeks. It was open for, I think, six days during that time instead of weeks. So it's actually in operation. The Corps is fixing a seepage issue, but we have 10 feet of operation right now, and it's down, it's ready right now to take more rain when the rainy season begins. But what I'm happy is just that last month we were here with our board meeting, and we designated the Stormwater Treatment Area as a Stormwater Treatment Area. What does that mean? That means we can do public recreation on it. And so I know, Commissioner Hurd, you were out there talking about it. So now we're able to host bird watching, host hunts, host things out at the C-44 STA. This summer we're putting in recreational features like a parking lot, kiosks, shelters, so that we can open it up on weekends and people can just go and ride their bikes, hike, whatever you want to do. Another recreational feature in Martin County to enjoy. In addition to all these that we have in Martin County to enjoy and St. Lucie, but you can hike and bike on our levees. You see there's equestrian, there's hiking and biking out at Allapattah Flats, you know, we've got Dupuis, you've got Nine Gems. In the western part of the county you've got Lakeside Ranch Stormwater Treatment Area where Audubon hosts bird watching over and over. A lot of recreational opportunities opening up here in Martin County as an aside. So let's talk about the C-23-24 project features. This is in St. Lucie County. The stormwater treatment area is under construction by the Corps of Engineers right now. This and then these two reservoirs, they basically intercept the C-23-24 canal water and prevent it from harmfully getting discharged to the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie Estuary. But this is what I want to bring your attention to. This is the integrated delivery schedule. It's a tiny font. But this 2024 year, that marks everything in the Indian River Lagoon South project starting being under construction, right? This was authorized, when was it, 2006? Seven. And so now here we are, 2024, getting the appropriations, pulling it to our side of the ledger, everything getting under construction in 2024. 2024, very exciting times for the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie Estuary. And that's the C-23 Canal. Also to the north on the Treasure Coast, you have the C-25 Canal that empties into the Indian River Lagoon. We are starting construction on the C-25 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area this year. We're already doing the site preparation, getting all the adjacent landowners made hold with their irrigation demands and everything. So that will be under construction to intercept water leaving the C-25 Reservoir. It's already getting prepared for the first construction contract, which I think is coming in August to the board this year. Very exciting. So that's all the reservoirs. So when we were purchasing land for the C-23 Reservoir, the south reservoir right here, we purchased land to the south of it, but as we did all the surveys and everything, we couldn't use those lands due to cultural resources. So we are now converting those lands into more of a natural lands feature where we are plugging the ditches, putting culverts in to keep the water on the land, not a storage system, but just a non-drainage system trying to recreate more natural habitat. So our field crews are out there right now plugging those ditches, trying to keep the water on the land so they're not getting into the C-23 Canal and going harmfully to our estuary, but also rebuilding wetland habitat on those lands. So that's another project we're doing outside of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration, but more as just a good environmental project on lands we own. And then, of course, on the west side, we have the Lakeside Ranch Stormwater Treatment Area and the Brady Ranch Flow Equalization Basin, which is basically a shallow storage system. The S-191 Basin, which is this entire basin, drains into Lake Okeechobee. It's got really high levels of phosphorus. So we have a stormwater treatment area treating that water before it gets there as much as we can pump into it. Sometimes it rains too hard and it has to go straight to the lake. But then when it's not raining, we can recirculate through it. We can recirculate, you know, lake water like a kidney to try to get Lake Okeechobee cleaned up. So another investment we have. And then, of course, in St. Lucie and Martin counties and then in the northern Lake watershed, we have a lot of public-private partnerships with private landowners. I think we're up to about 60,000 acres of land in this kind of system where we're paying landowners basically instead of using it for agriculture, using it for storing water. And they will put pumps in. Calkins is right on the C-44, pumps into their wetland when it's raining and when we need them. Same with Bluefield Grove, Scott Water Farm, all in St. Lucie and Martin County, large swaths of land, recreating wetlands essentially and keeping the water from hitting the estuary and the lagoon. So what I like to really talk about is let's visualize, you know, we've all been here a long time. And we know where we've been. But let's visualize what we'll actually see in 2025, right? So it's 2024. This is next year, right? So next year, under SERP and under our efforts, we will have both the East Reservoir and the West Reservoir, the C-44 Reservoir and the C-43 Reservoir completed and operating. We'll have all the Indian River Lagoon reservoirs under construction. We'll have clean water going into the Everglades because all of our stormwater treatment area work will be done so we can move water south cleanly. A new STA, 6,000-acre stormwater treatment area will be constructed. It is growing in right now, but it will be constructed and available for lake water to move lake water exclusively south, right? And then we'll have northern and southern storage on Lake Okeechobee underway. The Corps is building the EAA Reservoir now. Their final contract is on the street, so they're hoping to award that before October to construct the EAA Reservoir. On the north side, we are putting in aqua storage and recovery wells, and we've also submitted to the Corps an above-ground reservoir for their submittal to Congress for authorization in 2024 so that could really help manage high lake levels. Then we'll have Tamiami Trail at the bottom end of the system, raised and ready to move more water south through the system. And then we have the 100,000 acres on the Kissimmee River and the 55,000 acres in Collier County in Picay and Strand restored. That's a lot of acreage. Panther habitat, I will say, too. And then, while it's not here, Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands will be done, right? That's by the end of 2025. A lot of CERT projects, a lot of efforts actually come into fruition because of the incredible support we're getting from the legislature, the federal government, to actually get these funded. And the staff at the Water Management District is answering the call. Those folks are busy trying to get these projects rolling, as I know your staff are for all the projects you have in Martin County. But I want to conclude by thanking you for welcoming us in May. We had our governing board meeting here out at Indian River State College. It was a great reception. We were, you know, while we had some tough welcomes, you know, during the summer with the Corps' decision to discharge from Lake Okeechobee, we were very much engaged and hosted very well. So we really appreciate that welcome to Martin County. Mr. Chair, that's not me. That's all I got for you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Commissioner Smith. Thank you always, Drew, and thank you for the update. It's really hard to encapsulate what you just said and really understand how much is in there because the spatialness of this entire thing is enormous. I mean, the tour we took when we had the ribbon cutting down at the EAA, it takes a half an hour just to get to the center of the project. It's amazing how big this stuff is. And I remind people, you know, when you think about it, the mountain of granite that was out there in the background was just, like, hard to imagine. That was all moved in to build that thing. And so... From Georgia. From Georgia. And then trucked because there weren't rail lines from the end of wherever the rail lines were to the EAA. It is really hard to pull it all together to understand how big it is. And I thank you for doing this, and we should never stop doing this so that the public gets as many opportunities to see it as possible. Of the 2 million acre feet of storage that was envisioned from the inception of all this, where do you think we are relative to that? And maybe not what's completed, but, like, by 2025, 26, that you were saying all these projects will be underway? So our goal is to have all storage authorized and under construction within the next three to four years, right? And so that's why we jumped on the IRL south storage. But you look east and west of Lake Okeechobee, that's going to be done, right? And then you'll have the EAA reservoir under construction. And that's why we submitted. We took it on ourselves to plan, and we didn't depend on the core to plan that northern above-ground storage, right? So we're trying to get that authorized in 24, so it'll be authorized. But all the rest of the storage in the entire SERP system is authorized and has a schedule for construction. You're looking 10 years, probably, to get, you know, the northern, the final piece will be that northern storage above-ground reservoir. But building these big things is complicated, so we're being as aggressive as we can. But it's within our lifetime, right, which is that a decade ago you wouldn't have thought that. No, that's for sure, and there are a lot of people that have their hands in that, and they should all be thanked. But we'll forget somebody, so we won't start. But I think it's really something else that should be noted. You guys have done an amazing job, and our federal partners have too. They, six, seven years ago, really stepped up with their funding, and that changed the game. I mean, there were projects on the schedule that I can remember at the 16-county coalition meeting saying, no, those are years and years out. And then the next meeting, all of a sudden, they're in construction or they're under permitting or whatever. The cutoff wall was one of my favorite ones. Right. But that wasn't going to happen for, like, 10 years, and it's happening. You just cut a ribbon last month on the cutoff. Well, that's finished? It's in. It's in? Yeah, yeah. It's working. You're standing on the berm, and it's wet over here, and it's dry over here. You just, like, for those that don't know where and what it is? So basically what would happen is on the east side of Everglades National Park, there's communities that live there, but there's, like, a six-foot head difference between water in the park and what the communities need. And when it would rain hard, basically the communities would flood because the park water would get in there. And then you'd have to cut off water going into the park, and so it would stack up north in the conservation area, and then stack up in Lake Okeechobee. So we needed to get something in there to protect those communities so that we could keep the water flowing through the park. And so that – and it's been under construction. We've just cut a ribbon. I think it was in May. No, it was in April. And we never had to cut off – we never had to turn off water flowing into the park this year. In years past, we would have. Fantastic. And the other thing I would always say this relative to the whole conversation, it's an easy thing to talk about moving water to the south, to talk about it. Doing it is at a whole other level. And when it comes down to it – and when we were in D.C. last time with the Everglades Caucus, the conversation surrounds inches. It's not feet. It's inches. And for the folks that are down south, the tribes that are down south that have to manage that or deal with what we're managing here, it is a real balancing act. And you guys do an amazing job. And everything that you've laid out here, I think, I know, is where we've all tried to get to. So congratulations. And don't stop talking about it. Thank you. I won't. Commissioner Hurt. Yeah, thank you for joining us today. I'm reminded of people who – so many people have moved here in the last five years, and they look at this wonderful relationship that the county has with the state and with the federal government, and they assume that it has always been so. You've been around long enough to know that it hasn't always been so. So Indian River Lagoon South was authorized in 2007. The progress, the investments that the state and the federal government have made in water quality in Martin County are simply astonishing. It's unbelievable, the speed with which we're accomplishing these projects. And I've seen C-23, 24 from the roads, but I haven't been on the site. I'm eager to see that. Thank you so much for taking over the construction of that project. That's terrific. Natural lands is also now authorized. We look forward to partnering with you to purchase those lands. And also, we're all looking at a really bad hurricane season this year. You are going to have so much more flexibility for moving water now than you did 10 years ago. And 10 years from now, it's going to be a completely different situation. When we get a hurricane, Category 5 headed our way, you'll have so many choices to get water moved around the state, which is just terrific. You've done a great job. Thank you so much. I appreciate that, Commissioner. And I want to thank Martin County, honestly, too. When we took over that project and we put that budget request forward, I did call Don and said, we might need some help up there to make sure we get that funding. And at the end of the day, they did appropriate record funding from the state, $664 million for CERP out of the state so we could get on top of these projects. And so I want to thank that partnership and that relationship to help advance these things. Commissioner Hetherington. Thank you, Drew. That was a great presentation. And Martin County always appreciates when we could partner with you or advocate alongside South Florida Water Management. And I would say, I think some of my colleagues have mentioned it, with 1,000 people or more moving to Florida a day, then this communication, this is so important to let people know because many people are not familiar with our water issues in Florida, where we've been, where we are now, and where we're going. So I think it's important we continue to share this message with as many people as you can. And that was a great presentation. So thanks for being here and everything you do. Happy to do it. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Smith. And one more person that should never be forgotten in her quest to see St. Lucie County's side of this whole thing happen is Frannie Hutchinson. Yes. C-23, 24, 25 are all in St. Lucie County, but they directly impact Martin County and its relationship to the North Fork and to the Indian River Lagoon. And Frannie was a stalwart champion and always on the back of the water management district and on the core to make sure those projects got done and happening. And I'm thankful that they are, but people like Frannie should always be remembered in this process that there have been champions along the way that have made these things happen. And it's easy to forget and glass over the work behind the scenes. But I just thank you, Frannie, if you're listening or if you ever get a chance. I'm sure she's watching our meetings. Yeah, I'm sure she'll do that. Can't wait every other Tuesday to watch the county that she doesn't live in. She was an absolute champion of all of this stuff. Thank you. Yep. She busted my chops a few times. Yes. Lovingly, lovingly. Exactly. Sometimes. It was great to have her there. Drew, when you took over, it was a time. You jumped right into it. And your colleagues, your predecessors before you laid down quite a bit of opportunities for you. But you and the current team, a lot of them live in Martin County. A lot of your key staff live in Martin County, and we're thankful for that. You've done a remarkable job. This has always been an issue very, very important to Martin County residents, mostly because when the discharges happened, we bear the brunt of them. Not as much north, not as much south. We do. And so even residents that are not involved in the day-to-day operation or on the water with boats or fishing or that's their livelihood, everyone. It's a really serious issue. Excuse me. And we have heard those really sincere cries for help start to diminish a little bit because some of these massive projects have started to come online. One of the first votes, one of the first things I ever did when I came into office in 2008 was go when they were starting the groundbreaking for the C-44 out there. I was watching, and I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, I was watching YouTube, and there was like a little kind of a snippet for the biggest man-made reclamation project or, you know, unearth. And it was the Everglades restoration project on Earth between what's happening far north of us and, you know, the meandering, the re-meandering of the Kissimmee and all of these projects. Any one singular project would be a massive achievement for any community, municipality, state, or organization such as your own. And you have a dozen. You had to have a slideshow to show this one and that one and this one and that one. We've done these. We're doing these. We're going to do these. Most people won't, most organizations won't do a fraction of those in their entire careers. And you guys are doing them all now. So I don't want you to think that we believe it's easy. Just because you sometimes make it look easy, we know that it's not. So thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. I thought we were done, but apparently not. Commissioner Smith? One more thank you. There's a guy who's not in the audience with us, but he has been with us this entire journey that has taken Sarah and I, for the most part, to places that people don't even know exist up in D.C., and that's Fowler West. Yeah. And, again, I mean, there are some people in the background that you never see, hear from, but they made magical things happen. And Fowler was one of those guys and still does some things for us that are super important. So just don't ever want to forget some of the people along the way that have gotten us where we are. Hear, hear. Thank you. Hear, hear. Absolutely. Thank you for what you do. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. And with that, we are going to take our 10-minute closed captioning break. And I know you almost made it. Anyway, we'll be back in 10 minutes. All right. Welcome back. We are now going to do, I think we're going to do Mr. Wheelie over there so he doesn't have to stand on his wheelie. His name is Scooter. Department No. 3, approval of the Fifth Amendment to complete restatement of agreement of lease with Whitman Arrow Club, Mr. Sebastian. I will not be presenting. Oh. You'll just. My name is on it, however. I will be here for moral and legal support. Good morning, Commissioners. Andrew McBean, Airport Director. So this agenda item concerns the approval of the Fifth Amendment and complete restatement of agreement of lease between Whitman Arrow Club and the Martin County Board of County Commissioners. The Arrow Club approached airport staff and requested an amendment of their lease to extend their lease for an additional 20 years in return for $768,000 in improvements to the property, as well as an increase of $12,651 annually to the airport revenues. Those improvements include items such as a roof replacement, hangar door replacement, lighting, insulation, and additional generators, and should be completed by September of 2034. Commissioners, the recommendation here is to move to approve the amendment and complete restatement of agreement of lease. Any questions on the items as presented? None on this multimillion-dollar asset of Martin County. Go ahead, Commissioner Smith. Pending any public comment, I would move approval. Second. Any other questions for staff? Okay, with that, we have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Commissioners. Okay. Mr. Wheely can go sit down now. Okay. Department number one, office and management and budget items which require board approval. Ms. Stephanie Merley. That's not Stephanie Merley. On behalf of. On behalf of. For the record, Shelby Baker, budget and CIP coordinator, I have four items for you today. First one's a permission to accept for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Resilient Florida Grant. This grant award is $250,000 for the funding of the adaptation plan consistent with the Florida Adaptation Planning Guideline Book, Public Outreach and Stakeholder Engagement. This is programmed in the fiscal year 24, County Resiliency Program, capital CIP. No mouse. They're hazing you. Okay. We're allowed. Second item is a permission to accept the Florida Transit Administration, FTA, fiscal year 21, section 5339, bus and bus facilities urbanized formula grant. This grant award is $121,430. This is an annual FTE formula grant authorized to be used partially funded through the purchase of the American with Disabilities Act ADA accessible bus to be used for the Martin County Transit Service, MARTI. The third item is the Florida Department of Transportation, FDOT, shared use non-motorized sun trail multimodal pathway from US 1 to Sea Branch Preserve State Park project. This grant agreement consists we'll fund the design for the project up to $400,000 of the total project costs. That's an interesting one. Yeah, finally. Final item is a permission to accept United Way rental assistance funds. This grant award is for $15,000 to enable Martin County to offer additional emergency rental assistance to qualified residents who have experienced a crisis. And that is all I have. Commissioner. Nice job. Thank you. Very well done. I move staff's recommendation pending any public. Second. Thank you. I don't know. Nobody used the light, so I'll go with Commissioner Campy. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Department 2, contracts that meet threshold for board approval $1 million or greater. Christy Brotherton. Palm City resident. Take your time because we need to kill like 45 minutes. Okay. Tell us about yourself. Where do you live? Palm City. Christy Brotherton, Chief Procurement Officer. I have one item for your consideration today. It is the City of Stewart Various Location Project, which is Riverside Park Neighborhood Improvements. Staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, which is GRSC Incorporated, in the amount of $1,985,996.30, and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. And that concludes this item. I tried to talk slow. Sorry. Actually, I just noticed we have another item that I skipped over. Anyway, Commissioner Smith. Pause a little? Sure. Okay. Back room. Move staff's recommendation pending public comment. Commissioner Campy. Second. Thank you. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Okay. Now, let's go back up to public hearing number one, which I put a checkmark next to, and then we never did. Public hearing on proposed Martin County Tri-Coast Settlement, Joan Hutton versus Marina World Incorporated, DBA Island Princess Cruises, Papa Sierra LLLP, DBA Pirates Cove Resort and Marina, and Martin County Board of County Commissioners, Mr. Matt Graham. Not Matt Graham. Not Matt Graham. Angie Grimm, for the record, Deputy HR Risk Director. Good morning, Commissioners. Can you pull that mic down a little bit? Sure. There we go. Now you broke it. Yeah. I'll get closer. I'm here today to conduct a public hearing regarding a proposed Martin County Tri-Coast Settlement in the case of Joan Hutton versus Marina World, Island Princess Cruises, Papa Sierra, Pirates Cove Resort and Marina, and the Martin County Board of County Commissioners. This is a public hearing only. No motions required. In accordance with the procedure for Tri-Coast Settlement established by the Board of County Commissioners, this hearing allows any member of the public and any member of the Board of County Commissioners to comment on the proposed settlement. To provide some background, the county self-insured and Tri-Coast assigned counsel to this matter. The case originated on November 5, 2022, when Ms. Hutton was walking to the marina at Pirates Cove Resort and Marina. She tripped and fell due to a depressed area of pavement in a right-of-way next to Pirates Cove, which was owned and maintained by Martin County. Consequently, Ms. Hutton filed a personal injury lawsuit against Marina World, Island Princess Cruises, Papa Sierra, Pirates Cove Resort and Marina, and Martin County. A negotiated settlement of Ms. Hutton's claim against Martin County has been reached, with Tri-Co paying $25,000 on behalf of Martin County. Each of the four involved parties has individually negotiated their settlements. Attorney Garrison M. Dundas was assigned as counsel for this case and represented the county during the settlement discussions. Both Tri-Co and Mr. Dundas recommend that the settlement is in the best interest of the county. The recommendations for this hearing are as follows. Number one, the board should conduct a public hearing and receive public comments on the proposed settlement from any member of the public and any member of the Board of County Commissioners. Number two, the board should direct staff to notify Tri-Co that the settlement procedures have been completed and that the settlement should be finalized. This concludes my presentation. Okay. Do we have any commissioner comments? Do we have any public comments? Nope. And that's it. And with that. Did an excellent job. There's no votes. That's all we do? Yep. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I'm your Tri-Co representative. Okay. Now what? Where did the... The chairman planned this out wrong. The chairman's part. I don't know. Are we... We have to stop. Commissioners, I did have one additional item that I was going to bring up during the administrator comments, which we can do now, and that's occurred at the last NPO meeting, wherein the NPO sent a letter to our representatives regarding widening of State Road 710, Warfield Boulevard. The request is simply to write a similar letter from the Board of County Commissioners. So I'm just seeking permission to allow the chairman, after concurrence from our legal staff, if necessary, that we could send a similar letter as the NPO, as requested by the NPO. Move. Motion. Second. Or motion by Commissioner Smith. Second by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Why don't we take, if there's nothing else, take about a five-minute break so I can determine whether our speaker set for 1.30 can come early, and then we can decide whether or not we are able to come back before lunch and finish the meeting, or if we must wait until the preset as scheduled. Okay. That sounds like a plan. Five-minute break. Okay. We are back again and have made a decision. Our 1.30 speaker will be here in the building at noon, so we are going to break, we're going to do an early lunch break at 5 till 11, and we will be back and reconvene at 12 noon for the presentation for our legislative session final report. And with that, we're out. All right. Welcome back to our Board of County Commission meeting. Our last agenda item, 24-20-24 Legislative Session Final Report by Ms. Sarah Powers and Matt Forrest. Take it away. It's a pleasure to be with you this afternoon now, officially. For the record, Matt Forrest with Ballard Partners representing Martin County. It's a pleasure to be here with you. As I said, it's nice that I live in West Palm Beach, so it's easy for me to zip up here, and I hopefully will not stand between you guys and your early afternoon as well. Before we begin, I always like to remind everybody, because I know my name gets tossed around a lot. I talk with your staff often, but I just want you to remember you have a full firm that represents you. Ballard Partners is a statewide government affairs firm headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, but with offices around the state, including West Palm Beach, Florida. We also have now a large practice in D.C. and continue to expand. Martin County, especially, is one of our oldest clients. You guys are a legacy client, probably. If I had to look back, arguably, maybe one of our first local governments. And so we're proud of the reputation and the trust you've put in us. We love working with all of you. But I always want to remind you that, yeah, more than just Matt, when I go up to Tallahassee, we're constantly talking about all of your needs, including Brian Ballard himself, updating him on exactly what's important to the county. So I always think it's important to stress that you have a full firm and not just me. I'd also like to stress that I'm not out there alone. I'm not a guy that you just sent. Don't just call him. No, no. I'm saying I always just want to remind everybody because a lot of times you go, well, maybe we need more people. And I am your main guy, your main contact, and it's also very convenient because I live just down the road. But I'm in Tallahassee, obviously, throughout the session, as you guys see when you come up there. But the full firm is always working with you. And we also take great pride, especially as the firm has grown, to be very collaborative. We are not a firm that kind of gets siloed and say, oh, you're just on Matt's plate. We are very much a, hey, who's great with this person over here, and I need help getting in there and getting this thing done. So I just want to make sure you know that. Also, I always want to stress I'm not there alone. Your staff I talk with quite often, from the county administrator to Sarah and also to John. A lot of dialogue goes on between me and the entire staff, whether it's back and forth or also with Sarah up in the hallways there. So you're very well represented in Tallahassee is my point. The session concluded on March 8, which now seems like forever ago. We call that the early session. So it won't always be. Obviously, it alternates every other year, but it concluded on March 8. And things will probably stay pretty quiet in Tallahassee now. They're not anticipating any special sessions as of right now. Now, there is obviously always rumors and buzz. I can tell you that there was a strong rumor for about two weeks there that they're going to go back up and do some other special nuanced things in a special session. But that's all kind of been quelled and gone away. It's still possible something might happen between now and the election in November. But if they do, it'll be very limited. So with that said, I give you that big picture to say things will stay quiet in Tallahassee legislatively, which is not to say that there still can't be a lot of activity at the agency level. But most people are back in the districts now in campaign mode. So this is a great time to dive into exactly what happened, some things that changed, some things that didn't pass, and also start kind of slowly ramping up to what legislative issues you might have going into the 2025 session. Normally, when I give this presentation, there is a list of agenda items behind me. And I always say this is a horrible setting for a deep dive into legislation, even though I am the last thing. Maybe this is still a great reason to say this is still a horrible time, a horrible setting for a deep dive into legislation. There's a lot of nuance on what a bill is and does and does not do. It's always important to read the actual words on the page and what does it do. It's also great to make sure your county attorney is up to speed on exactly what it may do and also how it may impact the existing words on your ordinances and how they impact. So this is a great setting for a quick recap and maybe some highlights. But I always say dive into the actual end of session report. Feel free to read that at the beach when you have plenty of time. And then we can come back in personal one-on-one time or with your county staff and really dive into exactly what might be an impact. With that said, let me dive into some highlights. Let's start with the appropriations world. This year, the legislature passed a $117.46 billion budget. So that will be the budget, the General Appropriations Act, going into the July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 fiscal year. Now, that number will probably decrease yet again. The governor has not been sent the budget yet and therefore has not issued his line item vetoes yet. But before we even get to the veto list, it's important to know that the $117.46 billion is less than the budget they passed the previous year. So all reports are roughly the last budget was about $2 billion more. So you're already going into a budget that had less projects, less issues, less money as they tried to reel in some of the spending up in Tallahassee. The governor has already said that he'd like to get that budget below $117 billion. So just to do the math for you, that's already about a $460 million cut that the governor will probably be looking through on the veto list. Last year, the veto list was $510 million. So I gave you that big picture to make you realize the veto list is probably going to be substantial. It always is. And especially when it comes to local governments, there's a bulk of the projects, the bulk of the line items are usually local government generated. And so they're always going to bear the brunt of a heavy veto list. Also, I think it's always great for those of you that aren't big sports fans, I am. And I always think stats are important. Even though I'm not an analytics guy, I do think it's important to always get big picture. Otherwise, you get very focused on just what you're immediately concerned about. This year, there were 2,772 budget requests from members up in Tallahassee, seeking $7.46 billion. I'll give you that number because as a lobbyist that's now done this for probably 16 years, every year it gets bigger. Every year, members get more and more ideas of ways to draw down dollars to the local districts, which I think is great. I think it's great that there's a heavy dialogue with that. At the same time, I also feel like there's going to be a market correction eventually. Eventually, somebody's going to say, God, we're seeing more and more requests every single year. In the final budget this year, of that 2,772 projects, 1,500, 1,547 are member projects in the budget. So a lot of projects in there, but if you look at the big picture, even out of 2,700 that were filed, only 1,500 made it. So it's still a very competitive argument. I always joke, you're pushing a heavy rock up a hill. Some rocks are lighter than others, but it's really hard to get stuff in the budget. But I'm proud to say with the staff's help, we filed six projects for Martin County specific in the budget or to be considered. And out of those six, four of them made it through the process that are in the budget. So we right now have current line items for the Martin County Bessie Creek retrofit, $500,000. County Road 710 realignment, $3.5 million. The Martin County Sheriff's Office mental health housing pod, which we assisted the sheriff's office in pushing for $500,000. And, of course, the Martin County Gomez Community Petway potable water service for $940,000. So those projects are all four line items in the budget that we are advocating to the governor's office that they stay in there. I can tell you I'm advocating for all of them. I'm also going to warn you and just give you, you know, again, like I said, it's going to be a heavy veto list coming out. I was thinking, again, from a sports standpoint, we filed six, we got four. That's a great day. You're in the all-star game. But we're not going to go four for four probably in the final days. I have a feeling, you know, hopefully we maintain the large ones. We're hoping we maintain as many as we can. But it's going to be really hard to maintain four projects when the veto list comes out. Also of note in the budget, I think it's important to note the final proviso language in regards to Everglage restoration. When the initial budgets came out, the Senate does their budget, the House does their budget, the Senate budget included proviso language that was very specific and, as we learned, restrictive on eligible projects in the comprehensive Everglades restoration project silo. Many agencies saw that restrictive and very specific list and pointed out why this would be problematic. I think Martin County is to be commended in addition to numerous other agencies. But your staff and many of your commissioners came up to Tallahassee to immediately kind of raise why this would be problematic and how it could impact Martin County. And I'm happy to say that in the final negotiations, the Senate moved away from their position and the final language in the House is the language that Martin County advocated for and pushed. And so, again, not a member project, but was definitely a red alert, all hands on deck. And I'm happy to say in the end it all worked out. Moving on to some legislation of note. Now, again, this is the occasion, too, where we could be here all day talking about bills that did or didn't pass and exactly what happened with them. So I'm just going to give you, again, one, some big picture numbers so you can always get a good idea of perspective. And then, two, some bills of note that I think are important to highlight and kind of keep in mind. For starters, 1,957 bills filed. So the Schoolhouse Rock video that everybody remembers, there's a lot of those little bills. And what they don't tell you is the life expectancy of most of them are not good. A lot of those bills don't make it out of committee or even get heard in committee. In the end, 325 of those 1,900 bills passed both chambers. So a legislature, even though numerous get filed, it's always important to remember very few are going to make it through at the end of the day. Out of those 325, I think it's always a note, too, that even as we sit here now in June, you know, several, you know, God, what are we, three months after the legislature has concluded, 67 are still waiting on action. So 67 of them have not been sent to the governor yet for his approval or veto. So that's 21%. So there's still a lot to be determined from the legislative session, is kind of my point. There's still a couple controversial bills that people are echoing and hoping for a veto. One thing of note, though, I also wanted to note, I'm not sure it will be an issue in Martin County, but because it was slipped in a nontraditional place, I think it's important to note, in the budget, in the budget, actually, in the implementing bill, Senator Brodeur included language that prohibits a county or municipal government from banning the operation of leaf blowers for at least one year. This is a controversial issue that's popping up in other areas of the state. Certain local governments are banning gas-powered leaf blowers, and Senator Brodeur, along with others, basically said, look, we're going to at least take a moratorium on this, no actions for a year, there's going to be a study on it. But because that's not a bill, it was never debated, it was never, you probably were never alerted on it, it was never something somebody could stand up a committee and say whether they like or not, it literally was done in the budget negotiation process. I think it's important for most local governments to note that. I don't think you guys have a pending leaf blower ban, but in case it comes up, there you go. See, there you go. Well, at least you can wait for a year. Other bills of note that passed. Again, I think a highlight for Martin County, because I guess it's an issue I didn't know about until you put it on my radar going into the session, is Senate Bill 7040 and the ratification of the DEP stormwater rules. Again, a topic that was near and dear to your staff's heart. These rules have been in place and development for the last three years. Most consider it the last piece in implementing the 2020 Clean Waterways Act. That ratification happened. So the bill passed, I think, unanimously both sides. It has not been sent to the governor yet, but most anticipate approval when it is done. That is one of the 67, still waiting. Yep. Who determines whether they go or they don't go? Well, all bills will go eventually. When they are sent or how they are sent is kind of done informally. Most know that there's obviously a ticking clock once a bill is sent. The governor has, I want to say, 14 days to either act or not act. That date changes if it's done during session. Most don't realize there's no time frame on when a bill must be sent. Usually, theoretically, it's before the effective date. So, for example, the budget needs to be in place July 1. So most theoretically would say it needs to get sent before July 1. But most bills are the same way. But I also would not read anything into the has it been sent or not been sent. A lot can be just done on, hey, we want to have a great press conference on this, and it's not in the schedule yet. You know, I can't be where I want to be yet. There was a hold back or there was a delay of all bills being sent. I mean, I assume they all went vetoed or they didn't. No, they're definitely not all. This is very normal. Again, as a guy that's done this for years, they definitely don't send all the bills at one time. One, again, even though it's a smaller number, that'd be 325 bills that all have a ticking clock now. So he's got 14 days. It'd be like, you know, plate spinning. You know, some they want to do press conferences on when they sign them. Some members want them to sign them in the district. The governor couldn't possibly get to 325 places, you know, all at one time. So there's just a pacing of that for reasons, and a lot of it also is just maybe some, I mean, I can tell you in some that are controversial, they want more time to hear from all interested parties. They want more time to really kind of weigh the merits of a case. Any of them ever not make it, or they all have to go? All bills must eventually be sent, yes, for consideration. Yep. A couple other bills of note that did pass. HB 267, residential building permits. This is something your staff is going to want to make sure they take note of. This speeds up the review time for numerous applications. I want to stress on this. It speeds up the review time. It does not speed up the approval time. Many local governments show a little heartburn on this, and we have X amount of days in order to get these approved. That's not what they're saying. It's X amount of days in order to speed up the review time. So you don't need to approve all these permits right away, but you need to at least respond back to the applicant and whether they are sufficient or deficient and go on from there. But the dates and numbers did change significantly in numerous categories. Another great example of dive into the bill because there's a lot of categories. Another one is affordable housing. You might remember two sessions ago the Live Local Act was passed. This does a lot to incentivize projects that are considered affordable housing projects. As long as they meet specific definitions, they went back and further enhanced that program to make it more specific on exactly what those enhancements could be and exactly what those restrictions would be. Again, your staff will want to make sure they take a note of what those changes are. Also, lastly, it passed, but we'll see what happens. Vacation rentals. This bill has been around for many, many sessions and it has not passed. This year it did. A version of vacation rentals passed. It's SB 280. It has not been sent to the governor yet. It remains controversial. Many local governments oppose it. Many local governments support it. Many vacation rental platforms oppose it. Many vacation rental managers support it. And I know, as other clients of mine, hoteliers do support it. From a local government standpoint, I would tell you it gives you more tools in your toolbox, at least in terms of it specifies exactly what you can and can't do on certain conditions. It does preempt to the state the regulation of vacation rentals away from these abilities. But, for example, one issue I've seen in this area for years was the issue of occupancy. And before, even though it was not specified, it was always unclear whether a local government could set an occupancy limit on a house. This bill does give that specifics now and say exactly what the occupancy limits could be. I believe it's two per room. And then there's a certain discretion on for, you know, a second-handset area room. Let's say you have a large garage that's air-conditioned or undercover or something like that. And so the point is, again, your staff will want to, if you want to do local government ordinances regarding vacation rentals, this gives you more specifics on how you can, if it is signed. This bill has not also been sent. The governor, I can tell you, this one is one of those that remains controversial. And so wait until we see what the governor does. But I don't think vacation rentals has been a huge issue for your county in the past. So it's just maybe making note of this thing that's never happened for a long, long time finally did happen. And so we'll see what changes from there. Of note of bills that did not pass, bills that failed to move, but I wanted to put on your radar because I have a feeling they will be back. One is HB 609, local business taxes. This was a bill that got some traction in the House. This preempted a local government's ability to levy a local business tax or local business receipt. Many local governments have a different title for them. Many see it possibly were opposed to the bill, one, from the loss of revenue side of it, but also many local governments I heard testify or heard discussion of the bill. It also removed just your ability to have a registration system to know what businesses were operating in your community. You know, look, I heard many say we charge a very nominal fee, but it's always nice to have somebody come in and say we're registering and documenting exactly what kind of business we're operating in these locations. So if you were to say, hey, how many barbershops do we have in town, you would have a way to know that kind of thing. And so that bill did not pass, but, again, I have a feeling it will be back. And so it's important to note, maybe start thinking about how you could modify your ordinances to accommodate that. So, and I know you said you named it a couple different things. Here we call it an occupational license fee. Is that what it is? Again, that would be a great example. Look at the bill to see how it was defined, compare it to what your ordinance says, and then maybe start thinking of how we could make sure we don't fit this, our square peg into that square hole. Make sense? By inscription, it sounds, that's what it sounds like. Yes. I can tell you the intent was to cover all types of topics of this category. Again, and you guys aren't, you guys are, you know, not new to this process. You know the tone of Tallahassee is we're a less regulation, less tax, and if we can find a way to reel in a local government's ability. And as usual, it's also one of those great examples, I think, of in most cases it's not a factor, and then you'll find a local government somewhere that's charging an exorbitant amount, you know, and the legislature thinks there's a need for them to step in and regulate that back. Another bill that I think, again, will get some traction eventually, SB 472, sovereign immunity. This raises or changes the caps on your sovereign immunity liability in terms of civil claims. Right now it's capped at, I believe, at $200, $300, depending on the scope of the claim. This bill has been around now for at least two or three sessions. I've seen it in various versions that were up to $1 million. I've seen in some cases unlimited. I've seen in other cases where it ties it to the consumer price index and continues to move with the cost of living. It died again this year, but it moved in both chambers. I think it's only a matter of time before they finally agree on what that price will be, and so I think it's important to take note of that in your own budget planning processes or your own insurance and risk management policies to just know that that number will probably be changing. And also of note, it hasn't changed now in probably over a decade, so it's probably just wise to also consider it from your standpoint as well. Lastly, it's SB 438, HB 57, term limits. This was a bill that would have passed mandatory term limits for counties. It moved in both chambers well. In the end, they just could not stick the landing on exactly what the term limit cap should be. It varied across the board from 12 years to 8 years to non-charter counties to people that had already passed 12 years that people that didn't have any in place. Again, I think that bill will come back in some version or another, and it's only a matter of time, I think, before they eventually settle on what the number should be and who it should be imposed to. If you want on that one, and this is a great example, that is one you'll want to read the report because we try to do our best to give you literally like an autopsy on it of all the different ways it changed, where it finally got stuck, what the final versions were, and really, even in the bill, you would think an issue of this could be this simple of just term limits, but it's very complicated in terms of non-charter counties and charter counties and who had a referendum on it, who hasn't had a referendum on it, and things like that. So that's a great example of look into it to see exactly where it ended. Moving on from legislation, and then I'll answer any questions just to give you some important dates. As I said, the legislature is now wrapped up. I don't anticipate anything of note, really, going on in Tallahassee. If there is a special session, I don't think it will be on a topic very specific to local governments. Just a friendly reminder, when they call a special session, they have to also give the cause. They have to give the reason, the scope of the special session. So it's not just a, hey, this is a great time. We can file a bill and try to move this during a special. It's very narrow as to what they could be considered then. So if there is a special session, I don't think it will be on a topic that's going to impact the local government operations. Dates, of course, to put on your calendar, November 5th, the general election. The primary is August 20th. All members of the Florida House are on the ballot. All members of the Florida House are up for re-election. Only half of the Florida Senate is up. All odd-numbered Senate seats, which include Senate District 31, which is the one that represents Martin County. Senator Gerald Harrell is on the ballot. So that is where most of the focus will be between now and the end of the year. After the election, in November 5th, it's important to note that this is the start of a whole new legislative cycle. We will have a new Senate president. We will have a new Speaker of the House. We'll have all new committee chairs, all new committee assignments. Everything very much starts over from scratch going into the next session. There will be an organizational session at the end of November, and then they'll announce committee weeks. Normally there's a committee week in one or two in December, one or two in January, usually two to three in February. The next session starts March 4th, 2025. So this is the long gap. This is the big gap. So it will start in March. So between now and then, we have a long time between March and May of when it will conclude. And then to really forecast out, though, the 2026 session is early. So we'll wrap up in May of 2025 and go back in in January of 2026. So I always actually consider it one session, two halves. And so we just got done with one session. It's over. We will start the first half of the next session after the November elections. So we have plenty of time to continue to discuss any legislative issues that the county may have, your appropriation goals, your legislative needs. I would say we have all throughout the summer and into the fall. We'll want to start nailing those down and deciding what we need to push probably by, you know, September, October, so that we're ready to hit the ground running right after the election in November. But I also can tell you, rules can change. For example, just the appropriation process that we've gotten very used to in terms of a member filing a form and each side, that's only about, you know, six, seven years old. Speaker Corcoran brought that in. They could very much change that, and they could change the deadlines. They can make it harder to apply for a project. They can make it easier to apply for projects. And so I think it's great. I don't anticipate more changes coming down the way. But just know we're going into a new legislative cycle, new leadership, new chairs, and everything can – all the rules can change. And with that, I'll pause and answer any questions. Mr. Smith. Thank you for that. Thank you for everything else. Two questions. I had the occasion about three weeks ago, four weeks ago, to meet with the incoming Senate president for a few minutes and chatted with him about what I've always called all things water and getting a water policy done that is a statewide funding and planning program for 5-, 10-, and 20-year horizons. He was instantly surprised but grateful that – he said, I am going to be one of your champions on that. So I share that with you if you've not already had that conversation with him. But he was very excited about the idea. The Association of Counties and others are talking about it and wanting to do something with it this session. So hopefully that is something that is going to be on our radar screen. The other, Ron Book, who serves as our director for our regional planning councils, a statewide association. We had a joint regional planning council meeting with South Florida Regional Planning Council probably about a month and a half ago. And we had about a three-hour conversation about homeowners insurance. And it was really interesting. I mean, we had some really good speakers, really good experts in the field. And there are seemingly some federal fixes if there's an appetite to fix it. But there's also some state stuff more that we can do. I didn't know if you had any kind of inclination as to anything you're hearing early already about is there going to be something more robust done at the state level relative to this coming session. And should we be doing anything in the process between now and then with either our community, the industry, FAC, whatever? Let me start with water. I've heard numerous people address there should be a better process for this. The number of water projects and water-related issues that come up every year now are vast. I do think, again, I think it's one of those great examples of there's going to be a market correction. As a guy that's done this for a long time, there used to not be a ton of water projects, and now there are. I think we might actually see a lot of that, I think, possibly in the veto letter that comes maybe any hour, you know, later this week maybe or next. There are – what is being said is there are now numerous programs through DEP, you know, existing grant programs regarding resiliency, regarding septic, sewer, beach, other areas that are important to local governments. And everyone should be going through that process. And so I do think there could be – that could be – so I guess I point out there hopefully will be less – there will be an equal amount of money for projects, if not maybe more, but a different line for all of us to get in to push for them. And I guess what we've talked about, and Frank Bernardino and I have been working on this for years. Did Frank retire? I think Frank has retired numerous times, and I've seen him in the hallways after retirement numerous times. And so I don't want to say whether he is or is not, but yes. Anyway, the one thing that's lacking, and this is what we've been talking about for probably five or six years with anybody who will listen, the predictability and the planning horizon is always what the challenge is. Right now we have a very – we have had a very favorable House, Senate, and governor relative to all things water. But that can change, and the focus can change. And even though there is tremendous amounts of money pouring into the agency, which is where we'd like to have that happen, the certainty and the planning ability from the industry that builds this stuff, like what we have modeled it after with FDOT, isn't there. And that's kind of the challenge. It's like how can we – we know that there are billions of dollars' worth of work to do, but the question is can the industry plan and count on that and ramp up to a level to which – and we just had Drew here this morning talking about how much is getting done, and in the next 10 years it's very possible that we may be, like, completely ahead of the curve. But that can all change if there's not this sort of infrastructure built in place that every five years we're redoing our work plan to make sure that the work plan matches the funding and the funding keeps growing with it like FDOT's does. And I remind everybody of this. When I started doing this, FDOT's budget, I think, was somewhere in the $3 billion range. It's now, like, $17 billion. Water has to have that same level of commitment. Yeah, like a five-year work plan type project, yeah. So you're not alone, and so, yeah, I think that we could see some direction or change on that. In regards to insurance, that is one of the buzzworthy topics of a special session is something to address homeowners insurance. The other buzzworthy topic is immigration of some sort. We've seen other states pass legislation relating to how they handle immigration issues, and so those are the two kind of rumored ones. What they would do, though, on either topic remains to be seen, which is probably why they haven't called a special yet. It's up in the air. I do not think there is consensus. Again, I'm not an insurance lobbyist, but I have not seen consensus on, one, what exactly is the cause of the problem, and then, two, what exactly would be the best solution for it. And I think until you get either one of those, we're there. And then the last thing I'll say, though I say this on numerous topics, it's also Florida. We are one hour away from whatever next catastrophe will happen, whether it's a hurricane, an oil spill, sadly a shooting, sadly mosquitoes, some new pandemic, yeah, a fire. Yeah, it's any given moment in Florida where there will be a reason to pivot because of an emergency, and that will obviously impact the homeowners insurance policy for sure. I'm pretty sure we taped that meeting. You might want to watch that section. It was fascinating. The experts that they had, a congressman who was there, former FEMA director. At least in the conversation, there are some more heavily handed federal fixes that would have to happen with the reinsurance piece of all this, which is where a lot of it stems from. But still, there's some progress. And it's just, anyway, we can talk about it later. I'm just curious about what you thought about it. Yeah, I do think it remains open. I think it'll definitely be an issue. And unless all of our policies go down in the next nine months, they probably won't. They'll probably be going up, in which case they'll continue to be some sort of legislative issue dealing with it. Thanks, sir. My pleasure. Any other questions, comments? Commissioner Heather? I was going to say, I've not read an autopsy before, but this is absolutely really very informative, your end-of-session report, so I appreciated it very much. Thanks for being here, too. My pleasure. But I would also like to stress, I hate writing all, because a lot of it is so nuanced. So always feel free to give me a call. We try to write it in a way that is informative without just copying and pasting staff analysis. At the same time, there's a fine line between getting it legally correct, the actual words on the paper, and, you know, the nuance of exactly where it is. So always feel free to give us a buzz and we can walk through it. Commissioner Hurt? Yeah, Commissioner Smith, I heard really, really good things about that insurance roundtable also. Do you think that there's any way that we could get some of the experts who attended that, participated in that, to present to us so that we can have a better idea for what we need to lobby for in the next session? Yes, yes, and yes. What I said to Tom Lanahan following that joint meeting was that, if for nothing else, the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council should host its own thing. Whether we get the same people, we don't. Moskowitz, Congressman Moskowitz, that's what I was thinking about. But it was incredibly informative. Oh, I heard. And I'm sure there's lots of things wrong with the conversation, but if you're just sitting there absorbing and listening to what they were talking about, it all made perfectly good sense. It's just getting the feds to move off of where they are at a global scale, which may be impossible, and it's not just us. I mean, you know, we, Florida, fund like 70% of the FEMA side of the world. We only use 30% of it, and that's troubling in a lot of ways as well. But this whole National Catastrophic Fund conversation, that's a piece of it, like should there be, shouldn't there be, as Matt just laid out for Florida. I mean, there are tornadoes. There are massive fires out west. There are all sorts of things that feed into this. But at the end of the day, what I took away was that the reinsurance side of this was the biggest piece of it. But anyway, yes, sir, we are. I asked Tom, there were two or three priorities. One is water policy. We will have a summit at the Regional Planning Council on that. We'll have one on insurance. And then we're talking about putting one together for our wildlife corridor issue that we have on the East Coast, or lack thereof. Thank you, sir. Yes, thank you very much. I know that when I first came into office, I was leery about lobbying. If you're outside of the government, you don't really get the value necessarily. But having Ballard partners and being up there and seeing your work for us in Tallahassee, and like Commissioner Smith said this morning about Fowler West in D.C., we would just be roaming around in Tallahassee or D.C. We, as a small county on our own, really not accomplishing much. So I appreciate that you're there. And then even to come and recap and then put something like this together, because, you know, what happens up there is directly affecting us here. And if we don't understand how it works, we can't tell our constituents. So thank you very much. And for switching your schedule today. Our pleasure. Thank you. All right. With that, our next meeting is a joint meeting with the City of Stewart School Board, Village of Indiantown, and on June 13th at 9 a.m. on the Blake Library. And, yes, I did forget the commissioner comment. Nobody else. Commissioner Smith. Me? Yep. You touched on something that I think we probably ought to have on the agenda for the joint meeting. The City of Stewart relies, I wouldn't say heavily, but a lot on their occupational license fees for a couple different issues, one, for revenue, but also for they do a lot of their calculating of parking and capacity through who's working, how many employees there are, blah, blah, blah. I don't know. I wasn't necessarily aware what they had done with it this year or how it all ended up, but that's something that we should probably highlight to them or they should know and be cognizant of because it will impact them. Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm still recognized or not. But, yeah, I would recommend read the bill. Well, you know, and, again, it was a bill that didn't get a lot of traction, didn't get a lot of movement. But, again, I've done this for a long time, and I know the member that filed it is not going anywhere. And as they continue to matriculate, it will continue to grow and go. And so I think it's important to look at the bill now to say, you know, if it would have passed, how would it have impacted us and how can we maybe diversify our maybe revenue collections, registration processes, whatever it may be to minimize if this was to happen in the future. It's just a thing for our staff as much as any, just to kind of, okay, we should have a conversation with them about that. Commissioner Hurd. Yeah, I would like to move for reconsideration of the vote on today's Department 3, which is approval of the Fifth Amendment and complete restatement of agreement of lease with Witham Arrow Club. Second. Want to vote on that? Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Hurd, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Now, the reason that I'm requesting a reconsideration is that my husband is a member of Witham Arrow Club and owns an individual hangar at Witham Arrow Club. So I'm going to abstain from voting on this because it may present a conflict of interest, and I will file a Form 8B with the clerk. Second. Chairman, I would move approval of the Witham Arrow Club agenda item. Second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed? I abstain. Motion passes 4-2-1 with Commissioner Hurd abstaining. 4-0. 4-0 with Commissioner Hurd abstaining. Eventually, I'll get that right. You got time. Thanks. Any other Commissioner comments, Commissioner Campy? No, sir. I don't have any. Do you? No, sir. Okay. Then, oh, public comment. Thank God you're here. Do we have any public comment? No? Seeing none. Our next regular meeting, and by the way, I'm probably going to miss the July or June 13th, joint meeting. All right. No, I'm forbidden. Actually, I have a very good reason to. And our next regular scheduled meeting, Commission meeting, is on June 18th. Do we, before you do that? Okay. Is there anything, is June 13 packed with stuff, not packed with stuff? It's the joint meeting. Joint meeting. Joint meeting, yeah. So, not packed? Yes. Okay. That's okay. I'm sure you'd rather be at the joint meeting, right? Oh, yeah. Yes, actually, in this particular instance, yes. Okay. And with that, we are adjourned. Thank you.