To our May 6th, 2025 Board of County Commission meeting, I'm calling the meeting to order. Please join us for a moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, which is going to be directed by Chris Counselor, who is a U.S. Navy and retired Coast Guard. Mr. Counselor, would you lead us, please? Good morning. Ready? 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. Would you please tell us about your career? I did 20 years total of service. I started off four years with the Navy back in 1993. Did A school in Damned Neck, Virginia, which is in Virginia Beach. I moved on to USS Doyle and spent three years there at sea in Mayport, Florida. I took some time off after active duty. 9-11 happened. Life changed, so I decided to re-up my service by joining the Coast Guard Reserve. I finished out my 16 years of service serving the Coast Guard, doing things like I did relief for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I did shuttle ops up at Canaveral, watching the first shuttle launch after the Columbia disaster. Been to Texas, been all over. But I'd also like to recognize my wife, who, for the 30 years of service that I've done in total, we've been married 31 years, and she's been there since the whole operation. So, I appreciate it. Both family enlists. Thank you. What a distinguished career. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. Is there a second? Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor, aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. We will begin with proclamations. The first proclamation is a proclamation declaring Mental Health Awareness Month. Okay. Mental health conditions often have a negative effect on families, creating tension, uncertainty, stress, and significant changes in how children and families live and cope with problems. Mental health is an essential part of the overall health of children and youth and plays a significant role in their physical health and their ability to succeed in school, at work, and in society. Hibiscus Children's Center provides mental health services to children and families in its residential facilities and in the community, serving over 550 children and families annually. In recognition of May as Mental Health Awareness Month, the board commends Hibiscus Children's Center and in their efforts to help children have hope for a brighter future. And we have Matt Markley, the CEO. Please come up, sir. Good morning, folks. It's nice to be here with the commissioner's meeting. I appreciate so much that the commissioners would take time out of your busy schedule. I grew up in Ohio. My dad was a county commissioner in Ohio, and I know the complex issues that he dealt with, and so I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to proclaim May as Mental Health Month. In fact, every month should be Mental Health Month, but somebody has dedicated May as Mental Health Month, so here we are. Why is Mental Health Month important? Well, many kids develop mental illness early in life. If we can intervene with children earlier in life, we can avoid major disruptions in their lives. If a child is hospitalized or gets involved in the juvenile justice system, their lives are irrevocably, irrevocably, rather, that's a hard word to say, irrevocably, say that three times, irrevocably changed. And so what we do at Hibiscus is try to get kids into treatment early, before age 14, so that we can intervene, so they help in school success, academic success, help them develop peer friendships. Those are important in early – their brain is still developing early in life. So Hibiscus actually provides services to about 600 children and families annually. And let me tell you why a person should choose Hibiscus. Well, first of all, we don't have a wait list, okay? Many community mental health agencies have a wait list. We do not. We can get you into treatment within a few days, a couple days after you call for an appointment. By the way, you can call for an appointment by going to our website and finding the number. I could tell the number here today, but people probably won't write it down. I can't remember the number anyway, so I won't tell it, but it's on the website, and you can call. We have also – we have 15 part-time or full-time therapists. So why is that important? Well, most therapists, most counselors are trained similarly, but as they get experience, they develop specialties and niches. So if your child has a certain disorder, a certain illness, and if one therapist can't help, we can transfer them to another therapist that can't help. So that's important. And finally, why someone should choose Hibiscus Mental Health Services is we come to the home. We don't make you come to us. We actually send the therapist or counselor out to your home. We provide services to the family in the home or the school or any other community environment that might be comfortable for the family. And one last thing, Hibiscus has won the Reader's Choice Award eight times for Best Community Mental Health Services, eight times since 2015. I think that's 80%, I think, of 10 years, right, if my math is right. That's better than my remembering numbers. So thank you, folks. We appreciate you recognizing Hibiscus today and proclaiming May as Mental Health Awareness Month. Thank you so much. Our next proclamation is a proclamation declaring Stamp Out Hunger Day. Every year on the second Saturday in May, letter carriers across the country collect non-perishable food as part of the nation's largest one-day food drive, distributing the donations to local food banks. And it is important to note that all food collected in our community stays in our community, providing a critical supply for House of Hope and partnering local agencies who strive to empower residents to overcome hunger and hardship. In recognition of Stamp Out Hunger Day on May 10, the board recognizes all letter carriers and local pantry services for their hard work and commitment to their communities. And today we have Rob Ranieri with House of Hope, Chief Executive Officer. And we also have Jeffrey Wagner, National Association of Letter Carriers, with us. Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you for the proclamation. We certainly appreciate it. Our partnership with the National Association of Letter Carriers has a huge impact on Martin County. This is the biggest one-day food drive in the nation. And for us, it will mean well over 60,000 pounds of food that comes in. We're reaching over 8,000 people a month right now direct. We also, through all of our food bank partners, reach about another 18,000. So as we hit summer where need spikes because of our seasonal economy and a lot of jobs that slow down, free and reduced lunch from the schools is off the table as the schools are closed. So we see a jump in the summer, and this drive comes at an opportune time to get us stocked up and ready for the busy months. Again, the partnership with the letter carriers is fantastic. They do an amazing job every year collecting the food. All of our House of Hope staff and volunteers pull it out of the trucks. It comes back to our main office. So it's truly a team effort. The biggest part of the team really is our community, great support from all of the residents. So hopefully everyone has their yellow bag. If you didn't get it, you can fill any old bag. We'll take them all and get that out to your mailbox on Saturday morning. Thank you. Our next proclamation is the proclamation declaring Nurses Week. Professional nursing is an indispensable component of the safety and quality of care of hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients, and the demand for registered nursing services will be greater than ever because of the aging of the American population, emerging health challenges, and the continuing expansion of life-sustaining technologies and the explosive growth of home health care services. In recognition of Nurses Week, May 6 through 12, the board asks residents of Martin County to honor and celebrate registered nurses' accomplishments and efforts to improve our health care system and to show their appreciation not just during this month, but at every opportunity throughout the year. And today we have Meritus Quinto from the Florida Nurses Association Southeast Regional Director. Good morning, everyone. Again, my name is Meritus Quinto, currently the Director of Florida Nurses Association. I'm a Doctor of Nursing Practice and Advanced Practice Nurse, and I am here on behalf of the 440,000 nurses here in Florida, and most especially the residents of Martin County, sharing our appreciation and gratitude to all of you for supporting Nurses Week. I've been a nurse for more than 20 years, and the nursing profession has been longer than that. We started nursing in 1854, but then the core of nursing has never changed. We provide care to our patients. We advocate for our community. And with this Nurses Week proclamation, we are really very grateful for your support as we provide compassionate care for our patients. Nurses, as you know, we have a lot of challenges right now. Workplace violence, nursing shortages, and nursing safety is at large. But with your support, appreciating each of us each day, it makes our days even brighter, making our days provide compassionate care to all of you. So I encourage everyone, not only this week, but each day of each year and every day, to appreciate a nurse for the compassionate care that we provide. Again, thank you so much for your support and support for the nursing profession. And next is Ruby Miller. She's getting a Girl Scout Gold Award. I remember some years ago when Ruby was a little girl, her mother got her a bug collection kit, and it was a necklace, and Ruby was so proud to take that to school and collect bugs with her classmates. So let's see what's your award all about, Ruby. Okay. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Good morning, and thank you to the Martin County Board of County Commissioners and Staff for this proclamation for a project that means so very much to me. My project was to build a community garden at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Palm City to help support the soup kitchen that is on site. I was inspired to do this project while on a youth mission trip to Savannah, Georgia, where I saw firsthand how impactful a community garden could really be. This project would not have been possible without the support of the members of Emanuel Lutheran Church, the Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida, Girl Scout Troop 30164, my friends, and my family. The people in the room today and so many others supported this project through their donations, prayer, and showing up for me to help build the garden. I thank all of them very sincerely. Completing this project after 13 years with the Girl Scouts is truly a dream come true. Thank you again, Commissioner Campy, all commissioners, and Administrator Donaldson for taking the time out of your busy day to recognize this community effort. Madam Chair, while you're taking those pictures, I just wanted to say that in my 14 years of being a commissioner, I've done many Eagle Scout courts of honor for Boy Scouts, and this is only the second time I have ever seen a young lady achieve the goal in Girl Scouting of the Gold Award. It's very, very difficult to receive, and it requires a tremendous amount of effort, so congratulations to Ruby. She owes all of her success to her brother. Next is a proclamation acknowledging those citizens who have participated in the Class 67 of Martin Cares. Good morning, Madam Chair and Commissioners and members of the public. I am George Stokas, Assistant County Administrator. I'm here this morning to share that we have just completed our second session of Martin Cares this year, the 67th Class. We are now over 3,000 residents who have firsthand knowledge of the structure and function of our local county government. Through Martin Cares, we provide residents an opportunity to meet people who are working every day to make our community strong, resilient, and a beautiful and accessible place to live. As always, we are excited to have a few employees in the class as well. It gives them a chance to interact with the public and provide perspective, although I believe the public provides them more perspective. Strengthening connections and giving them the opportunity to see some of the projects and people, and the work, but have never been an opportunity to meet face-to-face. We have a few class representatives here this morning. I'd like to read their names and invite them to come into the... I always forget... Well. The well. Thank you. I was about to say the pool, which might be an upgrade we'll talk about in public comment, right? This morning, I'd like to read their names and invite them to come into the well and then join us all for a photo. And first of all, I apologize if I say your name incorrectly. Charlie, Charlie Cottrell, Patricia Davis. Oh, I apologize. I'm sorry. Yes. Yes. Maybe we can do a little music. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. Okay. Charlie Cottrell, Patricia Davis, Tom Davis, Rob Fedders, Diana Giles, Allison... Oh, sorry. You know, I apologize. Allison Kowalski, Michael Kowalski. I apologize beforehand. Gabriel Leveso, Louis Manning, Sandra McDonald, Mary Nager, Kathy Sycora, Marjorie Watson, Sherry White, and last but not least, Carolyn Wood. Congratulations. I'll go squish in for a photo. Get in there. I would like to add that our best class ever. Just so we can get the commissioner's head in there. Thank you. Guys, I have your certificates. It's in the lobby if you want to do next time. Thank you. Thank you for sponsoring this program. We will. We will. We'll enjoy this. There we go. Thank you. I wish everybody might have done what this is. Well, you can always come back and visit us. We're here. Well done. You should be. Yes. Yeah. Got it. Thanks. Good job. I really enjoyed this. All good. Yeah. Is there a place for you? Next, we will take a public comment. The first speaker I have is Arthur Ring, followed by Tom Pine. Please join us, and you'll have three minutes to speak to us. Thanks. My name is Arthur Ring. I live in Hope Sound, and I'm here to discuss what I believe is a problem for commercial fishermen, or fishermen in general. And Martin County Code Section 83, there is a 8336A, which prohibits any angler from having more than two rods on Martin County beaches. That was written in 1974. Consequently, at that time, FWC did not exist. They went through all sorts of periods of who's going to enforce it, who's going to do this, who's that. Well, nevertheless, I was at the beach at the Hope Sound National Wildlife Refuge and was confronted by a federal wildlife officer. I had three rods, and he threatened me with a citation at a second-degree misdemeanor, a $500 fine, or six months in jail. Doesn't seem pertinent to the situation, but nevertheless, that's what he threatened me with. Other than that, in the years I've been fishing, I've never seen one enforcement officer do anything about the two-rod situation, because there isn't any enforcement. If I ask people in the county, they say, oh, it's the sheriff. It's not the sheriff. Oh, it's the local police. No, it's not them. FWC has complete control, as far as I understand it, since we have now that it's a constitutional right to fish, they maintain their authority to supervise fish and wildlife, et cetera. I contacted FWC, and I believe I sent to Colleen, their message was, I asked, how many rods am I permitted to use on the beach? They said there's no limit. No limit from FWC. I don't know if Martin County wants to stand in the way of that, but nevertheless, that's where we are. And I would like you all to just review, actually, the whole Section 83, because there is a plethora of rules and regulations in there that are already covered by FWC, and it seems kind of redundant. But the real issue also with the two-rod thing is, being a commercial fisherman, I need to use three rods. I can make, oh, but there's two-hotification, though, with FWC. You can use as many as you want, but they must be attended. Let me clear that up. So, yeah, I can use three rods, because then I can increase my income by 30%, 33%, maybe 50%, depending. And I do that as my side gig. I'm retired, and I'm not the only man who's doing this. That's my early warning. There is many, many guys who are commercial fishermen. They do fish in Martin County beaches. And by the way, the only sign I've ever seen is at the Hopesound National Wildlife Refuge. And it is supplanted by Title 50. Sir, your time is up. Okay. Well, Title 50 USC code. Interesting. I have a couple comments. Commissioner Capps. Yes. Thanks for coming in and telling us your story. It sounds like our local code provision is inconsistent with state law or FWC procedures. Is that what you're basically saying? That is my impression, and that's my understanding. As far as I know from them, that is the truth. That's a fact. Okay. So I was wondering, Madam Chair, if we could have an agenda item on that and maybe bring it up at another meeting and decide on what would be the best resolution of that issue. Sounds good to me. Do we have at least three or four folks wanting to do it? Yes. Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time. Thanks, Mr. And future effort. Thank you. Next up is Tom Pine, and that's the last request to speak form I have. If you would like to address us, please fill out a request to speak form and give it to the bailiff. Good morning. Good morning, Commissioners. My name's Tom Pine. I've been a resident of Martin County for over 50 years. Today in the consent agenda, this county commission will approve $18,586,184.05 that was spent between April 7th through April 20th of 2025 without identifying the payees or the purpose of the payments. I checked once again on Google, and they still haven't changed the definition of the consent agenda to match Martin County's use of it. Democracy dies in darkness. Today I'm going to pick up where I last off last meeting, where I was discussing a meeting I attended with Jensen Beach Commissioner and the head of the Parks Department. After the Parks Department told us about the $3 million loss at the county golf course restaurant, he went on to tell us that the county RV park out by the St. Louisville locks is 90% booked. Very impressive. Except it's a massive business venture on the backs of the Martin County taxpayers. This is exactly what he was hired to do, turn our Parks Department into a money-making machine. I will quote the Palm City Commissioner. We are not supposed to be competing against private sector when he was talking about the county selling property. I guess when it comes to the Parks Department, that doesn't count. Every single thing the Parks Department operates that you have to pay to use is much more expensive than every other county park along the Treasure Coast. The last one I have is the sale of the property in Palm City on Southwest Martin Highway. The county purchased the property for $4.2 million to stop an approved development. And now they're getting ready to put it back on the market for the sale with more deed restrictions. At the December 28, 2025 County Commission meeting, we the taxpayers were sown just how the good old boys potentially get a big win when buying county-owned property. What you permit, you promote. What you allow, you encourage. What you condone, you own. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next, we have Commissioner Comments. Commissioner Hetherington. First, I want to congratulate Indian River State College. I was able to attend last week, or it might have been the week before, Governor DeSantis, Secretary Kelly. We're there to present $4 million through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund, which will go to Indian River State College right here in our community for workforce training initiatives, so that will benefit some of our young folks coming out of high school that want to go straight to the workforce. So the Indian River State College workforce training facility up in Fort Pierce is very impressive if you haven't had a chance to see it. And much of that money will come to train some of our youth right here in Martin County. So congratulations to Indian River State College, and I announced this last meeting, but this coming next Thursday, May 15th, we will honor the Preservationist of the Year, who happens to be Golden Gate's own Sadia Safarides, and that event will be held at the Elliott Museum from 5 to 6.30, and there are so many other events to celebrate May as being historic preservation month. So hopefully you'll go on our website and join some of those activities, but congratulations to Sadia Safarides, and we look forward to honoring you May 15th. That's all. Commissioner Campy. I'm all set. Commissioner Capps. I'd like to comment just a little bit on the state parks bills that were passed in the legislature this last week. First thing I would mention is that Jonathan Dickinson State Park was like the epicenter for our Florida residents letting their voices be heard. It's right here in Martin County. And then another noteworthy thing is that it was our state senator, Gail Harrell, and one of our state representatives in the Senate, and one of our state representatives, John Snyder, in the House, who spearheaded the legislation. And then thirdly, it passed unanimously. And that is very unheard of in the legislature. So I congratulate them for a job well done. And I'm so glad that the scrub hills of J.D. Park will remain the scrub habitat. What I was so disturbed by was the prospect of golf courses being on those hills. What I had heard was that the golf courses were going to be right around the tower area, some of the most pristine land in J.D. Park. And another thing that's very interesting about scrub habitat, where the scrub jays live, only where they live, is that I've heard that once you strip it out, it can never be recreated. It won't grow back. And if you pull up the scrub oaks and the scrub pines and scrape the land clean, you'll never have that again. And so I'm so grateful that the scrub hills of J.D. Park will remain scrub hills and not golf courses. Another thing I'll mention is Senate Bill 1080 that passed, but a very troublesome provision in there that had to do with rural enclaves was taken out of the legislation before it passed. And there'll be other issues for us to talk about with regard to Senate Bill 1080. But the one that would have done a lot of damage to our urban services boundary and our comprehensive plan that had to do with rural enclaves was taken out of the legislation. So we're very grateful that that happened. And it seems that a lot of the other things that were concerning about preemption from the legislature on local governments, a lot of them did not end up passing this time. But we'll have to keep a watchful eye on those issues because January is not far away. And the session next year starts early, I believe, this coming year, right, in January. So we'll keep an eye on those issues. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Vargas. Well, on a lighter note of that, I am having hosting a District 1 open house. It is going to be on Tuesday, this coming Tuesday, May 13th, from 4.30 to 6.30. It's going to be at the mansion at Tuckahoe, right near Indian Riverside Park, and at 1707 Northeast Indian River Drive in Jensen Beach. Please bring the whole family out. We'll have a lot of our county departments that will talk with you about the various projects happening in and around the county. So it's a great opportunity for hands-on experience. Martin County sheriffs can be there with one of their dogs also. And it should be quite entertaining and also educational, too, at the same time. Really looking forward to seeing everyone there. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Donaldson. Yeah, just one good announcement. Our utilities department received an award on the 22nd of April from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for the 2024 Plant Operations Excellence Award. And it's in furtherance of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's goal of ensuring safe drinking water for all people in Florida. And the certificate, of course, awarded to Martin County Utilities in recognition of outstanding operation through dedicated professionalism. And so thank all of our water plant operators and staff working at our two utilities, water assist plants, and for their great work and recognition for having an excellent operation. Ms. Woods, and we will take up the consent agenda. There's one item that was pulled, and that's consent 12, was pulled by Commissioner Vargas, who's going to be presenting this morning. Good morning. Please identify yourselves for the record, please. Good morning, Commissioner. Savannah Richmond, Recreation Administrator for Martin County Parks and Recreation Department. And Melissa Petrick, Senior Assistant, County Attorney. So this agenda item before you is a renewal for the transportation agreement between Martin County and the Martin County School Board to provide transportation for the after-school and summer camp programs in the New Monrovia, Golden Gate, and Jensen Beach-Rio communities. This is a one-year agreement renewal and provides a low-cost transportation option to ensure all camp participants are provided an opportunity to participate in local, educational, cultural, and enriching experiences, including providing the opportunity for all camp participants to participate in the water safety and learn to swim lessons at Sailfish Splash Water Park this summer. So with this agreement, drivers are background screened via the Martin County School District. School buses are equipped with safety features that meet state and federal safety standards. And school bus drivers are familiar with the local routes, making trips safer and more efficient. 75% of these transportation services are paid for utilizing grant match dollars and grant funding awarded by the Children's Services Council of Martin County, which came before the board for approval in November of last year. This partnership directly supports our communities and ensures high-quality after-school and out-of-school time program standards. And with that, I can answer any questions. Yes. My question, I did sit with Department Head Kevin Abate and did ask about this because there was a chart that he had presented about the cost for this. The average trip cost $185, $185, but he compared it with some of the other private coach lines, charters that they had, and it was remarkably less. This is for 240 children. I think it's limited. Is that correct? So we provide programming for approximately 240 each year, yes. Over 10 weeks during the summertime? Summer camps are 10 weeks, yeah. Okay, all right. And then every other week you alternate different locations. And he talked about, because cost efficiency was something that he wanted to illustrate for me, which I did see, and of course in water safety and swim lessons at the water park, the compliance which the other companies didn't have about transportation standards, rigorous fingerprinting, background checks, that type of thing, which is quite important. And I taught in the county school system, so I certainly understand that driver training for safety there, too. And the standards on the vehicles, which is important since you'd be transporting children, flashing lights, stop arms, that type of thing, reinforced construction to meet all state and federal safety standards. And also the drivers are familiar with routes, which is important to get the students as quickly and as efficiently to their program as to what they want to do to get them back in the neighborhood's traffic patterns, which makes a safer route and more efficient. And also parents and those of us in Martin County that we feel more comfortable with that, and that they arrive on time and they have strict schedules because it's such limited time with this. So Martin County, I know that he had mentioned about the Department of the State and Martin County is the one that's funding this, and I needed to get a real clarification as to what this program was to see that. So we fund 75 percent Martin County's children's services, of which we fund. So we're funding this, and then recreation fees with camp registrations. So some are on scholarship and others. So I needed to get the full picture of this. So he did sit down with me to talk with me in addition to any further questions. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Motion to approve. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. We will now move on to public hearing number one, which is a public hearing to consider adoption of an ordinance amending Section 1.98B, General Ordinances, Martin County Code, regarding delegation of approval authority for the release and reduction of code enforcement liens. Good morning. Good morning, Commissioners. Jeff Daugherty with the Building Department. Josh Browski, Senior Assistant County Attorney. Thank you. Today for the board's consideration is an ordinance revision, which is related to code enforcement, a very brief history. Code enforcement operates with the goal of compliance. And historically, once someone reached compliance, they can request a reduction in the fine. That reduction by practice was 10% of the outstanding balance or 10% of the assessed value, and it would be the lower of the 2. Once that was taken to the magistrate of code enforcement, it was then brought to the board for final sign-off. About a year ago, we amended the ordinance, taking the 10% rules from a practice to an actual embedment in the ordinance. So at that time, it was a requirement. And since now that it's a requirement that that's the minimum that the magistrate can approve, we bring this before you because it would be redundant to come back to the board because if the magistrate is following the ordinance with the minimum, then it would not come back to the board. It would be delegated for a final decision by the magistrate. This is a practice that is consistent throughout most other government jurisdictions, so it is for your consideration. Mr. Capps. Yeah, I actually have concerns about this. I feel like that's a heavy concentration of power in one person's judgment, and there are special circumstances where people have racked up a huge bill on code enforcement problems. Perhaps there would be someone who's financially destitute and living on Social Security or a circumstance like that where we should be the final arbiters of the decision. And that they should have the ability to appeal to us. I just, I'm concerned about excessive hardship on, in rare circumstances. And so I'm concerned about it, and I don't think I'll be able to support it. Commissioner Vargas. I think you discussed this last meeting, correct? The flow. We briefly touched on it and advised that it would be coming on today. Right, exactly. And my question was, of course, after 20 years, if they've ignored and haven't paid the fine, then you would go again and renew. Is that correct? The statute eliminates the lien after 20 years, and at that time we would again begin a process to bring it to the code enforcement compliance through the magistrate. And at that time it could be considered a repeat offender, and then we would run it through the whole process again. All right. So it wouldn't be abandoned? It would not be abandoned. All right. And then I understand Commissioner Kapp's concern. I really do. If someone is in a hardship position and they weren't able to, you know, pay the liens, or they could be ill or anything else where they could not be their own advocate for this, I think you said the magistrate would take all of that into account at the hearing? Generally, again, the goal is compliance. When our code enforcement offers go to a property, we work with the owner or the tenant or whoever is responsible to try and bring compliance. We give them a timeline. If we see progress, we continue to work with them. It's not a hard number, again, of days. We give them a day. And if they have two or three violations, they've cleaned up one, we'll continue to work with them before we bring in them as they work to get the second or third one done. At that time, then, when it ultimately goes to the magistrate, the magistrate has discretion to work with them as well, depending on their specific situation. The magistrate does not have the ability to reduce it less than 10 percent per the existing ordinance. Okay. Mr. Campy. Thank you. I also agree and heard what Commissioner Capps had mentioned, but having had the opportunity to be here in previous years, it has become all the way back to when it was Mr. Massing. I think his words ring in my ear that it's more of a helping people to come into compliance. It's not meant to be punitive. But, and I agree with what Commissioner Capps said in terms of some people have hardship. As a matter of fact, I had a phone call yesterday from a resident in Palm City who's been working on a historic piece of property for quite a while. And he's got a whole bunch of issues. And I know that there is a process. And I think what you just said hits the nail on the head, whereas by the time it gets to a fine, by the time it is amassed a large fine and then renegotiated down to be 10 percent, many, many steps have taken place. Our code enforcement inspectors are not there to say, gotcha. They do work in the beginning portion. I mean, you just touched on it. The process is where if there is something that a neighbor or an inspector notices, they work through giving plenty of opportunity to address it and correct it. The point that has to be made when we're discussing compassion for the specific homeowner is also the compassion for the neighbors that might be living next door to a situation where if we either inspect at the inspection level, at the magistrate level, at your decision-making level, at our decision-making level, years are passing, potentially years. Correct, Mr. Daugherty? Yes. Yeah. So if I lived next door to someone that was not following those rules, those rules are in place so that everyone in the neighborhood has an opportunity to live the life that they've chosen. And if we create too much of a soft landing pad for someone who either is in a hardship, which I appreciate, or quite often it's someone just flouting, just saying, no, I'm not doing it. There's no real teeth to the ordinances, you know, especially I remember saying in certain situations where people come, excuse me, and do three-minute comments where someone is spray-painting cars in their driveway and the spray, you know, the residual spray is blowing onto neighbors' houses. Well, we were, I think, if I remember correctly, the fines were close to a million dollars. Well, they could be $50 million. If you don't plan on paying it, it doesn't make a difference what it's going to be. We didn't really, I don't think in the history we've ever gone to the point where we've pushed the liens to the fact that we've taken people's homes. So I think that there's a fine line between sending a message out that, yes, we will be compassionate, and I have the ultimate confidence that our inspectors are reasonable and trying to be considerate of people's circumstances. But the quiet victim, potentially, is the neighbors. So we still have to walk, as commissioners in particular, that fine line. I think that what we're discussing today is giving you the ability through the process, just short of coming to us, which most of the time they appear on the consent agenda or they're discussed quickly by you, which means your two inspectors are here rotating. It could be different ones. We have legal staff. We have you here. We have a lot of people that are waiting just for us to say, yes, yes, yes, yes. I'm not opposed to letting the entire process continue to do what it's supposed to with the last portion that just doesn't do the agenda item to us. Because the gentleman that I spoke to yesterday in Palm City, he plans on coming to address the board with his concerns, and I told him that would be the appropriate avenue. He's gone through a portion of this process, didn't like how it went. And I said, you get three. He goes, how much time do I get? Three minutes. Come and explain it to us. And like the gentleman that was here this morning about two fishing poles versus three fishing poles, we've turned it into an item that we felt, one of us at least, felt with a couple of head nods. It elevated to the point that we would have an agenda item on it. I feel confident that the process that you've created and brought forward today meets my level of expectation, and I would make a motion to accept it. Commissioner Hetherington. Jeff, I think you clarified, based on some of the conversation, Commissioner Capps' concerns and the items that come to us, the policy is set at the 10% or the value. So as Commissioner Capps was talking about having that magistrate be the decision-making or coming to the board and have more discretion, the way I understand the policy is written, we don't really have discretion when those come to the board unless we were to change the policy. Is that correct? Yes, that is correct, Commissioner. Yes. So when they come to the board, we don't really have the discretion to change the process unless we were to change the policy in general. Yes, Commissioner. That was passed in October or November of last year. It was codified to the 10%, and so the magistrates, as Ms. Doherty said, the magistrates' hands are tied. This is an efficiency thing. It doesn't have to come back before you. So unless it's the board's will to change that 10%, which was passed, and that's currently the code as it exists today. I'd like to add, Sarah Woods, county attorney, that the way that the special magistrate process works, it's an administrative process that's been in place for years. The idea that it comes to the board, it was just to approve or deny what the special magistrate's recommendation was. So there was, to address Commissioner Capps, there's no ability currently of the board of county commissioners to override the magistrate. They approve it or do not, and part of the reason motivating this process was it's also to approve it, and so when the magistrate makes a recommendation to release a lien because it's been complied with, it would be able to shorten the process because oftentimes a new purchaser has brought the property into compliance, and they want to go forward with doing something to improve the property. And so this just takes out another step when they've been brought into compliance, when they've already paid the fine and done, they want to make a motion to release it as well. So I think that's part, Mr. Doherty, you correct me if I'm wrong, it was also an inability to more efficiently serve the public who had cleaned up their property. Yes, it is often driving forces to financing, whether the financing is to put the owner, put financing on, or whether there's a transfer of the property and the financial institution needs to clean it up for the title work. One additional note that Commissioner Campy said in terms of taking someone's property that we are not allowed to go on any homesteaded properties. So that eliminates that, and it hasn't been the board's policy to go any further than actually filing the lien. We're estimating that 60 to 70 percent of our cases are homesteaded properties. And, Commissioners, correct me if I'm wrong, a lot of times what I've seen is that these aren't the offending owners that are asking for these reductions. These are subsequent owners that have purchased the property subject to the lien. Then they come, they've cleaned it up, we've checked, our inspectors have checked that compliance has been accomplished, and they want to pay off the lien because they want to beautify the property. So the offending owner is usually not in the picture. That happens as well. Any further comments, questions? So the way we have our policy now, if someone comes in and says, hey, I'm really in a bad spot, I cannot really afford to pay this, we don't have the ability to overrule the magistrate's findings or rulings, right? No. Once the magistrate has ruled on a fine reduction, for example, and again, the magistrate is constrained by the 10 percent. That's the maximum that the fine can be reduced. First, he would make findings of fact and conclusions of law, and then it comes to you whether to, the board would decide whether or not to approve that fine reduction or whether to deny it. If you denied it, you could send it back to the magistrate, I presume. But again, I hesitate to make a broad sweeping statement. Most of the time, when the property, again, you only reduce the fine when it's been brought into compliance. If it hasn't been brought into compliance, if the property is still a mess, they can't petition the magistrate to get a fine reduction because it hasn't been brought into compliance. So this situation appears when a property has been brought into compliance, and as the second part, they want a fine reduction because they have achieved compliance, and then, again, that's when the floor comes in. The reduction comes in, and then the board would either be able to say yes or no. The way it currently is done, all this does is take out the yes and no. But again, staff's thought was because there are so many hoops that have to have been run through, again, the petitioner, in your example, the person who has financial constraints or health issues or things. They get a full hearing with the special magistrate, and it's not uncommon. You guys tell me if I'm wrong. But in the past, when I've sat with the board, the special magistrate takes those extenuating circumstances into his finding when he decides how long the guy's got to or the property owner has to clean up the property. Those are all fully fleshed out, and in some cases, they come back a few times, correct, Mr. Dordy? That's correct. So he'll say, well, how about I give you 60 days, and then, you know, depending on the complexity of the cleanup, but I think the goal, again, overwhelming goal is to get compliance, not to punish people. So most of the time, I don't know that anything is an absolute, when the property owner shows or the present property owner or the offender shows a desire to clean it up, the special magistrate and Jeff's Department of Code Enforcement works to try to get compliance. That's always the goal, not a fine. My concern would be that, though we don't really have the power to overrule the magistrate, there's still value in hearing the stories in that rare circumstance, you know, of financial hardship, and to basically tell our residents that if they ever get in that spot, we're not even going to really hear your story. I'm still uncomfortable with it. I'm almost persuaded to go along with it, but I think I'll stay where I'm at on the issue. There's a motion. Is there a second? I'll pass the gavel and second the motion. I'll second the motion. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed. That motion passes four to one with Commissioner Capps dissenting. Thank you, Lee. Can I ask a question? Sure. Separate from what you were just discussing, if someone owns several pieces of property and there is a lien on one or two, is the lien somehow transferred or blanketed on all of their properties? That is correct, Commissioner. It cross-attaches to all property except homes. It does attach to homestead property if the homestead property is the offending property. If this individual has homestead property that's other than the offending property, it attaches to that individual's all his property in the county except the homestead property. I don't know if that makes sense. So, if there's a lien on a piece of property, it makes it difficult or impossible to sell it until the lien's cleared. But if one of the pieces of property was going to be sold so that the money raised could pay off the liens, what would that person do? The person approaches us, complies on the non-compliant property. Well, from what I understand, they are in compliance. But the liens have to be like what we were talking about, the 10% here. It would have to be paid. It could be a substantial number. But they don't have the ability to raise that substantial number without selling off one of their other properties. And so, they're in a catch-22. We have this come up quite often. And they do. Sometimes, I think the new owner agrees to take the property subject to and then takes care of it after. Well, it's not going to be a new owner. You've been financing for, could you? Could you get it financing with a pending lien? No. No, it would make it. The bank's required that it's cleared up. It just can't go through. Yes, it was a catch. Yes. You know what I'm saying? Correct. So, we'll take it up. It's an issue I have with somebody. I'm just, I had heard that. I'm like, I don't understand. If you own seven properties and two were liened, I don't understand how the other five. But I kept saying, I'm not a lawyer. It does cross-attach us to other properties. Cross-attach. Nice. All right. We'll now take up Department 1, which is Office of Management and Budget Items, which require approval. Is Ms. Murley around? Good morning. Good morning, Commissioner. Stephanie Murley here to present OMB today. We have five items. The first item is a permission to apply for the Waterways Assistance Program Grant for the Manatee Park Seawall Restoration. This is a requested grant award of $350,000 to repair and replace 79 linear feet of seawall that has been damaged at the east end of Bayview Street. A $350,000 grant match is required, which is budgeted within the Coastal Shoreline Management CIP. The second item is a permission to accept the Federal Transit Administration or the FTA Section 5339 Bus Facilities Urbanized Formula Grant. This is a grant award in the amount of $118,557 to partially fund the purchase of an Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA accessible bus to be used with the Martin County Public Transit Service or MARTI. This grant does require a match, which is provided by the FDOT toll revenue credits in the amount of $29,640. Item number three is a permission to accept the FEMA Public Assistance Grant administered by the Florida Department of Emergency Management for Hurricane Milton. We are in the process of negotiating with FEMA to start getting reimbursed for all of our Hurricane Milton expenses. And today we have an obligation for the debris removal at the amount of $400,000. And to be coming up after this would be for emergency work and permanent work, which is to be determined at this time. Item number four is a permission to accept the Florida Department of Environmental Protection or FDEP Amendment 1 for the Martin County Shore Protection Project. This is for the Hutchison Island Four Mile Beach Project funding, which is an amendment that increases the FDEP share to $3.5 million and Martin County share to $4.1 million. All of these costs are budgeted within the Hutchison Island Four Mile Beach CIP budget. And the last item is a permission to accept the FY24 Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Project Funding Legislative Appropriation Grant for the Southeast County Line Road Bridge Replacement Project. This is an additional $3 million for the bridge replacement since the bridge has been deemed obsolete by the Florida Department of Transportation. And since this is a federal appropriation, there is no cash match required. And that's all. Commissioner Vargas. Hi, Ms. Murley. Hi. I have a few questions on the, excuse me, the Marty bus. The grant is $118,557. The cost, it says down here, the grant requires a match of $29,640. What is the cost to Martin County for this? Is there? Jim Gorton, Public Works Director. In this instance, there is no match, local match for Martin County. So we use the state funds to match the federal funds. So there's no cost to Martin County for this. Is this correct? And what about the drivers? How is that? So this is just for a replacement bus. And what we do is we accumulate money over several years to replace buses. So this is one of those grant awards to get closer to replacing it. This doesn't address the funding for the Marty service overall. This is just for the capital replacement of the buses. If your question is, how much do we pay for the Marty service? About a third of the Marty service, the actual service, is paid locally. And then the other two-thirds is paid by the state and the feds. So we pay a third of the driver's compensation? Well, it's a contracted service. So we contract a company, and they provide the bus drivers and the mechanics. And then they service the buses, and they also provide the bus drivers for the routes. What we provide to them are the buses. And they maintain those buses and provide us with drivers. So we don't pay directly to the bus drivers. We just pay the company for operating the service. Okay. I understand that. What is the cost for this contract? The cost for the SRA contract? So generally it's about $3 million a year for the Marty service. That includes the capital and the operating. So that's what we pay the outside company? Yes. And about a third of it are local dollars. So it's $3 million the total, and a third of that is what, Martin County? That's the cost to Martin County? Correct. And where does the other funding come from then to the contractor? A large amount of it comes from the Federal Transit Authority, and then the rest of it comes from the state DOT. And our portion, a third, correct? Oh, yeah. And our portion, which is a third, that comes from ad valorem. Okay. Thank you. And then I have another question here. This is about the FEMA, Hurricane Milton. Okay. So I see CNG, a 75% federal cost share with a 12.5% state cost share and a 12.5% local cost share for both CNG, correct? So what is the cost to Martin County for that? Because I see expedited project $400,000. Those costs are still being determined as we are going through the damage assessments with FEMA. So currently the obligation we have in hand right now is for the debris removal, which we have a hard and set amount of $400,000 that we're getting reimbursed for. But cumulatively, all other costs to date for Hurricane Milton are about $1.2 million. Okay. So in other words, we will pay out $400,000 to expect reimbursement? We've already paid out $400,000. That's all that work that was done back in October after the tornadoes. And so now we're getting reimbursed for all of that. For that. And then still be determined C and G? Yes. Is that correct? Yes. 12.5%? Yes. And what did you say about $1.2 million? About $1.2 million for all the remaining expenses to date, but they're still uncovering through even after our insurance adjustments and any other damage assessments to see what that end number will be like, which is kind of a process. Uh-huh. Okay. All right. Commissioner Vargas, it takes years to recover FEMA money. We're still probably working on math here. There could still be big changes coming with FEMA. And this is the first time we've been able to take advantage of an expedited project. So this one, we should be able to get our funding much quicker. To get it in the same year after we expended the funds would be a first for us. Okay. So hopefully this program is something we can take advantage of in the future. But it only works for Category A for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and then our permanent repairs, Category C through G. Those aren't eligible under the current guidelines. Expedited projects. Oh, expedited process. And that's the reason why we qualify for that, because our staff have gotten certified under the state program as one of the few with the highest score that you could get in order to get a quick reimbursement. So we're only eligible that because of the auditing that we've gone through and the program that we've documented enables us to compete for funds within the first year. Mr. Capps. I've got a few questions. Back to number two, the Marty grant, where it talks about $29,640 will be used as a soft match. Can you define that? What does soft match mean? It just means that we likely may not need to use those toll credits when we purchase the bus, but we have to pledge money to the match. So it's budgeted there, and it will sit there. But when we make the bus purchase, if we don't need to use those funds, we are allowed to repurpose those funds to another purpose within the Marty system. Very interesting. And then I had a question or two about FEMA reimbursements and the history of FEMA reimbursements in Martin County and prior storms. How long does it usually take to get the money back, and what kind of reserves should we have? What kind of outlays have we had in the past for prior storms, and where do we find the money on that temporary basis since it seems to take forever to get it back from FEMA? Well, Ms. Merle and I will tag team on this one, and Mr. Gorton, if necessary. But so our history, we've had a lot of storms. You know, when I first started here in 96, the major flooding of 95 was a really big event. And since that time, we've had some sort of FEMA disaster about every three or four years that's qualified since that time. But, you know, our damages are anywhere, you know, from a couple million, like for this last storm, to probably closer to 80 or 100 million. I would expect if we had a Francis and Jean today, it would be well over 100 million. I think Charlotte County is suffering from some debris removal and other repairs, over 100 million on our books right now. So where do you get the money? So each, you know, department has your CIP. So on larger disasters, you stop doing anything that you plan to do that year, and everything goes to disaster. So we have disaster funds that are in your reserves for a general fund, and then you have your whole CIP, which you've committed projects to, that suddenly would become flex to pay for those things. The other thing is that some communities will have to do a bank loan to cover those costs, and those are things that you would do. The other program why we invested heavily in this FROC program was to try to get reimbursements on a much timelier manner. And so if you go back in time, there was a time when you could start cash flowing your reimbursements not long after the storm had hit. So within six months, you could be getting partial payments for work that was ongoing. That changed, I think, probably around 2012 or somewhere in there after the Francis and Jean events where the state of Florida was getting hammered by FEMA on clawbacks, and counties and cities and other municipalities were not meeting the technical requirements of the grants because they are a grant. And so the state adopted a law that said that you would not get a reimbursement until you had a 100 percent audit. So that has greatly changed the dynamics of when you get paid until they introduced this FROC program, which essentially ensures that you have a program that can survive an audit, and you get partial releases based upon essentially a partial 100 percent audit for the work that's being done. So there's a lot to this story because FEMA is the funding of last resort. You have insurance, and also you have your deductibles. And, of course, in the disaster, depending upon it, is, as you can see in this one, we're paying 12 and a half percent. The federal cost share is 75-25, and historically the state has split the remaining costs with you. And sometimes it's 90-10, and occasionally portions of the project are 100 percent, depending upon the president and the declaration. But anyway, giving you a long answer because we do have a good program in place to deal with most disasters. If we had a significant disaster, which was well over $100 million of impact, we would likely be doing some type of bridge loans and working with the state on how we could cash flow So what is usually your highest dollar amounts is the debris pickup and processing and removal. And then public buildings with insurance and things like that usually takes time. But those are funds that are coming in separately for us through TRICO. So I think maybe in the future we could do a presentation on where we are with disasters in terms of FEMA funds. But the disaster management essentially is its own business these days and its own series of complicated bureaucracy, if you will, and insurance companies and things like that. But I think we have a good program in place, and we have reserves set up to handle that. But what's really important for you to understand, though, is one thing that you have to do after a major disaster is all the investment you plan to do that year on public projects comes to an end, and you shift all of that capital program into your disaster recovery. Wow. That's interesting. That was very helpful. Thank you. And then I had a question or two about the bridge in Tequesta on County Line Road. As you go west, almost to Little Club, there's a little bridge over a little river there, and we're going to get a new bridge. And the agenda item here talks about the $3 million from the federal government, the housing and urban development. What is the cost of the entire project, and where are we getting the rest of the money? George Zama, Public Works Deputy Director. So we had the bridge scheduled for replacement in the CIP several years ago. The original cost to replace was $6 million, and so county staff applied for both a state and federal appropriation of $3 million apiece, and we were successful. So kudos to staff and administration for helping us get those appropriations. It's taken quite a while to get the federal appropriation through with HUD, but we finally received it. The costs have gone up slightly, but we have money we had originally scheduled to pay for the entire project with county funds. So we kept some funds aside in case we had to provide a match, but we are going to bid it out, and hopefully the bids come in competitive, and we're hoping for the $6 million, but it may be slightly higher. Great. So thanks to Brian Mast for the federal appropriation. Yes, thanks to Brian Mast, and great job to our own staff for being successful at securing these grants and working so hard to get them. Good job. What's the source of funding for the state grant? The state grant is an appropriation, and it actually got funneled through the Department of Transportation, but the funds itself are not a gas tax sort of funding. So it has no, even though it gets funneled through these different agencies, there's really, there's no strings attached as if it was a lab. They're not designated a critical project, which we've experienced in years past. So we're thankful that DOT has recognized that, and it's really being more treated like a small county outreach program grant. Great job. Motion to accept staff's recommendations. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thanks. Next up, we will take up contracts that meet the threshold for board approval of $1 million or greater. Ms. Brotherton. Good morning, Commissioners. Christy Brotherton, your Chief Procurement Officer. I have two items for your consideration today, the first one being the manhole rehabilitation and sewer cleaning contract. I do just want to note there is a typo in the contract number. It should be RFB, not RFP. This contract is a continuing services agreement with a maximum not-to-exceed value of $1,500,000, with a maximum not-to-exceed term of five years. And staff is recommending contract award to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, which is In-Situ Forum Technologies, LLC, and move that the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. And last, we have a continuing services agreement for the Martin Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Planning Services. This contract has a maximum not-to-exceed value of $1,500,000 and a maximum not-to-exceed term of three years. And staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the four highest-scoring firms, which are Kimley Horn & Associates, Marlin Engineering, WSP USA, and TY Lynn International, and move the board authorize the county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. And that concludes this item. Questions for Ms. Brotherton? I'll move staff's recommendation for approval. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. And we'll take up our last item, which is Department 3, Hidden Oaks Middle School Park Improvements. Good morning, Mr. Abate. Good morning. Kevin Abate, Parks and Recreation Director. Today, we are going to do a video presentation about a great project we've been working on for the last few years with the McNicholas Family Foundation. So, at Hidden Oaks Middle School, we have an interlocal agreement with the school board, and we have a multi-purpose soccer baseball field, track, soccer field, and two baseball fields. Um, the complex itself for baseball has not been, it's been underutilized for over a decade, and, um, the concession stand was boarded up. Um, there was no programming to, to really be heard of for, again, over a decade. And we were approached by Mr. Tom McNicholas, who will speak after our, um, video presentation, about bringing back the sport of youth baseball, um, to the, to the complex, but doing, uh, partnering with them on some improvements. So, uh, Mr. Kerwin here, um, our Parks Deputy Director, Kevin Kerwin, um, and the Parks team, we worked together on, um, some amazing improvements, which included, but are not limited to, um, laser grading, irrigation improvements, uh, donated turf by the McNicholas Foundation, um, adding warning, uh, warning tracks and foul poles. We also have a concession building that was condemned, closed for many, many years. We added doors and windows, painting, enhancements, drinking fountains, uh, scoreboards were donated, uh, scorers' tables and platforms were installed, trees were donated to enhance the park, and LED lighting, LED lighting was added. We didn't have that as our park, um, lighting program many, many years ago. So we replaced the lights and did some also drainage and tree improvements and shades over the bleachers. And so we did a lot as a team over the last two years to, with our fixed asset replacement dollars to get the park going, um, and it's just a great partnership. It's a true spirit of a really good, uh, public-private partnership with our youth sports provider. Um, and then we'll talk about what we're going to be doing in the future to wrap up the project to the finish line. But we have a nice video for you, uh, about the project from, uh, start to finish. Can you adjust the sound? As an ex-baseball player in college, I really appreciate what they've done. I was out there for their opening night, um, saw how bad the lights were when I think Tom's son hit a baseball at me and I couldn't see it and said we need to replace these lights immediately. Are you blaming that on the lights? Yes, yes, the lights, um, but it's been such a great, uh, uh, partnership over the last couple of years to kind of, um, and I, I actually challenge all of our youth sports providers to match dollar for dollar for all these improvements throughout the park system through all our different sports that we like to carry our dollars a long way with these, these programs. And a lot of them come up and, and they do that. And we get some really nice, um, some gains out of it for the public. So I'm not going to speak on half of Tom McNicholas and his foundation, but I'll let him come on up and talk about what, uh, and his, introduce his team and, um, come on up, Tom. Good morning, staff and commissioners. Um, thank you. And, and, uh, I want to, your, your parks and recreation staff, as you already know, is, is I think one of the best in the country, if not the best. And we get to live here and experience that, but it's also the tools that you all provide them with to do every year. But the, uh, the infrastructure is impressive, but we, this, this is not a planned project. I actually pulled over at Hidden Oaks to make a phone call one day. I was, I was on with a client. I looked over and we saw knee high grass and I was like, those are, those are fields in there. So we, it all started off on that purely by accident. And it was based on a need that was in the community for a lot of kids that were getting left behind that couldn't make an all-star team or make a certain, you know, invited team. So what we did was we opened that up. And while the infrastructure is great and what we've done is with our community partners and our own money is put more than a half million dollars into those facilities. But what's most important is that you have to program it. You have to bring the kids, you have to bring the coaches. So what we did at that same time was we partnered with Ryan Ellis, who's behind us, who's the owner of Florida Baseball Club. And he's an instructional coach who used to be with the New York Mets. So what we've gone from is in the 18 month is one coach and one team to 14 coaches and five teams. So the next 10 years, if you do the math, we'll be providing a service at that one facility for over a thousand families in Martin County as those kids graduate on the college. And Florida Baseball Club is also added coaches. I said, one of them here is here today, Mike Cristofora. He's an attorney, so he can afford to leave work to come to this county commission meeting. So, Mike, thank you. But we have 12 other coaches who are all professionals in this community and work in this community and go to our churches and Marty Stern and the Sullivans and other families who have donated. But one thing uniquely that we have done here is on the maintenance, we've had a great time working with both Kevin's and your whole staff, Mike Spedavecchia, Sean and Sean, and multiple others. But what we've also done is we've brought in our professionals from Major League Baseball that we've worked with on other projects with the Nationals and Astros, and we've had them come in and work on the field. So what we have done in the past six months is we have taken over maintenance as well. So if you saw that snack shack, that condemned building, all the proceeds that come from that, sorry about that, all the proceeds that come out of that, which isn't much, it isn't much, it's probably, you know, four grand a year, all of that goes right back in the maintenance of the facility. And then we have on staff through Florida Baseball Club, two of the coaches, Louis Carpio, and another coach who come three times a week to maintain the fields. And then also the kids that are in the program are required. They're required to come and put in service hours at the fields during tournaments. Commissioner Capps, you were there for the Jackie Robinson tournament three weeks ago. You saw a lot of kids running around. Those kids are getting their volunteer hours by working the other games. If they're not playing in the games, the older kids are there working in the games. So it's been a great success so far. It's been more money than we thought we were going to be putting into this, but there's no regrets there because you get to see what these kids experience and what they do, you know, for the first time. I want to point out my wife is here as well, who's been a huge supporter on this. We've put in a lot of hours on this. Some of this makes me a little bit emotional because you get to see these kids achieve something that they wouldn't have otherwise. Megan Kios is also with us today, who's now a full-time employee who runs Florida Baseball Club. So it's really mushroomed out of this facility that wasn't doing, it didn't have any purpose or use, and now it's something and it's actually providing a service to the community. I want to thank you all for the opportunity and the school board to allow us to do this. The school board has approved all of these phases of advancements. They've been a great partner as well as you all, and just want to say thank you. Commissioner Hetherington. My sons played coach pitch on those fields, and I can tell you they are nothing like they are today. I had the opportunity of going out since you've renovated them, and I just wanted to say that we've come a long way on that field. It's a beautiful facility. Thank you to the McNicholas Family Foundation. It's a perfect example of a private-public partnership working together with our fabulous Parks and Rec Department, and I know that it's going to benefit so many of our youth in Martin County, so thank you. And I only wish it was done maybe 15 years sooner. But congratulations, and thank you very much for your support in youth athletics and of the Parks Department. Commissioner Campy. Thank you. I think it's a, as Commissioner Hetherington said, it's a real example. I know that all of our leagues, our youth leagues, are always looking for the best locations and field experience that they can. And when Tom had reached out and said, hey, I want to meet you at Hidden Oaks Middle School in the morning, I went out. Now, listen, my three went to Hidden Oaks. I live, you know, up the road from this. And the car line, you can see it almost in this picture. It's in the bottom of this picture. The car line, to drop the kids off at Hidden Oaks, you would drive past it. And I don't think most people, at least in the 10 or 15 years that my kids were going through the school system, even looked to the right. That was basically just like an abandoned portion of the property for the school. I know that the physical education teachers didn't even really ever utilize those spaces because it was just more trouble than it was worth. And then when Kevin Abate met us there and Mike Dieter-Lizzi was involved, at the time, our school board representative locally, it looked like it was almost more trouble than it was going to be worth. We could barely get the doors open. You saw it in the video, but you could barely get the doors open. That building, it's not an exaggeration that it could have potentially been torn down, which would have been expensive to tear down and a fortune to rebuild. But instead, through the vision of the foundation and our parks and rec staff, I said, wait a second, we can probably turn this around. And if you haven't had, I know that a majority of the commissioners up here have been there for one event or another. It's remarkable to stand in that concession stand, to see those bathrooms and the storage space. It doesn't seem like you're at the same location anymore. And so Tom's point about the young kids that are there, I love the fact that they're responsible for participating in the upkeep so they understand not to vandalize it or damage it, and they understand how much effort. You know, our parks and rec staff, the majority of them work behind the scenes. Everything's done by the time the kids show up to play. It's happened on weekdays. But to make the kids participate, I think, shows a real value in a life lesson. But that being said, it's so well run. The Florida Baseball Club is so well run. These kids have no idea how fortunate they are to be just enjoying their young lives, playing ball. I know that there are certain rules. It's not like a free-for-all game. The kids have to behave. There's no nonsense. There's no running around. It's not taken lightly. And I think those are terrific life lessons that turn young kids into fantastic adults. So to the McNicholas family and all the folks that were involved, he's got a lot of connections with Major League Baseball. He kept saying, well, I'm going to get this and I'm going to get that. And I'm like, I don't think he's, you know, that's a lot to get. But he did. And then to our parks and rec staff, I know that it's great to have a group of people come forward and say, yeah, we're going to partner. But they genuinely partnered. And I think to our advantage and to their advantage, we have created not just put the fields back in play. This is world class. World class. And I like that it's part of our inventory. Corey, the crown of Martin County Parks and Rec locations. These are a couple new jewels in the crown. Well, diamonds, diamonds in the crown. Commissioner Capps. I was privileged to view these fields a few weeks ago at McNicholas's request. And I was amazed at what a beautiful community asset it has become. And I would just like to comment about the generosity in our community. I just I'm always in amazement of how generous our residents are. And I was thinking, Tom, about your your legacy for the kids of Martin County and your own family. And what a beautiful thing this is and appreciate what you've done. Thank you very much. What's your next project in Palm City? District two. Brings us to the end of our meeting, commissioners. Any commissioner comments? Commissioner Vargas. Yes, we are approaching our budget season. And in this climate of efficiency, it seems like the perfect time to evaluate our financial health. St. Lucie County commissioners accepted Governor DeSantis's offer for review. We could also seize this opportunity to explore cost saving measures. I'm good. Before we meet again, we will celebrate Mother's Day. So I would like to take a moment to thank all the moms and the individuals that even if they're not someone's mom plays that role, I would say without you, we are nothing. And so congratulations and thank you to all of the moms that are out there. And I wish you a beautiful day. Thank you. That was very nice. Thank you. I'm all set today. Mr. Donaldson. I'm all set. Ms. Woods. Yes. This is hard. I'm taking this opportunity to publicly announce my intention to retire as county attorney. I don't have an exact date. I believe it will be in mid-July. Mr. Donaldson and I, Mr. Donaldson and I and my office are coordinating so that the transition is seamless and that there's no dip in the quality or the quantity of service to you all as well as the other departments. It's my recommendation. It's my recommendation that in the interim, at least deputy county attorney, at least elder be designated as interim county attorney. I also have to add that it's my professional and my personal recommendation that deputy county attorney, at least elder be named as county attorney eventually. But, again, that's up to the will of the board. And that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Kapps. I would just like to say that to Attorney Woods that I have very much enjoyed working with you since being elected in November. I've seen you in action during that period of time. But also, I watched a lot of YouTube videos for a couple of years in preparation for becoming a county commissioner. So I watched you in action then as well. And I've always been incredibly impressed with your competence and grasp of the issues and your professionalism. And we've been really blessed by your breadth of knowledge and understanding of county government matters for many years. And I just want to wish you the very best in your retirement and all that you have planned for your kids and grandkids. Mr. Donaldson. I'm just going to state that I will bring in an agenda item to discuss the transition. And so I'll meet with you to get some input. But to discuss the process for you all to select and hire the county attorney. And as Ms. Wood stated, we're working collaboratively on the transition and expect it to go smoothly and seamlessly. Thank you. I'll reserve my comments for another day. Anything else? Anything else?