Board of County Commissioners on 2024-09-24 9:00 AM - Sep 24, 2024

All right. Welcome to September 24th, 2024 Board of County Commission meeting. We're going to begin with an invocation by Pastor Blaine Albright of Christ Fellowship of Stewart. Bledge allegiance is followed by Diane Duplaine. She just told me, and she'll tell you when she gets to the mic. Duplaine? Nope. No? What was it? Dufana. Dufana. God. The U.S. Air Force veteran. So if we could all please stand or remain standing for the pledge. Morning, Commissioners. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for the opportunity to come to you in prayer. We can turn on the weather channel and see the possibility of hurricanes. We can turn on any given news station and hear them tell us how bad things could be getting, how we should put our hope in this person or that person or this party or that party, but we can look to your word, and it tells us very clearly that we do not have to be anxious about anything, that in everything we can come to you with prayer, petition, with thanksgiving, and we can present our request to you. And so that's what we do. We come to you now just like your word tells us to do. We start our day with it. We start this meeting with it, and we acknowledge your place over all of it. God, we need you. We need your leading. We need your wisdom. And again, your word, it tells us that if we need wisdom, that that's something that you will give us when we ask for it. You'll give it to us generously. And so I need your wisdom today. I need your wisdom to be a better husband and dad and pastor. God, I pray that that's all of our prayers today, that we would be seeking you and your guidance in this room and beyond, that we would let our words be filled with grace. We can realize that every person, even those with whom we disagree, that's a person who you've called us to love. It's a person who you love. So thank you for this beautiful Martin County, all of these leaders, commissioners, citizens that are doing holy work, striving to be good stewards of this blessing. Again, God, I just pray that you'd lead us today, that we could see Jesus' prayer come to life in this place, that your will would be done, your kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Now for 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. Well, as you heard, I am a vet, and it's been a long road, a wonderful road. A little background check is that I'm from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and I didn't know, yeah, there are people there too. And I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I was working part-time after I got out of high school. Well, the man in the other building was a recruiter, and so we used to have lunch together. And now I can say no more about that. Luckily, he put my paperwork in, and I was accepted. I went in in 1969, and I learned a lot, a real lot. Discipline, you know, it's hard to teach kids a discipline at that age. So that came very quickly to me. Respect. We definitely, definitely learned to respect authority. So then I got my first base to go to, and that was in New York. So from New York to, I was steward in New York, I'm sorry, then on to California. Then I spent a wonderful year in Thailand, and I went to Japan, Okinawa. The traveling was just absolutely amazing. And from there, I came back to the United States to Travis Air Force Base. To me, I can't express to you how wonderful the military was for me. In hindsight, I should have stayed in, but I didn't, and you'll find a lot of vets who say the same thing. It's just a safe family. It's just, it's wonderful, and I'll be ever grateful to them. Another thing is that the benefits I was able to receive, I got my education through the VA, and I also have medical through the VA, which is absolutely wonderful here. So I guess that's all I have, but I hope you talk to people about coming into the military. It's a really good experience. Thank you so much. Thank you for your service. Okay, we have a very long agenda today. We have 905 public comment, 505 public comment, and we have a 505 preset for our 24-25 public hearing, which is public hearing number 14. We have a consent 18 additional item for our agenda, which is request approval for an adoption of a resolution excepting 21 utility easements in the RIO for the Banyan Tree Water and Sewer Project in Jensen Beach. Consent 19, request approval for the adoption of a resolution excepting eight utility easements for the RIO-XORA Water and Sewer Project in Jensen Beach. We have one consent poll by Commissioner Hurd, request an approval to terminate the lease between the Boys and Girls Club of Martin County Incorporated and the Board of Martin County Commissioners. I assume that's probably a clarification thing. We have two withdrawals. One is public hearing number 11, public hearing to consider adoption of ordinance amending Divisions 1, 2, and 7 of Article 3, Land Development Regulations, Martin County Code regarding Category C zoning districts. That was requested by staff. We're also withdrawing public hearing number 12, public hearing to consider a request for a right-of-way width variance for Mango Terrace. And I did see a public speaker form for that, so that item is being withdrawn. And we'll be dealt with at a later date. And with that, Commissioner Smith. Mr. Chairman, good morning. Thank you. Move approval of the agenda with the additional items, Consent 18, Consent 19. With the poll of Consent 13, with the withdrawal of public hearing 11 and public hearing 12. And if it is seconded, if I could just make an additional comment about the motion. I will second your motion. Okay. Yes, sir. Sorry to interrupt, Commissioners, but we did get notice from the Sheriff's Department that they have a negotiated settlement. So I'd like to add under OMB Department number one, just a discussion on a settlement agreement for the Sheriffs, if you would permit that. Absolutely. Can you add that to your motion? I'll add that to my motion. Seconder agrees. Okay. With that, go. Go. Just so that it's not passed by, on our consent today, we have these two items, Consent 18 and 19, with the utility easements over in Rio and Jensen. Just a huge thanks to our residents for holding on to the effort and making it happen after all these years. It's been a lot of work and a lot of effort on a lot of residents' behalf. So thank you very much for that. Okay. With that, we have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. We have one proclamation this morning, and Laura will be reading it. It's for Treasure Coast Day of Prayer. Good morning, Commissioners. A National Day of Prayer has been part of our heritage since it was declared by the First Continental Congress in 1775 and approved by the U.S. Congress in 1952 as a joint resolution. The Treasure Coast Day of Prayer was established by the Treasure Coast Christian Alliance and is observed on the fourth Thursday in September. The Alliance encourages residents of all faiths to celebrate the day in the way they find most meaningful. And here to accept, we have Sherry Way, who is with the Treasure Coast Christian Alliance. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. I appreciate all of you on the Board of County Commissioners. And I thank you for this opportunity to receive this proclamation from you again this year. The Treasure Coast Day of Prayer was brought in three years ago. It is for the entire Treasure Coast. It is a day when we bring in sometimes guest speakers and sometimes not. This year we actually have two people coming in. One is Paul Wilber. He's a Messianic psalmist and songwriter who is bringing in his team, and they will be leading us in praise and worship for the night. They were our original guests. And then joining us later on in this is Rabbi Jonathan Kahn, author and Messianic rabbi, who is going to be a guest speaker as well. So it's turned out to be a really wonderful conference for anyone who wants to attend. Everyone is invited, and it's being held at the Fenn Center in Fort Pierce, Florida this year. It's big enough to hold our group of people who have gotten their tickets. The tickets are available, and they are for donations. So even if people can't afford to come, they are still welcome. And they're only $20 for those who do want to come, and we appreciate everybody who is hearing this that may want to continue to pursue this event. And I want to thank you once again for this opportunity to receive this proclamation. It's extremely important to us that our communities, our counties, our cities stand up behind us as we do this. Thank you. Thank you. With that, we're going to go to public comment, which Mr. Donaldson has a spiel for you before we start that. Yes. Since we are in an 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. Okay. So what we have is this is general public comment. A number of these have little comments of maybe a specific agenda item you want to speak to. So you have two options. One is you speak in our general this morning, or you wait until the agenda item comes up, and then you can speak. You can't get two bites of the apple. So if I call your name and you want to wait until the actual agenda item, please let me know, and I will set your card to the side, and we'll go from there. Secondly, after I get done butchering your name, if you would please come pronounce it correctly when you get to the podium, that would be good, because I'm looking at the first one, and I'm going to really do it. But anyway, so we have Anne Lemanjekko, followed by Gerald Kieft. Good morning, Commissioners. How are you? Okay, and you have three minutes, and in two minutes, 45 seconds, you'll hear a tone, and that just means you have 15 seconds to wrap it up. So I'm here to actually represent a group of people. We are all from Revive Church in Stewart, Florida, and I have a good group of them with me. Is it possible, sir, if they could just stand behind me symbolically? I would love that. Sure, absolutely. Okay, so we have a pastor here as well from the church and then an elder's wife and a staffer, so this means a lot to me that they can come up. Okay, and again, if you would actually pronounce your name correctly. Limhoko. Yeah. The J is like an H, Limhoko, Anne Limhoko. I'll go with that. Thank you, sir. Please go ahead. Okay, good morning, Commissioners. My name is Anne Limhoko, and I'm here today with those all alongside me, including a pastor. We have a staff member, elder's wife, and Martin County School Board member, and we are all from Revive Church, which is in Stewart, Florida. We have about 700 people who are part of that church and growing. And just a matter of background, I have worked for United States Congress, a member of Congress, for 20 years, so I am not a stranger to advocacy. I've traveled to China and Kosovo representing the United States government, and I've worked with countless elected officials, nonprofits, community groups, and local leaders. And I am here today to advocate for life, and so are all those behind me. We are all here to stand for life. There have been groups from outside Florida that have spent millions of dollars on a deceptive campaign to place an extreme pro-abortion amendment on Florida's November ballot. Amendment 4 would dramatically expand the killing of unborn babies in the state of Florida. It allows unlimited abortion before viability, eliminates the sonogram requirement, but also includes a loophole that would allow abortion to the moment of birth, even when the baby's in the birth canal. This is what that will do if this is passed. It would repeal Florida's Heartbeat Protection Act, which does include exceptions for rape and incest, rescind the 24-hour waning period, eliminate parental consent for minors, so your children or grandchildren can have an abortion that they don't even have to tell you. And then do away with clinic safety regulations for women by abolishing the legislature's power to regulate the industry, the abortion industry. Under Amendment 4, abortion would be the only medical procedure that is not subject to parental consent requirements for minors. If approved, it will also significantly drive up state litigation costs as groups will come in and sue the state to repeal any Florida laws regulating abortion and force the state taxpayers to subsidize abortions through Medicaid. And we have seen this being done in Michigan, which just passed it. The Declaration of Independence declares it to be a self-evident truth that all men are created equal, that we are endowed by God, our creator, with certain unalienable rights, beginning with the right to life. So I don't know if the board has known this, but there are county commissions and city councils across the state of Florida that have actually been adopting resolutions opposing amendment 4. There's nine county commissions and two city councils, Gilchrist County Commission, Collier County Commission, Bradford County Commission, Liberty County Commission, Okaloosa County Commission, Lee County Commission, Sarasota County Commission, DeSoto County Commission, Jefferson County Commission, Trenton City Commission, and the Homestead City Council have all passed resolutions opposing amendment 4. And we are all here today asking to please join us in doing the same. Thank you for your time. God bless you. I have the resolution here. So is this something I could leave with you? Give it to the bailiff there. Yeah. Thank you. God bless you. Have a good day. Okay. Gerald Keefe. Excuse me. Say it again, please. He's going to wait. Okay. You got it. All right. Wayne. It's not my fault because I can't read it. I'm sorry. And this is Skyline Drive. That, I think this item has been pulled. You realize that, right? Thank you. My name is Wayne Whitson. A long time second generation owner of 3696 Northeast Skyline Drive. I do see mango terrors has been pulled from the agenda, but I'd also like to address the council about a need for a little bit improved road safety. Speeders going past our house are just unbearable at times, morning rush hour especially, and weekend nights, late nights. I'm in a little hilly section just south of the church, south of the Sandra Drive intersection. I can count about four or five, maybe even eight instances a month where cars are overtaking other cars in the same direction. And at one point, we did find out when the roundabout at the boulevard was under construction for Brightline, and Skyline Drive was the default detour. We did find out from a friendly sheriff's deputy that they did clock somebody going to work one day, doing 49 miles an hour, and they posted 25. We need some results up here, can't seem to get sheriffs up here on a regular basis, but I'd like to propose a lot of speed bumps, rumble strips, my personal choice, put one in front of every house, but that's going to be unreasonable. I would say every 18 to 2,000 square feet, or even 2,500 feet, you know, just get these people to slow down because it is a residential area, and there are a lot of retirees up there. We don't move that fast. So anyway, thank you. Have a great day. Okay, Charles Marshall followed by Jesse Griffin, Jr. Charles has a Skyline Drive address, so I suspect that once he heard it was, yeah. Okay, Jesse Griffin. Morning. Hi, my name is Jesse Griffin. I'm a resident on 1503 Southwest Laredo Street in Palm City, here to speak generally about the text amendment changes. To Martin Commerce Park. The staff report in March relating to all the ag changes to limited industrial, basically everything but one item, the staff recommended and not happen. There have been no public meetings except for the LPA meeting last week. Staff did not recommend approval in March. Criteria, they specifically addressed the criteria for future land use. And it did not meet the county comp plan. The use, they also addressed the use of the freestanding urban district. Again, only one of four criteria were met. The traffic engineering report in March reported a rather alarming increase in the number of vehicles on Martin Highway during peak periods, going anywhere from eight additional vehicles a minute, from 95 to Citrus on Martin Highway, up to as high as 24. And I just don't know where these people were, and I just don't know where these people are going. These numbers are not even remotely possible with the infrastructure to handle what is already in place. And it would, the area would become an involuntary parking lot. I would also like to direct the county commission to the letter that Paul Schilling received from the guardians of Martin County, that when you guys approved the rural land lifestyle zoning, that there was supposed to be a study of the western lands. And that would be, that if that's been done, it's not in public knowledge, and I would ask that you consider until those reports are done and made it public before you start changing the area. Lastly, the freestanding service agreements when there's only a two-lane road with no turnouts and limited shoulders at this point is just, it is the definition of urban sprawl. We did not move up here for that. I would ask you guys to do the right thing and make sure that the infrastructure is in place before you keep approving all these items. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Scott McCracken. Cool name if that's actually the right name. Followed by Renee Morsehead. Good morning. My name is Scott McCracken. I'm a resident of Palm City. I live in Cobblestone, so you can imagine why I'm here. Back to what the previous speaker was speaking of, the traffic study I think is terribly skewed. When it came out and it was at 1,400 per whatever at peak hours and then all of a sudden got revised to 400. I mean, we're not even taking into account the church, the 32 acres out front that you want to put a gas station in with constant traffic and possibly a hotel or some other thing. You know, to take that out is like saying crime's down because we're not reporting robberies anymore. You know, it's just ridiculous. You have to look at the big picture. We look at the big picture because we pull out of that every day and it's a mess already. So, the only other thing that I wanted to say is I asked that we could delay this vote until we seat a new council. I know you're probably going to say no to that. But as I reviewed the donations to everybody's account, it's a sickening amount of money that Ashley Capital has poured into your all accounts. Sickening. 10, 15 percent of your accounts are from Ashley Capital and their surrogates, and it's absolutely sickening. So, listen to the people that voted for you because if all it takes is money to get a vote, then let's negotiate. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Renee Morsehead, followed by Matt Rucco. Good morning. Renee Lessard-Morsehead from Jensen Beach, Skyline Drive. I looked on the agenda this morning because this has been pulled for the second time. Second time, no warning. We were not even notified this was getting on the agenda, and we are neighbors on this project. I don't know why it keeps getting pulled, and I don't know why we're not getting noticed that it's on the agenda or off the agenda the day it's in the morning. It's not fair to us to keep watching. And what are they trying to play, a game? What is it? Because it's not fair to the residents of Skyline Drive who are not being notified. They have to go searching through the newspaper into the local section and read it every day to make sure they're not going to get taken under. It's not fair. You need to address that issue one way or another. It doesn't belong there. It makes no sense. And it shouldn't even be coming up. So it needs to be addressed, taken off, and we shouldn't be played with anymore. It's not fair. Thank you. Matt Rucco. Yeah. We're still only at three minutes. Absolutely. Well, good morning, everybody. Good morning, County Commissioners. Matt Rocco. Rocco's last name, President of South Florida Manufacturers Association. Well, my colleague, Micah Jority, who's one of our business advisors, we wanted to make some public comments on Agenda 8 and 9 regarding the Ashley Capital Project, the million-square-feet industrial project out there. What we wanted to really share is, you know, with projects like this, manufacturing is huge to our economy. Right now, Florida's number 10 in the state in manufacturing. Manufacturing over the last 10 years, from a GDP perspective, grew the largest of any state in the nation. Manufacturing is one of the highest wages, so wages really matter. It's over $68,000, the average wage. These types of projects can be really good jobs for the residents and the communities where these projects are located. And I wanted my colleague, Micah, to share a little bit about a story on a manufacturer where it really impacts them, impacts their employees, and impacts the community in a positive way. Yeah. Manufacturing, especially here in the Treasure Coast, is really, you know, starting to take ground. I've had several clients, actually, that have had a lot of success here in Martin County as well as in St. Lucie County. And their expansion has created, well, really several hundred jobs, not to mention, you know, how that impacts the economy of this area and continues to bring those tax dollars in. And it's, as a resident, I like to see it. You know, I think it's really important to me, obviously, you know, to see this growth. And it gives Florida a very diversified industry outside of the norm of, you know, travel and tourism, which is all near and dear to everybody's heart. But manufacturing is really the backbone of the United States and of America. So, you know, just thank you for your support on, you know, on Dawkins 8 and 9. Amy Pritchett. Good morning, Commissioners. I just want to throw in my support for voting no on proclamation for the right to life is not a political issue. The right to life is God-given. And children in the womb and out of the womb deserve life. That's all I want to say. Thank you. Jesse Griffin, maybe, Jr.? Oh, that's okay. I'm sorry I didn't flip my... Okay. Donna Calbrisi. I would like to hold my comments until... Okay. Oh, you've got two of them here. She's going to speak on each of the items separately. Okay. Actually, she's got three of them here. She's going to speak on each of the items separately. Hold on a minute. Okay, Andrew Treadwell, followed by Mr. Tom Pine. Well, good morning, Commissioners. It's a pleasure to be here today. I feel like it's been a long time since anyone from Indian River State College stood before you. And I'd like to start by saying, let's change that. So if there's another more appropriate time, we can come back and give you a full update about what the college is doing, particularly here in Martin County. I'd like to do that. I am here today on behalf of items PH 8 and 9 in the Ashley Capital Project. This is not a formal endorsement. Our Board of Trustees does not do those. But our president, Dr. Tim Moore, is very interested in the reshoring of manufacturing in this nation. And he sent me down here just because of that interest and because it aligns so well with what we're doing at Indian River State College. Just so you all are aware, over the past year and a half, we've been awarded two different job growth grants at IRSC to the tune of $7 million to re-up manufacturing and training, quick training, inside of our communities. Now, we're working on another project right now that's going to benefit everywhere from Port St. Lucie down into Martin County, and we believe that we're going to get those funds. So just know that our training is moving forward in that direction. The state of Florida is moving forward in that direction. I was at the Florida Broadband Summit just two weeks ago and had a conversation with Secretary Alex Kelly, your Secretary of Commerce in the state of Florida. And he pulled out a map, and he goes, Florida's Treasure Coast is aligned right now for some incredible opportunities, and we have to be ready to capitalize on those. So when you layer in our Promise program, and I hope all of this dais knows what our Promise program is doing in our community. It's helped our enrollment. We are now 51 percent first generation. That's more than one of every two students are coming for the first time for training and education at IRSC. We can do some incredible things. We're building that ecosystem to support reshoring of manufacturing. So with that, I know that after 20 years of living on Florida's Treasure Coast, you guys will be very judicious in your decisions, and I thank you for your time. Thank you, sir. Mr. Pine is followed by Shirley Walker. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Tom Pine. I've been a resident of Martin County for over 50 years. It appears a major upgrade to the mooring field at Indian River Lagoon at Jensen Beach has recently been completed. Of course, we didn't hear a word about it at a county commission meeting. It's just another little secret. Why are major projects, either by the Parks Department or the County Redevelopment Agency, often done in darkness? Why the secrets? This is how democracy dies, one secret at a time. At the mooring field, it appears the number of anchor balls has increased substantially. Were there any other upgrades? Inquiring minds want to know. Speaking of mooring fields, why are the taxpayers of Martin County being forced to pay for mooring fields in the first place? Mooring fields have absolutely nothing, nothing to do with the operation of local government. We get nothing from them except for the potential of a sewer spill. Who benefits from mooring fields? The business community, of course, also known as the Martin County Chamber of Commerce. So again, I ask, why are the taxpayers of Martin County being forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to build mooring fields, then spend unknown thousands of dollars more maintaining them, and then, yes, we spend thousands more of our tax dollars paying county employees to operate the mooring fields? This is not how democracy works. This is how our county commissioners ensure that more Martin County residents go to bed hungry. We have totally lost our moral compass. The only thing that matters anymore in Martin County is how much money you have. Morals is a thing of the past as far as our local government goes. Another leech holding on to the taxpayers of Martin County? The Business Development Board. Gets close to $500,000 a year from the taxpayers of Martin County to run their operation, which, from my perspective, is just another arm of the Martin County Chamber of Commerce. Our backs and legs are starting to bend and break, carrying all these large organizations. We are the working class, and we can't do it anymore. Stop bleeding us to death. As we get ready to celebrate our 100th anniversary, it should be noted that our local government has now entered into more private sector jobs in the last decade than it did the total first years of our county existence. This is how democracy dies one step at a time. Check your history books, if they haven't been banned yet. Thank you for your time. Shirley Walker is followed by Vincenza Jackson. Hi, my name is Shirley Walker. Good morning. I am a resident in Martin County in Stewart, Florida, and I'm standing here today because I support wholeheartedly, strongly, what Anne Wilmohokos spoke about, the resolution against Amendment 4. And I want to remind everybody here, everyone who's under the sound of my voice, every single one of you sitting here in this office and in this position, that it is because your biological mother gave you the right to life, and she was carried through her pregnancy, and she allowed you to come into this world the way God intended it, that you have the position you have today to stand here and to be able to make a difference and make a change in this world, and also to be able to stand up here and be able to stand here and say the things that you want to say for change to happen to make this place a better place. So I stand against Amendment 4, and I'm asking you to also have this resolution against Amendment 4. Thank you. Hi, I'm Vincent Zena Jackson. I am a resident in Palm City, Florida, and I would like you to support the resolution against Amendment 4, like me. I stand on God's living word and with many people in our community like Anne and Revive Church. Thank you all, and God bless you. Robert Ranieri. Is that? Yes. Oh, there he is. I didn't see Robert Ranieri sitting in the back there. Followed by Jenny Yingling. Happy birthday, sir. Thank you. Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, Robert Ranieri with House of Hope, also a Stewart resident. First, I want to, I don't know if I'll be here again before your changing of the guard, so I just want to thank Commissioners Jenkins and Smith for all their years of service to our community. Today, I want to talk to you about Martin Commerce Park. I know it's on your agenda for later. Certainly not here to speak about the nuts and bolts of the project. Rather, I want to talk about the leadership. Since arrival, they have dove into Martin County's nonprofit community, been extremely supportive to help us accomplish the goals and create the resources necessary to help move our community forward. No expectation from them of anything except to do good in the community that they hope to be a part of for the long haul. And it's not just check writing. Their leadership is involved in strategic planning and utilizing some of their other resources to help the greater good. House of Hope's had discussions with them about how to, as you know, we grow food for the people that we serve. We've had discussions with them about finding ways to do that on a larger scale. House of Hope's exploring the creation of a food hub to bring more food into our area to feed those in need. And they've been involved in those discussions and, again, bringing resources to bear for that opportunity. So that's the kind of business partnership that nonprofits really need to have lasting long-term impact on the community to really generate positive resources and opportunity for the long haul to do things that will hopefully help us break generational poverty and create more resources and opportunities for those in our community that need that helping hand. And I think that says a lot about the character of the people involved, about the desire of the people involved to be here and be a part of solutions in our community. We need more business leaders like that in Martin County, and I hope you'll support them today. Thank you. Ms. Yingling will be followed by Mr. Rick Hartman. Good morning, commissioners and staff. I'm here speaking on the consent item pH 8 and pH 9. I've lived in Palm City Farms off 714 since 1989. I was happy to hear the plans for Martin Commerce Park. Too often, I have seen local business owners look to our north and our south in order to expand their business and grow. There is a need in our county for light industrial space to not only maintain local business but to attract new companies. We need this for our tax base. This project provides a long-term strategic location for small to mid-sized companies. And as a taxpayer in Martin County since 1980, I appreciate your thoughtful consideration for this land use change. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Hartman will be followed by Terry Ogle, maybe. Morning, commissioners. For the record, Rick Hartman. And I'm like Rob Bernieri. I want to thank Commissioner Hurd. I mean, excuse me. You're welcome. Always a pleasure. Harold Jenkins and Commissioner Smith for your service the last number of years. And I think you've done a good job. And I wish you were still here, going to be here in January. But thank you for your service. I'm here to talk about the Ashley Capital Project. I live in Sturt West. I've lived in Sturt West, I don't remember, 15, 16 years, long time. And traffic is a problem. But Ashley Capital is going to put a stoplight up, which will really help. The other thing that I've heard in our community is going to detract from our property values. If you look at that project, when they put the map up, we'll never see this project. It'll be buffered by a gas station, a hotel, a motel, whatever else can go there. So the people in Sturt West will never see this project. It will be off the road, I would guess, about a half a mile. Like other speakers have said, we need the tax base. And I think this is a really good opportunity to take advantage of that. On Ashley Capital, we started meeting with them, I don't know, two, three years ago. And they've been completely transparent. We had the first meeting at a restaurant in town with about four other couples. And then we had another one with about 10 or 12 couples. And then we had another one with about, oh, I don't know, another 10 or 12 couples. There's been two big meetings inside at the clubhouse. So they've been completely transparent. That's what I like about them. They really are transparent. I do want to disclose. I do lease pasture from them west of there on ground they own. And we run cows on it. But I want this full disclosure. Whether I had that land or not, I'd still support this project. And I hope you support the project. Thank you. Thank you. Terry Kogel. Did I? Wow. Followed by my last speaker form. And then this one is. Another good one. Yeah. So we'll wait till commission. Hugh Vickery. Yeah. Okay. Well, I know it. Good morning. I'm Terry Kogel. Good morning, commissioners. I seem to have lost most of my audience. And since this isn't political, but it seems to be. I vote for amendment four only due to the fact if you've ever had a friend who had been beaten and raped, and then she does not have the choice to eliminate that pregnancy is wrong. And I do believe you need to look totally at that amendment and read it carefully. Thank you. Thank God that's not coming before us. Mr. Vickery. Hi, I'm Hugh Vickery. I've talked to some of you about this issue already, but I thought I'd reiterate it for the record. Personally, I lived in Washington, D.C. all my life. I covered Congress as a reporter. I worked for a congressional staff for a while. I ended up working as a senior person for a cabinet secretary. So I know how politics work. And this thing, from my perspective, with the Ashley Corporation, just stinks. I mean, they came in. They held a big meeting with us. They blew smoke at us. They brought in all these high-powered lobbyists. Then when they put their proposal out, they had their yellow sign. They actually hid it behind a Ford sale sign, which I'm trying to figure out why are they trying to sell the land at the same time they're trying to get it rezoned. It's on our doorstep. It's light industrial, whatever that means. It's going to be noise, trucks. It's just not a good project for our area. And I don't understand why we, when this thing has been planned out in the comprehensive plan, for what it should be, why suddenly we're coming along saying, oh, let's change it. I completely oppose it. I think that, you know, and I especially oppose the fact that, you know, everybody was running on no growth. I kept getting these flyers, no growth, no growth, no growth. And the second the election, the primary is over, suddenly it's dropped on our doorstep that we have this hearing and this vote right now, suddenly. And I'm going, well, what's going on with that? It just doesn't pass the red face test. So I strongly encourage you to at least delay the vote until the new commission takes office. Thank you. That is our last public speak form. We do have a few for specific items. And with that, we'll move on to Commissioner Comments. Commissioner Smith. Thank you. Good morning. A couple things this morning. Last week at our Tourism Development Council meeting, we had a presentation on Dupuis management area out west of Indiantown, out southwest of Indiantown, if you will. And I don't know how many of you even know where Dupuis is, but it's a really nice, special part of our county way out west. And there are a lot of groups who used to use it when we had staffing from the South Florida Water Management District out there full time. And apparently, necessarily, that arrangement doesn't exist anymore the way it used to. And so I guess I'm asking us to communicate with a letter to the Water Management District on behalf of a couple different organizations in town, but also as our Parks Department and our Tourism Development Council, that we work with them to see if we can't create a dark skies designation with the Water Management District for Dupuis. And, again, for those of you who don't know where it is, that's probably a good thing, because if you don't know where it is, then it's still pretty neat and pretty untouched and a pretty cool place to go. So that's the first thing. Second thing, for those that came in and spoke on Skyline Drive this morning, there are some platted lots that have been there since the 20s, and they fall down below Skyline Drive between the railroad tracks and Skyline Drive. There is an individual in our community that is in the process of purchasing in those lots, and there is a easement, or there is a right-of-way, maybe not so much an easement, and that's what they're asking for, from those six platted lots to Skyline Drive. And I have been working with a property owner to the east of them, which connects to Candace Boulevard or Candace Drive, which runs along the railroad tracks south down to Jensen Beach Boulevard. And the idea is to get the other property owner to agree to creating an easement for those six lots so that they don't have to go up onto Skyline Drive and add more complexity to what already exists on Skyline Drive. And so Renee was talking this morning and is not happy with the idea that this thing keeps popping up. The property owner has the right to come to us and ask for an easement to those properties. I am working really hard with the other property owner to see if we can't circumvent that idea and create another alternative for them to access those lots so as not to dump it up onto Skyline, which I would think that the folks that are immediately adjacent to where this thing would occur would be happy with that. So that's what we're working on, and I'm sorry that we don't get the best of notice out into the community, but these things happen at a very last minute and at lightning speed sometimes. But I would hope that the message would be that we are working with the other property to see if we can't alleviate otherwise what might make people really unhappy on Skyline. Lastly, on the third issue, Kevin Powers invited me to come out to Indiantown to take a tour of what's going on in Indiantown. If you all haven't been out there lately, there are some really neat things going on in Indiantown. It's amazing, quietly, what's going on out there. There are some fantastic companies that have already built their businesses. One of the parks that we did as a permit-ready park probably 12 years ago or so is starting to actually happen, and they're getting some incredible companies and businesses out there creating some amazing jobs for Indiantown and for Martin County in tax base. And then the old Louis-Dreyfus facility is being completely revisioned and repurposed and reworked, which is incredible for us. It was certainly an old industrial site that had seen its time, but there are businesses in there today that will completely transform it and turn it into something that all of us will be very happy about in Martin County relative to taking an old site and turning it into something very special. So kudos to Indiantown. Their new residential project out there is coming along amazingly. I got to drive into there with Kevin as well to see that. So Indiantown is happening, and good for them. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Harington. Thank you. I would just let my colleagues know that on Jefferson, between Dixie Highway and St. Lucie, the residents have complained for many years on speeding, and we have looked at traffic calming. We were waiting until the resurfacing was done on Jefferson. It is sort of a straight shot from Dixie Highway to St. Lucie Boulevard, no stops, no. And right now it hasn't been striped since the resurfacing, so it sort of looks like a runway strip. But we are working on that resurfacing, the striping, and we're going to be doing some traffic calming measures on that road that I think that will help. We've discussed it with engineering staff, and I think the residents will see a difference. But we had been waiting for the resurfacing to occur. And there will not be a bunch of speed tables, but there will be some other measures that I think that the residents will be happy with. I had the pleasure and the honor of attending a ribbon cutting at the Place of Hope facility off of Cove Road. It was a ribbon cutting for one of the cottages, and we were, as the Board of County Commissioners in the county, acknowledged for the help that has been provided. For those of you that don't know, that facility used to be the Samaritan House for Boys. It was turned over to the Place of Hope, which is one of the most amazing not-for-profits in the state. They deal with foster children and the transition from an unhealthy situation into foster care. They train foster parents. They are just an absolutely amazing thing and a huge asset for our community. Anyway, they had a facility in Hope Sound that they built brand new. I took some of my district funds to help that. That was prior to the acquisition of the Samaritan House. So they've actually sold that. So they parlayed that into something out of my district, but that's the way it worked out. But anyway, it is an amazing thing. If everybody could please go to their website and see what they do, they are absolutely amazing. But anyway, they named the foyer after it. They dedicated the foyer to Martin County Board of County Commissioners. And, you know, with the help of growth management, it has been a huge challenge to take that old site and to modernize it. And they were just very appreciative of the staff and the support from the commission. So I just wanted to – and they gave us this cool plaque. I don't know where all our plaques go, but anyway. The plaque wall. The plaque wall. Okay. With that, Mr. Campy. I'm all set. I'm set. Mr. Donaldson. Just a really quick one. Sally Wade, our emergency management director, and our staff have been monitoring the potential tropical storm, which is likely to turn into a major hurricane later this week. Just our expectation is only tropical storm winds here on Thursday. But just as a reminder for everybody to always be prepared this time of year, these storms come up really quick, and our staff are still taking it seriously to make sure that we're prepped for whatever changes should they occur. But we don't expect them to be. So we're just still continuing to monitor. So thank you. Commissioner Smith. I'm sorry, Mr. Light. And thank you, Mr. Chair. Don, maybe at some point today, whether it's at the end or after an appropriate time, if there is an update from what occurred last night with Brightline with the city, I think that would be helpful for us to understand where we are and what is next for us. Sure. Well, we can do that at the end of the meeting. Okay. Now we will begin our meeting. Commissioner Hurd, would you like to do the poll first? Sure. Okay. We're going to do a consent 13 poll, request an approval to terminate the lease between the Boys and Girls Club of Martin County and Martin County Board of County Commissioners. Carla. Good morning. Carla Segura, Real Property Manager. This item is a request for the acceptance and approval of a mutual termination of lease between the Boys and Girls Club in Martin County for the lease of property at 1150 Southwest Martin Downs Boulevard in Palm City. The Boys and Girls Club is relocating their services to their new facility in Stewart, rendering the current location unnecessary. The termination request is dated effective September 30th, and our General Service Department is going to have a scheduled walkthrough and key collection at that time. Staff is recommending that the board approve the mutual termination of a lease for the Boys and Girls Club in Palm City and authorize the county administrator or designee to execute any and all documents necessary to complete this transaction. If there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer. I pulled this because this is a valuable asset that the county owns. I was here when we did the original lease with the Boys and Girls Club, and it makes perfect sense that they're going to be moving into their beautiful new facility on Martin Luther King Boulevard. But before we commit to another use, I wanted to know what kind of uses are contemplated for this property. So right now we were just working on the termination like we did a week ago with the IRSC, and there's a couple of people that are interested in the one in Indiantown. So after we did this termination, I was planning on doing an agenda item with those two to see, get suggestions on future uses. Okay, thanks. Mr. Campy. Thank you. I had been aware that the Boys and Girls Club would be vacating that property. That property, I did not come into office until after that was already existing as the Boys and Girls Club. It was an old Martin County Fire Rescue Station, small, and then they moved further south on Map Road. The commissioners at the time, led by Commissioner Dieter Lizzi, thought to create an opportunity for the Boys and Girls Club to take that space. But it was always sort of a difficult space for the Boys and Girls Club. It is directly on Martin Downs Boulevard. It has a long piece of property that was used primarily as an outdoor open space for the kids to play in, however very dangerous right along, like literally on the sidewalk of Martin Downs Boulevard and the intersection of Map and Martin Downs. Next to it in a small parcel is a local insurance agent who has also reached out to me. Other not-for-profits had reached out to me to say, hey, we heard that that is going to be vacant. I, like Commissioner Hurd just said, I would say it's one of the more valuable pieces of property that the county would own. And I know you're going to come forward with an agenda item, but to stop every other not-for-profit from contacting us to say we would like to have it now, I think its best use would be to be sold back to the private sector and used along Martin Downs Boulevard as some type of commercial space. It's a valuable piece of property, which will mean it will bring a number. It was never ideally a great location for children to be that close to the road. The other not-for-profits that have reached out to me are all children-based or oriented not-for-profits. So I look forward to you bringing it forward, but I don't see us necessarily keeping it. It's just along that corridor that's had some new revitalization. In my personal opinion as the District Commissioner, it would be an opportunity for us to offload it. Thank you. Thanks for bringing it up, Commissioner. Commissioner Hurd. Just another little piece of nugget history with that. I was on the board when we made that decision, and that was a, at the time, it was a great decision for them. And I think Mike made the motion, but I'm not sure if I did or he did to do it. But at the time, it was a good idea, and apparently it has outlived its usefulness, which is fine. But it was a great opportunity to take a building that was otherwise going to kind of fall apart on us and do something with it for 20 years or so and do something good. So I'm not criticizing. I think it was great. Like you said, it's functional usefulness expired. Okay. A motion? I guess we need a motion. A motion to accept staff's recommendation for the termination of the mutual termination of the lease agreement. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Campy, seconded by Commissioner Smith. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Now we're off to public hearing number one. Something that's brand new is open this item for public comment first. It says in red on my agenda. Why is that? Good morning, members of the board. My name is Clyde Doolin. I'm the comprehensive planning administrator. With me is Jenna Nobby, senior planner. We're asking that the board open this public hearing and continue it to October 22. We have some additional changes we'd like to make to it so that it's internally consistent with items we'll be bringing forward to you on October 22. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say that. Just for mine. Thank you. Okay. That's why he's there. Okay. Good. To say that. Okay. Could we have a motion to do that? No. We need to do public comment. Oh, we need to open it to public comment. Do we have any public comment on public hearing number one that is being proposed to be pushed back until October 22? Seeing none. Move that we continue item, public hearing item number one to October 22. Second. Okay. We have motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Wait a minute. Hold on. Can we just add a time? Elise Elder, deputy county attorney. Add a time? Add a time to 9 o'clock or thereafter, everything can be heard. Sure. Motion maker agrees to that. I didn't get it. Say it again? After 9 o'clock? 9 o'clock or after on October 22. Okay. That's the motion. And everybody agrees to that. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Public hearing number two, let us lay the public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report-based comprehensive plan amendment. CPA 24-08, coastal management element. A text amendment, Mr. Clyde Doolin. Daryl DeLue. Good morning, members of the board. This element was considered by the local planning agency on August 15, and they voted 5-0 to recommend approval. This is a work product. Amy Eason did the lion's share of it to improve the vulnerability protections built into it. Daryl DeLue also worked on this element, and I believe Amy also coordinated with our emergency management staff on it. So we are very comfortable with the changes, and we're very happy with the coordination internally. This is an internal work product. So with that, I will turn it over to Amy to hit the high spots on the changes to Chapter 8. Good morning. Thank you. My name is Amy Eason. I'm the environmental resource engineer for the Environmental Resource Division within Public Works. I'm here today to share with you the changes to Chapter 8 as part of the EAR amendment. This chapter has been changed mainly for housekeeping reasons, such as updating the evacuation information for hurricanes to be consistent with the statewide regional evacuation study program prepared by the Florida Division of Environmental Emergency Management and Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council. There's also clarifying language in there that has some references that needed to be updated because documents have been updated throughout the years. And there's clarifying language in there per the state statute of 163.3178, which is the coastal management element as a requirement by state statute. And also we updated the chapter 8 because of Resolution 21-3.32, which developed a new goal for resiliency. This goal is 8.3, and it's to provide space in there for the approved 2021 sea level rise report that the commission had approved and also to address state statute peril of flood language, which is State Statute 163.3178F1. So those were the updates. Do we want to go through some of the changes? Also, I should note that the figures that are attached to this chapter are maps that show items like the mooring fields and so on like that have been updated to the most recent data, which is a standard requirement as part of these EAR-based amendments. Thank you. Any questions for staff? Seeing none. Do we have any public comment on this public hearing? Seeing none. Back to the board. Commissioner Smith. Just so I'm doing this right, we're continuing these to? October 22nd at 9 o'clock or thereafter as can be heard. So my motion would be to attentively approve and continue or just to continue? Public hearing item number 2 to October 22nd at a time at 9 o'clock a.m. or thereafter. Second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes unanimously. Public hearing number 3. Legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report based comprehensive plan amendment 24-09, conservation and open space element, a text amendment. Again, good morning, members of the board. With me is Daryl DeLue, the environmental planning administrator. Daryl and his staff did the lion's share of the work on Chapter 9, and so we're just going to hit a few of the high spots. This also was recommended for approval by the local planning agency on August 15th. Good morning, Daryl DeLue. So what you're looking at is the table of issues and description of changes. This is very minor changes. Fundamentally, there's three changes proposed here. One involves a map change right here. So we're proposing to strike reference to a dated wetland composite map and figure in Chapter 9 of the comp plan. The second item involves a consistency change. So we have a definition of special upland habitats. So we're proposing some minor text changes to use that definition consistently throughout the comp plan in the different sections where it's referenced. And then lastly, we have a state preemption. So we're proposing to strike some language here that you can see on the left because we're preempted from using that list in Florida statutes, Section 581, as noted in the right column. So with that, I'll pause for any questions you may have, and we can dive into this deeper if you'd like to or look at any specific text. Commissioner Hurd. So we're eliminating the Martin County Composite Wetland Map, Figure 9-1, replacing it with what? So, Clyde, can you go to page 377? Sure. So this is the existing wetland composite map that's been a figure in the comp plan for many years. If we can slide down to the bottom. So we have concerns about having a map published that's titled the Wetland Composite Map of Martin County because that's not what this is. What you're looking at is data of areas that have the potential to be wetlands. They haven't been delineated. So people have misinterpreted this map over the years. Private property is indicated on this map where they say, oh, there's wetlands on this property. Not necessarily. So we're proposing to strike that, and then, Clyde, if you can go to page 358, we'll show you. So we're not getting rid of the concept. So we're still using the concept of composite data sets to predict wetlands, and those data sets have evolved over the years. So the wetland composite map, if you look at the stricken language here, is comprised of 1981 data on hydric soils, which is still useful. 1985 wetland inventory, national wetland inventory data, that data has been updated over the years, and now we have data from 2022. And then, lastly, there was a satellite data layer from the 1990s that we don't even use today anymore because it's not very good in a nutshell. So what data do we require to identify wetland delineation, and where is it in Chapter 8? So if you continue to the next paragraph here, this is where we describe what we do today. So an analysis of composite digital data sources can be a useful guide or tool for environmental professionals to identify the presence or potential location of wetlands. However, Florida statutes require the delineation of wetland boundaries in the field according with the Florida Unified Wetland Delineation Methodology. So these are tools. These aren't telling you where wetlands are. They're just tools that we use to give us an idea of what we could potentially find when we go out in the field to formally delineate wetlands. Who performs the formal delineation of wetlands? So the formal delineation of wetlands is typically done by the state agencies. Where does it say that in Chapter 8, that there's a requirement that the state delineate wetlands? Right there. Right here. So Florida statutes require the delineation of wetland boundaries in the field according to the Florida's Unified Wetlands Delineation Methodology. Which is found in state statute. So we're required to go with the delineation methodology that the state has. There was a time when we first adopted the comp plan in the 80s where the county did its own delineations. And then again, the state now requires us to go with the unified methodology for consistency throughout the state. Members of the board, if I may add a little background. Back when the wetlands composite map was first created by Gary Roderick and the environmental staff, there was not data on the web that is out there today. On our own website today, on our MC navigator, you can access the data that's listed in this document readily and available 24-7 on the web. Likewise, the South Florida Water Management District has soils data and other wetland data available. None of this data gives you the actual specific location. It just gives you the potential location. And so this static map, which has been referenced and been a part of the plan for 20-plus years, is a vestige of the past when you didn't have this readily available on the Internet. But now it's readily available on the Internet. And what we're referring to is something static and has not changed in over 20 years. Who performs the delineation? So that would either be the Department of Environmental Protection or South Florida Water Management District. Mr. Donaldson. I was just going to reiterate, this was an example where the state preempted all local governments preparing their own wetland boundary line. The other piece, I think, to add a little bit to that delineation, is typically what happens is an environmental professional will do the actual marking of the boundary, and then the state verifies whether or not they agree with it. Ultimately, only the state agencies can provide a jurisdictional boundary that we all follow. So that's just the – so it's either the South Florida Water Management District or the Department of Environmental Protection are the only ones allowed to actually certify the boundary. Thanks. Thank you. Any other questions for staff? Any public comment on public hearing number three? Seeing none, back to the board. Commissioner Smith. Move item public hearing number three to October 22nd at 9 a.m. or the appropriate time following 9 a.m. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Opposed to moving it? Mm-hmm. Okay. Motion carries four to one with Commissioner Hurd dissenting. Thank you. Thank you. Public hearing number four, legislated public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report-based comprehensive plan amendment 24-10, chapter 10, sanitary sewer service element, a text amendment. Ms. Samantha Lovelady. Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, Samantha Lovelady, growth management, and we are here today to consider transmittal of comprehensive plan amendment 24-10. And this is for chapter 10, sanitary sewer services of the Martin County growth management plan. And much of what we have to present today is housekeeping. And I'll let Leo go over the major changes. One thing that I do want to point out is that we have a new goal in chapter 10. And, yeah, take it away. Okay. Great, Sam. Leo Ruppetti, technical service administrator for Martin County Utilities. For the most part, there are several housekeeping language updates in here. Things like Indiantown is no longer a private utility. It's now a municipal utility. We eliminated a reference to some language in the CRA. Prior to making these changes, we didn't have any septic sewer programs within the CRAs. We now have 100% design or construction for 3,400 properties that were served by septic systems within the CRAs. We've got availability construction completed for about 1,400 of those homes. We changed the wastewater flows from 100 gallons per day per capita to 195 gallons per day per ERC. It makes it a whole lot easier to look at flows and capacities for properties that are other than single-family residential. So that's also how we calculate our flows from our master plan. Finally, the last section is the new language to address House Bill 1379 and Senate Bill 1632 that discusses the utility's requirement to look at septic to sewer conversions in the future for projects that would have 50 or more lots on septic tanks larger than, a lot size larger than one acre, and the ability to connect in the future. Our tables are updated through 2045 that address capacity for future projects, including those that might fit into that criteria. And as a follow-up to Leo, you see in language, it's goal 10.4, where it addresses House Bill 1379, Senate Bill 1632. When this comes back to you, October 22nd, that language will be replaced by Florida Statute 163.31776. And where it says utilities element, that will have changed to the name of the actual element. Another thing I want to add is we have some exceptions. There's a nine-and-a-half-acre parcel out by the landfill, and... It's on page 409. 409. Thank you. That's 409. Oh, sorry about that. Is that what you're referring to? This is exactly what I'm referring to. It's a nine-and-a-half-acre parcel, and the utilities, it's owned by Martin County, and the utilities department has asked that we add that to the landfill exception for water and sewer service. Why? At this point, it's a property formerly owned by Waste Management, and we're looking to move some of our operations over there, which would have a restroom for employees there. We're already bringing the water and sewer out to the landfill. The line runs right past it, and we'd like to be able to serve that property so that employees, we wouldn't have to put a septic tank for employee restrooms. What's contemplated on this nine-and-a-half-acre site? I believe it is our vegetative processing facility. Yeah, I would prefer that when those plans are disclosed, then we can contemplate putting water and sewer on the parcel. If we don't have plans for it yet, then why are we moving water and sewer there? We're just preparing for those changes to streamline the process later on once we do have plans. And the utilities are already being run out there? That's correct. And I've pulled up the parcel here to show you, and this is the land transfer station property. And the water main force meter running right to the front gates of the transfer station facility, running right past the project. Okay. With that, any other questions? Do we have any public comment on this public hearing? If not, Commissioner Smith. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I move that we continue item public hearing number four to October 22nd to a time at 9 a.m. or thereafter when it is appropriate. Seconded. Motion by Commissioner Smith. Seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Public hearing number five. Legislative public... Oh. Didn't we just do that? Yeah. Oh. I'm sorry. Excuse me. Brain fade. Motion carries, four to one. Commissioner Hurd, dissenting. Thank you. Okay. Can we do this in eight minutes? Public hearing number five. Legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report-based comprehensive plan amendment 24-11, Chapter 11, Potable Water Service Element, 10-Year Water Supply Facilities Work Plan and A-Text Amendment. Good morning, Commissioners. My name is, again, Samantha Lovelady, Martin County Growth Management, and I have with me Ann Murray from the Utilities Department. She's the county hydrogeologist. And a lot of the issues are pretty housekeeping, such as updated references to the village of Indiantown. We revised some planning periods in accordance with state statutes. And when I say some, I don't mean all, because the Upper East Coast Water Supply Plan is updated every five years, and we just updated it in 2022. Correct. And then we'll be doing it again in a couple years. So, that does cover a 25-year planning period. So, with that, I'm going to hand it over to Ann, and she can discuss with you any. I did provide revisions to 11-1 and 11-2, a supplemental memo. Thank you, Ann Murray, county hydrogeologist. So, the issues that are presented before you are just housekeeping issues for the most part, updated references to the village of Indiantown. You just got to speak louder. Okay. That's usually not a problem for me, so I'll just scoot up a little bit. As Samantha has mentioned, this chapter follows closely the South Florida Water Management District Upper East Coast Water Supply Plan. It has recently been updated. It will be updated in a couple of years. So, that's where it draws its information is from that planning document. As we just discussed, the 9.5 parcel owned by Martin County has been added and is acknowledged in this chapter. There are revisions to figures 11.1 and 11.2, which is service area. As to my understanding, we have a service area interlocal with South Martin Regional Utilities. That is due to expire at the beginning of next year and that that is in process for developing new maps. Lastly, there's minor revisions to policy 11.4B, which is the proposed modifications to the consolidated water system to recognize changes in current plan conditions. Are there any questions? Any questions for staff? Any public comment on this item? Seeing none, when Commissioner Campy gets back to the dais, we'll take the vote. Oh, Commissioner, it was a speaker that had come to speak on a item that was polled and we didn't want him to sit here all day if he did so. Anyway, Commissioner Smith. I would move we continue item public hearing item number 5 to October 22nd at 9 a.m. or as soon as after is applicable. I'll second it. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? All right. All opposed? Opposed. Okay. Motion passes with Commissioner Hurd dissenting. Public hearing number 6, legislative public hearing. Oh, wait a minute. We're going to take our closed captioning break now. It's almost 1030. And we'll be back in 10 or 12 minutes. How about that? All right. Welcome back. Where were we? Public hearing number 6. Legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report based comprehensive plan amendment 24-12, chapter 12, solid and hazardous waste. Next, a text amendment, Ms. Lovelady. Good morning, Commissioner. Yes. Is that better? What is going on with that? Hello? Is that better? Yeah. Okay. Good. All right. For the record, this is Samantha Lovelady with Martin County Growth Management. And this is a request to consider transmittal of CPA 24-12, which is the solid and hazardous waste element. Excuse me. And I have Sam Amerson from the Director of Utilities for Martin County. And we'll go over the changes in Chapter 12, which are very minimal. Yes. Good morning, Commissioners. As Samantha said, Sam Amerson, Utilities and Solid Waste Department Director. The changes are minimal. Primarily, we updated references to the village of Indiantown. We updated dates, terms, and some statistics included in the chapter. And there were no changes to goals, objectives, or policies that are proposed. For example, one of the changes – where am I at? 512. On page 512 of the agenda, you'll see at the top we've made some changes in dates from 2008 to 2022 related to the percent of recycle of waste that's processed at our facilities. We've also updated a couple paragraphs below the population to reflect our current population of 161,655 residents. And then under 12.2B, we've added item 6, which is Establish a Construction and Demolition Recycling Facility. So most of these are just updates based on current processes and current management of our solid waste facility. And I believe that was all the major changes. 519, page 519. We – yeah, just under policy, the objective 12.1.p, we identified the village of Indiantown and the town of Ocean Breeze, stating that Martin County shall work with the city of Stewart, Sewell's Point, town of Jupiter Island, the village of Indiantown, and the town of Ocean Breeze to support all recycling programs. And those were basically the changes in the text for this chapter. If you have any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer them. Questions for staff, Commissioner Smith? Okay. No public comment on this item. Seeing none, Commissioner Smith. Mr. Chairman, I move that we continue item – public hearing item 6 to October 22nd at 9 a.m. or a time thereafter when it is appropriate. Second that motion. Okay. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Thank you, Sam. Public hearing number 7, legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of evaluation and appraisal report based comprehensive amendment 24-013, Chapter 13, drainage and natural groundwater aquifer recharge element, a text amendment. Samantha Lovelady. Good morning, Commissioners. Good morning. Samantha Lovelady with Martin County Growth Management. And this is a request to consider transmittal of CPA 24-13, a text amendment to the Chapter 13, drainage and natural groundwater aquifer recharge element. And I have Amy Eason over here to help me go over the changes for the chapter. Thank you. Again, Amy Eason, Environmental Resource Engineer with the Environmental Resource Division of Public Works. I'm here to present you an overview of the changes done in Chapter 13. This chapter was updated mostly with housekeeping items, including removing and updating outdated references, removing Indian Town and adding statutory requirements. We also added information concerning resiliency with sea level rise, updated information with water quality. We also revised the historical and projected average gross water demands as part of the aquifer portion of the chapter. We also updated the references to the most latest and greatest Upper East Coast water supply plan produced by South Florida Water Management District, so that that gives the information for the aquifer and our water supply system. Updated information concerning our national pollutant discharge elimination system. There's some reference in there that was inconsistent. We also updated information in there to add green infrastructure to protective initiatives under Section 13-0.5.A. We also added in there the county wastewater treatment and on-site sewage treatment and disposal system plan, which is a requirement by the Florida statutes. We also deleted references to the lands for healthy rivers initiatives because the plan does not exist. We also added best management practices into the chapter. And then lastly, to be in compliance with state statute, Chapter 163, the environmental protection. It's Chapter 2023-169. We put a priority to septic tank problem areas and that we should prioritize those problem areas for connection. And lastly, we deleted three figures because they weren't referenced in the document and they were really not needed. Figure 13-5 was needed right away for drainage. 13-6 was groundwater drainage basins. Again, that reference, it's a figure that was dated 1974, need to be referenced out because South Florida Water Management District does that. And then figure 13.7, potential well-filled development areas. And I'll answer any questions. Any questions for staff? Seeing none. And any public comment on this public hearing? Seeing none. Back to the board. Don't push that line. I've got to reach over there and push it off. Go ahead. I move that we continue item public hearing 7 to October 22nd at 9 a.m. or as soon thereafter as it follows. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith. Seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Public hearing number 8. Legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of Comprehensive Plan Amendment 23-09, Martin Commerce Park, LLC, a site-specific text amendment. Ms. Samantha Lovelady. Good morning, Commissioner. Samantha Lovelady with Growth Management. This is CPA 2309, Martin Commerce Park, a site-specific text amendment. It is requested by Martin Commerce Park, LLC, and it is a request to add the property to the list of exceptions for water and sewer services and to create a freestanding urban service district. It's also a request to change figures in the Comprehensive Plan, Figure 4-2, urban service districts, Figure 11-1, areas currently served by regional utilities, and Figure 11-2, potential service areas. And there's a number of policies that we'll go over that are requested to, and all of these policies are for consistency throughout the Chapter 4 and 10. And, for instance, Policy 4.1b-2 provides for restrictions. Residential uses will be prohibited and a deed restriction recorded. The maximum non-residential building square footage on the entire project site will be limited to 1.1 million square feet. All future applications for development will be processed as a PUD, a planned unit development. And the owner of Martin Commerce Park shall construct a traffic signal at the intersection of Martin Highway and Stewart West Boulevard. And the owner-developer shall plan and appropriately fund public facilities consistent with Policy 1b-2, which requires future development to pay the full cost of capital facilities needed to address the impacts of such development. And the other proposed text changes are just for consistency. The tract of real property, known as Martin Commerce, designated as industrial, on the future land use map and described an ordinance number. And that ordinance number would be filled in if the amendment is adopted. Again, the same language in Policy 4.1714, the exact same language. And 10.188 is another exception with the same language. Now, Policy 4.1812 is allowed for package treatment plants for Martingale Commons and for 7Js. And those package plants are not needed anymore because water and sewer services are available. So we are just eliminating those exceptions for 7Js and Martin Commons and just saying that package treatment plants shall be prohibited. And we do have notification by the 7Js property owner that they are in agreement with this amendment. And here is the existing 4-2, and this is the proposed 4-2. And you'll see the previous one, the only freestanding service district was the gateway. And this one will show that this will add a freestanding here. And then it shows 7Js and AgTech on the map. And that would be a total of 4 freestanding urban service districts. So they'll all show on the map at that point. And I just wanted to show you a map of the subject property in proximity to other service districts. And this is the existing figure 11-1, which is areas currently served by regional utilities. And the proposed, which shows these two service districts on the map. 11-2, this is the existing. And again, they proposed with the two added. And with that, I'll take any questions on the text amendment. Any questions for staff? Not seeing none. The applicant? Good morning. For the record, my name is Morris Crady, senior partner with Lucido and Associates. And I do have a brief presentation to go over the technical merits and justification for the property. I do agree with the staff report, by the way. But I want to introduce Jill Marasa to talk a little bit about my client, which is Martin Commerce Park, LLC, but also Ashley Capital. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning, staff. Thank you for having us today. We appreciate your time. I first want to take a moment to recognize a couple of folks in the audience with me today. My colleague, Ryan Bloss, who serves as our director of leasing, and our principal and founder, Rick Morton of Ashley Capital. I would also like to take a moment to thank staff. This has been a very long process and a lot of work involved, and I do thank them for all their time and effort, and to our entire professional service team that's been working on this for two years. We appreciate them and all their time and effort to get us here today. I wanted to take a moment on behalf of our team to introduce Ashley Capital. Some folks may know us. Some folks may not. But we thought this would be a good time to just share a little bit about us. So our company was founded 40 years ago by two principals, and one of those principals is here today. And those two principals remain the same owners. We are one of the largest privately held industrial real estate firms in the nation. We only develop industrial property, so we don't dabble into residential or multifamily or commercial of any of that. We stay in our lane in industrial development. Two types of projects that we focus on are greenfield development and brownfield development, and just to clarify for anyone that may need to know that here or at home, when we do a greenfield development, that's a property that basically we have identified visionary for long-term development that doesn't have any activity. It might be part of a community that we can reposition our property into its highest and best use. We also identify properties that are greenfield sites that may have entitlements that have been sitting around for years and aren't modernized. They may have antiquated subdivisions, and we look at those properties also for long-term development. Another expertise that we have is brownfield development. Our company, I wish I could take part credit for some of this, but I cannot. But as a company, we have developed millions of square feet on contaminated sites, hundreds of acres over the years. What separates us from development, when you hear the term developer, we are legacy developers. So when we identify a site in a community, we're here for the long haul. We really take great care and time and effort in looking at properties and looking at sites and looking at the community because what we do is we'll take a property, we'll buy the property, we'll look at those entitlements, we will re-entitle and seek that as needed. We will then site plan. After we site plan, we will then develop the property. And then after we develop it, we lease it, and we property manage it for the long haul. We don't flip it. We don't sell land to other users. And so we're here long-term. And we've been recognized nationally by awards for our work in this industry. As a company today, we have properties in five states, and our land portfolio is 60 buildings. We have over 60 buildings across 40 properties and 32 million square feet. So I just wanted to give a little glimpse into the Ashley Capital Company and appreciate your time today. So thank you. Samantha, your light's on. Is that? My light is on. I just wanted to make note that the county has advertised this public hearing. It was in T.C. Palm on September 6th, and certificates have been turned down. Yes. In that regard, again, for the record, Morris Crady, I did turn in the notice to surrounding property owners at the LPA meeting for this meeting as well. And that's for this text amendment and the floon that comes after, or the future land use amendment, map amendment. Can I borrow your? And I'm very honored to be here on behalf of Ashley Capital because I have done the research, and they are a very reputable company, and I'm very fortunate to have them in Martin County. A little bit about myself. I've been doing land planning professionally in Martin County since April 1st, 1982, and I am also a 35-year member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. But I want to give you some technical merits and justification for the application and also some geographical and historical context. So the property is located, as was mentioned, in this area. This is the urban boundary that was expanded by the Pine and Prairie application almost six years ago now. And this is Stewart West and Cobblestone here, which was built before I-95 was constructed, I believe, in the 1980, I believe. So here's the surrounding land use designation. We have this is the landfill site and the shooting range and the 7Js industrial area in this location. Ag Tech is over here on the west side, and they're not really – it's not applicable to this application because they're getting all their water and sewer services from the city of Port St. Lucie. There's also a commercial node here, which shows up as agricultural, but it's actually the commercial PUD of Martin Gales Commons. And that has a long history. I wasn't involved with that project, but I do know that it does have an approved final site plan. It is active, invested, and Ashley Capital did purchase that, but it's not part of this application. It's a standalone commercial PUD that will be sold. That's why the sign is out there, because Ashley Capital doesn't develop expressway-oriented transient commercial type of projects. So that was approved under a section of the comprehensive plan as an expressway-oriented commercial project that allows for gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and to service the traveling public. But the actual site that we're looking at is composed of AG20, A2, and AR5A zoning districts. And Ashley Capital purchased a lot more than that property. This shows the actual holdings that they have. There's a 19-acre site here of Upland property. This is a conservation easement that's dedicated to South Florida Water Management District that they've worked for the last couple years cleaning up and bringing it into compliance. There's also about 67 acres of Upland Preserve and Wetland property on the subject property that's been managed in accordance with the PAMP. Again, this property laid fallow for several years, and they've spent the last couple years removing exotic vegetation and making it comply with the Preserve Area Management Plan. And this is the commercial node that we talked about. So there's 21 planted agricultural lots in the pink, and it's not just approved for residential development. These are all the various permitted uses within the various zoning districts that are allowed, and just to name a few, they can do agricultural crops, nursery processing services, storage, animal services, hunting sanctuaries, administrative and nonprofit bed and breakfasts, crematories, cemeteries, community centers, dairy feed lots, kennels, commercial kennels, places of worship. So all of these uses are currently allowed on the subject property. And on the commercial node, which is called Martingale Commons, again, that is approved for development as a final site plan. And these are the 10 lots that all allow for various commercial uses, as I said, that are oriented toward the expressway needs, gas stations, restaurants, hotels. This is the physical shape of the property as of 2023 in this aerial. This is the conservation easement that runs along just outside the property boundaries. There's also tied to a preserve areas that are within the property, all managed in accordance with the conservation easement and preserve area management plan. And this is the commercial site, and again, the intersection of Martin Highway and Stewart West Boulevard, where this is all constructed paved road. There's also two roads here that provide access to the existing lots. But the history, I guess, starts even before 2017 when the county initiated a comprehensive plan amendment to extend water and sewer services out to these urban uses, 7J's Industrial Park, the Sheriff's Suiting Range, the landfill site, and Martingale Commons. And that was because a previous commission majority, as I understand, and again, I wasn't involved, I believe they denied them the right to build a package plan out here, or they changed something in the comprehensive plan. And they ended up going to court, and in order to address that issue, the county initiated an amendment to bring water and sewer out to the property. Then, a couple years later, the county authorized construction plans to actually build the water and sewer facilities out to these sites. Again, 7J's, the Shooting Range, the Martin County Waste Transfer Station, and Martingale Commons. So this project has been funded. It's under construction and should be completed, I believe, by the end of next year. So there is water and sewer to the property, or at least adjacent to the property. And the county, Martin County Utilities is the service provider. This is a map from their GIS system that shows the service areas in blue that are operated and controlled by Martin County Utilities. And you can see this blue line here is the limits of the Pinelland Prairie primary urban service area. This is the landfill in the 7J's, and this is Martingale Commons. And these are, in effect, freestanding urban service areas because they allow urban uses, and they have water and sewer that provides service. But there are no residential uses in any of these projects, except for Pinelland Prairie, but that's part of the primary urban service district. And the reason I mention that is because the county recognizes freestanding urban service areas in their comprehensive growth management plan. In policy 4.13810, it specifically gives a high priority, for one, to projects located on major arterials or interchanges, as we are. And it specifically says the county can provide areas of the county where freestanding urban services can be provided by a group of industrial users may be considered as independent or freestanding urban service districts. So we're here today based on the allowance within the comprehensive plan that permits freestanding urban service districts. And, again, that's only for non-residential uses. And it's really, in our case, to support economic development. So what the county asked us to do, because the map didn't show all of the existing freestanding urban service districts, when they added the 7Js and brought water and sewer out there, this map was not updated, nor when they added AgTech was this map updated. So we're updating the existing Figure 4-2 to show the existing freestanding urban service districts. In a little closer view, you can see that one of them is Martindale Commons. And our goal here today is to not really add a new one. It's really to expand the existing one adjacent to Martindale Commons so that all this becomes a freestanding urban service district along with the 7Js property. And, again, this down here is the other one, which is South Florida Gateway PD. And you'll notice they're all within close, very close proximity to the primary urban service district. The distinction is they don't allow residential uses. These projects are there for economic development purposes. And the county also asked us to update these maps that shows the service areas currently served by Martin County Utilities. So we updated the map to show our proposal, but it also updated to show the existing service areas that are operated and maintained by Martin County Utilities. So these are all part of the text amendment within the various chapters that create internal consistency. But if you look for guidance in the comprehensive plan, these are the policies that guide the industrial land use designation and are intended to create economic opportunities. And just about all of these, you know, are met by the proposed project. But it's compatible with surrounding land uses. We have I-95 to the west of us. We have a 32-acre commercial site to the north of us. And we have a nice corridor of conservation easement to the east of us that provides separation from the active agricultural uses, which are further east. So we're compatible. There's essential services now with the extension of water and sewer. And you can see this is all consistent with these policies in the future land use element. And the plan encourages industries that create and generate high levels of employment, offering higher-than-wage services. And, again, this is Ashley Capital's expertise. So, again, you know, I'm very happy to have Ashley Capital behind this because I think they have the wherewithal and the experience to further these comprehensive plan policies. So there's several policies in the future land use that talks about having sufficient industrial land for the various activities, trip generation, employment generation, you know, the ability to meet performance standards for preventing or minimizing nuisance impacts, planned public services, and, most importantly, the ability to connect to a regional water and wastewater treatment system. There's also several policies and goals and objectives in the economic element of the comprehensive plan. And these are not just shoulds. These are Martin County shall encourage the retention, expansion, and attraction of targeted businesses is what we're doing today. Martin County shall reduce out-commuting by supporting the creation of quality jobs within its boundaries. Martin County shall develop, maintain, and implement programs to retain, expand, and attract targeted businesses to the county. Again, in Goal 15.3 and the policies under that section, the county shall place a high priority on coordinating public infrastructure improvements that facilitate future economic development. And that's exactly what the county did when they expanded the water and sewer to these parcels. The county shall prioritize the land planning of sites with high visibility and close access to major transportation corridors for development. There's not many interchanges in Martin County that can support economic development, but this is one of them. I don't think, well, I won't talk about the others. But it goes on to say that the county will consider this priority during the review of plan amendments, which is what we're doing today. The county shall consider a high priority of retaining employment, generating land uses in appropriate and compatible locations in the county. And the county shall consider this priority during the review of plan amendments. And the county shall ensure that adequate land and transportation capacity is available for present and future land uses. So there's several policies that support this, several policies in the comprehensive plan, the county's guide for future development, that support the application that we're proposing today. But in addition to that, the county recognized in 2022 that these properties on the interchange should be targeted for employment opportunities. And they specifically mentioned in Seven Jays and Martin Commerce Park and Martingale Commons as part of that direction to the county staff. And one of the things that we're doing as part of a tax amendment that is really unique and not typical but very much a benefit to Martin County is that this applicant is willing to restrict the land use amendment and the intensity of development on the property and discourage any confusion about trying to put residential on this property because there's no intent ever to do that. But we are actually committing to a tax within the comprehensive plan, not just in a PUD agreement. This is tax within the comprehensive plan that will be very difficult to change once it's added. But residential uses shall be prohibited by this policy, and they're also willing to record a deed restriction in the county official records. They're limiting the maximum non-residential building square footage to 1.1 million square feet. I heard other people talk about the analysis that was done by staff on traffic prior to the March staff report, and that assumed maximum worst-case scenario. Over 4 million square feet were the county staff assumed because they weren't considering the fact that they could restrict the intensity of the project by committing to a maximum square footage within the comprehensive plan. And so that's how that number got down to a reasonable number because we've done design and the type development they want to do is not going to exceed this square footage. And we're not talking about warehouse and distribution. We're not talking about a bunch of trucks, you know, like down in South Florida Gateway. This is geared towards local needs and local businesses. And the other thing they're committing to is that any future applications will be only processed through a plan unit development, which gives the county the ability to say no to particular uses that you feel are not appropriate for this site. It gives the county the ability to impose additional conditions, and it requires that we bring forth additional public benefits when we do a PUD application. So that's a requirement in the comprehensive plan if this is adopted. And then probably the biggest and most beneficial of all of them is the fact that prior to any certificate of occupancy, Ashley Capital and Martin is willing to construct, to design, permit, and construct a traffic signal at the intersection of Southwest Martin Highway and Stewart West Boulevard. And as you all know, there's a lot of traffic that runs by there going 60, 70 miles an hour, a lot of truck traffic. There's talk of a future church on the Stewart West PUD, not on our property. But a traffic signal will go a long way in calming traffic and providing them safe ingress and egress out of Stewart West and Cobblestone. And then, again, one of the things that staff mandated that we add is that they want to make sure that the county pays no cost towards this development. And so we added the last requirement that says that any kind of impact or any type of service that we need will be paid by the developer, not by the county, not by the taxpayers. So I know that Samantha went over these, but the other changes that we're making to the comprehensive plan are really for internal consistency. We have to add this property to the various exceptions for consistency. And then, you know, the biggest one that I've been around for 40 years, I've been looking for a period to come after prohibited for that long. And it's been probably taken the county, at least the first 20 years I was here, there was dozens and dozens of package plants throughout the entire county. And now we can finally put a period behind prohibited without any exceptions. So, again, I just want to, again, thank Ashley Capital for bringing this forward and utilizing me as their consultant. They have a great reputation as one of the top privately held investment companies. You heard, Jill, what their expertise is, and I'm certain that this project will go a long way to enhance the county's economic base, provide high-wage jobs, and to enhance and maintain Martin County's green infrastructure. It takes a lot of money to maintain these preserve areas, and there's over 67 acres that Ashley Capital has already started that process. And through this application, that's a perpetual commitment. That land has to be maintained and preserved in perpetuity. So with that, I'll stop right there and be glad to answer any questions. Any questions for staff? I'll have questions. I'll wait until public comment. Okay. So we do have public comment. Mr. Bay, public hearing number 11 has been pulled. So that, I'm just going to set that aside. That one is, she's not paying attention anyway. Okay, well, let's go with you. Geraldine Dubé, followed by Donna Calbrise. Good morning. Geraldine Janko Dubé. I live in Tequesta, Florida. On this item, I am speaking for the Loxalusi Headwaters. Agenda number PH8, which is this current one, is one of multiple text amendments that you have adopted today. As a former council person who has had to address issues like you have, I am overwhelmed that you were even able to address all of the pages, thousands and thousands of pages of backup documentation for what you adopted and that you were able to accurately. Let me stop you there. We didn't adopt anything. We actually voted to push it back until October 22nd. I'm sorry? All of those items have been pushed back until October 22nd. So each one of those was a vote. God bless. Thank you. I do apologize then. And then you have done the right thing. You recognized it. And that restores a lot of my faith. So, but agenda, this agenda is a site-specific text amendment that gives special favor to the 168-acre Martin Commerce Park, which we formerly know as the Martingale Estate Southwest Martin Highway, near Stewart West and Cobblestone. Um, this is going to be authorizing a new freestanding urban service district, and it's going to provide utilities to the development which is outside the urban service boundary. And as you recall, this was very similar to a highly unpopular rural lifestyle land use designation that was permitted on property more than a mile from an urban service district boundary. And approval of this particular park amendment will open up still more property for rural lifestyle development by creating a new urban service district boundary. And you really need to think of the repercussions and how this could affect the Western Land Study, which is something that you promised us in February of 2023, that still has not happened. And we have elected you because we put our faith in you to make decisions and to deliver on your promises. And we would like that done before you adopt any further changes to urban service districts or rural lifestyle or the other things. So thank you very much for considering that and doing the right thing. Donna Calabrese, followed by Hugh Vickery, maybe. Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Donna Calabrese. I live at 9802 Southwest Santa Monica Drive in the Stewart West Development. I am the vice president of the Stewart West Property Owners Association. With me today is Wanda Truba, our treasurer. I'd like to start my comments the way I started them at the LPA meeting on Thursday. I respectfully request that we move this item to a time after the new commission has been seated. That being said, I would like to share my observations from the LPA meeting. I was disappointed there were only three members present. And I think those of us that were in attendance felt the frustration from the chair and the vice chair with the way we do planning. It was evident in their comments. And I suggest, well, based on the fact that I served on the planning commission in a neighboring community, I understand it's a thankless job, but they're feeling frustration, so maybe there's an opportunity to work with them and maybe do things differently as we move forward. I've been a resident of the Treasure Coast for 38 years, 24 of them in Martin County. I think we have seen sentiment in this county has shifted to a desire to slowly and thoughtfully develop. We all know that growth is coming. I've been here, like I said, and some of you have been here longer than me. We know growth is coming, but we want a good vision, and we want it to be slow, and we want to make sure the infrastructure is in place. You will hear people, you have heard people already talk about the level of service of the roads. I think it's important this project is looking at supplying space for local businesses. So local businesses are going to be going back into town. They're not all just jumping back on I-95, so I'm not sure that we've got the road capacity on Martin Highway to support that. But there's another concern. The homeowners in Stewart-Westland Cobblestone pay extremely high property insurance, and it is not the wind mitigation part of it that I want to talk about. I want to talk about the fact that fire response time is slow. Now, over the last year and a half, we had two fires in Cobblestone that caused tremendous damage, property damage, and then we had the brush fire out front. So what I'd like to propose is that we think of things a little bit differently. We have all these freestanding service districts in place, AgTech, 7Js. I'm looking that we look at the big picture and look at the residents, and I don't know what that means. I'd suggest that we look, since we brought up the topic of Martingale Commons, I'd suggest that we get creative and look at that piece of property as something that the county could buy. You were very creative when the folks from Danforth came forward with their concerns about multifamily housing. If we were to buy that, we could put in a firehouse. Ma'am, your time is up. And I will finish on the next agenda. Hugh Vickery? Excuse me, I think this gentleman already commented. Yeah, actually you did. I'm sorry. We have multiple agenda items. Okay. Followed by Jeff. Come on. Jeff Chamberlain? Yes, please, sir. The differentiation here, if I may jump in, Mr. Chair. Sir, please sit down, please, for a second. Let me explain. I'm not the chair, but I just wanted to make my opinion clear to the chair. This is a multiple agenda item, which is different than a single agenda item where if you spoke, and I don't believe Mr. Vickery was here in the morning when the chair said if you speak during public comment, you do not get to speak during the agenda item. The only thing, in my opinion, that would make this different is if it's multiple agenda items, then if he spoke for one agenda item this morning and you have two agenda items, he would get to speak for the other agenda item. My suggestion to the chair, and when in doubt, let the people speak. There's nothing wrong with that. The decisions, the applicant make as much time and presentation as possible. Giving an additional citizen three extra minutes I don't think hurts us. That's my opinion. Okay. Come on, please. Followed by Jeff Chamberlain? Thank you. I actually had a question to ask about the previous speaker, and that is he talked about not having warehouses on that property, which, you know, one of our concerns is a lot of truck traffic. What I was wondering is, and that's a question for them, is that's going to be written somewhere where it's enforceable, or are we just taking your word for it that you're not going to put warehouses in there or other things that are going to increase truck traffic? So that's what I wanted to ask you guys. Yeah, this is still after the hearing. Anyway. Okay, Jeff, no, Chamberlain? I was going to say Jeff Darby. Followed by Chamberlain. Hello, Commissioners. Jeff Chamberlain, Martin County resident since 1989. Been helping businesses locate and expand in Martin County for 35 years. Supply has always been the issue in Martin County for location of businesses. And businesses have had to look in St. Lucie County even when they'd rather be in Martin County. I'll give you an example. Sunlast Metal, which is a company in Palm City that was looking to expand. We couldn't find suitable location for them, and we had to move them to St. Lucie West. So that's a business lost from Martin County. We really need a new commerce park that will provide businesses with more alternatives, especially in the 5,000 to 100,000 square foot range. We have some parks that have been improved or developed that are offering much bigger product. We've had some parks approved that are offering much smaller product, but we're really missing something in the middle that this will provide. We need a professional campus that will appeal to the corporate tenant. We don't really have that in Martin County now, and so that's something that would be a good tool to have. And we really want to need a park that would be near an interstate and not driving miles off the interstate through neighborhoods and so forth to get to the park. So this one would allow businesses to stay primarily off the local roads. Commerce parks do pay their way. They pay their way through impact fees. They pay their way through off-site improvements, as you've heard about today. They pay lots of real estate taxes. They pay lots of intangible personal property taxes on their machinery and their equipment. They have a minimal impact on law enforcement, parks, libraries, beaches, and boat ramps. They don't have kids that go to school, so they have really no impact on schools, but they do provide taxes to the school systems as well. And they provide jobs for Martin County residents. I'll leave you with this. Do we really need more five-acre residential or agricultural lots that are on well and septic, facing 95, where no one really wants to live? Thank you. Thank you, sir. Gerald Kieft, followed by Dan Hudson. Good morning, Commissioners, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today regarding PH-8, and it's also kind of applicable to PH-9. My name, again, is Gerald Kieft. I live at 9709 Southwest Pueblo Terrace in Palm City. It's in the Stewart West development. I've been a Martin County resident and taxpayer since 1992, and I've lived in Stewart West since 2003. I love living in this area, and I believe the comprehensive plan has helped preserve our quality of life. While I'm not against progress, I'm concerned about the exemption to this plan, particularly the freestanding urban service districts. With that said, I don't have any specific issues with Ashley Capital or the zone changes to light industrial, but I am very concerned about the traffic implications to these changes. The traffic study dated 3-5-24 by Luke Lambert supports these concerns. Since the completion of the new bridge, the traffic on Martin Highway has just gotten worse and worse. The piecemeal construction projects to increase the capacity have caused additional problems. And all the traffic studies I've seen look at projects in isolation. They talk about this project, but they don't mention the traffic that's going to come from the approved commercial piece on the other side. There's a lot more projects that are approved along that highway. I ask the commission consider these traffic implications on Martin Highway before any new projects or freestanding urban service districts are approved. A particular concern is the response from fire and safety to our communities. Let's just put the infrastructure in place first. That's all we've got to say. Thank you, sir. Dan Hudson, followed by Dan Romance. Good morning, commissioners. I'm Dan Hudson. I'm here representing the Business Development Board in support of the staff recommendation on this particular item. Everything starts with a comprehensive plan, and you've had a review of the comprehensive plan already, so I don't need to go over that. But there is a quote in it that I have just really learned to love. A strong economy naturally supports quality communities, and in turn, quality communities help maintain a strong economy. So that's what we're coming from. As you know, Business Development Board is a public-private partnership which seeks to guide and expand the overall economy. So what I'm here for is to just reiterate the fact that this plan that you have in front of you today is just a well-thought-out plan. It's not something that's come up in the last, you know, since March. Really, the Business Development Board's involvement began about three years ago when we identified six or seven what we call hubs of excellence, and the word hub in economic development is used to represent the fact that businesses tend to congregate together in a geographic area. And so this is one of those areas, the intersection of 714 and Interstate 95, that was identified. Those were later presented to the Board of County Commissioners and, in fact, endorsed by the Board of County Commissioners, which is the letter in your packet. So we appreciate that. So just quickly, let me just – just a quick conclusion. The most important thing that government can do to support a strong economy is to assure that there's adequate supply of land, okay? And so a couple of people have mentioned supply already. Don't need to belabor it, but it's one of the things that you can do to support the economy. What you have in front of you is the product of a carefully thought-out plan that's now come to fruition through the Board's encouragement and support. And so we support the staff recommendation. Thank you, sir. Mr. Romance, followed by Jess Griffin. Good day. My name is Dan Romance. I'm the president of the Marine Industry Association of the Treasure Coast. I've been asked to give a snapshot of the marine industry in relation to the Martin Commerce Park. There are a lot of exciting things happening at the MITC, and our association continues to develop, grow, and evolve to meet the needs of the many marine-related businesses and their recreational boating interests here in the Treasure Coast area. While already having a major impact on the local economy, the marine industry is undergoing significant expansion in the Treasure Coast area. And I'm going to blow my own horn a little bit. The Indiantown Marine Center is a new facility, obviously, in Indiantown, 38 acres. We have a 250-ton and 100-ton capacity. Recently, Director Fort Pierce began operations. They have a 1,500-ton capacity. That's not even seen, really, in South Florida. Willis Customs Yachts is a local builder and service facility here and also a large employer. And that's really what we're talking about here is the issue with the marine industry is twofold, employment and also available space for businesses to be able to grow in our area. There is quite a number of existing marine suppliers. And when I talk about existing marine suppliers, I'm talking about guys that may have started in one type of the marine industry, but as it's starting to evolve here, they're starting to grow and expand. And so our contractor base at Indiantown Marine Center, even though I have a small number of people who work for me, our contractor base is approaching 300 companies now, potentially another 100 by the end of the year. And there's also quite a number of marine companies, marine contractor companies that are coming up from the South Florida market that want to expand up here as well. The marine industry supports 6,750 jobs and $1.35 billion in annual output across the Treasure Coast. That's 4.3% of the regional GDP. These are good jobs at contributory companies. And these companies need contractor shop space, boat builders, and marine manufacturers. They have a clear need for more space. One of our biggest funding mechanisms is the Stewart Boat Show. And the boat show coming up at the beginning of this year is already sold out. Boating in this area is big business and growing. Large yacht services generate exponential income over that of recreational boating. So this is the type of program that's started, the type of businesses that are starting to come up here are now larger yacht services. There are 43,734 registered boats in 2022 in the Treasure Coast. Sir, your time is up. Thank you. Jeff, or I'm sorry, Jess Griffin, which may or may not be correct, followed by Bill West. If you could actually say your name correctly, that would be wonderful. Thank you for letting me speak again because there was some confusion on the front end before you registered. From the staff report on March 5th related to... Could you state your name, please? Jess Griffin. Oh, I got it right. Okay. You got it right. From the staff report on March 5th, 2004, I'm going to read you guys one paragraph. Staff finds that the proposed future land use designation worst case scenario could result in a net increase of 1,440 peak hours. Applicant proposes to limit the space. And then the last line of that paragraph says staff finds that this would result in a net increase of 479 peak hours after the adjustment. So, I wasn't just specifying a worst case scenario. And I don't have any issues with Ashley Capital, just so we're clear. I may not like what they're doing, but I don't have any issues with them. They've been absolutely rock solid, and I don't whine and dine. They've been very rock solid on their presentations. There are 48 entry points from Martin County, from I-95 to Citrus. Folks, it's going to be a complete disaster with the two-lane road. I support business, but I don't support chaos and gridlock. There's been some talk about the ag tech property, which they already have, so we're not hindering a developer from building businesses. But there's been no discussion about what that impact is going to be on the roads and the transportation into Martin County. And, you know, please consider the quality of life and consider the impact, because from a service, you do not want to die, have a car accident, have a heart attack, or a fire on Martin Highway right now for many hours of the day during the week. So, please consider this. Thank you. Okay. Mr. West is followed by Angela Hoffman. Morning, Commissars. Morning. I'm Bill West. I'm a 20-year resident of Martin County, a strong proponent for locally owned, locally grown businesses, and I'd like to speak to the need for industrial property in Martin County. Since COVID, I've spoken with 1,500, 2,000 business owners. Many of those are manufacturers. Manufacturers have three top needs, they tell me, almost consistently. Top need is workforce. Second need is available space. And the third need is access to capital. The available space, I have worked with, again, for 20 years. The manufacturers, you watch them tough it out at SPS Commerce Park. You watch them work to grow their businesses within the confines of inadequate space. South Florida Manufacturers was here earlier. I missed the beginning of the presentation. I hope that they told you Hog Machine, Hog Manufacturing, is the South Florida Manufacturer of the Year. More, 20 years ago, they were in a small space. It was a pretty good size, about 5,000 square feet, trying to make it work. Watch them move. Watch them move through various spaces. The current occupant of that space is a marine manufacturer. They purchased the building next to them, and they are making it work within that space. We need, as Mr. Chamberlain said, desperately need 5,000, 8,000, 10,000 square feet of expansion space for our existing businesses. Thank you. Thank you. Angela is followed by what appears to be Lawrence Williams. Could be wrong. Good morning, Commissioners. I'll be brief, just echoing what Mr. West said. My name is Angela Hoffman. I'm the Vice President of Workforce Development and Operations at the Stuart Martin County Chamber of Commerce. The Stuart Martin County Chamber's mission is to assist our local business community with the tools and resources they need for success and to help them thrive. We see time and time again local businesses struggling to find space to grow and expand due to the limited amount of commercial industrial space inventory here in Martin County. The opportunity for additional space options will help ensure our existing businesses can grow and expand here and provide startups the ability to jumpstart their business endeavors. We support Martin Commerce Park. As we know, it will provide critical industrial space for local entrepreneurs. Thank you. Thanks, Angela. Mr. Williams. Yes. Oh, okay. I have a feeling I've messed up on both ends of this name. Thank you, Commissioners, for today. Thank you for all the visitors and companies that have come up here. Could you state your name? My name is Laverne Williams, and I'm just a resident. I don't own a business or part of any board or anything, but I just wanted to say I'm excited to hear about all the growth in Martin County, but the concern that I have, and I don't know if this is applicable or not, but what about people who don't have transportation with all of this development of the commercial corporate park, the urban service district? Do we have, are we considering in the comprehensive plan transportation that will take people to that area to supply the needs of the residents here in Martin County? Just consider that, and I don't know if this was appropriate this time or not, but if it could work with the transportation, the development of the 10-year plan of public transportation. Thank you. That conversation is always appropriate for almost everything that we do, and we are, I can say, working on it. Amen. Thank you. Mr. Ted Stolfi is my last speaker for him, if anybody else has got. Yes, it's still good morning. For the record, I'm Ted Stolfi with the Economic Council. I don't usually like to do this, but I'm going to read this because I'm going to get into my three minutes. So as we saw this morning, there are many different Christian religions that follow the scriptures of the Bible, each using its own interpretations. In Martin County, the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan is often referred to as the Bible of development in our community. In similar fashion as with religions, the Martin County Bible is interpreted by many different groups in their own way. So today, as you decide which interpretation of our Martin County Bible you are going to follow, consider the many ways in which you can read the words and teachings within the Comprehensive Plan. Support for different religions and their beliefs fall into that favor among populations over time. In similar fashion, the politics of Martin County appear to be changing with a new interpretation of our Bible, leaning towards what I refer to as Psalm 2024, taxes shall not be added or increased, sayeth the people. The question that must be answered now is, how do we interpret this? How can this be achieved while maintaining the paradise we call Martin County? Should we allow ourselves to be taxed for a just cause? Preservation of green pastures, for example. How can we achieve such a heavenly objective with every increase in cost of government by way of higher costs of living, inflation, increased wages, not to mention lifetime pensions for those government employees that retire? I would submit to you today the only solution is to follow the writings of Chapter 15 in our Bible, the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan. Note those passages, the talk of economic development, diversifying the tax base, and the addition of non-residential properties that will insulate the homeowner from the burden of increased taxes. I direct you to the following verses of Chapter 15. You've heard some of them mentioned today. Policy 15.3, A.3, Martin County shall prioritize the land planning of sites with high visibility and close access to major transportation corridors for development as employment uses, including targeted businesses, office, and industrial developments. It will consider this priority during the review of plan amendments, rezoning requests, site plan approvals, and permitting processes. Policy 15.3, A.4, Martin County shall consider the high priority of retaining employment-generating land uses in appropriate and compatible locations in the county, and shall consider this priority during the review of plan amendments, rezoning requests, site plan reviews, and permitting processes. Policy 15.3, A.5, Martin County shall ensure that adequate land and transportation capacity is available for present and future land uses to generate high-paying jobs, such as office, industrial, research and development, and employment center uses. Lastly, Policy 15.3, B.5, Martin County shall work to increase job opportunities within the county and support the existing workforce and industry sectors. This effort is aimed at addressing the reduction of employment opportunities in the county, which contribute to leakage as residents work in other counties. I thank you for your support of these amendments. I'll follow that, Harold. Yeah. Morris, there was a question one of the speakers had, and I don't remember which one it was, regarding the – and I believe you actually had approached it somewhat in your presentation about the warehouse. Yes. Yeah, I was distinguishing what we're doing with the South Florida Gateway, for instance, which is warehouse and distribution. You know, there will be no 500,000-square-foot buildings or million-square-foot buildings in this property. They're all, for smaller buildings, less than 100,000 square feet. So that's – so there will be some warehouse component, but it won't be warehouse and distribution like Amazon or UPS or any of that type of stuff. Okay. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Commissioner Campy. Commissioner Hurley, would you like to go first or something? You can go first. Thank you. This has been an issue that's been pending for quite some time. So the concept that it's somehow rushed is not true in this particular case. It's – our staff, the applicant, the community, both for and against, has been at this for a while. I wanted to give a brief – very brief history of things that have been happening out at Stuart West and Cobblestone for quite some time. Some people are very familiar with Stuart West and Cobblestone, especially people that live in Palm City, Palm City Farms, western Martin County. It started originally, even prior to me living here, when the landfill that was their next-door neighbor, they call it Mount Martin, was their active landfill. Trucks coming and going and stacking trash. It was closed to the benefit, obviously, of every environmentalist, but especially the folks that lived in Stuart West and Cobblestone. The second issue, which is one of the first things that I had accomplished, worked on in 2008, was the county had a contract for vegetative waste that was collected all throughout the county, and it was brought over to the now-closed landfill but still an active transfer station of vegetative waste. And our contractor at the time was supposed to process that waste while it was still green so that it would knock down a lot of the dust and the particulates that would come off of grinding up vegetative waste. But our contractor at the time didn't do that. It's much less expensive and lighter and easier to process if it's dry. But then it would create a dust storm of debris that blew into the neighborhood, and I was invited many times to many different houses, and their cars, their pools, their homes would be completely covered in a particulate. The county then fired the contractor, and then not only did we do that, we built a massive structure with the advice of the neighbors and residents in Stuart West and Cobblestone on even how we orientated it so that the breeze that would blow through the building, where now all of that vegetative waste would be grinded inside, wouldn't continue to blow. And then the third thing was the sound wall. There was a point when the state decided that they were going to put a weigh station on 95 South. It was probably approved a decade before it was ever constructed. That's how it works. But the residents of Stuart West and Cobblestone were rightfully concerned about the noise coming off of that, the trucks that would come and go. And Martin County, with some extra folks and folks in Tallahassee, we were able to get the Stuart West folks a sound wall along the western perimeter of their property to knock down, obviously, some of the sound. Florida Tax Watch that year listed that sound wall as one of the biggest tax boondoggles in the state, but we still got it done. Now, I've been out there many times. I have lots of friends that live there. Obviously, it's in my district. Residents have always called me out for concerns about neighbors with excessive pigeons in a pigeon coop. Residents that felt threatened by someone who was basically policing the neighborhood for speeders and people that were driving inappropriately and would pull them over with no authority, not a sheriff's deputy, just someone that felt it was his responsibility to police the neighborhood. That was a big issue. The club itself, the golf course itself, has gone through a multitude of owners. But recently, on the campaign trail, if you will, the Stuart West Cobblestone Associations threw a very nice candidate form and invited everybody that was running for commissioner to come out. It was very early in the morning outside. It was 150 degrees outside. But we were all there, and there was, you know, not a ton of residents but a handful of residents, and their concerns were as follows. And some of them are conflicting with each other. Lower our taxes. Make Martin Highway four lanes outside in front of our neighborhood. We want a traffic signal, and we want a fire station. But don't forget, lower our taxes. I was paying attention because those are the signal, and the fire station has been something that not just Stuart West and Cobblestone need, but even your neighbors further west out onto the Martin Grade have been asking about forever. Then the other big issue is, of course, the church. Now, so far, that process has happened really not even within our building. It hasn't come through. The process hasn't begun with the county staff yet. It's been handled out there. Two separate homeowners associations, sometimes they're in collaboration, sometimes they're not. The neighborhood, even the folks that are here from the neighborhood, you have to admit it's a split neighborhood. From my perspective, I get just as many calls for something as I do against something, and then it's hard to differentiate really what is the pulse of the neighborhood because there's very distinct differences. Some people are perfectly in favor of the church, have no problem with it. Actually, the board at the time wrote a letter because if, you know, you can't begrudge the leadership at the church, they did their due diligence prior to purchasing the property and asked the HOA that was affiliated with that, you know, what do you think of this? And they got a letter, correct me if I'm wrong, they got a letter saying, yeah, we're not opposed to this. And then once the rest of the neighborhood, either their same HOA members or the other HOA, were furious. There's been several meetings with the church. I was invited to one at their location, and I went, and the opinions were varied. Some people thought it was terrific. Some people thought it was a terrible idea. The most difficult part of that concept, which now, of course, the church has purchased that property right on the same side as Stuart Weston Cobblestone, like basically on their front doorstep, is that those members that are going to participate in those church services will have to enter off of Martin Highway basically into the Stuart Weston Cobblestone entranceway and then make a left onto the property. I worked with them to see if FDOT would be interested in letting them have an entrance and exit out directly onto the road so that they didn't have to come through Stuart Weston Cobblestone's entranceway outside of the guard gate. But FDOT said no, because if you're not familiar, it's literally just as you'd be getting on the on-ramp to 95. It would be very challenging to do that. Imagine you leave church and you have no choice but to get on 95 and head north. So that's where we stand now. Oh, the last thing was this traffic signal, which I agree. And I'll tell you, I've been working for quite a while with the folks at Canopy Creek because they are desperate for a traffic signal in front of their neighborhood as well. And just to be clear, State Road 714 that runs in front of your neighborhood and from the turnpike towards 95 is exactly that. It's State Road, not a county road. That project that all of us are frustrated by at the widening of the turnpike bridge and the realignment of Leighton Farms Road into Armalini, not Armalini, Degler, has taken shockingly long. Absolutely. I mean, I always use the example that they built the Empire State Building in a year, the Empire State Building. This has been years. Now, some people say, why is it taking so long? And they're mad at us. I have coworkers, friends, family members that live out by you, and I get it. It's a horror show. Some people leave work. They get out of work at 5 o'clock, but they leave at 6 because they would rather wait an hour at work than wait an hour on the road. But I don't know for sure, but I would tell you, thankfully, I think we're getting close to the end of that. And people say, well, why didn't it go all the way out to 95? I ask that question. And I'm not telling you that this is my information. I'm sharing with you the information that I heard from FDOT's personnel, that a majority of the traffic that is coming from the east heading west when they get to the Citrus Boulevard and now Newfield Parkway intersection, a majority of the traffic goes either left south towards Indiantown or north up towards Port St. Lucie. I'm not saying that no one continues to go straight, but they're saying, and don't be mad at me, ask FDOT, what are those actual numbers? That's why they didn't continue it. And you can imagine if it took them that long to do the section from the Turnpike entrance to Citrus, it'll take 25 years for them to get to 95. So that being said, I'm not saying that I disagree that it should be two lanes in both directions. It's a main drag into Martin County. I've always told people that if you are going to Jensen Beach, Stewart, Sewell's Point, you basically got to come that way. You're coming that way. Or High Meadows or Canter or Bridge. That's just, that's all there is. Fire station. There's been talk about a fire station for a long time. Fire stations, we just built some. I think on average they cost about, what, $30 million? $10. $10. Oh, we did $3. $30. $10 million each. And remember, the expensive part is not necessarily just building it. It's staffing it. But I can imagine, like when one of the speakers said, you know, you wouldn't want to have a heart attack out west, even if the construction, before the construction, during the construction, of course, and after the construction. Because the fire station, Station 21 or Tropical Farms is far. So those are the things that I've been hearing. A lot of people today even said, who came here basically to say, we don't want this. They say, but what we do want is a fire station. We do want a signal. So I've been asking our staff, what's the likelihood, if this project doesn't happen, what's the likelihood of a traffic signal going to be put in front of Stuart West and Cobblestone anytime soon? It's called a warrant study. Does it warrant it? The answer that I heard from our staff was no, it doesn't. Now, in real life, in what you're going through, and I remember there was a woman that spoke at the church meeting that there was just a horrific accident outside the entrance there. Now, people drive like crazy all the time. I don't know, but the only thing I think that has any way of regulating anyone's good driving habits is a traffic signal. Now, people still go through red lights, but that's the last thing that they're going to go through. And you can imagine the ticket of going through a red light. So the applicant says, I'll build a traffic signal, and I'll put it in before the project is even before we get our first CO, which obviously would be one of the first things they'll have to do. We've been asking for traffic signals in front of Heritage Ridge, in front of River, South, what is it called? South River. South River. I got one built on Murphy. This particular one, based on the width of the road, would be up to a million dollars, probably between $750,000 and a million dollars. One's not coming from us anytime soon or from FDOT, because when the Canopy Creek people reached out to FDOT, and they're pretty well organized, and they have one mission, traffic signal in front of their neighborhood. FDOT said, absolutely not. So we're working on it. You know how FDOT would agree to putting a traffic signal? When someone else pays for it. So that's first. And that's on the list of things that the applicant would give. Now, I want to run, I only have a couple more minutes, and this is a very important issue for District 5 and for my constituents out there, as well as the whole county. Some of the things that we heard about today, about economic development, about our lopsided tax base, you can ask anybody, our tax base in Martin County is lopsided. It is skewed very heavily to the residential resident, to us, the taxpayers. We don't have enough balance in terms of industrial and things like that. So the absolute immediate and direct benefit for the folks that would be impacted at Stuart West and Cobblestone would be, imagine having a fire station. The applicant has agreed to, there was talk of, hey, buy the property up on the road. Well, and you asked about the Danforth thing and how come I did that for Danforth. That was six acres for $4 million on Martin Highway, and we worked something out to do that. So the applicant in this particular case is willing to donate a parcel of property to help construct a fire station. Our fire department is in the process of doing a study right now. We've hired a consultant. Staff's light. Who's staff? Elise Elder, deputy. We're not talking about that part of it? I just want to be clear. We don't have any agreement with them, and there's no requirement for them to provide that property. So I don't want that to be considered by the board when you're making a decision, because a fire station right now is not on the table. Okay. Until we enter into PD negotiations, and then possibly. It's on my table. As your newly elected county commissioner for the next four years, it's on my table. Having had many conversations with the applicant, I appreciate what our attorney just said. But I'm telling you, if this thing starts to move forward, I don't think that that's a heavy lift for that particular situation. We also know, as I was mentioning, that our staff has been in the process of doing consulting. We've hired a consultant, correct, Mr. Donaldson? To review where a next fire station should be. And it's right out by you. There would have to be some kind of a situation by Newfield, but the obvious spot, as you have well known for quite some time, would be out in front of your neighborhood. That changes your, and wherever we get the land from, because I know she's getting panicked over here now, wherever we get the land from, it's very important that we put a fire station out west, not just specifically for you all, but for everyone that lives west of you. That's coming. The applicant also, I always ask my applicants to reach out to the affected parties, and they have. I know some people have called it a dog and pony show or that, you know, professional consultants came. Well, what did you want it to be? That's what the public meeting is. They have done it several times, reached out to the neighbors, and again, the frustration I can imagine for the applicant is some people say, we want this over our dead bodies, and some people say, we welcome you. But they have done that. So from my decision-making process, they have done that. They even offered to purchase that property out front before the church purchased it, and then it could have been something that the community would have been a little more in tuned with. That came off the table because that ship has sailed. They have also, and I can ask the applicant to come forward if need be, they offered a $0.10 per leased square footage as a collection of money that could have been utilized with the residents or the HOAs of both HOAs to be maybe start the infrastructure for your own water and sewer, which every other neighborhood will tell you is very expensive. So in regards to have they been a listening, understanding applicants trying to work with the neighbors, in my opinion, they have. Some of you have even said the same thing, I don't have a problem with Ashley Capital. Now let's talk about Ashley Capital in general. It's not some weird company that we've never heard of, some weird fly-by-night company. We have all can tell stories, and so can our economic development leaders in the community where people have come from out of town. We got a great idea. We're going to build the blades of massive wind turbines. We get the governor to come out, and we do a whole presentation because a company is going to come and build wind turbine blades here in Martin County. Never happened. Lots of other companies come forward. We're going to do this, and we do these whole meetings. We set it all up. We let them take tools out of the economic development toolbox, and then for whatever reason, they never do it. We just practiced. Ashley Capital, don't take my word for it. Simply Google it. I did. I just Googled it. When they first came to town, and I had an opportunity to meet Mr. Morton, I went home, and I Googled Ashley Capital. It's the type of company that we would be very happy to have in our community. It's the type of company that has a proven track record, and the most important part of that track record is they keep it themselves. It's not a situation where they're going to go through this entitlement process, even build the buildings, and then sell it off to somebody who's going to run trucks day in, day out of your place. The person who started this company 40 years ago and is basically putting his own personal reputation on the line one more time, they have 60 buildings in five states, is sitting right behind you. It's not some conglomerate with a portfolio of businesses. It's a guy who and his team for the last several years have been everywhere. That's why these not-for-profits are coming forward. This group has done exactly what you would hope a business would do, that would come forward, listen to the neighbors, understand what they're trying to do, develop something that we could all work for, as well as the fact we need it. We need it, because even if this new board comes in and slashes our budget by half, gas is expensive, inflation is expensive, interest is expensive, labor is expensive. It's not going to get less expensive. So we need to diversify our tax base, and it can't just be on us. How much more can we pay? You've already heard people say they're not going to go to school, they're not going to go to the beach, they're not going to go to the library. And in terms of the roads and the things like that, that road currently is operating not with the construction, it's operating at a level C. And it will be continuing to operate at a level C for the next at least 12 years. So the concept of FDOT saying, oh, we'll four-lane it from there to there, it'll be $40 million, which they won't want to do. The other last thing, and then I'll stop, because I know Commissioner Hurd will want to challenge most of the things that I've said. Two more points. If it was, I remember when it was supposed to be Martingale. It was supposed to be five-acre mansions along the term, along 95, which I think would be crazy, but it's happened south of there. They build fancy houses along 95, but those would be million-dollar homes. And I'll tell you, I don't think Martin County needs any more multimillion-dollar homes. What we do need is the jobs and what would imagine how many people live in your neighborhood and the ability for them to work directly across. I have a regular job, and I do industrial pressure and temperature gauges. I travel to these kind of industrial, higher-end industrial parks all over the United States, all over the world. They're fine. What Mr. Crady said, that it's not going to be a distribution center. It's not Amazon. It's not Walmart. It's not track-the-trailer trucks coming and going all day long. My thing for you all is this. And then the last part about the existing, the freestanding urban service district. I asked that question when I heard about it. There already is an existing freestanding urban service district there. That already exists. So if your concern is that we're creating too many of them, there is one. It was settled in a lawsuit when the last commission majority tried to dictate specifically what should or should not happen on that property. The court case decided that it will be an existing freestanding urban service district. So extending it to give you this opportunity, in my opinion, as your representative, this weighs the pros and the cons for me. It works. And I think that the benefits of the traffic signal, a local fire station, and some of these other things that I understand have not been, I'm allowed. It's my opinion. Okay? Thank you. My opinion is that we will work very hard to get you those things. And I appreciate your time. Thank you. Commissioner Hurd. Yeah, this proposal would, if approved, is completely out of character for Martin County, particularly for this section of western Martin County. All of the surrounding uses, if you look at an aerial, are all ag. And this is an extremely urban, dense, industrial proposal that is completely out of character. It would change Martin County forever because these uses would proliferate on all four corners of this intersection. It's 167 acres. It's a huge proposal. All throughout the comprehensive plan, especially in Chapter 7, Chapter 7 makes certain that all industrial land uses are required to be inside the primary urban service boundary. No exceptions. All of them must be inside the urban service boundary because that's where urban services are available. It's the only place they're available. And Ms. Williams made a very good point. Will there be transit? So this is so far from our urban core that no one will be able to work there unless they have a car. As far as the freestanding urban service boundary goes, that's a disastrous poster child for a lack of planning. And now, and it's also, it leads to the proliferation of urban sprawl, undoubtedly. And also now, it can be used in order to expand rural lifestyle, which seems to know no limits to its expansion. So this would create another way for people to ruin our rural areas and instead turn them into urban areas. We just completed a commercial and industrial land analysis, and it says, it concluded that this proposed 167-acre freestanding urban service boundary would add a fourth freestanding urban service boundary. One of those is the 1,717-acre AgTech freestanding urban service boundary, which I think was approved in 2010 because there was some urgency to create this freestanding urban service boundary. It's still vacant. It's been there for 20 or for 13 years, still vacant, 1,700 acres. And this, the 240-acre 7Js freestanding urban service district, still vacant after all these years, even though we've made all kinds of exceptions for urban services to be provided for this, still vacant. Water and sewer services is permitted on the adjacent 32-acre Martingale Commons PUD, still vacant. So this talk about needing additional industrial is just wrong. Our industrial study said that the acreage of vacant industrial land in Martin County, vacant industrial land is more than twice the acreage of the industrial land that's already developed. On a national level, e-commerce is evolving and has impacted the way business is done and how consumers shop and how businesses will continue to be built and evolve in the United States, all over the world. Since 2011, on average, nine acres of industrial land are developed every year. And this is proposing to add 167 more when 1717 of ag tech and 240 of 7Js is already undeveloped. This is a disastrous idea that would change the character of Martin County forever. I am. Mr. Campy. We're all entitled to our own opinions. Facts are different. Get in your car and drive out to 7Js. It's not vacant. There's plenty of people out there. It's a much smaller scale operation. I get the concept of e-commerce, but if you order something online, it doesn't magically appear. It comes from a place where it was made, and then it goes to probably a place where it's stored, and then it's mailed to you. So the concept of e-commerce is not going to kill brick and mortar. And if I was going to guess on the future or, you know, the proper forward thinking of how if this would work or not, I'm pretty sure I would take Rick Morton's 40 years of experience as one of the nation's premier industrial landowners and property owners than one of my colleagues. If it wasn't going to work, if it wasn't going to work, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be doing it. They have success. Build within the urban service boundary, and I get that. That's a thing. Whether it's residential, commercial, retail, or in this case, limited industrial. The room would be packed, and the lobby would be packed with people that would be furious that it's happening next to them. The concept of build within the urban service boundary where it's much more compact and you're much more going to affect residents. And I get it. We have differences of opinions, and I respect my colleague. I do. We've been up here together for quite a long time. But it's a little, in my opinion, crazy to say that this will destroy Martin County. You know what else was going to destroy Martin County? Martin Downs, the Roosevelt Bridge, the Treasure Coast Mall, the new Veterans Memorial Bridge was going to be the death knell. Martin Downs and all of the Martin Downs, which is Bessie Creek Elementary School, Hidden Oaks Middle School, the library, the shops, everything along, everything that people in Palm City realize is the things that they like the most about Palm City. In this very room, when that project was being decided, folks carried in an actual coffin and laid it right down in the floor here and said, Martin Downs will be the death of Martin County. So will the new, the high Roosevelt Bridge that you drive over. That would kill Martin County. And so after a while, you know, I get that we could have a difference of opinion, not just up here. You and I could have a difference of opinion. But when I hear people say that we moved here for a reason, we moved here because it's different and it's slower and it's thoughtful. Commissioner Smith's been up here doing this for a quarter century. Commissioner Hurd has been balancing him out for almost a quarter century. It's this is not Delray. This is not Boynton. And I don't want to speak as much as I am, but it blows my mind when I hear someone say that 168 acre project that you barely will see, if at all see from Martin Highway at all, that is offering much more than any applicant that I've ever had a conversation with, is willing to offer specifically to the residents that would be most impacted directly across the intersection from them. I would recommend the neighborhood organize and take advantage of some of these opportunities that were offered. Very few developers or people that are going to impact existing residents are offering what this is offering specifically for you, never mind the jobs and the tax base. With all due respect to my esteemed colleague. Commissioner Hetherington. Oh, what more needs to be said? So I just want to share a couple of the notes that I wrote down and some of the conversations I've had with residents. And many that are not supportive of this proposal have said we want to keep it ag. We want there to be cows in green space. And I looked at that slide earlier, and with all due respect to the residents, it could be a mining operation, it could be a shooting range, it could be so many more things that I think would not have the benefits of what this particular proposal would allow. So this, you said in one of the presentations that the deed restriction would go directly into the text amendment? The reference to it. Okay, so. It's a requirement in the text amendment that was proposed by the applicant. So they put in the text amendment that they would have to have a deed restriction in their deed. So to me, that's a benefit because that particular text or that deed restriction would prevent future, you know, potential mandates by the state to allow development that we wouldn't even get to see up here. The traffic signal, I've been, Commissioner Campy mentioned, I've been fighting for some of my residents for six years now with Department of Transportation to get them a traffic signal. And we still haven't gotten it. And the fact that an applicant would put that in and that DOT, they've worked with DOT to warrant that, that to me is a benefit. And as far as the undevelopment, the other freestanding urban service, I had the same question to the applicant when we met. Uh, why, why haven't they had, there's happened to be the same owner of a different freestanding urban service boundary property. And there was, they have done so much to further that, um, particular property. And I sit on a transportation planning committee and I've had to sit and represent Martin County regionally where there should have been a connection from St. Lucie County to Martin County, um, on that property. And there was, um, St. Lucie County had allowed a developer to block that access. So, um, this particular applicant has been fighting for that connection. And the explanation that I had for all of the things they've done for some of the other properties they've owned, as far as to get a water connection and, and some of the hurdles, any other, um, landowner. And I work with people that are in real estate, any other would have said, I'm putting this back on the market and I'm jumping ship. So they've spent years and I don't countless amount of dollars. I have faith that they're going to do this particular project in the right way. And this is the area I grew up in too. I'm down, I'm 714 to 609. My parents live in Little Ranch Estate still to this day. Years and years ago, I remember my parents practically begging that the airport be moved out to that area so that they would have, you know, some kind of job opportunities and these are the kind of job opportunities that some of the community has been begging for, for as long as I can remember. So I think there's the, the benefits certainly outweigh, um, anything that, um, is a negative. So I appreciate all of the work that went in to this. Commissioner Smith. Sam, I don't know if you're the right person to answer or not. Um, um, ag tech is a freestanding urban service boundary. That's correct. So the reference made earlier relative to rural lifestyle being expanded or having the ability to expand already exists relative to what ag tech is. I'll let Klein, um, believe a lot of that is conservation on the other side. No, I, I, I know. I'm just the, the relevancy as to whether or not you could expand based upon this somehow expanding the capacity. Uh, the rural lifestyle future land use designation may be, uh, located adjacent to a freestanding urban service district. And ag tech is a freestanding urban service district. So you could have a rural lifestyle extending south of Martin highway adjacent to the, uh, ag tech property. So it's already available or already potential on the south side of Martin highway, west of 95. So, and not that this is a quiz relative to how everybody's memory is, but the minimum requirements for that is a thousand acres. That's correct. Um, thank you, Clyde. And Sam. Um, I thought, I thought, you know, I, I think one of the more interesting parts of the entire presentation is that I can remember years of arguing this board and boards even before me arguing over two words in the comp plan shall and should, and, and the debates that went on forever as to whether or not those two words ought to interchange. Or did one really mean something and the other one didn't mean something and what I always find interesting is that when, when someone wants to use the comp plan in one way, that word takes on a different connotation than today. The reason why shall, I think, is in the comp plan relative to the industrial components that were brought up in the presentation is that there was some thought put into where we should and how we should plan for industrial. Um, the idea that somehow it's, it's not well thought through, that conversation has gone on in Martin County for 40 years. The idea that it sometimes takes this long or that long for something to actually turn into something, um, is just a fact of life relative to the economy. I mean, I can, I can remember being on this board when we were in the midst of a recession and people were begging us to do anything, anything humanly possible to stive off what the, what the recession was doing and could we get people back to work. We're not in a recession right now. I think, you know, inflation is a little bit of an issue these days, but we're not in a recession. And so people look at things differently. They view conversations differently depending upon that conversation or that time. So, um, I, I agree with most, if not almost all the comments that my, um, other board members have made. Uh, and with that, I would move, um, staff's recommendation for approval. Although I'm getting a, am I getting something off? No. Do we need to do something out? No, this is just a regular move for approval. Thank you. Second. Okay. My comments are, um, I recognize some faces in the room today that were here two years ago when we were having our budget hearings and we had a room full of people with their hair on fire. And it was very apparent that one of the reasons why, um, was that we in Martin County have a very vulnerable, undiversified tax base, ad valorem tax base. It was mentioned that, um, it was mentioned that, um, after the fact, um, that the perfect model for an ad valorem tax is 25% commercial, 25% industrial, 50% um, residential. Martin County commercial, the way I understand it, correct me if I'm wrong. I was told by a numerous staff people in Martin County combined industrial and commercial is 1.9%. We are reliant. The 98% of our ad valorem tax base is relied on residential, the most vulnerable to the market, um, fluctuation. And we're expected to, to keep a consistent budget to keep this government running. So we obviously have to diversify our tax base more. Um, so anyway, with that, we have a motion by commissioner Smith seconded by commissioner Campy all in favor. Aye. All opposed opposed motion carries with, uh, commissioner heard dissenting. Thank you. And being that it's 1230, I was really trying to power through both these items, but we're going to take a break and be back by when you want to come back to. Okay. We'll be back by two. Two. All right. Welcome back to our board of County commissioners meeting. We're on now public hearing number nine legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of comprehensive plan amendment 23 dash 10 Martin commerce park, LLC, LLC. A future land use map, LLC. Take it away. Good afternoon. Samantha, love lady growth management. This is an application of for, to transfer to transmit comprehensive plan amendment 23 dash 10 Martin commerce park, LLC. I want to make note for the record that this was advertised in the newspaper on September 6th, 2024. Okay. This is a request by Martin commerce, LLC, commerce park, LLC. It's a proposed future land use map. Can you open it all the way up please? Sure. I know sometimes when you're watching at home, it's hard to see it. Thank you. Do it off. There we go. So it's a proposed future land use map amendment to change 167 acres from agricultural and agricultural ranchette to industrial. The project is located, um, on Martin highway and I-95. This is the existing future land use map showing the agricultural and agri and chit future land use designations. And this is the proposed future land use, um, with the industrial land use show. And this is, um, related to the CPA 2309 to create an exception for water and sewer services and to create a free standing urban service district. In section 2.1 of the staff report, two of the four criteria for future land use map amendments have been met. In section 2.2, urban sprawl, eight out of the 13 criteria have been met. In section 2.2.1, proliferation of sprawl, four out of eight criteria have been met. And, and with that, I will take questions. Any questions for staff? Okay. Applicant? Again, for the record, Morris Crady, um, senior partner with the Cedar and Associates here on behalf of the applicant. Um, and I'm in agreement with staff recommendation. Don't really have to go through a presentation, but I do want to mention something about urban sprawl because I know some of the, the applicants have brought that up. But, you know, back in the 80s, the, the classic case of urban sprawl was Stuart West at one unit per two acres. It's, it's, it's the classic example of urban sprawl, which usually includes a residential component. You know, it's, I went and on April, I submitted a very detailed response to the urban sprawl criteria from the March staff report and, um, and provided a lot more data and analysis. And, and what this project does is it minimizes the urban sprawl created by, uh, Stuart West because it provides services and potential employment. You know, that together with seven J's, that together with the, with Pilon Prairie that brings urban services closer to Stuart West is, that's how you combat urban sprawl. And that's what we're doing with this step. We're, we're making urban sprawl less intense by providing services and employment near Stuart West and, and Palm City Farms for that. There's a lot of other residences out there besides Stuart West. And, and so it, it creates a better plan for that area because we're working from something that existed prior to the comprehensive plan when you're dealing with Stuart West. So, and, and 95 wasn't there. You know, it made sense to have this land agricultural. But a lot has changed since 1982 when, when this land was classified for agricultural use. And, and the, the, the extension of 95 and, and the, uh, extension of water and sewer services are the primary components that make sense now to, to create, uh, what we're doing today. So with that, I'll be glad to answer any questions on urban sprawl or, okay. No, we're all about urban sprawl. Thank you. No questions for the applicant? We have one, um, speaker form, Donna Calabrese. Once again, thank you for the opportunity. My name is Donna Calabrese. Um, eight out of 13 criteria for urban sprawl, four out of eight. I don't know what the magic number is, but it doesn't feel to me that we have met enough criteria. And I would also like to make a statement that I don't believe that anybody in Stuart West moved out to Stuart West looking for a job across the street. We moved out there to be in that tract of land in that, in that urban, rural setting. Um, continue on where I came from earlier. I respectfully request that this agenda item be moved to a time when the new board has been seated. Uh, I'm going to go back to my earlier comments. We are not blind to the fact that growth is here, growth is coming. We would like it to be thoughtful, and we would like infrastructure in place. Martin Highway cannot handle the traffic now. We know that. And if we're attracting local businesses to the, um, to the Commerce Park, they're going to go back into town. They're not going to all go on I-95. So I request that the board work with the communities to put pressure on the state to get some work done on that road. Okay? We need to widen that road. It's coming. I know development's coming. But if we just sit back and wait for FDOT to do it, it's not going to happen. So I implore you guys to lean on the state for that. Um, next item. I talked about procuring Martingale Commons. Uh, that's a 30-acre tract. I know what it's zoned for. It's zoned for, um, Expressway Interchange. Okay? Expressway Interchange, we have, that means we're going to have a hotel, gas stations, really upsets the character of the area. We already have that kind of, um, development at the exit on Canter Highway. We have it on, um, State Road 70. We have it on Gatlin. And when Buc-ee's comes, we'll have it at Injrio Road. We don't need to have that kind of, um, development on every exit on I-95. So think about being creative, buying that land, putting a firehouse, and maybe asking the sheriff if he needs a substation out west. Think about that. That gives safety and protection for the community, the residents, as well as the business owners that are coming to the area. Um, based on something Ms. Hurd said earlier, um, I, I just hope that we're, when we have these freestanding urban service districts, we're not doing a build it and they will come. Okay? In the 80s and 90s, we did that with strip malls. Build it and they will come. And now we have all kinds of vacant, uh, storefronts. So maybe we need a whole bunch more dollar stores and vape stores, but I don't think so. I don't want to go that route. And one point that was brought up earlier, I'd just like to let everybody know that the homes in Stewart West that are being built now are $2 and $3 million homes. So we are people that are committed to the community and we are taxpayers. So, uh, I ask you guys to please give some thought to what I brought up. And we do some... Ma'am, ma'am, your time is up. Thank you. Your time is up. Thank you. Okay. Do we have any other public comment? Seeing none, back to the board. Commissioner Hurd. Yeah, this, this, uh, location is far, far, far from the primary urban service boundary. Far, far, far from the secondary. It's leapfrogging over undeveloped ag land. It's completely surrounded by ag land. Nothing, nothing but ag land. This is so inappropriate. Uh, the comprehensive plan in 2.1 has four criteria. For a future land use amendment. Past changes in land use designations in the general area make the proposed use logical and consistent with these uses in adequate public facilities are available. Doesn't meet that one. Growth in the area in terms of development of vacant land, redevelopment, and the availability of public services has altered the character of the area such that the proposed request is now reasonable and consistent with area land use characteristics. Doesn't meet that one. One, the proposed change would correct what would otherwise appear to be an inappropriately designed, inappropriately assigned land use designation. It does not meet that one. And the last one, the proposed change would fulfill a public service that need that enhances the health, safety, or general welfare of county residents. It doesn't meet any of the requirements to, uh, uh, to, uh, to, uh, amend, amend the future land use map. None of them, therefore is not eligible for a recommendation of approval. Furthermore, the comprehensive plan defines urban sprawl. I won't read those criteria. There are 13 of them. It meets every one of them. It's a classic definition of urban sprawl. 2.21 of the comprehensive plan is about the proliferation of urban sprawl. Once again, meets all those. The 2.3 land use compatibility, the industrial future land use designation, is not compatible with the agricultural parcels to the north, south, east, and west. Then it's not eligible for a comprehensive plan amendment. Time after time, our staff has cited to, to us, the reasons why we should not amend the future land use map. And yet, here we are. In March 4th, March 5th of 2024, the engineering department said there wasn't sufficient capacity on the roads. What happened to that? And finally, public comment was prolific and uniform in its opposition to this. I'm not going to support it. You will regret if you do, too. I have a crystal ball. And I know what the future holds for some. Commissioner Kendall. I don't have a crystal ball, but I have a great memory of the last time my colleague had a crystal ball in this exact area. It didn't work out well for the county. Obviously, people will have a difference of opinion. I do rely on our professional staff. And I know that in March there was a different report and that the applicant, it is perfectly acceptable, appropriate for an applicant to receive a report and a response from our staff and then address those concerns, which I think they spent several months doing. I get the concept that it's further away from town, but it's also an exit and entrance to Interstate 95. So it makes it appropriate for the average citizen to think, like, is this an appropriate place for it? I believe that it is. I think that the overall benefits to Martin County at large are there in terms of tax base, job opportunities, ability to create economic development. But I also believe that there are several very strong benefits for the people that are right there. The woman that speaks, the public speaker, about, you know, expanding that roadway, there is much less of an opportunity with our consultants' review of the need for a fire station in that general vicinity. Of course, the Stewart-West Cobblestone residents want it needed and residents further in that area want it needed, but this will help facilitate it. And I know that they have not negotiated to say that they would definitely do it, but I feel confident that that will be part of a negotiation that will bring a station there in the next couple of years much sooner than it could potentially have come on its own organically. I also believe that there would be no interest in the Florida Department of Transportation creating a traffic signal there for up to a million dollars. And I know that based on my assistance with residents further east on the same road that have been desperately trying to get that. And Canopy Creek, a beautiful neighborhood, their entrance is directly across the street from a mulch and nursery where landscaping and agricultural trucks pull in and out all day long. So they really want a traffic signal, and FDOT has told them repeatedly no. And this applicant is saying, yeah, I will put that in as a benefit. The concerns, in my opinion, for the residents of Stewart-West and Cobblestone, more so than what this applicant is looking to do today, would be the potential of a church on your front doorstep. That's just my opinion. Everyone has one. And that will work itself out. And then, of course, the highway-oriented property directly across the street on the road is a concern. This particular part of the project, I think, as I said earlier, is appropriate, and I will be supporting it. You'll be motioning. I will motion to accept staff's recommendation. Now, just one Miss Lovelady. You heard my colleague say that she doesn't believe that any of the criteria have been met. You and your colleagues have reviewed this extensively and have professional experience and years of experience, practical experience in this. Do you feel that the report you put forward is accurate and appropriate? I will stand by my work. And so will the whole department, correct, and all the others that reviewed it? Yes, sir. Thank you so much. We'll also second it. We have a motion by Commissioner Campy. Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Campy, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed? Motion carries. Four to one with Commissioner Hurd dissenting. All right, thank you. Public hearing number 10. Legislative public hearing to consider transmittal of CPA 24-23, Three Lakes Golf Club, a text amendment. Mr. Doolin. Good afternoon. My name is Clyde Doolin, for the record, comprehensive planning administrator. This is a proposed text amendment to Chapter 4 of the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan. It is not site-specific, so it will be applicable anywhere the Rural Lifestyle Future Land Use designation exists. And I will go to the proposed page. Oh, I wanted to note, the LPA voted 3-1 to approve this on September 12, 1796. It's a very small amount of text that's proposed for change. Why is it not there? Ah, and there it is. Golf cottages are currently permitted in the Rural Lifestyle Future Land Use designation. You're allowed to have a maximum of 54 golf cottages, and the text currently says that you have a maximum of six bedrooms per golf cottage for a total of 324 bedrooms. The applicant has proposed to change this text, maintaining the maximum of 54 golf cottages and maintaining the maximum of 324 bedrooms, same as it is currently allowed. The change that they're proposing is to allow each cottage to have between 2 and 12 bedrooms instead of a maximum of 6 on each cottage. They're also proposing to put a cap on the golf cottages to be a maximum of 2 stories in height. We have reviewed this, and we found that it has no practical implication in terms of public facilities provision or impacts to surrounding properties. This would be occurring inside a minimum 1,000-acre piece of property, so it's highly unlikely that the design of golf cottages is going to have an impact on any of the surrounding properties. And so staff recommends approval of this proposed text change. This is the second of three public hearings. The LPA had the first public hearing. This is a request to transmit this to the state agencies and the Department of Commerce for review. It will come back to you for an adoption. Staff recommends approval. Okay. And the applicant. Does anybody have any questions for staff first? Nope. Applicant. Okay. Good afternoon. For the record, Morris Crady, senior partner with Laceda & Associates here on behalf of Three Lakes Golf Club, LLC. And, you know, just to give you some understanding, we have been very successful at Three Lakes, or they have been very successful with memberships. And what we're finding out is that there's a need for a variety of golf cottages, you know, from two bedrooms up to 12 bedrooms. There is one corporate member that wants to have a corporate retreat at the site. So this does not increase the footprint of the buildings. In fact, it has the potential of decreasing the footprint. You can do 54 cottages with six bedrooms. This allows you to do just 27 cottages up to 12 bedrooms with no more than two stories. So there actually could be, in some cases, a reduction in the footprint. But in our case, again, we're looking to provide the needs or to respond to the needs of the membership, and that equates to multiple bedrooms as long as we don't exceed the maximum allowable under the current policy. So with that, I'll be glad to answer any other questions. Any questions for the applicant? Mr. Campion, don't. I waved. I know. I hesitated. People can't live in these cottages. They can only be for temporary use, correct? Correct. They're owned by the golf club entirely. Okay. Okay. With that, do we have any public comment? Seeing none, back to the board. Commissioner Hurd. Yeah. As I've said, every one of these hearings where the use of rural lifestyle is expanded, it seems limitless to me, and this is proving my presumption that it's limitless. What we will add on to this ridiculous future land use, and this going to 12 bedrooms for a guest cottage that doesn't count is rubber stamping, vulgar, conspicuous consumption. And I am not going to be supporting this. This is absurd. Putting 12-bedroom guest cottages in Western Martin County, five miles away from the primary urban service boundary, that is an urban sprawl? Yikes. Without rural lifestyle, we'd be having the same conversation, would we not? Golf cottages are permitted in the agricultural future land use designation as an accessory to a golf course, which is a permitted use in the zoning code. And it has the same six-bedroom maximum? It has no limitation. It has no limitation. No limitation. Oh. No limitation on the number of cottages or bedrooms. That's interesting. Okay. Commissioner Smith. We did ask for public comment, right? We did. I would move staff's recommendation. Second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion carries four to one. Commissioner Hurd dissenting. Moving on now to public hearing number 13, public hearing to consider the adoption of an ordinance amending Chapter 21, Article 8, Swimming, Pools, Spas, and Hot Tubs, General Ordinances, Martin County Code, Regarding Safety Barriers. And, boy, did I get an earful from a couple of folks on this one, but go for it. Good afternoon, Commissioner. Sebastian Vrabowski, County Attorney's Office. As you saw, this is an amendment to our ordinance regarding barriers around swimming pools, hot tubs, and spas. It's to include language specifically capable of those two words. As the current ordinance stands, these bodies of water have to contain at least 24 inches of water. It was written with the presumption that any pool would have more than 24 inches of water, any spa. However, residents have been known to drain these bodies of water to below 24 inches and then remove the barriers around them. As we all know, it doesn't require much water to present a drowning risk, so we are asking to include those two words that would then require the barriers to be up, thereby presenting a greater safety to our residents. So I'm going to go first. Go ahead, you're the chair. So there's a state law that – so my constituent asks, why are we writing an ordinance that is covered by state law? We are able to – we are able to do so, Chairman. We are able to – Duplication. Okay, well, that's fine. And then, two, is there's other means of protecting it that's recognized by the state, as in these industrial strength pool covers that you can have 30 people standing on and all that. That's not recognized as a – in our proposed ordinance. It's not enumerated from what I saw in this section of the ordinance, but this section does state approved barriers. If that is an approved barrier, according to state – this calls for barriers that are 48 inches tall, but as – now, as you mentioned, they do have these covers that cover everything. If that's considered an approved barrier, then that is an approved barrier. Okay. It will continue to be. Okay. So you can do that as well. It's just that we're talking about the amount of water in the body. Or – Okay. I think I get it. Could you try again? Hold late. Could you explain it from the beginning? You kind of lost us at the 20 – so people drain their pool down to have less than 24 inches in it. And then they take their barriers out so somebody could literally fall in the pool and drown. So that's why you're writing this – In Florida, it would pop your pool out of the ground. Well – Yes. But if it's dry enough, then the pool would stay in the ground. And we all know that 16 inches, 18 inches, whatever water is – six inches is enough correct. So – and this was a way to skirt around the ordinance by lowering it below that 24 inches. So our code enforcement officers were having a little bit of an issue as to this little gray area. So this is just kind of to – Clarify it. Yeah. Commissioner Smith still looks perplexed. So I'm going to turn his light off and let him talk. Okay. So let's say somebody does that. Yes, sir. Skimmer won't work. The jets are probably at about 24 inches. They won't work. No. The pool is basically – it's drained, Commissioner. I mean, this is just the rainwater that's collecting under it, or maybe it's not completely drained. It's – there's – I don't think the pumps are running at anything below 24 inches. So why would someone do it? To not have to have the barriers around there. That's kind of my point. If you're using the pool functionally, right? Correct. You drain it below 24 inches so you can get around having a barrier up. Mm-hmm. It doesn't work. The pool doesn't work. Correct. But a child could still fall into – I understand that part. Yes, sir. But I – I'm – are there 100 people doing this? Are there two? I mean, it seems – this will be one of those things that will be a headline in Tallahassee, and they'll preempt us on this. Yes. I just – I'm just trying to understand. It happens enough to where our code enforcement officers are having an issue with it and have asked for this. They must be really busy. Commissioners, I think it happens more when somebody is abandoning the use of their pool. They're not maintaining their property. This is one of the elements that their neighbors are perhaps complaining about. It's a hazard. Had yet, it is not a hazard if they keep a minimum amount of water on it, probably bleeding mosquitoes and other things, and they're just trying to get the pool to be not a hazard to somebody's kid running into their backyard, falling into an abandoned pool, and having a means to enforce that there is some sort of protection to keep somebody from falling in to this whatever depth pool with a minimum amount of water. So that was the – I believe that's the sole purpose of this is so that we can at least – Sure. Yes. If it's abandoned pools, right, who is going to put up the fence? We are? The county? Abandoned meaning there may be a property owner that's living there. They just don't care about their pool anymore, and they've taken their – and their yard is accessible to the neighborhood and everybody else, and we're trying to keep it – keeping – that's all. Sorry. I just – I'm just thinking the logic of how you enforce something like this. I have a pool fence around my pool. I have a three-and-a-half-year-old. I fully get it. The concept, I understand 100%. The person who is doing the code enforcement problem that the neighborhood doesn't like, they're not going to put a fence up. And if we code enforce them, what enforcement do we have to force them to put up a fence? At that point, it's fines, Commissioner. Right. Which we may never collect until 20 years expires, and then we get to this whole thing we talked about a month and a half ago with what should be the value of a code enforcement, 10% of the penalty or the property's value. So, I just – I get why you're trying to do it. I just don't know how you enforce it. That's the problem. Maybe Ms. Woods will put some clarity to it. When you asked, has this happened, I'm here to tell you it has. It hasn't been in the past year, but a few years ago, I know there were at least – at least one, maybe two oven battles between two neighbors, and the one neighbor didn't want to have his fence up, and so he drained the pool down and kept the fence down, and the other neighbor had grandchildren, just as one of the commissioners described, and there was an issue of safety, but they were able to get around it if they said that they, you know, that they didn't have water in it, so it's – it was – I believe that it bore out of those kind of situations where folks just don't want to put their fences up, and I will tell you that when I was actively dealing with code enforcement, there are folks that if they get a visit from the code enforcement officer, that's enough, and they'll put the fence up. Not with someone who completely doesn't want to comply, but – It's incredibly expensive right now. I'm sorry? It's incredibly expensive right now, and you can only get black now. You can't get white anymore. Not that that matters. I'm just sharing with you, having done this recently. I just – I'm sure it'll pass. I just – I'm trying to understand – that's one case, and the logic behind changing a code for one case that just – I wasn't saying it was one case. I was just saying I have been familiar with a case, and maybe – I don't know if Mr. Doherty's in the building. I'm not voting against anything that's progress safety, so you got my vote. But anyway, go ahead, Commissioner Campy. I was going to say similar. Can you tell us – you mentioned it briefly. This came up based on – you started this whole process based on, like, how did you hear about that this was necessary from our code enforcement? Correct. Yes. Our code enforcement officers. So they came forward and said, we're having an issue. Can you address it? You did the research. Yes. Came up with this language. Yes. And, you know, I do know that 75% of – give or take – most drownings of children happen in someone else's yard. They don't normally drown in their own pools. They drown in a neighbor's pool. And sadly, in Palm City, we've had a couple of cases. A gentleman worked at Publix. His son drowned while his wife was visiting friends in the neighbor's pool. So if this is – look, I'm not in favor of, you know, creating undue bureaucracy and rules, but this is about child safety, that you heard real life experience from our staff that's responsible for doing this, and you're our attorney that crafted this language, and it's about children's safety, I make a motion to accept staff's recommendation. Second. Commissioner Hillington. He needs to even ask. So if the pool was drained down completely and utterly no water, then you don't have to have the fence? Yes, as it's written, if there would be no water, well, you would still need the fence because it's capable of containing more than 24 inches of water. You would still need the fence if there was no water in it. Well, you know what it's like – Anything capable of holding more than 24 inches? It has to be a swimming pool, a spa, or a hot tub, one of those three. I just – I think it needs work, too. It just seems very hard to enforce, and do we have the manpower to enforce it, and they've got so much on their plate. I haven't heard any. They're the ones that asked for it, though. Commissioner Smith. I'm trying to think if I should even bring up this example. No. Years and years ago, you weren't here. It might have been too long ago. We passed a cat leash law. This is not dissimilar to me. How do you enforce a cat leash law? You don't, other than if your cat's neighbor is climbing into the back of your convertible top, which is what the example was, which is why we changed that rule, and it was peeing in the guy's convertible top, which is why we put a cat leash law in place. Good luck enforcing it. Not you, code enforcement. All right. Did you make a motion? Mm-hmm. Did somebody second it? Mm-hmm. Oh, look at there. Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Campy. Campy? I know. Seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion carries three to two. Hetherington and Smith dissenting. You didn't think you were getting a split vote on that? Wow. Not this morning, Commissioner. Thank you. 24%. 24 inches. Okay. Next up, Department Quasi-Judicial No. 1. Is that where we're going here? I request for approval for the third amendment to the Reserve at Park Trace Plan Unit Development Zoning Agreement, including a revised master final site plan and amended reserve preserve area management plan. Mr. Brian Elam. Good afternoon. Quasi. Oh, Commissioner Smith, do you have any quasi-Judices? If I do, they're filed. If any, they've been filed. I don't know if I have any, but if I do, they've been filed. I don't have any, and I filed that. I don't know if I have any, but if I do, they've been filed. Okay. Everybody want to stand and be? Raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Any interveners? No interveners. No interveners. Has all the proper paperwork been turned in? A copy of my work history and the agenda item to turn in is Exhibit 1. Perfect. I think we're good. All right. Carry on. All right. Thank you, Chairman. Commissioners, for the record, Brian Elam, Principal Planner with the Growth Management Department. This is a request by Lucido and Associates on behalf of D.R. Horton Incorporated for approval of the Third Amendment to the Preserve at Park Trace PUD Zoning Agreement, including a revised master final site plan. This proposed amendment is for an internal road extension to connect to and serve as the main access to the adjacent Phase 2 of the Cove Royale PUD and an amended PAMP, included as a request for a certificate of public facilities exemption. Thank you, Ben. The subject site is located at 2320 Southeast Cove Road, generally at the southwest intersection of Southeast Cove Road and Southeast Willoughby Boulevard in Stewart. The primary access for the site is located on the south side of Southeast Cove Road at the Willoughby Boulevard intersection via the street named Southeast Park Trace Drive. The Preserve at Park Trace PUD was approved September 28, 2021 for 114 single-family homes and associated infrastructure on approximately 97 acres with a gross density of 1.2 units per acre. By way of the Second Amendment, approved November 21, 2023, the total units was reduced by two from 114 to 112 to accommodate the addition of common recreational amenities and the extension of a private road or stub-out to provide legal access and utilities to Phase 2 of the Cove Royale planned unit development. The Traffic Division of Public Works Department determined this application satisfies the adequate public facility standard. It is exempt as it is a development, a development alteration, or an expansion that does not create additional impact on the roadway network. Subject property has the estate density, two units per acre, future land use designation, and a planned unit development zoning agreement. This amendment proposes a revision to the master final site plan and preserve area management plan to allow construction of a connector road named Southeast Royal Preserve Way to the Phase 2 area of the adjacent Cove Royale PUD. The white dashed line is the boundary line between the two different PUDs. You can see that there's a Phase 1 Cove Royale PUD, which has been approved and under construction, and this area right here is where the connection is to be made. The applicant made a request to amend the approved PAMP for minor alterations of wetland and wetland buffer preserve areas for the purpose of constructing an access road through this project that will connect to Phase 2 of the Cove Royale project. As part of this proposal, an environmental waiver application was approved by the Growth Management Director, allowing .04 acres, or 1,800 square feet, of wetland impacts and .03 acres of secondary wetland impacts for the construction of the road. This additional wetland impact for access to Phase 2 of Cove Royale has been demonstrated by the applicant to be minimal and will be offset by the original mitigation area that includes the creation of 1.94 acres of marsh wetlands by converting highly degraded Malaleuca uplands near the entrance of the community. This wetland creation was permitted with the approval of the original PUD and provided a surplus of mitigation at the time for the main access road to the project. So here's a slide showing where the wetland creation is occurring, which is up near the main entrance for the Preserve at Park Trace. And this is a close-up of the connector road for the Preserve at Park Trace. It's just this section right here. It goes through the wetland preserve and wetland and wetland buffer preserve. The stub out was already approved in the Second Amendment. I also wanted to mention, though, that in the construction on the Preserve at Park Trace, for the right-of-way through that area, they're going to use retaining walls. The use of the retaining walls limits the right-of-way width to 50 feet maximum and reduces the impacts through the wetland and preserve areas significantly from conventional roadways with sloped shoulders. Review of this application by the local planning agency is not required, and development staff have reviewed and found the D.R. Horton Incorporated application to comply with all applicable regulations and the comprehensive growth management plan as detailed in the staff report. The staff recommends approval of this application. We move that the board receive and file the agenda item and all its attachments, including the staff report as Exhibit 1. And move the board approve the Third Amendment to the Preserve at Park Trace PUD zoning agreement, including the revised master final site plan and amended PAMP. That concludes the presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Any questions for staff? Seeing none. Mr. Crady? Good afternoon. Again, for the record, Morris Crady, senior partner with Lucido and Associates. And this is one of those rare cases where I've had two clients and two separate builders work together to improve the environment by eliminating the road in Cove Royale Phase 2 that was going to bisect a large wetland area. So by working together and D.R. Horton providing access through the Preserve at Park Trace, we limit that impact to 1,800 square feet versus what would have been a couple acres. And that couple acres that would have been impacted is now going to be restored to wetlands on the Cove Royale project. So Cove Royale is paying for all that work and amending their PAMP to accomplish that. And you'll see that in the next agenda item is Cove Royale. But the Preserve at Park Trace is cooperating, providing them Phase 2 access through their project and also allowing them to access the common facilities, recreational facilities, at the Preserve at Park Trace. So they'll be kind of divested from Cove Royale PUD because of the access improvement. With that understanding, I'll be glad to answer any questions. Any questions for the applicant? Seeing none. Do we have any public comment? Seeing none. Back to the board. Commissioner Smith. Who's asked for our condition? Second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Next up, Department Quasi-Dedicial No. 2, request approval of the 3rd Amendment to Cove Royale Planned Unit Development Zoning Agreement, C165-007, including a revised master and phasing plan, Phase 2 Final Site Plan, and amended Preserve Area Management Plan. Mr. Elam. Oh, we need to stand and be sworn in again. Raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? They're filed. If any, they've been filed. Any that have been filed? I don't have any. They've been filed. If any, they've been filed. All right. Any interveners? No interveners. All the appropriate paperwork in the right place? Copy of the agenda item in my work history. Been tuned in. And we're there. Take it away. Thank you, Chairman, Commissioners. For the record, Brian Elam, Principal Planner with the Growth Management Department. This is a request by Lucido and Associates on behalf of KH Cove Royale LLC for a third amendment to the Cove Royale Planned Unit Development Zoning Agreement, including a revised master phasing plan and revised Phase 2 Final Site Plan. The proposed amendment will remove the previously proposed paved road on an existing man-made berm which connected Phase 1 to Phase 2. Alternative access is proposed to Phase 2 through the private roads within the adjacent preserve at Park Trace PUD, included as a request for a Certificate of Public Facilities Reservation. The subject site is located on the south side of Southeast Cove Road, east of Southeast Grace Lane, approximately .14 miles west of Southeast Alt Avenue in Stewart. The Cove Royale PUD was approved on March 26, 2019, and is a two-phase project, originally approved for 118 single-family homes on approximately 97 acres with a gross density of 1.22 units per acre. Phase 1, consisting of 83 single-family homes and associated infrastructure, was platted on June 18th and completed post-approval on September 16th. That's 2024. Construction of Phase 1 is ongoing. Phase 2 was approved for 37 single-family homes. This proposal will remove three single-family lots from Phase 2 to accommodate the construction of the proposed access from the Preserve at Park Trace PUD and reduce Phase 2 lots from 37 to 34. And as previously stated in the last agenda item, the Traffic Division of Public Works Department determined this application satisfies the adequate public facility standards. It is exempt as it is a development, a development alteration or expansion that does not create additional impact on the roadway network. Subject property has a state density, two units per acre future land use designation, and PUD zoning. The applicant is requesting removal of the approved access from the west between Phase 1 and Phase 2 over an existing man-made berm and the construction of an alternative vehicular and pedestrian access from the east that will connect Phase 2 of the Cove Royale PUD through the private roads within the adjacent Preserve at Park Trace PUD. The request for the alternative access requires an amendment to the Preserve Area Management Plan for minor alterations of wetland and wetland buffer preserve areas. As part of this proposal, an environmental waiver application was also reviewed and approved by the Growth Management Director allowing .02 acres of direct wetland impacts and .02 acres of secondary wetland impacts for the construction of the road. The purple dashed line here shows the property boundaries between the two PUDs. Also visible here, you can see where the existing berm is that will be removed. It's across the entire Phase 2 area of Cove Royale. The following table compares the proposed impacts and mitigation using the Wetland Rapid Assessment Procedure, or RAP, with a W, which is a rating index developed by the South Florida Management Water District to assist the regulatory evaluation of mitigation sites. The removal of the man-made berm that has bisected the marsh wetland and the creation of the wetlands in the areas the berm is removed, as well as the proposed construction of the alternative access using retaining walls to limit the right-of-way to 50 feet maximum, have more than adequately satisfied the mitigation requirements necessary for the approval of the waiver. Reconnecting the two wetlands will improve the wetland hydrology by making this marsh sloth that continues south into the state park whole again. The amended PAMP adds the mitigation areas into the preserve areas for this subdivision. South of both of these properties is, I think it's the Atlantic Ridge State Park. A review of this application by the local planning agency is not required. Board and development review staff have found the KH Cove Royale LLC application to comply with all applicable regulations and the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan, as detailed in the staff report. Staff recommends approval of this application. Move the board receive and file the agenda item and all of its attachments, including the staff report as Exhibit 1. Move that the board approve the third amendment to the Cove Royale PUD zoning agreement, including a revised master and phasing plan and amended PAMP, and move the board approve a resolution to approve the Cove Royale PUD Phase 2 final site plan. Concludes that presentation. I'll answer any questions if you have any. Any questions for staff? Seeing none. Applicant. Again, for the record, Morris Crady, senior partner with the Cedar & Associates. So I want to thank Brian for a very detailed and well-done report that shows the improvements that we're making, and this is Coulter Homes part of the agreement. And together, you know, it creates a tremendous environmental benefit. And with that, we'd be glad to answer any questions. Any questions for the applicant? Seeing none. Any public comment? Seeing none. Commissioner Smith? Second. Okay, we have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Okay. Thank you. Department Quasi-Judicial No. 3. Platt request approval for Loggerhead Estates Project Loggerhead Estates L086-002. Mr. Elam, you're up again, and so we need to stand and be sworn in. Raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? What do you call it? Ex-parte. Ex-parte. If I do, they're filed. I don't believe I do either, and if any, they've been filed. I don't think so either, but if I do, they've been filed. I don't have any. I don't have any, and they've been filed. Okay, with that, would you please turn in the proper paperwork to the proper person? Thank you, Chairman. And with that, take it away. A copy of my work history and the agenda item has been turned in as Exhibit 1. This is a request by Creech Consulting Incorporated on behalf of the Medalist Building Group, LLC, for approval of the Loggerhead Estates plat. The plat is consistent with the Loggerhead Estates revised final site plan for a 23-lot residential development in an existing church. Included with this application is a request for a certificate of public facilities exemption. The Loggerhead Estates final site plan was approved on July 14, 2023. As a result of the review of the plat application, minor technical adjustments were required to the previously approved final site plan for the Loggerhead Estates project to ensure consistency with the plat in accordance with Article 10 of the Martin County Land Development Regulations. I just want to call attention to one minor technical change, which is that the project name was formerly known as Loggerhead Estates 2, and it is now known as Loggerhead Estates. Project location, project site is located at 1360 Southwest 34th Terrace, generally on the south side of Southwest 34th Street, approximately .13 miles west of Southwest Map Road in Palm City. Here's the four-page plat. Review of this application is not required by the local planning agency, and development review staff have found the application to comply with all applicable regulations of the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan as detailed in the staff report. Staff recommends approval of the plat, and we move the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments, including the staff report as Exhibit 1, and move the board approve the Loggerhead Estates plat and the contract for construction of required improvements in infrastructure. And that completes the presentation. Any questions for staff? Mr. Creech. For the record, I am not Morris Crady and a senior partner of Lacedo and Associates. Good afternoon. Rick Creech, Creech Consulting. Essentially, just here is a formality to record the plat or get the plat approved by the commission. We support staff's approval. So I know it's been a long meeting, so for the sake of brevity, I'll avoid, you know, any further discussion. So thank you very much for your kind attention. Half a day compared to the city of Stewart. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Commissioner Smith. I'm planning no. Did we ask public? No, not yet. Oh. Did we have public? We don't have. Did I ask public? Oh. Is there any public comment? Sorry. Seeing none. Commissioner Smith? Second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Campy. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? The motion carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Have a great day. Okay. Department number one, nine items, Office of Management and Budget that require board approval. Thank you. Stephanie Murley. Good pronunciation. This is an old one. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Stephanie Murley here to give you this week's OMB item. So, the first item is a permission to apply for the FY2425 Florida Department of Environmental Protection Legislative Appropriation Grant for Martin County's Bessie Creek Retrofit Project. This is a requested grant award of $500,000 for the replacement of four roadway drainage crossings. The proposed Bessie Creek Colvert Capacity Project will increase capacity, reduce erosion, and reduce flooding in the Bessie Creek Watershed. And there is no cash match required on this. The next item is a permission to apply for the Florida Department of State Division of Library and Information Services state annual state aid grant for libraries. The library department is requesting to apply for $76,270 for managing and coordinating free library services to Martin County residents. And there is no cash match required on that. Item number three is a permission to accept the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA Assistance to Firefighters grant for fire prevention and safety. Our fire rescue fire prevention division is requesting to accept $30,961.90 to launch a new project called SAFE, which is smoke alarms for everyone. There is a cash match required of $1,548 that is provided from the fire prevention's operational budget. Item number four is a permission to accept the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters grant for staffing for adequate fire and emergency response. This is a grant award of $5,897,538 over a three-year period to hire 18 additional firefighter paramedic positions to support fire rescue operations and maintain the high level of service requirements outlined in our growth management plan. There is no grant match requirement. We will have to initially provide $100,000 in the first year for personal protective equipment, which is available in the capital improvement plan. And the fire rescue chief is here to do a little presentation on that. A little? A little. Good afternoon, commissioners. Chad Chancholi, fire chief, Martin County Fire Rescue. If you recall, earlier this year, we came to the board to request permission to apply for the FEMA SAFE grant. SAFE stands for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response. The grant is designed for departments to get to the national standard for proper staffing and response to emergency scenes. And FEMA covers this cost at 100% for a three-year term. So we're excited to announce that we have been awarded the FEMA SAFE grant for 18 additional firefighters. And that's a total savings to the taxpayers of $5.89 million. And we are here today to request permission to accept. What I'd like to do, though, is talk about a little bit of the history of the staffing shortage, of what brought us here today to even talk about the FEMA SAFE grant. If you recall, back in 2022, we came before the board, and we gave reports about the increase of demand for the 911 services from the community. It was such an increase of demand that we had to put additional trucks on the road to meet the demand to maintain the same level of service that we have today. Unfortunately, we did not have the personnel to staff those trucks. So they were subsidized with 100% overtime. So the problem that we had at that time was the fact that we had unsustainable overtime, and we were trending roughly $3.8 million, and we were doing something called mandatory overtime as well, meaning if I had an employee that works a typical 24-hour shift, and if I could not bring them any kind of relief the next day, I would have to force them to stay an additional 24 hours, which means they worked a consecutive 48 hours without going home. So that was something that we couldn't sustain for any longer. So we came to the board, and we requested permission to apply in 2022 for the FEMA SAFER grant of 40 additional firefighters. Unfortunately, later that year, we came to the board, and we were not awarded that grant. However, we still had an unsustainable overtime rate, and we still had a stressed labor force because of mandated overtime. So we made a request for an immediate hire of 20 additional firefighters. You were able to grant us that request, we were able to get them on the street, and we had a significant reduction with the stress on the labor force, and we had a significant reduction in the overtime as well. So this next slide, I want to slow it down just a little bit. FY23, overtime was $3.8 million. FY24, after we brought the 20 on board, trained them, and got them to the street, we reduced our overtime to $748,000. That was a savings of $3.1 million in one year of overtime. But the question is this. You've reduced your overtime, but you hired 20 people over here. There's a cost to that, so let's talk about it. The 20 full-time employees that we brought on cost $1.9 million. So let's break it down. I'm going to start with FY23, overtime was $3.8 million. In FY24, the 20 employees cost plus the overtime that happened that year came out to $2.6 million. My total reduction in savings is $1.17 million in one year to the taxpayers. So it's an important slide I just wanted to mention because that was very impactful of the fiscal responsibility that the decisions that have been made with this board and our organization. So next what I want to talk about is what's the benefits of SAFER? What's it do for the organization, and what's it do for the community? So first what I want to talk about is the increase of firefighters on scene with less apparatus. What does that mean? If I take a standard house fire, structure fire, and if you're in the neighborhood, and unfortunately your neighbor is going through that, you would look down the street, and you would see fire apparatus lined up all the way down the street. And the question is, why so many fire trucks to put out one house fire? And the response has always been the same. It's not that I need all the fire trucks. I need the people on the fire trucks to put out the house fire. National standard, I have to assemble 17 firefighters on scene of a typical residential structure fire within eight minutes of time. And that's a standard that we're maintaining here. But that's why it takes so many trucks. However, if we're able to accept this SAFER grant, I'm able to accomplish the same goals and objectives with the same amount of personnel with less apparatus, meaning less emergency vehicles driving on the road, less congestion in these communities. But let me move on to the next, the single unit response for less serious calls. If we talk about 911, about 85 to 88 percent of what we have coming in through 911 is medical. If I staff our rescues, which some refer to as an ambulance, if I staff them properly, these lower level medical calls, I can handle with one single unit response over 90 percent of the time. So what's that mean to the community? Well, it means I can take these engines and these ladder trucks. I can keep them available in zone so they are designed to respond to calls that they were built for, such as motor vehicle collisions, structure fires, train collisions, and then hazardous material calls. That's what these trucks are designed to do, not chase medical calls every day, all day. And then lastly, I'm able to reduce the mandatory overtime because we have the adequate staffing. So in the next slide, I want to talk about pursuing funding opportunities. This is something that we're very proud of. If I just take you back 16 years, just 16 years, and if I talk about the funding opportunities that we've been aggressively pursuing, in 16 years of time, we have been able to achieve $17 million in grant funding. That's $17 million we took off the backs of the taxpayers. And I'm going to give credit where credit is due. This is because of Matt Rush. This is because of his intestinal fortitude and his attention to detail. The application processes with these grants are so meticulous. If you have one error, you're completely washed out of the system. But Matt, because he is so meticulous with his approach, he has accomplished to receive $17 million over 16 years. So that's a huge accomplishment for Matt. Thank you. Matt loves it when I talk about it. It's lushing. All right, so in closing. Hold on a minute. His wife and kids love that meticulous attitude. Right. You know, it's so weird, like what you just said about that whole thing. He builds his stone walls exactly the same. Like, so there's a theme here of his. There's some math involved with that. He's meticulous. But so in closing, I just want to cap with why we're here. We're here today requesting permission to accept the FEMA Safer Grant for 18 firefighters at a total value of $5.89 million of a savings to the community. And it's funded by FEMA for three years at 100%. And if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to take them. Any questions? Good work. Yep. Commissioner Smith. Do you want to, Stephanie, are you going to do these all together or do you want to? I'll do this one, Stephanie. You can do this. We can do it all. However you want. I'll wait. Okay. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. That seems rather anticlimactic. He was looking for an emotion. Yeah. Yeah. Don't go away. Mr. Donaldson, is that your? It is. I had one additional item that I'd ask to be included. If you're going to take them all, you're not done? Let's separate. It's all right. Yeah. So they can separate four and the rest of them. Would you like to vote on the last one? The last one. The Safer Grant. Yeah. I'd like to separate that. Okay. That's what we thought. So. Make a motion. I've got a couple more. Yeah, but we're going to take this one now. Okay. This is item four, correct? Five. Five. Four. Four. Four. Okay. Tom, I would move approval of the request to accept the Safer Grant of item four. Second. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Opposed. Motion carries four to one with Commissioner Hurd dissenting. Now you can go. Thank you. We'll bundle the rest. All right. Is that okay? Yeah. Yeah. Item number five is a permission to accept the contract between Senior Resource Association and the Martin County Board of County Commissioners to provide the 10% local match to the Transportation Disadvantaged Trip and Equipment Grant. This is an annual grant that we have with the Senior Resource Association. It's to supply the local match funds of 10% in the amount of $89,474 total, which is budgeted in the MPO operating budget. Item number six is another permission to accept the contract between Senior Resource Association and to provide the 10% local match for their other grant, the Transportation Disadvantage Innovative Service or ISD Development Grant. This is for the amount of $38,637 to supply the local match for that, and this is also budgeted within the MPO's operating budget. Item number seven is a budget resolution to accept funds received from the Florida Department of Emergency Management, or FDEM, for Hurricanes Ian and Hurricane Nicole beach erosion. Back in 2023, we were notified that we would be eligible to receive some FEMA funding from FEMA through FDEM for hurricane-related beach erosion expenses because of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, and throughout this fiscal year, the county has received these funds in the amount of $855,172 for Ian and almost $2,197,000 for Nicole. No cash match is required because it is covered by the state's legislator SB-4 waiver agreement. The next item is a budget resolution to allocate the private contribution from the Sailfish Point POA for the Bathtub Beach Sailfish Point Maintenance Project. The POA has provided the county $192,655 for their portion of the 2024 Bathtub Beach Maintenance Project and 2025 Bathtub Beach Project Monitoring. And the last item on my agenda is just mosquito controls requesting the execution of their annual certified budget for arthropod control. Every year, there's an annual submission of mosquito controls budget to the state Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and they require receipt of this certified budget, and we are just requesting that the board authorize the chair to execute this budget to the state. And then Mr. Donaldson has another item. I don't know if this is good news. It is good news, actually, but it's not, it doesn't come for free, unfortunately. And that is the Martin County Sheriff's Office has entered into a settlement agreement on a previous inmate medical provider, Armour, to settle a matter regarding a catastrophic inmate medical bills. Staff is, and so there's been an ongoing lawsuit between the Armour, which we had discharged, or the Sheriff had. Ms. Woods and I had assisted the Sheriff's Department when they were going through that. It is, I believe, clearly in the public's interest to settle this case. It was in the order of millions of dollars of where this started, and there is a settlement of $200,000, and staff is requesting a budget transfer from health care medical fund reserves, which is for indigent care, which is also used for inmate medical. So we have that in that fund there, so that would be for this, so it would not impact your other budgetary items or your general fund reserve. So we're recommending that you approve the transfer of $200,000 from health care medical fund reserves to remit to the Sheriff's Office for the settlement cost. Commissioner Smith, include that in your motion. I will. So, Stephanie, that would be item? Ten. Ten? Ten? So I would move that we add item ten to Stephanie's Department one, right? Mm-hmm. Agenda item, and that is to move $200,000, correct, Don? Yes. From the which account? Health care medical fund reserves. Thank you. And approval of the remainder of that agenda item, less item four, which we already voted on. Perfect. Second. Okay. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hetherington. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. So we have reached the end of our agenda except for our 505 preset, which is... No, we haven't. That scared me. Except for public hearing number 14, which is our fiscal year budget hearing, which is at 505. So you have an option, Ms. Calabrese. Would you like to wait until 505? Or would you like to do 505 public comment now? All right. Come on. Frequent flyer today. Donna Calabrese, for the record. And because I ran out of time, I'm not sure that all my comments were captured, so I'm going to say what I was finishing up with on the last time. In the package we got today, I got a copy of the letter from the Guardians of Martin County addressed to Mr. Schilling. And it talks about there was an agreement to complete a study of the Western lands. I don't know what that means, so I'm really not commenting but asking, what did that mean? What were we expecting to get? Why did it not happen so that I understand what this organization wants to do, see if I want to give them my support? So I'm not sure what the county agreed to do as far as completing a study of the Western lands, if you could help me. I'd like some clarification on that myself, so continue your three minutes aren't up, so. I'm done. Oh, that's it? Yeah. So I guess I have to go to Mr. Braun to find out? No. No? We're going to find out right now. Oh, okay. Good. Thank you. We've been talking about this and talking about this, and where are we at with our Western lands study? Well, in our conversation with you all, we did the growth management work on just reviewing our existing studies as opposed to embarking on a brand new public relations. Where are we with all that? So staff will bring back to you a status, but we've had some presentations on different reports on where we're at, but I'll have Mr. Schilling come in and give you an update on that. So we'll have an agenda item on that in the future. Yes. So I have all of your information, and I will make sure that somebody makes you aware of that when that actually happens. Hopefully it happens before I exit stage left. So, um... Virginia? Give me your card up there. Oh. Oh. Forgot. Laverne. Laverne. Didn't our Transportation Disadvantage Department win a statewide award? Yes, I did. I thought you were going to make any motion. That's what I thought you were going to say. No? No. No. It's one in the whole state out of 40 different groups. Thank you. Very hurtful. While she's making her way up to the front, I did get word, and I forgot in this morning's commissioner comments. Keep coming. Our train station, AT&T, is finally off strike. Our train station is actually... Hope Sound. Hope Sound. No. Yes. Oh, that's right. The Hope Sound train station is scheduled to be moved October, Sunday, October 6th. They will commence operations out west of Hope Sound at 4 a.m. They should be into the U.S. 1 area by 5-ish. So they promised me it's going to happen. But there is a lot of moving parts with this. It's been postponed a number of different times. But anyway, hopefully that's going to happen. So with that said, ma'am, could you state your name? And did you turn in a thing? You did. Okay. Yes, I did. My name is Laverne Williams, and I'm sorry for being late. But the question is, was this the last meeting to talk about the disadvantage, whether or not the county would be granting funding for that? Or where would I go to find that information now? We're going to let Mr. Donaldson answer that question. Yes. So the board, during our budget public hearing, approved an increase in the transportation disadvantaged. There was a request for, I think it was approximately $400,000. The board granted a grant of half of that with a request to revisit it in February and fund balance to see if the remaining portion could be done. So there is partial funding of the program, and we are working with our provider on how we can provide their funding from now to February, and then when we have a meeting in February to talk with the board, we could possibly fund the same amount for the rest of the year. Okay. And then so can I ask one more question that goes with that? Does the company that handles the transportation now, they're preparing to prepare for next year's budget to see if the state will provide us the grant of the $400,000, or that has to wait, or I'm a little... So we can talk about it after so that will not waste the commissioner's time, but the short answer is that, yes, there is a goal to continue to restore the funding back to where it was in the past to continue the service at the same level. But that grant... Yes. ...year of that funding, which is why we had to... We had to add additional funding for half of the year to get us to where we are today. Right. So the... Yes, so we're getting into... The goal is to get the state to restore the funding, but there may be a grant cycle or two that we need to go through as the competition in that area was strong, and advocating more funding from the state is part of our goal. With that said, do we... What do we do? We have one other item that we asked you, I'm sorry, since at the end of the day, you had asked for what happened with the city of Stewart regarding Brightline. Mr. Stokas is here to at least tell you where the state is at, and then perhaps we can adjourn until 5.05 for the scheduled final tax hearing. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. George Stokas, Assistant County Administrator with Martin County. To briefly paraphrase what my recollection of what happened with Brightline with the city of Stewart last night was the city of Stewart did give direction to city manager Mortel to work at renegotiating a new deal with the county and Brightline. There was concerns from some of their commissioners as to what relates to the number of times Brightline will stop at the station. There were some numbers thrown out, such as $15 million. There was no comment as to whether that number was too high or was it too low. There was comments from the city commission, at least one said that they felt they did not want to cap the number of dollars committed, but asked Mike Mortel to get back, excuse me, Manager Mortel to get back with the county staff. I have reached out to Mr. Mortel, waiting to hear back from him. I know that meeting went until about midnight last night, as well as I have had conversations with Brightline, but I also have not had a chance to meet with all of you individually to discuss your direction from the previous meeting, but I do have plans to meet with Brightline based on what the city of Stewart has done and conversations with the city of Stewart has done at the beginning of, probably at this point, at the beginning of October. I'm more than happy to answer any questions or comments regarding this, but that's basically where we are at. That's good. That's progress. Commissioner Smith. So what I've heard from individuals that are involved in this is that time is running out relative to us or whoever are doing the negotiating is. And so I guess we keep waiting to hear some clarity from the city as to what would the city accept or not accept or what is the deal, what deal. And at some point, and I had said this at the last meeting, we, I think, are going to have to make a decision for Martin County, not waiting for something to happen. Because from everybody I have heard from, I don't hear that anybody's getting any clarity as to really what's being asked for, and I don't know how that fits with what our original agreement was and so on. So, anyway, I just, my sense of time is getting thinner. Mr. Donaldson. So what my suggestion is is that what staff will continue to do is that your staff will work with the city manager and his staff to negotiate with Brightline and continue to discuss with you individually and then collectively at board meetings to try to come together with agreement. It's certainly our goal and, I think, requirement is the city of Stewart was our partner in this proposal, and we're looking for them to continue to be a necessary partner to secure our agreement. So I think we will meet with, continue to work with the city manager and collectively try to negotiate a proposal with Brightline, and hopefully we'll be able to bring something back to you that a majority of both boards would approve. Commissioner Smith. And somehow, Don, are you going to glean from us how long it will go on? Because I do not hear anything necessarily saying that we're close to an agreement, we've reached an agreement, we have an agreement, and if we're predicating the future of the station on an agreement between the city and us, and Brightline is messaging everybody that they're running out on time, I think we counties still have an opportunity to facilitate the agreement that we originally had in our settlement agreement, as I understand it, Ms. Woods, right? I just wanted to make it clear. Lots of people say lots of things these days. We still have the 2018 settlement agreement, and Brightline still has an obligation to build a station somewhere on the Treasure Coast. A year, almost a year has gone by, so they've got four years. So to the extent that's the time that's running out, but Brightline doesn't, I mean, other than a self-imposed deadline, there's four years. They've got four years times ticking for them to comply with the settlement agreement. So from a timing standpoint. At some point, someone has to say yes or no. We're going to. Correct. Correct. But it's on Brightline. I mean, we're going to go to them, obviously, as Don said, to try to come to a resolution, but that doesn't relieve Brightline of their obligation. We'll do our best. Commissioner Hurt. Yeah. I'm still confident that we can negotiate an agreement with the city and with Brightline because I think it needs to be a three-legged stool. Um, but also I'm mindful that there are two new commissioners who have never held public office before and who are rightly concerned about voting to represent the city of Stewart's residents. And I'm willing to give them a little time to get their, a sense of, of, uh, you know, how government, how local government works. We all were in this position at one time and, and, uh, it's, it's not an enviable position to be in. The first vote that you make, as soon as you're elected is to spend 30 million bucks or not. So I'm, I'm willing to get to give them some, some cushion, um, so that they can feel confident and comfortable that they're making the right decision. My first meeting was to settle the Brightline lawsuit. So yeah, I kind of, I know the feeling. Yeah, it's hard. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway. Um, okay. So I think we're going to, um, pause our meeting till five Oh five and, um, we'll now at, uh, public hearing 14 preset final fiscal year, 2024, 2025 budget public hearing, Stephanie Murley and Mr. Don Donaldson will be doing the presentation. Do you have any remarks or I'll go, I'll, I'll let, uh, Ms. Murley, uh, open it up, but this is our final, uh, is our final public hearing, uh, once, uh, you adopt the budget, um, this will go into effect October 1st. And we appreciate all the, uh, and we appreciate all the hard work that, uh, staff and, uh, the board here put into, uh, to getting the budget to this point. Thank you. Thank you. So good evening, commissioner, Stephanie Murley, director of OMB here to present to you your fiscal year, 2025 final budget public hearing. Um, so as part of the truth and millage process, the board is statutorily required to hold a final public hearing on the tentative budget and millage rates between September 20th and October 8th of the July one certification of taxable values provided by the property appraiser. So we are on our last step for the trim process. So FY 25 tentative budget, the purpose, the millage rates, um, proposed today have been advertised via the trim notices that the property owners received as a result of the budget workshop, which was held on July 22nd of this year. And subsequently in the Stuart news on Fridays, um, Stuart news in the, for the notice of proposed tax increase, the board is required to adopt a tentative budget via approval of resolutions for each taxing authorities, millage rate, and corresponding budgets. The substantive issue to be discussed shall the, shall be the percentage increase in the millage over the rollback rate and the specific purposes for which ad valorem revenues are being increased. So the rollback rate as part of the trim process, the adoption of the budget requires the contemplation of the rollback rate, which is the millage rate that would generate the same amount as the prior year's ad valorem tax revenues, less any allowances for new construction in additions to the valuation pursuant to trim guidelines. The County is permitted to have a millage rate cap of a total of 10 mills for the countywide taxing authority and as well as 10 mills for the cumulative municipal services taxing units or MSTUs. And the proposed rates for fiscal year 2025 are all within the maximum allowable per Florida state statutes. The following are the millage rates that were tentatively approved approved with the budget workshops and tentatively adopted at the first public hearing two weeks ago. Each specific millage rate, rollback rate, and corresponding increase or decrease over the rollback rate will be recited with each resolution adoption. The total new ad valorem generated, if the millage remained constant, would have equated to just under $28 million. The County's actual ad valorem need, based on the budgeted expenditures, amounted to $26.1 million, which resulted in a reduction of the total millage rate from last fiscal year. The ad valorem impacts are noted in our budget driver section and the corresponding budget drivers that we've discussed at the workshops and the previous public hearing. For the FY25 proposed millage rates, overall, the County's millage rate decreased by 0.366% for the countywide taxing authority and 1.117% for unincorporated Martin County. With the total combined millage rate reduction of 0.624%. FY24 to FY25 budget summary. The following is a summary highlighting the changes from FY24 to 25. The County's taxable increased overall by 10.04%, yet the overall budget increased only 5.6%. This budget includes only one additional position for the BOCC, which was the Cybersecurity Manager for Information Technology, and 12 positions cumulatively for all of the constitutional officers. Finally, the total millage rate reflects a reduction from 10.0524 to 9.9897. So for your FY25 final budget hearing requirements, as part of the hearing requirement, the Board must adopt resolutions for final budget adoption. The resolutions are not required to be read in full, but must state the taxing authority, the rollback rate, the percentage increase or decrease over the rollback rate, and the millage to be levied for FY25. The Board must also call for public comment to comply with the public hearing requirements, and this would be an appropriate time to do so. Okay. Do we have any... I don't have any public comment. Okay. So do we have any public comment, saying none? Excellent. So the next step would be to read our resolutions, first the millage rate resolutions, and then the budget totals. Are you ready? Ready. I was waiting for you to say yes. Let's go. Okay. Move. Item A, taxing authority, Board of County Commissioners, countywide, rollback rate 6.1603, percentage of increase over the rollback rate, 6.77, final millage rate to be set at 6.5776. Second. Move. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item B, taxing authority, Board of County Commissioners, countywide, fund total, $287,679,714. Seven. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Oops. How did that get? Hang on. A second. Sorry. Move. Item C, taxing authority, District 1, MSTU, rollback rate, .0660, increase, a percentage of increase over the rollback rate, 8.18, final millage to be set at .0714. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item D, taxing authority, District 1, MSTU, fund total, $372,909. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item E, taxing authority, District 2, MSTU, rollback rate, .0828, percentage of increase over the rollback rate, a reduction of 1.69, final millage rate to be set at .0814. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? All in favor? All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item F, taxing authority, District 2, MSTU, 215,000, even, fund total. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item G, taxing authority, District 3, MSTU, rollback rate, .0377, percentage of increase over the rollback rate, 7.16, final millage rate to be set at .0404. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item H, taxing authority, District 3, MSTU, fund total, $234,514. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item I, taxing authority, District 4, MSTU, rollback rate, .107, percentage of increase over the rollback rate, a reduction of 1.33, final millage rate to be set at .0520. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item J, taxing authority, District 4, MSTU, fund total, $214,309. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item K, taxing authority, District 5, MSTU, rollback rate, .0754, percentage of increase over the rollback rate, a reduction of 2.52, final millage rate to be set at .0735. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item L, taxing authority, District 5, MSTU, fund total, $370,000 even. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item M, taxing authority, Special District A-61, Hutchinson Island, MSTU, rollback rate to be set at .1814, percentage of increase over the rollback rate, a reduction of 0.50, final millage rate to be .1805. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item N is Nancy, taxing authority, Special District A-61, Hutchinson Island, MSTU, fund total, $392,100. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item O, taxing authority, fire, rescue, MSTU, unincorporated, rollback rate, 2.5071, percentage of increase over the rollback rate, 6.41, final millage rate to be set at 2.6677. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item P, as in Peter, taxing authority, fire, rescue, MSTU, unincorporated, $76,759,742. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Item Q, taxing authority, countywide, MSTU, unincorporated, stormwater, and road maintenance, rollback rate, 0.5572, percentage of increase over the rollback rate, 4.95, final millage rate to be set at 0.5848. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item R, as in Robert, taxing authority, countywide, MSTU, unincorporated, stormwater, and road maintenance, fund total, $13,468,110. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item S, as in Sam, taxing authority, MSTU, parks and recreation, rollback rate, 0.1520, percentage of increase over the rollback rate, 5.00. Final millage rate to be set at 0.1596. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Item T, as in Tom, taxing authority, MSTU, parks and recreation, fund total, $4,036,962. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Item U, non-taxing fund, general unincorporated fund, fund total, $7,000,000. $4,478,494. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item V, as in Victor, non-taxing fund, building and permitting, fund total, $10,782,000, even. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item W, non-taxing fund impact fees, fund total, $5,205,879. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item X, non-taxing fund, special revenue, fund total, $29,611,528. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item Y, as in yellow, grants, non-taxing fund, fund total, $682,371. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item Z as in Zebra, non-taxing fund, other debt service, fund total, $8,326,084. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item AA, non-taxing fund, other capital projects, fund total, $13,462,385. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item BB, non-taxing fund, utilities, enterprise, fund total, $113,839,158. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item C, non-taxing fund, solid waste, enterprise, fund total, $43,924,920. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item DD, non-taxing fund, airport, enterprise, fund total, $2,711,413. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Motion carries unanimously. Move. Item double E, golf course, enterprise, non-taxing fund, fund total, $3,458,409. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Moved item double E, non-taxing fund, internal service, funds, fund total, $40,637,992. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion passes unanimously. Move. Item double E, non-taxing fund, trust, fund total, $80,000. Second. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Lastly, move item double H, non-taxing fund, community redevelopment area, trust, $8,711,626. Motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Very good. With that, that was your last step of the budget process. I just want to thank the board for all of your support and direction this year. County administration, the county attorney's office for providing their constant support, all the department directors and their staff for working with us, and lastly, my OMB staff of 11. I appreciate this was my first go as director, and I really appreciate everything that you guys did. You did a terrific job. Thank you. That's all I got for you. It's over. All right. And with that, we are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.