We are delighted to have you join us this morning. Please join us for a moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Deputy Joseph DeCiatto, who is a U.S. Marine, and then he's going to tell us a little bit about his service as a Marine. Now let's do the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic, one nation, under God, indivisible, liberty and justice. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for having me. I feel very honored to be here. My name is Joseph DeCiatto. I've been in the Martin County Sheriff's Office for 11 years. Prior to that, I did serve in the United States Marine Corps, 2008-2012. I did boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. I was stationed in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. I served with 2nd Light Armor Reconnaissance Battalion, an infantry unit. And I deployed to Afghanistan for most of 2011. Came back 2012, I got out. Shortly after that, I went to the police academy and been with the sheriff's office since 2014. Terrific. Thank you. There are, let's see, the agenda includes an additional item, which is Consent 12, which is a request to execute updated cooperation agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers for the Hutchinson Island Shore Protection Project. And there's a request to withdraw Department 3, which was a request to approve proposed changes to the Martin County Art and Public Places Program Manual and Program Update. Is there a motion to... I'll move approval of the agenda with additional item, Consent No. 12, and withdrawal of Departmental No. 3. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously, and with all motions today, we will acknowledge that Commissioner Vargas is absent today. We will begin with proclamations. The first proclamation is a proclamation recognizing the 100th anniversary of the historic Apollo School in Martin County. Good morning, Commissioners. Upon his appointment to develop Olympia, famed architect Maurice Fatio spoke of a considerable development, including a school. As Olympia School, the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Martin County Local Register of Historic Places. Whether recognized by its most recent name, the Historic Apollo School, or by any of its earlier names, the building continues to serve the community as a center for cultural, educational, and historical activities and events. October 19th is designated to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the historic Apollo School, and the board extends sincere appreciation to the Apollo School Foundation for their efforts in continuing the building's historic legacy. And here to accept, we have Kathy Spurgeon with the Apollo School Foundation, along with some other folks with her. This is why you all are here. I've timed this, so I can't thank you individually, so I'm going to say thank you all. Thank you for recognizing the historic Apollo School in this significant way. We are proud to share our centennial with Martin County and with other historic buildings in Martin County. Unlike many others of those buildings, though, the Apollo School is privately owned and privately funded. It is not taxpayer-funded. We raise all the money, and believe me, we spend it all. For those not familiar with the building, it's no longer used as a schoolhouse. We provide cultural and educational activities in a historical setting, and half the building is sort of a humble museum. It's a repository of tangible memories of Hope Sounders. The Apollo School Foundation is run by a board of directors whose volunteer hours total in the thousands annually. There are no paid staff. We are supported by a caring and generous community, several of whom are here today. Thank you, too, for your support of historic preservation. As a board, you have shown that you appreciate the benefits that come from preserving some of our most precious assets. But the opposite is happening in Hope Sound right now. A historic Camp Murphy building on Bridge Road will be raised, that's with a Z, to make way for a mixed-use three-story building that is an incongruity in Hope Sound. It's sad that that historic building will never celebrate its centennial. Speaking of centennials, which of course is why we're here, I'd like to invite you to our centennial celebration. Laura mentioned it. Music, memories, milestones. It's Sunday, October 19th at 4 o'clock at the Apollo School site, and it's free. Children from the Boys and Girls Clubs, Hope Sound Elementary School, the Pine School will be represented, as well as Boy Scout Troop 812. Music will be provided by the Pine Knights of Steel and the Rowdy Mix. And I'm proud to say our speakers include Blake Capps and former State Senate President Joe Negron. To close, I'd like to quote Richard Moe from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Preservation is simply having the good sense to hold on to the things that are well-designed, that link us to our past in a meaningful way, and that have plenty of good use left in them. We think the Apollo School fits all these categories. And thank you for this recognition. Can I have it for one more second? I'd like to call up our friends and our board members, my long-suffering husband, Jim, Russ Overholt, June Overholt, Phyllis Parker, Sue Ellen Milroy, Peggy Wagner. Thank you very much. Yes, we should. Yes, absolutely. These are, I guess, do I have to give to you or to you? These are invitations. There's one for each of the board, and then there's one extra. You can fight over it. Can we hold this, or would you hold this or something? Okay. I might mention that some of these folks here are some of the, I hope sounds finest. Our next proclamation is a proclamation declaring Fire Prevention Week in Martin County. Martin County fire rescue personnel are dedicated to reducing the occurrence of home fires and home fire injuries through prevention, education, and community risk assessment. The Fire Prevention Week theme this year, Charge into Fire Safety, Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home, educates people on how to safely use these batteries. In recognizing October 5th through the 11th as Fire Prevention Week, the board commends the men and women of Martin County's Fire Prevention and Fire Rescue Divisions for their efforts to educate the public in fire prevention practices. And here to accept, we have Josh Jenkins, who is Community Risk Reduction Specialist with the Fire Prevention Division, along with Fire Marshal Doug Killeen and Deputy Fire Marshal Chris Hanson. Come on up. Real quick. Good morning. Doug Killeen, Fire Marshal. I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and show my appreciation to the Fire Prevention Division, since we only get to come here once a year. I wanted to call out Deputy Fire Marshal Chris Hanson, Josh Jenkins, Community Risk Reduction. We have three inspectors, which don't get seen often. Bo Majors, Rick Hennessy, and Marcus Rayner. And our support staff back at the office, who very rarely get recognized. We have Christina Epperhart, we have Nancy Aguirre, we have Danielle Hynote, Kelsey Strauss, and Lori L. Dam, and I think that's everybody. And if I could, County Administrator, Fire Chief Chad Chanchuli, and Deputy Chief Rodney Robinson have helped to grow and allow us to do the job that we're doing right now. So we're very appreciative. So I will take a seat, and I will let Josh introduce the Fire Prevention Week theme. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you for having us. It's always an honor to come and be here with you and our audience. So I'm Josh Jenkins, Community Risk Reduction Specialist. And so this year's Fire Prevention Week theme, Charge into Fire Safety. A little bit about why we're here first. So since 1922, our governing body, the NFPA, has sponsored the observance of Fire Prevention Week. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed that this shall be a national observance, making Fire Prevention Week the longest-running public health observance in our country's history. So each year, per guidance from the National Fire Administration, fire departments conduct public education events to reduce the risk of casualties by fire. Last fiscal year, our department conducted 185 of these events, impacting audiences of all age levels and all ability levels. We also produce PSA videos like the one that we're going to share today. And also, we produce all kinds of media that we share with the public. I actually brought one of NFPA's safety tip sheets for lithium-ion battery safety in the home, and I left a big stack of those in the lobby for the table if anybody from the audience wants to take some of that information home with them. So without further ado, if we are ready, we'll share our latest PSA regarding lithium-ion safety with the room. Tell us what you're saying. I can do that. Some lessons that we've learned about lithium-ion battery incidents. In the county, we've had quite a few structure fires from lithium-ion battery power tools, hand tools, mobility devices, including bikes, scooters, golf carts, and even one structure fire from a lithium-ion battery-powered air conditioner that I was not aware existed until I looked at a fire report. What we're learning and the gist of this video is these incidents occur from an issue that arises with the charging equipment and practices. Okay, I guess it's going. Good job, I'm living, though. You interrupted yourself. Only me. ...the last flights, holiday decorations, and the battery-powered air conditioner. We wanted to put together some tips about how to charge. And some warning signs of the things you might need. For one, we always want you to charge on a flat, dry surface, away from any kids, away from liquids, and never in direct sunlight because we don't want to introduce any more heat to this device than it generates on its own. We want to make sure there are no flammables anywhere near what you are charging. We don't want you to charge in a garage, say, next to a can of gas, for example. We also want to make sure that you use the charger and the cord for each device from the factory. We never want to use any aftermarket charging cords or try to make a charger cord from another device work for this device that they did not come with. Anything with wheels, we want to make sure it does not have an opportunity to roll off of a shelf or to fall, potentially damaging or cracking that battery case. Making sure you do all those things is going to go a long way towards preventing a fire with a lithium-ion battery device. Should you encounter a fire with your lithium-ion battery device, we want you to be aware your typical household ABC-type extinguisher is not going to be capable of putting that out. If it is on fire, you're definitely going to need to activate 911 as soon as you possibly can. If that charging device or that battery is producing so much heat that it is uncomfortable for you to touch, that is a bad thing. If there is any bulging or cracking in the battery case, if there are any hissing or popping sounds coming from the charging device or the battery, this is a bad thing and a sign of a fault. We also want you to be aware of any smoke or odors coming out of the battery or the charger. That's an indicator that it is very close to catching on fire. So all of these situations mean that battery and that charger need to be disposed of. We want you to know that it's illegal to dispose of a lithium-ion battery in the trash. That has to be taken to either our Hazardous Waste Collection Facility or if you're out and about in the community, you can look up the schedule for the Hasmobile on our website and you can bring it there. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to give us a call. Thank you. Show your person. Yes, ma'am. Is Martin County fair? Is that what it says? 4-H week is on there. And the fair is here. I didn't even request that. Our next proclamation is a proclamation declaring 4-H week in Martin County. 4-H is America's largest youth development organization, supporting nearly 6 million youth across the country each year. 4-H has helped local youth become confident, independent, resilient, and compassionate leaders. And National 4-H Week, observed October 5th through 11th this year, showcases the incredible experiences that 4-H offers young people and highlights the remarkable 4-H youth in Martin County who work each day to make a positive impact on those around them. And here to accept, obviously, with a bunch of folks is David Hafner, our 4-H youth development agent. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Ian, and I've been a proud member of the 4-H community for two years now. When I first joined 4-H, I had no idea how much it would shape my life. It has given me incredible opportunities to learn leadership, responsibility, and service, not just through projects, but by being part of a great community. 4-H encouraged me to step up in my project and work to lead and learn what it means to make a difference. I've also seen how my brother's 4-H journey, I have two younger brothers, has brought our family closer and taught us to appreciate nature, hard work, and take pride in all of the projects we work on. I'm truly grateful for everything 4-H has provided, and I'm honored to stand here today as we celebrate this proclamation, recognizing how 4-H continues to grow future leaders right here in Martin County. Thank you. Thank you. Excellent. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Ella Mori, and I've been a part of the Martin County 4-H program for going on nine years now. Now, having been in the program since I was eight years old, it's safe to say that 4-H has had a huge impact on my life. From my first leadership position as the Feathers and Furs Secretary in 2017 to becoming the 2025-2026 Florida 4-H State Council Treasurer, 4-H has provided me with so many opportunities to grow. Experimenting with all sorts of art, gardening, and livestock projects, my favorite one has without a doubt been public speaking. This year, I was lucky enough to represent Florida 4-H in the Western National Roundup Public Speaking Competition in Colorado. After placing first in the state, I flew there to compete against other state finalists. That day, I placed second in the nation. These opportunities to discuss pollinator issues on a larger scale, as well as build an impressive resume, would have never been possible without the program. And it goes without saying that I'm incredibly grateful to be here today to celebrate that. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I'm Vera Howe, and I've been a part of Martin County 4-H for about 14 years now. A little bit about me and my 4-H journey is it started off with me very shy. I had a chicken. I don't remember its name, but I was terrified because I had to go show this chicken, and I think it flew away. Anyway, but my journey in 4-H started off as a little shy girl in the show ring who didn't want to go out and go in front of everyone. And now, in 2023, I served as the state historian over Florida, and I've had the opportunity to go to, like, many, many national events. Just last September, I served as the marketing and promotional over the Southern Region Teen Leadership Conference for 4-H. I've had endless opportunities to go to Washington, D.C. and serve for Florida 4-H and learn all about public speaking, civic engagement, and how to help our community out locally. 4-H has really impacted everyone, and I can say learning all the different livestock abilities in agriculture to music, dancing, art, singing, and leadership is so important to our youth to raise our future generations. And I just want you all to maybe take a look at 4-H and learn more about what impact it has on everyone. Thank you. Good luck, David. I was going to say, it's hard to go after them. So I don't have much to add because I know they're the stars here. As your Martin County 4-H youth development agent, my job is not to stand out. It's just to open the door. And as you can see, the youth in our program have been running through that door. They're shining examples. When I first came to this job not quite three years ago, Vera, Ms. Vera here, she said that when she goes to state events, she doesn't want people to say, where is Martin County 4-H? She wants them to say, I wish I was in Martin County 4-H. And I think through their leadership, we're seeing that. We went 40 years without a state officer, and now we've had two in three years. We are known on the county, state, national level. Martin County 4-H is known, and it's because of these shining stars behind me. Just a quick question. When you show those animals and the chickens, where do you show them? I didn't hear the answer. Oh, there you go. At the Martin County Fair. Our next proclamation is a proclamation declaring International Day of Air Traffic Controller in Martin County. Air traffic controllers work day and night, including weekends and holidays, to keep pilots and their passengers safe. For over 25 years, air traffic controllers at Witham Field have played a crucial role in ensuring the safety and efficiency of aviation operations, making air traffic controllers a critical component of the Martin County aviation industry. International Day of the Air Traffic Controller takes place October 20th and honors those who ensure that air travel remains the safest mode of transport. And the board urges residents to recognize the dedicated men and women who perform this important job each and every day, ensuring the safety of the public. And here to accept, we have Tim Barrett, air traffic manager. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Tim Barrett. I'm the air traffic manager here at the Stewart Airport. I appreciate the opportunity to come before you today to receive this proclamation. It means a lot to us, to the team back at the tower, and to the career field. A little bit about myself. I've been doing this for a little over 40 years. Spent 20 years in the military. Stationed in Texas, Germany, Florida, Bosnia, and England. I retired out of the Air Force and then took on this further position of continuing air traffic control. Some of you may not know the facility here at Stewart-Whitham Field is a contract facility. So we provide air traffic services for the FAA to the users of the airport. I've been here as air traffic manager for about 21 years now. I'd also like to thank my team, one of which is here today, Bill Davis. It's a very prestigious field. I wouldn't change what I've done over the past few years for anything. My father was an air traffic controller, which ironically had no bearing on me becoming one. So I'm still trying to figure that out. But, again, thank you for the recognition. Thank you for the proclamation. And thank you for the recognition of the air traffic control profession. I neglected to mention that we are joined this morning by our esteemed supervisor of elections, Vicki Davis. Welcome. Ms. Davis is one of our native daughters, and we're very pleased to see you here this morning. I believe you're here to support the fair and your intern. Yes. It's now time for public comment. The first request to speak form is from Ann Marie Hite, followed by David Nickerson. Good morning. I'm Ann Marie Hite. I'm from Meadow Run Property Managers Association. I am the president of the association, and we have requested a change in our PUD to use the rear access to our neighborhood. Our neighborhood sits on Southwest Citrus Avenue. That's the front gate. And the north end of the community runs down Layton Farms Road. So in this, we have 91 lots. Of 91 lots, we've had unprecedented growth over the last year. We actually have nine homes under construction, totaling probably about 42 homes under roof by January, February this year. So we are so excited. We have a lot of new families moving in with young kids. So excited to be able to access Layton Farms Road with the soccer farm back there, to be able to them to ride their bikes instead of having to go out Southwest Citrus, then go down more, then come across Southwest Layton Farms Road. They can go directly out our cul-de-sac in the back, out to Layton Farms Road, go right to the community center that's across the street, or go right up to the soccer field. So we're so excited. We're just here to let you know that we have a lot of neighbors that are really excited to look at this, another access in case there was an emergency, also just for traffic patterns. With Southwest Citrus and just Martin County growing so much, we would love to have a secondary entrance and exit for our residents, our guests, our vendors. So thank you for your time. I really appreciate it. Thank you. David Nickerson is next, followed by Susan Gibbs Thomas. Susan, would you like to speak on this item at public or on the item itself? Okay. Good morning. Good morning, Madam Chair. Hello, fellow commissioners, county administrator and county attorney, and our most precious county staff. I was here about a month ago for the proclamation of October being the Native Plant Month, and we appreciate you for doing that. As you can tell from my shirt, I'm not here for that purpose today, but it is agriculturally related. Full disclosure, I'm probably the most brand new member of the Martin County Fair Association Board, but I'm not here today to speak for the board. I'm here to speak as a resident fair goer. The fair provides lots of fun and entertainment. How many have you been to the fair? Yeah, most of us. But it also provides education, education on our environment and education, as we learned from the 4-H folks, on agriculture. During the 11 months that the fair is not in operation, the fairgrounds also provides a venue for many, many nonprofits to hold their events. Also, the fair association provides scholarships to deserving high school students here in Martin County. Years and years ago, agriculture was the enterprise, more than one enterprise, that made the little city on the river called Potsdam into the county seat of Stewart that we're here today to enjoy. So agriculture has been important, and the fair is an opportunity to bring ag-related plant and animal information and activities to life. There are two elements on the agenda further down today that you will address, two elements to that item. The first one is the current lease extension. The 2026 fair will be the 65th fair that the fair association has held here on county property. Let's see, 65, that makes the fair association eligible for Social Security, right? All kidding aside, unless there's a pressing need for alternate property use, please approve the lease, one-year lease extension. It will facilitate a smooth transition to the new site. Second item, staff preparation of a new lease for 30-plus acres at the new fairground site on Citrus. Please ask staff to make that a long-term lease based on the track record of 65 years for the fair being the current fairgrounds. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you, but thank you, more importantly, for your continued support of the Martin County Fair. Let's make Martin County Fair great again for the next 65 years at the new site. Hope you enjoy the rest of your day. David Hafner is next. David, I see you out in the lobby. David Hafner, would you like to address us during public comment? Okay. Good morning, commissioners. My name is David Hafner. I'm your Martin County 4-H youth development agent. The Martin County Fair is where Martin County 4-H members' hard work, dedication, and learning come to life. Throughout the year, 4-H youth and volunteers spend countless hours caring for animals, keeping records, learning about animal and plant science, and practicing responsibility. When Fair Week arrives, it's their chance to showcase that effort, demonstrate what they've learned, and take pride in the results of their commitment. But the impact of their 4-H experiences goes beyond the show ring. Through these projects, youth develop life skills like leadership, communication, and teamwork. Participating in livestock and horticulture projects also connects our members with the agricultural roots of our community. Reminding everyone, farming, animal care, and food production still matter deeply here in Martin County. For many of us, the fair is where we gain confidence, make lifelong friends, and learn the value of hard work and good sportsmanship. It's where families, volunteers, and local businesses come together to support the next generation of agricultural leaders. The Martin County Fair is a cornerstone of the 4-H youth development program, offering a place for young people to grow into responsible, capable, and community-minded adults. Thank you for your continued support of the Martin County 4-H youth development program. Thank you. Jesse Fulton is next. Would you like to speak, would you like to address us now or during the item? Chris Hamilton, same question. Elliot Mata, same question. Mr. or Ms. Corey, same question. Thank you. And Sheree Ramirez, good morning. Good to see you all today. Thank you so much for having me. I'm Sheree Ramirez, and I am representing Helping People Succeed Today. I am their new director of marketing, communications, and community engagement. So we're here today for Agenda Item 260095, highlighting National Disability Employment Awareness Month. So thank you to the Martin County Board of County Commissioners, because we receive taxpayer dollars to help fund our programs through successful futures, which Shannon Wilson will be talking on shortly. So I'm here to talk about helping people succeed as a whole. We have been in the county for over 60 years, just right behind the Martin County Fair. So thank you so much for that. And we provide everything from comprehensive wraparound services for baby steps, which is early childhood development, behavioral health for mental health intervention. We provide case management as well as psychiatric management for children and adults, and we do take insurance as well. So we are a mental health provider in the community. Also, healthy families, it's a child abuse prevention. We do home visits. So we are going into the homes of individuals and helping them learn how to be a parent. So we can help those numbers of child abuse go down in our county, which has been successful by the lead, Carolyn Moses, who has been the program director for that. And then also, successful futures, what I was talking about, it's for disabilities and employment, teaching them life skills, and how to be successful on their own and independent. We have a wonderful partnership with the Martin County Fire Rescue. So as they were here earlier today, Josh Jenkins is coming in and teaching our home health visitors how to teach fire prevention to the families that they're serving in the community. We have wonderful partnerships here in Martin County, and we're so thankful for that because we're able to serve close to 8,000 individuals and families in the county. So we have wonderful events coming up and ways to help support us in the new year for all the different individuals who we serve. So thank you so much for your support, and I'll let Shannon come up and talk about our successful futures program. Thank you. Thank you. Shannon Wilson is next, followed by Tom Pine. Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Shannon Wilson, and I'm the director of Successful Futures at Helping People Succeed. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support of helping people succeed. Your investment in our programs truly makes a difference, not just for our organization, but for the people and employers who make Martin County stronger every day. With your help, we're empowering individuals with disabilities through job readiness training, placement, and on-the-job support. These efforts are advancing inclusive employment where individuals with disabilities have the opportunity to thrive, contribute, and belong in our community's workforce. This month, as we celebrate the vital contributions of individuals with disabilities, including those with mental health and non-visible conditions, we're reminded that inclusive employment benefits everyone. When businesses open their doors to all abilities, they gain skilled, loyal employees, and foster a workplace culture rooted in innovation and compassion. So today, I invite you and the businesses across Martin County to partner with us. Together, we can continue creating meaningful opportunities that change lives and strengthen our local community and economy. Thank you again for believing in our mission and for helping people succeed. Thank you. Thank you. Tom Pine is next, followed by Daryl McGill. Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Tom Pine. I've been a resident of Martin County for over 50 years. Today, in the consent agenda, this commission will approve $22,020,165.49, which was spent between September 8th and September 21st of 2025, without identifying the purpose of the payments or the payee. As our budget for the coming year moves through the process, the real culprit to the raising of our tax dollars is the millions of dollars that is spent in the consent agenda without any public discussion, and in many cases having absolutely nothing to do with the operation of our government. What can and cannot be in the consent agenda, according to Google? The consent agenda is a tool to streamline meeting procedures by collecting routine, non-controversial items into a group whereby all are passed in a single motion and vote. Topics that have not been discussed by the board in the past shall not be in the consent agenda. To a retired construction worker, the definition of the consent agenda, according to Google, seems pretty simple and straightforward. So why is our local government making up their own definition? I feel this is the real reason our property taxes are going up almost every year for the past two decades. On November of 2011, the Jensen Beach Community Center opened to a brand new building on Jensen Beach Boulevard in downtown Jensen Beach at a cost to the taxpayers of Martin County of $1.5 million. Some time later, the Jensen Beach Community Center, some time later, the Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce was fundraising to build their very own building right next to our community center. At a Martin County Commission meeting several years ago, there was a discussion about Palm City Chamber of Commerce renting, as I remember, about 500 square feet of office space in our Palm City Community Center for $10 a month with a 10-year lease and two five-years extension. At the meeting, it slipped out that the Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce had moved into our still relatively new Chamber Community Center. Of course, not a single detail was made public. Maybe someone, someday, will explain to the taxpayers of Martin County how this is a good deal for us, the taxpayers, because by now, if the Chamber of Commerce didn't move into our community center, they would have their very own building up by now, paying property taxes like real members of the community instead of living off the taxpayers as they always do. Thank you for your time and have a great day. Thank you. Daryl McGill is next, and this is the last request to speak for him I have for public comment. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Daryl McGill, and just to start, I've come into the Treasure Coast from the 50s. I've come down here from the 50s, and I remember when my family was told they were not welcome at restaurants, gas stations, bathrooms, and I remember signs telling me to go to different water fountains. In fact, that anger I remember from being a young child. Anyway, I told you my name, my past experience. I served for 17 years as an entertainment chairperson at the Ulster County Fair in New York, three years as the advertising chairperson. I served on the board for two years. I was also a concert producer for the Orange County Fair, which is also in New York, for three years. Speaking of boards, I served for 17 years on the college boards at the State University of New York, and also was the president of the union for administrators at the Ulster County Fair. I was chosen one of three people as the pride of Ulster County by my legislature. I received a certificate of special congressional recognition from my service in the community. And most recently, I was nominated in 2024 as the unsung hero on the entire Treasure Coast by a group, which I brought you most of those things, Mr. Blake. You saw them. So, to make a long story short, on January 19th, I was told I was not welcome on the Martin County Fair grounds by the then president. Angrily told, I was then told I was voted out by the board of the Martin County Fair by the same president. I was shocked, and this was all witnessed by Martin County Sheriff Officer Sergeant Foote. It has been nine months and without no response to letters, which from my attorney came for civil rights, because my civil rights were violated and due process was not offered. This is very sad, and at this time, I must take legal action. Any questions? And I've seen you several times, Mr. Kapps, and showed you everything of numerous things from Congress. Yes, yes, yes. We will thoroughly investigate, Mr. McGill. You're welcome. Thank you. Dennis Siaglo is next, followed by Corey Reckamp. Good morning. I represent two different people, I guess, because I'm president of the Model Train Club, and I'm also on the board of directors for the fairgrounds. And I'm here to read a letter from one of our people that it says, I am writing in support of the Martin County Fair and Martin County Model Railroad. I understand you will be voting Tuesday on extending the fair an additional one year. When we moved here in 1998, Stewart was a small town, and the fair was a charming addition to the area. It took me years and the encouragement of Dennis Siaglo, president, to become the only woman member of the club. And at that time, now we have had several young members, and we also have four women that belong to the club. When Martin County Railroad depended on the fair, and I agreed in fairground space and implemented this mission, the fair attracts people to use, and we need them. We do not have a valid alternative to this space, and we possibly close down if the fair does not continue to exist. So we're asking for the extension for the one-year lease, and we're also asking for the extension for the other lease for the piece of property. So thank you. Corey, Reckamp is next. This is the last request to speak form I have for public comment. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, people of Martin County. Could you get closer to the mic, please, so we can hear you? Is this better, Sarah? Yes, it is. Thank you. I don't know how much time I have. I didn't think of on coming here today. So I'll start off by one thing, and that is just to give the 4-H a shout-out, because back in the early 90s, I was in 4-H, and we even had a Toastmasters speaking club where I had passed out in front of people speaking before. So, of course, that was a long time ago. But although I'm happy with the job that you do in general, I came up because of my own personal griefs, which I will just leave as questions to maybe the board can look into for later. that consistently after delivering the mail in 34997 for probably 26 years, I have noticed that there's a huge discrepancy between what roads get paved consistently and what roads, I think, have lasted 26 years without being repaved, but patched and patched and patched. So I would just like to put before the board that if you could please consider and walk those roads yourself, drive them yourself, check it out. I think it's a big oversight that's just been something missed because as somebody who's driven what I just said, I realized after living here for only six years when I didn't live here for 16 that there are roads I haven't been on in a very long time. So it's easy sometimes when you get in a routine to miss things. But I have been able to witness while I was delivering, and it bugged me so bad. I'd be like, I'm really glad Willoughby gets repaved at least once if not twice every 10 years, and that's fantastic. But at the same time, there's a lot of traffic that provides for that paving for Willoughby that goes on Monroe Street and Commerce and Grand Parkway and the other road that goes behind that that runs parallel to, I can't remember the name of it. So you know where I'm getting at. And also there are roads where these people that work for these companies live right across the street from there in Hibiscus Park and I forget the name of the other community with all the presidents. There's Washington and Monroe goes past it and Graham. And so I don't need to say more about that. It's not a huge concern. And I really will be happy if you do move the fair because at some point I had grown very tired of going there because it has definitely outgrown its face for many years. And I know that, Mr. Campy, at one point you were pushing for that, and the board knocked you down on it. And I feel so bad for you because I was rooting for the same thing. You have some new board members. Right. So other than that, thank you for the progress. I do see it's beautiful what Martin County is becoming. I hope they stay close to the heart of people who do the things for the community that we forget about, like growing our stake. Thank you. Thank you. Have a pleasant day. Marvin Pinder is next, and this is the last request to speak for him I have. Which item, sir? And what's that about? Okay. Thanks. Okay. It's now time for Commissioner comments. Commissioner Capps. Good morning. I want to begin by thanking each and every one of you for being here today. You know, in Martin County, we are very blessed with a very engaged citizenry. And that's what public meetings are all about. And I just want to let you know how much I appreciate each and every one of you being here. The last public comment spoke about paving of roads, and I learned about this when I had to take up a neighborhood collection to get my own personal street paved. And what is interesting about the streets in Martin County is that some of them are public roads and some of them are private roads. And the county doesn't have the authority to pave private roads. You have to do what I did, which was bang on doors and get the neighbors to throw in a check, which we got it done after a lot of work. And so keep that in mind. There is a process for converting a private road to a public road, but it often involves getting all of the residents on the street to give the right-of-way needed because the county has to have right-of-way as part of that process. So keep that in mind. And then I wanted to bring attention to a little tour that I had a few days ago at the Salvation Army here in Martin County, which is over by the City of Stewart Police Station. Some of you may know where it is. I had never had the privilege of touring that facility, but recently I did. And my tour guides were Captain Abby Milner and Volunteer Coordinator Lourdes Stortz. And I was really amazed at all that they do for those in need in our community. Their outreach includes a food pantry, an on-site fully operational church, a compassion house for single mothers and children, rental and utility assistance, red kettle and angel tree campaigns at Christmastime. I'm sure many of you are familiar with those. And then there's a huge store they have over on US 1 that has all kinds of great products in it, clothing and furniture and all kinds of things. And we toured the store as well. It's a big operation, and they do an awesome job. I was very heartened when they told me that the people of Martin County are very generous to all that they do for those in need in our community. And then I will end with mentioning that we got a letter, commissioners got a letter, from a thousand friends of Florida about Senate Bill 180, which is a bill that was passed in the last legislative session that greatly limits local governments' abilities to strengthen their comprehensive plans. It basically says that anything that could be deemed more burdensome can't be implemented until late 2027. There are some parts of the bill that are good, some parts of the bill that are bad. But a thousand friends of Florida was urging us to begin our outreach to legislators now because they're in committee weeks, as they're called, in preparation for the legislative session that will begin in January. So I would urge us all, those in residence of Martin County, to write your legislators, urging them to repeal the bad portions of Senate Bill 180 that limit our ability to strengthen our comprehensive plan. And then also, as far as what we should do as commissioners, I'm sure that our county administrator and our esteemed chairwoman will be working hard to put us a letter together, hopefully at the appropriate time, and hopefully pretty soon to marshal our arguments and get that to our legislative delegation, and to continue with other lobbying efforts that we can do before the session and during the session. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Campy. Madam Chair, thank you. Now that the weather has begun to cool, I'd like to begin again my Music in the Park series that we're having at the patio at Palm City Place on Map Road. If you're not familiar, it's just north of the Palm City Station 21. We started last year by having free concerts in the park with food trucks, ice cream trucks. It's free. It starts this season. We're making it a little bit earlier. The music starts at 6.30, and it'll go until 8.30, but the fun and festivities, we have cornhole there and ping pong and checkers, and you can walk the lake around the patio in the park. It's really in an effort to build a sense, continue to build a sense of community, to get not just young folks but adults away from their TV screens, their laptops, their phones, come out and do it like we used to do, come and meet your neighbors and bring your friends. You can bring takeout. You can picnic. You can use the food trucks that come. It'll be October 18th, which is a Saturday. 6.30 to 8.30 is the live music. 5.30 sort of kicks it off, but that park is open and available every single day. I was driving past this weekend, and kids were fishing. We have a fishing pier there and pulling out big fish, so if you're interested in that, you can come. It's all part of what we're trying to do to just enhance Map Road and Palm City, and I'd like to personally invite all of you to come. If you have suggestions of future musical acts or you are a future musical act, please contact my office. We're always looking for folks that are looking for an opportunity to come out and entertain their fellow citizens. So with that, I thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Hetherington. Thank you. One, I would like to say, I only see one 4-H member remaining, and you took time probably off school to be here, so what a great, it exemplifies what a wonderful program that is and how it's raising young leaders. So thank you for taking time out of your day to be here. And then I'll just, yesterday, the Business Development Board had a really great award ceremony. There were so many businesses that I wasn't even familiar with that were recognized, and a job well done. A couple of them stood out. The BDB had a brand-new award, first year, the Legacy Award, where Joan Jefferson, if you know anything about Joan Jefferson, was really at the pinnacle of revitalizing downtown Stewart. We would not be the same community had she not put a lot of time, energy, and effort. She also served as a City of Stewart commissioner. Her and her husband and another family single-handedly pretty much revitalized downtown Stewart. It was really nice to see her honored yesterday with a Legacy Award. And also, one interesting thing, Alice's Restaurant, across the street, they were honored for their innovative techniques of hiring, training, and engaging those with disabilities throughout the restaurant. It was really an amazing award ceremony, but congratulations to all the businesses that were recognized. That's all I have. Thank you. And last week, John Mayle and I traveled to Tallahassee in part to witness the governor and the cabinet making a wonderful acquisition of 1,670 acres in Martin County. It's called the Barbie Ranch. It's a beautiful property that's in western Martin County, west of 95, east of Allapada, north of 714. It's the Troop family has owned the property since 1948. The current owner is Lance Troop, and it's a beautiful native habitat piece in Martin County. Mr. Troop has been inundated for the last two decades with offers to purchase the property, and most people could not have turned down the offers that were made him. But he didn't want the property to be developed. He wanted it to be maintained in perpetuity. So he agreed several months ago to allow the land to be put in a conservation easement in perpetuity so it will remain as beautiful and as pristine as it is now forever. And he said he was moved to attend the governor and cabinet meeting, too. It was such an emotional experience for him. He said his father would be so proud, and that's what we all want to do is we want to make our fathers and mothers proud. So it's a marvelous piece. Martin County contributed $5 million from our half-cent sales tax. In addition to this being in perpetual easement in conservation, this property will be used as the state's portion of Indian River Lagoon South natural lands, which is a marvelous achievement. So it's a terrific thing for everybody in Martin County. We also made stops with senior staff at the Department of Environmental Protection. We all know that the Department of Environmental Protection has been a wonderful partner to Martin County, and every opportunity we can to cement those relationships, we make those efforts, and we are assured that we will again and again be partnering with the Department of Environmental Protection to improve Martin County. And also a partnership that we have not availed ourselves of is the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and we are now going to be partnering actively with the DACs in order to purchase rural conservation easements. There are three parcels that are under consideration. They were extremely receptive, and so we are really looking forward to becoming an active partner with the Department of Agriculture. So it was a very successful, rewarding trip to Tallahassee, which isn't always the case. Minister Donaldson. Thank you and John Mayle for doing that for us. Good job. I have nothing else. Thank you. Ms. Elder, with your permission, Commissioner, since we have a chamber full of people who are not here to hear, we have two items this morning that I'm going to take first. The first one is going to be agenda item DPQJ1, which is the request for a revised final site plan approval for Meadow Run at Fox Grove subdivision. We have staff here to take up that item, and that will be followed by Department 4, which is the discussion on the fair. Is that okay to take things out of order? Absolutely. Good morning, Mr. Elam. Good morning. This is quasi-judicial. Commissioner Capps, any ex parte disclosures? If I have any, they have been filed. If I have any, they've been filed. Commissioner Campy? I don't have any that I believe in. If they have, they've been filed. You've received emails? Well, yeah, the emails, but they are public records. And Commissioner Hetherington? If any, they've been filed. Thank you. Mr. Elam, have you filed your necessary? A copy of my work history in the agenda item has been turned in as Exhibit 1. If there's anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony, please stand up, raise your right hand, and be sworn in. Anyone from the applicant here? Thank you. Raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, Commissioners. For the record, I'm Brian Elam, the principal planner with growth management. This is a request by McKenzie Engineering and Planning, Incorporated, on behalf of Meadow Run Property Owners Association, Incorporated, for approval of a revised final site plan, to add a rear entry gate at the cul-de-sac of Southwest Briarbrook Way for the purpose of accessing Southwest Layton Farm Avenue. Included with this application is a request for a certificate of public facilities reservation. The master site plan for the Fox Grove subdivision was approved on June 8, 2004 and included a 91-lot subdivision on approximately 543.8 acres with minimum lot sizes of 5 acres, consistent with the Agricultural Ranchette Future Land Use and AR-5A zoning district. The Fox Grove subdivision received final site plan approval on September 14, 2004, and the plan was recorded on April 15, 2005. The property is east of Southwest Citrus Boulevard, north of I-95, and west of Southwest Layton Farms Avenue at 4350 Southwest Stony Brook Way in Palm City. Current zoning on the property is AR-5A Agricultural Ranchette District. The future land use is Agricultural Ranchette. Here's a sheet, here's sheet one of the revised final site plan showing the proposed rear entry gate at the cul-de-sac of Southwest Briarbrook Way for the purpose of providing access to the community from Southwest Layton Farm Avenue. I have slides later here that'll give you a close-up of it. So this is Southwest Layton Farms. This is, it shows you the detail. This will be the property boundary and the gate will come around the cul-de-sac, I'm sorry, the fence will come around the cul-de-sac like this. So it'll be gated back here, allowing traffic to turn around if need be or to offer a queuing space up to the gated area. And this is just an aerial of where the gate will be, approximately here where the red is. So development review staff have found the Meadow Run Property Owners Association Incorporated application to comply with all applicable regulations, and the comprehensive growth management plan is detailed in the staff report. Review by the local planning agency is not required for this application, and staff recommends approval of the Meadow Run Property Owners Association application. We move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments, including the staff report as Exhibit 1, and move that the board adopt the resolution proving the revised final site plan for the Meadow Run at Fox Grove subdivision project. And that concludes the presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Questions for staff? Seeing none. Applicant, would you like to make a presentation? Good morning. Good morning. My name is Chris. I'm with McKenzie Engineering. On behalf of the applicant, I would like to thank Brian for the presentation and their assistance on getting to this point so far, and would like to answer any questions that you guys may have regarding the project. Thank you. Questions for the applicant? Commissioner Capps. Layton-Virms Road. Is that a public road, county-owned, county-maintained? Yes. Yes. All right. Thanks. Thank you. I have a number of requests to address us on this. First is Chris Hamilton, followed by Jesse Fulton. Commissioners, first. Good morning, county commissioners, staff, and guests. My name is Jesse Fulton, and I represent Jacob Community Center, LLC, the neighboring property owner located east of Meadow Run. Thank you for allowing my colleague, Mr. Hamilton, myself, and some of the families involved to speak this morning on behalf of our organization and supporting the community. Now, in 2004, this very board approved Meadow Run's master site plan, which could not be clear. All access to and from Meadow Run must come from Southwest 48th Avenue, now known Citrus Boulevard, and Layton-Virms Road is to be used only for emergency access. For more than two decades, Meadow Run operated consistent with this requirement. Now, things changed after JCC, which owns approximately 400 acres east of Meadow Run, invested its own resources to improve and pave Layton-Farms Road a few years ago. Once that road was extended and improved, Meadow Run unilaterally installed an unpermitted and unsafe south gate, connecting its subdivision to Layton-Farms Road, in direct violation of the master site plan this board approved. Since then, Meadow Run has used that gate for daily residential traffic, guests, and large construction vehicles, causing increased noise, congestion, and safety risk on a rural road that was never designed for such use. This is a narrow road. It's not striped. It's got deep ditches on the side. No barriers. When JCC discovered this violation, we reached out to Meadow Run directly, respectfully and in good faith, asking them to comply voluntarily. They refused. We then reported the issue to Martin County Code Enforcement in January. The county investigated, confirmed noncompliance, and issued a formal notice of violation. However, rather than correct the problem, Meadow Run appeared compliant by slightly moving the gate inward, then reinstalling it to appease code enforcement. Within two weeks, the gate was reopened and the violations resumed. A second violation followed, and the matter proceeded before the special magistrate in April. Unfortunately, the special magistrate exceeded his authority in effectively granting Meadow Run an exception, something only this board can do. That temporary allowance for construction vehicles has only compounded the very issues we're here to discuss today. Today, Meadow Run continues to use the Southgate illegally, exposing neighboring landowners, employees, and families, especially those attending the Palm City soccer farm, some of which are here today, to ongoing risk from speeding traffic and oversized trucks. Just two weeks ago, Meadow Run residents again used the gate in violation of this magistrate's order and that limited exception. When reported, the county declined to impose meaningful penalties, effectively signaling that this noncompliance carries no consequence. Sir, your time is up. Thank you. In closing, our request is simple. Please enforce the rules already in place and restore the protection of site plans. Sir, your time is up. Chris Hamilton is next, followed by Ms. Corey. All right. Good morning, Commissioners. Just real quick before my time starts, I'd like to ask for just a quick matter of legal housekeeping. There was some letters submitted, I believe, to the Commission. We have them. I just want to make sure they're in the record. That's all. Okay. Thank you. All right. Good morning, Madam Chair, Commissioners, County Administrator, County Attorney, staff, guests. My name is Chris Hamilton. I represent Jacob Community Center as well as Mr. Fulton. As my colleague referenced, Meadow Run's proposed application for installing the Southgate along Southwest Layton Farms Road creates a dangerous condition for JCC and other local residents, plus, and particularly, families attending the Palm City Soccer Farm. Some of those families are here today, and you'll hear from them shortly. I also have 118 signed declarations opposing the Southgate that we will enter into the record with the clerk. Three simple points I raise for consideration. First, Meadow Run designed and built its own main entrance, which was not mandated, the design, by any site, plan, county, code, or anything else. Meadow Run's attempting to justify these new gates by relying on their own created problem or harm. Rather than remedying its own design flaws to the main entryway through a simple construction permit and slight modification to the entry, Meadow Run now seeks to shift the burden onto its neighbors, exposing the public and other landowners outside Meadow Run to safety risks. Southwest Layton Farms Road was never designed nor constructed for the substantial number of heavy trucks and speeding cars that have been cutting through and creating congestion. It's a non-divided, non-striped, and less than 20 feet wide dead-end road with large culverts on both sides, making it not only difficult to pass and manage two-way traffic, but it's simply unsafe for the contemplated increase in traffic. Number two, as of May 2025, we estimate that Meadow Run homeowners have built on close to half of the 91 lots already there. These homes were largely, if not solely, built using the main entrance for large vehicles. As such, Meadow Run can and does use the front entrance for construction and larger vehicles, along with everyday traffic, for close to 20 years. Otherwise, those homes would not have been built to date. The idea that the main entrance is somehow insufficient or limiting now is a self-serving falsehood. Number three, there is a clear alternative. Meadow Run already has access on the northern end of Layton Farms Road. As of now, that northern gate is to be used solely for emergency access. That means, per Martin County's own Growth Management Department, that the gate's culvert and paved access road must have been built and currently maintained to accommodate a large fire truck. Given that, it is more than sufficient to hold large vehicles and the construction, maintenance, and lawn trucks that we see going and coming from the south gate currently. Using the north gate would also eliminate most, if not all, of the concerns of these large construction, delivery, and maintenance vehicles and regular resident and visitor traffic passing the Palm City soccer farm at high speeds, endangering parents and children alike attending the farm. So, in closing, we're simply asking that the county uphold the original master site plan in order to ensure the southern end of Layton Farm Road remains what it was always meant to be, a dead-end road with limited access, not a public thoroughfare for a wealthy subdivision, wanting to make its own rules to the detriment and increased hazard of others and children. Thank you. Ms. Corey is next, followed by Elliot Mata. Good morning, Commissioners and public members of the community. My name is Nina Elkori, and I'm mother of two boys, James and Bryce, who attend the soccer facility on Layton Farms Avenue. And I'm here to speak on behalf of our community members who attend the soccer facility. Every morning, around 9 a.m., about 50 kids get dropped off at academy, and by 3 p.m., they're picked up. And at 4.30, the soccer practice starts, and about 300 families bring their kids every day on that road. And I believe this road is very narrow, and there is no sidewalks, there is no lines, and on both sides there are very deep ditches, and it's already impossible to drive even a regular car back and forth. And when large trucks are involved, they take the entire space of the road. And earlier this year, when the gate was open, my dog Max was hit by a car and had to spend by a large construction truck that was speeding, and he had to spend two nights at emergency hospital. And it was devastating for our family. And I can't even imagine if a child who were in similar circumstances was on that road, and the construction truck wouldn't just notice him and hit the child. And we, as a community of our soccer parents, totally opposed to using this gate for any traffic, others in emergency use, because, as it was said, the road is too narrow, and we just don't want to put our children at risk. And we ask you to please do not amend the site plan. Thank you. Elliot Mata is next, followed by Marvin Pinder. Good morning. My name is Elliot Mata. I'm the vice president of the Walton and Hersham Football Club, which occupies the soccer facility on Layton Farms Avenue. I am opposed to the proposed gate plan by McKenzie Engineering on behalf of Mejero Run, along with the hundreds of families who have signed petitions expressing their opposition. I have personally been bringing my daughters to the soccer facility for over 13 years, so I'm very familiar with Layton Farms Avenue, including how narrow the road is and the deep ditches on each side of the road. The club oversees an educational program at the facility, with families arriving as early as 7.30 in the morning to drop off their kids, and coupled with a soccer program that has families picking up kids as late as 10 p.m. So, in other words, a very active area with children and families on Layton Farms Avenue. The condition at Layton Farms Avenue creates a significant safety concern for our families and students. We already have incidents, as previously mentioned, including the club's owner's dog being hit and children and families having close calls. Adding a gate at this location would only increase traffic, inherently increasing the risk of children, family, and club members traveling to and from the facility. My wish is that the amendment to this site plan not be approved due to the safety risks and potential harm it poses to our community, and I hope I have successfully described the risk that this poses to children and families. Thank you. Thank you. Marvin Pinder is next, and Mr. Pinder is the last request to speak for him that I have on this item. Hi, everyone. Good morning. I've been a resident for Martin County for 50 years, and I live on the corner of Layton and Moore Street. For 41 years. With this entrance, they're opposing, I think it's going to put way too much traffic into our neighborhood. The roads aren't designed to take that much traffic, and I really just oppose this amendment to this project. Thank you. Thank you. Would anyone else like to address this? Back to the board. Commissioner Campy. Thank you. Based on some of the public comment, I have some questions. Mr. Elam, there was a comment about a north gate. Can you give us an aerial of what they're speaking of? Yes. The original master site plan approval had an emergency access as part of its approval right up here. So, at the northern end of Southwest Layton Farms, as they had described. I could show you an aerial of it. That would be more helpful. This looks like it goes into a lake. That would be basically, I think, right here. It would be the emergency access. So, what condition is that road in currently? Layton Farms? No, the access, the emergency access. I believe that it's intact. I personally have not inspected it. I believe that we have had people have looked at it recently due to this particular application. I can't speak of it to myself. I guess I'm asking our staff and maybe the engineering firm representing the neighborhood if that was considered as a viable option. Is there a reason it wasn't an option? I'm just trying to flesh out if there was two different considerations. What was that? That emergency access is a 20-foot wide grass current path with a stabilized base underneath. We haven't considered that as a feasible option due to the right-of-way concerns. Being 20-feet wide, we don't think that there is enough room to put in a gate with the proper facilities. Does our staff agree with that? All right. Are you approved? For the record, I'm Michael Grisalka, the county engineer. Yeah, when we did go out and look at that facility, the culverts are fine. The access is still adequate for the fire rescue department because that's what it was primarily designed for. But we never took any more additional look at it. But it is only a 20-foot wide easement that cuts across those properties for emergency access only. Okay. Another question. Thank you very much. I've been down that road many times, Leighton Farms. I've been actually driven it recently to see what this was like. I know of the soccer club back there. Yeah, I think this is the soccer club here. Correct. And the other facility that's there is the JCC. The interesting point about this, first off, in my opinion, something that was approved 20 years ago, now with the hindsight of decades, I don't personally think that since it was written that way in 2004, it would have to be locked in that way. So that part, for me at least, and I wasn't here then, but I could understand that things change and can progress. The comment about the additional traffic that Leighton Farms would have to take on, we just heard from some of the public comments that nearly 300 kids are dropped off at this club, potentially daily. That's a tremendous amount of car traffic going up and down Leighton Farms. Hundreds of families, I heard one of the comments was that there are hundreds of families that are involved going back and forth to the soccer club as early as 730 in the morning and as late as 10 o'clock at night, dark road. So I think there's already a potential concern. These are, how many homes are in this? Ninety. Ninety. Ninety. Ninety-one lots and about half of them are developed at this point? That's correct. I know that for quite a long time, the development, similar to the Pentelago development that's next door, had set unused for many, many, many years, and it just seems to have recently started to be done again. I'm torn in this particular area. I think that it's not a builder in there. It's not a cult or a poultie. It's an individual kind of situation in there, correct? Homes are not being built 50 or 20, 30, 40 at a time. They're just building them? I believe it's each individual lot owner, I think, is having their house built. I think that's how it's working. Correct. Okay. Individual. So based on a calendar of when people are building or not building, I can see the concern of construction vehicles, but I think if half the neighborhood of 92 homes is already built and they're building them, you know, sort of sporadically, I don't know if it would be a parade of trucks that we have seen in other portions of the county. I'm wondering if, since staff has, I've read the application and the agenda item very carefully to see, staff's recommendation is approval. They comply with all the codes, so yes, there's nothing that would... But they don't. There are violations against them. They had a violation recently that was brought up. I talked with Jerry, our compliance officer, and he said they paid the $500 fine. I don't know all of the citations they've had. There have been a few, I believe, and we've dealt with them each time. Our code compliance, Jerry, has dealt with it. But part of correcting violations would be what's happening today, correct? That's correct. You know, it's interesting because these are residents that live here, purchased homes and property here, and would use that as a potential option out of their neighborhood. And with all due respect to the folks that are visiting and participating at the soccer club, they, in the last several years, I know the club's been there for a long time, but it's really become much more active in the last several years. If the neighbors had come to complain about a soccer club with hundreds of cars, approximate potential, hundreds of cars going the full length of Layton Farms Road, I mean, we'd have to take that into consideration as well. So for me, these are residents asking for an opportunity. They're going through the process, and staff has said that it's met all of the individual departments have reviewed this and feel that it is an appropriate potential use of, even if all the neighborhood was built out, it's 92 homes. I don't know if it would generate the type of traffic that the soccer club does. So, I mean, in my mind, it seems like a reasonable request at this time. Commissioner Hetherington. So, you're, I'm concerned about the traffic on Layton Farms Road, I'm concerned about the violations that I'm reading, and I'm concerned about pushing traffic away that wasn't necessarily studied originally when the PUD was approved. So, what you're asking for is something temporary in nature until the project is completed, or is it permanent? Permanent. So, is there, I ask the staff, is there a mechanism that allows for temporary and not a permanent change, or is that the back, the north gate, is that the provision for that? Madam Chair, may I? Paul Schilling, Growth Management Director for the record. So, there was a order finding violation that was by the magistrate, that was April 16th. One of the reasons we are here today is to review and potentially approve the removal of note 19, which was on the previous approval, which prohibited access to Layton Farm. So, that's that component. So, part of the review has, these other potential matters that have been mentioned, I'm not aware of, I would point out that this project being reviewed from a traffic perspective, meaning Meadow Run, was determined to be de minimis because of, as you said, there are 91 total lots, 45 of which have been built. But to circle back around to your question, they are operating under the magistrate order, which allowed for limited construction traffic, and the association is required to manage that. I believe there were tractor trailers measuring 53 in length or greater, so concrete pumps, things of that nature, and some other matters, roof trusses, cement pump trucks, things of that matter. So, as part of that hearing, which I testified in, the review of this application has, it actually started before then, but we're here today to hopefully try to address the access permanently. So, if this matter is approved today, that would allow the limited access for guests, it's a controlled access, and limited construction traffic. There's no real provision to limit the construction after today, in my mind. No, note 23 spells it out, and I believe it mimics the magistrate's ruling, although I wasn't there. It says, Southwest Layton Farm Avenue shall be a residence, contractors, vendors, and emergency access. That is, one of the few changes from the original site plan was the modification of that particular note, which I believe used to just read that Southwest Citrus Boulevard should be the access for residents and guests, something like that. That's correct, yes. So, that portion has been added to this note as part of this revised final site plan. I was not sworn in, so I can't speak to the facts, but I do believe staff could confirm that Layton Farms was not open to this location when it was originally approved. I believe when the project was approved, it was an unopened road to the point that the access is being requested to, and it has since been improved and open to use by the public. You would need staff to confirm that, or I'd have to be sworn in. I did a rezoning for the property that has the soccer field on it, and I believe when I looked at it then, the road stopped basically at their gate. They had a gate across here, so it wasn't paved from this portion down. Ms. Elder. Yes, Elise Elder, Acting County Attorney. I just had information about the code enforcement proceeding, but Mr. Schelling covered some of that, so if you have any questions, I can answer them, but I'm happy to answer those. There was a comment that someone made that the magistrate did not have the authority to make the determination. Could you explain? So, there was that provision on the site plan that said there shall be no access off Layton Avenue. In his ruling, the magistrate ruled that Meadow Run could actually use Layton Avenue for larger tractor trailers, so the neighboring residents said that the magistrate doesn't have authority to make that ruling. We're currently in a lawsuit on that right now, so we're addressing that in court. Sounds to me like if a magistrate would not necessarily have that authority to do that, that would only be this body. So, it's questionable right now, and we're in litigation right now, so it's hard to comment on that. I would think. Yes, so, but the magistrate only granted that access until this board ruled on the site plan. Once the site plan is ruled on that, that access goes away, whether it's approved or not. So, it's only a very limited time that they could use that entrance. Is the lawsuit that we're involved in right now over this matter? Yes, two. So, it's part of the code enforcement order was for Meadow Run to come before the board to see if they can get a permanent access. So, that was done first, and then I believe the lawsuits came second. So, we're here because of the amended order from the special magistrate? It's just the original order, but yes, that's part of it. Also, we're questioning whether or not he had the ability to implement this change. Madam Chair, may I, Paul Schilling for the record. So, the note 19 as referenced, which prohibited the access to Layton Farm, was a board-imposed condition. There are requirements in the land development regulations which require the removal of that note potential to be the Board of County Commissioners as a decision-maker on that, hence the hearing today. I would also like to state that this application came in, I believe, a couple years ago, this request. But the applicant today was not part of the board. He stepped down or something of that nature. And so, now that he has come back on the board, he's put in the application again. This wasn't something that happened six months ago. This was something they had desired a couple years ago, I believe. But two years ago, they knew that they were not allowed to access it from this access that they're now using because the... Two years ago, they came in for a pre-app, and we evaluated this exact proposal, but they never turned in an application to go forward. And I believe it's because the applicant today was stepped down off the board or something of that nature. So, now that he's back on the board, he has resumed this proposal. But according to the approved plan, they are not allowed access here. They're only allowed access at the other entrance. That's correct. Like the, except for by way of the magistrate's ruling, the approved site plan does not allow access there, only. Commissioner Capps. Yes, I wanted to get a little more clarification about this north gate. There were a lot of things said, and perhaps you've already settled the matter. But what I would like to know is, could the north gate be modified so that it's usable for the same purposes if it's just a matter of time and money? Would there be like right-of-way issues, drainage issues, that kind of thing? But is it feasible that it could be done? Yes, maybe, and not sure. All of the above. So, I'll try to articulate it to some extent. The area in question is a 20-foot easement that traverses parallel to lot lines. If Brian could, or Mr. Elam could zoom down in there. Right, so we have residences that have been at least one constructed adjacent to the north there, the driveway. And then at the south, there will be a residence on that lot at some point in the future. But to get back to the answer, potentially modifications to the right-of-way, potentially modifications to this plat and the lots, which are minimum lot size, what was it, Peter? Five acres. Five acres. So, most of these lots could not lose any square footage and still meet the agricultural ranch at land use designation. So, that's, I'm sorry. I think that's it. So, to really get a final determination on that, we would probably need to pause this thing and do some research and further study. Are we pretty clear now that it's not feasible? I mean, I'm not pressing you to make fast decisions that need more time. I would say the likelihood of that happening in this location, similar to the south end that's proposed today, is extremely unlikely. Okay. In my opinion. I don't know if the county engineer has another opinion. Would you repeat that, please? Me? The likelihood of a gate in full cul-de-sac and all the appurtenances necessary to gate this access between these two lots with a call box and the queuing and all the intricacies that come with establishing that gate on the driveway could be problematic. Even though there is an approved final site plan on which this is noted? Yes, ma'am. There is. That, as we noted before, that is specifically for emergency access. So, if the access to the front on Citrus was shut down by way of an accident or, God forbid, something more serious, the emergency traffic could get into the subdivision by way of this access point. It's not designed for guest access. It's solely designed for to hold a fire truck and any emergency vehicles. So, there is an approved final site plan on this subdivision. And are we required to modify it? No, you are not required to modify it. This is a request. It's the board's decision to make a change to allow this change. And I think, in terms of the modification to this other entrance, I think the most significant item would be dealing with the zoning issue on the minimum lot size. All other engineering aspects could be overcome. It would be incumbent upon them to acquire right-of-way or other things to meet the standards. But, if there was a, if that relocated entryway required acquiring properties and rendering the existing properties less than the size, that's your most critical issue. So, the question is, is there a clever way to do that? We don't, that could not be determined today at all. Commissioner Hetherington. Hold light. Commissioner Capps. Do you have to have a cul-de-sac? Is the construction of the cul-de-sac the big problem as far as the need for more land, the possibly needing land on other people's lots? Could you have an access without a cul-de-sac? You would have to have queuing space, and I forget the exact number. You would have to accommodate vehicles that pull up to that gate and cannot ingress without a call box or other matter. So, potentially, you'd be acquiring more right-of-way into the subject property, and maybe you can talk about that, Michael. Again, for the record, I'm Michael Grisaka, the county engineer. Yeah, in order to make that a full access, it would have to be built to county standards, and in order to build a road to county standards, we would need a 60-foot right-of-way out there, which there's not a right-of-way currently. There would also be their need for a turnaround at a gate so that anybody who gets up there that can't gain access has the ability to make the U-turn and exit the facility. So, that's all part of it. I mean, like you said, that takes a lot of the property away. I don't know what those two lot sizes are, but this property was all designed for minimum five acres. So, if we took no action, the final site plan that was approved in 2004 remains in good standing, and there's just the matter of the special magistrate's amended order that we have to... Does that stand? The order from the magistrate only goes until the time that this board makes a decision. If the board says no today, they would not be able to use that access at all. The original site plan would stand. Okay. One more. Mr. Capps. One more question. If we said no, and you had to remain just on Citrus as your access, that would require the modification of a little building in the front? Is it the guard station? Or because I believe that big trucks have been hitting the edges of the roof, and you've had a lot of problems with that being in the way of the road? Yes, sir. The applicant can speak more to this, but it did testify in the code enforcement hearing that the building could be modified, the guard shack, to accommodate whatever vehicles they'd like. It's been designed and in compliance with all the rules and regulations in effect in 2004. But I understand some of the larger vehicles may be constricted due to the pertinences and gate access within the interior of the site. That could be accommodated by way of building permits, presumably. One more question. Is there, I suppose it would be an enforcement problem to allow the south gate, but with a limited, permanent limited use just for big trucks? That would require someone sitting there all the time monitoring who's using, who's going in and out. That would probably be a hard thing to enforce, I suppose. Yes, sir. It would be very difficult to enforce, and yes, definitely. There is an approved final site plan. It appears to be in compliance. Ms. Elder. Yes. We do need a motion on the hearing, though. We can't take no action. And I just want to say, since it is a quasi-judicial proceeding. Mr. Capps. So what are the consequences if we said we would like you just to fully exhaust the issue of whether the north gate is possible? I mean, I sense that you're pretty sure, but not absolutely sure. Is there some creative solution where the north access, could we pause this, and what would be the consequences of that? I suppose there have been fees paid for this hearing and the application and all that. And would that mean a denial and have to pay all that stuff all over again and wait like a year to hear this again? What are the consequences of that? Yes, sir. A denial would, on a future application, we haven't had the opportunity to, I would just let the applicant like to, if they'd like to address that, their willingness to move it to the north end. But throughout, as Brian said, the last two or three years, that has not been part of the equation. So presumably the application would start over and there would be some issues with the and even traveling further in time, there would probably need to be some more, Ms. Elder can talk about it, but the magistrate order may need to be amended. I would suggest that given the amount of time to accomplish that, I think a denial without prejudice for them to return for a future application would perhaps be more appropriate that take final action today. And then if the board thinks that they can provide advice, that they could come back with a future application. But I think the amount of real estate and all the other transactions that would need to be painted is essentially a new application. But that's just my recommendation. Commissioner Canty. I think we're getting into the weeds a little bit now. I think if you've, anyone listening has heard sort of the opinion of the board, I think the most, especially if you can zoom in and that north, bring it down a little more. No, I want to see this house that's to the north. This house? Yeah. If that's my house, I'm not having an entrance put, you know, it would literally come out next to my driveway. So I don't think that's going to make sense. You're just opening up a different can of worms. Based on what I'm hearing from my colleagues, I would say that the most logical step for Meadow Run would be to somehow redesign and configure your main entrance off of Citrus. It'll be much less expensive because there's only, I know these are big lots, but there's only 92 potential homeowners in there. The cost of coming back, the time of coming back, the political will to come back would be way more expensive than trying to create a north entrance point versus, you know, potentially bringing contractors in to reconfigure and redesign your guardhouse and your front entrance. So I think I'm not interested in having them go or our staff go through a process. They've got so much work to do, your neighborhood would have to pay professionals to do this work. If the board is not interested in giving you that secondary entrance off of Layton Farms Avenue, I would say you need to reconfigure your original entrance, which is where every lot owner in Meadow Run understood was their access to the neighborhood. Eventually, you'll stop building homes, and then the only real heavy truck traffic would be, you know, furniture deliveries or tractor trailers that are bringing appliances, that kind of thing, versus creating this whole new problem that would be probably more complicated than the original southern back entrance, in my opinion. Is there a motion for denial? No. I'm just giving you my opinion. I hear my colleagues are more passionate about this. I gave you my point. All right. I'll make a motion for denial. Is there a second? I'll pass the gavel and second the motion. Any other comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, we have a motion for denial of this agenda item by Commissioner Hetherington, seconded by Commissioner Hurd. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? That motion carries four to zero, with Commissioner Vargas absent. Thanks. Thank you. Unfortunately, we have to take a break now, so we will take a 10-minute break and take up the fair. We are back. We're taking up Department 4, and following Department 4, we will take up the consent agenda. So, Department 4 is a discussion on Martin County Fairgrounds update and requests. Good morning, Madam Chair. George Stokas, Assistant County Minister, here before you today with two requests from the Fair Association. I think the easiest way to go through this is if I show you a map. The first question before you is the Martin County Fair Association has requested for a one-year extension in their current location off of Southeast Dixie Highway between Monterey and Indian Street. The second request is the Fair Association is asking that you direct staff to draft a performance lease for approximately 30 acres that is located along Southwest Citrus Boulevard. And hopefully, to do this so, we would come back probably in November if negotiations go well. But the red box is the proposed future fairgrounds. It is approximately 30.9 acres. The green line is the road that was built off of Citrus Boulevard. The reasons for the selection of the red box is, number one, the further back parcel allows for a longer road queue or lineup for when the fair does have traffic associated with the fair, as well as the red box allows for future expansion with South Florida Water Management approval, as well as yours, for future recreational activities that may be incurred sometime in the future. And with that, I'll be at a very short and brief presentation. There is the seven points that are related to the fair extension, which would be a lease amendment. And then to just refresh the board's memory, a performance lease is basically where staff will go back. We will negotiate certain items that will need to be accomplished in order for a longer-term lease to automatically kick in. Typically, we give a grace period of about full final construction within three years after final site plan if it is approved. But that would come back before this body once it's pretty much negotiated. But I am open for any questions or comments as it relates to any of these things that I provide with you, as well as Mr. Michael Robbins and their legal representation for the fair is behind me and is more than happy to take any questions or comments as well. Questions for Mr. Stokas? Questions for the Fair Association? I do have two requests to speak forms. The first is Susan Gibbs-Thomas, followed by Vera Howe. Good morning. Good morning. Are we on? Yes. Good morning, Chair Hurd and Vice Chair Campy and commissioners. My name, for the record, is Susan Gibbs-Thomas. I'm a resident of Martin County, and I live in Indiantown. And I am here today to speak on the matter of the fair and to actually thank the county. I know the county, the commission, and staff have, through six decades, been willing to collaborate with the Martin County Fair Association and been able to produce for residents of Martin County a wonderful experience. Great memory maker. And we've already seen today, with the 4-H group here and what they've had to speak to, how it actually molds our young people. They have the opportunity, through the fair, to do a lot more than what they would have without it. So I had all sorts of stuff that I was going to speak to, however it's already been spoke to. You've already heard from the kids and how it impacts them. You've heard from the ones that use the fairgrounds, our much-loved railroad association, and their use of it, along with what it also enables the community to have as far as, you know, swap meets or Ken Sierras and just different programs. And that's the good times, but also in bad times. Your fairgrounds is also utilized during a disaster, a natural disaster, by the county or by FEMA or by Florida Power and Light can be used as a distribution center. So we are grateful for the opportunity to stand before this commission today and let you know that the board that you see behind me is not the same board that we have been striving with. And I say we because in a former life I was in some of those meetings under the, whenever I was sat on the village, Indiantown Village Council and as mayor, some of those other meetings trying to come to an agreement to move forward. In the recent past, it just didn't happen. Well, you have a brand-new board, and this board is laser-focused in moving forward and doing what it takes to provide for the county a wonderful event venue and a wonderful event. And I just want to, once again, thank the commission, thank the staff for all that you do and for being willing to listen to us and to continue forward with us another six decades. Thank you. Vera Howe is next, and Ms. Howe is the last request-to-speak form I have. Welcome back. Good morning and welcome. Thank you for having me back. You heard me, guys, before I came and spoke with the Florida 4-H, Martin County 4-H-ers, that we got our proclamation. And I just want to talk a little bit on the fair and how it's been a ground for the development of not our generation now, but the many generations that have gone through it. And the personal experiences that we've been able to have at the fair, to not only have a fair once a year and just the week, but to have it as a resource to the whole entire county throughout the year. And over the years, the fair has become the classroom. It's taught me responsibility, the getting up before sunrise to feed animals that depend on me. It's taught me resilience, falling again and again until I got up, and it taught me confidence, standing in front of a crowd and realizing that my voice has mattered. And the most important, it's taught me about connection. The friendships I've made here are the ones I'll carry on for life at the fair. Some of my closest people I've met in the barns the late nights after showing, sharing stories, and laughter through the barns. We've grown up here together through wins, loses, and lessons. When I walk through these gates now, seeing the exhibits and the rides, I see more than that. I see the mentors who shaped me, friends and family, and the younger exhibitors who remind me of where I started at this fairgrounds. This fair isn't just an event once a year. It's a community that believes in each other. The Martin County Fair doesn't just raise livestock or showcase projects or have rides once a year. It raises leaders, it raises dreamers, and it raises the people of Martin County. Thank you. I have three nieces who are really enthusiastic livestock showers, and let me tell you, there's not much more impressive than watching a 90-pound little girl leading around an 1,100-pound steer, and they do it with aplomb. Commissioner Campy. Thank you. Mr. Stokes, you mentioned we have two items. What are we discussing first? Whatever you would like, but the first one that I presented in the board item was the fair's request for a one-year extension at its current location on Southeast Dixie Highway. Okay. Let me start by saying this. From maybe at least for the last 10 years, I've been involved in this negotiation of bringing the fair further west. Not so much that we were looking to necessarily bring it further west. We were looking for a larger piece of property for the fair. Through its success, it had outgrown the nearly 11 acres that it was on in town. Through, as Ms. Gibbs-Thomas had mentioned, the ever-changing board, even though some of the members of the board are decades long, but there's new faces, new ideas, new direction, new focus. I'm a huge supporter and fan of the fair for a multitude of reasons. One, as our excellent public speaker just mentioned, and I think there's no one will debate the value that agriculture and the fair and 4-H has brought to our community. Most people, if you think of Martin County, they would say it's an agricultural county. Well, how do we not have a county fair? What I have seen through my own experiences with my children is that the fair in town had started to become more of a carnival than a fair. The kids, as we just heard, that would spend years preparing to show the Miss Martin County Fair pageant, the singing, all the agricultural side of it, was starting to be lost to the folks that were coming purely for the midway, the rides, and the food and beverages. As the airport started to progress, more and more of the overflow parking was disappearing, making it much more difficult. And as you heard some folks say, if you went one year and it was very hard to find a place to park and it got difficult, then maybe you'd think, I'm not going to go. So we've been working for a long time. We had located originally 110 acres out in western Martin County. And then it's through its iterations has scaled back, sometimes positive, sometimes negative. One of the speakers earlier had said that I had really been beating the drum. It's in my district, but really my passion for the fair is this. I've said it in the past, and I think it's important when we think about, like, we're negotiating a lease basically with ourselves. We are the fair, and the fair is us. I think in the past we started to get into this kind of adversarial negotiation that it was like us versus them, and I never thought of it that way. These are our residents. These are our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues, business owners. So I never understood, like, the kind of the debate that was the push and the pull of what was happening. I didn't like it, and we started to lose direction on specifically what was supposed to happen. I remember speaking with Jay Spicer and thinking that we would have the fair out there, like, in, I don't know, like, 2018. You know, like, and I, and I, the same concept that I hope can work now, and I believe it will, is we just got to get the fair out there. We just have to get past the, well, you know, and, and look, a lot of it was not even the previous administration at the fair. I mean, Chester Edwards and others had really put their heart and soul into it, so no critique of them whatsoever. However, the board's, the administration's bar was very high in terms of fundraising. We had a lot of expectations of raising millions of dollars that would have to be raised ahead of time, and there was a lot of scrambling with state grants and things like that. I was part of it. I sat in meetings with potential donors. I introduced the fair group to donors on Jupiter Island. We did everything that we could, but then there was a pandemic, and so I, I don't see that as any kind of a misstep on behalf of the folks that were now and then working on the fair's behalf. That being said, I think that an extension, and I have shared this opinion, my opinion, with the fair, individual members of the fair, I think waiting an additional year is a disservice to the fair. More and more of the parking is being taken away, whether it's the FAA is saying it has to go or not. I think we could work around that, but just logistically, there's just not as much there as there was. I think that if we change the mindset of kicking the can down the road an additional year, we're sitting here a year from now and having a similar conversation versus, and I'll make my own personal commitment as the district commissioner and one of the five, a lot of our staff has said to me, Parks and Rec and members of engineering, growth management, public works, they're all in, they all have, a lot of them are locals that were raised here and have beautiful memories of their childhoods at the fair as well. Let's go full steam ahead on getting the fair out there. Let's not say, well, you know, we got another 365 days to sort of figure out what we should and should not be doing. No, have this year's fair. I remember a couple years ago, there was the farewell fair, and then they had to paint that off. I drive by and see that the original mural on the side of the building has gone to two smaller murals, and I don't know why that happened, but I mourn the old mural because it really spoke to us. Now, from a personal point of view, I certainly don't want to be sitting up here as a commissioner for the demise of the fire, of the 65-year-old fair. I want to be part of, and I've been trying for a long time now, to be part of, as Susan Gibbs-Thomas said, the next 60 years. 30 acres is good. I wish it was more, but what Mr. Stokas said, I had sat in on a meeting with the South Florida Water Management District. They own hundreds and hundreds of acres past there. This used to be, if I'm not mistaken, South Florida Water Management property. I was a new commissioner when they donated it back to us, the 110. They're not going to use the perimeter of it as well, but I think the only thing that I would say, and I know why Jay was doing it, because he was looking to build stakeholders. He was looking to create the largest community of people that could push the fair in the right direction, but I think what happened is the vision got too big. And if you're looking to get this, you'd get nothing, and if you're looking to get this, then you can really do it. And he did bring in, I remember, and I still want these things, archery, soapbox, derbies, BMX. You guys, I don't have to tell you, there's a million things that can go on. The other misconception that I think a lot of people think about when we think about the fair is that it's 10 days. It's two weeks. It's not. As some of the speakers had mentioned, the association programs events and activities on that property year-round. I don't think most residents realize that. I think they think that the fair association handles the fair, and when the fair is over, it somehow reverts back to the county, and all of those other events are magically handled by some elves, I guess, not understanding that it's you all. And they're not all moneymakers. It's not all ring in the register. I know that tremendous amounts of the activities that you supervise, maintain, clean up after are events that are completely put on for the community for free. Free for them, not free for you. There's still plenty of money that's expended to create these events. So I would humbly suggest, and we could hear from the representatives, I think they might have already come to this determination, that the 2026 fair should be the last fair and that the 2027 fair should absolutely be on this new piece of property. And I will commit all of my abilities to make that happen for you all. I think if you wait too long, the circling above the fair association that could be happening, there are, you know, look, and I don't have to tell you, there are groups that are working towards a different set of outcomes that might not be as beneficial for you all. And you're only stewards of the fair, except for my friend who's been there nearly 30 years. Most people come and go from the association. If you think about it, it's handed down the line. Groups before you did it in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010, 2010s, and to you. And so I want to make sure that you, as the dedicated volunteers, can pass it to the next group, to that young lady sitting right over there. Eventually you'll be up here. Well, you know, we need to renew our 40-year lease, you know, into 2050. So that being said, I think the suggestion would be to not renew, and that's not meant as a zing or as a kick to the association. I think it's the right, in my opinion, and I have had the chance to speak to you, it's the right strategy for moving forward. Let's go. Let's commit that we're going out there. Let's get these leases signed by the county. Let everyone understand there's a sense of urgency that I know you have it, but we have to make sure that everyone else has it. And I will stand with you every time you need me to, at meetings with donors, at meetings with the South Florida Water Management District, at meetings in this building, to make sure we get the fare healthy and ready for its move. Even if the first year has to be more of a rural kind of, you know, like when the circus came to town, if you have to do that for the first year, even though I think it'll be more than that, the county, we did commit to a couple of things back when we did that negotiation. Some of them have taken place, but the other ones that we haven't necessarily executed, I still expect the county that we agreed to those things in the past, we would continue to be on the hook for them now. Thank you. Mr. Capps. We received a lot of engagement and a lot of emails, and I appreciate all of those. They do make a difference. And a whole bunch of them came from a group called the Model Railroad Group. And I would be interested in knowing what they in particular feel about the extension and whether an extension would be helpful to them. Will that be coming? Are we going to have some public comment about that a little later? I'll look forward to hearing that. Commissioner Hetherington. That was one of my questions. I support a one-year extension. I support the fair in its entirety. I was one of those 4-H kids that grew up and learned leadership skills, and I thought Vera's words were really very impactful. The fair association raises leaders, raises dreamers, and raises the community. I thought that was very nicely put. I would also like to hear from the Model Train to see if you got a rural fair, which I think is absolutely doable out in Indiantown in 2026. Would that meet the needs? 2027. In 2027. Would that meet the needs of the Train Association? Because I think there might be a little more than just having barns and bathrooms to accommodate that particular organization, and I'd love to hear from them if that would. If I might just put two cents in for that? Sure. Five cents? And then I'd like to also hear from our friends at the Railroad Club. My point about moving is the county is not going to immediately come in there and wipe away the property. So in terms of the Railroad Club, in my mind, my suggestion would be the Railroad Club would continue to operate on the property until the last moment that they could not operate on the property. I had a meeting with them. It's probably two years ago. They came to see me, and we had a conversation. They do have a beautiful plan. They were – these guys are – and women and children now. We got the letters. I think it's terrific. They were prepared, and we can hear from them. They have a – I'm assuming they still have a plan to move, and I had originally even suggested that I would use some district funds to help sort of kickstart that effort for them. But obviously, they're currently not in my district, but if they move out to the fair, they would be. So, yes, I'd like to hear from them, but I wasn't leaving them in the lurch. If the fair continued to move, the Railroad Club could stay there until we didn't need them to be there, until they were comfortable for moving. In answer to, I think, everybody's questions, we are going to do everything possible to try and build a new building while they're building the site for the fair. We've got a full-blown drawing that I've been to the building department with that they have literally approved, and I've talked to the fire marshal, so I think we've got all the – everything as far as that goes. And our intent is that, yes, we appreciate we need to stay here until 27, and while we're prepping the ground and everything else, our intent is to try and build another building. And working with the fair board, which I'm also part of, in order to raise some money and some grants, because needless to say, this kind of building would be – needs to be done. We can't move a quarter-million-dollar layout to sit inside a tent out there at the fairgrounds. So, we have talked among us. I've presented an idea that I think we could build two buildings at the same time if we could get the funds and the grants. So, we could build an office building and an auditorium, and we could build our museum and the train building both at the same time on this piece of property. It might be kind of a stretch, and it would take the work of everybody, and the train club has been very fortunate to work with the board that is there now and in their help with us and everything else. And I think that this is the only way that this might get off the ground. So, we're anticipating being here in 27, and we'd like to have a new building by the time 27 rolls around. So, the extension would be helpful to your group? It's a must. It's a must. And Mr. Campy was – when I met with him two years ago, and the other commissioners that were present then, Sarah – I met with Sarah. So, all the commissioners have been very, very helpful to this club. But without this extension, we've had people talk about taking everything down and storing it. We couldn't afford to start spending $12,000 a year just to store layouts, and half of them would get destroyed. You know, when you go to move them three times, and this latest addition we got was a quarter-million-dollar layout from a gentleman down there in West Powell. And these aren't the kind of layouts that you can just put in somebody's garage or something like this. And when you disassemble them, you know, they would be destroyed. So, and the amount of people that go through this club and through the fair – we deal with children with autism. We deal with people coming from the schools, senior groups coming out of nursing homes. We had a case of – here's six months ago. We had a gentleman who was in a wheelchair, 66 years old, and all he wanted to do was have his birthday at the train club. So, we accommodated him on a Saturday. But these are part of what we're doing right now in works with the fair association. But as together, we want to make this thing move ahead. And I'm the kind of person that I believe in doing today what – not waiting until kicking the can down the road. So, thank you. Thank you for your time and your questions. Thank you. I'm also very supportive of the fairground moving. And I certainly understand the notion that end their lease in order to provide incentive. But I also know that things take a long time in government. It's going to take a while to – if we approve the negotiations for the new contract, it's going to take a while to negotiate that contract. So, I can certainly understand that they – their need to extend the lease until 2027 and then to begin negotiations for the new location. Mr. Campy. Thank you. Just – is anyone from the fair association interested in the comments that I made sharing their opinions? Waiting has its advantages, but it has its disadvantages as well. Of course. Thank you, Commissioners. Micah Robbins, Executive Director of the Martin County Fair. And I actually – as a board, we've actually discussed the comments that Mr. Campy made, and we are ready to get moving on this. We work very closely with the train club. If they have the ability to stay for the perpetuity until they get stayed. We don't have a contract for this. Okay. Well, if we could work – that is our – one of our concerns. As far as us being able to get to a fair in 2027, we're committed to doing that. We have the resources in place right now financially to at least get to that point, if not even get down the road on the physical components that we will need eventually, which would be our offices. We do need ample space for agricultural and other exhibition space right there, and, of course, storing all of our things. But as far as the larger needs, our first priority is our livestock, our livestock kids, creating that environment. We can do that with temporary structures. They're actually very, very nice. And then building out all the other components that we need, hardened surfaces for our midway, parking, et cetera. But those are types of things that we've – even with a new site, we are prepared to work through. So we certainly take Mr. Campy's suggestions to heart. It's something that we are motivated to do. And if it's given us the challenge to be out there in 2027, we will accomplish that if we work that together. But we also want to make sure that our friends at the train club are taken care of, and we look forward to working with them and hopefully have a new home right with us at the fairgrounds. Thank you. Madam Chair, may I make a suggestion? As I said, I think that the fair – that the train club is using a relatively small footprint there. But I agree, you can't disassemble it, put it somewhere else, reassemble it. It's a lot of work. It would take – you'd have to have a separate club just to do that. I don't see us necessarily – even if the fair were to – the association were to vacate and head to their new home in western Martin County, then anyone would be coming necessarily to put a sticker on the door at the railroad club. I think that they could stay there even if a majority of the property and the association started their move. Remember, I'm not saying that after the fair is over in 2026 that you have to vacate the property. I'm just saying that you'd set a goal for yourselves to not be out there setting up the fair for the spring of 2027. If it took you eight, nine months to move off the property as an outside, I believe if you have a sense of – urgency is the wrong word, but if the donors and the folks that write grants or pay grants understood that you need to move along. And the concept of how long it would take to renegotiate the contract lease, we've been renegotiating that contract lease for about six years. I mean, I believe if we could ask Ms. Elder that I don't think it would take – especially if she understands that she doesn't have a year – she and her team doesn't have a year to wait and to handle it. If she knew it had to be done, she'll get it done. I know Terry McCarthy's sitting in the front row. He'll get it done. He doesn't want to retire until he sees the train station – the train club and the fair association in their rightful home. He wants to hand it to his next – his protege in good steed. The lease is not my concern. It's Stokas. It'll be long and drawn out. George Stokas gets things done. He's a superstar here. Say you're only kidding. It sounds like that's on the record. Commissioner Capps. Yes, I'd like to begin by acknowledging Susan Gibbs Thomas as Indiantown's first mayor. Most of you probably know that, but we're glad to have her here. And for your public comments also. She's on their board. Yes, yes. And I think it's a new day with new leadership at the fair board. You know, there's been a history there of delays and problems, but it's a new day. And in my conversations with the key players, I've had confidence that they know what they're doing. They have a good, reasonable plan. I think it's also very important for any new effort to get the proper start for momentum purposes and to get it right. And it's only one more year. I don't think that's a big burden to any of us. And also, it seems to me that the railroad, model railroad group or club is a key part of the fair. And they have expressed that they really need another year to put things in place. And in light of all of that, I would move approval of the extension. Commissioner Hedrington. I concur with that, and I would second it. Is there any further discussion? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Second matter. And the second matter, ma'am, chairs, really just need a board direction to move forward with a public purpose lease for the fair association. The performance lease would be the components really are a site plan, a fair office, a fair midway, handicap parking. And the reason we distinguish that is it's typically paved general parking, which is typically not paved or is stabilized soil. And then stormwater associated facilities as well as utility connections. And those would be the things that the staff right now we've thought of to start negotiating on, but I'm open to any more further comments. Or if that's a good start, we can go from there. Mr. Campy. I'm all revved up about the fair. I'm very happy to support that. There was a comment about term. Do you have a suggestion for term? I don't have a suggestion. I think typically I look at 40, but we're open to what the county administrator is about to say. Mike. Excuse me. The issue is the length of the lease, but the performance piece would be that you were expecting that the initial rustic fare may have tents or those other things. I think the direction really is on the performance of expecting some of these physical features, which are much smaller in scale than we did before, is it five years to actually get buildings in place, something like that. So they have a long-term lease, but it has a performance measure that we're expecting to occur within a shorter period of time. So I think the idea is you'd have a long-term lease that they can use, but there is a performance piece that, all right, you have five years, let's say, and your feedback on that would be helpful, or certainly individual feedback following this meeting would be helpful when we work with the Fair Board to bring back, hopefully a mutually agreeable long-term lease with a shorter-term performance criteria on the most critical elements, what we consider for the basic fare. Knowing that long-term, they're going to have additional items added to it, but that would be not performance-based. Okay. I make a motion that Martin County enters into negotiations for an extended lease, what did you call it, what kind of lease? Performance-based. Performance-based lease for a term of 40 years with a five-year performance on construction that is negotiated mutually between the association and the county, that the items that Mr. Stokas had mentioned that would have to be handled right off the bat, but also with the opportunity that the fair have the ability at any time during the term of their lease to negotiate with any outside entity for additional space as needed in the future, specifically with the South Florida Water Management District, that that would be a party with the county, the outside entity. I'm assuming it's the South Florida Water Management District, but potentially it's somebody else, and the association, so that that is something that they can, as they see fit, would have the ability to negotiate a larger footprint. What is that, north or west? Both. North and west, and or west. Am I missing anything? I don't understand the last part of your proposal. They're going, originally the negotiation that we had entered into several years ago was giving the association 110 acres. Now it's down to 30, and part of their vision that, you know, this group is going to incrementally build the fair as it's appropriate, but I don't want, if we disappear, and there's new people sitting up here, that they have to come hat in hand again through a multi-year process to get additional footage. If you see this red box to the top of your screen and to the left of your screen, I sat with the last group and the South Florida Water Management District to get additional property. Now 30 acres sounds terrific, except it is relatively small. The county is reserving 17.8 for themselves. This whole purple shape used to be the fair, and now they have the upper left portion of it. So all I'm saying is that if it's appropriate in the future, when it's different faces here, that my comments are remembered that the association could have additional space, at least have the ability to negotiate versus having to start all over. It's just a thing that protects us into the future beyond 30 acres, because I believe this will be successful. Some of the items that were going to get moved out to the AgriPlex are terrific items that Martin County should have. Let's say it's off-road vehicles or BMX or archery or soapbox derby or equestrian facility. Why wouldn't we give them the opportunity to at least negotiate? I just want it written into the documents that 15 or 20 years from now, someone says, well, why would we do that? You got 30 and you got your 30. No, at the time, on October 7, 2025, we discussed that they do have the ability to have more if they need it. I disagree. I think that this ties our hands. Okay, I'll make it a separate motion then. I want us all to agree. I mean, that's effectively giving them 100 acres, and no one else can petition us to. Well, let's do them in separate. I'll take that portion out of my original motion. Mr. Donaldson, you have a comment? I was going to weigh in on your last conversation, but I think I'll withdraw my comments. You're only going to annoy one of us. Yes. Or all of you. So I'll wait. Thank you. So your motion is basically what Mr. Stokas laid out in the staff. And my comments that I made, except for the additional space. I would second that. Any further discussion? There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Terrific. I'd like to make a motion that the Fair Association have the opportunity in the future to be a party of a negotiation that they could begin with outside entities, specifically in this case the South Florida Water Management District and the county, if additional acreage is needed for future expansion. We can't represent the Water Management District. No. They would be Fair County Water Management District. You're just asking for authority? So that they have a right to have that negotiation if they wanted to institute it. We started to do it a couple years ago, and that's when there was way more than 30 acres, and we were negotiating with them to get some extra. I just want to give them the ability. This is a 65-year-old organization. I'm trying to look deep into the future to give them some foresight to know that what we did today gave them some flexibility. 30 acres is terrific over 11, but it's not a lot. Commissioner Capps. With regard to additional land and expansion, I would prefer to cross that bridge when we get there and take one thing at a time. So I would be for holding open. A tie is a no. And there's four of us. I can count at least. Then we are finished here. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you very much. Thank you. Now we'll take up the consent agenda. Just you two. Bye, Cara. Thank you. Okay, next we will take up consent agenda number eight. I pulled this. It's a request to adopt a resolution revising the development review and inspection fee schedules for growth management, fire prevention, and engineering services. And these have not been evaluated for nine years. And certainly there have been, there's been inflation, there have been increased costs over the last nine years. And so I was encouraged that we were re-evaluating our fees. But I was disheartened to understand that we are not, that the major fees are remaining the same, even though surely our expenses have skyrocketed in the last nine or ten years. So why wasn't an effective re-evaluation done of our fees that reflect current costs? Because if development review, if the developers aren't paying for the fees, then our taxpayers are. So why are all these major fees remaining the same as they were in 2016? Good morning, Commissioners. Paul Schilling, Growth Management Director for the Record. So to answer your question, Commissioner, to some extent, this endeavor was undertaken by a few departments. We have analyzed the fees and tried to come up with fees that more accurately reflect our operation. I could remove a couple of them. For example, the removal of the resubmittal fee for DRIs and DRI applications in general. We changed some minor changes to the master and site plans for consistencies during the review process. And a building permit reviewed, along the lines of what you just mentioned, we have, by way of this ordinance, should it be successful this afternoon, be implementing a $45 zoning review fee on building permits. As you know, we have several individuals that are devoted to that full-time. We review thousands of permits a year, and those can be resubmittals or first-time submittals. So that's in an effort to capture some of that available funding. We have added, with respect to development review, we have added a landscaping compliance inspection fee, which is $560 that was added for minor developments, and the $1,100 was added for major developments. And as you know, a lot of these projects have landscaping, of course, but they also have environmental. So we've found a need to separate those fees, for lack of a better term, and that the landscaping also has resources involved with that and its own criteria in bonding and staff review, of course. Preserve area signage fee, that is based on the cost. It's going to be a pass-through to the owner. Before those were $3 and $5. We've added a permit fee for shoreline stabilization, which is new. So backing up to some extent, we have taken an opportunity to look at these fees. However, we felt that the changes necessary today would not trigger a full-scale analysis of all the development review fees, which you just indicated. I would suggest if the board's direction is to travel in that direction, we could certainly do that. But the last time it was done, it was quite an endeavor, from what I gather. I just know that when you do a major master and final site plan, a PUD development, all these major things are huge undertakings for our staff. And yet, the fees remain the same as they were established nine years ago. And I know that our costs have gone up dramatically. Why don't the fees reflect that? They could in the future, perhaps. Yes, I agree wholeheartedly with you. These applications involve dozens of people with many, many hours involved. And depending on the length of review, we can be talking about two to three years of review time. Can we get $12,000 for that? Yes, I would point out that probably a little bit of the consternation was just the wholesale review of all these fees and what the end result could be. But we haven't entertained that. I think the genesis of this was to just simply add some fees that were, as far as growth management, that were necessary to make some clarifications that did not trigger a full analysis of all the fees. All right, well, I'm just looking through this, and it looks like a fee that's being added is a scanning fee. No, that's not even being added. An environmental waiver, shoreline regrading, you know, five or so really, really minor fee changes, and everything else remains the same. Why bother? Just from a practical standpoint, and to avoid confusion, there was a fee for the major and minor developments with respect to the inspection package that was $3,600 for a minor final site plan and $2,900 for a major development. As we know, there's much more involved with a major development. The thresholds are higher than, of course, the minor trip capture and all those other entities. So we just basically reversed that to accurately effect. We removed some code citations and added the new code citations with respect to the minor technical changes to correct inconsistencies with master plans and plats. As you know, fairly frequently we bring those applications to this board, although now they're going to be the plats will be administratively handled. So my suggestion is that if the board is interested in looking at all of our fees more comprehensively, we could do that in terms of doing some cost analysis on what it's costing us. There's also been a desire to try to keep the fees to a minimum for, like, the single-family property owner and small businesses trying to apply. And so there would be some policy decisions that I think we'd need some feedback if you want us to look at the entirety of the fees. I do know that our building department is coming forward with actually some fee reductions. You know, they've been challenged with competing with the private sector under the state law for private providers on threshold inspectors and other of those items. And Jeff has actually been generating sufficient revenue through some of their larger projects to potentially lower some of their fees, and that will be coming to you in the future. So there have been some efficiencies, at least in the building department area, for inspections and using drones and other things for roofing and things to try to make it more cost-benefit. Plus, they have to compete with the private sector to do their building permit fees. But I think in terms of growth management and the engineering department and looking at major site plan developments, you're correct. We have not looked at a detailed analysis of what we're actually spending on staff, the number of hours typically spent on the different types of applications, and we'd be happy to put something together to look at that if that's the direction of the board. Yeah, I'm certainly in favor of making things affordable for our residents, but people routinely accuse our development review of being developer-friendly, and this looks pretty developer-friendly to me. Commissioner Campy. Thank you. To piggyback off of what Mr. Donaldson said, I can see his point, and Commissioner Hurd, yes, I understand we want to make sure that the developers and folks that are doing business with the county pay their fair share. However, in most cases, to Mr. Donaldson's point, if it's a family looking to build a single-family home, I have had people reach out to me that say it's nearly impossible to do that. And if we're talking about housing prices, and not everyone buys an existing house, and not everybody buys a house that was built by a national home builder. Some people purchase a lot and try to build with their single family a home. And so if folks that are tasked with doing the work and evaluating the value of that work reviewed all the numbers, made the corrections where there was no fee on certain things that maybe are newer than they were in the past, it wasn't relevant in the past, or to do some corrections. So like a minor review of what, you know, major, minor, we just did a minor review of the fee schedule. And when I read the agenda item, I thought that the changes that you made were appropriate, especially given the fact, and I appreciate your ability to regulate, to say, well, you know, we have a free opportunity here to make these whatever we want, and we can push them through, and we'll probably get a yes, and we can bring in this additional money, but you were reasonable, and I appreciate that. Even if it's a larger builder, and you say instead of being $12,000 or $18,000, which it's not just $18,000 or $12,000, you put them all together with the other expenses, it can be much more than that. Most likely, even if it's a small, like a medium-sized builder, not a national builder, they just push those into the cost of the units. So if you're looking to try to create reasonable housing, new, affordable housing opportunities, and when I say affordable, I don't mean program housing. I'm talking about a house that a regular family could afford. That's what I mean by affordable. Then you have to keep that in mind, because all of these things add up. I did have a conversation with our friends from Fire Rescue and Fire Prevention Inspection Services. I thought what they had laid out about, because we're not just talking residential, we're also talking commercial. They had laid out a strategy that the smaller projects were going to be evaluated and charged at a reasonable rate, so that if a family or a couple or partners wanted to enter into a business, they don't look at the cost-expense sheet of opening the business, especially with the fees from the government, and say, we can't do it. They did review their numbers and increase them and make them fairer for larger-scale projects, and we went back and forth quite a bit in that conversation to make sure that the small-scale stuff was reasonable and that the larger-scale stuff was fair, and I think the goal here needs to be reasonable and fair. So if our staff has reviewed it and felt that this was comfortable, short of doing a full-blown major review, which maybe you want to do, but I would at least make a motion, and I will, to accept what we're seeing today. And if your suggestion, Commissioner Hurd, is that as the time is appropriate, our staff does a much more thorough review, but I would have to see how does that compare with Indian River County and other counties, not necessarily St. Lucie and Port St. Lucie, because it's, you know, there's scale that needs to be taken into consideration, but with similar organizations such as ours here, I'm not opposed to that, but with what you asked to do today, I make a motion to accept it. Second it. Commissioner Capps. Are there any state regulations that come to bear on this subject? It seems like I've heard that with regard to the building department that there are some parameters that are put on us by the state, like there have been problems in some places with building department fees being exorbitant and being like a profit center for a town or a city or something, and the state legislature brought that down within certain parameters. Does that apply to growth management as well? No, sir. Those fees are regulated by the building code as well as the building official, Mr. Jeff Doherty. So those fees are set for the most part, as you said, I believe by state statute. One of the nuances with them is there's a percentage of the value of the construction, and also that is used, I believe, for calculating the review fees on a permit. So it's an $89.50 permit, I believe, just generally speaking, and then the percentage of the value of construction is added into that, and then there's a calculation done that the ultimate value of the permit comes out or the cost. Just keep in mind, Commissioner, that in any fee-supported structure, we can't make a profit, so we would have to make sure that the work out effort doesn't or the fees don't generate more funds than we spend. Okay. Now, this agenda item is also about the fire prevention and engineering services, and so I suppose we'll be hearing from the fire department, too, perhaps, or not necessarily. Okay. I don't have any in particular. I just wondered if you were going to be talking. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Opposed? That motion passes 3 to 1 with Commissioner Hurd dissenting. Thank you. That's right. So now that the consent pull has been reviewed, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Move approval. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. We will now break for lunch. Commissioners, we have a preset of 2. You want to just come back at 2? Do you want to hear this quickie item? I think it's a mandatory nothing. I watched the LPA meeting. What's this? Green something. Farms. Green farms. I watched the LPA meeting. It lasted four minutes. Sure. We can take it up. Just so they don't have to come back after lunch. This is quasi-judicial. Commissioners, Commissioner Capps, any ex parte disclosures? If I have any, they have been filed. I don't have any, and they've been filed. I've filed the fact that I have none. If I have any, they've been filed. Well, and Mr. Aguilar, have you passed on all of your pertinent materials to the clerk? Copy of my work history. It's been turning. Excellent. Anyone who's going to be providing sworn testimony in this, please stand up, raise your right hand, and be sworn in. Do you swear or affirm the evidence you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Mr. Aguilar. I'm setting the timer. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Luis Aguilar, Principal Planner for the Growth Management Department. I'm presenting a resounding application for a property owned by 5,000 Southwest Green Farms Lane, LLC. 5,000 Southwest Green Farms Lane, LLC is requesting a zoning change from A2 Agricultural District to AG20A General Agricultural District. The subject site is located at 5,000 Southwest Green Farms Lane in Palm City, approximately two miles south of Southwest Martin Highway. This is an enlarged area of the site. The property is undeveloped. The future land use designation is agricultural. The adjacent properties on Southwest Green Farms Lane are agricultural as well. The zoning district is A2 Agricultural District. A portion of the property is subject to a covenant agreement, covenant number 286 to AG. Therefore, this request to rezone is considered mandatory per Section 3.401.b. The proposed rezone area is approximately 111 acres. And there is one standard Category A zoning district available to implement the agricultural land use policies of the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan, which is the AG20A General Agricultural District. This is the district that the applicant is requesting. And for comparison purposes, the existing A2 Category C zoning district is provided in detail on pages 2 through 6 of the staff report. The survey development standards for the AG20A District, which is the minimum load area, 20 acres, minimum load width, 300 feet. The maximum height is 30 feet. The minimum open space is 50%. And the survey corresponding setbacks, which are 50 feet for front, rear, and side. The survey conditions supporting the requested general agricultural district. The existing future land use destination of agricultural for the property and surrounding areas. The AG20A District aims to implement the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan's policies for agricultural density in areas exceeding 20 acres. The AG20A zoning district is compatible with the existing agricultural uses in the area. This matter was heard before the LPA on October 2, 2025. The LPA voted to approve 4 to 0. Development review staff have found 5,000 green farms laying resounding application to comply with all applicable regulations. And the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan, as detailed in the staff report. We recommend move that the board receive and file the agenda item and its attachments, including the staff report, as exceeding the one. And move that the board adopt a resolution amending the Martin County Zoning Atlas to change the zoning district designation on the subject site from A2 Agricultural District to AG20A General Agricultural District. This concludes my presentation, and the applicant is here to answer any questions. Questions for Mr. Aguilar? I have one. What's proposed on the property that cannot be accomplished under the A2 zoning? Right now we haven't received a proper application. It is a mandatory rezoning for the property. A2 is a common zoning district in Martin County. I'll try to help the Paul Schilling for the record. So we have had a pre-application meeting on this site, but we have not received a formal application. The requirement to rezone to a Category A district is because there was a covenant previously approved, I believe, in 1996, that covenanted to AEG, but to answer your question, Commissioner, we haven't received a formal application, but we understand that potentially in the future there may be some type of vegetative facility. That can't be built on A2? Correct. It will trigger a site plan. If I may, Elise Elder, Acting County Attorney, our LDRs require that if there's a covenant that they have to rezone, I believe. So this is a mandatory rezoning based on our LDRs because there is a covenant on the property. And the LDR code is Section 3.401B. Mr. Capps. So can we, just for the public's benefit, can we explain what a covenant is and what its purpose is? So in the late 90s and early 2000s, for some reason, the county had covenants where they would enter into this covenant with property owners to assign zoning to the property. I'm not sure the details on how they did it or the legality of it, but we have those that exist throughout the county. So several years ago, because those are basically similar to contract zoning, there was an LDR change that requires any property owner to rezone their property if a covenant exists. But in the late 90s, that's how they assign zoning through these covenants. One more question about mandatory rezonings. Does that mean if you want to develop a property, you have to do a mandatory rezoning? Or does that mean, or is there like a timetable? I mean, if something's mandatory, it seems like you would need to get it done within a certain time frame. So it's not a mandatory that it requires each property owner to rezone in a certain time. But if you want to come forward and do a site plan on your property, it becomes mandatory because you have to rezone it if you want to do a site plan, which is the circumstance now. So if they want to come forward with a site plan for anything, it requires a rezoning. It's a prerequisite. It's like step one in the process. Correct. Any further questions? George Missimer with Kotler and Hearing for the record. This meeting was advertised. I'll enter the affidavits in for the record. And I have been sworn in. Motion to accept staff's recommendation. Commissioner Hetherington. I agree. That was my light. And I would second it. I apologize. George, you did a very nice job at the city of Stewart Seacoast, too. Thank you. I was there. You spoke too long, but you did a good job. Mr. Fox? Madam Chair, as this is a quasi-judicial public hearing, we're required to ask for public. Thank you very much. Would anyone from the public like to address us? Seeing none, there is a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Now, we will take lunch break, and we will return for our 2 o'clock preset. You're on. We are back from our lunch break. It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and we are ready for Department 6, which is an agenda item to discuss the Holt Correctional Facility Mental Health Housing Pods design update. Thank you, Commissioner. This is an informative presentation. For record, Sean Donahue, General Services Director. This is an informative presentation of the efforts, the design efforts for the Holt Correctional Facility Mental Health Housing Pods. If you remember, back in 2024, we received a state appropriation of $500,000 to do the design conceptual study of the mental health housing pods. And then in January of 2025, we selected Secura Texture LLC to do that design. Today's agenda, we're going to discuss the need for the project. We have Sheriff Boutenseek and staff here to discuss the need for the project. And then Joe Merack from Secura Texture will go through the project overview, the conceptual design, and the cost estimating. And from here, I'll turn it straight over to Sheriff Boutenseek. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Good afternoon. I appreciate you letting me take some of your time. I'm probably going to be a little longer winded than I normally am, and it's not for you all. It's for our audience that's watching this, and it's kind of a refresher of how we got to where we are today. And I've got several pages of notes, so if you would indulge me. This is in preparation for the Martin County delegation meeting. And in the delegation meeting, my part of it will be to just specifically speak about the mental health pod, and that's kind of where I'll stay. But today I'm going to broaden our scope a little bit because it all, and you'll see how it all plays in together as far as building this new pod and the new bed space. We have two competing pressures that have finally come to a crossroads. One is the size of the jail, how many beds that we can currently have in the jail. And the other is mental illness. And I'm going to start with the size of our jail, a little bit of history. In 1989, we completed our existing jail. That was 36 years ago, and that was built with forethought. Our commissioners at the time and the people that ran that project, one of which just passed away, unfortunately, they thought ahead and they built a jail that was adequate in size. Our population back then was a little less than 100,000 people. And we built a jail that could house 700 inmates, more than large enough of a jail for that time. At that time also, classification was different. Let me explain classification, if I may. Classification is how inmates are classified. And I know it's a really simple way to say it, but there are certain inmates that are not allowed to have contact with one another. And back in the 1980s, early 2000s, it was pretty simple. Bad people were bad people. You put them in jail, they co-mingled. That was just the way that it was. So back then, you had to keep male and female separate, and then juveniles had to be kept separate from the both of them. So it was not that hard to house inmates in the jail based on the classification system back then. Since that time, moving forward to where we are currently today, there's 12 different classifications in the jail. So there's males and females, juveniles, special status, which that would be like a violent offender, a murderer that just can't get along with anybody that comes back from DOC or a high-profile offender. There are felons and misdemeanors, protective custody. Those are normally sex offenders that go in there that we know if they get in general population, somebody will likely hurt them or kill them. Special management, admin confinement, disciplinary confinement. And now we're dealing with ICE, civil immigration holds, both male and female. So there's 12 different categories of individuals that we have to keep separate in our jail today, which is almost impossible to do. It is impossible to do properly. Those standards are passed down to us by Florida legislation under the four-model Jail Standards Act, which is meant to keep the civil rights of our inmates intact and really to keep them safe. And as you know, there's a lot of bad things that happen in jails because there's a lot of bad people that are in the jails. Today, as you know, our population is 165,000, and based on approved building projects that are already approved, we know that our population is going to go up by several more thousand individuals. It's not just Martin County's growth that applies here. While we're growing, Palm Beach County has grown into us, and I don't have to tell you, Port St. Lucie has boomed. So it's a combination of our normal calls for service with Martin County population and then the others that come into Martin County that we end up arresting on a day-to-day basis, which keeps our jail at capacity day in and day out. We have had to be, over the years, extremely thoughtful about programs that we enact in order to keep our population in check in the jail. And in 2022, we started what we call a pretrial program. I know some of the commissioners worked with us on that. And the goal with that was, for misdemeanors, people that come into jail with low-level offenses that don't have a likelihood of reoffending or being a problem for our citizens of Martin County, that just don't have the money to bond out, we created a legal mechanism for them to go see a judge and a judge could put them on pretrial detention, meaning that they're between their initial arrest and getting sentenced. It's essentially a bond without paying a bond that's supervised by us, the Martin County Sheriff's Office, and paid for by you, the county. That allows us to take 70 individuals today out of the jail. There are 70 individuals that are not in jail as a result of this program. Another thing we did to be thoughtful with the Martin County Sheriff's Office jail was we stopped the weekend program about 10 years ago. And the reason was is weekends as a whole tend to have more inmates coming in. And then on top of that, we were bringing in sometimes 30 inmates that were sentenced just to do weekend hours. So you had your normal jail population throughout the week. Then you got your influx of weekend offenders, the drunks, the people that can't get along with their wives. And then you got 30 inmates on top of that. And so we eliminated that program through the judicial system in order to keep that from taking place. Today, our population is running right around 600 people. And I know the number I gave you when I started was 700. So the jail will house technically on paper 696 people, almost 700 individuals. Today, we're running 600. But because of classification, we can't commingle these people. So 600 is at capacity. And you've toured the jail. I think all of you have toured the jail. And I appreciate you doing that. And you've seen that we have individuals sleeping on the floor on what we call boats, I believe, and sleeping in confinement cells. And we really have people spread out all throughout the jail in order to comply with the Florida Model and Jail Standards Act and to keep our inmates safe. Moving on to the issue at hand and the other angle that plays into this is interspersed in there are the mentally ill individuals. And Sheriff Snyder, if you all knew him, know him, was forward thinking. And he came here to this commission many years ago now, before 2020, and explained how when he was driving out of the jail one day, he looked at an inmate who was probably mentally ill and said to himself, hey, I'll see you in a couple days. And he would be back. And the recidivism rate has been real with the mentally ill. They get out of jail. They come back. It's just a back and forth thing that's been going on for years. And we know, based on the jail setting, the clanging doors, the lights, the inmates that are all around you, that, unfortunately, the mentally ill coming to the jail, they don't necessarily get better. They deteriorate. They get worse. And I'll give you an example of this. Three years ago now, we had an inmate come in for a misdemeanor. I believe it was a trespassing case, misdemeanor. But he was mentally ill. And because he was mentally ill, he reoffended while incarcerated, spit on one of our deputies, got in a fight, so he got a felony. And he has progressively deteriorated while he's been in our jail. And we've done our best to give him the care that he needs. We've sent him out to the state hospital. They've sent him back to us. And he's continued to deteriorate up until the point where two weeks ago he spit on Judge Robey. If you saw that on the news, he spit on Judge Robey. This is an individual that we believe, if we were properly positioned, could have come into our jail on that misdemeanor charge. We could have put him in the right setting, got him the right treatment, and kept him from reoffending. But here we are, three years later, we have an individual that just keeps mounting his legal problems. In Martin County, mental illness is a very real thing. Again, I have a lot of stats. I'm trying to be brief in what I'm hitting here. But in 2024, we had 447 Baker Act. That's people taken against their will and put in a receiving facility, not the jail. This year, we're tracking towards 518. That's a 16% increase from last year. This year, to date already, we've had 22 people that have already taken their lives. We weren't able to save them. And then the rest of them end up in, you know, our jail, your jail, the Martin County jail. And I'll give you an example of mental illness, unfortunately, from Saturday. We had a 14-year-old autistic young man launch himself off the Roosevelt Bridge. And thank God he didn't pass. Most of them do die. He actually walked away with no injuries. But it's every single day we have calls involving the mentally ill. And every single day we incarcerate them if we can't bait crack them. Today, out of our roughly 600 inmates, 155 of them are on psychotropic medication. So that's 26% of our current population in the jail are on psychotropic medication. And really, that's why we're here today is to try to address that and cut that down. As I already mentioned, Representative Snyder, a couple years ago, under Sheriff Snyder's watch, started helping get us funding secured to do a site survey study and try to draw up some plans, which we're going to go over today, to try to help us start the process of expanding our jail, building a mental health pod. And just to be clear, I know you're going to see some photos. This still has to be a jail at the end of the day. So it's not going to be just pads and flowers in there. It still has to be a jail at some rate. But across the state, and I've talked to our state representatives, I've talked to our senator, across the state, no one is properly handling the mental health. There's no real place to put them. They can't stay in a receiving facility for more than 72 hours. If you don't have the insurance money, which most of the individuals we're dealing with are indigent, if you don't have the insurance money, you can't send them away to a private facility. So they do get stuck in our jail. And so Representative Snyder came to me a couple months ago and said, this year I'm in leadership. I'm positioned well to maybe offset the cost that comes out of the Martin County taxpayers' dollars to build this facility. And I think they'll discuss numbers here in a minute. It's expensive. We're talking about a $60 million project. Now, moving forward, even if the state came forward, and I don't think they will, but even if they came forward to us and funded the entire project, paid for the whole thing, there's nothing that's free. It won't be free to us. There's recurring costs that will move on down the road. We're building a sizable facility. It will be over 300 beds. Again, that will catch us up to where we need to be, and then hopefully it will give us enough leeway to move into the future. But even if the cost is covered, down the road in a couple of years, we're looking at, from my angle, from being the sheriff, 24 new positions in the jail, which represents about $2.5 million of recurring costs that will take place. So while we're all about the project, I think I've made a case that it's a necessary project, not just for the mental ill, but we have to do something with our jail population as it is. It will cost money moving forward. I did what I always do. I came with a couple layers, a backup. If you want to ask me questions now, I'll try to answer them, or I can wait until the end of the presentation, and we can weigh in. It's up to you. Have any questions, or do you want to wait? We'll wait. Thank you, Commissioners. Appreciate it. For the record, I'm Joseph Marak, the president of SecureTexter, and I would like to start by thanking the commissioners for allowing SecureTexter the opportunity to be of service to Martin County. As I start, from a schedule standpoint, we began this project back in early January and put about eight months of effort into this. And throughout that period of time, we exercised a five-step process, kind of a tried-and-true master planning process that we've used for several decades. And during that eight-month period, we had several in-person meetings, and we had regularly scheduled teams meetings, virtual meetings, every two weeks. So what we are presenting today is a culmination of an eight-month effort and an abbreviation of the full 277-page report, which will spare you of that. So the majority of this concept is essentially two housing pods, and each of the housing pods actually takes up the same footprint of space, but they're different capacities of inmates, and they're slightly different square footages, and I'll explain that in a little while. But what we're calling cell pod one, or phase one, consists of six cell blocks. These are these gold-colored cell blocks around the perimeter. And the cell blocks are, besides being divided horizontally from each other's complete sight-and-sound separation between one and the next cell block, they're also divided vertically. So there's a mezzanine level, which we'll show a little bit later too, that can be subdivided, what we call a sub-day room, can be subdivided from a security standpoint from the lower-level day room, allowing us 12 different classifications. The sheriff mentioned classifications. The more classifications we have, the more flexibility we have in the operation of the facility. So we have a total of, in housing pod one, it's a maximum capacity of 176 beds. Now, what I'll say is each of these cells is designed to accommodate two people. So it meets all the standards for two people, square footage, airflow, furniture and equipment, lighting, and so forth. However, due to the type of classifications that certain people will have, they can't be housed with another person. Some of these will be actually operated as single cells. But what we have done is design all of the cells to allow double bunking for maximum flexibility at a minimal cost. Then in addition to the 176 beds of the cell pod one, the salmon colored area is the programming and treatment components that is housed within the cell block. So a couple things that are different with this cell block is the inmates will not have to move out of the cell block for any of their programming. So these spaces include small classrooms, treatment and programming rooms, staff offices that are providing this programming is there, a medical room in each pod, and an indoor and outdoor recreation area within the pod. So the movement is minimized with the special population, making it safer for those inmates and safer and much more efficient for the staff. The second housing pod, which we call phase two, is similar. Like I said, it's similar in footprint, but it's, and it still has six cell blocks that are divided, be able to, capable of being divided into two. But the cell blocks, you'll notice, are smaller. If I can go back one, I guess, okay. So the six cell blocks of the first pod, four of these cell blocks are the mental health step-down program. So these are the four mental health units. Then we have disciplinary segregation and administrative segregation in that housing pod. In the second housing pod, there are also additional segregation classifications we have to accommodate. There is more disciplinary and administrative segregation. We also have what's called shelter care. So those that are infirm or elderly for both male and female can be housed, separated from other inmates that may be more predators. You notice that there's less capacity of beds in this particular cell pod, but there is a greater amount of program space. The classrooms are bigger and another indoor-outdoor recreation. So these two pods, side by side, will contain all of those special populations that are kind of staff-intensive into one location, making it much more efficient. So this is an over-aerial view of the site taken from the south. And there's a couple things. This phase one pod is this orange one here. Then the gold pod is the phase two. Then there's a couple other areas in the jail we took a look at as well, because we did an analysis of the existing facility as a process. There's some visitation space that is being updated to improve safety and security there. There's a new staff entrance and an updated staff entrance in this area of the building. And then there's an overhead walkway connector, a covered walkway connector, between the B-pod corridor and the minimum security housing to continue that corridor into the existing minimum security building. So that's the facility in general. So the way these buildings lay out is, again, there's the two pods side by side. The one on the left is the larger inmate capacity. And this is the first floor. So we have essentially a day room space with the first floor level of cells. And the day room of each of these day rooms is actually sized to accommodate both the lower level capacity cells and the upper level capacity of the cells. Even though we have the ability to separate the day rooms vertically, you may choose to operate them as one or lock the upper level down from the lower level and operate them as separate. As long as the upper level and the lower level are the same gender, we can put different classifications of people in those two units. So, again, it goes back to the flexibility of operations and meeting that mission that constantly evolves. So this is the first floor. And the pictures on the lower level are kind of photos, typical photos of what you might expect of what the day rooms, classrooms, and the recreation area looks like. The recreation, indoor and outdoor recreation area, again, is fully enclosed. It has a roof. And it has an operable window, as you might see on an outside wall. It has a security screen on it that can be opened. And fresh air and sunlight can come in the space. And that allows that space to meet the requirements of the ACA and the Florida Model Jail Standards. Then on the mezzanine level, you can see that there is another layer of cells up top. And then we have these somewhat triangular-shaped day room spaces on the upper level. So these upper level mezzanines, again, can be secured off from the lower level. The square footage of those mezzanines meet all the square footage requirements for all of those cells as if they were double bunked. And you'll note that the control room is on the mezzanine level. So the first floor is there's a secure vestibule underneath the elevated control room. The elevated control room is about 10 or 11 feet above the day room floor. So people are moving from the day rooms out the corridor from below the control room. This gives you a direct line of sight, almost 360 degrees, from the control room, which you can see photographs of a typical control room. This one actually is probably Okeechobee. But you have a direct line of sight from the control room into the day room space. Unlike your existing facility, you're typically looking through multiple layers of glass. So we've prepared a fly-through here. It's a short two-minute video, so I'm going to have to talk really fast as we go through this. But we start as an aerial image from the south side. We're going to fly through here, and we're going to enter through the roof of the cell pod number one. And as you can see, there's an elevated portion of the roof that allows clear story lighting into all the day rooms. So we're introducing a lot more daylight than typical. This is the elevated control room. Again, it's a near 360-degree view, elevated about 10 feet above the day room floors. You have views into all the cell blocks, the corridor. You're looking now into the indoor and outdoor recreation area. You're looking into two of these cell blocks, and you can see how the mezzanine level has a security screen separating it from the day room. The day rooms, as I mentioned, can accommodate the full population of that quadrant. That allows you to provide extra square footage for inmate programs. So we're moving along the glass cell fronts. There's a lot of glass in these to allow good visibility of these special populations. Now we're going to move through one of the communicating doors into the adjacent cell block, which looks very similar. And you can see the control room there. That glass, again, is reflective glass. So from the day room side, it's effectively a mirror. And you're seeing from the control room into the day room without the mirror. So we're going to exit now through the corridor underneath the control room. All of the day rooms are accessible from this vestibule below the control room and access to the program spaces, such as the indoor-outdoor recreation area, which we're going to go into now with its shutter open. And then go back through the door on the other side of the corridor. Still underneath the control room, you have access into this first classroom. And the control room actually can have direct observation in that control room or in that classroom as well. So moving back into the PowerPoint, these are kind of, again, typical, similar images of what you would have here. We're suggesting the use of modular steel cells. SecureTecture has been using modular steel cells for about 35 years now. These are prefabricated off-site. And the way they're delivered to the job site is exactly what you see here. The only thing not installed when it gets to the job site is that shower curtain. The other thing that's unique about these, we're putting a shower in every cell. And we have proven over time that showers in cells actually are safer. And it's much more efficient because there's a toilet in the cell already. We already have hot water, cold water, drain, exhaust air supplier, and so forth. And we don't have inmates walking across the day room floors with wet feet falling, hitting their head on the concrete. You take them to the hospital. So these are the kind of cells that, and these, even though they're prefabricated, they're fully customizable. They can put whatever kind of furniture you want in there. You can do it whatever color you want. We're showing typical stainless steel fixtures in here. And you notice the lower right-hand photograph, the cell fronts have a lot of glass in it. And, again, that all goes back to safety and security. Because of the design of the direct wall between the control room and the day room floors, no inmate is any further than 45 feet from the direct line of sight from the control room. So the visibility in the control room is very strong. These are some day room side photographs. You'll notice in the upper left-hand corner, there's one of the keen screens that separates the upper level from the lower level. This bottom area is actually a sub-day room from another project. And in this particular concept, this was a screen. So you have airflow and noise and things like that moving through it. These sub-day rooms can also be subdivided with glass, if you prefer. These are typical photographs of the recreation area. Again, this is an actual indoor-outdoor recreation with the operable wall. And this is a photograph of that shutter when it's in the closed position. And then the classrooms can take on any type of character you want. You can put something rather simple in here. Or you can decorate them with different kinds of furniture and color and things like that to accommodate that mental health or behavioral health kind of environment that we need to create here. As I mentioned, we're a strong proponent of modular construction. But it's not just the cells. But we can actually modularize the control room as well. And the advantage of modular construction is it'll take easily four to five months out of the construction schedule. Well, that saves the county a lot of money. It's also a little bit easier to maintain quality control in a factory setting than it is on the construction site. So there's a lot of advantages to it. And with overlapping construction, we can just get this thing up and running quicker. So from a cost standpoint, there's three components to cost. One is the hard construction cost, which is bricks and mortar. And the construction-related soft costs. Soft costs are those things that you have to spend money on in order to achieve the bricks and mortar. That's things like architecture and engineering fees, construction manager fees, surveys and soil borings and things of that nature. And then there's soft costs that we call occupancy-related. That's the money you need to spend and actually use your building. Okay, well, we need to put new furniture in here. We have IT and computers and telephones and other types of equipment that we have to provide and build into the building before we can actually use it. So these construction cost numbers that we're showing you are total project costs. It's the bricks and mortar and all the soft costs associated with it. And we've also included some allowances for we know you're not going to start construction today, so we need to build another year or so worth of inflation into these numbers. And we've put a contingency in here because we've been doing this a long time, and we know that we need to put money in there to allow the design team, allow the county to make decisions on, well, are we going to just put sealed concrete floors on or are we going to put epoxy floors in? Do we want to do this or renew that? There's an allowance in there to allow you to make decisions on the project yet. I mean, there's a lot. There's thousands of decisions still to make. So basically in the center section here, we have the phase project, total phase one. We have a low to high on the sell pot of $30 to $35 million. And, again, we always do this in a range, again, to give you flexibility. And then those small projects like the canopy, the staff entrance, and the attorney visitation, those add up to about another half a million dollars or so in total project costs to execute those. So total, we're looking at $30 to $36 million in project costs for phase one. And then phase two is approximately another $29 to $33 million. So with that, I will entertain any questions that you may have. Questions for Mr. Merack or for the sheriff? Mr. Campy. Mr. Merack, thank you for your presentation. Just a general question. Can you back to the last slide? So if I'm looking at this correct, if we did it as a single or a phased, you don't show, unless it's just calculated and after the fact, you don't show additional expense if we stretched it out. But there would be because it would be a year or so lag, correct? Yes, there would be some delay. Yeah. Again, each of these numbers includes one year of inflation. If it goes two to three years, we would need to add a little more inflation to that. Correct. But if we did it all at once for $70 million or $65 million versus stretching it out into the two phases, you're layering in some time for inflation. But if we stretched it, it would be additional time. Yes. And if you did it all in one phase, it would probably tend to be closer to the lower of the range as opposed to the higher of the range. Have you built anything, your company, have you built anything like this already? Mental health or the pods? Well, the pod concept. Yes. Because what we do inside doesn't make a difference to you. You've designed it that way. But just the nuts and bolts of this, you've done these before. Several of these. The most recent one is in Okeechobee. Okay. So we could take a road trip. I'll be there tomorrow. We designed two of these housing pods in Okeechobee. They built one, occupied it. We're finishing the second housing pod. And those housing pods each hold 212 beds with two classrooms and an indoor and outdoor recreation area. They used the modular cells. The one difference structurally in Okeechobee. We used pre-engineered metal buildings in Okeechobee. And here we're suggesting the exterior shell of a tilt-up or precast concrete because what we're doing, we're kind of, we were able to use in Okeechobee pre-engineered metal buildings because after every building we could separate them by 20 feet and comply with fire. We were able to compartmentalize the building to reduce it to a building that we don't have to fire rate. On this project, we have a little tighter campus to deal with, so we did it out of concrete, so we have inherently fire rated shells on this particular option. But this near, very near option or example of this would be just a few miles up the road. So they obviously did the phased approach and did one, and now they're doing the other? Yes. Have you seen a large increase from the first phase to the second? Yes. Okay, it makes sense. Yeah. We started the first one in the midst of COVID, and we started the second one kind of toward at the end of COVID, so it was probably about a 3% increase, which we thought was really good considering the amount of inflation we had to endure during the first one. Not that it's necessarily your thing, but you must have to factor in where the money comes from. What did Okeechobee do in terms of paying for it? Yeah. Well, they had a plan B. When we started design, we designed, because the design was to take their existing 230-bed jail, tear down all the existing housing components, rebuild all the housing, replace the kitchen and the laundry, and then renovate the sheriff's office and the intake. So that was all designed as a single project, and they missed the opportunity to fund it all at once, and so they ended up funding it. That's why they're building it in phases, because that gave them the opportunity to fund it one at a time. So it was a combination of grants and money from the state and selling short-term. They didn't do any bond issues for it. They did short-term loans by reconfiguring some of it. So each of the housing pods in Okeechobee was – the construction cost was around $17 million, and the total project was about $23 million. The other thing they did to save a lot of money was they did a lot of direct purchase, and so, like, one of the advantages of these modular cells, they were able to buy them whole and take the tax savings from that. So they did a lot of DPO type of work on it that reduced their construction costs by several million dollars. Excellent. I appreciate that. I'll see if my colleagues have any other questions, and then I – I do. I have some observations, too. The first observation is that we – this is not part of our capital improvement plan. We don't have any money saved, set aside for this. We don't have any money available, and we have a legislature that is determined to reduce our ad valorem – reduce our ad valorem collections. So right now, 44 percent of our entire budget comes from ad valorem, which the legislature is determined to reduce. And of that 44 percent, two-thirds of that is used for public safety operations. And the legislature is not planning on replacing any of those lost revenues. So I'm seeing some impossible budgets in the future. I recognize that, Sheriff, you have a need. I certainly understand that. But so does every other county in the state of Florida. And it has to be a state solution. We are just not equipped to handle the kind of expenditures that you're proposing for us. Not for capital. Certainly not for operations. You know, we are looking at shrinking revenues. And also, I don't – we are not equipped, we're not trained to be mental health professionals. If this is going to be a mental health hospital, it's going to require mental health professionals in order to treat inmates, in order to treat criminals. So we're going to have doctors, nurses, therapists, all sorts of people like that, in order to treat our mental health inmates. It's – it's – it's – it's – it's – I recognize that it's a problem. But, man, I don't have – I don't have a financial solution for you. And not having a clear idea of what the future is going to – is going to present me, I'm unprepared to – I don't know how to proceed. Commissioner Hetherington. I'm really – first of all, you did a very good job of explaining this, a very complicated topic, and even broke it down to the construction costs, hard, soft, and phases. So nice presentation. And I'm encouraged to hear what you said about Okeechobee, because talk about a county that doesn't have a lot of tax resources. So I'm encouraged to hear that you say that they were able to find some multi-funding sources. And quite frankly, I thought your presentation was going to come in double the numbers. And we've heard some massive numbers in the past. So I'm encouraged by your presentation. I don't think there's a solution today. But we're looking at even public works and some buildings that are rather expensive. I like the fact that there's prefabrication. There's some solutions to buy down some of these costs. So I think it's – I know it's just a presentation. We have to work together with our legislative delegation and the state to find some funds. But I will have to say that I'm almost relieved and encouraged by what you presented, because I think it could have been much, much worse. And I actually had a question probably more for the sheriff on Baker Acts and the trends of some of these mental health components. So you said even 400 we had last year, and now we have 500 Baker Acts. So that's – that seems a high percentage for 160,000 residents. I don't know how that's – if you – if that's how you apportion it. But how does that look over, say, the last five years if you're looking at a trend line? And what do you see sit for the next couple years? Well, I would like to say we're going to go backward, but that has not been the trend. So this conversation started, again, under Sheriff Snyder pre-COVID, pre-2020. And I hate even talking about COVID, but when we went into COVID, the mental health calls for service went up exponentially. And we've stayed on par with that all the way through this year. Every year – and I don't have every number. I brought pages, but it will take me too long to data mine that every year it's gone up. It has not gone backward. And is that across the state? And we're not just – it's just not in Martin County. It's across the state? It's across the board. I talked to other sheriffs that are dealing with the same problem. The governor has been tracking with it. They did an article a couple months ago about how there's no real place for these individuals to land. They end up dead. They end up for 72 hours, or they end up in jail. And I want to touch – Commissioner, you're 100 percent right. We don't want to – we're not a facility, but they're in there anyway. So while they're there, we want to make the best of their time and try to at least get them stabilized so they don't come back to us. But we don't want to waste their time and our time too. And, again, like the individual I pointed out earlier, they keep reoffending, and they just stay longer and longer. It does cost us money to keep these people in there for an extended period of time. But, Commissioner, your base question is, is it getting better? And the answer is it's not for anyone. It's not just the state of Florida. It's across the whole country. Thank you. Is that it? Commissioner Campy. Sheriff. Thank you. Listen, I don't disagree with what my colleagues have said, specifically Commissioner Hurd. I don't think the sheriff and his team want to be here today. I'm sure you could be still constructing. I'm sure prison construction is booming business from what I hear on TV and stuff. It's not like, you know, America has the highest rate of inmates in the world, correct? Pretty much. Yeah. So I don't think you'll go out of business anytime soon. So it's not like you're scrambling to get another contract from us. If not us, then someone else. And I agree that we haven't necessarily have a CIP sheet for this, but all the way back now to Sheriff Snyder, he sounded the alarm several years ago on this. So it's not, you're not surprising us. At least I'm not surprised. I'm appreciative of the fact that we have gone through a logical, very seems to be methodical process with great thanks from the legislature through Representative Snyder. For $500,000 is a legitimate amount of money that at least now we're starting to figure out instead of guessing, actually, what would this cost? And like Commissioner Hetherington, you could have come in here and said it would be $110 million. And we would have said, all right, well, that's the number. So not that $60 to $70 million is anything to sneeze at. But I had two questions for the sheriff, if you don't mind, sir. Based on the amount of money that you're spending now to try to, and I've been there and I remember seeing it, you know, I think most people assume an inmate overpopulation problem is just all the same inmates. Like you had said earlier, you have to differentiate these people. Now, I know that maybe there's not as much compassion for folks that are incarcerated with amongst the general public, but I was there visiting with your team. And you can imagine if you're in there for a mental health issue, like you said, originally that gentleman had a misdemeanor. And if they're mixed and mingled and they're tweaked by the light, the sound, I found it. I was only there for probably an hour and a half or so, and I couldn't wait to leave. I also wonder the effect it has on your staff, the mental health and what the cost is for the mental health and physical health of your staff. Because when you're in with this volatile population, imagine this brewing pot of water. You already know it. I stood with your team in that observation pod or whatever the control tower and looked down and it's boiling over. Have you seen, would there be cost efficiencies from creating this new pot in terms of what you're forced to put together now versus had you had the appropriate system? I hate to put numbers to it because I don't know that it's quantifiable. I can just kind of double down on what you just said. Our deputies get hurt all the time. We sent a sergeant out Saturday night. They got in a fight with a mentally ill individual. He got hurt, ended up with a hand injury down in Martin South. So then he's out of work, we're paying overtime to backfill his position. Like that's a constant thing that's happened in the jail. We've had 130 uses of force fights in our facility just this year so far. That's a lot of interaction fights that culminates in injured deputies, injured inmates, who, by the way, if an inmate goes out of our facility for care because of these fights, then we're stuck with two deputies setting on a hospital room, babysitting them while, again, we backfill their positions. So there's a lot of unassociated costs that are really hard to hammer down on. But I would like to speculate that it will reduce our costs, again, because we can keep these individuals separate. I didn't touch on this initially because I was trying to be brief for you, but it's mental illness from the complete psychotic individuals all the way to, we have elderly inmates in there with dementia. And a lot of them are extremely aggressive. They don't know why they're there. They can't remember who's who. They get in fights with the younger people that don't care about them. So I think there would be a cost savings. I hate to say that, though, because I feel like there's always debate and switch going on in these countries. I appreciate that. To your point about elderly, right up the road at the facility on Indian Street, you had, when that facility was still open at the corner of Canter and Indian, one of the residents killed another resident. They were both senior citizens, and I just read in the paper that a grandmother killed another grandmother, not here. My next question for you is, there is a cost of us doing nothing beyond what you had mentioned with injury, overtime, timeout because someone's hurt, timeout when an inmate is in jail, excuse me, hospitalized. We just, thanks to, again, I guess, Representative Snyder, worked on some of those costs for inmate medical costs. But we bear those expenses. So we could look at the $50 or $60 million if it ended up being that, because as the gentleman said, there were some ways to bring that number down. If we just looked at that number and said, we can't afford to pay it, well, what are we paying behind the scenes that we're not really tagging to this account? Would you see, and I know you're not a lawyer, but we have lawyers, knowing if I was an attorney, which I'm not, but if I were, if someone I knew was in your system and got hurt by a mentally ill inmate and was severely hurt or, God forbid, killed, lawyers are going to flood in and start suing you, by extension, us, the liability, the legal liability of not doing anything is not just a Martin County problem. That's got to be a nationwide county problem. There's got to be some value put on the fact that we would do this. I don't think we're necessarily being proactive. I think we're being reactive, because the problem already exists. You didn't come and say, three years from now, I foresee we're having this problem. You came today to say, and so did Sheriff Snyder years ago, we already have this problem. In my mind, with all deference to Commissioner Hurd, I think the bigger expense, and I'm still only speaking in dollars and cents, is bigger for doing nothing than for us to figure out how we have to pay for this. That being said, there's a human cost. You said that original gentleman using him as an example, he was originally a misdemeanor. He's got a family. He might have children, a spouse, parents, siblings, people that care about him. Had he been addressed appropriately, and I'm not saying that it was any fault on our part, because you've got a whole revolving door of people in there, the human cost of us doing nothing, one for the people that have the mental illness, and the other for the people that are either supervising them or being forced to live in proximity to them, you can't put a dollar sign on that, but it still needs to be considered. So I would tell you from my perspective, I'm interested in the next step of this, with all due respect to Commissioner Hurd, that we can't do nothing. And I know that there's no sheet for it, but as much as we're trying to figure out a way to build a new maintenance facility for the county, because it's something that needs to happen for the decades going forward, so does this. And I don't think the human costs are as dire for our maintenance facility, which I still want, as they are for what you're talking about. And I'm sure you wish you weren't here today discussing this. We certainly wish you weren't, but you are. If I can double down, Commissioner, I feel like this is not just a feeling. It's a pay-me-now-or-pay-me-later scenario that we're in. And I actually agree with you, Commissioner Hurd. I understand where we're headed. I've been at the governor's meetings. I get both sides of the equation. The reason why we're here today and getting prepared for the legislative session is there may be the potential for a significant amount of money out of the state of Florida to offset what we don't have in Martin County. So that's really the push, is they provided the money for us to get ready, and the ask is that we can go in there and really push hard to get some funding to offset what's happening here in Martin County, because I understand where we're headed. It's been pretty clear that we're cutting property taxes. I've talked to Blaze, our CFO. I've talked to our local state reps, and it's coming. It's just a matter of time. But thank you for your comments. Yeah, and I'm not advocating doing nothing. I'm just saying this is a statewide problem. And it's going to require a statewide solution. Commissioner Capps. I think this discussion really underscores the importance of home rule and how every community in Florida is different. You know, think about it. Certain counties, perhaps some of the smaller rural counties, maybe they don't have a great need for jail expansion. But we happen to have it now. Maybe another county had a jail built 10 years ago. But I think it's been how long? 30 years for us? 36 years for us. Somebody else might be 18 years ago. Some other county might be a rapidly growing county, like up there around Jacksonville or something. Where are some of those really booming counties? Where is it? Like Deltona and stuff? Is that one of the areas that's exploding in Florida? What, you know, every community is so different. And that's why home rule is so important. And why it's best for local government officials to have a good bit of discretion about what to do with resources. I had a question about general demand. And what do counties do when there is a pressing need for more jail space? Like, say you were the sheriff in Broward County or someplace that was really exploding in growth. And there's a need for... You don't wish that on you. What do they do? You know, they end up putting more people in programs like I mentioned earlier, the pre-trial program, which we run a tight ship with pre-trial here. But again, that's mostly misdemeanors coming in for a low-level offense that we can, instead of making them post-bomb, which they can't do because most of them are indigent, we get them out with a judge's order and then we keep tabs on them. We track them. We check in on them. That's the plan. But what ends up happening in these larger jurisdictions is then they start, okay, well, we're good with 70 misdemeanors out. Now let's try 70 felons. So you end up with these revolving door jail mentalities with some real bad people on the street. And that's how they alleviate some of their pressures. Another thing I didn't mention is Martin County, the circuit, the 19th circuit did a good job here by standing up mental health court. So that's somewhere where we push these mentally ill people into also and get them into programs outside of the jail. So we've been thoughtful. It's not just come in here and ask. The commission's worked with this on every project. The 19th circuit understands it. But we've been careful to keep our Martin County residents safe. And you see in these larger counties, the revolving door doesn't work. It just creates more crime. And then let's see. I had another question about perhaps other examples in the state of Florida where county governments have needed to actually put tax dollars into something, just in general jail expansion. Like, how often is this done? You know, do you have any thoughts about that? So I'll go ahead. Well, I'll say, first of all, I have spent my entire 44 year career designing jails and courthouses. So there is no shortage of those things to do. I've made a living on it. The one thing that I will say, though, is that the mission at the jail is constantly changing. So a 36-year-old facility has difficult, from a physical standpoint, meeting the mission that you have to serve today. You know, for instance, when you're in jail, like, just an example, in 1988, 89, nationally, the female population in jail in 1989 was about 1.5% to 2% of the jail population. Today, it's 25% to 30%. So there's, things have changed, you know, socially, and the buildings need to adapt, and the way, especially a 36-year-old jail has a hard time adapting. But we'll say two things about your jail of particular note. This is on the positive side. For a 1989 jail, it was pretty advanced in its design for its time. For instance, the idea of the rear chases and so forth, like we're proposing here, I didn't even, I've been doing this my whole career. I didn't even see another rear chase design until the early 2000s, and I was one of the first people doing them. And you have that. Secondly, I will say for a jail of its age, it's probably, and I've seen hundreds, I've been in and out of hundreds of jails, mostly out, sometimes in. Visiting. Yes, most of the time. But I would say that for a 36-year-old jail, you probably have one of the best maintained facility I've ever seen. So that, you know, you get credit for taking care of it, because it could be a whole lot worse. I mean, the whole thing could be falling down around your ears, like a lot of jails that are 36 years old. And you have the opportunity to expand it rather than replace it. So that's good. But paying for these is a common issue. These things are always, they're very expensive. I mean, we're talking about, you know, $800 or so dollars a square foot for a jail. That's a big cost. And a lot of people, I mean, there's all kinds of ways that, you know, most of the time people are paying for these with some kind of sales tax. You know, they're doing bond issues of various types. It's a hard thing. It runs the gamut. So I've had one count, and you wouldn't qualify for this, but I've had a couple, like three or four counties in my career that took USDA loans out where they could extend the amortization over 40 years. Well, that's still a long time. But, you know, it gave them a payment to low enough that they could, you know, meet their needs and shuffle the thing around. But there's no, you know, from a financing standpoint, I can't really help you with any brilliant ideas there, but I know it just runs the gamut. And there's, I would say, most of the counties in this country have either built or expanded their jail in the last 10 years. It's just, you know, it's, again, it's the society has changed. And the lack of flexibility in the way old jails were designed just can't meet the mission anymore. And you're actually kind of on the fortunate side of that, that yours can be adapted with, and again, the idea with this addition is we're putting all those special populations that didn't used to exist all in one place in the jail, making it, making the rest of the jail work better and safer. So it's, it's, but you have that opportunity to, to make those changes. And how often does the state contribute to jail construction? Like, like when I think of the state contributing to other things, like say land conservation, you know, where we have this thing going on where we're buying a lot of conservation lands these days and we put up a little bit, the state puts in a bunch and we get the job done. But is that done in jail construction too, where we put up a little bit and they put up a bunch and we get the job done? Well, and again, here you're actually on the lucky side. I work in 12 states and Florida is the only state that I'm aware of that the state actually contributes to you through the funding that you have. There's no federal money out there unless you're doing mental health. Now, again, the, the mental health is the key. Um, everybody's trying, everybody in the country is talking about trying to do something with mental health. Very few people actually do it because they can't afford to get it done. I mean, that's like the catch 22, but, uh, in the state of Florida, I think you tend to have more opportunities for state funding than most states. Uh, most of the states that work in, there's nothing from the state. Would it, would it be unheard of for the state of Florida to pay for half or two thirds of the construction of a new jail? Well, in the case of like Okeechobee recently, um, they were able to get some, uh, state money for about half of what they did. Okay. All right. Thanks a lot. They get some state aid for the operational budget. Uh, all the money I'm aware of is all for capital. Yeah. Commissioner Hetherington. I just, two quick comments. When you talked about jail overcrowding and what are some of the, um, the sheriff mentioned, what do some of the other, um, larger populated areas do as you start mitigating and letting, um, basically what I would call criminals, um, off on this or that, or, you know, they're, you're not prosecuting particular crimes. I feel like as far as Martin County, our number one value here is public safety. Everybody will tell you they feel safe. Um, this is why people move here. This is why people stay here. This is why businesses locate here. And I believe that there's not only a physical safety with having an overcrowded jail or, um, not addressing the mental health of the population. There's a real economic threat to your community. If there's jail overcrowding, we can't accommodate that. And people are not feeling secure and we have to let criminals walk because we can't afford to house them or mentally treat them. So I just noted that, had not thought about that until Commissioner Capps talked about what do, what are some of the overcrowded jails? I never would want to see us, uh, at all acquiesce or, um, give on our public safety is number one, I think, hands bar in the state of Florida. And we should definitely keep it that way. And then as far as strategically positioning legislatively to capitalize on any kind of state dollars this year, I flipped over to our presentation that we're having this afternoon. And, um, on the first page of our strategic state priorities is the public safety mental health initiative. So, um, I hope that we are helping you and supporting you in positioning that strategically so that, um, the legislature knows that the county is there to support you to bring home as many dollars as you can. As the sheriff said, pay him now, pay him later. Any further discussion, comments? Thank you for your presentation. Thanks, Sheriff. We'll see you all soon. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Take up five. Yes. Department five. Ms. Powers. Hello. Sarah Powers, legislative coordinator. Um, so, kind of following, um, just wanted to answer, um, a quick question about funding, state funding. So, the year, the budget for 2023-24, when we received our half, um, a million dollars for an appropriation for the planning and design, um, seven other counties also received money for jail pod, jail, uh, expansions, or, um, that year in particular, Okeechobee, um, county got a million dollars for their, their jail renovation, um, and Union County got almost seven million dollars. So, it's definitely not unheard of. I was trying to look up all the other budgets really quick, but, um, the, that was just, I had that pulled up, um, from our, um, the year we, we had happened to get funds. Um, so, we'll go through the state priorities and then the, um, federal priorities as well. And, as you can see, the first, uh, priority is that, um, mental health pod. So, this year, um, the, we are seeking $30 million to fund phase one, um, and then next year we would intend to file another appropriation for the remaining 30 million. Um, and then in the meantime, there's also, um, some other places we've identified, um, um, through grant programs and other things that are available to help offset some of the operational costs, some other programming costs once the, um, jail is up and running. Um, we are working with the Sheriff's Office on identifying some of those as well. Um, we have, uh, Ken Pruitt on our lobbying team, and he's kind of taking the lead on that, um, helping us identify. So, and only, this is our number one priority, but then having, identifying other state resources where, um, can help out in the long run. So. Also, Mr. Meraq seemed to feel that for mental health issues, there are federal dollars available. Yes. So, we're, we're looking into that as well. Yes. Um, so that's, uh, using the, the Sheriff's Office language. So, technicality, since we own the jail, we have to file the, we, the county, file the appropriation in conjunction with the Sheriff's Office. But it kind of goes, the money comes through us. So, that's, um, so it's our priority. It's the Sheriff's Office priority. It's also, um, I think the Sheriff mentioned, um, Representative Snyder's priority. Um, he's up and coming in leadership, and he's, um, spoken with the incoming speaker. This current speaker and mental health, the conversation around it, um, is, is definitely one that's going to be highlighted this session and the sessions to come. Um, so with his position, he's, um, really excited about this. So, hopefully, that will, that will bring us a positive outcome. Um, our next priority is another local bill. Um, this project came about after last year's, um, local bill. Um, Cleveland Clinic has, had identified our indigent, um, care tax that, uh, we have not, they have not been able to use. And it's kind of just been, it's been, the, the tax has been around since the 60s. Um, and it hasn't been touched, it hasn't used, but not, the, the statute hasn't been modified since 2011. So, we, um, once we started looking at it, um, Sarah Woods had actually helped us kind of identify some things that needed to be changed. So, um, currently, it puts a lien, the, if you receive care, there, a lien goes on you as a person. And that's just an outdated practice. We don't use that anymore. We've never collected on it, to my knowledge. So, it was just an outdated practice that we, um, are revisiting and hoping to just make some minor changes to that. Does anyone have any questions on that before I keep going? Questions? Those are our, those are our two, um, main projects. And then we'll go into the rest of the priorities. These are, um, have remained unchanged. We, we have, um, pretty longstanding priorities. Um, of course, water, all things environmental. So, our CERP program, uh, or the CERP projects, uh, IRL South restoration. Um, we continue to support dedicated funding for that from the state as well. And you'll see it in the federal, uh, the same theme in our federal priorities as well. Uh, long-term funding for all those projects, uh, natural, the natural lands component of IRL South and, uh, restoring the Loxahatchee flow. It's conservative land acquisition. Uh, we kept that in there, of course, um, especially with our, uh, new sales tax and advocating for conservation land always with the state. Um, supporting, um, biosolid initiatives, uh, septic to sewer conversion. That is still a, a, definitely a state priority as well as a Martin County priority and making sure that all those, uh, state programs are fully funded. Um, and, of course, dedicated, uh, coral reef funding and resilient coastline program efforts at the state. Again, making sure, uh, advocating for those programs to be fully funded, um, like the coral reef tract and, uh, and the effects of rising sea levels. Um, and, um, um, all the programs FWC as well as DEP offer. Um, this is a big topic I know that has come up. Um, we, uh, supporting and opposing, uh, home rule, uh, you know, supporting home rule, opposing any legislation that, um, that affects home rule. And shifts, uh, any financial burden from, um, from, um, um, the state to local level and unfunded mandates as well. Um, um, more water quality and natural resources, uh, our human service and public safety, of course, um, supporting the ship program, uh, the, uh, district 19 medical examiner facility. That's been getting reoccurring state funding. Um, again, continuing investment in our operation, our emergency operations center and, uh, efforts for the, um, mental health treatment programs. Uh, our tourism and economic vitality program, um, that's been a big, the tourism tax has been a big part of conversations at the legislative level. Um, I've worked with Norriso. So we think that's coming back with this, the general taxing conversation. Um, so, you know, we're going to oppose, continue to oppose decreasing funding levels to visit Florida and keep that ability to use that tax in Martin County. Our infrastructure, recreation, and transportation priorities, uh, pretty much remain the same. Um, supporting the DOT's five-year work plan, DOT's Target Zero campaign, um, our historic buildings, the state's historic buildings program, um, supporting any sort of transportation funding for, um, the railroad bridge as well as potentially a rail station and, um, intercity passenger rail services. So that is our, those are our state priorities. Any questions? Who made this brochure? Our communications team did this. This, I've been handed, I was handed this document on day one and it's just sort of evolved every year. Um, it did get a new look this year. Uh, yes, that's, Courtney took the lead on the, the design of it. Martha Ann and Laura, they've all been really great to work with the, the design and all of that. But like I said, this, this, especially this federal document, I can't take credit for, all the credit for, it's, it's been handed down for quite a while. No, but I mean, obviously the information that is from you, but the look and feel is, I think, very appealing. And then we'll go through, was there any questions on the state priorities? Mr. Capps has one. Okay. Yes, on tourism and economic vitality and the, so that has to do with the bed tax, first development tax, is that what it's called, TD? TD? Yes. First development tax, TDT. Um, yeah, like what, what has been the trend in Tallahassee? I know it seems like there's been a lot of, uh, political battles going on with what to do about tourism in Florida. Like there's this contingent up there that feels like we shouldn't be doing, spending any money promoting the state of Florida at all and no tourism. And, and I suppose the effort to control this local tax comes from that sentiment that, you know, tourism is just a waste of time and money. You shouldn't spend any money on it at all. So what, what's going on with it up there as far as like what their other plans would be for that money? So last year, the sentiment of getting rid of that tax would just be to return some of that money to the, the taxpayer. It wasn't really a rhyme or reason. It was more so just to provide relief. I think they looked at what were being taxed and what property owners are being taxed. And that was just something that they identified. I think when we looked at it for Martin County, it would have equated to like $50 a person. So it wasn't, but you know, counties like Orlando, they might've felt it a little bit more, but just, it was really just trying to get rid of and change the way that that could be spent. So we could spend it on different, they could, the government could spend it on different things versus what it's supposed to be used for tourism development and tourism as a whole county by county. And we use it for some of our beach programs as well. So they were just trying to basically it was just a rebate to, to taxpayers and commissioner. I'm not sure that there it's about limiting tourism as, as much as it's about how tourist development councils are spending the funds and it's managed different ways around the state. And in Martin County, we don't have a lot of big hotel destinations. I mean, we do have some excellent hotels here, but the money we generate is, is fairly small compared to obviously to like Pinellas County, where they collect on the order of, or, or Orange County, you know, where they're collecting close to their hundreds of millions of dollars being collected where we collect, what is it? What? Three and a half million. Yeah, so we're three and a half, so, so I think the, the complaint was over the organizational structure of how some of these are managed. And then it was, and of course, the hoteliers are very concerned that it really is about promotion of tourism and to keep the engine moving, if you will, that it takes a lot of money to keep, keep that, to keep the international and the national tourism going. And I think the legislature was looking at taking some of those funds that are collected from tourists and redistributing them back to the, the counties in some way. And that, and that structure has, is what's concerning, especially a small county like us, where we don't really collect that much. And so anyway, those are some of the topics we can continue to follow with you on. So please continue on to our federal priorities. Again, these have remained mostly unchanged since I got here, but still very important. As you can see, we also have a new senator on, in our delegation. So we've made the efforts to visit not, not just our delegation offices when we go up, but the Florida delegation as a whole is that. They have time to make sure that they know we're here and we, we travel to D.C. to make a difference. So again, you'll see we support SERP again at the federal level, passing, passage of a WERDA bill every two years, supporting Indian River Lagoon South Phase 2 projects. I would add to that, the muck removal, it's part of IRL South. It needs to be, it's, it's, you know, it probably will be a shared state federal responsibility, but needs word authorization in order to get into the integrated delivery schedule. Noted. We will make that, make sure we add that. I know we've been working on it when we go to D.C. With the board's concurrence, we'll add in muck removal as a statement in this document. So again, just continuing funding of our beach restoration and inlet management programs, the National Estuaries Program, supporting full funding of that. Again, the Restoring Resilient Reefs Act comes up, and we obviously support that. Water quality and natural resources, supporting the SRF management program. Conservation land acquisition, again, big theme in D.C. But with our half-cent sales tax, we really put ourselves kind of at the top of that. We have the dollars, and that's really impressive when you go, when we go to meet with legislators from across the country, not just the state. They're very impressed by Martin County. Most of them know who we are, especially if they serve on an environmental committee. They know Martin County. They see what we have, and it's all part of our advocacy. And again, federal grants for a new station, supporting that, and we've gotten positive feedback from our congressmen on that new grant program. So we had to make sure we included that for the station, but again, also for the bridge. That's not our grant at this point, but we definitely would be benefiting from that. And that is all I have on the priorities. Questions from Powers. So going forward, next step, so we will keep these in draft form until the delegation meeting. Obviously, our delegation has to approve. They have to say yes publicly that they're going to sponsor our appropriation request as well as sponsor and file our local bill. Of course, we're pretty confident that they're going to do that, but they'll remain in draft form. So if anything, if, you know, for some reason they didn't, we had to take it out, it would come back to you. But for now, with that minor change and the ability to come back and just get final approval, we'll keep them in draft form until the delegation meeting. So as long as you probably need a motion to approve them in this state, and then they'll come back probably as a consent item to final approval. Okay. You need a motion to approve the legislative priorities? And I will give you one. So, second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. And this morning, Commissioner Capps brought up SB 180. Keep us apprised of any glitch bill progress. Sarah Powers, excellent job. Yep. Thank you. Okay. Let's return to Department 1. Hello. Good afternoon. Afternoon. Stephanie Murley here. I'm Director of OMB to present four items today. Our first item is a permission to accept the Fiscal Year 2526 Children's Services Council Grant Program of the After School Out of School Program Grant. This is an annual grant that our Parks and Recreation Department gets. They are requesting the acceptance of $407,347 to pay for the staff maintenance, supplies, and programming at various camps provided by Parks and Recreation. There is a grant match required of approximately $578,372, which is budgeted in our FY26 Parks and Recreation operational budget. And speaking of mental health, we have a permission to accept the Mental Health Awareness Training Grant. Our Human Services Department is requesting the acceptance of a grant award of $120,000 for the third year of the Mental Health Awareness Training Grant. This enables the county to expand and support local efforts that provide mental health awareness trainings, more of a preventative grant, and there is no cash match required for that. Item number three is a permission to accept the Community Services Block Grant for 2025-2026. Our Human Services Department is requesting the acceptance of $102,547 in CSBG funding for operating expenses related to assisting residents to connect them to resources that are available to assist them. There is no cash match required for this either. And the very last item is a permission to accept the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant or the JAG Grant. We are requesting a grant award of $63,984 to support Martin County's Mental Health Court drug testing expenses. It enables the county to offset drug testing supplies incurred by the Mental Health Court program, and there is no cash match required for that either. Mr. Capps. Yes. Number three, block grants. Can you explain what they are? Yeah, who contributes to them, and I believe there's a separate board that handles block grants, right, the county board? So the Community Services Block Grant is actually federal funding that is passed through St. Lucie County. Michelle, if you have more information on that. But it's typically just an operating-type grant to connect people, but Michelle can explain. Hi. Good afternoon, Michelle Miller, Human Services Director. So, yes, the Community Services Block Grant, we're part of a consortium of four counties that get that money that's funneled through St. Lucie County. We get a percentage of the total funding, and that allows us some operating costs for staff and also provides some money for rental assistance if there's any left over. Okay. And then why are we, like, considered a subcontractor to St. Lucie County? Because it goes to them directly, and then we contract through them. So they get the money from the federal government, goes directly to them, they manage it, and then they give us a percentage of it. Kind of like the host county for four counties? Yes. We're a subrecipient of that. I got you. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Any further questions? Is there a motion for approval? Move approval. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Department 2 is contracts that meet the threshold for board approval of $1 million or greater. Commissioner Hetherington, is this when you make an announcement? Yes. There's only one item today, so I will be abstaining from this departmental number 2. I have filed my Form 8B with the clerk with the conflict of unemployment with Ferreira, and I will abstain. Okay. Proceed, please. Christy Burlerton, your Chief Procurement Officer. For consideration today, I have one contract, and it is a continuing services agreement for bridge construction and maintenance. This contract has a maximum not-to-exceed value of $5 million, with a maximum not-to-exceed term of five years. Individual projects or work orders do not exceed $300,000 per Florida statute. Staff is recommending that the board award the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, which is Ferreira Construction Company, and move that to board, authorize a county administrator or designee to execute all documents related to this request. And that concludes this item. Questions for Ms. Brotherton. Commissioner Capps. So this, let's see, individual projects shall not exceed $300,000. So it sounds like this is, like, smaller work on bridges and things, maintenance things, signs. Maintenance, repairs. Anything that exceeds the $300,000 mark will be, usually, it'll be formally bid. There's usually CIP sheets. I know Public Works has a bridge maintenance program that they go by, so you'll see them. Kind of on an as-needed basis. Yeah, these are for the smaller projects, just repairs and maintenance. Okay. Thank you. Would you like to add anything? Yeah, Jim Gorton, Public Works Director. All of our bridges are inspected every two years, and we get a list of maintenance items that we need to address, and that's what this contract would be used for, largely, was to go in and do those minor repairs to bridges. Thank you. Any further questions? Is there a motion to approve? I would make a motion to accept staff's recommendation. Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes 3-0 with Commissioner Hetherington abstaining. Now, unless I'm wrong, we have completed all of our tasks. Would anyone from the public like to address us? Good timing. Yeah, please. We stopped our meeting so you could speak. Thank you, guys. Joe Flanagan, for the record. I'm here representing Project Graduation, and we're in the midst of getting ready to start our new round of things, and I just happened to have a couple of certificates. Some of the commissioners were there and supported us, and I'd like to present you guys with some plaques that address that. And the other part is we're in the middle. Actually, I have a meeting today at 5 o'clock because we've got some concerns on the venue. In the past, we've had it at the Boys and Girls Club, and Fletch has done a great job with us. He's worried about some of his funding sources and said he's not sure he could handle three nights in a row. And we did the same with the YMCA, and I'm not at liberty to disclose where I think we're going to be able to have it, but I assure you, you will be excited if I can pull this one off. So we'll... Is it the train station? How did you know? No, actually, I don't know. I'll go ahead and tell. The guy's supposed to call me today and say if it's a yes or a no. But the new Sears place, the Elevate Fund, I went to that place, I'm like, this is great. So he's talking to his people and see if we can pull it off. Yeah, it's kind of one of those things where, like, the lawyer that slides the number across the table and you look at it and go, okay, and you slide it back and all that one. We're at that stage. So we're there. So I don't know what the decorum is. You can just leave these here. I don't know if you want to do a photo op. You guys tell me. Pass them to the bailiff. Therefore, they'll get here safely. I appreciate it. And here's, like, my official public thing. But thank you guys for everything that's going on. You overstated your name for the record. I thought it... I've done it. Joe Flanagan. There you are. Yeah. Retired school administrator meddling in all people's business. So, no, but I will be in touch with you guys. And, again, thank you for your support and so many things that you guys have on your table. And I appreciate everything that you're doing to make all that happen. Thanks. All right. Take care. Enjoy. Would anyone else like to address us? Commissioner Capps, any further comments? I'm good today. I'm set. Commissioner Campy. A reminder that on October 18th at 630 to 830, we'll have music in the park on Map Road. And I'd like to take a moment of personal privilege to wish my wife a happy birthday. Happy birthday. Mr. Hetherington. I'm all set. Thank you. Mr. Donaldson. All set. Ms. Elder. We are adjourned. What's good. Was it kind of... Mr. Donaldson. Mr. Donaldson. No.